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!  S.  S.  RATHVON'S 

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"THE  FARMER  IS  THE  FOUNDER  OF  CIVILIZATION.'-WEBSTER. 


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A  MONTHLY  NEWSPAPER 


DEVOTED  TO 


AGRICULTURE  AND  HORTICULTURE,  PRACTICAL  ENTOMOLOGY.  DOMESTIC  ECONOMY 

AND  GENERAL  MISCELLAN\. 


EDITED    BY  PROF.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


VOLUME  XI-1879. 


LANCASTER,  PA.: 

JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  PUBLISHER 

1879. 


"THE  FARMER  IS  THE  FOUNDER  OF  CIVILIZATION.'-WEBSTER. 


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A  MONTHLY  NEWSPAPER: 


DEVOTED  TO 


AGRICULTURE  AND  HORTICULTURE,  PRACTICAL  ENTOMOLOGY,  DOMESTIC  ECONOMY 

AND  GENERAL  MISCELLANV 


EDITED    BY  PROF.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


VOLUME  XI-1879. 


LANCASTER,  PA.: 

JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  PUBLISHER 

1879. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  ELEVEN. 


About  Corn  and  Wheat,    189 

Annual  Meeting  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture,   2 

A  New  Grain,    2 

As  Others  See  Us     a,  17 

Andidote  for  Currant  Worms,     3 

About  Eels,    4 

Accepting  Invitations,    14 

Ammonia  in  the  Air,    27 

Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society 
Proceedings,    11,  37,  42,  57 
74,  H9, 106, 133,  138,  153,  170,186 

Ampelopsis  Vietchii,    30 

Ammonia  in  the  Household,    31 

Albemarle  Apple,  The,    30 

A  Grape  Swindler,     34 

A  Chapter  on  Macaroni,     36 

A  Word  iu  Reply,    41 

Ancient  House  and  Barn,  An,    46 

American  Wheat  in  Spain,    47 

American  Produce  Abroad,    47 

A  Model  Postmaster,    49 

Around  the  Farm,    53 

An  Experiment  in  Planting,     62 

About  Eggs,    69 

Amounts  of  Sugar  iu  Nectar,     73 

An  Immense  Farm,    76 

A  Good  Night  Lamp,    77 

Apple  Preserves,     78 

A  Good  Word  for  Bees,     79 

A  Flock  of  Hens,    SO 

A  Word  More,    86 

American's  Advantage,  The,     86 

A  Champion  Wheat  Field,     88 

About  Potatoes,    92 

Apple  Dumpliug,    94 

Ambei  Pudding,    94 

Apple  Orchards,     109 

Artificial  Fertilizers,     117 

Analysis  of  the  Farmer,    177 

Aphids  Persica,    179 

Apluds    179 

A  New  Wheat,     125 

About  Corn,     125 

Advantaire  of  Staying  in  Bed,    126 

Animal  Food,     137 

Altitudes  in  Pennsylvania,     153 

A  New  Use  for  Miillein,    153 

Ajjple  Piclting  and  Keeping,     157 

Apple  Omelet,    158 

American  Butter  and  Cheese  in  Eng- 
land,   109 

Apples  and  Apple  Trees,     174 

Abutilon,  The,     174 

Apple  Jelly,    175 

Apple  Tree  Borer,  The,    16 

Among  the  New  Strawberries,     135 

Application  of  Manure,    155 

Agricultural  Society  as  a  School,  The, 

Best  Time  to  Cut  Scions,     10 

Bedrooms — Ventilation,     14 

Butter-Malcing,    14 

Burning  Green  Wood  Wasteful,     14 

Bitter-Swei-t,     23 

Balance  of  Trade,  The,     '£i 

Buy  Your  Trees  at  Home,     30,  'U 

Bake-Egtrs,  To,     31 

Bee-Keepers'  Association,  Proceedings, 

43,  90,  124,  171 
Broiled  Kidney,    48 
Best  Kind  of  Eggs,  Tlie    48 
Buckwheat  Cakes  and  Sausages,    51 
Balance  of  Trade,    53 
Boston  Meat  Pie,    62 
Burns  and  Scalds,    63 
Book  Farming,    Ii7 
Bone  Dust,    76 
Bananas,    77 

Baked  Fish,    78 

Belostomo  gratuKs,  The,     81 

Bee  Labor,    86 

Borers'  Eggs,    108 

Barns  and  Barnyards,     109 

Best  Yeast  Known,  The,     109 

Butter-Making,    109 

Balky  Horses,     111 

Black  Bass,  The,    119 

British  Wheatfields,     120 

Butter  Factory  Organized,    120 

Best  Time  to  Cut  Wheat,  The,     125 

Bags  for  Protecting  Grapes,    125 

Blackberry  Wine,    126 

Bake  Buckwheat  Cakes,  To,     126 

Bake  Eggs,  To,    126 


Baked  Indian  Pudding,    126 

Barnyard  and  Coop — Profits  of,     127 

Bark-Lice  on  Apple  Trees,     141 

Blackberry,  The,     142 

Breakfast  Bacon,     142 

Brattleboro  Fricassee,     143 

Breakfast  Biscuit,     143 

Boiled  Pudding,     143 

Bees  Work  in  the  Dark,  Why,     144 

Balance  of  Nature,  The,     153 

Beet  Sugar,     157 

Beef  Soup,     158 

Bone  Dust,     173 

Bakers'  Gingerbread,     175 

B-own  Leghorn,     80 

Contributors,  To,     1 

Cold  Snap,    4 

Cooking  feed  for  Stock,    10 

Couch  Grass  for  Hay,     13 

Corn  and  Cob  Meal,     15 

Christmas  Rose,     18 

Correction,     IS 

Culture  and  Trainin;;'  of  the  VinCi     21 

Cattle  of  Lancaster  County,     22 

Cattle,  Texas,     22 

Corn  Drills,     29 

Color  for  Wicker  Baskets,     31 

Crantjerries,     31 

Chocolate  Cake,     31 

Correspondents,  To,     33 

County  Fairs,    33 

Chemical  Fanning,     36 

Care  of  Fruit  Trees,  The,    39 

Current  Slug,  To  Destroy,    46 

Clover  Seed^Fly,    46 

Cranberry  Culture,    55 

Corn  Culture,    61 

Cup  Fruit  Cake,     62 

Cookies  for  Children,     62 

Cranberry  Rools,    62 

Caponized  Fowls,     63 

Chicken  Cholera,    6j 

Cofilinu  Motli  Bands,     66 

Cider  Vinegar  from  Beets,    71 

Composts  for  Tobacco,     72 

Cream  Insteail  of  Butter,    77 

Cleansing;  Brussels  Carpet,     78 

Cheap  Pudding,     78 

Color  iu  Jerseys,     78 

Corn-Plant  Weevil,    83 

Couatdns  Obscurux,     83 

Compound  Grape  Gall,     83 

Couimuuicatiou,    84 

Correspondeuc,    84 

Cypripedum  Acaicle^     85 

Cord  Wood  in  an  Acre,     93 

Cooking  Potatoes,    94 

Charlotte  Kusse,     94 

Chilliugham  Wild  Cattle,  The,     95 

Cheap  Puultry  House,  A,    96 

Uow  Biintiiii:,  ^-i-.,  The,    99 

Calulpa  Tree,  The,     99 

Curciilii),  Tlie,     lUU 

Cussida  Gullala,     107 

Capturiiii;  Curculios,     IDS 

Curious  Facts  About  Insects,     108 

Charcoal  on  Land,     108 

Cuti.inu;  Cornstalks,     109 

Corn  Cubs,     109 

Curiosities  iu  Pomology,     109 

Cottage  Pudding,     110 

Cook  Pumpkin,  To,     110 
'  Coffee  Cake,     110 
,  Cows,     111 
'  Calves,     111 
.  Cultivated  Wheat,     115 
I  Cutting  Away  our  Forests,    121 
1  Commou  Elder,  The,     122 

County  Fair,  A,     1-4 

Cutting  and  Curing  Hay,     124 

Cultivate  More  Turnips,     125 

Cleanse   a    Itubber   Piano   Cover,  To, 

Cranberry  Jelly,  12G 

Caterpillars.     130 

Cuttock  for  Hogs,    137 

Cabbage  Worm,  The,     141 

Currant  Culture,     141 

Care  of  Farm  Implements,     142 

Cheese  Pudding,     143 

Cucumber  Pickles,     143 

Common  Sense,     145 

Cultivating  Wheat  in  England,    15« 

Chinese  Cookery,    158 

Cheap  Ice  House,    158 


185 


Coflfee  Ice  Cream,     158 

Cows  in  Winter,     158 

Cattle  Belt,    159 

Colic  in  Stock,     159 

Chicken  Cholera,     160 

Cold  Snap,  The,     163 

Colorado— Pitkin,     164 

Coptix  Trifolia,    165 

California,     165 

Comfortable  Quarters   for  Stock,     168 

Changing  Seed,     173 

Care  of  Potatoes,  &e.,     174 

Care  of  Plants  in  Winter,     174 

Cheap  Ice  House,  A,     175 

Clean  Wall  Paper,  To,     175 

Clean  Black  Lace,  To,     175 

Condensed  Truth,  178 

Cicada  Septendeeim,    180 

Christmas  Greeting,  A,    180 

Cisterns,     180 

Coffeee— A  Coffee  Field  in  Brazil, 

Cough  Mixture,    190 

Cliickens  to  Boil,     189 

Cleaning  Fruit  Trees,  189 

Comparative  Value  of  Woods,  186 

Cleaning  Tinware,    190 

Cracked  Hubs,  190 

Cream  Muffins,  190 

Chicken  Cheese,     190 

Choosing  Stock  for  the  Farm,  190 

Dwarf  Pears,     13 

Diseases  of  the  Pear,     30 

Deep  and  Shallow  Plowing,    47 

Degeneracy  in  Fowls,    48 

Destroy  House  Insects,  To,     78 

Difference,  The,     78 

Disinfection,     lOi 

Dutch  Dairy  Farm,  A,     105 

Dominique  Fowl,  The,     111 

Duchesse  Potatoes,     126 

Delicious  Vegetable  Soup,  A,     126 

Destruction  of  Lice  on  Fowls,     128 

Depth  of  Sowing  Wheat,    189 

Dysentery  as  a  Bee  Disease,  191 

Delicate  Cake,    190 

Duty  of  Our  Farmers,  The,     183 

Drop-Worm,     130 

Drivinu- Aft.T  E;ilin-,     143 


Des 


1)8 


158 


Dulc 

Dressed  Boiled  Fish,     94 

Entomological  Manipulations,    8 

Essays  and  Address,     5 

Evening  Milk  Richest,     31 

Earache,    31 

Essays  on  Entomology,     33 

Essay— I.  G.,     40 

Experiments  with  Moths,    46 

Early  Cabbage  and  Tomatoes,    47 

E.xperimeut  in  Planting,    63 

Eggs  in  Case  of  Trouble,     63 

Eggs  for  Winter  Use,     192 

Eggs  from  Ditlerent  Breeds,    64 

Eggs-traordinary,     HI 

Exercising  Cows",    79 

Eggs  and  Egg  Culture,    79 

Evidences  of  Success,  The,    88 

Economical  Feed-Trough ,  An,    96 

Elm-Tree  Beetle,  The,    97 

Elderberry  Wine,     136 

Essay  on  Manuring,    151 

Experience  in  Draining,  An,     164 

Eggs  from  Different  Breeds,     176 

English  Sparrow,  The,    98 

Extravagance     of    American    House- 
keepers,    157 

Feeding  Mowing  Lauds,     189 

Fruit   Exports  of  the   United  States, 
189 

Faastening  Zinc  Labels  on  Trees,     189 

Fried  Chicken,    189 

Feeding  Cows,     190 
ugge 
190 

Fattening  Turkeys,     191 

Feed  Troughs  for  Poultry,     192 

Fox  Squirrel,  The,    3 

Fruit  as  an  Article  of  Food,    7 

Felling  Trees,     13 

Flowers,     17 

Farm  Life  vs.  Prof.  Life,     18 

Fertilizers  and  Formulas,    25 

Fruit-Growers'  Society,  The,    26 


Fulton  Farmers'  Club,     28,  45,  59,  »1, 

139,  154,  173 
Flower  Pots,    30 
Flowers  on  the  Table,    30 
Frosted  Feet,     31 
Fish  Question,  The,     38 
Flower  Garden  Hints,    61 
Flannel  Cakes,    62 
Full  Blood,    63 
Fowls  Eating  Feathers,    64 
French  Bread,     78 
Farmers  and  IJees,    79 
Fowls  in  Orchards,     80 
Facts  Worth  Remembering,     80 
Flockof  Hens,  A,    80 
Flies,    83 

Farming  on  a  Large  Scale,     91 
First  Employment  of  Guano,  The,     91 
Future  of  American  Farming,    92 
Fruit-Growing  in  England,     93 
Fish  Cakes,   "94 

Fillet  of  Beef  and  Dutch  Sauce,     94 
Fighting  Against  Trespassing,     105 
Fultz  Wheat,     108 
Farmers,  Keep  Accounts,     110 
Fruit  Pudding,     110 
Fertilizers  and  Fruit  Trees,     125 
Fruit  Jars,     136 
Foul  Air,   from  Walls,  How  to  Expel, 

126 
Feeding  Dry  Cows,     137 
Fattening  Calves,     127 
Fall  Plowing,     141 
For  Pennsylvania  Farmers,     141 
Famous   Apples  of  Lancaster  County 

Origin,     142 
Frogs  and  Tomatoes,     143 
Fruit  Jelly,     143 
Fertile  Workers,     144 
Fall  Plowing  for  Corn,     156 
Facts  About  Flour,     158 
Fall  Plowing  for  Corn,     173 
Facts  About  Flour,     175 
Feediuif  Cattle,     175 
Forestry,     99 

Feeding  and  Treatment,     113 
Fifty  Years  Ago  vs.  the   Present   Day, 

24 
Fence  .Making  on  the  Farm,    20 
Gold  Fishes,     2 
Greatest  of  all  Grain,  The,     29 
Growing  Ivy  in  Rooms,    30 
Growing  Fuseliias  in  Baskets,     30 
Ginger  Cookies,    31 
Ground  Hog  .Meteorology,    34 
Galley- Worms  and  Craue-Fly,     39 
Garden  Seeds,  Sowing  Them,     61 
Gooseberries  and  Currants,     62 
Glucose,    ti> 
Grain  in  Orchards,     70 
Grafting  Grape  Vines,    76 
Grape-Growing,    76 
Grape  Vines  in  California,    77 
Grain  Sylvanus,    84 
Gooseberries  and  Currants,    93 
Oonaphea  Ciemba,     107 
Growing  the  Crab-Apple,     125 
Green  Sage,     126 
Grass  as  a  Renovater,     141 
Grape  Vine,     142 
Green  Tomato  Sauce,     143 
Green  Tomato  Pickles,     H'? 
Galled  Shoulders  and  Backs,     143 
Growth  and  Development,  West,     150 
Growing  the  Pear,     156 
Goose,  Roast,  Greeu,  i&c.,     157 
Gumbo  Soup,     158 
Geese,   and   Something  About   Them, 

182 
Grain  Crop,  The,     18S 
Green  Tomato  Soy,     153 
Grape  Phenomenon,     162 
Grafting  Grape  Vines,     174 
Ginger  Snaps ,     175 
Grain  and  Fruit  Crop  of  1878,    26 
Glimpse  of  the   West,  A,     101 
Household  Receipts,     14 
History  of  Horned  Cattle,    15 
How  to  Choose  a  Good  Cow,     15 
How  to  tell  that  Eggs  are  Eggs,     1 
Hessian,  Fly,  The,     16 
Hand-Made  Moth,  The,    38 
Hide-Bound  Trees,     47 
How  to  Neutralize  Skunk's  Odor,    4T 
How  to  Pickle  Artichokes,    47 


INDEX 


III. 


How  to  Destroy  Molhe  In  Feathers,  47 

How  to  Friiassec  Chicken,     47 

How  to  Stew  Soup  Beans,     47 

How  to  make  Turnip  Salad,     47 

How  to  Manage  Setters,    48 

Harrowing  Wlieat  In  Spring,     60 

How  to  (irow  Broom  Corn,     61 

How  to  Vreserve  Cut  Flowers,     61 

How  to  use  Coal,     62 

Honey,     63 

How  to  fasten  Comb   Foundation,     63 

How  Insects  Hear,     75 

How  to  riant  IVas,     77 

How  many   Tobacco  Seeds  to  an  Acre, 

77 
Home-made  Cracked  Wheat,     77 
Ham  Dressed  iu  Claret,     78 
How  the  Youujt  Bird  is  Hatched,     79 
Home  Advice  as.  to  Poultry,     80 
History  of  Celluloid,     88 
Home-made  Fertilizers,    92 
How  to  Make  Sauce  and  Croquettes,  93 
Hints  to  Housekeepers,     94 
Houcy  in  the  Boston  Market,    96 
Honey  Product,     97 
How  to  Raise  a  Bull,     100 
How  to  Preserve  (irapes,     101 
How  Civilization   Benefits  our   Birds, 

105 
How  to  Cook  Cheese,     184 
How  to  Keep  Fowls,     186 
How  Far  Bees  will  go  for  Honey,     191 
Harmful  Insect,  A,     107 
Hint  on  Lawn  Hedges.  A,     109 
Hints  on  Cooking  Poultry,     110 
Horses  Lyinu:  Down,     111 
How  Perches  Should  be  Made,     111 
Have  a  Fish  Pond  if  You  Can,     126 
How  to  Deal  with  Rati,     126 
Hot-beds  with  Muslin  Sashes,     142 
Hints  for  the  Kitchen,     143 
Hurrying  the  Cows,     143 
Home  and  Export  Tobacco  Market,  149 
Hints  for  Horse  Trainers,     159 
How  to  Make  Cows  tiive  Milk,     159 
Hints  to  Poultry  Breeders,    159 
Hints  for  the  Kitchen,     175 
^air  Invigoralor, 
Henslow  on  Self-Fertilization,     67 
Horn  Ail,  &c.,    55 
It  Stands  to  Reason,     2 
Insect  Sagacity,     3 
Imperial  Walnu:  Moth,     4 
Industry  of  Bees,     16 
Imported  Cattle,     :il 
Incorporation,     33 
Indian  Tobacco,     41 
Is  the  Lowest  Price  the  Cheapest,     51 
Imported  Currant  Worm,  The,     60 
Indian  Turnip,    70 
Insects  and  Animal  Diseases,     75 
Ice  Cream  Cake,     78 
Information  About  Cheap  Lauds,     83 
InHuence  of  Forests  on  Climate,     88  ■ 
Interesting  Fads  Concerning  Bread,  93 
Irish  Stew,     94 
Injurious  Insects,     107 
Ingrowing  Nails,     110 
IsClover'a  Fertilizer?     1J5 
Introductory,     146 
Inspect  Your  Cellars,     175 
Incubator,  The,     178 
Ice  Houses,     183 
Intelligent  Farmer,  The,     184 
Indian  Meal  Pancakes,     190 
July  Iteport  Dep't  Agriculture,     120 
Juice  of  Tomato  Plant  an  Insecticide, 

153 
Japanned  Ware,     190 
Kitchen  (iarden  in  April,     50 
Keipinir  Work  Ahead,     73 
Keep  Pure-bred  Fowls,     112 
Letter  from  Iowa,     5 
Letter  from  North  Carolina,     7,  85 
Laying  Out  a  Farm,     10 
Lancaster     County     Poultry    Society, 

11,38,   4:^,58,74,   89,    106,123, 

134,  138,  154,  171,  187,  188 
Lemon  Vies,    190 
Linnaian   Society,     12,  39,   46,   59,  75, 

91,  10(i.  12J,  140,  155,  172, 188 
Length  of  Roots,     13 
Look  to  the  Farm  Trees,     13 
Lemon  Verbena,     14 
Literary  and  Personal,     16,  32,  48,  64, 

80,96,112,128,144,160,  176,  192 
Liquid  Manure,    22 
Langshaw,    32 
Lancaster  Farmer,  &c.,     33 
Lime,    49 
Large  Farms  and  Stock  in  Lancaster 

County,    68 
Lemon  Pic,  "78 
Large  Farming  Precarious,     81 
Lancaster  County  Tobacco,     97 
Lime  and  Limestones,     99 
Large  Catfish,     101 
Lancaster  Virginia  Farming,     108 


141 
156 


Larva  of  Saturnia  lo,     116 

Lamp  Wicks,     143 

Large  Water  Beetle,     145 

Letter  from  Missouri,     146 

Lancaster  County  Cattle,     148 

Labor-Saving  Implements,    151 

Lemon  Cake,     175 

Law  of  Newspapers,     82 

Little  Pudding,     110 

Monthly  Reminder,     2,  :54, 67, 101,  163 

Miscellaneous  Notes,  Ac,     2 

Moonlight,     5 

Muscovy  Ducks,     15 

More  About  Eels,     17,  42 

Modern  Fruit  Houses,    20 

More  About  Cattle,    24 

Mince  Pies,    31 

More  Light,     40,  53 

Migration  of  Eels,     53 

Mulching,     62 

Milk,     66 

Market  Gardeners,     67 

Moonshine,     85 

McKinstry's  Great  Orchard,    80 

Mulching  Planted  Trees,    93 

Milk  Soup,    94 

Maccaroni  and  Cheese,    94 

Moon's  Influence,     69,  102 

Maccaroni  with  Tomato  Sauce,    110 

Milk  Beef,    111 

Magnolia  Glauca,     116 

More  Moonshine,     116 

Mother  of  the  Chickens,  The,    127 

Migatory  Quail,  The,     137 

Mottled  Horn-Beetle,     150 

Moon's  Signs  and  Phases,     132 

Moon  Seed,     133 

Mlnesota  Wheat  Crop, 

Maple  Coccus,     145 

Mulching  Strawberries, 

Metelotte  D'Anguilles,     158 

Mock  Oysters,    158 

Memories  of  Bees,     162 

Management  of  Horses,     169 

Meeting  of  State  Board  Agriculture,  17 

Meteorological  Contrast,  178 

Mauuriug  Fruit  Trees,  189 

Mince  Pics,    190 

Mixed  Foods,  190 

Mixture  of  (Jrasses,  A,     173 

Miss  Parton's  Angel  Cake,    175 

Meat  Cheese,    126 

No  Farmer  Need  Expect,  Ac,    16 

New  Subscribers,     17 

New  ?B0  Grape,     36 


Nests  for  Setters,  • 

Non-Recognition  of  Agriculture,    t 

New  Way  to  Cook  Oysters,     110 

New  Departure,  The,     113 

No  Egg  Good  as  Fresh  Ones,     142 

Natural  Fertilizer,  A,    163 

New  York  Seed  Leaf  Market,     167 

Nice  Tea  Cake,  A,     175 

Non-Hatching,     96 

Necessity  of  Sun  Light,    62 

Our  Paris  Letter,     9 

Our  Orchards.     18 

One  Year's  Experiment,     20 

Orange  Cake,     31 

Oats  as  Fool  for  Horses,     42 

Oatmeal  Cakes,    63 

One-Eye  System  of  Potatoes,     71 

Ozone,    89 

Origin  of  the  Apple,     92 

Omelette  Sounie,     110 

Oil  for  Sewing  Machines,     110 

Our  Local  Exhibition,     114 

Onions  for  Fowls,     128 

Our  Late  Exhibition,     131 

Origin  of  Wheat  in  America,    141, 

Oats  and  Wheat,     141 

Our  Late  Local  Exhibition, 

Olives  in  Califoruia,     1.57 

Organization,     161 

Oatmeal  in  the  Household, 

Our  Contributors,  177 

Our  Grain  Capacity,    182 

Oatmeal,    183 

Oatmeal  Pudding,  190 

Orange  Pudding,    190 

Our  Receipt  for  Curing  Meat,    190 

Pennsylvania   Fruit  Growers  Society, 


145 


174 


Practical  Hints  for  Young  Farmers,    6 

Presidents  Address,     8 

Progressive  Agriculture,     8 

Planting  Corn  in  Old  Times,    13 

Parlor  Flowers,     14 

Profit  with  AmUBcraeut,     16 

Product  of  Eggs  in  Winter,     15 

Protection  of  Bees  Against  Wasps,     16 

Peach  Bark  Louse,     17 

Polled  Cattle,     2;^ 

Pruning  Fruit  and  Ornamental  Trees, 

30 
Practtical  Essays  on  Entomology,    33 


Peurl  Millet,     37 

Pulmonary  Spiders,     39 

Pruning— Its  use  and  Abuse,     41 

Premature  Evolution,  A,     46 

Pruning  Trees,     47 

Potatoes  and  Nep,     47 

Plucking  Poultry,    48 

Personal,     51 

Planting  Grape  Vines,     61 

Potato  Fancy,     63 

Preservation  of  Furs,    63 

Pasturage  for  Bees,     6.) 

Preserving  the  Proceedings,     66 

Pruning  Peach  Trees,     77 

Potato  Noodles,     78 

Practical  Bee  Culture,     79 

Poultry  Profits,     80 

Peach  Tree  Borers,    84 

Promise  of  Crops,     K6 

Pleuro  Pneumonia,    87 

Plowing  iu  Croijs  as  Manure,    91 

Pruning  Evergreens,    93 

Poisoned  by  Mushrooms,     93 

Potato  Croquets,     95 

Packing  EgifS,     101 

Pear  Blight,     109 

Potato  Putr,     110 

Potato  Cutlets  with  Tomatoes,     110 

Potato  Curry,     110 

Pudding  Pies,     110 

Puff  Pudding,    110 

P'Tches  for  Flowers,     111 

Parasite  on  Hens,     112 

Paliscr's  American  Cottages,     114 

Peach  Beetle,     115 

Preserving  Flowers,     126 

Pigs,     127,  143 

Phylloxera  in  France,  The,     133 

Planting  and  Transplanting,    136 

Pruning  Fruit  Trees,     141 

Pruning  Grape  Vines,     142 

Preserving  Sheep  from  Dogs,     143 

Poultry  Notes,     144 

Poultry,     144 

Production  and  Keeping  Eggs,     150 

Plowing  Down  Green  Crops,     165 

Putting  ill  Wheat  Crops,     165 

Putting  away  Potatoes,     157 

Proverlis  in   Cookery,     157 

Petroleum,     1.58 

Polling  Cattle,     1.59 

Plowing  by  Electricity,    189 

Principles  of  Pruning,  189 

Pie  Paste,     190 

Pumpkin  Pudding,    190 

Poultry  Interests  of  America.     191 

Poultry  Breeding,    191 

Profitable  Bees,  191 

Pure  Bred  and  Common  Fowls,    192 

Pasture  Fields,     168 

Poultry  Habits,     176 

Questions,     18 

Queries  and  Answers,     53,  68 

Queen  Biscuits,    62 

Queer  Fish,  A,     163 

Quinine  Flower,     174 

Rolling  After  Sewing,    189 

Roasted  Chicken  or  Fowl,  189 

Roast  Duck,   189 

Rice  Pudding,    190 

Random  Thoughts,     5 

Rules  lor  Gilt-edged  Butter,     56 

Regular  Meetings,  &c.,     57 

Remedies  Against  Insects,    60 

Rolling  Grain  in   Spring,    61 

Remedy  for  Hoarseness,    63 

Rose  Legends,     89 

Rosewood,     109 

Remedy,  A,     111 

Red  Rust,     116 

Raising  Pigs,     127 

Revised  Fruit  List,     148 

Raising  Horses  in  Texas,    149 

Ranciil  Butter,     1.58 

Rabbit  Stew,     15S 

Runaway  Horses,     159 

Red  Canary  Birds,     160 

Rest  After  Eating,     175 

Rice  Snow-Balls,     175 

Rolls,     175 

Remedy  for  Diphtheria,    183 

Rabbit  Cutlets,     175 

Second  Crop  Pears,     1 

Scouring  Rush,     2 

Surface  Manuring,    13 

Save  the  Liquid  Manure,     13 

Save  by  Handsfull,     15 

State  Fruit-Growers'  Society,    95 

State  Millers'  Association,    25 

Smilax,    30 

Sweet  Omelet,     31 

Sour  Milk  Cheese,     31 

Selecting  Breeding  Turkeys,    38 

Society  Proceedings,    33 

St.  Matthew's  Day,     35 

Sowing  Oats  Early,     47 

Soup,    48 

Silk  Culture,     49 


Supposed  Sulphur  Shower,     50 
Strawberry  Proteetws,     51 
Spring  and  Winter  Tree  Cleaning,     51 
Seeds,     55 

Splenic  Fever,  &c.,     .55 
Salt  as  a  Fertilizer,     61 
Special  Notice,    177 
Sooty  Chimneys  Cured,     190 
Senator's  View  of  Farming,  A,     180 
Statistical,     186 
Sugar,     18B 

Sowing  Garden  Seeds,     61 
Spring"  Planting  of  Slrawl>errle«,     61 
Sprouting  Potatoes,     62 
Some  Items  About  Sugar,     62 
Sick  Headache,     62 
Small  Fruits,     68 
Spring  Days,     69 
Sandy  Soils,     73 
Store  of  Grain  in  the  West,     76 
Sowing  Garden  Seeds,     77 
Signs  of  a  Prosperous  Farmer,     T7 
Stallion  Shows  in  Spring,     78 
Southward,  Ho  I     81 
Soot  vs.  Wlreworms,     84 
Sale  of  Short-Horns,     95 
Swarming  of  Bees,     95 
Summer  Time,     101 
Sugar  from  Indian  Corn,     104 
Sorghum  Sugar,    104 
Spined  Soldier  Bug,     107 
Squash  Bugs,     107 
Sowing  Wheat,    108 
Soot  as  a  Manure,    lOS 
Steamed  Pudding,     110 
Stewed  Pears,   110 
Sirangc  Ginger  Bread,   110 
Sponge  Cream  Cake,    110 
State  Agricultural  Fair,    114 
Setting  out  Strawberries,     125 
Sheep  and  Wool,    l'.;7 
Something  Abont  Tomatoes,   129 
Science  and  Agriculture,     129 
Soiling,    140 
Saddleback  Moth,   140 
Self-Binding  Reapers,    141 
Storing  Hay,    141 
Suckers  Around  Apple  Trees,   141 
Spiced  Cantaloupe,    142 
Sheep  in  Cornfields,    143 
Save  the  Choice  Fowls,    l44 
Specter  Insect,    145 
Sheep  Husbandry  in  U.  8.,    149 
Standard  of  American  Jerseys,    153 
Singular  Discovery,     1.53 
Smut  in  Grain,  155 
Small  Fruits,    156 
Sailed  Dressing,     1.58 
Squash  Pie,     158 

Swiss  Dairymen  in  California,     159 
Salt  for  Stock,    1.59 
Strecker  Prof.  Herman,    162 
Starting  a  Flock  of  Sheep,    168 
Summer  Cultivation  of  Wheat,    173 
Storing  Fodder-Corn,    173 
Stewed  Pigeons,   175 
Straw  as  Food  for  Cattle,    175 
Sugar  Beets  to  Fatten  Swine,     170 
Salt  for  Poultry, 

To  our  Patrons  and  the  Public,     1 
To  Our  Patrons,     177 
The  Fox  Squirrel,     3 
Twelve  Thousand  Caterpillars,     5 
Thoroughwort,    5 
The  Wheat  Crop,     12 
The  Scarcity  of  Quinces,     12 
Taming  Stubborn  Bees,    16 
Tobacco  Growers  Society,     28 
The  Late  Summer  Grass,    29 
The  Kulahaga,    29 
To  Preserve  Potatoes  from  Rot,    81 
To  bake  Eggs,    31 
Tapioca  Cream,     31 
To  Lessen  Friction,    31 
The  Sleep  of  Children,    31 
The  Poultry  Association,     32 
Tar  in  the  Chicken  House,     32 
Treatment  of  Cholera,    32 
The  Lancaster  Farmer,     33, 163 
Table  Sauce,    47 
The  Best  Kind  of  Eggs,    48 
The  Balance  of  Trade,     53 
Turtle  Head,     .54 
The  Imported  Currant  Worm,     60 
The  Tobacco  Worm,     60 
The  Use  of  Entomology,     60 
The  Hours  of  Children,     62 
Test  Record  of  Dairy  Cows,     6.3 
Tramps  ahd  Incendiaries,     66 
Timber  and  Fences,     71 
The   Pennsylvania   Board  of  Agricul- 
ture,    71 
The  Wheat  Crop,     76 
The  Question  of  Weeds,    76 
To  Preserve  Gum  Solutions,     78 
To  wash  Silk  Stockings,     78 
Treatment  of  Cows  at  Calving,    78 
Tender  and  Small  Feet,    79 


IV. 


INDEX. 


Threshing  Ducks,    80 

The  Beloetoma  Grandis    81 

The  Law  of  Newspapers,     82 

Tobacco  Culture  in   Pennsylvania,    87 

The  Evidences  of  Success,    88 

The  Future  of  American  Farming,    92 

The  Wheat  Crop  of  1879,     92 

Treatment  of  Trees,    9 J, 

To  Boil  Potatoes,    94 

To  make  Puff  Paste,    94 

Turkish  Soup,    94 

Trussed  Fowls,    95 

Terrapin,    95 

To  Break  up  Sitting  Hens,     9f> 

The  Elm  tree  Borer,    98 

The  English  Sparrow,    98 

The  Moon's  Influence,    102 

The  Crops  of  the  Country,   103 

The  Use  of  the  Feet  in  Planting,   103 

Thomissns  celer,    107 

The  Best  Yeast  Known,     109 

To  Make  Good  Cottage  Cheese,    110 

Tapioca  Pudding,     110 

To  Cook  Pumpkins,    110 

Tarragon  Vinegar,    110 

The  Value  of  Sheep,    110 

The  Dominique  Fowl,    111 

The  New  Departure,    113 

The  Tobacco  Fly,   114 

The  Black  Bass,   119 

The  Common  Elder,     132 

The  Best  Time  to  Cut  Wheat,  125 

To  Keep  Potatoes  from  Rotting,     126 

To  Preserve  Cut  Flowers,     126 

To  Expel  Foul  Air  from  Wells,    126 

To  Cure  Hams,    190 


To  Stain  Wood,    126 

To  Keep  Seeds  from  Mice,    126 

Tomato  Stew,    126 

To  Make  Butter  Pure  in  Flavor 

To  Wash  Stockings,     126 

The  Sheep  Range,    127 

The  Mad  Itch  in  Cattle,     127 

The  MIgatory  Quail,    127 

The  Cutlock  for  Hogs,    137 

The  Sun,    137 

The  Snake  Worm,    141 

The  Cabbage  Worm,    140 

Toads,    141 

Treatment  of  Wornout  Meadow 

The  Blackberry,    143 

The  Quince,    143 

Tapioca  Cream,    143 

The  Harvest  White  Honey,     14 

The  Weather,     145 

Thanks,    145 

The  jrepatica,    147 

Tobacco,    151 

The  Cattle  Disease,    153 

To  Kill  Sorrel,  &c  ,    150 

To  Prepare  a  Strawberry  Bed . 

To  Polish  Steel,    158 

To  Destroy  Aphids, 

To  Remove  Rust  from  Steel,    1 
I  To  Pickle  Fruit,    158 

Tomato  Soup,  1  and  2,     158 

The  Wild  Cattle  of  Britain,    15 
!  The  Cattle  Belt,    159 
!  To  Tell  a  Horse's  Age,    159 
j  The  Cold  Snap,    163 

The  Poultry  Show,     163 
I  The  New  York  Leaf  Market, 


I  To  Clean  Wall  Paper,     175 

Tobacco  Culture  in  Lancaster  Co.,  117 
I  Turkeys,     127 

Uranine,    4 

Unhorning  Calves,     191 

Use  of  Lime,     61 
i  Uncovering  Protected  Plants,     63 

Use  Plenty  of  Paint,     77 

Uradine  Fungus,    83 

Utilizing  Night  Soil,     125 
.  Vermin  on  Poultry,     15 

Velvet  Cake,     78 

Vermin,    96 
I  Value  of  Earth  Worms,     lOS 
1  Varieties  of  Wheat,     lOS 
,  Valuable  Hints  to  Farmers,     131 

Valuable  Advice,     136 

Vegetable  Fruit,    144 

Vi.sit  to  Herman  Strecker,     163 

Write  for  Thk  Farmer,     1 
'  Water  for  Farmers,     13 
!  Window  Boxes,     14 

Winter  Treatment  of  Poultry,     15 
!  Warwick   Farmers'   Club,     3S,  44,  59, 
I  123 

^  Winter  Peaches,  30 
I  Window  Plants,  30 
]  What  is  Castile  Soap,    31 

Waterproof  Boots,    31 

Wafers,    31 

Winter  Management  of  Sheep,     31 

Weaning  Calves,    31 
I  What  Stock  Needs,     31 

What  and  How  to  Feed,     48 

What  Becomes  of  the  Birds,    67 


Wants  to  Know,    69 

Where  Tomatoes  were  First  Eaten,    77 

Whitewash,    77 

White  Fruit-Cake,    78 

Worms  in  Hogs,     79 

What  Breed  Shall  I  Keep? 

What  I  Know  About  Roup,    79 

Wonders  Will  Never  Cease,    82 

Wonderful  Feats  with  Bees,  191 

Waste  in  N.  E.  Farming,    92 

Wood  Ashes  for  Peach  Trees,    93 

Welcome  Guest  Pudding,     94 

Watering  Horses,    95 

White  Shrips  in  Graperies,     108 

Ways  to  Use  Stale  Bread,     110 

Walnut  Catsup,     110 

White  Grub-Worm,     115 

Wheat  Fields,     189 

Wool  Manufacturers  and  Sheep  Hus- 
bandry,   181 

Whisky— Revenue  Lists  of  the  States, 
185 

Washing  Fowls,     185 

Wheat  and  Oats,    189 

Weeds  and  Hay  Fever,     i24 

Waffles,     126 

White  Duck  Laying  Black  Eggs,     128- 

Whole  Acres  of  Perfume,     153 

Western  Farms  Much  Favored,     186. 

What  a  Farm  Deed  Includes,     169 

When  to  Sell,     170 

Welsh  Rare  Bit,     175 

Winter  Care  of  Fowls,    176 

Whole  Wheat  for  Fowls,     176 

Young  Fowls,    160 


^^^  L .  i.  ^mm  mi\^i\ 


i 


ONE  DOLLAR  FEE  ANITULI-SZITGLE  COFZES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  S.  S.  EATE70N,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  JANUARY,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  PuWisher. 


CONTENTS  OF  THIS  NUMBER. 

.  To  Our  Patrons  and  the  Public, 
.Write  for  The  Farmer,       .       .        -        - 
To  Contributors,       .-..-- 

Second  Crop  Pears, 

'Annual  Meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture 
-MoLthly  Reminders,         .        .        .        -        - 
I  Entomological  Manipulations  for  the  Month, 
Miscellaneous  Notes  and  Queries,        -        -        - 

1  Gold  Fishes, -       - 

I  A  New  Grain,        .-..-- 
."Scouring  Rush,"    .        .        -        .        - 

,  As  Others  See  Us, 

."It  Stands  to  Reason,"    -        -        .        .        - 

•  Insect  Sagacity, 

The  Fox  Squirrel,     ------ 

•Twelve  Hundred  Caterpillars  Taken  from  a  Single 
Tree,    -------- 

■  Antidote  for  Currant  Worms,        -        -        - 
.  Imperial  Walnut  Moth,    -        -        -        -        - 

"  Cold  Snap,"      ------- 

About  Eels, -        - 

♦Uraninc,        -------- 

'  Pennsylvania  Fruit-Growers'  Society, 
.    Essays 


-Oflicers 


ind  Addresses— Committee  for  ! 

.  Letter  from  Iowa —  W.  H.  Spera,    -       .        - 

•  Thorough  Wort— /.  5to!<Je)-,      -       -        -        - 

'  Moonlight— J.  G.,  -----        - 

.Random  Thoughts,  No.  7—4.  ^.A'., 

Fodder  Crops— Tea  Raisiug— Laying  Down  toGrosB. 
,  Practical  Hints  for  Young  Farmers—/.  G., 
.  Fruits  as  a  Standard  Article  of  Food— 77.  M.  Enrjle, 
Letter  from  North  Carolina— -V.  7?.,    - 
■  President's  Address,        -        -        -        -        - 
'  Progressive  Agriculture,      -        -        -        -        - 
'  Our  Paris  Letter— £oms,  -        -        -        - 

,  Cooking  Feed  for  Stock,  -.---; 
..Laying  Out  the  Farm,  -----: 
.  The  Best  Time  to  Cut  Scions,      -        -        -        -    : 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 
'  Proceedings  of  the  Lancaster  County  Agricultu- 
ral and  Horticultural  Society,     -        -        -      : 
Fertiliiers— Artificial  Fertilizers— Progressive  Agri- 
culture—Election of  Offlccri- Auditing  Treasur- 
er's   Accounts— Fair  or  no  Fair— Essays    to    tiie 
Farmer — Business  for  Next  Meeting— Lecture  iu 
Prospect— Busiuess  Committee— Report  of  Fnilt 
Committee. 
.  Lancaster  County  Poultry  Association,     - 

•  Llnnaean  Society,    ------ 

Historical  Relics- Additions  to  the  Library— Papers 


•  Felling  Treee, 

Couch-Gr 

PlantingJ 
.  Length  o^ 

The  Whei 
.  Water  fori 


AGRICULTURAL, 
a  Hay  Plant, 
fin  Old  Times, 


(Surface  Manuring,     -        .        -        -        - 
,  Save  the  Liquid  Manure,      -        -        -        - 

HORTICULTURAL. 
Dwarf  Pears,      ------ 

Look  to  the  Fruit  Trees,        -        -        .        - 
The  Scarcity  of  Quinces,  - 

►  FLORICULTURE 

Parlor  Flowers,    ------ 

Window  Boxes,        -        -        -        -        - 

Lemon  Verbena,  -        -        -        -        - 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 
Bedrooms — How  They  Should  be  Ventilated, 
Butter  Making,    ------ 

.Burning  Green  Wood  Greatly  Wasteful, 
Accepting  Invitations,        -        -        .        - 
Household  Receipts,      ----- 

LIVE  STOCK. 

.Saving  by  Ilaudsful,     -        -        -        -        - 
History  of  Horned  Cattle,      -        -        -        - 
Corn  and  Cob  Meal,     -        -        -        -        - 

.How  to  Cbeose  a  Good  Cow,  -        -        -       . 

POULTRY. 

.Profit  Combined jAith  Amusement,    - 

■  Vermin  on  Poultry,        -        -        -        -        . 
Muscovy  Ducks,        -        -        -        -        -    . 

.  How  to  Tell  That  Eggs  are  Eggs, 

.Winter  Treatment  of  Poultry, 
Production  of  Eggs  During  Winter  Season, 

APIARY. 
Taming  Stubborn  Bees,     -        -        •%      - 
Protection  of  Bees  Against  Wasps, 
Industry  of  Bees,      -        -        -        -        - 
No  Farmer  Need  Expect,  tte.,    - 

ENTOMOLOGICAL. 
The  Hessian  Fly,      •        -        -        -        - 
The  Apple  Tree  Borer,  -      -        -        -        - 
Literary  and  Personal,    -        -        -        - 


JIty  annual  Ciilalngiir  if  Vf(f'ialile  and  Flower 
SctftI  for  lS70f^jich  iu  eiigruviugH,  from  original  photo- 
graphs, will  be  sent  FUKE  to  all  who  apply.  Customers  of 
last  season  need  not  write  for  it  I  offer  one  of  the  largest  col- 
lections of  vegetable  seed  ever  sent  out  by  any  seed  house 
iu  America,  a  large  portion  of  which  were  grown  on  my  six 
Heed  farms.  Printed  directionjt /or  cultivation  on  each  pack- 
age. All  seed  warranted  to  be  both  fresh  and  true  to  name; 
so  far,  that  should  it  prove  otherwise,  /  iri«  rc;i(/  the  order 
gratis.  The  original  intrnducer  of  the  Hubbard  Squash. 
Pbluney's  Melou,  Marblehead  Cabbages,  Mexican  Corn,  and 
scores  of  other  vegetables,  1  invite  the  patronage  of  all  tcho 
are  auxiofu  to  have  their  seed  directly  from  the  grmcer,  frejshy 
true,  and  vf  tite  very  best  strain. 

New  Vcffctables  a  specialty. 

JAMES  J.  H.  GREGORY, 

70-1-Ht  Marblehead,  SUfi. 


OFFICE, 

No.  0  North  Queen  Street, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


Is  an  old,  well-established  newspaper,  and  cculaluB  just  the 
news  desiiable  to  make  it  un  interesting  and  valuable 
Family  Newspaper.  It  is  published  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday,  snbEcribers  having  the  choice  of  whichever  edition 
that  suits  their  mail  facilities  beat.  The  postage  to  sub- 
scribers residing  outside  of  Lancaster  county  is  paid  by  the 
publisher. 
Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  coutaine 
the  news  by  mail  and  telegraph  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
up  to  the  hour  of  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers at  all  the  towns  and  villages  in  the  county,  acces- 
sible hy  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  Cents  a  Week, 
or  by  mall  at  Five  Dollars  per  Yenr. 


The  Laxcasthr  Farmer 


ONE   DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM. 


TIIE  E\.\MI\ER  &  E.\PRESS  JOB  R00.1 


The  Job  Rooms  of  ' 
well  filled  with  a  lull 
presses,  enabling  us  to  do  all  kinds  of  .Tob  Work,  euoli 
as  catalogues,  cards,  bill  heads,  letter  heads,  enrelopB, 
etatemeuts,  invitations,  circulars,  posters,  sale  bills,  in  fact, 
all  kinds  of  plain  and  fancy  printing.    We  r  '" 

■    bills,  having  cuts 


which  were  made 
drawings  specially  prepared  for  us,  and  not  In  any 
ner  olfice'in  the  state. 
Call  and  tee  apecimcns. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  Proprietor, 

No.  9  NortU  Queen  St., 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER.^ 


EXXSYI.VAXIA  RAILROAD  SCHEDII.£. 

Trains  leave  the  Depot  iu  this  city,  as  follows  : 

Lancaster.         Harrisburg. 


■n'E-TWAED. 

Pacific  Express' 

Way  Paeseugert 

Niagara  Express 

Hanover  Accommodation,. 

Mail  train  via  Mf.  Joy 

No.  2  via  Columbia 

Sunday  Mail 

Fast  Line* 

Frederick  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation., 

Harrisburg  Express ; 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express' 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  Express* 

Philadelphia  Express 


9.30  a.  m. 

9:3!)  p.  m. 
11:15  a.  m. 
11:20  a.m. 
11:20  a.m. 

2:10  p.m. 

2:15  p.m. 

5:45  p.m. 

7:20  p.  m. 

7:25  p.m. 

9:35  p.m. 
11:30  p.m. 


1:30  p.  m. 

1:30  p.  m. 

3:45  p.m. 
Col.  2:45  p.  D 

7:40  p.  m. 
Col.  8:00  p.  m 


Fast  Line*. 

Harrisburg  Express 

Columbia  Accammodati' 

Pacific  Express* 

Suuday  Mail 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express* 

Harrisburg  Accom 

The  Hanover  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancaster 
with  Niagara  Express,  west,  at  9:35  a.  m.,  and  will  run 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancas- 
ter with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m..  and  runs  to  Frederick. 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  ou  Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
stop  at  Middletown,  Elizabethtown,  Mount  .Joy  and  Landis- 
■fllle. 

•The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tRuus  daily,  except  Mondav. 


PHARES    W.    FRY, 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WILL  m?m&mmm  shsbis, 

II ollantis.  Plain  ,Sbade  «'Iotli, 

Fixtures,  Fringes,  Tassels  and  all  goods  pertaining  to  a 

Paper  and  Shade  Store. 

No.  63  North  Queen   St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


:e.  E",  3BO-^7\r2vi^a.3xr, 


I: 

AT  LOWEST  I>OHSIRI.E  PRICES. 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

9-1-12]  Oppmite  I.eopnid  Ifotfl. 


GLOVES, SHIRTS, UNDERWEAR.  iH 


SHIRTS  MADE  TO  ORDER, 

AND  WAERANTED  TO  IIT. 


S.  J.  EHISMAH. 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa.  ." 


Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH-ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 

Large  Stock  of  New  and  Rfc:)Ud-Uaud  Work  ou  hand, 
very  cheap.  Carriages  Made  10  Order.  Work  Warranted 
foroueye4ir.  [7:1-1-12 


TREES. 
Fruit.Shadeand  Ornamental  Trees. 


Tf  you  intend  ilauti 


"spring,  write  for 


LOUIS  CLYTE 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co..  Pa. 

Nursery  at  Smoketov.'n,  six  miKjs  east  of  Lancaster. 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 


And  Manufactun 


FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS. 

WARF.nOOM.S: 

102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CI.OCKS, 

JEWELRY ITABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

R?piiirmg  strictly  attended  to. 

North  Quesn-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Laniaster,  Pa. 


THOROUGHBRED  SHORT-HORN 

BULLS   AND  BULL  CALVES, 

FOR  SAX.^, 

AT  PRICES  TO    SDIT  THE  TIMES. 

A.  M.  RANCK, 

79.1-2]  B;rd-in-Haud,  Lancaster  CO.,  Pa. 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MAXDF.\CTURER  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

SABSJI.IK. 

COLLARS,  "WHIPS,  PLY  NETS.  &c., 

.^LSO    DE.\LER    IX 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFAI-O  ROBE.S, 

Hor.se  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &e., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

Til-l-lil  LANCASTER,  PA, 


ESTABLISHED  1882. 


* 


Mauufacturers  and  dealers  io  all  iiuds  of  rougli  a::d 
fluished 

X.X7I^B£:R, 

The  best  Sawed  SHIXGI.K.S  iu  the  country.     Also  Sceh, 
Doors,  Bliude,  Mouldiugs,  &c. 

PATENT  O.'g.WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Comer  of  Prince  and  Walnut-sts.. 

LANCASTER,  TA.. 

79-1-12] 


lor  Grapes,  tSeedlingB, 
Evergreens,  etc.,  etc.     Send  for  Catalogue. 

J.  JENKINS, 
10-9^m]  WISrOSTA,  Columbiana  County,  Ollio. 


TljE  LATEST! 


T^e  Nev/  Tariff  of  Rales 


['0  P-DAVO' 


JIade  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  off  larj;e  lots  of 


loods,  and  lias 


INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US! 


JSi®" Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better.-'^gSg 


This  is  the  latest  tariff  for  the 


A-S  FOt.T-,O^VS: 

All  EleprantBiisine.ss  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  §10.  Identical 
quality  of  floods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  $io.  AVe  never 
sold  them  for  more  tliart  §1.". 

54.89  buys  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Cliinohilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
SiS.SO,  18.50, 18.50,  $8.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  ^10,  SIO,  §10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $7,  $7,  ^7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  the  Late  Imjiruvemenl.s,  .s.'i,  P."),  555. 

Boys'  and  Ynuili.s'  Tii.n.ser.s  All 
Wool,  ?2.31),  ?2.:;'i,,--.:;ii,s-.:;;i. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  .^tyles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  S8.75  to 
?6.50. 

?25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
eo.ats  reduced  to  Slo.  (Beautifully 
made.  Piped  with  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  12.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  ^15. 00;  but  to- 
daj'  make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends?, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  iitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  wo  liave  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
Doth  ways. 

Wananjaker  &  Brown^ 

OAK  HALL. 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA..     . 

The  Largest  Clothing  House  in 
America. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  EATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  JANUARY,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  No.  1. 


TO  OUR  PATRONS  AND  THE  PUBLIC. 

With  tills  nuiuber  we  commence  tlie  XI.  ' 
Volume  of  The  Lancaster  Faumek,  and  ; 
our  expuriencos  ihu-ing  the  past  ten  years  . 
utibrd  us  some  appreciatioi.i  of  the  task  tliat  | 
is  before  us.  'We  have  never  abated  any  of 
the  feeble  energies  with  whieh  we  are  en- 
dowed heretofore,  and  we  have  no  intention  I 
to  abate  them  now.  We  are  on  tlie  thresliuld 
of  the  new  year— young,  vigonms  and  Impc- 
ful  1870— and  we  have  not  lost  eonlidenee  in  \ 
its  ultimate  propitiating  influences.  AVe  con- 
tidently  look  to  it  as  a  puinl  of  departure  to  a 
better"an(l  more  prosperous  state  of  things  ; 
not  only  for  our  patrons  and  ourselves,  but 
also  for  the  "toiling,  moiling  millions,"  who 
have  been  suffering  almost  to  the  last  stretch 
that  patient  waiting  can  sustain,  for  the  past 
three  or  four  years,  and  for  whom  humanity 
desires  a  surcease  of  idleness.  We  l.u.k  for 
such  times  as  will  enable,  them  to  become 
more  liberal  and  punctual  patrons  of  the  farm- 
ing public.  That  the  return  of  prosperity  to 
our  whole  i)eople  will  increase  the  existing 
"vacancy"  for  our  journal  in  the  county,  the 
State,  and  elsewhere  we  have  not  a  doubt, 
and  our  aim  shall  be  to  make  it  worthy  of 
public  i)atronagc.  There  arc  many  new  fea- 
tures we  desire  to  introduce  into  its  general 
composition,  and  we  look  chiefly  to  our  agri- 
cultural friends  to  sustain  us  in  oiu-  progressive 
enterprise.  The  great  county  of  Lancaster— 
a  conimonwealth"of  no  mean  dimensions  in 
itself— occupies  a  too  prominent  position  in 
the  Union  to  act  the  part  of  a  mere  subordi- 
nate in  the  march  of  events.  The  eyes  of  the 
whole  country  are  upon  her,  and  she  is 
looked  to  as  a  second  "  mother  country  "  to  a 
large  portion  of  the  agricultural  population 
in  other  counties  and  States,  who  either  have 
resided  within  her  bordei-s  themselves,  or 
whose  ancestry  have  had  their  origin  here. 
Editorial  intercourse  with  our  farmers  during 
the  last  ten  years  has  convinced  tis  that  they 
possess  the  literarv  and  inti'llectnal  abilitv  to 
make  their  Ib.iuglits  and  experiences  known 
through  the  medium  of  the  press  to  an  extent 
that  will  compare  favorably  with  any  other 
portion  of  the  "  Keystone  State,"  and  in  this 
respect,  during  the  same  period,  they  have 
made  much  more  than  the  ordinary  progre.s.s. 
'We  desire  to  make  this  ability — which  we 
know  they  possess — more  available  in  tlie 
future  than  it  has  been  iu  the  past.  liesides 
the  general  good  of  difl'tising  their  knowledge 
among  their  agricultural  brethren,  they  will 
be  instructing  and  greatly  benefiting  them- 
selves, intellectually,  morally  and  socially. 
The  minister  in  his  pulpit,  the  professor  in  his 
laboratory,  the  tutor  in  his  school  room,  and 
the  editor  in  his  sanctum  are  equally  bciie- 
lited  in  the  exercises  of  their  various  functions 
with  those  whom  they  are  instructing.  These 
acts  come  under  the  denomination  of  those 
that  are  "twice  blessed,"  blessing  the  giver 
as  well  as  the  receiver.  The  practical  deduc- 
tions of  the  farmer's  experiences  in  his  honor- 
able calling  are  not  exempt  from  the  ojiera- 
tions  of  the  same  rule.  Every  experience  or 
observation  he  records,  and  every  essay  he 
composes  and  writes  out  fixes  the  facts  and 
principles  involved  in  them  the  more  deeply 
in  hi<>  own  memory.  ]?y  such  a  process  many 
men  have  educated  themselves  who  have 
never  had  the  opportunity  to  become  educated 
at  a  school,  a  seminary  or  a  college. 

Our  aim  is  to  difrnse  the  furts  pertaining  to 
agriculture  among  the  people— such  facts  as 
experience  has  demonstratt  d  to  be  of  para- 
mount value  in  the  field,  the  orchard,  the  gar- 
den, the  barn  and  the  household.  If  the  light 
exists  it  should  he  shed  abroad.  We  arc  ad- 
monished, from  the  very  highest  authority, 
that  our  candle  should  not  be  hidden  under  a 


bed,  or  under  a  busluO,  but  should  be  set  on  a 
caiulle.stick,  and  none  are  so  poor  but  that 
Ihev  have  s<,„„  light.  We  are  not  always  the 
best  judges  ot  tlie  (piality  of  our  own  light. 
The  i r  feriymau  knew  nothing  about  alge- 
bra, and  astronomy,  and  poetry,  and  the 
classics,  but  he  could  swim;  and,  therefore, 
when  the  boat  foundered  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  that  knowledge  was  worth  more  to 
liiin  tlian  all  the  philosopher's  lore,  and  for 
the  want  of  which  the  latter  went  to  the  bot- 
tom, whilst  the  former  reached  the  shore  in 
saf'etv.  This  is  not  intended  to  discredit  the 
learn'ing  of  the  philosopher,  but  to  illustrate 
the  worth  of  the  practical  knowledge  of  the 
illiterate  or  the  humble.  Therefore,  friends, 
give  us  your  facts,  no  matter  how  common- 
place llu'y  may  be,  or  how  ungrammatically 
thi'y  ace  written.  We  will  sec  that  they  are 
not' discreditable  to  vou,  nor  prcjiulicial  to 
oursehvs,  iiiphu-in-  them  bel'ure  tlie  public. 
It  is  not  absolutely  neccssarv  that  we  should 
be  a  practical  farmer  to  edit  an  agricultural 
journal  (although  it  would  not  disiiualify  us 
if  we  were),  our  function  being  to  make  our 
columns  a  reflex  of  the  thoughts,  the  experi- 
ences, and  the  practices  of  those  who  con- 
tribute to  them  for  the  instruction  and  edifica- 
tion of  the  farming  public. 

By  an  announcement  in  another  column, 
the  patrons  of  TuE  Fahmer  will  perceive 
that  there  has  been  a  change  in  the  publisher. 
This  arrangement  was  absolutely  necessary 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  case.  The  former 
publisher's  duties  as  a  printer,  precluded  the 
possibility  of  giving  the  necess.ary  attention 
to  the  usual  details  so  essential  "to  the  suc- 
cessful issue  of  the  publication.  Hence  a 
change  was  made,  and  we  congratulate  our 
patrons  on  the  change  as  a  progressive  one. 
The  new  publisher  was  boru  and  reared  on  a 
farm,  and  is  allied  by  consanguinity  with 
some  of  the  best  farmer  blood  of  the  cotmty. 
His  experience,  and  his  position  as  publisher 
of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  influential  news- 
papers in  Lancaster  county,  is  a  guarantee  of 
his  ability  to  make  our  local  journal  the  peer 
of  ,any  in  our  country.  Of  course,  the  more 
hearty  and  liberal  the  co-operation  of  the 
people  is  in  his  efforts  the  more  efliciently 
will  the  progressive  work  be  accomplished. 
Every  subscriber  iu  the  comity,  or  elsewhere, 
should  at  least  add  one  name  more  to  his  own 
to  begin  the  volume  of  1ST'.).  "  Knowledge  is 
power,"  and  knowledge  also  dissipates  preju- 
dices and  .suspicions.  The  knowledge  we  have 
gained  during  the  last  two  years  has  given  us 
clearer  ideas  of  what  it  costs  to  print  a  paper 
than  we  ever  had  before.  And  now,  dear 
liatrons,  we  have  endeavored  to  portr.ay  our 
objects,  aims,  ends  and  needs,  as  well  as  the 
relations  we  sustain  to  each  other  and  our 
joint  relations  to  the  world  at  large.  Having 
said  this  much,  we  cannot  more  properly  con- 
clude than  by  wishing  you  a  healthful,  a 
prosperous  and  ii  Happn  iVcio  Ytar. 

WRXTE  FOR  THE  FARMER. 

The  County  of  Lancaster,  we  are  convinced, 
has  as  many  practical  thinkers  and  workers 
among  its  population,  proportionally,  as  any 
other  district  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  ; 
and  any  one  who  is  a  practical  thinker  and 
worker,  in  this  age  of  the  world,  is  able  to 
write  or  dictate  a  practical  article  on  subjects 
relating  to  his  secular  occupation.  We  are 
not  particular  as  to  the  grammatical  construc- 
tion of  the  article,  so  that  it  contains  the 
fads  of  the  subjects,  as  they  have  been  de- 
veloped througii  the  experience  of  the  writer 
or  dictator.  We  know  that  m.iny  competent 
persons  plead  that  they  cannot  write,  but 
this  may  be  owing  to  the  circumstance  that 
they  wont  try,  lather  than  to  a  want  of  time 


or  ability.  Writing  stimulates  research  and 
develops  ideas  that  would  lie  unu.std  and  rust- 
ing without  such  stimulant.  There  is  no 
merit  in  keeping  our  knowledge  "hidden 
under  a  bushel,"  merely  becau.se  we  liave  a 
notion  that  it  is  of  no  impmfance,  or  we  may 
not  be  able  to  difTuse  it  in  as  eU  ;.'aiit  phrase- 
ology as  we  would  like.  "  I'reely  ye  have  re- 
ceived, freely  give  "  ought  to  admonish  us  to 
let  our  "liglit  so  shine  that  men  may  see  it." 
And  to  facilitate  this  end,  if  the  patrons  of 
The  Faioieii  will  kindly  funiish  us  with 
the  results  of  their  experiences  in  relation  to 
the  various  departments  of  agriculture,  we 
will  see  that  they  appear  in  our  columns  in  a 

creditable  l'(U-m^ 

TO  CONTRIBUTORS. 

As  it  is  proposed  in  future  to  issue  The 
Faumsu  within  the  first  week  of  each  mouth, 
our  contributors  will  confer  a  special  favor 
by  sending  in  their  papers  intended  for  publi- 
cation, at  least  williiu  llie  last  week  of  the 
preceding  month— rather  earlier  than  later. 
If  those  having  essays  to  read  before  the 
society  will  furnish  us  the  manuscript  in  time 
we  will  put  them  in  type  and  furnish  them 
with  a  slip,  as  well  as  return  the  manuscript. 
This  will  give  them  an  opportunity  to  read 
their  papers  from  a  printed  copy,  and  also 
make  the  nece.s.sary  connections,  before  they 
appear  before  the  public.  By  this  means  we 
will  be  able  to  issue  our  journal  within  a  day 
or  two  after  each  meeting  of  the  society.  The 
regular  publication  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
society  and  the  discussions  which  take  place 
will  constitute  a  valuable  epitome  of  the  agri- 
cultural progress  of  the  county,  especially  as 
the  society  contains  some  good  and  practical 
off-hand  speakers,  who  may  not  have  the  time, 
even  if  they  have  the  inclination  to  write 
their  remarks  on  paper.  AVe  hope  we  are 
understood. 

All  cs.says,  contributions,  communications, 
queries  and  other  papers  intended  for  publica- 
tion in  Tin:  FAioiElt  .should  be  sent  to  the 
editor,  No.  11*1  North  Queen  street.  All  mat- 
tei-s  of  finance,  subscriptions,  advertisements, 
exchanges  and  general  business  should  be 
transacted,  whether  personally  or  by  letter, 
with  the  ptiblisher.  No.  OXorlh  Queen  street, 
(Kra);i(iifr  building).     Also  all  accounts  due 


FAiniEii 


iptions,   advertising 


or  otherwise,  previous  to  .Tanuary  1st.  1879, 
which  have  not  been  settled  up  to  that  date, 
.should  be  settled  with  the  iircsent  publisher  as 
above,  who  has  full  authority  to  .settle  and  re- 
ceipt for  the  same. 

SECOND  CROP  PEARS. 
Mr.  .Tolin  (irossmaii,  of  Warwick  township, 
Lancaster  county,  has  a  pear  tree  which  has 
bloomed  twice  every  season  for  twenty  years, 
but  the  present  is  the  first  year  that  he  has 
noticed  that  it  formed  any  fruit.  The  fruit  it 
formed  this  year,  a  specimen  of  which  is  now 
before  us,  measured  nearly  two  inches  in  cir- 
cumference when  green,  and  about  an  inch  iu 
length.  Of  course  second  crop  fruit,  even  in 
thi.s  latitude,  is  not  an  unusual  thing,  but  it 
is  not  usual  for  fruit  trees,  especially  pears,  to 
bloom  twice  every  season  for  twenty  years  in 
succession.  This'is  a  small  yellow  pear,  with- 
out anv  .special  name,  which  ripens  about  the 
middleof  .luly,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  fails  to 
bear  a  crop,  "if  such  a  pear  tree  were  re- 
moved to  thcCarohnas.  (Jeorgia.  or  Alabama, 
or  perhaps  to  any  of  the  Southern  States, 
might  we  not  reasonably  suppose  it  would 
m.ature  two  crops  of  pears;  for  a  sec- 
ond blooming  for  twenty  years  in  succession 
seems  to  indicate  that  this  extra  effort  at 
fruition  has  become  a  fixed  characteristic  V 
This  tree  seems  never  to  have  been  enervated 
,  by  its  duplicate  bloom. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  January, 


ANNUAL    MEETING    OF    THE     STATE 
BOARD   OF  AGRICULTURE. 

The  fiillowiiig  is  the  programme  of  the 
aiinuiil  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Board  of 
Agriculture,  to  be  held  at  Ilarrisburg,  com- 
inencing  Wednesday,  January  22,  1879,  at 
two  p.  m.  : 

Reading  of  minutes  ;  election  of  ofticers ; 
reception  of  credentials  of  newly  elected  mem- 
bers ;  reports  of  standing  committees  ;  reports 
of  special  committees  ;  reports  of  secretary. 
Essays  and  Subjects  for  Discussion. 

1.  C4rape  Growing  in  Pennsylvania  ;  Varie- 
ties and  Treatment,  by  Dr.  James  Calder, 
President  of  State  College. 

2.  Foreign  and  American  Agriculture,  by 
John  P.  Edge,  member  at  large. 

o.  Tlio  Industrial  Education  of  Europe  as 
it  Aftects  Agriculture,  by  Prof.  J.  P.  Wicker- 
sham,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

4.  Farm  Drainage,  by  Prof.  F.  A.  Allen, 
member  from  Tioga. 

f).  Drainage  with  Stone,  by  Col.  James 
Yoimg. 

0.  Drainage  with  tile,  by  the  Secretary. 

7.  Till'  nst'luhiess  and  profit  of  farming,  and 
the  relation  which  it  bears  to  the  other  in- 
terests of  the  State,  by  W.  G.  Moore,  member 
from  Berks. 

8.  How  we  may  elevate  the  standard  of 
agriculture,  by  C.  C.  Musselraan,  member 
from  Somerset. 

9.  Sunny  and  shady  sides  of  farm  life,  by 
George  "\V.  Hood,  member  from  Indiana. 

10.  The  Guenon  system  ;  negative  side,  by 
Eastburn  Reeder,  member  from  Bucks. 

11.  The  care  of  fruit  trees,  by  Calvin  Cooper, 
President  Lancaster  Comity  Agricultural 
Society. 

12.  The  production  of  milk,  by  J.  P.  Barnes, 
member  from  Lehigh. 

13.  Mineralogy  as  related  to  agriculture,  by 
F.  Prime,  jr..  Assistant  State  Geologist. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  .January  22d,  there 
will  be  a  lecture  by  Dr.  H.  Leffmann,  Micro- 
.scopist  of  the  Board.  .Subject,  "Fungi— large 
and  small — and  their  relations  to  agriculture. " 

Sulijcct  for  general  discussion— "Tickets  of 
admission  to  county  fairs  and  their  price." 

Other  subjects  will  be  discussed  if  time  will 
permit,  and  any  question  of  a  proper  nature, 
handed  to  the  Secretary  by  a  member  of  the 
Board,  will  be  referred,  by  the  President,  for 
an  answer. 

MONTHLY  REMINDERS. 
.January  is  unfavorable  to  out-door  labor ; 
in  the  garden  especially  but  little  can  be  done. 
The  forcing-beds  and  green-houses  will,  of 
course,  require  particular  attention  ;  and  the 
active  man  may  liud  something  to  do  in  pre- 
paring for  a  more  congenial  season.  Poles  and 
rods  for  beans  and  peas  may  be  made  ready  to 
be  used  when  needed ;  manure  collected ; 
compost  heai)s  formed  (by  the  way,  compost 
is  beyond  all  comparison  the  best  form  in 
which  to  apply  fertilizers,  to  most  vegetable 
crops,  and  ample  supplies  may  be  readily  made 
by  proper  attention,  as  the  materials  present 
tliemselves  from  time  during  the  year).  Fruit 
trees  pruned  ;  hedges  clippetl- those  formed 
of  evergreens  not  till  after  frost  has  disap- 
peared ;  asparagus  beds  top-dressed,  prepara- 
tory to  being  dug  when  frost  has  ceased  ;  when 
new  ones  are  to  be  made,  plant  the  Colossal. 
Hot-beds  for  early  forcing  may  be  made,  and 
other  jobs  will  present  themselves  in  antici- 
pation of  spring.  AVhere  there  e.xists  the  will 
to  work  the  opportunity  for  useful  disposition 
of  time  is  ever  present. 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  MANIPULATIONS 
FOR  THE  MONTH. 
Farmers,  gardeners,  fruit-growers,  and  even 
citizens  of  the  towns,  should  now  give  some 
attention  to«their  trees,  .shrubbery  and  plants, 
as  well  as  outhouses,  sheds,  fence-corners, 
and  otlier  "nooks  and  corners."  During  the 
season  when  the  trees  and  shrubljery  are  leaf- 
less, the  cocoons  and  chrysalids  of  such  in- 
sects as  hibernate,  in  that  form,  may  be  dis- 
tinctly seen  adhering  to,  or  dangling  from  their 
branches.    If  these  are  now  collected   fmd 


burned  a  great  nuisance  will  be  abated,  and 
much  vexatious  labor  saved  through  the  sum- 
mer season.  The  spindle-shaped  follicles  of 
the  "basket  worm"  may  now  be  plainly 
seen.  The  egg-bands  of  the  "American  tent 
catterpillar"  may  also  be  seen  encircling  the 
branches.  Clusters  of  the  eggs,  or  of  the 
young,  of  the  "spring  web-worm"  may  also 
be  seen  in  the  forks  of  the  branches.  If  they 
are  out  of  reach  a  small  swab  of  tar,  on  the 
end  of  a  pole,  will  effectually  remove  them  if 
properly  used.  The  naked  chrysalids  of  the 
"white  cabbage  butterfly"  will  be  found  hang- 
ing angularly  on  the  undersides  of  fence  rails, 
window  frames,  door  frames,  or  in  almost  any 
secluded  corner.  A  few  days  ago  we  saw  one 
in  the  angle  of  a  window  sash,  one  about  mid- 
way on  a  vertical  sash,  and  one  absolutely 
fastened  to  the  glass  itself.  If  these  are  care- 
fully gathered  in  this  and  the  next  month  and 
destroyed  it  will  not  only  save  a  great  deal  of 
vexatious  labor  next  summer,  but  also  much 
of  the  cabbage  crop.  It  will  not  do  to  delay 
this  work  until  too  late  in  the  season,  for  only 
a  year  ago  we  found  some  of  these  butterflies 
evolved  and  on  the  wing  in  the  months  of 
February  and  March,  in  one  in.stance  even 
when  the  ground  was  still  covered  wit4i  snow. 
Look  also  under  the  loose  bark  of  dead  trees, 
and  under  the  chips  of  bark  of  living  trees,  for 
the  "apple  moth,"  the  "squash  bugs,"  and 
the  large  "northern  lady  bird,"  (yellow  with 
black  spots).  The  "potato  beetle"  also  hiber- 
nates in  cellars,  under  door  steps,  and  many 
other  places  ;  therefore  keep  a  bright  lookout 
for  them  early  in  the  season,  and  get  before- 
hand with  them. 


MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES  AND 
QUERIES. 

Gold  Fishes. 

To  anxious  inquirers  in  regard  to  "  Gold 
Fishes  "or  "  Golden  Carp  "  ( Cyprinus  atira- 
ius,)  we  would  say  that  most  of  them  die  for 
the  want  of  oxygen  ;  the  most  vital  element 
in  the  composition  of  atmosphere  and  water. 
The  great  mistake  people  make  is  in  getting 
fishes  that  are  too  large  for  their  aquariums. 
Two  fishes  of  six  or  seven  inches  in  length 
should  have  at  least  six  gallons  of  water,  and 
a  sufficient  number  of  healthy  and  growing 
aquatic  plants  to  maintain  the  normal  equili- 
brium. Plants  absorb  carbon  and  give  off 
oxygen.  The  fishes  absorb  oxygen  and  give 
off  carbon  ;  so,  it  will  be  seen,  tliat  one,  when 
rightly  proportioned,  supports  the  other. 
When  fishes  suspend  themselves  vertically  in 
the  water  with  their  noses  at  the  surface 
gasping  for  air,  it  is  a  certain  indication  that 
they  do  not  find  enough  oxygen  in  the  water 
to  support  their  lives.  If  one  or  two  persons 
were  confined  in  a  small  room,  as  entirely  cut 
off  from  nature's  great  reservoir  of  oxygen  as 
fishes  are  in  a  small  tank,  the  would  soon 
suffocate  for  the  want  of  oxygenated  air.  It 
is  true,  this  difficulty  may  be  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, or  entirely  overcome  by  the  frequent 
changing  of  the  water  ;  but  then  this  involves 
a  vast  deal  of  labor— more  than  is  commensu- 
rate with  pleasure. 

The  gold  fish  was  originally  brought  from 
China,  about  two  hundred  years  ago,  when  it 
was  a  greater  curiosity  than  it  is  now.  Some, 
therefore,  imagine  that  they  must  be  kept  in 
water  that  is  several  degrees  above  the  freezing 
point  (or  lukewarm,)  because  they  originally 
came  from  China.  If  other  things  are  "all 
right,"  they  will  live  and  thrive  iii  water  that 
is  thickly  covered  with  ice.  They  do  not  want 
much  food,  and  need  not  be  fed  more  tlian 
once  or  twice  a  week,  and  then  nothing  more 
than  they  will  devour  at  a  time.  The  over- 
plus if  it  remains  in  the  tank  will  ferment  or 
putrify,  and  this  renders  it  unhealthy,  and 
often  leads  to  their  death.  They  don't  want 
to  be  pampered,  they  only  want  ajdain  living. 
Many  ponds  are  in  the  United  States  aiid 
Europe  where  they  thrive  and  greatly  multiply 
withouthout  the  least  care  ;  but,  if  from  any 
cause  the  water  becomes  impure,  they  are 
almost  certain  to  die.  They  can  "stand"  a 
good  deal,  but  not  poisoned  water. 


A  New  Grain. 

A  new  grain,  resembling  rye  somewhat, 
only  twice  as  largo,  with  straw  and  beardless 
head,  resembling  wheat,  is  the  subject  of  com- 
ment in  some  of  the  California  exchanges. 
When  cut,  as  it  is  passing  into  milk,  it  is  said 
to  make  hay  far  superior  to  wheat  hay.  The 
discovery  of  this  grain  is  claimed  by  a  farmer 
in  Surprise  Valley,  in  the  north  part  of  the 
State,  who  took  it  from  the  crop  of  a  wild 
goose  which  had  been  shot.  Sowing  the  seed 
innnediately  lie  had  the  satisfaction  in  due 
time  of  reaping  more  than  a  hundred  fold. 
He  considers  it  in  every  respect  superior  to  rye. 

If  it  is  only  superior  to  rye  it  may  not  be 
quite  the  thing  we  want  at  this  time,  but  let 
it  "circulate,"  it  may  have  quantiti/  if  not 
qualil'j,  and  that  is  somelhiny. 

Mr.  W.  L.  II.,  liapho  township,  Lancaster 
county,  Pa. — The  long  whip-like  or  tail-like 
I)lant,  growing  at  two  places  along  the  mar- 
gin of  the  Ijiltle  Chickies  creek,  on  your 
farm,  is  called  "  Scouring  Rush"  (Eqidsctum 
hyemale,)  and  is  used  in  some  places  where  it 
abounds  plentifully,  for  purposes  of  scouring. 
This  property  is  derived  from  its  finely  corru- 
gated external  structures,  and  the  presence  of 
an  immense  number  of  minute  silicious  gran- 
ules on  its  surface  and  in  its  internal  composi- 
tion. It  belongs  to  and  is  the  typical  genus 
of  the  EcjuiSETACE.E,  or  "Horsetail"  family  ; 
the  name  of  which  is  derived  from  cquus,  a 
horse,  and  seta,  a  hair.  We  need  not  tell  you 
that  it  never  bears  leaves,  for  that  fact  must 
have  been  apparent  to  you  whenever  you  saw 
it  during  the  summer.  It  only,  however, 
exhibits  one  of  those  singular  links  in  the  long 
chain  of  vegetation  which  unites  in  a  har- 
monious whole,  the  various  productions  of 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  of  which  every 
clime  produces  its  counterparts. 

As  Others  See  Us. 

Newark,  Dec.  l~Hi,  1878. 
Mr.  Ratuvon— I'm)-  ,Sir:  I  am  so  well  pleased 
with  TiiF,  T,ANiAfTEi:  Fakmeu  Ihaf  I  have  received 
tliis  last  vrai-  that  I  i-ii-lnsr  Sl/_5  lurtlic  renewal  of 

™r»"cV .!'/.///'-'/«',•  ,i„~l  /,.<//  jj'uu'.-.  Hopin-'all  your 
patrons  will  do  the  same  as  I  have  done,  I  remain, 
respectfully,  yours,  W.Ii.  .1.,  J.-t3  BellcviUe  avenve, 
Newarlr,  New  Jersey. 

[Next  to  the  echoes  from  home,  where  Ave 
ought  to  be  be  best  known,  we  value  those 
from  abroad,  and  none  are  more  welcome  than 
those  that  reverberate  from  the  "  Jarseys." 
Thank  vou  kindly  ;  these  are  the  oases  in  the 
desert  of  our  editorial  days.  iMay  they  ever 
continue  fresh  and  green.— Ed.] 

Snlisbi'uy,  N.  C,  Dec.  IG,  18~S. 
Mr.  Editor— i>C((r  tiir :  On  Saturday  last,  by 
request  of  Ransom  Jaco' s,  I  sent  you  for  him  by 
mail  (to^'ether  with  the  extra  papers  you  mailed  to 
him,)  $1. "11  ill  currency  to  pay  his  subscription  up 
to  lirst  ot  .laiiu.uy,  Lsi'.i.  You  may  continue  sending 
The  Lam  A>ri:u  rAiiMKK  to  me  upon  former  con- 
ditions, llilii- iuMjic.-iiii.ii  meets  with  your  appro- 
bation let  nie  kiinw  tlin)iii;li  TliE  Fakmek.— ro!(fS 
tnihj,  Martin  liirhwbir. 

[All  right.  Let  us  hear  from  you  often, 
and  send  us  all  the  new  names  you  can,  for 
we  do  not  wish  to  conceal  our  light  "under  a 
bushel."— Ed.]        

QUARRTVILLE,  Dec.  1.5,  1S78. 
Dn.  S.  S.  Rathvon — Dear  Hir:  I  send  you  this 
morning  the  lonn;  looUed-for  female  opossum.  I  am 
sorry  it  is  dead,  and  not  "  playing  possum."  Possi- 
bly I  may  send  you  a  live  one  some  of  these  days. 
Please  let  me  know  if  you  received  it  all  right,  and 
oblige  yours  truly,  J{.  C.  E. 

[Your  "  opossum  "  {Didclphis  virfjinianus,) 
came  safely  to  hand,  and  in  due  time  will  be 
■scientifically,  if  not  gastronomically,  dis- 
cussed.    Please  accept  our  thanks:— Ed.] 

"IT  STANDS  TO  REASON" 
That  The  L.vxcasteii  Farmer  must  be 
the  best  advei'tising  medium  in  the  county  of 
Lancaster,  in  everything  of  a  permanent  and 
useful  character  that  relates  to  farming,  gar- 
dening and  housekeeping.  It  is  a  fireside 
journal ;  is  (.•onvenient  to  refer  to  ;  always 
near  at  hand  ;  and  is  a  permanent  institution 
of  the  household,  the  workshop,  the  manu- 
flictory  and  the  farm.  This  '  'stands  to  reason. " 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


INSECT  SAGACITY. 

The  olcaiulor  In  Los  Anijck-s,  like  the  oraiiijc  ti-oo, 
is  iiifestc<l  Willi  tlie  hliick  scale  l)iij,'.  .\  freeli  plant 
Bct  out  is  5(1  quickly  coveted  that  an  imiuest  was 
hcUl.  Behold  !  anarray  of  redaiits,  each  well  loaded, 
was  obeervcd  to  be  traiiepoitin;;  these  aphiiles  from 
plants  alicady  fiiiliiit;  to  new  quarters  for  fresh  pas- 
ture-. I'l  ■  ^  ^1  '  ii::  is  the  red  ant's  cow.  By 
tlluliii;  I  li  III  I  i\es  tlio  bug  to  exude  drops  of 
lusii' ^  II'  vhieh  is  at  once  appropriated. 
IIow\ir\  iiu  h  I  ilieliuman  brain  and  human 
coffitaluHi  :  11  ii;iMms  that  the  sap  of  that  plant 
feeds  llie  Inn;,  and  that  the  buf;  propagates  there. 
Naturalists  go  so  far,  but  no  further. 

A  curious  freak  of  the  army  worms  (caterpillars) 
occurred  at  thu  Soiiora  foundry,  Culiforiiia.  The 
worms,  having:  gobbled  uji  cvnyl  liin^'  Kreeii  in  the 
neighborhood,  entered  Un-  rmiiidry  in  lorce.  Not 
lindlii'r  srnib,  and  not  w  illiii- Ici  ^ive  it  up  so,  tliey 
pitc'ied  '111"  111''  iiiiil'lers' sand,  wliieli  was  to  be 
used  I'll  I  I  I  Hi  -,  iiM morning.  The  castings  were 
a  deal  I  1         li^'ation  revealed  thousands  of 

sand,  which  they  deranged 


.—.!)■. 


Tlu'  aliovL'  coiUL-.s  to  US  through  the  eolumn.s 
of  a  rocciit  iiuinborof  the  UaUiiiioie  iS'kii.  We 
wish  llic  wiitt'i-  had  made  acloafcr  (U.stiiictiou 
between  "  scale  lnip;s  "  and  "  aiiliidcs."  Scale 
it)sects  (.-..■.vO  arc  iisiiallv  mi  iiiini.nal.lc,  nrirn 
SO  larfjc.  and  always  so  adlicsivc,  thai  \vc  can 
hardly  sec  limv  they  cunld  l.c  dclailicd  and 
trjiiisidaiited  from  one  iilace  to  another  l)y 
auts,  unless  they  were  very  largo  ants,  anil 
very  loose  hu^s.  Moreover,  the  con-i  are  not 
as  remarkable  for  the  excretion  of  lioncv-dcw 
as  are  the  i/,,/,»7i,:.  And  y<d  I  lie  coccus  oC  the 
oranf;e  does  exu<ic  a  sweel  nuicns  I lia |  allracLs 
the  ants,  and  we  have  otlcn  noticed  this  on 
the  oranLTc  tree  in  our  possession.  ]5nt  seale 
insects  in  this  lalilndc  are  not  remarkable  for 
this  (inalily,  at  least  not  to  any  great  degree. 
It  is  common,  however,  to  aphiih's,  or  "plant 
lice  "  as  they  are  popularly  eallcd,  known  also 
in  England  as  "ant  cows."  13nt  surely  a 
shcpheVd  or  a  dairyman,  who  slionld  drive  his 
flock  or  his  herd  from  an  exhausted  pa-lure  to 
one  more  Uixnriaid.  in  ordci-  to  ineiea-c  Ihcir 
volume  of  llesh  or  their  (luantity  of  milk,  coidd 
.not  lia\c  acted  more  rationally  in  etiectiiig 
that  end  than  these  insects  did,  if  the  above 
record  bo  ;i  veritable  one.  Ants  arc  well 
known  to  have  transplanted  aphides  to  their 
own  homes— and  not  the-e  alone,  but  also 
their  food- and  to  herd  and  feed  lliem  ilierc, 
in  order  that  they  Ihein-elves  nii-lil  I'ea-t  on 
their  saccharine  excretions.  About  the  bare 
fact  of  pro]ia','ation,  we  presume  the  ants  have 
no  ftirther  interesi  in  it  than  it  may  increase 
the  amount  oltlie  hou'v  prodnet. 

The  "curiou-  IVeak"  ,<{  Uw  armv  worms 
allude.l  to  inav  not  In'  -o  vei-y  eurii'm-  after 
all.  Allir  thi'v  bud  ■•-olil'lcd  npeverv  -reeu 
thing,"  it  is  prohalilc  they  were  ready  to 
undergo  their  pupal  transformation,  and  iind- 
ing  the  inolders'  sand  tifforiled  the  necessary 
conditions,  they  may  have  chosen  that  in 
preference  to  the  hard  earth  on  which  thcv 
had  traveled.  The  army  worms  creep  into 
the  earth  and  change  to  a  pupa  afler  tlicy 
have  com)ilet('d  their  larval  period  and  lemaiii 
there  until  they  come  forth  a  moth. 

THE  FOX  SQUIRREL. 

Sportsmen  in  this  part  of  the  <■.  iiii'\  .,111  in  in- 
somewhat  in  aquandry  as  to  wliai  1  i,,x 

squirrel.     Some  entertain  the  oiiii]:-  n  1  :.  :        n     ..nn 

applies  to  the  commoii  or   more    imi v    iriM.Mii- 

nated  red  squirrel  in  this  part  of  the  eumiiv,  which 
opinion  has  thus  far  deterred  many  from  "shooting 
those  animals.  Blngby,  in  his  history  of  animated 
nature,  one  of  the  most  complete  natural  histories 
extant,  does  not  say  anything  about  the  fox  squirrel, 
consequently  we  are  inclined  to  tliink  that  no  squir- 
rels of  that  name  exist,  but  that  it  may  probably  be 
the  local  name  of  some  species  of  gray  squirrel. 
Will  some  member  of  the  Legislature,  or  some 
naturalist  be  kind  enough  to  lielp  our  sportsmen  out 
of  this  quandry?— f'on-cvyioHt/in^  Xcm  Era. 

It  is  questionable  whether  there  is  a  sjieci- 
men  of  the  trtic  "fox  sipiirrel"  {Srun-m  Vid- 
pinm]  to  be  found  in  Lanea:4er  eonnt\-,  if  in 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  fox  squirrel 
is  the  largest  scpiirrel  kn')wn  to  Xorlii  .\meri- 
ca,  but  belongs  to  the  Southern  States,  from 
North  Carolina  down  to  Texas.  It  measures 
twelve  inches  or  more  from  the  no.se  to  the 
root  of  the  tail,  and  the  tail  has  a  length  of 
fifteen  inches.     The  cars  and  nose  are  always 


white,  but  otherwise  the  color  is  very  variable, 
from  a  gray  above  and  white  beneath,  through 
all  shades  of  rusty  to  a  imiform  black.  The 
Western  fox  siiuirrel  1  ,sV/»,-ir.s  /(/i/'.re/,,,,,*.,-,)  is 
conliiied  mainly  to  tlie  .Mi..-i--ippi  \all,  v.  It 
is  nearly  as  large  as  tie'  Southern  -peeie-',  hot 
the  tail'isonly  the  length  of  thi:  body.  The 
no.sc  and  ears  are  never  white.  The  "color  is 
a  rusty  gray  iibovo  and  a  bright  ferruginous 
(the  color  of  iron-rust)  beneath. 

Intermediate  between  tliese  two  species, 
and  of  nearly  the  -aine  -i/ ■  in  l"id\.  is  the 
"Cat  S,|uirrel,"  also  called  ihe  |ox  -,p,iirel, 
(.S'ci'iiru.s-  c//(fi-f !(.-.■,)  of  IVnnsylvania,  with  a 
geographical  habitat  extending  from  Xcw 
Jersey  to  Virginia  ;  but  its  tail  is  two  inches 
longer  than  the  Western  .sjieeies,  and  one  inch 
or  more  shorter  than  the  Siiulherfi  species.  In 
color  it  nearly  resembles  the  Southern  fox 
squirrel,  but  organically  it  is  heavier  than 
either  of  the  other  two.  The  ears  and  nose 
are  never  wdiite.  It  is  most  abundant  in  the 
Alleghanics,  but  thirty  and  forty  years  ago  it 
was  frequently  met  with  in  Lancaster  county  ; 
it  was,  howc;ver,  seldom  met  with  on  the 
western  side  of  the  AUeglumies.  There  is  at 
least  one  specimen  of  it  in  the  museum  of  the 
Liniia'an  society.  Our  common  gray  squirrel 
{sriurits  carolincTisis,)  is  about  ten  inches  in 
length  to  the  root  of  the  tail,  and  that  ap- 
pendage is  about  one  inch  longer  than  the 
body  ;  and,  although  it  may  vary  in  the  shade 
of  gray  above,  it  is  always  a  pure  white  be- 
neath. 

We  have  not  the  game  laws  before  us, 
and  therefore  we  cannot  recall  what  species 
peoiile  are  prohiliited  from  .shooting,  but  if  it 
.says  fox  siptirrel  it  does  not  mean  the  "red 
squirrel"  (Sciiirus  liwls(mius,)  or  "chicarce," 
as  it  is  called  in  some  places— but  must  refer 
to  wicretf.'s  our  "cat  .squirrel,"  so  called  from 
the  "stumpiness"  of  its  ears. 

In  enacting  laws  relating  to  the  animal 
world,  legi.slators  only  create  confusion,  when 
they  ignore  scientific  nomenclature.  The 
scientilie  names  ought  to  be,  at  least,  inclosed 
in  pan  ntliesis,  a- wi' have  them  in  this  arti- 
cle, and  ilieii  tlie  rkMdei-,  it  lie  chooses,  Can 
skill  o\('r  III.  rn  williou',  de-t  royiii:.'  the  seu.se. 
Thev  will  be  land  marks,  or  ratlier  a  com|iass, 
to  point  out  the  dircclion  in  which  the  reader 
is  sailing,  for  there  is  no  relianc,'  .generally,  in 
local  common  names.  The  Soiitiiern  .species 
is  specifically  named  ri///»ii(iN,  which  is  from 
vul^KS,  a  fox,  and  that  i-  jierhajis  the  oidy 
species  that  is  entitled  to  the  comnum  name 
of  "]^ix  Squirrel." 

In  conejiision,  we  may  be  permitted  to  say, 
that  I'.ingliy's  history  of  animated  nature  can 
not  lie  very  "complete,"  or  it  surely  woultl 
have  said  something  about  an  animal  so  com- 
mon as  the  fox  squirrel.  There  are  many  so- 
called  histories  of  iinimated  nature  that  nVight 
just  as  well  never  have  been  written,  for  all 
the  help  they  afford  in  solving  seientific  prob- 
lems ;  for.  do  as  wo  will,  we  cannot  absolve 
ourselves  from  the  aid  of  science. 

TWELVE    HUNDRED    CATERPILLARS 
TAKEN   FROM   A   SINGLE   TREE. 

Mr.  (J.  Lemon,  of  East  Chestntd  street, 
brought  us  two  compact  masses  of  caterpillars, 
which  he  fotmd  hiid  been  depredating  upon 
his  fJerman  walnut  tree,  containing  about 
twelve  hundred  in  number- lather  more  than 
less.  These  are  the  larva' of  Datana  ministra, 
the  "  Hand-Maid  "  or  "  walnut  inolh."  The 
color  of  these  larva'  is  so  near  that  of  the 
branches  of  the  tree  that  they  sometimes  strip 
ofT  all  the  leaves  without  their  presence  being 
suspected,  which  was  the  ease  with  ^Ir.  Le- 
mon, he  not  knowing  that  they  were  present 
until  he  found  them  all  htiddled  and  matted 
together  on  the  ground,  and  on  the  trunk  of 
the  tree.  Length,  one  and  a  half  inches  ; 
head,  jet  black  :  color,  maroon  brown  ;  pec- 
toral legs,  six  ;  prolegs,  ten ;  a  medium  yel- 
lowish marginal  line  or  stripe  on  each  side  the 
entire  length  :  three  finer  lateral  lines  on 
each  side,  of  the  same  color  and  length  ; 
sparsely  covered  with  whitish  hair;  at  rest, 
much  in  the  habit  of  adhering  by  the  prolegs 
and  raising  the  head  and  front  part  of  tlie  I 


Ivody  upward  and  backward  ;  or,  when  dis- 
turbed at  feeding,  apt  to  assume  this  po.sition 
with  a  sudden  jerk,  or  suddenly  throwing  the 
front  part  of  I  he  body  friun  side  to  .side. 

The  foreg<iiiiL',  however,  maiidy  represents 
these  caterpillars  before  their  last  moidting. 
Alter  that  period  the  I'ormer  linesaud  coloring 
become  obliterated  and  Iheaninial  is  black  all 
over,  as  to  Hie  head  and  bodv,  and  the  hair 
becomes  thicker,  whiter  and  longer.  The 
head  also  becomes  larger  and  blacker  ;  and  if 
Mr.  ]j.  could  have  .seen  his  "iiatch"  of  worms 
to-day,  he  jirobably  would  have  failed  to 
recogiii/.e  them— they  would  have  been  so 
greatly  changed. 

This  issomeiimes called  the  "walnutmotb," 
and  although  it  infests  all  kinds,  it  is  jiartial 
to  the  cultivated  kinds  of  waliinls,  but  must 
not  be  conro'anded  with  the  "  liii|icrial  walnut 
moth"  (Dryocanipa  imiierialisi.  the  larva  of 
which  attains  to  three  or  four  inches  in  length, 
and  as  thick  as  a  man's  thumb,  with  half  a 
dozen  prominent  horns  on  the  front  part  of 
the  body.  The  siiecies  we  have  been  con- 
sidering often  surprises  jieople  by  its  sutldcn 
deliarture.  I'erhajis  tlu'  tree  is"full  of  them 
to-day,  and  yon  apply  sonic  pow-wow  remedy 
for  their  removal,  such,  for  instance,  as  hang- 
ing old  hor.seshoes  on  the  limbs,  boring  a 
gimlet  hole  into  the  trunk  and  filling  it  with 
sulphur,  or  rubbing  the  trunk  and  larger 
branches  with  the  kidneys  of  a  he-owl  ;  and 
behold,  the  next  day  it  is  found  that  all  the 
caterpillars  have  vanished,  and  the  remedy  is 
recorded  as  a  success.  Ihit  the  eaterpiliara 
having'  completed  tlieir  larval  development, 
have  oii]\  erept  into  the  groimd  to  undergo 
their  impal  traiisrormation,  afler  which  they 
coint^orth  in  the  form  of  a  brownish  yellow 
moth,  expanding  from  two  to  two  and  a  half 
inches,  the  head  and  thorax  covered  with  a 
thick  velvety  coat  of  fur,  of  a  rich  brown 
coloi-,  and  then  each  female  is  ready  to  found 
a  new  colony.  They  are,  however,  liable  to 
many  casualties,  or  ihe  country  might  boon  be 
overrun  with  them. 

Mr.  Lemon  was  fortunate  In  trapjiing  them 
as  he  did  ;  and  here  we  may  say  that  we  know 
of  no  caterpillar  that  is  easier  to  destroy  than 
this  one,  for  they  arc  so  gregarious  in  their 
habits  that  they  always  collect  togi'ther  in 
compact  masses  on  the  trunks  of  the  trees 
when  they  are  done  feeding,  or  at  nights,  and 
make  no  attenqit  to  escape. 

There  are  sometimes  two  broods  of  these 
moths  ill  one  season  ;  indeed,  a  little  farther 
South  this  is  always  the  ease.  l!ut  when  they 
come  down  from  the  trees  so  late  as  the  Ttliof 
August,  to  iicrl'orni  ther  last  moult,  it  is  ijiiite 
likely  the  piipie  would  remain  in  the  ground 
until  next  siiring. 

ANTIDOTE  FOR  CURRANT  "WORMS. 

A  correspondent  writes  to  the  Country 
Ocntkman  :  Seeing  occasionally  in  your  paper 
some  one  recommending  soapsuds,  carbolic 
acid,  white  hellebore,  etc.,  for  currant  worms, 
let  me  state  my  expirience. 

My  bushes  have  borne  well  during  all  the 
passed  years,  and  we  have  had  curiaui  pics, 
currant  jelly,  etc.,  (we  iire  temiicrate— so  we 
don't  make  currant  wine),  while  our  neigh- 
bors have  stood  back  and  wondered.  Some 
.said  it  was  because  we  lived  on  a  cross-road, 
that  currant  worms,  like  tramps,  preferred 
the  main  lines.  A  few  made  their  appearance 
every  year  ;  we  picked  them  oil' and  saw  them 
no  more.  This  year  one  bush  had  ii  good 
many  on  it,  and  we  picked  ofl"  the  leaves 
where  they  had  been  at  work,  but  the  worms 
were  gone.  "What  did  they  leave  for?" 
"  Where  did  they  go  ?"  "  What  carried  them 
off  V"  were  questions  we  asked  oureelves.  So 
we  investigated. 

Near  by  was  a  large  colony  of  ants,  and  we 
have  seen  niimbeis  of  them  rnniiiie.'  over  the 
bushes.  Knowing  what  inquisitive  tliinss 
ants  arc,  we  set  the  jiail  down  <in  the  knoll 
and  awaited  results,  riesently  one  mounted 
the  pail,  went  down  into  it  and  returned  with 
a  worm  larger  than  himself,  and  off  lie  went 
home.  When  he  returned  he  brought  with 
him  his  brothers  and  sisters,  liis  father  and 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[January, 


mother,  and  eacli  got  a  worm  ;  then  lliey 
brought  their  friends,  until  the  pail  was  black 
with  them.  The  carrying  off  of  those  in  the 
pail,  however,  was  not  so  much  what  we 
wanted  as  those  on  the  bushes,  so  we  removed 
it.  We  have  looked  for  worms  since,  but  have 
found  none,  and  are  satisfied  that  the  ants 
take  care  of  them. 

There  is  no  patent  on  this,  Mr.  Editor,  and 
.anyone  is  at  liberty  to  try  it  if  they  choose  ; 
for  our  part  we  prefer  it  to  the  time  and  ex- 
pense of  using"  the  various  lotions  recom- 
mended, to  say  nothing  about  the  danger  of 
using  some  of  them.  With  .ants  for  currant 
worms,  hens  for  potatoe  bugs,  and  turkeys 
for  grasshoppers,  we  see  no  reason  why  we 
cannot  be  prosperous. 

Good,  perhaps,  so  far  as  it  goes,  but  a  feeble 
read  to  lean  on.  Suppose  we  have  a  hundred, or 
a  thousand  infested  currant  bushes  and  a  few 
ornoantsV  How  then?  Does  the  writer  intend 
to  suggest  their  colonizationV 

IMPERIAL  WALNUT  MOTH. 

The  magnilicient,  horned,  green  worm,  sub- 
mitted to  our  inspection,  is  the  larva  of  the 
•'Imperial  Walnut  Moth,"  (Dryommpa  im- 
ijerialis)  and  its  food  is  the  foliage  of  the  com- 
mon walnut  tree  {Juglans  nigra).  It  has  un- 
dergone its  last  moulting  and  is  now  ready  to 
bury  itself  in  the  ground  and  be  transformed 
to  a  black  chrysalis,  where  it  will  remain  until 
next  spring,  when  the  walnut  is  in  foliage, 
when  it  will  evolve  from  its  pupal  sleep,  as  a 
most  magnificent  moth,  with  reddish-brown 
and  orange  colors,  and  expanding  about  six 
inches  from  "tip  to  tip"  of  the  front  or  an- 
terior wings. 

This  larva  (before  us)  measures  five  inches 
in  length  and  three  inches  in  circumference  ; 
dark  green  in  color  ;  an  orange  colored  head 
and  caudal  prolegs,  with  pectoral  feet  of  the 
same  color.  The  prolegs  are  all  black  and 
there  are  six  black  spines  arranged  transverse- 
ly on  each  segment  of  the  whole  body.  The 
spines  on  the  three  anterior  segments  are 
orange  colored  at  the  base  and  lower  half,  and 
four  of  those  on  the  second  and  third  seg- 
ments, are  from  a  half  to  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  long,  and  slightly  bent  like  the  horns  of 
an  antelope,  and  on  the  whole  it  presents  a 
very  formidable  appearance.  There  are  also 
two  large  Ijlack  spots  or  maeulations  between 
the  second  and  the  third  segments.  We  have 
known  of  this  insect  for  a  very  long  time. 
Nearly  sixty  years  ago  one  fell  from  a  walnut 
tree,  under  which  we  and  a  number  of  boys 
were  resting,  and  produced  a  great  consterna- 
tion among  us.  We,  however^  gathered  suffl- 
cient  courage  to  capture  him  and  convey  him 
into  the  town,  where  he  was  a  seven-days' 
wonder. 

We  have  never  known  the  walnut  moth  to 
become  numerous,  and  they  confine  them- 
selves entirely  to  the  different  kinds  of  wal- 
nut. They  are  difMcult  to  raise,  and  we  never, 
but  once,  succeeded  in  producing  the  moth, 
but  often  failed.— ifuicasfei-,  Sept.  1, 1878. 

"COLD  SNAP." 
The  very  cold  weather  which  has  thus  far 
accompanied  the  incoming  New  Year,  has 
been  pretty  general  throughout  the  northern 
region  of  our  country,  and  has  even  extended 
far  down  into  the  southern  region.  In  Lan- 
caster county  tlie  thermometer  was  "boxing 
about"  somewhere  between /rmr  nud  ticdi-c 
degrees  below  zero  ,•  but  this  was  nothing  to 
the  markings  between  sixteen  and  sMy  which 
it  made  in  the  British  possessions,  on  the 
north  of  our  territory.  Cold  weather,  how- 
ever unfriendly  it  may  be  to  some  people,  has 
yet  its  compensations  ;  and  the  whole,  vegeta- 
tion—and, perhaps,  also  the  human  family- 
suffers,  generally,  less  from  extreme  cold  than 
it  does  from  extreme  heat.  January  may  be 
regarded  as  a  precarious  month  ;  because, 
vegetation  revived  during  that  month,  is  very 
certain  to  be  overtaken  by  a  "cold  snap"  be- 
fore the  opening  spring.  This  may,  also,  be 
the  case  if  such  a  contingency  occurs  during 
February  or  March,  but  it  is  sure  to  follow 
the  germinations  of  January.    Cold  weather 


secures  that  perfect  repose  of  the  vegetable 
world  whicli  is  so  necessary  in  our  latitude  to 
secure  its  uninterrupted  and  vigorous  activity 
after  the  cold  season  has  subsided.  We  want 
cold  weather  for  at  least  two  months  to  come. 

ABOUT   EELS. 

I  have  witnessed  the  spring  migration  of 
eels,  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  inches  long, 
up  the  Susquehanna  river,  in  countless  thous- 
ands, (perhaps  millions).  Has  any  other 
individual  residing  along  that  stream,  or  else- 
where, witnessed  a  similar  phenomenon  ?  I 
make  this  inquiry  because  in  nearly  all  I  read 
upon  the  subject  of  eels  (that  has  recently 
been  published)  that  characteristic  has  been 
but  incidentally  and  vaguely  alluded  to  ;  or, 
if  more  distinctly  stated,  it  has  not  been  from 
the  writer's  own  personal  observation. 

Any  information  on  this  subject,  together 
with  dates,  localities  and  special  circum- 
stances will  be  thankfully  received  by  S.  S. 
Batlivon,  101 N.  Queen  street,  Lancader,  Pa. 

URANINE. 

This  is  the  most  recently  discovered,  and  perhaps 
the  most  remarkable,  of  all  the  coal  tar  or  aniline 
group  of  coloring  substances,  now  so  extensively 
used  for  the  adornment  of  the  finest  fabrics.  Uranine 
is  said,  by  chemists,  to  be  the  most  higlily  Horescenc 
body  known  to  science.  Its  coloring  power  is  aston- 
ishing ;  a  single  grain  will  impart  a  marked  color  to 
nearly  Ave  hundred  gallons  of  water. 

A  most  interesting  experiment,  which  anybody 
may  try,  consists  in  sprinkling  a  few  atoms  of  Ura- 
nine upon  the  surface  of  water  in  a  glass  tumbler. 
Each  atom  immediately  sends  down  through  tlie 
water  what  appears  to  be  a  bright  green  rootlet, 
and  the  tumbler  soon  loohs  as  if  it  were  crowded 
full  of  beautiful  plants.  Tlie  rootlets  now  begin  to 
enlarge,  spread  and  combine,  until  we  have  a  mass 
of  soft  green-colored  liquid.  Viewed  by  trusmitted 
light  the  color  changes  to  a  bright  golden  or  amber 
hue  ;  while  a  combination  of  greeirand  gold  will  be 
realized,  according  to  the  jiosition  in  which  the  glass 
is  held.  For  day  or  evening  experiment  nothing  can 
be  prettier  than  these  trials  of  Uranine,  which  are 
especially  entertaining  for  the  young  folks.  We  are 
indebted  for  examples  of  the  color  to  the  editors  of 
the  •Seieiitiflc  American,  who  are  sending  out  speci- 
mens, free  of  charge,  to  all  their  readers.  The  sub- 
scription to  the  paper  is  S'!.20  for  a  year,  or  §1.00 
half  year :  and  a  better  investment  for  the  money 
could  hardly  be  named. 

PENNSYLVANIA  FRUIT  GROWERS' 
SOCIETY. 

The  twentieth  annual  meeting  of  this  so- 
ciety will  be  held  in  '-Alder  Hall,"  near  Court 
House,  Reading,  Pa.,  commencing,  January 
15th,  1879,  at  2  o'clock,  p.m.,  and  continuing 
over  Thursday  16th. 

A  cordial  invitation  is  extended  to  fruit 
growers,  horticulturists,  both  amateur  and 
professional,  and  all  others  wlio  feel  interested 
in  the  discussion  of  these  and  kindred  topics, 
to  meet  with  us  and  give  results  and  benefit 
of  their  experience.  We  also  invite  such  as 
feel  interested  in  the  welfare  of  our  society  to 
become  members  thereof  and  thus  aid  in  ex- 
tending its  influence  and  usefulness  more 
generally  throughout  the  State.  The  object 
of  our  organization  was  to  gather  and  sy  tema- 
tize  pomological  and  horticultural  knowledge 
and  disseminate  the  same  for  the  benefit  of  all 
engaged  in  similar  pursuits.  The  pubhshed 
reports  of  the  society,  which  are  issued  annu- 
ally, free  to  all  members,  form  a  valuable 
library  for  reference  and  are  well  worth  the 
fee  of  membership. 

"lilishler's  Hotel"  will  board  members  and 
delegates  at  .11.50  per  day,  including  free 
transportation  from  and  to  the  depot.  It  may, 
therefore,  be  considered  head(iuarters  for  the 
society. 

Excursion  tickets  will  be  issued  by  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railroad  Company 
from  the  following  stations,  on  January  14th 
and  15th,  good  until  Saturday  18th,  inclu- 
sive :  Philadelphia,  AVilliamsport,  Harrisburg, 
Lancaster,  Allen  town,  Cattavvissa,  Norris- 
town,  Columbia,  Lebanon,  Down ingtown  and 
Litiz.  The  Willmington  &  Northern  Railroad 
Company  will  al.so  issue  excursion  tickets 
from  Waynesburg  Junction,  Coatesville  and 
Chadd's  Ford,  oii  the  15th  and  IGth,  and  good 
until  the  18th, 

Persons  having  new  varieties  of  fruits,  or 


any  fine  specimens  of  fruits,  flowers  or  vege- 
tables, or  any  improved  horticultural  imple- 
ments in  their  possession,  arc  respectfully 
requested  to  exhibit  them  at  the  i^eeting. 
Articles  intended  for  exhibition  may  be  sent 
to  E.  B.  Engle,  Secretary,  Mishler's  Hotel, 
Reading,  Pa. 

In  again  convening  the  members  of  this 
society  the  officers  are  happy  to  announce  that 
an  unusually  full  and  interesting  meeting  may 
be  expected.  Some  of  the  leading  horticul- 
turists of  the  State  have  promised  to  meet 
and  address  the  society  upon  interesting  and 
appropriate  horticultural  subjects. 
Essays  and  Addresses. 

"Disease  of  the  Pear,"  by  E.  Satterthwait, 
Jenkintown,  Pa. 

"Modern  Fruit  H, uses,"  by  Hon.  Geo.  D. 
Stitzel,  Reading,  Pa. 

"Profit  and  Pleasure  in  Gardening,"  by 
Tlios.  Meehan,  editor  Gardeners''  Monthly, 
Germantown,  Pa. 

"Sewage— How  to  utilize  the  same,  its  ap- 
plication to  Fruit  Growing,  and  how  to  obtain 
best  results,"  by  A.  R.  Sprout,  Picture 
Rocks,  Pa. 

'•Uses  and  Abuses  of  Pruning,"  by  Presi- 
dent Calder,  State  College,  Pa. 

"Lepidoptera  (moths  and  butterflies,)  of 
North  America,"  by  Herman  Strecker,  of 
Reading,  Pa. 

"Culture  and  Training  of  the  Vine,''  by  H. 
M.  Engle,  Marietta,  Pa'. 

"Mulching  and  its  Benefits,"  by  Alexander 
Burnett,  Reading,  Pa. 

Mr.  Casper  Ililler,  of  Conestoga,  Pa.,  has 
also  promised  a  paper,  subject  not  yet  an- 
nounced ;  and  several  other  prominent  horti- 
culturists are  expected  to  prepare  articles,  but 
have  not  yet  responded. 

Committees    for  1878. 

General  Fruit  Committee.— John  I.  Carter, 
Chester  county,  chairman;  Casper  Ililler, 
Lancaster  county;  Morgan  Rufe,  Bucks 
county;  A.  R.  Sprout,  Lycoming  county;  S. 
W.  Nu'ole.  Montgomery  county;  E.  J.  Evans, 
York  county;  G.  II.  Small,  Dauphin  county; 
A.  S.  ShelleV,  Union  county;  AV.  L.  Shaeffer, 
Philadelphia;  J.  Murdoch,  sr.,  Allegheny 
county;  II.  S.  Rupp,  Cumberland  county;  G. 

D.  Stitzel,  Berks  comity;  II.  Leh,  jr.,  Lehigh 
county;  Jos.  Lewis,  jr.,  Delaware  county; 
Rev.  James  Calder,  Centre  county;  Jacob 
Ileyser,  Franklin  coimty;  W.  M.  Pannebaker, 
Mifflin  county. 

Committee  on  Orcharels.—'E.  Satterthwait, 
Montgomery  county,  chairman;  W.  S.  Bissell, 
Philadelphia;  J.  G.  Engle,  Lancaster  county; 

E.  II.  Cocklin,  Cumberland  county;  T.  M. 
Harvey,  Chester  county. 

Committee  on  Nomenclature.— 11.  M.  Engle, 
Lancaster  county,  chairman;  Calvin  Cooper, 
Lancaster  county;  J.  H.  Bartram,  Chester 
county;  A.  W.  Harrison,  Philadelphia;  J.  AV. 
Pyle,  Chester  county. 

Committee  on  Floriculture.— Chas.  H.  Miller, 
Philadelphia,  chairman;  Thomas  Meehan, 
Germantown;  Peter  C.  Ililler,  Lancaster 
county;  H.  S.  Rupp,  Cumberland  county;  S. 
H.  Purple,  Lancaster  county. 

Committee  on  Arboriculture.— Geo.  Achelis, 
Chester  county,  chairman;  D.  G.  Engle,  Lan- 
caster county;  H.  A.  Chase,  Philadelphia;  G. 
II.  Small,  Dauphin  county;  Wm.  Hacker, 
Philadelphia. 

Committee  on  Insects.— S.  S.  Rathvon,  Lan- 
caster coimty,  chairman;  J.  S.  Stauffer,  Lan- 
caster county;  Herman  Strecher,  Berks  county. 

Committee  on  Arraw/ement  and  Reception.— 
Geo.  D.  Stitzel,   Berks  county,  chairman;  J. 
L.  Stichter,  Berks  county;  P.  C.  Ililler,  Lan- 
caster county;  E.  B.  Engle,  Lancaster  county.  | 
Officers  of  the  Society. 

Prcsidext.—Josinh  Iloopes,  West  Chester. 

Virc  Presidents.— II.  M.  Engle,  Marietta; 
A.  II.  Sprout,  Picture  Rocks;  John  I.  Carter, 
West  Grove. 

liccording Secretary.— H. B. Engle,  Maiietta. 

Corrcs)wv.d:ng  Secretary.— W.  P.  Brinton, 
Christiana. 

'Treasurer. — Geo.  B.  Thomas,  West  Chester. 

Professor  of  i?o(an!/.—Thos.  Meehan,  Ger- 
mantown, 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


Professor  of  Enlomoloyij.—S.  S.  Kathvon, 
Lancaster. 

Professor  of  Jlorticultiiral  CkemlMrt/.—b.  B. 
Ileiges,  York. 

LETTER  FROM  IOWA. 
Holland,  Iowh,  Dec.  luili,  1878. 
Editok  Faioieu  :  Tlio  WLiUlur,  Hint  ever 
fruitful  topic  of  conversation,  has  been  cx- 
tremclv  fine  iluriii!,'  tlic  present  fall.  On  Sun- 
day we  had  a  liijlit  fall  of  snow,  the  first 
of  the  sca.son,  which  soon  bid  farewell,  and 
now  we  arc  again  favored  with  the  best  of 
weather. 

Farm  ]r'//A-.— TIic  fnrmcr.s  of  this  county 
are  through  pickiiit;  corn,  the  croj)  having' 
yielded  lar^'ely,  even  bcvdud  Iheir  cxpcct.a- 
tion  ;  the  (lualitv  is  excclicnl,  boins  fully  ma- 
tured, no  soft  corn  lu-in;,'  found.  For  all  that 
the  crop  was  ^0(ul  it  seems  thou;,'li  it  ini.iilil 
be  vastly  iniprovfd  bv  plantiiii;-  butter  varie- 
ties. The  essay  of  Mr.  Kn.nle,  on  corn  culti- 
vation, before  t lie  I.aiieasler  County  Aiirieul- 
tural Society,  was  published  in  tlie  l.M'al  paper 
here,  and  we  hope  that  some  may  Ije  benelited 
by  it.  The  varieties  planted  here  arc  a  small 
grained,  thick  cob  variety.  A  large  acreage 
of  ground  has  been  ploughed  during  this  fall, 
so  that  farmers  are  in  good  shape  for  the 
spring  campaign. 

Live  Sto(k:--TUe.  hog  crop  in  this  county  is 
very  large,  and  but  a  comparatively  small 
amount  are  being  sold,  on  account  of  the  low 
prices,  yet  a  liancaster  county  farmer  would 
think  the  market  brisk  if  he  saw  the  amount 
shipped  from  tliis  place  alone.  We  saw  a 
drove  of  seventy-two  brought  in  yesterday, 
weighing  :>."), .")(iG 'pounds,  averaging  a  fraction 
over  :!.■).")  pounds.  They  were  splcndiil  ho;;s, 
for  the  greater  part  were  Berkshire  breed. 
Cattle— But  few  have  been  offered  as  yet, 
though  there  arc  large  herds  that  will  be  ready 
for  market  early  in  1879. 

rotacco.— This  county  bids  fair  to  become 
a  tobacco  growing  county.  The  cxiierimeut 
has  been  tried  the  past  summer,  and  we  ;ire 
informed  with  very  satisfactory  result,  (^uite 
a  number  of  farmers  intend  going  into  the 
business  next  spring.  That  veteran  tobacco- 
nist, John  S.  (Jable,  of  your  city,  who,  by  the 
way,  owns  lart,'e  tracts  of  land  in  this  county, 
isof  o)iinion  tliat  tlie  soil  of  this  county  "is 
well  adapted  to  llie  growth  of  the  weed,  and 
says,  that  from  the  samples  which  he  saw  and 
examined,  he  is  free  to  say  that  tobacco  culture 
in  Grundy  county  will  form  one  of  tlie  main 
features  of  her  agriculture.  All  that  is  wanted 
are  men  who  understand  how  to  gro\v  and 
cure  the  crop,  and  success  will  bo  certain,  lie 
told  US  some  montlis  ago,  that  ''somebody 
will  come  here  and  m.ike  a  fortune  in  raising 
tobacco  in  this  county." 

Game.— This  section  of  county  abounds 
with  feathered  game.  Prairie  hens  arc  abun- 
dant, as  are  also  quail,  the  latter  however  are 
not  molested,  as  there  is  better  game  on  the 
wing.  Wild  geese  come  hero  in  large  liocks, 
as  also  ducks  and  brants.  We  are  told  that 
at  Wall  Lake,  Storm  Lake,  and  some  others 
northwest  from  here,  game  is  more  than 
plenty. 

The  Markets.— Corn  is  being  brought  here 
in  large  quantities.  The  grain  men  are  driving 
a  bri.sk  trade  ;  immense  corn  cribs  are  being 
erected,  (the  corn  lieing  all  in  the  ear,)  hold- 
ing thousands  of  bushels.  ()u<'  crib  was  fin- 
ished to-day,  being  four  hun.lred  feel  long. 
fourteen  wide  ami  fourteen  feet  Ingli  ;  there 
is  fair  prospects  of  many  nuire  being  built. 
Grain  is  also  coming  in  lively  ;  the  two  eleva- 
tors, mill  and  three  grain  w-arehouses  are 
running  two  sets  of  hands,  night  and  day  in 
handling  grain.  Though  that  the  grain  crop 
was  a  failure  there  are  large  quantities  of 
grain  in  the  county,  and  firmers  are  not  as 
particular  as  they  should  be  in  the  manner 
their  grain  coincs'iuto  market.  Large  quanti- 
ties of  barley  arc  raised  here.  Butter  is  plenty 
here  at  present.  Mr.  Anthony  Traser,  in  the 
grocery  business  here,  (formerly  from  Lin- 
coln, Lancaster  county,)  took  in  on  .Saturday 
last  five  barrels  of  butter ;  this  is  good  for 


one  store.  There  are  three  others  in  town. 
Eggs  are  not  very  plenty  ;  the  farmers  do 
not  give  their  chickens  the  necessary  atten- 
tion. Live  iwultry  is  being  brought  in,  though 
not  in  large  numbers.— H'.  JI.  Spera. 

N.  B.  Fi;()|-.  Batiiton:  Please  send  me  a 
copy  of  TliK  Fai!Mi;u.  Of  whom  can  I  procure 
the'J-arge  ( lounl  ( 'oru.aud  Small  <  lounl  Seed- 
only  small  (piantities  for  trial  in  this  county. 

The  al)ove  corn  can  be  obtained  at  the  reli- 
able agricultural,  implement  and  seed  store  of 
Wji.  1).  Si'ifEciiER,  of  this  city. — Ed. 


For  Till!  Lanoarteu  Fabmeb. 
THOROUGH  WORT. 
This  i.lant  is  dedicated  to  Enpator  Mithri- 
dates,  who  lirsl  brought  it  into  notice.  Dio- 
scorides  mentions  this  jilant  in  his  work  on 
botany.  Mithridates,  King  of  Poiitus,  sur- 
nami'd  'Fuiiator"'  and  "the  Great"  was  the 
son  of  Mithridates  VI.,  the  lir.st  king  of  that 
country  who  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the 
Romans.  At  the  death  of  his  father,  1-2:5 
B.  C,  he  succeeded  to  the  crown  when  he 
was  only  about  twelve  years  of  age.  But  I 
am  not  giving  the  biography  of  Mithridates, 
which  i  find  quite  lengthy  and  interesting, 
but  subject  matter  in  connection  with  our 
most  common  plants.     The  scientific  name  is 


Eupalorhini  perfoliulum,  the  specific  name 
refers  to  the  stem  apparently  growing  through 
the  united  leaves.  Hence  we  find  the  many 
common  names— such  as  Tiiorough  AVort, 
Thorough  Stem,  Thorough  Wax,  (,'ross  Wort, 
besides  that  of  Indian  S.age  and  Bone-Set. 
This  latter  name  is  ipiitc  common.  Who  has 
not  been  recoiniiniiilcil  to  drink  "Bone-Set 
tea?"  Tliis  (1.1(1  n:iinc  iiiines  from  an  early 
belief  that  it  aided  in  joining  or  knitting 
broken  bones.  Plants  have  their  history,  as 
well  as  uses.  I  shall  not  give  a  description 
how  to  recognize  the  plant,  because  the  cut 
sliows  it.  and  it  is  found  in  fiower  from  niid- 
suuiiner   to   Septduber   from  Xoya   .'scotia  to 

boguy  .soils.  Il"  belongs,  of  course,  to  the  ex- 
tensive order  of  Composila-,  or  what  arc 
termed  compound  llowers,  that  is  a  number 
of  tubular  or  strap-shaped  fiowers  on  a  com- 
mon receptacle  surrounded  by  a  common  in- 
volucre. 

Every  part  of  tlic  Eupatoritmi  has  an  in- 
ten.sely  bitter  taste,  combined  with  a  fiavor 
peculiar  to  the  jdant,  but  without  astringency 
or  acrimony.  This  bitter  principle  is  alike 
.soluble  in  water  and  in  alcohol,  imparting  its 
sensible  cpi.alitics  to  both,  and  neither  .solution 
being  rendered  turbid,  at  leiist  for  some  time, 
by  the  addition  of  the  other  solvent.    Tannin 


exists  very  sparingly  in  this  plant.  Dr.  An- 
derson, of  >'ew  York,  wlio  details  numerous 
experiments,  concludes  that  a  single  decoction 
forms  the  best  tonic  stiiuulanl.  i;iycn  in  inod- 
eratequ;u)tities.  Tliesubstaru c,  cold  infusion 
or  decoction,  promote  digestion,  streugtiiens 
the  viscera  and  restores  lone  to  tlie  .system. 
Like  other  vegetabl.>  bitters,  however,  if 
given  in  large  quantities,  especially  in  warm 
infusion  or  decoction,  il  proves  emetic,  sudori- 
fic and  appericnl.  Even  in  cold  infusion  it 
tends  to  bring  on  diaphoresis,  (promotes  pers- 
piration). 

It  may  be  luescribed  in  the  low  stages  of 
fever  to  support  strength,  jironiote  a  moisture 
of  the  skin,  without  materially  increasing  the 
heat  of  the  body.  And  as  a  tonic  in  loss  of 
aiipetite  and  other  symptoms  of  dyspepsia,  a.s 
well  as  in  general  debility  of  the  system.—/. 
Stavlfir. 


MOONLIGHT. 
I  have  not  written  anything  for  The 
Faumeu  for  some  time,  but  as  there  appcans 
to  be  a  little  more  "moonlight"  desired  at 
Dobbs'  Ferry,  N.  Y.,  I  thought  I  would 
"rise"  again.'     I  ha\c  no  cxpei-ieiice  in  potato 

planting  with  rcln-i  nee  lo  the  i m.      Hut  1 

may  sav,  potatoes  u;inl  lo'.sc  soil.  'I'hci-cfore, 
plcnv  in"  the  risill^'  of  the  moon,  if  the  .soil  is 
heavy  or  clayey.  It  tlu'  soil  is  naturally  loose 
I  doi"rt  lookto"  the  moon.  Should  Ihe  soil  lie 
too  li-ht  and  hm.se,  plow  in  the  .selling  of  the 
moon.  Haul  the,  manure  on  the  ground  you 
intend  tor  potatoes  in  the  fall,  even  if  it  is 
washy.  Then  ^yail  until  you  want  lo  plow; 
spread  it  evenly  ;  plow  early  in  the  spring  ; 
any  time  between  now  and  spring,  so  that  it 
will  freeze  after  it  is  plowed.  As  to  the 
proper  time  to  plant,  that  will  depend  some- 
what on  the  character  of  the  weather.  Ac- 
cording to  my  (xperience  the  best  time  is 
about  the  miildle  of  April.  When  1  com- 
menced fanning  I  planted  three  times  every 
season.  The  hist  tinif  as  early  as  I  could— 
sometimes  in  March  the  secoiul  time  in  the 
middle  of  Aiuil,  and  the  third  time  on  or 
about  the  1st  of  .May,  This  I  did  for  .several 
years,  and  nearly  always  the  middle  planting 
turned  out  the  be>t.  On  .stilT  soil  it  would  be 
well  if  \ye  could  work  tlie  soil  always  in  the 
rising  of  the  moon.  But  there  might  he  too 
long  an  interval  belweeii ;  the  weeds  would 
get  too  far  ahead.  A  farmer  told  me  one  of 
his  neighbors  runs  a  subsoil  ploiii;li  through 
the  rows  just  liet'oic  he  lays  Ihe  potatoes  in  ; 
that  is.  hehaiidws  it  out  as  UMial  and  then 
runs  the  subsoil  plow  thnuigh,  and  he  beat  all 
his  neighbors  in  raising  potatoes.  1  intend  to 
try  that  plan  the  present  year. — /.  (I.,  War- 
wk-k\  JiUiiMrn  1,  1870. 


RANDOM  THOUGHTS— No.  7. 

Fodder  Crops. 

For  some  years  past  there  has  been  much 
seeking  after  new  plants  for  fodder  crops  that 
would'answer  better  the  ends  than  any  of  the 
old  s]ieeies.  .\s  far  as  (luantity  is  concerned 
there  isiiodoul't  but  that  at  leasl  two  plants 
have  been  lirought  forward  that  far  outstrip 
all  the  old  species. 

Among  tlie  most  prominent  of  the  old 
species  may  be  enumerated  the  following  : 

IhoKlitriiiii  Grilse,  a  millet,  was  introduced 
probably  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  but  it 
did  not"  come  into  g^aieral  favor  over  the 
country  until  considerably  later,  and  it  is 
even  now  condemned  by  many,  they  thinking 
it  injurious  to  horses,  that  it  lessens  the  flow 
of  milk  in  cows,  &c.  Tlu'ic  may  be  some 
weight  in  the  latter  claim,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  it  has  lessened  the  flow  of 
milk,  but  not  from  any  inherent  fault  in  the 
grass  but  from  the  fact  that  in  many  ca.ses  it 
lias  been  allowed  to  over-ripen  and  thus  be- 
come worth  little  more  than  straw  for  feeding 
purjioscs.  I  have  never  heard  any  complaint 
when  the  grass  was  cut  early  enough  so  as  to 
have  a  nice  green  color  when  dry.  Its  quick 
growth  and  heavy  yield  should  certainly  make 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[January, 


it  a  favorite,  it  being  possible  to  raise  a  good 
crop  after  the  farmer  sees  that  tlie  other  crops 
on  which  lie  depended  for  hay  or  fodder  will 
be  a  failure.  ,     .     , ,  .       .     ■,    i. 

Peas  and  oats,  or  oats  by  itself  is  raised  at 
many  places  for  the  purpose  of  making  hay. 
I  do  not  think  that  either  will  be  ever  very 
popular  in  this  section  on  account  of  the  un- 
certainty of  the  oats  reaching  any  respectable 
heio-ht.  North  of  us  where  oats  is  a  pretty 
Sute  crop,  peas  and  oats  are  no  doubt  in  much 
favor,  for  the  pea  vines  make  a  great  bulk  of 
fodder  equal  in  value  to  clover  hay. 

Bye  has  been  tried  to  some  extent,  but  does 
tiot  seem  to  grow  in  favor,  for  unless  taken 
very  young  the  fodder  will  be  hard  and  wiry 
and  not  relished  by  stock. 

Corn  is  the  stand-by  as  a  fodder  crop  over  a 
larger  extent  of  couiUry  thuu  pniliably  all  the 
others  combined,  and  its  nutiu  loiis  oood  quali- 
ties give  it  rlghttothis  iii-ominoucc.  It  seems 
to  have  only  one  ftuilt  of  any  prominence,  and 
that  is  the  difficulty  of  curing  it,  unless  the 
weather  is  favorable.  It  is  some  satisfaction 
to  know  that  in  no  country  have  they  more 
favorable  weather  to  harvest  all  crops  than  in 
this  country. 

All  the  above  crops  are  also  useful  for  soiling, 
cutting  and  feeding  green  in  stalls,  but  rye 
is  the  least  so,  on  account  of  its  becoming 
hard  so  soon,  and,  in  fact,  the  only  good  claim 
rye  has  is  its  earliness,  being  generally  fit  to 
cut  two  weeks  or  more  before  any  of  the  other 
crops  used  for  soiling  come  in. 

Of  the  new  candidates  for  favor  we  have 
two : 

Prickly  comfrey  was  disseminated  a  tew 
years  ago  witli  a  great  tiourish  of  trumpets. 
"It  was  not  claimed  as  a  real  fodder  plant,  but 
for  the  purpose  of  soiling  was  said  to  be  un- 
equaled,  producing  as  much  as  one  hundred 
tons  of  green  feed  to  the  acre  on  rich  soil,  and 
that  it  was  greatly  relished  by  cattle,  pigs, 
sheep  and  horses,  and  that  it  put  them  in  a 
thriving  condition. 
Now  for  the  reports. 

Its  great  yield  is  generally  acknowledged, 
and  I  think  in  one  case  ninety  tons  reported, 
which  comes  near  enough  for  a  new  plant  for 
which  so  much  was  claimed.  One  man  re- 
ports that  his  cattle  will  not  touch  it ;  and 
that,  thouch  it  may  be  eaten  by  some  poor 
foreign  cattle,  he  does  not  think  an  intelligent 
American  cow  could  be  made  to  do  so  unless 
driven  thereto  by  starvation.  Others  report 
that  tlieir  cattle  would  not  eat  it  at  first,  but 
were  educated  to  it  by  throwing  cornmeal  on 
it.  One  man,  probab'ly  a  Yankee,  whose  cat- 
tle somewhat  tabooed  the  new  introduction, 
liit  upon  the  novel  plan  of  throwing  it  upon 
some  kind  of  scaffolding,  where  the  cows 
could  hardly  reach  it,  and  then  they  went  for 
it  with  a  whim  ;  these  cows  probably  had  in 
them  considerable  hum;in  nature,  that  is  of 
the  contrary  kind.  One  man  reported  that 
his  cattle  liked  it  both  green  and  dry. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  in  very  rich  soil 
it  is  unsurpassed  for  soiling,  but  it  will  take 
time  to  determine  its  real  claims  to  quality 
and  usefulness  in  this  respect.  It  requires 
good  culture  and  plenty  of  manure  to  bring  it 
to  perfection. 

That  parties  not  acquainted  with  it  may 
have  some  knowledge  as  to  what  kind  of  a 
plant  it  is  I  will  state  that  it  is  a  near  relative 
to  the  common  comfrey  (swartz  wurzel)  of  the 
garden,  the  botanical  degree  of  relation  being 
closer  than  that  of  rye  to  wheat. 

Pead  miUct,  also  called  Egvptian  milTfet,  is 
a  newer  caudidato  than  the  "last  mentioned, 
this  lieing  the  lirst  year  that  there  were  any 
extended  trials  made  in  the  North,  and  I 
have  this  far  seen  but  two  of  the  reports, 
both  being  found  in  the  American  Agricultur- 
ist, and  which  I  condense  for  these  columns  : 
Mr.  Peter  Henderson,  near  New  York  city, 
prepared  a  piece  of  good  .strong  loamy  soil, 
as  if  for  beet  or  turnip,  applying  ten  tons  ma- 
nure to  the  acre  and  plowing  ten  inches  deep. 
The  millet  was  sown  oh  May  l.'ith,  in  drills  18 
inches  apart,  at  the  rate  of  8  quarts  to  the 
acre.  Twelve  days  afterwards  it  was  culti- 
vated, after  that  cultivation  being  unneces- 


sary, as  the  rapid  growth  smothered  all  weeds 
that  came  up.  First  cutting,  July  1st,  being 
seven  feet  high,  weighed,  green,  at  the  rate  of 
:iO  tons  per  acre,  U  tons,  dried,  as  hay.  Sec- 
ond cutting,  August  15th,  height  0  feet,  weight 
55  tons  green;  8  tons  dried.  Tliird  crop 
started  as  rapidly  as  the  second,  but  the  cool 
nights  in  September  lessened  the  growth,  but 
when  cut,  on  October  1st,  weighed  10  tons 
green  ;  U  tons  dried.  Total,  05  tons  green 
fodder,  or  16  tons  when  dried  to  hay.  lle- 
sembles  cornfodder,  and  supposes  it  equally 
nutritious.  Ilor.ses  and  cattle  ate  it  greedily, 
whether  green  or  dry.  If  sown  broadcast 
about  1(5  quarts  seed  should  be  used. 

A.  Coindet,  of  Montreal,  sowed  a  paper  on 
May  20th,  in  his  yard,  soil  not  manured,  and 
had  the  sun  only  about  two  hours  each  day.  Cut 
July  15  when  five  feet  high  ;  again  September 
15  when  six  feet  high  ;  last  time,  October  1st, 
when  the  stalks  were  nine  feet  high.  Both 
his  horses  and  cows  were  very  fond  of  the 
millet,  green  or  dry. 

When  reports  from  such  widely  distant 
points  coincide  as  these  two  do,  there  must  be 
some  merit  in  the  millet.  I  have  no  doubt 
but  what  it  will  to  some  extent  displace  corn 
as  a  soiling  and  fodder  crop,  because  it  can  be 
cut  oftener  for  soiling  and  more  weight  of 
fodder  raised.  The  heavy  manuring  given  by 
Mr.  Henderson  will  be  apt  to  strike  some  far- 
mers with  dismay,  the  amount  being  more 
than  the  average  quantity  applied  to  that 
manure-devourer,  tobacco.  But  then  consider 
sixteen  tons  of  hay  from  one  acre  !  With  a 
few  acres  of  this  what  a  number  of  cattle 
could  be  kept,  and  I  am  afraid  the,  farmer 
would  get  frightened  at  the  size  of  his  manure 

Suppose  that  clover  would  be  a  failure,  and 
the  farmer  had  only  the  timothy  to  cut  which 
gives  no  aftermath'.  As  soon  as  the  hay  was 
off  the  field  he  might  sow  it  to  this  millet, 
and  forty-five  or  fifty  days  afterward  cut  a 
mass  of  stufE  that  would  make  eight  tons  of 
hay,  as  was  done  in  the  second  cutting  as  re- 
ported by  Mr.  Henderson,  who  can  be  relied 
on  as  saying  just  what  he  knows. 
Tea  Raising. 
In  December  number  of  The  Farmer 
J.  B.  G.  thinks  that  the  article  in  October 
number  under  the  above  heading  "  might 
lead  some  people  to  infer  or  suppose  this  plant 
can  be  cultivated  anywhere."  I  did  not  in- 
tend that  my  remarks  should  lead  to  any 
such  impression,  and  think  that  the  second 
sentence  wherein  it  is  stated  that  the  Agri- 
cultural Department  was  sending  out  plants 
"  to  such  places  as  seemed  suitable  for  the 
growing,"  would  put  people  on  their  guard. 
Further,  our  florists  arc  ii(i\v-a-days  so  liberal 
with  their  lists  and  <  :ital<.-urs  tliat  few  could 
help  but  know  that  VA.  w  ,  (  h  inose  Tea  Plant,) 
was  classed  in  the  ./'■" -i-//<-»n,  collections. 

The  plant  is  probably  not  quite  as  tender 
as  the  remarks  of  Mr.  G.  would  seem  to  imply, 
for  it  is  cultivated  in  Japan  as  far  north  as 
the  northern  boundary  of  Nortli  Carolina, 
but  it  is  probable  that  there  are  varieties  that 
are  more  hardy  than  others,  just  as  in  some  of 
our  fruit  trees. 

I  am  in  the  habit  of  putting  off  writing 
articles  intended  for  publication  to  the  last 
minute,  and  then  have  not  time  to  prepare 
them  as  they  should  be.  I  hope  Mr.  G.  will 
n-ive  me  a  "  rowing  up  "  on  all  such  occasions, 
and  I  will  then  as  now  thank  him  for  it. 
Laying  Down  to  Grass. 
I  have  often  seen  it  recommended  that  this 
or  that  grass  should  be  more  used  in  seeding 
to  grass.  I  will  give  the  price  it  would  cost 
per  acre,  as  the  seed  was  sold  one  year  ago  by 
one  of  our  most  reliable  seedsmen  : 

Red  Top,  (Agrostis  imlrjaris,)  S2.25  ;  Mea- 
dow Foxtail,  (Alnpnnrnts  pamtcnsis,)  flo.W  ; 
Rescue  Grass,  (l!,;.nu,s  ,rln:nlcri,)  |24.00; 
Meadow  Fescue,  (F,shir,i  pnamsis,)  S512.00; 
Italian  Rye  Grass,  (/.'./;'((-/  Ihillrum,)  $10.50. 
Red  Top  is  the  only  kind  that  is  at  all 
reasonable  in  price,  and  this  is  not  much 
raised  in  Lancaster  county.  All  the  others 
are  entirely  too  high  in  price,  unless  it  could 


be  shown  that  they  are  much  superior  to  the 
varieties  now  in  vogue,  and  even  then  the 
laying  down  must  be  more  permanent  than  is 
usually  the  case  with  us.  The  Rescue  Grass 
is  in  great  favor  with  English  farmers,  they 
being  able  to  remove  from  four  to  five  green 
crops  each  year.  I  suppose  this  is  accomplished 
by  means  of  irrigation. 

Meadow  Foxtail  and  Red  Top  do  well  m 
this  country  ;  of  the  others  I  have  no  knowl- 
edge.— A.  B.  K. 


For  Tbe  Lancastee  Fap.meu. 
PRACTIC.A.L  HINTS  FOR  YOUNG 
FARMERS. 
Another  year  has  passed  and  a  new  one  has 
begun.  But  had  we  not  the  stores  of  the  year 
that  is  past  we  could  not  live.     All  is  frozen 
and  dead,   and  we  depend  for  months  upon 
our  treasures  of  the  past,  until  mother  earth 
gives  life  and  vigor  again  to  the  vegetable 
kingdom. 

At  this  season  of  the  year  not  much  is  to 
be  done  on  the  farm,  except  the  feeding  of 
the  stock,  which  should  be  well  cared  for,  and 
not  wholely  trusted  to  tlie  boys.  When  boys 
feed  stock  watch  them  closely,  or  some  animals 
may  not  get  enough  to  eat  and  others  get 
more  than  they  can  eat  and  become  "stalled  ;" 
and  the  stable  doors  and  shutters  may  remain 
open  in  cold,  stormy  weather  and  be  closed 
when  the  weather  is  mild  and  warm. 

Horses.— When  hay  is  plenty  horses  can 
bo  kept  in  in  good  condition  with  very  little 
else  than  good  hay,  during  the  winter  season, 
or  while  tliev  have  no  worl;  to  do.  Give  them 
daily  one  or  two  quarts  of  oats,  corncob  meal 
and  bran  mixed  together.  Mix  a  little  chafE 
with  it  and  moisten  it  with  pure  water.  Give 
them  enough  of  good  hay  ;  curry  them  daily  ; 
water  them  twice  every  day  ;  remove  their 
shoes  and  let  them  walk  or  stand  shoeless ; 
but  at  tlie  same  time  have  one  or  two  shod 
sharply,  to  drive  to  market  and  to  mill,  and 
to  do  other  work  necessary  to  be  done  ;  but 
those  should  have  a  little  more  grain  than 
those  that  are  standing  idle.  As  spring  ap- 
proaches, and  when  they  begin  to  change 
their  coals,  increase  their  food  a  little,  gradu- 
allv,  so  that  tliey  will  get  strong  enough  to 
endure  labor  when  spring  opens  to  work. 
Keep  their  stables  comfortably  warm  ;  stop 
all  holes  where  the  cold  air  comes  in ;  open 
the  south  side  doors  or  windows  while  the 
sun  shines  warm,  but  close  them  again  before 
the  stall  gets  cold.  On  mild  days  open  both 
sides,  that  the  air  may  pass  through,  and 
clean  the  stables  once,  twice  or  thrice  a  week, 
but  never  less  than  once.  . 

Cows.— Attend  well  to  the  cows  ;  have  then- 
stables  warm  ;  shut  up  all  the  holes  in  cold 
weather;  let  no  manure  freeze  behind  the 
cows  ;  open  on  the  south  side  during  midday 
when  the  sun  is  shining,  but  close  again  as 
early  as  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
Feed  well  three  times  a  day— say  at  5  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  at  11  in  the  forenoon,  and  at 
C  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Mix  corncob  meal 
and  bran  in  equal  parts  together,  and  feed  to 
each  cow  two  quarts  or  more  every  meal. 
Mix  it  with  cut  cornfodder  or  chaff,  and 
moisten  it  with  clean  water.  Cut  cornfodder 
is  the  best,  but  hav  flowers  can  also  be  mixed 
with  the  feed.  After  that  give  them  as  much 
hay  as  they  will  eat  up  clean  ;  water  them  at 
midday,  once  a  dav.  On  warm  days  turn 
tliem  out  of  the  stables  into  the  barnyard 
for  an  hour  or  two,  but  when  it  is  cold  put 
them  into  the  stable  as  soon  as  they  are  done 
drinking.  Bed  them  with  straw,  but  let 
neither  straw,  hay  nor  fodder  go  to  waste, 
even  if  you  don't  need  it.  It  may  transpire 
that  the  next  year's  crop  may  be  short  or  a  , 
failure,  and  tlien  it  will  be  needed  and  come  j 

Calves.— To  wean  calves  at  first  give  them  j 
the  milk  from  the  cow,  until  they  get  accus- 
tomed to  drinking  out  of  a  bucket.  Then  mix 
a  little  skimmed  milk  and  a  little  bran  and 
hot  water.  Increase  the  quantity  of  skimmed  i 
milk  gradually  until  you  have  no  sweet  milk 
amongst  it  any  more.  In  addition  to  this 
give  them  young  clover  hay.    Of  coiuse  the  | 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


longer  they  are  fed  on  this  milk  diet  the  bet- 
ter, but  wlirn  luim  is  scnn-r  tlicy  r:iii  brconio  I 
aceustcmird  to  wal.T  ;ill.'i-  mm  nil  wv.ks,   l.ul 
then  they  must  have  >ou,r  luiui  aii.l   niils.   lir-  ^ 
sides  li;\\',  (ir  \vr  caiinnt  iNprct  llirin  In  llu-ivi'. 

Vkai;i,im;s. -Calves  iif  a  year  old  must 
have  nnr  iir  twci  (luarts  of  bran,  oats  or  cob 
meal,  or  scmutliiriL;  similar  to  it,  besides  hay, 
or  they  will  not  eonie  out  well.  Also  a  little 
salt  daily— indeed  all  animals  should  have 
salt. 

SwiXE.— Hogs  arc  mostly  all  slaughtered 
for  the  pre-seiit  winter  ;  but  \vc  now  must  earn 
for  the  stock  of  next  year  or  next  season. 
Young  i)ii:s  and  shoats  should  have  a  warm 
stable.  If  the  iiIl;  stable  is  imi  wll  rl,.se.l  and 

warm    put    conilndder  ;llniin(l    il     to   kir]i   (ilT 

the  cold  winds,  l.ase  ..nlv  tlir  soulh  ^ide 
open,  which  ^<llnuld  also  !„■  .'losid  al  iii-lil. 
llaveideuly  of  slraw  in  llie  stalilc  lor  the  l 
pigs  to  ereeji  uiuIit.  I"i cd  tliein  regularly 
and  well,  bid  never  ovirferd  them.  1  am  per- 
fectly satislied  thai,  some  pigs  are  fed  to  death. 
Give  them  as  much  as  they  will  eat  up  readily 
and  cleanly,  but  not  that  they  w'ill  let  .some 
remain  in"  the  trough  untouched  when  you 
come  to  feed  again.  '  Jlilk  is  the  bi'sl  food  for 
quite  young  pigs,  indeed  yoinig  pigs  just  taken 
from  "the  sow  are  hard  to  raise  without  milk 
for  awhile.  Scald  .some  shiiistulf  willi  water, 
then  stir  in  the  milk  and  a  little  corn  and 
oats,  incretising  the  quantity  as  the  pigs  grow 
older.  After  a  few  weeks  the  milk  can  be 
omitted  and  the  sliipstull'  increased.  Keep 
them  healthy,  give  them  a  little  wood  tishes 
occasionally,  alternated  with  eliareoal  and  a 
little  powder  or  sulphur.  Also  throw  into  the 
stable  some  rotten  wood,  and  some  sod  when 
it  can  be  gotten.  Many  farmers  are  dis- 
couraged with  pig  raising  because  they  arc  so 
cheap,  but  1  think  they  make  a  mistake.  I 
think  now  is  the  right,  time  to  raise  them,  be- 
cause they  will  not  remain  so  cheap  as  now. 
Hogs  change  in  price  very  often,  and  some 
times  very  suddenly.  I  think  next  fall  we  can 
get  a  better  price  for  fat  hogs.  I  have  just 
seen  a  letter  from  a  hog-fcedcr  in  the  west ; 
he  bad  his  hogs  ready  fen-  mtirket  but  could 
not  sell  them.  He  is,  of  course,  discouraged 
and  says,  "Kever  mind,  if  I  get  rid  of  these 
1  will  never  have  another  hog  on  my  farm 
again."  He  is  not  the  only  one,  however, 
that  talks  in  thnt  way.  .Some  people  think 
that  their  b.-ead  must  always  fall  with  the 
buttered  side  upwards  or  all  is  wrong. 
t  roui.TUY.— Feed  chickens  well  and  give 
.j^hem  a  warm,  dry  roosting  place,  or  they  will 
\'  y  no  eggs  the  whole  winter.  Also,  provide 
a  sheltered  place  on  the  sunny  side  of  a  fence, 
a  wall,  a  building  or  a  hill,  where  they  can 
sit  in  the  sunshine  during  the  day  and  have 
access  to  a  sand  bath.  Feed  in  the  morning 
coarse  corncob  meal  and  bran  mixed  together 
and  moistened  with  boiling  water,  with  salt, 
as  for  table  use.  Feed  in  a  trough  and  su|)ply 
them  with  pure,  fresh  spring  water,  (iive 
tliem  broken  oyster  shells  every  day.  In  the 
afternoon  feed  them  with  some  kind  of  grain — 
such  as  wheat  screenings  and  corn— and  if 
they  can  have  thick  milk,  cheese,  or  meat 
cruinbs  it  will  be  all  the  better  for  them.  An 
onion  cut  fine  .and  mixed  with  their  feed  oc- 
casionally ;  also  a  little  charcoal  or  suljihur  ; 
als.i  boil.'d  iMitaloes  masli<-d  line.  Of  course  we 
•  In  not  mean  lliat  these  articles.  orth..se  here- 
after mentioned,  should  he  fed  to  them  at  the 
same  time,  but  that  they  .should  be  occasional 
and  alternated  ;  in  this  way  there  may  be  a 
change  in  their  diet  almost  daily.  The  milk 
and  i^otatoes  can  he  fed  everv  dnv  if  lliev  arc 
))lentv.  Tninip  tops  and  ealib;iL,'e  olVal  are 
alsoexeelleiil  durin-   tlie  wiul.r.     The   tVed- 

six  inches  wide  ;  nail  the  edges  together.  This 
will  make  a  triangular  trough.  Let  the  ends 
be  three  inches  higher  than  the  trough,  and 
nail  a  board  flat  on  them  al)Out  as  wide  as  the 
n|iper  angles  of  the  trough,  to  prevent  the 
chickens  from  going  in  with  their  feet.  They 
can  stand  on  both  sides  to  feed  and  have  a 
space  between  the  trough  and  the  top  board 
of  tlu-ee  inches,  plenty'wide  enough  to  get  in 
with  their  heads,  but  they  cannot  get  in  with 


their  feet.  A  coal  bucket  is  a  good  implement 
to  put  in  the  feed. 

I'^Aiti-Y  CiiKJKEXS.— If  you  want  early 
chickens  you  must  have  a  warm  place.  Some- 
where in  tlu'  barn,  or  .somewhere  where  liens 
can  set  :  and  then  have  food  and  water  con- 
vcuienl,  so  that  Ihev  will  not  stay  too  long  olf 
the  nest  in  search  of  food.  When  the  chicks 
are  hatched  put  them  in  a  coop  and  keep  them 
in  the  barn  or  stable  during  cold  and  wet 
weather,  but  on  iiicc  days  put  tliem  in  the 
sunshine,  where  they  will  be  protected  from 
the  wind  and  storm.  Tow.irds  evening  carry 
them  in  the  barn  agiun.  If  persons  have  time 
and  patience  to  attend  to  them  hens  may  be 
set  during  this  month.  Early  chickens  always 
demand  a  good  price  in  market.  Feed  moist- 
(  lied  lirea<l  crumbs,  cheese,  wheat  screenings, 
eraeked  i-orn,  potatoesand  hard  boild  eggs  cut 
line.— .7.  (1.,  Warwick,  January,  1879. 

For  The  Lanoastek  Fabmeb. 
FRUITS  AS  A  STANDARD  ARTICLE  OF 
FOOD. 
The  vast  apple  crop  of  1878  will,  I  trust, 
have  a  favorable  impression  upon  all  wlio  have 
availed  themselves  of  its  salutary  effects.  Al- 
though in  some  sections,  on  account  of  its 
great  abundance,  it  proved  more  of  a  burden 
than  profit,  from  the  very  low  prices  which  it 
brought ;  while  in  other  sections  the  crop  was 
either  a  total  or  partial  failure. 

Jfot  for  many  years  was  so  large  a  section 
of  the  country  so  well  supplied  with  line 
winter  apples  at  such  low  rates  as  now.  To 
our  present  admirable  railroad  arrangements 
is  due  the  extensive  distribution  of  this  vast 
crop.  No  family,  over  a  large  extent  of  ter- 
ritory, however  poor,  is  necessarily  deprived 
of  a  i-easonable  enjoyment  of  one  of  the  mo.st 
wholesome  esculents  given  to  man.  From  the 
prevailing  custom  of  long  standing,  large 
iiu.antities  are  consumed  in  lunching,  or  as  an 
addition  to  regular  meals,  and  will  continue 
to  be  thus  used  so  long  as  people  consider 
fruits  simply  as  a  relish,  containing  but  little 
if  any  nutriment.  That  it  is  better  to  eat 
them  in  this  way  than  not  at  all  we  will  admit, 
but  as  people  learn  that  fruits  contain  as  much 
or  more  nutrition,  in  proportion  to  bulk  and 
cost,  than  many  other  articles  of  diet  in  com- 
mon u.se,  the  demand  for  the  former  will  be 
equal  to  the  supply,  as  for  any  other  article  of 
food. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  fruits  are 
a  valuable  adjunct  to  other  food  to  give  tone 
to  the  .system  ;  but  it  has  also  been  demon- 
strated "by  facts  that  they  not  only  support 
healthy  material  to  build  up  the  wastes  of 
the  body,  but  that  man  can  labor  and  endure 
fatigue  on  fruit  diet  alone  far  beyond  the 
general  belief  in  its  nutritious  properties. 

One  striking  instance  among  many  is  the 
case  of  AVherryman,  (his  real  name  I  have 
f  )rgotten)  the  great  boat  racer,  who  won  his 
great  races  on  frint  diet  alone.  These  facts 
have  been  related  to  me  by  Dr.  Wood,  of 
New  York,  he  having  boarded  with  'Whcrry- 
man  during  the  time  of  his  exploits  ;  both 
were  strict  vegetarians  by  principle  and  prac- 
tice. One  of  the  strongest  evidences  that  the 
human  system  demands  fruit  are  the  natural 
cravings  of  children  for  it  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  do  not  stop  to  examine  whether  it 
is  ripe  or  not.  The  serious  effects  which 
often  follow  the  excessive  eating  of  fruit, 
especially  when  unripe,  does  not  at  all  prove 
that  it  is  injurious  when  eaten  in  proper 
quantites  as  jiart  of  a  meal.  Dr.  Smith,  in 
his  work  entitled,  "Fruits  and  Farinacia  the 
pi-opcrfood  for  man,"  has  collected  such  a 
mass  of  evidence  that  should  convince  any 
reasonable  person  that  the  title  of  his  book  is 
1  not  a  misnomer.  While  eminent  physiologists 
ililTi  r  upon  this  question,  it  has  been  fully 
diinonsi  rated  that  man  con  live,  and  be  not 
i  onl\  healthy,  but  can  also  lator  and  endure 
fatigue  heyond  hini  who  uses  stimulating  food 
and  drinks.  Could  we  even  convince  the 
public  that  this  theory  is  correct,  the  counter 
arguments  continue  that  it  would  not  be 
practical  on  account  of  its  being  more  ex- 
pensive. 


That  this  is  an  erroneous  notion  can  easily 
be  proven  by  testing  the  variou.s  leading  arti- 
cles of  diet  separately,  keeping  a  con-eel  ac- 
count of  the  exjjenses  of  each.  For  iiislanco, 
(irahain  lloin',  oatmeal,  crushed  btirley  and 
other  cereals,  wliieli  need  not  cost  more  than 

average.  Dne  imnnd  of  cither  cooked  into 
porridge,  and  live  cents  worth  of  stewed  ap- 
ples, and  a  pint  of  good  milk  makea  i>alal:d)li', 
healthy  and  invigorating  bieaktii^t  forti  family 
of  live  or  six,  costing  not  over  Ihrei'  cents 
each,  as  neither  butter  nor  coffee  is  needed  to 
relish  such  a  meal.  '■'■  Gnml  ijmri'nis  I''^  our 
coffee  topers  will  say,  in  amazement,  "  brealc- 
fast  without  r';|;;.f."'  Vis,  linaLf„M.  sneh  as 
above  des(-rilied,  can  be  leli-ln.!  iiisl  as  much 
asany  other.  Ii.\  peisnns  iu  a  iminril  euiidition 
and  with  uniieixerPij  api.'lihs.      Ii    i~.   Iiow- 


il.V 


liquid  of  tol)aeeo,  or  li.pioi-.  nr  PVen  of  colTec, 
spices  and  eondinients  <-an  fully  relish  sneh  a 
meal  as  just  described.  15ut  why  not  give  the 
children  a  chance  to  grow  up  heallhlblly  and 
in  a  more  normal  condi  ion  V  iMany  of  the 
aches,  pains  and  doctors'  bills  would  be 
avoided  by  adhering  to  a  more  simi)le  bill  of 
fare.  Then^  is  no  doidit  in  the  mind  of  the 
writer  that  those  much  dreaded  scourges— 
scarkt  fever,  diiitheria,  and  eruptive  diseases 
generally,  would  not  allliet  so  many  families 
were  a  farinacious  and  fruit  diet,  in  connec- 
tion with  pure  air,  suhstitnted  tor  pork,  and 
the  almniination  of  the  frying  pan  abolished. 
The  fumes  of  the  latter  wouk"  not  be  carried 
about  in  the  clothes  of  so  many,  to  (ill  the 
olfactories  of  -whomsoever  they  meet  unsup- 
plied  with  such  aionia. 
But  to  return  to  the  more  pleasant  suliject 


fruitf  :  We  have   i 

eason   to  believe   that  'the 

abundance  and  el 

.■apiiessof  aoj.les  tliis  win- 

ter   have   indueed 

niaiiv    faiuili.-s   to   snpi.ly 

themselves  to  sii,-l 

an  .xleiit  astoniakeinno- 

vations  upon   tliei 

•  Inrm.  r  liill  i.r  fare    bv  iu- 

corpoiatiiig  ai'ples 

niniv  lar-ely  tlierewilh. 

We  have  Slhh  s 

i-niej  laith   in  fruits  as  food 

as   to   believt'  tha 

il    the  result   of   the   con- 

sumption  of  the  apple  ci-t>p  of  1S7S  could  be 
computed,  including  its  hygienic  cffectfH  it 
would  make  interesting  reading,  and  would, 
no  doubt,  tend  to  increased  consumption  of 
all  fruits  throuLrhout  the  year. 

We  are  all  aware  how  innovations  upon 
customs  and  habits  are  resisted,  ridiculed  and 
frowned  down  of  limes,  so  tliiit  there  is  little 
liope  for  an  article  like  the  foregoing  to  make 
any  serious  impression  niion  the  public  mind. 
Should  it,  however,  interest  but  a  few,  the 
writer  will  consider  his  elTorls  not  spent  iu  vain, 
for  according  to  a  saying  wisely  applied,  th.tt 
"a  little  leaven  leavelielli  tlie  whol<>  lump  ;" 
although  this  will  not  fully  apply  to  the  above 
saying,  it  mav,  in  iiart,  and  should  it  elleet  no 
more 'than  simply  to  elicit  diseiisiion.  the  re- 
sults may  i>i-ove  more  i^ratifyiiii;  than  we  ex- 
pect.—7/.  M.  Enijk,  M.mrti,',  .lai,.  :',,  1S7'.1. 

LETTER  FROM  NORTH  CAROLINA. 
SALisufKY,  N.  C,  Jan.  2,  187!». 

Lancaster  Farmer  :  Allow  me  to  congratu- 
late you  in  having  worked  your  way  thus  far, 
and  I  think  under  disadvantages,  which  I 
hope  will  not  be  so  iu  the  future.  Having 
entered  into  a  new  year,  I  hope  1S7'.I  will  be 
one  nt  pro.'ipcritii  with  ;i"u  in  mm  .sense of  the 
word,  iind  hope  your  people  will  support  and 
uphold  it  for  ail  time  to  come,  both  with 
brains  and  means,  and  do  not  see  any  valid 
reason  why  tliev  should  not.  Yoiu-s  is  re- 
garded the  be-t  agricultural  couidy  in  the 
Fnited  States,  the  wealthiest  peojili'  upon  a 
whole,  hold  more  CHited  Slates  gov.-rument 
bonds  than  anv  otlnn-  eounty  iu  the  Union. 
During  ls7i)  1  traveled  in  and  through  several 
States,  and  now  h<ie  did  1  see  as  good  horses 
for  all  work:  eat  lie,  sheep,  swine  and  poidtry 
of  all  kinds,  such  as  is  gencially  raised  in 
America.  Your  land.s  were  better  cidtivatcd 
than  any  1  had  ever  seen  on  this  continent. 
I  do  not  say  these  things  to  llattcr  the  folks 
of  your  great  county,  and  know  whereof  I 
speak.    1  will  say  and  do  all  I  can  to  promote 


8 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  January, 


the  welfare  of  all  concerned  in  The  Farmer, 
though  distant  from  you,  and  not  directly  con- 
cerned in  the  welfare  of  your  county  and  its 
people.  Hence  I  believe  your  county  farmers, 
and  others  living  there,  ought  to  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheels  of  The  Farmer  and 
push  it  onward  and  upward,  and  never  say 
go  on,  but  say  come  on.  With  all  good  wishes 
for  TuE  Farmer  and  all  interested  in  its 
welfare,  we  remain  your  friend,  3L  li. 

PRESIDENT'S  ADDRESS.* 

To  the  memhcrs  of  the  Lancaster  County  Agri- 
cultural and  Horticultural  Society : 
Gentlemen  :  In  addressing  you  for  the 
third  time  since  my  election  as  your  chairman, 
and  the  thirteenth  since  the  organization  of 
the  society,  it  is  with  feelings  of  gratitude  to 
a  wise  Creator,  for  the  bountiful  harvest  of 
the  year  passed  ;  for  the  general  prosperity  of 
our  country  ;  for  the  removal  of  the  terrible 
pestilence  that  visited  a  part  of  our  land,  and 
for  the  peace,  good-will  and  prosperity  pre- 
vailing over  this  glorious  union  of  States. 
May  the  bonds  of  friendship  be  drawn  to- 
gether so  tightly  that  no  sectional  strife  will 
ever  be  able  to  tear  them  asunder. 

I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  harvests 
of  the  past  year  ;  to  impress  upon  you  the 
importance  of  applying  the  skill  and  best 
judgment  of  every  tiller  to  his  soil,  to  endeavor 
by  all  tiie  means  within  his  power— good  cul- 
ture and  every  other  recourse  at  hand— to  have 
many  recurrences  of  abundance  as  the  crops  of 
the  season  of  1878.  I  am  well  aware  that  all 
does  not  depend  on  man,  but  I  am  also  equally 
confident  that  he  who  cultivates  best  and 
most  carefully  observes  the  changes  of  our 
seasons,  is  generally  amply  repaid  with  remu- 
nerative crops,  fully  rewarding  him  for  the 
extra  toil  and  skill  employed  that  his  garners 
may  be  well  filled.  A  more  thorough  system 
of  cultivation— both  before  and  after  the  crop 
has  been  planted — will,  in  my  opinion,  do 
more  to  insure  a  good  reward  than  most  of 
us  are  aware.  If  a  little  cultivation  will  add 
five  per  cent,  to  the  production  of  every  acre, 
it  is  a  plain  problem  that  thorough  tillage  may 
add  ten,  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cunt,  above  the 
usual  crop.  The  varied  experiments  (the  suc- 
cessful ones  I  mean)  of  our  most  progressive 
farmers,  should  convince  every  skeptical  mind 
that  it  is  necessary  for  us,  with  the  liigli  price 
of  land  in  this  section,  to  adopt  the  means 
that  will  accomplish  the  best  results.  If  A 
can  increase  the  product  of  an  acre  of  wheat 
by  ten  or  twelve  bushels,  with  the  exjjendi- 
ture  of  two  or  three  dollars  in  cultivation  at 
a  time  when  the  plant  is  weak  and  tender 
(and  particularly  if  the  season  seems  unfavor- 
able,) B  surely  will  not  remain  in  the  old  rut 
while  his  more  progressive  neighbor  reaps  as 
much  from  two  acres  as  lie  does  from  three. 

Crop  fertilization  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant subjects  to  the  farmer,  and  perhaps 
the  least  understood.  All  manures  to  act  and 
feed  the  crop  for  which  it  is  applied  must  be 
in  a  condition  to  be  absorbed  by  the  tender 
rootlets,  and  through  them  supply  the  plant's 
food  during  the  early  growth.  From  observa- 
tion and  experience  I  am  fully  convinced  that 
all  our  cereals  would  be  much  benefited  by 
the  application  of  some  good,  well  decom- 
posed fertilizer  put  in  witli  the  seed,  to  act  at 
once,  as  the  plant  begins  to  grow.  As  the  germ 
passes  through  the  kernel  it  finds  food  to 
strengthen  and  nourish  it,  and  better  enable 
it  to  withstand  the  changes  of  the  climate. 
The  better  quality  of  the  grain  and  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  some  of  the  less  fertile  dis- 
tricts of  the  State,  where  they  liave  adopted 
this  system  of  sowing,  abundantly  attest  that 
we  are  not  making  as  much  progress  in  agri- 
culture as  some  of  our  neighboring  yeomen. 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  that  I  advo- 
cate the  use  of  the  many  patent  manures  that 
are  flooded  upon  the  market,  though  doubt- 
less some  of  them  would  lie  very  valuable  if 
they  could  be  bought  with  a  little  less  sand. 
A  careful  husbandry  of  the  excrement  and 
urine  of  the  farm  animals,   and,  indeed,  the 


sewerage  of  the  house,  and  tlie  use  of  the 
many  absorbants,  always  to  be  found  on  any 
farm,  as  ashes,  leaves,  chaff,  sawdust  and  chip 
dirt,  the  sweepings  and  dust  of  the  buildings, 
and  the  dry  mould  itself,  than  which  there  is 
nothing  better.  All  may  be  used  to  take  up 
the  excess  of  moisture,  that  it  may  be  con- 
veyed to  some  building  made  for  the  purpose, 
where,  in  stormy  weather,  the  hands  may 
work  and  sift  it  over  until  reduced  to  that 
condition  which  is  most  desirable  to  apply.  I 
sincerely  believe  that  if  every  fanner  would 
use  the  matter  that  usually  wastes  and  leaches 
through  his  manure  heap,  making  obnoxious 
streams  across  the  public  highway,  and  along 
the  gutters,  thus  causing  malaria — oftentimes 
taken  by  the  human  fiimily- all  of  which 
might  have  been  avoided,  and  he  would  have 
had  at  hand  a  sufficient  amount  of  fertiUzers, 
of  the  very  best,  to  apply  with  the  sowing  of 
all  his  crops. 

Those  interested  in  horticulture  have  made 
many  grave  errors  by  planting  and  experi- 
menting with  varieties  of  fruit  not  adapted  to 
this  soil  and  climate.  Our  ambition  has  been 
too  great  to  find  something  not  in  the  posses- 
sion of  a  neighbor.  Something  new.  Never 
stopping  to  inquire  whether  suited  or  accli- 
mated to  their  section.  We  have  been  too 
easily  persuaded  by  the  highly-colored  plates, 
made  from  the  choicest  specimens  of  fruit  that 
could  be  found  (and  some  that  only  grew  in 
some  fertile  imagination)  and  plant  sorts  un- 
suited  to  their  locality.  If  the  planter,  before 
setting  his  trees,  would  first  inquire  in  his 
immediate  neighborhood,  what  kind  of  apple, 
pear,  peach  or  other  fruit  is  best  adapted  to 
his  own  section,  and  plant  mostly  of  those  of 
known  merits,  our  failures  in  fruit  crops 
would  be  less  frequent,  and  the  thousands  of 
dollars  now  taken  to  distant  parts  and  ex- 
pended to  supply  our  market  with  the  fruit 
that  should  be  grown  at  home,  would  largely 
contribute  towards  supplying  necessary  com- 
forts to  many  a  needy  home.  I  do  not  wish 
to  discourage  the  introduction  of  new  fruit  of 
real  merit,  but  I  do  earnestly  caution  those 
planting  such  as  do  not  originate  in  this 
locality,  to  plant  sparingly  until  thoroughly 
tested.  The  many  new  varieties  of  fruit 
originating  in  our  county,  that  have  graced 
our  tables  at  their  pro[)er  seasons,  aflbrds  us 
sufficient  proof  that  we  have  at  home  plenty 
of  experimenters  who  are  ever  ready  to  supply 
our  market  with  horticultural  novelties.  For 
instance:  Tlie  "  Saunders,"  the  "Wilder" 
and  other  peaches  of  Marietta,  the  "Sener" 
and  many  others  equally  good  of  Lancaster, 
the  "  Lancaster  Cherry  "  of  very  recent  intro- 
duction, gives  promise  of  a  high  rank  in  that 
class  of  fruit;  among  the  apples  the  "Mel- 
linger"  and  the  "Ritter  seedlings,"  with 
many  others,  might  be  more  generally  dis- 
seminated. In  small  fruits  we  are  being  con- 
stantly supplied  with  new  novelties,  some  of 
which  will,  doubtless,  prove  valuable  acquisi- 
tions to  the  lists  now  promising  well.  It  is, 
however,  always  advisable  to  plant  the  new 
varieties  with  great  caution,  that  have  not 
been  tested  in  various  locations  and  soils,  not- 
withstanding the  sanguine  assurance  of  the 
originators  or  their  agents. 

The  subject  of  exhibitions  for  the  coming 
year,  having  recently  been  discussed  by  this 
society,  and  not  fully  disposed  of,  should, 
before  being  decided  in  the  affirmative,  re- 
ceive your  careful  consideration.  The  sug- 
gestion of  Dr.  Rathvon,  in  reference  to  a 
charter,  is,  doubtless,  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance should  you  resolve  upon  a  fall  fair.  By 
it  you  become  an  incorporated  body — "a 
body  politic  in  law."  The  act  of  incorporation 
in  itself  would  not  have  a  sustaining  influence 
without  the  co-operation  of  its  members,  but 
would  give  more  permanency  and  add  greatly 
to  its  importance  as  an  organization,  and  give 
it  legal  existence.  "Witli  good  management 
and  fair  weather  I  fully  believe  this  county 
could  have  a  creditable  exhibition,  which 
would  be  a  financial  successj.  It  is  a  burning 
disgrace  upon  Lancaster  county,  with  its 
boasted  agricultural  wealth,  that  it  can  have 
only  its  semi-annual  horse  races,  while  Ches- 


ter, Berks,  Lebanon,  Dauphin,  York  and 
other  neighboring  counties  are  having  their 
very  creditable  fall  shows,  which,  for  weeks 
previous,  are  looked  to  by  the  residents  as  a 
joyous  and  grand  social  holiday,  where  old 
and  young  congregate,  challenging  each  other 
by  their  production  of  fine  grain  "  big  pump- 
kins," or  aught  else  they  may  have,  and  ex- 
change views  in  a  social  way  of  the  various 
means  adopted  in  achieving  such  good  results. 

During  the  last  year  your  officers  have  had 
two  very  able  lectures"  delivered  before  this 
society  by  men  of  large,  practical  and  scien- 
tific experience,  men  who  have  given  the  sub- 
ject of  agriculture  their  careful  attention, 
and  devoted  the  prime  of  their  lives  in  e.x- 
perimenting,  and  who  now  generously  give 
their  results  to  all  who  are  willing  to  give 
them  an  attentive  car.  I  fully  believe  that  if 
you  were  to  adopt  a  rule  to  have  a  lecture  on 
some  subject  pertaining  to  agricultural  or  hor- 
ticultural once  in  every  three  months— say 
February,  May,  August  and  November — and 
have  it  announced  through  the  press  a  few 
days  beforehand,  this  room  would  soon  be  too 
small  to  hold  the  assemblage. 

The  growing  disposition  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts to  have  a  modern  style  of  architecture 
and  landscape  adornment  is  indicative  of  a 
higher  standard  of  sociability  and  refinement. 
While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  disposition  of 
some  (who  cannot  afford  it)  for  show  and  dis- 
play to  the  fashionable  world  have  harrassed 
themselves  and  brought  discredit  and  b.ank- 
ruptcy,  and  oftimes  much  misery  and  suffer- 
ing in  consequence.  The  disposition  to  excel 
is  to  be  deprecated.  Home  comforts,  conveni- 
ences and  pleasures  are  not  to  be  found  in 
display  and  gorgeous  equipments.  The  pru- 
dent yeoniau  will  always  put  a  check-rein  on 
his  vicious  horse  ;  so  also  it  behooves  us  to 
curb  an  ambition  that  points  to  ruin  and 
disgrace. 

In  conclusion,  I  humbly  extend  to  you  my 
most  grateful  thanks  for  the  uniform  courtesy 
that  has  been  extended  while  acting  as  your 
presiding  otticer.  Doubtless  my  rulings  have 
seemed  to  some  rather  arbitrary,  but  my 
greatest  ambition  has  ever  been  the  good  of 
the  society,  believing  that  much  good  may  yet 
come  out  of  our  organization. 


PROGRESSIVE  AGRICULTURE.* 

So  much  has  lieen  written  and  spoken  on 
the  improvement  of  agriculture  and  horticul- 
ture that  one  may  find  it  quite  a  task  to  add 
anything  that  is  new,  either  in  theory  or  in 
practice.  But  let  us  take  a  view  of  the  present 
and  the  past— of  the  useful  in  the  arts  and 
sciences  in  their  relations  to  agriculture,  and 
the  march  of  improvement  which  we  see  and 
daily  experience.  Let  us  go  back  twenty 
years,  and  compare  the  discussions  of  our 
societies  then  with  the  discussions  of  the 
present— not  the  abilities  of  the  members,  but 
the  subject  matter  of  their  discussions.  Doubt- 
less some  of  those  who  participated  in  those 
discussions  then  are  present  to-day.  Our 
wheat  and  corn  crops  were  then  comparatively 
small.  Instead  of  well-filled  graneries  and 
grain  bins,  we  talked  of  short  crops,  and  al- 
most gave  way  to  despondency.  Instead  of 
our  export  trade  being  over$200, 000,000  in  our 
favor,  we  had  nothing  but  cotton,  which  we 
regarded  as  king  among  our  agricultural  pro- 
ductions. In  addition  to  that  we  had  but 
few  things  to  export,  and  the  balance  of  trade 
was  against  us  to  the  amount  of  850,000,000  a 
year,  while  it  took  S50,000,000  in  gold  to  pay 
the  interest  on  our  bond  to  the  money  kings 
of  Europe. 

Instead  of  the  balance  of  trade  being  against 
us,  and  our  agricultural  products  diminislud 
in  quantity  and  high  in  price,  we  have  so  far 
improved  our  condition  so  that  at  the  present 
time  we  are  able  to  export  to  the  different 
nations  of  Europe  suflicient  to  change  the 
balance  of  trade  in  our  favor  at  the  rate  of 
from  $250,000,000  to  »300,000,000  a  year,  and 
all  lold,  we  may  not  owe  more  than  $-20ti,- 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


9 


000,000  to  Europe  on  our  national  debt. 
"With  our  granaries  and  storehouses  filled 
from  the  Atlantic  to  tlio  Tacitic,  our  whole- 
sale and  retail  stores  stocked  to  overllowing, 
many  of  our  factories  and  niacliine  shops  in 
active  operation,  with  the  numberless  cattle, 
sliecp  and  swine,  jiroduced  by  the  Western 
and  Soutliwestcrn  States,  we  liave  a  supply  of 
material  wliieli  no  nation  or  government  ever 
had  before— nearly  enough  to  sustain  us  three 
years  without  replenislnnent. 

The  question  arises,  "How  was  all  this 
brouglit  about  V  From  whence  did  it  come  ? 
Did  all  this  come  spontaneously— grow  up 
like  mushrooms  ?  Or  was  it  the  result  of 
labor,  of  energy  and  of  enterprise,  as  well  as 
industry  and  economy?"  To  which  we  will 
and  must  answer,  to  all  these  influences  com- 
bined ;  but  more,  mucli  more  to  the  favor  of 
that  superintending  Providence,  which  ad- 
monishes us  to  "seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things 
will  be  added  unto  you."  Labor,  economy, 
science,  arts,  machinery  and  manufactures  all 
combined  liave  made  our  country,  under  God, 
what  it  is  in  material  wealth.  All  our  ma- 
terial substances  have  tlieir  origin  in,  and 
must  be  produced  from  mother  earth,  so  far 
as  we  can  have  any  sensuous  consciousness  of 
them.  Steamboats,  canals,  railroads  and 
other  modes  of  transportation  will  avail  us 
nothing  withont  tonnage,  and  tonnage  cannot 
be  obtained  without  productions  which  are 
elaborated  by  labor  and  machinery.  As  to 
the  best  modes  and  the  most  ample  facilities 
by  which  to  increase  our  productions  we  meet 
hero  to-day  to  discuss,  and  this  ought  to  be  a 
leading  object  among  all  individuals  as  well  as 
societies.  As  already  stated,  it  is  by  indi- 
vidual energy,  aided  by  invention,  society  or 
organization,  and  governmentencouragement, 
that  we  have  attained  a  position  which  no 
government  or  nation  ever  before  occupied. 

People  may  talk  about  dull  times,  but  what 
will  they  say  when  we  compare  the  present 
with  the  time  when  the  balance*  of  trade  was 
against  us,  and  no  supply  of  anything— when 
an  axe  cost  S3. 00,  and  a  day's  wages  from 
$1.50  to  m.OO  ;  a  pound  of  coffee  from  30  to 
40  cents ;  a  yard  of  muslin  from  20  to  30 
cents,  and  other  things  in  proportion.  Through 
discussion,  through  the  interchange  of  opin- 
ion, through  art  and  science,  through  agricul- 
tural and  horticultural  associations,  much 
has  been  accomplished.  Then  let  us  proceed 
with  the  good  work.  The  iron  mouldboard 
of  the  plow  took  the  place  of  the  wooden  one. 
The  cultivator  took  tlie  place  of  the  spike- 
harrow,  the  .seed-drill  superceded  hand  sow- 
ing, the  reaper  takes  the  place  of  the  cradle 
and  the  scythe,  the  threshing  machine  and  the 
steam  engine  have  taken  the  place  of  the  flail 
and  the  horse  tramping,  together  with  the 
improvements  in  fertility  ;  so  that  twice  as 
much  may  be  brought  out  of  the  soil  now  as 
formerly,  all  of  which  indicate  progress. 

The  railroad  has  taken  the  place  of  the 
Conestoga  teams,  the  telegrajih  has  taken  the 
place  of  the  stage  lines,  and  the  various  kinds 
of  machinery  have  taken  the  place  of  hand 
labor  ;  and  there  are  many  improvements  in 
implements,  &c.,  of  which  we  cannot  have  a 
full  appreciation,  unless  we  were  entirely  de- 
prived of  them.  A  great  deal  is  accomplished 
by  means  of  meeting  together  periodically  in 
associations,  and  by  tlie  aid  of  newspapers 
and  such  sterling  agricultural  journals  as 
The  Lancaster  Farmer,  which,  as  a  reflex 

•Tho  "balance  of  trade"  is  a  sort  of  enigma  to  many 

„.„.,,.      ^ , .._  .  ,  ^^^^  ^jyj;  prospcr- 

avor,  auU  perha  a 
i  not  seem  to  be  prosperiug  in 
any  very  particular  sense  at  the  present  time,  although  the 
balance  of  trade  has  been  in  our  favor  for  some  time  past. 
Perhaps  it  is  too  Soon  yet  to  look  for  the  advantages  of  such 
a  contingency.  We  appear  to  bo  somewhat  mudaleJ  upon 
the  subject,  at  least  no  one  has  so  far  been  able  to  make  it 
specifically  clear  that  the  nation  is  prospering  in  any  degree 
oorresponding  to  the  balance  of  trade  iu  our  favor.  The 
fact  as  to  whom  that  balance  is  due,  and  what  they  are  doing 
with  it,  may  kave  something  to  do  with  the  question.  A 
rich  nabob  in  a  commuuity  may  have  a  large  balance  of 
trade  m  his  favor  and  may  not  be  of  much  pecuniary  ad- 
vantage to  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  if  he  keeps  it 
in  his  coffers  and  engages  iu  no  enterprise  t'lat  would  enect 
it«  circulation  among  the  people.  We  would  like  to  see  the 
balance  of  trade  and  the  present  depressed  times  satisfac- 
torily harmonize,  if  the  thing  is  at  all  possible. -Ed. 


I  the  balance  of  trade  i 


of  our  local  views,  is  of  paramount  advantage 
to  the  county  and  tlio  country.  If  we  have 
not  done  as  much  good  heretofore  to  ourselves 
and  our  fellow-beings  as  we  ought  to  have 
done,  let  us  console  ourselves  with  the  reflec- 
tion that  we  have  tried  to  do  some  good  in 
our  humble  way,  and  have  endeavored  to 
keep  along  with  the  tide  of  invention,  im- 
provement and  iirogrcss.  The  time  may  not 
bo  far  distant  when  our  farms  may  be  plowetl 
by  steam,  aiiil  tlie  same  element  may  be  util- 
ized in  drawing  (lur  wagons  over  our  comiiion 
roads,  and  (inr  iriiienil  economies  be  entirely 
revoliitioni/.til.'  In  addition  to  this  we  may 
light  :iiid  lieat  our  houses  by  the  economical 
iiUrodiietion  of  gas,  steam,  or  electricity. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  hope  tli;it  in  tlie  I'utuic, 
as  in  the  present,  thing's  nuiy  ciiitiiuic  cliniii 
and  abundant,  and  that  in-acc  uinl  pros|Hril\ 
may  be  ours  ;  and,  in  this  i!()nneclioii,  1  wish 
to  be  understood  as  meaning  a  uniform  system 
of  cheapness — not  product  sacrificed  on  the 
part  of  one  class  and  e.xfortions  practiced  by 
the  other  class.  1  think  that  cxiuiieurc  will 
successfuUydemonstrate  tliat  our  country  has 
enjoyed  more  real  pi-ospcrily  \vlieii  tilings 
were  uniformly  cheap  tluiu  when  tln'y  were 
uniformly  dear.  People  may  say  that  it 
amounts  to  the  same  whether  all  things  arc 
cheap  or  dear,  btt  it  does  not.  There  is  not 
the  same  stimulation  to  speculation  and  ex- 
travagance in  cheap  times  as  there  is  in  dear 
times.  Our  recent  past  and  present  extrava- 
gances had  their  origin  in  the  high  prices  and 
the  redundancy  of  money  which  ruled  during 
the  rebellion.  The  people  lost  their  mathe- 
matical reckonings  and  spent  very  much  at 
random. 


The   French    as  Seen  with  American    Eyes — 

What  Our  Correspondent  Has   Learned 

During  His  Eight  Months'  Visit  in 

the  Gay  Capital. 

Hotel  du  Louvre,  Paris,  1 

January  0th,  1879.      J 

The  extravagance  of  French  politeness  is 
as  remarkable  in  the  present  as  in  the  past. 
Three  centuries  ago  there  was  such  an  ado 
when  two  people  met  that  the  Chevalier 
Warin  said  that  all  conversation  began  with 
a  ballet.  Fourscore  years  ago  graceful  antics 
and  high  flown  compliments  were  still  in 
vogue ;  but  the  deep  triplicate  salutation, 
with  the  "Beautiful  marquise,  your  bewitch- 
ing eyes  make  me  die  of  love,"  passed  away 
with  the  revolution  of  '93.  The  eccentricities 
of  gallant  speech  and  gallant  acts  constitute 
one  of  the  principal  arteries  running  through 
the  body  politic  from  its  earliest  history  to 
the  present  time.  Under  cover  of  the  French 
dictum,  that  it  is  impossible  to  be  too  polite, 
singular  extremes  are  reached,  especially  by 
the  elderly  men,  who  aftect  something  of  the 
Regency  manners.  In  some  cases  it  is  car- 
ried to  a  point  where  it  might  be  called  the 
gymnastics  of  social  intercourse,  where  the 
man  insists  on  keeping  his  bald  head  un- 
covered in  a  hot  sun,  or  runs  with  hot  haste  to 
convey  a  lap  dog  to  a  woman  waiting,  or 
bows  low  with  a  grand  swoop  of  the  hat  to 
another  man  whom  he  sees  two  or  three  times 
a  day.  There  is  an  historical  instance  of  a 
well-known  aged  nobleman,  who,  descending 
the  stairway,  meets  a  youth  of  twenty  mount- 
ing, the  nobleman  stops  to  let  him  go  up  and 
the  youth  does  the  same,  inviting  the  former 
to  pass  down  ;  the  nobleman  stands  firm  and 
requests  the  youth  to  continue,  who  responds, 
Jamais !  with  hand  on  heart ;  he  knows  too 
well  what  youth  owes  to  age  ;  upon  which  the 
elder  commands  him  to  mount,  when  the 
young  man,  with  a  bow,  says  :  "Youth  owes 
obedience  to  age,"  and  passes,  thus  saving 
the  situation,  as  he  believes. 

There  is  an  elasticity  and  adaptability  in 
the  Frenchman  in  the  presence  of  the  woman, 
of  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  hits  but  a  meagre 
share.  The  former,  before  all  classes  of  these, 
cat-like,  falls  on  his  feet,  be  she  countess  or 
grisette  ;  and  to  be  brought  unexpectedly  in 
contact  with  any  of  them  never  seems  to  dis- 


concert or  even  surprise  him.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  taken  at  a  disadvantage  under  .simi- 
lar circumstances  from  which  he  does  not 
rally  immediately.  The  su.sceptibility  of  the 
newly  arrived  foreigner,  for  c.^jtmple,  "is  put  to 
a  rude  trial  when  ho  buys  a  )iair  of  gloves. 
Behind  tlu'  coiinli  r  nI.hhIs  M-\ci-al  smilins, 
.s«lf-p().s.sessi(l  yoiin- women,  whose  eyes  turn 
on  liiin  witli  iliM'oiiri'iiini:  steadiness.  He 
a|)i)roaehes  the  nearest  of  Uniu,  and  signifies 
his  (h'siiv  to  make  a  piinhase.  Are  the 
gloves  loi- monsieur  V  They  are.  Will  nion- 
siiMir   give   himself  the  trouble  to   set   dowiv 

before  tlie  e iter?    lie  slips  on  to  a  high 

.stool  which  liriiigs  his  liead  on  a  level  with 
hers.  Slie  iiiuiingly  inquires  his  number, 
wliich  he  ;_'ciici;illv  docs  not  know,  when  she 
dainth  nicasmvs  I  he  masculine  hand,  holding 
It,  allci-  ll„.  tape  measurement,  liglilly  by 
liii,;,'cr  ti[)s,  to  e.-camiiie  the  form  of  (he  glove 
required.  She  in  the  same  lone  iiupiires  his 
color,  to  which  a  Frenehinan  would  probably 
reply,  "Whatever  your  laste  may  suggest;" 
but  to  which  the  newly-arrived  foreigner 
gives  an  answer  destitute  f)r  any  kind  of  em- 
broidery. When  she  soitly  takes  his  hand  in 
hers  again,  and  looks  into  his  face  with  a 
smile,  Americns  begins  to  think  that  this  is 
indeed  a  tender  business.  Before,  however, 
he  has  any  time  to  make  many  rellections  on 
the  situation,  she  is  at  work  on  his  hand,  and 
slips  on  the  i,'lo\e.  caressingly  introiluces  tlie 
fingers,  tlie  opi'ralion  sandwiched  with  arch 
glances  and  cliirnipy  siicech,  and  then  the 
glove  is  buttoned,  and  the  last  fold  is  smoothed 
out  with  a  gentle  pat.  This  incendiary  per- 
formance is  followed  with  the  question 
whether  monsieur  will  have  his  other  hand 
treated  in  the  same  way.  The  motii,  of 
course,  will  have  another  go  at  the  candle,  and 
by  the  time  he  is  througli  he  is  naturally  some- 
what singed.  Happily  for  family  peace,  tlu^ 
betrothed  Mary  Jane  or  the  espoused  Mary 
Ann  cannot  look  into  his  heart  at  that  mo- 
ment. The  eyes  of  the  feminine  Mei>histo- 
pheles  behind  the  counter  follow  out  his  re- 
tiring figure  with  a  sliglit  elevation  of  tlie 
eyebrows  and  a  terrible  mouo.syilable  uttered 
to  one  of  her  companions.  "  The  modest 
foreigner  goes  through  another  ordeal  with  the 
flower  girl.  With  a  smile  as  bright  and 
attractive  as  her  flowers,  she  asks  him  if  lie 
will  not  have  one.  He  would  prefer  not  to 
encounter  those  winning  eyes,  and  endeavors 
to  pass  on,  but  he  may  not  do  so  ;  she  holds 
him  as  securely  as  the  Ancient  Mariner  held 
the  wedding  guest,  and  he  signilies  liis  ac- 
ceptance of  the  tendered  opi'uing  bud.  He 
mav  not  receive  it  with  liis  hands  ;  she  with 
her  nimble  liimrers  will  allacli  it  to  his  button- 
hole, and  ihe  enil.ariasscl  man  stands  while 
the  girl  foniUes  o\'er  the  rcLrion  of  Ids  heart, 
and  looks  into  the  whites  of  his  half-averted 
eyes.  And  the  havoc  thus  committed  in  ten. 
short  minutes  ni.ay  not  be  repaired  in  six 
months.  Tliei-e  is  no  fixed  price  for  such  a 
favor,  and  he  is  told  with  an  expression  that 
would  have  troubled  the  soul  of  St.  Anthony, 
that  it  is  anything  he  may  please  to  give. 
His  betrothed  Bilinda,  alas  I  would  think  it 
dear  at  any  price. 

The  wide  dissemination  of  art-feeling 
among  the  French  has  a  refining  tendency  on 
the  manners  of  all  classes.  Beautiful  squares 
and  parks,  with  walks  and  shady  forests,  foun- 
tains and  lakes,  are  open  to  all.  The  eyes  of 
the  people  are  made  familiar  with  architec- 
tural beauty,  as  exhibited  in  the  boulevards, 
bridges  and  public  edifices  of  the  great  city. 
The  magnificent  art  galleries  are  free  to  all 
w-ho  wish  to  see  them,  and  the  working  peo- 
ple visit  them  fretiuently,  especiiiUy  on  Sun- 
day and  fete  days,  when  they  are  kept  open 
for  their  benefit.  Thus  the  man  in  blouse  is 
often  familiar  with  the  great  pictures  of 
French  masters.  In  the  houses  of  the  poor 
there  are  no  rapid,  keepsake  heads,  in  glow- 
ing colors,  but  copies  of  pictures  exhibiting 
more  or  less  merit.  The  deep  red  and  blue 
Daniel  in  the  Lion's  Den,  and  the  doll-faced 
Mary  Ann,  surrounded  witli  an  inch  of  bright 
mahogany,  are  not  seen  on  their  walls.  The 
square,  loud-striking  and  loud-ticking  clock, 


01 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  Jsliiuary, 


in  red  wood,  aud  plaster  of  Paris  rabbit  or 
cat,  painted  in  unnatural  lines,  have  no  places 
On  their  mantles.  In  humble  cafes  are  found 
pictures  which  would  be  considered  fit  to  hang 
in  some  of  the  best  restaurants  of  London 
and  New  York.  The'  signs  over  shops  show 
a  talent  not  possessed  by  our  sign  painters, 
and  many  a  ganjute  has  grapes  and  vine-leaves 
jniinted  over  its  door  which  merit  a  better 
pl:v0e. — Louis. 

COOKING  FEED  FOR  STOCK. 

We  have  received  a  copy  of  tlie  report  of 
the  last  meeting  of  the  jNIontgomery  County 
(O.)  Farmers'  Club,  with  a  request  that  we 
publisli  the  part  relating  to  the  above  subject. 
This  was  a  paper  read  by  Simon  Emerick, 
and  consisted  mainly  of  extracts  from  tlie 
published  opinions  of  various  persons  who  had 
tested  the  matter.  It  cannot  fail  to  be  inter- 
esting to  all  farmers  who  have  given  this  sub- 
ject any  attention,  but  who  are  still  undecided 
as  to  whether  it  will  pay  to  cook  food  for 
stock  or  not.  The  question  was  the  same  dis- 
cussed by  our  Farmers'  Club  last  winter— 
"  Does  it  pay  to  feed  cooked  food  to  stock  ¥" 
The  one  chief  obstacle  that  men  in  business 
have  to  contend  with  these  stringent  times  is, 
that  there  are  no  profits.  This  is  no  less  true 
with  those  commanding  an  extensive  trade 
and  employing  large  capital  than  it  is  with 
persons  conducting  a  small  business  ;  no  less 
true  with  tlie  farmer  than  with  the  manu- 
facturer. The  complaint  is  well  nigh  uni- 
versal that  there  is  no  margin  in  business  or 
trade.  The  cost  of  production  of  an  article 
seems  to  be  about  equal  to  the  price  obtained 
for  it,  though  often  it  does  not  bring  so  much 
as  that.  Now,  with  a  view  to  solve  this 
problem  for  myself,  as  a  farmer  I  have  been 
induced  to  investigate  whether  cooking  food 
for  stock  would  not  yield  the  much  sought  for 
profit. 

I  take  some  statements  from  the  evening 
discussions  of  the  New  York  State  Fair, 
1867— Subject :  "Cooking  food  for  domestic 
animals."  Hon.  G.  Geddes,  of  Syracuse, 
New  York,  said  that  "  there  was  no  branch 
of  farming  that  was  less  understood,  and 
promised  more  advantages  tliau  the  prepara- 
tion of  food.  He  had  thoroughly  proved  years 
ago  that  cooking  food,  whether  ground  or  not, 
doubled  its  value  for  animals."  George  A. 
Moofe,  of  Erie  county,  said  "he  had  fed  two 
hundred  sheep  on  cooked  food,  and  had  fully 
satisfied  himself  that  the  value  of  food  was 
tripled  by  cooking."  Mr.  E.  AV.  Stewart, 
who  had  eleven  years'  experience  in  cooking 
food  for  stock,  said  that  "tlie  cooking  rendered 
the  food  soft  and  in  a  condition  to  be  eaten 
even  in  the  more  perfect  manner  than  by  cut- 
ting, and  proved  by  experiment  that  two 
bushels  of  steamed  hay  were  equal  to  three  of 
unsteamed,  and  that  steamed  fodder  was 
similar  in  its  character  to  fresh  pasture,  and 
that  horses  diseased  by  coughs  or  heaves  have 
been  cured  by  such  food." 

Professor  Mapes  says— Transactions  Ameri- 
can Institute,  1864,  page  373,  "the  experi- 
ment often  tried  has  proved  that  eighteen  or 
nineteen  pounds  of  cooked  corn  are  equal  to 
fifty  pounds  of  raw  corn  for  hog  feed."  Mr. 
Mason,  of  New  Jersey,  says  that  "pork  fed 
on  raw  grain  cost  12i  cents  per  pound,  and 
that  from  cooked  4J  cents;  that  cooked  corn 
stalks  iuc  as  soft  and  almost  as  nutritious  as 
green  stalks;  that  cattle  can  be  fattened  at 
about  half  the  expense  upon  cooked  food  as 
upon  uncooked." 

The  American  AgricuUurist  for  January, 
1860,  says:  "Experiments  made  by  C.  M. 
Clay,  of  Kentucky,  showed  that  one  bushel  of 
dry  corn  made  5  pounds  10  ozs.  of  pork  ;  of 
boiled  corn  14  pounds  7  ozs. ,  and  boiled  meal 
16  to  18  pounds. 

The  Practical  Farmer  (published  in  Phila- 
delphia), in  October,  1808,  says:  "We  con- 
sider the  cooking  of  food  for  stock  as  no  longer 
an  open  question ;  its  economy  has  been 
demonstrated  by  scores  of  our  best  practical 
farmers." 
I  could  add  much  more  like  this— enough, 


it  would  seem,  to  settle  the  question,  but  how 
is  it  that  so  many  farmers  who  have  incurred 
the  expense  of  fitting  up  for  cooking  food  for 
their  stock,  have  discontinued  it  ?  I  have 
interviewed  some  of  those  farmers  in  this 
way  :  Does  it  pay  to  cook  food  for  stock  ? 
The  answer  generally  is,  "  Yes."  Well,  why 
don't  you  continue  it  ?  "  Oh,  it  is  too  much 
trouble."  Now,  this  disposition  of  the  cook- 
ing business  won't  do.  If  the  above  state- 
ments are  correct  as  to  the  gain  by  cooking 
food  for  stock,  it  would  certainly  be  too  much 
trouble  to  raise  grain,  and  then  throw  fifty  or 
even  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  it  away,  when 
there  is  always  a  cash  market  for  it. 

Mr.  Dodds,  of  Bloomington,  Ind.,  in  re- 
plying to  my  inquiries  in  the  agricultural  col- 
umns of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  on  this  subject, 
states  that  he  fed  six  steers  last  winter  one 
and  a  half  bushels  of  boiled  corn  per  day,  and 
they  gained  1,810  pounds  in  three  months. 
The  business  of  stall-feeding  cattle  for  market 
I  am  familiar  with,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say,  that  if  farmers  could  obtain  such  results 
as  Mr.  Dodds  did,  by  cooking  food,  that  would 
be  a  good  margin  for  profits.  But  as  young 
converts  are  proverbially  zealous,  this  testi- 
mony is  insuflicient  to  put  this  question  at 
rest ;  so,  to  obtain  the  experience  of  others,  I 
addressed  numerous  farmers,  living  in  ten 
different  States,  who  have  been  engaged  in 
cooking  or  steaming  food  for  their  stock, 
tliese  questions  :  How  long  since  you  com- 
menced feeding  cooked  food  to  your  stock  ? 
Have  you  discontinued  it ;  if  so,  for  what 
reason  V  Have  you  made  any  tests  to  ascer- 
tain the  approximate  gain  by  feeding  cooked 
food  y 

In  order  to  better  understand  and  deter- 
mine the  proper  value  of  the  replies  I  re- 
ceived, I  will  first  give  a  summary  of  those 
from  parties  who  have  but  recently  com- 
menced the  business. 

A  gentleman  of  Fulton  county,  Indiana, 
writes  that  "he  commenced  feeding  steamed 
food  last  January  to  his  cattle,  and  continued 
till  he  turned  them  out  to  pasture  ;  experts  to 
use  it  again  this  fall  for  both  hogs  and  cattle  ; 
thinks  that  one  cord  of  wood  will  steam  one 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  on  the  cob— steam 
ten  bushels  of  corn  in  one  hour  by  renewing 
the  lire  once  ;  has  not  made  any  test  to  ascer- 
tain the  relative  value  of  steamed  food,  but 
tliinks  there  is  a  saving  of  one-third  by 
steaming." 

Another  gentleman,  of  Knox  county,  Ohio, 
says  that  "he  has  been  using  steamed  food  the 
past  season  ;  has  not  discontinued  it  nor  does 
not  expect  to  as  long  as  he  has  anything  to  do 
with  stock  feeding ;  thinks  that  a  practical 
test  would  show  a  saving  of  one-third  by  feed- 
ing steamed  food."  A  party  in  Michigan 
writes  that  "  he  has  been  using  steamed  food 
for  one  year,  and  considers  that  fifty  per  cent, 
is  saved  by  its  use  ;  has  not  made  a  practical 
test." 

Another  party  in  Indiana  states  that  "  he 
has  been  steaming  food  a  few  months  ;  is  con- 
fident that  it  is  healthier  for  stock,  and  that 
one-third  less  grain  is  required. ' '  Another  in 
Pennsylvania  writes  that  "the  steaming  of 
food  would  result  in  great  benefit  to  all  farm- 
ers who  arc  in  the  stock  raising  business." 

I  might  add  extracts  from  other  letters,  but 
the  statements  here  given  are  a  fair  sample  of 
those  who  wrote  me  who  have  been  but  recent- 
ly engaged  in  steaming  food.  Now,  to  proper- 
ly estimate  the  value  of  these  statements,  it 
is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  natural  for 
men  to  recommend  that  in  which  they  think 
they  are  more  progressive  than  their  neigh- 
bors, and  also  that  when  a  party  purchases  an 
implement  and  takes  an  agency  to  sell  it  he 
will  recommend  it  as  a  matter  of  business.  I 
notice  that  some  of  the  gentlemen  who  wrote 
me  are  acting  as  agents  to  sell  the  machine 
they  arc  using  for  cooking  food.— P)-octicoZ 
Partner. 

I  FIND  that  six  bushels  of  peas  are  equal  to 
ten  bushels  of  corn  for  fattening  my  hogs, 
and  that  peas  yield  a  larger  number  of  bushels 
to  the  acre  than  corn.— Toronto  Globe. 


LAYING   OUT  THE  FARM. 

One  great  mistake  farmers  usually  make  is 
in  not  giving  sufficient  thought  and  attention 
to  laying  out  the  farm,  and  distributing  the 
crops  and  labor  in  the  best  possible  manner. 
There  are  few  kinds  of  business  which  require 
such  careful  forethought  and  study  as  planning 
the  year's  crops  on  a  farm  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  distribute  the  labor  throughout  the 
season  as  evenly  as  possible,  and  get  the 
largest  returns  for  the  land  under  cultivation, 
and  the  money  invested  in  labor. 

When  we  consider  the  variety  of  crops 
which  may  be  raised  with  profit  on  almost  any 
farm,  the  great  number  of  causes  which  in- 
fluence their  growth,  the  nature  and  condi- 
tion of  the  soil,  the  prospects  of  the  markets, 
the  possibilities  of  double  cropping,  the  rela- 
tion of  this  year's  crops  to  a  rotation  and  the 
distribution  of  labor,  so  as  not  to  have  more 
at  any  one  time  than  it  is  possible  to  do,  and 
yet  to  have  enough  at  all  times,  the  question 
becomes  interesting  and  at  the  same  time 
exceedingly  complex— yet  all  these  things 
should  be  carefully  considered,  not  only  each 
by  itself,  but  in  relation  to  each  other,  and 
wlioever  overlooks  one  of  them  is  likely  to 
majvc  serious  blunders.  He  may  sow  his  seed 
on  soil  not  in  proper  condition,  and  so  fail  of 
a  good  crop,  or  he  may  raise  a  good  crop  and 
have  no  market,  or  he  may  be  so  crowded 
with  work  as  not  to  be  able  to  give  it  the 
proper  attention  at  the  critical  time. 

My  manner  of  laying  out  a  farm  is  this :  In 
a  book  I  write  the  name  of  each  field,  and  the 
different  crops  for  which  the  soil  by  its  nature 
and  present  condition  (with  the  fertilizers 
which  I  put  on  it)  is  beft  adapted  ;  also  the 
time  of  sowing  and  harvesting,  with  the 
amount  of  labor  required  and  tlie  times  of 
year  it  will  be  needed.  I  then  compute,  as 
nearly  as  I  am  able  from  past  experience  and 
the  condition  of  the  market,  the  probable 
proceeds  of  each  crop  per  acre,  deducting  cost 
of  seed  and  labor.  This  will  show  which  of 
all  the  crops  for  which  each  field  is  adapted 
will  give  tlie  largest  probable  returns.  Having 
gone  through  with  each  field  in  this  way  and 
decided  what  crop  or  crops  will  give  the 
largest  net  returns,  I  next  put  them  all  to- 
gether, and  see  how  the  labor  is  distributed, 
and  how  much  grain  of  each  kind  I  am  to 
sow  or  plant.  If  I  find  too  much  labor  re- 
quired at  any  one  season,  I  turn  back  to  the 
pages  containing  the  fields  with  the  conflicting 
crops,  and  select  the  best  crop  which  will 
remedy  the  labor  difticulty. 

Much  can  be  gained  in  the  way  of  economy 
in  form  labor  by  using  the  best  means  and 
implements.  Fall  plowing  of  wet  lands  and 
surface  draining  when  needed,  greatly  facili- 
tate early  work  in  the  spring.  New  and  im- 
proved tools  are  also  a  great  advantage  in 
doing  work  quickly  and  economically.  Far- 
mers often  work  year  after  year  with  old, 
wornout  tools,  when  the  extra  crops  which 
could  be  raised  with  new  labor-saving  imple- 
ments in  one  year  would  pay  for  half  a  dozen 
such  tools.  The  neglect  of  cultivating  hoed 
crops,  until  the  weeds  get  fairly  rooted,  not 
only  injures  the  crop,  but  adds  greatly  to  the 
labor  of  caring  for  it  and  destroying  the  weeds. 

Cultivation  promotes  earliness  as  well  as 
growtli,  and  partly  supplies  tlie  place  of 
manure,  and,  in  laying  out  the  year's  work, 
every  farmer  should  be  careful  not  to  put  in 
anythina  which  will  have  to  be  neglected. 
Better  till  five  acres  well  than  plant  ten  acres 
and  leave  the  crops  to  fight  it  out  with  the 
weeds.  Plan  your  work  carefully,  making 
due  allowance  for  rainy  weather  and  lost  time; 
cultivate  thoroughly  and  manure  well,  and 
you  will  be  sure  to  get  the  largest  possible  re- 
turns for  your  labor.— ^n  Old  Farmer  in 
Bural  JVcio  Yorker. 


The  best  time  to  cut  scions  is  any  time 
during  the  winter,  or  in  the  month  of  March. 
They°should  be  kept  in  good  condition  in 
meadow  moss,  or  with  the  ends  stuck  into 
moist  earth.  We  know  of  no  way  to  keep 
them  so  well  as  in  moist  meadow  moss. 


i 


l87(i.J 


tHE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


a 


OUR  LOCAT.    ORGANIZATIONS. 

Proceedings  of  the  Lancaster  County  Agricul- 
tural and  Horticultural  Society. 

Tl.c  regular  stated  nieeliiig  of  the  Lancaster 
Couuty  Aericullural  aud  Uorticultural  Society  was 
held  on  Monday  afternoon,  January  Gtli,  iu  tlieir 
rooms  In  the  City  Hall.  The  President,  Calvin 
Cooper,  called  the  meeting  to  order. 

The  following  members  were  present ;  Calvin 
Cooper,  President,  Bird-in-IIand  ;  Joseph  E.Witmcr, 
Secretary,  Paradise ;  Johnson  Miller,  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Warwi.U  :  l.ivi  W.Cirolf,  Treasurer,  West 
Earl;  Ilenrv  M  1  n^l.  .  Nhimiui;  W.  .1.  K;inVoth, 
West  Earl  ;'l)i,  i     i    -.  n,  riiy  ;  (\  M.  l|„su-lter, 

Eden;  F.  K.  Im:  I  !  m  :,.  i\;  Levi  S.  l;,.isi ,  .Man- 
lieini  ;  Peter  S.  i;>  i  i,  l.m  :  M.  I).  Kcnili;;,  Minuir  ; 
Casper  Hiller,  Con,  stn;;a  :  Henry  Kurtz,  Mt.  Joy; 
John  C.  Linville,  Salisbury  ;  Wni.  McComsey,  city; 
Daniel  Smeych,  city  ;  C.  L.  Ilunsecker,  city;  Israel 
L.  Landis,  Manheim. 

On  motlou,  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  pre- 
vious mceliug  was  dispensed  with. 

Phares  B.  Schwarr  was  ailmitted  to  membership. 
Fertilizers. 

Johnson  Miller,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Fertilizers,  reported  that  very  little  had  been  done, 
and  requested  that  the  committee  be  continued.  lie 
reported  the  season  as  having  been  very  unfavorable 
to  experiments. 

Casper  lliller  had  done  a  little  in  the  matter,  bu: 
not  enough  to  be  worth  a  report. 

M.  Brosius,  of  the  committee,  made  remarks  of  a 
like  kind,  aud  at  his  request  the  committee  was  con- 
tinued. 

Joseph  F.  Witmer,  another  member  of  the  com- 
mittee, briefly  related  several  experiments  he  had 
made. 

II.  M.  Engle  suggested  that  Mr.  lliller  read  the 
report  he  had  made  of  his   experiments,  which  was 
agreed  to  aud  Mr.  lliller  read  the  following  ; 
Artificial  Fertilizers. 

Artificial  fertilizers  are  often  said  to  be  more  in 
the  nature  of  stimulants  than  manure,  and  occa- 
sionally comes  a  wariuing  against  their  use,  as  in  a 
brief  article  a  few  weeks  ago  iu  the  Nctr  Era,  be- 
cause they  will,  after  a  few  years,  fail  to  produce 
good  crops,  or  in  other  words,  that  they  will  exhaust 
the  soil.  This  bugbear  that  they  exhaust  the  soil  is 
at  this  age  of  experience  too  absurd  to  talk  about. 
Twenty-five  or  more  years  ago  the  late  Major  Hoopes 
used  guauo  on  the  old  commons  of  Martic  township, 
and  raised  twenty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre.  The 
same  prediction,  that  guano  exhausts  the  soil,  was 
then  made.  This  land  was  so  poor  that  not  a  head 
of  wheat  would  have  made  its  appearance  without 
the  use  of  the  guano.  Suppose  it  had  been  as  poor 
after  the  crop  as  before  ;  the  fact  was  here  that  the 
wheat  was  worth  more  than  the  cost  of  guauo  and 
labor  combined.  But  it  was  not  as  poor.  Major 
Hoopes  ."owed  clover  among  the  wheat,  and  the 
result  was  a  crop  of  Lay  and  a  sod  for  future  im- 
provemeut. 

The  late  Mr.  Boyd,  of  Martic  township,  who  had 
no  superior  as  an  improver  of  soil,  and,  as  a  good 
farmer  told  me,  that  he  eould  distinctly  trace  the 
efl'ects  of  an  artificial  fertilizer  ten  years  after  the 
application.  John  I.  Carter,  of  the  Eastern  Experi- 
mental Farm,  has  shown  that  a  dressing  of  acidu- 
lated South  Carolinarock  had  adecidedly  better  effect 
on  the   crops  of  a   five  years'   rotation  than  stable 


Prof.Stockbridge,  of  Conn.,  says  that  chemicals 
are  better  than  manure,  because  they  may  be  more 
cheaply  transported,  handled  and  carried  to  distant 
parts  of  the  farm  and  more  thoroughly  mixed  with 
the  soil.  They  are  better  than  yard  manure,  because 
they  not  only  enable  us  to  grow  as  abundant  crops 
with  less  labor,  but  their  supply  can  equal;  any  de- 
mand. They  enable  the  farmer  to  crop  his  land, 
sell  the  crops,  and  yet  maintain  the  fertility  of  his 
soil.  In  my  experience  I  have  seen  nothing  to  cast 
and  discredit  on  the  professor's  opinion,  (iood  com- 
mercial fertilizers  are  composed  of  nitrogen,  phos- 
phoric acid  and  potash.  These  ingredients  are  all  to 
be  found  in  stable  manure,  and  when  they  are  all 
abstracted  therefrom  there  is  little  of  value  left. 

I  believe  that  under  certain  circumstances,  and  iu 
certain  localities,  it  would  be  entirely  feasible  and 
profitable  to  sell  all  the  hay,  straw,  fodder  and  corn, 
except  what  is  wanted  for  the  few  horses  needed  and 
for  feeding  as  many  cows  as  would  supply  the  family 
with  milk  and  butter.  The  amount  of  labor  s.ived 
by  such  a  course  would  be  very  great. 

These  special  fertilizers  have  sometimes  been 
brought  into  disrepute  by  taking  it  for  granted  that 
because  an  extra  crop  of  wheat  has  beer  raised  by 
their  use,  the  same  can  be  done  again  and  again  by 
an  annual  dressing  of  the  fertilizer.  In  many  cases 
this  has  proven  unsatisfactory.  Suppose  we  had  a 
field  that  had  a  proper  supply  of  nitrogen  and  pot- 
ash, and  If  on  this  we  apply  a  fertilizer,  rich  in  phos- 
phone  acid,  and  from  this  we  raise  a  first-class  crop 
of  grain,  might  it  not  reasonably  follow,  that  in  re- 
peating the  process  for  several  years  we  would  ex- 
haust the  nitrogen  aud  potash,  and  the  consequence 
would  be  poor  crops  ! 

Stable  manure  has  a  similar  effect.    I   know  of  a 


case  where  stable  manure  was  applied  annually  on 
wheat  ground,  with  the  following  result :  First  year, 
forly-flve  bushels ;  second  do.,  about  twenty-five ; 
third  do.,  twelve  ;  fourth  do.,  almost  a  totil  failure. 
Would  you  say  the  manure  exhausted  the  soil? 
\ery  little  of  our  land  is  adapted  to  special  crops. 
It  wants  rotation.  Our  main  crops  are  clover,  corn 
and  wheat.  Oats  should  be  discarded  altogether. 
They  rarely  pay  cost  of  production,  and  are  the  most 
exhaustive  of  all  cereals.  Our  artificial  fertilizer 
rotation  should  begin  with  a  clover  sod.  Apply  a 
fertilizer  rich  In  the  elements  that  corn  requires.  In 
the  fall  sow  the  corn-stalk  ground  Iu  rye,  and  the 
following  summer,  when  iu  bloom,  plow  it  down 
and  let  It  lie  fallow  until  time  to  sow  wheat.  Or,  if 
you  will  raise  tobacco,  haul  on  this  ground  the 
manure  made  by  your  stock.  When  the  time  for 
seeding  wheat  comes,  apply  the  proper  artificial 
fertilizer  for  wheat.  Follow  with  a  one  or  two  year's 
run  of  clover,  and  the  laud  will  belli  better  condi- 
tion without  a  doubt  than  if  it  had  received  the 
usual  dressiug  of  stable  manure.  Better,  because  in 
the  rotation,  it  received  two  dressings  of  fertilizers 
and  had  a  green  crop  plowed  down. 

If  we  depend  on  stable  manure  for  our  fertilizer. 
We  must  see  to  it  that  our  mauure  pile  is  not  only  of 
large  dimensions,  but  it  must  be  of  good  quality.  I 
have  known  farmers  who  would  not  sell  a  load  of 
straw  for  love  or  money  and  who  hauled  stuff  on 
their  fields  which  they  called  mauure,  while  others 
called  it  straw.  If  we  want  a  good  manure  pile  we  must 
put  all  the  hay,  straw,  cornfodder,  oats  and  corn 
that  are  raised  on  the  farm  Into  the  pile,  and  if  we 
can  run  several  car  loads  of  Western  corn  into  it,  it 
will  be  all  the  better.  When  all  this  is  done  there 
will  still  be  a  goodly  corner  of  the  farm  crying  for 
more.  When  we  take  into  consideration  the  value  of 
these  raw  materials,  together  with  the  vast  amc 
of  labor  required  we  find  it  to  be  a  very  costly  pili 
I  do  not  say  that  it  does  not  pay  to  do  all  this, 
I  do  know  many  farmers  who  follow  this  plan  that 
are  eminently  successful.  But  we  cannot  all  be 
cattle  feeders.  The  experience  of  the  last  ten  years 
with  artificial  fertilizers  has  fully  shown  that  it  is 
not  necessary  that  we  should  be. 

William  McComsey  stated  that  he  had  also  read 
the  article  in  the  New  Era,  and  hail  cut  it  out.  He 
requested  the  Secretary  to  read  it,  wln'ih  was  done. 
H.  M.  Engle  said  that  in  this  proijiessivu  a"e  when 
fertilizers  have  been  tested  so  thon. uglily  we  cannot 
regret  the  beneficial  effects  known  to  arise  from 
them.  It  is  a  mistake  to  regard  fertilizers  as  mere 
stimulants.  In  some  crops  they  may  not  be  so  good 
because  they  contain  elements  not  required  by  the 
crop.  But  some  other  crop  ma>  take  up  the  ingredi- 
ents and  in  this  way  tliey  are  not  wasted.  Tlie  soil 
will  hold  them  until  needed.  However,  we  cannot 
dispense  with  barnyard  mauure.  What'a  fertilizer 
is  worth  cannot  be  told  from  a  single  crop,  but  a 
test  of  a  number  of  years  must  decide  the  question 
We  should  have  fertilizers  adapted  to  the  crops  in- 
tended to  be  grown,  and  for  this  reason  they  should 
all  be  labeled  with  the  ingredients  they  contain  to 
show  the  farmer  what  he  needs.  He  told  of  an  ex- 
periment made  with  a  fertilizer  on  corn  and  potatoes. 
The  results  in  the  first  named  crop  were  excellent 
but  very  discouraging  in  the  latter.  ' 

William  .McComsey  advocated  the  use  of  barn- 
yard manure.  He  hiped  the  committee  will  continue 
their  experiments  aud  determine  how  valuable  arti 
ficial  fertilizers  are  to  our  soils.  He  had  tried  them 
but  the  results  hardly  wrrranted  their  use  largely 
If  they  are  all  that  is  claimed  for  them,  it  is  well 
that  fact  should  be  known. 

Henry  Kurtz  had  tried  various  kinds  of  artificial 
fertilizers  aud  believes  they  are  a  stimulant.  They 
may  benefit  one  croi>  but  fail  in  another.  Clover 
plowed  down  is  worth  all  the  fertilizers.  The  price 
of  fertilizers  is  too  high  ;  the  manufacturers  make 
all  the  money  and  the  farmer  can  make  nothing 
Most  of  them  are  not  worth  the  bags  that  hold  them 
One  hundred  bushels  of  lime  are  worth  two  tons  of 
fertilizers. 

H.  M.  Engle  said  that  if  the  farmers  of  Pennsyl- 
vania have  been  humbuged  it  is  their  own  fault  and 
not  the  fault  of  the  fertilizer.  And  it  will  be  so  until 
the  Legislature  enacts  that  every  manufacturer  mark 
on  each  bag  exactly  what  it  contains.  An  aiticle 
sold  in  a  State  in  which  the  law  prevents  adultera- 
tion of  fertilizers  may  be  very  good,  but  when  sold 
in  this  State  it  is  not  worth  anything.  We  should 
have  a  law  to  protect  fertilizers. 

John  H.  Linville  seriously  questioned  whether  it 
paid  to  use  fertilizers ;  to  put  $10  worth  of  fertilizer 
on  an  acre  of  ground  and  get  §20  worth  of  wheat  off 

Casper  Hlller  said  it  certainly  would  not  pay  to  use 
»K'  worth  of  fertilizer  for  wheat  only,  but  it  is  well 
known  that  the  fertilizer  benefits  all  the  crops  in  a 
five  years'  rotation.  But  we  must  learn  what  the 
ground  needs,  and  apply  it. 

Progressive  Agriculture. 

On  motion,  the  rules  were  suspended  to  allow 
1  eier  b.  Keist  to  read  an  essay  on  "Progressive  Ag-ri- 
culture."    [Seepages.]  ^ 

Election  of  Officers. 

On  motion,  the  society  proceeded  to  elect  officers 
lor  the  ensuing  year. 


Calvin  Cooper  was  nominated  for  re-election  &i 
President,  but  immediately  arose  to  decline.  lie  said 
that  he  had  served  the  society  faithfully  for  three 
years,  sometimes  under  pecuniary  loss,  and  tliou"ht 
they  might  relieve  him  for  one  year  at  least. 

II.  M.  Engle  objected  to  his  declination.  He  be- 
ll-ved  In  adopting  any  measure  that  conferred  the 
greatest  good  on  the  greatest  number,  and  moved 
that  Mr.  Cooper  be  re-elected.  The  members  were 
unanimous  for  his  election  and  Mr.  Cooper  gracefully 
submitted,  declaring  that  he  would  do  his  best  to 
advance  the  interests  of  the  society,  but  that  If  busi- 
ness callc.1  wluii  I  lie  Kr.,i,.tv  also  claimed  his  atten- 
tion he  woull  i.i  .  \   1 1  r    I,  I ,,,,.,.  call. 

•■"o'"   Vi..     I  \\\    II.   Bi-osius,   Jacob    B. 

Garber,  .M.  |i    I,    ,,  I,       M     \l.  Eniile  and  Casper  Ilil- 


nominated  ;  for  Corresponding,'  .-^n  rii;ir\ .  .Jnhnsoii 
Miller;  for  Treasurer,  Levi  W.  (imil  :  to,  l.iinariaii 
Simon  P.  Eby;  for  Agricultural  (  hdniht,  Jacob 
Stauffer,  and  lor  Entomologist,  IJr.  S.  S.  Kathvon. 

The  nominations  then  closed,  and  C.  L.  Hunseeker 
was  instructed  to  cast  the  vote  of  the  society  for  the 
ofliccrs  nominated. 

Auditing  the  Treasurer's  Accounts. 

On  motion,  a  committee  of  three,   Cusper   lliller. 

Johnson  Miller  and  W.  J.  KaflVotli,  were  appointed 

to  audit  the   Treasurer's   accounts.     They  reported 

them  correct,  and  a  balance  in  the  treasury  of  i>i>;:£i. 

Fair  or  no  Fair. 

C.   M.   Hostetter  proposed   that   the   question   of 

holding  a  fair  be  opened  for  discussion. 

John  C.  Linville  thought  the  hour  was  too  late  to 
begin  such  a  question.  It  should  be  deferred  until 
next  meeting. 

William  McComsey  thought  the  question  should 
be  settled  to-day  or  some  day  in  the  near  future.  If 
the  discussion  is  postponed  until  next  mouth  mea- 
sures should  be  takeu  to  have  a  full  attendance  on 
the  day  of  meeting.  It  has  been  sai4  that  the  State 
Agricultural  Society  meets  at  llarrisburg  soon  to 
select  a  place  for  holdiug  its  next  fair.  If  the  society 
has  any  inducements  to  oiler  to  persuade  them  to 
hold  the  fair  in  this  city,  he  thought  a  committee 
should  be  appointed  to  lay  them  before  them. 

Daniel  Smeych  moved  that  a  committee  be  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  other  societies,  and  bring  the 
matter  in  a  business  shape  before  the  next  meeting 
of  the  society. 

His  motion  was  carried  and  the  following  com- 
mittee was  appointed  :  D.  Smeych,  C.  M.  Hostetter, 
H.  M.  Engle,  M.  D.  Kendig  and  John  C.  Linville. 
Essays  to  the  Farmer. 
Dr.  Rathvon,  editor  of  The  Lancaster  Farmeh, 
said  it  was  proposed  to  issue  The  Fahmek  as  early 
in  the  month  as  possible,  and  therefore  he  requested 
all  who  were  to  read  essays  to  send  them  to  him  not 
later  than  the  2.5th  of  the  month.  They  can  then  be 
put  in  type,  and  the  essayists  can  read  them  from 
printed  slips. 

Business  for  Next  Meeting. 
It  was  announced  that  John  H.   Landis  will  read 
an  essay  next  month. 

A  question,  "Will  it  pay  to  chop  . 
was  referred  to  Joseph  F.  Wltnior. 

"Witl)  •  ■ 
raise  ' 
Gioff. 

Lecture  in  Prospect. 
H.  M.  Engle  said  that  he  had  written  to  Professor 
Caldcr,  President  of  the  State  Agricultural  Colleo-e, 
asking  him  to  deliver  a  lecture  before  the  society. 
The  professor  had  consented,  and  will  probably  lec- 
ture next  month. 

as  suggested    that  there  would  be  too  much 


for  hogs?" 

Vith  labor  and  land  at  present  prices   can   we 
wheat  at  §1  per  bushel '('    Keferred  to  Levi  W. 


On  motion,  it  was  resolved  to  hold  the  February 
meeting  at  one  o'clock  iu  the  afternoon,  thus  gain- 
ing au  hour. 

On  motion,  it  was  also  resolved  to  postpone  the 
lecture  uutil  the  March  meeting. 

Business  Committee. 

President  Cooper  appointed  the  following  Business 
Committee  :  M.  D.  Kendig,  I.  L.  Landis  and  JohnC. 
Linville. 

Report  of  Fruit  Committee. 

The  Fruit  Committee  reported  the  following  varie- 
ties of  apples  as  of  most  importance  in  such  dry  and 
hot  seasons  as  the  one  just  past.  They  hang  well  on 
the  tree  and  are  keepers:  York  Imperial,  Koxbury 
Russet  and  English  Kusset.     .\djourned. 

THE  LANCASTER    COUNTY  POULTRY 
ASSOCIATION. 

The  following  named  gentlemen  interested  In 
poultry  breeding,  met  iu  one  of  the  parlors  of  the 
Cooper  House  on  Monday  afternoon,  December  IG, 
and  took  steps  to  organize  a  permanent  county  asso- 
ciation. 

Totiias  D.  Martin,  New  Haven:  Jlilton  J.  Kaffroth, 
West  Earl;  Frank  B.  Buch,  Lititz;  B.  F.  Evans, 
Lititz;  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  Lititz;  Jacob  A.  Bueh, 
Lititz;  L.B.Martin,  Spring  Garden;  G.  A.  Geycr, 
Spring  Garden;  Chas.  E.  Long,  Lancaster;  J.  B. 
Lichty,   Lancaster;  H.  G.  Hirsh,   Lancaster;  J.  H. 


12 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  January, 


Minnicli,  Spring  Grove;  Colin  Cameron,  Brickerville; 
John  F.  Evans,  Lltitz;  William  Siioenbercer,  Lan- 
caster; H.  H.  Tshudy,  Lititz;  Joshua  H.  Ilabbaker, 
Spring  Garden;  F.  R.  Diffenderffer,  Lancaster;  J. 
M.  Johnston,  Lancaster;  John  F.  Reed,  Lancaster, 
were  present. 

The  meeting  was  organized  by  calling  Rev.  D.  C. 
Tobias  to  act  as  chairman,  and  John  F.  Reed  to  act 
as  secretary. 

The  chairman  stated  the  object  was  to  form  a 
poultry  society.  An  informal  meeting  was  held  at 
Lititz  some  time  ago,  which  resulted  in  the  determi- 
nation to  call  a  meeting  in  this  city.  About  all  that 
It  is  designed  to  do  is  to  elect  the  proper  officers  and 
committees,  and  to  draft  a  set  of  by-laws.  He 
thought  men  should  be  selected  who  have  heretofore 
shown  an  interest  in  the  subject.  Men  sometimes 
are  willing  to  accept  such  positions,  but  give  little 
attention  to  the  matter  afterwards. 

H.  H.  Tshudy  approved  the  idea  of  having  a  com- 
mittee on  by-laws  and  a  constitution,  but  he  saw  no 
use  in  the  other  committee.  Men  who  have  the 
organization  at  heart  are  the  ones  who  should  be 
chosen. 

Colin  Cameron  said  it  was  not  a  pleasant  task  to 
get  up  and  say  that  man  was  not  acceptable  ;  if  two 
"sets  of  officers  were  proposed  there  would  be  a  choice 
to  select  from. 

11.  H.  Tshudy,  of  Lititz,  remarked  this  was  a  pre- 
liminary meeting  towards  effecting  a  permanent 
organization.  Perhaps  we  ought  not  to  elect  officers 
to-day.  It  might  be  left  to  a"committee.  He  asked 
for  an  expression  of  opinion. 

Chas.   E.   Long   agreed   with   Mr.   Tshudy.      He 

favored  a  committee   of  five   to   select  and   propose 

permanent  officers  for  the  government  of  the  society. 

Colin  Cameron  thought  several  committees  should 

be  appointed  ;  one  to  name  officers. 

Chas.  E.  Long  thought  that  the  two  committees 
would  give  us  more  suitable  officers.  The  two  com- 
mittees could  not  fail  to  propose  acceptable  men. 

Colin  Camergn  proposed  that  two  committees  of 
three  persons  each  be  appointed  to  propose  the  names 
of  permanent  officers,  and  one  of  three  to  propose 
by-laws.     Carried. 

VV.  J.  Katfroth  suggested  the  committee  meets 
to-day  a  week  to  attend  to  the  duties  assigned  to 
them. 

Chas.  E.  Long  concurred  in  the  last  suggestion. 
The   chairman  thought   the   time   should   be  ex- 
tended to  a  later  period  on  account  of  the  holidays. 

Mr.  Tshudy  favored  the   views   of  the   chairman. 

The  present  is  a  very  busy  time  for  almost  every  one. 

Colin   Cameron   suggested  a   permanent   meeting 

day  be  fixed,  and  tlie   first  Monday  in  every   month 

be  the  time. 

Charles  E.  Long  moved  the  second  Monday  in 
January  be  appointed  as  the  regular  meeting  day. 

Colin  Cameron  offered  an  amendment  to  Mr.  Long's 
motion,  that  the  society  meets  on  the  first  Monday 
of  each  month  at  10:30  a.  m.     Carried. 

Tlie  chairman  appointed  the  following  committees: 
Ou  organization  and  by-laws,  Charles  E.  Long, 
Frank  R.  Diffenderffer  and  J.  B.  Lichty ;  first  com- 
mittee on  selection  of  officers,  H.  H.  Tshudy,  Colin 
Cameron,  Jacob  A.  Buch ;  second  committee  on 
selection  of  officers,  William  Schoenberger,  J.  M. 
Johnston  and  John  F.  Reed. 

It   was   moved  the  next  meeting   be   held   at   the 
Cooper  House,  Lancaster. 
A  motion  to  adjourn  was  made  and  carried. 

January  Meeting. 
The  adjourned  meeting  of  the  proposed  Poultry 
Association  of  Lancaster  County  was  held  on  Mon- 
day morning,  January  6th,  at  the  Cooper  House, 
Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias  in  the  chair.  The  role  was  called 
and  the  following  members  were  present : 

Tobias  D.  Martin,  New  Haven  ;  Frank  B.  Buch, 
Litiz;  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  Litiz  ;  J.  N.  Buch,  Litiz  ; 
G.  A.  Geper,  Spring  Garden  ;  Charles  E.  Long,  Lan- 
caster;  Colin  Cameron,  Brickcrville  ;  Wm.  Schoen- 
berger, city  ;  11.  H.  Tshudy,  Litiz  ;  F.  R.  Diffenderf- 
fer, city  ;  J.  F.  Reed,  city;  Clair  Carpenter,  city ;  J. 
B.  Lichty, city  ;  W.  J.  Kafroth,  West  Earl ;  M.  D. 
Keudig,  Manor;  Jos.  F.  Witmer,  Paradise. 

The  minutes  were  then  read  and  adopted.  The 
following  new  names  were  then  proposed  for  mem- 
bership; John  C.  Barnes,  city;  Charles  Lippold,  city; 
O.  F.  Heubener,  Litiz  ;  Frank  Howell,  city;  M.  K. 
Brubakar,  Laudisville  ;  David  Brosey,  Manheim  ;  R. 
T.  Robinson,  city;  Amos  Ringwalt,  city;  A.  H. 
Shreiner,  Manheim  ;  Milton  Ruth,  city  ;  Martin  L. 
Grider,  Mount  Joy ;  J.  H.  Miller,  Spring  Garden; 
Samuel  E.  Stauffer,  Adamstown;  J.  A.  Stober,  Schoe- 
ueck  ;  John  E.  Schum,  city. 

Chas.  E.  Long,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  to 
prepare  a  Constitution  and  By-Laws,  then  read  the 
rules  drawn  up  by  the  committee,  and  recommended 
them  to  the  society  for  their  adoption. 

On  motion  of  H.  H.  Tshudy,  the  report  was 
received.. 

On  motion,  the  constitution  and  by-laws  were  then 
read  separately,  by  sections,  for  adoption  by  the 
society.  These  are  of  the  usual  character  that  govern 
similar  societies,  and  are  therefore  not  reproduced 
here. 

Tlie  two  committees  on  nominations  of  officers  re- 
ported two  sets  of  names  for  officers  of  the  society, 


after  which  the  following  compromise  ticket  was 
oiTered  : 

For  President,  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  Litiz  ;  First  Vice 
President,  G.  A.  Geyer,  Spring  Garden  ;  Second  Vice 
President,  W.  J.  Kafroth,  West  Eari  ;  Recording  Sec- 
retary, J.  B. Lichty, city ;  Corresponding  Sec'y,  Colin 
Cameron,  Brickcrville  ;  Treasurer,  T.  Frank  Evans, 
Litiz;  Executive  Committee,  II.  H.  Tshudy,  Litiz; 
Chas.  E.  Long,  Lancaster ;  T.  D.  Martin,  New 
Haven;  Jacob  Miller,  Spring  Garden;  and  A.  H. 
Shriner,  Manheim,  who  were  then  elected  by  accla- 
mation as  the  officers  of  the  society  for  the  present 
year. 

On  motion  the  members  then  came  forward  and 
paid  their  initiation  fee  of  $1  each. 

On  motion  of  Chas.  E.  Long,  the  recording  secre- 
tary was  authorized  and  instructed  to  have  postal 
cards  printed  and  distributed,  requesting  parties  to 
join  the  society.     Agreed  to. 

On  motion,  the  society  then  visited  the  rooms  of 
the  Agricultural  Society,  and  after  inspecting  them 
accepted  the  terms  offered  by  the  latter  organization 
for  holding  the  regular  monthly  meetings  there,  at  a 
cost  of  seventy-five  cents  per  month. 

There  being  no  further  business  the  society  then 
adjourned. 

LINN/EAN    SOCIETY. 

The  society  met  on  Saturday  afternoon,  December 
J8th.  The  donations  to  the  museum  were  quite  ex- 
tensive and  interesting.  They  consisted,  1st,  of  a 
fine  well-mounted  setter  dog,  of  large  size,  from  Mr. 
George  Flick,  taxidermist,  of  this  city  ;  2d,  a  female 
specimen  of  the  opossum  (Didelphis  Virgihiana), 
captured  near  Quarryville  and  donated  by  Mr.  R.  C. 
Edwards,  also  well  mounted  by  Mr.  Flick  for  the 
society;  .3rd,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  goldfinch, 
or  as  the  Germans  calls  it,  "Thistle  Finch,"  Fi'in- 
piUa  carduella,  presented  by  Mr.  Charles  Lippold, 
bird  fancier,  of  this  city ;  4th,  two  specimens  of  the 
golden  carp,  (Cyprinus  Auratus,)  that  had  died  for 
want  of  oxygen  in  too  small  an  aquarium,  per  Mrs. 
Rathvon  ;  several  species  of  Salamanders,  Plethodon 
(salamandra)  enjthronota,  and  Plethodon  glulinosus, 
from  Rapho  township,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Washing- 
ton L.  Hershey,  found  under  stones,  &c.,  per  Dr. 
Rathvon ;  a  bottle  containing  four  snakes  and  a 
species  of  "Salamanders,"  (genus,  Amblstoina,)  per 
Mr.  S.  Landis,  received  by  him  about  ten  years  ago, 
said  to  have  been  captured  in  South  America.  The 
chairman  on  Herpetology  and  Ichthyology,  -Mr.  J. 
Staufi'er,  reports  that  one  differs  but  little  from  our 
native  species,  the  ring-necked  snake,  (Diadop/dx 
punctata) ;  another  agrees  with  our  well-known 
species,  Storeria  Dkaii,  a  small  reddish-brown  snake, 
having  several  series  of  small  round  dorsal  spots  ; 
the  other  two  snakes  in  the  bottle  are  of  the  same 
species,  and  are  not  found  in  Pennsylvania,  and  may 
prove  to  be  true  Lamprosoma  Occipitalc  of  Dr.  Hal- 
lowell,  and  the  species  figured  and  so  named  in  the 
United  Stales  and  Mexico  railroad  report  should  be 
called  Lamprosoma  Annulatmn.  Mr.  S.  has  written 
to  Professor  Baird,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
for  correction  or  confirmation  of  his  views,  giving  a 
drawing  of  the  reptile  and  form,  &c.,  of  the  cepha- 
letic  plates,  scales,  &c.  A  large  circular  leaf,  fully 
twenty-two  inches  in  diameter,  of  the  Nelumbiuiii 
(the  Ceylonese  name  is  jVfiMnifto).  The  iV.  luteum, 
or  "water  chinquepin,"  is  related  to  "Lotus,  or 
Sacred  Bean  of  India,"  very  closely.  This  leaf  was 
donated  by  S.  T.  Davis,  M.D.,  of  this  city,  who  re- 
ceived it  among  roots,  seed-pods,  &c.,  sent  to  him 
from  the  West  to  associate  with  his  water  lilies 
growing  so  finely  in  a  pond  in  his  yard  on  Prince 
street.  The  leaf  was  pasted  on  stifi'  paper  by  Mr. 
Stauffer,  it  being  rather  dry  to  handle  and  too  large 
for  the  herbarium.  A  bunch  of  "scouring  rush"— 
EiptUetum  hi/emale— per  S.  S.  Rathvon. 

Mr.  W.  P.  Bolton  had  a  plant  of  the  composite 
family,  desiring  to  have  its  name.  It  is  the  Cacatia 
Articulata,  also  called  "Candle  Cactus,"  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  1775;  considered  a  green- 
house evergreen. 

Mr.  F.  W.  Beates,  of  Londonderry  twp.,  Dauphin  CO., 
donated  forty  arrow-heads  and  spear-heads  found  on 
hia  farm  during  the  last  year,  turned  up  by  the  plow. 
This  afl'ords  food  for  reflection  upon  the  past.  Mr. 
Henry  Becbtold,  of  this  city,  donated  a  fine  large 
specimen  of  dark-brown  mnber,  from  Mifflin  county. 
Pa.;  on  trial  it  proved  to  be  equal  to  the  best  in  the 
market.  Mr.  Washington  L.  Hershey  donated  three 
specimens  of  that  peculiar  "algea  floreseeut"  mark- 
ings, known  as  the  Dctidritic  limestone,  from  a 
quarry  on  his  farm. 

Historical  Relics. 
Mr.  David  M.  Stauffer  donated  eleven  specimens, 
mostly  historical  or  war  relies  :  No.  1,  an  old-fash- 
ioned cartridge  box,  full  of  fragments  of  missies, 
collected  on  the  battle  field  of  Antietam,  im.i,  and 
four  others  from  Harper's  Ferry  ;  No.  2,  portion  of 
brass  rack  from  the  rebel  iron-clad  Tennessee,  Mobile, 
1865  ;  No.  3,  shell  fragments,  with  those  of  No.  1 ; 
No.  4,  a  portion  of  a  thick  cotton  rope  from  the 
rebel  ram  Manassas,  destroyed  in  the  attack  on  New 
Orleans  ;  No.  6,  a  portion  of  a  chandelier  from  the 
burnt  State  house.  Baton  Rouge,  La.,  1863;  No.  7, 
an  old  fashioned  bayonet  scabbard,   from  Antietam 


battle  field  ;  No.  8,  a  sugar  planter's  knife,  used  as  a  . 
cutlass  on  the  Rebel  ram  "Missouri,"  Red  river,  1864; 
No.  9,  the  veritable  Whitworth  steel  missle,  fired 
into  the  United  States  iron-clad  "Essex,"  Bayou 
Sera,  Louisiana,  1864;  No.  10,  a  United  States  Navy 
shaving  box.  No.  5,  a  cutlass  holder,  made  out  of 
very  thick  cotton  dritling,  used  by  the  rebel  seaman. 
No.  6  marks  an  old  city  lard-lamp  for  two  ificks 
among  the  deposit. 

Additions  to  the  Library. 
Part  II.  April  and  September,  1S7S,  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Academy  oi  Natural  Science,  Phila- 
delphia ;  copy  of  The  Lancastuu  Fakmer  for  De- 
cember,1878;  quite  a  number  of  catalogues  of  scien- 
tific and  miscellaneous  books  and  papers  published. 
On  motion  of  Mrs.  Zell,  Miss  M.  Gill,  of  this  city, 
was  elected  a  correspondent. 

Papers  Read. 
Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon  read  a  descriptive  memorandum 
(No.  506)  of  many  of  the  things  deposited,  and  also 
notes  on  his  visit  to  Mr.  W.  L.  Hershey,  who  occupies 
the  farm  on  which  the  doctor  spent  seven  months, 
fifty  years  ago,  in  bis  boyhood,  of  course.  He  notes 
the  changes,  as  also  some  portions  highly  interesting 
to  the  liotanist,  having  been  invited  to  make  a  birth- 
day visit  December  1.5, 1878,  to  Mr.  Hershey.  It  was 
there  the  doctor  collected  the  scouring  rush,  and  he 
enumerates  the  ferns,  &c.,  found  on  a  hillside  at  this 
late  season— many  things  new  to  him  in  the  botani- 
cal line ;  the  paper  in  reading  vividly  brought  to 
recollection  the  finding  of  rare  plants,  new  to  the 
writer,  (then  twenty  years  or  more  ago,)  in  that 
same  locality,  while  resident  of  Mt.  Joy,  and  never 
since  met  with  in  other  localities. 

J.  Stauffer  read  an  illustrated  paper  (No.  507)  on 
the  bottle  af  Reptilia,  deposited  and  donated  by  Mr. 
Geori-e  S.  Lanlis.  Tlie  Curators'  Report  for  1878 
was  then  read  (No.  508)  by  Dr.  Rathvon.  The  do- 
nations to  the  museum  during  the  year  may  be 
briefly  stated  thus  :  Three  mammals,  seven  birds, 
two  bird's  nests  and  five  eggs,  seventeen  fishes,  ten 
reptiles,  six  crustaceans,  twenty  shells,  nineteen 
fossils,  and  of  various  kinds  of  insects,  500  speci- 
mens ;  SiO  minerals,  fifteen  coins,  eighteen  historical 
relics,  ten  old  documents,  thirty-two  old  maps,  4-20 
historical  clippings,  fifteen  volumes  of  books,  thirty- 
eight  pamphlets,  besides  a  large  number  of  cata- 
logues, circulars  and  papers;  seventeen  original 
papers  read.  Few  as  the  active  members  are  in 
number,  they  work  under  all  the  drawbacks  and 
feel  thankful  for  the  many  things  sent  to  them. 
Mr.  J.  Staufter  read  a  letter  in  reply  to  one  of  inquiry 
respecting  the  fish  donated  by  Mr.  Sheetz,  of  Safe 
Harbor,  and  which  Mr.  S.  reported  as  the  Amia 
Calva  at  a  former  meeting.  Tarlton  II.  Bean,  M.  D., 
now  associated  with  Prof.  S.  F.  Baird,  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  Washington,  D.  C,  says  in  the 
letter  referred  to  :  "  From  the  drawing  sent  there  is  no 
doubt  about  the  identification  of  the  species,  inas- 
much as  LinniEus  name  of  Calva  carries  in  its  train 
twelve  synonyms,"  (these  are  enumerated,)  and  he 
concludes,  "that  no  satisfactory  account  of  its  coast 
rant'e  further  north  on  the  Atlantic  was  known  than 
the  rivers  in  the  Carolinas."  This  establishes  its 
northern  extent  to  the  Susquehanna  river,  and  is 
therefore  of  interest.  This  shows  how  men  who  are 
not  scientific  can  place  into  the  hands  of  those  who 
are  much  valuable  information  appreciated  by  the 
lovers  of  science  and  research,  and  is  desirable  that 
they  be  encouraged  in  so  doing. 

Report  on  Stock  Subscriptions. 
The  report  of  the  Treasurer  was  read,  and  although 
the  dues  paid  in  amounted  only  to  $34.14,  with  the 
old  balance  of  $10.64,  the  current  expenses  were  all 
paid,  leaving  a  balance  of  ?9.44.  But  the  heavy 
extra  expense  of  ?3i3.65  was  incurred,  and  stock 
sold  to  the  amount  of  §206,  leaving  the  association 
in  debt  $18.21.  Considering  the  amount  of  addi- 
tional cases  added  to  those  removed  from  the  Athe- 
nfeum,  the  society  has  no  cause  of  complaint,  and 
looks  hopefully  forward  to  an  increase  of  members 
and  means. 

Election  of  Officers. 
This  being  the  day  of  election,  and  no  ambitious 
aspirants  laying  claim  to  rotation  in  office,  a  motion 
was  made  and  seconded  that  the  old  board  be  re- 
elected. The  only  change  made  was  that  of  Assist- 
ant Recording  Secretary.  The  ballot  being  cast,  re- 
sulted in  the  election  of  Rev.  J.  Stahr,  President; 
Rev.  J.  H.  Dubbs  and  Prof.  J.  R.  Baker,  Vice  Presi- 
dents ;  J.  Stauffer,  Recording  Secretary;  W.  P. 
Bolton,  Assistant  Recording  Secretary;  Rev.  D. 
Geissinger,  Corresponding  Secretary ;  Dr.  S.  S. 
Rathvon,  Treasurer;  Mrs.  L.  A.  Zell,  Librarian; 
Messrs.  C.  A.  Heinitsh,  S.  S.  Rathvon  and  W.  P. 
Bolton,  Curators.  After  some  scientific  miscellany 
and  propositions  discussed,  the  society  adjourned, 
well  pleased  with  the  session  held  in  the  well-warmed 
second  floor  of  the  Library  rooms  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Felling  TnEES.-Mr.  Gladstone,  the  distinguished 
statesman,  as  our  own  Horace  Greely  was,  is  fond  of 
the  axe.  He  has  been  giving  a  correspondent  some 
leaves  from  his  note-book .  He  considers  Yew  the  most 
dlflicult  tree  to  fell;  next  come  Beech  and  Ash;  Oak, 
though  very  hard,  fells  well ;  but  the  easiestof  all  is 
Spanish  C\\eiin\A.— Gardeners'  Monthly. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


i3 


AGRICULTURAL. 

Couch-Grass  as  a  Hay  Plant. 

No  one  who  has  been  lor  many  years  coiKlucling 
an ap^riculttiral  jourual but  picks  ujiattimpsan  **cyc- 
oponcr"  of  a  eonsiJcrablc  size;  but  wc  do  not  know 
wlicn  we  liave  been  more  astonislieii  tlian  when  re- 
cently wc  read  in  an  Eastern  ajrricullunil  journal  a 
recommendation  to  cultivate  the  coudi  or  twitch 
grass  as  a  hay  plant.  Our  euloirist  liiids  it  thrive 
wonderfully  well  on  dry,  poor  soil,  aud  as  such  de- 
mands attention  to  its  merits. 

All  this  is  very  well.  It  recalls  the  story  of  the 
Western  farmer,  who,  familiar  with  the  fact  that  the 
black  f  uakeate  rats  and  mice,introduccd  the  "critter" 
to  his  barns  aud  stables.  The  veriniu  soon  disap- 
peared under  his  snakeship's  rule,  but  so  did  cgifs, 
chickens,  ducks,  etc.,  until  In  this  instance  our 
farmer  friend  thought  the  great  serpent  was  quite  as 
black  as  he  is  painted,  and  he  was  banished,  if  no 
worse  fate  befell  him. 

This  couch-grass  is  worse  than  a  black  snake. 
True  it  docs  bear  tolerably  heavy  In  very  hard  ]>l;ups. 
We  remember  once  seeing  a  small  patch  whirli  hail 
taken  possession  of  an  old  stone  quarry,  whieli  nnnle 
a  thick  dense  mass  of  herbage  from  two  anil  a  half 
to  three  feet  high.  It  would  cut  probably  a  ton  aud 
a  half  to  the  acre — pretty  good  lor  a  dry,  barren, 
worthless  piece  of  ground.  But  no  one  would  w.int 
to  have  a  crop  of  hay  forever  in  the  same  ground  ; 
and  when  the  time  for  change  conies  how  is  this  grass 
to  be  disposed  of  its  hold  upon  the  soil.  The  snake 
might  be  discharged,  couch-grass  never. 

For  our  part  we  should  taboo  couch-grass  at  once 
and  forever,  no  matter  how  great  its  good  qualities 
might  be ;  and  we  cannot  regard,  as  a  friend  to  agri- 
culture, any  one  who  would  seriously  recommend  its 
culture.  With  as  much  reason  might  one  recom- 
mend the  culture  of  the  Canada  thistle.  It  is  an  ex- 
cellent food  for  jackasses,  and  moreover  we  have 
heard  New  Torkers,  when  they  failed  to  eradicate  it 
from  their  premises,  praise  it  as  making  excellent 
"cow-hay."  But,  somehow,  whether  couch-grass  or 
thistles,  we  prefer  to  let  them  a.\oiie.— Telegraph. 

Planting  Corn  in  Old  Times. 

Wc  suppose  thirty  to  forty  years  ago  means  "old 
times."  In  preparing  corn  ground  at  that  time  a  dif. 
fercnt  process  was  followed  than  the  present,  but  not 
as  we  see  it  stated,  by  merely  throwing  two  rough 
furrows  of  unplowed  ground  together,  and,  after 
running  cross  furrows,  to  simply  plant  the  corn  on 
the  top  of  the  ridge.  We  do  not  pretend  to  say  that 
this  miserable  way  was  not  pursued  by  some  lazy  or 
ignorant  farmers,  but  it  was  not  the  com  man  way  by 
any  means  ;  indeed  we  never  saw  it  followed,  though 
accustomed  to  notice  farming  for  nearly  sixty  years. 

This,  however,  was  the  way  mostly  followed  : 
Manure  and  plow  the  land,  harrow  thoroughly,  then 
ran  two  opposite  furrows  aud  also  run  like  cross 
furrows.  Planting  on  top  of  the  little  ridge  by  this 
means  made  the  rows  uniform  both  waj's,  and  ad- 
mitted freely  of  plowing  both  ways  if  necessary. 
This  plan  was  more  laborious  than  the  present  one 
and  was  more  "scientific."  The  crops  produced  by 
it  on  good  farms  were  as  abundant  as  now.  For 
many  years  after  the  present  method  was  introduced 
this  was  continuei  as  the  best,  und  that  looked  upon 
as  lacking  in  skill  and  good  sense.  But  as  a  rule  far 
more  attention  is  paid  to  the  crop  now  than  forty  or 
fifty  years  ago. 

It  was  always  customary  to  either  manure  in  the 
hill  or  apply  "iilaster"  after  the  plant  had  grown 
two  or  three  inches.  And  we  repeat  that  we  have 
witnessed  as  line  crops  of  corn  by  the  old  method  as 
we  have  by  the  new.  This  much  we  feel  enjoined  to 
say  in  behalf  of  the  way  our  fathers  and  grandfathers 
cultivated  the  corn  crop. 

Length  of  Roots. 

Tlie  nature  of  the  soil  has  much  to  do  with  the 
length  and  number  of  the  roots.  In  light,  poor  soil 
I  find  roots  of  June  grass  four  feet  below  the  surface. 
People  are  apt  to  uuderestimatc  the  length,  amount 
aud  importance  of  the  .roots  of  the  liner  grasses, 
wheat,  oats,  etc.  A  young  wheat  plant  when  pulled 
up  only  shows  a  small  part  of  its  roots.  They  often 
go  down  four  or  six  feet  or  more.  The  roots  of -a 
two-year  old  peach  tree  in  light  soil  were  found 
seven  feet  four  inches  long.  In  dry,  light  soil,  this 
season  wc  pulled  up  one  parsnip  three  feet  and  a 
half  long.  Of  course,  smaller  roots  went  down  still 
further.  The  noted  buffalo  grass  on  the  dry,  West- 
ern i)n\iries  is  described  in  the  agricultural  reports 
at  Washington  as  having  very  short  roots  ;  but  Mr. 
Felker,  one  of  our  college  graduates,  found,  where  a 
well  was  being  dug,  that  the  roots  went  down  seven. 
The  roots  grow  best  where  the  best  food  is  to  be 
found.  They  grow  in  greater  or  less  quantity  in 
every  direction.  If  a  root  meets  with  good  food  it 
flourishes  and  sends  out  numerous  branches.  Koots 
do  not  "search"  for  food  as  vegetable  phvsiologists 
now  understand  it.  Many  of  the  smaller  roots  of 
trees  die  every  autumn  when  the  leaves  die,  aud 
others  grow  in  sprinj:. 

Near  a  cherry  tree  in  my  yard  was  a  rustic  basket 
without  bottom  filled  with  rich  soil.  On  removing 
the  basket  and  earth,  which  had  been  there  several 


years,  cherry  roots  were  found   in  large   nunibe 
this  rich  soil.     Roots  in  such  soil  w 
well  as  down. 


up 


The  Wheat  Crop. 

The  October  returns  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture did  not  materially  change  the  aspects  of  the 
wheat  crop  as  foreshadowed  by  the  monthly  reports 
of  condition.  The  December  returns,  including 
estimates  of  yield  per  acre,  confirm  and  somewhat 
enlarge  previous  estimates.  A  computation  from 
all  the  returns  show  an  aggregate  crop  of  about 
42.'),000,000  bushels.  But,  onaccountof  the  strongly 
expressed  public  anxiety  for  reliable  figures,  a  jior- 
tion  of  the  inquiries  have  been  referred  to  the  statis- 
tical correspondents  for  revision.  It  is  now  believed 
that  the  result  will  bo  materially  different.  The  in- 
crease in  the  final  out  turn  of  the  crop  is  due  to  the 
large  increase  of  acreage  which  was  at  least  one- 
sixth  greater  than  of  the  previous  year. 

Many  of  the  larger  wheat-producing  States  very 
greatly  reduced  their  average  yield  per  acre.  Virginia 
fell  from  10.4busheU  to  7.2;  Tennessee  from  8  to  5; 
Kentucky  from  12..5  to  9..3;  Illinois  from  lfl..5to  l.'J.fi; 
\Vi.sconsiu  from  1.5  to  12;  Minnesota  from  IH  to  12; 
Iowa  from  U.5  to  9.4;  Missouri  from  14  to  11.  On 
the  other  hand  other  States  show  a  marked  increase. 
New  York  rose  from  18  to  19;  Pennsylvania  from  13 
to  1.5;  Ohio  from  1.5  to  IS;  Michigan  from  17.5  to 
18.3;  Indiana  from  14.5  to  15.8;  Kansas  from  13.5  to 
10.3;  California  from  9.5  to  18.4.  The  Territories 
show  an  immense  expansion  of  wheat  cultivation, 
with  the  high  average  yield  characteristic  of  virgin 
soils.  The  yield  of  some  of  the  Territories  was  con- 
siderably more  than  double  that  of  the  previous  crop. 

Water  for  Farmers. 
The  past  very  dry  summer  and  autumn  In  Penn- 
sylvania, at  least,  put  many  farmers  to  great  iueon- 
venience  in  supplying  stock  with  suitable  water, 
some  having  to  drive  their  cattle  twice  a  day  from 
one  to  two  miles  to  streams,  and  even  some  of  them 
were  nearly  dry.  Now,  we  have  often  referred  to 
this  subject  and  suggested  how  farmers  could  supply 
themselves  with  water  at  all  times  at  a  moderate 
expense.  The  roofs  of  buildings  which  shelter  the 
stock  of  a  farm  would  furnish  a  supply  at  all  times, 
if  cisterns  of  sufficient  capacity  were  dug  to  hold  the 
water.  Where  the  water  does  not  lie  too  deep,  wide 
wells  should  be  dug  and  wind  power  applied,  and 
they  would  seldom'if  ever  fail.  The  roofs  of  the 
houses,  however  moderate  the  rain-fall  may  be,  will 
furnish  water,  if  run  into  a  cistern,  that  would  supply 
all  the  water  needed  for  washing,  bathing,  etc.  We 
cannot  imagine  in  what  way  a  small  expenditure  of 
money  could  be  expended  to  more  profit  than  in 
supplying  a  premises  with  an  abundance  of  water. 
It  is  of  the  first  importance  to  every  household  and 
farm.  Indeed,  being  liable  in  droughts  to  suffer  a 
scarcity  is  something  to  look  forward  to  with  dread ; 
but  when  it  is  shown  that  at  a  moderate  cost  this 
scarcity  can  be  averted,  it  seems  to  us,  and  must  to 
all  thoughtful  people,  surprising  that  provision  is 
not  made  on  every  farm,  where  needed,  for  a  good 
supply  of  fresh  water  at  all  limes.— Germantown 
Telegraph. 

« 

Surface  Manuring. 
It  was  not  known  until  discovered  by  Way,  and 
confirmed  by  Liebig  and  others,  that  a  few  inches  in 
depth  of  surface  soil  has  the  power  to  fix  or  retain 
all,  or  nearly  all,  the  food  of  plants  which  our 
manure  contains,  such  as  potash,  phosphate  of  lime 
and  ammonia,  thus  preventing  its  passage  into  the 
poor  subsoil,  and  it  is  not  even  yet  knowu  that  nearly 
all  the  feeding  roots  of  plants  are  within  a  few  inches 
of  the  surface  where  the  nutritious  elements  are. 
We  now  and  then  find  roots  many  feet  below  the 
surface,  and  because  they  are  so  found  people  have 
theorized  that  manure  should  be  planted  deep,  and 
that  there  was  a  nutritious  principle  deep  down  iu 
subsoil  culture.  Deep  soil  holds  moisture,  and  so 
far  deep  soil  is  of  value.  A  few  roots  have  to  do 
duty  as  drawers  of  water  for  the  community  ;  but 
such  roots  arc  few,  aud  these  are  the  roots  the  deep 
explorer  finds.  But  where  one  little  root  can  be 
found  running  down  like  this,  hundreds  will  be 
found  spreading  away  beneath  the  surface,  and  these 
arc  the  ones  that  are  collecting  the  solid  food.  For 
liese  reasons  manure  should  never  be  buried  deep, 
but  be  always  kept  as  near  the  surface  as  possible. 

Save  the  Liquid  Manure. 
How  strangely  we  overlook  the  value  of  the  liquid 
crement  of  our  animals  !  A  cow  under  ordinary 
feeding  furnishes  in  a  year  two  thousand  pounds  of 
liquid.  The  comparative  money  value  of  the  two  is 
but  slightly  in  favor  of  the  solid.  The  urine  of 
herbivorous  animals  holds  nearly  all  the  secretions  of 
the  body  which  are  capable  of  producing  the  rich 
nitrogenous  compounds  so  essential  as  forcing  or 
leaf-forming  agents  iu  the  growth  of  plants.  The 
solid  holds  the  phosphoric  acid,  the  lime  and  magne- 
sia, which  holds  the  seed  principally  ;  but  the  liquid 
holding  nitrogen,  potash  and  soda  is  forming  the 
stalks  and  leaves.  The  two  forms  of  plant  nutri- 
ment should  never  be  separated  or  allowed  to  be 
wasted  by  neglect.— J/(?;i<r«a!  Gazette. 


HORTICULTURAL. 


Dwarf  Pears. 

We  have  had  our  hands  full  for  the  past  dozen 
years  or  more  in  defending  the  cullivaliou  of  pears 
grafted  on  quince  stock.  Some  people,  who  seem 
to  be  ignorant  of  cultivating  any  fruit  requiring  a 
little  nice  .attention,  and  fail  In  all,  of  course  utterly 
fail  in  attempting  to  raise  dwarf  pears.  A  writer  for 
an  agricultural  paper  will  go  upon  somebody's  prem- 
ises and  notice  a  number  of  firmly  growing  trees, 
and  not  far  from  them  some  small  scrubby-looking 
trees,  and  finds  that  the  latter  arc  grafted  ui)on 
quince,  hence  their  appearance,  lie  therefore  says  : 
"Our  conclusions  Is  to  advise  our  readers  to  plant  no 
more  pear  trees  grafted  on  quince  stocks  ;  they  may 
bear  a  year  or  two  earlier,  but  they  will  not  make 
a  lasting  tree  ;  they  will  die  iu  a  few  years  and  result 
In  disappointment  after  a  few  crops." 

And  this  Is  what  is  claimed  as  information  about 
raising  dwarf  pears.  The  fact  is  that  most  of  these 
writers  are  totally  ignorant  of  what  they  are  writing 
about,  and  their  readers  who  depend  upon  them  will 
soon  find  themselves  behind  the  facts  and  the  times. 

All  persons  may  not  regard  raising  pears  on  quince 
stock  as  a  profitable  business,  though  we  know  of  a 
number  who  have  made  money  by  it  and  have  fol- 
lowed it  for  a  number  of  years. 

As  to  the  dwarf  trees  not  making  a  "lasting  tree, 
and  that  they  will  die  in  a  few  years,"  all  intelligent 
growers  of  these  trees  know  this  to  be  untrue.  With- 
iuthe  last  five  years  we  have  lost  more  standard  Ihau 
dwarf  pear  trees  by  blight,  &c.  We  have  now  a 
number  of  thrifty  trees,  thirty  years  old,  abundant 
bearers  and  which  promise  to  live  as  long  as  the  usual 
time  allotted  to  standards. 

Dwarf  pears  require  more  attention  than  the 
standard.  They  should  stand  in  cultivated  grounu, 
and  be  manured  about  the  same  as  the  rest  of  the 
garden  crops.  But  they  stand  eight  feet  apart,  and 
vegetables  may  be  grown  among  them.  None  should 
be  [jlanted  except  those  with  sound  roots  and  the 
quince  stocks  clear  of  worms.  .Then  set  full  three 
inches  below  the  union  of  the  pear  and  quince  slock 
and  there  will  be  no  fear  of  worms.  Sometimes  they 
take  root  from  the  pear  stock  and  make  very  beau- 
tiful pyramidal  trees,  aud  are  annually  abundant 
bearers.  The  dwarf  pears  on  our  premises  fully 
bear  us  out  in  what  wesay.— (/crmaK^oroit  Telegrnjih. 


Look  to  the  Fruit  Trees. 
Wc  consider  early  winter  to  be  the  best  time  fur 
scraping  and  washing  the  trunks  of  trees,  though 
the  present  time  will  do  very  well  wh^n  it  has  not 
been  previously  attended  to.  It  is  well-known  to  all 
observing  fruit-growers  that  the  loose  bark  of  trees 
is  the  winter  quarters  of  myriads  of  insects,  w  here 
they  securely  remain  until  the  ensuing  spring,  when 
the  warm,  genial  weather  invites  them  to  quit  their 
cosy  homes  and  begiu  their  destructive  operations 
for  the  sea.son.  We^have  found  a  narrow  saw,  rather 
fine-toothed,  to  be  an  excellent  tool  in  rasping  off  the 
superfluous  bark.  It  accomplishes  it  more  uniformly 
than  a  hoe,  trowel  or  other  scraper;  a  trowel  or  a 
short-handled  hoe,  however,  is  very  good,  when  the 
other  may  not  be  possessed.  After  the  bark  is  re- 
moved, the  trunks  should  be  washed  thoroughly 
with  a  preparatiou  of  whale-oil  soap  ami  water,  say 
in  proportion  of  a  pound  of  the  soap  to  four  or  five 
gallons  of  water.  It  can  be  applied  to  large  trees, 
with  a  hickory  broom  or  a  stiff  whitewash  brush, 
and  to  small  trees,  especially  dwarfs,  with  the  baud 
scrub-brush.  Sickly  trees,  which  can  at  this  seasnu 
be  easily  detected  by  being  covered  with  a  species  of 
fungi,  or,  perhaps  more  properly,  a  peculiar  in- 
sectivorous deposit— should  be  scrubbed  so  as  to 
completely  remove  this.  The  mixture  will  of  itself 
benefit  the  tree,  while  the  removal  from  the  stem  of 
all  extraneous  and  injurious  substances  will  give  to 
it  new  health  and  vigor  the  ensuing  season — iii  some 
instances  to  a  surprising  extent.  When  whale-oil 
soap  is  not  obtainable,  lye  may  be  used,  but  it  should 
not  be  very  strong,  or  it  might  be  injurious  to  the 
roots  of  the  tree  if  applied  plentifully  and  the  tree 
small,  otherwise  it  will  do  no  XxArmi—Gcrmantuicn 
Telegraph. 

The  Scarcity  of  Quinces. 
Within  a  few  years  past  the  quince  trees  have  been 
attacked  by  a  v.orm,  just  under  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  somewhat  similar  in  appeaiance  and  in  its 
effects  to  the  peach  worm,  and  not  being  properly 
attended  to  and  the  worms  removed,  the  trees  have 
generally  died,  and  the  fruit  accordingly  disappeared 
from  all  our  markets.  The  quince  can  l)e  just  as 
successfully  grown  as  the  peach,  if  a  little  care  is 
taken  to  head  off  its  principal  enemy,  the  worm  at 
the  root,  which  requires  but  little  time  and  trouble 
each  spring  aud  fall  in  removing  the  earth  from  around 
the  stem  of  the  tree,  probe  for  the  grub  in  his  hole  in 
the  bark  with  a  stiff  wire,  and  filling  up  around  the 
tree  with  wood  ashes orslackcd  lime.  The  cheap  gas- 
lime,  from  the  gas-works,  is  a  very  effectual  remedy 
for  worms  in  peach  trees,  and  it  would  no  doubt 
answer  the  same  purpose  around  the  quince. 


14 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  January, 


FLORICULTURE. 

Parlor  Flowers. 

Who  does  not  love  flowers  ?  It  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  characteristics  of  flowers  that  they  arc 
attractive  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  never  more 
so  than  when  made  the  objects  of  household  atten- 
tion throughout  the  winter  months.  The  presence 
of  flowers  in  a  parlor,  or  small  conservatory,  is  a 
jievcr-ending  source  of  gratification.;.  The  rarest  and 
most  elaborately-carved  furniture,  pictures  and 
statuary,  in  which  wealth  indulges,  cannot  vie  with 
a  few  tastefully-arranged  flowers  in  imparting  to  a 
loom  that  natural  look  of  elegance  which  springs 
from  the  presence  of  some  vivifying  principle,  how- 
ever simple  it  may  be. 

There  are  two  things  which  give  to  an  apartment 
in  winter  a  charm  which  nothing  else  can.  These 
are  :  a  stand  of  flowers  in  bloom,  and  a  clear  burn- 
ing fire  in  an  open  fire-place.  Take  away  the  flowers 
and  leave  the  fire-place  blank  ;  heat  the  room  with  a 
furnace,  and  however  handsomely  the  room  may  be 
furnished  the  sense  of  something  wanting  will  imme- 
diately m.akc  itself  felt. 

In  Paris  it  is  a  common  thing  to  cultivate  a  few 
simple  flowers  in  an  oblong  box  for  the  pleasure 
tlicir  few  buds  and  blossoms  afford  ;  while  in  Ger- 
many it  is  usual  to  grow  ivy  in  pots  and  train  it  in 
festoons  over  the  windows. 

The  dilliculty  in  attempting  to  grow  flowers  in  the 
%varm,  diy  air  of  an  apartment  has  arisen  from  a 
want  of  knowledge  as  to  the  best  manner  of  treating 
them.  The  greatest  obstacle  to  success  is  the  dry- 
ness of  the  air,  and  the  following  manner  is  proposed 
to  obviate  it :  Let  a  table  be  constructed  the  length 
of  the  window  and  two  or  three  inches  wide,  with 
boards  fitted  close,  tongue  and  grooved,  and  around 
the  edge  nail  a  strip  three  inches  wide.  Cover  the 
space  thus  enclosed  with  two  inches  of  white  sand. 
Upon  this  sand  place  the  plants  in  pots.  With  a 
table  of  this  kind  the  plants  can  be  syringed  or 
sprinkled  with  water,  which  is  absolutely  essential 
to  preserve  them  in  health.  The  drippings  and  sur- 
plus water  are  caught  and  aljsorbed  by  the  sand, 
which  should  lie  kipt  wet,  ami  even  watered  for  the 
purpose  of  tciiipcrin<r  tlie  dry  air  surrounding  the 
plants,  the  ivaiinrMtioii  of  the  moist  sand  thereby 
jiromotinff  tlieir  gniwtli  liy  the  production  of  artifi- 
cial atnidspliorc.  If  the  table  is  fitted  with  rollers  it 
will  faciliali'  the  operation  of  watering,  and  moving 
back  from  the  windows  during  very  cold  nighta. 

As  to  the  selection  of  plants,  it  is  better  to  begin 
with  a  few  kinds  that  are  easily  grown,  as  experi- 
ence ami  skill  are  required.  A  few  pots  of  alyssum, 
mignonette,  lobelia,  geranium,  primula,  azalea,  calla, 
cacti,  eoronilla,  heliotrope,  spiraea,  orange,  lemon, 
petunia,  and  some  bulbs,  will  render  satisfaction. 

A  common  method,  practiced  about  Paris  and 
London,  of  having  a  box,  generally  about  ten  inches 
wide  on  the  top  and  nine  inches  deep,  filled  with 
good  soil,  and  mignonette,  sweet  alyssum,  lobelias, 
lieliutidpe.^  and  geraniums  planted  in  it  according  to 
their  size  :niil  irniwtli,  will  flower  and  make  a  fine 
display  when  pUieed  in  a  window  with  a  southern 
exposure.  While  others  have  these  boxes  filled  witli 
plants  in  pots,  and  removed  as  they  get  out  of  bloom 
by  others  to  keep  up  a  display  the  whole  season. — 
Jii/i.it  If.  Kinrj  Washlnntoti.  1).  C,  in  Germantovn 
Tdnp-aph.  _ 

Window  Boxes. 

Procure  a  box  about  fourteen  inches  wide,  six 
inches  deep,  and  of  a  length  to  fit  your  window  ;  if 
jiossible  have  aiioilier  box  two  inches  smaller  every 
way, and  |ilace  ni>idc  the  larger  one,  filling  the  space 
between  tlieiii  with  sand  or  tan  or  straw;  have 
holes  bured  in  the  bottom  of  both  boxes,  and  place 
pieces  of  broken  charcoal  to  insure  drainage ;  fill 
with  the  best  earth  procurable,  remembering  that 
good,  rich  soil  will  insure  you  the  finest  flowers; 
)ilace  in  the  end  of  your  boxes  German'  ivy,  morning 
glories,  madeira  vine,  and  any  other  climbers  that 
you  like,  and  along  the  sides  maurandia,  thunbergia, 
othonna,  nasturtion  and  kenilworth  ivy,  and  just 
inside  of  these  oxalis  of  dificrent  colors  and  varie- 
ties ;  in  the  centre  j'ou  must  place  j'our  tallest  plants 
and  the  lower  growing  ones  around  it ;  have  some 
cowslips,  Chinese  primroses,  sweet  alysium,  migno- 
nette and  vinca  myra ;  a  mountain  of  snow  geranium 
gives  variety  to  the  appearance,  as  will  also  the 
canary  bird  flower,  which  will  give  masses  of  yellow 
flowers  if  it  has  the  sun,  and  the  blue  of  the  lobelia 
will  also  heighten  the  efl"ect. 


Lemon  Verbena. 

It  is  stated  that  the  well-known,  fragrant  plaLt, 
the  lemon  verbena,  is  used  by  the  Spaniards  for  other 
purposes  than  to  delight  the  olfactories.  It  is  re- 
garded by  them  as  a  fine  stomachic  and  cordial. 
They  use  it  either  in  the  form  of  a  cold  decoction, 
sweetened,  or  as  a  flavor  to  tea,  the  hot  tea  being 
jioured  over  five  or  .six  leaves  in  a  teacup.  The  tea 
thus  prepared  is  said  to  be  simply  delicious ;  and  it 
is  added,  as  a  further  and  very  pratical  inducement 
to  the  use  of  it,  that  one  who  does  so  will  "never 
suffer  from  flatulence,  never  be  made  nervous  or  old- 
maidish,  never  have  cholera,  diarrhiea,  or  loss  of 
appetite." 


DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

Bedrooms— How  They  Should  be  Ventilated. 
The  London  Lancet  has  some  comments  on  this 
topic  which  may  be  read  with  as  much  profit  in  this 
country  as  in  London.  It  says  :  "If  a  man  were 
deliberately  to  shut  himself  for  some  six  or  eight 
hours  daily  in  a  stuffy  room,  with  closed  doors  and 
windows  (the  doors  not  being  opened  even  to  change 
the  air  during  the  period  of  incarceration,)  and  were 
then  to  complain  of  headache  and  debility,  he  would 
be  justly  told  that  his  own  want  of  intelligent  fore- 
sight was  the  cause  of  his  sufl'ering.  Nevertheless, 
this  is  what  the  great  mass  of  people  do  every  night 
of  their  lives  without  no  thought  of  their  impru- 
dence. There  are  few  bedrooms  in  which  it  is  per- 
fectly safe  to  pass  the  night  without  something  more 
than  ordinary  precautions  to  secure  an  inflow  of 
fresh  air.  Every  sleeping  apartment  should,  of 
course,  have  a  fire-place  with  an  open  chimney,  and 
in  cold  weather  it  is  well  if  the  grate  contains  a 
small  fire,  at  least  enough  to  create  an  upcast  cur- 
rent and  carry  oflT  the  vitiated  air  of  the  room.  In 
all  such  cases,  however,  when  a  fire  is  used,  it  is 
necessary  to  see  that  the  air  drawn  into  the  room 
comes  from  the  outside  of  the  house.  By  an  easy 
mistake  it  is  possible  to  place  the  occupant  of  a  bed- 
room with  a  fire  in  a  closed  house  in  a  direct  current 
of  foul  air  drawn  from  all  parts  of  the  establishment. 
Summer  and  winter,  with  or  without  the  useof  fires, 
it  is  well  to  have  a  free  ingress  for  pure  air.  This 
should  be  the  ventilator's  first  concern.  Foul  air  will 
find  an  exit  if  pure  air  is  admitted  in  sufficient  quan- 
ty,  but  it  is  not  certain  pure  air  will  be  drawn  away. 
So  far  as  sleeping-rooms  are  concerned  it  is  wise  to 
let  in  air  from  without.  The  aim  must  be  to  accom- 
plish the  object  without  cansinir  a  great  fall  of  tern 
pcrature  or  a  draught.  The  windows  may  be  drawn 
down  an  inch  or  two  at  the  top  with  advantage,  and 
a  fold  of  muslin  will  form  a  "ventilator"  to  take  off 
the  feeling  of  drauglit.  This,  with  an  open  fire-place, 
will  generally  suffice,  aud  produce  no  unpleasant 
consequences  even  when  the  weather  is  cold.  It  is, 
however,  essential  that  the  air  outside  should  be 
pure.  Little  is  likely  to  be  gained  by  letting  in  a  fog 
or  even  a  town  mist. 

Butter  Making. 

Some  years  ago,  when  it  was  first  proposed  to  in- 
troduce cheese  manufacturing  est-ablishments  into 
the  eastern  counties  of  this  State,  our  readers  will 
remember  that  we  staled  our  objections  to  them,  as 
well  as  arguments  in  favor  of  the  making  of  butter- 
good  butter— for  the  Pliiladelpliia  market,  where 
there  was  always  a  ready  demand  at  remunerating 
prices.  While  the  State  of  New  York  and  others  in 
the  Northwest  and  West  might  succeed  in  budding 
up  and  maintaining  profitable  cheese  making  fac- 
tories, the  eastern  part  of  this  State  at  least  was  far 
better  adapted  to  butter  making  and  held  out  far 
greater  gains.  Where  the  advice  was  not  heeded 
failure  and  loss  was  the  consequence.  But  who  has 
ever  heard  of  the  butter  making  business,  where 
conducted  with  the  least  degree  of  care  and  indus- 
try, coming  short  of  yielding  a  remunerating  profit? 
We  now  hear  of  one  or  two  of  these  establishments 
being  started,  and  we  have  no  manner  of  doubt  but 
that  they  will  be  successful. 

We  know  of  an  establishment  in  this  city,  to  which 
sutHcient  cream  is  supplied,  that  yields  nearly  two 
thosand  pounds  per  day,  the  churning  of  which  is 
done  by  machinery.- '/fi-»i««/uw'«  Telegraph. 

Burning  Green  Wood  Greatly  Wastefol. 

Water  in  passing  into  vapor  absorbs  and  hides 
nearly  1,000  degrees  of  heat.  A  cord  of  green  wood 
produces  just  as  much  heat  as  a  cord  of  the  same 
wood  dry.  In  burning  the  dry  wood  we  get  nearly 
all  the  heat,  but  in  burning  the  same  wood  green, 
from  one-half  to  three-fourths  of  the  heat  produced 
goes  off  latent  and  useless  in  the  evaporating  sap  or 
water.  Chemistry  shows  this,  and  why,  very  jdaiuly. 
Therefore  get  the  winter's  wood  lor  fuel  or  IciLidlings, 
and  let  it  be  seasoning  as  soon  as  possible,  and  put 
it  under  cover  in  time  to  be  dry  when  used.  It  will, 
of  course,  season  or  dry  much  faster  when  split 
fine.  A  solid  foot  of  green  elm  wood  weighs  60  to 
6.5  lbs.,  of  which  30  to  35  lbs.  is  sap  or  water.  As 
ordinarily  piled  up,  if  we  allow  half  of  a  cord  to  be 
lost  in  the  spaces  between  the  sticks,  we  still  have  a 
weight  of  about  two  tons  to  the  cord,  of  which  nearly 
one  ton  is  water  or  sap.  Such  wood  affords  very 
little  useful  heat  ;  it  goes  off  in  the  ton  of  sap.  The 
great  saving  of  hauling  it  home  dry  is  evident— as 
we  get  the  same  amount  of  real  fuel  for  half  the 
team  work.  Beech  wood  loses  one-eighth  to  one-fifth 
its  weight  in  drying;  oak,  one-quarter  to  two-fifths. 

Accepting  Invitations. 

In  accepting  an  invitation  to  fete  or  parly,  the  note 
of  response  should  be  simply  courteous- nothing 
more.  A  too  familiar  and  over-cordial  note  of  le- 
sponse  is  almost  as  offensive  as  one  which  expresses 
no  interest  at  all  iu  the  parties  who  extend  the  invi- 
tation. There  is  a  happy  medium  in  the  formalities 
of  even  kindly  wishes .  It  is  not  unnatural  to  suspect 
an  acquaintance  of  insincerity  when  excesses  of  lan- 
guage are  used  in  society  matters. 


Household  Receipts. 

To  Remove  Marks  of  Rain  from  a  Mantle.— 
Take  a  damp  cloth  and  damp  the  place  marked  with 
the  rain  ;  then  take  a  hot  iron  and  iron  the  mantle  all 
over,  and  the  marks  will  be  removed. 

A  Gaugle  for  Sore  Throat.— Half  a  pint  of 
rose-leaf  tea,  a  wiueglassful  of  good  vinegar,  honey 
enough  to  sweeten  it,  and  a  very  little  Cayenne 
pepper,  all  well  mixed  together,  and  simmered  in  a 
close  vessel ;  gargle  the  throat  with  a  little  of  it  at 
bedtime,  or  oftener,  if  the  throat  is  very  sore. 

French  Mustard.- One  ounce  of  mustard  and 
two  pinches  of  salt  are  mixed  in  a  large  wiueglass- 
ful of  boiling  water,  and  allowed  to  stand  twenty- 
four  hours.  Then  pound  in  a  mortar  one  clove  of 
garlic,  a  small  handful  of  tarragon,  another  of  garden 
cress,  and  add  to  the  mustard,  putting  vinegar  ac- 
cording to  taste. 

CouciH  SYRnp.— Put  five  cent's  worth  of  pine 
pitch  into  a  pint  of  water.  Let  it  simmer  until  the 
water  is  well  impregnated  with  the  flavor.  Dip  out 
the  gum  which  remains  undissolved  and  add  honey 
enough  to  sweeten,  and  make  a  thick  syrup.  Strain 
this  and  bottle.  Dose,  a  teaspoonful  four  or  five 
times  a  day  according  to  the  severity  of  the  cough. 
It  will  afford  speedy  relief. 

To  DvE  Black  Woolen  Cloth  Dark  Green.— 
Clean  your  goods  well  with  beef  gall  and  water,  and 
rinse  in  warm  water  ;  then  make  a  copper  boiler  full 
of  soft  water  boiling  hot,  and  take  from  one  pound 
to  a  pound  and  a  half  of  fustic,  put  it  in  and  boil 
twenty  minutes;  to  which  add  a  lump  of  alum  as 
big  as  a  walnut ;  when  this  is  dissolved  in  your  cop- 
per boiler,  put  in  your  goods,  and  boil  it  twenty 
minutes  ;  then  take  it  out  and  add  a  small  wineglass 
three  parts  full  of  chemical  blue,  and  boil  again  from 
half  an  hour  to  an  hour,  and  the  cloth  will  be  a 
beautiful  dark  green  ;  then  wash  out  and  dry. 

JIus.  Reed's  Plumb  Pudding.— One  pound  beef 
suet,  three-fourths  pound  loaf  sugar,  one  pound 
flour,  six  eggs,  pint  of  milk,  one  pound  of  raisins, 
one  pound  of  currants,  three-fourths  pound  of  citron, 
two  nutmegs,  niaee,  cloves  ;  add  at  pleasure  two 
glasses  brandy.  Chop  the  suet  tine,  rub  it  to  a  cream, 
add  sugar  aud  flour,  each  time  rubbing  it  w  ell  ;  add 
the  spices  fruit  and  brandy.  Beat  the  egg,  add  them, 
then  the  milk  ;  tie  it  moderately  tight ;  boil  it  eight 
hours.  This  quantity  makes  one  very  large  pud- 
ding—two if  boiled  in  quart  bowls ;  three  if  in  pint 
bow-Is ;  when  cold  cover  up  tight  with  paper,  and 
put  them  awiiy  until  wanted.  When  one  is  wanted 
boil  an  hour. —  Germantown  Telegraph. 
<  The  Hunterdon  Monitur  says  :  "  We  feel  it  our 
duty  to  give  a  recipe  for  the  cure  of  diptheria,  which 
we  know  from  jiersonal  knowledge  has  cured  several 
severe  cases.  It  is  .^iniiily  to  put  some  pure  tar  on  a 
plate  and  apply  hot  coals  to  it,  not  hut  enough,  how- 
ever, to  create  a  blaze.  Then  place  a  funnel  upside 
down  over  the  tar  and  let  the  patient  inhale  the 
fumes  arising  from  the  burning  tar  through  the 
spout  of  the  funnel.  It  will  give  instant  relief,  and 
may  be  repeated  as  often  as  may  be  necessary.  Tar 
spread  on  a  piece  of  cloth  and  applied  to  the  thi-oat 
in  eoimectiou  with  the  iiihailing  process  is  also  good, 
much  better  than  old  lliti-h  or  liniments.  It  should 
not  be  removed  until  the  throat  is  relieved  of  all 
soreness." 

Salt  with  Nuts.— One  time,  while  enjoying  a 
visit  from  an  Englishman,  hickory  nuts  were  served 
in  the  evening,  when  my  English  friend  called  for 
salt,  stating  that  he  knew  of  a  case  of  a  woman  eat- 
ing heartily  of  niits  in  the  evening,  who  was  taken 
violently  ill .  The  celebrated  Dr.  Abernethy  was  sent 
fir,  but  it  was  after  he  had  become  too  fond  of  his 
cups,  and  he  was  not  in  a  condition  to  go.  He  mut- 
tered, "Salt  !  salt !"  of  which  no  notice  was  taken. 
Next  morning  he  went  to  the  place  and  she  was  a 
corpse.  He  said  that  had  they  given  her  salt  it  would 
have  relieved  her;  and  if  they  would  allow  him  to 
make  an  examination  he  would  convince  them.  On 
opening  the  stomach  the  nuts  were  found  in  a  mass. 
He  sprinkled  salt  on  this  and  it  immediately  dis- 
solved. I  have  known  of.  a  sudden  death  myself, 
which  appears  to  have  been  the  effect  of  the  same 
cause.  I  generally  eat  salt  with  nuts  and  consider  it 
improves  i\\en\.—(iermautoien  Telegraph. 
I^How  TO  Make  "Whipped  Cream."— A  corre- 
sjjondent  desires  to  know  the  best  process  for  making 
'whipped  cream,  such  as  is  used  in  the  Vienna 
coffee."  The  following  is  the  process  given  l)y 
"Aunt  Addie"  in  the  New  York  Times,  but  whether 
it  is  the  same  used  by  the  Vienna  coffee  people  we 
are  not  prepared  to  say  : 

Beat  tlie  yolks  of  Ave  fresh  eggs  and  half  a  pound 
of  powdered  sugar  until  very  Tisht  -tnd  white  ;  put 
one  pint  of  milk  aud  oneounee  of  i.sin-lass  in  a  sauce- 
pan and  boil  10  miimtcs,  stirrin-  .■onlinnally  ;  flavor 
with  vanilla  and  lemon  mixed,  or  any  other  flavoring; 
pour  the  milk  on  the  eggs  and  sugar  ;  put  on  the  fire, 
stir  well  toget'.ier,  but  do  not  let  boil ;  pass  through 
a  fine  hair  sieve  into  a  round  dish  ;  when  cold  set  on 
ice,  add  I  wo  liquor-glasses  of  JIarasehino;  keep  stir- 
ring rapi^y  all  the'time  ;  when  it  begins  to  thicken 
stir  into  i'l  a  pint  of  cream,  whipped  to  a  froth  ;  put 
into  a  mold  on  the  ice  until  you  wish  to  use  it. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


15 


LIVE  STOCK. 


Saving  bv  Handsful. 

One  handful  of  :i;iv  i^^'i"''  iinicli,  nor,  for  the  mat- 
ter of  that,  arelwiiiiv  haiidhlul  ;  the  eavin.ffor  wast- 
Inpofso  much  would  n.illuriiuiko nor  break  a  man. 
But  with  twenty  head  of  eatllu  to  feed,  twice  or 
tliricc  a  day,  the  eavinx  of  a  handful  apiece  every 
time  would  amount  to  somethine  before  our  pastures 
arc  preen  again  upon  our  frost-bitten  hills.  Do  you 
ever  think  of  It  ?  We  arc  not  hintiuB  at  sllnttug  the 
cattle.  But  how  many  of  us  allow  aninuils  to  waste 
a  handful  each  at  every  feed  for  want  of  a  little  at- 
tention to  feeding  arranfrcments  ?  How  many  head 
of  stock  on  our  Northern  farms  require  ii  handful 
more  of  hay  at  every  feed  to  keep  up  the  aniniiil  heat 
than  they  would  rciiuire  if  their  si iiblcs  had  all  the 
cracks  stopped  that  let  in  the  cold  winds  of  winter? 

A  handful  of  manure  is  but  a  tritlc,  yet  the  addi- 
tion of  a  sinp-lc  handful  in  a  hill  of  corn  may 
make  the  dilfcrence  between  Ions,  <"""  e»i'6  and 
stinted  nubbins  when  the  harvest  comes.  How  many 
handsful  of  manure  arc  going  to  waste  every  day 
about  our  yards  and  buildings !  Could  you  not  save 
half  a  bushel  a  day  by  being  careful  ?  And  the 
liquid  manure— is  there  not  enough  lost  every  day  to 
make  a  good  many  long  cars  where  we  shall  probably 
liud  only  nubbins  uexl  fall '. 

Handsful  of  hay  ;  handsful  of  manure  ! — these  arc 
small  matters  say  you?  Yet  upon  just  such  small 
matters  depends  many  a  man's  success  or  failure  in 
life.  Here  is  one  man  that  attends  to  them  carefully, 
and  at  the  end  of  twenty  or  thirty  years  he  has  a 
competency  for  old  age  ;  another  neglects  them  as 
beneath  his  notice  and  is  always  behindhand  ;  he 
lives  and  dies  short  in  pocket  and  short  in  comfort. 
We  do  not  preach  niggardliness  ;  it  is  by  saving  when 
we  may  that  we  prepare  ourselves  to  be  liberal  when 
wc  will.    Save  the  handsful. — Rural  New  York. 

History  of  Horned  Cattle. 
The  original  native  home  of  horned  cattle  is  lost, 
but  up  to  about  four  hundred  years  ago,  there  were 
many  herds  of  wild  cattle  in  England.  Some  of 
these  were  captured  and  have  been  preserved  in 
some  of  large  parks  of  the  English  aristocracj-,  of 
one  of  these  tlie  /Mohf/isl,  a  London  magazine,  says: 
Herds  of  this  breed  are  recorded  to  have  existed  in  a 
semi-wild  state  in  various  portions  of  England. 
Those  at  Burton  Constable  were  all  destroyed  by  a 
distemper.  When  Bewick  published  his  History  of 
Quadrupedx,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  he  was 
enabled  to  show  that  only  five  herds  then  existed. 
Since  that  date  the  herds  at  Wallaton  and  Gisburne 
have  died  out,  and  the  breed  having  been  introduced 
(subsequently,  it  is  presumed  to  Bewick's  notice)  or 
re-introduced  at  Cadzow  (Hamilton),  in  Lanark- 
shire, the  ancient  seat  of  the  Dukes  of  Hamilton, 
there  now  survive  at  the  present  four  herds  only,  of 
which  the  following  account  is  given  from  recent 
inspection  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Cocks.  Of  these  the  Chilling- 
ham  breed,  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Tankerville, 
are  said  to  be  the  purest.  They  are  characterized 
especially  by  the  form  of  their  horns,  which  may  be 
described  as  curving,  first  backward  and  upward, 
and  then  sweeping  forward  and  downward,  while 
the  pomts  turn  upward.  In  the  skull  the  forehead 
is  flat  or  slightly  concave,  and  the  occipital  ridge  be- 
tween the  horns  is  straight  and  level.  In  form  these- 
cattle  are  beautifully  shaped,  with  small  heads, 
straight  backs  and  short  legs.  Their  color  is  white, 
except  the  ears  and  muzzle  which  are  either  red  or 
black,  according  to  the  breed.  The  horns  are  white, 
with  black  tips. 

Corn  and  Cob  Meal. 

Corn  and  cob  meal,  which  was  formerly  largely 
fed  by  many  farmers,  has  of  late  been  so  severely 
condemned  in  the  agricultural  journals  as  to  deter 
thousands  from  continuing  its  use.  Some  years  ago, 
however,  Professor  Mott,  of  Columbia,  Ohio,  wrote 

prize  essayonthc  subject, iu  which  betakes  ground 
in  favor  of  its  use,  saying,  "Advantages  and  econo- 
my are  attained  by  fattening  and  feeding  stock  with 
corncob  and  meal  together,  and  also  by  grinding  all 
kinds  of  grain." 

As  we  shall  want  the  ensuing  winter  everything 
that  can  be  converted  into  food  for  our  animals,  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  question  will  be  satisfactorily 
disposed  of  before  the  cobs  are  used  lor  fuel  or 
thrownin  the  hog-pen  to  rot,  or  rather  to  waste.  We 
have  read  some  strong  arguments  against  the  use  of 
the  cob  at  all ;  and  some  equally  strong,  indeed,  in 
our  judgment,  stronger  in  favor  of  grinding  the  corn 
and  cob  togcther,as  food  for  horscs,cattlc  and  swine. 
We  are  ready  to  open  our  columns  for  information 

n  the  subject,  and  trust  that  our  farmers  will  give 

s  their  experience  and  opinions. — Gerinanlon<n  Tel. 

IIow  TO  Choose  a  Good  Cow.— A  crumple  horn 
is  a  good  indication,  a  full  eye  another.  Her  head 
should  be  small  and  short.  Avoid  a  Koman  nose, 
which  indicates  thin  milk  and  little  of  it.  See  that  she 
is  dished  in  the  face— sunk  between  the  eyes.  Notice 
that  she  is  what  stock  men  call  a  handler— skin  soff. 
and  loose,  like  the  skin  of  a  dog,  deep  Irom  loin  to  the 
udder  and  a  very  slim  tail.  A  cow  with  these  marks 
never  falls  to  be  a  good  milker. 


Profit  Combined  with  Amusement. 

In  a  poultry  establishment  the  ornamental  can  be 
adopted  with  the  useful,  and  profit  can  accompany 
the  pleasure  and  recieatlon  of  altciidiiii;  tn  I'mvls; 
but  silly  people  imagine,  because  ymr  l,  n  I.    |.  ii|.lc 

have   fine   poultry   houses    witli    • [.niii   ',:      im- 

various   kinds   all   under  one   n"  i         -  mis 

attached  to  prevent  the  fowls  rnamm  m  liirn  iil- 
fcnccd  gardens  or  in  their  exposcii  plc:i.siMc  sirouiuls, 
ifec,  that  they  can  shut  up  fowls  and  continue  to 
keep  them  in  confinement,  so  as  to  make  them  pay 
for  feeding  ami  attendance.  By  having  unlimited 
range,  fowls  can  easily  be  made  profitable;  for  they 
will  pick  up  at  least  half  a  living,  and  they  do  not 
then  require  one-tenth  as  much  attention  as  those 
kept  in  a  yard,  which  always  has  a  bad  odor,  how- 
ever often  it  is  cleaned. 

It  is  extraordinary  to  find  there  are  men  so  weak 
as  to  attempt  to  keep  great  numbers  of  fowls  to- 
gether with  limited  range,  when,  time  after  time, 
the  folly  of  all  attempts  of  the  kind  has  been  de- 
monstrated. But  although  no  sensible  business  man 
will  again  confine  hundreds  of  fowls  in  any  inade- 
quate space,  yet  great  numbers  can  be  kept  on  one 
farm  and  profit  combined  with  amusement  by  making 
tasty  ornamental  little  roosts,  and  placing  them  at 
such  distances  apart  as  to  prevent  any  intermixing. 
These  roosts  might  be  made  and  painted  so  as  to 
have  the  appearance  of  miniature  cottages,  and  so 
placed  about  an  estate  as  to  be  exceedingly  pic- 
turesque. 

I  have  in  my  mind  at  the  present  moment  an 
island,  the  property  of  one  proprietor,  whose  resi- 
dence stands  on  an  elevated  position  commanding  a 
view  of  the  whole,  with  the  exception  of  portions 
hidden  by  trees.  What  a  very  pretty  efl'ect  some  of 
these  poultry  houses  would  have  if  interspersed 
among  laborers,  cottages  and  other  buildings  used 
as  shelter  for  farm  stock,  and  these  also'  could  be 
made  to  have  such  an  appearance  as  would  be  iu 
unison  with  the  erections  all  over  the  island.  Imagine 
a  farm  neither  round  nor  square  but  toleiably  com- 
pact, with  a  hundred  or  more  roosts,  sheds  for  cat- 
tle and  for  sheep  to  resort  to  in  stormy  weather,  and 
here  and  there  intermingled  with  these,  a  cottage 
prettily  adorned  with  vines,  and  a  handsomely  laid- 
out  garden.  Then  suppose  the  whole  painted  alike 
and,  as  near  as  usefulness  combined  with  the  orna- 
mental and  uniformity  will  permit,  all  showing  doors 
and  windows  and  all  having  ivy  or  vines  of  some 
kind  running  about  or  trained  around  them,  so  as  to 
give  the  best  effect.  If  an  island,  all  the  outside 
poultry  houses  might  be  for  water-fowls,  and  sweep- 
ing down  from  the  mansion  might  be  a  well  kept, 
beautiful  carriage  road  which  could  take  a  circuit  of 
the  farm,  so  arranged  that  it  would  be  a  delightful 
pleasure  drive,  and  at  the  same  time  it  could  be  used 
to  go  around  to  the  different  buildings,  which  would 
be  ou  the  right  and  left  all  the  way  along. 

Profit  could  be  all  the  while  combined  with  the 
ornamental  and  the  useful,  and  good,  fine  square 
fields  could  be  arranged  so  that  they  would  not  inter- 
fere with  the  buildings  or  any  of  those  structures  or 
impede  cultivation.  If  wealthy  people,  when  they 
retire  from  cities  to  the  country,  would  first  of  all 
lay  out  their  farms  so  as  to  have  them  one  beautiful 
scene  of  variety  with  perfect  utility,  how  ornamental 
would  not  the  arrangement  be  to  the  country  '. 

Vermin  on  Poultry. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Southern  Poultry  Journal 
says  : 

''  Many  fanciers  use  the  carbolic  (or  carbolated) 
powder  in  ord.r  to  rid  their  fowls  of  lice  and  mites. 
It  is  considered  the  very  best  of  remedies.  My  plan 
is  one  which,  I  think,  is  used  by  no  other  breeder ; 
has  never  failed  me  in  completely  ridding  my  fowls 
of  every  insect,  and  has  demonstrated  to  me  its  in- 
fallibility. It  is  simply  to  use  the  oil  of  sassafras 
nii.xed  with  sweet  oil.  To  one  ounce  of  oil  of  sassa- 
fras put  five  or  six  of  sweet  oil,  and  apply  a  small 
quantity  to  difl'erent  parts  of  the  body  of  the  fowls, 
stlectiug  those  points  where  tlie  vermin  would  be 
most  apt  to  hide. 

"In  applying  the  preparation  I  fill  with  it  a  small 
oil  can,  so  that  I  can  I'orcc  out  as  much  or  little  of 
the  oil  as  I  wish.  A  very  small  bit  can  be  made  to 
go  a  great  ways,  for  ouedropcan  be  rubbed  overtwo 
or  three  inches  of  spate,  and  is  no  more  trouble  to 
apply  than  the  various  insect  powders.  I  use  sweet 
oil,  because  of  its  curative  powers,  but  any  kind  of 
greese,  no  matter  what,  will  do  to  mix  w  ith  the  oil 
of  sassafras.  The  oil  of  sassafras  is  the  ersdicatoi , 
the  oil  merely  the  vehicle.  I  believe  common  sassa- 
fras tea  would  be  wonderfully  cfllcacious. 

"Make  iu  a  large  pot,  then,  after  allowing  it  to 
cool,  dip  the  fowl  in  bodily.  In  one  second  the  lice 
will  be  dead,  and  In  ten  seconds  the  fowl  will  be  per- 
fectly dry,  if  placed  in  the  sunshine.  It  is  hard  to 
form  an  idea  of  the  magical  cU'ect  produced  by  the 
oil  of  sassafras.  1  have  tried  the  remedy  in  greater 
attenuation  than  that  mentioned  (one  part  to  five  Oi 
six),  but  believe  that  it  would  be  equally  good  if 
composed  of  one  ounce  of  oil  of  sassalraa  to  ten  or 
twelve  of  any  other  oil  or  greese." 


Muscovy  Ducks. 


Th. 


■Musk 


under  I  he  above  imne,  is  also  known  as 
duck.  'I'his  bill er,  ami  perhaps  more  pr(>|jcr  name, 
is  derived  lioin  ilie  cidur  of  musk  prevading  the  skin, 
which  seeciistohe  |  .arliciilarly  strong  about  tlic  liead. 
This  scent  is  not  in  tlie  least  perceptible,  however, 
when  the  bird  is  properly  cooked. 

Tlie  llesh  of  this  bird  is  very  palatable,  if  eaten 
when  young,  but  after  it  gets  beyond  Its  youth  It  Is 
not  so  highly  esteemed.  Musk  ducks  arc  odd  look- 
ing birds— generally  black  and  white,  not  evenly 
marked,  but  spotted  irregularly,  here  and  there  with 
a  patch  of  black.  The  drake  has  a  large  head  and 
bare  checks  of  a  scarlet  color,  the  base  of  tlic  bill 
being  carunculated  with  the  same  bright  scarlet. 
With  these  distinct  peculiarities  and  the  fact  that 
the  feathers  on  the  back  of  the  head  are  rulUed  and 
appear  to  be  growing  the  wrong  way,  the  musk 
drake  Is  very  curious,  and  certainly  is  the  least 
comely  water  fowl  it  has  been  our  lot  to  behold,  while 
he  is  as  ugly  as  he  looks  in  most  cases. 

Mu.scovy  ducks  are  capable  of  sustaining  them- 
selves for  a  quite  a  time,  on  their  long  and  powerful 
wings,  and  are  fond  of  taking  flights  about  tlm 
neighliorhood,  but  in  most  eases  they  return  punc- 
tually to   their   home,  aficr  the  manner  of  pigeons. 

As  they   lav   letter  e^'L:>  HjMII     hl.i,l     .  il  liiT  cluckS,    thls 


drake 


The  di\iki'^  :n-''  e"iii  iniially  iiu ill  iiil;  ,  or  "  raising  a 
row,"  in  somc^  iiistanees  catelijng  an  unfortunate 
duck  of  another  species  by  the  neck  and  holdin::  its 
head  under  the  water  until  drowned. 

The  Musk  duck  Is  domesticated  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  this  country  and  Europe,  but  not  nearly  so 
large  as  in  some  parts  of  South  America,  hIicic  llii'y 
are  also  plentiful  in  their  natural  wild  stale. 

How  to  Tell  That  Eggs    are  Eggs. 

A  good  egg  will  sink  in  water. 

A  boiled  egg  which  is  done  will  ilry  quickly  on  the 
shell  when  taken  from  the  kettle. 

The  boiled  eggs  which  adhere  to  the  shell  are 
fresh  laid. 

After  an  egg  has  laid  a  day  or  more  the  shell 
comes  off  easily  when  boiled. 

A  fresh  egg  has  a  lime-like  surface  to  its  shell. 

Stale  eggs  are  glassy  and  smooth  of  shell. 

Eggs  which  have  been  packed  in  lime  look  siained 
and'show  the  action  of  the  lime  on  the  surface. 

Eggs  packed  in  bran  for  a  long  time  smell  and 
taste  musty. 

With  the  aid  of  the  hands  or  a  piece  of  paper 
rolled  in  funnel  shape  and  held  toward  the  light,  the 
human  eye  can  look  through  an  egg,  shell  and  all. 

If  the  egg  is  clear  and  golden  in  appearance  when 
held  to  the  light,  it  is  good  ;  if  dark  or  spotted,  it  is 
bad. 

Tlie  badness  of  an  egg  can  sometimes  be  told  by 
shaking  it  near  the  holder's  ear,  but  the  test  is  a 
dangerous  one. 

Thin  shells  are  caused  by  a  lack  of  gravel,  etc., 
among  the  hens  laying  the  eggs. 

Many  devices  have  been  tested  to  keep  eggs  fresh, 
but  the  less  time  an  egg  Is  kept  the  better  for  the  egg 
and  the  one  who  eats  it. 

Witer  Treatment  of  Poultry. 
A  correspondent,  in  addressing  us  on  this  subject, 
says  in  brief,  that  each  fowl  ought  to  produce  1110 
eggs  a  year  ;  that  In  winter  warmth  is  indispensa- 
ble ;  that  the  fowls  must  have  some  of  the  food  they 
find  at  other  seasons  when  at  large;  ihcy 
must  have  plcn.y  of  room  In  their  house, 
and  it  and  the  laying  boxes  kept  dean ; 
that  they  must  be  fed  with  corn,  barley,  o.its;  have 
a  box  of  sand,  oyster  or  clam  shells  pounded  up,  or 
old  mortar  ;  or  bones  dried  and  pounded  fine  ;  that 
mached  boiled  potatoes  and  eornmcal  arc  excellent; 
that  fatty  matter  ol  any  kind,  fresh  beef,  cr  pork 
scraps,  &c.,  must  form  a  portion  of  their  diet ;  iliai 
hens  are  fond  of  vegetable  matter  during  winter  an  1 
will  eat  cabbage,  &c.;  and  they  must  be  kept  free 
from  vcrmim,  which  nearly  always  follows  entire 
cleanliness.  In  case,  howe'ver,  vermin  should  still 
make  their  appearance  there  Is  nothing  so  ell'eclive 
inremoving  them  as  rubbing  the  top  of  the  head, 
under  the  wings  and  upon  the  back  with  lard.  Thesi- 
suggestions  we  have  made  time  and  again  ;  and  have 
oiny  to  add  now,  that  all  who  desire  complete  suc- 
cess, and,  of  course,  satisfactory  profit  from  poultry 
rasing  must  adopt  Ihem.—  acrmanlotcn)   Telrgrupk. 


The  production  of  eggs  during  the  winter  season, 
savs  the  Line  Stock  Joiirtiat ,  is  largely  under  the 
control  of  the  owner  of  fowls.  If  hens  have  warm, 
comfortable  quarters,  and  an  abundance  of  suitable 
food,  the  owner  will  be  rewarded  by  a  supply  ol 
eggs  all  through  the  cold  weather.  But  it  is  esscii- 
tiai  I  hat  they  should  be  provided  with  a  well  venti- 
lated house  wherein  they  will  not  suffer  from  cold. 
The  food  shouhl  not  consist  wholly  of  grain ;  all  the 
bits  of  vegetables  from  the  kitchen  table  and  the 
scraps  of  meat  should  be  saved,  chopped  up  fine  and 
given  to  the  hens. 


46 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[January,  1879. 


APIARY. 

Taming  Stubborn  Bees. 

Every  beekeeper  has  had  colonies  and  queens  that 
would  not  be  controlled  by  ordinary  means.  Such 
will  be  the  interested  in  following:  account,  onc- 
tributed  to  the  Americmi  Bee  Journal,  by  W.  E.  Mc- 
Bride,  of  Illinois. 

On  October  1st  I  straightened  up  tlie  combs  in  one 
of  my  bee  hives,  preparatory  to  Italianizing:  the 
colony.  Over  half  of  the  bees  left  for  parte  un- 
known, but  the  queen  remaind.  October  5th  I  united 
the  bees  that  remained  with  another  colony.  Caught 
and  caged  both  queens,  and  afterwards  killed  them. 
On  the  cveninii:  of  October  10th  I  hunc:  a  cage  con- 
taining iin  Ilalian  queen  in  the  hive.  On  the  morning 
of  the  1:2th  I  opened  tlie  hive  to  release  her  Italian 
majesty.  No  queen  cells  had  been  built  after  I  killed 
the  two  black  queens  ;  bnt  I  found  freshly  laid  eggs 
— also  larvir— CO  I  searched  for  another  queen  and  I 
found  her  and  soon  had  her  beheaded.  I  then  re- 
moved the  cork  from  one  end  of  the  cage  and  tied  a 
piece  of  paper  over  one  end,supposing  it  would  work 
all  right.  I  closed  the  hive  and  did}  not  examine  it 
again  for  some  days.  When  I  did  I  found  everything 
jiist  as  I  had  left  it.  She  had  not  got  liberated,  but 
the  bees  had  started  a  numlier  of  queen  cells.  I  tore 
them  and  daulied  the  queen  e.Tgc  with  them,  then 
opened  the  cage,  without  removing  it  from  the  hive, 
tliinking  slie  woidd  walk  out.  .Some  of  the  bees  went 
in  and  seemed  r.ot  !o  molest  her,  so  I  left  them  to 
themselves  for  an  hour'or  so.  When  I  went  back  I 
was  not  at  all'surpriscdjto  find  the  queen  still  in  her 
rage.  I  tried  to  smoke  her  out  gently,  but  wlien  she 
did  come  she  came  in  a  hurry  and  ran  rapidly 
down  tl:e  eonil.s,  out,  of  the  liivc,  and  tried  to  fly  ; 
but  I  w;is  too   (iiiicl;  lor   her;  I  caught  her,   clippad 


she  remained  ;!bout  a  qunrter  of  a  minute,  and  tlicu 
came  out  again.  I  caught  her  and  put  her  in  the 
top  of  the  hive  and  administered  smoke.  Next  morn- 
ing I  found  heron  the  bottom  board.  I  gave  them 
smoke  to  my  entire  satisfaction,  and  the  queen  is 
now  all  right,  laying  nicely. 

Protection  of  Bees  Against  Wasps. 

A  British  bee-keeper  says  he  has  witnessed  the 
destruction,  in  two  weeks'  time,  of  a  thriving  apiary 
of  five  stocks,  solely  by  wasps— which  being  in  a 
starving  condition,  and  as  much  for  warmth  and 
protection  as  lor  food,  forced  an  entrance  into  the 
hives.  The  best  defcnt-e  he  has  found,  both  against 
wasps  and  ri.Mi.-.hces  from  stronger  colonies,  is, 
first,  to  keep  llie  slocks  uniformly  strong,  and  sec- 
ond, to  close  the  entrance  holes  to  the  attacked 
hives  so  that  only  two  bees  can  piiss  or  repass  at  the 
same  time,  thus  giving  one  means  of  defense  which 
they  will  not  be  slow  to  take  advantage  of. 

Industry  of  Bees. 

A.  S.  Wilson  presents  the  following  facte  to  show 
the  marvelous  industry  of  bees.  Approximately  100 
heads  of  clover  vicld  O.S  jrram  of  sugar,  or  l'J.5  heads 
give  1  cram  of  'sugar,  and,  therefore,  1-25,000  heads 

1  kilomainn fMi-nr.     As  each    head   contains  60 

floi-et.s  (  f^n,(iiiiixi;(i)  not  less  than  7,500,000  flower 
tubes  must  be  eiajitied  of  their  honey  to  obtain  1 
kilogramme  of  sugar.  The  honey  may,  roughly,  be 
estimated  to  contain  75  per  cent,  of  su^ar,  and  hence 
we  h.ave  1  kilogramme  equal  to  5,000,000  flowers  in 
round  numbers,  or  2,.500,000  visits  for  one  pound  of 
honey. 

No  FARMER  need  expect  to  be  successful  with  bees 
unless  he  is  willing  to  give  time  to  them.  They  will 
suffer  from  neglect  quite  as  much  as  growing,  ripen- 
ing crops.  He  cannot  reasonably  expect  honey  unless 
there  are  flowers  in  the  vicinity  from  which  it  can  be 
collected.  If  there  are  no  Dov.ering  trees  and  plants 
growing  naturally,  they  must  be  cultivated. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL. 

The  Hessian  Fly. 
Tiiis  destructive  insect  made  its  appearance  in  the 
wheat-fields  last  fall  to  a  considerable  extent  and 
did  much  damage  ;  but  one  fact  connected  with  its 
appearance,  or  rallier  reappearance,  should  be  care- 
Uilly  borne  in  minil— that  it  is  only  the  early  sown 
wlieatihatis  attacked,  and  this  mostly  when  early 
sowing  is  followed  by  a  long  spell  of  mild  weather, 
like  that  of  last  autumu,  during  which  the  grain 
becomes  quite  rampant.  Wheat  sown  the  last  of 
September  or  the  beginning  of  October — which  is 
early  enough  in  most  years — is  seldom  if  ever  at- 
faekcd  by  the  fly.  There  is  a  statement  now  before 
us  of  a  farmer  in  Western  New  York,  who  eavs  that 
while  he  sowed  bis  wheat  as  late  as  the  18th  and 
20th  of  September,  his  neighbors  sowed  in  the  latter 
end  of  August,  and  that  while  his  crop  was  wholly 
free  from  the  fly,  and  yielded  over  twenty-nine  bushels 
to  the  acre,  the  crops  of  bis  neighbors  were  nearly  de- 
stroyed. He  further  says  that  a  barrel  of  salt  to  the 
acre  will  destioy  the  midge  and  cause  the  grain  to 
ripen  from  three  to  six  days  earlier.  We  think  there 
is  wisdom  iu  his  statement. 


The  Apple  Tree  Borer. 

I  have  an  orchard  of  two  acres,  planted  eight  and 
twelve  years  ago.  About  five  years  agol  found  the 
borers  at  work  in  all  the  trees,  more  or  less.  The  bark 
would  turn  black  and  peel  oflT,  and  then  would  appear 
decayed  in  spots  the  size  of  my  hand  and  larger.  I 
commenced  to  scrape  with  my  knife,  and  found  a 
white  grub  working  between  the  bark  and  tree.  In 
some  trees  I  found  as  many  as  ten  worms  in  one  tree. 
They  killed  two  of  my  largest  trees,  and  injured  five 
others  so  that  they  died.  I  first  tried  soft  soap  suds; 
it  seemed  to  kill  them  by  drowning.  I  afterward  took 
strong  Ije,  that  would  float  an  egg ;  this  killed  all 
that  it  touched.  I  dug  out  several  worms  after  using 
the  lye,  and  every  one  was  dead.  I  have  washed  ray 
trees  iu  May  and  September  ever  since,  and  have  not 
lost  a  tree. 


LITERARY  AND  PEROSNAL. 

Impoved  WiLLOUGUBV  GRAIN  Drill,  manufac- 
tured by  J.  B.  Crowell  &  Co.,  Greencastle,  Frankliu 
county.  Pa.    12  pp.,  8  vo. 

A.  C.  Yates'  Fashion  Reporter,  for  fall  and 
winter  of  1878,  is  also  a  remarkably  well  executed 
quarto  of  8  pages,  devoted  to  fashion  and  clothing 
literature. 

L.  B.  Case's  Botanical  Index. — An  illustrated 
quarterly  botanical  magazine,  Richmond,  Indiana. 
16  pp.  octavo,  excellentfy  gotten  up,  and  this  Jan- 
uary number,  1S70,  is  full  of  valuable  matter  on  the 
subjects  of  Roots,  Fruits  and  Flowers. 

Pr.EMiuM  List  and  Regulations  of  the  first 
annual  exhibition  of  the  "Germantown  Poultry  and 
Pet  Stock  Association."  Parker's  Hall,  Main  and 
Price  streets,  Germantown,  December  24th,  25th  and 
26th,  187S.  10  pp.,  8  vo. 

Address  of  Francis  D.  Moulton,  before  "First 
Internaiional  Dairy  I'air,"  American  Institute,  New 
York,  Saturday  evening,  December  7th,  1878.  We 
are  under  obligations  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Reall  for  a  copy 
of  this  excellent  address,  an  interesting  extract  from 
which  will  be  found  in  this  number  of  The  Farmer, 
under  the  caption  of  "Population  and  Producton." 

The  Poultry  Monthly,  Albany,  N.  Y.  The 
January  number  of  this  royal  4to  of  18  pages  and  10 
pages  of  .advertisements  is  before  us.  Excellent  ma- 
terial, beautilully  illustrated  and  printed.  No.  1, 
Vol.  1,  is  before  us.  This  is  a  new  enterprise,  and  if 
it  don't  succeed  the  reproach  must  be  on  the  people 
and  not  on  the  printers  and  publishers.  §1.00  a  year. 

The  Sugar  Industry  o?  the  United  States 
AND  the  Tariff. — A  report  of  the  assessment  and 
collection  of  duties  of  imported  sugars ;  on  the  r3- 
sults  of  an  eeonomieal  and  financial  inquiry  into  the 
relation  of  the  sugar  industry  of  the  United  States  in 
its  several  departments  of  production,  importation, 
refining  and  distribution  of  product,  to  the  existing 
federal  tariff.    By  David  A.  Wells,  New  York,  18T8. 

IIakd  Times  and  the  Way  Out. — A  speech  de- 
livered by  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  at  Music  Hall,  Bos- 
ton, October  LOth,  1878.  An  8  vo.  pamphlet  of  24 
pages,  published  by  Gibson  Brothers,  Washington, 
D.  C.  Mr.  Ingersoll  talks  a  good  deal  of  "sense 
and  nonsense"  in  his  course  through  the  world  ;  but 
this  pamphlet,  although  not  free  from  error,  con- 
tains much  that  belongs  to  the  category  of  "sense." 

The  Farm. — A  journal  for  the  farm,  garden  and 
household.  Published  by  Thomas  McKenzie  &  Sons, 
Dublin,  Ireland.  A  quarto  of  10  pages.  Two  shil- 
lings a  year  in  advance.  Address  of  editors,  .34  Daw- 
son street.  This  is  a  remarkably  well  gotten  up 
journal,  both  in  its  typographical  execution  and  its 
literary  contents.  In  size,  style  and  general  appear- 
ance it,  is  not  much  unlike  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
We  heartily  welcome  it  to  our  exchange  list  as  a 
worthy  representative  of  the  agricultural  and  domes- 
tie  interests  of  the  "Green  Isle  of  Erin." 

Badyland.— The  January  number  of  this  juvenile 
magazine  for  1879  is  a  most  excellent  specimen  of 
the  graphical  and  typographical  arts  adapted  to 
babyeulture.  We  have  not  had  a  baby  born  to  us 
for  twenty-five  years,  and  we  a' most  regret  that  we 
have  not  a  baby,  or  are  not  a  baby  ourself.  The 
illustrations  are  so  pretty,  so  pure  and  so  character- 
istic of  child  life  that  we  feel  quite  sure  Babtjlaud 
will  "flow  with  milk  and  honey  "  to  all  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  juvenile  world.  50  cents  a  year.  D. 
Lothrop  &  Co.,  22  Franklin  street,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  American  Farmer.— The  December  number 
of  this  most  excellent  journal  has  been  received, 
(somehow  for  nearly  a  year  we  have  not  seen  a 
copy)  freighted  as  usual  with  valuable  lore  to  the 
farming  world.  We  do  not  recognize  an  agricultural 
magazine  in  the  country  that  is  more  worthy  of  the 
patronage  of  the  farming  public,  and  yet  every 
"once  in  a  while"  it  becomes  evident  that  that  fact 
needs  a  clearer  apprehension  and  a  more  liberal 
realization  at  home.  34  pp.  royal  8vo.  at  ?i!..50  a 
year  in  advance.  A  club  of  five  for  §1  each.  Samuel 
Sands  &  Son,  1.8  West  Baltimore  street,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

Scientific  Men  and  the  Press  on  the  Sugar 


Question.— The  great  Cuban  effort  to  transfer  the 
American  refining  business  to  Cuba  by  a  change  of 
the  sugar  tariff  fully  detected  at  last.  These  are~two 
octavo  pamphlets,  the  former  119  pp.,  and  the  latter 
20  pp.  It  is  needless  to  say  these  pamphlets  discuss 
the  sugar  question  with  ability  on  the  negative  side- 
that  is,  the  side  opposed  to  the  23.2  cents  specific 
duties  on  all  grades  of  sugars  whatever.  The  sym- 
pathies of  the  people,  the  sugar  dealers,  and  the 
men  of  science,  including  the  2'>'css,  seem  to  be  with 
the  American  refiners  ^but  it  would  be  diflBcult  to 
say  what  Congress  might  do  or  might  not  do  if  the 
measure  is  "backed"  by  such  a  large  sum  of  money 
as  has  been  reported  at  various  times. 

Report  of  the  twenty-seventh  annual  session  of 
the  Teachers'  Institute  of  Lancaster  county.  Pa., 
held  at  the  Court  House,  November  11th  to  1.5th, 
1878.  This  is  number  eleven  of  the  annual  reports  of 
the  Institute  ;  and,  although  the  preceding  ones  have 
been  able  and  interesting,  this  last  and  best  is  in  ad- 
Vance  of  them  all,  and  is,  no  doubt,  a  true  reflex  of 
the  progress  which  has  been  made  iu  our  system  of 
public  instruction.  Of  course  every  teacher,  in  Lan- 
caster county  at  least,  has  a  copy  of  this  excellent 
report,  and  it  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
teacher  iu  the  State.  There  is  no  other  sixty  page 
royal  octavo  that  can  be  of  more  interest  to  the  pro- 
gressive teachers  anywhere  than  the  perusal  of  what 
was  done  by  their  eo-laborers  elsewhere,  and  how 
and  by  whom  it  was  done.  The  faithful  teacher  in 
the  most  remote  and  secluded  corner  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, even  though  he  or  she  may  never  have 
had  the  privilege  of  attending  the  meetings  of  an 
institute,  may  sit  down  and  read  these  proceedings 
with  almost  the  same  intelligent  satisfaction  as  those 
that  were  really  present.  There  are  recorded,  too, 
all  the  names  of  the  teachers  iu  Lancaster  county 
who  were  in  .ittendance,  with  their  local  residences  ; 
besides  all  the  essays,  lectures,  discussions  and  ex- 
ercises which  then  and  there  took. place  and  were 
participated  in. 

The  Phrenological  Journal  for  January  begins 
the  sixty-eighth  volume  of- this  well-known  popular 
and  sterling  magazine.  There  are  few,  if  any,  peri- 
odicals which  have  done  more  to  direct  man's  atten- 
tion to  himself  and  to  such  means  as  will  better  his 
condition  physically  and  mentally.  The  present 
number  opens  with  an  excellent  portrait  and  phreno- 
logical and  biographical  sketch  of  L.  N.  Fowler,  one 
of  the  founders  of  this  Journal,  and  of  the  old  firm 
of  Fowler  &  Wells.  Following  this  is  a  most  inter- 
esting chapter  on  "Brain  and  Mind,"  with  several 
illustrations,  and  including  special  directions  to  be 
followed  in  examining  heads.  An  instructive  and 
lively  paper  is  The  Study  of  Entomology,  with  illus- 
trations. There  are  also  a  portrait  and  sketch  of 
Lord  Dufl'erin,  besiiles  very  readable  sketches  on  :  A 
Good  Figure  ;  One  of  the  Seven  Ages  ;  and  "  Color 
Blindness;"  this  last  throwing  much  light  on  the 
subject.  A  ratlier  critical  article  touches  on  Butter, 
and  the  Use  of  It.  Otheis  discuss  The  Feet,  and  the 
Dressing  of  them ;  Hot  Springs  of  Arkansas  ;  Poison 
Ivy,  and  Ivy  that  is  not  Poison;  Self-Knowledge  a 
Social  Need  ;  while  one  finds  a  good  many  useful 
facts  in  the  Scientific  Notes,  Answers  to  Questions, 
etc.  The  above  tends  to  show  the  scope  and  value 
of  this  excellent  magazine,  which  has  been  reduced 
from  §3.00  to  §2.00  a  year,  or  iO  cents  a  number, 
and  offers  a  Phrenological  Bust  premium  to  each 
subscriber.  No  one  can  do  better  than  to  send  20 
cents  iu  postage-stamps  for  the  January  number, 
and  full  particulai-s  as  to  premiums,  etc.,  to  S.  R. 
Wells  &  Co.,  737  Broadway,  N.  Y. 

Scientific  American  Supplement.- We  need 
hardly  say  anything  in  reference  to  the  Scienliflc 
Amcr'kan,  for  that  "distinguished  journal  has  de- 
servedly earned  a  world-wide  reputation  in  its  special 
sphere.  The  supplement ,  however,  which  is  also 
published  weekly,  and  is  uniform  in  size  with  the 
Seienlific  American,  may  not  be  so  well  known  to 
our  readers.  We  have  received  a  quarto  catalogue 
of  the  valuable  papers  contained  in  the  supplement. 
These  papers  include  a  very  large  number  of  scien- 
tilic,  mechanical  and  domestic  subjects,  mainly  re- 
lating to  chemistry,  metallurgy,  mechanics,  engi- 
neering, electricity,  light,  heat,  sound,  technology, 
agi-ieullure,  horticulture,  botany,  rural  and  house- 
hold economy,  materia  inedica, therapeutics,  hygiene, 
natural  histoi-y,  biology,  meteorology,  terrestrial 
physics,  geography,  geology,  mineralogy,  astionomy, 
ifcc.  This  catalogue  contains  the  titles  and  synoptic 
contents  of  about  5.50  sepai-ate  papers  published  iu 
the  supplement  with  references  to  the  particular 
numbei-s  in  which  the  diffei-ent  papers  may  be  found. 
Each  number  of  the  supplement  contains  16  quarto 
pages  profusely  illustrated,  and  is  published  at  ?5 
per  annum,  and  may  be  had  of  Munn  &  Co.,  pub- 
lishers, 37  Park  Row,  New  York,  or  at  the  office  of 
almost  any  news  dealer  in  the  country.  We  also 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  copy  of  that  beautiful 
little  annual  vade  mecmn  of  the  patentist,  The  Scien- 
tific American  Ifand-Book  for  1879.  No  one  ought 
attempt  to  "dabble"  in  the  patent  right  business 
without  a  copy  of  tliis  little  book  in  his  pocket,  and 
its  contents  in  his  head  ;  48  pp.  16mo.,  beautifully 
printed,  illustrated  and  indexed,  published  as  aboye. 


THE  LANCASTER;FARMER> 


D.  M.  Fekuv  iV  Co.,  the  well-known  ami  popular 
eeedsmen  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  are  again  before  our 
readers  with  their  annual  aunouni-ement.  Theli' 
catalogue,  which  is  mailed  free,  is  olTcred  to  all  of 
our  readers.  We  would  advise  them  to  avail  thcm- 
eelves  of  this  oiler. 

To  Make  Hbns  h\r. — Feed  young  pullets  with 
boiled  potatoes,  maslicd  in  the  water  they  have  been 
cooked  in,  aud  mixed  while  hot  with  oornmeal  and 
cracked  wheat.  Feed  this  warm,  and  every  week 
give  some  of  Bowker  *  Co.'s  Animal  Meal  along 
with  the  food.  This  will  give  eggs  all  through  tlie 
winter. — American  Agricnllnrift. 

VicK's  Floh.vi.  GriDE.— A  beautiful  work  of  100 
pages,  one  colored  llower  i>latp,  and  :iOO  illustrations, 
with  descriptions  of  the  best  Flowers  and  Vegetables, 
and  how  to  grow  them.  All  for  a  five  cent  stamp. 
In  English  or  (ierman. 

The  Fi.owEii  ani>  VEOETAm.E  Gaudex,  17.5 
pages,  six  colored  plates,  and  many  hundred  en- 
gravings. For  50  cents  iu  paper  covers;  91.00  in 
■elegant  cloth.     In  German  or  English. 

Viok's  Ilmtstrated  Montblv  Maoazin'e— 33 
pages,  a  colored  plate  In  every  number  and  many 
tine  engravings.  Price  $1.25  a  year:  five  copies  for 
S5.00.     Specimen  numbers  sent  for  10  cents. 

ViCk's  Seeds  are  the  best  in  the  world.  Send 
five  cent  stamp  for  a  Fi.okal  Guide,  containing  list 
and  prices,  and  plenty  of  information.  Address, 
JAMK,S  VICK,  Rochester,  N.  Y.  [79-1-2 


THE  IMPROVED 


remington 
Sewing  Machine 


iidcs.on  aU 


1. — Makes  a  perfect  lock  stich,  alik 
kineis  cf  goods. 
2.— Runs  Light,  Smooth,  Noiseless  and  Rapid. 
S.— Durable —A'Kii.t  for  years  without  Repair. 
A.— \yiU  do  all  varieties  of  Work  and  Fancy  Stitching  in 

Ji,~\i  Most  Easily  juanaged hy  the  operator.  Length  of 
stitch  may  be  altered  while  running,  and  machine  can  be 
threaded  without  passing  thread  through  holts. 

6.— Design  Simfle,  Ingenious,  Elegant.  Forming  the 
stitch  without  the  use  of  Cog  Wheel  Gears,  Rotary  Cams,  or 
Lever  Arms.  Has  the  Automatic  Drop  Feed,  which  insures 
uniform  length  of  stitch  at  any  speeA.  Has  our  new  Thread 
Controller,  which  allows  easy  movement  of  needle  bar  and 
prevents  injury  to  thread. 

7.— CONSTP.LXT!.    ■.      ,-    ,'       ■•'-,;   <:,■   T:..    ■■'.'■^.      !■    N    ::.>nU- 

factured  by  the  ?/.-     '  ' ■    at 

the  celebrated  Ki; -J  !><.  I  <>\    4  ::■;■>!'■».    Kion.   N  . 
T.    Attention;... 

8.— The  No.  2  l:    .  .  .  _;     ,  M  ,■..-.    .    \\  ...  .    ,         ...  :.,,.\ 

ARMORY :     I  LION,  N.  Y. 


1879  SPELNG  AND  SUMMER.  1789 

RATHVON  &  FISHER'S 

CHEAP  CLOTHING  STORE, 

Comer  I'ortli  Quoeii  and  Orange  Sts., 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Good  all  wool  Business  Suits  from  $12  to  $20 
Fine  Cloth  or  Worsted  Dress  Suits,  15  to  20 
Fine  Cassimere  Pants,         -  -  4  to     10 

Fine  Vests,     -        -         -         .         -3  to       6 

CUSTOM  WORK  A  SPECIALTY. 


READY  MADE  CLOTl^ING 

And  Furnishing  Goods 

of  ail  kinds,  ver>-  cheap.  Cottouades  as  low  as  $-2.50  a  sui'. 
Cloths,  Cassimereo,  WofBtingf-,  Suitings,  CoatingB  and 
VeBtmgs  m  a  full  Hue,  and  made  promptly  to  order. 

RATHVON  &  FISHER, 

XB'T'O  PRACTICE,  TAILORS.  1SV3 


'Our  Work  Sustains  Our  Word. 


FIRST-CLASS  SLEIGHS  A  SPECIALTY. 

u 

X 
h 

^      t      >^ 
W       2      ^ 

Z       W       fc 

E     I    " 

K 
O 


IsrOHBECK  &  MILEY, 

PRACTICAL  CARRIAGE  BUILDERS, 


(Cox  k  Co.'s  Old  Stand,) 

Comer  of  SOUTH  DITKE  and  VINE  STREETS, 

B'S^We  invito  special  attontiou  of  pnrchapoie  to  our  large  stock  of  Sleighs 


LAKCASTER, 


A  Flue  Stock  of  Brewster,  Whitney,  i 


:  Spar  Spring   BntfKic 


PA 
Ciir- 


PROMPT   ATTENTION  TO  REPAIRING. 


TH  IS  WILL  NOT  APPEAR  AGAI N 


_J82,0()0_g^|d  GIVEN 


tlie  very  personititvili  .  . 

be  n-ilUout  thin  E-i'  nn.. 

Thia  beaulitul  di.i"vu.-,^f:il  i.'i- 


Dedicated  to  the  Mlotcard  .IsnoeSnti 


^    SOB  BLESS  THE  HELPiNS  HANDS    S 


SKXT  rict.;B:  v 


CSTUT  THIS  lEOitTIFIf  :iTE  «>IT.  IT  LS  WORTH  SS-3.'>  T<>  >  <>I  .        I 

On  rcci-ipl  of  ll.n  c  .  .iiii,.Li..,  1  .     11,,  r  ,.,;l.  .\„,,.i,.,.n  Cei.t8,I9r.liM  I  .    I 

"the  ANQELVS?fe*„*lff.U^GOD  BLESS  THE  HELPING  HANDS 


ERTflCATE  WORTH  £:5.35, 


A  bonutiful  work  of  loo  Pages,  One  Colored  Flower 
Plate,  and  300  illustrations,  with  Dcecrij^lioiis  of  lljc 
best  Flowers  ftnd  Vegetables,  and  bow  to  grow  thoni.  All 
for  a  Five  Cent  Stamp.    In  English  or  Qermau. 

The  Flower  and  Vegetable  Garden,  175  Pages,  Sii 
Colored  I'lutea,  and  mHuy  hundred  Enf;raviuf^s,  For  .^0 
cents  in  paper  covers;  tl.OO  iu  elegant  clotb.  Iii  Geruian 
or  En{<lisb. 

inthly  Magazine— 3}  Pages,  a 
and  many  Fine  Kugruviugs, 


Vick's  Illustrated 
Colored  Plate  in  everv 
Price  %\.-a  a  yeai 


I  Seeds  E 


9  Copies  for  $.'5.t 

e  be<t  in  tho  world.  Send  Fiv 

Guide,  eoutaining  List   and 


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Stamp  f 
and  plenty  of  iufoi-mation.     Address. 

TU-1-3  JAMES  VICK,  Rochester,  N.  1 


f,1>f|.^"S?Sl 


£.  n.  r£siiY  a  CO.  uclio.;  :iio1l 


US  MS    InAlTo 


$65= 


SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER,  i'A,, 
235  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

All  matters  appertaining  to  INITKI)  .ST.\Ti;s  or  CANA- 
DIAN P.\TENTS,  TRADE  .MAUKS,  aud  COl'VKIOHTS. 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  success  a-'d  faithful 
attention  to  the  interests  of  those  who  engage  his  services 
are  fully  acknowledged  and  apprecUted. 

Prelimiuary  ciaminations  made  for  him  by  a  reliable  As- 
sistant at  WashlDgtou,  without  extra  charge  for  drawing 
or  deeoriptiou.  (;9-l-lf 


BheU.s.  for(,,.>    , 

KER  A  40..  I 
Place.    XrH 
R04*h«H(or,   N 

Stockbridge  Mnuu 


,-alIy  liked.  Foil 
iii'iii  meal  or  othA  feed  and 
6"  cents;  30  lbs,  $1,110;  lOl) 
I,  ,and  to  prevent  abortion 
H.,  $3  mi.  (ironud  Oyster 
■  ■I  a  full  line8j>rH;ial  feeds, 
c  .1  men.  W.  H.  BOW- 
.^t.,  Boaton;  .t  Park 
urtta  Water  .Street, 
turers  of  the  Celebrated 
[79-1-4 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[January,  1879, 


'"AWBEKRT-GKOWERS    MAKE    A   SOTE 
OF  IT  ! 

The  Xew  Strawberries  described  iu  the  December 
number  of  The  FAnMEit  are  for  sale,  by  the  undereigned, 
at  from  25  eents  to  81>50  per  dozen,  aud  for  much 
less  by  the  hundred,  CASPEB  HILLER  k  SON, 

12-10-2mJ  ConeBtoga,  Lancaster  couuty,  Pa. 


E.  R.  O. 


%nted  not  to  explode,  under 

^EXCLUSIVE  COUNTY  RIGHTS  for  sale  by 
P.  J.  FITZGERALD,  Sole  Proprietor  and  Manufacturer, 

103  and  105  N.  Fourth  St.,  Philad'a. 
Also,  WHOLESALE  DEALER  IN   HEAD  LIGHT,  COAL 
OIL  and  BURNING  FLUID. 

N.  B.  A  large  assortment  ta(M((i(v/M  of  CHANDELIERS, 
BRACKETS,  BRONZE  LAMPS,  BURNERS,  &c.,  &c.,  Con- 
Btantly  on  hand.  10-9-6m 


THE  SCIENTIFIC  AMERICAN. 

THIRTY-FOURTH  YEAR. 

THE   MOST   POPULAR   SCIENTIFIC  PAPER   IN 

THE  WORLD, 

Only  63.30  a  Year,  incIndlHf;  Postnge.  Weeh- 
ly  S3  If  nwberB  a  Tear.    4,e»0  Book  Pages. 

The  Scientific  Ambkican  is  a  large  first-class  Weekly 
Newspaper  of  sixteen  pages,  printed  in  the  most  beautiful 
style,  profusely  illustrated  with  splendid  engraTings,  rep- 
resenting the  newest  inventions  and  the  moat  recent  ad- 
vances in  the  arts  and  science;  Inclndiuff  new  and  interest- 
ing facts  iQ  agriculture,  horticulture,  the  home,  health, 
medical  progress,  social  science,  natural  history,  geology, 
astronomy,  the  most  yaluabie  practical  papers,  by  eminent 
writers  in  all  departments  of  science,  will  be  found  in  the 
Scientific  American. 

Terms,  $,H.20  per  year,  $1.60  half  year,  which  includes 
postage.  Discount  agents.  Single  copies,  10  cents.  Sold 
by  all  Newsdealers.  Remit  by  postal  order  to  MUNN  & 
CO..  Publishers,  :!7  Park  Row,  New  York, 
ntirCMnilO  I°  connection  with  the  Kelentiflc 
rnllilirfii  Americnn,  Messrs.  Minn  &  Co  ,  are 
Solicitors  of  American  and  Foreign  Patents,  have  had  34 
years  experience,  and  now  have  the  largest  establishment 
in  the  world.  Patents  are  obtained  on  the  best  terms.  A 
special  notice  is  made  in  the  IHeientific  Ainerioaii  of 
all  inveutions  pateuked  through  tile  agency,  with  the 
name  and  residence  of  the  patentee.  By  the  immense  cir- 
culation thus  given,  public  attention  is  directed  to  the 
merits  af  the  new  patent,  and  sales  or  introduction  often 
easily  effected. 

Any  person  who  has  made  a  new  discovery  or  invention, 
can  ascertain,  free  of  charge,  whether  a  patent  can  proba- 
bly be  obtained,  by  writing  to  the  undersigned.  We  also 
send  free  our  Hand-Book  about  the  Patent  Laws,  Patents, 
Caveats,  Trade-Marks,  their  costs,  and  how  procured,  with 
hints  for  procuring  advances  on  Inventions. 

Address  for  the  Paper,  or  concerning  Patents, 

Hniin  A  to.,  37  Park  Row,  K.  T. 
Branch  Othce,  corner  F  and  7th  street.?,  Washington,  D.  0. 


ART  OF  PROPAGATION. 

A  consise  practical  work  on  the  rapid  increase  and  mu 
tiplication  of  stock — amply  illustrated. 

Price  pre-paid  by  mail.  SO  cents. 

PUBLISHED   BY 

Winona,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio." 
SEND  FOR  IT,  AND  FOR  FREE  CATALOGUE. 
I  special  arrangem 


thet 


able  I 


nt  with  the  publishers,  we  offer 
8.  per  copy.  It  has  received  the  fa- 
1000  leading  pajers  of  the  country. 


L.  RATHVON. 


HOME 
GUEST 


on  trial  for  three  months.  The  Home 
Guest  is  declared  the  best  family  paper 
now  published.  Each  number  contains  an 
illustrated  Fashion  Department,  a  depart- 
ment on  Writing  and  Penmanship,  edited 
bv  Prof.  Gaskell,  also  a  column  of  Chat 
_  with  Readers,  Puzzle  Department,  Letters 
,  Domestic  Receipts,  History,  Poetry,  Biogra- 
"  reading  ■     "   ' 


from  Child] 
phy,  and  a 

whole,  including  a  copy  of  the  m 
the  day,  on  trial  three  months  for 
Address  the  publishi 


;iful  chr( 


nly  30  . 


WEST  JERSEY   NURSERIES! 


GIBSON  &  BENNET. 

100,000  Felton's  Early  Prolific  and  Reliance  Raspberry, 
200,000  CindreUa  and  Continental  Strawberry  Pl,ANTj^ 
direct  fK)m  the  original  stock.  Millions  of  other  Plants, 
Trees,  to.,  &c. 

l»"New  descriptive  Circulars  now  ready. 

10-0-3m 


E.  N.  FRESHMAN  &  BROS., 

ADVERTISING  AGENTS, 
186  W.  Fourth  St.,  Cincinnati,  0., 

Are  antk*riBe<i  to  contract  for  advertlslngr 
in  this  paper. 

Estmates  lanisbed  free,  Send  (or  a  Circilar. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS! 


The  Lancaster  Farmer, 

A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL. 

Devoted  to  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Econo- 
my and  Miscellany. 


FOUNDED  UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  OF  THE  LANCASTER  COUNTY  AGRI- 
CULTURAL AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVOR 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION: 

ONE  DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPRIETOR. 

All  subscriptions  will  commence  with  the  January  number,  unless  other- 
wise ordered. 


This  number  of  "The  Lancaster  Farmer,"  issued  in  January,  1S79,  is  the  first  num- 
ber of  Volume  XL  The  publication  of  the  "Farmer"  has  been  transferred  by  Mr.  L. 
Rathvon  to  the  undersigned,  who  will  continue  it  in  the  same  form  as  it  has  been  pub- 
lished in  the  past,  trying  at  all  times  to  spare  neither  money  or  labor  to  make  it  a  firsN 
class  Journal  for  the  Farm,  Garden  and  House.  It  will  always  contain  the  same  amount  o: 
reading  matter,  as  the  advertisements  will  never  be  allowed  to  encroach  on  that  depart- 
ment. We  have  in  view  several  slight  changes  that  will  make  it  more  desirable  to  th( 
readers,  and  improve  the  appearance  of  it,  but  these  changes  they  will  notice  as  they 
made,  and  we  refrain  from  saying  more  about  them. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  who  has  so  ably  managed  the  editorial  department  in  the  pastj 
will  continue  in  the  position  of  editor.  His  contributions  on  subjects  connected  witli 
the  science  of  faiming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which  he  is  so  thoroughly 
master — entomological  science — some  knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  thf 
successful  farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of  this  publication.  He  :* 
determined  to  make  "The  Farmer"  a  necessity  to  all  households. 

A  county  that  has  so  wide  a  reputation  as  Lancaster  county  for  its  agricultural  pre 
ducts  should  certainly  be  able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the  es 
change  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  interested  in  this  matter.  We  ask  the  co-operatio: 
of  all  farmers  interested  in  this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer" 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and  induce  them  to  subscribe, 
is  not  much  for  each  subscriber  to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  communications  in  regard  to  the  editorial  management  should  be  addressed  t 
Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptions  an« 
advertising  should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Rates  of  advertising  can  be  had  01 
application  at  the  office. 

JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,     | 

No,  9  North  Queen  Street,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


ONE  DOLLAR  FEB  ANNUM -SUTGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


S.  S.  EATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  FEBRUARY,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  PuHisher, 


CONTENTS  OFJHIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 

•  New  Subscribers,       ---... 

.  As  Others  See  Us,  -----  . 
-More  About  Eel6,    -.--.. 

•  Flowers,  .--.-.-. 
.  Peach  Bark  Louec,  --.... 
.  Farm  Life  vs.  Professional  Life,        ... 

'  Christinas  Rose,        ---... 

.  Correction, -        - 

ESSAYS. 
.  Our  Orchards,        ..... 
Tobacco— Its  Culture— Its  Use  and  Its  Effects  as  a 

Narcotic 

tiug 


On  Tobai 


-PIu 


-Prepa 


-Wo-i 


Vltiou — Tojjplng 

Stripling  and  Sortiug— CouclusJon. 
♦Fence  Mating  on  the  Farm,        .... 
.  One  Year's  Experiment  With  Fowls, 
.  Diseases  of  the  Pear,        ..... 

•  Modern  Fruit  Houses,        ..... 
,  Culture  and  Training  of  the  Vine, 

•  Liquid  Manure, 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 
.  Cattle  of  Lancaster  County,  Or  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania       .-.-.-.. 
.Texas  Cattle, 


Lell. 


of 


Samuol    Houston,   Debcribiug 


Texas  Cattle. 

« Polled  Cattle,        -        .        -        -        v       -      -     2;: 
.Bitter-Swect,        -        -       ..        -        .  ,j    .        .     2;- 

•  The  Balance  of  Trade, 2.'; 

•  More  Alx)ut  Cattle,        -..-..    24 

•  Fifty  Years  Ago  vs.  The  Present  Day,        .        .     2^ 
.  Fertilizers  and  Formulas,         -         -         -         -      25 

STATE  SOCIETIES. 
.  State  Fruit  Growers'  Society,        -        -        -       -    ".'i 

•  State  Millers' Association,        -        .        .        .        ag 

The  Next  Place  of  Meeting.  20 

^  SELECTIONS. 

.The  Grain  and  Fruit  Crops  of  1H78,        .       .      .     2C 
The  Corn  Crop— The  0am  Crop— Tne  Barley  Crop— 
The  Eye  Crop— Potato  Crop— The    Ilay  Crop— 
Borghom- The  Tobacco  Crop— Friiit  Growth.  2T 

'Ammonia  in  the  Air,        -----      27 
OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

•  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society,        -      -    27 

Hev.  J.  Coldor's  Lecture  on  Agriculture— Intensive 
Farming— Tlie  Location  of  Farms— A  Home  Mar- 
lOBt— Educated  Farmers.-The  Fair  Question- 
Charter  Wanted— The  Amount  of  Slock— Profit 
of  Raising  Fowls- The  CurcnUo— Orapee- Bills— 
Prize  Essays. 
.  Tobacco  Growers'  Association,  -  -  -  83 
.  Poultry  Association, 28 

•  Warwick  Farmers'  Club, 28 

"  Fulton  Farmers'  Club, 29 

Linntean  Society 29 

Historical  Division— Papers  Re  ad— Additions  to  the 

AGRICULTURE. 

The  Greatest  of  all  Grains,        ....  29 

The  Late  Summer  Seeding  of  Grass,        -        -  29 

The  Ruta  Baga, 29 

Corn  in  Drills,        ---....  29 


HORTICULTURE. 
Bay  Your  Trees  at  Home, 

•The  Albemarle  Apples, 
^Pruning  Fruit  and  Ornamental  Trees, 

, Winter  Peaches,        .... 
FLORICULTURE. 

•  Growing  Ivy  in  Rooms,        -        .        - 

.  Flower  Pots,        ..... 

.Flowers  for  the  Table, 

.Srailax,        ...... 

•Growing  Fusehais  in  Baskets, 

•.\mpelopi8  Victchii,         ... 
I  Window  Plants,        .        -        -        . 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

.Evening's  Milk  Richest, 

.What  is  Castile  Soap, 
VVatci--Proof  Boots,        .... 

.Ammonia  in  the  Household, 

I.  To  Preserve  Potatoes  from  the  Rot, 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 
Earache,        ...... 

To  Bake  Eggs,        .        -        -        .         . 
., Frosted  Feet, 

,  Color  for  Wicker  Baskets, 

Cranberries,        ..... 

Ginger  Cookies,        .        .        .        .        . 

Sweet  Omelet,        .        .        .        .        - 

'Tapioca  Cream,        .        .        .        .        • 

To  Lessen  Friction  for  Furniture, 

The  Sleep  for  Children, 

Chocolate  Cake,        .... 

Wafers,        ...... 

Orange  Cake,        -        .        -        -        - 

Sour  .Milk  Cheese,        .... 
I  Miiice  Pics,        .-.--. 

LIVE  STOCK. 
,  Winter  Management  of  Sheep, 
.Weaning  Calves,        .        .       .        - 
.What  Stock  Needs,        .        .        -        . 

Imported  Cattle,        .        .        .        - 

POULTRY. 
The  Poultry  Association, 
Langshan,        ...... 

Tar  in  the  Chicken  House, 
Selecting  Breeding  Turkeys, 
Treatment  for  Cholera,        .        -        - 
Literary  and  Personal, 


NORBECK  SMILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


kfflm  M\im, 


m  &  CO'S  OLD  ST.UFI. 

Corner  of  Duke  and  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

THE  LATE.ST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHOTONS, 

Carriages,  Etc. 


Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 

RErAIHING  iiioiii|.tlv  attcudea  to.     All  work 
giuinint.^il. 


VALUASIP  f^fFf?BMAT!ON  K'u 


POT AfOES 


<-p.    ISAi.uiT.Ci,VMi;ii,<.iu 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


KXJISTtA\ATIIA  RAIKROAn  SCHEDVI^E. 

Trains  leave  the  Depot  in  this  city,  as  follows : 
Leave 
Lancaster. 


WE  TWARD. 

Pacific  Eipress* 

Way  Passengert 

Niagara  Express 

Hanover  Accommodation,. 

MaU  trail,  via  Mt.  Joy 

No.  2  via  Columbia 

Sunday  Mail 

Fast  Line" 

Frederick  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation.. 

Harrisburg  Express 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express* 


9.30  a.  m. 

9:35  p.  m. 
11:15a.m. 
11:20  a.  m. 
11:20  a.m. 

2:10  p.m. 

2:15p.m. 


11:30  p. 


7:35  a.  m. 
9.28  p.  m. 
1:20  p.  m. 


9:35  a. I 


PhiladelpUiu. 
3:00  a.  m. 
T:00  a.  m. 


7:40  p. 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  Express" 

Philadelphia  Expresst 

Fast  lane* 

Harrisburg  Express 

Columbia  Accommodation. 

Pacific  Express*. 

Sunday  Mail 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express" 

Harrisburg  .Accom 

The  Hanover  Accoramod.;tion, 
with  Niagara  Express,  west,  a 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommodation, 
ter  with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p. 

The  Pacific  flivrpss,  east,  on  Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
stop  at  Middletown,  Eiizabethtowu,  Mount  Joy  and  Laudis- 
Tille. 

"The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tRuns  daily,  except  Monday. 


t  Lancaster 


)  Frederick. 


$Ty  Ou 


79-2 


PHARES    W.    FRY, 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

wftLi  PftPER&  mmdw  mmEB, 

Ilollniids,  plain  Shn<lo  Cloth, 

Fixtures,  Fringes,  Tassels  and  all  goods  pertaining  to  a 

Paper  and  Shade  Store, 

No.  63  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

79-1-12 


E.  JE",  3B.o^757-ivi:.A.r<r, 


Al)fe^ 


ATI-OWEST  POSSIBLK  PltlCS;^, 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

9-1-12]  Oppiisili-  Lcopiiitl  JTotfl. 


GLOVES, SHIRTS^UNDERWEAR.    H 
SHIET3  MAdFtO  ORDEK, 

AND  W.M.ltANTED  TO  FIT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN, 
56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


s.  :b.  ooixi. 


Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHUnCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 


TREES. 
Fruit,  Sliade  and  Ornamental  Trees, 


intend  I'liin 


LOUIS  C.  LYTE 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 

And  Maimracturers  of 

FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS. 

WAKEKOOMS : 

102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 


AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CLOCKS, 

JEWELRY  I  TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

Repairing  strictly  attended  to. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centra  Square,  Lancaster,  Pa, 


THOROUGHBRED  SHORT-HORN 

BULLS   AND  BULL  CALVES, 
FOR  s/^x^e:. 

AT  PRICES  TO  SUIT  THE  TIMES. 

A.  M.  RANOK, 

79-1-2]  Bird-in-Hand,  Lancaster  Co.,  Pa. 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANDFACTDRER  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

COLLARS,  -WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &c., 

ALSO    DE.\LER    IN 

TRUNKS,  TRAVELING  BAGS, 

liUFALO  ROBES, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  G-loves,  &c., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

79-1-12]  LANCASTER,  PA. 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


Gr.    SENER   &  SONS, 


£-xjisa:B]ER, 


PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walnnt-sts.. 

LANCASTKR,  FA. 


lor  Orajies,  Seedliugs, 
etc.     seua  lor Catalogue. 

J.  JENKINS, 
WINOXA,  Columbiana  County,  Ohio. 


TIJE  LATEST! 


Tlje  New  TarifT  of 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  oflF  large  lots  of 

goods,  and  has 

INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US! 

AS    IJSIJAL 

JB^^Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better. •'^g 

Tliis  is  the  latest  tariff  for  the 

AS  FOLLOT\^S: 

An  Elegant  Business  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  $10.  Identical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  §1.5.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $13. 

$4.89  buys  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coat.s,  Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
$8.50,  $8.50,  $8.50,  $8.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  $10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $r,  $7,  $7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  tlie  Late  Improvements,  $5,  $5,  $5. 

Boys'  and  Youths'  Trousers,  All 
Wool,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Styles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  $8.75  to 
$6.50. 

$25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully 
made.  Piped  with  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $1500;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  fitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
iwth  ways. 

Wananjaker  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL, 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

The  Largest  Clothing  House  in 
America. 


1 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  BATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER.  PA.,  FEBRUARY,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  IIo. 


Editorial. 


NEW  SUBSCRIBERS. 
We  .arc  pleased  to  be  able  to  state  that 
during  the  sionth  of  January  about  lifty-eiglit 
new  subscribers  were  added  to  our  list.  A 
few  friends  of  The  Faumkr  who  are  inter- 
ested in  its  success  are  working  to  increase 
the  list  in  their  neighborhood  all  they  can. 
For  their  efforts  they  have  our  sincere  thanks, 
and  we  trust  that  their  work  in  this  matter 
will  be  the  means  of  inducing  others  to  do  the 
same.  We  would  like  to  see  Tiik  Faujieu 
on  a  good  footing,  .so  that  it  will  maintain 
.itself,  and  that  we  will  not  lose  money  in  en- 
deavoring to  give  the  people  of  Lancaster 
county  a  good  home  journal.  It  should  re- 
ceive a  liberal  support  from  our  farmers  and 
those  interested  in  the  various  topics  of  which 
it  treats,  and  we  trust  that  all  of  the  sub- 
scribers who  receive  this  number  will  try  and 
send  us  two  or  three  new  subscribers  at  least. 
Some  could,  no  doubt,  do  more.  It  would 
seem  like  a  very  little  work  for  each  one  to 
do,  but  if  two  new  names  were  received  from 
each  old  subscriber  it  would  increase  the  list 
to  three  times  what  it  is  now,  and  place  the 
paper  on  a  good,  sound  basis,  where  it  should 
have  been  years  ago.  As  Ave  said  in  the 
January  number,  we  shall  do  all  we  can  to 
make  it  better  each  mouth,  and  trust  our 
subscribers  will  appreciate  our  efforts  and  lend 
us  such  assistance  as  is  in  their  power.  The 
subscription  price  is  only  one  dollar  a  year. 
We  make  the  following  as  an  inducement  to 
our  friends  to  work  for  us  :  To  any  one  who 
will  send  us  five  new  subscribers,  accompanied 
by  five  dollars,  we  will  send  The  Farmer 
free  for  one  year.  See  if  we  cannot  have  a 
still  better  report  for  our  next  number. 

AS  OTHERS  SEE  US. 

The  first  number  of  TnE  Lax(  astkr  Farmer, 
under  the  proprietorship  of  John  A.  Iliestauil,  Esq., 
publisher  of  the  Lancaster  Examiner  and  Sxprexs, 
conducted  by  Dr.  S.  S.  Kathvon,  shows  a  general 
excellence  that  might  be  imitated  with  profit  by 
other  periodicals  making  agriculture  their  leading 
feature.  It  is  well  printed,  carefully  arranged,  and 
conducted  witli  great  ability.  The  subscription  is 
only  one  dollar  a  year. — Germantoien  Telegraph. 

There  is  no  man  on  the  editorial  st.aff  whose 
good  opinion  we  more  highly  esteem  than  that 
of  the  veteran  editor  of  the  TckijrtqA.  AVc 
do  not  desire  to  be  pharisaical  in  our  claims 
to  distinction,  but  wc  may  lie  permitted  to 
say  that  tlie  Major  knows  a.s  well  tlie  quality 
of  our  journal.as  we  do  UkiI  be  publishes  the 
best  family  pajier— either  for  "king  or  cotter" 
— tliat  is  issued  in  Penusylvania. 

The  Lancaster  Farmer  for  .January  enters  upon 
Its  eleventh  volume,  hopeful  that  it  may  be  more 
generally  sustained  by  the  community  in  which  it  is 
published  and  for  whose  interest  it  labors.  We  have 
neglected  heretofore  to  state  that  there  has  been  a 
change  in  its  publishers.  Mr.  Linn.Tus  Kathvon 
having  sold  out  to  -Mr.  .John  A.  Hiestand,  proprietor 
of  Ihe  Examiner  and  Ezjtress.  Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon 
still  retains  the  pesition  of  editor,  and  will  continue 
to  labor  with  all  diligence  for  the  success  of  the 
journal,  which  should  find  a  place  in  every  farmer's 
home,  not  only  in  our  own  great  county,  but  through- 
out this  and  adjacent  States.  Let  our  farmers  risk  a 
dollar  in  this  home  journal  of  agriculture,  and  they 
will  be  convinced  that  tliey  have  made  a  good  in- 
vestment. Address  John  A.  Hiestand,  Lancaster, 
Vn.—yew  MoUand  Clarion. 


We  have  marked  witli  local  pride  the  evi- 
dences of  progress  made  by  the  rural  press  of 
Lancaster  comity ;  and  none  with  more  in- 
terest than  that  of  the  Clarion,  whose  own 
excellence  allbrds  an  imwarped  medium, 
through  which  it  is  able  to  recognize  what  is 
praiseworthy  in  others. 

Many  similar  notices,  from  far  and  near, 
come  under  our  observation,  but  our  space  is 
too  limited  to  admit  them  all.  We  cannot, 
however,  on  this  occasion,  refrain  from  adding 
the  analytic  notii-r  of  A(ii;icoi..\,  in  a  recent 
nunilieriil'  [\w  Ihilh/  E.ramincmnd  I'Jxpress,  as 
one  that  is  more  than  ordinarily  appropriate: 

What  a  thrill  the  very  name  is  calculated  to  send 
through  the  breasts  of  the  cultivators  of  the  soil, 
dotted  over  the  various  States  and  Territories  of  the 
Union.  There  is  a  charm  in  that  name  that  would 
welcome  the  bearer  of  it  to  any  domicile  in  the 
East,  the  West,  the  North  or  the  South,  owned 
liy  any  Ibrmer  farmers  of  Lancaster  county,  or  their 
posterity.  This  may  be  germane  to  the  subject,  but 
it  is  not  exactly  the  subject  itself  to  which  the  above 
caption  refers. 

I  have  just  received  the  January,  1870,  number  of 
our  local  agricultural  journal,  that  bears  that  name; 
a  journal  which,  in  my  humble  opinion,  ought  to  be 
in  the  house  of  every  progressive  farmer  in  the 
county  of  Lancaster,  if  not  in  the  entire  State  of 
Pennsylvania.  I  have  received  and  welcomed  it  as  a 
cherished  household  companion,  and  I  have  also 
analyzed  its  contents.  I  Hud  that  it  contains  seventy- 
five  separate  articles,  and  forty  five  subdivisions  of 
some  of  these  articles,  as  well  as  an  index  of  the 
contents  of  this  number.  Twenty-eight  of  these 
articles  (exclusive  of  the  proceedings  of  societies,) 
are  original ;  all,  except  two,  having  been  written  by 
local  contributors,  who  inelude  some  of  the  most 
practical  farmers  and  fruitgrowers. 

The  material,  the  typographical  execution,  and  the 
general  makeup  of  the  journal  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  the  best  in  the  country.  Quarto  in  form, 
and  furnished  at  one  dollar  a  year  in  advance,  postage 
paid. 

The  farmers  of  Lancaster  county  should,  by  all 
means,  give  their  preference  to  their  own  local 
journal — work  for  it — write  for  it — and  be  in  har- 
monious sympathy  with  it.  No  man  who  entirely 
ignores  his  friends,  his  family  or  his  kin,  will  find  as 
much  sympathy  froui  strangers  in  the  hour  of  ad- 
versity as  he  will  from  the  home  circle  ;  therefore, 
home  and  the  things  of  home  should  be  sustained. 
This  does  not  meau  that  he  should  be  selfishly  locked 
up  against  foreign  things,  when  he  desires,  or  it  is 
his  interests  to  go  beyond  ;  but  he  should  still  hold 
to  the  home  anchor. — AgrieoUtf  Lancaster,  Jan,  15, 
IST'J. 

MORE  ABOUT  EELS. 

MlLLWAV,  January  18th,  1879. 
Mk.  S.  S.  Kathvon— Z^car  .Sir:  Allow  me  to 
olTer  a  few  remarks  on  the  subject  of  eels.  I  saw  in 
The  Lancaster  Farmer  for  January,  1879,  that 
you  desire  to  have  the  experiences  of  local  observers 
in  regard  to  the  migrations,  &c.,  of  these  peculiar 
animals.  The  migrations  of  eels  I  have  never  wit- 
nessed, but  I  am  able  to  say  something  about  their 
eggs,  or  spawn.  I  have  a  fish-pond,  about  one  and 
a  half  miles  north  of  Litiz,  ou  my  father's  farm. 
Last  summer — I  cannot  now  tell  the  exact  date — one 
of  the  laboring  men  of  the  farm  was  fishing,  with  a 
hook  and  line,  in  the  pond  aforesaid.  Among  other 
fishes  he  drew  out  a  large  female  eel,  weighing  about 
three  pounds.  When  this  eel  was  opened  she  was 
found  to  be  full  of  eggs,  about  the  size  of  shad  eggs. 
The  oldest  of  our  fishermen  say  that  it  is  very  seldom 
that  eels  are  caught  with  eggs  in  them.  .My  son 
Franklin  now  occupies  my  farm.  I  have  retired  and 
now  reside  at  Milhvay  station,  C.  K .  U . —  Yours  truly, 
Levi  B.  Brubakcr. 

Mr.  E.  K.  Ilcrsbey,  of  Cresswell,  in  this 
county,  made  a  verbal  response  to  the  ques- 
tion in  our  January  number,  about  the  migra- 
tion of  eels.  Mr.  II.,  together  with  his  father 
and  other  members  of  the  family,  saw  young 
eels  migrating  up  the  Susquehanna,  near  the 
Lancaster  shore,  about  the  year  18-tO  or  1850, 
in  the  month  of  May,  as  near  as  he  is  able  to 
recall  the  period  ;  and  to  continue  their  mi- 
grations upward  during  a  whole  day  and  until 
after  nightfall,  but  cannot  tell  how  long  they 
continued  running,  as  not  one  was  observed 


the  next  morning  thereaRer.  The  locality 
where  they  made  this  olKscrvation  was  about 
one  mile  below  the  borough  of  Washington, 
On  this  occasion  they  scooped  up  dozens  of 
them  with  a  common  cullender.  It  is  com- 
monly supposed  among  lisliermeu  that  these 
migrations  continue  about  three  days,  and 
furthermore,  they  favor  the  idea  that  many 
young  eels  now  jiass  u])  througli  the  canals 
instead  of  the  river,  but  for  various  reasons 
this  seems  im|in)bal)le,  even  if  it  were  possible. 
The  oUservatioMS  of  these  two  men  seem  to 
bo  in  harmony  with  what  wc  stated  in  our 
May  numlier  of  The  Farmer,  page  GO.  It 
is  very  strange  that  so  few  have  observed  this 
eel  migration,  :iiid  yet  more  strange,  that  still 
fewer  have  made  records  of  tlie  iilienomenon. 
Catching  eels  in  the  month  of  .May  with  eggs 
in  them.  Unless  there  are  different  species 
of  eels,  creek  species,  pond  species  .and  river 
species,  that  difler  or  have  changed  in  their 
habits,  it  is  dilhcult  to  reconcile  their  migra- 
tions in  the  month  of  May,  and  the  existence 
of  eggs  in  them  in  tliu  s;une  month.  But  the 
facts  are  on  record,  and  we  have  the  objects 
in  our  posses.siun,  and  therefore  wc  arc  com- 
l)elled  to  conclude  that  there  are  local  or  pond 
species,  and  migrating  or  river  si)ecies.  So 
far  as  we  understand  Prof.  Packard's  late 
discovery,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  had  such 
a  distinct  demonstration  of  eggs  as  we  have 
recorded  in  the  foregoing,  and  after  all  he 
may  only  have  seen  spermatazoids. 

The  following  on  the  same  subject  w'e  have 
received  from  an  intelligent  correspondent 
from  Conestoga  township  : 

About  the  year  1S:W  I  once  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  young  eels  going  up  the  Susquehanna.  They 
followed  close  along  the  shore  in  a  continual  stream; 
I  suppose  I  might  say  millions  of  them,  little  fellows, 
from  ;i  to  6  inches  long.  Have  not  been  much  about 
the  river  since,  and  had  almost  foigotten  the  cir- 
cumstance, until  I  saw  your  queries  about  them.— 
r.  If. 

FLOWERS. 


In  life's  varioufl  relaticns 

'Mid  its  scenes  of  woe  ami  niirtb, 
TUey  are  ever  by  us  valued. 


form  pleasant  links  In  the  chain  of  our  existence. 
When  the  sky  of  the  future  seems  clear,  and  no 
breakers  appear  ahead,  we  look  upon  them  with  the 
most  tender  devotion  as  contributing  to  our  happi- 
ness. In  the  dark  and  trying  hours  of  misfortune, 
when  alBiction  and  disappointment  combine  to  make 
our  hearts  heavy,  involuntarily  we  turn  to  these  our 
pels,  and  lecognize  in  them  an  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  Providence,  of  love,  of  beauty,  teaching  us 
submission  to  his  will,  and  to  look  for  brighter, 
happier  hours." — /•'.  A.  \V.  in  F.  and  F.  Jfagazine. 
On  a  perhaps  lower  and  more  iiractical 
plane,  llowers  lill  a  social  and  domestic 
racutnii  that  relieves  us  from  that  ennui 
which  is  sometimes  so  inseparably  from  isola- 
tion and  loneliness.  Tliey  speak  to  us  in  a 
language  that  we  .soon  learn  to  interpret,  and 
recall  many  pleasant  memories  of  by-gone 
days;  ever  suggesting  something  that  ought 
to  be  done  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  sympathy 
existing  between  us  and  them.  Yea,  more  ; 
they  are  the  silent  and  gentle  teachers  of  a 
refinement  that  is  imparted  by  the  ciirinihwi 
of  no  other  school.  We  admire  the  gaudy  for 
their  higli-toned  coloration  and  their  da.shing 
beauty,  but  our  feeling  towards  the  modest 
and  humble  culminates  in  a  sentiment  that  is 
akin  to  love.  We  hold  them  as  tiie  repre- 
sentative outbirths  of  principles  that  have 
their  origin  in  the  invisible  realms,  permitted, 
if  not  provided  by  the  Creator  for  an  en- 
nobling and  useful  end  ;  and  nothing  staggers 
us  more  than  the  sentiment  which  obtains 
among  some  of  the  rigidly  righteous,  that 


48 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[February, 


their  cultivation  and  encouragement  is  pro- 
fane. Tlieir  soothing  outgoing  perfumes 
dissipate  the  noxious  odors  that  surely  would 
render  this  world  uninhabitable,  both  to  man 
and  the  higher  animals,  if  it  were  not  for 
God's  lovely  flowers.  They  are  here,  and 
were  here  on  earth  before  man  was,  and  it 
seems  the  most  Pharisaical  species  of  pre- 
sumption to  ignore  them. 

PEACH  BARK  LOUSE. 
{Lf'caniitni  2*frsicum,) 

The  following,  from  a  correspondent,  is  im- 
portant and  speaks  for  itself  to  all  who  may 
heed  it : 

Reading,  January  20th,  1879. 

S.  S.  RATin'ON— ZJcrt)-  /S'ir:  For  further  informa- 
tion I  write  you  that  I  have  experimented  for  a 
remedy  on  the  peach  bark  louse  and  found  one.  My 
remedy  is  not  permanent  for  individual  good,  but 
profitable.  If  all  fruit-growers  were  to  nnite  and 
adopt  my  remedy  the  pest  might  be  exterminated. 
My  remedy,  which  proved  effectual  last  season,  was 
this :  In  the  early  part  of  spring,  before  the  buds 
sprouted,  I  began  the  operation.  No  rain  happening 
to  fall  to  suit  my  purpose  I  took  the  means,  by  using 
a  water-sprinkler,  of  making  the  trees'  branches 
completely  wet,  after  which  I  took  fine  air-slaked 
lime  and  saturated  the  tree  iill  over  with  it,  which 
adhered  nicely  to  the  bark.  I  left  the  trees  unnoticed 
until  the  peach  fruit  were  about  half  grown,  when  I 
made  observations,  and  found  the  insect  gone  and 
the  bark  clean  again.  These  Irees  were  thrify  and 
hardy  all  through  the  summer  and  had  fine  fruit,  to 
perfection.  But  when  autumn  came  I  again  noticed 
the  insect  beginning  to  make  its  appearance,  though 
in  a  small  quantity,  which  satisfied  me  that  if  all 
fruit-growers  do  not  enlist  in  waging  war  against 
destructive  insects,  we,  as  individuals,  must  be  con- 
stantly at  labor  against  odds  to  keep  down  the  multi- 
plication of  evil  against  the  good  and  beautiful  fruit. 
Have  any  of  the  Lancaster  people  found  any  remedy  ? 
If  so  what  are  they  ?  Hoping  to  hear  some  remarks 
I  remain  yours,  respectfully,  Williain  Young,  Head- 
ing, Pa. 

Xo,  not  that  we  heard  of.  They  are, 
probably,  waiting  to  profit  by  some  other  per- 
son's discovery.'  AVe  approve  your  remedy, 
but  we  believe  that  grease  would  have  the 
same  efl'ect. 

FARM  LIFE  vs.  PROFESSIONAL  LIFE- 
The  following  interesting  extract,  frotn  a 
letter  to  ''ye  local"  to  the  Lancaster  Inte.lU- 
fjencer,  will  be  read  with  attention  by  a  good 
many  in  this  locality,  where  the  writer  is  well 
known  and  held  a  distinguished  position  in 
society,  having  been  one  of  the  former  editors 
of  that  paper  and  the  member  from  Lancaster 
city  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  that 
formed  the  present  Constitution  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. II.  G.  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Hawkins  county, 
Tennessee,  gives  a  very  grapiiic  description  of 
his  whereabouts,  what  he  has  been  doing  and 
what  he  intends  to  do  for  the  future.  His  ex- 
periences in  life  have  been  various,  and  there- 
fore he  is  enabled  to  speak  to  a  practical 
]ioint;  and  we  especially  advise  all  those 
farmers  who  are  yearning  after  town  life, 
town  speculations  and  town  aspirations  to 
give  it  an  attentive  perusal.  It  is  true  he  may 
be  still  too  young  in  agricultural  experience 
to  be  regarded  as  a  standard  authority,  but 
his  example  is  very  appropriate  at  this  time, 
when  there  are  so  many  thousands  in  the 
towns  dragging  out  a  life  of  listless  idleness, 
and  so«nany  also  of  limited  means  who  don't 
know  bow  to  invest  them,  whilst  so  many  acres 
of  good  land  in  our  vast  country  are  literally 
hungering  after  industrious  and  enterprising 
tillers  of  of  the  soil  to  come  and  "occupy." 
The  tide  of  human  events  must  turn  in  that 
direction  if  ever  we  wish  to  see  better  times, 
and  anything  that  can  afford  the  least  en- 
couragement to  those  who  contemplate  a 
change  of  state,  and  an  enrollraent  among  the 
yeomanry  of  our  county,  ought  to  be  scattered 
abroad.  After  enumerating  many  things  of 
a  purely  personal  and  private  character  Mr.  S. 
proceeds  in  a  seemingly  happy  and  contented 
strain: 

"I  have  settled  down  to  farming  with  the 
determination  to  make  a  lifetime  business  of 
it.  The  political  bugle  may  blow,  but  it  can 
not  rouse  me  when  I  return  from  my  fields 
to  take  my  siesta  beneath  the  wide-spreading 
beeches  which  surround  my  house.    I  com- 


menced in  the  woods,  almost  as  much  so  as 
any  producer  ;  built  me  a  saw  mill,  and  then 
continued  to  build  ;  am  not  done  yet ;  built 
an  ice-honSe  and  filled  it  during  the  coldest 
snap  we  had.  Built  the  thing  myself  with  the 
assistance  of  a  common  farm  hand.  Made  a 
first-class  job  of  it,  I  think.  Provided  for 
turning  the  drainage  into  a  dairy.  When  the 
thermometer  goes  to  the  other  extreme  next 
summer  I  can  give  you  punch  made  from  milk 
of  my  Jerseys,  with  as  fine  ice  in  it  as  ever 
froze  on  the  Conestoga.  I  got  it  off  my  mill 
dam,  eight  inches  thick  and  as  clear  as  crystal. 
I  havn't  got  my  barn  finished  yet.  With  that 
and  one  or  two  other  little  jobs  I  will  end 
building  and  begin  to  put  things  in  order 
about  me.  I  have  a  large  orchard  set  and 
vines  planted.  Have  had  apples,  peaches  and 
grapes  of  my  own  planting.  Had  a  number 
of  peach  trees  with  fine  fruit,  which  ripened 
before  the  1st  of  last  July.  Some  as  early  as 
June  20th.  How  is  that  for  progress  i*  If  I 
were  to  come  back  to  Lancaster  I  might  aspire 
to  membership  in  the  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society  ;  might  I  not  ?  I  am  content 
with  my  present  life.  There  is  an  indepen- 
dence and  freedom  about  it  that  suits  my 
temper.  My  chief  ambition  is  to  become  a 
self-sustaining  farmer — to  produce  everything 
I  need,  so  far  as  it  can  be  done  on  a  farm.  I 
have  the  sheep,  and  I  intend  to  wear  nothing 
but  gray  clothes  made  from  my  own  flocks 
hereafter.  There  is  a  mill  in  the  county  which 
makes  very  nice  goods. 

I  want  "some  first-class  Lancaster  county 
tobacco  seed ;  some  best  fitted  for  making 
cigars.  I  raised  some  Cuba  tobacco  from  seed 
furnished  by  the  patent  office  two  years  ago, 
and  it  had  the  genuine  Havana  flavor.  It  was 
not  properly  cared  for.  This  year  I  intend  to 
do  the  thing  right— on  a  small  scale,  of 
course — only  for  my  own  use  at  present.  I 
believe  that  on  virgin  soil,  such  as  I  have,  I 
can  raise  tobacco  which  will  make  first-rate 
cigars.  The  Cuba  grows  too  small  for  good 
wrappers.  Send  me  some  choice  seed  from 
Lancaster,  and  send  as  soon  as  you  can  get  it, 
as  it  is  nearly  time  to  sow  it,  though  a  month 
late  will  do  here." 


CHRISTMAS  ROSE. 

First,  we  would  admonish  our  readers  not 
to  be  misled  by  the  term  "rose"  employed  in 
the  above  name,  for  the  flowering  plant  to  which 
we  refer  is  really  not  a  rose  at  all.  It  only 
evinces  the  arbitrary  use  that  is  often  made, 
locally,  of  the  common  names  of  things.  We 
allude  to  what  is  regarded  by  botanists  as  the 
"Black  Helebore,"*  or  a  variety  of  it,  other- 
wise called  the  "Christmas  Eose."  We  have 
this  plant  growing  in  our  own  garden,  and  it 
is  one  of  the  most  hardy  flowering  plants  we 
know  of.  It  is  rather  a  slow  grower,  but  it  is 
always  fresh  and  green  throughout  the  entire 
summer  and  winter,  and  blooms  from  Decem- 
ber to  April— sometimes  earlier  and  later. 
The  first  flowers  opened  the  present  season  in 
December,  and  those  flowers  are  as  fine  and 
fresh  to-day  as  when  they  first  opened,  not- 
withstanding, in  the  meantime,  the  tempera- 
ture where  the  plant  was  growing  was  seven 
degrees  below  zero.  There  are  now  about 
twenty-five  half  opened  flowers  and  buds  visi- 
ble, and  upon  which  the  frost  seems  to  have 
no  more  effect  than  it  has  upon  iron.  For  a 
figure  and  description  of  the  Black  Helebore 
we  refer  our  readers  to  page  41,  Vol.  X,  of 
The  Lancaster  Farmer,  where  its  history 
and  medicinal  qualities  are  portrayed.  It  is 
true,  when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow 
its  cheerful  aspect  is  hidden  by  the  lurid 
mantle  of  winter.  But  when  the  season  is  an 
open  one,  or  as  soon  as  the  snow  disappears, 
it  welcomes  you  to  its  frosty  bed,  and  is  the 
first,  and  perhaps  the  only  floral  sojourner 
that  hails  the  advent  of  the  modest  "  snow- 
drop," the  early  harbinger  .of  the  new-born 
spring,  and  sharer  in  its  blooming  glory. 
Under  careful  cultivation  and  special  atten- 
tion no  doubt  it  would  be  susceptible  of  im- 
provement. 

'Heleborua  niger.   Order,  RiKiraouLAoi a. 


CORRECTION. 

In  the  2'2d  and  53d  lines  of  the  first  column, 
and  the  7th  line  of  tlie  second  column  of  J^ 
G.  's  article  on  pages  G  and  7  of  our  .January 
number  for  "corncob  meal"  read  chopped  corn. 
Corncob  meal  may  do  as  a  "make-shift,"  but 
Mr.  G.  would  by  no  means  recommend  it  in 
speaking  of  good,  nutritious  food,  and  its 
occurrence  in  his  article  is  our  mistake. 


Essays. 


OUR  ORCHARDS.* 

Friends  and  neighbors,  look  to  your  or- 
chards. Perhaps  you  ought  to  plant  a  new 
one.  Now  is  the  time  to  think  over  it,  and  to 
make  the  calculations.  The  planting  of 
orchards  is  too  much  neglected.  Persons  who 
have  orchards  wait  too  long  before  they  start 
a  new  one.  AVhen  I  was  a  boy  I  heard  some 
people  say  that  when  an  orchard  is  in  its  best 
bearing  condition,  then  is  the  proper  time  to 
start  a  new  one.  I  took  special  notice  of  that 
remark,  and  I  have  found  by  experience  that 
it  is  so.  It  takes  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years 
for  a  young  orchard  to  come  into  bearing  fruit 
to  any  extent.  Take  an  orchard  that  is  in  Its 
very  best  condition,  and  then  fifteen  to  twenty 
years  after  that  you  will  see  that  it  is  not 
much— that  it  is  already  going  to  decay,  ex- 
cept in  a  few  very  special  eases.  But  many 
farmers  don't  think  of  planting  an  orchard  as 
long  as  they  have  fruit  enough  in  the  old  one, 
and  then  they  run  entirely  out  before  the  new 
one  comes  up  to  fill  the  gap.  About  twenty 
years  ago  I  had  a  talk  with  an  old  man  that  I 
was  well  acquainted  with.  I  told  him  he 
ought  to  plant  a  new  orchard.  He  answered, 
"I'll  plant  none,  for  it  won't  do  me  any  good." 
He  lived  to  be  quite  an  old  man,  and  only 
died  five  years  ago.  He  had  two  farms  and  a 
small  homestead,  all  in  a  row  along  a  public 
road,  and  left  them  all  without  an  orchard  to 
those  who  came  after  him.  Last  year  I  had 
a  talk  with  a  farmer  who  has  an  excellent 
orchard  in  full  prime  or  a  little  over.  I  told 
him  now  would  be  the  time  for  him  to  plant  a 
new  orchard,  but  he  only  shook  his  head  and 
replied,  "I  will  plant  none  yet  awhile." 
That's  the  way  it  goes ;  most  people  think 
only  of  the  present  and  self,  without  troubling 
themselves  much  about  the  future  and  others. 

What  would  have  been  the  case  if  our 
fathers  had  not  planted  ?  Would  we  have 
had  any  fruit  at  all  ?  If  we  only  plant  fruit 
when  we  begin  housekeeping  we  shall  have  no 
fruit  until  we  get  old.  This  will  do  for  new 
beginners  on  new  farm  lauds,  but  we  ought 
to  plant  for  our  children  or  successors  on  the 
old  homesteads.  Think  of  it ;  there  are  many 
farms  where  orchards  should  be  started,  but 
their  owners  tliink  it  would  be  so  much  lost. 
But  that  is  a  mistake  ;  it  is  not  lost. 

I  started  an  orchard  about  ten  years  ago 
and  had  potatoes  in  it  every  year,  for  eight 
years  in  succession.  The  trees  don't  take  up 
mucli  space  when  young,  only  we  must  be 
careful  that  by  plowing  and  cultivating  we  do 
not  injure  the  trees.  I  muzzled  the  horses  so 
that  they  could  not  bite  or  crop  offthe  branches, 
and  I  tied  an  old  bag  around  the  "traisor" 
and  the  ends  of  the  singletrees,  so  that  they 
could  not  skin  the  young  trees  if  they  should 
happen  to  touch  them.  After  that  I  had 
wheat  in  one  year,  sowed  with  clover,  and 
have  it  in  clover  ever  since  and  get  a  good 
crop  of  it  every  year  ;  and  now  the  trees  have 
commenced  to  bear  and  in  a  short  time  will 
pay  for  themselves.  To  plant  an  orchard  will 
not  cost  much.  In  November  last  I  planted 
an  orchard  of  seventy-five  trees.  I  plowed  the 
groimd  and  followed  with  a  sub-soil  plow,  , 
Which  took  twice  as  much  time  as  ordinary 
plowing.  I  then  purchased  trees  at  12^  cents 
each,  and  myself  and  two  others  planted 
them  all  in  less  than  a  day.  Then  the  work 
was  done.  I  would  advise  all  those  who  have 
no  young  orchards  to  plant  at  once.  Trees  are 
cheap  and  labor  is  cheap.     Don't  buy  trees 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


19 


from  those   agents   who   travel    llimu^'l]   tlie 
country.     Ciet  tlicni  in  the   nci'^iiliorinu   iiur-  I 
series,  and  tlie  .sooner  you  ]>\.u\i   ili'Hi  ultrr  i 
they  are  out  of  the  nursery  llie  l.iii.i.    Make  | 
up  your  order  now  and  send  it  In  lli''  iiuisiiy  j 
where  you  want   to  ■,'(■!   vnur  trees.     If  you  ■ 
delay  tlieni  until  you    think   you  just    want  | 
them  you  may,    inirhaps.    not    ■ret  wliat  you  ; 
want.     TIic  best  may  be  pieked  out  and   y..u 
will  have  to  supply  yourself  out  of  thosi-  thai 
are  left.    Select  a  place  for  your  orchard  iliai 
has  a  nothern  slope  if  you  pipssitilv  can  uiaki' 
it  suit.      It  is  the  hest  plaee.  fui- llie  l,nl  >un  is 
not  so  hard  on  the  tre.s,  an. I  it    will    n.d    dry 
out  as  soon  as  a  so\ilheni  slo]ie,  and  the  trees 
will  not  start  so  early  in  tlie  si)ring,  nor  arc 
they  so  apt  to  be  caught  by  late  frosts.     Let 
the  most  of   your  planting  be  late    winter 
apples  ;  \vc  plant  too  many  summer  and  fall 
apples.     Subsoiling  before  "planting  I  consider 
very  beneficial.     The  work  is  not  lost.     You 
need  nothing  but  a  shovel  to  dig  the  holes. 
Then  loosen  the  soil  about  eighteen  inches 
deep. 


TOBACCO— ITS   CULTURE— ITS  USE 
AND  ITS  EFFECTS  AS  A  NARCOTIC* 

Of  all  the  vegetable  sulistanccs  trafliced  in 
as  a  business,  and  indulged  in  as  a  narcotic — 
such,  for  instanee,  as  oiiiuni,  lii-nip,  hops, 
betel,  lettuce,  fungus,  holly.  Icdauuni,!  thorn 
apple,  and  clay  and  arsenic  eating— there  is 
more  used  or'dealt  in  to  the  same  extent  as 
tobacco.  ''Johnson  on  Narcotics,"  in  sum- 
ming up  his  estimates  of  these  substances, 
used  for  the  year  \i^W.  sets  tliein  down  as  fol- 
lows :  Tobacco,  sdd.iinii.diMi ;  o|iiuin.  H«t.- 
000,000;  hemp,  :i(ii), 111111,11110  ;  li.'iel,  iniuioii,- 
000;  coca,I  1(1,000.11(10;  ami  thousan.ls  use 
lettuce,  clay,  arsenic,  fungus,  ledanum, 
thorne  apple,  &c.  These  are  used  in  dillerent 
ways— smoked,  chewed  or  simffod — by  a  great 
number  of  people.  Tobacco  is  believed  te  be 
a  native  of  Tropical  America;  at  all  events, 
it  was  cultivated  and  used  tliere  by  the  in- 
habitants of  some  parts  of  that  continent  be- 
fore its  discovery  by  the  Europeans  in  149-2. 
(.'olunibus  found  the  chiefs  on  the  Island  of 
Cuba  smoking  cigars,  and  Cortes  met  with  it 
afterwards.  It  grows  best  within  the  thirty- 
fifth  degrees  of  latitude  ou  either  side  of  the 
equator.  The  finest  qualities  arc  raised  be- 
tween the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  degrees  of 
north  latitude— the  I'hilipine  Islands— and 
between  tlic  thirty-fourth  and  thirty-liflh  de- 
grees— in  Latakia,  Syria.  In  America  to- 
bacco is  met  with  almost  everywhere,  and  the 
consumption  is  simply  enormous.  Doctor 
Johnson  rather  deprecatingly  remarks  that 
the  custom  of  using  tobacco  is  "  loathsome  to 
the  eye,  hateful  to  the  nose,  hurtful  to  the 
brain,  dangerous  to  the  lungs,  and  in  the 
black,  stinking  fumes  thereof,  nearest  resem- 
bles the  horrible  .stygian  smoke,  of  the  pit 
that  is  bottomless."  '  AVhen  it  was  first  intro- 
duced among  the  English,  in  vain  did  King 
llaraes  oppose  it  by  his  counterblasts  against 
tobacco.  In  Europe,  from  the  plains  of  Sur- 
ey  Castle  to  the  frozen  Archangel,  and  from 
he  Ural  to  the  Icelands,  the  pipe,  the  cigar 
ind  the  snuff-box  area  conniion  solace  among 
ill  ranks  and  conditions  of  the  people.  So, 
ilso,  in  vain  did  the  Sultans  and  priests  of 
Turkey  and  Persia  declare  smoking  a  sin 
igainst  their  holy  religion. 
The  Turks,  nevertheless,  became  the  great- 
st  smokers  in  the  world.  This  nation,  iu- 
luding  the  Siamese,  th.e  Burmese,  and  the 
ndias  in  general,  are  all  inveterate  smokers, 
eluding  both  .sexes  of  all  ranks,  even  dow-u 
the  children.  In  China  the  i)ractiee  is  .so 
niversal  that  every  female,  from  the  age  of 
ight  or  nine  years,  has  an  appendage  to  her 
ress  to  hold  a  pipe.  Lobacco  was  introduced 
om  America  into  Spain  by  the  Spaniards, 

Read  before  the  Tobacco  Orowois' Asflociation,  by  Peter 
Keiet. 

XxDANUM  or  Ladanum,  a  roeinoiiB  iuspissated  juice 
om  a  shrub  called  Leda  or  Lada,  (Ci»(uk  ladaniftrtm)  and 
her  plants  of  the  same  geuuft,  growing  ou  the  Me,diterra- 
■  ind  elsewhere.  C'liieflv  used  as  .1  stimulant, 
of  opicv  is  also  called  Ladttmim  M  Laudanum. 
JCOOA,  the  dried  leaf  of  the  Enthrnxiilr.n  rooa,  a  highly 
mulating  narcotic,  found  growing  ■KiXi  in  Peru. 


1    n( 

t    0 

lit    ,„ 


in  l.'iOli,  and  into  France  by  Xicote.  In  I.'jSCi 
it  was  iiiti-oilueed  into  lOii^laiid  bv  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  under  the  auspices  ..f  Sir  AValter 
Haleiixh  ;  and  into  Tui-key  about  ICOl.  Since 
then  the  (aillivation  ami  use  of  tobacco  has 
liicn  spread  over  a  large  portion  of  the  habi- 
table wiirld.  The  dillerent  jiarts  of  America 
in  which  loli.ieco  is  grown  include  Canada, 
New  r.Miii.v,  i.k.  Mexico,  the  roiled  States, 
II, e  W,  .leni  (  .ia-1  a-  far  as -Id  degrees  south 
lalilu.le,  i:i:,/,il,  (  nl.a.  Trinidad,  and  the 
West  India  Mauds.  U  is  also  cultivated  on 
the  coast  of  the  lied  Sea,  and  on  the  Medi- 
terranean; in  Egyp  ,  Algiers,  the  canons 
along  the  western  coast  of  Africa  and  the 
Cape  of  (iood  Hope.  In  Europe  it  has  been 
cultivated  willi  success  in  almost  every  coim- 
tiy,  and  it  tonus  at  present  an  important 
agricultural  protluct  in  Hungary,  Germany, 
Flanders  and  France.  In  Asia  it  has  spread 
over  Turkey,  Persia,  India,  Thibet,  China, 
.Japan,  and  a  number  of  smaller  States. 

Dr.  .Johnson  says  it  is  the  most  susceptible 
of  cultivation,  the  most  hardy,  the  most  tole- 
rant of  change  altitude  and  general  climate 
of  any  plant  of  its  class,  and  may  be  raised, 
without  dilliculty,  from  the  Equator  to  the 
fifty-fourth  degree  of  north  or  south  latitude. 
And  here  I  desire  to  add  a  few  words  on  gen- 
eral narcotic  indulgence.  Siberia  has  its  nar- 
cotic fungus  ;  Turkey,  India  and  China  their 
oiiinm  ;  Persia,  India  and  parts  Turkey,  with 
all  Africa,  from  Morocco  to  the  Cape  of  (iood 
Hope,  have  their  narcotic  hemp,  including 
even  the  Indians  of  Brazil.  Other  parts  of 
India,  China  and  Eastern  Archipelago  have 
their  belid-nut  and  betel-pepper.  The  Poly- 
nesian Islands  their  daily  ava ;  Peru  and 
15olivia  their  long  used  coca;  New  Granada 
and  the  lliinalayes  red  and  common  thorn- 
apples  ;  Asia  and  America  and  all  the  world, 
we  may  say,  their  tobacco.  Northern  Europe 
and  America  have  their  ledanum  and  sweet 
gale;  the  (Jeniians  and  English  their  hops, 
and  the  I'rem  lnnan  his  lettuce.  No  nation  so 
ancient  init  has  had  it.s  narcotic  soother,  even 
from  the  earliest  periods  of  its  history.  The 
craving  for  such  indulgences,  and  the  habit 
of  gratifying  them,  are  but  little  less  than  the 
desire  for  food  and  the  habit  of  eating  ;  the.se 
material  substances  coming  even  in  competi- 
tion with  common  food,  the  very  staff  of  life. 

Much  could  be  said  touching  the  use  of  to- 
bacco—such  as  smoking,  chewing  and  .snnf- 
lin.g— and  also  touching  its  abuse,  its  eiTects 
asa  tramiuilizer,  and  that  solace,  for  which, 
.Johnson  says,  lliousands  llee  to  it.  It  seems 
sullicient  tii  say  that  it  is  cultivated,  tralliced 
in  and  widely  used  ;  and  Providence  appears 
to  smile  upon  those  who  encourage  as  well  as 
those  who  discourage  it.  There  is  one  thing 
that  seems  certain — its  long  continued,  wide- 
ly extended  and  ra\)idly  increasing  cultiva- 
tion, trartic  and  use,  t^vince  that  for  some 
wise  purpose  it  has  been  jx-rmited,  and  infer- 
entially  iorthcj)ivrc)i(Joii  of  some  other  pos- 
sible abuses,  that  would  be  greater  evils. 
On   Tobacco  Culture. 

The  climate,  the  mode  of  culture,  the  kind 
of  manure  applied,  the  period  at  which  the 
crop  should  be  gathered  and  cured,  &c.,  are 
important  factors  in  connection  with  the 
commerce  in  tobacco.  It  will  grow  on  almost 
any  soil,  and  in  any  climate  that  will  produce 
corn,  but  a  warm  climate  seems  preferable. 
On  our  000,(100  acres  of  land  devoted  to  the 
cultivation  of  tobacco  in  the  Fnitcd  Slates, 
40(t, (Kill. (10(1  ]iounds  are  produced,  valued  at 
S;:i(l,(Hl(i;oo(i.       Keiiluekv    raises    i:!(l,(l(Hi.()0O; 

Virginia,    .-.o. l.noo-,    Mi-suiiri,    4:!,(l(l(t,(l(tO  ; 

Pcnns_\lvaiiia,  al"iul  1  l.ooo.ood;  and  Connec- 
ticut. "alMiiii  s, Odd. Odd  p.iuiids.  Mr.  Dicker- 
man  says  lobacco  is  a  paying  crop,  but  it  ex- 
hausts the  soil  more  rapidly  than  any  other 
crop,  and  when  land  is  once  exhausted  by  its 
cultivation,  hardly  any  process  will  pay  to 
renovate  it  again.  To  prove  this  we  need 
only  refer  to  the  exhausted  lands  of  Virginia 
and  Maryland  southward,  and  many  places  in 
the  Eastern  and  AVestem  States :  but  this  re- 
sult cannot  be  considered  unavoidable. 
Preparing  the  Ground. 

Plow  nnder  well  rotted  barnyard  manure 


and  lime,  or  any  good  compost  or  phosphate, 
at  any  time  thtil  your  land  is  in  such  a  eomli- 
tion  as  to  make  the  soil  loo.sc  and  mellow. 
Or  use  bone-dust,  or  any  kind  of  fine  fertili- 
zer as  a  toi)-dressing.  ITsc  understandingly, 
and  with  experimcnial  knowledge,  a  certain 
quantity  of  hone-ilust  or  harmless  fertilizer  to 
each  plant.  Bear  in  mind  that  to  bring  your 
land  in  a  proper  condition  to  grow  tobacco, 
vou  eaniiol  easily  get  it  loo  rich  and  mellow. 
The  application  o(  ashes,  muck  or  compost  of 
almost  any  material  that  would  iiroduce  good 
corn  will  also  produce  good  lobacco.  Have 
your  land  ready  to  plant  about  the  first  day 
of  .June.  Score  it  ofi"  about  three  feet  and  a 
half  apart  in  ridges  crossing  each  other  at 
right  angles. 

Varieties. 

There  are,  perhap."^,  ten  din"erent  varieties 
of  tobacco,  of  which  every  grower  must  judge 
for  himself,  such  as  the  broad-leaved  Connec- 
ticut, the  Iluber,  the  chestnut  leaf,  &c.,  de- 
pending somewhat  on  the  richne.ss  of  your 
soil  and  your  location,  a.s  well  as  the  state  of 
the  season. 

Plants. 

One  of  the  first  requisites  is  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  good  and  rich  .seed  bed,  which  should 
be  attended  to  as  early  as  the  ground  will 
allow  its  ( tilture.  For  this  [lurpose  select  the 
sunny  side  of  a  southern  slope.  Learn  to  .sow 
your'seed  by  experience,  and  1  consider  it  use- 
less at  this  late  day  to  give  any  extended  in- 
structions to  any  grower,  in  regard  to  the 
cover  they  require,  and  their  treatment  gen- 
erally. 

Planting. 

Plant  about  the  end  of  May  or  the  begin- 
ning of  June,  as  circumstances  and  the  season 
will  permit.  Set  the  plants  about  twenty- 
four  inches  apart  in  the  rows,  and  as  I  have 
before  stated,  learn  to  plant  by  experience  ; 
you  will  soon  learn  that  in  dry  weather  you 
will  have  to  adai)t  yourself  to  deeper  planting, 
and  to  use  water  if  too  dry,  and  that  judici- 
ously ;  and  in  wet  wealln"'r  that  you  cannot 
be  too  careful  so  you  will  not  cause  a  clod  or 
a  bake  around  thi;  plant  after  the  coming  of 
a  c'ry  spell.  I>ike  in  any  other  occupation, 
you  will  succeed  best  after  you  have  gained 
experience. 

Cut-Worms. 

Soon  after  the  plant  is  set  the  "cut-worm" 
makes  its  appearance,  which  retiuircs  watch- 
ing. Then,  after  several  weeks  another  and 
greater  enemy  ajipears  in  the  "horn-worm." 
A  large,  green  worm  with  a  conspicuous  horn 
on  the  back  near  the  hind  end,  which  if  left 
to  itself  would  destroy  the  wholi.-  crop.  Many 
ways  haue  been  reeominended  to  destroy  these 
worms,  or  the  parents  of  them,  by  keeping 
bright  li.-es  burning  aroiuid  the  field  as  a  trap; 
by  striking  them  tlown  in  the  evening  with  a 
paddle;  or  by  introducing  poison  into  the 
rtowers  of  the  "Jim.son  weed,"  on  the  honey 
of  which  they  feed  ;  but  the  most  effective 
way  to  keep  them  from  ruining  the  tobacco 
jilants  is  to  go  over  the  field  often  enough  to 
l>ick  off  all  the  worms  and  destroy  them. 
Cultivation. 

The  only  advice  on  this  point  is,  as  soon  as 
the  plants  have  starteil  to  grow,  go  in  with 
the  cultii-ator  and  hoe.  Repeat  it  often  enough 
80  as  to  keep  the  soil  loose,  and  all  the  grass 
and  weeds  down  until  it  becomes  too  large  to 
work  with  cultivator  and  hoe. 

Topping  and  Suckering. 

Topping  .should  be  done  as  soon  .is  the 
reeds  appear,  leaving  from  eight  to  twelve 
leaves  remaining,  according  to  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  or  lateness  of  the  season  ;  and  break 
off  all  the  suckci-s  as  you  go  along  the  rows. 
Cutting. 

This  operation  must  also  be  learned  by  ex- 
perience. When  your  leaves  become  dotted 
with  yellow  spots,  bcomc  glossy  and  crack  by 
doubling  them  together,  you  would  better 
Ix'gin  to  harvest  "immediately,  as  you  will 
always  run  a  risk  of  hail  storms  or  frost.  Let 
it  wiit  on  the  ground  liefore  you  handle  it. 
After  this  there  are  almost  as  many  different 


20 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  February 


ways  of  haudling  it  as  there  are  farmers  who 
cultivate  it.  Most  of  tlie  tobacco  housed  is 
strung  on  four  foot  laths,  and  conveyed  on 
wagons  constructed  for  the  special  purpose 
of  hauling  it  to  the  tabcco  house.  But  some 
store  it  on  scaffolds,  from  one  to  four 
days,  before  they  put  it  on  poles. or  in  the 
house  or  shed.  The  experiences  of  one  year, 
especially  the  first  year,  will  indicate  the 
course  to  pursue  the  next  year. 

Stripping  and  Sorting. 

This  is  the  last  operation  and  puts  the 
finishing  touch  to  the  manipulations  of  the 
crop,  (as  Scripture  says,  "The  crown  is  not  in 
the  beginning,  nor  in  the  middle,  but  in  the 
end,")  which  ought  to  be  done  with  the  great- 
est care,  in  order  to  secure  a  ready  sale.  Sort 
it  into  four  classes,  marked  AA,  A,  and  B, 
and  "fillers."  After  which  the  price  it  will 
command,  separate  from  the  market,  will  be 
according  to  its  quality. 

Conclusion. 

Let  quality  be  the  aim  of  your  ambition, 
rather  than  quantity.  High  quality  always 
commands  a  ready  sale  and  fair  prices  ;  is 
easier  handled,  and  involves  less  labor  than 
a  large  quantity  of  inferior  garbage.  A  large 
quantity  of  inferior  tobacco,  lik  other  inferior 
things,  may  not  produce  as  much  marketable 
bulk  as  a  smaller  quantity  of  superior  stock  ; 
and,  moreover,  it  is  the  poorest  kind  of  ma- 
terial out  of  which  to  build  a  solid  reputation 
as  a  reliable  tobacco  farmer.— P.  !S.  Beist, 
Litiz,  January,  1879. 

FENCE-MAKING  ON  THE  FARM.* 
Fence-making  is  very  expensive  in  our 
days.  When  I  was  a  boy,  perhaps  half-grown, 
my  father  told  me  that  in  Germany  they  have 
no  fences,  and  it  will  become  so,  eventually, 
here  in  this  country,  too.  I  thought  that 
could  hardly  be  so,  for  I  could  not  see  how  we 
could  do  without  fences.  But  now  I  think 
the  time  is  fast  approaching  when  we  will  be 
almost  compelled  to  do  without  fences,  but 
we  cannot  do  without  them  at  the  present 
time.  We  must  have  good  fences  around  our 
farms  to  keep  our  neighbors'  hogs  and  cattle 
out,  and  to  keep  our  own  stock  in,  but  the 
interior  fences  we  can  dispense  with  and  save 
so  much,  even  at  the  present  time.  There 
are  only  about  half  the  fences  on  farms  that 
there  were  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  we  can  still 
save  some  yet.  We  have  our  fences  with 
five  rails,  and  near  to  the  ground  that  no 
hogs  can  creep  under  or  get  through.  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  to  make  my 
fences  hereafter  with  four  rails,  or  perhaps 
three  at  some  places,  and  make  them  just  as 
high  as  they^are  now— posts  seven  feet  long, 
but  leave  the  lower  rail  out,  and  make  the 
second,  which  is  to  be  the  lowest,  three  inches 
lower  than  now.  The  upper  one  the  same  as 
it  is  in  a  five-rail  fence,  and  then  divide  evenly 
the  intermediate  space.  Such  a  fence  will 
answer  just  as  well  for  cattle  and  sheep,  and 
will  endure  longer  before  the  posts  rot  off, 
because  the  lower  hole  is  not  so  near  the 
ground.  But  then  I  will  liave  a  tight  fence 
around  my  orchard,  as  before,  so  that  I  can 
let  my  hogs  in  to  cat  the  fruit  which  falls 
from  the  trees,  and  which  is  not  fit  for  use. 
Tlie  remainder  of  the  time  I  will  keep  them 
in  the  pen.  Their  feed  will  not  cost  as  much 
as  an  extra  tight  fence  over  the  farm.  Ordi- 
narily, hog  raising  is  not  profitable  in  our  part 
of  the  country,  especially  while  pork  is  as 
cheap  as  it  is  at  the  present  time.  In  the 
west  they  can  always  raise  hogs  and  ship  them 
here  cheaper  than  we  can  raise  them.  We 
can  make  more  out  of  our  corn  if  we  feed  it 
to  some  other  stock.  But  every  farmer  ought 
to  raise  enough  of  pork  for  his  own  family. 
That  he  can  do  without  much  cost  with  proper 
management. 

Every  farmer  ought  to  see  what  he  wants  in 
fencing  material  now,  before  the  spring  opens, 
and  have  it  ready  by  that  time,  so  that  he  will 
not  have  to  go  after  it  when  the  roads  are 
bad,  or  other  work  is  pressing. 


ONE  YEAR'S  EXPERIMENT  WITH 
FOWLS.* 

I  present  an  account  whicli  I  held  with  my 
fowls  during  the  year  1878.  The  experiment 
was  made  to  test  the  value  of  fowls  when 
kept  in  an  enclosure  where  they  could  destroy 
little  of  value.  They  were  kept  in  an  en- 
closed orchard  (1:^  acres).  True,  they  did 
pick  some  of  the  fallen  fruit,  but  this  had  very 
little  market  value,  and  I  estimate  that,  upon 
the  whole,  the  fowls  were  of  more  benefit 
than  hurt  to  the  orchard.  I  have  heard  claims 
of  large  profits  where  fowls  had  the  range  of 
the  farm ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  proper 
deduction  was  made  for  the  acre,  more  or 
less,  of  wheat  destroyed  ;  or  for  the  corn  or 
garden  things  pulled  up ;  or  for  the  clover 
trampled  under  foot.  Others  claim  big  profits 
from  breeding  fancy  stock  and  selling  at  fancy 
prices.  SIO.OO  for  a  pair  of  fowls  and  S2.00 
a  dozen  for  eggs  sounds  profitable,  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  many  realize  it.  You  will  perceive 
by  the  figures  that  my  profits  were  moderate. 

During  July  cholera  made  its  appearance 
and  carried  off  eight  or  ten  liens,  and  a  num- 
ber besides  were  used  in  the  family  at  differ- 
ent times.  From  this  it  is  evident  that  the 
average  number  of  laying  hens  during  the 
year  cannot  positively  be  got  at,  but  I  should 
estimate  it  from  40  to  4.5.  This  would  make 
the  number  of  eggs  for  each  fowl  from  120  to 
1.30.  It  has  been  said  that  a  fowl  under  good 
treatment  should  produce  over  150  eggs.  This 
shortcoming  in  eggs  cannot  be  attributed  to 
want  of  feed,  as  the  fowls  were  plump  and 
fat  at  all  times.  The  stock  consists  principally 
of  Light  Brahmas,  with  a  few  White  Cochins, 
Dominiques  and  White  Leghorns. 

DR. 
Jan.  1st,  1878,  63  fowls  on  hand,  at  30  cents,  ?18  90 
Corn  used  during  year,  43  bus.,  at  60  cents,  2.5  80 
Screenings  "  "  26  bus.,  at  50  cents,  13  00 
Wheat  bran,  "  "  26  bus.,  at  35  cents,  6  58 
Bone  during  the  year,    -       -       -       -        -       3  25 


Total  cost. 


$67  45 


January  1st,  1879,  71  fowls  on  hand,    -        -    $2130 
65  fowls  used  during  year,        -         -        -  19  .50 

4.50  dozen  eggs,  at  13  cents,  -        -        -        -      58  50 


Total,        .... 
Balance  in  favor  of  fowls, 


?31  85 


DISEASES  OF  THE  PEAR.f 
Mr.  Edwin  Satterthwaite,  of  Jenkintown, 
Montgomery  county,  addressed  the  State 
Fruit-Growers'  Society  on  Thursday,  January 
16,  upon  the  subject  of  the  "Diseases  of  the 
Fear. "  He  spoke  extemporaneously  and  well, 
and  his  remarks  were  received  with  every 
mark  of  attention  and  elicited  one  of  the  most 
interesting  discussions  of  the  session.  Mr. 
Satterthwaite  said  the  pear  is  comparatively 
exempt  from  vhe  ravages  of  insets.  Some 
varieties  are  attacked  by  the  curculio  and 
codlin  moth,  particularly  the  "Early  Catha- 
rine." "Cracking,"  one  of  the  diseases,  he 
attributed  to  excessive  moisture.  The  "  White 
Doyenne"  is  greatly  subject  to  "cracking," 
which  some  persons  ascribe  to  ' '  running  out.  '^ 
Of  late  the  speaker's  White  Doyennes  have 
not  been  much  affected  by  the  disease.  An- 
other disease  caused  by  atmospheric  influence 
is  a  kind  of  mildew,  among  which  he  in- 
stanced the  Beurre  Clairgeau,  Bucrre  Capian- 
mont  and  Napoleon.  In  a  dry  season  these 
varieties  are  exempt  from  the  disease.  Some 
few  varieties,  for  instance  the  Easter  Buerre, 
are  affected  by  wrinkling  of  the  skin.  The 
chief  troubles  of  the  pear  are  the  diseases 
which  affect  the  tree.  Pear  trees  are  exempt 
from  the  borer,  except  such  as  are  grafted  on 
the  quince. 

The  pear  slug  is  the  most  destructive  insect 
affecting  the  pear  trees.  They  are  worse  in 
dry  seasons.  It  is  a  small  slug,  about  half  an 
inch  in  length,  and  is  generally  found  on  the 

•Kcad  before  the  Laucasler  County  Agricullural  and 
Horticultural  Society  by  Casper  Hiller. 

t  An  extemporaneous  address  by  Mr.  Edw.  Satterthwaite 
before  the  State  Frnit-Growers'  Society. 


trees  in  the  month  of  June.  The  speaker  has 
no  doubt  that  with  proper  care  the  .slug  can 
be  destroyed.  Almost  anything  thrown  on 
them  appears  to  destroy  t'liem.  Dry  slaked 
lime,  Paris  green,  and  whale  oil  soap  are  all 
efficacious.  He  a.sked  why  whale  oil  soap  is 
always  recommended  in  the  books  for  diseases 
of  this  kind,  and  thought  common  soap  should 
be  equally  as  good.  The  speaker  next  referred 
to  the  leaf  blight  as  the  worst  thing  that  the 
pear  tree  has  to  contend  with.  The  trees 
change  all  at  once,  when  the  fruit  is  about 
beginning  to  ripen,  the  leaves  will  all  turn 
yellow,  and  the  next  day  the  leaves  drop  off, 
or  the  half  of  them,  and  the  crop  of  fruit  is 
ruined.  He  thought  dry  weather  was  the 
cause  of  the  leaf  and  the  fire  blight,  and 
believed  that  our  climate  was  too  dry  for  the 
pear.  The  Tyson  is  utterly  wortliless  on  ac- 
count of  the  leaf  blight ;  the  Flemish  Beauty, 
Canandaigua  and  Washington  are  also  much 
allected  by  tlie  same  disease.  The  fire  blight 
is  generally  considered  the  most  dangerous 
disease  of  the  pear,  but  he  thought  the  leaf 
blight  is  the  worst.  The  trees  that  are  most 
subject  to  the  leaf  blight  arc  not  affected  by 
the  fire  blight  at  all.  Downing  attributes  the 
fire  blight  to  the  freezing  of  the  sap  in  the  fall. 
This  theory  has  never  appeared  satisfactory 
to  the  speaker.  He  had  lost  two  or  three 
thousand  pear  trees  by  the  fire  blight  out  of 
.5,000.  A  pear  tree  does  not  blight  much  until 
after  it  gets  to  bearing,  so  that  he  lost  one- 
half  of  his  best  trees.  He  ascribed  the  cause 
to  dry  weather.  The  only  remedy  for  the  fire 
blight,  whatever  the  cause  may  be,  is  in  the 
selection  of  varieties.  After  a  great  deal  of 
care  and  observation,  the  speaker  has  made  a 
selection  after  cultivating  nearly  COO  varieties 
of  pears,  all  in  fact  that  are  generally  known 
in  the  books.  The  varieties  that  blight  the 
most,  in  his  experience,  are  the  following, 
among  others  :  Osborne's  Summer,  Madeleine, 
Onoitdaga,  Belle  Lucrative,  Vicar  of  Wink- 
field,  Ananas  d'Ete,  Maria  Louise,  Buftam, 
Glout  Marceau,  Otts'  Seedling,  and  Golden 
Beurre  of  Bilboa.  The  kinds  that  have  es- 
caped the  blight  with  the  speaker  are  the 
following:  Bartlett,  Seckel,  Duchesse  d'An- 
gouleme,  Beurre  Gifford,  Doyenne  Bosc, 
Meriam,  Jefferson,  Julienne,  Early  Catha- 
rine, Bell,  Bezide  la  Motte,  Beurre  Clair- 
geau, Tyson,  and  Kingsessing.  Among  va- 
rieties somewhat  subject  to  blight,  but 
which  the  speaker  would  not  be  without 
on  account  of  their  otherwise  valuable  quali- 
ties, are  :  Lawrence,  Beurre  d'Anjou,  and 
Kutter.  Auother  list  that  blight  some,  but 
are  desirable  to  have  in  a  large  collection,  are 
the  following :  Doyenne  d'Ete,  Beurre  de 
Montgeron,  Clapp's  favorite,  St.  Michael  j 
Archangel,  Howell,  Manning's  Elizabeth,  ' 
Doyenne  Boussock,  Des  Nonnis,  Kirtland,  j 
Beurre  Bosc,  Gushing.  The  Sheldon  has  not  1 
blighted  much.  The  speaker  then  answered 
some  questions  as  to  the  appearance  of  the 
blight  among  the  trees  and  the  manner  in 
which  the  trees  are  affected.  There  are  so 
many  subtle,  invisible,  intangible  atmospheric 
influences  that  we  know  so  little  about  that 
it  would  be  presumption  in  any  one  to  ascribe 
definitely  the  cause  of  some  of  the  diseases 
which  the  speaker  has  mentioned.  The  science 
is  in  its  infancy,  and  we  have  almost  every- 
thing to  learn  as  yet  about  fruit  culture. 

MODERN  FRUIT  HOUSES.* 
Many  of  the  finest  fruits,  says  Judge  Stitzel, 
naturally  undergo  speedy  decay,  and  those! 
most  highly  esteemed  are  often  only  to  be  enA 
joyed  by  those  who  produce  them,  and  cannoM 
be  put  into  market  except  for  immediate  con-j 
sumption.  This  decay  has  been  found  to  take 
place  most  rapidly  when  the  fruit  is  exposed 
to  considerable  or  frequent  changes  in  temj 
perature.  We  know  that  certain  kinds  ^t 
grapes,  packed  in  sawdust,  were  imported  to! 
this  country  from  warmer  climates;  we  found 
that  unripe  berries  could  be  preserved  in 
their  natural  state  a  long  time  in  bottles  or 
jars,  filled  in  with  dry  sand  or  sawdust,  and 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


21 


the  jars  corked  or  sealed  and  placed  iu  the 
ground  a  considerable  depth,  to  preserve  an 
equable  temperature.  This  method  could  be 
employed  with  many  fruits,  as  well  as  vege- 
tables. Pears,  the  (inest  kinds  of  wliich  are 
apt  to  rot  immediately  after  maturity,  were 
found  capable  of  preservation  for  months  by 
being  closely  covered  in  stone  ja.is  and  kept  in 
a  cool  place.  Similar  expiTimcnts  revealed 
the  fact  that  an  evenly  colli  temperalurc  was 
a  reliable  preventive  of  decay  iu  fruit,  and 
have  led  to  the  construction  of  the  modern 
fruit  house. 

The  value  and  convenience  of  this  quite 
recent  improvement  will  be  apparent  when 
we  consider  the  ijreat  advantage  in  keeping 
fruit  until  the  next  ripening  season,  thus  en- 
abling us  to  get  the  very  highest  prices  for 
what  we  have' to  sell,  after  the  market  has  be- 
come bare  of  such  fruit  as  has  been  kept  in 
cellars,  or  shipped  from  other  localities,  be- 
sides the  advantage  of  having  it  for  family 
use  all  year  round.  I  may  say  without  fear  of 
contradiction  that  fully  thirty-three  per 
centum  of  all  fruits  stored  iu  the  ordinary 
way  annually  go  to  waste  ;  this  would  of  itself 
more  than  pay  the  interest  upon  the  cost  of  a 
modern  fruit  house.  This  is  true  of  the  apple 
crop  of  itself,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
Vears.  I  am  satisfied  that  if  pears  are  prop- 
erly handled  and  put  into  the  fruit  house  until 
the  market  becomes  bare  of  those  varieties 
sold  out  of  the  orchards,  twice  the  amount  of 
money  can  be  made  out  of  them.  They 
should  be  carefully  picked  when  matured,  but 
before  too  ripe,  and  they  will  improve  in 
flavor  when  allowed  to  ripen  fully  in  the  fruit 
house. 

In  this  way  such  varieties  as  the  Buerre 
Easter,  Columbia  and  Vicar  of  Winkfield  will 
keep  until  the  following  April.  That  many 
kinds  of  vegetables,  berries  and  stone  fruit 
can  be  preserved  a  greater  length  of  time  than 
in  the  ordinary  way,  has  been  demonstrated 
by  the  use  of  the  fruit  house.  Cider  will  also 
keep  sweet  much  longer  than  when  kept  in 
cellars,  where  the  temperature  is  constantly 
varying.  The  temperature  iu  a  well  cou- 
structed  fruit  house  can  easily  be  kept  within 
a  variation  of  eight  degrees,  say  between  32^ 
and  40  .  and  proper  care  should  always  be 
taken  in  regard  to  ventilation,  as  it  is  to  this 
that  we  can  attribute  the  main  success  in  pre- 
serving the  fruit.  A  refrigerator  or  fruit 
house  can  be  constructed  at  a  very  little  cost, 
say  from  $250  to  $.500,  that  would  admit  of 
storing  one  thousarid  bushels  of  fruit ;  this 
would  accommodate  a  half  dozen  neighbors, 
who  might  club  together  and  erect  one  at  their 
joint  expense,  or  one  of  their  number  might 
build  one,  and  by  a  charge  for  storage,  of  ten 
or  twelve  cents  per  bushel,  receive  more  than 
the  interest  upon  his  investment,  beside  the 
cost  of  stocking  it  with  ice. 

I  will  now  describe  a  fruit  house  built  on  a 
larger  scale,  having  a  capacity  of  4,000  bushels, 
which  has  been  "in  very  successful  use  for 
twelve  years.  It  is  fifty  feet  square  and  built 
of  stone  and  is  twenty-eight  feet  high.  The 
fruit  room  is  on  the  first  floor  and  is  eight  feet 
high  with  an  enclosed  space  four  feet  in  width, 
on  the  four  sides  filled  with  ice  from  above. 
The  ice  house  proper  is  on  the  second  story 
and  is  eleven  feet  high  which,  with  the  spaces 
referred  to,  is  filled  with  ice.  There  should 
always  be  at  least  one  foot  of  sawdust  or  .some 
other  non-conductor  of  heat  between  the  i-;e 
and  the  outer  walls.  The  floor  must  be  water- 
tight with  pipes  or  some  other  means  of  con- 
veying the  accumulating  water  to  the  ground 
beneath  the  building.  The  third  story  lloor  is 
about  three  feet  below  the  square  ;  this  room 
in  intended  to  secure  ventilation,  and  should 
be  covered  with  some  non-conductive  material 
to  prevent  any  heated  air  from  entering  the 
building  from  above.  Tiiere  is  a  room  or 
space  about  three  feet  deep  below  the  floor  of 
the  fruit  room,  which  is  filled  from  the  surplus 
of  unmelted  ice  that  remains  in  the  second 
story,  and  this  must  be  done  before  stockins; 
with  fruit  in  the  fall,  ^'entilation  is  secured 
through  four  box  ventilators  twelve  inches 
square,  leading  from  the  fruit  room  through 


the  ice  room  and  extending  into  the  vacant 
space  above  tlie  third  floor.  These  box  venti- 
lators are  providi'd  with  valves  or  stops  by 
means  of  wliich  the  temperature  in  the  fruit 
room  may  be  easily  regulated.  The  fruit  is 
stored  in  common  boxes  containing  two 
bushels  each,  the  bottom  of  one  box  forming  a 
cover  of  another,  and  these  boxes  are  piled" in 
tiers  or  sections  with  spaces  between  to  admit 
of  passage  and  free  circulation.  Access  to  the 
fruit  room  is  secured  through  a  kind  of  vesti- 
bule with  outside  and  inside  doors,  both  lined 
with  non-conductive  material — halters'  waste 
wool  has  proven  an  excellent  non-conductor 
for  this  purpose.  The  two  doors,  an  inner 
and  an  outer  door,  are  necessary  to  prevent 
the  admission  of  air  when  persons  pass  in  and 
out. 

The  cost  of  this  building  when  erected  was 
about  S2,000,  and  it  requires  about  one  thou- 
sand tons  of  ice  to  fill  it  properly,  about  two- 
thirds  of  which  is  annually  consumed  by  the 
heat.  Ever  since  the  completion  of  this  build- 
ing it  has  been  used  for  the  storage  of  various 
kinds  of  fruits,  and  has  proven  an  entire  suc- 
cess, and  the  owner  has  realized  a  handsome 
profit  upon  his  investment. 

There  is  another  large  refrigerator  or  fruit 
house  in  Reading,  that  is  constructed  upon  a 
somewhat  similar  plan  which  has  been  used 
for  preserving  tropical  fruits  and  storing  eggs, 
etc.,  for  which  purpose  it  has  proven  very 
successful. 

There  is  still  another  large  refrigerator  or 
fruit  house  in  this  city,  quite  recently  com- 
pleted and  stocked  with  ice,  which  will  be 
ready  for  the  storage  of  fruits,  etc.,  the  coming 
season,  and  which  will  prove  a  great  conve- 
nience to  fruit  growers  as  well  as  consumers 
of  this  place. 

CULTURE  AND  TRAIMING  OF  THE 

VINE.* 

So  much  has  been  written  upon  this  subject 
as  to  almost  confuse  the  novice  and  contem- 
plative planter  into  inactivity,  for  fear  of 
doing  more  injury  than  benefit  in  attempting 
to  follow  the  teachings  of  books  which  treat 
on  vine  culture.  Between  the  close  pruner 
and  non-pruner  lies  so  wide  a  field,  with  in- 
numerable methods  of  training,  that  it  is  not 
surprising  that  there  is  so  much  confusion 
relative  to  the  growing  of  this  important  fruit. 

Important,  I  say,  because  there  is  no  fruit 
in  the  Xorth  Temperate  Zone  that  can  be 
made  more  a  certainty,  or  will  yield  more 
weight  from  the  same  area,  and  upon  almost 
any  soil.  The  special  advantage  it  possesses 
over  all  other  fruits,  however,  is  that  it  can  be 
planted  close  to  any  building  or  wall,  and 
trained  up  against  it  to  any  reasonable  height, 
and  where  no  other  fruit  can  be  grown.  It 
can  be  trained  over  arbors,  where  it  will 
answer  for  shade  also.  Grapes  grown  in  such 
situations,  when  properly  trained,  are  gener- 
ally more  certain  than  vineyard  culture. 

The  grape  is  a  great  feeder  and  will  repay 
proper  fertilizing  very  well.  Young  vines  can 
bs  grown  from  single  eyes,  or  with  two  to 
half  a  dozen  eyes  ;  also  by  layering,  but  those 
from  single  are  preferable,  as  they  contain  but 
little  old  wood,  and  have  the  roots  started 
from  one  point.  For  a  vineyard  the  ground 
should  be  well  prepared  as  for  any  other  plant- 
ing. The  vines  may  be  planted  from  six  to 
twelve  feet  apart,  according  to  variety  and 
vigor  of  vine.  Depth  of  planting  should  not 
be  more  than  six  inches,  and  with  a  little 
mulch  added  is  better  than  a  foot  deep  of  soil. 
Cultivation  should  be  as  for  all  other  plantings; 
the  ground  kept  mellow  and  clean  of  weeds 
for  three  or  four  years  at  least,  after  which  it 
is  a  mooted  question  whether  to  cultivate  it 
or  run  it  into  grass.  I  am,  however,  on  the 
side  of  continued  cultivation,  but  shallow 
only.  Good,  well-iueiiared  soil  will  require 
no  manuring'  until  a  crop  or  two  has  been 
taken  off;  after  which  don't  expect  to  take 
more  out  of  the  soil  than  there  is  in  it.  I 
shall  not  discuss  manuring  now,  as   every 


planter  should  know  what  his  soil  and  his 
crops  reipiire. 

At  planting  cut  the  vine  to  a  few  eyes,  and 
after  it  starts  to  grow,  pinch  or  rub  all  off  but 
the  strongest,  which  train  to  a  stake  4  to  C  feet 
high,  but  do  no  cutting  or  pinching  the  first 
season.  For  the  second  .season  cut  the  vine 
to  15  or  18  inches  above  ground,  set  two 
stakes,  G  to  S  feet  high,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
vine  ;  set  obliquely,  leaning  apart,  and  train 
two  of  the  highest  and  be.st  shoots,  one  to 
each,  and  keep  off  all  other  shoots  from  the 
main  vine.  Vines  growing  obliquely  will  form 
shorter  joints  and  develop  the  eyes  more  uni- 
form than  when  growing  ui'righl.  They  will, 
however,  forces  stnui.ncr  lalerals,  which  must 
be  pinched  oil'  liiyoiid  tlie  first  eye,  and  if 
growing  too  strong  Ihereaf'ler  pinch  off  again, 
but  do  not  break  off  the  lateral  altogether,  as 
it  often  causes  the  eyes  to  push  which  are  in- 
tended for  next  year's  fruiting. 

Trellises  should  be  made  for  the  third  sea- 
son. Posts  driven  in  along  the  rows,  about 
five  feet  high,  after  being  set,  with  a  horizon- 
tal rail  over  the  tojis,  and  one  about  18  inches 
above  ground  to  nail  on  slats  or  wire  vertical- 
ly, is  the  best  form  of  trellis  of  which  I  know. 
These  uprights  shoulcV  Ije  7  or  8  inches  apart. 
I  know  of  nothing  equal  to  galvanized  wire 
(about  No.  1()),  which  is  not  only  exempt 
from  corrosion,  but  the  vines  can  be  trained 
to  it  without  tying.  The  trellis  bein';  ready 
for  the  third  season,  prune  off  all  laterals 
from  the  vines  to  a  length  that  will  reach  half 
way  to  the  next  vine,  and  cut  it  off  and  tic  to 
lower  rail ;  bring  the  nearest  cane  from  the 
next  vine  and  treat  the  same  way,  and  thus 
continue  to  the  end  of  the  trellis.  You  have 
now  a  basis  upon  which  to  grow  your  first  crop. 

Training  will  now  be  in  order  as  .soon  as  the 
young  shoots  attain  the  height  of  15  to  18 
inches.  Secure  the  nearest  to  each  wire  and 
break  off  all  the  rest.  As  soon  as  all  the 
flower  clusters  are  fairly  out  pinch  the  shoot 
off,  leaving  one  joint  beyond  the  last  cluster. 
This  will  check  the  strongest  shoots  and  give 
the  weaker  a  chance  to  get  even.  The  stronger 
should  be  pinched  in  during  the  season  when- 
ever they  show  too  rampant  growth. 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  early  pinching  is 
contrary  to  the  teaching  of  books,  but  experi- 
ence has  taught  me  that  it  is  preferable  to  let- 
ting them  grow  until  the  grapes  are  as  large  as 
peas,  and  then  pinch  to  three  joints  beyond 
the  last  bunch,  as  the  books  say.  Early  pinch- 
ing checks  the  rapid  upward  growth,  and 
causes  the  development  of  larger  foliage, 
heavier  vines,  and  fuller  eyes  near  the  base, 
which  is  an  important  point  gained,  as  we 
shall  see  by  and  by.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  bearing  eyes  are  on  last  season's 
growth  only.  For  this  reason  it  is  important 
that  with  all  the  methods  of  training,  the  ob- 
ject should  be  to  have  the  eyes  intended  for 
next  season's  fruitin;;  as  well  developed  as 
possible.  Each  eye  will,  as  a  rule,  produce  a 
cane  bearing  three  bunches  of  fruit,  conse- 
quently the  upright  vines  are  now  bearing  a 
crop  and  at  the  same  time  forming  eyes  for 
next  (4th)  season's  crop.  The  laterals  should 
be  treated  as  directed  iu  second  year's  growth. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  season  the  vines  may 
be  left  to  grow  as  they  will.  If  we  have  now 
a  well  developed  cane  to  each  upright  the 
vineyard  is  fully  established. 

For  the  fourth  .season  we  cut  back  all  the 
upright  canes  to  two  eyes.  At  this  point  the 
books  teach  us  to  cut  to  one  eye,  but  let  us 
compare.  Any  practical  vintner  knows  that 
the  lower  eye  on  a  vine  is  always  least  de- 
veloped, consequently  by  cutting  to  two  eyes 
we  have  some  choice.  The  shoots  growing 
from  the  lower  eyes  arc  trained  to  the  wires 
and  treated  the  same  as  those  of  the  previous 
year  were  treated.  Those  from  the  upi)cr 
eyes  are  also  pinched  to  one  joint  above  the 
latter  cluster,  as  early  as  it  can  be  done  con- 
veniently. These  are  trained  to  incline  down- 
ward, by  twisting  the  young  cane  and  bend- 
ing it  downward,  wliich,  with  the  gradual 
increase  of  the  clusters  thereon,  will  prevent 
their  nprisiht  tendency;  these  are  also  kept 
closely  pinched  in  and  laterals  kept  down, 


22 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  February, 


"and  after  fruiting  are  cut  away  altogetlier.  By 
this  method  we  retain  the  best  eyes  for  fruit- 
ing, and  at  the  same  time  secure  well  de- 
veloped canes  from  the  lower  eyes  by  their 
being  trained  upright.  These  are  left  to  bear 
some  fruit,  but  as  the  bunches  are  usually  in- 
ferior to  those  from  sound  eyes,  the  thinning 
out  is  done  on  these.  By  this  course  of  train- 
ing the  fruiting  wood  can  be  kept  low,  the 
same  as  by  cutting  to  single  eyes. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  tendency  of  growth 
of  vines  is  upward,  and  if  not  controlled  by 
pruning  and  pinching,  where  they  have  a 
place  to  run  up,  the  linest  fruit  will  be  near 
the  top.  This  has  led,  or  rather  misled  mauy 
to  trim  their  vines  high,  but  we  must  not  for- 
get that  by  this  method  they  will  be  father 
from  the  base  of  the  vine  each  year,  and 
eventually  be  out  of  reach.  The  only  method 
by  which  vines  can  be  kept  to  grow  their  crops 
imiform,  is  to  have  their  bearing  eyes  on  a  level , 
as  by  the  horizontal  arm  system,  wlietherarms 
are  one  or  twenty  feet  ;from  the  ground.  By 
the  following  method  the  old  arras  can  be  re- 
placed by  new  ones  without  losing  a  crop. 

Select  early  in  the  season  two  strong  shoots 
near  the  centre  of  the  vine,  and  train  them  on 
stakes  as  directed  for  second  year,  and  keep 
all  the  rest  of  the  vine  pinched  back  during 
the  summer,  and,  unless  the  vine  is  vigorous, 
allow  it  to  bear  only  a  moderate  or  short 
crop,  which  will  cause  the  two  canes  at  the 
centre  to  make  the  stronger  growth,  so  that 
after  fruiting  the  old  ariiis  can  be  cut  away, 
and  the  new  canes  tied  to  their  place,  and 
managed  as  directed  for  third  season.  Thus 
the  vines  can  be  renewed  whenever  necessary, 
and  with  proper  care  may  continue  in  bearing 
indefmitely. 

I  do  not  claim  anything  original  in  the 
above  method  of  trellising,  which  has  been  so 
fully  described  by  A.  S.  Fuller  and  others, 
but  what  I  do  claim  that  is  not  found  in  the 
books,  is  the  cutting  to  two  eyes  for  fruiting, 
or  if  the  second  is  not  well  developed,  leave 
the  third  and  cut  out  the  second,  instead  of 
the  first.  Tills  method  invariably  secures 
better  bearing  wood  and  consequently  finer 
fruit.  There  are  other  methods  Ijy  which 
grapes  may  be  successfully  grown,  as  on  trel- 
lises of  three  or  four  horizontal  wires  ;  upon 
these  vines  are  commonly  trained  on  the  long 
cane  system,  by  which  the  best  bearing  eyes 
are  alwaj's  secured,  but,  as  above  referred  to, 
the  canes  on  the  upper  wire  produce  the  best 
fruit  at  the  expense  of 'those  on  the  lower  wire. 
The  renewal  is  also  more  difficult  than  upon 
the  horizontal  arm  system.  In  extensive  vine- 
yard culture  stakes  are  generally  resorted  to, 
being  least  expensive.  Various  methods  of 
training  to  stakes  are  also  described,  )3ut  this 
paper  will  not  admit  of  details. 

One  other  method,  however,  is  extensively 
practiced,  and  backed  up  strongly  by  the 
arguments,  that  nature  does  no  pruning,  and 
therefore  it  is  best  not  to  prune  at  all,  or  very 
little  at  most.  This  sounds  very  plausible, 
but  neither  does  nature  plant  her  vines  by 
cuttings,  and  as  we  depart  from  nature  at  the 
outset,  there  is  no  sound  reason  to  go  back 
and  ask  her  to  finish  the  job  which  we  have 
begun  in  opposition  to  her  system. 

We  will  admit  that  very  fine  grapes  are 
oftinies  found  on  vines  growing  upon  trees, 
etc.,  left  to  their  own  way.  I  have  seen  such 
and  thought  at  one  time  it  was  the  true 
method  for  growing  grapes  ;  but  a  few  years 
of  observation  dissipated  all  my  faith  in  that 
direction.  I  have  settled  down  to  the  belief 
in  close  pruning  and  systematic  training  for 
all  vines  (ex(-ept  the  most  rampan'j  growers) 
as  tlie  most  reliable.  As  Mr.  Fuller  has  well 
said,  the  finest  grapes,  after  all,  are  produced 
uiion  closely  pruned  and  properly  trained  vines. 


Contributions. 


Liquid  Manuke.— The  liquid  yieldings  of 
animals  are  worth  more— good  autliorities  say 
one-sixth  more— pound  for  pound,  tlian  the 
sohd  excrements,  and  arc  saved  with  greater 
care  by  the  best  European  farmers  and  garden- 
ers. All  the  leaks  in  the  stable  are  not  in  the 
roof  ;  those  often  in  the  tloor  are  quite  as  objec- 
tionable, and  are  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  waste. 


For  The  Lancastek  Tarmek. 
CATTLE  OF  LANCASTER  COUNTY,  OR 
EASTERN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

It  is  presumable  that  it  is  not  known  xwtii- 
iivehj  from  what  country  cattle  were    first 
shipped  to  America.     Undoubtedly  the  first 
settlers  in  New  England  brought  their  cattle 
from  Old  England.  It  is  also  presumable  that 
their  stock  then  was  not  as  thoroughbred  in 
the  same  country  as  it  is  now  ;  and  if  it  had 
been  they  might  have  hesitated  to  ship  the 
best  to  a  heathen  land.     Undoubtedly  the 
Dutch  brought  the  first  cattle  to  New  York, 
and  the  Quakers  and  Swedes  the  first  to  Penn- 
sylvania.    The  first  effort  made  to  improve 
stock  in  this  country  was  in  the  vicinity  of 
Albany  and  New  York  cities,  and  perhaps 
also  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia.     During 
the  last  century  the  wholesale  merchants  of 
those  cities,  who  possessed  couiUiy  residences, 
began  to  improve  their  lands  and  farm  stock, 
as  well  as  their  farm  dwellings.     lu  the  first 
place,  I  believe  in  good  stock,  and  that  the 
highest  state  of  improvement  has  only  been 
reached  at  great  expense  by  some  of  the  best 
herdsmen  of  Europe,   and   this,   too,  many 
years  ago.     While  Lancaster  county  may  be 
said  to  stand  at  the  head  of  agriculture,  it 
must  be  confessed  that  she  is  far  behind  other 
countries  in  stock  raising.     It  is  Init  fair  to 
infer  that,  with  a  little  care  and  expense,  we 
might  become  as  famous  in  cattle  raising  as 
we  have  been  in  Conestoga  horses.     I  believe 
there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  various  breeds 
of  cattle  to  which  we  now  have  access,  but 
the  best  breeds  have  always  been  secured  by 
careful  breeding  from  the  best  selections,  both 
of  males  and  females.   I  have  a  good  recollec- 
tion of  our  Lancaster  county  breeds  of  cattle 
for  the  last  fifty  years.  They  were  always  bet- 
ter than  the  Maryland  cattle,  or  those  from 
Western  Pennsylvania.     Fifty  years  ago  I 
used  to  visit  a  neighbor  who  had  a  large  hay- 
mow filled  with  soft  meadow  hay.     Well  do  I 
rememljcr  rollicking  in  the  soft,  sweet-scented 
meadow  hay  ;  and  also  his  beautiful  herd  of 
black  cattle,  with  their  belts  of  snowy  white, 
their  fine  forms  and  large  size,  some  of  which 
could  have  been  made  to  weigh  almost  equal 
to  the  Durhams  at  the  present  time.     Might 
they  not  have  been  sired  from  the  Swiss  or 
the  Holstein  ?    I  feel  sure,  with  proper  care 
in  selection,  always  cliosiug  the  best  blood, 
that  the  county  of  Lancaster  might  produce 
some  of  the  best  stock  in  the  Union— fully  as 
good  as  any  of  our  Alderneys,   Devons,  or 
Durhams.     A  cattle  fancier  one  time  indidg- 
ing  in  extravagant  praises  of  tlie  Ilolstefii 
cattle,  and  what  he  could  make  of  tliom,  was 
reminded  that  when  a  shephenl  in  Ilolstein 
loses  his  crook  in  the  meadow  in  tlie  evening 
he  would  find  it  in  the  morning  grown  over 
with  grass.     This  was  to  illustrate  that  you 
might  easily  enough  secure  a  good  breed  of 
cattle,  but  good  pasture  could  not  be  trans- 
ferred with  them.     That  matter  must  be  pro- 
vided by  the  purchaser. 

The  reason  our  farmers  pay  so  little  atten- 
tion to  good  stock  is  because  they  say  "it 
won't  pay  "  to  raise  good  stock,  and  anything 
will  do  for  a  milk  cow ;  and  any  kind  of  calf 
will  do  for  the  butchers'  shambles.  Neverthe- 
less, a  heavy  cow  would  bring  more  money  in 
market,  and  would  give  as  muoli  or  more  inilk 
than  a  small  or  light  one.  In  1843  a  farmer, 
in  Upper  Leacock  township,  had  a  home- 
raised  steer,  from  ordinary  stock,  that  would 
have  made  one  of  the  heaviest  steers  ever 
raised  in  Lancaster  county,  but  it  fell  on  the 
ice,  when  it  weighed  nearly  o,000  [lounds,  and 
had  to  be  slaughtered  prematurely.  The  Dur- 
ham roans  were  first  introduced  into  this 
county  by  Mr.  Jackson,  who  lived  on  Webb's 
farm,  near  "  AVitmer's  Bridge,"  forty-five  or 
fifty yearsago.  Frederick Hambright,wholived 
north  of  Lancaster,  procured  some  of  Jack- 
son's stock  and  raised  a  beautiful  herd  of  roan 
cows,  but  he  was  also  a  man  that  gave  good 
attention  to  his  stock— everything  relating  to 
them  was  done  in  the  best  manner,  and  he 


had  always  ready  sale  for  them  and  got  the 
best  prices — higher  than  his  neighbors.  From 
that  period  forward  there  was  more  interest 
taken  in  the  improvement  in  the  Lancaster 
than  there  had  ever  been  before.  I  beg  leave 
to  repeat  again,  that  although  there  is  a  differ- 
ence— and  a  great  dift'erence,  too— in  the 
breeds  of  cattle,  yet  there  is  a  great  difl'erence 
in  our  caring  for  them.  The  old  saying  still 
holds  good  :  "Well  attended  is  half  fed."— i. 
S.  Ji.,  Orcf/on,  February,  1879. 

[Those  people  who  allege  that  it  will  not 
pay  to  raise  good  cattle  may  say  the  truth, 
looking  at  the  matter  from  their  own  indi- 
vidual standpoint.  It  may  not  pay  at  the  out- 
set, for  the  reason  .that  it  costs  too  high  a 
figure  for  the  first  subjects.  It  is,  perhaps, 
like  a  new  kind  of  potatoes,  wheat,  corn, 
pigs  or  poultry.  But  as  the  feed  and  labor 
costs  about  the  same,  it  would  seem  that  a 
good  breed  could  be  raised  as  easy  as  a  bad  one, 
with  better  prospects  of  the  future  pay.] — Ed. 

FOR  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
TEXAS   CATTLE. 

Letter  of  General  Samuel  Houston,  Describ- 
ing Texas  Cattle. 
Galveston,  Texas,  Dec.  1,  1845. 
"Doubtless  no  country  on  earth  possesses 
equal  advantages  with  Texas  as  a  stock 
raising  community.  Stock  here  require  no 
feeding,  either  in  summer  or  winter,  and  cost 
no  trouble  nor  expense,  saving  in  marking  and 
branding.  Stabling  and  salting  are  not  ne- 
cessary, as  the  saline  licks  are  in  every  part  of 
the  country,  so  that  in  fact,  fattening  cattle 
does  not  cost  a  farmer  anytliing.  Our  prai- 
ries are  clothed  with  the  most  nutritious 
grasses,  sufficient  for  countless  herds.  The 
presence  of  blooded  stock  is  especially  wel- 
come to  me  at  this  time,  and  I  expect  to  cross 
it  with  our  Texas  stock  with  good  results. 
The  introduction  of  blooded  stock,  such  as 
Durhams.  and  better  horses,  I  am  satisfied, 
would  not  result  in  more  than  one  failure  in 
twenty  experiments.  The  presuit  stock  of 
cattle  in  Te;:as  is  a  nrixture  of  Mexican  and 
cattle  from  the  United  States.  They  each 
show  a  distinctness  of  character.  The  Mexi- 
can, or  Spani.sh,  are  not  so  heavy  nor  so  com- 
pact in  build  as  those  from  the  States,  but 
they  are  taller  and  more  active,  nor  do  they 
weigh  as  well  in  proportion  to  appearance 
wheii  slaughtered  as  the  American  cattle. 
They  are  more  active  than  our  cattle, with  re- 
markably long  aud  slim  horns.  The  cows  are 
not  such  good  milkers  as  ours.  A  cross  of 
the  breed  would  be  an  improvement.  When 
the  first  colonists,  under  Stephen  F.  Austin, 
arrived  in  Texas,  they  found  herds  of  wild 
cattle  on  the  Brazos  and  its  tributary  streams. 
There  was  no  tradition  of  their  origin,  nor 
has  anything  satisfactory  on  the  subject  yet 
been  aM/ci-lained.  They  have  recededjas  the 
settlfinnits  advanced,  and  are  now  above  the 
fiills  of  t lie  IJniy.os  and  Little  river.  They  are 
of  the  brindle  or  reddish  color,  and  are  more 
wild  and  dangerous  when  wounded  than  the 
bufEalo.  The  males  have  occasionally  attached 
themselves  to  herds  of  tame  cattle,  and  Iiave 
become  very  gentle.  Calves  have  been  caught 
and  reared  by  settlers.  The  cross  is  said  to 
be  an  iiniirovement  upon  our  common  stock. 
The  males  arc  sometimes  as  heavy  as  our 
Duiiiaiu  half-breeds,  and  make  excellent 
working  oxen.  For  years  I  have  had  a  desire 
to  mix  the  pure  Durham  with  the  pure  Texas. 
Should  I  be  fortunate  in  my  efforts,  I  shall  be 
happy  to  assure  you  of  tlie  remits.— Samuel 
Houston. 

It  is  thirty-four  years  since  the  above  letter 
was  written",  and  Texas  is  still  looked  upon  as 
the  great  source  from  which  tlie  bulk  of  com- 
merce in  cattle  is  derived.  This  especially  is 
the  case  in  reference  to  the  immense  number 
of  those  that  are  slaughtered  is  concerned. 
An  almost  constant  stream  of  cattle  for  several 
months  in  the  year,  are  driven  up  from  Texas 
to  the  cattle  depots  in  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
Colorado,  :Missouri,  Iowa  and  other  Western 
States ;  from  whence  they  are  sold  and  dis- 
tributed farther  eastward,  and  when  fattened 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


23 


aro  rolled  along  on  the  railroads  in  cattlo  pens 
to  the  large  eities  of  our  country,  ortn  Kurope, 
where  they  are  slaughtered  aiid  served  up  to 
the  beef-eaters  among  the  huuiau  family,  and 
are  completely  amiihilated. — Bos,  Manhcim, 
February,  1S70. 


POLLED  CATTLE. 

Agondwonl  must  be  put  in  for  the  '-Muley,' 


TIUM 


;ii;recable 
uld  easily 


(1 

to  have  alHiut  the  barnyard  ;  t 
be  kept  side  by  side  with  colts. 
without  injury.  IIow  often  do  vicious  horned 
cattle  disembowel  horses  in  the  barnyard,  in 
tlie  roadside,  or  in  the  field  ?  How  ofltn  have 
liorned  cattle,  especially  those  of  the  male 
gender,  killed  men  in  the  upni  liel.ls  with  (heir 
horns  V  And  how  often  have  lliosi-  of  the 
female  gender  attacked  women  and  (■hildren, 
especially  when  the  cows  have  calves  only  a 
day  or  two  old  ?  At  that  particular  period  a 
cow,  especially  if  a  stranger,  is  apt  to  attack 
anything  that  comes  near  her  offspring, 
whether  a  dog  or  a  human  being.  There  were 
formerly  objections  made  to  the  mule}',  when 
cattle  were  at  liberty  to  brows  along  the  road- 
sides and  woods.  They  would  reach  in  be- 
tween the  fence  rails  to  help  themselves  to  as 
much  of  the  inside  crop  as  leaned  toward  the 
fence  or  came  within  their  reach.  Since  cattle 
are  running  very  little  at  large  in  the  Eastern 
and  Middle  States  that  objection  is  almost  re- 
moved. The  muley  oxen  are  easy  to  handle, 
and  could  even  be  kept  loose  in  a  stalile ; 
would  make  more  and  better  manure  by 
tramping  down  the  straw  closely  together  ail 
over  the  stable,  which  would  then  ferment 
much  sooner  than  otherwise.  The  cows  would 
be  very  docile  and  agreeable  to  milk  ;  and 
they  are  just  as  good  milkers  as  any  other 
kind  of  cows.  They  could  be  very  much  im- 
proved by  crossing  them  with  the  short-horned 
Durham  stock.  The  normal  tendencies  of  the 
short-horns  might  undoubtedly  be  turned 
towards  polled,  at  least  to  shorter  horns. 
Polled  cattle  perhaps  will  never  become  a 
specialty  among  cattle  breeders  in  this  conn- 
tr3'.  I  have  known  but  one  farmer — and  that 
yearsago,  in  AVestEarl  township,this  county— 
who  had  an  entire  herd  of  polled  cattle  ;  a 
very  Hue  herd  it  was  too.  The  cows  were  well 
built— unlike  the  large  Durhams— good  milk- 
ers ;  and  the  steers  weighed  -very  heavy.  I 
will  not  undertake  to  give  a  full  history  of 
the  polled  cattle,  any  more  than  what  an  able 
writer  has  given  years  ago.  He  says:  "In 
Great  Britain  there  are  now  three  breeds  of 
polled  cattle,  which  were  no  doubt  derived 
from  the  wild  cattle,  of  which  only  one  herd 
remained  pure.  These  were  iu  Yorkshire, 
fifty  years  ago,  although  in  the  last  century 
several  parks  in  England  were  stocked  with 
them.  Both  in  the  north  of  England  and  in 
the  south  of  Scotland  improved  polled  cattle 
were  a  common  or  frequent  occurrence. 

The  Galway  cattle,  from  the  southwest  of 
Scotland,  ranked  first  for  smallness  of  bone 
and  good  feeders.  They  were  bred  of  differ- 
ent colors,  from  red  to  black.  Next  to  these 
came  the  Angusshires,  from  the  northeast  of 
Scotland,  which  were  similar  to  the  (Jalways, 
but  were  of  a  heavier  build  and  were  brought 
to  the  highest  state  of  perfection.  They  were 
specially  raised  for  the  London  market,  and 
the  red  cattle  always  commanded  the  highest 
prices  from  the  butchers  in  the  market,  on  ac- 
count of  not  having  been  gored  by  liorned 
oxen.  For  dairy  cows  the  English  had  a 
variety  called  the '■Buns."  They  originated 
from  one  of  the  Scotch  breeds  crossing  them 
with  their  own  breeds,  which  were  "Roans." 
They  made  them  heavier  than  the  original 
stock,  and  they  became  excellent  dairy  cows, 
but  all  ultimately  became  roans.  By  care  and 
proi)er  selection  they  had  three  colors— dun, 
roan  and  black.  The  wild  cattle-from  which 
these  tliree  varieties  of  cattle  sprung  arc 
white,  with  black  ears  and  muzzle.  I  have 
penned  these  lines  thinking  some  of  the  readers 
of  The  Faumer  might  still  have  some  inter- 
est in  the  "gentle  muley"  of  their  boyhood. — 
E.  L.  S.,  Warwick,  February,  1879. 


For  TllK  Lastaster  1'aumer. 
BITTER-SWEET. 
{Thr  Sotaiiitm  Ituleamava.    Ij.) 

We  have  here  a  species  that  belongs  to  a 
genus  of  plants  remarkable  for  the  great 
variety  and  almost  opposite  character  which 
takes  place  among  the  species.  Some  are 
coarse  weeds  ;  others  ornamental  green-house 
plants  ;  some,  again,  are  nutritious,  like  the 
potato  ;  others  poisonous,  like  the  henbane. 

Names  are  usually  significant.  Dr.  Gray 
Kays  the  derivation  of  this  is  uncertain.  I 
find  that  one  author  says  the  Latin  meaning 
was  "Night  Shade,"  which  is  a  family  name 
of  this  genus  ;  another  that  it  comes  from  the 
word  "Solor,"  which  means  "to  comfort," 
referring  to  some  of  the  narcotic  power — like 
tliat  of  an  opiate,  perhaps— but  the  Irish 
liotato,  so-called,  is  a  comfort  to  a  starving 
foniily.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  specific  name 
"Dulcamara,"  signifies  sweet  and  bitter,  or 
"Bitter-Swcet."  This  name  is  derived  from 
the  fact  that  in  chewing  the  I'oot,  the  taste  is 
first  bitter,  then  a  sweetness  follows.  It  is 
believed  to  have  been  introduced  from  Europe 
many  years  ago.  It  is  found  to  thrive  best  in 
moist,  shady  places  and  around  houses.  Wc 
often  meet  with  it  in  country  gardens,  the 


leaves  and  tlexible  twigs  forming  a  climbing 
shrub  about  six  feet  high,  is  pietty  ;  the  pur- 
plish, small  (lowers  and  yellow  anthers  neat, 
but  not  showy,  while  the  ovoid,  crimson  red 
berries  arc  quite  ornamental.  I  may,  by  way 
of  caution,  say  here,  that  there  is  another 
plant  called  "climbing  bitter-sweet,"  quite  a 
diftereut genus — the  Ci hislrvx isranikns—io\\m\ 
along  streams  and  thickets  ;  these  have  golden 
yellov»r  pods,  which  split  open  and  reveal  a 
crimson  red  seed.  The  genus  Solanum  has 
numerous  hardy,  shrubby  and  herbaceous 
species,  many  green-house  and  stove  ever- 
greens, over  seventy  kinds  are  described. 

This  plant  has  at  one  time  had  a  great  repu- 
tation among  medical  men  of  high  standing. 
Dr.  Bigelow,  in  his  American  Botany,  devotes 
seven  full  pages  to  the  properties  of  this  plant, 
quoting  his  authorities,  such  as  Doctors  Wil- 
lau,  Bateman  and  Crichtou  ;  this  latter  physi- 
cian to  Westminster  hospital,  says  that  out  of 
twenty-three  cases  of  Lepora  Grcecorum,  (this 
is  the  leprosy  of  scripture,  a  constitutional 
affection,  also  known  as  Elejihantiaiiiii  tjrm-o- 
rwn,  supposed  incurable,)  he  declares  that 
only  two  resisted  the  remedy,  which  consisted 
in  boiling  an  ounce  of  the  fiexible,  fresh  twigs 
(others  used  the  leaves  also,)  in  a  pint  and  a 
half  of  water  down  to  a  pint,  giving  the 
patient  of  this  decoction  two  ounces  to  begin 


with  morning,  noon  and  night,  and  also  used 
as  an  external  lotion.  Others  think  the  dose 
too  large,  and  say  it  is  better  to  bc^in  with  an 
ounce  and  increase.  To  sii\  the  hast,  it  docs 
form  a  most  excellent  lotion  tor  v;i  I  ions  I  liseases 
ofthcskin  tomyper.sonal  kuowledur,  although 
fallen  into  m-leet.  riofrvso,-  Mmriy  speaks 
in  stroll'..;  terms  as  a  Mieees>liil  a|Hiliealion  in 
cutaneous  diseases  ol  an  iii\i-lerate  character. 
Dr.  Gritmii,  in  liis  M,.li.;d  liuUiay,  says 
(page  481):  "  The  properties  of  Bitter-Sweet 
are  those  of  a  narcotic,  diuretic  ami  diaphe- 
retic,  but  its  powers  are  not  very  great,  though 
in  large  doses  it  certainly  will  induce  the 
effects  of  the  acro-narcotics  ;  cases  of  poison- 
ing have  been  recorded  from  the  berrie.s,  as 
well  as  from  the  decoction  of  the  twigs.  The 
decoction  has  attained  some  note  as  a  remedy 
in  chronic  rheuniatisiu,  asthma,  chronic 
catarrhs,  and  in  tho.se  morbid  conditions  of 
the  system  in  which  sarsa]iarilla  lias  been 
found  ueneficial.  Its  mani  nimlai  ion,  bow- 
ever,  has  arisen  from  the  liemiii  obtained 
fromit  in  skin  diseases  of  an  ol>,-tinati'  charac- 
ter, as  lepra  and  pityriasis  ;  ill  tliese  there  is 
strong  evidence  that  it  has  pioxeil  eminently 
successful,  both  adiiiiiiistered  internally  and 
used  as  a  wash  to  the  alTected  parts."  1  quote 
the  foregoing  from  the  edition  of  1817.  It  is 
well  not  simply  to  know  a  plant  as  a  botanist, 
but  its  uses  and  reputation  as  well.  Farmers 
may  find  occasion  to  desire  a  remedy  lor  a 
scabby  animal,  and  seeing  this  plant  on  or 
about  their  premises,  may  test  its  properties 
and  benefit  themselves  and  the  suffering  ani- 
mal. It  does  not  follow  that  (hey  turn  quack 
and  join  the  ranks  of  that  class,  and  yet  do- 
mestic remedies  at  hand  are  often  available  to 
those  that  have  a  knowledge  of  the  subject ; 
so  that  it  is  not  intended  for  medical  men, 
who  have  the  books  and  are  supposed  to  know 
all  aliout  it,  but  for  the  fann<-r,  horticulturist 
and  general  reader,  wlio  has  not  the  books  to 
refer  to  ;  it  is  "y/io  im,,,,  imiillr,,.''  I  write  not 
to  show  how  easy  it  is  to  eopy  and  give  the 
experience  of  other  people  as  your  fuiid  of  in- 
formation. That  is  simple  vanity  and  build- 
ing upon  a  small  capital,  but  my  i)ursuit  as  a 
druggist  for  twenty-five  years,  and  a  botanist 
for  nearly  litty,  .and  a  medical  student  for  .six 
years  prior  toentering  the  drug  business,  will 
exonerate  me  of  vain  pretensions.  I  hoiie  in 
furnistiing  these  articles,  for  the  benefit  of 
those  interested,  illustrated  by  wood  cuts, 
made  by  myself  when  in  the  drug  business, 
with  a  view  of  publishing  a  work  on  the  sub- 
ject, I  never  did,  except  in  such  fragmentary 
productions.  I  should  not  have  referred  to 
myself,  only  some  certain  medical  aspirant 
sneered  at  what  he  deemed  a  silly  display  of 
medical  knowledge  on  my  part— this  will 
suffice.—/.  Staiiffcr. 


THE  BALANCE  OF  TRADE. 

To  the  Editor  of  ilie  Lancaster  Fanner:  I 
was  highly  interested  in  reading  the  a<ldress 
of  P.  "S.  "Reist,  before  the  Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  Society,  in  the  January  number 
of  The  Faumek,  and  especially  your  note 
appended  to  it,  in  which  you  intimate  a  doubt 
whether  the  so-called  "  Balance  of  Trade"  in 
favor  of  this  country  is  anything  but  a  sceminti 
.advantage,  and  whether,  except  "on  paper," 
it  is  an  evidence  or  sign  of  prosperity. 

I  incline  to  think  that  a  fuller  examination 
of  the  subject  will  convince  you  that  your 
doubts  are"  not  without  good  grounds,  and 
that  neither  cxperieiue  nor  sound  reasoning 
lends  any  support  t<i  the  popular  opinion  that 
whenever  the  exports  of  a  country  exceed  its 
imports,  this  is  an  evidence  of  its  prosperity. 
On  the  eoutrarv.  not  only  our  experience  for 
several  years  past,  but  the  statistics  of  the 
last  half  century  or  longer,  I  believe  will  show 
unmistakably  that  the  reverse  is  the  fact,  and 
in  years,  or  terms  of  years,  of  acknowledged 
prosperity,  our  imports  have  uniformly  ex- 
ceeded our  exports  iu  value,  while  in  ye.ars  or 
terms  of  ruinous  depression  in  business  like 
those  we  have  just  been  passing  through,  the 
exports  are  mostly  greater  than  the  imports. 
And  this  rule  holds  true  not  only  of  our  own 
country  but  of  Great  Britain,  and  doubtless 


24 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[February, 


of  all  other  nations  having  an  extensive 
foreign  commerce.  The  reason  for  this  is  so 
plain  that  it  seems  strange  tliat  it  does  not 
strike  every  one  who  reflects  but  for  a  moment 
on  the  subject.  If  a  country  in  dealing  with 
others  sends  away  property  greater  in  value 
than  it  receives  back,  is  it  not  manifestly 
worsted  by  the  trade  by  the  amount  of  the 
difference  ?  But  the  advocates  of  the  Balance 
of  Trade  theory,  as  understood  by  Mr.  Reist, 
with  perhaps  a  majority  of  our  people,  seems 
to  hold  that  the  more  we  send  abroad  and  the 
less  we  get  in  return  for  it,  the  greater  is  our 
gain ! 

Allow  me  to  illustrate  by  a  familiar  example: 
A  Lancaster  county  miller,  having  an  idea 
that  he  can  do  better  with  his  flour  than  by 
selling  it  in  Philadelphia,  by  way  of  experi- 
ment sends  a  consignment  of  ten  barrels  of  it 
to  Liverpool.  It  is  worth  in  Philadelphia 
$5.00  per  barrel— $50  for  the  whole.  At 
Liverpool  the  consignee  sells  it  for  .160,  and 
according  to  his  instructions,  lays  out  the 
money  in  fine  salt,  whicli  costs  $2.00  per  sack. 
He  thus  purchases  thirty  sacks  of  salt  for  the 
860,  and  dispatches  it  by  the  next  steamer  to 
Philadelphia,  where  on  arrival  it  is  sold  at 
$2.50  per  sack,  amounting  to  $75.  In  this 
transaction,  therefore,  $50  were  exported  and 
$75  imported.  The  miller  has  gained  $25, 
(less  a  small  sum  for  freight,  &c.,)  and  mani- 
festly the  country  is  that  much  richer  ;  while 
according  to  the  Balance  of  Trade  theorists 
the  miller  and  the  country  have  both  been 
doing  a  losing  business  ! 

But  this  is  not  all.  Suppose  that  befo're 
reaching  Philadelphia  the  vessel  is  partially 
wrecked  and  all  but  six  sacks,  worth  $15,  of 
tlie  salt  is  lost.  The  Custom  House  books 
will  then  show  in  this  venture,  an  export  of 
the  value  of  $50,  and  an  importation  of  only 
$15.  The  miller  would  undoubtedly  think  he 
had  been  doing  an  unfortunate  and  losing 
business,  but  the  believers  in  the  Balarice  of 
Trade  theory  would  stand  ready  to  assure 
him  that  however  it  might  be  with  him,  the 
country  was  richer  and  in  a  more  prosperous 
condition  than  if  he  had  landed  liis  salt  safely 
and  made  $25  instead  of  losing  835  by  his 
experiment  in  foreign  commerce. 

I  admit  that  if  the  excess  of  exports  over 
imports  goes  to  pay  our  debts  previously  con- 
tracted abroad,  that  disposition  of  the  Slirplus 
may  be  quite  as  advantageous  to  the  country, 
and  more  so  in  the  long  run,  than  if  its  value 
was  brought  home  in  the  shape  of  foreign 
merchandise  ;  for  it  is  undoubtedly  an  advan- 
tage to  nations  to  pay  their  debts  ;  still  this 
is  the  same  as  paying  for  a  dead  horse,  and  as 
it  adds  nothing  to  our  present  resources,  can- 
not conduce  to  present  prosperitv.— J.  P., 
Laiicastp;  Feb.  1,  1879. 


For  The  LANcAsTEit  Faemeb. 
MORE  ABOUT  CATTLE. 
The  farmers  of  Lancaster  county  possess  all 
the  advantages  necessary  for  the  improvement 
of  their  stock  of  cattle,  or  to  raise,  at 
least,  thoroughbred  short-horns  or  Durhams, 
through  ordinary  or  cheap  means.  Thirty  or 
forty  years  ago  it  was  very  expensive  to  start 
a  herd  of  English  Durhams,  but  things  have 
somewhat  changed  since  then.  Jacob  Wiest, 
of  West  Cocalico  township,  was  probably  the 
best  short-horn  stock  raiser  in  the  county. 
He  obtained  his  first  stock  from  a  firm  of 
Durham  importers,  in  New  York  State,  and 
])aid  high  prices  for  his  stock  to  begin  with. 
He  got  a  herd-book  along  with  the  stock,  and 
kept  a  regular  systematic  record  of  his  opera- 
tions in  all  their  details,  and  became  so  fam- 
ous as  a  thoroughbred  stock  raiser  that  in 
turn  he  became  a  disposer  of  stock.  He  sold 
three  fine  heifers  to  a  noted  Kentucky  stock 
raiser  for  $1,000  each,  on  delivery.  Wm.  L. 
Peiper,  near  Lancaster  city,  has  a  well-stocked 
farm  of  the  best  of  Alderneys,  and  of  the 
purest  blood  in  Pennsylvania.  It  is  claimed 
for  them  that  they  are  the  best  milkers,  both 
for  quantity  and  quality,  with  less  petting 
than  the  Durhams  require,  which  are  much 
heavier,  and,  therefore,  more  valuable  for  beef 
than  the    former.     Several    farmers  in  the 


county,  for  instance,  Mr.  Getz,  of  East  Hemp- 
flold,  and  Mr.  Steinmetz,  of  West  Cocalico, 
had  the  pure  Devonshires,  with  a  pure  record 
from  the  herd-book.  For  beauty  they  are  an 
ornament  to  any  farm  ;  red  in  color  with  neat 
horns;  well  set  in  their  bodies,  and  yielding 
much  weight  for  their  size.  The  .Jerseys  and 
Ayrshires  have  never  been  bred  extensively 
in  this  county  to  my  knowledge.  There  are  a 
great  many  diflerent  breeds  of  cattle  in  Ohio, 
at  least  in  name  and  color.  They  had  a  breed 
some  years  ago,  named  the  "Hall  Cattle," 
probably  originated  by  a  man  of  that  name. 
The  steers  were  rather  high  in  the  legs,  round 
in  the  body,  straight  in  the  back,  and  had 
greater  length  of  body  than  any  other  steer  I 
have  ever  seen,  and  could  be  made  to  weigh 
as  heavy  as  any  other  breed  in  existence.  It 
is  not  my  object  to  unduly  exalt  any  one  par- 
ticular breed,  or  to  disparage  another  breed, 
but  to  encourage  stock  raising  in  general— to 
urge  stock  raisers  to  improve  their  present 
stock,  because  I  see  so  much  i-oom  for  im- 
provement. The  most  valuable  improved 
breeds  come  originally  from  Europe,  and 
sometimes  at  great  expense.  In  the  West  it 
was  common  to  form  combinations  to  pur- 
chase and  import  some  of  the  best  foreign 
stock,  pay  thousands  of  dollars  for  a  single 
animal.  Sometimes  agricultural  societies 
would  purchase  first-class  stock,  which  would 
be  held  by  the  members,  jointly,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  propagation,  and  through  these  means 
they  have  now  all  over  Ohio  and  Kentucky 
the  very  best  of  stock  ;  and  especially  short- 
horns and  Durhams,  are  now  held  and  sold  at 
ordinary  prices.  Whole  car  loads  of  bulls  are 
now  brought  to  our  eastern  markets,  and  sold 
at  from  2^  to  3^  cents  per  pound  as  stakers. 
Some  could  be  picked  out  as  breeders,  almost 
as  good  as  those  that  cost  $1,000  a  piece 
thirty  years  ago.  I  confess  that  improvement 
is  not  necessarily  within  the  reach  of  every 
farmer,  but  it  is  within  the  reach  of  many, 
and  with  very  little  additional  expense  ;  but, 
notwithstanding  all  this,  we  still  persist  in 
raising  and  keeping  a  race  of  "mackerel- 
backed"  bulls  and  cows.— i.  S.  JR.,  Oregon, 
February,  1879. 

[In  our  early  boyhood  we  knew  of  some 
town  cows  that  had  the  reputation  of  creep- 
ing under  fences  and  browsing  on  garden 
truck,  and  also  quenching  their  thirst  at  tlic 
slop  barrel,  and  then  retiring  in  the  same  way, 
but  as  a  general  thing  our  stock  is  better  now, 
although  there  is  doubtless  aljundant  room  for 
im  pro  vement.  —Ed.  ] 

For  The  Lancaster  Farmek. 
FIFTY  YEARS  AGO  vs.  THE  PRESENT 
DAY. 
My  father  was  a  farmer,  using  wooden 
teeth  in  the  harrow,  and  sometimes  the  wheat 
was  plowed  in  ;  but  a  shovel-harrow,  as  it 
was  called,  was  mostly  used,  then  sowed  by 
hand  and  oftimes  harrowed  it  in  with  a 
lot  of  brush  wood  with  the  leaves  on,  drag- 
ging it  over  the  field  until  the  grain  was  cov- 
ered. The  yield  per  acre  was  as  large  under 
the  crude  system  as  at  the  present  day,  not- 
withstanding the  use  of  the  grain  drills  and 
other  improvements.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  grain  sown  by  hand  requires  le.=s  per 
acre  to  produce  an  abundant  yield  at  harvest 
time,  as  it  gives  each  stalk  more  room  to 
mature.  Railroads  were  then  unknown,  and 
commerce  was  carried  on  between  the  sea- 
board cities  and  the  inland  towns  with  horses 
and  wagons.  I  have  seen  as  many  as  twenty 
consecutive  teams  on  the  pike  loaded  with 
merchandise  for  Pittsburg,  hence  from  Phila- 
delphia. At  night  time  the  horses  were  tied 
to  a  trough  fastened  to  the  tongue  of  the 
wagon,  which  was  very  often  frozen  to  the 
ground  by  morning  ;  and  the  horses  so  cold 
and  stiff  and  nearly  frozen  by  being  exposed 
without  shelter  or  blankets 'that  they  could 
stand  on  a  tin  plate,  to  use  an  expression 
common  to  those  days.  From  such  treatment 
and  overloading  the  teams  would  oftimes 
stall  and  be  unable  to  get  along,  or  to  ascend 
the  first  hill  they  came  to,  each  team  being  a 
fit  case  for  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 


Cruelty  to  Animals.  These  teams  would  take 
loads  of  dry  goods,  molasses,  &c.,  to  Pitts- 
burg, and  bring  on  their  return  trip  salt,  &c. 

Shippensburg  was  in  those  days  an  im- 
portant town  for  wagonmaking,  as  was  also 
lioudon,  beyond  Chambersburg,  which  latter 
was  a  place  of  exchange,  as  many  goods  were 
taken  thus  far  and  then  reshipped  to  Pittsburg 
by  other  parties.  The  cost  of  transportation 
from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg  was  from  three 
to  four  dollars  per  cwt. ,  against  twenty-five  to 
fifty  cents  per  cwt.  at  the  present  day.  Wheat 
sold  at  one  dollar  per  bushel ;  oats  twenty-five 
cents  and  corn  fifty  cents  per  bushel.  Land 
sold  at  twenty  to  forty  dollars  per  acre,  against 
two  hundred  dollars  and  more  for  the  same 
land  now.  The  tax  valuation  of  land  was 
then  about  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre,  and 
the  tax  thereon  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  cents 
for  every  one  hundred  dollars  valuation.  At 
the  present  time  the  tax  valuation  for  the 
same  land  is  from  one  hundred  to  two  hun- 
dred dollars  per  acre,  and  the  rate  of  taxation 
twenty-five  cents  on  every  one  hundred  dol- 
lars valuation.  Then  a  cow  cost  from  ten  to 
twenty  dollars,  and  a  horse  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  dollars.  Education  was  dispensed  to 
the  country  folk,  during  the  winter,  at  a  cost 
for  each  pupil  of  two  cents  per  diem  ;  those 
that  were  unable  to  pay  this  amount  the 
county  paid  for.  When  the  pupil  was  able  to 
do  the  sums  in  Pike's  arithmetic,  without  a 
key,  he  was  a  graduate.  Geography  was  used 
to  teach  reading  then.  Now,  owing  to  the 
many  advantages  we  enjoy  we  are  able  to  pay 
fifteen  cents  on  every  hundred  dollars  valua- 
tion school  tax,  and  pay  a  superintendent  fif- 
teen hundred  to  twenty-five  hundred  dollars 
annually  for  looking  after  the  several  school 
districts  in  the  county ;  and  a  child  of  ten 
or  twelve  years  knows  more  than  a  man  of 
seventy,  and  can  tell  you  what  rivers  flow  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  and  can  tell  you  if  a  man 
had  one  hundred  sheep  and  lost  three-fifths  of 
them,  and  found  one-fifth,  and  sold  two-fifths, 
and  bought  four-fifths  as  many,  how  many  he 
then  had.  Common  laborers  received  forty  to 
fifty  cents  per  day  ;  haymakers  and  harvesters 
sixty-two  to  seventy-five  cents  per  day ;  a 
hired  man  on  a  farm  $8.00  per  mouth  ;  a  hired 
girl  from  $2.50  to  $3.00  per  month.  Now  a 
well-educated  man  can  make  a  living  by  being 
idle  nine  days  out  of  ten ;  and  if  he  can  get 
your  name  on  a  note  or  check,  or  persuade 
you  to  endorse  him,  or  take  his  note,  if  well- 
written,  you  oftimes  are  a  sadder  and  a  wiser 
man.  I  have  a  ease  in  point  of  a  beautifully 
written  note  that  was  never  paid  ;  the  payee 
often  remarking  it  was  so  very  well  written, 
I  had  no  idea  that  it  would  not  be  paid.  In 
those  days  nothing  was  known  of  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  receiving  $25,000  annually;  or  of 
a  bankrupt  law  which  allowed  debtors  to  pay 
on;'-!ialC  their  liabilities,  or  less,  and  ever 
alVrwiii-.l  be  released  from  the  balance,  thus 
miiliiii;.'  i  li'  111  richer  than  ever  before  ;  or  of  a 
man's  wile  nwiiing  everything  after  said  man 
had  obtained  all  the  credit  possible  and  the 
creditors  wanted  their  money.  Ten  to  twelve 
per  cent,  interest  per  annum  was  then  un- 
known, three  -and  four  to  five  per  cent,  per 
annum  being  the  current  rates. 

Nothing  was  then  known  of  a  man's  son 
having  a  horse  that  cost  from  $200  to  $300, 
and  a  buggy  that  cost  from  $300  to  $400,  har- 
ness $50,  and  sleigh  $125,  and  driving  around 
the  country  while  his  father  was  home  driving 
the  work,  and  paying  the  bills  contracted  by 
his  son  as  they  come  in.  The  daughter  away 
at  school,  learning  music,  pap  rhust  get  a 
piano  or  org<an  for  sis  ;  don't  let  sis  go  in  the 
kitchen,  her  fingers  will  get  too  thick  if  she 
works,  and  she  cannot  play  well.  She  must 
have  a  silk  dress  at  $50  or  $100.  Nothing 
was  known  of  feeding  cattle  for  market ;  the 
grain  was  all  sold  from  the  farm.  Nor  of 
the  raising  tobacco,  excepting  that  was  raised 
for  the  farmer's  own  use.  Others  had  half  an 
acre  to  sell  to  segarmakers.  No  lime  was 
used  as  a  fertilizer  on  land.  In  those  days  if 
a  man  would  have  told  the  people  that  fifty 
years  hence  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  to- 
bacco would  be  sold  in  Lancaster  county,  and 


1879. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


25 


a  man  would  travel  from  Philatlflpliia  to 
Pittsburg  iu  twelve  hours,  and  would  hv  able 
to  communic'at<^  with  kiiius  and  queens  iu  all 
parts  of  the  civilizi'il  p;lolic  in  a  few  hours' 
time,  ho  would  have  beiii  voted  a  luiuilic  and 
treated  aceordiugly  ;  or  |)redicted  the  exteu- 
sive  use  of  ice,  or  the  springing  ii|i  an  hun- 
dred tobacco  warehouses  in  L:iue:isUT  cDUutv 
to  handle  the  large  crop  tliat  is  annually  raised 
ill  said  county,  reaching  :!ii,fi(i()  to  •10,1)00 
cases  ;  and  segar  manufactories  that  use  from 
60  to  100  cases  per  annum,  each,  and  in  the 
aggregate  consume  S,000  to  10,000  cases  in 
the  countv  |)er  annum,  making  it  no  incredi- 
ble theorV  that  in  a  frw  vears  Lancaster 
county  will  manufactun'  all  the  tobacco  it  at 
present  raises,  and  send  the  same  to  all  parts 
of  the  world.  IIow  are  we  progressing  ?— 
Henry  Kurtz. 

For  The  r.ANCAfiTKn  Farmki*. 
FERTILIZERS  AND   FORMULAS. 

The  season  is  coming  again  when  the  ground 
needs  to  be  prepard  for  the  summer  croi)s, 
and  the  farmer  faces  the  question  :  Have  I 
enough  manure,  and  if  not,  can  I  use  fertili- 
zers to  advantage  V 

In  December  number  of  TnE  Fahmeu  a 
number  of  formulas  were  given  for  the  different 
kinds  of  crops,  which  we  will  proceed  to  ex- 
amine in  such  cases  as  would  likely  to  be  of 
interest  to  the  readers  of  thi.s  journal.  'We 
will  have,  however,  to  go  over  some  old 
ground  flrst  and  see  what  the  requirements  of 
plants  are,  so  we  may  know  what  our  manure 
or  fertilizer  should  coutain  in  order  to  be  of 
bcnellt  in  raising  crops. 

That  plants  may  arrive  to  perfection  it  is 
necessary  that  the'soil  contains  certain  snb- 
stiinces  as  materials  for  plant  food,  but  wc 
are  interested  only  in  those  that  may,  from 
cropping  or  other  causes,  become  exhausted 
or  reduced  below  the  amount  necessary  for 
healthy  and  prolitablc  plant  growth.  We 
have,  therefore,  only  to  consider  nitrogen, 
potash,  phosphoric  acid,  lime  and  sulphuric 
acid. 

The  quantity  of  lime  taken  up  by  a  crop,  as 
plant  food,  is  very  small,  indeed.  A  crop  of 
20  bushels  of  wheat,  and  the  straw,  contains 
less  than  nine  pounds  ;  a  ton  of  clover  hay 
about  forty  po\inds ;  a  ton  of  timothy  hay 
about  nine  pounds ;  and  a  ton  of  tobacco 
leaves,  cured,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds— less  than  two  bushels.  The 
large  quantities  of  lime  usually  applied  are 
not  needed  by  the  plant  as  plant-food,  but  is 
intended  to  prejiare  or  make  more  available 
other  plant-foods  that  may  be  iu  the  soil,  just 
the  same  as  when  sulphuric  acid  is  added  to 
bones.  As  lime  only  hastens  what  would,  in 
time  occur  naturally,  we  might  say  lime  is 
time,  and  as  "time  is  money,"  so  lime  must 
be  money.  Sulpliuric  acid  is  taken  up  by  the 
j)lant  in  still  smaller  quantities  than  lime,  and 
is  most  elieaply  supplied  in  the  form  of  gyp- 
sum, (sulphate  of  lime.)  one  linndred  to  two 
liundred  pounds  of  the  ground  article  being 
usually  suHicient,  and  containing'  more  of  the 
acid  than  would  be  needed  by  the  crops 
grown  for  some  years. 

Both  of  the  above  sukstances,  lime  and  sul- 
phuric acid,  are  very  easily  washed  out  of  the 
soil,  and  it  is  more"for  tliis  than  any  other 
reason  that  the  application  should  be  made  at 
short  intervals,  and  in  somewhat  greater 
quantities  than  the  wauls  of  the  plant  would 
seem  to  call  for. 

Potash  and  phosphoric  acid  generally  re- 
main in  the  soil  until  removed  by  the  crops 
taken  off,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  tlieir 
effect  is  to  be  seen  for  so  much  longer  a  time 
than  that  of  other  applications.  In  all  good 
chemical  fertilizers  phosphoric  acid  is  very 
soluble,  being  readily  dissolved  by  water; 
contact  with  lime  destroys  this  .solubility  and 
renders  it  inert  as  plant-food  until,  by  some 
chemical  action  in  the  soil  the  lime"  enters 
into  some  other  combination,  leaving  the 
phosphoric  acid  soluble  as  before.  It  is  for 
this  purpose  that  "dissolved  bones,"  "phos- 
phates," Ac,  should  not  be  applied  to  land 
recently  limed,  nor  should  lime  be  applied 


until  a  few  years  after  the  application  of  such 
fertilizer. 

Nitrogen  is  useful  to  plants  only  in  the  form 
of  nitrates,  such  as  nitrate  of  soda,  potash, 
&c.  ;  or  as  salts  of  ammonia,  the  ammonia 
itself  being  a  compound  of  nitrogen  and 
hydrogen.  The  only  salts  of  ainnionia  used 
to  anv  extent  is  the  snlphali'  of  annn.iuia. 
Nitrogen  should  never  be  applied  in  greater 
quantity  than  f(ir  the  needs  of  the  crop  to 
which  it  is  applied,  as  it  is  very  liable  to 
escape  from  the  soil  into  the  air  as  free  nitrogen. 

Prof.  Villo,  of  France,  says  that  for  wheat 
only  one-half  as  much  nitro;;cn  need  b(^  ap- 
plied as  the  cmii  contains,  that  the  iiniporli„n 
needed  by  dilTcrent  crops  varies.lieing  in  clover, 
peas  and  beans  (leguminous  iilants  generally,) 
only  about  one-sixteenth  of  the  amount  found 
in  the  matured  crop  ;  but  that  potash  and 
phosphoric  acid  should  be  aiiplied  in  some- 
what greater  (luanlities  than  the  crop  con- 
tain.s.  Thai  the  plants  lak«  \ip  nitro^'cu  from 
the  air,  as  advocated  by  Prof.  Ville,  is  doubted 
and  denied  by  many  of Cqually  high  authority; 
and  it  is  not  our  province  to  enter  into  the 
merits  of  the  case,  but  it  is  of  interest  for  us 
to  know  that  they  all  state  that  nitrogen  has 
very  little  effect  on  clover,  &c.,  and  that  the 
eflects  on  the  different  crops  does  not  corre- 
spond with  the  amount  of  nitrogen  contained 
in  such  croi)s. 

Knowing  the  needs  of  the  idant,  with  re- 
gard to  kin<l  and  ainnunt,  we  should  be  able 
in  some  measure  t(i  furui  an  intelligent  idea 
of  the  fitness  of  a  certain  formula  for  the  croj) 
intended.  For  this  purpose  we  give  two  tables 
below. 

In  table  Ko.  1,  is  given  the  crop  for  which 
the  formula  was  made  ;  the  increased  yield,  it 
is  assumed,  the  application  will  make  ;  cost 
of  ingredients  in  formula  ;  number  of  pounds 
of  nitrogen,  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  the 
materials  contain  ;  the  last  column  gives  the 
increased  yield  in  tons  of  straw,  fodder  or 
offal— the  value  of  which  each  must  calculate 
for  himself,  and  deduct  from  the  cost  of  the 
application  to  find  what  will  be  the  cost  of  the 
wheat,  &c.  Extra  labor  from  handling  extra 
crops  must,  of  course,  be  considered. 

In  table  No.  2  is  given  the  number  of  pounds 
of  nitrogen,  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  con- 
tained in  the  crops  of  table  No.  1,  and  the 
amount  of  nitrogen  assumed  by  Prof.  A^'ille  as 
needed  for  the  growing  crop.  The  calcula- 
tion is,  of  course,  made  for  everything,  i.  c, 
grain,  straw,  &c. 


Hy  com])aring  the  column,  "nitrogen," 
table  Xo.  1,  with  that  of  "  nitrogen  assumed" 
iu  table  Xo.  2,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  amount 
of  nitrogen  furnished  by  the  formulas  is 
greatly  in  excess  of  what  Prof.  Ville  claims 
as  needful.  If  convinced  of  the  truth  of  these 
claims,  wc  ciiuld  verv  nialeriallv  riMluce  the 
(•cist.,flhesrrnrniuhisl,vlakiliL.'sMiallrr,pKinti- 


thc 


H 

T? 

a; 

^ 

•< 

o:g 

CROrs. 

la 

1 

& 

n 

1! 

Wheat 

20  bus. 

$13  61 

49. 

?5 

93 

1«ton.. 
\)4    •• 

30      " 

13  95 

3S 

63 

?3 

O.ltfl 

.SO      " 

ID  04 

^} 

■>■> 

!■> 

K.TO 

20      " 

1        ■■ 

Tobacco 

moo  lbs. 

22  22 

64 

<»S 

9^ 

PotatoCH  

200  bus 

15  76 

49 

T7 

Tnroins 

10  tons 

19  fi- 

5T 

Fi4 

23 

flr.ssHay 

2      •• 

20  5S 

23 

Fod.ler— forn,. 

10      " 

Fod.ler-Eye... 

3      " 

M  73 

34 

45 

Table  No.  i 

•y.     tz 

■3 

>3 

II 

CHOPS. 

1 

i  ? 

BBMARKB. 

Wheal 

20 

35 

,- 

Ont. 

15 

27 

24 

11 

25 

91 

Buckwheat 

37 

Tobacco 

72 

lotatoes 

20 

39 

67 

22 

(Toi.«    not     in- 

Turuim  

3li 

(-2 

Ora«HH.,y 

'J 

83 

78 

2-i 

line  by  inference 

(In   the   green 

Fod<i»r-R>e 

26 

33 

u 

By  comparing  the  columns  of  "potash"  and 
"phosphoric  acid"  of  the  tables,  it  will  be 
seen  that  these  amounts  are,  in  most  cases, 
somewhat  greater  than  in  the  formulas  than 
in  the  crops,  and  this  is  as  it  should  be. 


If  the  teachings  of  agricultural  cheniists  be 
true  that  soda  and  magnesia  are  present  in 
comparatively  inexhaustible  quantities,  the 
sulphates  of  these  miuht  be  omitted  iu  the 
f.-nuulas  ;  and  als.,  as  the  oil  of  vitriol  (sul- 
phuric acid)  ii^cd  iu  re<luciiig  the  bones,  and 
the  sul|ilmri(  aiid  containe<r  in  the  sulphate 
of  aninionia  fuinishes  this  acid  in  larger 
(luantily  than  the  crop  needs,  the  land  plaster 
(gypsum)  might  also  be  omitted,  there  being 
very  few  soils  that  would  be  benefited  any  by 
the  small  quantity  of  lime  contained  in  the 
jilaster.  Omilling  the  above  would  make  a 
further  saving  of  ().">  cents  to  .?1.00  j.cr  acre. 

By  laying  aside  dillerences  of  opinion  as  to 
what  is  needed  and  what  is  not  needed,  and 
taking  the  formulas  as  they  are,  purchasing 
the  materials  from  reliable  parties,  I  believe 
that  they  are  decidedly  better  than  the  ma- 
jority of  "phosphates,"  "superphosphates" 
and  fertilizers  with  high-sounding  and  fancy 
titles. 

Farmers  may  wish  to  apply  only  one  of  the 
elements  of  plant-tnod,  but  we  are  at  a  loss  as 
to  what  materials  will  furnish  it  at  the  lowest 
price.  For  this  purpose  we  give  the  prices  of 
the  materials  furnishing  such  elements  : 
Sulphate  of  ammouia,  25  per  cent.,  -  4^4C.  per  Ih. 
Nitrate  of  Bod.i,  -  -  -  .  4'^c.  " 
Dried  blood,      -         -         -        -         -    'Jc.  " 

Nitrate  of  potasli,  80  per  cent.,      -         2c.  " 

.Sulphate  of  potash,  2.5  per  cent.,    -    512  00  per  Ion. 
Dissolved  boiie.s,  -        -        .        -  3.3  00        " 

Ground  bones,  -        -        -        -        -      32  50        " 

In  theabove  thenitrogen  will  cost  28ct8.  per 
pound  in  nitrate  of  soda  ;  23  cents  in  sulphate 
of  ammonia ;  and  183  cents  in  dried  blood. 

The  pota.sh  will  cost  4.{  cents  per  pound  in 
sulphate  of  potash,  and  4  cents  in  the  muriate 

The  phosphoric  will  vary  in  price  accord 
ingly  as  we  value  the  nitrogen  contained  in 
the  bones.  Iu  ground  bones,  if  we  value  the 
nitrogen  at  2.'i  ci'uts  per  punnd,  then  the  phos- 
phoric acid  will  cost  only  :i_l  cents  per  pound :, 
nitrogeu  at  18^  cents  woultl  make  the  phos- 
phoric acid  4cents.  In  dissolved  bones,  valuing 
nitrogen  as  before,  we  woidd  have  the  phos- 
phoric acid  0}  and  7j  cents  respectively. 

In  dissolved  lii>nes  the  phosphoric  acid  come.s  ^ 
somewhat  hi;;lier,  but  it  is  in  better  .shape ' 
than  when  the  bones  are  only  ground,  being 
much  iiore  available  to  the  wants  of  the 
plant.— yl.  B.  K. 


State  Societies. 


STATE  FRUIT  GROWERS'  SOCIETY. 
The  twentieth  annual  meeting  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Fruit  Growers'  .Society  was  calicd  to 
order  at  two  o'clock  on  Wedne.cday  afternoon, 
January  18th,  187'.l,  in  Adier  Hall,  corner  of 
Sixth  anil  Court  streets.  Reading,  by  Hon. 
Henry  M.  Kngle,  of  Marietta,  Lancaster 
county,  A'ice  President  of  the  Association. 
Vice  President  Enule.  in  taking  the  chair,  ex- 
pressed his  regret  that  the  President  of  the 
society,  .losiah  Hoopes.  of  Westchester,  Pa., 
was  unavoidably  absent  in  consequence  of  ill 
health.  He  stated  that  as  he  was  the  only 
Vice  President  present  he  would  not  .shrink 
from  the  dutv  devolving.'  npf)U  him. 

Col.  ,T.  L.  Slichter,  in  behalf  of  the  Berks 
County  .Agricultural  ami  Horticultural  So- 
ciety, then  delivered  an  address  of  welcome, 
•as  follows: 

Mr.  Prmidcnt  and  Gcntlcnten  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Fruit  Grotrrrs^  Society: 
In  behalf  of  the  Berks  County  Agricultural 
and  Ilorticulluial  Society,  I  have  the  pleas- 
ure to  welcome  you  to  the  city  of  Heading, 
and  to  assure  you  that  this  county  has  not 
been  unmindful  of  the  importance  of  fruit 
culture.     In   the    eighteenth    century    the 


26 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  February, 


''Seeker'  fear  was  plauted  on  her  soil ;  one  of 
these  veteran  trees  stands  on  my  grounds  aud 
bids  fair  to  fruit  for  many  days.  The  parent 
tree  of  this  world-i'enowued  fruit  stands  on 
what  was  once  the  farm  of  Lawrence  Seckel, 
below  Philadelphia,  and  is  still  in  a  healthy 
condition.  Tlie  "Heading"  pear,  of  such 
wide  reputation,  is  a  "seedling."  The  fol- 
lowing twenty-seven  are  acknowledged  native 
varieties  of  apples  of  approved  excellence  of 
which  we  may  well  be  proud  :  Hiester,  Keim, 
Boas,  Ilain,  Ilousum's  Red,  Phillippi,  Miller, 
.Stehle,  Krauser,  Helper,  Bear,  Marks,  Yost, 
Hughes,  Kelsey,  Gewiss  Goot,  Ncversink, 
Orange,  Meister,  C'liampacne,  Bitter's  Sweet, 
Evening  Party  Leslier,  01ilinL,'ci-,  lied  Appli', 
Staudt,  Zieber.  Under  the  iosLciiiit,-  care  of 
the  Berks  County  Agricultural  and  'Horticul- 
tural Soeiety  over  fifty  thousand  fruit  trees— 
Ihemajority  peach— have  been  planted  during 
the  last  two  years.  How  gratifying  a  reflec- 
tion that  soon  our  fruit  productions  in  Penn- 
sylvania will  in  a  measure  make  up  the  loss 
occasioned  by  the  depression  in  mineral  and 
other  interests.  Anticipating  much  pleasure 
and  profit  in  attending  this  convention,  I 
again  bid  you  a  cordial  welcome  to  this  city 
and  county. 

Vice  President  Engle  replied  briefly  to  the 
address  of  welcome.  He  said  that  the  hearti- 
ness of  the  welcome  required  an  equally  hearty 
response  for  wliich  he  did  not  have  the  Avords 
to  reply.  He  heartily  accepted  the  welcome 
and  fully  appreciated  it.  He  said  that  the 
society  since  its  existence  has  been  rather  an 
itinerant  one,  and  has  held  its  sessions  in 
diflerent  sections  of  the  State,  not  so  much 
fortheinstruition  of  others  as  to  learn.  They 
expect  also  to  make  new  members  in  the  dif- 
ferent places  in  which  they  meet,  and  hoped 
to  receive  a  considerable  accession  of  new 
members  in  Reading. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  Berlcs  and  Schuyl- 
kill Journnl  for  a  copy  of  these  proceedings, 
but  regret  that  our  space  is  too  limited  to 
admit  the  whole  in  our  columns,  and  therefore 
the  foUowiui;  extracts  must  suflice  for  the 
present.  "Wc'will  tr\-.  li(i\vc\cr,  to  make  room 
forthecssavs  i.f  :m.'ssis.  siitze!  aud  Satter- 
thwaite.  Tlie  meeting  itsclfnas  well  attended 
and  interesting,  and  the  discussions  brought 
out  many  nseful  things. 

Charles  H.  Miller,  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Nominations,  reported  the  follow- 
ing oflicers :  President,  Josiah  Hoopes,  West 
Chester ;  Vice  Presidents,  Henry  M.  Engle, 
Marietta;  George  D.  Stilzel,  Re'adini,';  .John 
I.  Carter,  West  Grove  ;  Kcr-.i.Hnu  Sc-i-etary, 
E.  B.  Engle,  Marietta;  ('.>i  r(.-;ininliii-  Secre- 
tary, AV.  P.  Brinton.  ClirisI  iana  ;  Tivasurer, 
George  B.  Thomas,  West  C^liester;  Professor 
of  Botany,  Thomas  Median,  Germantown  ; 
Professor  of  Entomology,  S.  ,s.  Rathvon,  Lan- 
caster; Professor  of  Horticultural  Chemistry, 
S.  B.  Heiges,  of  York. 

The  President  was  authorized  to  cast  the 
ballot  for  the  oflicers  nominated  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  they  were  elected  by  acclamation. 

The  society  then,  at  9:40  v.  m.,  adjourned 
to  meet  on  the  third  Wednesday  in  January, 
1880,  in  Bethlehem,  Pa. 


STATE  MILLERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

The  third  .semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  Millers'  Association  convened 
in  the  large  parlors  of  the  Stevens  House,  on 
Wednesday  afternoon,  January  14.  The 
President,  Charles  A.  Nuuor,  of  Wilkes 
Barre,  called  the  meeting  to  order  in  a  neat 
speech,  in  which  he  welcomed  the  old  mem- 
bers and  expres.sed  his  pleasure  at  seeing  so 
many  strange  faces  present.  He  said  Penn- 
.sylvauia  represented  more  milling  capital  than 
any  State  in  the  Union,  and  it  was  to  the 
interest  of  all  millers  to  stand  firmly  together 
for  mutual  protection. 

The  Secretary,  A.  Z.  Schoch,  then  read  the 
minutes  of  the  last  mccting'held  in  the  Key- 
stone House  in  Reading,  at  which  there  we're 
70  members  present,  representmg  nearly  every 
county  east  of  the  Alleghenies,  and  at  which 
meeting  20  new  members  were  added  to  the 
membership. 


The  following  old  members  answered  to 
their  names  at  call  of  roll :  John  McFarland, 
Watsontown;  N.  C.  Ereck  &  Co.,  Millers- 
liurg;  J.  M.  Thomas  d-  Co.,  Wilkes  Barre; 
Hancock,  Grier&Co.,  Wilkes  Barre;  Schoch 
Bros.,  Selins  Grove;  C-  Bruckhart,  Chambers- 
burg;  J.  II.  Geary,  Cattawissa;  P.  A.  &  S. 
Small,  York;  T.  Wright,  Kingston;  Jacob  F. 
Newman,  Bedford;  J.  B.  FLsher,  Penn  Hall; 
Geo.  F.  Seitz,  Glen  Rock;  F.  W.  Gantz,  Maii- 
ctta;  Krieder,  Campbell  &  Co.,  Philadelpliia; 
Strickler  &  Keller,  Lancaster;  Reuben  Gar- 
ber&Son,   Salun^a;  Jacob   V/alter,    Eastou; 

D.  L.  Hamaker,  East  Hempfiekl;  A.  N.  AVolf, 
Allentown;  Samuel  Young,  Marlekirlc  (V); 
Benj.    Wi.ssler,  Lincoln;  P.^B.  Bucher,  Clay 

E.  L.  Rogers  &  C:o.,  Pliiladelphia;  I).  ,V-  A. 
Luckenland,  Bethlehem  ;  Aaron  Yocum, 
Reading. 

After  the  calling  of  the  roll  the  Secretary 
read  his  report ;  also  the  report  of  the  Trea- 
surer, whicli  was  adopted. 

The  new  members  were  then  added  to  the 
roll— E.  K.  Bollinger,  Glen  Rock;  Charles  II. 
Piatt,  Avondale;  Gotleib  Mayer,  Middletown; 
Eph.  Bollinger,  Sell's  Station;  J.  M.  Brandt, 
Mt.  Joy;  Nath.  Sellers,  Philadelphia;  Wm. 
W.  Snyder,  Landisburg,  Perry  county;  Wm. 
Pyle  &  Sons,  Bryn  Mawr ;  S.  M."  Miller, 
Reftou;  Wade  Wilson,  New  ]5righton;  Sam'l 
M.  Ihua,  Harrisburg;  Peters  &  Allen,  Phila- 
delphia; C.  (i.  Weuger,  AVest  Earl;  .John  S. 
Gingrich,  Petersburg;  John  P.  Sager,  Lemon 
Place;  Forney,  AVist  &  Co.,  Hanover;  John 
Ilofler,  Harri-sburg;  Noble  &  Son,  AVilliams- 
port;  Arnold  Miller,  Reading;  Levan  &  Sons, 
Lancaster,-  Isaac  Ranck,  Lancaster;  John  AV. 

E.shleman,  Lancaster:  Stauffer,  Stevens; 

John  Musselman,  AVheatland  Mills;  Steacy  & 
Co.,  Columbia. 

Mr.  Small  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  be  extend- 
ed to  President  Miner  and  Secretary  Schoch, 
and  that  they  be  re-elected  to  the  positions  they 
had  filled  with  so  much  credit  aud  ability. 

]5otli  the  President  and  Secretary  earnestly 
requested  that  others  be  elected  to  fill  their 
places,  and  the  former  reciprocated  the  com- 
pliment paid  liim  by  Mr.  Small,  by  nominating 
him  for  President,"  but  the  latter  positively 
declined,  and  the  entire  sentiment  of  the 
meeting  seemed  to  be  so  strongly  in  favor  of 
retaining  these  gentlemen  in  these  positions, 
that  tliey  were  unanimously  re-elected,  though 
under  protest  of  vote  by  both  of  them,  Mr. 
Small  putting  the  motion  to  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Miner  briefly  returned  thanks  lor  the 
honor  done  him,  but  Secretary  Schoch's  speech 
was  very  brief.  He  said,  "Gentlemen,  I 
canuot  say  that  I  thank  you." 

The  Next  Place  of  Meeting, 
Bellefimte,  Harrisburg,  Lewisburg,  Bedford 
and  Chambersburg  were  placed  in  nomina- 
tion, and  there  was  considerable  discussion  on 
the  subject.  Finally,  all  the  towns  named 
but  Bedford  were  withdrawn,  and  Altoona 
was  added,  and  the  contest  thus  narrowed  to 
the  two  places,  was,  on  a  vote  being  taken, 
decided  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

The  President  announced  the  standing  com- 
mittees for  the  ensuing  year  as  follows: 

Patents.— AV.  Latimer  Small,  York;  Jacob 
AValter,  Easton;  Nathan  Sellers,  Tamaqua; 
L.  Hamaker,  East  Hempfleld;  Geo.  M.  Cress- 
well,  Petersburg. 

Intiurance.--Wm.  P.  Duncan,  Phillipsburg; 
John  AV.  Eshleman,  Lancaster;  B.  F.  Isen- 
burg,  Huntingdon;  E.  F.  Noble,  AViliiams- 
port ;  J.  Z.  Eby,  Manheim.  I 

Transportation.—lS,.  A.  Hancock,  AVilkes-  \ 
Barre;  A.  C.  Freck,  Millersburg;  M.  M.  Stein,  I 
Pottsville;  E.  G.  Steacy,  Columbia.  I 

Mill  Machinery  and  Processes. — Thomas 
AVright,  Kingston;  C.  Burkhart,  Chambers-  ' 
burg;  Frank  Hays,  Lock  Haven;  D.  O.  Luck-  i 
enbauch,  Bethlehem;  LB.  Fisher,  Penn  Hall. 

Grain  for  3Iillin(j.—S.  L.  Levan,  Lancaster; 
I.  M.  Thomas,  AVilkes-Barre;  A.  M.  Garber, 
Salunga;  J.  F.  Newman,  Bedford;  A.  B. 
Sprenkel,  AVrightsville. 

Oradinij  and  Inspection.— John  Iloffer,  Har- 
risburg; S.  Z.  Ilarbecker,  AVilliamson;  John 
P.  Sager,  Leuape;  L.  AV.  Pyle,  Bryn  Mawr; 
C.  Heebner,  Non-istown. 


Selections. 


THE  GRAIN  AND  FRUIT  CROPS  OF  1878. 

The  report  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture for  December,  just  issued,   shows  the 
following  condition  of  crops  : 
The  Corn  Crop. 

The  corn  season  closed  with  a  marked  im- 
provement in  the  condition  of  tlic  crop.  The 
average,  as  found  by  the  June  returns,  shows 
no  material  change,  being  in  round  numbers 
51,0(10,000  acres  in  1878,  and  50,300,000  acres 
in  1S77.  Compared  with  1877,  the  South 
Atlantic  States  show  a  falling  off  in  produc- 
tion ;  the  Gulf  States  increased  slightly.  The 
States  of  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Missouri  and 
Kansas— four  of  the  largest  producing  States- 
decline  considerably,  while  all  the  other 
States  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  and  in  the 
northwest,  make  a  decided  increase,  thus 
making  the  aggregate  crop  for  1878  larger 
than  that  of  1877  some  30,000,000  bushels. 
This  result  is  the  more  remarkable  as  it  is  the 
fourth  of  an  unbroken  series  of  large  crops. 
The  Oats  Crop 

is  somewhat  in  excess  of  the  very  large  crop 
of  1S77,  constituting  it  the  largest  crop  ever 
raised  in  this  country.  The  Atlantic  slope, 
north  of  the  Chesapeake,  showed  a  decline, 
especially  in  the  large  oats-producing  region 
of  the  Middle  States.  The  Southern  coast 
States,  from  North  Carolina  to  Texas,  uni- 
formly increase  their  product,  but  the  South- 
ern inland  States,  as  a  whole,  fell  off.  The 
AV'est,  Northwest  and  Pacific  States  showed  a 
marked  increase.  The  Teiritories  also  indi-  - 
cate  an  enlarged  product.  The  minimum 
quality  appears  in  the  neighborhood  of  Chesa- 
peake Baj%  though  portions  of  the  Northwest 
also  note  a  marked  deficiency  of  weight  and 
other  merchantable  qualities. 
There  is  no  material  change  in 
The  Barley  Crop 

for  1876  compared  with  1877,  except  the  great 
product  of  California,  which  will  be  double 
that  of  its  predecessor.  The  total  product  for 
the  year  1878  will  be,  in  round  numbers,  48,- 
000,000,  while  in  1877  the  crop  was  34,500,000 
bushels. 

The  Rye  Crop 

turns  out  about  one-sixth  larger  than  in  1877. 
The  total  yield  amounted  to  nearly  (30,000,000 
bashels.  The  quality  of  the  crop  is  below  the 
average  in  New  J-higland,  except  Connecti- 
cut, aud  above  (lie  average  in  all  the  Middle 
States  except  Delaware.  The  crop  of  the 
South,  on  the  whole,  is  inferior,  while  in  all 
the  States  of  the  AVcst,  Northwest  aud  Pacific 
slope  tlie  ([uality  is  superior,  except  in  Illinois 
and  Nebraska. 
There  is  a  large  decline  in  the 
Potato  Crop 
this  year  as  compared  with  1877.  The  leading 
complaint  was  tlie  extreme  heat,  which  es- 
pecially affected  the  late  plantings.  In  some 
places  it  was  coni'iineil  with  drought,  and  in 
others  with  exeessivi-  m-iisl  iire,  causing  rot. 
The  aveia-e  yi.'lil  ni  (he  whole  country  will 
be  09  bushels  ]ier  aei'e.  against  94  bushels  in 
1877,  thus  making  a  total  product,  in  round 
numbers,  of  124,000,000  bushels  for  1878, 
against  170,000,000  iii  1877. 

The  Hay  Crop 
is  20  per  cent,  greater  than  last  year. 

Sorghum 
is  receiving  increased  attention,  especially  in 
the  trans-Mississippi  States  and  Territories, 
where  the  results  of  the  year's  culture  are 
noted  by  different  correspondents  as  very  satis- 
factory. In  the  West  the  Minnesota  amber 
cane  has  produced  the  most  satisfactory  re- 
sults. In  Stearns  county,  Minn.,  this  variety 
is  reported  as  yielding  as  high  as  .'iOO  gallons 
of  syrup  per  acre.  Helaware  county,  Iowa, 
manufaetui-ed  lod.ddo  gallons  of  sorghum 
syrup  during  the  year  and  found  a  steady 
home  demand  for  the  whole. 


1879.] 

The  Tobacco  Crop 
of  1878  lias  been  secured  under  exceptionally 
auspicious  condilions  of  weather,  the  liriglit 
days  of  S(>|itc>iiil)or  favorins  tlic  icrowlli,  while 
the  unusual  (l.'l;iv  cif  seven'  I'rn-i  cnalileil  tiie 
plant  to  nuilnre  tlioroMiihlv  Ixlnre  the  knife 
is  applied.  Of  llie  UviH'.  I'nHlueiuu'  States, 
A'irsinia,  Maryland,  Conneetieut  and  .Mas.<;i- 
cluiselts  report  an  improvement  in  iiualitv. 
Twelve  Slates,  repre.'^entin};  the  bulk  of  the 
total  production  of  the  eoimliw  re|iiiil  the 
production  compared  with  I  i  '.  r  I..1- 
lows  :  Kentucky,  GO  ;  Virgim:!  ,  \li  mri, 
r>0  ;  Tennessee,  53  ;  Ohio,  '.'n  :  M  i  \  lini,  s) ; 
Indiana,  83 ;  North  Carolina,  s'.i;  I'ennsyl- 
vania,  80 ;  Illinois,  fiO ;  Connecticut,  8(5 ; 
Massachusetts,  9.").  The  conditions  of 
Fruit  Growth 

during  1878  were  <piite  unfavorable.  The 
prape  product  of  the  Atlantic  slope  and  Missis- 
sippi Valley  was  very  nineh  reduced.  Califor- 
nia, however,  reports  a  i;i-e;i(ly  increased  yield. 
The  apple  crop  shows  an  increased  vield'in  all 
of  the  Xew  Enqtle.nd  Slates,  Xi'W  York, 
Texas  and  the  Paeilic  States.  In  all  other 
States  it  shows  a  falling  olf,  Missouri  report- 
ing less  than  half  of  last  year's  crop. 

AMMONIA  IN  THE  AIR. 

Dr.  1{.  Anqrus  Smith,  who  has  done  so  much 
for  the  chemistry  of  the  air,  lately  read  before 
the  Manchester  Literary  and  Philosophical 
Society  a  paper  on  the  distribution  of  am- 
monia, in  which  he  describes  the  simplest 
method  yet  proposed  for  determining  the 
amount  of  ammonia  in  the  air.  And,  since 
such  ammonia  may  be  taken  as  an  index  of 
the  amount  of  decayed  mailer  in  any  locality, 
the  hygienic  inipurtanee  of  an  ea.sy  test  for  it 
is  not  small.  The  availability  of  the  proposed 
test  arises  i'roni  the  circumstance  that  ammo- 
nia is  deposited  from  the  air  on  every  object 
exposed  thereto.  "  It  you  pick  up  a  stone  in 
a  city,  and  wash  off  the  matter  on  its  surface, 
you  will  lin<l  the  matter  to  contain  ammonia. 
If  you  wash  a  eliair  or  a  table  or  anything  in 
a  room,  you  will  lind  ammonia  in  the  wash- 
ing. If  you  wash  your  hands  you  will  fiud 
the  same,  and  your  paper,  your  pen,  your 
tablecloth,  and  clothes  all  show  ammonia,  and 
even  the  glass  cover  to  an  (UMiament  has  re- 
tained some  on  its  surface."  In  .short,  am- 
monia sticks  to  everytbiuL.',  and  can  l)e  readily 
wa.shed  off  with  pure  water.  Hence  Dr.  Smith 
inferred  that  he  might  ~avc  him-^rir  nuicii  of 
the  trouble  he  had  been  t  ikiuLr  in  l;ilH,iious 
washings  of  air  to  deleimine  tlie  iucmucc  of 
ammonia,  and  gain  the  desired  end  by  testing 
the  superlicial  deposits  of  ainnuinia  wbicli 
gathers  on  clean  substances  during  ordinary 
exposure.  Accordingly  be  suspended  sm.ail 
glass  flasks  in  various  parts  of  his  laboratory 
and  examined  them  daily,  washing  the  outer 
surfaces  with  pure  water,  and  testing  at  once 
for  ammonia  with  the  Xes.sler  solution.  Sub- 
seipiently  a  great  many  observations  were 
made  by"  means  of  glasses  exiio,sed  to  air  in 
door  and  out,  where  the  air  was  foul.  By 
using  glasses  of  definite  size  it  was  easy  to 
determine whetherammonia  in  the  air  was  or 
was  not  in  e.xcess.  In  his  laboratory  experi- 
ments in  ammonia  was  observed  when  the 
glasses  had  been  exposed  au  hour  and  a  half. 

Of  the  practical  working  of  the  test  Dr. 
Smith  remarks  that  it  musi  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  annnonia  may  be  connected  with  or- 
ganic matter  ;  and  c(iiise<pieidly  this  mode  of 
inquiry  is  better  suitid  as  a  negative  test  to 
show  that  ammonia  is  absent  than  to  show 
what  is  present.  When  ammonia  is  absent 
wc  may  be  sure  that  the  air  is  not  polluted 
by  decaying  matter;  when  it  is  present 
there  is  need  of  caution.  Dr.  Smith  adds  that 
he  hopes  to  make  Ibis  a  ready  popular  test  for 
air,  a  test  for  sewer  gasses,  tor  overcrowding, 
for  cleanliness  of  habitations,  and  even  of  fur- 
niture, as  well  as  for  smoke  and  all  the  sources 
of  ammonia.  Of  course  it  must  be  used  with 
consideration  and  the  conclusions  must  not  be 
drawn  by  an  ignorant  person. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


27 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


Tlic  Lancaster  ('mimy  Ai;rIciiUurul  ami  Horticul- 
tural Society  met  en  Mondiiy  nfleriioon,  February  Uil, 
in  its  room  in  llio  C'ily  Hall,  and  was  called  to  order 
by  President  t'o()])cr.  The  following  members  were 
l)resent :  Calvin  Cooper,  President,  Hird-in-IIand ; 
.Jos.  V.  Witnicr,  Secretary,  Paradise;  Levi  W.  tirolf, 
Treasurer,  West  Karl ;  Dr.  S.  8.  Kathvoo,  city ; 
lleurv  .M.  Kngle,  .Marietta;  M.  D.  Kendlp,  Manor  ; 
Levi  S.  Heist,  Manljcini ;  Peter  S.  Relst,  LItiz;  C.  L. 
Ilunseckcr,  Manluitn ;  W.  H.  Brosius,  Drumoro; 
».  Sineycli,  city;  C.  M.  IIoBtctter,  Eden;  Henry 
Kurtz,  Mount  Joy;  W.  J.  Kain-olli,  West  Earl;  1. 
L.  Laudis,  Manheim  ;  Choc  Ciir|Hiilor,  city;  .1.  M. 
Johnston,  city;  Casper  llillor,  CoucsloKa;  Jacob 
Bollinjicr,  Manhcim  ;  Hcnrv  llcrr,  Wctl  Henipfield  ; 
Geo.  Mellvaino,  ,S;ilisl>urv';  F.pli.  11.  Hoover,  Man- 
hcim;  F.  K.  Dillcndcrllor,  cilv ;  Jotinson  Miller, 
Warwick;  S.  H.  Kslikni.in.  Lcainan  Place. 

Rev.  J.  Calder's  Lecture   on  Agriculture. 

As  announced  by  Henry  M.  Englc,  at  the  last 
meeting,  Kev.  James  Calder,  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  College,  situated  at  State  College,  Centre 
county,  was  present  and  ready  to  deliver  an  address. 
Tlie  rules  were  suspended  and  he  was  invited  to 
begin  his  lecture,  of  which  the  following  is  a  brief 
sketch  ; 

He  used  the  word  agriculture  in  a  comprehensive 
sense,  embracing  the  farm,  market  garden,  fruit 
growing,  horticulture  and  slocli  growing.  Agricul- 
ture is  a  foundation  industry  and  was  man's  first 
labor.  In  every  new  country  it  is  the  first  employ- 
ment for  man.  Manufacturing  nations  depend  on 
agricultural  ones,  as  England  on  America,  India,  etc. 
Agriculture  is  the  best  employment  in  whieh  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  substantial  fortune,  and  In  en- 
larging on  this  point,  the  lecturer  called  special  atten- 
tion to  the  advantages  of  earning  money  instead  of 
inheriting  it.  When  a  boy  earns  a  dollar  by  his  own 
labor  he  knows  its  cost  and  its  worth.  Give  another 
ten  thousand  dollars  and  unacquainted  witli  the 
labor  of  earning  it  he  spends  it  rapidly  because  he 
knows  not  what  it  costs.  Agriculture  is  peculiarly 
free  from  risks.  In  many  places  our  richest  men 
have  all  been  overwhelmed.  In  the  lumber  tra''e, 
the  oil  trade,  everything  is  at  a  stuml-still.  It  is  dif- 
ferent with  the  farmer.  He  ton  has  iisl<s,  but  com- 
pared with  other  profcssiuns  liis  risks  are  almost 
nothing. 

His  business  is  comparatively  free  from  the  tempta- 
tions that  assail  nearly  all  others.  All  professions 
have  their  chastisements  ;  tliey  are  for  our  own  good, 
but  the  trade  of  the  farmer  is  comparatively  exempt. 
In  Germany  farmers  live  on  small  patches,  and  are 
therefore  brought  together  ofteuer  than  our  farmers 
are.  Here  our  farmers  own  their  lands,  live  on  them 
and  are  to  some  extent  isolated,  being  thus  not  sub- 
jected to  so  many  temptations  as  other  men.  Farm- 
ing brings  men  nearer  their  Maker.  They  see  him 
in  the  nature  around  them  every  hour,  and  are  thus 
brought  into  nearer  communion  with  him. 
Intensive    Farming.  ' 

Lancaster  county  farmers  are  peculiar.  Their 
farms  are  large  but  are  well  cultivated.  In  many 
parts  of  the  State  men  own  large  csiulcs,  liumlrcds 
of  acres,  but  cultivate  only  a  small  iM.ni.ui.  Tliey 
skim  and  skim  over  it  and  do  not  iiiiicn.l  luliivalion 
in  its  higlier  sense.  Farmers  ought  le  take  no  more 
land  than  they  can  manage,  but  cultivate  a  little  and 
do  it  right.  Countries  that  are  densely  populated 
like  China,  have  farms  that  are  like  our  gardens. 
Here  a  man  may  own  300  or  HUO  acres  but  he  can 
manage  on  by  a  small  part  of  it. 

In  Cliina,  it  is  warmer  than  here,  the  climate  being 
about  equal  to  that  of  Mobile.  There  they  put  wheat 
in  the  ground  in  November  and  take  it  oil'  in  .March. 
Then  the  rainy  season  conies,  and  they  plant  rice 
which  th  -y  cut  in  August.  After  the  rice  crop  they 
plant  garden  vegetables  which  are  fully  grown  in 
November,  and  are  gathered  In  time  to  allow  the 
wheat  to  be  planted.  Thus  they  raise  three  crops  in 
one  year.  Of  tourso  the  climate  is  warmer,  and  this 
gives  tbcm  an  advantage,  bat  a  greater  advantage  is 
their  method  of  fertilization.  They  utilize  every 
scrap  of  manure  procurable.  Every  animal  that 
dies,  ashes  and  even  then  the  night  soil,  which  is 
nearly  all  wasted  in  this  country,  is  used,  and  the  re- 
sult is  that  the  crops  almost  jump,  tlicy  grow  so 
rapidly.  Their  fertilization  is  of  the  most  intensive 
kind  imaginable.  There  a  man  with  a  small  piece  of 
ground  can  make  money  and  plenty  of  it. 

Now,  in  this  country  we  are  too  prodigal,  too  care- 
less of  the  manure  pile.  In  Minnesota  he  met  a  man 
who  tliought  manure  was  a  nuisance,  and  was  glad 
astiiaiii  ran  by  his  farm  into  which  he  could  throw 
it.  He  » ill  learn  his  mistake  soon  enough  and  be 
glad  to  utilize  all  the  valuable  manure  he  now 
wastes.  The  intensive  farmer  is  the  man  who  cares 
for  every  bit  of  fertilizer  and  uses  it  to  advantage. 

Another  advantage  of  intensive  farming  is  that 
farms  become  divided  up  into  small  sections  and 
thus  more  men  are  enabled  to  become  freeholders 


and  independent.  What  tends  more  to  drive  Inde- 
pendence out  of  a  man  than  to  feel  that  his  neighbor 
is  rich  and  will  ri  main  so,  while  he  will  never  be- 
come independent  I  On  the  other  hand,  how  is  he 
inspired  if  he  feels  that  In  ten  years  he  can  owji  a 
piece  of  ground.  Now,  the  intensive  system  docs 
this,  and  is  therefore  the  best.  In  tlie  South  some 
men  owned  whole  counties,  so  to  speak,  while  the 
great  m.ajority  of  the  rest  were  mere  mudsills.  Wc 
should  endeavor  to  divide  the  ground  up  so  that 
every  man  could  own  properly. 

The  Location  of  Farms— A  Home  Market. 

Experience  has  shown  that  It  is  belter  for  agricul- 
ture to  be  near  other  interests  :  that  It  is  belter  for 
the  farmer  to  be  near  the  manufacturer  and  the 
common  carrier  near  to  railroads  and  canals,  VVe 
all  know  that  the  divine  injuuclinn  that  It  Is  not 
good  for  man  to  be  alone,  referred  to  his  choosing  a 
male  for  life,  but  it  applies  equally  In  the  all'airs  of 
business  life.  It  is  better  for  him  to  haVc  other 
business  men  near  him.  It  is  jKiBsihle  for  a  man  to 
have  a  good  farm,  with  everything  on  it  necessary 
for  the  use  of  the  former  ami  yet  to  be  unhappy. 
Why?  Because  he  is  so  far  from  his  fellows  that  he 
cannot  have  his  products  carried  to  them  at  a  profit 
to  him.  Years  ago  it  was  cheaper  to  burn  corn  In 
the  West  than  to  transport  the  coal  needed  to  make 
fires.  Just  so  with  the  farmer  who  is  so  unwise  as 
to  think  that  he  can  farm  with  profit  while  the  con- 
sumer is  lijOOO  miles  off  in  Europe.  The  heaviest  por- 
tion of  the  freight  charges  arc  sure  to  fall  upon  the 
producer.  The  nearer  you  bring  the  consumer  and 
the  producer,  tlic  better  for  the  latter. 

One  advantage  of  this  can  easily  be  pointed  out ; 
a  greater  variety  of  crops  can  be  raised.  Wheat  and 
corn  and  potatoes  can  be  kept  for  such  a  length  of 
time  that  they  can  be  shipped  for  long  distances. 
But  farmers  make  large  protits  from  the  growing  of 
strawberries,  which  are  largely  consumed.  Now,  if 
a  man  lives  a  great  distance' from  the  market  the 
culture  of  strawberries  is  not  profitable.  They  are 
ruined  before  he  can  get  them  to  the  market,  and  he 
is  shut  out  from  these  kinds  of  products. 

Another  advantage  from  these  products  is  the  va- 
riety of  interest  to  the  farmer's  family.  Suppose 
one  of  his  sons  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  care  of 
stock,  and  cares  for  no  other  branch  of  the  farm.  If 
his  father  decides  that  no  stock  but  what  Is  neces- 
sary for  farm  use  shall  be  raised  his  occupation  is 
gone.  Another  is  adapted  to  the  work  of  raising 
fruit,  but  tliey  are  so  far  away  from  the  market  that 
it  is  of  no  use  to  raise  it.  That  boy  has  no  work. 
Don't  put  all  your  eggs  In  one  basket.  Don't  raise 
only  one  crop. 

Then,  in  growing  for  a  home  market,  the  farmer 
better  understands  what  is  wanted  than  for  a  foreign 
market.  Suppose  we  try  to  raise  here  what  is  wanted 
in  Europe.  We  only  know  how  to  shape  our  actions 
by  the  reports  of  newspapers,  which  are  often  false. 
But  at  home  we  know  exactly  what  is  wanted  and 
can  raise  it  witliout  danger  or  loss.  Then,  how  easy 
it  is  to  reach  this  market.  We  send  our  hands  off  in 
a  wairon,  and  in  a  few  hours  the  sales  are  made  and 
the  rcVcipls  secure. 

Another  important  feature  in  producing  for  the 
home  market  is,  that  it  secures  a  greater  variety  of 
fertilizers.  If  we  send  wheat  to  England  what  re- 
turn do  we  get  ?  If  we  sell  it  at  home  we  get  a  fer- 
tilizer in  return. 

Educated  Farmers. 

Intelligence  is  necessary  in  farming.  A  great 
many  think  that  if  there  is  any  place  for  an  unedu- 
cated man  it  is  on  the  farm.  If  any  son  is  peculiarly 
stupid,  the  father  resolves  to  make  him  a  farmer. 
This  is  a  mistake  ;  a  slander.  If  any  man  intends  to 
be  a  farmer  he  should  be  Intelligent.  He  is  the  best 
farmer  who  is  best  educated.  Yet  at  the  same  time 
wc  must  recognize  the  unwelcome  truth  that  the 
majority  of  farmers  are  not  well  educated.  This  i.s 
easily  explained  in  Ihs  fact  that  farmers  live  out 
from  among  their  fellows,  and  consequently  do  not 
have  advantages  of  schooling.  The  most  of  the 
country  schools  upon  which  the  children  of  farmers 
must  depend  for  their  education  are  poor  ones. 
Sometimes  there  are  forty  or  fifty  scholars  and  almost 
as  many  classes  with  one  teacher.  Though  that 
teacher  do  the  best  she  can,  she  cannot  possibly 
advance  her  pupils  perceptibly  lu  the  short  term 
allowed.  And  after  four  or  five  years  of  such  school- 
ing, the  children  are  taken  away.  The  farmer  is  not 
to  blame,  it  is  rather  a  matter  of  sorrow. 

Now  the  farmer  who  has  received  an  education, 
and  knows  something  about  the  rotation  of  crops. 


ments  I  Take  the  limo  question,  and  the  lecturer 
told  how  an  old  farmer  argueil  for  two  days  that 
lime  is  a  manure,  but  could  not  be  made  to  under- 
stand that  it  only  prepared  the  plant  food  for  the 
plants.  At  length  he  was  convinced  by  a  simple 
Illustration.  He  was  shown  a  stove,  and  foo<I.  If 
he  was  hungry  he  could  cat  the  food  after  it  had 
been  cooked,  but  he  could  not  eat  the  stove  or  the 
raw  food. 

Instruction  can  be  gained  by  the  perusal  of  agri- 
cultural papers,  by  close  attention  to  discussions  at 
meetings  like  this,  and  the  farmer  will  be  able  to 


28 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  February, 


keep  abreast  with  the  times.  Therefore  the  farmer 
who  refuses  to  allow  his  sods  to  be  educated  is  acting 
unwisely  if  not  unkindly. 

In  conclusion,  he  advised  the  farmer  to  stick  to 
his  farming  and  to  love  it.  To  be  enterprising  and 
strive  to  improve  his  methods. 

On  motion  of  Henry  M.  Engle,  a  vote  of  thanks 
was  tendered  to  the  lecturer. 

Mr.  Kendig  asked  if  the  lecturer  would  advise  the 
application  of  lime  and  manure  at  the  same  time, 
and  received  a  negative  answer. 

Mr.  Linville  d  tiered  with  the  lecturer  in  regard  to 
the  education  of  farmers.  Education  does  not  cease 
when  ihe  school  is  abandoned.  No  class  has  a  better 
chance  than  the  farmer  for  self-education.  The  long 
winters  are  profitably  spent  by  some,  and  he  don't 
see  why  it  could  not  be  done  by  all. 
The  Fair  Question. 

The  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  con- 
sider the  question  of  holding  a  fair  was  called  for, 
but  Mr.  Smeych  stated  that  none  had  been  prepared, 
tb  the  comittee  had  not  met  at  the  appointed  time. 
For  his  part,  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
nothing  but  an  indoor  fair  could  be  held.  The 
Northern  Market  would  be  a  good  place,  and  it  should 
last  three  days. 

Mr.  Kendig  stated, thatas  Berks  county  has  always 
had  successful  fairs,  he  had  written  to  the  secretary 
of  the  Berks  County  Agricultural  Society,  Cyrus  D. 
Fox,  in  relation  thereto,  and  had  received  a  letter 
from  that  gentleman,  which  he  read.  The  letter 
warmly  advocated  fairs  as  being  to  the  interest  of 
farmers,  and  said  their  fairs  had  advanced  the  agri- 
cultural interests  in  Berks  county. 

Mr.  Engle,  in  his  travels,  had  made  inquiries  in 
relation  to  fairs,  and  found  that  the  Berks  and  York 
fairs  were  both  successful.  There  was  probably  a 
little  loss,  but  they  were  called  successes.  But  before 
talking  further  about  fairs  he  wished  to  know  how 
the  society  was  to  get  grounds  to  hold  a  fair.  All 
know  that  they  have  no  grounds,  and  hence  must 
rent.  It  is  not  at  all  certain  that  the  Park  grounds 
can  be  procured— in  fact  it  is  rather  doubtful.  If 
they  are  notprocuralile  the  fair  is  out  of  the  question. 
Not  that  the  farmers  of  Lancaster  county  are  not 
rich  enough  to  buy  grounds,  but  they  won't  do  it.  A 
fair  could  be  held  in  the  Northern  Market  House, 
but  it  would  be  a  small  affair  for  the  garden  county 
of  the  State  in  comparison  to  those  held  by  York 
and  Berks. 

Johnson  Miller  had  sent  in  a  communication, 
which  was  read.  He  thought  it  was  a  shame  that 
no  large  fair  had  been  held  since  18.58,  excepting  the 
State  fair,  and  that  might  have  been  better.  This 
fair  should  be  a  grand  one.  He  advocated  the  use 
ofthe  Market  House. 

Mr.  Calder  thought  that  to  hear  of  a  little  experi- 
ence a  party  of  men  in  Centre  county  had  would  in- 
struct the  society.  They  wanted  to  execute  a  work 
that  would  cost  ?1 ,000  and  thought  they  had  better 
be  incorporated.  They  made  application  for  a  char- 
ter, asking  permission  to  issue  ?1,000  worth  of  stock 
and  their  expenses  were  not  more  than  §20.  They 
put  the  stock  at  five  dollars  per  share,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  it  was  all  taken.  The  merchants  here,  no 
doubt,  would  subscribe  the  money  needed  if  they 
understood  that  the  farmers  wanted  to  have  a  fair. 

Mr.  Witmer  told  of  the  experience  of  the  Berks 
AgricuUural  Society  as  related  by  a  member.  In 
the  first  place  they  secured  grounds  for  the  nominal 
sum  of  ?1  a  year  for  99  years.  Then  they  sold  life 
tickets  for  $10  each  and  raised  money  to  erect  build- 
ings, etc.  It  had  occurcd  to  the  speaker  that  a 
vacant  place  near  the  city  could  be  secured  the  same 
way.  But  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  fair  be  held  in 
Lancaster ;  if  some  of  the  boroughs  otfer  better 
inducements,  they  ought  to  be  accepted. 

Mr.  Kurtz  knew  of  a  number  of  hotel  keepers 
who  would  give  §50  to  $100  if  a  fair  were  held  in 
this  city,  as  they  could  make  five  times  that  amount 
from  it. 

Mr.  Witmer  thought  it  would  not  do  to  sell  too 
much  stock  in  the  city.  If  merchants  got  a  majority 
of  the  stock  they  would  run  the  fair  to  suit  them- 
selves and  leave  the  farmers  out  in  the  cold. 

Mr.  Engle  moved  that  the  society  hold  a  fair  next 
fall,  and  his  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 
Charter  Wanted. 

President  Cooper  suggested  that,  in  order  to  carry 
out  Mr.  Engle's  motion,  the  society  should  procure  a 
charter  and  permission  to  sell  stock,  and  by  that 
means  raise  money. 

A  motion  was  made  that  the  society  apply  for  a 
charter,  which  was  carried. 

The  Amount  of  Stock. 

The  next  question  was  the  amount  of  stock  they 
desired  to  issue,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Engle  ?3,000 
was  fixed  upon. 

Mr.  Kurtz  moved  that  the  shares  be  fixed  at  ?.5. 
Agreed  to. 

Profit  of  Raising  Fowls. 

The  secretary  read  a  report  on  a  year's  experiment 
with  fowls,  prepared  by  Casper  Hiller.  (Seepage 20.) 

Mr.  Calder  said  he  liked  the  report  very  much.  He 
believed  chickens  should  have  a  place  into  which 
they  could  be  turned,  and  it  would  be  an  advantage 
to  turn  them  into  an  orchard.    His  plan,  as  his  ac-  I 


comraodations  are  limited,  is  to  keep  the  chickens  in 
the  yard  from  the  first  of  May  until  the  latter  part 
of  October,  when  he  let  them  run  through  the  or- 
chard, strawberry  patch,  vineyard,  etc.  That  was  a 
very  encouraging  report.  Though  not  large  there 
was  yet  a  net  income. 

Mr.  Witmer  reported,  as  directed,  that  the  Poultry 
Association  asked  the  co-operation  of  the  Agricul- 
tural Society. 

The  Curculio. 

Mr.  Reist  introduced  the  subject  of  insects,  and 
stated,  as  his  opinion,  that  the  borer  and  others  in- 
creased in  numbers  as  the  forests  decreased. 

Mr.  Engle  stated  that  he  had  recently  discovered 
that  the  forest  is  the  homo  of  the  curculio.  He  and 
a  friend  had  planned  an  apple  and  peach  orchard  on 
the  river  hills,  on  ground  surrounded  by  trees,  and 
was  surprised  at  the  numbers  of  this  insect  which 
attacked  the  trees.  But  afterwards  he  learned,  from 
Dr.  Rathvon,  that  the  forest  was  the  home  of  the 
curculio,  and  he  had  taken  trees  right  to  them. 
Grapes. 

Mr.  Smeych  exhibited  some  bunches  of  Almiera 
grapes,  and  related  his  experience  ingrowing  foreign 
grapes  of  all  kinds,  which  agents  said  would  grow 
here  as  well  as  in  their  native'eountries.  This  is  not 
true,  as  he  could  prove,  and  the  proper  place  for 
such  men  was  in  jail. 

Bills. 

A  bill   for  coal,  §2.25,  another   for  carrying  it   up 
stairs,  .50  cents,  and  a  third  of  $10  for  Mr.  Calder's 
expenses  were  presented  and  ordered  to  be  paid. 
Prize  Essays. 

Mr.  Engle  thought  more  prize  essays  should  be 
written,  and  volunteered  to  write  one.  Messrs. 
Kurtz  and  Brosius  also  ofl'ered  to  do  so,  the  essays  to 
be  ready  by  next  month. 

Mr.  Calder  was  proposed  and  unanimously  elected 
an  honorary  member,  and  thanked  the  society  for 
the  honor  conferred.     Adjourned. 

TOBACCO  GROWERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

Monday  afternoon,  January  20th,  was  the  regular 
time  for  holding  the  meeting  of  the  Tobacco  Growers' 
Association.  It  was  understood  at  the  last  meeting 
that  the  present  one  would  determine  whether  the 
society  should  be  continued  or  be  finally  disbanded. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  was  hoped  and  believed 
that  there  would  be  a  good  attendance,  but  the  same 
disappointment  that  has  so  long  been  the  portion  of 
the  few  who  have  regularly  met  and  attempted  to 
keep  alive  some  interest  in  the  meetings  of  the  organi- 
zation was  again  theirs. 

Only  eight  members  and  visitors  were  present, 
namely:  M.  D.  Kendig,  President,  Manor;  Peter  S. 
Reist,  Litiz;  Sylvester  Kennedy,  Salisbury;  A.  H. 
Yeager,  East  Lampeter ;  Linnaeus  Reist,  JManheim  ; 
Clare  Carpenter,  Lancaster  ;  Frank  R.  Diffenderffer, 
Lancaster  ;  Jacob  Kendig,  Silver  Spring. 

In  consequence  of  the  slim  attendance  it  was  not 
thought  necessary  to  go  through  the  formality  of 
calling  the  society  to  order,  but  Peter  S.  Reist,  who 
had  prepared  an  essay  on  the  culture  of  tobacco,  pro- 
ceeded to  read  it.     See  page  19. 

After  the  teading  of  the  essay  those  present  in- 
dulged in  trade  gossip  awhile  longer,  and  also  can- 
vassed the  propriety  of  continuing  the  meetings.  The 
conclusion  reached  was  that  during  the  past  so 
little  interest  has  been  shown  by  tobacco  growers  in 
these  monthly  gatherings  that  it  seemed  useless  for 
the  few  who  still  clung  to  the  organization  to  en- 
deavor to  keep  it  up  any  longer.  The  association  was 
not  finally  disbanded,  but  it  was  understood  that 
probably  one  more  meeting  held,  at  the  the  Presi- 
dent's call,  would  end  EO  much  of  the  Tobacco  Grow- 
ers' Association  as  still  held  together. 

This,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  the  winding 
up  of  an  organization  which  has  been  of  vast  benefit 
to  the  tobacco  growing  interests  of  this  county. 
Among  its  members  were  the  most  successful  grow- 
ers of  the  weed  among  us.  The  amount  of  informa- 
tion disseminated  among  our  farmers  on  tobacco  cul- 
ture can  he  seen  in  the  advanced  condition  tobacco 
growing  now  holds  in  Lancaster  county.  The  dis- 
cussions were  always  interesting  and  profitable,  and 
the  tobacco  growers  have  done  themselves  little 
credit  in  permitting  it  to  go  down. 

During  the  brief  period  of  twenty-five  years  to- 
bacco growing  has  assumed  enormous  proportions  in 
this  county.  The  amount  of  money  it  brings  to  our 
farmers  exceeds  that  they  receive  for  their  wheat 
crop,  reaching  in  favorable  seasons  the  enormous 
sum  of  two  millions  of  dollars  or  more.  It  has  been 
said,  and  truthfully,  that  the  culture  of  tobacco  has 
done  more  to  put  the  farmers  of  this  county  in  their 
present  strong  financial  condition  than  any  other 
crop  they  have  grown.  Hundreds  of  men  have  paid 
off  heavy  incumbrances,  and  others  have  gained 
comfortable  homes  for  themselves  through  this  crop. 
It  has,  in  short,  enriched  the  county  to  an  extent  few 
are  aware  of,  and  yet  yesterday's  proceedings  show 
that  there  is  not  enough  Interest  among'tobacco 
farmers  to  keep  the  society  especially  devoted  to  the 
advancement  of  this  great  and  growing  crop  from 
disbanding.  We  are  not  proud  of  the  record  our 
Lancaster  county  farmers  have  made  for  themselves 
in  this  matter.  I 


POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Poultry  Association  met  on  Monday  morning, 
February  3rd,  at  the  usual  time,  in  the  oid  Athens- 
um  rooms,  in  the  City  Hall.  President  Tobias  called 
the  meeting  to  order,  with  the  following  members 
and  visitors  present :  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  Litiz  ;  Frank 

B.  Buch,  Litiz  ;  W.  J.  Kafroth,  West  Earl ;  John  A. 
Reed,  city  ;  Joseph  F.  Witmer,  Paradise  ;  J.  A.  Buch, 
Litiz;  II.  H.  Tshudy,  Litiz;  Chas.  E.  Long,  city  ;  J. 

C.  Linville,  Salisbury;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  F.  R. 
Diffenderfl'er,  city;  Clare  Carpenter,  city;  J.  B. 
Lichty,  city;  Charles  Lippold,  city  ;  Colin  Cameron, 
Brickerville,  A.  H.  Shreiner,  Manheim ;  Harrj 
Hirsh,  city;  John  C.  Burrowes,  city  ;  D.  M.  Brosey, 
Manheim  ;  T.  D.  Martin,  New  Haven  ;  John  B.  Eshle- 
mau,  Ephrata  ;  N.  M.  Hahn,  Manheim ;  Eli  J.  Barr, 
Litiz;  Hon.  Amos  H.  Mylin,  West  Lampeter; 
John  S.  Rohrer,  city;  Simon  P.  Eby,  city;  Charles 
White,  city;  William  Dean,  city:  Samuel  Hess, 
city;  Christian  Rine,  city ;  Jacob  M.  Mayer,  Man- 
heim; Silas  M.  Warfel,  Strasburg  ;  Christian  Lint- 
ner.  Manor;  Henry  Nissley,  Columbia;  John  S. 
Hostetter, Oregon  ;  Hon.  John  B.  Livingston,  city; 
William  Bishop,  Strasburg,  and  S.  Matt.  Fridy, 
Mountville,  were  unanimously  elected  memberi  of 


the! 


ety. 


Charles  E.  Long  moved  that  postal  cards  be  sent 
to  each  of  these  men  just  elected  notifying  them  of 
their  election,  and  that  all  moneys  be  paid  to  J.  B. 
Lichty,  at  his  oflice  in  Centre  Square,  or  at  the  next 
meeting.  Carried. 

On  motion,  a  committee  of  three,  Charles  E.  Long, 
F.  R.  DifTenderffer  and  John  A.  Reed,  was  appointed 
to  ascertain  the  probable  cost  of  having  the  Consti- 
tution and  By-Laws  of  the  society  published. 

The  rules  were  suspended  to  allow  the  election  of 
John  C.  Linville,  Gap,  as  a  member. 

H.  H.  Tshudy  moved  that  a  committee  of  three 
members,  who  are  also  members  of  the  Agricultural 
and  Horticultural  Society,  be  appointed  to  bring  this 
association  to  the  attention  of  that  society,  asking 
them  to  encourage  it  by  becoming  members,  etc. 
The  motion  was  carried,  and  John  C.  Linville,  W.  J. 
Katfrotli  and  J.  F.  Witmer  were  appointed. 

H.  H.  Tshudy,  chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, presented  two  bills,  one  from  the  iVew  Era 
olHce  for  printing  postal  cards,  75  cents,  and  the 
other  from  J.  B.' Lichty  for  postage,  $1.20.  Both 
were  referred  to  be  paid. 

Colin  Cameron  proposed  the  following  questions 
for  discussion  at  the  next  meeting  : 

"  What  is  a  rapid  cure  for  chicken  cholera?"  Re- 
ferred to  Charles  E.  Long. 

"  Will  chickens  do  well  on  board  floors,  without 
sunlight  ?"    Referred  to  John  A.  Reed. 

"What  is  the  farmer's  best  barnyard  fowl?" 
Referred  to  11.  H.  Tshudy. 

"What  must  bens  that  are  confined  absolutely 
have  in  order  that  they  may  produce  eggs?"  Re- 
ferred to  Kcv.  D.  C.Tobias. 

Jos.  F.  Wilmcr  suggested  that  it  would  be  well  if 
at  each  meeting  questions  were  chosen  for  discussion 
at  the  next  meeJng,  and  moved  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  whom  this  duty  shall  be  assigned.  The 
motion  was  carried,  and  the  committee  will  be  an- 
nounced at  Ihe  next  meeting. 

Adjourned. 

WARWICK  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

A  meeting  of  citizens  of  Warwick  township  was 
held  at  the  house  of  John  Grossman,  of  said  town- 
ship, for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  Local  Farmers' 
Club.  Jfcmtiers  present,  Urias  Carpenter,  Jacob 
Bollinger,  .John  Iluber,  Henry  Hubcr,  Isaac  George, 
Michael  Behraer,  Peter  Volleiizer,  Johu  Grossman, 
Aar  .n  Grcsinan,  Moses  Grossman,  Mrs.  Carpenter 
and  Mrs.  (linesman.  The  meetingwas  organized  by 
electing    l'iia.s    Carpenter    President,     and    Jacob 

On  taking  the  chair  Mn.  Carpenter  stated  the 
object  of  the  meeting,  and  added  that  farmers  liave 
less  jirotection  than  any  other  class  of  men  ;  that  we 
proposed  to  meet  for  the  pur,,ose  of  exchanging 
ideas  on  matters  relating  to  our  interests  and  making 
agricultural  experiments.  He  spoke  at  some  length 
upon  the  importance  of  such  associations  as  we  de- 
sired to  organize,  and  the  benefits  derived  from  tliem. 

Mr.  Huber,  of  Litiz,  spoke  of  the  good  efi'ects  of 
farmers' clubs  in  other  localities,  and  that  wc  were 
behind  our  sister  counties  in  that  respect. 

Mr.  Grossman  said  that  millers,  tobacco  specula- 
tors and  other  business  men  have  their  society  meet- 
ings, and  why  should  not  also  the  farmers  have  their 
local  club  meetings  ? 

Mr.  Grossman  read  a  lengthy  essay  on  orchards, 
and  also  one  on  fence-making  on  the  farm.  (See 
pages  18  and  20.)  A  vote  of  thanks  was  passed  to 
Mr.  G.  for  his  interesting  and  instructive  essays. 

Mr.  Huber  and  others  made  remarks  on  the  essays. 

After  the  close  of  the  discussion  it  was  proposed  to 
meet  at  the  house  of  John  Grossman,  of  Warwick 
township,  at  1  o'clock  p.  m.,  on  Saturday,  February 
Ist,  1879.  All  farmers  and  those  interested  in  .agri- 
culture are  respectfully  invited  to  attend. 

After  some  social,  neighborly  intercourse  the  club 
adjourned. 


I 


1879; 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


29 


FULTON  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  January  moclinir  of  tin?  Fultmi  Farmers'  Club 
was  held  at  the  roei.Un  .  -r  M-n  ;::i.iii  Urown,  on 
thellhinet.    VisitorB  i         i      ■  .lion,  Haines 

Brown  and  wife,  ami  I   !  i     I  wife. 

CharlesS.  Catchel  rx) i  ,.        n ;. I. •  t>r  Nevada 

rye;  also  a  piece  of  ici- uiktii  ijiini  uir  a  bucket  ol' 
water  that  had  frozen  in  his  kililien.  It  had  a  tri- 
angular column  about  five  inches  lu^h  and  each 
about  an  inch  long,  risini;  perpendicularly  from  the 
surface.  As  this  was  formed  by  water  in  the  bucket  it 
was  considered  quite  a  curicsity. 

E.  H.  Haines  jjave  the  result  of  an  experiment  in 
setting  milk.  lie  weighed  some  milk  and  put  it  in 
tight  cans  and  set  it  out  of  doors,  so  that  the  cold 
would  raise  the  cream.  At  the  same  time  he  set  the 
same  number  of  pounds  in  the  ordinary  manner. 
Kaeh  mode  of  setting  produced  one  pound  of  butter  to 
twenty  pouuds  of  milk.  The  butter  made  from  the 
milk  set  in  the  cold  was  pronounced  to  be  better  than 
that  made  in  the  ordinary  way  by  the  salesman  in 
Philadelphia.  This  agreed  with  his  own  opinion. 
The  result  of  his  experiment  had  convinced  him  that 
the  new  methods  of  Cooley  and  Hardin  would  pro- 
duce as  much  butter  as  the  methods  now  in  use,  and 
it  would  be  a  superior  article. 

Wm.  King  asked  whether  it  would  bo  advisable  to 
haul  out  and  spread  manure  when  theground  is  frozen! 

It  was  the  opinion  of  all  pr-sent  that  it  was  not 
advisable,  because  the  water  that  would  leach 
through  it  in  time  of  rain  would  be  likely  to  run  off. 
Instead  of  being  absorbed  by  the  ground.  A  visitor, 
however,  stated  that  he  tried  it  with  good  results. 

Montillion  Brown  had  a  lightning  rod  that  was 
broken;  would  it  be  sale  to  splice  with  an  old  rod 
and  wrap  with  copper  wire?  Most  of  the  members 
thought  it  would  be,  if  spliced  with  copper  and 
smoothly  wrapped. 

S.  L.  Gregg;  How  do  fertilizers  pay  when  applied 
to  oats  ? 

E.  H.  Haines  :  They  will  pay  as  well  as  any  other 
crop,  hut  there  is  a  danger  of  applying  too  much. 
Oats  will  not  stand  high  manuring. 

Montillion  Brown  had  tried  it  two  years  and 
thought  it  paid.  He  had  good  oats  both  years, 
though  they  were  poor  seasons.  Other  members  had 
no  experience. 

TTaines  Brown  :  Would  it  not  pay  as  well  to  leave 
corn  stock  ground  lie  idle  as  to  put  it  in  oats  ? 

S.  L.  Gregg  had  tried  the  plan  and  was  not  pleased 
with  it.  He  plowed  the  ground  before  harvest  to 
keep  down  the  weeds,  but  they  came  up  notwith- 
standing and  gave  him  much  trouble.  His  neighbor, 
George  .Miller,  left  his  last  summer  and  did  not  plow 
until  after  harvest,  when  theweedshad  to  be  mowed. 
They  were  four  feet  high.  His  wheat  is  now  looking 
well. 

E.  H.  Haines  would  cultivate  and  sow  in  clover 
rather  than  let  the  ground  lie  idle. 

Ed  Stubbs  would  put  in  oats.  Had  seen  clover 
sowed  In  stock  eround.  It  made  such  a  rank  growth 
that  it  was  a  big  job  to  put  in  wheat  in  the  fall. 

Lindley  King  would  keep  the  ground  clean  by 
putting  it  in  oats. 

Montillion  Brown  ;  When  is  the  best  time  to  pack 
butter  for  winter  use  ? 

R.  B.  Gatchel  packed  thirty  pounds  in  a  week  in 
June,  churncdevery  day,  salted  with  seven  ounces  of 
salt  to  ten  pounds  of  butter.  Put  half  inch  of  salt 
between  each  churning  and  a  layer  of  salt  over  top 
of  all. 

Esther  K.  Haines  has  eaten  some  this  winter  that 
had  kept  well.  It  had  been  put  up  in  nearly  the 
same  way,  only  that  holes  had  been  made  down 
through  it  with  a  stick,  and  brine,  with  salpetre  in 
it,  poured  over  it  and  a  cloth  put  down  tightly  over 
the  top. 

Montillion  Brown  :  When  is  the  proper  time  to  sow 
early  cabbage  and  tomato  seed  ? 

From  the  last  of  February  to  the  middle  of  March 
was  the  time  recommended  by  some  ;  but  most  of 
the  members  purchased  their  plants  for  early  use. 

Montillion  Brown  :  How  old  should  a  clover  sod 
be  to  produce  the  best  crop  when  plowed  down. 

Lindley  King  :  About  two  years  ;  that  is  about  as 
long  as  clover'sod  will  last. 

Chas.  S.  Gatchel  referred  to  some  clover  roots  that 
he  had  exhibited  to  the  club  some  time  ago.  Those 
of  one  year  old  had  the  most  small  fibres  attached 
to  them.  Judging  from  this  fact  he  supposed  that 
the  best  time  to  plow  duwn  clover  was  atone  yearold. 

S.  L.  Gregg  and  Montillion  Brown  thought  that  at 
two  years  old  would  be  the  proper  time  to  plow 
down.  At  that  time  the  roots  are  as  long  and  as 
strong  as  ever  they  would  be  ;  after  that  time  It 
begun  to  die  out  and  other  grass  takes  its  place. 

Edward  Stubbs  asked  if  the  committee  appointed 
to  experiment  in  raising  corn  thought  it  paid  to  raise 
a  hundred  bushels  per  acre. 

Montillion  Brown  replied  that  the  single  crop  did 
not,  but  that  the  soil  is  left  better.  For" his  part  he 
considered  the  experiment  a  failure,  and  its  result  a 
disgrace  to  the  club.  He  was  not  satisHed  with  it 
and  was  going  to  try  it  again,  and  he  hoped  that  the 
others  would  do  so  also. 

The  thermometer  was  not  far  enougli  above  zero 
for  the  club  to  spend  much  time  in  making  the  usual 
inspection  of  farm  and  live  stock.    However,  the 


greater  part  of  them  ventured  out  and  took  a  hasty 
look  at  the  stock  in  the  barnyard  and  hog-pen.  The 
criticisms  given  aller  again  convening  in  the  house 
were  as  follows  :  Hogs  of  extra  quality  and  in  fine 
condition.  Cattle  not  as  good  as  they  were  a  year 
ago.  The  President  remai-ked  that  the  cattle  on  the 
farm  a  year  ago  were  an  extra  lot,  and  that  It  would 
be  hard  to  keep  up  a  stock  equal  to  it. 
literary  exercises  being  next  in  order,  E.  H.  Haines 
read  an  article  on  pruning  grape  vines.- 

Esther  K.  Haines  read  •' Brain  Work,"  an  article 
contending  that  a  man  has  no  more  right  to  have  an 
idle  brain  than  an  idle  body.  That  when  the  brain 
gets  to  work  nicely  you  feel  the  effects  all  over. 
Those  who  do  not  command  respect  have  themselves 
to  blame  for  it. 

Carrie  Blackburn  recited  the  "Power  of  Truth," 
very  nicely.  Howard  Brown  recited  "  That  Mule," 
a  parody  on  "  The  boy  stood  on  the  burning  deck." 

Ella  Brown  recited  "The  Highway  Cow,"  a 
humorous  piece  not  much  too  highly  painted,  de- 
scribing the  rough  life  of  that  animal,  her  hide 
bruised  with  stones  and  her  tail  torn  off  by  dogs. 
She  often  loads  thedeacon  into  temptation  by  leaping 
into  his  enclosures  ;ind  at  last  "  goes  to  pieces  all  at 
once,  struck  by  a  railway  train."  Such  a  cow  has 
but  little  pleasure  in  life  and  cannot  be  profitable  to 

Isaac  Brown  recited  "  Dried  Apple  Pies;"  Montil- 
lion Brown  read  au  essay  in  opposition  to  the  culture 
of  tobacco;  Sadie  Brown,  C.  S.  Gatcliel  and  Hetty 
Jackson  were  appointed  to  furnish  the  literary  mat- 
ter for  the  next  meeting. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  the  residence  of  Solomon  L. 
Gregg,  Drumore  township,  1st  of  February  next. 

LINNiEAN    SOCIETY. 

The  Linnoean  Society  held  its  stated   meeting  on 


To  the  Ornithological  department  was  added  two 
fine  and  desirable  specimens,  mounted  in  good  taste 
by  Mr.  Flick;  one  a  beautifully  full-foaihercd 
"  Sparrow  Hawk,"  a  true  Falcou  (the  Falco  Spar- 
verius) .  This  bird  was  after  our  city  sparrows.no 
doubt,  and  lived  sumptuously ;  but  being  captured 
without  injury  to  the  bird,  three  weeks  ago,  on  North 
Queen  street.  Dr.  Rathvon  took  him  home  and  con- 
fined him  in  a  cage,  and  desiring  to  study  the  bird 
and  its  habits,  interviewed  him  with  bits  of  fresh 
veal  and  beef;  but  no  temptation  would  induce  him 
to  eat,  and  so  for  four  days  he  kept  sullen,  and,  no 
doubt,  as  Mr.  S.  said,  "  he  made  way  for  liberty  and 
died."  The  other  donation,  from  Mr.  Lippold,  the 
bird  fancier,  of  East  Orange  street,  is  one  of  those 
short-billed  white  pigeons,  called  the  "  White  Owl 
Pigeon."  It  has  not  the  cravat  of  the  African  owl 
pigeon,  figured  and  described  by  Darwin. 

A  large  water-washed  pebble,  with  a  bunch  of  the 
nodular  coarse  sea-weed  clinging  to  it,  from  the  coast 
of  Ireland,  was  donated  by  Andrew  Walters,  tin- 
smith of  North  Queen  street.  It  differs  very  little,  if 
any,  from  the  common  nodular  i^'wcws,  found  along 
the  coast  of  Jersey  or  Delaware  bay.  A  box  of 
thirteen  cocoons  of  our  native  silk-worm  moth — At- 
tacHs  cecrvpia — aud  a  few  of  the  polyphemus,  were 

donated  by  Mr. ,  of  York,  Pa.     Dr.  Kathvon 

deposited  a  small  silver  carp.  Enjoying  a  tank,  it 
made  a  frisky  leap,  and  like  a  fish  out  of  water, 
"  came  to  grief."  Mr.  Wm.  Relne  donated  a  pair  of 
duck's  wings— of  a  species  of  small  Divers. 

A  singular  deviation  in  the  normal  growth  of  a 
tobacco  leaf  pressed  and  preserved  in  form,  by  S.  S. 
Rathvon.  This  had  an  interruption  to  its  cell,  form- 
ing tissues  around  the  mid-rib,  retarding  some  and 
accellerating  other  cells,  so  as  »o  result  in  a  hoUoiv 
stipe  or  foot,  the  stalk  arising  from  that  point  a  few 
inches,  then  dilating  into  a  cup-shaped  leaf,  forming 
a  regular  pocket  of  the  ordinary  leaf  texture,  the 
mid-rib  of  this  extra  leaf,  finally  elongating  into  a 
point,  giving  the  one  side  of  the  cup  a  projecting  or 
extended  portion,  forming  the  ordinarv  apex  of  the 
leaf. 

Historical   Division. 

Eight  envelopes,  containing  10-1  scraus  of  history, 
biography,  etc.,  per  S.  S.  Rathvon.  C".  M.  Stubbs, 
M.  D.,  of  Wakefield  P.  0.,  Chester  county,  sent 
several  sets  of  photographic  prints  (taken  in  a  mas- 
terly manner)  of  the  "Bald  Friars"  sculptured  rocks 
in  the  Susquehanna  livcr,  I'.j  miles  south  of  the 
Maryland  line.  A  vote  of  thanks  was  given  for 
these  interesting  views. 

Papers|Read. 

No.  511,  S.  S.  Rathvon  on  the  Falcon  or  Sparrow- 
Hawk. 

Additions  to  the  Library. 

Quarterly  report  of  the  Pennsylvania  Board  of 
Agriculture,  September,  October  and  November, 
IhTS ;  annual  report  of  the  comptroller  of  the  cur- 
rency, Forty-fifth  Congress  U.  S.;  L.vxcaster 
FAtiMER  for  the  month  of  January,  1879  ;  a  circular 
and  letter  Irom  "The  Kentucky  Historical  Society," 
Lexington,  Ky.,  desiring  the  friendly  interchange  of 
publications,  etc.,  with  the  Linniean.  The  society  ae- 
kuowledged  the  friendly  offer  and  will  cordially  do 
all  to  establish  such  relations  with  kindred  societies. 
Publications  on  the  curious  customs  of  the  aborigi- 


nes, by  W.  J.  Hoffman;  the  r.ihrarian,  of  Philadel- 
phia, for  January  7,  1879 ;  Sunday  book  circulars 
and  hclcotypc  printing.  A  letter  lo  the  correspond- 
ing secretary,  Kev.  D.  II.  Gclssinger,  was  read.  .J. 
Stauifer  made  some  remarks  on  a  new  aphid  that 
has  lately  made  its  appearance  on  a  species  of  exotic 
Afelepia.  These  arc  of  a  bright  yellow  color.  The 
abdominal  horns  arc  short  and  black,  so  Is  the  tip  of 
the  ovipositor  and  sucking  apparatus,  as  also  the 
tarsi,  only  one  winged  specimen  seen.  The  nervures 
weie  like  those  that  infest  vats  occasionally  ;  also 
rather  light  In  color,  but  need  closerlnvestlgatlon.  A 
bill  of  the  taxldermisl  for  8J..50  for  mounting  the 
birds  reported  was  ordered  to  be  paid.  The  treasurer 
reported  that  .lohn  1.  llartman  and  .John  II.  Raum- 
gardner  had  each  taken  a  certifleate  of  stock  and 
paid  ?.5  per  share.     Adjourned. 


Agriculture. 


The  Greatest  of  all  Grains. 
Not  over  one  person  in  a  million  could  correctly 
answer  the  query,  "Which  of  all  the  grains  is  the 
most  largely  produced  ?"  The  response  invariably 
would  be,  "  Wheat."  But  this  is  not  so.  Rice  car- 
ries off  the  palm.  The  annual  pioduct  of  the  rice 
crop  in  the  United  States  Is  grown  in  the  Carollnas 
and  Louisiana  mainly,  and  is  said  to  average  eighty 
millions  of  pounds.  The  vast  populations  of  China, 
the  East  Indies  and  the  islands  adjacent,  according 
to  the  latest  estimates,  exceed  eight  hundred  mil- 
lions of  souls.  With  more  than  half  of  this  number 
rice  constitutes  the  only  article  of  diet.  The  total 
product  of  the  East  last  year  was  a  little  over  two 
huudred  and  fifty  billions  (2.50,000,000,000)  of 
pounds,  which  is  over  three  thousand  times  the 
r/uantily  r/rown  in  the  United  Stales.  This  amount  is 
nearly  all  consumed  within  their  own  territories. 
The  portion  shipped  to  Europe  and  South  America, 
though  large,  is,  as  compared  to  the  huge  product, 
but  a  small  item,  being  less  than  one  per  cent. 


The  Late  Summer  Seeding  of  Grass. 
Some  of  the  best  farmers  in  this  country  have  fol- 
lowed the  practice,  for  some  years,  of  turning  over 
pieces  of  their  mowing  fields  that  are  somewhat  run 
out ;  spreading  on  a  top-dressing  of  well  rotten 
manure,  and  the  last  of  August  or  first  of  September 
— as  the  season  may  be — seeding  heavily  with  grass 
seed.  In  all  instances  of  this  kind  of  which  we  have 
heard,  heavy  crops  of  hay  have  been  harvested  the 
following  year,  and  the  plan  has  uniformly  met  with 
success.  If  farmers  desire  to  do  so,  aud  are  willing 
to  try  the  experiment,  they  may  sow  on  some  winter 
wheat  with  the  grass  seed,  and  see  how  It  does. 
They  may  harvest  a  fair  crop,  but  in  some  instances 
of  which  we  have  learned,  the  grass  has  overshadowed 
the  wheat,  which  latter  had  given  but  a  light  yield. 
But  for  the  purpose  of  securing  advantage  of  the 
main  point— the  renovation  of  our  grass  lands— the 
plan  is  worthy  of  more  general  practice.— /"rairie 


The  Ruta  Baga. 

The  Purple  Top  Yellow  Ruta  Baga  or  "  Swede,"  is 
perhaps  the  most  important  root  cultivated  for  stock 
food;  its  rapid  maturity,  large  bulk  to  a  given  area, 
nutritious  quality,  and  sanitary  properties  commend 
it  as  eminently  worthy  of  culture. 

It  has  become  a  practice  in  the  sale  of  Ruta  Bags 
seed  to  create  varieties;  and  In  an  English  catalogue 
before  us  there  are  not  less  than  twenty-one  sorts 
enumerated  :  the  distinctions  In  a  majority  of  cases 
are  ideal.  Last  year  we  tested,  slue  by  side,  twenty- 
two  sorts,  so  called,  Imported  for  the  purpose. 
Many  were  of  irregular  form.  In  some  of  them  the 
purple  tint  of  the  crown  was  more  marked  than  In 
others;  some  were  green  topped,  some  of  deeper 
yellow  flesh,  but  the  general  aspect  was  similar,  as 
they  stood  in  the  ground. — Landreth's  liur.  Jieg. 


Corn  in  Drills. 


A  New  Jersey  paper  nays  that  ninety  years  ago  It 
was  regarded  as  a  settled  point  that  corn  in  drills 
gave  a  larger  product  than  in  hills,  but  that  now, 
after  much  discussion,  it  remains  unsettled.  This 
remark  would  not  be  made  by  any  one  who  has  in- 
formed himself  on  the  subject.  We  have  thoroughly 
tested  this  question  by  measuring  the  results  and  find 
almost  uniformly  an  increase  of  ^.5  to  ^0  per  cent, 
with  drill  corn  over  hills — provided  the  proper  dis- 
tance is  given  for  the  plants.  It  would  be  easy  to 
obtain  a  diminished  amount  from  the  drills  if  too 
thinly  planted  ;  or  ears  of  an  inferior  quality.  If  much 
too  thick.  John  Johnson  informs  us  that  after  long 
experience  he  arrives  at  results  precisely  similar  to 
those  we  have  mentioned. — IJountry  Genlleinan. 

Webds  need  constantly  to  be  looked  after  and 
taken  by  the  foretop.  Remember  that  every  weed 
that  is  allowed  to  go  to  seed  this  year  will  be  re- 
placed by  hundreds  and  thousands  next  year.  "  One 
year's  seeding"  of  weeds  is  said  lo  produce  "  fifteen 
years  of  weeding^,"  and  it  is  not  far  from  the  truth. 


30 


Horticulture. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


Buy  Your  Trees  at  Home. 

As  the  seasou  for  planting  trees  is  almost  liere  we 
desire  to  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  one  fact 
in  regard  to  it ;  that  is,  the  buying  of  the  trees.    We 
have   in   Lancaster  county   several  nurseries.     The 
proprietors  of  them  are  all  personally  known  to  us. 
They  are  honest,  reliable  men,  who  have  been  in  the 
business  for  years  and  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
everything  pertaining  to  nurseries.     They  know  that 
a  man  who  purchases  trees  from  them  once  is  very 
likely  to  do  so  again.    It  is  to  their  interests  to  sell 
him  young,  vigorous  trees,  and  trees  that  will   give 
satisfaction  when  they  arrive  at  a  bearing  condition. 
They  also  take   particular  pains  to  represent  them 
just  as  they  are  when  an  order  is  given  to  them   by 
mail,  or  when  the  purchaser  is  not  at  the  nursery. 
Evrey  tree  they  sell  is  an  advertisement.    If  it  is  all 
that  a  man  expects  it  is  a  good  advertisement ;  if,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  does  not  turn  out  as  was  repre- 
sented, is  smaller,   a   mistake  in  the  kind,  an  un- 
healthy tree,  it  is  a  bad  advertisement  and  not  a  de- 
sirable one.    If  these  misrepresentations  were  made 
by  any  ef  our  home  nurserymen,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  sale,  they  would  gradually  lose  their  trade. 
Nearly  every  season  our  county  is  visited  by  several 
tree  agents,  representing  some  far  off  nursery,  and 
they  generally  succeed  in  selling  thousands  of  dollars 
worth  of  trees  to  our  farmers.    It  is  not  often  they 
sell  two  lots  of  trees   to  the   same  party,  as  in  the 
majority  of  the  cases,  when  the  deliveries  of  the  trees 
are  made  a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  is  expressed 
by  the  purchasers.     We  do  not  mean,  in  our  article 
to  cast  reflections  on  the  honesty  of  all  nurserymen 
outside  of  Lancaster  county.     There  are  good  men 
engaged  in  the  business  all  over  our  country,  and  no 
risk  would  be  run  in  dealing  direct  with  them,  but  we 
think  it  is  much  safer  for  our  farmers  to  deal  with 
home  dealers  than  with  agents.  If  any  of  them  have 
not  the  stock  on  hand  you  desire  they  would   gladly 
order  for  you  from  any  one  who   would  have   it.    It 
would  not  cost  the  buyer  more,  and  be  more  satisfac- 
tory. Again,  if  the  money  is  given  to  the  home  trade 
it  stays  in  the  county  instead  of  leaving  it.    So,  in 
conclusion,  we  would  again  repeat,  that  if  you 'in- 
tend planting  trees  this  coming  spring  buy  from  our 
home  nurserymen,  men  whom  you  know  and  who 
will  do  all  they  are  able  to  do  to  give  you  complete 


done  this  oft^en  with  the  happiest  results.  The  fruit 
buds  form  after  this,  and  the  operation  in  suddenly 
cutting  off  its  growth,   produces   buds;  while     he 

wood.''  °''  ^"^^  'P""°  P'""'"^  "■'"  P''°^"'^«  °°iy 

In  pruning  ornamental  trees  in  mid-summer  the 
bark  instead  of  receding  from  the  stump,  trows 
over  It,  and  in  a  few  years  will  completely  cover  it 
and  make  a  perfect  amputation.  We  have  noticed 
this  upon  our  own  premises,  as  well  as  upon  those  of 
?i  "•''  ?l"^  ^'T^-  T"'  P'-"'""^  's  lone  when  the 
tree  is  taking  its  midsummer  "siesta,"  and  then 
'?»h'°  h^'  ^'^T''^'!  f""-  another  start,  and  the  bark 

fh.hhf  V^  f  •''"'  """  "'^  '^"""P  "^  "■  ashamed  of  the 
snaoby  looking  exposure. 

When  the  tree  is  in  full  leaf,  and  presents  its  full 
should  be  done  in  order  that  while  the  overgrowth 
n-eir"  '^"'T'^'  "',«  symmetry  of  the  tree  may  be 
preferred.  Especially  is  midsummer  pruning  to  be 
preferred,  first,  to  produce  buds  on  fruit-b=carin| 
tiees  as  before  stated  ;  and  second,  when  large  limbs 
are  to  be  remoyed.-Genmu.lowu  Teleiiraph 

Winter  Peaches. 
It  sounds  strange  in  Northern  ears  to  hear  of 
peaches  ripening  the  first  of  November.  The  editor 
oUhe  Gardeners'  Monthly,  in  the  November  number 
of  that  excellent  periodical,  speaks  of  specimens  of 
Harris'  Winter,  Lady  Parham,  and  Baldwin's  La"e 
peaches  (all  free  stone),  just  received  from  a  North 
Carolina  correspondent.  The  Harris  is  described  as 
a  new  peach  that  last  year  ripened  November  1st. 
(This  year  it  will  last  until  December.)  It  is  frost 
proof,  never  fails  to  bear,  has  large  flowers,  is  very 
roductive,  and  a  good  keeper,  having  sometime! 
been  kept  until  Christmas.  Why  can  not  Southern 
orchardists  make  fortunes  at  growing  these  late 
peaches  for  the  Northern  markets?  It  seems  to  us 
Southern  peach  orchards  in  this  way  mav  become  as 
profitable  as  Florida  orange  groves."^  Thl  peach  ha 
greatly  the  advantage  in  that  it  comes  into  bearing 
much  earlier  than  the  oranpc.  "cauug 


[February, 


petunia 


Floriculture. 


satisfaction. 

The  Albemarle  Apples. 

The  Savannah  iVcKis  says  :  Mr.  D.  G.  Purse  has  re- 
ceived froin  a  friend,   at  Culpepper  Court  House, 

.'^■.T'  *'"\'-'-el  of  the  celebrated  Albemarle  apples 
noted  for  their  delicious  flavor  and  for  the  historica 
reputation  they  enjoy. 

When  Hon  Andrew  Stephenson  was  Minister  to 
Eng  and  under  the  administration  of  President 
\^cnH,-n '"''''!'  ^^  P^<"';"'«J  Her  Majesty,  Queen 
Victoria,  with  a  barrel  of  these  apples,  wh  ch  are 
grown  eoly  in  Albemarle  county,  Virginia.  Her 
Majesty  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  fruit,  and  so 
much  enjoyed  their  peculiarly  delicious  flavor,  that 
she  had  an  act  of  Parliament  passed  admitting  the 
Albemarle  apples  into  Great  Britain  forever  there- 
alter  Irce  of  duty. 

We  learn  that  since  then  large  quantities  of  them 
are  shipped  to  England  every  year  from  the  county 
,L^  T'V'-  '""'.^'''^  ^'S'^'y  P"^^'!  a°tl  command 
country  to  England  upon  which  no  duty  is  paid. 
Those  of  .Mr.  Purse's  friends  who  have  sampled  some 
of  tiie  lot  he  received  express  no  surprise  that  Eng- 
and  s  Queen  should  have  been  so  well  pleased  with 
them,  as  their  flavor  is  certainly  delicious.  They  are 
of  medium  size  and  firm.  ^ 

Pruning  Fruit  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

We  read  a  great  deal  about  the  proper  time  of 
S!;r?»"f  ir'^"' """^  fiP'^^^'ly  the  apple  tree.  Some 
prefer  fall,  some  mid-winter,  some  early  spring  •  but 
scarcely  one  recommends  the  very  best  time  in  our 
humble  opinion-mid.summer.  Doubtless  some  old 
logics  will  open  their  eyes  and  hold  up  their  hands  at 
such  an  innovation  and  denounce  it  as  an  absurdity  • 
but  we  think  we  will  be  sustained  by  a  majority  of 
the  "live"  men  of  the  day.  J       J     ^ 

If  we  desire  to  improve  the  form  of  a  fruit  tree  and 
get  rid  of  some  of  the  superfluous  wood,  we  should 
prune  m  winter;  but  if  we  desire  fruit  and  a  per- 
fectly healed  stump,  we  should  prune  from  the 
fifteenth  of  June  to  the  twentieth  of  July.    We  have 


Growing  Ivy  in  Rooms. 

Ivy  will  succeed  better  in  our  warm,  dry  rooms 
than  any  other  plant,  and  all  that  is  needed  to  make 
it  at  ractive  is  the  exercise  of  a  little  ingenuity  in  the 
appliances  for  its  home.  A  vase,  n?t  necessarily 
costly  by  any  means,  will  answer  a  good  purpose  ■ 
and  this  reminds  us  of  an  excellent  idea  that  we 
lately  noticed  in  a  foreign  periodical  for  growinn-  this 
very  plant.  Long  shoots  of  the  ivy  were  procured, 
with  the  young  and  tender  aerial  roots  very  abun- 
tben.  T''%'"^«^  ends  were  wrapped  in  moss,  and 
then  some  five  or  six  of  these  were  lightly  tijd  to- 
gether at  the   bottom  and  placed  in  the  vase      Fill 

the  hnff  'f"'""  ^  *■"•",  i"^"""'  "*■  ^^^  '°P'  ^^^  suspend 
the  ball  of  moss  within.  The  roots  will  soon  com 
mence  to  grow,  and  afterward  the  moss  should  not 
quite  reach  the  water,  as  the  roots  will  extend  down 
into  it,  and  prove  all  sufficient.  So  many  different 
varieties  of  ivy  are  now  in  cultivation,  thatbv  select 
ing  kinds  that  will  form  a  decided  contrast  in  shape 
and  color,  the^  effect  will  be  sensibly  heightened. 
The  centre  of  the  vase  may  be  filled  with  cut  flowers 
or  grasses,  or  nothing  would  look  better  than  ferns 
The  ivy  may  be  allowed  to  hang  down  over  the  sides 
of  the  vase  in  graceful  festoons,  or  else  be  trained 
and  placed  over  and  around  the  window  It  will 
.".?ȣ'?"'  ''"h'  ^'  """,' '"  strong  light  as  when  partly 
shaded,  as  the  ivy  loves  shade  and  an  even  cool 
atmosphere.  It  can  be  planted  in  tubs  and  trained 
up  a  stairway,  thus  forming  a  mass  of  green  foliage 
from  the  hall  below  to  the  floor  above.  A  covenieut 
way  to  grow  a  small  ivy  is  to  fill  a  small  fish  globe 
with  clean  ram  water,  putting  in  the  bottom  lome 
tiny  shells   and  gay-eolored   stones   for  ornament- 

S^f^  K°  '■„''*  ^  *"P  ?J  P'""'"'"  '^y-  ""<'  suspend  the 
globe  by  three  small  brass  chains,  which  may  be 
bought  at  any  hardware  store.  This  may  hang  from 
the  window  cornice  or  from  the  centre  of  the  chande- 
lier, or  in  any  other  place  where  the  light  is  not  too 
strong.  By  filling  up  with  fresh  water  as  fast  as  it 
evaporates,  you  may  sustain  the  life  of  an  ivy  through 
t  Iree'rt""  "''f '  ^°  '■^P'^uishing  the  water  add 
three   drops   of  ammonia  to  it.— (?.  A.  T.  in   Ohio 


s^een  V}""  P''*^"',"''  arrangements  for  plants  we  have 

''troj.rs   geraniums,  pinks, 

asand  oUier  plants,  all  as 

bp"lh,uvJ' f  °"'"  '"  =',.S''^-"i-l'ouse.     They  should 

watered  sparingly  every  second  day.  On  very 'cold 
niguto  newspapers  may  be  placed  between  the  win- 
dow and  the  plants,  to  protect  them  from  frost. 

Flowers  for  the  Table. 

Set  flowers  on  your  table-a  whole  nosegay  if  you 
can  get  >t,  or  but  two  or  three,  or  a  single" flower-a 
rose,  a  pink  a  daisy,  and  you  have  something  on 
your  table  that  reminds  you  of  God's  creation,  and 
oives-vou  a  link  with  the  poets  that  done  it  most  honor. 

flowers  on  the  morning  table  are  esneciallv  snitpfl 
to  them.  They  look  like  the  happy  wakeniiil  of  the 
creation  ;  they  bring  the  perfunre'^^of  the  breath  of 
nature  into  your  room ;  they  seem  the  very  repre- 
sentative and  embodiment  of  the  very  smile  of  vour 
home,  the  graces  of  good  morrow  ;  proofs  that  some 
intellectual  beauties  are  in  ourselves  or  those  about 
us,  some  Aurora  (if  we  are  so  lucky  as  to  have  such 
a  companion),  helping  to  strew  our  life  with  sweet- 
ness, or  in  ourselves  some  masculine  wilderness  not 
unworthy  to  possess  such  a  companion  or  unlikely  to 
gam  her. — Lenjh  Uiinl. 

Smilax. 

Smilax  is  an  exceedingly  graceful  vine,  with 
glossy,  green  leaves,  and  is  now  more  extensively 
used  than  any  other  plant  for  decorating  parlors,  the 
hair,  and  for  trimming  dresses. 

With  a  little  care  it  can  be  grown  successsfully  as 
a  house  plant.  The  vine  does  not  require  the  full  sun, 
but  will  grow  well  in  a  partially  shaded  situation.  It 
can  be  trained  on  a  small  thread  across  the  window 
or  around  the  pictures.  It  is  grown  from  both  seeds 
and  bulbs.  Pot  the  bulbs-as  soon  as  received,  water- 
ing but  little  until  you  see  signs  of  growth  Thev 
grow  very  rapidly,  and  should  always  have  strings 
to  twine  on.  Give  plenty  of  fresh  air,  but  be  careful 
and  not  let  a  direct  draught  of  cold  air  blow  upon 
the  vine,  as  they  are  very  tender  when  young  Give 
'  arm  place  and  they  will  amply  repay  allcare. 


them  a 


Growing  Fuschias  in  Baskets. 
May  is  a  good  time  to  put  young  fuschias  into 
baskets,  to  obtain  a  good  display  late  in  summer  and 
throughout  the  autu.nu.  Varieties  of  slender  habits 
aie  best  adapted  for  the  purpose,  and  if  the  slioots  be 
kept  persistently  slopped  the  plants  will  f,„  ,u  dense 
bushes,  which  will  co^er  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the 
basket,  and  when  suspended  from  the  roof  of  the 
green-house  or  conservatory,  laden  with  bloom,  they 
will  form  striking  objects.  The  flowers,  indeed,  are 
shown  oil  to  belter  advantage  in  this  ivay  than  when 
tlie  plants  arc  grown  in  |  ots  and  trained  in  a  pyra- 
midal section.  Good,  rich  loam,  plenty  of  water  and 
timely  attention  to  stopping  the  shoots,  so  as  to  ob- 
tain a  dense,  pendulous  habit  at  first,  are  all  the 
plants  require  to  liring  them  to  a  high  state  of  per- 


fection. 


Flower  Pots. 

Save  the  tin  fruit  cans  and  convert  them  into  taste- 
ful flower  pots  in  the  following  manner  ■  With  a  can 
(jpener  cut  off  any   rough   or  projectii.g  portions  of 

wn!  Jt"'  r°f- '^  °'""''°'^  '■'°'  t°  P™J<^ct  inward. 
^y.th  a  pair  of  pliers,  or  a  small  hammer,  bend  this 
iim  down.  This  gives  firmness  to  the  top  of  the  can. 
Punch  three  or  four  small  holes  through  the  bottom 
of  the  can.  Then  paint  it  with  varnish  made  of  gum 
sliel  ac  dissolved  in  alcohol,  and  colored  with  lamp- 
^n?.^  ^  T,,^  ""'"  ^'^"°"'  °<='""''' '°  ff'^-e  a  dark  brown 
H?„^"rJ,  i'M^^yJ^'^  ornamented  by  pasting  on 
them  little  medallion  figures  or  pictures.  Thev  are 
handsomer  than  the  ordinary  flower  pots,  require 
less  watering,  and  keep  the  plants  free  from  all 
insects,  owing  to  the  presence  of  iron  rust  in  the  can 


Ampelopsis  Vietchii. 
The  common  Virginia  Creeper  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  best  known  of  ornamental  vines,  and 
its  habit  of  clinging  of  its  own  accord  to  walls  and 
trees  renders  it  particularly  us.ful  in  oruaraenlal  (^ar 
dening.  But  it  is  questionable  wjifiher  the  .Japan 
species  A.  Vietehii  is  not  a  rival  to  it.  It  will  not,  of 
course,  replace  it,  for  each  will  have  lovers  of  its  o'wn 
for  some  purpose  or  other,  but  slill  without  any 
special  comparison,  it  is  intrinsically  beautiful.  We 
are  moved  to  these  remarks  by  a  photograph  of  the 
dwelling  house  of  Mayor  Conover,  of  "Geneva,  the 
walls  of  which  are  covered  by  this  vine.  It  must  be 
a  beautiful  sight  when  really  seen,  for  the  stereoscopic 
view  alone  is  particularly  attractive.— r/if  Gardeners^' 
Monthly. 

Window  Plants. 

Were  we  required  to  furnish  a  list  often  plants  for 

window  culture  during  winter  our  choice  would   be 

as  follows  :  Rose  geranium,  zouale  geranium    varie- 

gated  gerainiim,  (Mrs.  Pollock,!  fuchsia,  heliotrope, 

ivy  aeraiiiums,  tradescantia, 

egouia  rex.     We  can  hardly 

iiLsh    this  list,  which  offers 

ol  :j  hardy  nature,  a  thrifty 

learanec,  vet  we  would  de- 


indering  Je 


many  var 


nd  plea 


lums,  the  ole- 


sire  to  add  many,  as  the  double  gc 

ander,   panicura   variegatum,   cyeli „   „^„ 

rose,  etc.     Towards  spring  the  collection  should   be 
' ■  Scien- 


FoK  the  winter  all  flower  borders  should  have  a 
good  covering  of  stable  manure.  In  the  spring  the 
long  stuff  should  be  raked  off,  and  the  rest  forked  in. 
It  will  not  only  protect  the  roots  against  all  inju'-y 
during  the  winter,  but  the  plants  \vill  appear  in  the 
spring  greatly  improved,  and  the  flowers  ivill  be 
much  more  abundant  and  prove  of  much  higher  and 
greater  beauty. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


Si 


Domestic  Economy. 


Evening's  Milk  Richest. 

1 1  is  subject  has  now  been  put  to  tlic  test  of  chemi- 

,  ,  I  aiialvsis,  and  the  result  is  tliiil  the  evening's  mill; 

i>  iHuiultobe  the  richer.    Piof.  Bocdekcr  analyzed 

I  li.   milk  of  a  healthy  cow  at  different  periods  of  the 

A  IV      The  professor  found  that  the  solids  of  tlie  eve- 

iin, 'fimilk   (thirteen  per  cent.);  exceeding  of  the 

nini;  (ten  percent.),  while  the  water  conlaincd 

.•  Iluid  was  diminished  from  eifrhty-nino  per  cent. 

i-lify-six  per  cent.    The  fatty  matter  f^radually 

liases  as  the  day  progresses.  In  the  morning  it 
iiiiiiiunts  to  two  and  one-quarter  per  cent.,  at  noon 
three  and  one-half  per  cent.,  and  in  the  evening  five 
and  three  quarters  per  cent.  The  practical  imijortance 
of  this  discovery  is  at  once  apparent ;  it  develops  the 
fiif  t  that  while  sixteen  ounces  of  morning's  milk 
«  ill  yield  but  one-half  ounce  of  butter,  about  doubU 
t  iir  quantity  can  be  obtained  from  the  evening's  milk. 
I  111-  casein  is  also  increased  in  the  evening's  milk 
liMin  I  wo  and  one-quarter  to  two  and  three-quarters 
1«  1-  cent.,  but  the  albumen  is  diminished  from  44- 
liiiiths  per  cent,  to  Sl-lOOths  per  cent.  Sugar  is  least 
alundant  at  midnight  (four  and  one-quarter  per 
iriit.)  and  most  plentiful  at  noon  (four  and  tlircc- 
i|u:uters  per  cent).  The  percentage  of  the  salt  un- 
d.  r-oes  almost  no  chanire  at  any  time  of  the  day. 

What  Is   Castile  Soap? 

\  subscriber  wishes  to  know  how  this  differs  from 

Mtlirr   soap.    The  hard  soaps  made  in  this  country 

an-  almost  exclusively  from  animal  fats  ;  in  the  south 

.1  iMiiiipp,  where   the   olive  grows   abundantly,  the 

, ,.  1  liimls  .'I  uHm'  oil  are  used  for  soap-making. 

I  MMiiiinii  ^.la|l^  air  sciila  and  auinial  fat ;  Caxtile  soap 
i.  ,  iia  and  \c-riaiilr  ciil.  In  making  Castile  soap, 
LT  111  rare  is  takm  lo  avoid  an  excess  of  alkali  (the 
hr,ila)oiily  just  enough  being  used  to  neutralize  the  oil. 
( III  this  account  the  soap  is  much  milder,  and  maybe 
\isrd  on  wounds  and  other  surfaces  where  common 
map  would  irritate  and  give  pain.  The  mottled  ap- 
prarauee  of  Castile  soap  is  due  to  a  small  quantity  of 
solution  of  copperas  (sulphate  of  iron)  which  is 
stirred  into  it  before  it  hardens  ;  this  leaves  a  bluish 
..xide  of  iron  in  the  soap  which,  when  exposed  to  the 
air,  becomes  changed  to  red-oxide.  White  Castile 
snap  is  also  sold,  which  is  the  same  as  the  other, 
without  the  coloring.  Though  called  Castile,  it  is 
in  no  means  exclusively  made  in  Spain,  the  largest 
sliare  coming  from  the  south  of  France,  and  indeed 
it  is  :;fiicially  kiinKii  in  Europe  as  Marseilles  soap. — 

-    -•-    --     - 
Water-Proof  Boots. 
It   is  not  always   desirable  that   boots  should   be 
atisolutfly  water-proof,  as  whatever  keeps  water  out 
•lioevcr  has  \yorn  India-rubber 

of  time,  knows  that  retaining 
llir  |iiMsi'iraiiiiii  01  ilie  feet  soon  puts  them  in  a  very 
imiilrasant,  half  par-lioiled  condition  that  is  not  de- 
siialilo.  Still,  walcr-proof  boots  are  useful  in  an 
I  iiicrgcncy,  to  be  worn  for  a  short  time— as  in  doing 
llie  chores  in  bad  weather.  A  pair  of  good  rubber 
liodts  yvill  answer  this  purpose,  or  a  pair  of  common 
I  iiwhide  boots  may  be  made  yvater-proof  after  the 
niithod  of   the  New  England    fishermen.     These 

I pie,  exposed  to  all  weathers,  have  for  a  century 

iis.d  the  following  compound  :  Tallow,  4  oz. ;  rosin 
and  lieeswax,  1  oz.  each  ;  melt  together,  then  stir  in 
ii.'atsfoot  oil,  equal  in  bulk  to  the  melted  articles. 
riie  boots  are  warmed  before  a  fire  and  this  com- 
|iiisition  is  rubbed  into  the  leather,  soles  and  uppers, 
l.v  means  of  a  rag.  Two  applications  will  make  the 
Irather  quite  water-proof.— ytmcficfiH  AurknUnnxt 
U'l-  February  1. 

Ammonia  in  the  Household. 
The  pantry  shelves  arc  getting  grimy,  or  finger- 
marks around  the  door-latches  and  knobs  are  looking 
dark  and  unsightly.  For  lack  of  time  they  are  left 
day  after  day,  for  it  is  hard  work  to  scour  all  the 
time,  and  it  jvears  off  the  paint,  too.  Now,  suppose 
the  wife  has  her  bottle  of  spirits  of  ammonia  to  use  ; 
she  takes  a  basin  of  water  and  a  clean  cloth,  just 
puts  on  a  few  drops  of  the  fluid  snd  wipes  olf  all  the 
dirt;  it  is  worth  more  than  a  half  day's  labor,  and 
does  not  hurt  the  paint  cither.  HM  could  put  a  few 
drops  iu  her  dishyyater,  and  see  how  easily  the  dishes 
could  be  cleaned ;  a  few  drops  on  a  sponge  yvould 
clean  all  the  windows  in  the  sitting  room,  making 
them  shine  like  crystal.  It  would  take  the  stains  off 
the  teaspoons,  and  a  tcaspoonful  in  the  mop-pail 
yvould  do  more  in  washing  up  the  kitchen  floor  than 
ten  pounds  of  elbow  grease  applied  to  the  mop- 
handle.  A  housewife  has  just  as  much  right  to  make 
her  work  easy  and  expeditious  as  her  husband  has. 
If  she  does  not  do  it  the  fault  is  her  own  in  a  great 
measure. 

To  Preserve  Potatoes  from  the  Rot. 

Dustovcrthe  Hoorof  the  bin  with  lime,  then  putiu 
a  few  layers  of  potatoes,  and  dust  the  whole  once 
niore  with  lime,  adopting  the  same  plan  over  again. 
L  se  one  bushel  of  lime  to  fifty  of  potatoes.  The  lime 
kills  the  fungi  which  causes  the  rot. 


L-p   it   1 


Household  Recipes. 


Live  Stock. 


Eauaciie.— Cotton  wool,  yvet  with  camphor,  or 
paregoric  and  sweet  oil,  hot,  and  the  ear  bandaged, 
will  give  relief. 

To  Baick  EudS.— Butter  a  dish,  break  the  eggs, 
pour  in  pepper,  salt  and  butter ;  bake  iu  a  slow  oven 
until  yvell  set.    Serve  hot. 

Frosted  Fket.— Frosted  feet  may  be  cured  as 
follows  :  White  oak  bark,  taken  fresh  and  boiled  in 
water  to  a  strong  liquor.  Bathe  the  feet  in  the 
li(luor.     It  is  pronounced  the  best  of  all  remedies. 

A  .STICK  of  black  sealing  yvax  and  one  of  red  dis- 
solved in  two  ounces  of  spirits  of  wine  make  an  ex- 
cellent color  for  wicker  baskets  or  other  small  arti- 
cles of  the  kind.  .Lay  it  on  yvith  a  small  brush. 

CuANBERHiits.— To  keep  these  berries  whole  while 
stewing,  prick  each  one  with  a  pin ;  lay  them  in 
sugar  over  night,  and  cook  very  slowly.  They  cook 
much  nicer  in  this  yvay  than  when  stcyved  all  to 
pieces. 

tiiNGKU  Cookies.— One  cup  of  molasses,  one  cup 
of  sugar,  one  cup  of  butter  or  lard,  three  eggs,  two 
teaspoonsful  of  saleratus,  dissolved  in  a  little  hot 
water,  five  cups  of  flour,  one  tablespoonful  of  ginger 
mixed  with  molasses. 

Sweet  Omelet.— Beat  four  eggs  very  lightly,  add 
a  little  salt  and  one  spoonful  brown  sugar ;  pour  all 
into  a  hot  buttered  fry  pan ;  when  well  set  lay  in 
two  spoonfuls  raspberry  jam,  cook  one  minute,  roll 
up  and  dish  it,  sprinkling  well  yvilh  powdered  sugar. 
This  is  a  very  delicate  and  rich  dessert. 

Tapioca  Ckeam.— Soak  three  large  tablespoonfuls 
of  tapioca  over  night  in  one  pint  of  yyater,  the  next 
morning  add  one  quart  of  milk  and  boil ;  a  little 
salt,  four  eggs,  one  cup  of  sugar;  flavor  with  lemon 
or  vanilla;  beat  yvhitc  of  eggs  to  a  stiff  froth,  and 
brown  in  shape  of  eggs  ;  put  on  the  top  of  pudding 
yvhen  it  is  cold. 

To  Lessen  Friction  for  Furniture.— Black 
lead  is  excellent  to  lessen  friction  between  two  pieces 
of  work.  The  sides  and  rests  of  desks  or  bureau 
drawers  may  be  made  to  move  easily  by  spreading 
common  stove-blacking  evenly  with  a  cloth  or  the 
finger  over  their  surfaces.  Time  and  patience  may 
thus  be  saved. 

The  Sleep  fob  Children.- The  Herald  of 
UcaUh  cautions  parents  not  to  allow  their  children 
to  be  waked  up  in  the  morning.  Let  nature  yvake 
them  ;  she  yvill  not  do  it  prematurely.  Take  care  that 
they  go  to  bed  at  an  early  hour— let  it  be  earlier  and 
earlier  until  it  is  found  they  wake  up  themselves  in 
full  time  to  dress  for  breakfast. 

Chocolate  Cake.— One  cup  butter,  two  of  sugar, 
one  of  milk,  five  eggs,  leaving  out  the  whites  of 
three;  four  cups  of  siftcil  Hour,  three  teaspoons 
baking  poyvder.  Bake  in  throe  layers  in  jelly  tins. 
For  icing,  take  yvhites  of  three  ci;i;s,  beaten  stifl",  one 
and  a  half  cups  of  powdcrcil  sugar,  six  teaspoons  of 
gr.ated  chocolate,  two  teaspoons  vanilla. 

Wafers.— Melt  a  quarter  of  a  iiound  of  butter 
and  mix  it  with  half  a  pint  of  milk,  a  leaspoonful 
of  salt,  a  wineglass  of  wine,  three  beaten  eggs  and 
suflicient  sifted  fiour  to  enable  you  to  roll  them  out 
easilj  .  They  should  be  rolled  very  thin,  cut  into 
small  circular  cakes,  and  baked  in  an  oven  of  moder- 
ate heat.  Frost  the  whole  and  sprinkle  sugar  sand 
or  comfits  over  it  as  soon  as  frosted. 

Orange  Cake. — Mix  two  cups  of  sugar  yvith  the 
yolks  of  two  eggs,  then  add  the  yvhites,  beaten  to  a 
stiff  froth,  next  add  a  large  tablespoonful  of  butter, 
then  one  cup  of  milk  and  flour  to  make  as  stiff  as 
cupcake;  flavor  to  taste  ;  bakein  jelly  pans  ;  filling, 
one  lemon,  two  oranges,  grate  rinds  and  add  the 
juice,  one  cup  of  sugar,  one  tablespoonful  of  corn 
starcli,  one  cup  of  water;  boil  until  smooth;  cool 
before  puttnig  between  cakes. 

tjoru  Milk  Cheese.— Some  time  since  I  saw  a  re- 
quest lor  this  article.  Take  milk  just  changed  from 
sweet  to  sour  and  place  over  the  fire  ;  when  scalded 
so  that  the  curd  is  very  stringy,  it  is  nearly  done  ; 
heat  a  feyv  minutes  longer,  then  strain  through  a 
colander.  As  soon  as  cool  enough  remove  to  a  plate  ; 
press  all  the  yvhcy  out,  and  work  in  two  tablespoon- 
fuls of  butter  and  a  little  salt.  Add  considerable 
patience,  as  it  will  be  needed  before  the  sticky, 
stringy  mass  can  be  worked  fine  with  the  hand. 
Press  into  round  balls,  and  yvhen  cold,  slice  with  a 
sharp  knife. 

.Mince  Pies.— Boil  a  fresh  tongue ;  chop  it  very 
fine,  after  removing  the  skin  and  roots;  yvhen  cold, 
add  one  pound  of  chopped  suet,  two  pounds  stone 
raisins,  two  pounds  currants,  two  pounds  citron  cut 
in  fine  pieces,  six  cloves  powdered,  two  teaspoonfuls 
cinnamon,  half  tcaspoonful  mace,  one  pint  brandy, 
one  pint  yvine  or  cider,  two  pounds  sugar ;  put  this 
all  in  a  stone  jar  and  covdr  well ;  in  making  pies, 
chop  some  apples  very  fine,  and  to  one  bowl  of  the 
prepared  meat  take  two  of  apples  ;  and  more  sugar, 
according  to  taste,  and  sweet  cider  enough  to  make 
the  pies  juicy,  but  not  thin  ;  mix  and  y>'"arm  the  in- 
gredients before  putting  into  your  ple-pUtes ;  always 
bake  yvith  an  upper  and  under  crust,  made  yvith  one 
cup  of  lard,  one  of  butter,  one  of  water  and  four  of 
flour. 


Winter  Management  of  Sheep. 
There  arc  two  extremes  practii-ud  in  the  wintering 
of  sheep.  Some  ],.m|,|,.  pnividi'  no  bhelterat  all,  and 
feed  tlii-ir  liav  on  ili.-  .'imiiul,  whether  rain  or  shine, 
siKiM  111  Hill  I  Ml  ill  ill  is  fed  It  is  not  until 
tow  li  i    i  ;    '  ii  m   has  become  debili- 

talni   li;  I  h     i;ii        !       ;!    :  M.id  to  receive  the  iiour- 

i^hllll  n:  ;'     1 1  I,  nil  i;i   nad  of  giving  Strength  It 

only  wcakriis  thcanimal,  and  the  shiftless  farmer 
enters  his  protest  against  "feeding  grain  to  sheep." 
Others  overdo  the  thing  in  crowding  them  into  close 
unveiitilatcd  stalili's.  'Ihis.if  any  dilferencc,  is  worsa 
than  inMiii.i  ihi  111  •-iiiii  inr  iIm  inn  iiii-.  Of  all  othcr 
aniiii  -I   I'l-ar  the   least 

cniuiii     .     !    1  '      I        I     1         iil;1i  ventilation. 

Ami  II  I-  \iiv  iiii;iiii  i.iiii  ili.ii  llll^  have  access  to 
water  rcirnbulv,  lor  alMiouL'li  tlii-y  will  get  along  In 
a  sort  ofWay  when  there  is  snow  on  the  ground, 
they  will  not  if  it  is  dry  and  frosty.  No  animal  will 
go  more  regularly  to  water  in  the  yviutcr  if  it  is  at  all 
convenient. 

I  prefer  having  sheep  kept  in  such  a  yvay  that  they 
can  go  out  and  in  at  pleasure,  and  I  have  under  my 
barn  an  arrangement  for  stabling  four  lots— in  all 
from  150  to  ^00  head.  At  each  end  of  the  stable  are 
two  large  doors,  opening  two-thirds  the  width  of  the 
barn  ;  the  two  .at  the  south  end  arc  only  closed  dur- 
ing very  stormy  yveather.  Every  Hock  has  access  to 
from  two  to  five  acres,  in  yvhicli  there  is  water,  and 
they  go  in  and  out  at  their  pleasure. 

Hay  is  fed  from  racks  in  the  stables  twice  a  day, 
and  some  cornfodder  is  fed  on  the  ground  when  it  is 
frozen  or  covered  yiith  snow.  No  leavings  are  al- 
lowed to  remain  in  the  racks,  but  arc  thrown  out 
previous  to  putting  in  fresh  hay.  The  refuse  is  given 
lo  calves  or  other  cattle,  or  liorses,  and  are  mostly 
all  eaten.  I  generally  keep  a  flock  in  one  of  the  fields, 
and  feed  them  hay  from  a  stack,  and  have  a  shelter 
of  rails  covered  yvith  straw  for  them  to  go  under  at 
night,  or  during  stormy  weather.  Spring  lambs  are 
gained  a  little  most  of  the  winter.  Weak  ones  arc 
kept  in  a  place  by  themselves  and  get  extra  care. 
Old  ewes  are  got  in  good  condition  and  sold  before 
they  lose  their  teeth.  Manure  is  not  allowed  to  fer- 
ment in  the  stables.  Long  hoofs  arc  trimmed  with 
toe  nippers.—  Germanlumi  Tvlqjrnph. 


Weaning  Calves. 

■11;,     /;,  ,'     \         )',',■   says:    Having  yveaned 

imiiii  I  111  having  fifty  years  ago 

tv.li'ii   ii  i   ii:    hi  myself,  I  can  say  with 

euiiri'i ii  11  I  I  h  ii   ■  I     r  ilir  first  week,  skim  milk 

warmed  a  little  niorc  than  new  milk  is  when  drawn 
from  the  cow,  will  keep  them  in  good  growing  con- 
dition. There  is  no  if  or  doubt  about  this  fact,  for 
many  thousands  arc  raised  in  this  way  every  year, 
and  have  been  for  years  out  of  mind,  before  my  day 
in  the  county  I  was  born  in,  and  also  in  the  States 
for  the  last  twenty  years  ;  yvhile  in  Canada,  they  are 
treated  just  the  same  by  hundreds  of  people.  About 
four  quarts  of  sweet  skim  milk  for  the  first  few 
times  is  enough,  as  giving  more  yvill  relax  them  too 
much  sometimes ;  six  quarts  afterwards,  and,  if  It 
can  be  spared,  more  as  the  calf  grows  larger.  In 
wiiili'r  or  rarh  in  .-iiring  the  calves  require  feeding 
«iili  iiii\.  aMrv  little  at  first,  and,  of  course,  it 
slioiiM  I  I  mil  ,  Milt  ^Toen  hay  and  a  little  bran  and 
oal>,  or   lira II  ami  meal— two-thirds   bran  yvill  make 


What  Stock  Needs. 
A  writer  in  the  Farm  and  Fireside  remarks:  "The 
requirements  of  success  in  stock-breeding  for  proflt 
are  well-bred  stock,  clean,  yvarra  quarters,  pure 
yvater,  suflicient  salt,  a  stall  for  each,  having  rope 
and  chain  fastening  instead  of  stanchions,  gentle 
exercise  daily,  when  the  yveather  Is  not  stormy, 
suflicient  syveet  clover  hay,  cured  in  the  cock,  to 
supply  their  wants,  and  a  uniform  supply  of  finely 
ground  cornmeal .  Whatever  method  of  feeding  may 
be  adopted,  the  questiou  in  which  the  progressive, 
practical  farmer  is  the  most  interested  is,  "  how  can 
I  produce  the  most  tender,  juicy  beef  in  the  shortest 
time,  at  the  least  possible  expense  ." 


Imported  Cattle. 
General  Langhorn  Wister,  of  Duncannon,  Perry 
county,  has  just  imported  from  the  island  of  Guern- 
sey, two  superb  heifers  at  a  cost  of  about  5400  for 
the  pair.  "These,"  8a)-s  the  Record,  "with  his  fine 
Guernsey  bull,  'Susquehanna,'  No.  113  Herd  book — 
makes  the  nucleus  of  a  herd  of  pedigree  Guernsey 
cattle,  and  the  only  ones,  we  believe,  in  Perry  county. 
Guernsey  is  one  of  the  islands  in  the  English  chan- 
nel, and  the  purity  of  its  cattle  is  insured  from  the 
fact  that  the  laws  there  prohibit  the  im[)ortatlon  of 
cattle." 


"A  farmer  of  some  experience"  writes  to  the 
^[auaelm!:tm  Ploughinan  :  Heifers  that  are  kept  fat 
with  meal  will  not  breed,  while  those  kept  in  good 
growing  order  on  grass,  hay  and  roots,  breed  readily. 


32 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[February,  1879. 


Poultry. 


The  Poultry   Association. 

We  are  glad  to  see  that  so  much  interest  is  being 
talicn  in  "The  Lancaster  County  Poultry  Associa- 
tion," which  was  organized  iu  December  last. 
Already  the  new  society  has  nearly  sixty  mem- 
bers, and  the  last  meeting  was  a  very  interesting  one. 
It  is  an  encouraging  sign  to  see  the  interest  that  is 
manifested,  and  we  feel  sure  that  the  poultry  of  our 
county  will  be  improved  by  their  efforts.  Good 
stock  of  any  kind  is  desirable,  and  an  association, 
the  members  of  which  will  meet  and  exchange  their 
views,  giving  each  other  the  benefit  of  their  experi- 
ence, will  certainly  do  good.  The  Farmek  will 
always  contain  full  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
association,  and  we  clieerfully  ofl'er  its  members  the 
use  of  its  columns  to  express  their  views,  and  will  be 
very  glad  to  have  them  accept  the  offer.  Not  only 
will  the  members  of  the  association  be  benefitted,  but 
the  results  they  obtain  will  be  given  to  all  our 
readers,  and  will,  no  doubt,  be  of  use  to  them.  We 
would  be  glad  to  add  to  our  list  of  subscribers  any 
members  of  the  society  who  are  not  already  sub- 
scribers, as  The  Farmer,  printed  in  the  form  it  is, 
is  easily  preserved,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  can  be 
bound,  and  the  members  can  then  have  the  pro- 
ceedings in  a  convenient  book  and  refer  to  them  at 
any  time. 

Langshans. 

A  writer  in  the  London  AgricnUural  Gazette  de- 
scribes the  Langsban  fowls  which  are  now  occupj'- 
ing  considerable  attention  in  English  poultry  circles. 
He  says  he  is  convinced  from  examination  that  what- 
ever affinity  they  may  have  to  the  Cochin  race,  they 
possess  sufficient  distinct  characteristics  to  entitle 
them  to  the  possession  of  a  claim  as  a  separate  class 
fri.m  Cochius.  It  appears  to  him  also  that  they  are 
well  adapted  for  farmers'  poultry,  and  that  few 
breeds  are  more  suitable  for  farm  yards.  These 
fowls  are  remarkable  as  winter  layers,  at  a  time 
other  hens  are  idle.  Beginning  iu  the  autumn,  they 
will  lay  from  90  to  100  of  fair  and  rather  over  the 
average  size  of  eggs.  They  are  careful  mothers. 
The  male  birds  weigh  from  S  to  13  pounds,  the  hens 
from  7  to  10  pounds.  They  make  weight  rapidly  on 
ordinary  fare,  averaging  something  like  a  pound  a 
month  f.">r  the  first  six  months.  The  writer  had  not 
tested  them  as  table  birds,  but  is  informed  that  they 
rank  only  second  to  game  for  the  flavor  of  the  flesh. 
Thus,  they  are  hardy,  fertile  and  possess  plenty  of 
weight  for  table— three  most  essential  qualities  for 
the  farmyard.  There  were  some  beautifully  feathered 
birds  among  the  flock  examined,  so  level  and  smooth 
are  they,  and  the  neck  and  wing  feathers  a  beautiful 
beetle  green,  shine  and  scintillate  iu  the  sun  in  a 
variety  of  hues.  They  also  possess  a  pink  skin  be- 
tween the  toes,  which  is  not  found  in  the  Cochins, 
and  the  tails  and  other  contour  of  the  Langshan  are 
dissimilar  from  Cochins. 

The  gentleman  who  is  raising  them  extensively  in 
England  says  that  so  long  as  they  are  supplied  with 
green  food  occasionally  in  the  form  of  a  sod  grass, 
they  thrive  and  lay  almost  eciually  well  as  those 
which  have  the  range  of  the  farm.  The  hen  chickens 
begin  to  lay  at  five  months  old. 

Tar  in  the  Chicken  House. 

It  seems  that  the  value  of  tar  is  not  sufficiently 
appreciated  by  poultry  breeders,  for  we  seldom  either 
see  it  used  or  its  use  advocated  by  writers  on  poultry 
matters.  It  can  be  used  with  the  most  excellent  re- 
sults, in  fiimiifating  the  poultry  house,  when  through 
neglect  or  inattention  it  becomes  necessary  to  put  it 
through  "  (luarantiiie,"  by  burning  some  of  it  in  a 
suitalJle  vessel,  and  then  closing  the  doors  and  win- 
dows of  the  house  to  confine  the  fumes  and  smoke 
as  much  as  possible.  It  is  sure  to  purify  the  house. 
Tar  is  very  offensive  to  insects  which  worry  the 
poultry  houses.  Whitewash  does  not  seem  to  keep 
them  away,  especially  the  "mites,"  which  are  so 
troublesome,  and  recourse  must  be  had  to  some 
other  sulislaiRc.  Just  here  tar  is  very  valuable. 
Take  an  old  kettle  which  is  of  no  use  for  other  pur- 
poses, put  in  some  good  tar,  and  heat  it  until  it  is 
thin  and  hot,  then,  with  a  whitewash  brush,  brush 
into  all  the  cracks  and  crevices  where  the  insects 
"most  do  congregate,"  and  they  will  start  off,  in- 
stantcr,  for  the  seashore  or  some  other  congenial 
abode.  Treat  the  perches  and  roosting  benches  to  a 
dose  of  the  same.  When  poultry  cholera  makes  its 
appearance,  if  you  thoroughly  cleanse  the  house  and 
treat  as  above,  with  tar,  it  will  generally  prevent  the 
spread  of  the  disease. — Ponllry  Journal. 

Selecting  Breeding   Turkeys. 

While  all  breeders  like  to  have  and  breed  "  heavy 

>TelghtB,"  and  customers  buying  turkey  all  call  for 


large  birds,  it  is  a  fact  that  for  market  purposes, 
moderate  sized  and  even  small  turkeys,  command  a 
more  ready  sale  than  do  large  ones.  We  have  watched 
the  market  for  a  few  days  past,  and  know  this  to  be 
a  fact.  However,  we  do  not  wish  to  discourage 
breeders  from  running  up  the  weights,  even  if  they 
attain  the  much  devoted  weight  of  a  fifty  pound  gob- 
'  b!cr  at  throe  or  four  years  old,  for  as  long  as  there  is 
a  lively  demand  among  breeders  for  heavy  birds,  let 
there  be  birds  to  supply  that  demand.  To  secure  the 
best  results  in  that  direction,  select  an  early  hatched, 
strong  and  vigorous  gobbler  of  this  year's  hatch,  and 
which  is  of  fine  proportion,  long  in  the  body  and 
properly  marked,  and  mate  him  to  as  many  two- 
year-old  hens  as  you  intend  to  keep— from  two  to 
five  hens,  if  properly  handled,  will  produce  a  fine 
crop  of  young  birds  each  season,  and  you  cannot 
help  but  be  absolutely  satisfied  with  the  results.— 
roulinj  Journal. 

Treatment  for    Cholera. 

Fat  bacon,  chopped  fine  and  sprinkled  plentifully 
with  black  pepper,  is  a  convenient  and  reliable 
remedy  for  cholera  in  chickens.  Last  summer  a 
number  of  hens  were  cured  by  its  use.  When  found, 
they  had  dropped  from  the  roost ;  they  were  so  far 
gone  that  they  could  not  get  up,  and  were  only  able 
to  raise  their  heads  occasionally.  They  were  given  a 
comfortable  shelter  by  themselves  ;  a  teaspoonful  of 
the  mixture  was  forced  down  the  throat  of  each  bird, 
morning  and  evening.  No  other  attention  was  paid 
to  them.  At  the  end  of  the  third  day  they  were  set 
at  liberty  and  went  about  as  usual,  giving  no  further 
trouble.  Water  may  be  placed  where  they  can  help 
themselves,  but  no  food  is  required.  Smaller  doses 
may  be  given  in  cases  less  severe. — American  Poultry 
Jonrnal. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


RicKETTs'  New  Seedling  Grapes,  "  Lady 
Washington"  and  "  The  Welcome,"  a  circular  of  4 
pages.  Address  James  H.  Ricketts,  Newburg,  New 
Yo"rk  State. 

Report  of  the  Condition  of  the  Crops,  De- 
cember 1,  1878,  an  octavo  pamphlet  of  28  pages,  a 
synopsis  of  which  see  elsewhere  in  our  columns, 
department  agriculture. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to  the  pro- 
posal, in  our  advertising  columns,  to  publish  the  edi- 
tor's essays  on  practical  entomology  in  book  form, 
as  soon  as  sufl[l'  lent  encouragement  is  manifested  to 
coverthecost.  Further  details  will  be  given  hereafter. 

The  Bee-Keepers'  Guide,  a  demifolio  of  4  pages, 
pu'^'lishcd  on  the  first  day  of  each  month,  by  the 
"Winter  Bee-Hive  Manufactory,"  at  Kendallville, 
Indiana,  at  50  cents  per  year.  Mainly  an  adver- 
tising medium,  but  contains  some  good,  practical 
bee  literature  besides. 

The  American  Stockman,  a  daily,  semi-weekly 
and  weekly  eight-page  semi-folio,  published  in  Chi- 
cago, 111. ;  E.  W.  Perry,  editor  ;  B.  F.  Paine,  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer,  at  $5.00,  $'5.00  and  $i.00  a  year ; 
is  a  first-class  paper  in  its  specialty,  in  quality,  in 
literary  matter,  and  in  typographical  execut.on,  and 
ought  to  succeed. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Agriculture  to  the  President,  November,  lh78. 
We  have  received  a  complimentary  copy  of  this 
valuable  document  from  the  CoriiniUaioner^  an  8vo. 
pamjihlet  of  95  pages,  containing  a  large  amount  of 
excellent  matter,  more  or  less,  relating— both  di- 
rectly or  indirectly- to  the  agriculture  of  the  coun- 
try, giving  fifty-two  analyses,  examinations  and 
experiments,  in  various  substances  of  domestic  use, 
including  grasses  and  other  vegetable  productions, 
soils,  seeds,  oils,  liquors,  minerals,  eggs,  sugars,  &c., 
&c.,  with  many  statistical  tables  on  imports,  ex- 
ports, and  other  articles  of  trade  and  commerce. 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Reading,  Pa.,  Jan.  30th,  1879. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Berks  County  Agri- 
cultural and  Horticultural  Society,  held  in  the  City 
of  Reading,  the  following  officers  were  elected  for 
the  ensuing  year  :  President— Jacob  G.  Zeir.  Vice 
Presidents— Josiah  Lewis,  Benjamin  S.  Ritter,  Henry 
Brobst,  William  G.  Moore,  John  L.  Rightmyer.  Sec- 
letary— Cyrus  T.  Fox.  Corresponding  Secretary- 
Edwin  Shalter.  Treasurer— William  S.  Ritter.  Audi- 
tors—Daniel S.  Francis,  Jacob  Kauffman.  The  office 
of  the  society  has  been  removed  to  No.  11';;  North 
Sixth  street,  Reading,  Pa.  All  business  communi- 
cations should  be  addressed  to  the  secretary. —  Tours, 
very  respectfully ,  Cyrus  T.  Fox,  Secretary. 

The  Normal  Monthly  Review.— This  is  about 
the  spicest  little  journal  that  reaches  our  table.  A 
iiO  page  8vo.,  published  at  Shippensburg,  Pa.  Edited 
by  Delia  T.  Smith,  and  assisted  in  the  various  de- 
partments by  members  of  the  Faculty  of  the  "  State 
Normal  School,"  at  Shippensburg;  under  the  busi- 
ness management  of  E.  A.  Angell,  vice  Principal. 
Its  4urieulum  consists  of  natural  science,  classics, 
mathematics,  English  and  German  language,  draw- 


ing, teaching  and  music.  This  neat  little  magazine 
must  be  a  welcome  monthly  visitor,  in  a  very  special 
sense,  to  the  Alumni  of  the  institution  under  whose 
auspices  it  is  published.  "May  its  shadow  never 
grow  less."  Only .50 cents  a  year, in  advance;  single 
numbers,  5  cents. 

Report  of  the  "Pennsylvania  Fruit  Growers'  So- 
ciety," prepared  by  its  officers.  This  is  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  nineteenth  annual  meeting  of  this  society, 
held  at  Williamsport,  in  January,  1878,  together 
with  its  constitution,  by-laws,  list  of  officers  for 
1878,  standing  committees,  life  members,  honorary 
members  and  annual  members :  including  an  in- 
dex of  contents.  A  royal  octavo  of  89  pages,  with 
four  superb  full  page  illustrations  of  choice  new 
fruits.  These  consist  of  a  beautifully  colored  illus- 
tration of  the  "Sharpless  Sccilling  .Strawberry,"  and 
uncolored  ones  of  "Smeych's  Lancaster  Cherry," 
Sener's  Seedling  Peach,"  and  the  "Dickinson  Apple." 
In  addition  to  these  are  two  full  page  illustrations  of 
"landscape  adornments,"  and  two  of  I'iuns  pungens 
in  its  various  stages  of  development,  including  nine 
different  figures.  And,  lastly,  an  illustration  of  the 
"apple  moth,"  Carpocapsa  poniorulUt,  with  seven 
figures.  The  quality  of  the  material,  the  typography 
and  the  pictures  are  much  finer  than  any  that  have 
embellished  any  of  the  previous  reports  of  this  society 
or  any  other  society  in  the  State.  And,  if  any  evi- 
dence wci-e  necessary  to  prove  that  the  society  is 
progressing,  it  might  be  found  in  this  report  and  the 
literary  quality  of  its  contents.  This  society  was 
organized  in  this  city  twenty  years  ago  last  January. 

The  Phrenological  Journal  for  February  is  an 
excellent  number  of  this  sterling  and  popular  maga- 
zine. It  opens  with  a  life-like  portrait  and  phreno- 
logical and  biographical  sketch  of  Senator  John  P. 
Jones,  of  Nevada.  It  contains  also  portraits  and 
sketches  of  the  late  Bayard  Taylor,  American  Minis- 
ter to  Germany,  and  also  of  the  Marquis  of  Lome 
and  Princess  Louise. 

The  chapter  on  Brain  and  Mind,  discourses  on 
Organic  Quality,  its  nature  and  influence,  illustrated 
with  nearly  a  dozen  fine  engravings.  Strange  Plants 
are  also  illustrated.  The  Unfolding  of  Mind  through 
Conflict  and  Sin  is  an  interesting  paper. 

The  Health  Department  is  well  sustained  by  the 
admirable  articles  on  Dietetic  Delusions ;  Experi- 
ments iu  Magnetism,  and  the  Proper  Position  in 
which  to  Sleep,  while  our  social  relations  as  men 
and  women  are  discussed  in  Single-Blessedness  ;  Can 
the  Sex  of  the  Human  Cranium  be  Determined?  A 
new  Scientific  Expedition  around  the  world,  etc. 
There  is  also  a  great  amount  of  valuable  information 
in  the  Editorial  department.  Answers  to  Correspon- 
dents, etc.  The  publishers  of  this  Jonrnal  hnve  kept 
abreast  of  the  times  by  making  a  reduction  in  price, 
but  maintaining  the  high  standard  of  their  magazine 
in  its  'literature  and  usefulness.  It  is  now  published 
at  §2.00  per  year,  with  liberal  premium  offers  to  sub- 
scribers. Send  i;0  cents  in  postage  stamps  for  this 
number  to  S.  R.  Wells  &  Co.,  publishers,  737  Broad- 
way, New  York. 

Seventh  report  of  the  State  Entomologist  o^ 
Illinois,  (Walsh  1.  Lebaron  4.  Thomas  2.)  on  the 
noxious  and  beneficial  insects  of  said  State.  Second 
annual  report,  by  Cyrus  Thomas,  Ph.  D.,  State  Ento- 
mologist, -73  pages  octavo,  with  56  illustrations  ;  a 
general  index  ;  an  index  of  the  plants  and  other 
substances  injured  by  insects,  referred  to  in  the  re- 
port; a  list  of  the  illustrations  and  a  table  of  con- 
tents ;  also,  analytical  tables  of  the  families  and 
genera  of  Lepiotoptera,  represented  in  said  re- 
port. Our  readers  may  judge  of  the  general  scope 
of  the  work  when  we  inform  them  that  23  species  of 
insects  are  described  as  being  injurious  to  the  apple  ; 
10  to  clover  ;  40  to  the  corn  ;  9  to  the  elm  trees  ;  48 
to  forest  trees  ;  '.^5  to  garden  vegetation  ;  17  to  grape- 
vines ;  12  to  grass  ;  7  to  maples  ;  9  to  the  oak  ;  8  to 
the  rose ;  5  to  the  turnip  ;  4  to  the  walnut,  and  10  to 
the  wheat.  He  only  includes  two  species  injurious 
to  the  tobacco  crop,  but  we  have  already  10  species 
of  tobacco  enemies  on  our  list  for  the  county  of  Lan- 
caster alone.  An  economic  paper  on  the  butterflies 
and  moths  of  Illinois,  constituting  Part  II.,  is  con- 
tributed by  Prof.  G.  H.  French  ;  and  Miss  Emma  A. 
Smith,  of  Peoria,  contributes  a  report  on  the  noxious 
insects  of  Northern  Illinois.  The  material,  illustra- 
tions and  typography  are  pooch  We  are  under  obli- 
gations to  Prof.  Thomas,  of  Carbondale,  Illinois,  for 
a  complimentary  copy  of  this  work.  We  believe  the 
great  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  might  make 
a  worse  use  of  her  fund.s— and  has  often  made  a 
worse  use  of  them— than  by  appropriating  a  reason- 
able sum  to  bring  out  a  report  on  the  noxious  and 
bcnuticial  insecls'of  tlic  State.  We  believe  the  fann- 
er.-;, the  gardL-ners  and  the  fruit  growers  would  as 
cliucrfully  pay  tlicir  taxes  for  such  an  expenditure  as 
for  any  other  that  has  been  incurred  in  its  special  or 
general  legislation,  and  that  before  many  years  it 
may  become  manifest  to  the  most  ordinary  and  un- 
appreciative  of  State  officials  that  they  have  made 
and  have  persisted  in  a  most  consummate  blunder. 
We  believe  that  if  any  of  the  aspirants  to  political 
positions — and  who  have  attained  to  those  positions — 
had  the  ability,  the  material,  and  the  industry  to 
bring  out  such  a  report,  we  should  have  had  one 
long  ago,  and  they  would  have  been  well  paid  for  It, 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER^ 


Sebds.— We  arc  in  receipt  of  "  The  Annual  Circu- 
lar and  Catalogue"  of  James  J.  II.  Gregory,  Mar- 
blehcuJ,  Mass.  It  contains  51)  pp.  profusely  illustra- 
ted,and  is  sent  free  ol  postage  to  all  who  send  for  It. 

New  Mrsic— We  are  indebted  to  lieorge  1).  New- 
all  &  Co.,  Music  dealers,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  for  three 
new  pieces  of  music  :  "Old  Fashioned  Fireplace," 
"Come  uuto  Me,"  "  May  all  go  with  tlie  Tide." 

TuonouoiinREi)  SnouT-IIoRNa. — Mr.  A.  M. 
Ranck,  Bird-in-Hand,  this  county,  advertises  in  this 
number  of  TuE  Farmku,  a  lot  of  thoroughbred 
ehon-honi  bulls  and  bull  calves  for  sales,  at  low 
prices. 

Fine  Stock.— We  are  In  receipt  of  three  cata- 
logues from  Smith  &  Powell,  proprietors  of  Lakeside 
Stock  Farm  and  Syracuse  Nurseries,  Syracuse,  N. 
Y.  Tl.«  catalogues  are  devoted  to  giving  a  descrip- 
tion and  pedigree  of  the  horses  (Iliimblctonians  and 
Clydesdale)  and  Cattle  (Holsteius)  that  they  have 
for  sale  at  their  stock  farm.  They  will  be  found  very 
interesting  to  any  one  wishing  to  purchase  line  stock. 

Mil.  Isaiah  T.  Cltmek,  a  practical  Pennsylvania 
farmer,  claims  to  have  made  a  discovery  by  which 
from  ■J.'i  to  .50  per  cent,  may  be  gained  in  tbu  yield  o 
marketable  potatoes.  Hii  otfer  In  advertising  colum n  f 
Is  therefore  worthy  of  consideration,  showing,  as  is 
docs.  Ills  entire  confldcnce  both  in  the  value  of  his 
system  and  in  the  Integrity  of  his  fellow  farmers, 
which  we  are  sure  they  can  notbnt  appreciate. 

Elwangeii  &  Barry's  New  Fbuit  Catalooue.— 
This  recently  issued  catalogue,  of  seventy  compact 
pages,  gives  much  information  on  the  newer  fruits, 
and  furnishes  select  descriptive  lists  of  the  older  va- 
rieties. The  eitensive  specimen  and  fruiting  grounds 
connected  with  the  nursery  give  many  interesting  re- 
sults iu  testing  varieties,  and  readers  who  procure 
this  catalogue  may  obtain  from  it  much  useful  know- 
ledge on  the  subject  not  to  be  had  elsewhere. — 
Country  OentUman,  Septem'.c)-  12,  1S78. 

Weatheu  Almanac— Prof.  Ticu,the  distinguish- 
ed meteorologist  and  weather  prophet  of  St.  Louis, 
has  issued  his  Anmtal  ^'atwnnl  Weather  Almanac  for 
1879,  in  which,  besides  foi-etclling  the  weather  for 
every  day  in  the  year  and  clearly  explaining  the 
theory  on  which  his  predictions  are  bafcd,  he  gives  a 
history,  causes  and  effects  of  tornadoes — a  chapter 
on  lightning  rods,  exposes  their  general  worthless- 
ness,  and  explains  how  thvy  may  be  made  efl'ective, 
&c.  The  whole  is  of  grea'  interest  .ind  practical 
value  to  every  one,  and  esi'Ocially  indispensibic  to 
farmers.  B'or  sample  copy  atii  iprms  of  sale  to  the 
trade  and  to  agents,  send  liO  ceuis  loThoiu[iion,  Tice 
<fc  Co.,  Publishers,  St.  Louis,  ]Mo. 

Vkk's  Flouai.  Guide.— a  beautiful  work  of  100 
pages,  one  colored  flower  plate,  and  300  illustrations, 
with  descriptions  of  the  best  Flowers  and  Vegetables, 
and  how  to  grow  them.  All  for  a  Ave  cent  stamp. 
In  English  or  German. 

Tue  Fi.oweu  and  Veoetable  Gardex,  17.5 
pages,  six  colored  plates,  and  many  hundred  en- 
gravings. For  .50  cents  iu  paper  covers;  ?1.00  in 
elegant  cloth.    In  German  or  English. 

Vick's  Illustrated  Monthly  Magazine— 33 
pages,  a  colored  plate  in  every  number  and  many 
fine  engravings.  Price  $1.25  a  year;  five  copies  for 
35.00.    Specimen  numbers  sent  for  10  cents. 

Vick's  Seeds  are  the  best  in  the  world.  Send 
five  cent  stamp  for  a  Floral  Guide,  containing  list 
and  prices,  and  plenty  of  information.  AdJress, 
JAMES  VICK,  i;.r.Iitsrcr,  \.  V.  [70-1-2 


FREE  HOMES 


Isau  en.Mf-elio,  naturol  inaimre.  sprcially  ndaj  ted  fo 
sommcr  crops.  It  is  highly  recouiincudod  to  lobac-c 
growers,  giving  the  jilanls  a  vIgorouB  start  an!  causing  i 
rapid  growth  to  maturity. 

IIIKAH  E.  MJT7-.  Mnniirnctiirer. 

Office,  11.16  Market  Street,  rblladclplila. 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 

SCIENIIFIC  FDeMyUS  m  THEII  MftlUFUCIOBE  01  IHE 

\m  SENT  FflEE  10  m  mmi. 


The  Clicapest,  ami  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  tise,  can  be  made  with  but 
little  trouble,  by  using  our  Fertilizing  Chemi- 
cals and  Bones,  which  wc  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation. 

Dissolved  Dones,  Sulphate  of  Ammonia, 

PerfdotlyrureGrounrt  Bones,  Fertllir-ing  Salt, 

Acidulated  Phosphate  Rock,  Sulphate  of  Soda, 

Pliosphate  Rock,  fine  ground.  Muriate  of  Potash,  Qermau, 

Laud  Plaster,  pure  and  fine  Oil  Vitriol,  full  Btrength, 

ground,  Sulphate  of  Magnesln 
Sulphate  Potash  (Kalnit),  (Kiesorite), 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO. 

ANAI.YTIC.VL  CnKMI.ST.S, 

Mannfactnrers  of  Fertilizing  ClieiDicals. 


(Established    1793.) 


FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 
Office:  105  South  Front  Street, 

PHILADHLPHLA,  PA. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 

Embraciug  the  hiniury  :uk|  habita  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 

aiid  the  best  remeJios  for  their  cxi'ulsi.m  ur  eiforminatioii. 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON.  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

Tins  work  will  bo  Iliglily  lUuBtrated,  and  will  bo  j.ul  iji 
press  (as  soon  after  a  sutlicieut  number  of  subsorlbers  can 
be  obtaiued  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 


THEE  S 


we  offer  for  Sprms  ol  IST9,  the  largest  and  most  conij.lote 

stock  in  the.  U.  S.  of 
Fruit  Trei-M,  «r»|ie  Vines,  Klrnwherriew,  em- 

br.iciuK  all  the  new  and  valuable  vsrieiies. 
OrnninonlBl  TrceH   and    NlirubH,  deciduous  aud 


No.  1.  Fruits,  with  colored  plate  (new  edilioii),lScts.;    lali 
l«cts.    No.  a.  Oinamental  Trees,  etc.,  with  plate.  23cts. 


ELLLWANGER  &  BARRY, 


Kochester,    N.  V. 


GERMANTOWN  TELEGRAPH, 

Wo'ch  ia  generally  ackuowlcdged  to  be  the  bfst  Literary, 
Farming  and  Agrioulturul  Newspaiier  ia  Pennsylvania,  is 
issued  weekly  at  Qermanlown,  Pbiladelpbia,  at  HS.tiO  per 
annum.  It  wdl  commence  its  30th  voluiie  with  the  first 
number  io  March,  proximo,  being  established  and  conduct- 
ed by  its  preaeut  editor  and  proprietor.  No  familv  ni  ■ 
iug  it  n  trial  for  a  year  would  be  willing  to  do  without 
it  at  double  the  subscription  price.    Address 

PHILIP  R.  FRKAH. 
79-2—1  Oennantown,  Phila. 


1..  Hi  Kl..*.r.  ari.l  Vegol.b and 

for  ,  livr.  (1  Mr  Stamp.    In  Englhih  or  Oi 

Iti"  Flower  and  Vegetable  Garden,  175  Pages,  Six 
C.ilureil  riatoH,  and  uiaiiy  hundred  KngravluKS.  For  »• 
ci'ijlH  in  jiaper  covers;  tlOlJ  iu  elegant  cloth,  in  Oenntn 
or  Rni/lish. 

Vick's  Illustrated  Monthly  Magafine-32  Pages,  a 
Colored  Plate  In  every  nnmlwrrnd  many  Fine  Kngravings. 
Price  $1.25  a  year;  Five  I'oplea  lor  »."i  IMI. 

Vick's  Seeds  are  the  bant  Iu  the  world    Rend  Flvit  CiNI 
eontuining  List   and   I'rlceH, 


r,  V.  y. 


CLYDESDALE  AND  HAMBLETONIAN 
STALLIONS. 

1VL.A.H.H13   axicL  O  O  Xj  I"  IS  a 

ALSO 

HOT.STEIN  CATTLE. 

All  i.f  the  llnest  bnedlng  to  be  found  in  the  United 
Htales  or  Kurope,  several  of  which  were  iirlie  animals  at 
the  recent  New  York  Stale  Fair. 

PRICES  AND  TERMS  EASY. 


SMITHS  &  POWELL, 

109  WEST  QENKSEE  ST.,  SYIIAOCSK,  NEW  YORK. 


OFFICE, 

).  9  North  Oueen  Street, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


lEMI  EIMIffiER 


Isnn  old,  well-eBtabllBtaed  ncwf*paper,  aod  coutalue  just  tba 
newB  desirable  to  make  it  nn  Intereelind  and  Taluablo 
Family  Newapiper.  It  te  publiabed  on  Wedm^sday  and 
Saturday,  subscrlberflhavinR  tbecholco  of  whichever  edition 
that  euita  their  mail  facilltiea  b<*at.  The  poatage  to  sub- 
HcriberB  resldlug  outside  of  lAncaster  couuty  is  paid  by  tbo 
publinher. 
Send  for  a  apecimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


DilLIEIAHHilEXPllESS 


Ih  pabllabod  ererj  aftonioon  (except  Sunday)  and  contains 
the  uewa  by  mail  and  telegraph  from  all  part*  of  the  world 
up  to  the  hour  of  going  to  prtfBS.  It  ia  furuisbed  to  aub* 
scribure  at  all  the  towoH  and  villages  in  tUe  county,  acces- 
sible by  railorHtaKe.bycarriPraat  T«»n  4'enlH  a  n'eek, 
or  by  mall  at  Flvo  l>f>lliirtf  per  Year. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer 


ONE   DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM. 


THE  E.\.yil\EI{&  EXPRESS  JOB  ROOM. 

The  Job  Kooms  of  "The  Kxaniincr  and  Etpreaa"  arc 
well  Ailed  with  a  lull  aNForrnunt  nf  type  and  improved 
(■Tteaep,  caubliug  ns  to  do  all  l.indM  of  Job  Work,  auch 
as  catalogues,  cards,  bill  hialn,  Ititer  beads,  envelops 
staiemeuts,  luviuiloun,  circnl.<rK,  i  «tftter«,  sale  bills,  iu  fact, 
all  klndaof  plain  and  fancy  priutlug.  We  make  a  epecialty 
of  sale  bills,  having  cuts  In  the  offlce  which  were  mado 
from  drawings  rpccially  prepared  for  ua,  and  not  in  sdj 
other  office  iu  the  state. 

Call  and  aee  epecimeuf). 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nort  1  Queen  St.. 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


[February,  1879. 


My  annual  Catalogue  r.f  Veffflabte  and  Vlotcr.r 
Seed  for  iS7f>,?lch  in  engraviugs,  from  origiDal  1*0*"- 
grapbB,  will  be  Beut  FREE  to  all  wbo  apply,  Ouftomf  rs  o! 
Ust  season  need  not  write  for  it  I  oSferoneof  the  larj. est  col- 
lections of  vegetable  seed  ever  sent  out  by  any  seed  honse 
in  AiHerica,  a  large  portion  of  which  were  grown  on  my  six 
Med  farms.  Printed  directions  for  cultivation  on  each  pack- 
age. All  seed  warranted  to  he  both  fresh  and  true  to  name: 
BO  tAT,  that  should  it  prove  otherwise.  /  UJill  refill  the  order 
gratis.  The  original  intrndncer  of  the  Hubbard  Squash, 
Phluney's  Melon,  Marblebead  Cabbages,  Mexican  Cor",  and 
•core*  of  other  vegetables,  I  Invite  the  patronage  of  all  who 
are  anxiout  U>  have  their  seed  direetlj/ from  the  grower,  fresh, 
true,  and  of  the  very  best  strain. 

New  Vegetables  a  specialty. 

JAMES  3.  H.  GREGORY, 

J9-l-14[  ■  Uarblehead.MasB. 


E.  R.  O. 


)  explode,  unde 


'  burner  is  used, 
forfeiture  of  $1G0. 
BTEXCLTISIVE  CODNTT  RIGHTS  for  a,ile  by 
P.  J.  FITZGERALD,  Sole  Proprietor  and  Manufacturer, 

103  and  105  N   Fourth  St.,  Philad'a. 
Also,  WHOLESALE  DKALER  IN   HKAD  LIGHT,  COAL 
OIL  and  BUKNING  FLUID. 

N.  B.  A  large  a8tortmentta^f»(»fv/«  of  CHANDELIERS, 
BRACKETS,  BRONZE  LAMl'S.  BUHNKRS,  i-c-.,  he.  ,  cori- 
BUntly  on  hund.  10-9-6m 


A'n^j.;:MMf..i;o.Bjtf.i'.'i.=a^^jj.fc 


WE  SELL    EVERYTHtNCFOSTHE 

GARDEN 

PETIER'HEKksif&eoI 


35  rortlandt 


STOCRBRIDGE 

MANURES 

Origluateil  by  Levi  Stockb!:i!(;,e,  Professor  of  Agii^ul- 
lure  in  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College.  Tliev  have 
been  extensively  used  for  six  years.  Send  for  a  little  book 
describing  them  and  giving  directions  for  cultivating  farm 
and  garden  crops.  Every  faimer,  gardener,  or  cultivator 
'  i  kitchen  garden  should  send  for  a  copy  mailed /ree. 


.ild  send  for  : 
BOWKER'I'EKTII.IJEESl  <'<>MI'A»lY, 
Iinin  fStroet.  Kosluii:  3  I'nrk  PInoe.  Nr 
anri  24  X4)rtli  W.Ttor  street.  KorhiNtt 


LAWRENCE&TAYLOR, 

70  ALDERSGATE  ST., 
London  E.  C,  England. 

Heceive  consignmenta  of  dairy  and  other  agricultural  Pro- 

Largest  aiifl  Best  Market  in  tlie  Worlfl. 

Commission:   For  consignmeuts  under     £50:— 4  per  cent* 
"  "  "         XlOO:— 3percent. 

"  •'  over       £100;— 2  per  cent. 

Freight  &c.,  &c.,  paid  free  of  charge  for  interest. 

Money  advanced  on  Consignment  with- 
out interest. 

Account  sales  and  cash  promptly  remitted. 

BAMER'S  NATIONAL PROVimi  BANK 

Te'.egraph  Address 

TAYRENCE,  LONDON. 

T»-2-3 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS! 


The  Lancaster  Farmer, 

A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL, 

Devoted  to  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Econo- 
my and  Miscellany. 


FOUNDED  UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  OF  THE  LANCASTER  COUNTY  AGRI- 
CULTURAL AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION: 

ONE  DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPRIETOR. 

All  subscriptions  will  commence  witli  the  January  number,  unless  otlier- 
wise  ordered. 


This  number  of  "The  Lancaster  Farmer,"  issued  in  January,  1879,  is  the  first  num- 
ber of  Volume  XL  The  publication  of  the  "Farmer"  has  been  transferred  by  Mr.  L. 
Rathvon  to  the  undersigned,  who  will  continue  it  in  the  same  form  as  it  has  been  pub- 
lished in  the  past,  trying  at  all  times  to  spare  neither  money  or  labor  to  make  it  a  first- 
class  Journal  for  the  Farm,  Garden  and  House.  It  will  always  contain  the  same  amount  of 
reading  matter,  as  the  advertisements  will  never  be  allowed  to  encroach  on  that  depart- 
ment. We  have  in  view  several  slight  changes  that  will  make  it  more  desirable  to  the 
readers,  and  improve  the  appearance  of  it,  but  these  changes  they  will  notice  as  they  are 
made,  and  we  refrain  from  saying  more  about  them. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  who  has  so  ably  managed  the  editorial  department  in  the  past, 
will  continue  in  the  position  of  editor.  His  contributions  on  subjects  connected  with 
the  science  of  faiming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which  he  is  so  thoroughly 
master — entomological  science — some  knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the 
successful  farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of  this  publication.  He  is 
determined  to  make  "The  Farmer"  a  necessity  to  all  households. 

A  county  that  has  so  wide  a  reputation  as  Lancaster  county  for  its  agricultural  pro- 
ducts should  certainly  be  able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the  ex- 
change of  the  opinions  of  farmers  interested  in  this  matter.  We  ask  the  co-operation 
of  all  farmers  interested  in  this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer"  is 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and  induce  them  to  subscribe.  It 
is  not  much  for  each  subscriber  to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  communications  in  regard  to  the  editorial  management  should  be  addressed  to  ^ 
Dr.  S,  S.  Rathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptions  and 
advertising  should  be  addressed  to  the   publisher.       Rates  of  advertising  can   be  had  on 
application  at  the  office. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND, 

No,  9  North  Queen  Street,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


ONE  DOLLAR  FEE  ANNUM-SINGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  S.  S,  P.ATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA..   MARCH,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  Publisher. 


CONTENTS  OF  THIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 
.  The  Lancaster  Farmer  as  an  Advertising  Medium, 
,  Society  Proceedings,        .        .        .        -         - 
,  To  Correspondents,      ------ 

,  County  Fairs,  ------- 

,  Practical  Kssays  on  Entomology  ;  or.  Essays  on 
Praetical  Entomology,       -        -        -        - 

•  Incorporation,      ------- 

» Buy  Your  Trees  at  Home,       -        -        -        - 

r  A  Grape  Swindler,       -        -        -        - 

,The  Agricultural  Society  as  a  School,     - 

.  Monthly  Keuiindero,     - 

•  Groundhog  Meteorology,  .        .        .        - 

•  New  $(i0.00  Prize  Grapes — Moore's  Early, 

,  8t.  Matthew's  Day,  .        .        .        -        - 

•  A  Chapter  on  Macaroni,      -        -        -        .        - 
.  Chemical  Farming,         .        -        .        -        - 

Pliiut-Kood — Dung  jind  Chemicals. 
.  Pearl  Millet,        ------- 

VThe  Fish  Question, 


ENTOMOLOGICAL. 
iTo  Destroy  the  Currant  Slu;;, 
.^loversecd  Fly,     -        -        .        - 
A  Premature  Evolution,  - 
Experiments  with  Moths,     - 

AGRICULTURE. 
Deep  and  Shallow  Plowing, 
Sowing  Oats  Early, 
American  Wheat  in  Spain,       - 
Salt  as  a  Manure, 
American  Produce  Abroad,     - 


QUERIES  AND  ANSWERS. 
•The  Hand-Maid  Moth,        -----      38 

•  Galley-Worms  and  Crane-Fly,      -        -        -  39 

•  Pulmonary  Spiders,    ------      39 

ESSAYS. 

.  'The  Care  of  Fruit  Trees— C'a/i'in  Cooper,        -        39 

•Essay— Jb/«i  Grossman,      -        -        -        -        -    40 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

•  More  Light  Wanted— Jwii<e«r  Farmer,         -         40 

•  A  Word  in  Keply— /.  A'.  T.,       -        .        -        -     41 

•  Indian  Tobacco— J.  Stauffer,  -  -  -  41 
-Pruning,  Its  Uses  and  Abuses — L.  S.  R.,  -  41 
.  More  About  Eels— i?.  K.  Hergheij,  -  -  -  42 
.<)at8  as  Feed  for  Horses— jl.i>.  ^.,        -        -        42 

OUlf  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

•  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society,    -        •      42 

Remarks  tioni  JiidgR  stitzel— The  Societys  Char- 
ter— BueluesH  for  Next  Meeting. 

•  Bee-Keepers'  Association,        -        -       -        -       43 

Reports— Feeding  Glucose  to  Bees — Dollar  Qneeos— 
Comb  Foundations — Springing  Bcok— Marketing 
Houey  -Honey  Exhibition — Esso  ys  for  Next  Meet- 
ing—Hye  Flonr  tor  Bees. 

•  Poultry  Associatiou,        -----        43 

Chicken  Cholera— What  Mmst  Hens  have  to  Pro- 
duce Eggs— The  Best  Barnyard  Fowl— Chiokens 
aud  Sunlight— MiRcelluueouB. 

/Warwick  Farmers'  Club,        .        -        -         -         44 
Meetiug  of  February  l.-,th,  1819. 
.  Fulton  Farmers'  Club,        -----     45 
Asking  uud  Answeriug  Questions — Afternoon  8es- 

h  Linofcau  Society,        ------      4fi 

/  Additions  to  the   LlhrarT— Pnj'erp    Bend — Letters 

Bead— Dr.   KathvouH   Adrtiosn— (Jn;«ni/.ation  of 

the  Society— Progris-    .    :m   I  i  itlhiiltlee— 

Not  DisapiJointeU— i,  ^       ipointed 

In  One  Particular— \i       .      i  .    ,    Leads- 

Who  the  Founders  U\  .         .,  i     .  i:itOrgaui- 

lation- Whiit  the  I.i;  .;  L  r .' 5— No  Fail- 
ures—The  Friends  ol  th.-  I. iMi:i>  111— Building 
Bi  tterlhiin  They  KncM— Looking  Hopef»Uy  Into 
th*Jf*)ire— Scieuiifio  Miscelhiny. 

r  An  Ancteti^Mouse  and  Barn,        -         -        -        46 


HORTICULTURE. 

Pruning  Fruit  and  Oruameutal  Trees, 
Hide-Bound  Trees,        -         -        -         . 
Early  Cabbages  and  Tomatoes, 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 
How  to  Neutralize  Skunks'  Odor, 
How  to  Pickle  Artichokes, 
How  to  Destroy  Moths  in  Feathers,  - 
How  to  Fricassee  Chicken,     - 
Potatoes  and  Nep,       -        -        -        - 
How  to  Stew  Soup  Beans, 
How  to  Make  Turnip  Salad, 
Table  Sauce,     -        -        -        -        - 
Broiled  Kidney,     -        -        -        .        - 

Soup,        

POULTRY. 
Non-Hatching  Eggs, 
How  to  Manage  Setters,      - 
Questions,        ------ 

The  Best  Kind  of  Eggs ,      -        -        - 
What  and  How  to  Feed, 
Degeneracy  in  Fowls, 
Plucking  Poultry,        -         -         -        - 

Literary  and  Personal,     - 


])ISSOLVED    3ONES, 

Warranted  Pure  Raw  Boue  Meal, 
DISSOLVED  WITH  ACID, 


Aud  to  he  free  from  all  other  aiiliataucoa  or  uiiiture  what- 
ever. I(  contains  over  10  per  cent.  Soluble  and  Iteverted 
Phosphoric  Acid,  aud  over  .S>i  jier  cent,  of  Ammonia. 

Tliis  article  is  guaranteed  to  be  Baw   Bone  aud  Oil  of 
Vitriol  ouly. 

CHEMICAL  SUPPLIES  for  Tobacco  and  other 
Fertilizer    Formulas     at   raauuiacturers'    and     hnporlers' 
prices.    Write  us  for  prices  aud  formulas. 
•  ''iRrlces  of  the  above  by  the  car  load  very  low  to  meet  the 
})resenl  depressed  prices  of  farm  products. 

■  BAUGH  &  SONS, 


M.XNnFACTUREKS, 
■20  8  Delawar 


Avp.,  rhilii 


NORBECK&MILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


Gamage  Builders, 

cox  &  l'0"S  OLB  m,\\), 

Corner  of  Duke  and  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

THE  LATEST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PH.CTONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 


Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 


KKrAIKINC  prui.ij.tly  att.HKlcJ  to.     All  work 
giuinmticd. 


PHAKES    W.    FRY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WALL  PAPER  &WINBaW  SHADES, 

llollnndN.  pinin  Shn<lt-  <'lolh, 

I'iitures,  FntiffS,  T;issela  and  all  floods  pertaining  to  a 

Paper  and  Shade  Store. 

No.  63  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

79-1-14 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


Trains  leave  the  Depot  in  this  city,  as  follows  : 

Lancaster. 
2:40  a.  m. 
6:00  a.m. 


WE  TWARD. 

Pacific  EipresB' 

Way  PaBseiigert  

Niagara  Eipreaa 

Hanover  Accommodation, 

Mail  train  via  Mt.  Joy 

Kg.  2  via  Columbia 

Sunday  Mail 

Fast  Liue* 

Frederick  Accommodation 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Express , 

Pittsburg  Express , 

Cincinnati  Express* 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  Express' 

Philadelphia  Expresst. 


9.30  J 


7:35  ( 


Harrisburg. 

4:05  a.  m. 

7:50  a.  ra. 
10:40  a.  m. 


Pacific  Express* 

Sunday  Mail 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express* 5:18  p. 

Harrisburg  Aucom "    " 

The  Hanover  Accommodation,  west, 
with  Kiagara  Express,  west,  at  9:35 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommodatiou,  west, 
ter  with  Fast  Une,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m..  and  runs 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  ou  Sunday,  when 
■top  at  Middletown,  Elizabethtown,  Mount  Joy 
Tllle. 

•The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tRuns  daily,  except  Monday. 


$77; 

79-2-12 


IE*,  laOXKriVH^A.-DO', 


ATI.OWE&TPO>i.SIBLE  PRICES, 

Fully  guaramteed. 

No.  108  EAST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  OppoHte  Leopard  Hotel. 


GLOVES,  SHIRTS,  UNDERWEAR. 
SHIRTS  MADE"tO  ORDER, 

AND  WARRANTED  TO   HT. 

E.  J.  ERISMAN, 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


Manufacturer  of 


Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 


And  Manufactun 


FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS, 


WAREROOMS: 


102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

■LANCASTER,  PA. 


fTBEESi 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

Plant  Trees  raised  in  this  county  and  suited  to  this  climate. 
Write  for  prices  to 

LOUIS  C.  LYTE 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co.,Pa. 
NurBery  at  Smoketown,  six  mile*  eiist  of  Lancaster. 


STRAWBERRY 


CRESOENT 

!«EEni,IlV« 
PLANTS    a"<l    other    choii 
BlackherrieJi,  Cnrrantu,  Oooseberriea,  Fruit  'trees,  etc.    Cata- 
logue describing  plants  and  tieeasent  free  to  all. 

SAU7£L  C.  BeCOU,  Uooreatswn.  Bsrlisgtos  CotintT,  H.  J. 
79-3-1 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CLOCKS, 

JEWELRY! TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Avnndel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

RepairiQs  strictly  attended  to. 

z.A.£3:ivx's  c;oFt.:KrE:x%. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Pa, 

79-!-I'2 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANDFACTUREB  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

SADUI,EM, 

COLLARS,  WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &c., 

AMO    DEALER    IN 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUrALO  ROBES, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &c., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

T9-1-12]  LANCASTER,  PA. 


ESTABLISHED  1SS2. 


G.    SENEH    &   SOJSrS, 

Manufacturers  and  dealers  iu  all  kinds  of  rough  and 
fliiished 

r.X7iviB]E:£%, 

The  best  Sawed  SHIKftl.EM  iu  the  country.     Also  Sash, 
Doors,  Bliuds,  Mouldings,  &C. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walnut-sts. 

LANCASTKR,  PA.. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 

Embracing  the  history  and  habits  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 

jiedies  for  their  exijulsiou  or  extormlnition. 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

IS -work  will  be  Highly  IllustriUed,  aud  will  be  vnt  in 
(as  soon  after  a  sutlicieut  number  of  subscribers  can 
italned  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 


THE  LATEST! 


T^e  New  Tariff  of  Rates 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeka 
ago,  sold  off  large  lots  of 

goods,  and  has 

INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US! 

AS    I'SUAI. 

BS^Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better.-"©a 

This  is  the  latest  tariff  for  the 

ni 


AS  FOLLO"W^S: 

An  Elegant  Business  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  |10.  Identical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  %\b.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $13. 

$4.89  buys  a  First  Quality  Dresa 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
$8.50,  $8.50,  $8.50,  $8..50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  $10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $7,  $7,  $7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  the  Late  Improvements,  $5,  $5,  $5. 

Boys'  and  Youths'  Trousers,  All 
AVool,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Styles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  $8.75  to 
$6.50. 

$25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully 
made,  Piped  with  Cloth  and  fhe 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $15.00;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  do'wn  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  fitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
ooth  ways. 

Wananjaker  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL, 
Sixtti  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


The  Largest  Clothing  House  in 
America. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  BATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  MARCH,  1879. 


Vol.  ZI.  No.  3. 


Editorial. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER  AS  AN 
ADVERTISING  MEuIUM. 

FariiuTs  iiiul  housokeeiiers  .are  t-oiistantly 
in  Deed  of  luudwurc,  dry  goods,  groceries, 
implements,  fertilizers,  seeds,  dru^s,  <and 
many  other  artieles  of  almost  daily  use  upon 
the  fann  and  in  the  household  ;  and,  there- 
fore, there  is  no  place  where  they  would  he 
more  likely  to  see  where  and  hy  whom  these 
things  are  kept  for  sale  than  in  the  columns 
of  an  agricultural  journal.  They  may  have 
been  reading  in  their  papers  the  essays  or  dis- 
cussions, the  experiments  and  results  of  gome 
improved  implement,  some  new  seeds,  or  some 
new  compost  or  manure,  and  they  would 
naturally  want  to  know  where  these  things 
can  be  had,  and  at  what  cost ;  and  to  obtain 
that  information  they,  as  naturally  would, 
turn  to  the  advertising  columns  of  their  own 
journals.  Again,  they  may  have  some  choice 
farm  stock,  poultry,  fruit  or  grain  for  sale 
themselves,  or  they  may  want  to  purchase  a 
supply  of  these  artieles,  and  here  again  they 
will  look  for  information  in  their  agricultural 
journals.  Simply  because,  if  thrir  paprr  is  in 
the  form  of  a  quarto  or  an  oi-hivn.  it  will 
always  be  kept  at  a  convenient  place,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  the  year,  and  is  always 
easy  to  refer  to.  (This  is  not  the  case  with  a 
daily  or  weekly  journal,  which,  if  saved  at 
all,  requires  to  be  folded  up  and  laid  away  out 
of  the  road,  and  soon  becomes  buried  in  the 
accumulating  mass  ;  but  in  many  cases  when 
a  day  old  it  is  considered  as  having  done  its 
duty  and  is  destroyed. )  Moreover,  at  the  end 
of  the  year,  a  title  page,  the  number  of  the 
voliune  and  a  copious  index  is  furni.shed,  so 
that  any  article  published  within  that  year 
can  be  referred  to  again  with  very  little 
trouble.  Now,  all  this  evinces  that  all  those 
who  have  anything  for  sale  within  the  sphere 
of  a  farmer's  wants  can  adopt  no  better 
medium  to  make  their  business  known  to  the 
farming  public  than  the  columns  of  an  agri- 
cultural journal,  because  that  reaches  the 
houses  and  hearths  of  the  veiy  people  they 
most  desire  as  customers.  The  Taujieii  does 
not  only  circulate  in  Lancaster  county,  but 
throughout  the  State,  and  from  the  Pacific  to 
the  Atlantic  ;  and  in  many  instances  in  locali- 
ties that  are  not  reached  by  any  other  paper 
published  in  the  State  or  county.  The  laiblic 
in  other  States  seem  to  be  aware  of  these 
facts,  pnd  hence  our  agricultural  exchanges 
come  to  us  freighted  with  advertisements ; 
and  we  have  know^l  instances  wlicre  pcrfsons 
have  absolutely  sent  out  of  the  State  for  an 
article  which  they  could  have  obtained  cheaper 
nearer  home,  but  it  was  not  advertised  in 
their  paper.  Of  course  any  adverlising 
medium  is  good  in  its  specialty,  and  in  pro- 
portion to  tiie  number  and  expanse  of  its  cir- 
culation, but  an  agricultural  journal  to  an 
agriculturist  possesses  special  advatages,  if 
the  advertising  public  can  appreciate  it  as  a 
medium  through  wliich  to  make  known  their 
wares  for  sale.  The  advantages  to  the  two 
classes  are  mutual,  and  that  is  the  only  ad- 
vantage that  should  cliaracterize  the  inter- 
course between  man  and  man  in  a  free  country. 


SOCIETY  PROCEEDINGS. 

About  semi-occasionally  some,  doubtless 
well-meaning  patron,  ventures  to  suggest  that 
inasmuch  as  the  proceedings  of  .societies  .are 
published  in  all  the  daily  and  weekly  papers, 
they  might  be  omitted  in  The  Faioler. 
Prthaps  the.se  friends  do  not  duly  consider  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  readere  of  our  journal 
never  see  a  Lancaster  daily  paner.  and  some 
of  them  not  even  a  weekly  oue^  Those  pro- 
ceedings, together  with  the  essays  and  dis- 


cussions, arc  a  rellex  of  what  the  Lancaster 
county  farmers  are  saying  and  doing  on  the 
subject  of  agriculture  and  kindred  topics,  and 
they  are  not  only  of  infinite  interest  to  readers 
abroad,  but  they  also  contain  an  epitome  of 
the  agricultural  progress  of  the  county,  and 
.are  valuable  for  home  and  local  reference. 
On  one  occasion,  at  least,  tlio  very  individual 
who  suggested  this  objection,  in  two  days 
thereafter,  was  compelled  to  look  into  the 
columns  of  the  proceedings,  which,  although 
published  in  a  "daily,"  yet  that  very  daily 
had  been  torn  up  or  was  lost,  and,  therefore, 
inaccessible.  The  proceedings  always  con- 
lain  lists  of  the  members  in  attendance  at  the 
meetings,  and  also  of  the  officers,  as  well  as 
the  topics  to  be  discussed  at  a  future  meeting. 
When  bound  The  Faujier  is  invaluable  as  a 
medium  of  ready  reference. 

TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 

Tliere  is  no  one  who  more  willingly  and 
cheerfully  than  we  reiilies  to  the  various  in- 
(piiries  of  Correspondents,  especially  upon 
such  subjects  as  those  of  which  we  have  some 
knowledge— indeed  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  do 
so;  and  we  can  also  assure  tliein  tli;it,  it  is  a 
l>lcasant  ihity.  But  there  are  a  Hw  inii.liiicins 
which  tln'y  ought  reasonably  to  (■(. II i|il\  with, in 
order  to  secure  an  answer  to  tlicir  iiucriis.  in 
the  first  place,  they  shoidd  give  pUiiuly  their 
postofflce  address,  including  the  county  and 
State,  and  in  view  of  so  many  new  postotlices 
and  new  townships  being  decreed  every  year, 
in  some  cases  even  the  township  should  be 
given.  Secondly,  if  they  desire  an  immediate 
written  answer  they  should  inclose  a  postal 
card  or  a  three-cent  postage  stamp ;  but  if 
they  only  desire  an  answer  through  the  col- 
umns of  The  Farmeu  this  requisition  can  be 
waived.  Thlnlhi,  tlicir  impiirics  .sliould  be 
written  with  ink,  and  only  on  oiu^  side  of  the 
paper.  We  jirrfcr  to  answer  eorrcspondi'iits 
in  the  columns  of  our  journal,  liccaiisc  such 
questions  and  answi  is  ojiiai  involve  the  inter- 
ests of  the>;tii.i  il  |M!lilic.  and  in  answering 
our  corresponili-iit  wr  answer  many  who  are 
equally  interested,  but  who  may  feel  too  diffi- 
dent to  make  the  inquiry ;  and  when  so 
answered  it  saves  us  the  trouble  of  making 
separate  answers.  We  know  that  our  corres- 
pondents will  see  the  reasonableness  of  these 
requisitions.  A  single  postal  card  or  a  single 
three-cent  stam^3  is  a  mere  trifle,  but  put  all 
these  little  trillcsof  a  whole  year  together  and 
it  will  be  found  that  they  aggregate  too  large 
a  sum  for  our  cdiiorial  ]iocket,  especially  as 
we  get  uolhing  for  our  labor  of  answering  and 
expect  notliing. 

COUNTY  FAIRS. 

It  will  be  perceived  from  the  procei'din;:s  of 
the  lY'bniary  nieetintis  of  liotli  tiic  Iloiticul- 
tural  and  the  Uce-Kecpcr>'  S,.ci(ii(s.  that  it 
is  proposed  to  liokl  an  cvhiljitiou  in  Lancaster 
city  next  autumn.  In  the  latter  society  the 
matter  has  only  been  j^roposed,  but  in  the 
former  it  seems' to  be  a  foregone  conclusion. 
This  would  be  v.try  drsirable,  an.l  if  the  proper 
energy  is  excn-isrd  there  <annot  In:  a  doii))t  of 
its  success.  Xotliing  lias  yet  Ix'cn  ilevcloped 
as  to  when  and  where,  or  how  the  prospective 
exhibition  is  to  be  conducted,  and  as  the  I5ee- 
Keepcrs'  Society  does  not  meet  until  the  month 
of  May  next  we  shall  probably  hear  nothing 
from  it  officially  milil  then.  In  the  mean- 
lime  we  would  respectfully  suggest,  that  tlie 
HiirtU-uUural  Fair  and  the  Ilonci/  F<tir  be  held 
jointly,  at  the  same  time  and  place.  This 
would  stimulate  additional  interest  to  both, 
and  concentrate  those  local  energies  which  so 
often  fail  by  being  too  much  scattered  ;  and 
what  might  still  be  better  would  be  a  Poultry 
Exhibition,  by  our  local  society,  under  the 


same  auspices.  If  there  is  iiny  "show"'  at  all 
for  fruit  and  flowers  the  coming  seiLson  these 
three  societies  might  get  up  a  joint  exhibition 
that  would  be  a  credit  to  Lancaster  county,  if 
not  the  whole  State.  Those  who  compose  the 
membership  of  these  societies  have  only  to 
say— that  (under  Providence,)  it  shall  be  so 
and  it  will  be  so. 

PRACTICAL   ESSAYS    ON   ENTOMOLO- 
GY ;  OR,  ESSAYS  ON  PRACTICAL 
ENTOMOLOGY. 

Under  one  or  the  other  of  these  titles  we 
propose  to  publish,  in  book  form,  amply  illus- 
trated, all  our  entomological  writings,  that 
will  be  useful  to  the  faiiner,  the  gardener,  and 
the  fruit-grower ;  emliraeing  the  history  and 
habits  of  our  most  connnon  noxiol  s  a\i>  in'- 
N0X10U8  IXSECTS ;  including  remedies  for 
their  expulsion  or  extermination  ;  and  the 
work  will  be  put  to  press  as  soon  as  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  responsible  subscribers  shall 
be  obtained  to  cover  the  cost.  Our  writings 
are  scattered  over  the  country  in  various  pub- 
lications, many  of  which  have  not  been  pre- 
served ;  others  are  inaccessible  to  the  com- 
munity at  large,  and  they  cover  a  series  of 
twenty-Bve  years.  We  have  recently  had  oc- 
casion to  "look  them  up,"  (for,  fortunately, 
we  have  preserved  copies  of  all  of  them,)  and 
we  find  that  they  number  aboiit  two  hundred 
and  fifty  .separate  papers,  which  include  over 
four  liundred  diflcrent  species  or  varieties  of 
insects.  AVhatever  errors  may  have  inad- 
vertantly crei)t  into  our  earlier  writings  will 
be  carefully  eliminated,  and  recent  discoveries 
will  be  added.  Although  very  perceptible 
progress  has  been  made  in  practical  ento- 
moigy  within  the  last  twenty-five  years,  yet 
we  hud  thine  is  amiile  occasion  for  more 
knowledge  on  the  subject  and  a  wider  dillusion 
of  it.  Moreover,  what  was  really  true  a  quar- 
ter of  a  centuiy  ago  is  ccinally  true  now,  and 
in  many  things  we  liud  that  little  advance  hiis 
been  made,  and  therefore  there  is  little  to 
undo.  A  period  is  approaching  in  our  domes- 
tic history  when  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary 
for  all  men  to  give  heed  to  the  facts  of  natural 
science  in  a  greater  measure  than  has  been  their 
habit  in  the  past.  Scientific  fanning  cannot 
much  longer  be  "  tabooed  "—practically  it 
never  has  been  and  never  can  be— and  the 
rising  generations  will  acknowledge  its  empire. 
We  have  not  yet  determined  the  price  of  the 
work,  nor  whether  it  will  be  most  expedient  to 
comprise  it  in  one  or  more  volumes.  We  in- 
didge  in  some  expectations,  which  are  too 
vague  yet  to  give  a  form  of  expression,  through 
which  we  may  be  able  to  offer  it  to  the  public 
at  a  very  low  price. 

This  introductory  is  mainly  to  admonish 
onr  friends  and  patrons  of  our  ultimate  inten- 
tions, and  that  our  work  will  be  facilitated  or 
retarded,  according  to  the  interest  they  may 
see  fit  to  manifest  in  behalf  of  our  enterprise — 
an  enterprise  that  has  mainly  been  suggested 
by  a  number  of  liberal  and  sympathizing 
spirits  among  them. 

INCORPORATION. 

It  will  tie  perceiveil  liy  the  jiroceedingsof  the 
February  meeting  of  the  Agricultural  and  Hor- 
ticultural Society,  that  steps  have  been  taken 
to  procure  a  charter  for  the  same.  Although  a 
late  move,  it  is  none  the  less  a  good  move  ;  for 
this  is  something  which,  in  our  view,  ought 
to  have  been  accomplished  long  ago,  and  why 
it  was  not  would  be  difficult  to  explain.  If 
men  are  sincere  in  sustaining  an  organization 
of  the  kind,  they  cannot  possibly  be  opposed 
to  becoming  a  "body  politic  in  law,"  and  in 
having  a  legally  recognized  existence.  By 
such  a  course  "the  society  becomes  a  fact; 
otherwise  it  can  at  best  only  be  a  contingency. 


34 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[March, 


The  very  fact  that  the  society  has  maintained 
an  active  existence  for  more  than  a  dozen 
years  without  a  charter,  evinces  that  its  ne- 
cessity is  recognized,  and  that  being  the  case, 
its  incorporation  is  as  legitimate  a  sequence 
as  a  legal  marriage  between  two  who  propose 
to  live  together  as  man  and  wife.  An  or- 
ganization unincorporated  is  always  more  or 
less  "  a  rope  of  sand,"  and  carries  with  it  an 
idea  of  irresponsibility,  and  a  tenure  that  is 
temporary  and  uncertain.  It  is  something 
akin  to  the  "Articles  of  Confederation"  be- 
fore the  adoption  of  our  National  Constitu- 
tion. Its  powers  are  iudefluite  and  capricious. 
It  has  not  a  single  officer  who  can  perform  a 
single  act  in  its  name,  or  who  can  be  held  re- 
sponsible in  any  matter  where  its  interests  are 
involved.  It  could  not  legally  accept  or  hold 
a  gift  or  endowment  of  any  kind  as  an  organic 
body  ;  and  if  it  received  such  an  endowment 
it  could  not  in  its  own  name  designate  a 
custodian  of  it ;  or,  if  it  should  designate  such 
a  trustee,  he  would  be  legally  responsible  to 
no  one  for  a  faithful  discharge  of  duty  or  a 
surrender  of  said  trust. 

If  the  society  reasonably  perseveres  under 
an  act  of  incorporation,  it  will  ultimately  be- 
come the  sole  representative  of  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  Lancaster  county,  and  it 
ought  to  be  fostered  by  the  farming  public. 
No  matter  how  many  "farmers' clubs  "  there 
may  be— every  township  should  have  one — 
there  still  ought  to  be  a  strong,  compact  and 
well-appointed  central  organization  as  the 
representative  head  of  the  county.  Surely 
ihe  head  cannot  say  to  the  hands  or  the  feet, 
"I  have  no  need  of  thee,"  nor  vice  versa,  but 
all  should  co-operate  in  a  harmonious  union. 

BUY  YOUR  TREES  AT  HOME. 

Every  season  complaints  are  made  that 
certain  foreign  (foreign  to  the  State  or 
county)  tree  agents  have  been  canvassing  the 
county  of  Lancaster,  and  that  in  most  in- 
stances those  who  have  patronized  them  have 
discovered,  too  late,  that  the  stock  they  have 
purchased  has  proven  inferior  or  worthless. 
Even  if  the  stock  is  genuine,  it  has  been  out 
of  the  nursery  so  long,  has  suffered  from 
transportation  so  much,  and  comes  to  hand  so 
late  that  very  little  of  it  can  be  gotten  to 
grow,  or  thrive  when  it  does  grow.  We  by 
no  means  desire  to  create  prejudice  against 
foreign  nursery  stock,  or  unduly  contract  the 
enterprise  or  energies  of  the  farmer,  but  under 
all  circumstances,  if  he  can  get  what  he 
wants,  and  at  a  fair  price  at  home,  he  should 
by  all  means  encourage  home  nurseries.  He 
should  buy  his  trees,  vines,  plants  and  other 
nursery  stock  from  his  own  neighbors,  and  espe- 
cially from  those  nearest  his  own  locality.  This 
seems  reasonable,f  or  the  stock  is  more  fresh  and 
vigorous,  and  may  be  better  adapted  to  his 
own  soil.  Some  of  these  agents  carry  with 
them  books,  illustrated  with  fruits,  vege- 
tables and  flowers,  and  their  victims  by  trust- 
ing salely  to  the  recommendations  of  a  beau- 
tiful picture  (just  as  if  it  was  not  as  easy  to 
make  a  pretiy  picture  as  an  ugly  one)  are 
often  deceived.  Others  carry  with  them 
handsome  specimens  of  the  fruit  itself.  Of 
course  they  would  not  exhibit  anything  but 
that  which  is  handsome.  It  is  very  certain 
that  they  can  buy  this  fruit  almost  at  any 
time,  but  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the 
stock  they  sell  will  produce  the  kind  of  fruit 
they  exhibit  in  connection  with  it.  We  regret 
that  we  are  compelled  to  write  in  this  strain, 
but  so  many  of  our  honest,  hard-working 
farmers  have  made  complaints  to  us  that  we 
can  no  longer  forbear.  There  are  foreign 
nurserymen  whose  stock  we  have  frequently 
had  occasion  to  commend  in  the  columns  of 
this  journal,  whose  "goods"  are  reliable,  and 
who  would  by  no  means  attempt  to  palm  off 
on  their  customers  any  article  in  their  line  for 
anything  else  than  what  it  really  is ;  but  if 
the  farmers  of  Lancaster  county  are  unable 
to  discriminate  between  these  and  the 
"sharpers"'  of  the  trade — as  a  contemporary 
remarks — may  it  not  be  because  they  do  not 
subscribe  for  and  read  The  Lakcastbb 
Farmer,  or  somek  other  reliable  agricultural 


paper  ?    The  following  article  is  from  a  con- 
temporary, published  a  few  days  ago  : 
A  Grape    Swindler. 

A  swindler  has  lately  been  coming  it  over 
some  of  the  good  citizens  of  the  northern  part 
of  the  county  by  selling  them  grape  vines  at 
big  prices,  which  they  described  as  perfectly 
hardy  and  reliable,  but  which  knowing  ones 
pronounced  hot-house  or  California  grown 
varieties,  and  which  of  course  are  entirely 
worthless  in  open  air  culture.  They  are  very 
indignant  at  the  swindler,  and  are  very  anxious 
to  have  the  rascal  exposed.  But  it  is  not 
certain  that  exposure  of  such  frauds  would  do 
much  good.  If  they  had  been  readers  of  The 
Lancaster  Farmer  they  would  long  since 
have  learned  to  give  no  encouragement  to 
tree  agents— to  kick  them  oif  the  premises  if 
they  cannot  get  rid  of  them  in  any  other  way. 

It  is  not  pleasant  to  say  it,  but  it  is  true, 
that  the  people  of  Lancaster  county  are  too 
gullable.  Only  a  few  years  ago  a  set  of 
sharpers  from  Ohio  sold  over  $12,000  worth  of 
trees  and  plants  in  this  county,  and  it  is 
questionable  whether  the  whole  stock  to-day 
is  worth  1,200  cents. 

Eight  on  the  heels  of  them  came  a  Dr.  B., 
in  kid  gloves,  having  a  dashing  team,  driving 
day  after  day  in  style  through  the  streets  of 
Lancaster,  selling  novelties  (V)  to  our  lawyers, 
bankers,  doctors,  merchants,  business  men(?). 
What  guarantee  have  these  men  that  the  stuff 
delivered  to  them  is  worth  anything  ?  Would 
not  Lancaster  county  be  a  good  field  for  some 
sharper  to  sell  yellow  verbenas  and  blue  roses  V 

THE  AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY    AS   A 
SCHOOL. 

There  seems  to  be  no  lack  of  speakers  on 
the  subjects  that  come  up  for  discussion  every 
month  in  the  meetings  of  our  local  Agricul- 
tural and  Horticultural  Society,  and  we  are 
quite  glad  to  see  it.  It  shows  that  the  mem- 
bers have  something  to  talk  about,  and  when 
this  is  the  case  men  will  soon  learn  to  talk. 
Talking  is  a  habit  formed  like  any  other 
habit,  and  to  acquire  that  habit  it  is  necessary 
to  frequently  indulge  in  talking.  Of  course, 
it  does  not  follow  that  a  man  who  does  not 
talk,  or  cannot  talk,  therefore  knows  nothing. 
The  gift  of  free,  eloquent  and  elegant  talking 
is  not  possessed  by  all,  and  even  among  those 
who  can  talk,  it  is  not  possessed  in  the  same 
degree.  Many  of  our  most  distinguished 
statesmen  and  heroes  were  indifferent  talkers. 
But  many  possess  that  peculiar  talent  in 
whom  it  remains  latent  until  an  opportunity 
is  presented  to  bring  it  out.  The  organiza- 
tion of  our  local  society  has  done  much  to 
bring  out  our  farmers,  not  only  as  talkers  but 
also  as  writers.  We  venture  to  say  that  it 
has  been  a  school  which  has  done  more  to 
bring  them  forward  intellectually,  and  to  en- 
courage their  literary  tastes  and  abilities  than 
any  other  school  to  which  they  ever  have  had 
access.  When  our  society  was  first  organized, 
some  twelve  years  ago  or  more,  there  were 
but  few  in  it  who  possessed  the  gift  of  fluent 
talking,  and  those  few  were  not  all  practical 
talkers,  but  there  has  been  a  very  perceptible 
change  since  then.  They  are  not  only  able 
and  willing  to  talk,  but  they  talk  practically 
and  to  the  point,  and  are  not  afraid  to  advance 
views  and  opinions  based  on  their  own  ex- 
periences before  the  higher  and  more  learned 
dignitaries  of  the  land.  And  why  not '?  If 
they  knoiu  a  thing  from  visible  and  tangible 
experience,  why  should  they  be  deterred  from 
proclaiming  it  because  some  theory  only  par- 
tially demonstrated,  or  perhaps  entirely  im- 
practicable is  in  conflict  with  it  ?  Truth  is 
truth,  no  matter  from  what  source  it  emanates. 
Does  anybody  suppose  that  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity is  less  potent  because  it  was  first  appre- 
hended and  enunciated  by  the  humble  fisher- 
men of  Galilee  ?  Does  anybody  suppose  that 
their  teachings  were  less  truthful  and  less  effica- 
cious because  not  exercised  according  to  the 
philologj'  of  the  Sanhedrim  ?  Man  does  not 
make  truth.  He  is  only  the  medium  through 
which  truth  is  manifested,  and  the  less  per- 
verted and  impractical  the  medium  is  the 
purer  and  more  potent  the  truth. 


MONTHLY  REMINDERS. 

In  the  Middle  States  spring  has  arrived  ac- 
cording to  the  calendar,  but  the  experienced 
gardener  is  not  to  be  caught  by  arbitrary 
terms ;  and  though  March  and  the  almanac 
may  indicate  spring,  frost  and  storm,  and  bit- 
ing whids  caution  him  to  care  and  patience. 
He  will  wait  the  progress  of  the  month  and 
bide  his  time.  If  the  temperature  prove  mild 
let  him  proceed  as  indicated  below  ;  other- 
wise, delay  until  more  favorable  weather. 

Artichokes  dress  ;  plant.  Asparagus  sow  ; 
plant  the  Colossal  roots.  Beets— Extra  Early, 
Philadelphia  Turnip  and  Early  Blood  Turnip- 
sow.  Cabbage  sow  in  a  sheltered  place,  if  not 
already  in  a  hot-bed.  Test  our  new  varieties — • 
the  Wakefield,  Early  Market  and  Bloomsdale 
Brunswick.  Carrots,  Early  Horn,  sow.  Cauli- 
flowers— attend  to  those  under  glass.  Celery 
sow.  Cress  sow.  Composts  prepare.  Dung 
prepare  for  later  hot-beds.  Horse  Radish 
plant.  Hot-beds  make  ;  also  force.  Lettuce 
sow  ;  prick  out.  Mushroom-beds  attend  to. 
Mustard  sow.  Onions  put  out  as  sets — those 
known  as  "Philadelphia  Buttons"  much  the 
best.  Parsnips  sow — the  Sugar  is  the  best. 
Peas — Laudreths'  Extra  Early  and  Early 
Frame— sow.  Also,  McLean's  Advancer  and 
McLean's  Little  Gem,  which  we  commend 
with  confidence.  Potatoes,  Early,  plant.  The 
Early  Goodrich  continues  to  secure  admirers, 
but  the  Early  Rose  will  distance  it ;  it  is  ad- 
mirable in  every  respect.  Radish— the  Long 
Scarlet  and  Red  and  White  Turnip — sow. 
The  "Strap-Leaved  Long  Scarlet,"  an  im- 
provement on  the  old  Long  Scarlet  we  recom- 
mend. Rhubarb  sow  ;  plant  roots.  Sage  sow  ; 
plant.  Tomato  sow  in  hot-bed.  Turnips, 
Strap-Leaved  Early  Dutch,  sow  ;  but  gener- 
ally be  it  observed,'  so  far  north  as  Philadel- 
phia, ■  these  directions  will  apply  better  to 
April  than  March. — LandretlVs  Rural  Reg. 

GROUNDHOG  METEOROLOGY. 

Better  be  a  living  groundhog  than  a  dead 
hero.  We  noticed  in  the  local  press  but  a 
single  allusion  to  the  recurrence  of  the  ever- 
glorious  8th  of  January,  and  that  was  briefly 
"  The  Battle  of  New  Orleans."  But  the  2d 
of  February,  or  Candlemas,  outside  of  the 
church,  is  almost  certain  to  be  annually  ven- 
tilated, m  its  relations  to  the  groundhog  and 
his  weather  prognostications.  We  are  only 
apprehensive  that  he  will  eventually  eclipse 
the  22d,  the  anniversary  of  the  natal  day  of 
"  Columbia's  greatest  glory." 

How  can  we  attach  any  significance  to  the 
actions  of  the  groundhog  on  the  2d  day  of 
February,  so  long  as  we  are  in  ignorance  of 
what  he  really  does  on  that  day  ?  The  old 
saw  on  this  subject  is  to  this  effect :  "If  the 
goundhog  comes  out  of  his  hole  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  2d  day  of  February,  and  sees  his 
shadow,  he  will  go  back  and  continue  his 
winter  sleep  for  six  weeks  longer,"  during 
which  time  we  will  have  severe  winter  weather. 
But  if  he  does  not  see  his  shadow,  he  will  re- 
main out  of  his  hole,  and  we  shall  have  an 
early  and  warm  spring.  This  whole  prophetic 
superstructure  seems  to  be  based  upon  the 
little  ambiguous  conjunction  )/,  and  that  if  is 
founded  upon  an  error  in  regard  to  the  habits 
of  the  groundhog.  The  groundhog  or  "  Mar- 
mot "  {Arctomys  monax)  is  a  hibernating  ro- 
dent, and  goes  into  a  semi-hibernating  sleep 
as  early  as  October,  and  does  not  come  out  of 
it  until  April,  during  which  time  he  eats 
nothing— or,  if  he  ats  at  all,  it  is  that  which 
he  himself  had  provided  the  previous  season, 
and  therefore  there  is  no  necessity  for  him  to 
come  out  of  his  winter  burrow. 

On  such  a  day  as  the  2d  of  February,  1879, 
was,  no  hibernating  animal  would  have  power 
to  come  forth,  even  if  he  had  the  will  to  do 
so,  and  hence  they  might  as  well  be  left  out 
of  the  question  in  weather  prognostications ; 
leaving  those  to  be  built  upon  other  more 
plausible  data.  We  might  just  as  truthfi^lly 
saj',  "If  the  humming-bird  comes  up  from 
the  South  on  the  2d  of  February  and  finds  the 
morning-glory  in  bloom,  it  will  go  back  and 
not  return  again  for  six  months."  A  swal- 
low would  be  just  as  likely  to  meet  a  ground- 


1879. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


35 


hog  abroad  on  the  2d  of  February,  as  a 
groundhog  would  be  to  meet  a  swallow  or  see 
his  shadow  on  that  day,  especially  such  a  day 
as  we  had  on  the  2d  ult.  So  true  is  the 
groundhog  to  the  hibernating  instincts  of  its 
nature,  that  it  is  on  record  tliat  it  has  as- 
sumed tliat  torpid  condition  when  it  was 
semi-domesticated  and  kept  in  a  liouse— rolling 
itself  up  in  a  corner  of  its  Ivcnnel  and  refusing 
to  eat  anything  ;  and  wlien  it  was  placed  near 
the  lire  it  gradually  revived,  but  immediately 
crept  back  to  its  kennel  and  relapsed  into  a 
state  of  torpidity.  The  termination  "hog" 
attached  to  tlie  name  of  tliis  animal  is  a  pal- 
palile  misnomer  ;  tliere  is  nothini:  of  the  in- 
stincts or  liabits  of  tlie  liog  about  it.  It  is  an 
exceeding  cleanly  animal ;  as  particular  about 
its  person  as  a  cat.  Its  lair  is  a  pattern  of  i 
onler  and  cleanliness. 

It  is  a  marmot,  and  has  its  repre- 
sentative in  Jtlie  European  marmot 
(Arctomys  marmotu).  The  term"arcto- 
mys"  means  a  bear-rat,  having  a  body 
resembling  a  bear.  Linnanis  originally 
included  it  in  the  genus  Mus,  the 
same  to  which  our  common  rat  be- 
longs. Muvinot  has  nearly  the  same 
significance— it  means  a  mountain 
rat,  or  a  mountain  mouse.  This 
animal  has  been  dignilied  by  many 
common  names  in  various  localities. 
I'erliaps,  outside  of  Eastern  I'ennsy 
Ivania,  the  most  popular  names  is  tlie 
"wood-chuck."  Tiie  French  Canadi- 
ans call  it  "Sifflenr;"  southward 
"marmot  "  is  generally  used.  Up  in 
the  Korth  it  is  the  "  thickwood- 
badger."  Up  in  Alaska  the  "tav- 
bagan,"  etc.,  etc.  It  is  more  nea 
allied  to  the  .squirrel  or  the  rat  than  ii 
I  is  to  tlie  hog.  It  is  veiy  prolific,  pro- 
I  ducing  from  six  to  eiglit  at  a  litter, 
and,  being  very  partial  to  young 
I  clover,  it  is  sometimes  a  very  serious 
I  annoyance  to  farmers  on  whose  lands 
it  is  domiciliated.  It  cuts  off,  gathers 
up  and  carries  off  to  its  den  large 
quantities  of  this  grass,  but  if  it  can 
not  obtain  this,  it  also  appropriates 
other  species  of  vegetation,  and  w  ' 
not  reject  insects.  As  autumn  ap- 
proaches it  constructs  a  special  bur- 
row, with  an  aperture  that  communi- 
cates with  the  sleeping  apartment, 
and  this  it  fills  with  food  and  then 
closes  up  the  aperture  tliat  commui- 
cates  witli  the  outer  world.  This  food 
is  intended  for  a  supply  before  it  be- 
comes torpid  in  the  fall,  and  after  it 
comes  out  of  that  state  in  the  spring  ; 
therefore,  there  is  no  necessity  for 
Its  going  abroad  on  Candlemas  day. 
Anything  to  the  contrary  is  only  ex- 
ceptional, influenced  by  extraordinary 
circumstances.  So  firmly  do  some 
people  believe  in  this  groundlio 
weather  prophecy  that  we  have  hear 
of  a  case  where  people  were  admon- 
ished to  turnout  and  exterminate  the 
whole  race,  rather  tlian  submit  to  a 
cold  and  late  spring  a  as  probable  con- 
tingency of  his  presence. 

"We  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  an 
early  spring  has  not  followed  a  cloudy 
t  aii'dlemas,  or  that  a  late  spring 
lias  not  followed  a  clear  one ;  nor  do  we 
by  any  means  say  that  no  groundhog 
ever  been  seen  abroad  later  than  October, 
or  earlier  than  April,  any  more  than  we 
■would  say  that  no  tree,  in  this  latitude, 
has  ever  bloomed  in  February,  nor  that 
vegetation  has  never  been  frozen  in  the  montli 
of  June.  But  these  are  meteorological  con- 
tingencies that  are  entirely  independent  of 
the  habits  of  the  groundhog,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  have  their  causes  in  climatic  di- 
versities beyond  the  knowledge  or  investiga- 
tion of  mortal  man,  and  particularly  beyond 
the  influence  of  his  remedial  agencies. 

Nor  do  we  desire  to  wantonly  dissipate  the 
faith  of  those  who  cherish  such  peculiar  no- 
tions, any  more  than  we  would  the  pleasant 
fancies  of  children  about  "Good  Santa  Claus," 


"Mother  Goose"  or  "Jack  the  Giant  Killer."  ! 
It  is  .singular,  liowever,  that  as  their  minds 
cxpaiul  rhildreii  soon  grow  out  of  this  philoso- 
phy of  the  nui-sei'v  ;  but  very  often  the  elders 
carry  their  grnuuilhog  fancies  to  a  protracted 
age,  or  to  llieir  graves.  Of  course  it  is  not  i 
very  harmful ;  the  worst,  perhaps,  that  can 
grow  out  of  it  is  a  little  disappointment,  and 
this  will  be  proportioned  to  the  subject's  faith, 
and  the  magnitude  of  the  enterpri.se  based 
upon  that  faith. 


NEW  $6o.( 


PRIZE  GRAPES— MOORE'S 
EARLY. 

Combining  the  following  desirable  qualities, 
viz.:  Hardiness,  size,  beauty,  (piality,  produc- 
tiveness and  earliness,  maturing  ten  daj's 
earlier  than  the  Hartford  Prolilie.  and  twenty 


days  earlier  than  the  Concord.  This  new 
grape  is  one  out  of  .a  lot  of  2,.500  seedlings, 
and  produced  its  first  fruit  in  the  j'ear  1872  ; 
it  was  then  exhibited,  and  has  been  shown  at 
the  exhibitions  of  the  Massachusetts  Horti- 
cultural Society,  by  the  fruit  committee,  every 
year  since,  and  prizes  have  been  awarded  to 
it  at  eighteen  different  exhibitions,  last  of 
which  was  800.00  for  the  best  seedling,  after 
a  satisfactory  trial.  Tliese  prizes  were  all 
awarded  for  one  or  more  of  the  above  enume- 
rated special  points. 

Dfscription  of  fruit :  Bunches  large,  lierry 
round,  large,  (as  large  as  tlie  Wilder  or  Rogers, 
No.  4,)  color  black,  witli  a  heavy  blue  bloom  ; 
quality  better  than  the  Concord  ;  vine  ex- 
ceedingly hardy ;  has  never  been  covered  in 
■winter,  and  has  been  exposed  to  a  tempera- 


ture of  more  than  twenty  degrees  below  zero, 
witliout  injury,  and  it  has  been  entirely  ex- 
empt IVoni  iiiililew  or  disease.  Its  earliness 
makes  it  dcsiiahle  for  an  early  crop,  and  more 
parlieularly  iulapt.s  it  to  New  England  and 
the  iiortlieni  portion  of  the  United  States. 

Price :  One  year  old  vines,'  81.00  ;  two  year's 
old,  S2.00  ;  extra  vines,  delivered  by  express, 
$.3.00.  Liberal  deductions  made  when  ordered 
by  the  dozen  or  in  large  i|uantitie.s.  For  par- 
ticulars address  Mr.  John  B.  Moore,  Concord, 
Massachusetts. 

Our  illustration  is  "an  exact  copy  from  a 
photograph  of  a  bunch."  If  the  high  en- 
dorsements which  this  new  grape  has  received 
from  competent  committees  in  the  Eastern 
States  are  to  be  recognii'.ed  as  unqualified  evi- 
dences of  (piality  and  eharacter,  then  our 
readei-s  will  have  no  dillieulty  in  de- 
termining what  tliey  ought  to  do  in 
the  premises.  Early  fruit,  and  es- 
pecially early  grajies,  are  always  de- 
sirable, and  that  quality  alone  ought 
to  recommend  this  fruit  to  the  citizens 
of  Lancaster  county. 

ST.  MATTHEW'S  DAY. 

"  Matlliiasbric-lit  eis 
Find  er  kelii,  so  maclit  er  ein." 
This  may  be  literally  translated  : 
St.  Miittliew  breaks  the  Ice; 
I'iuds  lie  none,  he  makes  one. 
^liis  means  that  if  there  is  no  ice 
on  St.  Matthew's  Day— 24tli  of  Feb- 
ruary—it will  become  cold  enough  to 
make  ice  after  Lliat  date,  before  the 
spring  is  fairly  opened  ;  but  if  there  is 
lee,  then  we  sliall  have  no  more  cold 
weather  and  an  early  spring.  How 
now  V  Through  the  obtrusiveness  of 
llie  impatient  groundhog  on  Candle- 
mas, the  cold  weatlier  has  been  con- 
tinued, and  winterslill fiercely  broods 
over  the  suowclad  hills  and  icebound 
streams  ;  and  according  to  the  ground- 
hogological  prognostications  we  are  to 
have  yet  three  weeks  of  frigid  winter  ; 
but,  here  comes  the  St.  Matthew 
prog,  in  direct  conflict  with  that  of 
gouty  old  "Arctomys;"  and  it  may 
well  be  asked,  "Wliat  are  we  going 
to  do  about  it?"  Will  the  disciples 
of  the  Arctomian  system  please  take 
lold  and  try  to  harmonize  this  case  ? 
Verily  the  weather  seems  to  be  in 
danger  of  being  "governed  too  much," 
and  who  can  tell  now  whether  we  are 
going  to  have  any  spring  find  summer 
at  all  ?  For  our  part,  we  sliall  be 
content  with  being  an  humble 
»ker-on,"  and  if  out  of  the 
"muss"  anything  consistent  with 
reason  and  common  sense  is  devel- 
oped, we  hope  we  may  be  able  to 
apprehend  it. 

There  is  one  thing,  however,  that 
these  unautliorized  weather  prophe- 
cies may  demonstrate,  and  that  is 
the  folly  of  associating  "set  days" 
with  meteorological  phenomena,  with 
which  they  have  no  connection  what- 
ever, and  over  which  they  cannot 
possibly  exercise  the  remotest  influ- 
ence. Of  course,  very  few  people  really 
believe  in  these  weather-signs  now, 
and  even  the  few  who  profess  to  believe 
them,  hold  them  under  the  mental  resen-a- 
tion  involved  in— "mebbey  it  mout,  and 
mebbey  it  moutn't."  Hoivever  tnie  it  may 
be  that  these  weather  phenomena  are  the 
effects  of  some  antecedent  cause— meteoro- 
logical or  astronomical— yet,  so  far  as  human 
ken  extends,  we  are  profoundly  ignorant  of 
that  cause  ;  and  probaVily  we  shall  remain  so 
for  a  long  time  to  come.  As  mere  myths, 
however,  we  may  permit  people  to  entertain 
them  and  talk  about  them.  They  are  prolific 
themes  of  conversation,  and  to  deprive  people 
of  them  would  l)e  to  annihilate  an  important 
fltctor  in  social  intercourse,  for  often,  very 
often,  if  there  were  no  weather  to  stimulate 
conversation,  there  would  be  little  else  to  talk 
about ;  and  no  wonder,  for  the  weather  con- 


36 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[March, 


1  rols  more  than  we  are  willing  to  give  it  credit 
lor. — February  24,  1879. 

A  CHAPTER  ON  MACARONI. 

Personally  we  are  very  fond  of  mticaroni, 
and  can  make  a  meal  on  it  alone  ;  (barring 
perhaps  an  additional  cup  of  cott'ee,)  and 
practically  it  is  both  bread  and  meat  to  us  ; 
moreover,  it  is  about  as  cheap  as  any  article 
of  wholesome  food  that  can  be  bought.  It  has 
no  bones  in  it ;  it  never  stales  or  taints  ;  it  is 
simple  in  its  culinary  preparation  ;  it  is  nu- 
tricious  and  always  handy  to  have  about  the 
house.  Towards  spring,  when  vegetables  be- 
come scarce,  or  when  they  begin  to  sprout, 
become  insipid  and  wilted  or  leathery, 
macaroni  is  a  grand  reserve  to  fall  back  upon. 
As  we  have  said  before,  we  have  always  liked 
it— liked  it  these  fifty  years  or  more— have 
relished  it  whenever  it  was  set  before  us,  and 
never  could  understand  why  that  was  so 
seldom. 

But  now,  since  we  are  compelled  to  become 
economical  through  the  pressure  of  the  times, 
and  Miss  Corson,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  her  cheap  Cook  Book,  is  likely  to  make 
macaroni  eating  popular  or  fashionable,  the 
least  we  can  do  for  our  readers  is  to  admonish 
them,  in  this  respect,  to  become  fashionable, 
if  they  desire  to  "march  along"  abreast  with 
the  times  ;  and  in  order  to  assist  them  in  doing 
so  we  commend  the  following  from  the  book 
aforesaid.  If  our  well-fed  and  well-supplied 
farmers  do  not  need  this  advice  there  are 
many  others  who  may  need  it. 

Macaroni  and  Its  Uses. 
In  a  notice  of  Miss  Corson's  little  work  on  "2.5- 
cent  Dinners,"  it  was  stated,  as  one  good  feature  of 
the  book,  that  it  recommended  macaroni,  and  told 
how  to  cook  it.  This  cheap  and  very  nutritious  food 
may  be  cooked  in  a  variety  of  acceptable  styles,  and 
Is  a  most  excellent  substitute  for  vegetables.  Potatoes 
are  iipt  to  be  poor  late  in  the  season,  and  if  maca- 
roni be  used  instead  it  will  be  found  vastly  more  nu- 
tritious. Macaroni  comes  in  boxes  of  about  25  lbs., 
and  is  sold  by  the  box  at  an  average  price  of  1.5-lSc- 
per  lb.  It  is  in  long  pipes,  or  tubes,  sometimes  sev- 
eral feet  in  length,  being  bent  over  and  over  ;  it  is  a 
little  larger  round  than  a  common  lead  pencil,  and 
has  a  dull  appearance,  somewhat  like  that  of  a  horn. 
It  is  imported  from  Italy,  and  though  it  has  been 
made  in  this  country,  and  perhaps  is  still  made,  it  is, 
for  reasons  to  be  explained  presently,  vastly  inferior 
to  the  imported.  Macaroni  is  really  dried  flour  paste, 
but  there  is,  as  every  housekeeper  knows,  a  great 
difference  in  Hour,  and  the  kind  best  for  bread  is  the 
poorest  for  macaroni,  and  vice  versa.  Flour  consists 
largely  of  starch.  If  we  mix  up  some  flour  with 
water,  to  form  dough,  and  tie  a  lump  of  this  dough- 
say  as  big  as  a  hen's  egg— in  a  piece  of  muslin,  and 
then  hold  it  under  a  stream  ot  water,  and  work  it  as 
the  water  flows,  the  starch  will  soon  be  washed  out 
throufh  the  meshes  of  the  muslin,  when  the  water 
runs  clear,  showing  that  the  starch  has  been  washed 
out,  if  we  open  the  cloth  there  will  be  found  a  small 
quantity  of  a  pasty,  stringy  mass— this  is  gluten. 
It  ditfers  from  starch  in  containing  nitrogen,  and  it 
will  soon  spoil.  Starch  is  a  Aea^-producing  food, 
glutt  n  is  a  Ihsh- (ormiug  food,  really  the  most  nutri- 
tious portion  of  the  flour.  Our  best  wheats  make 
flour  with  7  or  S  parts  in  the  100  gluten.  Other 
wheats  contain  about  twice  as  much.  It  is  only 
wheats  rich  in  gluten  that  make  good  macaroni,  and 
while  the  flour  of  our  wheats  make  the  best  and 
lightest  bread,  it  is  only  the  wheats  of  the  south  of 
Europe,  especially  some  kinds  raised  in  certain 
localities  in  Italy,  that  make  the  best  macaroni. 
This  is  why  it  cannot  be  made  successfully  in  this 
country— our  flour  is  in  one  sense  too  good.  The  proper 
kind  of  flour  is  made  into  a  stiff  paste  with  water, 
well  worked  by  means  of  a  wooden  bar,  and  then 
put  into  a  mould,  in  which  it  is  siibjected  to  great 
pressure      ""  '  ~ 


The  mould  has  holes  in  it,  of  the  proper 
shape,  and  the  paste  is  forced  out  through  these  as 
fine  as  threads,  when  it  is  called  vermicelli,  or  as 
pipes  or  tubes,  when  it  is  macaroni.  It  is  dried  by  a 
heat  sumciently  to  slightly  bake  it,  when  it  is  ready 
to  be  packed  in  boxes.  The  same  paste  rolled  thin, 
and  formed  by  proper  cutters  into  squares,  stars, 
hearts,  etc.,  is  known  as  Italian  paste.  Vermicelli 
and  Italian  paste  are  rarely  used  except  in  soups.  It 
will  be  seen  that  macaroni  is  the  most  nutritious  of 
of  all  farinaceous  foods,  and  one  that  should  be 
more  ireneruUy  known  and  used  than  it  now  is.  We 
may  add  here  that  it  is  a  most  excellent  thing  for  ex- 
plorers and  oilier  travellers— as  we  know  from  cx- 
perieuie.  Those  who  go  on  hunting  and  other 
excursions,  which  take  them  where  vegetables  are 
not  procurable,  will  not  miss  these  if  there  is  a  sup- 
ply of  macaroni.  Old  macaroni  is  sometimes  infested 
by  an  insect  wliich  feeds  within  the  cavity;  upon 
holding  the  stick  up  to  the  light  this  may  be  seen  as 


a  dark  spot.  Inour  first  experience  with  macaroni,  it 
seemed  so  hard  and  horn-like  that  it  was  put  to  soak 
before  cooking ;  as  a  consequence  it  was  spoiled .  It 
should  be  put  at  once  into  boiling  water.  The  fol- 
lowing directions  for  cooking  it  are  from  "  25-ceut 
Dinners,"  and  abridged  so  far  as  they  give  matters 
already  stated  above.  Miss  Corson  gives  the  follow- 
ing general  directions  under  t 

J/«c«ro)u.— Wipe  it  carefully,  break  it  in  whatever 
lengths  you  want  it,  and  put  it  into  boiling  water,  to 
every  quart  of  which  half  a  tablespoonful  of  salt  is 
added  ;  you  can  boil  an  onion  with  it  if  you  like  the 
flavor.  As  soon  as  it  is  tender  enough  to  yield  easily 
when  pressed  between  the  fingers,  drain  it  in  a 
colander,  saving  its  liquor  fcr  the  next  day's  broth, 
and  lay  it  in  cold  water  until  you  want  to  use  it. 
When  more  macaroni  has  been  boiled  than  is  used  it 
can  be  kept  perfectly  good  by  laying  it  in  fresh 
water,  which  must  be  changed  every  day.  After 
boiling  the  macaroni,  you  can  use  it  according  to 
any  of  the  following  directions.  Half  a  pound  of 
uncooked  macaroni  will  make  a  large  dishful : 

Macaroni,  Farmers'  Style.— Boi\  half  a  pound  of 
macaroni  as  above,  and  while  you  are  draining  it 
from  the  cold  water,  stir  together  over  the  fire  one 
ounce  each  of  butter  and  flour,  and  as  soon  as  they 
bubble,  gradually  pour  into  the  sauce  they  make,  a 
pint  of  boiling  water,  beating  it  with  a  fork  or  egg 
whip  until  it  is  smooth  ;  season  it  with  a  level  tea- 
spoonful  of  salt  and  a  level  saltspoonful  of  pepper, 
and  put  the  macaroni  in  it  to  heat ;  then  cut  an 
onion  into  small  shreds,  and  brown  it  over  the  fire  in 
a  very  little  fat ;  when  both  are  done,  dish  the 
macaroni,  and  pour  the  onion  out  of  the  frying  pan 
upon  it.  It  is  excellent ;  and  ten  cents  will  cover 
the  cost  of  all  of  it. 

Macaroni  with  Broth.— Tut  half  a  pound  of  maca- 
roni, boiled  as  above  and  washed  in  cold  water,  over 
the  fire  with  any  kind  of  broth,  or  one  pint  of  cold 
gravy  and  water ;  season  it  to  taste  with  pepper  and 
salt,  and  let  it  heat  slowly  for  an  hour,  or  less  if  you 
are  in  a  hurry  ;  then  lay  it  on  a  flat  dish,  strew  over 
it  a  few  bread  crumbs,  which  you  will  almost  always 
have  on  hand  if  you  save  all  the  bits  I  speak  of  in 
the  article  on  bread  ;  then  set  the  dish  in  the  oven, 
or  in  front  of  the  fire  to  brown.  It  will  cost  less 
than  ten  cents,  and  be  delicious. 

Macaroni  iMh  White  A'ajice.- Warm  half  a  pound 
of  macaroni,  boiled  and  washed  in  cold  water,  as 
above,  in  the  following  sauce,  and  use  it  as  soon  as 
it  is  hot.  Stir  together  over  the  fire  one  ounce  each 
of  butter  and  flour,  pouring  in  one  pint  of  boiling 
water  and  milk,  as  soon  as  the  butter  and  flour  are 
mixed  ;  season  it  with  salt  and  pepper  to  taste,  and 
put  the  macaroni  into  it.  This  dish  costs  less  than 
ten  cents,  and  is  very  good  and  wholesome. 

Macaroni  with  CTieese.— Boil  half  a  pound  of  maca- 
roni, as  above,  put  into  a  pudding  dish  in  layers  with 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  cheese,  (cost  four  cents), 
grated  and  mixed  between  the  layers ;  season  with 
pepper  and  salt  to  taste  ;  put  a  very  little  butter  and 
some  bread  crumbs  over  it,  and  brown  it  in  the  oven. 
It  will  make  as  hearty  and  strengthening  a  meal  as 
meat,  and  cost  about  twelve  cents. 

CHEMICAL  FARMING. 
The  question  of  "Fertilizers,"  or  "Arti- 
ficial Manures, "  has  become  a  subject  of  more 
earnest  discussion  in  this  county  at  the  pres- 
ent time  than,  perhaps,  at  any  former  period 
in  the  agricultural  history  of  the  county.  As 
the  desire  to  realize  larger  crops,  and  the  arti- 
ficial fertilizing  compounds  increase,  so  also 
increases  the  anxiety  of  the  farmers  in  regard 
to  their  real  value,  their  component  parts, 
their  prices,  and  when,  where  and  how  to 
apply  them  ;  and  also  their  intrinsic  qualities 
in  comparison  with  good  barnyard  manure  ; 
and,  lastly,  how  to  guard  against  imposition. 
We  extract  the  following  fi'om  an  able  article 
on  that  subject,  which  we  find  in  the  January 
number  of  the  Scientific  Farmer,  published  in 
Boston,  Mass.  We  particularly  call  the  atten- 
tion of  our  readers  to  tlie  words  italicised, 
from  which  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  facts 
as  to  whether  the  fertilizing  material  reaches 
the  plant  in  such  a  condition  as  to  be  ab- 
sorbed by  it,  and  whether  the  .soil  just  needs 
the  elements  it  contains,  are  important  factors 
in  the  uf;e  of  chemical  or  any  other  kinds  of 


crops  soon  left  the  land  unfit  for  further  plant 
growth.  Analysis  showed  the  elements  which  plants 
removed.  Ergo  supply  these  elements,  and  prevent 
your  land  from  getting  exhausted.  This  was  the 
discovery  which  it  took  ages  to  develop  into  expres- 
sion ;  this  discovery  is  at  the  basis  of  modern  farming. 
The  chief  aim  of  the  husbiiudman  is  to  supply 
plant-food.  For  this  purpose  he  applies  his  manure, 
he  exercises  his  skill  in  culture,  he  adopts  his  fal- 
lows or  rotations.  Plant-food,  how  to  obtain  it  for 
his  plant,  and  how  to  compel  the  plant  to  get  the 
most  of  it,  this  is  true  farming.  We  propose  to  offer 
a  few  ideas  on  the  subject  of  plant-food,  premising 
that  our  statements  all  seem  to  have  been  experi- 
mentally proven,  and  to  have  been  practically 
adopted,  here  and  there,  by  the  most  intelligent  of 
cultivaters. 

The  elements  of  plant-food  which  are  most  apt  to 
be  deficient  in  our  soils  are  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid 
and  potash.  To  obtain  a  full  crop  these  have  to  be 
present,  diffused  throughout  our  land,  and  must  be 
in  that  chemical  condition  which  will  allow  of  their 
being  appropriated  by  the  roots  of  our  plant, 
wherever  they  are  to  pass  into  the  plant  circulation, 
become  incorporated  into  its  life,  and  through  the 
most  wonderful  metamorphoses  of  growth  become 
part  and  parcel  of  the  plant  structure. 

Now,  one  pound  of  soluble  phosphoric  acid,  or  one 
pound  of  a  given  condition  of  nitrogen,  or  one  pound 
of  a  potash  salt,  properly  diffused  through  our  land, 
is  as  eflficient  as  another  pound  of  a  like  substance, 
without  regard  to  its  source  of  supply.  Thus  it 
makes  no  difference  in  the  amount  of  the  crop 
whether  the  pound  be  supplied  in  one  hundred  pounds 
of  dung  or  ten  pounds  of  a  manufactured  article.  All 
the  plant  requires  is  the  presence  and  accesibility  of 
its  food. 

Let  us  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  one  hun- 
dred pounds  of  dung,  containing  one  pound  of  solu- 
ble phosphoric  acid,^is  not  better  than  ten  pounds  of 
superphosphate  containing  one  pound  of  soluble 
phosphoric  acid.  Nor  must  we  be  understood  as  say- 
ing even  that  the  same  quantity  of  chemical  sub- 
stances contained  in  one  hundred  pounds  of  manure 
is  necessarily  equal  to  the  raw  manure  in  value  for 
application.  We  are  not  treating  of  manures  com- 
paratively, but  of  plant-food;  and  hence,  ignoring 
the  difference  caused  by  the  method  of  application, 
and  the  physical  action  or  chemical  action  of  either 
after  their  disposition  in  the  land,  we  repeat  that  one 
pound  of  plant  food  absorbed  by  the  plant  is  just  one 
pound,  and  is  of  equal  value,  without  reference  to 
its  source  of  supply. 

These  are  facts  ;  now  for  the  application  :  Plant- 
food  must  be  furnished  by  the  farmer  in  order  that 
he  may  be  able  continuously  to  crop  his  laud.  It 
makes  no  difference  in  what  form  he  applies  them, 
provided  the  plant  secures  them.  Equal  quantities 
of  plant-food  from  one  source  of  supply  are  equal  in 
effect  to  the  equal  quantities  of  a  similar  substance 
in  another  source  of  supply,  if  only  the  plant  gets 
them  We  repeat  the  idea,  in  order  to  be  understood. 
Consequently  the  farmer  must  study  values,  and 
provide  for  his  crops  the  plant-food  from  the  source 
whence  it  can  be  obtained  for  the  least  money. 
Dung  and  Chemicals. 
Is  dung  better  than  chemicals?  Not  necessarily. 
Are  chemicals  better  than  dung  ?  It  does  not  follow . 
If  dung  and  chemicals  will  raise  the  same  quantity 
of  crop  year  after  year,  then  whichever  the  farmer 
wants  to  supply  is  the  cheaper  of  the  two.  It  seems 
ridiculous  to  claim  that  if  five  dollars'  worth  of 
chemicals  will  give  as  good  results  as  eight  dollars 
worth  of  dung  that  dung  is  better ;  or  that  if  five 
dollars'  worth  of  dung  will  produce  equal  results 
with  eight  dollars'  worth  of  chemicals  that  chemi- 
cals are  better.  A.  chance  for  difference  of  opinion 
can  only  come  in  those  cases  where  the  decision  lies 
between  a  dollar's  worth  of  dung  and  a  dollar's 
worth  of  chemicals  equivalent. 

We  have  here  the  whole  question  of  purchased 
manures  in  a  nutshell,  provided  our  supposition  is 
tenable.  Let  us  show  that  it  is,  by  the  quoting  of  an 
actual  experiment,  which  must  tend  to  convince 
even  the  most  skeptical.  „      ,  ■ 

We  will  quote  results  from  .Mr.  Lawes'  experi- 
ments, at  Rothamstead,  England: 

HAY. 

,32  tons. 

SO  tons,  10  year's  average. 


manures. 

Plant-Food. 

It  is  now  but  little  more  than  a  generation  since 
chemistry  came  to  the  farmer's  aid,  and  offered  her 
services  to  those  who  would  employ  them.  Not  with  a 
halting  step,  but  with  the  vigor  of  a  god-like  birth, 
agricultural  chemistry  was  born,  and  soon  the  Eng- 
lish speaking  world  was  aglow  with  the  interest 
which  came  from  the  new  discovery.  Plants  fed,  so 
Licbig  stated,  not  on  dirt,  but  on  certain  chemical 
substances,  which  were  part  of  the  earth.  Earth 
contained  but  a  limited  amount  of  these  substances; 
and  hence  the  continuous  growth  and  removal  of 


Unmanured  plot,  - 
Applied  chemicals, 
Dung  (14  tons),      - 

Unmanured  plot,    - 

Chemicals, 

Dung,    -      -      -      - 

Unmanured,    -    - 
Chemicals,     -    -    - 
Dung, 


-  20'^  bushels. 

48M  bush.,  24 year's  average. 

-  48%     "       "       "  " 

WHEAT. 

13  J^ bush.,  24 year's  average. 

3.5r 


We'thus  see  that  chemicals  can  produce  the  same 
results  as  are  produced  by  dung.  In  the  experiments 
quoted  we  have  the  average  of  many  years'  trials,  so 
that  the  effect  cannot  be  ascribed  to  a  favorable  sea- 
son, or  otherwise.  We  must  consider  it  proven  that 
chemicals  can  take  the  place  of  dung.  It  only  re- 
mains to  show  whether  we  can  afford  to  use  one  in 
preference  to  the  other.  Unfortunately  we  have  not 
in  these  experimentB  quoted  the  necessary  data  lor 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


37 


Iving  of  the  question  of  values.  It  is  evident 
I  i.iiiler  sueU  large  doses  of  dung  as  were  used— 
luuiKen  tons  yearly — the  land  must  have,  in  course 
of  time,  attained  a  maximum  of  fertility;  and 
the  crops  yielded  indicate  this.  The  amount  of 
cliiiiiicals  Ubcd  was  also  in  excess  of  the  requirement 
of  the  plant  in  most  instances. 

Reason  tells  u«  that  chemical  farming  must  bo 
successful,  pr.-'vided  we  apply  to  the  land  yearly 
what  the  crop  removes,  provided  the  elements  which 
are  applied  are  kept  during  the  seasou  of  growth  in 
condition  lit  for  appropriation  by  the  plant,  and  pro- 
vided they  are  thoroughly  diffused  throughout  the 
land.  Reason  also  tells  us  that  manure  farming  is 
successful  under  like  conditions  of  application. 

Experience  tells  us  that  with  abundant  manure  we 
can  raise  on  the  average  maximum  crops  for  our 
land.  Experience  also  tells  us  that  with  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  chemicals  we  can  do  likewise.  Thus 
rca.son  and  experience  coincide. 

Practically,  however,  we  have  other  questions  to 
consider,  and  the  question  is  not  as  simple  as  at  first 
sight  appears.  Practically,  it  U  Ibund,  it  has  been 
found,  that  we  need  apply  barnyard  manure  con- 
taining chemical  eleme.its  far  in  excess  of  the  chemi- 
cal elements  removed  by  the  crop  to 
produce  the  crop.  Practically, it  has 
been  found  that  in  many  cases  where 
chemicals  were  applied,  the  amount 
of  the  crop  was  proportionate  to  the 
amount  of  the  chemicals  applied. 
Practically,  the  application  of  a  fer- 
tilizer may  fail  to  produce  the  antici- 
pated crop.  Practically,  a  large  ma- 
nuring will  not  always  produce  the 
anticipated  crop. 

The  condition  of  the  soil  and  the 
facts  of  cultivation  have  also  to  be 
considered  while  we  are  considering 
plant-food,  for  in  all  farm  questions 
like  this  we  have  two  sides  to  our 
subject.  The  plant-food  must  be  pres- 
ent;  the  plant  must  also  be  able  to 
appropriate  it,  and  this  latter  fact  is 
an  important  one. 

Consider  why  we  can  raise  larger 
crops  on  sterile  New  England  soil,  by 
the  aid  of  manure,  than  they  do  on 
the  prairies  of  the  Southwest,  just  fat 
with  fertility.  Consider  the  large 
yield  on  the  acreage  of  England,  and 
the  small  yield  on  the  acreage  of  that 

fjlden   State   which    fronts    on    the 
acific  ! 


PEARL  MILLET. 
"  Pearl  ifillet  lias  beeu  culti- 
vated for  some  years  as  a  ionige 
plant  in  sou.e  of  the  Southern 
States,  as  '  African  Cane, ' 
'Egyptian  Millet,'  'Japan  Mil- 
let,' and  in  some  places  as 
'Horse  Millet,'  btit  little  wa« 
known  of  it  at  the  North  before 
last  year,  and  then  only  in  sucli 
small  quantities  as  to  hardly  al- 
low of  a  fair  trial.  From  what 
we  saw  of  it  in  1.S77,  we  deter- 
mined to  give  it  a  thorough  trial 
this  season.  A  piece  of  good 
strong  loamy  ground  was  pre- 
pared as  if  for  a  beet  or  turnip 
crop,  by  manuring  with  stable-  t 

manure,  at  the  rate  of  ten  tons 
to  the  acre,  plowing  10  inches 
deep,  and  thoroughly  harrow  ing.  _  <-  i 

The  Millet  was  then  sown  in 
drills  18  inches  apart,  at  the  rate 
of  8  quarts  to  the  acre.  We  sowed  on  the 
l.">th  of  May,  about  the  date  we  plant  corn  , 
in  12  days  the  plants  were  up  so  that  a  culti- 
vator could  be  run  between  the  rovvs,  after 
which  no  further  culture  was  necessary,  for 
the  growth  became  so  rapid  and  luxuriant  as 
to  crowd  down  every  weed  that  attempted  to 

fet  a  foothold.  The  first  cutting  was  made 
uly  1st— 4.J  days  after  sowing ;  it  was  then 
7  feet  high,  covering  the  wliole  ground,  and 
the  crop,  cut  3  inches  above  the  ground, 
weighed,  gi-eeii,  at  the  rate  of  30  tons  per 
acre  ;  this,  when  dried,  gave  (i^  tons  per  acre 
as  hay.  After  cutting,  a  second  growth 
started,  and  was  cut  August  loth— 4.5  days 
from  the  time  of  the  first  cutting.  Its  height 
was  9  feet ;  it  weighed  this  time'at  the  rate  of 
5")  tons  to  the  acre,  (jreen,  and  8  tons  dried. 
The  third  crop  started  as  rapidly  as  the  sec- 
ond, but  the  cool  September  nights  lessened  its 
tropical  luxuriance,  so  that  this  crop,  which 
was  cut  on  October  1st,  only  weighed  10  tons 


1  green,  and  U  tons  dried.     The  growth  was 
I  simply  enormous,  thus :  1st  crop  in  45  days, 
gave  30  tons  green,  or  6^  tons  dry  ;  2nd  crop 
I  in  45  days,  gave  55  tons  green,  or  8  tons  dry  ; 
3rd  crop  in  45  days,  gave  10  tons  green,  or  1^ 
I  tons  dry.  The  aggregate  weight  being  95  tons 
I  of  green  fodderin  135  days  from  date  of  sow- 
1  ing,  and  10  tons  when  dried  to  hav.    Tills  ex- 
ceeds the  clover  meadows  of  Mid-Lothian, 
:  which,  when  irrigated  by  the  sewerage  from 
I  the  City  of  Edinbugh,   and   cut  every   four 
,  weeks,  gave  an  aggregate  of  75  tons  of"  green 
clover  per  acre.    There  is  little  doubt  that 
Pearl  Millet   is  e(iually  nutritious  as  corn- 
fodder,  which  it  resembles  even  more  tlitm  it 
does  any  of  the  other  Millets.    We  found  that 
all  our  horses  and  cattle  ate  it  greedily  wliether 
green  or  dry.     If  sowing  in  drills  is  not  prac- 
ticable,  it   may    be    sown    broadcast,   using 
double  the  quantity  of  seed— say  16  quarts 
per  acre.     The  ground  .should  be  smoothed  by 
the  harrow,  and  again  lightly  harrowed  after 


sowiul;  if  lolltd  \ttei  liiiio\Mm:  ill  tin  lut- 
ta.  I  know  ol  no  faun  (mp  ilut  will  lit  Itt  i 
repay  high  maniiung,  but  so  pii.it  is  its  lux- 
uriance th.mt  will  produce  a  btltei  ciop  with- 
out manure  than  any  other  plant  I  know  of.  I 
In  those  parts  of  the  Southern  Slates  where 
hay  cannot  be  raised  this  is  a  substitute  of  the  ; 
easiest  culture,  and,  being  of  tropical  origin,  , 
it  will  luxuriate  in  their  long  hot  summers.  ! 
Even  though  our  Northern  sea.sons  may  be 
too  short  to  mature  our  seeds,  our  experiments 
in  New  Jersey  this  summer  show  what  abun- 
dant crops  may  be  expected  if  the  similar  con- 
ditions are  secured.  Pearl  Millet  as  a  fodder- 
plant  presents  a  new  feature  in  our  agricul- 
ture, and  I  feel  sure  that  within  ten  years  we 
shall  wonder  how  we  got  on  without  it.  He- 
sides  our  own  testimony  given  above,  we  have 
received  the  most  satisfactory  letters  from  ex- 
perienced men  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
to  whom  we  sent  seed  of  Pearl  Millet  for  trial, 
and  all  are  unanimous  as  to  its  enormous 


productiveness  and  great  value.  From  all 
we  have  seen  ami  can  learn,  we  are  fully 
convinced  thtit  Pearl  Millet  is  to  bo  one  of  the 
great  fodder  plaiitH  of  the  future." 

The  fiiregoiiig.  from  the  .bin  rican  Ayricul- 
turiM,  for  November.  1S78,  conlaiiis  the  ex- 
jieriments  of  I'l  Ur  Ilender.son,  Esq.,  of  the 
firm  of  Peter  llendersoii  &  Co.,  No.  35  Court- 
land  .street,  New  York,  a  man  wliose  reputa- 
tion as  a  nur.vrymaii,  seedsman  and  Horist 
stands  very  high  in  this  country.  Of  course 
Millet  can  only  be  grown  with  success  and 
profit  (as  far  north  as  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York,)  as  a  foraging  pl:uit.  And,  now,  since 
the  subject  ..f  keeping   i;-:illle    linii^cil    during 

instead  of  turning  tliein  out  into  the  llekls  to 
pasture,  is  looming  up,  this  plant  may  a.HSume 
an  importance  it  never  did  before.  We,  there- 
fore, deem  it  advisalile  at  this  time  to  place 
the  matter  l)efore  our  readers,  in  order  that 
they  may  avail  themselves  of  whatever  ad- 
vantage there  may  he  in  its 
culture. 

Farther  south  it  may  also  be 
of  advantage  to  the  farmers  to 
raise  the  seed.  Although  Millet 
seeds  have  been  ground  into 
meal,  from  which  bread  has  been 
made,  yet  it  is  not  specially  es- 
teemed for  that  purpose ;  but 
cooked,  as  rice,  it  is  used  more 
or  les.s  in  some  countries,  and  it 
is  said  that  no  grain  food  is  bet- 
ter for  poultry  ;  and  if  care  is 
taken  in  harvesting  the  yield  is 
usually  large. 

The  following  we  extract  from 
the  Fariwrs''  Cychpedia,  mainly 
relating  to  its  cultivation  in 
Europe,  which  may  be  of  some 
value  in  connection  with  the 
above : 

"  The  soil  for  Millet  should  be 
warm,  sandy,  rich  and  well  pul- 
verized to  a  good  depth.  The 
seed  is  u.sually  sowed  about  the 
end  of  April  or  beginning  of 
May,  regard  being  had  to  lati- 
tude and  the  meteorological  con- 
dition of  the  sea.son.  It  should 
not  be  sown  thickly,  and  not 
deei>ly  covered.  In  the  course 
of  its  growth  (according  to  Prof. 
Thaler,)  no  plant  is  more  im- 
proved by  stirring  the  soil,  after 
which  it  grows  astonishingly 
fast  and  smothers  the  weeds. 

In  harvesting  Millet  great  care 
is  required  not  to  shed  the  seed  ; 
and.  as  it  ripens  rather  unequal- 
ly, it  would  be  an  advantage  to 
^  cut  off  the  spikes  a.s  they  ripen. 

No  grain  is  easier  to  thresh,  or 
to  free  from  its  husk  by  the  mill. 
It  is  used  instead  of  rice,  and 
bears  about  the  same  price  on 
the  continent  of  Europe,  where 
it  is  more  cultivated  than  per- 
s\=^—  haps  any  other  part  of  the  world, 

especially  in  Germany.  It  pro- 
duces a  great  bulk  of  straw,  which  is  much 
esteemed  by  some  as  fodder." 

There  are  various  kinds  of  Millet,  one  kind 
of  which  was  introduced  into  Pennsylvania, 
many  years  ago,  (called  "Bengal  Gra.ss,")  as 
an  object  of  culture,  and  at  one  time  created 
considerable  interest  among  farmers  ;  it  was, 
however,  found  unsatisfactoiy  in  results,  and 
was  .subsequently  neglected  or  abandoned. 

According  to  bur  recollection  this  was  very 
"long  ago" — in  our  boyhood — but  we  have 
no  recollection  as  to  what  the  "expectations" 
of  the  farmei-s  were  in  regard  to  it,  or  whether 
cultivated  for  fodder  or  for  the  seeds.  More- 
over, they  at  that  time  knew  nothing  of 
"green  feeding  "-other  than  pasturing— if 
even  they  entertained  a  thought  of  it. 

The  term  MiUct  comes  from  the  French 
word  MHle—:\  thousand— alluding  to  the  great 
number  of  seeds  produced  by  a  single  spike, 
or  "ear. "  The  generic  name  Panicuno  comes 
from  paws— bread. 


38 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[March, 


THE  FISH  QUESTION. 

The  following  address,  by  Peter  Frally, 
Esq.,  of  Columbia,  Pa.,  to  the  Fish  Com- 
mittee of  the  Legislature,  whether  dictated 
merely  by  local  interest  or  by  principles  of 
public  economy,  seems  to  reflect  so  much  that 
is  in  harmony  with  the  general  experience  in 
the  matter  of  State  improvements,  ameliorat- 
ing; enterprises,  domestic  progress  and  the 
habits  of  the  shad,  that  we  give  it  an  inser- 
tion in  our  journal  as  a  matter  of  convenient 
future  references  to  those  among  our  readers 
who  may  be  interested  in  questions  involved. 

We  can  distinctly  recall  the  halcyon  days  of 
shad-fishing  along  the  middle  Susquehana, 
when  the  great  hauls  of  1,500  to  3,000  were 
made,  but  these  were  few  and  far  between, 
and  even  then — sixty  years  ago — there  were 
also  made  many  doleful  complaints  against 
the  gill-nets,  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line.  We  concur  in  the  opinion  that  shad  will 
never  be  in  the  abundance  they  once  were, 
even  if  all  obstructions  were  removed. 

Gentlemen  :  The  reason  urged  for  the  removal 
of  the  Columbia  dam  is  that  it  is  an  insurmountable 
bar  to  the  ascent  of  shad  and  other  fishes  to  their 
natural  spawning  grounds,  the  head  waters  of  the 
river,  and  because  of  this  bar  or  obstruction  shad  are 
becoming  more  and  more  scarce,  and  if  the  dam  was 
removed  the  abundance  of  former  years  would  be 
soon  restored.  It  is  claimed  by  those  engineering 
the  appropriation  bill,  "that  a  dam  will  not  be 
needed,  and  that  a  mere  wing-dam  only  will  he  re- 
quired, thus  allowing  a  large  space  of  the  natural 
channel  of  the  river  as  a  free  ascent  to  fish." 

Upon  this  point  I  will  quote  Mr.  J.  C.  Sharpless 
(an  eminent  and  well-known  civil  engineer,  who  was 
employed  by  the  "joint  special  committee  on  the 
operations  of  the  fish  department,"  to  make  a  sur- 
vey of  the  route  and  estimate  the  cost  of  said  re- 
moval.) Mr.  Sharpless,  after  a  careful[instrumental 
survey,  reports  to  the  committee  as  follows ; 

"The  rocks  in  the  river  bed  are  so  numeous  that 
the  construction  of  a  channel,  through  which  boats 
could  cross  the  river  in  safety,  may  be  regarded  as 
almost,  if  not  quite,  impracticable.  It  would  in- 
volve heavy  cost,  and  there  would  be  great  danger 
of  accidents  to  boats,  unless  great  care  were  exer- 
cised. I  am  unable  to  see  how  boats  could  make  the 
passage  across  in  safety  in  any  other  way  than  by 
the  construction  of  a  dam,  reaching  the  entire  dis- 
tance across.  A  wing-dam  has  been  suggested  ;  but, 
in  my  judgment,  when  the  river  is  low  and  the  cur- 
rent slow,  it  would  not  be  eflfectual.  When  the  river 
is  high,  and  the  current  rapid,  it  might  check  its 
passage  and  raise  the  surface  of  the  water  to  some 
extent,  but  at  such  time  it  would  not  be  needed.  I 
have,  consequently,  made  an  estimate  for  a  dam, 
four  feet  above  low  water." 

Tou  will  perceive  at  once  that  the  real  question  at 
issue  is  not  the  removal  of  the  dam  from  Columbia 
as  an  obstrucHoii  to  the  ascent  of  shad,  but  the  re- 
location of  the  same  construction  at  Chiques,  a  point 
about  two  and  one-half  miles  above ;  not  to  increase 
the  supply  of  fish,  but  in  reality  to  increase  the  busi- 
ness of  an  enterpri^e  about  uearing  completion,  hav- 
ing its  principal  base  of  operations  at  Chiques,  and, 
possibly,  to  enrich  a  few  speculators  in  land. 

It  is  true  that  Mr.  Sharpless  reports  that  the  dam 
at  Chiques  need  be  but  four  feet  higher  than  low 
water  mark.  The  Columbia  dam  is  about  five  and 
one-half  feet  higher  than  low  water  mai-k,  but  all 
our  fishermen  will  tell  you  that  a  dam  four  feet  above 
low  water  mark  is  just  as  eB'ectual  a  barrier  to  the 
ascent  of  shad  as  if  it  was  five  and  one-half  feet 
high.  So  that  the  only  advantage  then  in  increasing 
the  shad  supply  would  be  the  distance  from  the  Co- 
lumbia dam  to  that  of  the  Chiques  for  spawning 
grounds.  The  bill,  under  which  you  are  hearing  this 
committee,  asks  an  appropriation  of  $.300,000  only, 
when  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  to  complete  all 
the  work  necessary  it  will  cost  at  least  a  solid  mil- 
lion for  the  removal  of  this  one  dam  alone.  Mr. 
Sharpless,  the  engineer  herebefore  named,  estimated 
the  cost  as  follows  : 

For  constructing  cacal  and  guard  lock $205,124  37 

For  dam  with  sckule  and  feeder 58,727  54 

For  outlet  and  outlet  lock 22,238  81 

Contingencies 28,609  07 

$314,699  79 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Mr.  Sharpless  was 
employed  by  a  Committee  whose  object  was  to  show 
as  small  a  cost  as  possible,  and  that  he  had  instruc- 
tions to  that  effect  is  apparent  from  the  last  para- 
graph of  his  "  report "  to  the  committee,  as  follows  : 
"The  cost  of  this  work  will  probably  exceed  the 
expectations  of  your  committee.  A  careful  exami- 
nation, in  detail,  has  shown  it  to  be  more  than  I 
anticipated.  I  have  taken  care  not  to  exceed  reason- 
able limits  in  the  prices  of  material  and  work,  and  I 
do  not  think  it  could  be  done  for  less  than  is  here 
shown." 

We  have  no  means  of  testing  the  accuracy  of  Mr. 
Sharpless'  estimate  for  canal,  five  feet  lock  and 


guard  lock,  but  from  the  known  nature  of  the  ex- 
cavations necessary,  being  largely  of  rock  in  the 
river,  and  his  failure  to  include  laud  damages  for 
right  of  way,  we  consider  it  as  much  too  low  as  any 
other  item.  Again,  take  the  estimate  for  dam,  chute 
and  feeder,  ^.58,727. 54  ;  all  that  is  necessary  to  prove 
the  fallacy  of  this  estimate  is  the  statement  made  to 
this  delegation  by  the  Superintendent  of  the  Reading 
and  Columbia  Railroad,  that  "the  last  time  the 
Columbia  dam  was  repaired  it  cost  the  sum  of  nearly 
?1.50,000."  Remember  this  was  for  repairs  merely. 
If  it  cost  that  much  for  repairs  only,  you  can  form 
some  idea  of  the  vastly  greater  sum  it  would  cost  to 
build  an  entirely  new  dam  at  a  point  in  the  river 
where  the  current  has  twice  the  rapidity  of  that  at 
Columbia.  Again,  take  the  estimate  for  outlet  lock 
and  outlet,  the  sum  of  822,328.81.  Fortunately  we 
have  the  means  at  hand  to  show  the  difference  be- 
tween the  estimated  and  real  cost  of  this  item,  the 
Pennsylvania  Canal  Company  having  lately  com- 
pleted an  outlet  and  outlet  lock  in  Columbia.  This 
lock  being  located  almost  immediately  at  their  canal 
did  not  require  one-half  the  excavations  which  will 
be  required  at  Chiques  because  of  the  increased  dis- 
tance of  the  outlet  lock  from  the  canal  and  the  more 
extensive  rock  excavation  necessary,  and  yet  the 
outlet  at  Columbia  with  its  necessary  equipments 
cost  (since  the  panic  and  during  low  prices  of  mate- 
rial and  labor)  the  sum  of  eighty  thousand  dollars. 
The  proposed  outlet  and  outlet  lock  at  Chiques  are 
to  take  the  place  of  these  at  Columbia,  and  must  be 
in  all  particulars,  their  equals,  and  for  re.asons  stated 
will  probably  cost  more  money,  say  four  times  as 
much  as  Mr.  Sharpless'  estimate,  or  $88,954.24.  If 
we  test  all  of  his  estimates  by  the  same  rule,  which 
we  claim  as  fair  and  reasonable,  and  multiply  by 
four  we  have  the  grand  total  of  cost  reaching  the 
enormous  sum  of  $1,2.58,799.16,  without  counting 
the  cost  of  the  Reading  and  Columbia  coal  scbutes 
say  $125,000  more.  No  doubt,  gentlemen,  j'ou  have 
had' some  experience  of  estimates  made  for  legisla- 
tive purposes  by  disinterested  and  public-spirited 
lobbyists,  and  need  not  be  told  that  between  the 
estimated  cost  and  the  actual  cost  there  is  a  great 
gulf  to  be  filled.  Here  you  have  an  instance  in  point 
now  before  this  Legislature,  in  the  case  of  the  "  Nor- 
ristown  Hospital  for  the  Insane  :" 

"  Originally  it  was  estimated  that  the  whole  cost 
of  the  structure  would  not  exceed  |600,000.  That 
amount  has  been  appropriated  and  expended,  and 
the  Legislature  is  now  asked  for  a  further  appropria- 
tion of "1170,000,  in  order  to  make  ready  for  the  occu- 
pation of  patients  a  portion  of  the  incomplete  struc- 
ture, which  is  not  yet  half  completed." 

The  object  in  asking  for  $300,000  only  is  merely  to 
get  the  public  purse  opened — when  "once  opened 
then — God  help  the  people. 

I  will  now  leave  this  branch  of  the  subject  and 
proceed  to  say  something  in  regard  to  fish-ways. 
We  venture  to  suggest  that  proper  elTorts  have  not 
yet  been  made  to  secure  sufiicient  fish-ways  in  the 
Columbia  dam.  While  the  Legislature  and  Fish 
Commissioners  deserve  credit  for  their  eflforts  so  far, 
the  failure  to  succeed  satisfactorily  is  no  reason  why 
the  effort  should  be  abandoned.  It  is  well  under- 
stood by  those  at  Columbia  who  have  given  the  sub- 
ject any  study,  why  the  fish-ways  already  built  are 
not  as  successful  as  could  be  wished.  In  the  last 
and  only  important  fish-way  built,  the  bottom  of  the 
"way"  at  its  debouchment  is  about  four  feet  above 
the  bottom  of  the  river,  which  by  our  experienced 
fishermen  is  regarded  as  fatal  to  its  success,  besides 
which,  the  bottom  of  the  way  being  very  smooth, 
having  been  sheathed  with  sawed  timber  and  the 
grade  being  very  steep,  nearly  3  feet  (2  91-100)  to 
the  100  feet,  the  water  rushes  through  with  rapidly 
accelerating  momentum,  and  enters  the  river  below 
with  an  irresistible  plunge.  That  shad  gather  at  the 
edge  of  this  fish-way  and  try  to  ascend  but  fail  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  as  many  as  fifty  have  been 
taken  in  a  common  dip  net  (say  eight  feet  square) 
in  a  single  night,  and  during  the  season  this  one  net 
is  supposed  to  have  tiiken  not  less  than  two  thousand 
of  these  persevering,  but  baflled  shad.  Shad  in 
ascending  very  swift  water,  shallow  like  all  of  it  is 
immediately  below  the  dam,  swim  as  near  the  bot- 
tom as  possible,  nature  having  taught  them  that  the 
nearer  the  bottom  the  less  the  resistance.  It  is  a 
singular  fact  that  when  passing  up  rapids,  such  as 
we  find  in  our  rafting  scbute,  where  it  has  been  seen 
in  hundreds  of  instances,  shad  throw  themselves  on 
their  sides  and  drive  through  with  great  velocity  in 
that  position,  as  near  the  bottom  as  possible.  The 
fact  that  a  shad  will  not  leave  the  bottom  more  than 
a  few  inches  to  commence  the  ascent  of  shallow 
rapids  is  one  of  the  best  authenticated  facts  con- 
nected with  its  history,  hence  the  failure  of  the  last 
fish-way.  If  this  delegation  was  before  the  Fish 
Committee,  plans  could  be  given  them  of  successful 
fish-ways  based  upon  natural  principles  and  well 
tested  by  long  and  successful  experiments  at  Colum- 
bia. It  is  a  misfortune  to  the  cause  of  fish  culture 
that  the  people  of  Columbia,  where  the  subject  is  so 
much  at  heart,  have  been  almost  totally  ignored  by 
the  Fish  Commissioners,  seeming  to  regard  us  as 
enemies  rather  than  friends  of  the  cause. 

But,  gentlemen,  we  can  never  hope,  even  if  all  the 
dams  which  now  obstruct  our  rivers  were  removed, 


to  restore  anvthing  like  the  former  abundance  of 
shad.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  Columbia  dam  was 
built  nearly  forty  years  ago,  and  consider  the  won- 
derful advance  of  population  and  the  improved  and 
multiplied  appliances  now  used  to  catch  shad.  To 
supply  that  population  consider  the  wonderfully  in- 
creased means  of  rapid  transportation  by  which  fresh 
shad  are  not  only  carried  into  the  interior,  but  even  to 
San  Francisco  in  their  fresh  condition,  and  the  fresh 
salmon  of  the  Pacific  sent  us  in  return.  The  vast 
demand,  stimulated  by  these  causes  and  the  intro- 
duction of  so  much  machinery  into  nearly  all  the  oc- 
cupations of  man,  has  forced  very  many  additional 
thousands  into  finding  a  precarious  subsistance  by 
fishing,  so  that  from  the  time  shad  enter  the  Albe- 
marle Sound,  on  the  coast  of  the  Carolinas,  until 
they  reach  their  spawning  grounds  in  our  rivers, 
the  devices  man  can  invent  are  employed  for  their 
capture,  so  that  few  indeed  can  ever  be  expected 
reach  very  far  above  tide  water ;  on  this  subject  hear 
what  the  Fish  Commissioners  say  in  their  report  for 
the  year  1878  : 

"  But  what  have  we  below  our  dam  ?  There  is  the 
estuary  of  the  Susquehanna,  from  Port  Deposit  to 
Havre  de  Grace,  only  four  miles  long.  This  is  swept 
by  gill-nets  for  the  whole  distance,  and  it  is  a  wonder 
any  fish  at  all  can  pass  them.  Then  we  have,  say, 
forty  miles  of  shore  seined  at  every  mile,  perhaps  at 
every  quarter  of  a  mile,  by  men  whose  only  living  is 
what  can  be  wrested  from  the  river." 

Every  year  millions  of  shad  are  hatched  in  the 
river  below  the  dam,  as  well  as  above  it,  and  find 
their  way  to  the  sea,  and  yet  how  few  ever  return.  It 
may  surprise  you  to  hear  that  during  last  spring's 
fishing  between  our  dam  and  Turkey  Hill,  a  distance 
of  three  miles,  the  highest  estimate  of  the  number 
caught  does  not  reach  30,000,  and  last  spring's  catch 
was  a  fair  average. 

If  it  is  our  river  dams  only  which  are  destroying 
the  supply  of  shad  how  are  we  to  account  for  the 
rapid  decrease  of  all  Anadromous  fishes.  There  is 
the  herring,  which  never  reached  up  as  far  as  our  dam , 
and  does  its  spawning  in  or  near  fresh  tidewater ; 
with  all  its  wonderful  fecundity  they  are  rapidly  de- 
creasing in  number.  So  also  with  rockfish,  perch, 
mullets,  carp,  catfish  and  eels.  These  all  cast  their 
spawn  in  or  near  tidewater  and  yet  anglers  and  pro- 
fessional fishermen  will  tell  you  their  decrease  is 
steady  and  rapid.  Without  intending  to  exhaust  the 
subject  I  now  close  to  give  place  to  other  members  of 
our  delegation. 


itil 
all     J 

eir    I 

I?1 


Queries  and  Answers. 


THE  HAND-MAID  MOTH. 
iDfitftiia  Ministra,) 

CL.iRK's  Gkeen,  Pa.,  Ist  mo.  30th,  1879. 
Fkisnd  Rathvon  :  In  my  younff  orchard,  of  fifty 
acres,  there  appeared  in  1873  a  worm  or  caterpillar, 
about  July  25th — a  voracious  feeder  upon  apple  and 
cherry  leaves,  (sweet  cherries  only,)  feeding  singly, 
but  at  evening  gathering  in  a  cluster  to  repose  on  a 
twig,  and  when  alarmed  each  one  erecting  both  ex- 
tremities of  the  body— growing  very  rapidly,  and 
finally  reaching  a  length  of  two  and  a  half  inches, 
when  they  become  slightly  furred,  cease  to  congre- 
gate, and  disappear  after  a  very  few  days  of  indi- 
vidual rambling  about  the  tree.  They  moult  in  clus- 
ters, and  resemble  the  worms  infesting  the  pig-nut 
hickory,  except  not  so  downy.     A  second  brood   ap- 


pears about  the  1st  of  September,  equally  ■ 
They  spread  slowly  from  the  first  locality.  Is  it  the 
Canker  Worm  ?  A  word  from  you  on  this  subject 
will  be  a  favor. — S.  Stevenson. 

We  will  answer  your  last  queery  first,  by 
assuring  you  that  it  is  not  a  "  canker  worm." 
The  canker  worm  is  a  "  Looper,"  a  "  Geome- 
ter," or,  as  some  say,  a  "Measurer,"  and 
could  not  possibly  erect  the  extremities  of  the 
body,  having  its  feet  at  the  extremeties  and 
none  in  the  middle  by  which  it  could  hold  fast 
to  any  object. 

The  eaterpillars  you  describe  (called  by  way 
of  distinction  the  "yellow-necked  apple  tree 
caterpillar") are  the  larva;  of  the  "hand-maid 
moth,"  a  variety  of  the  Datana  tninistra,  ot 
Walker.  There  are  many  species  of  the 
genus  Batana,  and  at  least  three  varieties  of 
the  species  Ministra.  One  infests  the  sumac, 
one  the  apple,  and  one  the  black  walnut,  and 
very  probably  the  last  named  is  also  the  one 
that  infests  the  pig-nut  hickory,  at  least  we 
have  found  the  same  caterpillar  on  both  the 
black  walnut  and  the  cultivated  English  wal- 
nut in  this  city  in  large  numbers.  After  they 
have  completed  their  larval  development  they 
come  down  from  the  trees  and  pupate  under 
the  soil ;  the  first  brood  not  very  deeply, 
sometimes  among  the  rubbish  at  the  base  of 
the  trees,  but  the  second  brood  much  deeper, 
for  these  will  remain  there  in  the  pupa  state 
until  the  following  spring  in  time  for  the  first 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


39 


summer  folkige.  No  man  that  sees  the  first 
brood  ought  ever  to  permit  a  second  brood, 
for  we  know  of  uo  caterpillars  more  easily 
captured  than  these.  Their  well-known  habit 
of  congregating  in  masses  on  the  trunks  of 
the  trees, 'aUbrds  an  opportunity  of  capturing 
and  destroying  the  whole  colony,  by  burning 
or  scalding,  at  a  single  operation.  Before 
their  last  moult  they  are  different  shades  of 
brown,  distinctly  marked  with  lines  of  white 
or  pale  yellow,  but  after  the  last  UKuilt  tlicy 
are  black,  with  long,  white  tlossy  hairs  and 
otherwise  marked,  according  to  tlie  variety. 
The  body  of  the  moth  is  about  one  inch  m 
length,  and  the  wings  expand  about  one  inch 
and  a  half,  from  tip  to  tip.  Specimens  ocea- 
fiionally  occur  tliat  expand  two  inches.  '  Tlie 
forewings  are  of  a  reddish-brown,  with  trans- 
verse lines  of  a  deeper  color,  but  the  hind 
wings  are  shorter,  proportionally  broader,  of 
a  lighter  color,  and  without  special  markings. 
The  head  and  the  upper  part  of  the  thorax 
are  a  deep,  velvety  brown,  and  the  rest  of  the 
body  nearly  corresponds  in  color  with  the  fore- 
wings.  These  colors  are  lighter  or  darker  in 
the  different  varieties.  On  the  7th  of  August, 
187S,  Mr.  Leman,  of  Lancaster  city,  brought 
us  1,200  of  these  caterpillars,  which  he  found 
masfsed  together  near  the  base  of  an  English 
walnut  tree.  They  had  come  down  to  undergo 
their  last  moult,  and  as  these  were  all  destroyed 
he  will  not  be  likely  to  have  any  next  season. 
He  saw  that  his  tree  was  becoming  denuded 
of  its  foliage,  but  he  never  noticed  the  cause 
until  that  cause  became  consolidated.  See 
The  Lancaster  Farmer  for  January,  1879, 
page  3.  And  here  we  would  respectfully  sug- 
gest that  the  farmers  and  fruit-growers  should 
by  all  means  subscribe  for  The  Farmer,  and 
send  to  the  editor  any  insects  they  may  find 
depredating  upon  their  property,  and  he  will 
tell  them  what  they  are,  their  history  and 
habits,  and  how  to  destroy  them. 

E.  M.  E.,  Marietta,  Pa.— The  small  bottle 
of  earth  you  gave  me  at  the  February  meet- 
ing of  the  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  So- 
ciety, 1879,  contained  about  half  a  dozen 
specimens  of  a  species  of  "Galley-worms," 
and  one  of  the  larvaj  of  a  species  of  "Crane- 
fly,"  (Tipuliad.e).  Not  any  of  them  were 
in  the  mature  state, and  therefore  their  species 
cannot  be  determined.  The  galley-worms  are 
My  liio PODS,  and  are  doubtless  the  young  of 
some  species  of  Juhis;  but  they  do  not  belong 
to  the  same  family  as  those  noticed  in  The 
Farmer  for  November,  1878,  pp.  161  and  102, 
which  were  given  me  by  Mr.  Scheaffer,  of 
Cocalico,  and  which  he  discovered  destroying 
his  young  tobacco  plants  for  the  past  two  sea- 
sons. (See  also  October  number,  page  149, 
same  year.)  These  animals  belong  to  tht 
Millipede  division  of  the  Myriopods,  all  of 
which  are  vegetable  feeders,  some  of  them 
confining  themselves  to  various  species  of 
Fungus.  They  are  very  generally  con- 
founded with  the  "Wire-worms,"  and  people 
very  generally  give  them  that  name,  but  the 
true  wire-worm  belongs  to  a  very  different 
order  of  articulated  animals,  they  are  six- 
footed,  whilst  these  have  many  feet,  sometimes 
going  into  the  hundreds.  They  are  known 
among  gardenera  to  be  destructive  to  young 
raddishes,  turnips,  tomatoes,  redbeats,  cab- 
bages, letttice,  beans  and  other  species  of 
young  vegetation,  and  perhaps  also  young  to- 
bacco plants.  For  a  remedy  see  the  articles 
I  have  referred  to  above.  Those  who  have  it 
not  will  discover  they  have  made  a  mistake 
in  not  subscribing  for  The  Farmer. 

From  Manatee,  Florida,  we  have  received, 
by  mail,  an  animal  belonging  to  the  family 
Arachnids  Pulmoxaria,  or  "Pulmonary 
Spiders."  This  individual  belongs  to  the  genus 
Phyrus,  and  is  by  family  allied  to  the  Scorpions 
and  Whiptails,  specimens  of  both  of  which  arc 
in  the  Museum  of  the  Linnfcan  Society.  This 
specimen  completes  all  the  tvpes  of  the  family 
found  within  the  United  States,  and  we  are 
very  thankful  for  it,  but  to  whom  ?  Echo  an- 
swers whom  '?  Friend,  you  did  well,  try  again. 


Essays. 


THE  CARE  OF    FRUIT  TREES.* 

In  undertaking  the  task  of  writing  an  arti- 
cle on  the  above  subject,  and  not  having  had 
a  large  experience,  I  shall  endeavor  to  give 
you  a  few  thoughts  in  as  plain  language  as  my 
rhetoric  can  command. 

The  care  of  fruit  trees  is  ofttimes  too  much 
neglected.  To  begin  right  is  of  the  first  im- 
portance. The  prevailing  habit  with  some 
persons  has  been  to  cram  the  trees  into  the 
smallest  possible  hole,  in  an  out-of-the-way 
plot  or  fence  corner,  not,  in  their  estimation 
lit  for  anything  else,  and  expect  the  trees  to 
live  and  flourish  under  such  treatment.  Many 
of  these  usually  fail  the  first  year,  or  at  least 
languish  a  few  years  and  die  for  the  want  of 
a  little  care  and  attention  ;  when  the  planter 
heaps  his  condemnation  upon  the  nurseryman 
or  tree  vendor,  for  having  sold  him  diseased  or 
worthless  stock. 

Ijocation  shmdd  be  the  first  consideration  ; 
rolling  ground  is  always  preferable,  though 
not  always  accessible  ;  would  prefer  a  north- 
easterly slope  as  the  most  desirable,  with  the 
altitude  as  great  as  circumstances  will  allow. 
In  adopting  such  a  site  you  will  have  perfect 
drainage,  a  much  lighter  and  less  humid  at- 
mosphere, also  have  some  protection  from  the 
afternoon  sun  on  mild  winter  days,  that  in 
this  climate  sometimes  follows  excessive  cold. 
The  sun  striking  the  trunk  in  the  after  mid- 
day, warming  one  side  while  the  other  remains 
frozen,  is  often  the  cause  of  the  bark  bursting, 
and  not  unfrequently  is  followed  by  the  de- 
struction of  the  tree.  This,  however,  can  in 
part  be  avoided  by  growing  the  trees  with  low 
tops,  to  which  I  shall  allude  hereafter.  This 
injury  generally  occurs  about  the  time  the 
trees  begia  to  bear,  and  also  when  there  is  no 
shade  except  from  the  denuded  branches  of 
the  tree  itself.  You  can  readily  perceive  that 
a  slope  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  degrees  would 
elevate  the  tops  of  the  upper  trees  suflSciently 
to  afford  some  shade  to  each  succeeding  row. 
To  assist  in  this  protection  and  to  occupy  the 
ground  while  the  trees  are  small  (more  par- 
ticularly the  apple  and  standard  pear),  I  would 
advise  the  planting  of  a  peach  between  each 
apple  ;  and,  indeed,  a  row  between  each  apple 
row  would,  by  their  quick  growth,  materially 
assist  in  this  winter  protection,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  fruit  they  would  produce  before  the 
apple  commenced  to  bear  or  occupy  the  whole 
ground. 

Cultivation  is  by  no  means  of  secondary 
consideration,  but  I  believe  of  vital  import- 
ance, and  thorough  tillage  of  the  soil  is  neces- 
sary for  the  first  few  years  to  induce  a  good 
healthy  growth.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to 
use  some  discretion  to  preserve  the  surface 
soil  on  hilly  ground.  Should  it  be  of  a  clayey 
or  tenacious  character,  which  is  not  often 
found  on  high  hilly  ground,  there  will  be  less 
danger  of  wash  or  waste  from  the  cultivation. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  tUe  soil  be  a  light,  por- 
ous shale,  some  care  must  be  taken  to  avert 
the  loss  of  the  very  material  it  is  most  im- 
portant to  preserve.  Summer  crops  will  not 
be  injurious  to  the  trees,  provided  the  fertility 
of  the  soil  is  kept  up  by  the  application  of  the 
proper  manures.  Corn,  potatoes,  and,  indeed, 
all  vegetables  and  most  of  the  small  fruits,  for 
the  first  few  years  may  be  grown  with  advan- 
tage and  fully  compensate  for  the  labor  in  the 
tillage  and  leave  a  handsome  profit  besides. 
Care  should  always  be  taken  not  to  impoverish 
the  soil  by  this  system  of  double  taxation. 
An  annual  dressing  of  manure  or  some  other 
good  fertilizer  will  keep  it  in  good  heart  while 
this  treatment  is  pursued. 

The  question  of  cultivation  or  non-cultiva- 
tion after  the  trees  have  attained  a  bearing 
age  is  a  question  on  which  many  of  our  most 
successful  horticulturists  disagree— each  advo- 
cating his  theory  as  the  basis  to  be  relied  upon. 
Doubtless  both  have  their  advantages  on  some 
points  that  are  difficult  to  overthrow.     I  am, 

•Efieay  read  before  the  Pennsylv 
ture  by  Calvin  Coope     "       ... 
Agricultural  Society. 


however,  very  decidedly  in  favor  of  uo  culti- 
vation after  the  trees  are  ten  or  twelve  years 
planted,  or,  say  half-grown.  It  has  been  ray 
practice  to  top-dress  with  stable  manure  every 
two  or  three  years,  with  an  occasional  dress- 
ing of  lime  or  unleached  wood  ashes,  about 
one  bushel  to  each  tree,  which  in  my  opinion 
will  materially  assist  in  keeping  them  in 
health  and  productivenesi?.  We  generally  cut 
the  first  cro))  of  grass  and  feed  as  a  gi'een 
crop.  All  aft.  Tgrowth  of  grass  or  weeds  is 
either  cut  for  a  nuilch  or  trauqiled  down  and 
allowed  to  remain.  But  no  grass  or  other 
vegetable  matter  should  be  permitted  to  grow 
within  three  or  four  feet  of  the  trees.  This 
we  try  to  prevent  by  the  annual  application 
of  the  finer  parts  of  coal  ashes,  and  also  think 
it  insists  in  prevent iiM..;  tlie  ravages  of  that 
little  pest  of  the  onlianlist,  the  "borer." 

Care  should  !)(■  tal<eii  to  avoid  too  rank  a 
growth.  I  have  often  heard  planters  exult- 
ingly  speak  of  the  great  vigor  of  their  trues, 
their  rapid  growth,  &c.  This  is  often  caused 
by  an  excess  of  stimulants,  and  not  unfre- 
quently is  followed  by  an  incurable  injury,  if 
not  the  entire  de.struction,  of  the  trees.  1  am 
fully  convinced  by  my  own  observation  and 
experience  that  tho.se  of  moderate  growth, 
especially  the  apple  and  pear,  will  be  longer 
lived  and  more  pmduclive  than  those  grown 
too  rapidly.  The  former  will  have  better 
ripened  and  more  healthy  wood,  as  well  as 
more  fully  developed  fruit  buds. 

The  peach,  however,  requires  somewhat 
different  treatment.  Not  that  they  require 
less  cultivation,  but  it  should  be  continued 
while  fruit  is  the  object.  The  critical  period 
is  the  first  few  years  after  planting — to  escape 
the  depredations  of  the  borer,  as  one  grub 
will  do  more  injury  to  a  one  or  two-year  old 
tree  than  a  dozen  could  to  one  full-grown. 
Their  tendency  to  overbear  (where  the  peach 
does  well)  should  be  guarded  against  by  a 
judicious  thinning  or  shortening  of  the 
branches,  as  well  as  to  preserve  the  tree  in 
shape  and  good  condition.  They  are  best  but 
short-lived. 

The  origin  of  the  yellows  seems  as  yet 
shrouded  in  mystery,  but  its  contagious  nature 
is  too  well  known  to  a  majority  of  peach 
growers.  That  there  are  conditions  which 
invite  the  malady  I  do  not  doubt,  but  I  am 
unable  to  give  any  better  preventive  than  that 
practiced  for  years— the  cutting  away  of  the 
trees  as  soon  as  they  are  affected  with  the  dis- 
ease. Some,  however,  assert  that  a  severe 
heading  in  of  the  whole  top  and  the  feeding 
of  strong  stimulants  to  the  roots  will  induce 
a  new  healthy  growth  free  of  the  malady.  In 
visiting  a  fine  orchard  last  fall  I  observed  a 
number  of  trees  treated  in  this  way,  with 
what  success  I  am  as  yet  unable  to  say.  There 
is  little  doubt  that  good  cultivation  and  an 
annual  wash,  prepared  as  you  would  for  white- 
washing, with  the  addition  of  om-  bushel  of 
unleached  wood  ashes  to  every  half  bushel  of 
lime,  will  assist  in  preventing  the  attacks  of 
in.sect  enemies  and  give  tone  and  vigor  to  the 
bark. 

The  treatment  of  the  pear  should  be  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  aiij^Ie.  while,  perhaps,  the 
cultivaticm  might  be  keiit  up  longer  and  to  a 
greater  depth.  A.s  the  roots  penetrate  the 
soil  deeper  there  is  little  danger  of  injury  to 
surface  roots.  Instances  are' not  unfrequent 
where  old  pear  orchards,  being  long  seeded  to 
gr.iss,  and  trees  apparently  exhausted,  have 
been  restored  to  productiveness  by  a  thorough 
tearing  up  of  the  sod,  the  application  of  some 
good  fertilizer  and  good  cultivation.  Summer 
crops  may  be  grown  without  detriment,  even 
though  the  trees  are  quite  large,  but  the  all- 
important  fertilizer  must  not  be  neglected.  I 
would  avoid  the  use  of  fresh  stable  manure, 
as  having  a  tendency  to  increase  the  blight, 
to  prevent  which  I  know  nothing  better  than 
to  dismember  the  branches  on  the  first  appear- 
ance below  the  parts  affected,  and  split  the 
bark  of  the  remaining  branches  with  a  round- 
ended  knife,  similar  to  a  common  case  knife, 
from  the  surface  of  the  ground  to  the  ends  of 
th«  branches.  This  I  find  immediately  relieves 
the  pressure  of  the  hard,  contracted  bark, 


40 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  March, 


which  seems  to  have  checked  the  flow  of  sap. 
I  have  frequently  noticed  in  the  opening,  soon 
after,  a  new  bark,  a  pretty  sure  indication  of 
a  check  of  the  disease,  and  perhaps  the  saving 
of  the  tree. 

How  to  prune  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 
The  future  tree  should  be  modeled  while  in 
its  infancy.  Generally  speaking,  too  much  of 
it  is  done.  The  careful  orchardist  will,  with 
his  thumb  and  linger,  or  at  most  with  a  com- 
mon pocket  pruning  knife,  prune  from  the  tree 
while  the  tojis  can  be  reached  from  the  ground. 
A  little  careful  observation  and  thought  will 
soon  dictate  to  any  prudent  mind  where  the 
limbs  should  be  started  to  make  a  well-propor- 
tioned I  op.  -Low  branches  are  decidedly  pre- 
f errable,  say  three  or  four  feet  from  the  ground. 
These  will  assist  in  providing  the  shade  above 
refered  to.  Too  much  care  cannot  be  used 
to  properly  shape  the  tree  while  quite  young. 
Should  the  growth  be  long  and  slender^  with 
few  or  no  branches,  cut  back  to  where  it  is 
desired  to  have  the  limbs  start.  If  of  a  droop- 
ing tendency,  head  back  to  where  there  is  a 
good  and  well-developed  bud  on  the  top  of  the 
branch  ;  and  if  upright,  leave  the  upper  bud 
on  the  outside,  which  will  in  the  one  case 
have  a  tendency  to  make  the  tree  incline  up- 
wards, while  the  other  makes  it  spread.  Ju- 
dicious treatment  can  form  the  tree  to  any 
shape  desired.  The  common  practice  of  re- 
moving the  small  spurs  that  usually  form  at 
nearly  all  the  buds  is  destroying  the  object  for 
which  the  tree  is  grown.  These  liave  an  im- 
portant mission  to  perlbrm.  They  materially 
assist  in  sti'eiijiUniiin.otlie  limbs  by  increasing 
their  thickness,  and  ;ue  among  the  first  to  de- 
velop fruit  bud.s,  while  if  taken  off  tliey  neces- 
sitate their  formation  near  the  ends  of  the 
branches.  Hence  the  greater  strain  and  lia- 
bility of  the  tree  breaking  when  loaded  with 
fruit.  Too  large  a  proportion  of  those  pro- 
fessing to  know  how  to  prune  make  a  grave 
error  in  this  way.  Frequently  persons  making 
a  profession  of  the  business  travel  from  or- 
chard to  orchard  making  sad  havoc  upon  the 
very  branches  which  should  be  preserved. 
This,  however,  is  one  of  the  fine  arts  in  tree- 
pruning,  and  can  be  much  better  shown  by 
ocular  demonstration  than  by  describing. 

One  of  the  great  follies  with  many  orcliard- 
ists  is  the  attempt  to  double-work  their 
orchards  by  half  manuring,  and  until  they 
learn  that  it  is  imi)ossible  to  take  more  out  of 
the  soil  than  there  is  in  it  fruit-growing  will 
be  uncertain,  whether  the  seasons  be  favor- 
able or  not.  V/hat  kinds  and  quantity  of 
fertilizer  should  be  applied  must  be  deter- 
mined according  to  the  constituents  of  the 
various  soils.  A  neighbor  has  been  quite 
successful  by  applying  liquid  manure  from  his 
barnyard  on  the  sod  under  his  trees,  and  I 
believe  the  sewerage  from  tlie  house  could  be 
used  with  equally  good  results. 

Things  being  favorable  to  the  production  of 
regular  crops,  it  is  of  vital  importance  for  the 
grower  to  understand  to  a  certain  extent  the 
nature  and  habits  of  insect  enemies  and  apply 
methods  to  counteract  their  depredations, 
else  they  will  rob  him  of  the  benefits  of  a  large 
part  of  his  previous  laljors  and  expenses  on 
his  orchard.  In  planting  be  sure  there  are 
no  borers  in  before  the  tree  is  set,  and  an- 
nually thereafter  (until  the  trees  have  attained 
a  diameter  of  three  or  four  inches)  wrap  the 
trunk  with  paper  from  tlie  surface  to  the 
ground  to  the  height  of  about  one  foot.  A 
small  mound  will  assist  in  keeping  the  tree  in 
place  and  prevent  it  coming  off.  Tic  the  tops 
with  woolen  yarn  to  allow  for  expaiision. 
This  may  be  removed  in  October,  and  should 
any  borers  have  obtained  a  lodgment  they  can 
easily  be  seen  and  removed  with  a  sharp- 
pointed  knife  or  piece  of  steel  wire.  The 
trees  having  arrived  to  a  fruiting  age  we  have 
other  enemies— the  codling  moth  and  curcu- 
lio— to  contend  with.  I  know  of  no  new 
method  for  their  destruction.  The  wash 
spoken  of  in  a  former  (niragraph  of  this  article, 
may  assist  l)y  keeping  the  bark  smooth  and 
clean  ;  prevent  the  former  from  obtaining  a 
hiding  place  while  passing  from  a  chrysalis  to 
a  perfect  insect.     Have  frequently  thought 


these  little  pests  might  be  attracted  and 
caught  by  small  fires  set  ablaze  soon  after 
dusk  to  entrap  them  on  the  wing.  A  batch 
of  straw  tied  to  a  pole  with  wire,  and  thor- 
oughly saturated  with  tar,  or  some  other  in- 
flammable matter,  would  be  of  but  little  ex- 
pense and  easily  carried  through  the  orchard 
after  dark.  Gathering  and  removing  the 
fallen  fruit  that  has  been  punctured  is  per- 
haps the  only  means  to  lessen  their  depreda- 
tions. 

Having  sketched  the  ground  ft-om  the 
planting  of  the  tree  to  its  maturity,  it  would 
be  most  desirable  to  produce  regular  and 
moderate  crops  instead  of  alternate  failures 
and  excesses.  This  is  the  question  now  occu- 
pying the  attention  of  many  orchardists,  and 
before  long  it  is  hoped  we  may  know  how  to 
produce  a'crop  the  off-year.  The  evidence  is 
strongly  in  favor  of  thinning  the  excess  while 
the  fruit  is  small,  so  as  to  give  the  tree  a 
chance  to  develop  and  mature  fruit  buds  for 
the  coming  year. 

ESSAY* 

On  the  question—"  Which  would  be  best, 
to  keep  the  cattle  stabled  all  summer  and  feed 
them  on  green  fodder,  or  turn  them  into  pas- 
ture ?" 

I  think  keeping  cattle  in  the  stable,  or  in  a 
shady  pen  or  shed  would  be  best ;  if  we  were 
accustomed  to  keep  them  so,  it  would  be 
cheapest  in  the  end.  If  we  turn  them  into  the 
field  they  tramp  down  a  good  deal  more  than 
they  eat.  It  is,  of  course,  a  benefit  to  the  soil 
if  the  grass  is  tramped  down,  but  if  we  cut  the 
grass  and  feed  it  in  the  stable,  and  haul  out 
the  manure,  it  will  benefit  the  soil  more,  and 
we  can  feed  more  cattle  ;  moreover,  we  would 
need  little  or  no  fencing.  But  iJeople  in  our 
day  would  be  apt  to  say,  that  costs  too  much 
labor.  But  we  will  see  which  is  the  most 
laborious,  to  haul  home  the  green  fodder  oi 
to  keep  the  farm  in  fences.  If  a  farmer  has 
no  help  of  his  own  he  can  hire  a  boy  strong 
enough  to  do  the  work  for  about  $1U.00  per 
month,  and  six  mouths  is  all  the  time  he  can 
pasture  ;  that  will  be  $60.  Can  we  keep  the 
farm  in  fences  for  less  than  §60  a  year  ?  That 
would,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  size  of  the 
farm  ;  but  we  will  say  a  farm  of  80  acres, 
and,  besides,  we  can  raise  a  few  rows  of  corn 
and  potatoes  in  places  where  every  fence 
stood.  The  way  we  have  oiu:  farms  fenced 
the  fences  take  up  at  least  three-quarters  of 
an  acre  of  land.  On  that  we  might  raise 
enough  of  potatoes  or  corn  to  pay  a  hired  boy, 
and  he  can  find  time  enough  to  cultivate  it 
besides  feeding  stock.  We  might  as  well 
adopt  this  S3'stem  at  once,  and  take  our  old 
fences  for  fuel  while  coal  is  so  high  in  price  ; 
then,  also,  the  fox  hunters  need  not  cut  or 
break  our  fences  down.  But  under  our  present 
laws  we  must  have  fences  along  our  public 
roads  to  keep  out  our  neighbors  hogs  and 
cattle. 

The  stable  must  be  well  ventilated  during 
the  hot  weather.  It  Would,  perhaps,  be  best 
to  have  a  pen  or  shed  and  keep  our  cattle  in 
the  pen,  night  and  morning,  during  the  hot 
weather.  The  stable  should  be  kept  open 
during  the  night  that  it  may  become  cool,  and 
closed  in  the  morning  to  keep  it  cool,  and  then 
towards  noon  put  the  cattle  in  and  keep  it 
closed  to  prevent  the  flies  from  annoying  them. 

^oiv,  as  to  feed :  Corn  and  clover  are  the 
best  food.  Feed  clover  first,  and  sow  corn  in 
drills  from  the  1st  of  May  to  the  middle  of 
July— every  two  weeks— but  sow  the  most  in 
May.  When  a  drsuth  comes  after  harvest  tie 
late  sowing  may  be  very  short.  In  such  a  case 
we  can  feed  the  early  sown  at  the  time  of  the 
late  if  it  fails,  aud  if  not  needed  it  can  be 
cured  for  winter  use.  It  is  in  its  best  state 
when  the  lower  leaves  begin  to  get  yellow  for 
green  feeding,  and  when  half  dead  it  is  better 
than  second  crop  clover  as  a  cured  crop  for 
winter  feeding.  As  corn  is  hard  to  cure  it 
should  be  a  little  old  before  cut  for  that  pur- 
pose. Sow  the  corn  one  kernel  to  the  inch  and 
cultivate  it.     Some  writers  prefer  sowing  rye 


for  the  earliest  green  feeding,  but  there  is  no 
gain  in  it.  It  takes  too  much  seed,  and  when 
once  up  in  bulk  it  will  soon  turn  to  a  strawy 
state.  Better  feed  dry  fodder  eight  or  tea 
days  longer,  until  we  can  get  clover.  Cut 
clover  when  only  six  inches  high ;  mix  a  little 
among  the  dry  fodder  ;  increase  as  the  grass 
grows,  and  when  it  is  in  bloom  stop  dry  feed. 

The  most  diftieult  time  is  when  the  clover 
gets  too  old.  Corn  must  be  fit  by  that  time, 
but  the  earliest  cut  clover  can  be  cut  again. 
If  too  young  the  old  and  the  young  can  be 
mixed  together ;  but  when  the  corn  is  once 
fit  we  need  nothing  else.  Green  feed  should 
be  cut  in  the  morning  after  the  dew  is  off,  and 
taken  in  before  it  gets  warm.  If  cut  and  taken 
in  when  it  is  warm  it  begins  to  get  "heated" 
immediately,  but  when  taken  in  cool  and  set 
up  along  a  wall  it  will  remain  so  for  several 
days.  It  is  best  to  run  it  through  a  fodder 
cutter.  According  to  my  experience  cattle 
will  eat  more  of  it  when  fed  in  this  way.  I 
once  commenced  feeding  it  whole,  but  the 
cattle  soon  left  some  of  the  stalks  which  they 
would  not  eat.  Then  I  commenced  cutting 
it  in  the  same  quantity,  and  then  they  ate  it 
all  and  I  increased  the  quantity.  It  does  not 
require  much  additional  work  if  we  have 
everything  handy.  Have  the  cutter  in  a  con- 
venient place  all  the  time  ;  it  cuts  easy  when 
the  knives  are  kept  sharp. 

Two  horses  are  all  that  are  necessary.  This 
work  can  be  done  when  the  team  comes  home 
at  noon, and  before  it  goes  out  after  dinner;  it 
requires  only  about  fifteen  minutes  of  time  ; 
it  should  be  cut  every  day.  It  may  be  cut  for 
two  days  by  spreading  it  out  thin  on  the  barn 
floor,  and  having  the  doors  opened  at  night 
and  closed  during  the  day  to  keep  it  cool.  If 
it  lays  too  tliiek  h  will  heat  and  get  sour. 

We  ouglit  to  have  a  low  one-horse  wagon, 
with  wheels  only  20  inches  high,  and  a  plat- 
form on  it,  10  feet  long  and  5  feet  wide  ;  also 
a  sickle  to  cut  the  corn.  Then  drive  along- 
side of  the  row  ;  cut  three  rows  at  a  time  ;  lay 
it  on  the  wagon  as  you  cut  it,  butts  all  on  one 
side.  When  you  get  enough  drive  into  the 
barn  alongside  of  the  cutting  machine,  aud 
when  you  come  to  cut  you  will  need  no  person 
to  hand  fodder  to  you. 

Such  a  wagon  is  also  handy  to  haul  in  the 
grass,  if  we  add  sideboards  to  it.  When  every- 
thing is  convenient  it  requires  only  half  the 
labor  to  do  the  work  in  hand. 


Contributions. 


For  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
MORE  LIGHT  WANTED. 

Editor  Farmeb  :  Under  the  head  of 
"Moonlight,"  a  writer  {J.  G.)  in  the  January 
number  of  The  Farmer  informs  us  that 
potatoes  want  loose  soil  ;  therefore,  he  says, 
"plow  in  the  rising  of  the  moon  if  the  soil  is 
clayey  or  heavy  ;"  but  "  should  the  soil  be  too 
light  or  loose  I  plow  in  the  setting  of  the 
moon."  Again,  he  says:  "On  stift' soil  it 
would  be  well  if  we  could  work  the  soil  always 
in  the  rising  of  the  moon."  As  I  am  inter- 
ested in  potato  raising,  and  am  quite  ignorant 
in  regard  to  th.e  influence  of  the  different 
phases  of  the  moon  on  plowing,  planting  and 
cultivating,  I  will  be  greatly  obliged  to  J.  G. 
if  he  will  inform  me  and  others  who  are  like- 
wise interested: 

1st.  What  is  to  be  understood  by  the  ex- 
pressions—"rising"  and  "setting"  of  the 
moon  ?  Does  "  rising,"  as  used  by  him,  mean 
the  time  that  orb  is  ascending  in  the  heavens, 
from  the  time  it  appears  in  the  eastern  horizon 
until  it  reaches  the  meridian,  from  five  to 
seven  hours  afterward,  each  day,  and  the 
"  setting  "  mean  its  decline  toward  the  west ; 
or  do  these  terms  refer  to  the  increase  and  de- 
crease of  the  light  portion  of  the  moon,  as 
seen  from  the  earth  ?  I  would  like  to  have 
precise  information  about  this,  lest  in  attempt- 
ing to  follow  J.  G.'s  directions  I  make  a  fatal 
mistake. 

2d.  Will  J.  G.  oblige  those  who  are  seeking 
light  on  the  subject  by  stating  the  ground  of 
his  belief  that  it  is  better  to  plow  aud  culti- 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


41 


vate  particular  kinds  of  soil  in  one  pliase  or 
stu^e  of  the  naoou's  progress,  rather  than  in 
anothei:. 

Many  persons  that  I  meet  with,  some  of 
them  intelUj;eiit  and  Icarnud  men  and  suc- 
cessful farmertf,  maintain  llial  the  cliauKinp; 
phases  of  the  moon  have  mi  st-nsiljUi  t-fH-ct 
whatever  on  tlu'  weallirr,  tlic  soil  or  the  eroiis. 
If  they  are  mistaken  in  lliis  opinion,  J.  (J. 
may  render  valuable  service  to  the  cause  of 
agricultural  progress  by  giving  the  public  the 
grounds  upon  which  he  rests  the  contnuy 
belief.  Fanners  who  regulate  their  iilowinj; 
and  sowing  and  oiluT  operations  of  Uie  farm 
by  the  moon  have  hcr.'toforc  almost  invari- 
ably been  very  backward  about  givin;,'  their 
experience  and  the  grounds  of  llieir  faith  in 
the  uewsi)apers  or  agricultural  Journals.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  tliisculpable  reticence  will 
no  longer  be  the  rule,  or  at  least  that  tliere 
will  be  some  exceptions  to  it. — Amateur  Far- 
mer. 

N.  B.— J.  G.  will  confer  a  favor  by  answer- 
ing in  the  April  number  of  The  Faumer,  so 
that  the  information  will  be  available  iu  time 
for  potato  planting. 

For  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
A  WORD  IN  REPLY. 

In  the  February  ninnber  of  The  Faujieis 
Mr.  "J.  p."  publishes  a  paper  on  "The  bal- 
ance of  Trade,"  in  which  he  essays  to  refute 
the  arguments  of  P.  S,  Heist,  in  a  previous 
article,  and  the  argument  of  IJalance  of  Trade 
generally.  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  in  his 
vain  endeavor  Mr.  J.  P.  should  make  use  of 
such  utterly  weak  arguments  as  he  has  em- 
ployed in  this  article.  Tie  makes  some  very 
bold  statements  in  the  beginning  relative  to 
our  country's  iiiosperity,  and  concludes  by 
saying  that  the  rule  obtains  "in  Great  Britain, 
and  doubtless  all  other  nations  having  an  ex- 
tensive foreign  commerce."  Xovv,  a  paper 
that  claims  to  be  conclusive  should  not  in- 
dulge in  any  statements  of  doubtful  veracity, 
and  impose  its  author's  whims  upon  the  eiedi- 
bility  of  unwary  readers.  Xo  evidence  is  so 
conclusive  as  the  irresistible  logic  of  fads. 
But  we  look  in  vain  for  these  in  this  paper. 

The  author  uses  what  he  seems  to  consider 
more  important  than  facts,  namely,  illustra- 
tions, wliich  arc  supposed  to  impress  facts. 
But  these  illustrations  are  so  hopelessly  il- 
logical that  they  teach  the  opposite  of  what 
they  were  intended  for. 

We  cannot  help  giving  an  extract  of  bis 
"familiar  illustration." 

"  A  Lancaster  county  miller  makes  a  con- 
signment of  ten  barrels  of  Hoin-  to  Liverpool. 
Di  Philadelphia  it  is  worth  S.").00  per  barrel- 
total  S50.  At  Liverpool  it  is  sold  for  *60,  anil 
the  money  laid  out  in  tine  salt  at  $2.00  per 
sack.  The  Siilt  is  dispatched  to  America  and 
sold  for  *2.u0  per  sack— total  875.  In  this 
transaction,  therefore,  $.oO  were  exported  and 
S75  imported.  The  miller  has  gained  |2.5,  and 
manifestly  the  country  is  that  much  richer." 

This  is  supposed  to  prove  that  it  is  no  real 
advantage  to  have  the  balance  of  trade  in  our 
favt)r. 

But  what  does  it  prove  ?  .  Why,  it  proves 
nothing  but  that  the  one  who  uses  it  is  using 
unsound  logic. 

He  sneers  at  the  idea  that  "the  advocates 
of  the  Balance  of  Trade  theory  seem  to  hold 
that  the  more  we  send  abroad,  and  the  less  we 
get  in  return  for  it,  the  greater  is  our  gain." 
And  yet,  is  not  this  the  case  ?  The  more  we 
send  abroad,  tlie  more  value  we  have  pro- 
duced, which  we  get  in  return,  either  in 
money  or^oods.  And  the  less  goods  we  im- 
port, the  more  nearly  we  are  able  to  ju-ovide 
for  our  own  necessities,  anil  therefore,  the 
better  oft'.  For  all  the  merchandise  we  im- 
port we  must  pay  an  equivalent.  And  it  is 
clear  that  it  is  the  wealth  we  produce  and  not 
the  wealth  we  bui/  that  conduces  to  our  pros- 
perity. Of  two  farmers  dealing  with  each 
other,  the  one  who  has  the  more  money  to 
get  at  the  end  of  the  year  has  the  advantage, 
for  he  has  produced  more  in  excess  of  bis  needs 
than  the  other.  So,  if  a  country  dealing  with 
another  has  the  balance  of  trade  in  its  favor 


at  the  end  of  the  year,  it  means  that  it  has 
produced  and  exported  more  wealth  than  it 
imported  ;  and  remember  it  is  wealth  pro- 
duced and  not  bought  that  is  net  gain. 

In  the  above  we  do  not  deny  that  the  miller 
has  gained  $2.'),  but  we  do  say  that  it  is  not  a 
fair  argument.  It  is  not  a  parallel  case,  and 
is  entirely  misapplied.- ■/.  iS.  '!'. 


INDIAN  TOBACCO. 
(/.oh  fin  InJInUi.) 

This  humble,  weed-like  ])lant  belongs  to  a 
genus  that  embraces  upwards  of  eighty-four 
described  species  and  varieties.  Many  are 
exotic,    ureen-liouse    herbs    and    evergreens. 

IJr.  t;riiv  deserili.s  twelve  s|ieeies,  met  with 
in  the  Xorlhriii  Initetl  StuH's,  auionj;  which 
the  "t'ardinal  llowei."  ••  /..,/„//,-  r,,,i//,erf,„-," 
is  jiorhaps  the  most  sliowy,  with  its  bright, 
crimson  dowers  ;  the  "  L.  s!jphylUka,y  also, 
has  fine,  large,  Ufjht-bbie  flowers,  and  is  quite 
common  iu  low  grounds. 

The  eonilla  leis  a  straight  tube,  which  is 
split  down  oil  the  upiier  side,  leaving  two 
erect  lolies,  the  low,.|-  lips  sineadiiig  and  three- 
cleft,  ealvx  tulie  short,  tive-clcft,  and  the 
ovoid  pod"  in  the  species  figured  and  becomes 


inflated;  it  is  (piile  common  in  dry,  open  soil  i" 
July  and  September.  This  celei)rated  quack 
medicine,  known  as  "Indian  Tobacco,"  needs 
some  attention  for  several  reasons.  It  evi- 
dently has  an  acrid  principle,  emits  a  milky 
juice,  and  when  chewed  produces  a  burning, 
acrimonious  sensation,  not  unlike  the  taste  of 
"green  tobacco,"  hence  called  "Indian  to- 
bacco." The  leaves  and  capsules,  when 
chewed,  have  this  combined  acrid  and  nar- 
cotic iirojierty,  producing  giddiness  and  pain 
in  the  head,  and  at  length  nau.sea  and  vomit- 
ing, like  lioys'  e;;iierience  when  first  attempt- 
ing to  chew  or  smok<'  tobacco.  A  certain 
Samuel  Thomson,  a  (piack  at  Beverly,  was 
tried  for  the  murder  of  Ezra  Lovetl,  some 
years  ago,  to  whom  it  was  administered  as  a 
physic,  in  powder,  causing  great  distress,  fol- 
lowed up  by  another  dose  and  another,  until  the 
the  patient  expired.  But  as  no  malice  could 
be  iiroved,  and  he  had  some  reputation,  the 
arrest  for  murder  could  not  be  sustained,  and, 
as  might  be  found  in  many  other  cases,  the 
homicide  considei'ed  legitimate.  In  the  hands 
of  a  few  judicious  physicians  it  has  proved 
beneficial  in  asthma,  such  cases  termed  "  an 
asthma  from  pulmonic  irritatation  of  efl'usod 
scrum, "  whatever  that  means.  I  quote  Dr. 
Bree,  iu  his  "  Practical  iuquiiies  on  disordered 


respiration."  Dr.  Randall  gave  it  with  suc- 
cess, in  small  doses,  in  catarrh,  as  an  expec- 
torant. But  I  shall  not  encourage  the  use  "of 
it  by  (pioting  from  other  sources  in  its  favor, 
in  dyspeiisia  and  cases  of  rln-umalic  nature, 
in  which  benefit  was  felt.  Two  ounces  of  thti 
dried  plant  iliuested  in  a  pint  of  diluted  alco- 
hol, given  in  teaspoonfull  doses  to  an  adult, 
will  generally  jiroduee  nausea  and  sometimes 
vomiting. 

As  this  i)lant  is  common  in  pasture  fields,  iu 
the  latter  part  of  summer,  it  has  been  sus- 
pected to  l)c  one  of  the  sources  which  pro- 
duces slobbering  of  hor.scB.  Dr.  Darlington 
was  inclined  to  doubt  this,  "because  the  horse 
is  a  dainty  animal  iu  the  selection  of  food." 
It  is  true  that  horses  and  cattle  crop  around 
noxious  Weeds,  yet  there  is  no  question  that 
such  an  active  jilant,  mixed  with  the  grass 
eaten  by  the  aiuuial,  might  produce  the  evil 
suspected. 

The  generic  name,  "Lobelia,"  was  given 
to  some  species,  in  honor  of  Matthias  de 
Lobel.  a  botanist  of  some  note,  born  ir.'iS,  and 
died  in  IHK').  of  whom  ([uite  an  interesting 
account  is  pulilislu'd.  He  was  the  author  of 
critical  exanunations  on  older  botanical 
writere,  and  added  many  new  plants  to  the 
list  known  in  his  time. — J.  Stanffer. 

For  THF   f.ANCAKTF.R  FaKMRB. 

PRUNING  -ITS  USES  AND  ABUSES. 

When  is  the  best  time  to  prune  trees  and 
vines  y  I  would  say  in  February  and  June, 
when  pruning  has  been  neglected  for  some 
time.  When  to  commence,  or  at  what  age  of 
the  trees  the  pruning  should  begin  may  be 
approximately  illustrated  by  the  following 
anecdote.  On  a  certain  occasion  a  mother 
asked  a  celebrated  instructor  when  she  should 
begin  to.  teach  her  children — or  rather  her 
child.  He  inquired  the  age  of  the  child,  to 
which  she  replied,  three  i/earn.  Then,  replied 
the  instructor,  you  have  already  lost  two  years. 
So  with  pruning  trees.  I  recommend  the  fol- 
lowinir.  ^^'hen  I  commence  to  plant  them  I 
do  mv  llist  pruning.  It  should  then  be  con- 
tinued every  year,  more  or  less,  which  would 
require  very  little  time.  And  that  with  a 
pruning  knife,  unless  you  fancy  the  growth 
of  a  tree  like  a  tow-rack  of  an  olden-tirae 
spinning  wheel,  or  unless  you  pjant  apple  trees 
along  a  fence,  froTU  apple  seeds,  for  a  hedge. 
You  may  train  your  ajijile  to  your  own  fancy. 
Some  prefer  low  heads,  others  prefer  them 
higli.  From  three  to  six  stool  is  enough.  For 
brauehes  in  spreading  trees  the  limbs  should 
b>'  started  from  six  to  eight  feet  from  the 
ground.  Upright  growers  from  four  to  six 
feet  above  the  'ground. 

t)f  all  trees  the  apple  is  most  benefited  by 
pruning  ;  likewise  the  quince.  The  pear  tree 
can  be  improved  and  beautified  bv  pruning. 
The  peach  tree  when  plant. mI  sliould  have  the 
shape  of  a  walkinu'-stiek.  Its  head  should  be 
kept  h)W  in  the  orchard  and  its  branclu  s  nice- 
ly thinned  out,  so  that  most  of  the  peaches 
can  be  hand-picked.  The  Richmond  clierry 
and  sour  cherrv  can  be  much  improved  by 
pruning.  Of  all  fruit  trees  the  sweet  cherry 
needs  t'he  least  pruniny:.  (ienerally  the  best 
kind  have  just  enoui;!)  of  branches  to  bear 
well.  All  liind  of  trees  should  be  and  can  be 
improved  bv  judicious  pruuin|^.  It  is  becom- 
ing evident'that  our  homes,  if  ever  so  humble 
or  small,  as  well  as  our  larger  farms,  shoidd 
he  jilanted  with  a  variety  of  fruit  and  orna- 
mental trees,  both  for  ornament  or  for  profit, 
and  all  these  trees  should  be  cared  for  and 
properly  pruned,  so  shaping  them  that  they 
may  excite  the  admiration  of  the  community. 
It  will  add  an  additional  charm  to  the  beau- 
ties of  nature,  as  nursed  and  planted,  under 
Providence,  by  the  skillful  band  of  man.  The 
wood  eliminated,  when  dried,  will  answer  for 
fuel  for  the  summer  months.  Trees  along  a 
middle  or  lino  fence  should  be  trimmed  well 
uj)  for  the  improvement  of  the  butts  of  the 
trees,  for  mechanical  i)urposes,  or  for  posts, 
scantling,  boards,  Ac  Young  forest  trees  can 
be  vastlv  improved.  If  the  side  branches  are 
taken  off,  so  that  the  butt  of  the  tree  wall 
have  the  growth  centering  there,  the  tree  aud 


42 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  March, 


its  oflal  would  keep  mauy  a  family  in  fire 
wood  ;  mauy  persons  would  be  willing  to  keep 
their  trees  in  "  condition  "  for  the  use  of  the 
offal  wood. 

Abuite  of  Pruning. — "When  an  orchard  of 
fruit  ti-ees  has  been  neglected  for  some  years 
and  has  too  many  limbs,  and  is  sometimes 
almost  decapitated  of  its  branches  in  the  win- 
ter, or  at  any  other  time  during  April  or  May, 
it  is  the  most  ruinous  time  because  the  sap 
will  flow  freely  down  the  trees,  as  if  a  coal 
of  lampblack  had  been  rubbed  over  the  butts 
of  them.  I  have  seen  whole  orchards  de- 
stroyed in  that  way.  An  orchard  should 
never  be  so  long  neglected ;  if  you  want  a  long- 
lived  orcliard,  therefore  commence  to  prune 
in  time  while  the  trees  are  small.  All  kinds 
of  trees  are  injured  by  cutting  large  limbs  oft. 
It  will  not  heal  in  time  to  overgrow  the 
wounds  of  the  tree,  and  will  commence  pre- 
maturely to  decay,  and  sometimes  become 
hollow  and  useless  for  mechauical  purposes. 

The  peach  tree  is  also  very  liable  to  injury 
when  large  limbs  are  removed. 

The  grape  should  be  pruned  in  February. 
Wliole  vines  have  been  destroyed  after  April ; 
when  pruning  has  not  been  attended  to  until 
that  month,  I  would  recommend  that  the 
pruning  be  deferred  until  June  for  all-  kinds 
of  fruit  trees  and  shrubbery  about  the  place. 
When  small  limbs  are  taken  oif,  the  wounds 
will  almost  close  uji  the  same  summer. — L. 
S.  R.,  Oreijon,  March,  1879. 

MORE    ABOUT  EELS. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Rath  von— Dear  Sir:  Please 
allow  me  to  correct  you.  In  the  February 
number  of  The  Lanc,\ster  Farmer  you 
say  that  "  I  saw  the  eels  migrating  about  the 
years  1849  or  '50  ;"  this  is  incorrect,  as  near 
as  I  can  remember  it  was  in  1865.  I  have 
taken  pains  to  ascertain  all  about  the  migra- 
tion of  eels,  and  am  now  in  possession  of 
evidence  which  convinces  me  they  ascend  the 
Susquehanna  every  spring.  In  February  the 
young  eels  are  hatched  in  deep  bay  water,  in 
the  mud,  and  arrive  at  this  point  the  latter 
end  of  May  or  beginning  of  June.  They  have 
then  grown  to  a  length  of  four  to  six  inches, 
and  paddle  along  the  shore  at  a  lively  rate. 
I  think  one  of  the  reasons  they  are  not  oftener 
observed  is  because  they  pass  at  a  time  when 
comparatively  few  persons  are  fishing  along 
shore,  the  river  being  as  a  general  thing  too 
low  for  this  purpose. 

Mr.  Levi  Neff,  of  Highville,  was  raised  on 
an  island  hi  the  Susquehanna,  and  had 
splendid  opportunities  to  observe  the  habits 
of  the  fish  common  in  its  waters,  and  he  in- 
forms me  that  he  saw  the  small  eels  migrating 
more  than  a  dozen  times,  and  is  certain  that 
they  go  up  every  year.  Mr.  Harry  Hershey 
has  also  seen  them  migrate  four  times  in  a 
period  of  fifteen  years. 

I  will  endeavor,  this  spring,  to  create  an 
enthusiasm  among  the  dwellers  of  the  river 
shore  with  regard  to  this  question,  and  try  to 
induce  them  to  watch,  and  if  they  are  seen 
passing  I  will  let  you  know. 

I  think  from  what  I  could  glean  from 
fishermen  that  you  are  correct  as  to  different 
species  being  found  in  our  wat&l-s.  The  Octo- 
raro  creek  has  a  dam  ten  feet  high  at  Rolands- 
ville,  Md.  Yet  many  hundreds  of  eels  are 
annually  caught  in  the  creek  above  the  dam, 
and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  they  never 
leave  the  creek,  breeding  in  the  mud  of  the 
mill  dam. —  FoMTS,  Ac,  E.  K.  Hershey,  Cres- 
loell  Pa.,  Feb.  25,  1879. 

[Tliere  is  no  better  way  of  eliciting  authen- 
tic information  on  any  subject  than  by  calling 
the  attention  of  those  to  it  who  have  experi- 
mental knowledge  on  it,  by  inquiry,  agitation 
or  discussion.  The  migration  of  eels,  an- 
nually, seems  "settled."  Now  let  us  know 
all  about  their  eggs,  when  they  are  spawned, 
and  how  they  appear  as  compared  with  the 
eggs  ot  other  fishes. — Ed.] 

For  The  LANCAyTER  FabmEB. 

OATS  AS  FEED   FOR  HORSES. 

I  once  expressed  my  surprise,  to  an  old 

farmer,  that  so  much  oats  was  farmed  when 

corn  yielded  larger  and  more  certain  crops. 


The  reply  I  received  was,  "there  is  nothing 
like  oats  to  feed  to  horses  at  work,  but  I 
nearly  always  feed  oats  and  corn  mixed." 

The  old  gentleman  being  in  a  hurry  to  go 
home  at  the  time,  I  was  not  able  to  ascertain 
from  him  the  reasons  for  his  thinking  oats 
superior  to  other  feed.  The  matter  was  not 
allowed  to  drop,  and  I  found  out  in  time  that 
this  practical  farmer,  who  haS  hardly  a  fair 
common  school  education,  but  is  a  man  of 
good  sense  and  habits  of  observation,  had  by 
experience  hit  upon  one  of  the  best  feeds  for 
horses  probably  in  existence. 

All  persons  who  have  been  around  horses, 
more  or  less,  have  noticed  that  many  horses 
considered  "  thin  in  flesh  "  have  been  able  to 
work  hard  and  nut  show  much  signs  of  dis- 
tress, such  as  sweating  and  blowing,  while 
large,  fat  horses  have  given  out  or  been  unable 
to  do  the  same  amount  of  work.  It  is  to  our 
interest  to  find  the  cause  of  this,  and  science 
stands  ready  to  point  out  the  reasons  of  the 
facts.  All  vegetable  (and  animal)  substances 
are  composed  of  water,  ashes  and  organic  mat- 
ter. When  burned  the  water  and  organic 
substances  disappear,  leaving  only  the  ashes. 
With  the  water  and  ashes  we  are  not  at 
present  concerned,  but  turn  our  attention 
solely  to  the  organic  matter.  The  organic 
matter  is  the  only  part  that  "feeds  up"  the 
animal,  and  this  matter  is  pretty  sharply 
divided  into  albuminoids  and  carbo-hydrates. 

The  principal  carbo-hydrates  are  starch, 
sugar  and  fats  of  all  kinds.  These  in  feeding 
produce  heat  (or  warmth)  and  fats. 

The  albuminoids  are  numerous,  but  all  de- 
pendent as  such  on  the  nitrogen  they  contain, 
and  in  feeding  they  build  up  the  lean  meat 
and  muscle. 

All  vegetable  materials  contain  albumi- 
noids and  carbo-hydrates,  but  in  very  variable 
proportions,  and  it  has  been  discovered  by 
practical  tests  and  trials  what  the  proportion 
should  be ;  from  these  tests  it  has  been  de- 
termined that  for  working  animals  the  ratio 
ot  albuminoids  should  be  to  carbo-hydrates  as 
1  to  4  40. 

In  the  table  given  below,  adapted  from 
.Johnson's  "How  Crops  Grow,"  is  given  the 
composition  of  some  of  the  principal  materials 
fed  to  horses : 


—--• 

If 

ii 

t 

m 

Meadow  Hay 

Red  Clover 

8.2 
1S.4 

9.7 
12.0 
10.0 
ll.O 

9.0 
14.0 
14.5 

41.3 
29.9 
48.8 
60.9 
6S.0 
69.2 
65.9 
50.0 
53.5 

2.0 
3.2 
3.0 

2^0 
2.5 
3.8 
3.5 

110  5.03 
1  to  2.23 
1  to  5.03 
1  to  5.07 
.  to  (-..SO 
1  to  6.29 

1  to  3!57 
1  to  3.69 

Medium. 
(Cut  in 
\  bloom 

S'.r*.".^.'.'::::;:: 

Corn 

Rye 

Barley 

Wheat  Bran 

Bye  Bran 

The  headings  explain  the  contents  of  the 
columns.  The  figures  are  per  cents. ,  thus  :  In 
100  pounds  of  oats  there  would  be  12  pounds 
of  albuminoids,  60.9  pounds  of  carbo-hydrates, 
&c.  The  column  of  fat  (oils,)  is  included  in 
the  carbo-hydrates,  and  this  column  is  merely 
given  to  .show  why  some  feeds  "lay  on  fat  " 
so  much  faster  than  others. 

The  "ratio"  column  interests  us  most  now, 
and  by  examining  it  we  find  that  oats,  timothy 
hay  and  meadow  hay  approach  nearest  to  the 
ratio  of  1  to  4.4.  If  we  paid  attention  only 
to  the  formation  of  muscle  for  work  the  hay 
would  seem  to  be  as  good  or  better  than  oats, 
but  there  are  two  objections  against  it.  Hay 
is  too  bulky  to  allow  the  horse  to  eat  enough 
for  his  needs  and  contains  only  from  one-third 
to  one-half  the  fat  contained  in  oats. 

The  majority  of  farmers  feed  a  mixed  clover 
and  timothy  hay,  the  average  ratio  of  which 
is  as  1  to  3.41.  If  to  the  hay,  oats  in  equal 
quantity  (by  weight)  was  fed  we  would  have 
a  ratio  of  1  to  4.26  ;  if  corn  and  oats  mixed 
would  be  taken,  then  we  would  have  a  ratio 
of  1  to  4.63,  as  near  as  we  can  conveniently 
approach  and  not  varying  from  4.40.  This  is 
just  what  our  friend  thought  best,  and  shows 
plainly  that  genuine  experience  and  science 
agree  when  rightly  interpreted. 

Another  practice  in  feeding  has  also  come 
in  vogue,  the  mixing  of  oats  and  wheat  bran, 


and  the  practice  is  sound,  particularly  when 
only  timothy  hay  is  fed.  What  we  have  to 
strive  after  is  to  give  the  horse  a  feed, the  ratio 
of  which  is  as  close  1  to  4.40  as  possible,  and 
as  his  stomach  is  small  compared  with  his 
size,  we  must  use  grain  and  other  feed  to 
some  extent. 

When  corn  is  the  only  grain  on  hand,  we 
might  make  some  approach  to  oats  by  mixing 
equal  quantities,  by  weight,  of  chopped  corn 
and  bran.  This  fed  along  with  mixed  timothy 
and  clover  hay  would  most  probably  keep  the 
horses  in  as  good  a  condition  as  if  oats  was 
fed.  In  such  feeding  the  ratio  of  albuminoids 
to  carbo-hydrates  would  be  about  1  to  4.58. 

I  know  of  one  man  who  keeps  his  team  in 
good  order  on  chopped  corn  and  rye.  While 
the  rye  in  some  degree  reduces  the  fattening 
tendency  of  the  corn,  it  is  not  equal  to  oats  in 
forming  muscle,  but  the  mixture  is  better 
than  iiure  corn  would  be. 

But  to  come  back  to  our  "oats."  I  have 
heard  an  objection  against  it,  in  that  it  would 
give  horses  a  rough  coat.  This  roughness  is 
often  seen  in  horses,  and  usually  is  more  often 
the  case  in  winter  than  in  summer.  As  soon 
as  a  horse  gets  a  nibble  at  grass  the  roughness 
disappears  ;  we  are  not  ablerto  get  grass  in  the 
winter  and  so  we  must  look  for  a  substitute  ; 
this,  fortunately,  is  found  right  at  hand  in 
bran  ;  the  latter  is  a  laxative,  and  when  not 
fed  in  too  large  quantities,  puts  the  bowels  in 
good  condition  and  gives  that  glossy  coat  so 
much  admired  in  well-kept  and  well-governed 
horses. 

On  the  whole,  as  oats,  in  the  order  of  crea- 
tion, is  older  than  the  horse,  it  must  be  sup- 
posed that  the  horse  was  made  to  eat  the  oats, 
and  oats  he  should  by  all  means  have.— 
A.  B.  K. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  HORTICUL- 
TURAL SOCIETY. 

The  Lancaster  County  Affricultural  and  Horticul- 
tural Society  met  in  their  rooms,  on  Monday  after- 
noon, Miirch  :5rd,  at  two  n'cloi'k,  anil  was  called  to 


orde 


o]ici-.  Till-  IV.llowing- members 
II  CcH.ir  I-,  I'ri'.sident,  Bird-in- 
II,  r,  >rri.i  ;irv.  Paradise  ;  Peter 
■  M.  Eiml.  .  Marietta;  John  C. 
enry  S.  Kiirlz,  Mount  Joy  ;  W. 
la;  "Frank  Sutlon,  Mauheim; 
aaa;  F.  i;.  Dillendertfer,  city; 
U.  D.  Kcndie,  Manor;  Colin 
Albert   Mcllvaine,   Paradise; 


Hand;  Joseph  F.  Wii 
S.  Keist,  Liliz;  Ilnir 
Linville,  Salisbnrv:  I 
P.  Brintoii,  Christia 
Casper  Hiller,  Coiiest 
J.  M.  Johnston,  city  ; 
Cameron,  Elizabeth 
Henry  Herr,  East  Hempfield  ;  Simon  P.  Eby,  city; 
I.  L.  Landis,  Manheim  ;  Epliraim  H.  Hoover,  Man- 
heim  ;  C.  L.  Hunsecker,  Manheim  ;  Dr.  S.  S.  Kath- 
vou,  ritv  ;  J.  Hartman  Hershey,  Kohrerstown;  A.  F. 
Hi.sirM;i-,  (ire-i.n;  Judee  George  D.  Stitzel,  Read- 
in;;;  1).  Ihiruiiiin,  i-ity ;  Henry  Wissler,  Columbia; 
E  P.  Kn"le,  Marietta  ;  Simon  A.  Hershey,  West 
Henjpfield  ;  C.  A.  Park,  Geneva,  New  York. 

The  minutes ol  the  i.nevious  meeting  were  not  read. 

Henry  Wissler,  Columbia;  Colin  Cameron,  Eliza- 
beth ;  W.  P.  Brintcni,  city  :  James  Black,  city  ;  Elam 
Eshleman  and  .\lbert  .Mcllvaine,  Paradise,  were 
elected  members  of  the  society. 

Crop  reports  being  called  lor  Henry  Kurtz,  Mount 
Joy,  said  that  in  his  neighborhood  the  wheat  from 
whicli  the  snow  has  mclli>d  looks  rather  poor,  though 
some  of  it  which  looked  well  in  the  fall  still  looks 
It  is  yet  too  early  to  estimate  what  the  crops 
o  a  good  deal  has  been  sold  and 
d  deal  to  sell.  The  holders  are 
l,e  prices  otfered,  and  will  proba- 


Of  tobf 


rops. 


wheat  did  not  look  promising, 
but  tuoil  crups  have  been  grown  from  worse  looking 
wheat.  The  fruit  buds  have  not  been  hurt  by  the 
cold.  The  rainfall  for  January  was  VA  inches,  and 
for  February  !'.(  inches. 

An  essay ,rtrawing  a  comparison  between  old  times 
and  new,  was  read  by  Henry  Kurtz. 

On  motion  of  iMr.  Engle  the  rules  were  suspended 
to  allow  Judge  Stitzel,  of  Reading,  to  make  some 
remarks. 

Remarks  from  Judge  Stitzel. 

Jud.ge  Stitzel  said  he  was  not  in  the  habit  of 
apologizing  on  such  occasions,  btit  the  society  must 
not  rxpnt  to  hear  much  from  him,  as  he  was  not 
pir|Miiil.  U"  rame  from  Reading  this  morning, 
ciMi;|il.  I,  !  lii>  lufiness,  and  was  invited  here.  The 
aiiirli-  jiiM  i..;iil  ^aid  we  are  not  progressing.  He 
thou^iht  this  was  because  we  do  not  make  our'homes 
attractive.  Farmers  should  procure  books  for  their 
sons.    Books  on  agriculture  should  be  bought  freely, 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


43 


:i;i  1  tlie  boys  reading  these  would  become  Interested 
in  I  heir  father's  work  aud  follow  In  their  steps, 
tarniiug,  lu  his  opinion,  Is  far  ahead  of  any  other 
business,  and  It  should  be  made  attractive.  Here,  in 
Lancaster  county,  the  garden  spot,  there  should  be  a 
well-organized  agricultural  society,  but  from  what 
he  had  heard  he  believed  the  society's  affairs  were 
not  in  good  condition.    There  was  no  reason  for  this. 

Speaking  of  fairs,  he  said  a  fair  without  ahorse 
race  was  like  a  circus  without  a  clown.  Over  In 
Berks  county  they  award  high  premiums  to  horses, 
and  raise  the  money  by  charging  admission  fee  when 
the  horses  are  entered  ;  also,  a  fee  for  the  spectators. 

He  touched  on  the  growing  of  tobacco  and  the 
success  of  Lancaster  farmers  In  this  branch  of  agri- 
culture. Berks  county  farmers  have  not  learned 
how  to  raise  it  yet.  He  thought  truck  farming 
would  be  profitable  in  this  county.  He  gave  as  a 
reason  for  the  failure  of  stock-raising  In  this  part  of 
Stale,  that  the  Western  men  could  raise  it  so  much 
cheaper,  and  then  send  their  poor  stock  here,  selling 
It  at  the  lowest  rates.  Farmers  here,  therefore, 
must  raise  cropi  that  the  Western  people  cannot 
send  80  long  a  distance,  truck,  fruit,  etc.  Our  fruit, 
of  course,  cannot  compare  with  that  of  California, 
but  we  need  have  no  fear  of  competition  from  that 
quarter.  We  should  raise  truck,  tobacco  or  fruit ; 
the  latter  Is  not  only  a  great  luxury,  but  it  is  very 
profitable. 

Mr.  Engle  said  he  was  much  pleased  with  the  gen- 
tleman's remarks,  which,  though  rambling,  were  in- 
teresting. He  rightly  said  that  we  must  raise  a 
greater  variety  of  products,  and  not  depend  on  the 
cereals  alone. 

Judge  Stitzel  then  spoke  of  the  offer  of  the  Berks 
County  Agricultural  Society  of  a  premium  to  the 
planter  of  the  largest  number  of  trees.  The  money 
■was  voted  in  1875,  and  he  was  on  the  committee  to 
award  the  premiums  and  form  the  rules.  This  pre- 
mium caused  at  least  50,000  trees  to  be  planted  in 
the  county.  He  thought  the  money  was  well  ex- 
pended. They  also  offered  a  premium  for  the  best 
cultivated  orchard .  Before  It  was  offered  the  orchards 
were,  in  a  majority  of  cases,  in  a  bad  condition,  but 
the  premium  made  them  stir  around  aud  the  im- 
provement was  wonderful.  He  thought  if  Lancas- 
ter county  farmers  would  offer  a  premium  the  county 
would  be  benefiied,  as  was  Berks  county. 

A.  F.  Hostetter,  of  Oregon,  stated  that  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Berks  County  Society  Judge  Stitzel 
had  read  an  essay  on  "Houses  for  Preserving  Fruit," 
and  he  wished  that  the  gentleman  would  repeat  the 
principal  items  of  it. 

In  response  to  this  request  Judge  Stitzel  related, 
shortly,  their  method  of  preserving  fruit.  They 
constructed  refrigerators  or  fruit-houses,  which  men 
raising  fruit  should  club  togcthar  and  erect.  They 
are  built  two  stories  high,  of  frame,  with  ice  over 
the  top  and  in  the  sides.  'The  story  above  should  be 
six  or  eight  feet  high  with  a  little  story  above  that 
for  ventilation.  The  fiue  is  ruu  through  from  the 
first  to  the  second  story,  and  the  temperature  should 
be  regulated  by  a  valve.  The  fruit  is  stored  in  boxes, 
should  be  gathered  early  and  put  in  the  ice  house  at 
once.  He  has  Kambo  apples  now,  which  are  as 
fresh  as  when  picked.  Cider,  oranges,  lemons  and 
eggs  can  be  kept  fresh  in  these  houses  the  same  as 
fruit.  There  are  varieties  of  apples  that  will  keep  in 
the  cellar  that  will  not  kiep  in  the  fruit  house,  but 
the  majority  of  winter  apples  will  keep  well. 

Mr.  Engle  said  that  If  Lancaster  county  did  not 
look  out  it  would  lose  its  right  to  the  name  of  the 
garden  county,  and  simply  from  want  of  enterprise. 
He  had  long  since  proposed  the  building  of  fruit 
houses,  but  none  were  ever  put  up. 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  extended  to  Judge  Stitzel  for 
bis  instructive  remarks. 

The  Society's  Charter. 

Mr.  Eby  presented  a  draft  of  a  charter  for  the 
society,  which  he  proposed  to  submit  to  the  Court. 
Its  provisions  were  in  accordance  with  the  resolutions 
of  the  society  at  its  last  meeting. 

Several  of  the  members  seemed  to  think  that  there 
was  danger  in  the  stock  plan.  There  idea  was  that 
outsiders  might  purchase  so  much  of  the  stock  as 
would  give  them  a  majority,  and  then  divert  the 
society  from  its  original  purpose,  leaving  the  farmers 
out  in  the  cold. 

On  motion,  the  charter  was  taken  up,  but  several 
sections  caused  dissatisfaction  among  the  members, 
and  it  was  resolved  that  when  the  society  adjourn  it 
adjourn  to  meet  two  weeks  hence,  when  a  full  atten- 
dance of  the  members  is  earnestly  requested,  as  the 
business  transacted  will  be  of  the  utmost  importance. 

On  motion,  it  was  resolved  to  have  tlie  last  four 
volumes  of  Tub  Lancaster  Fakmeh  bound. 
Business  for  Next  Meeting. 

"  How  can  farm  life  be  made  more  attractive  and 
pleasant  V  was  adopted  for  general  discussion  at  the 
next  meeting.    Adjourned. 

BEE-KEEPERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Bee-Keepers'  Association  met  on  Monday 
afternoon,  February  17,  in  the  parlor  of  the  Black 
Horse  Hotel.  Vice  President  J.  F.  Hcrshey  called 
the  meeting  to  order,  with  the  following  members 
(ind  visitors  present :  Peter  Reist,  President,  Lltiz; 


I.  0.  Martin,  Earl;  J.  F.  Hershey,  Mount  Joy;  .John 
Hubcr,  Pequea;  Ellas  Hershey,  Paradise;  Clare  Car- 
penter, city;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  F.  K.  Dlfl'en- 
derOer,  city;  Jonas  H.  Shank,  East  Lampeter;  8.  H. 
Musselman,  New  Holland;  J.  Hurst,  Balnbrldge; 
J.  H.  Mellingcr,  Strasburg;  E.  U.  Melliugcr,  Stras- 
burg;  Amos  A.  Kessler,  Strasburg. 
Reports. 

The  President  staled  that  he  wintered  about  seventy 
swarms  in  the  house  he  prepared  for  that  purpose. 
Has  lost  very  few  bees  so  far. 

I.  G.  Martin  so  far  has  lost  very  few  bees,  not  half 
a  pint  to  a  swarm,  but  the  most  severe  time  is  yet  to 
come  and  it  Is  liard  to  tell  how  things  will  turn  out. 

8.  H.  Musselman  reported  that  his  experience  had 
been  about  the  same  ;  no  swarms  yet  lost. 

J.  Hust  said  lie  has  five  swarms;  has  lost  none 
during  the  winter. 

John  Hubcr  reported  that  his  swarms  so  far  are 
alive  and  doing  well. 

Jonas  H.  Shank  had  seven  hives  which  he  win- 
tered on  summer  stands. 

Ellas  Hershey  started  in  the   fall  with   twenty-six 
hives  which  arc   all   alive  and  doing  well.    Some  of 
them  were  wintered  on  summer  stands. 
Feeding  Glucose  to  Bees. 

"Should  glucose  be  fed  to  Bees?"  was  proposed 
by  the  chairman  for  debate.  None  of  the  members 
had  tried  it,  and  therefore  could  not  give  any  opinion 
on  the  subject.  J.  F.  Hershey  stated  that  some 
claim  it  to  be  as  good  as  honey,  while  others  speak 
strongly  against  it.  He  would  advise  bee-kccpers 
not  to  use  it. 

I.  O.  Martin  said  he  had  never  tried  it  nor  did  he 
think  he  would  like  it.  He  also  spoke  against  the 
use  of  grape  sugir  in  large  quantities. 

Ellas  Hershey  said  that  the  Auierican  Bee  Juurnal 
gave  an  instance  where  several  hundred  bees  were 
killsd  by  the  feeding  of  glucose,  while  the  editor  of 
another  declared  that  no  proof  of  such  a  thing  having 
happened  could  be  produced,  and  said  that  he  had 
fed  hundreds  of  bees  on  it  with  good  effect. 
Dollar  Queens. 

Would  it  be  advisable  to  invest  In  dollar  queens  ? 
was  the  next  question  proposed. 

I.  G.  Martin  said  he  had  purchased  some  at  differ- 
ent seasons.  Of  these  a  few  proved  to  be  as  good  as 
tested  queens  costing  §3,  while  others  were  worth 
nothing.  He  would  advise  that  they  be  purchased 
to  be  used  for  starting  new  hives,  so  that  If  they  are 
lost  not  so  much  money  is  sunk. 

Ellas  Hershey's  experience  had  been  about  the 
same  ;  out  of  five  that  he  bought  two  were  good  and 
three  were  worthless. 

J.  F.  Hcrshey  wanted  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
cheap  queens,  as  too  much  risk  has  to  be  ruu  in 
dealing  in  them.  If  you  get  dollar  queens  aud  breed 
from  them  for  three  or  four  years,  the  result  will  be 
very  poor  stock. 

Comb  Foundations. 

J.  H.  Mellingcr  asked  the  opinion  of  the  society  on 
the  use  of  comb  foundations. 

I.  O.  Martin  had  used  those  made  without  wires, 
and  advised  the  members  to  get  foundations  made  of 
pure  wax,  for  that  made  of  a  mixture  will  stretch, 
and  is  not  fit  for  use.  If  the  foundation  is  used  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  hive,  the  frame  should  not  be 
over  nine  inches  wide,  or  it  will  stretch.  He  fastens 
the  foundation  to  the  frame  by  pressing  it  to  the  top 
bar,  and  then  nailing  sticks  on  top  of  it. 

J.  F.  Hershey  had  not  used  it  yet,  but  Intended  to 
do  so,  and  would  use  that  with  wire  as  it  don't  sack 
or  stretch. 

Springing  Bees. 

J.  F.  Hershey  asked  as  to  the  best  mode  of  spring- 
ing bees.  It  is  almost  as  hard  to  keep  them  through 
the  spring  as  through  the  winter. 

J.  H.  Mellluger  said  he  fed  his  bees  in  the  latter 
part  of  February  and  kept  it  up  till  apple  blossom 
time,  and  even  after  that,  if  the  weather  is  not  favor- 
able, til!  other  blossoms  appear.  This  kept  them  in 
good  condition,  and  he  got  early  swarms. 

1.  G.  Martin  read  a  paper  on  this  subject,  which 
was  as  follows  : 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  we  should  have  our 
bees  strong  In  spring  before  the  honey  harvest  is  at 
hand.  Biit  how  shall  we  gel  them  strong  and  the 
hive  filled  with  brood  so  early  ?  My  plan  is,  as  soon 
as  spring  opens  and  the  bees  begiu  to  gather  pollen, 
to  examine  every  colony  by  lifting  the  frames  out, 
and  If  the  stock  is  weak,  I  shut  the  bees  to  one  side 
of  the  hive  with  a  close-fitting  division  board,  on  as 
many  combs  as  they  can  cover,  so  as  to  keei/  up  the 
heat  necessary  for  brood-rearing. 

If  the  stock  is  very  weak,  I  take  all  the  combs  out 
but  two,  and  if  it  is  so  weak  that  the  bees  can't 
cover  two  combs,  then  I  unite  it  with  another  colony. 
As  soon  as  the  queen  has  filled  these  combs  with 
eggs,  I  spread  them  apart  and  insert  an  empty  comb 
between  them  with  brood.  In  two  or  three  days  this 
comb  will  be  filled  also  with  eggs,  and  so  I  keep  on 
inserting  empty  combs  as  fast  as  the  queen  fills  them 
with  eggs,  and  always  In  the  middle  of  the  brood- 
nest  till  it  is  full.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
queen  will  be  laying  in  the  centre  of  the  brood-nest 


all  the  time.  Instead  of  on  the  outside  of  the  cluster, 
which  she  seldom  will  in  the  cold  weather  of  spring, 
but  when  it  is  warm  and  the  bees  are  plenty,  then 
she  will  lay  anywhere  In  the  hive. 

As  soon  as  the  strongest  slocKs  are  full,  I  take  a 
frame  of  hatching  brood  out  aud  put  It  In  a  weaker 
one,  and  them  put  an  empty  comb  in  the  stronger 
one  for  the  queen  to  fill  again,  and  so  I  keep  on  till 
all  arc  full. 

Then  is  the  time  to  put  on  the  honey  boxes,  so  If 
they  gather  honey  then  they  must  put  It  in  the 
boxes,  for  the  hive  below  is  all  taken  up  with  brood. 
Each  box  should  have  a  small  piece  of  comb  attached 
to  the  top  for  a  starter,  or,  if  you  have  no  nice  white 
comb,  put  In  a  narrow  strip  of  comb  loundalion. 

J.  F.  Hershey  had  lost  some  weak  colonics  that  he 
fed,  and  others  that  he  did  not  feed  at  all  became 
strong  and  were  among  his  best  swarms.  I.  G.  Mar- 
tin said  he  did  not  like  early  feeding  for  breeding  tt 
rearing  In  the  spring.  If  the  bees  are  to  be  fed  at 
all  it  should  he  done  after  apple  blossom  time,  and 
before  red  clover  blossoms  appeared. 

J.  F.  Hershey  said  that  since  he  kept  kept  bees  big 

best  queen  did  not  begin  to  lay  until  March,  and  that 

swarm   gave  i:!0  pounds  of  honey,  while  the  others 

which  began  earlier  did  not  give  nearly  so  much. 

Marketing  Honey. 

The  chairman  proposed  the  diseussion  of  the 
question  of  the  best  way  of  preparing  honey  for 
market.  He  has  sold  a  considerabia  quantity,  and 
found  that  the  more  attractive  the  way  it  Is  put  up 
the  better  it  sells.  He  formerly  put  It  up  in  large 
boxes,  but  now  smaller  boxes  holding  one  or  two 
pounds  are  used,  and  he  thought  It  sold  more  rapidly. 

I.  G.  .Martin  exhibited  a  box  which  he  called  the 
"Prize"  box,  and  he  thought  it  would  soon  be  uni- 
versally used.  It  holds  two  pounds,  and  grocers 
have  told  him  that  the  two-pound  boxes  would  sell 
better  than  those  holding  only  one  pound,  as  men 
who  can  afford  to  buy  one  pound  of  honey  can  as 
well  buy  two  pounds.  However,  it  is  best  to  put 
honey  up  in  quantities  that  will  sell  best  in  the 
nearest  market.  In  putting  up  extracted  honey, 
one  or  two  pound  jars  should  be  used.  If  honey  is 
taken  from  the  bees  in  winter,  it  should  be  kept  In  a 
warm  room.  If  comb  honey  is  put  in  a  cool  place  it 
will  run  out. 

J.  F.  Hershey  thought  honey  should  be  kept  in  a 
warm  place  ;  if  the  moth  comes  it  should  be  expelled 
by  the  use  of  sulphur.  In  taking  honey  to  market, 
he  can  sell  pound  or  half-pound  boxes  easier  than  he 
could  a  two-pound  bo.\,  as  the  poor  man  can  better 
aflbrd  to  buy  them.  The  advantage  of  using  one- 
pound  boxes  is  that  two,  three,  four  or  five  pounds 
can  be  conveniently  put  up,  while  in  using  two- 
pound  boxes  three  pounds  cannot  be  sold. 
Honey  Exhibition. 

J.  F.  Hershey  suggested  that  au  exhibition  of 
honey  be  held  in  August.  He  moved  that  a  fee  of 
fifty  cents  a  year  be  charged,  and  when  the  show  is 
held  a  premium  of  a  tested  queen  be  given  to  I  he 
member  bringing  the  honey  put  In  the  best  market- 
able shape. 

Ellas  Hershey  suggested  that  it  would  be  well  If 
the  exhibition  were  held  in  conjunction  with  the  fair 
to  be  held  by  the  Agricultural  Society.  August 
would  be  too  early  to  hold  a  fair. 

F.  K.  Diflenderffer  moved  that  a  committee  of 
three  be  appointed  to  confer  with  I  he  Agricultural 
Society  as  to  the  advisability  of  holding  the  exhibition 
In  connection  with  their  fair. 

The  motion  was  carried,  and  .Messrs.  Ellas  Hershey, 
I.  G.  Marlin  and  Peter  S.  Heist  were  appointed  as 
the  committee. 

Essays  for  Next  Meeting. 

J.  H.  Mellingcr  moved  that  the  chair  refer  ques- 
tions to  ditfeient  members  of  the  soeiely,  who  could 
write  essays  in  answer  to  them,  and  their  ideas  could 
be  discussed  by  the  society. 

The  motion  was  carried,  and  .Messrs.  J.  F.  Hershey, 
J.  H.  Mellingcr,  I.  (i.  .Martin  and  H.  H.  .Myers  were 
appointed  to  prepare  essays  on  any  subject  they 
think  proper  to  write  upon. 

Rye  Flour  for  Bees. 

J.  H.  Melllngrr  asked  if  it  is  advisable  to  feed  rye 
flour  to  bees  in  the  spring. 

J.  F.  Hershey  said  he  has  fed  it,  hut  would  not 
advise  that  It  be  fed  too  strong  ;  as  the  bees  will  fill 
up  the  boxes  with  it,  feed  It  slowly.  By  feeding  a 
little  every  day  to  five  or  ten  swarms  they  are 
stimulated. 

Ellas  Hershey  said  that  if  there  are  any  maple 
trees  about,  rye  flour  should  not  be  fed,  as  they  can 
gather  pollen  from  the  trees. 

Peter  S.  Relst  appeared  during  the  meeting  and 
asked  to  be  excused  from  attendance,  pleading  busi- 
ness engagements.     His  request  was  granted. 

Adjourned  to  meet  three  mouths  hence.  . 

POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Lancaster  County  Poultry  Association  met  In 
their  room  In  the  City  Hall,  on  Monday,  March  :ird, 
and  was  called  to  order  by  President  D.  C.  Tobias. 
I  The  following  m 'mbers  and  visitors  were  present: 
1  Kev.  U.  C.  Tobias,  President,  Lltlz ;  J.  B.  LIchty, 
Secretary,  city;  Frank  B.  Bucb,  Litiz;  T.  F.  Evani, 


44 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[March 


Litiz  ;  Charles  E.  Lono:,  city;  William  A.  Schoen- 
berger,  city  ;  John  F.  Keed,  city  ;  F.  R.  Diffenderffer, 
city ;  Charles  Lippold,  city ;  Joseph  F.  Witmer, 
Paradise;  John  C.  Liuville,  Gap;  Amos  Kingwalt, 
city;  John  C.  Burrowes,  city;  Tobias  D.  Martin, 
New  Haven;  Colin  Cameron,  Brickerville ;  Mrs. 
Colin  Cameron,  Brickerville;  S.  P.  Eby,  citv ;  IT.  H. 
Tsbudy,  Litiz. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read 
and  adopted. 

Charles  E.  Long,  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
inquire  into  the  cost  of  printing  the  Constitution  and 
By-Laws  reported  that  they  had  rather  exceeded 
their  instructions  in  having  had  printed  .500  copies  of 
the  constitution.  They  had  hit  upon  a  plan  by  which 
the  printing  could  be  done  without  cost,  and  a  profit 

It  appeared  from  the  remarks  of  other  members, 
that  Mr.  J.  B.  Lielity,  the  secretary,  had  suggested 
the  plan  of  securing  advertisements  to  be  embodied 
in  th.-  pamphlet,  And  by  energetic  work  succeeded 
in  securing  enough  to  pay  for  the  work  and  put  $5 
in  the  treasury. 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  each  member  re- 
ceive five  copies  of  the  constitution. 

Joseph  F.  Witmer,  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
bring  the  matter  of  joining  the  Poultry  Association 
before  the  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society, 
reported  that  they  had  done  so,  but  no  action  was 
taken  on  the  proposition. 

Chicken  Cholera. 

Charles  E.  Long  rose  to  answer  the  question, 
"  What  is  the  most  rapid  cure  for  chicken  cholera?" 
He  thought  the  question  was  a  most  diliicult  one,  as 
a  council  of  physicians  would  differ  very  consider- 
ably on  the  subject.  Chicken  cholera  is  a  great 
scourge  and  the  hopes  of  many  have  been  blighted 
by  it.  There  are  many  dilierent  reiiicilics.  '  Soft 
soap,  hard  soap,  horse  and  cattle  powders,  sulphate 
of  iron  and  sulphate  of  copper  are  given,  but  he 
knew  of  nothing  that  was  sure.  He  believed  that 
crowding  together  of  the  fowls  was  a  prime  cause  of 
the  disease,  and  he  believed  that  one  of  the  best 
remedies  was  to  give  them  more  room,  and  use  dis- 
infectants liberally. 

H.  II.  Tsliudy  said  he  had  suffered  about  as  much 
from  this  disease  as  any  breeder.  Had  tried  almost 
every  remedy,  but  observed  that  since  he  kept  the 
chicken  houses  clean,  he  had  less  of  it.  Had  ob- 
served that  the  disease  was  most  fatal  in  its  effects 
■  among  the  Asiatic  breeds,  and  when  it  got  among 
them  the  best  and  only  thing  to  do  was  to  cut  off 
their  heads. 

S.N.  Warfel  said  that  he  used  carbolic  acid  so 
liberally  that  he  never  had  a  case  of  cholera  in  his 
coops.  Had  discovered  that  calomel  and  castor  oil 
were  sure  cures  for  the  disease.  He  used  consider- 
able quantities  of  chalk  and  powdered  bone  about 
his  coops. 

"What  must  Hens  have  to  Produce  Eggs. 

"  What  must  hens  that  are  confined  absolutely 
have  in  order  that  they  may  produce  eggs  ?"  was  the 
next  question,  and  v.'as  answered  by  D.  C.  Tobias. 
He  counseled    great    cnre    in  the    laeparation  of  the 


the 


said  the  main  lut_Kl  is  coin  and  oats.  There  is  also  a 
want  for  green  food  which  should  be  supplied.  The 
best  soft  I'ood  is  bran  well  prepared.  If  any  food 
besides  these  are  calculated  to  increase  the  produc- 
tion of  eggs,  they  are  the  Eureka  Poultry  Food,  and 
the  Eureka  Egi;  Food.  But  the  question  cannot  be 
answered  to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  What  will  satisfy 
one  fancier  would  not  lie  well  received  by  another, 
and  the  best  plan  is  fur  each  fancier  to  experiment 
for  himself,  and  when  he  finds  what  food  is  most 
suitable  for  his  stock,  to  use  it. 

S.  N.  Warfel  said  he  had  found  by  experiments 
that  chalk  pounded  into  small  pieces  was  eaten  with 
relish  by  the  hens,  which  will  eat  it  when  they  will 
not  eat  lime,  and  he  thought  it  had  the  desired  effect. 
His  fowls  laid  all  winter. 

H.  H.  Tshudy  spoke  in  favor  of  oyster  shells, 
cracklings,  and  counseled  a  variety  of  food.  The 
hens  should  not  be  kept  on  one  diet.  He  thought  it 
was  of  great  importance  that  the  hen-house  should 
be  kept  warm. 

A.  Z.  Itingwalt  fed  his   chickens  burnt  corn,  and 

put  red  pepper  in  their  drink,  and  thought  he  had 

the  liveliest  lot  of  fowls  to  be  found.     He  kept  them 

clean  and  warm,  and  got  plenty  of  eggs. 

The  Best  Barnyard  Fowl. 

"  What  is  the  farmer's  best  farmyard  fowl  ?"  was 
answered  by  H.  H.  Tshudy.  If  the  first  requisite  iu 
the  farmyard  is  the  production  of  eggs  he  had  no 
hesitation  in  recommending  the  Leghorn  variety; 
that  is,  if  the  farmer  takes  care  of  his  chickens. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  the  production  of  eggs  is  not 
everything.  The  farmer  wants  a  chicken  that  is 
worth  something  in  the  market.  He  thought  the 
best  chicken  was  the  Plymouth  Rock  ;  good  layers, 
good  hatchers,  etc.  If  only  one  breed  can  be  raised 
he  would  choose  it. 

John  C.  Linville  had  just  introduced  a  trio  of 
Plymouth  Rocks,  and  believed  they  would  come  to 
maturity  sooner  than  the  Brahma,  which  he  raised 


before.  In  regard  to  the  Leghorn  he  did  not  like 
them.  They  are  not  suitable  for  the  farmer,  as  they 
destroy  his  garden  and  their  eggs  are  too  small. 

Chas.  E.  Long  thought  the  question  was  :  "  Will 
a  farmer  make  more  by  keeping  hens  and  selling 
their  eggs,  or  killing  them  for  market?"  He  thought 
the  former  plan  was  the  most  profitable,  and  the 
Leghorns  were  the  best  in  that  respect.  The  Brah- 
mas  are  the  best  winter  layers. 

J.  B.  Lichty  had  received  more  eggs  from  foui- 
Brahmas  during  the  winter  than  from  seven  Brown 
Leghorns. 

Chickens  and  Sunlight. 

"  Will  chickens  do  well  on  board  floors  without 
sunli-ht  ?"  was  answered  by  John  F.  Reed.  His  ex- 
peririirc  was  that  cliirki-ns  would  not  do  well  any 
plare  witliiiul  .-unli'^lit  ,  His  first  coop  was  insufii- 
eicni  I V  liiihii  d  and  his  cliirk.-iis  gni  sick,  but  his  sec- 
ond .nop  was  well  ligliteil  and  the  result  was  highly 
satisfactory. 

S.  N.  Warfel  said  that  his  fowls  had  plenty  of 
light,  but  a  gentleman  in  Boston  raises  his  fowls  in 
the  cellar  and  takes  off  the  first  prizes  at  shows.  He 
contends  that  raising  them  in  the  cellar  improves 
their  color,  and  he  has  the  prettiest  chickens  in  the 
show-room. 

A.  Z.  Ringwalt  thought  chickens  should  have 
plenty  of  sunlight ;  in  fact  he  knew  of  nothing  that 
euuld  do  A\  ithout  sunlight  except  a  new  carpet. 

Chas.  E.  Long  thought  there  was  only  one  side  to 
the  question.  No  poulTy  will  do  well  without  sun- 
light, and  hoard  floors  are  the  worst  things  upon 
which  chickens  could  be  put. 

A.  Z.  Kingwalt  said  that  a  board  floor  was  too 
damp  lor  chickens,  and  would  never  use  it.  He 
thought  that  hens  must  have  plenty  of  dust. 

,i.  N.  Warfel  had  a  cement  floor  on  his  hen  house 
which  was  scrubbed  out.  He  did  not  believe  in  the 
dust  theory. 

Simon  P.  Eby  said  that  if  Mr.  Warfel's  plan  of 
cleanliness  was  adopted  dust  was  not  necessary,  but 
if  not  Mr.  Ringwalt's  plan  must  be  followed. 

A  good  plan  to  keep  off  vermin   is  to   use   insect 
powder  just  before  the  brood  is  hatched.     He  raised 
his  young  chickens  on  a  board  floor. 
Miscellaneous. 

President  Tobias  appointed  as  a  committee  to  pre- 
pare questions  for  debate  in  the  society  F.  11.  Diffen- 
derfler,  J.  B.  Lichty  and  J.  F.  Reed.  Thejcommittee 
asked  that  the  members  of  the  society  assist  them  by 
suggesting  questions. 

John  L.  Martin,  city;  Henry  Wissler,  Columbia; 
W.  H.  Gates,  city;  Charles  E.  Stewart,  city;  J.  B. 
Long,  city,  and  Wash.  L.  Hershey,  Chickies,  were 
elected  members  of  the  society. 

A.  Z.  Ringwalt  wanted  to  see  the  members  pro- 
pose the  election  of  their  wives  and  daughters  as 
members  of  the  society. 

Mr.  Diffendertfei-  moved  that  ladies  be  invited  to 
become  members  of  the  society.     Carried. 

A  bill  of  ?:i.50  for  furnishing  and  printing  200 
postal  cards  was  presented  by  the  Examiner  and 
Express  and  ordered  to  be  paid. 

The  following  questions  are  proposed  for  answers 
at  the  next  meeting  :  "  How  long  will  eggs  retain 
their  fertility?"  A.  Z.  Ringwalt.  "What  is  the 
proper  mode  to  pack  eggs  for  transportation  ?"  F.  B. 
Buch. 

On  motion,  it  was  resolved  to  pay  the  rent  of  the 
room  quarterly. 

Adjourned. 

WARWICK   FARMERS'   CLUB. 

[We  regret  that  the  following  only  came  into  our 
possession  after  our  February  number  had  been  al- 
ready made  up,  but  as  it  contains  matter  that  has 
not  yel  spoiled  we  insert  it  here.— Ei).] 

Tl]«  second  meeting  to  organize  a  farmers'  club 
was  hehl  on  February  1,  ls79,  on  the  farm  of  John 
Grossman,  New    Haven,  Warwick   township,  Uriah 


in  the 


In  the  aiisunie  of  the  former  Secretary,  John 
Grustnian  was  upixiinted  in  his  stead.  The  follow 
ing  persons  were  present :  Uriah  Carpenter,  John 
Grossman,  John  Huber,  Peter  Robertson,  Henry 
Long,  Isaac  Grube,  Abraham  Bear,  Nathaniel  Bru- 
baker,  Frank  Swally,  John  Behmer,  Aaron  Gross- 
man, Moses  Grossman,  Mrs.  Carpenter,  Mrs.  Gross- 
man and  others. 

The  proceedings  of  the  former  meeting  not  bemg 
accessible,  their  reading  had  to  be  dispensed  with. 
The  chairman  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting. 

John  Grossman  stated  that  he  did  not  agree  with 
certain  chemists,  that  only  20  bushels  of  lime  should 
be  put  on  an  acre  of  ground.  He  never  had  made 
the  experiment  of  so  small  a  quantity  himself.  He 
applied  more  liberally — 100  bushels  to  an  acre. 
Some  of  his  neighboring  farmers  apply  it  more 
sparingly,  and  by  that  he  can  see  the  difference. 
Liberal  liming  ivill  pay.  He  stated  that  if  50  bushels 
were  applied  to  an  acre,  with  only  half  as  long  an 
interval  as  when  100  bushels  are  applied,  it  would  be 
better.  Twenty  bushels  might  do  if  it  was  applied 
every  year. 

Mr.  Huber  stated  that  lime  always  was  beneficial 
to  the  soil  whenever  he  applied  it.  When  lime  is  in- 
corporated with  th«  soil  in  the  form  of  a  fine  dust, 


or  pulverized,  it  is  a  great  deal  better  than  when  wet 
and  merely  crumbling.  The  application  of  a  small 
quantity  of  lime  dust  may  have  as  much  effect  upon 
the  soil  and  be  more  beneflcial  to  the  crops  than  a 
larger  quantity  of  crumbling  lime  in  first  year.  He 
also  said  he  experieueed  good  effects  from  lime  when 
applied  to  grass  lands.  He  top-dressed  in  March, 
and  it  doubled  his  hay  crop  the  same  season. 

Mr.  Carpenter  said  he  could  not  agree  with  such  a 
chemist  under  any  circumstances,  and  he  would  like 
to  see  where  Lancaster  county  would  be  if  it  would 
not  be  for  lime.  Chemists  may  make  of  it  what  they 
please,  he  was  too  well  convinced  of  the  use  of  lime. 

Mr.  Huber  asked  if  any  one  present  had  any  ex- 
perience with  phosphates.  He  said  he  tried  it  on 
wheat.  He  harvested  each  separate,  and  when 
weighed  he  found  the  difference  so  small  that  it  did 
not  pay  to  use  phosphates. 

Mr.  Grossman  said  he  applied  phosphate  to  pota- 
toes and  corn,  several  years  ago,  and  found  no  differ- 

Mr.  Carpenter  asked  :  How  can  we  get  our  farms 
to  produce  double  crops  ? 

Mr.  Huber  said,  one  good  step  iu  that  direction  is 
to  sell  very  little  grain.  Feed  it  to  stock  on  the  farm; 
save  all  you  can  and  make  it  into  manure. 

Mr.  Grossman  also  recommended  the  saving  of 
manure  ;  scrape  it  together  everywhere  in  the  yard  ; 
where  the  cattle  go  to  water  ;  every  animal  while 
out  to  water  loses  daily  enough  to  make  a  hill  of 
corn  grow  by  the  droppings,  and  what  they  carry  out 
of  the  stable  attached  to  their  hoofs,  and  that 
amounts  to  a  great  deal  during  the  course  of  a  year 
where  25  or  30  head  of  cattle  are  kept. 

Mr.  Carpenter  said  25  head  of  cattle  lose  a  wheel- 
barrow load  every  day,  and   that  would  make  365      j 
barrow  loads  in  a  year.  J 

Mr.  Huber  said  much  can  be  done  by  keeping  the  9 
manure  well  heaped  together.  It  will  not  wash  1 
away  so  much  as  when  it  is  more  scattered.  • 

Mr.  Carpenter  asked  :  Which  is  best,  to  leave  the 
cattle  stand  on  the  manure  pile  or  not?  He  stated 
that  he  keeps  the  cattle  on  the  manure  pile  during 
the  day,  when  not  in  the  stable,  and  very  seldom  any 
water  runs  out,  and  he  gets  more  manure  than  he 
woidd  if  he  kept  the  cattle  off,  and  of  a  better  quality, 
as  it  assists  the  rotting  together. 

Mr.  Grossman  said  much  manure  might  be  made 
by  saving  the  contents  of  our  cesspools  ;  on  the  most 
of  farms  the  night  soil  is  entirely  wasted.  We  see  it 
behind  barns  and  sheds,  and  corners  where  nothing 
is  raised  but  tremendous  stalks  of  all  kinds  of  noxious 
weeds.  The  water-closet  should  be  built  at  a  con- 
venient place  over  a  tight  box,  or  better  still,  over  a 
well-walled  and  plastered  or  cemented  cesspool.  It 
should  be  sufficiently  large  to  store  in  it  a  reasonable 
quantity  of  dry  earth,  and  every  time  it  is  u.sed  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  this  earth  sli'iuM  be  iliscliarged, 
which  acts  as  a  deodorizer,  aTnl  the  contents  is  con- 
verted into  the  well-known  fertilizer  that  is  sold 
under  the  name  of  "poudret ;''  it  is  worth  all  the  i 
trouble,  and  the  manure  will  soon  pay  for  the  build-  | 
ing — perhaps  in  a  year  or  two.  The  earth  should  be  4 
gathered  in  August  when  it  is  pulverized  and  dry.  1 
It  may  be  swept  up  in  many  places  in  the  form  of 
dust.  The  dailj  excretions  of  a  family  of  only  half 
a  dozen  members  would  produce  sufficient  night 
soil  in  a  year  to  make  about  2,200  hills  of  corn 
grow — about  half  an  acre — at  the  lowest  estimate  25 
or  30  bushels  of  corn  ;  and  the  removal  and  manipu- 
lating of  this  manure  is  not  any  more  unpleasant 
than  cleaning  a  pig -pen. 

Mr.  Huber  remarked  that  he  has  had  that  system 
in  operation  for  the  pas,  six  ye,:rs. 

As  the  time  had  expiiril,  ^pusi  imis  were  proposed 
for  next  meeting,  and  ai'^  liic  tullnwing  : 

1.  When  is  the  best  liuie  t(j  sow  cloversced? 

2.  Which  is  the  best,  to  turn  cattle  out  to  pasture 
during  summer,  or  to  keep  them  stabled  and  feed 
green  fodder? 

3.  What  kind  of  fodder  is  best? 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  this  place  at  1  o'clock  p.  ra. 
February  15,  1879. 

Meeting  of  February  15th,  1879. 

The  club  met  at  the  house  of  John  Grossman, 
Uriah  Carpenter  in  the  chair.  The  secretary  read 
the  proceedings  of  the  previous  meeting,  which  were 
adopted. 

The  meeting  was  small,  owing  to  an  entertainment 
at  a  neighboring  school,  and  a  public  sale  at  another 
place. 

Seme  discussion  was  had  on  the  question,  "  How 
can  we  raise  double  crops  ?" 

An  opinion  was  expressed,  that  if  we  were  to  ma- 
nure very  heavily,  and  not  sow  so  many  acres,  we 
might  in  that  way  accomplish  the  end. 

Mr.  Grossman  said  that  he  did  not  agree  to  that. 
If  he  were  to  haul  all  the  manure  on  one  acre  that  he 
now  puts  on  two  he  would  sometimes  get  a  less  crop. 
It  would  glow  too  rank  in  straw,  and  lodge  too 
readily. 

It  was  also  said  that  40  and  50  bushels  of  wheat  to 
the  acre  are  raised  in  some  parts  of  the  county,  and 
that  such  wheat  farms  must  have  some  substance  in 
the  soil  which  we  have  not. 

The  question  was  postponed  for  further  discussion. 

The  clover  sowing  question  was  then  taken  up— 
"  When  is  the  best  time  to  sow  clover?" 


1879.J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


45 


Mr.  Carpsntcr  said,  according  to  his  experience, 
early  in  tlie  spring'  is  tlie  surest  time. 

Mr.  Vollcitzer  said  tliatif  sowed  late  it  would  lay 
loo  mucli  on  the  surface  ;  if  early  sowed  it  would 
sink  more  Into  the  soil. 

Mr.  Grossman  said,  according  to  his  expiTience, 
one  year  with  another,  the  best  time  is  I'rom  the 
middle  to  the  last  of  March.  By  alternate  freezing 
and  thawinp  the  seed  will  become  better  covered  by 
the  soil  than  if  sowed  late  ;  because  the  soil  is  then 
beaten  down  usually  by  the  spring  rains,  and  the 
seed  will  lie  on  the  surface,  throw  out  small  roots, 
and  stand  too  much  on  the  surface.  Then,  when 
very  dry  weather  follows  harvest,  It  is  liable  to 
wither  and  die.  If  sown  early  this  will  not  he  the 
case,  for  by  that  time  it  will  have  become  more 
deeply  rooted  in  the  soil.  He  further  said,  that  he 
could  not  recollect  a  season  wlicn  late  sowing  done 
well,  or  when  early  sowing  failed  ;  but  he  remem- 
bered when  the  contrary  was  the  case.  It  is  true, 
that  in  some  very  favorable  seasons  all  have  done 
well,  and  in  unfavorable  ones  all  have  failed;  but 
the  average  is  in  favor  of  early  sowing. 

All  that  were  present  concurred  in  these  views. 

The  question  was  then  taken  up  :  "  Which  is  the 
best,  keeping  cattle  In  the  stable  all  summer  and 
feeding  them  on  green  fodder,  or  turning  them  into 
pasture,  and  what  kind  of  fodder  is  best?"  An 
essay  was  then  read  by  Mr.  Grossman  on  the  subject. 
Sec  paffc  40. 

Mr.  Carpenter  remarked  that  there  was  little  else 
to  be  said  on  the  subject. 

Mr.  Vollitzer  said  that  would  help  to  double  the 
crop. 

Mrs.  Carpenter,  and  also  make  good  butter. 

Messrs.  C.  and  V.  said  too  much  manure  is  lost. 
The  droppings  of  cattle  on  pasture  is  of  but  little 
amount.  Much  more  manure  could  be  made  than  is 
made,  and  it  would  employ  a  greater  number  of 
laborers.  It  would  pay  for  the  extra  labor,  and  both 
the  farmer  and  the  laboring  man  would  be  benefited. 

Mr.  V said  he  did  not  know  whether  we  could 

obtain  the  seed  in  this  eountry,  but  in  Germany  they 
sow  vetches  and  oats  together  to  feed  their  stock, 
and  cut  it  twice  in  a  season.  All  that  were  present 
agreed  with  the  sentiments  of  the  essay. 

The  soiling  question  was  continued  for  further 
discussion. 

Questions  proposed  for  next  meeting  : 

1.  How  shall  we  make  our  farms  pay  best? 

2.  Is  It  beneficial  to  educate  our  sons,  and  let  them 
go  from  home,  or  keep  them  on  the  farm  ( 

3.  When  best  to  sow  oats— how  much  to  the  acre 
— how  to  prepare  the  soil. 

Adjourned  to  meet  on  the  farm  of  Uriah  Carpen- 
ter, Saturday,  March  8th,  at  1  o'clock  p.  m.,  in 
Warwick  township. 

P.  S.— We  have  seen  that  other  clubs  do  not  pub- 
lish the  names  of  all  present.  We  will  follow  their 
practice. 

FULTON  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  February  meeting  was  held  at  the  residence 
of  Solomon  L.  Gregg,  Drumorc  township.  The  day 
was  cold  and  disagreeable,  and  half  of  the  members 
were  absent.  Visitors  present  by  invitation— Evans 
A.  Gregg,  James  McSparran  and  I.  Clinton  Arnold. 

Mary  Ann  Tollinger  exhibited  some  apples  for  a 
name.  They  were  lair  sized,  tolerably  good  and 
would  keep  for  a  year.  No  one  present  was  able  to 
name  them. 

Asking  and  Answering  Questions. 

Wm.  King  :  Would  a  farm  be  likely  to  increase  in 
fertility  if  it  was  kept  in  grass,  and  cows  or  other 
animals  enough  kept  on  it  to  consume  all  the  hay 
and  pasture,  if  grain  enough  was  purchased  to  keep 
them  in  fair  condition  ? 

Evans  A.  Gregg,  Jam«  McSparran  and  I.  C.  Ar- 
nold thought  it  would,  as  all  would  be  put  back  that 
was  taken  off,  and  more. 

Josiah  Brown  was  of  the  same  opinion,  if  the  land 
was  good  enough  to  produce  the  natural  grasses 
when  the  clover  and  timothy  worked  out.  Unless 
this  was  the  case  the  grass  would  soon  work  out, 
leaving  nothing  in  its  place.  We  plow  here  too  often 
for  green  grass  to  grow. 

E.  H.  Haines  thought  that  the  system  would  suc- 
ceed where  the  land  is  natural  to  grass.  Ours  is  not. 
Under  such  treatment  the  grass  would  soon  run  out 
and  green  grass  would  not  take  Its  place  as  it  does  in 
some  parts  of  Chester  county. 

Josiah  A.  Brown  had  taken  notice  that  greengrass 
does  come  in  fence  corners  and  other  places  that  are 
not  plowed  if  the  land  is  good. 

Solomon  L.  Gregg  :  Under  the  present  condition 
of  our  land  we  could  not  get  started. 

Evans  A.  Gregg  :  Giving  grass  a  good  coat  of  ma- 
nure will  have  a  tendency  to  keep  in  the  grass.  Top- 
dressing  Is  a  great  thing  for  it. 

Montillion  Brown:  The  Millers'  Association 
threaten  to  put  down  the  price  of  Fultz  wheat  so 
that  farmers  will  not  raise  it.  Are  the  farmers  going 
to  be  guided  by  their  determination  ; 

Solomon  L.Gregg  did  not  feel  like  submitting.  He 
had  inquired  of  dealers  in  wheat  and  was  told  that 
it  was  in  demand.  It  is  going  to  England  ;  they  like 
it  there. 


E.  H.  Haines  thought  the  farmers  had  as  little 
cause  for  alarm  at  this  threat,  as  the  clergy  had  to 
be  scared  at  the  prraclilnir  of  Kobert  Ingcrsoll.  It 
(Iocs  make  good  Hour,  and  farmers  will  raise  it  unless 
the  price  is  put  down  very  low,  as  It  is  more  produc- 
tive than  other  wheat*.  Tills  ai)peared  to  be  the 
opinion  of  all  present. 

Josiah  Brown  :  Can  wheat  be  raised  for  a  dollar 
per  bushel  ?  Answer  :  Not  while  labor,  land  and 
fertilizers  remain  at  present  prices. 

E.  U.  Haines:  Is  there  any  advantage  in  having 
straw  rotted  in  the  barnyard,  Instead  of  spreading 
on  the  fields  to  rot  there  I 

Josiah  Urowu  had  founil  great  advantage  in  spread- 
ing straw  on  sod  ground.  It  sometimes  makes  one- 
third  more  grass. 

S.  L.  (ircgg  and  .Montillion  Brown  had  also  good 
results  from  siireading  straw  on  grass  land.  It  acts 
both  as  a  mulch  and  a  manure. 

I.  C.  Arnold  :  There  Is  a  chemical  action  wliich 
takes  place  in  the  yard  while  the  straw  is  rotting. 
The  ammonia  is  retained  by  the  moisture.  When 
straw  is  spread  on  the  fields  it  acts  principally  as  a 
mulch,  and  much  of  the  manurial  value  is  lost. 

S.  L.  Gregg  had  noticed  in  the  Oxford  J'ros  an 
article  on  the  value  of  Norway  oats  straw  as  food 
for  milch  cows,  giving  the  opinion  of  our  neighbor 
Jesse  Yocum  that  it  was  equal  to  hay.  Jesse  feeds 
it  quite  liberally  to  his  cows,  and  the  favorable  re- 
port of  his  dairy  (200  pounds  of  butter  per  cow  in 
the  year)  gives  weight  to  his  opinions  in  the  matter. 
He  (Gregg)  wanted  to  know  if  there  was  any  dilTer- 
ence  between  the  straw  of  Norway  oats  and  that  of 
common  oats,  and  what  the  club  thought  of  its  value 
as  food  for  cows. 

Josiah  Brown  did  not  think  oats  straw  good  for 
cows  or  any  other  cattle.    Wheat  straw  is  better. 

Evans  A.  Gregg  :  Norway  oats  straw  is  heavier 
than  the  straw  of  common  white  oats,  and  may  be 
better,  but  Jesse  gives  his  cows  as  much  grain  aS 
they  can  eat,  and  It  don't  make  much  ditl'erence 
what  else  they  pick  up. 

Wm.  King:  Will  cows  that  are  fed  on  straw  give 
better  milk? 

Jos.  R.  Blackburn  :  They  will. 

E.  H.  Haines  :  There  may  be  some  foundation  for 
this  prejudice  against  oats  straw,  but  it  is  little  more 
than  prejudice.  It  is  generally  fed  in  winter  when 
cows  are  mostly  strippers.  VVhen  this  is  the  case 
the  milk  will  be  bitter  and  the  butter  poor,  no  matter 
what  the  cows  eat.  The  butter  dealers  in  town  say 
that  dairymen  who  ship  to  them  make  the  poorest 
quality  of  butter  when  the  quantity  is  least. 

Afternoon  Session. 

A  warm  stove  had  too  many  attractions  on  such  a 
cold  day  for  the  club  to  make  a  very  long  inspection 
of  the  stock  and  farm,  after  dinner  ;  so  the  proprie- 
tor escaped  with  but  few  criticisms.  The  host  next 
read  an  essay  advising  young  men  to  go  west  and 
obtain  homes. 

E.  H.  Haines  thought  the  subject  well  worthy  of 
consideration.  The  west  offered  great  inducements, 
with  good  health  and  willing  hands. 

Joseph  R.  Blackburn:  There  are  great  induce- 
ments, but  on  the  other  hand  there  are  great  dis- 
advantages. People  of  one  religion,  or  one  na- 
tionality, naturally  desire  to  keep  together.  But  the 
western  man  may  look  one  side  and  see  a  Norwegian, 
on  another  an  Irishman,  and  a  Dutchman  on  an- 
other, and  so  on.  Besides,  there  is  so  much  of  a 
sameness  in  the   farms,  that   he   con  iders  them  all 


by  M  rs.  Ilemaus.  Allie  Gregg  recited  "  Forty  Years 
Ago."  I.  C.  Arnold  recited  "The  Boys,"  by  O.  W. 
Holmes. 

"  The  Old  Woman  "  had  heard  that  the  club  ex- 
pected to  discuss  the  tobacco  question,  so  she  sent 
one  of  her  pithy  communications  containing  some 
resolutions,  whicli  had  been  passed  by  herself,  her 
granddaughter  Dolly  and  another  woman  in  conven- 
tion assembled,  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  time  for  the  women  to  assert 
their  rights  in  this  matter. 

Uenoli'cd,  That  they  who  chew  tobacco  shall  swal- 
low it  instead  of  spitting  around  among  more  cleanly 
people. 

Resolved,  That  emptying  spittoons  is  no  part  of 
woman's  business. 

Uesoli'ed,  That  young  ladies  should  slTiin  the  to- 
bacco chewer  as  she  would  any  oilier  filthy  or  un- 
clean animal. 

The  old  man  had  never  used  tobacco  but  once.  He 
never  lilicd  it  after  thai .  She  read  him  a  list  of  reso- 
lutions that  cured  him  at  once. 

The  question,  "  Should  this  club  encourage  the 
raising  of  tobacco  i"  was  next  discussed  by  E.  11. 
Haines,  Josiah  Brown,  S.  L.  Gregg,  James  McSpar- 
ran and  I.e.  Arnold.  Joseph  K.  Blackburn  read  au 
essay  on  the  negative  side  of  the  subject. 

Tlie  question,  "  Have  farmers,  by  their  experi- 
ments, arrived  at  any  uniform  results  that  can  be  de- 
pended upon  for  future  operations  f"  was  adopted  for 
consideration  at  next  meeting. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  the  residence  of  William  P. 
Aaines,  1st  of  March.  j 


LINNiEAN    SOCIETY. 

A  staled  meeting  of  the  .society  Wiis  held  on  Satur- 
day, February  '.'IM.  The  following  donalion!,  to  the 
museum  were  examined  :  A  fine  specimen  of  a  large 
spiral,  conic  shell,  from  California,  per  William  L. 
Gill;  a  dry  gourd,  originally  five  feet  long,  called 
"Club  of  Hercules"— this  Is  considered  a  variety  of 
the  loiig-nccked  squash,  or  dipper  calabash,  "  La- 
gcnaria  Vulgaris,''  in  l.ulln  ln!/ena,a  l)Ottle,or  "bot- 
tle gourd  ;""al6o,  shale  frQin  the  coal  regions,  one 
specimen  with  pretty  fern  leaves,  the  other,  the 
mould  of  the  bark  of  Slggillarla,  a  fossil  tree-fern, 
per  Mr.  J.  M.  Wcsthaelfer.  He  also  made  a  special 
deposit  of  the  bow,  thirty  arrows,  quiver  and  whip, 
formerly  belonging  to  a  Commauche  Chief.  The 
preserved  head,  pectoral,  ventral  fin,  gills  and  ova 
(if  the  "red  fish,"  recently  from  the  table  of  Mr. 
Fox  on  market.  Mrs.  Gibbons  had  quite  an  assort- 
ment of  plants  that  she  culled  In  France,  during  her 
late  visit.  Two  of  them  she  called  especial  atlentioa 
to,  as  being  largely  cultivated  In  France  for  fodder, 
the  one  named  "  Sainfoin  ;"  the  other  "  Ileibcrnage 
or  Illvernagc." 

Kev.  J.  H.  Dubbs  had  on  exhibition  for  Inspection 
an  Indian  relic  from  Germantown,  Ohio.  This  was 
a  Talcose,  flat,  oval-shaped  stone,  about  four  by  five 
inches  In  the  two  diameters,  a  three-sided  hole,  with 
an  arched  top  cut  through  it— no  doubt  for  being 
suspended  around  the  neck.  It  was  neatly  sculptured 
on  both  faces. 

To  the  historical  collection  Dr.  Rathvon  added 
four  envelopes,  containing  fifty-seven  historical  and 
biograplilcal,  local  and  foreign  scraps. 
Additions  to  the  Library. 
Proceedings  of  tlic  American  Philosophical  Society 
of  Philadelph  a,  volume  xviii,  July  and  December, 
1878;  a  treatise  on  the  horse,  by  Kendel,  per  Mr. 
Lvte ;  the  seventh  annual  report  of  Noxious  and 
Beneficial  Insects,  by  the  Illinois  State  Entomologist, 
Cyrus  Thomas,  Ph.D.;  the  Naturalists'  Directory-, 
alphabetically  arranged.  From  the  Department  of 
Agriculture :  Report  on  the  conditions  of  crops, 
1S78,  and  one  on  live  stock,  January  7,  1879 ;  J'alent 
Office  Gazette  for  December,  1878,  and  January  7, 
1879.  Book  circulars:  The  Lancaster  Farmer 
for  February,  1879. 

Papers  Read. 
J.  Stauffer  read  an  illustrated  paper  on  the  "  Red 
Fish,"  above  referred  to,  the  "  Sebastcs  yorveyius." 
Only  found  in  deep  water,  and  rare  this  far  south. 
He  also  read  a  letter  from  Prof.  S.  F.  Baird,  of  the 
Fish  Commission,  Smithsonian  Institute,  who  mani- 
fests quite  an  interest  in  the  fact  that  so  rare  a  fish 
should  come  to  the  Lancaster  market,  and  desired 
Mr.  S.  to  give  him  one  of  the  characteristic  sketches, 
by  which  the  spec;es  could  be  determined,  as  there 
are  several  on  our  coast. 

Letters  Read. 
One  from   Mr.  Laux,  proposing  exchanges  with 
this  society  ;  one  from  Geo.   I'.  Bunn,  Philadelphia, 
desiring  an  exchange  of  cocoons. 

Mr.  Rathvon  then  announced  that  this  memorable 
22d  of  February  was  also  the  seventeenth  anniver- 
sary of  the  society,  and  lie  had  penned  a  few  thoughts 
on  the  subject.  On  motion  lie  was  called  upon  to 
read  the  same,  which  he  did  as  follows  : 
Dr.  Rathvon's  Address. 
Mr.  President  ami  fellow-member)  uf  the  Linnaan 
ISociety : 

For  all  practical  purposes  this  may  be  legitimately 
regarded  as  the  seventeenth  anniversary  of  the  Lln- 
niean  Society,  and  It  is  with  a  feeling  of  some  regret 
that  1  witness  so  few  of  its  original  members  present 
to-day. 

Organization  of  the  Society. 
Alhhough  one  or  two  previous  informal  meetings 
had  been  held,  yet  It  was  only  on  the  8th  of  Febru- 
ary, 18(i2,  that  Its  organization  was  completed,  and 
its  board  of  officers  duly  elected.  It  has  always 
labored  under  one  peculiar  disadvantage  at  least, 
which  always  exercises  an  adverse  infiuencc  u|X)n 
the  progress  and  practical  utility  of  all  associa- 
tions of  a  similar  character.  It  has  never  had  a 
member  or  a  sympathizing  patron  who  was  a  man  of 
leisure  and  of  ample  pecuniary  means,  whose  liber- 
ality could  be  exercised  in  its  behalf;  and  hence,  in 
the  common  phraseology  of  the  word,  it  has  always 
been  pecuniarily  {kmt. 

"Progress  in  the  Face  of  Difficulties. 
In  view  of  the  fact,  however,  that  it  began  on 
nothing  but  still  undeveloped  humiiii  energies- ener- 
gies still  without  special  point  or  direction— the  evi- 
dences presented  to-day  unmistakably  illustrate  that 
it  has  mailc  very  perceptible  material  progress.  If 
the  time  and  the  pecuniary  means  were  at  hand  to 
enable  it  to  analyze,  classify  and  systematically  ar- 
range the  tangible  material  it  has  accumulated,  I  am 
sure  its  magnitude  would  astonish  even  the  best  In- 
formed, or  most  intelligently  advanced  among  its 
membership. 

Not  Disappointed. 
I  cannot  say  that  I  am  at  all  disappointed  at  the 
progress  the  society  has  made  during  the  past  seven- 
teen years,  nor  at  the  zeal  or  want  of  zeal  manifested 
by  its  members.  At  its  organization  I  was  already  fifty 
years  old,  and  had  had  some  experience  in  associations 


46 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  March, 


of  the  kind.  I  knew  that  both  the  membership  and 
community  among  whom  they  are  located  are  prone 
to  become  "weary  in  well  doing,"  iu  any  matter  in 
which  they  have  not  an  immediate  worldly  interest. 
I  knew  that  to  make  it  a  success  its  members  must 
take  up  a  cross  and  bear  it,  of  the  weight  of  which 
the  world  around  them  had  little  or  no  appreciation, 
and  of  whicli  they  themselves  may  not  have  had  a 
very  clear  conceiition  ;  and,  therefore,  whatever 
credit  I  may  be  cLtitlecl  to  as  one  of  its  organic  found- 
ers, and  iu  sustaining  it  tlius  far,  I  do  not  claim  to 
have  been  an  original  mover  in  its  first  organization. 
The  Founders. 
I  think  that  credit  is  due  to  Prof.  Porter,  J.  R. 
Sypher,  J.  M.  Seitz,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  others, 
possibly  Messrs.  Stauffer  and  Keviuski.  I  knew  it 
would  interfere  with  my  progress  in  entomology, 
and  hence  I  committed  myself  to  the  Linniean  enter- 
prise with  some  reluctance,  for  this  reason  and  those 
already  stated.  But  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  ever 
regretted  my  connection  with  it  and  have  never 
abated,  and  never  intended  to  abate  any  energy  of 
mine  that  seemed  necessary  to  continue  its  existence. 
Disappointed  in  One  Particular. 
There  is  one  result,  however,  in  which  I  was  dis- 
appointed— a  disappointment  that  was  shared  by  all 
the  original  members— and  that  is,  that  there  were 
not  to  be  found  at  least  half  a  dozen  young  men  of 
leisure  and  means  in  the  city  and  county  of  Lancas- 
ter to  actively  identify  themselves  with  our  organi- 
zation, and  select  some  specialty  in  natural  science 
for  study  and  practical  amplification.  In  proportion 
to  the  wealth  and  population  of  our  county  there 
should  have  been  more  than  the  number  I  have  men- 
tioned ;  but  there  should  have  been  that  number  at 
least.  There  are  several  of  our  committees  that  have 
never  been  more  than  nominally  occupied.  When 
those  committees  were  created  it  was  expected  that 
they  would  have  been  filled  by  active  naturalists,  but 
it  has  been  otherwise. 

Where  True  Science  Leads. 
Of  course  it  cannot  be  expected  that  in  a  country 
constituted  as  ours,  is  any  very  great  numlierof  per- 
sons, in  any  community,  would  devote  their  minds 
and  energies  to  the  development  of  natural  science, 
although  there  are  many  young  men  who  would 
have  done  far  better  by  submitting  to  its  redeeming 
and  elevating  qualities  than  iu  pursuing  the  course 
they  have.  A  young  man  who  is  disinte'restedly  cul- 
tivating a  real  love  for  natural  science  cannot  be- 
come "tit  for  treasons,  for  strategems  and  forspoils," 
for  if  he  becomes  thoroughly  imbued  with  its  spirit 
it  cannot  but  "lead  him  up  through  nature  to  na- 
ture's God."  It  may  be  otherwise  where  the  aim  is 
no  higher  than  a  mere  pecuniary  speculation,  or 
where  it  is  pursued  from  merely  selfish  considerations. 
Who  the  Founders  Were. 
The  Linnsean  Society  was  developed  from  the 
Committee  on  Natural  Science  of  the  Athenaeum  and 
Historical  Society.  That  committee,  so  far  as  I  am 
able  to  recall  the  names  of  its  members,  consisted  of 
Professors  Haldeman,'  Porter  and  AVickersham,  .J. 
R.  Sypher,  J.  Stauffer,  Chas.  A.  Heinitsh,  Jno.  B. 
Kevinski,  J.  A.  Sheaff,  Wm.  L.  Gill,  J.  M.  Seitz, 
Chas.  B.  Grubb  and  S.  S.  Rathvon.  Some  among 
this  committee  felt  that  it  ought  not  to  be  merely  a 
dead  letter  in  the  annals  of  the  society,  conspicu- 
ously among  whom  were  Porter,  Sypher  and  Seitz  ; 
but  the  parent  society  atTorded  them  no  facilities. 
An  Independent  Organization. 
At  length  the  formation  of  an  independent  society 
was  proposed,  and  in  due  time  carried  into  elfect. 
Soon  a  collection  of  rocks,  fossils  and  shells,  donated 
by  Mr.  Sypher,  plants  by  Prof.  Porter,  minerals  by 
Kevinski,  insects,  minerals  and  books  by  Mr.  Stauf- 
fer and  myself,  Indian  relics  by  Mr.  Gill,  and  sundry 
other  donations,  culminated  in  the  nucleus  of  a  mu- 
seum, and  a  few  cases  were  provided  ;  and,  from 
that  feeble  beginning,  theu  and  there,  the  institu- 
tion has  been  brought  down  to  the  present  period. 
What  the  Linnaean  Possesses. 
The  material  that  the  society  has  already  accu- 
mulated would  count  many  thousands  of  specimens, 
and  would  require.three  timesthe  space  we  now  occupy 
to  separate,  classify,  and  systematically  arrange 
them  ;  and  until  this  is  done,  no  one  not  acquaint- 
ed with  the  collection  can  have  a  clear  conception  of 
■what  it  contains,  nor  can  it  perform  the  uses  intended 
by  a  scientific  museum.  But  this  should  not  work  a 
relaxation  of  our  eUbrts.  Even  in  its  present  condi- 
tion it  is  an  object  of  attraction  and  use  to  those  who 
may  avail  themselves  of  its  advantages.  Our  aim 
should  be  to  make  it  an  object  library,  to  which  the 
students  of  our  local  history  could  always  refer  with 
profit.  We  h»ve  done  more  during  the  last  year  to 
etfect  that  end  than  has  been  accomplished  in  any 
five  previous  years,  and  if  time  and  pecuniary  means 
can  be  obtained,  we  hope  to  effect  an  appreciable 
advance  during  the  present  year. 
No  Failures. 
During  those  seventeen  years  the  Linnaean  has 
never  failed,  but  in  two  instances,  to  hold  its  regular 
monthly  meetings,  and  to  annually  elect  its  board  of 
officers.  It  is  true,  its  meetings  were  at  no  time 
largely  attended,  but  it  always  had  a  quorum  pres- 
ent and  transacted  its  usual  business.  I  recall  with 
pleasure  its  early  excursions  and  field  meetings,  and 


often  regretted  that  they  were  subsequently  diverted 
from  their  original  aims  and  ends.  These  meetings 
were  finally  absorbed  by  the  "  Tiicqiian  Scientiflc 
and  Piscatorial  Assotiation,"  most  of  whose  mem- 
bership were  bent  upon  rural  recreation  only,  and 
had  very  little  practical  sympathy  with  the  Lin- 
naean. Our  visits  to  the  "Indian  Rocks"  in  the  Sus- 
quehanna, our  excursions  to  the  Colebrook  and 
Martic  Hills,  to  McCall's  Ferry,  to  Smithville 
Swamps  and  elsewhere  were  all  conducted  under  the 
inspirations  of,  and  for  the  collection  of  material, 
and  the  development  of,  natural  science.  But,  as  in 
all  similar  organizations,  some  of  its  early  working 
members  died,  some  removed  to  other  fields  of  labor, 
and  others  became  indifferent  or  cold. 

The  Friends  of  the  Linnaean. 
Let  me  not  be  understood  as  intimating  that  the 
Linnsan  Society  has  not  had  its  friends  and  patrons, 
who  have  always  felt  kindly  towards  it,  and  who 
have  generously  contributed  their  pecuniary  means 
towards  its  support,  so  far  as  they  deemed  it  expedi- 
ent, in  connection  with  other  obligations  almost 
without  number  constantly  resting  upon  them  ;  but 
its  friends  and  patrons  were  not  among  the  Asa 
Packers,  the  Samuel  George  Mortons,  the  Mr.  Par- 
dees  and  the  Doctor  Wilsonsof  society— those  whole- 
souled  men,  who  have  disinterestedly  endowed  simi- 
lar institutions  with  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sand!. I  believe  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  the 
society  when  I  say  it  feels  thankful  for  what  has 
been  done  for  it  from  time  to  time  ;  and  especially  to 
those  who  have  so  freely  assisted  it  during  the  past 
year.  But  still  we  must  regret  that  our  means  are 
too  scanty  to  place  it  upon  that  plane  of  use  to  the 
public  which  we  all  so  much  desire. 

Building  Better  than  They  Knew. 
In  this  connection  allow  me  to  suggest  that  we  are 
at  no  time  so  liable  to  suffer  from  the  underestima- 
tion of  the  public,  as  from  our  own  underestimation 
of  the  work  we  have  in  hand.  There  is  material 
enough  in  our  museum,  limited  as  it  may  appear, 
the  proper  investigation  of  which  would  occupy 
several  years.  The  future  may  develop  that  we  did 
not  know  whitherto  we  were  working.  "  We  do  not 
know  how  great  things  we  may  be  beginning  in  the 
little  achievements  of  the  present  hour."  The 
patriots  of  the  Revolution  had  no  conception  of  the 
mighty  empire,  the  foundations  of  which  were  laid, 
when  they  threw  off  the  British  yoke  a  hundred 
yeari  ago.  The  Rev.  David  Swing,  in  a  recent  dis- 
course in  reference  to  the  formation  of  language, 
said:  "  When  Dante  was  laying  the  foundations  of 
Italian  speech,  he  thought  he  was  only  singing  in  the 
memory  of  a  sainted  girl ;  and  when  Chaucer  was 
busy  with  the  construction  of  the  English  tongue, 
he  thought  he  was  only  telling  some  good  stories  for 
the  delight  of  the  few  around  his  feet." 

Looking  Hopefully  into  the  Future. 
We  of  the  present  day  are,  perhaps,  not  the  best 
qualified  to  tell  what  will  ultimately  become  of  the 
Linnaean  Society,  nor  what  ought  to  become  of  it,  if, 
in  the  order  of  Providence,  it  is  best  that  it  should 
be  continued.  Within  my  own  lifetime  the  Oreat 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  occupied  a  little  obscure 
room,  no  larger  than  ours,  in  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia. But,  should  it  peradventure  come  to  naught, 
it  cannot  be  erased  from  the  chronicles  of  history, 
and  at  the  very  worst,  it  will  only  be  catalogued 
with  the  things  that  were.  Our  aim  should  be  that 
such  a  reproach  may  not  fall  upon  us.  Not  neglect- 
ing other  more  pressing  duties,  let  us,  in  sustaining 
it,  do  all  we  can  ;  the  best  can  do  no  more,  and  in 
doing  all  lies  the  power  we  exercise — its  blessings 
and  its  compensations. 

This  paper  was  listened  to  with  profound  attention 
from  beginning  to  end ,  and  deemed  too  good  to  be  lost 
upon  the  few  members  present,  and,  on  motion,  he 
was  unanimously  requested  to  have  ft  published. 

Scientific  Miscellany 
was  indulged  in  :  On  prehistoric  ages-European 
ignorance  as  to  the  extent  of  our  country— the 
meagre  account  in  the  geographies  they  have  in  their 
schools.  Prof.  Dubbs  gave  some  graphic  specimens 
bearing  on  the  question  occurring  in  Germany  ;  Mrs. 
Gibbons  of  some  in  France.  Rev.  J.  S.  Stahr,  Dr. 
Baker,  Dr.  Davis  and  J.  Stauffer,  each  had  some- 
thing of  interest  to  say. 

After  a  pleasant  meeting  in  the  comfortable  room 
over  the  library,  they  parted,  well  pleased  with  the 
meeting  and  the  accommodations  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association's  neat  and  comfortable 
room.  Adjourned,  to  meet  the  last  Saturday  in  March. 

An  Ancient  House  and  Barn. 
We  were  shown,  by  Mr.  Levi  S.  Reist,  a  large  and 
excellent  photograph— by  Wm.  L.  Gill— of  Isaac 
Long's  house  and  barn,  in  Manheim  twp.,  near  Lan- 
dis  Valley,  both  buildings  being  considerably  over  100 
years  old.  The  barn  is  large,  part  stone  and  part 
frame,  and  was  built  in  1754.  It  stands  to-day  just 
as  it  was  built,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  addi- 
tional building.  The  house  is  even  older,  is  built  of 
stone,  and  is  noted  as  being  the  birthplace  of  the  de- 
nomination known  as  the  United  Bretlirenin  Christ— 
the  place  where  the  first  meeting  to  organize  that 
denomination  was  held.  The  buldings  were  remark- 
able for  size  and  convenience  when  built,  and  are  still 
in  a  state  of  excellent  preservation  .—A^ei«  JEra. 


Entomological. 


To  Destroy  the  Currant  Slug. 

A  number  of  remedies  are  lecommended  for  de- 
stroying the  currant  slug,  which  of  late  years  has 
become  a  sore  pest,  defoliating  the  bushes  and 
causing  the  fruit  to  wither,  or  at  least  not  to  mature 
fully.  A  certain  remedy  is  said  to  be  "  green  cedar 
bushes,  cut  in  small  pieces  and  scattered  under  the 
currant-bushes;"  and,  it  is  added,  "there  is  some- 
thing offensive  about  cedars  to  all  bugs  and  worms, 
and  they  do  not  approach  it."  This  may  be  true! 
But  we  have  some  positive  means  at  hand  to  gainsay 
it,  and  of  course  have  no  faith  in  it.  We  have  had 
so  many  "remedies"  of  this  kind  for  vermin  of  every 
description  which  have  never  proved  their  claims, 
that  we  have  become  a  little  "jubis."  We  know 
that  the  criptomeria  and  the  arbor  vitse  are  pre- 
ferred by  cei-tain  insects  to  attach  to  them  their  pro- 
pagating-houses,  having  with  our  own  hands  re- 
moved at  least  fifty  from  a  single  small  tree ;  and 
have  frequently  seen  the  same  ne'sts  on  the  American 
cedar  upon  our  own  premises. 

The  best  remedji,  in  our  judgment,  for  thi«  slug 
pest  is  the  application  of  a  solution  of  whale-oil 
soap,  (as  we  have  often  before  suggested,)  in  the 
proportion  of  one  pound  to  five  gallons  of  water, 
sprinkled  over  the  leaves  fi-om  a  watering-pot  with  a 
fine  nose.  It  is  certain  death  to  all  it  touches.  Car- 
bolic soap  will  no  doubt  answer  the  same  purpose, 
so  that  the  most  convenient  can  be  used. — Oerman- 
town  Telegraph. 

Cloverseed  Fly. 

A  Xeiv  Insect  PesC— At  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
New  York  State  Agricultural  Society,  held  at  Albany 
in  January  last,  J.  A.  Lintner,  of  the  State  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  read  a  paper  in  which,  among 
other  injurious  insects  recently  observed,  he  gave  an 
account  of  the  larva  of  an  insect  which  had  been  dis- 
covered two  years  ago  in  several  localities  in  Eastern 
and  Northern  New  York,  hidden  within  the  seed- 
pods  of  the  red  clover  (Trifolium  prateme,)  and 
destroying  the  seeds.  The  perfect  insect  had  not  yet 
been  seen,  but  the  examination  of  the  larva  showed 
it  to  belong  to  the  Cecidcmyid^,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility very  nearly  allied  to  the  "  Wheat  Midge," 
(Cecidomyia  destructor.)*  A  description  of  the  larva 
was  given  under  the  name  Cecidomyia  trifolu,n.  sp.— 
American  Naturalist  for  March,  1S79. 

Mr.  Lintner  says  :  "  The  range  of  this  insect's  dep- 
redations, or  the  extent  of  its  ravages,  are  as  yet  un- 
known. In  some  localities  in  the  western  counties  of 
the  State  of  New  York  clover  wag  so  infested  with  it 
that  it  was  worthless  for  seed.  It  is  believed  that 
not  infrequent  failures  heretofore  reported  of  the 
cloverseed  crop  throughout  the  country,  which  has 
been  ascribed  to  imperfect  fertilization  of  the  blos- 
soms and  various  causes,  has  been  the  result  of  the 
secret  operations  of  this  little  insect." 


A  Premature  Evolution. 
To-day  (Feb.  27)  Mr.  Geo.  O.  Hensel  brought  us  a 
fine  specimen  of  Atticus  (saynia)  cecropia,  the  "great 
appld  moth,"  which  evolved  from  its  pupa  sleep  last 
night  some  time,  and  the  moth  is  still  living,  but 
very  probably  will  die  before  the  advent  of  spring. 
Of  course,  the  evolution  took  place  within  doors,  as 
no  insect  would  have  vital  energy  enough  to  assume 
the  winged  state  as  such  a  night  as  last  night  was 
out  in  the  open  air,  except,  perhaps,  some  species  of 
the  Perlid,«  or  "shad-flies."  Nothing  seems  to 
govern  the  insect  world  in  their  evolutions  so  much 
as  heat.  It  has  been  the  habit  of  some  to  attribute 
extraordinary  instinctive  powers  to  insects,  and  al- 
though to  a  certain  extent,  and  in  certain  directions, 
they  are  extraordinarily  enijowed,  yet  in  their  trans- 
formations, and  especially  when  they  pass  from  the 
pupa  to  the  image  state,  they  cannot  tell  whether  the 
vitalizing  heat  around  them  is  natural  or  artificial, 
or  whether  the  season  is  winter  or  summer.  Now 
this  in  any  other  being  would  be  regarded  as  an  act 
of  indiscretion  as  well  as  indiscrimination.  The  in- 
cubation of  eggs  in  winter  often  occurs,  but  this  is 
not  so  remarkable  as  the  evolution  of  a  pupa,  but  it 
is  equally  as  detrimental  to  the  futurity  of  the  insect. 

Experiments  with  Moths. 

A  correspondent  of  Nature  describes  some  inter- 
esting experiments  upon  moths  to  test  their  sense  of 
smell  and  hearing.  Certain  moths  when  captured 
feign  death.  While  they  are  thus  motionless  if  a 
sharp  sound  be  made,  such  as  is  produced  by  strik- 
ing a  piece  of  glass,  they  will  he  suddenly  roused 
and  will  attempt  to  fly.  On  the  other  hand,  a  strong 
solution  of  ammonia,  uncorked  close  to  moths,  has 
no  effect  in  driving  them  away  ;  they  do  not  seem  to 
smell  it,  and  only  move  away  from  the  fumes  slowly 
when  oppressed  by  them.  The  result  of  the  latter 
experiment  is  contrary  to  the  common  opinion,  which 
has  been  that  the  smelling  powers  of  moths  were  un- 
usually strong,  and  that  camphor  was  the  best  remedy 
for  them,  on  account  of  its  strong  odor. 

•Is  not  this  an  error?  Cecidomyia  deMructor  is  known  in 
Penuaylvaula  as  the  Hessian  Fly ;  and  the  "Wlieat  Midge," 
or  "Wheat  Fly,"  as  the  Cecidomi/id  tnticx. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


47 


Agriculture. 


Deep  and  Shallow  Plowing. 

Few  eulijectt  atlnicl  more  atleutioii  ami  i,'ive  rise 
to  more  discusBioii  ami  want  ofa^'roriiifiiL,  tliantliat 
of  the  depth  of  plowii);;.  Many  do  uol  consider  tlic 
very  important  fact  tliat  deep  and  shallow  plowing 
depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  soil.  The  truth  Is, 
there  are  many  soils  in  which  if  one  plow  deep  lie 
may  find  great  protlt  in  so  doing  ;  but  on  the  other 
hand,  there  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  acres  of 
land  where  it  is  sheer  madness  to  plow  deep.  On 
flat  clay  land  where  water  cannot  drain  rapidly 
away,  and  where  the  lack  of  drainage  is  the  bane  of 
the  cultivator,  It  is  found  by  experience  that  a  shal- 
low but  rich  surface  soil  is  much  better  than  a  deeply- 
stirred  one.  And  the  reason  is  obvious.  If  water  be 
an  injury,  and  it  cannot  get  into  the  soil  by  reason  of 
the  hardness  of  the  subsoil,  the  rain  will  pass  over 
the  surface  to  the  open  ditches,  which  always  have 
to  be  made  in  a  Hal  country.  If  we  loosen  such  soil 
deeply,  we  harbor  more  of  our  liquid  enemy,  and 
that  counterbalances  what  otherwise  might  be  a 
good  thing  in  a  deep  soil.  Besides  these,  there  are 
other  cunsidcratlous.  If  the  surface-soil  be  poor, 
and  we  turn  this  down  into  a  still  poorer  subsoil,  we 
bury  what  little  good  there  might  have  been  in  the 
surface  soil  far  below  the  reach  of  the  roots. 

A  little  learning  is  undoubtedly  a  dangerous  thing 
in  farming.  There  is  no  department  in  industry 
wherein  circnmstanccs  alter  cases  more  than  in  this. 
While  deep  plowing  is  an  excellent  thing  when  cir- 
cumstances suit,  there  are  innumerable  cases  when 
it  is  wise  to  go  the  other  vfay-.—Oermaiitoum  Tel. 

Sowing  Oats  Early. 
In  few  things  have  the  advantages  of  an  under- 
dratn  soil  shown  to  better  etfect  than  in  oat-growing. 
Light  soils  are  not  lavorable  to  the  oat,  and  yet  it  is 
the  light  soils  which  are  the  early  ones.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  oat  requires  a  moderately  low  temperature, 
of  at  least  two  months,  to  perfect  its  root-organiza- 
tion. It  ought  to  be  one  of  the  earliest  crops  sown 
j  1b  the  spring,  but  our  strong  soils,  on  which  the  oat 
does  best,  are  often  wet  soils,  and  very  unfavorable 
to  early  sowing. 

Those  who  have  strong  soils,  and  yet  tolerably  dry, 
have  the  very  best  of  oat  laud,  and  those  who  have 
not  must  watch  every  chance  to  get  the  seed  in  early 
if  they  would  have  the  best  results.  Those  who 
know  this  and  yet  have  land  for  oats  which  they  feel 
they  will  hardly  be  able  to  seed  before  the  end  of 
April,  sometimes  prepare  the  land  in  the  fall,  and 
then  sow  the  seed  on  the  snow  in  February.  Snow  in 
our  regions  is  too  precarious  to  found  any  system 
thereon.  We  may  have  snow  or  we  may  not.  But 
in  the  Western  States,  where  snow  is  a  regular  thing 
at  that  time  of  the  year  we  notice  that  the  practice 
is  growing  into  favor.  Those  wlio  have  tried  it  say 
the  seed  sprouts  as  soon  a.s  the  first  warm  days  of 
spring  come,  some  two  weeks  at  least  ahead  of  the 
regular  April  sowings,  and  the  crop  proportionately 
increased.  We  may  not  find  this  plan  everywhere 
feasible,  but  we  may  be  encouraged  always  to  sow  at 
the  earliest  time  practicable. 

American  Wheat  in  Spain. 
The  first  cargo  of  American  wheat  was  landed  in 
Barcelona,  Spain,  about  November  15th,  and  created 
quite  a  sensation  among  the  dealers.  Previously 
most  of  the  wheat  handled  at  that  market  has  been 
Black  Sea  and  Hungarian,  but  the  American  was 
judged  to  be  equal  to  the  best  grades  of  those  varie- 
ties, and  this  cargo  has  called  tor  about  ^^5  cargoes 
more.  The  amount  of  the  shipment  was  7:;,000 
bushels,  the  price  obtained  8:i.70  per  VlO  lbs.,  and  the 
cost  of  the  freight  was  $18,000.  The  only  unwelcome 
feature  of  this  item  of  news  is  that  the  grain 
was  carried  in  a  British  steamer,  and  that  the 
cargoes  further  bargained  for  are  to  be  carried  In 
British  vessels.  We  have  at  present  no  direct  steam 
communication  with  the  ports  of  the  Mediterranean. 
Not  until  American  steamship  lines  arc  established 
to  all  prominent  foreign  markets  can  we  hope  for  the 
best  returns  from  the  sale  of  the  products  of  our 
farms,  mines  and  factories. — thiterican  Agricttllurht 
for  February  1. 

Salt  as  a  Manure. 

We  have  applied  salt  to  our  garden,  say  at  inter- 
vals of  from  six  to  eight  years,  for  twenty-flve  or 
thirty  years.  We  could  not  discover  that  it  had  any 
particular  effect.  We  believe,  however,  that  it  had 
a  good  effect,  besides  destroying  insect  life.  We  use 
it  almost  annually  on  the  asparagus  beds,  as  most 
persons  do,  and  know  that  the  plant  greatly  thrives 
upon  it.  In  wheat  fields  it  tends  to  stiflen  the  straw 
and  acts  thus  as  a  protection  against  storms,  which 
lay  low  so  many  llclds.  It  also  attracts  moisture, 
and  in  times  of  drought  acts  favorably  In  this  way. 
But  that  it  is  a  manure  in  any  sense,  or  that  it  will 
show  Itself  after  the  first  crop  is  removed,  we  do  not 
believe.  It  is  a  question  for  the  observing  farmer  to 
decide  whether  or  not  its  application  will  "  pay." 

In  England  it  has  loDg  been  experimented  with  in 


every  way,  as  a  fertilizer,  and  the  farmers  there  are 
as  much  in  the  dark  about  it  to-day  as  they  were  at 
the  beginning.  The  .Uark  Lane  Kxprest,  regarded 
as  good  authority  tlicre,  says  that  there  is  no  clear 
eviili'uce  even  as  to  Its  mode  of  action,  as  the  results 
arc  BO  varying  that  they  are  "conflicting  and  con- 
tradictory." 

American  Produce  Abroad. 
At  the  dairy  shows  in  Kngland,  American  factory 
cheese  took  such  a  prominent  position  as  to  cause  the 
London  rimex  to  say  It  was  driving  "  English  Clicd- 
dnr's  out  of  the  market."  Be  It  understood  that 
English  Cheddar  cheese  is  of  a  similar  grade  to  the 
American  factory  product,  and  is  the  main  reliance 
of  the  English  market.  A  prominent  American  gen- 
tlemen writes  from  Vienna  that  the  prospects  of  this 
country,  as  viewed  from  abroad,  promise  an  era  of 
great  prosperity,  because  .we  arefinding  a  market  In 
other  lands  for  so  much  of  our  produce  :  horses,  cat- 
tle, dead  meat,  butter,  cheese,  grain  and  manufac- 
tured goods.  The  larger  proportion  of  animal  pro- 
ducts we  can  ship  abroad  the  better,  for  that  means 
that  we  are  feeding  grain,  and  thereby  saving  the 
fertility  of  our  farms.  For,  they  are  more  exhausted 
by  selling  grain  than  by  feeding  it  and  selling  meat, 
butter,  cheese,  etc.,  and  by  the  latter  course  we  get 
two  prices  for  the  grain  ;  one  in  the  product  sold  and 
one  iu  the  manure.— America;*  Agriculturist  for 
Febrnanj  1. 


Horticulture. 


Pruning  Fruit  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

We  read  a  great  deal  about  the  proper  time  of 
pruning  trees,  and  especially  the  apple  tree.  Some 
prefer  fall,  some  midwinter,  some  early  spring,  but 
scarcely  one  recommends  the  very  best  time  in  our 
humble  opinion— mirfsMmmfr.  Doubtless  some  old 
fogies  will  open  their  eyes  and  hold  up  their  hands  at 
such  an  innovation,  and  denounce  it  as  an  absurdity; 
but  we  think  we  will  be  sustained  by  a  majority  of 
the  "live"  men  of  the  day. 

If  we  desire  to  improve  the  form  of  a  fruit  tree 
and  get  rid  of  some  of  the  superfluous  wood,  we 
should  prune  in  the  winter  ;  but  if  we  desire  fruit 
and  a  perfectly  healed  stump,  we  should  prune  from 
the  fifteenth  of  June  to  the  twentieth  of  July.  We 
have  done  this  often  with  the  happiest  results.  The 
fruit-buds  form  af.er  this,  and  the  operation  In  sud- 
denly cutting  off  its  growth,  produces  buds  ;  while 
the  winter  or  early  spring  pruning  will  produce  only 

In  pruning  ornamental  trees  in  midsummer,  the 
bark,  instead  of  receding  from  the  stump,  grows 
over  it,  and  in  a  few  years  will  completely  cover  it 
:iii(l  iiKike  a  perfect  amputation.  We  have  noticed 
tijis  ii|i(iii  our  own  premises,  as  well  as  upon  those  of 
otlicr.s,  nuiny  times.  This  pruning  is  done  when  the 
tree  is  taking  its  midsummer  "  siesta,"  and  then 
wakes  up,  refreshed  for  another  start,  and  the  bark 
gradually  steals  over  the  stump  as  if  ashamed  of  the 
shabby-looking  exposure. 

When  the  tree  is  in  full  leaf,  and  presents  its  full 
form  to  us,  we  can  see  exactly  where  the  pruning 
should  be  done,  in  order  that  while  the  overgrowth 
may  be  removed,  the  symmetry  of  the  tree  may  be 
preferred.  Especially  is  midsummer  pruning  to  be 
preferred,  first,  tc  produce  buds  on  fruit-bearing 
trees  as  before  stated  ;  and  second  when  large  limbs 
are  to  be  removed. 


Hide-Bound  Trees. 

The  practice  of  slitting  the  outer  bark  of  fruit 
trees  perpendicularly  has  its  friends  and  enemies. 
We  are  of  the  latter.  It  deals  with  the  effect  instead 
of  the  cause.  The  cambium  layer  is  that  from  which 
a  zone  of  growth  (in  exogenous  plants)  is  annually 
added  both  to  the  sap-wood  and  to  the  inner  bark. 
The  outer  bark  is  flually  exfoliated,  or  rent  in  fissures 
and  scaled  off  by  the  action  of  the  weather.  Trees 
that  are  starved  increase  in  growth  slowly,  and  the 
outer  bark  becomes  so  indurated  as  to  resist,  to  a 
certain  extent,  their  growth  by  retarding  the  upward 
passage  of  the  crude  sap  from  the  roots  to  the  leaves, 
and  of  the  elaborated  sap  from  the  leaves  downward. 
But  we  think  it  may  be  questioned  whether  it  is  not 
well  that  its  growth  should  be  retarded.  Surely  If 
it  is  true  that  a  treebecomes  "hide-bound"  because  it 
is  starved,  increasing  its  size  is  not  going  to  remedy 
the  evil,  since  we  do  but  furnish  more  mouths,  so  to 
speak,  to  be  fed  by  the  same  amount  of  food. 

W«  have  seen  many  trees  thus  treated.  The  stems 
would  noticeably  Increase  in  size  the  next  year  or  so ; 
but  there  was  no  corresponding  evidence  of  vigor 
apparent.  In  most  instances  it  has  seemed  to  us 
their  vigor  was  impaired.  These  perpendicular  slits, 
moreover,  afford  convenient  lodgments  for  water  or 
moisture,  ai  d  insects  seek  such  crevices  for  shelter 
or  for  depositing  their  eggs.  It  seems  to  us  tliat  the 
natural  remedy  for  hide-bound  trees  is  to  enrich  the 
earth  as  far  as  the  roots  extend,  and  that  then  the 
cambium  layer,  increased  In  quantity  and  nutriment, 
will  so  form  new  liber  and  alburnum  that  the  outer 
bark  must  expand  and  the  stem  soon  become  evenly 
and  sufficiently  devdoped. 


Early  Cabbages  and  Tomatoes. 

Many  people  go  without  these  nice  llllle  garden 
thIngB;  lieiause  they  are  a  long  distance  away  from 
where  the  plants  are  sold  ;  or  because  they  don't 
want  the  trouble  to  make  a  bed  to  raise  seeds  of  such 
plants  when  they  want  but  a  few  dozen  of  each  kind. 
But  where  this  Is  the  case  all  one  needs  may  be  raised 
in  a  box  of  earth  on  the  kitchen  window,  or  any  part 
of  the  house  where  ihers  is  light  and  a  very  little 
warmth. 

This  is  often  done  with  the  tomato,  but  the  cab- 
bage can  be  raised  In  the  same  way,  or  even  better, 
for  the  tomato  must  be  always  secure  from  tlie  frost, 
while  a  little  of  this  will  not  affect  the  young  plant 
or  seed  of  the  cabbage.  Of  the  early  cabliuge  few 
people  want  more  than  '^5  or  50,  and  a  ten-cent  paper 
and  a  box  of  about  a  foot  square  will  proilucc  this 
quantity  with  a  very  little  trouble.  For  early  cabbage 
tliey  may  be  sown  at  once  In  this  way. 

There  "is  often  much  tronble  in  raising  late  cabbage 
seed,  on  account  of  the  ravages  of  the  fly,  when  tlie 
attempt  is  made  in  the  open  ground  ;  but  where  only 
a  few  are  needed  they  might  probably  be  raised  In 
this  way,  and  thus  be  secured  against  danger  from 
this  little  pest.  No  doubt  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
could  very  well  be  raised  in  a  small  box  of  this  kind, 
and  unless  where  there  Is  a  tolerably  large  sauer- 
kraut barrel,  ought  to  furnish  a  respectable  supply 
for  any  moderate  family.  The  late  cabbage  seed 
ought  not  to  be  sown  before  the  middle  of  .March, 
and  the  tomato  not  much  before  that  either. 


Household  Recipes. 


How  TO  Nectkalize  Ski-.nks'  Odor.— Take  the 
odorized  clothing  and  bury  them  under  ground  for 
three  or  four  days  ;  then  take  them  out  and  give  them 
a  good  airing. 

How  TO  Pickle  A UTifnoKES.— Scrape  and  wash 
a  peck  of  artichokes  ;  put  vinegar  in  an  earthen  pot, 
enough  to  cover  them  ;  add  to  each  pint  half  a  pound 
sugar  and  a  teaspoonlul  of  ground  cinnamon,  five  or 
six  blades  of  mace,  or  half  a  grated  nutmeg.  Boil 
them  in  this  vinegar  until  you  can  run  a  knitting- 
needle  through  them. 

How  TO  Destrov  Motus  in  Featueks.- Take 
them  out  of  the  tick  and  put  them  on  your  fruit- 
dryer,  and  then  put  them  into  your  oven  after  you 
have  taken  out  your  bread.  Put  the  tick  into  the 
oven  also  in  the  same  way.  Let  them  remain  in  for 
an  hour  or  two  and  it  will  kill  them  all.  If  your  furs 
are  infested  with  moths  wrap  them  in  newspapers 
and  treat  them  in  the  same  manner. 

How  TO  FmcASSEE  Chickrx.— Take  your  chick- 
ens and  divide  them  ;  boil  them  until  they  are  nearly 
tender,  in  salt  water ;  take  them  out  of  the  water 
and  drain  them.  Put  a  piece  of  butter  in  a  pan  ;  let 
it  get  hot,  and  then  lay  in  your  pieces  of  cliieken  and 
fry  them  into  a  nice  brown.  Take  them  up  and  put 
a  very  little  flour  in  the  pan  and  let  it  brown.  Pour 
three  tablespoonsful  of  water  in  the  pau  and  let  It 
boil  up,  and  then  serve. 

Potatoes  and  "  Nep  "  (Ksepf) — An  frith 
Z)i«A.— Boil  some  potatoes  that  you  have  previously 
sliced  about  half  an  inch  thick.  When  they  b;gin 
to  get  toft,  put  in  the  'nep  dough,  which  you  make 
by  taking  one  quart  of  wheat  Hour,  one  teaspoonful 
of  soda,  and  salt  to  taste  ;  mix  these  with  the  flour  ; 
add  two  eggs  well  beaten,  and  thick  milk  enough  to 
make  a  stiff  batter.  It  raises  up  very  much,  but 
should  be  eaten  as  soon  as  it  is  done. 

How  TO  Stkw  Soup  Beans.— Take  one  pint  of 
soup  beans  and  pour  boiling  water  over  them  until 
they  are  covered  two  or  three  inches,  for  they  will 
swell ;  let  them  stand  at  least  three  hours  ;  put  them 
over  the  Are  in  pure  hot  water— no  salt.  They  will 
boll  soft  in  about  30  or  40  minutes.  Drain  the  water 
off  and  put  In  one  cupful  of  sweet  milk,  a  lump  of 
butter  the  size  of  a  walnut,  and  salt  to  the  taste; 
turn  them  into  a  "boat,"  add  pepper,  and  send  them 
to  the  table. 

How  TO  Make  Turnip  Salad.— Take  six  turnips 
and  slice  them  on  a  slaw-cutter  ;  put  them  in  a  stew- 
pan  with  water  enough  to  boil  them  soft.  While 
they  are  boiling  take  another  pan  and  put  in  a  large 
tablespoonful  of  butler,  and  let  it  get  hot,  but  not 
burn  ;  as  soon  as  your  turnips  are  lender  turn  them 
into  the  pan  containing  the  butter,  having  previously 
drained  all  the  water  off  the  turnips  ;  put  In  one 
spoonful  of  sugar,  pepper  and  sail  to  suit  the  taste  ; 
let  them  fry,  but  not  to  make  them  brown.  Pour  in 
a  half  pint  of  vinegar  ;  stir  it  a  few  minutes  longer, 
and  serve  either  warm  or  cold. — LeoHne. 

Tahle  Sauce.— There  is  no  reason  why  you  should 
not  sometimes  have  a  nice  relish  for  cold  meats  when 
you  can  make  a  pint  of  It  for  six  cents,  so  I  will  give 
you  a  receipt  for  it.  (let  a  bunch  of  tarragon;  it 
wiircost  five  cents  In  the  summer,  when  it  Is  green 
and  strong,  and  not  much  more  in  the  winter;  put 
it  in  an  earthen  l)Owl  and  pour  on  it  one  pint  of 
scalding-hot  vinegar ;  cover  it  and  let  It  stand  until 
the  next  day  ;  then  strain  it  and  put  it  into  a  bottle, 
which  you  must  cork  tight.  Either  put  more  hot 
vinegar  on  the  tarragon  or  dry  it,  and  save  It  until 


48 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[March,  1879. 


you  want  to  make  more.  You  may  make  a  gallon 
of  sauce  from  one  buncb,  only  every  time  you  use  it 
you  must  let  it  stand  a  day  \oBger. —  Tweidy-Jlfe 
Cent  Dimien. 

Broiled  Kidneys.— Mix  together  in  a  deep  plate 
the  following  ingredients,  whieh  will  cost  three 
cents  :  One  ounce  of  butter,  half  a  level  teaspoouful 
of  pepper,  one  teaspoouful  each  of  mustard,  and  any 
table  sauce  or  vinegar,  and  as  much  cayenne  as  you 
can  take  upon  the  point  of  a  small  pen-knife  blade  ; 
toast  half  a  loaf  of  stale  bread  (cost  three  cents), 
cut  in  slices  one  inch  thick ;  wash,  split  and  broil 
one  pound  of  pigs'  or  sheep's  kidneys  (cost  ten  cents 
or  less)  ;  while  the  kidneys  are  broiling  dip  the  toast 
in  the  lirst  named  seasonings,  lay  it  on  a  hot  dish, 
and  lay  the  kidneys  on  it  a6"soou  as  they  are  broiled  ; 
seaeon  them  with  salt  and  pepper,  and  serve  them 
hot  with  one  quart  of  plain  boiled  potatoes  (cost 
three  cents).  The  cost  of  the  entire  dinner  will  be 
le«s  than  twenty  cents.— Twaity-fivc  Cent  Dinners. 

Soup.— Take  about  four  pounds  of  good  lean  meat, 
and  boil  in  about  four  quarts  of  water;  pare  about 
six  small  onions,  and  the  same  quantity  of  celery, 
cut  in  pieces  an  inch  long  ;  one  yellow  turnip  cut  in 
small  pieces,  and  the  same  quantity  of  potatoes  ;  boil 
in  a  separate  saucepan  until  half  done,  as  that  rids 
the  vegetables  of  a  part  of  the  unpleasant  smell ; 
when  the  meat  is  tender  remove  it  from  the  broth  and 
add  the  vegetables — not  the  water  they  were  boiled 
in  ;  then  beat  well  one  egg  and  one  tablespoonful  of 
milk,  thicken  with  prepared  flour;  drop  in  small 
quantities  to  soak  ;  the  soup  is  ready  to  be  taken  up, 
as  it  must  not  boil  more  than  five  minutes,  or  it  will 
make  it  too  thick  ;  if  the  meat  is  allowed  to  remain 
in  the  soup  after  it  is  tender  the  soup  will  be  full  of 
fragments  of  it.  This  soup  is  excellent,  and  as  good 
the  next  day. 


Poultry. 


Non-Hatching  Eggs. 

In  relation  to  the  infertility  of  eggs  during  the 
season  of  1S77,  the  American  Poultry  Yard  says  : 

"  Various  causes  have  been  assigned  for  this  non- 
fertility  ;  but  the  impotency  of  the  male  birds  is  the 
fruitful  one.  Whei'e  fowls  have  been  kept  artificially 
— penned  up  in  close  quarters,  without  access  to  the 
green  fields  or  pastures — this  ill  luck  has  been  espe- 
cially noticeable,  when  the  eggs  laid  by  hens  thus  con- 
fined have  been  used  or  sold  for  incubating  purposes. 

"No  matter  how  hardy  and  vigorous  m.ay  be  the 
natural  constitution  of  the  breed  of  fowls  or  how 
sprightly  and  useful  the  cocks  that  are  in  use  as  breed- 
ers may  appear  to  be,  these  males  cannot  endure  ab- 
solute foutincineiit  and  prove  really  serviceable  in  the 
brcediuir  season,  as  a  rule. 

"Tliey  must  have  exercise,  green  food,  a  run 
daily  outside  the  house  limits,  and  not  be  forced  to 
eat  too  much  dry  food,  or  go  hungry.  Give  these 
breeding  birds  plenty  of  good  succulent  food.  Let 
them  have  fresh  air  and  plenty  of  exercise  every  day, 
oven  in  winter  time.  And  so  you  will  find  a  large 
proportion  of  the  eggs  will  be  impregnated,  and  will 
hatch  much  more  successfully  in  spring  time." 

How  to  Manage  Setters. 

Sear  Sir :  I  think  that  much  is  to  be  gained  by 
regularity  in  the  management  of  incubating  hens. 
Many  folks  allow  the^  setters  to  remain  upon  the 
nests  as  long  as  they  please,  come  ofi'  when  so  in- 
clined, and  return  at  their  leisure.  This  is  not  the 
best  way,  as  I  look  at  it,  and  I  have  worked  long 
and  thonght  much  on  this  matter. 

If  a  hen  is  not  taken  oflf  her  nest  daily  she  will 
certainly  befoul  it.  This  helps  to  breed  lice  and 
renders  her  uncomfortable.  If  left  to  herself  to  go 
on  and  ofi",  as  she  pleases,  the  chances  are  that  she 
will  at  some  time  allow  more  or  less  of  her  eggs  to 
chill,  in  extreme  cold  weather.  I  therefore  deem  it 
always  best  to  remove  and  replace  her  every  morning, 
and  so  keep  her  steady  at  her  work.  Some  hens  can 
attend  to  themselves,  and  some  don't  know  enough 
to  go  in  when  it  rains,  hardly.  They  think  they 
must  stick  to  their  eggs  as  if  the  universe  depended 
on  it.  Give  me  regularity  and  system  every  time. — 
N.  K.  Drake,  in  American  Poultry  Yard. 


female.  If  you  speak  of  two  fowls  of  one  kind,  you 
would  more  properly  call  them  "  a  couple,"  than  "  a 
pun-."— Editor  Poultry  Yard.;\ 

The  Best  Kind  of  Eggs. 
Eggs  for  hatching  should  be  chosen  of  the  fair  aver- 
age size,  usually  laid  by  the  hen  they  are  from,  any  un- 
usually large  or  small  being  rejected.  Some  hens  lay 
extremely  large  eggs  and  others  small  ones.  A  fat  hen 
will  always  lay  siriall  eggs,  which  can  only  produce 
small  and  weakly  chickens.  Absolute  size  in  eggs  is, 
therefore, of  butlittle  importance.  Round,  short  eggs 
areusually  the  best  to  select ;  very  long  eggs,  especi- 
ally if  much  pointed  at  the  small  end,  almost  always 
breed  birds  with  some  awkwardness  in  style  or  car- 
riage. Neither  should  rough-shelled  eggs  be  chosen  ; 
they  usually  show  some  derangement  of  the  organs, 
and  are  often  sterile.— /'on^^ci/  Yard. 

What  and  How  to    Feed. 

The  readiness  with  which  fowls  will  eat  the  various 
garden  vegetables  depends  on  habit  or  education,  if 
we  may  use  so  pretentious  a  word.  In  winter  chop 
up  carrots,  turnips,  beets,  mangolds,  or  cheap  seed- 
ling apples,  if  the  latter  can  be  afforded  ;  and  to 
teach  fowls  to  eat  these,  thoroughly  mix  with  meal 
till  appetite  is  acquired,  when  they  may  be  given 
alone,  and  alternately  raw  and  cooked.  Boiled 
potatoes  and  raw  cabbages  will  generally  be  eaten 
without  previous  training,  and  this  fact  indicates 
that  they  are  the  best  vegetable  food  for  winter.— 
Poultry  Yard. 

Degeneracy  in  Fowls. 

"Subscriber,"  at  Darham,  Conn.,  is  informed  that 
fowls  or  turkeys  are  best  bred  by  a  change  of  mates, 
at  least  as  often  as  every  other  year.  It  is  quite  as 
well  to  change  the  cocks  every  spring,  to  prevent  de- 
generacy in  the  blood.  Breeding  continually  from 
the  same  parentage  will,  in  a  few  years,  "run  out  " 
the  stock,  so  that  its  best  points  and  characteristics 
will  almost  certainly  disappear  ;  and,  at  the  best,  the 
progeny  from  the  same  line  bred  in-and-in  for  a  few 
generations  successively,  will  deteriorate  very  largely. 
—Poultry  Yard. 

Poultry  should  not  be  plucked  too  soon  after 
killing.  If  feathers  are  pulled  out  while  the  blood 
is  still  fluid,  th8  vesicle  at  the  root  of  each  feather 
becomes  engorged  and  the  skin  spotted.  Don't  feed 
before  killing  ;  a  fowl  killed  while  digestion  is  going 
on  will  hardly  keep  a  week. 


LITERARY  AND  PERSONAL. 


Questions. 

Dear  Sir:  Will  you  please  answer  the  following 
questions  through  the    Yard: 

1.  How  to  stop  my  hens  from  dropping  soft- 
shelled  eggs  from  the  roosts  at  night.  I  have  found 
more  than  one  egg  of  this  kind  in  my  nests  during 
the  past  year,  and  my  hens  (White  Leghorns)  get 
plenty  of  lime,  etc.,  to  form  egg  shells  ;  2.  When  a 
person  speaks  of  a  pair  of  anything,  does  he  always 
mean  male  or  female,  unless  otherwise  stated  ?— /. 
T.  G.,Easton,  Pa. 

[Reply.— 1st.  Our  correspondent  says  his  hens 
have  "  plenty  of  lime,  etc."  They  should  have  a 
gravel  run,  a  gravel  floor  to  their  house,  or  plenty  of 
gravel  in  some  shape  (as  well  as  lime),  at  all  times. 
If  they  have  range,  when  fowls  can  be  out  of  deors, 
they  will  do  belter  still.  See  our  olt-repeated  re- 
marks about  exercise ;  2.  A  "pair"  is  a  male  and 


The  Ferns  of  North  America. — By  Professor 
Daniel  C.  Eaton,  of  Yale  College,  beautifully  illus- 
trated with  colored  plates  by  Mr.  James  H.  Emerton. 
Published  by  S.  E.Cassino,  naturalist  agency,  Salem, 
Mass.  We  have  just  received  the  12th  and  13th 
parts  of  this  beautiful  quarto  (on  the  Ferns  of  North 
America,)  containing  6  full  page  plates,  with  43 
figures,  amply  illustrating  the  difterent  parts  of  this 
most  interesting  family  of  plants.  If  ever  there  was 
a  work  published  adapted  to  the  convenience  of  those 
in  middle  life  or  advanced  in  years — when  the  facul- 
ties of  vision  are  beginning  to  fail— it  is  to  be  found 
in  this  publication,  even  if  the  ferns  themselves  were 
not  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  botanical  studies, 
and  the  subjects  easy  of  access',  conveniently  manipu- 
lated, and  showy  in  an  herbarium.  The  qu.ality  of 
the  paper,  the  type,  the  printing,  the  engraving  and 
coloring  are  the  best  that  the  present  pei-iod  can 
command,  and  are  very  superior.  Price,  jfl.OO  per 
part,  postage  paid,  and  will  be  completed  in  not  less 
than  '10  numbers,  and  not  more  than  2+,  payable  on 
delivery,  at  intervals  of  about  two  months.  As  tills 
work,  when  completed,  will  contain  about  7.5  full 
page  plates,  about  .500  figures,  and  illustrate  all  the 
known  ferns  in  North  America,  down  to  the  present 
time,  we  consider  it  cheap— I'eri/  cheajy. 

The  American  Poultry  Yard.— A  weekly  illus- 
trated journal,  devoted  specially  to  the  interests  of 
fowl  breeders,  fanciers,  farmers,  markets  and 
dealers.  A.  H.  Stoddard,  publisher,  Hartford, 
Conn.;  §1.50  a  year;  single  number,  four  cents. 
This  is  a  remarkably  cheap  and  well-executed  16  by 
22  folio  of  4  pages,  with  all  the  novelties  in  chicken- 
dom  illustrated  weekly,  as  they  successively  are  de- 
veloped. Its  contributions  are  all  brief,  terse  and 
practically  to  the  point,  and,  doubtless,  on  that  ac- 
count, it  is  preferabl  •  to  most  readers  to  the  Poultry 

World,  by  the  same  publisher.  The  relation  these 
two  journals  occupy  to  each  other  is  very  similar  to 
that  of  day-book  and  ledger.  In  an  emergency  one 
might  dispense  with  the  ledger  and  run  his  business 
with  dav-book  alone ;  but  as  soon  as  his  circum- 
stances warranted  it,  be  certainly  would  patronize 
both.  Although  seemingly  occupying  this  relation 
to  the  lloi-i(<,  it  does  not  occupy  the  same  ground 
practically.  It  contains  more  oi'  the  familiar  weekly 
gossip  than  its  contemporary,  and  less  of  its  standard 
poultry  literature.  There  is  not  a  contribution,  an 
advertisement,  an  anecdote,  an  inquiry  and  reply 
that  does  not  in  some  way  relate  to  "chicken 
fixens  "  and  their  feathered  co-relatives.  We  hope  it 
may  have  a  large  vacancy  to  fill. 


Washington  Departmental  Review. — A  com- 
pendium history  of  Governmental  operations  (en- 
tered according  to  an  act  of  Congress) .  Terms,  ?1.00 
per  annum  ;  single  copies  10  cents.  This  is  an  ex- 
cellently well-gotten  up  quarto  of  Ifi  pages.  No.  1, 
Vol.  1,  for  January,  a  copy  of  which  has  reached  our 
table.  Published  by  Walter  J.  Brooks,  in  the  office 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress.  We  append  the  con- 
tents of  the  number,  from  which  its  peculiar  scope 
may  be  judged.  Advertisements  (only  one  page), 
Agriculture  Department ;  Congress  ;  Department  of 
Justice ;  Editorial ;  Executive ;  Interior  Depart- 
ment ;  Navy,  State,  Postofflce ;  Secret  Service  Di- 
vision;  Treasury  Department;  War,  &e.  There  is 
a  very  large  amount  of  Governmental  statistics  in 
these  pages,  besides  what  is  being  done  by  Congress 
and  the  difterent  departments.  Nothing  at  all  about 
Congressional  and  departmental  discu.ssions  on  doing 
and  "undoing,  but  what  has  actually  been  done  and 
undone.  This  is  an  entirely  new  journal,  and  now, 
since  it  has  made  a  beginning,  we  may  well  wonder 
why  such  an  enterprise  was  not  begun  twenty-five  or 
fifty  years  ago.  The  work  is  of  great  value  to  those 
who  take  an  interest  in  the  Government. 

Wallace's  Monthly  comes  to  us  this  month 
brim  full  of  good,  wholesome  reading.  "The  Sire 
of  Justin  .Morgan,"  "  The  Guernsey  Cow,"  "Origin 
of  the  Morgan  Horse,"  "Thoughts  on  Breeding," 
"Polled  Cattle,"  with  a  finely  illustrated  article 
upon  an  Oregon  Breeding  Stable,  are  among  its  most 
interesting  papers.  The  leailing  article,  "The 
Percheron  of  Paris  and  of  the  Prairies,"  by  the 
editor,  is  full  of  practical  common  sense.  In  the 
editorial  department,  Mr.  Wallace  continues  his 
discussion,  "  Do  we  need  any  more  Running  Blood 
in  the  Trotter?"  Mr.  L.  S.  Hardin,  the  editor  of  the 
cattle  department,  has  an  article  entitled,  "A  Cow 
Test."  Published  by  John  H.  Wallace,  212  Broad- 
way, N.  Y.,  at  $3.00  per  year. 

Landreth's  Rural  Register  and  Almanac 
I'OK  1879. — Published  annually  for  gratuitous  distri- 
bution ;  containing  also  David  Landreth  &  Sons' 
Price  List  of  Garden  Seeds  for  1879.  This  is  the 
thirty-third  year  of  the  publication  of  this  excellent 
little  work,  and  the  present  year  it  is  increased  in 
size  to  a  royal  octavo  in  form,  and  otherwise  much 
improved.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the 
Landreths  are  the  proprietors  of  the  celebrated 
Bloomingdale  seed  farm,  and  the  present  issue  gives 
a  full  page  bird's  eye  view  of  the  central  portion  of 
said  fan'n,  including  the  buildings  thereon.  The 
work  contains  64  pages  of  choice  reading  matter,  in- 
cluding the  covers,  and  is  embellished  with  69  illus- 
trations of  choice  garden  and  field  vegetables. 

The  Horse. — "  A  Treatise  on  the  Horse  and  His 
Diseases,"  by  Dr.  B.  J.  Kendall,  of  Enosburgh  Falls, 
Vermont,  is  a  book  that  every  owner  of  a  horse 
should  have,  and  no  breeder  of  horses  can  afibrd  to 
do  without.  It  has  thirty-five  engravings,  illustrating 
positions  assumed  by  sick  horses,  and  gives  treat- 
ment of  dis'<asi-s  in  such  plain  and  comprehensive 
language  as  to  lie  readily  understood  by  anyone  of 
ordinary  intelliirence.  The  price  is  only  25  cents, 
but  we  'would  not  exchange  it  for  any  book  on  the 
horse  an~l  his  diseases  that  we  have  ever  seen,  and 
we  have  read  some  hooks  of  the  kind  that  cost  $10. 
It  contains  a  large  number  of  recipes,  anyone  of 
which  is  worth  double  the  price  of  the  work.  The 
book  may  be  had  of  the  author  as  above. 

A  Reliahle  Firm. — In  another  column  of  The 
Farmer  can  be  found  the  advertisement  of  Messrs. 
Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Mt.  Hope  Nurseries,  Rochester, 
N.  Y.  They  are  a  reliable  firm  to  deal  with,  and  as 
we  have  had  a  knowledge  of  the  firm  for  many  years 
we  have  no  hesitancy  in  recommending  them  to  our 
readers,  and  we  feel  sure  that  any  representation 
made  by  them  will  be  found  to  be  correct.  In  these 
days,  when  tree  arjcnts  are  continually  boring  our 
farmers,  we  take  pleasure  in  recommending  a  firm 
whom  we  know  to  be  honest  and  reliable  dealers. 

J.  J.  H.  Gregory's  Seed  Catalogue.— Mr. 
Gregory  is  one  of  the  very  few  seedsmen  who  com- 
bines the  business  of  seed  raiser  and  seed  dealer. 
We  presume  this  fact  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  his 
seed  warrants ;  for  unless  a  man  grew  largely  of  the 
seed  he  sells  and  hence  i-noics  all  about  them,  he 
will  hardly  venture  to  warrant  their  freshness  and 
purity ;  and  what  is  ol»  more  importance  to  the  pur- 
chaser, stand  by  it  in  every  case,  as  Mr.  Gregory  has 
the  reputation  of  doing. 

New  Music— The  following  new  music  has  been 
received  from  Geo.  D.  Newhall  &  Co.,  62  West 
Fourth  street,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  recommends 
itself  to  all  lovers  of  good  music.  Blossom's  Reward 
Polka;  Farewell;  Innovation.  Persons  wishing  some- 
thing unusually  attractive  should  send  for  it,  and 
surely  be  pleased. 

A  New  Book. — Loring,  publisher,  Boston,  has 
issued  a  new  work  entitled,  "  How  we  Saved  the  Old 
Ftirm,  and  How  it  Became  a  New  Farm."  It  is 
written  by  "  A  Young  Farmer,"  and  the  price  of  It 
is  fifty  cenlTs.  It  is  a  very  entertaining  work,  and  is 
well  worth  a  perusal. 

Report  upon  the  condition  of  crops  and  live  stock, 
January,  lb79.  Department  of  Agriculture  No.  10 
of  special  series,  21  pp.  octavo. 


I 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


CoMPLiJiENTB  of  H.  A.  Biirch&Co.,  1H79,  gen 
ral  dealers  In  apiarian  supplies,  South  Haven, 
lichigan  ;  a  neat  little  diamond  pamphlet  of  forty 
i.  From  the  character  of  its  contents  wc  should 
udfjc  it  of  Inimense  value  to  all  live  bee-Itecpcrs, 
dio  are  pursuin;;  that  occupation  commercially. 

Monthly  reports  of  the  Kansas  State  Board  ol 
Igrlculture  for  September,  October,  November  and 
)ecember,  1H78.  By  Alfred  Gray,  Secretary, Topeka, 
Cansas,  3^  pp.  octavo.  Full  of  tabulated  statistics, 
nd  agricultural,  economical  and  commercial  de- 
ails,  Indicating  wonderl'ul  progress  in  our  young 
iBter. 

Stockbhidoe  Manures. — We  have  received  from 
Sdw.  J.  Evans  <&  Co.,  of  York,  a  catalogue  of  Sloek- 
^rldge's  Manures  and  Bowker's  Phosphates.  It  has 
jultc  a  fund  of  useful  information.  Messrs.  Evans 
i  Co.  are  the  agents  for  Southern  Pennsylvania. 
!  Hoi.STEiN  Calves  —Since  the  last  issue  of  The 
pARHBR  Messrs.  Smith  &  Powell,  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
ave  received,  direct  from  Holliind,  twenty  Ilolsteln 
eifjr  calves.  Their  herd  of  Ilolsteins  now  numbers 
early  sixty  head  of  fnll-bl,.od6. 


TREE  S 


Fe  offer  for  Spring  of  1879.  tho  largest  and  moBl  complete 
I  stock  In  the.  U.  S.  of 

^'rult  TrepH,  Urn|i«  ViiiCH,  Klrnnberrles,  em- 
bracing all  the  neic  aud  valuable  varlelieB. 
^rnniuental  TrecM   nnd    Shrubs,  decidaous  and 
I  evergreen, 

RoaeN  a  urecinlly-  all  the  flnest  sorts. 
;jreen  and  Hot  Huuxp  IMautx.  including  best  nov- 
'^elties. 

Oescriptive  and  IlIUBtrated  priced  Catalogues  sent  prepaid 
I  to  customers,  rre«,  to  others,  on  receipt  of  etsmpa  as 
I  foUows: 

'fo.  1,  Fruits,  with  colored  plate  (new  edition),  15  cts.;  rlain 
!0  cH,  No.  2,  Ornameutal  Trees,  etc.,  with  plate,  25  cts.; 
plain.  15  cts.  No.  0,  Greenhouse.  Free.  No.  4.  Wholesale. 
*re*.  and  No.  5.  Gatalegne  of  Roses  with  colored  plate, 
|0  eta.;  plain.  Fr<>e.     Address 

CLLLW ANGER  &  BARRY,  Rochester.  N.  r. 


NEW  teO.OU  PRIZE  GRAPE. 


MOORE'S  EARLY. 


A  NEW  HARDY  GRAPE, 


.^mbinlng  the  foUowiug  dealrable  qaaUtlftn:  Hardlueei, 
size,  beaaty,  quality,  productivenetA 


SMALL  FRUITS, 

ASPARAGUS,  &c. 

Moore's  New  Seedling  Strawbefries, 


And  new  Oross-Bred  Asparagus. 

ALSO 

CURRANTS,  BLACKBERRIES, 

Strawberries,  Raspberries. 

^■Send  for  Circular. 

JOHN  B.  MOORE, 


SEND  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapevines,  Transplanted  Kvergreena,  Tulip, 
Poplar,  Linden  Maple,  elc.  Tree  SeedUngs  and  Trees  for 
Umber  plantations  by  the  100,000. 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 

SCIENTIFIC  POBMOUS   fOR  IHEIR  MSNUFJCIUeE  0»  THE 
\m  SENT  FREE  TO  m  HOORESS. 


The  Cheapest,  ami  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  use,  can  be  niaile  witli  but 
little  trouble,  by  using  our  Fertilizing  Clienii- 
(Mtls  and  Bone.s,  which  we  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation, 

DisBolved  BoneH,  Sulphate  of  Ammouln, 

Perfectly  Pure  Ground  Hones,  Fertilizing  Salt, 

.\cidulated  PhoHphate  Kocli,  Sulphate  of  Soda. 

Phosphate  Rook,  flue  ground,  Muriate  of  Potaith,  German, 

Laud   Plaster,  pure  and   flue  Oil  Vitriol,  full  etreagth, 

ground,  Sulphate  of  Magnesia 
Sulphate  Potash  (Kaluitl,  (Kieseritc). 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

ANALYTICAL  CUKMl.STS, 

Mannfactnrers  of  Fertilizing  CliBinicals. 


( EstabUshed  j793ji^ 

FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 
Office:  105  Soath  Front  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


There  hejnj^  a  pood  deal  of  need  in  the  market  raised 
from  very  poor  stock,  which  must  fjiil  to  prive  8atii*faction, 
having  b?oo  theorlgiual  iiitruditcer  of  the  Oiaut  Cublmgc, 
which  when  raised  irom  the  right  strain  of  seed  under  pro- 
per cultivation,  hftH  hoeu  grown  to  weigh  ovkb  60  pouni>s  to 
a  Bingle  plant,  and  sixty  tons  to  the  acre,  I  now  offer  to  the 
public,  aeed  that  has  been  raised  by  myself,  with  peculiar 
care,  all  of  it/r<mi  extra  larfje,  extra  solid  fuads.  The  Mar- 
blohead  Mammoth  Is  not  only  the  largest 
most  orisp   aud  sweetest    "    " 


)  will  I 


npue 


the  cabbage 

}f  letters  to  be  found  lo 

hf>'r(    my  cOBtomers  atate  that   they 

frnm  my  seed  that   have  weighed  40, 

I'liU   instructions   for  cuitivatloo 

-<.d.     seed  per  pound,  $5.0  ;    per 

■:•  iH  cents.    My  largo  Seed  Cata- 

.1    ILCtKEGORY,  Marblehead.  Mass. 


'C^W^ 


fLOfJ 


A^ 


nUiDf: 


A  beautiful  wt 
Plate,  and  30 
heal  Klow.n  ui 
for  a  FivkCknt  Stamp.     In  EuKlisli  i)r  Qernmn. 

The  Flower  and  Vegetable  Garden,  175  P>eet,  Six 
Colored  Plates,  and  Ujaiiy  hundred  KnRruvln».:s.  For  St 
ceniK  in  paper  covers;  $1  01)  In  elegant  cloth,  in  aerman 
or  Rnxlish. 

Viclc's  Illustrated  Monthly  Maeazine-:i2  PaRea,  a 
Colored  Plate  iu  every  number  and  many  i-'lne  Kngravingi. 
Price  t'.m  a  year;  Five  Cojiies  for  llS.dO. 

Viclt'a  Seeda  are  (he  best  in  the  world  Bend  Fivi  OiKT 
Stami- for  aFiouAL  OlJlDB,  cnulalninu  List  and  Prlc««, 
and  plenty  of  I    ' 


.T.^MKS  VIC 


N.  Y. 


BliffSekaGardenScedf. 


"^ 


■>^. 


aHAND-FL^ 
BOOKpt.MT^ 


laWiXiici  1S45-.  2__: 

10  all  iNfcn-/r,:J  in  ganicnins,  mailed  ro    " 
ipplUaiUf  cmlojms  JO  Cents. ^rf^ 

B.K.BLISSSrSONS.F 

34  BARCLAYST^NY.CITY.iE 


"Stockbridge  Manures." 

Thesbare  roiiiplPte  niiiiiiirpK,  m  de  for  rnrli  crop, 
and  are  the  t'H  KAPKS'I',  piir<»<l.:ind  b<-«t  FertilUeri 
In  the  market.     Stmt  Jnr  iM-'xriplire  famphltl. 

EUW.  J.  iiVA>s  a-  <o.,  York,  Pb., 

"9-3.3  ARents  lor  Sonthern  Penna. 


ifc^FKKE  TO  ALL 
;iB)Y  ol  Patmjra.  K.  Y. 


OFFICE, 

Noi  9  North  Oueen  Street, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 
THE 

WEEKLI  ElilllSE  ii  EXPRESS 

lean  old,  weU-eetablishod  newspaper,  and  oontalns  Just  kh» 
news  desirable  to  make  it  an  lntere«tiUR  and  valaibU 
Family  Newapiper.  It  Is  published  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday,  aBbscrlbers  having  the  choice  of  whichever  editl«B 
that  suits  their  mail  facilities  bi^Bt.  The  postage  to  aab- 
sci-ibers  residing  outaide  of  Lancaster  eounty  is  paid  by  Ik* 
publisher. 
Bend  for  a  specimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  contains 
the  news  by  mail  and  telegraph  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
up  to  the  hour  af  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers al  all  the  towHH  and  villages  iu  the  county,  »coe«- 
sible  by  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  rents  a  WeelL, 
or  by  mall  at  Five  DollarH  per  Year, 

The  Lancaster  Farmer 


ONE   DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM. 


THE  EX.\m'ER&  EXPRESS  JOB  BOOM. 

The  Job  Rooms  of  "The  Kxantimu-  and  Express"  are 
well  filled  with  a  lull  assortment  of  t>pe  and  improved 
presses,  enabliug  us  to  do  all  kinds  of  Job  Work,  euch 
as  catalogues,  cards,  bill  heads,  letter  heads,  euvelopa 
Btaiementfl,  iuvita'tona,  circulars,  jiosters,  sale  bills,  In  faiet, 
all  kinds  of  plain  and  fancy  printing.  Wc  make  a  speclaltr 
of  sale  bills,  having  outs  in  the  office  which  were  mad* 
from  drawings  fepeclallj  prepared  for  ua,  aud  not  In  aaj 
other  otHce  In  the  state. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nort'i  Queen  St.. 

LANCASTKlt,  FJL. 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


[March,  1879. 


My  annunl  Catalogue  vf  Veg'-table  and  Flowi-r 
Seed  for  lS79,;ricb  iu  engraviugs,  from  origiuiil  photo- 
graphs, will  be  Beut  FREE  to  all  who  apply,  CuBtomers  of 
laBteeason  ueed  uot  write  for  it  I  offer  one  ot  the  largest  col- 
etable  seed  ever  sent  out  by  any  seed  house 


ln°Ame'ri'ca.^I^'i.S 
age      All  eeed 


id   Squash, 


BOore»  of  other  vegetables, 

are  anxioxt4  io  have  their  seed  directfy  frovi  the  grtnper,  fresh, 

true,  and  of  the  very  best  strain. 

New  Vegetables  a  specialty. 

JAMES  J.  H.  GREGORY, 

79-l-14[  Marblehead,  Mass. 


E.  R  O. 


BUKBKA  RED  OIL,  (is  forty  degrees  higher  fire  test  than 
the  law  requires),  can  be  burned  in  auy  LAMP  where  the 
ehimney  burner  is  used,  is  tcarranted  not  to  explode,  under 
forfeiture  of  $100. 

BS^EXOLTTSIVE   COUNTY   RIGHTS  for   sale    by 
P.  J.  FITZGERALD,  Sole  Proprietor  and  Manufacturer, 
103  and  105  N  Fourth  st.,  Philad'a. 

Also,  WHOLESALE  DEALER  IN  HEAD  LIGHT,  COAL 
OIL  and  BURNING  FLUID. 

N.  B.  A  large  assortment  latest  stv/esot  CHANDELIERS, 
BRACKETS,  BRONZE  LAMPS,  BURNERS,  &c.,  &c.,  con- 
Btantly  ou  hand.  10-9-6m 


|J4cl^J.q:^IJil?UllJMVIJ=ajJJ.t. 


WE  BELL  EVERYTHING  poe  thb   ^ 

GARDEN 

^   Descriptive  C:.lal  ^ms  ot  173  pages  sent  Free   |J 
Cnrllandt  St.,  3V;r  Tor7:. 


STOCKBRIDGE 

MANURES 

Originated  by  Levi  Sfockbridge,  Professor  of  Agricul- 
ture in  the  Massachusetts  Agricuftural  College.  Thev  have 
been  extensively  used  for  six  years.  Send  for  a  little  book 
deecribing  tbein  and  givinjf  directions  for  cultivating  farm 
and  garden  cr»-i-,'fi.  Eve:y  farmer,  gardener,  or  cultivator 
of  a  kitchen  garden  should   send   for  a  copy  mailed  free. 


BOWKKR  »  EKTIJ.B7,Elt 
bam  Street.  B<.M««:  ;S  Vn 
Binil  24  5for(!>  >Vn<ei-  Strf 


■li  PLice.  Ke«  York 
>t.  R«ieh<'Ktor.  N.  Y. 


LAWRENCE&TAYLCR, 

76  ALDHRSGATE  ST., 
London  E.  C,  England. 


Larpst  aiitl  Best  Iarl[et  in  the  Worli. 

Oommission  :   For  consignments  under     i:.70;— 4  per  cent. 
"  "  "         £100:— 3  percent, 

over       illOO:— 2  per  cent. 
Freight  &c.,  &e.,  paid  free  of  charge  for  interest. 

Money  advanced  on  Consignment  with- 
out interest. 


Account  sales  and  < 


utly  I 


BAMER'SailTIONALPROViCIALBAM 

OF    ENGLAISm. 

Telegraph  Address 

TAYRENOB,  LONDON. 


PEARL  MILLET 

(THE  NEW  FODDER  PLANT.) 


81.00 

By  express,  bnye'r  to  pay  charges,  $5  per  peck. 

Statement  of  our  experiments  with  it,  and 

iiietraciions  for  culture,  free  on  application. 

PETER  HENDERSONS  CO. 

35  CORTLANDT  ST.,  NEW  YORK. 


Only     Doable     King    In- 

<•[<•<;  »l  Nose.  Cfaanipion 
>^og  ICiuirer,  Riii^R  iiiid 
Holder.  No  sharp  points  in 
flesh  to  cause  irritation  and  sore- 
uess,  as  in  cases  of  rings  that 
close  wi:h  the  joints  iu  flje  flesh 
and     pioduco    soreness    of    the 


THE  CHAMPION  HOG  HOLDER  Speaks  for  itself  : 


Only  Sing:le  Ring;  Kver  In- 
vented that.  Closes  ou  the 
Ontiiiide  of  the  Nose. 

Brown's    Elliptical    Riug    and     Triple 

■   "ig  Hinger.      It  over- 

ingular 


Groove  Hog 

oomea  a  serious  defect 

and   other   rings   which   clos^ 

joints  together  in  the  fiesh, 

to  decay  and    to    keep  the    1 


)  with  the 
causing  it 


CHAMBERS,  BERING  &  QUINLAN,  Exclusive  Manufacturers,  Decatur,  IU. 


IFEEE 

ills.     It 

i  plates.  500 


varieties  of  Vegelable  and  Flower  SeeJs,  Plaota,  Roses,  Eta. 
iDvaloable  to  all.    Seud  for  it.        A^MreHB 

B.  M.  FEEEY  &  CO.  Detroit  Mioh. 

79-1-4 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 

TRADE  MARK. '•■••f  Great  Fngiisb  TRADE   MA^RK. 
KeBned.v  will  prompt- 
ly   and     rudically     cure 

•one      Debili'y     and 


perfectly   harmless,  i -k^sc^  1   «• 

Before  Takmo-  "''5  "^^B'f.  and  has  been  «<!.„■  TakiTiD- 
o  extensively  used  for  over  -aJ-ier  XlUUIlg. 
thirty  years  with  great  suocess.  Full  particulars  in  oui 
pamphlet,  which  we  desireto  send  free  by  mail  to  every  one. 
The  specific  medicine  is  sold  by  .11  druggists  at  $1  per  pack, 
age,  or  six  packages  for  $5,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  on 
receipt  of  the  money  liv  J.ddreeeing 

THE  GR.\Y  MEDICINE  COMPANY, 
No.  1(1  Mecbinicn'  Block,  Detroit,  Michigan. 
ira^Sold  in  I.ancaKter   by  H.  li.  CocHRjiN.  137  and  139  N, 
Queen  St.,  and  by  drupgisis  everywhere.  [79-3-12 


1879  SPRING  AND  SUMMER  1879 

Coats  a[)d  Coalings^ 

PANTS  AND  PANTINGS, 
VESTS  ANL»  VESTINGS, 
SUITS  AND  SUITINGS, 
OVERCOATS  AND  OVERCOATINGS 

rathv6n"&Tisher'S, 

I^erchant  Tailors,  Drapiers  and  Clolljiers, 

Corner  W.  Quetn  and  Orange  Sts., 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


is  auy  oiher  place  in  the  city.    Goods  all  wool,  perfect,  and 

satisfaction  g:uarantee<l.    Orders  respect- 

fullv  solicited,  and  promptly  executed. 

IS79  1S79 


Is  an  energetic,  natural  manure,  specially  adapted  for 
summer  croi.s.  It  is  highly  recommended  to  tobacco 
growers,  giving  the  plants  a  vigorous  start  and  causing  a 
rajiid  growth  to  matnrity. 

HIKAN  E.  I.IJTZ.  Manniactnrer. 
BOtiiCP,  1136  Market  Street,  Philadelphia. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


HOW  TO  OETTHEM  ii.|»be,tp.nofthe.iaie.  6.000,000 
*J""i°i"l'.;-  ^i'  n-ee"fipy  of  "  K.nM,  I'ocino  Borne. 
•tead,"  iddreii  laiud  Ooinmlutaner,  S»liu»,  Kaitai. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL, 

Devoted  to  Agriculture ,  Horticulture.  Do- 
mestic Economy  and  Miscellany. 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the   Lar 
ter  County  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 

ONEDOLLpPERANNUlf, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPRIETOR. 

All    subscriptions    will    commence    with    the 
January  number, unless  otherwise  ordered. 


Dr.  S,  8.  Kathyon,  who  has  BO  ably  managed  the  editorial 
department  In  the  past,  wUl  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  Hie  contributions  on  subjects  connected  with  the 
science  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 
he  is  so  thorouhly  a  master — entomological  science— some 
knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  Buccess- 
f  ul  farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  Is  determined  to  make  "The  Farmer" 
a  necessity  to  all  households.  ■-  ■--- 

!fA  county  that  has  so  wide  a  reputation  as  Lancaster 
county  for  its  agricultural  products,  should  certainly  be 
able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the 
exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  lutercsted  In  this  mat- 
ter. We  ask  the  co-oporation  of  all  farmers  interested  in 
this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer"  is 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
induce  them  to  subscribe.  It  is  not  much  for  each  sub- 
scriber to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  communications  in  regard  tothe  editorial  management 
should  be  addressed  to  Dr.  8.  8.  Rathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  all  business  letters  in  regr.rd  to  subscriptions  and  ad- 
vertising should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Rat^s  of 
advertising  can  be  had  on  apiilication  at  thfr'oflice. 

JOHN  A  HIESTAND, 

No.  9  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


ONE  DOLLAE  FEE  ANNUM.- SINGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  S.  S.  SATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA..  APRIL,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  Publisher. 


CONTENTS  OFJTHIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 
.811k  Culture,      ------- 

•  A  Model  PoBtinueter,     - 

I  .Lime,         .---.-.. 

I  .  Kltchen-liarden  for  April,     -        -         -        -        - 
.  Supposed  Sulphur  Shower,        -        -        .        - 
.Strawberry  Protectiis,  ------ 

•  Buckwheat  Cakes  and  Sausages,      - 

Live  Sto«k  Slaughtered  in  tho  Borough  of  Adamn- 

.  Spring  and  Winter  Tree  Cleaning,     - 
tPersoual,        ----.-.. 

•  Is  the  Lowest  Price  the  Cheapest  1     ■        -        - 

.  Queries  and  Answers,    ------ 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

•  More  Light—/.  G.,     -----        - 

•  Balance  of  Trade— .ff.  A'.,      -        .        -        - 

.  Migration  of  Ells,      ------ 

t  Around  the  Farm,  No.  13 — Huralist,     - 

i  The  Balauce  of  Trade,  Ayalu— /.  P.,        -        - 

•  Turtle-Head,  Suake-Iicad,  Balniony— /.  Stauffcr, 

SELECTIONS. 

•  Seeds,    - -        -        - 

^Splenic  Fever  and  Horn  Ail,     -        .        .        - 

■  Cranberry  Culture,      ------ 

•  Rules  for  Making  liilt-Edged  Butter, 

Feeding  —  tmi.lrmeuts  —  Milking  —  Setting— Skim- 
ming— (Miurniug — Coloring — Working    and    Salt- 

»  North  Carolina  Tobacco,     -----      1 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 
.Agricultural    and    Horticultural    Society— Ad- 
journed Meeting,     -        -        -        -        .       -    ', 
Object  of  the  Moeting— Other  Societies— The  In- 
corporators—Churter. 
Regular  Stated  Meeting  of  the  Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  Society,    -----    i 
Report  of  OroiiB— Competitive  Eaaajs— Cultnra  of 
Wheat— Mr.  LinvJUe's  Kasay— Food  for  Hogs- 
Novelty  in  Fruit  (Julture— Dr.  Edge  to  Lecttire . 

•  Poultry  Association,         -        -        -         -         -        ! 

Preserving  the  Proceedings — New  Members — Money 
iu  the  TrcaenVy — How  Long  will  Eggs    Retain 
their  Fertillf  y— Packing  Eggs- liuaiuess  for  Next 
Meeting- Members  of  the  Society— Pullet 'a  Egga. 
•Warwick  Farmers'  Club,    -----.' 
Fulton  Farmers'  Club,     -----  J 

Afternoon  Seaaiou— Literary — DlacuasioD  of  Regu- 
lar Question— Election  of  Officers. 

•  Llnnaian  Society,        ------      J 

DoniitionH  to  the  Museum- Historical  Section— 
Library- Papers  Read — New  Bueinoas — Soientiflo 
Gossip. 

ENTOMOLOGICAL. 
•The  Imported  Currant  Worm ,     -        -        -        -     ( 
'  The  Tobacco  Worms,      -----  f 

•The  Utility  of  EiiiomoloiO'.    -        -        -        -         1 

•  Remedies  Against  Worms  and  Intects,         -        -    f 

AGRICULTURE. 
»Harrowing  Wheat  in  .Spring,    -        -        -        -        ( 

•  How  to  Grow  Broom  Corn,  -        -        -        -        -    ( 

.  Salt  as  a  Fertilizer,   ------« 

.  Rolling  Grain  in  the  Spring,  .        -        -        .    ( 

Use  of  Lime,    -------( 

•  Corn  Culture.        -.---.-( 


FLORICULTURE. 

1  Flower  (Jarden  Iliute,        -----  61 

.How  to  Preserve  Cut  Flowers,     -        -        -        -  01 

(Sowing  Garden  Seeds,      -----  01 

HORTICULTURE. 

.Planting  Grapevines,         -        -        -        -         -  61 

(Spring  Planting  for  Strawberries,        -        -        -  61 

•An  Experiment  in  Planting,     -        .        -        -  62 

.Uncovering  Protected  Plants,       -        -        ••        -  di 

.  Mulching,         ------          -  &i 

,GooBcberrie6  and  Currants,          -        -        -        -  6'.! 

,  Sprouting  Potatoes,  ------  62 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

Some  Items  About  Sugar,        .        -        -        .  Oi 

Necessity  of  Sunlight,         -        -        -        -        -  02 

.  Tlic  Uourb  for  Children,         -         -         -        -  m 

■  How  to  Use  Coal,       ------  62 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 

Sick  Headache,     -------  62 

i  Flannel  Cakes,         -----         -  62 

■Cup  Fruit  Cake,   -------  62 

>Cookies  lor  the  Children,        -        .        .        -  62 

.  Queen  Biscuits,     -------  62 

.Boston  Meat  Pic,      ------  62 

Cranberry  Rolls,         -        -        -        -        -        -  02 

Burns  and  Scalds,  ------  63 

Kemedy  for  Hoarseness,     -----  63 

Eggs  in  Case  of  Trouble,      -        -        -                -  «} 

Potato  Fancy,     - 6;i 

,  Oatmeal  Cakes,    -------  03 

Preservat:on  of  Furs,      -----  63 

LIVE  STOCK. 

•Test  Record  for  Dairy  Cows,        -        -                -  03 

Full-Blood,  Pure-Blood,  Thoroughbred,    -      -  03 

APIARY. 

Honey,       --------  0.3 

Pasturage  for  Bees,      ------  o;i 

'  How  to  Fasten  Comb  Foundation  in  Brood  Frames,  6.3 
Glucose,        -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -Si 

POULTRY. 

iCaponized  Fowls, 63 

Chicken  Cholera,        ------  6:5 

Nest  for  Setters, 04 

Eggs  from  Different  Breeds,      -        -        -        -  64 

Fowls  Eating  Feathers,         -        -        -        -        -  04 

Literary  and  Personal,     -        -          -        -        -  64 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

M.WUFACTl'REH  OK 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

NAnUI.I'N, 

COLLARS,  WHIPS,  PLY  NETS.  &c., 

.WJiC    DKAI.KR    IN 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFALO  UOBES, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  GIovps.  &.C., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

79-1-12)  LANCASTER,  PA. 


NORBECK  SMILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


Carriage  Buildepg, 

cox  &  CO'S  OLB  ST.WB. 

Corner  of  Duke  and  Vine  Streets, 


LANCASTER,  PA. 

THE  LATEST  LMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHyETONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 

>T\IL'VTI\ITlli;riTV 


Prices  to  Snit  the  Times^ 

RKPAIKING  promplly  attendeil  to.    All  work 
guaranteed. 

70-*- 


PHAKES    \\-.    FRY. 

Wliolesalc.nd  Rct^iil    Dealer  in 

WftLL  PftPER&  WIHDOW  SHftDES, 

liollHnftN,  Plain  Ktande  f'lolli, 

Ing  to  a 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


►EIfI«S\'L.VAlViA  BAII.ROAI»  SOHEDCI.K. 

Trains  hate  tbe  Depot  in  this  city,  as  follows  : 


WE   TWARD. 

Pacific  Express' 

Way  Pasaengert   

Niagara  Express 

Hanover  Accommoiiatiou, 

Mail  traiii  via  Mt.  Joy 

No.  'i  via  rolurobia 

Sunday  MaU 

Fast  Line'.         

Frederick  .\ccominodittion 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  .Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Eipress 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express' 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  Express" 

Philadelphia  Expresst. 

Fast  Line* 

Harrisburg  Express . 


:20  p.  I 


5:1-.  p. 


T:4i)  a. 
10:110  a. 
12:30  p. 


1  Lajieaste 


Columbia  Accommodation. 

Pacific  Express* 

Simday  Mail 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express" 

Harrisburg  .\ccom 

The  Hanover  Accommodation, 
with  Niagara  Express,   west,   at  9:'i5  a.  in.,  and  will  run 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  .Accommodation,  west,  conuectsat  Lancas- 
t«r  with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  ra..  and  runs  to  Frederick. 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  on  .Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
stop  at  Middletown,  Eltzabethtown,  Mount  .Toy  and  I^andis- 
TiUe. 

uly  trains  which  run  daily, 
daily,  except  Mrniday. 


tBun 


U.  I».  3BO  v«rivt-A.3xr, 


ATtOWEsT  POSSIBLE  PKICES, 

Fully  guaraMteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  OpponU--  Leopard  irol-l. 


GLOVES,  SHIRTS,  UNDERWEAR,  jg 
SHIKTS  MADE"tO  ORDER, 

AND  WAKRANTED  TO  FIT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN. 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa.j 


Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 

FURNITURr5D"cHAlRS, 

WAKEKOOnS: 

102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

tiANCASTER,  PA. 


fTBEES: 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

is  county  and  HUitcid  to  this  climate. 

LOUIS  C.LYTE 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co.,Pa. 


at  Smoketowu 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM 


AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

VV^ATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  Vi^ ARE, 
CLOCKS, 

JEWELRY  I  TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Aniudel  Tiutcd 

SPECTACLES. 

Repairing  strictly  attended  to. 

Nortli  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Fa. 

TS-l-K 


SEND  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapevines,  Transplanted  Evergreens,  Tulip, 
Poplar,  Linden  Maple,  etc.  Tree  Seedlings  and  Trees  for 
timber  plantations  by  the  100,000. 

J.  JESTKINS'  SrURSEnY, 
S-2-78  WINONA,  COLUMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


O.    SEN  EH    &   SOJNS, 

Manufacturers  and  dealers  in  iill  liinda  of  rough  srid 

The  beat  Sawed  NHIXtil.KSiu  llie  ccuiitry.     Also  Sash, 
Doors,  Blinds,  .MouldniK-?.  &c. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YAUD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walunt-sts. 

LANC^STKR,  FJ^. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY^ 

Embiaciug  tlie  bisiory  and  habits  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 

for  thpjr  exj.ulBJou  or  extermination. 

RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  -work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  and  will  be  put  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  Fujhcient  number  of  suhseribrrs  can 
be  obtained  to  cover  tile  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 


PEARL  MILLET 

THE  NEW  FODDER  PLANT.) 

Yields  100  tons  ^reen  =-  Itj  tons  dry  per  acre. 

(iOc.  per  pint  (by  mail,  postpaid). 

.$1.00       "   quart      " 

By  express,  buyer  topay  charpce,  g.'Sper  peck. 

Staicmeut  of  our  experiments  with  it,  and 

instruciions  for  culture,  free  oa  application. 

PETER  HENDERSON  &  CO. 

35  CORTLANDT  ST„  NEW  YORK. 


T[^E  LATEST 


be  New  Tariff  of  Rates 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  off  large  lots  of 

goods,  and  has 

INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US! 

AS    USIJAE. 

Jla^Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better.-'^ga 

This  is  the  latest  tariff  for  the 

An  Kleg.nnt  ISiisiness  and  Dress  Stiit, 
All-wool  Bl.ick  Cheviot,  irlO.  Identical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  $15.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $1?.., 

^4.89  buys  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $lt). 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
18.50,  ji8.50,  $8.-50,  $8;.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Koiiiid, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  ,?10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  ^7,  $7,  $7,  ^7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
fill  tlie  Late  Improvements,  $5,  $5,  ^b. 

Boys'  and  Youths'  Trousers,  All 
Wool,  $2.39,  S2.:!!i,.v;ii.:!!),:H2.:!!i. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Slyl.s  Child- 
ren's Overcoat.-^,  Snlt  I'lii.-^h  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  IVoia  $S./5  to 
16.50. 

.1125  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully 
made,  Piped  with  ■  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings)  - 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $15,00  ;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12..50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  liiti-d.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  •■)5.120  y.Lrds,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
Doth  ways. 

Wananjaker  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL, 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


The  Largest  Clothing  House  in 
America. 


i 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  SATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  APRIL,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  No.  4. 


Editorial. 


SILK  CULTURE. 
I  Ostensibly,  we  presume,  toatloid  cucouiage- 
!meut  to  those  who  may  incline  to  engage  iu 
iihe  production  of  silk  in  the  United  States, 
il'rot.  C.  V.  Riley,  Entomologist  ol'  the  De- 
partment ol'  AgriculLure,  makes  a  special  re- 
port (No.  lij  ot  :!1  PI'.  8vo.,lo  the  department 
bu  that  suliject.  The  pamphlet  contains  an 
introduction  and  a  brief  manual  of  iustruc- 
jtions  for  tlie  i)roduction  of  silk,  including  the 
ttiaturc  of  the  silk-worm  ;  different  states  or 
pages  of  the  silk-worm  ;  varieties  or  races  ; 
wintering  and  hatching  the  eggs ;  feeding 
and  rearing  the  worm  ;  preparation  for  spin- 
biug ;  gathering  the  cocoons ;  choking  (kill- 
jing)  the  cluysalis  ;  egg-laying— reproduction  ; 
p-eeliug;  fooU-plants,  and  aglossary  of  technical 
perms,  which  is  a  rational  resume  of  a  subject 
fwliich  we  are  able  to  recall  iu  its  wildest  and 
most  inflated  manifestation  about  the  year 
4.S37  and  a  few  following  years,  exploding 
^bout  1841.  The  pamphlet  is  embellished 
iwith  seven  illustrations,  three  of  which  are 
\lifEerent  kinds  of  silk  reels,  of  European 
jorigin.  Should  silk  culture  become  a  perma- 
kient  industry  of  this  country— especially  in 
[Lancaster  county — before  adopting  a  reel,  we 
[would  recommend  our  readers  to  examine  the 
!i-eel  invented  by  lion.  J.  J.  Libhart,  of  Mari- 
letta,  in  1840.  We  have  not  seen  it  for  more 
jthan  thirty  years,  but  from  our  best  recoUec- 
(tion  of  it,  it  seems  to  us  it  would  "take  down" 
any  of  those  illustrated  in  this  pamphlet. 

We  may  never  live  to  see  it,  but  we  believe 
that  silk  culture  and  silk  manufacture  must 
ultimately  become  one  of  the  permanent — and 
reasonably  paying— industries  of  our  country, 
although  it  may  mvolve  something  of  a  revolu- 
tion iu  the  minds  of  men  as  to  tlje  true  aims  and 
objects  of  progressive  and  productive  labor,  a 
revolution,  the  germs  of  which  already  exist 
fin  society,  but  are  still  only  faintly  seen  and 
jacknowledged.  The  silk  fever,  as  it  mani- 
jfested  itself  forty  years  ago,  was  only  spas- 
modic, and  did  not  entertain  at  any  time  a 
single  idea  beyond  merely  selfish  specidation. 
Hundreds  of  dollars  were  made  iu  trafficing 
iu  Midtkuulus  trees,  and  tliousands  of  dollars 
were  lost  iu  tlie  same.  Very  few  thought 
about  the  details  of  silk  culture,  the  whole 
aim  being  money,  money,  money,  and  so  the 
market  became  glutted  and  then  the  bubble 
bursted,  and  disgust  and  doleful  lamentations 
followed  as  a  cousequence.  Men  did  not  think 
of  a  permanent  organic  branch  of  productive 
labor  through  which  the  masses  might  secure 
employment  and  a  reasonable  subsistence. 
They  only  thought  of  realizing  a  fortmie 
quickly  for  themselves,  and  then  to  retire  and 
enjoy  it  themselves,  without  regard  to  any  use 
or  benefit  that  might  inure  to  their  country. 
The  masses  perhaps  were  also  selfish,  for  they 
extorted  sueli  wages  as  no  one  in  the  silk  busi- 
ness could  aflbrd  to  pay  and  compete  success- 
fully with  tlie  silk  producers  of  otlier  countries. 

We  have  for  live  or  six  years  been  passing 
through  a  labor  aud  financial  ordeal  in  this 
coimtry  that  must  ultimately  initiate  a  new 
order  of  things,  if  we  desire  a  return  of  pros- 
perous times— an  order  that  will  secure  per- 
manent employment  to  tlie  poor,  at  reason- 
able and  permanent  compensations. 

In  Europe  there  are  villages,  the  inhabitants 
ef  which  employ  their  time  in  knitting  sub- 
stantial, seamless,  woolen  jackets.  When  the 
villager  has  knit  a  half  dozen,  a  dozen,  or  two 
dozen,  as  the  case  may  be,  he  puts  them  in  a 
package,  on  liis  head  or  b.ick,  and  travels  on 
foot  to  the  market  town  and  there  disposes  of 
them.  It  re(iuires  little  outlay  to  start  and 
conduct  his  business,  but  as  he  makes  a  good 
article  he  can  always  find  ready  sale  for  it,  be- 


cause no  machinery  in  either  America  or 
Europe  can  iiroduce  as  good  an  article  a.s  he 
can  by  hand.  At  least  those  who  consume 
his  wares  in  Kurope  and  America  think  so. 
The  foreign  Germans  in  this  country  always 
emiuire  for  them  and  will  have  them,  although 
they  lire  much  higher  in  price  than  American 
jackets — indeed  at  American  wages  w9  could 
not  produce  hand-knit  goods  to  compete  witli 
them  at  all. 

Uu  a  plan  approximating  to  this,  and  not 
by  large  and  expensive,  establishments — ac- 
cording to  Prof.  Kiley's  suggestions— the  silk 
businPR.>?  may  become  a  w Ide-sprcading  indus- 
trj  amongst  us,  and  give  employment  to  many 
old  men,  women  and  children. 

Silkville,  Kansas,  is  a  village  of  this  charac- 
ter ;  and  there  are  other  villages  and  isolated 
operators  in  California,  North  Carolina,  New 
Jersey  aud  elsewhere.  Very  little  reeling  and 
manufacture  of  silken  fabrics  are  done  in  the 
United  States,  but  some  trade  is  carried  on  in 
cocoons  and  the  raising  of  silk-worm  eggs. 
Fiance  in  the  year  1877  paid  1,691,400  francs 
for  eggs,  exported  from  the  United  States ; 
and  although  some  of  these,  presumably,  came 
from  Japan,  yet  the  larger  portion  was  raised 
here.  It  ai>pears  that  we  have  no  good  and 
peiuuiueut  market  in  this  country  yet  for  eggs 
or  cocoons,  but  all  we  can  produce,  of  a  good 
quality,  i:aii  be  sold  lo  the  manufactures  of 
Europe,  especially  in  Italy  and  France.  The 
three  best  trees,  the  leaves  of  which  are  de- 
voured by  the  silk-worm,  are  the  mulberries, 
botanicnlly  known  under  the  names  of  Mm-us 
alh'i,  M.  nlycr  and  J/,  inultimiduii;  but  tliey 
will  also  live  aud  tlourish  on  the  "osage 
orange  " — Madura  aurantiaca.  As  this  is 
coming  into  use  as  a  hedge-plant,  and  ueeds  a 
good  deal  of  pruning,  the  eliminated  branches 
could  be  utilized  to  feed  worms.  Cocoons  are 
worth  from  S2  to  $2.50  a  pound,  eveu  in  the 
present  depressed  condition  of  the  country, 
and  even  at  that  price  they  may  yield  suffi- 
cient compensation  to  remunerate  the  laborer 
to  a  reasonable  extent,  although  he  may  not 
gr^iw  rich  on  it — in  the  sense  usually  attached 
to  riches — health  and  content  are  better  than 
riches.  

A  MODEL  POSTMASTER. 

In  January,  1877,  .seven  subscriliers  to  The 
Lancaster  Farmer  were  obtainud  by  an 
authorized  canvasser,  all  of  whose  papers 
were  sent,  in  a  single  package,  to  an  office 
within  the  county  of  Lancaster.  It  is  of  no 
consequence  now  who  the  model  postmiister 
was,  or  where  the  postolBce  was  located — 
whether  east,  west,  north,  south  nr  central, 
bei:iiuse  we  desire  to  discuss  the  subject  from 
a  principle  of  "  right,  justice  and  humanity," 
and  not  from  feelings  of  a  merely  personal 
nature.  One  of  these  seven  subscribers  always 
took  his  paper  from  the  office  when  he  could 
get  it.  Which  was  not  always,  and  also  iiaid 
promptly  for  it.  Sometime  after  the  peiiod 
of  subscription — we  don't  know  exactly  how 
long  after,  it  may  have  been  alinul  tb.-ee 
months— six  of  these  subscribers  ''scattered 
abroad,"  some  going  west,  and  others  remov- 
inii  to  other  districts  in  the  county,  and  con- 
sequently diseontinucd  calling  for  their  papei-s, 
the  Mib.-rriiiticii  ofwhieli  they  had  not  paid  ■ 
aiiil  have  iKil  ])aid  it  yet,  and  doubtless  never 
will.  .Mian  as  the  act  was,  of  coiu'se  the 
postmaster  was  not  responsible  for  it.  Pre- 
sumably he  would  cheerfully  have  delivered 
the  papers  to  these  mxhl  subscribers  had  they 
condescended  to  call  for  them.  They  are  wel- 
come to  all  the  consolation  such  an  act  can 
afford  them,  either  in  the  successes  or  adversi- 
ties of  this  transient  and  micertain  life.  But 
what  did  the  model  postmaster  do,  or  rather 
what  ought  he  to  have  done  in  the  matter  ? 
What  course  does  the  Postoflice  Department 


prescribe  in  cases  of  this  kind  ?  Common 
courtesy,  we  would  think,  should  have  dic- 
tated tlie  propriety  of  informing  the  editor 
or  publisher,  and  promptly  returning  the 
papers  to  the  office  from  wlience  they  were 
issued,  marked  "uncalled  for;"  but  he  did 
not  do  anything  of  the  kind— at  least  such  in- 
forniiition  never  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
editor  or  Ihi'  |iublisher — but,  on  the  contrary, 
he  left  six-  ]iapiis  accumulate  in  his  office,  from 
month  to  month,  for  nearly  two  entire  years, 
subjeirting  the  publisher  in  the  meantime  to 
the  labor  and  expense  of  printing,  folding, 
stitching,  enveloping,  labeling,  posting  and 
mailing,  just  as  if  editors  and  publishers  had 
no  rights  that  a  postm;ister  was  bound  to  re- 
spect. Now,  we  do  not  desire  to  be  captious 
or  unnecessarily  censorious  about  this  mat- 
ter, for  it  may  be  that  the  department  does 
not  require  its  sub-officials  to  return  uncalled 
for  mail  matter,  and,  as  we  have  said  before, 
we  may  have  been  olHcially  informed  ot  the 
deliquency  of  those  model  subscribers  at  the 
proper  time,  but  we  are  sincere  when  we  say 
we  have  no  recollection  of  it ;  and,  if  there 
had  been  notliing  more,  we  do  not  think  we 
should  have  felt  compelled  to  pen  this  para- 
graph. But,  near  the  end  of  the  second  year, 
we  happened  to  call  at  the  postoffice  to  which 
we  allude,  when  the  postmaster  did  con- 
descend to  gather  up  as  many  of  tlie  uncalled 
for  papers  as  he  had  on  hand  and  place  them 
in  our  possession  ;  an  act  of  condescension  he 
was,  perhaps,  not  legally  required  to  exercise. 
It  is  very  certain,  however,  that  an  officer 
may  fidfill  all  the  requirements  of  the  civil 
law  and  yet  fail  in  tliat  higher  law,  which 
every  man  ought  to  be  unto  himself.  Subse- 
quently when  we  had  occasion  to  ojien  the 
packages,  we  found  a  number  of  them  in  the 
same  condition  they  were  in  when  they  left 
the  office  in  Lancaster,  months  before,  aud  in 
one  or  two  instances  more  than  a  year  jirevi- 
ously.  Some  of  the  packages,  we  feel  ((uite 
sure,  never  could  have  been  touched  auy 
farther  than  was  necessary  to  throw  them  into 
some  obscure  corner  in  the  postoffice ;  for 
among  those  we  found  at  least  seven  copies  of 
our  paper  belonging  to  our  honest  and  upright 
paying  subscscriber,  with  his  name  plainly 
printed  thereon.  Now,  our  friend  had  fre- 
quently complained  that  he  did  not  get  liis 
paper  regularly,  and  sometimes  not  at  all,  and 
weas  often  felt  self-mortification  and  reminded 
the  publisher  of  the  embarrassing  omission, 
aud  also  furnished  extra  numbers.  There  is 
not  a  doubt  in  our  mind  that  in  many  in- 
stances, where  like  occurrences  take  place, 
the  tault  is  in  the  model  postmaster,  and  not 
in  the  editor  and  publislier,  although,  of 
course,  neither  of  them  is  so  perfect  that  such 
things  may  not  occur.  Such  omissions  cannot 
well  occur  in  the  mailing  department  of  a  well- 
regulated  office.  They  keep  a  special  mailing 
biiok,  in  which  the  names  are  not  grouped  in 
alpliabetical  order,  butaccording  to  postoffices, 
whether  of  cities,  towns,  villages  or  rural 
liamlets,  and  if  they  omit  one  name  they  are 
j  list  as  likely  to  omit  all.  Even  after  the  papers 
have  left  tlie  printing  office  they  may  be -car- 
ried to  the  wrong  State,  county  or  postoffice  ; 
but  all  this  transpires  under  the  auspices  of 
the  postoffice  officials,  and  not  under  the  mail- 
ing system  of  the  newspaper  or  periodical 
publisher. 

LIME. 
"The  utility  of  lime  as  a  manure  consists 
in  loosening  the  tenacious  nature  of  some 
soils,  rendering  them  more  friable  and  recep- 
tive of  vegetable  fibres  ;  it  especially  facili- 
tates the  di.ssolution  and  putrefaction'  of  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  sulistances,  which  are  thus 
more  readily  received  and  circulated  in  the 
growing  plant ;  and  it  has  the  power  of  ac- 


50 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  April, 


quring  aud  long  retaining  moisture,  thus  ren- 
dering the  soil  cool  and  nutritive  to  the  plants 
that  vegetate  in  it.  The  power  that  lime  has 
of  absorbing  moisture  will  be  better  under- 
stood when  we  say  that  one  hundred  weight 
will,  in  five  or  six  days,  when  fresh,  absorb 
five  pounds  of  water,  and  that  it  will  retain  in 
the  shape  of  powder,  when  slackened  or 
loosened,  as  is  commonly  said,  nearly  one- 
fourth  of  its  weight. "         *         »         *         * 

We  extract  the  foregoing  from  the  Journal 
of  a  Naturalist,  published  in  1831.  The  pub- 
lisher remarks  in  a  foot-note:  "The  weight 
of  lime  is  very  variable,  dift'ering  in  different 
places  ;  but  taking  our  lime  at  the  average  of 
eighty  pounds  to  the  bushel,  some  idea  may 
be  conceived  of  the  cooling  nature  of  the 
substance.  Lime,  to  be  used  as  a  manure, 
must  be  in  a  pulverized  state  ;  and  by  draw- 
ing on  the  land  the  quantity  we  do,  we  con- 
vey to  every  acre  so  dressed  an  equivalent  to 
two  hundred  and  tifty  gallons  of  water,  not  to 
be  evaporated,  but  retained  in  the  soil  as  a 
refrigerent  to  the  fibres  of  vegetation." 

The  writer  then  goes  on  to  say  (it  is  an 
English  work  that  we  are  quoting  from) 
"our  farmers,  availing  themselves  of  this 
cheap  article,  use  considerable  quantities, 
composted  with  earth  for  their  diflerent  crops, 
at  the  rate  of  net  less  than  one  hundred 
bushels  to  the  acre.  This  is  a  favorite  sub- 
stance for  their  potato  lands.  The  return  in 
general  is  not  so  large  as  when  grown  in 
manure  from  the  yard  ;  but  the  tubers  are 
said  to  be  more  mealy  and  better  flavored." 

"The  utility  #f  lime  in  various  arts,  agri- 
culture, manufactories  and  medicine  is  very 
extensive,  and  in  many  cases  indispensable  ; 
and  the  abundance  of  it  spread  throughout 
the  world,  seems  designed  as  a  particular 
Providence  for  the  various  ends  of  creation. 
Lime  and  sihcious  matter  compose  a  very 
large  portion  of  the  dense  substance  of  our 
earth  ;  the  shells  of  marine  animals  contain 
it  abundantly  •,  our  bones  have  eighty  parts 
in  one  hundred  of  it ;  the  egg-shells  of  birds 
above  nine  parts  in  ten— during  incubation, 
it  is  received  by  the  embryo  of  the  bird,  in- 
durating the  cartilages  and  forming  the 
bones." 

"It  may  startle,  perhaps,  the  belief  of 
some,  who  have  never  considered  the  subject, 
to  assert  what  is  apparently  a  fact,  that  a 
considerable  portion  of  those  prodigious  clifis 
of  chalk  and  calcareous  stone  that  in  many 
places  control  the  advance  of  the  ocean,  pro- 
trude in  rocks  through  its  waters,  or  incrust 
such  large  portions  of  the  globe,  are  of  animal 
origin — the  exuvia,  of  marine  substances  or 
the  labors  of  minute  zoophytes,  which  once 
inhabited  the  'great  deep.'  " 

These  formations  are  all  nearly  pure  lime  i 
and  the  organic  remains  of  marine  animals 
especially,  abound  in  chalk  cUffs,  in  chalk 
pits,  and  in  chalk  beds  wherever  they  may  be 
found,  as  well  as  in  many  beds  of  solid  lime- 
stone. 

That  lime  rehardens  after  being  made  soft, 
as  in  mortar,  is  owing  to  the  power  which  it 
has  of  acquiring  carbonic  acid  gas— the  fixed 
air  from  the  atmosphere — according  to  Dr. 
Black.  When  the  stone  is  burned  this  gas  is 
driven  off  by  heat,  though  it  slowly  reabsorbs 
it,  aud  thus  it  supplies  the  plants  with  carbon 
when  it  is  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the 
soil.  Lime,  when  mixed  with  sharp  sand  and 
made  into  mortar  may,  in  time,  become  as 
hard  as  the  original  rock  was  from  whicli  it 
was  first  bm-nt,  by  its  reabsorption  of  carbon 
as  an  acid  or  gas.  When  limestone  contains 
88  parts  of  carbonate  of  lime,  8  parts  of  mag- 
nesia, 1  part  of  silex  and  3  parts  of  aluminous 
or  combustible  substances,  it  may  be  con- 
sidered good  for  mortar,  or  as  a  fertilizing 
auxiliary. 

It  seems  to  us  if  lime  does  nothing  more 
than  absorb  moisture  and  carbon,  which  are 
again  absorbed  .by  the  roots  aud  leaves  of 
vegetation,  through  the  lime  as  a  medium,  it 
ought  not  to  be  ignored  or  expunged  from  the 
list  of  fertilizers,  as  some  of  those  claiming  to 
be  advanced  in  agricultural  science  seem  dis- 
posed to  do.    It  is  too  widely  diffused  through- 


out the  globe  to  be  regarded  as  useless  for 
fertilizing  purposes,  although  it  may  not  al- 
ways, nor  in  all  places,  be  entitled  to  the 
merit  that  is  claimed  for  it.  Much  will  de- 
pend upon  the  time,  the  place  and  the  quantity 
of  its  elementary  principals  that  may  be 
needed  by  the  soil.  It  seems  very  evident 
that  where  it  already  exists  in  sufficient 
abundance  the  addition  of  more  may  not  only 
do  no  good,  but  may  do  much  harm,  and  this 
is  the  reason  perhaps  that  there  is  such  a 
diversity  of  opinion  upon  the  subject  of  its 
use.  Nothing  but  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  previous  condition  of  the  soil  can  de- 
termine whether  it  should  be  applied  or  not. 

KITCHEN-GARDEN  FOR  APRIL. 

In  the  Middle  States  now  is  the  time  to 
plant  and  sow  if  we  would  hope  to  reap. 
Those  of  us  who  do  not  avail  ourselves  of  the 
present  need  not  expect  to  profit  in  the  future. 

The  exact  time,  however,  in  which  certain 
seeds  should  be  sown  must  depend  not  only 
on  location  in  respect  to  latitude,  but  also  on 
the  nature  of  the  soil ;  if  it  be  heavy  a  little 
delay  will  rather  promote  than  retard  our 
object.  It  is  impracticable,  in  advance,  to 
always  give  undeviating  directions — the  com- 
mon sense  of  each  one  must  be  brought  into 


Asparagus  sow,  or  plant  roots,  if  not  at- 
tended to  last  mouth.  This  vegetable  is  now 
coming  into  season.  Whenever  practical,  a 
bed  of  sufficient  size  should  be  made  to  permit 
an  ample  supply  without  cutting  every  feeble 
shoot  which  peeps  above  the  surface  ;  ind-ed, 
where  space  and  means  admit,  two  beds  should 
be  maintained  and  cut  alternate  seasons.  The 
colossal  appears  to  sustain  its  repuation. 
Beans,  bush  or  bunch,  sow.  Broccoli,  purple 
cape  is  the  best  to  sow.  Beets,  early  and  long, 
sow.  Cabbage,  drumhead  and  flat  Dutch, 
sow  freely,  that  there  be  enough  for  the  fly 
and  to  plant ;  also  other  sorts  of  a  reliable 
character,  which  will  afford  an  uninterrupted 
succession,  so  desirable  in  every  country  family. 
Carrots,  early  horn  and  long  orange,  sow. 
Cauliflower,  late,  sow.  Celery,  sow,  if  not 
sown  last  month.  Cress,  sow.  Cucumber, 
early  frame,  sow  in  warm  spot.  Horseradish 
plant,  if  not  already  done.  Hot-beds  attend 
to.  Leek,  sow.  Lettuce,  sow  in  drills  ;  also 
plant  from  beds  of  last  autumn's  sowing. 
Marjorum,  sweet,  sow.  Mustard  for  salad, 
sow.  Nasturtiums,  sow.  Onions,  Buttons 
for  table  use  plant,  and  sow  thickly  for  sets. 
Parsley,  sow.  Parsnips,  sugar,  sow.  Peas, 
earlyandlate,  for  a  succession,  sow.  Potatoes, 
plant  plenty  of  the  early  rose  for  the  main 
supply  during  summer  and  autumn.  Radish, 
long  scarlet  and  white  aad  red  turnip,  sow,  it 
not  already  sown ;  also  the  golden  globe  and 
white  summer  for  succession.  Salsify,  sow. 
Sage,  sow  or  plant.  Spinach,  the  savory,  sow 
at  short  intervals.  Thyme,  sow  or  plant.  To- 
matoes, sow  to  succeed  those  sown  in  hot- 
beds. Turnips,  sow,  if  not  sown  last  month— 
they  may  succeed.  In  short,  this  is  the  season 
for  the  main  sowing  and  planting  in  the  Mid- 
dle States.  A  small  expenditme  of  time  will 
yield  large  results. 

SUPPOSED  SULPHUR  SHOWER. 

A  part  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania  seems  to 
be  somewhat  exercised— perhaps  agitated— 
about  an  assumed  shower  of  sulphiu*,  which 
is  said  to  have  fallen  in  various  places  yester- 
day (March  17)  morning,  including  the 
southern  portion  of  Lancaster  city.  But  was 
it  really  sulphur  that  fell  y  Did  anybody  in 
Lancaster  city  test  it  ?  None  of  it  fell  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  city  that  we  saw  or  heard 
of.  What  a  pity  that  those  who  did  see  it, 
had  not  collected  a  pertion  of  it,  and  tested  it 
themselves  or  submitted  it  to  some  one  whose 
testimony  would  have  been  received  by  the 
public.  The  paragraphs  going  the  rounds  of 
the  newspapers  are  very  unsatisfactory,  if  they 
mean  anything  at  all,  inasmuch  as  not  one  of 
them  states  vmo  tested  the  substance,  or  who 
says  it  was  sulphur. 

In  the  sprmg  or  summer  of  1843  a  large 
quantity  of  a  yellow  substance  fell  over  a 


large  portion  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  and 
long  articles  on  the  subject  appeared  in  the 
papers  of  Lancaster  city,  notably  in  the  Lan- 
caster Intelligencer,  then  published  by  Col.  J. 
W.  Forney.  One  correspondent,  in  an  article 
of  some  length,  gravely  pronounced  it  sul- 
phur, but  a  member  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  analyzed  it,  aad  tore  the 
other's  theory  and  deductions  all  to  tatters. 
We  also,  on  that  occasion,  collected  a  quantity, 
dried  and  tested  it,  for  the  surface  of  the 
water  in  many  of  the  rainstands  in  Marietta 
were  covered  with  it.  It  ignited  and  burned 
with  difficulty,  but  emitted' no  sulphur  fumes. 
The  fumes  were  very  similar  to  those  of  burn- 
ing vegetation,  faintly  approximating  to  the 
fumes  of  "Langell's  remedy  for  asthma  and 
catarrh,"  a  box  of  which  is  now  before  us, 
and  which  we  frequently  inhale  as  a  relief  to 
nasal  catarrh.  We  believe  the  member  of 
the  Academy  pronounced  it  pollenacious. 
The  shower  of  1843  fell  at  night,  and  the 
substance  was  noticed  the  following  morning. 
The  theory  was  that  a  strong  south  wind  had 
passed  over  the  floral  fields  or  pine  forests  of 
the  South— perhaps  Florida,  Alabama  and 
South  Carolina— and  that  the  pollen,  or  f  ecim- 
dating  dust  of  the  flowers,  over  which  the 
wind  passed,  was  carried  up  into  an  upper 
current  of  air  and  carried  northward  until  it 
encountered  a  shower  of  rain,  when  it  was 
borne  down  earthward.  Many  similar  plie- 
nomena  were  referred  to  at  that  time  as 
having  previously  occurred.  It  was  not  de- 
nied, that  "  flower  of  sulphur  "  might  be  also 
thus  carried  by  a  current  of  air,  for  ashes  and 
sulphurious  dust  had  been  before  observed 
falling  on  vessels  at  sea  supposed  to  have 
come  from  far  distant  volcanic  eruptions  ;  but 
the  special  shower  to  which  we  allude,  was 
not  sulphur  by  any  means.  What  this  last 
substance  was,  may  never  be  known,  for  it 
appears  that  nobody  with  a  "  local  habitation 
and  a  name,"  has  gone  to  the  trouble  to 
properly  investigate  it.  It  may  have  been 
pollen  also — for  a  week  ago  we  heard  that 
Florida  is  already  blooming  with  flowers 
it  may  have  been  sulphur.  This  may  have 
bejuthe  case  without  the  near  approach  of 
the  world's  end,  or  the  Judgment  Day  ;  bui 
whatever  it  was,  we  are  compelled  to  hold  our 
opinion  in  suspension  until  the  matter  is 
properly  authenticated. 

We  commiserate  the  poor  Allentown  woman 
ana  recall  an  instructive  anecdote,  as  a  remedy, 
In  the  early  history  of  New  England  a  very< 
dark  day  occurred— so  dark  indeed,  that  tl 
chickens  retired  to  roost  at  noon.  The  Gen- 
eral Council  or  Legislature  of  one  of  the  colo- 
nies (we  think  Connecticut)  was  in  session. 
Vhe  members  became  alarmed,  for  they  be- 
lieved the  Judgment  Day  had  come,  and  one 
of  them  moved  an  adjournment.  But  a  calm 
and  placid  elderly  gentleman  arose  and 
opposed  it.  He  said  :  "The  Judgment  Day 
is  coming  or  it  is  not  coming.  If  it  is  not 
coming,  there  is  no  necessity  for  alarm  ;  but 
if  it  is  coming,  I  wish  to  be  found  doing  my 
duty.  I  therefore  move  that  lights  be  brought 
in." 

Three  Days  Later. 

It  seems  almost  unnecessary  to  say  anything 
more  about  the  assumed  sulphur  shower  of 
Monday  last,  but  at  the  same  time,  to  show 
tliat  some  live  person  has  investigated  it,  and 
that  our  surmises  (not  having  seen  the  sub- 
stance) were  an  approximation  to  the  real 
truth  of  the  matter,  we  offer  the  following 
from  the  Easton  Daily  Express  of  the  20th 
inst.,  the  writer  of  which  is  well  known  here, 
and  is  an  unquestionable  authority  in  matters 
relating  to  pollenacious  phenomena  : 

"A  microscopic  examination  of  a  portion  of 
the  yellow  matter,  which  appeared  in  the 
streets  of  Easton  after  the  snowstorm  of  Mon- 
day morning,  proves  it  to  consist  of  pollen 
grains,  united  at  first,  but  separated  when 
dry,  or  when  again  wetted.  They  correspond 
in  every  respect  with  those  of  the  long-leaved 
or  yellow  pines  of  the  Southern  States  (Ptiius 
aiistralis  Michx.),  with  which  they  have  been 
carefully  compared.  This  pine,  though  very 
abundant  in  the  lowlands  of  North  Carolina, 


i 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


51 


(l.H's  not  cxt.'iid  iKirth  into  Virgiiii:i.  Tho 
1  iitiiiK'ii  in  lldWtT,  wliicli  i'lii-nislK'cl  tho  pol- 
h  II  lor  comiiarison,  was  itatlicifd  near  Wil- 
mington, N.  C,  iu  tlie  inontli  ol"  March. 
(  iirronts  of  air  luive,  no  (loul)t,  hrou^'ht  from 
that  distant  region  enough  of  tlie  polltn  tu 
]Hi\vderliglitly  aconsiderabledistrict  in  >;ortli- 
i  i-i.iii  rennsylvania.  Tims  tar,  it  has  been 
iiportid  as  seen  in  the  eounties  of  IJerks, 
I  ihi'di.  Carbon  and  !Northaini)ton.  I  may 
statc'also  that  I  have  found  water  in  rain- 
ho-,lieads,  inCenlral  l'enns\  ivaiiia,  covered 
with  pollen  of  pine  I  r>cs.  l.roiiu'ht  by  the  winds 
tVoni  the  ueighburiug  mountains  at  the  season 
of  their  flowering,  in  the  month  of  May." — 
Thomas  C.  Porter. 

We  would  have  been  content  to  have  let  the 
matter  rest  with  our  last  i)aper  t)n  tlie  subject, 
did  we  not  know  that  there  are  siiiu<'  persons 
in  this  city  who  will  insist  that  the  Nubstanee 
iu  question  was  veritable  "brimstone;"  and 
that  our  opinion,  in  the  absence  of  material 
data,  had  only  been  presumptive  and  not 
positive. 

"STRAWBERRY  PROTECTUS." 

Our  attention  was  called  sonic  days  ago  to 
a  newly-invented  iniplenieut  to  protect  straw- 
bi-rries  from  the  dirt  and  sand  that  sometimes 
accumulate  on  them  during  drenching 
showers  of  rain,  or  that  peculiar  earthy  flavor 
they  sometimes  imbibe  by  resting  upon  and 
ripening  on  the  ground,  or  on  the  mulchings 
whh  which  the  ground  is  covered,  and  which 
Incomes  often  saturated  with  unpleasant 
moistures.  This  is  simply  a  square  or  round 
(  oncaved  earthen  disk,  about  twelve  inches 
ui  diameter,  with  a  round  hole  in  the  centre, 
through  which  the  plant  is  trained.  When 
the  plant  is  matured  and  in  fruit,  the  branches 
bend  outwardly,  and  the  fruit  rests  within 
the  concaved  disk  (forming  a  shallow  dish), 
the  bottom  or  sides  inclining  towards  the 
plant,  thus  keeping  dry  and  clean  and  easily 
gathered.  But  this  is  not  all  it  does.  It 
shades  the  ground,  and  the  dews  and  surplus 
moisture  falling  from  the  plant  gradually 
trickles  down  towards  the  base  of  the  plant 
and  supply  the  roots.  The  fruit,  in  our 
opinion,  will  also  be  protected  froiu  certain 
-]ieries  of  milipedes  that  attack  it  from  the 
luulerside  when  it  is  lying  on  the  ground,  or 
half  buried  in  the  mulching  under  the  plants. 

BUCKWHEAT  CAKES  AND   SAUSAGES. 

As  some  approximation  to  the  consumption 
of  animal  food  in  Lancaster  county  we  clip 
the  following  item  fiom  a  current  number  of 
the  iViEio  Era,  as  the  result  of  two  months  in 
a  single  town,  and  that  not  among  the  largest 
towns  in  our  county.  This  was  all  slaughtered, 
presumably,  for  home  consumption,  and  we 
may  infer,  therefore,  that  the  town  is  pretty 
well  fortified  against  a  famine,  so  far  at  least 
as  beef  and  pork  can  "stave  off"  such-  a 
calamity.  Surely  that  ancient  borough  must 
have  enjoyed  a  reign  of  "buckwheat  cakes 
and  sausages,"  to  say  nothing  about  roast 
beef  and  "boloneys. "  Lancaster  county  can 
always  take  care  of  "  her  own,"  and  without 
a  doubt  always  will  take  care  of  them,  what- 
1  \er  may  transpire  adverse  to  the  general 
lirosperity.  This  makes  no  account  of  the 
"chicken  lixens  "  and  other  edible  etceteras 
employed  in  "  settingoff  "  a  good  table.  Should 
there  unfortunately  be  any  future  starvelings 
they  will  do  well  to  keep  an  eye  on  Adamstown. 

Live  Stock  Slaughtered  in  the  Borough  of 
Adamstown. 

"The  following  is  a  true  and  correct  ac- 
count of  beef,  pork  and  veal  slaughtered  in 
the  borough  of  Adamstown  by  the  different 
butchers  during  the  mouths  of  November  and 
December  of  1878.  We  will  first  give  a  list  of 
citizens  who  slaughtered  porkers  weighing 
over  400  pounds  :  Esais  Billingfelt.  091,  58i5, 
570  ;  John  Musser,  GiO,  632  ;  Sebastian  Mil- 
ler, .591,  495 ;  William  J.  Frame,  606,  491  : 
Levi  Hemich,  500,  551 ;  Edwin  Coldren,  522, 
495;  Henry  Seigfreid,  688,  595;  Edward 
Smith,  437,  412 ;  Hemy  Kegar,  510,  470  ; 
Jonathan   Plickiiiger,    500,    417 ;   Franklin 


Woods,  452,  422 ;  William  Myberger,  500 ; 
,Iohn  Klapp,  52:i ;  (Jeorge  Bollmau,  .525  ;  A. 
S.  Kaudenbush,  497  ;  Henry  Trostle,  490; 
William  Krich,  469,  400  ;  lleurv  K.  Bucher, 
'1(17;  Mor-an  11.  Clark,  447  :  .b.iiu  Slote,  447  ; 
William  Fichthoru,  40.-)  ;  James  B.  I'rutzman, 
445  ;  David  Laudis,  442  ;  A.  C.  Snader,  417  ; 
Daniel  Siegfried,  437;  Ileniy  Haller,  447; 
Franklin  Knemer,  400 ;  Moses  Yelk,  440; 
Solomon  Good,  400  ;  Conrad  Hertz,  WD  ;  John 
Uathmau,  47(1;  John  Slote,  4.->4  ;  Samuel  Col- 
dren, 4J();  .loshua  Spat/.,  417;  Wm.  Mohn, 
44.-.;  Levi  Schuader,  4.^iO ;  .Mn-aham  Lutz, 
4.J0,  making  a  total  of  50  head,  weighing,  24,- 
032  pounds,  or  an  average  of  over  480  pounds  ; 
254  head  weighing  58,601  pounds,  or  an  aver- 
age of  over  234  pounds  per  head  ;  or  a  grand 
total  of  82,033  pounds  of  pork,  131,000  pounds 
of  beef,  and  3,000  pounds  of  veal,  of  which 
Henry  Echternach,  butchei-,  slaughtered  30,- 
507  pounds,  Frederick  Goodhart,  28,000 
pounds,  Henry  Eedcay,  jr.,  0,000  pork  and 
20,000  beef,  Flickinger  &  Landis,  3,000  pork 
and  15,000  beef,  Redcay  Bros.,  14,400  pork 
and  24,000  beef.  Christian  Flickinger,  18,000 
beef,  and  William  F.  Hegar,  jr.,  3,000  pounds 
veal  and  54,000  pounds  beef" 

SPRING  AND  WINTER  TREE 
CLEANING. 
By  the  time  our  next  number  appears 
many  of  the  pestelential  insects  that  infest 
vegetation  will  be  "lively"  and  hungry  enough 
to  begin  their  destructive  careers.  The  foliage 
and  bloom  of  fruit  trees,  vines  and  shrubbery 
will  then  be  too  far  advanced  to  admit  of 
cleaning,  or  the  application  of  active  reme- 
dies in  many  cases  without  more  or  less  injury 
to  their  tender  condition.  If  cocoons,  clirys- 
alids,  web  and  egg  masses  are  not  now  re- 
moved, it  may  then  be  too  late  to  do  tliis 
work  effectually  without  entailing  much 
trouble.  AVe  are  often  surprised  to  see  so 
much  apathy  or  positive  indifference  in  mat- 
ters of  so  much  importance.  Many  people 
pay  no  attention  to  the  subject  at  all  until 
they  are  forced  to  do  so  by  the  presence  of 
hordes  of  insects  devouring  their  plants, 
shrubbery,  &c.  Now  this  need  not  neces- 
sarily be  so,  if  only  a  little  attention  is  given 
the  subject.  On  one  occasion  a  lady  called 
our  attention  to  a  rose  bush,  the  leaves  upon 
which  were  fast  becoming  skeletonized  and 
dry  and  crisp.  When  we  pointed  out  to  her 
something  less  than  two  hundred  greenish 
rose-slugs,  [selandria  rosea)  she  was  utterly 
astonished  ;  she  had  not  noticed  them  before, 
and  thus  it  is  in  many  instances.  People 
seem  to  expect  that  insects  will  come  to  them 
and  say,  "  here  I  am,  kill  me." 

PERSONAL. 

Much  time,  trouble  and  misunderstanduig 
would  be  saved  to  the  editor,  the  publisher 
and  the  patrons  of  The  Farmer  if  those 
having  relations  in  any  wise  wth  the  oflice, 
would  give  heed  to  the  following  :  All  com- 
munications relating  to  business,  including 
advertising,  subscriptions,  remittances,  ex- 
changes, &c.,  should  be  addressed  to  Jno.  A. 
Hiestand,  No.  9  North  Queen  street— the 
PuBLisiusR.  All  essays,  contributions,  book 
notices  and  communications  intended  for  pub- 
lication, to  S.  S.  Eathvon,  No.  101  North 
Queen  street— the  Editou. 

IS  THE  LOWEST  PRICE  THE  CHEAP- 
EST ? 

This  is  a  qucetioD  that  Is  daily  aekcd  by  all.  Iu 
nearly  every  tranBaction  of  buying  and  selling,  the 
purchaser  fluda  his  or  her  mind  reverting  to  this 
question  and  trying  to  solve  the  problem.  By  a  very 
large  majority  of  people  price  is  the  first  and  princi- 
pal criterion  of  value,  and  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  persons  make  it  their  rule  to  buy  that  for  which 
the  smallest  price  is  asked,  believing  that  in  thus 
saving  a  penny  they  are  earning  one.  We  beliere  it 
capable  of  proof,  however,  that  in  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  a  penny  thus  "saved"  is  two  pence  thrown  away. 
It  is  owing  mainly  to  this  propensity  for  hunting 
"bargains,  and  insisting  upon  low  prices  at  the  ex- 
pense of  quality,  that  goods  manufactured  in  this 
country  compare  generally  so  unfavorably  with  simi- 
lar classes  of  goods  manufactured  in  foreign  "coun- 
triea.  Our  readers,  if  there  be  any  "bargain-hunters" 


among  them,  may  object  that  they  do  not  insist  upon 
low  prices  at  the  expense  of  quality,  but  for  prices 
combined  with  fine  quality  and  the  best  goods.  Such 
a  cnmlihiulidn  of  conditions  may  be  Inbisted  upon, 
but  liiii  by  no  possibility  exist  aa  a  rule.  There  may 
lie  t,'xi(|ili(inal  cases,  when  goods  of  fine  quality  are 
60l<l  at  less  than  their  cost;  an  owner  may  be  forced 
make  sacrllices:  but  it  is  not  exceptions  we  arc 
iling  of  but  rules.  Mr.  A.  may  have  a  stock  of 
goods  for  sale,  and,  on  account  of  heavy  payments 
he  has  to  make,  may  find  It  to  his  Interest  to  sacrifice 
on  ^is  goods  for  a  few  weeks,  In  order  to  force  sales 
and  put  him  in  possession  of  necessary  funds ;  and 
it  may  be  cheai)er  for  him  to  raise  the  money  needed 
in  tins  way  than  to  hold  his  goods  and  borrow  money, 
paying  interest  for  it.  That  Is  a  natural  and  legiti- 
mate business  transaction.  But  it  is  impossible  for 
Mr.  A.  to  sell,  day  after  day  and  year  atler  year, 
goods  equal  in  quality  to  those  his  neighbor  oflers  at 
half  the  price.  Klther  he  is  losing  money,  needlessly 
and  recklessly,  or  the  supposed  cheapness  of  his 
goods  is  a  fallacious  one.  As  no  dealer  could  long 
stand  such  a  drain  upon  his  resources,  even  if  he  had 
the  desire  to  scatter  the  beneflts  of  his  charily  thus 
indiscriminately,  we  are  forced  at  once  to  abandon 
our  flrsl  hyiJOthesis.  We  see  him  getting  richer  year 
by  year— perhaps  even  more  rapidly  than  his  com- 
petitor, who  sells  better  goods  at  higher  prices.  The 
fact  is  indisputable ;  cheap  goods  are  invariably  of 
poor  quality.  Woolen  goods  containing  shoddy  can 
be  bought  at  a  less  price  per  yard  than  similar  ap- 
pearing goods  made  wholly  ol  wool.  In  fact,  the 
former  can  be  bought  at  retail  at  a  less  price  than 
the  first  cost  of  manufacturing  the  latter.  But  It  by 
no  means  follows  that  those  who  manufacture  or  sell 
shoddy  are  losing  money,  or  selling  bargains  ;  on  the 
contrarj ,  such  goods  are  infinitely  dearer,  as  can  be 
easily  demonstrated  by  any  one  who  doubts  it,  to 
their  own  satisfaction — or,  more  correctly  speaking, 
to  their  own  sad  dissatisfaction.  Nevertheless,  there 
are  thousands  of  people  who  think  It  economy  to 
buy  such  goods — paying  less  to-day,  to  be  sure,  but 
paying  about  three  times  in  the  time  that  one  garment 
made  of  good  all-wool  cloth  would  have  lasted.  One 
housewife  may  think  sugar  at  six  cents  per  pound 
cheap,  and  hold  up  their  hands  in  holy  horror  at 
what  she  terms  and  believes  the  extravagance  of  a 
neighbor  who  buys  clean,  pure  sugar  at  twelve  cents 
per'pound.  There  is  no  modification  in  pure  sugar 
any  more  than  in  the  component  parts  of  the  air  we 
brcathe;--aud,if  wemustuse  adulterated  substances.  If 
we  believe  them  cheaper,  why  not  buy  the  pure  articles 
and  adulterate  them  ourselves.  Probably  no  woman 
would  buy  a  pound  of  sugar  at  twelve  cents  and  mix 
it  with  an  equal  quantity  of  sand,  so  that  she  might 
say  her  sugar  costs  her  six  cents  per  pound  ;  but  such 
absurdity  would  be  wiser  and  more  economical  than 
to  buy  a  similar  article  already  adulterated,  as  a 
grocer  who  does  the  adulterating  would  not  only 
have  to  be  paid  for  his  trouble  and  labor,  but  would 
make  a  profit  for  himself,  by  charging  her,  perhaps, 
eight  cents  for  what  she  could  produce  for  six.  Ik) 
not  understand  us  to  assert  that  all  sugar  sold  by 
grocers  at  low  prices  has  been  mixed  by  them  with 
aultcrating  and  cheapening  substances;  such  is  by 
no  means  the  case.  Thousands  of  grocers  find  their 
principal  sales  of  sugars  to  be  of  this  grade,  who 
would  no  more  adulterate  than  they  would  pick 
pockets.  It  is  not  essential  to  our  argument  to  desig- 
nate how,  where,  or  by  whom  adulteration  is  done, 
we  only  desire  to  show  the  indubitable  fact  that  it 
exists  in  all  low  grade  goods,  and  iu  the  case  of 
sugars  it  may  more  frequently  exist,  from  the  fact 
that  it  has  never  been  purified  or  refined — that  the 
adulterating  substances  contained  in  it  at  the  time  of 
its  manufacture  in  the  tropics,  have  never  been  re- 
moved ;  but  the  housekeeper  can  no  more  afford  to 
pay  for  adulteration  that  has  always  been  in  the 
sugar,  than  she  can  for  that  that  may  have  been  sur- 
reptitiously incorporated  with  it  yesterday.  This 
universal  desire  to  cheapen  every  article  bought,  the 
strange  belief  that  as  good  an  article  can  be  bought 
for  fifty  cents  as  for  a  dollar,  has  forced  the  pro- 
ducers and  sellers  of  goods,  in  self-protection,  to 
lower  the  cost  of  each  article,  in  order  to  meet  the 
ideas  of  the  buyer  as  to  price,  and  reduction  iu  cost 
is  as  invariably  reduction  iu  quality,  as  the  fact  that 
two  from  four'always  leaves  two,  and  never  three  or 
four. 

Tlie  foregoing  we  extract  from  a  long  arti- 
cle in  the  January  number  of  the  Electric  Mes- 
senyer,  a  demifolio,  published  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  seemingly  in  the  interest  of  a 
special  occupation  ;  but  the  arguments  are  to 
the  point,  and  are  applicable  to  all  trades  and 
occupations  whatever  they  may  be.  Never, 
until  ignorance  is  banislied  from  the  world, 
and  its  place  is  occupied  by  wisiloiu  (not  even 
will  learning  suflice,  for  one  may  be  learned 
without  lieing  wise)  will  the  masses  of  the 
people  have  an  intelligent  understanding  of 
their  truest  intere.sts,  or  be  able  to  answer  the 
question  which  forms  the  caption  of  our 
quotation.  At  the  first  blush,  no  doubt,  ten 
to  one,  or  perhaps  fifty  to  one,  would  answer 


52 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  April, 


iu  the  affirraative ;  but  the  most  competent 
judges,  supported  by  their  own  experiences, 
would,  without  a  doubt,  answer  negatively, 
and  from  the  experiences  of  considerably 
more  than  half  a  centurj'  we  can  truthfully 
corroborate  the  sentiment.  The  question  is 
one  that  should  always  be  considered  from 
general  principles,  and  relating  to  general 
principles.  Merchandise  sacrificed  under  the 
sheriff's  hammer,  or  sacrificed  by  the  pro- 
prietor himself,  in  order  to  save  himself  from 
foreclosure,  cannot  be  regarded  as  establish- 
ing the  market  value  of  a  commodity.  These 
are  extraordinary  cases — contingencies  result- 
ing from  causes  that  are  independent  of  com- 
mercial rule.  Under  such  circumstances  the 
lower  price  may  often  be  the  cheaper.  Per- 
sons who  accustom  themselves  to  buy  only 
under  such  circumstances,  and  then  to  buy 
much  more  than  they  need,  in  order  to  be 
supplied  until  the  next  financial  failure  in  the 
community,  will  doubtless  be  always  looking 
for  and  expecting  such  sales  of  distress  ;  and 
if  they  de  not  occur  frequent  enough  to  gratify 
their  penurious  desires,  they  may  soon  accus- 
tom themselves  to  really  wish  for  such  adverse 
contingencies  to  their  fellow  men.  A  man 
may  perhaps  better  himself  pecuniarily,  but 
it  is  questionable  if  he  is  permanently  im- 
proving his  morals.  No,  tlie  question  must 
be  considered  in  its  permanent,  legitimate 
and  "regular"  form,  on  such  principles  of 
equitable  compensation  as  will  redound  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  whole  community,  ' '  year  in 
and  year  out."  In  such  a  case  we  believe  it 
will  be  demonstrable  that  the  lowest  price  is 
not  the  cheapest  to  him  who  can  atford  a 
higher  one.  Of  course,  we  do  not  mean  that 
extortionate  prices  should  rule  the  market ; 
but  there  should  be  a  fair  and  equitable  com- 
pensation to  all  laboring  and  trading  occupa- 
tions, and  merchandise  should  not  be  sold 
below  the  cost  of  original  production — nor 
can  it  be  without  inflicting  serious  injury  upon 
some  one,  and  this  generally  falls  upon  the 
poor  laboring  men.  It  is  frequently  alleged 
that  these  low  prices  benefit  the  poor,  but 
this  is  only  a  superficial  or  transient  benefit  at 
best,  and  even  if  true,  it  does  not  establish 
the  fact  that  the  lowest  price  is  always  the 
cheapest.  In  addition  to  the  fact  that  things 
very  low  in  price  are  often  entirely  worthless 
and  soon  present  a  shabby  appearance,  it 
often  transpires  that  when  people  flatter 
themselves  that  they  have  saved  twenty-five 
cents,  fifty  cents  or  a  dollar  on  a  small  pur- 
chase, that  they  spend  what  they  have  thus 
saved  in  the  purchase  of  some  luxury  that  is 
absolutely  hurtful  to  them. 

It  is  not  long  since  a  couple  of  rural  ver- 
dants  went  cheapening  over  a  whole  town, 
and  then  entered  a  place  of  doubtful  reputa- 
tion to  indulge  their  appetites  with  their 
savings  ;  and  indulged  to  such  an  excess  that 
they  both  became  blindly  "fuddled,"  in  which 
condition  the  one  had  his  pocket  picked,  and 
the  other  lost  his  package  of  goods.  On  an- 
other occasion  one  thought  he  had  saved 
about  five  dollars  on  a  larger  purchase,  and 
then  felt  his  need  of  a  buggy  ride  and  its 
usual  accompaniments.  He  became  jubilant, 
and  drove  like  another  "Jehu,"  was  arrested 
by  a  policeman,  taken  before  an  alderman, 
and  fined  seven  dollars  for  violating  the  law 
regulating  the  driving  speed  of  the  town. 
Things  excessively  low  priced  often  tempt 
people  to  buy  what  they  do  not  need,  or  more 
than  they  need,  thus  squandering  their  means 
on  iiseless  trash,  and  perhaps  that  which  they 
really  do  need,  they  are  subsequently  com- 
pelled to  buy  on  credit.  These  remarks  do 
not  include  that  class  who  have  only  a  very 
small  amount  of  cash,  and  are  compelled  to 
get  the  largest  quantity  for  it— wthout  regard 
to  quality — to  keep  them  from  starving  or 
freezing  ;  but  even  witli  them,  had  they  been 
able  to  pay  a  few  dollars  more,  they  might 
have  secured  cheaper  goods. 


Wanted  at  this  office,  the  following  num- 
bers of  The  Lancaster  Farmer  :  .January 
and  November,  1869  ;  March  and  July,  1873, 
and  February,  1874. 


Queries  and  Answers. 


Charleston,  Ark.,  JIarch  4th,  1879. 

Dr.  Rathvon— ZifiD-  fiir:  Being  a  subscriber  to 
your  valuable  paper,  The  Lancaster  Farmer, 
through  a  relative  of  ours  in  your  State,  I  take  the 
liberty  of  asking  some  questions  relative  to  an  ani- 
mal we  recently  shot  near  our  hen  house.  Color  a 
dark  brown,  white  under  the  neck ;  neck  rather  thick, 
countenance  very  sharp,  eye  lively,  teeth  sharp  and 
close  together,  legs  short,  long  body,  tail  not  so 
bushy  as  a  squirrel's,  had  a  peculiar  smell,  reminding 
you  of  a  rauskrat.  Owing  to  the  night  being  dark 
when  shot  could  not  say  whether  it  moves  slow  or 
quick.  Would  jou  please  tell  me,  through  your 
paper,  if  the  above  animal  is  amphibious  in'habits  ; 
is  it  related  to  the  mink,  if  not  what  family  does  it 
belong  to  ?  Wishing  your  excellent  paper  every  suc- 
cess I  remain  yours  truly,  Ocorge B.  Pixton. 

From  the  dark  brown  color,  white  under  a 
thickish  neck,  musky  odor,  &c.,  and  espe- 
cially being  found  prowling  about  a  poultry 
house,  I  should  judge  that  the  animal  you 
shot  is  the  "common  mink,"  {.Mustela 
lutreola. — L.  ;  Putoruis  vison. — Rich.)  which, 
from  its  amphibious  character,  in  times  long 
past,  was  called  the  "little  otter,"  as  Lin- 
neeus'  specific  name  implies.  In  describing 
mammals— especially  those  belonging  to  the 
family  Mustelid.e— the  length  of  the  body 
from  the  end  of  the  nose  to  the  root  of  the 
tail,  and  from  the  root  of  the  tail  to  its  end 
should  be  carefully  measured,  and  its  teeth 
should  be  counted  also.  Minks  usually  con- 
struct their  burrows  on  the  banks  of  or  near 
streams  of  water.  They  feed  largely  on  flsh, 
frogs  and  mollusks,  but  are  nlso  de.structive 
to  rabbits,  rats  and  mice.  But  they  also 
wander  a  considerable  distance  from  streams 
and  commit  depredations  upon  poultry.  They 
are  fully  as  much  at  home  in  the  water  as  the 
muskrat  is,  and  they  are  in  the  habit  of  emit- 
ting an  odor  as  strong,  and  more  disagreeable 
than  that  of  the  animal  last  named.  They 
may  be  domesticated  and  become  very  fami- 
liar, but  it  is  suggested  that  their  blood- 
thu-stiness  might  render  them  dangerous  to 
children  in  case  they  were  not  regularly  sup- 
plied with  their  accustomed  food. 


Salisbury,  Pa.,  March  22, 1879. 
Prof.  S.  S.  Rathvon— Z>eaj- .Sir;  Enclosed  find 
a  small  object  which  I  would  like  to  know  some- 
thing about.  In  appearance  it  resembles  the  egg  of 
some  insect,  or  a  pebble,  but  yet  is  not  so  hard  as  a 
pebble.  Please  state  what  it  may  be.  If  you  do  not 
decide  what  it  is,  I  will  inform  you  how  and  where  I 
obtained  it,  and  then,  perhaps,  you  can  tell  more 
about  it.     Yours  respectfully, 

David  M.  Geoff. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  containing  "object" 
duly  received,  and  in  reply,  first  allow  me  to 
say  that  you  should  at  once  have  accompanied 
it  with  the  information  you  seem  to  have  in 
reserve ;  because,  such  problems,  entirely 
isolated,  are  not  always  of  easy  solution,  and, 
therefore,  I  can  only  answeryou  approximately. 

The  object  in  question,  is  neither  the  "egg 
of  some  insect "  nor  yet  "  a  pebble,"  so  far  as 
I  am  able  to  determine.  Under  the  micro- 
scope it  presented  the  external  form  and 
appearance  of  a  white  egg  of  a  bird,  in  shape 
approximating  to  that  of  a  partridge.  It  was 
very  hard,  and  when  broken,  it  was  internally 
pure  white,  and  nearly  opaque,  solid  all 
through.  With  nitric  acid  it  efliervesced  very 
freely,  and  left  a  translucent  salt,  perhaps  a 
nitrate  of  lime,  which  was  soluble  partially  in 
alcohol  and  water.  It  is  therefore  a  pure  cal- 
careous concretion,  and  may  have  been  gotten 
out  of  the  stomach  of  a  fresh  water  ''cray- 
fish," or  a  mollusk  of  some  kind.  In  the 
LinnDean  collection  are  several  specimens 
taken  from  the  stomach  of  a  cray-fish  {astatus 
hartonii)  which  strongly  resemble  this  speci- 
men. They  are  commonly  called  "crabs' 
eyes,"  and  have  been  used  to  remove  small 
objects  from  the  eyes  of  human  beings  and  of 
animals.  Similar  concretions  have  been  found 
in  clams,  river  mussels,  and  other  bivalve 
shells,  in  which  they  are  the  neucli  of  a  com- 
mon variety  of  pearls.  It  is  true,  that  such 
an  object  may  be  found  in  the  bed  of  some 
rivulet,  entirely  disconnected  from  either  a 
cray-fish  or  a  shell,  but  they  may  still  have 


originated  within  the  body  of  the  one  or  the 
other. 

This  is  the  most  intelligent  answer  I  can 
make  from  the  meagre  data  furnished  me, 
and  may  be  a  correct  one  or  not.  I  am  at  all 
times  willing  to  give  such  information  on  such 
subjects  as  I  possess  ;  but  I  am  not  supposed 
to  know  everything.  And  here  let  me  dis- 
tinctly state  that  I  should  be  put  in  possession 
of  the  circumstances  under  which  objects  are 
found  that  I  am  expected  to  investigate  and 
give  information  on — when,  where,"in  what 
or  on  what,  and  also  the  time. 

As  the  writer  has  only  requested  me,  how- 
ever, to  "state  what  it  may  be,"  this  must  be 
regarded  as  my  answer  to  his  query. 

Salisburt,  Pa.,  March  28,  1879. 

Prof.  S.  S.  Rathvon— iJcar  Sir:  Tour  reply 
duly  received .  I  beg  pardon  for  not  giving  you  the 
necessary  information  as  to  how  and  where  I  ob- 
tained the  crab  eye,  as  you  say  they  are  generally 
termed.  I  was  curious  to  know  what  you  would 
have  to  say  about  it  without  that  information ;  you 
are  perfectly  correct,  as  I  obtained  it  from  the  inside 
of  an  oyster,  not  only  inside  of  the  shell  but  inside  of 
the  oyster,  and  this  is  what  caused  my  curiosity  as 
to  how  it  got  there  and  what  it  might  be.  Thanking 
you  for  your  valuable  information,  and  having  every 
reason  to  believe  you  do  know  a  good  many  things 
pertaining  to  this  science,  1  am  yours  respectfully, 
David  M.  Groff. 

If  taken  from  an  oyster  (Mollusk),  of  course 
it  must  be  considered  a  "  pearl." 

Mr.  J.  K.  F.,  Marietta,  Pa.— The  mineral 
you  dug  up  in  your  garden  is  a  very  fine  speci- 
men of  Bed  Oxide  of  Zinc,  otherwise  called 
Ruby  Blend.  The  specimen  also  contains  an 
ore  of  iron,  called  FrankUnite.  Its  being 
found  in  your  garden  was  purely  accidental. 
Very  likely  it  is  from  the  locality  of  Franklin, 
New  Jersey. 

The  specimens  from  the  Freed  farm,  York 
county,  contain  6ree7i  Carbonate  and  Sulj^huret 
of  Copper.  We  recognize  it  as  the  same  we 
obtained  at  that  locality  forty  years  ago.  It 
seems  strange  that  there  has  been  no  further 
development  of  that  mine  during  the  inter- 
vening series  of  years.  Prospecting  was  done 
on  the  farm  more  than  forty  years  ago,  but  at 
that  time  the  proprietor,  we  believe,  was  un- 
willing either  to  lease  or  sell. 

The  specimens  supposed  to  be  Brazilian  are 
of  the  same  varieties  of  copper  as  the  fore- 
going, but  judging  from  their  greater  specific 
gravity,  we'  think  they  contain  more  metallic 
copper  than  the  former.  One  of  the  latter  and 
two  of  the  former  appear  to  be  of  the  variety 
called  Gray  Copper.  Possibly  the  specimens 
have  become  mixed.  Any  of  them  seem  rich 
enough  to  be  mined,  and  probably  would  pay. 


Contributions. 


For  The  Lancaster  Fabmes. 
MORE  LIGHT. 
In  reply  to  an  "  Amateur  Farmer,"  in  the 
March  number  of  The  Farmer,  I  beg  leave 
to  say,  that  by  the  terms,  "  rising  "  and  "set- 
ting "  of  the  moon  I  mean  the  moon's  ascen- 
sion and  decension.  If  he  looks  at  the 
"  explanation  of  astronomical  characters,"  in 
any  csmmon  almanac,  he  will  at  once  become 
acquainted  with  the  various  characters  which 
designate  those  changes  in  the  phases  of  the 
moon.  Let  him  then  turn  to  the  month  of 
April,  and  he  will  find  that  the  moon's  ascen- 
sion begins  on  C4ood  Friday,  the  11th  of  that 
month,  and  continues  to  the  24th  of  the  same. 
After  that  date  its  descension  begins,  and 
continues  until  the  8th  of  May.  Now,  I  usu- 
ally plow  only  part  of  the  day,  and  can  al- 
ways see  when  to  begin  by  consulting  the 
almanac.  Therefore,  my  time  to  plow  stiflF, 
clayey  soil  in  April,  is  from  the  11th  to  the 
24th,  not  only  for  potatoes,  but  for  any  kind 
of  crop,  whether  grain  or  vegetables.  "Ama- 
teur" says,  farmers  who  regulate  their  plow- 
ing by  the  moon,  have  been  very  backward  in 
giving  their  reasons  to  the  public.  This  is 
not  .so  very  wonderful.  Perhaps  they  had 
never  been  reasoned  with  on  the  subject,  and 
only  formed  their  conclusions  from  practical 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


53 


results  withiu  the  spheres  of  their  experiences. 
Our  fathers  and  our  grand fathei-s  had  but  a 
hmited  education,  and  although  they  A-iieir 
what  they  were  doing,  and  how  to  do  it,  .so 
far  as  it  related  to  their  own  mental  and 
physical  energies,  yet  so  far  as  the  invisible 
operations  of  nature  were  concerned,  they 
did  not  pretend  to  know  any  more  than  the 
philosophy  of  the  present  day  can  tell  how  a 
seed  germinaks  and  grown.  "Perhaps  another 
reason  why  they  have  felt  backward  in  present- 
ing their  e.xperiences  to  the  public  is,  because 
those  who  assume  to  be  better  educated  than 
they  have  not  only  met  them  with  absolute 
disbelief,  but  also  with  ridicule.  Of  course  I 
was  aware  of  this  before  I  wrote  on  the  sub- 
ject, but  I  thoiiLiht  thei-e  were  some  readers  of 
The  F.VRMEit  who  were  not  too  highly  edu- 
cated to  lie  benelited.  Others  may  smile  at 
what  they  may  consider  my  simplicity,  but 
the  deductions  of  a  long  life  of  experience 
no  one  can  deprive  me  of  by  a  mere  act  of 
disbelief,  backed  by  ridicule.  In  conclusion, 
there  are  very  few  now— no  matter  how  highly 
educated  they  are — who  disbelive  that  the 
tides  of  the  ocean  are  influenced,  or  caused  by 
the  moon  ;  and  who  can  say  that  that  orb  can 
not  exercise  some  influence  over  the  integra- 
tion and  disintegration  of  the  soil.  I  am  per- 
fectly aware  that  many  have  no  faith  in  these 
things,  but  I  am  also  aware  that  the  believers 
are  "  legion,"  and  that  it  has  not  been  to  their 
disadvantage. — J.  G.,  Wancick,  April,  1879. 

For  The  I.ancastee  Fabmkb. 
"BALANCE  OF    TRADE." 

Ml!.  Editor  :  In  tlie  February  number  of 
The  Fakmek  a  certain  J.  P.  takes  exception 
to  a  portion  of  my  essay  delivered  before 
"the  Horticulturikl  Society  at  Lancaster,  and 
published  in  the  January  number  of  The 
Farmer."  That  part  to  which  J.  P.  objects 
is  what  I  say  concerning  the  balance  of  trade 
being  in  our  favor.  Let  us  look  at  this  sub- 
ject a  little  closer. 

It  may  not  appear  so  beneficial  to  the  United 
States,  or  a  nation  under  any  circumstances, 
but  I  am  pretty  well  convinced  that,  under 
our  present  c<jndition  of  affairs,  it  is,  notwith- 
standing we  are  p.iyiiig  only  for  "  dead  horse. " 
The  horse  must  be  paid  for  dead  or  alive,  and 
the  price  only  depends  upon  what  he  has 
earned  for  us.  This  must  regulate  his  value. 
Just  so  with  our  National  and  State  debts  ; 
we  made  them  aud  realized  the  worth  of  them. 

Did  not  a  suspension  of  the  banks  always 
follow,  heretofore,  right  on  the  heels  of  our 
having  to  pay  the  difference  in  silver  and 
gold  ?  And  does  it  not  indicate  good  manage- 
ment for  a  nation  to  sell  nm-e  than  they  buy? 
This  is  the  basis  of  success  with  farmers, 
merchants  and  well-regulated  corporations ; 
why,  then,  does  the  princijile  not  apply  to  our 
governmeut  ?— P.  S.  Heist,  Litiz,  Pa.,  March 
6tA,  187'.). 

MIGRATION  OF  EELS. 
Editor  Lancaster  Farmer  :  An  article 
on  the  above  in  your  journal,  with  a  recpiest 
whether  others  have  noticed  the  same,  inter- 
ested mo,  and  called  to  mind  what  I  saw 
about  fifty  years  ago.  ^Vhen  a  boy,  it  was 
my  delight  to  go  to  the  river  for  the  first  time. 
The  teamster,  who  went  to  Columbia  for 
lumber,  was  allowed  to  take  me  along.  While 
they  were  loading  the  lumber  I  went  out  to 
the  river,  and  just  along  the  outside  of  a  raft 
I  saw  a  dark  streiik  that  was  moving  up 
stream.  Laying  down  flat  to  see  what  it  was, 
I  soon  discovered  that  they  were  little  eels. 
Sometimes  the  train  would  be  detached  for  a 
few  moments,  ImU  nomiy  all  the  time  one 
constant  stream  against  a  stream.  They 
sometimes  seemed  to  be  in  a  mass  six  inches 
broatl  and  as  deep,  and  so  thick  that  at  times 
the  water  could  barely  be  seen  beneath  them. 
It  would  be  a  mere  farce  to  form  an  estimate 
of  the  numbers,  for  thev  were  legion.  In  an 
hour's  watching  I  might  be  sate  in  estimating 
them  at  hundreds  of  thousands.  To  make 
sure  of  their  being  eels,  I  used  my  straw  hat 
as  a  dip-net,  and  succeeded  in  catching  three 
of  them.     They  were  from  four  to  six  inches 


in  length  from  my  very  best  recollection,  and 
the  time  was  just  before  haymaking. 

The  idea  that  they  must  go  to  the  salt 
water  to  breed  is  a  mistake,  for  they  have 
been  bred  in  ponds  until  .so  fully  stocked  that 
they  could  be  raked  out  by  the  dozen  with  a 
common  rake.  An  article  lately  from  the 
pen  of  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine  in  the 
East,  who  is  posted  on  the  subject,  has  dis- 
covered that  which  was  formerly  supposed  to 
be  the  fat  of  this  (mysteriously  breeding  crea- 
ture) is,  in  reality,  its  eggs,  and  that  a  fair- 
sized  female  bears  nine  millions  of  eggs.  If 
this  be  so,  we  wish  some  were  here  to  lay 
their  eggs  in  the  Missouri  river.  In  the  twelve 
years  here  but  two  of  them  have  been  caught. 
Long,  long  ago  we  were  one  of  a  party  that  in 
one  night  caught  in  a  fish-basket  two  hundred 
of  respectable-sized  ones  in  Pequea  creek,  six 
miles  southeast  of  your  city. 

If  you  think  it  would  interest  your  readers 
to  learn  something  definite  concerning  the  big 
cattish  in  this  big,  muddy  river,  I  will  en- 
deavor in  some  future  nurnber  to  give  them 
an  idea  of  their  size  and  habits. — Samuel 
Miller,  Bhiffton,  Mo. 

[We  shall  always  be  glad  to  hear  from  our 
old  correspondent ;  not  only  about  the  "big 
cattish,"  but  also  on  any  subject  connected 
with  agriculture,  horticulture  aud  domestic 
economy. — Ed.J 

For  The  Lancabteb  Fabmeb. 
AROUND  THE  FARM— No.  13. 

Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  what  capital  seed 
bags  the  wrappers  of  The  Farmer  will  make. 
Our  enterprising  publishers  use  a  strong  paper, 
and  by  pasting  one  end  shut  we  have  a  bag 
that  will  hold  a  half  a  pint  or  more. 
Gambrel  Sticks. 

The  past  winter  I  made  several  gambrel 
sticks  over  a  new  pattern  (at  least  to  me).  I 
made  it  like  ordinary  sticks,  but  instead  of  the 
usual  notches,  at  each  end,  I  bored  one-half 
inch  holes,  one  inch  apart.  This  I  think,  after 
using  it,  is  a  decided  improvement  on  the  old 
plan,  as  the  notches,  in  order  to  make  them 
strong  enough,  must  necessarily  be  made 
further  ap.irt  than  the  holes  need  be.     In  the 


centre  of  the  stick  I  put  a  staple  through  with 
a  rina  in  it.  In  hanging  up  hogs  I  have  two 
doubfe  pulleys  with"  hooks,  one  of  wliich  is 
fastened  to  a  pin  in  the  beam  overhead,  while 
the  other  is  hooked  into  the  ring  in  the  gam- 
brel stick  memioned  above,  when  one  man 
can  raise  a  300  jjound  hog  easier  than  two  men 
can  raise  one  of  100  pounds.  The  ring  pre- 
vents slipping,  which  is  sometimes  the  ca.se 
with  old-style  sticks. 

In  the  spring  when  the  ground  opens  horses 
will  generally  be  splashed  with  mud  when  re- 
turning froni  the  road.  To  remove  it  1  find  a 
knife  made  of  a  pine  shingle  or  other  thin 
board,  the  edges  shaped  concave  on  one  side 
and  convex  on  the  other,  sharpened  like  a 
knife,  to  answer  better  than  a  curry  comb. 
The  concave  side  should 
just  fit  the  convex  surface 
of  the  horse's  leg,  when,  by 
the  ai<l  of  a  stifl' brush,  dirt 
can  t)e  removed  ([uickly  and  in  a  thorough 
manner. 

Harness. 
Before  spring  work  commences,  all  harness 
should  be  taken  apart  and  given  a  thorough 
washing  in  warm,  soapy  water.  Don't  stoi) 
washing  the  harness  until  all  dirt  is  removed, 
iis  dirt  damages  the  leather  more  than  the 
washing,  besides  it  prevents  the  oil  from 
penetrating  the  leather.  After  it  is  nearly 
dry  oil  it  copiously  with  neatsfoot  or  "^'acu- 
um  "  oil,  after  which  hang  in  the  sun  or  a  dry 
place  for  a  day  or  two  before  using,  and  you 
will  have  soft  harness  all  summer. — Ruralist, 
Creswell,  Pa.,  March  lath,  1879. 


For  The  La>cabxhr  Farueb. 

THE  BALANCE  OF  TRADE,  AGAIIil. 

In  reply  to  my  article  in  tlii^  .lanuary  num- 
ber of  The  Farmer  a  writer,  signing  himself 
J.  S.  T.,  undertakes  in  last  month's  issue,  to 
show  that  I  was  entirely  wrong  in  the  posi- 
tion I  assumed.  And  I  will  confess  that  if 
bold  assertion,  uncorroborated  by  facts  or 
arguments,  and  with  scarcely  an  attempt  to 
produce  either  on  his  part,  is  all  that  is  re- 
quired to  sustain  his  position  and  overthrow 
mine,  then  he  is  triumphant;  but  not  other- 
wise. 

Ho  says  my  stat«ynents  are  of  "doubtful 
veracity,"  and  my  arguments  "  utterly  weak" 
and  "hopele.ssly  illogical."  Undoubtedly  lie 
wished  his  readers  to  believe  they  are  so. 
Why  then  did  he  not  endeavor  to  prove  his 
assertions  by  contradicting  me  with  facts  not 
of  doubtful  veracity  and  arguments  that  are 
logical.  His  will  being  good,  his  omission  to 
do  either  of  these  things  will  probably  be  at- 
tributed to  its  true  cause  by  the  readers  of 
The  Farmer. 

In  my  former  article  I  stated  my  Ijelief  that 
the  statistics  of  the  country  for  the  last  half 
century  and  longer,  and  also  those  of  Great 
Britain,  would  show  that  in  times  of  ))ros- 
perity  the  imports  of  each  country  would  be 
found  to  exceed  its  exports.  Up  to  the  time 
of  this  writing  I  have  not  been  able  to  lay  my 
hands  on  a  statement  of  the  imports  and  ex- 
ports of  Great  Britain  for  several  years,  which 
I  had  in  possession  .sometime  ago,  and  there- 
fore I  cannot  produce  it  here  ;  but  my  distinct 
recollection  is  that  it  showed  the  imports— I 
think  it  was  for  the  live  years  from  1871  to 
187.) — exceeded  the  exports  by  more  than  100,- 
000.000  pounds  sterling.  I  do  not  ask  anyone 
to  take  my  word  (or  my  memory)  for  this, 
however,  at  present,  and  will  now  refer  to  the 
official  statistics  of  our  own  country. 

The  "Quarterly  Report  of  the  Chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Statistics,"  issued  by  the  Treasury 
Department,  at  Washington,  for  the  quarter 
ending  March  .31,  1>^7S,  contains  a  statement 
of  the  imports  and  exports  of  the  United 
States  for  every  year  from  the  organization  of 
the  government  down  ;  and  from  that  state- 
ment I  derive  the  following  figures  (hi  round 
numbers) : 

1790  to  1799,  excess  of  Imports,  -  -  8101,390,000 
ISOO  to  1809,  excess  of  imiK)rts,  -  -183,367,000 
]810tol819,  excess  of  imports,  -  -  222,110,000 
18:0  to  18i9,  excess  of  Imports,  -  -  40,616,000 
1830  to  1839,  ex«ess  of  Imports,  -  -  327,301,000 
1840  to  1849,  excess  of  imports,  -  -  56,039,000 
1850  to  1859,  excess  of  lm()ort8,   -        -  2,551,000 


Total, 5932,377,000 

It  is  thus  seen  that  in  every  term  of  ten 
years  up  to  1800.  the  imports  were  greater 
than  the  exports,  the  aggregate  excess  amcmnt- 
ing  to  more  than  nine  hundred  million  dollars. 
Can  any  one  believe  that  we  were  doing  a 
losing  business  in  all  this  period  of  seventy 
years,  aud  that  we  were  growing  poorer  and 
poorer  year  Viy  year  in  conse(iuence  of  our 
foreign  commerce  V  If  that  was  so,  is  it  not 
strange  th.at  some  of  the  illustrious  financiei's 
and  statesmen  of  that  period  did  not  di.scovcr 
the  fact  and  demand  the  total  suppression  of 
a  trade  that  was  proving  so  injurious  to  their 
country  ? 

But  in  the  eighteen  years  since  1800,  includ- 
ing the  time  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
when  we  were  unquestionably  going  behind- 
hand—expending far  more  than  we  were  earn- 
ing, and  including  also  the  time  of  the  late  ex- 
treme depression  aud  panic,  the  balance  is 
decidedly  on  the  other  side  of  the  book,  as  it 
decidedly  ought  not  to  be  if  the  Balance  of 
Trade  theorists  are  correct,  viz. : 

I8f.ll  to  1869,    excess  of  exports,    -     -    ^44.3 ,642,000 
1871)  to  1877,* excess  of  exports,      -     -    693,919,000 


Total,      -----     ?1,137,.561,000 

These  figures  speak  for  themselves.  Will 
Mr.  J.  S.  T.  venture  to  as.sert  that  the  only 
prosperous  period  this  country  has  experienced 
was  during  the  civil  war  and  the  period  of  the 
subsequent  panic?  If  so,  then  he  is  consistent 


54 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  April, 


with  himself  when  he  maintains  the  proposition 
that  appears  to  me  a  self-evident  absurdity, 
viz.:  "  that  the  more  we  send  abroad  and  the 
less  we  get  in  return  for  it  the  greater  is  our 
gain."  lie  appears  to  hold  that  our  advantage 
from  foreign  trade  depends  entirely  on  the 
amount  we  send  out  of  the  country,  and  that 
if  in  exchange  for  this,  owing  to  bad  foreign 
markets,  or  other  cause,  we  are  enabled  to 
purchase  and  bring  home  merchandise,  &c., 
of  only  half  the  value  of  what  we  send  away, 
so  much  the  better  for  us.  The  custom  house 
returns  will  then  show  ji  large  balance  of  ex- 
ports above  the  imports,  and  so  we  all  ought 
to  rejoice  1  He  admits  that  in  the  case  of  the 
miller  exporting  a  lot  of  flour,  worth  S50  at 
home,  and  importing  in  return  for  it  $75  worth 
of  salt,  the  miller  gained  $25.  Well,  did  not 
the  country  also  gain  that  amount,  and  is 
not  this  a  genuine  specimen  of  all  the  ven- 
tures of  all  our  citizens  engaged  in  foreign 
trade  ?  They  invariably  export  our  produce, 
&c.,  in  the  hope  of  getting  back,  that  is  of 
importing,  in  one  shape  or  another,  greater 
value  than  they  exported.  If  they  succeed  in 
doing  this  they  have  accomplished  their  pur- 
pose, and  they  and  the  country,  I  maintain, 
are  so  much  the  richer  ;  yet  the  custom  house 
returns  will  show  a  preponderance  of  imports 
over  exports.  But  if  for  any  cause,  for  in- 
stance the  wreck  and  total  loss  of  the  out- 
going or  incoming  vessel,  the  owner  loses  all 
he  had  risked,  the  custom  house  will  furnish 
evidence  to  all  believers  in  the  theory  adopted 
by  J.  S.  T.,  that  the  country  has  been  en- 
riched to  the  extent  of  the  whole  appraised 
value  of  the  cargo  exported !  Can  anything 
more  be  needed  to  show  the  fallacy  and  ab- 
surdity of  the  theory  that  an  excess  of  exports 
over  imports  is  a  sure  indication  of  growing 
wealth  and  prosperity  ? 

J.  S.  T.  affirms,  by  way  of  illustration, 
that,  '  'Of  two  farmers  dealing  with  each  other, 
the  one  who  has  the  more  money  to  get  at  the 
end  of  the  year  has  the  advantage."  I  say, 
this  is  not  necessarily  so  to  all.  Suppose  in 
their  year's  dealings  A.  has  bought  of  B.  a 
horse  and  a  cow,  worth  together  $200,  while 
he  has  sold  him  a  lot  of  sheep  and  hogs  worth 
$300.  Of  course  when  they  come  to  settle  A. 
"has  the  more  money  to  get,"  and  B.  must 
pay  him  the  difference,  of  f  100.  But  does  that 
prove  that  A.  has  had  the  advantage  in  the 
trade  ?  One  has  the  most  money,  but  the 
other  has  property  to  show  for  it  that  is  worth 
money.  What  is  the  essential  difference  be- 
tween money  and  money's  worth  ?  If  money 
is  always  of  more  value  than  the  property 
that  it  buys,  why  does  any  one  part  .with  it  to 
buy  the  property  ?  Does  not  the  entire  value 
of  money  arise  from  the  fact  that  the  owner 
of  it  can  thereby  procure  other  property  that 
he  needs  or  desires  V— J".  P.,  Lancaster,  March 
24,  1879. 

■»■ 

For  The  Lascasteb  Farmer. 
TURTLE-HEAD,  SNAKE-HEAD,  BAL- 
MONY. 

(^Chilone.) 

The  chelone  is  a  genus  of  plants  so  named 
from  the  Greek  for  tortoise,  the  flower,  or 
corolla,  resembling  in  shape  the  head  of  a  rep- 
tile ;  it  is  also  called  shell-flower,  balmony,  &c. 
This  is  not  a  rare  plant  in  low  or  wet  places — 
found  in  flower  from  July  to  September. 
There  are  two  species,  the  C.  glabra  and  C. 
ohliqua,  and  others,  perhaps  simpler  varieties. 
Stamens  four,  with  woolly  filaments  and  very 
woolly,  heart-shaped  anthers  ;  smooth  peren- 
nials, with  upright,  branching  stems;  opposite 
serrate  leaves,  and  large  white  or  purple 
flowers,  which  are  nearly  sessile,  in  spikes  or 
clusters,  and  closely  imlsricated  with  round, 
ovate  bracts  and  bractlets.  Calyx  of  five  dis- 
tinct, imbricated  sepals.  Carolla  inflated, 
tubular,  with  the  mouth  a  little  open ;  the 
upper  lip  broad  and  arched,  keeled  in  the 
middle  and  notched  at  the  apex ;  the  lower 
woolly,  bearded  in  the  throat ;  three  lobed  at 
the  apex.  So  much  is  from  Gray's  Botany,  in 
substance. 

The  Chelone  glabra,  "smooth  snake-head," 
and  the  C.  ohliqua,  the  "purple  chelone,"  are 
not  considered  distinct  bv  Pursh  and  Dr. 


Gray,  but  there  is  a  marked  difference  in  the 
color  of  the  corolla.  I  have  met  with  them 
in  botanical  rapibles  of  a  most  delicate  pink 
blush,  and  through  rose  color  to  a  beautiful 
purple,  in  different  localities.  This  is  truly  a 
beautiful  flower,  and  worthy  of  a  place  in  the 
garden.  Johnson  enumerates  eleven  species, 
some  from  Mexico,  California,  &c. ;  all  of 
American  growth. 

The  generic  name  was  given  to  our  species 
by  Toumefort.  This  hardy  perennial  of  Korth 
America  is  usually  found  along  the  sides  of 
streams.  Mr  Clayton  collected  plants  of  the 
purple  flowering  variety  in  1752,  and  sent 
them  to  Mr.  Miller,  of  England,  and  by  him 
propagated  in  the  Hortus  Kewensis.  Then 
followed  the  G.  lyoni,  a  rival  species,  larger 
and  a  more  resplendant  flower.  The  scarlet 
Chelone  harbata,  a  native  of  Mexico,  was  in- 
troduced into  England  by  Sir  Joseph  Banks, 
in  1794.  I  simply  mention  this  to  show  that 
some  of  our  native  wild  flowers  are  highly 
prized  and  cultivated  in  Europe,  while  we  at 
home  scarcely  appreciate  these  interesting 
plants. 

They  grow  wild,  and  hence  we  want  some- 
thing that  comes  from  abroad.  May  I  hope 
to  be  indulged  in  a  little  gossip.     I  distinctly 


scientific  names  of  things.  I  am  aware  that 
the  hard  names  are  objected  to  by  many  of 
my  readers.  Any  name  for  a  thing  new  to  i 
must  be  remembered  if  we  wish  to  make  the 
thing  known  to  others  in  our  conversation; 
but  if  each  one  gives  it  his  own  name,  how 
can  he  explain  to  another  what  he  refers  to  ? 
Hence  the  necessity  of  employing  names 
and  phrases  which  apply  exclusively  to  the 
plant  or  thing  under  consideiation — names 
in  universal  use  by  all  students.  True, 
these  are  mostly  derived  from  the  Greek 
or  Latin  roots,  which  are  only  familiar 
to  scholars,  they  can  see  why  the  name ' 
is  applicable.  But  an  active  intellect  more 
readily  acquires  appropriate  new  names  or 
special  names  than  new  meanings  of  old  familiar 
words;  hence  it  is  better  to  have  a  specific 
term  and  study  up  to  a  clear  comprehension 
of  the  subject.  We  soon  learn  what  part  is 
the  calyx,  the  sepals  applying  to  the  green  por- 
tion or  outer  cup  of  the  flower  and  its  divis- 
ions ;  so  with  the  corolla  and  petals,  whether 
in  one  piece,  like  a  Morning  Glory,  "ilfone- 
petalous,"  or  like  a  rose  of  many  separate 
leaves,  and  polypetalous ;  also,  the  stems  of  a 
leaf  is  a  petiole,  and  that  of  the  flower  the 
peduncle.  Considering  that  these  vary  in  form, 
color  and  habit  of  growth,  to  describe  them 
terms  or  names  must  be  had,  and  we  may  as 
well  learn  those  used  in  systematic  descrip- 
tions, and  then  the  study  of  botany  becomes 
easy  enough. 

To  conclude  with  regard  to  the  medical 
properties  of  the  plant  above  figured.  Dr. 
Beacher  says  :  "  It  is  good  to  expel  worms; 
make  a  tea  and  drink  ;  after  a  few  days  give 
a  purge." 

Griffith,  in  his  Medical  Botany,  page  519,. 
figures  and  describes  this  plant.  He  says: 
"It  is  tonic,  cathartic  and  hepatic." 

On  the  authority  of  Rafinesque,  who  de- 
rived his  knowledge  of  it  from  the  Shakers, 
the  Indians  made  extensive  use  of  it ;  in  full 
doses  it  purges  and  acts  powerfully  on  the 
liver,  they  say. — /.  Sta^tffer. 


recall  the  pleasure  I  derived  on  one  occasion, 
twenty  or  more  years  ago,  while  struggling 
along,  amid  shrubbery,  as  I  followed  a  moun- 
tain streamlet  in  search  of  floral  novelties, 
when  I  came  across  a  patch  of  chelone 
for  the  first  time.  Oh,  what  a  delight  it  is  to 
the  ardent  botanist  to  discover  a  new  and 
beautiful  plant !  I  had  no  idea  of  what  it 
was.  With  eager  haste  I  culled  specimens, 
and  retired  to  a  mossy  seat  to  inspect  this 
stranger.  I  first  examined  the  scales,  calyx 
and  corolla,  carefully  sketching  the  parts, 
and  then  opened  the  corolla,  examined  the 
lobes,  the  stamens  and  pistil  with  tlie  seed 
vessel,  and  all  things  considered,  found  that 
it  was  not  a  Labiatse  or  of  the  moist  family. 
I  had  met  and  analyzed  the  Pentstemon,  a 
closely  allied  plant ;  this  knowledge  led  me  to 
seek  for  it  among  the  Scrophulacete,  and 
found  it  to  belong  to  the  genus  c/teloite.  I 
mention  this  to  show  the  advantage  of  study  ; 
the  knowledge  of  certain  plants  and  generic 
characters  is  a  guide  to  others,  and  to  analyze 
and  trace  the  affinities,  a  source  of  pleasure 
they  only  know  who  become  interested. 

The  study  of  iiny  branch  of  natural  science 
is  conducive  to  healthy  recreation,  as  well  as 
profitable  ;  and  it  would  be  well  if  our  young 
men,  yes,  and  ladies,  too,  would  make  them- 
selves familiar  with  the    technicalities  and 


Selections. 


SEEDS. 

Frequent  complaints  are  made  that  s 
do  not  germinate,  and  dealers  in  them  are 
found  fault  with,  when,  very  generally,  the 
fault  lies  in  the  improper  manner  in  which 
people  plant  them. 

Many  take  no  heed  of  the  condition  of  the 
soil  or  of  the  depth  at  which  the  seed  should 
be  planted.  The  temperature  and  moisture 
also  have  a  controlling  influence.  The  tem- 
perature of  germination  of  the  following  seeds 
is: 

Lowest.       Highest.       Most  Kapid. 

Wheat «°F.  104°F.  84°F. 

Barley 41  104  84 

Pea 44  182  84 

Corn 48  116  93. 

Bean 49  111  79 

Squash ..; 54  113  93 

Air-dried  seed  will  imbibe  water  of  absorp- 
tion completely  m  from  48  to  72  hours,  in  the 
following  percentage: 

Mustard,  8  Buckwheat,  47  Oats,  60  Pea,  107 

Mille*,      -S  Barley.  49  Hemp,         BO  Clover, 

Corn,        44  Turnips,        51  Kid.Beans,96  Beets, 

Wheat,     45  Kye,  58  Horse  "      194  Wh.  Clover,    127 

The  great  difference  in  the  amount  of  water 
absorbed  by  mustard  and  clover  seed  is  worthy 
of  notice.  The  failure  of  clover  seed  to  catch, 
frequentlv  arises  from  sowing  it  at  a  time  of 
insufficient  moisture,  and  can  be  obviated  I 
first  soaking  the  seed,  to  supply  the  necessary 
humidity.  Millet  generally  secures  a  good  catch 
even  in  "dry,  hot  weather,  as  a  small  amount 
of  moisture  answers  for  that  seed.  Soaking 
seed  in  plain  water,  however,  entails  certain 
disadvantages.  If  we  examine  the  water  in 
which  the  seed  is  soaking,  we  find  that  it  soon 
becomes  brown.  It  has,  therefore,  dissolved 
some  substances  from  the  seeds  ;  has  actually 
macerated  them.  If  we  pour  off  this  brown 
water  and  let  it  stand  exposed  to  heat,  it  soon 
gives  off  the  smell  of  ammonia,  proving  that 
it  has  soaked  out  nitrogenous  matter,  which 
nature  has  evidently  stored  in  the  seed  for  the 
nourishment  of  the  young  germ. 


70.J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


55 


This  seems  to  prove  at  least  that  this  suli- 
stuiice  is  readily  soluble.  Moreover,  the  young 
plant  from  stid  tluit  has  been  soaked  in  water 
will  be  ciirresiH.ndiugly  we.aker  and  of  a  paler 
color  than  that  fioni  seed  not  subjected  to  this 
ordeal,  and  the  longer  the  action. >r  the  w;iter 
has  continued  the  nu.n^  evidently  will  this  be 
the  case.  Another  <ibjreti..n  lies  in  tliefnet 
that  seeds  soaked  in  water  very  quickly  dry, 
and  i-he  evaporation  of  the  water  leaves  Iheni 
dryer  than  before.  Such  seeds,  therefore,  fre- 
quently perish  in  dry  soil,  or  during  a  con- 
tinuation of  warm  weather.  The  evils  th;it 
result  from  soaking  seeds  in  pure  water  may, 
however,  be  easily  avoided  by  soaking  them 
I  in  a  solution  of  chemical  salts  of  a  fertilizing 
nature.  In  consequence  of  the  quantity  of 
salts  the  solution  contains,  it  can  dissolve  but 
little  from  the  seeds,  while  on  the  contrary  it 
completely  impregnates  them  with  its  fertiliz- 
ing ingredients,  so  that  tlie  young  plants  from 
seeds  so  treated  aiipear  deeii'ledly  stronger  and 
darker  in  color.  Moreover,  the  seeds  are  not 
liable  to  dry  up  after  having  been  steeped  iu 
this  way,  but  in  consequence  of  the  liygro- 
metric  properties  of  the  saline  substances 
which  they  contain  they  always  continue 
moist.  Manuring  the  seed  by  means  of  steep- 
ing is  of  great  importance ;  it  not  only  in- 
creases the  number  of  seeds  in  the  growing 
plant,  but  also  a  most  remarkable  difference  in 
the  proportion  of  gluten  they  contain  ;  that 
it  produces  a  decidedly  quicker  and  stronger 
growth  of  the  young  i)lant  in  the  first  fourteen 
days  is  certain,  as  it  supplies  it  directly  with 
the  nutritive  substances  which  are  required 
for  its  vigorous  development  at  the  time  it  is 
just  beginning  to  grow,  and  while  its  organs 
are  yet  unfit  to  seek  nutriment  over  a  wide 
range  of  soil.  The  vigorous  development  of 
the  plant  while  young  is,  moreover,  a  sure 
guarantee  of  its  full  iierfection  and  ultimate 
ripening.  To  apply  manure  directly  to  the 
seeds  in  this  way  preserves  them  from  squir- 
rels, mice,  birds  and  worms,  as  they  are  im- 
pregnated with  substances  repungent  to  them, 
and  it  is  also  a  protection  for  rust  and  blight ; 
it  is  a  quicker,  cheaper,  more  efficacious,  and 
less  laborious  method  of  fertilizing  them  than 
to  place  compost  in  the  hills  or  drills,  and 
moreover  the  weed  seeds  then  get  none  of  the 
fertilizers  which  they  share  with  the  good 
seeds  when  composts  are  used.  Manure  for 
land,  except  coarse  barnyard  manure,  should 
be  .spread  broadcast  and  harrowed  iu,  thus 
enriching  all  the  soil.  The  roots  there  have 
a  larger  area  on  which  to  feed,  as  they  will 
spread  themselves  out  if  properly  started,  and 
the  soil  all  around  them  is  in  proper  condition 
to  nourish  them.  The  Chinese  are  adepts  in 
the  art  of  agricnlture.  and  their  seeds  are 
manured  before  planting  tliera.  It  is  hoped 
this  brief  article  will  call  the  attention  of  its 
readers  to  the  subject  of  which  it  treats  ;  and 
if  it  effects  only  this  object  good  will  grow  out 
of  it.  Tlte  adoption  ot  the  plan  it  advocates 
will  largely  increase  the  crops  of  the  country 
at  a  trifling  expense  for  fertilizers,  and  the 
saving  iu  seed  will  more  than  counterbalance 
this  increased  outlay  ;  for  when  seeds  are 
steeped  in  the  manure  here  recommended,  a 
bushel  of  wheat  will  l)e  sufficient  where  a 
bushel  and  a  half  are  required  when  not  sub- 
jected to  sneh  treatment.  This  opinion  is  not 
a  mere  mailer  of  theory.  Imt  the  result  of  ac- 
tual experiments,  conducted  on  a  large  and 
small  scale,  in  the  Held,  and  in  the  house,  and 
confirmed  by  the  experience  of  many  others. — 
Andrew  H.  Ward,  Jiridf/rwater,  Mass. 

SPLENIC  FEVER  AND    HORN   AIL. 

The  Countrti  Gentlernan  contains  an  article 
on  the  above  "subjects,  from  a  veterinary  sur- 
geon of  thirty  years' experience,  as  follows  : 

The  theories  in  relation  to  the  late  prevail- 
ing cattle  disease  are  neither  warranted  by 
facts  nor  analogy.  One  professor  tells  us  this 
disease  is  Texas  fever,  and  is  transmitted  into 
the  system  of  our  cattle  by  contagion.  He 
claims  that  the  Texan  cattle  were  i)erfectly 
healthy,  and  yet  they  could  through  conta- 
gion transmit  the  disease  he  calls  Texas  fever. 
Another  claims  the  disease  to  be   "splenic 


fever."  A  third  claims  the  disease  to  be 
"tick  fever,"  and  says  iu  his  rei)ort  that  the 
kidneys  are  congested,  caused  by  impregna- 
tion with  virus,  and  this  virus  is  furnished  by 
the  liver  in  the  shape  of  bad  blood.  When 
this  leaebes  the  kidneys  it  is  congested  and 
furnishes  venous  blood,  instead  of  water  for 
the  bladilei-.  "When  this  stage  is  reached,  he 
says,  there  is  no  possil)le  cure,  and  solemnly 
asserts  this  trouble  is  caused  by  a  tick.  With 
a  wash  he  had  invented,  he  was  going  to  en- 
tirely eradicate  this  disease  from  the  .systems 
of  the  afflicted  cattle.  The  above  professional 
writers  were  unanimous  in  their  opinions, 
that  the  disease  was  very  contagious  and  fatal 
in  results. 

I  herewith  present  my  pathological  diagno- 
sis as  to  the  character  of  the  late  cattle  dis- 
ea.se,  and  the  cause  producing  it,  and  let  my 
opinion  stand  upon  its  merit.  The  disease  is 
zymotic,  comprised  in  that  class  of  diseases 
which  are  epidemic,  endemic,  communicable, 
inoculable,  and  cajiable  of  propagation  from 
exi.sting  invisible  foci  or  generation,  induced 
by  a  .specific  material  or  poison,  or  by  the 
want  of,  or  bad  quality  of  food.  This  class 
includes  four  orders — miasmatic,  enthetic, 
dietic  and  parasitic  diseases.  Zymotic  prin- 
ciples—certain matters  which  of  themselves, 
or  by  their  transformation,  propagate  zymotic 
diseases,  one  of  which  may  be  accurately 
termed  "  typhine  "—belong  to  the  malignant 
typhoid  type,  and  it  is  with  this  that  these 
cattle  were  attacked.  A  germ  was  trans- 
mitted into  their  systems,  or  an  invisible  par- 
ticle or  molecule  which  becomes  detached 
from  the  existing  living  matter.  In  other 
words,  the  germs  are  supposed,  under  very 
favoring  circumstances,  to  be  fully  capable  of 
development  into  new  forms,  and  to  excited 
changes  in  the  animal  body,  of  a  fermentative 
or  putrefactive  nature.  The  Texan  cattle,  to 
which  this  disease  was  attributed,  it  was  said, 
were  all  healthy  in  every  particular.  In  this 
normal  condition  of  health  it  v{as  impossible 
for  them  to  transmit  this  disease  to  our  native 
cattle  by  coming  in  direct  or  indirect  contact 
with  them,  which  would  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary were  this  disease  contagious.  It  is  lioth 
possible  and  probable  that  the  Texan  cattle 
leave  behind  them  germs  or  molecule,  and 
these  remain  in  a  morbific  state,  while  ex- 
posed to  the  atmosphere  and  other  elements, 
hut  through  molecular  attraction  they  are 
taken  into  the  lungs  of  our  native  cattle, 
through  the  respiratory  organs,  while  running 
in  the  same  pasture  fields  where  the  Texan 
cattle  had  previously  been,  and  by  this  means 
the  germs  or  molecules  come  in  direct  contact 
with  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  being  taken 
up  by  the  minute  capillary  blood-vessels, 
thereby  inoculating  the  system  with  the  virus, 
and  producing  the  malignant  type  of  typhoid 
fever,  develojied  in  these  cattle.  The' trans- 
mission of  this  disease  from  one  animal  system 
to  another,  must  be  accomplished  by  inocula- 
tion, not  by  one  animal  coming  in  "direct  or 
indirect  contact  with  another  and  taking  the 
breath.  Hence  you  will  please  note  this  dis- 
ease is  infectious,  but  not  contagious. 

I  will  also  briefly  touch  upon  what  some 
have  called  hollow-horn,  which,  as  a  disease, 
never  existed.  The  horns  are  composed  of 
a  horny  cone,  covering  a  porous  or  cellular 
bone.  This  porous  bone  is  full  of  blood-vessels. 

The  functions  of  the  secretive  glands  are 
mncli  affected  by  disease ;  the  secretions  are 
sometimes  suspended  in  febrile  diseases. 
Where  an  active  inflammation  is  set  up  in  the 
animal  system  generally,  the  circulation  of 
blood  and  the  secretions  are  greatly  disturbed. 
Hence  it  is  easy  to  account  for  the  horns 
appearing  hollow.  But  as  soon  as  the  cause 
producing  the  disturl)ed  circulation  and  secre- 
tions is  removed,  the  organs  possessing  blood 
and  serum,  and  the  other  organs  possessing 
other  fluids,  are  relieved,  and  all  symptoms  of 
disease  and  distress  pass  off,  and  the  system 
is  soon  restored  to  a  natural  condition.  There 
is  no  inflammation  of  any  important  internal 
organ  that  is  not  rapidly  accompanied  by 
fever  ;  and  that  fever  and  the  degree  to  whicli 
it  had  reached,  are  easily  ascertained  by  the 


heat  of  the  breath,  the  dryness  of  the  mouth, 
and  the  great  development  of  heat  at  the  base 
of  the  horns ;  also  by  the  redness  of  the  eyes, 
the  frequency  and  hardness  of  the  pulse,  the 
loss  of  appetite,  and  often  the  cessation  of 
rumination.  Ilenct^  the  horns  would  appear 
liollow,  as  the  porous  or  cellular  Ixnie  would 
be  deprived  of  proper  nourishment.  I  think 
I  have  presented  suflicient  facts  to  prove 
hollow  horn  is  no  disea.se  by  itself,  but  is  pro- 
duced by  sympathy  and  deprivation  of  proper 
nourishment,  while  the  sy.stem  is  attacked 
with  febrile  disease. 

CRANBERRY  CULTURE. 

A  despatch  from  Berlin,  AVisconsin,  dated 
December  '28tli,  says :  Berlin  is  sneeringly 
dubbed  the  Cranberry  City  by  the  newspapers 
of  rival  towns,  and  at  picking  time  the  visi- 
tor is  impressed  with  the  thought  that  it  is  no 
misnomer.  All  other  busine.ss  interests  then 
seem  subservient  to  this,  for  the  harvest  is  of 
no  mean  import anee  to  a  river  town  of  ."5,000 
inhabitants,  the  annual  shiiunents  sometimes 
reaching  the  a.stounding  figures  of  .35,000 
bushels  from  the  large  marsh  of  Sackett 
Brothers,  whose  united  annual  expenditures 
are  not  far  from  SKW.dOO. 

When  the  picking  begins,  in  October,  the 
whole  country  round  turns  out  en  masse,  for 
cranberry  time  is  a  succession  of  gala  days, 
men,  women  and  chihlrcn  pouring  towards 
the  marshes  in  what  seems  an  endless  stream 
of  humanity,  all  eager  to  earn  the  excellent 
waL'Ps  that  are  always  paid.  The  noisy  throng 
is  largely  made  up  of  Scandinavians  and  Ger- 
mans, liy  whom  portions  of  the  country  are 
thickly  settled,  the  men  in  quaint  garments 
of  sombre  homespun,  high  boots  and  awkward 
blue  caps,  and  smoking  the  ubiquitous  huge- 
bowled  porcelain  pipe  from  the  Fatherland; 
the  women  with  gay-colored  shawls  tied  over 
the  head  and  falling  on  the  shoulders,  short, 
stiff  dresses  and  wooden  shoes.  Children  of 
all  ages  accompany  them,  looking  curious 
enough,  dressed  in  pre(!isely  the  same  sombre 
attire  as  their  parents,  which  gives  them  the 
appearance  of  veritable  Liliputians.  Most  of 
the  pilgrims  towards  the  cranberry  ISIecca  go 
on  foot,  but  some  ride  on  hea^'y  farm  wagons, 
canvas-covered  and  drawn  by  sleepy  oxen, 
with  whose  small  pace  the  phlegmatic  farmer 
seems  quite  content.  It  is  this  willingness  to 
make  haste  slowly  but  surely  in  the  race  for 
wealth  that  has  made  substantial  farmers  of 
these. 

Coming  to  America  with  a  few  dollars,  and 
liurchasing  sandy  farms  on  which  the  restless 
Yankee  has  starved,  and  which  he  is  glad  to 
sell  for  a  mere  song,  these  emigrants  lead  a 
life  of  frugality  and  self-denial  which  brings 
them  a  reward  in  causing  the  desert  to  blos- 
som as  the  rose.  It  is  a  saying  hereabout 
that  what  the  Norwegian  farmer  cannot  sell 
he  feeds  to  his  stock,  and  what  they  will  not 
eat  he  gives  to  his  family  :  of  course  this  is 
an  exaggeration,  but  the  writer  has  visited 
the  log  houses  of  some  of  the  less  well-to-do 
people  and  has  found  their  diet  to  consist 
Inrgrply  nf  black  rye  bread  and  thickened  sour 
milk,  all  the  rest  of  the  farm  products  going 
to  market.  This  frugal  mode  of  living  seems 
to  have  the  double  eflect  of  benefiting  the 
family  health  and  of  gradually  filling  the  do- 
mestic exchequer.  The  women  work  in  the 
fields  with  the  men,  and  are  models  of  physical 
rojjustness,  never  requiring  a  physician.  A 
dentist  has  never  yet  been  known  to  operate 
upon  the  molars  or  bicusi>ids  of  these  people, 
whose  teeth  would  excite  the  envy  of  a  pam- 
pered child  of  fortune. 

Here  and  there  among  the  prospective 
pickers  are  a  bevy  of  American  girls  who 
leave  home  comfort  and  plenty  to  "rough  it" 
on  the  marshes  for  a  week  or  two.  Bands  of 
Winnebago  Indians  occasionally  file  past, 
gayly  attired  in  bright  colored  Government 
bl.-inkets.  the  lazy  warriors  or  bucks  mounted 
on  ponies,  the  squaws  trudaing  along  the 
sandy  roads  canning  the  "impedimenta," 
with  the  pa]ii)ooses  strapped  into  a  frame- 
work borne  u|)on  the  back  with  tiie  other 
burdens.    These  Lidians  are  the  children  and 


56 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[April, 


grandchildren  of  the  chiefs  who  fought  under 
the  famous  Blackhawk  in  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Wisconsin,  nearly  half  a  century  ago. 
For  many  years  they  have  hunted  unmolested, 
but  were  recently  removed  to  the  Indian 
Territory,  under  military  escort,  by  orders 
from  the  Government,  but  they  were  un- 
happy, and  refused  to  be  comforted  as  wards 
of  the  nation,  so  they  made  their  way— sever;il 
hundred  strong— back  to  the  happy  hunting- 
grounds  of  Wisconsin,  a  distance  of  1,00U 
miles.  They  are  the  same  harmless,  strolling 
bands  that  they  have  been  for  many  years, 
but  they  have  learned  something  of  the  rights 
of  settlers  and  have  pre-empted  certain  wild 
land,  which  they  affect  to  occupy,  and  tlius 
become  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  citizens, 
and  enjoy  immunity  from  Government  inter- 
ference. 

It  is  only  a  mile  or  two  from  Berlin  to  the 
cranberry  marsh  of  Sackett  Brothers,  the  pre- 
siding genius  of  whose  fortune  is  the  Hon. 
llobe  Sackett.  The  berries  grow  on  a  marsli 
which  is  so  wet  and  yielding  as  to  preclude 
the  driving  of  teams  across  except  on  a  cordu- 
roy road  half  a  mile  long  leading  to  the  build- 
ing in  the  centre.  The  drive  is  anything  ))ut 
pleasant,  as  tlie  wagon  goes  jostling  over  the 
logs,  and  the  causeway  is  so  narrow  tliat 
teams  cannot  pass,  making  it  necessary  for 
the  driver  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  over  its 
entire  length,  to  see  that  he  has  the  right  of 
way.  Springing  across  one  of  the  ditches  on 
either  side  one  can  pick  the  acrid  berries  from 
the  delicate  bushes  which  grow  not  more  than 
a  foot  in  height.  The  principal  building  is 
the  warehouse  where  the'  beiTies  are  stored 
and  afterward  barreled  for  market.  It  is  a 
substantial  frame  structure,  recently  built,  is 
148  by  44  feet,  and  four  stories  high.  From 
the  upper  windows  can  be  had  a  comprehen- 
sive view  of  the  marsh  and  its  busy  force  of 
pickers.  Tlie  eye  rests  upon  750  acres  of 
marsh,  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  which  is 
under  cultivation,  over  whose  area  in  the 
busy  time  are  scattered  no  less  than  3,(100 
picliers. 

A  movable  wooden  railroad  track  runs  from 
the  warehouse  to  the  centre  of  operations, 
and  a  car  is  loaded  with  the  boxes  of  berries, 
each  person  picking  into  a  pan  which  is  tlien 
emptied  into  his  box  of  a  bushel  capacity. 
The  pickers  receive  a  ticket  for  every  bushel 
loaded  on  the  car,  and  on  reporting  to  the 
Superintendent  at  the  clo.se  of  the  day,  receive 
credit  for  the  whole.  The  price  paid  is  75 
cents  a  bushel,  and  the  average  day's  work  is 
not  more  than  two  or  three  bushels,  although 
it  is  not  uncommon  to  pick  five  bushels,  and 
a  few  experts  have  been  known  to  pick  seven 
bushels  in  a  single  day.  The  picliing  being 
often  hurried  on  account  of  threatened  ap- 
proach of  frost,  a  second  picking  is  sometimes 
necessary,  for  which  about  a  dollar  a  busliel 
is  paid.  The  car  on  being  loaded  with  the 
filled  boxes  is  drawn  by  a  team  of  horses  lo 
the  warehouse,  where  the  berries  are  hoisted 
on  an  elevator  to  the  upper  stories,  and  dis- 
posed of  in  such  manner  as  to  secure  the  best 
ventilation.  The  floors  are  covered  with  tier 
upon  tier  of  boxes  of  berries,  there  being  some- 
times 20,000  bushels  under  the  roof  at  one 
time.  On  the  ground  floor,  large  fanning 
mills  are  in  motion,  into  which  the  berries  iiic 
running  from  hoppers  in  the  upper  stories, 
and  all  leaves  and  other  impurities  are  blown 
out,  after  which  they  are  put  in  barrels  and 
hauled  to  Berlin,  and  from  there  shipped  to 
the  Milwaukee  and  Chicago  markets.  A 
coopering  establishment  on  the  property 
manufactures  the  many  thousands  of  barrels 
which  are  annually  required. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  "How  do 
these  several  thousand  pickers  subsist  during 
the  season,  for  no  boarding  establishment  of 
sufficient  capacity  would  be  possible  ?"  The 
answer  is  that  the  proprietor  has  erected  bar- 
racks ef  frame  buildings,  for  whicli  there  is 
no  rental,  ttie  pickers  boarding  themselves 
each  house  being  furnished  with  a  kitchen 
stove,  and  the  rooms  fitted  up  with  bunks. 
The  greatest  hiliarity  prevails  during  picking 
time,  the  nights  being  given  up  to  innocent 


revelry  and  mirth  on  the  part  of  the  young 
men  and  maidens,  while  in  the  neighboring 
woods  the  Winnebagoes  dance  round  their 
camp  fires  and  make  the  night  hideous  with 
tlie  drunken  orgies  with  which  cranberry  time 
is  invariably  associated.  Sackett's  marsh  is 
fitted  by  nature  for  its  present  uss,  and  its  ad- 
vantages of  location  could  not  have  been  im- 
proved upon  by  the  experience  cranberry  cul- 
turists.  It  is  necessary  to  flood  tlie  entire 
surface  during  the  winter,  and  this  is  ren- 
dered easy  by  the  fact  that  the  marsh  is  a 
basin  lying  in  a  wooded  table-land,  with  an 
outlet  at  the  lower  end,  across  which  has  been 
constructed  a  dam  225  yards  long  and  4A  feet 
wide,  with  double  floodgates  for  regnlaling 
tlie  height  of  the  overflow.  As  soon  as  Lhe 
crop  is  gathered  the  gates  are  dropped  and  lhe 
marsh  gaadually  becomes  submerged  by  the 
autumn  rains,  the  melting  snow  and  the 
drainage  from  the  higher  ground,  until  it  be- 
comes a  lake.  This  often  freezes  to  a  con- 
siderable thickness,  furnishing  a  skating  rink 
that  puts  to  blush  the  contracted  affairs  of 
that  name  found  in  cities.  In  this  manner  the 
soil  receives  its  on'y  cultivation,  and  the  ten- 
der plants  are  protected  from  the  rigors  of  a 
Wisconsin  winter.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
the  marsh  to  be  flooded  eight  or  nine  months 
in  the  year,  the  water  not  being  drawn  until 
June. 

Of  all  fruit  raising  cranberry  culture  is  the 
most  uncertain,  not  more  than  one  season  in 
five  or  six  escaping  the  early  frost,  against 
which  there  is  no  protection,  and  of  whose 
approach  there  is  no  warning,  while  the  vines 
are  always  subject  to  the  attacks  of  the  cran- 
beri7  worm,  which  sometimes  destroys  the  en- 
tire crop.  The  yield  of  1871  was  the  largest 
ever  known,  and  was  successfully  harvested, 
but  it  has  been  followed  either  by  total  fail- 
ures or  only  partial  crops.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  have  been  invested  in 
the  business,  which  is  attended  with  the 
greatest  risk,  but  offers  the  possibility  of  a 
large  fortune. 

RULES     FOR     MAKING     GILT-EDGED 
BUTTER. 

Feeding. 

Select  your  cows  with  reference  to  the 
quantity  and  richness  of  the  milk  produced. 
The  best  cows  are  the  cheapest  for  butter,  so 
get  the  best  you  can  of  whatever  breed  you 
Select.  Give  them  good  pasturage  in  the 
summer,  and  plenty  of  pure  water,  with  fre- 
quent access  to  salt.  In  winter,  feed  sweet, 
early-cut  hay,  well-cured  corn  fodder,  roots, 
cabbages,  etc.,  and  a  ration  of  bran,  corn- 
meal,  ground  oats,  or  middhngs. 
Implements. 

Have  the  bist  implements,  and  keep  them 
scrupulously  clean,  well-scalded,  and  often 
exposed  to  the  sweetening  influences  of  the 
sun.  The  milk  pail  and  pans  should  be  of 
the  best  tin.  A  reliable  thermometer  is  a  ne- 
cessity to  every  good  dairyman. 

Milking. 

The  milking  should  be  done  quietly  and  at 
regular  times,  and  the  utmost  cleanliness 
observed.  Nothing  is  tainted  quicker  than 
milk  by  fnul  odors,  and  surely  at  times,  with 
nearly  all  cows,  there  is  enough  animal  odor 
to  it,  without  adding  any  more. 
Setting. 

Strain  the  milk  slowly  into  the  pans,  four 
to  six  inches  deep.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to 
strain  the  milk  into  a  large  can  set  in  cold 
water,  and  cool  down  to  60  degrees  before 
putting  into  the  small  pans.  The  milk  must 
lie  set  in  a  pure  atmosphere,  at  such  a  tem- 
perature as  will  permit  the  cream  to  lisi',  in 
from  thirty  to  thirty-six  hours  iifler  selling. 
In  order  to  do  that  the  room  shuuld  be  kept 
at  about  60  to  65  degrees,  and  not  allowed  to 
vary  much  either  above  or  below. 

In  hot  weather  keep  a  large  piece  of  ice  in 
a  tub  in  the  room.  Cover  it  over  with  a  thick 
blanket,  and,  if  arranged  so  that  the  water 
will  run  off,  it  will  keep  a  long  time,  and  keep 
the  room  very  uniform. 


In    cold   weather  some    arrangement   for 
warming  the  milk  room  should  be  adopted. 
Skimming. 

Skim  as  soon  as  the  milk  begins  to  turn 
sour.  Do  not  neglect  this  rule,  as  it  is  im- 
possible to  make  good  butter  from  cream  that 
has  become  old  and  sour.  When  you  pour 
your  cream  into  the  cream  jar,  splash  as  httle 
as  possible.  Stir  the  cream  every  time  you 
add  more  to  it,  and  wipe  the  sides  of  the  pot. 
Keep  the  temperature  at  about  60  degrees, 
and  the  cream  pot  in  the  coolest  part  of  the 
house,  covered  with  a  fine  gauze  netting 
strained  on  a  hoop,  not  with  a  tight  cover. 
If  covered  too  tight,  fermentation  is  often  too 
rapid. 

Churning. 

Churn  often,  as  there  is  nothing  gained  by 
long  keeping.  Bring  the  temperature  of  the 
cream  in  the  churn  to  58°,  and  not  allow  it  to 
rise  above  64°.  Churn  early  in  the  morning, 
while  it  is  cool.  First  scald  the  churn,  turn 
the  paddles  a  few  times ;  then  pour  off,  and 
pour  in  cold  water  and  turn  the  paddles  ;  pour 
off  and  pour  in  your  cream.  In  churning  re- 
volve the  paddles  with  an  easy,  regular  motion, 
not  too  fast  nor  too  slow. 

Coloring. 

Wlien  likely  to  be  deficient  in  color  add  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  The  Perfected  Butter 
Color  (made  by  Wells,  Richardson  &  Co., 
Burlington,  Vt.,)  to  keep  it  up  to  the  June 
standard. 

Working  and  Salting. 

When  it  has  "broken  "  and  there  is  a  diffi- 
culty to  make  the  butter  gather,  throw  in  some 
cold  water  and  give  a  few  more  turns.  Some, 
and  I  think  a  majority,  of  the  best  butter- 
makers  of  to-day  wash  their  butter  with  cold 
water  before  removing  from  the  churn.  Gather 
your  butter  with  the  paddle  and  lift  it  out  into 
the  tray,  press  it  gently  and  incline  it,  and  let 
the  buttermilk  run  oft'.  Work  it  gently  with 
the  paddle,  with  a  cutting,  gentle  pressure, 
but  not  mash  it ;  or,  better,  put  it  into  the 
butter-worker. 

Salt  it  about  an  ounce  to  the  pound,  or  to 
the  taste  of  good  customers ;  only  with  the 
best  salt,  and  free  from  lumps  and  coarseness. 
Work  the  butter  only  so  much  as  to  expel  the 
buttermilk,  but  not  to  work  it  too  dry.  This 
can  be  done  by  the  use  of  a  weak  brine  pre- 
pared for  the  purpose.  Put  the  bowl  away  in 
a  cool  place.  After  standing  twelve  or  twenty- 
four  hours  gently  press  out,  with  a  ladle  or 
machine,  the  remaining  buttermilk  and  any 
brine  that  will  flow  out  with  it,  care  being 
used  not  to  work  it  too  touch.  If  this  is  done 
the  butter  has  lost  its  grain  and  becomes 
salvey,  and  its  keeping  qualities  are  greatly 
injured. 

Packing. 

Pack  in  vessels  that  will  impart  no  impuri- 
ties to  the  butter.  Fill  within  half  an  inch 
of  the  top.     Place  a  thin  cloth  over  the  top. 

NORTH  CAROLINA  TOBACCO. 
Mr.  T.  L.  Rawley,  Representative  from 
Rockingham  county,  presented  to  the  Agri- 
cultural Museum  a  specimen  of  beautiful  to- 
bacco of  his  own  raising.  It  sells  readily  at 
seventy-five  cents  per  pound.  Rockingham 
embraces  some  of  the  finest  tobacco  lands  in 
the  State,  and  is  the  leading  county  in  this 
interest,  as  we  learn  from  the  returns  in  Col. 
Polk's  office.  The  yield  for  the  year  1877  is 
slated  at  3,190,966  pounds.  And  in  this  con- 
nection another  fact  has  been  developed'by 
these  returns  in  the  office  of  the  Commis- 
sioner. He  says  that  the  total  yield  accredited 
to  our  State  in  the  census  of  1870  is  about 
11,000,000  pounds.  He  has  already  footed  up 
nearly  17,000,000  pounds  from  partial  returns 
from  only  seventy-eight  counties,  and  three 
important  tobacco  counties  are  left  out  en- 
tirely. So  we  may  safely  assume  that  the 
yield  in  our  State  was  not  less  than  20,000,- 
000  pounds.  Verily,  Colonel  Polk  is  correct 
wlien  he  says  in  his  report  that  the  foreigners 
are  misled  by  the  census  reports. — Bakigh 
Observer. 


79.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


57 


OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  HORTICUL- 
TURAL SOCIETY. 


ADJOURNED  MEETING. 
An   adjourned   meeting  of  the  Agricultural   and 
Horticultural  Society  was  held   Monday  afternoon, 
March  17. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President, 
Calvin  Cooper,  esq. 
I       The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present : 
Calvin   Cooper,  President,  BIrd-in-Hand;  Henry  .M. 
I  Engle,  Marietta;  Levi  W.  OrofI",  West    Earl;  Henry 
I  Kurtz,  Mount  Joy;  Joseph  F.  WItmer,  Pequea;  Dr. 
I  8.  S.  Kathvon,  city;  J.  C.LInville,  Salisbury;  W.  H. 
BroBlus,  Drumorc;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  Clare  Car- 
penter, city;  Peter  S.  Rclst,  Litiz;  William  McCom- 
sey,  city;  C.  L.    Ifunsecker,  Manheim;  J.    Hartnian 
Hershey,   Rohrcrstowu;    Washington    L.    Hcrshey, 
WestHempfleUl. 

Object  of  the  Meeting. 
The  President  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting, 
and  the  Secretary  also  read  so  much  of  the  minutes 
of  the  last  meeting  as  referred  to  the  object  of  to- 
day's meeting. 
Dr.  Kathvon  spoke  as  follows  : 
When  I,  at  diHerent  times,  suggested  the  Incor- 
poration of  this  society,  I  had  not  in  my  mind  the 
idea  of  making  it  a  joint  stock  company  at  all— at 
least  not  until  a  necessity  gtiould  rise  for  the  issuing 
of  stock.  I  believe  it  ought  to  be  incorporated,  in 
order  to  hold  a  legal  ownership,  as  a  society,  in  any 
property  that  might  come  Into  its  possession.  That 
It  might  be  recorded  in  the  archives  of  the  county 
and  the  State  as  a  legal  Institution,  and  become  a 
responsible  depository  of  such  State  and  national 
documents  as  relate  to  the  agricultural  interests  of 
the  country.  I  only  contemplated  a  charter  granting 
the  usual  powers  and  privileges  of  such  organiza- 
tions, stating  its  name  and  objects.  I  am  now  a 
member  of  three  in*rporated  societies  in  this  city— 
the  oldest  of  which  was  incorporated  in  1828,  the 
next  in  1836,  and  the  third  one  in  18fi2.  The  first 
two  of  these  never  Issued  stock,  because  there  was 
no  necessity  for  it ;  and  the  third  one  was  in  exist- 
ence fifteen  years  before  it  issued  certificates  of 
ownership  in  its  museum.  All  these  societies  own 
property  amounting  to  thousands  of  dollars,  although 
they  commenced  their  careers  on  nothing ;  and  I 
believe  their  existence  this  day  Is  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  became  bodies  politic  in  law  and  accumulated 
possessions.  One  of  thera  acquired  two  thousand 
dollars  as  a  legacy,  which  it  never  would  have  re- 
ceived, perhaps,  had  it  not  been  chartered.  The 
Berks  and  York  county  societies  are  Incorporated, 
and  so  are  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  and  the 
State  Agricultural  Society,  and  perhaps  many  others 
throughout  the  State. 

I  do  not  suppose  that  the  liare  fact  of  incorpora- 
tion is  going  to  immediately  increase  the  society  into 
gigantic  proportions,  but  I  believe  it  will  aiford  a 
more  solid  basts  for  increase  and  future  develop- 
ment. Those  that  seek  membership  in  it  will  feel 
more  sensibly  the  permanency  of  the  organization, 
and  doubtless  also  they  will  take  a  greater  interest 
In  It. 

It  seems  to  me  there  is  no  other  question  but  the 
bare  merits  of  the  case — without  reference  to  stock 
or  to  exhibitions — that  ought  to  enter  into  the  dis- 
cussion on  a  charter  at  this  time.  It  will  be  time 
enough  to  learn  to  walk  after  we  have  learned  to 
creep,  although  we  have  been  a  long  while  trying. 

Henry  Kurtz  thought  it  was  unnecessary  to  issue 
stock  unless  money  was  needed.  If  we  have  the 
power  to  sell  stock  we  can  do  so  when  the  necessity 
presents  itself.  Ifweneedno  money  we  will  not  be 
compelled  to  issue  stock.  He  had  spoken  with  a 
number  of  persons  and  found  a  general  disposition  to 
take  the  stock. 

H.  M.  F.ngle  was  at  a  loss  what  to  say  about  the 
stock  feature.  He  thought  the  articles  of  Incorpor- 
ation ought  to  be  as  brief  as  possible.  He  was  im- 
pressed with  Dr.  Kathvon's  ideas  on  this  question. 
The  fear  was  that  the  stock  might  get  Into  improper 
hands  and  turn  aside  the  true  Intent  of  the  society. 
The  case  presents  some  difficulties.  He  was  not 
clear  in  his  mind  how  the  thing  was  to  be  managed. 
Joseph  F.  Witmer  thought  the  stock  feature  might 
be  left  out  of  the  charter,  and  If  Its  necessity  was 
felt  In  the  future  it  might  then  be  applied  for  and  be 
incorporated  in  the  old  charter.  A  charter  can  be 
amended  after  being  granted. 

Henrv  Kurtz  thought  this  could  not  be  done.  The 
stock  feature  hurts  nothing  If  In  the  charter.  Wc 
need  not  avail  ourselves  of  the  privilege  if  we  do  not 
chose  to  do  so;  but  should  we  need  it,  then  it  Is 
ready  to  be  made  use  of  at  once. 

J.  C.  Linville  thought  there  would  be  no  trouble 
in  getting  a  supplement  to  the  charter  of  incorpora- 
tion if  it  was  wanted  at  any  future  time. 

W.  McComsey  suggested  that  the  charter  of  some 
of  the  other  county  societies  be  read,  in  order  to 
throw  some  light  on  the  subject. 


Other  Societies. 

The  secretary  slated  that  there  arc  fourteen  county 
societies  in  the  Slate  that  arc  chartered  and  nineteen 
that  are  not.  lie  read  that  part  of  the  constitution  of 
the  York  county  society  as  related  to  the  ofDccrs. 

The  President  called" attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
article  adopted  on  this  point  by  this  society  was  more 
complicated  than  the  one  just  read. 

A  motion  was  made  to  reconsider  this  section  and 
passed. 

H.  M.  Engle  moved  to  adopt  In  Its  stead  the  article 
on  this  point  In  the  constitution  of  the  York  county 
socli'ty. 

W.  McComsey  thought  the  proposed  plan  threw 
too  much  power  into  the  hands  of  the  Board  of 
Directors,  instead  of  leaving  it  in  the  hands  of  all 
the  members  of  the  society.  It  seemed  lo  him  to 
centralize  the  power  of  the  society  in  a  few  hands. 
He  was  not  clear  whether  this  plan  was  wise. 

H.  .M.  Engle  thought  the  new  scheme  was  decided- 
ly preferable. 

J.  C.  Linville  thought  there  was  little  difference 
between  the  two.  The  President  in  the  one  was 
made  elective  by  the  society,  and  he  preferred  it  to 
the  other. 

Article  5,  adopted  at  the  last  meeting,  was  then 
rejected  by  a  vote  of  the  society. 

The  one  proposed  in  Its  stead,  being  the  one  govern- 
ing the  York  County  Society,  was  then  adopted. 
The  Incorporators. 

The  President  made  a  motion  that  the  Vice  Presi- 
dents, Secretary  and  Recording  Secretary  be  the  offi- 
cers of  the  chartered  society  until  the  next  annual 
election. 

Amended  to  include  the  President  and  two  others 
in  the  number,  and  carried. 

The  present  officers,  with  the  addition  of  John  C. 
Linville  and  Israel  L.  Landis,  will  constitute  the 
Board  of  Directors  and  Incorporators. 

Several  other  articles  were  also  inserted,  and  the 
proposed  charter  was  then  adopted  as  a  whole.  It 
will  be  presented  to  the  Court  at  once,  and  no  doubt 
be  granted. 

The  text  of  the  document  as  adopted  Is  as  follows 
Charter. 

I.  The  name  of  the  corporation  shall  be  "  The 
Lancaster  County  Agricultural  and  Horticultural 
Society."    Adopted. 

II.  The  purpose  for  which  it  is  formed  shall  be  to 
encourage  and  improve  agricultural,  horticultural, 
domestic  and  household  arts,  and  any  other  matters 
pertaining  to  the  Interest  of  agriculture  and  horticul- 
ture.    Adopted. 

III.  Its  place  of  business  shall  be  in  the  county  of 
ETincaster.    Adopted. 

IV.  The  term  of  Its  existence  shall  be  perpetual, 
subject  to  the  power  of  the  General  Assembly,  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  Commonwealth.  Adopted. 

V.  The  officers  of  the  society  shall  be  a  President, 
two  Vice  Presidents,  five  Managers,  a  Recording 
Secretary,  a  Corresponding  Secretary  and  a  Treas- 
urer, to  continue  in  office  for  one  year  and  until 
others  are  elected,  all  officers  to  be  elected  by  ballot 
at  the  annual  meeting,  and  the  following  are  those 
chosen  for  the  coming  year  ; 

President— Calvin  Cooper,  Bird-In-Hand,  East 
Lampeter  township. 

Vice  Presidents — Henry  M.  Engle,  Marietta.  East 
Donegal ;  Jac.B.fiarber,  Columbia,  West  Hempfield. 

Recording  Secretary— James  F.  Witmer,  Paradise. 

Corresponding  Secretary— Johnson  Miller,  Litiz, 
Warwick. 

Treasurer— Levi  W.  Groff,  Bareville,  West  Earl. 

Managers— Martin  D.  Kendig,  Cresswell,  Manor 
township;  VVm.  H.  Brosius,  Liberty  Square,  Dru- 
more  township;  Casper  Hiller,  Concstoga  Centre, 
Conestoga  township;  John  C.  Linville,  Gap,  Salis- 
bury township  ;  Israel  L.  Landis,  Lancaster. 

VI.  The  by-laws  of  this  society  shall  be  made  by 
the  members  in  good  standing,  at  a  general  meeting 
called  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  prescribe  the  time 
and  place  of  meeting  of  the  society,  the  terms  for 
the  admission  of  members,  the  powers  and  duties  of 
Its  officials  and  such  other  matters  as  may  be  perti- 
nent and  necessary  for  the  business  to  be  iranaclcd, 
provided  that  such  by-laws  are  not  inconsistent  with 
this  charter,  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the 
Commonwealth  and  of  the  United  States. 

VII.  This  society  to  have  all  the  powers  and  au- 
thority, and  be  subject  to  the  limitation  and  regula- 
tions of  corporations  of  the  "  first  class  "  under  act 
of  Assembly  entitled,  an  act  "  To  provide  for  the  In- 
corporation and  regulation  of  certain  corporations," 
approved  the  29th  of  April,  A.  D.  1874,  and  its  sup- 
plements. 

A  vote  to  adjourn  was  made  and  carried. 

REGULAR  STATED  MEETING. 

The  Lancaster  County  Agricultural  Society  met  in 
their  room,  in  the  City  Hall,  on  Monday  afternoon, 
April  7th,  1879,  and  was  called  to  order  at  2  o'clock. 
The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present : 
Calvin  Cooper,  President,  BIrd-in-Hand ;  Joseph  F. 
Witmer,  Secretary,  Paradise;  Levi  W.  Groff,  Treas- 
urer, West  Earl ;  M.  D.  Kendig,  Manor;  Henry  M. 
Engle,  Marietta  ;  W.   U.  Brosius,  Drumore  ;  Frank 


R.  Diffenderfer,  city  ;  C.  M.  Hostetter,  Eden  ;  Tobias 

D.  Martin,  Warwick  ;  Rev.  S.  M.  Boyer, ;  W. 

W.  Grelst,  city  ;  J.  M.  Johnson,  city  ;  Clare  Carpen- 
ter, city  ;  Ephralm  S.  Hoover,  Manheim  ;  C.  L.  Hun- 
sccker,  Manheim  ;  1.  L.  Landis,  Manheim  ;  Dr.  8.  8. 
Kathvon,  city  ;  Elam  W.  Eshleman,  Paradise. 

On  motion  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  previ- 
ous meeting  was  dispensed  with. 

Amos  L.  Eshleman,  of  Paradise  township,  was 
proiiosed  and  elected  a  new  member. 

Report  of  Crops. 

Mr.  Brosius,  Drumorc  township,  said  the  wheat  is 
not  encouraging  at  this  time,  and  the  weather  has 
been  BO  cold  that  other  things  have   not  yet  started. 

Mr.  Hostetter  said  the  wheat  crop  in  Eden  town- 
ship looks  very  encouraging,  (irass  is  making  its 
appearance,  and  timothy  is  getting  along  nicely. 

Mr.  Kendig,  of  .Manor,  reported  the  wheat  crop  as 
not  lookinlf  very  encouraging ;  It  is  short  and  thin, 
(irass  looks  better.  Peach  and  pear  buds  look 
healthy.  He  staled  that  he  had  found  that  Pampass 
grass  was  not  as  hardy  as  stated  In  VIck's  Catalogue 
report. 

.Mr.  Cooper,  of  Paradise,  said  that  the  wheat  needs 
rain.     Peach  buds  are  so  far  uninjured. 

Mr.  Engle,  of  .Marietta,  reported  for  East  Donegal, 
that  he  did  not  think  the  wheat  looked  so  poor  as  re- 
ported, considering  the  bad  weather.  It  is  loo  early 
to  judge  of  the  crop,  an<l  he  thought  a  few  weeks  of 
such  weather  as  'his  would  make  a  wonderful  differ- 
ence. The  grass  crop  promises  well.  The  fruits  are 
doing  remarkably  well. 

Competitive  Essays. 

The  committee  appointed  lo  decide  on  the  merits 
of  the  competitive  essays  on  the  "Culture  of  Wheat," 
F.  R.  DIffenderffcr,  William  McComsey  and  Peter  S. 
Reist,  recommended  the  one  written  In  pencil  as  de- 
serving the  premium.  It  proved  afterwards  that  the 
prize  essay  was  written  by  Henry  M.  Engle,  of  Mari- 
etta. Thcothercssay  was  written  by  John  C.  Linville. 

Levi  W.  Groff  answered  the  question,  "  With  land 
and  labor  at  present  prices,  can  wheal  be  raised  at 
one  dollar  per  bushel  ?"  After  a  short  introduction, 
Mr.  Groff  proceeded  to  make  a  calculation,  taking 
good  land  in  the  first  place.  He  estimated  the  cost 
of  raising  an  acre  of  wheat  at  ?2.'j.'J0,  as  follows  : 
Interest  on  one  acre  of  land  at  ?1.50,  ?!»;  taxes,  50 
cents;  plowing  and  harrowing,  $:i.50;  IJOO  pounds 
raw  bone,  at  8:!0  per  ton,  S^-SO ;  lU  bushels  seed, 
81. .50;  drilling  the  seed,  .50  cents;  cultivating  twice 
In  the  spring,  $1 .20 ;  harvesting  and  thresliing,  >4.50. 
Against  this  he  placed  the  product  of  the  acre  at  40 
bushels,  which  will  bring,  selling  the  straw,  $4<>, 
leaving  a  profit  of  $20.80. 

He  did  not  think  the  estimated  yield  was  too  large, 
but  supposing  it  is  a  Utile  too  large  there  Is  room  for 
deduction,  and  still  leave  a  fair  profit.  Of  course  he 
proposed  to  cultivate  Ills  wheat  In  the  spring,  and 
based  his  cakulaiion  on  the  presumption  that  all 
wheat  will  he  cultivated.  From  fair  trials  he  had 
made,  he  was  forced  to  conclude  that  on  good  land, 
using  irood  fertilizer,  the  results  will  be  as  staled, 
and  the  land  left  In  good  condition  for  grass  for 
years  to  come. 

When  wheat  was  well  cultivated  In  France  in 
1S77,  a  large  farm  was  visited  by  Prof.  Geo.  H. 
Cook,  of  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  who  reported  that 
on  a  field  containing  27.5  acres  the  average  yield  was 
44  bushels,  and  on  anotlicr  field  containing  75  acres 
the  average  yield  was  4(!  bushels.  He  thought  the 
same  thing  could  be  done  here. 

Mr.  Engle  quoted  the  saying  that  figures  won't 
lie,  and  said  if  Mr.  GrofTs  basis  is  correct  the  con- 
clusions arc  correct.  He  thought  the  production  was 
rather  high,  but  not  too  high.  His  expenses  arc  not 
too  high,  and  the  speaker  thought  that  .Mr.  Graff's 
calculations  were  fair. 

Mr.  Groff  said  that  In  his  opinion  the  expense 
would  be  rather  high  for  one  acre,  but  when  a  large 
Held  Is  cultivated    the  figures  would  certainly  be 

.Mr.  Kendig  bud  made  a.  calculation,  and  the 
figures  corresponded  favorably  with  .Mr.  GroH's. 
Hecslimated  the  entire  cost  of  preparing  ten  acres 
at  ?:U  or  ?:!.40  per  acre.  But  in  his  township  they 
could  not  raise  over  20  bushels  to  the  acre,  while  Mr. 
Groff  raised  40  bushels. 

Mr.  Engle  was  of  the  opinion  that  this  was  an 
important  question,  and  deserved  the  attention  of 
farmers  generally.  He  differed  a  little  with  Mr. 
Groff  when  he  says  that  his  wheat  stands  belter  in 
consequence  of  culllvalloD  ;  It  is  because  It  Is  sowed 
farther  apart. 

.Mr.  Hoover  asked  If  any  memlier  had  had  any 
experience  with  Chester  County  Mammoth  Corn, 
but  no  man  answered. 

Culture  of  Wheat. 

Mr.  Engle  read  his  prize  essay  on  the  "  Culture  of 
Wheat,"  as  follows : 

The  cereal  rceeiviiiK  the  title  of  "slafT  of  life."  nhould 
receive  more  tliuii  ordinary  attention.  In  our  best  virtfin 
soils,  when  pro|«!rly  prepared,  it  luw  hillierto  scarcely 
ever  failed  to  produce  from  a  fair  lo  what  is  coiisidoren  a 
full  crop,  but  after  several  years'  croppiiiK  failures  have 
been  about  as  frequent  as  foil  croi>s,  which  Wns  generally 
attributed  to  tlie  ravoraWc  or  unfiivorable  scuMiis.  This 
has  very  commonly  eonsliluted  the  Htroii^  fort  tjehina 
which  the  majority  of  farmers  have  and  are  still  shelter- 


58 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[April, 


ingl 
failu 


thesutcc^sa     f  II         1       I     I     ttl  net  me 

fields  prod  ict.  l  11  i  p  \  1  Ic  u  the  nioHt  lt\orible 
season-*  there  ar  t  t^\  i\ '^  s  nie  ladures  P^om  these  facts 
pro\e  concluHi\e]\  that  either  the  soil  location  or  culti 
nation      1   lilt  i^Llher  cau'^e  this  great  difference  si<leb\ 


If   SI 


>th< 


t  'iliniulatt  the  t 


of  this  kin  I  c*^ 
The  object  of 
just  ■\\  h  \t  to  do  m  ordei 

Linkmfe 

1 J     w  h( 
aping. 

The  causes  of  failure  are  numerous,  but  soils  beinp:  ex- 
hausted of  their  wheat-producing  elements  (or  at  least  a 
portion  of  theml  is  one  of  the  principsil  causes  of  failures. 
...  ,  ...      .,  >   i_ .   ....   object   of 


Tor 


dble  1 


methods  are  applied.  Soi 
the  best  and  only  fertilize! 
^equently  he  is  very  partic 


lich  . 


of  I 


;nig  propertu 


goes 


and  transported  to  distant  ( 
lands,  and  none  of  its  fertil 
their  way  back  to  their  nat 

As  an  oflset  to  this  great  draft  on  their  soil,  nif 
ers  feed  their  corn  into  stock  on  their  farms,  wl 
a  great  way  towards  keeping  their  lands  in  fertile  condi- 
tion. Such  farms  almost  invariably  produce  good  corn, 
and  also  other  crops,  but  their  wheat  crops  frequently 
yield  a  superfluity  of  straw,  while  the  grain  ie  a  short 
crop  and  inferior. 

CLOVEB   Aa  A    RENOVATOK. 

Clover  ia  no  doubt  one  of  the  cheap«3t  and  best  reno- 
vators of  soils,  and  for  corn  is  always  beneficial ;  but 
while,  when  plowed  down  for  a  wheat  crop,  it  usually 
produces  good  results  in  thin  soils,  in  naturally  strong 
Boilfl  it  almost  invariably  produces  an  excess  of  straw 
and  likely  to  lodge,  while  the  crop  of  grain  is  short  and 
inferior.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  clean,  stiff  straw 
indicates  plump,  hea\-y  Krain,  and  generally  a  full  crop. 
Therefore  in  order  to  obtain  a  full  crop  of  good  wheat 
will  also  require  stiff,  heavy  straw.  It  is  therefore  con- 
clusive that  in  order  to  realize  continuous  good  crops, 
where  the  essential  fertilizing  elements  have  been  car- 
ried otr  the  farm,  they  must  be  obtained  from  other 
sources.  This  brings  up  the  question  qf  special  fertili- 
zers, to  which  the  progressive  farmer  must  not  shut  his 
eyes;  and  1  have  only  to  say  that  he  who  will  be  a  suc- 
cessful wheat  grower  must  keep  his  soil  supplied  with 
all  the  elements  necessary  to  produce  perfection  of  both 
straw  and  grain,  and  if  his  barnyard  maiuire  does  not 
contain  all  such  they  must  be  obtained  from  other 
sources.  I  am  pleased  to  learn  that  the  prejudice  against 
special  fertilizers  is  fast  giving  way.  The  chemical  con- 
dition of  the  soil  being  right,  the  physical  or  mechanical 
must  not  be  overlooked. 

The  best  time  to  plow  is  still  a  mooted  question,  but 
the  strongest  testimony  is  in  favor  of  early  plowing, 
which  allows  the  ground  to  settle  while  the  surface  is 
being  cultivated,  and  should  be  in  good,  friable  condi- 
tion for  seeding. 

Manuring  is  also  often  in  dispute,  whether  to  plow  it 
down  or  apply  it  to  the  surface,  of  which  the  latter 
method  is  fast  gaining  advocates,  and  for  immediate 
•l^ect  is  decidedly  preferable. 

Good  seed  is  another  essential  to  success,  and  while 
new  kinds,  or  a  change  from  other  soils,  often  produce 
good  results,  the  surer  methods  would  be  to  seWct  some 
of  the  largest  and  most  perfect  heads,  and  reject  from 
these  all  inferior  grains,  as  we  do  with  seed  corn.  By 
following  this  every  few  years  there  need  be  no  more 
occasion  to  change  seed  wheat  than  seed  corn.  Farmers 
may  sometimes  change  to  get  another  kind,  but  I  have 
yet  to  learn  of  a  fMnncr  to  change  corn  simply  to  get  it 
from  other  soil.  Were  seed  corn  gathered  promiscuously, 
like  seed  wheat,  exchange  of  seed  would,  no  doubt,  be 
of  some  advantage,  to  keep  it  from  running  out,  as  the 
saying  is,  of  wheat. 

The  best  time  for  seeding  is  also  an  open  question,  but 
the  most  certain  crops  are  produced  in  this  section  by 
having  the  soil  in  proj.cr  condition  iii  every  respect,  and 
not  to  sow  before  the  15Lh  ..r  Mhh  of  September;  by  ad- 
hering to  this  ruk  it  is  more  certain  to  escape  the  Hessian 


lie  prope 
I- and  do 


i>ps  tliat  I  have  grown 
u-ere  sown  with  a  drill 
nches  wide  and  eleven 


of  uniform  depth, 
■d  will  sprout  and 
should  come  up. 


(and  I  have  -<■,  :,  -■..,,,  I  ■■  : 
withstutioiu.i.^  -L..-  1^  II 
inches  apart,  h-  i  - 

After  cultivn         :-      ,. 
predict  that  ii  'a  ill  Im  ..,.,,. 
diet  that  the  cumins  ui  ill  \ 
at  least, so  arranged  a.s  lu  p! 
which  is  the  only  method  1 

QUANTITY  OF  SEED. 

That  there  is  a  general  Wiiste  of  seed,  and  often  worse 
than  wasted,  has  been  demonstrated  over  and  over  again, 
and  just  as  soon  as  farmers  learn  how  to  put  their  seed 
in  the  best  physical  condition,  and  will  apjjly  proper  fer- 
tilizers in  riKlit  'M'Mntilies,  aii'I  1m-  purlicnliir  in    selecting 

proper  tiiiii-,  :iimI  t;<-i  MrilK  iliai  u  ill  --"W  a  uniform  depth 
and  Willi  wi'ier  .iritis,  ihhI  will  sy-imiaiically  follow  after 


Mr.   Linville's    Essay. 

The  second  essay  on  the  "  Culture  of  Wheat," 
^iitten  b^  J.  C.  LiiivillCj  was  read  by  the  Secretary. 
It  was  as  follows  : 


m\  e>e  to  see  manure  flung  around  here  and  there,  a 
forkful  in  a  place.  Of  course  if  a  very  heavy  coat  is 
=11  phed  It  does  not  require  so  nice  spreading  to  make  it 
e  cr  the  ground.  If  your  soil  is  rich,  it  is  better  to 
\  ]]y  a  light  coat  and  make  it  reach  farther.  Four 
Histi  the  acre,  well  spread,  will  benefit  the  crop  as 
ch  as  hve  or  six  loads  thrown  around  in  forkfuls,  as 
0  t  )o  often  done. 

PLOWING. 

Having  your  manure  out.  the  next  thing  is  to  plow  it 
under.  It  makss  little  difiference  whether  it  ie  plowed 
in  as  soon  as  spread,  or  let  on  the  surface  a  month  or 
more.  Much  has  been  written  by  theorists  about  the 
escape  of  ammonia.  The  fact  is  there  ia,  b£  a  general 
rule,  but  little  free  ammonia  in  barnvard  manure  when 
hauled  to  tlie  field,  and  if  there  was  it  would  take  flight 
immediately  when  spread, even  before  it  could  be  plowed 
down.  A  good  way  to  prevent  the  loss  of  ammonia 
(carbonate  of  ammonia)  is  to  have  a  quantity  of  land 
plaster  (sulphate  of  lime)  on  hand  and  appiv  some  of  it 
to  the  floors  of  your  stables  every  lime  you  clean  them 
out.  Tliis  is  said  to  "fix"  the  ammonia.  That  is,  the 
sulphuric  acid  leaves  it^  hold  of  tlie  lime  and  seizes  the 
ammonia,  forming  carbonate  of  ammonia  which  is  non- 
volatile. To  prove  that  this  is  not  mere  theory,  get  some 
pulverized  plaster,  and  when  you  clean  your  horse  stable 
on  a  hot  day,  %,nd  the  air  is  so  redolent  of  hartshorn  that 
you  are  almost  strangled,  sow  a  quart  of  plaster  in  each 
stall,  and  in  five  minutes  the  pungent  odor  will  have 
gone.  I  once  plowed  a  field  covered  with  manure  in  the 
early  part  of  August,  with  the  exception  of  about  an 
acre.  This  lay  bleaching  and  roasting  in  the  sun  for  a 
month — a  plentiful  crop  of  weeds  grew  up  through  it, 
and  it  was  turned  dow^l  in  the  beginning  of  September, 
and  produced  by  far  the  best  wheat  in  the  field.  It  may 
be  truly  said  that  one  experiment  does  not  prove  any- 
thing, but  there  can  be  no  question  but  strawy  manure 
is  benefited  by  exposure  to  the  sun.  At  the  same  time 
the  soil  is  improved  by  the  mulch. 

As  a  general  rule,  early  plowing  is  the  l)est.  but  there 
are  so  many  exceptions  to  the  rule  that  it  cannot  be  in- 
sisted on.  When  you  are  ready,  and  the  ground  is  in  a 
proper  state  of  moisture,  go  to  work  and  plow  and  pay 
no  regard  to  the  signs.  Tlie  first  thing  in  the  prejiara- 
tion  of  the  soil  for  wheat,  or  any  other  crop,  is  to  have  it 
well  plowed.  If  this  is  not  thoroughly  done,  no  amount 
of  after  cultivation  will  remedy  the  evil.  Bad  and  care- 
less plowing  is  at  the  root  of  more  slovenly  farming  than 
anything  else. 

In  order  to  break  the  ground  thoroughly  we  must  have 
good  plows.  There  are  notanybelier  adapted  to  our 
soils  and  suited  to  our  wants  than  are  made  near  home. 
I  ha' 
bill,' 

mould  will  clean  as  well  and  last  much  longer  than  a 
steel  one. 

In  regard  to  the  much-vexed  question  of  deep  or  shal- 
low i)lowing,  I  think  the  almost  unanimous  voice  of  prac- 
tical farmers  is  in  favor  of  shallow  or  medium  plowing. 
When  I  say  shallow  plowing  I  do  not  mean  the  skinning 
process  practiced  in  some  parts  of  the  South.  The  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  Georgia  reimrts 
the  average  depth  of  plowing  in  that  State  to  be  one  inch. 
F'armers  in  the  sunny  South  must  trust  to  Providence 
more  than  we.  It  has  not  yet  been  proven  that  a  foot  in 
depth  is  better  than  six  or  eight  inches,  and  as  long  as 
the  matter  remains  in  doubt  we  will  plow  shallow  or 
medium  and  save  our  teams. 

CULTIVATING  THE  SOIL. 

Ha\ing  come  to  grief  two  or  three  times  by  ciilti\-:fting 
the  ground  too  much  when  in  a  dusty  condition  I  hiii'«lly 
know  what  to  say  about  its  final  preparation.  I  think 
there  is  not  much  danger  of  cultivating  too  much   when 


The  Th( 


cede 


If  the; 


hoe-harrow  species  to  prepare  the  seed-bed.    A  field  in 
good  order  for  sowing  presents  a  firm  bottt 
surface  to  the  depth  of  '  "     ' 


Have  the  ground  properlj- 
of  September  and  the  5th  of 

"Buckeye"  are  good  nuieliii 
to  the  depth  of  one  and  oir-| 


en  the  15 


dr\' ;  if  tornado. 
it;  if  midge,  nor 


Mr.  Hoover  called  attention  to  one  point  in  the 
first  essay  as  deserving  particular  attention,  the 
recommendation  of  wheat  with  strong  straw  lor 
general  culture,  and  spoke  at  length  on" the  subject. 

The  Hessian  fly  was  next  touched  upon,  and  Dr. 
Rathvon  explained  some  of  the  habits  of  this  pest, 
upon  which  leveral  members  followed  in  discussing 
the  subject.  In  answer  to  the  question  whether  two 
broods  of  the  fly  could  be  raised  in  one  season,  he 
answered  negatively. 

Food  for  Hogs. 

Does  it  pay  to  chop  feed  for  hogs?  was  answered 
by  Joseph  F.  Witmer,  who  told  of  some  experiments 
at  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College.     These  ex- 


periments, together  with  his  own  experience,  led 
him  to  believe  that  it  was  decidedly  profitable  to  do 
so. 

Novelty  in  Fruit  Culture. 

President  Cooper  presented  a  plan,  prepared  by  a 
learned  Russian,  Augustus  F.  Newnaber,  of  Chester 
county,  showing  how  to  raise  peaches  and  other  fruits 
without  stones  or  seeds.  Also  how  to  raise  fruit  with 
one  side  sweet  and  the  other  Bide  sour. 

On  motion  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  to  Mr. 
Newnaber,  and  it  was  resolved  to  place  the  plan  in 
the  library  of  the  society. 

A  committee  of  six  members,  M.  D.  Kendig,  Jos. 
F.  Witmer,  Henry  M.  Engle,  E.M.  Eshleman,  C.  M. 
Hostetter  and  Ephraim  P.  Hoover,  was  appointed  to 
make  experiments  in  the  matter. 

Dr.  Edge  to  Lecture. 

Mr.  Engle  stated  that  he  had  written  to  Dr.  Thomas 
J.  Edge,  .Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
and  that  gentleman  had  promised,  if  possible,  to  be 
present  at  the  next  meeting  and  deliver  a  lecture. 

Adjourned. 

POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Lancaster  County  Poultry  Association  held 
their  monthly  meeting  in  City  Hall  on  Monday 
morning,  April  7,  1879,  and  was  called  to  order  bv 
President  Tobias.  The  calling  of  the  roll  showed 
the  following  members  and  visitors  present :  J.  A. 
Stober,  Schoeneck  ;  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  Litiz;  Tobias 
D.  Martin,  New  Haven;  W.  J.  Kafrnth,  West  Earl; 
T.  F.  Evans,  Litiz;  G.  A.  Geyer,  Spring  Garden  ;  J. 
B.  Lichty,  city;  W.  A.  Schoenberger,  city;  F.  R. 
Diffcnderffer,  city;  J.  M.  Johnson,  city;  J.  F.  Reed, 
city;  Charles  Lippold.  city;  Amos  Ringwalt,  city; 
S.  N.  Warfel,  Strasbur'g;  Henry  Wissler,  Columbia  ; 
John  Huber,  Warwick ;  Jacob  A.  Buch,  Litiz. 

The  reading  of  all  except  the  most  important  part 
of  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  was  dispensed 
with. 

Some  discussion  ensued  as  to  who  was  to  pay  the 
janitor  for  services  rendered  in  cleaning  the  room. 
It  was  argued  by  some  of  the  members  that  this  was 
included  in  the  rent  paid  to  the  Agricultural  Society, 
and  on  motion  the  matter  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee of  three,  who  were  instructed  to  present  the 
matter  to  the  Agricultural  Society.  The  committee 
is  as  follows:  Simon  P.  Eby,  W.  J.  Kafroth  and 
Joseph  F.  Witmer. 

Preserving  the  Proceedings. 

President  Tobias  called  Vice  President  Geyer  to  the 
chair,  and  made  some  remarks  on  preset  ving  the 
documents  of  the  society.  The  Lancaster  Farmek 
is  not  patronized  as  it  should  be.  He  thought  that 
if  arrangements  could  be  made  to  have  the  proceed- 
ings published  in  this  journal,  thus  having  them  in 
book  form,  it  would  be  to  the  advantage  of  the 
members  and  of  The  Faumer,  which  would  obtain 
a  large  number  of  additional  subscribers. 

Mr.  Lichty  had  thought  it  would  be  agreeable  to 
all  concerned  to  have  the  answers  to  questions  writ- 
ten out  in  full,  and  placed  among  the  archives  of  the 
society.  He  did  not  know  of  any  particular  benefit 
to  be  derived  from  it. 

Mr.  Kafroth  said  that  his  plan  for   preserving  the 
proceedings  was  to  clip  them  from  the  daily  papers 
and  paste  them  in  his  scrap  book. 
New    Members. 

New   members  were  proposed  and  elected  as  fol- 
lows :     William     Beates,    Spring    Garden ;     S.    W. 
Heinitsh,  city;  Dr.  M.  W.  Hurst,  West  Earl. 
Money  in  the  Treasury. 

Mr.  Evans,  the  treasurer,  stated,  in  answer  to  a 
query,  thiit  he  had  received  836,  paid  out  $9.20,  leav- 
ing J26.80  in  the  treasury. 

How  Long  will  Eggs  Retain  their  Fertility. 

Mr.  Ringwalt  answered  the  first  question,  which 
was,  "How  long  will  eggs  retain  their  fertility !"  He 
said  it  is  hard  to  tell  exactly  how  long  they  will  re- 
tain their  fertility.  lie  had  seen  eggs  three  weeks 
old  yield  a  fair  percentage,  but  raisers  like  to  set 
their  hens  as  soon  as  possible.  If  kept  in  air-tight 
vessels  eggs  will  keep  three  weeks.  He  had  read  of 
a  case  where  eggs  found  in  a  ruin  one  hundred  years 
old  had  been  hatched,  but  he  was  a  little  skeptical 
on  this  point.  He  believed  nature  gives  a  hen  30  days 
in  which  to  lay  20  eggs,  and  :il  days  in  which  to 
hatch  them. 

Mr.  Stober  asked  Mr.  Ringwalt  if  it  was  his  opin- 
ion that  eggs  would  keep  longer  if  deprived  of  air, 
and  Mr.  Ringwalt  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

Mr.  Evans,  last  spring,  sent  to  Ohio  for  a  setting 
of  eggs.  When  received  some  of  them  showed  by 
dates  on  the  shells  that  they  were  over  four  weeks 
old.  He  got  five  chicks  out  of  fourteen  eggs,  the 
chicks  coming  from  the  freshest  eggs. 

President  Tobias  thought  a  good  deal  depended  on 
where  the  eggs  are  kept.  Believed  eggs  are  injured 
more  by  the  condition  in  which  they  are  kept  than  by 
length  of  time. 

Mr.  Geyer,  last  spring,  sent  a  setting  of  fourteen 
eggs  West,  which  were  divided.  One  lot  of  seven 
was  used  immediately  and  five  chickens  were  raised  ; 
the  other  lot  was  not  used  for  three  weeks  and  not; 
one  chicken  broke  the^hell. 


] 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


59 


Mr.  Warfel  has  kept  eggs  five  weeks  and  all  were 
hatched,  and  again  had  tried  pullet's  eggs,  not  get- 
ting three  pullets  out  of  a  dozen  eggs. 

Mr.  Lichty  explained  tlie  uses  of  an  egg  tester,  by 
which,  within  4»  hours  after  the  hen  commences  to 
set,  it  can  be  told  whether  tlie  egg  is  fertile  or  not. 

Mr.  Long  had  heard  of  a  setting  of  Buft'  Cochin 

eggs,  which,  after  coming  across  the  ocean,  were  put 

under  a  hen.  Eleven  out  nf  the  thirteen  were  hatched. 

Packing  Eggs. 

"What  is  the  proper  mode  of  packing  eggs?"  had 
been  referred  to  Frank  15.  Buch,  but  he  was  not 
present. 

Messrs.  Ringwalt  and  Stober  had  received  eggs 
for  hatching  which  were  packed  in  small  baskets 
with  hay  placed  in  Ihcm,  and  were  satisfied  that  this 
was  a  good  way  to  do  it. 

Mr.  Geyer  got  two  lots  of  duck  eggs  packed  in 
sawdust  in  boxes,  and  nearly  all  of  the  eggs  were 
hatched. 

Mr.  Warfel  had  received  eggs  fiom  Canada  packed 
in  sawdust,  but  got  no  chickens. 

Mr.  Long  related  his  experience  in  importing  eggs. 
Sent  to  England  for  Bufl"  Cochin  eggs,  which  cost 
him  $17.25,  but  he  got  no  chickens. 

Mr.  Tobias  asked  if  eggs  should  be  placed  on  end 
or  side. 

Mr.  Geyer's  duck  eggs  had  been  packed  with  side 
down  ;  Mr.  Ringwalt  thought  it  made  no  difference 
how  they  w.  re  placed,  and  Mr.  Warfel  and  other 
members  agreed  that  they  should  be  placed  small 
end  down. 

Mr.  Long  thought  they  eliould  be  placed  butt  end 
down  if  to  be  kept  any  time.  If  they  are  only  sent  a 
short  distance  or  kept  a  short  time,  it  does  not  mat- 
ter how  they  are  jilaced. 

Business  for  Next  Meeting. 

What  is  the  best  method  of  testing  the  fertility  of 
a  newly  laid  egg?     Referred  to  Tobias  D.  Martin. 

How  often  should  fresh  blood  be  introduced  into 
poultry  yard  ?     Referred  to  S.  N.  Warfel. 
Members  of  the  Society. 

At  the  request  of  one  of  the  members,  Mr.  Lichty 
read  the  list  of  members  who  had  paid  their  dues, 
39  in  number,  and  a  list  of  those  who  had  not  paid 
about  20  or  •^5. 

Pullets'  Eggs. 

Mr.  Warfel  asked  if  any  member  had  succeeded  in 
obtaining  chicks  from  the  eggs  laid  by  a  pullet.  He 
had  never  succeeded  in  getting  any. 

ilr.  DiffenderflTer  stated  that  I'rom  his  first  hatching 
he  had  secured  9  chicks  out  of  lo  eggs,  and  from  his 
second  hatching  10  chicks  from  14  eggs. 

Mr.  Ringwalt  had  found  that  pullets'  eggs  hatched 
much  better  if  the  pullet  was  with  a  two-year-old 
rooster. 

Adjourned. 

WARWICK    FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  Farmers'  Club  of  Warwick  township  met  at 
Uriah  Carpenter's  residence,  March  8,  1879.  The 
minutes  of  last  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 

It  was  proposed  to  make  this  organization  a 
permanent  one,  whereupon  Uriah  Carpenter  was 
elected  President ;  John  (irossman,  Vice  President; 
and  S.  M.  Carpenter,  Secretary,  for  a  term  of  six 
months. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  a  committee  of 
three  be  appointed  to  draw  up  a  constitution  and 
by-laws.  The  President  appointed  the  following 
persons  as  the  committee  :  D.  B.  Becker  (chairman), 
J.  B.  Becker  and  J.  K.  Iluber. 

It  was  also  agreed  upon  that  the  next  meeting  of 
this  club  be  held  at  the  same  place  on  Saturday, 
March  29. 

As  there  were  some  here  that  had  not  been  here 
before,  tire  President  again  proceeded  to  an  explana- 
tion, namely,  the  object  of  the  meeting ;  the  good 
there  can  be  derived  therefrom ;  ttiat  there  is  no 
secret  about  this  meeting,  therefore  public  to  all. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  first  question 
for  discus.'ion  be,  "  When  is  the  best  time  to  sow 
oats,  and  how?" 

The  question  was  opened  by  John  Grossman, 
making  a  lengthy  speech  on  liis  own  experience  in 
sowing  oats. 

This  subject  was  spoken  on  by  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers, and  I  think  they  will  agree  not  to  sow  until  the 
soil  is  in  good  pondition. 

It  was  agreed  upon  that  broadcast  is  the  best 
method  for  sowing. 

Peter  Wallason  stated  that  the  best  way  to  sow 
oats  even  is  to  walk  in  the  middle  of  the  land  fur- 
rowed for  sowing, and  throw  to  the  right  and  left. 

The  soiling  question,  which  was  continued  from 
last  meeting,  was  next  taken  up,  "  how  to  raise 
double  crops." 

It  was  agr'-ed  upon  that  the  limited  time  of  ten 
minutes  be  extended  to  each  speaker. 

An  essay  was  read  by  John  Grossman,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  "feeding  stock." 

J.  B.  Becker  thought  of  feeding  slock  in  the  stable 
during  summer,  instead  of  turning  them  into  pasture. 
He  thought  by  turning  them  into  pasture  they  will 
eat  an  hour  or  so,  and  during  the  hottest  part  of  the 


day  will,  on  account  of  the  files,  go  from  one  shade 
tree  to  another,  and  therefore  spoil  more  pasture 
than  they  will  eat;  but  by  feeding  them  in  the  stable 
they   will   requir  ■  Ichs  food   and    besides    save    the 


J.  K.  Iluber  thought  It  is  no  benefit  In  stabling 
slock  ;  he  thought  It  takes  less  food  If  given  to  them 
in  their  natural  way  by  grazing,  and  the  manure 
will  still  remain  In  the  "fields— that  Is  not  to  leave 
them  out  all  day — only  an  hour  or  so  until  done 
grazing  ;  then  lake  them  homo,  thereby  not  spoiling 
much  pasture. 

Israel  Becker  thought  that  cutting  fodder  Is  of  no 
benefit,  for  there  Is  nothing  left  to  accumulate  the 
manure  heap. 

Uriah  Carpenter  said  that  stabling  stock  Is  profita- 
ble, thereby  savluir  manure,  fences  and  pasture.  He 
thought  if  having  some  person  to  care  for  the  stock, 
and  doing  some  other  work  besides,  would  probably 
earn  one-half  the  salary  paid  to  him. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  questions, 
"Is  it  beneficial  to  educate  our  sons  and  leave  them 
go  from  home  or  keep  them  on  the  farm  1"  and 
"  How  shall  we  make  our  farms  pay  ?"  were  ques- 
tions adopted  for  discussion  at  the  next  meeting. 

Adjourned.  S.  M.  Cabpenter,  Nec'y. 

FULTON  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  March  meeting  of  the  club  was  held  at  the 
residence  of  Wm.  P.  Haines.  Members  present :  E. 
H.  Haines,  F.  Tollinger,  J.  R.  Blackburn,  LIndley 
King,  Grace  A.  King,  W.  P.  Haines,  C.  S.  Gatehell 
and  M.  Brown;  visitors  by  invitation,  Timothy 
Haines,  Dr.  C.  H.  Stubbs  and  Joseph  P.  Greist. 
There  being  no  agricultural  nor  horticultural  speci- 
mens to  exhibit  the  club  proceeded  to  asking  and 
answering  questions. 

Montillion  Brown  :  Do  any  of  the  members  Intend 
to  mannfacture  their  own  phosphate  this  spring? 
Several  members  stated  that  the  benefit  they  derived 
from  this  article  was  so  small  that  they  were  of  the 
opinion  that  it  was  not  profitable.  Several  receipts 
were  spoken  of,  some  of  which  cost  as  low  as  $1G..'J0 
per  ton. 

F.  Tollinger ;  When  is  the  proper  time  to  graft  cherry 
trees?  All  the  members  favored  early  grafting.  He 
was  recommended  to  cut  the  scions  in  February,  and 
put  in  the  stalks  in  the  early  part  of  March,  although 
some  of  the  members  had  succeeded  well  as  late  as 
May  ;  but  at  this  time  it  is  necessary  to  be  careful 
not  to  raise  the  bark  of  the  scion. 

E.  H.  Haines  :  What  variety  of  cherries  do  the 
members  favor  grafting  ? 

F.  Tollinger  favored  the  "  Governor  Wood,"  but 
found  the  natural  fruit  more  hardy  and  more  prolific 
bearers. 

Dr.  Stubbs:  Docs  any  one  present  know  of  any 
stimulant  which,  if  applied  to  cherry  trees,  will 
make  them  bear? 

Some  of  the  members  had  tried  boring  and  plug- 
ging sulphur  in  the  holes.  Club  adjourned  for  dinner. 
Afternoon  Session. 

After  reviewing  the  building  and  part  of  the  farm, 
the  club  convened,  when  the  minutes  of  the  meeting 
held  here  one  year  ago  were  read  and  criticism  called 
for.  The  members  noted  no  change ;  the  stock 
looked  well  cared  for,  and  was  consequently  in  good 
condition. 

Martha  Brown  noticed  the  excellent  quality  of  the 
corn  prepared  for  dinner,  and  asked  how  it  was 
cured.  She  was  informed  that  it  was  from  Baker's 
canning  factory,  near  Aberdeen,  Hartford  county, 
Md. 

Literary. 

A  selection  was  read  by  Mabel  Haines  entitled, 
"The  King's  Gift;"  one  Ijy  Alia  Gregg,  entitled, 
"  The  Sea  Nymph  ;"  selection  by  Mabel  A .  Haines, 
entitled  "The  Farmer's  Lot ;"  one  by  .Mary  A.  King, 
"  Fifty  Years  Ago ;"  recitation  by  Carrie  Black- 
burn, "The  Teetotal  Mill." 

Some  of  the  young  ladies  in  attendance  furnished 
the  club  with  some  choice  instrumental  and  vocal 
music. 

Discussion  of   Regular  Question. 

Have  farmers,  by  experiments  they  have  made, 
arrived  at  any  uniform  conclusion  from  the  actual 
results  in  the  subject  experimented  with  ? 

Mont.  Brown  thought  the  farmers  had,  to  a  cer- 
tain degree,  but  there  were  subjects  which  had  been 
experimented  on  for  the  last  fifty  years,  and  they 
were  still  unsettled.  We  have  found  that  to  grow 
cheat  we  must  sow  cheat,  and  that  it  Is  not  a  pecu- 
liar growth  of  wheat,  as  was  formerly  supimsed  ; 
that  potatoes  of  dllferent  kinds,  planted  in  the  same 
hills,  would  not  mix,  and  that  half-starved  cattle 
would  not  pay. 

E.  H.  Haines  ;  We  have  never  decided  by  experi- 
ment whether  the  modern  plan  of  drilling  wheat  Is 
an  improvement  on  the  old  style  of  broadcasting  it, 
and  in  the  matter  of  raising  potatoes  one  man  recom- 
mends the  planting  In  sod,  turning  the  sod  over  the 
potato  ;  another  to  plant  on  corn  stubble  and  manure 
in  tne  row,  some  under  and  some  on  lop.  Good 
crops  had  been  raised  each  way  and  \moT  ones  also. 
In  time  of  planting  one  will  recommend  early  and 
another  late  planting,  and  this  Is  attended  with  the 


same  results  ;  and  In  fieding  oals  straw  to  our  milch 
cows,  some-  recommend  and  others  discourage ; 
even  the  grain  is  condemned  by  some  as  food  for 
cows,  but  all  were  of  the  opinion  that  a  liberal  sup- 
ply of  nutritious  food  would  hurt  no  animal.  As  to 
the  manure  and  quantity  of  lime  as  a  fcrlllliicr,  some 
preferred  spreading  on  so<l  and  turning  it  under; 
others  to  spread  on  plowed  ground,  In  quBnlilles 
varying  from  fiflccn  to  fifty  bushels  |M;r  acre.  Many 
of  these  questions  he  thought  might  l>e  srltled  by 
actual  experiment,  but  others  were  subject  to  the 
condition  of  the  ground,  atniospherle  changes,  «lc., 
which,  unless  there  was  a  uniformity  In  these  p»r- 
ticula.-s,  would  never  be  permanently  settled. 

Dr.  Stubbs  agreed  with  E.  II.  Haines  lu  the  effect 
of  atmospheric  changes  on  vegelation,  and  thought 
agriculture  would  never  be  an  exact  science  while 
we  are  amenable  to  the  weather.  His  exiwrlcucc 
In  potato  culture  was,  that  If  well  fertilized  and 
properly  tended  you  were  certain  of  a  good  crop  ; 
but  he  could  see  no  reason  why  such  questions  as  the 
manner  of  settling  milk,  kinds  of  churns,  breed  of 
cows  and  many  other  cjucstions  relating  to  dairying 
are  not  settled. 

Election  of  Officers. 

The  term  of  the  officers  having  expired,  the  club 
elected  the  following  for  the  ensuing  year  :  President, 
F.  Tollinger;  Secretary,  .Montillion  Brown;  Treaaurer, 
Joseph  K.  Blackburn;  Librarian,  Wm.  P.  Haines. 
The  club  then  adopted  the  following  question  for 
discussion  at  the  next  meeting :  Is  the  advance 
made  In  labor-saving  maehlniTy  accompanied  by  a 
diHincllnation  to  labor?  To  furnish  literary  exercises 
for  the  next  meeting,  the  President  ap|>ointcd  Sadie 
Brown,  Irene  Tollinger,  .Mary  A.  King  and  Edwin 
Gregg  on  essays  and  selections,  and  -Nlabol  Haines, 
.Mabel  A.  llaities,  Carrie  Blackburn  and  C.  8. 
Gatehell  on  recitat.ons.  Club  then  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Wm.  King's  next  month. 

LINN/EAN    SOCIETY. 
The  stated   meeting  of  the   society  wa«  held  on 
Saturday,  March  Jil,  Mi'iK  Presld-iit  Kev.  J.  8.  Stahr 
In  the  chair.     After  the  preliminary  oi>ening  the 

Donations  to  the  Museum 
were  examined  and  found  to  consist  of  a  fragment  of 
a  Gneissic  Rock,  said  lo  have  been  struck  from  the 
veritable  fiat  rock  near  Bloody  Run,  In  the  vicinity  of 
Richmond,  Virginia,  upon  which  the  head  of  Captain 
Smith  was  laid  to  have  It  spoiled  by  the  Indian's 
club,  when  the  lovely  Pocahontas  came  to  bli 
rescue.  {'.)  So  says  the  sender,  Mr.  AuirustusBIschoflT, 
of  this  county.  He  also  sent  with  It  a  relic  of  the 
LIbby  Prison— a  fragment  of  an  onllnary  brick  ;  also, 
a  portion  of  a  geode,  a  hollow  ninlule  of  Ha>tnatite,  a 
native  oxide  of  iron,  much  in  form  of  a  thick  bivalve 
shell.  .Mr.  Gabriel  Russel  sent  a  piece  of  quartz, 
containing  sulphuret  of  nickel,  found  In  Bart  town- 
ship. A  fine  Biiecimen  of  "  Ruby  Ulend,"  found  in 
a  garden  in  Marietta,  per  Mr.  John  K.  Filler.  ThU 
Is  much  like  that  found  in  New  Jersey,  and  may 
have  been  accidental  in  this  latter  locality.  Samples 
of  sulphuret  and  carbonate  of  coiiper  found  In  Vurk 
county,  Pa.  These  were  contrasted  with  like  ores 
from  Brazil,  South  America,  •  y  way  of  comparison, 
In  the  same  box.  Mr.  John  B.  Kevinski  also  made 
a  special  deposit  of  his  case  of  thirty  drawers,  con- 
taining numerous  minerals,  fossils  and  corals,  and  a 
valuable  acquisition  to  others  already  on  deposit. 
Missiles  of  various  forms  added  to  our  former  collec- 
tion of  war  relics,  from  Antietam  and  Harper's 
Ferry,  from  D.  McN.  Stauffer,  and  othem  from  the 
latter  locality,  by  Dr.  S.  S.  Ratbvon.  Siwcinicns  in 
alcohol,  a  domestic  mouse,  by  J.  W.  Hubley.  This 
had  an  excessive  fungoid  or  scrofulous  growth  on  the 
head,  over  the  eye.  It  seems  many  mice  about  the 
city  are  affected"  with  this  strange  disease,  hardly 
understood,  and  must  be  bad  on  the  mice,  as  It  is  a 
disgusting  sight,  but  not  the  less  curious,  and  should 
be  Inquired  into.  A  siiecimon  of  a  rare  creature 
sentto  Mr.  Rathvon  from  Manatee,  Florida.  This 
was  a  desirable  send,  as  it  fills  the  link  of  our  I'cili- 
palpi,  and  comes  near  the  figure  of  the  Fhrynut  reni- 
fonnin,  but  may  be  a  distinct  species.  Mr.  StauflTer 
took  a  drawing  of  it,  and  one  copied  from  an  English 
work,  a  West  India  species,  which  dificrs  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  eyea.  This  paper  has  remarks 
upon  It  by  Mr.  Stauffer,  supplemented  by  Dr.  Kath- 
von,  marked  No.  .514.  The  large  bean  i)Od  sent  to 
TU  AVw  ICra  from  Florida,  and  left  with  Mr.  Rath- 
von, was  submitted  to  J.  Slaulfer  for  a  name,  being 
of  large  size  and  the  winged  sutures  so  peculiar. 
After  close  scrutiny  with  all  the  Legumlnosa-  known 
or  deicribed  as  growing  from  Mexico  lo  the  Northern 
UnitedStales,  not  one  would  compare.  A  drawing 
sent  to  Prof.  Grey  was  at  once  recognized  and  named 
as  the  Canaralia  Obtunifolia  from  Malabar,  not  In- 
digenous to  the  United  States.  A  fine  drawing  of  the 
bean  and  iwd,  with  remarks  upon  the  subject  by  .Mr. 
StauHer— pajicr  No.  51.'>— was  deposlte*!  with  the 
now  shrunken,  dried  |xh1  and  red  beans  of  the  same. 
Mr.  Charles  A.  llelnitsh  also  presented  specimens  of 
a  new  remedy  for  pulmonary  diseases,  from  Santa 
Anna,  North  California,  called  "  Verba  Santa,"  offl- 
cinally  KrijodicliOH  glulinomm,  per  C.  A.  Moschar. 
The  leaves  a  lanceolate  serrate,  thick  and  glutinous 
when  green  ;  gumlike  incrustation  when  dry. 


60 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  April, 


Historical  Section. 

Four  envelopes,  containing  over  fifty  clippings  of 
sundry  historical  and  biographical  reminiscences, 
per  S.  S.  Rathvon. 

Library. 

Twenty-five  volumes  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Pennsylvania,  with  a  letter  from  Dr.  Wiclcersliam  ; 
a  treatise  on  insects  injurious  to  potatoes,  by  Prof. 
Riley,  donated  by  Prof.  S.  S.  Rathvon;  bulletin  of 
new  fishes,  by  Messrs.  Good  and  Bean,  Smithsonian 
Institution;  donation  from  the  publisher,  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons;  the  biography  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  C. 
Anderson,  a  soldier  and  pioneer  of  the  Revolution, 
which  contains  much  of  historical  value ;  part  III. 
for  October,  November  and  December,  1878,  proceed- 
ings of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Pliiladel- 
phia ;  from  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  about 
the  "Turtle  Back"  Indians  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, by  W.  J.  Hoffman,  M.D.;  on  the  Crinoids,  by 
Fred.  Brau,  Cincinnati,  Ohio;  Southeran's  Price 
Current  of  Literature  ;  proceedings  of  the  Kentucky 
Hislorieal  Society ;  sundry  book  circular* ;  The 
Lancaster  Fakmer  for  March. 
Paper  Read. 

No.  516.  Dr.  Rathvon  read  a  paper  on  the  Pedipal- 
pian  Arxchjiids,  showing  the  gradation  between 
spiders  and  scorpions. 

New  Business. 

The  necessity  of  book  shelves  was  discussed,  for 
the  third  floor  room.  On  motion,  the  treasurer  was 
authorized  to  have  the  shelves  made,  and  the  Jonr- 
nal  of  the  Acadetny  of  Natural  Sciences  and  The 
Lancaster  Farmer  liound. 

Scientific  Gossip. 

On  a  letter  read  by  Rev.  J.  S.  Stahr,  from  Prof. 
Porter,  about  a  species  of  Equicetum  found  on  an 
island  near  Safe  Harbor,  supposed  to  be  a  new  species 
for  the  county.  About  the  diseased  mouse.  Dr. 
Davis,  without  a  close  inspection,  said  he  would  not 
express  an  opinion  as  to  the  e.tcrescence,  but  would 
like  to  have  time  for  a  closer  inspection  of  a  ease 
before  put  into  alcohol.  After  a  pleasant  and  profit- 
able meeting  the  society  adjourned  until  Saturday, 
April  26,  lh79. 


Entomological. 


The  Imported  Currant  Worm. 
(Ne-inattts  Vt^itricostta,) 

It  is  less  than  twenty  years  since  this  exceedingly 
injurious  enemy  of  the  gooseberry  and  currant  was 
first  introduced  into  the  United  States.  It  seems  to 
have  been  first  introduced  from  Europe  with  some 
gooseberry  bushes  imported  by  Messrs.  EUwanger  & 
Barry,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.  From  there  it  spread  in 
various  directions  at  the  rate  of  about  twenty-five 
miles  a  year,  till  a  large  part  of  the  Northern  and 
Eastern  States  is  completely  overrun  with  it.  It  is 
probably  also  that  this  same  insect  has  been  intro- 
duced by  importation  to  other  points,  from  which  it 
has  spread  as  from  the  place  named  above.  Wherever 
it  has  been  introduced,  whether  from  abroad  or  from 
some  other  part  of  this  country,  it  has  Bpr9j,d  with 
great  rapidity,  and  wherever  it  has  gone  it  has  laid 
the  currant  and  gooseberry  bushes  under  contribu- 
tion to  such  extent  as  to  almost  entirely  prevent  the 
further  production  of  these  fruits.  It  often  keeps  the 
bushes  so  completely  stripped  that  in  two  or  three 
years  they  are  killed.  This  insect  belongs  to  the  saw 
fly  group,  and  is  of  the  order  of  clear-winged  flies. 
The  most  of  these  are  strong  vegetable  feeders  dur- 
ing the  larval  period  of  their  existence. 

This  group  of  insects  usually  have,  during  their 
larval  state,  eighteen,  twenty,  or  twenty-two  legs, 
which  is  a  greater  number  than  the  larvae  of  moths 
are  supplied  with  ;  they  generally  number  about  six- 
teen. The  eggs  from  which  the  insect  under  consid- 
eration is  hatched,  are  laid  along  the  principal  veins 
on  the  underside  of  the  leaves  of  both  currants  and 
gooseberries.  In  a  few  days  there  hatch  out  from 
these  eggs  small,  twenty-legged  larvas.  They  are  of 
a  green  color,  with  a  black  head  and  numerous  black 
spots  on  the  body ;  but  after  the  last  moult  all  the 
black  disappears  e.xcept  the  large,  eye-like  spots  on 
each  side  of  the  head.  After  tliis  moult  the  entire 
body  is  of  a  green  color,  except  that  the  first  and 
last  two  joints  are  of  a  yellow  color.  There  is  quite 
a  difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  sexes  of  this  fly 
in  its  perfect  state.  The  general  color  of  the  body  of 
the  female  is  a  light  honey  yellow,  and  that  of  the 
male  is  black.  The  female  is  considerably  longer 
than  the  male.  The  difference  between  the  sexes  is 
so  great  that  they  have  been  described  by  able  ento- 
mologists as  two  different  species.  When  about  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  long  the  larvse  attain  their  full 
growth  and  leave  off  eating  ;  they  then  go  into  the 
ground,  generally  under  the  bushes  on  which  they 
have  fed,  or  iu  some  cases  they  simply  hide  under  the 
leaves  that  lie  on  the  ground.  They  here  spin  asilken 
cocoon  in  which  tliey  go  into  the  pupa  state.  In  some 
cases  they  are  said  to  spin  their  cocoons  on  the  open 
bushes.  The  eggs  are  laid  for  the  first  brood  during 
the  fore  part  of  .May.  These  go  through  all  their 
transformations  and  come  out  as  perfect  flies  about 


the  first  of  July  ;  sometimes  a  little  earlier  and  some- 
times later.  These  immediately  proceed  to  pair  and 
lay  eggs  for  another  brood,  which,  on  account  of 
their  great  numbers,  are  even  more  injurious  to  the 
bushes  than  the  first  brood  was. 

The  insects  of  this  last  brood  remain  in  the  pupa 
state  till  the  following  spring,  when  they  come  out 
perfect  flies  ready  to  continue  the  propagation  of  the 
species.  Fruit  grown  on  bushes  infested  with  these 
caterpillars  has  been  reported  poison,  but  such  is  not 
the  case  ;  on  account  of  the  loss  of  foliage  the  bushes 
do  not  mature  the  fruit  properly,  and  it  is  therefore 
not  a  very  wholesome  article  of  food.  This  insect 
has  proved  a  great  scourge  to  small-fruit  raisers 
wherever  it  has  been  introduced.  They  multiply  so 
rapidly  that  in  but  a  few  years  after  introduction 
they  will  completely  strip  the  foliage  from  the  largest 
plantation. 

When  the  brood  is  first  hatched  the  young  larvie 
remain  together  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaf, 
through  which  they  eat  numerous  small  holes.  Their 
presence  may  be  readily  detected  by  these  holes,  and 
the  leaves  should  be  gathered  and  burned.  By  watch- 
fulness and  care  at  the  proper  season  they  may  be 
kept  in  check  by  this  method.  But  when  they  have 
become  larger  and  scattered  over  the  bushes,  other 
means  must  be  employed  for  their  extermination. 
Probably  the  best  remedy  in  this  case  is  powdered 
hellebore  sprinkled  on  the  hushes  while  wet  with 
dew.  Paris  green  will  probably  prove  quite  as  effi- 
cient. Of  course  after  the  use  of  these  active  poisons 
the  fruit  cannot  be  used  with  safety.  I  have  found 
fresh,  unleached  wood  ashes  a  successful  remedy. 
Strong  soapsuds  are  also  good  to  expel  them  from 
the  bushes.  So  destructive  are  these  insects  that,  if 
allowed  to  multiply  unchecked,  a  few  years  will  be 
sufficient  to  drive  the  currant  and  gooseberry  from 
the  country.  Every  person  who  has  a  bush  of  either 
of  these  fruits  should  unite  in  an  early,  persistent 
and  determined  war  of  extermination  of  these  very 
injurious  enemies  of  these  useful  garden  fruits.  Such 
a  course  well  followed  would  soon  result  in  such  a 
reduction  of  their  numbers  that  their  ravages  would 
no  longer  be  seriously  injurious.— i.  J.  Templin,  in 
Practical  Farmer. 


The  Tobacco  \Worm. 

This  insect  {Mocrosila  Carolina) ,a.s  is  well-known, 
belongs  to  the  class  of  hawk  moths,  (spfiiuf/idfe) , 
large,  beautiful  moths,  that  are  frequently  seen  hover- 
ing like  humming  birds  over  the  blossoms  of  the 
petunia  and  other  sweet-flowering  plants  just  at  sun- 
down or  iu  the  deepening  twilight.  They  scarcely 
ever  alight,  but  flit  gayly  from  flower  to  flower,  very 
shy  and  difficult  to  approach,  flying  only  at  night, 
and  hiding  usually  during  the  day.  After  pairing, 
the  female  lays  her  eggs  on  the  leaves  of  the  tobacco 
plant  iu  the  species  under  consideration.  Another 
species  feeds  on  the  tomato,  and  is  more  generally 
familiar  to  us  than  the  tobacco  worm.  Anotlicr 
species  feeds  on  the  leaves  of  the  potato,  and  is  also 
quite  common.  The  habits  of  all  the  species  arc 
familiar,  and  most  people  have  seen  the  great,  savage- 
looking  worm  ;  a  few  have  admired  the  perfect  moth, 
and  still  less  know  the  pupae  in  its  mahogany-colored 
case,  with  the  long  proboscis  of  the  perfect  insect  in- 
closed in  its  case  and  folded  over  like  the  handle  of  a 
pitcher.  Farmers  and  gardeners  are  familiar  with 
these  pupie,but  few  know  them  to  be  the  destructive 
tobacco  or  tomato  worm. 

There  are  but  few  birds  that  will  eat  or  even  touch 
the  tobacco  worm,  and  turkeys  are  the  only  domesti- 
cated fowl  that  will  eat  them  to  any  great  extent. 
The  principal  remedy  to  prevent  their  ravages  is 
hand-picking — takingthe  worms  from  the  leaves  and 
crushing  them.  A  flock  of  turkeys  will  materially 
assist  at  this  business.  But  a  correspondent  to  the 
Clarksville  Tobatco  Leaf,  recommends  poisoning  the 
parent  moths,  with  a  solution  of  "cobalt"  (oxide  of 
arsenic  and  cobalt).  The  sphinx  moth  usually  gets 
its  food  from  flowers  like  the  petunia,  "jimpson 
weed,"  (datura  stramonium,)  and  the  latter  grows 
freely  in  localities  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco. 

The  writer  mentioned  says  that  the  "cobalt  is  most 
conveniently  used  by  melting  an  ounce  in  a  pint  of 
water  and  adding  half  a  pint  of  liquid  honey.  The 
bottle  containing  this  should  be  kept  out  of  the  reach 
of  children,  as  a  number  of  cases  of  poisoning  have 
occurred  owing  to  negligence  in  this  particular.  An 
ounce  phial,  with  a  cork  stopper,  into  which  is  in- 
serted a  small  quill,  is  suitable  for  putting  the  poison- 
ous solution  in  the  stramonium  flowers.  The  best 
time  fordoing  this  is  every  evening  about  sunset. Two 
or  three  drops  are  sufficient  for  one  blossom.  Stramo- 
nium has  a  tubular  blossom,  which  opens  about  an 
hour  before  sunset  and  remains  open  until  after  sun 
rise  the  next  day,  when  it  closes,  withers  and  dies. 
Every  evening  there  is  an  entirely  new  blossom.  It 
is  a  mistaken  notion  that  the  cobalt  kills  the  blossom. 
The  moth  sucks  the  poison  by  means  of  its  long  pro- 
boscis, and  is  killed.  The  time  required  to  produce 
death  depends  upon  the  amount  taken.  I  have  often 
seen  them  killed  by  the  poison  in  fifteen  minutes. 

"  One  or  two  dozen  stramonium  plants  should  be 
set  in  a  rich,  moist  spot  on  the  tobacco  ground  early 
in  the  season — say  May  or  June.  All  others  on  the 
farm  should  be  cut  down,  for  the  moths  prefer  to 


feed  from  the  unmedicated  blossoms.  In  order  toj 
work  the  destruction  on  the  moths  effectually,  the! 
planters  throughout  every  neighborhood  should  use! 
the  cobalt  as  directed.  Planters  should  not  rely  tool 
exclusively  upon  this  preventing  them  from  finding 
worms  on  their  tobacco.  The  moths  often  do  not  getl 
enough  of  the  poison  to  produce  death  the  first  doseT 
and  are  apt  to  shun  it  afterwards,  unless  it  be  dii 
guised  by  using  another  sweet  instead  of  the  honey.'- 


The  Utility  of  Entomology. 

The  science  of  entomology  is  daily  gaining  impor- 
tance in  a  practical  sense.  The  term  "  bug  catcher," 
as  opprobriously  applied  to  its  professors,  carries 
with  it,  to  intelligent  minds,  a  far  higher  considera- 
tion than  that  of  millionaire.  When  Henry  Edwards 
—one  of  the  most  celebrated  modern  entomologists — 
sought  to  dispose  of  his  admirable  collection,  worth 
over  $25,000,  for  812,000,  he  was  snubbed  by  the 
ignorant  and  unreflecting  who  wondered  what  use 
could  be  made  of  a  vast  array  of  dead  bugs.  But 
within  a  few  days  new  aud  hitherto  unclassified  in- 
sects of  that  sort  have  greatly  aroused  the  fears  of 
that  bigger,  self-conceited  bug,  called  man.  The 
Connecticut  farmers  complain  that  their  corn  is 
being  devoured  in  great  quantities  by  a  bug  not  be- 
fore known.  It  is  described  as  a  "  good-sized,  six- 
legged,  evil-looking  bug,  rather  larger  and  much 
fiatter  than  the  potato  bug ;  in  color  brown,  having 
a  wide  body  and  a  very  small  head,  provided  with  a 
pair  of  small  feelers."  From  Santa  Monica  comes 
the  report  of  a  marine  worm  that  has  destroyed,  or 
greatly  injured,  the  wharves  at  that  place.  It  is 
described  as  being  very  destructive,  and  rather  more 
rapid  in  its  operations  than  the  ordinary  teredo 
navalis.  The  services  of  a  first-class  entomologist 
would  probably  point  out  some  way  for  preventing 
the  depredations  of  these  fearful  pests. 

Remedies  Against  Worms  and  Insects. 

A  correspondent  says :  The  insect  question  is  a 
very  important  one  ;  they  will  destroy  us  if  we  don't 
destroy  them.  The  following  modes  I  use  as  occa- 
sion demands,  aud  never  fail :  Melon  and  cucumber 
bugs  like  radish  leaves  better  than  any  other  kind. 
I  sow  a  few  radish  seeds  in  each  and  never  lose  a 
plant.  Earth-worms,  cut-worms,  white  grubs  and, 
in  fact,  all  soft-bodied  worms,  are  easily  driven  out 
by  salt  sown  broadcast.  You  can  do  no  harm  with 
ten  bushels  to  the  acre,  but  a  half  bushel  is  ample. 
Dry  slacked  lime  is  also  effectual.  Potato  bugs  find 
their  "anti"  in  Paris  green,  one  tablespoonful ; 
flour,  ten  spoonfuls  ;  water,  one  bucket ;  mix  and 
keep  mixed  as  the  Paris  green  settles  ;  apply  with  a 
watering-pot.  For  cabbage-worms  apply  dry  salt 
if  the  plants  are  wet,  or  strong  brine  if  they  are  dry. 
Turnip-flies  are  destroyed  by  fine  slaked  lime  dusted 
over  the  field.  But  the  whole  tribe  of  depredators 
are  woiiderluily  kept  down  by  making  friends  with 
the  birds.  They  are  the  natural  enemies  of  all 
insects,  worms,  grubs,  &c.  In  fighting  vermin  we 
must  not  try  to  oppose  nature,  but  to  rather  follow 
her  plants,  and  assist  her  if  she  fails. —  Western 
Farmer. 


Agriculture. 


Harrowing  Wheat  in  Spring. 

The  Country  Qentlemau  publishes  an  article  on 
the  above  subject  from  Mr.  Franklin.  Sherman,  of 
Ash  Grove  farm,  Fairfax  coimty,  Va.,  which  is  of 
particular  interest.  Mr.  Sherman,  says:  "P.  Y. 
wanted  to  know  if  wheat  or  rye  would  be  benefitted 
by  harrowing  in  the  spring,  if  it  was  sowed  broad- 
cast and  covered  either  with  the  harrow  or  shovel 
plow  3  If  I  have  not  heretofore  occupied  too  much 
of  your  space  on  this  subject,  will  you  allow  me  to 
say  to  him  that  it  will  not  huit  either  the  wheat  or 
the  rye,  however  sowed  or  however  covered.  Only 
two  precautions  I  have  found  desirable  to  observe: 
Do  not  harrow  when  wet ;  and  harrow  before  the 
stalk  is  formed. 

"  I  have  no  hesitation  in  offering  P.  Y.  this  advice, 
as  I  have  done  the  same  thing  myself,  and  with  only 
good  results.  After  experimenting  sufficiently  to 
satisfy  myself  on  this  point,  I  (two  years  ago)  har- 
rowed a  field  of  wheat  aud  rye  which  had  been 
sowed  broadcast  and  covered  partly  with  the  har- 
row and  partly  with  shovel  plows.  The  result  was 
most  satisfactory. 

"  One  other  item  is  of  importance — harrow 
thoroughly,  lap  sufficiently  to  break  and  pulverize 
the  whole  surface.  Advice  given  by  the  editors  of  a 
paper  like  this  should,  above  all  other  things,  be 
safe ;  and  iu  this  case  as  in  others,  that  given  P.  Y. 
is  eminently  so  ;  when  you  say  provided  such  a  har- 
row is  used  as  will  not  injure  the  plants.  Will  you 
allow  me  to  say  to  him,  and  to  all  others  thinking  of 
harrowing  their  fall  grain  this  spring,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  get  a  'smoothing'  or  sloping-tooth  harrow  to 
do  this  work. 

"  A  proper  harrow  for  the  purpose  is  a  sharp,  up- 
right, square-toothed  one,  of  medium  weight,  with 
teeth  three-quarters  of  an  inch  of  one-inch  iron,  and 
projecting  six  to  eiglit  inches  below  the  frame.    If 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


61 


found  too  liglit  for  thorough  work  It  can  be  weighted 
enough  to  do  It.  I  mention  this  kind  first  because  it 
is  the  one  I  have  used,  iind  which  hue  served  me 
well ;  second,  the  slo|)ing-toothcd  harrows.'  These 
have  been  so  widely  rccomnieaded  and  advertised 
for  this  special  purpose  as  to  need  no  words  from 
me.  I  have,  however,  seen  grain  llelds  so  crusted  In 
the  spring  that  an  ordinary  snioothiug-harrow  would 
not  thoroughly  break  up  the  surface,  and  it  is  just 
ftt  this  time  that  a  thorough  harrowing  is  most 
beneficial. 

"  The  fact  I  would  like  to  impress  is,  that  har- 
rowing need  not  be  omitted  for  lack  of  a  certain  kind 
of  harrow.  Nine  times  in  ten  the  same  harrow  used 
to  prepare  the  ground  for  sowing  the  grain  will  be 
equally  useful  in  cultivating  the  grain  In  the  spring. 
The  proper  time  for  this  work  is  approaching,  and 
If  every  farmer  could  be  Induced  to  harrow  the  land 
across  his  wheat  field  and  note  the  result  carefully, 
I  think  the  practice  would  become  universal  In  two 
years." 

How  to  Grow  Broom  Corn. 
Broom  corn  should  be  planted  in  the  spring,  about 
the  same  time  as  Indian  corn,  ou  good  ground  that 
has  been  thoroughly  pulverized  with  the  barrow. 
Mark  out  your  rows  three  and  one-half  or  four  feet 
apart.  Sprinkle  the  seed  as  evenly  as  you  can  by  the 
hand  ;  or  what  is  better,  use  a  common  garden  drill. 
This  will  sow  It  just  thick  enough.  Cover  by  passing 
over  a  light  one-horse  harrow,  going  twice  on  the 
row  if  the  ground  is  hard  or  cloddy.  After  it  is  up 
about  two  inchts  harrow  with  a  two-horse  harrow, 
going  twice  to  the  row.  Don't  be  afraid  of  tearing 
It  up,  as  the  great  fault  with  most  people  Is  In  plant- 
ing too  thick.  This  kills  the  weeds  and  gives  the 
corn  a  start.  Alter  this  it  requires  the  same  cultiva- 
tion as  other  corn.  When  it  begins  to  shoot  out  in 
head  go  over  and  bend  down  all  that  is  fairly  out,  to 
keep  from  getting' crooked.  This  operation  will  have 
to  be  performed  several  times.  When  the  seed  is 
nearly  ripe  begin  to  cut.  First  cut  the  brush  I'rom 
two  rows  :  cut  just  above  the  last  joint ;  take  off  the 
leaf,  then  cut  the  stalks  from  two  rows ;  lay  them 
crosswise,  so  as  to  make  a  bed  that  will  keep  off  the 
ground  ;  lay  your  brush  on  this  bed,  which  will  hold 
the  brush  from  eight  or  ten  rows ;  let  it  lie  in  the  sun 
two  or  three  days,  then  tie  it  up  in  bundles  and  stuck 
in  round  stacks,  putting  I  en  or  twelve  In  a  stack  ; 
cover  this  stack  with  stalks,  tent  fashion,  mak- 
ing It  tight  at  the  top,  but  so  the  air  can  pass  through 
the  bottom.  In  this  manner  it  should  remain  two 
or  three  weeks,  until  thoroughly  dry;  then  you 
may  haul  to  the  barn  and  take  off  the  seed,  this 
operation  is  best  and  quickest  done  by  using  a 
common  threshing  machine.  Take  off  the  lop  and 
have  a  boy  to  hand  you  the  brush,  taking  as  much 
as  you  can  hold  in  one  hand  at  once.  One  man  and 
a  boy  can  clean  several  hundred  pounds  a  day  in  this 
way.  There  are  several  varieties  of  broom  corn,  but 
the  evergreen  is  much  the  best,  as  it  yields  more 
both  In  seed  and  brush  than  any  other,  and  is  worth 
twice  as  much  in  the  market.  From  two  to  four 
quarts  of  good  seed  will  plant  one  acre,  yielding  on 
good  ground  seven  or  eight  hundred  pounds  of 
brush  and  forty  bushels  of  seed,  which  Is  nearly 
equal  to  corn  for  feeding  purposes.  Flat,  loamy  or 
river-bottom  land.  Is  the  best  for  broom  corn ;  but 
any  good  corn  land  will  do,  giving  the  preference  to 
corn  stubble  or  clover  sod. 


Salt; 


Fertilizer. 


For  sometime  much  attention  has  been  paid  to  the 
subject  of  R)wing  salt  on  grain.  The  effect  of  salt  Is 
to  stiffen  the  straw  and  prevent  the  wheat  from  lodg- 
ing. It  sometimes  has  the  additional  effect  of  pro 
ducing  a  clear  light-colored  grain.  Some  farmers 
BOW  as  much  as  a  barrel  per  acre  ;  one  or  two  bushels 
will  generally  be  sufflclent.  Au  English  experiment 
made  on  the  farm  of  the  Koyal  Agricultural  Society 
of  England  Is  as  follows  :  An  acre  of  wheat  dressed 
with  three  hundred  pounds  of  common  salt  yielded 
thirty-nine  bushels  of  grain,  with  a  proportionate 
amount  of  straw  ;  while  an  adjoining  acre  left  un- 
manured,  produced  only  twenly-aine  bushels  per 
acre,  with  the  straw  imperfectly  developed.  The 
entire  cost  of  the  crop  is  not  stated,  but  this  experi- 
ment shows  that  the  additional  ten  bushels  resulting 
from  the  salt  were  produced  at  a  cost  of  thirty  cents 
each.  In  another  case  a  piece  of  ground  intended 
for  wheat  was  plowed  the  preceding  fall,  and  again 
In  May,  when  it  was  sowed  with  salt  and  afterwai-d 
plowed  before  seeding.  On  the  Ist  and  2nd  of  Sep- 
tember wheat  was  sown  at  the  rate  of  two  bushels 
to  the  acre.  The  crop  when  harvested  yielded,  ac- 
cording to  the  estimate  of  the  owner,  Mr.  John 
Parks,  not  less  than  forty  bushels  of  grain  to  the 
acre,  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  straw. 

Rolling  Grain  in  the  Spring. 
If  farmers  would  look  at  the  theory  of  rolling  the 
wheat  and  rye  fields  in  the  spring  It  would  be  resorted 
to  much  more  frequently  than  it  is.  Occasionally  the 
winter  and  spring  have  been  so  favorable  to  these 
crops  as  not  to  render  It.  necessary.  But  In  three 
seasons  out  of  four  It.is  necessary  and  doubtless  adds 
considerably  to  their  productiveness.    The  thawings 


and  freezings  of  the  ground,  throwing  or  spewing 
out  the  roots  and  exposing  them  to  the  drying  winds 
of  February  and  March,  very  seriously  affect  the 
grain.  I'atsing  a  roller  over  as  soon  as  the  soil  is  fit 
to  go  upon,  presses  back  the  roots  into  their  beds, 
and  gives  them  ii  fair  grip  again  upon  the  support  on 
which  tlie  crop  must  depend.  This  must  be  apparent 
to  every  one  who  will  look  at  its  operation.  We  have 
no  doubt  that  rolling  clover  fields,  that  have  been 
badly  thrown  up  by  the  frost,  would  also  have  a 
most  beneficial  effect. —  (Irruuiittown  Telegraph. 

Use  of  Lime. 

Prof.  Caldwell  reasons  In  this  way  In  the  New 
York  Tribuue: 

"  Hence  the  first  and  one  of  the  most  important 
rules  to  be  observed  In  the  use  of  lime  is  that  it 
should  be  applied  In  these  large  doses  only  to  soils 
comparatively  ricli  in  humus,  or  strong  day  soils 
rich  in  finely  divided  silicate.  It  has  been  proved  by 
experiment  that  lime  will  convert  plant  food  from 
the  insoluble  to  the  soluble  forms  In  either  case. 
Wc  find  the  proverb  current  In  France  and  Germany, 
as  well  as  in  our  own  language,  that  '  Lime  without 
manure  makes  the  father  rlih  but  the  children  poor  ;' 
which  means  plainly  enough  that  not  only  should 
we  start  with  good  soil  in  using  lime,  but  should 
maintain  its  good  condition  by  the  liberal  use  of 
manure  ;  and  we  find  that  whenever.  In  this  country 
or  elsewhere,  lime  Is  used  Intelligently,  manure  is 
used  freely." 

Corn  Culture. 
"The  suckers,"  says  H.  M.  Enele,  "should, 
under  all  circumstances,  be  taken  off  before  they 
appropriate  too  much  substance  which  the  main 
stalks  should  receive,  but  under  no  circumstances 
allow  suckers  to  tassel,  for,  whatever  pains  may  be 
taken  to  bring  or  keep  corn  at  its  greatest  perfection 
by  the  selection  of  seed,  the  pollen  from  the  sucker 
niay  undo  what  has  been  gained  by  years  of  careful 
selection.  I  would  as  soon  think  of  breeding  from  a 
scrub  male  to  a  thoroughbred  animal  as  to  have  the 
pollen  from  suckers  cast  upon  uu  excellent  variety  of 
corn.  It  is  also  known  that  the  pollen  from  a 
neighboring  field  is  ofttlmes  carried  to  an  almost  In- 
credible distance,  and  consequently  may  cause  more 
mixture  than  is  desirable." 


Floriculture. 


Flower  Garden  Hints. 

So  many  people  say  that  their  flowers  which  once 
did  well  do  not  thrive  any  more, and  the  reason  is  in- 
comprehensible to  them.  In  many  cases  the  trouble 
is  from  worn-out  soil ;  and  If  a  little  fresh  earth  be 
added  occasionally  it  is  wonderful  what  an  effect  It 
will  have  on  the  renewed  growth  of  half  worn  out  root 
stocks.  Some  kinds  of  flowers  especially  soon  grow 
surly  and  bad-tempered  unless  they  have  a  complete 
change  of  earth  once  in  awhile.  The  verbena  is  of 
this  character.  In  perfectly  fresh  soil,  that  Is  earth 
which  has  never  grown  a  verbena  before,  it  grows 
like  a  weed;  but  the  next  year  it  Is  not  quite  so  well; 
and  in  a  few  years  it  absolutely  refuses  to  creep,  run 
or  do  anything,  and  we  are  forced  to  confess  that  the 
verbena  won't  do  for  us  as  it  used  to  years  ago. 

Other  flowers  are  not  quite  so  stubbornly  fastidious 
as  the  verbena ;  but  still  all  more  or  less  like  to  feel 
rejuvenated  by  an  addition  of  some  kind  occasion- 
ally to  the  earth-blessings  they  have  already  been 
treated  to. 

Almost  all  our  best  hardy  flowers  are  natives  of 
woods,  or  low,  undisturbed  lands,  where  the  decaying 
leaves  from  the  trees  oi  the  washings  of  higher  sur- 
face lands  make  a  new  annual  entertainment  for 
them — and  it  has  been  found  by  experiment  that 
nothing  is  so  good  for  these  pretty  little  flowers  as 
well-decayed  leaf-mold  from  the  woods,  spread  round 
the  root-stocks  just  above  the  ground.  But  where 
this  cannot  be  had  any  other  well-decayed  vegetable 
refuse,  that  may  "be  lying  around  loose,"  will  do 
very  nearly  as  well.  Strong,  rich  manure — barnyard 
manure — has  not  been  found  very  good  for  garden 
flowers.  It  makes  the  herbage  too  strong,  and  the 
flowers  less  in  proportion.  But  If  nothing  more 
natural  can  be  got  at  to  help  the  flowers  along,  and 
the  soil  seems  exhausted  and  poor,  this  will  be  found 
much  better  than  leaving  the  plants  to  struggle  along 
as  best  they  can. — Germantoien  Telegraph. 

How  to  Preserve  Cut  Flowers. 

The  most  natural  as  well  as  the  most  economical 
mode  of  preserving  cut  flowers  is  to  use  any  low, 
shallow  vessel,  either  of  glass  or  china,  of  about  the 
size  and  dcptli  of  a  soup  plate.  If  this  is  filled  with 
nice,  fresh  wood-moss,  made  up  in  a  slightly  conical 
or  mould-like  form,  the  flowers  and  foliage  can  be 
arranged  to  great  advantage  and  made  to  Uwk  al- 
most as  natural  as  if  growing  in  the  positions  in  which 
they  are  placed,  instead  of  having  that  excessively 
formal  appearance  they  generally  have  when  closely 
packed  in  a  vase.  Not  only  do  they  look  infinitely 
better  in  this  way,  but  they  last  fresh  considerably 
longer,  owing  to  the  much   larger  surface  exposed 


immediately  under  them,  and  from  whence  a  stream 
of  vapor  Is  continually  arising  from  the  moss  sur- 
rounding their  stems.  Besides  the  nice,  fresh  ap- 
pearance this  has,  It  is  of  great  use  both  for  the 
above-named  purpose  and  for  keeping  the  flowers  In 
any  ix)sitlon  they  may  be  placed  In,  so  that  they  may 
be  quickly  and  easily  arranged.  One  reason  why 
many  flowers  are  so  Hhorl-livcd  when  cut  Is,  that  .to 
get  them  in  quickly  they  arc  sometimes  subjected  to 
more  heat  and  confinement  than  is  good  for  them, 
and  when  to  this  there  is  loss  of  light,  as  occurs  at 
this  season,  the  petals  must  inevitably  iKicomc  thin 
and  flimsy,  in  which  state  a  dry  air  at  once  affects 
them  unfavorably.  This  being  the  case,  any  plants 
that  arc  being  grown  for  the  pur|x>«e  of  supplying 
cut  blooms  shouhl  he  stood  as  near  the  ^lass  as  can 
be  done  without  touching,  and  in  such  positions  that 
they  may  have  full  benefit  of  all  the  sunshine  avail- 
able. So  favored,  there  will  be  little  dilllculty  In 
keeping  them  fresh  lor  a  eonsUlerable  length  of  time, 
provided  the  situation  they  occupy  in  the  room  when 
cut  Is  far  removed  from  the  flre,  and  not  where  they 
are  subjected  to  draughts,  as  they  would  be  If  placed 
between  the  door  and  the  grate,  as  there  is  always 
air  passing  from  the  one  to  the  other,  caused  by  the 
combustion  of  the  fuel. 

Sowing  Garden  Seeds. 

As  seed-sowing  lime  is  approaching,  it  will  be  in 
order  to  say  that  a  very  great  portion  of  seeds  an- 
nually sown  are  lost  through  deep  sowing.  Of 
course  large  seeds  like  beans  and  peas  may  be  cov- 
ered with  an  inch  or  more  of  earth,  and  yet  Ije  able 
to  work  their  way  easily  through  the  surface ;  but 
with  smaller  things  the  merest  covering  Is  sutllclent 
provided  the  earth  Is  pressed  firmly  over  the  seed. 
Peas  and  beans,  as  the  season  advances,  can  be 
planted  deeper  and  deeper. 

In  flower  seeds  It  is  quite  common  to  sow  them  on 
the  ground  In  a  little  patch,  and  then  scatter  a  mere 
dust  of  earth  •ver,  beating  it  a  little  with  the  back 
of  the  trowel,  and  it  Is  found  that  the  seed  germi- 
nates better  than  if  put  beneath  the  surface.  There 
Is  not  the  tendency  to  rot.  Again,  we  have  known 
some  of  the  lighter  kinds  of  garden  vegetables  to  he- 
scattered  along  the  garden  line,  and  merely  trod  in 
with  the  feet,  to  grow  so  well  that  every  seed  seemed 
to  sprout.  This,  of  course,  implies  that  the  ground 
should  be  dry  enough  to  powder  under  the  feet,  and 
so  it  always  should  be  when  seeds  are  sown.  To 
sow  deep,  or  when  the  earih  is  wet,  are  great  mis- 
takes.—  OermaiUoicn  Telegraph. 


Horticulture. 


Planting  Grapevines. 

One  would  suppose  that  so  simple  a  thing  as  plant- 
ing a  grapevine  would  not  need  writin"  about ;  and 
yet  the  number  of  people  inquiring,  "  How  shall  we 
plant?"  Is  so  great  that  a  few  words  to  these  in- 
quirers may  well  be  pardoned  by  those  who  think 
they  already  know  enough  about  the  matter.  The 
rule  is  to  plant  the  roots  shallow.  If  they  are  long 
when  we  have  to  transplant  them,  instead  of  planting 
them  deep  we  lay  them  along  about  four  or  five 
inches  beneath  the  surface.  It  is,  of  course,  very 
necessary  to  press  the  soil  very  hard  and  firm  over 
the  roots  ;  that  is  if  the  earth  is  tolerably  dry,  though 
in  truth  no  vine  should  be  planted  except  the  earth 
is  in  this  good  condition. 

It  Is  very  useful  in  planting  a  grapevine  to  cut  It 
chisely  in.  Unless  the  last  year  s  growth  be  very 
vigorous  it  may  be  almost  all  cut  away  ;  and  even 
where  the  growth  Is  strong  one-half  may  be  cut 
aw-ay.  This  is  the  way  to  get  a  good  strong  cane  for 
bearing  next  year,  which  is  the  most  one  ought  to 
expect  a  vine  to  do.  "  Immediate  bearing"  Is  a  de- 
lusion and  a  snare.  Many  a  person  spends  a  dollar 
or  a  half  dollar  extra  on  a  vine  which  he  is  told  by 
the  seller  will  "bear  this  year,"  when  for  that 
amount  of  money  he  could  buy  treble  the  quantity  of 
grapes  It  will  bear  for  him,  even  if  it  bears  at  all. 
Still  we  like  to  plant  good,  strong,  healthy  grapes. 
The  little  crow-quills,  which  comc^out  as  rare  grapes 
at  high  prices,  seldom  give  much  satisfaction.  Indeed, 
it  Is  more  than  likely  that  the  Immense  failures 
which  generally  follow  all  these  introductions  are  as 
much  owing  to  the  way  their  propagation  is  forced 
as  to  any  inherent  inability  In  the  varieties  to  become 
adapted  to  soils  and  climates. 

Spring  Planting  for  Strawberries. 
There  are  many  writers  on  strawberry  culture, 
who  advocate  planting  in  Ilie  fall,  arguing  that  an 
entire  season  Is  saved,  and  that  a  moderate  crop  can 
be  secured  the  following  season  from  the  new  plants. 
This  may  be  true  where  but  a  few  hundred  arc  set 
out  for  home  consumption,  and  where  the  number 
of  plants  or  extent  of  the  plantation  admits  of  the 
best  of  care.  For  a  large  market  plantation  of 
strawberries,  It  does  not  pay,  as  a  rule,  to  plant 
them  when  they  demand  so  much  care  and  atten- 
tion, for  the  profits  are  thereby  seriously  lessened. 
Aside  from  this,  several  years'  experience  has  proved 
to  us  that  It  Is  a  very  poor  economy  to  fruit  the 


62 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[April. 


plants  the  first  season,  and  that  the  plants  grow 
beti  er  and  pay  larger  profits  the  two  or  three  suc- 
ceeding seasons  when  the  fruit  is  all  removed  during 
the  first  season's  growth.  This  is  based  on  sound 
principles,  for  all  plants,  when  removed  from  the 
original  bed  to  new  plats,  necessarily  receive  more  or 
less  of  a  check,  and  they  will  more  readily  overcome 
this  when  they  do  not  have  their  energies  diffused  by 
attempting  to  perfect  the  fruit  which  was  started  in 
the  beds  in  which  they  were  grown. 

By  planting  in  the  spring  you  destroy  many  weeds 
by  thoroughly  preparing  the  soil  then,  while  the 
plants  have  the  great  advantage  of  getting  a  full 
season's  growth  in  loose,  mellow  soil,  which  is  not 
the  case  with  fall  planting,  for  the  winter  packs 
down  and  hardens  the  soil. 


An  Experiment  in  Planting. 

Last  spring  one  of  my  neighbors  concluded  to  try 
an  experiment  in  planting  corn  and  potatoes,  which 
he  conducted  as  follows  :  He  prepared  the  ground  in 
the  usual  manner  and  marked  rows  each  way,  rather 
closer  than  usual  (about  three  feet  each  way). 
Then  commencing  on  one  side  of  the  piece  of  ground 
(an  acre  or  two),  he  planted  two  rows  of  Early  Rose 
potatoes,  then  two  rows  of  corn,  etc.,  alternating 
between  corn  and  potatoes. 

There  are  several  advantages  in  this  plan.  The 
potatoes  complete  their  growth  and  may  be  dug 
before  the  corn  occupies  the  ground  to  any  extent. 
Also,  the  corn  has  the  full  benefit  of  the  sun  and 
plenty  of  room,  while  the  slight  shade  which  the 
potatoes  receive  from  the  corn  when  they  are  nearly 
ripe,  is  rather  beneficial  than  injurious. 

The  potatoes  were  cultivated  and  hoed  the  same  as 
the  corn  and  were  not  hilled.  They  produced  an 
excellent  crop,  much  more  than  the  same  number  of 
hills  planted  in  the  usual  manner,  while  the  corn 
yielded  eighty  bushels  of  ears  to  each  acre  of 
ground  ;  but  as  only  one-half  the  space  should  be 
charged  to  the  corn,  it  really  produced  one  hundred 
and  sixty  bushels  to  each  acre  occupied.  Thus, 
from  each  acre  of  ground  he  obtained'eighty  bushels 
of  corn  of  the  very  best  quality,  and  a  good  crop  of 
potatoes,  the  exact  amount  of  which  I  was  unable  to 
learn.—  W.  W.  Farnsworth,  in  Practical  Farmer. 


Uncovering  Protected  Plants. 

Many  things  wliich  are  supposed  to  be  benefited  by 
being  protected  during  the  winter  suffer  by  being 
left  too  long  protected  at  this  season  of  the  year.  It 
is  more  than  likely  that  many  more  things  are  lost 
by  this  extension  of  time  to  a  protected  article  than 
ever  are  lost  by  utter  neglect  of  protection.  Many 
things  are  always  covered  which  really  need  none, 
and  these  are  often  lost  by  the  length  of  time  the 
covering  remains  on  them.  Strawberry  beds  are 
often  covered  with  a  deep  mass  of  decaying  matter 
when  they  would  have  been  just  as  well  off"  under 
the  naked  atmosphere. 

So  long  as  the  weather  remains  cold  there  is  no 
injury  from  this  litter,  as  it  is  termed  ;  but  with  a 
few  warm  days  the  rotten  mass  begins  to  ferment, 
1  decay  is  communicated  to  the  healthy  and 


and  1 


living  vegetation.  People  think  that  articles  once 
covered  are  very  tender,  and  that  the  slightest  cold 
will  injure  them  ;  but  if  a  thing  is  tolerably  hardy 
much  more  danger  will  accrue  from  warm  damp 
than  from  dry  cold. 

Those  things  which,  like  raspberries,  have  been 
buried  beneath  the  earth,  will  not  suH'er  so  much  as 
those  covered  by  decaying  vegetable  material ;  but 
yet  these  sliould  not  be  taken  out  of  the  ground  be- 
fore the  first  of  April,  unless  the  sprouting  should 
be  going  on  for  sometime. 

Mulching. 
This  subject  enlisted  consideration  at  the  late 
Fruit-Growers'  meeting.  There  appeared  to  be  no 
division  of  sentiment  as  to  advisability,  though  we 
know  that  all  persons  do  not  favor  it.  For  ourselves 
we  have  resorted  to  it  as  long  as  we  have  a  garden, 
and  are  sure  that  there  is  great  benefit  in  it.  Putting 
grass,  manure,  weeds,  sawdust,  or  pliable  rubbish  of 
almost  any  kind  around  a  newly-planted  tree,  secures 
a  prolonged  moisture  and  more  uniformity  of  tem- 
perature. But  this  mulching  should  be  removed 
every  three  or  four  weeks  and  the  soil  underneath 
well-stirred  and  fresh  mulching  applied.  This  way 
it  is  of  decided  benefit  and  will  save  the  life,  or  at 
least  secure  the  health  of  many  a  tree.  Mulching 
also  protects  the  growth  of  tomatoes,  egg-plants, 
beans,  etc.  With  regard  to  peas  it  should  be  applied 
thickly,  as  it  will  tend  to  cool  the  ground,  and  the 
higher  the  flavor  of  this  delicious  vegetable  will  be. 
Some  of  the  members  at  the  meeting  said  they  had 
mulched  acres  and  found  it  "  to  pay."  One  strongly 
recommended  seaweed  for  mulching,  but  as  every 
fruit-grower  couldn't  have  a  sea  near  him,  this  sug- 
gestion will  not  probably  be  adopted  by  agreatmany. 


Gooseberries  and  Currants. 

There  is  no  reason  why  both  these  very  useful  fruits 
should  not  be  found  abundantly  in  every  garden. 
They  are  no  trouble  to  raise.  They  grow  readily 
from  cuttings.    Take  the  wood  of  last  year  from  six 


to  ten  inches  in  length,  prepare  the  bed  or  place 
where  they  are  to  stand  permanently,  force  them  into 
the  ground  not  less  than  four  inches,  press  the  ground 
firmly  around  them,  mulch  them  and  let  them  alone. 
If  a  buxh  is  desired  let  the  buds  on  the  cutting  re- 
main ;  but  if  a  tree  or  a  single  stem  is  preferred, 
remove  all  the  buds  that  would  go  beneath  the  sur- 
face. Let  them  stand  about  three  feet  in  the  row, 
and  if  there  is  more  than  one  row  let  the  rows  he 
four  feet  apart. 

In  the  spring  the  dead  wood  of  both  the  goose- 
berries and  currants  should  be  cut  out,  and  the  new 
growth  should  be  thinned  where  there  are  too  many, 
as  it  will  interfere  with  the  product.  The  best  red 
currant  is  the  Dutch  ;  and  the  best  gooseberries  are 
Doxvning's  Prolific  and  Houghton's  Seedling.— (?er- 
mantowH  Telegraph. 

Sprouting  Potatoes. 

Sprouting  the  white  potato  will  advance  the  crop 
two  weeks.  They  should  be  cut  so  that  about  two 
eyes  are  allowed  to  each  piece,  and  these  should  be 
planted  in  hot-beds  with  very  thin  covering  of  toil ; 
or  it  is  better  to  plant  in  boxes  and  set  these  in  a 
hot-bed,  so  that  after  they  are  properly  sprouted 
they  can  be  at  once  carried  to  the  place  of  planting. 
If  the  nights  should  be  anyway  cold,  protect  with  a 
thin  covering  of  straw  when  the  plants  make  their 
appearance  above  the  ground.  Some  persons  who 
want  a  large  quantity  sprouted,  cut  the  potatoes  as 
desired,  and  spread  them  on  boards,  boxes  or  crates, 
in  a  dark  place,  and  when  sprouted,  say  from  an  inch 
to  an  inch  and  a  half,  expose  them  to  the  light, 
moistening  two  or  three  times  a  week  with  tepid 
water.  They  should  be  planted  out  so  that  there  is 
not  more  than  two  inches  of  soil  over  the  top  of  the 
sprouts. — Germaritown  Telegraph. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Some  Items  About  Sugar. 

On  an  average,  every  man,  woman  and  child  in 
the  United  States  consumes  each  year  about  30 
pounds  of  cane  sugar,  and  nearly  2  gallons  of  mo- 
lasses, Ijesides  maple  sugar,  honey  and  other 
sweets  ....  19  ths.  of  pure  cane  sugar  is  actually 
made  up  of,  and  can  be  changed  into,  8  lbs.  of  char- 
coal and  11  lbs.  of  water  !  Pure  white  starch  is  made 
up  of  8  lbs.  of  charcoal  (carbon)  and  10  lbs.  of 
water.  Any  boy  can  demonstrate  this  roughly  by 
putting  a  small  quantity  of  sugar  on  a  piece  of  thin 
iron  over  a  hot  lamp  or  coals,  and  hold  over  it  a 
glass  jar  bottom  up.  The  sugar  will  change  to  pure 
charcoal,  while  the  water  will  rise  up  and  condense 
on  the  inside  of  the  jar,  if  it  be  kept  cool,  and  he  will 
get  nothing  from  the  sugar  but  coal  and  water.  The 
chemist  can  easily  take  the  19  lbs.  of  sugar  and 
change  it  into  8  lbs.  of  charcoal  and  11  lbs.  of  pure 
water,  though  he  has  not  yet  learned  how  to  put  the 
coal  and  the  elements  of  the  water  together  to  pro- 
duce the  sugar.  That  requires  the  action  of  the 
living  plant  ....  Our  sugar  comes  mainly  from  the 
sugar  cane  grown  in  the  Southern  States  (most  from 
Louisiana),  and  from  the  West  India  Islands.  The 
canes  are  somewhat  like  corn-stalks,  but  larger, 
taller,  with  narrower  leaves.  The  sap  or  juice  of 
the  cane  is  pressed  out  between  iron  rollers,  then 
boiled  down  to  syrup,  which  crystallizes  Into  sugar 
grains  in  large  vats  ....  Most  of  the  sugar  used  in 
Europe  is  from  the  juice  of  the  sugar-beet.  It  is 
similar  to  our  cane  sugar  ....  The  raw  sugar  is  re- 
fined chiefly  in  Northern  cities,  by  dissolving  it, 
straining  it  through  cloth,  and  through  burned 
bones,  after  which  it  is  boiled  down  until  thick 
enough  to  crystallize  in  grains. — Amcr.  Agriculturist. 


Necessity  of  Sunlight. 
Instead  of  excluding  the  sunlight  from  our  houses, 
says  the  Manufacturer  and  Builder,  lest  it  fade  car- 
pets, draw  flies  and  bring  freckles,  we  should  open 
every  door  and  window  and  bid  it  enter.  It  brings 
life  and  health  and  joy  ;  there  is  healing  in  its  beams  ; 
it  drives  away  disease  and  dampness,  mold,  mer- 
grims.  Instead  of  doing  this,  however,  many  care- 
ful housewives  close  the  blinds,  draw  down  the 
shades,  lock  the  door,  shut  out  the  glorifying  rays 
and  rejoice  in  the  dim  and  musty  coolness  and  twi- 
light of  their  apartments.  It  is  pleasant  and  not 
unwholesome  during  the  glare  of  the  noontide  to 
subdue  the  light  and  exclude  the  air  quivering  with 
heat,  but  in  the  morning  and  in  the  evening  we  may 
freely  indulge  in  the  sun  bath  and  let  it  flood  all  our 
rooms,  and  if  at  its  very  fiercest  and  brightest  it  has 
full  entrance  to  our  sleeping  rooms,  so  much  the 
better  for  us.  Wire  netting  in  doors  and  windows 
exclude  not  flies  and  mosquitos  only,  but  all  other 
insects,  and  those  who  have  once  used  it  will  con- 
tinue to  do  so.  With  this  as  a  protection  from  in- 
trusive winged  creatures,  one  may  almost  dispense 
with  shades  and  shutters  and  enjoy  all  the  benefits 
of  an  open  house  without  any  annoyances  so  frequent 
in  warm  weather.  But  better  the  annoyances  with 
sunshine  than  freedom  without  it.  Statistics  of 
epidemics  have  shown  that  if  they  rage  in  any  part 
of  a  city  they  will  prevail  in  houses  which  are  ex- 


posed to  the  least  sunshine,  while  those  most  exposed 
to  it  will  not  be  at  all  or  slightly  aft'ected.  Even  in 
the  same  house  persons  occupying  rooms  exposed  to 
sunlight  will  be  healthier  than  those  occupying 
rooms  where  no  sunlight  enters. 

The  Hours  for  Children. 
"  An  excess  of  two  or  three  hours'  study  a  day  for 
all  children  under  twelve  years  of  age  is  absolute 
cruelty."  This  was  the  view  taken  by  Dr.  A.  C. 
Rembaugh,  in  an  address  on  Thursday  evening  be- 
fore the  Social  Science  Association.  "Two  or  three 
hours'  mental  work  daily  throughout  the  year  would 
be  far  better  than  the  present  system.  It  would 
reach  down  into  all  classes,  especially  those  for 
whom  the  public  schools  were  particularly  intended — 
the  unschooled  twenty  thousand  of  our  city,  and  the 
sixty  per  cent,  of  our  children  who  graduate  from 
our  primaries  and  secondaries.  Poor  parents  cannot 
afford  to  give  the  whole  time  of  their  children  to  the 
schools,  and  it  is  better  for  the  child's  morals  and 
future  usefulness  that  they  cannot.  Some  kind  of 
handicraft  should  be  begun  in  the  primary  school, 
and  should  follow  pupils  all  the  way  through,  as  it 
would  greatly  benefit  both  their  moral  and  physical 
culture,  and  make  them  more  useful  and  healthful. 
The  time  under  twelve  years  should  be  divided  thus, 
to  insure  future  health  and  usefulness  ;  Twelve  hours 
in  bed,  three  at  mental,  three  at  manual  work  and 
six  in  open  air  exci-cise  of  some  kind  or  other,  culti- 
vating the  soil  the  most  healthful  and  invigorating. 
Crowding  into  cities,  of  all,  and  especially  the  poor, 
should  be  discouraged.  Each  family  should  have  its 
own  plot  of  ground  for  the  exercise  and  work  of  the 
children." — Philadelphia  Record. 


How  to  Use  Coal. 


Replenish  a  coal  fire  as  soon  as  the  coals  begin  to 
show  ashes  on  the  surface  ;  then  put  merely  enough 
to  show  a  layer  of  black  coal  covering  the  red.  This 
will  soon  kindle,  and  as  there  is  not  much  of  it,  an 
excess  of  heat  will  be  given  out.  Many  persons  al- 
most put  out  the  fire  by  stirring  the  grate  as  soon 
as  fresh  coal  is  put  on,  thus  leaving  all  the  heat 
in  the  ashes  when  it  should  be  sent  to  the  new  sup- 
ply of  coal.  The  time  to  stir  the  fire  is  when  the  new 
coal  laid  on  is  pretty  well  kindled.  This  method 
saves  fuel,  gives  a  more  Buiform  heat,  and  prevents 
the  discomfort  of  alternations  of  heat  and  cold. 

Never  put  the  hands  into  butter.  There  is  no  ex- 
cuse for  so  doing,  and  every  sense  of  cleanliness  for- 
bids it.  Even  if  the  hands  are  clean,  still  as  the 
butter  absorbs  any  and  every  impurity  with  which  it 
comes  in  contact,  excessive  perspiration  of  the  hands, 
or  any  humor  of  the  blood  might  thus  be  imparted 
to  the  butter.  A  wooden  ladle  should  be  used  to  lift 
the  butter  from  the  churn,  or  turn  it  over  while  being 
washed. 


Household  Recipes. 


Sick  He-4Dache. — This  distressing  complaint  can 
generally  be  relieved  by  soaking  the  feet  in  very 
warm  water,  in  which  a  spoonful  of  powdered  mus- 
tard has  been  stirred.  Soak  as  long  as  possible,  or 
till  the  water  gets  cool ;  it  draws  the  blood  from  the 
head. 

FL.4NNEL  Cakes. — One  quart  of  flour,  two  eggs, 
one  and  one  half  pints  of  boiled  milk  (used  cold), 
two  teaspoonsful  of  salt,  three  tablespoonsful  of 
yeast  (added  after  the  other  ingredients  have  been 
mixed).  Beat  light  and  set  to  rise  till  morning; 
bake  on  a  griddle. 

Cup  Fruit  Cake. — One  cup  of  butter,  two  cups 
raisins  seeded  and  chopped  fine,  four  cups  fiour,  two 
cups  brown  sugar,  one  cup  sour  cream,  three  eggs 
well  beaten,  one  teaspoouful  of  soda,  one  of  cloves, 
four  of  cinnamon.  Bake  slowly  and  serve  hot  or 
cold  with  sauce. 

Cookies  for  the  Children. — One  cup  of  sugar, 
one  cup  sour  cream,  two  eggs,  one  teaspoon  soda, 
Graham  flour  or  fine  middlings  sufficient  to  roll  out. 
If  any  spice  is  wanted  ginger  is  best — one  teaspoon- 
ful.  If  cream  is  not  to  be  had,  one  cup  of  butter 
and  one  of  sour  milk. 

Queen  Biscuits. — Rub  four  ounces  of  butter  into 
eight  ounces  of  flour  and  six  ounces  of  lump  sugar, 
the  yelks  of  two  eggs,  the  white  of  one  and  a  table- 
spoonful  of  brandy ;  roll  the  paste  thin  and  cut  with 
a  tin  cutter ;  egg  over  top  of  each  with  remaining 
white,  and  sift  on  white  sugar;  bake  in  a  warm  oven. 

Boston  Meat  Pie. — Take  cold  roast  beef,  or 
deed  roast  meat  of  any  kind,  slice  it  thin,  cut  rather 
small,  and  lay  it  with  gravy,  sufficiently  salted  and 
peppered,  in  a  meat  pie  dish.  Over  the  meat  pour  a 
couple  of  sliced  tomatoes  and  a  thick  layer  of  mashed 
potatoes.  Bake  slowly,  and  you  have  a  fine  meat  pie. 

Cranberry  Rolls.— Stew  one  quart  of  cranber- 
ries in  sufficient  water  to  keep  them  from  browning. 
Make  very  sweet,  strain  and  cool.  Make  a  nice  paste, 
and,  when  the  cranberries  are  cool,  spread  them  on  ' 
the  paste  an  inch  thick.  Roll  it,  tie  close  in  a  flannel  \ 
cloth,  boil  two  hours,  and  serve  with  sweet  sauce. 


1879. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


63 


Burns  and  Scalds.— Thu  very  beet  tiling  to  lie 
doue  when  anyone  has  received  a  burn  or  scald,  Is  to 
lay  on  the  part  that  is  injured  a  thick  coating  of  cot- 
ton, wool  or  wadding,  so  as  to  completely  exclude 
the  air.  IT  the  above  wool  happens  not  to  be  at 
hand,  scraped  potato  or  turnip  will  ease  the  pain. 

Remedy  for  Hoarseness.— Horseradish  will 
afford  instantaneous  relief  in  most  obstinate  cases  of 
hoarseness.  The  root,  of  course,  possesses  the  most 
virtue,  though  the  leaves  are  good  till  they  dry,  when 
they  lose  their  strength.  The  root  is  beat  when  it  is 
green.  The  person  who  will  use  it  freely  just  before 
beginning  to  speak  will  not  be  troubled  with  hoarse- 
ness. 

Eoos  IN  Case  of  Trouble.— The  white  of  an  egg 
Is  said  to  be  specific  for  flsh  bones  sticking  in  the 
throat.  It  is  to  be  swallowed  raw,  and  will  carry 
down  a  bone  easily  and  certainly.  There  Is  another 
fact  touching  eggs  which  it  will  be  well  to  remem- 
ber. When,  as~ sometimes  occurs  by  accident,  «or- 
rosive  sublimate  is  swallowed,  the  white  of  one  or 
two  eggs  taken  will  neutralize  the  poison  and  change 
the  cflect  to  that  of  a  dose  of  calomel. 

Potato  Fancy.— Mash  one  quart  ol  hot  boiled 
potatoes  through  a  tine  colander  with  a  potato 
masher;  mix  with  them  one  ounce  of  liutter,  one 
scant  teaspoonful  of  salt,  half  tcaspoonful  of  white 
pepper,  a  pinch  of  grated  nutmeg,  and  the  yolk  of 
two  raw  eggs  ;  pourthe  potato  out  on  a  plate,  and 
then  form  it  with  a  knife  into  small  cakes  two  inches 
long  and  one  wide,  lay  them  on  the  buttered  tin, 
brush  them  over  the  top  with  an  egg  beaten  up  with 
a  teaspoonful  of  cold  water,  and  color  them  golden 
brown  in  a  moderate  oven. 

Oatmeal  Cakes.— Into  a  quart  of  cold  water  stir 
oatmeal  enough  to  make  it  about  as  thick  as  hasty 
pudding.  Be  sure  that  the  meal  is  sprinkled  in 
slowly,  and  that  the  stirring  is  so  active  that  the 
mush  will  have  no  lumps  in  it.  Now  put  it  on  the 
buttered  pan,  where  it  can  be  spread  out  to  half  the 
thickness  of  a  common  cracker,  and  smooth  it  down 
with  a  case-knife.  Run  a  sharp  knife  across  it,  so  as 
to  divide  it.into  the  sized  pieces  you  wish,  and  then 
place  it  in  a  warm  oven  and  bake  slowly,  being 
careful  not  to  brown  it. 

Preservation  of  Fuks.—"  Jennie,"  of  German- 
town,  says  :  "  As  this  is  the  season  when  we  put 
away  our  winter  furs,  I  will  mention  how  I  preserve 
mine  entirely  from  the  attacks  of  the  moth.  I  first 
hang  them  out  in  the  sun  for  a  day  or  two,  then 
give  them  a  good  beating  and  shaking  up  to  be  sure 
no  moth  is  in  them  already.  I  then  wrap  up  a  lump 
of  camphor  in  a  rag  and  place  in  each  ;  then  wrap 
up  each  in  a  sound  newspaper  and  paste  together  so 
that  there  Is  no  hole  or  crevice  through  which  a 
moth  can  gain  entrance— and  my  furs  are  perfectly 
safe.  You  will  say  that  there  is  no  secret  in  this, 
and  there  Is  none.  Every  lady  can  taKe  care  of  her 
own  furs,  if  it  is  not  too  hard  work  for  her,  without 
sending  them  to  the  furriers,  as  many  do." 


very  little  Interested  In  her  possession  of  "solid 
color,"  if  she  is  a  Jersey  ;  he  is  vastly  more  inter- 
ested In  her  "  solid  "  and  high-colored  butter.  The 
cow  that  produces  1,000  His.  of  cheese  Is  beautiful 
and  altogether  lovely  iu  the  eyes  of  a  patron  of  a 
cheese  factory,  and  he  wants  just  as  many  more  like 
her  as  he  cau  get. 

A  pedigree  ought  to  represent  achievements,  not 
merely  names.  We  second,  most  heartily,  a  "test 
record  for  dairy  cows,"  and  trust  that  none  of  our 
pure-blood  dairy  stock  breeders  will  hereafter  con- 
sider a  cow's  pedigree  complete  without  a  record  of 
her  production.  In  the  light  of  a  milk,  butter  and 
cheese  record,  the  herd  books  would  have  a  new  and 
most  valuable  feature. — /.Ire  Stock  Journal. 


Live  Stock. 


Full-Blood— Pure- Blood— Thoroughbred. 

Again  and  again  we  have  brcn  called  upon  to 
answer  the  question  :  "  What  Is  the  dlll'erencc,  If 
any,  between  full-blood,  pure  blood,  and  thorough- 
bred, as  applied  to  live  stock  1"  and  as  often  we  have 
answered,  there  Is  really  no  dilVcrence.  All  these 
terms  are  used  to  denote  purity  of  blood.  W^hen 
applied  to  horses,  the  term  thoroughbred,  by  com- 
mon consent,  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  the  name 
of  a  particular  breed — the  English  race-horse — and 
when  we  speak  of  a  thoroughbred  horse  It  Is  under- 
8too<l  that  we  refer  to  a  purely-bred  animal  of  that 
particular  breed.  There  are,  perhaps,  purely-bred, 
or  well-bred,  or  full-blood  Clydesdales,  English  draft 
horses,  Percheron-Normans,  Shetland  Ponies,  etc., 
but  we  never  speak  of  them  as  thoroughbreds.  In 
speaking  of  the  various  breeds  of  cattle  we  may  say, 
a  full-blood  Short-horn,  a  purely-bred  Short-horn, 
or  a  thoroughbred  Short-horn,  all  meaning  one  and 
the  same  thing ;  and  so  of  all  the  other  breeds  of 
cattle,  sheep  and  swine.  In  some  localities  an  arbi- 
trary distinction  has  been  recognized  between 
thoroughbreds  and  full  bloods.  Thus,  an  animal 
showing  a  given  number  of  crosses  of  a  certain  breed 
is  classed  as  a  full-blood,  although  it  cannot  be 
recognized  as  a  thoroughbred.  But  such  distinctions 
are  merely  local,  and  are  not  generally  recognized 
by  breeders. — Live  Stock  JvurnaL 


usually  about  12  to  15  inches  high.  The  bloom  Is  of 
a  light  pink  color.  It  Is  also  a  fine  fertilizer  for 
land,  well  a<lapted  to  damp  ground.  It  can  be  sown 
with  wheat  or  oats.  In  early  spring.  I  had  twcntv 
acres  sowed  two  years  ago,  which  has  more  than 
paid  me  back  the  costof  seed,  .50cent»  per  pound.  I 
now  have  a  piece  of  wheat,  on  which  I  shall  sow  In 
the  spring,  at  the  rate  of  four  pounds  of  seed  to  the 
acre.  I  say  sow  Alsike  for  your  bees.—./.  M.  II.,  in 
Bee-Keepcr»'  Ouiik. 


Apiary. 


Test  Record  for  Dairy  Cows. 

It  seems  lately  to  have  occurred  to  breeders  ol 
dairy  stock  claiming  special  adaptation  to  the  pro- 
duction of  milk,  butter,  or  cheese,  and  increased 
value  for  purity  of  blood— it  has  just  occurred  to 
them  that  there  might  be  one  more  important  item 
attached  to  the  pedigree  of  a  Jersey,  Ayrshire,  Hol- 
stein  or  other  cow  devoted  expressly  to  the  dairy, 
and  that  test  is  her  actual  production  of  milk,  butter 
or  cheese.  To  all  the  rest  of  the  world  this  has  long 
appeared  as  the  most  important  item  in  the  pedi- 
gree, yet  it  has  never  been  given.  Purity  of  blood 
has  been  regarded  as  of  more  importance  than  per- 
formance— about  as  rational  as  it  would  be  at  a  con- 
test of  speed  between  horses  to  decide  it  by  the  pedi- 
gree. The  pedigree  has  a  value  only  as  indicating 
probable  performance ;  but  as  in  the  case  of  the 
trotting  horse,  let  us  have  the  performance  first,  and 
then  we  shall  be  interested  in  the  pedigree.  This  is 
a  time  when  everybody  feels  like  probing  everything 
to  the  bottom,  to  see  what  it  is  made  of  and  not  what 
it  calls  itself. 

This  test  record  for  cows  Is  the  most  important 
thing  suggested  to  dairy  stock  breeders  for  many 
years.  It  is  bringing  the  pedigree  to  the  only  prac- 
tical test  that  can  be  made.  "  Like  produces  like," 
but  what  is  the  "like"  that  is  to  be  produced? 
Color,  form  and  size  are  only  accessories.  The  main 
thing  to  first  ascertain  as  to  the  quality  of  a  dairy 
cow  is,  how  much  milk  does  she  give  in  a  ycari 
How  many  pounds  of  butter  will  this  milk  make? 
How  many  pounds  of  cheese  i  and  what  is  the  quality 
of  the  product  ?  A  cow  that  gives  10,000  lbs.  of  milk 
is  extremely  satisfactory  to  a  milkman,  and  he 
wants  to  know  her  pedigree  that  he  may  assure 
himself  that  the  purity  of  her  blood  will  give  her  the 
power  of  "  reproducing  her  like."  The  cow  that 
makes  350  or  more  pounds  of  butter,  of  good  quality, 
"  takes  the  eye  "  of  the  butter  dairyman,  and  he  Is 
all  attention  to  learn  how  many  such  she  counts  in 
her  line,  and  her  age,  that  he  may  figure  the  number 
like  herself  that  she  may  leave  behind  her,    Ue  is 


Honey. 

A  correspondent  writes  to  the  Pacific  Rural  Press 
as  follows,  and  it  would  be  well  if  bee-keepers  would 
adopt  some  of  his  general  recommendations,  and  it 
would  be  to  the  interest  of  all  if  dealers  would.  He 
says  :  "  While  the  bee-keepers  of  California  are  just 
on  the  eve  of  making  their  purchases  of  lumber  and 
getting  ready  to  make  hives  for  the  increase  of  the 
coming  season,  they  are  greeted  with  the  ueAS  from 
their  representative  in  New  York  that  'there  is 
nothing  to  be  done  in  honey  here  at  this  time,  as 
there  has  been  so  much  adulteration  in  this  article 
that  buyers  are  alarmed-'  And  from  our  English 
correspondent  come  gloomy  reports  of  a  small  lot  of 
California  honey  having  been  olfered  at  auction  on 
two  different  occasions  without  being  sold.  Then 
comes  another,  that  a  large  shipment  of  California 
honey  from  New  York  by  a  large  dealer  there,  and 
that  the  custom  authorities  had  sized  and  destroyed 
it,  in  accordance  with  English  laws,  on  account  of 
its  being  largely  adulterated  with  glucose.  I,  as  a 
producer,  will  venture  to  o8er  a  suggestion  or  two  to 
those  educated  blockheads,  that  may  be  of  service 
to  them  in  the  future  if  they  will  act  on  the  sugges- 
tion. If  you  have  cause  to  suspect  adulteration  in 
honey  with  glucose  proceed  as  follows  ;  Take  a  quan- 
tity of  honey  and  add  one  part  water,  dissolving  the 
honey  thoroughly  by  stirring.  Then  add  alcohol  of 
80°  until  a  turbidness  is  formed  which  does  not  dis- 
appear on  shaking.  If  glucose  syrup  is  present  in 
the  honey  soon  a  heavy  deposit  of  a  gummy,  milky 
mass  will  form,  while  with  pure  honey  there  will  be 
only  a  very  slight  milky  appearance  observed.  This 
test  is  so  simple,  and  at  the  same  time  so  true,  that 
any  dealer  who  fails  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
simplest  test  used  for  detecting  frauds  in  the  article 
in  which  he  deals  is  unworthy  of  the  calling  he  hag 
accepted."  

Pasturage  for  Bees. 

It  is  now  the  proper  time  for  all  who  contemplate 
keeping  bees  to  think  something  about  preparing 
pasture  for  them,  as  it  is  just  as  essential  that  they 
should  be  cared  for  as  any  other  farm  stock.  Yet  I 
hear  much  of  failure  iu  bee-keeping  from  others. 
When  we  think  of  how  little  preparation  is  made  to 
help  the  industrious  workers,  it  Is  no  wonder  that 
there  are  so  many  complaints  coming  up  of  failure. 
Let  me  advise  all  who  may  be  in  any  ways  interested, 
to  procure  at  least  four  pounds  of  Alsike  clover  seed, 
and  sow  one  acre  of  ground.  This  will  supply  at 
least  twenty  stands  of  bees.  It  yields  the  finest 
flavored  honey  I  have  ever  tasted,  and  will  sell  for 
more  per  pound  than  any  other  honey  for  family  use. 
This  Is  not  all  that  the  clover  is  good  for.  ll  is  also 
a  very  valuable  pasture  for  cattle,  sheep,  horses  and 
hogs  ;  also,  it  produces  fine  hay  that  is  not  so  woody 
and  coarse  as  red  clover,  but  of  a  fine  stem,  and 


How  to  Fasten  Comb  Foundation  in  Brood 
Frames. 
Cut  the  foundation  into  pieces  twelve  inches 
square.  Then  cut  the  squares  diagonally,  making 
four  triangular  pieces  out  of  each  square.  Remove 
the  comb  guide  and  Insert  the  twelve  Inch  side  of 
one  of  th£  triangular  pieces  In  the  groove  In  the  top 
bar,  fastening  by  means  of  a  pencil  brush  dipped 
into  hot  wax  and  drawn  along  the  edge  of  the 
foundation.  If  the  frames  are  to  be  filled  entirely,  a 
strip  of  wood  grooved  on  th»  under  side,  same  as  the 
top  bar,  should  be  fixed  horizontally  in  the  frame, 
dividing  it  into  two  equal  parts.  The  foundation 
should  be  cut  5'^.ixll  inches,  a  piece  of  which  should 
be  attached  to  the  top  bar,  another  to  the  center 
strip,  fastening  In  the  same  manner  as  the  triangular 
pieces.  If  the  bars  that  hold  the  strip  across  the 
frames  are  not  driven  closely,  they  may  he  easily 
withdrawn,  and  the  strip  removed  as  soon  as  the 
comb  is  made  fast  to  the  sides  of  the  frames.  In  a 
few  days  the  space  will  be  filled,  making  a  perfect 
comb.  This  Is  a  practical,  safe  way  to  use  founda- 
tion in  frames  twelve  inches  deep,  "it  does  not  sag^ 
or  bulge.  In  shallow  frames  no  centre  strip  Is 
needed. 

Glucose. 

The  following  is  taken  from  the  Scientific  Ameri- 
can, a  part  of  an  article  on  food  adulteration,  and  If 
the  following  statements  are  true  we  can  see  no  good 
reason  why  glucose  is  not  a  valuable   food  for  bees: 

He  never  found  granular  or  block  sugar  adulter- 
ated. In  exceptional  cases  glucose  has  been  worked 
up  with  cheap  sugar,  but  glucose  is  not  injurious.  It 
Is  less  sweet  than  cane  sugar,  but  has  almost  the 
same  food  value.  Glucose  comprises  about  80  per 
cent,  of  honey,  and  about  fiO  per  cent,  of  dried  figs. 
It  Is  the  substance  into  which,  in  the  body,  all  starchy 
or  sacchrine  food  must  be  first  converted  before  it 
can  be  assimilated.  Bread  and  cane  sugar,  when 
taken  into  the  body,  are  very  rapidly  changed  into 
glucose.  In  molasses  the  absence  of  foreign  sub- 
stances is  almost  the  universal  rule.  The  cheaper 
grades  of  syrups  are  sometimes  mixed  with  glucose. 


Poultry. 


Caponized  Fowls. 
In  Boston  markets,  capons  are  not  so  frequently 
fouud  as  in  either  New  York  or  Philadelphia.  In  the 
latter  city  tliey  are  very  popular,  and  command  the 
highest  price  over  all  kinds  of  dressed  poultry.  For 
many  years  these  desirable  birds  have  been  a  staple 
product  in  Pennsylvania.  Formerly  they  were  made 
from  the  young  male  birds  of  the  "  Bucks  county 
species" — a  large  bird  well  known  In  that  region — 
but  a  coarse-meated  fowl  in  any  shape  except  as 
capons.  At  the  present  time,  and  in  late  years,  the 
Cochins  and  Brahmas  have  been  used  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  these  have  proved  a  most  excellent  substi- 
tute for  the  old-fashioned  variety  mentioned.  With 
such  large  numbers  of  young  cockerels  as  are  now 
raised  in  New  England,  annually,  there  is  no  good 
reason  why  our  farmers  and  iwultercrs  should  not 
avail  themselves  of  the  profit  attainable  In  supplying 
these  fowls  for  our  home  markets.  At  the  hotels  In 
any  of  our  Atlantic  cities  they  are  always  desirable; 
and  the  surplus  male  bird,  of  any  man's  yards  where 
a  respectably  sized  flock  of  poultry  is  reared,  will 
every  year  furnish  the  breeder  with  many  fowls  that 
can  be  turned  into  capons  to  great  advantage.  We 
suggest  this  experiment  to  those  interested.  The 
"art"  of  caponizing  young  cocks  is  easily  acquired; 
and,  when  once  understood,  it  may  be  made  a  very 
profitable  method  for  disposing  of  prime  poultry 
roasters,  about  holiday  time.  In  early  winter. —  Town 
and  Country. 

Chicken  Cholera. 
The  proceedings  of  the  Agricultural  Society  of 
Lancaster  county,  published  a  day  or  two  ago  in  your 
paper,  are  almost  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  kin- 
dred societies  that  have  for  the  last  ten  years  dis- 
cussed this  chicken  cholera  question.     All  have  vari- 
ous cures  to  ofl'er,  but  not  enough  is  said  about  the 
cause   and   the   preventive.     Within   the   last  seven 
years  all  around  us  have  lost  flocks  of  chickens  by 
cholera,  and  had  they  neglected  their  own  household 
as  thoroughly  few  inmates  would  have  long  survived. 
t  We  have  educated  the  chicken  to  lodge  In  houses  ;  It 
;  Isourduty  to  make  him  comfortable  there,  not  poison 
him.  About  the  construction  of  the  house  it  matters 
I  little  ;  the  entrance  should  face  south  and  be  inclosed 
I  with  lattice  work,  to  admit  plenty  of  fresh  air  and 


64 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  April,  1879. 


not  expose  the  birds  to  cold  draughts  ;  but  the  all- 
important  condition  is  to  keep  the  chicken  bedroom 
tli^roughly  clean.  Every  week  let  the  droppings, 
wherever  found,  on  the  floor,  or  the  shelves,  front  of 
the  nests,  or  in  the  nests,  be  scraped  up  and  removed, 
and  then,  with  ground  plaster  or  dust  sprinkle  the 
places  so  cleaned,  not  with  lime,  as  many  do,  for 
that  liberates  the  ammonia  and  brings  out  an  un- 
healthy smell,  but  with  plaster,that  absorbs  the  am- 
monia, locks  it  up  and  keeps  down  unhealthy,  offen- 
sive smells.  See  that  you  have  at  the  door  every 
morning,  before  the  chickens  come  out,  fresh  water, 
for  many  will  go  immediately  and  take  large  drinks 
of  it.  Many  places  have  we  visited  where  cholera 
broke  out,  and  too  often  the  above  conditions  h.id 
been  omitted.  In  some  cases  the  droppings  had  not 
been  removed  for  weeks,and  water  was|uever  seen  near 
the  chicken  house.  A  pump  or  creek  was  noTfar  oft', 
and  if  fowls  could  not  go  there  it  was  their  fault  if 
they  got  sick.  In  most  cases  tliey  got  to  the 
barnyard  first  and  slaked  their  thirst  on  manure 
water.  In  plain  English,  how  long  would  the  human 
family  survive  if  they  slept  for  months  in  near  prox- 
imity to  their  own  excrement,  or  drank  water 
poisoned  with  cow  and  horse  dung»  Cholera,  fever- 
yes,  the  plague— would  soon  make  every  farmhouse 
as  silent  and  as  tenantless  as  some  of  the  chicken- 
houses  get  to  be. — rhiladelp/iia  Record. 


Nest  for  Sitters. 

All  sorts  of  contrivances  are  resorted  to  by  experi- 
menters, to  render  what  they  'consider  their  sitting- 
nests  for  hens  the  most  comfortable,  convenient,  and 
best  adapted  to  the  purpose.  The  simplest  and  the 
most  natural  plan  in  our  experience,  is  to  rest  the 
sitters  upon  the  ground — whenever  this  method  is 
practicable.  A  slight  hollow  in  the  hen-house  cor- 
ner, upon  the  earth-floor,  is  a  good  place  to  set  a 
hen  in.  Fill  this  spot  with  soft  hay,  and  place  the 
hen  upon  nine  or  eleven  eggs,  and  if  she  is  undis- 
turbed duriug-.he  three  weeks  of  her  confinement, 
there,  she  will  generally  do  well  with  fertile  eggs. 
If  the  nests  are  made  in  boxes,  the  bottom  should  be 
covered  with  a  fresh  cut  gi'ass-sod,  or  with  two 
inches  of  damp  earth,  upon  which  straw  or  hay 
should  be  scattered  before  the  eggs  are  set  on.  This 
box  should  be  thoroughly  dean  at  the  start,  and  the 
hen  may  well  be  dusted  (through  the  under-feathers 
of  breast  and  flanks,)  with  powdered  sulphur  or 
carbolic  power,  to  keep  her  free  from  lice  while  sit- 
ting. This  precaution  will  keep  her  steady  to  her 
work,  and  render  her  condition  much  more  comfort- 
able during  the  three  weeks  occupied  in  incubation  .— 
Town  and  Country. 


Eggs  from  Different  Breeds. 

A  corresponnent  of  the  Ohio  Fanner  says:  "After 
repeated  experiments  with  the  difl'erent  varieties  of 
fowls,  and  comparisons  with  others  who  have  ex- 
perimented in  the  same  direction,  I  have  concluded 
that  tlie  layiuj  capacities  of  tlie  principal  varieties 
are  about  as  follows  : 

Light  Brahmas  and  Partridge  Cochins— eggs,  7  to 
the  pound  ;  lay  1:30  per  annum. 

Dark  Brahmas— 8  to  the  pound  ;  120  per  annum. 

Black,  White  and  Bufi'  Cochins— 8  to  the  pound  ; 
12.5  per  annum. 

Plymouth  Rocks- 8  to  the  pound  ;  1.50  per  annum. 

Houdaus- S  to  the  pound  ;  150  per  annum. 

La  Fleche— 7  to  the  pound  ;  130  per  annum. 

Black  Spanish— 7  to  the  pound  ;  140  per  annum. 

Lcuhorus- 9  to  the  pound  ;  KiO  per  annum. 

Hamburgs— 9  to  the  pound  ;  150  per  annum. 

Polish— 9  to  the  pound  ;  I'Jo  per  annum. 

Bantam — 10  to  the  pound  ;  90  per  annum. 

Fowls  Eating  Feathers. 
Confinement  and  want  of  occupation  are  among 
the  chief  causes  why  fowls  eat  feathers.  The  former 
is  often  inevitable  in  winter,  but  the  latter  can  be 
avoided  by  burying  some  of  their  grain  food  in  sand 
and  allow'ing  them  to  hunt  for  it,  which  will  afford 
them  pastime  and  healthy  occupation.  Give  them 
some  green  food,  fresh  meat  two  or  three  times  a 
week,  burnt  bones,  oyster  shells,  charcoal,  clean 
water  and  a  clean  hennery,  and  if  all  this  doesn't 
cure  them  of  the  habit,  follow  Lewis's  advice  and 
wring  their  necks,  for  they  are  incurable. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


Agriculture.— Speech  of  Hon.  A.  S.  Paddock, 
of  Nebraska,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
Monday,  February  10th,  1879,  on  the  resolution 
oftered  by  Mr.  Davis,  of  West  Virginia,  instructing 
the  Committee  on  Agriculture  to  consider  and  report 
on  what  ought  to  be  done  by  the  General  Government 
to  foster  agriculture.  19  pp.,  8vo.  Good.  "Hope 
something  may  come  of  it." 

The  Farmer's  Magazine  and  Patron's 
GciDE.— The  March  number  of  the  first  volume  of 
this  journal  has  reached  our  table.  It  is  a  sixteen 
page  quarto,  well  gotten  up  both  in  mechanical 
execution  and  literary  merit,  embracing  a  somewhat 
wider  scope  than  mere  agriculture  and  domestic 
economy.      With  our   experience   in  this    field  of 


journalism  we  sincerely  wish  that  so  able  an  effort 
may  find  a  very  large  vacancy  to  fill.  Published 
monthly  by  Faulkner  &  Wood,  No.  17  North 
Tenth  street,  Philadelphia,  at  $1.00  a  year.  Of 
course,  as  its  title  in  part  implies,  it  is  in  the  interest, 
specially,  of  the  "  Patrons  of  Husbandry,"  but  is 
not  exclusive. 

Hiram  E.  Lutz,  manufacturer  of  Philadelphia 
poudrette.  Factory  Thirty-first  street  and  Gray's 
Ferry  road  ;  office  1136  Market  street.  Price,  ?25.00 
per  ton.  His  motto  is,  "  Feed  the  land  and  il  will 
feed  you ;"  and  he  invites  the  attention  of  farmers 
and  truckers  to  a  series  of  facts  contained  in  his  8vo. 
pamphlet  of  20  pages,  in  which  he  fully  describes 
the  quantity  and  mode  of  application  to  corn,  pota- 
toes, wh«at,  rye,  buckwheat,  oats,  peas,  beans,  car- 
rots, onions,  melons,  squashes,  grass,  turnips,  cot- 
ton, tobacco,  &.C.,  &c.  If  it  was  not  (or  pondrette  the 
Chinese  nation  would  soon  starve,  but  by  means  of 
this  fertilizer  they  feed  the  latid  ajtd  it  feeds  them. 

Thurber's  Bee-Keeper's  Almanac  and  Refer- 
ence Book  for  1879.  H.K.  &F.  B.  Thurber  &  Co., 
West  Broadway,  Reade  &  Hudson  streets.  New  Tork. 
This  is  a  royal  octavo  pamphlet  of  62  closely  printed 
pages,  with  paper  covers,  containing  not  only  a 
"calender  of  monthly  management,"  and  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  last  "National  Convention  of  the 
Bee-Keepers'  Association,"  but  also  a  large  amount 
of  other  matter,  descriptive,  historical  and  statisti- 
cal, relating  to  bees,  bee-keeping,  bee  supplies,  ex- 
ports and  imports,  and  apiarian  productions,  and 
general  intelligence  on  this  subject.  As  this  work  is 
published  for  gratuitous  distribution  all  who  are  in- 
terested in  apiculture  may  obtain  a  copy  by  merely 
asking  for  it.  One  of  its  special  merits  is,  that  its 
statistical  statements  are  authentic,  being  extracts 
from  official  documents  in  the  bureaa  of  statistics  at 
Washington,  and  attested  by  the  chief's  of  bureaus. 
To  our  apprehension  it  sheds  a  practical  light  on  bee 
culture  that  no  progressive  apiarist  can  afford  to  de- 
prive himself  of  without  jeopardy  to  his  pecuniary 
success. 

Frances  Dunham's  circular  of  apiarian  supplies 
for  1879,  Depere,  Brown  county.  Wis.  This  is  an 
8vo.  pamphlet  of  8  pp.  in  paper  covers,  illustrating 
various  styles  of  hives,  implements  and  machinery 
used  in  bee-keeping,  with  practical  instruction  on 
the  subject.  Accompanying  this  pamphlet  were  two 
small  sections  of  the  artificial  comb  foundation, 
made  of  beeswax,  which  in  their  structure  are  very 
perfect,  vieing  in  execution  with  nature  itself.  What 
ought  to  commend  this  pamphlet,  and  the  good  in- 
tended to  be  accomplished  by  it,  is  the  fa«t  that  the 
author  and  proprietor  of  the  works  is  a  lady.  The 
report  of  the  Northeastern  Bee-Keepers'  Association 
of  Wisconsin,  says  ;  "  Mrs.  Fannie  Dunham  exhi- 
bited a  specimen  of  comb  foundation,  made  on  a 
machine  of  her  own  invention,  the  peculiarity  of 
which  consists  in  making  the  base  of  the  cells  very 
thin,  and  using  more  wax  in  the  sides  of  the  cell ; 
also,  making  the  face  of  the  foundation  compara- 
tively true  and  smooth,  instead  of  fallowing  the  in- 
dentations of  the  base."  We  commend  our  pro- 
gressive bee-keepers  to  the  implemental  inventions 
of  Mrs.  D.,  and  especially  to  send  for  a  copy  of  her 
late  circular,  believing  it  may  be  greatly  to  their 
material  advantage. 

Agriculture  of  Pennsylvania,  containing  the 
reports  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  the  State 
Agricultural  Society,  the  State  Dairymen's  Associa- 
tion, the  State  Fruit-Growers'  Association  and  the 
State  College  for  1878.  The  whole  forming  a  royal 
octavo  volume  of  625  pages,  with  33  full  page  plates, 
and  63  other  illustrations  distributed  througli  the 
letter  press;  besides,  a  large  chart  24x30  inches, 
with  one  hundred  figures,  illustrating  the  Guenon 
Classification  of  Escutcheons  of  male  and 
female  cattle  for  dairy  stock,  both  for  milking  and 
breeding.  The  whole  work  is  creditable  to  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  Pennsylvania,  but  really,  with- 
out making  an  invidious  comparison,  the  report  of 
what  is  known  by  the  "  State  Agricultural  Society," 
would  make  a  very  poor  show  if  it  were  not  sand- 
wiched in  between  the  State  Board  and  the  State 
Dairymen's  reports.  On  the  whole,  we  don't  know 
but  what  this  consolidating  these  reports  may  be  the 
best  and  cheapest  plan  for  bringing  them  out  and 
confining  them  within  proper  limits.  Barring  some 
unnecessary  details  in  the  State  Agricultural  report, 
we  consider  this  the  best  volume  on  agriculture  and 
stock  that  the  State  has  ever  published. 

A  DESCRIPTIVE  catalogue  of  Select  Roses,  offered 
for  sale  by  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Mount  Hope  Nur- 
series, Rochester,  New  Tork,  third  edition.  This  is 
an  octavo  of  32  pages,  with  a  superb  colored  illustra- 
tion of  the  celebrated  rose,  the  Duchess  of  Edin- 
BURG — a  crimson  Tea  Rose — and  is  No.  5  of  their 
series  of  catalogues  of  roses.  This  is  not  a  mere 
catalogue,  or  a  promiscuous  list  of  roses,  as  the 
name  would  seem  to  imply,  but  a  perfect  hand-book 
on  rose  culture,  giving  descriptions,  names,  modes  of 
culture,  when  to  plant,  what  to  plant,  pruning,  peg- 
ging down,  protection,  mildew,  insects  and  the  man- 
ner of  their  expulsion  or  destruction.  Also  advice  to 
correspondents,  prices  for  roses,  transportation  by 
mall  and  express,  together  with  a  most  admirably 
classified  and  arranged  list  of  species  »nd  yarieties, 


both  old  and  new.  The  two  grand  divisions:  1.  Sum- 
mer Roses.  2.  Perpetual,  or  Autumnal  Roses. 
After  which  follow  classes,  sections,  families,  genera, 
species  and  varieties,  giving  not  only  the  common  or 
proper  name,  and  the  technical  names,  but  short 
descriptions  of  each  variety;  giving  their  origin, 
their  colors,  and  many  other  matters  interesting  to  the 
amateur  rose  culturist,  besides  a  hundred  other  little 
matters  connected  ■s\  ith  this  beautiful  floral  subject. 
Ellwanger  &  Barry's  spring  list  of  plants  for 
1879,  including  green-house,  hot-house  and  bedding 
plants,  and  also  lists  of  prices  ;  20  pages  octavo,  in- 
cluding a  paper  read  before  the  Western  New  Tork 
Horticultural  Society,  on  "  The  best  hardy  roses  for 
general  cultivation,  and  how  to  grow  them,  by 
Henry  B.  Ellwanger."  This  catalogue  is  as  skill- 
fully classified  as' the  one  on  roses,  and  every  plant 
is  accompanied  with  instructive  and  explanatory  re- 
marks. 1\ie\\-  dollar  collections,  ^enihy  mail,  postage 
paid  by  them,  are  especially  worthy  the  attention  of 
amateurs.  Either  5  flowering  begonias,  8  chrys- 
antheniums,  8  coleus,  8  fuchsias,  8  zonal,  6  double, 
or  6  scented  geraniums,  8  heliotropes,  6  hardy 
phlox',  8  basket  plants,  12  verbenas,  5  salvias,  or  6 
violets  sent  for  one  dollar.  Ellwanger  &  Barry's  sui>- 
plementary  list  of  New  Fruits  for  1879,  including 
new  peaches,  new  pears,  new  seedling  grapes,  new 
strawberries,  &c.,  &c.,  is  also  worthy  the  attention 
of  fruit-growers.  When  we  wield  our  pen  against 
nurserial  tramps,  as  we  are  sometimes  compelled  to 
do  by  our  victimized  patrons,  be  it  known  that  we 
never  mean  Ellwanger  iC"  Barry.  Their  reputation 
is  too  dear  to  them  to  send  out  irresponsible  agents 
with  unreliable  stock. 

The  Diseases  of  Live  Stock,  and  their  most 
efficient  remedies,  including  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and 
swine.  Being  a  popular  treatise,  giving  in  brief  and 
plain  language  a  description  of  all  the  usual  diseases 
to  which  these  animals  are  liable,  and  the  most  suc- 
cessful treatment  of  American,  English  and  Euro- 
pean veterinarians ;  together  with  anatomical  and 
physiological  explanations,  alphabetical  and  classi- 
fied lists  of  the  drugs  used  in  veterinary  medicine 
and  their  doses,  a  large  collection  of  valuable  receipts 
and  formulas  for  condition  powders,  liniments, 
washes,  drenches,  &e.,&c.  By  Lloyd 'V.Tellor,  M.D. 
Published  by  H.  C.  Watts  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
In  addition  to  the  recitation  of  the  foregoing  title, 
which  is  an  epitome  of  the  work  itself,  we  may  be 
permitted  to  add,  that  this  is  an  excellently  executed 
volume  of  467  pages,  royal  octavo,  handsomely  bound 
in  muslin.  The  quality  of  the  paper  and  the  letter- 
press are  unexceptionable,  and  its  contents  such  as 
ought  to  commend  it  to  all  veterinary  surgeons,  stock- 
men, and  in  fact  to  any  one  permanently  possessing 
a  single  animal.  The  classification  and  general  ar- 
rangement are  admirable,  and  of  easy  and  intelligent 
consultation  ;  divided  into  four  parts,  as  follows  :  1st. 
General  principles  of  veterinary  medicines— five  chap- 
ters. 2nd.  Diseases  of  the  horse— eleven  chapters. 
3rd.  Diseases  of  cattle,  sheep  and  swine — intro- 
ductory remarks  and  six  chapters.  4th.  Hygiene 
and  medicine— three  chapters.  Including  a  number 
of  appropriate  illustrations,  and  a  copious  alphabeti- 
cal index.  In  short,  it  is  a  "ready-made  horse  and 
cattle  doctor,  at  your  service,  sir,"  and  the  greatest 
difficulty  involved  in  the  question  it  presents,  so  far 
as  we  are  able  to  judge,  is  how  any  stock  dealer 
and  owner  can  afford  to  be  without  it. 

The  Phrenological  Journal.— In  our  reading 
of  The  Phrenological  Journal  and  Science  of  Health 
for  April,  we  were  struck  by  the  general  tone  of  the 
magazine.  Its  aim  is  to  elevate,  and  it  is  pure  In 
character  iu  every  department,  while  entertainment 
and  instruction  are  skillfully  blended,  so  that  its 
matter  is  exceedingly  interesting  from  beginning  to 
end.  Indeed  the  Phrenological  Journal  is  a  capital 
illustration  of  what  can  be  accomplished  in  the  way 
of  making  science  pleasant  to  the  general  reader. 
The  first  sketch  is  that  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fair,  an 
Episcopal  divine  of  distinction  in  Baltimore.  Then 
comes  a  very  interesting  description  of  the  Chinese 
at  Home,  in  which  the  reader  finds  many  features 
that  are  entirely  new  to  him,  and  bearing  closely 
upon  the  special  work  of  the  Phrenological  Journal. 
The  installment  of  "Brain  and  Mind"  furnishes 
clear  and  definite  applications  of  the  science  to  the 
delineation  of  moral  qualities.  An  interesting  article 
is  that  of  " Poe  and  Rachel."  Elizabeth  Thompson, 
the  English  lady  who  has  suddenly  leaped  into  fame, 
occupies  a  place  in  this  number,  with  an  excellent 
portrait.  Our  young  people  will  certainly  be  inter- 
ested in  the  opening  chapters  of  "  Uncle  Jimmie,  the 
Cripple,"  a  short  serial  which  is  pleasantly  written. 
Real  Teachers  and  Real  Teaching,  ore  some  views 
of  a  veteran  pedagogue,  now  a  New  Tork  editor. 
The  great  work  of  Moral  Reform  is  represented  this 
time  by  Mr.  William  Noble,  of  England,  and  an  ap- 
preciative sketch  of  him  is  given,  with  a  portrait. 
Miss  Coleman  discourses  upon  the  "Diet  of  Man" 
in  her  usually  pleasant  and  careful  manner.  All  the 
departments  are  replete  with  amusement  and  Instruc- 
tion. Tlie  smaller  type  especially  abounds  in  valu- 
able hints  to  the  reader.  The  Journal  is  published 
now  at  ?2.00  a  year,  20  cents  a  number,  with  a  choice 
of  Premiums  to  each  subscriber.  Address  S.  R.  Well* 
ifc  Co.,  Publishers,  737  Broadway,  New  York. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


We  wonld  call  jjartUnilar  attention  to  the  advt'rtin-ment 
of  Baugb  k  Sous,  in  inothor  column  of  thlB  miml>er  of 
"The  Farmer."  Baogh  k  Hous  ire  a  reliable  flnu,  and  what 
they  saj  they  will  do. 

Wai.i,aci!'»  Mokthly.— The  April,  number  of  this  etor- 
liug  jieriodlcal  oi.eus  with  a  suporbly  illustrated  aud  hlffhly 
interestiug  article  upon  *^'  *"  '""  *  "" 

the  pen  of  the  editor.    Tt 


horse   in  America,  from 
_      „  _  la  an  eiceedinRly  well  written 

I  Breeding  Ponies  for  Profit,  by  •'Toiisidc"  a  well- 


known  Western  breeder;  also  another  on  Brce<liug  the  Park 
Horse,  by  Frank  B.  Kedfleld,  a  name  farailsr  to  all  horse- 
men. Mr.Uedfleid  further  contributes  his  opinion  regard- 
ing the  elTect  of  pool  selling  upon  the  trotting  horse  breed- 
ers' interest— an  article  which  can  be  read  with  profit.  The 
origin  of  Col,  I,ewiB,  by  his  owner;  Bomier's  Edwin  Forrost, 
Waahiuetou  CO.,  N.  T.,  horses,  »n*Bn  illustrated  wtlolenp. 
on  hornlesa  cattle,  by  L.  S.  Hardin,  form  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal topics  .liscusBed  in  the  Montiilv.  Publication  offlco, 
812  Broadway,  N.  Y.    T.rms,  $>.U()  i,er  y»r. 


Warrior  Mower  Compaij's  Speeialties. 


Till-,  ORtQIN.VI,   IMl'KOVKD 

Randall  Pulverizing;  Harroiv! 

Over  .tO.OOO  IX  VSK. 


Chilled  Iron  or  Steel  DiskH,  iV'nIer  .Juiiitei 
Stiffener  Bar.  Angle  of  (lauga  adjusted  by 
Instable  Scrapers.     The  most  coi  ■      •     • 


r.    Ad. 

^ .  ,  iurable  and  ef 

feotive  harrow 

tw- NEW  CORN  CULTIVATOR.  -« 

Most  efficient   and  Perfect    Implement  for  working  rowed 
crops.    Qives  mure  than  univereal  satisfaction. 

THE  UNRIVALED  WARRIOR  MOWER ! 

Ijightest   Draft.   Eafliest    Managed,    Most   Durable   Mower 
made.     OVF.K  4(1,090  IN  tlSE.     Challenges  competing  ma- 
chines for  any  work  or  endurance. 
SfSI)  FOlt  ClliCULAR    TO 

79-lm-4J  WAUKIOU  MOWER  CO.,  Little  Falls,  N.  ¥. 


NEW,  RARE  OR  CHOICE. 

To  rariiiers*  aiici  4Jar4leners. — r  ulTer  ilie  follow- 
ing NEW,  UAUE  on  EXTKA  CHOICE  Vigeliiblf  Seed, 
postage  paid  by  me. 

M»rMf4ieaU  Eariy  Sweet  Corn.— Decidedly  the 
earliest  of  all  varieties  of  sweet  corn.    Per  package  15  eta. 

K^yptlan  Sweet  Corn.- Decidedly  the  sweetest  of 
all  varieties  of  white  sweet  corn.  Per  package,  10  cents; 
per  pound,  35  cents. 

Marblebend  Sweet  Mammoth  Corn — The  larg- 
est of  all  varieties,  and  the  earliest  of  the  e.xtra  large  kinds. 
Per  package,  15  cents  ;  per  pint.  33  cents. 

■  .ongfellow's  Yellow  Field  Corn.— Kernels  and 
ears,  extra  large,  not  suited  to  the  South.    Per  package,  10 
r  quart,  55  cents. 

Anilter  Sngnr  Cnne  — Samples  of  the  sugar, 
and  fulllnstructionB  for  cultivation  and  making  of  sugar, 
Bent  with  each  lot.  Per  quarter  pound,  16  cts ;  per  pound, 
45  cents. 

BaMtian'H  Eariy  Blood  Turnip  Beet.— The  best 
of  theearlios;  a  great  acquisition.  Per  ounce,  Vi  cents;  per 
pound,  $1.26. 

Hancock  Early  Feas.- The  best  oropper,  and  pur- 
est  of  all  the  extra  early  sorts.  Per  package,  10  cts..  per 
quart,  60  cents. 

Talby^A  Cucumber. — Large  very  handsome  and 
very  proliflo.  A  prize  for  any  garden.  Per  package,  15 
cents;  per  ounce,  35  cents. 

Slarblehead  Cliainpion  Pole  Beans.- 15  cents 
par  packaf^Q.     The  earliest  of  all  varieties. 

Kentucky  Wonder  Beans.— 15  cents  per  package. 
Compared  with  scores  of  varieties,  they  have  procad  fhe  inont 
prolific. 

Butnian  Squash.- 20  Ota.  per  oz.;  10  cts.  per  pack- 
age. 

Marblehead  Squash.- 20  cts.  per  oz;  10  cts.  per 
package. 

Hubbard  Squash.- 20  cents  per  ounce. 

As  the  original  introducer  of  these  three  splendid  winter 
varieties,  I  ofl'cr  seed  grown  siieciaUy  for  purity. 

Cocoauut  Squash.— 10  cts.  per  package;  30  cts.  per 
02.  Excellent  in  quality  and  an  elegant  ornament  for  the 
•parlor.    Tery  prolific. 

Banvers  Carrot.- $1.60  per  pound;  15  cts.  per  ounce. 
Forty  tons  have  been  raised  1o  the  acre. 

Sill's  Melon.— A  canteloupe;  sweet,  spicy,  delicious. 


Per  < 


, '20  c 


Viek'  Early.— .0 

age     The  best  of  all  II 
Excelsior  Melni 

age,     lias  beeu  raised  i 
Quality  excellent. 


.per 


in  cents  per  paok- 


y  Water  Melons 

cts.  per  oz.;  10  els.  per  pact- 

to  weigh  76  pounds. 


HEARING 

79-1 10.4 


KESTORKU.      Parliculun 

Fui!K.       VBKY4HABPER, 


Sawing  off  a  Log, 


This  SAW  MACHINE  U  a  wonderful  in- 
vention.  The  weii<:ht  of  th»  man  who  In 
sawing  dncs  half  of  the  work.  It  saws  log* 
of  any  kIzo,  and  irlll  saw  tifTu  ^  foot  log  In 
8  miniit<-K.  Circulars  fier.  Address,  Wm. 
GII.K.S,  ami  W.  Cth  St.,  Cinciunntl,  Ohi& 
79-lm-l 


My  Seed  Catalogue,  treating  of  all  the  above  varieties  la 
detail,  and  an  imiuense  collection  of  Vegetable  and  Flower 
Seed,  will  be  sent  free  to  all  who  write  for  it. 

•T.  .T.n.  GREGORY,  Marblehead,  Mass. 


other  spring  crops,  use  the  ci^lcbrattjj 

"Stockbridge  Manures." 

These  are  complete  iiiauures,  made  for  each  crop, 

and  arc  the  CIIF,A1» EST, purest, and  best  Fertilizers 
in  the  market.    Sctid  /or  De.icriptiv*  PainphUt, 

E1»W.  J.  BVANS  A  CO.,  York,  Pa., 
19-8-8  Agents  for  Southern  Penn'a. 


TREE  S 


We  offer  for  Spring  of  1H79,  the  largest  and  most  complete 
stock  in  the.  C.  S.  of 

Fruit  Trees,  Ornp*  Vines.  Strawberries,  em- 
bracing all  the  new  and  valuable  varieties. 

Ornamental  Trees  and  Shrubs,  deciduona  and 
evergreen, 

Rosen  a  specialty  -  all  the  finest  sorts. 

(jreen  and  Hot  House  PiaiitM,  including  best  nov- 
elties. 

Descriptive  and  Illustrated  priced  Catalogues  sent  prepaid 
to  customers,  free,  to  others,  on  receipt  of  stamps  as 

No.  1, 1'r'uits.  with  colored  plate  (new  editiou),lBct«.;  lain 
lO  cts.  No.  a.  Ornamental  Trees,  elc,  with  plate,  25  cts.; 
plain,  16  els.  No.  5,  Greenliouse,  Tree.  No.  4.  Wholesale, 
Free,  and  No.  .5.  Catalegnc  of  R.iBea  wilh  colored  plate, 
lO  cts.;  plain,  Free,    .\ddress 


Uochester,   N.  T. 


ELLLWANGER  &  BARRY, 


NICHOLS,  SHEPARD&  CO., 

Battle  Creek,    Mlill. 

ORIGINAL  AND  ONLY  GENUINE 
'«  VI  B  JEt  ^^  T  O  BL  " 

THRESHING  MACHINERY. 


THE  ENTIBE  Threshln?  Eipennes  (and  often 
threo  u>  Bve  tlmoa  that  amouot)  can  1»  maie  by  ia« 
BrtraOra 


GraSu  SAVKD  by  these  rBii>r 

BAIN  Balsera  will  not  submit  to  the  enoi- 

of  Grain  and  the  inferior 'ft  r-rk  doDtBT 


IkTOT  ObIt  Tastljr  Superlof  for  Wheat.  Oafa, 

tl%  Barlej,  Bto.  anii  like  Grnlnn,  but  the  Oiav  Pueee-.- 
ftal  Thre-ihcr  In  Flnl,  Tiiaotby,  Millet,  Clovoi.  fti,a  tike 
Seeds.  RequireB  no  "  attwjbments"  or  "rcba..Jlog  '  to 
cbsQge  trom  Grain  to  Seeds. 

IN  Thorough  Workmannlilp,  Eleirant  Finish. 

'  Tbreshcr  Outlit-,  are  Incomimrftt.le. 


rODK  Siws  of  Keparatom  Made,  KaiiKii 
from  Six  lo Tw.-lve.ll.ir»e  Jiie,  and  ti.li .y  le»  ,.r  .Mo.j 

pOR   Partirulars,  Call  nn  onr    Dealers 


A  DEPARTURE 

High  Pricesfor  Phosphates. 


THK 

TWENTY  DOLLAR  PI 


III  be  printed  on 

aA  to    3  per  cent. 


»II\TE, 
WE    GUARANTEE 

Iho  following  analysis,  whirl 

every  bag 

Ammonia,  -         -  . 

Bone  Phosphate,  Soluble, 

"  "  Insoluble,      7  "     8 

Price,  $20  per  2000  lbs.  in  New  Bags  of 
200  lbs.  each, 

Free  on  borrd  cars  or  buals  in   I'niladelphia  or  Baltimor*. 

J'hiluilclpliia, 


STOCKBRIDGE 

MANURES 

Originated  by  1-evi  Slocfcbridke,  I'rotestor  of  Agrlcul- 
ture  iu  the  MassBchuNetla  A((ricultural  ColleKC  Tbev  havs 
been  extensively  used  for  six  yean*.  Hend  for  a  little  book 
describinii  them  and  ulvlnK  directions  for  cultivatlDK  farm 
and  garden  crops,  '&\;ery  farmer,  gardenar,  or  cultivator 
of  akltchnti  garden  should  m-iid  f.ir  n  c(  py  vialtfd /tm. 
BOWKF.K  rKBTILIZHR  «<»»IPA«  Y,  4.1  «lll»l» 
hnm  Street.  Ro«(«n:  3  ParU  Pliwe.  STow  York; 
and  21  Nortli  Water  Nlrcel.  RorheHter,  N.  Y. 


IPIiEPSY 


or  FITS 
CURED! 


;ur  wb'at'v.',,',  iiHvVdnnVitirm'c".  ""'  CilAS  A  j-liAI. 
Tor  Certlti<jt.'S  ..f  Niimertius  other  riire.  and  fall  Inlor 
B.tiun  o.WresB     DR.  ROSS.  H»  Mala  St.. 


OFFICE, 


Ho,  9  Noi  Oueen  l\u\ 


LANCASTER,  PA. 


Is  an  old,  well-established  newspaper,  and  contains  juat  tlia 
newa  desirable  to  make  tt  an  interesting  and  valoeUa 
Family  Newspiper.  It  Is  published  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday,  subeorlbei-s having  the  cbolcoof  whichever  edition 
thalauils  their  mail  facilllies  best.  The  postage  to  aub- 
soiihere  residing  outside  at  Lancaater  county  ia  paid  by  tlis 
publisher. 
Send  for  a  siiedmen  copy. 

T^A/■o  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  pulilisbod  every  afterno<.n  (except  Sunday)  and  contalna 
the  news  bv  mail  and  telegraph  Irom  all  parts  of  the  world 
up  to  the  hour  ef  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers at  all  the  towns  and  villages  In  the  county,  acces- 
BiblB  by  rail  or  alage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  CeutA  a  Week, 
or  by  mall  at  Five  DollHra  per  Tear. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nort'i  Queen  St., 

L.A.NCA.SXKR,  PA- 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


[April,  1S79. 


graphe,  will  be  sent  FREE  to  all  who  »mAj,  Customers  of 
last  season  need  not  write  for  it  I  offer  one  of  the  largest  col- 
y  seed  house 
iTu  on  my  six 
seed  farms.  Printed  directions /vr  evitivation  on  each  pack- 
age. All  seed  trarranffd  to  be  both  frefth  and  true  to  name; 
iO  far,  that  should  it  proTe  oiherwise,  /  tfi7/  refill  the  order 
gratis^  The  original  introducer  of  the  Hubbiard  Squash, 
Phinney's  Melon,  Marblehead  Cabbages,  Mexican  Com,  and 
eoores  of  other  vegetables,  I  incite  the  patronage  of  all  who 
are  anxxoiu  Co  have  their  seed  direetlyfrom  the  groicer,  freAh, 
tr%te,  and  of  the  very  best  ittrain. 
New  Vegetables  a  specialty. 

JAMES  J.  H.  GKEGORY, 
:9.1-14[  Marblehead.  MaeS. 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 

SCIEmiriC  FORMULAS   FOR  IREIR  MANyFACIURF  01  TIE 
FURM  SENT  FREE  TO  tlY  ADORESS. 


The  Cheapest,  and  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  use,  can  be  made  with  but 
little  trouble,  by  using  our  Fertilizing  Chemi- 
cals and  Bones,  which  we  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation, 

Diesolved  Bonee,  Sulphate  of  Ammouia, 

Perfectly  Pnre  Ground  Bonee,  Fertilizing  Salt, 

Acidulated  Pbosphate  Rock,  Sulphate  of  Soda, 

Phosphate  Bock,  fine  ground,  Muriate  of  Potash,  German, 

Laud  Plaster,  pure  and  fine  Oil  Vitriol,  full  strength, 

ground.  Sulphate  of  Magnesia 
Sulphate  Potash  iKainiCI,  (Kieserite). 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

ANALYTICAL  CHEMISTS, 

Mannfactnrers  of  Fertilizing  Clieiiiicals. 

(Established   1793.) 

FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 

Office:  105  Soath  Front  Street. 

PHILADELPHIA  PA. 


LAWRENCE&TAYLOR, 

70  ALDERSGATE  ST.. 
London  E.  C,  England. 


Laigest  aiifl  Best  Market  in  tlie  f  orll 

Commieeion  :   For  consignments  under     j£50: — i  per  cent. 
Freight  In:.,  kc,  paid  free  of  charge  for  interest. 

Money  advanced  on  Consignment  ■with- 
out interest. 

BAMSASmSmCIAL  mi 

OF    EN-G-LA^NT). 

Telegraph  Address 

TAYRENCB,  LONDON. 


Oiil.r  Double  Riug  In- 
vented. Closes  on  out- 
side of  Xose.  Clianiplon 
Hog:  Ringer,  Rings  and 
Holder.     Ko  sharp  points  in 


close  with  the  joli 
aiid     produce 


Onl.r  Single  Ring  Ever  In- 
Tented  that  lloses  on  tb« 
Ontslde  of  the  Xose. 

Browns  Elliptical  Ring  and  Triple 
Groove  Hog  and  Pig  Ringer.  It  over- 
comes a  serious  defect  in  all  triangular 
and  other  rings  which  close  with  the 
joints  together  in  the  fiesh,  causing  It 
to  decay  and    to   keep  the   hog's  ^nom 


HOLDER  Speaks  for  iteell  in  the  above  ents. 

CH.VMBERS,  BERING  k  QUI^-LAN,  Exclusive  Manufacturers,  Decatur,  lU. 


r  Si^ds,  PIuiu,  Rosea.  Bto. 

DrM.^BRY&ca"Detroit  Mich. 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 

TRADE  MARK.TheGreaf  English  TRADE  MARK. 
Reined  T  will  pro 

ly    und  _  rsdically 

^  §f  nervous  Debility  and 
Weakness,  result  er 
Indiscretion,  excess  of 
overwork  of  the  brain 
aud  uer\ous  system,  ie 
perfectly  harmless,  acts 
Before  Takine  ^^  magic,  and  has  teen 
D  extensively  used  for  over 
thirty  years  with  great  success.  Full  particulars  in 
pamphlet,  which  we  desire  to  send  free  by  mail  to  every  one. 
The  speclflc  medicine  is  gold  by  all  druggists  at  $1  per  pack- 
age, or  six  packages  for  $5,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  on 
receipt  of  the  money  bv  addressing 

THE  GRAY  MEDICINE  COMPANY, 

No.  10  Mechanics-  Block,  Detroit.  Michigan. 

Lancaster  by  H.  B.  CocHBiK,  137  and  139  N. 


After  Takiag. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


A  MONTHLY  JOUKNAL, 

Devoted  to  Agriculture,  Horticulture,\Do- 
mestic  Economy  and  Miscellany. 


»-Sold 


ud  by  drujrgisis  eve 


[79-3-12 


1879  SPKLVG  AND  SUMMEK  1879 

Coats  ai]d  Coatings^ 

PANTS  AND  PANTJNG.S, 
VESTS  AND  VE,STINGS, 
SUITS  AND  SUITINGS, 
OVERCOATS  AND  OVERCO.ATIKGS 

RATHVON  &  FISHER'S, 

ll^erchant  Tailors,  Drapiers  and  Clotljiers, 

Corner  JV,  Qiietn  and  Orange  Sts., 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


as  any  other  place  in  the  city.    Goods  all  wool,  perfect,  and  i 
satisfaction  guaranteed.    Orders  respect- 

f  ullv  solicited,  and  promptly  executed.  j 

1S79  l»r9 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the  Lancas- 
ter County  AgriCBltural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 


ONEDOLLpPERANNUJf, 

POST.WE  PREP.«D  BY  THE  PR0P81ET0R. 


All    subscriptions    will    commence   with    the 
January  number,  unless  otherwise  ordered. 


Is  ar  energetic,  natural  manure,  epecially  adapted  for 
snmmer  crops.  It  is  highly  recommeuded  to  tobacco 
growers,  giving  the  plants  a  vlgoroiis  start  and  c-jusing  a 
rapid  growth  to  maiurity. 

HIRAM  E.  Ll'TZ.  Mannfactarer. 
■OfBee,  1136  Market  Street.  Pbiladelplkia. 


■L'i44^/1:IHf.Vl.llJ>.U'JJ:^JJ.fc» 
ra  WE  SELL  EVERYTHING  foe  the  « 

GARDEN  „ 

Descriptive  C.v.il  .-v.es  ,  r  i::.  paycs  sent  Free  fl 

PETER  HENDERSON&CO 

3S  Corllandt  St.,  y'etr  York. 


loss 


usxnMsnsassss 


Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon.  who  has  so  ably  managed  the  editorial 
depanment  in  the  past,  will  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  His  contributions  on  Bubjecte  connected  with  the 
science  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 

I   he  is  so  thorouhly  a  masler — entomological  science — some 

'  tnowledge  of  whicli  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  success- 
ful farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  is  determined  to  make  ''The  Farmer" 
a  necessity  to  all  households.  Jg5.    ■ 

f  .TA  coimty  that  has  so  wide  &  reputation  as  Lancaster 
eoimty  for  its  agricultural  prodacts,  shotild  certainly  be 

•  able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the 

I  exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmei-s  interested  In  this  mat- 
ter.   We  ask  the  co-oporstion  of  all  farmers  interested  in 

:  this  matter.    Work  among  your  friends.      The '*Farmer"  Ifl 

'  only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
induce  them  to  subscribe.    It  is  not  much  for  e^ch  aub- 

j  ecriber  to  do  but  it  wiU  greatly  assist  us. 

;  All  commocicationsln  regard  to  the  editorial  management 
should  be  addressed  to  Dr.  8.  8.  Rathron,  Lancaster,  P»., 

]  and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptionB  and  ad- 

Ivertisiug  should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Eatee  of 
advertising  can  be  had  on  application  at  the  office. 

!  JOHN  A.  HIESTAND, 

I  No.  9  North  Quean  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


ONE  DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM-SINGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  3.  S.  KATH70N,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  MAY,  1879. 


JOHN  A,  HIESTAND,  Publisher. 


CONTENTS  O^HIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 

•  Pre»erTing  the  ProceedinErs,      .        -        .         . 

■  "Non-Kecognitionof  Agriculture  by  Government,' 

•  Tramps  and  Incendiaries,         .... 
."  Codling  Moth  in  Bands,"  .        .        -        .        . 
,Milk, 

.  Monthly  Reminders,     .---.. 
.  To  Market-Gardeners  Throughout  the  Union, 

List  of  Approved  Varieties  of  Cabbage. 
.What  Becomes  of  the  Birds,        ... 

•  Book  Farming,  ....... 

,Eggs-Traordinary,        ...:.. 
i  Eenslow  on  the  Self-Fertiltzation  of  Plants,    - 
.Queries  and  .Answers,  ...... 

ESSAYS. 

•  Small  Fruits, 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 
.Large   Farms  and   Stoek.Raising  in  Lancaster 
County — Slock  Admirer,        .... 

••Wants  to  Know,        ...... 

,  Spring  Days — Leoline,  .        -        .        .        . 

.  About  Eggs—  »",« .  J.  Pyle,      .... 

»  The  Moon's  Influence — Amateur  Farmer,    - 

•  Indian  Turnip— J".  Slauffer,      .... 

•  Timber  and  Fences— i.  S.  Jt-,     - 

•  The  Pennsylvania  Board  of  Agriculture,  - 

SELECTIONS. 
.  Cider  Vinegar  and  Sugar  from  Sugar  Beets, 
.  One-Eye  System  of  Potato-Growing, 

.Keeping  Work  Ahead, 

Some  Hiut.  on  Tree  ilsmtiDg. 
.  Composts  for  Tobacco,      ..... 

.  Sandy  Soils, 

Amounts  of  Sugar  Contained  in  Nectar  of  Vari. 
ous  Flowers, 


OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society, 

Crop  Reports— Mating  Farm  Life  Attractive  and 
I'lcasaut  —  The  New    Charter— Fruits  —  Miscel- 


•  Poultry  Association,  .        .        . 

New  Business. 
.  Linuiean  Society,  .... 

ENTOMOLOGICAL. 
.Insects  and  Animal  Diseases,    - 
•How  Insects  Hear, 

AGRICULTURE. 
'  The  Wheat  Crop,       .         -        -        - 

•  Grain  in  Orchards, 

•  Bone  Dust,         -        -        .        .        . 
.  The  Question  of  Weeds, 

>  An  Immense  Farm,  .... 

•  Store  of  Grain  in  the  West,  - 

HORTICULTURE. 
■  Grafting  Grapevines, 
'  Grape-Growing,    .... 

•  How  to  Plant  Peas,  .        .        .        . 
Grapevines  in  California,     - 

I  Sowing  Garden  Seeds,       ... 
.  Where  Tomatoes  were  First  Eaten, 


How  Many  Tobacco  Seed  to  an  Acre  I       -        -  77 
Bananas,        ........77 

Pruning  Peach  Trees,        -        -        ...  77 
DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

,  Whitewash  ,V        - 77 

Signs  of  a  Prosperous  Farmer,        .        -        -  77 

'.Home-.Made  Cracked  Wheat,       ....  77 

<^Cream  Instead  of  Butter,         -        -        .        -  77 

^Use  Plenty  of  Paint,      ......  77 

-A  Good  Night  Lamp, 77 

•  French  Bread,       -        - 78 

»To  Destroy  House  Insects,         -        .        -        -  78 

.  Cleaning  a  Brussels  Carpet,          -        -        -        -  78 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 

•  Potato  Noodles, 78 

,To  Preserve  tium  Solutions,         ...        -  78 

•  Ham  Dressed  in  Claret,    -        -        ...  78 

^Velvet  Cake, 7t> 

.  Ice  Cream  Cake,        ......  7S 

White  Fruit  Cake, 78 

Lemon  Pie, 78 

Cheap  Pudding, 78 

To  Wash  Silk  Stockings, 78 

Baked  Fish,  .        - 78 

Apple  Preserve,         .--...  78 

LIVE  STOCK. 
Treatment  of  Cows  at  Calving,    .        .        .        .78 

Color  in  Jerseys, 78 

•  The  Difference,     ----...  78 

•  Stalliou  Shows  in  Spring,  -----  78 
Worms  in  Hogs,   -------78 

.Exercising  Cows,      ......  79 

•  Tender  and  Small  Feet,        .....  79 

APIARY. 

•  Practical  Bee  Cultre, 79 

•A  Good  Word  for  Bees, 79 

.  Farmers  and  Bees, 79 

POULTRY. 

•How  the  Young  Bird  is  Hatched,          -        -        -  79 

■"What  Breed  Shall  I  Keep  !"  -        ...  79 

.Eggs  and  Egg  Culture, 79 

»iVhat  r  Know  About  Roup,      -        -        -        .  79 

"  Brown  Leghorns,"    -        -        -        .        -        .  80 

Poultry  Profits, SO 

Fowls  in  Orchards, 80 

Facts  Worth  Remembering,      ....  80 

Threshing  Ducks, 80 

Home  Advice  as  to  Poultry,      -        -        -        -  80 

'A  Flock  of  HenS;  .-.----  80 

.  Literary  and  Personal, 80 


NORBFXK  SMILEY. 


PRACTICAL 


WHY  GO  WEST 

When  dnirabli-  Farm  IjndB  Id  the  Ureat  I'rult  DIs- 
Irlet  of  the  Penlnftnliir  Uarden  can  be  had? 
Cool  summers,  mild  winters,  pure  waters,  kind  soli,  and 
every  advantage  of  speedy  communication  by  Railroad, 
Telegraph,  and  Daily  Mails.  A  soil  producing  the  finest 
Grain,  Fruits  add  Flowers,  and  the  waters  the  choicest  Fish, 
Oysters,  Terrapin,  and  Wild  Fowl  In  season.  As  honia  un- 
equalled; as  i'nr«s/nt«n/«  Qusurpassed.  For  Illustrated 
Books  inclose  2o  stamp  to  LAND  AOE.ST,  P.  w.  k  B.  R.  B. 
Depot,  W  ilmingtoD,  Del.  l3r~SpeciaI  advantages  offered 
to  Colonies.  [T9-&-1t 


knlm  Buildepg, 


fOX  &  COS  OIB  STA>ft. 

Corner  of  Duke  and  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


THE  LATEST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PH.^TONS, 

Carriages,  Etc. 

IBEUIGBHimiFlinilECITl 

Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 

REPAIRINX;  iiruiiij.lly  :.tl(UiU-a  lo.     All  work 


PHAHES    W.    FRY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail   Dealer  in 

WALL  PAPER  &WIKOQW  SHADES, 

IIollandH,  plain  Shade  «'lo(ta. 

Piitures,  Fringes,  Tassels  and  all  ijoods  jertalnlng  to  a 
Paper  and  Shade  Store. 
No.  63  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 
79-i-n 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


EXSSTI-TAjriA  RAII-ROAO  SCHEDULE. 

Triviiis  LEAVE  the  Depot  iu  this  city,  as  follows  : 

I.aucaster.         Harrinburg. 

2:40  a.  m. 

5:(i0a.  m. 

9.30  a.  m. 

9:35  p.  m. 
11:15  a.m. 


WE   TWAKD. 

Pacific  Express' 

Way  Passengert 

Niagara  Express 


Hanover  Accommodation, . 

Mail  train  via  Mt.  Joy 

No.  2  via  Columbia 

Sunday  Mail 

Fast  Line" ,    

Frederick  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation.. 

Harrisburg  Express 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express' 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  Express' 

Philadelphia  Expresst.. 

Fast  Line* 

Harrisburg  Express 

Columbia  Accommodati< 

Pacilic  Express* 

Sunday  Mail 

Johnstovm  Express 

Day  Express' 

Harrisburg  . 


11:! 


Lancaster. 
12:30  a.  m. 
4:10  a.  m. 


Col.  2:45  p.  r 
7:40  p.  m. 

Col.  8:00  p.  n 
8:40  p.  m. 


The  Hanover  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancaster 
vrith  Niagara  Express,  west,  at  9:35  a.  m.,  and  will  run 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancas- 
ter with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m..  and  runs  to  Frederick. 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  on  -Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
stop  at  Middletown,  Elizabethtown,  Mount  .loy  and  Landis- 
Tille. 

•The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tRuns  daily,  except  Monday. 


$77 


and  expenses   guaranteed    to    Ageuts 
SHAW  &  CO.,  Augusta,  Maine. 


I.  :e',  :]bo  vs7-3vi-ia.3Nr, 


AT  lOM'EsT  POSSIBLE  PItlt'ES, 

Fully   guaranteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  Opposite  LfOptird  Hotel. 


GLOVES,  SHIRTS,  UNDERWEAR.    H 
SHIRTS  MADE  TO  ORDER, 

.AND  WARRANTED  TO  FIT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN, 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa 


s.  :^.  ooixi. 

Manufacturer  of 

Carriages,  Buggies,  Pliaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA, 

Large  Stock  of  New  aud   SecDnd-hand   Work  on   hand, 
very  cheap.    Carriages  Made  to  Order.     Work   W_arranted 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 

And  Manufacturers  of 

FURNITURE  pD  CHAIRS. 


WAREROOMS : 


102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

■LANCASTER,  PA. 


fTREES 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 


Bird- 


LOUISC.LYTE 

-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  CO.,  Pa. 


Nursery  at  Smoketowu,  i 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 

JEWELRY  I  TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Arundel  trnted 

SPECTACLES. 

Repairiug  strictly  attended  to. 

ZAxiivE's  coFinrsFi. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Stjuare,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

79-1-12 


SEND  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapeyiuea,  Transplanted  Evergreens,  Tulip, 
Poplar,  Linden  Maple,  etc.  Tree  Seedlings  and  Trees  for 
timber  plantations  by  the  100,000. 

J.  JENKiarS'  NURSERY, 
3_g_T9  WINONA,  COLUMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


G-.    SENEK    &  SONS, 

Manufacturers  and  dealeis  in  all  kinds  of  rough  and 
fluished 

The  beat  Sawed  SKI:»  «EE.'»  iu  the  country.     Also  Sash, 
Doors,  Blindp,  Mouldings,  &c. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  aud  Waluut-sts, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 


listory  aud  habits  of 


NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 


aud  the  beat  remedw 


By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  and  will  be  put  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  sufficient  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtaiued  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 


PEARL  MILLET 

(THE  NEW  FODDER  PLANT.) 


Sl.OO 

By  espresB,  buyer  to  pay  charges,  $5 per  peck. 

'statement  of  our  experiments  with  it,  and 

instruct ione  for  culture,  free  on  application. 

PETER  HENDERSONS  CO. 

35  CORTLANOT  ST,.  NEW  YORK, 


TljE  LATEST! 


Tlje  New  TarifT  of  Rates 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  off  large  lots  of 

goods,  and  has 

INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US! 


gi^Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better. ■'^a 


This  is  the  latest  tariff  for  the 


A.S  FOLLOT^S: 

An  Elegant  Business  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  $10.  Identical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  $15.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $13. 

$4.89  buys  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
$8.50,  $8.50,  $8.50,  $8.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  $10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $7,  $7,  $7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  the  Late  Improvements,  $5,  $5,  $5. 
Boys'   and     Youths'     Trousers,  All 
Wool,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Styles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  $8.75  to 
$6.50. 

$25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully 
made,  Piped  with  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $15.00  ;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  fitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
Doth  ways. 

Wananjaker  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL, 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


The  Largest  Clothing 
America. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  MAY,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  No.  5. 


Editorial. 


PRESERVING  THE  PROCEEDINGS. 

"  President  Tobiu.s  called  Vice  President 
Geyer  to  the  chair,  and  made  some  remarks 
on  preserving  the  documents  of  the  society. 
The  Lancasteu  Farjieu  is  not  patronized 
as  it  should  be.  lie  thought  that  if  arrange- 
ments cciuUI  be  ni;ulc  to  have  the  proceedings 
published  iu  this  journal,  thus  having  them  in 
book  form,  it  woukl  be  to  the  advantage  of 
the  members  and  of  Tiih  Farmer,  which 
would  obtain  a  large  number  of  additional 
subscribers." 

The  above  we  clip  from  the  proceedings  of 
of  the  April  meeting  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Poultiy  Society  ;  and,  without  regard  to  what 
the  members  may  think  they  ought  to  do  in 
regard  to  The  Lancaster  Farmer,  we 
desire  to  say  that  we  have  published  all  the 
proceedings  of  the  FouUry  Society  in  our 
columns — both  preliminary  and  subsequent — 
and  we  intend  to  continue  doing  so,  whatever 
may  be  the  result.  We  also,  for  the  same 
reason,  publish  the  proceedings  of  the  Agri- 
cultural and  Horticultural  Society,  the  To- 
bacco-Growers' Association,  the  Bee-Keepers' 
Society,  the  Linntean  Society,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings of  our  county  farmers'  clubs  as  often 
as  we  can  get  them.  These  proceedings  con- 
stitute a  personal  and  practical  epitome  of 
the  thoughts  and  doings  of  the  agriculturists 
and  collateral  workers  of  the  county  ;  and  as 
the  volume  in  which  they  are  published  can 
be  preserved  in  convenient  book  form,  proper- 
ly indexed,  it  can  be  referred  to  by  those  of 
the  present  generation  as  well  as  the  genera- 
tions to  come.  Therein  can  be  found  not  only 
th§  names  of  the  active  participants  in  our 
local  agriculture  and  kindred  interests,  but 
also  what  they,  from  time  to  time,  thought, 
said  and  did.  AsJ  an  instance— the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Agricultural  and  Horticultural 
Society  have  been  published  iu  The  Farmer 
for  over  ten  years,  and  perhaps  nowhere  else 
is  there  now  existing  a  more  convenient  refer- 
ence to  them,  and  every  year  enhances  their 
value.  Of  course,  if  a  substantial  appreciation 
of  these  things  were  to  follow,  it  would  much 
encourage  the  arduous  labors  of  both  Editor 
and  Publisher. 

"NON-RECOGNITION     OF     AGRICUL- 
TURE BY  GOVERNMENT." 

"A  striking  commentary  on  the  position 
of  agriculture  is,  that  although  this  pursuit  is 
acknowledged  to  be  of  such  great  commercial 
and  industrial  importance  to  the  country,  yet, 
when  its  claims  are  contrasted  with  those  of 
the  natural  sciences,  it  receives  scarcely  gov- 
ernmental recognition.  We  have  expensive 
governmental  surveys,  and  vast  collections  of 
birds,  plants,  rocks  and  minerals,  and  large, 
frequent  and  extremely  valuable  reports,  pub- 
lished at  great  expense,  written  in  the  lan- 
guage of  science  for  scientists,  and  this  is  as 
it  should  be.  Yet,  although  the  lands  wan- 
dered over  by  our  expeditions  are  desirable 
for  agriculture,  or  have  close  relations  with 
the  extension  of  the  population  of  those  lands, 
no  educated  agriculturist  is  attached  to  the 
exploring  staff,  and  the  agricultural  possi- 
bilities of  those  immense  areas  are  unexplored. 
We  have  had  exploring  expeditions,  and  the 
explorers  have  been  naval  officers  simply,  or 
men  of  science  have  been  attached  ;  and  when 
■we  examine  the  records  as  published,  we  look 
in  vain  for  either  a  comprehensive  or  detailed 
account  of  conditions  or  circumstances  appli- 
cable to  our  agriculture.  We  have  boundary 
surveys,  with  abundant  reference  to  scenery, 
to  the  trials  of  the  explorers,  to  the  wild 
vegetation,  but  few  words  given  to  the  agri- 


cultural po.ssibilities,  and  those  few  so  auper- 
licial  as  to  be  nearly  valueless. 

Our  Government  measures  and  triangulates 
mountain  areas,  and  the  great  reports  are 
fdled  with  valuable  geological  detail ;  but  the 
rivers  are  not  surveyed  in  their  relations  to 
irrigation,  and  the  characters  of  the  soil  and 
the  climate  with  reference  to  the  needs  of 
agriculture  receive  but  a  scant  attention. 
Why  cannot  agricultural  science  receive  recog- 
nition, and  why  not  attach  an  educated  agri- 
cultural observer  and  thinker  to  all  our  gov- 
ernmental science  exploration  parties  ?  Such 
a  course  would  be  wise,  just  and  proper.  We 
commend  this  subject  to  our  brethren  of  the 
agricultural  press  for  their  consideration." 

The  foregoing,  from  the  editorial  columns 
of  the  Scientific  Furmtr  for  April,  1879,  will, 
no  doubt,  find  an  extensive  endorsement,  for 
it  seems  to  be  an  expression  of  the  sentiments 
of  a  large  number  of  the  most  intelligent  agri- 
culturists of  the  country,  and  the  persistent 
and  continued  non-recognition  of  that  class, 
and  the  interests  it  represents,  seems  to  us 
not  only  ungrateful,  but  also  socially  and 
financially  suicidal,  if  it  is  not  the  most  in- 
excusable presumption. 

We  do  not  think  the  government  has  done 
or  is  doing  one  whit  too  much  for  science  ; 
nor  do  we  intimate  that  the  editor  of  the 
Scientific  Farmer  thinks  so  or  says  so  ;  but  we 
think  that  from  the  very  organization  of  the 
Government  down  to  the  present  day,  it  has 
made  less  provision  for  and  has  exercised  less 
energy  in  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
country  than  it  has  in  the  interests  of  any 
other  governmental  department.  Even  its 
own  agricultural  department  has  never  had 
sufticient  government  patronage  to  make  it 
efficient  and  generally  respected,  hence  it  is 
always  passing  through  a  scrutinizing  and 
often  an  unjust  censorship.  Its  inefficiency, 
if  any  really  exists,  may  not  be  due  to  the  in- 
competency of  its  official  incumbents  so  much 
as  it  is  to  the  niggardly  support  it  has  received 
from  the  National  Congress. 

Our  "Great  Constitutional  Expounder,"  in 
his  recognition  of  agriculture  as  the  most  im- 
portant factor  in  the  social,  civil  and  physical 
progress  of  mankind,  has  given  expression  to 
the  sentiment  that  "  f/i«  farmer  is  the  founder 
of  civilization,"  and  it  seems  to  us  that  it  does 
not  require  much  observation  and  reflection 
to  perceive  that  this,  properly  understood,  is, 
in  an  eminent  degree,  the  very  truth. 

Of  course,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the 
farmer  himself ,  as  a  man,  through  his  superior 
intelligence,  morality,  energy  and  enterprise, 
is  the  founder  of  our  civilization  ;  but  that  he 
represents  a  vocation  and  an  interest  that 
constitute  tiie  sure  foundation  upon  which 
the  civil  and  domestic  superstructure  of 
society  can  alone  be  most  successfully  reared. 
We  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  nation  destitute 
of  agriculture,  without  associating  them  with 
" uncivilized  savages."  Ancient  Venice  may 
have  attained  a  high  state  of  civilization 
without  an  agriculture  of  her  own,  but  she 
would  have  been  anaked  starveling  without  the 
sustaining  agricultural  productions  of  other 
peoples.  It  is  true  there  are  many  industrial 
interests  not  immediately  connected  with 
agriculture,  which  may  have  the  appearance 
of  thrift,  but  without  agriculture  there  would 
be  little  or  no  demand  for  their  productions. 
Man  cannot  live  and  prosper  on  the  results  of 
fishing  and  hunting  alone  any  more  than  he 
can  "by  bread  alone,"  and,  whatever  his  call- 
ing may  be,  the  highest  civilizing  influences 
of  his  physical  and  domestic  condition  are 
those  which  arc  due  to  agriculture.  Agricul- 
ture ramifies  throughout  the  entire  length  and 
breadth  of  our  vast  country,  and  there  is  not 
a  nook  or  corner  iu  the  whole  land  where,  by 
the  manipulation  of  the  soil,  two  blades  of 


grass  are  made  to  grow  instead  of  one  that 
does  not  exhibit  it.s  benign  influences. 

And  yet  this  almost  universal  interest — this 
sine  qua  non  to  human  civilization— receives 
less  governmental  encouragement  than  any 
other  of  the  great  interests  of  the  country. 
The  government  grants  immense  land  subsi- 
dies— amounting  to  millions  of  dollars — to 
soulless  corporations,  endowing  them  with  the 
power  to  dictate  to  agriculturists  just  where 
they  may  locate,  and  tlie  tenure  by  which 
they  may  possess  their  homes,  without  re- 
flecting that  if  it  was  not  for  the  results  of 
agriculture  there  might  be  precious  little  use 
for  their  railroads  at  all.  Our  national  Agri- 
cultural Bureau  may  not  be  what  it  ought  to 
be— not  what  its  originators  intended  it  should 
be — nor  yet  what  its  oflicials  desire  it  to  be  ; 
but  there  is  little  wonder  of  this  since  gov- 
ernment permits  it  to  fall,  and  then  literally 
kicks  it  for  falling  by  withholding  the  .sus- 
taining means  of  support.  During  two  years 
of  political  excitement  it  had  not  the  means 
to  issue  its  annual  reports,  whilst  thousands 
of  dollars  have  been  granted  to  bogus  com- 
mittees of  nivestigation,  and  to  pay  for 
voluminous  reports  thereon  that  never  will  be 
read  perhaps;  whilst  the  agricultural  elements 
of  om-  country  are  daily  compelled— amongst 
other  things  too  numerous  to  mention— to 
drag  out  a  feeble  existence  unsupported  and 
alone. 

Economy  in  the  administration  of  the  func- 
tions of  an  oflice  is,  no  doubt,  very  desirable, 
and,  perhaps,  necessary  to  its  success ;  but 
true  economy  is  quite  a  difierent  thing  from 
"  penny  wisdom  and  pound  foolishness,"  and 
it  seems  to  us  that  much  of  this  kind  of 
economy  has  always  characterized  the  general 
government  in  its  relations  to  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  country.  The  Department  of 
Agriculture,  as  before  intimated,  may  not 
have  been  managed  with  the  efficiency  that 
has  been  expected  by  the  government  or  the 
people,  but  no  one  seems  to  reflect  that  the 
department  may  not  have  received  the  en- 
couragement and  pecuniary  support  that  were 
necessary  to  develop  its  efficiency.  During  the 
years  1S73  and  1874  it  had  not  even  the  means 
to  publish  its  usual  annual  report,  inferior  as 
those  reports  were,  as  compared  with  other 
departmental  documents  of  the  government ; 
but  in  our  view  this  inferiority  was  mainly 
due  to  the  inferiority  of  the  material  used  in 
its  mechanical  composition.  It  must  also  be 
remembered  that  the  department  had,  and 
still  has,  to  depend  mainly  on  the  voluntary 
and  unpaid  contributions  of  local  amateur 
observers,  who  giving  their  service  gratis, 
could  only  devote  those  fragments  of  time  to 
the  service  in  which  they  had  nothing  else  to 
do.  In  the  Entomological  Department  Mr. 
Glover  worked  like  a  slave  to  develop  prac- 
tically the  histories  of  noxious  insects ;  but  his 
rep. rts— tinctured  with  the  mechanical  in- 
feriority of  the  department — never  compared 
with  those  issued  by  the  several  States  re- 
porting upon  that  subject.  This  was  not  his 
fault,  but  his  misfortune  iu  exercising  an 
official  function  without  the  pecuniary  means 
to  bring  his  work  in  a  proper  manner  before 
the  country. 

Sandwiched  as  those  reports  always  have  been 
among  the  general  papers — statistical,  meteo- 
rological, 'agricultural  and  otherwise  that 
make  up  the  reports  of  the  department— they 
never  elicited  the  special  attention  they  would 
have  elicited  had  they  been  published  in  a 
separate  volume,  on  good  paper,  in  clean  type, 
and  embellished  with  accurate  and  life-like 
illustrations. 

Congress  and  the  country  are  at  this  time 

sorely  exercised  about  the  rinderi)est,  that  is 

I  spreading  far  and  wide,  and  threatens  to  be- 

I  come  a  devasting   plague  ;   but   any   legis- 


66 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[May, 


lation  that  may  be  had  on  the  subject 
will  be  unavailable  without  the  neces- 
sarv  pecuniary  means  to  carry  their  legal 
enactment  into  practical  effect.  It  appears  to 
us  that  objects  and  questions  involving  the 
immense  interests  of  agriculture,  and  such 
obstacles  as  rinderpest  and  destructive  insects, 
to  its  successful  development,  ought  to  com- 
mand the  attention  of  government  in  a  very 
special  sense,  even  if  something  more  should 
be  appropriated  than  was  barely  necessary  to 
sustain  it  in  a  work  that  is  so  intimately 
related  to  the  happiness,  the  comfort,  and  the 
general  welfare  of  the  country. 

The  last  incumbent  of  the  Entomological 
Department  was  Prof.  C.  V.  Riley,  who 
only  recently  tendered  his  resignation,  be- 
cause, according  to  the  tenor  of  that  resigna- 
tion, he  could  not  retain  the  office  any  longer 
without  forfeiting  his  self-respect.  We  are 
not  specially  advised  as  to  the  grounds  upon 
which  the  separation  between  him  and  the 
department  was  effected,  but  if  we  may  judge 
present  and  coming  events  by  those  that  are 
past,  we  may  infer  that  the  powers  that  be 
desired  him  to  haul  on  a  wheelbarrow  that 
which  by  rights  should  employ  nothing  lesss 
than  a  six-horse  team.  If  agriculture,  and 
entomology  in  Its  relations  to  it,  are  of  no  use 
to  the  country  they  should  at  once  be  aban- 
doned to  their  fates  as  other  useless  things  are. 

TRAMPS  AND  INCENDIARIES. 

Our  rural  population  have  a  fearful  guantlet 
to  run  in  these  days  of  theft,  violence,  rob- 
bery and  incendiarism,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
advise  exactly  what  line  of  conduct  they 
should  pursue  in  relation  to  these  depredators 
upon  their  property,  their  homes,  and,  per- 
chance, their  very  lives.  "Eternal  vigilance  " 
has  long  since  been  proclaimed  as  "the  price 
of  liberty,"  and  if  this  be  so  in  retaining  and 
maintaining  the  boon  of  freedom,  it  seems 
to  be  almost  infinitely  more  so  at  this  time  in 
the  protection  of  life  and  property.  It  is  true 
our  statute  books  are  replete  with  stringent 
laws,  but  laws  are  of  very  little  account  so 
long  as  they  are  systematically  evaded,  sloven- 
ly executed,  wilfully  perverted,  or  studiously 
disregarded  and  violated.  We  are  no  advo- 
cate of  the  revolver,  the  bludgeon  or  the  bowie- 
knife  ;  but,  as  a  man's  domicile,  under  certain 
circumstances,  is  legitimately  considered  his 
"castle,"  we  believe,  in  the  absence  of  a  law 
to  protect  it,  every  occupant  of  a  tenement, 
legally  possessed,  should  become  "a  law  unto 
himself,"  by  wisely  and  manfully  protecting  it 
and  the  dear  ones  it  may  contain.  The  ham- 
lets and  houses  of  our  rural  citizens  are  too 
often  remote  from  the  centres  of  justice  and 
legal  functionaries,  and  therefore  their  man- 
sions may  be  burned  down,  and  their  lives  im- 
periled before  they  possibly  could  invoke  the 
intervention  of  the  laws  or  their  executors. 

It  is  humiliating  to  think  that  the  men  and 
women  whose  ancestors  were  compelled  to 
flee  their  native  land,  in  order  to  escape  perse- 
cution, spoliation  and  violence,  and  to  seek 
safety  and  protection  in  a  land  of  liberty, 
should,  in  this  second  century  of  American 
freedom,  become  the  victims  of  impudent  and 
indolent  outlaws  and  tramps. 

We  believe  that  under  any  and  all  circum- 
stances our  rural  population  ought  to  prepare 
themselves  to  defend  their  property  at  all 
hazards,  unless  it  is  veiy  manifest  that  the 
laws  can  protect  it.  In  all  cases  when  suspi- 
cious demonstrations  have  been  made  by  the 
loose  tramp  population  now  infesting  the 
country — where  they  have  been  impudent 
and  exorbitant  in  their  demands,  or  wliere 
the  farmers  have  felt  it  their  plain  duty  to 
deny  them— a  strict  and  continuous  watch 
should  be  kept  upon  their  subsequent  con- 
duct—even if  it  should  require  some  of  the 
family  to  sit  up  all  night.  It  would  be  much 
better  if  there  was  no  necessity  for  a  single 
deadly  weapon  in  all  the  land ;  but  ratlier 
than  suffer  the  loss  recently  sustained  by  Mr. 
Sener,  of  Martic  township,  we  would  recom- 
mend the  advice  of  General  Dix  to  the  loyal 
citizens  of  New  Orleans  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  rebeUion. 


These  tramps  and  incendiaries  are  bad 
enough  in  the  towns,  where  the  population  is 
dense  and  the  officials  near  at  hand,  but  in 
the  country  they  are  simply  intolerable.  We 
are  not  prepared  to  say  that  there  are  abso- 
lutely none  of  them  worthy  of  the  alms  of  the 
people,  but  as  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to 
make  the  proper  discrimination,  they  all  sliould 
be  vigilantly  and  continuously  watched. 
They  are  here  amongst  us  ;  each  one  of  them  is 
the  tabernacle  of  an  immortal  soul,  and  conse- 
quently they  cannot  be  entirely  ignored  ;  but 
if  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses  will  come, 
then  woe  betide  those  through  whom  they 
come.  It  must  be  made  manifest  that  it 
would  be  far  better  for  them  if  they  were 
taken  up  and  cast  into  sea  than  that  they 
should  be  permitted  to  ofiend  with  impunity. 

"CODLING  MOTH   BANDS." 

The  "  codling  moth  "  {carpocapsapomonello) 
has  been  so  damaging  to  apples,  pears  and 
peaches,  for  several  years,  that  fruit-growers 
are  willing  to  grasp  at  any  "straw"  tliat  may 
contain  a  hope,  however  remote,  ultimately 
effecting  their  intervention  or  extermination. 
Many  devices  have  been  proposed  or  invented 
for  the  foregoing  purpose,  but  it  appears,  from 
some  cause  or  other,  the  results  have  not  been 
entirely  satisfactory.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, and  also  because  the  apple  season 
will  soon  be  on  us  again,  we  have  thought  it 
might  be  useful  to  our  readers  to  call  their 
attention  to  "  Ruhhnan''s  Patent  Codling  Moth 
Bands."  Price,  5  cents  per  yard,  and  kept 
for  sale  by  D.  M.  Dewey,  Rochester,  New 
York.  They  can  try  the  experiment,  at  least, 
at  a  very  small  cost,  and  like  a  good  many 
other  enterprises,  if  there  is  nothing  ventured 
there  can  be  nothing  won. 

These  bands  have  been  endorsed  by  several 
of  the  most  respectable  authorities  in  the  coun- 
try, if  we  have  any  warrant  at  all  in  believing 
what  has  been  published  concerning  them. 

Dr.  James  Wood,  of  Muscatine,  Iowa,  in  a 
report  made  to  the  Western  Horticulturist, 
states  that  he  destroyed  15,000  worms  and 
pupee  in  a  small  orchard  by  removing  the 
bands  every  ten  days  to  two  weeks,  from  the 
middle  of  June  to  the  first  of  October.  The 
gentleman  writes  on  and  says  15,000  apples 
must  have  been  required  to  lareed  the  worms 
we  killed  under  the  bands,  as  it  is  seldom  that 
more  than  one  worm  is  found  in  an  apple, 
and  allowing  300  to  a  bushel,  gives  50  bushels 
damaged  or  entirely  ruined  by  these  worms  ; 
and  if  we  only  captured  one-half  of  the  worms, 
the  loss  is  increased  to  100  bushels.  Sup- 
posing one-half  the  worms  destroyed  to  have 
l3een  females,  and  one-half  of  these  to  have 
been  of  the  first  brood,  they  would  have  de- 
posited in  the  late  apples  750,000  eggs,  thus 
damaging  2,750  bushels  of  the  autumn  and 
winter  apples.  Now  suppose  these  eggs  to 
have  produced  as  many  worms,  and  all  to 
have  passed  the  winter  safely,  they  would  in 
the  following  spring  have  aggregated,  with 
the  7,500  of  the  late  brood  destroyed  under 
the  bands,  757,500  moths.  If  a  small  crop  of 
apples  on  10,000  trees  be  estimated  at  one 
bushel  per  tree,  or  3,000,000  apples,  it  would 
require  15,000  female  moths  to  deposit  an  egg 
in  each  one.  Of  course  on  a  larger  crop  of 
ten  bushels  per  tree,  it  would  require  150,000. 
If  the  large  orchardist  puts  into  constant 
practice  a  system  of  wholesale  destruction 
like  the  bands  we  use,  it  would  seem  that  the 
moths  coming  from  the  small  orchards  in  his 
vicinity  could  not  cause  him  very  great  injury, 
but  woe  to  the  owner  of  50  trees  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  a  mammoth  plantation,  if  the 
latter  is  persistently  neglected. 

Of  course,  the  application  of  these  bands 
can  have  no  sensible  effect  upon  the  moths 
that  will  come  forth  in  due  time  to  produce 
the  first  brood  of  the  present  season,  but  if  it 
destroys  or  prevents  that  brood  from  perpetu- 
ating itself,  a  great  advance  in  the  right 
direction  will  have  been  made  ;  and  it  is  our 
opinion  that  no  remedy  is  of  any  possible  use 
for  the  destruction  of  this  moth,  except  one 
involving  the  principles  this  does,  whatever 
its  special  form  may  be. 


MILK. 
Although  many  of  our  readers  may  have 
heard  of  such  a  thing  as  "pigeon's  milk," 
or  the  "  milk  of  human  kindness,"  yet  we,  in 
what  follows,  entirely  discard  all  subh  lacteal 
mythologies  and  confine  our  remarks  to  milk 
as  the  product  of  the  class  Masimalia,  all 
the^females  of  which  yield  that  noupjshing 
fluid  as  the  sustaining  element  of  their  off- 
spring during  their  infancy.  At  tlie  head  of 
the  milk-producing  Mammals,  notably,  stand 
the  female  animals  belonging  to  the  genus 
Bos,  and  especially  the  various  breeds  of  the 
domestic  cow,  including  the  Natives,  the 
Ayrshires,  Devons,  Holsteins,  Jerseys,  Swiss, 
Durhams,  Alderneys,  and  their  various  cross- 
ings—polled, long-horned  and  short-horned  ; 
because  the  milk  of  these  animals,  ever  since 
the  beginning  of  modern  history,  has  been  an 
important  factor  in  the  domestic  and  com- 
mercial products  of  civilized  nations. 

Of  course  milk  necessarily  must  differ  in  its 
quality,  its  flavor,  its  richness  and  its  general 
appearance,  according  to  the  animal  from 
which  it  is  drawn,  and  in  this  difference  it 
may  adapt  itself  more  fully  to  the  fundamen- 
tal object  for  which  it  was  provided,  namely, 
the  nourishing  of  the  young  during  the  early 
periods  of  their  infantile  development.  Other 
objects,  whatever  their  magnitude,  must  be 
regarded  as  beneficent  contingencies,  adapt- 
ing themselves  to  human  necessities. 

Experimental  analyses  have  been  made,from 
time  to  time,  at  various  places,  in  different 
countries,  by  eminent  chemical  authorities, 
and  their  results  have  been  published  to  the 
world,  but  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  include  these 
results  in  this  paper,  except  partially,  per- 
haps, by  incidental  reference.  In  additon  to 
the  domestic  cow  the  milk  of  various  species 
of  the  genus  Bos  have  been  the  subjects  of 
chemical  analysis ;  as,  for  instance,  the 
Buffalo,  the  Gayal,  the  Gyall,  the  Yak,  the 
Jungly  Gau,  and  tlie  Zebu.  Also  the  Goat, 
the  Ewe,  the  Camel,  the  Reindeer,  the  Mare, 
the  Ass,  the  Sow,  the  Llama,  the  Bitch,  the 
Porpoise  and  the  Whale  ;  and  last,  but  not 
least,  the  women  of  our  own  species.  ,  In 
reference  to  the  milk  of  the  Ass  it  is  said  to 
be  the  sweetest  and  most  digestible  of  all 
milks,  and  hence  it  is  recommended  by  Euro- 
pean physicians  as  a  proper  aliment  for  deli- 
cately constituted  invalids ;  and  although, 
perhaps,  not  easily  obtained  in  our  country, 
yet  it  can  be  readily  obtained  in  many  places 
abroad.  In  the  city  of  London,  for  instance, 
it  is  said  that  in  times  past  one  might  fre- 
quently meet  with  such  signs  as  "  Vender  of 
Ass's  Milk  to  His  Majesty,"  or,  perchance,  to 
'' His  Royal  Highness  the  Buke  of  York,"  or 
some  other  distinguished  nobleman  or  other 
personage.  It  is  used  by  "wet  nurses,"  who 
have  not  enough  of  their  own,  in  rearing 
children,  and  is  said  to  make  the  nearest  ap- 
proximation to  woman's  milk  of  any  other 
kind  that  is  known.  No  doubt  our  people 
would  revolt  at  this  "  Aber  es  ist  evva  yousht 
wee  mens  'gw.aned  ist."  The  milk  of  the 
cow,  the  ewe  and  the  goat  are,  however, 
the  principal  milks  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
butter  and  cheese.  In  Iceland  the  ewes  are 
regularly  milked,  and  so  are  they  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  in  Europe.  It  is  said  that 
ewes'  milk  furnishes  a  considerable  quantity  of 
the  cheese  manufactured  for  export  from  the 
region  of  the  Pyrenees,  as  well  as  from  some 
districts  in  France,  and  it  is  far  superior  to 
the  cheese  made  from  the  milk  of  the  goat. 
Goat  milk  is  said  to  be  very  disagreeable  to 
some  persons,  although  those  accustomed  to 
it  prefer  it  to  any  other.  The  cheese  produced 
from  it  has  a  strong  flavor,  but  this  is  not  at 
all  objectionable  to  lovers  of  "loud  flavored  " 
cheese,  such,  for  instance,  as  Limherger, 
which,  however,  like  saw  kraut,  tastes  much 
better  than  it  smells.  Here,  in  Pennsylvania— 
especially  in  Lancaster  county— the  goat  has 
never  been  very  popular  as  a  producer  of  but- 
ter, cheese  and  milk,  except,  perhaps,  among 
the  poorer  classes  in  the  suburbs  of  Philadel- 
phia ;  but  in  some  of  the  Eastern  States,  as 
in  Massachusetts,  and  also  in  New  York, 
goats'  milk,  of  late  years,  has  come  into  quite 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


67 


extensive  use,  especially  among  the  poor  and 
the  foreign  population.  But,  perhaps,  the 
greatest  use  made  of  it  is  in  Malta,  Italy  and 
the  Levant.  The  sassenage  cheese,  made  from 
a  mixture  of  milks  of  the  cow,  the  Roat  and 
the  ewe,  is  in  hitjli  rcciucst  in  foreign  countries. 
The  Arabians  milk  their  camols,  the  Lapland- 
ers their  reiiuluers,  ami  the  Central  Asiatics 
their  mares  ;  but  tlio  principal  use  made  of  it 
by  them  is  in  the  preparation  of  an  intoxicat- 
ing beverage. 

Although  in  the  animal  kingdom  it  is  only 
the  female  Mammals  that  produce  milk,  yet 
there  are  various  sul)jects  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom  that  arc  milk-producing,  though, 
perhaps,  not  so  rich  in  nutritions  elements  as 
animal  milks,  not  even  the  "milk  in  the  cocoa- 
nut." 

Our  preferences,  however,  by  dint  of  habit, 
education,  social  custom  and  locality,  lean 
strongly  towards  the  "  philosophical  cow  ;" 
and  we  will  conclude  these  remarks  by  con- 
densing from  the  columns  of  the  Scientific 
Farmer  a  brief  analysis  of  the  milks  of  differ- 
ent breeds  of  cows  : 


p 

t 

1 

1 

Author. 

5 

12 
50 
9 

87.13 
S4..1 

3.4T 

r  T<< 

0.63 

Devou 

Holstem 

S.'J'.l  4  '^3 

WIggin. 

Jersey  

Natives 

swuV.. ?!'.".''.;::;■. 

Waller. 
Euglehardt. 
I'layfair. 
lioussingalt. 

To  which  we  add  the  following  table  of 
local  analyses : 


f 

a 

1 

^ 
? 

2.94 
451 

4!04 
3.42 
130 

4.88 

2.93 
4.86 
3.80 
3.32 
5.19 
6.40 
4.13 

1 

5.37 
4.22 
6.27 
4.70 
4.07 
4.77 
4.82 

0.83 
0.65 
0.27 
0.73 
0.77 
0.90 
0.66 

Author. 

Eugland 

11 

10 

4 

22 

8T.90 
85.76 
86.28 
87.18 
86.66 

fisisi 

Reid. 
VerDOis. 

Sf- 

Macraner. 

Newro^k-Bwili:: 
MassachuscttB... 

Reid. 
Sharplcss. 

From  the  same  source  we  glean  that  five 
Holsteins,  owned  by  the  Oneida  community, 
in  1878  yielded  43,771  pounds  of  milk  ;  highest 
yield  for  one  cow,  10,850.  Also,  that  thirty- 
seven  Ayrshires  yielded  207,445  pounds,  an 
average  to  each  cow  of  5,498  pounds  in  one 
year,  and  that  the  highest  yield  was  8,316 
pounds  to  one  cow.  For  further  particulars 
we  refer  the  reader  to  that  rare  and  excellent 
journal,  the  Scientific  Farmer  for  April,  1879, 
edited  with  more  "ability  than  any  other  far- 
mers' journal  in  the  country. 

MONTHLY  REMINDERS. 

In  the  Middle  States,  during  the  past  montli, 
some  of  the  hardier  vegetables  have  been 
sown,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  present  one, 
all  will  have  been  put  in  ;  hence  the  labor 
will  now  mainly  consist  of  the  various  opera- 
tions of  transplanting,  thinning,  weeding, 
hoeing,  &e.  The  following  alphabetical 
directions  will  serve  as  a  reminder  to  the  un- 
practiced  gardener,  who  is  also  referred  to  the 
directions  for  April. 

Beans,  Bush,  plant  for  succession ;  Lima, 
Carolina,  and  other  Pole  Beans  may  now  be 
planted.  Beets,  Long,  sow.  Cabbage,  plant ; 
sow  seed  if  not  done  last  month.  Capsicum 
(])epper)  plant.  Carrot,  Long  Orange,  sow. 
Cauhflower,  in  frames,  remove  glasses. 
Celery,  weed.  Crops  which  have  failed  when 
first  sown,  repeat  sowings.  Cucumber,  Early 
Frame,  plant.  Lettuce,  Large  Cabbage  and 
India  and  Dutch  Butter,  sow  in  drills,  to 
stand  ;  thin  out  if  too  thick.  Melons  plant ; 
of  the  Water,  Icing  or  Icc-rind  is  the  best. 
Parsnips  thin  out,  if  ready.  Weeds  destroy 
as  they  appear,  and  hoe  and  otherwise  culti- 
vate the  advancing  crops ;  it  is  needless  to 
particularize  each  duty.  Where  the  interest 
and  taste  lead  to  gardening,  directions  for 


every  operation  are  necessary  to  but  few.  Is 
it  not,  however,  discreditable  to  the  character 
of  many  farmers  who  till  their  own  land,  and 
should  reap  the  reward  of  well-cultivated  gar- 
dens, that  none  but  the  simplest  vegetables 
mny  be  found  upon  their  tables,  and  in  too 
many  instances  that  scanty  supply  is  the  re- 
sult of  women's  labor  V 

We  have  in  former  issues  of  our  Jlural 
Register  recommended  a  "  Farmer's  Kitchen- 
Garden  "  where  nearly  all  the  preparation  of 
the  land  m.iy  be  done  by  horse-power,  and 
thus  most  ample  supplies  of  vegetables  be 
obtained  at  all  seasons  without  hand  labor  or 
occupation  of  time  which  may  not  be  readily 
spared  from  farm  duties,  and  the  women  of 
the  household  be  relieved  from  toiling  to 
sui)ply  household  wants. 

Wherever  onions  of  fit  size  for  taV)le  use  may 
be  raised  from  seed  (the  black)  the  first  season 
without  the  agency  of  "sets,"  we  can  confi- 
dently recommend  the  Early  Red.  It  ripens 
ahead  of  all  others,  the  "Queen  "  excepted  ; 
is  solid,  mild,  a  good  keeper,  and  does  not 
produce  bulbs  with  stiff  necks  as  common 
with  the  large  red,  otlierwise  Wethersfield 
Red.  The  onion  is  indispensable  in  every 
family,  and  if  the  production  can  be  facilitated 
without  the  tedious  and  expensive  interposi- 
tion of  sets,  not  always  within  reach,  there  is 
economy  and  comfort ;  therefore  we  advise 
trial  of  the  Early  Red,  and  shairbe  pleased  to 
have  our  customers  report  results. 

An  experiment  made  with  the  Bloomsdale 
strain  of  Early  Red  in  Wisconsin,  in  latitude 
44c  (north  of  Jat.  of  Toronto,  Canada),  gave 
the  most  surprising  results  ;  another  with  the 
same  variety  in  Nebraska,  latitude  45°,  ex- 
cited the  highest  admiration  ;  not  a  single 
stiff  neck  was  observed. 

These  facts  are  at  least  highly  suggestive, 
and  merit  the  examination  of  Northern  and 
Northwestern  onion  growers  and  dealers  in 
seed.^ — LandretlVs  Bitral  Register. 

TO  MARKET-GARDENERS  THROUGH- 
OUT THE  UNION. 

List  of  Approved  Varieties  of  Cabbage. 

Bloomsdale  Bullork-Heart.— This  is  the  first 
and  best  Early,  ripening  with  the  English 
Large  York,  and  a  few  days  in  advance  of 
Landreth's  Large  York.  It  is  large  for  a  first 
early,  uniform,  and  invariably  produces  mar- 
ketable heads.  Where  the  winter  is  severe 
sow  in  hot  beds  February  or  March,  according 
to  location,  transplant  under  glass  to  secure 
sturdy  plants  preparatory  to  setting  out. 
Seed  by  ounce  or  paper  only  this  season — next 
year  in  quantity. 

Bloomsdale  Early  Market. — This  is  offered 
as  a  second  early,  succeeding  the  Bloomsdale 
Bullock-Heart.  It  is  of  extraordinary  size  for 
an  early  ripening  variety,  head  reaching  eight 
to  fifteen  pounds  under  good  culture,  which 
it  must  have  to  attain  perfection.  Were  we 
to  write  a  page  in  its  praise  we  could  not  say 
too  much. 

Bloomsdale  Brunswick.— Th\s  is  a  very  dis- 
tinct variety,  and  may  be  designated  as  a 
summer  cabbage,  following  as  it  does  imme- 
diately after  the  Bloomsdale  Early  Market 
It  would  be  difficult  for  us  to  speak  too  highly 
of  this  sort.  Short  in  the  stem,  flat  in  form, 
firm,  weighty,  compact,  and  attractive  in 
every  respect,  it  needs  only  to  be  seen  by 
market-gardeners  to  be  approved.  It  is, 
however,  necessary  to  treat  it  as  an  early 
variety,  as  it  suffers  under  the  sun,  and  should 
make  its  growth  prior  to  July  in  the  Middle 
States,  and  still  earlier  in  the  South. 

Bloo7nsdale  Early  Drumhead. — This  is  in 
some  respects  similar  to  the  Bloomsdale 
Brunswick— more  robust,  and  may  be  trans- 
planted later  to  head  in,  September  and  Octo- 
ber—of this  we  have  the  seed  in  papers  only 
the  present  season. 

Bloomsdale  Late  Flat  Butch. — Everybody 
knows  this  variety.  For  three-quarters  of  a 
century  we  have  been  spreading  it  broadcast, 
until  now  nearly  every  locality  in  the  Union 
has  had  an  opportunity  to  judge  of  and  appre- 
ciate its  merits.    Whatever  good  there  may 


be  in  "Premium  Flat  Dutch  "  (so  called)  has 
been  derived  from  this  stock. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  predict  the  above  five 
varieties  of  cabbage  are  destined  to  be  the 
standard  sorts  of  the  market-gardens  of  the 
Union.  For  family  use  they  are  equally  re- 
liable.—7>a)uh-((/t's  Rural  Register. 

WHAT  BECOMES  OF  THE  BIRDS. 

"  A  German  dealer  recently  received  32,000 
dead  humming  bird.s,  80,000  dead  aquatic 
birds,  and  800,000  pairs  of  wings  of  birds  of  all 
kinds  for  ladies'  bonnets." 

Thi«  is  a  brief  but  significant  paragraph. 
All  these  birds  are  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of 
Fashion.  Sliould  the  fashion  be  much  longer 
continued  our  birds  may  all  fall  victims  to  it, 
and  then  the  insects  will  have  their  own  lively 
time  of  it.  The  only  salvation  from  such  a 
threatening  contingency  is  in  making  the 
wearing  of  insects  fashionable  by  the  whole 
people.  Handsome  bonnet  ornaments  might 
be  compounded  out  of  grasshoppers,  cock- 
roaches, butterflies  and  moths  ;  and  splendid 
jewelry  out  of  Colorado  potato-beetles,  curcu- 
lios,  apple  tree  borers  and  chinch  bugs.  We 
mean  exactly  what  we  say.  If  things  con- 
tinue as  they  are  going  now,  this  will  ulti- 
mately be  our  only  safeguard  against  noxious 
insects. 

BOOK  FARMING. 

"  New  England  has  now  over  230  farmers' 
clubs,  with  72,000  active  members,  and  library 
books  to  the  number  of  21,000." 

That's  the  way  it  is  done  in  New  England. 
Put  all  the  New  England  States  together  and 
their  combined  territory  will  hardly  be  larger 
than  the  single  State  of  New  York,  and  not 
much  larger  than  Pennsylvania.  Their  land  is, 
and  always  has  been,  naturally,  more  sterile 
than  either  Pennsylvania  or  New  York,  and 
yet  farmers,  as  a  class,  are  more  intelligent,  as 
good  cultivators,  and  average  as  much  off 
their  few  acres  as  they  do  in  the  two  great 
States  last  named  ;  and,  doubtless,  they  live 
as  bountifully.  They  seem  to  apprehend  that 
all  traditional  things  are  daily  becoming  more 
precarious  in  their  tenure,  and,  therefore, 
they  are  not  too  conceited  or  i)rejudiced  to 
become  book  farmers.  They  join  clubs, 
take  agricultural  journals  and  thoroughly 
read  them. 

EGGS-TRAORDINARY. 

"  Statistics  show  that  the  annual  consump- 
tion of  eggs  in  the  United  States  is  about 
10,600,000  barrels.  The  poultry  marked  or 
consumed  in  1877,  is  estimated  at  680,000,000 
pounds  of  the  value  of  »68,000,000." 

Eggs-actly  so.  And  yet  many  of  our  far- 
mers consider  the  egg  and  chicken  business 
too  small  to  recognize  as  a  branch  of  com- 
merce ;  and  in  the  face  of  the  fact,  too,  that 
the  market  is  seldom  or  never  overstocked 
with  this  species  of  merchandise.  Eggs,  like 
lucifer  matches,  would  be  used— and  always 
used— by  the  entire  population,  if  they  could 
be  uniformly  furnished  within  the  abilities  of 
the  poor,  or  those  in  medium  circumstances — 
the  working  people,  for  instance.  They  go 
farther  in  a  family  than  many  other  things 
consumed,  which  cost  a  great  deal  more.  No 
animal  ^bstance  contains  so  much  meat  with 
so  little  quantity  of  bone — for  eggs-ample. 

HENSLOW  ON  THE  SELF-FERTILIZA- 
TION OF  PLANTS. 

The  Rev.  George  Ileiislow  concludes,  from 
his  studies  on  the  structure  of  plant^s,  that  the 
prevailing  views  as  to  the  necessity  of  cross- 
fertilization  are  too  extreme.  He  claims  that 
"Mr.  Darwin's  works  have  gone  too  far  to 
strengthen  the  belief  that  intercrossing  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  for  plants  ;  and  that  if  self- 
fertilization  be  continued  for  lengthened 
periods  the  plants  tend  to  degenerate,  and 
thence  to  ultimate  extinction.  This  I  believe 
to  be  absolutely  false."  Mr.  Henslow  arrives 
at  the  following  conclusions  in  his  article  in 
the  Popular  Science  Review: 

1st.  The  majority  of  flowering  plants  can, 
do,  fertilize  themselves. 


68 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  May, 


2ad.  Very  few  plants  are  known  to  be 
physiologically  self-sterile  when  pollen  of  a 
flower  is  placed  on  the  stigma  of  the  same 
flower. 

3rd.  Several  plants  are  known  to  be  mor- 
phologically* self-sterile,  in  that  pollen  cannot, 
without  aid,  reach  the  stigma  of  a  contiguous 
flower,  but  is  effective  on  that  of  the  same 
flower. 

4th.  Self-sterile  plants,  from  both  the  above 
causes,  can  become  self-fertile. 

5th.  Highly  self-fertile  forms  may  arise 
under  cultivation. 

6th.  Special  adaptations  occur  for  self-fertili- 
zation. 


Queries  and  Answers. 


Mr.  F.  B.  i*.— The  large,  long-winged  in- 
sect you  sent  us  is  the  "  Great  Shad-Fly  "— 
Perla  xanthenes,  one  of  the  largest  of  the 
species,  and  which  usually  make  their  appear- 
ance in  the  spring.  They  are,  perhaps,  later 
this  spring  than  they  usually  are.  Some  of 
the  smaller  species  appear  as  early  as  the  end 
of  February  or  the  beginning  of  March.  The 
larva  lives  a  whole  year  in  water,  and  some 
of  them  for  a  longer  period,  feeding  on  small 
water  animals,  but  the  Imago  never  eats  any- 
thing. Length  of  body,  1^  inches;  caudal 
spine,  i  inch ;  length  of  wings,  2  inches ;  ex- 
pansion of  wings,  4  inches  ;  antennse,  1  inch  ; 
color,  gray,  orange  and  brown.  Order,  Neu- 
EOPTERA  ;  section,  Fseudoneiiroptera;  family, 
Ferlkke. 


Essays. 


SMALL  FRUITS. 

The  following  eutertaiuing  and  instructive 
essay  on  "  Small  Fruits  "  was  read  by  Henry 
M.  -Engle,  Esq.,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Donegal 
Township  Farmers'  Club,  April  5,  1879,  held 
in  Marietta : 

The  great  majority  of  land  owners  and 
cultivators  of  the  soil  look  upon  small  fruit 
culture  as  too  small  a  business  for  their  con- 
sideration, and  more  so  to  plant  and  attend  to 
it  for  either  pleasure  or  profit.  We  admit  that 
too  large  a  proportion  is  grown  in  such  a  slip- 
shod manner,  and  offered  in  our  markets  in 
such  an  uninviting  condition  that  many  who 
would  otherwise  be  consumers  pass  it  by  with 
disgust.  On  the  other  hand,  what  is  more  in- 
viting to  both  the  eye  and  the  palate  than  ripe, 
fresh,  well-grown  strawberries,  measuring 
from  an  inch  to  two  inches  in  diameter,  and 
which  cast  their  fragrance  quite  a  distance  V 
What  is  more  delicious,  appetizing  and  health- 
ful than  a  dish  of  ripe  strawberries,  as  the 
heated  season  comes  in,  and  when  the  system 
requires  such  food;  and  which  is  followed  with 
raspberries,  blackberries,  currants  and  the 
larger  fruits  during  the  summer  season,  all  of 
which  supply  thehuman  system  with  just  what 
nature  designed  for  the  health  and  happiness 
of  man?  When  we  consider  how  prolific 
"mother  earth  "  yields  her  bountiful  supplies, 
with  such  little  intelligent  care  on  the  part  of 
man,  it  seems  next  to  criminal  on  his  part  to 
be  so  negligent  in  this  department,  which  his 
Creator  designed  for  his  welfare.  A^o  adults 
who  have  blunted  their  finer  sensibilities  with 
all  manner  of  stimulants  and  narcotic  poisons, 
and  having  no  longer  that  keen  relish  for  sucli 
delicious  food,  we  have  only  to  say,  let  them 
follow  their  idols  and  reap  their  legitimate 
harvests  ;  but  how  shall  we  deal  with  the  chil- 
dren, whose  unpreverted  appetites  crave  so 
irresistibly  such  a  natural  relish  that  in  many 
cases  they  seem  to  be  almost  forced  to  pilfer 
for  their  natural  good  that  which  is  in  so 
many  cases  denied  them,  and  which  often 
might  be  supplied  with  the  money  spent  by 
their  parents  for  health  and  soul  destroying 
articles  ?  This  may  be  a  question  for  philan- 
thropists and  benevolent  societies,  but  who  is 
better  prepared  to  make  progress  in  this  great 


field  than  the  tiller  of  the  soil  ?  But  while  the 
latter  has  all  the  advantages  possible  his  table 
is  generally  more  scantily  supplied  with  small 
fruits  (and  I  may  add  the  best  of  vegetables,) 
than  that  of  the  working  classes  in  the  cities 
and  larger  towns  throughout  the  country. 
This  is  rather  a  sad  commentary  upon  the 
mass  of  farmers,  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  a 
true  one.  At  a  time  when  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  land  was  under  tillage,  and  wild 
berries  generally  abundant,  and  the  improved 
kinds  few  and  far  between,  and  prices  high, 
there  was  some  excuse  for  indifterence  in  the 
matter ;  but  since  the  larger  propojrtion  of 
land  is  under  tillage,  by  which  most  of  the 
wild  fruits  are  destroyed,  and  the  plants  of 
the  new  and  improved  kinds  so  cheap  and  in 
such  abundance,  there  is  no  longer  a  plea  for 
the  neglect  of  this  important  branch  of  in- 
dustry, which  brings  pleasure  and  health  to 
the  consumer,  and  pays  so  well  the  producer. 
It  is  pretty  safe  to  measure  the  intelligence, 
comfort  and  general  health  of  a  family  by  the 
variety  of  earth's  products  which  they  con- 
sume. Those  who  avail  themselves  of  the 
greater  number  of  the  bounties  of  "  mother 
earth  "  stand  highest  in  the  scale,  while  those 
who  are  content  with  hog  and  potatoes  stand 
at  the  foot.  It  will,  no  doubt,  be  conceded 
that  a  larger  proportion  of  fruits  (and  especi- 
ally small  fruits)  should  compose  the  general 
bill  of  fare,  but  the  question  arises,  "How 
shall  this  be  brought  about?"  In  answer  I 
would  say,  let  a  half  dozen  leading  men  in 
every  township  organize  a  farmers' '  club,  and 
hold  regular  monthly  meetings  (or  oftener  if 
the  interest  will  justify),  and  dTscuss  topics  of 
interest  on  horticulture,  and  hold  annual  or 
semi-annual  exhibitions  of  the  finest  of  earth's 
products  and  the  object  will  be  to  a  great  de- 
gree gained.  Demand  and  supply  will  meet 
each  other,  and  a  review  of  the  past  will 
cause  both  surprise  and  regret  over  benefits 
which  might  have  been  enjoyed.  Few  persons 
have  an  idea  how  soon  they  can  learn  enough 
to  grow  small  fruits  with  as  much  success  as 
any  other  crop,  and  how  ready  consumers  are 
to  patronize  them,  provided  a  good  article  is 
produced  and  offered  fresh  and  in  good  condi- 
tion. Strawberries  can  be  produced  with  as 
much  certainty  as  any  other  crop,  and  no  crop 
will  pay  better  ;  but  such  results  must  not  be 
expected  with  slovenly  cultivatiou.  We  are 
often  asked,  "  When  is  the  best  time  to  plant 
strawberries  ?" 

I  would  say  spring,  as  a  rule,  is  the  most 
certain,  as  the  ground  is  then  cool  and  moist. 
The  soil  being  in  proper  condition  and  good 
plants,  well  put  in,  well  cultivated  during  the 
summer,  and  a  light  mulch  for  winter,  will 
usually  yield  a  full  crop  of  fruit  the  first  sea- 
son after  planting,  which  is  more  than  can  be 
said  of  any  fruit  in  this  latitude.  As  to  varie- 
ties, the  Wilson  continues  to  stand  prominent 
on  the  list,  while  Jucunda,  Charles  Downing, 
Green  Prolific,  Boyden's  No.  30,  and  others 
of  the  older  kinds  are  preferred  by  many. 

Among  the  newer  kinds,  Monarch  of  the 
West,  Cumberland,  Capt.  Jack,  Great  Ameri- 
can, Centennial,  Forest  Rose,  President  Lin- 
coln, and  others,  have  all  proven  excellent 
with  some  growers,  and  may  become  standard 
varieties,  but  none  have  been  more  highly 
extolled  than  Crescent  Seedling  and  Sharp- 
less,  the  former  for  its  wonderful  vigor  of 
plant  and  great  productiveness,  and  the  latter 
for  its  good  quality,  fine  appearance  and 
firmness,  and  as  the  largest  berry  yet  pro- 
duced. Unless  indications  fail,  some  of  the 
older  standard  varieties  will  be  cast  in  the 
shade  by  the  newer. 

Raspberries  are  the  next  fruit  in  order  of 
ripening,  sometimes  overlapping  the  straw- 
bei-ry  season  a  httle,  and  therefore  indispensa- 
ble to  keep  up  supplies  in  their  line.  The 
cap  varieties,  which  propagate  from  tips  and 
generally  as  hard  as  oak,  are  preferred  by 
some.  Doolittle,  Miami,  Mammoth  and 
Seneca  are  among  the  older  standard  varie- 
ties, while  the  Gregg  promises  to  supersede 
all  others  of  this  class. 

Amon^  the  reds,  the  Hudson  River,  Ant- 
werp,    Philadelphia,    Brandywine,    Turner 


and  Herstine  are  standard  varieties,  while 
Pride  of  the  Hudson,  Henrietta  and  Queen  of 
the  Market,  among  the  newer,  may,  oh  ac- 
count of  their  larger  size,  supersede  the 
former. 

The  reds  are  not  as  hardy  as  the  cap  varie- 
ties, but  most  of  the  above-named  are  suffi- 
ciently so  to  make  them  reliable,  and,  as  they 
bring  higher  prices  as  a  rule,  they  are  more 
extensively  grown.  Those  multiplying  with 
suckers  (unless  intended  for  planting)  should 
be  treated  as  weeds,  except  three  to  five  on  a 
bush,  left  stand  for  fruiting,  which  should  be 
topped  when  three  to  four  feet  high,  so  as  to 
form  side  branches,  which  should  also  be 
topped  when  growing  beyond  reasonable 
length.  By  this  method  stouter  canes  will  be 
produced,  which  will  not  be  so  likely  to  fall  or 
be  blown  over.  The  caps  may  be  treated  the 
same  way.  As  an  inducement  to  planting 
raspbeiTies,  they  will  flourish  very  well  in  the 
shade  and  may  be  planted  along  tree  rows, 
where,  by  liberal  manuring,  they  will  yield 
surprising  crops.  Three  by  six  feet  is  a  proper 
distance  for  planting  raspberries. 

Blackberries  will  follow  the  former  very 
closely  and  keep  up  the  succession  of  small 
fruits.  They  should  be  planted  four  by  eight 
feet  and  treated  similarly  to  raspberries. 
They  are  great  feeders  and  will  respond  well 
to  liberal  manuring.  The  Lawton,  being  the 
first  to  make  a  sensation  in  blackberry  culture, 
continues  to  be  largely  grown,  but  the  Wilson, 
being  earlier  and  fully  as  large,  is  the  market 
berry  for  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 

Kittatinny  is  a  berry  of  best  quality,  nearly 
as  large  as  either  of  the  former  and  more 
hardy,  but  has  of  late  been  more  subject  to 
red  rust.  It  has  lost  much  of  its  former 
popularity.  Snyder,  Wallace  and  Taylor  are 
newer  varieties  and  quite  popular  in  some 
sections.  The  currant  is  a  bush  that  is  con- 
sidered indispensable  in'  almost  every  garden 
or  back  yard  of  reasonable  pretensions,  but  as 
a  rule  has  to  make  its  way  among  so  many 
serious  obstacles,  that  it  would  not  be  sur- 
prising if  it  had  succumbed  and  gone  out  of 
existence  long  ago.  When  properly  treated 
it  will  yield  "as  liberal  and  as  fine  as  any  other 
fruit,  and  it  is  of  more  value  than  it  generally 
gets  credit  for.  Cherry  and  La  Versailles  are 
the  largest  varieties,  but  the  old  Red  Dutch 
will  yield  more  than  either  and  is  less  acid. 
The  White  Grape  and  White  Dutch  are  less 
acid  than  the  reds,  of  fair  size  and  quite  pro- 
ductive. 

The  gooseberry  can  only  be  grown  in  a  cool 
and  humid  atmosphere,  so  that  in  this  latitude 
we  scarcely  learn  to  know  what  a  gooseberry 
is  ;  therefore  the  nearer  we  can  bring  about 
the  above  conditions  the  greater  will  be  our 
success  with  this  fruit.  Our  native  kinds, 
however,  yield  crons  as  regular  and  abimdant 
as  any  other  fruit,  but  small  and  inferior  to 
perfect  foreign  gooseberries. 


Contributions. 


LARGE  FARMS  AND  STOCK-RAISING 
IN  LANCASTER  COUNTY. 

Although  Lancaster  county,  being  noted 
for  its  fine  farms  and  its  good  farming  and 
farmers,  we  cannot,  as  a  general  thing,  boast 
of  large  farms  like  some  other  counties  and 
States,  our  farms  averaging  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  acres,  seldom  over  one  hundred  and 
fifty,  and  a  few  two  hundred  acres.  As  an 
exception  to  this,  however,  we  find  a  few  in 
the  northeast  and  northern  sections  of  the 
county  that  may  be  worthy  of  notice  and 
interest  some  of  the  many  readers  of  The 
FAR5IER,  of  which  we  will  endeavor  to  give 
a  short  descriijtion. 

About  twenty  miles  northeast  from  Lan- 
caster and  about  five  miles  from  Ephrata, 
near  the  Berks  county  line,  there  is  a  farm 
containing  about  seven  hundred  acres,  owned 
by  Mr.  Texter,  who  manages  the  whole  farm  ; 
he  has  it  stocked  with  common  stock  of  all 
kinds,  from  sheep,  swine  and  cattle  to  horses 
by  the  score,  mostly  or  [always  a  surplus  on 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


69 


liaiid.  There  Ls  but  one  main  building  on  the 
whole.  He  has  quite  a  number  of  acres  of 
grazing  or  meadow  lands,  and  also  forests, 
such  as  chestnut  sprouts.  Although  mostly 
sand  and  gravel  land  he  has  a  good  deal  of  it 
in  a  good  state  of  cultivation. 

Then  about  fifteen  miles  from  Lancaster, 
five  miles  north  of  Litiz,  you  will  find  several 
large  farms  also  ;  one  of  them  owned  by  the 
heirs  of  Dawson  Coleman,  and  the  other  by 
the  heirs  of  Ttobcrt  Colinian.  The  first,  owned 
by  the  heirs  of  Dawson  Coleman,  is  located  in 
Elizabeth  township,  used  to  be  called  the 
Elizabeth  Furnace,  but  is  now  abandoned 
and  turned  into  a  stock  farm  ;  it  contains  about 
thirteen  hundred  acres.  It  is  managed  by  Mr. 
Colin  Cameron,  who  has  turned  it  partly  into 
a  stock  farm  from  that  of  a  cheese  factory, 
which  was  carried  on  by  his  predecessor.  Mr. 
Cameron  keeps  mostly  Alderney  stock,  from 
which  he  sells  many  at  a  distance,  and  at 
liome;  he  has  also  any  number  of  poultry,  from 
the  game  to  tlic  Plymouth  Rock.  There  are 
three  large  houses  and  barns  on  the  land,  but 
all  managed  by  Mr.  Cameron,  who  lives  in 
the  old  mansion  where  Mr.  Coleman  used  to 
live  many  years  ago.  The  land  is  divided 
into  grazing  and  farming,  and  a  good  deal  is 
in  forest.  The  most  of  the  old  furnace  can 
yet  be  seen,  together  with  the  large  number 
of  tenant  houses,  for  whose  occupants  Miss 
Coleman  built  a  church  to  worship  and  hold 
Sunday-schools. 

The  latter  farm,  west  of  the  former,  con- 
taining about  forty-five  hundred  acres,  owned 
by  the  Coleman  heirs,  formerly  called  the 
Speedwell  Forge  place,  managed  by  Mr. 
George  Youtz,  who  occupies  the  old  mansion, 
and  has,  among  other  older  buildings,  built 
several  large  barns  and  houses  ;  scarcely  any 
of  the  old  forge  and  dam  being  visible.  This 
farm  also  contains  much  grazing  and  meadow 
lands,  and  chestnut  timber,  from  which  many 
rails  and  posts  are  made  and  sold  ;  also,  char- 
coal burned  from  the  wood. 

Mr.  Youtz  has,  if  not  the  greatest  stock 
farm  in  the  State,  at  least  one  of  the  greatest. 
His  stock  of  cattle  are,  as  far  as  I  saw,  ordi- 
nary with  the  exception  of  a  pair  of  oxen, 
which  he  values  highly ;  but  his  stock  of 
Hambletonian  horses  exceeds  any  that  I  have 
yet  seen.  He  has  about  twenty  colts,  about 
twenty  yearlings,  that  many  two  yearlings, 
and,  perhaps,  forty  or  fifty  work  horses,  in- 
cluding his  stallions,  besides  a  number  of 
what  he  calls  Percherons,  (small  ponies). 

Tie  has  a  stallion  of  the  Middletou  stock  for 
which  he  paid  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  ^nd 
three  and  four  yearling  stallions  which  he 
values  from  one  to  two  tliousand  dollars.  He 
has  a  number  of  Hambletonian  colts  now  train- 
ing on  his  half-mile  course,  made  on  purpose 
to  train,  which  he  expects  to  turn  out  two- 
forties,  and  is  sending  them  out  to  different 
points.  These  farms  are  none  of  our  Lancaster 
county  limestone  land— rich  farms— nor  are 
they  so  pleasantly  located,  but  it  will  do  any- 
one good  to  see  some  of  these  farms  and 
stock.— <S(ocfe  Admirer. 


For  The  Lancaster  Fabmkb. 
WANTS  TO  KNOW. 

Mr.  Editor  :  A  young  man  wishes  to 
know  where  he  can  buy  good  land  for  $150  an 
acre  that  will  yield  40  bushels  of  wheat  per 
acre.  He  has  seen  in  the  papers  notices  of 
Mr.  Groff's  system  of  cultivation,  but  it  was 
not  stated  where  such  land  could  be  bought 
or  S150  an  acre.  In  his  neighborhood  land 
costs  a  good  deal  more  than  that,  and  the 
yield  of  wheat  per  acre,  one  year  in  another, 
hardly  averages  25  bushels  per  acre. 

Will  Mr.  GroflE  please  state,  through  The 
Farmer,  where  land  can  be  bought  for  $150 
per  acre  that  will  yield  40  bushels  of  wheat  to 
the* acre  ?  And,  also,  whether  the  farm  can 
be  kept  in  good  condition  with  300  pounds  of 
rawbone  to  the  acre  ;  and,  if  the  straw  is  all 
sold,  what  are  we  to  use  for  bedding  for  the 
horses  and  cows?— H'^amiH-,  3fay,  1879. 

[We  apprehend  that  either  of  the  proposi- 
tions might  be  realized  singly,  but  the  com- 
pound proposition  may  be  difficult  to  realize.] 


For  The  Lanoasteb  Fabmeb. 
SPRING    DAYS. 
And  DOW  the  merry  days  have  come, 

The  gladdest  of  the  year, 
Of  meadows  preen  and  daisies  bright, 

And  streamlets  running;  clear  ; 
The  buttercup  and  cowslip,  too, 

Peep  from  their  mossy  bed, 
They  love  the  gentle  sun's  warm  ray. 

Above  their  lowly  head  ; 
The  apple  tree  is  in  full  bloom, 

And  from  their  tops  the  Jay 
Is  piping  out  his  welcome  notes, 

Throughout  the  live  long  day. 

The  little  lambs  upcfti  the  hills, 

They  skip  and  run  about, 
And  children  on  the  village  green, 

They  give  a  noisy  shout, 
And  say  that  merry  spring  is  here, 

And  in  the  woods  they  hie. 
To  gather  flowers  and  make  a  wreath, 

Beneath  the  bright  blue  sky  ; 
For  school  books  now  are  laid  aside, 

And  all  their  tasks  are  done. 
And  in  the  fields  they  roam  about. 

Beneath  the  genial  sun. 

The  plowman  hurries  to  the  field. 

To  turn  the  mellow  sward. 
And  drop  within  the  golden  grain, 

And  wait  the  rich  rewaril ; 
Full  well  he  knows  that  it  must  die, 

And  rise  to  life  again. 
Ere  he  can  reap  the  sweet  reward 

For  all  his  toil  and  pain  ; 
He  thinks  not  of  the  gentle  breeze. 

That  funs  his  sweaty  brow. 
He  only  thinks  of  those  he  loves. 

For  those  he's  toiling  now. 

The  ice-king  now  no  longer  rules 

This  beauteous  world  of  ours, 
The  gentle  sun  upon  us  beams. 

And  brings  us  southern  showers  ; 
For  now  the  trees  are  decked  in  green, 

And  everything  is  bright, 
0,  welcome  to  the  lovely  spring, 

It  is  the  heart's  delight. 
Let  us  enjoy  it  while  we  may. 

And  do  what  good  we  can. 
And  leave  the  rest  to  Him  above. 

It  is  the  better  plan. 

Then  welcome,  welcome  to  the  spring. 

It  brings  us  birds  and  flowers, 
It  brings  to  us  the  breezes  soft, 

It  brings  us  April  showers; 
It  brings  to  us  the  rippling  rill. 

From  out  the  mountain  glen, 
It  makes  the  blood  leap  in  "our  veins. 

It  makes  us  young  again  ; 
The  insects,  too,  have  sprung  to  life, 

In  every  woody  dell. 
Oh,  how  we  love  the  spring  time, 

The  hungry  heart  can  tell. 

But  some  are  grieving  for  their  loved. 

Whom  they  have  laid  away. 
Forgetful  of  the  blessings  here 

That  thev  have  every  day ; 
Nor  thinking  of  the  time  they'll  meet 

Upon  the  golden  shore. 
And  walk  within  the  light  of  God, 

And  live  for  evermore  ; 
We  there  shall  walk  the  golden  streets. 

It  is  the  spirit's  rest, 
It  is  the  spring  time  of  the  soul, 

The  sweetest  and  the  best. 

—Leoline. 


FOB  The  Lancaster  Fabmzb. 
ABOUT  EGGS. 
Mr.  S.  S.  Rathvon— De(tr  Sir:  In  read- 
ing over  your  valuable  paper.  The  Lancas- 
ter Farmer,  I  see  many  questions  are  asked 
by  the  Lancaster  County  Poultry  Association, 
and  not  all  being  able  to  agree  I  will  here 
give  a  few  ideas  of  my  own  experience.  E-'gs 
will  keep  for  one  month  and  hatch  well  if 
they  are  laid  on  their  sides,  instead  of  stand- 
ing on  either  end,  but  not  air-tighted.  When 
standing  on  end  the  spiral  cord  is  on  a  strain, 
as  the  yolk  is  hung  in  the  centre,  having  a 
spiral  cord  attached  to  each  end,  and  each  one 
being  twisted  the  contrary  way  from  the  other 
keeps  the  yolk  on  the  one  side  up  all  the  time ; 
you  can  turn  the  shell  but  not  the  yolk  ;  there- 
fore, on  the  side  is  the  proper  way  to  keep 
them,  the  same  as  when  the  hen  is  brooding 
over  them.  Fertile  eggs  are  tliose  that  show 
the  air  bubble  at  or  near  the  big  end.  AVhen 
it  cannot  be  seen  the  egg  is  not  fertile.  Some 
are  not  full,  and  we  can  see  the  light  through 


the  top  of  the  egg  ;  and,  move  it  backward 
and  forward  slowly,  you  can  see  the  contents 
move  on  the  inside.  These  are  non-fertile  eggs. 

Pullets'  eggs  will  hatch  as  well  as  hens,  but 
it  is  neccBsary  to  give  them  the  cock  in  the 
fall,  and  by  spring  they  will  be  all  right ;  but 
they  will  give  more  cockrels  than  pullets.  The 
"egg-tester  "  is  of  no  use  to  test  the  fertility 
of  an  egg ;  this  fact  should  be  ascertained 
before  the  eggs  are  set,  by  the  air  bubble ;  the 
tester  is  very  useful,  after  they  have  been  sit 
on  one  week,  to  test  the  life  of  the  egg.  If 
the  vitality  has  not  been  destroyed  by  the  hen 
or  hens  it  will  show  itself  by  the  use  of  the 
tester.  I  have  one  of  my  own  make,  werth 
20  cents,  far  superior  to  those  sold  at  75  cents. 
Fresh  blood  should  be  introduced  every  year, 
and  not  bred  in  and  in  ;  and  it  matters  not 
whether  it  is  a  cock  or  a  cockrel,  providing 
they  are  vigorous  ones.  White  Leghorns,  if 
well  bred,  will  lay  225  eggs  per  annum,  and 
will  average  seven  to  the  pound.  Where  I 
have  one  that  will  fall  short  of  this  number  I 
have  two  that  will  overreach  it;  or  19  doz.  per 
annum  for  each  hen,  at  a  clear  profit  of  $3.00 
per  year,  and  the  hen  gratis,  so  if  one  dies  I 
lose  nothing,  only  minus  one  chicken.  Gen- 
tlemen, it  is  eggs  that  ))av,  not  poultry 
flesh.— Fours,  *c.,  Wm.J.Pyle,  West  Chester, 
April  nth,  1879. 

P.  S.  Here  is  something  for  the  society  to 
debate  on.  In  the  spring  of  1870  I  had  35 
hens  and  one  cock.  About  the  first  of  April 
I  lent  the  cock  to  a  friend  to  nm  a  few  days 
with  his  fancy  hens  (White  Leghorns).  He 
kept  him  five  weeks,  and  during  this  time  I 
sold  32  settings,  and  sit  8  settings  myself  ;  but 
I  examined  every  egg,  and  some  of  my  cus- 
tomers ordered  the  third  setting,  reporting  to 
me  of  hatching  12  out  of  every  13  eggs.  At 
the  fifth  week  they  began  to  show  non-fertile 
eggs — nearly  one-half  of  them.  I  then  had 
him  sent  home  again,  and  in  four  or  five  days 
they  were  all  right  again.— IF.  J.  P. 

For  The  Lancastee  Fabmeb. 
THE  MOON'S  INFLUENCE. 

Editor  Lancaster  Farmer  :  I  am 
obliged  to  your  correspondent  J.  G.  for  his 
communication  in  the  Aiiril  number  in  answer 
to  mine  of  the  preceding  month,  though  I 
regret  to  say  it  was  not  in  all  respects  satis- 
factory. He  makes  clear  what  he  meant  by 
the  expressions  "rising"  and  "setting"  of 
the  moon  in  his  former  communication,  so  far 
as  the  almanac  is  concerned,  but  he  does  not 
explain  what  the  moon's  "ascension"  or 
"descension"  consists  in,  or  how  we  are  to 
know,  aside  from  the  almanac,  whether  it  is 
in  one  or  the  other  of  those  periods,  so  that 
we  might  be  the  better  able  to  jtidge  if  the 
change  from  one  to  the  other  is  likely  to  have 
the  important  eftects  attributed  to  it.  But 
let  that  pass.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the 
belief  in  the  moon's  influence  on  the  crops  is 
to  be  established  or  overthrown  by  facts  and 
actual  experience  rather  than  by  abstract 
reasoning'  or  theory  ;  but  I  fail  to  find  in 
either  of  J.  G.'s  two  conmiimications  in  The 
Farmer  any  statement  of  facts  or  reference 
to  experiments  that  demonstrate  the  correct- 
ness of  his  belief,  or  that  go  very  far  to  show 
even  a  probability  in  its  favor. 

He  tells  us,  it  is  true,  that  he  plows  and 
plants  when  the  moon  is  in  such  and  such 
signs,  and  leads  us  to  infer  that  he  has  thereby 
succeeded  in  raising  good  croi)s  ;  but  it  seems 
to  me  this  is  not  enough,  unless  he  has  also 
tried  the  experiment  or  known  of  somebody 
else  trying,  not  once  only  but  a  number  of 
times,  of  plowing  and  planting  in  the  opyyosite 
sign,  and  proving  by  actual  experiments  that 
the  crops  were  inferior  in  the  latter  ca.se  to 
the  former.  This  test  seems  necessary  from 
the  fact  I  referred  to  in  my  former  communi- 
cation, that  many  of  our  most  intelligent  and 
some  of  our  most  suco'iisfitl  farmers  pay  no 
attention  whatever  to  the  signs  or  phases  of 
the  moon,  and  do  not  believe  they  have  lost 
anything  bv  their  incredulity  in  this  particu- 
lar. Of  course  these  men  plow  and  plant 
about  as  often  in  what  J.  G.  would  call  the 
wrong  sign  as  in  the  right  one,  and  if  it  is  a 


70 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[May, 


fact  that  they  raise  quite  as  good  crops  as 
those  who  follow  his  plan,  is  not  the  inference 
pretty  strong  that  the  latter  are  probably 
laboring  under  a  delusion  ?  If,  however,  J.  G. 
can  show  by  a  series  of  carefully  conducted 
experiments,  by  himself  or  others,  extending 
over  a  considerable  space  of  time,  that  the 
signs  or  chances  of  the  moon  have  the  effect 
attributed  to  them,  or  any  sensible  effect  on  the 
crops,  then  we  will  have  to  admit  that  he  is 
justified  in  his  belief.  Until  that  is  done,  it 
cannot  be  expected  that  intelligent  agricul- 
turists will  generally  adopt  this  theory. 

J.  Gr.  correctly  supposes  that  none  of  us 
know  much  about  the  invisible  operations  of 
nature  or  hmn  a  seed  germinates  and  grows. 
"We  do  know,  however,  something  of  the  con- 
ditions indispensable  to  growth  and  germina- 
tion. We  know  that  it  requires  a  certain  de- 
gree of  warmth  and  moisture.  Plant  a  grain 
of  corn  in  perfectly  dry  earth,  or  where  the 
ground  is  and  remains  of  a  temperature  be- 
low freezing,  and  it  will  not  germinate  till 
doomsday,  no  matter  what  the  sign  of  the 
moon.  On  the  contrary  give  it  warmth  and 
moisture,  and  it  will  as  surely  germinate  and 
grow  up  out  of  the  ground,  be  the  moon's  sign 
what  it  may. 

Now,  it  sometimes  happens  in  planting 
seeds,  in  actual  practice,  the  ground  is  so  dry, 
or  so  cold,  that  the  seed  placed  in  it  will  re- 
main for  a  week  or  more  with  no  more  change 
or  approach  to  germination  than  if  it  had 
been  left  in  the  bag  or  the  granary.  But 
while  the  seed  has  lain  there  in  the  ground, 
perfectly  dormant,  the  sign  which  was  right 
when  it  was  planted  has  changed,  and  when 
it  begins  to  germinate  the  sign  is  wrong. 
Does  J.  G.  conceive,  in  that  case,  that  the 
seed  planted  after  the  sign  had  thus  changed 
would  be  less  likely  to  produce  abundantly 
than  the  one  planted  a  week  before  ?  If  he 
admits  that  the  result  would  be  the  same  he 
will  then  have  to  acknowledge  that  knowing 
the  right  sign  is  of  very  uncertain  practical 
use,  as  the  sign  may  be  different  at  the  time 
of  germinating  from  what  it  was  at  the  time 
of  planting. 

It  is  claimed,  however,  that  the  weather  is 
affected  or  governed  by  the  moon's  changes, 
and  of  course  whatever  affects  the  weather, 
indirectly  if  not  directly,  affects  the  crops. 
But  is  there  sufficient  evidence  that  the 
changes  or  changing  signs  of  the  moon  have 
any  effect  upon  the  weather  ?  Dr.  Lardner, 
the  celebrated  English  scientist,  who  delivered 
a  number  of  lectures  on  various  scientific 
subjects,  some  thirty  years  ago,  asserts  that 
complete  registers  of  the  weather  at  many 
different  points  throughout  Europe  had  been 
kept  for  fifty  to  a  hundred  years,  the  times  of 
lunar  changes  also  being  kept,  so  that  the  one 
can  be  compared  with  the  other.  "  The  result 
of  such  an  examination,"  he  says,  "has  been 
that  no  correspondence  whatever  has  been 
found  to  exist  between  the  two  phenomena." 
He  further  declares  that  abundant  experi- 
ments have  proved  that  the  notion  that  plants 
and  trees  should  be  grafted  or  timber  felled 
in  a  particular  sign  or  phase  of  the  moon  is 
entirely  without  foundation  ;  and  equally  un- 
founded, he  says,  is  the  notion  that  vegetables 
whose  roots  are  used  as  food  should  be  planted 
in  the  decrease  of  the  moon,  while  those  that 
bear  the  fruit  on  the  stalks  and  branches 
should  be  planted  during  the  increase  of  the 
moon.  These  conclusions  of  Lardner,  he 
aflBrms,  have  been  established  by  many  long- 
continued  and  careful  experiments  by  compe- 
tent observers.  Can  J.  G.  bring  forward  any 
record  of  experiments  in  corroboration  of  the 
contrary  opinion  he  holds  ? 

The  mere  fact  that  our  "fathers and  grand- 
fathers "  held  certain  opinions  is  not  sufficient 
ground  for  us  believing  they  are  true,  or  else 
a  great  many  of  us  would  discard  the  demon- 
strations of  modern  astronomy  and  believe 
that  the  earth  is  flat  instead  of  round,  and 
that  the  sun  daily  moves  round  it  to  produce 
day  and  night. 

The  tides  of  the  ocean  are  referred  to  as 
showing  the  effect  the  moon  may  have  upon 
matter  on  the  earth's  surface,    If  J.  G,  could 


show  that  any  effect  similar  to  the  rise  and 
fall  of  the  tides  is  produced  in  our  lakes  and 
ponds  and  mill-dams,  it  would  be  more  con- 
vincing. As  this  cannot  be  shown,  and  as 
the  periodical  times  of  the  rising  and  falling 
of  the  tides,  (twice  in  twenty -four  hours)  have 
no  correspondence  whatever  with  the  times  of 
the  changes  of  the  signs  from  "ascension "  to 
"descension"  (twice  in  twenty-seven  to 
twenty-eight  days)  it  can  hardly  be  claimed 
that  the  moon's  influence  in  the  matter  of 
the  tides  lends  any  weighty  confirmation  to 
the  theory  we  have  been  examining. — Ama- 
teur Farmer. 

For  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
THE  INDIAN    TURNIP. 

Every  school  boy  knows  the  "Indian  Tur- 
nip," as  one  mischievous  lad  will  often  excite 
the  ciuriosity  of  many  to  take  a  bite  or  chew  a 
bit,  and  then  enjoy  the  fun  to  see  them  spit  it 
out  and  scrape  their  tongue  as  if  beset  by 
pricking  nettles.  This  pungency  is  quite 
sharp  for  a  brief  period  in  the  fresh  root, 
which  is  called  a  corm ;  it  is  not  a  bulb  nor 
onion.  Although  shaped  like  a  turnip,  it 
differs  in  its  structure. 

"We  have  two  species,  very  commonly  met 
with  in  moist,  rich  woods.  I  find  the  old  name, 


Arum,  for  this  genus,  is  now  the  [Arisc^ma,  of 
Martius)  the  A.  tripyllum,  so  called  by  having 
the  leaves  divided  into  three  eliptical  ovate 
pointed  leaflets  ;  this  is  the  common  "Indian 
turnip."  What  we  term  the  flower,  and 
usually  composed  of  a  corolla  or  colored  calyx, 
is  in  this  case  called  a  "spathe,"  which  is 
simply  a  large  bract  or  modifled  leaf  envelop- 
ing a  fleshy  spike  of  one  or  two  kinds  of  small 
flowers,  forming  red  berries  in  fruit,  called  a 
spadix,  and  is  also  known  as  "Jack  in  the 
pulpit."  The  other  species  is  known  as  Ihe 
"Green  Dragon,"  "  Dragon-root,"  and  is  the 
A.  Dracontium.  The  leaf  is  mostly  solitary, 
pedately  branched,  divided  into  7-11  leaflets  ; 
the  spadix  more  slender  and  pointed  ;  the 
spathe  greenish,  rolled  in  a  tube,  with  a  short, 
erect  point.  These  belong  to  an  extensive 
family.  Under  "Arum,"  Lond  and  Johnson 
describe  thirty-four  species  out  of  forty-five 
known;  the  garden  or  cultivated  "C'alla- 
diums,"  a  closely  allied  genius,  of  which 
twenty-eight  stove  evergreens  and  herbaceous 
species  are  described  out  of  thirty-seven  by 
Johnson.  We  frequently  meet  specimens  of 
our  common  Indian  turnip,  having  beautiful 
purple  stripes  on  a  white  ground,  quite  orna- 
mental and  worthy  a  place  among  the  calla- 
diums,    This  species  can  bear  the  winters  of 


Canada  and  the  perpetual  summer  of  Brazil. 
When  carefully  examined  it  is  found  to  be 
one  of  our  most  singular  vegetables.  Its 
erect  scape,  often  spotted  with  purple,  in- 
vested at  base  by  the  petioles  and  their  acute 
sheaths  ;  and  above  bearing  the  acuminate 
spathe,  convoluted  at  its  bottom,  flattened 
out  and  bent  over  at  the  top,  like  a  hood, 
either  striped  with  green  or  purple  ;  some 
plants  are  more  or  less  barren.  The  fertile 
plant  has  a  roundish  crowded  germ,  each 
tipt  with  a  stigma  ;  some  have  stamens  below 
the  germ,  (Monoecious).  The  germs  grow 
and  form  a  large  compact  bunch  of  shining 
scarlet  berries ;  these,  later  in  the  season, 
always  attract  attention  by  the  large,  ver- 
milion red-colored  head  peeping  out.  The 
acrid  property,  which  resides  in  this  and 
other  species  of  Arum,  appears  to  depend 
upon  a  distinct  vegetable  principle  in  chemis- 
try at  present  but  little  understood.  It  is 
extremely  volatile,  and  disappears  almost  en- 
tirely by  heat-drying  or  simple  exposure  to 
the  air.  This,  no  doubt,  like  the  edible 
Arum,  [colocasia  esculcntum  ot  Schott),  "Arum 
colocasia"  or  Egyptian  Arum,  was  extensively 
used  for  food.  No  menstruum  has  yet  been 
found  to  retain  the  acrid  principle  in  its 
power— alcohol,  vinegar,  water,  milk,  etc. 
It  seems  to  consist  of  or  escape  in  the  form  of 
gas— in  solution,  distillation,  &c.  The  acri- 
mony of  the  Ranuwiuli,  which  approaches 
that  of  the  Arum,  is  lost  by  drying,  yet  is 
soluble  in  water,  and  passes  over  with  it  in 
distillation.* 

The  acrimony  of  the  Arum  when  fresh  is 
too  powerful  to  render  its  internal  exhibition 
safe.  The  roots,  when  dried  whole,  retain  a 
small  portion  of  their  pungency,  and  in  this 
state  they  have  been  given  by  some  practi- 
tioners in  this  country  for  flatulence,  cramp 
in  the  stomach,  &c.;  also,  for  asthmatic 
affections.  As  topical  stimulants,  they  promise 
to  be  useful  when  any  method  shall  have  been 
discovered  of  fixing  and  preserving  their 
acrimony. 

The  late  Dr.  Barton,  of  Philadelphia,  ob- 
serves that,  "the  recent  root  of  this  plant 
boiled  in  milk,  so  as  to  communicate  to  the 
milk  a  strong  impregnation  of  the  peculiar 
acrimony  of  the  plant,  has  been  advantage- 
ously employed  in  cases  of  consumption  of  the 
lungs."  Dr.  Bigelow  says  :  "  This  statement, 
however,  should  be  qualified  by  the  recollec- 
tion that  the  Arum  imparts  none  of  its  acri- 
mony to  milk  upon  boiling."  No  doubt  a 
partial  mixture  of  the  root  steeped  in  the  milk 
might  answer  the  object  in  view. 

These  corms  contain  a  large  proportion  of 
very  pure  white  fecula,  resembling  the  finest 
arrow  root  or  stai-ch.  By  simply  reducing 
them  to  a  pulp  while  fresh,  placed  on  a  strainer 
and  pouring  cold  water  repeatedly  over  it, 
carrying  the  farinaceous  part  with  it  through 
the  strainer,  leaving  the  fibrous  portions  be- 
hind, it  loses  its  acrimony,  and  when  thor- 
oughly dried  forms  a  very  white,  delicate  and 
nutritive  substance.  Dr.  McCall,  of  Georgia, 
found  these  roots  to  yield  one-fourth  part  of 
their  weight  of  pure  amylaceous  matter. 
This  is  no  rare  occurrence  of  acrid  roots,  or 
like  the  Carsava  or  bread-root  tree  of  the 
West  Indies,  the  fresh  juice  of  which  is  highly 
poisonous. 

There  seems  to  me  a  hint  of  a  profitable 
industry  that  might  arise  from  the  cultivation 
and  treatment  of  this  singular  product  so 
wholly  neglected  or  overlooked  among  the 
many  other  gifts  of  a  benevolent  Creator. 
Kemember  the  "tomato."  When  I  was  a 
boy  I  was  cautioned  against  handling  and 
tasting  it,  as  if  it  were  the  ' '  Apple  of  Sodom, ' ' 
and  sure  death  to  eat.  Well,  we  need  educa- 
tion and  experience  ;  also,  enterprise  and  ex- 
periment. So  my  agricultural  friends,  as  well 
as  gardeners,  will  please  excuse  me  for  so  long 

*M.  ch.  Musset,  a  celebrated  Dutch  anatomiBt,  gives  a 
highly  luleresting  account  of  an  "Arum  coloc  .sia,'' that 
distilled  water  from  the  ti[)8  of  the  leaves  with  some  degree 
of  force,  ejecting  from  10  to  100  drops  in  a  minute,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  water  was  added  to  the  root-stalb.  Ruysch 
also  says  of  au  Arum  which  he  kept^in  a  green-house  iuthe 
Botanioal  Garden,  at  Amsterdam,  that  the  leaves  trans- 
pired very  abundantly,  distilling  water  drop  by  drop  from 
the  extremities  of  its  leaves. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


71 


a  yarn  about  the  "Indian  turnip;"  if  you 
won't  profit  by  it,  it  can  lianu  no  one  to  know 
what  is  known  about  it. —  Very  respectfully, 
J.  Stauffer. 

For  The  Lanoasteb  Fabmeh. 

timbefJ^  and  fences. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  on  the 
subject  of  timbrr  and  its  uses  in  tlie  near 
future.  AltliouHli  tlie  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject has  contiuui'd  for  years,  yet  we  find  that 
timber  is  clieaiur  than  it  lias  been  lor  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century.  As  a  general  rule,  when 
any  species  of  merchandise  becomes  plenty 
and  low  in  price  a  scarcity  will  follow  ;  there- 
fore let  us  not  wantonly  destroy  what  little 
we  have,  nor  cease  the  agitation  of  the  subject 
of  reproducing  it,  through  the  American 
Forest  Association,  of  which  Dr.  Warder,  of 
North  Bend,  is  the  President.  Notwithstand- 
ing wire  fences  will  eventually  take  the  place 
of  wooden  fences,  and  save  millions  of  dol- 
lars to  the  husbandmen  of  the  Union,  still  we 
will  continue  the  use  of  and  cannot  dispense 
with  timber,  for  purposes  too  numerous  to 
mention. 

Nevertheless  we  ought  not  to  forego  the 
pleasures  of  reproducing  it  for  the  general 
benefit  of  our  fcIlow-men.  If  for  no  other 
purpose,  it  is  an  ennobling  satisfaction  to  be- 
hold the  beautiful  foliage  as  it  bursts  forth  in 
the  spring  through  the  "  forces  of  nature," 
wielded  by  one  who  is  the  author  and 
builder  of  all  things  beneficial  to  the  human 
family.  Also,  for  the  protection  and  enjoy- 
ment of  our  feathered  friends,  who  niake 
their  houses  and  their  homes  under  the  sombre 
shades  of  our  trees,  chirping  and  singing 
praises  to  their  Creator,  almost  showing  more 
reverence  for  their  Maker  than  those  under 
whose  dominion  their  lot  is  cast. 

But,  a  truce  to  moralizing,  as  I  propose  to 
say  something  about  wire  fences.  They  are 
amply  sufficient  everywhere  for  middle  fences, 
and  also  for  roadsides  ;  beautiful  to  look  at, 
straight  as  a  line,  and  fastened  every  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  to  a  straight  post.  They  require 
from  three  to  five  lines ;  people  who  do  not 
keep  sheep  on  their  farms  only  requre  three. 
Along  roadsides,  to  keep  out  sheep  and  swine, 
the  barbed  wire  is  the  best  and  will  deter  all 
animals  from  making  an  attempt  to  break 
through.  I  may  instance  a  neighbor,  who  had 
a  barbed  fence  around  an  enclosure  in  which 
was  his  herd  of  cattle,  including  a  bull.  An- 
other neighbor  had  turned  his  cattle  into  a  near 
adjoining  field,  among  which  was  also  a  bull. 
These  bulls  soon  scented  each  other  and  com- 
menced menacing  each  other  with  bellowing  ; 
the  one  in  a  wired  enclosure  and  the  other 
separated  by  an  old  rail  fence.  The  latter 
commenced  horning  and  pawing,  making 
desperate  attempts  to  break  through'  and  at- 
tack his  antagonist,  who  kept  a  respectable 
distance  from  the  barbed  wires,  although  not 
less  furious  in  his  menaces.  The  other,  how- 
ever, not  succeeding  in  breaking  through,  the 
fun  was  spoiled.  Now,  the  bull  inside  of  the 
barbed  wire  fence  kept  from  four  to  five  paces 
off  from  it,  bellowing,  snorting  and  scratch- 
ing up  the  ground  at  a  furions  rate,  but 
cautiously  keeping  away  from  the  barbed  wire, 
manifesting  a  dread  to  approach  it  too  nearly. 
It  appears  to  me  that  this  was  a  satisfactory 
illustration  of  the  merits  of  such  a  fence,  and 
that  the  cattle  will  soon  learn  its  nature,  and 
avoid  it.  Wire  fences  also  admit  of  cultiva- 
tion nearer  to  them,  and  in  the  course  being 
easier  kept  clean  of  weeds  and  brambles. 
I  predict  that  in  less  than  twenty  years  one- 
half  of  the  fences  of  the  country  will  be  made 
of  wire,  unless  fences  should  be  dispensed 
with  altogether.  In  some  parts  of  the  coun- 
try they  have  many  miles  of  this  kind  of 
fencing,  and  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  learn  it 
gives  general  satisfaction.— i.  S.  B.,  War- 
wick twp..  May,  1879. 

The  Pennsylvania  Board  of  Agriculture 
will  hold  a  grand  meeting  in  the  Hall  of  the 
Permanent  Exhibition  Co.,  Fairmount  Park, 
Philadelphia,  commencing  on  Thursday,  June 
5th.    Our  readers  will  please  take  notice. 


Selections. 


CIDER  VINEGAR  AND  SUGAR  FROM 
SUGAR  BEETS. 

Sugar  beets  are  a  crop  very  easily  raised, 
and  in  good  soil  the  produce  is  abundant.  All 
cattle  are  fond  of  the  leaves,  which  add  much 
to  the  milk  of  cows,  without  giving  it  that 
bad  taste  which  is  unavoidable  when  they  are 
fed  with  turnips  or  cabbages,  and  which  is 
chiefly  owing  to  the  greater  rapidity  with 
whicli  the  latter  undergo  the  putrefactive  fer- 
mentation. 

The  seed  is  sown  in  drills  20  to  24  Indies 
apart,  and  thinned  out  to  the  distance  of  8  to 
12  inches  from  plant  to  plant  in  the  rows. 
From  four  to  six  pounds  of  seed  are  reciuired 
per  acre,  and  they  should  be  steeped  48  hours 
before  planting  ;  the  best  depth  for  sowing  is 
from  three-fourths  of  an  inch  to  an  inch  ;  the 
culture  is  similar  to  that  of  carrots  or  pars- 
nips, and  the  cost  of  seed,  labor  and  fertilizers 
will  amount  to  about  $40  per  acre. 

The  yield,  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
land  fertilizer  used  and  the  cultivation  be- 
stowed, should  average  not  less  than  27j  tons 
or  908i  bushels  beets  per  acre,  and  5|  tons 
beet  leaves. 

Analysis  shows  that  1,000  pounds  of  sugar 
beets  contain  184  pounds  dry  substances,  1.00 
nitrogen,  7.10  ashes,  3.914  potash,  0..379  lime, 
0.5;^G  magnesia,  0.780  phosphoric  acid.  In 
manufacturing  these  elements  are  distributed 
as  follows : 

d.s.  nit.  ashes,  pot.  lime.  mag.  p.  arid 
T's&B's,  19  0.24  1.15  0..S36  0.108  0.132  0.144 
Fibre,  46  0.44  1.71  0.i585  0.390  0.100  5.105 
Refuse,  S4  0.60  1.20  0.380  8.040  0.350  0.3S0 
Molasses,  25  0.31  2.47  1.741  0.141  0.009  0.015 
Sugar,         85  0.57    0.872     0.040    0.072 

After  harvesting  the  roots  are  first  topped, 
then  washed  and  pulped  in  a  grater,  and 
pressed  to  extract  the  juice. 

Fifty  pounds  pressure  to  the  square  inch 
extracts  60  per  cent,  of  juice  ;  80  pounds 
pressure  to  the  square  inch  extracts  64  per 
cent,  of  juice ;  400  pounds  pressure  to  the 
square  inch  extracts  80  per  cent,  of  juice. 

Twenty-four  pounds  of  pulp  for  every  100 
square  inches  of  press  surface  is  the  best  pro- 
portion to  use.  The  cider-press  and  grater, 
made  by  the  Boomer  &  Boschert  Press  Co.,  of 
Syracuse,  New  York,  is  worked  by  power,  and 
has  a  capacity,  with  the  labor  of  two  men,  of 
grating  and  pressing  one  thousand  bushels  of 
beets  per  day  of  10  hours,  and  yields  5,000 
gallons  of  juice. 

The  press  and  grater  cost  $510,  and  require 
less  than  six  horse-power  to  run  them,  and 
the  press  is  the  best  and  cheapest  there  is  for 
this  use.  The  ordinary  cider-press  will  answer, 
but  it  costs  more  to  run  it  and  not  as  much 
juice  is  obtained,  on  account  of  its  not  being 
able  to  produce  as  much  pressure  as  the  other. 

One  bushel  of  sugar  beets,  mixed  with  nine 
bushels  of  apples,  makes  a  cider  richer  and  of 
superior  flavor  to  that  made  from  apples  alone. 
Sugar  beet  juice  can  be  converted  into  vine- 
gar in  the  same  manner  cider  now  is  ;  it 
makes  a  stronger  vinegar  than  cider  does,  of 
equally  good  but  different  flavor,  and  if  treated 
the  same  as  maple  sap  or  sorghum  juice,  it 
will  yield  a  good  article  of  brown  sugar,  and 
all  of  this  not  used  by  the  producer  in  the 
brown  state,  would  be  readily  purchased  to 
be  refined  by  the  refineries  already  established. 
To  refine  sugar  requires  costly  machinery, 
such  as  vacuum  pans,  cenfrifigal  machines, 
filters  of  bone  coal,  &c.,  and  also  skilled  labor, 
but  the  manufacture  of  sugar  from  beet  juice 
requires  only  the  evaporating  pan  and  the 
addition  of  some  lime  to  the  juice  fo  neutraUze 
the  acid. 

The  best  pan  is  that  made  by  the  Blymyer 
Manufacturing  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
4x15  feet  of  copper  costs  $210,  has  a  capacity 
to  evaporate  4,000  gallons  per  day  of  24  hours, 
and  requires  three  cords  of  wood  or  its  equiva- 
lent in  coal.  They  also  have  larger  and 
smaller  pans,  both  iron  and  copper  ;  the  former 
being  lower  in  price.  I  have  no  personal  in- 
terest in  presses  or  pans,  and  mention  them, 


that  each,  for  himself,  can  make  an  estimate 
of  the  cost  of  the  machinery  required,  and 
what  it  will  cost  to  convert  his  beets  into 
cider,  vinegar  or  sugar. 

The  estimated  quantity  of  the  sugar  supply 
of  the  commercial  world  in  1875  was  2,140,000 
tons  of  cane  sugar  and  1,317,025  tons  of  beet 
root  sugar,  of  which  latter  France  produced 
462,256  tons  as  agaiTist  1,565  tons  produced  in 
1828, which  shows  the  promess  of  this  industry 
there.  The  consumption  of  sugar  in  the 
United  .States  isabimt  700,000  tons,  and  is 
rapidly  increasing.  We  now  produce  of  cane 
sugar  100,()UO  tous,  and  of  beet  sugar  1,000 
tons,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  this  cannot 
be  inerea.sed  to  the  quantity  we  rt^piire,  if  the 
farmers  will  raise  the  beets. 

In  France  there  is  a  heavy  tax  on  the  beet 
root  sugar  they  produce,  and  cane  sugar  is 
admitted  free,  yet,  notwithstanding  these  dis- 
advantages, they  successfully  compete  with 
it ;  here  the  reverse  is  the  case— a  heavy  duty 
on  sugar  imported  and  no  taxes  levied  on  its 
manufacture ;  certainly  under  these  condi- 
tions we  should  produce  all  the  sugar  we  con- 
sume, and  have  a  surplus  for  export. 

After  the  juice  is  expressed  from  the  rasped 
beet,  the  dry  pulp  rf-maining  is  an  admirable 
food  for  cattle,  sheep  ami  swine.  The  average 
amount  of  pulp  is  20  jxr  cent,  of  the  original 
weight  of  the  beet,  and  three  tons  of  it  for 
feeding  purposes  are  e<iual  to  one  ton  of  hay, 
and  should  be  fed  in  connection  with  straw 
and  oil  cake  or  cotton  seed  meal.  As  the 
pulp  is  fed  back  to  stock,  the  land  is  con- 
stantly growing  richer,  all  the  mineral  sub- 
stances taken  from  it  being  restored  in  the 
mauure ;  this  enables  the  farmer  to  raise 
larger  crops  of  various  produce,  and  conse- 
quently keep  more  stock,  which  enables  him 
to  make  more  butter  and  cheese. 

The  present  cider  mills  and  cheese  factories 
could  add  to  their  present  machinery  the  pans 
or  presses  as  required,  and  by  co-operation  on 
this,  as  in  other  products,  we  can  produce 
profitably  all  the  sugar  we  require.  This  will 
bring  the  business  of  sugar  making  within 
the  reach  of  small  farmers,  and  is  of  vast  im- 
portance. 

The  notion  prevails  that"  to  make  sugar 
profitably  it  must  bo  made  extensively.  This 
is  cerfainly  erroueous,  and  the  sooner  the  illu- 
sion is  dispelled  the  sooner  we  shall  begin  to 
realize  the  productive  resources  of  our  lands 
and  employ  our  now  idle  laborers  on  a  very 
reiuunerafive  crop  now  grown  only  to  a  limited 
extent.  The  introduction  of  the  cultivation 
of  the  sugar  beet  generally,  subsequently  to 
be  converted  into  sugar  or  vinegar,  would  be 
of  great  benefit  to  farmers.  It  would  insure 
to  them  superior  methods  of  agriculture,  in- 
creased crojis,  more  remunerative  prices,  and 
enhanced  value  of  farms. 

It  would  create  industry'and  diversity  of 
labor,  thereby  increasing  the  general  pros- 
perity, intelligence  and  happiness  of  the  com- 
munity. 

It  would  eventually  reduce  the  prices  of 
sugar,  of  bre.ad,  and  of  meat,  butter  and 
cheese,  and  render  the  United  States  more 
independent  of  foreign  countries.  One  acre 
of  land  will  produce  1,000  bushels  of  sugar 
beets,  which  made  into  sugar  will  yield  4,800 
pounds  of  sugar  ;  or  into  vinegar,  5,000  gal- 
lons, or  into  proof  spirits  1,000  gallons  ;  they 
are  profitable  to  feed  to  cattle,  particularly  to 
milch  cows,  in  connection  with  hay,  and  the 
pail  acquaints  the  farmer  with  the  fact.— 
Andrew  H.  Ward,  Bridgewatcr,  Mass. 

ONE-EYE  SYSTEM  OF  POTATO- 
GROWING. 

Mr.  Gerald  ITowatt,  Placerville,  Cal.,  writes 
that  he  p/ocured  the  secret  of  potato-growing 
advertised  by  Isaiah  T.  Clynier,  of  Quaker- 
town,  Pa.,  and  found  it  to  lie  substantially  a 
reproduction  of  the  method  practiced  many 
years  ago,  and  which  he  described  as  follows, 
in  the  Country  Ooitkman  of  June  2.5th,  1857  : 

I  grew  those  potatoes  on  an  old  pasture 
field  without  any  manure  of  any  sort.  I 
plowed  in  the  spring  (April)  five  inches  deep, 
then  harrowed  lengthwise  of  the  furrows,  then 


72 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[May, 


plowed  it  crosswise,  harrowed  it  in  the  same 
way  first,  then  cross-harrowed  it  with  a  double 
Scotch  harrow.  I  then  opened  the  drills  thirty 
inches  apart  and  five  inches  deep.  This  I  did 
with  a  two-horse  plow.  I  then  dropped  the 
sets  twelve  inches  apart  and  covered  with  a 
common  hoe  by  hand,  level  with  the  surface. 
This  is  to  have  a  level  surface  and  to  have  the 
stalks  all  come  up  evenly.  I  then  ran  the 
roller  over  them.  I  planted  from  the  18th  to 
the  21st  of  May,  1856.  I  grew  on  this  acre 
the  Jenny  Lind  and  Prince  Albert.  My  seed 
was  prepared  in  the  following  manner  :  I  cut 
all  my  potatoes  two  or  three  weeks  before 
planting,  leaving  but  one  eye  to  each  set. 
When  thef  are  cut  I  spread  them  on  a  loft, 
and  sprinkle  them  over  with  a  little  slaked 
lime,  to  heal  the  cuts.  By  this  system  I  have 
no  sets  rot  in  the  ground,  and  am  sure  of  hav- 
ing no  vacancies.  I  also  get  a  much  evener 
crop  of  potatoes,  as  the  one  stem,  from  the 
one  eye,  will  give  you  a  large  potato,  and  all 
about  an  equal  size.  Two  or  three  stalks  will 
give  you  a  lai-ger  quantity  of  small  potatoes, 
but  they  will  not  be  fit  for  market.  If  I  grew 
potatoes  to  feed  cattle  I  should  cut  my  sets 
with  two  or  three  eyes  to  each  set.  My  object 
in  that  case  would  be  quantity,  not  quality. 
The  sample  before  you  will  prove  that  my 
practice  is  correct.  I  had  no  small  potatoes 
in  them  ;  they  have  been  as  you  see  them. 

After  Culture.— Ahout  two  or  three  weeks 
after  planting  I  give  them  a  good  harrowing 
with  a  Scotch  double-harrow.  If  the  ground 
should  be  caked  I  lay  a  weight  on  the  harrow, 
so  that  the  teeth  penetrate  the  soil  two  or 
three  inches.  This  answers  two  purposes  ;  it 
lets  the  stems  come  through  quicker,  and  cuts 
up  the  weeds.  K  there  should  come  on  a  rain 
immediately  after  this  operation,  I  repeat  it 
after  the  ground  dries,  which  keeps  all  clear  of 
■weeds — a  very  essential  point  in  potato  culture. 
When  the  stems  are  three  or  four  inches 
hish  I  nin  Knox's  horse-hoe  through  the  drills 
four  or  five  times  during  their  growth.  I  do 
not  use  a  plow  with  them,  neither  do  I  use  a 
hoe  to  them.  Knox's  horse-hoe  puts  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  earth  to  the  stems.  A  com- 
mon cultivator  with  teeth  reversed  would 
answer. 

One  acre  of  Jenny  Lind  and  Prince  Albert 
potatoes  yielded,  under  the  above  treatment, 
two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  bushels  of  table 
potatoes,  measured  (the  acre)  by  a  surveyor. 
Two  barrels  of  potatoes  planted  over  an  acre 
of  land.  The  total  produce  of  two  barrels 
was  two  hundred  and  ninety-four  bushels  of 
table  potatoes,  measured  by  a  sea'.ed  half 
bushel,  and  each  half  bushel  heaped  in 
measuring. 

This  statement  was  elicited  by  the  fact,  that 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  same  volume  several 
large  crops  of  potatoes  had  been  reported  by 
correspondents  who  had  used  seed  cut  small, 
to  which  the  late  C.  E.  Goodrich,  of  Utica, 
so  widely  known  as  an  experimenter  with 
potatoes,  had  replied  in  the  issue  of  May  14th, 
in  opposition  to  the  practice.  In  the  number 
of  June  lath,  Mr.  Howatt  rejoined,  giving 
his  views  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Goodrich's 
reasoning,  and  enclosing  the  above  statement 
with  the  following  remarks  : 

"I  have  tried  all  systems  of  potato  culture, 
the  five  and  six-eye  system,  the  half-potato 
system,  and  the  wonderful  small  potato  sys- 
tem. *  *  If  you  want  a  good  crop  of  potato 
stalks,  plant  a  potato  with  five  or  six  eyes  on 
it,  but  if  you  want  good  tubers,  plant  a  set 
with  one  eye.  *  *  I  have  grown  them  in 
this  country  for  the  last  six  years  on  the  one- 
eye  system  with  perfect  success,  and  have 
taken  premiums  (first)  at  the  Allegheny 
County,  Pa.,  Agricultural  Society,  the  Pitts- 
burg, Pa.,  Horticultural  Society,  and  I  think 
at  the  Pennsylvania  State  meeting.  Let  both 
systems  be  tried  and  the  results  published— 
the  sets  being  prepared  as  I  do  mine,  and 
plant  the  same  as  other  potatoes,  either  for 
forcing  or  field  culture." 
Mr.  Howatt  now  adds  : 
Ml-.  Clymer's  one-dollar  prescription  is  not 
quite  right,  however.  He  says :  Take  the 
potato— ordinary  seed— cut  away  enough  of 


the  seed  end  to  remove  the  cluster  of  eyes 
there  situated  (cutting  these  away  at  once 
saves  much  time,  and  does  no  injury  to  the 
seed.)  Then  cut  out  all  the  remaining  eyes, 
except  two,  with  the  point  of  the  knife, 
softened  and  bent  round,  to  form  a  quarter- 
inch  gouge.  (This,  with  a  three  or  four-inch 
blade,  makes  the  most  convenient  tool,  but 
an  ordinary  pocket-knife  will  do  very  well.) 
'Amy  may  then  be  rolled  in  a  plaster  ;  but  this 
is  not  inclispensable. 

Much  of  this  is  simply  to  mislead.  He 
says  cut  away  the  seed  end,  but  it  is  well 
known  to  all  potato  men  that  the  eyes  at  the 
seed  end  will  mature  from  one  to  two  weeks 
earlier  than  the  other  eyes.  He  says  to  throw 
them  away.  I  commence  cutting  at  the  root 
end,  throwing  it  away,  or  rather  feeding  it, 
as  it  is  well  known  that  the  eyes  immediately 
at  the  root  end  will  produce  small  and  later 
potatoes.  He  speaks  of  the  point  of  his  knife 
softened,  and  made  into  a  gouge,  and  it  is 
strange  to  me  that  he  has  not  got  up  a  patent 
knife  for  the  purpose.  But  it  is  well  known 
that  a  pocket-knife  is  not  fit  to  cut  a  potato  ; 
the  back  is  too  thick,  and  if  the  potato  is 
hard  it  will  split  it.  A  table  knife  is  proper, 
and  the  best.  Had  he  said,  in  the  fall  spread 
out  your  small  potatoes  in  the  sun,  to  get 
thoroughly  greened,  which  makes  the  flesh 
harder  and  ripens  tlie  eyes,  I  should  have 
said  he  knew  a  little.  As  to  covering  with 
plaster,  he  has  never  tried  it,  and  lost  them. 
Plaster  is  cold,  and  if  they  are  covered  with 
it,  it  draws  the  frost.  Having  seen  last  spring 
thirteen  barrels  so  froztn  in  shed,  I  know. 
Had  they  been  covered  with  lime,  that  would 
not  be  the  result,  lime  being  heating. 

In  conclusion,  I  advise  Mr.  Clymer  first  to 
learn  how  to  grow  a  potato  properly,  and  then 
give  us  the  result,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to 
copy  from  him. 

KEEPING  WORK  AHEAD. 

Though  most  farmers  and  gardeners  know 
well  the  value  of  startmg  early  in  their  war 
against  weeds,  the  importance  of  the  task  is 
very  apt  to  be  forgotten  in  the  hurry  of  spring 
work.  We  scarcely  need  give  the  advice  as 
advice,  but  a  suggestion  is  always  encourag- 
ing, and  the  more  so  when  we  know  it  to  be 
true. 

The  great  trouble  with  most  of  us  is  that 
we  lay  out  too  much  work  for  ourselves  to  do. 
We  get  a  great  many  things  half  done,  and 
work  twice  as  hard  as  need  be,  when  the  same 
amount  of  labor  judiciously  expended  would 
have  a  threefold  result.  This  is  just  how  it  is 
in  the  war  against  weeds. 

We  arc  accustomed  to  get  into  such  a 
"  flurry  "  about  getting  in  the  crops  in  time 
that  we  forget  the  weed  crop  is  ahxady  in,  and 
going  on  at  a  rapid  pace.  We  huve  not  un- 
frequently  seen  the  greatest  exertion  in  getting 
in  seeds  or  plants  that  would  have  done  just 
as  well  a  week  later,  when  the  same  time 
spent  in  harrowing  or  weeding  ground,  would 
have  been  equal  to  four  times  the  time  at  a 
later  period.  These  remarks  of  course  apply 
more  to  garden  than  to  farm  work.  Where 
horse-power  is  at  hand  weeds  half  an  inch 
high,  if  annual  weeds,  are  as  easUy  destroyed 
by  a  broad-toothed  cultivator  as  if  they  were 
but  just  pushing  through  the  ground  ;  but  in 
garden  work  a  simple  raking  of  the  ground 
when  the  .seeds  are  just  sprouting  is  quite  as 
effective  as  the  best  hoeing  would  be.  An 
hour  or  two  raking  of  a  garden  between  the 
rows  of  the  various  crops  will,  in  fact,  almost 
render  hoeing  unnecessary,  and  thus  save 
many  a  hard  day's  work. 

Some  Hints  on  Tree  Planting. 
Calling  into  a  nursery  some  time  since,  the 
subject  of  tree-planting  came  up,  and  the  re- 
mark was  made  that  there  was  a  great  differ- 
ence in  trees  in  regard  to  the  ease  with  which 
they  would  recover  from  the  necessary  injuries 
of  removal.  One  friend  dissented  from  this. 
He  contended  that  one  species  of  the  tree  was 
just  as  easy  to  remove  as  another  one.  He 
said  the  difficulty  was  in  the  lack  of  knowledge 
of  those  who  professed  to  be  tree-planters. 
Here,  for  instance,  would  be  a  row  of  oaks, 


there  of  tulip  trees,  another  of  some  other 
thing  generally  regarded  as  hard  to  trans- 
plant, yet  all  were  doing  equally  well.  Hun- 
dreds of  trees,  two  or  three  feet  apart,  were 
all  growing  and  doing  well,  one  after  another, 
just  as  they  had  been  planted,  without  a  single 
failure  among  them  all.  It  was  regarded  as 
ignorance  which  made  a  tree  die  provided  it 
had  roots,  these  roots  not  permitted  to  dry 
before  planting,  and  the  earth  firmly  set  in 
about  the  roots.  All  this  being  granted,  our 
friend  believed,  and  his  success  warranted  his 
faith,  that  no  tree  ought  to  die  if  the  planter 
knew  his  business.  Some  trees  are  of  a  softer 
wood  than  another,  and  the  softer  the  wood 
the  more  they  should  be  pruned  at  transplant- 
ing. The  hard,  close-grained,  wooded  trees, 
such  as  red  or  sugar  maple,  would  do  tol  :rably 
well  with  a  little  pruning  ;  the  silver  maple, 
with  a  softer  wood,  required  more,  and  so  on, 
just  as  the  bark  or  wood  was  light  or  porous 
or  not. 

The  difficulty  which  many  people  find  in 
getting  willow  trees  to  grow  shows  that  there 
is  much  sense  in  this  view.  Many  persons  set 
them  out  with  all  the  slender  twigs  attached 
to  them,  and  they  have  great  difficulty  in  get- 
ting a  good  growth.  We  have  seen  such  wil- 
lows stand  a  whole  year  with  only  a  leaf  here 
and  there,  often  half  the  slender  wood  becom- 
ing entirely  dead,  and  very  often  the  tree  dying 
outright ;  and  all  this  too  with  trees  having 
an  abundance  of  roots. 

Now,  if  we  take  a  large  branch  of  a  willow 
tree  and  make  a  post  of  it,  cutting  away  all  the 
branches  but  the  one  single,  thick  post,  and 
stick  it  in  the  ground  precisely  as  all  posts 
are,  it  will  grow,  and  in  a  few  days  push  out 
an  immense  mass  of  green  foliage.  If  we  put 
in  a  thousaud  of  them  all  will  do  the  same. 
We  could  safely  say,  that  not  one  of  such 
thousand  would  die.  Yet  we  see  in  the  un- 
pruned  willows  how  they  go  off,  and  indeed 
just  in  proportion  to  the  free,  vigorous  head 
on  the  transplanted  willow  is  the  danger  of 
loss. 

Surely  here  is  a  hint  by  which  all  may 
profit.  In  proportion  as  the  wood  is  soft  is 
the  danger  of  drying  up  ;  and  in  proportion 
to  the  danger  of  drying  should  the  pruning- 
knife  be  used.  There  is  room  for  intelligence 
here.— Oermantown  Telegraph. 

COMPOSTS  FOR  TOBACCO. 

The  following  we  clip  from  the  Bichmond 
Tobacco  Joicrnal: 

For  tobacco,  in  making  composts,  more 
potash  must  be  used  and  less  phosphoric  acid 
(bone).  It  should  be  remarked,  that  if  dis- 
solved bone  is  used  in  composts,  gypsum 
(plaster)  will  not  be  necessary,  as  the  dissolved 
bone  will  furnish  enough  sulphuric  acid  to 
prevent  the  escape  of  ammonia.  If  ground 
bone,  not  dissolved,  is  used,  then  gypsum 
must  be  applied  to  the  compost  heap. 

One  thousand  poimds  of  tobacco  (which  is  a 
good  crop  per  acre,)  are  found  in  the  air-dry 
state  to  contain  : 

POTTNDS. 
Phosphoric  acid,  equal  to  -  -  -  -  -  8.6 
Sulphuric  acid,  equal  to  -  -  -  -  -  9.3 
Lime,  equal  to     -         -----  88.3 

Magnesia,  equal  to  - 25.0 

Potash,  equal  to  -        -        -        -        -        -  73.7 

Silica,  equal  to         ------      23.0 

This  shows  that  tobacco  requires  a  large 
amount  of  potash  and  a  very  moderate  quan- 
tity of  phosphoric  acid.  The  ammonia  in  air- 
dried  Virginia  tobacco  was  found  in  five 
samples  analyzed  under  supervision  of  Prof. 
Mallett,  University  of  Virginia,  to  average  a 
little  more  than  4  per  cent.  (4.31),  or  in  1,000 
pound  about  43  pounds  of  ammonia,  which  is 
an  evidence  that  tobacco  requires  a  liberal 
amount  of  ammonia.  Tobacco,  as  we  all 
know,  requires  rich  land,  and  the  farmers 
cannot  raise  stable  manure  enough  to  supply 
its  wants,  and  they  will  do  well  to  make  com- 
posts for  this  crop  and  thus  eke  out  their 
stable  manure  as  much  as  possible.  By  mak- 
ing large  quantities  of  stable  and  farm -pen 
manure  and  composting  this  with  rich  earth 
and  all  their  tobacco  stalks  and  stems  and 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


73 


ground  or  dissolved  bone,  a  large  supply  of 
excellent  manure  can  be  accumulated  by 
spring  for  tlieir  tobacco.  Dissolved  bono 
sbould  be  used  if  the  time  for  composting  is 
short,  otherwise  ground  bone  should  l)e  pre- 
ferred, as  it  is  less  apt  to  be  adulterated  ;  and 
that  made  from  bones  which  have  not  been 
steamed  or  subjected  to  heat  has  not  had  any 
of  its  nitrogen  driven  off.  This  is  not  so  im- 
portant if  the  farmer  has  a  liberal  sup|)ly  of 
stable  and  farm-pen  manure  to  furnisli  the 
nitrogen,  which,  however,  is  not  often  the 
case.  For  the  compost  made  in  the  fall,  and 
say  up  to  Christmas,  we  may  well  iise  the 
ground  bone,  and  after  that  dissolved  bone. 
If  the  farmer,  from  any  cause,  should  not  use 
his  tobacco  stalks  and  shattered  tobacco  in 
the  comi)osl,  then  he  must  furnish  the  potasli 
in  some  other  form,  either  Kainit  or  sulphate 
of  potash,  which  is  belter  for  tobacco  than 
the  muriate.  Of  tliis  -ilie  suliiliato,  which 
usually  cists  iil.niit  :i(  In  -t  ,-,n(.s  |iit  pound- 
put  about  f)(it(i  Sil  pnunds  (prdiiiirtidncd)  to  go 
over  the  aero,  it  being  supposcil  llial  the  plant 
always  gets  considerable  potasli  from  good 
land,  as  it  is  only  the  wornout  land  that  con- 
tains no  appreciable  quantity  of  potash. 

In  composting  for  tobacco  the  amount  of 
stable  niannrc  I"  be  put  in  a  compost  will 
vary  Willi  the  i|uality  of  tlie  land  and  previ- 
ous manuring.  We  should  say  10  or  12  cart 
loads  will  be  sullicient  to  an  acre  of  good  land 
with  the  same  quantity  or  more  of  good  dirt ; 
and  if  we  can  safely  rely  on  the  report  of  a 
compost  as  used  by  Judge  Turner,  in  Georgia, 
in  which  about  seventy-five  pounds  of  stable 
manure,  in  combination  with  the  sameamount 
of  cotton  seed  and  fifty  pounds  of  dissolved 
bone,  produced  one  thousand  and  eight 
pounds  of  cotton  per  acre  (which  we  suppose 
is  a  good  crop),  then  much  less  stable  manure 
than  this  will  answer.  It  is  the  opinion  of 
many  that  in  a  comjiost  "  a  little  leaven  leav- 
eneth  the  whole.lump,"  and  the  experiment  of 
Judge  Turner  seems  to  sustain  tliis  opinion. 
As  to  the  quantity  of  dissolved  bone  in  the 
compost  we  would  say,  judging  from  the  1,000 
pounds  of  tobacco  containing  8.6  pounds  of 
phosphoric  acid,  equal  to  phosphate  lime  or 
bone  phosphate  of  1S.7,  that  100  pounds  of  a 
good  article  of  dissolved  bone  would  be  suffi- 
cient. A  24  per  cent,  dissolved  bone  will  yield 
11  pounds  per  100  of  phosphoric  acid  and  the 
soil  will  always  supply  some.  It  is  cheaper  to 
buy  a  good  article  of  bone.  Stable  manure, 
it  must  be  remembered,  contains  notable 
quantities  of  phosphoric  acid  and  potash. 

Since  my  last  report  I  have  had  reason  to 
modify  directions  about  composts,  believing 
now  that  stable  and  farm-pen  manure  and 
less  phosphoric  acid  will  answer  per  acre. 
For  com  and  tobacco  these  composts  may 
well  be  put  in  the  drill,  not  hill,  as  they 
diffuse  themselves  through  the  land,  as  is 
evidenced  in  the  wheat  crop  following,  which 
is  usually  even  in  its  growth  over  the  ground 
and  no  better  in  the  drills,  and  this  plan  will 
require  le.ss  than  broadcast.  But  more  experi- 
ments are  necessary  in  composts  to  determine 
the  quantities  to  be  used  in  the  composition 
and  in  application,  for  these  experiments  will 
be  worth  more  than  directions  based  entirely 
upon  cliemical  analysis. 

It  is  better,  generally,  to  form  composts 
under  shelter,  gradually  mixing  the  one  and 
then  the  other  material,  by  layers,  until  the 
heap  is  completed.  If  there  is  deficiency  of 
moisture  under  shelter,  as  there  will  Ije,  this 
must  be  supplied  by  sprinkling  water  over,  or, 
what  is  better,  salt  brine.  Should  potash  be 
used,  this  must  be  dissolved  in  warm  water 
and  sprinkled  over  each  layer  of  compost  as 
it  is  gradually  formed.  The  heap  should  oc- 
casionally be  forked  over,  until  thoroughly 
mixed.  If  gypsum  is  used  with  ground  bone 
it  must  be  sprinkled  over  each  layer  in  form- 
ing the  compost ;  that  is,  occasionally,  as  the 
manure  and  bone  are  thrown  on  the  pile. 

If  the  compost  is  not  formed  under  shelter, 
then  it  had  best  be  done  in  a  scooped  basin, 
sufficiently  deep  to  have  a  drain  from  it  leading 
to  a  barrel  or  half -barrel  hogshead,  water- 


tight, to  catch  the  drainage,  which  must  be 
scooped  up,  particularly  after  rains,  and 
sprinkled  over  the  compost.  Of  course,  in 
forming  com|iosts,  less  of  these  ingredients 
will  do  for  rich  than  poor  lands,  particularly 
of  phosphoric  acid  or  ammonia.  If  these 
directions  for  composts  are  not  sufficiently 
definite  correspondence  with  me  on  the  sub- 
ject is  invited.— .4niii/rtJ  Report  of  Virijinia 
CmHmisxioner  on  Agrirulttm. 

SANDY   SOILS. 

Of  all  soils  to  be  cultivated,  or  to  be  re- 
stored, none  are  preferable  to  the  light,  sandy 
soils.  By  their  porou.sness  free  access  is  given 
to  the  iiowerful  effects  of  air;  they  are  na- 
tiii:;^y  in  that  state  to  which  draining  and 
subsoil  plouj,'hing  are  reducing  the  stiffcr 
luiuls  of  Kngland.  Manure  may  as  well  be 
tlirowu  into  tlie  water  as  on  land  underlaid 
by  water.  Drain  this,  and  no  matter  if  the 
upper  soil  be  almost  quicksand,  manure  will 
convert  it  into  fertile,  arable  land.  The  thin 
covering  of  mold  .scarcely  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness, the  product  of  a  century,  ihay  be  imi- 
tated and  produced  in  a  short  time  by  study- 
ing the  laws  of  i.,s  formation.  It  is  a  well- 
recognized  fact  that,  next  to  temperature,  the 
water  supply  is  the  most  iinporlaut  f:ictoi- in 
the  product'of  a  crop.  Poor  soils  give  good 
crops  in  seasons  of  plentiful  and  well-distribu- 
ted rains,  or  when  skillfully  irrigated  ;  but 
insuflieient  moisture  in  a  soil  is  an  evil  that 
no  supplies  of  plant-food  can  neutralize. 

Sandy  soils  are  rich  in  niineriil  constilueuts, 
and  fail  to  give  good  crops  in  tinic  of  drouth 
only,  on  account  of  their  iiuiliilily  to  retain 
moisture.  This  can  be  obviated  by  the  ;\\<\)]\- 
cation  of  peat,  or  clay,  or  the  .sowing  of 
clover — all  of  these  enable  it  to  retain  mois- 
ture in  times  of  drouth — and  the  decay  of  the 
vegetable  substances  in  the  soil  give  off  car- 
bonic aoid,  a  powerful  solvent  of  the  soil. 
Peat  contains  two  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  or 
the  same  quantity  of  barn  manure  ;  but,  as  it 
is  dug  out,  its  nitrogen  is  locked  up  in  in- 
soluble comV)inations,  and,  applied  to  land  in 
this  condition,  brings  in  sorrel  and  coarse 
grasses ;  composting  it  with  soda  ash,  to 
neutralize  its  acid,  renders  it  soluble  and  fits 
it  for  food  for  plants  at  a  cost  of  about  two 
cents  a  pound  for  nitrogen.  A  cord  of  peat, 
as  dug,  weighs  about  9,000  pounds,  and,  well 
dried^  will  lose  three-quarters  of  its  bulk. 

To  this  quantity  add  100  pounds  of  soda 
ash,  well  mixed  through  it,  in  powder  or 
solution,  depending  upon  whether  the  peat  is 
wet  or  dry,  and  leave  it  in  a  heap  to  ferment. 
The  heap  will  need  to  be  larger  in  cold  than 
in  warm  weather  to  accomplish  this ;  and, 
after  it  is  fermented,  turn  it  over  once  and  it 
is  then  ready  for  use  and  in  all  respects  equal 
to  barn  manure.  If  the  land  is  in  condition 
to  bear  clover,  it  is  easily  brought  to  a  state 
to  produce  any  crop  ;  and,  if  not  in  such  con- 
dition, it  can  readily  be  made  so  at  a  trifling 
cost  for  fertilization.  A  crop  of  three  tons  of 
clover  contains  the  following  constituents  : 
117 lbs.  pota.sh,  .5.4  lbs.  soda,  .55.2  lbs.  magnesia, 
1.5.3.6  lbs.  lime,  44.8  lbs.  phosphoric  acid,  13.6 
lbs.  sulpli.  acid,  12.6  lbs.  chlorine,  12.6  lbs. 
sulphur,  127.8  lbs.  nitrogen. 

Soils  are  not  exhausted  when  is  seen  the 
power  a  suitable  crop  has  to  liberate  and  con- 
vert the  insoluble  substances  existing  in  the 
soil  and  store  them  in  the  plant  for  future  use. 
The  clover  sbould  be  cut  for  fodder  the  first 
year  ;  the  .second  year  cut  it  once  for  fodder, 
then~Sllow  it  to  grow  again  and  go  to  seed, 
which  save  for  future  use,  and  there  is  left  in 
the  soil  to  the  depth  of  ten  inches  6,.580  lbs. 
clover  roots,  which  contain  77  tbs.  potash,  10 
lbs.  soda,  46  lbs.  magnesia,  246  lbs.  lime,  71 
lbs.  phosphoric  acid,  24  lbs.  sulphuric  acid, 
180  lbs.  nitrogen,  available  for  a  crop  which, 
when  plowed,  leaves  the  land  clear,  light,  re- 
tentive of  moisture,  and  easily  tilled,  with 
available  constituents  in  the  clover  roobs,  and 
soil  enough  to  produce  any  crop  profitalily. 
and  the  necessity  of  purchasing  fertilizers  and 
applying  tliem  is  saved.  The  farm  is  made, 
as  it  should  be,  self-supporting,  but  it  can 
only  be  done  so  by  a  judicious  rotation  of  crops. 


If  this  is  not  resorted  to,  fertilizers,  which 
are  much  more  costly,  must  be  supplied. 
The  constituents  in  clover  roots  above, 
amount  in  value,  at  prices  commercial  fertili- 
zers are  calculated  at,  to  .?35.17  for  the  nitro- 
gen, pliosphoric  acid  and  potash  alone,  saying 
nothing  of  the  other  constituents,  which  are 
equally  as  imiiortant  to  the  growth  of  crops. 
Kye  is  also  a  good  croj)  to  grow.  There  is 
left  in  an  acre  of  its  roots  and  stubble  3,400 
Itis.,  containing 30  ttis.  potash,  40  lbs.  soda,  14 
tbs.  magnesia,  Oi»  ttis.  lime,  24  ttis.  phosphoric 
acid,  12  lbs.  sulphuric  acid  and  02  lbs.  nitro- 
gen.—  AiuJreir  If.   Wurd. 

AMOUNTS  OF  SUGAR  CONTAINED  IN 
NECTAR  OF  VARIOUS  FLOWERS. 
Nectar  is  the  term  ii]iplied  by  botanists  to 
the  sweet-tasted  fiuid  which  is  secreted  within 
the  cups  of^insect-fertilized  rtowcrs  ;  and  the 
object  gained  to  the  plant  by  its  presence  is, 
that  insects  induced  to  visit  flowers  for  its 
sake  are  useful  to  the  plants  by  effecting  a 
cross-fertilization.  Mr.  Darwin  has  shown 
what  an  amount  of  additional  vigor  is  thus 
conferred  on  the  seeds  which  subsequently 
result  in  the  contrast  with  the  evil  effects  pro- 
duced by  <ontiniious  inhreeding.  In  many 
instances  tliis  sweet  liquid  is  exuded  from 
special  L'lauds.  luit  in  other  cases  from  jwrtions 
of  the  flower  that  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
specially  adapted  for  this  purpose.  Morpho- 
logically nectaries  may  represent  very  different 
structures,  but  not  unfreipiently  they  are  of 
tli(^  nature  of  an  aborted  organ— .such  as  a 
petal  or  stamen.  It  is  a  point  of  dispute 
among  biologists  whether  this  saccharine  mat- 
ter is  a  true  secretion  or  simply  an  excretion 
of  effete  matter  from  the  vegetable  cells— a 
by-product  of  the  chemical  changes  taking 
place  with  these  cells.  The  latter  view  seems 
to  be  favored  bv  the  fact  that  a  similar  sweet- 
tasted  fluid.  luiicb  sought  after  by  insects,  is 
exuded  in  different  parts  of  some  plants  quite 
unconnected  with  the  flower,  as  in  the  laurel, 
brake  fern,  lime  tree,  acacia,  &c.  As  to  the 
use  of  such  exudation  of  .sweet  fluid  various 
suggestions  have  been  made  by  those  who  are 
disposed  to  regard  it  as  a  true  secretion  ;  as, 
for  instance,  that  it  serves  as  an  attraction  to 
certain  insects  to  frequent  the  plant,  these  in- 
sects rendering  service  by  keeping  off  animals 
to  whose  attacks  the  plant  may  be  subject. 
Probably  this  is  to  some  extent  true,  but  it 
cannot  be  said  to  hold  universally.  Nectar  is, 
of  course,  the  source  whence  the  bee  derives 
honey,  but  it  also  affords  food  to  many  kinds 
of  insects  which  do  not  possess  the  habit  of 
storing  up.  A  division  of  the  humming-birds 
is  named  Melliphagi,  on  account  of  living  on 
this  substance  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  in  .some 
cases  the  small  insects  seeking  the  nectar,  and 
not  the  nectar  itself,  may  be  the  objects  of  the 
visits  of  the.se  birds  to  nectar-producing 
flowers.  The  bright  colors,  as  shown  by  Sir 
John  Lubbock's  experiment,  serve  to  guide 
insects  to  the  flowers,  and  the  odors  which 
they  emit  fulfill  the  same  end.  The  markings 
of  a  flower's  petals,  it  is  to  be  noted,  always 
converge  towards  the  nectar,  as  in  the  violet. 
The  importance  of  these  guides  to  insects  will 
be  apparent  from  the  following  estimations, 
which  show  how  indispensable  it  is  that  as 
little  time  as  possible  should  be  lost  by  an  in- 
sect collecting  honey.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  the  nectar  is  usually  contained  in 
the  most  secure  and  best  covered  part  of  the 
flower,  the  object  being  to  prevent  the  access 
of  rain,  which,  owing  to  the  extreme  solubility 
of  sugar,  would  speedily  cause  it  to  l)e  trans- 
ferred to  parts  of  the  plants  where  Insects 
could  reach  it  without  being  of  any  service  in 
the  way  of  cross-fertilization.  The  chief  pur- 
pose of  the  flower  would  in  this  way  be  frus- 
trated. The  formation  of  nectar  is  ohseiTed 
to  take  place  most  freely  in  hot  weather,  and 
to  be  prevented  by  cold  or  wet.  So  great 
economy  is  exerci.se'd  by  the  plant  that  it  is 
only  formed  at  the  time  when  insects'  visits 
would  be  beneficial,  i.  e.,  when  the  anthers 
are  ripe  and  shedding  their  pollen,  or  when 
the  stigma  is  mature  and  ready  to  receive  pol- 
len.    By  biologists  the  visits  of  bees,  butter- 


74 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[May, 


flies  and  other  insects  are  believed  to  have  ex- 
ercised in  past  times  an  important  Influence 
in  modifying  the  size,  shape,  color,  &c.,  of 
flowers;  and  the  following  experiments,  in 
spite  of  their  incompleteness,  are  of  interest 
as  showing  to  what  an  extent  this  action 
takes  place  in  nature,  and  as  helping  to  deter- 
mine the  value  of  this  factor.  These  estima- 
tions are  only  the  first  of  a  series,  and  the 
writer  regrets  that  he  has  been  unable  to  give 
them  the  desirable  completeness,  but  hopes  to 
continue  them. 

The  nectar  was  extracted  with  water,  and 
the  sugar  determined  before  and  after  inver- 
sion by  means  of  Fehling's  copper  solution. 
Many  of  the  estimations  were  done  in  dupli- 
cate, and  gave  results  that  agreed  perfectly. 
In  the  case  of  fuschia — which  is  not  deprived 
of  its  nectar  by  any  insects  in  this  country, 
the  nectar  being  inaccessible  to  native 
species — we  have  probably  the  whole  amount 
formed,  but  in  the  other  cases  the  visits  of 
bees,  etc.,  may  have  reduced  the  amounts  con- 
siderably. In  this  case  it  is  a  clear,  colorless 
liquid,  having  an  acid  reaction  and  an  in- 
tensely sweet  taste  f  that  of  many  others  has 
the  strong  characteristic  odor  of  honey. 

SUGAR  IN  FLOWERS. 

Total  Fruit.    Care? 
M.m.g-.  (asFruit.) 

1.  Fuchsia  per  flower,      -      7. .59  1.69  5.9 

2.  Claytonia  AlsinoideSjdo.,  0.413  0.17.5  0.3.38 
.3.  Everlasting  pea,  do.,  -  9.93  8.33  1.60 
i.  Vetch  (Viva  Cracca)  per 

raceme,    -        -        -  3.16  3.15  0.01 

5.  Ditto,  per  single  flower,  0.158        0.158        

6.  Fved  clover,  per  head,    -  7.93  5.95  1.98 

7.  Ditto,  per  floret,    -        -  0.1-32        0.099        0.033 

8.  Monkehead,  per  flower,  6.41  4.63  1.78 
Approximately,  then,  100  heads  of  clover 

yield  0.8  grm.  of  sugar,  or  12-5  give  1  grm.,  or 
12.5,000  1  kilo  of  sugar  ;  and  as  each  one  con- 
tains about  60  florets  (125,000x60,)  that  is, 
7,500,000  distinct  flower-tubes  must  be  sucked 
in  order  to  obtain  1  kilo,  of  sugar.  Now  as 
honey,  roughly,  may  be  said  to  contain  75  per 
cent,  sugar,  we  have  1  kilo.  grm. ,  equivalent 
to  5,600,000  flowers  in  round  numbers  ;  or, 
say  two  and  a  half  millions  of  visits  for  one 
pound  of  honey.  This  shows  what  an  amazing 
amoimt  of  labor  the  bees  must  perform,  for 
their  industry  would  thus  appear  to  be  indis- 
pensable to  their  very  existence.  Anotlier 
point  worth  notice  in  these  results  is  the  oc- 
currence of  what  appears  to  be  cane-sugar, 
and  that  in  the  case  of  fuchsia,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  nearly  three-fourths  or  the  whole. 
This  is  remarkable,  as  honey  is  usually  sup- 
posed to  contain  no  cane  sugar,  its  presence 
being  usually  regarded  as  certain  evidence  of 
adulteration.  The  question  therefore  arises, 
whether  the  change,  which  takes  place  while 
the  sugar  is  in  the  possession  of  the  bee,  is 
due  to  the  action  of  juices  with  which  it  comes 
in  contact  while  in  the  honey-bag  or  expanded 
oesophagus  of  the  insect,  or  whether  the  pro- 
cess of  inversion  goes  on  spontaneously,  as 
may  perhaps  be  the  case  ? — Alex.  S.  Wilson, 
in  Chemical  News. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


The  regular  meeting  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society  was  held  in 
their  rooms  in  the  City  Hall  on  Monday  afternoon. 
May  5. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order,  and  Mr.  Henry 
M.  Engle  was  elected  chairman. 

The' following  members  were  present:  H.  M. 
Engle,  Marietta:  William  H.  Brosius,  Drumore;  Levi 
W.  Groff,  West  Earl;  Wm.  McComsey,  city;  Hugh 
R.  Fulton,  city;  W.  J.  Kafrolh,  West  Earl;  M.  D. 
Kendig,  Manor;  John  H.  Landis,  Manor;  J.  C.  Lin- 
ville,  Salisbury;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  F.  R.  Uiffen- 
derSer,  city;  W.  W.  Griest,  city;  Johnson  Miller, 
Warwick;  J.  F.  Witmer,  Paradise;  Jacob  Bollinger, 
Warwick;  Levi  S.  Reist,  Litiz;  C.  L.  Hunsecker, 
Manheim;  Israel  L.  Landis,  city;  E.  S.  Hoover, 
Manheim;  W.  L.  Hershey,  Chickies;  J.  H.  Hershey, 
West  Hempfield;  John  G.  Garber,  city;  S.  S.  4lath- 
von,  city;  J.  Hoffman  Hershey,  Rohrerstown;  C.  A. 
Cast,  city. 

On  motion,  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  pre- 
ceding meeting  was  dispensed  with. 


Crop  Reports. 

Mr.  Linville  reported  the  wheat  crop  in  Salisbury 
not  to  be  doing  very  well.  The  fields  look  very  poor, 
except  where  the  ground  was  plowed  early  and 
sowed  early.  The  corn  is  nearly  all  planted.  Cherries 
and  peaches  are  doing  well. 

Mr.  Miller  reported' the  wheat  crop  in  Warwick  as 
looking  pretty  well.  Hay  crop  also  looks  well.  The 
prospects  for  fruit  are  generally  good. 

Mr.  Brosius,  of  Drumore,  reported  the  prospects  of 
the  wheat  crop  to  be  favorable.  Grass  looks  very 
well. 

Mr.  Kendig  said  the  wheat  crop  is  not  so  promis- 
ing as  in  some  seasons,  but  with  good  weather  it 
may  turn  out  well.     Fruit  crop  looks'very  promising. 

Mr.  Grove,  of  East  Earl,  said  wheat  looks  well, 
considering  the  weather  of  last  fall.  Grass  is  very 
good.  Corn  not  so  good.  Fruit  crop  looks  very 
promising. 

Mr.  Witmer,  of  Paradise,  reports  wheat  not  so 
good  as  it  might  be.  Oats  is  coming  up  very  nicely. 
The  prospects  for  a  good  fruit  crop  are  good. 

Mr  Bollinger,  of  Warwick,  said  his  last  year's 
wheat  crop  was  not  quite  so  good  as  it  might  have 
been,  on  account  of  gettii  g  out  too  early.  The 
growing  crop  is  not  so  good.  The  seed  was  not  very 
good.  He  sowed  some  other  seed,  and  it  is  now 
coming  up.  The  grass  looks  promising  and  may  do 
very  well. 

Mr.  Engle,  East  Donegal,  said  the  wheat  crop  is 
slow,  except  along  the  river,  where  it  generally  looks 
well.  Grass  is  very  promising.  Fruits  are  looking 
very  well,  and  the  prospects  for  a  full  crop  are  very 
good.  The  rainlall  for  the  spring  has  been  very 
small,  and  it  is  surprising  that  the  wheat  and  grass 
look  as  well  as  they  do. 

Making  Farm  Life  Attractive  and  Pleasant. 

The  question,  "-How  can  farm  life  be  rendered 
more  attractive  and  pleasant?"  was  opened  for  dis- 
cussion. 

Mr.  Kendig  said  he  liked  rural  life  and  rural  im- 
provements. There  should  be  more  done  in  this  re- 
spect. Fences  should  be  kept  straight,  furrows 
straight,  yards  clean  and  planted  with  good  plants. 
All  the  cost  of  which  would  be  a  little  labor. 

Mr.  Linville  said  home  should  be  made  attractive 
on  the  outside  as  well  as  on  the  inside.  More  ex- 
pense should  be  put  on  the  outside— on  the  surround- 
ings. The  house  should  be  made  cheap  but  comfort- 
able, and  more  time  devoted  to  the  grounds.  Books 
and  papers  should  be  procured  and  read. 

Mr.  Miller  said  the  home  would  be  made  very 
pleasant  by  fixing  up  the  yards  and  houses  more  than 
they  now  are.  Farmers  should  be  without  debts, 
and  then  they  can  make  farm  life  very  pleasant.  The 
farmer  should  read  and  study  several  hours  every 
day.  He  should  have  good  laborers,  and  have  them 
understand  that  his  interest  is  theirs. 

Mr.  Witmer  thought  the  home  should  be  adorned 
and  kept  clean  and  well-fitted  up.  Plenty  of  reading- 
matter  should  be  kept  on  hand  at  all  times.  The 
fences  should  be  kept  straight,  but  he  did  not  think 
the  gardens  and  fields  should  be  all  fenced  in.  In- 
stead of  straight  lines  about  the  place  he  would 
devote  more  space  to  landscape  gardening.  The 
keeping  of  good  stock  will  always  add  to  the  pleas- 
ure of  farming.  Farmers  should  get  out  and  inter- 
change views  with  each  other. 

"Mr.  Brosius  thought  there  are  two  sides  to  this 
question.  Some  who  have  read  about  the  poetry  of 
farming  have  failed  in  practical  life  to  find  it.  We 
should  inculcate  our  faith  in  our  work  to  our  children, 
so  that  they  may  follow  in  our  footsteps.  There  is  no 
more  ennobling  calling  than  the  work  of  the  farmer. 
We  should  go  to  our  work  with  a  j^leasure.  We  should 
make  our  children  part  owners  with  us,  so  that  they 
may  take  pride  in  it. 

Mr.  P.  S.  Keist  thought  we  could  not  live  from 
farming  only.  A  farmer  should  do  his  duty  with 
pleasure.  Farmers  should  learn  what  is  their  duty, 
and  then  take  pleasure  in  it.  They  should  first  find 
out  whether  they  are  fitted  for  farming,  and  then 
follow  it. 

Mr.  Miller  thought  the  homes  could  be  made  more 
beautiful  by  painting  and  whitewashing  every  year. 
It  will  also  be  Ibuud  to  be  a  saving  of  expense. 
Farms  can  be  made  more  beautiful  with  very  little 
expense. 

Mr.  Hunsecker  said  farming  has  its  shady  and 
sunny  sides.  It  is  the  farmer's  own  fault  if  his 
home  is  not  made  more  attractive.  He  would  not 
put  unsightly  objects  in  the  front  of  the  house. 

Mr.  Landis  said  he  could  have  no  idea  of  any  ques- 
tion which  should  be  more  interesting  to  farmers. 

Mr.  Fulton  said  he  could  appreciate  the  beauties  of 
farm  life,  being  born  on  a  farm,  although  he  has 
since  gone  into  another  business.  This  question  is 
of  very  great  importance,  because  the  young  men  are 
disposed  to  leave  their  farms.  This  can  be  avoided 
by  making  their  homes  more  attractive.  Give  them 
their  newspapers  and  books,  and  make  home  pleasant 
for  them  by  giving  them  an  interest  about  the  place. 
Farmers  should  read  and  discuss  matters  relating  to 
farm  life,  and  give  their  sons  the  benefit  of  their 
knowledge.  Farm  life  pays  about  3  per  cent.,  and 
that,  in  connection  with  the  pleasure  derived  from  it, 
is  a  good  iurestment. 


Mr.  Hershey  said  the  most  pleasant  associations  of 
his  life  are  those  connected  with  a  farm.  He  could 
appreciate  a  beautiful  farm  as  much  as  anybody. 
Farmers  should  not  devote  too  much  time  to  their 
lawns  and  houses  to  the  exclusion  of  their  fields. 
They  should  not  spend  too  much  time  about  the 
tavern.  They  should  spend  more  time  in  reading 
papers  and  books.  They  should  teach  their  sons 
that  there  is  as  much  credit  and  honor  in  being  a 
good  farmer  as  in  being  a  professional  man. 

Mr.  Engle  said  farming  ought  to  be  considered 
attractive  now  in  comparison  with  olden  times. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  farm  life  that  is  unpleasant, 
but  still  it  is  not  mainly  so.  The  buildings  should 
be  kept  In  good  condition  and  the  lawns  and  fields  in 
well-ordered  shape.  It  is  not  necessary  to  expend 
much  money  in  order  to  accomplish  this.  He  thought 
unsightly  objects  should  be  kept  out  of  view.  Books 
and  papers  are  important  factors  in  making  the 
home  pleasant.  Farmers  put  in  too  many  hours  of 
hard  labor.  They  should  do  all  their  work  in  much 
less  time  by  a  proper  system.  They  should  also  pay 
more  attention  to  lessening  the  labors  of  their  wives. 
Give  them  more  comforts  and  attractions.  In  addi- 
tion to  ornamentation  about  the  place,  they  should 
pay  more  attention  to  fruits  and  vegetables.  They 
require  little  room,  and  are  easily  cultivated,  and 
when  ripe  they  afford  a  vast  amount  of  pli 
the  family. 

Mr.  Hoover  said  farming  should  be  made  profitable 
and  then  it  would  become  pleasant.  The  youn, 
farmer  has  just  as  good  a  chance  to  reap  a  good 
harvest  as  the  one  who  has  been  in  the  business  for 
twenty  years.  The  young  girLs  and  boys  should  be 
taught  what  they  are  working  for,  then  when  they 
grow  up  they  will  not  be  likely  to  leave  the  farm. 
Give  them  some  part  of  the  crop,  and  tell  them  to 
farm  it  for  themselves  ;  then  they  will  take  a  pleas- 
ure in  it.  The  farmer's  life  is  very  conducive  to 
health,  and  they  should  enjoy  that.  This  not  only 
adds  to  their  ability  for  the  business,  but  it  also  adds 
to  their  happiness. 

The  New  Charter. 

The  charter  of  the  society  was  presented  by  Mr. 
Diffenderffer,  in  the  absence  of  the  attorney,  Mr. 
Eby. 

Fruits. 

Mr.  Erb  presented  to  the  society  a  fine  specimen  of 
Rambo  apples. 

Mr.  Espenshade,  of  East  Lampeter,  presented  to 
the  society  several  fine  apples  for  name. 

Mr.  Engle  presented  several  ears  of  yellow  gourd 
corn. 

Miscellaneous. 
The  yearly  rent  for  the  room  being  due,  it  was 
on  motion  ordered  paid. 

The  report  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  was 
presented  by  Mr.  Engle  for  the  use  of  the  members. 

The  following  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare 
by-laws  :  S.  S.  Rathvon,  M.  D.  Kendig,  S.  P.  Eby, 
H.  M.  Engle  and  Joseph  F.  Witmer. 

"Ought  we  to  scrape  the  bark  of  fruit  trees?"  was 
referred  to  Mr.  H.  M.  Engle  for  answer  at  the  next 
Adjourned. 


POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  regular  meeting  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Poultry  Association  was  held  on  Monday  morning, 
May  5,  in  the  rooms  of  the  Agricultural  Society. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President, 
Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias. 

The  following  members  were  present ;  Rev.  D.  C. 
Tobias,  Litiz;  J.  B.  Lichty,  city;  W.  J.  Kafroth, 
West  Earl;  S.  N.  Warfel,  Strasburg;  Amos  Ring- 
wait,  city;  William  Shoenberger,  city;  Chas.  B. 
Keller,  Strasburg;  Joseph  D.  Gonder,  Strasburg; 
Frank  R.  Ditfenderfl'er,  city;  J.  HoB'man  Hershey, 
Rohrerstown;  John  C.  Linville,  Gap;  J.  M.  John- 
ston, city;  H.  H.  Tshudy,  Litiz;  John  C.  Reed,  city; 
Colin  Cameron,  Brickerville;  Mrs.  Cameron,  Brick- 
erville;  Charles  Lippold,  city;  William  Stober, 
Schoeneck;  John  C.  Burrows,  city;  C.  A.  Gast,  city. 

The  minutes  of  the  preceding  meeting  were  read 
and  approved. 

The  Finance  Committee  reported  that  the  society 
were  to  pay  only  seventy-five  cents  per  month,  which 
included  janitor's  fees. 

New  Business. 

J.  B.  Lichty  read  a  statement  showing  the  amount 
received  from  printing  the  constitution  and  by-laws. 
The  cost  of  the  book  was  $15,  and  the  receipts  were 
$17.2.5— leaving  a  balance  of  $2.25  to  the  credit  of 
the  society.  The  report  was  received  and  the  thanks 
of  society  tendered  the  committee. 

The  names  of  Joseph  R.  Trissler,  of  Lancaster, 
and  J.  H.  Hershey,  of  Rohrerstown,  were  proposed 
for  membership,  and  the  gentlemen  were  elected. 

The  committee  reported  the  following  questions  for 
discussion  at  next  meeting  :  "  What  is  the  best  cure 
for  gapes?"  Referred  to  Colin  Cameron;  "  What  is 
a  preventive  for  vermin  in  lowls?"  Referred  to  W. 
J.  Kafroth. 

T.  D.  Martin  not  being  present,  the  question  re- 
ferred to  him—"  What  is  the  best  method  of  testing 
the  fertility  of  newly  laid  eggs"— was  opened  to 
discussion  by  the  society. 


id 

to       , 

le       j 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


75 


It.  II.  Tshudy  thought  the  question  was  of  much 

" rtancc,  and  was   anxious  to   know   something 

;ii''Mit  it.     lie  knew  of  no  true  means. 

.1.  B.Lichty  was  able  to  tell  after  several  days' 
in(  libation  whether  eggs  would  hatch.but  not  imme- 
ihitily  after  being  laid.  He  gave  his  method  of 
.1  lilting  the  bad  egg.  He  said  a  bad-formed  egg 
w.iuki  seldom  hatch. 

W.J.  Kafroth  stated  that  some  people  seem  to 
liavr  unusual  luck  in  bringing  out  chicks. 

Anios  Kingwalt  knew  of  persons  who  placed  the 
111  ^'c  end  of  the  egg  to  their  mouths  and  moistening 
i!    and  if  it  drisd  rapidly  they  were  fertile. 

1  111' question  was  discussed  by  other  members  of 
tin  society,  and  a  number  of  views  were  advanced. 

"  How  often  should  fresh  blood  be  introduced  into 
ilir  poultry  yard?"  This  question  having  l)ecn  re- 
ii  iiiii   to  S.  N.  Warfel,  was  answered   by   him   as 

liic  individual  breeder  of  fowls  will  suspect  that 
he  needs  fresh  blood  for  his  stock,  when  the  annual 
number  of  eggs  diminish,  when  a  loss  of  size  is 
noticeable,  and  when  the  flock  begins  to  show  signs 
of  debility.  But  the  frequency  and  method  of  intro- 
ducing fresh  blood  is  a  matter  that  can  only  be  de- 
cided according  to  the  object  sought  after."  If  size 
and  utility  are  desired,  with  no  regard  to  permanent 
type,  crossing  «very  year  with  distinct,  fresh  blood, 
will  give  progeny,  as  a  rule,  superior  to  either  parent 
stock  ;  but  these  hybrids  cannot  be  depended  upon 
to  produce  others  with  the  same  merits.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  it  is  desired  to  establish  a  strain  of 
thoroughbreds,  which  may  be  relied  on  to  breed  true, 
then  the  most  judicious  influx  of  fresh  blood  every 
second  year  is  necessary.  But  here,  while  near  re- 
lationship should  be  carefully  avoided,  it  is  equally 
important  to  use  birds  of  not  too  remote  connection 
with  the  dominant  strain,  in  order  to  preserve  the 
preponderance  of  the  breed  sought  after.  Scientific 
breeders  u.sually  prefer  hens  for  this  purpose,  as  it 
has  been  ascertained  that  the  male  bird  has  the 
most  influence  upon  the  color  of  the  progeny  and 
what  may  be  called  the  "  fancy  points,  "  while 
the  form,  size  and  useful  qualities  are  principally  de- 
rived from  the  hen.  Hence,  if  the  object  is  to  pre- 
serve a  specific  type,  there  is  less  risk  in  using  a  hen, 
as  the  progeny,  if  not  satisfactory,  may  be"  killed, 
while  if  the  cross  be  with  a  male  from'new  blood, 
and  the  young  prove  undesirable,  the  whole  season's 
work  is  lost.  When  a  strain  has  been  fully  estab- 
lished it  is  a  good  plan  to  put  a  promising  cockrel 
In  an  adjoining  yard,  and  bring  him  back  in  a  year 
or  two,  when  the  relationship  will  be  remote  enough 
to  iaiuse  vitality  without  deranging  the  type. 

As  we  have  said,  all  depends  upon  the  want  of  the 
fancier  ;  and  whether  the  object  be  for  economic  pur- 
poses, or  to  improve  a  strain  of  thoroughbreds,  fresh 
blood,  understandingly  introduced,  is  the  great  im- 
portant factor. 

Colin  Cameron  only  bred  from  good  strains,  and  he 
would  only  breed  from  winning  birds. 

J.  C.  Linville  did  not  pretend  to  be  a  hen  fancier, 
but  found  it  best  to  introduce  new  blood  into  his  yard 
every  year.  He  introduced  the  Plymouth  Rock  into 
his  yard  this  year,  and  he  had  very  good  luck.  He 
did  not  think  it  the  best  plan  for  farmers  to  breed 
from  thoroughbreds.  He  thought  it  best  to  cross  the 
stock. 

H.H.  Tshudy  agreed  with  the  views  of  Mr.  Warfel. 

A.  Ringwalt  thought  it  best  to  introduce  new 
cocks  in  his  yard.  There  should  be  fresh  blood  in- 
troduced every  year. 

The  President,  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  agreed  with  the 
views  of  Mr.  Warfel  and  Mr.  Cameron.  He  thought 
farmers  should  not  breed  thoroughbred  I'owls.  He 
should  cross  with  some  that  are  not  so  pure.  That 
makes  very  good  stock.  By  doing  this  there  are 
better  results  found.  He  thought  the  best  thing  to 
do  is  to  put  the  cock  into  another  yard  for  a  year  or 
60,  and  then  take  him  back  again.  By  this  means 
you  would  efl'ectually  have  a  change  of  blood.  He 
only  bred  chickens  for  show,  and  not  for  fighting 
qualities.  You  should  be  careful  in  exchanging 
cocks,  or  you  may  spoil  a  year's  work .  The  greatest 
breeders  in  this  country  keep  their  own  cocks  and  do 
not  introduce  new  ones. 

W.  M.  Stober  asked  for  information  in  reference  to 
removing  the  cock  and  bringing  him  back  again. 
He  would  like  to  know  whether  that  would  be  as 
good  as  introducing  strange  blood. 

The  President  thought  it  did  not  destroy  the  rela- 
tionship, but  there  would  be  a  strangeness  between 
them,  which  would  be  very  beueflcial.  The  idea  Is 
to  introduce  strange  blood  of  the  same  kind.  Our 
best  breeders  change  their  hens  and  cocks.  When 
they  have  an  established  breed,  they  do  not  care  to 
risk  introducing  new  blood.  He  was  going  to  intro- 
duce some  new  blood  to  his  black-breasted  games, 
and  he  wrote  to  a  breeder  for  a  fine  cock.  He  bred 
the  cock  to  his  hens.  The  cock  was  a  fine  one  and 
was  a  good  fighter,  but  he  bred  anything  but  black- 
breasted  games. 

Mr.  Lippold  thought  it  could  not  be  expected  to 
breed  black-breasted  red  fowls  from  a  pure  game  cock . 

Mr.  Tshudy  did  not  think  it  would  do  to  remove 
the  cock  and  then  put  him  back  to  the  same  hens. 
He  thought  by  putting  it  back  to  a  younger  genera- 
tion would  bring  a  much  better  result. 


Colin  Cameron  agreed  with  the  remarks  of  Mr. 
Tshudy.  He  wag  also  of  the  opinion  that  there  was 
no  belter  game  chicken  than  the  black-breasted  red. 

Mr.  Lippold  agreed  that  they  were  black-breasted 
red  in  color,  but  he  fought  some  of  them,  and  they 
ran  away.  He  found  that  to  be  his  experience  in 
every  case. 

Mr.  Uingwalt  had  some  experience  with  the  chicken 
cholera,  and  gave  them  white  oak  bark  with  good 
results.  He  discovered  the  gapes  on  some  of  his 
fowls,  and  was  told  to  dip  a  feather  into  some  spirits 
of  camphor  and  rub  it  on  the  windpipe,  but  it  did  no 
good. 

Mr.  Stober  discovered  gapes  In  some  of  his  chickens, 
and  he  procured  a  horse  hair  and  drew  outthe  worms, 
and  the  hens  immediately  got  well. 

Messrs.  Witmer  and  Tshudy  believed  the  best  way 
to  prevent  gapes  was  to  sprinkle  sulphur  in  the  yard. 
He  thinks  the  best  cure  Is  to  put  in  the  coops  as 
much  dust  and  lime  as  possible. 

Mr.  Kafroth  never  found  the  gapes  In  small  breeds 
of  chickens,  but  always  in  those  of  large  breeds. 

Mr.  Cameron  did  not  find  the  gapes  in  chickens 
hatched  by  the  patent  inculator.  He  believed  In  the 
horse-hair  remedy.  He  did  not  have  a  very  high 
opinion  of  the  sulphur  remedy.  A  chicken  would 
have  to  be  very  strong  in  order  to  sneeze  the  worm  out. 

The  President  thought  we  ought  to  discriminate 
between  the  gapes  and  pips.  The  pip  never  harmed 
his  chicks.  The  cause  for  gapes  certainly  comes 
from  the  mother.  It  comes  either  from  heat  or 
vermin.  He  thought  the  best  plan  to  cure  gapes  was 
to  use  a  horse  hair.  By  using  a  feather  you  are 
likely  to  push  the  membrane  into  the  throat  and 
cause  the  death  of  the  fowl.  The  fowl  should  be 
operated  upon  as  soon  as  the  gapes  are  discovered, 
for  if  it  is  left  go  on  the  chicken  would  become  very 
weak  and  likely  to  die  from  the  operation. 

Mr.  Ringwalt  advocated  the  use  of  a  fine  wire  in- 
stead of  a  horse  hair. 

Mr.  Tshudy  used  lard  on  the  heads  of  his  hens 
when  they  had  lice,  and  found  it  to  be  a  very  good 
remedy. 

The  President  always  found  sulphur  too  violent 
for  a  young  chick,  but  it  would  do  for  an  old  one. 
He  had  lice  on  his  chickens  and  he  used  lard  and  sul- 
phur ;  they  did  well  for  several  days,  but  they  soon 
began  to  mope  and  finally  died.  He  also  used  Persian 
insect  powder,  by  forcing  it  on  the  head  and  under 
the  wings,  and  it  always  proved  eflTectual. 

Air.  Ringwalt  used  the  insect  powder  mixed  with 
lard,  and  it  cured  his  fowls  of  lice. 

The  question,  "How  is  the  ng^  shell  formed?" 
was  referred  to  Mr.  Linville  for  discussion  at  next 
meeting.    Adjourned. 

LINNiEAN    SOCIETY. 

A  stated  meeting  of  the  Linnsan  Society  was 
held  on  Saturday,  April  26th,  and  in  the  absence  of 
the  President  and  Vice  Presidents,  on  motion,  John 
M.  Grider,  Esq.,  was  called  to  preside. 

After  the  opening  duties  were  attended  to  the  con- 
tributions to  the  museum  were  examined.  First  was 
a  large-sized  crab  taken  out  of  an  oyster  and  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Copland.  Mr.  Staufl^er,  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  the  Crustaceoe,  compared  it  with 
some  of  his  illustrations,  and  found  it  to  be  the 
Panopeus  limosun,  or  mud-crab,  also  called  oyster- 
crab.  Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon  presented  some  native 
nitrate  of  soda,  from  Peru,  South  America,  a  bottle 
of  crude  coal  oil  or  petroleum  from  Canada,  and  a 
fine  green  mineral  known  as  "Amazon  stone,"  the 
Mici-ocliiie,  a  green  variety  of  feldspar,  containing 
nearly  equal  quantities  of  potash  and  soda,  from 
Pike's  Peak.  Mr.  A.  Barnes  presented  the  peculiar 
jaw-bone  of  a  porpoise,  phocaena,  a  sub-genus  of 
dolphins  from  Greenland. 

To  the  historical  collection  were  added  two  rare 
coins  from  Mr.  Bowers,  from  Hollidaysburg,  one  old 
English  coin  from  Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  and  one  sup- 
posed to  have  Japanese  characters,  by  J.  Staufl'er  ; 
S.  S.  Rathvon  gave  four  envelopes  containing  55 
clippings,  relating  to  historical  and  biograpliical 
sketches,  gleaned  from  sundry  sources. 

To  the  library  were  added  the  Patmt  Office  Gazette 
for  April  1st  and  Sih,  1879 ;  The  Lancaster  Farmer 
for  April ;  a  pamphlet  from  the  Department  of  the 
Interior,  on  the  moulting  of  the  "Horned  Toad," 
PUrynosoma  JDouglatsii,  of  Gray,  and  sundry  book 
circulars. 

J.  Stauffer  read  a  paper  on  the  so-called  "Zoos- 
pores," No.  517,  so  called  from  the  Greek  for  animal 
and  seed  or  spore,  a  name  given  to  the  active  spores 
of  Alga;.  A  slipheaded  "Green  Scum"  was  also 
read.  Mr.  Staufl'er  brought  some  with  him,  with  his 
microscope,  and  the  members  present  were  much 
gratified  by  seeing  the  actual  movements  of  these 
singular  bodies.  That  such  active,  twisting  and 
oscillating  bodies,  moving  with  more  or  less  rapidity, 
apparently  controlled  by  voluntary  action,  should  be 
of  vegetable  origin  is  wonderful,  and  It  is  no  wonder 
that  the  statement  of  the  occurrence  of  spores  en- 
dowed with  such  motions  was  either  rejected  as  un- 
worthy of  credit,  or  the  organisms  which  produced 
them  were  considered  as  animals.  It  is  now,  how- 
ever. It  seems,  admitted  or  generally  allowed  that 
there  is  no  essential  difference  between  animal  and 
vegetable  life. 


The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Book  Shelves 
reported  progress.     On  motion,  the   committee  was 
continued.     After  some  ( 
adjourned. 


title  gossip  the  meeting 


Entomological. 


Insects  and  Animal  Diseases. 
A  few  years  ago  It  was  the  general  impression  that 
slabbering  In   horses,  staggers   In  sheep,  and   many 
J.       ,_       .  ..  ^^^   ^ 


disorders   In 


attic, 


caused  by  various 
forms  of  weeds  or  herbage  In  the  food  they  ate.  It 
may  be  that  In  some  cases  It  Is  so  ;  but  with  the 
progress  of  discovery  It  has  been  found  that  plants 
have  not  near  so  much  to  be  blamed  for  as  we  one 
time  supposed.  It  was,  for  Instance,  once  an  almost 
universal  belief  thai  the  Texan  ealUe  fever  was 
brought  about  by  some  small  fungoid  vegetation 
which  existed  in  the  Texan  prairies;  but  a  commis- 
sion, appointed  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
went  to  Texas  and  reported  that  there  was  nothing 
whatever  to  warrant  the  popular  belief. 

So  with  the  staggers  In  sheep,  which  so  often 
proves  a  fatal  disease,  and  subjects  sheep-raisers  to 
■;rcat  loss.  Dr.  Darllngtfin  tells  us.  In  his  Flora  of 
Chester  county,  that  It  was  common  to  attribute  It 
to  a  plant — andromeUa  mariana — and  which  was 
called  by  the  sheep-breeders  stagger-bush  on  this 
account.  Besides  this,  various  other  plants  In  other 
sections  have  been  supposed  to  produce  the  same 
disease.  But  now  It  Is  known  very  clearly  that  no 
plant  has  anything  to  do  with  it,  but  that  It  resuIU 
from  a  small  wormy  parasite,  which  after  dcvelopin); 
in  its  early  stages  In  the  stomach  of  the  animal, 
works  its  way  to  the  head  and  leeds  on  the  sheep's 
bruins. 

All  this  Is  well-known  now,  but  It  is  not  so  well- 
known  how  these  parasites  arc  produced,  and  are 
scattered  about  so  as  to  be  introduced  Into  places 
which  were  once  free  from  it.  The  clue  was  fur- 
uished  some  few  years  ago  In  the  case  of  the  trichlne 
in  pork ;  it  was  found  that  a  parasite  often  found  a 
homo  in  the  flesh  of  the  hog,  and  fearful  results 
followed  on  the  human  frame  in  many  cases.  There 
was  no  doubt  but  the  very  same  insect  could  be 
communicated  from  the  animal  eaten  to  the  human 
system.  But  subsequent  experiments  proved  with- 
out the  slightest  doubt  that  high  heat  totally  de- 
stroyed the  enemy,  and  that  therefore  meat  properly 
cooked  was  entirely  innocuous.  Since  then  It  has 
been  placed  beyond  question  that  some  other  fearful 
parasites  that  once  in  a  while  infest  the  human 
system,  come  from  imperfectly  cooked  beef.  Raw 
beef  cures  have  been  popular  with  some  empirical 
mendicants,  and  the  parasites  which  have  followed 
have  been  a  matter  of  calculation  with  no  doubt  as 
to  the  origin. 

The  great  question  has  been  how  these  trouble- 
some things  flrst  get  inlo  these  animals.  Recently 
in  some  anatomical  lectures  Dr.  Joseph  Leidy,  who 
probably  stands  at  the  head  of  this  branch  of  science 
in  this  country,  gave  It  as  the  result  of  his  own  per- 
sonal researches,  that  the  animals  which  eat  raw 
meat— cats,  dogs,  and-so-forth— take  in  the  eggs 
with  the  raw  meat  they  cat,  which  pass  through 
their  system  unchanged,  and  that  then  the  eggs  be- 
come scattered  eventually  among  the  herbage,  and 
again  are  taken  into  the  system. 


How  Insects  Hear. 

It  Is  very  common  to  say  of  a  stupid  but  active 
fellow  that  all  the  brains  he  has  Is  In  his  heels.  No 
one  ever  Imagines  the  organs  of  the  senses  to  be  any- 
where but  in  the  head  ;  certainly  the  ears,  which 
help  us  to  hear,  would  hardly  be  expected  to  be  near 
one's  stomach.  But  it  seems  that  this  is  what  hap- 
pens to  insects,  as  the  following.  In  rather  too  learned 
language,  from  the  Imlepemlenl  says: 

While  the  organs  of  sense  are  In  vertebrate  ani- 
mals invariably  attached  to  the  head,  in  the  lower 
animals  ears  and  antennae-like  organs,  and  perhaps 
smelling  organs,  may  be  found  in  the  abdomen  or 
elsewhere.  That  all  those  insects  which  produce 
sound  must  have  the  faculty  of  hearing  it,  seems  a 
truism  ;  still  it  is  dilScult  to  discover  the  seat  of  the 
organs  of  hearing.  In  locusts  or  grasshoppers  the 
)rgans  of  hearing  arc  situated  at  the  base  of  the  ab- 
ilornen,  in  two  large  sacs,  situated  next  to  the  stlr- 
mata,  in  the  basal  segment.  Mr.  A.  H.  Swinlon  has 
now  found  that  somewhat  similar  organs  of  hearing 
likewise  exist  at  the  base  of  the  abdomen  of  some 
moths,  as  certain  nocluidic  of  owlet  moths.  "  If," 
says  Mr.  Swintou,  "  after  having  killed  an  Individual 
of  a  large  Noctua  and  denuded  the  alxiomen  of 
scales  and  hair,  we  examine  its  junction  with  the 
thorax,  we  observe  a  constriction  of  the  segments 
that  has  occurred  In  the  metamorposis,  whereby  the 
first  and  second  alKiominal  segments  of  the  caterpil- 
lar are  represented  by  dorsal  ares  Indicating  a  pedl- 
cal.  In  the  Noctuniua  the  organ  of  hearing  is  found 
between  these  contracted  segments  and  the  meta- 
thorax.  The  external  ear  is  recognized  In  a  rather 
large  cavity,  thai  here  penetrates  the  abdomen  on 
each  side,  and  is  oval  In  section,  with  a  i)Osterior  ex- 
cavation or  couch.  Thercis,  besides  a  tube  which 
is  the  counterpart  of  the  Eusta-  tube.    In  its 


76 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  May, 


general  strncture  the  moth's  ear  is  like  that  of  the 
grasshopper."  Mr.  Swinton  has  observed  similar 
ears  in  moths  of  the  si)li-worm  and  geometric  fami- 
lies, and  they  may  be  traced  in  certain  Diptera,  a( 


Agriculture. 


The  Wheat  Crop. 

Reports  from  every  point  in  the  wheat-growing 
region,  in  the  West  and  Northwest,  show  the  condi- 
tion and  prospect  of  the  growing  crop  in  Minnesota, 
Iowa,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Indiana, 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  Wisconsin  and  Missouri  in  detail, 
by  counties  and  districts.  With  regard  to  the  winter 
wheat  crop  the  reports,  almost  without  exception, 
are  favorable,  the  present  fine  condition  of  the  crop 
being  largely  attributed  to  the  snows  of  the  past 
winter,  which  afforded  complete  protection.  From 
Ohio  somewhat  increased  acreage  is  reported,  with 
most  encouraging  prospects.  In  a  comparatively 
few  counties  there  is  reported  some  nipping  of  the 
plant  by  the  late  cold  snap,  and  some  apprehensions 
are  expressed  as  to  the  etfect  of  the  March  frosts, 
but  the  best  advices  indicate  that  an  increase  of 
about  10  per  cent,  is  promised,  the  yield  for  the  year 
being  estimated  at  .30,000,000  bushels,  aga'inst 
27,000,000  bushels  last  year.  The  prospect  in  Ken- 
tucky is  generally  reported  encouraging,and  a  fair  in- 
crease in  the  yield  onjast  year  is  confidently  expected. 
All  reports  from  Indiana  go  to  show  the  excellenV 
condition  of  tne  crop.  The  acreage  seems  somewhat 
increased,  on  the  whole,  while  the  prospect  in  yield 
is  estimated  as  high  as  25  per  cent,  over  that  of  last 
year,  though  some  apprehensions  are  expressed  as 
to  the  effect  of  the  jiresent  cold  snap.  The  reports 
from  .Michigan  are  that  the  prospects  are  better  than 
last  year,  and  an  increased  yield  is  expected.  Missouri 
reports  are  to  the  effect  that  the  prospects  are  better 
than  a  year  ago,  and  that  the  yield  promises  to  ex- 
ceed that  of  last  year.  The  better  estimate  as  to 
Nebraska  is  that  the  acreage  of  winter  wheat  is  fully 
2.5  per  cent,  greater  than  last  year,  and  that  20  per 
cent,  more  spring  wheat  will  be  sown.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  winter  wheat  crop  generally  is  reported 
favorable.  In  Kansas  the  acreage  is  reported  to  be 
about  equal  to  that  of  last  year,  while  the  condition 
of  the  crop  is  far  more  promising,  the  prospect  being 
the  average.  Michigan  reports  show  the  crop  to  be 
in  good  condition  generally  throughout  the  State, 
with  slightly  reduced  acreage  in  some  localities  esti- 
mated as  high  as  20  or  25  per  cent.  And  from 
other  regions  in  the  winter  wheat  region  the  pros- 
pects are  generally  reported  above  the  average. 

The  chief  question,  and  one  which  has  been  con- 
siderably agitated  as  to  the  spring  wheat  crop,  has 
been  as  to  the  seed  supply.  There  has  been  division 
both  as  to  whether  the  lighter  wheat  of  last  year, 
the  berry  of  which  was  shriveled,  will  germinate  ; 
and  whether,  if  it  germinatgs,  it  will  yield  a  good 
crop.  As  to  the  question  of  germination,  there 
would  seem  to  be  small  room  for  doubt  in  view  of 
the  results  of  the  experiments  made  in  Chicago, 
showing  that  in  some  instances  93  per  cent,  of  the 
blighted  berries  germinate,  while  in  no  instance  was 
the  percentage  less  than  68.  The  prevailing  opinion 
among  the  wheat  men  of  this  city  is  that  not  more 
than  5  per  cent,  of  the  blighted  berries  will  fail  to 
germinate  ;  and  that  with  that  much  increase  in  the 
sowing  there  need  be  no  apprehension  of  any  failure 
on  account  of  the  seed.  In  Iowa  there  seems  to  be 
little  apprehension  as  to  seed  wheat,  and  it  is  re- 
ported that  by  screening  a  sufficient  supply  of  good 
seed  grain  can  be  obtained. — Prairie  Farmer. 


Grain  in  Orchards. 

In  a  recent  issue  of  your  paper  I  notice  an  article 
in  which  the  writer  is  desirous  of  becoming  familiar 
with  the  project  as  to  whether  sowing^  small  grain 
(oats)  in  an  orchard  would  prove  satisfactory.  I 
think  not,  should  he  be  dealt  with  similarly  to  my- 
self. Though  the  raising  of  such  had  only  once 
been  engaged  in,  and  its  proving  by  far  contrary  to 
my  expectations,  I  unhesitatingly  abandoned  the 
idea  of  raising  small  grain  in  an  orchard  of  any  age 
in  the  future.  I  now  take  pleasure  in  giving  my 
experience  to  young  farmers  and  any  others  of  your 
numerous  readers. 

In  the  spring  of  1876,  having  an  extensive  and 
superior  selection  of  choice  fruit  trees,  variously 
mixed,  I  concluded  (the  trees  being  widely  set  apart 
and  planted  in  virgin  soil)  to  experiment  in  raising 
oats.  As  the  ground  needed  cultivation,  I  thought 
the  oats  would  be  beneficial  instead  of  injurious. 
Sowed  them  in  March,  and  gave  the  matter  but  little 
attention  until  June  1st,  when,  to  ray  surprise  and 
dissatisfaction,  I  observed  the  trees  were  very  scaly, 
bark  dry  and  in  places  scorched — caused,  as  I 
thought  then  and  know  now,  by  the  refiection  of 
heat  or  rays  of  the  sun.  The  straw  was  fast  matur- 
ing, and  capable  of  reflection.  But  my  neighbors 
frequently  persisted  in  causing  me  to  believe  other- 
wise, but  of  no  avail.  I  afterward  confirmed  my 
belief.  Becoming  dissatisfied  at  the  turn  things 
were  taking,  I  had  the  oats  harvested.  But  it  was 
no  improvement,  for  the  stubbs  seemed  as  forcible  in 
returning  heat  as  did  their  better  half.    Finding 


there  was  no  chance  of  saving  them  except  by  hard 
work  and  diligent  nursing,  I  resolved  to  adopt  the 
two  latter  methods,  thereby  saving  more  than  half 
of  my  trees. 

"Young  Farmer"  will  observe  by  the  foregoing 
that  the  oats  paid  dear  for  themselves,  and  were 
worthless.  If  he  should  still  feel  inclined  to  raise  a 
crop  in  his  orchard,  I  would  suggest  the  raising  of 
corn  or  potatoes,  or  other  crops  with  green  foliage. — 
M.  A.  Stier,  in  Rural  WoHd. 

Bone  Dust. 

Many  a  poor  fellow  has  worn  out  his  bones  trying 
to  work  a  piece  of  poor  ground  ;  but  such  bone  ap- 
plication has  seldom  resulted  in  large  profits.  Our 
English  friends  hare  discovered  that  it  is  much  bet- 
ter to  use  other  people's  bones  in  these  cases  than 
their  own,  and  the  bone-trade  of  England  has  as- 
sumed gigantic  proportions.  All  the  old  battle-fields 
have  been  ransacked,  and  unless  reports  do  them  no 
injustice,  many  an  old  fellow  whose  bones  were  sup- 
posed to  rest  in  peace  in  some  grassy,  daisy-flowered 
churchyard  would  have  to  hunt  some  modern  turnip 
field  to  find  all  that  remains  of  them.  Foreign  coun- 
tries have  not  only  to  pay  tribute  to  Engl  and' of  their 
wealth  during  life,  but  even  their  bones  have  to  fol- 
low, in  order  to  enrich  British  soil,  as  while  living 
they  worked  to  fill  British  pockets.  Australia  sends 
an  enormous  quantity  of  bones  to  England.  It  has 
become  such  a  heavy  trade  that  the  article  itself  was 
found  too  light  for  profit.  Science  has  been  called 
in  to  enable  the  ship  owner  to  take  the  same  weight 
in  less  bulk.  The  bones  are  first  ground,  then  the 
dust  mixed  with  some  substance  which  will  give  it 
just  enough  adhesiveness  to  make  the  particles  stick 
together.  Then  the  material  is  put  under  heavy 
pressure  in  moulds  about  six  inches  square,  so  that 
it  can  be  packed  in  the  hold  without  any  loss  of 
space.  One  ton  of  this  hone-cake  measures  only 
twenty-six  cubic  feet.  Of  course  these  bones  are  all 
of  wild  or  domestic  animals,  but  still  "silence  is 
golden." — GermanioitJH  Telegraph. 

The  Question  of  Weeds. 

Every  good  farmer  knows  that  to  insure  satisfac- 
tory crops  his  land  must  be  cultivated  in  the  best 
manner,  and  if  it  is  so  cultivated  few  weeds  will  be 
found  upon  it.  Sometimes,  even  upon  well-managed 
farms,  a  field  here  and  there,  owing  to  adverse 
weather,  a  shortness  of  hands,  or  a  rush  of  work 
generally,  may  be  neglected  for  a  few  days  and  the 
weeds  may  get  a  start ;  but  this  happens  rarely,  and 
an  observing  man  can  always  judge  of  the  character 
of  the  farmer  by  glancing  his  eye  over  his  premises. 
If  the  weeds  are  not  to  be  regularly  and  systemati- 
cally destroyed,  the  idea  of  conducting  agricultural 
operations  profitably  may  as  well  be  abandoned,  for 
the  one  is  incompatible  with  the  other. 

And  even  this  is  more  pointedly  so  with  the  gar- 
den. Weeds  and  a  garden  crop  are  as  antagonistic 
as  life  and  death.  They  cannot  stand  upon  the  same 
platform.  One  must  be  master,  and  it  is  for  the 
owner  to  say  which.  If  a  garden  is  systematically 
worked — and  without  system  no  garden  is  worth 
having — the  labor  of  keeping  down  the  weeds  is  re- 
duced' one-half.  But  let  them  once  get  ahead,  and 
they  may  he  fought  all  summer  and  prove  victorious 
in  the  end. 

Again,  let  no  weeds  go  to  seed ;  and  do  not  throw 
into  the  public  highway  such  as  do,  to  be  washed 
down  upon  the  land  of  your  neighbors. — Oermantown 
Telegraph. 

An  Immense  Farm. 
Twenty-seven  miles  north  of  Fargo,  Dakota  Terri- 
tory, is  the  famous  Grondin  farm,  the  largest  culti- 
vated wheat  farm  in  the  world.  It  covers  about 
40,000  acres,  embracing  both  railroad  and  govern- 
ment land,  and  is  close  to  the  Red  river.  The  farm 
is  divided  into  four  parts,  and  has  dwellings,  grana- 
ries, blacksmith  shop,  elevators,  &c.,  and  has  a 
stabling  capacity  for  200  horses,  and  has  a  granary 
capacity  for  1,000,000  bushels.  In  addition  to  the 
wheat  farm  there  is  a  stock  farm  of  20,000  acres. 
During  the  seeding  season  they  employ  about  seventy 
men,  and  in  harvest  time  as  many  as  200  men  are 
busily  engaged.  Seeding  commences  about  the  flth 
of  April  and  ends  the  ifirst  of  May.  The  work  is 
done  very  systematically,  the  machines  following 
each  other  about  the  field  four  rods  apart.  Cutting 
commences  about  the  8th  of  August  and  ends  the 
forepart  of  September.  Then  comes  thrashing, 
which  is  done  by  eight  steam  thrashers.  After 
thrashing  the  stubble  ground  is  plowed  with  gang- 
plows,  that  cut  two  furrows,  drawn  by  three  horses, 
and  this  work  continues  until  it  "freezes  up,"  which 
is  about  the  first  of  November. 


Store  of  Grain  in  the  West. 

Chicago  elevators,  as  per  official  returns,  contain 
419,097  bushels  of  wheat,  6.34,537  bushels  of  corn, 
95,295   bushels  of  oats,  31,34fi  bushels   of  rye,  and 


,1.57  bushels 
1,530,432  bushels,  :, 
week  ago,  and  6,3i;:;, 
year.  Milwaukee  wi 
bushels  of  wheat,  2i 
bushel?  of  oats,  16,3 
bushels  of  barley. 


rand  total  of 

.  -    I  'li;    Ijushels    one 

'   .   '         I     tliis   period  last 

!ii.ii-r..   -in,,,l   with   496,363 

i:«   bushels   of  corn,   19,607 

1  bushels   of  rye,  and  3.57,490 


Horticulture. 


Grafting   Grapevines. 

We  have  been  experimenting  in  a  small  way  for 
ten  years  in  grafting  grapevines,  and  latterly  have 
met  with  such  complete  success  that  we  would  like 
to  give  our  experience  to  your  many  subscribers. 
The  first  experiments  were  on  an  old  Catawba  and 
the  Wild  Frost  grape,  an  inch  or  more  in  diameter. 
They  were  cleft-grafted  at  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
two  grafts  in  each  stock,  and  two  eyes  to  a  graft,  set 
and  waxed  the  same  as  an  apple  graft,  but  never  a 
bud  even  started  on  the  graft,  but  plenty  of  suckers 
shot  up  from  the  old  vines.  In  after  years  experi- 
ments were  made  with  very  long  grafts,  set  some 
inches  below  the  surface  and  hanked  up  to  the  up- 
permost bud  with  earth.  They  would  start  nicely, 
but  all  die  before  autumn.  No  permanent  union 
was  formed  between  stock  and  graft. 

Our  first  successful  experiment  was  five  years  ago. 
We  had  noticed  that  a  short  one-eyed  grape  cutting, 
properly  placed  in  a  shallow  box  of  sand  in  a  green- 
house and  regularly  supplied  with  the  necessary 
amount  of  heat  and  moisture,  would  start  the  hud 
with  the  same  certainty  as  the  parent  vine,  if  the 
graft  had  not  been  detached,  and  ip  due  time  it 
would  callous  and  throw  out  roots.  This  suggested 
a  new  idea,  and  we  determined  to  make  another 
trial  on  some  seedling  wild  Blue  grapevines  three  or 
four  years  old,  that  covered  a  trellis.  Having  clear- 
ed away  the  earth  with  a  hoe  around  the  vines  to  be 
grafted,  an  inch  or  two  below  the  surface,  or  until 
the  upper  roots  appear,  they  were  sawed  off  far 
enough  above  the  crown  to  get  a  good  split,  and 
cleft-grafted,  using  a  short  graft  with  one  eye  on 
each.  Over  this  was  placed  a  box  six  inches  square 
and  open  at  the  bottom  and  top.  Sand  enough  was 
filled  in  the  box  to  raise  it  two  inches  above  the 
grafts.  The  sand  was  thoroughly  wet,  the  earth 
hauled  up  around  the  outside  of  the  box  to  keep  the 
sand  from  drying  out  and  also  from  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold,  an  8x10  window  glass  placed  over  the  box 
and  the  work  was  done.  After  grafting  several  in 
this  way  we  found  it  more  convenient  to  use  three 
common  bricks  in  lieu  of  the  box;  they  were  set 
edgewise  around  the  grafts,  the  inside  corners  touch- 
ing and  making  a  triangular  inclosure.  The  earth 
was  hauled  up  and  glass  put  on  the  same  as  first. 
Every  graft  grew  that  year,  some  of  them  fifteen 
feet  long,  and  we  have  been  equally  successful  since, 
except  in  '77 — a  few  failed  that  year  from  using  win- 
ter-killed wood. 

If  the  weather  is  very  hot  and  dry  before  the  grafts 
appear  above  the  sand  remove  the  glass,  water,  and 
cover  lightly  with  coarse  litter.  When  large  vines 
are  worked  a  wedge  should  be  inserted  in  tlie  centre 
of  the  cleft  to  prevent  too  severe  pressure  on  the 
grafts,  and  very  small  vines  should  have  a  bandage 
of  waxed  thread  at  the  union  to  prevent  them  from 
opening.  All  suckers  from  the  old  vine  must  be  re- 
moved as  they  appear.  The  best  season  for  grafting 
is  March,  before  the  sap  starts.  They  can  also  be 
grafted  early  in  June  after  the  vines  cease  to  "bleed" 
when  cut. 

We  do  not  claim  that  our  modus  operandi  is  essen- 
tial in  all  its  details,  but  would  say  to  amateurs,  use 
bricks  when  convenient,  as  they  are  porous  and 
absorb  and  give  off  moisture  readily.  Also 
bear  this  in  mind,  that  to  successfully  graft  any 
plant  so  porous  as  the  grape  it  is  essential  to  sur- 
round both  stock  and  graft  at  the  union  with  some 
material  that  will  furnish  heat,  moisture  and  air  un- 
til the  parts  callous  and  unite,  ami  that  pure  sand  is 
much  better  for  this  purpose  than  loam.  Another 
important  feature  in  favor  of  sand  is  that  no  injury 
results  from  hard  freezing.—.?/.  G.,  in  Practical 
Farmer. 


Grape-Growing. 

A  writer  in  the  Practical  Farmer  says  :  "  I  see 
much  written  in  the  Farmer  about  growing  grapes, 
but  have  seen  no  plan  described  and  recommended 
like  mine.  As  I  never  lose  a  crop  of  grapes  from 
frost  in  the  spring  or  from  rot  or  mildew  in  summer, 
and  have  used  this  plan,  after  experimenting  with 
many  recommended  methods  of  training,  pruning, 
etc.,  for  eight  years,  I  can  recommend  it  confidently. 
The  vines  can  be  grown  as  for  other  plans  of  train- 
ing, the  first  two  years.  At  the  first  pruning,  after 
the  vines  are  two  years  old,  if  the  vines  are  strong 
so  as  to  have  two  arms  to  fasten  to  the  wire,  in  op- 
posite directions,  I  put  in  a  stake  equally  distant  be- 
tween each  two  vines.  The  stakes  should  be  six  feet 
long  and  put  eighteen  inches  deep  into  the  ground. 
I  then  fasten  a  wire — No.  16  will  do — to  each  stake 
along  the  row,  and  give  each  vine  a  wrap  or  two 
around  the  wire ;  they  need  no  tying.  I  then'  place 
plank,  full  length  of  the  rows,  on  top  of  the  stakes, 
driving  one  nail  through  the  plank  into  each  stake. 
The  plank  should  be  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  wide, 
and  six  inches  above  the  vine.  I  always  let  two 
shoots  grow  about  six  inches  below  the  wire,  for  the 
next  year's  fruiting ;  all  other  shoots  I  pinch  the 
ends  off  of,  at  about  three  leaves  from  last  bunch  of 
grapes,  and  take  off  all  suckers  that  may  appear 
after  pinching,  except  the  end  one,  which  I  do  not 


1879. 


THE  Lancaster  farme!^. 


77 


pinch  any  more.  I  have  no  tying  up  of  young  shoots, 
us  I  let  them  rfow  in  their  own  natural  way,  and  by 
the  time  the  fruit  is  full  grown  the  vines  loaded  with 
fruit  are  under  cover  where  dew  and  heavy  rains  and 
hail  can  not  injure  in  the  least,  and  the  fruit — even 
the  Concord — can  be  kept  on  the  vines  for  weeks 
after  being  fully  ripe.  1  have  kept  them  sound  ou 
the  vines  until  frost  in  autumn.  This  is  not  costly 
here  where  plank  is  worth  only  $1  per  hundred  feet. 
Forty  of  the  leading  varieties  of  grapes  have  been 
grown  here  on  this  plan,  and  all  pi-oved  successful." 

How  to  Plant  Peas. 
It  is  a  novelty  to  read  in  such  a  magazine  as 
Harper's  such  literature  as  "  How  to  Plant  Peas," 
yet  in  the  April  number  we  have  no  less  a  personage 
than  E.  P.  Koe,  author  of  "Barricks  Burned  Away," 
thus  discoursing  on  the  subject  ;  Last  spring  I  put 
in  my  first  peas  and  potatoes,  on  March  1.5th,  and 
had  splendid  crops  of  both,  but  usually  we  cannot 
do  much  in  the  open  soil  before  the  first  week  in 
April.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  frost  is  out  and  the 
ground  is  dry  enough,  I  shall  plant  in  my  driest  and 
warmest  soil  some  Little  Gem  and  Laxton's  Alpha 
peas.  I  shall  open  furrows  three  inches  deep  for 
Gems,  and  one  foot  apart,  and  in  these  furrows  scat- 
ter compost  about  an  inch  deep,  draw  a  pointed  hoe 
through  the  furrow  to  mingle  the  manure  with  the 
soil,  and  then  sow  thickly — three  peas  to  an  inch.  I 
will  treat  the  Laxton's  Alpha  in  the  same  way,  with 
the  exception  that  the  rows  will  be  two  and  a  half 
feet  apart.  The  Little  Gems  grow  only  a  foot  high, 
and  require  no  support.  The  Alphas  require  2}i  feet 
brush.  Two  weeks  later  I  shall  plant  for  second  crop 
Little  Gem,  M'Lean's  Advancer,  and  Champion  of 
England.  I  have  tried  a  great  many  kinds,  and  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  four  kinds  I  have 
named  are  the  richest  flavored  and  sufficiently  pro- 
ductive— in  brief,  all  things  considered,  the  best. 


Grapevines  in  California. 
California  has,  probably,  twenty  vines,  each  of 
which  produces  more  than  600  pounds  of  grapes  as 
an  average  crop.  Among  these  are  vines  at  Coloma 
and  Blakes,  and  near  Montecito  and  Stockton — 
representing  the  Sierra  Nevada,  the  coast  mountains 
north  of  San  Francisco,  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  the 
southern  coast,  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  an  elevation 
of  2,000  feet  above  it.  The  Stockton  vine,  a  mile 
southeast  of  the  town  in  the  yard  of  Mr.  Phelps' 
house,  is  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  last  year  produced 
5,000  pounds  ('ijjtons)  Accortlmg  to  the  Itidependent . 
We  have  heard  nothing  lately  ol  the  yield  of  the 
Montecito  and  Coloma  big  vines.  We  saw  the  latter 
in  1867  when  young,  and  it  then  bore  1,.500  bunches 
of  grapes.  The  Montecito  vine  grew  from  a  cutting 
of  the  old  vine  at  the  same  place,  set  out  in  1795,  and 
cut  down  in  1875,  when  eighty  years  old.  It  had  a 
diameter  of  15  inches,  covered  an  arbor  of  114  feet 
long  by  78  wide,  and  averaged  three  tons  in  its 
annual  yield.  The  big  vine  at  Blakes  separates  at 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  into  two  stems,  each  six 
inches   in  diameter.     The  vine  at  Coloma  is  an  Isa- 


Sowing  Garden  Seeds. 

As  seed-spwing  time  is  approaching  it  will  be  in 
order  to  say  that  a  very  great  portion  of  seeds  annu- 
ally sown  are  lost  through  deep  sowing.  Of  course, 
large  seeds,  like  beans  and  peas,  may  be  covered 
with  an  inch  or  more  of  earth,  and  yet  be  able  to 
work  their  way  easily  through  the  surface  ;  but  with 
smaller  things  the  merest  covering  is  suflicient,  pro- 
vided the  earth  is  pressed  firmly  over  the  seed.  Peas 
and  beans,  as  the  season  advances,  can  be  planted 
deeper  and  deeper. 

In  flower  seeds  it  is  quite  common  to  sow  them  on 
the  ground  in  a  little  patch,  and  then  scatter  a  mere 
dust  of  earth  over,  beating  it  a  little  with  the  back 
of  the  trowel,  and  it  is  found  that  the  seed  germi- 
nates better  than  if  put  beneath  the  surface.  There 
is  not  the  tendency  to  rot.  Again,  we  have  known 
some  of  the  lighter  kinds  of  garden  vegetables  to  be 
scattered  along  the  garden  line,  and  merely  trod  in 
with  the  feet,  to  grow  so  well  that  every  seed  seemed 
to  sprout.  This  of  course  implies  that  the  ground 
should  be  dry  enough  to  powder  under  the  feet,  and 
So  it  always  should  be  when  seeds  are  sown.  To  sow 
deep, or  when  the  earth  is  wet, are  great  mistakes.— 
OermantowH  Telegraph. 

Where  Tomatoes  were  First  Eaten. 
It  is  a  Newport  tradition  that  tomatoes  were  first 
eaten  in  this  country  in  about  182.S,  in  a  house  still 
standing  ou  the  corner  of  Come  and  Mill  streets. 
About  that  time  there  came  here  an  eccentric  Italian 
painter,  Michele  Felice  Come.  He  bought  a  stable 
on  the  street  now  called  for  him,  fashioned  it  into  a 
dwelling  house,  and  there  lived  and  died.  Previous 
to  his  coming,  and  long  after,  tomatoes,  then  called 
"love-apples,"  were  thought  to  be  poisonous.  A 
gentleman  told  me  to-day  that  in  1819  he  brought 
them  from  South  Carolina  and  planted  them  in  his 
yard,  where  they  were  looked  upon  as  curiosities  and 
prized  for  their  beauty.  They  became  later,  however, 


a  very  unpleasant  missile  in  the  hands  of  the  small 
boy.  A  charming  old  lady  also  told  me  today  that 
in  1834  she  was  sitting  with  a  sick  person  when  some 
one  brought  the  invalid  as  a  tempting  delicacy  some 
tomatoes.  "  Would  you  |)oison  her?"  was  the  ex- 
clamation of  the  astonished  attendants;  and  yet 
Come  in  this  section  of  the  town  had  been  serving 
them  for  a  year  previous.  As  late  as  1835  they  were 
regarded  as  poisonous  throughout  Connecticut.— 
Boston  Transcript. 

How  Many  Tobacco  Seed  to  an  Acre? 

As  we  have  been  asked  over  and  over  again  how 
much  seed  is  necessary  to  [>lant  an  acre  of  tobacco, 
we  have  taken  the  trouble  to  find  out  how  many 
seed  there  are  in  a  grain,  an  ounce  and  a  pound.  In 
one  grain  we  found  by  actual  count  1,494  seed.  This 
would  make  by  multiplying  by  480,  the  number  of 
grains  in  an  ounce,  717,120  seed  to  the  ounce,  and 
8,605,440  seed  to  thepound.  Estimating 5,000 plants 
to  the  acre,  and  supjrasing  every  seed  will  make  a 
plant,  every  half  ounce  will  plant  nearly  72  acres,  an 
ounce,  144  acres,  and  one  pound  1,721  acres !  As 
many  farmers  arc  contemplating  planting  largely 
this  season,  we  recommend  a  careful  study  of  these 
figures,  and  merely  intimate  that  we  have  a  few 
pounds  of  seed  still  on  hand. 

One  little  drawback  to  the  immense  number  of 
plants,  and  one  which  we  devoutly  wish,  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  farmer,  may  be  the  result  this  year, 
is  that  bad  seasons,  &c.,  destroy  so  many  tender 
plants  that  a  careful  farmer  will  sow  his  plant  beds 
for  at  least  six  times  more  than  he  intends  to  culti- 
vate.— Cincinnati  Tobacco  Journal. 


Bananas. 
Few  people  who  see  bananas  hanging  in  fruit 
dealers'  shops  think  of  them  as  more  than  a  tropical 
luxury.  In  fact,  they  are  the  staple  article  of  food 
in  some  parts  of  the  world,  and,  according  to  Hum- 
boldt, an  acre  of  bananas  will  produce  as  much  food 
for  a  man  as  twenty-five  acres  of  wheat.  It  is  the 
ease  with  which  bananas  are  grown  that  is  the  great 
obstacle  to  civilization  in  some  tropical  countries.  It 
is  so  easy  to  get  a  living  without  work  that  no  eflTort 
will  be  made,  and  the  nien  become  lazy  and  intolera- 
bly shiftless.  All  that  is  needed  is  to  slick  a  cutting 
into  the  ground.  It  will  ripen  its  fruit  in  twelve  or 
thirteen  months  without  further  care,  each  plant 
having  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  bananas,  and  wlnii  tliut  dies  dnwn,  after  fruit- 
ing, new  shoots  sprini;- up  lo  i;ikc  its  place.  In  re- 
gions where  frosts  ncvii  i.  ailj,  imnaiuis  are  found  in 
all  stages  of  growth,  liijiiiiii;;  tlnir  fruit  every  day 
and  every  mouth  in  the  year. 

Pruning  Peach  Trees. 

Frequently  old  peach  trees  are  made  thrifty  and 
fruitful  by  severe  cutting  back — cutting  the  lartre 
branches  down  to  the  very  stubs.  Not  long  ago  we 
were  told  by  a  very  intelligent  and  experienced  fruit- 
grower that  he  was  once  very  much  surprised  by 
seeing  some  previously  fruitless  old  peach  trees  hang- 
ing full  of  superior,  large  fruit.  Inquiry  led  to  the 
statement  that  they  were  apparently  worthless  trees, 
which  had  been  the  year  before  closely  trimmed  to 
get  the  outstreaching  limbs  out  of  the  way  of  work- 
ing around  them  with  a  team,  so  that  the  trees  pre- 
sented little  more  than  a  trunk  with  stubs  sticking 
out  a  foot  or  two,  and  now  hung  full  of  fine  fruit. — 
F.  cfc  F.  Magazine. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Whitewash. 

Following  is  the  Germantown  Telegraph's  recipe 
for  preparing  whitewash  : 

Take  the  very  best  stone-lime,  and  slack  it  in  a 
close  tub,  covered  with  a  cloth  to  preserve  the  steam. 
Salt — as  much  as  can  be  dissolved  in  the  water  used 
for  slacking  and  reducing  the  lime— should  be  ap- 
plied, and  the  whole  mass  carefully  strained  and 
thickened  with  a  small  quantity  of  sand,  the  purer 
and  finer  the  better.  A  few  pounds  of  wheat  flour 
mixed  as  paste  may  be  added,  aud  will  give  greater 
durability  to  the  mass,  especially  when  applied  to 
the  exterior  of  buildings.  With  pure  lime,  properly 
slacked  and  mixed  with  twice  its  weight  of  fine  sand 
and  sifted  wood  ashes,  in  equal  proportions,  almost 
any  color  may  be  made  by  the  addition  of  pigments. 
Granite,  slate,  freestone  and  other  shades  may  be 
imitated,  and  without  any  detriment  to  the  durability 
of  the  wash.  This  covering  is  very  often  applied 
and  with  good  eflect,  to  underpinning,  stone  fences, 
roofs  and  the  walls  of  barns  and  other  outbuildings. 
Probably  the  pure  whitewash  is  more  healthy  than 
colored,  as  its  alkalescent  properties  are  superior, 
and  when  used  in  cellars,  kitchens  and  sleeping 
apartments  produces  salutary  results.  No  person 
who  regards  the  health  of  his  family  should  neglect 
to  apply  a  coat  of  it  every  spring.  Country  places, 
especially  farm  outhouses,  fences,  &c.,  arc  greatly 
improved  in  appearace  by  an  annual  coat  of  good 
whitewash,  and  will  add  to  their  permanency  much 


more  than  many  would  imagine.  It  is  cheap  and 
easily  applied,  to  that  neither  expense  nor  labor  can 
be  pleaded  against  It. 

Signs  of  a  Prosperous  Farmer. 
When  you  see  a  barn  larger  than  his  houses,  it 
shows  that  he  will  have  large  profits  and  small 
affections.  When  you  see  him  driving  his  work  in- 
stead of  his  work  driving  him.  It  shows  that  he  will 
never  be  driven  from  resolutions,  aud  that  he  will 
certainly  work  his  way  to  pro8[)erity.  When  you 
always  sec  in  his  woodhousc  a  sulllcicncy  for  three 
months  or  more,  it  shows  that  he  will  be  more  than 
a  ninety  days'  wonder  in  farming  operations,  and 
that  he  is  not  sleeping  In  his  house  after  a  drunken 
frolic.  When  his  sled  is  housed  in  summer  and  bie 
farming  implements  covered  both  winter  and  summer, 
it  plainly  shows  that  he  will  have  a  good  house  over 
his  head  In  the  summer  of  his  early  life  and  the 
winter  of  old  age.  When  his  cattle  are  shielded  and 
fed  In  winter.  It  evinces  that  he  is  acting  according  to 
scripture,  which  says  that  "  a  merciful  man  is  merci- 
ful to  his  beast."  When  he  is  seen  subscribing  for  a 
paper  and  paying  in  advance,  it  shows  that  he  will 
neverget  nis  walking  papers  to  the  land  of  poverty. — 
Minnesota  Farmer. 

Home-Made  Cracked  Wheat. 
Cracked  wheat,  which  has  in  the  last  few  years 
become  a  staple  article  of  food,  may  be  made  at 
home  at  a  much  less  cost  than  when  bought  ready 
prepared  from  the  grocer.  Use  the  best  wheat, 
which  at  Jl  ..50  per  bushel  would  cost  two  aud  a  half 
cents  per  pound.  Spread  the  wheat  upon  a  white 
cloth,  and  pick  out  of  It  all  the  oats,  straw  and  the 
like ;  set  it  in  some  open  dish  in  the  stove  oven  to 
dry,  but  not  to  scorch  ;  when  very  dry  run  It  through 
a  coffee  mill,  set  so  as  to  crack  every  kernel.  This 
will  be  a  kind  of  wheat-hominy,  mixed  with  some 
fine.  To  cook  it  let  the  water  be  boiling,  then  stir 
in  the  wheat  and  keep  it  stirred  till  it  has  done  set- 
tling; then  a  very  gentle  fire  will  keep  it  boiling, 
witii  an  occasional  stirring.  A  big  fire  will  surely 
burn  It.  It  is  lietter  to  boil  it  an  hour  or  more.  This 
may  be  eaten  warm,  with  any  kind  of  dressing,  or, 
when  cold,  may,  like  corn  mush,  be  sliced  and 
warmed  for  use.  If  stirred  when  in  a  cooling  state, 
it  becotnes  sticky,  like  paste.  It  may  be  taken  up 
hot  into  dishes,  and  cut  into  slices,  or  otherwise, 
when  cold. 


Cream  Instead  of  Butter. 
A  housewife,  writing  for  the  New  York  Tribune, 
proposes  virtually  to  abolish  butter.  She  says  :  "  It 
would  be  well  to  train  a  family  from  the  outset  to 
regard  butter  as  an  incidental  or  luxury,  rather  than 
a  necessity.  The  manufacture  of  it  is  one  of  the 
hardest  and  most  time-consuming  tasks  that  a  far- 
mer has  to  perform.  Moreover,  with  all  the  work  it 
involves,  butter  adds  less  to  the  health  and  sus- 
tenance of  the  family  than  would  the  eating  of  the 
cream  that  goes  into  the  making  of  it.  Where  one 
physician  advises  the  eating  of  butter,  a  thousand 
recommend  the  consumption  of  cream.  I  think  not 
one  will  dispute  the  statement  that  of  cream  and 
butter-eaters  the  former  enjoy  the  best  digestion,  the 
best  health  and  have  the  finest  complexion.  Then, 
why  work  one's  self  to  death  for  worse  than  naught  ? 
Why  not  eat  milk  and  cream  instead  of  turning  it 
into  butter?  Good  bread  is  good  enough  without 
the  addition  of  a  condiment  to  make  it  palatable  : 
and,  eaten  with  sweet  cream,  what  is  more  delicious.' 


Use  Plenty  of  Paint. 
The  farmer  who  keeps  his  house,  barn,  and  other 
outhouses;  his  house-yard  fences;  his  wagons;  the 
wood-work  and  unused  iron-work  of  his  machines 
and  implements,  constantly  covered  with  a  coating 
of  good  paint,  saves  a  great  deal  of  money  in  the 
long  run.  In  fact  wc  know  of  no  small  expenditure 
that  pays  as  well.  The  work  of  painting  these  things 
needs  no  very  skillful  hand.  Fancy  colors  on  mowers 
and  reapers,  plow  beams,  harrows,  cultivators,  etc., 
are  of  no  account.  Good,  durable  paints,  ready 
mixed,  can  now  be  bought  at  reasonable  prices,  and 
of  any  color,  all  over  the  country.  But  any  farmer 
can  mix  his  own  paint  if  he  desires.  Ground  paint, 
paint  brushes,  oil,  and  a  little  turpentine  as  a  drier, 
compose  the  whole  outfit.  OU  and  lamp-black  make 
a  black  paint.  A  simple  red  paint  is  made  of  red 
lead  and  oil.  Paint  put  on  in  cold  weather  Is  more 
durable  than  when  put  on  in  hot  weather.  The  heat 
dries  out  the  oil  too  rapidly. 

A  Good  Night  Lamp. 
Alpheus  has  been  having  a  long  spell  of  fever,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  have  a  light  burning  all  night  In 
his  room.  We  live  in  the  country,  so  no  gas  was 
accessible.  Caudles  flickering  disagrecal^ly,  and  a 
kerosine  lamp  when  turned  low  always  has  an  an- 
noying ismell  for  an  Invalid,  so  I  bethought  of  a  light 
my  mother  used  to  improvise  when  I  was  a  child, 
before  kerosene,  with  its  attending  dangers,  was 
known.  It  was  made  by  slaking  a  saucer  of  lard  and 
cutting  a  piece  of  newspaper  In  a  circle  about  three 
inches,  then  twisting  the  centre  of  this  up  to  a  point 


78 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[May, 


and  burying  all  but  the  tip  in  the  lard.  It  will  burn 

all   night — a    shady,   dim    light — and  in  our   case 

prove  a  real  comfort.     Some  of  these  homely  facts 
are  well  worth  remembering. 

French  Bread. 
As  a  rule  the  French  bread  is  always  sweet  and 
good,  and  two  things  contribute  in  a  great  degree  to 
this — that  ie  the  manner  or  form  of  baking.  They 
never  make  a  thick  loaf;  no  matter  what  the  size  or 
shape,  it  is  always  thin,  and  more  than  two-thirds 
crust.  They  bake  their  bread  until  it  is  perfectly 
cooked.  The  loaves  being  so  thin,  tlie  heat  strikes 
through  very  soon  after  they  are  placed  in  the  oven  ; 
hence  all  lii  imntaiion  is  stopped,  while  in  the  case 
oflar;:r  Inaxr.^  I, a  iiirntation  goes  on  after  the  bread 
has  lnaii  in  tlir.iiii  for  some  time,  and  of  course 
much  of  I  In- s«  crincss  is  lost.  Then  in  baking  so 
long,  and  having  so  much  crust,  there  is  a  peculiar 
sweetness  given'  which  can  be  obtained  in  no  other 
way. — American  Miller. 


To  Destroy  House  Insects. 
To  thoroughly  rid  a  house  of  red  and  black  ants, 
cockroaches,  spiders,  bed-bugs,  and  all  crawling 
pests  which  infest  our  homes,  take  two  pounds  of 
alum  and  dissolve  it  in  three  or  four  quarts  of  boiling 
water.  Let  it  stand  on  the  fire  until  the  alum  disap- 
pears, then  apply  it  with"  a  brush  while  nearly  boil- 
ing hot,  to  every  joint  and  crevice  in  your  closets, 
bedsteads,  pantry  shelves,  and  the  like.  Brush  tlie 
crevices  in  the  floor  of  the  skirting  or  mop  boards,  if 
you  suspect  that  they  harbor  vermin.  Cockroaches 
will  flee  the  paint  which  has  been  washed  in  cool 
alum  water.  If,  in  wasliing  a  ceiling,  plenty  of  alum 
is  added  to  the  lime,  it  will  also  serve  to  keep^  insects 
at  a  distance — ficientiflc  American. 


Cleaning  a  Brussels    Carpet. 

As  the  season  is  now  approaching  when  carpets 
must  be  handled,  the  following  will  prove  of  interest: 
First  have  the  carpet  well  shaken,  then  tack  it  down 
in  the  room  where  it  is  to  remain  ;  sweep  it  as  thor- 
oughly as  possible;  take  a  pail  of  hot  water,  put  in 
two  tablespoonsful  of  pulverized  borax  :  wash  the 
carpet  all  over  the  surface,  using  a  flannel  cloth. 
For  grease  spots  or  very  dirty  places,  use  a  scrub- 
brush  freely  and  a  very  little  soap,  taking  care  to 
rinse  the  soap  off  well  after  scrubbing ;  change  the 
water  quite  often  ;  rub  the  carpet  well  with  a  dry 
cloth  after  washing,  and  open  doors  and  windows  so 
as  to  dry  the  carpet  as  quickly  as  possible. 


Household  Recipes. 


Potato  Noodles. — Grate  one  dozen  of  boiled 
potatoes,  add  two  eggs,  a  little  salt,  half  a  cupful 
of  milk,  enough  flouK  to  knead  stifle,  then  cut  in 
small  pieces,  tlien  roll  long  and  round,  one  inch  thick; 
fry  in  plenty  of  lard  to  a  nice  brown. 

To  Preserve  Gum  Solutions. — A  few  drops  of 
cloves,  alcohol,  or  acid  will  preserve  a  quart  of  the 
mucilage  of  gum  arable  or  gum  tragacanth  from 
turning  sour.  A  small  quantity  of  dissolved  alum 
will  preserve  flour  paste. 

Ham  Dressed  in  Claret. — Take  a  glass  of 
claret,  a  teaspoonful  of  sugar  and  a  teaspoonful  of 
chopped  onion ;  place  in  a  frying-pan  ;  when  the 
claret  boils  place  in  the  rashers  of  ham,  not  cut  very 
thick  ;  cool  well  and  serve  with  the  sauce.  This  is 
a  most  appetizing  Qish. 

Velvet  Cake.— Three  cupsful  of  sugar,  one  and 
a  half  cupsful  of  butter  stirred  to  a  cream,  six  cups- 
ful of  flour,  with  two  teaspoonsful  of  Boston  yeast 
powder  well  mixed  in  the  flour.  Flavor  with  essence 
of  lemon.  Four  eggs,  the  yelks  and  whites  beat 
separately,  and  add  last. 

Ice  Cream  Cake. — One  cupof  butter,  two  cups  of 
sugar,  one  cup  of  milk,  three  cups  of  flour,  whites  of 
five  eggs,  three  teaspoonfuls  of  baking  powder ; 
bake  in  thin  layers  ;  tl;ree  small  cups  of  sugar,  dis- 
solved in  a  little  water,  and  boiled  until  done  for 
candy ;  cool  a  little,  and  pour  over  the  unbeaten 
whites  of  eggs,  and  heat  together  a  half  an  hour. 

Whith  Fruit  Cake.— One  cup  of  butter,  two 
cups  of  sugar,  one  scant  cup  of  sweet  milk,  whites  of 
five  eggs,  one  grated  cocoanut ;  one  pound  of 
almonds,  blanched  and  cut  fine ;  one  pound  of 
citron,  cut  into  very  thin  pieces ;  three  and  a  half 
cups  of  sifted  flour,  two  heaping  teaspoonfuls  of 
baking  powder.  Flour  the  fruit  and  add  the  last 
thing. 

Lemon  Pie. — Grate  the  yellow  rind  of  two  lemons; 
beat  together  the  rind,  juice,  ten  tablespoonfuls  of 
loaf  sugar,  and  the  yelks  of  four  eggs,  until  very 
light,  then  add  two  tablespoonfuls  of  water.  Line  a 
large  plate  and  fill  with  the  mixture  ;  bake  until  the 
paste  is  done ;  beat  the  whites  stiff  and  stir  into 
them  two  tablespoonfuls  of  sugar,  spread  it  over  the 
top  and  bake  bright  brown. 

Cheap  Pudding. — Peel  and  core  four  or  five 
apples,  according  to  the  size,  cut  them  in  slices,  and 
lay  them  in  a  pie-disb  ;  sprinkle  them  with  sugar 


(pounded),  and  then  put  a  thin  layer  of  apricot  or 
other  jam.  Take  two  ounces  of  sugar  and  a  small 
piece  of  butter  ;  stir  it  over  the  Are  until  it  boils,  and 
then  pour  it  into  the  pie-dish  with  the  apples  and 
jam,  and  bake  until  done. 

To  Wash  Silk  Stockings. — The  best  way  to 
wash  all  silk  stockings  is  to  make  a  good  lather  of 
curd  soap  and  rainwater;  use  it  nearly  cold,  and 
then  wash,  rubbing  as  little  as  possible,  and  doing 
each  stocking  separately.  Rinse  in  clear,  soft  water ; 
squeeze  out  the  wet  as  much  as  possible  in  a  soft 
cloth,  do  not  wring  the  stockings  ;  wrap  each  one  in 
a  dry  cloth,  and  when  almost  dry  rub  them  with  a 
piece  of  flannel,  always  the  same  way.  A  small 
quantity  of  liquid  ammonia  should  be  added  to  the 
lather  when  black  stockings  are  to  be  washed. 

Baked  Fish. — Take  any  nice  fish,  boil  it,  remove 
the  bones,  and  chop  considerable  parsely  very  fine, 
with  one  small  onion.  Have  about  as  much  bread- 
crumbs as  fish.  Take  a  pudding-dish  and  butter  it, 
then  lay  in  a  layer  of  bread-crumbs,  then  a  layer  of 
fish,  ending  with  bread-crumbs.  Mix  your  parsley 
and  onion  with  salt  and  pepper  through  your  bread- 
crumbs. Put  lumps  of  butter  over  the  top,  a  very 
slight  grating  of  nutmeg,  and  pour  over  it  all  sweet 
cream  or  very  rich  milk,  till  it  rises  nearly  to  the 
top.  Bake  in  a  quick  oven  till  it  has  a  nice,  rich 
brown  crust. 

Apple  Preserve. — Peel,  halve  and  core  six  large 
apples,  selecting  those  of  the  same  size,  having  pre- 
pared a  syrup  made  of  one  pound  of  granulated 
sugar  and  a  pint  of  water  ;  when  it  boils  drop  in  the 
apples  with  the  rind  and  juice  of  a  lemon  and  two 
or  three  cloves.  As  soon  as  they  are  tender  «are 
should  be  taken  that  they  do  not  fall  to  pieces. 
Take  the  halves  out  one  by  one,  and  arrange,  con- 
cave side  uppermost,  in  a  glass  dish.  Drop  a  bit  of 
currant  jelly  into  each  piece,  boil  down  the  syrup, 
and  when  cool  pour  around  the  apples.  This  makes 
a  very  nice  preserve  for  tea. 


Live  Stock. 


Treatment  of  Cows  at  Calving. 

Cows  in  good  condition  should  be  watched  carefully 
for  any  symptoms  of  fever ;  for  its  progress  is  so 
rapid  in  some  cases  as  to  aijbrd  little  time  for  treat- 
ment. The  early  symptoms  are,  dullness,  ^languor, 
red  eyes,  hot  head  and  horns,  a  strong  pulse,  some- 
times uneasy  movements  of  the  hind  legs,  the  cow 
then  lying  down,  placing  its  head  on  its  flank,  or 
striking  its  horns  on  the  ground.  Sometimes  the 
symptoms  are  only  fever,  rapid  pulse,  and  quick  and 
strong  breathing,  with  loss  of  power  over  the  limbs, 
want  of  sensation,  torpor  of  bowels  and  bladder. 
One  of  the  best  things  to  do  in  case  of  an  attack,  is 
to  apply  moderately  cold  water  to  the  whole  body ; 
and  this  is  best  done  by  placing  a  woolen  blanket 
around  the  cow,  from  udder  to  foreleg,  and  pouring 
water  between  the  blanket  and  the  body,  wetting  the 
body  and  blanket  thoroughly,  covering  with  a  dry 
blanket  if. the  weather  is  cool.  Matting  or  old  car- 
peting is  good  to  place  around  the  body ;  place  it 
under,  and  bring  the  ends  together  over  the  back. 
If  the  cow  is  down,  roll  her  over  on  the  blanket, 
having  first  wetted  it,  and  also  the  side  of  the  cow. 
This  wetting  will  produce  a  fomentation  and  gradual 
cooling  of  the  whole  surface  of  the  body,  modifying 
the  fever,  and  usually  producing  relief  in  a  short 
time.  If  it  is  that  form  of  the  disease  in  which  there 
is  great  heat  of  the  head,  pour  ice-cold  water  upon 
the  head  between  the  horns,  at  the  same  time  that 
water  is  applied  to  the  whole  body ;  and  as  in  most 
cases  the  udder  is  swollen  and  hot,  this  should  be 
treated  with  the  water-bag,  which  is  useful  in  garget 
and  fever  in  the  udder.  This  bag  may  be  made  of 
oil-cloth,  or,  better,  India  rubber,  large  enough  to 
enclose  the  udder,  coming  up  to  the  body,  flaring  at 
the  top,  held  up  by  a  strap  over  the  back,  and  filled 
with  soft  water  of  a  moderate  temperature — say  65 
degrees.  This  will  soon  allay  the  irritation  in  the 
udder,  and  the  water  can  be  changed  when  it  be- 
comes warm.  Give  at  the  same  time  copious  injec- 
tions of  blood-warm  water,  which  will  assist  in  re- 
lieving the  bowels  and  intestines.  It  is  well  to  chafe 
the  back  and  hips  gently.  We  have  seen  these 
applications  work  well,  even  when  the  cow  was 
unable  to  rise,  and  had  passed  beyond  the  bleeding 
stage. 

We  give  this  rational  treatment,  because  it  may  be 
applied  by  the  dairyman  himself,  with  great  hope  of 
success,  when  he  cannot  have  the  skill  of  the  veteri- 
narian, and  will  save  many  more  cows  than  any 
attempt  of  the  dairyman  himself  to  apply  veterinary 
medicines. — National  Live-Stock  Journal,  Chicago. 


Color  in  Jerseys. 

It  is  well  known  that  for  some  time  past  the  more 
prominent  breeders  of  the  Island  of  Jersey  have 
been  swayed  against  their  own  best  judgment  by  the 
prejudice  against  parti-colored  cattle,  on  the  part 
especially  of  English  buyers.  To  such  an  extent  is 
the  color  mania  carried  that  it  is  said  that  no  breeder 
in  Jersey  would  raise  for  his  own  use  a  bull  which 
had  any  material  amount  of  white  in  his  color.    On 


the  other  hand,  bulls  that  are  fit  only  for  the 
shambles  are  kept  at  the  head  of  some  of  the  choicest 
herds,  solely  on  account  of  their  prepotency  in  re- 
gard to  solid  colors  ;  and  cows  have  the  preference 
as  breeders,  not  because  of  the  presence  of  those 
qualities  that  have  given  the  race  its  world-wide 
celebrity,  but  simply  because  of  the  absence  of  white 
hairs. 

Col.  Waring,  in  an  account  of  his  late  visit,  tells 
us  that  almost  invariably  in  examining  a  herd  the 
farmer  or  agent  by  whom  he  was  accompanied  would 
point  out  su'-h  and  such  an  animal  as  being  "very 
good ;"  "the  best  in  the  herd;"  "the  finest  animal 
in  Jersey,"  etc.,  etc. — animals  which  obviously  were 
good  for  very  little  indeed.  And  on  his  calling  atten- 
tion to  the  superiority  of  another  in  the  same  field, 
he  was  answered,  quite  as  a  matter  of  course  :  "Oh  I 
yes,  for  the  dairy  that  cow  is  worth  ten  of  these,  but 
look  at  this  one's  color  ! — not  a  white  hair  on  her." 
All  this  will  sooner  or  latJr  bear  its  legitimate  fruit. 
And  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  its  deteriorating 
effects  are  already  beginning  to  be  felt.  Intelligent 
observers,  on  visiting  the  Island,  are  struck  with  the 
inferior  characteristics  everywhere  manifest.  Good 
animals  are,  of  course,  to  be  found  in  every  herd, 
but  the  percentage  of  poor  animals  is  alarmingly 
large,  and,  what  is  worse,  is  on  the 
National  Live  Stock  Journal. 


The  Difference. 
Mr.  A.  A.  Crane,  a  farmer  residing  at  Osco,  Henry 
county,  Illinois,  called  at  our  office  a  few  days  ago, 
and  gave  us  some  facts  and  figures  in  regard  to  his 
business  that  are  interesting.  He  had  just  come  to 
the  city  with  a  lot  of  cattle  and  hogs,  which  he  had 
sold  as  follows  :  100  hogs,  average  weight,  496.3  lbs., 
at  84.35,  brought  ?2,i.58.90.  14  head  of  cattle, 
averaging  1,483^ lbs.,  g5,  $1,038,  making  a  total  for 
the  hogs  and  cattle  of  S3,196.90.  By  a  reference  to 
the  market  reports  of  the  same  day  we  find  that  a 
large  majority  of  the  hogs  sold  changed  hands  at 
less  than  $3.85.  Taking  $3.85,  however,  as  the 
average,  we  find  that  Mr.  Crane  received  ?J48.15 
more  for  bis  hogs  than  the  average  price  for  the  day 
for  an  equal  number  of  pounds.  On  the  same  day 
the  quotations  for  fair  to  medium  fleshy  steers  were 
|4  to  $4.35.  Taking  the  latter  figure,  we  find  that, 
by  having  good  steers,  Mr.  Crane  realized  65  cents 
per  hund.-ed  more  on  his  ^i0,760  lbs.,  making  a  differ- 
ence of  §134.94 ;  and  on  the  hogs  and  cattle  together, 
the  difference  in  favor  of  good  animals,  in  good  con- 
dition for  market,  over  the  average  of  the  day  for 
the  same  number  of  pounds,  was  $383.09 — a  very 
handsome  showing  in  favor  of  good  stock  and  good 
feeding,  over  the  slip-shod  methods  prevailing  so 
generally  among  farmers.  We  might  say  further, 
that  the  price  obtained  by  Mr.  Ci-ane  for  his  cattle, 
although  65  cents  above  the  average  price  of  the 
day,  for  fair  steers,  was  30  cents  below  the  highest 
price  of  the  day — $5.30  having  been  paid  for  a  fancy 
lot  of  steers  averaging  1,.555,  for  the  English  mar- 
ket.— National  Live-Stock  Journal,  Chicago. 


Stallion  Shows  in  Spring. 

The  awarding  of  a  prize  for  "the  best  stallion" 
in  any  given  class  at  a  county  fair  held  in  the  autumn 
does  good  undoubtedly.  It  furnishes  horse  breeders 
with  an  opportunity  of  seeing  good  horses.  If  the 
prize  is  for  the  stallion  and  a  showing  of'his  colts  it 
gives  an  opportunity  for  seeing  those  which  have 
proved  their  excellence  as  sires.  But  there  is  no  cer- 
tainty that  any  direct  future  good  will  come  from 
such  a  prize,  beyond  its  stimulating  effect.  Often 
the  winner  is  not  owned  in  the  county,  or,  if  he  be, 
he  is  often  sold  or  removed  for  the  next  season. 

Would  not  awarding  pi  izes  to  the  best  stallion  to 
make  the  next  season  in  the  county  do  much  more 
good  ?  Our  cirumstances  are  so  different,  we  cannot 
well  adopt  the  plan  which  has  proved  so  successful 
in  Scotland — of  having  representatives  of  various 
societies  annually  come  to  a  great  national  stallion 
show  and  pay  handsome  premiums  to  secure  the 
standing  of  their  choice  of  stallions  in  their  districts, 
with  a  fixed  service  fee,  but  there  is  nothing  to  pre- 
vent a  more  general  holding  of  spring  shows  of  stal- 
lions, thus  giving  breeders  an  opportunity  for  com- 
parison and  selection  ;  and  the  plan  of  offering  prizes, 
with  condition  of  the  season  being  made  in  the 
county,  would  be  an  advisable  step.  As  the  taking 
of  the  prize  would  give  some  reputation  and  help  in 
receiving  a  good  patronage  it  might  be  well  to  in- 
clude in  the  condition  a  moderate  sum  as  the  maxi- 
mum fee  for  service. — National  Live  Stock  Journal. 

■Worms  in  Hogs. 
Before  adminstering  a  vermifuge  it  is  alwayi 
proper  to  relax  and  clear  the  intestines  of  accumula- 
tions of  ingesta.  For  this  purpose  give  to  each  hog, 
in  the  morning,  an  hour  before  feeding,  according  to 
the  size  of  the  animal,  from  two  to  four  ounces  of 
castor  oil,  mixed  with  one  drachm  of  oil  of  turpen- 
tine. Next  day,  and  once  daily  during  a  week,  ad- 
minister remedies  which  combine  in  themselves  the 
properties  of  a  tonic,  a  bitter,  and  an  astringent. 
For  this  purpose  we  recommend  the  sulphate  of  iron 
and  gentian  root,  in  doses  of  one  scruple  to  half  a 
drachm  of  the  powdered  sulphate  of  iron,  and  one  to 


im.j 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


79 


two  drachms  of  tlie  powdered  gentian  root.  For  the 
purpose  of  ready  administration  such  a  powder  may 
be  mixed  with  a  teaspoonful  of  honey  or  treacle, 
and  in  the  shape  of  thick  paste  or  electuary,  smeared 
upon  the  root  of  the  tongue,  which  is  far  preferable 
to  drenching.  It  Is  best  given  in  the  morning,  an 
hour  before  feeding.  A  frequent  change  of  food, 
plenty  of  sour  milk,  and  always  ready  access  to  pure 
drinking  water,  are  esseotial.— A^nfionai  Live  Stock 
Journal. 

Exercising    Cows. 

A  correspondent  of  tlie  Country  QentUman  writes  : 
In  countries  where  cows  are  the  most  productive 
they  are  not  allowed  to  range  at  will,  but  are  con 
fined  in  comparatively  close  quarters.  On  the 
Channel  Islands  where  the  Jersey  and  Guernsey 
cows  are  bred,  they  are  tethered  and  kept  confined 
the  year  round.  The  Ilolsteins  live  with  their  own- 
ers, generally  under  the  same  roof,  while  the  bonnie 
Ayrshire  almost  shares  the  bed  and  board  of  her 
master.  These  customs  have  perl'ected  breeds  of 
cows  and  made  them  profitable,  while  the  American 
system  of  pasture  ranges  and  barnyard  "exercises" 
has  perfected  nothing,  and  never  will,  and  in  most 
cases  has  afforded  really  no  profit.  On  the  one  side 
Is  philosophy  and  cow  sense  ;  while  on  the  other,  old 
notions  and  human  prejudice  govern.  Result,  we  go 
abroad  to  improve  our  cows  and  iuerease  our  profits 
and  still  hug  the  delusions  of  our  fathers.  Gentle- 
men, this  is  not  progressive. 

Tender  and  Small  Feet. 

A  horse  with  tender,  thin-walled,  and  small  front 
feet  is  certainly  better  off  without  shoes  on  ;  and  the 
longer  time  he  can  be  spared  from  work,  the  better. 
Such  a  horse  should  not  be  k^pt  tied  in  a  single 
stall,  but  should  be  given  outdoor  liberty  when  the 
weather  permits;  and  when  indoors  he  should  go 
loose  in  a  comlbrtableshedor  box-stall,  with  earthen 
floor.  Look  out  for  corns.  A  few  months'  liberty 
on  pasture  in  the  spring  would  be  beneficial.  Such 
a  horse  should  never  wear  heavy  shoes,  and  the 
smith  should  be  told  not  to  draw  the  nails  tight  when 
shoeing. — National  Live-Stock  Journal,  Chicago. 


Apiary. 


Practical  Bee  Culture. 

At  the  session  of  the  Northeastern  Bee-Keepers' 
Association,  held  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  during  the 
past  week,  Mr.  Bacon,  of  Oneida,  took  strong  ground 
in  favor  of  allowing  bees  to  stir  about  and  clean  up, 
while  others  as  strongly  objected,  saying  that  if  kept 
on  pure,  good  honey  and  illowed  to  remain  dormant 
no  cleaning  is  needed.  The  President  took  the  latter 
ground,  and  stated  that  he  kept  his  bees  dry,  and  at 
a  low  enough  temperature  to  keep  them  quiet,  and 
never  disturbed  them  until  the  blossoms  of  the  soft 
maple  are  out,  which  he  regards  as  a  fair  indica 
that  the  cold  weather  has  left  and  that  bees  will  be 
able  to  live  and  work. 

Another  question,  as  to  the  relative  amounts  of 
honey  consumed,  was  raised.  Mr.  Baer  claimed  that 
he  raised  honey  enough  in  a  single  season  to  pay  for 
his  bee-house.  Mr.  Snow  claimed  that  he  had  all 
the  honey  left  that  he  cared  for,  and  preferred  to 
have  the  honey  used  from  the  comb,  in  order  to 
vacate  the  cells  for  the  use  of  the  queen.  Mr.  Koot 
had  weighed  two  swarms  and  found  that  indoors  the 
swarm  used  four  and  a  quarter  and  five  and  a  half 
pounds  during  the  winter,  against  six  and  three 
quarters  and  seven  pounds  used  by  those  left  out. 

Some  further  discussion  took  place,  and  it  was 
finally  resolved  to  take  up  the  question  of  the  best 
method  of  caring  for  bees  in  the  spring.  The  dis- 
cussion was  very  warm,  and  the  views  of  several 
membei-6  were  strongly  expressed.  Several  mem- 
bers took  the  ground  fhat  an  early  fiight  was  desira- 
ble, and  others  opposed  it  as  being  a  fruitful  source 
of  disease  and  spring  dwindling, which  so  many  com- 
plain of.  The  president  took  the  ground  that  an 
early  flight  and  a  subsequent  return  to  the  dormant 
state  was  a  detriment  to  the  health  of  the  swarm. 
He  keeps  his  bees  as  quiet  as  possible,  but  when  the 
blossoms  start  he  places  them  on  the  summer  stands, 
taking  all  necessary  care  to  insure  sufficient  mois- 
ture,  which  he  deems  necessary  at  this  time,  and  al- 
lows them  to  begin  work  and  also  to  brood.  He 
feeds  them  honey  in  the  comb,  simply  breaking  the 
ceiling  of  the  cells,  thus  giving  the  comb  to  the 
queen  to  be  used  for  breeding.  He  believed  dysen- 
tery among  bees  was  caused  by  early  exposure  and 
by  allowing  them  to  get  cold  water.  Several  mem- 
bers expressed  the  same  views  and  the  sentiment  of 
the  convention  was  found  to  be  in  favor  of  the  plan 
adopted  by  Mr.  Koot. 


A  Good  \A^ord  for  Bees. 

A  correspondent  of  the  LuUana  Farmer  writes  : 
While  most  all  other  industries  are  full  to  overflow- 
ing, that  of  bee  culture  is  just  beginning  to  attract 
attention.  Our  own  State  is  about  as  good  as  any 
other  State  for  honey.  Where  white  clover,  golden 
rod,  Unn,  poplar,  or  basswood  and  many  other  honey 


trees  and  plants  abound,  bee-culture  can  be  made 
profitable.  We  have  hundreds  of  people  in  our  State 
of  small  means  who  micht  as  well  as  not  engage  in 
the  bee  business  and  make  it  profitable  as  well  as  to 
enjoy  the  luxury  of  eating  honey.  The  outlay  to  the 
beginner  need  not  be  very  great.  One  hive  will  do 
for  a  start.  A  book  giving  instructions  on  bee  man- 
agement Is  almost  Indispensable.  The  art  of  hand- 
ling bees  must  be  learned  in  some  way,  or  failure 
will  be  the  result,  sooner  or  later,  and  the  sooner 
cenerally  comes  first.  The  best  way  to  learn  an 
occupation  is  to  go  to  work  with  some  one  that 
knows  how .  Bee-keeping  Is  no  exception  to  this  rule. 
My  experience  has  taught  mc  this  much,  that  very 
little  valuable  instruction  is  got  from  patent  bee-hive 
men.  They  will  tell  some  big  thing  about  their  hive 
to  make  It  sell,  whether  it  is  true  or  not.  Men  who 
can  count  their  colonies  by  the  hundred,  and  are 
making  money  at  the  business,  certainly  know  what 
a  hive  should  be.  Some  of  the  most  successful  ones 
use  a  common  affair.  A  hive  of  bees  can,  with 
ordinary  management,  be  doubled  every  year  for 
five  years.  In  the  fall  of  the  seventh  year  we  have 
(54  colonies ;  'M  pounds  of  honey  to  the  hive  every 
year  will  be  a  low  average  for  that  length  of  time  ; 
l.")  cents  per  pound  is  not  high  for  honey  ;  we  have 
2,.')40  pounds  for  the  seven  years ;  that  is,  at  1.5  cents, 
makes  |:i81,if  I  have  made  no  mistake.  The  04 
colonies  at  the  low  price  of  $7  per  colony  makes 
?44S ;  this  added  to  the  value  of  honey  gives  the 
snug  sum  of  $829.  This  is  no  big  thing  but  it  is 
enough  to  pay  for  all  the  trouble  It  costs.  Some 
will  say  it  looked  well  enough  on  paper,  but  not  one 
man  in  fifty  can  do  that  well.  I  believe  it  can  be 
accomplished  every  time  with  proper  care.  I  would 
like  to  hear  from  some  of  our  bee-keepers  on  the 
subject.  If  they  think  that  I  am  extravagant  in  my 
calculations  let  them  say  so. 


Farmers  and  Bees. 


Everything  in  bee-keeping  does  not  depend  upon 
location.  The  manner  in  which  many  farmers  keep 
their  bees,  almost  forces  one  to  conclude  that  they 
are  either  too  indolent  or  ignorant  to  keep  them  suc- 
cessfully, and  that  in  reality  they  should  not  make 
any  attempt.  I  will  enumerate  the  kind  of  farmers 
who  can  keep  bees,  at  least  enough  to  supply  them- 
selves with  honey  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  their 
own  families.  The  farmer  who  has  sufficient  sense 
to  plant  corn  at  the  right  time,  and  energy  to  eradi- 
cate the  weeds  and  stir  the  soil  to  insure  a  good 
crop,  can  keep  bees.  The  man  that  adorns  his  home 
with  shrubs  and  fiowers,  delicious  fruits  for  his  table, 
and  desires  the  education  of  his  children  in  every 
useful  art  that  agriculture  and  home  affords,  will 
keep  them.  Ou  the  other  hand  the  one  who  has  not 
the  interest  or  energy  to  do  all  these  things,  need  not 
expect  to  get  either  money  or  honey  from  bee-cul- 
ture. Some  of  the  requisites  to  care,  even  for  a  few 
stock  of  bees,  are,  first,  a  love  for  the  bees.  No  one 
succeeds  well  who  keep  bees  with  only  large  profits 
in  view,  for  in  this  business  "  he  who'maketh  haste 
to  be  rich,"  will  surely  fall  into  a  snare.  Second, 
knowledge  and  energy  to  do  the  right  thing  at  the 
right  time.  This  can  be  attained  by" reading  and  ob- 
servation, and  time  and  money  thus  expended  will 
prove  a  good  investment.  Third,  faith  that  bees  will 
pay  if  rightly  kept.  A  like  faith  is  necessary  in  this 
vocation  as  that  which  the  farmer  exercises  in  all 
his  farm  matters. — O.  \V.  Niehardt,  in  Bee-keepers' 
Guide. 


Poultry. 


How  the  Young   Bird  is  Hatched. 

What  more  wonderful  provision  in  nature  is  there 
than  that  by  which  the  young  bird  is  vitalized  and 
matured  in  the  egg.  As  all  who  have  paid  any  at- 
tention to  embryology  know,  the  germ  of  the  future 
bird  is  placed  on  one  side  of  the  yolk,  and  that  side 
is  always  uppermost,  being  suspended  by  chalazae 
or  twisted  cords  in  the  albumen  of  the  egg. 

If  you  take  an  egg,  and  placing  it  on  its  side, 
break  out  a  circular  hole  in  the  upper  side  of  the 
shell  you  will  always  find  the  blastoderm  or  embry- 
onic shield,  as  it  is  called,  on  the  upper  side  of  the 
yolk  looking  you  in  the  face,  almost  like  an  eye. 

The  reason  that  this  embryonic  shield  is  always 
held  uppermost  is  because  the  parent  bird  in  incu- 
bating applies  the  hot  surface  of  the  skin  directly  to 
the  upper  side  of  the  egg,  and  that  the  embryo  may 
receive  its  proper  heat'  and  receive  no  injury  it  is 
suspended  in  a  thick  and  elastic  deposit  of  albumen. 

The  parent  bird  in  the  period  of  Incubation,  know- 
ing by  instinct  that  the  eggs  in  the  middle  of  the 
nest  receive  more  than  their  proportionate  share  of 
her  heat,  she  Is  often  employed  in  changing  the  po- 
sition of  the  eggs,  putting  those  that  were  on  the 
edge  in  the  middle  and  those  that  were  in  the  middle 
on  the  outer  edge.  Observe  now  how  this  very  act 
beautifully  carries  out  another  provision  of  nature  ; 
If  by  chance  a  bird  could  impart  to  her  eggs  the 
same  degree  of  heat  throughout  so  that  there  would 
be  no  necessity  for  changing  their  position,  the  young 
birds  would  not  hatch  ;  because,  the  heat  being  ap- 
plied to  the  eggs  at  one  point  without  change,  the 


veins  which  are  thrown  out  to  the  shell  to  obtain 
oxygen  for  the  embryos  would  be  over  stimulated 
anil  strong  at  that  point,  and  weak  and  powerless  at 
all  other  points,  where  the  heat  was  not  employed. 
The  result  would  be  that  the  chicks  would  be  con- 
fined or  anchored  to  one  side  of  the  shell,  and,  as 
they  could  not  turn  around  in  the  shell  In  order  that 
they  might  break  a  circle  around  it  to  liberate  them- 
selves they  would  die  at  the  time  they  should  break 
their  prison  walls. 

Nature  thus  Implants  In  the  parent  bird  the  in- 
stinct to  keep  changing  the  position  of  the  eggs.  In 
order  that  the  embryos  may  be  born. 

"What  Breed  Shall  I  Keep  ?" 

In  the  long  list  of  questions  which  established 
breeders  of  poultry  are  called  upon  to  answer,  there 
Is  none  that  appears  more  frequent  than  the  one  at 
the  head  of  this  short  article. 

The  breeding  of  thorougliI)red  poultry  for  profit  or 
amusement  is  becoming  general,  and  each  one  cm- 
barking  in  the  enterprise  asks  this  question  first, 
"  What  breed  shall  I  keep  ?" 

To  answer  this  question,  as  it  should  be  answered, 
requires  that  we  should  know  the  tastes  and  habits 
the  person,  the  buildings,  and  time  to  be  given  for 
eare  and  feed,  and  the  amount  of  yard  room  and 
grass  run  which  a  fioek  would  have.  Of  course  the 
breed  1  keep  is  the  best  for  me,  and  also  all  others 
who  have  a  moderate  amount  of  room.  This  Is  a 
natural  conclusion,  and  yet  before  I  settled  down  to 
the  breeding  of  Plymouth  Hocks,  I  had  tested  the 
other  leading  varieties,  and  failed  to  realize  what  / 
hai'c  realized  during  the  five  years  I  have  bred  tbU 
variety.  In  egg  production  they  have  surpassed 
anything  I  ever  had,  not  excepting  the  Leghorns, 
while  the  weight,  and  consequent  value  was  much 
greater. 

For  table  uses  they  are  not  equaled  by  any  variety 
of  breed,  the  flesh  being  more  evenly  distributed 
over  the  body,  and  especially  on  breast  and  sides  of 
breast  bone.  They  are  large,  and  yet  compact ; 
heavy,  and  not  bony  ;  with  bright  yellow  legs,  and  a 
disposition  to  take  on  fat ;  making  them  the  best  for 
all  practical  purposes.  They  do  not  have  a  disposi- 
tion to  roam,  and  are  easily  kept  within  bounds,  a 
four  foot  picket  fence  being  all  that  is  necessary. 

One  cannot  ask  for  chicks  larger  than  this  breed 
secures,  as  cockerels  five  months  old  dress  from  five 
to  six  pounds.  They  are  hardy,  and  remarkably 
free  from  disease. 

The  hens  have  a  moderate  desire  to  set,  but,  with 
my  experience,  not  sufficient  to  make  them  good 
sitters  or  mothers.  Some  of  my  flock,  three  years 
old,  never  having  shown  any  desire  to  brood. 

The  Plymouth  Rocks  are  of  good  form  and  fine 
color,  and  so  please  the  eye  of  all,  while  their  in- 
trinsic worth  made  them  favorites  everywhere.— O. 
M.  Twitchell. 

Eggs  and  Egg  Culture. 
The  traffic  in  eggs  in  this  country  Is  estimated,  by 
competent  authorities,  to  equal  ?1.'>0,UOO,000  per  an- 
num. New  York  receives  in  a  single  year  530,000 
barrels  of  eggs,  valued  at  ?9,000,000.  In  1877  there 
were  exported  from  this  country  .5,20J,"20.5  dozen 
eggs,  valued  at  $668,701.  It  Is  claimed  that  Phila- 
delphia consumes  daily  80,000  dozen  eggs.  The  ap- 
proximate receipts  of  eggs  In  Boston  for  the  year 
1878  have  been  as  follows  :  107,627  cases,  containing 
49  dozen  each  ;  43,000  boxes,  containing  100  dozen 
each,  and  17,7{>3  barrels,  containing  70  dozen  each. 
These  figures  give  as  a  result,  108,410  packages, 
containing  6, .51.5,052  dozen  eggs,  or  78,187,^36  single 
eggs.  It  is  estimated  that  fully  95  per  centum  of  all 
receipts  are  consumed  in  Massachusetts,  and  that 
about  80  per  centum  are  consumed  in  and  near  Bos- 
ton. In  nearly  all  small  towns  and  villages  enough 
eggs  are  raised  to  supply  the  local  demand.  The 
number  of  eggs  consumed  in  this  Slate,  when  com- 
puted, is  found  to  be  at  an  average  of  5.!  eggs  per 
year  to  every  inhabitant,  or  one  egg  per  week.  All 
these  eggs  come  to  Boston  from  various  sections  In 
about  the  following  proportions  :  Eastern  eggs,  most- 
ly from  .Maine,  by  boat  and  rail,  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  24  per  centum  of  total  receipts  ;  Northern  eggs 
from  Northern  New  York  and  Canada,  37  per  cent- 
um ;  P.  E.  I.  eggs,  from  Prince  Edward's  Island,  be- 
tween the  months  of  April  and  November,  17  per 
centum  ;  Western  eggs,  19  per  centum,  and  Southern 
e^'gs,  from  Virginia,  during  a  few  weeks  in  the 
spring,  3  per  centum.  Of  the  Northern  eggs  the 
greater  part  comes  from  Canada,  and  this  trade  is 
constantly  increasing.  A  single  Boston  firm,  the 
largest  receiver  of  eggs  in  this  market,  bandied 
nearly  000,000  dozen  eggs  last  year. 


What  I  Know  about  Roup. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  would  like  to  tell  what  I  know  about 
roup.  The  symptoms  are  various.  A  sniffing  and 
sneezing,  sore  eyes,  swollen  head,  a  discharge  from 
the  beak  and  nostrils,  and  a  loss  of  appetite,  are  all 
indications  of  roup.  Another  good  way  of  discerning 
roup  is  to  take  the  fowl  on  your  lap,  open  its  beak 
and  smell  of  its  throat.  If  it  smells  badly,  your 
fowl  has  the  roup.  At  the  first  appearance  of  roup, 
the  fowl  should  be  promptly  removed  from  the  rest, 
and  treated  as  described  below. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[May,  1879. 


Treatment.— The  best  and  cheapest  remedy  and 
preventive  for  roup  is  invariably  the  German  Roup 
Pills,  which  sliould  be  immeiMately  administered 
according  to  directions,  also  give  twice  a  day  if  your 
fowl  has  the  roup  badly,  if  not  once  a  day  will  be 
found  sufficient,  a  pill  made  by  melting  some  fresh 
lard  in  a  vessel  over  a  fire,  and  adding  enough  red 
pepper  to  thicken.  When  it  gets  cool  it  may  be 
made  up  into  pills  and  administered  by  pushing  it 
down  the  throat.  Red  pepper  should  be  given  in 
their  drink.  Also,  wash  the  head  and  neck  in  a 
solution  of  chlorate  of  potash  in  water.  Feed  the 
German  Roup  Pills  exclusively,  and  your  fowl  will, 
nine  times  out  of  ten,  get  well.  Always  keep  sick 
fowls  warm  and  dry.  If  you  think  this  worthy  of 
notice  please  publish  it  in  your  excellent  paper,  the 
Poultry  Yard.— 0.  A.  L.,  in  Poultry  Yard. 


"  Brown   Leghorns." 

Mr.  Henry  Lively  furnishes  us  with  an  account  of 
the  eggs  laid  by  his  Brown  Leghorn  chickens  during 
the  month  of  March.  His  fifteen  pullets  laid  liSi 
eggs  in  31  days,  being  an  average  of  9  5-31  per  day. 
In  February  these  same  fowls  laid  ^53  eggs  in  28 
days,  being  an  average  of  9  l-2s  per  day.  The  lowest 
number  laid  being  4,  the  highest  13.  These  fowls 
are  confined  in  a  coop  6  feet  wide  by  10  feet  long, 
with  yard  attached  11  feet  by  l^H  feet,  including  a 
few  moments'  run  occasionally  on  a  small  grass 
patch.  These  fowls  are  pure  bred  Brown  Leghorns 
bred  from  3  pullets  and  from  a  cock  brought  direct 
from  Bonney  by  J.  B.  Long,  and  sold  bj#iim  to  Mr. 
Lively. 

The  number  of  eggs  laid  day  after  day  was  as 
follows  : 


-Examiner  and  Express. 

Poultry  Profits. 

I  have  kept  a  strict  account  from  March  5,  1878, 
to  March  5,  1879,  and  with  good  success.  First,.! 
purchased  seventy-two  choice  hens  for  laying  pur- 
poses, and  with  good  care,  such  as  feeding  and 
watering,  I  have  had  the  following  income  free  from 
all  expenses : 


;  72  hens,  50  cents  each 

3  cocks.  $1.00         '•    

23  doz.  eggs,  10  0,  "    

11  hens,  40  c.  "    

3P.B.heu9,$1.06  "    

1  P.  R.  cock,  

Grain,  meat  and  vegetables. 

Total 


.$102  20 


Sold    72  hens,  50  cents  each 

"      11  P.  R.  pullets,  $1.00  each 

"       3      "      heiiB,  "      •'     

1     "     cock,  

"       5      "     cockerels,  76  cts.  each 

"     11  Light  Brahma  hens,  60  ct 8.  each 5  60 

144  chickens  used  and  sold 60  66 


3  75 


I  bushels  of  pure  i 
Total.... 


Fowls  in   Orchards. 

Last  fall  we  visited  an  orchard  in  which  fowls 
were  kept,  the  owner  of  whifh  told  us  that  before 
the  fowls  were  confined  in  it  the  trees  made  little  or 
no  growth,  and  only  a  corresponding  amount  of 
fruit  was  obtained.  But  what  a  change  was  evident 
now  1  The  grass  was  kept  down,  the  weeds  killed, 
and  the  trees  presented  an  appearance  of  thrift 
which  the  most  enthusiastic  horticulturist  could  not 
but  admire  and  envy.  The  growth  of  the  trees  was 
most  vigorous  and  the  foliage  remarkably  luxuriant ; 
the  fruit  was  abundant,  of  large  size,  and  free  from 
worms  and  other  imperfections.  The  excellence  was 
accounted  for  by  the  proprietor,  who  remarked  that 
the  "  hens  ate  all  the  worms  and  curculio  in  their 
reach,  even  the  canker-worm."  He  found  less  trouble 
with  their  roosting  in  trees  than  he  expected,  and 
that  a  picket  fence  six  feet  high  kept  them  within 
bounds.  His  orchard  was  divided  into  three  sections, 
and  the  fowls  were  changed  from  one  to  another,  as 
the  condition  of  the  fowls  or  the  orchard-sections 
seemed  to  require. — Poultry  World. 

Facts  Worth  Remembering. 

An  enthusiastic  breeder  of  poultry  says  :  "  Farmers 
will  feed  a  bushel  of  corn  to  produce  six  pounds  of 
pork,  while  the  same  amount  of  corn  will  keep  a 
good  laymg  hen  one  year,  and  she  will  produce  at 


least  twelve  dozen  eggs,  averaging  eighteen  cents 
per  dozen,  which  would  equal  ^2.16.  In  addition, 
she  would  rear  a  brood  of  chickens  worth  as  much 
more, -making  a  total  of  nearly  five  dollars,  against 
six  pounds  of  pork  at  ten  cents,  equaling  sixty  cents  ; 
or,  in  other  words,  the  hen  will  yield  seven  times  as 
much  as  the  pig  fed  on  the  same  quantity  of  food." 
Aside  from  the  profit,  which  is  an  important  con- 
sideration in  the  keeping  of  poultry,  it  aflbrds  a 
healthful  recreation  and  enjoyment  to  all  classes. 
Those  who  daily  toil  in  the  counting  house,  factory 
or  mill,  each  and  all  meed  some  light,  attractive, 
health-producing  employment. 

Threshing    Ducks. 

In  a  recent  conversation  with  an  eminent  poultry 
fancier,  of  West  Goshen,  the  subject  of  raising  ducks 
was  brought  up  and  reference  made  to  their  propen- 
sity for  straying,when  an  efl'ective  cure  for  this  habit 
was  imparted  which  should  be  made  public,  so  that 
all  may  be  able  to  reap  its  benefits. 

Our  informant  states  that  when  his  ducks  are  part- 
ly grown  he  allows  them  to  wander  off  and  stay 
away  from  the  parental- duckfold  one  night,  when  he, 
the  next  morning,  sets  out  in  pursuit  and  brings  the 
truants  home  at  the  end  of  a  piece  of  brush,  which 
he  applies  to  the  ducks  without  mercy,  and  as  they 
tumble  along  over  obstacles  and  each  other,  they 
soon  realize  that  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard 
and  thereafter  confine  their  trips  entirely  to  one  day, 
returning  punctually  home  at  the  fall  of  night.— 
West  Chester  liepuhlican. 

Home  Advice  as   to  Poultry. 

J.  A.  Roberts,  of  Malvern,  Chester  county,  who 
takes  much  pride  in  breeding  light  Brahmas,  thus 
writes  to  the  Farm  Journal:  "In  making  new 
houses  see  that  they  are  freely  ventilated,  for  with- 
out it  you  will  have  sick  fowls.  Keep  their  quarters 
clean;  whitewash  occasionally.  In  winter  and  when 
the  ground  is  frozen  and  covered  with  snow,  give  a 
variety  of  food,  not  all  whole  corn,  but  wheat,  buck- 
wheat, boiled  potatoes,  scraps  of  meat,  etc.,  a  head 
of  cabbage  for  them  to  pick  at  when  kept  from  the 
grass  by  snow  ;  hens  thus  treated  will  repay  you  in 
eggs.  Always  keep  the  fowls  with  an  appetite,  not 
cram  one  time  and  starve  the  next ;  feed  morning 
and  evening  ;  if  milk  is  plenty  let  the  chickens  have 
all  they  can  drink  ;  it  goes  toward  producing  eggs 
and  flesh. 


A  FLOCK  of  hens  will  pay  for  themselves  before 
they  are  one  year  old,  if  they  are  rightly  cared  for. 
Youthen  can  sell  them,  if  you  choose,  for  a  good 
price  and  raise  another  lot,  but  it  is  not  advisable  to 
do  so,  as  the  second  year  is  the  most  profitable,  but 
do  not  keep  them  after  they  are  two  years  old,  for 
after  that  age  they  do  not  pay  so  well.— £x. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


A  MESSAGE  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  Communicating,  in  answer  to  a  Senate  reso- 
lution of  June  8,  ls78,  information  on  the  subject  of 
sheep  husbandry.  Read  January  14,  1879,  and  re- 
ferred to  the  Committee  on  Agriculture,  and  ordered 
to  be  printed.  An  octavo  of  130  pages,  with  three 
full-page  plates,  illustrating  choice  specimens  of  the 
Merino,  Hampshire  Down,  ani  improved  Kentucky 
sheep,  containing  a  vast  amount  of  statistical  and 
local  information  on  a  very  useful  subject,  including 
the  origin  and  history  of  the  growth  of  sheep  in  the 
United  States.  This  work  ought  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  all  who  are  practically  interested  in  sheep 
husbandry  at  least ;  for  in  it  they  will  find  much 
that  is  of  great  commercial  value,  in  that  the  in- 
formation is  practical  and  local,  containing  practical 
information  on  one  of,  or  greatest  and  most  prolific 
industries  that  the  country  has.  It  is  fit  that  the 
United  States  Senate  should  make  such  an  inquiry, 
and  it  is  also  fit  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  should  be  the  medium  through  which  it 
should  be  communicated  to  the  public ;  it  shows  that 
the  highest  functions  of  the  government  have  mani- 
fested, at  least  a  quasi  recognition  of  an  interest  in 
the  realm  of  husbandry  that  involves  their  own  food 
and  raiment ;  htU,  where  did  they  go  to  obtain  the 
necessary  information?  Where,  but  to  the  half- 
starved  Department  of  Agriculture.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  laborious  gleanings  of  that  poorly-paid  and 
much-abused  department,  it  is  not  likely  that  a  re- 
port could  have  been  made  at  all.  The  pamphlet  we 
are  discussing  is  an  interesting  and  useful  one  ;  t«(, 
(it  is  natural  that  in  discussing  the  subject  of  sheep, 
there  should  be  some  "buts")  will  it  get  into  thi 
hands  of  those  most  interested  in  it,  and  who  most 
need  it?  There  is  an  immense  amount  of  this  k' 
of  literature  to  be  found  in  second-hand  book  stores, 
street  book  stands,  post-oflices,  and  other  nooks  and 
corners,  but  little,  comparatively,  among  the  people, 
which  seems  to  imply  that  some  received  these  docu 
ments  who  did  not  want  them,  and  that  others  were 
deprived  of  them. 

Pre-emption    of    Kansas   Pacific    R 
Lands.— A  demi-folio  containinfi  the  "  Decision  of 


the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,"  and  the  "  Opinion  of 
the  Hon.  Jeremiah  S.  Black,"  being  the  full  text  of 
those  decisions  and  opinions  in  the  celebrated  Dudy- 
mott  land  case,  as  well  as  other  information  relating 
to  the  Pacific  Railroads  and  their  lands.  It  appears 
that  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  reclaim  the  lands 
granted  to  this  company  by  the  National  Congress, 
on  the  ground,  if  we  recollect  rightly,  that  the  com- 
pany had  not  fulfilled  its  part  of  the  contract.  Perhaps 
it  had  been  discovered  that  Congress  had  given  the 
company  too  much  (we  are  inclined  to  think  it  has), 
but  that  was  the  fault  of  Congress  and  not  that  of 
the  company.  But  that  is  "  neither  here  nor  there  " 
now  ;  the  deed  has  been  done  ;  a  test  question  was 
made,  and  the  company  has  been  secured  in  its 
possession.  Right  or  wrong,  had  it  been  otherwise, 
great  injustice  might  have  resulted  to  many  hard 
working  and  self-sacrificing  pre-emplioners.  One 
thing  seems  inevitable,  and  that  is,  if  this  company 
acts  honestly  and  faithfully,  it  must  ultimately  be- 
come immensely  wealthy.  If  it  respects  the  rights 
of  the  belts  of  sturdy  yeoman,  that  time  will  locate 
on  either  side  of  the  road,  it  will  be  a  great  benefac- 
tor. We  wish  we  were  thirty-five  years  younger,  we 
would  pre-empt  a  respectable  slice  of  those  lands  in 
a  "jiflTy,"  and  work  them  up  to  A,  No.  1.  The 
country  needs  now  willing,  thiifty  and  economical 
workers  more  than  it  needs  capital.  Capital  is  the 
result  of  efl'ective  working,  and  will  soon  accumulate 
and  make  itself  manifest,  if  the  aperture  through 
which  it  goes  out  is  not  larger  than  that  through 
which  it  comes  in.  It  is  a  simple  matter,  but  unfor- 
tunately many  never  make  this  discovery  until  they 
get  too  old  to  avail  themselves  of  its  advantages. 

Colorado  Rural  Life.— This  is  to  be  a  16  page 
quarto  weekly  (No.  1,  Vol.  1,  now  before  us,  merely 
exhibiting  the  general  style  and  scope  of  the  paper, 
has  but  8  pages),  costing  only  the  low  price  of  ?2.00 
a  year.  Edited  by  N.  A.  Baker,  and  published  by 
Baker  &  Hill,  No.  250  Fifteenth  street,  near  the 
corner  of  Larimer,  Denver,  Colorado.  The  present 
number,  containing  not  only  the  prose  of  life,  but 
also  much  of  its  poetry,  is  a  remarkably  clever 
eflfort  for  a  beginning,  and  it  ought  to  be,  and  doubt- 
less will  be,  amply  sustained.  Devoted  to  farm  and 
garden  operations ;  live  stock  growing ;  dairying  in 
its  branches  ;  the  latest  markets  ;  rural  life  in  all  its 
phases  ;  horticulture  and  floriculture  ;  tree-growing; 
landscapes;  grain  growing ;  poultry  and  bee-keep- 
ing ;  sporting  and  fishing ;  the  care  of  pet  stock  ; 
notes  on  fish  culture ;  latest  Colorado  news  ;  general 
topics  and  news;  domestic  sketches  and  stories; 
household  economy ;  the  ladies,  our  youth,  &c.,  &c. 
Presenting  a  literary  banquet  that  must  be  relished 
by  the  citizens  of  that  far-ofl' region,  as  well  as  those 
in  the  East  and  elsewhere,  who  have  friends  in  that 
young  state.  The  typographical  execution  and  the 
general  make-up  of  the'paper  will  compare  with  the 
best  in  the  country. 

California  and  its  Offerings  for  Coloniza- 
tion.—An  octavo  pamphlet  of  50  pages,  by  J.  P. 
Whitney,  No.  14  West  Swan  street,  Bufi'alo,  N.  T., 
May  1st,  1879,  containing  a  fuH-page  map  of  Cali- 
fornia, specially  illustrating  its  railroad  sjstem  ; 
also,  one  representing  a  plan  of  the  "Town  of 
Covell,"  and  the  "  Central  California,"  and  "  Wash- 
ington Irrigated  Colonies,"  with  a  portion  of  the 
"Southern  Pacific  Railroad,"  &e.,  &c.  Those  of  our 
readers  who  may  contemplate  emigration  to  Cali- 
fornia should  by  all  means  send  to  the  above  address 
and  obtain  a  copy  of  this  pamphlet  before  they  make 
a  move  in  that  direction,  because  it  contains  informa- 
tion on  climate,  productions,  quality  of  soils,  laws, 
culture,  irrigation,  fruits— especially  orange  and 
grape  culture— trees,  nuts,  wines,  &c.,  &c.,  and  an 
immense  amount  of  general  information  on  subjects 
relating  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  marketing 
its  products  ;  and  showing  what  may  be  done  in 
California  with  a  small  capital ;  truly  an  appropri- 
ate halm  for  the  present  "  hard  times." 

Special  Notice.— All  who  desire  to  have  their 
names  entered  as  subscribers  for  one  copy  (or  more) 
of  our  contemplated  Treatise  on  Noxious  and 
Beneficial  Insects— and  remedies  for  their  de- 
struction—will please  send  their  names  at  once  to 
the  editor  of  this  journal.  Price  p2r  copy,  $3.00, 
fully  illustrated,  good  paper,  clear  print,  and  sub- 
stantially bound  ;  pp.  500,  8vo. 

Everett  Brothers'  circular  and  price  list  of 
apiarian  supplies— honey  extractors  a  specialty. 
Toledo,  Ohio,  1879.  A  neat  little  16mo.  pamphlet  of 
16  pages,  with  14  illustrations,  containing  explana- 
tions, statistics  and  testimonials,  with  a  list  of  all 
the  bee  publications  of  the  country.  Truly  multum. 
in  parvo  in  its  character. 

Quarterlt  Report  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Board  of  Agriculture  for  December,  1878,  and 
January,  and  February,  1879 ;  48  pp.  8vo.  of  most 
interesting  and  valuable  matter  relating  to  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  commonwealth,  and  of 
which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  more  fully 
hereafter. 


Book  Exchange,  No.  55  Beekman  street, 
New  York,  March,  1879  ;  a  16mo.  catalogue  of  32 
pages,  including  list  of  EcONOMr  Club.  Prices  to 
suit  the  times. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


"Low  Pkices  will  Rule  kor  Kertilizbks."— 
Partners  will  not  only  be  glad  to  hear  it;  but  will 
commend  the  Arm  which  has  the  nerve  to  make  the 
emphatic  announcement.  Baugh  &  Sons  announce 
important  reductions  In  the  prices  of  Phosphates 
and  Ground  Bones  and  simply  state  what  has  been 
known  to  agriculturists  for  years  past,  that  their 
facilities  for  making  and  selling  Ground  Bones  and 
Phosphate  are  unsurpassed  by  any  house  in  the 
United  States. 


HEARING 


Warrior  Mower 


TIIK  OHIC.IN.M,    IMPROVED 

Randall  Pulvet*izing  Harrow! 

Over  30.0O0   IX   I'SE. 

Cbillfd  Iron  or  Steel  Disks,  Center  Jointed.  Impro^'cd 
Sliflfener  Bar.  Angle  of  Gangs  adjusted  by  a  Lever.  Ad- 
Jnstable  Sora|jers.  Tlie  most  convenient,  durable  and  ef- 
fective harrow  made. 

t*r-  STF.W  VnnS  CUI-TIVATOK.  -B» 


THE  UNRIVAXED  WARRIOR  MOWER! 

Ughtest   Draft,   Easiest   Managed,    Most  Durable   Mower 
made.     OVER  40,000  IN  USE.    Clialleuges  competing  ma- 
chines for  any  work  or  endurance. 
SEXO  FOR  CIHCULAR   TO 

79-lm-4]  WARRIOR  MOWER  CO..  Little  Falls,  N.  T. 


LO"WEST  PRICES  WILL  RULE.' 


LowiiST  Prices 

Ever  Known  in  the  U.  S.  for  Bones  and  Phos- 
phates. 


BAUGirS  RAW  BOM   PHOSPHATE 

$30  PER  2000  lbs.  CASS, 

WITH  DISCOUNT  TO  DEALERS, 
Delivered  on  board  boat  or  cars  in  Philadelphia  or  Baltimore, 


Dealers  will  take  notice  they  will  be  protected  in  th€ 
sale  of  this  Manu.-e.  Only  one  dealer  will  be  established  in 
a  town,  who  will  be  furnished  with  the  PhoBphate  at  whole- 
sale prices. 

Early  oorrespourtence  from  those  who  wish  to  control  the 
above  goods  in  special  aectiona  or  towuships,  is  necessary 
ae  wo  are  organizing  for  the  Summer  and  Fall  business  i 
systeED  of  uuprecedented 

LOW  PRICES, 


Bone  Fertilizers 

are  beyond  all  question,  unsurpaesed  in  the 

UNITED  STATES. 


LOW  PRICES  WILL  RULE. 

BAUGH  <fc  SONS, 

PinL.\DEI,I>IUA  AND  P.ALTIMOKK. 


NICHOLS,SHEPARD&CO., 

nitttlv  t?r«»-U,    Ml.-li. 

ORIGINAL  AND  ONLY  GENUINE 

"=«  VI  13  It  ^V  T  O  It  »» 

THRESHING  MACHINERY. 


mil 

Extra  Grata  SAVKD  by  these  Imjiroved  Mactilues. 

#«,BAIN  Kaisers  irlll  not  submit  to  the  enor- 

NOT  Only  Vastly  Superior  for  Wheat,  Outs, 
Barley.  Rye,  and  like  Grains,  but  tlie  Only  Success, 
ful  Thresber  In   Flax.  Timolhy,  Millet.  Clovei.  «"id  like 

change  from  Grain  to  .Seeds. 


A  DEPARTURE 

High  Pricesfor  Phosphates. 


the  niuiiufuctun 


,  we  bavo  oommeoo^d 


TWENTY  DDLLAll  PHOSPHATE, 
WE    GUARANTEE 


Ammonia,         -         -         -        2*  to    3  per  cent. 
Bone  Phosphate,  Soluble,        10  "  12        " 
"  "  Insoluble,      7  "     8       " 

Price,  $20  per  2000  lbs,  in  New  Bass  of 
^  200  lbs.  each, 

Free  on  borrd  cars  or  buutH  in  I'liiladelphla  or  Baltimord. 

KAUOH  Ac  HOIVS, 

Philailclphla. 


EPILEPSY^t-RSfi 


TniAi.'l-M  k      '             I 
permanent.      ■.  i   j  J 

Dn.Ro.ss.  r.--.i..  ivi.'l.V, 
naoently  cur.-.i  I-y  vour  tr.-i 
firatefal.  Durioii  tlio  |ias(  t 
you  to  others  who  haro  also 
boy  what  >;oq  have  don*  for 


TVf  ARVKLOUS  for  Simplicity  of  Parts,  using 

Afm  Ifss  than  one-half  theoflual  Belts  and  Gears.    Makes 
Clean  Work,  with  DO  Litterlngs  or  Scatterings. 

T10UR  Sizes  of  Separators  Made,  KanKlag 


A  GOOD  PLAN. 


ng  in 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANUFACTUKEU  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

SAItltl.F.N. 

COLLARS,  WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &c., 

AlJiO    DEALER    IN 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFALO  KOBES, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Ruga,  Gloves,  <fec., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

T»-1-1J]  LAN0A8TEB,  PA. 


lion  method, 
9  leople  with 
;irgeBt  capital 


Anybody   can    learu  to    inal!.'   monr; 
Stocks,  by  the  •■TwoTTimirii."  l:..l.->! 

large  or  small  uif-auB  t.M 
and  best  skill.  Thoiisau.i 
pooled  into  one  vast  amuu..:  .-:.  .  ,    ,  i'ci(  na  s,  mighty 

whole,  thus  securing  to  eacli  sliiirrln.l.l.r  all  the  advantages 
of  thelargestoperalor.  Immense  profits  aredivided  monthly. 
Any  amount  from  $5  to  $5,000,  or  more,  can  be  used  succesa- 
fuUy.  N.  Y.  Baptvit  treekly.  September  20th,  1878,  saye, 
"By  the  combination  system  $15  would  make  $75,  or  6  per 
cent  ;  $50  pays  $350,  or  7  per  cent.;  $100  makes  $1,000, 
or  10  per  cent,  on  the  slock,  during  the  month,  according 
to  the  market."  Frank  I,ej<lit\  I/hiKtrated  Xewspaper,  June 
29th":  The  combination  method  of  operating  stocks  is  the 
most  successful  ever  adopted."  -Yew  I'ort  Independent 
September  12th:  The  combination  system  is  founded  npon 
correct  business  principles,  and  no  person  need  be  without 
an  income  while  it  is  kept  working  by  Messrs.  Lawrence  k 
Co.tBrooklyn  Journal.  April  20th:  "Our  editor  made  a  net 
profit  of  $101.25  from  $aO  in  one  of  Messrs.  Lawrence  & 
Co.'s  combinations."  New  circular  (mailed  free)  explains 
everything.  Stocks  and  bonds  wanted.  Qovernment  bonds 
supplied.  Lawrence  &  Co.,  Bankers,  67  Exchange  Place, 
N.S'.  [79-5-12m 


OFFICt:, 


Noi  0  North  Queen  Street 


LANCASTER,  PA. 


(ER  m 


AGENTS  WANTED  jSjl^^^^ 

g  Horses,  Cattle, 

e  usual  diseases  "to  which  these  "animals  are  liable, 
and  the  most  aucoessful  treatment  of  American,  Knelish, 
and  Eurojiean  veterlnariaus,  by  Li-Ovd  V.  Tellob,  M.  D. 
Pp.  48».  Price,  cloth,  93.50.  Sold  only  by  tubxripUon. 
Specimen  copy  mailed  ou  receipt  of  price.  Kvory  i*to«*k 
ownpraticl  farmer  will  buy  th(»  book  on  (ilBht, 
an  it  will  s^ive  him  hundreds  of  dollars.  AN  ACIKNT 
WAXTF.II  IX  F.VEKY  TOWN.  Agents  are  making 
from  $IOtu  S'20  a  day  sc  ling  it.  For  Circulars  and 
terms,  address. 

H.  O.  WATTS  CO.,  603  Minor  St.,  PhUadolphia. 
79-»-3m. 


Is  an  old,  well-established  newspaper,  and  contains  Just  the 
news  desirable  to  make  it  an  interesting  and  valuable 
Family  Newspaper.  It  is  published  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday,  subscribers  having  the  choiceof  whichever  edition 
that  Buits  their  mail  facilities  best.  The  postage  to  sub- 
scribers residing  outside  of  Lancaster  county  ia  paid  by  tlis 
publisher. 
Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 


T-wo  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  conti 
the  news  by  mail  an  d  telegraph  from  all  parts  of  the  w< 
up  to  the  hour  of  going  to  press.    It  is  rnrnishod  to  sulj- 
1  the  towns  and  villages  in  the  county,  aceea- 
or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  Cents  a  Week, 
by  mail  at  Five  Uollars  per  Year. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  Proprietor, 

No.  9  NortU  Queen  St., 

LANCASXKR,  FJL. 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


[May,  1879: 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL, 

Devoted  to  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Do- 
mestic Economy  and  Miscellany. 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the  Lancas- 
ter County  Agricvltural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 

ONEDOLLpPERANNUBf, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPRIETOR. 

All    subscriptions    will    commence   with    the 
January  number,  unless  otherwise  ordered. 


Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon.  who  has  bo  ably  managed  the  editorial 
department  In  the  past,  will  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  His  contributions  on  subjects  connected  with  the 
science  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 
lie  is  so  thorouhly  a  master — entomological  science — some 
knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  succesB- 
ful  farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  Is  determined  to  make  "The  Farmer" 
a  necessity  to  all  households. 

JPA  county  that  has  bo  wide  a  reputation  as  Lancaster 
ounty  for  its  agricultural  products,  should  certainly  be 
able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  Its  own,  for  the 
exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  Interested  in  this  mat- 
oter.  We  ask  the  co-oporation  of  all  farmers  interested  in 
this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer"  is 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
induce  them  to  subscribe.  It  is  not  much  for  each  sub- 
eeriber  to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  communications  in  regard  to  the  editorial  management 
should  be  addressed  to  Dr.  S.  S.  Eathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
»nd  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptions  and  ad- 
Tertising  should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Rates  of 
advertising  can  be  had  on  application  at  the  office. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND, 

No.  g  North  Que»n  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


Only  Single  Rin^  Ever  In- 
vented  that  Closes  on  ttae 
Ontside  of  the  Nose. 

BrowQ's  Elliptical  Ring  and  Triplft- 
Groove  Hog  and  Pig  Ringer.  It  orer- 
comes  a  serioua  defect  in  all  triangular 
and  other  rings  which  close  with  the- 
joints  together  in  the  fieeh,  causing  It 
to  decay  and    lo    keep  the   hog's  .noBe- 


&  QUINLAN,  Bxcluaive  Manufacturers,  Decatur,  lU. 


THE  CONQUERING  HERO 

GftLE  CHILLED  "^ ' 


The  easi, 


laud  and  Delaware. 


'■feet  Scouring  Plow 

made  is  now  offered  to  the  farmers  of  Pennsylvania, 

This  Plow  competed  with  187  others  in  French  soil  at 

the  Paris  Exposition  in  1878.  and  was  awarded  tlio 

C.rand  C;olcI  J>Icdal  for  bemg  the  heat  generr.l 

purpose  Plow  in  the  world  —  an  honor  never  before 

conferred  upon  a  Hand  Plow.    13^  Beicare  of  eo- 

><-laimed  CTiilled  Iron  Plows.    Manufacturers  gener- 

ally  know  that  our  principle  of  chilling  ia  protected 

by  broad  patents,  and  parties  are  liable  in  heavy 

'-Z_  "^j==~  penalties  tor  infringements  thereon.    For  prices  and 

^^^-^^^  lermB.  address  ENOS  OTT,  of  Easton,  Pa.,  Agent 

'    ^-M*"^  for    Northampton,  Bucks,  lUhigh,  Chester,  Mont- 

and  Warren,  Hunterdon,  and  Somerset  Cob.  in  New  Jersey. 

ng.  Del.,  Agent  for  Mary' 

3d  surrounding  countiea 


WBSELL  EVERYTHING  foe  thb 

GARDENS 

Descriplivc  Calal  jgucs  of  ITo  pages  sent  Free     J 

PETER  HENDERSON&CO.  t 

SB  Cortlandt  St.,  Ke^c  Tork. 


■Hi 


>jji.Wji:iiHijjp''<KajL-) 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 

scitmiFic  PORius  Foe  their  ummmi  on  th[ 

FAfiM  im  FREE  TO  m  SDOOESS, 


The  Cheapest,  and  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  iise,  can  be  made  with  but 
little  trouble,  by  using  our  Fertilizing  Chemi- 
cals and  Bones,  which  we  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation. 

Dissolved  Bones,  Sulphate  of  Ammonia, 

Perfectly  Pure  Ground  Bones,  Fertilizing  Salt, 

Acidulated  Phosiihate  Rock,  Sulphate  of  Soda, 

Phosphate  Bock,  flue  ground,  Muriate  of  Potash,  German, 

Laud  Plaster,  pure  and  fine  Oil  Vitriol,  full  streagth, 

ground,  Sulphate  of  Magnesia 
Sulphate  Potash  (Kaluit),  (Kieserite). 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

AX.-VLYTICAL  CHEMLSTS, 

lanafactiirers  of  FertilizinE  Cliemicals. 

(Established   1793.) 

FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 

Office:  105  Sonth  Front  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA  PA. 


SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER,  JfA., 
235  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

All  matters  appertaining  to  UNITED  .STATES  or  CANA- 
DIAN PATENTS,  TRADE  MARKS,  and  COPYRIGHTS, 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  success  and  faithful 
attention  to  the  interests  of  those  who  engage  his  services 
are  fully  acknowledged  and  appreciated. 

Preliminary  examinations  made  for  him  by  a  rehable  As- 
sistant at  Washington,  without  extra  charge  for  dra»-iug 
or  description.  [T»-l-tf 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 

TRADE  MARK.TheGreat  EHgllsh  TRADE   MARIC. 
Remedy  will  prompt-  ^~- 

'     radically 


overwork  of  the  brain 
and  nervous  system,  is 
perfectly  harmless,  acts  '      — .-^^^  \  or 

Before  Taking; "''«' °>3B'?. '"""s  been  Af.     Tot;,,™. 

0  extensively  used  for  over  .alter  iaKmg. 
thirty  years  with  great  success.  Full  particulars  in  our 
pamphlet,  which  we  desireto  send  free  by  mail  to  everf  one. 
The  speclflc  medicine  is  sold  by  all  druggists  at  $1  per  pack- 
age, or  six  packages  for  $5,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  on 
receipt  of  the  money  by  addressing 

THE  QUAY  MEDICINE  COMPANY, 
No.  10  Mechanics'  Block,  Detroit,  Michigan. 
lySold  in  Lancaster  by  H.  B.  Cochban.  137  and  139  N^ 
Queen  St.,  and  by  druggists  everywhere.  [T9-3-12 


1879  SPRING  AND  SUMMER  1879 

Coats  aijd  Coatings^ 

PANTS  AND  PANTINGP, 
VESTS  AND  VESTINGS, 
SUITS  AND  SUITINGS, 
OVERCOATS  AND  OVERCOATINGS 


RATHVON  &  FISHER'S, 

I^erchant  Tailors,  Drapiers  and  Clotljiers, 

Corner  iV.  Queen  and  Orange  Sts., 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Underclothing  and  Furnishing:  Croods.    All  the  nov- 
elties of  the  Season. 

as  any  other  place  in  the  city.    Goods  all  wool,  perfeet,  and 
satisfaction  g-naranteed.    Orders  respect- 
fully sohcited,  and  proraptiy  executed. 


Is  an  energetic,  natural  manure,  specially  adapted  for 
iHmmer  crops.  It  is  highly  recommeuded  to  tobacco  , 
jrowers,  giving  the  plants  a  vigorous  start  and  causing  a 
•apid  growth  to  maturity. 

Price,  922. 5U  per  ten  on  cars  in  Philadelphia. 
HIKAm  E.  1.UTX,  Nannfaoturer. 

Office,  1136  Market  Street,  Pbila<lclphia» 


other  spring  crops,  use  the  celebrated 

''Stockbridge  Manures." 

These  are  complete  niannres.made  for  eacb  crop, 
and  are  the  CHEAPE»iT,piire8t,and  brat  Fertilizers 
in  the  market.    Send  /nr  Descriptive  Pamphlet. 

EI>W.  J.  BVANS  A  CO.,Vrork,  Pa., 

T9-8-S  Agents  for  Soathero  Feou'a. 


ONE  DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM-SINGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


Z  Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA..  JUNE,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  Publisher. 


CONTENTS  OMHIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 
.Large  Farmiiifj  a  Precarious  Businees,    - 

•  Southward,  Ho  I  vs.  Westward,  Hoi    -        -        - 
.  The  Belastoma  Grandis,   -        .        .        .        - 

,  The  Law  of  Newspapers,     -        -        -        -        - 
.Wonders  will  Never  Cease,       -        -        -        - 

QUERIES  AND  ANSWERS. 
.TJrcdine  Fungus,       -.-... 
.  Corn-Plant  Weevil,        .        .        .        .        . 
.  Information  about  Land  for  $150  per  Acre, 
^Conotelus  vs.  C.  Obscurus,     -        .        .        - 
,  Compound  Grape  Gall,        .        -        .        -        . 
ENTOMOLOGICAL. 

•  Flies,    --------- 

•  Grain  Silvanus,        -         -        -        -        .        . 

.  Peach  Tree  Borers,  ------ 

CONTRIBUTIONS.      ' 
.  Communication— C  Elvin  Huupt,     -        -        - 
.  Correspondence — J.  W.,  - 

•  Letter  from  North  Carolina— J/.  R., 
,  Cypripedum  Acaule— /.  titanffer,  - 

•  Moonshine— .A  Seeker  After  Truth,     - 

<  Bee  Labor— Wm. /.7^[/(e,       -        -        .        - 

•  A  Word  More— y.  1'.,        -        -        -        -        - 

SELECTIONS. 

•  Promise  of  the  Crops,       ----- 

•  The  Americans'  Advantage,        -        -        -        - 

Vi  by  Our  Wheat  Cau  be  Soid  in  England  Cheat.er 
than  EngbHh  Growth. 
.  Plcuro-Pneumonia,    ------ 

Its  Symptomn,   Trfalment,    Cauees  and  DeveloiJ- 


Tobacco  Culture  in  Pennsylvania,      - 
Employment  it  Indirectly  Afifordfi  Women. 
•The  Evidences  of  Success,        .        -        -        - 
A  Champion  Wheat  Field,  ----- 

Influence  of  Forests  on  Climate,      -        -        - 
•  History  of  Celluloid,    ------ 

McKlustry's  Great  Orchard,    -        -        -        - 

Tuirty  Thousand  Fiuit  TreCB,  1,600  Vinea,  andC.OOO 


..Rose  Legends,    - 

40zone,    -------.. 

'  OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

'  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society, 

•  Poultry  Association, 

New  Busiueee— Regular  DibcubbIous. 

•  The  Beekeepers'  Association,      -        -        -        - 

C'ouauioii  ...!  iiii-  Ueib— Uysentery  in  Bees— Virgin 
guc-eut— UusiuesB  lor  Next  Meeting— Introducing 

•/  Fulton  Farmers'  Club,      -        -        -        -        - 
,  LInusean  Society,  --.-..- 
HlBtorical— Library— Papers  Read. 
AGRICULTURE. 

•  Plowing  in  Crops  as  Manure,      -        -        -        - 
.  Farming  on  a  Large  Scale,      -        -        .        . 

.  The  First  Employment  of  Guano,       -        -        - 

•  The  Future  of  American  Farming, 

<  Home-Made  Fertilizers 

•  Tfll  Wheat  Crop— Favorable  Reports  of  the  Pros- 

pects in  the  Northwest,     -        .        -        . 


Waste  in  New  En<;laiid  Farming, 

HORTICULTURE. 
About  Potatoes,    .        -        -        -        - 
Fruit-Growing  in  England,      -        -        - 

•  Treatment  of  Spring-Planted  Trees,     - 
i  Origin  of  the  Apple,         -        -        -        - 
,  Pruning  Evergreens,  -        -        -        - 

•  Poisoned  by  Mushrooms,  -        -        - 
.  Wood  Ashes  For  Peach  Trees,     - 
iCord-Wood  in  an  Acre,     -        -        -        - 
,  Gooseberries  and  Currants, 
.Mulching  Newly  Planted  Trees, 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

,  Some  Interesting  Facts  Concerning  Bread 

-How  to  Make  Sauce  and  Croquettes, 
Cooking  Potatoes,        -        -        .        - 
Hints  to  Housekeepers,     -        -        -        - 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 
Irish  Stew,        ------ 

Apple  Dumpling,  -        -        -        -        - 

Milk  Soup,        .---.- 
Maccaroni  and  Cheese,        -        -        - 
To  Boil  Potatoes,      -        -        -        .        . 
To  Make  Pulf  Paste,     -        -        -        - 

Turkish  Soup,        -         .         -         .        - 
Amber  Pudding,  -        -        .        -        . 

Fish  Cakes,      -------  94 

^Dressed  Boiled  Fish,     ------    94 

•  Fillet  of  Beef  and  Dutch  Sauce,      -        -        -         94 
Charlotte  Kusse,  -------    94 

,  Welcome-Guest  Pudding,         -        -        -        -        94 
.  Potato  Croquets,  -------    95 

•  Trussed  Fowl,        -         -         -        -        -         -        95 

Terrapin,      --------      95 

LIVE  STOCK. 
The  Cliilllngham  Wild  Cattle,    -        -        -        -     95 

Watering  Horses,  -----         95 

Sale  of  Short-Horns,    ------    95 

APIARY. 
Swarming  of  Bees,     ------       95 

Honey  in  the  Boston  Market,      -        -        -        -    96 

POULTRY. 
To  Break  Up  Sitting  Hens,       -        -        -        -        96 

Non-Hatching,      -------    96 

An   Economical  Feed-Trough,         -        -        -         96 
A  Cheap  Poultry-House,      -----    96 

Vermin,      --------        go 

Literary  and  Personal,        -        -        -        -        -    96 


9'i 

-  9S 
93 

-  »:i 
93 

-  93 
93 

-  93 
93 

-  94 
94 

94 

-  94 
94 

-  94 
94 

-  94 
94 

-  94 


NORBHCK&iVIILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


NOTICE. 

A  VALUABLE  WORK. 

A  TREATISE 

HORSE  AND  HIS  DISEASES, 

By  DR.  B.  ,1.  KENDALL,  of  Euosburgh  I'ailB,  Veimont. 

It  in  nicely  illuslrated  with  tbirty-flve  engravings,  and  Is 

full  of  useful  horse  Knowledge.    £very  horue  owner  abouM 

SEND  26  CENTS  FOB  A  COPY. 


Mage  Builders, 

Corner  of  Duke  aod  Vioe  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


THE  LATEST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHyETONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 

IllE 


Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 


RKPAIHING  proninlly  attended  to.     All  Mork 
giiarantfi'd. 


PHAHES    W.    P'RY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WALL  PAPER  &  WrSOOW  SHADES, 

liollaiKlM,  plain  NhRtIc  4'lolh. 

Pilluree,  Fringes,  Taeaela  and  all  gooda  i)ertabilug  to  a 

Papier  and  Shade  Store. 

No.  63  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


WE   TWARD. 

Pacific  Expreas' 

Way  PaBseiigert  

Niagara  Express 

Hanover  Afcomniodatiou, 
Mail  trail,  via  Mt.  Joy 


No. 
Sunday  Ma 


abia. 


Columbia  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Express 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express' 

EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  hxpress" 

Philadelphia  Expresst . 


7:25  p.m. 
9:25  p.  m. 
ll:.Wp.m. 


4:11)  a 


6:20  II 


9.2S1 


3:05  p. ; 
5:18  p. 
5:50  p. 


1:30  p.  m. 
S-Ai  II.  m. 
;ol.  2:45  p.  1 


Fast  Line' 

Harrisburg  Express 

Columbia  Accommodation.. 

Pacific  Express* 

Sunday  Mail .■ 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express" 

Harrisburg  .\ccom 

The  Hanover  Accommodation, 
with  Niagara  Express,  west,  a 
through  to  Hauover. 

The  Frederick  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancas- 
ter with  Fust  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m..  and  runs  to  Frederick. 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  ou  Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
stop  at  Middletown,  Elizabethtown,  Mount  .Joy  and  Landis- 
ville. 

•The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tRuus  daily,  except  Monday. 


6:00  p.  m. 

7:40  p.  m. 

9:00  p.  m. 

Lancaste 

,,  and  will  rui 


$77; 


3e:.  e*,  :^o-w-3vr.ifiL3sr, 


AT  I.OWESS   POSSIBLE  PKIt'KS. 

Fully   guaranteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  OjtpriiilP   reov'id  HotH. 


GLOVES, SHIRTS,  UNDERWEAR.    W 
SHIETS  MADE  TO  ORDER, 

AND  WARRANTED  TO   HT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN, 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


s.  IB.  oo:x:. 

Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 

Large  Stock  of  New  auci  Second-hand  Work  on  hand, 
very  cheap.  Carriages  Made  to  Order.  Wijik  Warranted 
for  one  year.  (79-1-12 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 


And  Manufactu 


FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS. 


W.*KEKOOMS: 


102  East  King  St.,  Cor,  of  Duke  St. 

■LANCASTER,  PA. 


fTREESs 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

Plant  Trees  raised  in  this  county  and  suited  to  this  climate. 
Write  for  prices  to 

LOUIS  C.  LYTE 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  CO.,  Pa. 

Nursery  at  Smoketown,  six  miles  east  of  Lancaster. 


SEND  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapevines,  Transplanted  Evergreens,  Tulip, 
Poplar,  Linden  Maple,  etc.  Tree  Seedlings  and  Trees  for 
timber  plantations  by  the  I0n,oii0. 

j.  JENKINS'  NURSERY, 
i-%-1i  WINONA,  COLUMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND   FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE,     ' 
CLOCKS. 

JEWELRY  ITABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  I  he  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

Kej.airnig  strieljy  alleruled  to, 

Z^A^HIVE'S  CORKTER. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  square,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


a.  sKXEi;  &>  HONs, 


X^TJIMEBER, 


PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YAUD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Waliint-sts., 

LANCAS'PH.R,,  I^-A.. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 

Embiaciiig  the  history  atid  habits  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 

medies  for  Iheir  expulsion  or  extermination. 

^    By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  lilustnited.  uud  \vill  be  put  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  suflicieut  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtained  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 


PEARL  MILLET 

(THE  NEW  FODDER  PLANT.) 

Yields  100  tons  green  —  IB  tons  dry  per  acre. 

60c.  per  pint  (by  mail,  postpaid). 

$1.00       "   quart     " 

By  express,  bnyer  to  pay  charges,  $5  per  peck. 

Statementof  our  experiments  wth  it,  and 

instruciions  forcalture,  free  on  application. 

PETER  HENDERSON  &  CO. 

35  CORTLANDT  ST.,  NEW  YORK. 


TIJE  LATEST! 


Tlje  New  TarifT  of  Rates 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  off  large  lots  of 

good.s,  and  has 

INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US! 

AS    U.SlfAI- 

B^-Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better. -"^g 

This  i.s  the  latest  tariff  for  the 


^S  FOLLO-WS: 

An  Elegant  Bu.siness  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  $10.  Llentical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  $1.5.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $13. 

$4.89  buys  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
$8.50,  $&50.  $8.50,  $8.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  $10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $7,  $7,  $7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  the  Late  Improvements,  $5,  $5,  $5. 

Boys'  and  Youths'  Trousers,  All 
Wool,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Styles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  $8.75  to 
$6.50.  * 

$25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully 
made,  Piped  with  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $15.00  ;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  fitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
Ooth  ways. 

Wananjakep  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL, 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA.. 

The  Largest  Clothing  House  In 
America. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  JUNE,  1879. 


Editorial. 


LARGE  FARMING  A  PRECARIOUS 
BUSINESS. 

The  followiii;^  ligiins  avo  given  by  a  San 
Francisco  convspuiulcnl  of  a  Philadelphia 
paper,  as  evidence  that  farming  on  a  gigantic 
scale  is  prolitalile  neitlier  to  the  country  nor 
to  the  farmer.  lie  says  :  "The  largest  wheat 
producer  in  California,  or  in  the  world,  is  Dr. 
H.  J.  Glenn.  He  was  formerly  from  Monroe 
county,  Mo.  He  is  a  man  of  great  enterprise 
and  energy.  Ili.'s  ranch  lies  in  Colusa  county, 
and  comprises  60,000  acres,  nearly  all  arable 
land.  He  has  this  year  45,000  acres  in  wheat, 
which,  at  a  low  calculation,  will  produce  900,- 
000  bushels.  His  wheat  will  sell  for  85  cents 
per  bushel,  or  $750,000.  Dr.  Glenn  has  been 
farming  ten  years,  and  one  would  suppose  he 
ought  to  have  a  handsome  credit  in  bank  ;  but 
what,  with  a  failure  in  crops— which  occurs 
two  years  in  every  five— and  the  enormous  in- 
terest he  pays  on  his  loans,  he  is  said  to  owe 
a  round  million  of  dollars.  Last  year  his 
credit  was  bad,  as  he  had  no  crop.  Now,  with 
his  splendid  crop  in  prospect  he  will  probably 
get  out.  The  Dalrimples,  of  St.  Paul,  who, 
ten  years  ago,  were  the  largest  farmers  of 
wheat  in  Minnesota,  raising  as  niucli  as  40,000 
bushels  in  a  single  year,  went  to  the  wall. 

"Another  large  wheat  raiser  is  D.M.Reavis. 
whose  land  lies  on  the  borders  of  Colusa  and 
Butte  counties.  He  is  also  from^Monroe  co., 
Missouri,  and  has  an  unpretending  little  estate 
of  15,000  acres,  1.3,000  of  which  are  in  wheat, 
which  he  thinks  will  average  this  year  thirty 
bushels  per  acre,  or  390,000  bushels.  He  also 
is  hard  pressed,  and  I  am  told  is  paying  9  per 
cent,  on  a  couple  of  hundred  thousand  dollars 
of  borrowed  money.  If  farmers  raising  half 
a  million  to  a  million  bushels  of  wheat  cannot 
get  out  of  debt,  it  might  be  well  to  inquire, 
what  is  the  use  in  having  so  much  land  ? 

"The  truth  is  that  from  the.frequcnt  failure 
of  crops  in  California,  and  the  waste  that 
attends  on  large  operations  of  that  kind,  farm- 
ing on  a  gigantic  scale  in  this  portion  of  the 
Pacific  coast  must  be  considered  a  failure. 
North  of  this,  in  Oregon  and  Washington 
Territories,  there  is  no  failure  of  tlie  harvest ; 
farming  operations  are  carried  on  on  a  smaller 
scale,  and  consequently  tlie  farmers,  while 
not  rolling  in  wealth,  are  all  well  to  do." 

We  clip  the  above  from  the  columns  of  the 
Scientific  American  for  June  7,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  great  greed  there  is  in  the  industrial 
operations  of  the  world  ;  how  they  look  from 
an  inside  view,  and  what  eventually  comes  of 
them.  We  have  had  occasion  heretofore  to 
allude  to  these  mammoth  farms,  and  however 
they  may  have  appeared  from  the  outside — 
even  if  financially  sound  inside— we  have 
alluded  to  them  deprecatingly,  simply  because 
of  their  monopolizing  tendencies,  tlieir  social 
and  commercial  inequalities,  and  their  liability 
to  result  eventually  in  anti-republican  landed 
aristocracies. 

But  they  do  not  seem  to  have  succeeded 
very  well,  and  we  cannot  see  why  they  should, 
because  every  such  a  gigantic  establishment 
that  succeeds  crushes  just  so  much  of  the 
breath  out  of  the  other  portion  of  the  farniinj 
community  of  the  country.  The  country  is 
capable  of  producing  a  limited  quantity  of 
anything,  and  the  more  equally  that  amount 
can  be  divided  among  the  producers  the 
greater  equality  will  there  exist,  and  the  less 
imposition  will  there  be  upon  consumers,  be- 
cause there  will  be  a  less  tendency  towards 
those  monopolizing  "Corners,"  which  so 
often  oppress  the  public.  Even  the  unneces- 
sary waste  of  such  an  establishment  would 
often  prove  a  handsome  income  for  an  ordi- 
nary farmer.    When  it  was  glowingly  stated 


that  Dalrimple  had  only  5, .500  acres  in  wheat, 
and  that  he  had  some  twenty-five  reapers  and 
ten  threshing  machines  in  his  employ,  and 
was  sending  ofl"  to  market  ten  car  loads  of 
wheat  daily,  we  felt  that  it  would  have  been 
much  better  for  the  country,  and  for  Dal- 
rimple himself,  if  that  harvest  had  belonged 
to  fifty-live  thrifty  and  industrious  farmers, 
than  to  be  all  under  the  control  of  one  man 
who,  perhaps,  was  not  a  farmer  at  all.  Like 
a  game  of  hazard,  such  farming  may  be 
lucky  in  one  or  two  turns  of  the  cards  in  suc- 
cession, but  it  is  prone  to  ultimate  in  failure, 
or  abandoned,  wornout  lands,  and  a  poverty- 
stricken  community  for  years  thereafter. 

Any  practical  farmer  can  see  what  the  up- 
shot of  such  farming  must  be  in  the  end. 
Read  the  minutest  details  of  such  operations 
and  not  the  least  allusion  is  made  to  the  re- 
plenishment of  the  soil.  It  is  true  the  soil 
may  be  virgin  and  not  in  immediate  need  of 
replenishment,  but  this  state  of  things  will 
not  always  exist.  "Wear  and  tear"  is  writ- 
ten upon  all  the  works  of  human  hands  ;  dis- 
integration must  be  balanced  by  integration, 
or  physical  decay  and  ruin  must  follow. 

Here  and  there  on  such  large  farms  a  thresh- 
ing machine  is  located,  the  wheat  is  threshed 
and  winnowed,  then  sent  on  its  way  to  some 
distant  market,  and  the  straw  and  chaff  is  left 
on  a  heap  to  be  burnt  or  blown  away  by  the 
prairie  winds.  No  grass,  or  stock  to  feed  on 
it,  can  be  kept  on  an  exclusively  wheat  farm, 
and  therefore  there  can  "be  no  return  to  the 
soil  again  of  t!ie  elements  that  have  been  ex- 
hausted. 

A  thrifty  republican  yeomanry  are  the  bul- 
wark of  the  nation,  but  so  soon  as  they  re- 
solve themselves  into  landed  aristocracies  they 
encourage  feiidalism,  or  exclusiveism,  and 
become  its  bane.  Doubtless  many  of  those 
who  sell  their  Pennsylvania  farms  and  "go 
West  "  may  be  more  or  less  influenced  by  the 
desire  alone  to  own  large  farms.  There  is 
plenty  of  room  in  the  Middle  States  for  thous- 
ands of  thrifty  farmers,  if  they  could  content 
themselves  with  smaller  farms,  and  a  more 
thorough  and  intelligent  culture. 

SOUTHWARD,  HO!   vs.    WEST- 
WARD, HO! 

We  sincerely  believe  that  it  will  be  idti- 
mately  demonstrated  that  people  of  limited 
means  have,  and  are  noio  making,  a  great 
mistake— and  often  a  sad  mistake— in  their 
impulsive  emigrations  to  the  "Great  AVest  " 
without  having  first  availed  themselves  of  the 
opportunities  which  are  nearer  home— namely, 
in  the  Virginias,  Maryland  and  our  own 
Pennsylvania.  Many  localities  in  these  States, 
within  a  6,  12  or  14  hours'  run  by  rail  from 
Lancaster  county,  offer  inducements  that 
ought  to  command  the  attention  of  those  who 
really  desire  to  better  their  pecuniary  and 
domestic  condition.  It  is  all  well  enough  for 
the  sake  of  expansion  and  settling  up  the 
Western  States  ;  for  if  nobody  had  settled  in 
Lancaster  county  long  years  ago,  it  would 
not  have  become  the  "Garden  "  it  is  to-day — 
but  it  would  have  been  folly  for  our  ancestors 
to  have  come  here  if  they  could  have  done 
better  nearer  home.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
some  of  these  West-stricken  emigrants  are 
like  the  httle  cat  in  pursuit  of  its  tail.  Away 
it  goes  heedlessly  round  and  round  in  a  circle 
after  its  tail,  when  if  it  only  would  stop  a 
moment  and  look,  it  would  find  the  end  of  its 
tail  right  at  its  nose.  In  looking  over  the 
columns  of  the  Weekly  Exatniner  and  Express, 
a  few  days  ago,  we  noticed  the  following 
advertisement,  which  includes  one  of  the 
many  inducements  that  now  are  offered  for  a 
profitable  settlement  in  the  great  border  State 
of  Virginia,  and  is  worthy  of  special  attention  : 


NOTICE  1— A  CHANCE  FOK  ALL  !  A  HO.ME  FOR 
ANY  ONE  I 
We  will  lease  cood  farm  lands  In  Clover  Hollow, 
Giles  county,  Virginia,  for  Ave  years, /ree  of  all  rent 
and  no  liuinbug  to  any  energetic  farmers  who  will 
clear  them  up  and  mean  business.  Satisfaclory 
reference  will  be  required.  "First  come,  first 
served."  Any  further  Information  will  he  given  by 
applying  to  REV.  C.  ELVIN  HOUPT, 

45  South  Duke  street,  Lancaster  city.  Pa.,  or 
II.  HAirpT,  .Tr.,  M.  D., 
University  of  PcDnsylvania,  Philadelphia. 

Rev.  C.  E.  Houpt  is  well  known  in  this 
city,  and  is  the  energetic  pastor  of  one  of  our 
city  Lutheran  congregations ;  therefore,  any 
one  who  wishes  to  avail  himself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  better  his  condition,  without  going 
to  Kansas,  Nebraska  or  Colorado,  would  do 
well  to  give  the  subject  his  most  earnest  con- 
sideration. The  reputation  and  standing  of 
those  who  offer  "  A  ciiaxce  for  all,"  are 
such  as  the  utmost  confidence  can  be  reposed 
in.  Without  a  doubt,  any  one  pos8es.sing  the 
necessary  business  vitality  of  a  thrifty  farmer, 
can  do  better  here  than  in  subjecting  himself 
to  the  deprivations,  vicissitudes  and  hard 
labor  of  breaking  up  the  virgin  soil,  and 
building  up  a  new  home  in  the  far-off  west. 
This  is  only  one  of  the  many  notices  of  the 
kind  which  we  find  in  the  papers  every  "now 
and  then,"  from  parties  who  are  entirely  re- 
liable. Some  of  the  best  farmers  in  Virginia, 
especially  in  the  Shenandoah  valley,  migrated 
thither  from  Lancaster  county  years  ago,  and 
they  have  done  well. 

Men  whose  minds  are  imbued  with  the  true 
principles  of  progress — men  of  intellectual 
culture— men  who  are  not  prejudiced  against 
scientific  farming,  and  who  have  been  in- 
structed in  the  practical  application  of  the 
laws  governing  the  physical  world,  may  find 
as  profitable  and  successful  an  illustration  of 
the  principles  of  culture  in  old  Virginia  as  in 
any  new  State,  and  will  also  find  a  nearer  and 
a  more  .appreciative  market  for  the  physical 
results  of  that  culture.  One  old,  or  partially 
wornout  farm,  renewed  and  restored  to  a 
productive  and  paying  condition,  is  of  more 
value  to  the  country  than  half  a  dozen  virgin 
farms  that  need  no  prolification  ;  because  it  is 
just  that  much  added  to  the  material  wealth 
of  the  country — it  is  practically  making  two 
spears  of  grass  grow  where  only  one  had 
grown  before.  The  recuperator  of  such  a 
farm  adds  to  the  material  benefit  of  the 
countiy,  liecause  it  is  the  residt  of  his  own 
labor,  under  the  guidance  of  his  own  mind, 
and  if  systematically  pui-sued  cannot  relapse 
into  general  unproductiveness  again.  Simply 
because  all  his  operations  have  been  conducted 
on  scientific  principles— principles  that  exist 
everywhere,  but  may  not  be  as  necessary 
where  the  soil  is  new  and  prolific,  as  where  it 
is  old  and  partially  exhausted. 


THE  BELASTOMA  GRANDIS. 

We  were  recently  presented  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Witmer, 
residing  near  town,  with  a  very  fine  specimen  of  the 
Belastomn  Grandis,  or  Water  Bug,  captured  by 
him  in  the  creek  near  his  residence.  Below  will  be 
found  a  very  interesting  account  of  this  "pirate" 
from  paper  read  before  the  American  Fish  Cultural 
Association,  by  H.  D.  McGovern,  of  Brooklyn,  and 
published  in  the  Forest  and  Stream  of  March  20th. 
The  specimen  Is  now  at  this  office. 

The  question  has  been  asked  me  more  than  once, 
"  Whj  is  it  that  our  streams,  which  used  to  abound 
with  fish,  are  so  depleted,  particularly  with  young 
trout!"  I  at  once  commenced  an  investigation,  and 
commenced  to  think  why  it  was  that  the  good  old 
streams  of  Long  Island,  that  used  to  furnish  so  much 
pleasure,  to  the  sportsman,  were  now  almost  un- 
tenanted by  large  trout.  The  question,  I  thought, 
could  be  easily  answered ;  knowing  that  there  were 
so  many  pot-hunting  sportsmen  around,  in  and  out 
of  season,  who  would  not  hesitate  to  kill  a  large 
trout  even  if  they  knew  it  was  on  the  spawning  bed 
and  in  the  very  act  of  spawning.  This,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  mink  and  snake  and  other  enemies,  I 


82 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[June, 


thought,  would  answer  the  question,  but  I  was  mis- 
taken. I  will  pass  the  large  trout  for  the  present 
and  give  you  the  result  of  my  investigations  of  the 
small  fish.  When  I  say  small,  I  mean  from  one  year 
to  eighteen  months'  trout.  I  was  in  the  habit  of 
placing  some  of  the  fish  in  spring  well  for  general 
observation.  As  the  water  was  clear  and  the  space 
narrow,  it  afforded  me  a  good  opportunity  to  watch 
the  growth,  habits  and  movements  of  the  speckled 
beauties.  Several  times  I  came  to  my  spring  and 
found  some  of  the  number  missing.  I  examined  the 
screens  and  found  there  was  no  chance  of  escape  by 
that  means.  I  then  placed  six  eighteen  months  old 
fish  in  the  spring.  Next  morning  I  found  one  miss- 
ing. At  i  p.  m.  on  the  same  day  two  were  missing. 
On  the  following  morning  only  two  remained.  Then 
I  became  alarmed,  and  thought  the  fish  were  playing 
cannibal ;  so  I  determined  to  solve  the  problem  if  it 
took  me  the  balance  of  the  year.  Knowing  that  one 
of  the  flsh  was  taken  or  disappeared  between  10 
a.m.  and  4  p.  m.  the  previous  day,  I  began  to  watch, 
and  was  rewarded  at  2  p.  m.  by  noticing  something 
crawl  from  under  a  bunch  of  water  cresses  that  grew 
on  the  edge  of  the  spring.  It  first  appeared  like  a 
mouse.  When  it  reached  the  water  it  dove  down 
and  like  a  flash  it  was  up  again,  with  something  at- 
tached to  it.  I  was  not  slow  in  capturing  the  in- 
truder, and  found  to  my  surprise  that  it  was  a  large 
bug,  resembling  a  good  sized  locust,  having  one  of 
my  small  flsh  in  his  grasp. 

Now,  gentlemen,  as  I  am  no  entomologist,  I  do 
not  know  the  name  of  it,  but  from  the  manner  in 
which  it  held  the  trout  I  should  call  it  the  bear  bug, 
for  indeed  the  poor  fish  was  getting  a  bear's  hug. 
Having  placed  it  in  a  jar  of  water  it  still  hung  on  to 
the  fish  and  seemed  to  enjoy  its  imprisonment.  From 
observations  with  the  naked  eye,  while  the  bug  was 
in  the  glass  jar,  I  could  see  tliat  it  tortured  the  flsh 
from  a  tubular  prong,  which  it  cast  from  the  tail 
and  fastened  on  the  fish.  In  a  second  it  became  in- 
flated to  double  its  size.  Now,  gentlemen,  as  our 
worthy  treasurer  remarked,  I  think  this  is  a  blood- 
sucking fisherman,  and  largely  the  cause  of  the  de- 
pletion of  our  small  fish.  Being  inquisitive  to  know 
whether  the  thief  would  live  out  of  water,  I  emptied 
the  jar  and  placed  some  screen  work  over  the  mouth 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  air.  Next  morhing  I 
found  the  bug  with  his  toes  turned  up  and  his  victim 
beside  him  ;  so  I  found,  good  fisherman  as  he  was, 
he  difiered  from  many  anglers  of  the  present  day. 
Nothing  but  spring  water  would  suit  his  bugship, 
and  enable  him  to  feast  on  his  dainty  morsel. 

Professor  Fuller  said  there  was  but  one  thing  in 
the  United  States  that  would  do  as  the  insect  de- 
scribed would  do.  It  was  the  bug,  scientifically 
known  as  Belastoma  grandis.  It  was  about  three 
Inches  long  and  one  inch  broad,  with  powerful  claws 
and  a  long  proboscis. 

rWe  can  scarcely  imagine  anything  more  horrible 
than  this  armor-clad,  cold-blooded  monster,  which 
runs  like  a  swift  on  land,  darts  through  the  water 
and  out  of  it  like  a  fish  torpedo,  soars  high  in  air  and 
drops  like  a  fish  hawk,  a  shooting  star,  or  a  hot 
potato,  upon  some  devoted  trout's  back,  which  is 
momentarily  exposed  at  the  surface  of  the  water  in 
which  he  swims.  No  strategy  of  the  trout  can  out- 
wit this  frightful  beast.  At  some  opportune  moment 
he  quetly  drops  from  aloft  and  fastens  his  sharp 
hooks  in  his  sides  ;  he  pins  him  fast  with  the  point 
of  his  tail;  and  sucks  his  blood  with  his  awl-like 
proboscis.  No  effort  can  shake  him  ofl'.  Though  he 
dive  to  the  deepest  part  of  the  pool,  or  scour  himself 
against  the  sharpest  stones;  though  he  leap  from 
the  surface  or  drag  himself  ashore  in  his  agony,  this 
big  bug  is  there  all  the  same  and  all  the  time.  He 
hangs  to  him  like  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea,  and  never 
lets  go  until  the  trout  is  sucked  dry  and  succumbs  to 
the  loss  of  all  his  juices.  Were  the  Belastoma  grandis 
as  large  as  the  octopus  he  would  be  infinitely  more 
terrible.  Inasmuch  as  we  once  had  the  knowledge 
only  of  thenittle  cuttle  fish,  but  now  know  of  the 
existence  of  his  gigantic  relative,  even  so  may  there 
not  somewhere  exist  a  Belastoma  to  which  the  little 
chap  now  called  "Grandis"  is  but  as  a  trifle  in  com- 
parison? We  shudder  at  the  possibility.]— i^oj-M* 
and  Stream. 

The  foregoing,  from  Forest  and  Stream,  we 
reprint  entire,  with  the  exception  of  one 
word,  where  the  writter  calls  the  animal  a 
beetle  instead  of  a  hitg,  which  is  a  misnomer 
and  we  must  insist  on  the  distinction  just  as 
strenuously  as  if  he  had  called  a  goat  a  sheep, 
or  an  ass  a  horse.  The  "  Gigantic  "Water- 
Bug  "  (Belostoma  grandis,*  Lin. )  is  a Hemip- 
TEROUS  insect,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the 
typical  representative  of  the  order  to  which 
it  belongs.  This  account  may  present  a  very 
interesting  history  of  the  habits  of  this  insect, 
and  from  the  fact  that  but  few  have  the 
opportunities  of  making  such  observations,  it 
is  both  interesting  and  valuable  so  far  as  it 
goes.  There  is  just  a  probability,  however, 
that  people  will  draw  exaggerated  conclusions 
from  such  descriptions— indeed,  the  editor  in 

*B.  americanum.  Say. 


his  comments  has  reached  some  such  conclu- 
sions, and  when  he  says  "it  runs' like  a 
swift  on  land,"  he  states  a  practical  im- 
possibility, as  is  at  once  apparent  from  the 
organic  structure  of  its  pedal  appendages.  Its 
anterior  feet  are  semi-raptorial  and  formed 
for  seizing  and  holding  its  prey,  and  the  pos- 
terior pair  are  flattened,  fringed  and  oar- 
shaped,  efficient  propellers  in  water,  but  only 
indifferent  as  runners  on  land.  It  is  true 
they  can  move  on  land,  but  we  have  never 
seen  one  yet  that  was  in  any  wise  remarkable 
for  its  running  abilities.  Out  of  the  water, 
however,  they  are  swift  and  powerful  on  the 
wing,  and  hence,  like  the  large  "Water- 
Beetles,"  they  are  often  found  far  away  from 
their  native  ponds  and  streams  ;  and,  like  the 
beetles  aforenamed,  we  have  often  found  them 
in  early  spring,  partially  covered  with  mud, 
indicating  that  they  had  passed  the  winter 
hibernation  in  mud  at  the  bottom  of  ponds  or 
streams.  The  females  carry  their  eggs  on 
their  backs,  in  a  sort  of  adhesive  cake,  and 
very  probably  when  the  young  come  forth, 
they  also  remain  there  in  a  cluster  for  a  cer- 
tain period. 

We  know  that  they  are  sanguiniverous  in 
their  characters,  but  we  are  at  a  loss  to  kuow^ 
how  they  could  make  way  with  the  fish,  inas- 
much as  the  "  screens  "  were  too  small  for  the 
flsh  to  pass  through  them,  or  to  be  pulled 
through  by  the  bug.  These  insects  have  no 
masticating  organs,  only  a  haustellum  or 
piercer,  and  all  their  food  is  taken  in  a  fluid 
state.  Therefore,  after  all  the  fluids  or  blood 
of  the  flsh  was  sucked  out,  they  would  relin- 
quish the  carcass  (if  they  are  like  other  pre- 
daceous  Hemiptera)  when  it  would  be  very 
likely  to  float  on  or  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
water.  There  is  not  a  single  doubt,  however, 
but  that  these  bugs  prey  upon  small  fishes — 
flshes  small  enough  to  embrace  in  their  grasp, 
but  they  probably  could  not  seize  a  large  one. 
AVater-beetles  have  the  same  habit,  especially 
the  larger  species  of  Hydrophilus,  Bytiscus 
and  Oybister ;  and  many  complaints  have  been 
filed  against  them  by  proprietors  of  fish  ponds, 
both  in  England  and  America. 

The  above  account  is  valuable,  also,  be- 
cause it  does  not  rest  upon  mere  inferentiali- 
ties,  but  upon  personal  observation  ;  although 
it  might  seem  a  little  hyperbolical  to  say  that, 
"  In  a  second  it  became  inflated  to  double  its 
size,"  moreover,  may  not  the  gentleman  be 
in  error  when  he  says  that  the  bug  "  tortured 
the  fish  from  a  tubular  prong  which  it  cast 
from  its  tail,  and  fastened  on  the  fish."  Did 
he  not  mistake  the  head  for  the  tail  ?  We 
are  practically  aware  that  these  bugs  can 
inflict  a  painful  wound,  for  on  several  occa- 
sions we  have  had  our  fingers  penetrated  by 
Hemipterous  insects,  and  on  one  occasion 
slightly  by  an  individual  of  this  very  species. 
But  we  do  not  think  that  the  presence  of 
these  insects  can  accoimt  for  all  the  fishes 
that  are  destroyed.  They  may  be  an  un- 
important factor  in  their  destruction,  but  we 
have  never  seen  or  known  them  to  be  suffi- 
ciently abundant  anywhere  to  be  remarkably 
destructive.  The  larva  and  piqm  are  probably 
still  more  voracious  than  the  imago,  for,  like 
grasshoppers,  they  feed  through  all  their 
stages  of  development. 


THE   LAW   OF  NEWSPAPERS. 

"The  courts  have  decided  that  if  a  person 
orders  his  paper  discontinued  he  must  pay  all 
arrearages,  or  the  publisher  may  continued  to 
send  it  until  payment  is  made,  and  collect  the 
whole  amount  whether  the  paper  is  taken 
from  the  post-office  or  not.  Also,  action  for 
fraud  can  be  instituted  against  any  person, 
whether  he  is  responsible  in  a  financial  view 
or  not,  who  refuses  to  pay  for  a  publication. 
Some  forget  this,  and  think  by  merely  re- 
fusing to  take  the  paper  from  the  post-office 
settles  the  matter." 

We  would  most  respectfully  call  the  atten- 
tion of  delinquent  subscribers  to  the  fore- 
going, in  illustration  of  the  fact  that  editors 
and  publishers  have  legal  rights  which  the 
public,  in  equity,  are  bound  to  respect. 
There  is  a  long  list  of   subscriptions  still 


due  The  Farmer  for  the  years  1877  and 
187S,  and  even  some  anterior  to  those  dates, 
which  subscribers  may  feel  under  no  obliga- 
tion to  pay,  merely  because  they  have  refused 
to  lift  their  papers  out  of  the  office — neglect- 
ing to  accompany  their  discontinuance  (if 
they  have  ever  given  such  notice)  with  their 
arrearages  for  subscription.  We  can  condone 
a  neglect,  but  it  is  otherwise  with  an  absolute 
refusal. 

WONDERS  WILL    NEVER  CEASE. 

A  Netc  Refrigerating  Liquid  from  Beets. — 
In  Europe  the  principal  supply  of  sugar  is 
derived  from  beets  ;  the  annual  production  of 
beet  sugar  being  now  700,000  tons.  Besides 
this  a  large  quantity  of  beet  molasses  is  pro- 
duced, a  portion  of  which  is  distilled  and  a 
coarse  sort  of  whisky  made  ;  the  stuff  re- 
maining in  retort  yields  potassium  salts, 
which  are  employed  as  fertilizers,  sugar, 
spirits  and  potash  have  heretofore  been  the 
chief  products  manufactured  from  beets.  But 
Mr.  Vincent  has  now  succeeded  in  realizing 
from  the  refuse  that  remains  after  the  beet 
molasses  distillation,  a  combustible  gaseous 
body,  which  is  easily  condensed  into  liquid 
form,  and  is  called  chloride  or  methyl. 

This  liquid,  obtained,  as  stated,  from  beets, 
is  used  in  the  preparation  of  someof  the  analine 
colors,  but  is  now  found  to  be  especially  valu- 
able as  a  refrigerating  agent.  By  its  rapid 
evaporation  a  temperature  of  55°  C.,.or  67°  F. 
below  zero,  may  be  maintained,  which  is  far 
below  the  freezing  point  of  mercury. 

Prof  Huxley  says  that  by  this  means  mer- 
cury (which  freezes  at  39°  F.  below  zero,) 
may  be  frozen  by  the  pound.  For  the  manu- 
facture of  ice  this  new  beet  root  product 
promises  to  become  of  much  importance.— 
Scientific  American. 

This  is  something  for  farmers  of  the  North- 
ern States  to  think  of  if  the  cultivation  of 
wheat  becomes  too  precarious.  Beets  can  be 
grown  here  most  luxuriantly,  and  they  must 
be  of  more  value  than  merely  for  pickles  or 
stock  feeding. 


Queries  and  Answers. 


LOUELLA  P.  0.,  WaTXE  STATION,  P.  R.  R.,  ) 

Delaware  county.  Pa.  J 
S.  S.  Rathvon,  Esq — Dear  Sir:  I  cut  inclosed 
leaves  from  a  young  ash  tree  growing  on  a  piece  of 
land  I  have  recently  purchased  in  this  neighborhood, 
which  contain,  as  you  will  see,  the  eggs  of  some 
insect. 

I  shall  feel  obliged  if  you  will  tell  me  what  posi- 
tion in  the  scale  of  destruction  this  insect  occupies, 
(I  don't  admit  that  insects  have  any  place  in  the 
scale  of  creation,)  and  what  is  the  name  thereof, 
and  at  what  time  and  in  what  shape  may  I  expect  it 
to  begin  its  depredations  ;  and  how,  if  that  be  possi- 
ble, can  its  devastation  be  arrested.  Direct  as  above, 
and  believe  me,  very  truly,  your  friend,  S.  W.  M. 

Your  letter  containing  infected  leaves  of 
the  ash  tree  duly  received,  and  specimens  in 
good  condition.  So  far  as  it  relates  to  insects, 
you  may  calm  your  apprehensions,  for  the  sub- 
stances on  these  ash  leaves  are  no  insects'  eggs 
at  all,  but  a  species  of  Uredine  Fungus,  a 
group,  or  family,  which  includes  the  rusts, 
mildews,  smuts,  &c.,  which  infect  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  vegetation,  especially  the  wheat, 
rye,  oats,  barley  and  corn  ;  and  also  the  black- 
berry, dewberry,  raspberry,  hickory,  ash,  haw- 
thorn, &c.,  &c.  Different  species  sometimes 
infect  the  same  plant,  and  the  same  species 
also  infect  diflerent  plants  ;  as,  for  instance, 
the  Uredo  ruborum  is  found  on  the  blackberry, 
dewberry  and  raspberry.  Last  summer  we 
found  a  group  of  hawthorn  trees,  both  the 
leaves  and  the  fruit  of  which  were  seriously 
infected,  very  much  injuring  their  beauty, 
harmony  and  general  health.  The  Uredo  lito- 
jMla  infects  diflerent  plants,  but  the  Uredo 
rubigo-vera,  the  Uredo  caries  and  the  Ureda 
fce.tida  (stinking  rust,)  usually  infect  our  cere- 
als, and  is  commonly  called  "Rust,"  or 
"Red-rust."  The  grain  smut  is  the  Uredo 
segmentum.  We  have  often  seen  it  plentiful 
on  the  raspberry,  blackberry,  ash  and  hickory, 
but  we  are  "not  enough  of  a  Mycologist  to  de- 
termine whether  they  are  the  same  species  or 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


83 


not.  Those  on  the  ash  may  be  a. distinct 
species  or  a  different  genus  "from  those  we 
have  mentioned  above — indeed,  even  those 
are  now  included  under  different  generic 
names.  None  are  now  accessible  to  us  with 
which  we  can  compare  them.  Tliese  fungoids 
consist  of  groups  of  minute  orange,  or  rust- 
red  cups,  and  these  cups  are  filled  witli  still 
more  minute  sporules,  wbich  are  the  seeds  of 
the  fungus,  and  these  seeds  or  spores  are  scat- 
tered abroad  and  germinate,  forming  new 
fungus  plants. 

We  may  know  that  they  are  not  the  eggs  of 
insects  from  the  fact  that  the  groups  are  of 
different  sizes,  and  even  the  cups  in  the  same 
group  are  different  in  size.  Those  in  the 
centre  of  the  groups  are  two,  three  or  four 
times  larger  than  those  at  the  outer  margins, 
increa-siiig  in  size  from  the  centre  to  the  cir- 
cumference, from  which  the  group  was  pro- 
duced, perhaps,  from  a  single  central  cup,  and 
that  the  others  grew  up  successively  around 
them.  Tlie  smaller  ones  are  still  covered  with 
a  cap,  or  lid,  and  when  they  are  matured  this 
cap  or  lid  is  bursted  open  or  tlirown  off  and 
the  sporules  are  scattered. 

The  best  remedy  for  this  species  of  rust  is 
the  removal  of  the  parts  infected,  even  if  it 
should  require  the  sacrifice  of  the  whole  i)lant. 
But  a  wash  of  sulphate  of  copper,  lime  water 
or  glauber  salts  is  also  recommended  in  minor 
cases.  Large  trees,  however,  may  thrive 
reasonably,  in  spite  of  the  infection,  because 
something  is  due  to  meteorological  causes, 
and  in  another  season  they  may  disappear 
entirely. 

KiMBLEviLLE,  Chester  to.,  Pa.,  June  5,  1879. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Ratuvon— Z>cai-  Sir:  I  here  send  you  a 
kind  of  insect,  and  I  would  like  to  know  the  name  of 
It.  It  is  a  pest  to  the  corn.  It  will  get  at  the  stalk 
right  below  the  surface,  and  just  eat  down  to  the 
roots.  It  is  their  first  year  here.  We  have  a  field  of 
corn  of  about  twenty  acres,  and  they  have  destroyed 
about  seventeen  acres  of  it.  I  had  these  insects  in  a 
bottle  for  twelve  days,  and  they  are  living  yet.  I 
thought  I  would  send  some  of  them  to  you  to  see 
what  they  are  called,  as  I  have  seen  your  name  often 
In  the  proceedings  of  the  Lancaster  County  Agricul- 
tural Society.  I  would  very  much  like  to  know 
what  they  are,  and  if  you  can  find  a  name  for  them 
you  will  oblige  yours,  &c.,  B.  F.  L. 

Your  insects  (somewhat  crushed).came  duly 
to  hand,  and  are  the  "Corn-plant  Weevil," 
[Sphenophorus  zea).  Th(y  are  becoming  every 
year,  slowly  but  su  ely,  more  destructive  to 
the  young  corn  plants.  They  belong  to  the 
great  "snout-beetle"  family  (Curculioni- 
Dje),  but  do  not  breed,  so  far  as  is  yet  known, 
in  the  stalk  of  the  corn  ;  but  are  usually  to  be 
found  in  decayed  wood  under  bark,  an(f  we 
have  found  them  also  under  stones.  They 
belong  to  a  group  that  are  destroyers  of  tim- 
ber, trees,  &c.  The  removal  of  old,  dead 
wood  would,  perhaps,  be  the  best  preventive. 

May  19,  1879. 

Mb.  Editor— .Sir  ;  In  The  Lancaster  Farmer 
for  May,  1879,  (page  69)  I  see  that  a  young  gentle- 
man wishes  to  know  where  he  can  buy  good  land  for 
$1.50.00  per  acre.  If  it  is  not  asking  too  much, 
please  give  me  his  name  and  address,  and  oblige  a 
subscriber. — Respectfully  yours,  Einannel  Toomey. 

Address,  Newport,  Perry  county,  Pa. 

We  regret  to  state  to  our  correspondent 
that  when  we  attempted  to  "look  up"  the 
manuscript  of  the  anicle  to  which  he  refers, 
it  was  not  findable,  having  been  transferred  to 
the  "waste-basket,"  aiid  from  thence  (so  far 
as  we  know  to  the  contrary)  perhaps  to  limlio. 
We  have  done  what  we  thought  the  next  best 
thing,  by  placing  his  communication  before 
our  readers,  which,  no  doubt,  will  bring  the 
interested  parties  in  rapport,  although  it  may 
occasion  some  delay. — Ed. 

Mr.  D.  R.  H.,  Ephrata,  P((.— The  small, 
oblong,  black  insects  which  you  found  in  the 
bloom  of  the  plum,  are  not  curculios  in  any  of 
their  varieties  or  forms.  Among  the  fiowers 
sent  us  we  w(^re  only  able  to  detect  two  speci- 
mens, and  only  one  of  these  was  in  a  condi- 
tion at  all  recognizable.  We  do  not  think, 
however,  tluit  you  need  have  any  apprehen- 
sions in  regard  to  them,  for  they  evidently  are 
present  in  the  flowers  for  the  purpose  of  feed- 


ing on  the  pollen  or  nectar  that  they  afford. 
We  have  noticed  these  and  other  allied  in- 
sects in  various  kinds  of  flowers  these  twenty 
years,  and  we  have  never  known  them  to  be 
of  any  positive  injury.  Perliaps  if  they  oc- 
curred iu  numbers  sntlicient  to  devour  all  the 
pollen  they  might  diminish  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  the  crop.  It  is  those  insects  tliat 
feed  on  vegetation  during  their  larval  period 
that  are  most  injurious  to  vegetation.  Our 
first  impression  was  that  they  were  a  species 
of  Conurus,  a  minute  "rove-beetle,"  but  a 
sub-sequent  examination  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  tliey  were  species  of  Conotelus,  (of  an 
allied  family)  perhaps  C.  obxcurvs;  that  they 
breed  in  decayed  animal  or  vegetable  matter, 
and  that  their  presence  in  the  flowers,  in  the 
mature  form,  is  only  temporary.  Later  in 
the  season  you  will  probably  find  them  in 
various  flower  cups,  especially  in  those  of  the 
"Morning-glories"  and  "Pumpkin  vines." 

Compound  Grape  Gall. 
Two  or  three  persons,  at  different  times, 
have  sent  us  large  green  and  pinkish  galls, 
which  they  found  on  their  grapevines,  near 
the  ends  of  the  tender  branches.  On  ojiening 
these  they  contained  a  number  of  cavities,  in 
each  of  which  was  a  small  orange-colored 
larva.  This  is,  doubtless,  Osten  Sacken's 
Lasioptera  vitis,  or  "Grape  Gall  Gnat." 
Remedy — cut  them  oif  immediately  and  boil 
them. 


Entomological. 


FLIES. 

"The  Society  for  Promoting  the  Condition 
of  Flies  has  issued  another  address  to  the 
country,  through  the  Boston  Advertiser.  It 
reminds  us  that  in  the  warm  days  at  this  season 
heavy  and  unhappy, flies  crawl  out  from  their 
hiding  places  and  walk  sluggishly  about  on 
the  window  panes.  According  to  the  calcula- 
tions of  Professor  Uhlborn,  each  of  these  is 
now  about  to  lay  2,000  eggs.  If  each  of  these 
eggs  produces  a  fly  which  lays  2,000  e<jgs  be- 
fore the  first  of  June,  and  from  each  ot  these 
2,000  young  ones  are  hatched  which  are  ready 
to  lay  before  the  first  of  July,  to  furnish  each 
a  brood  before  the  first  of  August,  the  number 
of  descendants  from  this  single  ancestor  by 
the  first  of  September  is  sixteen  trilhon.  It 
is,  therefore,  wo  may  conclude,  the  duty  of 
every  one  who  sees  a  fly  in  these  days  to  in- 
continently demolish  it,  with  all  the  energy 
and  sweet  satisfaction  which  can  be  inspired 
by  the  knowledge  that  he  is  annihilating,  at 
one  fell  swoop,  16,000,000,000  of  these  con- 
centrated Gehennas  on  wings." 

The  estimates  in  the  foregoing  extract  are 
merely  theoretical  possibilities,  but  not  at  all 
probabilities.  It  has  also  been  estimated  that 
from  the  days  of  Adam  down  to  the  present 
time,  a  single  herring  could  have  produced  a 
progeny  the  aggregate  mass  of  which  would 
be  larger  than  the  planet  we  inhabit ;  but 
how  many  contingencies  are  there  between 
the  spawn  of  the  herring  and  the  adult  fish, 
by  which  it  becomes  the  food  of  some  other 
animal,  or  is  subject  to  destruction  tlirough 
environing  casualties?  The  case  is  similar 
with  flies,  but  still  a  suflicient  number  of 
them  survive  to  perform  the  functions  in  the 
general  economy  of  nature,  for  wliich  they 
arc  permitted  to  exist.  If  we  could  find  a 
local  habitation  where  there  were  no  flics, 
unless  we  were  sure  there  were  surrounding 
compensations,  we  do  not  think  we  would 
pitch  our  tent  in  such  a  place.  If  there  were 
perishing  animals,  decaying  vegetation,  or 
animal  excretions  there,  we  would  suspect  its 
sanitary  status.  A  redundancy  of  flies  is 
doubtless  a  serious  annoyance,  but  nothing  to 
be  compared  with  the  continued  putrefactions, 
stenches  and  miasmatic  atmospheres  that 
would  exist  if  there  were  no  flies  to  devom- 
their  cause,  and  transform  them  to  a  more 
healthy  condition.  If  flies  refuse  to  alight 
on  a  human  body  and  devour  its  oleaginous 
oozings,  it  would  be  a  sure  sign  that  the  ex- 
halations from  that  body  were  vitiated,  and 


hence  that  it  could  not  be  in  a  healthy  condi- 
tion. The  substances  which  flies  consume  or 
damage  in  their  imar/n  states  are  not  at  all 
comparable  with  the  iilth  they  deodorize  and 
displace  in  their  lurcrr  or  maggot  states.  Even 
the  much-dreaded  and  much-hated  mosquito 
performs  a  purifying  function  which  it  never 
receives  any  credit  for  ;  and,  for  one  that  in 
its  lifetime  gets  a  taste  of  human  blood, -there 
are  millions  tliat  j)eri.sh  without  ever  having 
had  a  taste  of  anytliing  unless  they  prey  upon 
each  other.  In  tlieir  larvaj  forms  they  purify 
ponds  and  swamps  that  otherwise  might  be- 
come dangerous  for  human  beings  to  approach 
on  account  of  their  reimlsive  and  unhealthy 
stenches.  To  sura  up  tlie  whole,  insects  are 
most  wonderful  in  their  uses  ;  and  it  must  be 
that  for  that  purposes  they  are  permitted  a 
place  in  the  great  natural  plan  of  the  Creator 
in  his  government  of  the  physical  world,  in 
which  flies  form  no  inconspicuous  part.  "  They 
fertilize  the  soil  by  scattering  decomposing 
matters,  and  prevent  them  from  vitiating  the 
atmosphere.  A  plant  grows  luxuriantly  and 
increases  too  rapidly  ;  Jie  caterpillars  arrest 
its  growth  and  propagation  ;  the  caterpillars 
after  a  while  become  too  destructive,  and  the 
ichneumons  kill  them  by  myriads.  The  vege- 
tarian insects  which  lead  a  luxurious  and 
quiet  life,  tend  to  increase  ureatly  in  number, 
and  yet  the  carnivorous  kinds  are  ever  at 
hand  to  keep  this  prolific  race  within  bounds. 
Century  after  century  this  curious  equilibrium 
is  maintained  in  nature,  and  although  occa- 
sionally locusts  increase  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  ruin  great  districts,  still,  as  a  rule,  the  in- 
terference of  man  produces  the  ravages  of  the 
flies  that  injure  his  crops,  for  he  is  constantly 
derangmg  the  balance  of  insect  power.  It 
would  appear  that  nature  requires  the  multi- 
plication of  the  Artind'ita  to  be  carried  to  the 
greatest  excess,  and  that  they  should  often 
lead  different  lives  during  the  successive 
stages  of  their  growth  and  development ;  that 
they  should  be  able  to  live  under  most  oppo- 
site" conditions  of  existence,  being  clothed  in 
the  most  varied  garbs,  and  that  they  should 
undergo  transformations." 

Human  progress  and  human  enterprise 
being  the  prime  cause  of  the  derangement  in 
nature's  plan,  human  genius  and  human  in- 
vention must  develop  the  means  to  restore 
the  balance  or  provide  for  the  deficit.  Where 
insects  are  not  absolutely  hurtful  or  destruc- 
tive to  human  products  or  human  values,  it 
would  be  best  to  let  them  have  their  own  way, 
especially  when  their  presence  is  known  to  be 
ultimately  beneficial.  Mere  annoi/ance  is  not 
a  suflicient  ground  for  their  destruction. 

GRAIN  SILVANUS. 
(Silvanuv  surinamPit^sis.) 

This  very  small  brown  beetle  seems  to  be 
plentiful  in  some  of  the  grain  bins  of  Lan- 
caster county  at  the  present  time,  as  we  also 
know  it  to  have  been  in  the  past.  Complaints 
of  its  presence,  and  also  specimens  of  the  in- 
sect itself  have  been  sent  to  us  from  different 
parts  of  the  county ;  and,  unless  there  is 
something  done  to  check  its  increase,  our  mil- 
lers and  farmers  may  suffer  a  diminution  in 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  their  stored  wheat 
and  other  grains.  The  "giain  silvanus,"  or 
"corn  .silvanus,"  as  it  is  called  in  England, 
is  hardly  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  length; 
very  long  and  flat,  and  of  a  rusty  brown  color, 
thickly  and  coarsely  punctured,  and  sparsely 
covered  with  yellowish,  depressed  hairs.  The 
head  is  proportionally  large,  and  approximat- 
ing a  triangular  form.  The  antennm  are  stout 
and  slightly  clubbed  at  their  ends.  It  has  small, 
short,  horny  jaws,  «&c.,  which  are  concealed 
under  the  front  part  of  the  head.  The  thorax, 
or  middle  section  of  the  body,  is  oval  and  a 
little  broader  than  the  head,  and  has  three 
latitudinal  ridges  down  the  back,  forming  two 
broad  channels,  and  on  each  thoracic  margin 
there  are  six  little  spines.  The  elytrons  are 
broader  than  the  thorax,  long,  elliptical,  and 
have  four  slightly  elevated  latitudinal  lines 
down  each  of  them.  The  larva  is  a  little 
yellowish-white  worm,  with  six  feet,  and  is  a 
"little  longer  than  the  mature  beetle.    It  is 


84 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[June, 


somewhat  deprsssed,  with  twelve  transverse 
segments,  and  otherwise  differing  from  others 
hereinafter  named. 

Tlie  insects  sent  to  us  by  mail  were  not  a 
true  "weevil,  "although  where  very  numerous 
they  probably  would  be  quite  as  destructive. 
They  are  the  "Grain  Silvanus "  {Silvanus 
snrinamensis)^  and  we  have  frequently  seen 
mills  and  grain  bins  seriously  infested  by  them 
during  the  past  ten  years. 

As  their  name  implies  they  have  a  foreign 
origin,  and  have  probably  been  introduced 
into  our  country  from  England  or  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe.  You  may  not  be  able  to  get 
rid  of  them  without  some  considerable  trouble. 
They  usually  come  forth  in  the  beetle  form 
during  the  months  of  May  and  June,  but  after 
that  period  they  do  no  other  harm  than  deposit- 
ing their  eggs,  from  which  will  be  bred  a  future 
generation.  '^It  is  while  they  are  in  their  larva 
state  that  they  feed  on  the  grain,  and  w_iere 
they  are  numerous  they  injure  it  very  much. 
They  have  long  been  known  to  European 
millers  and  farmers  as  serious  grain  pests, 
and  they  employ  the  same  remedies  to  destroy 
them  that  they  do  to  destroy  "grain  weevils," 
(SitopMliis  granarius  et  S.  oryzea,)  and  the 
"grain  moth,"  (Butalis  cerealella.)  They  sub- 
mit the  infested  grain  to  a  temperature  of 
about  167  degrees  of  a  Fahrenheit  thermome- 
ter, and  let  it  remain  in  that  condition  for 
twenty-four  hours.  This  is  sure  to  kill  all  the 
beetles,  whether  in  the  beetle  or  the  worm 
states.  This  heat  does  not  subject  the  grain 
to  fermentation,  nor  to  be  devoured  by  insects, 
nor  make  it  less  capable  of  vegetation  when 
sown  as  seed,  than  that  which  has  not  under- 
gone this  operation,  and  does  not  cost  more 
than  about  a  penny  a  bushel,  which  is  a  small 
amount  compared  with  a  total  loss. 

The  heat  is  applied  by  placing  the  grain  in 
ovens,  or  in  what  they  call  insect  mills,  con- 
structed somewhat  like  a  large  coffee-roaster. 

Burning  sulphur  or  charcoal  in  the  bins, 
after  the  grain  has  been  removed,  will  destroy 
such  insects  as  may  remain  in  corners  and 
crevices.  Tobacco  fumigations  would  have 
the  same  effect.  Instead  of  ovens  or  mills 
some  have  rooms,  into  which  the  necessary 
degree  of  heat  is  introduced.  To  show  how 
they  multiply  and  how  destructive  they  may 
become,  it  is  estimated  that  five  or  six  thous- 
and individuals  may  be  produced  from  one 
pair  of  these  insects  in  one  season. 

These  insects  sometimes  also  inhabit  bran, 
flour,  and  other  kinds  of  meal  or  stufls  made 
from  ground  grain.  On  one  or  two  occasions 
we  found  millions  of  them  in  the  grain  and 
flour  bins  of  a  mill  in  the  northern  part  of 
Lancaster  county ,  in  company  with  the  "Grain 
Weevils,"  {Sit02)hilus  granarius  and  oryzea,) 
the  "Cadella,"  {Trogosita  mauritanica,)  the 
"Meal  Worm,"  (Tenebrio  molitor,)  and  per- 
haps the  "Little  Cacujus,"  (CiKujus  minutus,) 
all  of  which  insects  have  been  introduced  into 
our  country  from  Europe,  and  are,  perhajjs, 
more  destructive  here  than  in  their  native 
country.  Except  the  first  named,  however, 
these  insects  are  found  under  very  different 
circumstances.  They  are  '  generally  found 
under  the  bark  of  trees  and  in  various  kinds 
of  nuts.  We  liave  found  them  alive  in  un- 
roasted  peanuts,  &c.,  and  our  Silvanus  has 
often  occurred  under  the  same  circumstances, 
but  mostly  in  company  with  them. 

SOOT  vs.  WIREWORMS. 
A  correspondent  of  the  London  Land  and 
Water  found  the  wireworm  so  abundant  in 
every  part  of  the  garden  he  was  set  to  culti- 
vate, that  he  could  scarcely  grow  a  potato  or 
carrot  without  it  being  rendered  useless  by 
it ;  and  among  the  various  things  he  was  led 
to  adopt  as  preventives,  soot  appeared  to  be 
the  only  effectual  remedy.  This  he  applied 
to  potato  crops  in  the  following  manner  :  The 
drills  were  got  ready  in  their  usual  way,  and 
the  sets  laid  in  at  the  bottom  of  each  drill ; 
the  soot  was  then  put  down  upon  them,  in 
quantity  sufficient  to  cause  the  drills  to  as- 
sume quite  a  black  appearance.  This  being 
done,  the  drills  were  closed  in  the  ordinary 
manner  to  the  natural  level,  and  the  work 


was  finished.  Wherever  soot  was  applied  the 
crops  turned  out  clean  and  good,  scarcely  a 
trace  of  the  wireworm's  ravages  were  to  be 
seen,  while  those  from  rows  not  dressed  with 
.soot  were  quite  the  reverse — the  potatoes 
being  pierced  through  in  every  direction,  and 
fit  only  for  feeding  pigs. 

PEACH  TREE  BORERS. 
Regarding  borers  in  peach  trees,  says  the 
Country  Gentleman,  it  is  useful  to  heap  a  peck 
of  dry  slaked  lime  about  the  peach  trees 
after  the  grubs  have  been  picked  and  before 
the  earth  is  drawn  back  to  the  tree.  The  lime 
kills  any  grubs  that  may  be  left,  if  a  live 
grub  is  thrown  into  dry  lime  it  will  soon  die  ; 
this  may  be  tried  to  satisfy  an  inquiring  mind. 
Having  used  lime  in  this  way  in  1877,  the 
writer  found  no  borers  at  all  in  his  trees  in 
1878,  and  therefore  has  confidence  in  this 
means  of  repressing  the  depredations  of  this 
pest. 


Contributions. 


COMMUNICATION. 

In  reply  to  a  note  addressed  to  Mr.  Houpt, 
by  an  inquirer,  in  relation  to  the  land  adver- 
tised in  the  Examiner  and  Express,  and  which 
we  quoted  in  our  editorial  on  the  subject  of 
settlements  nearer  home,  he  submits  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Dear  Sir :  Your  note  of  the  2d  inst.  inquir- 
ing for  further  particulars  about  lands  in  Clover 
Hollow,  Giles  county,  Va.,  is  at  hand,  and 
in  reply  I  would  briefly  state  all  the  circum- 
stances. The  land  is  new  land  and  rich  ;  the 
pure,  unploughed  virgin  soil,  not  worn  out. 
There  is  timber  growing  on  most  of  the  land, 
growing  the  hard  woods,  although  in  some 
places  there  is  growing  pine.  The  country  is 
well  watered,  a  valley  sloping  down  to  Sinking 
Creek,  which  runs  througn  tlie  valley,  and 
sinks  away  further  down  into  a  lime.stone 
cave.  The  size  of  tract  for  each  man  has  not 
been  fixed  at  any  specified  number  of  acres. 
First  come  shall  be  first  served  with  whatever 
land  each  may  select  suitable  to  himself. 

The  why  or  reason  is  this.  I  have  an  uncle, 
by  name  Herman  Haupt,  who  some  years  ago 
bought  a  large  tract  of  this  land  in  the  State 
of  Virginia,  embracing  this  beautiful  valley, 
and  also  a  body  of  water  some  miles  further 
on  to  the  north,  at  which  place  he  has  erected 
a  summer  boarding  house. 

Now,  as  by  profession  he  is  a  civil  engineer, 
and  cannot,  owing  to  his  business,  clear  up 
and  farm  this  land,  and  as  there  are  so  many 
good  men  needing,  and  so  many  making  long, 
expensive  journeys  out  to  the  West  for  tliou- 
sands  of  miles,  when  here  in  Virginia,  not 
more  than  400  miles  from  where  we  now  are, 
is  a  most  fertile  and  beautiful  country  :  not 
bleak  prairie,  but  rich  Virginia  bottom-land, 
my  uncle,  in  a  spirit  of  pure  liberality,  and  to 
he"lp  poor  men  who  are  willing  to  work,  has 
resolved  to  lease  a  portion  of  these  lands  for 
^I'e  years  free  of  all  rent.  It  is  intended 
simply  to  help  industrious  men  to  a  home 
and  to  settle  that  new  country.  He  does  not, 
nor  do  I,  who  write  this,  make  one  cent  by  the 
operation.  It  is  intended  to  do  good.  The 
land  must  be  cleared  up  and  prepared  by  the 
man  who  leases  it,  and  we  think  that  by  five 
years'  time  you  would  be  able  to  lay  up 
enough  to  buy  yourself  a  snug  farm  of  your 
own.  To  be  sure,  there  is  no  home  yet  upon 
the  uncleared  land,  but  there  are  houses  in 
the  neighborhood  which  could  be  had,  either 
at  the  hotel  (or  boarding  house)  or  elsewhere. 
A  small  temporary  house  suitable  for  a  short 
time,  could  easily  be  made.  As  the  country 
is  removed  from  the  communications  by  rail  a 
short  distance,  there  is  no  special  market,  but 
grain  can  easily  be  sent  in  any  quantity  to 
any  of  tlie  Atlantic  cities.  Or,  if  you  choose, 
my  uncle  and  his  son  will  buy  and  send  it  to 
market,  as  he  has  a  store  in  connection  with 
the  hotel.  The  prices  of  land  per  acre  are 
different,  ranging  from  $2  up  to  .$15  (to  buy). 
This  land  is  located  in  Clover  Hollow,  Giles 
county,  Vii'ginia,    I  would  be  glad  to  talk 


with  you  face  to  face  if  you  like  our  proposi- 
tion. -My  home  is  at  No.  45  South  Duke 
street,  Lancaster  city.  There  I  can  show  you 
majDS  and  vif  ws  which  I  have  of  that  country. 
A  better,  safer  offer  could  not  be  made,  and 
you  will  find  everything  exactly  as  I  represent. 
The  people  are  kind  and  hospitable.  You 
need  not  be  anxious  about  the  market,  as 
that  is  right  upon  the  spot.  The  country  lies 
high,  amid  mountain  scenery,  and  is  very 
healthy  and  very  beautiful.  Many  pretty 
spots  and  wonderful  caves  of  limestone  forma- 
tions can  be  visited  by  little  pie-nics  in  the 
summer  time.  If  you  could  spare  the  time 
and  come  to  see  me,  I  could  let  you  know 
many  more  facts.  I  have  been  down  there 
upon  the  spot. —  Yours  very  truly,  C.  Elvin 
Houpt,  Pastor  of  ChrisVs  Evan.  Lutheran 
Church,  Lancaster  city.  Pa. 

For  The  Lancaster  Fakmek. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 

Prof.  Rathvon,  Editor  :  Since  migration 
from  the  East  to  the  West  seems  to  be  the 
order  of  the  day  with  the  class  that  are  look- 
ing for  good  and  cheap  farm  lands,  and  in  the 
main  moving  for  Kansas  and  Texas,  I  would 
call  the  attention  of  the  migrating  farmers  to 
the  cheap  and  fertile  lands  of  Northeast  Mis- 
souri. Here  improved,  as  well  as  unimproved 
farm  land,  can  be  bought  for  one-third  the 
price  it  commanded  ten  years  ago.  Farming, 
as  a  general  thing  here,  is  considerably  below 
the  average  of  ordinary  farming.  No  regard 
is  paid  to  manure,  and  the  plow  is  not  put 
over  shoe  deep  into  the  ground.  Y''our  farmers 
would  call  it  scratching  the  back  of  the  soil. 
The  agricultural  economy  seems  to  be  reversed 
here,  by  showing  the  smallest  amount  of  pro- 
duce to  the  largest  amount  of  surface.  In 
short,  farming  hereabout  seems  to  be  a  smould- 
ering ember  of  African  agriculture.  Cross 
the  river,  and  go  into  Illinois,  and  the  dift'er- 
euce  appears  at  first  sight. 

There  is  nothing  flourishes  so  much  around 
here  as  circus  shows  and  church  revivals.  In 
the  metropolis  of  Pike  county,  Mo.,  with  a 
population  estimated  at  four  thousand  five 
hundred  souls,  about  one-fourth  negroes, 
there  are  eleven  churches,  of  which  one  or 
the  other  is  all  the  time  on  a  scheme  to  raise 
the  wind— by  festival,  concert,  recitation, 
bazar,  &c.,  &c.  So  y?fu  see  there  is  no  danger 
of  the  people  suffering  for  want  of  religious 
exercise,  of  all  and  any  of  the  various  sects. 
There  are  also  plenty  of  public  schools  in  Pike 
county. 

This  county,  ranging  along  the  Mississippi, 
is  a  limestone  region,  with  hill  ranges  for  a 
distance  of  ten  miles  westward,  and  thence 
commences  the  prairie.  This  hill  land  is 
covered  with  apple  orchards,  and  from  the 
town  of  Louisiana  alone  from  forty  to  sixty 
thousand  bushels  of  apples  are  shipped,  north- 
ward and  westward,  annually.  Theseorchards 
are  covered  with  heavy  growths  of  clover. 
Farms  of  this  character,  with  household  im- 
provements, from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and 
fifty  a(;res,  with  some  wood  and  arable  land, 
sell  for  from  twenty  to  twenty-flve  dollars  an 
acre.  Where  it  is  covered  by  mortgage  of 
some  years'  standing,  at  ten  per  cent,  inl  erest, 
it  can,  when  bought  under  the  hammer,  be 
bought  for  less  thau  the  prices  above  stated. 

Many  of  the  Pike  people  have  gone  to 
Kansas  and  Texas,  and  many  are  the  wails 
now  coming  back  for  the  better  lands  they 
have  forsaken. 

If  your  Eastern  overcrowded  populations 
were  half  as  gregarious  as  are  the  people  in 
this  region  they  would  opportunely  be  thinned 
out,  and  well  appointed  to  land  in  Northeast- 
ern Missouri.  Pike  is  an  old  settled  county, 
and  for  a  long  time  ranked  as  the  fifth  county 
of  the  State  in  agricultural  and  dairy  pro- 
ducts. The  winters  are  short,  and  most  of 
the  time  grazingcontinues  the  winter  through. 
About  one  degree  more  south  than  your 
county,  it  has,  nevertheless,  a  much  milder 
winter  as  to  duration  of  time. 

Everything  that  can  be  raised  on  the  soil  of 
your  county  can  be  raised  here.  The  bottom 
land  brings  forth  good  wheat  crops,  an  average 


1879.] 


tHE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


85 


of  twenty  bushels  per  acre,  and  that  without 
manure.  The  climate  is  of  the  healthiest 
character.  Railroad  facilities  more  tlian 
enouj;h.  A  direct  railroad  from  Chicago  to 
Kansas  City  runs  through  Pike.  Another 
from  Keokuk  to  St.  Louis,  now  in  jnocess  of 
com|)Iftion.  Another  from  Hannibal,  to 
intersect  the  North  Missouri,  that  runs 
north  and  south,  inland  of  the  county. 
Another,  cm  the  Illinois  side  of  the  river,  froln 
BurUiiLrloii  to  SI.  Louis.  J5eside.s  these,  comes 
the  nine  months'  navifjatiou  of  the  Missis- 
sijjpi-  up  to  St.  Paul  and  down  to  New 
Orleans.  There  is  no  place  west  of  the^Oliio 
that  holds  out  better  inducements  for  invest- 
ment in  farms  than  there  is  at  present  in  Pike 
county,  Mo.  From  two  to  three  thousand 
dollais  will  buy  a  good  sized,  improved  farm 
now  that  could  not  have  been  bought  ten  or 
twelvi'  years  ai;o  for  double  that  monej'.  An 
intelliL'eiit  Luiieastei'  emnity  land  agent  could 
do  well  to  locate  in  this  eoun!,y,  to  serve  him- 
self and  those  in  the  East  in  search  of  cheap 
farms. — J.  W.,  Louisiana,  Pike  county.  Mo., 
May  V2th,  1879. 

For  The  Lancaster  Farmer, 
LETTER  FROM  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

Editor  L.\ni'astek  Fakjieh  :  The  wheat 
and  oats  crop,  so  far  as  I  have  seen  and 
learned  from  inquiry,  is  promising  a  good 
yield  in  this  and  adjoining  counties.  I  speak 
of  spring  sown  oats ;  that  sown  in  the  fall 
will  not  be  so  good,  having  mostly  frozen  out. 
In  some  localities  there  will  be  plenty  of  apples 
but  no  peaches,  while  in  other  localities  plenty 
of  peaches  but  no  apples,  and  in  some  locali- 
ties some  of  both.  From  what  information  I 
can  gather  there  will,  m  all  probability,  be 
enough  of  each  for  home  consumption.  Pears 
I  have  seen  none  or  heard  of  any,  but  of 
prunes,  gages  and  damsons  I  have  seen  some  ; 
als(j  yellow  Siberian  crab  apples.  Grapes,  so 
far  as  I  have  seen  and  heard,  promise  a  fair 
crop.  I  noticed  in  the  garden  at  my  eating 
place  two.  peach  trees,  not  more  than  twenty- 
five  feet  apart;  one  was  full  and  the  other  had 
but  few  on  it— both  unprotected. 

All  garden  vegetables,  such  as  potatoes, 
peas,  onions,  radishes,  Lima  and  other  beans, 
lettuce,  cabbages,  &c.,  look  healthy,  and  at 
this  time  promise  a  fair  remuneration  for 
seeds,  labor  and  time.  So  far  as  I  can  learn 
the  corn,  cotton  and  tobacco  crop  is  doing 
well.  Strawberries,  both  old  field  and  culti- 
vated, are  plentiful  at  from  5  to  10  cents  per 
quart. 

I  feel  a  great  interest  in  the  success  of  The 
Lancaster  Farmer,  and  would  write  more 
and  on  different  matters,  but  for  want  of  time 
decline  at  present.  May  write  you  again  if 
you  desire  it ;  let  me  know  through  the 
Farsikr.— Yours,  &c.,  M.  B. 


FOR  The  La 
CYPRIPEDUM  ACAULE. 
The  generic  name  is  derived  from  the  Greek 
name  of  Veami  and  ISImc,  or  "  Shoe  of  Venus, " 
from  which  the  common  name,  "Ladies' 
Slipper"  comes;  it  is  also  called  "Moccasin 
flower,"  and  it  resembles  an  Indian's  mocca- 
sin more  than  it  does  a  .shoe  or  slipper  ;  an- 
other name  is  that  of  "Noah's  Ark."  The 
petals  and  sepals  of  the  single  flower  on  its 
peduncle  are  not  showy,  but  the  two  lower 
petals,  united  into  a  drooping  lip  of  a  rose 
sed  color,  beautifully  veined  with  a  fissure  in 
front,  makes  it  an  object  of  curiosity.  This 
genus  is  principally  composed  of  plants  native 
to  America.  There  are  fourteen  species,  of 
which  Loudon  describes  eight ;  of  which  five 
are  North  American  ;  one  of  England  ;  two 
of  Nepal.  They  belong  to  a  highly  interest- 
ing order  of  plants;  the  OrchidrMecf,  well 
known  for  the  singular  form  of  the  flowers. 
Some  of  them  grow  in  the  earth,  while  others 
inhabit  rocks  and  branches  of  trees,  often 
agreeably  scented,  and  sometimes  produce  an 
aromatic,  fleshy  fruit,  as  in  the  case  of  vanilla, 
which  contains  a  large  quantity  of  ben7;oic 
acid.  The  nutritious  substance  called  salep, 
is  prepared  from  the  amylaceous  roots  of 
several  plants  of  this  order.    The  plant  above 


figured  is  not  very  common,  and  yet  I  have 
met  with  it  on  several  occasions  in  woods 
under  (fvcrgreens,  flowering  in  May  and  June, 
growing  from  eight  to  twelve  inches  in  height. 
The  root  is  composed  of  rather  thickish, 
ttexy  fibres,  and  were  much  employed  by  the 
Indians  and  Indian  doctors,  in  domestic 
practice,  also  ;  in  many  parts  of  the  country, 
as  sedative  and  antispiismodic,  acting  much 
like  valerian  in  alleviating  the  nervous  symp- 
toms attendant  on  many  diseases.  Good  evi- 
dence is  had  that  it  proved  very  useful  in 
hysteria  and  even  rlmrm.  Most  personskuow 
what  is  meant  hy  •■hysterics,"  but  perhajjs 
the  word  <7e.,M/  will  be  better  understood  by 
the  name  of  Hi.  VUns'^  dance,  a  disease  once 
established  very  dillicult  to  manage.  The 
so-called  "nerve  root"  is,  however,  referred 
chiefly  to  the  Cypripedium  puhescc^is,  a  very 
similar  plant  called  the  "  Yellow  Ladies' 
Slipi)er,"  and  grows  in  bogs  and  low,  damp 
woods,  chiefly  near  the  mountainous  portions 
of  our  county,  attaining  the  height  of  two 
feet,  and  is  more  pubescent ;  the  lip  flattened 
laterally,  and  pale  yellow.  Dose  of  the  pow- 
dered root,  a  teasjioonful  occasionally  in  tea, 
or  a  tablesiioonful  of  the  tincture  in  water. 
Those  who  have  tested  this  root  say  that  the 
other  native    species,   "  C.    acaule,"  above 


named,   as  also  the 
possess    the    same 
states  [Flm.  Sihcr.  1 
of  Europe,  isconside 


si.cclahile,"  &c., 
ies  ;  and  Ginelin 
it  the  C.  cfdcenlus, 
iits  in  epilepsy 


Much  more  might  be  quoted  were  I  writing 
on  medicine,  but  while  I  inclulge  in  my  hobby, 
botany,  I  would  also  give  some  useftfl  in- 
formation in  the  space  I  occupy,  and  venture 
upon  a  little  gossip,  which  those  who  under- 
stand me  will  allow  for.  When  on  a  visit, 
some  years  ago,  to  the  hilly  portions  of  Leba- 
non county,  my  curiosity  was  very  much 
excited  on  hearing  the  name  and  graphic  de- 
scription of  a  wonderful  flower  found  growing 
in  a  woody  bog,  about  half  a  mile  off,  near 
the  foot  of  the  mountain.  From  the  vulgar 
German  name  given  me  and  the  construction 
of  the  flower,  I  concluded  that  this  must  be 
something  not  known  to  botanical  scientists, 
as  I  had  in  all  my  reading  heard  of  nothing 
like  it.  Eager  to  get  a  specimen  of  this  mar- 
vel of  the  vegetal)le  kingdom,  I  determined  to 
find  this  wonderful  flower.  I  took  the  direc- 
tions given  me  to  find  it,  and  I  did  not  only 
go  half  a  mile,  but  five,  at  least,  before  I  re- 
turned. I  met  with  several  new  and  inter- 
esting plants— the  gold-thread,  cucumter 
root,  a  trillium  and  a  beautiful  habinaria  ; 
these  I  had  only  seen  figured  in  Barton  & 


Bigelow's  botany  and  other  works,  together 
with  line  specimens  of  cypripedium.  I  met 
my  in.structor  on  my  return,  regretting  that  I 
failed  to  find  the  wonderful  plant  I  set  out 
for,  but  rejoicing  over  the  new  things  I  had 
foinid,  which  1  displayed  to  him  in  my  tin 
bo.x.  What  was  my  surprise  wlien  he  assured 
me  that  me  that  the  Cypripedium  I  had  col- 
lected was  that  very  plant  I  Tlius  I  found  it 
necessary  to  listen  with  caution  to  the  de- 
scription of  some  ordinary  things  when  extra- 
ordinary fiirtility  of  the  imagination  was 
mixed  up  witli  it,  and  so  highly. exaggerated 
that  it  inodueed  a  nondescript  to  ray  mind 
not  iiiiuul  in  earth,  air  or  water,  however 
woudeiful  we  find  the  varied  forms  in  nature. 
Nevertheless,  facts  are  often  as  diUicult  to 
comprehend  as  the  wildest  fictions  could  be, 
and  it  is  easy  to  say  humbug  and  delusion  ; 
but  sober  men  of  sound  Judgment  may  come 
to  conclusions,  under  proper  conditions,  that 
others,  however  wise  they  may  deem  them- 
selves, would  come  to  under  the  same  tuition 
or  experience.  We  must  live  and  learn,  and 
well  it  is  for  us  if  our  learning  raises  us  above 
ignorant  superstition,  and  gives  us  that  calm, 
patient  spirit  to  wait  and  trust,  that  however 
truth  may  be  sneered  at,  it  is  powerful  and 
will  eventually  prevail.  If  this  is  not  botany 
or  science,  call  it  gossip,  and  pardon  me  for 
its  infliction. — ./.  Stauffer. 


For  The  Lanoabteb  Fabmer. 
MOONSHINE. 

Mr.  Editor  :  The  subject  of  the  moon's 
influence  on  terrestrial  matters  being  remarked 
on  by  two  of  your  correspondents,  in  late 
numbers  of  the  Farjier,  and  as  it  appears  to 
be  "a  free  fight  "  please  count  me  in.  1  may 
not  throw  much  light  on  the  subject,  so  my 
cogitations  may  be  taken  for  what  they  are 
worth.  J.  G.,  of  Warwick,  tells  us  "that  the 
moon's  influence  is  worth  attending  to," 
while  your  "  Amateur  Farmer  "  is  strongly 
skeptical  and  demands  comparative  experi- 
ments ;  but  as  J.  G.  is  a  working  farmer  he 
may  not  have  leisure,  and  your  "amateur," 
having  plenty  of  leisure,  ought  to  be  the 
proper  pereon  to  disprove  or  prove  the  truth 
or  falsity  of  such  moonshiners.  But  he  must 
lay  prejudice  aside  and  honestly  try  experi- 
ments. 

Some  thirty-five  years  since  I  had  occasion 
to  run  a  lane  or  passage-way  through  a  part  of 
my  farm  ;  I  had  post-fences  set  on  each  side,  ■ 
with  a  lane  between  of  about  twelve  feet. 
The  man  who  did  the  work,  when  he  had 
set  the  fence  on  one  side,  had  to  leave  for 
about  two  weeks.  He  then  came  again  and 
set  the  fence  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  In 
a  year,  or  perhaps  less,  I  noticed  that  the 
fence  on  one  side  settled  down  so  that  the 
bottom  rails  touched  the  ground,  vchile  the 
other  fence  remained  up  so  high  as  to  permit 
small  pigs  to  creep  under  the  bottom  rails. 
I  did  not  know  the  cause  of  this  difference, 
but  as  I  had  kept  a  record  of  the  times  the 
fences  were  set,  I  then  refered  to  the  almanac 
to  find  out  if  the  ".sijins"  had  caused  this 
ditt'erence,  and  I  found  that  the  fence  that 
had  thus  settled  down  was  actually  set  when 
the  sign  was  dorcn,  and  the  other  fence  was  set 
when  the  sign  teas  up. 

Another  case  :  Having  a  worm  fence,  sev- 
eral corners  being  full  of  briars,  on  a  particu- 
lar day  in  August  I  took  a  grubbing-hoe  and 
dug  up  all  the  blackberry  sprouts  ;  the  next 
spring  a  few  sprouts  came  up,  but  they  ap- 
peared sickly  and  soon  died  down  again. 
Were  these  merely  by  chnnce,  or  was  it  brought 
about  by  stellar  influences  ?  Can  "amateur" 
tell  us  the  reason  why  V 

A  lady, -who  is  a  great  lover  of  flowers,  hav- 
ing several  rooms  filled  in  the  winter  with  pot- 
plants,  it  was  remarked  that  her  plants  were 
particularly  healthy  and  free  from  insects, 
lice  (aphids)  and  other  live  stock— which  all 
know  who  keep  plants  in  pots  that  it  is  a  great 
bother  to  have  the  plants  made  unsightly  by 
a  host  of  insects— she  was  inquired  of  how 
she  managed  to  keep  her  plants  so  free  from 
insects  ?  She  was  fearful  of  being  lawghed  at, 
and  it  took  some  persuasive  talk  to  induce  her 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  June, 


to  tell  the  secret.  At  last  she  said  she  always 
transplanted  her  plants  when  the  monn  was 
passing  through  the  iign  Lil/ra !  She  said  no 
insect  could  then  stay  on  the  plants.  I  misjht 
remark  on  such  singular  coirKidences,  but 
enough. 

Now,  as  to  Dr.  Lardner.  Your  "amateur" 
lays  great  stress  on  what  the  doctor  said  thirty 
years  ago,  "that  the  moon  has  no  influence 
on  the  weather,"  is  simply  about  as  reliable, 
or  trustworthy,  as  his  lecture  on  steam-power. 
He  very  earnestly  predicted  "that  steam- 
power  could  never  be  used  as  a  motor  to  cross 
the  ocean  to  England  as  a  paying  adventure," 
yet  we  now  find  steamboats  traversing  old 
ocean  in  all  directions  in  opposition  to  sailing 


The  new  science  of  "Planetary  Meteorolo- 
gy," by  Prof.  Kichard  Mansill,  of  Rock  Island, 
111.,  takes  strong  grounds  in  favor  of  plane- 
tory  influence  on  mundane  affairs,  foretell- 
ing more  than  a  year  in  advance  the  probable 
state  of  the  weather — heat  and  cold,  storms, 
cyclones,  floods,  and  a  general  synopsis  of 
the  state  of  the  weather  over  the  whole  world, 
with  many  other  wonderful  influences  brought 
about  on  terra  firma  through  the  various 
changes  and  configurations  of  planetary  con- 
junctions, oppositions  and  other  aspects  of  the 
planets  affecting  our  earth.  Although  he  calls 
it  a  "new  science,"  yet  the  belief  in  planetary 
agency  is  as  old  as  the  hills,  and  has  been 
handed  down  from  father  to  son  for  ages. 
But  the  Professor  is  probably  the  first  who  has 
reduced  it  to  a  science.  Though,  of  course, 
when  he  takes  the  terrestrial  and  celestial 
eflfects  of  the  planetary  system  into  his  calcula- 
tions he  cannot  be  expected  to  give  local  data. 

It  is  admitted  by  a  great  majority  of  as- 
tronomers that  the  tides  in  the  ocep.n  are 
caused  by  the  attractive  powers  of  the  sun 
and  moon — raising  the  water  in  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  forty  or  more  feet  high,  though  the 
force  may  not  be  perceptible'in  a  small  sheet 
of  water  like  "amateur's"  little  "frog  pond." 

Prof.  Mansill's  new  science  of  Planetary 
Meteorology  is  really  wonderful,  and  confirms 
the  saying,  "There  are  yet  more  hidden 
mysteries  in  nature  than  was  ever  dreamed  of 
in  our  philosophy  ;"  and  as  a  writer  once  said, 
"The  stars  were  set  in  the  firmament  for  signs, 
for  seasons,  for  days  and  years." — A  Seeker 
after  Truth. 

For  The  Lancaster  Fabmeb. 
BEE  LABOR. 

Mr.  Rathvon— Sir ;  I  see  by  the  last 
number  of  The  Lancaster  Farmer  where 
Darwin  has  made  some  calculations  in  regard 
to  "  bee  laboi-,"  and  I  think  he  is  a  little  wild 
in  his  ideas.  His  number  of  trips  for  a  bee  to 
make  one  pound  of  honey  is  up  in  the  mil- 
lions ;  I  will  here  give  your.many  readers  of 
The  Farmer  my  idea  in  this  matter,  and 
any  one  who  is  well  posted  in  bee  labor  by 
self-experience  (not  book  lea.-ning)  will  say 
that  I  am  not  far  wrong.  The  honey-comb 
when  put  on  frames  is  generally  about  one 
and  a  quarter  inches  thick,  and  a  piece  three 
inches  and  a  half  square  will  weigh  one  pound, 
and  it  contains  882  cells,  with  the  division  in 
the  centre.  It  will  allow  the  cells  four-eighths 
and  a  sixteenth  long  on  each  side  ;  and  it  re- 
quires but  441  bees  to  build  and  fill  the  same 
in  twelve  hours,  and  they  will  go  the  distance 
of  one  mile  for  the  material,  and  make  two 
trips  per  hour  ;  their  honey  sacks  holding  one 
drop  each  time,  and  each  cell  holding  but 
twelvs  drops  only,  it  will,  therefore,  require 
one  bee  to  make  10,584  trips,  or  441  bees  to 
make  twenty-four  trips,  each,  in  one  day,  to 
make  one  pound  of  honey;  and  tMs  they  will 
or  can  do.  The  honey  sack  is  filled  to  its 
utmost  capacity,  and  as  it  is  constantly  going 
through  a  churning  process  or  digesting,  in 
making  white  wax '  for  comb  material,  there 
still  remains  in  the  sack  one  drop  of  sweet 
liquid  ;  this  is  thrown  up  by  the  bees  into  the 
cells,  and  there  it  goes  through  a  slow  canning 
process  from  the  heat  of  the  bees,  and  also 
extracting  back  from  the  comb  its  sweetness 
that  it  contained  in  its  first  gathering.  The 
largest  yield  I  ever  had  in  one  day  by  one 


stock  was  ten  and  a  half  pounds,  and  the 
greatest  amount  consumed  in  one  winter  by 
one  stock  was  fifteen  pounds.  This  has  been 
a  backward  spring  for  bees,  but  my  stocks  are 
strong,  and  the  hives  are  all  full  and  the  bees 
are  commencing  work  on  the  frames  for  sur- 
plus honey.  This  is  the  advantage  my  hives 
liave  over  many  others,  not  swarming,  and 
getting  the  labor  in  the  mother  hive  of  the 
whole  summer's  brooding  in  surplus  honey.— 
Yours,  &c.,  Wm.  J.  Pijle,  May  24,  1879. 


For  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
A  WORD  MORE. 

Editor  Farmer  :  Your  correspondent,  J. 
S.  T.,  having  in  the  March  number  of  the 
Farmer  declared  a  statement  of  mine,  in  the 
preceding  number,  to  be  of  "  doubtful  veraci- 
ty," I  beg  you  to  allow  me  room  to  substanti- 
ate what  I  there  stated,  and  what  J.  S.  T.  so 
rudely  denied,  viz.:  That  in  Great  Britain  (as 
well  as  in  our  own  country,)  the  rule  holds 
that  in  periods  of  prosperity  the  imports  of  a 
country  will  exceed  its  exports. 

In  the  April  number  of  the  Farmer  I  gave 
a  statement  derived  from  the  official  govern- 
ment report,  showing  that  in  every  decade, 
from  1790  to  1860,  the  imports  of  the  United 
States  exceeded  its  exports  by  many  millions  of 
dollars— the  aggregate  excess  amounting  to 
over  $900,000,000.  At  the  time  of  writing 
that  article  I  could  not,  as  I  then  mentioned, 
lay  my  hands  on  a  statement  of  the  imports 
and  exports  of  Great  Britain,  which  I  had 
read  some  time  before,  and  which  went  to 
confirm  what  I  had  affirmed  in  regard  to  the 
foreign  commerce  of  that  country.  Since  then 
I  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  find  in  the 
State  Library,  at  Harrisburg,  in  "Executive 
Documents,  2d  Session,  43d  Congress— Com- 
mercial Relations— printed  by  order  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  1874-75,"  the  in- 
formation I  desired.  It  is  a  tabular  statement, 
for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  of  the  "  value  of 
imports  from  and  exports  to  the  various  foreign 
countries  and  British  possessions,"  viz.: 

IMPOETS.  EXPORTS. 

1859tolS63,  (inc.)      £1,081,834,248    £    842,915,37:5 
l}<64tol868,      "  1,411,191,476       1,123,937,855 

1869  to  1873,      "  1,655,714,183       1,390,253,928 


•,907    £3,357,107,156 


£791,632,751 

Thus  showing  an  excess  of  imports  averaging 
upwards  of  52,000,000  pounds  sterling — about 
$260,000,000— per  year  for  the  whole  fifteen 
years.  According  to  the  "Balance  of  Trade" 
theorists.  Great  Britain  should  have  been  im- 
poverished, if  not  ruined,  by  this  state  of 
things ;  but  her  people  did  not  suspect  that 
such  was  the  case,  and,  on  the  contrary,  re- 
garded the  period  embraced  in  these  years  as 
one  of  more  than  usual  commercial  prosperity. 
And  is  it  not  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world  that  it  should  be  so  regarded,  seeing 
that  they  were  enabled  to  acquire  and  possess 
(import)  4,100  millions  worth  of  property  by 
an  outlay  (export)  of  only  3,300  millions  ? 

I  may  add  that  statements  of  the  foreign 
commerce  of  Denmark,  Austria  and  Hungary 
for  the  years  1872  and  1873,  found  in  the  same 
executive  documents,  also  show  a  large  excess 
of  imports  into  each  of  those  countries  over  tlie 
exports  from  the  saftie.  I  was  unable  to  find 
the  corresponding  returns  from  France  and 
Germany.—/.  P.,  Lancaster,  May  25,  1879. 


Selections. 


PROMISE  OF  THE  CROPS. 
The  New  York  Times,  on  Saturday,  pub- 
lished a  large  body  of  reports  upon  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  crops  and  the  promise  of 
the  harvest  throughout  the  United  States. 
The  letters  and  dispatches  come  from  about 
100  places,  covering  more  than  1,000  points, 
in  34  States  and  one  Territory.  In  the  case 
of  all  the  larger  States  advices  have  been  re- 
ceived from  several  correspondents  so  sta- 
tioned as  to  best  cover  the  geographical  area 
and  most  fertile  sections  of  the  State.    These 


reports  fill  22  columns  of  this  morning's  issue 
of  the  Times.  It  is  impossible  to  sum  up  in  a 
general  statement  the  results  of  this  canvass, 
because  of  the  material  variance  in  the  crop 
prospects  at  different  points.  The  varying 
tone  and  marked  local  coloring  of  the  reports, 
indicating  a  careful  study  of  the  situation  at 
each  point,  is  one  of  the  best  possible  evi- 
dences of  their  faithfulness.  It  may  be  said, 
however,  that  while  there  is  no  such  universal 
promise  of  overflowing  harvests  as  was  re- 
ported a  year  ago,  resulting  from  the  excep- 
tionally early  spring  of  1878,  there  are  satis- 
factory indications  of  an  average  product  in 
most  sections  and  of  most  crops,  while  in 
the  case  of  some  staples  an  increase  is  ex- 
pected. The  general  characteristics  of  the 
season  have  been  everywhere  the  same.  A 
cold  and  late  spring  was  followed  by  a  severe 
drought,  from  which  crops  had  begun  to  suffer 
seriously,  when  the  rains  of  last  week  brought 
the  needed  relief.  The  lateness  of  the  season 
was  not  without  some  compensating  advan- 
tages. Had  the  seed  been  sown  early  the 
dryness  of  the  first  two  weeks  in  May  would 
have  hindered  its  germination,  and  a  thin  and 
uneven  growth  would  necessarily  have  re- 
sulted. The  favorable  weather  succeeding  the 
rains  has  caused  all  kinds  of  vegetation  to 
push  forward  rapidly,  until  they  are  now  in  a 
state  of  advancement  equal  to  that  of  an 
ordinary  year.  The  wheat  and  corn  crop  of 
the  Western  and  Northwestern  States  will 
surpass  that  of  last  year,  should  the  later 
season  prove  favorable.  The  condition  of  the 
fruit  crop  in  New  England  and  the  Middle 
States  is"one  of  unusual  promise,  but  in  many 
sections  of  the  South  and  West  the  trees  have 
been  injured  by  the  cold  winter  or  late  frosts. 
The  crop  of  oats,  rye  and  barley  will  not  be 
above  the  average.  The  hay  crop  will  be  large, 
except  in  some  limited  areas,  as  indicated  in 
the  dispatches.  The  cotton  crop  will  be  larger 
than  usual,  notwithstanding  the  unfavorable 
weather,  owing  to  the  effect  of  the  recent  in- 
crease in  prices  in  extending  the  acreage  in 
most  of  the  Southern  States.  Farmers  every- 
where have  planted  more  potatoes  than  usual, 
and  vigorous  measures  will  be  taken  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  ravages  of  the  Colorado 
beetle,  which  has  already  appeared  in  threat- 
ening numbers,  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey, 
Kentucky,  Ohio,  and  some  other  States.  To- 
bacco is  being  more  largely  cultivated  by  the 
farmers  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut. 
In  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  the 
sugar-beet  industry  is  receiving  considerable 
attention,  and  sorghum  has  come  into  favor 
in  many  sections  of  the  South  and  West. 
Thousands  of  acres  of  new  land  have  been 
opened  up  and  put  under  cultivation  in  Michi- 
gan, Nebraska  and  Texas  during  the  present 
year.  The  population  of  Nebraska  has  in- 
creased 60,000  by  immigration.  Many  farmers 
in  the  Northwestern  States  are  engaged  in 
stock-raising  to  a  larger  extent  than  in  previ- 
ous years. 

THE  AMERICAN'S   ADVANTAGE. 

Why  Our  \A?heat  Can  be  Sold  in  England 
Cheaper  than  English  Growth. 
The  main  advantage  of  the  American  far- 
mer seems  to  be  in  the  cheapness  with  which 
he  obtains  his  crop.  It  is  somewhat  surpris- 
ing to  find  that  wheat  grown  in  the  Far  West 
still  pays  as  much  freight  before  it  can  be 
placed  in  the  English  market  as  the  rent 
charge  amounts  to  at  home.  The  average 
yield  of  an  acre  of  land  in  England  is  thirty 
"bushels,  against  thirteen  in  the  Western 
States.  The  American  farmer  must,  there- 
fore, cultivate  two  and  a  half  acres  before  he 
can  sell  as  much  produce  as  is  grown  on  a 
single  acre  in  England.  This,  however,  he 
does  at  an  incredibly  small  outlay.  The  dif- 
ference in  tillage  is  most  striking.  An  Eng- 
lish farmer,  accustomed  to  drive  three  or  four 
horses  painfully  over  a  stiff  clay,  can  scarcely 
imagine  the  ease  with  which  a  light  plow 
runs  through  the  rich  loam  of  a  Western 
State.  In  Northern  Minnesota,  the  Red 
River  settlement  is  just  being  opened  up.    A 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


87 


furrow  may  be  drawn  for  fifty  miles  across 
the  alluvial''prairie  without  meeting  a  hill,  a 
tree,  or  stone.  Various  estimates  of  the  cost 
of  labor  for  tillage  and  harvesting  have  lately 
been  published.  If  these  are  correct,  an  acre 
of  wheat  in  America  can  be  cultivated  for 
about  one-half  the  expense  in  labor  of  culti- 
vating an  acre  in  England.  AVe  do  not, 
however,  place  implicit  rehance  on  such  esti- 
mates. The  American  farmer,  as  a  rule, 
does  his  own  work,  or  the  greater  part  of  it. 
Tlie  amount  of  wages  paid  in  actual  money  is 
comparatively  small.  If  he  cultivates  fifty 
acres  of  wlieat,  and  has  growing  sons,  he  may 
manage  without  any  help,  except  at  harvest 
time,  when  he  hires  an  extra  hand  for  a 
month.  If  he  has  no  family^to  assist  him,  lie 
will  probably  hire  a  hand  for  the  year  at  812 
or  $15  a  montii.  In  all  cases  board  and  wages 
are  included,  the  hired  men  sitting  down  to 
meals  with  the  farmer  and  his  family.  We 
may  fairly  estimate,  then,  the  capital  of  £12 
required  by  an  Englisli  farmer  to  cultivate 
properly  a  single  acre  of  land  will  not  more 
than  suftice  to  purchase  and  cultivate  the  two 
and  a  half  acres  which  will  yield  the  same 
amount  of  wheat  in  America.  Up  to  this 
point  neither  competitor  has  a  decided  ad- 
vantage, and,  if  anything,  tlie  difference  is, 
in  our  opinion,  on  the  side  of  the  home  agri- 
culturist. But  the  heavy  yield  in  England  is 
only  obtained  by  the  application  of  costly 
niauures,  and  this  outlay  is  spared  the  Ameri- 
can grower.  At  present  only  the  richest 
lauds  are  cultivated,  and  the  earth  yields  her 
increase  without  any  assistance  at  her  hands. 
Of  course  this  will  not  last  forever.  In  twenty 
years'  time  all  the  more  fertile  lands  will  be 
taken  up,  and  even  these  will  be  exhausted 
by  successive  crops.  In  California  the  average 
has  already  fallen  from  twenty  to  fourteen 
bushels.  In  the  Atlantic  States  it  has  long 
been  necessary  to  revert  to  a  rotation  of  crops 
and  the  application  of  fertilizers.  But  until 
this  stage  of  exhaustion  is  reached  in  the 
Western  States,  the  English  farmer  will  re- 
quire something  more  than  the  set-off  of 
freight  against  rent  charge.  This  protection 
the  Americans  themselves  gave  them  uutil 
recently.  The  Morrill  tariff  imposed  an  ex- 
cessive duty  on  iron,  and  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  railways  was  thereby 
rendered  so  costly  that  it  was  necessary  to 
mulct  the  producer  in  freight.  Also,  the  cost 
of  living  was  artificially  raised  by  duties  im- 
posed on  every  article  of  manufacture.  Prior 
to  the  war  a  comparatively  free  trade  policy 
existed  in  the  United  States.  Had  this  been 
continued,  agriculture  in  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley would  years  ago  have  achieved  the  pros- 
perous position  it  has  at  length  reached  by 
the  collapse  of  manufactm-ing  industries  in 
the  Eastern  States.  The  prostration  of  every 
branch  of  manufactures  has  been  so  great  that 
practically  the  tariff  has  been  in  abeyance  for 
the  last  few  years.  Should  these  revive  the 
cost  of  living  will  again  be  raised,  and  to  that 
extent  the  former  protection  restored  to  the 
English  producers.  But  this  contingency  is 
too  remote  to  arrest  the  impending  fall  in 
rents.  It  lies  entirely  at  the  option  of  the 
landlords  whether  this  shall  be  wholly  given 
in  abatement  of  rent,  or  partly  take  the  form 
of  security  of  tenure  and  protection  to  the 
occupier's  capital.  For  the  sake  of  the  coun- 
try at  large  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  choose 
the  latter  alternative. — London  Economist. 

PLEURO-PNEUMONIA. 

Its  Symptoms,  Treatment,  Causes  and  De- 
velopment. 

So  much  is  now  being  said  and  written 
about  this  insidious  disease,  which  is  thinning 
out  the  dairy  stock  in  many  sections  of  this 
country  that  we  have  selected  from  the  West 
Chester  Republican  some  explanation  of  the 
nature  of  the  epidemic,  as  given  by  Dr.  J.  B. 
Raynor,  a  veterinary  surgeon  who  has  treated 
numerous  cases  of  this  disease  In  all  of  its 
various  stages. 

The  doctor  says  the  disease  which  has  now 
assumed  the  title  of  pleuro-pneumonia  is  not 
a  new  one,  but  has  been  known  under  various 


names  for  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years ;  at 
times  devastating  a  whole  locality,  and  at 
others  limiting  its  attacks  to  a  few  cases  in  a 
neighborhood. 

Its  appearance  is  manifested  by  the  rough 
appearance  of  the  hair  of  the  animal  attacked, 
followed  by  a  general  dullness,  loss  of  appetite 
and  disinclination  to  move,  the  head  drooping 
as  the  disease  progresses,  and  a  short  cough, 
succeeded  by  a  moan  of  suffering,  until  death 
intervenes.  This  occurs  generally  about  two 
weeks  after  the  sickness  becomes  apparent, 
though  prolonged  in  some  cases  to  tliat  of 
many  months;  the  blood  quickly  communi- 
cates its  infection  to  the  lunge,  and  the  filling 
up  process  goes  on,  from  day  to  day,  until 
breathing  becomes  impossible. 

The  first  stages  of  the  disease  are  difficult 
for  the  casual  observer  to  detect,  and  the  time 
when  treatment  would  produce  relief  fre- 
quently passes  by  before  the  animal  is  known 
to  be  afflicted,  when  it  is  then  too  late  to 
resort  to  any  remedies.  This  irregularity  of 
the  discovery  of  the  disease  has  made  it  one 
very  diflicult  to  handle,  and  each  case  appears 
to  require  special  treatment,  the  only  general 
specific  being  in  external  application  of 
mustard,  and  with  blistering  in  acute  cases. 
The  internal  treatment  is  then  administered, 
with  reference  to  the  condition  of  the  bowels, 
but  in  many  cases,  despite  prompt  attention 
and  good  care,  the  remedies  have  uo  effect. 

The  primary  cause  of  this  scourge  is  due,  in 
the  first  place,  to  close  confinement  and  want 
of  necessary  exercise,  it  most  frequently  mak- 
ing its  appearance  and  doing  the  greatest 
damage  in  herds  of  dairy  cows  which  are 
fastened  up  in  the  stable  during  the  greater 
portion  of  the  time,  with  scanty  ventilation 
and  forced  by  high  feeding  to  their  utmost 
producing  capacity.  This  establishes  the  dis- 
ease, but  its  dissemination  is  brought  about 
by  the  unscrupulous  conduct  of  persons,  who, 
finding  their  cows  in  this  condition,  have  them 
driven  to  a  distance  and  sold,  with  the  incipi- 
ent seeds  of  pleuro-pneumonia  in  their  sys- 
tems, to  farmers  who  thus  unknowingly  inocu- 
late their  healthy  stock  with  the  same  malady. 
Instances  where  this  has  been  done  have  been 
traced  back  to  the  guilty  actors,  and  a  law- 
was  passed  a  number  of  years  back  for  Penn- 
sylvania, and  we  think  is  still  in  existence, 
making  it  a  misdemeanor  for  any  person  to 
sell  or  remove  any  cattle  from  a  place  where 
the  disease  has  raged,  within  six  months  after 
it  has  been  checked,  and  at  the  present  time  it 
is  evident  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  a 
general  epidemic  is  by  the  enforcement  of  a 
stringent.law  of  this  nature,  which  should  in- 
flict severe  penalties  on  parties  guilty  of  such 
an  offence  against  the  the  general  welfare. 

To  accomplish  this  a  committee  of  experts 
in  veterinary  surgery  should  visitevery  place  in 
the  country  where  the  disease  makes  its  appear- 
ance, and  place  it  in  quarantine  for  a  certain 
period,  during  which  no  stock  subject  to  the  dis- 
ease should  be  allowed  to  leave 'the  premises. 

The  only  preventive,  so  far  known,  which 
has  proved  successful,  appears  to  be  pure  air, 
exercise  and  keeping  the  animal  in  a  healthy 
condition,  by  judicious  feeding  and  absence 
of  overcrowding. 

The  indications  are,  that  unless  precautions 
of  this  nature  are  taken  the  disease  will  be- 
come general  in  the  country,  and  involve  great 
loss  in  many  ways  ;  so  it  behooves  all  owners 
of  dairy  stock  to  move  in  the  matter,  as  .soon 
as  possible,  for  the  adoption  of  measures  of 
defense  and  prevention. 

The  knowledge  of  the  inroads  which  the 
disease  has  made  in  the  dairies  in  the  vicinity 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  has  become 
widespread,  notwithstanding  efforts  to  sup- 
press it,  and  the  fears  of  the  residents  of  those 
cities  that  they  may  be  consuming  the  milk 
and  butter  of  infected  cows,  or  the  meat  of 
diseased  cattle,  which  have  been  at  once 
marketed  on  the  discovery  of  the  evidence  of 
the  presence  of  the  pleuro-pneumonia,  makes 
the  subject  one  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  consumers  as  well  as  producers,  and  action 
tending  to  extripate  the  disea.se  would  meet 
with  strong  support  on  all  sides. 


TOBACCO     CULTURE     IN      PENNSYL- 
VANIA. 

Employment  it  Indirectly  Affords  Women. 
A  writer  in  the  Philadelphia  Times,  who 
has  evidently  been  suddenly  awakened  to  an 
appreciation  of  the  magnitude  of  cultivation 
of  tobacco,  says  : 

The  amount  of  capital  employed  in  the  to- 
bacco trade  of  Pennsylvania  is  considerably 
over  five  millions  of  dollars  annually.  Re- 
garded in  all  its  ramifications  of  extraneous 
industries,  this  sum  miglit  be  estimated  at 
little  less  than  ten  millions,  an  immense 
growth  of  pro.sperity  within  the  last  thirty 
years.  There  was  a  time  within  the  memory 
of  the  present  generation  when  Pennsylvania 
tobacco  was  only  worth  two  cents  per  pound 
in  the  market.  Now  the  best  Lancaster 
commands  from  twenty  to  forty  cents.  This 
astonishing  advance  in  the  value  of  an  agri- 
cultural product  has  been  primarily  brought 
about  by  the  sagacious  foresight,  enterprise 
and  public  spirit  of  one  Philadelphia  mer- 
chant, Mr.  Raphael  Teller,  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Teller  Brothers.  At  an  early  period 
in  his  business  career,  Mr.  Teller,  who  i8 
both  an  agriculturist  and  scientist,  discovered 
that  tobacco  raised  in  Pennsylvania  was  suit- 
able for  making  cigars.  At  the  risk  of  his 
firm,  he  sent  heavy  consignments  to  California 
and  various  foreign  markets,  and  really  intro- 
duced this  product,  which  bids  fair  to  become 
one  of  the  staples  of  the  Keystone  State.  The 
immense  benefit  this  has  been  to  Lancaster 
county,  where  the  price  of  the  crop  is  now 
worth  about  as  much  as  the  price  of  tlie  land 
upon  which  it  is  grown,  will  be  readily  under- 
stood. 

The  writer  refere  in  detail  to  the  further 
development  of  this  industry  by  Mr.  Teller's 
improved  system  of  sweating  tobacco  and  pre- 
paring it  for  the  market  in  much  shorter  time 
than  was  previously  required.  This  process, 
he  says,  consists  simply  in  experienced  and 
skillful  manipulation,  and  a  proper  adaptation 
of  artificial  heat,  backed  by  a  determination 
toapply  skilled  treatment  of  first-class  tobacco. 
From  Messrs.  Teller  the  Times  writer  ob- 
tained other  interesting  data  regarding  the 
tobacco  trade : 

More  than  ten  thousand  persons  earn  their 
living  by  making  cigars.  One-half  of  these 
are  women,  the  latter  being  the  most  skillful, 
owing  to  their  superior  delicacy  of  touch. 
The  price  of  cigar-making  ranges  from  two 
and  a-half  to  six  dollars  per  thousand.  A 
skillful  worker  can  make  five  hundred  cigars 
per  day.  Germany  buys  largely  of  Pennsyl- 
vania tobacco.  Women  also  find  employment 
in  bundling,  boxing  and  stenciling  boxes. 

Tobacc  J  seed  is  sowed  early  in  the  season  in 
hot  beds.  From  these  the  young  plants  are 
removed  to  drills,  where  they  grow  rapidly 
and  require  constant  weeding.  The  country 
giris  of  Lancaster  and  other  counties  are  often 
engaged  in  this  business,  which  pays  them 
about  seventy-five  cents  per  day.  AVhen  the 
plants  are  matured,  they  are  cut  and  hung  on 
frames  to  dry  or  in  some  cases  dried  indoors, 
and  later  the  leaves  are  stripped  off  and  pre- 
pared for  sweating.  Frequently  they  are  re- 
sweated  in  order  to  produce  a  darker  color, 
which  is  now  a  fashion  in  cigars.  The  test  of 
good  tobacco  is  the  steadiness  with  which  it 
will  burn  to  white  ash. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  TeUer, 
several  samples  of  tobacco  leaves  were  brought 
forth  for  my  inspection.  The  soft,  pliable, 
semi-transparent  texture  of  the  leaf  was  in 
curious  contrast  to  the  tensile  strength  of  the 
fibre  and  the  effect  of  the  re-sweating  very 
evident  in  the  heightened  color  and  more 
delicate  aroma.  Forty  thousand  cases  of 
tobacco  are  produced  annually  in  Lancaster 
cpunty. 

Tobacco  culture  may  be  regarded  as  com- 
paratively an  innovation  in  this  State,  but  as 
a  means  of  promoting  industry,  developing 
agriculture  and  increasing  wealth  it  is  in 
every  sense  an  ascertained  success,  and  will, 
in  the  near  future,  be  one  of  the  chief  factors 
of  Pennsylvania's  prosperity. 


88 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


t  June, 


Nothing  can  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
women  that  furnislies  their  sex  with  remuner- 
ative occupation.  The  ordinary  fields  of  labor 
are  already  overstocked.  Many  of  these, 
such  as  weaving,  etc.,  can  only  give  employ- 
ment to  women  amid  dangerous  machinery 
and  undesirable  associations.  To  such  ob- 
jections, cigar-making  is  not  open.  It  is 
hand-work,  requiring  skill,  judgment  and 
delicacy  of  manipulation.  Formerly  this  in- 
dustry was  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  but,  through  the  enter- 
prise of  the  Brothers  Teller,  the  tobacco  cul- 
ture of  Pennsylvania  has  been  fostered  to 
prosperity,  and  thus  offers  new  avenues  of 
paid  labor  for  women.  Surely  these  gentlemen 
may  be  regarded  as  the  best  sort  of  philan- 
thropists, and  benefactors  to  the  sex. 

THE  EVIDENCES  OF  SUCCESS. 

"  What  is  a  successful  farmer  ?"  was  one  of 
the  questions  which  the  club  considered  the 
past  winter.  Our  attention  lias  recently  been 
called  to  it,  in  contrasting  the  different  farms 
that  have  come  under  our  observation,  and 
we  find  that  the  question  cannot  be  properly 
decided  from  outside  appearances.  Mankind 
are  prone  to  render  judgment  upon  superficial 
evidence,  without  knowing  all  the  facts  in  the 
case.  Thus,  if  we  pass  a  farm  upon  which  we 
see  good  buildings,  neat  surroundings,  im- 
proved stock  and  evidences  of  thorough  culti- 
vation, we  pronounce  the  the  owner  a  suc- 
cessful farmer.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  see 
a  farm  with  shabby  buildings,  ordinary  stock, 
and  but  little  in  the  way  of  ornament,  our 
feeling  is  that  here  is  a  man  who  is  not  a  suc- 
cessful farmer.  But  in  order  to  pass  intelli- 
gent judgment  in  this  case,  we  must  under- 
stand all  the  varied  circumstances  of  the 
individuals— the  assistance  they  have  had,  dis- 
couragements to  contend  witli,  expenses  in- 
curred and  met,  with  all  others  that  would 
naturally  have  any  influence  in  the  result. 

Not  a  hundred  miles  from  here  lives  farmer 

A.  He  has  a  large  farm,  soil  almost  inex- 
haustible in  fertility,  large  and  handsome 
house  and  barns,  with  cribs  and  all  necessary 
outbuildings,  all  constructed  of  the  best  ma- 
terial and  best  style  ;  liis  farm  is  stocked  with 
short-horned  cattle,  thoroughbred  hogs  and 
sheep,  and  all  necessary  imjjlements  and  ma- 
chinery of  the  latest  and  most  approved  kinds. 
His  work  never  drags,  but  is  always  done  at 
the  proper  time,  and  he  is  sure  of  good  crops 
if  anyone  can  grow  them.  The  appearance 
of  everything  about  the  place  indicates  thrift 
and  prosperity,  and  one  passing  by  would  pro- 
nounce the  owner  a  successful  farmer. 

In  his  immediate  neighborhood  lives  farmer 

B.  His  farm  is  on  the  hills  and  was  selected 
because  it  could  be  bought  cheap.  His  build- 
ings are  comfortable,  but  they"  are  old,  and 
there  is  little  show  or  ornament  in  them  or 
the  surroundings.  Straw-covered  sheds  and 
temporary  makeshifts  detract  from  the  beauty 
of  the  farm.  His  stock,  though  well  cared  for 
and  in  good  condition,  are  not  thoroughbred. 
His  work  is  not  always  driven,  but  often 
drives  hipi,  and  we  have  seen  his  crops  suffer- 
ing for  want  of  attention.  Is  he,  as  the  casual 
observer  would  decide,  a  poor  or  unsuccessful 
farmer  ?  Before  rendering  judgment  let  us 
look  at  the  influencing  circumstances. 

Farmer  A.  inherited  several  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  when  he  married,  his  wife  brought 
him  an  additional  sum.  He  received  a  gijod 
education  and  engaged  in  business  in  the°city 
until,  when  he  commenced  farming,  he  had 
plenty  of  money  to  buy  a  good  farm  with,  to 
furnish  and  stock  it  as  he  desired,  erect  such 
buildings  as  his  taste  dictated,and  a  cash  capi- 
tal left  to  work  with.  He  has  no  family,  and 
hires  all  the  help  needed  to  keep  the  work  of 
the  farm  in  good  shape.  Nevertheless  he  is 
always  grumbling  about  hard  times,  and  de- 
clares—and we  believe  truly— that  he  expends 
on  the  farm  every  cent  he  makes. 

Farmer  B.  began  life  single-handed  and 
without  a  dollar  inherited.  He  worked  by  the 
month  until  he  had  saved  money  enough  to 
buy  a  team,  and  then  began  to  farm  on  shares. 
It  required  years  to  save  the  first  thousand 


dollars,  and  then,  in  his  twenty-eighth  year, 
he  married  and  purchased  this  farm,  paying 
one  thousand  dollars  down  and  giving  notes 
and  mortgages  for  more  than  that  sum.  His 
wife  brought  him  only  strong,  willing  hands 
and  a  loving  heart.  They  have  raised  seven 
children,  and  given  them  all  a  good  educa- 
tion ;  he  has  furnished  his  family  with  good 
books  and  papers,  and  his  boys  and  girls  have 
grown  up  intelligent  and  promise  to  be  useful 
in  the  world.  Although  still  in  debt  he  has 
property  on  the  tax  list  valued  at  six  or  eight 
thousand  dollars,  and  is  hopefully  and  labori- 
ously struggling  on.  He  has  never  owned  a 
dollar  he  did  not  honestly  earn,  and  has  never 
earned  one  but  what  he  has  asked,  "where 
nmst  this  be  spent  ?"  Now,  after  all  these 
years  of  toil  and  hardship  and  self-denials,  he 
begins  to  see  his  way  out  of  financial  embar- 
I'assment,  and  in  a  few  more  years  will  have 
placed  himself  where  farmer  A.  began,  twenty 
years  ago.  In  twenty  years  more,  with  youth- 
ful vigor  and  manhood's  strength  on  his  side, 
he  wo'uld  accomplish  all  that  his  more  fortu- 
nate neighbor  has  done.  But  age  creeps  on, 
with  dimmed  eyes,  palsied  limbs  and  weak- 
ened frame.  The  desire  to  accumulate  may 
still  exist,  but  it  has  grown  weaker  as  strengt'h 
and  will  to  execute  have  gradually  slipped 
away.  He  may  not  be  able  to  pass  liis  declin- 
ing years  in  ease  and  luxury,  but  he  is  sur- 
roimded  with  plenty  and  can  give  his  children 
the  help  he  so  sorely  needed  in  the  beginning. 
Knowing  all  these  facts  and  circuinstances, 
who  will  say  that  farmer  B.  has  been  less  suc- 
cessful than  farmer  A.?  Who  will  not  say 
that  he  has  been  even  more  successful  V — Prac- 
tical Farmer. 

A  CHAMPION  WHEAT  FIELD. 

The  complaint  this  year  is  general  that  the 
wheat  crop  will  be  short.  The  wheat  stands 
thin  and  irregular,  and  should  the  present 
drought  continue  long,  the  crop  will  certainly 
be  a  short  one.  There  is  an  exception  to  this 
where  the  system  of  wheat  culture  is  followed, 
as  laid  down  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Heiges,  on  the 
western  suburbs  of  York.  Mr.  Heiges'  wheat 
crop  never  fails  ;  he  has  a  full  yield  every 
season.  To  be  convinced  one  need  but  visit 
his  place  and  see  his  present  wheat  fields.  His 
wheat  stands  thick,  strong  and  thrifty.  We 
would  venture  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  field 
cultivated  on  the  old  method  in  the  State  like 
this,  and  no  doubt  it  will  yield  from  60  to  70 
bushels  to  the  acre,  as  it  did  on  previous 
years,  although  the  season  is  regarded  as  un- 
favorable for  a  full  yield. 

That  the  Heiges  plan  of  wheat  culture  is  a 
success  in  this  vicinity  can  no  more  be 
doubted ;  his  remarkable  crops  year  after 
year,  and  his  uniform  success  during  all  sea- 
sons, and  when  the  wheat  crop  fails  as  a  rule, 
is  certainly  good  proof  of  its  value.  The  ob- 
jection is  made  that  the  labor  required  to 
cultivate  wheat  on  this  plan  would  increase 
the  work  of  the  farmer,  and  therefore  it  would 
be  imi)racticable  on  many  of  our  large  farms. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  claimed  if  sixty 
bushels  can  be  raised  to  the  acre  instead  of 
twenty  bushels,  then  there  would  be  less  land 
required,  less  capital  and  less  ground  to  work, 
and  in  the  end  would  make  wheat  culture 
more  profitable.  It  would,  no  doubt,  be  a 
matter  of  interest  to  our  practical  farmers  to 
pay  a  visit  at  this  season  to  Mr.  Heiges  to  see 
his  extraordinary  growth  of  wheat.  There  is 
no  reason  why  every  farm  in  York  county 
should  not  have  a  few  acres  of  wheat  put  out 
on  this  plan.  The  question  how  he  puts  his 
wheat  fields  into  grass  is  solved  ;  on  Mr. 
Heiges'  place  he  has  certainly  the  best  grass 
we  have  seen  this  year,  on  a  tract  that  yielded 
last  year  57  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre.  He 
is  experimentuig  on  a  new  wheat,  where  he  is 
planting  each  grain  separately,  3  by  10  inches 
apart  ;  this  wheat  is  remarkable  for  stooling 
and  its  size  of  heads. 

Mr.  Heiges  claims  that  one  peck  of  seed  is 
enough  for  seeding  of  one  acre.  We  counted 
the  wheat  stalks  that  came  from  one  grain  of 
wheat  and  found  them  to  run  from  16  to  25 
stalks.    By  culture  with  the  hoe  or  cultivator. 


it  is  claimed  that  an  extraordinary  crop  of 
this  wheat  can  be  grown. 

This  "Mold"  wheat  is  new,  it  being  first 
made  known  at  the  Paris  Exposition,  and 
was  spoken  of  by  the  agricultural  papers. 
The  originator  then  refused  150  guineas  for  a 
single  stalk.  Mr.  Heiges  secured  one  pound 
of  this  wheat  last  fall  for  .«1.00,  as  the  seed  is 
becoming  disseminated,  and  will  soon  be 
generally  cultivated,  especially  where  the 
merit  of  large  heads  and  prolific  stooling  is 
sought  by  the  growers.— ForA-  Daily. 


Many  rivers  have  totally  disappeared  or 
have  been  reduced  to  mere  streams  by  an  ir- 
rational and  heinous  felling  of  the  forests.  In 
the  northeast  of  Germany  the  Narp  and  Gold 
rivers  exist  only  in  name.  The  classic  lands 
of  antiquity  are  rich  in  sad  lessons  of  deforesta- 
tion. The  springs  and  brooks  of  Palestine  are 
dry,  and  the  fruitfulness  of  the  land  has  dis- 
appeared. The  Jordan  is  four  feet  lower  than 
it  was  in  the  New  Testament  days.  Greece 
and  Spain  sufl'er  severely  to  this  day  from  the 
effects  of  destroying  their  forests.  Many  parts 
of  the  kingdom  of  Wurtemberg  have  been 
rendered  almost  barren  by  thp  felling  of  trees. 
In  Hungary  the  periodically  returning  drought 
is  universally  attributed  to  the  extermination 
of  the  forests. 

We  attribute  the  present  unfruitfulness  of 
Asia  Minor  and  Greece  to  the  destruction  of 
the  woods;  steppes,  ruins  and  tombs  have 
taken  the  place  of  what  was  the  highest  cul- 
ture. Sardinia  and  Sicily  were  once  the  grana- 
ries of  Italy,  but  have  long  since  lost  the  fruit- 
fulness  sung  by  the  ancient  poets.  On  the 
other  hand,  man  can  improve  the  land  in 
which  he  lives,  more  slowly  indeed,  but  as 
certamly,  by  cultivating  and  preserving  the 
forests.  In  earlier  years  reliable  authorities 
have  told  us  that  in  the  Delta  of  Upper  Egypt 
there  were  only  five  or  six  days  of  rain  in  the 
year,  but  that,  since  the  time  when  Mehemet 
All  caused  some  20,000  trees  to  be  planted,  the 
number  of  days  of  rain  in  the  year  has  in- 
creased to  forty-tive  or  forty-six. 

The  Suez  canal  has  produced  remarkable 
results.  Ismalia  is  built  on  what  was  a  sandy 
desert,  but  since  the  ground  has  become  satu- 
rated with  canal  water,  trees,  bushes  and  other 
plants  have  sprung  up  as  if  by  magic,  and, 
with  the  reappearance  of  the  vegetation  the 
climate  has  changed.  Four  or  five  years  ago 
rain  was  unknown  in  those  regions,  while 
from  May,  1868,  to  May,  1869,  fourteen  days 
were  recorded,  and  once  such  a  rain  storm 
that  the  natives  looked  upon  it  as  a  super- 
natural event.  Austria  herself  has  a  very 
striking  instance  of  a  change  of  climate  being 
produced  by  deforestation  and  replanting. 

We  refer  to  that  stretch  of  miles  of  country 
over  which  the  railroad  passes,  near  Trieste, 
as  you  go  from  Austria  to  Italy,  bleak,  barren, 
stony,  with  hardly  "earth  sufticient  for  a  weed 
to  take  root  in,  a  stretch  of  barrenness  on 
which  some  dread  anathema  seems  to  rest.  It 
is  a  curse  that  rests  on  it  called  down  from 
heaven  by  man.  Five  hundred  years  ago  an 
immense  forest  stood  on  the  ground  where 
now  is  nothing  but  a  sea  of  stone.  Venetians 
came  and  hewed  down  the  forests  in  order  to 
procure  wood  for  pilesand  mercantile  purposes. 


.   HISTORY  OF  CELLULOID. 

Many  persons  do  not  know  the  value  of 
this  article,  the  extent  of  its  manufacture, 
nor  the  varied  uses  to  which  it  is  applied. 
The  Newark  Daily  Advertiser  gives  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  account  of  it : 

Celluloid  was  invented  by  Messrs.  I.  S.  and 
J.  W.  Hyatt,  of  this  city.  Mr.  J.  W.  Hyatt 
began  the  experiments  which  led  to  its  dis- 
covery in  1864,  being  prompted  to  do  so  by  the 
fact  that  Phelan  &  Collender,  of  New  York, 
had  offered  tl0,000  for  a  substitute  for  ivory 
in  the  manufacture  of  billiard  balls.  He  was 
not  successful  until  1868,  when  he  produced  a 
substance  similar  to  celluloid,  of  which 
billiard  balls  were  made.  Not  satisfied  with 
this  he  continued  his  experiments,  and  his 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


brother,  Mr.  I.  S.  Hyatt,  became  engaged 
with  him,  and  tlieir  experiments  were  con- 
tinued until  the  spring  of  1870,  when  they 
produced  tlie  substance  now  known  as  celhi- 
loid,  which  is  under.stood  to  I)e  mauily  a  com- 
position of  cotton,  nitric  acid  niul  ciuniilior. 
It  forms  a  most  .successful  suli.sliluir  l'»y  ivury, 
and  is  the  basis  for  the  iuiilation  i.r  ciuiil  ami 
other  valuable  niaterial.s  lor  cmianu'iil  and 
use,  the  latest  application  l)ciiii,'  the  imitalion 
of  liuen  collar.>*.  culls  and  neckties.  In  .luly, 
1870,  a  patent  was  obtained,  and  in  lhc>  lalfa 
company  uud  r  the  name  of  th«  Celluloid 
Manufacturing  Company  was  organized  in 
Albany  under  the  laws  of  the  .Stale  of  New 
York,  with  a  capital  of  $00,(100,  about  S30,000 
being  paid  in.  The  Albany  stockholders  were 
subsequeutly  Ijoun'ht  out  liv  Xcw  Vork  capi- 
talists, the  iatc  :^ia^sllal  lA'ilcrls  being  at  the 
head,  anu  the  works  of  the  company  removed 
to  this  city.  The  business  of  the  company 
has  been  steadily  increasing,  new  branches  of 
manufacture  have  been  started,  and  its  capi- 
tal st()(^k,  now  S.'iOO.OOO,  is  returning  large 
dividends  to  its  holders. 

Some  idea  of  the  immense  business  done 
may  be  formed  when  it  is  stated  that  they 
make  from  two  three  tons  of  piano  keys  alone 
in  a  month.  These  keys  are  made  in  sheets 
large  enough  to  cover  the  keyboard,  and  then 
the  keyboard  and  the  keys  are  sawn  apart  to- 
gether, instead  of  sawing  the  keyboard  apart 
first  and  then  cementing  the  keys  on  separ- 
ately, as  formerly  done. 

The  first  articles  ever  made  of  celluloid 
were  dental  blanks  or  plates  for  false  teeth. 
This  is  now  a  large  branch  of  the  business. 
Harness  trimmings  came  next,  then  knife 
handles  and  trusses,  and  after  these  jewelry 
and  a  host  of  other  articles,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned  piano  keys,  cane,  umbrella  and 
parasol  handles,  brushes  and  combs,  billiard 
balls,  carriage  trimmings,  pencil  cases,  pen- 
holders, coHars  and  cuffs,  neckties,  thimbles, 
card-cases,  cigar-cases,  book-covers,  pocket- 
books,  pistol-handles,  paper-knives.  AH  arti- 
cles in  ivory,  tortoise  shell  and  jet  are  closely 
imitated. 

There  are  at  present  four  wealthy  and 
prosperous  companies  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  celluloid  in  this  city  as  well  as 
three  firms  or  individuals,  and  the  amount  of 
capital  invested  in  the  business  here  is  about 
S1.000,000.  The  number  of  articles  made  out 
of  celluloid  is  constantly  increasing,  and  dur- 
ing the  past  year  no  less  than  twelve  patents 
were  taken  for  additional  improvements  in 
the  manufacture,  new  articles  and  machinery, 
to  be  used  in  this  growing  branch  of  industry. 


M'KINSTRY'S  GREAT  ORCHARD. 


The  largest  orchard  in  the  world  is  doubt- 
less that  owned  and  worked  very  successfully 
by  Mr.  l^obert  McKiustry,  of  Hudson,  Colum- 
bia county,  X.  Y.  The  orchard  is  situated 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson  river,  on  high, 
rolling  table  land,  and  contains  more  than 
24,000  apple  trees,  1,700  pears,  4,000  cherries, 
500  peaches,  200  crabs,  200  plums,  1,500  vines, 
6,000  currants,  and  200  chestnuts.  The  varie- 
ties grown  are :  Rhode  Island  greening,  7,000 ; 
Baldwins,  6,000  ;  King  of  Tompkins  County, 
4,000 ;  Astrachans,  800  ;  Northern  Spy,  500 ; 
Wagener,  500  ;  Gravenstein,  400 ;  Cranberry 
Pippins,  200 ;  Ben.  Davis.  200 ;  Duchess  of 
Oldenburg,  2C0 ;  with  Jonathans,  Hubbard- 
son,  Cayugas,  Vandeveres,  Pearmain's,  Peck's 
Pleasants,  20  ounce  Pippins,  Russets,  and 
others  in  less  number. 

The  pears  are  Barr.lett,  B.  d'Aiijou,  Shel- 
don, Seckel  and  Lawrence,  chiefly.  Of  cherries 
there  are  twentj'-eight  varieties.  The  orchards 
are  remarkably  thrifty,  and  the  oldest  trees 
are  about  twenty  years  old.  The  soil  is  dry, 
rolling  gravel,  with  some  limestone  ;  the  trees 
are  planted  twenty  feet  apart  and  do  not  by 
any  means  seem  to  be  crowded.  The  ground 
is  ploughed  several  times  in  the  year  and  kept 
fallow  ;  except  when  thought  advisable,  it  is 
seeded  to  clover.    The  orchard  is  intersected 


by  roads  over  six  miles  in  length  for  the 
passage  of  wagons,  and  is  bounded  by  a  con- 
tinuous row  of  apple  trees,  set  ten  feet  apart, 
for  four  miles  and  a  half.  The  apple  crop  of 
last  year  was  :iO,000  barrels.  Twenty-four 
men  and  fourtem  horses  are  employed  hauling 
out  the  crop  or  in  ploughing. 

The  success  of  this  orchard  has  not  been 
achieved,  nor  is  it  maintained,  without  the 
closest  supervision  and  most  industrious  work. 
Suckers  and  spiouts  are  removed  as  soon  as 
seen;  the  bon  r>  are  watched  and  followed 
with  vigor.  Wires  are  used  to  reach 
them  in  their  burrows,  and  the  damaged 
bark  is  removed  with  chisels.  As  trees  fall 
others  are  planted  in  their  places. 

As  the  market  for  good  fruit  is  extending 
every  year,  antl  foreigii  customers  are  seeking 
supplies,  the  business  of  growing  fruit  cannot 
fail  to  be  profitable  and  permanent.  No  other 
business  pays  better  than  this,  for  the  most 
skillful  attention  and  management ;  indeed, 
without  these,  it  is  vain  to  expect  a  crop  that 
will  sell  in  the  market  lor  remunerative  prices. 
Good  fruit  sell>  itself,  and  the  grower  is  soon 
sought  for  by  the  imi-eliasers.  Those  who 
desire  to  take  a  lesson  in  things  appeitaining 
to  the  business,  and  to  prove  the  truth  of  these 
facts,  may  we.l  study  the  ways  and  methods 
of  Mr.  McKiustry  and  his  ovcha,id.—Jiural 
Ilomi'. 

ROSE  LEGENDS. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem  is  a 
pleasant  valley,  which  still  bears  the  name  of 
Solomon's  Rose  Garden,  and  where,  accord- 
ing to  a  Mohammedan  mytli,  a  compact  was 
made  between  the  Wise  Man  and  the  genii  of 
the  Morning  Laud,  which  was  writ,  not  in 
bloud,  like  the  bond  between  Faust  and 
Mepaistopheles,  nor  in  gall,  hke  our  modern 
treaties,  but  with  saffron  and  rose  water  upon 
the  petals  of  white  roses.  In  Paris,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  an  edict  was  issued  re- 
quiring all  Jews  to  wear  arose  on  their  breasts 
as  a  distinguishing  mark.  In  the  Catholic 
Tyrol,  in  the  present  day,  betrothed  swains 
are  expected  to  carry  a  rose  during  the  period 
of  their  betrothal,  as  a  waruiug  to  young 
maidens  of  tlieir  engaged  state.  Roses  have 
played  and  still  play  an  important  part  in 
popular  usages  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
world.  In  Germany,  young  girls  deck  their 
hair  with  white  roses  tor  their  confirmation, 
their  entrance  into  the  world,  and  when,  at 
the  end  of  life's  career,  the  aged  graudmotlier 
departs  to  her  eternal  rest,  a  last  gift,  in  the 
shape  of  a  rose-garland,  is  laid  upon  her  bier. 
Julius  Ciesar,  it  is  recorded,  was  fain  to  hide 
his  baldness  at  Uic  a^v  of  thirty  with  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  Kouiaii  tom;  gardens,  as  Anacreou 
hid  the  snows  of  eighty  under  a  wreath  of 
roses.  At  mid-Leut  the  Pope  sends  a  golden 
rose  to  particular  churches  or  crowned  heads, 
whom  he  designs  as  especially  to  honor. 
Martin  Luther  wore  a  rose  in  his  girdle.  In 
these  instances  the  rose  serves  as  a  symbol  of 
ecclesiastical  wisdom.  A  rose  has  figured  on 
the  headsman's  axe  of  the  Voehmgericht. 
Many  orders,  fraternities  and  societies  have 
taken  the  rose  as  their  badge.  The  "  Rosi- 
crucians  "  may  be  instanced.  The  "  Society 
of  the  Rose,"  of  Hamburg,  an  a.ssociation  of 
learned  ladies  of  the  seventeenth  century,  is  a 
less  known  example.  It  was  divided  into 
four  sections — the  roses,  the  lilies,  the  violets 
and  the  pinks.  The  lioly  Medardus  instituted 
in  Prance  the  custom  of  "La  Rosiere,"  by 
which,  in  certain  localities,  a  money  gift  and 
crown  of  roses  are  bestowed  on.  the  devoutest 
and  most  industrious  maiden  in  the  commune. 
The  infamous  Duke  de  Chatres  established  an 
"Order  of  the  Rose"  with  a  diametrically 
opposite  intention,  the  avowed  object  being 
the  undermining  of  female  virtue.  At  Treviso 
a  curious  rose  feast  is  or  was  held  annually. 
A  castle  was  erected  with  tapestry  and  silken 
hangings,  and  defended  by  the  best  born 
maidens  in  the  city  against  the  attacks  of 
young  bachelors,  almonds,  nutmegs,  roses 
and  squirts  filled  with  rose  water  being  the 
ammunition  freely  used  on  both  sides. — 
Oardener''s  Monthly. 


OZONE. 

Ozone  is  a  principal  constituent  existing  in 
pure  air.  It  is  one  of  tlie  elements  whose 
presence  is  indispensable  to  the  existence  of 
iiealth,  vigor,  and  even  life.  It  abounds  most 
freely  iihcertain  sahilnious  situations,  such  as 
mountain  slopi-s,  I'erlili-  aiirieidtural  regions, 
the  seashore  and  elivalcd  plains.  It  is  never 
absentfromthe  air  cxrept  during  the  presence 
of  epidemics.  It  is  found  in  very  small  pro- 
portions in  the  air  that  passes  over  large 
towns.  Its  presence  in  the  air  is  a  standard 
of  purity,  and  an  indication  of  the  healtliful- 
ness  or  uidieaUhl'ulness  of  a  region,  as  uner- 
ring as  the  rise  and  fall  of  tlic  barometer  in 
telling  atinosphcrie  changes.  O/.one  possesses 
a  peculiar  odor  which  is  readily  distinguished 
after  a  thunder  storm. 

This  odor  was  known  to  the  ancients  ;  it  was 
described  by  a  Grecian  poet  who  lived  four 
thousand  years  ago,  but  it  was  not  until  1785, 
when  Van  Marum,  a  Dutch  savant,  observed 
it,  that  its  origin  was  traied.  No  practical 
effect  resulted  from  this  discovery.  It  was  re- 
served for  thr  eniiient  Swiss  ilieinist,  Schoe- 
bein,  tcxIiseov.T  lliis  vital  priueiple,  in  1840. 
He  deinon-trabcl  llir  lad  tlial  paper  saturated 
with  a  >olai  1,111  ol  ioilidr  ,,1  standi  is  a  test 
for  it.  ami  ilrhi  iiiimil  the  mnditions  under 
whirhit  rxisis.  Siiirr  tlicii  ii  s  ni(deculir  Con- 
stitution has  been  the  sulijcct  of  repeated  in- 
vestigations. The  most  brilliant  of  these  was 
the  theory  of  Prof.  <Jdling  in  ISdii,  which  was 
cunlirnicd  by  Sir  Jieiij.  Brodie  in  lS7:i,  that  it 
is  a  condensed  form  of  oxygen.  Oxygen  con- 
tains two  atoms  in  each  of  its  molecules,  but 
ozone  contains  Ihn-e  in  a  molecule  of  equal 
volume.  Hence  the  formula  for  ozone  is  that 
which  is  now  a.ssigned  to  it,  namely  O  IJ.  It 
is  obvious  that  ozone  should  bt  half  as  heavy 
again  as  oxygen,  should  have  in  fact  a  specific 
gravity  of  "24,  as  compared  with  hydrogen. 
Oil  of  turpentine,  chloride  of  tin  (.stannus 
chloride),  and  hyposulphite  of  soda,  absorb 
the  whole  molecule  of  ozone. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  HORTICUL- 
TURAL SOCIETY. 

The  rcffular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Aericultural 
and  Horticultural  Society  was  held  on  Monday  after- 
noon, June  -.;,  in  their  room  in  the  City  Hall. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President, 
Calvin  Cooper,  esq. 

The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present : 
Calvin  Cooper,  Bird-in-Hand;  Jos.  F.  Witmer,  Para- 
dise; C.  M.  Hosletter,  Eden;  William  H.  Brosius, 
Drumore;  J.  C.  Linviile,  Salisbury;  P.  Hcrthey, 
city;  W.  W.  Griest,  city;  F.  R.  Diflenderffer,  city; 
J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  J.  P.  Mcllvaine,  Salisbury; 
Johnson  Miller,  Warwick;  Sylvester  Kennedy,  Salis- 
bury. - 

There  being  so  few  mmbers  present,  a  motion 
was  made  to  adjourn  until  the  second  Monday  of 
July,  which  was  carried.  The  usual  meeting  on  the 
first  Monday  of  that  month  will  be  omitted,  as  It 
will  most  likely  come  when  farmers  are  busywith 
their  wheat  harvest  and  be  unable  to  attend. 

As  the  by-laws  under  the  new  charter  will  then 
be  acted  upon,  it  is  hoped  there  will  be  a  full  at- 
tendance ol  the  members. 

It  would  be  most  fortunate  for  the  society  If  It 
had  some  far-seeing  member  to  anticipate  and  ad- 
monish it  in  lime  of  such  contingencies  as  are  likely 
to  interfere  with  the  attendance  of  its  members  at 
the  stated  meetings.  The  Fourth  of  July,  Whitsun- 
tide, Easter  and  similar  holidays  occurring  on  Mon- 
day, are  not  favorable  to  either  large  or  attentive 
meetings.  There  are  too  many  attractions  upon  the 
street  and  elsewhere,  besides  many  of  the  elder  and 
graver  of  our  stauncher  country  people  avoid  coming 
into  town  at  all  on  such  occasions.  Slick  a  pin  in 
this  for  future  reference. 


THE  LANCASTER  COUNTY  POULTRY 
ASSOCIATION. 

The  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Lancaster 
County  Poultry  Association  was  held  in  their  rooms 
on  Monday  morning,  June  2,  with  rather  a  meagre 
attendance. 

The  meeting  was  calkd  to  order  by  the  President, 
Rev.  D.  C.  ToTjias. 

The  Secretary  called  the  roll  and  read  the  minutes 
of  last  meeting,  which  were  adopted  as  read. 

The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present : 
Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  Liliz;  J.  .M.  Johnston,  city; 
Simon  P.  Eby,  city;  W.  W.  Griest,  city;  Frank  K, 


90 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[June, 


Diffenderffer,  city;  H.  H.  Tshudy,  Litiz;  T.  F. 
Evans,  Litiz;  G.  A.  Geyer,  Spring  Garden;  J.  B. 
Lichty,  city;  J.H.Miller,  Marietta;  Washington  L. 
Hershey,  Chiclsies;  C.  L.  Hunsecker,  iVlanheim;  J. 
W.  Broolvhart,  Salunga;  J.  G.  Reist,  Mount  Joy. 
New  Business. 

Under  this  head  the  following  questions  were  sub- 
mitted for  discussion  at  the  next  meeting  : 

"Is  it  advisable  to  hold  a  poultry  show  next  win- 
ter ?"     Referred  to  S.  P.  Eby,  esq. 

"  Should  fowl  fanciers  breed  more  than  a  single 
variety?"     Referred  to  G.  A.  Geyer. 

Regular    Discussions. 

"What  is  a  preventive  for  vermin  on  fowls?" 
This  question  having  been  assigned  to  W.  J.  Kafroth, 
who  was  absent,  the  discussion  was  taken  up  by  Mr. 
8.  P.  Eby,  who  said  that  a  first  consideration  was  a 
clean  nest  to  hatch  in.  Three  days  before  the  chicks 
come  give  the  hen  aid  nest  a  good  dusting  with 
insect  powder.  If  this  is  not  done  vermin  will  surely 
come,  retard  their  growth  and  perhaps  kill  the 
chicks.  They  must  be  watched  afterwanis.  Keep 
the  roosts  clean  also.  He  keeps  the  hen  house  dusted 
with  coal  ashes  mixed  with  dry  earth.  He  removes 
these  with  the  droppings  occasionally, and  no  vermin 
get  a  foothold.  The  red  spider  louse  often  causes 
much  trouble.  Insect  powder  will  remove  the 
trouble.    Ointments  are  harmful. 

Mr.  Evans'  method  to  prevent  vermin  is  to  put 
tobacco  into  the  nest  where  the  hen  sits,  along  with 
dry  sulphur.  In  the  poultry  house  he  uses  coal  oil 
and  tobacco  siftings.  The  young  ones  he  treats  with 
a  preparation  composed  of  one  part  of  oil  of  sassa- 
fras and  seven  parts  of  sweet  oil,  and  greases,  the 
chicks  under  the  wings.  He  recently  tried  this  on 
badly  infected  chicks,  and  it  killed  them  at  once. 

H.  H.  Tshudy  believes  in  a  liberal  use  of  dust.  He 
uses  street  dust  with  fine  lime,  and  finds  it  does  very 
well.  Lice  gather  in  small  openings  in  the  boards  of 
roosts,  where  they  can  be  rea.;hed  with  coal  oil.  It 
is  a  bad  plan  to  set  hens  in  the  same  room  where 
others  roost.  He  has  never  tried  coal  ashes,  and 
believes  in  tobacco  siftings  and  sassafras  oil,  al- 
though he  has  doubts  about  greasing  chicks  with 
anything  ;  cleanliness  is  the  main  part. 

Mr.  Evans  said  a  dust  bath  of  any  kind  is  good. 
Fancy  fowls  should,  however,  have  the  kind  that 
"preserves  their  plumage  best. 

Mr.  Geyer's  way  of  setting  hens  is  to  use  tobacco 
in  the  mother's  uest.  Birds  that  run  in  the  fields 
are  freer  of  vermin  than  those  more  confined. 

Mr.  Miller  uses  a  box  filled  with  coal  dust ;  car- 
bolic acid  insect  powder  he  also  finds  very  good. 
He  uses  the  insect  powder  mill  to  apply  the  powder 
with — it  reaches  the  skin  in  this  way. 

S.  P.  Eby  has  known  tobacco  to  kill  larger  animals 
than  birds.  Insect  powder  can  be  used  on  canary 
birds,  showing  that  it  does  not  affect  the  health  of 
chicks. 

F.  R.  Diflenderffer  uses  street  dust,  in  which  sul- 
phur has  been  freely  put. 

Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias  said  since  our  last  meeting  he 
had  received  a  letter  from  Mrs.  R.  Baldwin,  who 
gave  a  new  method  for  removing  the  membrane  or 
worms  from  the  windpipe  of  chicks  afflicted  with 
gapes.  It  was  the  use  of  the  thin  wire  wrapped 
around  the  silk  or  gut  of  a  G  violin  string.  This 
was  introduced  into  the  windpipe  and  the  spirals 
entangled  the  dangerous  obstructions  and  brought 
them  along  when  the  wire  was  drawn  out.  This 
remedy  seems  a  very  simple  one  and  can  easily  be 
tried . 

F.  R.  Diffenderffer  %aid  he  had  a  hen  that  was 
afflicted  with  leg-weakness.  For  a  few  days  after 
being  taken  from  the  nest  with  her  chicks  she  was 
put  on  a  board  Hoor,  where  the  disease  first  de- 
veloped. The  chicks  were  taken  from  her,  but  the 
disease  still  remains,  although  not  so  severely  as  at 
first. 

J.  H.  Miller  recommended  rubbing  the  legs  with 
ammonia. 

There  being  no  further  business  before  the  society, 
it  adjourned. 

THE  BEEKEEPERS'    ASSOCIATION. 

The  Lancastei  County  Beekeepers'  Society  met 
on  Monday  afternoon,  May  VZ,  at  'A  o'clock,  in  the 
parlor  of  the  Black  Horse  Hotel.  The  following 
members  were  present:  J.  F.  Hershey,  Mt.  Joy;  I. 
G.  Martin,  Earl:  D.  H.  Lintner,  Millersville;  John 
Huber,  Pequea;  D.  Kreider,  West  Lampeter;  J.  H. 
Davis,  East  Earl;  L.  D.  Wenger,  West  Earl;  Jacob 
Gorgas,  Ephrata;  Henry  Shiffer,  Pennville ;  J.  B. 
Eshleman,  Ephrata;  Henry  Huber,  Pequea;  Adam 
Shreiner,city;  P.  S.  Reist,  Litiz. 

The   meeting   was   called    to  order  by.  the   Vice 

President.     In  the  absence  of  the  regular  Secretary, 

Mr.  F.  K.  Diffenderffer  was  elected  Secretary  pro  tem . 

Condition  of  the  Bees. 

Mr.  Hershey  reported  that  he  had  wintered  seventy 
Bwarms  indoors,  and  all  came  out  strong  in  bees  ana 
brood,  and  had  plenty  of  honey.  He  dug  in  the 
ground  four  feet  and  made  a  frame  of  boards  and 
filled  in  with  sawdust.  Boarded  up  the  whole  build- 
ing and  inserted  ventilators.  They  wintered  very 
well.  The  temperature  should  be  kept  even  at 
about  40  degrees.  He  had  no  trouble  in  reference  to 
mouldy  combs. 


Mr.  Detwiler  went  into  winter  quarters  with 
seventy-five  swarms,  and  all  came  out  strong.  He 
took  his  swarms  out  only  once  in  three  months. 

Mr.  Lintner  went  into  winter  quarters  with  thir- 
teen hives.  He  left  them  on  the  summer  stand. 
Four  of  them  died  of  dysentery.  The  bee  house  was 
built  close  to  a  fence,  and  there  was  considerable 
noise  which  caused  excitement.  The  others  had 
dysentery,  but  he  stopped  it  with  aniseseed  oil  mixed 
in  syrup,  and  they  are  now  doing  well.  The  four 
which  difd  had  plenty  of  honey. 

Mr.  Kreider  went  into  winter  quarters  with  four- 
teen swarms,  and  lost  two.  His  bees  are  now  all 
doing  well.  He  packed  chaff  around  two  swarms, 
and  they  are  now  doing  better  than  the  rest. 

Mr.  Shifter  had  thirty-eight  swarms  in  the  fall  and 
just  left  them  on  the  summer  stand,  and  all  came 
out  in  good  condition.  He  puts  corn  fodder  around 
the  houses  to  keep  them  warm.  He  fed  the  bees  five 
or  six  pounds  of  honey  in  each  box,  and  that  kept 
them  in  good  condition. 

Mr.  Martin  went  into  winter  quarters  with  twenty- 
nine  colonies  packed  in  chaff,  and  they  are  now  in 
very  good  condition  in  bees  and  honey.  Some  were 
very  weak  when  he  went  into  winter  quarters,  but 
are  now  in  very  good  condition.  The  bees  had  a  fly 
in  January  and  one  in  February,  and  very  few  during 
the  remainder  of  the  winter.  All  the  bees  in  Earl 
township  are  doing  well. 

Mr.  Eshleman  put  up  thirty  colonies  about  the 
middle  of  November,  and  lost  two,  one  became 
queenless  and  one  died  from  want  of  food.  His  bees 
are  all  in  good  condition.  He  built  a  shed  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  north  winds.  The  advantage  of 
packing  in  chaff  is  that  you  will  have  a  larger  brood 
in  spring.  By  giving  them  proper  attention  you 
could  make  it  more  profitable. 

Mr.  Gorgas  wintered  eight  swarms  of  bees  well, 
and  they  will  be  ready  to  swarm  as  soon  as  any  in 
the  neighborhood. 

Mr.  Davis  went  into  winter  quarters  with  twenty- 
eight  swarms  on  summer  stands,  and  all  are  doing 
well.  He  uses  no  honey  board.  He  has  a  shea 
built  to  protect  them  from  the  north  and  west  winds. 

Mr.  Reist  knows  of  fifty  or  sixty  swarms  that  all 
came  out  well.  They  had  no  protection  except  from 
the  north  wind. 

Mr.  Hershey  reported  that  he  had  a  letter  from 
New  York  State>  which  reported  very  heavy  losses  in 
that  State. 

Mr.  Huber  thought  it  more  necessary  for  bees  to 
have  good  ventilation  in  winter  than  in  summer.  He 
found  that  plan  worked  very  well.  There  should  he 
a  chaff  cushion  on  top  to  absorb  the  moisture. 

Mr.  Reist  thought  there  should  be  an  understand- 
ing among  beekeepers  as  to  how  much  honey  they 
should  sell  and  at  what  price. 

Mr.  Hershey  said  honey  was  selling  at  his  place 
for  19  or  20  cents.  The  price  will  depend  upon  the 
size  of  the  crop. 

Dysentery  in  Bees. 

The  following  question  had  been  referred  to  Mr. 
Davis:  '-What  causes  dysentery  in  liees?"  He 
thought  extremely  cold  weather  without  a  fly  would 
cause  the  dysentery  in  bees. 

Mr.  Hershey  thought  dysentery  was  caused  by 
chilling  and  bad  honey  for  food.  They  must  eat  a 
certain  amount  of  good  honey  in  order  to  keep  up 
the  heat. 

Mr.  Huber  thought  bees  were  as  much  subject  to 
dysentery  in  summer  as  in  winter.  He  thought  they 
were  feeding  on  some  kind  of  food  which  was  nut 
good. 

Mr.  Eshleman  thought  dysentery  was  caused 
principally  by  the  food.  You  will  find  dysentery  in 
summer  as  well  as  in  winter. 

Mr.  Hershey  said  he  had  weak  colonies  with  as 
good  honey  as  the  strong  ones.  The  strong  ones  got 
the  disease  while  the  weak  ones  did  not. 

Mr.  Reist  said  sweet  cider  would  not  produce 
dysentery,  while  sour  cider  would.  He  thought  it 
wiiB  caused  by  unwholesome  food. 

Virgin  Queens. 

"Will  a  virgin  queen,  if  she  meets  no  drone  within 
ten  daj's,  afterwards  prove  fertile?"  Referred  to 
Mr.  Hershey. 

Mr.  Hershey  said  he  had  queens  that  went  eight 
or  nine  days  after  they  were  hatched  before  they  met 
the  drone,  and  they  proved  fertile.  He  knew  them 
to  go  out  within  fourteen  days  and  then  become 
fertile. 

Mr.  Huber  said  the  queens  mostly  came  out  the 
third  day,  if  the  weather  is  favorable.  Sometime 
since  he  found  a  box  that  was  queenless.  He  pro- 
cured a  queen  before  he  had  any  drones,  and  when 
the  eggs  were  hatched  they  were  all  drones. 

I.  G.  Martin  said  he  had  a  queen  that  could  not 
fly  out,  and  every  egg  she  laid  proved  a  drone. 

Mr.  Davis  had  a  queen  that  could  not  fly,  and  she 
became  fertile  and  perfect ;  her  hive  was  well  sup- 
plied with  bees. 

Business  for  Next  Meeting. 

"Should  glucose  be  fed  to  bees  or  not?"  Referred 
to  I.  G.  .Martin  for  answer  at  next  meeting. 

"What  is  the  best  method  to  prevent  increase?" 
Referred  to  P.  S,  Reist  for  answer  at  next  meeting. 


Introducing  Queens, 
Mr.  Hershey  read  the  following  paper: 
Three  months  have  passed  since  we  met  last,  and 
now  we  are  here  again  to  see  how  we  can  improve 
beekeeping  in  our  day.  The  honey  season  has  now 
commenced,  and  we  have  to  work  among  our  bees. 
As  the  season  for  introducing  queens  is  at  baud  I  will 
try  and  say  a  few  words  about  the  subject.  I  first 
remove  the  queen  from  the  swarm  where  I  want  to 
put  the  Italian  queen.  I  put  the  Italian  queen  in  a 
wire  cage,  and  put  a  stopper,  made  of  some  comb 
that  the  bees  did  not  breed  in  yet,  m  one  end  of  the 
cage  ;  the  other  end  I  pinch  together.  Now  hang  the 
cage  with  the  queen  between' the  combs  near  the 
brood,  so  that  the  bees  will  cluster  on  it.  If  the 
stopper  is  not  made  too  large  and  pressed  too  tight 
together,  the  bees  will  liberate  the  queen  in  ^4  or  36 
hours.  If  the  honey  is  plenty  in  the  fields  and  the 
bees  store  pretty  fast,  I  take  the  cage  out  the  third 
day  after  I  have  put  the  queen  and  cage  in.  If  the 
honey  is  scarce  aud  the  bees  store  very  little,  I  wait 
one  week  before  I  take  out  the  cage.  1  don't  disturb 
the  swarm  at  all  for  one  week.  The  bees  will  liberate 
the  queen  in  a  few  days,  and  she  will  lay  just  as  well 
with  the  cage  between  the  combs  as  it  the  cage  is 
out.  If  the  cage  is  taken  out  as  soon  as  the  bees 
have  liberated  the  queen,  then  she  lias  not  commenced 
to  lay  yet,  is  light  aud  wild,  and  will  run  over  combs. 
The  bees  will  go  after  her  and  get  hold  of  her  and 
then  she  tries  to  get  loose.  Then  she  will  be  sur- 
rounded, and  the'bees  will  smother  her.  As  soon  as 
a  queen  moves  fast  over  the  comb  the  bees  go  after 
her.  If  it  is  their  own  reared  queen  they  want  her 
to  move  slowly  over  the  combs.  If  a  swarm  is  not 
disturbed  in  one  week  after  the  queen  is  introduced 
with  the  cage,  then  she  will  be  out  and  laying ;  is 
heavy  with  eggs,  feels  at  home,  and  will  move  slowly 
over  the  combs.  A  great  many  of  the  queens  that 
are  killed  when  introduced  are  killed  ou  account  of 
the  swarms  being  disturbed  before  the  queen  has 
commenced  to  lay.  Queens  that  are  shipped  and 
have  stopped  laying  for  three  or  four  days,  are  harder 
to  introduce  than  queens  that  are  just  changed  from 
one  swarm  to  another  in  the  same  apiary.  The  best 
time  in  the  day  to  introduce  queens,  when  honey  is 
scarce,  is  in  the  evening  just  before  the  sun  sets  ; 
then  very  nearly  all  the  bees  in  the  other  swarms  are 
at  home,  and  if  they  would  try  to  rob,  night  would 
soon  overtake  them.  The  next  moruing  bees  that 
were  disturbed  by  the  introduction  of  ^he  queen  will 
be  ready  for  a  fight  if  strange  bees  should  come.  If 
the  honey  is  plenty  in  the  field  a  swarm  can  be  opened 
at  any  time  in  the  day  with  safety  to  introduce  a 
queen. 

Mr.  Martin  tried  Mr.  Hershey's  plan  and  only 
failed  once. 

The  Honey  Market. 
Mr.  Martin  read  the  following  paper  : 
Marketing  honey  is  of  great  importance  to  the 
beekeeper.  If  we  had  but  a  small  number  of  colo- 
nies we  can  find  ready  sale  for  our  honey  at  home, 
and  it  is  not  of  much  importance  iu  what  shape  it  is 
put  up.  But  if  we  have  a  large  number  of  colonies 
and  get  thousands  of  pounds  of  honey,  we  must  have 
some  other  than  the  home  market.  Honey  to  be 
sent  to  the  city  market  must  be  put  up  in  neat  and 
attractive  shape,  and  so  arranged  as  not  to  give  the 
dealer  any  trouble.  One  leaky  box  or  can  may  do 
great  injury.  Comb  honey  should  be  chiefly  in  small 
sections  of  one  and  two  pounds  each,  for  such  pack- 
ages are  sure  to  sell.  They  should  be  clean  and 
white;  the  honey  should  be  taken  from  the  bees  as 
soon  as  it  is  capped,  for  if  it  is  on  the  hives  long, 
after  it  is  capped,  it  will  get  dark-looking  by  the 
bees  traveling  over  it.  By  having  it  in  sections 
which  only  contain  a  single  comb,  the  consumer  can 
see  what  he  buys.  The  sections  can  be  glassed  if 
the  market  demands  it ;  but  I  think  it  will  sell  better 
without  glass,  because  if  the  consumer  wants  to  buy 
a  few  pounds  of  honey  he  does  not  want  to  pay  for 
one-fourth  weight  of  glass  which  he  cannot  eat.  I 
think  the  two-pound  sections  are  preferable  for  the 
following  reason  :  the  bee  will  store  more  honey  in 
them  than  in  the  one-pound  sections,  for  by  using 
the  one-pound  sections  the  hive  is  too  much  divided 
into  small  compartments.  Besides,  we  can  afford  to 
sell  them  cheaper,  and  the  consumer  will  not  have 
so  much  tare  as  when  he  buys  them  in  the  one- 
pound  sections.  But  if  the  market  demands  the  one- 
pouud  sections,  then  we  should  furnish  them. 

If  separators  have  been  used  (and  every  progres- 
sive beekeeper  should  use  them),  these  sections  will 
be  in  good  condition  to  be  glassed,  if  glass  is  de- 
manded ;  and  they  will  also  be  in  nice  shape  to  be 
shipped  without  glass,  as  they  may  stand  side  by 
side  without  marring  the  comb.  These  should  be 
packed  iu  crates  of  one  dozen  of  the  two  pounds,  or 
two  dozen  of  one  pound  sections ;  and  the  crates 
should  have  glass  on  two  sides,  so  that  the  honey 
may  be  seen. 

Extracted  honey  has  all  the  flavor  and  is  in  every 
way  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  comb  houey.  When 
the  people  once  know  what  it  is,  and  know  that  it  is 
not  strained  honey,  the  demand  for  this  article  will 
largely  increase  to  the  advantage  of  both  the  con- 
sumer and  the  producer.  Extracted  honey  is  the 
pure  honey  removed  from  the  combs  and  is  free  of 
all  impurities.    It  is  not  the  strained  honey,  pressed 


1879.1 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMEI^. 


91 


out  of  the  comb  and  which  contains  pollen  and 
brood,  which  impurities  are  mixed  with  the  honey. 
Extracted  honey  should  be  put  up  in  glass  jars— the 
one-quart  fruit  jars  are  very  good  ami  will  hold 
three  pounds  each,  and  when  they  are  empty,  they 
are  very  useful  in  every  household.  But  jf  the  mar- 
ket demands  smaller  jars,  that  will  hold  only  one 
and  two  pounds  apiece,  tlicy  should  be  furnished 
and  nicely  labeled  and  put  in  crates  of  one  dozen 
each . 

Further,  we  should  instruct  buyers  that  extracted 
honey  will  granulate  in  winter  when  exposed  to  a 
low  temperature,  and  that  granulation  is  a  pledge  of 
purity  ;  for  honey  adulterated  with  glucose  will  not 
granulate,  and  that  granulated  honey  can  again  be 
brought  to  a  liquid  state  by  simply  placing  the  jar 
that  contains  it  in  hot  water  until  it  is  melted,  but 
not  long  enough  to  bring  it  to  the  liolllng  point. 

Sell  to  the  consumer  as  much  of  your  houey  as  you 
can,  and  take  the  remainder  to  Ihe  retail  dealers 
yourself  instead  of  sending  it  to  the  wholesale 
dealers,  who  will  sell  it  to  the  retail  dealers  and  then 
charge  you  a  commission. 

On  motion,  adjourned  to  meet  on  the  second 
Monday  in  August. 


FULTON  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The   May    meeting  of  the   club  was   held   at 


he 
residence  of  Win.  King,  Little  Britain  township.  All 
the  members  were  jiresent  except  Jcisepli  K .  Black- 
burn and  S.  L.  IJregg.  Visitors,  Jonathan  I'icker- 
iug  and  Alice  Coates. 

In  answer  to  the  question  asked  at  the  last  meet- 
ing, "  Which  is  the  best  cherry  for  general  use  V 
E.  H.  Haines  said  that  a  friend  of  his,  who  has  a 
great  variety  of  trees,  considered  "  Coe's  Trans- 
parent" the  leading  variety. 

Wm.  King  :  What  is  the  cause  of  the  cherry  trees 
splitting  in  some  localities,  and  what  is  the  remedy 
lor  it  ? 

No  one  present  was  able  to  give  any  satisfactory 
information  on  the  subject. 

Day  Wood  :  What  is  the  prospect  for  fruit  this 
year  ? 

W.  P.  Haines :  No  blossoms  on  the  Baldwins ; 
most  other  kinds  tolerably  full. 

E.  H.  Haines  had  been  around  quite  an  extent  of 
country  this  spring.  According  to  his  observations 
there  would  not  be  a  full  crop  of  apples.  Pear  and 
cherry  trees  were  full  of  blossoms.  Siberian  crab 
apples  also  bid  fair  to  make  a  full  crop. 

Josiah  Brown  :  Would  It  be  better  to  sell  wheat  at 
present  prices  than  to  hold  it  ? 

In  answer  to  this  question,  the  club  all  concurred 
in  the  opinion  that  there  were  no  indications  of  a 
rise  in  the  price,  although  the  prospect  for  a  full 
crop  of  wheat  next  harvest  in  the  lower  end  of  Lan- 
caster county  was  very  poor. 

Montiilion  Brown  :  What  has  been  the  experience 
of  members  in  mulching  wheat?  In  three  cases 
where  it  was  tried  in  this  neighborhood  it  has  been  a 
decided  injury  to  it. 

Day  Wood  had  noticed  the  wheat  referred  to,  but 
had  no  experience  himself. 

William  P.  Haines  and  Josiah  Brown  had  each 
manured  some  wheat  after  it  was  drilled  in.  It  did 
not  benefit  the  crop  like  that  where  it  was  plowed 
under,  though  no  injurious  effect  was  noticed. 

Charles  S.  Gatchell  had  noticed  another  piece  of 
wheat  besides  the  three  spoken  of,  where'  mulching- 
appeared  to  have  a  bad  effect.  Had  tried  it  himself 
about  four  years  ago.  At  that  time  both  the  wheal 
and  the  grass  after  it  were  benefited  by  it. 

Grace  A.  King  :  What  will  remove  the  stains  made 
by  lubricating  oil  from  clothing? 

Mary  Ann  ToUinger  :  Put  on  lemon  juice  and  ex- 
pose to  the  sun. 

R.  B.  Gatchell;  Sheep  sorrel  and  salt  will  take  out 
iron  rust.  Never  found  any  oil  stains  that  would  not 
come  out  by  washing  and  drying  on  the  grass. 

Esther  K.  Haines  :  What  kind  of  peas  are  best  for 
late  planting ! 

W.  P.  Haines  :  Champion  of  England,  for  both 
early  and  late  planting. 

Josiah  Brown  :  What  is  the  best  way  to  destroy 
the  Sodom  apple  or  horse  nettle  {iSolanum  Caro- 
linense)  f 

Most  of  the  members  that  had  any  experience  with 
this  plant  thought  this  a  very  hard  question  to 
answer,  as  it  is  nearly  indestructible.  Some  of  them 
advised  covering  the  ground  with  straw  or  some 
other  substance  so  thick  that  all  vegetation  would 
be  destroyed,  using  salt  with  it. 

The  forenoon  session  now  adjourned  to  dinner, 
after  which  the  club  made  the  usual  inspection  of 
the  farming  operations,  live  stock,  etc.  But  little 
change  was  noticed  in  the  stock  since  the  club  last 
met  at  the  place.  Buildings  somewhat  improved 
and  some  new  fence  noticed. 

Afternoon  Session. 

In  lieu  of  an  essay  the  host  read  some  articles 
from  the  New  York  Tribune,  niving  the  Higgins 
method  of  making  and  packing  butler.  Instead  of 
being  gathered  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  butler,  as 
soon  as  it  comes,  is  gradually  cooled  down  to  about 
S40,  when,  instead  of  adhering  in  a  mass  it  gathers 
in  small  pellets  about  the  size  of  grains  of  "wheat. 
Tbeu,  instead  of  working,  the  milk  is  washed  out 


with  cold  water,  or,  what  Is  better,  brine.  It  Is  then 
salt  d  to  suit  the  tasle. 

Day  Wood  objected  to  the  use  of  so  much  water. 
He  knew  plenty  of  good  butter  makers  who  did  not 
wash  their  butter,  because  it  was  injured  thereby. 

Alice  Coates  had  been  trying  the  method  since  she 
saw  the  articles  that  had  been  read.  Shu  found 
some  difllculty,  but  was  improving.  She,  too,  knew 
of  butter  makers  who  objected  to  the  use  of  water, 
but  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  it  would  benefit  more 
than  hurt. 

Mabel  A.  Haines  recited  "You  are  Growing  Old 
Together:"  Grace  A.  King  read  a  selection  on 
"  Silence,"  and  Charles  S.  Gatchell  "  Kvidence  of 
Success  In  Farming,"  from   The  Practical  Farmer. 

The  question  "  Is  the  use  of  machinery  followed 
by  a  disinclination  to  labor!"  was  next  discussed  at 
some  length,  most  of  the  members  coinciding  in  the 
opinion  that  a  disposition  to  be  Idle  did  not  follow 
the  introduction  of  machinery,  although  a  disin 
clination  to  do  by  hand  work  that  which  could  be 
done  by  machinery  was  very  apparent  among 
laborers. 

E.  n.  Haines,  Day  Wood  and  William  King  were 
appointed  to  make  inquiry,  and  reportrto  a  future 
meeting  whether,  in  their  opinion,  dairy  factories 
can  be  successfully  carried  on  in  this  community. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  C.  S.  Gatchcll's  in  June. 

LINNiEAN    SOCIETY. 

A  stated  meeting  of  the  socicty^as  held  Saturday, 
May  .31st,  1879,  with  Prof.  J.  H.  Dubbs  in  the  chair. 
Afier  attending  to  the  reading  of  the  minutes,  etc., 
the  donations  to  the  museum  were  examined  and 
found  to  consist  of  three  mounted  specimens  of  birds  : 
The  "Harlequin  Duck,"  with  Its  numerous  synonyms; 
a  fine  Polish  Bantem,  per  Mr.  George  Flick,  the  well- 
known  taxidermist  of  this  city  ;  and  a  fine  specimen 
of  the  Golden  Crowned  Thrush,  per  Mr.  Snyder, 
North  Queen  street;  a  pair  of  beetles,  skipjacks, 
per  Mr..  Reynolds  ;  sulphate  of  copper  and  native 
copper,  from  the  sediments  of  a  galvanic  battery, 
formerly  used  In  the  telegraph  office ;  a  beautiful 
black  and  red  bean  or  seed,  per  Mrs.  Zell  (a  similar 
bean-like  seed  grows  on  a  spike  in  plants  allied  to 
the  tapioca  or  Indian  Turnip  family)  ;  two  large 
lumps  of  brown  oxide  of  iron,  from  Mr.  Fordirey's 
farm,  Warren  county,  Virginia,  per  S.  Johns,  of  this 
city,  a  variety  of  the  Hematite ;  a  box  of  lichens 
and  mosses,  per  S.  S.  Rathvon. 
Historical. 

Copy  of  the  Federal  Intelligencer,  Baltimore,   De- 
cember 29th,  179-i,  containing  interesting  historical 
matter ;  five  envelopes  with  sixty  clippings  of  Interest 
from  various  papers,  per  S.  S.  Rathvon. 
Library. 

Official  Patent  Office  Gazelle  to  May  20th,  1879; 
The  Lancaster  Farmer  for  May,  1S79 ;  botanical 
contributions  from  Vol.  VI.;  Botany  of  the  Wheeler 
Government  Surveys,  by  Prof.  Thos.  C.  Porter,  sent 
to  Prof.  Stahr,  for  the  society  ;  Pamphlet,  Naturalists' 
Leisure  Hours,  A.  C.  Foot,  December,  187S  ;  books, 
circulars  and  advertisements. 

Papers  Read. 

Ornithological  notes,  on  the  deposits,  the  Harlequin 
Duck,  No.  518,  S.  S.  Rathvon,  (X«a«  glacidis,  Lin.) 
This  peculiar  duck  has  any  number  of  common 
names  besides  that  of  "Harlequin,"  and  generic 
names  to  suit  any  group ;  In  short,  112  synonyms  are 
or  have  been  given  to  it.  Paper  519,  on  the  "Golden 
Crowned  Thrush,"  (^Seiurus  auro  capillus,  Swainson) , 
giving  interesting  particulars  of  the  species,  and 
their  habit  of  nest  building,  by  Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon. 
Although  the  name  Is  usually  accepted,  D.  S.  Jour- 
dan,  in  his  late  popular  work,  does  not  give  the 
generic  name  Seiurus,  nor  can  we  find  "Golden 
Crowned  Thrush."  He  has  a  "Golden  Crowned 
Kinglet,"  under  Cuvler's  generic  name  ot  Rcgubts, 
and  LIchenstein's  specific  name,  I{.  Hatrapa, 
but  this  is  the  "Golden  Crested  Wren."  Both  de- 
scriptions are  very  similar,  yet  they  are  both  recog- 
nized in  the  Birds,  by  Spencer  F.  Baird,  assisted  by 
Cassin  and  Lawrence,  published  1858,  under  two  dls- 
tmct  genera.  Such  changes  or  omissions  are  very 
provoking  to  the  student. 

A  paper.  No.  520,  was  read  by  J.  Stauffer,  in  rela- 
tion to  a  rare  bird  caught  by  Amos  Kaufl'man,  in  a 
woods  between  Manheim  and  Sporting  Hill,  near  Ihe 
residence  of  Amos  Kauffman.  The  children  noticed 
five  In  a  flock,  but  could  only  capture  one.  This  they 
have  now  caged  ;  it  seems  to  be  a  pugnacious  bird, 
but  is  gentle  with  young  chicks.  A  similar  bird  was 
shot  by  Charles  Lehrer,  in  the  vicinity  of  Mt.  Joy, 
May9th,  18.56.  This  shows  that  the  Purple  Gallinula, 
occasionally  visits  Lancaster  county.  Wilson  con- 
siders it  a  very  rare  bird  north ,  and  says  his  descrip- 
tion and  drawing  is  taken  from  a  specimen  In|Peale's 
museum,  sent  from  Georgia.  He  calls  it  GalHunla 
porphyria.  Jourdan  describes  it  under  the  name  of 
Torphyrio  Martinica,  Temmicks  name,  etc.,  and 
only  allows  of  one  species  being  In  the  United  States. 
This,  too,  has  seven  generic  names,  and  different 
specific  names  also.  Prof.  Baird  says  It  is  accidental 
in  the  Middle  and  Northern  United  States,  and  that 
"It  is  occasionally  met  with  as  far  North  as  New 
Jersey,  and  more  rarely  in  New  York  and  Massachu- 
setts," page  753,  Birds  of  the  United  States,   8.   F. 


Baird,  et.  al.,  Vol.  IX.,  Government  R.  R.  Publica- 
tion, 18.58.  We  have  a  mounted  specimen  of  this 
bird  in  our  collection,  no  doubt  from  the  old  museum 
of  Judge  Llbhart.  of  Marietta. 

The  committee  on  book  cases  reported  by  calling 
attention  to  the  Improved  condition  of  the  room,  and 
the  shelving  in  the  upper  store  room,  not  fully  com- 
pleted.   The  committee  was  continued. 

Much  Interesting  scientific  gopslp  was  indulged  In. 
Rev.  Prof.  Dubbs,  and  Drs.  Davis  and  Baker,  each 
had  something  to  say,  and  the  time  passed  with 
pleasure  and  profit  to  the  few  who  met  to  enjoy  It. 
Why  are  there  not  more  to  take  an  interest? 


Agriculture. 


Plowing  in  Crops  as  Manure. 
A  large  number  of  farmers  are  unable  to  under- 
stand how  it  is  possible  to  better  the  condition  of 
lands  by  plowing  in  clover,  rye,  buckwheat,  etc.,  In 
a  green  condition.  The  difllculty  is  in  uomprehend- 
Ing  methods  by  which  crops  that  are  supposed  to 
draw  their  sustenance  irom  the  soil  In  which  they 
grow  can  return  anything  more  to  the  soil  than  they 
took  away  In  their  growth.  The  point  is  cleared  up 
when  It  Is  known  that  all  plants  draw  nourishment 
from  the  almoKphere  as  well  as  from  the  soil,  and 
this  Is  one  source  of  gain.  While  the  leaves  are  ac- 
cumulating stores  of  fertility  from  the  air  the  roots 
are  busy  searching  for  It  In  the  soil,  and  thus  the  two 
distinct  parts  of  plants  work  together.  It  is  probable 
that  crops  absorb  In  some  way  nitrogen  from  the 
atmosphere.;  at  least  it  has  never  been  satisfactorily 
proved  that  they  do  not,  and  hence  from  that  source 
one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  various  forms  of 
plant  food  may  be  derived.  If  this  point  is  In  doubt 
it  is  certain  that  the  leaves  gather  from  the  atmos- 
phere the  elements  of  organic  matter,  'and  organize 
them  so  as  to  form  the  great  body  of  the  plant ;  and 
when  we  turn  under  the  clover  it  leaves  its  organic 
matter  In  the  soil,  and  this  Is,  in  an  Important  sense, 


But  the  excellent  effects  of  plowing  under  clover 
or  other  green  crops  are  not  due  alone  to  elements  of 
fertility  obtained  from  air.  The  great,  deep-penetrat- 
ing roots  go  to  a  point  lower  than  most  of  the  cereals, 
and  hence  they  draw  supplies  of  mineral  food  from 
sources  inaccessible  to  other  valuable  plants ;  and, 
further,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  these  roots  of  coarse 
texture  disintegra*  and  loosen  the  soil,  so  that  air 
is  let  In,  and  in  some  sense  the  work  of  the  plow  Is 
performed  by  them.  When  these  roots  decay  they 
form  a  considerable  portion  of  organic  or  vegetable 
matter,  which,  combined  with  the  mineral,  gives  a 
good  compost  for  better  plants  to  thrive  in. 

From  these  brief  considerations  it  will  readily  be 
seen  how  it  is  possible  to  manure  land  by  plowing  in 
green  crops;  and  we  will  here  remark,  that  It  Is  a 
practice  not  often  enough  followed  by  our  husband- 
men. The  clover  is  perhaps  the  best  of  all  plants  for 
green  manuring,  and  It  Is  easily  and  cheaply  raised. 
A  thin  dressing  of  superphosphate  (home-made) 
will  almost  give  a  heavy  crop  of  clover  on  common 
land,  and  this  crop  turned  under,  when  at  Its 
maturity,  and  allowed  to  decay,  brings  It  into  good 
tilth,  and  certainly  aflbrds  to  the  farmer  a  wide 
margin  for  profit  in  successive  cropa.— Journal  of 
Chcmittry. 

Farming  on  a  Large  Scale. 
The  largest  cultivated  wheat  farm  on  the  globe  Is 
said  to  be  the  Grondin  farm,  not  far  from  the  town 
of  Fargo,  Dakota.  It  embraces  some  40,000  acres, 
both  government  and  railway  land,  and  lies  close  to 
the  Red  river.  Divided  into  four  parts,  it  has  dwell- 
ings, granaries,  machine  shops,  elevators,  stables  for 
200  horses,  and  room  for  storing  1,000,000  bushels  of 
grain.  Besides  the  wheat  farm  there  is  a  stock  farm 
of  20,000  acres.  In  seeding  time  70  to  80  men  are 
employed,  and  during  harvest  250  to  300  men.  Seed- 
ing begins  about  April  9th,  and  continues  through 
the  mouth,  and  is  done  very  systematically,  the  ma- 
chines following  one  another  around  the  field,  some 
four  rods  apart.  Cutting  begins  about  August  8th, 
and  ends  the  fore  part  of  September,  succeeded  by 
the  thrashing,  with  eight  steam  thrashers.  After 
thrashing  the  stubble  ground  is  plowed  with  great 
plows  drawn  by  three  horses  and  cutting  two  fur- 
rows; and  this  goes  on  until  the  weather  Is  cold 
enough  to  freeze,  usually  about  November  1st.  There 
arc  many  other  large  farms  In  the  territory  and  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  they  are  tilled  In  much  the 
same  manner  as  the  Grondin.  The  surface  of  the 
land  generally  Is  almost  level  and  the  soil  rich  and 
black.  The  product  of  one  field  of  2,315  acres  Is 
57,285  bushels — elevator  weight— some  twenty-five 
bushels  to  the  acre.  The  average  yield  of  the  Dakota 
wheat  farm  Is  from  20  to  25  bushels  per  acre,  and  the 
concurrent  testimonv  is  that  It  Is  unequaled  as  a 
wheat  region  in  the  world. 


The  First  Employment  of  Guano. 

In  an   interesting  paper  on   this  subject  which  has 

recently  appeared  from   the  pen   of  Prof.  Kohl,  the 

author  takes  occasion  to  point  out  the  fact  that  the 

employment  of  guano  In  agricultural  operations  Is 


92 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


by  no  means  of  such  modern  origin  as  many  are 
disposed  to  believe.  So  Ion?  ago  as  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury the  Arabian  Reographer  Edresi  called  attention 
to  the  existence  of  clifls  covered  with  the  excrement 
of  birds  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  not  far  from  the  famous 
pearl  fisheries  of  the  Bahrein  Island,  and  relates  how 
this  duns  was  collected,  sent  to  Bassora  and  up  the 
Euphrates  to  be  used  for  the  orchards,  vine  vards 
and  d-te  groves,  &c.,  on  its  banks.  So,  too,"from 
the  earlier  ages,  the  semi-civilized  Peruvians  made 
use  ofthedcpn.Mts  of  guano  ou  their  coasts  for  the 
improvement  of  their  husbandry,  and  so  well  was  its 
value  in  tins  respect  recognized  that  their  white 
Incas  decreed  severe  punishment  for  any  one  killing 
the  birds  that  produced  it.  According  to  our  author 
It  was  Humboldt  who  first  drew  the  attention  of 
Europe  to  the  rich  deposits  of  the  Chinca  Islands  in 
the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  but  his  voice 
remained  long  unheeded.  It  was  not  until  the  year 
1S40  that  a  shipload  of  guano  was  despatched  from 
feru  to  England  at  the  risk  of  the  enterprising  firm 
of  Quiros,  Allick  &  Co.,  of  Lima.  Experiments 
were  instituted  as  to  its  eflects  on  wheat,  potatoes 
and  oat  crops,  on  fruit  trees  and  on  flowers,  with 
such  wonderfully  favorable  results  that  a  general 
demand  for  the  new  miinure  soon  arose  in  EnMand 
France,  Belgium  and  Germany.  Hundreds  of  ships 
set  sail  for  the  Chinca,  in  search  of  guano,  and  for 
many  years  the  Peruvian  Government  derived  an 
annual  income  of  ?16,000,000  from  its  sale. 

The  Future  of  American  Farming. 
It  is  probable  that  in  the  near  future  the  approach 
ofstormsof  rain  or  wind  will  be  announced  bv  our 
Signal  Service  everywhere  throughout. the  country 
A  forewarning  of  this  kind  would  serve,  even  with 
our  present  conveniences,  to  greatly  diminish  the 
heavy  losses  entailed  on  the  farming  community  by 
theunexpected  adventofslormy  weather.  Approach- 
ing discoveries  in  science  and  the  useful  arts  will 
doubtless  enable  farmers  to  turn  such  warnings  to 
still  greater  advantage.  The  use  of  the  field  electric 
light  shows  one  method  by  which  the  farmers  of  the 
future  can  hurry  up  farming  operations  on  the 
approach  of  unfavorable  weather.  Nor  will  this  be 
the  only  benefit  derived  from  such  a  convenience  ■ 
for  whenever  it  shall  be  widely  introduced,  many 
labors  in  the  fields,  which  are  now  wearily  performed 
during  the  torrid  heat  of  our  midsummer  days,  can 
then  be  pleasantly  done  in  the  cool  summer  nights. 
Then,  again,  svtch  heavy  and  expensive  machinery 
as  threshers,  etc.,  can  be  utilize*  all  the  time  in  the 
busy  season,  by  means  of  relays  of  men  ;  and  thus  a 
considerably  larger  profit  will  be  realized  from  the 
capital  invested  in  them.  Favorable  spells  of  weather 
too,  can  be  utilized  to  tlie  utmost,  and  the  evil  conse- 
quences of  paucity  of  labor  will  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  There  is  no  class  for  whom  the  future 
holds  so  much  social  and  intellectual  advancement  • 
so  much  assured  prosperity,  and  to  much  rational 
happiness,  as  for  those  engaged  in  the  various  de- 
partments of  agriculture,  and  in  no  country  in  the 
world  are  the  farmers  so  well  prepared  as  in  this,  by 
intelligence,  energy,  enterprise  and  political,  as  well 
as  natural  conditions,  to  pluck  the  earliest  benefits 
from  the  treasures  of  the  iulure.—Mnral  New  Yorker 


[  June, 


need  of  rain,  the  remainder  reporting  the  weather  as 
cool,  moist,  cloudy,  and  favorable.  North  Pacific 
points  report  a  large  increase  of  acreage,  especiallv 
m  Dakota,  and  a  large  amount  of  new  land-breaking 
IS  in  preparation  for  seeding  to  wheat  next  year 
Gram  (June  let)  is  from  8  to  1.5  inches  high,  of  good 
color,  and  vigorous.  Reports  from  the  great  Dal- 
rymple  farms  in  Cass  county,  Dakota,  say  that 
wheat  could  not  look  better.  Hermann,  on  St  Paul 
and  Pacific,  reports  the  acreage  doubled.  Other 
points  say  the  weather  is  favorable,  and  wheat 
making  the  best  progress  possible,  except  Edna 
w_lach  needs  rain.  On  the  St.  Paul  and  Sioux  Citv 
there  have  been  abundant  rains,  and  the  weather  is 
now   clear  and  warm,  with   the   crop  making  rapid 


Waste  in  New  England  Farming. 

A  writer  in  the  Cotmtry  Gentleman  says  ■  "A 
great  waste  in  New  England  farming  is  waste  in 
fencing.  We  have  too  many  small  fields  which  it  is 
impossible  to  cultivate  as  they  ought  to  be  There 
are  too  many  fence-corners  in  which  brush  and 
weeds  are  allowed  to  grow,  as  they  cannot  be  got  at 
to  advantage  unless  the  fences  are  moved.  It  is 
much  cheaper  to  remove  the  inside  fences  than  to 
keep  the  farm  divided  into  small  fields." 

A  friend  who  has  a  farm  below  Lancaster  on 
which  was  a  weedy  fence  row,  allowed  his  farmer  to 
remove  the  fence  and  cultivated  the  ground  it  occu- 
pied, allowing  him  the  proceeds  for  his  services  A 
crop  of  tobacco  was  raised  on  it  which  brought  the 
farmer  upwards  of  $80.00.  The  fence  row  could  not 
have  been  long,  as  the  farm  contains  only  about 
sixty  acres.— /?e>-aM. 


Horticulture. 


^,  in  discus- 
sing 


Home-Made  Fertilizers 
A  correspondent  of  the  Maine  Farme 
sing  the  question  of  fertilizers,  makes  the  folic 
valuable  suggestions : 

"It  is  but  fair  to  add  a  word  respecting  bone  meal 
slate  and  plaster.  For  the  decomposition  of  the  first 
considerable  lime  is  required,  so  that  its  good  effect 
is  not  all  immediately  apparent ;  providing  that  it 
can  be  obtained  at  a  fair  cost  the  use  of  it  for  certain 
kinds  of  soil,  pcrhap.s  p.ivs  tolerably  well.  The 
ground  slate  is  of  bandit  in  a  dry  season  to  put 
around  plants,  as  it  dr;,Hs  and  holds  the  moisture. 
The  third  profits  nothing  ou  many  farms;  upon 
others  it  temporarily  iinpioves  the  crops.  In  con- 
clusion, I  would  suggest  to  my  brother  farmers  that 
we  save  all  the  bones  abont  our  premises,  puttino- 
them  into  old  water-tight  casks,  mixed  with  good 
ashes.  Let  the  barrels  or  casks,  with  the  upper  head 
out,  stand  in  the  open  air  ;  the  mixture  usually  will 
be  fit  for  application  to  the  land  in  a  year.  A  barrel 
of  phosphate  will  cost  here  ten  dollars  ;  for  that  sum 
you  can  hire  a  man  with  a  horse  and  cart  ten  days 
Set  him  at  work  to  clear  out  ditches,  corners  of  fields 
or  into  the  woods  gathering  leaves  and  scurf,  or  at 
the  muck  bed,  if  you  have  one,  or  by  the  sides  of  the 
highways;  direct  him  to  dump  into  the  barnyard 
barncellar,  hogyard,  and  to  the  barn,  to  be  used 
during  the  winter  to  litter  the  cattle  and  horses,  and 
just  see  what  piles  he  would  make  in  ten  days  ■  you 
would  not  sell  this  the  next  spring  for  four  casks  of 
phosphate,  for  it  will  help  the  crops  for  years." 

The  Wheat  C.-op— Favorable  Reports  of  the 
Prospects  in  the  Northwest. 
It  is  stated  that  despatches  received  at  St.  Paul. 
Minn.,  from  points  along  the  line  of  three  principal 
railroads  in  that  State,  the  Northern  Pacific,  St. 
Paul  and  Pacific,  and   St.  Paul  and  Sioux  Cit' 


About  Potatoes. 
From  all  we  can  learn,  we  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  farmers,  generally,  are  going  to  plant 
more  potatoes  than  usual  this  spring.  This  is  a 
natural  result  of  the  high  prices  that  have  ruled  for 
potatoes  since  the  last  crop  was  harvested.  But  it 
should  be  kept  in  mind  that  a  heavy  crop  makes 
low  prices  and  a  light  crop  high  prices— the  yield 
governing  the  price  very  largely.  We  have  always 
found  It  to  pay  to  take  special  pains  with  any  crop 
and  raise  as  large  a  yield  as  possible  to  the  acre. 
This  pays  better  than  enlarging  the  area  if  the  same 
care  cannot  be  bestowed  upon  the  cultivation  One 
man,  last  year,  made  $000  from  five  acres  of  pota- 
toes, while  the  crop  was  a  failure  in  all  that  section 
besides.  We  are  assured  that  he  did  this  by  careful 
thorough  work.  Another  man  reported  a  large  crop 
of  potatoes,  and  attributed  it  to  a  liberal  dressing  of 
bone-dust  which  the  land  had  received  the  year 
before.  We  once  published  an  account  of  an  excel- 
lent crop  of  potatoes  raised  by  means  of  a  species  of 
irrigation— turning  the  water  of  a  spring  run  over 
the  ground  occasionally  during  a  drouth  that  ruined 
the  potato  crop  generally  in  all  that  section. 

Such  experiments,  conducted  with  a  view  to  learn 
what  methods  and  treatment  k\\\  secure  the  best 
crops  under  difl'erent  unfavorable  conditions,  are 
always  worth  what  they  cost  and  often  a  hundred- 
fold more.  If  a  man,  during  a  season  of  general 
failure  of  any  crop,  succeeds  in  finding  out  a  plan 
that  will  counteract,  to  any  extent,  the  bad  influences 
which  aflTect  the  crop  under  ordinary  culture,  he  will 
be  well  paid  for  his  experiment,  perhaps  in  a  single 
crop.  It  is  our  privilege  to  command  all  the  forces 
of  nature  to  our  aid  in  the  production  of  crops,  and 
he  who  does  this  most  efiectually  is  always  most 
successful.  The  skill  of  the  farmer  is  only  exhibited 
in  unfavorable  seasons.— Practical  Farmer. 


Fruit-Growing  in  England 
Now  that  the  export  of  American  apples  is  be- 
comingan  important  business  for  fruit-growers  in 
this  country,  everything  connected  with  the  subject 
becomes  a  matter  of  interest  to  them.  A  discussion 
on  the  growing  of  fruit  for  market  in  England  has 
recently  taken  place  in  the  columns  of  the  London 
Garden,  from  which  we  gather  the  following  state- 
ments, which  naturally  have  some  bearing  on  the 
character  of  the  foreign  market. 

A  correspondent  of  that  journal  says  that  the  de- 
mand tor  fruit  in  England  has  increased  during  the 
past  few  years  "to  an  enormous  extent."  It  always 
flnds  a  ready  sale.  Notwithstanding  the  cheap  and 
quick  transit  Irom  the  continent,  and  the  excellence 
of  the  apples  from  America,  the  extension  of  fruit 
culture  is  on  the  increase.  We  are  told  by  one  writer 
that  830,000,000  are  annually  paid  to  other  countries 
lor  imported  fruits.  Another  correspondent  of  the 
same  journal  says  that  $.50,000,000  were  expended 
ast  year  for  fruits  and  vegetables  imported  into  that 
kingdom.  It  is  supposed  that  the  city  of  London 
consumes  about  a  million  and  a  half.  We  are  in- 
formed that  England  receives  fifty  times  as  much  as 
fifty  years_ago,  the  prices  varying  but  little  at  the 
It  appears  that  the  same  trouble  occurs 


:rr;;;r.'irs;r'tif..a-2S°„"src;^^^^^^^^^ 


abundant   seasons,   and   large 


quantities  rot  when  the  market  is  overstocked,  and 
the  prices  do  not  pay  for  gathering.  The  mode  of 
preserving  by  canning,  so  extensively  adopted  here 
IS  recommended  in  that  country  in  such  cases  ' 

One  of  these  correspondents  states  that  in  Kent 
first-class  Keswick  codlings  brought  only  fifty  cents 
per  bushel,  and  of  this  sum  one-half  was  naid  for 
conveyance  to  market  and  expenses.  Another  cor- 
respondent says  that  many  of  the  market  gardeners 
near  London  left  tons  of  plums  to  fall  and  rot  on  the 
ground  in  1875,  the  market  being  overstocked  with 
fruit  from  the  continent.  The  same  writer  mistakenly 
InoT'h  ,"'^f'  American  fruit-grower,  who  obtains 
400  bushels  of  apples  every  year  from  his  rich,  cheap 
soil,  without  manure,  and  with  a  minimum  of  labor 
and  cost,  can  easily  compete  with  the  English  o-rower 
who  pays  an  annual  rent  equal  to  thi  whole  pur- 
chase money  of  his  competitor's  land,  and  has  to 
spend  fully  as  much  more  in  manure  and  labor;  but 
if  the  yyestern  grower  should,  by  fertilizing  his  land, 
double  its  yield,  the  extra  40i.  would  not  be  grown  at 
a  prolit."  American  orchardists  who  have  adopted 
the  same  opinion  as  this  writer  are  the  very  men  who 
make  growing  a  failure.  Their  second  rate,  scrubby 
knotty  apples  find  a  slow  sale  at  a  low  price.  Those 
who  with  good  culture,  manuring,  thinning,  assort- 
ing and  careful  packing,  place  the  finest  specimens 
before  purchasers,  obtain  good  prices  and  ready  sales 
and  as  soon  as  their  products  become  known  they  are 
eagerly  sought  on  account  of  their  excellent  quality 
even  in  abundant  seasons.  In  looking  toward  a 
European  market,  it  would  be  extreme  folly  to  at- 
tempt to  send  bad  fruit  that  long  distance,  with  the 
expectation  that  it  would  pay  expenses,  and  the 
damage  to  the  reputation  of  American  fruit,  caused 
by  such  shabby  attempts  to  thrust  poor  fruit  on  pur- 
chasers, would  be  many  times  greater  than  any  pos- 
sible gain.— Co«?rfr^  (?CTiHe»ia«. 

Treatment  of   Spring-Planted   Trees. 

In  dry  springs  the  orchard  and  garden  usually 
exhibit  a  distressing  mortality  among  the  new  intro- 
ductions of  the  past-pUnting  time.  Yet  there  is  no 
reason  why  many  should  die.  A  few  simple  sugges- 
tions may  save  the  lives  of  many  trees,  as  well  as 
save  a  year  of  time  to  our  own  already  short  enouo-h 
hves.  Of  course  the  ultimate  reasyns  why  trans- 
planted trees  die  is  the  want  of  water.  The  roots 
are  somewhat  injured  even  by  the  best  planting; 
and  with  much  evaporation,  these  weakened  roots 
are  unable  to  supply  the  moisture  required.  If  the 
season  be  dry,  this  trouble  is  heightened  by  the 
actual  absence  of  moisture  for  the  weakened  roots  to 
use.  Under  these  circumstances  many  water  the 
trees.  Kut  where  there  are  many  trees  to  water 
this  is  no  mean  task,  and  besides  watering  has  this 
disadvantage,  that  it  solidifies  the  soil,  and  every 
farmer's  boy  knows  that  a  hard,  cloddy  piece  of 
ground  dries  out  faster  than  the  soil  in  a  well-pul- 
verized condition. 

Pruning  is  one  of  the  simplest  ways  of  saving  or 
weakening  a  tree's  life.  We  do  not,  of  course,  add 
aLy  more  moisture  to  the  soil,  or  give  any  new 
capacity  to  the  damaged  roots  to  take  up  more 
moisture ;  but  we  cut  off  the  demand  for  moisture 
with  every  branch  cut  away.  When  a  tree  does  not 
push  freely  into  leaves  after  transplanting,  it  is  in 
most  cases  from  this  cause.  If  half  the  branches 
are  cut  away,  it  is  astonishing  how  soon  and  how 
strong  the  balance  will  push. 

The  other  point— the  pulverization  of  the  soil— is 
often  misunderstood.  A  loose  soil  is  not  a  well- 
pulverized  soil.  Simply  hoeing  or  raking  the  surface 
is  not  what  is  required.  If  the  ground  is  baked  hard, 
as  many  clayey  soils  will  do,  tins  loosening  is  a  little 
gain ;  but  as  a  general  thing  a  strong  soil  merely 
loosened  will  evaporate  moisture  largely.  These 
soils  require  crushing,  not  only  loosening ;  and  the 
same  principle  which  the  Telegraph  has  so  often  ex- 
plained as  following  the  use  of  the  roller  in  our 
grain-fields  is  to  be  carried  out  on  a  smaller  scale 
around  the  transplanted  tree.  The  more  we  hammer 
and  beat  a  clod  the  firmer  it  becomes ;  and  the 
firmer  it  is  made  the  more  able  it  is  to  absorb  mois- 
ture from  the  atmosphere,  and  indeed  from  the 
harder  surrounding  soil.  Thus  in  many  cases  the 
half-dried,  cakey  earth  around  a  tree  may  be  pul- 
verized by  merely  bearing  it  with  a  rammer,  and 
very  often  this  will  serve  the  tree  to  much  better 
purpose  than  even  the  most  careful  watering  would 
do. — Oermantown  Telegraph. 

Origin  of  the  Apple. 
There  is  evidence  that  the  apple  was  employed  as 
food  in  icertain  parts  of  Europe  at  a  very  ancient 
period,  perhaps  even  before  the  period  of  written  t 
history.  The  carbonized  seeds  and  fragments  of 
apples  and  other  fruits  are  found  in  the  mud  of  cer- 
tain lakes  in  Switzerland,  where  the  pile  builders 
or  lake  dwellers  had  their  habitations.  It  might  be 
supposed  that  these  vestiges  were  wild  or  crab 
apples,  the  native  product  of  the  country,  and  such 
is  probably  the  fact.  But,  according  to  Prof.  Karl 
Koch,  there  are  no  species  of  apples  truly  indigenous 
in  Europe  ;  those  which  are  found  growing  without 
cultivation,  are  the  result  of  accidental  sowings  of 
common  apple  seeds.    If  this  statement  is  correct, 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


93 


the  question  arises,  whence  came  the  apples  and 
fruits  of  the  pile-huildcrs  ?  The  same  question  inicht 
be  propounded  with  respect  to  the  wheat  wliich  is 
found  in  the  debris  of  their  dwellings,  and  the 
answer  to  the  one  question  would  probably  be  an 
answer  for  the  other.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
distribution  of  grains  and  fruits  anions:  'he  nations 
of  the  earth  has  a  much  greater  antiquity  than  has 
commonly  been  admitted.  In  attempting  to  deter- 
mine the  original  specilic  character  of  our  common 
apple,  we  have  to  deal  with  a  difficult  question. 
The  apple  of  the  present  day  is  the  productof  centu- 
ries of  cultivation  and  horticultural  skill,  and  the 
transformations  and  modifications  efleeted  thereby 
are  such  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  if  we  are 
unable  to  recognize  the  original  or  parent  stoclt. 
Linnieus  named  the  common  apple  of  cultivation 
Pyrm  Jfabts,  taking  as  the  type  the  common  seed- 
ling apple,  which  he  appears  to  have  considered  a 
good  species,  and  the  same  view  has  been  generally 
entertained  by  successful  botanists. 


Pruning   Evergreens. 

We  have  been  in  the  practice  for  many  years  of 
pruning  evergreens  as  freely  as  deciduous  trees,  and 
have  found  great  advantage  in  the  practice,  wherc- 
ever  a  better  or  more  systematic  form  is  desirable. 
They  may  be  cut  freely  it  the  growth  of  the  tree  is 
vigorous,  but  the  same  ol)jcct  may  be  reached  with 
moderate  growers  by  pinching  oil'  the  shoots  early  in 
the  season.  Small,  distorted  trees,  which  are  unfit 
for  sale  in  the  nursery,  have  been  changed  in  a  few 
years  into  objects  of  symmetry  and  beauty  by  both 
modes  of  treatment  combined.  Josiah  Hoopes 
states,  in  a  late  number  of  the  Tribune,  that  early 
in  spring  he  cuts  his  evergreens  freely  into  shape 
without  regard  to  buds  or  anything  "else.  Pines, 
with  their  scanty  lateral  buds,  are  easily  made  to 
produce  regular  conical  heads.  The  fault  with  some 
of  the  pines  is  their  thin  growth  ;  with  a  little  atten- 
tion we  find  that  this  fault  may  be  corrected  by  early 
pinching  back  the  new  shoots.  Take  the  Scotch  or 
Austrian  pine,  for  example,  or  such  specimens  as 
have  long  and  slender  shoots.  When  they  have 
grown  two  or  three  inches  early  in  the  season,  pinch 
off  all  the  ends.  They  will  form  new  buds,  and  an 
open  head  may  be  thus  changed  into  a  dense  and 
compact  one.  The  natural  graceful  form  should  be 
preserved  to  a  certain  extent,  and  the  tree  not  be 
changed  to  mathematical  stilfness.— Co«««rj/  era- 
Poisoned  by  Mushrooms. 

Mr.  J.  A.  Palmer  has  a  paper  on  poisoning  by 
mushrooms  in  the  Moniteur  ticienlifique.  He  states 
that  there  are  three  dittV-rent  ways  in  which  mush- 
rooms may  act  as  a  poison.  First',  thev  may  produce 
the  eiTeets  of  indigestible  matter,  as  when"  the  hard 
coriaceous  species  is  eaten,  and  even  the  edible  mush- 
roop  may  cause  a  similar  result,  for  when  it  is  de- 
composing it  gives  off  sulphuretted  hydrogen  gas  in 
quantity  sufficient  to  induce  vomiting.  Second,  a 
subtle  alkaloid,  without  smell  or  taste,  is  contained 
In  some  mushrooms,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  group  of 
the  Ammitce,  and  is  called  amanilin.  No  antidote 
has  yet  been  discovered  for  this  poison,  and  to  it 
most  of  the  cases  of  death  followinL;-  [],e  i-itinn  of 
mushrooms  is  due.  It  is  at  first  slm,  in  jis  arrinn. 
But  after  the  lapse  of  eight  to  liinin  li.:ui>  iln^ 
patient  experiences  stupefaction,  iiau.-i:i,  aii.l  diar 
rhoea.  Delirium  follows,  and  then  dcatli.  Mush- 
rooms containing  amauitin  will  impart  poisonous 
properties  to  wholesome  varieties,  if  both  happen  to 
be  placed  in  the  same  vessel.  The  poison  can  be 
absorbed  by  the  pores  of  the  skin.  Mr.  Palmer  car- 
ried in  his  hand  some  amanito!  wrapped  up  in  a 
paper,  and,  notwithstanding  the  protection  which 
the  wrapper  should  have  afforded,  he  was  seized  with 
alarming  symptoms. 

Wood  Ashes  for  Peach  Trees. 
I  have  never  known  a  person  who  would  dispute 
the  assertion  with  which  the  chapter  on  peaches  in 
Thomat'  Fruit  Cultnrisl  opens.  "The  peach,  when  in 
perfection,  is  the  most  delicious  fruit  of  our  climate." 
Unfortunately  the  disease  known  as  yellows,  and  the 
enemy  known  as  the  peach  borer,  make  it,  in  manv 
localities,  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  fruits  to  grow". 
For  several  years  I  have  used  wood  aslies  about  my 
peach  trees  with  marked  success  in  obvlat-ing  these 
two  evils.  About  a  peck  of  fresh  ashes  is  applied 
each  spring  and  fall  about  the  stem  of  the  tree  in  a 
little  conical  mound,  that  previously  so  placed  being 
spread  upon  the  soil  when  a  new  application  is  made". 
The  conical  mound  prevents  the  attack  of  the  borer, 
and  the  dressing  of  ashes  upon  the  soil  stimulates 
the  vigor  of  the  tree  so  that  it  is  enabled  to  resist  the 
disease.  But  this  must  be  accompanied  by  regular 
shortening-in  of  the  last  year's  growth,  and  by  thin- 
ning of  the  fruit,  to  prevent  overbearing,  which  ex- 
hausts the  tree  and  leaves  it  an  easy  prey  to  disease. 
A  ease  of  yellows  occasionally,  though  rarely,  ap- 
pears in  my  orchard,  as  must  be  expected  where  a 
disease  is  constitutional.but  by  this  treatment  peaches 
are  now  successfully  grown  where  their  cultivation 
Wfts  for  a.  long  time  abandoned.— Com ji(ry  Gentleman. 


Cord-Wood  in  an  Acre. 
To  estimate  the  quantity  of  cord-wood  in  an  acre 
of  woodland  requires  experience.  A  person  who  has 
been  engaged  In  clearing  land  aud  cutting  wood  could 
give  a  very  close  estimate  at  a  general  glance,  but 
other  persons  would  make  the  wildest  guesses.  An 
experienced  person  may  proceed  as  follows  :  .Measure 
out  lour  square  rods  of  ground  ;  that  is,  thirty-three 
feet  each  way,  and  count  the  trees,  averaging  the 
cubic  contents  as  near  as  possible  of  the  trunks,  and 
adding  one-fourth  of  this  for  the  limbs.  Then,  as  138 
cubic  feet  make  a  cord,  and  the  plot  is  one-fourth  of 
an  acre,  the  result  is  easily  reached.  Fairly  good 
timber  land  should  yield  a  coi-d  to  every  four  square 
rods.  A  tree  two  feet  in  diameter  and  thirty  feet 
high  to  the  limbs  will  make  a  cord  of  wood,  if  It  is 
growing  in  close  timber,  and  the  limbs  are  not  heavy. 
If  the  limbs  are  large  and  spreading,  such  a  tree  will 
make  I"^  to  \]4  cords.  A  tree  one  foot  In  diameter 
will  make  a  fourth  as  much  as  one  twice  the  diame- 
ter. In  estimating  it  is  necessary  to  remember  this 
Agriculturist. 


fact.- 


Gooseberries   and  Currants. 


den.    They   are   no   li.^i         i-  I  '  -row 

readily  from  cutting.-^,      i  ,  ,i    ,       :     ;  y,.^^ 

from  six  to  ten  inches  in  i  i.,!  :;  ;:,.  i.aor 
place  where  they  arc  h;  .!.iiid  i.ciin.uu  luly,  lorce 
them  into  the  ground  not  less  than  four  inches, 
press  the  ground  tlrmly  around  them,  mulch  them 
aud  let  them  alone.  If  a  bn»h  is  desired  let  the  buds 
on  the  cutting  remain  ;  but  if  a  tree  or  single  stem  is 
preferred,  remove  all  the  buds  that  would  go  beneath 
the  surface.  Let  them  stand  about  three  feet  in  the 
row,  and  if  there  is  more  than  one  row,  let  the  rows 
be  four  feet  apart. 

In  the  spring  the  dead  wood  of  both  the  goose- 
berries and  currants  should  be  cut  out,  and  the  new 
growth  should  be  thinued  where  there  are  too  many, 
as  it  will  interfere  with  the  product.  The  best  red 
currant  is  the  Dutch  ;  and  the  best  gooseberries  are 
Downing's  Prolific  aud  Houghton's  Seedling.         • 

Mulching  Newly  Planted  Trees. 
We  have  found  mulching  to  he  of  decided  benefit 
to  recently  transplanted  trees  of  all  kinds,  and  es- 
pecially to  deciduous  trees.  It  should  be  applied  be- 
fore the  sun  becomes  hot  and  the  ground  dry  and 
beginK  to  I'ake— .-ay  in  May.  Various  applications 
are  u^.  ,1— ,.<,i,i,.  apply  horse  manure,  fine  shavings, 
saw  liii.-i,  -pt  ni  Ian,  L'l'ass,  and  even  charcoal.  We 
have  usitl  alinofl  t-xclusively  grass,  and  think  it 
answers  as  well  as  any  other.  But  it  should  be  re- 
newed two  or  three  times  a  season  and  the  soil  stirred. 
It  keeps  the  soil  around  the  tree  moist  and  cool,  and 
prevents  the  growth  of  weeds.  Evergreens  can  also 
be  mulched  with  benetii,  ili.iui;li  mc  do  ii,,i  ihink 
they  demand  it  to  an  ciiual  r\'.,u\.  a.-  tiaii-  di-n.-^e, 
low  foliage  answers  prcliy  well  at-  a  ^nlisiii  in.-.  The 
ground,  however,  shoulil  \n-  frifinently  Mirnd  be- 
neath them.  We  never  mulch  any  tree  afitr  the 
first  season,  unless  it  looks  a  little  under  the  weather. 
—  Oermanlown  Telcgrajih. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Some  Interesting  Facts  Concerning  Bread. 
Of  all  articles  of  vegetable  food  bread  must  be 
considered  as  the  most'  import  ant.  The  mode  of 
preparation  of  bread  is  essentially  the  same  every- 
where, though  its  constituents  may  vary  with  the 
different  material  conditions  of  th"e  people  of  the 
earth.  Wheat  bread  is  everywhere  recognized  as 
the  most  nourishing  and  the  most  healthy.  Medium 
.wheat  usually  yields  from  72  to  80  per  cent,  of  good 
flour.  The  miller  sometimes  tries  to  increase  the 
yield  of  flour  by  grinding  with  the  stones  set  closely  ; 
but  it  is  at  the  expense  of  the  quality  of  the  floiir, 
for  the  starch  granule  becomes  thereby  bruised  and 
damaged,  and  is  found  to  be  deteriorated  for  the 
purpose  of  bread-making.  Bakers  prefer  a  flour 
which  feels  a  little  harsh  between  the  finger  and 
thumb,  instead  of  soft  and  smooth.  The  Israelites 
ate  leavened  bread,  except  on  peculiar  occasions. 
The  Bedouin  of  the  present  day,  as  his  ancestors 
did,  cooks  his  unleavened  bread  in  the  embers,  gen- 
erally between  layers  of  dried  dung.  The  Egyptians, 
like  the  London  bakers,  kneade  '  bread  with  their 
feet.  It  is  claimed  that  the  art  of  making  bread 
from  wheat  was  first  taught  the  Chinese  1998  B.  C. 
The  Hebrew  bread  was  a  flat  cake,  baked  on  thi- 
hearth  or  ou  a  metallic  plate.  There  were  no  pro- 
fessional bakers  in  Kome  till  more  than  .'iSO  years 
after  the  building  of  the  city,  and  the  occupation 
formerlj  belonged  to  women. "  Vinegar  to  soak  bread 
was  a  regular  ration  with  the  Koman  soldiery. 
Bread  was  made  with  yeast  by  the  English  bakers  in 

Barley-meal  is  the  chief  food  of  a  large  number  of 
people  in  the  north  of  Europe  and  in  the  south  of 
England,  where  the  laborer  is  partly  paid  his  wages 
in  meal  or  grain.  It  is  also  used  in  Wales  and  Scot- 
land, especially  when  wheaten  bread  is  dear.    It  is 


employed  by  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  outdoor 
laboring  population  of  England.  Barley  bread  is 
heavy,  coarse  and  rigid,  though  its  taste  is  one  of 
strength,  and  it  quickly  satisfies  the  hunger.  The 
common  way  of  making  It  into  bread  in  Europe  is  by 
mixing  it  with  an  equal  proportion  of  wheaten  flour, 
and  sometimes  it  is  mixed  with  oatmeal  and  rycmeal, 
and  baked  Into  cakes.  When  used  whole  as  food, 
barley  is  first  parched,  as  in  many  districts  of  India. 
In  external  appearance  the  grain  of  rye  presents  a 
closer  resemblance  to  wheat  than  any  of  the  other 
cereals.  It  Is,  however,  darker  In  color  and  smaller 
in  size.  Rye  bread  is  less  nourishing  and  harder  to 
digest  than  that  made  of  wheal,  yet  It  was  once  a 
common  article  of  food  in  England.  It  forms  the 
dark-colored  and  sour-tasting  bread  which  is  etill 
extensively  used  in  the  north  of  Europe.  It  may  be 
considered  as  filling  the  place  of  wheaten  bread  In 
the  temperate  countries  where  poverty  prevails  and 
agriculture  is  the  least  advanced.  It  Is  rarely  eaten 
alone,  but  is  frequently  mixed  with  twice  its  bulk  of 
wheaten  flour. 

Indian  corn  Is  one  of  the  most  extensively  used 
grains  in  the  world,  though  it  is  not  well  adapted  for 
making  bread,  on  account  of  its  deficiency  in  gluten, 
without  the  admixture  of  wheaten  or  rye  flour. 
Used  alone,  eornmcal,  like  oatmeal  and  barley  meal, 
is  made  into  a  cake.  The  common  brown  bread  of 
New  England  is  made  from  a  mixture  of  rye  and 
Indian  meal.  Mixed  with  maple  sugar,  and  baked 
into  cakes,  Indian  meal  formed  at  one  time  the  chief 
article  of  diet  of  the  Delaware  Indians.  The  ration 
of  a  Kaffir  servant  is  three  pints  of  Indian  cornraeal 
per  day,  ami,  although  he  rarely  gets  anything  else 
to  pat,  he  maiiai-es  to  keep  in  good  health.  Through- 
out Mexico,  where  corn  is  the  staple  article  of  food, 
it  is  cooked  hy  baking  it  into  flat  cakes  about  six 
inches  in  diameter  and  a  third  of  an  inch  In  thick- 
ness. It  is  prepared  by  boiling  the  whole  corn  in 
water,  with  a  little  soda  or  lye  of  wood'ashes,  until 
it  is  perfectly  soft  to  the  core,  but  not  broken  up; 
it  is  then  allowed  to  cool,  and  Is  taken  from  the  pot 
in  small  portions  at  a  time  and  crushed  into  a  paste 
between  stones.  On  account  of  the  absence  of 
gluten,  oatmeal  cannot  be  vesiculated  and  made  into 
bread,  like  wheaten  flour.  It  is,  however,  made  into 
thin  cakep  by  mixing  into  a  paste  with  water,  and 
then  baking  on  an  iron  plate.  Under  this  form  it  is 
a  staple  food  in  Scotland,  Norway  and  some  i>ortions 
of  Germany.  Oatmeal  Is  known  as  a  strong  food 
and  one  that  requires  much  cooking  iS  order  to  break 
its  starch  cells. 

Surrounded  by  an  abundance  of  wheat,  corn,  rye 
and  barley,  Americans  scarcely  realize  the  straits  to 
which  the  teeming  millions  of  the  Old  World  are  put 
for  bread,  nor  the  variety  of  substances  in  general 
use.  Bread  made  of  bran  flour  in  the  Black  Forest 
regions'  is  hard,  dry,  tasteless  and  indigestible. 
Bread  made  of  moss  and  lichens  is  eaten  in  Iceland, 
as  well  as  in  other  sections  during  famines ;  that 
made  from  Egyptian  millet  has  a  sour  flavor.  Potato 
bread  remains  fresh  longer  than  rye  bread,  and  when 
mixed  with  wheat  or  rye  flour  is  quite  satisfying ;  Its 
nourishment  is  about  one-fifth  that  of  wheat.  In 
1030,  during  a  famine  in  England,  very  good,  whole- 
some, whits  bread  was  made  from  boiled  turnips. 
The  moisture  was  pressed  out  of  the  turnips,  and 
they  were  then  kneaded  with  an  equal  quantity  of 
wheaten  flour.  During  the  siege  of  Paris  the  bread 
served  out  constituted  a  very  coarse  and  mixed  article, 
aud  by  analysis  it  was  found  to  be  composed  of  one- 
eighth  wheat,  four-eighths  potatoes,  beans,  peas, 
oats  and  rye,  two-eighths  water  and  the  remaining 
eighth  straw,  hulls  of  grains  and  the  skins  of  vege- 
table products.  In  Sweden  and  Norway  beech  saw- 
dust is  sometimes  converted  into  bread."  llice  bread, 
used  in  the  East,  is  raised  with  difficulty  unless  the 
dough  is  mixed  with  acids.  Bread  is  made  of  'the 
roots  of  the  water  lily  in  Sweden,  of  peanuts  mixed 
with  white  flour  ill  Spain,  of  chestnuts  roasted  and 
ground  in  Southern  France,  of  the  bread-tree  fruit, 
the  sweet  potato,  the  banana  and  the  almond  In 
Africa,  of  roots  in  parts  of  Brazil.  In  times  of 
famine  men  have  met  the  exigency  by  Uie  yse  of 
bread  made  from  acorns,  pumpkins,  roots,  wood, 
hay,  straw  and  nnis.—Buston  Cultiralor. 

Ho-w  to  Make  Sauce  and  Croquettes. 
Mr.  Delmonico,  talking  about  entrees,  says  that 
Americans  ought  to  copy  "the  French  method  of 
utilizing  small  bits  of  raw  meats  and  fowls,  and  of 
re-cookiug  all  kinds  of  cold  joints  and  pieces  of 
cooked  moat  which  remain,  day  after  day,  from  every 
dinner  in  almost  every  family."  The  success  of  such 
dishes  depends  mainly  on  the  sauce,  which  Is  best 
made  Irom  broth.  The  following  is  his  recipe  for  a 
favorite  sauce  :  '-Take  an  ounce  of  ham  or  bacon, 
cut  it  up  in  small  pieces,  and  fry  it  In  hot  fat.  Add 
an  onion  aud  carrot,  cut  up,  thicken  with  flour,  then 
add  a  pint  or  quart  of  broth,  according  to  quantity 
desired,  season  with  pepper  and  salt,  and  any  spice 
or  herb  that  is  relished  (better  though  without  the 
spice),  aud  let  simmer  for  an  hour,  skim  carefully 
and  strain.  A  wineglass  of  any  wine  may  be  added, 
if  liked."  Cold  roast  or  broiled  beef  or  mutton  may 
be  cut  into  small  squares,  fried  brown  in  butter,  and 
then  gently  stewed  in  the  sauce  above  described.  Mr. 
Delmonico  describee  croquettes   as   the   attractive 


94 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  June_ 


French  substitute  for  American  ha^h,  and  tells  how 
to  make  them  :  "Veal,  mutton,  lamb,  sweetbreads, 
almost  any  of  the  lighter  meats,  besides  cold  chicken 
and  turkey,  can  be  most  deliciously  turned  into  cro- 
quettes. Chop  the  meat  very  fine.  Chop  up  an 
onion,  fry  it  in  an  ounce  of  butter,  add  a  tablespoon- 
ful  of  flour.  Stir  well,  and  then  add  the  chopped 
meat  and  a  little  broth,  salt,  pepper,  little  nutmeg. 
Stir  for  two  or  three  minutes,  then  add  the  yolks  of 
two  egpe,  and  turn  the  whole  mixture  into  a  dish  to 
cool.  When  cool  mix  well  together  again.  Divide 
up  into  parts  for  the  croquettes,  roll  into  the  desired 
shape  in  bread  crumbs.  Dip  in  beaten  eggs,  then 
into  bread  crumbs  again,  and  fry  crisp,  a  bright 
golden  color.  Any  of  these  croquettes  may  be  served 
plain  or  with  tomato  sauce  or  garniture  of  vegetables. " 

Cooking  Potatoes. 
To  most  of  us  the  food  we  eat  is  valuable  because 
we  like  it,  and  not  so  much  because  we  consider  our- 
selves a  machine  on  which  profit  and  loss  are  to  be 
nicely  calculated  in  regard  to  what  we  eat.  But,  as 
some  of  our  readers  are  chemically  or  financially  dis- 
posed, and  have  a  desire  to  know  to  a  penny  what 
their  bodies  cost,  and  to  the  grain  the  material  of 
which  it  is  made,  we  give  the  following  about  cook- 
ing potatoes  from  an  English  agricultural  magazine; 
As  food,  the  potato  is  valuable  on  account  of  the 
potash  and  the  phosphoric  acid  it  contains,  and  it  is 
■of  the  first  importance  that  the  potash  salts  should 
not  be  lost  in  the  process  of  cooking,  for  it  is  to  these 
salts  that  potatoes  owe  their  anti-scorbutic  proper- 
ties. Potatoes  steamed  with  their  skins  on  lose  very 
little  potash  and  scarcely  any  ,,hosphoric  acid ;  wliile, 
If  steamed  after  peeling,  they  lose  6--ven  and  five  per 
cent,  respectively.  Similarly,  potatoes,  when  boiled 
■with  their  skin  on,  lose  a  little  more  than  two  per 
cent,  of  their  potash,  and  about  one  per  cent,  of  their 
phosphoric  acid  ;  but,  if  ihey  are  boiled  after  peeling, 
they  lose  as  much  as  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  potash 
andtwenty-three  per  cent,  of  phosphoric  acid.  Hence, 
if  potatoes  must  be  peeled,  they  .should  be  steamed, 
not  be  boiled;  and,  if  they  must  be  boiled,  they 
should  at  least  retain  their  jackets  during  their  opera- 
tion— the  best  way  of  all,  from  a  scientific  point  of 
view,  being  to  steam  them  before  peeling,  or  to  bake 
them  in  their  skins. 


Hints  to  Housekeepers. 

The  test  of  a  housekeeper's  taste  and  refinement  is 
her  table.  The  linen,  though  coarse  in  texture,  can 
always  be  fresh  and  white;  the  silver  and  glass 
shining;  the  castor  and  salt  cups  neatly  filled;  the 
dishes  uniform  and  orderly  in  their  arrangement,  and 
the  snowy  cloth  protected  from  any  chance  soil  or 
stain  by  mats  of  straw  or  crotchet-work.  The  atmo- 
sphere of  the  break fiist  room  should  be  cheery,  and 
good  temper  and  iTi.'i|riiiii^:  ialk  should  wait  upon  ap- 
petite. The  miiniiim's  fof>d  sliould  le  such  as  will 
leave  the  (acuities  at  their  best— light,  nutritious  and 
inviting  ;  and  its  provisions  should  be  abundant,  but 
not  disorderly.  Have  hot  plates  sent  to  the  table 
with  the  hot  meat,  and  cold  plates  placed  upon  the 
sideboard,  or  side  table,  with  any  cold  meat  which  is 
to  be  used  ;  this  should  he  sliced  as  it  is  required  for 
use.  A-box  of  mould  in  a  kitchen  window  makes  a 
nice  garden  for  raisin;;  lljc  Iierl.s  w  iiich  give  such 
variety  and  flavor  to  any  dish  into  which  they  enter. 
Hot  rolls  and  biscuits  should  be  eerved  well  covered 
with  a  napkin.  Dry  toast  should  be  sent  to  the  table 
the  instant  it  is  made.  Buttered  toast  should  be  set 
into  the  oven  about  five  minutes  to  render  it  crisp.  A 
small  pice  of  sponge  tied  upon  a  rod,  or  a  flat  brush, 
will  serve  nicely  to  grease  pans  or  plates  with.  Rub 
your  griddle  with  salt  before  you  grease  it,  and  your 
cakes  will  not  stick. 


Household  Recipes, 


Pleasing  the  Palate. 
During  Miss  Dods'  lectures  on  Cooking,  in  Phila- 
delphia, within  the  past  month,  she  has  demonstrated 
her  manner  of  rendering  palatable  and  digestible 
many  well-known  dishes.  Subjoined  will  be  found 
some  of  her  receipts  : 

IRISH  STEW. 

Material  required  ;  2  pounds  of  potatoes,  1  pound 
of  neck  mutton,  )4  pound  of  onions,  salt,  pepper  and 
)4  pint  of  water.  Cut  the  potatoes  in  pieces,  boil 
them  and  throw  away  the  water.  Soak  the  onions 
in  water,  slice  them  up  and  put  them  with  the  pota- 
toes in  a  saucepan,  and  cook  slowly  for  an  hour  and 
a  hall,  seasoning  with  pepper  and  salt. 

APPLE  DDMPLING. 

Ingredients  used:  .5  apples,  '.<  pound  of  flour,  2 
ounces  of  lard,  1  ounce  of  sugar,  '.  iiinl  of  cold 
water,  )4  teaspoonful  of  baking  powder,  ajid  a  pinch 
of  salt.  Pare  and  core  the  apples.  .Mix  the  lard, 
yeast,  powder  and  salt.  Add  water,  knead  lightly 
together  and  cut  into  five  pieces.  Fill  the  core  hole 
in  the  apple  with  sugar,  wrap  the  apple  with  dough, 
put  into  a  lightly-floured  tin.  and  bake  for  an  hour 
and  a  half. 

MILK  SOUP. 

Stock  required  :  2  raw  potatoes,  1  ounce  of  lard. 


pint  of  milk,  1  H  ounces  of  fine  sage,  1  quart  of  cold 
water,  pepper  and  salt.  Cover  potatoes  with  water, 
keep  over  until  the  water  boils  ;  then  replace  the 
water  with  a  quart  of  fresh,  adding  the  lard  at  the 
same  time.  Boil  the  potatoes  until  they  are  tender; 
pour  the  materials  through  a  colander  and  return 
to  a  saucepan  ;  add  milk,  sago  and  seasoning. 

MACOARONI  AND  CHEESE. 

Ingredients  necessary  :  i^"  pound  of  maccaroni,  3 
oune'es  of  dry  cheese,  '..;  pint  of  milk,  and  a  small 
quantity  of  pepper  and  salt.  Boil  the  maccaroni 
fifteen  minutes  in  water;  then  replace  the  water 
with  milk,  and  boil  for  half  hour  longer.  Spread  a 
layer  of  maccaroni  on  a  flat  dish  ;  add  a  layer  of  dry 
cheese;  sprinkle  slightly  with  pepper  and  salt.  Con- 
tinue alternate  layers  of  maccaroni  and  cheese  until 
the  required  amount  is  obtained.  Then  place  in  the 
oven  and  brown  for  from  SU  to  10  minutes. 

TO  BOIL- POTATOES. 

The  only  method  to  boil  potatoes  pronerly,  says 
Miss  Dodds,  is  to  boil  them  uutil  half-done,  then 
pour  off  all  the  water,  cover  the  pot  closely  and  per- 
mit them  to  steam  until  quite  done.  Just  before  re- 
moving them  from  the  stove  ta'ke  off  the  lid  of  the 
pot  that  the  steam  may  escape,  and  the  potatoes  will 
be  found  to  be  very  dry  and  very  mealy.  Young 
potatoes  should  be  placed  in  boiling  water ;  old  pota- 
toes in  cold  and  boiled. 

TO  MAKE  PUFF  PASTE. 

To  make  this  pastry  she  used  one-quarter  of  a 
pound  of  flour,  same  quantity  of  butter,  the  yolk 
of  one  egg,  a  pinch  of  salt,  several  drops  of  lemon 
juice  and  a  gill  of  cold  water.  The  yolk  of  the 
egg,  salt,  lemon  juice  and  water  are  mixed  and 
tiien  worked  into  the  flour,  thus  forming  a  stifl' 
dough.  When  this  has  been  kneaded  quite  firmly, 
roll  the  dough  on  a  well-floured  board  until 
it  is  quite  thin.  It  is  necessary  to  be  particular  to 
use  the  exact  weight  of  flour  and  butter.  The  butter 
should  then  be  squeezed  through  a  towel  to  extract 
the  water  and  milk.  Having  been  strained,  it  is 
placed  in  the  centre  of  the  dough,  which  is  folded 
carefully  upon  it  and  again  rolled  out  as  thin  as 
possible.'  It  is  then  folded  in  three  layers  and  rolled, 
and  folded  for  seven  times ;  the  first  three  times  very 
cafelully,  that  the  butter  my  not  run  out.  Having 
rolled  aiid  folded  it  the  first  time,  it  should  be  laid 
aside  for  a  time  to  cool.  After  awhile,  it  is  rolled 
again  and  folded  again.  Between  the  second  and 
third  and  fifth  and  sixth  rollings  it  should  be  allowed 
to  stand  in  a  cool  place.  When  it  is  rolled  for  the 
seventh  and  last  time,  the  paste  should  be  about  a 
half  an  inch  in  thickness.  It  is  then  cut  in  circular 
pieces  about  the  size  of  a  cup.  In  the  centre  of 
these  cakes  a  small,  round  indention  is  made  half 
through.  These  pieces  are  removed  after  the  paste 
is  cooked,  which  requires  ten  minutes. 

TURKISH  SOUP. 

For  this  soup  the  ingredients  required  are  one 
quart  of  second  stock,  one-half  teacupful  of  rice, 
the  yolks  of  two  eggs,  one  tablespoonful  of  cream 
and  a  little  pepper  and  salt.  The  second  stock  is 
made  by  sjfnply  covering  the  meat  and  bones 
with  water  and  fresh  vegetables,  and  boiling  the 
whole  for  a  long  time.  Wash  the  rice  well  by 
placing  it  in  a  strainer  and  pouring  water  over  it. 
This  washes  off  all  the  starch  and  flour  on  the  out- 
side, so  that  when  it  is  cooked  each  grain  of  the  rice 
is  separate  from  the  others.  Place  the  stock,  the 
rice,  pepper  and  salt  in  a  saucepan  and  boil  for 
twenty  minutes.  Then  pour  it  through  a  wire  sieve, 
rubbing  the  rice  well  through,  and  pour  the  hot 
stock  back  into  the  saucepan.  In  a  basin  then  mix 
the  yolks  of  two  eggs  aud  the  cream,  and  add  a 
tablespoonful  of  hot  stock.  This  gradually  cools  the 
stock  and  warms  the  cream  and  eggs.  Then  pour 
the  stock  in.  Allow  this  to  stand  over  the  fire  for 
two  minutes,  but  do  not  let  it  boil  or  the  eggs  curdle. 

AMBER  PUDDING. 

In  preparing  this  there  were  used  two  pounds  of 
raw  apples,  three  ounces  of  sugar,  a -gill  of  cold 
water,  several  drops  of  lemon  juice,  four  eggs,  six 
ounces  of  flour,  two  ounces  of  butter,  one-half  tea- 
spoonful  of  baking  powder  and  a  pinch  of  salt.  The 
sugar  and  one-half  gill  of  water  are  placed  over  the 
fire  and  allowed  to  come  to  a  boil.  At  this  point  add 
the  apples,  which  should  be  cut  into  lumps,  and  the 
lemon  juice,  and  cook  until  the  apples  are  quite  soft. 
Weigh  out  six  ounces  of  flour  in  a  basin,  and  mix  in 
well  two  ounces  of  butter ;  then  add  the  baking 
powder,  a  pinch  of  salt  and  one-half  gill  of  water, 
and  work  the  whole  into  a  firm  dough,  and  roll  out 
to  thickness  of  one-third  of  an  inch.  Then  dampen 
the  sides  of  a  pie  dish  w-ith  cold  water  and  line  it 
with  narrow  strips  of  the  dough.  After  trimming 
the  edge  nicely,  brush  them  lightly  with  cold  water, 
and  garnish  the  outer  edge  with  small  circular  pieces 
of  pastry  laid  close  together.  The  apples,  when  soft, 
are  removed  and  strained  through  a  sieve  into  a  clean 
dish.  The  yolks  of  four  eggs  are  then  mixed  in,  aud 
in  this  condition  it  is  placed  into  the  pie  plate  that 
has  been  prepared.  In  order  to  cook  the  newly  in- 
troduced ergs  and  the  dough  the  dish  is  put  in  the 
oven  for  ten  minutes.  The  whites  of  the  eggs,  to 
which  salt  has  been  added,  are  beaten  stiff,  and  when 
the  pudding  is  done  this  is  piled  high  up  in  the  cen- 
tre, and  is  then  well  sprinkled  with  sugar.  After 
smoothing  the  white  of  the  egg  into  a  cone  shape,  it 


can  be  neatly  garnished  with  pieces  of  Angelica  or 
dried  berries.  It  is  again  placed  in  the  oven  to  brown 
for  two  minutes,  and  is  then  ready  for  the  table. 
Miss  Dods  stated  that  it  was  never  necessary  to  beat 
the  j'Olks  of  the  eggs.  The  whites  always  beat 
quicker  and  softer  separate.  She  used  the  sharp  edge 
of  a  table  knife,  and  said  the  beating  could  be  done 
quicker  in  a  cool  air. 

FISH    CAKBS. 

The  receipt  given  for  fish  cakes  included  one 
pound  of  potatoes,  one  pound  of  codfish — boiled, 
pepper  and  salt,  two  eggs,  one  teaspoonful  of  cream, 
one-half  ounce  of  butter,  and  a  few  tablespoonfuls  of 
bread  crumbs.  After  breaking  the  boiled  fish  into 
small  pieces,  grate  the  potatoes  while  hot  upon  it 
through  a  sieve  ;  add  one-half  ounce  of  butter,  the 
yolks  of  the  eggs,  the  cream,  and  mix  all  well  to- 
gether ;  when  seasoned  with  pepper  and  salt,  divide 
the  mass  mto  small  fiat  cakes  on  a  well  floured 
board;  heat  the  whites  of  the  eggs,  and,  having 
coated  each  of  the  cakes  with  it,  roll  them  into  the 
bread  crumbs  ;  fry  in  hot  fat  or  lard  for  two  minutes. 
As  soon  as  the  cakes  are  done  place  them  on  a  piece 
of  paper  that  the  superfluous  grease  may  he  absorbed 
from  them . 

DRESSED   BOILED  FISH. 

Her  mode  of  dressing  any  boiled  fish  was  demon- 
strated with  halibut.  To  one  pound  offish  she  used 
two  ounces  of  butter,  two  ounces  of  fiour,  one  ounce 
of  grated  cheese,  one-half  pint  of  milk  and  one  gill 
of  cream.  The  butter  and  flour  are  placed  over  the 
fire  and  mixed  while  the  butter  melts.  Milk  is 
then  mixed  in  and  stirred  until  it  boils.  At  the 
boiling  point  add  the  cream,  pepper  and  salt  and 
cook  two  minutes.  The  bones  and  skin  having  been 
removed  from  the  fish,  it  is  cut  into  small  pieces 
and  then  mixed  into  the  sauce,  which  should  remain 
only  long  enough  over  the  fire  to  heat  the  fish. 
Place  the  whole  on  a  fiat  dish,  sprinkle  over  grated 
cheese  or  bread  crumbs,  add  pepper  and  brown 
quickly  in  the  oven.  To  boil  halibut  properly,  she 
said  it  should  be  placed  in  boiling  water,  to  which  a 
tablespoonful  of  vinegar  has  been  added.  It  should 
cook  only  twenty  minutes,  unless  the  fish  is  of  un- 
usual size. 

FILLET  OF  BEEF  AND  DUTCH  SAUCE. 

The  beef  should  be  cut  in  slices  about  an  inch  in 
thickness.  It  is  then  placed  in  the  broiler,  which 
should  be  lightly  greased,  and  then  subjected  to  the 
action  of  the  fire  for  seven  minutes,  turning  it  but 
once  in  that  time.  The  Dutch  sauce  was  prepared 
with  half  a  tablespoonful  of  cream,  half  a  table- 
spoonful of  water,  the  yolks  of  two  eggs,  a  little 
pepper  and  salt,  one  ounce  of  butter,  and  the  juice  of 
half  a  lemon.  The  water  and  egg  yolks  are  beaten 
well  together,  and  the  lemon  juice^cream  and  butter, 
with  salt  and  pepper,  are  then  introduced,  and  the 
whole  is  whisked  over  a  slow  fire  until  it  thickens. 
This,  however,  must  not  be  allowed  to  come  to  a 
boil.  When  finished,  pour  hot  over  the  fillets  of 
beef  and  serve. 

CHARLOTTE  RUSSE. 

In  making  Charlotte  Russe  she  required  a  quarter 
pound  of  lady  finger  cake  (sponge  finger  biscuits), 
one  pint  cream,  half  ounce  of  gelatine,  the  whites  of 
two  eggs,  one  teaspoonful  of  essence  of  vanilla,  one 
ounce  of  sugar,  a  few  dried  cherries — preserved 
cherries  with  stones  out — and  a  half  gill  of  cold 
water.  The  gelatine  w.as  put  in  cold  water  to  soak. 
The  lady  fingers,  in  the  meantime,  were  cut  length- 
wise, so  they  would  fit  closely  together,  and  were 
then  placed  side  by  side  within  a  small  pan.  The 
gelatine  was  then  carefully  melted  over  the  fire  so  as 
to  not  get  too  hot.  A  pint  of  cream  was  whipped, 
to  which  was  added  one  ounce  of  granulated  sugar. 
Take  the  whites  of  two  eggs  and  whip  them  until 
they  are  very  stiff,  adding  a  little  dry  salt.  When  the 
whites  are  wliipped  to  a  very  stiff  froth  add  to  the 
cream  the  vanilla  and  tlie  gelatine.  Pour  gently  into 
this,  stirring  all  tlie  tinif  the  melted  gelatine,  and 
then  mix  very  liglitly  I  lie  whites  of  egg.  When  well 
mixed  stand  to  one  side  until  it  begins  to  set,  then 
pour  into  the  mould  in  which  the  cake  has  been  ar- 
ranged, and  allow  it  to  stand  until  well  set.  A  few 
dried  cherries  were  first  dropped  into  the  bottom  of 
the  pan  for  flavor. 

WELCOME-GUEST  PUDDING. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  dessert  she  required  4 
ounces  of  bread  crumbs,  1  gill  of  boiling  milk,  i 
ounces  suet,  8  ounces  sugar,  IJ^  ounces  citron,  \]4 
ounces  sweet  almonds,  -  eggs  and  a  few  preserved 
cherries.  First  put  on  to  boil  1  gill  of  milk  ;  put  two 
ounces  of' the  bread  crumbs  in  a  basin;  pour  over 
them  the  boiling  milk  ;  allow  this  this  to  soak  for  a 
minute  or  two ;  chop  finely  the  suet,  beef  suet  is 
always  used  except  in  the  sick  room ;  here  mutton 
suet  is  used  because  it  is  more  easily  digested  ;  chop 
finely  the  almonds,which  are  first  blanched  ;  cut  the 
citron  in  very  th  n  pieces,  having  removed  the  hard 
sugar  from  the  surface .  The  bread  crumb  and  milk 
having  soaked,  two  ounces  more  of  crumbs  are 
poured  into  it,  together  'with  the  suet,  citron  and 
almonds.  In  a  basin  put  the  yolks  of  two  eggs  and 
two  ounces  of  sugar,  the  sugar  is  mixed  with  the 
yolks  to  make  the  latter  lighter.  To  the  whites  of 
the  eggs  add  a  pinch  of  salt  and  beat  to  a  stiff  froth; 
mix  the  froth  with  the  yolks  and  sugar ;  all  the  in- 
gredients are  mixed  together;  grease  a  mould,  garnish 


1879.  J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


95 


with  a  few  preserved  cherries.  Put  the  mixture  in 
the  mould  carefully,  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  cherries, 
and  steam  the  pudding  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  Leave 
It  in  the  mould  a  second  before  turning  it  out. 

POTATO   CROQUETS. 

In  preparing  this  tasty  side  dish  Miss  Dods  re- 
quired one  pound  of  mashed  potatoes,  one  egg,  one 
tablespoonful  of  milk,  a  little  pepper  and  salt,  and  a 
cup  or  two  of  bread  crumbs  or  cracker  dust.  The 
best  utensil  for  mashing  potatoes  is  a  fork,  but  a 
good  method  is  to  grate  them  through  a  sieve. 
When  the  potatoes  are  mashed  the  salt  and  peppej 
are  added.  The  milk  and  the  yolk  of  one  egg  are 
then  mixed  in,  and  the  whole  stirred  over  the  fire 
until  the  egg  Is  dry;  this  requires  about  one  minute. 
The  kneading  board  is  well  (loured,  and,  while  warm, 
the  mass  is  separated  into  small  balls  or  rolled  into 
any  shape  desired.  The  while  of  the  egg  is  then 
beaten  slightly,  and  each  ball  covered  with  a  light 
coating.  The  bread  crumbs  or  cracker  dust  is  then 
placed  in  a  piece  of  paper  and  the  balls  separately 
placed  upon  it,  and  by  rolling  them  from  side  to  side 
are  completely  covered.  This,  she  said,  was  the  best 
method  of  coating  fish.  To  cook  anything  in  fat, 
such  as  oysters,  croquets  or  fish,  the  grease  should 
be  heated  to  375  degrees.  This  heat  could  easily  be 
determined,  for  at  that  degree  the  fat  began  to 
smoke.  At  this  heat  they  would  be  done  in  about 
one  minute.  In  order  to  keep  It  from  burning  when 
not  In  use,  a  raw  potato  or  a  large  crust  of  bread 
should  be  placed  in  the  fat,  to  be  removed  again 
when  ready  for  use.  Fat  can  be  used  over  and  over 
again.  When  its  properties  are  exhausted  it  can  be 
readily  renewed  by  adding  fresh  material.  This  rule 
applied  to  lard  as  well  as  drippings.  When  any- 
thine  is  cooked  in  fat  or  lard,  it  should  be  removed 
from  the  pot  and  placed  at  once  ou  a  piece  of  brown 
paper.  This  would  absorb  the  remaining  grease. 
The  croquets  were  placed  in  a  pot  of  sniokinir  drips, 
and  in  a  few  moments  were  removed,  and  were 
found  to  be  beautifully  browned.  Incident  ally,  she 
stated  that  it  was  never  well  to  boil  meats  quickly. 
B'-  permitting  them  to  simmer  over  the  fire  the 
juices  were  brought  out  better,  and  the  flavor  was 
therefore  much  richer. 

TKVSSKD   FOWL. 

Her  directions  for  trussing  a  fowl  were  given  as 
follows  :  Pass  a  needle,  threaded  with  a  strnnc-  cord, 
through  the  under  pari  of  the  wing,  pass  it  next 
straight  through  the  lop  part  of  the  leg  an'l  uuil'i' 
part  of  the  wing.  Then  pass  the  needle  eiraiglit 
through  the  body  of  the  fowl,  bring  it  out  Ihrounh 
the  top  part  of  the  other  leg,  then  pass  it  through 
the  under  part  of  the  other  wing,  turn  the 
fowl  ou  its  breast,  pass  the  needle  through  the 
top  part  of  the  wing,  through  the  skin  that  folds 
over  the  neck,  through  the  top  part  of  the  other  wing. 
This  brings  the  two  ends  of  the  string  together. 
Draw  thera  as  tight  as  possible,  in  oi-der  to  give  the 
fowl  a  plump  appearance.  Then  take  another  string 
and  pass  the  needle  close  to  the  backbone,  then  over 
one  leg,  through  the  skin  at  the  foot  of  the  breast, 
pass  it  next  over  the  other  leg  and  tie  It  as  tight  as 
possible.  In  trussing  for  roasting  the  process  is  just 
the  same,  exce^jt  that  the  claws  are  chopped  off  and 
the  legs  dipped  into  boiling  water,  a  moment,  so  that 
the  skin  can  be  taken  off  easily.  To  boil  the  fowl  a 
piece  of  greased  paper  should  first  be  tied  over  the 
breast.  This  softens  the  meat  and  gives  it  a  good 
color.  The  fowl  is  then  placed  in  a  pan  of  boiling 
water,  to  which  salt  is  added.  If  it  is  young,  it  is 
allowed  to  cook  slowly  for  an  hour;  if  old,  more 
time  is  required.  The  dressing  for  fowls  was  ilnn 
made.  For  this  she  used  two  ounces  ot  liuiM).  .m- 
pint  of  milk,  a  little  pepper  and  salt  and  i«..  Iml- 
boiled  eggs.  The  butter  was  melted  in  a  siunll  |i:in, 
and  the  fibur  at  once  added  and  mixed.  A  pint  of 
milk  was  then  poured  into  the  pan,  and  the  ingredients 
stirred  until  the  milk  boiled.  At  boiling  point  pepper 
and  salt  were  added,  and  the  compound  was  allowed 
to  boil  two  minutes  longer.  The  whiles  of  two  hard- 
boiled  eggs  were  then  chopped  and  added  to  the 
dressing.  The  fowl  was  then  removed  from  the  Are 
and  placed  on  a  aish,  the  strings  removed,  and  the 
dressing  poured  over  the  breast.  A  closely-woven 
sieve  was  then  placed  over  the  chicken,  and  the  hard 
yolks  of  the  eggs  grated  through  it  upon  the  fowl. 

TERRAPIN. 

Terrapin  ought  never  to  be  bought  unless  it  is  six 
inches  long.  To  kill,  plunge  in  boiling  water,  and 
boil  for  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  or  until  the  claws 
will  pull  away.  In  the  water  put  a  good  quantity  of 
salt.  To  open  the  terrapin  draw  away  the  claws  or 
feet,  and  remove  the  thick  skin  and  slip  out  the 
claws  and  the  meat,  and  lay  the  terrapin  on  its  back. 
Take  the  shell  at  the  head  and  slip  it  off  carel'ully, 
as  you  don't  want  to  break  the  meat.  Be  also  care- 
ful not  to  break  the  bag  holding  tlie  eggs.  Taking 
the  towel,  draw  away  the  head,  and  be  very  careful 
not  to  break  the  gall.  Cut  away  the  liver  carefully 
from  both  sides,  only  a  small  part  of  the  head  can  be 
used.  All  the  meat  that  can  be  used  is  grated  up. 
For  each  terrapin  is  required  7  oz.  butter,  %  oz. 
flour,  4  tablespooufuls  cream,  aud  nearly  l.j  pint 
Madeira,  a  little  pepper  and  salt,  and  a  very  lillle 
cayenne.  Melt  in  a  small  saucepan  the  butter,  aud 
add   to   it  flour  and  cream.      Stir  carefully  until  it 


and  let  It  boil  for  two  minutes.  A  little  grated  nut- 
meg may  be  added  to  this  according  to  taste.  Take 
from  the  Are  when  it  has  cooked  two  minutes  and 
pour  over  the  Madeira.  


Live  Stock. 


and  No.  16,  »7.5,  D    A.  Rupp  ;  No.  13,  8ti5.  Adam 
Hoke  ;  No.  H,  $62,  Michael  Schall.     Total,  81,.')89. 

The  follo.vlug  calf  bulls  and  yearlings  were  also 
sold:  No.  1,  to  D.  A.  Kupp,  for  8260;  No.  2,  8. 
Koop,  $i:'.6;  No.  ^,  J.  Dukehart,  ?113;  No.  4,  Geo. 
Gross,  ?il;  No.  .5,  S.  G.  Irvin,  |(i7.  Total,  $807. 
The  average  price  of  cows  was  something  over  ?88 
per  cow,  and  that  of  the  bulls  and  yearlings  $121.40. 


The  Chillingham  Wild  Cattle. 
We  take  the  following  extract  from  the  Newcastle 
(England)  Conrnnt  of  A])ril  4th  : 

At  the  let  of  the  Chillingham  grass  parks,  last 
week,  the  company,  by  the  kind  permission  of  the 
Earl  of  Tankerville,  had  the  pleasure  of  Inspecting 
a  fine  young  bull,  half-breed,  from  the  celebrated 
white  cattle  of  Chillingham.  This  being  the  first  at- 
tempt to  cross  this  "untamed,  unmixed  and  un- 
stained stock,"  great  interest  was  manifested  In  the 
animal,  In  which  the  old  wild  nature  could  be  easily 
detected  by  the  bold,  defiant  head  and  sharp,  fierce 
eye.  It  appears  that  two  heifers  of  the  pure  short- 
horn breed  were  put  into  an  enclosure  with  one  of 
the  wild  bulls  of  Chillingham  park,  which  had  been 
trapped  for  the  purpose.  At  the  first  meeting  the 
bull  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  heifers,  but 
showed  fight.  The  be.asts  were  then  separated,  it 
being  feared  that  mischief  might  result  from  leaving 
the  untamed  bull  and  the  heifers  together.  Three 
weeks  after  this  another  trial  was  made,  and  the  re- 
sult was  the  same.  It  was  accordingly  decided  to 
leave  the  heifer  with  the  bull,  and  let  her  take  her 
chance.  The  consequence  was  that  they  became 
friendly,  as  she  went  into  the  same  place  to  lie  at 
times.  The  second  heifer  was  then  passed  into  the 
enclosure,  and  they  all  agreed  very  well  together. 
The  last  heifer  put  in  gave  birth  on  the  10th  of  June, 
1877,  to  a  very  fine  heifer  calf,  pure  white,  with  a 
srand  coat  of  hair,  white  muzzle  and  red-tipped  ears. 
On  the  17th  of  the  same  month,  seven  days  later, 
the  other  heifer  produced  the  fine  bull  calf  already 
mentioned,  and  which  is  more  of  the  wild  type.  It 
has  a  brown  muzzle  and  spotted  nose, black  eyes  and 
black  eye  lashes,  and  red-tipped  ears;  also  a  white 
and  splendid  coat  of  hair,  and  Is  not  always  safe  to 
approach.  The  two  animals  are  named  respectively 
Eve  and  Adam,  this  being  the  first  cross  from  the 
wild  native  cattle.  They  were  permitted  to  suck 
their  dams  for  nearly  twelve  months.  The  bull 
iiossed  his  dam  when  ten  months  old,  and  she  has  a 
hull  calf— a  perfect  beauty,  being  pure  white,  white 
uose,  and  red-tipped  ears,  a  beautful  coat  of  hair, 
and  is  well  shaped.  Of  course  the  heifers  were  a 
white  strain  for  a  long  way  back.  There  are  now  two 
wild  heifers  trapped  into  the  enclosure  in  the  park, 
and  it  is  intended  to  try  the  cross  the  other  way  on. 
Lord  Tankerville  is  anxious  to  try  experiments,  with 
a  view  of  putting  fresh  blood  and  constitution  into 
the  shorl-horn  breed,  and,  judging  from  appearances, 
is  going  to  succeed.  The  heifers,  we  understand, 
will  not  be  allowed  to  go  out  to  the  park  again  to 
breed,  as  it  is  possible  the  impress  might  be  left— his 
lordship  having  determined  not  to  tamper  with  the 
breeding  of  the  wild  cattle;  but  to  keep  them  strictly 

pure.  _^ 

Watering  Horses. 
There  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  how 
often  horses  should  be  watered  during  a  day,  whether 
iu  summer  or  in  winter.  We  have  an  article  now 
before  us  of  a  writer  of  some  distinction  as  an  agri- 
culturist, who  advocates  frequent  watering  of  work 
Ihiisi  s.  iis  a  n-iirwcr  of  the  vigor  of  the  animals. 
\\',-  raiiiKit  a:ii  r  with  him.  We  think  both  man 
iiiil  111  a.-t  ai^  -I  lurally  watered  too  much.  Men 
aii'l  hiasrs  a!  Iiard  work  in  warm  weather  perspire 
Just  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  fluids  taken  into 
the  stomach.  Frequent  drinking  in  hot  weather, 
according  to  our  experience,  emasculates  instead  of 
refreshes.  Some  years  ago,  being  at  Cape  May,  in 
driving  out  in  one  of  the  stand-coaches  of  the  place, 
on  a  very  hot  day,  we  asked  the  driver  how  it  was 
tliat  his  horses  perspired  so  little,  while  the  horses 
of  private  carriages,  going  at  a  slower  speed,  were 
covered  with  foam.  He  replied  that  he  watered  his 
horses  three  times  a  day  only,  thougn  he  sponged 
their  mouths  frequently ;  while  the  private  drivers 
watered  their  horses  whenever  they  stopped.  He 
said,  and  it  seemed  to  us  very  sensible,  that  the  fre- 
quent watering  of  horses  effected  no  good  purpose, 
while  it  made  them  very  uncomfortable  and  lethar- 
gic. Horses,  no  matter  what  their  work  was,  did 
not  need  watering  oftencr  than  three  times  a  day. 
Our  own  experience  with  horses  all  our  life  is  to  the 
same  effect. 

Sale  of  Short  Horns. 
Mr.  Samuel  Rutter,  of  Manchester,  sold  at  the 
Fair  Grounds,  through  W.  H.  Miller,  auctioneer,  a 
very  fine  lot  of  short  horns,  cows  and  heifers.  They 
were  sold  to  the  following  pa,rties  :  No.  1,  ?1.51 ;  No. 
7,  $100;  No.  10,  $141;  No.  11,  ?12.5;  ann  No.  17, 
$100,  to  J.  H.  Small ;  No.  2,  «76,  to  John  Uukehart, 
of  Eramittsburg,  Md.;  No.  3,  $l:i0  ;  No.  1.5,  8(!4 ; 


Apiary. 


Swarming  of  Bees. 


and  No.  18,  $00,  to  S.  W.  Tliolenberger,  of  Cumber- 
land county  ;  No.  4,  §131,  J.  H.  Wogen  ;  No.  5,  $56; 
No.  8,  $187,  3.  ti.  Erwiu  ;  No.  6,  $:!8,  Samuel  Lich. 
bolls,  and  then  add  the  pieces  of  terrapin  and  eggs  1  tenberger  ;  No.  9,  $74,  George  Kunkel ;  No.  12,  $64, 


When  one  concludes,  which  as  a  rule  he  better  do, 
to  let  his  bees  swarm  naturally,  it  becomes  him  to 
ask  what  are  the  reasonable  rules  to  be  observed  for 
succets.     Let  me  lay  down  a  few  : 

First.  Provide, during  the  leisure  of  the  winterlpre- 
vious  to  swarming,  all  the  hives  necessary.  Don't 
wait  until  they  begin  to  swarm  before  you  provide 
the  hives.  I  make  it  a  rule  to  have  double  the  num- 
ber of  hives  I  need  on  hand.  That  is.  If  I  have  forty 
swarms,  I  have  eighty  empty  hives  on  hand.  Hence 
I  have  so  far  ever  had  a  surplus,  and  this  year  when 
I  took  them  out  of  my  house-garret,  where  I  keep 
them  stored,  they  were  marked  1866,  1871,  18.58,  and 
other  j'ears,  showing  that  some  of  them  had  been  on 
hand  a  long  time  unused.  Now,  this  is  not  absolute- 
ly necessary,  but  Is  better  than  to  have  hurry  and 
confusion  at  the  time  of  swarming.  At  least  provide 
for  your  aiparyone  and  a-half  hives  to  every  hive  you 
expect  to  winter.  That  Is,  if  you  winter  twelve  hives, 
then  bv  May  1st  have  eighteen  well-made  and  nicely- 
painted  hivis  on  hand  ready  fof  your  swarms. 

Second.  Using  old  hives.  This  can  be  readily  done; 
but  prepare  them  carefully.  Scrape  them  clean  with 
an  old  knife  or  tool  made  on  purpose,  and  then  scald 
them  out  thoroughly  with  plenty  of  boiling  water. 
Slop  all  holes  and  cracks  and  thoroughly  repaint 
them.  Hives,  if  thoroughly  nailed  when  first  made, 
will  be  found  in  better  order  when  they  arc  refitted 
for  second  or  subsequent  use.  So  I  recommend  sonod 
lumber,  tight  joints,  close  and  what  seems  to  be  over- 
nailing  of  the  parts  of  the  hive  together,  puttying 
and  painting  thoroughly.  A  hive  ought  to  be  made 
to  last  forty  years.  Say  six  or  eight  years  for  the 
first  swarm  put  iu  it;  then  cleaned,  repainted  and 
used  from  four  to  ten  years  for  the  second  swarm, 
and  so  on  at  least  forty  years.  Paint  hives  of  dif- 
ferent colors ;  green  is  a  good  color,  as  is  yellow, 
white  and  brown.  The  so-called  railroad,  mineral 
and  other  colors  are  excellent  iu  shades  of  coloring, 
but  not  as  durable  as  white  lead.  But  white  lead, 
colored  by  green  and  other  colors,. is  apt  to  become  . 
dingy  iu  a  few  years  by  the  color  washing  out  by 
rains. 

Third.  Having  said  this  much  on  making  hives 
and  using  them  repeatedly,  let  me  say  as  thirdly, 
use  nothing  in  any  hive  when  you  put  your  swarm 
into  it.  Now  all  cl^an,  ni'^e,  experienced  liec-kcepers 
knnv  the  reason  of  this.  It  is  because  just  as  the 
bees  are  about  to  swarm  they  swallow  all  the  honey, 
bee-bread,  or  other  supplies  of  food  they  can  possibly 
eat,  and  stufl'ed  with  about  a  week's  food  they  do 
not  want  any  more  to  eat.  I  have  had  a  rainy,  cold 
time  to  come,  with  no  harm  to  the  swarms,  of  three, 
six,  and  in  one  instance  eight  days,  so  wet  and  cold 
that  hardly  a  bee  came  out  of  the  hive  holding  the 
new  swarm.  Hence  I  say  the  supply  of  food  taken 
by  a  new  swarm  is  about  a  week's  supply.  So  if 
you  now  rub  honey,  molasses,  mint,  or  anything  Id 
your  hives,  you  only  insult  your  bees.  As  well  might 
you  ask  a  stuffed  boy  to  eat  his  supper  on  top  of  his 
Thanksgiving  dinner,  as  to  ask  an' overgorged  bee  to 
lick  up  your  supposed  nice  things  put  in  your  hive. 
Tou  ought  to  know  better  than  to  do  such  a  silly 
thing,  reader,  yet  whisky  and  molasses,  bee-mint, 
honey  and  water,  vinegar  and  sugar,  salt  and  alum, 
and  I  know  not  what  are  put  into'  hives  by  thought- 
less, silly  bee-keepers,  who  want  to  "  do  something  " 
they  know  not  what.  Now  all  I  say  is,  that  since 
18.57  I  have  kept  bees,  and  I  never  yet  had  a  swarm 
leave  a  hive  and  go  off  to  the  woods ;  and  I  believe 
one  reason  of  success  to  this  absolute  extent  Is  that 
I  never  soil  and  make  my  hives  foul  with  honey, 
salt,  molasses  or  anything.  I  give  the  hives  clean 
and  sweet,  and  the  bees  never  yet  told  me  that  they 
warned  anything  more.  You  farmers  raise  pork, 
wheal ,  eggs,  oats  and  beef.  Now  suppose  you  move 
out  of  your  old  house  into  your  new  house,  aud  your 
neighbors  have  gone  the  night  before  and  mixed  up 
eggs,  wheat,  lard,  tallow,  oats  and  beef,  and  daubed 
your  floors,  walls  and  windows  with  the  mixture, 
just  to  please  you.  How  would  you  like  it  ?  So 
you,  for  the  neatest  of  all  insects,  a  bee,  put  honey 
to  walk  on,  mint  to  smell  of,  and  molasses  to  clean 
up,  ou  the  walls  of  the  new  hive  for  bees  I  It  must 
be  as  pleasant  to  them  as  to  you  to  find  a  lot  of  eggs 
and  lard  and  wheal  on  the  floors  of  your  new  house. 
I  No !  All  you  ask  and  the  bees  ask  is  a  clean  bouse 
I  to  go  into. 

Fourth.  Supplies  of  swarming  implements.  These 
I  are  the  hive,  clean  and  ueatly  made,  clean  and 
neat  inside,  dry  and  cool ;  next  a  piece  of  cheap, 
■  stout  linen  cloth,  large  enough  to  tie  over  the  top 
.  of  the  hive  so  closely  that  not  a  bee  can  get  out 
I  when  tied ;  a  ladder  as  tall  as  are  the  apple  or 


96 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  June,  1879. 


other  trees  near  your  apiary,  a  few  pieces  of  stick 
or  lumber  one  and  a  a-half  inches  wide,  and  one 
or  one  and  a-quarter  inches  thick;  a  few  pieces  of 
board  four  feet  long  and  half  an  inch  thick,  and 
ten  inches  or  so  wide,  and  perhaps  a  few  pieces, 
triangular  in  shape,  to  put  under  your  hive.  Then 
add  a  bee-veil  of  common  black  lace,  a  rope  20 
feetlong  and  a  neat,  clean  half-bushel  round  basket. 
If  your  apiary  is  large  you  may  want  two  hiving- 
cloths,  and  a  second  set  of  boards  and  sticks.  Tlie 
use  of  the  hive  needs  no  explanation  ;  but  the 
boards  and  long  sticks  are  to  build  a  platform  in 
the  top  of  any  tree,  or  to  lay  on  the  ground  to 
hive  there.  If  your  swarm  lights  on  the  top  of  a 
tree,  as  mine  often  do,  twenty-five  feet  from  the 
ground,  it  is  in  vain  to  shake  them  oft' in  your  half- 
bushel  basket  and  bring  tliem  down  and  hive  on 
the  ground  ;  or  at  least  it  will  take  half  an  hour 
longer  lo  do  it  than  on  the  ground.  Hence  I  pre- 
fer to  run  the  ends  of  the  long  sticks  among  the 
branches,  rest  the  ends  on  the  "ladder,  lay  on  the 
sticks  the  boards,  hiving-cloth  and  hive,  and  pro- 
ceed to  hive  them  in  the  top  of  the  tall  tree.  Thus 
I  can  hive  them  in  twenty  minutes,  instead  of  the 
hour's  time  of  reluctant  change  to  the  ground  that 
I  often  encounter.  One  soon  learns  that  eight  to 
ten  minutes  is  all  the  time  it  takes  a  swarm  to 
come  out  and  light.  That  in  five  minutes  more  he 
can  build  his  platform,  even  in  the  tall  tree;  shake 
the  bees  off,  without  cutting  a  limb,  and  in  fifteen 
minutes  more  have  the  bees  so  far  in  that  he  can 
take  the  hive  with  the  new  swarm  in  it  down  the 
ladder  and  put  it  on  its  permanent  stand.  Away 
with  your  letting  the  hive  be  until  sundown  and 
dark.  The  man  who  cannot  liave  the  swarm  come 
out  and  be  hived  and  put  in  its  permanent  place 
in  from  thirty  to  forty  minutes,  has  not  learned 
how  to  hive  bees.  So  neatness,  quiet  dispatch,  and 
a  clear  plan  are  necessary  to  hiving  a  swarm  well. 
And  provide  your  tools  to  do  it  wilih  belbrehand.  I 
have  named  all  I  generally  use. — J.  A'.  Parker,  M.D., 
Tompkins  county,  N.  Y. 

[Like  causes  produce  like  effects  in  all  ages  of  the 
world,  therefore  the  foregoing  from  the  Germantovm 
Telegraph  is  not  the  less  valuable  because  it  hap- 
pened to  be  published  four  years  ago.  People  are 
apt  to  mislay  or  forget.— Ed.  Faumek.] 

Honey  in  the  Boston  Market. 

The  A}ncrica}i  Bee  Journal  says  ;  The  settled  aver- 
sion of  Bostouians  to  all  kinds  of  dark  honey  has 
long  been  known  to  those  producers  and  dealers  who 
have  marketed  honey  there.  While  they  willingly 
pay  the  higliest  prices  for  a  fancy  white  article,  they 
cannot  be  induced  to  buy,  taste  or  handle  the  dark 
grades.  VVc  know  a  producer  who  took  SJiuOpomii!,* 
of  honey  to  that  market  this  vi-:ii.  .i,!i')i)  ni-  liji 
and3,000dark.  He  sold  out  tiip  li.  ,i  .■>  y.r-  ;,■ 
advantage;  the  dark  dragged.  11^  i  ,  I  ':; 
to  a  commifsion  house  and  went  hoin  .  .Mn  ,-■  ,- 
ral  mouths  he  learned  that  no  progress  was  being 
made  with  its  sale,  and  the  lot  was  transferred  to 
another  commission  house  in  Boston,  and  they  had 
no  luck  in  disposing  of  it,  when  it  was  sent  to  New 
York,  and  at  forced  sale  brought  from  8  to  10  cents 
per  pound.  We  advise  our  readers  to  never  send  dark 
honey  to  Boston.  Mr.  David  (ieer,  a  regular  "down 
easter,"  and  the  pioneer  honey  i)eddler  of  the  United 
States,  is  located  there.  He  is  about  70  years  of  age, 
and  is  reputed  to  be  worth  over  ?10U,000.  He  has 
made  his  entire  fortune  by  peddling  honey  all  through 
the  New  England  States,  not  unfrequently  having  8 
to  10  wagons  on  the  road. 


indication  invariably  that  you  will  observe — when  a 
fowl  is  beginning  to  get  broody — is,  that  she  remains 
upon  her  laying  nest  after  her  companions  have,  as 
usual,  gone  to  roost  at  night. 


Poultry. 


To  Break  Up  Sitting  Hens, 
At  this  time  of  the  year,  when  for  a  month  to  come 
a  majority  of  the  liock  have  laid  out  their  spring  lit- 
ters and  have  become  naturally  "broody,"  is  a  task 
to  the  poultry  raiser  who  keeps  large  numbers  of 
fowls. 

There  is  frequently  much  unnscessary  trouble 
caused  at  this  period,  and  under  these  circumstances, 
yet  through  the  inattention  of  the  fowl  keeper  him- 
self, who  neglects  to  watcb  for  this  natural  inclina- 
tion of  his  hens  and  pullets,  after  they  have  so  laid 
out  their  early  litters  of  eggs.  And  there  are  also 
many  cruel  methods  resorted  to  by  inexperienced 
persons,  to  put  a  stop  to  this,  in  attempts  to  compel 
hens  to  go  to  laying  again. 

The  broody  or  "hatching  fever"  is  a  natural  thing. 
All  hens  and  pullets  (that"  are  not  what  are  termed 
"non-sitters")  incline  to  go  to  nest  at  sr/me  time  in 
the  year,  with  a  desire  to  rear  young  ones.  As  a  gen- 
eral method,  we  have  no  doubt  it  is  quite  as  well  if 
all  hens  thus  inclined  are  permitted  to  sit  once  in  the 
season.  They  are  better  olf  for  this  indulgence  in 
the  end. 

But  if  for  any  reason  we  prefer  to  break  them  up, 
let  it  be  done  huniuuely  and  effectively.  And  this 
may  be  accomplished  without  abuse,  or  by  plunging 
them  in  a  cold-water  bath,  tying  them  to  stakes, 
half  smothering  them  in  a  darkened  barrel— and  that 
kind  of  nonsense — which  is  rarely  of  any  avail. 

Watch  your  laying  fowls  every  day  now.  The  first 


Non-Hatching. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  desire  to  write  a  few  lines  upon  non- 
hatching  eggs,  as  I  have  had  considerable  sad  ex- 
perience in  that  line.  About  for  years  ago  I  had  a 
tine  flock  of  White  Leghorn  hens.  Wishing  to  in- 
crease the  size  I  purchased  a  ten-pound  Plymouth 
Piock  cock  and  put  him  with  my  flock.  After  wait- 
ing proper  time  I  set  about  100  eggs,  and  not  a 
chicken  made  its  appearance.  The  eggs  were  all 
infertile,  as  can  be  easily  told  after  being  set  upon  a 
few  days.  Not  wishing  to  give  it  up,  I  obtained  a 
Black  .Spanish  cock,  and  nearly  every  egg  hatched. 
I  then  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  "Plymouth 
Hock  cock  was  too  large.  Not  liking  the  looks  of 
mongrel  stock,  I  built  a  hennery  with  six  apartments. 
The  size  of  each  was  4x8  feet  with  yard  4x12  feet.  I 
obtained  a  trio  eaeh  of  six  leading  varieties,  and  put 
them  in,  each  kind  by  themselves.  I  got  a  fair 
quantity  of  eggs,  and  set  from  each  coop,  but  the 
chicks  did  not  come  out.  I  did  not  raise  half  a 
dozen.  This  was  owing  to  close  confinement.  Now 
I  have  abandoned  all  but  Plymouth  Rocks  and 
Brahraas,  and  give  them  opequarter  of  an  acre,  .and 
have  no  more  trouble  about  non-hatching  of  eggs. — 
A.  Jf.  in  American  Poultry    Yard. 

An  Economical  Feed-Trough. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  "  economy  is  wealth,"  we 
append  herewith  a  description  of  what  we  have  used 
for  some  time,  and  consider  it  a  very  economical 
feed-trough.  Its  construction  is  very  simple.  For  a 
trough  of  medium  size,  take  a  soap  box,  and  placing 
it  upon  one  of  its  sides,  remove  the  top,  with  the 
exception  of  four  inches  from  the  side  on  which  the 
box  stands  ;  then  saw  the  efids  diagonally  from  this 
point  to  the  upper  point  of  the  box.  Now  stretch 
some  wire  at  2V2@2  inches  apart  fiom  each  other — 
from  the  front  to  the  back  of  the  box — and  while 
fowls  will  be  fully  able  to  get  their  food  through  these 
wires,  they  will  be  unable  on  account  of  the  slope, 
to  perch  upon  them.  If  soft  food  is  to  be  placed  in 
the  trough,  a  slip  can  be  easily  arranged  at  the  end, 
which  will  admit  a  pan  of  moderate  size,  but  for 
grain  this  will  not  be  needed. 


A  Cheap  Poultry-House, 
Dear  Sir  :  I  thought  that  perhaps  it  might  not  do 
any  harm  to  give  you  my  experience  in  building  a 
cheap  poultry-house.  We  are  mueh  pleased  with  it, 
filtlin.i'jli  it  cost  only  about  six  dollars,  besides  the 
':'!■  1  in.l  "  iiiilows  (any  old  sash  will  do).  I  pro- 
iiii'l  I'lii  imsts,  ten  feet  long,  set  them  eight  feet 
,i,oi:  >.n.  \.ay  and  twelve  the  other,  leaving  seven 
lia  .il.uvG  ground.  The  sides  and  ends  I  covered 
with  inch  boards  (pine),  lapping  them  over  about 
one  inch,  in  order  to  keep  out  the  rain  and  snow. 
The  roof  is  made  of  long  prairie-grass,  and  projects 
over  about  two  feet  all  around.  If  you  think  that 
any  part  of  this  may  be  of  use  to  any  of  your  readers, 
you  are  at  liberty  to  publish  it.-^G.  B.  N.,  in  Ameri- 
can Poultry  Yard. 


Vermin. 
Dear  Sir  :  This  is  the  way  I  took  to  rid  my 
poultry  and  poultry-house  of  lice.  It  is  the 
best  way  to  destroy  them  that  I  ever  practiced, 
and  it  is  very  effectual.  In  the  summer  my  fowl- 
house  has  sometimes  been  alive  with  the  pest.  I 
went  to  work  and  white-washed  every  crack  and 
corner  in  and  about  my  house,  and  then  made  a  box 
four  feet  square  and  one  foot  deep;  I  filled  it  with 
coal-ashes,  bought  five  pounds  of  sulphur  and  mixed 
it  with  the  ashes  and  let  the  fowls  dust  in  it,  and  in 
a  month  after  I  had  no  more  lice  in  and  about  my 
place,  and  have  not  found  any  to  this  day.  My  fowls 
are  always  clean  and  lively. —  W.JI.  in  Poultry  Yard. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


Department  of  Agriculture,  Special  .'teport  No. 
l.S.  Upon  the  condition  of  crops  and  live  stocks, 
April,  1879  ;  26  pp.,  8  vo.     Washiugton,  D.  C. 

Official  Bulletin  of  the  International  Exhibi- 
tion, Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia,  1879.  "  Inter- 
national Exhibition  Company."  36  pp.,  8  vo.,  with 
a  superb  illustration. 

PosPECTUS  of  the  American  Workers'  Alliance, 
for  the  advancement  of  educational,  industrial,  co- 
operative and  social  reform.  3  p.,  8  vo.  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  1879. 

Dewey's  Crystal  Froit  Jabs.— Made  expressly 
for  nurserymen  and  tree  dealers'  use  in  keeping  and 
exhibiting  fruit.  Rochester,  New  York.  D.  M.Dewev, 
1879.     1  p.,  4to. 

The  Plant  Patent.— 1  p.,  4to.  Jacob  Moore. 
The  question  discussed  is,  "  Whether  men  who  origi- 
nate new  fruits  and  plants  ought  not  to  be  protected 
the  same  as  other  patentees  are?" 


Catalogue  of  Natural  History  Store.  Estab- 
lished in  1850.  No.  168  Tremont  street,  Boston. 
Deals  in  birds,  ndinerals,  fossils,  shells  and  objects 
of  Natural  History  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Also, 
artificial  eyes  and  all  articles  required  by  taxider- 
mists. 33  pp.,  8  vo.  W.  J.  Knowlton,  proprietor. 
1879. 

The  Daily  Chronicle,  Leadville,  Col.,  April  30, 
1S79.  It  is  simply  astonishing;  a  little  more  than  a 
year  ago  there  was  no  such  place  as  Leadville, 
to-day  there  is  a  city  of  12,000  inhabitants,  and  at 
least  one  daily  paper,  containing  more  advertise- 
ments than  all  the  dailies  in  Lancaster  put  together. 
Larger  than  the  Evening  Daily  of  York,  and  published 
at  five  cents  a  number. 

The  Farmers'  Monthly  and  AGRicin.TnRAL 
Review.— Devoted  to  agriculture,  horticulture,  the 
farm  and  the  garden.  Vol.  I.,  No.  2.  Toronto, 
Canada,  May  15th,  1879.  Office,  No.  96  King  street, 
East.  Fifty  cents  a  year,  in  advance.  An  eight-page 
demi-quarto.  Good  and  cheap,  and  largely  devoted 
to  the  advertisement  of  good  and  desirable  farming 
lands  within  the  territory  of  the  Dominion.  We 
cordially  greet  it,  wishing  it  that  success  which  we 
think  it  richly  deserves. 

The  Kansas  Monthly— An  illustrated  journal, 
published  in  the  interest  of  those  who  are  seeking 
homes  in  Kausas,  is  on  oar  table.  It  is  not  published 
in  the  interest  of  la».d  nharks,  but  gives  a  truthful 
exhibit  of  the  situation  in  Kansas.  Every  immigrant 
should  have  it.  Sent  free  of  postage  for  fifteen  cents 
a  number,  orS1.50  per  year.  A  copy  of  the  Kansas 
Hand-Book,  by  the  same  publisher,  is  sent  free  to 
?very  yearly  subscriber.  Address  J.  S.  Boughton, 
Publisher,  Lawrenca,  Kansas. 

The  Meteorologist. — Published  monthly  in  the 
interest  of  the  science  of  meteorology,  in  Greensburg, 
Pa.,  at  50  cents  per  annum.  Edited  by  I.  M.L. 
Stump,  No.  4,  Vol.1,  (June,  ls79,)  of  which  has 
reached  our  table.  We  can  hardly  decide  whether 
it  is  a  large  12mo.  or  a  small  8vo.  of  twelve  pages. 
No  matter  about  that,  however,  but  it  does  seem  to 
strike  us  that  there  is,  or  ought  to  be,  a  vacuum  for 
just  this  kind  of  a  publication  and  this  kind  of  a 
price.  Practical  or  experimental  meteorology  is  the 
most  universal— and  sometimes  the  only — theme  of 
conversation  in  this  lower  world  ;  and  any  medium 
through  which  the  masses  may  be  instructed  to  talk 
and,act  intelligently,  scientifically  and  rationally  on 
this  subject  ought  to  be  welcomed  as  a  mental  and 
moral  benefactor.  We  mean  no  flattery  when  we 
say  that  this  little  unpretending  publication  will  be 
interesting  and  beneficial  to  those  who  are,  as  well 
as  those  who  only  assume  to  be  "  weatherwise." 
The  very  recent  great  "  Kansas  Cyclone  "  ought  to 
find  a  detailed  exemplification  in  these  columns, 
and  no  doubt  in  due  time  it  will,  even  if  the  real  why 
and  wherefore, -together  with  the  means  to  avoid 
such  catastrophes,  never  can  be  demonstrated. 
The  present  number  is  well  filled  with  papers  on 
such  subjects  as  evaporation,  freezing,  cometary 
phenomena,  humidity,  simoons,  meteors,  sand- 
waves,  water-spouts,  ventilation  and  other  allied 
phenomenal  subjects. 

Moore's  Rural  Life. — Before  we  say  anything 
more  on  the  subject  of  this  literary  candidate  for 
public  favor,  we  would  most  respectfully  admonish 
the  Scientific  American  and  the  American  Agricultur- 
ist to  "  look  to  their  laurels."  It  is  true  that  the 
first  named  occupies  a  ground  so  purely,  so  distinct- 
ly, and  so  peculiarly  its  own,  that  it  need  not  fear 
rivalry,  in  the  present  or  prospective,  yet  it  might  be 
different  with  the  last  named,  occupying  a  similar 
ground.  Moore's  Rural  Life,  a  demi-folio  of  twenty- 
four  pages,  with  illustrated  tinted  covers;  No.  1, 
Vol.  I.,  for  June,  1S79,  which  is  now  before  us,  is 
"an  illustrated  journal  for  suburban,  village  and 
country  homes,"  and  is  gotten  up  in  the  highest  style 
of  mechanical  execution,  artistic  elaboration  and 
literary  ability,  and  may  well  dispute  the  field  with 
any  other  similar  journal  in  the  country.  In  size  of 
page  it  is  a  trifle  larger  than  the  Ncientiftc  American, 
with  a  finer  quality  of  paper,  as  finely  illustrated, 
and  a  newer  and  distincter  typography.  The  con- 
tents of  the  number  before  us  relate  to  the  subjects 
of  rural  and  suburban  homes  ;  landscape  gardening  ; 
floriculture ;  fruit  culture ;  arboriculture ;  ento- 
mology ;  the  vegetable  garden ;  poultry  and  pet 
stock  ;  sketches  of  life ;  literary  miscellany ;  natural 
science ;  fancy  work  and  fashion ;  domestic  and 
hygienic  affairs ;  outdoor  amusements ;  life  in  the 
country;  young  fo'.ks;  editorial  gossip  and  book 
notices  ;  but  from  the  absence  of  any  specific  men- 
tion of  agriculture  it  might  be  inferred  that  it  does 
not  intend  to  canvass  that  field  as  a  specialty,  ex- 
cept as  the  foregoing  subjects  may  relate  to  it  inci- 
dentally. This  journal  starts  out  iu  life  at  a  point 
which  the  other  two  journals  have  attained  after 
long  years  of  enterprise,  energy  and  experience,  and 
if  it  continues  as  it  has  begun,  if  it  does  not  take  a 
leading  position,  it  may  in  time  divide  the  honors 
equally  with  them.  Published  monthly  by  The 
Rui:al  Life  Company,  No.  .34  Park  Row,  New 
York  ;  and  dealers  supplied  by  the  American  News 
Company,  Nos.  .39  and  41  Chambers  street,  N.  Y., 
and  the  International  News  Company,  No.  11  Bouverie 
street  (Fleet  street),  London,  England,  at  $1..50  per 
annum  to  subscribers. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


"Low  Prices  will  Kui.e  i'Ok  Fkhti 
FarnierB  will  not  only  be  glad  to  hear  it,  but  will 
commend  the  firm  wlileh  lias  the  nerve  to  make  the 
•emphatic  announcement.  Baugh  &  Son*  announce 
important  reductions  in  the  pricca  of  Phosphates 
and  Ground  Bones  and  simply  state  what  has  been 
Icnown  to  agriculturists  for  years  past,  that  their 
facilities  for  making  and  selling  Ground  Bones  and 
Phosphate  are  unsurpassed  by  any  house  in  the 
United  Slates. 


f anior  Mower  Coiupanif's  Specialties. 


m^ww^rm 


Till-,  ORIOIN.\L   IMPUOVED 

Randall  PulveT*izing  Harrow ! 

Ovel-  3V.O0O   IN  I'.SK. 

Cblllcd  Tron  or  Steol  Di»k«,  Center  Joiiitpd.  Improved 
Sliffener  Bar.  Ari,(le  t.f  Oungs  adjusted  by  a  Lever.  Ad- 
justable 8craper».  The  most  couvenieiit,  durable  and  ef- 
fective harrow  miidp. 

tsr-  STEW  roBSr  rCI.TIVATOK.  -« 

Moat  efficient  and  Pcrf  ict  Itupleiuont  for  working  rowed 

crops.    Gives  more  than  universal  aatisfaction. 

THE  UNRIVALED  WARRIOR  MOWER! 

Lightest    Draft,   Eaaii'st   Managed,    Most    Durable   Mower 
made.     OVER  40.00"  IN  USE.     Challeiigcs  competing  ma- 
chines for  nnv  work  or  endurance. 
SEXD  FOR  Cinrul.Mi   TO 

79-lm-4]  \V.\KKIOR  MOWER  CO.,  Ijttle  Falls,  N.  T. 


HEARING  -"'•  ""^^itit^^Jh: 


$5  TO  $20:.d, 


LOWEST  PRICES  WILL  RULE. 


Lo^viiST  Prices 

Ever  Known  in  the  U.  S.  for  Bones  and 
phates. 


BAUGirS  R\W  BOXE   PHOSPHATE 

$30  PER  2000  lbs.  CASH, 

WITH  DISCOUNT  TO  DEALERS, 

Delivered  ou  bo:!.rii  boat  or  cars  iu  Philadelphia  or  Baltimore. 

DealPrs  will  take  notice  they  will  be  protected  in  the 
Bale  of  this  Manure.  Ouly  one  dealer  will  be  established  in 
a  town,  who  will  be  furuidhed  with  the  Phosphate  at  whole- 
sale prices. 

Early  correspouileuce  from  those  who  wish  to  control  the 
above  goods  in  Bpecir.i  sections  or  townships,  is  necessary, 
as  we  are  organizing  for  the  Summer  aud  fall  busiuesa  a 
system  of  unprecedented 

LOW  PRICES, 


Bone  I*^ertilizer*s 

are  beyond  all  question,  unsurpassed  in  the 

UNITED  STATES. 


LOW  PRICES  WILL  RULE. 

BAUGH  &,  SONS, 

PniL.\I)EI,I'HI.\  AND  B.^LTIMORE. 

79-5-1 m 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANDFACTUREROP 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

MADDLF.N, 

COLLARS,  WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &c., 

ALSO   DEALER    IN 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFALO  ROBE.S, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &c., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

T9-1-1!)  LANOASTKB,  PA. 


NiCHOLS,SHEPARD&CO. 

Bnltlo  Orooh,    MIflt. 

ORIGINAL  AND  ONLY  GENUINE 

«  VI  B  K.  ^i^  T  O  12^  » 

THRESHING  MACHINERY. 


THE  MatchlfM  Oraln-Ssrinp.  Tlme-SiTlnf 
•nd  Monoy-Savlnii  Thrc«hiri  ofthU  (1»J  •nd  scnrr» 
tloti.     Rcjond  »U  rivniry  for  Raptd  Work,  Perfect  Clwr"'— 


A  DEPARTURE 

High  Prices  for  Phosphates. 


STEAM  Power  ThreslicrB  s  Sperinlly.   Special 
■ilea  ot  Scparalora  made  exijre«»ly  for  Sleara  Power. 

OUB   Unrivaled   Steam    Thresher    Enginen, 
mUE  ENTIRE  Threshing  ExpenseB  (and  often 

Extra  Qralo  SAVKD  by  these  Iini>roved  Machiues. 

I^BAIN  Raisers  will  not  ""'»™',.*^|».|,J'^''jJJ',"J' 

all  other  machloea,  when  onoo  posl«d  on  the  dllTereiiCe. 

NOT  Only  Vastlf  Superior  for  Wheat.  Oats, 
BariuT.  »yc.  and  like  Oralna,  but  the  Okly  Bucce»». 
fnl  Threslier  in  Flax.  Timothy,  Millet,  Clovei,  and  like 

change  from  Uroin  to  i^eeda. 

IN  Thoroogh  Workmanship.  Elegant  Finish. 
Perfection  of  Parta.  Completeness  of  Kqui|.meni.  <'t<-,, 
-    -  .8  are  Inoomparabl«. 


IVTABVELOUS  for  Simplicity  of  Parts,  using 

ATA  less  than  one-half  the  usual  Belts  and  Gears.    Hakes 
Clean  Work,  with  no  Litterings  or  Scatterings. 

pOnB  Sizes  of  Separators  Made,  Banging 


TlOi 


OB  Particulars,   Call 

Illustrated  Cln 


A  GOOD  PLAN. 


linR  It 


Anybody  can  learn  to  make  money  rapidly 
Stoclfs,  by  the  "Two  UnerrinK  Rnlestor  Snocea 
Lawrence  h  C'o.'s  new  circulat.  The  combination  method, 
which  tills  firm  his  made  so  suCL-essful,  enables  people  with 
large  or  small  nieauB  toreaij  all  thebeiiefltsof  largest  capital 
and  lest  skill.  Thousands  of  orders,  in  various  sums,  are 
pooled  into  cue  vast  amount  apid  co-apcrated  as  a  mighty 
whole,  thus  securing  to  each  shareholder  all  the  advantages 
of  thelargestoperalor.  Immetiseiirolllsare divided  monthly. 
Any  amount  from  $5  to  $5,000,  or  more,  can  be  used  suocosj- 
fuUy.  N.  y.  BapOnt  Weekly,  September  26th,  1878,  says, 
"By  the  combination  system  $  5  would  make  $75,  or  5  per 
cent  ;  $30  pays  $330,  or  7  per  cent.;  $100  makes  $1,000, 
or  10  per  cent,  on  the  stock,  during  the  month,  according 
to  the  market."  Frailk  LeMWa  Illu.itrated  Scuispaper,  June 
29th;:  The  combination  method  of  operating  stocks  is  the 
most  successful  ever  adopted."  .Vcic  York  Independent 
September  I2th:  The  combination  system  is  founded  upon 
correct  business  principles,  and  no  person  need  be  without 
an  income  while  it  is  kept  working  by  Messrs.  Lawrence  & 
Co.'Broohli/n  Journal,  April  20th:  "Our  editor  made  a  net 
profit  of  $101.25  from  $r.0  in  one  of  Messrs.  Lawrence  & 
Co. '8  combinations."  New  circular  (mailed  free)  explains 
everything.  Stocks  and  bonds  wanted.  Oovernment  bonds 
supplied.     Lawrence  &   Co.,  Bankers,  57  Exchange  Place 


To  meet  the  demand  of  the  times,  we  have  commeuo«d 
the  manufacture  of 

THE 

TWENTY  DOLLAIl  PII0SI'1L\TE, 
WE    GUAkANTEE 

every  bag : 

Ammonia,         -         -         -  2.1  to    3  per  cent. 

Bone  Phosphate,  Soluble,  10  "  12        " 

"  "  Insoluble,  7  "     8       " 

Price,  $20  per  2000  lbs.  in  NewBae;sof 
200  lbs.  each, 

Free  on  borrd  cars  or  liuats  in  I'liilad.-l]  hia  or  Baltimore. 

Philudolphia. 


EPILEPSY 

^B.  RO.SS'  ltSi:ure8.    Eatal. 


or  FITS 
CURED! 


edy  ahsuTute  and 

y..„ ..  , after  snirorlog  for  15  years  writ«s: 

Da.  Ross.  Richmond.  Ind.— Dear  Sir:   I  liaro  been  per- 
manently cured  bjr  your  treatment,  for  which  I  am  tnilir 
grateful.    During  the  post  tlireo  years  I 
you  t.i  others  who  have  also  been  cuied 

"/or  Ccrt'iScates  of  Nomeroi 
mation  address    Vn.  UOSS, 


by  DB.  Rt 
%1A1.  I'A< 


Nomone^  could 


OFFICE, 


No,  9  M\\  Queen  Sheet 


LANCASTER,  PA. 


N.  Y. 


[79-5-12n 


lifMtk  of   tile    year 


DISEASESOFLIVESTOCK 

and  their  moal  efficient  remedial.  Including  Horses,  Cattle, 
Sheep  and  Swine.  A  popular  treatise,  giviug  a  description 
of  all  the  usual  diseases  to  which  these  animals  are  liable, 
and  the  most  ancoessful  treatment  of  American,  EnKlisb, 
and  European  veterinarians,  by  Li.Otd  V.  Tkllob,  M.  D. 
Pp.  460.     Price,  cloth,  $2.S0.    Hold  only  by  mibucripMon. 


I  receipt  c 
villbnj 

as  it  vnW  save  him  hnudreds  of  dollars.  AST  AOKNT 
WANTF.n  i;V  EVRIIY  TOWN.  Agents  S'-e  makini 
from  glO  to  SaO  n  tl»y  se  ling  it.  For  Circulars  am 
terms,  address. 

H.  C.  WATTS  CO..  SOS  Minor  St.,  PhiladelphU. 
7»-l-3m. 


iB-an  old,  well-established  newspaper,  and  contains  just  tba 
news  desirable  to  make  it  an  interesting  and  valuabU 
Family  Newapiper.  It  is  published  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday,  subscribers  having  the  choice  of  whichever  edition 
that  suits  their  mail  facilities  best.  The  postage  to  sub- 
sciibers  residing  outside  of  Lancaster  county  is  paid  by  the 
publisher. 
Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Ib  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  i 
the  tiewB  by  mail  am)  telegraph  I'rom  a\\  ptirU  ot  tbe  world 
up  to  the  hour  of  going  to  (tresg.  It  is  furoiBhed  to  sub- 
BcriberB  at  all  the  towns  and  villages  iu  the  couutj,  ncoe*- 
sible  by  rail  or  stage,  by  curriers  at  Ten  Cents  a  Week. 
or  by  mall  at  Five  Dollars  per  Year. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nort'jL  Qneen  St., 


i:,A.lSrCA.STKK, 


THE  LANCASTER    FARMER. 


[June,  1879. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL, 

Devoied  to  Agriculfmre,  Horticulture.  Do- 
mestic Economy  and  Miscellany. 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the   Lancas- 
ter County  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 

ONEDOLLpPERANNUBf, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPRIETOR. 

All    subscriptions    will    commence   with    the 
January  number,  unless  otherwise  ordered. 


Dr.  8.  S.  rtathvon,  who  baa  so  ably  managed  the  editorial 
department  In  the  past,  will  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  His  contributions  on  subjects  connected  with  the 
science  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 
he  Is  so  thorouhly  a  master— entomological  science— some 
knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  success- 
ful farmer,  are  alone  wortii  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  is  determined  to  make  "The  Farmer" 
&  necessity  to  all  households. 

A  county  that  has  so  wide  a  reputation  as  La^ncaster 
ounty  for  its  agricultural  products,  should  certainly  be 
able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the 
exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  interest'-d  in  this  mat- 
oter.  We  ask  the  co-oporation  of  all  farmers  interested  in 
this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer"  is 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
Induce  them  to  subscribe.  It  is  not  much  for  each  sub- 
■criber  to  do  but  it  will  greatly  asBiet  us. 

All  communicatious  in  regard  tothe editorial  management 
should  be  addressed  to  Dr.  8.  S.  Rathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  Bubscriptione  and  ad- 
vertising should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Kates  of 
advertising  can  be  had  on  application  at  the  oflBce, 

JOHN  A.  HIESTAND, 

No.  9  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


^Qy 


King 


ily    Double 
iite<l.     Closes 
le  of  Kose.     Champion 
Iloe'_  Kinder.  Rings    and 

sharp  points  in 


HoHler. 


^J^     .e..asinca.e.o.    Hn,st.at 
W^  ^^  '^SS.    close  with  the  join!  B  in  the  flesh 

IV-— d|  and     produce     soreness    of    t&e 

1L_^_^  nose 

THE  i;HAMPION  HOO  HOLDER  Si  eaks  for  Itself 


OmI.t  Single  Ring  Ever  In- 
vented that  Closes  on  the 
Ontside  of  the  IVose. 

Brown's  Elliptical  Ring  and  Triple 
Groove  Hog  and  Pig  Ringer.  It  over- 
comes a  serious  defect  in  all  triangular 
and  other  rings  which  close  with  the 
joints  together  in  the  flesh,  causing  it 
to  decay  and    to    keep  the   hog's  ,u08e 


CHAMBERS,  BERING  &  QTJINLAN,  Exclusive  Manufacturers,  Decatur,  111 


ipDDAddreBsH. 

juu-lyr« 


Co.,  Portland,  Maine. 


i^i^^4l:l.H^^J5l.lj^.i>.^iJ=>^JJ.^ 


RESELL  EVERYTHING  foe  the 

g GARDEN  I 

Descriplive  Catal ugues  ol  170  pages  sent  Free     J 

PETER  HENDERSON&CO.  \ 

35  Cortlandt  St.,  JVeic  Tork. 


mM,m*.u.^ii\mi:m\.M.jnnsi.^A 


WHY  GO  WEST 


When  desirable  Fa: 


in  the  Great  Fruit  I)ls- 

;ar  Garden  can  be  had? 
I,  pure  waters,  ^ind  soil,  and 
;oramunication  by  Railroad, 
A  soil  producing  the  tiuest 
■  ■■  he  choicest  Fish, 


«r  the   Peninsu 

Cool  summerB,  mild  winter 

every  advantage  of  speedy 

Telegraph,  and  Daily  Malls.    A  i 

Grain,  Fruits  add  Flowers,  and  tl: 

Oysters,  Terrapin,  and  Wild  Fowl 

equalled;    as    investments    uusurpaysed.      For  Illustrated 

Books  inclose  2c  stamp  to  LAND  AGENT,  P.  W.  &  B.  R.  R. 

Depot,  W  ilmingtou,  Del.      t*"Special  advantages  offered 

to  Colonies.  f79-5-lt 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 

SCIENTIFIC  FOfiMOUS  FOR  IHFie  MAiOFACiyilE  ON  THE 
hm  SENT  FREE  TO  M  JDDRESS. 


The  Cheapest,  and  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  use,  can  be  made  with  but 
little  trouble,  by  using  our  Fertilizing  Chemi- 
cals and  Bones,  which  we  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation, 


Dissolved  Bones,  Sulphate  of  . 

Perfectly  Pure  Ground  Bon?8,  Fertilizing  Salt, 

Acidulated  Phosphate  Rock,  Sulphate  of  Soda, 

Phosphate  Rock,  flue  ground.  Muriate  of  Potash,  German, 

Laud  Plaster,  pure  and  fine  Oil  Vitriol,  full  strength, 

ground.  Sulphate  of  Magnesia 
Salpbat«  Potash  (Kalnlt),  (Eieserite). 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO. 

ANALYTICAL  CHEMISTS, 

AND 

lannfactnrers  of  Fertilizini  Chemicals. 

(Established   1793.) 


FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 
Office:  105  Sonth  Front  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA  PA. 


SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER,  JfA.. 
23S  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

All  matters  appertaining  to  UNITED  STATES  or  CANA- 
DIAN PATENTS,  TRADE  MARKS,  and  COPYRIGHTS, 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  auccesB  a'ld  faithful 
attention  to  the  interests  of  those  who  engage  his  Bervioes 
are  fully  acknowledged  and  appreciated. 

Preliminary  examinations  made  for  him  by  a  reliable  As- 
sistant at  Washington,  without  extra  charge  for  drawing 
or  description.  [79-1-tf 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 

TRADE  MARK.  The  Great  English  TRADE   MARK.. 
— 1^    Keineily  will  promp-  ^~^^.- 

^\  ly    and    radically    cui 
^.^any  and  every  cas 
^  ^  Debility 


,    -fectly  harmless,  acts 

Before  Taking  '^^.^^-gic,  -d_^has^beeu  ^^^^  j^y^_ 

thirty  years  with  great  success.  Fuli  particulars  in  our 
pamphlet,  which  we  desire  to  send  free  by  mail  to  every  one. 
The  specific  medicine  is  sold  by  all  drugKists  at  $1  per  pack- 
age, or  six  packages  for  $5,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  on 
receipt  of  the  money  by  addressing 

THE  GRAY  MEDICINE  COMPANY, 

No.  10  Mechanics'  Block,  Detroit,  Michigan. 

t»-Sold  in  Lancaster  by  H.  B.  Cochean.  13T  and  139  N. 
Queen  St.,  and  by  druggists  everywhere.  [79-3-12 


FREE  TO  ALL 

Fx.E:E:T"urooi3's 

LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

8SO  Page*.    Over  200  IHoatratlaiu. 

Free  to  all  who  send  ub  their  address  and  six  cenu 
in  postage  stamps.    Address 

ITNITEl)  STATES  BOOK  *  BIBLE  CO., 


:  Co.,  Augusta,  Maine. 


1879  SPRING  AND  SUMMER  IS?* 

Coats  aijd  Coatings^ 

PANTS  AND  PANTINGS, 
VESTS  AND  VESTING8. 
SUITS  AND  SUITINGS, 
OVERCOATS  AND  OVERCOATINGS 

RATHVON  &  FISHER'S, 

HJerchant  Tailors,  Drapiers  and  Clotljiers, 

Cornet'  N.  Queen  and  Orange  Sts., 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


as  any  other  place  in  the  city.    Goods  all  wool,  perfect,  and 
satiNftietioBt  g^uaraiiieeci.    Orders  respect- 
fully solicited,  and  promptly  executed. 


Is  aD  energetic,  natural  manure,  specially  adapted  for 
summer  crops.  It  is  highly  recommendtd  to  tobacco 
growers,  giving  the  plants  a  vigorous  start  and  causing  a 
rapid  growth  to  maturity. 

Price,  S22.50  per  ton  on  cars  in  Philadelphia. 
HIKA9I  E.  I.IJTZ,  inaunfactnrer. 

Office,  113<>  Market  Street,  Philadelphia. 


other  spring  crops,  i 


''Stockbridge  Manures;^ 

These  are  complete  inaiiares.mt.de  for  enclicrnp, 
and  are  the  CIIKAPES'r,piirrsl,and  best  Fertilizers 
in  the  market.    Sind  Jor  Descriptive  Pamphlet. 
EI> W.  J.  EVAN  S  *  CO. , 


ONE  DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM-SINGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  S.  S.  EATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  JULY.  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Publisher. 


CONTENTS  OF  THIS  NUMBER. 


EDITORIAL. 
.  Lancaster  County  Tobacco,      -        -        -        -        97 
•Honey  product,    ..-.-..    97 

•  The  Elm  Tree  Beetle 97 

How    It  Destroys  some  of  oiii  most  Beautifnl  Shade 
Trees,  and  how  it  may  be  exterminated. 

•  The  English  Sparrow,       -----        9S 

•  The  Cow  Buntiug  and  its  Habile,  -  -  -  98 
,  The  Catalpa  Tree,    ------        99 

•  Forestry,  -----.-.  99 
.  Lime  and  Limestones,  -----  99 
t  The  Curculio,  -.--...  100 
,  How  to  Raise  a  Bull,  -  -  -  -  -  100 
.  Packing  Eggs— Which  End  Down,     -        -        -  100 

•  How  to  Preserve  Grapes,  -        -        -        -       101 

•  Monthly  Reminders, -  101 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

««8ummer  Time,        - 101 

.  Large  Ca'flsli, 101 

•A  Glimpse  of  the  West, 101 

•  The  Moon's  Influence,        -----     lOJ. 

SELECTIONS. 
■TheCropsof  the  Country,      -        -        .        -        103 
Government   Reports  ot  Cotton  and  Wheat  ProspectB. 
-  The  Use  of  the  Feet  in  Sowing  and  Planting     -    103 

•  Disinfection, 103 

•  Sugar  from  Indian  Corn  and  Sorghum,     -        -    104 

An  Imi.ortaut  Statement  Before  the  State  Board  ot 
Agriculture. 

•  A  Dutch  Dairy  Farm, 105 

^-Fighting  Against  Trespassing,  -        -        -        -    105 

•  How  Civilization  Benefits  our  Birds,    -        -        105 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

•  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society,        -        106 

•  Poultry  Association, 106 

•  Llnnaean  Society,    - 106 

ENTOMOLOGICAL. 
»  Cassida  Guttata,         -     .  -        -        -        -        -    107 

•  Thomissus  Celer,    ------        107 

.Gonaphea  Coerulea,    ---..-    107 

•  Spined  Soldier  Bug, 107 

•  A  Harmful  Insect, 107 

•  Injurious  Insects, 107 

•  Squash  Bugs, -    107 

»White  Thiips  in  Graperies,  ^.  -  .  -  108 
,  Capturing  Curculio,   -..-.-    108 

•  Value  of  Earth- Worms,  -        -        -        -        108 

•  Curious  Facts  About  Insects,     -        -        .        -    lOS 

•  Borer's  Eggs,  ---...        108 

AGRICULTURE. 

•  Lancaster  Farming  in  Virginia,  -  -  -  108 
•Varieties  of  Wheat,        -----        108 

'.Fultz  Wheat,       ,-■-...    108 

,  Sewing  Wheat, 108 

y  Boot  as  a  Manure, 108 

.  Charcoal  on  Land,  -----        108 

.  Cutting  Cornstalks, 109 

Corn  Cobs,      ;-        - 109 


HORTICULTURB. 

Rosewood, 

-Apple  Orchards,        -        .        .        -        - 

Pear  Blight, 

A  Hint  on  Lawns  and  Hedges,  - 
Curiosities  in  Pomology,         -        .        -        . 
DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

•JJarns  and  Barnyards, 

The   Best  Yeast  Known,    -        -        -        . 
Butter  Making,        -        -  -        .        . 

Ways   to  use  Stale   Bread,        -        -        . 
.Hints  on  Cooking  Poultry,      -        -        -        - 
.Farmers,  Keep   Accounts, 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 
Macaroni  with  Tomato  Sauce, 

Potato  Puff, 

Walnut  Catsup,      ------ 

To  Make  Good  Cottage  Cheese, 

Fruit  Pudding, 

.Cottage  Pudding,        -        -        -        .        - 
Tapioca  Pudding,    ------ 

Steamed  Pudding, 

To   Cook  Pumpkin, 

( Potato  Cutlets  with  Tomatoes, 

Potato   Curry, 

Tarragon  Vinegar, 

Stewed   Pears,         ---... 

Pudding  Pies, 

•  Coffee  Cake, ,     - 

Omelette  Souffle, 

-  Little  Puddings,       -        -    ^  - 
In-growing  Nails,  Again,    .... 
Sponge  Gingerbread,       -        .        .        .        . 

•Puff  Pudding, 

Sponge  Cream  Cake,        -        -        -        .        - 
New   Way  of  Cooking  Oysters, 
Oil  for  Sewing  Machines,        -        -        .        - 
LIVE  STOCK. 

The  Value  of  Sheep, 

Milk  and  Beef,        -        -         -        -        -        - 

Horses  Lying  Down,  - 

Balky  Horses,         ------ 

Cows,  -----.-.. 

A  Remedy,      ----.-- 

.Calves,        ...----. 

POULTRY. 
Perches— How  they  should  be  made  for  Fowls, 
.The  Dominique  Fowl,  -        -        -        -        - 

Feeding  and  Treatment,  -        -        -        - 

Keep  Pure-Bred  Fowls,      -        -        -        -        - 

Parasites  on  Hens,  ------ 

Literary  and  Personal,        -        .        .        -        . 


SEND  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapevinf 
Poplar,  Linden  Maple, 
timber  plaatatione  by  t 

J.  JE-^KIKK'  NURSERT, 

»-»-T»  WLNONA,  COLUMBL4NA  CO.,  OHIO. 


NORBECK  &  MILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


hfflm  M\k% 


m&  CO'S  OLB  ST.4>D, 

Corner  of  Duke  and  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


THE  LATEST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHAETONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 


Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 


REPAIRING  promptly  attended  to.    All  work 
guaranteed. 


PHAHES    W.    FRY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WftLL  PftPER&  WIROOW  SHftOES* 

HolIandN,  Plain  Nhade  t'lotli. 

Fixtures,  Kriuges,  Tasst-Is  aud  sU  goods  pertaining  to  a 
Paper  and  Bbudo  Store. 
No.  63  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 
7»-l-lS 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


EXN^TLVANIA  RAILROAD  SCHEDUIiE. 

Trains  leave  tlie  Dep( 

Lancaster. 
2:40  a.  m. 
5:00  a.m. 


WE  TWARD, 

Pacific  Express' 

Way  Puesengert  

Niagara  Express 

Hanover  Accommodation, 

Mail  train  via  Mt.  Joy 

No.  2  via  Columbia 

Sunday  Mail 

Fast  Line* 

Frederick  Accommodation 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Express 

Pittsburg  Express , 

Cincinnati  Express* , 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  EipreBa* 

Philadelphia  Expresst 

Fast  Line* 

Harrisburg  Expreea 

Columbia  Accommodation. 

Pacific  Express* , 

Sunday  Mail 

Johnstown  Express 


:ity,  as  follows 

Harrisburg. 


Lancaster. 
12:30  a.  m. 

4:10  a.  m. 

5:20  a.  m. 

7:35  a.  m. 


3:05] 


Day  Express' 
Harrisburg  Accom 

The  Hanover  Accommodation,  west, 
with  Niagara  Express,  west,  at  9:35 
through  '     " 


1:30  p.  m. 

3:45  p.  m. 

Col.  2:45  p.  I 

7:40  p.  m. 


9:00  p.  m. 
at  Lancaster 
,  and  will  run 


The  Frederick  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancas- 
ter with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m.,  and  runs  to  Frederick. 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  on  Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
atop  at  Middletown,  Elizabethtown,  Mount  Joy  and  Landis- 
Tille. 

•The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tRuus  daily,  except  Monday. 


$77. 


AT  I.OWE&T  POSSIBLE  PHIC'ES, 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  Opposite  Leopard  Hotel. 


GLOVES,  SHIRTS.  UNDERWEAR.    H 
SHIRTS  MADE  TO  ORDER,      ^ 


AND  WARR.-VNTED  TO  FIT. 

£.  J.  ERISMAN, 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


Manufacturer  of 


Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 

Large  Stock  of  New  antl  Seond-haud  Work  on  hand, 
very  cheap.  Carriages  Made  to  Order.  Work  Warranted 
tor  one  year.  [79-1-12 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 


And  Manufacturers  of 


FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS, 


WAREROOMS: 


102  East  King  St.,  Oor.  of  Duke  St. 

tiANCASTER,  PA. 

79-1-12] 


NOTICE. 

A  VALUABLE  WORK. 

A  TREATISE 


HORSE  AND  HIS  DISEASES, 

By  DR.  B.  J.  KENDALL,  Of  Enosburgh  FaUs.  Vermont, 

It  1»  nicely  illnetratcd  with  thirty.flve  engravings,  and  ll 
fnll  of  nseful  horse  knowledge.  Erery  horse  owner  aboulc 
haye  a  copy  of  it. 

8BND  25  CENTS  FOR  A  COPY. 

Jno-tf 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CLOCKS, 

JEWELRY  I  TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

Repairing  strictly  attended  to. 

ITortb  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Fa. 

79-1-12 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


G-.    SENDER    &   SONS, 


The  beat  Sawed  SIII.\GI<K,*iiu  the  country.     Also  Sash, 
Doors,  Bliuds,  Mouldings,  he. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walnat-st8., 

LA NC ASTER,  PA. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 

Embracing  the  history  and  habits  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 

and  the  beat  remedies  for  their  expulsion  or  eitermlnation. 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  and  will  be  put  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  sufficient  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtaiued  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 
79-2- 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

is  county  and  suited  to  this  climate. 

I.OUISC.LYTE, 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co.,  Pa. 

Nursery  at  SmoketowQ,  six  miles  eait  of  Lancaster. 

79-1-ia 


TljE  LATEST! 


Tlje  New  Tariff  of  Rates 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  off  liirge  lots  of 

goods,  and  has 

INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US! 

AS    VSCAIi — — 

a^-Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better. -"^fi 

This  is  the  latest  tarifif  for  the 


A.S  FOLLO^WS : 

An  Elegant  Business  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  $10.  Identical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  largiin  at  $15.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $13. 

$4.89  buy.s  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
$8.50,  $8.50,  $8.50,  $8.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully- 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  $10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $r,  $7,  $7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  the  Late  Improvements,  $.5,  $5,  $.5. 

Boys'  and  Youths'  Trousers,  All 
Wool,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Styles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  $8.75  to 
$6.50. 

$25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully- 
made,  Piped  with  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $15.00;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  fitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
Doth  ways, 

Wananjakep  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL. 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

Tha  Largest  Clothing  House  in 
America. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  EATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  JULY,  i879. 


Vol.  n.  No.  r. 


Editorial. 


LANCASTER  COUNTY  TOBACCO. 

The  tobacco  trade  of  Lancaster  county  is 
rapidly  becomins  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
important  factors  in  the  material  constitution 
of  its  commerce,  and  its  financial  influence 
upon  the  agricultural  prosperity  of  the  county 
is  becoming  very  manifest.  If  any  evidence 
were  needed  in  regard  to  the  appreciation  of 
our  nicotine  product,  and  the  preference  ex- 
hibited for  it  by  extensive  and  experienced 
tobacco  dealers,  it  miglit  be  found  in  the  large, 
substantial  and  costly  tobacco  warehouses 
which  have  been  erected  in  different  parts  of 
the  county— and  notably  in  Lancaster  city— 
where  large  invoices  of  tobacco  are  purchased, 
stored,  prepared,  packed  and  sent  off  to  the 
different  seaboard  markets,  both  on  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts.  It  is  true,  there 
is  a  bare  possibility  that  the  tobacco  trade  may 
be  ultimately  overdone  by  competition  and  a 
redundant  production,  but  it  is  not  at  all  pro- 
bable. The  tobacco  trade  is  contemporary 
with  the  settlement  of  the  country,  and  in  the 
early  history  of  the  colonies,  in  many  in- 
stances it  was  equivalent  to,  and  in  fact  per- 
formed the  functions  of  a  currency — was  re- 
ceivable for  fines,  penalties  and  taxes.  Its 
consumption  has  been  increasing  not  only  in 
America,  but  "all  the  world  over,"  from  its 
first  discovery  down  to  the  present  time.  We 
are  not  di.scussing  the  usefulness  or  useless- 
ness  of  tobacco— fts  good  or  evil  effects  upon 
the  moral  or  physical  condition  of  the  human 
family — we  merely  have  reference  to  the  facts 
of  its  culture  and  traffic  in  it ;  and  particularly 
to  the  quality  of  the  weed  raised  in  Lancaster 
county,  and  incidentally  to  the  permanence  of 
the  tobacco  trade. 

"We  have  just  had  a  conversation  with  a 
friend,  who, 'on  a  recent  visit  to  a  relative  in 
York  county,  was  assured  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Uhl, 
(nowafarmer  atTell'sStation,  near  Hanover) 
who  had  been  a  tobacco  manufacturer  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  that  the  Lancaster 
county  tobacco,  in  his  estimation,  on  the 
whole,  is  superior  to  any  raised  in  the  country. 
Years  ago  it  was  only  inferio.-  in  quality,  and 
could  hardly  find  a  purchaser  out  of  the  county. 
But  all  this  is  changed  now.  Its  cultivation 
and  curing  is  better  understood  than  it  was. 
Better  seeds  and  better  qualities  of  tobacco 
are  planted,  and  the  fact  that  quality  is  of  a 
higher  considerati(m  than  qunntity.  has  be- 
come more  appreciated  than  it  was  in  the  in- 
fancy of  tobacco  culture  among  us.  Of  course 
tobacco  cannot  be  cultivated,  and  properly 
hou.sed  and  cured  without  a  arood  deal  of  care 
and  labor,  but  this  care  and  labor  is  better  un- 
derstood, and  hence  more  effectually  exer- 
cised than  it  was  in  times  past.  But  above  all 
its  financial  bearings  and  the  facilities  it 
affords  to  small  operators  is  an  important 
item  in  its  culture.  If  a  poor  man  has  a 
small  enclosure,  or  can  lease  one,  he  can  real- 
ize more  out  of  it  in  tobacco  than  in  any  other 
crop. 

HONEY   PRODUCT. 

"Tliere  are  2.000,000  bee-hives  in  the 
United  States.  Every  hive  yields  on  an 
average  a  little  over  twenty  pounds  of  honey. 
The  price  at  which  honev  is  sold  averages  25 
cents  a  pound,  so  that  after  payincr  for  their 
own  bo;»rd,  our  bees  present  us  with  a  reve- 
nue of  over  S8.000,000.  Or  reckon  it  another 
way— -they  make  a  clear  gift  of  one  pound  of 
pure  honey  to  every  man.  woman  and  child 
in  the  vast  domain  of  the  United  States." 

The  foregoing  is  "going  the  rounds"  of 
the  press  in  general,  and  doubtless  the  reck- 
oning is  as  correct  as  such  calculations  usually 
are,  but  that  has  nothing  to  do  with  our 


cogilations.  AVe  take  it  for  granted,  and  if 
there  are  any  who  doubt  it,  it  is  for  them  to 
disprove  it.  Statistics  made  from  absolute 
data,  always  fall  below  the  reality,  for  the 
reason  that  so  many  keep  no  record,  others 
are  relicent,  and  others  forgetful,  careless  or 
indifferent,  and  hence  the  true  data  cannot 
be  obtained.  Estimated  statistics,  however, 
arc  sometimes  wide  of  the  mark.  If  we  have 
only  time  and  opportunity  to  examine  one 
tree  in  an  orcliard  that  contains  a  thousand 
trees,  and  we  are  accurate  in  our  computation 
that  there  are  fifty  bushels  of  apples  on  that 
tree,  we  have  no  right  from  such  a  basis  to 
conclude  that  the  whole  orchard  contains 
50,000  bushels.  Still,  the  honey  product, 
above  quoted,  is  as  likely  to  be  underestimated 
as  overestimated,  for  the  reasons  already 
stated.  There  is  an  immense  number  of  bee- 
keepers, on  a  small  scale,  who  probably  never 
keep  an  account  of  the  amount  of  houey  their 
bees  produce,  the  amount  consumed  by  their 
owners,  or  the  bees  themselves,  or  what 
amount  is  sold.  Let  any  one  go  to  market 
and  buy  a  pound  of  honey,  and  he  will  be 
astonished  at  the  small  bulk  there  is  in  a 
pound.  Or  let  him  attempt  to  purchase  that 
beautiful  box  of  honey,  and  he  will  be  amazed 
at  its  weight,  and  what  it  amounts  to  at  25 
cents  per  pound.  Great  is  the  honey  product 
of  our  country,  and  it  is  yearly  increasing. 

THE  ELM  TREE  BEETLE. 

How  it  Destroys  some  of  our  most  Beautiful 

Shade  Trees,  and  how  it  may  be 

Exterminated. 

This  pernicious  foreigner  is  again  making 
its  appearance  in  and  about  Lancaster,  and  is 
the  cause  of  more  or  less  anxiety  amongst 
those  wno  have  elm  trees  on  their  premises. 
Its  destructiveness  depends  entirely  upon 
numbers.  A  few,  perhaps,  would  not  ma- 
terially injure  the  foliage  of  these  beautiful 
trees,  but,  unfortunately,  if  a  combined  effort 
is  not  made  to  circumvent  them,  they  do  not 
long  remain  only  a  "few."  They  possess 
extraordinary  abilities  to  multiply,  and  there 
are  at  least  two  broods,  in  this  latitude,  dur- 
ing the  vegetating  season  ;  therefore  they  are 
apt  to  "  multiply  and  replenish  "  ad  infinitum. 
They  do  not  spread  very  rapidly,  but  where- 
ever  they  have  become  localized  and  multi- 
plied, they  have  inflicted  serious  damage  upon 
the  elm  trees,  both  in  Europe,  from  whence 
they  came,  and  also  in  the  United  States. 
Dr.  Harris  has  recorded  that  on  one  occasion 
all  the  elm  trees  in  a  public  park  in  Baltimore 
had  to  be  removed  in  order  to  circumvent 
these  insects ;  it  was  also  the  case  at  several 
places  in  Massachusetts.  They  were  noticed 
in  this  county  about  three  years  ago  in  limited 
numbers,  and  two  years  ago  they  were  con- 
spicuously present  within  the  city  limits  of 
Lancaster — indeed  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
city— notably  on  a  tree  in  front  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church,  corner  of  North  Duke  and  East 
Orange  streets,  and  from  thence  on  all  the 
elm  trees  on  the  north  side  of  Orange  street, 
at  least  as  far  as  Lime  street.  Also  in  Duke 
stret,  near  the  English  Reformed  Church. 

It  will  be  difticult  to  compass  these  insects 
by  any  single  remedy.  Some  knowledge  must 
be  had  of  their  history,  habits  and  trans- 
formations ;  and  especially  should  the  people 
be  able  to  recognize  the  mature  beetles  when 
they  see  them,  for  these  are  the  prolific 
parents  of  the  larv;e,  or  "worms"  tliat  are 
now  on  the  trees,  fully  grown,  or  passing 
into  the  pupa  state.  The  mature  beetles  hi- 
bernate during  the  winter  season  under  any 
cover  that  comes  most  convenient,  and  they 
are  able  to  endure  a  very  low  degree  of  cold, 
provided  there  is  not  too  much  moisture  pres- 
ent.   Alternate  freezings  and  thawiugs,  under 


such  circumstances,  would  be  detrimental  to 
their  continued  existence. 

Last  February,  a  year  ago,  Mrs.  P.  E.  Gib- 
bons brought  to  the  meeting  of  the  Linnaean 
Society  a  dozen  or  two  of  these  beetles,  part 
o"  a  colony  which  had  been  hibernating  be- 
hind a  fireboard  in  her  house.  The  loose 
bark  on  trees  and  timbers,  chinks  in  old  walls, 
large  flat  stones,  cracks  or  seams  in  fences,  in 
barns,  outhouses,  and  sheds,  etc.,  often  fur- 
nish convenient  places  for  the  winter  hiberna- 
tion of  these  beetles,  as  well  as  for  the  curc.u- 
Ho,  the  "Squash-bug,"  and  very  frequently 
also  the  "  Colorado  13eetle. "  It  seems  very 
reosonable  that  if  these  insects  are  recognized 
and  destroyed  during  the  winter  or  early 
spring— almost  any  time  before  the  first  of 
May— the  possibilities  of  a  large  brood  are 
also  diminished  or  destroyed.  If  a  gravid 
female  is  destroyed  before  oviposition,  that 
simple  act  may  destroy  from  three  hundred 
to  a  thousand  in.sects  in  embryo,  but  affer 
that  period,  would  only  be  killing  a  single 
individual,  which  if  let  alone,  would  soon 
have  died  of  its  own  accord. 

When  these  beetles  come  from  their  winter 
quarters,  they  have  a  nuptial  season  of  a  week 
or  more,  according  to  the  temperature  of  the 
weather,  after  which  the  females  commence 
depositing  their  eggs  on  the  foliage  of  the  elm 
trees,  to  which  they  are  exceedingly  partial. 

But,  the  larvfB  of  the  Elm  Beetle  are  now 
on  the  trees  and  are  full  grown.  The  people 
have  not  availed  themselves  of  the  preventive 
measures  suggested  in  the  foregoing.  What 
is  to  be  done  now  ?  It  might  be  easy  enough 
to  say  what,  but  it  might  not  be  so  easy  to  do, 
especially  if  there  wore  many  infested  trees, 
and  those  trees  very  large  ones.  If  sheets 
were  spread  beneath  the  trees,  and  the  limbs 
were  severely  jarred,  or  persistently  shaken, 
many  of  these  larvfB  would  fall,  and  could  be 
gathered  up  and  scalded  or  burned,  or  killed 
by  any  other  means  the  operator  might  choose 
to  adopt.  A  solution  of  whale  oil  soap,  car- 
bolic soap,  a  decoction  of  tobacco,  or  common 
lye  thrown  upon  the  trees  by  means  of  a  gar- 
den syringe  or  pump,  would  destroy  as  many 
as  we're  reached  by  these  liquids.  But  from 
the  observations  which  we  have  made  during 
the  past  two  years  we  should  depend  more 
upon  destroying  them  when  they  come  down 
from  the  trees  to  inipate.  This  takes  place 
during  the  month  of  .July.  A  few  will  pupate 
in  the'crevices  of  the  bai-k  on  the  trunks  and 
larger  limbs  of  the  trees,  but  by  far  the  larger 
number  descend  to  the  base  of  the  tree,  and 
if  the  trees  have  grass,  rubbish  or  loose  earth 
around  them,  they  will  pupate  under  cover  of 
these  ;  but  here  in  the  city  of  Lancaster, 
where  the  bases  of  the  trees  are  surrounded 
by  pavements,  they  pupated  above  ground  in 
any  little  corner  or  crevice  they  could  find, 
and  they  could  have  thus  been  swept  up  by 
quarts  and  destroyed,  but  no  one  seemed  to 
think  it  was  any  of  his  business.  This  should 
suggest  the  contrivance  of  some  sort  of  trap 
to  catch  them  under  these  circumstances.  As 
all  do  not  generally  reach  the  ground,  by  the 
washing  of  the  trunks  with  the  above  liquids 
applied  with  a  sort  of  mop,  manipulated  with 
a  stiff" hickory  "scrub"— such  as  are  used  to 
clean  out  gutters— those  stragglers  which 
locate  themselves  there  might  be  dislodged 
and  destroyed.  If  this  course  was  pursued 
towards  the  first  brood,  it  might  prevent  a 
second  brood.  It  is  the  second  brood  that 
goes  into  winter  hibernation  and  perpetuates 
the  species  ;  and  possibly  some  of  this  brood 
remain  in  the  ground  all  winter  in  the  pupa 
state,  when  they  can  have  access  to  a  favor- 
able situation. 

As  we  intimated  before,  this  insect  was  in- 
troduced into  this  country  about  five  and 
forty  years  ago,  and  first  demonstrated  its 


98 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[July, 


destructive  presence  at  Baltimore,  Md.  It 
was  a  long  time  in  reaching  Lanoaster  county, 
and  it  will  soon  show  what  it  can  do,  if  human 
means,  or  some  inexplicable  counteraction  in 
nature — to  which  the  insect  world  is  some- 
times liable— does  not.intervene  to  prevent  it. 

In  warring  against  insects,  however,  the 
efforts  should  be  simultaneous  and  continuous, 
or  else  after  you  have  destroyed  those  on  your 
own  premises,  you  may  be  invaded  by  those 
from  the  premises  of  your  neighbors. 

This  insect  has  been  noticed  by  various 
writers  as  the  Galeritca  cahnariensi.%  but  this 
is  a  mistake.  That  species  feeds  on  the  leaves 
of  aquatic  plants,  and  differs  from  it  in  other 
respects.  It  is  the  Galeruca  xanthomeelena  of 
Schon  ;  but  no  particular  matter  about  its 
name,  it  is  its  acts  with  which  people  have 
now  to  do,  and  how  to  circumvent  it. 

For  a  description  of  the  insect,  see  The 
Lancastek  Farmer,  vol.  8,  page  131  ;  and 
if  the  reader  has  not  the  volume  to  refer  to, 
that  may  be  his  own  fault ;  but  Ijy  the  ex- 
penditure of  a  single  dollar  he  may  still  obtain 
that  which  in  after  years  he  will  not  be  able 
to  procure  for  three  times  that  amount. 

The  pupa  is  a  pale  yellow  in  color.  If  a 
few  of  these  are  collected  and  put  into  a  small 
box  containing  a  little  earth,  in  a  week  or 
more  the  perfect  insects  will  be  evolved,  and 
such  a  sight  is  better  than  a  description. 

THE  ENGLISH  SPARROW. 

It  is  wonderful  how  rapidly  this  bird  is  be- 
coming discredited,  in  an  economic  sense,  in 
our  country.  It  is  true  that  tliere  may  still 
linger  a  little  rustic  or  romantic  sentiment  in 
his  behalf,  but  as  a  greedy  gobbler  up  of  in- 
sects, as  he  was  thought  to  be,  people  are  gen- 
erally losing  conQdence  in  him.  If  ever 
there  was  an  opportunity  for  these  birds  to 
establish  a  charaoier  as  elHoient  insect  scaven- 
gers, or  to  redeem  a  tarnished  one,  that  op- 
portunity is  just  now.  All  over  the  city  tlie 
larva  of  the  "elm-tree  beetle"  is  present  in 
countless  millions.  The  leaves  are  full  of 
them  ;  the  branches  are  full ;  the  trunks  are 
full ;  the  pavements  in  the  city,  wherever 
there  is  an  elm  tree,  are  full  of  them  ;  and  yet 
we  have  not  observed  a  single  sparrow  where 
these  noxious  insects  are  found.  This  may 
seem  strange,  especially  since  the  larva  of  the 
elm  beetles  seems  to  be  just  such  a  tender 
little  morsel,  as  one  would  think  ought  to  at- 
tract any  insectivorous  bird.  The  sparrows 
are  everywhere,  it  appears,  except  where  these 
worms  are.  There  are  always  plenty  of  them 
in  our  streets,  picking  up  any  little  morsels  of 
food  that  may  be  found  there,  but  they  do  not 
molest  the  elm-worms— not  a  bit  of  it.  It  is 
therefore  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  people 
are  becoming  impatient  with  them. 

On  the  western  gable  of  Col.  Fordney's  resi- 
dence, in  East  Orange  street,  is  a  large  climb- 
ing ivy,  covering  a  large  portion  of  the  gable 
from  the  ground  to  the  roof,  and  in  that  ivy 
there  are  a  large  number  of  sparrows'  nests- 
there  may  be  fifty  or  more— and  these  birds 
are  fitting  in  and  out  of  their  nests  "the 
whole  of  the  livelong  day."  We  have  fre- 
quently taken  a  stand  and  watched  them  for 
half  an  hour  at  a  time.  The  elm  trees  are  in 
the  neighborhood  of  their  nests  ;  and  although 
when  they  sally  forth  they  take  various  di- 
rections (presumably  in  search  of  food  for 
their  young),  yet  we  have  never  noticed  them 
taking  their  course  towards  the  elm  trees 
They  readily  take  to  the  streets,  people's 
yards  and  gardens,  where  food  seems  to  be 
scarce,  but  the  banquet  of  elm  worms  which 
they  might  enjoy,  they  appear  to  utterly  dis- 
card. •' 

We  indulge  in  no  special  prejudices  against 
the  English  sparrows— indeed,  we  have  here- 
tofore defended  them,  when  we  thought  them 
indiscriminately  condemned.  What  we  state 
now  are  facts-deductions  from  personal  ob- 
servation. There  are  the  elm-beetles,  and 
elsewhere  are  the  sparrows,  but  not  where  the 
beetles  are.  This  is  unfortunate,  especiallv  at 
this  time,  when  the  beetles  are  so  abunclant 
and  possess  the  possibilities  of  becoming  more 
80.    Nothing  but  a  sparrow  or  other  insect- 


eating  bird  could    successfully  reach    them 

while  they  are  on  the  leaves  of  the  trees,  and 

if  these  won't,  then  we  fear  we  will  have  to 

bear  the  effects  of  a  severe  infestation,  before 

there  is  an  end  of  the  beetles. 
Theoretically  considered,   we    have    often 

wondered  who"  was  instrumental  in  first  bring- 
ing these  birds  into  the  country,  and  upon 

what  particular  characteristics."   It  is  true, 

during  the  breeding  season  the  softer  insects, 

such   as  caterpillars  and  other  iusect-larvse, 

may  constitute  at  least  a  portion  of  the  food 

they  feed  to  their  young,  but  under  no  rule  of 

classification  have  they  ever  been  assigned  a 

place  among  insectivorous  bird's.  They  belong 

to  the  great  "Finch"  family  (Fringilidie),  and 

are  therefore  classed  among  the  Granivora  or 

seed-eating  birds.     What  are  they  constantly 

doing  in  our  streets?  and  why  do  they  seem 

to  prefer  the  streets?    Not  at  all  because  they 

are  attracted  there  by  insects,  but  because  of 

the  seeds  or  grains  and  fragments  thereof, 

which  they  find  among  the  animal  droppings, 

sweepings,  etc.,  etc. 
The  fault  is  not  with  the  sparrows,  for  they 

are  but  acting  in  obedience  to  the  instincts  of 

their  natures.     As  well  might  you  persuade  a 

duck  to  roost  in  a  henhouse  high  up  among 

the  gallinaceous  fowls,  or  a  hen  to  habitually 

"go  in  swimming"  along  with  her  ducklings, 

as  to  change  the  character  of  a  granivorous 

or  frugivorous  bird,  to  that  of  an  insectivorous 

one.     There  may  be    temporary  departures 

from  their  normal  habits  under  stress  of  cir- 
cumstances, but  when  left  in  freedom  they 

will  ultimately  revert  to  their  first  estate. 

These  birds"  must  have  existed  before  there 
were  such  places  as  streets,  and  gardens,  and 
kitchen  yards,  but  with  the  progress  of  human 
improvement  they  have  so  far  departed  from 
their  normal  habits  as  to  prefer  such  places; 
not  on  account  of  the  insects  found  there,  but 
because  of  the  more  abundant  supply  of  vege- 
table food;  and  their  further  demoralization 
has  been  brought  about  by  human  indulgence. 
People  are  in  the  habit  of  feeding  them  con- 
stantly, especially  during  the  winter,  and 
hence  they  concentrate  in  towns  and  villages 
rather  than  in  the  open  country.  People  ad- 
mire them  for  their  pugnacity,  or  for  their 
confidential  and  social  characters.  Many  fam- 
ilies have  cherished  them  and  fed  them  all 
winter,  and  the  birds  have  repaid  them  in  the 
spring,  not  by  destroying  the  insects  that  in- 
fest their  premises,  but  by  picking  the  fruit- 
buds  off  their  fruit  trees.  We  have  alluded 
to  their  pugnacity,  which  they  have  carried 
to  the  exclusion  of  our  native  sparrows  and 
other  birds  from  localities  where  they  once 
abounded,  if  not  abundantly,  at  least  more 
plentifully  than  they  are  found  now.  Our 
native  birds  have  almost  entirely  retired  from 
their  old  haunts,  and  have  resigned  the  field 
to tliese impudent  "carpetbaggers,"  indisgust. 
Sometime  ago.  we  noticed  a  poor  lone  little 
native  sparrow  sitting  on  a  high  post  mourn- 
fully overlooking  Lancaster,  something  like  a 
lone  Indian  overlooking  the  innovations  of  the 
white  man.     How  similar  their  fates. 

THE  COW  BUNTING  AND  ITS  HABITS. 

Mr.  Casper  Weaver,  ofNorth  Queen  street, 
on  Wednesday  morning,  July  2nd,  captured  a 
full  fledged  "cow  bunting"  (Molothrus pecoris] 
in  his  garden,  and  has  it  now  in  a  cage  hang- 
ing under  the  tree  whereon  was  the  parent 
nest  of  the  foster  mother  of  the  bird. 
Its  Name  and  Habitat. 

This  bird  is  known  in  various  localities  by 
different  names  ;  such,  for  instance,  as  cow- 
bird,  cow-pen-bird,  cow-blackbird,  &c.  It  is 
by  no  means  a  rare  bird,  for  there  is  perhaps 
not  a  State  or  Territory  in  our  whole  Union 
in  which  it  is  not  found;  but  wlierever  it  is 
localized,  it  has  the  same  peculiar,  selfish  and 
unpaternal  character. 

Its  Peculiar  Habit. 

Like  the  cuckoo  of  Europe,  the  female 
never  builds  a  nest,  never  incubates  her  eggs, 
and  never  takes  any  part  in  rearing  her  young, 
leaving  that  entirely  to  their  foster  parents. 
The  male  is  a.  selfish  polygamist,  and  after  '  its  "bogus"  charge 


their  nuptials  the  females  clandestinelv  deposit 
from  one  to  three  eggs  (generally  only  one)  in 
the  nest  of  some  other  small  bird,  such  as  the 
Song  Sparrow,  the  Ground  Robin,  or  the 
"Summer  Yellow  Bird."  When  the  young 
are  hatched  out,  which  is  usually  a  day  or 
two  before  the  bird's  own  brood,  these  selfish 
little  creatures  proceed  to  heave  their  foster 
mother's  own  eggs  or  young  over  the  edge  of 
the  nest,  when  of  course  they  perish,  and  the 
httle  intruder  is  fed  by  the  unsophisticated 
foster-mother,  without  a  seeming  suspicion 
tliat  anything  has  gone  wrong,  and  she  trans- 
fers to  it  all  the  provident  affection  that  she 
would  have  bestowed  upon  her  own  brood. 
The  Present  Case. 
In  the  special  case  to  which  we  refer,  the 
female  cow-bunting  chose  the  nest  of  the  lit- 
tle warbler  familiarly  known  as  the  "summer 
yellow  bird,"  (Bendroica  cestivn)  which  is 
hardly  half  the  size  of  the  greedy  young  "car- 
pet-bagger" she  is  so  anxiously  and  inllustri- 
ously  feeding.  All  day  she  is  assiduously  en- 
gaged in  gathering  worms  and  other  soft  in- 
sects, which  she  feeds  to  her  lubberly  step- 
child through  the  wire  bars  of  the  cage,  and 
she  seems  not  to  know  anything  else  than  that 
it  is  her  own  offspring,  or,  if  she  knows  to  the 
contrary,  it  does  not  abate  her  affection  for  it. 
How  much  like  a  hard-worked  mother  among 
the  human  species,  toiling  to  support  a  set  of 
selfish  family  loafers,  who  may  be  no  nearer 
related  to  her  by  filial  sympathy  than  this 
bird  is  to  its  foster  mother. 

How  a  Cow  Bunting  Looks. 
The  cow-bird  or  cow-bunting  belongs  to  the 
order  Insessors,  or  perching  birds,  and  to 
the  family  Ictekid.e,  or  black  birds.  In  the 
adult  male,  the  head,  neck  and  anterior  half 
of  the  breast  is  a  chocolate  brown,  and  the 
rest  is  a  lustrous  black.  The  female  is  tinged 
with  olive  brown  all  over,  but  thb  young  are  a 
mottled  greyish. 

One  of  Its  Foster  Mothers. 
The  little  summer  yellow-bird,  or  yellow 
warbler,  belongs  also  to  the  perching  birds, 
and  to  the  family  Sylvicola— a  very  large 
family,  containing  a  large  number  of  pretty 
little  warblers.  They  build  their  nests  in 
bushes  or  small  trees," and  very  frequently  in 
apple  trees,  near  houses. 

When  they  once  become  domiciled  they  re- 
pose the  utmost  confidence  in  the  human 
family.,  and  often  rear  broods  of  young  a  few 
feet  from  the  ground,  nearhumanhabitations, 
and  will  allow  persons  to  approach  them  dur- 
ing incubation  without  leaving  the  nest,  and 
perhaps  more  than  any  other  species  they  suf- 
fer the  impositions  of  the  stealthy  and  impu- 
dent cow-bird. 

Where  They  Got  Their  Name. 
These  birds  have  derived  this  name  from 
their  familiar  associations  with  the  cows,  often 
following  them  into  the  barnyards  and  perch- 
ing upon  their  backs.  We  distinctly  remem- 
ber these  birds  as  sitting  on  the  backs  of  the 
cows  and  other  kine  since  the  days  of  our  early 
boyhood — long  before  we  knew  of  their  pecu- 
liar nesting  habits.  The  blue  bird,  the  chip- 
ping sparrow  and  the  golden-crowned  thrush 
are  also  occasionally  imposed  upon  by  the  cow 
bird,  and  instancts  are  on  record  where  these 
birds,  on  discovering  the  egg  or  eggs  of  this 
arch-intruder  in  their  nests,  have  quietly  pro- 
ceeded in  building  another  nest  immediate- 
ly over  the  first  nest,  thus  defeating  their 
adversary  by  enclosing  its  eggs  in  a  prison, 
from  which  there  is  no  escape,  and  which  re- 
sults in  its  ultimate  destruction. 
Not  the  First  Time. 
We  are  informed  by  Mr.  Weaver  that  he 
observed  the  same  kind  of  a  bird  in  his  apple 
tree  a  year  ago,  being  fed  by  the  little  yellow 
bird,  and  he  could  not  understand  what  par- 
ticular relation  existed  between  the  two  birds. 
He  tried  then,  but  did  not  succeed  in  captur- 
ing it.  This  summer  he  succeeded,  but  in- 
stead of  the  old  bird  abandoning  it,  it  only  the 
more  industriously  attended  to  the  wants  of 


1870.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


99 


THE  CATALPA  TREE. 

This  tree  is  becoming  the  subject  of  exten- 
sive cogitation  in  our  conntry  witli  reference 
to  its  cultivation  ;  and  Mr.  E.  E.  Barney,  of 
bayton,  Ohio— and,  perhaps,  also  otliers— has 
been  laborirg  for  years  to  test  its  adaptability 
to  rapid  culture  and  growtli,  as  well  as  the 
quality  of  its  wood  and  the  uses  that  can  be 
made  of  it.  Bless  us,  how  very  long  it  is 
since  we  saw  tlie  first  catalpa  tree — threCr 
score  years  at  least.  There  it  stood  before 
the  door  of  the  "apothecary"  in  our  native 
town,  solitary  and  alone;  and  O,  how  beauti- 
ful it  looked  "in  its  summer  bloom.  AVe  then 
knevi'  no  other  name  for  it  than  the  "cigar  " 
tree.  No  very  favorable  opinion  of  the  quality 
of  its  wood  was  then  entertained,  and  next  to 
nothing  was  known  about  its  cultivation.  It 
was  a  iong  time  before  a  second  tree  appeared 
in  the  town— not  during  our  boyhood,  any- 
how— and  we  are  not  clear  as  to  how  it  was 
produced  ;  but  we  think  the  base  of  a  scion 
was  surrounded  with  earth  and  bandaged, 
and  kept  wet  until  it  threw  out  roots,  when  it 
was  sawed  oft  and  planted.  There  are,  or 
were,  plenty  of  them,  apparently,  growing 
wild,  on  each  side  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road near  Philadelphia.  A  forest  of  catalpas 
would  be  a  "  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  for- 
ever," especially  in  their  blooming  season. 

Mr.  Barney,  during  the  past  season,  has 
placed  examples  of  the  wood  in  the  hands  of 
Prof.  C.  S.  Sargent,  the  distinguished  arbor- 
ist,  of  Harvard  University,  "at  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  in  order  to  bring  the  qualities 
of  the  Catalpa  to  the  notice  of  the  public  ; 
and  after  a  careful  investigation,  tlie  Pro- 
fessor submits,  in  part,  the  following  as  his 
report  thereon,  which  we  copy  from  the  Jour- 
nal of  Forestry,  London,  England  : 

"I  find  tliat  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
wood  of  the  common  Cntalpa  bignonioides  is, 
when  perfectly  drj',  .40.5  ;  and  that  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  wood  of  the  early  blooming 
variety.  C.  B.  spednaa,  also  perfectly  dry,  is 
.462.  The  ratio  of  the  weight  of  any  wood 
to  the  weight  of  an  equal  body  of  water,  that 
is  its  specific  gravity,  gives  in  many  respects 
the  surest  indication  of  its  value  for  construc- 
tion and  fuel.  But  to  show  the  relative  value 
of  Catalpa  it  will  be  well  to  compare  its 
specific  gravity  with  that  of  some  better 
known  or  standard  woods. 

Speclflc  gravity  of  common  Catalpa,       -        -  .405 

"            "           earlv   blooming  Catalpa,  .46! 

"            "           Wild  ChPiTV,      -        -        -  .488 

"            "           Canoe  Bfrch,  -        -        -  ..539 

"            "           Black  Walnut,     -        -        -  .577 

"            "           Ailanthus,        -        -        -  .614 

"            "           American  Elm,   -        -        -  .649 

"            "           White  Oak,      -        -        -  .662 
"            "           Rock  Elm,   Ulmiis  racemosa, 

(Thomas,)     -        -        -  .832 

"            "           Eastern  Hickory,     -        -  .838 

"By  this  comparison  it  will  be  seen  that 
Catalpa  is  inferior  in  weight,  and  consequent- 
ly in  strength  and  heat-giving  qualities,  to 
even  such  soft  woods  as  the  black  -walnut, 
the  canoe  birch,  or  even  the  wild  cherry, 
which  up  to  this  time  is  the  lightest  of  Ameri- 
can hard  woods  which  I  have  examined  criti- 
cally. It  is  remarkable  that  so  soft  and  light 
a  wood  as  the  Catalpa  should  possess  tlie 
power  of  resisting  decay  to  a  degree  almost 
unknown  in  the  hardest  and  heavie.st  woods. 
It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  dwell  at  this  time 
on  the  indestructible  nature  of  this  wood,  for 
so  many  examples  of  its  wonderful  durability 
have  of  late  been  brought  to  public  notice 
that  the  fact  is  now  establi.shed  byond  question. 
But  why  the  soft  wood  of  this  fast-growing 
tree,  which  is  traversed  with  large  open  ducts, 
nearly  as  broad  as  those  of  red  oak,  a  wood 
which  notoriously  rots  very  quickly,  should  be 
able  to  resist  decay  to  such  a  degree,  is  not 
clear;  and  this  fact  presents  an  interesting 
problem,  which  the  chemist  or  the  vegetable 
physiologist  may  perhaps  be  able  to  .solve. 

"The  Catalpa  can  be  safely  planted  in 
strong,  rich  soil,  in  any  portion  of  the  United 
States  south  of  the  42nd  parallel.  Farther 
north  it  often  suffers  in  severe  winters,  especi- 
ally when  young ;  and  in  the  New  England 
States,  unless  in  a  few  favorable  situations, 


the  soil  is  not  rich  enougli  to  make  the  plant- 
ing of  this  tree  as  profitable  as  that  of  many 
others  better  suited  to  reach  maturity  in  this 
section  of  tlio  country.  For  that  portion  of 
the  treeless  region  of  the  west,  south  of  the 
42nd  parallel,  especially  for  Kansas  and  South- 
ern Nebraska,  I  am  satisfied  that  no  tree 
which  has  yet  been  suggested  for  general 
planting  there  will  at  all  equal  the  Catalpa, 
either  in  the  rapidity  of  its  growth  or  the 
value  of  its  woo(i,  with  the  single  exception, 
perhaps,  of  the  Ailanthus. 

"The  growth  of  ihu  Catalpa  in  the  rich 
prairie  soil  is  simply  astounding.  I  liave  now 
before  me  a  specimen  cut  from  a  tree  which 
grew  at  Brown.sville,  Nebraska,  and  which 
shows  but  four  annual  layers  of  growth  from 
the  seed.  It  is  9J  inches  in  circumferem  e, 
and  the  growth  of  the  first  two  years,  IjJ  incu 
in  diameter,  is  already  changed  into  heart- 
wood. 

"During  the  autumn  of  1S77  the  Missouri 
River,  Fort  Scott  and  Gulf  Railway  Company 
commenced  experimental  plantations  of  vari- 
ous trees  on  their  land  near  Fort  Scott,  in 
Kansas.  The  Superintendent  of  the  railway, 
in  his  report  to  the  President  on  the  condition 
of  these  plantations,  at  the  end  of  their  first 
year,  says :  '  The  Catalpa  has  certainly  proved 
to  be  the  strongest  grower,  and  most  tenacious, 
standing  the  dry  weather  better  than  the 
other  varieties,  and  at  present  rate  will  come 
to  maturity  years  before  other  varieties  are  of 
sufticient  size  to  be  of  any  utility.'  " 

"Professor  Sargent  considers  that  the  speci- 
osa  variety  of  the  common  Catalpa,  Catalpa 
bkjtwnioides,  is  the  one  to  be  preferred  by  the 
planter.  This  variety  is  distinguished  "from 
the  common  type  by  its  earlier  flowering  habit 
and  larger  white  flowers  ;  larger  and  much 
flattened  seed  pods,  often  16  to  18  inches  in 
length,  and  much  thicker  walls ;  shorter  and 
broader  seeds,  with  wings  of  equal  width  to 
their  rounded  ends,  which  are  terminated 
by  a  copious  fringe  of  stouter  hairs ;  and  by 
its  darker  and  thicker  furrowed  bark.  The 
wood  of  this  variety  is  considerably  heavier 
and  much  superior  to  that  of  the  ordinary 
type."  ^ 

FORESTRY. 

In  appropriate  association  with  the  fore- 
going, in  relation  to  the  Catalpa  tree,  we 
adduce  the  following  from  a  speech  delivered 
by  Hon.  A.  S.  Padd'ick,  of  Nebraska,  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  in  February  last,  illus- 
trating the  close  connection  existing  between 
forestry  and  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
country.  It  will,  no  doubt,  seem  absurd  to 
many  land  owners  when  they  are  admonished 
to  foster  or  make  an  economical  use  of  the 
forests  now  in  existence,  and  still  more  ab- 
surd when  they  are  advised  to  replenish,  or 
plant  new  ones ;  and,  perhaps,  still  more 
absurd  when  they  are  reminded  that  forests 
exercise  a  perceptible  influence  over  the  meteo- 
rological conditions  of  the  weather,  and  hence 
both  mediately  and  immediately  affect  the 
agriculture  of  the  country,  to  say  nothing 
about  its  domestic  and  commercial  condition. 
There  are,  no  doubt,  many  so  situated  that 
the  dissipation  of  the  forests  and  the  disi)lace- 
ment  of  the  surplus  wood  are  matters  involv- 
ing years  of  hard  labor,  and  are  therefore  the 
objects  of  their  chiefest  concern.  But  this 
only  relates  to  the  smallest  portion  of  the 
country,  and  even  in  those  parts  most  densely 
wooded  it  is  becoming  manifest  that  the  sup- 
ply of  good  timber  is  on  the  wane,  and  that 
somehow  the  country  has  undergone  a  mete- 
orological change  ;  and  when  the  absence  of 
timber  entirely,  in  vast  tracts  of  country  now 
opened  up  to  agricultural  enterprise,  is  con- 
sidered, the  importance  of  the  subject  in- 
creases vastly  in  its  proportions.  The  ma.sses 
of  the  people  may  be  slow  in  apprehending 
this,  but  posterity  will  surely  be  sensibly  im- 
pressed \vith  our  improvident  folly  if  the  pres- 
ent waste  is  not  arrested  and  a  sy.stem  of 
sylvan  economy  is  not  initiated.  Mr.  Pad- 
dock very  appropriately  says : 

"I  will  formulate  my  proposition  thus : 
Agriculture  cannot  prove  enduringly  success- 


ful, and  populations  cannot  be  largely  multi- 
plied, although  the  conditions  of  both  our  soil 
and  climate  are  highly  favorable  to  such  re- 
sults, unless  the  forest  areas  are  increased 
proportionately,  at  least,  with  the  increase  of 
the  area  of  agricultural  cultivation.  Trees 
are  the  dominating  members  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  They  are  necessary  factors  in  the 
sum  total  of  those  influences  which  constitute 
the  environment  of  animal  life.  Trees,  by 
absorbing  carbonic  acid  gas  and  emitting 
oxygen,  act  as  agputs  in  rendering  the  atmos- 
phere life-sustaining.  By  interposing  their 
foliage  between  the  sun  and  the  eartli  they 
serve  a  useful  purpose  in  sheltering  the  soil 
from  lieat,  and,  as  conductors  of  heat,  in 
equalizing  the  temperature  of  the  earth  and 
the  air.  By  covering  the  surface  of  the  ground 
with  a  layer  of  leaves  and  mould,  they  greatly 
assist  in  preventing  the  escape  of  the  heat 
from  the  soil,  this  layer  of  dead  matter  being 
still  more  useful  in  absorbing  tlie  fructifying 
rains  and  allowing  the  water  to  percolate 
steadily  into  the  thirsty  earth,  instead  of 
sweeping  over  the  surface,  disintegrating  and 
washing  it  away.  As  a  mechanical  shelter 
trees  play  an  important  part  in  protecting 
both  the  ground  and  human  habitations  from 
cold  and  destructive  winds.  By  their  power 
of  absorption  the  roots  of  trees  take  up  from 
the  soil  and  give  off  through  their  leaves  an 
amount  of  moisture  which,  deducting  there- 
from the  quantity  absorbed  in  turn  by  the 
leaves  from  the  air,  is  sufficient  to  exercise  an 
important  influence  in  increasing  the  general 
humidity  of  the  atmosphere.  As  an  agent  in 
cooling  the  atmosphere  about  and  above  it, 
and  thus  increasing  the  frequency  of  rains, 
and  the  amount  of  precipitation  of  both  rain 
and  dew,  the  forest  subserves  a  most  benefi- 
cent purpose." 

"  By  the  protection  afforded  the  soil  against 
the  escape  of  moisture,  it  preserves  and  tends 
to  make  regular  and  permanent  the  natural 
springs  which  are  necessary  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  vegetable  life.  In  protecting  the 
ground  on  its  surface  from  rapid  evaporation 
of  the  rains  which  fall  upon  it.  and  providing 
a  sponGry  covering  which  rapidly  absorbs  and 
distributes  these  rains,  it  prevents  the  di.sas- 
trous  inundations  of  rivers  which  too  often 
occur  when  the  surface  of  the  ground  oflers 
no  obstructions  to  the  onward  flow  of  rivulets 
that  suddenly  feed  the  main  stream  with 
their  accumulated  waters.  The  forest,  too, 
guards  the  soil  aeainst  abrasion  and  displace- 
ment from  torrents  and  overflows,  and  thus, 
acrain,  asserts  its  conservative  influence  for 
man's  snod.  Moreover,  we  need  trees  for  the 
delicrht  they  aflbrd.  as  at  once  the  most  ma- 
iestic,  imposing  and  beautiful  of  nature's 
vegetable  forms." 

In  this  connection,  and  as  a  forcible  illus- 
tration of  the  influence  forest  trees  exercise 
upon  water  streams,  and  psiiecially  upon 
springs,  we  may  educe  the  following  experi- 
ence of  our  own.  When  we  were  a  boy  of 
about  fifteen  years  of  ase,  we  worked  upon  a, 
farm  on  which  the  entire  supply  of  drinking 
and  cooking  water  was  obtained  from  a  free 
flowin?  spring  at  Ihe  base  of  a  hill,  then,  as 
well  as  the  narrow  plain  at  its  base,  covered 
with  trees.  This  spring  had  thus  been  used 
ever  since  the  farm  had  been  opened  up  to 
cultivation,  was  the  only  source  of  water  for 
family  purposes,  and  had  never  failed.  Fifty 
vears  afterwards  we  visited  the  scene  of  our 
boyhood,  and  found  the  hill  and  plain  denuded 
of  their  trees,  and  the  siirinn  entirely  dry. 
There  had  been  no  water  in  the  spring  for 
twenty-five  years,  because  all  the  trees  and 
shrubbery  had  been  removed  twenty-flve 
years  ago,  and  but  a  single  huge  stump  re- 
mained. 

LIME  AND  LIMESTONES. 
"  Lime  and  lime  without  manure 
Will  make  hoth  land  and  farmer  poor." 
In  the  May  and  June  numbers  of  the  Jour- 
nal of  ForeMrij  is  a  very  elaborate  paper  on 
"Lime  and  limestones,  their  uses  in  struc- 
tural works  and  in  agriculture,"  which  no- 
thing but  want  of  space  prevents  us  from 


100 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[Jniy, 


transferring  to  our  columns  entire.  It  is 
written  by  Alfred  J.  Burrows,  of  Pluckley, 
Kent  county,  England,  and  discusses  the  sub- 
ject analytically,  scientifically  and  practically 
in  detail.  Of  course,  the  vse  of  lime  is  one 
thing,  and  the  abuse  of  it  is  quite  another 
thing,  and  it  is  this  abuse  that  has  given  rise 
the  adage  we  quote  above  ;  and  also  to  its 
equivalent,  that  although  it  may  enrich  tlie 
father  it  may  impoverish  the  son  ;  because  its 
tendency  is  to  bring  rapidly  into  use  all  tlie 
vegetable  matter  in  the  soil,  and  therefore 
the  application  of  lime  renders  it  necessary 
that  manure  be  also  imsparingly  applied,  for 
where  the  soil  is  primarily  poor,  lime  alone 
can  do  but  little  good.  A  few  even  in  our 
own  county  have  indulged  in  disparaging 
statements  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  lime  on 
the  crops,  and  a  few  others  again  have  freely 
indulged  in  extreme  counter  opinions.  Tlie 
mostintellisrent  and  advanced  views,  however, 
are  to  the  effect  that  lime  is  not  absolutely  in 
itself  a  vianure,  but  that  it  acts  an  inter- 
mediate part  in  assimilating  the  soil  and  other 
species  of  manure  ;  hence,  lime  alone— and 
especially  where  it  is  already  in  sufficient 
quantity— without  manure,  might  be  as  bar- 
ren of  the  desired  results  as  millstones  and 
hopper  without  corn  in  their  relati  ns  to  a 
grist.  When  this  is  seen,  and  intelligently 
acted  upon,  farmers  will  not  "pin  their  faith" 
to  lime  alone,  neither  will  they  discard  its  use 
any  more  than  they  would  the  handles  of  their 
hammers  or  their  hoes,  those  very  essential 
intermediates  between  "  will  and  way."  Mr. 
B.  says  : 

"The  avantages  of  the  use  of  lime  are  so 
many  and  so  great  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  enumerate  the- whole  of  them.  Their 
effects  may  be  described  as  being  both  chemi- 
cal and  mechanical,  and  as  being  exercised 
both  upon  the  organic  and  inorganic  constitu- 
ents of  the  soil.  The  following  may  be  taken 
as  a  summary  of  the  principal  benefits  : 

"1.  A  larger  produce  of  cereal  crops  of  su- 
perior quality.  Tliis  is  especially  the  case 
with  wheat,  which  becomes  thinner  skinned, 
and  yields  more  flour.  The  peas  grown  upon 
limed  lands  are  better  boilers. 

"2.  Upon  deep  alluvial  and  clay  soils  it  in- 
creases the  crop  of  potatoes  and  renders  them 
less  waxy.  Sprinkled  over  potatoes  in  the 
store  heap  it  preserves  them,  and  when  rid- 
dled over  the  cut  sets  it  wonderfully  increases 
their  fertility. 

"3.  Lime  eradicates  the  finger  and  toe  dis- 
ease in  turnips,  and  gives  greater  soundness 
and  more  nutritive  qualities  to  the  bulbs. 

"4.  It  gives,  when  applied  to  meadow  lands, 
a  larger  produce  of  nutritious  grasses,  and 
checks  the  foot-rot  in  sheep  depastured  upon 
them.  It  also  exterminates  bent*,  as  well  as 
coarse  and  sour  grasses,  destroys  couch  grass, 
and  acts  powerfully  upon  the  rye  grasses. 

"5.  Upon  arable  land  it  destroys  the  corn- 
marigold,  and  weeds  of  various  kinds. 

"6.  It  rapidly  decomposes  vegetable  mat- 
ter, producing  a  large  amount  of  food  for 
plants  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  gas. 

"7.  It  destroys  or  neutralizes  the  acids  in 
the  soils,  hence  its  adaptability  to  our  soils. 

"8.  It  acts  powerfully  upon  some  of  the  in- 
organic parts  of  soils,  especially  on  the  sul- 
phate of  iron  found  in  peaty  soils,  and  the 
sulphates  of  magnesia  and  alumina. 

"9.  It  proves  fatal  to  worms  and  slugs,  and 
the  larvae  of  injurious  insects,  though  favor- 
able to  the  growth  of  shell-bearers. 

"10.  It  destroys  the  germ  of  smut  upon  the 
seed  of  wheat,  barley  and  oats,  and  is  especi- 
ally acceptable  to  the  barley  crop,  which  is 
generally  of  good  quality  upon  chalky  soils. 

"11.  Slacked  lime  added  to  vegetable  mat- 
ter causes  it  to  give  ofl'  its  nitrogen  in  the 
form  of  ammonia.  Upon  soils  in  which  the 
ammonia  is  combined  with  acids  it  sets  free 
the  ammonia,  which  is  directly  seized  upon  by 
the  plants.  ^ 

"12.  Its  solubility  in  water  causes  it  to  sink 
into  and  ameliorate  the  subsoil.    When  the 


•Bent-Grass.    A  species  of  Agrostis,  very 
pasture  grouuds,  the  beut  or  creeping  stems  of  which  an 
difficult  to  eradicate. 


soil  contains  fragments  of  granite  or  trap 
rocks,  lime  hastens  their  decomposition  and 
liberates  the  silicates. 

"13.  Its  combination  with  the  acids  in  the 
soil  produces  saline  compounds,  such  as 
potash,  soda,  &c. 

"14.  It  exerts  a  marvelous  effect  upon  rape, 
though  it  is  said  to  injure  flax,  which  in 
Belgium  is  not  grown  for  seven  years  after 
liming. 

"15.  Strewed  over  the  young  plants,  it 
destroys  or  drives  away  the  turnip  fly. 

"16.  Worked  in  with  grass  seeds,  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  lime,  chalk,  marl  and  shell 
sand  have  been  visible  for  a  period  of  thirty 
years. 

"17.  It  has  a  powerful  pulverizing  efliect 
upon  the  wealden  clay,  on  the  sandstone 
formations,  and  on  the  granite  and  slate 
rocks. 

"18.  It  is  generally  supposed  to  hasten  the 
ripening  of  corn  crops. 

"19.  It  promotes  the  formation  in  the  soil 
of  what  are  called  tlie  double  silicates.  This 
process  starts  with  the  clay,  or  silicate  of 
alumina,  and  is  afterwards  continued  tlirough 
the  S.  of  alumina  and  lime,  the  S.  of  A.  and 
soda,  A.  and  potash,  and  A.  and  ammonia. 

"20.  Applied  to  the  rot-heap  lime  effectu- 
ally destroys  the  seed  of  weeds. 

"To  sura  up  its  advantages— when  properly 
applied  to  the  soil — it  purifies  and  stimulates 
its  action,  thereby  promoting  the  growth  of 
healthy  vegetation  of  all  kinds." 

THE  CURCULIO. 

Dr.  Kauflman  of  Iowa  City  gives  the  follow- 
ing method  for  extinguishing  or  driving  off 
the  Curculio  as  something  new.  Whether  old 
or  new,  it  is  inexpensive  and  ought  to  be  tried. 
He  says : 

"During  the  summer  of  1847,  I  procured 
from  the  gas-house  several  gallons  of  coal  or 
gas  tar.  1  put  about  a  quart  in  a  long  handled 
stew  pan,  and  with  a  few  shavings  and  a 
match  soon  had  a  dense  black  smoke.  This  I 
carried  under  my  plum  tree,  so  that  the  dense 
smoke  pervaded  all  parts  of  the  tree.  My 
first  eflbrts  were  very  gratifying,  in  seeing  in- 
sects of  all  sorts  hurrying  out  of  the  tree. 
Ants  came  running  down  the  tree,  various 
kinds  of  worms  and  spiders  let  themselves 
down  by  their  webs,  and  all  winged  insects 
flew  out,  leaving  the  tree  deserted  of  all  in- 
sect life.  I  spent  ^ibout  half  an  hour  in  smok- 
ing 42  trees,  and  tliis  I  repeated  three  or  four 
times  a  week,  unless  a  rain  had  washed  off  the 
smudge,  when  I  again  repeated  the  smoking. 
After  my  first  effort  I  tried  the  shaking  pro- 
cess, but  invariably  failed  to  catch  or  see  a 
single  specimen  of  the  curculio.  I  continued 
this  process  until  near  the  time  of  ripening, 
and  got  my  first  crop  of  plums,  over  30  bush- 
els. The  whole  cost  of  coal  tar  for  those  42 
trees  during  the  summer  was  less  than  $2.  1 
began  the  smoking  a  little  too  late,  after  I 
had  tried  for  sometime  the  jarring  into  the 
sheet :  therefore  some  of  the  fruit  had  been 
stung:  and  had  it  not  been  for  this,  my  crop 
of  ripe  plums  would  have  been  still  greater. 
During  1875  the  plum  crop  was  an  entire  fail- 
ure, and  I  had  no  opportunity  to  continue 
this  experiment:  but  the  summer  of  1876 
brought  a  large  plum  crop,  and  I  at  once  re- 
sorted to  my  favorite  remedy.  I  commenced 
smoking  my  trees  as  soon  as  the  plums  were 
the  size  of  a  hazel  nut,  and  continued  up  to 
the  time  of  ripening,  and  not  a  single  Curculio 
sting  was  to  be  seen  on  my  fruit,  the  trees  of 
which  were  treated  to  the  coal-tar  smoke.  I 
purposely  left  trees  of  different  varieties  un- 
smoked,  and  all  the  plums,  excepting  one  sort, 
were  stung  and  dropped  ofl"  before  ripening." 
Moore''s  Rural  Life. 

[  We  would  begin  earlier — when  the  plums 
were  the  size  of  a  marrow-fat  pea. 

It  would  be  worth  knowing  also,  what  the 
"excepted"  variety  was:  even  if  it  were  only 
of  medium  or  inferior  quality.  There  might 
be  some  compensation  in  quantity  for  the  lack 
of  quality,  or  no  plums  at  all] 


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HOW  TO  RAISE  A  BULL. 

The  following  poem  is  from  a  work  called 
the  "  Farmer's  Friend,"  written  by  C.  Mac- 
.pherson,  Dundee,  Scotland,  and  published  by 
the  author.  Without  intending  to  criticise 
its  literary  quality  we  content  ourselves  with 
considering  it  from  a  practical  standpoint; 
and  viewing  it  tlius,  there  probably  would  be 
a  great  waste  of  time  saved  if  all  poems  (of 
which  there  are  now  so  many  published)  were 
imbued  with  some  practical  and  useful  theme. 
Who  would  have  thought,  however,  that 
there  was  so  much  poetry  in  a  bull  ?  (We  do 
not  mean  an  Irish  bull,  for  some  of  them  are 
brim  full  of  poetry,  but  an  Alderney,  a  Jer- 
sey, or  a  Durham,  if  you  please. )  But  listea 
to  Mac.  and  be  instructed  and  edified  : 

"  He  of  who's  fame  I  would  eine; 

Must  early  calved  be  in  the  epi-ine:, 

And  who  should  nurse  the  calf?— Its  mother — 

Its  mother  only,  and  no  other. 

By  no  means  mar  their  tranquil  joy 

By  yelping  dog  or  heedless  boy  ; 

Affright  them  not,  or  make  them  run, 

Nor  strike  them  with  a  club  or  stone  ("stun.") 

When  young,  ne'er  let  him  touch  your  quoys, 

Nor  sonn  excite  his  sexual  joys; 

But  keep  him  chaste  in  field  or  fold 

Until  he's  fully  three  years  old. 

Then  let  him  woo  the  chasteful  kine, 

Yet  in  each  season  seme  but  nine. 

Among  your  cows  then  he  may  stray, 

And  freely  let  their  passions  play, 

And  woo  each  other  while  they  may; 

Tet  rigid  keep  this  virtuous  rule  : 

In  one  year,  nine  cows  to  one  bull ; 

No  more,  if  high  breeds  be  your  aim. 

Unless  you  would  your  herds  defame. 

From  four  years  unto  five,  six,  seven, 

He's  in  his  prime  ;  old  at  eleven, 

And  useless  as  a  worthy  sire, 

As  then  declines  his  vital  fire. 

Work  makes  him  docile,  kind  and  strong, 

Yet  do  not  task  his  strength  too  long, 

Tho'  well  he  can  endure  the  toil, 

And  make  for  man,  to  till  the  soil ; 

Then  when  you  choose  to  make  him  fat, 

He'll  feed  the  better  all  for  that. 

Surfeit  him  not,  nor  feed  him  mean. 

But  just  these  two  extremes  between; 

For  food  let  his  appetite  be  keen, 

This  keeps  his  blood  and  system  clean." 

— Live  atock  Journal. 
[That's  the  way  he  tells  the  story;  and  our 
readers  can  draw  their  own  conclusions  as  to 
how  far  the  story  is  a  practical  one.] 

PACKING  EGGS— WHICH  END  DOWN? 

How  doctors  do  disagree ;  and  if  it  were 
not  that  there  are  opinions  differing  from 
both  the  following,  we  might  be  induced  to 
conclude  that  both  were  right. 

In  the  "Kitchen"  department  of  the  cur- 
rent number  of  The  Housekeeper,  we  find  the 
annexed  items  on  "packing  eggs." 

"  In  whatever  position  an  egg  lies  the  yolk 
will  always  be  gradually  settling  to  the  lower 
side,  and  the  moment  it  rests  on  the  shell  it 
begins  to  spoil.  In  fresh  eggs  the  yolk  is 
nearer  to  the  large  end  ;  moreover,  the  white 
in  the  small  end  is  firmer,  more  solid,  conse- 
quently the  yolk  has  farther  to  go,  and  meets 
with  more  resistance  before  reaching  the 
shell  when  set  on  the  small  end." 

In  the  adjoining  column  a  diflerent  writer 
speaks  in  this  wise : 

"There  has  always  existed  a  great  difler- 
ence  of  opinion  as  to  which  end  down  eggs 
should  be  packed  for  winter  use.  W.  H. 
Todd,  the  well-known  Ohio  breeder  of  poultry, 
writes  us  as  follows,  giving,  as  it  seems  to  us, 
sound  reasons  for  packing  them  larger  end 
down.  He  says:  'The  air  chamber  is  in  the 
larger  end,  and  if  that  is  placed  down  the 
yolk  will  not  break  through  and  touch  the 
shell,  and  thereby  spoil.  Anottier  thing,  if 
the  air  chamber  is  down  the  egg  is  not  as 
liable  to  shrink  away." 

Both  these  plans  insist  on  preventing  the 
yolk  from  touching  the  shell,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent "spoiling."  In  that  they  agree,  but 
seem  to  disagree  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
that  result  can  best  be  secured. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Fyle,  of  W-est  Chester,  says  : 
Eggs  will  keep  for  one  month,  and  hatch  well 
if  they  are  laid  on  their  sides,  instead  of 
standing  on  either  end,  but   not  air-tight. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


101 


■When  standing  on  one  end  the  "spiral  cord  " 
attached  to  each  end  is  on  a  strain.  This 
cord  is  attached  to  the  yolk  and  suspends  it 
in  the  centre,  and  keeps  the  same  side  of  the 
yolk  uppermost  all  tlie  time,  each  one  being 
twisted  the  contrary  way.  You  can  tnrn  the 
shell  but  not  the  yolk  ;  therefore,  on  the  side 
is  the  proper  way  to  keep  them. 

It  is  true  Mr.  P.'s  system  relates  to  breed- 
ing and  the  others  to  pnckinrj  for  market ; 
yet,  inasmuch  as  it  covers  nearly  two  months, 
it  might  just  be  as  good  a  way  to  keep  eggs  as 
any  other,  because  the  production  and  con- 
sumption of  eggs  is  so  rapid  and  continuous 
that  there  is  liardly  a  two  months'  supply  on 
hand  at  any  one  time,  except  in  special  cases. 

We  have  given  these  views  tliinking  our 
readers  may  be  able  to  gather  something  from 
each  of  them. 

HOW  TO  PRESERVE  GRAPES. 

Will  some  of  our  patrons  try  the  following 
remedy  to  preserve  grapes  in  a  fresh  and 
luscious  state  beyond  the  usual  grape  season^. 
We  find  it  in  the  columns  of  an  esteemed  con, 
temporary,  but  we  are  not  able  to  vouch  for 
its  practicability.  The  remedy  is  simple  and 
may  be  easily  tried  : 

"  Travelers  say  that  the  Chinese  have  a 
method  of  preserving  grapes  so  as  to  have 
them  at  command  during  the  entire  year  by 
cutting  a  circular  piece  out  of  a  ripe  pumpkin 
or  gourd,  making  an  aperture  large  enough  to 
admit  the  haTid.  Tlie  interior  is  then  "com- 
pletely cleaned  out,  the  ripe  grapes  are  placed 
inside,  and  the  cover  replaced  and  pressed  in 
firmly.  The  pumpkins  are  then  kept  in  a 
cool  place,  and  the  grapes  will  be  found  to 
retain  their  freslmess  for  a  very  longtime." 
We  would  gratuitously  suggest,  that  the 
pumpkin  be  thoroughly  ripe— else  a  rot  miglit 
follow— and  that  the  "  plug  "  be  so  cut  as  to 
be  self-wedging  when  it  is  replaced — that  is, 
the  knife  should  be  inserted  obliquely  so  as  to 
make  the  plug  or  stopper  widest  at  the  outer 
part;  so  shaped,  that  it  could  not  be  pushed 
through. 

MONTHLY   REMINDERS. 

In  the  Middle  States,  this,  like  .June,  is  a 
month  of  labor,  in  the  garden.  Weeds  are 
in  rapid  growth,  plants  are  to  set  out,  seeds 
saved,  and  various  matters  require  attention. 
Beans  plant  for  succession.  Beets,  the  Long 
Blood  and  Sugar  ;  also  Mangold  Wurzel  may 
be  planted  for  stock,  as  late  as  first  of  July. 
June  is,  however,  much  better.  Beets,  for 
late  AVinter  and  Spring  use,  may  now  be 
sown.  Cabbage  plant.  The  Winter  sorts  of 
Cabbage  should  now  be  planted  out ;  where 
many  are  to  be  transplanted  it  is  proper  to 
await  a  suitable  time — a  heavy  rain  or  show- 
ery weather  ;  but  in  a  small  garden  Cabbages 
may  be  transplanted  almost  at  any  season,  by 
careful  watering,  and,  if  need  be,  shading. 
Celery  plant.  Endive  .sow.  Peas,  a  few  may 
be  sown  ;  tliey  seldom  do  well  at  this  season. 
Turnips  sow. 

Drumhead  Savoy  Cabbage. 

An  excellent  Winter  and  Spring  family 
Cabbage,  partaking  partially  of  the  size  of 
the  Drumhead  and  the  curled  leaves  of  the 
Savoy.  Market-gardeners  usually  find  it  pro- 
fitable to  provide  a  limited  quantity  for  dis- 
criminating customers;  for  family  use,  it  is 
only  equaled  by  the  Curled  Savoy.  It  may 
reaclily  be  kept  until  late  in  Spring,  and  ap- 
pears to  improve  by  the  process  of  ripening- 
becoming  marrow-like  and  free  from  the  rank 
flavor  which  sometimes  attaches  to  the  Cab- 
bage. It  really  seems  incredib.e  that  with 
such  a  variety  as  this  attainable  that  people 
should  be  found  cultivating  the  "Mammoth 
Drumhead,"  except  for  pigs;  and  is  poor 
food  for  them  in  comparison  with  Beets,  Pars- 
nips, Carrots  and  other  Roots  which  may  be 
provided  at  moderate  cost. 

With  progress  in  every  art,  and  improving 
taste  in  all  which  interests  us,  it  is  curious  to 
observe  the  persistence  with  which  some  peo- 
ple stick  to  old  and  obsolete  varieties  of  vege- 
tables— satisfied  with  what  was  familiar  to 


them  in  their  youth— apparently  unconscious 
the  world  is  moving  onward,  and  satisfied  to 
pick  up  tlieir  garden-seeds  at  the  cross-roads 
store,  where  they  may  have  been  depo.sited 
for  sale  by  an  itinerant  seed-seller- the  rem- 
nant, perchance,  of  a  box  exposed  elsewhere 
the  preceding  year. 

It  is  not  agreeable  to  make  such  comments, 
but  this  publication  is  designed  for  public 
benefit,  and  it  becomes  a  duty  to  point  out 
error. — Landreth^s  lliirul  lirginter. 


Contributions. 


For  The  Lancasteb  Fabmeb. 
SUMMER  TIME. 
Summer  time  Is  coming  now, 

Summer  time  is  here  ; 
And  we  sit  beneath  the  bough, 

When  the  sky  Is  clear. 
For  the  sun  Is  burning  hot, 

And  we  love  the  shade  ; 
And  the  sweet  forcet-me-not 

Hides  within  the  glade. 
And  we  love  the  cooling  breeze, 

As  it  fans  our  brow  ; 
Coming  through  the  leafy  trees, 

Ah  !  that  sound  is  now. 
Out  upon  the  harvest  field, 

Wliere  the  men  do  reap  ; 
Gather  in  the  golden  yield, 

Pile  it  up  on  heap. 
Some  do  rake  and  bind  the  sheaves, 

Others  load  the  wain  ; 
Some  do  hear  the  rustling  leaves,    ^ 

Soon  it  will  give  rain. 
Some  do  haul  it  to  the  barn, 

There  to  store  away  ; 
Vfe  can  lessons  from  them  learn 

For  a  future  day. 
Hark  !  I  hear  the  dinner  bell, 

Pealing  out  so  clear  ; 
As  it  echoes  through  the  dell, 

Giving  them  fresh  cheer. 
Now  we  hear  the  farmer's  voice, 

Calling  to  the  men  ; 
"  Till  this  evening  we'll  rejoice, 

For  the  grain  is  in." 
Gather  all  the  precious  gold, 

Every  sheaf  but  one  ; 
And  at  eve  we'll  raise  the  pole, 

When  the  work  is  done. 
For  the  little  feathered  tribe 

Cannot  live  on  air; 
And  we  ought,  while  it  is  ripe. 

Give  at  least  a  share." 
Hark  !  we  hear  the  thunder  roll, 

See  the  lightning  Hash  ; 
And  anon  descends  the  bolt 

AVith  a  deafening  crash. 
And  the  rain  comes  pouring  down, 

Filling  all  our  springs. 
And  the  dry  and  parching  ground, 

Now  the  farmer  sings. 
For  he  thinks  of  shriveled  corn 

That  does  need  the  rain. 
And  of  weary  limbs  so  worn. 

That  can  rest  again. 
Farmers  with  their  busy  bands, 

Woik  with  iron  will  ; 
And  they  want  no  idle  hands, 

They  cannot  stand  still. 
For  the  summer  slips  apast. 

Ere  we  think  it  near  ; 
But  the  wealth  we  have  amassed, 

Sometimes  costs  us  dear.  — Leoline. 

For  The  LAtJCASTF.n  Fahmeh. 
LARGE  CATFISH. 

Dear  Editor  :  As  promised  in  a  former 
letter,  I  will  give  a  little  sketch  of  our  big 
fish  that  dwell  in  this  big,  muddy  stream. 

There  are  two  varieties  of  the  cat  tribe. 
The  one  called  the  131ack  or  Channel  cat.  Tliis 
one  is  usually  found  in  the  swift  currents,  and 
seems  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  steam- 
boats, as  they  are  often  caught  with  food  in 
their  stomachs  that  is  thrown  overboard. 
Nothing  seems  to  come  ami.ss ;  from  a  dish 
of  potatoes  to  the  shin-bone  of  an  ox.  They 
also  prey  upon  their  own  species,  as  they  are 
frequently  taken  with  one  of  their  own  sort, 
nearly  half  their  own  length,  inside  of  them. 


One  instance,  close  here,  three  fish  were 
taken  on  one  snood;  one  of  about  two  pounds 
took  the  bait,  anotiier  of  about  ten  pounds 
swallowed  tliis  one,  when  a  thirty  pounder 
gobbled  this  one,  and  wtis  taken  in  ;  the  hook 
still  remaining  in  the  small  one's  mouth.  Re- 
member this  is  not  a  fish  story,  but  a  fact. 

I  have  never  caught  any  of  tliese  big  fish, 
but  have  witnessed  with  great  satisfaction  the 
operations.  Some  years  ago  I  helped  to  -skin 
one  that  measured  live  feet  eight  inches  in 
length,  measured  fourteen  inches  between  the 
eyes,  and  weighed  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  pounds.  When  the  head  was  cut  oft  a 
little  three  year  old  boy  present  miglit  easily 
have  crawled  through  its  mouth.  Tlie  manner 
in  which  this  fellow  was  caught  may  be  new  to 
some  of  your  readers  and  therefore  1  will  give 
it.  Large  hooks  are  used,  fastened  to  the  lines 
about  three  feet  long,  baited  with  old  bacon, 
dead  birds,  chicken  entrails,  or  in  fact  almost 
any  kind  of  meat.  This  short  line  is  tied  to 
the  handle  of  a  jug  tightly  corked  ;  a  block  of 
light  wood  will  also  answer.  Thus  provided, 
a  skift"  is  rowed  up  the  river  as  far  as  it  is  in- 
tended to  fish  down.  These  blocks  or  j..g8 
are  cast  afloat,  considerably  scattered,  and  as 
they  float  down  the  stream  the  fishermen  let 
their  craft  follow.  It  is  a  pretty  sight  to  look 
at  ten  to  twenty  of  these  afloat,  and  when  one 
begins  to  bob  there  is  excitement :  but  now  is 
the  time  to  keep  cool,  for  it  is  well  to  let  the 
fish  tire  himself  before  taking  it  in.  At  the 
proper  time  they  approach  quickly  but  quietly; 
one  takes  the  jug  or  block  in  hand  and  raises 
the  fish,  while  another  stands  with  a  sharp 
hook,  with  which  he  strikes  the  fish  and  helps 
the  other  to  lift  it  into  the  skift.  This  latter 
is  no  small  task  when  a  very  large  one. 
Another  plan  is  similar  to  the  mode  in  the 
eastern  streams  called  outlines,  here  trot 
lines  ;  which  1  think  should  be  taut,  as  they 
are  stretched  pretty  tightly. 

The  Yellow  or  Mud  Catfish  are  heavier  in 
proportion  to  their  length,  and  dwell  in  still 
water,  where  there  is  plenty  of  mud. 

This  is  very  dillerent  fishing  from  what  I 
did  years  ago  in  the  Pequea  creek,  six  miles 
southeast  of  your  city.— -S.  Miller,  Bluffton, 
Misaouri.  

For  The  Lanoasteh  Farheb. 
A  GLIMPSE  OF  THE  WEST. 

Editor  Lancaster  Farmer  :  In  these 
days  of  unusual  migration,  when  almost 
every  one  has  a  frieiid  or  relative  in  the 
West,  those  in  the  East  usually  feel  an  in- 
terest in  their  welfare  ;  and  especially  while 
so  many  reports  are  circulated  of  the  priva- 
tions they  have  to  endure,  and  the  homesick- 
ness they  sufler  on  the  rainless,  treeless  and 
shelterless  praii'ies  of  Kansas,  Nebraska  and 
othe.  States. 

A  few  weeks'  travel  in  Kansas,  where  I 
came  in  contact  with  a  large  percentage  of 
Pennsylvauians,  not  a  few  of  which  were 
former  residents  of  our  own  garden  county,  I 
tliink  justifies  me  to  make  a  brief  report  of 
what  1  saw  and  heard. 

The  colony  from  this  and  neighboring 
counties,  which  settled  in  Dickinson  county 
this  spring,  have  nearly  all  located,  and  seem 
quite  at  home ;  no  complaints  were  heard, 
and  homesickness  is  emphatically  denied. 
And,  although  they  are  obliged  to  put  up 
with  some  inconveniences  to  which  they  were 
unused  in  the  East,  they  have  no  doubt  al- 
ready imbibed  some  of  the  go-ahead  spirit  so 
characteristic  to  western  people,  that  a  few 
years  hence  they  will  be  pretty  well  fixed, 
unless  some  unusual  or  unexpected  reverses 
should  befall  them. 

To  the  eastern  explorer  who  has  never 
before  seen  a  prairie,  this  reputed  rainless 
desert  presents  attractions  of  which,  "  in  his 
philosophy,"  he  had  never  dreamed.  The 
broad,  living  green  expanse  of  level  and 
rolling  prairie,  interspersed  with  bluffs  20  to 
50  feet  in  height,  presents  landscapes  truly 
enchanting  to  the  beholder.  The  rivers,  as 
also  the  smaller  streams,  are  lined  with  tim- 
ber, which  adds  charm  to  the  scenery. 

The  many  beautiful  and  fragrant  flowers, 


i02 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


amid  the  songs  of  the  meadow  lark,  prairie 
hen,  and  many  other  feathered  songsters, 
make  travel  by  no  means  monotonous. 

The  social  character  of  the  citizens  of 
Kansas  is  a  feature  which  will  attract  new- 
comers and  cause  them  to  feel  quite  at  home. 
The  stiff  formality,  so  prevalent  in  the  East, 
is  almost  unknown  liere.  The  honest,  industri- 
ous comer  is  heartily  welcomed,  and  receives 
all  the  necessary  encouragement  to  become  a 
permanent  citizen.  But  woe  to  the  tramp, 
the  liquor  guzzler  and  the  thief,  lu  all  my 
travels  through  the  State  I  met  none  of  these 
characters,  knowing  them  to  be  such.  The 
latter,  of  course,  can  move  in  disguise,  but  1 
met  an  officer,  with  a  span  of  fast  horses,  in 
hot  pursuit  of  law-breakers,  and  was  then 
confident  of  capturing  his  game,  having 
traveled  140  miles. 

Society  is  as  good  as  in  any  other  State. 
The  progressive  spirit  of  the  people  of  Kansas 
has  carried  innovation  upon  the  customs  of 
the  older  States,  and  instead  of  foUowiug  in 
the  old  ruts  they  are  leading  many  of  the 
older  States.  For  example,  tne  Stale  Board 
of  Agriculture  was  organized  years  betore 
that  of  our  State  ;  and  their  museum,  in  the 
Capitol  at  Topeka,  would  be  a  credit  to  the 
old  Keystone  State.  There  are  displayed 
cereals  and  grasses  in  great  variety ;  some 
from  other  countries. 

The  botanical,  entomological  and  ornitho- 
logical departments  are  wellhlled,  as  also  that 
of  native  wild  animals  and  reptiles.  Textiles 
and  textile  fabrics,  fossils  and  minerals,  be- 
sides many  other  objects  of  interest,  all  make 
up  a  display  which  much  older  States  might 
envy.  The  remarkable  fertility  of  the  soil, 
with  so  small  a  percentage  that  is  not  tillable, 
justifies  its  claim  to  become  the  leading  agri- 
cultural State  in  the  Union. 

In  fact,  it  is  already  established  in  wheat 
culture,  as  the  crops  in  1878  was  32,0U0,UUU 
bushels,  which  was  above  the  yield  of  any 
other  State.  The  present  crop,  however, 
will  be  a  partial  failure,  evidently  in  conse- 
quence of  so  large  a  proportion  having  been 
plowed  and  sowed  too  late,  amid  extreme 
drouth,  followed  by  a  severe  winter  and  dry 
spring.  In  corn  products  it  will  be  first,  as 
soon  as  there  is  sufficient  live  stock  raised  to 
make  the  crop  marketable  in  less  bulk.  The 
condition  of  the  present  crop  appears  better 
than  that  of  any  other  State  through  which  I 
passed  westward. 

In  pomology,  the  State  will  soon  stand 
among  the  first.  At  an  altitude  of  800  feet 
above  the  sea  level  in  the  eastern,  to  a,000  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State,  with  soils  well 
adapted,  its  horticultural  resources  justity 
these  predictions,  and  especially  when  we 
consider  the  results  already  attained  in  the 
eas  ern  section  of  the  State.  The  larger  por- 
tion of  the  State  lying  south  of  the  3yth 
parallel,  makes  the  season  three  to  four  weeks 
longer  than  with  us,  and  the  winters  generally 
less  rigid.  An  abundance  of  water  is  ob- 
tained at  a  deptli  generally  averaging  less 
than  thirty  feet.  Excellent  buildmg  stone  is 
easily  obtained  in  many  parts  ot  the  State. 
The  question  will  then  naturally  arise,  are 
there  then  no  drawbacks  there  to  the  actual 
settler  ?  Certainly  there  are,  but  not  so  many 
as  are  generally  reported.  Lack  of  timber 
(except  in  the  eastern  part)  is  probably  the 
most  prominent,  but  at  the  present  rate  of 
planting  it  may  become  a  well-timbered  State. 
In  short,  where  we  find  permanent  settlers  of 
six  to  ten  years  or  more,  the  appearances  are 
quite  homelike,  and  by  no  means  so  uninviting 
as  some  writers  would  have  us  believe.— 
H.  M.  E. 


[July, 


For  The  Lancaster  Faemer. 
THE  MOON'S  INFLUENCE. 

Editor  Lancaster  Farjier  :  In  my 
communication,  published  in  the  May  num- 
ber ot  your  valuable  journal,  in  reply  to 
J.  G.,  while  giving  some  reasons  for  doubting 
that  the  changes  or  signs  of  the  moon  have 
any  appreciable  influence  on  the  weather  or 
the  growth  of  vegetation,  I  admitted  that  it 
is  by  facts  and  experience,  rather  than  by  ab- 


stract reasoning  or  theory,  that  the  question 
in  dispute  must  be  settled  ;  and  added  : 

"If,  however,  J.  G.  can  show  by  a  series  of  care- 
fully conducted  experiments,  by  himself  or  others, 
extending  over  a  considerable  space  of  time,  that 
ihe  signs  or  changes  of  the  moon  have  the  effects 
attributed  to  them,  or  any  sensible  effect  on  the  crops, 
then  we  will  have  to  admit  that  he  is  justified  in  his 
belief.  Until  that  is  done  it  cannot  be  expected  that 
intelligent  agriculturists  will  generally  adopt  his 
theory," 

To  this  call,  or  challenge,  J.  G.  has  not  yet 
made  any  response  ;  but  another  writer  who 
signs  himself  ''A  Seeker  after  Truth,-"  comes 
to  the  rescue  in  the  :June  number  of  The 
Farmer.  Instead,  however,  of  favorin"  your 
readers  with  the  "series  of  experiments "  I 
asked  for,he  contents  himself  with  givino-two 
or  three  isolated  cases,  where,  as  he  says',  the 
facts  corresponded  with  the  theory  he  upholds. 
The  first  case  he  mentions  is  that  of  two  post 
fences  he  had  erected,  some  thirty-five  years 
ago,  on  the  opposite  sides  of  a  lane.  One  of 
these  fences  was  set  when  the  sign  was  m  and 
the  other,  about  two  weeks  later,  when  the 
sign  ivas  down.  A  year  or  so  afterwards  he 
noticed  that  the  bottom  rails  in  the  former  re- 
mained up  so  high  as  to  permit  small  pi<js  to 
creep  under,  while  in  the  latter  the  fence  set- 
tled down  so  that  the  bottom  rails  touched 
the  ground. 

Tnis  is  the  only  fact  "A  Seeker"  adduces 
to  prove  that  the  changing  signs  of  the  moon 
have  the  particular  inttuence  he  here  attributes 
to  them.  Suppose  he  had  ascertained  a  year 
or  so  after  the  fences  were  built  that  one  of 
them  was  set  in  the  morning  and  the  other  in 
the  evening,  would  it  not  be  quite  as  reason- 
able to  conclude  that  it  was  the  sun's  ascen- 
sivn  and  descension  as  the  moon's,  that  held 
one  fence  up  and  forced  the  other  down  y  He 
does  not  tell  us  whether  they  were  both  set  at 
the  same  time  of  day,  or  whether  rains  or 
frosts  had  intervened,  or  whether  the  nature 
of  the  soil  was  precisely  the  same  on  the  two 
sides  of  the  lane  ;  yet  from  one  single  coinci- 
dence he  would  have  us  to  infer  infallibly 
that  the  moon  and  the  moon  alone  was  ac- 
couutable  for  the  difference  in  the  level  of  the 
fences.  It  may  be  said  that  many  others 
have  had  similar  experience  of  the  moon's 
mtiuence  on  fences,  &c.,  and  no  doubt  such  is 
the  tact.  But  all  such  testimony  is  utterly 
worthless  so  long  as  each  or  all  of  the  wit- 
nesses have  only  to  offer  one  or  a  few  isolated 
or  selected  experiments  which  make  in  favor 
of  their  theory.  In  that  way  any  theory, 
however  groundless,  can  be  made  to  appear 
plausible  to  those  whose  range  of  knowledt^e 
and  reasoning  powers  are  confined  within 
very  narrow  limits.  Give  me  leave  to  select 
niy  experiments,  and  I  could  prove  to  the 
satisfaction  ot  one-half  of  the  people  that 
exactly  the  opposite  effects  follow  the  changes 
ot  the  signs  from  those  now  attributed  to 
them. 

But  look  at  the  absurdity  of  the  belief,  in 
this  case  of  "  Seeker's  "  two  fences.  Did  the 
moon's  influence  cease  to  operate  on  them 
after  the  first  two  weeks  ?  If  the  posts  being 
set  when  the  sign  was  up  were  thereby  pre- 
vented from  settling  in  the  ground  while  the 
sign  continued  up,  what  was  to  prevent  it 
from  being  forced  down  as  soon  as  the  sign 
changed,  so  that  after  it  had  the  full  effects 
of  an  alternate  up  sign  and  a  down  sign,  the 
force  in  one  direction  would  neutralize  that 
in  the  other,  and  leave  the  fence  just  where 
it  would  have  been  if  the  moon  had  had  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  matter  ;  and  the  same 
with  the  other  fence,  that  was  set  in  the 
down  sign  V  I  hope  "  A  Seeker  after  Truth  " 
will  show  us  how  this  is,  if  he  can. 

When  this  writer  assumes  that  an  "amateur 
farmer"  must  have  plenty  of  leisure,  he  is  not 
altogether  logical.  Horace  Greeley  was  an 
amateur  farmer,  yet  he  led  one  of  the  busiest 
lives  of  any  man  of  his  day.  The  respected 
editorof  The  Lancaster  Farmer  is  another 
instance.  And  for  my  part  I  have  generally 
been  kept  quite  as  busy,  at  one  thing  and 
another,  as  the  average  of  practical  farmers. 
Nevertheless  I  found  time  to  adopt  "A 
Seeker's"  advice  to  some  extent,  even  before 


he  gave  it.  I  have  "honestly"  tried  quite  a 
number  of  experiments,  at  different  times, 
and  made  some  observations  in  regard  to  the 
effect  of  the  moon's  changes  on  the  weather, 
the  crops.  &c.,  and  I  am  compelled  to  say  that 
I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  that  there  is 
anything  in  the  sign  theory  wjatever.  During 
this  very  spring  and  summer  I  made  a  test 
which  a  believer  in  the  signs  recommended  to 
me.  by  laying  down  bricks  on  a  grass  plot, 
first  wlien  the  sign  was  down  and  afterwards 
when  the  sign  was  up,  leaving  them  on  each 
occasion  the  same  length  of  time  and  until 
the  sign  changed.  I  repeated  the  experiment 
several  times,  and  I  declare  that  I  was  entire- 
ly unable  to  perceive  any  difference  in  the 
settling  down  of  the  bricks  or  the  deadness  of 
the  grass  under  them,  between  those  placed 
during  the  up  sign  and  those  in  the  down  sign. 
Another  of  "A  Seeker's  "  cases  is  that  of 
his  killing  briers  lu  a  fence  row  by  digging 
them  up  on  a  particular  day  in  August.  ~  As 
he  does  not  say  it  was  in  any  particular  sign 
of  the  moon,  I  don't  see  what  this  has  to  do 
with  the  question  in  hand.  But  I  have  been 
told  by  ))ractical  farmers  that  briers  will 
always  be  killed  by  cutting  them  off  in 
August,  without  reference  to  the  "sign." 

The  case  of  the  lady  who  ahvays  trans- 
planted her  flowers  when  the  moon  was 
passing  through  the  sign  of  Libra,  and  there- 
by kept  them  clear  of  insects  (apliids),  is  the 
last  and  only  remaining  one  "A  Seeker" 
adduces  ;  and  it  may  be  allowed  to  pass  with 
the  remark  that  as  she  never  tried  trans- 
planting in  any  other  sign,  her  opinion  cannot 
be  regarded  as  very  conclusive,  especially 
when  it  is  considered  that  plenty  of  ladies 
may  be  found  that  are  never  troubled  with 
aphids  on  their  flowers,  who  pay  no  attention 
to  the  signs  when  they  transplant  them. 

Now,  a  word  about  "A  Seeker's"  slur  on 
Dr.  Lardner.  This  eminent  scientist,  it  ap- 
pears, once  jj?'efZic<ecZ  that  steam  power  could 
not  be  used  profitably  as  a  motor  to  cross  the 
ocean.  And  because  he  is  proved  to  have  been 
mistaken  in  that  opinion,  our  "Seeker  after 
Truth"  would  whistle  him  down  the  wind  as 
though  he  were  a  man  of  no  account  and  not 
worthy  of  belief  wlien  he  relates  facts  that 
have  already  transpired  1  If  a  man  is  ever  so 
mistaken  in  opinion  as  to  what  may  happen 
in  the  future,  does  that  destroy  his  credibility 
as  a  witness  when  he  tells  us  what  has  taken 
place  in  the  past  ?  I  beg  leave  to  difler  with 
the  illiberal  critic  who  thinks  so.  But  aside 
from  the  conclusions  of  Dr.  Lardner,  what 
has  this  writer,  who  so  much  despises  his 
opinions,  to  say  of  the  fact  related  by  him, 
and  which  I  believe  has  not  been  disputed, 
that  complete  registers  of  the  weather  kept 
throughout  Europe  lor  fifty  to  a  hundred 
years  show  that  there  has  been  no  correspon- 
dence between  the  changes  of  the  moon  and 
the  changes  of  the  weather.  Also  that  a  long 
course  of  experiments  have  proved  that  there 
is  no  foundation  for  the  belief  that  trees 
should  be  grafted,  or  timber  felled,  or  vegeta- 
bles planted,  in  one  sign  or  phase  of  the  moon 
rather  than  in  anotlier.  And  such  appears 
to  be  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  persons 
of  whom  we  haveany  knowledge,  thathave  in- 
vestigated the  subject'  carefully,  thoroughly 
and  scientifically.  Can  the  believers  in  the 
potency  of  the  signs  point  to  a  single  man, 
within  the  last  hundred  years,  with  enough 
astronomical  knowledge  to  calculate  an  eclipse 
or  the  times  of  the  moon's  rising  and  setting, 
who  has  any  belief  in  their  theory  V  If  not, 
how  do  they  account  for  the  remarkable  fact, 
that  it  is  only  those  who  are  confessedly 
ignorant  of  planetary  laws  and  motions  that 
have  correct  notions  ot  planetary  influences? 
Chambers's  Encyclopedia,  a  work  of  very 
high  authority,  in  its  article  on  the  "Moon," 
speaks  of  the  belief  in  the  influence  of  the 
moon's  changes  or  age  in  respect  to  killing 
animals  for  food,  sowing  seeds  of  various 
kinds,  &c.,  &c.,  as  "  a  superstition  "  that  pre- 
vailed among  the  common  people  in  England 
in  the  seventeenth  century ;  from  which  expres- 
sion it  appears  that  the  belief  in  question  is 
no  longer  held  by  any  class  of  people  in  Eng- 


18?9.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


d03 


land  ;  and  I  do  not  think  we  ought  to  feel 
proud  if  this  old,  discarded  English  supersti- 
tion has  emigrated  to  these  shores  and 'found 
a  final  cherished  home  among  the  honest  but 
too  credulous  farmers  of  Lancaster  county.— 
Amateur  Farmei;  Lancaster,  .Tub/  1,  187il. 


Selections. 


THE  CROPS  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

Government  Reports   of    Cotton   and   Wheat 
Prospects. 

The  returns  to  the  Uei)artment  of  Agricul- 
ture indicate  an  increase  in  tlie  area  planted 
in  cotton  of  somewhat  over  2  per  cent.  Tlie 
percentage,  as  compared  with  the  acreage  of 
1878,  is  as  follows:  North  Carolina,  47  coun- 
ties reporting,  100;  South  Carolina,  18  coun- 
ties, 100;  Georgia,  71  counties,  102;  Florida, 
12  counties,  97;  Alabama,  28  counties,  103; 
Mississippi,  3<)  counties,  100;  Louisiana,  18 
counties,  08;  Texas  58  counties,  107:  Arkan- 
sas, 40  counties,  101;  Tennessee,  18  counties, 
103.  The  average  condition  is  not  so  high  as 
last  year,  being  00,  while  in  1878  it  was  00. 
'ihe  stand  is  generally  good,  but  about  two 
weeks  late. 

Winter  Wheat— The  June  returns  show 
that  the  average  condition  of  winter  wheat  is 
90,  against  98  last  year.  The  I'acifio  coast  is 
considerably  over  the  average,  Oregon  rising 
to  104.  Tlie  South  Atlantic  States  average 
90,  South  Carolina  reporting  108  and  Georgia 
112.  The  .States  north  of  the  Ohio  river  ave- 
rage 95,  Tndiana  reaching  103.  New  England 
averages  94,  the  Southern  Inland  States,  88, 
the  Middle  States  80,  the  Gulf  States  83,  and 
the  trans-Mississippi  States,  79.  Drought 
has  been  felt  more  or  less  severely  in  all  parts 
of  the  country.  From  the  South  come  some 
co-.uplaints  of  Winter-killing,  and  from  the 
North  and  "West,  of  the  Hessian  tly.  Grass- 
hoppers have  also  been  heard  of  beyond  the 
Mississippi. 

Sj^ring  Wheat— The  acreage  sown  this 
spring  is  about  4  per  cent,  increase  over  last 
spring.  On  the  Pacific  coast,  California  re- 
ports over  10  per  cent,  increase,  while  Ore- 
gon falls  oir  1  per  cent.  The  trans-Mississippi 
States  and  New  England  States  increase  5 
per  cent.  Texas  retains  her  previous  acreage. 
Of  the  Slates  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  Ohio 
and  Indiana  make  no  reports  of  Spring  wheat, 
the  other  three  States  fall  off  3  per  cent. 
Minnesota  increases  9  per  cent,  while  Iowa 
decreases  1  per  cent.  The  Middle  States  fall 
off  10  per  cent.  The  condition  of  Spring 
wheat  Is  about  the  same  as  Winter  wheat— 
90,  all  the  States  being  below  the  average. 
Tlie  crop  has  been  subject  to  the  same  cli- 
matic iuHuences  as  Winter  wheat. 

In  the  Territories  wheat-raising  has  ad- 
vanced westward  more  rapidly  than  statisti- 
cal inquiries  have  been  able  to  reach.  There 
is  a  vast  increase  here,  which  must  be  left  to 
subsequent  inquiry.  The  department  has  in- 
formation that  one  county  in  Dakota,  which 
last  year  sowed  only  .50  acres,  has  this  year 
under  vigorous  growth  over  4,000  acres.  Many 
other  cases  of  very  large  increase  are  re- 
ported. 

THE  USE  OF  THE  FEET  IN  SOWING 
AND   PLANTING.* 

It  may  be  useless  to  throw  out  any  sugges- 
tions relative  to  horticultural  operations  to 
such  a  body  of  practical  men  as  is  now  before 
me.  Yet  I  candidly  admit  that  although  I 
have  been  extensively  engaged  in  gardening 
operations  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I 
did  not  fully  realize  until  a  few  years  ago  the 
full  importance  of  how  indispensable  it  was 
to  use  the  feet  in  the  operations  of  sowing 
and  planting. 

Particularly  in  the  sowing  of  seeds,  I  con- 
sider the  matter  of  such  vast  importance  that 
it  cannot  be  too  often  or  too  strongly  told, 
fbrUie  loss  to  the  agricultural  and  horticul- 

•Keaa  before  the  American  Association  of  Nurserrmsn 
»t  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Juno  ISth,  1879,  by  Peter  Headefson, 


tural  community  by  the  neglect  of  the  simple 
operation  of  firming  the  so-1  around  seed 
must  amount  to  many  millions  annually. 
From  the  middle  of  April  to  nearly  the  eiid 
of  May  of  this  year,  in  many  sections  of  the 
country  there  was  little  or  no  rain  ;  such  was 
particularly  the  case  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York,  where  we  have  hundreds  of  market 
gardeners  who  cultivate  thousands  of  acres  of 
cabbage,  cauliHower  and  celery,  but  the  "dry 
spring  "  has  played  sad  havoc  witli  their  seed 
bed.s.  Celery  is  not  one-fourth  of  a  crop,  and 
cabbage  and  caulillower  hardly  half,  and  this 
failure  is  due  to  no  other  cause  than  that  they 
persist  in  sowing  their  seeds  without  ever 
taking  the  precaution  to  firm  the  soil  by  rolling. 
We  sow  annually  about  four  acres  of  celery, 
cabbage  and  caulillower  plants,  which  pro- 
duces probably  five  millions  in  number,  and 
which  we  never  fail  to  sell  mostly  in  our 
immediate  neighborhood  to  the  market  gar- 
deners, who  liave  many  of  tliem  even  better 
facilities  than  we  have  for  raising  these 
plants,  if  they  would  only  do  as  we  do,  firm 
the  seed  after  sowing,  which  is  done  thus  : 
After  plougliing,  harrowing  and  leveling  the 
land  smoothly,  lines  are  drawn  by  the 
"marker"  which  makes  a  furrow  about  two 
inches  deep  and  a  foot  apart ;  after  tlie  man 
who  sows  the  seed  follows  another,  who  with 
the  ball  of  the  right  foot  presses  down  his  full 
weight  on  every  inch  of  soil  in  the  drill  where 
the  seed  has  been  sown;  the  rows  are  then 
lightly  leveled  longitudinally  with  the  rake;  a 
light  roller  is  then  passed  over  it,  and  the 
operation  is  done. 

By  this  method  our  crop  has  never  once 
failed,  and  what  is  true  of  celery  and  cabbage 
seed  is  nearly  true  of  all  other  seeds  requiring 
to  be  sown  during  the  late  spring  or  summer 
months. 

On  July  2d,  of  1874,  as  an  experiment,  I 
sowed  twelve  rows  of  sweet  corn  and  twelve 
rows  of  beets,  treading  in  after  sowing  ev(  ry 
alternate  row  of  each.  In  both  cases  those 
trod  in  came  up  in  four  days,  while  those  un- 
firmed  remained  twelve  days  before  starting, 
and  would  not  then  have  germinated  had  rain 
not  fallen,  for  the  soil  was  dry  as  dust  when 
planted. 

The  result  was  that  the  seeds  that  had  been 
trodden  in  grew  freely  from  the  start  and 
matured  their  crops  to  a  marketable  conxlition 
by  Fall,  while  the  rows  unfirmed  did  not 
mature,  as  they  were  not  only  eight  days  later 
in  germinating,  but  the  plants  were  also  to 
some  extent  enfeebled  by  being  partially  dried 
in  the  loose,  dry  soil. 

This  experiment  was  a  most  useful  one,  for 
it  proved  that  a  corn  crop,  sown  in  the  vicinity 
of  New  Vork,  as  late  as  July  2d,  could  be 
made  to  produce  "roasting  ears"  in  October, 
when  they  never  fail  to  sell  freely  at  high 
rates,  but  the  crop  would  not  mature  unless 
the  seed  germinated  at  once,  and  which  would 
never  be  certain,  at  that  dry  and  hot  season, 
unless  by  this  method. 

The  same  season  in  August,  I  treated  seeds 
of  turnip  and  spinach  in  the  same  way  ;  those 
trod  in  germinated  at  once  and  made  an  ex- 
cellent crop,  while  those  unfirmed  germinated 
feebly  and  were  eventually  nearly  all  burned 
out  by  a  continuance  of  dry,  hot  air  pene- 
trating through  the  loose  soil  to  the  tender 
rootlets. 

Of  course  this  rule  of  treading  in  or  firming 
seeds  after  sowing  musb  not  be  blindly  fol- 
lowed. Very  early  in  spring  or  late  in  fall 
when  the  soil  is  damp  and  no  danger  from 
heated,  dry  air,  there  is  no  necessity  to  do  so, 
or  even  at  other  seasons  the  soil  may  be  in  a 
suitable  condition  to  sow,  and  yet  to  be  too 
damp  to  be  trodden  upon  or  rolled  ;  in  such 
cases  these  operations  may  not  be  necessary 
at  all,  for  if  rainy  weather  ensue  the  seeds 
will  germinate  of  course  ;  but  if  there  is  any 
likelihood  of  continued  drouth  the  treading 
or  rolling  may  be  done  a  week  or  so  after 
sowing,  if  it  is  at  such  a  season  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  may  suffer  from  the 
dry,  hot  air. 

Now,  if  firming  the  soil  around  seed  to  pro- 
tect it  from  the  influence  of  a  dry  and  hot 


atmosphere  is  a  necessity,  it  is  obvious  that  it 
is  even  more  so  in  the  case  of  plants,  whose 
rootlets  are  even  more  sensitive  to  such  in- 
fiuence  than  the  dormant  seed. 

Experienced  professional  horticulturists, 
however,  are  less  likely  to  neglect  this  than 
to  neglect  in  the  case  of  seeds,  for  the  damage 
from  such  neglect  is  easier  to  be  seen,  and 
hence  better  understood  by  the  practical. nur- 
seryman, but  with  the  unexperienced  ama- 
teur the  case  is  dilferent  ;  when  he  receives 
his  package  of  trees  or  plants  from  the  nur- 
seryman, he  handles  them  as  if  they  were 
glass,  every  broken  twig  or  root  calls  forth  a 
comiilaint,  and  he  proceeds  to  plant  them 
gingerly,  straightening  out  each  root  and 
sifting  ihe  soil  around  them,  but  he  would  no 
more  stamp  down  that  soil  than  he  would 
stamp  on  the  soil  of  hi.s  mother's  grave.  So 
the  i)lant  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  is  left  loose 
and  waggling,  the  dry  air  penetrates  through 
the  soil  to  its  roots,  the  winds  shake  it  and  it 
shrivels  up  and  fails  to  grow  ;  then  comes  the 
anathemas  on  the  head  of  the  unfortunate 
nurseryman  who  is  charged  with  selling  him 
dead  trees  or  plants. 

About  a  month  ago  I  sent  a  package  of  a 
dozen  roses  by  mail  to  a  lady  in  Savannah  ; 
she  wrote  me  a  woeful  story  last  week  saying 
that  though  the  roses  had  arrived  seemingly 
all  right,  they  had  all  died  but  one,  and  what 
was  very  singular,  she  said,  the  one  that 
lived  was  the  one  that  Mr.  Jones  had  stepped 
on,  and  which  she  had  thought  sure  was 
crushed  to  death,  for  Mr.  Jones  weighs  200 
9>a.  Now  though  we  do  not  advise  any 
gentleman  of  200  lbs.  putting  his  brogans  on 
the  top  of  a  tender  rose  plant  as  a  practice 
conducive  to  its  health,  yet  if  Mrs.  Jones  could 
have  allowed  her  weiglity  lord  to  press  the 
soil  against  the  root  of  each  of  her  dozen 
roses  I  much  doubt  if  she  would  now  have 
had  to  mourn  their  loss. 

It  has  often  been  a  wonder  to  many  of  us 
who  have  been  workers  in  the  soil  for  a  gen- 
eration, liow  some  of  the  simplest  methods  of 
culture  have  not  been  practiced  until  we  were 
nearly  done  with  life's  work.  There  are  few 
of  us  but  have  had  such  experience  ;  per- 
sonally, I  must  say  that  1  never  pass  through 
a  year  but  I  am  confounded  to  find  that  some 
operation  cannot  only  be  quicker  done,  but 
better  done  than  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
doing  it.  These  improvements  loom  up  from 
various  causes,  but  mainly  from  suggestions 
thrown  out  by  our  employees  in  ch  ;rge  of 
special  departments,  a  system  which  we  do  all 
in  our  power  to  encourage.  As  a  proof  of  the 
value  of  such  improvements  which  have  led 
to  simplifying  our  operations,  I  will  state  the 
fact  that  though  my  area  of  green-house  sur- 
face is  now  more  than  double  that  which 
it  was  in  1870,  and  the  land  used  in  our 
llorist  business  oue-tliiid  more,  yet  the  num- 
ber of  hands  employed  is  less  now  than  in 
1870,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  the  quality  of 
our  stock  is  infinitely  better  now  than  then. 
Whether  it  is  the  higher  price  ol  labor  in  this 
country  that  forces  us  into  labor-saving  ex- 
pedients, or  the  interchange  of  opinions  trom 
the  greater  number  of  nationalities  centering 
here  that  gives  us  broader  views  of  culture,  I 
am  not  prepared  to  state,  but  that  America 
is  now  selling  nearly  all  the  products  of  the 
green-house,  garden,  nursery  and  farm,  lower 
than  is  done  in  Europe,  admits  of  no  question, 
and  if  my  homely  suggestions  in  this  matter 
of  finning  the  soil  around  newly-planted  seeds 
and  plants  will  in  any  degree  assist  us  in  still 
holding  to  the  front,!  will  be  gratified. 


DISINFECTION. 

The  State  Board  of  II?alth  of  Massachu- 
setts have  lately  given  to  the  public  the  fol- 
lowing useful  information  on  the  above  sub- 
ject : 

Recent  experiments  made  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  International  Cholera  Commission 
have  shown  that  the  ordinary  methods  of  dis- 
infection are  inefficient,  and  in  practice  they 
have  often  failed  to  arrest  the  spread  of  infec- 
tious disea.ses. 

As  it  is  impossible  to  experiment  directly 


104 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[July, 


upon  the  unknown  low  organisms,  which  are 
thought  to  be  the  means  of  transporting  the 
various  infectious  diseases,  the  effects  of  chlo- 
rine and  sulphurous  acid  were  studied  upon 
known  living  organisms  ;  the  probabihties  be- 
ing thought  to  be  in  favor  of  the  theory  that 
complete  disinfection  should  destroy  at  least 
all  known  forms  of  life,  although  it  may  be 
true  that  the  tenacity  of  life  of  the  infective 
matter  of  various  diseases  diflers,  just  as  the 
deeree  of  cold  necessary  to  put  a  stop  to  yel- 
low fever  is  much  less  than  that  required  to 
arrest  the  spread  of  cholera. 

Chlorine  and  sulphur  fumes,  in  sufficient 
quantity,  were  found  to  be  efficient  iu  killing 
insects,  fungi,  bacteria  and  infusoria  ;  tlie  ob- 
jections to  chlorine  iu  houses  being  that  it 
is  more  costly,  that  its  use  is  more  difficult, 
and  that  it  destroys  metals,  textile  fabrics  and 
colors. 

The  burning  of  ten  grammes  of  sulphur  for 
each  cubic  meter  of  air  space,  tightly  closed, 
was  found  not  to  kill  bacteria,  infusoria,  or 
all  insects  ;  twenty  grammes,  however,  were 
proved  to  be  sufficient  for  that  purpose.  One 
volume  of  water,  when  saturated  at  59°  Fah., 
absorbs  tliirty-seven  volumes  of  sulphurous 
acid— enough  to  kill  all  the  low  organisms 
found  in  putrid  water. 

The  followiug  articles  were  found  uninjured 
after  several  hours'  exposure  to  an  atmosphere 
in  which  twenty  grammes  of  sluphur  had 
been  burned  to  every  cubic  meter  of  air  space: 
A  clock  of  steel  and  brass,  rusty  and  clean 
nails,  gold  and  silver  money,  a  military  epau- 
let, various  colored  silk  articles,  a  colored  rug, 
calicOj  down  pillows,  a  gilt-framed  looking- 
glass,  books,  water  in  an  uncorked  bottle, 
flour,  meat,  salt,  bread,  apples,  cinnamon, 
vanilla,  cigars,  wall-paper,  oil-paintings,  var- 
nished articles,  gas  fixtures,  water  fixtures ; 
a  highly  polished  razor  bad  a  slightly  clouded 
appearance  on  its  upper  side,  but  that  was 
easily  rubbed  ott'.  The  flour  and  meat  were 
cooked  and  eaten,  and  the  cigars  were  smoked, 
without  any  abnormal  taste  or  smell  being  ob- 
served ;  in  the  bread  some  of  the  observers 
noticed  a  slightly  acid  taste,  the  inside  portion 
of  the  apples  was  unchanged,  the  skin  wa? 
slightly  sour  ;  the  water,  after  standing,  had 
an  acid  reaction,  but  no  decided  taste  or 
smell.  Litmus  paper  placed  between  the 
leaves  of  books  and  under  the  carpet  was 
turned  bright  red.  Many  of  the  articles  ex- 
posed had  a  decided  smell  of  sulphur  at  first, 
but  that  soon  disappeared. 

Experiments  seem  to  show  that  clothing, 
bedding  and  other  articles  may  be  disinfected 
without  being  changed  chemically  or  injured; 
and  it  should  be  added  that  practically  this 
method  has  apparently  accomplished  perfect 
disinfectiou,  as  tested  iu  Berlin. 

If  we  may  judge  from  these  results,  effec- 
tive disinfection,  by  burning  sulphur,  requires 
eighteen  ounces  to  each  space  of  one  thousand 
cubit  feet.  The  sulphur  should  be  broken  in 
small  pieces,  burned  ever  a  vessel  of  water  or 
sand,  so  as  to  avoid  danger  from  fire,  and,  if 
the  room  is  large,  it  should  be  put  in  separate 
vessels  in  ditt'erent  places.  The  room  should 
be  tightly  closed  for  six  hours  and  then  aired 
it  ij  better  that  the  room  should  be  warm  than 
cold.  Of  course,  efficiently  disinfected  air  is, 
during  the  process  of  disinfection,  irrespirable. 
Most  articles  may  be  disinfected  in  this  way, 
if  hung  up  loosely  in  the  fumigated  chamber' 
although  it  would  be  an  additional  safeguard 
to  expose  anything  thick,  like  a  bed-mattress, 
to  prolonged  heat  at  a  temperature  of  about 
240°  Fah. ,  and,  indeed,  heat  must,  with  our 
present  knowledge,  be  considered  the  best  dis- 
infectant. With  this  end  in  view,  local  boards 
of  health  are  advised  to  procure  furnaces  and 
laundries,  as  is  commonly  done  in  other  coun- 
tries, to  be  used  for  the  sole  purpose  of  disin- 
fecting articles  which  have  been  exposed  to  in- 
fectious diseases,as  recommended  in  the  Ninth 
Annual  Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Health, 
and  described  by  Dr.  A.  H.  Johnson,  is  an 
exhaustive  paper  on  scarlet  fever  (pp.  225  et 
seq.),  in  that  report.  Of  course,  a  much  sim- 
pler disinfecting  furnace  than  that  described 
will  answer  every  purpose.    For  ordinary  use, 


in  disinfecting  houses,  the  sulphur  process  is 
the  best. 

A  solution  of  chloride  of  zinc  (one  part  of 
Burnett's  disinfecting  fluid  to  two  hundred  of 
water)  very  quickly  kills  bacteria  which  have 
been  placed  in  it,  and  arrests  putrefaction. 
Caustic  lime  serves  equally  as  well  (1  to  100), 
but  leaves  a  sediment  not  always  easy  to  re- 
move. Carbolic  acid  in  sufficient  strength  to 
be  effective  (1  to  100)  is  more  expensive  and 
of  disagreeable  odor. 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  "  disinfectants  " 
used  iu  sufficient  quantities  to  destroy  bad 
smells  do  not  necessarily  kill  microscopic  liv- 
ing organisms;  and  it  is  not  supposed  that 
they  directly  influence  the  so  called  "germs" 
of  the  infectious  diseases,  unless  concentrated 
to  the  extent  which  has  been  mentioned. 

Finally,  fresh,  pure  air  acts  as  one  of  the 
best  '-disinfectants  "  by  enormously  diluting 
the  infectious  matter,  and,  under  certain  coi> 
ditions,  including  time,  must  render  it  inert 
to  all  effect,  even  if  not  quickly  destroying  it, 
as  many  think  is  the  case. 

SUGAR  FROM  INDIAN   CORN  AND 
SORGHUM. 

An  Important  Statement  Before  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture. 
One  of  the  most  important  papers  presented 
during  the  late  session  of  the  Board  was  that 
submitted  by  Mr.  F.  L.  Stewart,  of  Murrays- 
ville,  Westmoreland  county.  Pa.,  and  read 
by  Mr.  Florence  J.  Smith.  Samples  of  the 
sugar  were  submitted  for  the  inspection  of  the 
delegates. 

In  presenting  at  this  time  a  brief  account 
of  the  new  process  of  sugar  luauufacture, 
with  which  my  name  is  associated,  it  will  be 
necessary  for  me  to  allude  particularly  to  the 
history  of  my  researches  in  this  line  of  work, 
inasmuch  as  all  the  tacts  of  that  sort  which 
the  general  public  cares  to  inquire  about  have 
been  published.  But  it  affords  me  great  sat- 
isfaction, as  a  Pennsylvauian,  to  be  able  to 
say  that  my  first  systematic  experiments  di- 
rected to  the  extraction  of  sugar  from  the 
juice  of  the  green  stems  of  Indian  corn  were 
made  in  Philadelphia,  where  I  went  the  Cen- 
tennial year,  and  that  the  fruits  of  that  work 
were  exhibited  at  the  International  Exhibi- 
tion a  few  days  before  it  closed.  I  have  re- 
sponded to  an  invitation  to  exhibit  the  pro- 
cess now  perfected  in  practical  operatiou  in 
the  hall  of  the  Permanent  Exhibition,  during 
the  continuance  of  the  approaching  State 
Fair. 

Briefly  described,  the  process  deals  with 
saccharine  juices  containing  in  their  normal 
condition  both  cane  and  fruit  sugars,  the 
former  largely  preponderating. 

I  recognize  three  distinct  cla.sses  of  saccha- 
rine juices,  viz  : 

First.  Those  like  the  tropical  sugar  cane 
and  the  beet,  which,  when  their  juices  are 
mature,  contain  in  association  with  other  sub- 
stances true  crystal  I  izable  sugar  only. 

Second.  Those  like  most  fruits,  such  as  the 
apple  and  the  grape,  which,  whatever  their 
composition  otherwise,  contain  no  true  sugar 
but  only  glucose,  etc. 

Third.  Those  like  maize  and  sorghum, 
which  have  not  heretofore  been  generally  re- 
cognized as  distinct,  containing,  in  their  best 
condition,  both  cane  sugar  and  uncrystalliz- 
able  sugar,  but  which,  by  reason  of  the  de- 
fective modes  of  treatment  heretofore  resort- 
ed to,  have  proved  practically  uncrystallizable. 
The  difficulties  are  now  entirely  removed. 
It  is  now  clearly  shown  that  the  juices  of 
maize  and  sorghum  grown  in  the  United 
States  are  richer  in  sugar  of  the  true  cane 
type  than  any  other  plants  that  can  be  grown 
intemperate  latitudes;  that  nine-ter,ths  of 
their  saccharine  matter  is  such  sugar,  and 
that  the  impediments  to  crystallization  are 
such  as  are  peculiar  to  these  jjlants. 

Accordingly,  I  find  that  neither  the  pro- 
cesses adapted  to  the  extraction  of  sugar  from 
the  Southern  cane,  nor  the  much  more  elabo- 
rate or  costly  methods  of  the  beet-sugar  man- 
ufactureres  in  Europe,  are  appropriate  to  the 


successful  extraction  of  sugar  from  these 
plants,  which  in  this  case  involves  entirely 
new  conditions  and  requires  radical  changes 
in  the  mode  of  chemical  treatment. 

Entirely  aside  and  from  its  advantages  as 
an  antiseptic  and  a  docolorizer,  I  have  dis- 
covered a  peculiar  property  in  the  dioxide  of 
sulphur  when  employed  upon  these  juices 
under  certain  conditions,  which,  heretofore 
unknown  and  unused,  now  perfectly  solves 
the  problem  of  the  separation  and  crvstalliza- 
tion  of  the  sugar.  This  is  done  expeditiously, 
cheaply  and  certainly. 

Practically,  then,  the  value  of  these  new 
sugar-producing  plants  may  be  concisely 
stated  as  follows  : 

First.  The  steins  of  Indian  corn,  in  any  of 
its  many  varieties,  if  taken  at  the  proper  stage 
of  development,  as  well  as  those  of  the  differ- 
ent varieties  of  sorghum,  contain  in  great 
abundance  a  saccharine  juice  scarcely  ex- 
celled in  richness  by  the  sugar  cane  of  Louisi- 
ana. The  sugar  produced  by  this  process  is 
true  crystallized  cane  sugar.  Maize  sugar, 
it  need  hardly  be  said,  it  is  not  the  so-called 
and  comparatively  worthless  "corn-sugar" 
sometimes  made  from  the  starch  of  the 
ripened  grain  by  a  well-known  chemical  trans- 
formation, but  it  is  a  natural  product  of  the 
immature  plant.  One  hundred  pounds  of  the 
stems  of  the«e  plants  at  the  proper  period  of 
their  growth,  (when  the  grain  is  in  the  milk 
in  the  case  of  corn  and  shortly  after  the  flow- 
ering period  to  perfect  ripeness  in  the  case 
of  sorghum)  about  87i  parts  of  juice  and 
12^  parts  of  woody  fibre  and  insoluble  sub- 
stances. 12  to  1.5  per  cent,  of  the  juice  is 
crystallized  cane  sugar,nearly  all  of  which  can 
be  extracted. 

Second.  The  impurities  which  hinder  crys- 
tallization, as  already  said,  are  of  a  peculiar 
kind,  and  resist  every  other  known  mode  of 
treatment  except  that  known  in  this  process. 
The  sugar  so  made  is  of  as  good  quality  as 
that  made  from  the  Southern  cane  or  the 
beet,  and  is  produced  far  more  easily  and 
cheaply. 

Third.  Like  the  sugar  cane  and  unlike  the 
beet,  these  plants  possess  a  saccharine  quality 
of  the  juice  which  is  little  aftected  by  the  pres- 
ence of  nitrogenous  substances  in  the  soil. 
Hence  they  are  adapted  to  a  wide  range  of 
soils,  notably  those  of  Jhe  Western  prairies, 
where  the  beet  is  a  failure. 

Fourth.  All  varieties  of  Indian  corn  and 
sorghum  yield  this  saccharine  juice,  and 
natural  hybridization  does  not  greatly  affect 
its  quality, and  hence  but  little  care,  compara- 
tively, is  needed  to  prevent  intermixture  of 
varieties,  although  by  careful  selection,  richer 
varieties  than  those  now  existing  will,  no 
doubt,  be  produced. 

Fifth.  The  immature  corn  plant  only  be- 
ing used  for  this  purpose,  the  sugar  may  be 
produced  within  a  little  over  tliree  months 
from  the  time  of  planting  the  seed.  Hence 
all  danger  of  frost  may  be  avoided  in  our  ex- 
treme Northern  States,  and  generally  the 
ground  can  be  used  for  producing  two  crops 
in  a  season— a  sugar  crop,  followed  by  tur- 
nips, etc.  In  these  respects,  as  well  as  in 
many  others,  these  plants  have  a  great  advan- 
tage over  both  the  Southern  cane  and  the 
beet.  Some  of  the  most  prolific  varieties  of 
sorghum  require  but  a  little  longer  period  to 
mature  their  juice  than  Indian  corn. 

Sixth.  The  yield  of  sugar  per  acre  from  a 
single  crop  will  range  from  2,000  to  3,000 
pounds,  or  equal  to  tlie  average  from  the 
sugar  cane  aud  the  beet  at  their  best,  and  at 
one-half  of  the  cost.  The  total  cost  of  produc- 
tion, including  the  cultivation  of  the  ground, 
the  harvesting  of  the  crop,  manufacture,  in- 
terest on  machinery  employed,  chemicals, 
royalty,  etc.,  should  not  exceed  2^  to  3  cents 
per  pound.  The  yield  of  sugar  from  each 
gallon  of  dense  syrup  produced  will  vary  from 
9  to  11  pounds,  averaging  10  pounds.  The 
yield  per  acre  of  ground  planted  may  there- 
fore be  roughly  estimated  by  the  known  ca- 
pacity of  the  land  in  any  civen  locality  to 
produce  crude  sorghum  syrup  in  former  years; 
200  gallons  of  dense  sorghum  syrup,  crystal- 


I 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


i06 


lizing  2,00  pounds  or  a  ton  of  sugar  per  acre, 
is  an  easily  attainable  yield  on  good  soil  with 
good  cultivation  and  proper  crushing  mills  for 
expressing  the  juiue.  Of  course,  wlvere  a  crop 
of  corn  is  planted  for  the  sugar  alone  it  must 
be  grown  much  more  densely  on  the  ground 
than  when  the  ripened  grain  is  the  object. 
For  example,  common  field  corn  sown  in 
drills,  so  that  the  corn  stems  will  stand  four 
to  six  inches  apart— the  rows  3i  feet  apart— 
yields  on  soil  of  medium  quality  an  average 
of  250  pounds  of  trimmed  stems  to  each  100 
feet  in  length  of  the  rows,  yielding  to  a 
properly-constructed  mill  at  least  00  percent. 
{165  pounds)  of  juiceof  specilic  gravity,  1.057, 
of  which  ten  per  cent,  (or  10^  pounds)  of 
sugar  is  by  this  process  easily  extracted,  or  at 
the  rate  of  over  a  ton  of  sugar  lo  the  acre  of 
ground.  In  compari.son  with  this,  the  same 
kind  of  corn,  planted  in  rows  the  same  dis- 
tance apart,  but  in  hills  averaging  three  feet 
apart  and  three  stems  to  the  hill,  so  that  the 
grain  may  be  fully  developed  in  the  "roasting- 
ear"  state,  the  yield  of  sugar  will  be  only 
about  oue-half  of  that  in  the  former  case  or 
about  1,000  pounds  per  acre. 

Seventh.  The  hot  summer  climate  of  this 
portion  of  North  America  is  unequaled  for 
the  growth  of  these  plants,  as  the  exhibits  at 
the  late  luternalional  Exhibition  at  Philadel- 
phia fully  manifested,  and  the  improved  agri- 
cultural implements  and  methods  now  in  use 
in  maize  culture  will  simplify  and  cheapen 
immeasurable  its  production. 

Eighth.  If  a  combined  sugar  and  grain  crop 
is  desired  the  largest-stemmed  varieties  of 
sweet  corn  should  be  grown.  The  grain  may 
be  cured  by  drying  when  it  is  in  the  proper 
condition  ;  but  the  ears  of  field  corn  may  be 
removed  before  they  harden  and  fed  to  stock, 
either  fresh  or  dried.  There  is  scarcely  any  dif- 
ference in  the  saccharine  strength  of  the  juice 
of  "sweet"  and  field  corn.  Sorghum,  however, 
yields  more  sugar  than  most  varieties  of  sweet 
corn  on  account  of  its  much  larger  stems. 

Ninth.  Great  advantage  is  afforded  in  the 
manufacture  of  the  new  sugars,  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  period  of  cutting  and 
working  the  crop  into  dense  syrup  occurs  at  a 
time  when  the  season  for  out-door  work  is  the 
most  favorable  and  when  the  days  are  long. 
No  loss  is  likely  to  result  from  inclemency  of  the 
weather.  Futhermore,  the  process  of  manufac- 
ture, when  carried  on  by  thissystem,  may  safely 
be  arrested  at  a  point  where  it  may  be  comple- 
ted during  the  winter,  when  labor  is  cheap. 

Tenth.  A  large  crop  of  blades  and  tops  for  fod- 
der, equal  to  hay — the  ripened  seed  of  the  cane 
— which,  when  crushed,  is  equal  to  oats, and  the 
oflfal  of  the  sugar  factory  for  manure,  are  supple- 
mentary to  the  sugar  crop  and  very  valuable. 

Eleventh.  By  judicious  treatment  of  the 
soil,  returning  to  ij;  regularly  all  that  has  been 
removed  from  it  except  the  saccharine  pro- 
duct, a  sugar  crop  is  the  least  exhaustive  of 
all  crops  that  can  be  grown,  and  improvement 
of  the  land  is  easy  and  certain.  New  lands 
are  equally  adapted  to  it. 

Twelfth.  The  force  of  the  various  natural 
advantages  possessed  by  these  plants  in  the 
United  States  will  be  found  to  be  greatly 
augmented  by  the  circumstance  that  the  de- 
partures from  the  old  processes  of  manufac- 
ture now  necessary  to  be  adopted  are  all  in 
the  direction  of  greater  simplicity,  cheapness, 
and  ease  of  management  in  accomplishing  the 
result — the  reverse  of  what  the  more  complex 
nature  of  these  juices  would  seem  to  indicate. 
It  will  be  found,  for  example,  that  the  cost  of 
the  manufacture  of  corn  or  sorghum  sugar  in 
this  country  can  easily  be  reduced  to  less  than 
one-half  the  cost  of  the  best  sugar  manufactured 
in  Hurope,  the  aarbonaceous  process  and  the  me 
of  animal  charcoal  being  entirely  dispensed  with 
and  the  use  of  the  vacuum  pan  being  made  un- 
necessary, and  not  even  desirable,  "except  in 
the  case  of  the  largest  central  factories. 

In  concluding  this  brief  summary  of  the 
main  facts  of  this  subject,  I  cannot  but  ex- 
press the  surprise  which  I  have  felt  during  the 
whole  course  of  these  researches  that  d  uring  the 
century  which  has  elapsed  since  our  birth  as  a 
nation  no  adequate  conception  has  been  reached 


of  the  true  value  of  one  of  the  commonest 
products  of  our  soil — our  native  Indian  corn. 

The  value  of  the  process  itself  for  the  prac- 
tical manufacture  of  sugar,  independent  of 
my  own  work,  has  been  fully  determined  by 
the  series  of  test  experiments  made  with  it  at 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  last  summer, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Commissioner,  by 
Professor  Collins  and  by  intelligent  farmers 
in  the  western  country,  who  were  furnished 
by  me  with  the  chumicals  and  necessary  in- 
formation. In  no  case  has  there  been  a  single 
failure.  The  experiments  already  made  with 
the  process  at  Washington  can  fully  demon- 
strate, in  the  language  of  the  Commissioner, 
"that  there  exists  in  these  two  plants  a  large 
amount  of  sugar,  which  may  be  readily  ob- 
tained, and  that  the  aggregate  amount  possi- 
ble from  tills  source  would  be  practically  un- 
limited ;"  and  in  the  emphatic  statement 
with  which  Professor  Collins  completes  his 
special  report,  "that  the  experiments  have  at 
least  established  the  fact  that  there  is  no 
trouble  in  making  sugar  from  corn  and  sorg- 
hum, and  that  the  sugars  obtained  were  in  a 
most  satisfactory  condition,  in  every  respect 
comparing  most  favorably  with  the  best  raw 
sugar  of  the  market." 

If  the  results  already  reached  are  accepted 
in  their  full  significance,  there  can  be  no 
question  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  revolu- 
tion in  sugar  manufacture,  and  of  the  rise  of 
a  new  and  permanent  industry  in  this  country. 

A  DUTCH  DAIRY  FARM. 

Mr.  J.  Howlett,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  says 
the  Ilassachusetls  Ploughman,  writes  from 
Europe:  "After feeding  the  horses  and  rest- 
ing a  little  while,  we  drove  about  eight  miles 
farther  on  to  one  of  the  best  stock  and  dairy 
farms  in  Holland.  They  used  the  very  same 
stable  at  the  farm  that  they  did  in  the  four- 
teenth century.  They  have  little  rings  in  the 
ceiling  with  cords  passing  through  tiiem,  by 
which  the  cows'  tails  are  held  up  to  keep  them 
from  getting  dirty.  The  stable  was  carpeted 
and  had  plants  and  flowers  in  it.  The  floor  of 
the  stables  was  of  small  bricks.  At  the  back 
of  the  stalls  was  a  trough  of  masonry  about 
eight  inches  wide  and  nine  inches  deep,  with 
a  ditch  or  reservoir  of  water  at  one  end.  As 
soon  as  the  trench  was  dirtied  they  turned  on 
the  water  and  all  the  manure,  etc.,  was  car- 
ried out  to  a  covered  vat,  whence  it  could  be 
removed  to  the  fields  or  wherever  they  want- 
ed it  moved  to.  The  cows  were  as  clean,  if 
not  cleaner,  than  your  horses.  All  the  fast- 
ening they  have  is  a  little  cord  around  their 
necks,  and  they  are  so  gentle  and  quiet  that 
they  do  not  require  anything  stronger. 

They  use  brass  milk  pails  instead  of  wood 
or  tin  ones.  We  saw  the  way  they  make  the 
round  cheeses  that  are  sent  to  America.  They 
have  wooden  molds  in  the  shape  of  two  hem- 
ispheres or  half  balls.  These  are  hollow  and 
fit  together.  The  cheese  curd  is  roughly 
pressed  into  shape  and  then  placed  in  the 
molds.  The  lower  half  of  the  mold  is  station- 
ary, while  the  upper  part  is  fastened  to  a  kind 
of  screw  working  in  a  beam  overhead.  The 
upper  half  is  screwed  down  tight,  and  the 
cheese  is  left  for  a  week.  At  the  end  of  a 
week  it  ia  screwed  down  tigliter  and  left  an- 
other week.  At  the  end  of  a  third  week  the 
cheese  is  exposed  to  the  air  and  the  curing 
begins.  It  takes  three  months  for  a  cheese  to 
be  cured,  and  a  year  before  it  is  fit  for  the 
market.  Everything  was  as  sweet  and  neat 
as  P.ny  parlor  I  ever  saw. 

The  stables  and  stall  for  the  horses  were  cov- 
ered with  matting.  You  have  no  idea  how  clean 
everything  was,  without  seeing  how  it  is  done. 

They  use  the  same  kind  of  churns,  the  same 
kind  of  cheese  presses,  and  the  same  kind  of 
pails,  etc.,  that  they  did  five  hundred  years 
ago.  They  think  it  is  showing  disrespect  to 
their  ancestors  to  make  any  improvements  in 
the  implements  that  their  forefathers  used. 

I  inquired  the  price  of  the  cattle,  and  found 
that  the  cows  cost  from  200  to  350  guilders, 
and  the  bulls  from  300  to  450  guilders,  or  in 
our  money  cows  from  880  to  $140,  and  bulls 
from  $120  to  $180  or  $200  each. 


FIGHTING  AGAINST  TRESPASSING. 
We  are  told  that  it  is  a  very  common  im- 
pression with  people  that  "  by  law  "  they  can 
shoot  trespassing  dogs,  chickens,  pigeons,  etc., 
if  they  only  leave  them  on  the  ground  where 
they  fall,  and  do  not  take  them  away.  And 
farther,  that  some  justices  of  the  peace  have 
the  same  views,  anil  freely  give  this  advice  to 
people  who  complain  of  this  trespassing  nui- 
sance. Even  were  this  the  law,  it  is  never 
wise  policy  to  take  this  means  of  destroying 
the  troublesome  property  of  a  neighbor.  It 
always  breeds  animosity  and  hard  feelings, 
which  generally  result  in  greater  losses  than 
the  damage  done.  The  friendly  remonstrance 
will  generally  prevail,  but  where  this  is  un- 
heeded, a  dignified  and  firm  resort  to  the  nui- 
sance-law, by  which  one  is  compelled  to  obey 
the  law,  he  can  fall  back  on  as  a  last  resort. 
The  quarrel  is  then  between  the  law  and  its 
violator,  and  is  not  likely  to  take  so  pfrsonal 
a  turn  as  when  one  is  suspected  of  "poisoning 
my  chickens,"  or  "  shooting  my  dog." 

We  very  much  doubt,  however,  whether 
J,herc  be  any  such  law  as  that  tradition  reports 
there  is.  If  so,  many  judges  and  juries  do 
not  seem  to  know  of  it,  and  some  destroyers 
of  trespassing  animals  do  not  always  get  any 
benefit  from  it.  We  noticed  lately  a  trial  in  a 
neighboring  county,  of  a  man  for  poisoning  a 
trespassing  dog  which  annoyed  him.  He  con- 
fessed that  he  did,  and  thought  he  was  justi- 
ffed;  but  judge  and  jury  thought  otherwise, 
and  he  was  .sentenced  to  three  months'  im- 
prisonment. Peaceable  resorts  in  all  such 
cases  are  the  best.  It  must  be  a  very  obsti- 
nate and  unneighborly  man  who  will  not  abate 
any  nuisance  of  the  kind  comi)lained  of,  if 
requested  in  the  proper  spirit.  There  is  noth- 
ing that  makes  a  proper  person  feel  so  uncom- 
fortable, especially  in  the  country,  as  having 
a  bad  and  unfriendly  resident  close  by  him  ; 
hence  trouble  should  always  be  avoided  if 
possible. 

HOW    CIVILIZATION    BENEFITS  OUR 
BIRDS. 

The  result  of  all  this  is  that  the  aggregate 
army  of  singing  birds  east  of  the  Mississippi 
has  "been  very  considerably  enlarged  during 
the  last  two  centuries,  and  is  still  on  the  in- 
crease. This  can  only  be  owing  to  the  fact 
that  by  cutting  down  the  forests,  etc.,  man 
has  tempered  the  rigor  of  the  winter,  has 
multiplied  the  sources  of  their  food,  has  ap- 
pended many  additional  places  suitable  for 
rearing  their  young,  and  has  eniibled  them  to 
bring  more  fledglings  to  maturity  by  reducing 
the  ranks  of  their  enemies.  This  has  not  only 
augmented  their  numbers  and  modified  very 
appreciably  their  habits  of  nesting  and  migra- 
tion, their  physical  natures  and  mental  char- 
acteristics, but  probably  has  even  changed  their 
voices.  There  is  little  doubt  in  my  mind  that 
in  making  their  lives  less  laborious,  apprehen- 
sive and  solitary,  man  has  left  the  birds  time 
and  opportunity  for  far  more  .singing  than  their 
hard  worked,  scantily-fed  and  timorous  an- 
cestors ever  enjoyed  ;  a  privilege  a  bird  is  not 
slow  to  make  use  of. 

But  on  the  other  hand  it  seems  equally 
certain  that  the  music  of  our  more  domestic 
birds,  though  greater  in  volume,  is  not  so 
sweet  in  tone  as  that  of  their  wilder  brethren. 
Our  street  sparrows  are  naturally,  I  suppose, 
rather  harsh  voiced;  but  whatever  they  might 
have  been  a  thousand  years  ago.  they  could 
hardly  be  otherwise  now,  when  the  rattle-te- 
bang  of  the  city  pavements  has  been  their 
only  teacher  for  many  centuries.  The  mock- 
ing bird  has  learned'  lo  imitate  the  creak  of 
the  farmer's  wheelbarrow— no  dulcet  sound — 
and  the  scream  of  the  farmer's  boy.  Many 
of  the  sounds  constantly  uttered  by  men  and 
evoked  by  their  work  are  anything  but  melo- 
dious, and  young  birds  born  and  bred  in  their 
midst  must  surely  turn  out  less  sweet  and 
accomplished  singers  than  if  reared  among 
the  gentle  whisperings  of  leafy  woods,  and 
learning  music  only  from  the  golden -mouthed 
minstrels  of  the  sylvan  choii.— Sunday  After- 
noon for  June. 


loe 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  HORTICUL- 
TURAL SOCIETY. 

The  Lancaster  County  Agriculrural  and  Horticul- 
tural Society  met  Monilav  afternoon,  July  14th,  in 
their  rooms,  in  the  Ci'y  Hall. 

The  meetina:  was  called  to  order  by  the  President, 
Calvin  Cooper. 

The  followini;  members  and  visitors  were  present: 
Joseph  F.  Witmer,  Paradise;  Levi  \V.  GrotT,  West 
Earl;  Dr.S.  S.  Kathvon,  city;  M.  D.Kendis,  Manor; 
Simon  P.  Ehy,  city;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  F.  R.  Dif- 
fenderfTer,  city;  C.  A.  Oast, city;  W.  VVltiriest,  city; 
J.  C.  Linville,  Gap;  Ambrose  Poivnall,  S.adsburj; 
L  S.  Reist,  Manhcim;  A.  P.  McUvaine,  Paradise; 
Charles  Hershev,  Leaman  Place;  W.  Johnson,  Para- 
dise; Henry  ShiffLer,  Bird-in-Hand:  A.  F.  Hoetetter, 
city;  Peter  S.  Reist,  Litiz;  \V.  H.  Brosius,  Drumore; 
C.  H.  Hostetter,  Eden;  Johnson  Miller,  Warwick; 
John  H.  Landis,  Manor;  Israel  L.  Landis,  Manheim; 
Henry  Kurtz,  Mount  Joy;  Jacob  B.  Garber,  Colum- 
bia. 

The  minutes  of  the  preceding  meeting  were  read 
and  approved. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Kathvon,  chairman  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed at  the  last  meeting  to  draft  a  constitution 
and  by-laws,  made  his  report,  which  embodied  the 
new  constitution  and  by-laws  submitted  by  the  com- 
mittee for  adoption. 

Mr.  Witmer  moved  the  adoption  of  the  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws  as  a  whole,  which  motion  was 
seconded  by  Mr.  S.  P.  Eby. 

The  constitution  and  by-laws  were  then  unanimous- 
ly adopted. 

Mr.  Witmer  said  that  since  the  society  has  been 
organized  it  has  been  customary  to  take  the  minutes 
from  the  newspaper  reports,  and  asked  whether, 
since  the  society  has  been  incorporated,  it  would  be 
necessary  for  the  Secretary  to  write  the  report 

Mr.  Ebv  said  that  the  only  lawful  record  of  the 
society  will  be  the  report  of  the  Secretary  himself. 

Mr.  Hostetter  agreed  with  Mr.  Eby,  and  suggest- 
ed that  the  secretary  might  write  his  own  report. 
'  He  might  then  place  in  another  book  the  newspaper 
reports. 

Mr.  J.  M.  Johnston  thought  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  secretary  to  put  down  all  the  bufciness  of  the 
meetings,  omitting  all  speeches,  debates,  essays,  etc. 
He  thought  it  unsafe  to  take  newspaper  reports,  as 
po  two  would  be  found  alike. 

Mr.  Reist  reported  the  hay  crop  good,  with  about 
three-fourths;  wheat  crop  would  average  about  three- 
fourths;  oats  is  also  about  three-fourths,  and  good; 
the  rye  crop  is  about  one-balf;  apple  crop  about 
one-half;  pear  crop  will  be  full;  peaches  will  also 
have  a  full  crop. 

Mr.  Linville  reported  the  crops  is  Salisbury  to  be 
very  good.  Wheat  and  oats  would  be  very  short. 
The  fruit  crop  is  very  poor.  Tobacco  is  very  slow  in 
coming.    The  pasture  is  literally  burnt  up. 

Mr.  Kendig,  of  Manor,  reported  the  growing  crops 
to  be  looking  very  good.  The  wheat  and  hay  crops 
will  be  about  three-fourths.  Oats  will  be  very  light. 
The  fruit  crop  will  be  very  poor.  The  rain  fall' for 
the  present  month  so  far  was  1  2-10  inches.  The 
tobacco  crop  is  good. 

Mr.  Brosius,  of  Drumore,  reported  the  crops  in 
that  section  to  be  very  poor,  but  thought  there  would 
be  gathered  about  three-fourths. 

Mr.  Miller,  of  Warwick,  said  the  re^-orts  so  far 
would  suit  his  section.  The  prospects  for  a  good 
corn  crop  are  fair.    The  wheat  crop  is  not  so  good. 

Mr.  Hostetter,  from  Eden,  reported  the  grass  and 
hay  to  be  fair,  although  the  crop  was  light.  The 
kernels  of  the  wheat  were  larger  than  last  year,  al- 
though the  quantity  was  smaller.  The  apple  crop 
would  be  very  good.  The  season  hasbeenaremaka- 
bly  dry  one  so  far.  Corn  looks  very  well.  He  re- 
ported good  prospects  for  a  fair  crop  in  his  section. 

Mr.  Keist,  of  .Manheim,  said  he  had  about  SOO 
peach  trees,  and  did  not  expect  half  a  crop.  He  has 
about  SOO  grape  vines  and  they  are  promising. 

Mr.  Cooper  said,  in  answer  to  a  question,  that  he 
had  experimented  with  Moule's  winter  wheat,  and  it 
turned  out  pretty  well,  and  he  thought  with  early 
Bowing  it  would  do  well. 

Mr.  Grotr  thought  it  would  be  a  good  wheat  to  in- 
troduce ;  he  tried  it  last  year  and  the  heads  are  very 
laree. 

Mr.  Witmer  sowed  one  package  of  the  wheat,  and 
it  has  not  yet  ripened.  It  looks  very  promising, 
however.  In  regard  to  crops  he  would  report  a  poor 
crop.  The  wheat  is  poor,  although  the  quality  is 
better.  The  corn  crop  is  very  promising.  Potatoes 
are  good.    Tobacco  is  backward. 

Mr.  Reist  said  he  got  one  bushel  of  Clausen  wheat, 
and  it  turned  out  be. ter  than  the  Foltz  wheat,  and 
asked  for  information  as  to  where  it  came  from. 

Mr.  GrofTsaid  he  did  not  know  where  it  came 
from.  He  sowed  some  for  two  years  and  it  turned 
out  pretty  well.  He  tried  a  small  sample  of  white 
wheat  which  did  so  well  as  to  be  almost  remarkable. 
It  proved  so  satisfactory  to  some  persons  that  some 
one  came  in  the  night  and  cut  a  number  of  the  heads. 

Mr.  Hostetter  thought  the  question  of  wheat  was 
Of  Importance  at  the  present  time.    He  thought  it 


was  coming  to  be  generally  adopted  that  the  Foltz 
wheat  should  be  discouraged  as  a  milling  wheat. 
Lancaster  county  docs  not  hold  a  high  place  in  the 
(lour  market,  on  account  of  this  wheat.  There  was 
a  tendency  among  the  millers  to  remodeling  their 
mills  so  as  to  more  successfully  compete  with  the 
western  millers. 

Mr.  Brosius  thought  if  the  Foltz  wheat  was  tried 
for  some  years  longer,  it  might  become  acclimated, 
and  thought  it  would  br  unjust  to  condemnjthe  wheat 
at  the  present  time.  He  said  we  should  build  up  the 
wheat  and  make  it  better. 

Mr.  Reist  endorsed  Mr.  Brosius  and  said  Foltz 
wheat  required  very  strong  soil.  He  thought  in  a 
few  years  it  would  become  acclimated  and  prove  as 
good  as  any  variety. 

Mr.  Groff  thought  farmers  should  try  to  get  the 
kind  of  wheat  which  will  produce  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  bushels  to  the  acre. 

Mr.  Cooper  thought  the  Foltz  wheat  was  the  best 
wheat  for  this  county.  He  thought  it  generally 
turned  out  well,  and  if  the  millers  could  not  make 
good  flour  it  was  probably  the  fault  of  the  machinery. 

Mr.  I.  L.  Landis  said  he  thought  the  defect  in 
Lancaster  flour  did  not  come  so  much  from  the  wheat 
as  from  the  machinery  for  milling  it. 

Mr.  Witmer  said  the  one  great  objection  which  the 
millers  had  to  the  wheat  was  the  small  grain.  The 
miller  could  not  get  the  same  amount  of  flour  out  of 
the  Foltz  wheat  as  from  any  other,  on  account  of 
containing  more  bran. 

Mr.  Brosius  always  found  the  wheat  to  turn  out 
very  well. 

Mr.  Linville  said  the  wheat  did  not  contain  enough 
gluten.  It  was  also  too  hard  and  brittle.  He  said 
it  was  the  most  productive  variety  we  have.  It  al- 
ways turned  out  better  than  the  Mediterranean  vari- 
ety. It  is  a  hard  wheat  to  thresh  and  hard  to  clean 
when  the  season  was  dry. 

Mr.  Reist  said  in  reference  to  the  Mediterranean 
wheat,  when  it  was  first  sowed  it  did  not  turn  out 
very  well,  but  it  afterwards  did  better,  until  now 
there  is  none  better  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Miller  tried  an  expriment  last  j-ear.  He  mixed 
Foltz  and  common  red  varieties  together,  and 
found  it  to  turn  out  remarkably  well. 

.Mr.  Kurtz  said  the  Foltz  wheat  was  very  produc- 
tive, but  it  is  not  a  good  flour  wheat.  He  thought 
the  farmers  could  raffee  more  Amber  wheat  from  the 
acre  than  the  Foltz  variety.  He  said  the  Amber 
wheat  brings  better  prices  than  the  white  wheat. 

Mr.  Hostetter  said  that  although  he  was  opposed 
to  the  Foltz  wheat,  he  would  not  be  in  favor  of  abol- 
ishing it  without  a  fair  trial.  He  thought  the  mill- 
ers should  procure  the  dilferent  qualities  of  flour 
manufactured,  and  send  them  among  the  farmers, 
with  a  description  of  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  wheat  was  grown.  They  could  then  make  their 
selections. 

Mr.  Witmer  offered  the  following  resolution,which 
was  adopted  : 

Whereas,  The  Millers'  Association  condemns  the 
Foltz  wheat  and  propose  to  discriminate  in  the  price 
paid  to  farmers;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  millers  of  Lancaster  county  be 
requested  to  contribute  to  this  society  for  distribu- 
tion samples  for  experiment  of  such  wheat  as  they 
desire  to  have  cultivated. 

On  motion,  the  discussion  of  the  wheat  question 
closed . 

On  motion,  the  regular  order  of  business  was  dis- 
pensed with,  aud  the  society  took  up  the  discussion 
of  a  county  fair. 

Mr.  Johnson  .Miller  said  he  was  opposed  to  hold- 
ing a  fair  at  the  Park  Grounds  on  account  of  the 
expense,  and  thought  the  society  should  try  and  pro- 
cure the  Northern  .Market  House. 

Mr  Linville  thought  the  time  was  not  a  good  one 
to  hold  the  fair,  as  the  crops  were  not  good,  and  it 
should  therefore  be  abandoned. 

The  question  was  discussed  pro  and  con  by  a 
number  of  the  members,  at  the  conclusion  of  which 
Mr.  Landis  made  a  motion  to  reconsider  the  vote  by 
which  the  resolution  authoizing  the  holdlog  of  a  fair 
had  passed     Carried. 

The  question  recurring  on  the  original  resolution, 
it  was  carried  to  hold  a  fair  at  the  Northen  Market 
House,  if  it  can  be  obtained . 

A  bill  was  presented  by  Dr.  Rathvon  for  $2,50  for 
binding  the  Lancaster  Farmer.  On  motion  it  was 
orderd  paid. 

Mr.  S.  P.  Eby  presented  a  copy  of  an  act  passed 
by  the  Legislature  in  reference  to  the  planting  of 
trees  along  the  roadside. 

Mr.  Levi  S.  Reist  presented  some  very  flue  speci- 
mens of  Earl  Wilson  blackberries,  also  Brandy  wine, 
Philadelphia,  Herstine,  and  Reliance  raspberries.  He 
also  presented  a  prolific  red  berry,  more  valuable 
than  any  other,  for  a  name. 

The  following  questions  were  presented  : 

"Is  high  farming  a  remedy  for  low  prices?"  Refer- 
red to  ^lr.  Brosius. 

"What  is  the  best  method  of  sowing  wheat  or  corn 
stubbles  ?"     For  general  discussion. 

"Should  the  partridge  be  domesticated  ?"  Refer- 
red to  S.  P.  Eby,  Esq. 

On  motion,  adjourned. 


[July, 


POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Lancaster  County  Poultry  Association  met  In 
the  rooms  of  the  Agricultural  and  Horticultural 
Society  at  half-past  ten  o'clock,  Mondav  morninE-. 
July  7th.  ^' 

The  following  members  were  present :  William 
Schoenberger,  eity;  John  F.  Reed,  city;  J.B.Lichty, 
city;  D.  C.  Tobias,  Litiz;  Amos  Rmgwalt,  city; 
Henry  Wissler,  Columbia;  Frank  R.  Diffenderffer, 
city;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  C.  A.  Gast,  city;  Charles 
E.  Long,  city;  H.  H.  Tsliudy,  Litiz. 

The  minutes  of  the  preceding  meeting  were  read 
and  approved. 

The  following  questions  were  offered  for  discussion 
at  the  next  meeting  of  the  society:  "Are  some  vari- 
eties of  fowls  more  subject  to  disease  than  ( thers, 
and  if  so,  why?"  "What  is  the  best  variety  of 
ducks  for  the  farmer's  purpose. 

Messrs.  Miller  Fraim  and  J.  Hay  Brown,  Lancas- 
ter, were  proposed  for  membership,  and  they  were 
elected. 

On  the  question,  "Is  it  advisable  to  hold  a  poultry 
show  next  winter  ?"  Mr.  Ringwalt  thought  such  an 
exhibition  would  help  the  society  along.  He  would 
go  into  the  movement  heart  and  hand. 

Mr.  Reed  thought  such  a  show  would  give  the 
members  an  opportunity  of  comparing  their  birds, 
and  be  the  means  of  improving  their  stock.  It 
would  be  expensive,  but  he  thought  it  would  pay  In 
the  end. 

Mr.  Ringwalt  thought  the  expense  would  not  be 
very  great. 

Mr.  Lichty  said  the  only  question  before  the  socie- 
ty was  the  discussion  of  the  advisability  of  holding 
an  exhibition,  and  thought  a  resolution  should  be 
oflTered  to  that  effect. 

Mr.  Long  thought,  as  the  meeting  was  very  small, 
it  would  be  advisable  to  postpone  the  question  until 
there  was  a  larger  attendance.  The  expense  would 
be  much  greater  than  the  members  had  any  idea  of. 

Mr  Tshudy  was  in  favor  of  holding  an  exhibition 
at  the  proper  time,  but  did  not  think  it  would  be  ad- 
visable to  take  any  steps  in  the  matter  at  such  a 
small  meeting.  He  thought  it  would  be  beneficial 
to  hold  such  an  exhibition,  but  thought  the  matter 
should  be  postponed  until  the  next  meeting. 

Mr.  Lichty  did  not  agree  with  the  gentlemen,  but 
thought  a  resolution  to  hold  an  exhibition  could  be 
rescinded,  if  the  cost  would  be  found  to  be  too  great. 

Mr.  Reed  offered  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the 
society  hold  a  poultry  exhibition  during  the  next 
winter,  and  ordering  the  Executive  Committee  to  in- 
quire Into  the  cost  aud  report  at  the  next  meeting. 

The  advisability  of  the  step  was  further  discussed 
by  Messrs.  Long,  Lichty  aud  Reed,  after  which  the 
resolution  was  carried. 

Mr.  Lichty  said  the  Executive  Committee  had 
never  been  regularly  organized,  and  thought  it  ad- 
visable for  the  committee  to  hold  an  early  meeting 
and  elect  officers,  and  thought  It  would  be  bettei  to 
hold  the  meeting  at  Lititz,  as  most  of  the  committee 
resided  in  and  about  t.-iat  place. 

"Should  fowl  fanciers  breed  more  than  one  varie- 
ty?" The  discussion  on  this  question  was  opened 
by  .\Ir.  Ringwalt,  who  did  not  see  the  harm  in  breed- 
ing many  varieties.  He  thought  they  could  be  bred 
to  advantaige  by  colonizing.  He  has  eight  varieties, 
but  thought  he  could  do  better  by  keeping  only  three 
varieties.  He  thought  by  haying  a  few  varieties 
more  care  could  be  given  them  than  if  he  had  many. 

Mr.  Tshudy  thought  the  question  depends  greatly 
on  the  amount  of  room  a  man  has  for  them.  He 
thought  there  was  no  doubt  tha.t  a  number  of  varie- 
ties would  not  receive  the  same  attention  that  one  or 
two  would.  The  most  successful  breeders  have  con- 
fined their  attention  to  only  one  breed. 

Mr.  Lichty  thought  it  would  be  advisable  to  make 
an  amendment  to  the  by-laws,  imposing  a  fine  upon 
those  members  to  whom  were  referred  questions  for 
discussion,  and  who  did  not  attend  to  open  the  de- 
bate, and  offered  the  following  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  following  section  be  added  to 
the  by-laws  of  the  association  : 

"If  any  member  to  whom  has  been  referred  any 
subject  for  discussion,  and  who  accepts  the  same, 
fails  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  when  the  question 
is  to  be  discussed,  or  in  case  of  his  absence  fails  to 
send  a  written  essay  on  the  subject,  he  shall  be  fined 
one  dollar." 

The  question,  '-'Are  some  varieties  of  fowls  more 
subject  to  disease  than  others,  and  if  so,  why?"  was 
referred  to  Mr.  H.H.  Tshudy  for  discussion  next 
meeting. 

On  motion,  the  society  adjourned  to  meet  the  first 
Monday  in  August. 


LINN.«;AN  SOCIETY. 
The  Linuasan  Society  held  their  stated  meeting  on 
Saturday,  June  28,  President  Rev.  J.  S.  Stahr  in  the 
chair.  After  the  opening,  the  donations  to  the  mu- 
seum were  found  to  consist  of  a  fine  specimen  of  a 
"rattlesnake,"  the  Crotalus  dnrissus  of  Linnaeus, 
also  called  C  horridjts.  This  reptile  came  via  ex- 
press, alive,  in  a  box  covered  with  a  wire  screen,  to 
the  address  of  Mr.  Joseph  Barnetts,  the  genial  host 
of  the  Cadwell  House.  It  seems  he  is  not  partial  to 
such  customers  and  declined  to  accommodate  bis 


1879. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


i07 


snakeshlp.  Dr.  Ratlivon,  our  enterprising  natural- 
ist, took  the  waif  Into  keeping,  and  deBiring  a  fine 
specimen  of  this  in  our  museum,  he  tried  to  soak  the 
venom  out  of  the  beast  by  a  long  continuous  bath 
under  the  hydrant,-  with  perfect  success.  It  became 
not  only  thoroughly  clean,  but  perfectly  docile,  and 
allowed  itself  to  be  neatly  coiled  In  a  jar  and  covered 
with  proof  spirits,  without  the  least  motiou  of  objec- 
tion. The  colors  are  well  defined  and  can  be  inspec- 
ted from  the  rattles  to  the  snout  with  perfect  clear- 
ness in  its  embalmed  condition.  This  was  captured 
near  the  New  York  State  lino  and  sent  by  Mr.  Ed- 
ward Sheatr,  formerly  of  this  city,  now  of  Lawrence 
township,  McKcan  county,  Pennsylvania.  The  com- 
bined upper  and  lower  shell  of  a  "wood  tortoise," 
(the  gtyntemys  insmlpta  of  Aga),  the  inside  having 
all  been  eaten  out,  leaving  a  perfect  shell-work  only. 
The  backbone  and  caudal  vertebra,  with  a  few  other 
detached  bones,  of  some  animal,  dug  up  iu  a  garden 
of  this  city.  No  Cuvler  being  present,  the  genus  of 
the  animal  could  not  be  deflned  ;  in  may  have  been  a 
mink. 

A  fine  specimen  of  an  extract  from  coal  tar,  man- 
ufactured in  Philadelphia,  and  sold  at  London  at 
?100  per  ton,  for  the  manufacture  of  aniline  dyes, 
per  Mr.  Joseph  Spillinger. 

Proceedings  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
Philadelphia,  Part  Ist,  January,  February,  March, 
lb79  ;  Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  Philadelphia,  vol.  XVIU.  No.  103,  January, 
to  June,  1879;  United  Slates  Patent  Ollice  Gazette, 
up  to  June  u4,  1879  ;  Lancaster  county  Farmeb  for 
June,  1S79;  two  pamphlets — M.  VV.  Dickcson 
on  "Ancient  Alabaster  in  Virginia,"  and  another 
by  bimond  P.  A.  Brown  on  the  hair  of  mammals, 
per  Mrs.  Zell ;  sundry  pamphlets  and  catalogues  of 
books,  both  European  and  American,  such  as  the 
Book-Buyer,  Book-Seller,  Book  Worm,  and  also  his- 
torical tracts,  and  No.  7  of  vol.  2  of  the  Scientific 
Observer,  March,  1879. 

Mr.  Rathvon  read  three  Interesting  papers,  Nos. 
521,  52-2  and  .523— the  first  giving  a  full  account  of 
the  reptiles  called  rattlesnakes  and  affinities,  with 
their  various  localities  and  names,  in  connection  with 
the  one  deposited.  The  second,  on  the  tortoise  fami- 
lly,  and  detailed  notes  on  the  one  the  shell  of  which 
only  was  deposited.  The  third  paper,  on  the  larvse 
discovered  by  Prof.  J.  S.  Stahr  and  his  class  on  their 
late  excursion  to  the  river.  These  maggot-like  worms 
travel  in  a  rope-like  cluster,  which  gives  them  a 
snake-like  appearance,  and  they  are  called  "snake 
worms,"  etc.  A  species  of  Diptera — Sciara — larva; 
of  several  species  of  Tipulidie,  since  It  Is  found  the 
worms  or  larvae  diO'es  in  different  localities  and  sea- 
sons. Professor  J.  S.  Stahr  read  a  highly  Interest- 
ing account  of  the  excursion  to  York  Furnace  and  a 
few  days' encampment  on  ttie  Susquehanna  river, 
with  tlie  class  of  '81,  from  Franklin  and  Mar- 
shall College,  giving  a  list  of  botanical  specimens 
collected,  their  visit  to  the  blowing  cave,  with  his 
remarks  as  to  the  cause,  and  also  the  geological  sur- 
roundings. Students  in  the  open  air  and  field  meet 
with  much  that  is  of  practical  utility,  and  the  recre- 
ation is  healthy.  No  doubt  the  students  will  long 
remember  "Camp  'Si."  It  would  be  desirable  to 
publish  the  whole  paper,  although  not  so  intended 
by  the  author.     Filed  as  No.  51i. 

Under  new  business,  bills  were  reported  for  ex- 
penses in  shelving, binding  books,  alcohol,etc.,  to  the 
amount  of  $28.64.  On  motion,  ordered  to  be  paid. 
Unrier  scientific  miscellany  Mr.  J.  Slauffer  referred 
to  a  publication  in  the  Pioneer  Press  (St.  Paul 
Minn.)  of  a  remarkable  cave  on  the  farm  of  David 
Samuels,  ten  miles  from  La  Crosse,  lately  examined. 
The  rock,  a  rather  coarse,  soft  sandstone,  forming 
the  interior  walls  of  the  cave,  is  filled  with  engraved 
figures  of  buffalo,  deer,  rabbits,  moose,  and  among 
them  a  mastodon  and  hippopotamus;  and  by  other 
hieroglyphic  figures;  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
work  of  the  mound  builders.  This  led  to  sundry 
remarks.    Adjourned  to  the  last  Saturday  in  July. 


Entomological. 


Cassida  Guttata. 

Prof.  Rathvon. — "Enclosed  is  a  bug,  destructive 
to  the  sweet  potato  leaf.  Its  habit  Is  to  eat  holes  in 
the  leaf,  which  seems  to  poison  the  leaf  very  soon, 
and  cause  the  whole  leaf  to  turn  yellow.  Ttiese 
bugs  are  quite  numerous  on  land  of  Samuel  R.  Hess 
at  Ephrata.  Mr.  H.  is  anxious  to  know  what  is  its 
name  and  other  history,  and  would  be  pleased  to 
find  a  reference  and  history  of  It  in  The  Lancaster 
Farmer."—^.  Konigmacher ,  July  10,  1879. 

Your  Insect  has'becn  received  and  examined.  It  is 
the  larva  of  a  beetle  belonging  to  the  family  Cas- 
siDDi.*,  all  of  which  feed  on  vegetation,  especially 
winding  plants,  such  as  the  sweet  potato,  the  me- 
derie,  the  morning  glory,  and  the  convolvulus  gen- 
erally. The  difierent  species  may  have  a  special 
liking  for  a  particular  plant,  but  the  same  species 
has  been  detected  on  different  plants,  and  dilTercnt 
species  have  been  found  on  the  same  plant.  It  is 
not  always  a  sure  way  to  determine  the  species  from 
the  larva  alone,  unless  we  are  well  acquainted  with 
It.     This  U  doubtless   Catiida  guttata,  sometimes 


called  the  "Tortoise,"  or  "Tortoise  shell  Beetle," 
and  is  somewhat  allied  to  the  "Lady-birds."  Tiie 
females  de|)06it  their  eggs  on  the  leaves  of  the 
plant,  and  the  young  arc  hatched  out  there,  and  also 
undergo  all  their  transformations  there.  Therefore, 
tliey  may  be  destroyed  by  hand  picking,  or  giving 
them  a  sprinkling  of  powdered  While  JMcbore,  a  de- 
coction of  tobacco,  or  a  solution  of  carbolic  soap. 
They  have  the  singular  habit  of  throwing  their  cast 
off  skins  and  their  excretions,  on  their  backs,  but 
other  Insects  have  this  same  habit  much  more  dis- 
gustingly manifested.  In  this  respect  these  insects 
show  their  alUnitles  to  the  Lemn  Triviltata,  or  "Ihree- 
lined-potato-beetle."  By  a  little  vigilance  they  may 
be  all  destroyed,  for  they  move  slowly  and  are  very 
accessible. 

Thomissus  Celer. 
Mr.  P.  W.  A.  Your  pale  spider,  falntiv  tinged 
with  green,  found  on  the  blossoms  of  the  Heliotrope, 
is  the  Thomissus  Celer,  or  nearly  allied  to  it.  When 
fully  developed  they  have  a  pale  yellowish  tinge. 
They  visit  different  flowering  plants  on  which  the 
blossoms  are  bunched  together  In  clusters,  and  lie 
in  wait  for  flies,  moths,  and  other  small  Insects, upon 
which  they  feed.  We  have  seen  them  capture  in- 
sects twice  the  bulk  of  themselves.  I  would  hardly 
know  what  vulgar  name  to  give  it.  It  might,  per- 
haps, be  properly  called  the  "  White  Blossom  Spi- 
der." It  moves  backward  and  sideways  better  than 
forward. 

Goniaphea  Coerulea. 
^fr.  C.  L.,  Lancaster,  Pa.  The  young  and  old 
birds  we  saw  at  the  houses  of  both  Messrs.  Belile 
and  Keener  on  the  10th  Inst.,  are  the  "Blue-Gross- 
bcak"  of  popular  fame,  but  the  Ooniaphca  Vmrulea 
of  ornithologists.  Dr.  Coucs  says  that  It  Is  essenti- 
ally a  Southern  bird,  but  being  somewhat  desultory 
iu  Its  geographical  range,  it  is  occasionally  found 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  It  nests  low  and 
inartisiically,  lays  four  or  five  plain  pale  blue  eggs, 
and  feeds  on  hemp  seeds,  grass  seeds,  grain,  and  the 
kernels  of  small  fruits.  It  winters  in  Mexico  and 
Central  America. 

Spined  Soldier  Bug. 
Prof.  B.  F.  S.— The  Insect  found  in  Elizabethtown 
borough,  by  Dr.  A.  C.  T.,  and  submitted  to  me  by 
you  for  examination,  Is  an  Immature  specimen  of  the 
"Spined  Soldier  Bug"  (Arma  spi?wsa),  a  species  of 
ca.rmverous  hemiptera  (half-winged),  and  a  special 
enemy  to  the  larvae  of  the  "Colorado  Potato  Beetle." 
These  insects  have  been  In  Lancaster  county  for 
many  years,  and  have  always  preyed  upon  other  soft 
skinned  insects  ;  but  since  the  advent  of  the  Colorado 
beetles,  they  have  greatly  Increased,  and  appear  to 
have  a  preference  for  the  luxurious  feast  which  their 
bodies  afford ;  and  therefore  they  ought  to  be  left 
undisturbed,  as  one  of  the  co-operative  means  by 
which  Potato  Beetles  may  be  held  In  check  if  not  ul- 
timately exterminated. 


A   Harmful    Insect. 

A  friend  having  sent  to  this  office  a  sassafras  twig 
punctured  by  some  insect,  asked  for  some  informa- 
tion concerning  it.  We  referred  the  case  to  Dr.  S. 
S.  Rathvon,  and  our  correspondent  may  read  what 
he  says  below: 

"Your  sassafras  branch  contains  the  ova,  or  the 
exuded  larvae,  of  an  insect  variously  called  the 
"climbing-cricket,"  "tree-cricket,"  or  "snow-crick- 
et" (  CKcanWjiis  nivens).  The  fully  developed  male 
Is  of  an  Ivory  white  color,  and,  exclusive  of  the 
wings,  about  half  an  inch  In  length,  but  the  wings 
extend  nearly  half  an  inch  beyond  the  hind  end  of 
the  body.  The  antennae  ar  ^  very  long  and  filiform. 
The  hind  legs  are  also  vpry  long,  but  the  femur  is 
sufficiently  developed  to  show  the  Insect's  alliance 
with  the  cricket  family  {Achetada) .  The  wings  are 
narrow  at  the  base,  and  broad  and  obtusely  rounded 
at  the  apex  (shaped  like  a  battledore),  and  one  laps 
horizontally  over  the  other  on  the  back.  At  the 
nuptial  season  (August)  the  male  utters  a  shrill 
stridulation,  which  he  sometimes  continues  all  night, 
and  when  they  happen  to  enter  a  house  the  loud  and 
shrill  notes  of  this  insect  become  monotonous  and 
exceedingly  annoying  to  would-be  sleepers. 

More  than  twenty-five  years  ago  Dr.  Harris,  of 
Boston,  Mass.,  recorded  this  insect  (on  the  represen- 
tations of  a  Connecticut  tobacco  grower)  as  exceed- 
ingly Injurious  to  the  tobacco  plant.  Prior  to  the 
Introduction  of  tobacco  culture  in  Lancaster  county, 
this  Insect  was  by  no  means  common  or  abundant, 
but  now  many  complaints  are  filed  against  It.  Last 
year  several  tine,  large  leaves  were  sent  to  me, 
having  holes  in  them  (caused  by  this  Insect)  large 
enough  to  run  my  fist  through.  They  commence 
their  operations  on  the  young  and  tender  leaves  on 
the  top  of  the  plant,  and  eat  In  them  small  holes. 
They  do  not  pierce  or  puncture,  but  being  masti- 
cating insects,  they  bite  lli<>  piece  entirely  out,  and 
inject  Lo  poison.  The  leaf  is  not  retarded  in  its 
growth  by  this  bite,  but  usually  grows  on  until  it  Is 
fully  developed. 
But  as  the  leaves  increase  In  alze,  tha  holes  in- 


crease eorrespondently  in  size,  so  that  by  the  time 
the  leaves  are  fully  grown  the  holes  are  so  large  that 
the  usefulness  of  tlie  leaves  for  wrappers  arc  in 
many  Instances  entirely  destroyed.  During  the  early 
morning  or  late  in  the  evening,  especially  if  the 
weather  Is  a  little  cool,  they  become  somewhat 
sluggish,  and  may  be  captured  by  hand  ;  but  at  mid- 
day, or  In  a  warm  sun,  they  arc  very  quick  In  getting 
out  of  harm's  way,  either  by  leaping,  hiding  on  the 
under  side  of  the  leaf,  or  dropping  to  the  ground  ; 
or  when  fully  matured,  by  fight. 

This  branch  Is  suggestive.  These  Insects  always 
deposit  their  eggs  In  branches  of  one  Inch  to  one  and 
a-half  inches  In  circumference,  but  not  always  iu  sas- 
safras, but  also  blackberry,  raspberry  and  other  soft 
woods.  Therefore,  If  what  has  been  written  above 
does  not  suggest  the  cutting  off  of  all  branches 
bearing  them  early  in  the  season  and  burning  them, 
as  the  best  remedy,  then  It  Is  not  true  that  ''an 
ounce  of  prevention  Is  worth  a  pound  of  cure."— 
Xeif  Era.  

Injurious  Insects. 

It  is  now  the  season  when  the  Insects  which  prey 
on  fruit  trees  are  most  destructive,  and  require  the 
closest  attention.  "Eternal  vigilance"  will  oe  the 
"price"  of  succesful  contention  with  these  tiny  foes. 
The  tent  caterpillar  and  the  canker  worm  prcv  on 
the  foliage  of  apple  and  cherry  trees.  The  apple- 
worm  moth  lays  Its  eggs  in  the  calyx  of  the  young 
fruit,  and  the  grub,  as  soon  as  it  Is  hatched,  cuts  Its 
way  to  the  core,  causing  the  fruit  to  ripen  prema- 
turely. In  some  instances  the  worm  continues  in  the 
fruit  without  causing  any  apparent  damage,  and  it 
is  only  when  the  apple  is  being  eaten  or  cut  up  that 
the  unwelcome  tenant  makes  its  appearance.  The 
.Spitzenberg  seems  to  be  a  particular  favorite  with 
this  destructive  insect,  for  we  find  a  great  deal  of 
this  fruit  wormy.  A  great  many  of  the  moths  may 
be  got  rid  of  by  building  fires  in  tne  orchard  at  night. 
They  will  be  attracted  by  the  light,  fly  into  the  blaze 
and  be  destroyed.  Some  persons  place  a  lamp  in 
the  centre  of  a  tub  of  water;  the  light  attracts  the 
moths,  they  fly  against  the  lamp,  fall  into  the  water 
and  are  drowned. 

The  gooseberry  and  currant  caterpillars  begin 
their  work  of  destruction  as  soon  as  the  leaves  are 
fully  developed.  The  gooseberry  caterpillar  is  the 
larva  of  a  species  of  saw-fly  which  lays  its  eggs  on 
the  ribs  on  the  back  of  the  leaves,  and  as  soon'as  the 
young  worms  are  hatched  they  commence  preyiug 
on  the  leaves,  eating  their  way  Into  them.  Their 
presence  may  he  detected  by  the  appearance  of  nu- 
merous small  holes,  like  pin-holes  in  the  leaf,  and  as 
a  whole  brood  arc,  at  this  early  stage,  confined  to 
one  leaf,  tliey  'an  be  easily  destroyed  by  picking  off 
the  leaf  and  "tramping  on  It. 

Bark  lice  are  very  injurious  to  fruit  trees,  as  they 
find  shelter  under  the  bark,  through  the  crevices  of 
whicli  they  prey  on  the  sap,  and  injure  the  vigor  of 
the  trees.  Tliey  may  be  destroyed  by  a  wash  of 
whale-oil  soapsuds,  or  a  solution  of  potash^.  Com- 
mon soapsuds  have  been  used  against  them  with 
success.  The  stems  of  all  fruit  trees  cannot  be  loo 
frequently  washed,  as  by  this  means  old  dead  bark, 
which  affords  a  hiding  place  to  many  noxious 
insects,  will  be  removed,  as  well  as  moss  and  fungi 
wliich  absorb  the  juices  and  consequently  haten  the 
decay  of  the  tree. 

The  fiea-beetle,  better  known  as  the  black-bug  or 
turnip-fly,  is  very  destructive  lo  the  seed  leaves  of 
turnips,  cabbages,  cauliflower,  radishes,  melons,  cu- 
cumbers, etc.  It  is  Identical,  or  nearly  so,  with  the 
lurnip-fiy,  {Ilaltica  meinoruni)  of  Europe,  which 
commits  such  depredations  on  the  turnip  fields  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  France  and  Germany. 
These  fiee-beetles  lie  torpid  during  the  winter  In 
heaps  of  rubbish,  under  stones,  and  clefts  of  the 
bark  of  trees,  and  in  chinks  of  walls.  They  lay  their 
eggs  in  the  spring,  on  the  leaves  of  the  plants  on 
which  they  feed,  and  as  soon  as  they  are  hatched  the 
young  grubs  burrow  Into  the  leaves,  feeding  on  them, 
and  forming  in  them  little  cells,  In  which  they  under- 
go their  transformations.  Several  broods  are  pro- 
duced during  the  summer,  so  there  is  a  constant 
succession  of  these  pests  all  through  the  season.  A 
solution  of  lime  has  been  found  very  useful  in  pre- 
venting the  ravageg^Qf  these  insects,  but  a  better  plan 
is  the  pulverization  of  the  soil,  in  order  to  close  up 
all  chinks  where  they  can  hide,  and  the  application 
of  abundance  of  well  rotted  manure,  to  force  the 
plants  into  the  rough  leaves,  as,  when  they  reach 
this  stage  of  growth,  the  bugs  leave  them  to  seek 
tenderer  food.  Chickens  are  very  efficient  destroyers 
of  these  insects.—  Western  Rural. 

Squash  Bugs. 
During  the  winter  these  bugs,  full  grown,  remain 
in  a  torpid  state,  secluded  iu  nooks  and  crevices, 
whence  they  Issue  during  the  first  warm  days  of 
spring.  As  soon  as  the  vines  of  the  squash  have 
put  forth  a  few  leaves,  the  female  bug  begins  to  lay 
her  eggs,  which  she  does  chiefly  at  night,  depositing 
them  in  little  patches  on  the  underside,  the  eggs 
being  glued  to  the  surface.  There,  in  a  few  days, 
they  hatch  into  young  bugs,  which  at  once  begin  to 
suck  the  sap  from  the  leaves  by  means  of  their  pro- 
I  boscis,  which  Is  tlirust  into  the  leaf  for  this  purpose. 


108 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[July 


The  young  are  short  and  plump,  of  a  pale  ash  color, 
and  emit  the  same  disasjreeable  odor  as  that  which 
rharacterizes  the  parent.  During  their  gro*th  they 
shed  their  skins  several  times,  gradually  developing 
wings  and  retaining  their  activity  throughout  until 
they  attain  to  the  perfect  winged  state.  At  first 
they  live  together  in  little  swarms  on  the  underside 
of  the  leaves,  which,  in  consequence  of  the  numerous 
punctures  of  the  insects,  and  the  quantity  of  sap  im- 
bibed by  them,  soon  wither  and  appear  as  if  scorched 
by  fire.  When  the  leaves  have  been  exhausted  in 
this  way,  they  are  deserted  for  fresh  ones,  and  thus 
the  work  of  destruction  goes  rapidly  on. 

The  eggs  are  not  all  laid  at  one  time,  but  like  the 
Colorado  potato  beetle,  the  eggs  and  young  may  be 
found  in  their  various  stages  of  development 
throughout  the  summer. 

The  perfect  bug  measures  six-tenthe  of  an  inch  in 
length,  is  of  a  blackish  color  above,  and  a  dirty 
ochre-yellow  beneath,  while  the  sharp  lateral  edges 
of  the  abdomen  which  project  beyond  the  closed 
wing  cover  is  black,  the  wings  transparent,  but 
dusky  at  their  tips. 

To  prevent  the  ravages  of  these  insects  they 
should  be  sought  for  early  in  the  season  and  de- 
stroyed before  they  have  an  opportunity  of  laying 
their  eggs.  To  this  end  they  may  be  looked  for 
about  the  last  of  June  or  beginning  of  July,  when 
the  dusky  creatures  may  be  found  under  the  leaves 
on  the  ground,  or  on  the  stems  of  the  vines  close  to 
the  ground.  If  eggs  have  been  laid  they  should  be 
sought  out  and  crushed.  A  short  time  spent  ia  this 
way  early  in  the  season  will  save  much  disappoint- 


after 


ard. 


White  Thrips  in  Graperies. 

Having  seen  several  articles  in  the  papers  com- 
plaining of  white  thrips  in  graperies,  I  thought  I 
would  give  a  little  of  my  experience  with  this  pest. 
I  say  ppst,  because'  there  is  none  greater,  at  least 
none  has  given  me  so  much  trouble.  Three  years 
ago  I  noticed  there  were  a  good  many  thrips  in  the 
old  grapery  I  have  charge  of,  but  paid  little  atten- 
to  them,  having  more  work  on  my  hands  at  the  time 
than  one  man  ought  to  do,  and  as  they  seemed  to  do 
little  harm  I  thought  best  to  let  them  alone  that 
year,  and  give  the  vines  a  coat  of  paint  in  the  fall. 
But  the  next  year  they  were  thicker  than  ever  ;  the 
remedy  had  done  no  good.  I  did  dot  think  of 
tobacco  smoke  until  the  season  was  pretty  well  ad- 
vanced, and  the  consequence  was  the  fruit  was 
literally  spoiled  by  ih.Mr  excrescence  falling  from  the 
leaves.  The  fruit  ripened  well  (at  which  I  was 
somewhali  surprised),  but  it  was  not  fit  to  eat  until 
it  was  washed.  I  tried  the  tobacco  smoke  as  soon 
as  I  thought  of  it,  but  it  did  no  good.  You  might  as 
well  try  to  smoke  out  a  lot  of  rummies  from  a 
corner  groggery.  They  had  got  too  long  headel  to 
be  fooled  by  tobacco  smoke  that  year  ;  it  seemed  to 
agree  with  them.  Last  year  I  thought  I  would  be 
even  with  them,  so,  as  soon  as  the  buds  began  to 
swell,  I  gave  the  grapery  a  good  dose  of  tobacco 
smoke,  and  continued  once  a  week  through  the 
season  with  good  results,  having  never  seen  a  thrip. 
Now,  I  think  this  goes  to  show  very  plainly  that  if 
the  grapery  is  treated  as  above  the  thrips  are  killed 
as  soon  as  the  eggs  are  hatched,  and  if  it  is  done 
when  they  are  young  and  tender  there  will  be  no 
further  trouble.  I  think  it  would  be  best  to  use  the 
remedy  in  time  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  the  thrips 
getting  the  start,  because  if  this  is  not  done,  there 
will  be  no  use  to  try  and  smoke  them  out  after  they 
once  get   full   grown.— G.  Hunter,  Jr.  Berks    Co., 

Capturing  Curculio. 
Mr.  Benjamin  F.  May  made  a  raid  upon  the  cur- 
culio that  infested  a  peach  tree  in  his  son's  garden, 
recently,  and  captured  a  large  number  of  them.  He 
arose  in  the  early  dawning  of  the  day,  and  spread- 
ing a  sheet  under  the  tree  and  providing  himself 
with  a  piece  of  board  and  an  axe,  proceeded  to  jar  the 
tree  by  placing  the  board  against  it  and  striking  it  re- 
peatedly with  the  axe;  this  caused  many  of  the 
peaches  that  the  curculio  had  wounded  to  fall  upon 
the  sheet,  and  the  ill-conditioned  "varmints"  being, 
as  most  insects  are  at  that  time  in  the  morning, 
in  a  semi-torpid  state,  fell  wllh  the  fruit  and 
were  captured  as  stated.  These  "varmints"  are 
injuring  the  young  peaches  badly  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  peninsula,  and  have  destroyed  most  of 
the  fruit  that  escaped  the  other  disasters.— Cecii 
Con7ity  Whig. 

Value  of  Earth- Worms. 

The  common  earth-worm,though  apt  to  be  despised 
and  trodden  on,  is  a  really  useful  creature  in  its  way. 
Mr.  Knapp  describes  it  as  the  natural  manurer  of  the 
soil,  consuming  on  the  surface  the  softer  part  of  de- 
cayed vegetable  matters,  and  conveying  downward 
the  more  woody  fibres,  which  there  molder  and  fer- 
tilize. They  perforate  the  earth  in  all  directions, 
thus  rendering  it  permeable  by  air  and  water— both 
indispensable  to  vegetable  life.  According  to  Mr. 
Darwin's  mode  of  expression,  they  give  a  kind  of 
under  tillage  to  the  land,  performing  the  same  below 
ground  that  the  spade  does  above  for  the  garden, 


and  the  plow  for  arable  soil.  It  is,  in  consequence, 
chiefly  of  the  natural,  operations  of  worms  that 
fields  which  have  been  overspread  with  lime,  burnt 
marl,  or  cinders,  become  in  process  of  time  covered 
by  a  finely-divided  soil,  fitted  for  the  support  of  vege- 
tation, this  result,  though  usually  attributed  by 
farmeis  to  the  "working  down"  of  these  materials, 
is  really  due  to  the  action  of  earth-worms,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  innumerable  casts  of  which  the  initial 
soil  consists,  These  are  obviously  produced  by  the 
digestive  proceedings  of  the  worm,  which  take  into 
their  intestinal  canal  a  large  quantity  of  the  soil  in 
which  they  feed  and  burrow,  and  then  reject  it  in 
form  of  the  so-called  casts.  "In  this  manner,"  says 
Mr.  Darwin,  "a  field,  manured  with  marl,  has  been 
covered,  in  the  course  of  eighty  years,  with  a  bed  of 
earth  averaging  thirteen  inches  in  thickness." 


Curious  Facts  About  Insects. 

Nature  prints  a  letter  certifying  that  wasps  and 
bees,  and  by  inference  other  insects  of  the  same  class, 
when  chloroformed  and  at  the  point  of  death  pro- 
trude their  stings,  and,  bending  the  body  until  the 
tail  approaches  the  mouth,  seemingly  absorb  a  drop 
of  clear  fiuid  that  exudes  from  the  point  of  the  sting, 
and  at  once  become  motionless  and  apparently  dead! 
They  may,  howevor,  subsequently  recover,  so  that 
the  act  cannot  be' regarded  as  suicidal.  The  infe- 
rence is  that  the  poison  is  a  narcotic  of  which  the 
insect  partakes  when  an  extremity  arrives  from 
which  he  thinks  there  is  no  escape.  If  this  be  so  It 
is  singular  that  these  well-armed  and  pain-giving 
creatures  should  be  provided  with  a  recourse  that 
may  secure  a  blissful  unconsciousness  of  pain  in  any 
crisis  of  danger,  and  yet  does  not  prove  fatal  should 
the  danger  pass. 

Borer's  Eggs 
Are  laid  on  the  bark  near  the  roots  of  peach  trees  in 
early  summer,  when  they  soon  hatch,  and  the  worms 
find  their  way  into  the  bark.  At  this  time,  say  in 
June,  July  or  August,  they  are  easily  found,  and  as 
easily  removed.  Coal  ashes,  or  anything  else 
thrown  around  the  trunk  that  will  tend  to  protect  it 
from  the  borers,  may  do  some  good,  but  it  is  much 
easier  to  destroy  the  insects  when  first  hatched  than 
to  build  mounds  for  keeping  them  away. 


Agriculture. 


Lancaster  Farming  in  Virginia. 

Samuel  Brookman,  formerly  of  Lancaster  county, 
now  of  Manchester,  Chesterfield  county,  Virgiuia, 
writes  : 

"Isold  my  little  home  in  Lancaster  county,  Pa., 
for  which  I  was  more  than  one-half  in  debt.  I  de- 
sired to  have  a  home  of  my  own  for  myself  and 
family— which,  by  the  way,  is  quite  a  large  one,  ten 
in  number— and  I  knew  very  well  it  was  useless  to 
try  and  get  a  free  home  in  Lancaster  county  with  my 
means.  I  came  to  Virginia  with  my  family,  without 
ever  having  seen  this  part  of  the  state.  I  bought  a 
small  farm  of  forty  acres,  four  miles  from  Man- 
chester, settled  on  it  on  the  26th  day  of  April,  late 
for  spring  crops.  Now  I  am  harvesting  as  large  ears 
of  corn  as  we  did  in  Pequea  Valley,  Lancaster 
county.    Nearly  everything  we  planted   has  yielded 


$1,000  would  not  buy  it.  We  all  like  the  country  , 
have  good  neighbors,  good  water,  fine  climate  and 
are  all  enjoying  good  health.  I  have  really  never 
met  with  kinder  people  than  the  Virginians.  We, 
as  Tanks,  and  they,  ss  Jonnys,  often  talk  over  old 
war  times,  and  neither  ever  wishing  to  see  another 
war.  I  would  say  again  to  all  who  are  seeking 
cheap  homes,  come  ;  you  will  be  welcomed  by  the 
Virginians  and  the  many  Northerners  already 
settled  here.  With  a  little  money,  patience  and 
industry,  you  can  in  a  few  years  have  a  home  here 
that  I  feel  confident  will  be  worth  double  the  money 
it  cost  you.  What  this  country  needs  the  most  is 
men  of  enterprise,  men  of  muscle  and  good  farmers, 
that  will  clean  up  their  waste  lands,  build  fences, 
grub  out  every  bush,  and  in  a  short  time  our  country 
will  be  second  to  none.  The  most  of  the  land  lies 
beautifully  and  is  very  easily  improved.  If  any  of 
my  friends  North  wish  any  further  information  from 
me,  write,  and  I  will  gladly  answer." 

Varieties  of  Wheat. 

Joseph  Galbraith,  White  House,  Pa.,  an  extensive 
farmer  in  that  rich  wheat-growing  valley  of  the 
Cumberland,  experimented  last  year  with  the  fol- 
lowi!:g  varieties  : 

Canada  Club,  a  white  wheat,  smooth  ;  Bohemian 
red  wheat,  smooth  ;  Shoemaker  red  wheat,  smooth  ; 
Boyton  white  wheat,  smooth  ;  Arnold's  victor  white 
wheat,  smooth ;  Russian  spring  wheat,  smooth ; 
Clawson  white  wheat,  smooth  ;  Zeller  Valley  wheat, 
smooth ;  Uiehl  white  wheat,  smooth ;  Fultz  red 
wheat,  smooth  ;  Gold  Dust  wheat,  white,  smooth  ; 
Arnold's  Gold  Medal  white  wheat,  smooth  ;  Lan- 
caster  red  wheat,  bearded;  Kodger's  amber  white 


wheat,  bearded;  Big  Seed  wheat,  red,  bearded; 
Russian  while  wheat,  bearded  ;  Sanford  white 
wheat,  bearded  ;  Early  Ripe  white  wheat,  beard- 
ed ;  Egyptian  Seven-headed  red  wheat,  bearded ; 
Mediterranean  spring,  red  wheat,  bearded;  Oregon 
White  rye.  A  few  weeks  ago  we  received 
from  Mr.  Galbraith  samples  of  Washington  Glass 
wheat,  white,  smooth,  and  Coffee  wheat,  white, 
bearded— making  in  all  twenty-one  kinds  of  winter 
wheat,  one  of  spring  wheat,  and  one  of  rye.  Mr. 
Galbraith  experimented  with  all  these  varieties  last 
season,  and  says  in  a  letter  accompanying  the 
samples,  "I  cannot  give  you  the  aggregate  amount 
raised  per  acre,  as  the  samples  were  too  small  ;  have 
the  majority  of  them  under  cultivation  this  season 
on  a  larger  scale,  and  think  I  will  be  able  to  tell 
more  about  them  the  coming  season.  Should  they 
yield  as  they  did  last  season  I  can  report  some  heavy 
yields."  We  hope  Mr.  Galbraith  will  favor  us  with 
a  full  report  of  his  experiments  this  season.- Pt-oc- 
tical  Farmer. 

Fultz  Wheat. 

Messrs.  Best  &,  Sparks  have  mills  both  at  Litch- 
field and  Alton,  III.,  the  latter  an  extensive  concern 
and  the  former  a  smaller  one,  but  making  and 
shipping  140  barrels  daily.  Inquiring  the  name  of 
the  wheat  most  grown  and  prized  by  millers  and 
farmers  both,  in  that  section,  the  unexpected  reply 
was  the  Fultz.  But  the  Fultz  had  a  bad  reputation 
in  some  sections.  Did  not  the  Millers'  Convention 
at  Indianapolis  discriminate  against  it?  To  be  sure, 
but  that  action  was  perhaps  the  work  of  patent 
process  men,  which  we  do  not  use.  We  find  the 
Fultz,  under  the  old  processes,  will  make  a  barrel 
of  first-class,  though  not  the  highest  priced  flour,  to 
every  four  bushels  and  two-thirds,  or  2.'»0  pounds. 
The  flour  we  sell  in  large,  round  lots  delivered  on 
track,  at  ?4.25  to  ?4.34,  and  it  is  quoted  in  New  York 
and  Boston  at  §.5.75  to  $8.  In  common  with  other 
millers,  we  have  reduced  the  speed  of  our  burrs  very 
much — to  1.50  revolutions  a  minute.  We  use  one 
cast  iron  crusher  to  four  buri'S,  and  have  all  the 
modern  appliances  of  the  patent  process  but  do  not 
use  them.  In  this  section  there  are  nine  bushels  of 
Fultz  grown  to  one  of  any  other  kind.  We  have  the 
Blue  Stem,  the  Lima,  the  Golddust  and  others  ;  and 
have  never  seen  or  grown  the  Claw.son.  We  want 
hard  red  wheats,  because  they  make  not  only  the 
strongest  but  the  whitest  flour.  We  can  tell  at  a 
trlance  the  wheat  produced  on  the  prairie.  The 
timber-grown  wheat  is  plumper,  harder,  heavier, 
has  thinnei  pellicles, and  makes  the  better  and  whiter 
flour. —  Country  Gentleman. 


Sowing  Wheat. 
I  wish  to  ask,  through  the  columns  of  your  valu- 
able paper,  which  is  the  best  method  of  sowing 
wheat — broad-casting  or  drilling  in  narrow  rows? 
Will  the  same  amount  of  seed  produce  as  much  in 
narrow  furrows  as  it  would  if  it  was  spread  over 
ground  and  covered  evenly?  H.  s.  [It  is  nearly  the 
universal  result  that  drilling  wheat  affords  heavier 
crops  than  sowing  broadcast.  The  chief  reason  is 
that  it  may  be  drilled  at  a  uniform  depth,  and  every 
grain  will  have  a  good  and  equal  chance.  When 
sowed  broadcast  and  harrowed  in,  the  seed  is  cov- 
ered at  all  depths  from  a  quarter  of  an  inch  to  three 
or  four  inches,  and  the  growth  is  not  uniform.  In  a 
few  instances,  drilling  has  not  done  so  well  as  broad- 
casting, but  in  these  the  depth  of  the  tubes  was  not 
proi)eriy  adjusted,  and  the  seed  was  burled  too  deep. 
When  wheat-drills  were  first  introduced,  so  uniform 
was  the  benefit  from  their  use  that  manufacturers 
offered  to  perform  all  the  labor  of  sowing  for  the  in- 
crease in  product.  The  practice  has  now  become  so 
universal,  that  in  ridingovertwenty  miles  in  a  wagon 
through  a  wheat  region  of  Western  New  York,  we 
were  unable  to  find  a  single  wheat  field  that  was  not 
drilled.] — Country  Gentleman. 

Soot  as  a.  Manure. 
To  strong-growing  greenhouse  plants,  such  as 
pelargoniums,  fuchsias,  roses,  carnations,  chrysan- 
themums, azaleas  solanums,  and  many  others,  soot 
is  a  valuable  and  easy  obtained  stimulant.  A  hand- 
ful of  it  tied  in  a  bag  and  stirred  in  a  three-gallon 
can  of  water  has  a  marvelous  effect  on  all  the  plants 
just  named,  and  on  many  others  besides.  It  induces 
vigorous  growth,  and  adds  freshness  and  substance 
to  both  leaf  and  flower.  It  is  better  to  use  it  in  small 
quantities  and  often  rather  than  charge  the  compost 
with  more  carbon  than  the  plants  can  readily  assimi- 
late. For  the  most  robust  growers,  especially  if 
if  grown  in  small  pots,  mixture  with  fresh  manure 
from  the  cowshed  is  desirable,  but  this  should  be  al- 
lowed to  settle  before  using,  otherwise  the  grassy 
particles  will  remain  on  the  surface  of  the  pots,  and 
while  giving  them  an  unsightly  appearance,  exclude 
that  free  aeration  which  all  healthy  roots  require. — 
Montreal  Gazette. 

Charcoal  on  Land. 

The  absorptive  power  of  charcoal  is  well  known  in 

the  arts.   Its  capacity  in  this  direction  is  remarkable. 

Accurate  experiment  has  proved  that  in  twenty-four 

hours  It  would  absorb  ninety  times  its  own  volume 


1879.J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


109 


of  amraonlacal  gas,  elehty-Hvo  ttmcB  Its  volume  of 
muriatic  acid  gas,  and  eixty-flve  times  its  volume  of 
Bulphurous  acid  gas.  It  is  this  remarkal)lc  quality 
that  makes  it  go  valuable  In  destroying  odor,  color, 
taste  ill  many  substances,  and  preserving  meats, 
vegetables  and  fruit  from  rapid  decay.  Us  use  as  a 
fliterer  In  cisterns  is  well  known,  and  Its  value 
here  depends  on  the  same  quality.  It  separates  and 
appropriates  to  Itself  the  decaying  matter  and  other 
Impurities  In  water,  rendering  it  pure  and  sweet.  If 
placed  on  the  surface  of  the  soil.  It  will  gather 
from  the  air  moisture  and  gases  and  impart  them 
to  the  growing  plants.  On  tlie  same  principle  Its 
value  In  the  barnyard,  stable  and  hog  pens,  as  an 
absorptive  agent.  Is  Incalculable.  When  used  for 
this  purpose  to  form  a  basis  of  manure,  it  should  be 
In   the  powdered  state.— OAio  Farmer. 


Cutting  Cornstalks. 
We  observe  In  some  of  our  exchanges  a  discussion 
of  the  subject  of  cutting  cornstalks  before  feeding 
to  cattle.  One  writer  states  that  by  cutting  about  an 
Inch  long  the  hard  ends  cause  soreness  In  the  mouth 
among  his  cattle.  To  avoid  this  another  recommends 
length  of  three  in  :hes.  It  will  at  once  be  perceived 
that  such  coarsely  chopped  feed  cannot  be  all  eaten. 
The  best  success  we  ever  witnessed  was  in  the  prac- 
tice of  an  old  farmer  many  years  ago,  who  gauged 
his  machine  only  a  fourth  of  an  inch  long,  and  then 
putting  on  his  sI.'e  horses,  the  whole  of  the  corn- 
stalks  was  rapidly  reduced  to  a  condition  of  Une 
chaft'.  The  hardest  stubs  were  thus  made  eatable, 
and  the  cattle  consumed  the  whole.  He  could  thus 
cut  in  half  a  day  enough  to  last  a  week.  Meal  or 
ground  feed  was  easily  mixed  with  it.  It  will  be  ob- 
served as  an  important  advantage  in  cutting  corn  fod- 
der, that  it  greatly  Improves  the  texture  of  manure, 
by  preventing  the  long,  fibrous  masses  which  are  al- 
most impossible  to  pitch,  draw,  spread  and  plow 
under. 


Corn-Cobs. 
Feeders  differ  in  their  opinions  about  grinding  cobs 
with  the  meal  for  hogs ;  some  attach  great  value  to 
the  method,  while  others  reject  it  altogether. 
Analysis  of  the  corn-cob  shows  that  there  is  si.v  to 
ten  per  cent,  of  matter  which  may  be  rendered,  with 
breaking  up  and  boiling,  capable  of  assimilation  by 
the  animal  in  question.  The  general  belief  seems  to 
be  that  while  there  is  not  enough  nutriment  In  the 
cob  to  pay  for  the  trouble  of  getting  it  out,  au 
occasional  feeding  of  cobmeal  is  an  advantage, 
especially  in  the  fattening  process,  when  a  certain 
amount  of  inert  matter  is  required  by  the  animal. 
This  necessity  induces  hogs  to  eat  coal,  clay  and  dirt 
when   the  instinctive  want  is  not  otherwise  supplied. 


Horticulture. 


Rosewood. 

Rosewood  has  always  been  considered  an  aristocratic 
wood.  It  is  used  for  fine  furniture  and  pianos  in  all 
civilized  nations.  We  have  no  record  of  its  first  in- 
troduction into  use,  but  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  it 
was  soon  after  the  discovery  of  Soutli  America,  as 
old  writers  speak  of  rosewood  cabinets  and  other 
articles  of  furniture.  It  is  found  only  in  South 
America,  although  a  very  near  approach  to  it  is  used 
by  the  Chinese,  of  which  and  bamboo  they  construct 
all  their  furniture.  The  French  call  it  palaisandre. 
Bois  de  rose,  or  wood  of  the  rose,  is  an  African  wood, 
and  is  red,  with  yellow  streaks.  It  seldom  grows 
over  eight  inches  In  diameter,  and  is  cut  into  veneers 
and  used  bias  for  borders  in  inlaid  or  marquetry 
work.  Rosewood,  or  palaisandre,  is  found  of  supe- 
rior quality  in  Brazil.  Kio  de  Janeiro  exports  all  of 
the  tine  quality  of  wood.  Large  quantities  of  infe- 
rior quality  are  sent  from  Bahia,  but  this  wood  is 
only  used  by  cheap  manufacturers,  as  the  grain  is  a 
dull  brown,  and  posseses  but  little  beauty  of  figure. 
Honduras  also  exports  a  heavy,  dull  looking  rose- 
wood, which  is  mostly  consumed  for  drumsticks  and 
canes.  Rio  Janeiro  wood  grows  large,  and  the  grain 
is  beautifully  variegated.  The  most  desirable  wood, 
that  which  is  the  most  mottled,  is  selected  for 
veneers,  and  the  plain  straight-grained  logs,  when 
brought  to  market,  are  very  rough  and  gnarled.  It 
has  latterly  been  sold  by  weight  only.  Some  years 
ago  it  was  sold  by  the  log,  and  the  purchaser  relied 
on  his  acuteness  for  bargains.  It  contains  an  acrid 
oil,  which  must  be  extracted  by  steaming,  or  by  long 
exposure  to  the  air,  before  it  can  be  relied  on  to  hold 
with  glue.  It  has  a  pungent  smell,  and  the  men 
who  work  in  it  seem  to  imbibe  the  odor  into  their 
system,  as  no  ablution  will  eradicate  the  smell,  by 
which  the  worker  is  distinguished  from  the  worker 
of  other  woods.  The  dust  arising  from  sand-paper- 
ing is  not  poisonous,  although  it  gives  a  peculiarly 
ghastly  expression  to  the  workman's  countenance. 
Rosewood,  if  well  worked,  is  the  most  durable  of  all 
furniture  wood,  and  after  a  century's  use  it  can  be 
polished  to  look  as  well  as  new.  It  is  exceedingly 
strong  and  hard,  and  becomes  more  solid  from  age. 
— American  Cabinet  Maker. 


Apple  Orchards. 

In  the  report  of  the  discussions  at  the  Western 
New  York  Farmers'  Club,  furnished  by  the  Rural 
Home,  we  find  the  following  statements,  which  we 
glean  from  that  account :  Mr.  Holton  bought  a  six 
acre  orchard  which  was  about  six  years  old,  hut  for 
fifteen  years  afterward  obtained  no  fruit.  He  then 
spread  a  wagon-load  of  manure  around  each  tree, 
thinned  the  top  so  as  to  favor  low  branches,  and  can 
now  pick  three  fourths  of  the  crop  from  the  ground. 
He  allows  no  grwss  to  grow  on  the  ground,  but  does 
not  plow,  and  now  obtains  heavy  crops.  It  Is  be- 
coming well  established  that  no  treatment  tends 
more  to  promote  productiveness  in  rather  feeble  trees 
of  fome  age,  than  the  application  of  manure. 

Mr.  Newman,  five  years  ago,  became  the  owner  of 
an  orchard  of  300  trees,  some  twenty  years  old, 
which  for  several  years  past  had  been  In  grass.  One- 
half  were  Baldwins,  the  rest  Greenings,  Kussets, 
Spys,etc.  Small  crops  were  produced;  about  one 
barrel  on  an  average  to  six  trees.  Another  orchard 
adjoined  it,  which  gave  large  returns  formanv years. 
This  orchard  was  constantly  tilled  and  manured. 
This  ii.dueed  Mr.  Newman  to  plow  his  orchard, 
which  cut  off  thousands  of  small  roots.  It  was 
manured  at  the  rate  of  twelve  or  fifteen  loads  per 
acre.  The  result  was  a  heavy  crop  last  ^ear  (ilie 
scarce  year),  and  nearly  no  crop  this  year.  The 
bearing  year  seems  to  have  been  changed — a  result 
which  we  have  known  in  other  Instances  by  manur- 
ing at  the  proper  time.  We  do  not  know  in  what 
part  of  the  season  he  performed  the  plowing,  but  we 
supposed  he  knew  enongh  to  do  it  early  in  spring, 
bel'ore  the  buds  o^e-aei.— Country  Gentleman. 

Pear  Blight. 
There  is  no  subject  discussed  at  fruit  growers' 
meetings  more  elaborately  than  the  pear  blight  and  so 
little  apparently  understood  about  it.  Until  within 
four  and  five  years  we  did  not  suffer  in  the  least  from 
it  upon  our  premises.  But  within  that  time  we  have 
lost  a  number  of  fine  trees,  to  all  appearance  perfect- 
ly healthy  only  a  day  or  two  before.  We  had  an  un- 
usually vigorous  Belle  Lucrative  tree,  which  annu- 
ally bore  well ;  in  fact  it  bore  too  well  and  obliged 
us  to  remove  a  large  portion  of  the  fruit,  first  when 
they  were  not  as  large  as  marbles,  and  again  when 
they  were  nearly  half  grown.  The  last  year  that  it 
bore  before  yielding  up  its  life  to  blight,  at  least 
three-fourths  of  all  the  fruit  was  removed,  and  yet 
in  twenty-four  hours  the  life  was  out  of  it.  The  va- 
riety most  subject  to  this  disease  has  been  Gloiit 
Morceau.  In  a  single  night  they  have  died.  And  in 
all  the  losses  we  have  met  with  we  could  discern  no 
cause.  The  trees  have  blighted  in  dry  and  moist 
soil,  in  cultivated  and  in  grass.  Last  Mi«i(«r  we  lost 
four  trees,  some  ten  to  twelve  years  set  out.  Two  of 
them  bore  good  crops,  and  two  none  at  all.  We 
have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  after  soaping  and 
washing  pear  trees,  and  carefully  pruning,  and  keep- 
ing the  ground  in  good  heart,  we  must  take  our 
chances.  For  fifteen  or  twenty  years  we  do  not  re- 
member to  have  lost  a  single  tree  from  any  cause  ; 
and  as  diseases  of  trees  and  the  visitation  of  insects 
come  and  go  without  letting  us  into  the  secret  of 
their  movements,  we  had  better  do  one's  duty  to- 
wards all  our  crops  and  then  await  another  cycle  of 
freedom  and  success. — Germantown  Telegraph. 

A  Hint  on  Lawns  and  Hedges. 

Any  one  who  has  taste  in  that  direction  cannot  but 
observe,  within  a  dozen  miles  around  Philadelphia, 
where  fine  lawns  are  cultivated,  how  much  damage 
is  done  to  the  beautiful  hedges  and  evergreens  by 
allowing  the  silver  maple  and  other  ugly  and  useless 
trees  to  be  mixed  up  with  them,  overshadowing  them 
to  such  an  extent  as  must  lead  to  their  early  defolia- 
tion and  destruction.  The  exhaustion  of  the  soil  also 
by  these  worthless  trees,  docs  more,  however,  to  in- 
jure the  evergreens,  than  even  the  shade.  Once  let 
the  evergreen  be  damaged  and  they  never  recover. 
What  the  object  Is  in  permitting  such  trees  to  remain 
in  these  lawns  and  along  hedge-lines,  we  cannot  im- 
agine. Either  the  gardener  is  incompetent  for  not 
suggesting  their  removal,  or  the  proprietor  is  obsti- 
nate in  refusing  to  exterminate  trees  which  he  has 
not  knowledge  enough  to  see  are  ruining  his  place. 

If  any  one  has  a  liking  for  silver  maple  and  other 
deciduous  trees  in  their  lawns,  let  him  enjoy  his 
taste  and  not  mix  them  up  with  evergreens.  In  large 
lawns,  it  Is  true,  there  may  be  varieties  of  trees 
without  injury  to  one  another;  but  it  is  folly  to  mix 
them  on  small  lawns,  or  plant  them  close  together. 

Hedges,  even  the  hemlock,  which  stands  shade 
better  than  any  other,  will  show  its  dwarfing  influence, 
and  cannot  resist  the  exhausting  of  the  soil  by  the 
roots  of  large  trees  standing  near;  while  no  arbor 
vitaes  will  long  survive  from  either  of  these  causes. 

Curiosities  in  Pomology. 
Some  years  ago  one  of  citizens  bought  and  set  out 
thirty  young  apple  trees.  On  one  of  them  he 
neglected  to  remove  the  wooden  label  which  was  at- 
tached to  one  of  the  limbs  by  a  copper  wire.  Two 
years  later  he  found  that  the  copper  wire  was  entire- 
ly imbedded  and  out  of  sight,  in  the  bark  of  the  tree, 


and  that  year  the  limb  was  so  heavily  loaded  with 
apples  that  he  was  obliged  to  prop  It  up,  while  there 
was  not  a  blossom  or  apple  on  any  other  limb.  Last 
year  one  of  our  neighbors,  when  his  young  apple 
trees  were  in  full  blossom,  carefully  girdled  some 
limbs  on  several  trees,  and  the  blossoms  produced 
no  fruit  on  the  limbs  thus  treated,  but  this  year 
those  limbs  have  blossomed  full  and  no  blossoms  on 
the  limbs  that  bore  last  year.  Pomologists  may 
profit  by  further  ezpcrimeuts  in  that  direction.— 
Hartford  Evening  Post. 

Many  farmers  have  an  impression  that  their 
apple,  peach  and  pear  orchards  can  take  care  of 
themselves.  The  mots  can  stretch  themselves 
a  little,  but  their  foraging  ground  is  limited,  and  to 
suppose  that  within  this  limited  space  food  can  be 
found  to  sustain  growth  and  bear  fruit  for  decades  of 
years,  without  any  re-supply  of  the  raw  material,  Is 
unreasonable.  No  wonder  that  so  many  of  our 
orchards  show  moss-grown  trunks,  decayed  branches 
and  stunted  fruit. 


To  KEEP  lawn  fresh  and  green  put  on  frequently  a 
slight  sprinkling  of  salt  or  bone  dust,  or  superphos- 
phate, or  any  good  fertilizer.  When  the  soil  is  soft, 
run  the  roller  over  ;  It  helps  the  appearance  greatly. 
The  application  of  a  little  ground  gypsum  will  also 
freshen  up  the  grass.  But  above  all  never  neglect  to 
run  the  mowing  machine  over  frequently. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Barns  and  Barnyards. 
Nothing  so  plainly  shows  the  good  farmer  as  large, 
well-filled  tiarns,  and  compact,  sheltered  barnyards 
for  protection  of  stock  in  winter.  A  great  improve- 
ment is  taking  place  in  these  respects,  and  more  is 
needed  and  will  be  had  as  Its  importance  Is  better 
understood.  Hiding  recently  through  an  excellent 
farming  town  I  was  surprised  to  notice  how  carefully, 
shrewd  and  prosperous  farmers  had  utilized  easterly 
exposed  knolls  as  sites  for  barns  and  barnyards.  Our 
coldest  winds  are  from  the  west,  and  riding  on  a 
north  and  south  road  I  noticed  for  several  miles  that 
every  barnyard  was  located  on  the  easterly  side  of  a 
liill,  so  as  togivea  basement  underneath,  and  a  level, 
or  a  neariy  level  drive  away  from  the  west  on 
the  barn  floor  above.  In  many  places  a  corn- 
house  anl  carriage-barn  was  placed  on  the  north 
and  south  sides  of  the  yard,  leaving  only  one 
side  exposed,  which  would  be  protected  by  a  high 
and  tight  board  fence,  and  the  basements  uuder 
tile  barn  would  he  further  protected  by  straw 
stacks  and  board  partitions,  leaving  only  doorways 
for  the  passage  of  cattle.  In  such  yards  horses  and 
even  cows  can  be  wintered  with  the  smallest  possible 
amount  of  labor,  and  horses  not  used  during  the 
winter  will  keep  better  and  come  out  better 
and  stronger  in  spring,' if  allowed  to  run  loose 
in  the  barn-yard,  than  if  carefully  stabled  on 
wooden  floors"  during  the  winter.  Take  off  the 
shoes  and  let  them  run  loose  till  the  middle 
of  March  or  1st  of  April.  Much  of  their  winter 
keep  will  lie  got  from  the  straw-stack,  to  the  great 
saving  of  the  hay  mow,  and  when  you  begin  to. feed 
for  spring  work,  the  horses  will  soon  be  in  better 
condition  than  ever  to  resume  spring  work.  This  is 
particulariy  true  of  old  animals  that  have  apparent- 
ly ceased  to  be  valuable.  Many  a  man  has  turned 
his  old  mare  in  the  barnyard  to  pick  her  living  as 
best  she  could  with  the  cattle,  and  found  the  follow- 
ing summer  that  she  was  better  for  work  than  In 
several  seasons  previous.  Stabling  under  ground 
may  not  be  good  policy,  but  I  am  satisfied  that  letting 
animals  run  loose  in  barn  basements  is  advisable, 
tying  them  only  at  night  where  they  would  other- 
wise be  too  crowded,  or  the  stronger  would  drive 
the  weaker  out  of  ioora.— Country  Gentleman. 

Tne  Best  Yeast  Known. 
Vienna  bread  is  said  to  be  the  best  in  the  world. 
It  owes  its  superiority  to  the  yeast  used,  which  is 
prepared  in  the  following  manner  :  Indian  corn, 
barley  and  rye  (all  sproutinsr)  arc  powdered  and 
mixed,  and  then  macerated  in  water  at  a  temper- 
ature of  from  149  deg.  to  167  deg.  Fah.  Sacchar- 
ificaliou  takes  place  in  a  few  hours,  when  the  liquor 
is  racked  oflT  and  allowed  to  clear,  and  fermentation 
Is  set  up  by  the  help  of  a  minute  quantity  of  any 
ordinary  yeast.  Carbonic  acid  is  disengaged  during 
the  process  with  so  much  rapidity  that  the  globules 
of  yeast  are  thrown  up  by  the  gas,  and  remain 
floating  on  the  surface,  where  they  form  a  thick 
scum.  The  latter  is  carefully  removed,  and  consti- 
tutes the  best  and  purest  yeast,  which  when  drained 
and  comi)ressed,  can  be  kept  from  eight  to  fifteen 
days,  according  to  the  season. 

Butter  Making. 
We  note  by  the  Western  papers,  and  other  sources 
of  information,  that  butter  making  is  receiving  an 
increased  share  of  attention  over  former  years.  In 
some  places  they  are  indeed  talking  about  the 
\  business  being  overdone.    This  is  almost  always  the 


no 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[July 


case  when  any  great  iudustry  is  taken  hold  of 
enrnesUy,  and  is  a  trouble  which  soon  rights  itself 
by  the  wealter  brethren  falling;  out  of  the  track. 
From  the  same  sources  we  note  that  it  is  believed  the 
quality  has  somewhat  degenerated  in  the  main, 
and  this  also  is  a  general  result  of  over-production. 
Many  have  an  idea,  when  the  market  is  poor,  that  it 
does  not  pay  to  do  things  well.  The  sharp  witted 
take  advantage  of  this.  It  is  their  golden  opportu- 
nity. Jtoat  people  who  make  money  by  farming  or 
gardening  do  it  by  always  having  a  first.rate  article. 
The  more  poor  stuff  in  market  the  better  theirs  sells. 
Whatever  is  in  general  and  steady  demand  will 
always  have  an  open  market  for  the  good  article. 
We  do  not  expect  butter-making  of  the  right  sort 
will  ever  be  overdone. 


Ways  to  Use  Stale  Bread. 

First  dry  all  fragments  of  bread  before  they  get 
mouldy,  in  the  open  oven.  When  well  dried,  pound 
the  firead  and  put  it  away  in  a  covered  vesstl,  where 
it  will  be  free  from  dust  and  moisture. 

A  delicious,  wholesome  and  cheap  dish  for  break- 
fast or  tea  can  be  made  of  salt  codfish  and  this  bread. 
Chop  the  fish  when  well  freshened,  and  place  it  in  a 
pudding-dish  in  alternate  layers  with  the  pounded 
bread.  Upon  each  layer  place  small  bits  of  butter, 
and  a  little  pepper.  Nearly  cover  with  milk,  and 
bake  brown. 

Bbead  and  Apple  PnoDiNo.— One  cup  of 
pounded  bread  and  two  cups  of  raw  chopped  apple. 
Mix  slightly,  and  add  small  bits  of  butter,  nearly 
cover  with  water  and  bake.  Eat  with  liquid  sweet 
sauce,  flavored  with  lemon.  This 'pudding  is  very 
simple,  and  easily  made.  The  -'kuaek"  is  in  baking 
so  that  the  bread  shall  neither  be  hard,  nor  soft  as 
mush. 

PouTided  bread  is  nearly  as  good  as  cracker  for 
stuffing  a  turkey  or  other  meal  to  roast,  and  if 
always  kept  prepared,  the  labor  of  getting  the  meat 
ready  for  the  oven  is  much  lessened. 

Hints  on  Cooking  Poultry. 

Steaming  is  preferable  to  boiling  for  tough  fowls. 

Remove  the  threads  before  sending  roast  fowls  to 
the  table. 

In  winter  kill  the  poultry  three  days  to  a  week  be- 
fore cooking. 

Poultry  and  game  are  less  nutritious,  but  more  di- 
gestible than  other  meats. 

Singe  with  alcohol  instead  of  paper— ateaspoonful 
Is  sufliicient  for  cither  a  turkey  or  chicken. 

Remember,  much  of  the  skill  of  roasting  poultry 
in  the  best  mannerdepends  upon  basting  faithfully. 

To  give  roast  birds  a  frothy  appearance,  dredge, 
just  before  they  aie  done,  with  flour  and  baste  liber 
ally  with  melted  butter. 

When  onions  are  added  to  stuffing,  chop  them  so 
fine  that  in  eating  the  mi.xture  one  does  not  detect 
their  presence  by  biting  into  a  piece. 

Ladies  doing  their  marketing  will  do  well  to  re- 
member that  young  poultry  may  be  told  by  the  tip. 
of  the  breast  bone  being  soft,  and  easily  bent  be- 
tween the  fingers,  and  when  fresh  by  its  bright  full 
eye,  pliant  feet  and  soft  moist  skin. 

Farmers,  Keep  Accounts. 

A  very  successful  farmer  says:  "Farmers  who  never 
keep  accounts  are,of  course,  always  in  debt, at  least, 
most  of  the  year,  and  have  enormous  store  bills  to 
surprise  them.  They  doubt  the  honesty  of  merchants 
and  families  are  berated  for  extravagance,  lieceipts 
and  expenditures  are  never  noted;  the  profits  and 
losses  in  any  branch  of  farming  are  unknown.  Un- 
consciously debts  multiply,  for  it  requins  much 
less  time  and  ability  to  dispose  of  than  to  acquire  it. 
Accounts  properly  kept  would  admonish  them  when 
to  spend  and  to  check  up.  Carelesness  in  one  par- 
ticular is  apt  to  foster  or  beget  carelesness  in  others; 
consequently  such  farmers  have  little  system  in  the 
buildiu-  of  residences,  barns,  or  out-houses.  Fences 
are  poorly  kept  up,  and  a  systematic  rotation  of 
crops  is  seldom  practiced. 


Household  Recipes. 


Macaroni  with  Tomato  Sactce.— Melt  two 
tablespoonfuls  of  butter  in  a  saucepan,  put  to 
It  one  medium-sized  onion  chopped  fine,  a  small 
piece  of  celery  and  a  little  parsley.  Let  it 
cook  slowly,  but  carefully,  lest  it  scorch,  which 
would  spoil  all.  Wlien  the  onion  is  delicately  brown 
put  it  in  a  pint  of  canned  tomatoes,  if  in  winter,  or  a 
quart  of  fresh  tomatoes  in  their  season  and  boil  for 
an  hour  ;  then  strain  through  a  fine  sieve  into  a 
clean  sauce-pan,  cook  until  as  thick  as  catsup ; 
season  with  salt,  pepper  and  butter.  This  should 
be  all  ready  before  cooking  the  macaroni,  but  keep 
gently  simmering  to  keep  hot  till  the  macaroni  is 
done. 

Put  half  a  pound  of  well-washed  macaroni  into 
boiling  salt  water,  cook  twenty  minutes,  then  drain 
it  in  a  colander.  Place  a  layer  of  macaroni  in  a  hot 
dish  then  place  over  it  a  layer  of  the  tomato  sauce, 
then  another  layer  of  macaroni,  then  a  layer  of 


sauce,  having  the  sauce  on  the  last  thing.     Set   in 
the  oven  for   five  minutes   and  then   serve  very  hot. 

Potato  Puff. — Take  cold  roast  meat— beef  or 
mutton,  or  veal'and  ham  together — clear  from  gris- 
tle, cut  small  and  season  with  pepper  and  salt,  and 
cut  pickles,  if  liked.  Boil  and  mash  some  potatoes, 
make  them  into  a  paste  with  an  egg,  and  roll  out, 
dredging  with  flour.  Cut  round  with  a  saucer;  put 
some  of  the  seasoned  meat  upon  one-half  and  fold 
the  other  like  a  puff;  pinch  neatly  round  and  fry  a 
light  brown.  This  is  a  good  method  of  warming  up 
meat  which  has  been  cooked. 

Walnut  Catsup— As  this  is  the  time  to  make 
Walnut  Catsup,  I  will  give  you  my  receipt.  Gather 
the  Walnuts  when  they  are  so  young  that,  you  can  run 
a  pin  through  them  ;  pour  boiling  salt  and  water  on  ; 
change  every  third  day,  for  nine  days,  then  pound 
them  fine;  to  every  dozen  walnuts,  put  one  quart  of 
good  vinegar;  stir  them  well  every  day  for  at  least  a 
week;  put  them  through  a  bag;  to  each  quart  of 
liquor  put  one  teaspoonful  of  ground  cloves,  one  of 
mace,  half  a  nutmeg  ground  or  grated  ;  garlick  if 
you  like  it;  boil  it  twenty  minutes,  and  bottle  it. 
Leoline. 

To  Make  Good  Cottage  Cheese.— Take  12 
quarts  thick  milk,  scald  it;  stir  it  well  while  it  is 
scalding^  so  that  every  part  is  done,  now  press  it 
through  a  bag,  put  it  in  a  pan  while  it  is  still  warm; 
make  it  apart,  and  now  sprinkle  over  it  1  teaspoon- 
ful of  fine  salt,  2  of  baking  soda  heaped,  have  your 
hands  clean,  and  work  it  with  your  hands,  till  it  gets 
all  soft;  now  pour  over  it  a  cupfull  of  sweet  milk 
and  cream  mixed,  put  it  on  the  fire,  and  stir  it  till  it 
becomes  stringy ,which  it  will  do  iu  10  or  1.5  minutes, 
pour  it  in  cups  or  deep  dishes  to  get  cold.  It  will  be 
stiff  when  cold,  and  is  very  good,  if  the  directions 
are  followed.  Leoline. 

Fruit  Pudding.— One  bowlful  of  nice  thick 
cream,  3  eggs,  teaspoon  saleratus  ;  mix  and  roll  it 
nearly  an  inch  thick,  then  spread  with  fruit  and  roll 
up  and  boil  or  steam  in  a  sack  for  two  hours.  Eat 
with  cream  and  sugar. 

Cottage  Pudding.— Two  eggs,  half  cup  sugar 
well-beaten  together,  add  five  tablespoons  melted 
butter,  stir  well,  then  add  cup  of  sweet  milk,  tea- 
spoon of  soda,  two  of  cream-of-tartar,  2}^  cups  of 
flour ;  bake  in  square  tins,  and  serve  with  sauce 
made  as  follows,  which  is  nice  for  almost  a:ny  pud- 
ding: teacup  of  sugar,  teacup  of  vinegar ;  teacup 
of  water ;  set  over  the  fire  and  when  it  boils  add 
a  tablespoon  of  flour  and  butter  rubbed  together. 

Tapioca  PuDDiNo.—Put  eight  large  spoonsful  of 
tapioca  to  three  pints  of  milk  and  let  it  become 
milk  warm  and  soak  till  it  becomes  soft,  then  mix 
with  it  two  spoonsful  of  butter,  three  eggs,  well- 
beaten,  half  cup  of  sugar,  half  a  nutmeg  and  bake 
immediately.     Excellent,  hot  or  cold. 

Steamed  Pudding.— Take  about  a  quart  of 
buttermilk,  add  one  teaspoonful  of  salt,  one  of 
soda,  and  if  in  the  season  of  berries  I  add  nearly  a 
teacupful,  if  not  1  slice  and  pare  one  or  two  apples 
into  my  dish,  then  thicken  with  either  flour  or 
corn  meal  as  thick  as  it  will  stir  easily  with  a 
spoon ;  then  I  put  it  in  a  dish  and  set  in  the 
steamer  over  my  boiling  dinner  to  cook  ;  it  wants 
to  cook  from  one  to  two  hours ;  eat  with  sweetened 
cream  or  butter  and  sugar,  whichever  is  preferred. 

To  Cook  Pumpkin.— Pare  and  cut  up  the  same 
as  for  stewing ;  put  It  in  a  steamer  and"  set  it  over 
a  kettle  of  boiling  water  until  it  is  soft,  then  empty 
into  a  pan,  take  a  potato  masher,  mash  it  fine;  if 
too  juicy  let  it  stand  in  the  stove-oven  for  a  short 
time  and  it  will  soon  be  ready  for  use.  I  think 
it  it  much  less  trouble  than  the  old  way. 

Potato  Cutlets  with  Tomatoes.— Cut  some 
small  slices  of  cold  mutton;  spread  mashed  potatoes 
nicely  flavored  with  pepper  and  salt  on  each  side  of 
them,  and  fry  a  nice  light  brown.  Then  take  some 
ripe  tomatoes;  remove  their  skins  by  plunging  into 
boiling  wafer,  when  the  skins  will  become  loose  and 
peel  off  easily;  stew  the  tomatoes  in  a  small  sauce- 
pan, and  break  into  them  one  or  two  eggs— one  egg 
to  lour  large  tomatoes— stirring  the  mixture  well 
round  until  it  is  of  the  consistency  of  scrambled  eggs. 
Pile  up  the  tomatoes  iu  the  centre  of  the  dish,  ar- 
ranging the  potato  cutlets  round  it.  These  should 
be  of  a  golden  brown  color,  and  the  tomatoes  of  a 
bright  pink. 

Potato  Currt.— (1)  Mash  cold  potatoes  with 
minced  onion,  salt,  pepper,  and  curry  powder  to 
taste;  form  into  small  balls  with  egg  and  bread- 
crumbs, fry  crisp,  and  serve  with  rich  gravy  flavored 
with  curry  powder  in  mashed  potatoes,  allowing 
rather  more  butter  and  milk  than  usual.  This  last 
is  a  nice  accompaniment  to  cutlets. 

Tarragon  Vinegar.— Take  some  tarragon;  dry 
it  in  the  sun,  and  then  put  it  into  a  jar,  which  fill 
with  vinegar.  Let  it  infuse  for  a  fortnight,  then 
draw  it  off,  express  all  the  liquid  from  the  dregs,  and 
filter  the  whole;  bottle  it,  cork  tightly,  and  keep  in 
a  cool  place. 

Stewed  Pears.— Cut  a  number  of  pears  In  halves, 
peel  them  and  trim  them  so  as  to  get  them  all  of  a 
size ;  put  them  in  an  enameled  saucepan,  with  just 
enough  water  to  cover  them,  and  a  good  allowance 


of  loaf-sugar,  the  thin  rind  of  a  lemon,  a  few  clovep, 
and  sufficient  prepared  cochineal  to  give  them  a  gord 
color.  Let  them  stew  gently  till  quite  done.  Arrange 
them  neatly  on  a  dish,  s'.rain  the  syrup,  let  it  reduce 
on  the  fire,  and  then  pour  it  over  the  pears. 

PtTDDiNG-PiES.— To  make  pudding-pies,  boil  for 
fifteen  minutes  five  ounces  of  ground  rice  in  one 
quart  of  new  milk;  when  taken  from  the  fire,  stir 
in  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  butter,  four  ounces  of 
sugar,  add  four  well -beaten  egg-s,  a  pinch  of  salt, 
and  half  a  small  nutmeg.  When  nearly  cold,  line 
some  saucers  with  thin  puff  paste,  fill  three  parti 
full,  strew  thickly  with  currants,  and  bake  gently 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes. 

Coffee  Cake.— One  and  one-half  cups  sugar; 
one-half  cup  butter;  two  eggs  ;  one  half  cup  strong 
coffee;  one  teaspoonful  saleratus,  dissolved  in  the 
coffee;  two  cups  flour;  fruit  if  you  like.  Bake  in 
very  sloin  oven. 

Omelette  Souffle.— One  cup  flour;  one  pint 
milk  ;  one  spoonful  sugar ;  small  piece  of  butter, 
size  of  a  walnut.  Scald  the  milk,  flour,  and  but- 
ter together.  After  the  batter  is  cold  stir  in  the 
yolks  of  flve  eggs,  and  stir  in  the  beaten  whites 
just  before  baking.  Bake  in  a  quick  oven.  Eat 
with  butter  and  sugar,  or  sugar  and  cream. 

Little  Puddings.— Beat  four  eggs  very  light  ; 
make  a  batter  of  two  teacups  flour,  one  teacup  of 
cream,  and  three  teacups  milk,  add  the  beaten 
eggs  to  the  batter,  beat  well  together,  put  in  a 
spoonful  of  melted  butter;  bake  "in  cups  twenty 
minutes,  in  a  quick  ov^n. 

In-growing  Nails,  Again.— It  seems  to  be  the 
unanimous  opinion  that  the  nail  must  be  flied  down 
Now,  poor  sufferer,  don't  do  any  such  thing.  Take 
the  advice  of  one  who  "has  been  there,"  and  do 
this:  With  a  sharp  knife,  commence  at  the  root  of  the 
nail,  about  the  sixteenth  of  an  inch  from  the  side 
that  is  growing  down,  and  cut  gently  to  the  point. 
Care  must  be  t-iken  not  to  go  too  deep,  to  touch  the 
flesh.  Work  the  point  of  the  knife  under  the  piece 
as  much  as  you  can,  to  loosen  it.  Take  a  pair  of 
tweezers  or  small  pincers,  get  a  firm  hold  of  the 
piece,  shut  your  eyes,  grit  your  teeth,  and  give  a  good 
strong,  quick,  jerk.  Tou  will  have  to  do  all  your 
groaning  immediately,  for  that  nail  will  trouble  you 
none  afterward.  I  used  to  be  a  sufferer,  and  tried 
the  filing  until  I  was  sick  of  it.  It  has  never  troubled 
me  m  the  least  since  I  dealt  with  it  as  above  de- 
scribed. A.  I.  Powers. 

Sponge  Gingerbread.— Melt  a  piece  of  butter 
the  size  of  a  hen's  egg  ;  mix  it  with  a  pint  of  nice 
molasse.s,  one  tablespoonful  of  ginger,  and  a  quart 
of  flour.  Dissolve  a  heaping  tablespoonful  of  soda 
m  half  a  pint  of  milk,  and  mix  it  with  the  rest  of 
the  ingredients.  The  above  makes  a  soft  glno-er- 
bread— but  if  you  wisli  a  douarh,  add  sufficient 
flour  to  enable  you  to  roil  out  easily ;  roll  about 
half  an  inch  thick.  Bake  in  a  quick  oven.  We 
have  found  this  recipe  very  convenient. 

Puff  Pudding.— Three  eggs  well  beaten,  nine 
tablespoonfuls  of  flour,  one  pint  of  sweet  milk; 
bake  in  cups  in  a  quick  oven  ;  serve  with  sauce. 

Sponge  Cream  CkKr-.—Mlitora  Farmer:  As  I 
have  seen  so  many  sending  receipts,  I  thoueht  I 
would  send  one  I  know  to  be  good  ;  it  is  a  sponge 
cream  cake:  One  and  one-half  cups  of  sugar,  three 
esgs,  one-third  cup  of  water,  two  tablespoonfuls  of 
cream,  one  tablespoonful  of  baking  powder.  Bake 
in  jelly  cake  pans.  Dressing  :  One  pint  of  milk,  one 
egg,  two  tablespoonsfuls  of  corn  starch,  one-half 
cup  of  butter,  one  cup  of  sugar  ;  boil  until  thick 
enough  to  spread.  Millie. 

New  Wat  op  Cooking  Oysters.— Take  mashed 
potatoes,  mix  a  canful  of  oysters  with  the  potatoes, 
and  with  a  knife  cut  the  mass  up  fine;  add  one-half 
pound  of  powdered  crackers:  fix  off  with  butter, 
pepper  and  salt,  and  moisten  the  whole  with  oyster 
juice;  take  little  pats  of  this,  roll  them  into  powder- 
ed cracker  crumbs,  and  fry  till  brown  in  butter,  and 
the  result  when  served  warm  is  delicious. 

Oil  for  Sewing  Machines.- Do  not  use  any  ani- 
mal or  vegetable  oil,  such  as  lard  oil,  whale  oil,  or 
sweet  oil;  they  all  become  rancid  and  gummy,  and 
if  you  do  not  use  your  machine  for  a  few  months  it 
will  stick  fast,  and  you  will  have  to  take  it  apart  to 
cleaait.  The  best  cleanser,  by  the  way,  is  benzine. 
The  best  lubricating  oil  lor  sewing  machines,  and  all 
kinds  of  small  maclunery.is  crude  filtered  petroleum 
of  the  heavy  and  thick  kind,  such  as  is  found  in 
Western  Virginia.  The  heavy  petroleum  obtained 
by  high  temperature  distillation,  after  the  kerosene 
has  been  driven  off.  is  not  so  good. 


Live  Stock. 


The  Value  of  Sheep. 

Farmers  as  a  rule,  eat  too  much  salted  meat  both 
in  summer  and  winter.  There  is  certainly  no  reason 
whatever  why  this  should  be  the  case  during  six 
months  of  the  year,  and  no  valid  reason,  except 
predjudice,  why  fresh  meat  should  not  be  used  in 
summer  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  it  is. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


Hi 


The  real  reason  is  a  groundlefs  prejudice  ajialnst 
the  use  of  mutton,  llie  most  nutrllious,  economical 
and  healthful  of  meats.  It  Is  true  there  Is  a  slnsle 
disability  connected  with  the  raising  of  sheep  cither 
as  wool  or  mutton,  and  that  Is,  the  numher  of  wortli- 
less  curs  with  which  our  vlllairee,  and,  Indeed  many 
of  our  farms  abound;  but  this  would  be  easily  cured, 
if  more  or  less  sheep  were  bred  on  every  farm,  since 
It  would  then  be  to  the  interest  of  every  farmer,  not 
only  either  to  kill  or  educate  the  farm  dogs,  but  also 
wage  unrelenting  war  against  those  not  educated  to 
understand  the  rights  of  property. 

One  of  the  principal  objections  to  the  use  of  mut- 
ton among  farmers,  we  believe,  Is  the  taste  the  meat 
will  contract  from  the  wool,  if  not  properly  dressed. 
This  is  easily  avoided.  All  that  Is  needed  is  to 
bleed,  skin  and  disembowel  as  quickly  as  possible, 
keeping  the  wool  from  contact  with  the  flesh  ;  wash 
thoroughly  by  dashing  water  Inside  the  carcass,  and 
cool  as  soon  as  may  be.  A  small  sheep,  fat,  weigh- 
ing from  sixty  to  eighty  pounds,  may  easily  be  con- 
sumed by  an  ordinary  sized  family  before  it  gets 
tainted,  except  in  the  hottest  weatlier  ;  If  larger,  It 
may  be  divided  with  a  neighbor,  to  be  returned  in 
kind,  or  sold  if  the  neighbor  does  not  keep  sheep. 
A  small  flock  of  sheep  may  easily  be  taught  to  heed 
and  be  driven  to  and  from  the  pasture  with  milch 
cows.  The  wool  will  fully  pay  for  thecare  bestowed, 
and  the  mutton  may  be  considered  clear  gain  ;  and, 
certainly,  no  one  will  deny, once  having  eaten  a  meal 
of  well  fed  mutton,  that  It  is  infinitely  superior  to 
salted  pork  or  bacon.  Even  when  placed  In  compe- 
tition with  ham,  either  sliced  or  broiled  whole,  mut- 
ton will  undoubtedly  compare  favorabi}  with  it,  at 
least  for  a  change. —  Wes(ern  Rural. 


Milk  and  Beef. 

Food  is  the  support  of  the  cow — that  is,  her  sys- 
tem, and  the  calf  she  carries,  of  the  milk  afterward 
as  a  substitute.  She  can  digest  and  use  only  a 
certain  amount— no  more.  Now,  ii  there  is  much 
milk,  the  food  eaten  and  digested  will  mostly  go 
to  form  this — and  it  requires  good  feeding  to  pro- 
duce and  keep  up  this  large  flow  of  milk,  as  with  the 
Ayrshire,  the  Jersey,  and,  in  many  instances,  the 
native  cow.  This  is  evidence  against  the  idea,  enter- 
tained by  some,  that  both  milk  and  flesh  (includ- 
ing flit)  can  be  secured  at  their  maximum  in  the 
same  animal.  To  divide  equally  what  is  digested,  so 
that  the  milk  gets  half,  and  the  flesh,  fat,  &c.,  the 
other  half,  could  not  possibly,  it  seems  to  me,  afford 
a  maximum  quantity  of  milk,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
a  full  development  of  beef. 

It  is  true  some  animals,  like  Fome  of  the  short- 
horns, aflbrd  a  good  carcass,  and,  in  addition,  a 
large  flow  of  milk,  when  they  are  vigorous  digestors. 
At  the  same  time  these  animals  never  get  fat  while 
producing  largely  of  milk.  I'  is  a  rule — is  it  not 
universally  the  case?— that  the  milk  must  be  stopped 
when  the  animal  is  to  be  fattened— slops  itself. 
Indeed,  when  fattening.  Besides,  there  is  an  apti- 
tude for  milk  or  fat  which  is  bred.  We  breed  tlie 
one  in  the  Ayrshire,  the  other  in  the  short-horn. 
This  aptitude  must  consist  In  applying  the  food  for 
the  purpose  intended,  either  to  produce  fat  or  milk. 

The  stomach  is  the  means  for  carrying  out  one  or 
the  other  of  these  purposes,  to  convert  all  tlie  food  It 
can,  and  the  quantity  cannot  be  made  sufficient  to 
carry  both  purposes  to  their  highest  extent  unless 
the  digestive  capacity  is  increased  sutficiently.  This 
then,  it  strikes  me,  is  the  point.  Increase  digestion 
and  the  two  may  be  carried,  aided  by  breeding  for 
the  two.  Or  either  may  be  correspondingly  extended 
—the  milk  increased  in  the  milking  strain,  or  in- 
crease of  flesh  and  fat  in  the  other,  as  now. 


Horses  Lying  Down. 

I  do  not  know  why  a  horse  should  not  be  as  much 
rested  and  benefited  by  lying  down  as  any  other  four- 
footed  beast.  A  horse  often  sleeps  standing  up,  and 
so  does  an  ox.  I  know  that  it  was  claimed  for  a 
gray  horse  once,  as  a  special  merit,  that  he  would 
not  lie  down  unless  his  stall  was'well  littered;  conse- 
quently all  expense  of  bedding  might  be  saved,  as  no 
doubt  It  had  been.  Horses  are  peculiar  about  lying 
down.  It  seems  as  if  they  knew  their  helplessness 
when  in  this  position,  and  were  bound  never  to 
expose  themselves  to  danger. 

Although  many  may  be  lying  down,  every  horse  In 
a  stable  Is  on  his  feet  at  the  slightest  noise.  It  is, 
besides,  almost  universally  regarded,  and  usually 
true,  as  a  sign  of  ill-health,  if  a  horse  is  found  lylnsr 
down  in  the  day  time.  I  have  recently  come  to  the 
conclusion,  however,  that  if  horses  are  perfectly  easy 
In  their  minds,  they  will  take  as  much  comfort  in 
lying  down  as  cattle  do,  and  lean  point  to  one  stable, 
not  my  own,  where  spirited,  well-fed  horses  may  be 
seen  lying  down  at  almost  any  hour  of  the  day  or 
night,  and  it  comes  from  the  perfect  confldence  they 
have  in  their  groom. — fiouthern  Planter. 

Balky  Horses. 

The  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Ani- 
mals recommends  the  following  rules  for  the  treat- 
ment of  balky  horses  : 

1.  Pat  the  horse  upon  the  neck,  examine  the  har- 


ness carefully,  first  on  one  side  then  on  the  other, 
speaking  encouragingly  while  doing  so;  then  jump 
into  the  wagon  and  give  the  word  ;  generally  he  will 
obey. 

V.  A  teamster  in  Maine  says  he  can  start  the  worst 
balky  horse  by  taking  him  out  of  the  •shafts  and 
making  him  go  round  the  circle.  If  the  first  dance 
of  this  kind  doesn't  cure  him,  the  second  will  be 
sure  to  do  it. 

S.  To  cure  a  balky  horse,  simply  place  your  hand 
over  the  horse's  nose  and  shut  off  the  nind  till  he 
wants  to  go,  and  then  let  him  go. 

4.  The  brains  of  horses  seem  to  entertain  but  one 
Idea  at  a  time  ;  thus  continued  whipping  only  con- 
firms his  stubborn  resolve  ;  If  you  can  by  any  means 
give  him  a  new  subject  to  think  of,  you  will  have  no 
trouble  In  starting  him.  A  simple  remedy  Is  to  take 
a  couple  of  turns  of  stout  twine  around  the  foreleg, 
just  below  the  knee,  and  tie  in  a  bow  knot.  At  the 
first  check  he  will  go  dancing  ofl",  and,  after  going  a 
short  distance,  you  can  get  out  and  remove  the 
string  to  prevent  Injury  to  the  tendon  In  your  further 
drive. 


Cows. 

Treat  them  generous  and  kindly,  but  do  not  keep 
them  fat,  unless  they  are  to  be  turned  ofl'  into  beef. 
A  cow  Is  a  machine,  a  laboratory  for  converting  raw 
materials  into  milk.  If  little  be  given,  little  will  he 
received.  All  animals  should  have  exercise,  especi- 
ally those  kept  for  breeding.  Some  of  them  are  nat- 
urally lazy,  but  they  will  be  better  for  stirring  about 
in  the  open  air.  It  is  cruel  to  keep  animals  tied  up 
or  shut  up  for  days  at  a  time.  They  need  light  too. 
Direct  sunshine  exerts  a  powerful  Influence  for  good 
on  animals  as  well  as  on  plants.  Do  not  overlook  a 
good  supply  of  pure  water  two  or  three  times  a  day; 
or  good  ventilation  and  proper  cleaning  of  stables. 
When  the  ground  is  frozen  and  covered  with  snow, 
it  may  be  well  enough,  on  pleasant  days,  to  scatter 
the  fodder  and  allow  the  stock  plenty  of  room  to 
pick  it  up  ;  but  when  it  is  muddy,  no  one  but  a  slov- 
en will  fodder  on  the  ground.  Good  racks  should  be 
made  for  the  sake  of  convenience  and  economy. 

A   Remedy. 

To  avoid  the  ugly  marks  of  broken  knees,  it  is 
recommended,  that  when  the  horse  falls  the  wound 
should  be  washed,  by  throwing  a  bucket  of  water 
upon  It,  and  never  Irritating  It  by  any  friction  ;  dry 
the  wound  then  with  a  very  soft  cloth,  and  place 
over  It  a  layer  of  dry  cotton,  a  finger  length  in 
thickness,  covering  with  a  band  of  fiannel,  and  the 
latter  with  the  usual  leather  knee-cap  not  too  tightly 
strapped.  Let  the  horse  repose  three  or  four  days 
and  without  touching  the  bandage;  at  the  expiration 
of  this  period,  take  off  the  bandage  very  delicately 
and  without  touching  the  crust  or  the  sore,  ana  walk 
the  horse  for  a  little,  but  very  slow,  then  replace  the 
bandage  as  before.  In  thirteen  days  the  crust  will 
fall,  the  wound  will  not  only  have  a  new  skin,  but 
will  be  rr-;ovcred  with  hair,  and  no  change  of  color 
will  be  perceptible.- Pari.s  Letter. 


Calves. 
A  calf  that  Is  Infested  with  vermin,  may  be  known 
by  its  rough  coat  covered  with  ticks.  The  young 
animals  should  be  freed  from  these  pests  at  once. 
A  mixture  of  lard  and  sulphur  rubbed  along  the 
spine  and  on  the  brisket  will  be  effective;  and  a 
dose  of  a  tablespoonful  of  sulphur  and  molasses, once 
a  day  for  a  week,  will  help  greatly  to  drive  away 
lice  and  prevent  disease. 


Poultry. 


Perches  are  generally  placed  too  high.  Probably 
because  it  was  noticed  that  fowls  in  their  natural 
state,  or  when  at  large,  usually  roost  upon  high 
branches ;  but  it  should  be  observed  that  In  descend- 
ing from  lofty  branches  they  have  considerable 
distance  to  fly,  and  therefore  alight  on  the  ground 
gently,  while  In  a  confined  fowl-house  the  bird 
flutters  down  almost  perpendicularly,  coming  into 
contact  with  the  floor  forcibly,  by  which  the  keel 
of  the  breastbone  is  often  broken,  and  bumble-foot 
and  corns  are  caused.  Somu  writers  do  not  object  to 
lofty  perches,  provided  the  fowls  have  a  board  with 
cross-pieces  of  wood  fastened  on  to  it  reaching  fron; 
the  ground  to  the  perch  ;  but  this  does  not  obviate 
the  evil,  for  they  will  use  it  only  for  ascent  and  not 
for  descent.  The  air,  too,  at  the  upper  part  of  any 
dwelling  room  or  house  for  animals  is  much  more 
Impure  than  nearer  the  floor,  because  the  air  that 
has  been  breathed  and  vapors  from  the  body  are 
lighter  than  pure  air,  and  consequently  ascend  to  the 
top.  The  perches  should,  therefore,  not  be  more 
than  eighteen  inches  from  the  ground,  unless  the 
breed  is  very  small  and  light.  Perches  are  also 
generally  made  too  small  and  round.  When  they 
arc  too  small  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  binls, 
they  are  apt  to  cause  the  breastbone  of  the  heavy 
fowls  to  grow  crooked,  which  is  a  great  defect  and 


very  unsightly  in  a  table  fowl.  Those  for  heavy  fowls 
should  not  be  less  than  three  inches  In  diameter. 
Capital  perches  may  be  formed  of  fir  or  larch  poles, 
about  three  Inches  In  diumeter,  split  into  two,  the 
round  side  being  placed  uppermost ;  the  birds'  claws 
cling  to  it  easily,  and  the  bark  Is  not  as  hard  as 
planed  wood.  Tlie  perches,  if  made  of  timber,  should 
be  nearly  square,  with  only  the  corners  rounded  off, 
as  the  feet  of  fowls  a.-e  not  formed  for  clasping 
smooth  round  poles.  Those  for  chickens  should  not 
be  thicker  than  their  daws  can  easily  grasp,  and 
neither  too  sharp  nor  too  round.  When  more  than  one 
row  of  perches  is  required  they  should  be  ranged  ob- 
llquely-thatl6,onc  above  and  behind  the  other.  They 
should  be  placed  two  feet  apart,  and  supported  on 
bars  of  wood  fixed  to  the  walls  at  each  end  ;  and  In 
order  that  they  may  be  taken  out  to  be  cleaned,  they 
should  not  be  nailed  to  the  supporter,  but  securely 
placed  In  niches  cut  In  the  bai ,  or  by  pieces  of  wood 
nailed  to  it  like  the  rowlocks  of  a  boat.  If  the  wall 
space  at  the  sides  is  required  for  laylng-boxes,  the 
perches  must  be  shorter  than  the  house,  and  the 
oblique  bars  which  support  them  must  be  securely 
fastened  to  the  back  of  the  house,  and  If  necessary, 
have  an  upright  placed  beneath  the  upper  end  of 
each.  Some  breeders  prefer  a  movable  frame  for 
roosting,  formed  of  two  poles  of  the  required  lengths, 
joined  at  each  end  by  two  narrow  pieces,  the  frame 
being  supported  on  four  or  more  legs  according  to  Its 
length  and  weight  of  the  fowls.  If  necessary,  It 
should  be  lengthened  by  rails- connecting  the  bot- 
toms of  the  legs  and  by  pieces  crossing  from  each 
ant'le  of  the  sides  and  ends.  These  frames  can  con- 
veniently be  moved  out  of  the  house  when  they 
require  cleansing.  Or  It  may  be  made  of  one  pole, 
suppnrliil  at  each  end  by  two  legs  spread  out  widely 
apart,  like  two  sides  of  an  equilateral  or  equal-sided 
triangle.  The  perch  may  be  made  more  secure  for 
heavy  fowls  by  a  nail  at  each  side  fastened  to  each 
leg,  about  three  inches  from  the  foot. 

The  Dominique  Fowl. 

This  truly  valuable  and  meritorious  fowl,  as  it 
name  implies,  is  the  oldest  of  the  distinctive  Amerl 
can  species,  being  mentioned  In  the  earliest  poultry- 
books  as  an  indigenous  and  valued  variety.  In  the 
"  New  Standard  of  Excellence"  they  are  described 
as  follows:  "The  cock,  com!),  double,  square  in 
front,  fitting  close  upon  the  head,  top  covered  with 
small  points,  with  a  peak  behind  turning  slightly 
upwards;  wattles  broad  and  full.well-roundcd  on  the 
lower  edge;  beak  bright  yellow,  short,  stout  at  base, 
I  apering  to  the  point;  eye  laree,  bright  and  clear; 
head  medium  size,  carried  well  up:  deaf  ear  red, 
neck  medium  length,  finely  tapered,  well  speckled  ; 
breast  very  broad,  deep  aiid  full;  body  large,  very 
square,  compactly  built;  wings  medium  size,  carried 
up,  bow  and  tips  covered  with  breast  and  saddle 
feathers;  tall  full, expanded,  sickle  feathers  carried 
medium  height  and  well  curved ;  thighs  large  ani 
stronjr;  legs  rather  short,  stout,  well-spread  apart, 
free  from  feathers,  and  bright  yellow  in  color ;  color 
of  plumage  light,  slaty  blue  ground  shade,  each 
feather  barred  or  penciled  across  with  l>andsof  dark, 
slaty  blue,  free  from  white,  black  or  red  feathers; 
carriage  and  appearance  very  upright,  noble  and 
grand.  The  hen,  comb  the  same  as  cock,  but  much 
smaller;  wattles  small  and  well-rounded;  beak 
bright  yellow,  short  and  stout ;  eye  large,  bright  and 
clear;  head  small  and  very  neat;  deaf  ear  red; 
breast  round  and  full ;  tail  full,  well-carried,  expand- 
ed ;  legs  short  and  bright  yellow,  and  free  from 
feathers:  color  of  plumage  same  as  in  cock." 

Wright,  in  his  "Illustrated  Book  of  Poultry,"  says 
of  them  :  "The  Dominique  is  an  excellent  layer, 
very  hardy,  and  good  for  the  table.  It  grows  fast 
and  feathers  quickly,  while  its  plain  homespun  suit 
makes  it  very  suitable  for  couittless  localities  where 
more  showy  or  'valuable  looking'  fowls  would  be  im- 
prudent as  out  of  place.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  in 
its  native  home  it  has  been  of  late  comparatively  ne- 
glected, owing  to  the  preference  for  Imported  stock 
of  all  kinds.  However  this  may  be,  wc  have  no 
hesiiation  in  recommending  the  Dominique  as  one  of 
the  most  generally  useful  'all  round' fowls  we  know." 

It  Is  the  farmer's  breed  for  profit,  and  I  feel  confl- 
deiit  that  whoever  gives  t';cm  a  fair  trial  will  not 
discard  them  for  "Shanghais,"  "Cochins"  or 
"Brahmas."  In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  say  that 
the  above  must  not  be  misconstrued  into  an  adver- 
tisement, as  I  have  "nary  an  egg  nor  the  shadow  of 
a  hen"  for  sale,  neither  am  I  interested  in  the  sale  of 
any. —  W.  E.  Floirer,  in  dermantoum  Telegraph. 

Feeding  and  Treatment. 
Dear  Sir:  On  reading  "how  'F.  J.  W.'  makes  h|8 
hens  lay,"  1  could  not  resist  the  temptation  o' 
"scribbling"  a  few  lines  about  my  hens  and  how  I 
do  it.  I  also  feed  a  warm  mush  every  morning, 
through  cold  weather,  and  add  all  the  curdled  milk 
I  can  get.  I  heat  the  milk  and  turn  oflT  the  whey, 
and  use  the  curd.  And  twice  a  week  I  add  to  this 
chopped  vegetables— cabbage,  beets,  onions,  turnips, 
etc.,  just  which  I  happen  to  have  the  hatidiest. 
And  in  the  afternoon  feed  whole  grain,  of  any  kind  I 
can  buy  the  cheapest.  And  I  do  not  fail  to  have 
plenty  of  eggs  through  the  winter.    I  have  been 


112 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[July,  1879. 


troubled  with  roup,  but  since  I  bee:an  to  feed  carbolic 
acid  in  tbeir  mush  once  a  week  I  have  had  no  cases 
of  roup. 

I  take  a  quart  bottle,  put  in  it  an  ounce  of  the 
crystals  at  drus  store,  and  then  fill  with  water,  put 
a  gimlet  hole  through  the  cork  of  the  bottle,  and  fit 
tightly  a  pine  plug.  Of  this  I  feed,  say  a  teaspoon- 
ful  to  one  dozen  fowls  once  or  twice  a  week  in  their 
mush,  and  also  use  it  freely  around  my  house  and 
nests  and  perches  once  a  week  through  winter,  and 
oftener  in  summer.  The  plug  in  the  cork  enables 
one  to  throw  it  from  the  bottle  in  small  quantities. 
Any  one  who  is  troubled  svith  roup,  try  it,  and  see 
how  smart  your  chicks  will  act. 

And  if  any  sign  of  roup  appears,  and  the  owner  of 
the  sick  chicks  has  not  the  German  Roup  Pill,  and  he 
lives  away  up  near  the  north  pole,  as  I  do,  and  the 
chick  is  sick,  awful  sick,  don't  wait  to  send  to  New 
York  or  Hartford,  but  get  a  stick  of  gum  licorice  at 
your  drug  store,  and  put  down  its  throat  a  large 
piece,  and  bathe  its  head  and  throat  with  kerosene  ; 
feed  warm  mush,  and  the  next  day  do  the  same,  and 
In  three  days  your  sick  chick  will  be  convalescing, 
and  with  careful  handling  may  be  made  to  do  good 
service  through  the  remainder  of  the  season. 

I  have  seen  in  Poultry  Yard  a  number  of  ledger  ac. 
counts  with  poultry;  but  in  all,  so  far,  some  fancy 
prices  are  mixed  in.  Now,  what  I  want  to  see  is  an 
account  kept  of  actual  market  prices  of  eggs  and 
chicks  sold  and  feed  bought.  I  am  keeping  such  a 
ledger  with  my  32  White  Leghorn  chicks.  I  have 
a  very  fine  lot  of  full-blooded  chicks,  and  I  sell  the 
eggs  at  market  price,  and  chicks  ditto. 

Will  some  one  who  has  kept  such  a  record,  give  us 
the  result  I  My  30  chickens  gave  me  a  profit  through 
the  winter  of  t30.  M.  E.  Bkown.' 

Keep  Pure-Bred  Fowls. 
Aside  from  the  great  pleasure  which  it  affords,  it 
pays  better  to  keep  and  breed  pure-bred  fowls  than  to 
breed  and  feed  a  lot  of  mongrels,  which  latter  many 
do  for  fear  of  the  expense  of  buying  a  few  pure-bred 
fowls  to  start  with.  In  determining  which  breed  of 
fowls  to  get,  make  up  your  mind  at  the  start  that  no 
one  breed  can  or  does  possess  all  the  desirable  quali- 
ties you  are  In  search  of.  If  yon  wish  to  breed  for 
laying,  get  Leghorns  or  Hamburgs  ;  if  you  wish  a 
breed  for  weight,  get  some  of  the  Brahraas  or 
Cochins  ;  and  if  you  wish  a  breed  principally  for  or- 
nament, get  the  Polish  ;  but  give  up  the  idea  of  get- 
ting a  grand  combination  of  all  these  qualities  in  one 
breed.  Make  up  your  mind  what  you  wish  in  the 
way  of  fowls,  and  then  select  such  breed  as  will 
answer  those  requirements  best.  Give  them  good, 
comfortable  quarters,  supply  them  liberally  with 
water,  giving  them  requisite  care  and  attention,  and 
you  will  never  have  cause  to  regret  your  investment 
in  pure-bred  fowls.  When  your  neighbors  see  what 
fine  birds  you  have,  they  will  naturally  want  some  of 
them,  or  a  setting  of  the  eggs,  and  thus  will  a  de- 
mand be  created  which  will  amply  repay  your  first 
outlay  of  cash  and  subsequent  trouble  and  expense. 
If  you  had  bred  nothing  but  mongrels,  there  would 
have  been  little  or  no  demand,  and  then  merely  at 
market  prices.  A  good  trio  of  pure-bred  fowls,  of 
almost  any  kind,  can  now  be  bought  at  fair  figures 
from  reliable  breeders,  iu  most  sections  of  the  country. 

Parasites  on  Hens. 
A  hen  was  found  so  lame  she  could  not  walk. 
Parasites  under  the  scales  around  the  joint  just  at 
the  edge  of  the  feathers,  were  the  cause.  Two  appli- 
cations of  turpentine  effected  a  cure,  followed  by 
anointing  with  coal  tar.  The  turpentine  killed  ihe 
insects,  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  the  coal  tar 
healed  the  soreness. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


Of  course,  no  one  who  reads  the  communication 
on  page  84  In  our  June  number,  or  our  editorial  en- 
titled "Southward  Ho  !"  &c.,  will  come  to  auy  other 
conclusion  than  that  the  lands  offered  in  "Clover 
Hollow,"  Va.,  are  anything  else  but  virgin  lands, 
land  that  is  quite  different  from  the  worn  out  soils  of 
Old  Virginia.  Mr.  H.'s communication  fully  explains 
what  they  are.  In  our  editorial,  we  were  discussing 
the  subject  of  immigration  per  se,  and  only  alluded  to 
the  Houpt  lands  incidentally,  by  way  of  illustration. 
When  we  remarked  that  "one  old,  or  partially  worn 
out  farm,  renewed  and  restored  to  a  productive  con- 
dition, is  of  more  value  to  the  country  than  a  dozen 
virgin  farms  that  need  no  prolification,"  we  had 
reference  to  the  general  subject,  and  not  to  the 
Houpt  lands;  just  for  the  same  reason  that  one  re- 
claimed sinner  causes  more  joy  in  heaven  than  ninety 
and  nine  just  persons  who  need  no  repentance.  In 
the  possibility  of  restoring  old  lands  there  is  future 
hope  :  because,  the  forcible  abandoning  of  old  lands 
and  taking  up  new  ones,  in  a  far  off  locality,  involves 
ultimately,  a  barren  and  deserted  country,  and 
human  retrogression . 


Bulletin  of  the  "American  Berkshire  Associa- 
clation,"  vol.  1,  No.  2,  for  July,  1879,  Springfield, 
Illinois,  36  pp.  8vo.  giving  the  proceedings  of  said 
association,  with  choice  selections  from  the  addresses 
of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  journals  and 
speakers  in  Europe,  Canada  and  the  United  States, 
and  a  list  of  its  officers,  embellished  with  three  full 
page  illustrations  of  favorite  stock.  A  wonderful 
amount  of  information  on  the  subject  of  stock-rais- 
ing and  kindred  occupations. 

Summer  Pamphlet  of  pot-grown  strawberry 
plants  :  for  sale  by  I.  T.  Lovett,  Monmouth  Nursery, 
Little  Silver,  Monmouth  county,  N.  J.,  an  8vo. 
pamphlet  of  13  pp.  with  two  beautiful  illustrations 
of  the  "Sharpless"  and  the  "Glendale"  strawberries, 
the  first  named  of  which  is  beautifully  colored. 
Giving  price  lists  of  some  fourteen  varieties,  with 
full  instructions  for  their  cultivation  ;  nature  of  soil, 
its  preparation,  and  setting  out  plants  under  differ- 
ent systems,  and  other  interesting  matters  In  relation 
to  their  culture. 

The  Fancier's  Weekly.— A  super  royal  octavo 
of  13  pages,  devoted  to  the  rapidly  increasing  Poul- 
try interest.  No.  1,  vol.  1,  of  this  enterprising  jour- 
nal has  been  placed  on  our  table,  and  it  looks  "for 
all  the  world"  as  if  it  was  going  to  succeed;  and  if 
it  don't,  then  for  once,  excellence  in  letter  press,  em- 
bellishments, paper  and  literary  ability  will  go  unap- 
preciated and  unrewarded.  Live  or  die  we  extend 
our  hand  and  friendly  recognition.  Welcome  into  our 
fellowship.    SI  a  year,  Albany,  New  York. 

Ward's  Muss;n\iof  Mineralogy,  Geology  and  Zo- 
ology, No.  2,  College  Avenue,  Kochester,  N.  Y. 
Prof.  H.  A.  Ward.  A  quarto  circular  of  8  pages, 
giving  lists  of  naturnal  objects  on  hand  and  for  sale, 
in  Mineralogy,  Geology,  Paleontology,  Archaeology, 
Ethnology, "Zoology,  both  vertebrate  and  inverte- 
brate; relief  maps,  charts,  pictures,  &c.,  &c.,  the 
details  of  which  are  exceedingly  interesting  to  col- 
lectors. By  sending  to  the  above  address, "informa- 
tion through  circulars  or  correspondence  may  be  ob- 
tained. Prof.  Ward  purchases  choice  specimens  of 
American  minerals  and  fossils,  &c. 

Premium  List  of  the  York  coonty  Horticultural 
and  Industrial  Society.  First  Exhibition  at  York, 
Pa.,  September  17,  18  and  19,  1879.  20  pp.  royal  13 
mo.,  containing  also  Rules  and  Regulations  of  the 
Association,  lists  of  officers,  and  an  introduc- 
tory address  to  the  public.  The  premiums  offered 
are  very  liberal,  and  are  for  the  best  grades  of  fruits, 
flowers,  vegetables,  dried  fruits  and  grain,  painting, 
penmanship,  drawings,  pantry  and  kitchen  products, 
household  manufactures,  embroidery,  crotchet  and 
tatting  work,  cabinet  ware,  saddlery,  musical  instru- 
ments, sewing  machines,  new  inventions  and  miscel 
lany .  This  if  an  entirely  different  organization  from 
the  York  county  Agricultural  Society,  and  exhibits  an 
energy  that  our/ht  to  be  contagious. 

Premium  List  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Indiana  State 
Fair,  to  be  held  at  Indianapolis,  September  •.;9th  to 
October  4th,  1879.  An  8  vo.  of  40  pp.  in  paper  cov- 
ers, with  an  introductory;  Lists  of  members  of  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture;  Executive  Committee; 
Superintendents;  Rulas  and  Regulation;  Instructions 
to  Judges:  Forms  of  Protests;  Programmes  of  De- 
partments, and  48  "Books"  of  liberal  premiums, 
diplomas,  silver  medals,  &c.;  General  Regulations; 
and  List  of  the  District  and  County  Fairs  of  Indiana, 
for  the  year  1879.  Indiana  seems  to  be  far  ahead  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  this  i-espect.  In  addition  to  the 
State  Fair,  seventeen  District  Fairs,  in  as  many  differ- 
ent places,  and  fifty-five  County  Fairs,  in  as  many 
different  counties,  have  been  already  announced  for 
the  year  1879. 

Peck  &  Snyder's  Illustrated  Price  List  for  1879. 
Being  a  Guide  for  Sportsmen,  and  devoted  to  the 
advancement  of  all  legitimate  Sports  and  Pastimes. 
both  out  and  indoor.  Published  annually  for  the 
benefit  of  their  patrons  and  themselves.  Price  10 
cents.  Manufacturers,  importers  and  dealers  In  an 
Immense  variety  of  goods,  almost  literally— "from 
a  needle  to  an  anchor."  "Now  by  Saint  Paul,"  we 
like  that.  They  publish  it  for  the  benefit  of  them- 
selves, as  well  as  that  of  the  public.  It  Is  so  com- 
mon for  advertisers  to  simperlngly  announce  that 
they  have  no  interest  whatever  in  the  matter,  and 
that  they  are  making  the  most  extraordinary  sacri- 
fices for  the  interest  of  the  public  alone.  192  pages 
12  mo.  profusely  illustrated,  No.  134  Nassau  Street, 
New  York. 

La  Belle  Letter-copying  Book  and  Ink. — A 
quarto  circular  of  eight  pages,  amply  Illustrating 
what  is  represented  to  be  the  best  and  most  expe- 
ditious system  of  transferring  copies  of  written 
letters  to  a  book  prepared  for  that  purpose,  extant, 
and  from  a  practical  test  in  our  presence,  so  far  as 
our  experience  is  concerned,  we  believe  it  possesses 
all  the  merit  it  claims.  This  is  eminently  a  Chicago 
invention;  and,  if  the  testimony  of  all  the  leading 
Chicago  newspapers,  merchants.  Court  officials,  mu- 
nicipal officers,  and  county  and  city  functionaries  is 
of  any  value.  It  comes  strongly  recommended,  and 
our  testimony  is  certainly  not  adverse,  but  rather 
confirmatory.  Dr.  E.  B.  Herv  is  the  Agent  for  Lan- 
caster county;  who  will  give  all  necessary  informa- 
tion on         

connty, 


Quarterly  Report  of  the  Pennsylvania  Board 
of  Agriculture,  for  March,  April  and  May,  1879. 
With  the  valuable  and  interesting  tabulated  statis- 
tics, relating  to  farm  wages  ;  board  ;  prices  of  farm 
products  and  stock  ;  condition  of  stock  ;  acreage  in 
crops  ;  and  condition  of  crops  ;  instituting  a  com- 
parison between  the  years  1878  and  1879  during  the 
same  period.  40  pp.  royal  octavo,  creditably  gotten 
up  as  all  its  former  publications.  These  reports 
contain  much  valuable  information  as  a  whole,  and 
much  that  may  be  referred  to  with  profit  In  the  fu- 
ture ;  but,  as  reports  of  the  growing  crops,  they  are 
not  of  much  practical  account ;  simply  because  al- 
ways a  month  or  six  weeks  intervenes  between  the 
period  to  which  they  are  estimated  and  their  publi- 
cation, and  six  weeks  in  a  growing  season,  is  capable, 
sometimes  of  working  a  wonderful  revolution  in  the 
conditionof  vegetation,  either  beneficial  or  hurtiful. 

Associated  Dairying;  Creameries  and  Cream- 
ery Butter;  Cheese  and  Cheese-making;  Our  Dairy 
House  and  the  best  Butter;  74  pages  16  m.  Price, 
paper  20  cents.  Limp  cloth,  SO  cents.  S.  H.  Zahm 
&  Co.,  Publishers,  Lancaster,  Pa.  Not  only  farmers 
and  dairymen,  but  all  who  may  buy  or  eat  butter, 
will  find  something  of  Interest  Id  this  treatise.  It 
tells  how  the  celebrated  Creamery  Butter  is  made, 
and  shows  the  workings  of  the  now  widely-extend- 
ed system  of  associated  dairying  under  which  it  is 
produced.  Cheese  too  has  some  space  devoted  to  it, 
but  no  odor  of  Limburger  clings  to  Its  leaves.  No 
other  modern  improvement  in  the  practice  of  agri- 
culture has  proved  more  profitable  and  convenient 
than  'he  creamery,  nor  has  any  other  added  more  to 
the  uniform  excellence  of  its  products;  and  the  sys- 
tem of  which  the  Creamery  is  a  part,  has  of  late  at- 
tracted renewed  attention. 

The  work  is  printed  on  ffood  paper,  and  we  think 
will  meet  the  wants  of  those  who  are  looking  for  iu- 
formatlon  in  regard  to  the  subject  treated.  We  com- 
mend the  work  to  our  readers  as  a  worthy  produc- 
tion. 


"Four  Roller  Cylinder  Press,"  of  No.  8  Spruce  Street, 
New  York,  and  is  as  beautiful  a  specimen  of  this 
kind  of  picture  printing  as  we  have  yet  seen.  Those 
desiring  further  information,  as  to  quality  and  ca- 
pacity, will  do  well  to  send  for  their  Illustrated  Cat- 
alogue of  all  their  presses,  which  has  just  been  pub- 
lished. 

A  pure,  unsophisticated  and  artless  village  maiden, 
just  blown  into  womanhood,  seems  to  have  been 
gleaning— like  another  Ruth— and,  with  sickle  and 
canteen  is  returning  from  the  field,  bearing  her  sheaf 
on  her  shoulders.  Crimson  marigolds  are  twined 
low  in  her  hair  behind,  and  she  seems  absorbed  in 
deep  contemplation,  or  perhaps  only  in  a  "  brown 
study,"  as  to  whether  he  will  keep  his  promised 
tryst.  What  .a  pity  that  the  airy  castles  of  early  life 
should  be  doomed  to  the  undermining  process  of 
time,  disintegrate,  topple  over  and  decay.  But,  per- 
haps after  all,  the  picture  is  only  a  "make-believe." 
Those  chubby  hands  don't  look  like  the  brawny  and 
bony  digits  of  one  accustomed  to  "  pot-v"re6tling" 
and  the  scullery;  nor  yet  to  the  lacerated  or  callous 
"  paws"  of  the  professional  reaper  and  gleaner. 

So  much  for  the  sentiment  of  the  piece.  The  me- 
chanical contrivance  that  can  throw  off  such  pictures 
— perhaps  as  fast  as  they  can  be  counted — is  entitled 
to  a  prior  consideration  ;  just  as  a  picture  portrayed 
by  the  hand,  is  of  almost  infinitely  less  considera- 
tion than  the  hand  that  produces  it,  or  the  mind  that 
guides  that  hand. 

Farm,  Field  and  Fireside,  devoted  to  agricul- 
ture, markets,  and  home  literature.  A  royal  quarto 
of  16  pages;  Thos.  W,  Herrlngshaw,  proprietor: 
Fred.  Haukohl,  editor:  Charles  W.  Cook,  business 
manager  :  published  semi-monthly  (?)  at  gl.OO  per 
year,  in  advance;  single  copies  5  cents.  Professes  to 
be  "the  best  Agricultural  and  Literary  paper  pub- 
lished," and,  under  that  binomial  combination,  we 
are  not  preared  to  say  that  it  is  not;  notwithstand- 
ing the  absence  of  a  specific  qualification  may  Indi- 
cate the  whole  world.  We  are  too  young  to  know 
what  Is  in  the  world,  notwithstanding  we  have  strug- 
gled through  a  decade  or  more.  To  make  a  long- 
story  short  this  journal  is  worthy  the  companionship 
of  those  excellent  publications  "The  National  Live 
Stock  Journal,"  "The  Prairie  Farmer,"  and  "The 
American  Stockman,"  all  domiciliated  In  that  re- 
markable Gotham  of  the  West— Chicago.  The 
marked  editorials,  however,  relating  to  the  peculiar 
virtues  of  "revolvers"  are  mal  apropos,  so  far  as 
K'«  are  concerned.  We  are  verging  rapidly  towards 
"three  score  and  ten,"  and  yet  we  never  had  occa- 
sion to  use  a  weapon  more  formidable  than  a  tooth- 
pick in  our  life,  and  we  have  been  in  our  time  at 
least  2,000  miles  from  home  for  months  together. 
Modern,  improved,  and  cheapened  revolvers  may  be 
the  visible  outbirths  of  genius,  but  it  is  a  genius  that 
is  not  evolved  from  the  regions  above.  Anyhow,  what 
ean  genius  be  thinking  about,  when  it  ultimates  a 
revolver  that  will  "go  off  to  a  hair,"  and  is  "sure  to 
kill"  at  forty  paces  or  more  ?  Nevertheless,  the 
Farm,  Field  and  Fireside  Is  a  capital  journal  within 
the  sphere  where  It  professes  to  labor.  Spicy  and  witty, 
Jf  it  is  "young."    Heigho  I  we  wish  we  were  young. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


III 


ELASTIC    TRUSS 

Has  a  Pad  dif- 
fering     from 
all   others,  ii 
cup-ahaped, 
with  SELF- 
AD  JTJST'Na 
BALL,  is  the 
center,  adapt! 
itself    to    all 
positions    of   the   body, 
whUe  the  BALL  in  the 
Cup   PRESSES    BACK 
THE    INTESTINES 
jrST  AS  A  PERSON 
■WOULD  -WITH  THE 
FINGER.    -With  light 
pressnre  the  Hernia  la 
held  securely  day  and  night,  and  a  rad- 
ical cnre  is  certain.    It  is  easy,  dnrabU 
and  cheap.    Sent  by  mail,  postage  paid, 
Circulars  free. 
Address,  Eggleston  Truss  Co.,  Manfirsi 

Or  c.  H.  EGGLESTON  CO.,  Chicago,IIL 


An  Enlaroeo  View  ( 


k  Co.,  Portlaud,  Maiu 


LOWEST  PRICES  WILL  RULE.^ 


Lowest  Prices 

Ever  Known  in  the  U.  S.  for  Bones  and  Phos- 
phates. 


BAUGirS  RAW  BONE  PUOSPOATE 

$30  PER  2000  lbs.  CASS, 

WITH  DISCOUNT  TO  DEALERS, 

Delivered  on  board  boater  carsiuPhiladelpbiaor Baltimore. 

Dealer**  will  take  notice  they  will  be  protected  in  the 
■ale  of  this  Manure.  Ouly  one  denier  will  be  establish^'d  in 
a  town,  who  will  be  furuished  with  the  Phosphate  at  whole- 
sale orices. 

Early  correspoDflence  from  those  who  wish  to  control  the 
above  goods  in  speciai  sections  or  townships,  is  necessary, 
:  as  we  are  organizing  for  the  Summer  and  Full  busiaess  a 
system  of  unprecedented 


LOW  PRICES, 


■which  will  Bhnvi 


Bone  Fertilizers 

are  beyond  all  question,  unsurpassed  in  the 
UNITED  STATES. 


LOW  PRICES  WILL  RULE. 

BATTGH  &  SONS, 

Phil.^deli'iiia  and  Baltimore. 

T9-5-lm 


HEARING  "'^''"^^^«iS 


dlTQAWEEK.    $12  a  day  at   home  easily   made.     Costly 
ij)  (  Zoutflt  free.    Address  Tree  &  Co.,  Augusta,  Maine, 
jun-lyr- 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANaFACTURER  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

NADDI.t:N. 

COLLARS,  'WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &c., 

AI;SO    DEALER   IN 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFALO  R0BE3, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  <fcc., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

1»-1-1»J  I.ANOA8TBB,  PA. 


NICHOLS,  SHEPARD&  CO., 

I3attlo  CroeU,   IVIIell. 

ORIGINAL  AND  ONLY  GENUINE 

THRESHING  MACHINERY. 


mHE  ENTIUK  ThreNhlni?  K> 


icac  Improved  M&cbla< 


«d  OD  the  dtffcreuce. 

NOT  Only  Vastly  Superior  for  Wheat,  Oat«, 
Barley,  Rye.  and  like  Gr«ln>.  but  the  Okly  Succc-u- 
rul  Thre.her  In  Flm.  TIracthy.  Millet.  CloTe.,  «nd  like 
Seedi.     Requires   no  *' attachmenu"  or  "rebu..ding"   lo 


IN  Thorough  irorkmanxhlp.  Elegant  Flnlnh, 
Perfection  of  Parts.   Complcleucs.   of  Kquipnient,  etc.. 


A  DEPARTURE 

High  Pricesfor  Phosphates. 

To  mpet  the  demand  of  the  tlmoH,  we  have  commenced 
the  manufacture  of 

TIIK 

TWENTY  DOLLAR  PUOSPHATB, 
WE    GUARANTEE 

the  following  analyHlN.  which  will  bo  printed  on 
every  bug : 

Ammonia,         -         -         -        sA  to    3  per  cent. 
Bone  Phosphate,  Soluble,        10  "  12        " 
"  .  "  Insoluble,       7  "     8       " 

Price,  $20  per  2000  lbs.  in  NewBae;sof 
200  lbs.  each, 

Free  on  borrd  ears  or  boats  in  l'iiilinii-li>hia  or  Baltimor*. 

SOLR    MANOrACTUREKS. 

Philadelphia. 


or  FITS 
CURED! 

rtcreaffering  for  IS  yeara  wriUii 


EPILEPSY 

TiilAl.  Packac 
permanent.    A 

Dn.  RoBll.  Riehmond.lnd.— DMrVit': 

grSefuli'  Uurlnn  tlio  pa»t  throe  ye'ara  1 1 

Tou  to  others  »lio  liavo  also  been cuied.     no m..nry  coui. 

tuT  whatyiinhftTodon'j  f-rme.    ,       _    ^""^^i  ,  V..   .  • 

Por  Ccrtificatea  of  N  iimeroHB  other  Cnrei  and  lull  Inlor- 
BAUoa  addrctr  Da.  ROSS,  in  Main  St..  Richmond.  1d4. 
-2m-t  ■ 


[  hare  been  per- 


rOPE  Sizes  of  Separators  Made, 
TIOR   Partirulnrs.   Call 


Dealers 


■  lUustrated  Clrcu: 


A  GOOD  PLAN. 

Anybody  can  learn  to  make  money  rapidly  operating  In 
Stocks,  by  the  "TwoUnei-riug  Rules  for  Success"  in  Messrs. 
Lawrence  &  Co.'s  new  circular.  The  combination  method, 
which  this  firra  h/is  m:ide  ao  succesisful,  enables  people  with 
large  or  small  means  toreap  all  tliebeuefltsof  largest  capital 
and  l>e8t  skill.  Thousands  of  orders,  in  various  sums,  are 
pooled  iuto  one  vast  amount  and  co-operated  as  a  mighty 
whole,  thus  securing  to  each  shareholder  all  the  advantages 
of  thelargestoperator.  Immeuseprofltsaredivided  monthly. 
Any  amouut  from  $."5  to  $5,000.  or  more,  can  be  used  success- 
fully. N.  T.  BaptUl  Weekly,  September  2Gth.  1878,  says, 
"By  the  combination  system  $'5  would  make  $75,  or  .5  per 
cent  ;  $50  pays  $350,  or  T  per  cent.;  $100  makes  $1,000, 
or  10  per  cent,  on  the  sk  ck,  during  the  mouth,  accoidiiig 
to  the  market."  Frank  LenHe'K  lllitatrated  Xexeipdper,  June 
29tb":  Th<)couibinalion  method  of  operating  slocks  is  the 
most  successful  ever  adopted."  A'eto  York  Independent 
September  lith:  The  combination  system  is  founded  u|iou 
correct  business  principles,  and  no  person  need  be  without 
an  income  while  it  is  kept  working  by  Messrs.  Lawrence  k 
Co.' Brooklyn  Journal,  April  20th:  "Our  editor  made  a  net 
profit  of  $101.25  from  $aO  in  oue  of  Messrs.  Lawrence  & 
Co.'s  combiuntlons."  New  circular  (mailed  free)  explains 
everything.  Stocks  and  bonds  wanted.  Oovernment  bonds 
supplied.     Lawrence  &    Co.,  Bankers,   57   Excbange  Place, 


i-12m 


No.  0  Norlli  Oueeo  Street 


LANCASTER,  PA. 


lEiii  EXMiNER  m  mm 

Is  an  old,  well-established  newspaper,  and  contains  junt  tb« 
news  deainible  to  make  it  an  interesliug  and  valuable 
Family  Newspiper.  It  is  published  on  VVedneaday  and 
S&turday,  subscribera  having  the  choice  of  whichever  edition 
that  suits  their  mail  facilities  bast.  The  postage  to  eub- 
Bcribers  residing  outside  of  Lancaster  county  ia  paid  bj  Um 
publisher. 
Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


book  of  the    year— 

new,  »eu-nu tic,  practical,  and  inoneu'savinff — the 

DISEASESOFLIVESTOCK 

and  their  mos(  rj?w«n(  rtfm^rfiM.  Including  Horsefi,  Cattle, 
Sheep  and  Swine.  A  popular  treatise,  giving  a  descriptitm 
of  all  the  usual  diseases  to  which  these  animals  are  liable, 
and  the  most  successful  treatment  of  American,  Euijllsh, 
and  European  veteriuariaus,  by  LlOtd  V.  Tellor,  M.  D. 
Pp.  461).  Price,  cloth,  »2.5U.  Hold  only  by  subKriplion. 
Specimen  copy  mailed  ou  receipt  of  price.  Kvery  Mloeli 
ownernnd  fanner  will  bn.r  thin  book  on nlKht. 
as  it  will  save  him  hundreds  nf  dollars.  AN  AtiENT 
WA!VTKI>  IK  KVERY  TOWN.  Agents  are  making 
from  $10  to  820  •  dRy  se  ling  It.    For  Circulara  and 

H.  C.'  WATTS  CO. ,  608  Minor  St . ,  PhUadelphla. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  contalni 
the  news  by  mail  antl  telegraph  from  all  p^ifts  of  the  world 
up  to  the  houref  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers  at  all  the  towns  and  villages  In  the  county,  acc«»- 
sible  by  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  I'enta  a  WeelL, 
or  by  mail  at  I'lve  Uollam  per  Year. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nort^a  Qneen  St., 


LANCASTER, 


THE  LANCASTER    FARMER. 


[Jnly,'1879. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


A  MONTHLY  JOUENAL, 

Devoied  to  Agricu/fsire,  Horticultum,  Do- 
mestic Economy  and  Miscellany. 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the  Lancas- 
ter County  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 

ONEDOLLi^RPERANNUJf, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPRIETOR. 

All    subscriptions    will    commence    with    the 
January  number,  unless  otherwise  ordered. 


Dr.  8.  8.  Rathvon,  who  has  so  ably  managed  the  editorial 
department  In  the  past,  will  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  His  oontributions  on  subjects  connected  with  the 
science  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 
he  is  so  thorouhly  a  master — entomological  science— some 
knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  success- 
ful farmer,  are  alone  wortb  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  Is  determined  to  make  "The  Farmer" 
a  necessity  to  all  households. 

A  county  that  has  so  wide  a  reputation  as  Lancaster 
ounty  for  its  agricultural  prodnote,  should  certainly  be 
able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the 
exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  interested  in  this  mat- 
oter.  We  ask  the  co-oporation  of  all  farmers  interested  in 
this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  I^he  "Farmer"  is 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
induce  them  to  subscribe.  It  is  not  much  for  each  sub- 
Bcriber  to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  commanicationsln  regard  to  the  editorial  management 
Bhould  be  addressed  to  Dr.  S.  8.  Rathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptions  and  ad- 
vertising should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Rate*  of 
advextiBing  can  be  had  on  application  at  the  offloe. 


JOHN  A  HIESTAND, 

No.  g  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


The  Fearless 


the  propiT  flff] 

report  of  trial,  address 
79-7- 3m] 


Shukers,  whlohl 


$66^. 


WHY  GO  WEST 

■When  desirable  Farm  LandR  in  the  Grrnt  Frnlt  DlN- 
trlrt  of  the  ■'.-ninNular  Garden  can  be  had? 
Cool  Bummms,  mild  winters,  piire  wafers,  biud  soil,  and 
every  advantage  of  sjieedy  cunimunicatiou  by  Kailroad, 
Telegraph,  and  Daily  Mails,  A  soil  producing  the  finest 
Grain,  Fruits  add  Flowers,  and  the  waters  the  cuoicest  Fish. 
Cyslers,  Terrajiiu.  and  Wild  Fowl  in  ."eason.  As  homes  un- 
equalled; as  investments  unBUr]iap8'-d.  For  I:liis!rated 
Books  inclose  2o  stamp  to  LAND  AGENT,  P.  W.  &  B.  R.  K. 
Dei  ot,  Wilmington.  Del.  f»"Special  advantages  (jffered 
to  Colonies.  [79-5-11 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 

SCIEmiFIC  FOeMOUS   FOB  IHEie  MANUFUCIOBE  ON  THE 
FAHM  SENT  FREE  TO  m  mm 


.  The  Cheapest,  and  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  use,  can  be  made  with  but 
little  trouble,  by  using  our  Fertilizing  Chemi- 
cals and  Bones,  which  we  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation. 


Dissolved  Bones,  Sulphate 

Perfectly  Pure  Ground  Bones,  Fertilizing  Salt, 

Acidulated  Phosphate  Kock,  Sulphate  of  Soda, 

Phosphate  Bock,  fine  ground,  Muriate  of  Potash, 

Laud  Plaster,  pure  and  fine  Oil  Vitriol,  full  strength, 

ground.  Sulphate  of  Magnesia 
Sulphate  Potash  (Kalnit),  (Kieserite). 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

ANALYTICAL  CHEMISTS, 

AKD 

Mannfactnrers  of  FertiliziiiE  Cliefflicals. 


(Established   1793.) 


FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 
Office:  105  South  Front  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA  PA. 


J".  &tj^tjf'F':e}if^, 
SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER.  i'A., 
23S  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

All  mattere  appertaining  to  UNITED  STATES  or  CANA- 
DIAN PATENTS,  TRADE  MARKS,  and  COPYRIGHTS, 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  eucceea  a  id  faithful 
attention  to  the  interests  of  those  who  engage  his  servicea 
are  fuQy  acknowledged  and  appreciated. 

Preliminary  eramiuations  made  for  him  by  a  reliable  As- 
slBtant  at  Washlngtou,  without  extra  charge  for  drawing 
wr  deBoripUon.  [7».l-tf 


GRAY'S. SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 

TRADE  MARK.  The  Great  RncrliHh  TRADE   MARK. 

KCII10<I.T 

ly    and     radically 


■^■■v^-:,^  J  V,  -v^ijp-*    perfectly   harnjlesa,  1  _ 

Before  Takino;  ""«'  m«g'f-  and  I.bs  be^n  Aftpr'ToWno. 
o  extensively  used  for  over  ■olieX  iaEmg^ 
thirty  years  wiih  ureal  succesn.  Full  particulars  in  our 
pamphlet,  which  we  desireto  send  free  hy  mail  to  every  one. 
The  specific  medicine  is  sold  by  all  druggists  at  $1  per  pack- 
age, or  six  packages  for  $5,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  maU  OB 
receipt  of  the  mor>ev  hy  Hddressing 

THE  GRAY  MEDTCINE  COMPANY, 
No.  10  Mechanics'  Block,  Detroit,  Michigan. 
tWSold  in  Lanoaeler  by  H.  B.  Cochran.  137  and  139  N. 
Queen  St.,  and  by  drngaists  everywhere.  [T9-3-l« 


ZIMMERMAN 

JFSUIT  AND    TEGETAJBLS 

DRYER  &  BAKE  OVEN 

Over  11,000  in  use. 

m»e  BEST  in  the  market. 

Made  entirely  of  Oalvanizedlron 

AGENTS  WANTED. 

Send  for  Circular.    Ad^'.ress 


1879  SPRING  AND  SUMMER  IS?©" 

Coats  a[]d  Coatings, 

PANTS  AND  PANTINGR, 
VESTS  AND  VESTINGS, 
SUITS  AND  SUITINGS, 
OVERCOATS  AND  OVERCOATINGS 

RATHVON  &  FISHER'S, 

IJerchant  Tailors,  Drapiers  and  Clotljiers, 

Corner  N,  Queen  and  Orange  Sts.^ 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


as  any  other  place  in  the  city.    Goods  all  wool,  perfect,  tnd 
satiNraction  giiaranteod.    Orders  respect- 
fully solicited,  and  promptly  executed. 
1879  1»7» 


Pji^^AI^ 


200  LBS. 


OeJfPf 

Is  an  energetic,  natural  manure,  specially  adapted  for 
summer  crojis.  It  is  highly  recommended  to  tobaooo 
growers,  giving  the  plants  a  vigorous  start  and  causius  » 
rapid  growth  tn  maturity. 

Price,  823.5U  per  ton  on  cars  In  PhUadelphla. 
HIKAM  E.  I.1JTZ,  IHannfactiirer. 

Offiae,  1136  aiarket  Street,  rbiladelphia. 


OITE  DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM-SINGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  AUGUST,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  Publisher. 


CONTENTS  O^HIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 

•The  New  Departure,  ------  11! 

Couetilmiuu— By-Laws— Special  Resolutioue. 

•  State.  Agricultural  Exhibition,        .        .        -  H^ 
,  Palliser's  American  Cottage  Home,  -        ■         -  IK 

.The  Tobacco  Fly, -  114 

.Our  Local  Exhibition,        -----  114 

QUERIES  AND  ANSWERS. 

.  Peach  Beetle,  -------  n; 

^Cultivated  vs.  Uncultivated  Wheat,  -        -  -    IIJ 
Coveutry  Famere  iu  Laucaeter  county. 

.  White  Grub  Worms, IIJ 

•Red  Rust, lie 

•  Larvae  of  Saturnia  lo, lie 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

•  Magnolia  Glauca— Small  Magnolia,  -        -        -     lie 
'More  Moonshine, 116 

SELECTIONS. 

•Artificial  Fertilizers, 117 

The  New  Law  Regulating  Their  Sale— License  Re- 
quired lo  Sell  Thcra— Costs  of  Analyzing  to  be 
Paid  by  the  Manufacturers— Amount  of  Lioenso 
to  be  Paid  by  Manufacturers- Penalties  for  Non- 
Comiiliance— Wko  Shall  Make  the  Analysis- 
What  is  tolieDonewitb  the  Money— What  isMeant 
by  "Comme.-cial  fertilizers"'— When  the  Law  be- 
comes Operative. 

•  Tobacco  Culture  in  Lancaster  County,      -        -    117 

Its  Culture  in  the  Olden  Tune— The  Tobacco  County 
of  the  World— Qualities  of  the  Weed— What 
Fashion  has  Done — Preparing  the  Plant  Beds — 
Setting  out  the  Plants— Requires  Constant  Atten- 
tion-Time of  Ripening— Cutting  and  Housing— 
The  Tobacco  Barns- Who  buys  the  Product- 
Extent  of  the  Crop— The  Yield  in  Pounds  and 
Dollars- Amount  Consumed  at  Home— Lancaster 
County's  Segar  Industry- Is  theCrop  Exhausting? 

•  The  Black  Bass, U9 

Practical  Hints  on  Fish  and  Fishing— Second  only 
to  the  Sahnon  and  Larger  Trout— Tlie  Spawning 
Season— Protecting  their    Progeny— Proper    Bait 
and  Tackle— How  to  Hook  Them. 
•The  British  Wheat  Fields  of  the  Northwest,      -    120 
.Butter  Factory  Organized,      -        -        -        -        120 
,  July  Report  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture- 
Corn,  Potatoes,  and  Tobacco,         -        -        -     120 
^Valuable  hints  to  Farmers,    .        -        .        .        121 

•  Cutting  away  our  Forrests,        -        .        .        .    121 

•  The  Common  Elder, 122 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 
•■  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society,    -        -     122 
The    County     Fair— Crop     Reports- "Siould    the 
Partridge   be    domesticated  ?"—Geueral     Discus- 
sion-Special     Intercourse  —  Miscellaneous— On 
Exhibition. 
.  The  Lancaster  County  Poultry  Association,  -        123 

Oufluished  Business- Referred  yuestions. 
I  Warwick  Farmers'  Club,    ■ 

A  New  Question. 
.  Linnaeau  Society,    --....        123 
.  The  Beekeepers'  .Association,    -        -        -        -    i;4 
Putting  Empty  Combs  Between  Brood- Getting  the 
Bees  to  work  la  the  Honey  Boxes. 
•  A  County  Fair,        ---...        X24 
The  Board  ofjManagerB  of  the  Lancaster  Conntv 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society  Fix  upon 
Time  and  Place  for  Holding  It— Committees  Ap- 
pointed—Committees. 

.  Poultry  Association, 124 

Meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Society 
at  Litiz.  •' 


AGRICULTURE. 
Weeds  and  Hay  Fever, 
Cutting  and  Curing  Hay, 
Utilizing  Night  Soil,   -        -        -        - 
A  New  Wheat,        -        -        .        .        . 
,1s  Clover  a    Fertilizer, 
About  Corn,    ----.. 
The  Best  time  to  Cut  Wheat,     - 

HORTICULTURE. 
Bags  for  Protecting  Grapes, 
Cultivate   More  Turnips, 
Fertilizers  and  Fruit  Trees, 
Setting  Out  Strawberries, 
Growing  the  Crab  Apple.  - 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 
Advantages  of  Staying  in  Bed,  - 
Have  a  Fish  Fond  if  You  Can, 
Blackberry  Wiue,        .... 
How  to  Deal  with  Rats,  -        -        -        - 

Fruit  Jams, 

Duchesse  Potatoes,  -        -        -        -        . 
A  Delicious  Vegetable  Soup, 
Elderberry  Wine,     -        -        .        -        . 
HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 
Green  Sage,  -        .        .        -        . 


123 


To  keep  Potatoes  from  Rotting, 

To  Preserve  cut  Flowers,    - 

To  Expel  Foul  Air  from  a  Well,      -        -        -  126 

To  Stain  Wood,        -.--..  120 

To  keep  Seeds  from  Mice,  -        -        -        -        -  1 26 

Tomato  Stew,  - -  r26 

Stewed  Cabbage,         ------  126 

Meat  Cheese,  -------  126 

To  make  Better  Pure  in  Flavor,        -        -        -  126 

To  Cleanse  a  Rubber  Piano  Cover,-        -        -  126 

To  Wash  Stockings, -  l'J6 

To  Bake  Buckwheat  and  other  Gridle  Cakes,  1'2C 

To  Bake  Eggs, 126 

Cranberry  Jelly,      ------  \-2e, 

Baked  Indian  Budding,       .        .        -        -        .  I'^r, 

To  Preserve  Flowers,       -        -        -        -       -  126 

Waffles, -  126 


NORBECK  &  MILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


kmm  Builders, 


126 


LIVE  STOCK. 

Pigs,          - 127 

.Raising  Pigs, 127 

.  Feeding  Dry  Cows, 127 

Sheep  and  Wool 127 

Fattening  Calves,     --.-..  127 

The  Sheep  Range,        ------  127 

The  Mad  Itch  In  Cattle, 127 

POULTRY. 

The  Mother  of  the  Chicken,       -        -        -        -  127 

The  Migratory  Quail,      -----  127 

Animal  Food,      ----..-  127 

Prolts  of  the  Barnyard  and  Coop,        -        -  127 

Turkeys,      ---..-..  127 

■A  White  Duck  that  Lays  Black  Eggs,    -        -  128 

Onions  for  Fowls,        ------  128 

Destruction  of  Lice  on  Fowls,         -        -        -  128 

Literary  and  Personal, 128 


m  &  cos  0L»  STA^D. 

Corner  of  Duke  aod  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

THE  LATEST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHAETONS, 

Carriages,  Etc. 

!llELlRCESLlSSORIiEi\'nnilF,(;in. 

Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 

REPAIRING  promptly  attended  to.     All  work 
giiarantf.fd. 


PHAKEH    W.    FRY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WALL  PftPER  &  WiHQOW  SHADES, 

HollnnclM,  plain  Shade  Clotb, 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


ENJTSYtVANIA  RAILROAD  SOHEDUIiE. 

Trains  leave  the  Depot  in  this  city,  as  follows  : 

Lancaster. 


WE   TWABD. 

Pnoiflc  EipresB' 

Way  Passengert 

Kiagara  Express 

Hanover  Accommodation. 

Mall  train  via  Mt.  Joy 

No.  2  via  Oolumbia , 

Sunday  Mail 

Fast  Line",    

Frederick  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation., 

Harrisburg  Express 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express' 


EASTWARD. 

Pbiladelphiii  Expreset. 

Fast  Line* 

Harrisburg  Ex 


Columbia  Acconimodati{ 

Pacific  Express* 

Sunday  Mail 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express" 

Harrisburg  Accom 


2:10  p.  I 
2:15  p.  I 
5:15  p.] 
T:2()  p.  1 


1:30  p.  m. 

3:45  p.  m. 

Col.  2:46  p.  1 


12:30  p. 
3:40  p. 
6:00  p.  1 
6:00  p. ; 
7:40  p. : 
9:U0  p. 


The  Hauover  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancaster 
with  Niagara  Express,  west,  at  9:35  a.  m.,  and  will  run 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancas- 
ter with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m.,  and  runs  to  Frederick. 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  on  Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
stop  at  Middletown,  Elizabethtowa,  Mount  Joy  and  Landis- 


u.  I'.  :Bo^L7V3vt.ia.Kr, 


AT  LOWEVr  POSSIBLE  I>RI(  E8. 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

9-1-12]  Opposite  Leopard  Botnl. 


GLOVES,  SHIRTS,  UNDERWEAR.    H 
SHIRTS  MAdFtO  ORDER, 

AND  WARRANTED  TO  FIT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN, 
56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


Manufacturer  of 

Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 

Large  Stock  of  New  and  S*>oud-hand  Work  on  hand, 
very  cheap.  Carriages  Made  to  Or.Ier.  Work  Warranted 
for  one  year.  [79-l-r2 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 


And  Manufacti 


FURNITURE  ^ND  CHAIRS, 

WAREROOMS: 

102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


NOTICE. 

A  VALUABLE  WORK. 

A  TREATISE 

—OS  THE— 

HORSE  AND  HIS  DISEASES, 

By  DR.  B.  J.  KENDALL,  of  Enoaburgh  Palls,  Vermont. 

It  is  nicely  illustrated  with  thirty-five  engravings,  and  is 
full  of  useful  horse  knowledge.  Every  horse  owner  should 
have  a  copy  of  it. 

SEND  46  CENTS  FOR  A  COPY. 

Jun-U 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN   AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CLOCKS. 

JEWELRY ITABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Ageut  for  the  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

Repairiug  strictly  attended  to. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

79-1-12 


ESTABLISHED  1S'=>2. 


Mauutacturers  and  deak-is  in  all  kinds  of  rousli  and 
finished 

r.X7IMEB]E:ft, 

The  best  Sawed  SHI.%Ci]a':K  in  the  country.     Aleo  Sash, 
Doors,  Blinds,  Mouidings,  &c. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 

and  PATENT  BLINDS,  which  are  tar  superior  to  any 
other.     Also  best  CO  A  I,  constantly  on  hand. 

OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walnut-sts., 

1-.ANCA.STKR,  PJ^. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 
MOXIOUSAND  INNOXIOUS 

IMSBCTS. 

■emedies  for  their  expulsion  or  extermiuation. 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  and  will  be  put  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  sufficient  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtained  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 
79-2- 


nmm 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 


Write  for  prices  to 


Qtyand  suited  to  this  climate. 


LOUIS  C.LYTE. 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co.,Pa. 


TljE  LATEST! 


Tlje  New  Tariff  of  Rates 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  oil'  large  lots  of 


INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US 


-AS    USUAIj- 


je®" Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better.-'^J^ 


This  is  the  latest  tariff  for  the 


AS  FOLLO-WTS: 

An  Elegant  Business  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  |10.  Identical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  $15.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $13. 

$4.89  buy.s  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bound, 
$8.50,  $8.50, 18.50,  $8.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound, 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  $10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $7,  $7,  $7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  the  Late  Improvements,  $5,  $5,  $5. 

Boys'  and  Youths'  Trousers,  All 
Wool,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39,  $2.39. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Styles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  $8.75  to 
$6.50. 

$25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully 
made,  Piped  with  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $15.00  ;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  fitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
Doth  ways. 

Wananjaker  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL, 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


The  Largest  Clothing  House  ia 
Ataerica. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  KATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  AUGUST,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  No.  8. 


Editorial. 


THE  NEW  DEPARTURE. 

The  incoi'iinnitiou  of  the  Agi-iculturtil  and 
Horticultunil  Society  of  Lancaster  County, 
may  be  apinopriately  regarded  as  the  starting 
point  of  a  "new  departure. "  But  it  will  be 
borne  in  mind  by  the  members  of  that  organ- 
ization that  this  only  purports  to  be  the  slarl- 
4ng  point,  and  as  a  departure  may  be  retro- 
gressive as  well  as  progressive,  they  should 
see  to  it  that  they  do  not  move  in  the  wrong 
direction.  At  the  July  meeting  of  the  Society 
its  final  reorganization  was  completed  by  the 
adoption  of  a  Constitution,  By-laws,  and 
Special  Resolutions  for  its  better  government; 
under,  and  in  conformity  with  the  act  of 
Incorporation.  Below  we  publish  the  three 
documents  above  referred  to,  in  order 
that  the  readers  of  our  journal  may  know 
exactly  the  laws  uudcr  which  the  Society 
is  working ;  and  if  there  are  any  members 
who  are  not  subscribers  to  The  Farmer,  if 
they  take  a  living  and  working  interest  in  the 
progress  of  the  Society,  that  interest  should  so 
far  influence  them  as  to  become  subscribers 
without  further  delay.  The  Farmer  pub- 
lishes monthly,  and  has  published  monthly, 
from  its  very  first  number  in  January,  1869, 
the  proceedings  of  the  Society,  as  well  as  all 
essays  read  before  it,  and  a  synopsis  of  all  the 
discussions  had  before  it.  These,  together 
with  its  organic  laws,  will  enable  the  members 
at  all  times  to  act  intelligently  in  all  that 
relates  to  its  welfare. 

Constitution. 

1.  The  name  of  the  corporation  shall  be 
"The  Lancaster  County  Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  Society." 

2.  The  purpose  for  which  it  is  formed 
shall  be  to  encourage  and  improve  agricul- 
tural, horticultural,  domestic  and  household 
arts,  and  any  other  matters  pertaining  to  the 
interests  of  agriculture  and  horticulture. 

3.  Its  place  of  business  shall  be  in  the 
county  of  Lancaster. 

4.  The  term  of  its  existence  shall  be  perpet- 
ual, subject  to  the  power  of  the  General 
Assembly,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. 

5.  The  officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  a 
President,  two  Vice  Presidents,  five  Mana- 
gers, a  Recording  Secretary,  a  Corresponding 
Secretary,  and  a  Treasurer,  to  continue  in 
office  for  one  year,  and  until  others  are 
elected;  all  officers  to  be  elected  by  ballot  at 
the  annual  meeting. 

6.  The  by-laws  of  this  Society  shall  be  made 
by  the  members  in  good  standing,  at  a  general 
meeting  called  for  that  purpose,  and  shall 
prescribe  the  time  and  place  of  meeting  of  the 
Society,  the  terms  for  the  admission  of  mem- 
bers, the  powers  and  duties  of  the  officials, 
and  such  other  matters  as  may  be  pertinent 
and  necessary  for  the  business  to  be  transact- 
ed; Provided  that  such  by-laws  are  not 
inconsistent  with  this  charter,  the  constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  the  Commonwealth,  and 
of  the  United  States. 

7.  This  Society  to  have  all  the  powers  and 
authority,  and  be  subject  to  the  limitation 
and  regulations  of  corporations  of  the  "First 
Class"  under  act  of  Assembly  entitled,  an  act 
"To  provide  for  the  incorporation  and  regula- 
tion of  certain  corporations  ;"  approved  the 
29th  of  April,  A.  D.  1874,  and  its  supple- 
ments. 

Bt-laws. 
1.  The    Society    sh.all    consist    of    annual 
members,  life  members  and  honorary  mem- 
bers ;  who  shall  bo  proposed  at  one  meeting 
and  balloted  for  at  the  next  meeting,  and  a 


majority  of  the  members  present  voting  in  the 
alliVmative  shall  constitute  an  election. 

2.  Annual  members  shall  pay  one  dollar 
initiation  fee,  which  shall  be  considered  their 
regular  dues  for  the  first  year,  or  any  fraction 
of  the  year ;  but  they  shall  pay  one  dollar 
annually  thereafter,  beginning  with  the  first 
annual  meeting  after  their  election,  and  a 
refusal  or  neglect  to  pay  said  annual  contri- 
bution for  six  months  after  they  have  been 
notifieJby  the  Recording  Secretary,  shall  sever 
their  connection  with  the  Society,  if  so  de- 
termined by  a  majority  of  the  members  pres- 
ent at  any  stated  meeting  when  a  vote  is 
taken  thereon. 

3.  life  members  shall  pay  a  fee  of  ten  dol- 
lars to  constitute  them  such,  but  they  shall 
not  be  required  to  pay  any  dues  or  fees  there- 
after. 

4.  Honorary  members  shall  not  be  required 
to  pay  any  fees  or  dues,  and  they  shall  be 
entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  annual  and 
life  members,  except  that  they  shall  not  have 
a  vote  for  officers,  nor  on  any  question  involv- 
ing the  financial  responsibility  of  the  Society. 

5.  The  stated  meetings  shall  be  held  on  the 
first  Monday  in  each  month,  and  the  first 
meeting  in  each  year  shall  be  called  the 
annual  meeting,  at  which  time  all  the  elective 
officers  shall  be  elected:  Provided,  that  under 
certain  contingencies  it  may  be  ordered  other- 
wise by  special  resolution,  so  far  as  it  relates 
to  the  day  of  meeting. 

0.  Seven  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum, 
for  the  transaction  of  business,  and  the  Soci- 
ety shall  not  be  dissolved,  or  its  property  di- 
vided, so  long  as  ten  members  wish  to  keep  it 
in  existence;  Provided,  that  Jive  members 
may  have  power  to  adjourn  to  any  day  be- 
fore the  next  stated  meeting. 

7.  The  hour  of  meeting  shall  be  at  1  o'clock 
p.  m.,  and  the  place  shall  be  specified  from 
time  to  time  by  special  resolution. 

8.  The  President  shall  occupy  the  executive 
chair  at  all  stated  and  special  meetings;  shall 
give  the  casting  vote  on  questions  in  which 
the  members  are  equally  divided;  sign  all 
orders  on  the  Treasury;  and  shall  perform 
such  other  functions,  and  be  entitled  to  such 
privileges  as  usually  appertain  to  his  office. 

9.  Tne  Senior  Vice  President  shall  preside, 
during  the  absence  of  the  President,  unless 
those  officers  mutually  agree  otherwise;  but 
as  soon  as  the  President  enters  the  meeting 
room,  the  chair  so  occupied  shall  be  vacated 
and  accorded  to  him,  except  in  cases  of  tem- 
porary inexpediency,  or  he  requests  it  other- 
wise. 

10.  The  Secretary  shall  record  the  proceed- 
ings of  all  stated  and  special  meetings  ;  attest 
the  President's  orders  on  the  Treasury  and 
shall  receive  all  fees  and  dues,  recording  them 
in  the  proceedings,  and  pay  them  over  to  the 
Treasurer,  taking  his  receipt  for  the  same. 

11.  The  Treasurer  shall  be  the  custodian 
of  all  the  funds  of  the  Society,  and  shall  pay 
them  out  on  the  order  of  the  President, 
attested  by  the  Secretary  ;  but  no  bill  shall  be 
paid  unless  it  has  received  the  sanction  of  the 
Society,  or  the  Board  of  Managers. 

12.  The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  con- 
duct the  correspondence  of  the  Society,  and 
shall  notify  all  persoBS  who  have  been  elected 
members  of  the  .same,  and  also  the  (luality  of 
their  membership. 

13.  The  Board  of  Managers,  of  which  the 
President  shall  be  ex-offlcio  the  chairman, 
shall  have  the  general  control  of  such  prop- 
erty, stocks,  books  or  other  values  as  the 
Society  may  from  time  to  time  possess  ;  shall 
direct  and  supervise  all  public  exhibitions, 
and  under  the  sanction  of  the  Society  shall 
have  power  to  borrow  and  lend  ;  to  make 
contracts  and  fulfill  contracts;  and  shall 
designate  three  of  their  number  to  represent 


them  in  making  contracts  with  others.  They 
shall  also  appoint  a  Librarian,  a  Chemist,  a 
Botanist,  a  Mineralogist  and  an  Entomologist, 
who  shall  hold  those  offices  during  good 
behavior,  or  until  they  voluntarily  resign  said 
offices. 

14.  All  officers  shall  submit  an  annual 
report  on  the  condition  and  work  of  their 
respective  offices,  which  shall  be  in  writing; 
Provided  that  the  report  of  the  President  may 
be  in  the  form  of  an  annual  address,  on  such 
geneial  topics  as  relate  to  the  progress  and 
advantage  of  the  Society  and  its  objects. 

15.  The  Librarian  shall  have  the  custody  of 
the  books,  pamphlets,  periodicals,  papei-s, 
manuscripts  and  such  other  literary  property 
as  the  Society  may  from  time  to  time  possess, 
and  shall  label,  number  and  catalogue  the 
same  for  the  use  of  the  members. 

16.  These  by-laws  may  be  altered,  amend- 
ed or  supplemented  at  any  time  by  a  majority 
of  the  members  i)rcsent  at  any  stated  or 
special  meeting;  Providtd  that  a  proposition 
has  been  submitted  one  month  previous  to  the 
vote  being  taken  thereon ;  and  that  such 
alterations  do  not  contravene  the  charter  or 
the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Special  Resolutions. 

1.  Should  any  person  proposed  and  diUy 
elected  a  member  of  this  Society,  refuse  or 
neglect  to  pay  his  initiation  fee,  as  provided 
by  the  By-Laws,  for  three  months  thereafter, 
his  proposal  and  election  may  be  considered 
null  and  void;  but  nothing  herein  shall  be 
so  construed  as  to  prevent  him  from  a  subse- 
quent proposal  and  election. 

2.  The  meetings  of  the  Society  shall  be 
held  in  the  West  Room  on  the  third  story  of 
the  City  Hall,  in  the  city  of  Lancaster:  ex- 
cept in  cases  hereinafter  designated,  or  as 
may  be  otherwise  from  time  to  time  provided. 

3.  Two  thirds  of  the  members  present  con- 
curring, at  any  stated  meeting  of  the  Society, 
it  may  be  lawful  to  hold  the  next  stated  or 
special  meeting  anywhere  within  the  county 
of  Lancaster;  Provided,  that  a  resolution  to 
that  effect  has  been  offered  at  a  previous 
meeting;  that  such  place  shall  be  accessible 
by  railroad  or  stage,  and  that  two  such  meet- 
ings in  succession  shall  not  be  held  out  of  the 
city  limits  of  Lancaster. 

4.  "Goocf  Standing"  shall  be  interpreted 
to  mean,  one  who  regularly  pays  the  fees  and 
dues,  provided  by  the  By-Laws,  and  is  free 
from  criminal  offence. 

5.  When  the  first  Monday  in  any  month 
shall  occur  on  the  first  of  January,  first  of 
April,  Easter  Monday,  "\\'liitsuntide  Monday, 
or  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  then  the  meet- 
ings in  those  months  shall  be  held  on  the 
Second  Mondays,  and  that  fact  shall  be  stated 
distinctly  from  the  chair  at  the  previous 
meeting,  and  shall  be  recorded  in  its  proceed- 
ings. 

6.  The  official  year  shall  begin  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  and  all  official  reports — 
either  financial,  statistical,  meteorological  or 
otherwise— shall  be  made  and  calculated  as 
near  as  possible  to  that  date. 

7.  When  any  meeting  is  held  elsewhere 
than  the  city  of  Lancaster,  as  provided  in 
the  second  and  third  special  resolutions,  the 
time  and  place  shall  be  determined  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  members  present,  and  the  chair 
shall  distinctly  announce  the  same  before  the 
meeting  adjourns,  and  said  meeting  shall  be 
in  lieu  of  the  one  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  held  in  Lancaster. 

8.  If  deemed  necessary,  the  Secretary  may 
be  authorized  to  duly  advertise  such  meetings 
as  are  contemplated  bv  resolutions  three  and 
seven,  as  Meetings  Extraordinary,  at  least 
one  week  in  advance. 


4l4 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  August, 


STATE  AGRICULTURAL  EXHIBITION. 

The  Fair  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agri- 
cultural Society  will  be  held  this  year  in  the 
Main  Building,  Fairmount  Park,  and  on  the 
grounds,  opening  on  the  8th  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1879,  and,  in  connection  with  the  Perma- 
nent Exliibition  now  held  there,  it  promises 
to  be  second  only  to  the  World's  Fair  held 
there  in  1876;  and,  it  is  hoped  that  the  joint 
attraction  will  again  crowd  the  structure  and 
the  grounds  with  an  immense  concourse  of 
visitors.  That  every  branch  of  American 
art  and  industry  in  its  latest  and  most  perfect 
develoement  should  be  fully  repi-esented,  is 
but  a  dictate  alike  of  business  interest  and 
patriotic  pride. 

The  dairy  industry,  with  its  herds  of  thor- 
oughbred cattle,  and  its  lately  introduced 
processes  and  machinery  for  cheese  and  butter 
making;  the  wool  industry,  with  its  improved 
breeds  of  sheep;  as  well  as  the  silk,  cotton 
and  flax  industries,  with  the  products  of  the 
loom;  the  finest  breeds  of  swine  and  poultry, 
and  the  results  of  fish  culture,  all  will  be  rep- 
resented there.  The  State  Society  offers 
$9,000  in  prizes  for  live  stock  alone.  A  ring 
for  the  display  and  exercise  of  horses  and 
cattle  will  be  provided,  but  all  racing  will  be 
prohibited.  Liberal  premiums  are  also  offered 
for  all  kinds  of  manufactured  goods;  heating 
lighting,  ventilating  and  cooking  apparatus; 
tools,  implements  and  machinery,  and  the 
products  of  the  fine  arts.  The  Turkish,  Tu- 
nisian and  Scandinavian  Courts  in  the  east 
nave  of  the  building  have  been  allotted  to 
fruits  and  flowers;  and  the  products  of  vine- 
yard, orchard,  garden  and  conservatory  have 
never  had  more  elegant  accommodations  pro- 
vided for  them  heretofore.  Horses  and  cattle 
will  be  assigned  to  quarters  within  the  main 
building. 

Of  course  the  best  of  its  kind  should  be 
placed  on  exhibition  there,  but  as  it  would  be 
impossible  for  any  one  to  determine  before- 
hand which  is  best,  let  no  one  decline  to  be  an 
exhibitor,  merely  because  he  may  think  his 
productions  may  not  be  the  best— that  can 
only  be  determined  by  comparison.  On  the 
whole,  we  thiuk  it  a  good  move  on  the  part  of 
the  State  society  to  hold  its  annual  exhibition 
on  the  classic  ground  it  has  selected  this  year, 
and,  if  it  were  to  make  them  permanently 
there,  and  in  future  become  less  of  a  tramp, 
we  believe  it  would  be  better  for  the  Society, 
socially  and  financially,  and  it  also  would  be 
more  useful  to  the  State  at  large.  Let  the 
interior  exhibitions  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
counties  or  districts;  because  an  itinerating 
State  exhibition,  nine  times  in  ten,  does  not 
amount  to  as  much  as  an  ordinary  county 
fair,  if  it  does  not  prove  a  failure. 


PALLISER'S  AMERICAN  COTTAGE 
HOMES. 

This  work  is  illustrated  by  forty  plates, 
each  of  which  is  nine  inches  by  twelve  in  size, 
containing  fifty  designs  of  modern  low  priced 
cottages  and  workingmen's  homes,  suitable 
for  erection  in  city,  suburb,  village,  or  the 
country.  There  are  two  hundred  and  sixty 
separate  drawings ;  giving  plans,  directions, 
perspective  views,  sections,  details  and  speci- 
fications; also  descriptive  letter  press  on  the 
back  of  plate,  giving  forms  of  contracts,  and 
other  matters  relating  thereto.  This,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  as  well  as  utilities  and 
values,  is  a  SIO.OO  book,  both  in  size  and 
quality,  and  in  style  it  is  just  the  thing  needed 
for  such  house'  as  are  called  for  daily  by  the 
masses  of  the  people.  If  a  poor  man  desired 
to  build  but  a  single  house  in  all  his  life,  it 
might  be  more  to  his  interest  than  the  cost  of 
a  dozen  copies  of  the  book  ;  which  can  now  be 
obtained  at  the  astonishingly  low  price  of 
$5.00.  It  is  in  one  Koyal  Quarto  volume, 
printed  on  heavy  tinted  plate  paper,  hand- 
somely bound  in  half  leather,  with  side  stamp 
in  gold.  It  is  eminently  a  book  for  the 
people,  and  it  is  difficult  to  comprehend  how 
any  carpenter  or  builder  can  aftbrd  to  be  with- 
out it.  All  the  opinions  of  the  press,  whose 
commendations  are  of  any  value  in  regard  to 
such  a  work,  have  given  the  highest  testi- 


monials of  its  character.  If  any  of  our 
patrons  or  the  public  desire  a  copy  of  the 
work,  we  will  volunteer  to  be  the  medium 
through  which  they  may  obtain  it  without  any 
trouble  to  themselves.  The  Scientific  Amer- 
ican says : 

"  This  firm  is  doing  valuable  service  in  its 
frequent  publication  of  copiously  illustrated 
works  containing  designs  for  dwellings  which 
are  not  only  moderate  in  price  but  in  accord- 
ance with  a  constantly  improving  popular 
artistic  taste.  American  village  architecture 
has  long  been  remarkable  for  lack  of  beauty, 
chiefly  perhaps  on  account  of  the  rapidity 
with  which  new  towns  spring  up  in  this 
country,  and  the  necessity  of  building  at  low 
cost.  Now  that  the  best  architects  do  not 
think  the  planning  of  a  workman's  cottage 
unworthy  of  their  skill,  we  may  look  for  the 
application  of  better  principles  both  in  con- 
struction and  exterior  appearance.  The 
present  work  is  a  notable  instance  of  what 
may  be  done  toward  adapting  really  tasteful 
and  new  designs  to  the  exigencies  of  moderate 
outlay.  Here  are  fifty  designs,  each  giving 
the  necessary  plans,  elevations,  and  perspec- 
tives of  cottages,  none  costing  more  than 
$4,000  to  erect  complete,  and  ranging  from 
that  figure  down  to  as  low  as  $325  for  a  very 
neat  two-room  one  and  a  half  story  dwelling. 
All  are  tasteful,  many  picturesque  and  ele- 
gant. They  are  intended  for  the  country  and 
look  rural,  which  is  much  more  than  can  be 
said  of  the  ineffectual  attempts  to  imitate 
French  city  architecture  on  a  reduced  scale, 
which  of  late  years  many  architects  have 
made  in  planning  country  homes.  Full  forms 
of  specifications  and  agreements  are  given,  so 
that  the  reader  has  only  to  select  his  design 
and  make  a  contract  with  a  builder  to  have  it 
constructed." 


THE  TOBACCO   FLY. 

When  the  flies  come  to  the  top  of  the  earth 
they  are  very  full  of  eggs,  before  they  are  fully 
developed  or  their  wings  are  formed.  Its 
body  is  thick  and  plump,  and  it  will  crawl  up 
on  any  bush,  weed,  grass,  fence,  or  anything  it 
can  get  to,  remaining  there  until  its  wings  are 
strong  enough  to  carry  the  body.  As  soon  as 
they  can  fly  they  commence  laying  eggs. 
They  deposit  their  eggs  the  first  night  of  their 
winged  existence.  I  have  conflned  them  in  a 
room,  and  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  nine- 
tenths  of  all  their  eggs  are  deposited  the  first 
night  after  they  begin  to  fly.  Of  course,  they 
are  likely  to  be  killed  by  sucking  the  flowers, 
and  are  likely,  also,  to  leave  the  tobacco  and 
go  to  the  flowers  before  depositing  all  their 
eggs  ;  but,  accordmg  to  my  observation,  they 
are  too  busy  depositing  their  eggs  to  pay 
much  attention  to  blossoms.  After  they  have 
deposited  all,  or  a  great  portion  of  their  eggs, 
then  they  are  busy  sucking  flowers;  their 
bodies  have  become  more  sharp  and  elongated; 
they  can  fly  with  greater  ease  and  rapidity, 
and  have  nothing  to  do  but  suck  the  blossoms 
for  two  or  three  nights  and  die.  And  it  is 
during  this  time,  when  they  have  deposited 
the  greater  portion  of  then-  eggs,  the  largest 
number  of  flies  are  killed.  I  have  conflned  in 
a  room,  and  provided  for  it  everything  to 
sustain  life,  and  flnd  that  it  lives  only  two  or 
three  nights  after  depositing  its  eggs.  My 
opinion  is  that  the  fly  impregnates  the  worm 
while  it  is  on  the  tobacco.  And  with  all  due 
deference  and  respect  to  the  opinions  of 
others,  in  my  humble  opinion  I  do  not  think 
the  killing  of  the  fly  while  sucking  the  blos- 
soms will  lessen  the  number  of  hornworms  to 
any  very  great  extent. 

Now,  you  ask  just  here  what  I  propose  in 
the  premises.  Let  the  farmers  throughout 
the  tobacco  districts  put  in  a  fewer  number  of 
acres — to  lessen  the  crop  one-half  would  not 
be  too  much.  Let  what  ground  you  do  culti- 
vate be  of  the  best  quality  and  well-manured. 
We  believe  it  possible  to  produce,  with  proper 
manuring  and  cultivation,  1,500  pounds  of 
good  tobacco  per  acre.  Let  no  worms  arrive 
at  maturity  or  become  large  enough  to  be 
impregnated  by  the  fly.  Let  the  tobacco  you 
do  cultivate  be  a  better  quality  than   has 


heretofore  been  cultivated,  and  the  results 
will  be  that  farmers  will  realize  more  money 
for  what  tobacco  they  do  cultivate  than  at 
present. — Exchange. 

We  publish  the  above— although  its  author, 
and  the  journal  in  which  it  was  flrst  published 
a/e  both  unknown  to  us — simply  because 
among  its  glaring  errors  there  may  be  some 
grains  of  truth,  and  we  give  our  readers  an 
opportunity  to  receive  them  in  a  practical,  off- 
hand way. 

It  is  just  DOssible,  that  those  who  may 
depend  upon  destroying  these  "Tobacco-flies" 
(Sphinx  Carolina,  et  5-maculata)  by  poison- 
ing the  flowers  they  visit  in  the  evenings,  or 
by  striking  them  down  with  paddles,  or  by 
catching  them  in  nets,  may  attach  too  much 
importance  to  those  remedies,  or  may  kill  the 
flies  after  they  have  deposited  all,  or  nearly  all 
their  eggs;  and  then,  supposing  they  may 
have  circumvented  the  enemy,  may  relax 
their  vigilance,  to  the  detriment  of  their  crop. 
It  may  also  be  true  that  in  the  earlier  life  of 
the  fly  it  deposits  the  greater  portion  of  its 
eggs,  although  not  before  the  females  become 
fertilized  :  but  to  assert  that  the  fly  "impreg- 
nates the  worm,"  is  a  most  preposterous 
assumption.  True,  the  author  does  not  say 
that  he  witnessed  the  act,  but  he  gives  it  as  his 
"opinion,"  an  opinion,  than  which  nothing 
could  be  more  absurd.  As  well  might  he 
give  it  as  his  opinion  that  a  cock  impregnates 
a  chick  when  it  is  a  day  old,  or  a  bull 
impregnate  s  a  sucking  calf.  Even  if  we  had 
never  found  the  male  and  female  tobacco  flies 
in  the  very  act  of  coition,  we  could  not 
believe  such  a  monstrosity  as  he  refers  to, 
reasoning  on  analogy  alone.  The  worm  is  the 
infant  of  the  fly,  and  in  it  the  sexual  organs 
are  as  little  developed  as  they  are  in  a  chick 
or  a  calf,  and  are  beyond  the  power  of  repro- 
creation. 

Nothing  could  more  clearly  illustrate  that 
editors  of  agricultural  journals  should  have 
sufficient  knowledge  of  entomology  to  prevent 
them  from  publishing  such  articles  without 
note  or  comment,  no  matter  from  whom  they 
may  come.  It  is  singular,  too,  that  out  of  the 
great  body  of  tobacco  growers  in  the  country, 
there  are  so  few  among  them  who  seem 
capable  of  making  and  recording  accurate 
observations  upon  the  transformations  and 
habits  of  the  enemies  that  so  conspicuously 
infest  their  crops.  This  opinion  only  excels  in 
absurdity  the  one  we  refuted  and  ridiculed 
about  a  year  ago,  to  the  effect  that  tobacco 
worms  changed  into  grasshoppers,  and  in  that 
form  deposited  the  eggs  upon  the  plants. 
And  then  one  paper  after  another  copies  these 
articles  as  standard  agricultural  literature — 
sometimes  enhancing  their  absurdity— but 
never  adding  a  word  as  to  the  impossibility  oA 
such  wonder-working  tales.  It  is  true,  there 
are  many  wonderful  phenomena  in  the  trans- 
formations of  the  insect  world,  but  they  are 
all  orderly  in  their  development,  and  in  con- 
formity with  pre-established  law,  clearly  seen 
and  understood  when  those  laws  are  known. 


OUR  LOCAL  EXHIBITION. 

By  reference  to  the  proceedings  of  our  local 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society,  it 
will  be  seen  that  a  resolution  was  carried  to 


hold  an  exhibition  the  present  season  in  the 
Northern  Market  House,  if  the  building  can 
be  obtained  for  that  purpose.  This  in  our 
opinion  would  be  a  very  appropriate  place, 
and  although  we  do  not  attempt  to  speak  with 
authority,  yet  we  do  not  entertain  a  doubt 
about  its  use  being  readily  granted  for  that 
purpose.  The  exhibition  nJight  be  opened 
there  on  Wednesday  morning  and  continued 
to  Friday  evening,  without  at  all  interfering 
with  the  market  hours.  The  stalls  and  tables 
are  ready  at  hand,  and  no  expense  would  be 
incurred  in  fitting  up,  and  everything  would 
be  protected  from  sun  "or  rain;  besides,  the 
building  is  spacious  and  the  ventilation  per- 
fect. All  that  is  required  is  for  the  Board  of 
Managers,  who,  under  the  new  by-laws  have 
the  superintending  control  of  all  fairs,  to  be 
energetic,  and  the  members  to  earnestly  sec- 


i879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


115 


ond  their  efforts,  by  a  resonably  active  sup- 
port. 

The  state  of  agriculture,  horticulture  and 
floriculture  has  never  been  so  unpropitious  in 
Lancaster  county  but  what  a  creditable  dis- 
play of  its  productions  could  be  luade  in  any 
season,  if  only  the  people  were  honestly  to 
will  it.  People  should  exhibit  what  they 
have,  no  matter  how  favorable  or  unfavorable 
the  season  may  have  been.  If  the  season  has 
been  unpropitious  in  any  districts  of  the  coun- 
ty, or  in  the  whole  country,  it  may  be  as  in- 
teresting to  witness  the  evil  effects  upon  the 
productions  of  the  soil,  as  to  witness  the  good 
effects  of  a  favorable  season. 

We  would  therefore  admonish  the  members 
of  the  Society  to  ea.inestly  go  to  work,  and 
get  up  such  an  exhibition  as  will  do  honor  to 
our  "garden  county,''  and  we  believe  that 
they  can  accomplish  it  in  a  far  greater  degree 
than  they  may  now  suppose.  We  ought  to 
accept,  appreciate  and  reflect  the  bounties  of 
natiu-e,  just  as  she  has.furnished  them  to  us, 
in  order  to  show  that 'we  are  worthy  recipi- 
ents of  her  gifts.  The  man  or  woman  who 
will  not  exhibit  their  productions  of  the  soil 
unless  they  can  have  the  pre-assurance  that 
they  are  the  very  best  among  a  display,  may 
be  influenced  by  more  self-pride  and  ambition 
than  is  absolutely  necessary  to  constitute 
them  good  farmers,  or  farmers'  wives.  In 
our  view  of  the  matter,  a  display  that  exhib- 
its the  average  products  of  a  county  or  a 
State,  is  far  more  satisfactory  botli  to  home 
residents  and  strangers,  than  a  few  extraor- 
dinary agricultural  achievements  that  have 
been  the  mere  results  of  chance,  and  the  pro- 
duction of  which  it  would  be  impossible  to 
communicate  to  another. 

In  a  favorable  season  anybody  or  everybody 
may  produce  handsome  and  thrifty  specimens 
©f  vegetation,  without  hSving  exercised  any 
more  than  ordinary  skill  or  vigilance;  but,  if 
under  adverse  circumstance,  one  man  can  pro- 
duce better  crops  than  another,  it  is  of  inte- 
rest to  the  whole  public— the  consumer  as 
well  as  the  producer— to  know  from  ocular  de- 
monstration that  such  an  effect  has  been  pro- 
duced, and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  ac- 
complished. The  agricultural,  horticultural, 
and  tioricultural  products  of  the  country  lie 
at  the  very  base  of  our  physical,  social  and 
financial  structure,  and  through  these  exer- 
cises a  corresponding  influence  upon  our  men- 
tal and  moral  being,  and  instead  of  being 
merely  subordinates  in  the  body  politic,  they 
are  absolutely  primitives. 

There  has  hardly  ever  been  an  exhibition  of 
the  agricultural,  horticultural,  and  floricultu- 
ral  produce  of  Lancaster,  that  scores  of  tliose 
who  visited  them,  have  not  remarked:  "Oh, 
had  I  known  it  beforehand  I  could  have  ex- 
hibited "—this,  that  or  the  other  thing— "su- 
perior to  anything  I  see  here."  Doubtless 
they  have  felt  gratified,  on  the  whole,  but  still 
have  been  compelled  to  make  the  confession 
that  they  could  have  contributed  something 
that  would  have  been  eciually  gratifying  to 
some  other  person  had  they  bt  en  willing  to  do 
it.  Now,  these  are  the  people  who  should 
compose  the  company  of  an  agricultural  dis- 
play. Of  course  there  are  hundreds  who  are 
so  situated  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
them  to  be  anything  else  but  auditors,  but  as 
an  exliibition  without  auditors  would  practi- 
cally render  the  whole  thing  void,  therefore 
their  presence  in  goodly  numbers  is  also  ne- 
cessary, in  order  to  make  it  a  success,  and  to 
difluse  its  benefits  among  society.  Through 
these  channels  also  those  social  streams  flow 
which  are  the  medium  of  friendly  intercourse 
between  the  diflerent  elements  of  society. 
"Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give,"  is  an 
inculcation  that  cannot  be  ignored  with  profit 
in  an  era  of  humanizing  progress. 

By  reference  to  page  124  of  this  number  of 
The  Farmer,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Soci- 
ety has  obtained  the  Xorthern  Market  House, 
and  have  adopted  Wednesday,  Thursday  and 
Friday,  the  10th,  11th  and  12th  of  September 
next,  as  the  time  on  which  to  hold  the  exhi- 
bition. 


Queries  and  Answers. 


PEACH   BEETLE. 

Lancastek,  July  23,  1879. 
Dear  Sir :  These  beetles  were  found  on  a  poach 
tree  on  the  farm  of  lauae  L.  Landfs,  In  Manhcira 
township.  They  puncture  the  bark  and  enter  Into  It 
endways,  and  then  work  cavities  underneath  and 
between  the  wood  and  outside  bark.  The  tree  was 
full  of  them  at  the  trunk  or  stem  up  to  the  limbs. 

Is  there  anything  new  or  not  in  their  appearance 
as  peach  tree  borers.  I  never  saw  them  before. — 
Yours  truly,  Israel  L.  Zoniii*. 

Your  insects  are  not  new,  although  so  far  as 
my  knowledge  of  them  extends,  they  are  not 
very  frequent.  During  the  last  six  years 
small  infested  branches  of  the  peach  tree  have 
been  sent  me,  on  two  occasions  from  the 
Southern  part  of  Lancaster  county,  and  once 
from  Cecil  county,  Md.  In  this  last  case  the 
branch  was  over  an  inch  in  diameter,  and 
three  inches  long,  in  which  were  at  least  a 
dozen  of  the  insects  developed,  besides  those 
that  had  escaped  before  I  had  received  it.  It  is 
a  small,  black,  roughly  punctured  and  striated 
insect,  and  belongs  to  "the  order  Coleoptera, 
and  family  Scolytid<e,  and  catalogued  by 
Dr.  Harris  as  Tomicus  liminaris.  Dr. 
Leconte,  in  a  footnote,  p.  88  of  "Harris' 
Treatise"  of  18C2  says:  This  species  differs 
from  the  others  known  in  this  country,  by 
having  the  last  three  joints  of  the  antenna; 
tfilated  laterally,  forming  a  lamellate  club 
like  that  of  the  Scarabid^,  it  therefore 
belongs  to  the  genus  Phloiotribus.  I  notice 
that  these  specimens  possess  this  characteristic 
very  distinctly. 

Miss  Morris,  late  of  Germaniown,  Pa.,  I 
believe  was  the  first  to  bring  the  notice  of  this 
insect  to  the  public  as  a  depredator  upon 
peach  trees,  and  as  the  trees  were  affected 
with  the  yrllmcs,  she  hence  attributed  the 
malady  to  this  cause.  Dr.  Harris  found  the 
same  insect  under  the  bark  of  a  diseased  elm. 
As  I  have  never  found  the  insect  on  peach 
trees,  I  am  unable  to  say  whether  the  trees 
from  which  my  specimens  came  were  healthy 
or  diseased. 

This  whole  family  of  beetles  make  excava- 
tions under  the  bark  of  various  trees,  includ- 
ing apple,  pear,  plum,  quince,  cherry,  peach 
elms,  oaks  &c.,  &c.,  and  from  the  many 
eccentric  channels  they  cut,  they  have  been 
called  "  Typographer  Beetles.  " 

They  are  so  small,  both  in  the  larvae,  the 
pupa  and  the  mature  state,  and  are  so  com- 
pletely domiciliated  in  the  tissues  of  the  bark, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  apply  a  remedy, 
other  than  than  that  of  cutting  off  the  infest- 
ed limbs,  or  the  whole  tree,  before  the  de- 
velopment of  the  beetle,  and  submitting  it  or 
them  to  a  heating  or  charring  process;  or  if  the 
wood  is  no  object,  burning  it  at  once.  Of 
course  as  forest  trees  become  fewer,  these 
wood  and  barkboring  insects  will  be  trying 
their  hand  on  the  cultivated  trees,  whether 
fruit  or  ornamental.  Like  the  Colorado  Potato 
Beetle,  the  Curculio,  the  Striped  Apple-tree 
Borer  (Saperda),  they  are  partial  to  the  culti- 
vated objects  of  the  vegetable  world— in  short 
as  the  human  species  profess  to  be,  they  are 
progressive,  and  "that's  what's  the  matter." 


Barbville,  p.  O.,  July  l~th,  1879. 
Prop.  S.  S.  Rathvon— 2)cor  ,S»)-:  This  season 
the  contrast  between  the  cultivated  and  uncultivated 
wheat  was  much  larg:er  in  favor  of  the  cultivated 
(side  by  side,  in  the  same  field,  the  same  quantity  of 
grain  to  the  acre,  and  sowed  the  same  time) ,  than 
anytime  heretofore.  I  was  sorry  that  A.  B.  Groff, 
the  patentee,  had  been  in  the  West  all  summer,  and 
I  had  been  so  very  busy  that  I  neglected  to  invite  in- 
terested persons  to  come  and  see  the  great  difference 
before  them,  in  the  growing  of  larger  and  better 
crops.  But  I  am  happy  and  well  pleased  to  state 
that  quite  a  number  of  gentlemen,  some  that  saw  It 
last  year,  and  were  so  well  pleased  with  the  improve- 
ment that  they  were  anxious  to  see  it  again  ;  and 
others  that  had  heard  the  many  favorable  reports 
last  year,  came  this  season  to  see  and  judge  for 
themselves.  Among  said  parties  was  a  committee  of 
four  gentlemen  appointed  from  the  Grangers  of  East 
and  North  Coventry  twps.,  Chester  co.  These  gen- 
tlemen   are    very    much    interested    in   the    many 


improvements  concerning  farming.  I  enclose  you 
the  Montgomery  Ledger  containing  their  report,  and 
If  you  thmk  It  proper  to  copy  It  Into  Tnp  Fakmbr, 
all  right,  if  not  I  hope  there  Is  no  harm,  and  beg  to 
remain, —  Yours  truly,  Levi  W.  Oroff. 

We  cheerfully  comply  with  our  correspond- 
ent's request ;  not  only  because  he  recjucsts  it, 
but  because  we  are  in  sympathy  with  •any- 
thing that  tends  to  agricultural  progress,  and 
promotes  the  welfare  of  the  people,  no  matter 
whether  it  culminates  in  our  own  personal 
interests  or  not.  We  also  feel  a  natural 
pride  in  the  progressive  modes,  systems,  and 
general  institutions  of  our  native  county,  and 
imagine  that  if  i(  has  no  light  to  slicd  upoa 
agriculture — occupying  the  financial,  social, 
aiid  geographical  position  it  does— then  we 
arc  at  a  loss  to  know  where  we  might  reason- 
ably look  for  such  light.  We  are  confident 
that  our  own  county  possesses  many  resources 
within  itself  that  it  may  be  vainly  looking 
abroad  for  a  realization  of ;  and  many  people 
may  also  discredit  things  purely  because  they 
originate  at  home. 

The  following  is  the  report  alluded  to  'in 
Mr.  Groft''s  communication  : 

Coventry  Farmers  in  Lancaster  County. 

One  day  last  week  four  prominent  farmers 
of  North  and  East  Coventry,  Chester  county, 
Messrs  John  15.  Keill',  David  W.  Jones,  John 
Ellis  and  William  Davis  drove  to  Bareville, 
I^ancaster  county,  to  examine  the  process  of 
cultivating  wheat,  practiced  by  Mr.  Levi 
Groff  of  tliat  place.  One  of  their  nimiber  has 
written  for  the  Ledger  the  subjoined  interest- 
ing account  of  what  was  seen  by  the  party  at 
Bareville : 

"Mr.  Groff  has  two  fields  of  wheat,  lying  side  by 
side,  each  having  half  the  grain  put  in  by  the  ordi- 
nary drilling  plan,  and  the  other  half  drilled  in, 
leaving  a  sufBcient  distance  between  the  rows  to 
allow  cultivation  with  a  cultivator  gotten  up 
expressly  for  the  purpose. 

Though  the  wheat  planted  by  the  old  method  is  In 
a  very  promising  condition,  and  may  yield  '.iO  bushels 
per  acre,  the  cultivated  portion  of  the  fields  will 
exceed  this  yield  at  least  50  per  cent.  In  the  opinion 
of  our  party  45  bushels  is  a  low  estimate  per  acre  for 
the  production  of  the  cultivated  wheat. 

The  observer  Is  especially  Impressed  with  the 
marked  contrast  between  the  two  halves  of  each  of 
the  two  fields.  The  cultivated  portion  stands  upon 
strong  straw,  at  least  six  inches  above  the  uncultivat- 
ted  wheat,  presenting  a  very  luxuriant  mass  of 
uniform  heads,  well  filled,  and  from  four  to  six 
inches  long. 

In  the  drilled  portion  we  saw  many  small  heads 
upon  short  straw,  striving  among  the  growing  crop 
for  equality,  as  it  were,  and  so  common  in  ordinary 
wheat  fields. 

Mr.  Groff's  plan  of  cultivation  is  to  pass  between 
the  rows  of  wheat  with  a  cultivator  as  soon  as  the 
ground  is  in  condition  to  work  in  spring,  and  con- 
tinue to  do  60  until  about  the  10th  of  May,  at  which 
time,  and  after  the  last  cultivation,  he  sows  the 
grass  seed  (clover  and  timothy),  and  owing  to  the 
mellow  condition  of  the  ground  it  grows  quickly  and 
surely,  as  was  demonstrated  by  the  two  fields  shown 
us,  in  which  he  had  wheat  last  year,  and  cultivated 
as  described. 

We  left  for  home  after  having  spent  about  three 
hours  more  than  we  Intended,  and  having  enjoyed 
the  cordial  hospitality  of  our  host,  and  feeling,  too, 
that  we  had  gained  not  only  In  pleasure  and  satisfac- 
tion, but  had  seen  and  learned  by  our  visit  to  Mr. 
Groff's  farm  what  an  industrious  and  intelligent 
farmer  can  do  to  promote  his  own  interest,  and  that 
of  agriculture  generally.  Mr.  Groff's  son  has 
Invented  a  drill  with  cultivator  attachment,  suitable 
for  his  method  of  raising  wheat,  which  Is  patented, 
for  which  every  farmer  should  obtain  a  farm  right, 
to  raise  wheat  in  the  same  way,  as  we  feel  confident 
it  will  pay  to  do."— Montgomery  Ledger,  June  2i, 
1879.  

WHITE  GRUB  WORMS. 

Dr.S.  S.  Rathvon— i>ear  Sir:  Will  you  please 
give  a  description  of  the  worm  which  I  have  to-day 
sent  to  your  address. 

You  will  notice  that  It  feasted  upon  a  potato,having 
eaten  out  and  lodged  itself  In  a  hollow  In  the  potato. 
There  was  another  worm  of  the  same  shape,  and 
probably  of  the  same  variety,  but  of  a  brown  tinge, 
feasting  upon  potatoes.  This  Inclines  me  to  think 
that  the  one  I  sent  you  has  not  yet  reached  its 
maturity.  Please  answer  through  the  columns  of 
The  New  Era.— Yours,  etc.,  J.  A.  Hhaar,  liothsvilU, 
Pa.,July:M,\S,Vi. 

Your  "worm"  came  to  hand,  dead,  and 
partially  crushed.  Things  sent  through  the 
mail  shoidd  be  inclosed  iu  a  stout  paper,  tin 


116 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  August, 


or  wooden  box.  The  object  seems  to  be  the 
immature  larva  of  one  of  three  prominent 
beetles,  belonging  to  the  coleopterous  section 
Lamellicornia,  or  "Book-horn  Beetles;" 
because  the  ends  of  their  antennae  are  lami- 
nated like  the  leaves  of  a  book.  It  is  prob- 
ably a  larva  of  the  second  year,  as  it  takes 
these  insects  from  three  to  four  years  to 
complete  their  larval  condition ;  but  this 
subject  was  too  young,  and  too  much  injured 
to  determine  its  species.  There  are  a  great 
number  of  these  insects,  and  their  larva  are 
generally  known  xmder  the  name  of  "White 
&rub  Worms." 

They  all  live  upon  the  roots  of  vegetation, 
and  a  few  of  them  are  usually  found  in  very 
much  decayed,  moist  wood.  The  most  com- 
mon and  the  most  numerous  in  this  locality  is 
the  "May-Beetle"  (Lacnoaterna  quercina)  also 
called  the  "June-bug. ' '  This  species  is  about 
an  inch  in  length,  smooth,  and  of  a  deep 
chestnut  brown  color,  and  when  very  numer- 
ous they  are  very  destructive  to  the  foliage  of 
different  kinds  of  trees. 

1  have  found  the  larva  of  these  eating  their 
way  into  the  potato  on  several  occasions. 
The  next  of  these  insects  in  numbers  is  the 
larva  of  our  common  "Goldsmith  Beetle" 
(Gymnetes  nytidcs),  which  has  also  been 
detected  excavating  the  potatoes,  and  the 
beetle  is  often  found  hovering  over  potato 
fields  in  June  and  July. 

This  insect  is  about  the  same  length  as  the 
first  named,  but  much  thicker  ;  of  a  velvety 
surlace,  and  from  a  deep  green  to  a  yellowish 
green  in  color.  Nearly  every  boy  knows  what 
a  goldsmith  is,  and  some  of  them  cruelly  tie  a 
thread  to  one  of  their  legs  and  fly  them  like  a 
kite.  The  third  species  to  which  I  allude  is 
the  "Eastern  Gold  Beetle"  [Cotalpa  lanigem), 
and  although  this  beetle  is  often  found 
abundantly  in  the  eastern  tier  of  the  counties 
of  our  State,  it  occurs  but  rarely  in  Lancaster 
county.  Its  generic  name  is  derived  from  its 
shining  golden  appearance,  and  the  specific 
name  from  the  sparse  covering  of  wool,  or 
hair,  on  the  legs  and  under  parts  of  the  body. 
Should  these  insects  become  sufficiently 
numerous,  at  any  time  or  place,  to  be  injuri- 
ous to  the  crops,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
exterminate  them,  especially  as  they  usually 
are  hidden  among  the  foliage  and  fly  abroad 
during  the  evening  or  at  night.  The  life  of 
the  beetle  is  short.  We  have  seen  hundreds 
of  the  May  beetles  lying  around  dead  in  the 
month  of  July. 

There  are  some  species  of  them  that  in  the 
larva  state  are  destructive  to  the  roots  of  the 
grass,  especially  in  meadows.  In  England 
and  France  the  governments  sometimes  offer 
a  premium  for  them,  and  they  are  plowed  up 
by  the  bushel.  They  are  so  fat  that  they 
have  been  used  to  make  soap.  None  of  them 
have  been  very  destructive  in  our  country. 

RED  RUST. 

Mr.  McO.,  West  Orange  street,  Lane,  Pa.— 
Tour  quinces  are  infested  by  an  orange 
colored  fungus  commonly  called  "Red  Bust ;" 
it  is  the  TJredo  ruhorwn  var  cydonum  of  my- 
cologists. It  belongs  to  the  same  family  of  fungi 
that  usually  infest  the  raspberry,  the  hawthorn 
the  ash,  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley,  and  many 
other  trees  and  plants,  and  is  usually  known 
under  the  names  of  rust,  smut,  mildew,  &c. 
It  generally  succeeds  a  long,  warm,  dry  spell, 
followed  by  a  close,  warm,  damp  spell,  and  is 
difficult  to  eradicate.  The  immediate  re- 
moval of  the  infected  parts  before  the  fungus 
matures  and  discharges  its  spores,  is  the  best 
remedy,  where  that  can  be  efiected.  If  the 
tree  and  fruit  are  otherwise  healthy,  a  wash 
of  weak  lye  or  soap-suds,  applied  by  hand, 
will  remove  it  and  save  the  fruit,  if  the 
disease  has  not  progressed  too  far.  Please 
see  The  Lancaster  Farmer  for  June,  1879, 
page  82  and  83. 

• 

l^ARVM  OF  SATURNIA  lO. 

Mrs.  P.  E.  O.,  Enterprise,  Lane,  co.,  Pa.— 
The  insects  on  your  raspberry  stalks,  feeding 
on  the  foliage,  are  the  young  larvce  of  Saturnia 
lo,  the  '  'American  Peacock  Moth. ' '    They  do 


not  long  remain  thus  congregated  together, 
but  scatter  and  become  of  a  deeper  green, 
with  a  bright  orange  and  light  brown  si  ripe 
along  each  side,  which  is  only  slightly  visible 
now,  and  at  full  maturity  they  attain  over 
two  inches  in  length.  They  then  spin  a  close 
spherical  cocoon,  partially  covered  with 
leaves,  and  mixed  with  sufficient  mucilage  to 
become  pretty  hard.  They  remain  thus  until 
the  following  year,  and  the  moth  evolves 
about  the  1st  of  June,  producing  only  one 
brood  a  year,  but  never  sufficiently  numerous 
to  be  very  injurious.  The  male  is  yellow  and 
slightly  mottled  with  light  brown.  The 
female  is  much  larger,  her  aler  expansion 
being  2J  or  3  inches,  and  is  of  a  much  darker 
color,  almost  brown ;  both  sexes  have  the 
peacock  eye  or  disk  on  the  posterior  wings. 
They  are  not  peculiarly  a  raspberry  insect, 
but  are  also  found  on  the  blackberry  and 
other  shrubbery,  as  well  as  on  trees. 


Contributions. 


For  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
MAGNOLIA  GLAUCA— SMALL  MAGNO- 
LIA. 
This  belongs  to  a  class  of  trees  distinguish- 
ed for  their  elegant  forms,  rich,  smooth  foliage, 
large  fragrant  flowers,  and  aromatic  bark, 
some  becoming  trees  of  great  altitude.    The 


present  species  is  more  humble  in  its  growth, 
but  not  the  less  interesting. 

This  glauca  is  common  in  the  Middle  and 
Southern  States,  very  abundant  in  the  mo- 
rasses of  Florida  and  Lower  Louisiana. 
About  30  miles  north  of  Boston,  where  it  at- 
tains but  small  size,  it  is  frequently  killed  to 
the  ground,  by  severe  winters. 

This  is  also  known  by  the  names  of  Sicamj) 
Sassafras  and  Beaver  Trees  North;  in  the  South 
as  Sweet  Bay  and  White  Bay.  It  is  usually 
found  in  swamps  or  boggy  soil.  It  is  some- 
what difficult  to  raise  in  upland  soil,  ,  but  it 
acquires  more  symmetry  of  form  when  success- 
fully cultivated. 

The  species  native  to  the  United  States  are 
the  following,  viz: 

1.  M.  Grandiflora.  L.  N.,  Carolina  to  Flori- 
da, west  to  the  Mississippi ;  fls.  large  7  to  8  in 
broad,  trees  60  to  70  feet  high.  Leaves  6  to  8 
inches  long. 

2.  M.  Glauca.  L.  Ivs.  oblong,  oval  obtuse, 
white  beneath  ;  flowers  of  9-12  petals.  May 
and  June  very  fragrant ;  2  to  3  inches  broad. 
White  flowers. 


3.  M.  Umbrella,  {Lam.)  (M.  tripetala,  L.) 
Southern  and  Western  States,  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  ;  the  umbrella  tree ;  trees  30  to 
40  feet  high.  Leaves  crowded  ;  1  to  2  feet 
long. 

4.  M.  Acuminata,  L.  New  York  to  Georgia. 
Tree  60  to  80  feet ;  flowers  3  to  4  inches  in  di- 
ameter. This  is  the  ciicu7nber  tree.  The  cylin- 
drical fruit  is  three  inches  long  when  green, 
resembles  a  cucumber. 

5.  M.  Cor  data,  {Miclix.)  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  Trees  20  to  40  feet  high  ;  leaves 
4  to  6  inches  long.  Flowers  yellow,  faintly 
streaked  with  red. 

6.  M.  Fraseri,  (Walt.)  On  the  Alleghany 
Mountains.  Pennsylvania  to  Florida.  Trees 
30  to  40  feet  high.  Leaves  8  to  12  inches  long, 
somewhat  auricled  below  ;  flowers  white  ;  2 
to  3  inches  long. 

7.  M.  Macrophylla  (Michx).  Leaves  whitish 
beneath.  Southern.  Trees  30  to  40  feet ;  leaves 
crowded  on  end  of  branches  ;  1  to  3  feet  long. 

Our  tidip  tree,  white  wood,  or  white  poplar, 
the  Liriodendron  tulipifera,  [L.)  belongs  to 
this  order— "MagnoliaceaB." 

This  genus  of  trees  was  named  by  Plumier, 
in  honor  of  Peter  Magnol,  Botanical  Professor 
at  Montpelier,  who  published  several  works 
on  botany.  Magnol  died  in  171.5,  at  the  age 
of  77.  With  respect  to  the  M.  Glauca,  figured 
above,  I  may  add  that  it  begins  to  flower  in 
difterent  parts  of  the  United  States  in  May, 
June  and  July.  The  flowers  are  highly  fra- 
grant. A  few  of  them  shut  up  in  a  room  over 
night  gives  the  air  a  heavy  and  almost  insup- 
portable odor,  so  as  not  to  be  advisable  in  a 
sleeping  room.  The  bark  of  the  young  twigs 
is  smooth  and  of  a  bright  green  color,  with 
rings  at  the  intersection  of  and  scars  of  the 
leaves.  The  leaves  are  scattered.  The 
whitish  color  of  the  under  side  of  the  leaves 
will  distinguish  the  trees  at  a  distance.  The, 
bark  is  rather  bitter  and  has  an  aromatic 
pungency,  somewhat  like  sassafras  or  calamus. 
The  aroma  resides  in  a  volatile  portion  and  ' 
may  contain  an  essential  oil,  or  a  variety  of 
camphor.  When  dry  and  kept  for  some  time 
it  loses  this  property.  There  is  not  much  as- 
tringency  in  the  bark,  yet  as  a  medical  article 
the  Magnolia  is  considered  an  aromatic  tonic, 
approaching  in  its  character  to  cascarilla, . 
canella  and  articles  of  their  class. 

It  has  attained  some  reputation  in  the  cure 
of  chronic  rheumatism.  The  bark,  seeds  and 
cones  are  used  in  tincture.  In  intermittent 
and  remittent  fevers  the  Magnolia  is  one  of 
the  many  tonics  which  have  been  resorted  to 
for  cure  by  inhabitants  of  the  marshy  coun- 
tries where  they  prevail.  Sufficient  ^testimony 
has  been  given  in  favor  of  the  bark  of  this 
tree  to  warrant  a  belief  that  it  is  fully  ade- 
quate to  the  removal  of  fever  and  ague,  when 
administered  like  the  cinchona  (Peruvian 
Bark),  in  like  quantities,  between  the  parox- 
ysms. In  the  more  continuous  forms  of  fever 
of  the  typhoid  type  it  has  also  received  the 
commendations  of  eminent  physicians. 

Many  of  our  eminent  physicians,  who  would 
rather  use  mineral  preparations  or  matters 
from  the  vegetable  kingdom  that  come  from 
afar,  may  turn  up  their  nose  at  such  domestic 
home  remedies,  but  I  do  not  write  for  their 
edification.  It  is  supposed  that  they  know. all 
about  it  and,  of  course,  pay  no  attention  to 
such  newspaper  articles.  I  am  writing  as  an 
old  botanist,  as  well  as  an  experieilced  drug- 
gist, and  simply  wish  the  merits  of  our  herbs 
and  trees  to  be  known,  whether  appreciated, ' 
tested  or  not.  I  know  what  I  am  writing 
about,  and  as  I  do  it  voluntarily,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  readers  of  The  Lancaster  Farmer, 
and  am  not  a  vender  or  collector  of  the  drug, 
I  simply  give  a  hint  to  those  who  may  see  St 
to  do  so.  J.  Stauffer. 

For  The  Lancaster  Farmer. 
MORE  MOONSHINE. 
Mr.  Editor  : — I  did  not  expect  or  intend  to 
be  drawn  into  a  controversy  on  solar  influences, 
but  solely  to  draw  out  more  light  on  this  dark 
subject,  as  I  believed  there  were  some  "hints" 
yet  in  embryo,  that  might  enlighten  our 
understanding  more  clearly  than  heretofore. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


il7 


But  it  appears  your  "Amateur  Farmer"  (?) 
takes  especial  jiaius  to  deny  that  of  whicli  he 
is  evidently  quite  as  ignorant  as  myself.  How 
can  we  judge  of  that  of  which  wo  know 
nothing  ?  He  denies  in  toto  the  moon's  effect 
on  terrestial  matter,  without  knowing  any 
more  of  those  planetary  orbs  than  the  rest  of 
us  "ignorant  farmers." 

He  tells  us  he  made  some  experiments,  by 
placing  bricks  on  the  ground,  when  the  sign 
was  up,  and  again  when  the  sign  was  down — 
hut  the  moon  would  neither  "raise  tlicm  up 
nor  press  them  down :  but  as  the  moon  did 
not  notice  tliem,  of  course  he  concluded, 
did'nt  do  more  than  conlirm  him  in  his  unbe- 
lief. He  might  as  well  have  placed  his  bricks 
on  solid  rocks. 

It  is  useless  to  try  and  explain  such  myste- 
rious influences,  at  least  to  "Amateur,"  who 
of  course,  "if  convinced  against  his  will, 
would  be  of  the  same  opinion  still." 

However,  with  the  editor's  permission,  I 
will  try  and  give  some  further  remarks  of 
those  whom  he  stigmatizes  as  the  "ignorant, 
as  being"  the  only  ones  whose  ignorance  of 
planetary  laws,  are  believers  in  planetary  in- 
fluence. And  asks,  "can  the  believers  in  the 
potency  of  the  signs  point  to  a  single  man 
within  the  last  hundred  years,  with  enough 
astronomical  knowledge  to  calculate  an  eclipse, 
or  the  rising  or  setting  of  the  moon,  who  has 
any  belief  in  their  theory?" 

In  my  last  article  1  mentioned  Prof.  Man- 
sill  of  Rock  Island,  111.,  who  is  not  only  a  be- 
liever in  planetary  influence,  but  also  pub- 
lishes full  explanations  "of  the  faith|that  is  in 
him." 

This  gentleman  is  undoubtedly  the  peer  of 
any  living  astronomer.  We  judge  him  by  his 
abstruse  calculations  of  the  positions  and  con- 
figurations of  the  various  planets,  and  his 
predictions  of  their  influences  on  our  earth, 
by  their  many  aspects  of  conjunctions,  opposi- 
tions, &c.,  each  month  in  the  year.  But  to 
give  only  a  brief  statement  of  his  predictions, 
would  fill  our  Lancaster  Farmer.  Another 
celebrated  astronomer,  now  no  more,  we  may 
refer  to,Sir  John  Herschell, Astronomer  Royal 
of  England,  who  during  the  present  century 
gave  us  a  formula,  which  I  have  frequently 
found  to  come  true — that  if  the  moon  changes 
at  certain  hours  of  the  day  or  night,  we  may 
look  for  rain  or  dry  weather.  Though  its  an 
old  saying,  "all  signs  fail  in  dry  weather." 

I  my.self  do  not  pretend  to  much  astrono- 
mical knowledge,  and  may  probably  be  con- 
ered  by  "amateur,"  asamoug  the  "ignorant." 
However,  I  have  calculated  the  rising  and 
setting  of  the  moon,  and  its  place  among  the 
planets — with  all  lunar  and  solar  eclipses 
thirty  years  ahead,  from  1821,  and  found  the 
elements  of  all  others  some  twenty  years  fur- 
ther; but  had  not  the  time  to  make  the  calcu- 
lations of  the  latter. 

Amateur  asks  for  '  'a  series  of  experiments, ' ' 
to  prove  the  planetary  influences.  My  dear 
sir,  could  we  be  assured  of  a  life  as  long  as  is 
attributed  to  Methuselah,  or  even  of  others 
who  did  not  think  of  getting  married  until 
they  were  over  one  hundred  years  of  age, 
then  we  might  no  doubt  make  "experiments" 
to  astonish  even  the  skeptic !  But  life  is  too 
short  at  the  present  time  for  such  experi- 
ments. 

The  lame  argument  of  "Amateur,"— that  I 
did  not  say  of  those  two  fences  set  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  lane,  as.  the  one  staying  up  and 
the  other  settling  down— "that  I  did  not  say 
if  these  fences  were  set  in  the  morning  or  in 
the  evening."  Now  we  farmers  don't  do  such 
jobs  of  setting  50  or  a  100  panels  of  fences 
either  in  the  morning  or  evening;  but  it  takes 
several  days  work  to  do  it— all  day,  and  the 
ground  did  not  differ  12  feet  apart  I 

A  majority  of  astronomers  admit  that  the 
tides  in  the  ocean  are  caused  by  lunar  and 
solar  attraction  and  repulsion  and"  driving  the 
water  up  stream  against  the  current  many 
miles. 

There  are  "skeptics"  on  this  subject  as  on 
every  other,  but  they  do  not  attempt  to  give 
any  other  theory  that  is  at  all  plausible;  even 
our  "amateur"  fails  to  give  us  a  reason  why 


or  what  causes  this  powerful  force,  to  drive 
the  water  miles  into  the  interior  of  the  coun- 
try, but  he  simply  tells  us  that,  because  this 
"force"  does  not  raise  the  water  in  his  "little 
frog  pond"  knee-high,  the  moon  can  not  raise 
the  water  in  the  sea!  However,  all  calcula- 
tions for  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides  are 
based  on  the  theory  of  the  moon  and  sun's 
influence.  When  these  planets  are  in  conjunc- 
tion, there  is  high  tide,  and  when  in  opi)osi- 
tion,  low  tide;  thus  the  truth  of  the  planet's 
"force"  is  verified. 

Then  may  we  not  justly  infer  that  this 
power  or  "force,"  acting  on  the  water,  through 
the  atmosphere,  may  also  act,  or  cause  tides, 
•tor  some  "influence  on  or  in  the  atmosi)here," 
and  as  a  consequence  on  all  animal  and  vege- 
table matter.  Thus  all  animals  and  vegeta- 
bles "live  and  have  their  being"  constantly  in 
this  air  or  atmosphere.  Is  it  not  a  positive 
proof,  that  all  creation  on  the  earth,  vegeta- 
ble and  animal,  are  more  or  less  affected  by 
this  all-pervading  air  or  element  "force,"  or 
planetary  influence,  probably  electricity. 

As  our  friend  "Amateur"  lays  such  great 
stress  on  Dr.  Lardner's  scientific  attainments, 
I  will  not  pass  him  by,  but  fully  acknowledge 
that  he  was  a  well  posted  scientist. 

Some  thirty  years  ago  I  heard  him  deliver 
a  lecture  on  "sound,"  in  Philadelphia,  and  I 
gained  more  information  from  that  lecture 
than  I  had  known  before  as  to  the  "waves" 
of  sound.  But  notwithstanding  his  great  ac- 
quirement in  science,  he  made  two  grand 
mistakes.  One  I  noticed  before,  when  he  was 
predicting  "that  steam  could  never  be  used 
profitably  to  cross  the  ocean;  and  the  other 
mistake  was,  "that  he  ran  away  from  London 
to  Paris  in  company  with  another  man's  wife, 
and  for  which  he  got  a  severe  cowhidingfrom 
the  woman's  husband  and  her  son.  Thus  it  ap- 
pears scientists  are  human  and  maymake  "mis- 
takes" as  well  as  the  ignorant.     '"'Nuf  ced." 

I  might  give  many  other  instances  of  plan- 
etary influence,  hut  leave  this  occult  subject 
for  the  present,  only  adding  that  from  my 
youth  up  to  the  present  times  have  always  been 
"j4  seeker  after  truth.'''' 


Selections. 


ARTIFICIAL    FERTILIZERS. 

The   New  Law    Regulating   Their   Sale— Li- 
cense Required  to  Sell  Them — Costs  of 
Analyzing  to  be  Paid   by  the 
Manufacturers. 

§  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representativ.es  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is 
hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same, 
That  every  package  of  commercial  fertilizer 
sold,  offered,  or  exposed  for  sale,  for  manurial 
purposes  within  this  Commonwealth,  shall 
have  plainly  stamped  thereon  the  name  of  the 
manufacturer,  the  net  weight  of  its  contents, 
and  an  analysis  stating  the  percentage  therein 
contained  of  nitrogen,  or  its  equivalent  in  am- 
monia in  an  available  form,  of  potash  soluble 
in  water,  of  soluble  and  reverted  phosphoric 
acid,  and  of  insoluble  phosphoric  acid  :  Pro- 
vided, That  any  commercial  fertilizer  sold, 
offered,  or  exposed  for  sale,  which  shall 
contain  none  of  the  above  named  constituents, 
shall  be  exempt  from  the  provisions  of  this 
act. 

Amount  of  License  to  be  Paid  by  Manufac- 
turers. 

?  2.  Every  manufacturer  or  importer  of 
commercial  fertilizers,  as  specified  in  section 
one  of  this  act,  shall,  on  or  before  the  first 
day  of  August  next  ensuing,  or  before  offer- 
ing the  same  for  sale  in  this  Commonwealth, 
file  annually  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Commonwealth  an  affidavit  stating  the 
amount  of  said  fertilizer  or  fertilizers  sold 
within  the  State  during  the  last  preceding 
year,  and  if  said  amount  be  one  hundred  tons 
or  less,  he  or  they  shall  pay  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  State  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  for  each 
and  every  such  article  of  such  commercial 
fertilizer  sold  within  the  State  during  the  last 


preceding  year,  and  if  said  amount  shall  ex- 
ceed one  hundred  tons,  and  be  less  thiin 
five  hundred  tons,  he  or  they  shall  pay  the 
sum  of  twenty  dollars  as  aforesaid  ;  and  if 
said  anioinit  shall  be  five  hundred  tons  or 
more,  he  or  they  shall  pay  the  sum  of  fifty 
dollars  as  aforesaid.  If  such  mainifacturer  or 
manufacturers  or  importers  shall  not  have 
made  any  sales  within  the  Commonwealth 
during  tiie  i)rcccding  year,  he  or  they  shall 
pay  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  as  aforesaid. 
Every  such  manufacturer  or  importer  shall  at 
the  Siime  time  file  with  the  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  a  copy  of  the  analysis 
required  by  section  one  of  this  act,  and  shall 
be  entitled  to  receive  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  Commonwealth  a  certificate,  which  shall 
be  countersigned  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Agriculture,  showing  that  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act  have  been  complied  with. 
Penalties  for  Non-Compliance. 

?  3.  Any  jier.sons  selling,  offering,  or  ex- 
posing for  sale  any  commercial  fertilizer 
without  the  analysis  required  by  section  one 
of  this  act,  or  with  an  analysis  stating  that  it 
contains  a  larger  percentage  of  any  one  or 
more  of  the  above  named  constituents  than  is 
contained  therein,  or  for  the  sale  of  which  all 
the  provisions  of  section  two  have  not  been 
complied  with,  shall  he  deemed  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  and  on  conviction  shall  forfeit 
a  sum  not  less  than  twenty-five  and  not 
exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  first 
offence,  and  not  less  than  two  hundred  dol- 
lars for  each  subsequent  offence,  one-half  of 
which  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  informer  and 
the  remainder  for  the  county  in  which  the 
conviction  is  secured  :  Prnvidfd,  Said  inform- 
er be  the  purchaser  and  the  goods  be  for  his 
own  use. 

Who  Shall  Make  the  Analysis. 

?  4.  It  shall  ))ethe  duty  of  the  Board  of  Ag- 
riculture to  analyze  such  specimens  of  com- 
mercial fortilizprs  as  may  be  furnished  by  its 
agents,  .said  samples  to  be  accompanied  with 
proper  proof,  under  oath  or  afllrmation,  that 
they  were  fairly  drawn  ;  the  fee  for  such  anal- 
ysis .shall  be  determined  by  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Isoard,  and  be  based  upon  a 
fixed  rate  for  each  dotermination,  shall  in  no 
case  exceed  seventy-five  per  centum  of  the 
usual  price  paid  for  such  services,  and  shall 
be  payable  from  the  Treasury  of  the  Common- 
wealth in  the  manner  as  now  provided  by  law. 
What  is  to  be  Done  with  the  Money. 

? .').  The  money  paid  into  the  treasury 
under  the  provisions  ot  this  act  shall  consti- 
tute a  special  fund  from  which  the  cost  of 
such  analyses  shall  be  paid  :  Prm'ided,  That 
the  total  amount  thus  expended  in  any  one 
year  shall  in  no  case  exceed  the  amount  paid 
into  the  treasury  during  the  same  year,  and 
that  any  moneys  remaining  in  this  special 
fund  at  the  end  of  the  year  shall  be  passed 
into  the  general  fund  for  the  use  of  the  State. 
What  is  Meant  by  "Commercial  Fertilizers." 

?  6.  The  temi  "conmiercial  fertilizers,"  as 
u.sed  in  this  act,  shall  be  taken  to  mean  any 
and  evci^y  substance  imported,  manufactured, 
prepared  or  sold  for  fertilizing  or  manuring 
purposes,  except  barnyard  manure,  marl, 
lime,  and  wood  ashes,  and  not  exempt  by  the 
provisions  of  section  one  of  this  act. 

When  the  Law  becomes   Operative. 

?7.  This  act  shall  go  into  effect  on  and 
after  the  first  day  of  August,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-nine. 

Approved— June  28,  1879,  by  Governor 
Hoyt.  ^^ 

TOBACCO  CULTURE  IN  LANCASTER 
,  COUNTY. 
Less  than  four  hundred  years  ago  tobacco 
was  imknown  to  the  people  of  the  Old  World. 
During  this  period  no  less  than  800.000,000  of 
people  have  learned  to  use  it,  and  the  annual 
]iroduction  has  reached  the  cnonnous  amount 
of  2,000,000,000  pounds.  No  other  narcotic 
is  so  universally  used,  and  its  production  is 
yearly  increased  to  meet  the  growing  con- 
sumption.   That  an  agricultural  product  not 


ii8 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[August, 


a  necessity  to  the  human  race  should  in  such 
a  comparatively  brief  period  increase  to  such 
vast  proportions  is  little  less  than  marvelous. 
It  almost  seems  to  imply  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  man's  nature  for  mild  stimulants  of 
Sjme  sort. 

Its  Culture  in  the  Olden  Time. 

Tobacco-growing  in  Pennsylvania  is  not  an 
affair  of  recent  years.  There  was  not  a  colony 
of  the  original  thirteen  that  did  not  begin 
the  business  at  an  early  day,  and  in  this  State 
the  culture  soon  reached  considerable  propoi-- 
tions.  In  1689  fourteen  vessels  sailed  from 
the  colony  of  Penn  laden  with  this  commodity. 
In  the  year  1729,  the  time  Lancaster  county 
was  erected,  the  tobacco  product  of  the  colo- 
nies, South  and  North,  gave  employment  to 
300  sailing  crafts  of  various  kinds,  represent- 
ing a  tonnage  of  24,000  tons  and  amounting 
in  value  to  S3,000,000.  The  price  then  was 
fixed  by  the  Government ;  in  1617  it  was  three 
shillings  per  pound,  but  thirty  years  later  it 
had  fallen  as  low  as  sixpence. 

The  Tobacco  Country  of  the  World. 

The  United  States  may  be  regarded  as  the 
great  tobacco-growing  country  of  the  world. 
It  can  be  grown  in  every  one  of  the  States. 
From  the  beginning  in  Virginia,  this  country 
has  now  reached  a  production  of  four  hundred 
million  pounds,  worth  about  $33,000,000  in 
its  manufactured  state.  Fully  fifty  thousand 
persons  are  employed  in  its  manufacture, 
earning  $14,000,000  in  wages  and  turning  out 
a  product  worth  $72,000,000.  Tobacco  ranks 
sixth  on  the  list  of  our  exports,  and  last  year 
we  sent  abroad  about  $50,000,000  worth. 
Germany  is  our  best  customer,  but  Great 
Britain  follows  closely. 

Qualities  of  the  Weed. 

Wliile  tobacco  can  be  grown  in  almost  every 
country,  there  are  some  especially  adapted  to 
it.  Climate,  soil,  and  skillful  manipulation 
are  the  chief  factors  in  its  successful  growth  ; 
the  latter  two  are  of  paramount  importance. 
The  Vuelta  Abajo  of  Cuba  is  everywhere 
known  for  its  flavor,  while  Pennsylvania  and 
Connecticut  are  noted  for  certain  qualities 
possessed  by  the  tobaccos  grown  by  them. 
The  tobacQO  of  the  Northern  States  is  called 
seedleaf,  and  is  almost  exclusively  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  segars.  That  of  the  great  to- 
bacco growing  States  of  the  South  is  far 
different  in  quality  and  chiefly  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  chewing  tobaccos.  The  former 
is  softer  and  silkier  in  texture,  while  the  lat- 
ter is  stronger  in  flavor,  thicker,  and  as  a  rule 
contains  more  gum,  and  so  is  better  adapted 
to  the  purpose  for  wliich  it  is  employed. 
What  Fashion  Has  Done. 

The  growing  of  tobacco  in  Lancaster  county 
has  been  going  on  in  a  desultory  sort  of  a 
way  for  thirty-five  or  forty  years.  In  early 
days  the  rural  population  lived  in  blissful 
ignorance  of  internal  revenue  laws,  and  the 
tobacco  was  generally  converted  into  segars 
by  the  local  segarmaker  for  home  consump- 
tion, and  if  there  was  a  surplus,  sold  outright 
to  him.  There  is  no  way  of  arriving  at  an 
estimate  of  the  production  twenty-five  years 
ago,  but  tlie  amount  was  insignificant  along- 
side the  crops  of  the  present  day.  It  was  not 
until  about  twenty  years  ago  that  our  farmers 
entered  upon  its  cultivation  on  a  large  scale. 
The  war  contributed  its  share  towards  this 
end,  and  fashion  did  fully  as  much.  Connec- 
ticut had  long  been  famous  for  the  quality  of 
the  tobacco  grown  in  the  Valley  of  the  Housa- 
tonic.  Its  fine,  large  leaves  of  admirable 
color  and  texture  often  commanded  as  much 
as  seventy-five  cents  per  pound,  while  forty 
and  fifty  cents  were  no  unusal  prices.  The 
demand  in  those  days  by  smokers  was  gener- 
ally for  light-colored  segars,  and  this  condi- 
tion the  Connecticut  tobacco  filled  to  perfec- 
tion. But  the  inexorable  law  of  fashion 
stepped  forward  and  demanded  segars  of  a 
rich  brown.  The  Lancaster  tobacco  met  this 
want,'"and  fashion  has  for  once  been  stable  ; 
dark-colored  segars  still  command  the  readiest 
sale,  and  the  production  of  this  class  of  to- 
bacco has  progressed  steadily.    Color  is  not 


all  that  renders  this  tobacco  desirable.  The 
segar  manufacturer  requires  a  leaf  of  good 
size,  soft,  tough  and  elastic,  but  not  leathery 
in  quality,  of  which  the  veins  shall  be  small 
and  not  light  in  color,  and  that  shall  when 
consumed  yield  a  clear  white  ash.  These 
conditions  Lancaster  county  leaf  supplies  in 
a  favorable  season. 

Preparing  the  Plant  Beds. 

The  beds  for  planting  out  the  seed  are  pre- 
pared towards  the  latter  end  of  February  or 
early  in  March,  if  the  season  will  allow.  An 
early  plant  is  generally  considered  desirable. 
A  warm  spot  with  an  eastern  and  southern 
exposure  is  best.  Generally,  but  not  always,, 
weeds,  brush,  cornstalks,  or  similar  substauces 
are  burnt  over  it  and  the  ashes  raked  over 
the  bed.  It  is  deeply  spaded,  twelve  inches 
or  more,  and  enriched  by  a  liberal  application 
of  barnyard  manure.  A  warm,  mellow  soil 
is  indispensable  to  the  growth  of  fine,  strong 
plants.  Being  very  minute,  a  heaped  tea- 
spoonful  of  seed  is  sufficient  to  sow  a  bed  cov- 
ering one  hundred  square  feet.  Care  must  be 
taken  not  to  get  the  seed  too  deep  or  it  will 
not  germinate.  If  the  weather  is  warm,  with 
soft,  frequent  showers,  the  plants  come  on 
rapidly.  Some  are  raised  under  cold  frames, 
which  secure  them  against  frosts  and  have 
other  advantages,  but  in  most  cases  the  beds 
are  open ;  these  latter  yield  the  hardiest 
plants. 

Setting  Out  the  Plants. 

The  tobacco  field  must  be  thoroughly  pre- 
pared ;  sometimes  the  ground  is  ploughed  in 
the  fall,  but  generally  not  until  spring,  and  it 
is  heavily  manured.  This  manure  is  not  lost, 
for  when  wheat  is  sown — the  crop  that  always 
follows  tobacco — the  yield  is  commonly  ex- 
cellent. Barnyard  manure  is  preferred  to  all 
other.  Eye  turned  down  also  makes  an  ex- 
cellent fertilizer.  Too  much  care  cannot  be 
used  in  putting  the  ground  into  fine  condition. 
As  the  roots  of  tobacco  go  down  deeply  the 
ploughing  must  be  deep,  and  the  finer  and 
more  friable  the  soil  the  better. 

Requires  Constant  Attention. 

If  the  weather  has  been  favorable  the  plants 
will  be  ready  to  set  out  by  the  latter  end  of 
May  or  the  first  of  June,  while  the  planting 
season  continues  until  the  25th  of  the  latter 
month.  With  the  setting  out  of  the  young 
plants  the  farmer's  troubles  begin.  The 
plants  are  set  in  rows  twenty-four  or  thirty 
inches  apart,  the  rows  being  from  three  to 
four  feet  asunder.  Advantage  is  taken  of  a 
warm,  soaking  rain  to  set  out  plants.  They 
require  moisture,  and  if  dry  weather  sets  in 
must  be  watered.  The  cut  worms  at  once  begin 
their  depredations.  Some  seasons  they  neces- 
sitate two  or  even  more  replantings.  The 
ground  must  be  continually  cultivated  to 
destroy  weeds  and  give  the  roots  air.  This 
is  continued  until  the  leaves  attain  such  a 
size  as  to  prevent  the  passage  of  horse  and 
cultivator  between  the  rows,  and  then  the 
hoe  must  be  employed  until  the  crop  is  cut. 
Meanwhile  the  hawk-moth  has  not  been  idle  ; 
when  evening  comes  it  sails  over  the  fields  de- 
positing its  eggs  on  the  leaves,  which  in  a 
brief  time  develop  into  the  tobacco  worms. 
Two  or  three  times  a  week — daily  would  still 
be  better— boys  go  through  the  rows,  careful- 
ly examine  every  leaf,  and  when  the  worm  is 
found  kill  him.  A  few  holes  in  a  fine  leaf 
destroy  its  value  as  a  "wrapper,"  and  con- 
sign it  to  a  lower  grade.  Turkeys  are  good 
destroyers  of  these  worms.  The  hunt  for 
worms  must  not  be  relaxed  until  the  tobacco 
becomes  ripe.  The  worms  continues  their 
ravages  while  it  remains  standing  in  the  field. 
Time  of   Ripening. 

Suckers  also  make  their  appearance.  If 
left,  they  crowd  the  leaves  and  appropriate 
the  vitality  of  the  stalk.  Towards  the  latter 
part  of  July  or  the  first  of  August,  a  plume  or 
shoot  appears  at  the  top  of  the  plant,  known 
as  the  seed  bud.  This  is  pinched  off,  as  the 
stalk  would  bleed  too  much  if  it  were  cut. 
How  low  to  top  the  plant  is  a  very  important 
matter.  Low  topping  results  in  a  larger 
development  of  leaf.    From  twelve  to  four- 


teen leaves  are  generally  left  on  the  stalk ; 
they  are  enough,  if  fine  leaves  are  desired. 
Tobacco  matures  in  from  one  hundred  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  days  from  the  time  of 
planting. 

Cutting  and  Housing. 

In  September  the  greater  portion  of  the  crop 
is  harvested,  but  last  year  I  saw  some  cut  on 
July  11  that  had  been  planted  on  April  10. 
The  more  rapidly  it  attains  maturity  the 
better  the  crop  ;  slow  growth  makes  it  thick 
and  leathery.  Certain  indications,  well 
known  to  the  planter,  tell  when  it  is  ripe. 
The  plants  are  cut  off  at  the  ground  ;  some- 
times they  are  hung  up  in  the  field  several 
days  to  wilt,  but  more  commonly  they  are  at 
once  taken  to  the  tobacco-barns,  to  be  hung 
up  and  undergo  a  curing  process.  If  hung 
too  closely  together  they  will  mould  and  rot ; 
if  hung  too  wide  apart  valuable  space  is  lost. 
The  Tobacco  Barns. 

The  tobacco  barn  is  a  high,  commodious 
building  of  timber,  closely  put  together,  with 
either  a  perpendicular  or  horizontal  method 
of  ventilation,  the  latter  being  preferable. 
Twenty  years  ago,  stables,  wagon-sheds  and 
even  the  dwelling  were  used  to  hang  up  the 
tobacco  in.  In  1868  upwards  of  two  hundred 
tobacco  barns  were  built,  at  an  estimated  cost 
of  from  $150,000  to  $200,000.  In  these  barns 
the  stalks  hang  until  the  moisture  is  dried  out 
and  the  process  of  curing  is  complete.  Damp 
weather  is  selected  for  taking  them  down  and 
stripping  the  leaves.  They  are  then  tied  up 
into  "hands"  and  these  into  larger  bundles, 
and  are  then  ready  for  the  buyer. 
Who  Buys  the  Product. 

Buyers  come  from  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans  and  San 
Francisco.  The  leaf  is  generally  assorted  into 
two  kinds  or  qualities,  wrappers  and  fillers, 
although  some  planters  make  three  and  four 
classes.  A  careful  assortment  is  always  to  a 
grower's  advantage.  During  the  past  season 
fillers  sold  from  two  to  eight  cents,  and  wrap- 
pers from  eight  to  thirty-five.  The  price  has 
fluctuated  much  in  diflerent  years.  In  1861 
it  was  five  and  six  cents  ;  in  '64  and  '65,  from 
twenty  to  thirty-fiye  cents,  and  was  again  in 
'66  down  to  five  and  six.  Good  tobacco  may 
be  spoiled  in  the  handling,  while  a  poor  crop 
may  be  vastly  improved  by  careful  manipula- 
tion. 

Extent  of  the  Crop. 

It  is  packed  into  cases  by  the  purchaser,  each 
case  containing  about  four  hundred  pounds. 
The  crop  of  this  county  is  estimated  in  cases, 
not  hogsheads,  as  is  the  custom  in  the  South. 
The  crop  of  the  county  in  1878  was  about 
30,000  cases,  and  for  the  whole  State  38,750 
cases.  In  1877  we  grew  about  41,000  cases  in 
this  county  alone,  and  even  exceeded  that 
figure  in  previous  years.  A  crop  of  40,000 
cases  represents  16,000,000  pounds,  far  sur- 
passing any  other  single  county  in  the  United 
States.  Christian  county,  Kentucky,  in  1875, 
grew  9,313,950  pounds,  the  nearest  approach 
that  has  ever  been  made  to  this  county's  pro- 
duction. 

The  Yield  in  Pounds  and  Dollars. 

The  average  yield  per  acre  in  1877  was 
1,380  pounds,  but  under  favorable  circum- 
stances as  many  as  2,500  pounds  have  been 
grown.  As  much  as  five  hundred  dollars 
have  been  realized  from  a  single  acre,  while 
three  hundred  dollars  and  four  hundred  dol- 
lars are  not  unusual  figures.  Still,  the  aver- 
age is  not  the  half  of  that,  after  the  great 
cost  of  planting,  manuring,  and  preparing  the 
crop  for  market  is  considered.  The  growth 
of  fine  tobacco,  however,  is  still  in  its  infancy 
among  us,  and  we  will  improve  our  product 
and  prices  as  the  years  roll  away.  The  value 
of  our  crop  in  1876  was  $2,400,000,  and  in 
1877  $1,760,000,  a  sum  perhaps  double  that 
produced  by  any  county  in  the  Union,  and 
approaching  those  realized  from  wheat  and 
corn  themselves.  Yet  this  large  sum  was 
derived  from  the  comparatively  small  number 
of  9,565  acres.  If  the  entire  surface  of  the 
county   were  planted   in  tobacco,  our  yield 


1879.] 

would  be  equal  to  that  of  the  whole  United 
States  at  the  present  day. 

Amount  Consumed  at  Home. 

The  entire  production  of  seed  leaf  in  the 
country  is  about  130,000  cases,  of  which  we 
supply  at  least  30  per  cent.  Of  the  above, 
about  4-2,000  cases  are  sent  to  foreign 
countries,  and  88,000  cases  are  consumed  at 
home.  As  was  to  be  expected,  this  large 
production  of  tobacco  in  Lancaster  county  haa 
stimulated  the  growth  of  the  segar  manufac- 
turing industry  to  an  unusual  degree.  A  large 
number  of  establishments  are  in  operation  and 
their  production  was,  for  the  fiscal  year  end- 
ing June  30th.  1878,  103,204,300  segars.  No 
less  tlian  6,500  cases,  or  nearly  3,000,000  of 
pounds  of  the  weed,  were  used  in  making 
them.  The  revenue  derived  from  this  source 
alone  by  the  Government,  in  this,  the  Ninth 
Internal  Revenue  District,  during  the  last 
year,  was  S(510,585.80,  the  amount  from  all 
other  sources  being  only  one-third  of  that  sum. 
Lancaster  County's  Segar  Industry. 

The  following  are  the  figures  showing  the 
Internal  Revenue  collections  in  the  Ninlli 
District  of  Tennsylvania,  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30th,  1879.  Particular  attentior. 
is  directed  to  the  item  of  segars,  as  showing 
the  immense  proportion  of  that  industry  in 
this  district : 

Whisky «  93,527  94 

Tobacco  and  Segars        ....      729,'.;71  53 

Beer 24,094  48 

Banks 18,257  97 

Penalties 5,113  03 

Total  collections         ....    8870,264  95 

Tax  collected  on  116,811,000  cigars 
amounting  to  ....        $700,866  00 

Excess  of  collections  over  last  fiscal 

year ?  66,458  02 

Is  the  Crop  Exhausting  .' 

There  has  been  much  said  about  the  ex- 
hausting nature  of  the  crop,  but  opinions  are 
pretty  evenly  divided  on  the  point.  Little 
danger,  I  think,  need  be  apprehended  from 
this  source.  The  average  put  out  by  each 
farmer  is  generally  small,  and  they  understand 
tlie  character  of  their  soil  too  well  to  let  it  run 
down  through  tobacco  planting.  If  it  shall 
be  found,  after  a  series  of  years,  that  their 
lands  are  becoming  less  productive,  they  will 
assuredly  grow  less  tobacco  or  buy  more  ferti- 
lizers. It  has  made  a  rich  county  still  richer, 
and  I  do  not  believe  the  influx  of  wealth  from 
this  source  will  soon  come  to  an  end,  any 
more  than  will  her  overwhelming  Republican 
majorities.— i*'.   E.  Diffenderffer,  in  Progress. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


119 


THE  BLACK  BASS. 

Practical  Hints  on  Fish  and  Fishing. 

The  black  bass  is  called  by  plenty  of  hard 
names  by  the  scientists.  Ccntrarchus  fasciatus, 
Gristes  nigricans,  Microptcriis  nigricans,  are 
some  of  them,  while  the  common  people  call 
him  more  familiary,  but  no  less  variously. 
Black  Bass,  Green  Bass,  Oswego  Bass,  Swago, 
Yellow  Perch,  and.Black  Perch,  and  in  some 
parts  of  tlie  countiy  even  Trout ;  yet  he  has 
lived  through  it  all,  and  is  a  Black  Bass  still ; 
fish  most  desirable  on  hook  or  plate,  and  of 
deserved  and  growing  popularity. 

When  the  salmon  had  been  caught  and 
driven  from  almost  their  last  river  in  the 
Eastern  States,  and  the  trout  had  become 
scarce  in  all  but  the  least  accessible  ponds  and 
streams  of  the  wilderness,  the  black  bass 
awoke  one  spring  from  his  deep  water  hiber- 
nation to  find  himself  famous.  Heretofore 
he  had  been  thought  a  good  fellow  enough, 
worth  fishing  for  when  the  noble  Kalmonides 
were  not  to  be  had,  and  when  caught,  well 
worth  dressing  and  bringing  to  the  table, 
where  he  was  held  to  be  at  his  best.  Now,  he 
ranks 

Second  Only  to  the  Salmon  and  Larger  Trout 
for  game  qualities;  and  column  after  column 
of  sporting  journals,  and  page  on  page  of 
sporting  books,  are  devoted  to  his  praise,  de- 
scription, habits,  and  the  methods  of  his  cap- 


ture. It  may  be  stated,  as  a  measure  of  the 
growth  of  his  popularity,  that  Frank  Forrest- 
er, in  his  "Fish  and  Fishing,"  published 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  gives  him  less 
than  two  pages  and  a  faulty  portrait ;  while 
Hallock  devotes  to  him  sixteen  pages  of  his 
Sportsman'' s  Gazetteer,  published  in  1877, 
wherein  he  gives  a  careful  comparative  de- 
scription o(  the  two  varieties,  Micropterus 
salmoides  and  Micropterus  nigricans. 

These  fish  are  also  favorites  with  fish  cul- 
turists,  because  of  the  rapidity  with  which 
they  multiply  in  almost  all  waters  when  intro- 
duced, which  is  done,  not  by  planting  the  fry, 
as  with  most  other  artificially  propagated 
fishes,  but  by  letting  loose  in  the  pond  or 
stream  to  be  stocked  some  adults  abundantly 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  at  once 
ready  to  give  birth  to  and  assume  the  care  of 
a  numerous  progeny.  The  spiny  dorsal  fin  is 
a  defensive  armor  which  Insures  the  young 
fish,  for  the  most  part,  fi-om  the  attacks  of 
other  predatory  fishes,  and  they  soon  grow  to 
an  ability  to  hold  their  own  with"any,in  more 
than  mere  defense.  The  rapid  increase  of  the 
black  bass  in  many  ponds  where  they  have 
been  introduced,  especially  where  small,  soft- 
finned  fishes  abound,  is  almost  marvelous.  I 
cannot  find  or  give  a  better 

Description  of  Black  Bass 
than  that  furnished  by  Thompson  in  the  Nat- 
ural History  Department  of  his  "Vermont:" 
"Form,  somewhat  elliptical,  a  little  convex 
on  the  sides  and  pointed  forwards.  Color, 
dark  greenish  above,  lighter  and  grayish  white 
beneath;  sides  of  the  head  fine,  light  green. 
Scales  firm,  moderate  on  the  sides  and  oper- 
culum. Properculum,  with  its  upper  limb 
nearly  vertical  and  nearly  at  right  angles  with 
the  lower,  without  spines  or  serratures.  In- 
teroperculum  and  suboperculum  scaly  on  the 
upper  side  and  smooth  below.  Operculum  tri- 
angular, with  a  membranous  prolongation 
posteriorly,  and  the  bony  part  terminating 
posteriorly  in  two  thin  lobes,  with  a  deep 
notch  between  them,  the  lower  lobe,  which  is 
largest,  ending  in  several  short  spines.  Teeth 
small,  sharp  and  numerous  in  both  jaws,  on 
the  lower  anterior  edges  of  the  palatine 
and  on  the  vomer,  with  a  small  cluster  near 
the  base  of  the  triangular  tongue, all  standing 
like  the  pile  on  velvet,  but  hooking  a  little  in- 
ward, those  on  the  .jaws  largest.  Fins  small, 
brownish,  and  their  soft  parts  covered  with  a 
rather  thick  mucous  skin  ;  the  dorsal  round- 
ed behind,  low  at  the  junction  of  the 
spinous  and  soft  parts,  and  the  spinous  rays 
capable  of  being  reclined,  imbricated  and 
concealed  in  a  longitudinal  groove  along  the 
back;  ventrals  a  little  behind  the  pectorals ; 
the  anal  under  the  posterior  portion  of  the 
dorsal,  and  extending  a  little  further  back: 
tail  slightly  emarginate  with  the  lobes  round- 
ed. Vent  a  trifle  nearest  the  posterior  ex- 
tremity. Eyes  moderately  large.  Lower 
jaw  a  trifle  longer  than  the  upper,  with  seve- 
ral visible  pores  along  its  margin.  Length, 
nineteen  inches  ;  the  greatest  depth  equals 
one-third  of  the  length,  exclusive  of  the 
tail." 

The  Spawning  Season. 

These  fish  begin  to  spawn  here,  in  Lake 
Champlain  and  its  tributaries,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  May  (sometimes  a  little  earlier),  and  I 
am  sure  all  have  not  finished  this  labor  before 
the  middle  of  June.  Of  three  black  bass 
which  I  examined  on  the  20th  of  May,  the 
ova  of  one  were  ripe ;  of  another  they  lacked 
a  week  or  more  of  being  so  ;  and  those  of  the 
third  had  the  appearance  of  being  at  least 
three  weeks  short  of  maturity.  A  few  days 
later  I  heard  of  beds  in  the  same  stream 
where  they  were  caught,  that  were  black  with 
newly-hatched  fry.  The  eggs  from  which  they 
came  must  have  been  laid  at  least  ten  days 
before.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some  that  the  fish 
which  have  come  to  their  first  season  of  ma- 
turity spawn  considerably  later,  say  up  to  the 
middle  of  July;  and  what  I  saw  in  three  in- 
dividuals above  mentioned  would  go  to 
strengthen  this  opinion;  for  the  eggs  in  the 
smallest  spawner  were  least  developed,  but 
1  would  certainly  have  been  ripe  this  season. 


Bass  leave  deep  water  to  spawn,  and  come 
into  the  sliallow  water  of  tlie  lake,  and  into 
such  streams  as  suit  them  for  that  purpose. 
They  desert  sluggisli  water  with  a  muddy  bot- 
tom, but  are  not  unfrequently  caught  therein 
on  their  way  to  a  more  congenial  nursery. 

Protecting  their  Progeny. 

Tliey  scoop  a  shallow  basin  for  their  spawn- 
ing bed  about  twice  the  length  of  the  fish  in 
diameter,  and  in  this  the  spawn  is  deposited, 
attaching  itself  to  the  bottom  ;  and  till  hatch- 
ing, is  carefully  guarded  by  the  female, 
who  fights  off  all  intruders,  and  carefully 
removes  everything  which,  by  chance  or 
design,  is  cast  ui)on  it.  This  habit  is 
turned  to  evil  account  by  pot  fishermen, 
who,  finding  a  bed,  drop  into  it  a  hook,  light- 
ly baited  with  a  worm,  or  even  naked,  which 
the  fish  at  once  seizes,  to  carry  ofi"  to  the 
sacred  precincts;  but  before  she  has  time  to 
drop  it,  is  liooked  and  landed,  while  the  eggs 
or  n(!wly-hatched  fry  arc  left  to  be  devoured 
by  tlie  first  predatory  fish  that  chances  to 
come  upon  them. 

Inside  of  twelve  days  the  eggs  are  hatched, 
and  for  a  time  the  female  vigilantly  guards  her 
young,  continually  swimming  about  her 
swarming  brood,  little  fellows  as  black  as  a 
fresh  hatching  of  poUywogs.  It  is  said  that 
in  a  few  days  tliey  scatter  into  deep  water  and 
are  seen  no  more  until  September;  but  I  have 
seen  young  ones,  not  more  than  two  inches 
long,  in  the  middle  of  .sofl-finned  minnows  as 
large  as  themselves. 

Proper  Bait  end  Tackle. 

Bass  are  much  fished  for  as  soon  as  they 
come  on  their  spawning  ground.s,  and  many 
are  taken  then  ;  but  bass  fishing  should  not 
properly  or  lawfully  begin  tilll  the  spawning 
season  is  over,  say  the  ist  of  July,  or  certain- 
ly not  earlier  than  the  middle  of  June.  The 
baits  used  are  various;  worms,  grasshoppers, 
frogs,  minnows,  the  villanous,  looking  dob- 
son  or  helgramite,  and  for  artifical  lures,  a 
rubber  imitation  of  the  last-named,  spoons, 
and  flies  of  various  colors.  The  spoon  is 
used  only  for  trolling  from  a  boat  with  a  hand 
line  or  rod  and  reel,  or  walking  along  the 
shore  or  bank,  when  a  rod  must  of  course 
be  used.  Of  all  baits,  the  minnow  is  probably 
the  most  killing. 

For  bait  fishing,  a  light  rod  and  tackle 
must  be  used  if  sport  is  the  object.  The  pot- 
fisherman  may  attain  his  end  with  a  sapling 
and  a  line  half  as  big  as  a  pipestem.  The 
common  practice  of  our  anglers  is  to  hook  the 
minnow  through  lightly  from  side  to  side  just 
forward  of  the  first  dorsal,  in  which  way  he 
will  live  longest  and  swim  most  naturally — a 
cruel  business;  but  tliere  is  more  or  less 
cruelty  in  all  sports  of  the  rod  and  gun,  and 
where  shall  we  draw  the  line  ? 

How  to  Hook  Them. 

Now  cast  line  gently  alongside  a  shelving 
bank,  or  where  the  drooping  branches  of  a 
willow  ripple  the  smooth  current,  or  in  the 
eddy  that  swirls  below  a  tree-root  or  half-sub- 
merged log.  The  bass  sees  an  easy  victim, 
dallies  with  it  a  little,  sets  his  teeth  therein, 
and  then  starts  off  to  enjoy  his  easily-gotten 
morsel  in  some  chosen  nook.  Give  him  a 
little  time,  and  then  take  your  own.  You 
have  him  hooked;  and  if  you  deal  gently  with 
him,  giving  way  to  no  rash  impulse,  he  is 
yours  to  have  and  to  hold  in  creel  and  in  pan. 
In  trolling  for  him  a  small  spoon  is  best. 
When  a  bass  will  take  the  fly,  ho  affords  a 
sport  almost  as  noble  as  do  the  salmon  and 
trout.  A  large  fly  is  used,  of  a  dark  color  for 
clear  water,  but  more  showy  for  turbid  water. 
In  whatever  way  taken  with  the  hook,  he  is  a 
hard  fighter,  throwing  himself  now  two  or 
three  feet  out  of  water,  now  running  up  the 
line  at  topmost  speed,  full  of  devices,  and 
game  to  the  last  gasp,  and  it  needs  a  cool  head 
and  a  skillful  hand  to  bring  him  to  basket; 
and  lie  who  brings  him  there  safely,  and  surely, 
and  scientifically,  may  rightly  feel  a  thrill  of 
luide  and  satisfaction.— i?.  K  Bohinson  in 
Moort'^s  Rural  Life. 


120 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  August, 


THE  BRITISH  WHEAT    FIELDS  OF 
THE  NORTHWEST. 

The  greatest  wlieat-growing  region  in  the 
world  is  now  being  opened  to  settlement. 
The  largest  and  most  productive  portion  lies 
within  the  British  province  of  Manitoba,  in 
North  America.  It  is  sufficiently  prolific 
when  fairly  cultivated  to  make  England  inde- 
pendent of  the  United  States  for  breadstufEs, 
and  to  create  a  powerful  rivalry  with  us 
elsewhere.  On  both  banks  of  the  Red  river  of 
the  North,  from  its  source  to  its  entrance  into 
Lake  Winnipeg,  and  on  both  sides  of  the 
international  boundary  between  Canada  and 
the  Uuited  States  exists  this  territory. 
Thence  the  fertile  belt,  of  which  it  is  the 
western  extremity,  sweeps  in  a  northwestern 
direction  some  300  miles  along  the  course  of 
the  two  Saskatchewan  rivers,  and  forward  to 
the  Rocky  mountains  of  the  West,  embracing 
an  area,  says  a  writer  in  The  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, of  at  least  200,000,000  acres;  nearly  the 
whole  of  which  is  to-day  an  untouched  prairie 
of  the  richest  description.  Since  the  con- 
struction of  the  Northern  Pacific  railway  has 
been  resumed  this  region  has  been  made 
accessible  by  the  trunk  line  and  lateral  roads 
to  immigrants.  Within  a  few  years  the  city 
of  Winnipeg,  at  the  junction  of  the  Red  river 
and  the  Assiniboine,  has  sprung  up  from  an 
Indian  post  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to 
be  a  well-built  town  of  8,000  inhabitants ; 
steamers  have  been  introduced  into  the  two 
rivers  that  unite  at  her  wharves,  and  a  con- 
tinuous railway  460  miles  long  connects  this 
Canadian  city  with  St.  Paul,  the  capital  of 
Minnesota.  In  seven  month  ending  March  31, 
1878,  there  were  sold  by  the  United  Scates 
Government  and  the  railways  in  Minnesota 
and  Northern  Dakotah  2,550,000  acres  for 
actual  and  immediate  settlement.  In  Mani- 
toba, across  the  Canadian  boundaiy,  3,000,- 
000  acres  of  wheat  land  were  allotted  last 
year  to  actual  settlers  in  this  province  alone. 
The  settlers  in  the  Red  river  region  are  of  the 
most  substantial  character — well-to-do  farm- 
ers from  the  older  States,  from  Iowa, 
Wisconsin,  from  Canada  and  especially  from 
the  best  parts  of  Ontario.  The  dominant 
nationalities  settling  on  the  Minnesota  farms 
are  Americans,  Scandinavians  and  Canadians 
in  about  equal  proportions. 

They  have  been  attracted  to  this  remote 
part  of  the  Northwest  by  the  peculiar  advan- 
tages of  its  soil  for  wheat-growing.  Thirty 
bushels  to  the  acre  is  the  average,  while  it 
often  yields  forty  and  fifty  bushels.  Thirty 
bushels  to  the  acre  of  the  first  crop  clears  all 
outlay  up  to  that  time,  returns  the  capital  in- 
vested and  leaves  a  first-rate  fenced  farm  in  a 
high  state  of  cultivation  for  succeeding 
agricultural  employment.  "Where  else," 
says  the  writer  to  whom  we  have  referred,  "is 
there  a  business  that  in  twelve  months  repays 
all  advances  of  its  purchase  and  establish- 
ment, and  leaves  as  a  profit  a  money  return 
and  plant  worth  four  times  the  original 
outlay?  It  is  this  enormous  profit  that  is 
bringing  so  many  heavy  capitalists  into  the 
ranks  of  this  novel  immigration,  and  inducing 
men  who  have  already  worked  themselves 
into  a  good  position  to  abandon  for  a  time 
the  amenities  of  a  settled  life  and  embark 
once  more  in  pioneer  farming."  A  Mr. 
Dalrymple,  in  1877,  had  8,000  acres  under 
cultivation.  They  yielded  him  twenty-five 
bushels  to  the  acre,  or  over  200,000  bushels. 
His  total  outlay  for  seed,  cultivation,  harvest- 
ing and  threshing  was  under  SIO  per  acre, 
leaving  him  a  margin  of  over  S15,  or  S120,000 
on  his  8,000  acres.  This  was  in  Minnesota  ; 
but  north  of  the  Canadian  line  they  get  a  much 
larger  yield  than  this,  and  in  twenty-seven 
miles  along  the  Assiniboine  river  in  1877  over 
400,000  bushels  were  harvested  that  averaged 
considerably  over  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre. 
In  the  Northwestern  Provinces  of  Canada 
wheat  often  produces  forty  and  fifty  bushels 
to  the  acre,  while  in  South  Minnesota  twenty 
bushels  is  the  average  crop,  in  Wisconsin  only 
fourteen,  in  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  fifteen. 
Cultivated  plants  yield  the  greatest  products 
pear  the  northernmost  limits  at  which  they 


grow.  In  Prince  Albert  and  other  new 
settlements  on  the  Saskatchewan  forty  bushels 
of  spring  wheat  to  the  acre,  averaging  sixty- 
three  pounds  to  the  bushel,  have  been  raised. 
In  the  Southern  latitudes  the  warm  spring 
develops  the  juices  of  the  plants  too  rapidly. 
They  run  into  stalk  and  leaf,  to  the  detriment 
of  the  seed. 

The  extent  of  this  enormous  and  rich 
British  territory  is  comparatively  unknown  in 
the  United  States.  It  is  estimated  at  2,984,- 
000  square  miles,  whilst  the  whole  of  the 
United  States  south  of  the  international 
boundary  contains  2,933,600  square  miles.  In 
its  centre  is  Lake  Winnipeg,  three  hundred 
miles  long,  fifty  to  sixty  miles  wide — the  future 
Black  sea  of  Canada.  At  three  of  its  four 
corners  it  receives  the  water  of  a  large  river, 
the  main  trunk  of  a  hundred  smaller  ones  ; 
at  the  remaining  northeast  angle  a  fourth  and 
larger  river,  the  Dardanelles  of  the  system, 
conveys  the  accumulated  waters  of  nearly  a 
million  square  miles  into  Hudson's  bay.  This 
Lake  Winipeg  receives  the  drainage  of  the 
futm-e  wheat  field  of  the  world.  The  Sas- 
katchewan from  its  debouchure  into  the  lake 
eastward  from  the  Rocky  mountains  by  one 
branch  runs  over  a  course  of  1,054  miles  and 
by  the  other  1,092.  One  of  the  branches  has 
been  navigated  by  steam  over  1,000  miles  and 
the  other  nearly  the  same  distance.  The  two 
Saskatchewaus  drain  what  is  especially  known 
as  the  "fertile  belt,"  containing  not  less  than 
90,000,000  acres  of  as  fine  wheat  land  as  can 
be  found  in  any  country.  Through  their 
whole  length  they  run  through  prairie  land. 
The  united  length  of  the  three  main  rivers, 
with  their  most  important  affluents,  that  pour 
their  accumulated  waters  into  Lake  Winnipeg 
is  not  less  than  10,000  miles.  The  outlet  of 
this  magnificent  water-system  is  the  large 
river  Nelson,  which  discharges  the  surplus 
waters  of  the  lake  into  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
which  can  be  rendered  navigable  for  steamers 
to  Port  Nelson,  a  point  eighty  miles  nearer  to 
Liverpool  than  New  York  is.  All  this  mag- 
nificent region  of  prairie,  river  and  lake  is 
British  territory.  Within  five  years  it  is 
calculated  that  4,000,000  acres  of  this  fertile 
prairie  land  will  be  under  wheat  cultivation. 
This  means  an  addition  to  the  wheat  products 
of  the  world  of  100,090,000  bushels.  The 
exports  of  all  America  to  the  United  King- 
dom from  the  11th  of  September,  1877  to  May 
11,  1878 — the  eight  shipping  months — was 
about  100,000,000  bushels.  This  amount, 
large  as  it  is,  is  not  more  than  may  be 
expected  within  the  next  few  years  to  be  the 
annual  production  of  this  new  wheat  field  of 
the  Winnipeg  watershed.  The  influence  of 
the  opening  up  of  this  new  district  cannot  but 
have  a  most  important  effect  on  the  supply  of 
the  English  market.  '■^It  will  make  the  mother 
country  entirely  independent  of  foreign  supply. ^^ 
It  is  evident  that  our  superiority  as  a  grain- 
growing  country  is  likely  to  be  seriously 
threatened  by  the  rich  prairie  wheat  lands  in 
Northwestern  British  America. 

BUTTER  FACTORY    ORGANIZED. 

Some  farmers  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Qua- 
kertown,  Bucks  county,  are  tired  of  sending 
milk  to  Philadelphia.  Absence  of  springs  has 
militated  against  butter  making.  Thus  a 
large  quantity  of  milk  has  been  sent  from 
that  locality.  In  December  last  a  movement 
was  inaugurated  to  organize  a  butter  factory. 
Stock  was  subscribed  at  S5  per  cow,  each 
dairyman  being  entitled  to  subscribe  to  shares 
equaling  in  number  the  cows  kept  by  him. 
The  total  amount  of  stock  subscribed  is  300 
shares,  or  SI, 600.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
buildings  and  fixtures  will  cost  S3,000.  The 
buildings  are  under  roof,  and  the  inside  work 
will  soon  be  completed.  Size  of  buildings,  40 
x50  feet.  The  ice  house,  20x35  feet  is  under 
the  same  roof.  One  room  on  the  first  floor, 
and  three  on  the  second,  will  serv^  as  the 
residence  of  the  superintendent.  The  build- 
ings, with  the  exception  of  the  engine  house, 
are  frame.  Floors  are  all  cemented.  The 
site  selected  is  the  best  that  could  be  found  in 
Quakertown,    Close  to  the  property  is  an  old 


mill  dam,  which  has  had  no  water  in  it  for  a 
number  of  years.  This  spot  will  be  used  as 
an  ice  pond.  A  strong  spring  will  feed  the 
dam.  Only  a  few  feet  divides  the  mill  dam 
from  the  ice  house.  The  receiving  room,  lOx 
20  feet,  is  approached  by  a  drive  way.  All 
the  milk  received  will  be  weighed  and  receipt- 
ed for.  The  receiving  room  has  a  scale  with 
seven  beams,  and  the  milk  of  seven  parties 
can  be  weighed  all  at  the  same  time.  The 
plan  adopted  for  the  raising  of  the  cream  is 
known  as  the  J.  B.  Marquis  system.  In 
adopting  this  system  the  association  believes 
it  to  be  the  best  of  the  many  examined.  Tlie 
milk  is  conducted  through  pipes  from  the 
receiving  rooms  into  the  pans  placed  in 
position  in  the  milk  room.  The  size  of  this 
room  is  20x30  feet.  In  order  to  understand 
the  Marquis  system  it  is  necessary  to  explain 
the  construction  of  the  pans.  The  pans  are 
made  of  tin,  and  encased  in  wood.  Size  of 
pans— 10  feet  long,  three  feet  wide,  and 
eighteen  inches  deep.  Each  pan  has  a  rounded 
bottom,  and  is  divided  into  two  compart- 
ments ;  a  four-inch  pipe  passing  through  each 
division  of  the  pan,  at  a  depth  that  will 
bring  it  immediately  under  the  cream.  The 
pipe  is  also  extended  to  all  the  other  pans, 
and  is  connected  with  a  large  ice-water  tank, 
capable  of  holding  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  gallons.  The  tank  is  to  be  kept  filled 
with  ice  and  water.  A  steam  pump  forces  the 
ice  water  through  the  pipe,  and  after  passing 
through  all  the  line  of  piping  connected  with 
the  milk  pans,  it  is  forced  back  again  into  the 
tank.  Cream,  by  this  system,  is  made  to  rise 
in  four  hours.  When  the  cream  is  risen  the 
milk  is  run  off  by  means  of  cocks  at  the 
bottom  of  the  pans  and  the  cream  is  left  in  the 
pan.  One  man  is  expected  to  have  charge  of 
2000  pounds  of  milk.  The  milk  run  off  is 
pumped  into  a  tank,  and  the  farmer  the  next 
moring  takes  back  his  proportion  of  milk,  to 
be  used  in  fattening  pork.  The  same  disposi- 
tion is  made  of  the  buttermilk.  The  churning 
room  10x20  feet,  is  located  west  of  the  milk 
room,  and  is  next  the  engine  house.  Two 
churns  have  been  purchased,  of  Burrel's 
patent.  The  dasher  of  this  churn  remains 
stationary  and  the  churn  makes  the  revolu- 
tions. The  capacity  of  these  churns  is  200 
pounds  of  butter  per  day.  The  size  of  the 
refrigerator  is  10x20  feet.  In  this  room  the 
butter  is  worked  and  stored.  The  room  is 
arched  and  a  supply  of  ice  is  kept  overhead. 
The  butter,  after  being  churned,  is  placed  on 
a  table  and  salted.  After  standing  awhile 
it  is  worked  by  means  of  a  lever  and  then 
moulded  into  one  pound  squares  and  stamped 
with  the  monogram  of  the  creamery.  It  will 
be  shipped  in  coolers,  and  is  expected  to  reagh 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  markets  in  as 
good  condition  as  when  it  left  the  refrigerator. 
It  will  be  the  aim  of  the  association  to  reach 
the  best  custom.  To  secure  trade,  samples 
will  |be  sent  for  inspection  to  leading  hotels 
and  establishments.  The  managers  expect  to 
secure  the  milk  of  six  hundred  cows,  but 
operations  will  be  commenced  on  the  milk  of 
a  smaller  number.  The  expected  daily 
receipts  of  milk  for  the  present  is  set  down  at 
2000  pounds.  Ten  pounds  of  milk  are  counted 
on  to  make  one  pound  of  gilt-edged  butter. 
The  motive  power  of  the  creamery  is  furnished 
by  a  four-horse-power  engine.  The  estab- 
lishment will  be  in  full  operation  by  July  1st. 

JULY  REPORT  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT 
OF  AGRICULTURE— CORN,  POTA- 
TOES, AND  TOBACCO. 

The  .Inly  report  upon  the  condition  of  crops 
has  been  issued  by  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture and  all  the  products  are  reviewed.  It 
says  that  for  corn  the  middle  states  report  a 
fair  condition,  except  some  complaint  of 
drought  in  Pennsylvania.  In  this  State  the 
only  county  adjoining  this  reported  is  Berks, 
and  there  the  crop  is  very  promising.  Of 
tobacco  it  says : 

The  acreage  of  this  crop  compared  with 
that  of  1878  is  placed,  in  Kentucky,  at  89  per 
cent.  ;  in  Virginia,  at  90 ;  Missouri,  76 ; 
Tennessee,   95 ;    Ohio,    75 ;   Maryland,    96  ; 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


121 


Indiana,  70  ;  North  Carolina,  103  ;  Pennsyl- 
vania, 112  ;  Connecticut,  119  ;  Massachuseti.s, 
110;  New  York,  110;  West  Virginia,  73; 
Wisconsin,  1'23 ;  South  Carolina,  100 ; 
Georgia,  !)-2  ;  Alal^nia,  95  ;  Mississippi,  100  ; 
Texas,,  08;  Arkansas,  80.  Tlie  six  last 
named  States,  and  all  others,  as  well  as  the 
Territories,  grow  so  little  tobacco  as  to  still 
remain  an  unimportant  factor  in  estimating 
the  total  product  of  the  country. 

The  four  States  in  whicli  the  bulk  of  the 
seed-leaf  tobacco  is  grown  (although  Ohio  and 
one  or  two  other  States  north  of  the  Oliio  are 
increasing  their  product)— the  four  States  of 
Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and 
Pennsylvania— show  an  increase  of  acreage  of 
from  10  per  cent,  in  Massachusetts  and  New 
York,  each,  to  19  per  cent,  in  Connecticut. 
Pennsylvania  planting  largely  in  excess  of  the 
three  other  States  combined,  we  have  for  the 
four  an  increase  of  about  13  per  cent.,  or  a 
larger  acreage  than  tliat  of  1877. 

The  condition  at  this  date  for  the  whole 
country  is  slightly  below  that  of  July  1,  1878. 
Massachusetts  alone  of  the  States  bordering 
on  the  Atlantic  shows  an  improved  condition 
over  last  year.  Tennessee  in  the  West  places 
her  condition  at  94  against  89  last  year. 

There  has  been  a  decided  increase  in  the 
area  planted  in  potatoes,  amounting  to  three 
per  cent,  for  the  whole  country.  The  increase 
was  the  largest  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  9 
per  cent.  ;  "in  New  York  it  was  4  per  cent. 
Maine,  which  is  a  large  producer,  shows  no 
change  from  last  year.  The  Southern  States 
from  Maryland  to  Texas,  show  some  decline, 
Alabama  alone  making  an  increase  of  4  per 
cent ;  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  each  fell  off 
from  5  to  3  per  cent.  Of  the  States  north  of 
the  Ohio  river,  none  show  a  decline,  and 
almost  all  make  an  increase.  Michigan 
reports  as  compared  with  last  last  year,  107  ; 
Illinois,  104  ;  Wisconsin,  104.  In  the  West, 
Iowa  reports  105 ;  Missouri,  105  ;  California 
and  Oregon  each  make  large  increases. 

The  condition  on  July  1  was  very  favorable; 
much  better  than  last  year.  The  drought 
was  severe  on  the  early-planted  varieties,  but 
the  rains  of  June  were  very  favorable  in  those 
States  where  the  bulk  of  the  crop  is  grown. 
In  the  New  England  States  the  Colorado 
beetle  is  reported  as  very  destructive,  and  it 
is  only  by  an  incessant  vvarfare  that  it  is  kept 
under.  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  each 
report  high  condition  and  few  insects.  In  all 
the  States  south  of  Delaware  the  drought  is 
beginning  to  tell  on  the  condition.  North  of 
the  Ohio  river  and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  all 
the  reports  are  very  favorable.  Iowa  reports 
105.  ^ 

VALUABLE  HINTS  TO  FARMERS. 

For  the  last  Ave  years  I  have  not  lost  a 
cucumber  or  melon  vine  or  cabbage  plant. 
Get  a  barrel  with  a  few  gallons  of  gas  tar  in 
it;  pour  water  on  the  tar:  always  have  it 
ready  when  needed,  and  when  the  bugs 
appear,  give  them  a  liberal  drink  of  the  tar 
water  from  a  garden  sprinkler  or  otherwise, 
and  if  the  rain  washes  it  off  and  they  return, 
.  repeat  the  dose.  It  will  also  destroy  the 
Colorado  potato  beetle,  and  frighten  the  old 
long  potato  bug  worse  than  a  thrashing  with 
a  brush.  Five  years  ago  this  summer  botli 
kinds  appeared  on  my  late  potatoes,  and  I 
watered  with  the  tar-water.  The  next  day 
all  Colorados  that  had  not  been  well  protected 
from  the  sprinkling  were  dead,  and  the  others, 
though  their  name  is  legion,  were  all  gone, 
and  I  have  never  seen  one  of  them  on  the  farm 
since.  I  am  aware  that  many  will  look  upon 
this  with  indifference,  because  it  is  so  cheap 
and  simple  a  remedy.  Such  should  always 
feed  both  their  own  and  their  neighbors' 
bugs,  as  they  frequently  do.— C/(ieago  Ti-ibune. 

Many  of  the  old  farmers  about  us  use  the 
leaves  of  the  red  cedar  (Juniperus  Virginiana) 
in  place  of  sulphur  and  kerosene  for  ridding 
nests  and  henneries  of  lice.  They  say  the 
remedy  is  very  effective.  Perhaps  perches 
made  of  the  wood  would  serve  the  same 
purpose. 

A  German  authority  says  that,  when  lettuce 


shows  signs  of  running  to  seed,  if  a  knife  be 
passed  through  one-half  of  the  stem  of  the 
shooting  head,  the  plant  may  be  preserved 
good  for  an  additional  week.  The  best  plan 
we  have  ever  known  for  preserving  lettuce 
late  is  to  transplant  twice — once  from  the 
seed  bed,  pricking  the  plants  out  four  inches 
apart,  and  then  transplanting  in  the  open 
ground  six  by  twelve  inches  apart ;  as  the 
rows  begin  to  fill  cut  out  one-half  the  plants, 
and  the  balance  will  form  large,  fine  heads,  if 
the  ground  be  rich  and  moist,  and  they  will  re- 
main well  into  the  summer. — Prairie  Farmer. 
Mr.  J.  Hapgood,  Shrewsbury,  Mass.,  favors 
shallow  setting  of  asparagus  roots  ;  if  placed, 
as  some  advise,  eight  inches  below  the  surface, 
it  "makes  the  crop  one  or  two  weeks  later." 
He  further  maintains,  in  the  American  Gulti- 
vntor,  that  he  has  also  "found  that  the  idea 
that  salt  is  useful  to  this  plant  is  mere  theory, 
like  the  trenching  .system." 

A  correspondent  of  the  Indiana  Farmer 
tried  four  different  fertilizers  for  melons— 
for  poultry  droppings,  well-rotted  cow  manure, 
barnyard  manure  and  old  bones  (gathered 
upon  the  farm  and  reduced  by  placing  them 
in  alternate  layers  with  ashes  the  previous 
year),  mixing  all  liberally  in  the  different 
hills;  which  were  eight  feet  apart  each  way, 
and  he  says  :  "Such  a  crop  of  melons  as  came 
from  the  hills  that  had  bone-dust  I  never  saw 
before." 

The  Indiana  Farmer  says :  Water  made 
almost  as  thick  as  ordinary  cream  by  the  ad- 
dition of  fresh  cow  manure,  and  poured  on 
young  melon  vines,  is  the  only  effectual  reme- 
"dy  I  have  ever  found  to  prevent  the  ravages 
of  the  striped  beetle.  Should  one  application 
not  be  sufficient  it  should  be  followed  by  an- 
other until  the  enemy  becomes  nauseated  and 
retires  in  disgust.  Such  a  liquid  is  a  great 
stimulant  to  young  plants.  To  retain  it 
about  plants  in  sufficient  quantity  the  melon 
hills  should  be  made  with  a  slight  cavity  in 
the  centre.  Phinney's  melon  is  a  variety 
more  easily  grown  and  more  prolific  than 
many  others,  but  the  flavor  cannot  compare 
with  white  seeded,  ice  cream  or  peerless.  At 
least  that  is  my  experience  with  the  three  va- 
rieties on  my  soil.  In  cultivating  melons  I  have 
noticed  that  the  purest  and  most  delicious 
sorts  are  not  as  robust  growers  nor  as  produc- 
tive as  those  in  which  an  infusion  of  the 
squash  or  pumpkin  is  perceptible,  and  that 
the  striped  beetle  is  much  more  fond  of 
younger  plants  of  the  former  than  of  the  lat- 
ter. The  striped  beetle  has  a  most  discrimi- 
nating taste,  never  disturbing  a  pumpkin 
plant  while  a  melon  or  Hubbard  squash  plant 
is  obtainable. 

The  following  preparation  for  destroying 
bugs  on  squash  and  on  cucumber  vines  has 
been  successiully  tried  for  years.  Dissolve  a 
tablespoonf  ul  of  saltpetre  in  a  pailful  of  water. 
Put  one  pint  of  this  around  each  hill,  shaping 
the  earth  so  that  it  will  not  spread  much,  and 
the  thing  is  done.  Use  more  saltpetre,  if  you 
can  afford  it.  It  is  good  for  vegetables,  but 
death  to  animal  life.  The  bugs  burrow  in 
the  earth  at  night,  and  fail  to  rise  in  the 
morning.  It  is  also  good  to  kill  the  grub  in 
peach  trees ;  only  use  twice  as  much — say  a 
quart  or  two  to  each  tree.  There  was  not  a 
yellow  or  blistered  leaf  on  twelve  or  fifteen 
trees  to  which  it  was  applied  last  season.  No 
danger  of  killing  vegetables  with  it.  A  con- 
centrated solution  applied  to  young  beans 
makes  them  grow  wonderfully. 

The  best  preventive  for  worms  in  celei-y  is 
to  mix  plenty  of  salt,  soot,  and  fine  lime  with 
the  manure  that  is  to  be  employed  in  trenches. 
This  should  be  added  to  the  manure  some 
weeks  before  it  is  used,  during  which  time  it 
.should  be  tiu-ned  now  and  then.  The  mixture 
above  named  also  benefits  the  growth  of  the 
celery,  which  will  lift  clean  and  spotless  com- 
pared with  that  grown  in  the  ordinary  way. 


CUTTING  AWAY  OUR  FORESTS. 

The  current  number  of  Harper^s  Magazine 
contains  an  article  on  the  "Destruction  of 
our  Forests,"  which  is  not  only  of  more  than 


usual  interest  but  very  timely,  and  well  worthy 
of  the  careful  attention  of  land  owners  every- 
where throughout  this  broad  land.  There 
was  a  time  when  the  man  who  swung  the  axe 
in  the  heart  of  the  i)rinieval  forest  was  re- 
garded as  a  public  benefactor,  and  he  who 
felled  most  of  the  ancient  monarchs  wa-s  the 
greatest  hero.  To  a  certain  extent  this  hom- 
age was  well  deserved;  to  enlarge  the  b6unds 
of  civilization  and  make  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  only  one  grew  beforti,  was  cer- 
tainly a  most  praiseworthy  deed.  But  the 
day  has  long  since  arrived  in  this  country, 
just  as  it  has  in  Europe,  when  the  work  of  de- 
nuding a  land  of  its  forests  brings  in  its  train 
a  host  of  evils  that  will  continue  to  bear  harm- 
ful fruit  through  all  time  unless  means,  ef- 
fective and  permanent,  are  instituted  to 
check  the  danger. 

Nowhere  In  the  world  was  there  two  centu- 
ries ago  8>ich  a  wealth  of  noble  forests  as  on 
the  territory  now  embraced  by  the  United 
States.  From  the  Sabine  to  the  Aroostook, 
and  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic,  such 
dense  forests  of  valuable  woods  have  never 
elsewhere  existed  in  the  world  during  the 
historic  period.  Pine,  oak  and  hickory,  the 
most  valuable  woods  known  among  men, 
were  the  most  abundant  of  all.  Even  a  hun- 
dred years  ago  it  seemed  impossible  for  these 
timber-covered  lands  to  become  exhausted. 
In  truth,  if  the  proper  care  had  been  ob- 
served, and  the  timber  applied  to  legitimate 
uses  only,  this  country  would  to-day  still  ex- 
ceed all  civilized  lands  in  its  magnificent 
wealth  of  the  timber  resources.  But  this 
course  has  not  beeu  pursed.  The  energy  of  our 
people,  their  strivings  after  wealth  and  their 
indifference  to  all  hut  immediate  consequences 
have  led  to  results  whose  harmful  influences 
are  not  only  felt  hourly  to-day,  but  will  con- 
tinue to  affect  mankind  until  the  remotest 
generation,  unless  we  retrace  our  course  and 
endeavor  to  build  where  we  have  heretofore 
only  torn  down. 

Some  of  the  evils  we  have  brought  upon 
ourselves  are  beginning  to  be  admitted.  They 
press  upon  our  attention  in  so  many  forms 
that  we  can  no  longer  ignore  their  all  pervad- 
ing presence.  The  tornado,  the  flood  and  the 
whirlwind  are  the  direct  results  of  our 
thoughtless  work.  The  high  waters  in  our 
rivers,  our  flooded  valleys  and  deva.stated  fields 
are  all  to  be  laid  to  this  one  primal  cause. 
When  yet  the  shade  of  our  virgin  forests  was 
cast  over  the  land,  these  terrible  forces  of  na- 
ture were  comparatively  unknown  among  us. 
Occassionally,  it  is  true,  they  visited  us,  but 
their  visitations  were  infrequent  compared 
with  our  experiences  to-day.  While  the  ma- 
jestic oak  and  the  lordly  pine  still  held  their 
proud  crests  erect  and  their  myriad  leaves  ex- 
haled moisture,  filling  the  atmosphere  and 
establishing  a  mutual  relation  between  earth 
and  air  that  resulted  in  frequent  gentle 
rains,  the  forces  of  nature  seem  to  have  been 
held  in  control.  Under  their  spreading  limbs, 
the  cooling  spring  and  the  merry  rivulet 
found  an  abundant  and  never-failing  supply 
of  water  to  make  green  the  land  and  turn 
the  miller's  wheel.  The  fallen  leaves  afforded 
a  covering  for  the  soil  that  enabled  it  to  re- 
tain its  moi-st  condition,  and  throw  off  into 
the  upper  air  such  supplies  as  were  required 
to  preserve  the  necessary  circulation. 

The  result  was  moderate  rains  at  frequent 
intervals,  feeding  the  arterial  sy.stem  of  the 
land  and  preserving  those  material  relations 
in  the  physical  world,  rendering  floods  and 
tornadoes  a  rarity,  and  in  a  thousand  ways 
rendering  life  more  pleasurable  and  secure. 
But  the  woodman's  axe,  wielded  heedlessly 
and  ignorantly  of  consequences,  has  changed 
the  then  existing  order  of  things.  As  the 
lands  of  whole  districts  have  become  deforest- 
ed all  this  has  been  changed.  The  ground 
once  protected  by  the  friendly  shade  now  lies 
expo.sed  to  the  rays  of  a  burning  sun.  The 
soil,  unable  longer  to  retain  its  accustomed 
moisture,  has  lost  in  part  its  ability  to  pro- 
duce continuous  crops.  The  rivulets  and 
smaller  streams  are  no  longer  maintained  at 
a  regular,  unvarying  stage,  but  are  either 


122 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  August, 


half-dried  up  or  converted  into  roaring  tor- 
rents tliat  spread  devastation  far  and  wide, 
■where  they  once  were  sources  of  unnumbered 
blessings.  Instead  of  tne  gentle  rains  of  the 
earlier  era,  we  have  violent  storms  not  only 
of  rain  but  of  winds  and  hail  that  are  terri- 
ble in  their  severity  and  the  damage  they  in- 
flict. Even  these  violent  rains  fail,  notwith- 
standing the  volume  of  water  that  falls,  of 
giving  the  soil  the  requisite  amount  of  mois- 
'  ture.  Unsheltered  as  it  is,  the  sun  and  winds 
speedily  extract  the  water,  leaving  it  as 
parched  as  before. 

We  need  only  point  to  a  few  examples  of 
the  workings  of  this  system.  There  was  once 
no  more  fertile  country  in  the  world  than 
Spain.  That  was  in  the  early  days  when  the 
land  still  boasted  of  its  forest  of  oak.  These 
have  been  cut  away  and  tlie  Spain  of  to-day 
in  great  part  is  almost  a  synonym  for  sterili- 
ty, while  her  once  famous  streams  exist  only 
in  name.  In  Western  Asia  a  like  state  of 
things  prevails.  The  old  Eoman  historians 
tell  us  that  tliis  was  once  the  granary  of  the 
world.  To-day  those  plains  and  valleys  are 
sun-scorched  and  barren,  sustaining  but  a 
tithe  of  the  countless  populations  tfiat  once 
flourished  in  those  favored  countries. 

Unless  we  shall  adopt  remedial  measures, 
the  same  fate  awaits  us.  It  will  not  come  in 
a  year,  nor  a  score  of  yeia's,  nor  even  in  a 
century,  but  its  arrival  is  none  the  less  certain. 
Most  European  nations  have  given  timely  at- 
tention to  this  subject,  Germany,  especially, 
has  studied  forestry  with  the  utmost  atten- 
tion, and  may  hope  to  derive  valuable  benefits 
from  her  enlightened  course.  We  cannot  too 
soon  follow  in  her  footsteps.  We  are  already 
experiencing  the  results  of  our  folly  in  storms 
and  floods,  and  these  will  increase  in  number 
and  violence  as  the  process  of  cutting  down 
our  forest  goes  on.  Let  there  be  speedy  gov- 
ernmental action,  for  in  that  way  alone  can 
we  hope  for  a  better  state  of  tilings.  If  the 
matter  is  left  to  the  people,  it  is  idle  to  look 
for  remedial  action  ;  the  present  course  will 
be  continued  and  troubles  from  this  cause  be 
increased. 

THE  COMMON  ELDER. 

This  shrub,  so  common  in  all  the  Atlantic 
States  of  our  union,  has  commonly  been  con- 
sidered a  worthless  plant,  fitted  only  to  mark 
the  abode  of  the  thriftless  farmer  and  to 
annoy  the  neat  one.  But  it  has  valuable  re- 
deeming qualities,  some  of  which  we  will  en- 
deavor to  point  out.  • 

It  has  long  been  observed,  that  if  permitted 
to  grow  in  fence  corners  its  long  roots  take 
such  hold  of  the  ground  that  it  requires  much 
efibrt  and  time  to  eradicate  it.  This  tenacity 
to  life  can  be  utilized;  planted  in  regions  of 
drifting  sands,  it  becomes,  in  connection  with 
certain  grasses,  an  important  means  of  arrest- 
ing the  movements  of  the  sands. 

The  inner  bark  has  ho  odor,  to  the  taste  is 
at  first  sweetish,  then  bitter,  acrid  and  nause- 
ous, containsja  resin,  valerianic  acid, and  other 
principles,  and  taken  in  moderate  doses  is  a 
purgative;  in  large  do.ses  acts  as  an  emetic. 
This  inner  bark  boiled  with  lard  makes  a 
salve  good  for  old  sores. 

The  flowers  are  abundantly  used  in  domestc 
medicine,  for  making  a  tea,  (elder  blow  tea), 
which  is  a  harmless,  efficient  and  pleasant 
medicine,  tending  to  produce  abundant  per- 
spiration. A  popular  and  pleasant  drink  is 
made  by  boiling  the  blossoms  in  cider.  The 
flowers  are  also  used  in  poultices,  and  boiled 
with  lard  make  a  cooling  and  valuable  oint- 
ment. The  flower  buds  may  be  pickled,  for 
which  purpose  they  answer  well.  When  dis- 
tilled, the  blossoms  yield  what  is  known  as 
"elder  flower  water,"  formerly  used  in  per- 
fumery and  confectionery.  Flowers  gathered 
and  dried  can  be  used  at  any  time  during 
the  winter. 

The  berries  furnish  a  rich  juice,  which 
makes  a  very  fair  wine,  and  in  portions  of 
Kent,  England,  there  are  large  plantations  of 
elder  bush  to  supply  the  London  market  with 
berries  for  wine  making.  When  the  express- 
ed juice,  before  fermentation,  is  boiled  down 


to  the  consistence  of  honey,  it  makes  an  ex- 
cellent medicine  for  children,  being  purgative, 
diuretic  and  sudorific.  The  berries  are  also 
used  in  making  pies. 

The  hollowed  stem  can  be  applied  to  seve- 
ral purposes.  Anciently  io  was  used  as  a 
musical  instrument,  which  its  name  {samhuais) 
in  Greek  indicates.  Boys  now  use  them  in 
making  popguns  and  whistles,  while  the 
active  t':acher  can  utihze  them  for  many 
purposes,  as  in  the  making  of  pumps  in  place 
of  glass  tubes,  &c. 

The  light  pith  has  long  been  used  in 
electrical  experiments,  to  exhibit  attractive 
and  repulsive  forces,  and  it  is  also  cut  into 
small  toys. 

It  has  been  a  superstition  that  the  elder- 
bush  exhales  narcotic  gases  and  that  to  sleep 
in  its  shade  is  a  dangerous  experiment.  The 
American  aborigines  used  the  hollow  stem 
filled  with  sand  and  twirled  between  the 
fingers  as  a  drilling  machine. —  West  Chester 
Local  News. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


The  Lancaster  County  Agricultural  and  Horticul- 
tural Society  met  statedly  in  the  Athenajum  rooms 
August  i  at  two  o'clock.  Present,  Messrs.  H.  M. 
Engle,  Calvin  Cooper,  S.  S.  Rathvon,  M.  D.  Kendig, 
Chrn.  Hostetler,  S.  P.  Eby,  J.  F.  Witmer,  Peter 
Hiller,  W.  J.  Kafroth,  J.  M.  Johnston,  Chrn.  Gast, 
Walter  Kieffer,  A.  F.  Hostetter,  William  McComsey, 
and  Wm.  W.  Griest. 

The  minutes  were  read  and  approved. 

The  Coming  Fair. 

In  reference  to  the  proposed  fair  or  fall  exhibition, 
Mr.  Cooper  stated  that  the  officers  of  the  Northern 
Market  had  been  consulted,  and  consent  to  use  the 
market  house  for  the  exhibition  had  been  gained. 
The  only  expense  attendant  upon  it  will  be  the 
janitor's  pay,  and  also  the  payment  of  whatever  gas 
may  be  consumed. 

According  to  the  by-laws,  the  oficers  of  the  society 
are  constituted  managers  of  all  exhibitions,  and  in 
their  hands  this  matter  rests. 

Crop  Reports. 

H.  M.  Engle,  of  Marietta,  reported  small  fruits  in 
a  flourishing  condition  ;  grapes  will  be  especially 
fine.  Corn  will  give  a  poor  yield  ;  pasture  is  not 
good,  but  potatoes  will  do  ritrht  well. 

W.  J.  Kafroth,  of  West  Earl,  reported  corn  in 
poor  condition,  pasture  short,  potatoes  good,  tobacco 
good,  and  fruits  promising. 

J.  F.  Witmer,  of  Paradise,  stated  that  the  corn  in 
his  disti-ict  had  done  better  than  was  expected. 
Early  potatoes  are  doing  very  well  and  the  tobacco 
was  good.  Clover  was  reasonably  good,  but  the 
straw  of  wheat  was  very  thin  on  the  ground. 

M.  D.  Kendig,  of  Manor,  had  cheering  news  for 
the  tobacco  crop,  which  had  been  greatly  benefited 
by  recent  rains.  The  rain  fall  for  July  had  been  2\-^ 
inches.  The  other  crops  were  about  as  they  had 
been  reported  in  other  districts. 

Calviir  Cooper,  East  Lampeter,  brought  cheering 
news  of  the  corn  ciopinhis  district.  He  had  never 
seen  a  finer  crop,  and  its  growth  had  been  wonder- 
fully accelerated  by  the  rains  of  Saturday,  which  one 
of  his  neighbors  had  declared  to  be  a  rainfall  of  5'  „' 
inches.  The  speaker,  out  of  curiosity,  had  measured 
his  corn  on  Saturday  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  by  Monday  at  six  o'clock  it  had  grown  6.lj 
inches  ;  by  Tuesday,  7  inches  more  ;  by  Wednesday, 
7  inches  more ;  and  the  measurement  this  morning 
showed  that  it  had  gained  3  feet  10)^  inches  since 
Saturday. 

"Should  the  Partridge  be  Domesticated  ?" 

This  was  the  subject  of  an  interesting  essay  by 
Simon  P.  Eby,  esq.,  and  as  it  contained  many  useful, 
practical  hints,  we  produce  it  in  full,  as  follows  :   . 

I  answer  this  question  in  the  affirmative.  There 
seems  to  be  a  vacancy  for  this  bird  in,  or  rather  at, 
the  foot  of  the  list  of  our  domestic  animals.  We  need 
some  bird  that  can  be  turned  into  our  grass  and 
grain  fields  to  hunt  for  insects  without  the  liability 
of  doing  the  injury  to  the  crops  that  the  common 
fowl  will  necessarily  do  by  its  larger  size  and 
scratching  propensities— some  smaller  creature  to  fill 
the  place  between  our  barn  fowl  and  the  wild  bird, 
whose  usefulness  can  be  controlled  and  directed  to 
the  points  where  most  needed. 

The  t,artridge,  I  believe,  if  tamed,  would  supply 
this  want.  Their  natural  haunts  are  the  grass  and 
grain  fields,  and  up  to  the  time  of  harvest,  live 
mostly  on  insects.  A  flock  of  tame  partridges 
would  be  a  valuable  help  upon  the  farm  to  get  rid"  of 
the  numerous  destructive  insects. 

The  bird  is  unobjectionable  in  all  respects.    In  ad- 


dition to  its  usefulness,  it  is  beautiful  in  appearance, 
harmless  in  its  habits,  and  of  pleasant  voice.  Why 
should  it  not  be  domesticated  or  tamed  ?  Its  natural 
tendencies  are  strongly  in  that  direction,  and  it 
would  of  itself  become  tame  if  only  an  opportunity 
would  be  offered.  A  little  kindness  show^n  ;  a  little 
protection  given  to  convince  the  bird  that  man  is  no 
longer  its  enemy,  persecutor  and  destroyer,  but  a 
friend  instead,  would  bring  about  the  desired  result. 

The  whistling  flock  would  before  long  draw 
nearer  to  man  and  his  habitation  to  escape  other 
enemies,  of  which  it  has  many  ;  and  in  winter  season 
learn  to  feed  with  the  poultry.  This  much  gained, 
the  following  season  the  nest  in  all  probability  would 
not  be  very  far  removed.  Some  of  the  eggs  could  be 
taken  out  and  given  to  bantam  or  other  small-sized 
fowls,  while  ihe  partridge  hen  would  still  have 
enough  to  hatch  and  take  care  of-  In  the  following 
autumn  the  home-raised  and  field-raised  young  could" 
be  let  run  together  and  learned  to  roost  in  some 
open  shed,  provided  for  that  purpose  in  the  orchard, 
or  other  suitable  corner  of  the  farm.  In  this  way, 
with  patience  and  prudence,  much  might  be  accom- 
plished. In  the  following  spring  the  surplus  males 
might  be  taken  out  for  table  or  other  use;  and  the 
flock  left  to  pair  about  the  farm,  when  the  process  of 
the  previous  year  might  be  repeated. 

It  is  a  fact  somewhat  remarkable  that  among  our 
domesticated  animals  ihere  is  but  a  single  native  one, 
and  that  one,  much  to  our  reproach,  gobbles  about 
our  farm  yards  and  graces  our  Christmas  and 
Thanksgiving  tables  under  the  foreign  and  most 
outlandish  name  of  "Turkey."  And  yet  our  conti- 
nent is  not  wanting  in  other  animals  now  left  to 
roam  in  their  wild  state  which  if  domesticated, 
might  rival  in  usefulness  the  descendants  of  other 
countries  that  form  our  flocks  and  herds. 

The  reason  for  this,  I  suppose,  was  that  our  ances- 
tors found  less  trouble  in  accepting  the  natives  of 
Asia  and  Europe, already  domesticated,  and  improve- 
ing  on  them,  than  to  supply  themselves  from  natives 
of  the  American  continent  by  along  course  of  subjec- 
tion and  training. 

The  period,  however,  I  think  has  arrived  when  we 
may,  to  some  extent,  turn  our  attention  in  a  new 
direction  and  experiment  by  adding  from  our  native 
wild  animals  to  the  domestic  group,  as  we  have 
already  profitably  done  by  reclaiming  and  adding 
from  our  native  stock  to  our  fruits  and  vegetables. 

I  think,  at  least,  the  subject  is  worthy  of  serious 
consideration  and  trial,  so  far  as  the  partridge  is 
concerned,  and  I  would  only  feel  too  proud  hereafter 
that  the  trial  was  made  in  our  county,  and  by  one  or 
more  of  the  members  of  our  own  society. 

The  difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  this,  like  in  all 
other  new  enterprises,  or  experiments,  would  be 
mainly  in  the  beginning. 

You  would  have  to  contend  against  the  usual 
enemies  of  the  poultry  yard,  with  perhaps  a  few 
added.  The  hunters  and  neighbors'  boys,  looking 
upon  your  partially  tamed  flocks  as  still  in  its  wild 
state,  might  undertake  to.shoot  or  trap  them.  The 
law  regarding  this  species  of  property,  as  it  now 
stands,  does  not  extend  your  ownership  or  protection 
over  them  when  they  leave  your  premises  ;  but  while 
upon  your  own  land  it  gives  you  ample  authority  to 
protect  them  against  everybody. 

You  can  put  up  notices  against  gunners  and  order 
off  trespassers,  and  if  they  disregard  either  your 
notice  or  command,  you  can  punish  them. 

By  a  number  of  neighboring  farmers  joining,  as  is 
now  sometimes  done,  the  ground  over  which  your 
flock  could  safely  forage,  would  be  easily  enlarged. 

Some  writers  on  the  subject  have  questioned  the 
capabilities  of  the  partridge  to  become  domesticated 
— but  even  these  are  compelled  to  admit  such  ca- 
pacity to  a  certain  extent.  The  thing  has  never 
been  fairly  tried. 

On  the  other  hand,  with  all  the  persecution  to 
which  they  are  annually  subjected,  "they  become," 
as  Wilson  says,  "almost  half  domesticated,  approach 
the  barn,  particularly  in  winter,  and  sometimes  in 
that  severe  season  mix  with  the  poultry  to  glean  up 
a  subsistence." 

They  are  not  migratory,  and  remain  with  us  the 
whole  year,  only  shifting  their  quarters  when  driven 
by  severe  weather  or  when  too  much  hunted.  This 
is  much  in  their  favor. 

The  turkey  in  its  wild  state  is  much  lesssusceptibla 
of  being  tamed,  and  the  original  of  our  common 
barn  fowl  can  yet  be  found  in  the  jungles  of  Java  as 
wild  as  our  pheasants. 

They  have  been  domesticated,  why  not  the  par- 
tridge? 

.Mr.  Engle,  although  he  would  not  say  that  Mr. 
Eby's  ideas  were  impracticable,  did  not  believe  our 
farmers  would  ever  attempt,  to  any  great  extent,  the 
domestication  of  the  partridge.  The  matter  of 
domesticating  them  would  not  be  found  so  easy, 
either  ;  they  are  a  very  wild  bird.  He  remembered, 
when  a  boy,  to  have  placed  a  chicken  on  partridge 
ea-gs,  and  after  the  birds  were  hatched  out  they 
wandered  off  and  were  never  seen  again — utterly 
disowning  their  step-mother. 

General  Discussion. 


1879.; 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


123 


discussion,  when  Mr.  Kendlg  arose  and  said  that  he 
had  tried  the  experiment  one  time,  but  It  had  proved 
a  failure.  This  was  proi)abIy  his  own  fault.  He  be- 
lieved that  If  the  corn  were  kept  clear  of  weeds  and 
the  soil  properly  cultivated,  a  good  crop  might  be 
raised. 

Mr.  Witmer  said  sowing  wheat  on  corn  stubs  was 
E  common  practice  in  his  vicinity.  The  cern  stubble 
was  ploughed  down,  and  while,  of  course,  it  did  not 
make  as  smoofh  a  crop  as  oats  stubble  ploughed 
down,  the  yield  was  generally  vary  good  and  paid 
for  the  trouble.  He  gaveditlerent  processes  of  culti- 
vating wheat  on  corn  stubble 

Mr.  Engle  thought  the  best  plan  was  not  to  plow. 
Of  course  the  ground  should  be  well  manured  in 
the  'spring.  The  stubble  should  be  cut  down,  and 
a  cultivator,  If  not  too  heavy,  could  be  used.  If 
there  was  clean  culture  a  good  yield  might  result — 
provided  that  wheat  was  not  plowed  too  deep;  and 
by  the  way,  that  is  the  great  trouble  in  cultivating 
wheat  in  this  county,  the  farmers  plow  too  deep. 
For  his  part  he  had  better  luck  from  wheat  planted 
in  corn  than  in  potato  ground. 

Social   Intercourse. 

The  chair  now  announced  social  intercourse,  when 
Mr.  Engle  said  that  he  looked  with  regret  upon  the 
small  number  present  to-day.  It  had  beeen  resolved 
to  hold  a  fall  fair,  and  he  had  supposed  that  the 
committees  would  be  appointed  and  that  the  affair 
would  go  right  on;  but  it  looked  to  him  now  as 
though  some  ol  the  membcis  were  going  to  shirk  the 
work.  We  must  either  hold  a  fair  or  not  hold  it, 
and  one  thing  or  the  other  must  be  determined 
"  quickly.  After  announcing  a  fair,  it  would  be  a 
great  shame  for  a  society  like  this  to  back  out  of  it. 
He  hoped  to  hear  the  opinions  of  some  other  mem- 
bers. 

Messrs.  Witmer,  Kendig  and  Cooper  were  in  favor 
of  the  exhibition  and  thought  it  should  be  held  ;  but 
they  all  agreed  that  they  did  not  like  to  assume  the 
whole  responsibility  themselves,  and  the  present 
meeting  gave  them  little  encouragement.  Mr. 
Cooper  felt  confident  that  if  premiums  were  offered, 
a  fine  display  might  be  made. 

Mr.  Engle  was  convinced  that  something  was 
wrong.  The  attendance  to-day  was  unusually  small , 
and  he  could  think  of  no  other  reason  for  it  than 
that  they  wanted  to  shirk  the  responsibility  of  putting 
their  shoulders  to  the  wheel  in  pushing  forward  this 
important  work.  He  referred  to  York's  energy  In 
matters  of  this  kind,  and  thought  the  example  of 
Lancaster  county's  neighbors  ought  to  incite  our 
people  to  some  exertion.  He  was  so  much  discour- 
aged  that  he  felt  like  going  to  Kansas. 

The  discussion  ended  here,  with  the  understanding 
that  those  present  would  do  all  in  their  power   to 
make  the  contemplated  exhibition  a  success. 
Miscellaneous. 

Two  or  three  small  bills  were  presented  and 
ordered  to  be  paid,  and  Mr.  Eby  handed  over  a  small 
amount  of  money  from  the  Poultry  Association. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Engle,  five  hundred  copies  of  the 

by-laws,  (now  in  type),  were  ordered  to  be  printed 

in  pamphlet  form,  and  Dr.  Rathvon  was  entrusted 

with  the  supervision  of  the  work. 

On  Exhibition. 

E.  Burkholder,  West  Earl,  pears  for  name;  H.  M. 
Engle,  Marietta,  Garretson's  Early,  All-Summer 
and  Primate  apples,  and  Hosenshenk,  Bloodgood 
and  Osband's  Summer  pears. 

A  specimen  of  "Quince  Rust,"  by  Mr.  McGrann, 
of  West  Orange  street,  city. 

Larva  of  "American  Peacock  Moth,"  (Saturnia 
lo),  by  Mrs.JGibbons,  Enterprise  Lancaster  county, 
found  on  a  raspberry  stem. 

After  testing  the  fruits  the  society  adjourned. 

THE  LANCASTER    COUNTY   POULTRY 
ASSOCIATION. 

The  August  meeting  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Poultry  Associatiou  was  held  on  Monday  morning, 
August  4th,  at  10;30,  in  the  old  Athenaeum  rooms. 
City  Hall.  Present,  Messrs.  D.  C.  Tobias,  President; 
Jacob  B.  Lichty,  Secretary;  W.J.  Kafroth,  John  F. 
Reed,  Charles  Lippold,  J.  M.  Johnston,  Christian 
Cast,  Walter  Kieffer,  Silas  N.  Warfel,  S.  P.  Eby, 
David  M.  Brosey,  Frank  B.  Buch,  T.  F.  Evans, 
Jacob  A.  Buch,  G.  A.  Geyer,  J.  H.  Habecker,  and 
Joseph  F.  Witmer. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read 
and  approved. 

Reports  of  officers  being  in  order,  the  treasurer, 
Mr. 'T.  F.Evans  read  his  report,  showing  that  the 
receipts  of  the  association  to  date  had  been  ?41.7.5; 
expenditures,  $11.45  ;  balance  on  hand,  $:iO.:W. 

Two  small  bills — one  from    The  New  Era  and  one 
fr»m  Chas.  H.  Barr,  were  approved,  and  then  the 
society  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of 
Unfinished  Business. 

Under  this  head,  a  resolution  offered  at  the 
previous  meeting  to  amend  the  by-laws  by  imposing 
a  fine  of  ?1  upon  any  member  who  failed,  aftcr 
acceptingthe  appointment,  to  serve  on  a  committee 
or  prepare  a  paper,  came  up  for  action. 

Mr.  Kafroth  thought  the  amendment  carried  with 
it  a  punishment  that  was  too  levere  and  oppressive  ; 


he  had  never  known  such   a  law  In  any  other  associ- 
ation, and  he  would  oppose  It. 

Mr.  Reed  thought  it  would  act  as  an  Incentive  to 
members,  making  them  more  prompt  in  rendering 
the  service  which  they  might  voluntarily  accept,  and 
he  therefore  favored  the  amendment. 

Mr.  Evans  rather  opposed  the  amendment,  and 
Messrs.  Warfel  and  Winters  also  entered  their  pro- 
tests, regarding  the  measure  as  quite  too  arbitrary. 
Mr.  Lichty  explained  the  object  of  the  resolution. 
Questions  had  frequently  been  referred  to  persons 
who  afterward  paid  not  the  slightest  attention  to 
them,  although  they  were  invariably  present  and  ac- 
cepted the  task  when  it  was  Imposed  upon  them;  the 
member  who  had  offered  the  amendment  doubtless 
thought  the  fear  of  this  fine  would  stimulate  them  to 
greater  exertion. 

The  question  was  now  called,  resulting  in  the  de- 
feat of  the  resolution  "by  a  large  majority." 
Referred  Questions. 
"What  breed  of  fowls  Is  most  profitable?"  Referred 
to  Mr.  Witmer  to  answer  at  next  meeting. 

"Are  some  breeds  of  fowls  more  subject  to  disease 
than  others,  and  if  so,  why  ?  This  had  been  re- 
ferred to  Mr.  H.  H.  "Tshudy,  but  as  he  was  not 
present,  Mr.  Warfel  was  called  on  to  answer.  He 
said  that  he  made  a  specialty  of  one  breed  of  fowls, 
and  was  therefore  hardly  prepared  to  discuss  other 
breeds;  but  he  might  have  somethiug  to  say  further 
on  in  the  discussion. 

Mr.  Kafroth  had  observed  that  disease  was  most 
likely  to  attack  heavy  fowls.  He  had  sad  experi- 
ence in  this  matter,  and  in  his  neighborhood  the  dis- 
ease was  most  manifest,  as  he  before  stated,  among 
heavy  fowls. 

Mr.  Evans  had  observed,  in  his  neighborhood, 
that  disease  was  most  common  among  the  mongrels 
or  "dung-hills,"  his  mother  having  lost  more  than 
sixty  chickens  of  the  common  breed  in  two  weeks' 
time.  He  believed  the  cause  of  disease  to  be  the 
neglect  of  introducing  new  breeds  at  proper  times. 
There  ought  to  be  a 'change  of  blood,  he  thought, 
every  year  or  two. 

Mr.  Eby's  experience,  in  the  last  few  years,  had 
been  principally  with  game  chickens  ;  but  when  a 
boy  he  had  chargeofhis  father's  chickens,  commonly 
known  as  mongrels,  and  they  never  had  disease 
among  them,  although  they  frequently  roosted  in 
places  so  exposed  that  their  feet  and  combs  were 
frozen.  He  believed  that  the  chicken  cholera  among 
our  fowls  dated  from  the  introduction  of  the  Asiatic 
fowls,  and  he  gave  instances  confirming  this  belief, 
although  he  did  not  assert  it  to  be  a  fact,  but  merely 
an  opinion,  based  on  the  results  of  close  observation. 
A  chicken  that  is  too  closely  confined  is  more  liable 
to  the  disease  than  another;  but  he  did  not  believe  the 
disease  was  confined  to  any  particular  breed. 

Mr.  Geyer  first  noticed  cholera'  among  his  dark 
Brahmas,  then  among  his  Cochins ;  but  after  he 
bought  Leghorns  he  was  not  troubled  with  cholera. 
Mr.  Warfel  believed  that  thorough-bred  chickens 
were  more  exempt  from  disease  than  others.  He 
had  been  breeding  light  Brahmas  for  ten  years,  and 
had  never  had  a  case  of  cholera  in  his  yard 
Whether  this  was  because  of  the  breed  or  owing  to 
especial  care  on  his  part  he  was  unable  to  say  ;  but 
his  experience  and  his  observation  and  correspond- 
ence led  him  to  believe  that  thorough-bred  chickens 
were  peculiarly  exempt  from  disease. 

Mr.  Witmer  corroborated  Mr.  Warfel's  opinion, 
and  he  believed  the  light  Brahmas  were  among  the 
most  healthy  and  profitable  breeds. 

Mr.  Tobias,  retinquishing  the  chair,  took  the  floor 
and  gave  bis  experience — by  request;  or  rather  he 
gave  the  experience  of  Mr.  Tshudy,  of  Litiz,  with 
whose  successes  and  misfortunes  in  chicken-raising 
he  was  familiar.  After  explaining  the  difference  be- 
tween chicken  cholera  and  diarrhcea,',he  said  that  he 
doubted  whether  Mr.  Tshudy  would  like  to  tell  how 
many  light  Brahmas  and  Partridge  Cochins  be  had 
lost ;  but  the  speaker  did  not  believe  it  was  all  owing 
to  the  breed,  but  thought — with  no  intention  what- 
ever to  do  injury  to  Mr.  Tshudy — that  his  "run" 
was  not  kept  as  clean  as  it  might  be.  He  did  not 
believe  one  variety  was  more  prone  to  disease  than 
another,  and  there  was  no  record  to  this  effect. 
What  is  wanted  is  pure  blood— a  good,  solid  fowl— 
and  this  can  only  be  attained  by  great  cleanliness. 
He  advocated  cleanliness,  therefore,  as  the  best  pre- 
ventive of  disejise,  and  he  also  favored  the  building 
of  coops  on  high,  dry  ground. 

Mr.  Evans  made  a  habit  of  feeding  salt  to  his 
chickens,  almost  dally,  and  Mr.  Eaby  said  he  was 
glad  to  hear  it,  because  the  popular  idea  was  that 
they  must  not  have  sail — not  even  salt  bread. 

Mr.  Warfel  said  that  for  years  the  generally  ac- 
cepted rule  had  been  to  keep  hot  only  salt,  but  all 
salty  substances  from  chickens,  and  Mr.  Evan's 
plan  was  a  new  revelation  to  him.  He,  too,  was  glad 
to  learn  that  the  chickens  could  be  fed  with  salt,  not 
only  without  injury,  but  with  positive  benefit,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  E.'s  experience. 

M  r.  Keed  described  a  disease  among  chickens,  the 
name  of  which  he  could  not  give,  but  the  symptoms 
of  which  were  very  peculiar.  No  one  present  had 
experienced  the  same  disease  among  his  poultry,  and 
no  explanation  of  the  disease  or  remedy  for  it  was 


Chairman  Tobias  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that, 
as  chicken  dlseasos  were  most  prevalent  in  the  hot 
season,  they  were  attributable  In  a  large  measure  to 
drinking  loo  much  water.  No  creature  of  Its  size, 
to  his  knowledge,  would  drink  one-half  the  quantity 
of  water  on  a  hot  day  that  a  chicken  would.  He 
believed  that  If  chickens  were  given  water  in  the 
morning,  at  noon  and  In  the  evening,  instead  of 
having  it  constantly  around  them,  the  disease*  now 
so  prevalent  would  be  greatly  reduced. 

Mr.  Evans  related  his  experience  on  the  matter  of 
giving  chickens  water,  and  the  discussion  then 
closed. 

Mr.  Witmer,  to  whom  a  question  had  been  refered 
for  next  meeting,  declined  on  the  plea  of  being  loo 
much  occupied,  as  secretary  of  the  Agricultural 
Society,  in  getting  up  an  exhibition  for  the  near 
future. 

In  the  matter  of  holding  a  poultry  show,  the 
chairman  explained  that  through  a  misunderstand- 
ing, the  committee  had  not  yet  held  a  meeting,  but 
would  meet  before  the  next  stated  mertlng. 

Mr.  Lippold  proposed  William  Klump  andObadiah 
Kendig  of  Lancaster,  for  membership;  Mr.  Evana 
proposed  Franklin  Carpenter,  of  Brunnervillo ;  the 
three  were  elected. 

Adjourned. 


WARWICK    FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  Warwick  Farmers'  Club  met  on  the  small 
farm  of  John  Grossman,  jr.,  near  Mlllway  Station, 
C.  &  R.  R.,  on  Saturday,  August  2,  1879,  the  Presi- 
dent, Uriah  Carpenter,  in  the  chair.  In  the  absence 
of  the  Secretary,  John  Grossman  was  appointed 
secretary  ;>ro  tein. 

As  there  was  no  particular  question  before  the 
meeting  Mr.  Grossman  proposed  one,  which  wa« 
agreed  to: 

"What  is  the  best  way  to  prepare  the  soil  for  sow- 
ing wheat,  and  how  and  when  to  sow  ?" 

Mr.  Grossman  said  :  Haul  manure  on  the  land  and 
spread  it  evenly;  plow  early  and  then  roll  it;  let  it 
remain  in  that  condition  till  near  seed  time,  then 
harrow  it ;  when  it  is  lumpy  shovel,  roll  and  harrow 
until  it  becomes  fine.  Sow  about  the  'JOth  of  Sep- 
tember; the  quantity  of  the  seed  varies  from  IJ^  to 
2  bushels  per  acre,  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
lands. 

H.  Huber  said  he  once  plowed  early  and  rolled  a 
part  of  a  field  early,  and  the  balance  of  it  later,  and 
then  it  was  dry  and  hard.  After  it  was  sowed  a  dif- 
ference was  seen  until  winter.  The  early  plowed  was 
the  greenest,  but  in  harvest  he  noticed  no  difference. 
In  average  he  agreed  with  Messrs.  Grossman  and 
Carpenter,  and  the  most  of  the  meeting. 

Messrs.  Huber  and  Carpenter,  however,  differed 
from  Mr.  G.  as  to  rolling.  They  thought  it  ought 
not  to  be  rolled  until  the  weeds  grow,  and  then  har- 
row first  and  roll  afterwards. 

Much  was  said  on  the  subject  of  deep  and  shallow 
plowing,  but  no  conclusion  was  reached  which  was 
best, 

On  wheat  :  Some  of  the  members  liked  the  Foltz 
wheat  best,  because  it  yields  more  to  the  acre  than 
other  kinds:  but  the  millers  don't  like  it  so  well; 
but  if  it  yields  most  grain  farmers  ought  to    raise  it. 

This  question  is  open  for  discussion  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  club. 

A  New  Question. 

How  best  to  keep  milk  cows  and  other  stock.  Ad- 
journed to  meet  August  30,  at  1  o'elo.-k  P.  M.,  at 
the  house  of  John  Grossman,  near  New  Haven 
(Kissel  Hill).       

LINNiEAN  SOCIETY. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  working  force  of  tlic 
Linnaean  Society  being  at  Ocean  Grove  on  Saturday, 
July  i;6th,the  July  meeting  was  informally  organ- 
ized, in  a  pavilion,  on  the  beach.  In  front  of  Joseph 
Ross's  restaurant,  with  the  president.  Prof.  Slahr, 
in  the  chair.  The  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  last 
meeting  was  dispensed  with.  Fine  corallne  speci- 
mens of  *Madr(pora  cnlycnlaris  and  Tubipora 
mnsica,  were  donated  lo  the  museum  by  8.  S.  Rath- 
von, and  specimens  of  quartz  pebbles,  and  Algea 
from  the  beach,  by  Mr.  Slauffer. 

The  prevaling  rains  prevented  any  explorations 
along  the  beach  or  Inland,  and  hence  the  pailcity  of 
the  donations,  which  would  have  been  far  other- 
wise, had  the  weather  been  more  favorable.  The 
novelty  of  the  occasion,  however,  which  was  entirely 
impromptu,  with  the  foaming  ocean  in  front  and  the 
beautiful  town  of  Ocean  Grove  in  the  background, 
rendered  the  meeting  peculiarly  interesting,  although 
brief.  After  some  further  social  Intercourse,  on 
motion  of  Prof.  Duhbs  the  society  adjourned  to  meet 
at  the  usual  place   on  the  last  Saturday   in  August. 

Mr.  Stauffer  reports  that  on  his  return  home  he 
found  quite  a  variety  of  snakes,  lizards,  fish  and 
insects,  as  well  as  a  variety  of  finely-pressed  plants, 
collected  by  William  B.  Fahnestock,  M.  D.,  on  his 
late  visit  to  (icorgia.  They  have  not  yet  been 
examined  fully. 


124 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  August, 


THE  BEEKEEPERS'    ASSOCIATION. 

The  Lancaster  County  Beekeepers'  Society  met 
Monday  afternoon,  August  11,  at  2  o'clock  in  the 
parlor  of  the  Black  Horse  Hotel.  The  following 
members  were  present :  Elias  Hershev,  Paradise  ;  j. 
H.  Deaner,  Churchtown  ;  I.  G.  Martin,  Earl ;  John 
Eitemiller,  Strasburg;  H.  G.  Shirk,  Caernarvon  ;  D. 
H.  Lintner,  Millersville  ;  J.  F.  Hershey,  Mt.  Joy; 
Levan  Weigle,  Earl;  A.  K.  Deaner,  Caernarvon; 
Abraham  Mellinger,  West  Earl ;  L.  S.  Fleekenstein, 
Manor,  and  P.  S.  Reist,  IVesideut,  Litiz. 

The  meeting  was  opened  by  the  President,  P.  S. 
Reist.  As  the  Secretary  was  absent,  J.  M.  Johnston, 
of  the    Intelligencer,  VI a.s  elected    Secretary  p?-o  tan. 

The  President,  Mr.  Reist,  reported  the  honey  crop 
of  the  United  States  to  be  about  8,800,000  pounds. 
The  amount  of  wax  was  about  6,000,000  pounds. 
The  total  value  of  crop — wax  and  honey — was  about 
^1,200,000.  The  highest  award  at  the  honey  show 
in  England  was  given  to  Americans.  He  reported 
an  increase  of  about  75  per  cent,  in  his  swarms.  All 
of  his  colonies  were  robbed,  and  they  evidently  had 
no  queens.  His  honey  prdduct  would  be  compara- 
tively small,  on  account  of  the  drought.  The  crop, 
however,  is  in  a  tolerably  fair  condition. 

J.  F.  Hershey,  Mt.  Joy,  stated  that  his  bees  were 
doing  well.  He  obtained  050  pounds  of  honey.  His 
bees  are  doing  little  or  nothing  now.  They  are  in 
good  condition  so  far. 

Mr.  D.  H.  Lintner,  Millersville,  said  his  bees  did 
very  well  during  the  months  of  April,  May  and  June. 
He  started  with  fourteen  hives,  but  swarmed  twelve 
more,  making  26  hives.  In  June  he  commenced 
transferring  to  twelve-form  hives.  His  bees  are  all 
in  good  condition.  He  took  250  pounds  honey.  His 
bees  paid  250  per  cent,  on  money  invested.  Sold  his 
honey  at  30  and  25  cents  per  pound.  They  have  not 
done  much  since  July. 

Mr.  I.  G.  Martin,  Earl,  said  he  had  twenty  colo- 
nies started  in  the  spring.  Tried  to  stop  swarming, 
and  only  had  one  natural  swarm.  Afterwards  he 
made  artificial  swarms,  increasing  the  number  of 
colonies  to  thirty-one.  He  has  taken  .540  pounds  of 
honey,  but  since  the  harvest  the  season  is  very  poor. 
The  honey  crop  is  about  over  for  the  year. 

Eli  Hershey,  Paradise,  said  his  bees  had  increased 
about  35  per  cent.  He  had  twenty-six  hives;  and 
obtained  on  an  average  25  pounds  per  hive. 

Mr.  Fleekenstein,  Manor,  said  he  had  started 
twelve  hives,  and  could  depend  on  one-half  of  them 
for  honey.  Only  had  one  natural  swarm  as  he  tried 
to  prevent  them  as  much  as  possible.  His  object  is 
to  gel  more  honey  with  less  bees.  He  obtained  on  an 
average  15  to  20  pounds  to  a  hive.  The  season  is  not 
over  yet  in  his  neighborhood.  He  lives  near  the 
Susquehanna  river,  and  his  bees  fly  over  to  the  -York 
county  side  and  gather  honey  from  the  buckwheat 
fields. 

Mr.  John  Eitemiller,  Strasburg,  said  he  started 
with  eighteen  swarms,  and  now  has  twenty-seven. 
He  obtained  300  pounds  of  honey  in  the  comb.  His 
bees  are  in  good  wintering  condition. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Hershey  answered  the  question,  "What 
is  the  best  method  of  preventing  swarming?"  as 
follows  : 

AS  this  question  was  referred  to  P.  S.  Reist  and  he 
referred  it  to  me,  I  will  say  a  few  words  on  the  sub- 
ject of  preventing  bees  from  swarming.  I  find  that 
there  are  lour  points  that  must  be  made  use  of,  and 
those  are  shade,  air,  putting  empty  combs  between 
brood  and  getting  the  bees  to  work  in  honey  boxes. 
To  prevent  swarming  commence  as  soon  as  the 
nights  are  getting  warm  ,to  keep  the  hives  well 
shaded  ;  but  have  them  so  arranged  that  the  air  can 
pass  over  and  around  the  hive.  If  a  hive  is  ever  so 
well  shaded  and  stands  in  a  warm  place  where  the 
air  cannot  pass  over  and  around  it,  shade  will  not 
help  to  prevent  swarming.  Shade  and  air  must  both 
be  made  use  of  at  the  same  time.  If  shade  is  made 
with  a  roof,  keep  the  roof  one  or  two  feet  above  the 
hives ;  don't  merely  shade  them  by  having  the  roof 
right  on  top  of  the  hive  as  then  the  rays  of  the  sun 
will  come  too  close  to  the  hive. 

Putting  Empty  Combs  Between  Brood. 

When  the  centre  combs  are  well  filled  with  capped 
brood  and  the  nights  are  warm,  take  an  outside 
comb,  and  if  the  comb  is  full  of  honey  uncap  it ;  then 
put  it  between  two  combs  that  are  filled  with  brood. 
In  this  way  every  eight  days  put  a  comb  between 
brood.  If  three  combs  are  put  between  brood  it  is 
enough,  and  not  more  than  one  comb  should  be  put 
between  brood  at  a  time  ;  if  more  is  used  at  one  time 
the  brood  nest  is  spread  too  fast  for  the  bees. 

Getting    the    Bees    to    work    in    the    Honey 
Boxes. 

Give  each  swarm  two,  three  or  four  sections  filled 
with  comb,  and  another  section  that  is  empty.  As 
soon  as  the  bees  gather  honey,  they  will  fill  the 
combs  in  the  section,  and  at  the  same  time  will  com- 
mence to  build  combs  in  the  adjoining  empty  section. 
As  soon  as  the  sections  are  full  take  them  off,  and 
put  empty  sections  in  their  place.  If  the  sections  are 
left  on  till  they  are  full  the  bees  will  not  have 
enough  room  to  build  combs,  and  will  commence  to 
build  queen-cells,  and  the  brood  chamber  being  filled 
with  honey,  the  queen  will  have  no  room  to  lay. 


A  general  discussion  followed  in  which  a  number 
of  the  members  participated. 

Mr.  I.  G.  Martin  said  in  answer  to  the  question, 
"Should  glucose  be  fed  to  bees?"  that  he  didn't 
know  ;  that  he  never  used  it,  and  would  like  to  hear 
from  some  one  who  had  tried  it.  He  was  not  in 
favor  of  experimenting  with  it. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Hershey  said  that  he  had  never  used  it, 
and  never  intended  to.  He  thought  it  a  rather  risky 
experiment. 

Mr.  Reist  said  that  Mr.  Thurlow,  of  this  city,  had 
tried  it.  The  bees  seemed  to  like  it,  but  the  honey 
tasted  bitter. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Hershey  showed  a  case  of  Italian  bees 
and  also  a  frame,  exhibiting  his  method  of  making  a 
comb  foundation. 

Mr.  I.  G.  Martin  exhibited  a  jar  of  extracted 
honey,  and  a  crate  of  honey  in  comb,  prepared  for 
shipping,  containing  twelve  two-pound  boxes. 

Mr.  Lintner  exhibited  a  pan  of  honey  containing 
eight  or  ten  pounds. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Hershey  showed  a  crate  of  honey,  in  one 
pound  boxes,  size  3%  by  5  inches,  which  he  called 
the  right  size  boxes.  He  says  they  sell  faster  than 
two  pound  boxes.  He  also  showed  several  cases  of 
Italian  bees  and  queens,  put  up  ready  for  shipping. 

The  President  stated  that  the  Fruit  Growers'  As- 
sociation was  holding  a  meeting  to  determine 
whether  they  would  have  a  fair  this  season,  and 
stated  that  the  society  had  been  invited  to  assist  in 
case  they  agree  to  hold  one. 

Mr.  Lintner  read  the  following  essay  : 

Some  people  will  contend  that  bees  are  injurious  to 
crops.  Now,  instead  of  bees  being  injurious  to  crops, 
I  shall  prove  to  you  that  they  are  an  advantage. 
First,  the  stamen  and  pistils  of  fiowers  answer  to  the 
different  organs  of  the  sexes — that  is,  male  and 
female.  The  stamen  is  the  male,  which  furnishes 
the  pollen  ;  the  pistil  is  the  female,  which  must  be 
impregnated  by  this  dust  or  pollen  from  the  stamen, 
or  no  fruit  will  be  produced.  Now,  as  we  all  know 
that  the  breeding  in  and  in  of  animals  is  detrimental,  so 
it  is  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  The  pollen  from  one 
flower  always  falling  on  the  pistil  of  its  own  flower 
would  deteriorate.  Thus  it  becomes  necessary  that 
the  pollen  produced  by  the  stamen  of  one  flower 
shall  fertilize  the  pistil  of  another,  to  prevent 
barrenness.  This  is  fully  accomplished  by  the  bees 
traveling  from  flower  to  flower,  and  carrying  the 
pollen  sticking  to  their  legs  and  wings,  to  the  next 
flower,  and  impregnating  the  pistil  of  it.  If  all  the 
bees  were  to  be  destroyed,  I  for  one,  if  a  farmer, 
would  prefer  to  go  into  some  other  business.  This 
prejudice  against  bees  seems  to  me  has  no  founda- 
tion, and  I  hope  that  the  day  is  dawning  when  it 
will  be  done  away  with. 

The  society  now  adjourned  until  the  second 
Monday  in  November. 


A    COUNTY    FAIR. 


The    Board    of    Managers    of    the     La: 

County  Agricultural  and  Horticultural 

Society  Fix  upon  Time  and  Place 

for  Holding  it— Committees 

Appointed. 

The  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society  met  Monday, 
August  11,  in  their  room  in  the  City  Hall,  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  subject  of  holding  a  county 
fair.  The  officers  of  the  society  constitute  the  Board 
of  Managers  and  are  as  follows,  all  of  whom  were 
present :  President,  Calvin  Cooper,  Bird-in-Hand ; 
Vice  Presidents,  Henry  M.  Engle,  Marietta,  and 
Jacob  B.  Garber,  Columbia;  Recording  Secretary, 
Jos.  F.  Witmer,  Paradise  ;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
J.  Miller,  Litiz ;  Treasurer,  Levi  W.  Grotf,  West 
Earl  township  ;  Managers,  Martin  D.  Kendig,  Manor 
township  ;  William  H.  Brosius,  Drumore  township  ; 
Casper  Hiller,  Cdnestoga  township;  John  G.  Lin- 
ville.  Gap ;  and  Israel  L.  Landis,  Lancaster. 

On  motion,  they  adopted  Wednesday,  Thursday 
and  Friday,  September  10,  11  and  12,  as  the  days 
upon  which  to  hoid  their  exhibition,  and  it  will  be 
held  in  the  Northern  Market  House,  on  North  Queen 
street. 

Committees. 

The  President  announced  the  following  committees, 
which  were  unanimously  approved  : 

Committee  of  Arrangement — Daniel  Smeych,  city; 
8.  P.  Eby.  city;  Israel  L.  Landis,  city;  Ephraim 
Hoover,  city.  "• 

On  Fruits— Henry  M.  Engle,  Marietta. 

On  Cereals— Jno.  C.  Linville,  Gap  P.  0. 

On  Flowers — Martin  D.  Kendig,  Creswell ;  Mrs. 
Dr.  Wilson,  Lancaster. 

On  Vegetables — Casper  Hiller,  Conestoga  Centre. 

On  Apiary— Peter  S.  Reist,  Litiz. 

On  Poultry— Wm.  J.  Kafroth,West  Earl. 

On  Domestic  Productions — Mrs.  Calvin  Cooper, 
Bird-in-Hand. 

On  Dairy  Products— Johnson  Miller,  Litiz. 

On  Light  Farm  Implements — C.  M.  Hostetter, 
May  P.O. 

On  FiBe  Arts,  etc— Wm.  H.  Brosius,  Liberty 
Square. 


On  Musical  Instruments— Ephriam  Hoover,  Lan- 
caster. 

On  Agricultural  Miscellany— Levi  S.  Reist, 
Oregon. 

The  committee  have  power  to  appoint  colleagues 
if  they  deem  it  necessary. 

All  who  desire  to  become  exhibitors  will  make  ap- 
plication to  the  heads  of  the  departments  in  their 
line  of  articles,  or  to  the  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ment. 

Further  details  will  be  found  in  posters,  adver- 
tisements and  a  premium  list,  which  will  be  issued 
in  due  time. 

POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 


Meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Society  at  Litiz. 

The  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Lancaster  County  Poultry  Society  was  held  at  the 
Litiz  Springs  Hotel,  on  Tuesday  evening,  August  12. 
The  committee  was  organized  by  electing  Rev.  D.  C. 
Tobias  chairman  and  Jacob  H.  Lichty  secretary. 
The  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  make  suitable  ar- 
rangements for  the  holding  of  a  "Poultry  Exhibi- 
tion," by  the  society,  in  Lancaster,  some  time  in 
December  or  January  next.  After  a  full  discussion 
of  the  subject  it  was"  thought  that  a  successful  exhi- 
bition could  be  made ;  and  the  committee  will  at  the 
next  meeting  of  the  society — the  first  Monday  in  Sep- 
tember— submit  a  report  embracing  the  necessary 
regulations  to  be  made. 

It  is  hoped  that  all  interested  in  breeding  poultry 
and  pigeons  will  assist  in  making  this,  their  first  ex- 
hibition, a  perfect  success.  The  committee  adjourned 
to  meet  in  the  room  of  the  society,  in  Lancaster,  on 
Tuesday,  the  26th  inst.,  at  101.;  A.M. 


Agriculture. 


Weeds  and  Hay  Fever. 

It  would  seem  that  the  general  advantage  of 
thorough  cultivation  ought  to  be  sufficient  induce- 
ment to  incite  the  tiller  of  the  soil  to  vigorous  efforts 
for  the  suppression  of  weeds.  It  is  manifest  to  the 
commonest  observer  that,  if  we  expect  remunerating 
crops,  we  must  not  leave  them  to  contend  with  hosts 
of  rival  enemies  in  the  soil,  and  yet  this  is  often  the 
case,  to  a  wide  extent,  throughout  the  country. 
Not  only  are  noxious  weeds  allowed  to  grow  among 
the  crops,  but  often  after  the  crops  are  removed 
whole  fields  are  abandoned  to  weeds  of  almost  every 
description,  as  also  are  roadsides.  These  are  fruitful 
nurseries,  and  their  fiowering  is  thus  protracted 
until  late  in  autumn,  filling  the  atmosphere  with  the 
impalpable  dust  of  their  pollen,  irritating  and 
inflaming  the  delicate  organs  of  the  human  system 
in  various  ways.    It  is  sometimes  called  hay  fever. 

The  hay  season,  however,  is  short,  and  ought  to  be 
much  shorter  if  farmers  would  have  hay  of  the  best 
quality;  and  is  harmless  as  compared  with  the 
tediousness  of  the  weed-flowering  season,  during 
which  the  eyes  are  affected  with  itching  inflamma- 
tion; the  bronchial  and  nasal  parts  violently  excited, 
causing  extreme  and  protracted  intervals  of  sneezing, 
and  copious  discharges  of  watery  fluids  from  the 
nose.  This  is  often  continued  for  months,  until 
frosts  destroy  these  troublesome  interlopers.  In  my 
daily  intercourse  I  meet  with  persons  who  are  severe- 
ly afflicted  with  this  troublesome  nuisance,  and 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  cause,  being  under  appre- 
hension that  it  proceeds  from  some  radical  defect  in 
their  organization,  and  seriously  contemplating  the 
necessity  of  seeking  a  more  genial  clime.  In  truth, 
I  am  half  inclined  to  think  that  many  times  those 
complaints  called  influenzas  have  been  treated  by 
medical  men  without  suspecting  their  common 
origin. 

These  disagreeable  effects,  arising  from  negligent 
husbandry,  are  far  more  prevalent  when  the  late 
summer  and  early  autumnal  months  are  dry,  as  was 
the  case  during  the  past  year.  Frequently  showers 
and  rain  storms  carry  the  pollen  to  tlie  ground, 
where  the  greater  part  remains.  The  presence  of 
this  evil  is"  a  very  serious  abridgment  of  the 
pleasures  of  rural  life  during  the  autumnal  months, 
when  a  walk  through  the  fields,  or  a  stroll  in  the 
silent  (voods  amid  the  shadowy  lights  and  falling 
leaves,  is  especially  enjoyed  by  contemplative  minds. 

Cutting  and  Curing  Hay. 

Though  it  is  too  late  for  the  present  season  to  talk 
upon  this  subject,  we  feel  inclined  to  take  up  a  small 
space  in  relation  to  it  by  merely  referring  to  a  dis- 
cussion at  a  meeting  of  farmers  who  attend  the 
"Farmers'  Market,"  at  Twelfth  and  Market  streets, 
in  this  city,  and  who  have  formed  themselves  into  a 
cltTl)  to  discuss  matters  and  things  connected  with 
their  pursuit,  helding  their  meetings  monthly  in  the 
room  of  the  directors  of  the  company.  These  meet- 
ings are  well  attended  and  comprise  among  its  mem- 
bers a  great  deal  of  intelligence;  but,  as  in  all  meet- 
ings of  farmers,  there  is  seldom  an  agreement  of 
views  on  any  question  formally  introduced. 

At  the  last  meeting  the  question  of  cutting  an(i 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


125 


curing  hay  was  diecussed,  in  which  there  was  a 
great  diversity  of  opinion.  Some  were  for  early  cut- 
ting, some  for  late  cutting,  and  some  when  the  clover 
heads  were  just  in  bloom,  and  timothy. when  the 
blossoms  fell.  In  curing,  some  thought  that  hay 
eenerallv  was  damaged  by  overmaking  and  m  having 
too  much  sun-heat.  Others  thought  that  grass 
should  be  merely  wilted;  others  again  who  had 
some  experience  in  this  said  the  hay  became  mouldy 
and  rotten  and  no  animal  would  eat  it.  Some 
housed  their  clover  the  day  it  was  cut,  by  keeping 
the  tedder  at  work  all  the  time;  another  preferred 
cutting  one  day  and  housing  the  next.  Some  thought 
that  there  was  not  raking  enough  done,  frequently 
there  was  none  until  the  wagons  came  along  to  take 
the  hay  away.  One  declared  that  timothy  hay  was 
worthless  for  dairy  cattle;  others  said  that  their  cat- 
tle preferred  timothy  to  clover. 

Notwithstanding  these  adverse  opinions,  these  dis- 
cussions must  prove  proHtable  by  inducing  exper  - 
mcnts  of  the  various  modes  proposed,  so  that  eacn 
one  can  decide  for  himself  which  will  best  meet  his 
views  and  Inure  to  his  profit.  Sometimes  on 3  6  cstab- 
lishcd  modcof  conducting  farm  operations  will  favor 
one  course  better  than  any  other,  and  of  course  lie 
will  pursue  that.  Sometimes  the  lay  of  the  laijd 
favors  one  mode  better  than  another. 

Utilizing  Night  Soil. 
On  nearly  every  farm  there  is  more  or  less  of  this 
highly  fertilizing  matter  to  be  disposed  of,  and  in 
some  sections  it  is  customary  for  farmers  to  haul  it 
to  their  farms  from  neighboring  cities  and  towus. 
How  to  treat  it  in  the  latter  ease  often  becomes  a 
question  with  the  inexperienced,  who  would  gladly 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity.  In  my  own  ex- 
perience I  have  found  the  following  as  good  a  way  as 
any,  and  it  proved  generally  satisfactory  :  Prepare 
in  advance  a  bed  or  basin  of  seasoned  muck,  or  soil 
and  sods,  making  the  bottom  six  to  ten  inclies  thick 
and  raising  the  outer  edges  one  to  three  feet  high, 
according  to  the  amount  of  night  soil  to  be  compost- 
ed. As  most  of  the  contents  of  city  vaults  are  m  a 
fluid  state,  a  watertight  box  or  cask  on  wheels  is 
needed  for  carrying.  This  is  backed  up  to  one  side 
and  emptied  over  the  embankment  into  the  bed  pre- 
pared for  it,  filled  as  desired.  It  is  then  allowed  to 
stand,  settle  and  dry  away,  so  that  the  whole 
may  be  shoveled  over  aud  well  mixed,  after  which  it 
commences  to  warm,  when  it  should  be  used  at  once, 
or  overhauled  and  plaster  mixed  with  it.  This  over- 
hauling is  only  a  little  less  unpleasant  than  the 
forking  over  of  common  yard  manure,  and  often 
much  more  exciting,  and  almost  everything  is  found, 
from  gold  watches  down  to  hoop  skirts,  &c.,  among 
the  contents.  According  to  our  best  chemists,  this 
manure  should  not  be  allowed  to  lie  long  before 
using  after  being  thus  prepared,  as  oxidation  sets  in 
and  goes  on  rapidly,  and  its  virtues  as  a  fertilizer 
deteriorate.  I  have  found  that  this  fertilizer  thus 
prepared  should  not  be  applied  to  the  same  soil  in 
successive  seasons  unless  mixed  largely  with  other 
farm  manure.  Used  in  rotation  alone,  or  mixed 
with  other  animal  manure,  benefit  results;  but 
where  used  alone  successive  seasons,  results  are 
unsatisfactory.—  W-  H.   White. 

• 

A  New  Wheat. 
I  send  you  a  few  sample  stalks,  not  selected,  of 
ray  new  white  wheat  which  I  call  "Centennial  Black 
Bearded"  white  wheat.  I  have  only  a  small  country 
place,  and  am  onlv  an  amateur.  What  I  grow  is 
for  my  owu  satisfaction  and  pleasure,  and  not  '^"- 
profit.    I  had  in  ISTfl  two  gills  of  th' 


took  it.  The  lessee  gave  it  a  coat  of  ashes  and  a 
good  sprinkling  of  clover  seed.  The  rye  yielded  six 
bushels  per  acre  ;  it  was  so  thin  that  the  clover  had 
suflicient  room  to  grow.  The  next  season  the  clover 
covered  the  ground  completely  aud  was  allowed  to 
remain  on  the  ground  the  entire  season.  In  the 
spring  of  the  second  year  the  whole  was  plowed  In 
and  the  field  planted  with  corn,  which  yielded  forty- 
seven  bushels  per  acre,  and  it  has  remained  a  fertile 
field  to  the  present  time  and  is  very  valuable  land. 

About  Corn. 
Peter  Cooper,  In  a  recent  conversation  with  a  re- 
porter, said:  "About  thirty  years  ago  a  man  came 
Into  my  offlce  and  olfered  to  sell  me  a  great  secret  for 
tliO.  ilc  was  so  persistent  and  his  condition  so  piti- 
ful that  I  concluded  to  buy  It.  I  paid  him  the  money 
and  he  told  me  the  secret."  Mr.  Cooper  said  It  was 
a  process  of  treating  seed  corn  which  would  double 
Its  productive  power.  The  corn  should  be  covered 
with  glue  and  rolled  successively  In  lime,  guano  etc., 
and  planted  with  the  accumulation  thus  gathered 
around  It.  "I  gave  the  receipt,"  continued  he,  "to 
a  man  in  New  York  State,  and  he  reported  the  yield 
of  corn  so  treated  was  double  that  of  corn  planted 
In  the  usual  way.  I  have  a  barrel  of  glue  with  me 
and  Intend  to  try  the  experiment." 

Tub  best  time  to  cut  wheat  is  when  the  straw  is 
yellow  two  or  three  joints  from  the  ground.  Every 
day  the  wheat  stands  after  the  grain  can  be  mashed 
without  producing  any  milk,  the  gluten  decreases  in 
quality  aud  the  bran  increases  in  thickness. 


the  hills  both  ways  ;  though  we  know  how  nice  it  is 
to  have  carrots  with  corn,  corn  alone  has  to  do  the 
work. 

Here  Is  the  same  trouble  with  the  turnip,  though 
in  a  less  degree  to  be  sure.  Every  single  turnip  has 
to  be  handled  In  pulling;  and  then  aaer  pulling 
every  one  has  to  be  gone  over  again  and  handled  tp 
take  the  top  off.  If  we  could  manage  to  do  this  by 
machinery,  as  we  do  so  many  other  things,  so  as  to 
get  rid  of  this  hand-labor  liuslness,  no  doubt  the  pro- 
duction would  soon  be  doubled,  and  use  be  found 
for  an  Immense  number  more  than  Is  now  dreamed 
of.  This  may  come  In  time,  for  Yankee  genius  ll 
equal  to  any  achievement  in  this  direction.— 0«rman- 
lown  Telegraph. 


Horticulture. 


heat  which 
I'sowcdon'a  plat  of  well  fertilized  soil  about  12  yards 
square,  harvesting  one  full  peck  of  grain.  In  187(  1 
sowed  the  peck  of  seed  broadcast  on  one  quarter  of 
an  acre  of  light  rotten  rock  soil  (earth  not  more 
than  12  to  14  inches  deep),  with  100  pounds  of  fertil- 
izer. I  obtained  I5].i  bushels  of  seed,  weighing  68 
pounds  per  bushel,  in  1878  I  was  very  late  (owing 
to  drouth)  in  getting  the  land  ready  for  seeding,  and 
sowed,  on  the  1st  of  November,  on  about  3;^  acres; 
5  bushels  of  seed.  I  have  not  threshed  it  out,  but 
am  told  by  good  judges  that  they  will  be  about  200 
bushels,  the  seed  was  originally  from  a  foreign  land. 
I  will  be  glad  if  you  can  say  in  your  paper  what  you 
think  of  it.  I  might  add  that  the  land  on  which  I 
sowed  the  past  year,  was  mostly  in  corn  in  1878,  and 
I  did  not  give  it  any  special  preparation. 

Baltimore,  Md.  ,    ,  „      - 

The  heads  of  wheat  sent  were  large  and  full,  of 
goodshape,  bearded.  The  beards  heingblack,  while 
the  chaff  is  white,  with  an  occasional  tinge  gives 
the  head  a  striking  appearance .  The  kernel  Is  white 
or  nearly  so,  except  when  shrunken,  and  has  a  dark, 
smoky  spot  on  the  germ,  or  eye,  rendering  It  very 
distinct  from  any  other  sort.  It  is  apparently  a  pro- 
mising variety.— CoMnd'j^  Gcutlanan. 

Is  Clover  a  Fertilizer. 
The  following  may  throw  some  light  on  the 
subject.  About  twenty  years  since  a  man  obtained 
by  lease  a  large  tract  of  land  for  a  term  of  years, 
most  of  which  was  worn  out  and  exhausted  rye  land. 
One  field  often  acres  was  sown  with  rye  when  he 


Bags  for  Protecting  Grapes. 
Below  we  give  an  extract  from  an  essay  read  before 
the  Kentucky  State  Horticultural  Society  by  Thomas 
S.  Kennedy,  a  well-known  grape-grower  near 
Louisville.  Mr.  Charics  Downing  used  these  bags 
years  ago  to  protect  his  grapes  from  birds  and 
"yellow  jackets,"  and  with  success.  We  have  used 
them  also,  and  indorse  all  that  Mr.  Kennedy  says. 
The  protection  afforded  by  the  netting  is  probably 
fully  as  complete  as  can  be  attained  without  impair- 
In"  the  ripening  of  the  fruit.  The  netting  should 
hang  rather  loosely  about  the  fruit.  The  extract 
here  follows  : 

"But  a  better  protection  from  insects  and  disease 
I  have  found  in  covering  each  bunch  of  grapes  with 
a  close-fitting  bag  made  of  cheap  cross-bar  mosquito 
netting,  costing  last  season  only  forty-five  cents  per 
piece  of  eight  yards  long  by  two  wide— one  square 
foot  being  sufflcient  for  a  bag.  It  is  slipped  over  the 
bunch  and  tied  closely  around  the  stem  with  a  string. 
This  simple  contrivance  is  a  simple  protection  against 
all  kinds  of  insects,  but  only  a  partial  preventive  of 
rot.  I  have  used  this  covering  for  more  than  fifteen 
years,  and  am  satisfied  that  without  this  safeguard  I 
would  not  be  able  to  save  any  considerable  portion  of 
my  annual  crops  from  destruction  by  insects.  Under 
this  covering  the  grapes  have  fully  ripened  and  hung 
long  afterwards  on  the  vines  until  wanted. 

"About  seven  years  ago,  Mr.  Younglove,  of 
Bowling  Green,  exhibited  at  the  Louisville  fair  a 
very  large  collection  of  grapes  that  had  been  pro- 
tected with  paper  bags.  These  grapes  were  very 
clear  and  translucent,  and  only  slightly  colored. 
The  darkest  kinds  of  red  grapes  had  only  a  light 
pink  tinge,  and  no  person  could  tell  what  kinds  any 
of  them  were  by  their  appearance.  The  paper  bags 
had  evidently  excluded  the  sunlight  and  caused  the 
o-rapes  to  mature  without  attaining  their  natural 
color.  The  flavor,  too,  was  insipid  and  watery.  The 
contrast  between  these  and  the  rich  colors  of  th: 
grapes  exhibited  from  my  vineyards  caused  the 
judges  who  awarded  premiums  to  decide  that  the 
netting  was  a  better  covering  than  paper  bags."— 
Rural  Life. 

Cultivate  More   Turnips. 

We  all  know  the  value  of  the  turnip  crop  to 
England.  It  has  been  asserted  that  the  interest  of 
their  immense  debt  is  annually  paid  by  the  product 
of  this  crop.  As  to  the  United  States,  we  do  not 
make  half  the  use  of  the  turnip  we  might  do,  by 
increasing  the  consumption  of  the  root  and  improve- 
ment in  the  manner  of  its  cultivation.  The  great 
w  ant  of  our  winter- feed  for  cattle  is  succulence .  We 
somewhat  obviate  this  want  by  using  cut  feed 
moistened,  but  as  a  general  thing  hay  and  oats  and 
corn  and  water  form  the  bulk  of  catMe-food.  Car- 
rots, potatoes,  rutabagas  and  turnips  are  used  at 
times,  but  to  a  very  limited  extent  to  what  they 
might  be. 

One  reason  for  this  limited  use  may  be  In  our  old 
enemy,  dear  labor.  In  the  culture  of  the  carrot,  for 
Instance,  there  Is  a  great  amount  of  hand-work.  As 
soon  as  the  seeds  are  up  the  plants  must  be  tliinned; 
and  after  every  hoe-harrowing  between  the  rows, 
hands  must  go  over  again  to  keep  the  rank  weeds 
from  smothering  out  the  carrot  plants.  Carrots  are 
excellent  horse-feed;  but  few  of  us  have  this  hand- 
labor  to  spare.    It  is  so  much  easier  to  hoe  corn  iu 


Fertilizers  and  Fiuit  Trees. 
I  find  that  lime,  wood  ashes  and  old  Iron,  put 
around  the  roots  of  declining  fruit  trees,  have  a  very 
bcncflcial  effect.  These  fertilizers  restore  the  trees 
to  a  healthy  condition,  and  also  greatly  improve  the 
fruit  In  quality  and  quantity.  I  made  the  applica- 
tion on  a  WIncsap  and  Never  Fall,  about  half  a 
bushel  of  mixed  lime  and  ashes  to  each,  and  dug  It 
in  with  a  hoe  some  six  feet  around  the  trunk,  and 
put  old  Iron  immediately  around  the  base  of  each. 

The  trees  put  forth  with  renewed  vigor,  bloomed 
abundantly,  and  yielded  a  good  crop  of  fruit.  An 
excellent  wash  for  trees  may  be  made  thus  :  Heat  an 
once  of  sal-soda  to  redness  in  an  iron  pot,  and 
dissolve  it  In  one  gallon  of  water,  and  while  warm 
apply  it  to  the  trunk.  After  one  application  the 
moss  and  old  bark  will  drop  off,  and  the  trunk  will 
be  quite  smooth.  The  wash  has  highly  recupera- 
tive properties,  making  old  trees  bear  anew. 

1  have  tried  soft  soap  as  a  wash  with  good  results, 
and  also  a  coating  of  lime  In  the  spring  season, 
which  is  a  fine  specific  for  old  trees.  The  question 
is  often  asked.  Is  it  best  to  manure  trees  in  the  fall  or 
spring?  I  have  found  the  summer  season  to  be  a 
good  time  ;  have  much  faith  In  mulching,  especially 
voung  trees,  for  several  seasons  after  they  am 
planted.  Apple  trees  are  said  to  have  two  growths 
during  the  season;  the  secondary  growth  takes 
place  after  midsummer,  hence  It  is  that  a  top  dress- 
ing of  good  manure,  and  also  coarse  litter,  facilitates 
the  late  growth,  and  often  produces  very  marked 
results  in  the  habit  and  formation  of  the  tree.  The 
good  effect  that  mulching  has  on  young  trees  Is,  that 
it  wards  off  the  intense  heat  of  the  sun  from  the 
tender  roots,  and  also  has  a  tendency  to  hold 
moisture.  A  good  top  dressing  of  stable  manure  In 
the  fall,  around  young  trees,  with  a  good  many  com 
cobs  cast  over  the  surface  of  the  soil,  gives  satisfac- 
tory ve&\x\ii.— Correspondence  Rural  Messenger. 

Setting  Out  Strawberries. 
In  reply  to  some  inquiries,  principally  from  new 
subscribers,  as  to  the  best  time  to  plant  out  a  bed  of 
strawberries,  we  would  say  September  by  all  means. 
And  we  would  add  that  setting  the  plants  some 
fifteen  inches  apart  and  allowing  them  to  form  a 
complete  bed,  more  fruit  and  of  larger  size  can  be 
obtained  than  if  set  in  rows  and  the  hill  system  pur- 
sued. When  this  mode  Is  adopted  the  plant  should 
be  set  about  two  feet  apart  each  way.  It  Is  well  to 
change  the  variety  after  cultivating  a  bed  for  three 
or  lour  years,  to  fresh  ground.  Generally  a  new 
variety  will  do  better  altogether  after  cultivating  It 
for  a  series  of  years.  We  have  raised  more  Hovey  s 
Seedling  than  any  other ;  but  after  running  from  six 
to  eight  years  it  gradually  diminished  in  yield.  We 
have  In  the  same  way  done  well  with  the  Monarch  of 
the  West,  Triumph,  Ja.-unda,  and  latteriy  with  Seth 
Boyden,  and  Captain  Jack.  The  Sharplessjust  now 
is  the  general  favorite,  but  the  cost  of  the  plants  Is 
still  pretty  well  up.  All  the  foregoing  are  choice 
varieties  and  will  well  repay  any  one  either  for  the 
market  or  for  domestic  use.  In  setting  out  the  plant, 
it  should  not  be  done  too  deeply,  but  firmly.  Ihe 
soil  selected  should  not  be  low,  or  cold,  or  liable  to 
retain  water.— (?o'mnn<own  Telegraph. 


Growing  the  Crab    Apple. 

In  Pennsylvania  there  are  very  few  crab  apples 
raised,  though  they  would  no  doubt  always  com- 
mand a  goodprlce  in  our  markets  for  "preserving, 
as  there  is  no  fruit  that  Is  so  valuable  and  would 
become  so  popular  for  this  purpose.  The  Siberian 
crab  is  the  best  for  marketing.  It  is  a  beautiful 
fruit,  good  tasted,  and  produces  full  crops  where  It 
is  grown  in  central  parts  of  New  York,  as  we  wit- 
nessed It  several  years  ago.  It  also  produces 
abundantly  all  over  the  North  and  West,  and  we 
cannot  see  why  It  should  not  be  grown  in  Pennsylva- 
nia There  are  a  number  of  varieties  of  the  Siberian 
crai),  some  being  better  than  others,  and  we  are  In- 
formed on  credible  authority,  that  the  variety  known 
as  No  20  Is  a  superior  kind,  and  we  know  it  to  be 
highly  commended  in  the  West,  where  it  can  be  pur- 
chased at  some  of  the  vast  nurseries  In  that  section 
of  the  country.  We  are  also  aware  that  it  can  be 
obtained  of  Mr.  Samuel  Edwards,  whose  address  Is 
Mendota,  LaSalle  county,  Illinois.  We  have  read 
the  certificates  of  a  number  of  leading  men  ol  tne 


126 


tHE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  August, 


West  who  unite  in  speaking  in  the  moat  decided 
terms  of  praise.  We  should  be  pleased  to  hear  of 
some  of  our  agricultural  friends  trying  it,  as  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  its  culture  would  be  both  suc- 
cessful and  profitable. 


Domestic  Economy. 

Advantages  of  Staying  in   Bed. 

Taking   an    occasional    day    in    bed,    simply    on 

account  of  indisposition,  is,  however,  a  very  simple 

and  rudimentary  notion  of  this  glorious  institution. 

Bed  is  the  natural  domicile  of  every  man  : 

"lu  bed  we  laugh,  in  bed  we  cry : 

And  born  in  bed,  in  bed  we  die." 

Bavard  the  French  physiologist,  maintained  that 
man  as  an  animal  who  exercised  the  thinking  faculty 
best  In  a  horizontal  position.  Thus,  there  are  high 
artistic,  social,  and  intellectual  uses  connected  with 
an  occasional  day  in  bed  which  imperatively  claim 
discussion.  Brinley,  the  great  engineer,  when  he 
was  fairly  bothered  and  puzzled  by  some  tough 
problem,  always  betook  himself  to  bed  until  he  had 
solved  it.  Most  people  have  a  great  kindness  for 
Lord  Melbourne,  who,  under  the  affectation  of 
frivolity,  used  to  get  up»Hebrew  and  the  Fathers  and 
imperturbable  good  humor  to  bear  with  his  wife, 
Lady  Caroline,  while  the  pretty  Byron-struck  terma- 
gant used  to  smash  the  drawing-room  furniture. 
His  intimate  friends  would  find  the  premier  calmly 
taking  breakfast  in  bed,  with  letters  and  dispatches 
strewed  all  over  the  counterpane.  The  poets  have 
been  terrible  fellows  to  get  out  of  bed.  I  suppose  it 
is  because  the  visions  of  the  day  and  of  the  night 
sweetly  intermingle.  The  poet  Thomson  cultivated 
laziness  as  a  fine  art,  and  thought  out  his  poems  in 
bed.  Pope  was  a  still  worse  fellow.  When  he  had 
a  fit  of  inspiration  on  him,  he  would  keep  the 
servants  running  about  for  him  all  through  the 
night.  He  makes  amends  to  them  by  the  plenteous- 
ness  of  his  "veils." 


Have  a  Fish  Pond  if  You  Can. 
It  is  not  every  farm  that  can  have  a  fish  pond  on 
it,  but  there  are  many  farms  that  could  have  them 
as  well  as  not.  Wherever  there  is  a  good  strong 
spring  to  feed  it  there  a  profitable  fish  pond  can  be 
made.  Hundreds  of  farms  have  swamps  or  marshes, 
too  low  to  drain  without  great  expense  and  fed  by 
springs,  and  these  could  be  turned  to  profitable  ac- 
count by  turning  them  into  fish  ponds.  We  don't 
mean  profitable  in  the  way  of  making  money,  but  in 
saving  it.  The  flesh  of  fish  is  a  wholesome  diet,  bet- 
ter every  way  than  so  much  fat  or  measly  pork.  We 
know  plenty  of  farmers  who  scarcely  taste  fish  from 
one  year  to  another.  Not  because  they  are  not  fond 
of  fish,  but  because  they  can't  get  them  without 
going  some  distance  after  them  and  paying  a  good 
price  in  the  bargain.  A  pond  of  an  acre  or  so  in  ex- 
tent, stocked  with  varieties  adapted  to  the  place, 
would  furnish  abundance  of  the  very  best  meat, 
costing  nothing  to  produce  it  either.  As  to  catching, 
it  is  only  sport,  and  that  part  can  be  safely  delegated 
to  the  boys  or  girls.  We  are  sure,  also,  that  such 
an  institution  on  the  farm  would  prove  one  of  its 
chief  attractions,  if  your  boys  are  inclined  to  leave 
the  farm .  We  write  from  knowledge  in  this  matter, 
having  in  earlier  days  caught  many  a  "nice  string" 
of  fish  in  a  pond  that  was  formerly  a  swamp.  During 
one  dry  August  the  owner,  with  two  of  his  boys, 
went  into  it  with  a  plow,  scraper  and  shovel,  and  in 
a  short  time  had  a  pond  of  nearly  an  acre  in  extent. 
This  he  stocked  with  fish  common  to  the  sluggish 
streams  of  the  neighborhood,  and  some  procured  at 
a  distance,  and  for  years  thereafter  it  proved  to  be 
the  best  acre  on  the  place. 


Blackberry  Wine. 

The  following  is  my  mode  of  making  this  wine  or 
cordial,  after  trying  several  other  modes  : 

Take  a  five  orten  gallon  keg,cleanse  it  thoroughly. 
Take  only  ripe  berries,  crush  them  in  a  wine  or  cider 
press,  or  if  not  at  hand,  in  cloths.  After  expressing 
the  wine  strain  carefully,  and  to  each  quart  of  juice 
add  three  pounds  of  the  best  yellow  sugar  and  as 
much  water  as  will  make  a  gallon,  and  in  this  pro- 
portion for  any  quantity.  Put  the  entire  mixture  in 
a  kettle  and  bring  it  to  boil,  skim  and  when  cool  fill 
the  keg  three-fourths  full  and  let  it  ferment  for  one 
week ;  then  fill  Bp  the  cask  with  freshly  made 
liquor,  and  when  done  fermenting  bung  up  tight, 
set  away  in  the  cellar,  where  it  should  be  racked  off, 
the  keg  scalded  out,  and  the  liquor  either  returned 
to  the  keg  to  remain  permanently  or  bottled  for  use. 
We  prefer  putting  it  in  five-gallon  demijohns  Instead 
of  bottles. —  Oermantoimi   Telegraph. 


How  to   Deal  with  Rats. 

A  writer  in  the  Scientific  Americaii  says :  We 
clean  our  premises  of  these  detestable  vermin  by 
making  whitewash  yellow  with  copperas  and  cover- 
ing the  stones  and  rafters  in  the  cellar  with  a  thick 
coat  of  It.  In  every  crevice  where  a  rat  might 
tread,  we  put  the  crystals   of  the  copperas  and 


scatter  the  same  in  the  corners  of  the  floor.  The 
result  was  a  perfect  stampede  of  rats  and  mice. 
Since  that  time  no*  a  footfall  of  either  rats  or  mice 
has  been  heard  about  the  house.  Every  spring  a 
coat  of  the  yellow  wash  is  given  the  cellar,  as  a 
purifier  as  well  as  a  rat  exterminator,  and  no 
typhoid,  dysentery  or  fever  attacks  the  family. 
Many  persons  deliberately  attract  all  rats  in  the 
neighborhood  by  leaving  fruits  and  vegetables  un- 
covered in  the  cellar,  and  sometimes  even  the  soap 
is  left  open  for  their  regalement.  Cover  up  every- 
thing eatable  in  the  cellar  and  pantry  and  you  will 
soon  starve  them  out.  These  prpcautions  joined  to 
the  service  of  a  good  cat  will  prove  as  good  a  rat 
exterminator  as  the  chemist  can  provide.  We  never 
allow  rata  to  be  poisoned  in  our  dwelling,  they  are 
so  liable  to  die  between  the  walls  and  produce  much 
annoyance. 

Fruit  Jams. 
It  is  generally  known  that  boiling  fruit  for  a  long 
time  and  skimming  it  well  without  the  sugar  and  with- 
out a  cover  to  the  preserving  pan,  is  a  very  economi- 
cal and  excellent  way — economical  because  the  bulk 
of  the  scum  rises  from  the  fruit  and  not  from  the 
sugar,  if  the  latter  is  good  ;  and  boiling  it  without  a 
cover  allows  the  evaporation  of  all  the  watery  parti- 
cles therefrom ;  the  preserves  keep  firm  and  well- 
flavored.  The  proportions  are  three  quarters  of  a 
pound  of  sugar  to  a  pound  of  fruit.  Jam  made  in 
this  way  of  currants,  strawberries,  raspberries  or 
gooseberries  is  excellent. —  Oermantown  Telegraph. 

Duchesse  Potatoes. 

Mash  one  quart  of  hot  boiled  potatoes  through  a 
fine  colander  with  the  potato-masher ;  mix  with 
them  one  ounce  butter,  one  small  teaspoonful  of  salt, 
half  a  salt-spoonful  of  white  pepper,  a  pinch  of 
grated  nutmeg,  and  the  yolks  of  two  raw  eggs  ;  pour 
the  potatoes  out  on  a  plate,  and  then  form  it  with  a 
knife  into  small  cakes  two  inches  long  and  one  wide; 
lay  them  on  a  buttered  tin,  brush  them  over  the  top 
with  an  egg  beaten  up  with  a  teaspoonful  of  cold 
water,  and  color  them  golden  brown  in  a  moderate 
oven. — Oermantown  Telegraph. 

A  Delicious  Vegetable  Soup. 

Fry  two  turnips,  two  carrots  and  two  onions  in  a 
little  butter  ;  well  wash  a  pint  of  lentils,  and  boil 
them  with  the  turnips,  carrots  and  onions  in  a  quart 
of  water  till  perfectly  tender,  then  add  a  pint  of 
water  and  rub  through  a  sieve  ;  add  pepper,  salt  and 
a  spoonful  of  mushroom  ketchup,  also  a  small  lump 
of  sugar,  about  half  the  size  of  a  walnut.  Boil  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  and  serve  with  or  without  rice. — 
Oermantown  Telegraph. 


Elderberry  Wine. 
Two  quarts  of  juice,  two  quarts  of  water,  four 
pounds  of  white  sugar  ;  put  into  a  jar,  cover  with  a 
thin  cloth  to  protect  from  the  flies,  and  skim  every 
day  until  well  fermented.  Then  turn  into  cask,  and 
cork  tightly. 


Household  Recipes. 


Green  sage  put  in  a  closet,  will  clear  it  of  red  ants. 

Potatoes  can  be  kept  from  rotting  by  dusting 
them  with  lime,  using  about  one  bushel  of  lime  to 
forty  bushels  of  potatoes. 

As  MUCH  nitrate  of  soda  as  can  be  taken  up  be- 
tween the  forefinger  and  thumb  in  the  glass  every 
time  the  water  is  changed  will  preserve  cut  flowers 
in  all  their  beauty  for  above  a  fortnight. 

To  Expel  Foul  Air  from  a  Well. — The  quick- 
est way  to  expel  foul  air  from  a  well  is  to  heat  a  bar 
of  iron  red  hot,  and  lower  it  down  into  the  water  ; 
the  sudden  formation  of  steam  is  effectual. 

This  is  said  to  be  a  good  recipe  for  staining  wood  : 
For  black  walnut6tainsim(iy  use sulphatum  varnish, 
thinned  with  spirits  of  turpentine,  and  apply  with  a 
brush.    It  can  be  made  light  or  dark,  as  desired. 

Do  NOT  work  butter  too  much  nor  too  fast.  Work 
slowly,  and  until  all  the  salt  is  thoroughly  and  even- 
ly absorbed,  otherwise  the  butter  will  not  be  of  uni- 
form color.  Working  It  too  fast  will  destroy  the 
grain. 

To  KEEP  seeds  from  the  depredations  of  mice  mix 
pieces  of  camphor  gum  in  with  the  seeds.  Camphor 
placed  in  drawers  or  trunks  will  prevent  mice  from 
doing  them  injury.  The  mouse  objects  to  the  odor, 
and  keeps  at  a  distance. 

Tomato  Stew. — Scald  and  skin  the  desired  num- 
ber and  place  in  a  stew-pan  without  water;  let  them 
simmer  for  half  an  hour.  Add  pepper  and  salt,  a 
good  sized  piece  of  butter,  and  a  spoonful  or  two  of 
white  sugar.  Grate  a  few  bits  of  stale  bread  overall; 
boil  up  once,  and  serve  very  hot. 

Stewed  Cabbage. — Shred  a  small  cabbage  as  for 
cold  slaw  ;  boil  it  in  water  for  twenty  minutes,  then 
drain  thoroughly  and  cover  with  sweet  milk.  Cook 
until  tender,  season  to  taste  with  butter,  pepper  and 


salt,  and  just  before  serving  add  the  yolk  of  a 
beaten  egg,  mixed  with  a  little  sweet  cream. 

Here  is  a  recipe  for  meat  cheese:  Boil  an  ox's 
liver,  heart  and  tongue;  remove  all  the  hard  and 
sinewy  parts,  and  chop  the  remainder  fine;  add  lo 
this  a  pound  of  boiled  pork,  also  chopped  fine;  sea- 
son it  well  ;  then  tie  it  in  a  cloth  or  put  it  into  a  pan 
and  press  it  hard.  After  standing  a  few  hours  it  will 
come  out  in  a  solid  cake,  and  is  very  nice  to  slice 
from,  for  eating  at  breakfast  or  supper. — Ex. 

Butter  should  be  kneaded  with  fresh  milk  and 
then  with  pure  water.  By  this  treatment  the  butter 
is  rendered  as  fresh  and  pure  in  flavor  as  when  re- 
cently made.  This  result  is  ascribed  to  the  fact  that 
butyric  acid,  to  which  the  rancid  taste  and  odor  are 
owing,  is  readily  soluble  in  fresh  milk,  and  is  then 
removed. 

To  cleanse  a  rubber  piano  cover  lay  the  cover  on 
a  long,  clean  table,  and  sponge  it  all  over  with  clean 
warm  water,  containing  a  Utile  powdered  borax  ;  use 
no  soap ;  with  a  clean  soft  cloth  rub  it  dry.  If  it 
looks  dull  or  does  not  give  satisfaction  take  another 
soft  cloth  and  drop  on  it  not  more  than  two  or  three 
drops  of  sweet  oil,  and  rub  gently  all  over  the  cover. 

Now  that  colors  are  so  largely  used  in  stockings, 
alid  so  many  are  ruined  in  the  laundry,  a  good  plan 
in  washing  them  is  to  roll  them,  after  being  rinsed, 
into  a  piece  of  white  linen  and  squeeze  it,  to  remove 
all  the  moisture  possible,  then  dry,  and  the  stockings 
will  look  new  again.  It  is  also  a  good  plan  to  put  a 
small  spoonful  of  spirts  of  salts  into  the  water  lu 
which  stockings  are  washed  in  order  to  keep  in  the 
colors. 

In  baking  buckwheat  and  other  griddle  cakes,  a 
piece  of  fat  bacon  as  a  "greaser"  is  by  many  thought 
to  be  almost  indispensable.  Those  who  are  of  this 
opinion  will,  on  trial,  soon  learn  that  a  turnip 
divided  in  two  answers  the  same  or  a  better  purpose, 
as  the  odor — the  most  unpleasant  part  of  cake 
baking — comes  from  the  greaser  in  contact  with  the 
hot  iron,  whereas  with  the  turnip  very  little  of  this 
is  perceptible. 

To  Bake  Eggs.— Butter  a  clean,  smooth  saucepan, 
break  as  many  eggs  as  will  be  needed  into  a  saucer, 
one  by  one.  If  found  good  slip  it  into  the  dish.  No 
broken  yolk  allowed,  nor  must  they  crowd  so  as  to 
risk  breaking  the  yolk  after  putting  in.  Put  a  small 
piece  of  butter  on  each,  and  sprinkle  with  pepper 
and  salt,  set  into  a  well  heated  oven,  and  bake  till 
the  whites  are  set.  If  the  oven  is  rightly  heated  it 
will  take  but  a  few  minutes,  and  is  far  more  delicate 
than  fried  eggs. 

Cranberry  Jellt. — Put  one  quart  of  cranber- 
ries, which  have  been  carefully  picked  over,  to  boil 
in  one  pint  cold  water ;  have  ready  in  a  bowl  one 
pint  white  sugar  ;  when  the  cranberries  are  perfectly 
soft  mash  them  while  hot  through  a  colander  into 
the  bowl  which  contains  the  sugar,  and  stir  until  the 
sugar  is  dissolved  ;  then  pour  into  moulds  and  set  in 
a  cold  place  for  at  least  twenty-four  hours.  If  the 
cranberries  are  good  and  no  more  water  is  used  than 
the  recipe  calls  for,  this  way  of  cooking  them  makes 
beautiful  molds  for  the  table. 

Baked  Indian  Pudding.— Pour  enough  boiling 
water  on  two  cups  of  meal  to  wet  it  thoroughly; 
then  add  one-half  cup  of  butter,  well  beaten  with 
one  cup  of  sugar,  till  like  a  cream ;  two  well  beaten 
eggs,  a  little  salt,  two  cups  of  milk,  two  tablespoon- 
fuls  molasses,  nutmeg  and  cinnamon  to  suit  the 
taste ;  one  tea-cup  ef  stoned  raised,  slightly  chopped; 
bake  slowly  three  hours.  If  preferred,  use  two- 
thirds  of  a  cup  of  finely  chopped  suet  instead  of 
butter;  instead  of  raisins  a  cup  and  a  half  of  dried 
whortleberries  are  very  nice,  or  two  cups  of  finely 
chopped  sweet  apples  instead  of  any  other  fruit  is 
excellent. 

To  Preserve  Flowers.— 1.  Mix  a  tablespoonful 
of  carbonate  of  soda  in  a  pint  of  water,  and  in  this 
place  yonr  bouquet.  It  will  preserve  the  flowers  for  a 
fortnight.  2.  Sprinkle  the  bouquet  lightly  with 
fresh  water,  and  then  put  it  in  a  vessel  containing 
soap  suds.  This  will  keep  the  flowers  as  fresh  as  if 
just  gathered.  Then  every  morning  take  the  bouquet 
out  of  the  suds,  and  lay  it  sideways— the  stock  en- 
tering first — into  clean  water,  keep  it  there  a  minute 
or  two,  then  take  it  out  and  sprinkle  the  flowers 
lightly  by  the  hand  with  water,  replace  it  in  the  soap 
suds,  and  it  will  bloom  as  fresh  as  when  first  gath- 
ered. The  soap  suds  needs  changing  every  three  or 
four  days.  By  observing  these  rules  (says  a  lady 
who  has  tested  them),  a  bouquet  may  be  kept  bright 
and  beautiful  for  at  least  a  month,  and  will  last  still 
longer  in  a  passable  state.  3.  We  have  heard  that 
the  natural  color  of  flowers  may  be  preserved 
for  any  length  of  time  by  dipping  them  for  a  mo- 
ment in  clear  glycerine.  When  the  glycerine  dries, 
the  various  tints  are  seen  almost  as  bright  as  before 
the  flowers  were  plucked. 

Waffles. — One  quart  milk,  half  cup  melted  but- 
ter, yolks  of  threa  eggs  well  beaten,  one  heaped  tea- 
spoonful of  baking  powder.  Beat  in  flour  enough  to 
make  a  thin  batter,  and  add  the  well-beaten  whites 
of  thethreeeggs  the  last  thing.  Maple  syrup,  golden 
syrup,  sugar  and  thick  cream  is  usually  considered 
best  to  eat  with  waffles.  But  if  sauce  is  preferred, 
anj  that  is  fancied  on  puddings  is  allowable  on  waffles. 


1878.  J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


127 


LIVE  Stock. 


Pigs. 

BlacK  or  flesh-colored  piRs  are  freest  from  skin 
diseases  in  hot  climates.  Tlie  choice  is  practically 
between  the  Essex  and  Berkshire,  for  males  with 
which  to  improve  the  native  stock  of  hardy  grubbers 
of  the  root-or-dic  variety.  Those  who  have  tried 
the  former  have  been  delighted  at  llrst,  l3ut  after  a 
few  years  began  to  recall  with  loncring  the  lean  hams 
and  slim  but  solid  and  flavorous  bacon  of  the  old 
race-horse  breed.  The  trouble  with  the  Essex  pigs 
for  the  south  is  that  they  are  the  eat-and-sleep  to 
sleep  and-wake-to-eat  kind,  and  their  grades  are,  of 
course  like  them.  The  side  fat  is  superb,  and  so  is 
the  leaf  lard,  and  so  far  the  breed  is  all  that  could 
be  desired;  but  the  ham  and  shoulders  are  too  fat 
for  profit,  and  the  ham  is  not  marbled  with  fat  like 
the  Berkshires.  These  ithe  Berks)  are  much  more 
wide  awake,  less  easily  controlled,  but  good  foragers. 
Their  grades  are  a  wonderful  improvement  upon  tlie 
original  stock,  may  be  made  very  fat,  and  yet  the 
proportion  between  the  fat  and  lean  hams,  should- 
ers and  side  pork  or  bacon,  is  such  as  to  develop  and 
preserve  the  excellencies  of  the  meat.  The  hams 
are  large  and  rich  and  juicy,  with  diffused  fat.  Berk- 
shires are  not  quite  so  easily  fattened  wlien  penned 
and  systematically  fed  as  the  Essex  grade,  but  they 
will  take  much  better  care  of  themselves  m  tlie 
woods,  and  when  penned  or  fastened  for  fattening, 
may  be  finished  oil'  with  half  the  feed  the  originial 
"land  pikes"  would  require. 

With  many  northern  and  western  breeders,  the 
Essex  is  a  more  profitable  pig  tlian  the  Berkshire, 
because  his  nature  leads  him  to  take  little  exercise, 
so  that  all  he  eats  goes  to  flesh  and  fat.  Respiration, 
which,  if  rapid  reduces  fat  greatly,  is  with  him  never 
accelerated  by  moving  about,  and  with  plenty  of  feed, 
the  sole  burden  of  life  is  to  digest  it.  This  breed  is 
pre-eminent  among  the  black  breeds^  and.  excelled 
by  none  as  fat  prod-  ' 


ery  year  that  sheep  and 
nee  in  the  Northwest  and 
All  our  informa- 


a  pint  rye  flour  in  it,  morning  and  evening.  In  the 
winter  I  keep  them  in  the  stable  three  days,  ami 
with  such  treatment  I  never  have  a  sick  cow.  My 
father  kept  cows  for  4.5  years,  and  he  always  gave 
them  rye  Hour  in  the  winter;  he  never  lost  a  single 
cow,  and  he  owned  as  high  as  30  different  cows  in 
one  year.— Z>.  X.  Kcan,  in  Practical  Farmer. 

Sheep  and  Wool. 

We  have  Indicatioi 
wool  raising  is  on  the 
Western  regions  of  the  liepublic 
tion,  derived  from  not  only  agricultural  publications, 
but  from  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  satisfies  us  that 
this  business  is  destined  to  become  one  of  our  most 
profitable  branches  of  agriculture.  Not  only  is  the 
wool  steadily  growing  in  demand  from  our  own  fac- 
tories, but  the  carcass  is  becoming  more  and  more 
used  in  domestic  economy.  Many  families  now  con- 
sume more  or  less  mutton  that  twenty  years  ago 
never  had  it  upon  their  table.  Mutton  is  a  meat  dif- 
ferent from  beef,  veal  or  pork.  These  we  naturally 
take  to  as  early  in  life  as  we  are  permitted  to  eat 
meal  at  all.  But  mutton,  unless  we  acquire  a  taste 
for  it  in  early  life,issomesliines  resisted  until  middle 
life,  when  all  at  once  we  discover  how  much  we  have 
deprived  ourselves  by  not  learning  to  eat  mutton 
earlier.  Getting  to  like  it,  there  is  no  meat  so  de- 
sirable or  palatable  ;  but  it  must  be  young,  or  what 
is  called  "spring  lamb  ;"  or  old— that  is  three  or  four 
year  old  sheep— and  what  is  known  as  mutton. 
Thus,  good  lamb  must  be  young,  three  to  four 
months  ;  and  good  mutton  may  do  at  three  years, 
but  ought  to  be  four  years  old. 

Considering  that  the  raisers  have  the  wool,  the 
carcass,  and  the  best  manure,  the  latter  all  remain- 
ing on  the  land,  it  will  be  found  on  a  careful  figuring 
up  at  the  end  of  a  year,  that  every  farmer  who  has 
the  room  upon  his  farm  cannot  do  better  than  to  in- 
troduce sheep  as  a  branch  of  his  operations. 


ricati  Agriculturist. 

Raising  Pigs. 
The  National  Live  Stock  .Journal  gives  the  follow- 
ing valuable  information  on  the  subject  of  raising 
pigs  :  The  most  important  thing  for  the  swine 
breeder  at  this  season  oi  the  year  is  to  get  the  great- 
est possible  growth  from  his  spring  pigs.  There  is 
no  period  in  the  life  of  the  hog  when  so  great  a  re- 
turn for  the  food  consumed  is  possible,  as  during  the 
first  six  months,  and  it  is  here  that  the  advantages 
of  skillful  feeding  are  apparent.  Unless  great  care 
be  taken  the  growth  of  the  pig  will  be  seriously 
checked  when  it  is  from  three  to  five  weeks  old.  The 
milk  of  the  dam,  which  was  ample  to  promote  a 
rapid  growth  in  the  litter  of  pigs  during  the  first  two 
or  three  weeks,  is  not  sufficient  to  answer  the  de- 
mands of  the  same  litter  as  they  grow  older ;  hence 
the  pi£s  should  early  be  taught  to  look  elsewhere  for 
a  part  of  their  sustenance.  This  is  an  easy  matter  ; 
a  little  milk,  or  nutritious  food  of  any  kind  in  liquid 
form,  placed  conveniently  by,  where  the  pigs  can 
have  access  to  it  at  all  times,  but  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  BOW,  will  soon  do  the  work,  and  it  should  be 
replenished  frequently  through  the  day.  If  this  is 
attended  to  there  will  be  no  "stunting"  of  the  pigs 
at  this  critical  period,  and  their  growth  will  be  uni- 
form and  rapid.  A  good  clover  pasture  is  a  valuable 
adjunct  and  helps  wonderfully.  The  true  secret  of 
successful  pork-making  is  to  push  the  pig  from  the 
date  of  birth  until  it  is  big  enough  for  the  market ; 
and  the  earlier  the  age  at  which  this  point  can  be 
reached,  the  greater  is  the  return  for  the  food  con- 
sumed. A  slop  made  of  corn  and  oats,  ground  in 
about  equal  parts,  with  a  littleoil-meal  added,  makes 
the  best  food  for  the  sow  while  suckling,  to  increase 
the  flow  of  milk ;  and  this,  with  clover  pasture  and 
plenty  of  soaked  corn  during  the  summer,  will  pro- 
mote a  rapid  healthy  growth  of  the  pigs. 

Feeding  Dry  Cows. 
It  is  a  common  practice  among  some  dairymen  to 
give  their  cows  while  dry  but  scanty  living.  When 
a  cow  ceases  to  give  milk  or  is  dried  up  any  feed  is 
considered  good  enough  for  her.  I  think  this  a 
great  mistake,  and  the  result  is  a  diminished 
product  of  milk  both  in  quantity  and  quality  when 
she  comes  in.  There  is  a  large  draft  on  the  system 
to  sustain  the  calf  while  the  cow  is  carrying  it,  and 
to  keep  the  cow  in  good  condition  good  feed  is  as 
important  as  when  she  is  giving  milk.  It  is  my 
opinion  that  a  dollar's  worth  of  food  when  the  cow 
is  dry  is  worth  $1.50  after  she  comes  in.  An  animal 
in  poor  condition  can  not  digest  as  much  food  as  one 
In  good  condition.  If  the  cow  is  poor  when  she 
comes  in  she  will  not  digest  enough  food  to  support 
the  system,  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  a  large 
quantity  of  milk.  The  practic  of  turning  cows  out 
on  poor  feed  while  dry,  expecting  to  make  up  when 
they  come  in  by  good  feed,  is  a  very  uneconomical 
one,  and  will  not  be  followed  by  good  and  careful 
dairymen.  The  way  I  treat  my  cows  when  they  get 
a  calf  is  as  follows  :  In  the  summer  time  I  keep 
them  in  the  stable  for  two  days,  feed  good  hay,  give 
one  quart  wheat  bran  morning,  noon  and  evening.  I 
also  give  them  a  bucketful  of  lukewarm  water  with 


Fattening  Calves. 
A  sensible,  practical  farmer  says  that  he  has  often 
noticed  that  calves  would  thrive  better  on  milk  that 
is  not  rich  in  butter  than  on  what  is  commonly  called 
very  rich  milk.  The  nutritive  elements  of  milk  reside 
chiefly  in  the  casein.  If  you  have  a  cow  that  gives 
particularly  rich  milk,  and  one  that  gives  a  quality 
poorer  in  butter,  it  is  better  to  feed  the  calf  on  the 
milk  of  the  latter.  The  calf  will  thrive  better,  and 
you  will  get  more  butter  from  the  milk  of  the  first 
cow. 

Evert  sheep  range  shouldhaveplenty  of  shade. 
Where  trees  are  scarce,  temporary  shelters  of  boards 
can  be  constructed,  and  should  be  changed  from 
time  to  time  to  keep  out  disease.  The  ground  in 
permanent  shade  must  be  scraped  or  plowed  up, 
that  the  standing  room  may  be  kept  clean. 

The  mad  itch  in  cattle  is  said  to  arise  from  their 
eating  indigestible  substances,  such  as  the  woody 
fibre  of  corn  stalks  after  the  juices  have  been  ex- 
tracted from  them  by  hogs,  and  the  feeding  of  hogs 
and  cattle  togther  in  the  West  is  given  as  a  reason 
for  its  prevalence  there. 


Poultry. 


The  Mother  of  the  Chicken. 
In  some  literary  societies  it  is  customary  at  the 
close  of  the  session  to  have  a  "funny  night,"  when 
all  the  orations,  essays  and  declamations  are  humor- 
ous, and  when  some  amusing  or  ridiculous  question 
is  set  for  discussion. 

On  one  such  occasion  the  following  speeches, 
written  by  a  Randolph  Macon  student,  were  (in 
substance)  delivered  on  the  question,  "Which  is  the 
mother  of  the  chicken,  the  hen  that  laid  the  egg  or 
the  one  that  hatched  it  ?"  Messrs.  J.  and  W.  on  the 
afiirmative  ;  Mr.  C.  negative. 
Mr.  J.— Mr.  President: 

Tliis  silly-Bouudiiig  question,  «lr, 

CoucGmiiig  fowls'  lucreaee 
Was  siiecially  desiguel,  I  think, 
To  allow  U8  up  as  geese. 

But  since  I'm  bid  to  speak  on  eggs, 

I'll  not  eggs-uuse  nor  sliriuk  ; 
And  us  a  sptecU  you  will  eggs-aot, 

I'll  eggs-piese  wUat  I  think. 

That  like  begets  that  which  is  Uke 


The  mother  of  a  calf  's  a  cow. 

That  of  a  wren  's  a  wren. 
And  thus  the  mother  of  a  ohick 

Must  surely  be  a  hen. 

Now  set  a  duck  on  a  hen's  egg, 
And.  granting  you  have  luck? 

Pray,  from  that,  egg  say  will  there  come 
A  chicken  or  a  duck? 


Or  get  a  Shanghai  egg? 

Will  a  Shanghai  hen  hatch  a  Shanghai  chiok 

From  a  common  egg,  I  beg ; 
I'll  take  my  chance  with  a  common  hen, 

And  a  ge»oine  Shanghai  egg. 

And  the  Shanghai  pullet  testifies 

Whenever  she  does  lay, 
She  cackleates  a  Shanghai  chick 

Is  started  on  the  way. 

Then  let  jout  hatchers  strut  around, 

And  cluck,  ami  scratch,  and  pick  ; 
But,  sir,  the  hen  that  laid  that  egg 

Is  mother  to  that  chick. 

—  From  the  I'ouUry   World. 

The  Migratory  Quail. 

ForeU  and  Stream  publishes  a  cut  of  the  Italian 
Migratory  Quail,  and  says;  "This  quail  is  between 
one-half  and  two-thirds  the  size  of  our  Ortyz  vlrgianut 
(our  native  partridge),of  lighter  color,  rufous  brown, 
suflused  with  fulvous;  bill,  slim,  long  and  less 
arched;  legs,  slender  and  nearly  flesh  color;  wings, 
larger  proportionately  than  our  quail.  The  female 
constructs  her  nest,  a  mere  depression  in  the 
ground,  in  June  and  July,  and  lays  from  eight  to 
fourteen  eggs,  whitish-gray,  marked  with  large 
brown  spots.  They  do  not  mate,  the  male  being  a 
polygamist,  and  a  desperate  fighter  in  the  early  sea- 
son His  call  is  a  twice  repeated  whistle.  Food: 
grain,  herbs,  hemp,  poppy  and  turnip  seeds;  insects, 
and  insects'  eggs  and  larv;e.  When  not  migrating 
they  become  very  plump,  and  properly  prepared  for 
the  table,  arc  delicious  morsels.  As  would  naturally 
be  expected  from  its  long  migrations,  the  bird  Is 
strong  and  rapid  of  wing,  and  possesses,  in  this  re- 
spect every  qualification  for  testing  the  skill  of  the 
sportsman.  According  to  Mundie  the  migratory 
quail  which  appear  in  England  feed  in  the  early 
morn=ng  and  in  the  evening,  and  squat  at  mid-day, 
when  they  will  hot  flush  until  a  dog  is  quite  upon 
tliem;  and  Bechstein,  the  careful  German  naturalist, 
says  that  in  Germany  in  August  and  September  the 
young  birds,  if  marked  down,  may  sometimes  be 
caught  with  the  hand  as  they  squat  flat  upon  the 
ground." 

This  bird,  which  has  caused  considerable  interest 
within  a  year  or  two,  is  not  as  handsome  as  our  own 
partridge,and  looks  as  if  it  might  he  a  cross  between 
the  partridge  and  the  meadow  lark.  We  shall  soon, 
however,  know  more  about  It,  as  it  is  lieing  Intro- 
duced in  a  number  of  places,  and,  so  far  as  known, 
is  doing  well.  We  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  any  of 
our  correspondents  where  the  bird  has  bean  let  out, 
about  its  habits  and  the  readiness  with  which  it  is 
establishing  itself  and  propagating. 

Animal  Food. 

Animal  food  of  some  sort  is  necessary  for  fowls,  if 
we  expect  them  to  lay  well.  This  they  provide  suffi- 
ciently for  themselves  when  they  have  their  freedom ; 
but  when  confined  meat  must  be  given  them.  Scraps 
from  the  table,  where  but  few  fowls  are  kept,  may  be 
sufficient ;  or  one  pound  of  bullock's  liver  for  half  a 
dozen  fowls,  twice  a  week,  will  suffice;  and  the  In- 
crease of  eggs  will  always  well  repay  the  cost.  A 
less  quantity  will  be  enough,  if  the  fowls  have  any 
opportunity  to  obtain  their  natural  supply  of  worms 
and  insects.  The  liver  should  be  boiled,  chopped  fine 
and  mixed  with  meal,  otherwise  it  is  apt  to  interfere 
with  a  relish  for  other  food,  and  the  more  active 
birds  will  get  the  greater  share. 

Eggs  cannot  be  produced  without  nutritious  food, 
and  cooked  meat,  wlten  giren  in  moderation,  while  It 
cannot  injure  the  fowls,  is  more  conducive  to  the 
production  of  eggs  than  any  other  food.  Horse 
flesh,  when  it  is  to  be  had,  is  as  good  as  liver.  The 
water  in  which  it  is  boiled  is  useful  for  mixing 
meal. — Bacon. 

Profits  of  the  Barnyard  and  Coop. 

I  have  thought  for  sometime  of  sending  my  statis- 
tics in  poultry  keeping,  but  not  having  the  advantage 
of  oyster  shells,  bones,  and  such  help  in  egg  pro- 
duction, my  figures  will  fall  below  the  score  of  some 
poultry-keepers  ;  then  the  prices  here  are  generally 
low,  which  reduced  the  profit,  but  I  think  I  have 
done  tolerably  well  for  an  old  lady  of  sixty-two  years. 

I  will  give  my  account  for  four  years.  The  first 
year  I  commenced  May  10,  with  8  hens  and  1  rooster; 
result  50  dozen  eggs.  ,    „     ,.  oo« 

Second  year  26  hens.  Spanish  and  Brahma:  230 
eggs,  value  «35.97  ;  chickens  killed,  $14.90  ;  cost  of 
feed,  $18.90;  profit,  $:5'2..S7. 

Third  year  40  hens  ;  581  dozen  egg,  value  $98.94  ; 
chickens  killed,  $18.^4  ;  cost  of  feed,  $40.75  ;  profit, 

Fourth  year  60  hens;  ew  dozen  eggs,  value 
$102.33;  chickens  killed,  ?22.08 ;  cost  of  feed, 
§34.22 ;  profit,  890.18,  and  I  have  75  chicks  this  year. 
—Poultry  Yard. 

• 

Turkeys. 

It  does  not  cost  any  more,  or  much  more,  to  raise 

a  pound  of  turkey  than  a   pound  of  hen   fiesh.    In 

the  summer  they  require  to  be  fed  less,  being  mas- 


128 


tkE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  August,  1879; 


terly  campaigners  on  their  owu  account,  while  in  the 
winter  very  likely  their  nervous  disposition  demands 
somewhat  more  stimulus  than  other  fowls.  If  well 
fed  they  do  not  require  nearly  as  careful  housing  as 
the  hen,  although  it  is  a  good  policy  to  malce  them 
roost  in-doors  ;  but  left  to  themselves  they  prefer  to 
weather  out  the  wildest  storm  in  the  tree-tops. 
Finally,  when  brought  to  marlcet,  their  flesh  is 
worth  much  more  than  that  of  the  hen,  so  that, 
other  things  being  equal,  it  is  economy  to  keep  them 
instead.  Also,  and  this  is  well  worth  considering, 
allowing  that  the  percentage  of  loss  of  young  turkey 
Chicks  under  most  perfect  management  is  greater 
than  the  loss  of  the  common  fowl,  yet  turkeys  that 
survive  reach  such  a  great  weight  that  a  given  num- 
ber of  pounds  of  turkey  may,  perhaps,  be  raised 
with  less  labor  than  the  same  quantity  of  flesh  of 
I  fovilB.—FoiMry  Monthly. 


A  White  Duck   That    Lays  Black   Eggs. 

Mr.  Henry  Miller,  tenant  on  the  farm  of  Benjamin 
M.  Barr,  in  Martic  township,  is  the  owner  of  a  young 
white  duck  that  lays  black  eggs.  She  has  laid  at 
least  a  dozen  of  these  dark  colored  eggs,  some  of 
which  are  quite  black,  and  one  of  which  has  been 
handed  to  us  for  inspection.  There  are  scratches 
upon  the  black  surface,  showing  the  white  shell 
beneath,  and  the  theory  is  that  the  dark  pigment  is 
deposited  just  before  the  egg  is  laid,  so  that  it  is  so 
soft  when  the  egg  falls  that  the  straw  of  the  nest 
scratches  off  the  coloring  matter  in  places.  It  is 
certainly  a  curious  natural  phenomenon,  and  partic- 
ularly so  as  the  duck  is  a  Democrat— a  friend  at  our 
elbow  suggesting  that  it  would  not  have  been  so  odd 
had  the  owner  of  the  duck  been  a  black  Republican. 


Onions  for  Fowls. 
Too  much  can  hardly  be  said  in  praise  of  onions 
for  fowls.  They  are  a  preventive  of,  and  a  remedy 
for,  many  diseases  to  which  domestic  fowls  are 
liable.  For  gapes,  onions  are  the  best  things  that 
can  be  fed.  Give  fowls  as  many  as  they  will  eat, 
chopped  fine,  as  often  as  three  times  a  week. 

Destruction  of  Lice  on  FotvIs. 

Carbolic    acid,  by  dissolving  half  an   ounce  in  a 

quart  of  boiling   water,  and  when  cool  rubbing  the 

chickens   heads   and   necks,   and   a  little  under  the 

wings.    It  is  death  to  the  lice  and  life  to  the  fowls. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


Prospectus  of  Around  the  World. — Every  in- 
ielligent  person  desires  to  travel,  and,  if  this  be  im- 
possible, desires  to  learn  what  travelers  have  seen 
and  heard  and  experienced  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Many  an  ambitious  boy  has  left  home  comforts  and 
bright  prospects  on  shore  and  cheerfully  encountered 
the  hardships  and  perils  of  a  sailor's  life,  that  he 
might  visit  foreign  lands  and  learn  somethmg  of 
other  countries  than  his  owu.  The  most  enlightened 
governments  have  often  sent  out  costly  expeditions 
to  circumnavigate  the  globe  and  inquire  into  the 
phenomena  of  nature  in  every  clime,  and  the  man- 
ners, customs  and  resources  of  strange  nations  ;  and 
the  stores  of  information  thus  obtamed  have  been 
published  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  In  more  recent 
times  enterprising  individuals  have,  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, organized  parties  for  the  general  exploration 
of  unknown  regions,  for  general  scientific  research, 
or  for  furnishing  the  advantages  of  travel  to  those 
who  could  spare  but  a  limited  amount  of  time  and 
money  for  this  object. 

The  Woodruff  Scientific  Expedition  Around  the 
World  is  undoubtedly  the  grandest  and  most  attrac- 
tive undertaking  of  this  kind  that  has  ever  been  pro- 
jected, and  has  awakened  the  liveliest  interest 
throughout  the  country.  It  has  been  for  a  consider- 
able time  before  the  public,  and  has  steadily  grown 
in  favor  with  the  people.  The  difficulties  which 
pioneers  in  all  great  and  novel  enterprises  must  meet 
and  overcome  have  by  no  means  discouraged  its 
managers  and  patrons,  and  they  propose  to  persist 
in  all  reasonable  and  honorable  effort  until  some,  at 
least,  of  its  magnificent  possibilities  have  been 
realized.  This  Expedition  has  been  very  appropri- 
ately named  a  floating  college  because  it  is  to  be  an 
educational  institution  of  a  high  order,  well  organ- 
ized, thoroughly  equipped  and  located  upon  a  first- 
class  iron  steamship  which  is  to  undertake  a  voyage 
around  the  globe.  The  Clyde-built  steamer  General 
Werder  has-been  selected  for  the  use  of  the  Expedi- 
tion and  fitted  with  every  convenience  for  the 
accommodation  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  professors 
and  students.  She  has  beea  inspected  and  approved 
by  officers  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and  granted  an 
American  register  for  the  purposes  of  the  Expedition 
by  a  special  act  of  Congress.  Naval  officers  of  large 
experience  and  the  highest  reputation  will  be  ap- 
pointed to  command  and  navigate  the  ship,  and  the 
journey  of  nearly  forty  thousand  miles  on  the  land 
and  the  ocean  will  occupy  eighteen  months,  and  will 
he  so  planned  as  to  reach  all  the  principal  cities  of 
the  world  in  the  most  favorable  season  of  the  year. 
President  W.  S.  Clark,  of  Amherst,  Mass.,  will 
have  entire  control  of  the  educational  department  of 


the  Expedition  and  will  select  the  officers  of  instruc- 
tion. The  students  will  be  furnished  with  uniforms 
and  cadet  rifles,  and  thoroughly  drilled  in  military 
and  gymnastic  exercices  with  special  reference  to 
physical  culture  and  the  preservation  of  vigorous 
health. 

The  best  sanitary  and  police  regulations  will  he 
enforced,  and  the  highest  Christian  morality  incul- 
cated, while  gambling  and  indulgence  in  alcoholic 
liquors  will  be  strictly  forbidden.  The  students  will 
be  divided  into  suitable  sections  according  to  their 
ability  and  attainments,  and  each  section  will  be 
under  the  particular  care  of  a  competent  professor, 
though  receiving  instruction  also  from  others.  The 
course  of  study  will  be  arranged  to  meet  the  necessi- 
ties and  tastes  of  every  student  so  far  as  possible, 
but  all  will  be  required  to  attend  faithfully  to  the 
duties  assigned.  Persistent  disobedience  will  be 
followed  by  discharge  from  the  ship,  with  a  free 
passage  home  by  the  most  direct  route. 

Books,  maps,  diagrams,  apparatus  and  other 
necessary  appliances  tor  study  and  investigation, 
will  be  provided  for  the  use  of  all  members  of  the 
Expedition.  Detailed  information  concerning  the 
officers,  the  ship,  the  organization  and  the  course  of 
instruction,  may  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  paper. 
It  is  confidently  believed  that  the  thought,  time  and 
money  hitherto  bestowed  upon  this  novel  educational 
institution  has  been  well  expended,  and  that  the 
results,  as  seen  in  the  present  arrangements,  will 
meet  the  entire  approval  of  the  most  experienced 
travelers,  the  most  intelligent  educators,  and  the 
most  prudent  parents  and  guardians. 

In  response  to  the  numerous  favorable  notices 
which  have  appeared  from  time  to  time  during  the 
past  winter  in  public  prints,  hundreds  of  applications 
have  been  received  from  young  men  who  were  ready 
and  eager  to  join  the  Expedition  on  any  terms  but 
the  payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money.  Students 
from  various  institutions  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  and  even  the  graduates  of 
colleges,  have  begged  the  privilege  of  serving  as 
sailors,  waiters,  or  in  any  other  capacity,  for  the 
sake  of  seeing  the  world  and  participating  in  the 
benefits  of  the  proposed  voyage.  Inasmuch, 
however,  as  more  than  half  a  million  dollars  are  re- 
quired to  defray  the  unavoidable  expenses  of  the 
Expedition,  and  as  it  is  not  a  benevolent  institution, 
it  is  evident  that  "those  who  dance  must  pay  the 
piper."  While  a  considerable  number  of  the  appli- 
cants are  able  and  willing  to  give  satisfactory 
security  for  the  cash  payment  of  the  required  fees, 
there  is  still  a  large  majority  who  are  almost  without 
pecuniary  ability  and  yet  would  cheerfully  make 
areat  sacrifices  to  enjoy  the  advantages  offered. 
Special  efforts  have  therefore  been  made  to  devise 
some  means  by  which  this  numerous  class  of 
ambitious  and  worthy  students  might  secure  for 
themselves  free  scholarships. 

It  has  long  been  the  intention  or  the  managers  to 
publish  an  illustrated  weekly  journal  of  the  Expedi- 
tion, to  be  printed  regularly  on  board  ship  and  to 
contain  all  the  most  interesting  facts  and  observa- 
tions which  might  come  to  the  knowledge  of  its 
members.  Such  a  publication  under  proper  super- 
vision would  be  a  powerful  and  constant  stimulus 
to  all  the  faculty  and  students  to  observe  accurately 
and  record  correctly,  and  in  a  pleasing'manner,  the 
incidents  of  the  voyage,  and  whatever  was  new  and 
noteworthy  in  the  varied  scenes  through  which  they 
might  pass.  A  copy  of  this  paper  sent  to  friends  at 
home  would  answer  the  purpose  of  many  letters, 
and  thus  save  an  immense  amount  of  time  and  labor 
for  better  uses.  As  soon  as  it  became  known  last 
winter,  when  it  was  expected  the  Expedition  would 
sail  on  the  eighth  of  May,  that  such  a  journal  waste 
be  issued  from  the  ship  in  whatever  port  she  might 
happen  to  be  on  the  day  of  publication,  and  that  the 
seventy-eight  weekly  numbers  could  be  obtained, 
postage  free,  for  five  dollars,  subscriptions  began  to 
come  in  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  It  was  at 
once  demonstrated  that  the  people  would  gladly 
welcome  so  unique  a  newspaper,  especially  if  care- 
fully edited,  neatly  printed,  and  well  illustrated  by 
original  sketches  and  photographs  prepared  by  the 
artists  of  the  Expedition. 

When  on  the  eighth  of  May  it  was  found  that  less 
than  half  the  requisite  number  of  students  had 
deposited  their  fees  with  Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.,  the 
bankers  of  the  Expedition,  it  was  promptly  decided 
to  return  the  money  to  the  depositors  according  to 
contract,  and  to  try  a  new  scheme  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  desired  object.  Students  were 
abundant,  while  funds  were  scarce.  Both  were 
essential  to  success,  and  success  in  so  good  a  cause 
seemed  to  be  duty.  After  much  deliberation  it  has 
been  determined  to  offer  the  following  terms  to  all 
young  men  of  correct  habits,  who  have  attained  the 
age  of  fifteen  years  and  are  well  versed  in  the  com- 
mon English  branches  of  education. 

First,  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars,  paid  in 
advance  on  or  before  the  day  of  sailing  from  New 
York,  will  defray  for  one  student  all  the  expenses  of 
the  voyage  on  ship  and  shore,  including  washing, 
books  and  uniform. 

Secondly,  a  free  scholarship,  including  all  expenses 
as  above  specified,  will  be  granted  to  any  applicant, 
qualified  as  above  indicated,  who  shall  secure  six 


hundred  cash  subscribers,  at  five  dollars  each,  to  the 
paper  called  Around  the  World,  of  which  this  may 
be  regarded  as  a  sample  number. 

Thirdly,  any  eligible  person  may  pay  his  fee  partly 
in  money,  and  partly  in  subscriptions  at  the  above- 
named  rates. 

Finally,  any  person,  desiring  to  act  as  agent  for  the 
Expedition  in  obtaining  subscribers,  will  receive 
authority  and  full  instructions  on  application  to 
Woodruff  Expedition,  St.  Nicholas  Hotel,  New  York. 
A  certificate  will  be  given  to  every  agent  at  the  close 
of  his  engagement,  stating  how  many  subscribers  he 
has  obtained  ;  and,  if  he  does  not  wish  to  avail 
himself  of  a  scholarship,  he  may  sell  or  otherwise 
transfer  the  number  placed  to  his  credit  to  any 
eligible  person  who  may  desire  to  join  the  Expedi- 
tion, and  who  shall  receive  for  the  same  the  full 
value  of  five  dollars  each  in  the  payment  of  his  fee. 
In  lieu  of  other  compensation,  any  agent  will,  on  ap- 
plication to  the  office,  be  paid,  before  the  sailing  of 
the  Expedition,  twenty-eight  cents  in  money  for  each 
subscriber  he  may  have  obtained.  As  soon  as  two 
hundred  students  have  secured  their  membership  in 
any  one  of  the  ways  specified,  notice  will  be  given  to 
all  agents  of  the  fact,  and  the  day  of  sailing  will  be 
announced  as  soon  as  practicable  thereafter.  Excel- 
lent accommodations  will  be  provided  for  all  who  are 
accepted  as  students,  and  the  state-rooms  will  be 
assigned  by  lot  by  the  purser  on  board  ship.  Subse- 
quent changes  for  the  convenience  oi  individuals  will 
be  made  as  may  be  found  desirable. 

All  money  received  for  subscriptions  or  in  pay- 
ment of  fees  will  remain  on  deposit  until  the  sailing 
of  the  Expedition  is  assured,  and  will  then  be  drawn 
for  use^  in  defraying  necessary  expenses  only  by 
drafts  countersigned  by  a  majority  of  its  three 
trustees.  In  case  two  hundred  students  should  not 
be  enrolled  after  a  reasonable  time,  and  the  Expedi- 
tion for  any  cause  should  be  abandoned,  all  money 
for  subscriptions  and  fees  in  the  hands  of  the 
treasurers  will  be  forwarded  forthwith  to  the  several 
owners  thereof  on  return  of  the  receipts  for  the 
same. 

From  the  foregoing  statements  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  Woodruff  Expedition  is  not  abandoned,  but  is  in 
a  healthy  and  hopeful  condition.  It  is  now  more 
widely  and  favorably  known  than  ever  before,  and 
has  been  reduced  to  a  plan  which  seems  both  feasible 
and  attractive,  and  which  places  its  advantages 
within  the  reach  of  any  enterprising  and  energetic 
young  man.  If  its  numerous  friends  will  kindly 
render  it  the  assistance  it  deserves,  there  will  be 
little  difficulty  in  securing  one  hundred  thousand 
subscribers  to  Around  the  World,  and  two  hundred 
students  will  soon  be  enrolled  for  one  of  the  most 
romantic,  delightful  and  instructive  excursions  ever 
undertaken. 

The  premium  list  of  the  York  county  Agricul- 
tural Society,  for  1879. 

The  twi'.nty-second  annual  exhibition,  to  be  held  at 
York,  Pa.,  on  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday  and 
Friday,  October  7,  8,  9  and  10  :  with  the  rules  and 
regulations  governing  the  same — an  8  vo.  pamphlet 
of  22  pages,  offering  very  liberal  premiums  to  37 
distinct  classes  of  stock.  Agricultural,  domestic, 
mechanical,  manufacturing,  tine  art  and  miscella- 
neous productions,  being  from  $15.00  down  to  $1.00 
or  a  diploma.  The  premiums  for  speed,  from  $25.00 
to  $200.00,  with  liberal  second  and  third  premiums. 
There  is  almost  an  endless  list,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  any  object  of  human  production  that 
is  not  contemplated  by  the  list. 

Our  readers  will  particularly  notice  that  this  is  an 
entirely  different  York  county  institution  from  the 
one  noticed  in  our  July  number,  which  comes  off 
Sept.  17,  18  and  19,  1879.  It  seems  that  our 
neighbor  of  the  "White  Rose"  aspires  to  be  a 
"double  team,"  and  perhaps  looks  upon  the  "Red 
Rose"  as  a  "one  horse  affair."  Be  that  as  it  may, 
we  sincerely  hope  the  "starboard  horse  may  not  fall 
on  the  larboard  horse,  and  the  old  mare  get  tangled 
in  the  rigging." 

Geo.  D.  Newhall  &  Co,  successors  to  Dobmyer 
&  Newhall,  and  J.  L.  Peters,  No.  .50,  West  Fourth 
street,  Cincinnatti,  Ohio.  Printers  and  publishers  of 
new  and  select  sheet  music  and  music  books,  vocal, 
instrumental  and  theoretical. 

Latest  and  best  household  melodies  ;  new,  pleasing 
and  popular  ballads  for  hearth  and  home ;  choice 
concert  and  parlor  songs ;  family  and  choir  sacred 
songs ;  festival  collection  of  glees,  songs  and 
quartettes  ;  humorous,  dialect  and  plantation  songs ; 
society  dances ;  new  Latin  music  for  Catholic 
churches  ;  the  song  Clarion,  by  W.  T.  Giffe ;  John  T. 
Ivutledge's  popular  songs;  Will.  S.  Hays'  latest 
songs,  &c.,  &c.,  in  short,  any  musical  want  supplied 
at  the  lowest  rates.     Send  for  circulars. 

Western  Fanciers'  Poultry  Journal,  and 
Stock  Breeders'  Review  ;  an  8  p.  Royal  Quarto, 
very  handsomely  gotten  up,  and  devoted  to  poultry 
breeding,  stock,  farm  and  rural  miscellany.  Pul> 
lished  at  Miuneapolis,  Minn., 'at  one  dollar  per  year, 
by  T.  T.  Bacheller.     Semi-monthly. 

Those  of  our  readers  interested  in  the  poultry 
trade  of  the  country,  and  especially  of  the  west, 
cannot  enjoy  a  fortnightly  indulgence  in  its  literature 
more  cheaply  than  by  subscribing  for  this  journal. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


ELASTIC    TRUSS 

Has  a  Pad  dif- 
fering     from 
all   others,  i» 
oup-shaped, 
with  SELF. 
ADJIJST'NG 
BAI^Ii  in  the 
center,  adaptt 
itself    to    oU 
positions    of  the   hody, 
whUe  the  BALL  in  the 
Cup   PRESSES   BACK 
THE    INTESTINES 
JUST  AS  A  PERSON 
WOULD  WITH   THI 
FINGER,     W^ith  light 


HEARING 


^N  Enlaroeo  View 


pressure 


the  Hernia  Is 


held  securely  day  and  night,  and  a  rad- 
ical cure  is  certain.  It  is  easy,  durable 
and  cheap.  Sent  by  mail,  postage  paid. 
Ciroitlars  free. 
Address,  Eggleston  Truss  Co.,  Man£ra. 
Or  c.  H.  EGGLESTON  CO.,  Chicago.lN. 


$5  TO  $201. 


&  Co.,  Poriland,  Mu 


LOWEST  PRICES  WILL  RaLE. 


Lowest  Prices 

Ever  Known  in  the  U.  S.  for  Bones  and  Phos- 
phates. 


e  have  thip  day  i-cdueed  the  price  of 

BALGD'S  BAW  BONE  PllOSPUATE 


$30  PER  2000  lbs.  CASH, 

WITH  DISCOUNT  TO  DF:ALERS, 
Delivered  ou  board  boat  or  carsinPhiladeiphiaor  Baltimore. 

Dealers  will  take  notice  they  will  be  protected  iH  the 
sale  of  this  Mauure.  Ouly  one  dealer  will  be  established  in 
a  town,  who  will  be  furnished  with  the  Phosphate  at  whole- 
sale prices. 

Early  correspondence  from  those  who  wish  to  control  the 
above  goods  in  ppeciai  sections  or  towuships,  is  necessary, 
as  we  are  organizing  for  the  Summer  and  Fall  business  a 
system  of  unprecedented 

LOV\^  PRICES, 

which  will  show  the  AsrictUtural  Community  that  our  facili- 
ties for  Making  and  Soiling 

Bone  Fertilizers 

are  beyoud  all  question,  unsurpassed  in  the 

UNITED  STATES. 


LOW  PRICES  WILL  RULE. 

BAUGH  &  SONS, 

PHILADELritl.V  AXD  BALTIMORE. 


$72^ 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANDFACTURER  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

»>AI>I>L,KN. 

COLLARS,  WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &o., 

AUSO   DEALER   IN 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFALO  ROBES, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &o., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

7»-I-lS]  LANOASTKB,  PA. 


NICHOLS,  SHEPARD&  CO., 

Battlo  C'reoK,   Mlfli. 

ORIGINAL  AND  ONLY  GENUINE 

THRESHING  MACHINERY. 


fflHE  Mstfhless  Grnln-Sarinif.  Time-SaTlnir 

"-      ""■'^'iriVSIjr.lr  Rapid  Work,  PcrtictCle.olnl, 


THE  ENTIRE  Threshins  Expei 
three  to  five  times  th:it  am.,unt)  cao  tie  niaae  1 
Extra  Grain  SAVED  by  these  Improved  Machines. 

LKAIN  Raisers  will  not  snbmlttotho  1 


TVf  ARTELOCS  for  Simplicity  of  Parts,  using 

Sifm  less  than  oQc-balf  the  usual  Belts  and  Gears.    Hakes 
Clean  Work,  with  no  Litterings  or  Scatterings. 

rOCB  Sizes  of  Separators  Made,  Banging 
from  Six  to  Twelve-Horse  site,  and  two  styles  of  .Mount. 


A  GOOD  PLAN. 

Anybody  can  learu  to  raakn  money  rapidly  operating  In 
Stocks,  by  the  "Two  Unerring  Rules  for  SiKxess"  in  Messrs, 
Lawrence  &  Co.'s  new  circular.  The  combination  method, 
which  this  firm  has  made  so  successful,  enables  people  with 
large  or  small  means  toreap  all  thebeiiefltsof  largest  cai.ital 
and  beet  skill.  Thousands  of  orders,  ji,  v:,ri,.us  m.his,  are 
pooled  into  one  vast  amount   .1..] ,,  '  ;    -fifu 

of  thelarKestoierator.  Imtii.  '  ly. 


29th;:  The  combination  mei 

most  successful   over  ado; 

September  Pith:  The  contlii: 

correct  business  principles, 

an  income  while  it  is  kept  « 

Co 'Broftklijn  Journal,  Apni 

profit  of  $101.23  from  Jan 

Co.'e  combinations."      Niv 

everything.    Stocks  and  bonds  wanted.  Government  bonds 

supplied.     Lawrence  &  Co.,  Bankers,  67  Exchange  Place, 

N.  Y.  C'9-S-12m 


DISEASESOFLIVESTOCK 

and  their  Tut^at  vJUient  renu^HeA,  Including  Horses,  Cattle, 
Sheep  and  Swine.  A  popular  treatise,  giving  a  description 
of  all  the  usual  diseases  to  which  these  animals  are  liable, 
and  the  most  successful  treatment  of  American,  EnKlish, 
and  European  veteriuariaus,  by  Li.Oyd  V.  Tkllob,  M.  D. 
Pp.  460.  Price,  cloth,  83.50.  itold  only  by  nibscriplion. 
Specimen  copy  mailed  ou  receipt  of  price.    Every  slock 


H.C.  WATTS  0O.,603Miuor  St.,  PhUadelphia. 


A  DEPARTURE 

High  Pricesfor  Phosphates. 


To  meet  tht»  dnnand 


commenced 


TWENTY  DOLLAR  PIIOSPOATE, 
WE    GUARANTEE 


2.\  to    3  per  cent. 
Bone  Phosphate,  Soluble,        lo  "  12        " 
"  "  Insoluble,      7  "     8       " 

Price,  $20  per  2000  lbs.  in  NewBaesof 
200  lbs.  each, 

Free  on  borrd  cars  or  boats  in  Pnlladelphia  or  Baltimore. 

Philadelphia. 


EPILEPSY 

hy  Da.  RdSS'  1:1  Ml  lill>.     I.  ■■.!> 


permanent.    A  j  ;- 
Dr.  Robb.  Ricli 


or  FITS 
CURED! 

lished  thirteen  ye»«, 
'4  tuiieedy  absuluteand 


40  munev  coold 
iAS.AilBAT. 
a  other  Curea  and  full  inigr- 
1^  MainSt..  Kiohmond,  lad. 


OFFICE, 


No,  9  U\\  Queen  Sheet 


LANCASTER.  PA. 


nW  EKHIISER  m  EIPRESS 

Ts  an  old,  well-established  newspaper,  and  contains  Juat  the 
news  desirable  to  make  it  an  interesting  and  valuable 
Family  Newspaper.  It  Is  published  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday,  subscribers  having  the  choice  of  whichever  editioa 
that  suits  their  mail  facilities  beat.  The  postage  to  sub- 
scribers residing  outside  of  Lancaster  county  is  patd  by  tbe 
publisher. 

Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  contains 
the  news  by  mail  ami  telegraph  from  all  parU  ol  the  world 
up  to  the  hour  ef  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers  at  all  the  towns  and  villages  in  the  county,  aocec- 
sible  by  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  Cents  a  tVe«k« 
or  by  mall  at  Five  Dollars  per  Year. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  North  Queen  St., 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


[Aiigngt,  1879. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


A  MONTHLY  JOUENAL, 

Devoted  to  Agriculture.  Horticulture,  Do- 
mestic Economy  and  Miscellany. 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the  Lancas- 
ter County  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 

ONEDOLLpPERANNUff, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPBIETOB. 

All    subscriptions    will    commence   with    the 
January  number, unless  otherwise  ordered. 


Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  who  has  so  ably  managed  the  editorial 
department  in  the  imet,  will  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  HiB  contributions  on  subjectB  connected  with  the 
Bcience  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 
he  is  80  thorouhly  a  master — entomological  science— some 
knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  success- 
ful farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  Is  determined  to  make  "The  Farmer" 
a  necessity  to  all  households. 

A  county  that  has  so  wide  a  repatatlon  as  Lancaster 
onnty  for  its  agricultural  products,  should  certainly  be 
able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the 
exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  Interested  in  this  mat- 
oter.  We  ask  the  co-oporation  of  all  farmers  interested  in 
this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer"  is 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
Induce  them  to  subscribe.  It  is  not  much  for  each  sub- 
Bcriber  to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  communications  in  regard  tothe editorial  management 
should  be  addressed  to  Dr.  S.  S.  Kathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptions  and  ad- 
vertising should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Rates  of 
advertising  can  be  had  ou  application  at  the  office, 

JOHN  A.  HIESTAND, 

No.  9  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


The  Fearless 


The  only  machine  awarded  a  medal  on  both  Horse-Power  and  Thresher  and  Cleaner,  at  the  Centennial 
Exhibition,  as  shown  by  Official  Report,  which  says :    "  For  apcclal  feuturei  In  the  Power  to  aecnra 

Uihtriinnineandmlnlmi.n.frlctlin.     For  the  Ineer '" -•-w...  „n«i. . 

the  proper  aeltatlon  to  Separate  the  (raU  lroin_  th< 


mSaBD  a4BDEB,"cobieekui.^ohoiiario'Co,  N.  t'. 


$665 


WHY  GO  WEST 

When  desirable  Farm  LantlB  in  the  Oreat  Fruit  Dis- 
trict of  IJie  Peninsular  Gitrcten  can  be  had? 
Cool  summers,  mild  winters,  pure  waters,  kind  soil,  and 
every  advantage  of  sj.eedy  cummuiiication  by  Railroad, 
Telegraph,  and  Daily  Mails.  A  soil  producing  the  flnest 
Grain,  Fruits  add  FloweiB.  and  the  waters  the  choicest  Fish, 
Oysters,  Terrapin,  and  WUd  Fowl  in  season.  As  homes  un- 
eaualled-  as  investments  unBUrpafSed.  For  Illustrated 
-  •  ■  ^InsB  oc  otiini,!  to  LAND  AGENT.  P.  W.  &  B.  R.  B. 
offered 


Books  inclose  20  stamp  to  LAND  AGENT,  P.  W.  &  B.  R.  B. 
Depot,  W  llmiugtou,  Del.  »»"Special  adi  '  :  --— ^ 
to  Colonies.  n^- 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 


SCI[I1IIFIC  FOBMOUS   FOR  THEIR  MJHOFACiyeE 

urn  im  m[  lo  iiiiy  uddress, 


m 


The  Cheapest,  and  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  use,  can  be  made  with  but 
little  trouble,  by  using  our  Fertilizing  Chemi- 
cals and  Bones,  which  we  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation. 

Dissolved  Bones,  Sulphate  of  Ammonia, 

Perfectly  Pure  Ground  Bones,  Fertilizing  Salt, 

Acidulated  Phosphate  Rock,  Sulphate  of  Soda, 

Phosphate  Rock,  fine  ground.  Muriate  of  Potash, 

Land  Plaster,  pure  and  fine  Oil  Vitriol,  full  strength, 

ground.  Sulphate  of  Magnesia 
Sulphate  Potash  (Kalnit),  (Kieserite). 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

ANALYTICAL  CHEMISTS, 

AND 

lannfactnrers  of  Fertilizini  diemicals. 


(Established   1793.) 


FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 
Office:  105  Sontli  Front  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA  PA 


SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER,  i'A,, 
235  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

All  matters  appertaining  to  UNITED  STATES  or  CANA- 
DIAN PATENTS,  TRADE  MAEKS,  and  COPYRIGHTS, 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  success  ai-d  faithful 
attention  to  the  interests  of  those  who  engage  his  services 
are  fully  acknowledged  and  appreciated. 

Preliminary  examinations  made  for  him  by  a  reliable  As- 
sistant at  Washington,  without  extra  charge  for  drawing 
or  description.  [79-1-tf 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 


Before  Taking  ;* 


^^iryused'f'or!';;?  After  Taking. 

thirty  years  with  Kreat  euecese.  Full  particulars  in  our 
pamphlet,  wiiich  we  desire  to  send  free  by  mail  to  every  one. 
The  Bpeclflc  me diciue  is  sold  by  all  druggists  jit  $1  per  pack- 
age, or  six  packages  for  $5,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  on 
receipt  of  the 


ZIMMERMAN 

FRUIT  J.NI>    TEGETASUB 

DRYER  &  BAKE  OVEN 

Over  11,000  in  use. 

Tbe  BEST  in  the  Market* 

Made  entirely  of  Galvanized  Iron 

AGENTS  WANTED. 

Send  for  Circular.    Address 
ZIMMERMAN  FRUIT  DRYER  CO., 
CUuAntiati,  OhiOi 


1879  SPRING  AND  SUMMER  1879 

Coats  arjd  Coatings, 

PANTS  AND  PANTIN(5S, 
VESTS  AND  VESTINGS, 
SUITS  AND  SUITINGS, 
OVERCOATS  AND  OVERCOATINGS 

RATHVON  &  FISHER'S, 

IJerchant  Tailors,  Drapiers  and  Clotljiers, 

Corner  3r,  Queen  and  Orant/e  Sts., 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


as  any  other  place  in  the  city.    Goods  all  wool,  perfect,  and 

satiNfavtioii  {tiiarantced.    Orders  respeot- 

fully  solicited,  and  promptly  executed. 

1S79  1879 


•rr'tM^y\  ATT  'O  This  remarkable  medi- 
Ji.Jt»JN  ljI%.L*Lt  S>  cine  will  cure  Spavins, 
Splint,  Curb,  Callous,  &c.,  or  any  enlargement,  AND  WILL 
KEMOVE  THE  BUNCH  WITHOUT  BLISTERING  o» 
CIT^  A  "^TTTW  <=»»^'''8  "  ="'■''■  No  remedy  ever 
JStlrA.\A.SS  discovered  equals  it  for  certainty 
of  action  in  stopping  the  lameness  and  removing  the  bunch , 
Price  $1.00.  Send  for  circular  giving  POSITIVE  PEOOF 
><4yy'nX*  &t)LD  BY  DRUGGISTS  or  8eut_by  the  in 

Falls,  Vt.     John»ti 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Enosburgh 
ArehSt., 

T9-8-tf. 


S£ND  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapevines,  Transplanted  Evergreens,  Tulip, 
Poplar,  Linden  Maple,  etc.  Tree  Seedlings  and  Trees  for 
timber  plantations  by  the  100,000. 

J.  JENKMTS'  jrCBSERY, 
S-«-T»  WINONA,  COLUMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


ONE  DOLLAH  FEE  AN2TX7M.-SI2TQLE  COPIES  10  CEITTS. 


Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA..  SEPTEMBER,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Publisher. 


CONTENTS  OF  THIS  NUMBER. 


EDITORIAL. 

^Something  about  Tomatoes,     -        -        -        -  129 

^Science,  and  its  Relations  to  Agriculture,     -  129 

•  Caterpillars,        --..-..  130 

QUERIES  AND  ANSWERS. 

.  Mottled  Horn-Beetle,      -----  WO 

•Drop-worm,         ,------  130 

•Our  Late  Exliibitiou,     -----  131 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

-The  Moon's  Signs  and  Pbascs,     -        -        .        -  1S2 
■Moonseed— J.  Utauffer,    -----      133 

SELECTIONS. 
•The  Phylloxera  in  France,    -        -        -        -         133 

ItB    Marvelous    Reproductive    Powers — The    Best 
Mfiiiie  of  Checking  its  Raviiges— Superior  Resiet- 
iu)?  Powers  of  Aninican  Vines— Their  Introduc- 
tion jnio  Fntuco  Officially  Recommended, 
a  Among  the  Newer  Strawberries,      -        -        -      135 
f  Valuable  Advice,  ------  136 

Wliiit  to  Do  in  Certain  Cases,  and  How  to  Do  It. 

•  Planting  and  Transplanting,     .        -        -        -      13H 

•  The  Cutlock  for  Hogs,  -----  137 
•The  Sun,    --------     137 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

•  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society,    -        -    138 

Report  of  the  Committee— The  Crops— The  Com- 
ing Fair-Sliall  a  Fee  be  Charged  for  Exhibits- 
Appointment  of  Judges— Miscellaneous. 

•  The  Poultry  Association,        -        -        -        -        138 

Members  Present— New  Bnsiness— Report  of  Ex- 
ecutive Committee. 

•  Fulton  Farmers'  Club,     -----     139 

Ejthibitsof  Farm  Pi  o  lucts— Asking  and  Answer- 
ing Quesiions-Afi  er;ioou  Session- Literary  Ex- 
ercises— Regular  Qtieitions. 
,  The  Linnsean  Society,     -----        140 
Additions  to  the  Ijbrary— Papers  Read— New  Rusi- 
ness— Under  Scientific  Miscellany. 

•  Soiling,      --------      140 

ENTOMOLOGICAL. 

•  The  Snake  Worm,     ---..-  J40 

•  Saddle-back  Moth,          -----  140 
.  Bark  Lice  on  Apple  Trees,        -        -        -        -  141 

•  The  Cabbage  Worm,      -----  141 

.  Toads,        --------  141 

.  Self-Binding  Reapers,    -----  141 

AGRICULTURE. 

■  The  Origin  of  Wheat  in  America,        -         -  141 

•  Grass  as  a  Renoyator,        -----  141 

•  Fall  Ploughing, -  141 

<  For  Pennsylvania  Farmers,        -        -        -        -  141 

.  Treatment  of  a  Worn-out  Meadow,       -        -  141 

•  Minnesota's  Wheat  Crop,  -----  141 

r  Oat»  and  Wheat,    ------  141 

.Storing  Hay,      -------  Ul  , 


HORTICULTURE. 

Pruning  Fruit  and  Ornamental  Trees,     -     .   -  141 

Currant  Culture,        ------  141 

The  Blackberry,    ------  142 

Famous  Apples  of  Lancaster  County  Origin,     -  142 

Hotbeds  with  Muslin  Sashes,    -        -        -         -  142 

Pruning  Grapevines,       -----  142 

,The  Quince,        -        J 143 

Suckers  Around  Apple  Trees,        .        -        .  142 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

Breakfast  Bacon,     ------  142 

Hints  for  the  Kitchen,        -----  142 

Care  of  Farm  Implements,     -        -        -        -  142 

No  Egg  Good  as  Fresli  ones,    -        -        -        -  142 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 

Spiced  Cautalcnp,      ------  U2 

Grape  Wine,        -----        .  142 

Cheese  Pudding, 143 

Green  Tomato  Sauce,         -         -        -        -  143 

Cucumber  Pickles,           -----  14:5 

Brattleboro  Fricassee,          -        -        -        .  143 

Tapioca  Cream,       ------  I4;3 

.Sweet  Green  Tomato  Pickles,    -        -        -        -  i43 

i  Frogs  and  Tomatoes,       -        -        -        -  14;i 

Fruit  Jelly, -  14:3 

Breakfast  Biscuit,          -        -        .        .        .  143 

Boiled  Pudding,          ------  143 

Lamp  Wicks,         ------  143 

LIVE  STOCK. 

Pigs,    -        -        -        -        .        -        -        -        -  14.3 

Sheep  in  the  Corn  Fields,      -        -        -        .  143 

Galled  Shoulders  and  Backs,    -        -        -        -  143 

Preserving  Sheep  from  Dogs,        ...  143 

Driving  After  Eating,        -----  143 

Hurrying  the  Cows, 143 

APIARY. 

The  Harvest  White  Honey,    -        -        -        -  143 

Why  Bees  Work  in  the  Dark,      -        -        -  144 

Fertile  Workers, 144 

POULTRY. 

Save    the   Choice   Fowls,      -         -        -        -  144 

Poultry    Notes, 144 

Vegetable  Fruit,      ------  144 

Poultry,       ---...-  144 

Literary  and  Personal     -----  144 


S£XD  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapevines,  Transplanted  Evergreens,  Tulip, 
Poplar,  Unden  Maple,  etc.  Tree  Seedlings  and  Trees  for 
timber  plantations  by  the  100,000. 

J.  JENKIKS'  NVBSERT, 

»-»-T»  WINONA,  COLUMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


NORBECK  &  MILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


Carriage  M\im, 

m  &  tO'S  OLD  ST.M), 

Corner  of  Duke  and  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

THE  LATEST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHAETONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 


Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 

REPAIRING  pronijitly  attended  to.     All  work 
guaranteed. 


PHAHES    W.    FRY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WALL  PAPER  &  WINDOW  SHABE8, 

lIollaiKln,  piHin  Nhiido  <'lotIi, 

Piltures,  Fringes,  Tassels  and  all  goods  pertaining  to  a 
Paper  and  Shade  Store. 

No.  63  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


11. 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


PENNSTtVANIA  RAILROAD 
Trains  leave  the  Depot  in  this  city, 

WE   TWABD. 

Pacific  Exprees' 

Way  Passeiigert  

Niagara  Express 

Hanover  Accommodation. . 

MaU  train  via  Mt.  Joy 

No.  2  via  Columbia 

Sunday  MaU 

3?'a8t  Line* 

Frederick  Accommodation . 

HarriBburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation., 

Harrisburg  Express 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express" 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  Express* 

Philadelphia  Expresst. 

Fast  Line* 

Harrisburg  Express. 


Lancaster. 


9.30  a.  I 
9:35  p.  I 
11:15  a.  I 
11:20  a.  I 


T:20  p.  m. 
7:25  p.m. 
9:25  p.m. 
11:30  p.m. 


Columbia  Accommodation., 

Pacific  Express* 

Sunday  MaU 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express* 

Harrisburg  Accom 

The  Hanover  Accommodation 
with  Niagara  Express,  west,  t 
through  to  Hanover, 

The  Frederick  Accommodatio 
ter  with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m.,  ana  r 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  on  Sunday,  ^ 
stop  at  Middietown,  Elizabethtown,  Mount 
Tille. 

•The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tEuns  daily,  except  Monday. 


7:00  a. 

7:40  a. 
10:no  a. 
12:30  p. 


Lancas- 
uns  to  Frederick, 
hen  flagged,  will 
Joy  and  Landis- 


$77^ 


u.  I',  :^o  v«7"3Vt-A.i>a', 


AT  JLOWEiT  POSSIBI.E  PRICES, 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.  106  E^ST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  Opposite  T^eopitrd  Botel. 


GLOVES.  SHIRTS,  UNDERWEAR.    H 
SHIETS  MAdFtO  OEDER, 

AND  WARRANTED  TO  I'lT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN,  * 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


S.  IB.  <Diz>:x., 

^Manufacturer  of 

Carriages,  Buggies,  Pliaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA, 

Large  Stock  of  New  and   SecOTd-hand  -Work  on   hand, 
very  cheap.    Carriages  Made  to  Order.     Work  Warranted 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 

And   Manufacturers  of 

FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS, 

WAREROOMS: 

102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

■LANCASTER,  PA. 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CLOCKS. 

JEWELRY! TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

Repairing  strictly  attended  to. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Pa, 

79-1-12 


NOTICE. 

A  VALUABLE  WORK. 

A  TREATISE 

—ON  THE— 

HORSE  AND  HIS  DISEASES, 

By  DR.  B.  J.  KENDALL,  of  Enosburgh  FaUs.  Vermont. 

It  Is  nicely  mustrated  with  thirty-flve  engravings,  and  is 
fnU  of  useful  horse  knowledge.  Every  horse  owner  should 
li»Te  »  copy  of  it. 

SEND  S5  CENTS  FOR  A  COPT. 

jnn-tf 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


a.    SENTEH    &  SONS, 

Manufacturers  and  dealers  in  aU  kinds  of  rough  and 
fluished 

x.xt]!mib]e:r. 

The  best  Sawed  SHI>'«I-ES  iu  the  country.     Also  Sash, 
Doors,  Blinds,  Mo\ildingB,  &c, 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walnnt-sts., 

LANCASTER,  I? A. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 

Embracing  the  history  and  habits  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS. 

and  the  best  remedies  for  their  expulsion  or  estermtnation. 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  and  will  be  put  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  sufficient  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtained  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 


fTBEES 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees, 

plant  Trees  raised  in  this  county  and  suited  to  this  climate. 
Write  for  prices  to 

I.OUISC.I.YTE, 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co..  Pa. 


TI^E  LATEST! 


Ilje  New  Tariff  of  Rales 


Made  by  OAK  HALL,  four  weeks 
ago,  sold  off  large  lots  of 

goods,  and  has 

INDUCED  MANY  TO  IMITATE  US 

\S    USUAl, 

8@"Whatever  is  Done  Elsewhere  We 
always  do  Better. -"^a 

This  is  the  latest  tariff  for  the 


AS  mOLLO^VS: 

An  Elegant  Business  and  Dress  Suit, 
All-wool  Black  Cheviot,  110.  Identical 
quality  of  goods  sold  by  other  parties 
as  a  great  bargain  at  $1.5.  We  never 
sold  them  for  more  than  $13. 

$4.89  buys  a  First  Quality  Dress 
Trousers,  sold  heretofore  at  $10. 

Fur  Beaver  and  Chinchilla  Over- 
coats, Good  and  Warm  Cloth  Bouud, 
$8.50, 5)8..50,  $8..50,  $8.50. 

Next  Higher  Grade,  Beautifully 
Made  and  Trimmed,  Cloth  Bound. 
Silk  Velvet  Collar,  $10,  $10,  $10,  $10. 

The  Same  Goods  in  Young  Men's 
Sizes,  $7,  $(",  $7,  $7. 

Boy's  Double  Cape  Overcoats,  with 
all  the  Late  Improvements,  $5,  $5,  $5. 

Boys'  and  Youths'  Trousers,  All 
Wool,  $2.39,  $2..39,  $2.39,  $2.39. 

Hundreds  of  Latest  Styles  Child- 
ren's Overcoats,  Soft  Plush  Lined, 
Elegant  Goods,  reduced  from  $8.75  to 
$6.50. 

$25  Fine  French  Fur  Beaver  Over- 
coats reduced  to  $15.  (Beautifully 
made.  Piped  with  Cloth  and  the 
Finest  Linings) 

A  clear  saving  of  $2.50  on  a  Fine 
Dress  Suit. 

At  our  low  prices  we  have  sold 
thousands  of  them  at  $15.00  ;  but  to- 
day make  a  clean  mark  down  to 
$12.50.  They  are  not  odds  and  ends, 
but  complete  lots.  Hundreds  biggest 
men  can  be  fitted.  This  one  lot  of 
goods  contained  .55,120  yards,  and  has 
proved  the  best  bargain  we  have  had 
for  our  customers  this  season. 

A  customer  can  come  one  hundred 
miles,  and  the  saving  on  almost  any 
Suit  or  Overcoat  will  pay  the  fare 
Doth  ways. 

Wananjaker  &  Brown, 

OAK  HALL. 
Sixth  and  Market  Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

The  Largest  Clothing  House  In 
America. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S,  S.  EATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  SEPTEMBER,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  No.  9. 


Editorial. 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  TOMATOES. 

We  are  apt  to  think  the  tomato  is  a  vege- 
table, or  fruit,  that  has  only  come  into  general 
cullinary  use  within  the  last  forty  years  or  so; 
but  this  is  a  grave  mistake.  So  far  as  we  are 
able  to  localize  the  event,  we  verily  believe 
we  saw  both  the  tomato  and  the  egg-plant 
raised  as  a  window  pot-jilant,  and  in  fruit — 
as  many  as  five  and  fifty  years  ago.  The 
first  named  had  beautiful  crimson  fruit  about 
the  size  of  an  ox-heart  cherry,  and  was  called 
a  "Love-apple."  The  other  had  white  fruit 
about  tlie  size  of  a  bantam's  egg,  and  was 
called,  as  it  is  now,  the  "Egg-plant."  Some 
went  to  the  trouble  of  calling  it  the  "Artificial 
Egg,"  but  there  was  nothing  artificial  about 
it,  it  was  natural. 

In  Philip  Miller's  Gardener''s  Dictionary, 
published  in  London,  and  dedicated  to  Sir 
Hans  Sloan,  in  1731,  in  reference  to  the 
"Love-apple,"  [Lycopersicon)  we  quote  the 
following  :  "The  Italians  and  Spaniards  eat 
these  apples  as  we  do  cucumbers,  with  pepper, 
oil  and  salt,  and  some  eat  them  stewed  in 
sauce,  &c.,  but  considering  their  great  mois- 
ture and  coldness,  the  nourishment  they 
afford  must  be  bad.  The  iirst  of  these  plants 
is  the  sort  directed  for  medicinal  use  by  the 
college  in  their  dispensatory.'' 

By  the  "first,"  he  means  the  yellow  love- 
apple  ;  for  he  describes  what  ho  calls  five 
species,  and  distinguishes  them  by  the  form 
and  color  of  the  fruit. 

Johnson,  in  his  6ardener''s  Dictionary,  pub- 
lished in  1872,  follows  the  same  specific 
nomenclature,  but  enumerates  ten  distinct 
species  ;  the  earlier  ones  of  which  were  intro- 
duced into  England  in  1596,  as  ornamental 
plants.  What  Miller  says  about  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  tomato  in  1731,  contains  all,  and 
much  more,  than  Johnson  says  in  1872  ;  and 
at  a  more  seasonable  period  we  may  give  it  to 
the  public,  merely  to  show  how  little  advance 
we  have  made  in  148  years. 

But  now  we  have  somewhat  to  say  nearer 
home.  During  the  eight  years  of  Jefferson's 
Presidency,  namely,  from  1801  to  1809,  he 
kept  a  record  of  the  fruit  and  vegetable 
market  of  Washington  city,  carefully  noting 
down  the  date  when  each  kind  was  placed  on 
market,  how  long  it  continued,  and  the  date 
when  it  was  discontinued.  It  may  seem 
singular  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  statesman 
of  the  period,  should  give  his  attention  to 
such  domestic  details  ;  but  so  it  is,  in  a  tabu- 
lated form  in  the  first  volume  of  his  biography. 
Amongst  the  vegetables  enumerated  he  men- 
tions tomatoes  and  egg-plants,  as  being  sold 
regularly  during  the  period  above  named  in 
the  AVashington  market.  To  show  what 
kind  of  a  vegetable  market  they  had  in  Wasb- 
iBgton,  from  1801  to  1809,  and  that  tomatoes 
and  egg-plants  must  have  been  cultivated  for 
culinary  use,  the  kind  of  company  they  were 
in  may  indicate  that  use. 

Lettuce,  parsley,  spinach,  sprouts,  corn- 
salad,  radishes,  sorrel,  asparagus,  broccoli, 
cucumbers,  cabbages,  cress,  cauliflower, 
turnips,  Irish  potatoes,  corn,  snaps,  arti- 
chokes, carrots,  salsify,  squashes,  unids  or 
beans,  beets,  parsnips,  tomatoes,  lima  beans, 
endive,  celery,  egg-plants,  mushrooms,  melons 
and  watermelons.  Of  fruits,  there  were 
pears,  strawberries,  currants,  raspberries  and 
grapes.  Perhaps  apples,  onions  and  peaches 
may  have  been  too  common  to  mention. 
This  was  from  70  to  78  years  ago.  Just  when, 
or  by  whom  they  were  first  eaten  in  Lancaster 
county  we  have  not  the  means  of  knowing, 
but  many  are  still  living  who  well  remember 
the  time  when  the  tomato  was  not  included 


in  our  edible  vegetation,  and  even  no  one 
dreamed  it  ever  would  become  so  general  as 
it  has.  We  first  tasted  them  in  the  summer 
of  1832,  anci  we  approached  them  very  "gin- 
gerly." Perhaps  we  would  not  have  done  so 
then— for  to  us  the  odor  of  the  plant  was  not 
as  "fragrant  as  peaches,"  but  they  had  been 
prepared  by  a  little  hand  that  was  afterwards 
laid  in  ouis,  and  has  prepared  them  for  us 
from  that  period  down  to  the  present  time,  so 
we  could  not  refusi;.  And  since  we  have 
mentioned  iiau-hes  in  connection  with  the 
subject,  it  reminds  us  that  the  generic  term, 
Lycopersicon,  is  a  Greek  compound,  and  liter- 
ally means  "wolf  peach."  (From  lykos,  a 
wolf,  and  pcrsicon,  a  peach).  It  belongs  to 
the  family  SoLANACEyK,  which  also  includes 
the  common  potato,  the  egg-plant,  the  deadly 
night-shade,  the  horse-nettle,  the  bitter-sweet, 
the  ground-cherry,  apple  of  Peru,  henbane, 
jimson  weed  and  the  tobacco  plant— not  a 
very  edible  family.  The  generic  name  is  now 
written  Lyopersicum.  The  plant  we  cultivate 
is  said  to  have  been  introduced  into  England 
from  South  America,  which,  if  true,  is 
certainly  very  suggestive.  It  encourages  us 
to  persevere  in  our  attempts  to  acclimatize 
foreign  plants,  fruits,  &c.  If  we  have  suc- 
ceeded in  the  peach,  the  cherry  and  the 
tomato,  who  is  prepared  to  say  that  we  may 
not  succeed  in  other  things,  the  Japanese  per- 
simmon for  instance  ?  The  tomato  occupies 
such  an  exalted  position  in  culinary  vegeta- 
tion ;  is  so  popular,  so  healthful,  so  widely 
diffused,  and  has  been  so  rapid  in  its  increase 
that  it  would  be  of  importance  to  our  next 
decennial  census  to  have  a  special  column  de- 
voted to  it  alone  in  1880.  There  is  hardly  a 
family  now  so  poor  that  it  has  not  tomatoes 
upon  the  table  at  least  once  every  day  while 
they  are  in  season,  and  they  are  so  easily  pre- 
served by  the  canning  process  that  many 
families  have  them  every  day  all  the  year 
round,  in  some  of  their  many  forms  of  pre- 
paration. Tomato  stews,  salads,  pickels,  pre- 
serves, jellies,  catsups,  figs,  wines,  &c.,  are 
leading  household  articles  in  many  families 
now,  and  we  can  hardly  realize  that  five  and 
forty  years  ago  they  were  almost  unknown 
for  these  purposes  in  Lancaster  county  ;  and 
to  deprive  us  of  them  now,  would  be  equiva- 
lent to  tearing  up  all  our  railroads,  and  going 
back  to  stage  coaches  and  Conestoga  teams. 
No  grocery  store  is  now  considered  complete, 
without  its  stock  of  canned  tomatoes.  There 
was  another  use  of  the  tomato  about  forty 
years  ago  in  this  country,  which  we  had 
almost  forgptten,  and  to  which  Miller  alludes 
in  the  extract  we  have  quoted.  In  a  highly 
concentrated  or  sublimated  form,  they  were 
used  as  medicine.  Perhaps  many  of  those 
who  have  attained  to  fifty  years,  will  be  able 
to  recall  the  "tomato  pills,"  "tomato  tinc- 
ture," and  "tomato  decoctions,  "conspicu- 
ously advertised  in  drug  stores,  with  wreaths 
of  crimson  fruit  placarded  on  the  boxes.  But 
as  they  grew  into  favor  as  an  esculent,  they 
grew  into  disfavor  as  a  medicine. 

SCIENCE,  AND  ITS  RELATIONS  TO 
AGRICULTURE. 
Many  intelligent  farmers  are  annoyed  by 
the  term  Science,  and  many  of  the  illiterate 
are  absolutely  horrified  at  it,  and  will  have  as 
little  to  do  with  it  as  possible  ;  just  as  if  they 
were  able  to  entirely  ignore  it,  or  annihilate 
it,  and  act  altogether  independent  of  it.  The 
fact  is.  whether  they  have  any  knowledge  of 
it  or  not,  whether  they  recognize  it  or  not 
when  it  is  brought  to  their  view,  or  whether 
they  acknowledge  its  presence  in  the  various 
phenomena  of  nature  or  not,  cannot  allect  a 
single  principle  in  its  domain,  for  it  still 
"marches  along"  as  it  marched  from  the  bc- 
giuuing  of  time,  "when  the  morning  stars 


sang  together."  No  farmer  can  locate  .and 
lay  ofi'  into  fields  his  farm,  nor  erect  a  barn, 
nor  hay  nor  wheat  slack — and  no  farmer's 
wife  can  bake  a  loaf  of  bread,  make  a  pound 
of  soap,  or  a  cake  of  cheese,  without  invoking 
the  aid  of  science,  and  this  too  whether  they 
understand  its  controling  principles  or  not. 
Science  and  her  laws  are  as  inseparable  from 
the  domain  of  matter  as  a  shadow  is  from  its 
substance,  or  as  light  and  sound  are  from  an 
electrical  concussion.  Like  truth,  "The 
eternal  years  of  God  are  hers,"  and  poor 
feeble  humanity  can  no  more  separate  itself 
from  science  and  its  ramifying  influences, 
than  it  can  from  the  Creator  of  the  universe, 
whether  it  has  a  living  faith  in  that  Creator 
or  not. 

Science  is  only  another  name  for  knowledge, 
and  those  to  whom  knowledge  is  distasteful  of 
course  will  have  little  sympathy  with  science. 
But  science  does  not  only  imply  a  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  but  it  also  implies  a  systematic 
arrangement  of  truths  according  to  their 
mutual  relations  to  each  other.  Science, 
however,  only  takes  cognizance  of  truths  that 
are  capable  of  being  demonstrated  on  a  mate- 
rial plane.  When  truth  leads  beyond  that,  it 
enters  upon  the  domain  of  spirit,  which,  as  it 
is  separated  from  matter  by  a  discreet  degree, 
has  only  an  abstract  relation  to  the  present 
subject.  AVhen  St.  Paul,  in  his  mission  to 
the  Athenians,  observed  an  altar  inscribed, 
"To  the  unknown  God,"  he  gave  utterance 
to  the  famous  enunciation,  "lie  whom  you 
ignorantly  worship.  Him  declare  I  unto  you. " 
The  mission  of  science  to  the  physical  realm 
is  of  a  like  character.  Its  object  is  to  instruct 
people  how  to  do  that  intelligently  which 
they  otherwise  do  ignorantly.  If  a  woman 
happens  to  bake  a  good  loaf  of  bread,  make  a 
good  pound  of  soap,  or  a  good  cake  of  cheese, 
science  will  teach  her  how  she  accomplished 
these  achievements,  and  if  she  fails  in  these 
it  will  point  out  wherein  she  failed.  If  a 
farmer  by  superior  skill  has  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing a  good  crop,  erected  a  symmetrical 
stack  of  hay  or  grain,  or  constructed  healthful 
and  well-ventilated  buildings,  science  will 
illustrate  to  him  the  principles  upon  which 
his  success  depended,  and  if  he  fails  therein  it 
will  admonish  him  of  the  physical  laws  he  has 
violated,  and  which  involved  his  labors  in 
defeat.  The  whole  domain  of  physical  knowl- 
edge, whether  domestic,  mechanical,  mathe- 
matical, agricultural,  commercial,  chemical 
or  professional,  is  included  in  the  category  of 
science.  It  abjures  all  arbitrary  signs  and 
seasons  and  plants  itself  fundamentally  upon 
principles  that  are  synonoraous  with  truth, 
and  if  its  deductions  seem  to  be  erroneous,  the 
errors  will  not  be  found  in  the  scientific  prin- 
ciples involved  in  the  case,  but  in  the  inabil- 
ity of  the  human  mind  to  comprehend  them, 
or  in  their  false  application. 

The  knowledges  embraced  by  science  are 
many  and  diverse,  some  of  them  complex  or 
abtruse,  and  have  only  a  remote  relation  to 
the  agricultural  and  domestic  concerns  of  life; 
and,  although  no  single  mind  could  expect  to 
grasp  the  whole— nor  is  it  necessary  that  it 
should— yet  so  far  as  any  of  its  branches 
relate  to  specific  human  avocations  they  ought 
to  become  the  subjects  of  thorough  human 
study.  The  agriculturalist  should  have  a 
knowledge  of  the  chemical  constitution  of  the 
various  soils,  and  how  to  supply  any  of  the 
fertilizing  elements  that  may  have  become  ex- 
hausted, and  also  know  what  elements  are 
present  in  excess.  Some  farmers  have  a  sort 
of  prejudice  against  scientific  knowledge, 
because  they  think  it  is  only  learned  from 
books,  and  they  have  a  contempt  for  what 
they  call  "book  farming."  If  their  illiterate 
neighbor,  after  many  years  of  patient  and 
careful    experience,    had     discovered    that 


130 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[September, 


certain  mauipulations  of  soil — including  sea- 
son, location,  and  composition,  ha,d  always  re- 
sulted in  certain  beneficial  effects,  they 
would  readily  believe  and  adopt  his  experi- 
ences, if  verbally  communicated  to  them, 
simply  because  their  neighbor  was  a  practical 
man,  and  knew  what  he  was  doing  ;  but 
should  some  person  of  literary  ability  write 
out  those  modes  just  as  they  were  developed 
through  the  exneriences  aforesaid,  the  book 
in  which  they  were  recorded  would  not  be  en- 
titled to  credit,  because  of  its  scieutiflc  char- 
acter. Now,  the  one  is  just  as  scientific  as 
the  other,  and  neither  of  them  is  so  any 
farther  than  they  are /acts,  and  farther  than 
they  are  founded  upon  principles  of  truth; 
and  if  either  of  them  possesses  these  requisites 
they  are  scientific,  whether  they  have  ever 
been  written  and  printed  in  a  book,  or  only 
recorded  in  human  memory ;  because,  they 
are  knoxoledge,  and  possess  power.  Science 
existed  before  the  introduction  of  letters, 
hieroglyphics  or  pictorial  illustrations,  and  it 
wiU  survive  all  these. 

For  the  sake  of  simplification  science  may 
be  divided  into  physics,  or  physical  science, 
exact  science,  and  natural  science ;  the  last 
named  including  natural  history,  or  the 
history  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms; 
in  which  agriculture  has  a  paramount  interest, 
for  they  have  a  direct  relation  to  the  produc- 
tions of  tlie  soil,  and  the  history  and  improve- 
ments of  domestic  animals.  The  world  is 
progressing,  population  is  increasing,  and 
through  the  drafts  of  these  upon  the  virgin 
fertility  of  the  soil,  its  primitive  substances 
are  becoming  exhausted.  By  the  aid  of 
scientific  knowledge  its  exhausted  elements 
may  be  restored  and  continued,  and  tlie 
animal  enemies  of  the  human  family  circum- 
vented or  extinguished.  In  the  crude  and 
normal  progress  of  the  natural  world  there 
are  cheeks  and  balances  which  tend  to  preserve 
and  continue  nature's  equilibrium;  but,  under 
the  stimulations  of  progress  and  increase, 
this  equilibrium  becomes  disturbed  or  de- 
stroyed, and  hence,  there  are  alternate 
recurrences  of  paucity  and  redundancy. 
Neither  the  uncivilized  aboriginals,  nor 
the  early  civilized  races,  had  any  of  the  diffi- 
culties to  contend  wilh  that  now  beset  society 
in  its  abnormally  stimulated  progress  and 
improvement.  Unlettered  science  is  too 
limited  and  superficial  to  supply  the  demands 
of  a  fastidious  progress.  A  more  rapid 
transit  and  a  wider  diffusion  are  now  re- 
quired to  satisfy  the  yearnings  of  a  restless 
human  ambition.  Society,  and  all  the 
various  interests  and  elements  which  compose 
it,  now  require  a  written  word,  instead  of 
varying  and  unsubstantial  traditions.  Scien- 
tific knowledge  needs  to  be  invoked,  and 
carried  into  all  the  concerns  of  life,  from  "a 
needle  to  an  anchor,"  from  the  humblest 
kitchen,  up  through  all  the  various  domestic 
and  social  gradations,  to  the  higliest  point  of 
agriculture  and  mechanical  excellence.  One 
blade  of  grass  is  not  sufficient  now — nor  yet 
are  two— it  requires  lialf  a  dozen  where  only 
one  grew  before.  The  scientific  principles  in- 
volving these  truths  are  beginning  to  be 
slowly  apprehended  by  the  intelligent  yeo- 
manry of  the  country,  and  as  rapidly  as  they 
are  apprehended  they  will  be  adopted  and 
carried  into  practical  operation.  They  are 
the  "upper  and  the  nether  mill-stones,"  tliat 
will  "grind  into  powder,"  the  absurdities, 
the  stupidities,  and  the  prejudices  of  the  past. 
Then  welcome  science  as  the  beneficent 
handmaid  to  agriculture,  as  she  has  always 
been  to  commerce  and  manufacturers. 


CATERPILLARS. 
Friday,  September  5th,  Mr.  Lemon,  of  West 
King  street,  brought  to  us  an  apple  branch, 
about  eighteen  inches  in  length,  on  which 
were  grouped  about  350  caterpillars.  Tliese 
caterpillars  had  stripped  off  all  the  leaves, 
letting  nothing  remain  but  the  midribs.  They 
were  attached  to  the  branch  by  the  four  pairs 
of  adbominal  prolegs,  with  the  posterior  and 
anterior  parts  of  the  body  turned  upward,  and 
appeared  as  rigid  and  immovable  as  if  they 


had  been  composed  of  wax.  Wlien'disturbed 
they  only  wriggled  with  a  jerking  motion 
from  side  to  side.  They  were  so  closely 
compacted  that  no  part  of  the  branch  they 
occupied  could  be  seen,  and  we  conceived  the 
idea  of  preserving  them  just  as  they  were,.but 
this  seemed  impracticable  ;  nevertheless,  we 
made  the  attempt,  and,  contrary  to  our  ex- 
pectations, we  succeeded.  We  cut  the  branch 
into  three  pieces  of  six  inches  each,  but  as  the 
caterpillars  were  only  grouped  on  two  of  them, 
we  introduced  these  two  pieces  into  a  six  iucli 
jar  with  a  wide  mouth.  The  insects  were 
disturbed  very  little  by  this  process.  Tliey 
had  taken  their  "position"  and  seemed  de- 
termined to  "fight  it  out  on  that  line." 

We  then  introduced  a  gentle  stream  of 
strong  alcohol,  and  continued  it  until  the  jar 
was  full ;  but  the  caterpillars  remained  rigid 
and  almost  entirely  motionless.  Perhaps  half 
a  dozen  relinquished  their  hold  upon  the 
branch  and  sank  to  the  bottom,  but  all  the 
others,  at  this  writing  (eight  day«  after  immer- 
sion) remain  just  as  they  were  when  they 
were  first  taken  from  the  tree.  We  never 
before  witnessed  such  stoic  indiflisrence  to  the 
effects  of  alcohol  in  any  insect.  All— especi- 
ally caterpillars — squirm,  writhe,  or  contort 
themselves  in  a  more  or  less  agonizing  man- 
ner, but  these,  except  a  gentle,  tremulous 
motion  of  a  few  of  them — seemed  to  be 
entirely  indifferent  to  the  pungent  effects  of 
the  alcohol,  and  "died  game."  They  either 
did  not  feel  that  sense  of  pain  that  is  felt 
"when  a  giant  dies,"  or  they  are  endowed 
with  the  extraordinary  faculty  of  almost 
entirely  ignoring  it,.  Through  this  experi- 
ment, the  Linnsean  Society  possesses  the  most 
perfect  specimens  of  alcoholized  caterpillars, 
as  they  appear  in  nature,  that  we  have  ever 
seen,  and  we  are  by  no  means  certain  that  tlie 
experiment  could  be  again  as  successfully 
repeated  with  so  large  a  number. 

These  caterpillars  are  from  one  and  a  half 
to  two  inches  in  length,  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  in  circumference,  and  of  a  honey  yellow 
color.  The  head  is  large  and  jet  black,  and 
the  feet  and  a  small  spot  on  the  upper  side  of 
the  terminal  segment  are  of  the  same  color. 
The  body  is  adorned  with  seven  reddish  lon- 
gitudinal stripes,  the  dorsal  stripe  being  about 
twice  as  wide  as  the  lateral  and  marginal 
ones.  The  posterior  pair  of  feet  are  very 
black,  and  project  backward  like  a  pair  of 
caudal  forceps.  Immediately  back  of  the 
head,  the  first  thoracic  segment  has  a  broad 
dorsal  spot,  or  collar,  of  nearly  orange  red 
color. 

We  have  made  this  record,  because  this  is 
said  to  be  the  apple-tree  variety  of  the  larva 
of  Detana  Ministra — the  "Handmaid 
moth,"  an  insect  that  is  especially  destructive 
to  the  foliage  of  tlie  walnuts  and  hickories, 
and  is  also  occasionally  found  on  other  trees, 
the  larva  of  which  varies  according  to  the 
foliage  it  feeds  on.  Last  year  Mr.  L.  brought 
us  1,200  of  these  caterpillars  which  he  found 
grouped  together  in  a  compact  mass,  near  the 
base  of  an  English  walnut  tree  on  his  prem- 
ises, and  of  which  they  had  stripped  nearly  all 
the  leaves,  leaving  nothing  but  the  naked 
midribs  remaining.  Those  on  the  walnut 
tree  were  of  the  same  size  and  form  as  those 
on  the  apple  tree,  but  the  body  was  a  dull 
white,  and  the  stripes  were  somewhat  broader 
and  of  a  deep  chocolate-brown  color.  Last 
year  Mr.  L.  had  none  of  these  caterpillars  on 
his  apple  trees,  this  year  he  has  none  on  his 
walnut  tree.  After  the  mortality  of  1,200 
so  summarily,  a  sole  survivor  may  have 
instinctively  concluded  that  walnut  trees  are 
unhealthy  to  the  race,  and  hence  the  scene  of 
operation  was  transferred  to  the  apple. 

These  caterpillars  have  one  peculiar  habit 
which  places  them  effectually  in  the  power  of 
man,  and  if  men  permit  them  to  perpetuate 
themselves  from  season  to  season  they  ought 
to  be  held  amenable  to  law.  They  "moult" 
or  cast  off  the  old  skin  and  acquire  a  new  one 
four  or  five  times  before  they  perfect  their 
larval  condition,  and  when  about  to  undergo 
this  change,  the  whole  brood  on  the  tree  con- 
gregate in  a  mass  on  the  trunk,  sometimes 


as  low  as  the  base — if  not  on  the  ground — 
but  never  very  fiir  from  the  ground,  and  this 
seems  a  practical  suggestion  to  the  proprietor 
of  the  tree,  to  gather  them  up  and  destroy 
them.  If  tliey  are  too  repulsive  to  handle,  a 
syringing  of  hot  water  would  prove  an  effec- 
tive extinguisher.  There  is  no  excuse  for 
their  continuance. 

We  have  noticed  these  caterpillars  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  but  those  on  the  apple  tree 
we  have  always  found  congregated  on  the 
small  branches,  where  they  usually  feed ; 
whilst  those  on  the  walnut  tree  we  have  always 
found  congregated  somewhere  on  the  trunk. 
When  feeding  they  scatter  wherever  they  can 
find  ;food,  but  in  their  moulting  trysts,  they 
are  remarkably  gregarious.  When  they  have 
matured  their  larval  condition,  they  burrow 
into  the  ground,  pupate,  and  remain  there 
until  the  following  mouth  of  June,  when  they 
come  forth  a  moth.  The  alar  expansion  of 
the  moth  is  from  one  and  three  quarters  to 
two  inches.  The  body  is  thick  and  about 
three  quarters  of  an  inch  long.  Tlie  antennae 
are  slender,  and  finely  serrated  along  the 
anterior  margin.  The  anterior  wings  are 
various  sliades  of  reddish  brown,  and  the  pos- 
terior wings  and  abdomen  are  a  dull,  silvery 
white.  The  thorax  is  a  deep  velvetv  brown, 
margined  with  lighter  brown.  There  are 
four  not  very  conspicuous,  transverse  lines  on 
the  anterior  wings,  somewhat  darker  than 
the  ground  color.  They  are  attracted  at 
niglit  by  lights  burning,  and  this  may  suggest 
the  destruction  of  the  mature  insect. 


Queries  and  Answers. 


MOTTLED  HORN-BEETLE. 

Mr.  1.  L.  Oraham,  Elkton,  Jft?.— Your 
postal  card  and  small  box  by  mail  were  duly 
received.  The  box  contained  a  most  mag- 
nificent specimen  of  the  "mottled  Horn- 
Beetle."  It  is  by  no  means  a  "Bug  ;"  it  is  a 
Beetle,  and  was  described  by  Linnaeus  under 
the  name  of  * Scarahceiis  tytius ;  but  modern 
authors  in  entomology  have  placed  it  in  the 
genus  Di/TMStea:  therefore  it  is  best  known  _ 
under  the  name  of  Dynastes  tytius:  family' 
Scarab^ida,  Section  Lamellicornia,  and 
order  Coleoptera. 

The  larva  is  a  large,  white  crescent-shaped 
"grub  worm,"  very  similar  in  form  to  those 
tliat  are  found  every  season  in  the  soil,  only 
much  larger.  What  we  mean  by  "crescent 
shaped"  is,  that  it  is  always  found  bent  in  the 
form  of  a  crescent. 

It  feeds  (the  larva)  on  decayed  wood,  and  is 
often  found  in  the  decayed  heart  of  old  trees. 
About  twenty  years  ago  a  large  willow  tree 
was  cut  down  at  Safe  Harbor,  in  this  county, 
and  in  the  heart  of  it  were  found  about  fifty 
of  these  beetles  and  their  larvx.  Individuals, 
since  then,  have  been  captured  in  various 
localities  in  this  county  ;  but  we  have  never 
heard  of  so  many  of  them  being  found  in  one 
place  as  in  the  tree  at  Safe  Harbor. 

DROP-WORM. 

Mr.  E.,  Lancaster  county.  Pa.— The  small 
box  you  left  for  our  examination  on  the  9th 
inst.,  contained  the  follicles  of  an  insect 
known  by  the  common  names  of  "Drop- 
worm,"  "Basket-worm,"  "Sack-bearer,"  &c., 
and  by  the  Germans  "Sach-trager. "  It  has 
also  received  various  scientific  names,  but  is 
now  best  known  among  scientists  under  the 
name  of  Tliyridopteryz  ephemcEniformis.  It  is 
particularly  destructive  to  the  foliage  of  the 
Arborvitse,  but  is  also  found  on  various  other 
trees;  among  which  we  may  mention  the 
apple,  quince,  pear,  cherry,  apricot,  nectarine, 
elm,  linden,  locust,  pines,  cedars,  &c.,  and 
when  it  becomes  numerous  it  is  injurious  to 
the  beauty,  symmetry,  vitality  and  general 
health  of  the  trees  it  infects  ;  but  we  know  of 
no  insects  that  are  more  accessible  in  the 
application  of  a  remedy,  if  the  remedy   is 

*Tytuts,  m  the  heatheu  mythology,  wis  a  gigantic  Ben  of 
Ju] 4':er  and  Elara,  whom  AioUo  lulled  foroffering  violeuo© 
to  his  mother,  Latona. 

ScarabKua  means  ft  beetle. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


i31 


applied  at  the  proper  time,   and  especially     producer  and  cohsuiuit,  and  enable  them  to  I  each   under  the  8ui)ervision  of   visitors,  the 

when  the  trees  are  low,  like  the  arborvitae.  ,  discuss  intelligently  the  material   results  of    public    will    be    able    to    exercise  a  proi)er 

The  follicles  or  "sacks"  of  the  females  are     labor,  and  to  contemplate  their  various  quali-    appreciation  of  wiiat  our  county  is  able  to 

found  dangling  from  the  naked  branches  of  i  ties. 

the  trees  all  winter,  and  in  trees  that  shed        Below  will  be  found  the  list  of  premiums 

their  leaves  they  become  very  conspicuous,     awarded  to  exhibitors  in  the  several  classes : 


In  non  leaf-shedding  trees  they  are  not  so 
visible  as  in  the  former,  but  still  from  the 
fact  that  these  sacks  assume  a  dried  and 
crispy  aspect,  they  may  be  easily  detected  on 
pines,  cedars  and  arborvita;s.  If  all  these 
sacks  are  gathered  and  bui-ned,  any  time 
before  the  first  of  May  in  this  latitude,  it  will 
not  be  possible  for  them  to  increase  or  even 
perpetuate  their  species,  'ihe  female  never 
leaves  her  sack  until  she  has  deposited  all  her 
eggs  therein,  and  these  eggs  are  contained  in 
the  pupa  shell,  and  warmly  protected  against 
the  most  rigorous  winter.  They  are  hatched 
out  about  the  middle  of  May,  when  the  young 
immediately  begin  to  form  sacks  for  them- 
selves, which  are  spun  of  a  fine  white  silk,  and 
are  covered  over  on  the  outsides  with  leaves, 
leaf-stems  and  bits  of  wood  ;  enlarging  them 
as  the  insect  grows  larger,  and  carrying  them 
with  them  wherever  they  go;  and  from  this 
habit  they  have  been  named  "Sack-bearers." 
They  have  also  the  habit  of  dropping  down 
from  the  branches,  suspended  by  a  fine  silken 
fiber,  and  then  drawing  themselves  up  again, 
and  this  has  given  rise  to  the  name  "Drop- 
worm."  Comparatively  few  persons  ever 
have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  male  insect. 
He  emerges  from  the  pupa  and  the  follicle 
during  the  month  of  September,  and  after 
fertilizing  the  female,  inside  of  her  habitacu- 
lum,  he  almost  immediately  dies.  The  fe- 
male is  entirely  destitute  of  wings,  antenna; 
or  feet — in  fact,  nothing  but  a  wliite, oblong, 
cylindrical  sack,  filled  with  small  round 
eggs,  numbering  from  three  to  five  hund- 
red; with  an  exsertcd  ovipositor  at  the 
posterior  end,  and  a  rudimeutal  head  and 
two  small  black  eyes  at  the  anterior  end. 
The  male  expands  about  one  inch,  and  has 
a  body  of  about  the  same  length,  but  with 
the  power  of  extending  the  abdomen,  simi- 
lar to  the  extension  of  a  telescope.  He  is 
covered  with  a  thick  coat  of  moderately 
long,  swarthy ,  brown  fur,  and  at  first  his 
wings  are  opaque,  but  he  soon  flutters  off 
the  mealy  substance,  or  scales,  with  which 
they  are  covered,  and  they  become  more 
or  less  transparent,  especially  the  posterior 
pair, 


Class  1— Fruits. 

"We  the  undersigned  committee  appointed 
to  report  upon  the  grapes,  peaches,  plums  and 
melons,  beg  liiave  to  submit  the  following: 

For  the  lari,'est  collection  of  gra))os  (22 
varieties),  H.  M.  Engle  &  Son,  S3;  for  the 
second  largest  collection  (14  varieties),  Daniel 
Smeych,  $2;  for  the  third  largest  collection  (9 
varieties).  Dr.  C.  Weidler,  $1;  best  four 
bunches  of  Concords,  .T.  Iluber,  50  cents; 
best  four  Ininches  of  Clintjin,  C.  Hoover,  50 
cents;  best  four  biniches  of  Rogers,  Samuel 
Benedict,  50  cents;  best  four  hunches  Martha, 
Daniel  Smeych,  .50  cents;  lona,  DrC.  Weidler, 
.50  cents;  Allen's  Hybrid,  the  same,  50  cents. 
Discretionary  premiums  to  J.  F.  Hershey  and 
J.  II.  Mayei",  50  cents  eacTi. 

For  the  largest  collection  of  foreign  grapes 
(4  varieties),  D.  Smeych,  $2;  they  also  accord 
special  mention  to  L.  S.  Reist,  B.  L.  Landis, 
John  B.  Erb,  P.  8.  Reist,  Eph.  II.  Hoover 
and  others  for  fine  exhibits  of  grapes,  and  if 
the  committee  has  failed  to  mention  more,  it 
is  because  of  the  dilliculty  of  discriminating 
where  fruit  of  the  same  kind  is  so  widely 
scattered. 

For  the  best  plate  of  plums  (ten  specimens), 
Daniel  Smeych,  50  cents.     There  were  also 


I ;  b  the  pupa  ; 


lie  adult  female ; 


appreciation 

produce  in  the  different  lines  of  fruit.  Much 
credit  is  due  to  all  the  exhibitors  for  the  fine 
displays  of  grapes  and  poaches. 

The  following  additional  premiums  are  re- 
commended: Best  plate  of  Delaware  grapes, 
Abraham  Summy,  50  cents;  second  best, 
Samuel  Jacobs,  25  cents;  third  best  Dr. 
Weidier,  favorable  notice. 

Best  plate  of  Telegraph  grapes,  John 
Grossman,  50  cents;  second  best,  H.  M. 
Engle,  25  cents;  third  best,  F.  Howell, 
favorable  notice;  second  best,  Rogers,  No.  15, 
S.  W.  Bruckhart,  25  cents.  Best  five  canta- 
loupes. J.  W.  Bruckhart,  50  cents;  second  best, 
J.  K.  Ryan,  25  cents. 

Honorable  notice  to  Reist  &  McCloud  for 
Brighton  grapes,  and  also  for  large  collection 
of  Concord  and  Martha  grapes.  Also  to  Mrs. 
Ann  Bushong  for  coimty  raised  figs,  and  to 
Messrs.  Garber,  Hess,  Hoover  and  Mellinger 
for  sundry  grapes. 

S.  S.  Rathvox, 
Wm.  McComsey. 
We  the  undersigned  committee,  appointed 
to  examine  and  report  upon  apples  and  pears, 
respectfully  report  the  following: 

For  the  largest  collection  of  apples  (50 
varieties),  L.  S.  Reist,  %\\\  second  largest  (16 
varieties),  H.  M.  Engle,  $2;  third  largest  (13 
varieties),  J.  C.  Linville,  %\.  Best  plate 
Smokfehouse  apples,  Wm.  Weidle,  first  pre- 
mium, 75  cents;  second  best  plate,  Jacob 
Zecher,  second  premium,  50  cts. ;  best  plate 
Slienbern  apples,  Wm.  Weidle,  first  prem- 
ium, 75  cts. ;  best  plate  golden  pippins,  first 
Iiremiuin,  Jacob  Zecher,  75  cents;  basket  of 
apples,  Ambrose  Pownall,  first  premium,  75 
cents;  plate  of  Porter  apples,  John  B.  Erb, 
liist  premium,  75  cents;  plate  of  .leffriea 
apples,  John  B.  Erb,  first  premium,  75  cts; 
one  mammoth  Rambo,  Samuel  Benedict, 
first  premiuiu,  75  cents;  plate  of  quinces, 
William  Weidle,  first  premium,  50  cents; 
John  B.  Erb,  second  premium,  25  cts. ;  one 
mammoth  apple  (16^  inches)  very  fine, 
special  notice. 

Best  collection  of  pears    (38  varieties), 
Wm.  Weidle,  $3;  second  best  (26  varieties), 
Daniel  Smeych,  $2;  third  best  (24  varie- 
ties), Samuel  Benedict,  $1.50;  H.  M.  Engle 
varieties),discretionary  premium,  81.50; 


(2 

„  .ue  .uu.. ,.. ,» ....,.» ,  .  ...>.  » ..^^.. ,  ..  the  C'asper  Hiller  &  Son  (33  varieties),  discre- 

The  larva  which  inhabits  the  sack,  and  adult  male  ;e  the  opened  sack  showins  the  eegs ;  /the  sack  tionary  premium,  SI.  50;  Hon.  J.  B.  L,iv- 
never  leaves  it,  when  mature,  is  about  an  entire  showing  the  manner  of  oonveyiug  it  from  place  to  place;  ingston  (14  varieties),  discretionary  prem- 
inch  and  a  half  in  length,  robust  anteriorly,   9  "'<=  yo"°g  beginning  to  construct  a  sack.  ium,  $1. 


and  tapering  backward  ;  it  has  a  smoky  color, 
fleshy,  and  without  intermediate  feet  or  only 
rudimental  ones.  The  head  and  three 
thoracic  segments  are  smooth,  hard,  and 
mottled  with  bluish  white  and  black,  or 
brown.  Being  so  perfectly  incased  in  the 
follicle,  it  cannot  be  destroyed  by  birds,  and 
is  comparatively  free  from  insect  enemies. 


OUR    LATE    EXHIBITION. 

The  fair  was  formally  closed  at  9  o'clock  p. 
m.,  on  Friday  evening,  the  12th  inst.,  and 
whether  an  entire  success  or  otherwise, 
nothing  appears  more  evident  to  our  mind 
than  the  fact  that  Lancaster  county  possesses 
the  demi'dXs  of  a  first  class  exhibition,  if  only 
the  indifference  or  supineness  of  its  people 
can  be  so  far  overcome  as  to  allow  them  to 
give  such  an  enterprise  a  sustaining  support, 
both  as  participators  and  auditors.  This 
support  should  by  no  means  be  a  cold  and 
uninterested  one,  but  on  the  contrary  earnest 
and  hopeful,  and  accompanied  by  that  self- 
abnegation  which  gives  assurance  that  the 
Society  is  influenced  by  higher  motives  than 
those  that  relate  to  scZ/ alone.  It  is  true,  that 
these  exhibitions  should  be  self-sustaining, 
but  aside  from  this,  the  cultivation  of  the 
useful  and  the  beautiful,  from  moral  and 
social  considerations,  is  paramount  to  merely 
pecuniary  gain.  In  any  event  these  period- 
ical exhibitions  are  the  most  practical  means 
that  can  be  employed  to  bring  before  the 
people  the  various  productions  of  human 
industry,  because  they  bring  face  to  face  the 


some  excellent  yellow  or  golden  plums  on 
exhibition,  but  they  lacked  in  number  to 
elicit  a  premium. 

For  the  best  specimens  of  Casaba  melons, 
M.  C.  Cooper,  50  cents;  best  cantaloupes  50 
cents. 

[XoTE— William  Weidle  exhibited  28  vari- 
eties ot  named  pears  and  8  unnamed;  also,  5 
named  and  2  unnamed  varieties  of  apples, 
also,  Susquehanna  and  Crawtbrd  late  peaches, 
and  Isabella  grapes,  which  were  overlooked 
in  the  book  of  entries,  but  are  entitled  to 
notice]. 

It  was  exceedingly  diflicnlt  to  discrimmate 
between  the  many  excellent  peaches  on  exhi- 
bition; therefore  the  committee  was  under 
the  necessity  of  exercising  discretionary 
power.  To  the  largest  collection  (13  varie- 
ties) by  Daniel  Smeych,  they  awarded  S2; 
the  next  largest  (17  apples),  L.  S.  Reist,  $1. 
They  also  awarded  the  following  persons  for 
superior  plates  of  peaches  50  cents  each: 
Calvin  Cooper.  Susquehanna;  Ciusper  Hiller, 
Crawford  Late;  Wm.  Weidle,  Crawford  Early 
and  Susquehanna;  M.  D.  Kendig,  new  seed- 
ling; C.  F.  Long,  new  seedling;  A.  S.  Keller, 
Crawford  Late;  Wm.  Richardson,  Susque- 
hanna; Joseph  Samson,  seedling;  P.  S.  Reist, 
J.  H.  Hershey,  J.  H.  Mayer,  ditto,  and 
Daniel  Smeych,  Sener  peach. 

The  committee  labored  under  the  difficulty 
caused  by  many  of  the  peaches  being  un- 
named, and  others  never  having  even  a  card 
attached  to  them;  Vmt  as  all  entries  have  been 
published  in  the  daily  papers,  and  they  were 


Best  plate  Sheldon  pears,  Adam  S.  Keller, 
first  premium,  50  cents;  second  best  ditto, 
Daniel  M.  Mayer,  second  i>remium,  25  cents; 
best  plate  Bartlett  pears,  Mrs.  Hannah  Ran- 
dolph, first  premium,  $l;best  plate  Duchess, 
John  B.  Erb,  first  premium,  50  cents;  best 
plate  Seckel  pears,  John  C.  Linville,  first 
premium,  50  cents;  plate  Seckel  pears,  J.  M. 
Mayer,  second  premium,  25  cents;  best  plates 
Urbaniste,  Flemish  Beauty  and  AVashington 
pears,  Chas.  E.  Long,  first  premium,  50  cents 
each;  basket  of  assorted  fruit,  Chas  E.  Long, 
«1;  basket  Bartlett  pears,  Chas.  E.  Lon^,  75 
cents;  basket  of  Clairgeau  pears,  Mrs.  E.  H. 
Hager,  50  cents.  Lot  of  cantaloupes,  A.  S. 
Keller,  25  cents;  cantaloupe  and  melon,  J.  K. 
Rine,  50  cents;  muskmelon,  J.  W.  Bruckhart, 
50  cents;  citrons,  Milton  Cooper,  25  centsi 
Casaba  melons,  Milton  Cooper,  50  cents. 

The  following  named  exhibitors— E.  S. 
Hoover,  P.  S.  Reist,  Fannie  Kready,  J.  M. 
Hess,  Calvin  Cooper,  I.  L.  Landis,  CharL-s 
A.  Bauer,  John  Grossman,  E.  B.  Landis,  and 
others— are  in  our  judgment  worthy  of 
special  mention.  _  _ 

M.  D.  KE>rDio, 
LorisC.  Lytb, 

J.  H.  IlERSnET, 

CvmmiiUt. 
Class  2— Floweks. 
First  Prfniiu??!,'!.— Mrs.  Fanny  Bushong, 
most  extensive  exotic  collection  of  rare  plants; 
Casper  Hiller  &  Son,  best  collection  of 
ornamental  grasses;  Chas  Ileins,  best  ri:stic 
basket;  Miss  Rosenmiller,  best  collection  of 


132 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  September, 


cut  flowers;  George  O.  Hensel,  best  collection 
of  plants  (106  varieties);  George  O.  Hensel, 
best  collection  of  ferns. 

Second  Premiums.— C  A.  Getz,  collection 
of  flowers  (107  specimens);  Lenora  Hershey, 
bouquet;  George  O.  Hensel,  second  best  col- 
lection of  ornamental  and  foliage  plants. 

Spemal  Mentimi. — Mrs.  Mary  E.  Wilson, 
M.  D.,  collection  of  plants;  Mrs.  Anthony 
Mott,  begonias;  J.  Frank  Landis,  century 
plant;  L.  I.  Steinhauser,  orange  tree  and 
foliage  plants;  Leonard  Bacliler,  passion 
flower;  Miss  Ai'mstrong,  passion  flower; 
Robert  Dysart,  hanging  basket. 

Class  3— Vegetables. 

First  Premiums. — Jacob  M.  Mayer,  best 
assortment  of  vegetables;  Charles  A.  Bauer, 
first  premium  each  for  carrots,  Lima  beans, 
endive  and  yellow  tomatoes;  Casper  Hiller  & 
Son,  best  Snowfiake  potatoes;  John  C.  Lin- 
ville,  best  beets  and  cashaws;  Benj.  L.  Lan- 
dis, best  red  sweet  potatoes. 

Honorable  Mention. — John  B.  Erb,  cab- 
bages, beans.  Trophy  tomatoes  and  sweet 
potatoes;  Benj.  L.  Landis,  yellow  sweet 
potatoes. 

Class  4 — Ceeeals. 

First  Premiums. — Joseph  F.  Witmer, 
Foltz  wheat,  clover  seed  and  timothy  seed; 
David  M.  Mayer,  Red  Mediterranean  wheat; 
J.  F.  Landis,  oats;  Johnson  MiUer,  rye  and 
yellow  corn;  Charles  A.  Bauer,  sugar  corn; 
Calvin  Cooper,  Chester  county,  Manlmoth 
corn. 

Honorable  Mention. — Elmer  Cooper,  Chester 
county.  Mammoth  com. 

Class  5— Domestic  Productions. 

First  Premiums. — John  C.  Linville,  three 
pounds  of  butter;  Mrs.  E.  S.  Hoover,  largest 
display  of  canned  fruits;  Mrs.  John  Zellers, 
two  loaves  home-made  bread;  Mrs.  John  B. 
Erb,  blackberry  and  grape  wine;  Mrs.  Peter 
Regennas,  best  canned  peaches;  Mrs.  J.  F. 
Hershey,  best  hard  soap;  Mrs.  Heinitsh,  crab 
apple  jelly;  Mrs.  Adam  S.  Keller,  best  mixed 
pickles;  Mrs.  D.  H.  Heitshu,  best  jar  of 
canned  pears;  S.  G.  Gensemer,  best  currant 
wine. 

Second  Preinium. — Maria  S.  Landis,  five 
pounds  Alderney  butter. 

Class  6— The  Apiary. 

First  Premium. — J.  F.  Hershey,  for  honey 
and  hive  of  bees. 

Honorable  Mention. — Peter  S.  Reist,  box  of 
honey. 

Class  7 — Poultry. 

First  Premiums.— Dr.  J.  H.  Mayer,  best 
collection  of  Brahmas;  H.  E.  Stoner,  best 
Leghorns;  H.  H.  Myers,  best  Bantams. 

Second  Premiums.— W.  H.  Amer,  second 
best  Leghorns;  Chas.  E.  Long,  second  best 
Bantams. 

Special  Mention. — H.  E.  Stoner's  collection 
of  Golden  Hamburgs  and  Game  cocks. 
Class  8 — Light  Implements. 

No  competition;  discretionary  premiums 
awarded  to  John  R.  Buckwalter  for  tobacco 
fork  and  I.  L.  Landis  for  posthole  diggers. 

Class  9— The  Dairy. 
■    Honorable  Mention.— S.  E.  and  G.  S.  Ball, 
fine  display  of  dairy  products  and  salt  meats. 

Class  10— Fine  Arts  and  Industrial. 

First  Premiums. — Benj.  F.  Landis,  oil 
paintings  and  crayon  drawings;  Mrs.  A.  F. 
Spencer,  wax  cross;  Mary  Bachler,  toilet  set, 
wax  boquet,  rustic  cross,  sofa  cushion,  thread 
tidy  and  bullion  work. 

Discretionary  Premiums. — Mrs.  J.  H.  Hos- 
tetter,  afghan;  Mrs.  H.  R.  Barr,  crayon 
portraits;  Christie  "W.  Gruel,  counterpane; 
Jennie  Scheetz,  quilt;  C.  R.  Frailey,  penman- 
ship; Mrs.  E.  S.  Hoover,  tidies;  Annie  R. 
Garber,  water  color  painting;  Mrs.  C.  Cooper, 
cushion  cover;  Walter  H.  Kinzer,  stufted 
birds;  Viola  Bushong,  vase  of  dried  grasses; 
Mrs.  Peter  Regennas,  quilt;  Lizzie  C.  Thomas, 
marking  on  linen. 

Honorable  Notice. — Mrs.  Jane  Hess,  quarter 
of  silk  quilt;  Annie  Alexander,  sofa  mat. 


Class  11— Musical  Instruments. 

First  Premiums. — Alex.  M'Killips,  best 
variety  of  organs;  W.  H.  Manby,  best  tone 
organ. 

Class  12— Miscellaneous. 

First  Premium.— S.  B.  Urban,  six  leaves  of 
tobacco;  J.  M.  Hess,  four  laths  of  tobacco. 

Second  Premium. — Chas.  A.  Bauer,  six 
leaves  of  tobacco. 

Discretionary  Premium. — L.  S.  Gross,  six 
stalks  of  tobacco. 

We  have  been  authorized  to  pay  the  above 
reported  premiums,  so  far  as  they  are  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  awards  of  the  judges,  made 
in  the  books  of  entries.  Therefore,  all 
holding  premium  cards  will  present  them  at 
our  place  of  business,  corner  of  North  Queen 
and  Orange  streets,  within  thirty  days  from 
close  of  fair,  as  after  that  date  they  will  be 
considered  as  forfeited  to  the  Society. 


Contributions. 


For  The  Lancaster  Fakmer. 
THE  MOON'S  SIGNS    AND  PHASES. 

Mr.  Editor  :  I  am  not  sure  that  it  will  be 
profitable  to  your  readers  to  pursue  tlie  con- 
troversy with  your  "Seeker  after  Truth"  any 
further,  but  I  will  ask  your  indulgence  for  a 
reply  to  his  communication  in  the  August 
number  of  The  Farmer. 

Instead  of  endeavoring  by  facts  and  argu- 
ment to  answer  the  reasons  I  have  given  for 
disbelieving  that  the  moon's  clianging  signs 
and  phases  have  any  influence  on  the  weather 
and  the  crops,  he  seems  desirous  of  abandoning 
the  original  ground  of  difference  between  us 
and  making  it  a  matter  of  personal  contro- 
versy. Unless  he  wished  to  excite  the  preju- 
dice of  farmers  against  an  opponent  whose 
arguments  he  could  not  answer,  why  does  he 
quote  as  if  they  were  mine,  the  words  "igno- 
rant farmers" — a  phrase  of  his  own  invention 
or  introduction,  and  never  used  by  me. 

Probably  it  was  a  slip  of  the  pen,  when  at 
the  commencement  of  his  article  he  speaks  of 
a  "controversy  on  ''solar"  influences,  as  I  am 
not  aware  of  any  difference  of  opinion  in 
regard  to  the  sun's  influence ;  but  when  he 
goes  on  to  say  that  Amateur  Farmer  "denies 
in  toto  the  moon's  effect  on  terrestrial  mat- 
ter," he  asserts  what  he  can  find  no  warrant 
for  in  anything  I  have  written,  and  what  is 
in  fact  not  true.  Nor  is  it  any  nearer  the 
truth  when  he  asserts  that  "he  (Amateur) 
simply  tells  us  *  *  *  that  the  moon  can- 
not raise  the  water  in  the  sea. "  He  will  look 
in  vain  over  my  several  articles  in  The 
Farmer  for  any  denial  of  the  moon's  influ- 
ence in  causmg  the  tides.  I  fully  agree  that 
the  moon  exerts  an  influence  on  both  the  land 
and  water  of  the  earth,  as  I  am  a  believer  in 
the  Newtonian  theory  of  gravitation.  But 
this  is  a  very  different  thing  from  believing  in 
the  sign  theory  advocated  by  my  opponent. 
What  I  maintain  and  have  attempted  to  show, 
is  not  that  the  moon  has  mo  influence  on  the 
earth,  but  that  the  influence  or  power  attribu- 
ted to  its  changing  signs  and  phases  upon  the 
growth  of  vegetation,  the  state  of  the 
weather,  &c.,  is  without  warrant  in  philoso- 
phy or  fact— is  in  truth  a  delusion  inherited 
from  a  darker  age — a  mere  notion,  origina- 
ting no  one  knows  how,  when  or  where,  and 
which  its  upholders  of  to-day  can  furnish  no 
substantial  reasons  for  believing  ;  and  so  far 
as  I  can  discover  are  even  unable  definitely 
and  intelligibly  to  state  just  what  their  theory 
is.  In  fact  our  "Seeker  after  Truth"  appears 
to  have  abandoned  the  attempt  to  sustain  the 
notion  he  favors  either  by  facts  or  arguments, 
for  he  admits  that  he  is  as  "ignorant"  as  lam 
of  the  laws  which  regulate  this  supposed  in- 
fluence, and  therefore  does  not  undertake  to 
enlighten  us  the  least  respecting  the  theory  ; 
and  when  I  ask  for  facts— for  "a  series  of  ex- 
periments extending  over  a  considerable 
space  of  time,"  he  answers  with  one  or  two 
isolated  facts,  and  in  his  last  communication 
informs  us  that  proof  of  the  kind  called  for 
need  not  be  expected  unless  we   "coidd  be 


assured  of  a  life  as  long  as  that  attributed  to 
Methusaleh  I"  Is  not  this  equivalent  to  an 
admission  that  the  belief  we  are  considering 
is  a  mere  notion,  incapable  of  verification  in 
any  way— a  "superstition,"  in  short,  as 
Chambers's  Encyclopedia  calls  it — resting  on 
no  rational  or  substantial  basis  whatsoever. 

My  opponent  again  refers  to  the  tides  as 
tending  to  support  the  sign  theory.  I  ask 
again,  as  in  a  communication  published  in 
the  May  number  of  The  Farmer,  how  the 
rise  and  fall  of  the  tides  lends  any  probability 
to  the  belief  in  question,  seeing  that  the  tides 
change  from  ebb  to  flood  twice  a  day,  while 
the  signs  change  from  up  to  down  only  twice 
in  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  days  ?  Why 
does  not  "A  Seeker"  attempt  to  show  that 
the  force  of  the  tides  is  governed  by  or  in  cor- 
respondence with  the  ascending  or  descending 
signs  ?  If  the  changing  of  the  signs  has  the 
marked  effect  on  the  growth  of  vegetation  and 
the  stability  of  fences,  that  is  claimed  by  him, 
one  would  suppose  its  effect  would  be  no  less 
marked  on  the  waters  of  the  sea.  Yet — to 
say  nothing  of  astronomers— no  advocate  of 
the  sign  theory  that  I  have  heard  of  ventures 
to  assert  that  either  tlie  height  of  the  tides  or 
the  times  of  their  recurrence  is  influenced  in 
the  smallest  degree  by  the  changing  signs  of 
the  moon. 

Whilst  duly  appreciating  Seeker's  efforts  to 
throw  light  on  the  subject,  I  would  have  been 
still  more  obliged  to  him  if  he  had  explained, 
as  I  asked  him  to  do,  what  was  to  prevent  his 
lence,  constructed  when  the  sign  was  going  up, 
from  settlingdown ,  after  the  sign  turned  down- 
wards, two  weeks  or  less  afterwards;  or  have 
the  fences  been  alternately  raising  and  sinking 
each  time  the  sign  has  changed,  ever  since  they 
were  made  V  Does  the  power  of  the  moon  to 
raise  or  sink  fences  become  exhausted  and 
cease  to  operate  forever  after,  as  soon  as  the 
first  change  of  sign  has  occured  ?  It  is  either 
so,  or  else  it  must  have  been  some  other  cause 
than  the  signs  of  the  moon  at  the  times  in 
which  the  two  fences  were  built  that  caused 
one  to  raise  or  remain  up  from  the  ground 
and  the  other  to  sink  into  it. 

In  regard  to  my  experiments  with  bricks 
on  a  grass  plot,  "Seeker"  says  they  might  as 
well  have  been  placed  "on  solid  rocks."  But 
he  fails  to  tell  us  why  the  changing  signs 
would  not  have  as  much  effect  on  my  bricks 
as  on  his  fences.  If  he  writes  again  I  hope 
he  will  explain  this,  and  also  tell  us  if  he 
thinks  the  numerous  careful  experiments  by 
scientific  observers  cited  by  Dr.  Lardner, 
tending  to  prove  that  the  moon's  changes 
have  not  the  eflect  attributed  to  them,  are  t9 
be  discredited  because  of  his  one  or  two  iso- 
lated facts,  unconfirmed,  and  I  infer  never 
attempted  to  be  confirmed,  by  further  experi- 
ments of  the  same  kind.  It  is  true  he  tries 
to  discredit  Dr.  Lardner  by  reference  to  a 
mistaken  opinion  he  expressed,  and  an  alleged 
disreputable  affair  in  which  he  was  once  en- 
gaged, but  in  my  opinion  it  is  not  creditable 
to  one  who  professes  to  be  "a  Seeker  after 
Truth,"  to  delve  among  the  forgotten 
scandals  of  by-gone  days  for  the  purpose  of 
discrediting  an  adversary  in  on  a  question 
of  physical  science.  It  reminds  me  of  the 
man  who  undertook  to  dispute  with  another 
respecting  one  of  Euclid's  geometric  demon- 
strations, and  when  he  found  he  was  getting 
the  worst  of  the  argument,  settled  the  question 
(in  his  own  mind)  by  declaring  that  Euclid 
was  a  benighted  heathen,  and  therefore  un- 
worthy of  belief. 

Never  having  before  seen  or  heard  of  "Prof. 
Mansill"  or  his  almanacs,  I  can  say  nothing 
of  his  ability  to  predict  the  coming  weather, 
though  it  is  a  little  strange,  if  his  predictions 
have  proved  reliable  or  valuable,  that  a 
knowledge  of  his  works  has  not  become  more 
diff'used  among  astronomers,  meteorologists, 
farmers  and  sailors,  and  all  who  are  specially 
interested  in  foreknowing  the  weather.  It 
may  all  be  as  "  Seeker "  alleges,  but  as  he 
does  not  say  that  the  Mansill  theory  is  based 
upon  or  confirms  the  sign  theory,  I  don't  see 
that  it  is  particularly  pertinent  to  the  ques- 
tion at  issue  between  us. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


133 


Whether  or  not  Sir  John  Ilerschel  ever 
wrote  or  publislied  the  formula  for  foretelling 
tlie  weathei-,  which  appeared  in  an  American 
Almanac  many  years  ago  in  his  name,  and 
now  referred  to  by  "A  Seeker  after  Truth," 
I  do  not  know;  but  there  is  reason  to  doubt 
tliat  that  eminent  astronomer  had  anything  to 
do  with  it.  But  whether  he  had  or  not,  there 
is  one  simple  consideration  which  it  seems  to 
me  cannot  help  convincing  every  reflecting 
person  that  no  jiossible  rule  for  foretelling  the 
weather,  founded  dm  the  moon's  signs  or 
phases,  or  tlie  times  of  its  changing  or  fulling, 
can  be  formulated,  or  at  least  none  that  is  of 
any  practical  value  whatever.  The  con- 
sideration I  refer  to  is  this :  The  alma- 
nac we  use  in  Pennsylvania  answers  also  for 
Ohio,  Illinois  and  Nebraska.  They  liave  the 
same  moon  in  those  States  that  we  have,  and 
the  days  and  hours  of  its  fulling  and  changing, 
and  passing  from  the  ascending  to  the  de- 
scending signs  are  the  same  there  as  here.  Yet 
we  all  know  it  is  constantly  happening  that 
the  weather  is  entirely  different  here  on  a  given 
day  or  week  from  wliat  it  is  there,  and  that 
extended  general  rains  or  snows  scarcely  ever 
commence  on  the  same  day  in  the  East  as  in 
the  West. 

"Seeker"  says  he  has  "frequently  found 
the  predictions"  based  on  the  formula  attrib- 
uted to  Herschel  "to  come  true."  No  doubt 
of  it.  Any  rule  or  general  prediction  respci-t- 
ing  the  weather,  no  matter  how  groundloss, 
will  ^^frequenth/  come  true;"  but  unles?  it 
comes  true  more  frequently  than  it  fails,  it 
can  be  of  no  value  whatever.  Lot  it  be 
remembered  that  all  predictions  founded  on 
the  positions  or  aspects  of  the  planets,  must 
in  the  nature  of  the  case  be  applicable  to  a 
whole  continent  or  hemisphere.  Such  being 
the  case,  "Seeker"  might  claim  that  Her- 
scliel's,  or  anybody  else's  weather  predictions, 
not  only  "frequently"  but  always  "come 
true,"  for  pretty  certainly  there  is  not  a  day 
or  an  hour  when  there  is  not  rainy  weather 
and  clear  weather  and  every  variety  of 
weather,  in  one  part  or  another  of  our  conti- 
nent. In  the  nature  of  tlie  case,  then,  how 
worthless  must  all  such  general  predictions 
be,  no  matter  by  how  high  authority  they 
may  be  attempted  to  lie  bolstered  up.  How 
much  wiser  are  we  for  being  told  that  it  will 
rain  on  a  certain  day,  unless  we  can  know 
whether  it  will  fall  here,  or  in  Kansas  or 
Oregon,  or  in  the  Atlantic  or  Pacific  ocean? 
— Amateur  Farmer. 

KoR  The  Lancaster  Fakmeb. 
MOONSEED. 
This  interesting  shrubby  twiner  belongs  to 
the  natural  order  Menispermascece,  or  moon- 
seed  family,  known  as  Menisperma  Canadeiisis, 
L.  The  cut  shows  the  underground  stem  or 
rizoma,  which  is  of  a  yellowish  color,  hence, 
it  is  also  known  as  "Yellow  Tharilla"  in  the 
older  books.  The  flowers  and  berries  are  also 
shown,  with  a  portion  of  the  vine  and  leaves. 
A  section  of  the  root,  so  called,  shows  the 
central  radiation,  like  in  the  ofTicinal  Columbo, 
called  Menispervuim  pahnatmn,  and  much 
used  in  bitters.  The  berries  have  a  crescent- 
like seed,  hence,  called  moonseed,  and  are 
analogous  to  the  Condus  Indirus,  what  the 
Germans  call  "Fisch  Kierner."  This  plant 
has  no  tendrils,  but  has  a  twining  habit, 
growing  among  rocks  and  under  shrubbery, 
found  twining  itself  around  the  stems  of  trees 
and  .shrubs.  The  underground  stem  or 
rizonia-likc  root  often  extending  from  one 
plant  above  ground  to  another  not  far 
distant.  This,  when  tasted  is  one  of  the 
purest  and  most  intense  bitters  of  all  our 
plants.  I  called  attention  to  its  properties  in 
an  article  in  the  Mmmt  Jni/  Herald,  published 
by  my  son  Frank,  in  the  first  number  of  that 
paper,  under  date  of  March  17,  18.")4.  Very 
little  was  known  about  its  properties;  the 
Materia  Medicato  this  day  seems  silent  on  its 
true  merits,  and  barely  names  it.  My  atten- 
tion was  called  to  experimenting  with  it,  by 
reading  the  following  remark  in  Lindley's 
Botany,  who  says,  "Amslie  in  his  Materia 
Indica,  speaking  of  several  species  of  this 


genus,  that  every  part  is  extremely  bitter, 
and  is  much  used  among  tlie  Malays  in  treat- 
ing of  intermittent  fever,  and  is  esteemed  as 
[lowerful  as  Peruvian  Bark."  Being  then  in 
the  drug  Imsiuess,  1  had  frequent  call  for  the 
sulphate  of  quinine  and  barks  in  the  treat- 
ment of  chills.  I  had  made  a  pint  of  tincture 
of  this  root  in  proof  .spirits  of  an  intensely 
strong  but  pleasant  bitter.  Jacob  Matcer,  of 
Mount  Joy,  a  poor  laboring  man,  began  to 
run  up  quite  a  bill  for  the  sulphate  of  quina, 
which  would  stop  it,  but  only  to  return  ;  I 
then  got  him  to  try  the  menisperma  tincture; 
this  effectually  stojiped  and  prevented  a  return 
in  the  use  of  two  ounces  of  the  tincture.  I 
might  report  a  number  of  such  cases,  and  of 
the  success  of  a  physician  in  the  cure  of  inter- 
raittents  by  it  in  his  own  iiractice.  Not  being 
a  selfish  man  that  I  know  of,  I  have  pointed 
out  the  root  or  plant  to  several.  A  few  years 
ago  when  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Frantz,  residing 
near  Millersville,  in  going  with  him  over  his 
beautiful  farm  inspecting  the  luxuriance  of 
his  cereal  crops,  and  the  general  thriving 
condition  of  this  model  farm  and  farming,  I 
met  with  this  plant  growing  on  his  premises, 
and  it  seems  a  portion  of  it  was  ju.st  in  liquor 
and  tested  by  a  neighbor.  Mr.  Frantz  in- 
formed me  that  this  neighbor  speaks  of  it  in 


the  highest  terms;  but  not  remembering  his 
name,  Mr.  Frantz  is  referred  to  if  any  are 
curious  about  it.  My  object  is  simply  to  state 
a  valuable  fact.  This  plant  is  very  common 
along  the  river  opposite  Marietta,  and  not 
rare  on  this  side,  in  certain  localities.  I  found 
some  when  in  company  with  Mr.  Myers  Cur- 
rier of  this,  and  took  up  a  few  slender  roots, 
near  the  limekiln  on  the  Conestoga,  a  few 
miles  from  the  city.  In  short  it  is  not  rare 
and  ought  to  be  known.  It  is  superior  to  the 
officinal  columbo  root  or  any  other  bitter 
known  to  the  medical  profession.  This  asser- 
tion may  seem  strong,  but  I  venture  to  pre- 
dict a  fair  test  will  prove  me  to  be  correct. 

It  cannot  be  well  mistaken,  although  there 
are  species  of  smilax  and  the  poison  vine  that 
at  first  sight  might  appear  similar.  The 
menisperma  however,  has  the  petiole  of  its 
leaves  set  in  a  little  from  its  edge,  somewhat 
peltate,  and  lias  from  .3  to  7  angular  lobes,  the 
end  or  central  rib  or  lobe  terminated  on  the 
leaf  by  a  kind  of  a  hook.  They  are  deep 
green  on  the  uiiper  surface  and  paler  on  the 
under  side.  The  yellow  underground  root- 
stem  (Rizoma)  has  a  bright  yellow  color.  No 
milk  exudes  when  a  leaf  is  broken  off  like  in 
the  poison  vine. 


I  would  like  to  hear  from  Mr.  Frantz  or 
those  who  have  tested  this  root. 

J.  Stauk?-er. 


Selections. 


THE  PHYLLOXERA  IN   FRANCE. 

Its  Marvelous  Reproductive  Powers — -The 
Best  Means  of  Checking  its  Ravages — Su- 
perior Resisting  Powers  of  American  Vines 
—Their  Introduction  into  France  Officially 
Recommended. 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  official 
report  (in  the  form  of  questions  and  answers) 
recently  made  on  the  subject  of  the  phylloxera 
by  Dr.  Menudier,  of  the  Superior  Commission 
appointed  for  that  purjiose  by  the  French 
government.  That  jiortion  of  it  which  re- 
fers to  the  superior  resisting  qualities  of 
American  vines  will  be  found  of  especial 
interest. 

Whence  conies  the  Phylloxera  ?  Even  the  old- 
est documents  Justify  the  assertion  that  the 
phylloxera  had  never  existed  in  Europe, wliile, 
for  a  long  time  past,  it  has  been  found  in  the 
United  States,  causing  all  European  vines  to 
succumb  to  its  attacks,  after  having  been 
planted  three  or  four  years.  The  first  points 
of  attack  in  Europe  have  almost  invariably 
had  American  stocks  near  at  hand.  Every- 
thing leads  to  the  belief  that  the  phylloxera 
was  imported  from  America  on  American 
plants,  and  there  are  now  scarely  any,  save 
the  importers,  who  will  deny  its  American 
origin. 

From  what  period  does  the  phylloxcra''s  inva- 
sion of  France  date  ?  Its  ravages  began  in  186.3, 
at  Pujaut,  in  the  Department  of  Gard.  Its 
invasion  probably  dates  from  about  1860. 

At  what  period  was  the  fact  of  its  presence  in 
the  Charente  Tnferietire  Department  established? 
In  November,  1873,  at  Montils,  in  the  Arron- 
dissement  of  Saintes  ;  but  the  invasion  must 
have  taken  place  between  18G8  and  1870,  as 
some  vines  had  already  been  pulled  up  on  ac- 
count of  the  phylloxera's  ravages. 

What  is  the  phylloxera^s  line  of  march?  Gen- 
erally from  south  to  north. 

7s  not  the  phylloxera^s  presence  due  to  a  dis- 
eased condition  of  the  vine,  superinduced  by  its 
iceakened,  condition,  or  the  exhnustionof  the  soil? 
No:  for  by  placing  this  insect  upon  the  roots 
of  very  healthy  and  vigorous  vines  in  a  re- 
gion previously  unattackcd,  all  the  external 
symptoms  of  the  disease,  and  finally  the  death 
of  the  stock  Itself,  result. 

Is  there  not  reason  to  hope  that  the  phylloxera 
will  disappear  ?  Up  to  the  present  time,  it  is 
impossible  to  discover  a  single  fact  permitting 
a  belief  in  a  result  so  fortunate. 

Have  there  not  been  instances  where  vines  in- 
fected with  the  phylloxera  have  been  left  unculti- 
vated, and  have  recovered  by  themselves?  No;  > 
not  a  single  vine  really  infected  with  the 
phylloxera  has,  without  treatment,  been  re- 
stored to  a  complete  state  of  health. 

What  is  the  extent  of  the  ravages  in  this  {Cha- 
arente-Inferieure)  Department?  Of  168,945 
hectares  planted  in  vines  in  187.'),  135,400  were 
overrun,  or  appeared  to  be.  at  the  end  of  1877, 
and  later  inquiries  prove  that  the  inroads  did 
not  end  there.  Several  thousand  hectares  of 
vines  have  since  been  pulled  up. 

Is  not  the  phylU>xera  found,  and  may  it  not 
subsist,  upon  other  plants  ?  It  ha.s  been  noticed 
that  plants  the  roots  of  which  are  mixed  with 
those  of  a  vine,  sometimes  carry  phylloxera, 
but  it  has  been  established  that  it  is  upon  the 
vine  only  that  the  insect  subsists. 

JTow  is  the  phylloxera  propagated  ?  In  the 
months  of  July,  August,  and  September,  it 
takes  wing,  and,  either  of  its  own  accord,  or 
carried  by  the  wind,  passes  in  swarms  over  a 
distance  of  several  kilometers,  to  attack  some 
fresh  point.  It  penetrates  the  soil  through 
the  fissures  between  tlie  roots  and  the  earth, 
and  thus  step  by  step  passes  from  one  root  to 
another,  abandoning  each  as  it  becomes  ex- 
hausted. Tools  which  have  been  used  in 
working  vines  infected  with  the  phylloxera 
are  also  means  of  its  propagation;  so,  also, 
are  plants,  whether  with  roots  or  without. 


134 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  September, 


Is  the  phylloxera  as  prolific  as  is  reported  ? 
And  what  are  the  conditions  favorable  to  its  re- 
productionf  The  higlier  the  temperature,  the 
greater  the  deposit  of  eggs.  Entomologists 
estimate  that,  in  a  southern  climate,  a  single 
laying  female  will,  in  the  course  of  one  spring 
and  summer,  make  nine  deposits,  and,  by  suc- 
cessive hatchings,  attain  a  product  of  between 
twenty-five  and  twenty-six  million  phylloxera. 

U2}on  what  parts  of  the  vine  does  the  phylloxera 
stay  ?  On  the  roots,  the  bark,  the  wood  and 
the  leaves. 

Upon  what  part  is  the  winter  eggs  deposited  ? 
On  the  bark,  both  new  and  old,  on  the  under 
side  of  the  leaves,  and  even  on  clumps  of 
earth. 

Has  the  winter  egg  been  found  in  this  depart- 
ment f      All  search  for  it  has  proved  fruitless. 

Has  this  winter  egg  the  importance  some  have 
attributed  to  it  f  When  it  was  firstdiscovered, 
scientists  asserted  that  phylloxera  when  un- 
dergound  could  not  reproduce  for  a  longer 
period  than  one  year  without  the  intervention 
of  the  others  coming  from  this  winter  egg; 
and  that  consequently,  by  destroying  the  lat- 
ter, tlie  destruction  of  those  at  the  root  would 
follow.  It  was  upon  this  assurance  that  tlie 
idea  of  washing  the  vines  was  adopted.  But 
nnfortunately,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that 
phylloxera  underground  can  reproduce  for 
three  years  without  any  assistance  from  those 
coming  from  the  winter  egg,  and  it  takes  less 
time  than  that  to  destroy  the  vine. 

Are  there  any  trench  vines  that  resist  the 
phylloxera  ?  No,  but  there  are  some  it  takes 
longer  to  destroy,  such  as  the  "  Colombard  " 
and  the  "Cabernet  Sauvignon." 

Are  there  not  some  soils  on  which  the  phyllox- 
era does  less  damage  than  others  ?  On  land  of 
which  ninety-five  per  cent,  is  sand,  the  ine- 
qualities are  so  great  that  the  phylloxera  can 
only  advance  with  great  difficulty.  Upon 
such  soil  consequently  the  vine  can  resist  for 
a  very  long  time. 

Are  not  all  other  kinds  of  soil  overrun  ?  All 
without  exception,  from  the  poorest  to  the 
richest,  whether  calcareous,  silicious,  or  clay- 
ey, are  overrun  by  the  phylloxera. 

Upon  what  kind  of  soil  is  the  phylloxera'' s  ad- 
vance the  most  rapid,  and  upon  what  kind  the 
least  so  ?  All  calcareous,  light,  and  surface 
soils,  and  those  in  which  the  vine  is  obliged 
to  put  forth  roots  clearly  traceable,  are  very 
unfavorable  to  resistance  and  defense.  On  tlie 
other  hand,  all  compact,  moist,  deep,  and 
rich  soils,  into  which  the  vine  pushes  deep, 
are  favorable  to  resisting  the  phylloxera. 

Has  the  age  of  a  vine  any  influence  upon  its  re- 
sisting powers'?  The  younger  the  vine,  the 
less  it  resists;  the  older  a  vine  is,  and  the 
better  provided  with  roots,  the  longer  does  it 
resist. 

Is  it  prudent,  in  proportion  as  vines  arc  in- 
fected with  the  phylloxera,  to  replant  in  other 
soil  the  same  stocks  as  those  that  have  succumbed? 
Never  up  to  the  present  time  in  a  region 
infected  witli  phylloxera,  has  a  plant- 
ing of  French  stocks  succeeded;  by  tlie  third 
or  fourth  year  they  are  overrun,  and  theii' 
destruction  is  very  rapid. 

How  long  after  the  vines  are  pmlled  up  do  the 
phylloxera  remain  in  the  soil  ?  They  maintain 
themselves  three  or  four  years,  inasmuch  as, 
when  the  vines  are  pulled  up,  there  still 
remain  in  the  earth  a  certain  number  of  roots. 
It  is  consequently  prudent  to  wait  for  that 
length  of  time  before  replanting. 

By  leaving  a  wide  space  between  the  rows  of 
vines,  may  not  their  preservation  be  hoped  for  f 
In  setting  out  the  rows  from  three  to  six 
meters  apart,  the  stocks  spread  out  their 
roots  further,  and  have  at  command  a  mote 
abundant  nourishment ;  and  it  in  fact  results 
in  such  cases  that  their  resistance  lasts  longer, 
but  they  none  the  less  succumb  in  the  end  to 
the  phylloxera's  attacks. 

Is  it  not  possible  to  oppose  the  phylloxera,  and 
resist  its  advance  by  means  of  manures  ?  When 
a  vine  has  not  been  attacked,  it  is  very  certain 
that  its  ssytem  of  roots  can  be  augmented  by 
means  of  manures,  and  that  there  results 
therefrom  a  great  vigor,  enabling  the  vine, 
when  the  attack  does  come,  to  defend  itself  for 


a  longer  time.  But  when  a  vine  has  once 
been  "attacked,  and  when  the  extremities  of 
its  roots,  which  are  necessary  to  absorption, 
are  partly  destroyed,  manures  In  such  case 
will  bring  about  no  good  results,  unless  ac- 
companied by  insecticides. 

By  what  symptoms  may  persons  unaccustomed 
to  the  phylloxera  detect  its  presence  upon  a  vine  ? 
In  a  region  where  the  phylloxera's  presence 
has  been  announced,  it  may  be  detected  as 
soon  as  there  are  found  to  be  some  groups  of 
stocks  the  shoots  of  which  are  shorter  than 
tliose  of  others  about  them.  By  digging 
about  the  roots,  if  they  are  the  least  bit  eaten 
away,  there  will  be  seen,  in  the  latter  part  of 
April  some  little  yellowish  spots,  united  by 
plagues,  and  easily  visible  without  the  mag- 
nifying glass,  when  one  holds  the  roots  up  and 
looks  at  them  with  his  back  to  the  sun.  By 
the  aid  of  the  magnifying  glass  the  insects 
themselves  can  be  readily  distinguished,  and, 
even  if  one  does  not  find  any,  let  the  extrem- 
ities of  the  roots  but  show  signs  of  destruc- 
tion, or  little  club-like  swellings,  and  one 
may  be  sure  the  phylloxera  is  there,  or  has 
been.  In  winter,  the  insects  are  of  a  dark 
brown,  and  it  requires  great  difficulty  to 
detect  them,  but  the  ravages  made  at  the 
roots  attest  their  presence  or  their  passage. 

How  much  time  elapses  hettveen  the  appear- 
ance of  external  symptons  of  the  phylloxera 
and  its  actual  invasion  ?  From  one  to  two 
years  may  be  counted  on ;  less  time  in  weak, 
surface  soils  than  in  compact,  deep  ones, 
where  the  external  symptoms  take  longer  to 
declare  themselves. 

Are  not  ivaslwig  and  stripping  of  the  vines 
good  methods  of  opposing  the  phylloxera? 
Washing  with  coal-tar,  or  thick  oil,  mixed 
with  soap,  and  diluted  with  water,  has  been 
resorted  to  to  destroy  the  phylloxera  and 
what  is  called  its  winter-egg.  But  the  pene- 
tration of  the  fiber  of  the  stock  by  the  impure 
pheuic  acid  contained  in  the  oil  has  often 
caused  the  death  of  the  stock,  a  fact  which 
has  necessitated  the  abandonment  of  tliis 
method.  The  stripping  of  the  stumps  and 
branches  with  a  knife  rasp,  by  freeing  the 
stock  of  its  old  bark,  upon  which  are  the 
phylloxera  and  its  eggs  (as  well  as  numerous 
other  insects,  and  especially  the  pyrale),  gives 
the  vine  powerful  aid  in  point  of  healthful- 
ness.  At  high  points,  and  those  where  vines 
do  not  usually  suffer  from  frost,  the  stripping 
is  practicable  in  November,  as  the  vines  are 
pruned.  In  localities  suliject  to  frost  vines 
maybe  stripped,  beginning  from  January  15. 
This  work  costs  about  45  "francs  per  hectare, 
and  only  has  to  be  repeated  every  three  years. 

Tlie  phylloxera's  presence  being  once  estab- 
lished is  there  any  practicable  and  effectual 
means  for  opposing  it?  Yes:  M.Dumas,  the 
learned  Permanent  Secretary  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences,  having  determined  that  the 
quantity  of  air  contained  in  1,000  liters  (one 
cubic  meter)  of  earth  is  about  333  liters,  has 
demonstrated  by  frequent  experiments  that 
five  or  six  grammes  of  sulphuret  of  carbon 
introduced  into  this  cubic  meter  of  earth 
amply  suffices  by  evaporization  to  poison  the 
333  liters  of  air  so  as  to  kill  all  the  pliylloxera 
inhaling  it.  Sulpliuret  of  carlion  is  very 
powerful,  and  it  can  hardly  be  hoped  any 
better  agent  will  be  found. 

Is  not  some  danger  incurred  in  the  use  of  this- 
substance  f  It  is,  like  alcohol,  very  inflamma- 
ble, and  great  care  should  be  taken  not  to 
bring  a  lighted  match  or  anything  bm-ning, 
near  it ;  above  all  when  it  is  shut  up  in  a  room, 
the  latter  should  be  aired  before  a  light  is 
brought  in.  Tlie  best  way  to  keep  it  is  under 
a  shed  in  the  open  air  and  sheltered  from  the 
sun. 

Has  not  an  attempt  been  made  to  render  sul- 
pihuret  of  carbon  easier  to  handle  and  less  volatile 
by  mixing  it  with  other  substances  ?  By  making 
a  heated  solution  of  five  parts  black  soap  and 
ninety-five  parts  water,  and  then,  after  let- 
ting it  cool,  and  at  the  moment  when  it  is 
to  be  used,  mixing  equal  parts  of  this  soap- 
water  and  sulphuret  of  carbon  in  a  can  while 
stirring,  a  non-inflammable  and  much  less 
volatile  mixture  is  obtained.    In  tlie  warm 


ison,  this  is  a  good  step  to  take,  but  in  the 
cold  weathe;  it  may  be  dispensed  with. 

How  many  holes  per  hectare  must  be  made  in 
order  to  thoroughly  poison  the  soil,  and  what 
does  it  cost?  Tlie  hectare' containing  10,000 
meters,  about  20,000  holes  should  be  made. 
As  a  workman  can  make  from  1,200  to  1,600 
per  diem,  the  hand-labor  costs  36  fr.  ;  ten 
grammes  of  sulphuret  of  carbon  to  each  hole, 
200  kilos,  at  60  francs,  120  fr.  ;  total  156  fr. 
In  the  warm  season,  it  is  prudent  to  lessen 
the  quantity  of  sulphuret  of  carbon  by  one- 
third,  but  not  the  number  of  holes. 

Are  all  the  phylloxera  killed  by  this  plan  ? 
No,  but  when  the  application  is  well  and 
timely  made,  a  sufficient  number  of  the 
insects  are  destroyed  to  enable  the  vine  to 
sustain  itself,  and  give  a  good  yield. 

Is  it  necessary  to  apply  the  treatment  to  an 
entire  hectare  when  only  a  portion  of  it  is 
infected  ?  From  the  moment  when  a  spot  is 
discovered,  dig  around  the  roots  that  are 
infected,  inclose  them  with  stakes,  and  in- 
cluded in  the  treatment  a  certain  number  of 
healthy  stocks ;  for  instance,  if  25  or  30 
stocks  are  attacked,  100  or  150  about  them 
should  be  treated.  The  expense  for  an  entire 
hectare,  considering  the  yield  of  the  vines, 
and  the  prices  of  vines,  would  evidently  be 
too  great,  but  it  should  be  remarked  that  the 
owner  of  a  single  hectare  would  at  first  only 
have  to  treat  a  twentieth  or  a  tenth  of  his 
vines,  and  that  if  he  can  stop  the  phylloxera's 
propagation,  and  keep  his  vines  some  years 
longer,  he  will  be  doing  well. 

Boes  a  single  application  of  this  remedy 
suffice?  If  the  vine  is  but  little  infected,  a 
single  treatment  may  possibly  suffice  ;  but  in 
cases  where  the  wood  of  the  vine  is  reduced 
to  50  or  60  centimeters  in  length,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  apply  the  treatment  twice,  once  in  the 
course  of  the  winter  after  the  vintage,  and 
once  in  the  spring. 

Are  there  soils  in  which  sidphuret  of  carbon 
is  more  or  less  active,  and  are  there  instances  in 
which  resistance  is  apt  to  prove  so  difficult  that  it 
would  be  more  prudent  not  to  attempt  it  ?  Ex- 
perience indicates  that  in  light  calcareous 
soils,  possessing  a  vegetal  earth  of  15  or  20 
centimeters,  with  a  rocky  subsoil,  sulphuret 
of  carbon  diffuses  itself  poorly  and  evaporates 
in  part  only,  with  so  much  pure  loss,  and 
aflbrding  no  advantage.  But  in  clayey, 
moist,  and  deep  soils  it  diffuses  itself  quite 
regularly  and  effects  good  results,  which  is  all 
the  better,  since  it  is  upon  such  soils  that  are 
usually  found  the  heavy-yielding  vines,  which 
will  bear  an  outlay  that  the  others  would  not. 

Has  temperature  any  influence  upon  the  action 
of  this  remedy  ?  Sulphuret  acts  with  all  the 
more  certainty  in  proportion  as  the  tempera- 
ture is  low  and  the  soil  moist. 

What  happens  ivhen  insectides  are  injected 
upon  a  pAant  in  full  vegetation  ?  Usually  there 
is  a  stoppage  of  vegetation  for  several  days, 
and  this  is  the  more  perceptible  in  proportion 
as  the  vine  is  severely  attacked  ;  beyond  tliis, 
the  good  results  of  the  application  scarcely 
make  themselves  apparent  before  the  follow- 
ing year,  as  the  stocks  have  to  renew  their 
roots  which  have  been  destroyed. 

Hotv  far  apart  shoidd  the  holes  be  ?  Whether 
the  vines  be  planted  close  together,  or  sepa- 
rated by  passage  ways  of  two  or  three  meters, 
all  the  land  attacked  a,nd  a  little  more  should 
be  treated,  and  holes  made  for  65  or  70  centi- 
meters in  all  directions,  which  would  make 
about  20,000  to  the  hectare. 

How  deep  shoidd  these  holes  be  ?  From  25  to 
40  centimeters. 

How  far  does  the  vapor  of  the  sulphuret  de- 
posited in  the  soil  extend?  Practical  results 
indicate  that  the  vapor  does  not  remain  con- 
fined about  the  holes ;  the  scientific  experi- 
ments of  the  Paris,  Lyons  and  Mediterranean 
Railway  Co.,  directed  by  Mr.  Maurion,  have 
demonstrated  that  under  the  most  favorable 
condition  it  spreads  nearly  two  meters  in  a 
horizontal  direction,  and  downward  to  a 
depth  at  which  it  reaches  nearly  all  the  phyl- 
loxera. 

Has  not  srdpho-carbonate  of  potash  also  been 
used  against  the  phylloxera  f    And  what  is  the 


1879.J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


135 


method  of  vsing  it?  Sulpho-carbonato  of 
potash,  according  to  the  learned  M.  Dunius, 
contains  from  15  to  18  per  cent,  of  sulpliuret 
of  carbon  and  the  same  proportion  of  potash. 
It  is  not  inflammable,  and  is  more  easily 
handled  than  sulpliuret  of  carbon.  It  acls 
not  (mly  by  means  of  the  latter  substance,  but 
also  by  means  of  the  potash,  which  is  the 
special  manure  of  the  vine.  Its  application 
by  injectors  involves  the  inconvenience  of 
rapidly  spoilin};  the  instruments,  and  render- 
ing them  unfit  for  use.  Messrs.  Dumas  and 
Monillefert  employ  it  as  follows  :  When  the 
stocks  are  laid  bare,  about  TjO  Kranimcs  of 
sulpho-carbonate  of  potash  are  poured  on  ; 
they  are  then  watered  with  from  5  to  10  liters 
of  water,  and  covered  up  again.  In  general, 
the  results  of  this  plan  are  very  satisfactory, 
but  the  cost,  by  reason  of  the  hand-labor,  the 
carrying  of  water,  and  the  u.se  of  sulpho-car- 
bonate of  potash,  is  much  highe*  than  that  of 
sulpliuret  of  carbon.  The  former,  being 
much  less  easily  evaporated  than  the  lattei', 
offers  a  certain  advantage  in  the  warm 
season,  but  not  sufficient,  perhaps,  to  compen- 
sate for  its  increased  cost. 

What  is  the  cost  of  the  sulpho-carbonate  of 
potash  treatment  ? 

For  a  single'  application  there  are  required 
50  grammes  to  the  superficial  meter,  or  500 
kilogrammes  at  (10  francs,  300  francs  ;  water 
and  hand-labor  estimated  at  200  francs  ;  total, 
500  francs.  Or  about  five  francs  per  are.  By 
adding  to  these  expenses  the  ordinary  ones,  it 
will  be  seen  at  a  glance  whether  the  yield  of 
our  vines  is  adequate  to  cover  them. 

7s  it  necessary  to  manure  vines  that  hare  been 
treated  by  ivsecticMes  f 

The  vine  attacked  by  the  phylloxera  grows 
feeble  and  becomes  diseased,  and  it  is  highly 
necessary  to  strengthen  it  by  manures  in 
which  potash  dominates,  azote  and  phos- 
phoric acid  in  the  proportion  of  two  and  three 
per  cent,  sulphate  of  iron  or  green  copperas 
about  five  per  cent.  As  a  potassic  and  phos- 
phoric manure,  cinders  of  Isle  of  Resea  weed 
may  be  used  In  doses  of  200  grammes  per 
stock.  Soot  has  also  a  good  efl'ect.  Stassfurt 
salts,  in  which  chloruret  of  potash  predomi- 
nates, may  (in  doses  of  from  one  to  two  hun- 
dred granjmes)  be  placed  around  the  foot  of 
the  stock  to  help  the  formation  of  the  new 
roots.  In  this  way  insecticides  and  manures 
should  go  side  by  side,  if  it  is  sought  to  obtain 
a  satisfactory  result. 

Hare  endeavors  to  f^ht  the  phyllorera  by  means 
of  insecticides  and  manures  been  made  to  some 
extent  in  this  department  ? 

Upon  the  Plaud-Chermignac  property, 
about  G  kilometers  from  Saintes,  there  is  a 
vineyard  some  30  hectares  and  50  ares  in  area, 
which  for  six  years  has  been  overrun  by  the 
phylloxera.  The  soil  is  very  varied,  in  some 
places  the  calcareous  and  the  plastic,  clayey 
soils  lie  side  by  side,  and  it  is  very  easy  to 
observe  the  diverse  results  obtained  according 
to  the  nature  and  depth  of  the  different  soils. 
All  the  patches  of  vines,  without  exception, 
have  been  attacked  by  the  phylloxera,  and 
have  been  treated  with  sulphuret  of  carbon 
and  sulpho-carbonate  of  potash.  In  compar- 
ing the  vines  that  have  undergone  treatment 
with  the  neighbors'  vines  that  have  remained 
without  treatment,  one  cannot  help  seeing  the 
good  results  of  the  use  of  "insecticides  in  con- 
junction with  manures. 

Is  not  submersion  a  certain  means  of  destroying 
the  phylloxera? 

Submersion  of  the  stocks  for  forty  days  is 
unquestionably  a  certain  means  of  destroying 
nearly  all  the  iihylloxera  on  a  vine.  But  to 
adopt  this  method  the  land  must  be  low, 
pervious  on  top,  impervious  beneath,  and 
located  in  the  vicinity  of  water.  In  our 
climate,  where  in  low  lands  vines  very  easily 
freeze,  arreat  care  is  taken  not  to  plant  them 
there,  and  consequently  submersion  can 
■  seldom  be  resorted  to  hereabouts.  It  should 
also  be  noticed  that  as  soon  as  a  proprietor 
submerges  a  vine  be  moistens  the  soil  of  his 
neighbor,  who,  in  cas^ie  wants  no  water,  has 
a  right  to  complain,  aW  may  bring  suit,  as  is 
at  present  the  case  near  Libourne.    Submer- 


sion, moreover,  under  any  favorable  circum- 
stances involves  an  expense  of  about  150 
francs  per  hectare.  It  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  to  this  expense,  annually  repeated,  must 
be  added  the  cost  of  manures,  which  are  in 
such  a  case  indisjieusable,  as  the  soil  is  infused 
with  lye  by  the  use  of  the  water. 

Since  Fiench  vines  do  not  mthaland  the  phyl- 
loxera's attacks,  woxdct  it  not  be  possible  by  sovntiij 
to  f^itain  some  new  species  that  resist  better,  or  to 
graft  French  cuttings  upon  French  vild  vines  f 

All  attempts  of  this  character,  made  and 
repeated  at  various  points,  have  caused  noth- 
ing but  disappointment  and  deception. 

Jl  appearing  lltut  Ihe  iinlhods  of  fighting  the 
phylloxera  by  irisei-licidi-s,  iiianiires,  and  submer- 
sion lire  not  ulti  mleil  niH,  profit  in  this  locality, 
except  ill  riia.s  nf  r!i,e.i  planted  in  soil  of  consider- 
able di  pill,  run  III,  re  not  be  found  in  the  rcsistaiice 
ofl'ereil  tin-  }'liiiUnf,  rit  by  certain  American  slockx 
a  more  irniinni'ii'il  nay  to  the  preservation  of  our 
oivn  f  And  to  begin  with,  is  the  resistance  of  these 
American  stocks  real  f 

For  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  past,  in  the 
Departments  of  Gard  and  Gironde,  the  stock 
called  "Jacquez"  has  resisted  very  well,  in  the 
midst  of  the  phylloxera's  ravages,  and  given 
good  yields  long  after  the  native  stocks  have 
succumbed.  The  "Ilerbemont,"  the  "Cun- 
ningham," the  "Taylor,"  the  "York  Made- 
ira," and  the  "Vitis  Solonis,"  after  being 
planted  six  or  seven  years  in  the  very  focus  of 
the  phylloxera's  attacks,  are  resisting,  and 
show  a  very  handsome  growth,  while  the  other 
stocks  have  succumbed. 

M'ill  this  resistance  be  permanent  ? 

A  resistance  which  in  the  case  of  the 
"Jacquez"  has  existed  for  fifteen  years,  in  the 
case  of  the  others  for  six  or  seven  years,  and 
which  has  always  existed  in  America,  offers 
almost  indisputable  assurance  for  the  future, 
and  no  argument  or  facts  why  it  should  prove 
otherwise  can  be  discovered. 

Is  the  "Clinton,"  which  is  quite  widely  planted, 
irorthy  of  recommendation  f 

Wlien  planted  in  rich,  fresh  soil  it  sustains 
itself  passably  well ;  but  deprived  of  these 
conditions  it  does  not  resist  the  phylloxera. 
It  gives,  too,  a  poor  wine,  with  a  foxy  taste. 
This  stock  has  been  abandoned  by  all  good 
wine  growers. 

How  is  the  resistance  of  American  slocks  ex- 
plained f 

The  fiber  of  American  resisting  roots  is,  ac- 
cording to  M.  Foex,  much  denser  and  closer 
than  that  of  our  European  vines,  and  turns 
into  wood  (lignifies)  much  more  quickly.  So 
that  in  the  American  roots  the  phylloxera's 
puncture  only  attacks  the  outer  bark,  upon 
which  it  produces  little  excrescences  which 
fall  off  like  warts.  In  the  case  of  French 
roots  its  puncture  causes  decay,  Some  stocks, 
such  as  the  "Jacquez,"  especially,  the  "Iler- 
bemont," and  the  "Cunningham,"  can  be 
planted  and  will  yield  wine  without  being 
grafted.  They  possess  a  resisting  power 
equal  to  every  test.  The  "Jacquez,"  when 
cultivated  in  this  locality,  blooms  and  ripens 
at  the  same  time  with  the  wild  grape  ;  it 
produces  a  good  red  wine  of  a  very  dark  color 
and  is  highly  valued  by  the  trade.  It  is  not 
difficult  of  cultivation  as  regards  choice  of 
soil.  Its  grapes,  when  ripe,  keep  for  a  long 
time  without  decaying.  Up  to  the  present 
time  it  is  a  stock  against  which  nothing  can 
be  said.  The  "Herbemont"  yields  a  fine  red 
wine,  not  very  dark  in  color.  It  blooms  six 
or  seven  days  later  than  the  "Jacquez,"  and 
at  the  same  time  with  the  "Balzar."  We  shall 
know  this  year  whether  it  ripens  in  this 
climate,  which,  however,  is  probable.  It 
would  be  a  very  good  vine  to  plant  in  our  dry, 
calcareous,  and  stony  soils,  in  which  it  flour- 
ishes and  grows  extremely  vigorous.  The 
"Cunningham"  produces  at  once,  and  quite  a 
good  wine,  something  like  Madeira.  In  1878 
it  bloomed  in  this  locality  ten  or  eleven  days 
later  than  the  "Jacquez."  We  shall  not  be 
decided  until  the  fall  as  to  its  period  of  ma- 
turity. Other  American  stocks  yielding  wine 
at  once  are  under  trial. 

7s  there  not  some  difficulty  about  the  "Jacquez," 
the  "Ilerbemont,"  and  the  "Cunningham"  taking 
rootf 


In  1877,  in  this  locality,  the  "Jacquez"  and 
the  "IlerU'mont,"  being  placed  in  nursery 
and  in  fresh  soil,  yieUled  a  return  of  70  per 
cent.  The  "Cunningham"  yielded  less.  The 
"Kiparia,"  the  "Wild  Cordifolia,"  the 
"Taylor,"  the  "York  Madeira,"  and  the 
"Vitis  Solonis"  have  great  powers  of  resist- 
ance to  the  phylloxera,  but  yield  so  little  wine 
that  they  should  be  used  only  to  bear  graft- 
ings from  French  stocks.  They  have 'the 
advantage  of  taking  root  very  easily. 

What  is  the  best  method  for  yraf ting  French  vinei 
on  the  American  onest 

Joining  a  French  and  American  slip,  by 
means  of  the  "English  graft,"  and  placing 
them  in  the  nurs  ry  for  tlie  winter  and 
spring.  In  the  following  year  those  that  have 
been  successful  arc  carefully  taken  up  and  set 
out,  either  with  slats  or  in  pots.  Another 
good  way  is  this:  The  American  cuttings, 
after  having  been  put  in  the  nursery  in  winter 
or  spring,  are  taken  up,  the  French  slips  are 
then  grafted  upon  them  (by  the  English  plan), 
and  they  are  then  .set  out.  Success  in  this 
way  is  almost  certain.  A  third  way  consists 
in  planting  the  American  slips  permanently 
in  the  vineyard,  and  then,  in  the  second  year, 
grafting  the  native  cuttings  upon  them, 
whether  by  slitting  or  by  the  English  plan. 

7s  there  not  some  danger  that  French  stocks 
grafted  upon  American  ones  will  yield  an  inferior 
quality  of  wine  f 

Experience  has  already  pronounced  in  favor 
of  French  fruit  trees  and  vines  ;  and  the  wines 
coming  from  French  stocks  grafted  upon 
American  ones  are  absolutely  the  same  as  if 
they  had  not  been  grafted. 

What,  in  short,  is  the  best  course  to  follow  when 
a  vineyard  is  attacked  f 

If  the  vineyard  is  on  surface  soil,  and  the 
spots  on  the  vines  not  very  numerous,  try  to 
oppose  the  phylloxera  in  lavorable  weather 
by  sulphuret  of  carbon  or  sulpho-carbonate  of 
potash,  so  as  at  least  to  retard  its  inroads  and 
damages.  If  the  vineyard  is  on  deep,  moist, 
and  compact  soil,  struggle  perseveringly  and 
incessantly.  The  outlay  will  be  repaid  with 
interest ;  for  those  who  are  able  to  preserve 
their  vines  longest  may  be  sure  of  bein» 
largely  remunerated  for'their  advances  and 
labor.  On  surface  as  well  as  on  deep  soil  do 
not  hesitate  to  establish  at  once  nureeries  of 
American  resisting  vines,  whether  for  the 
purpose  of  producing  wine  from  them  at  once 
or  for  use  in  bearing  grafts  of  French  stocks. 
T17in(  should  be  done  in  a  section  not  yet  over- 
Manure  the  vines  and  cultivate  them  care- 
fully ;  and  if  chere  is  any  ground  not  in  use, 
sow  the  grape  stnnen  of  American  stocks,  so  as  to 
be  ready  to  start  a  second  vineyard,  and 
thereby  not  be  taken  unawares.  In  sowing 
grape  stones  there  is  absolutely  no  risk 
whatever  of  introducing  the  phylloxera, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  ex- 
tremely imi)rudent  to  introduce  into  any  non- 
infected  section  in  this  locality,  either  Ameri- 
can or  French  stocks  coming  from  regions 
already  infected.— Scienfi^c  American. 


AMONG    THE    NEWER     STRAWBER- 
HIES. 

Eds.  Country  Gentleman.— In  this 
vicinity  the  season  of  187'J  has  been  a  very 
favorable  one  for  the  strawberry.  A  some- 
what protracted  drouth  in  May  threatened 
serious  injury  to  the  crop,  but  copious  showers 
about  the  first  of  June,  at  the  time  the 
berries  were  setting,  secured  a  fair  crop  of 
finer  fruit  than  is  usually  seen.  In  the 
Rochester  market  immense  quantities  of 
strawberries  have  been  handled.  As  an 
instance  of  this,  I  quote  from  the  "Union"  of 
recent  date  as  follows :  "The  sale  of  straw- 
berries during  the  past  few  days  has  been 
unprecedented,  and  a  leading  groceryman 
informed  a  reporter  of  this  paper,  that  the 
day  before  yesterday  he  sold  2,500  quarts  ; 
yesterday  he  disposed  of  4,000,  and  this 
morning  before  eight  o'clock  he  had  sold  1,500 
quarts.  When  we  consider  the  large  quantity 
many  other  grocerymen  like  the  above  must 
have  sold,  together  with  what  the  dealers 


136 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  September, 


shipped  out  of  town,  we  will  find  that  the 
daily  sales  of  strawberries  have  been  unusu- 
ally large."  At  Cleveland,  where  the  fruit  is 
cultivated  on  a  more  extensive  scale  than  at 
Rochester,  the  sales  are  said  to  have  amounted 
to  2,000  bushels  a  day.  Besides  an  increasing 
demand,  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that  the 
larger  and  finer-flavored  varieties  are  becom- 
ing better  known  and  appreciated.  When 
Wilson  was  selling  at  six  cents  a  quart,  S/iarjj- 
less  sold  for  twelve,  and  Trioniphe  de  Gand, 
Jucunda,  Cumberland  Triumph  and  Monarch, 
for  eight  and  ten  cents.  Of  such  varieties 
there  has  not  been  nearly  enough  fruit  to 
satisfy  the  demand,  and  growers  will  consult 
their  interests  by  giving  more  attention  to 
the  larger  and  better  kinds. 

The  favorable  season  has  afforded  us  a  fine 
opportunity  to  test  the  many  new  varieties 
now  on  trial.  These  novelties  have  revived 
the  interest  in  strawberry  culture,  and  all 
over  the  country  there  are  enthusiastic  ama- 
teurs and  growers  who  are  waiting  anxiously 
for  the  result  of  the  year's  experience.  We 
propose  to  give  ours  as  briefly  as  possible. 

Arranging  the  sorts  alphabetically,  Cinder- 
ella first  claims  attention.  It  is  one  of  Mr. 
Felton's  seealings,  and  was  sent  out  in  1876. 
The  fruit  is  of  medium  to  large  size,  conical, 
regularly  formed,  and  of  a  bright,  glossy- 
scarlet  color ;  flesh  firm,  solid,  with  a  mild, 
rich,  aromatic  flavor;  plant  vigorous  and 
prolific.  It  is  a  handsome  strawberry,  and  in 
quahty  fully  equal  to,  if  not  better,  than 
'Iriomphe  de  Gand.  It  will  undoubtedly  prove 
very  desirable  for  the  amateur's  garden. 
Contintntal,  another  of  Mr.  Pelton's  seedlings, 
and  sent  out  with  the  above,  is  of  medium 
to  large  size,  obtusely  conical,  regularly 
formed,  and  of  a  dark  red,  almost  black  color 
when  fully  ripe  ;  flesh  firm  and  of  fair  quality, 
but  inferior  to  Cinderella  ;  plant  vigorous  and 
very  productive.  Crescent  Seedling,  which 
appeared  so  promising  last  year,  has  disap- 
pointed us  greatly  this  season— not  in  pro- 
ductiveness, but  in  quality.  Nevertheless,  it 
is  an  improvement  on  tlfe  Wilson,  and  having 
proved  to  be  wonderfully  prolific,  must  on 
that  account  still  claim  a  good  deal  of  atten- 
tion as  a  market  berry.  Captain  Jack  is 
another  variety,  the  quality  of  which  does  not 
rank  high,  and  it  has  the  serious  fault  of 
overbearing.  A  large  portion  of  its  fruit 
does  not  mature  sufficiently  to  render  it 
marketable.  Grown  in  hills  under  high 
culture,  it  may  be  of  great  value  m  some 
localities.  In  Ohio,  several  strawberry- 
growers  esteem  it  very  highly,  some  going  so. 
far  as  to  call  it  the  best  variety.  Cumberland 
Triumph  is  one  of  the  newer  varieties  which, 
with  us,  has  proved  a  real  acquisition.  The 
fruit  is  large,  regular,  very  uniform,  and  of  a 
beautiful  bright  red  color ;  unquestionably 
one  of  the  handsomest  berries  known.  In 
quality  it  is  good  ;  plant  vigorous  and  pro- 
ductive. It  is  not  firm  enough  to  ship  long 
distances,  but  will  be  valuable  for  home 
market  on  account  of  its  uniform  size  and  at- 
tractive appearance.  Duncan,  of  medium 
size,  has  an  exceedingly  agreeable  flavor,  and 
may  be  regarded  as  a  valuable  addition  to  the 
list  of  good  garden  sorts.  Duchess  is  early, 
and  the  fruit  large  and  handsome.  In  quality 
it  can  only  be  rated  as  good,  but  is  worthy  of 
culture  on  account  of  its  size  and  earliness. 
The  plants  are  not  productive  enough  to 
render  it  a  profitable  market  variety.  Forest 
Base  is  of  large  size  and  fine  quality.  The 
plant  is  a  strong  grower  and  quite  productive. 
It  promises  well  either  for  garden  or  field 
culture,  and  we  are  pleased  to  rate  it  as  a  real 
acquisition.  We  place  it  next  to  the  Sharp- 
less  in  value. 

Glendale,  one  of  the  latest  introductions, 
has  not  fruited  upon  our  grounds,  but  a  fine 
exhibition  of  the  fruit  was  made  at  the 
Nurserymen's  Convention  lately  held  in 
Cleveland,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
and  testing  it.  The  fruit  is  large,  conical, 
and  of  a  bright  red  color  ;  flesh  flrm'and  of  a 
moderate  flavor.  Its  size  and  appearance 
may  render  it  valuable  as  a  market  fruit,  but 
we  do  not  think  it  will  ever  become  popular 


for  the  amateur's  garden.  A  trial  of  it  at 
home  may  change  our  opinion.  Golden  Defi- 
ance, raised  by  Mr.  Miller,  originator  of  the 
Cumberland  Triumph,  is  a  large  berry,  round- 
ish, regular,  and  of  a  dark  crimson  color ; 
flesh  moderately  firm,  solid,  of  delicate  tex- 
ture, and  of  fair  quality.  The  fruit  stalks  are 
remarkably  short,  which  is  a  serious  objec- 
tion-; plant  vigorous  and  moderately  pro- 
ductive. It  ripens  late,  and  may  be  valuable 
on  that  account.  Great  American  has  not 
improved  much  in  my  estimation.  It  is  quite 
productive,  but  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
berries  do  not  attain  full  size.  Probably  if 
planted  near  a  variety  with  abundance  of 
pollen,  it  might  do  better.  A  well-known 
strawberry-grower  says:  "Plant  the  Forest 
Rose  near  it,  and  you  are  sure  of  a  good  crop. " 
The  berry  is  high  flavored,  and  may  be  worthy 
of  further  trial.  It  should  be  grown  in  hills, 
and  must  have  good  culture.  Miner's  Great 
Prolific  is  large  to  very  large,  roundish,  and 
of  a  bright  crimson  color,  but  the  flesh  is  soft 
and  deficient  in  flavor.  On  account  of  its  size 
and  fine  appearance  I  consider  it  worthy  of 
farther  trial.  President  Lincoln  averages 
large  to  very  large,  irregular,  and  of  a  bright 
glossy  red  color  ;  flesh  moderately  firm,  with  a 
marked  hautbois  flavor,  rendering  it  very 
desirable  for  the  garden.  Sharpless  is  un- 
questionably the  best  new  strawberry.  This 
was  my  opinion  last  year,  and  every  report 
received  thus  far  proves  that  I  was  not  mis- 
taken. We  planted  largely  of  it  this  last  spring 
for  ^market.  Springdale,  another  of  Mr. 
Miller's  seedlings,  did  not  do  well  with  us  last 
year,  but  has  borne  a  good  crop  of  fine  fruit 
this  season.  In  hot,  dry  weather  the  plants 
sometimes  suffer.  We  think  enough  of  it  to 
give  it  another  trial.  Star  of  the  West  is  un- 
productive, and  therefore  of  no  value.  Cen- 
tennial, Favorite,  Pioneer,  Beauty,  Glossy 
Cone,  all  of  them  Durand's  seedlings,  have 
not  yet  been  sufficiently  tested  to  give  a  fair 
opinion  of  them.  Champnon,  Crystal  City, 
Windsor  Chief  and  Damask  Beauty,  must 
fruit  again  before  their  value  can  be  deter- 
mined. Longfellow,  a  new  seedling  raised  by 
A.  D.  Webb,  of  Kentucky,  was  shown  at 
Cleveland.  The  fruit  was  large  and  hand- 
some, but  the  quality  not  of  the  highest  char- 
acter.—  W.  C.  Barry,  Mt.  Hope  Nurseries, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 


VALUABLE    ADVICE. 
What  to   Do 

1.  Child  two  years  old  has  an  attack  of 
croup  at  night.  Doctor  at  a  distance.  What 
is  to  be  done  ? 

The  child  should  be  immediately  undressed, 
and  put  in  a  warm  bath.  Then  give  an 
emetic,  composed  of  one  part  of  antimony 
wine  to  two  of  ipecac.  The  dose  is  a  tea- 
spoonful.  If  the  antimony  is  not  at  hand 
use  warm  water,  mustard  and  water,  or  any 
other  simple  emetic  ;  dry  the  child,  and  wrap 
it  carefully  in  a  warm  blanket. 

2.  Hired  girl  sprained  her  knee  violently. 
First  bathe  in  warm  water,  then  put  the 

white  of  an  egg  in  a  saucer,  stir  with  a  piece 
of  alum  the  size  of  a  walnut  until  it  is  in  a 
thick  jelly  ;  place  a  portion  of  it  on  a  piece  of 
lint  or  tow  large  enough  to  cover  the  sprain, 
changing  it  as  often  as  it  seems  warm  or  dry; 
the  limb  is  to  be  kept  in  a  horizontal  position 
by  placing  it  on  a  chair. 

3.  Bees  swarm,  and  the  man  who  hives 
them  gets  severely  stung  in  the  face. 

The  sting  of  a  bee  is  hollow  and  barbed, 
and  as  it  contains  poison,  the  first  thing  to  be 
done  is  to  remove  it.  The  part  stung  should 
then  be  bathed  in  warm  water,  and  a  little 
ammonia  be  rubbed  in. 

4.  Some  one's  nose  bleeds,  and  cannot  be 
stopped. 

Take  a  plug  of  lint,  moisten,  dip  in  equal 
parts  of  powdered  alum  and  gum  arable,  and 
insert  in  the  nose.  Bathe  the  forehead  in 
cold  water. 

.5.  The  child  eats  a  piece  of  bread  on  which 
arsenic  has  been  placed  for  killing  rats. 


Give  plenty  of  warm  water,  new  milk  in 
large  quantities,  gruel,  linseed  tea,  foment 
the  bowels.  Scrape  iron  rust  off'  anything, 
mix  with  warm  water,  and  give  in  large 
draughts  frequently.  Never  give  large 
draughts  of  fluid  until  those  given  before 
have  been  vomited,  because  the  stomach  will 
not  contract  properly  if  filled,  and  the  object 
is  to  get  rid  of  the  poison  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible. 

6.  Young  lady  sits  in  draught,  and  comes 
home  with  a  bad  sore  throat. 

Wrap  flannel  around  the  throat,  keep  out 
of  draughts  and  sudden  changes  of  atmos- 
phere, and  every  half  hour  take  a  pinch  of 
chlorate  of  potash,  place  it  on  the  tongue  and 
allow  it  to  dissolve  in  the  mouth. 

7.  Nurse  suffers  from  a   whitlow  on  her  " 
finger. 

Place  the  whitlow  in  water  as  hot  as  can  be 
borne,  then  pbultice  with  hnseed  meal,  taking 
care  to  mix  a  little  grease  within  the  poultice, 
to  prevent  it  from  growing  hard.  Bathe  and 
poultice  morning  and  evening. 

8.  Child  falls  backward  against  a  tub  of 
boiling  water,  and  is  much  scalded. 

Carefully  undress  the  child,  lay  it  on  a  bed 
on  its  breast  as  the  back  is  scalded,  be  sure 
all  draughts  are  excluded,  then  dust  over  the 
parts  scalded  bi-carbonate  of  soda,  lay  muslin 
over  it,  then  make  a  tent,  by  placing  two 
boxes  with  a  board  over  them  in  the  bed,  to 
prevent  the  covering  from  pressing  on  the 
scald  ;  cover  up  warm. 

9.  Mower  cuts  driver's  leg  as  he  is  thrown 
from  the  seat. 

Put  a  tight  bandage  around  the  limb,  above 
the  cut,  slip  a  cork  under  it,  in  the  direction 
of  a  line  drawn  from  the  inner  part  of  the 
knee  to  a  little  outside  of  the  groin.  Draw 
the  edges  of  the  cut  together  with  sticking 
plaster. 

10.  Child  has  a  bad  earache. 

Dip  a  plug  of  cotton  wool  in  olive  oil,  warm 
it  and  place  it  in  the  ear.  Wrap  up  the  head 
and  keep  out  of  the  draft. 

11.  Youth  goes  to  skate,  falls  into  an  air 
hole  ;  brought  home  insensible. 

Strip  the  body  and  rub  it  dry ;  then  rub 
with  a  warm  blanket  and  place  in  a  warm 
room.  Cleanse  away  froth  and  mucus  from 
the  nose  and  mouth.  Apply  warm  bottles, 
bricks,  etc.,  to  the  armpits,  between  the 
thighs  and  the  soles  of  the  feet.  Rub  the 
surface  of  the  body  with  the  hand  incased  in 
a  warm,  dry,  worsted  sock  ;  to  restore  breath- 
ing close  the  nostrils  and  breathe  steadily 
into  the  mouth ;  inflate  the  lungs  till  the 
breast  be  raised  a  little,  then  set  the  nostrils 
free  and  press  gently  on  the  breast  until  signs 
of  life  appear.  Then  give  a  warm  drink  and 
put  to  bed.  Do  not  give  up  all  hope  for  at 
least  three  hours  after  the  accident. 

12.  Child  gets  sand  in  his  eyes. 

Place  your  forefinger  on  the  cheekbone, 
having  the  child  before  you  ;  then  draw  up 
your  finger  and  you  will  probably  remove  it ; 
but  if  you  cannot  get  at  the  sand  in  this  way, 
repeat  the  operation  while  you  have  a  knitting 
needle  laid  against  the  eyelids  ;  this  will  turn 
the  lid  inside  out,  and  then  the  sand  may  be 
removed  with  a  silk  handkerchief.  Bathe  in 
cold  water  and  exclude  the  light  for  a  day. 

PLANTING  AND  TRANSPLANTING. 

The  well-known  three  requisites  for  the 
g  ermination  of  seeds,  are  heat,  air  and 
moisture,  but  not  light.  In  a  cold  soil  they 
remain  dormant ;  it  too  dry  they  will  not 
sprout ;  and  if  buried  deep  and  compactly 
beyond  the  action  of  the  air,  no  movement 
toward  growth  takes  place.  The  small  seeds 
of  weeds  often  remain  in  the  soil  for  years 
w  hen  turned  under  deep  by  the  plow  ;  when 
br  ought  again  to  the  surface,  the  new  and  co- 
pio  us  growth  which  at  once  takes  place  has 
led  superficial  observers  to  the  erroneous  no- 
tion that  they  have  sprung  up  spontaneously. 
Nurserymen  sometimes  keep  peach-stones 
dormant  a  year,  when  they  happen  to  have  a 
surplus,  by  placing  th^  two  feet  under  the 
soil  till  needed.  Th^epth  for  planting  must 
depend  largely  on  the  size  of  the  seed ;  and 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


137 


the  general  rule  has  been  given  to  bury  them 
from  three  to  five  times  as  deep  as  tlieir 
Uiameler.  This  rule  will  vary  somewhat  witli 
the  nature  and  condition  of  the  soil.  If  licavy 
and  moist,  the  depth  should  be  less  than  in  a 
light,  dry  and  porous  soil.  In  a  moist,  well- 
pulverized  soil,  most  seeds,  whether  large  or 
small,  will  grow  if  merely  covered  and  kept 
moist ;  but  this  coudition  cainiot  be  coinnion- 
ly  continued,  as  a  few  dry  and  warm  days 
will  dry  the  surface  of  the  soil  and  pirvcnt 
the  germinatiou  of  the  seed.  Hence  the 
common  practice  to  vary  this  rule  with 
circumstances.  Corn,  planted  early  in  the 
season  when  the  ground  is  moist,  will  grow 
freely  if  buried  only  an  inch  deep  ;  but  under 
ordinary  circumstances  two  inches  will  be 
better.  It  will  find  its  way  feebly  to  the  sur- 
face after  many  days  when  buried  six  inches 
below.  Early  in  autumn,  when  winter  wheat 
is  sown  or  drilled  in,  the  soil  is  usually  much 
drier  than  in  corn-planting  time,  and  for  this 
reason  :  although  the  seeds  are  smaller  than 
grains  of  corn,  it  should  be  placed  at  a  depth 
of  two  inches.  In  a  dry  spring,  corn  should 
be  planted  deeper  than  in  a  wet  one,  and  the 
old  practice  of  pressing  each  hill  witli  the  hoe 
when  the  work  was  done  by  hand,  was 
useful  when  the  soil  was  dry.  When  planting 
is  done  with  a  machine,  a  roller  to  follow  the 
tube  would  be  useful  in  dry  weather. 

in  a  dry  season,  as  the  present  has  been  in 
many  places,  much  care  is  required  to  impart 
suflicient  moisture  to  seeds  when  planted. 
If  the  particles  of  soil  arc  dry,  the  small 
grains  or  lumps  \^iich  compose  it  will  touch 
the  seed  only  at  a  few  points,  and  the  chances 
for  its  germination  will  be  small.  Even  itj 
moistened  by  a  shower,  the  water  will  touch 
the  seed  only  at  a  few  points  of  contact.  It 
is  better,  therefore,  to  plant  seed  after  a 
shower  than  before  it,  as  the  soil  is  rendered 
moist  and  yielding,  and,  pressing  the  whole 
surface  of  the  seed,  causes  germination  at 
once.  On  this  principle,  experiment  has 
shown  that  under  common  conditions  seeds 
grow  much  better  if  planted  after  than  before 
the  rain.  The  exceptions  are,  when  the  soil 
has  been  so  liuely  pulverized  tliat  it  cases  the 
seed  well  on  all  sides  while  yet  drv  ;  and  when 
the  rain  is  so  copious  that  it  fills  with  water 
for  a  suflicient  time  the  interstices  which  sur- 
round the  seed. 

An  interesting  experiment  was  reported  by 
Peter  Henderson  at  the  late  nurserymen's 
convention  at  Cleveland,  showing  the  im- 
portance of  compactly  enclosing  the  .seed  with 
the  soil.  Early  in  July  he  sowed  twelve  rows 
of  sweet  corn  and  twelve  rows  of  beets, 
treading  in  the  seed  after  sowing  in  every 
alternate  row.  In  both  cases,  those  which 
were  trodden  in  came  up  in  four  days,  while 
the  others  remained  twelve  days  befors  start- 
ing, and  would  not  then  have  germinated  had 
not  rain  fallen,  for  the  soil  was  quite  dry 
when  they  were  planted.  The  seeds  that 
were  trodden  grew  freely  from  the  start,  and 
matured  their  crops  for  market  by  fall.  The 
undertrodden  rows  did  not  mature,  as  they 
were  eight  days  later  in  starting,  and  the 
plants  were  partly  feebled  besides. 

The  same  general  rules  apply  in  some 
degree  to  the  setting  out  of  vegetables,  and  in 
transplanting  trees.  If  the  soil  is  dry,  it  will 
not  come  in  contact  with  the  whole  surface  of 
the  roots  unless  finely  pulverized  and  firmly 
pressed  against  them,  and  this  process  is 
assisted  by  pouring  in  water  to  soften  the  soil, 
taking  care  to  cover  she  surface  finally  with 
pulverized  earth.  Some  writers  prescribe  the 
use  of  water  in  transplanting  in  all  cases, 
whatever  the  condition  may  be  ;  others  as 
uniformly  object  to  the  practice.  The  truth 
is,  the  rule  should  be  adapted  to  circum- 
stances, and  every  planter  should  have  in- 
telligence and  experience  enough  to  know 
when  each  course  would  be  advisable.  Mr. 
Henderson,  in  the  article  above  quoted,  says 
he  sent  a  dozen  rose-bushes  to  a  lady  at 
Savannah,  and  he  subsequently  r(^ceived  a 
woful  story  of  the  death  of  every  one,  with 
the  singular  exception  of  one  on  which  a  fat 
and  heavy  man  had  accidentally    trodden. 


This  awkwardnesss  on  his  part  pressed  the 
dry  soil  about  the  roots  and  saved  it  ;  the 
others,  loosely  buried  in  dry  earth,  perished. 

In  conclusion  wo  may  give  the  following 
brief  extniets  from  Mr.  Henderson's  remarks: 

Experienced  professional  horticulturists, 
however,  are  less  likely  to  neglect  this  witli 
plants  than  in  the  case  of  seeds,  for  the 
damage  from  such  neglect  is  easier  to  be  seen, 
and  hence  bettor  understood.  But  with  the 
iiiiexperienced  amateur,  the  case  is  dill'ereut. 
When  he  receives  his  package  of  trees  or 
plants  from  the  nurseryman,  he  handles  them 
as  if  they  were  glass;  every  bniken  twig  or 
root  calls  forth  a  complaint,  and  he  iiroeeeds 
to  plant  them  gingerly,  straightening  out  each 
root,  and  silling  the  soil  around  them,  but  he 
would  no  more  stamp  down  that  soil  than  he 
would  staini)  on  the  soil  of  his  mother's  grave. 
So  the  iilant,  in  nine  cases  out  often,  is  left 
lo  se  and  \v;iggling,  the  dry  air  penetrates 
through  the  soil  to  its  roots,  the  winds  shake 
it,  and  it  shrivels  up  and  fails  to  grow. 

It  has  often  been  a  wonder  to  many  of  us 
who  have  been  workers  in  the  soil  for  a  gen- 
eration, how  some  of  the  simplest  methods  of 
culture  have  not  been  practiced  sooner.  I 
never  pass  through  a  year  but  I  nm  confound- 
ed to  find  that  some  operation  can  not  only  be 
quicker  done,  but  better  done,  than  we  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  doing  it.  These  im- 
provements loom  up  from  various  causes,  but 
mainly  from  suggestions  thrown  out  by  our 
employees  in  charge  of  special  departments— 
a  system  which  we  do  all  in  our  power  to  en- 
courage. 

As  a  proof  of  the  value  of  such  improve- 
ments which  lead  to  simplifying  our  opera- 
tions, I  will  state  the  fact  that  though  my 
area  of  greenhouse  surface  is  now  more  than 
double  that  which  it  was  in  1870,  and  the  land 
used  in  our  florist's  business  is  one-third 
more,  yet  the  number  of  hands  employed  is 
less  now  than  in  1870,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  quality  of  our  stock  is  infinitely  better 
now  than  then. — Country  Gentleman. 

THE    OUTLOOK  FOR    HOGS. 

The  new  live-stock  paper  in  St.  Louis,  in 
its  first  issue  reviewed  the  prospects  and  con- 
dition of  the  hog  crop  of  the  country,  saying  : 

"In  view  of  the  anticipated  yield  of  corn 
throughout  the  corn  producing  states  of  the 
west,  which  at  the  present  promises  to  be  more 
than  an  ordinary  one,  it  is  well  to  consider 
the  probable  prices  of  hogs  during  the  coming 
fall  and  winter  months.  During  the  last 
packing  seiison,  the  producers  considered  the 
prices  ruinously  low,  and  many  were  the  de- 
clarations that  they  could  not  and  would  not 
raise  hogs  again  for  such  prices.  Yet,  not- 
withstanding that,  the  small  advance  in  prices 
at  the  beginning  of  the  summer  packing 
season  was  sufficient  inducement  to  cause 
heavy  enough  receipts  to  enable  packers  to  cut 
about  1.50,000  more  hogs  since  March  1st  this 
year  than  during  the  corresponding  time  last 
year.  From  but  few  sections  of  the  country 
have  there  come  reports  of  sickness.  And  as 
it  is  well  known  that  the  hog  is  a  very  prolific 
animal  the  question  arises,  how  can  the  pro- 
ducer expect  higher  prices,  when  all  things 
tend  to  inilicate  a  greater  supply  of  hogs  at 
all  of  the  larger  cities  this  year  than  last,  and 
no  additional  outlet  for  all  products?  It  is 
true  that  throughout  Great  Britain  the 
prospects  are  for  very  short  crops,  which  of 
course,  means  a  corresponding  decrease  in  the 
number  of  cattle,  hogs  and  sheep  that  will  be 
prepared  for  market,  and  this  may  cause  the 
export  of  meat  to  be  larger  than  last  year,  and 
if  it  is  so,  it  may  afford  a  temporary  relief, 
but  the  abundant  corn  crop,  and  the  increase 
in  the  supply  of  hogs  will  render  it  only 
temporary,  unless  the  t^dc  with  that  country 
should  be  greatly  in  excess  of  last  year." 

The  Kansas  City  Price  C>trr»nt  of  last  week 
(piotes  the  above  and  makes  comment  as 
follows  : 

AVe  think  the  Journal  unncccessarily 
alarmed  as  to  the  prices  of  hogs  the  coming 
season.  While  the  hog  crop  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  promises  to  be  a  larger  one  than 


last  year,  the  states  ea.st  of  it  will  have  fewer 
hogs  than  in  1878.  The  state  auditor  of 
Illinois  reports  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
bogs  taxed  this  year  of  3.'?1,673.  Ohio  also 
rei)orts  a  shortage  of  209,702,  total  6:51,436. 
In  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  hog  raising  is 
being  gradually  abandoned  as  uniirofitable  and 
the  supply  from  those  states  must  fall  much 
short  of  1S78.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  corn  crop 
in  soutliern  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Ken- 
tucky from  all  reports  must  be  a  short  one, 
hence  everything  in  those  states  has  tended 
to  discourage  hog  raising.  In  the  country 
west  oftlie  Mississippi  hog  brcedingissteadily 
on  the  increase.  The  g;im,  however,  in  this 
has  not  jjceii  sullicic  iitly  large  to  balance  the 
lo.ss  in  the  states  east  of  us.  Iowa  reports  a 
g;un  this  year  79,316  and  Nebraska  6.5,8.31. 
Ueports  from  Kansas  and  Missouri  have  not 
yet  been  received,  but  estimating  the  increase 
in  these  two  states  at  1.50,000  we  have  a  total 
of2'.)5,147  in  the  four  leading  states  west  of 
the  Mississippi  against  a  loss  in  the  two 
leading  hog  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  of 
031, 43o.  It  would  be  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  many  of  the  hogs  tliat  appear  in  these 
reports  have  already  been  marketed,  thus 
further  curtailing  the  winter  supply.  While 
we  in  the  new  west  will  probably  have  a 
larger  sujjply  of  hogs  than  last  year,  the  crop 
of  the  entire  western  .states  shows  indications 
of  a  shortage,  rather  than  an  increase;  hence 
there  is  no  just  grounds  for  fears  of  over  pro- 
duction, and  feeders  will  find  it  to  their 
interest  to  keep  cool  and  fully  mature  their 
hogs  before  marketing  and  not  allow  them- 
.sclves  to  be  frightened  into  disposing  of  their 
stock  in  a  green  or  half-ripe  condition. 

The  hog  crop  of  1877  was  held  back  by 
farmers  wlio  refused  to  believe  that  they 
must  accept  the  low  prices  current  in  the  fall 
and  early  winter  of  that  year.  AVhen  the 
year  1878  opened  and  it  was  found  that  prices 
were  still  shrinking,  the  farmers  began  to 
"cut  loose,"  and  there  followed  a  rush  of  hogs 
such  as  had  never  before  been  known.  La.st 
year,  warned  by  the  experience  of  1877, 
farmers  let  their  hogs  go  early  in  the  winter, 
and  a  heavy  part  of  the  crop  was  marketed 
before  New  Year's  day.  These  facts  served 
to  make  the  croj)  of  1878  remarkably  heavy, 
but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  reports 
of  that  year  include  stock  which  should  have 
been  credited  to  1877.  It  is  our  belief  that 
the  general  healtlifulness  of  the  stock,  the 
extension  of  the  business  of  hog  raising  in 
the  newer  west,  and  the  unequaled  and 
altogether  wonderful  corn  crop  will  combine 
to  give  us  as  many  fat  marketable  hogs  this 
as  we  had  last  year. 


THE  SUN. 
Professor  Rudolph,  in  a  lengthy  paixir  on 
the  sun,  says:  "It  is  a  molten  or  white  hot 
mass,  equaling  in  bulk  1,200,000  worlds  like 
our  own,  having  a  surrounding  ocean  of  gas 
on  flre  50,000  miles  deep,  flame  darting  up- 
ward more  than  .50,000  miles,  volcanic  forces 
that  hurl  into  the  solar  atmosphere  luminous 
matter  to  the  height  of  1(50,000  miles,  draw- 
ing to  itself  all  the  worlds  belonging  to  our 
family  of  planets,  and  holding  them  all  in 
their  proper  places  ;  attracting  with  such  su- 
perior force  the  millions  of  solid  stray  masses 
that  are  wandering  in  the  fathomless  abyss 
that  they  rush  helplessly  toward  him,  and  fall 
into  his  fieiy  embrace.  And  thus  he  continues 
his  sublime  and  resistless  march  through  his 
mighty  orbit,  having  a  period  of  more  than 
18,000,000  years." 

CLOVES. 

Cloves  are  the  dried  flowers  of  a  beautiful 
tree  that  grows  in  the  East  Indies.  Its  cul- 
ture is  principally  confined  to  the  Island  of 
Zanzibar.  After  being  gathered,  the  cloves 
are  prepared  for  shipment  by  smoking  them 
on  hurdles  covered  with  matting,  near  a  slow 
wood  fire,  to  give  them  a  brown  color,  and 
they  are  further  dried  in  the  sun.  They  may 
be  cut  ofl"  from  the  flower-branches,  and  will 
be  found  to  be  purple  colored  within,  and  fit 
to  be  packed  in  bales  for  the  market. 


iSS 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[September 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


LANCASTER    COUNTY    AGRICULTU- 
RAL   AND    HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

The  Agricultural  Society  met  statedly  in  their 
rooms  on  Monday  afternoon,  Sept.  8th,  at  the  usual 
hour. 

Tlie  following  members  and  visitors  were  present: 
Calvin  Cooper.President,Bird-in-Hand;  H.  M.  Engle, 
Marietta;  Jos.  F.  Witmer,  Paradise;  Levi  \V.  Groff, 
West  Earl ;  M.  D.  Kendl^;,  Manor  :  C.  M .  Hostetter, 
Eden;  Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvoia,  city;  Israel  L.  Landls, 
city;  W.  W.  Griest,  city;  Frank  R.  Diffenderffer, 
city;  J.  C.  Linville,  Salisbury:  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias, 
Lititz;  C.A.Gast,  city;  Peter  S.  Reist,  Lititz;  Jacob 
Bollinger,  Warwick ;  Johnson  Miller,  Warwick ; 
Levi  S.  Reist,  Manheim  ;  Ephraim  L.  Hoover,  Man- 
heim  ;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city  ;  Henry  Wissler,  Colum- 
bia ;  Mr.  Copenheffer,  West  Hempfield  ;  Peter  Her- 
shey,  city;  Peter  E.  Hershey,  Intercourse;  Harry 
Cooper,  city  :  M.  Geisenberger,  city  ;  W.H.  Brosius, 
Drumore  ;  Daniel  Smeych,  city;  C.  L.  Hunsecker, 
Manbeim;  A.  F.  Hostetter,  city;  Elias  Hershey,  Par- 
adise; J.  W.  Bruckhart,  Salunga;  Jacob  B.  Garber, 
Columbia. 

Report  of  Committee. 
Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  from  the  committee  on  general 
management,  said  one  hundred  posters  had  been 
printed  and  distributed ;  three  hundred  premium 
lists  were  also  printed  and  sent  out.  There  are 
enough  tickets  somewhere  to  answer  the  needs  of 
the  society;  probably  the  librarian  has  them.  He  also 
made  a  number  of  other  suggestions  relating  to  the 
conduct  of  the  proposed  exhibition. 

The  President  suggested  that  it  might  be  advisable 
to  suspend  the  usual  business  to  take  up  that  con- 
nected with  the  Exhibition.  Deferred  for  the 
present. 

The  Crops. 
J.  C.  Linville  reported  great  improvement  in  the 
corn  crop.  Late  corn  will  make  a  pretty  good  crop 
and  so  will  late  potatoes.  Tobacco  has  improved 
much  during  JJie  past  five  weeks.  Clover  was  near- 
ly scorched  out  and  will  be  poor  next  spring.  Ap- 
ples, pears  and  grapes  are  all  light. 

H.  M.  Engle  said  the  case  was  about  as  described 
by  Mr.  Linville.  The  rains  have  improved  things 
very  much.  The  young  clover  is  a  failure.  Old 
fields,  however,  have  revived.  Corn  is  nearly  an  ave- 
rage crop.  Potatoes  are  doing  well.  Apples  are 
short  and  pears  a  good  crop.  Peaches  are  a  good 
crop  nearly  everywhere.  The  rain  fall  for  the  month 
of  August  was  5  3-16  inches.  With  all  this  rain  fall 
there  was  no  time  when  the  ground  could  not  be 
worked . 

Johnson  Miller  said  wheat  and  oats  were  an  ave- 
rage yield.  Corn  and  tobacco  have  improved  won- 
derfully where  properly  attended .  Apples  are  scarce. 
Peaches  are  a  full  crop;  pears  an  average  one;  grapes 
a  full  one. 

M .  D.  Kendig  said  the  corn  would  be  a  heavy  crop. 
The  tobacco  crop  will  be  the  largest  for  years.  Ap- 
ples are  scarce.  Pears  a  tolerable  yield.  Rain  fall 
in  Manor  for  August  six  and  three-tenths  inches. 

Joseph  F.  Witmer  reported  the  yield  of  wheat  per 
acre  as  good.  Pasture  fields  are  good.  Tobacco  is 
very  good.  There  will  be  an  average  crop  of  corn. 
Some  fields  are  badly  washed.  Farmers  are  well 
on  with  their  plowing.  No  seeding  done. 
The  Coming  Fair. 
Israel  L.  Landis,  from  the  committee  on  the  com- 
ing fair,  said  the  committee  had  not  yet  organized . 

J.  F.  Witmer  wished  to  know  whether  the  Secre- 
tary was  to  provide  the  necessary  books  for  the  use 
of  the  several  committees. 

Ephraim  L.  Hoover,  another  of  the  committee  of 
arrangements,  reported  that  he  had  visited  many 
manufacturers  and  all  had  agreed  to  exhibit.  A 
meeting  of  the  committee  was  called  by  mistake  for 
this  afternoon,  forgetting  that  to-day  was  the  regu- 
lar meeting  time  of  the  Society.  He  also  inquired 
concerning  the  printing  of  tickets. 

Johnson  Miller  thouuht  if  any  of  the  former  tick- 
ets were  left,  Mr.  Alexander  Harris  had  them. 

H.  M.  Engle  suggested  an  exhibition  bv  numbers 
and  not  by  names,  which  would  put  fruits  and  every- 
thing else  strictly  on  their  merits.  Judges  are  but 
human,  after  all. 

Levi  S.  Reist  thought  the  names  of  exhibitors 
ought  to  be  on  their  exhibits.  All  have  pride  in 
their  productions;  it  is  not  satisfactory  to  have  the 
exhibits  passed  without  names. 

J.  C.  Linville  also  believed  the  names  should  beon 
the  exhibits.  The  Judges  might  act  at  once,  and 
then  the  names  of  the  exhibitors  might  be  attached, 
which  would  satisfy  both  conditions. 

Peter  S.  Reist  was  in  favor  of  attaching  the  names 
of  exhibitors.  The  exhibit  was  in  reality  an  adver- 
tisement, and  this  would  be  done  away  with  by  the 
proposed  system  of  numbers. 

A  number  of  other  persons  took  part  in  this  dis- 
cussion, the  burden  of  opinion  being  in  favor  of  the 
same  system. 


A  statement  was  made  that  the  Oxford  society 
found  it  harmful  to  attach  names. 

Johnson  Miller  moved  that  the  committee  of  ar- 
rangements be  instructed  to  put  the  names  of  exibi- 
tors  on  the  several  exhibits,  and  the  motion  was 
adopted. 

Shall  a  Fee  be  Charged  for  Exhibits  ? 
J.  C.  Linville  heard  complaints  from  exhibitors  who 
were  compelled  to  pay  an  exhibition  fee.   He  did  not 
think  it  right  to  make  exhibitors  pay. 

J.  F.  Hershey  thought  that  as  an  exhibit  was  an 
advertisement,  they  should  be  made  to  pay. 

Johnson  Millerthought;exhibitors  should  pay  what' 
other  people  pay. 

H.  M.  Eugle  spoke  against  season  tickets;  this 
practice  has  been  much  abused.  He  did  not  favor 
that  way  of  issuing  tickets. 

J.  C.  Linville  thought  it  was  an  injustice  to  make 
exhibitors  pay  the  same  as  outsiders. 

J.  F.  Hershey  moved  that  two  tickets  be  allowed 
each  exhibitor  daily. 

M.  D.  Kendig  amended  by  making  the  exhibition 
free  to  all  exhibitors.  The  amendment  was  accept- 
ed, but,  on  motion,  it  was  rejected. 

H.  M.  Engle  moved  that  exhibitors  receive  tickets 
permitting  free  entrance  but  not  transferable. 
Carried. 

Appointment  of  Judges. 
H.  M.  Engle  moved  that  the  Secretary  be  added 
to  the  committee  of  arrangements  and  these  appoint 
the  judges.    Carried. 

Miscellaneous. 
On   motion,  the  appointment  of  doorkeeper   and 
ticket  vender  was  left  to  the  committee  on  arrange- 
ments. 

On  motion,  H.  M.  Engle  was  added  to  the  com- 
mittee on  arrangements. 

On  motion,  the  treasurer  was,  in  accordance  with 
the  by-laws,  required  to  file  a  bond  for  the  safe  keep- 
ing of  the  funds  of  the  society.    Carried. 

Johnson  Miller  said  he  had  an  invitation  from  the 
Berks  County  Agricultural  Society  asking  this  Soci- 
ety to  send  six  delegates  to  attend  their  fair.  He 
moved  the  aptjointment  of  three  delegates.  Messrs 
Ephraim  L.  Hoover,  Johnson  Miller  and  Levi  S.  Reist 
were  appointed. 

A  letter  was  read  from  the  Pennsylvania  railroad 
company,  ofi'ering  to  sell  excursion  tickets  from  all 
points  in  the  .lounty  to  the  fair.  The  offer  was,  on 
motion,  accepted. 

On  motion  of  C.  M.  Hostetter,  the  secretary  was 
authorized  to  procure  entry  books  for  the  use  of  the 
judges. 

It  was  moved  that  the  corresponding  secretary  in- 
vite a  delegation  of  the  Berks  county  society  to  visit 
our  exhibition.  '' 

It  was  also  moved  that  the  committee  of  arrange- 
ments get  the  fair  advertised  in  the  papers. 

The  chairman  appointed  the  following  committee 
to  report  on  the  fruit  presented  for  examination- 
Messrs.  L.  S.  Reist,  W.  H.  Brosius  and  H.  M.  Enrfe' 
The  committee  reported  as  follows  : 

Tour  committee  find  the  following  fruits  on  the 
table  for  examination: 

By  Levi  S.  Reist,  some  excellent  specimens  of  Old 
Mixon  peaches;  Concord,  Martha,  Ember  and 
Brighton  Grapes;  the  latter  is  one  of  the  handsom- 
est and  best  tasted  grapes  to  be  found;  also,  Rogers 

Daniel  Smeych  exhibited  a  branch  of  the  Sener 
peach  tree,  loaded  with  fine  fruit ;  this  peach  is  too 
well  known  to  require  further  mention;  also  a  seed- 
ling of  the  same,  smaller  in  size  and  earlier  than  the 
parent  fruit,  but  believed  equal  in  quality.  He  also 
had  two  seedlings,  eitremely  handsome, large  yellow, 
showy  and  of  good  quality,  and  a  bunc'h  of  fine 
Black  Hamburg  grapes. 

J.  M.  Johnston  had  a  fine  Bartlett  pear  grown  on 
a  tree  of  last  year's  plantinar.  The  tree  bore  several 
dozen  of  large  size  and  excellent  flavor. 

C.  Cooper  had  Rogers  9  and  15,  Concord,  Martha, 
Brighton  and  Telegraph  grapes,  fine,  Bartlett,  Belle 
Lucrative  and  Seckel  pears,  each  of  excellent  ap- 
pearance and  flavor. 

Mr.  M.  D.  Kendig,  Chairman  of  the  Floral  Com- 
mittee, has  appointed  the  following  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen as  associates:  Miss  Mary  E.  Wilson,  M.D 
Mrs.  Samuel  H.  Reynolds,  Mrs.  Wm.  P.  Brinton, 
Mrs.  G.  W.  Arnold,  Miss  Hallie  P.  Watson,  Mrs. 
Joseph  Preston,  Mrs.Tacy  Smith,  Mrs.  David  Evans, 
Mrs.  J.  P.  Wickersham,  Mrs.  Marriott  Brosius,  Mrs 
Reuben  A.  Baer,  Mrs.  Charles  F.  Rengier,  jr.,  Mrs 
Aug.  Rhoads,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Flinn,  of  this  city;  Mrs. 
S.  H.  Purple,  Columbia;  Mrs.  Kate  Barr,  Bird-in- 
Hand;  Hon.  J.  B.  Livingston,  Messrs.  S.  W.  Heinitsh 
and  Frank  L.  Sprecher. 


THE  POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  stated   monthly  meeting  of  the  County  Poul- 
try Association   was  held  on  Monday  morning,  Sep- 
tember Ist,  1S79,  in  their  rooms  in  the  City  Hall. 
Members  Present. 

The  following  members  were  present  :  Rev.  D.  C. 
Tobias,  President,  Lititz  ;  J.  B.  Lichty,  city  ;   S.  N. 


Warfel,  Strasburg ;  John  F.  Reed,  city  ;  Charles  E 
^,?.?/:'  "^''^  V^-  ^-  Tshudy,  Lititz  ;  C.  E.  Gast,  city  ■ 
\V  illiam  Schoenberger,  city  ;  Amos  Rinswalt,  citv  • 
Frank  R .  Diflenderfl-er,  city ;  Henry  Wissler  Colum' 
bia;  Charles  Lippold,  citv  ;  John  E.  Schum  citv  • 
Joseph  F.  Witmer,  Paradise  ;  J.  M.  Johnston,'  city  • 
John  Tnssler,  city;  J.  B.  Long,  city  ;  M.L.Greider, 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President 
and  the  minutes  were  read  by  the  Secretary  and  ap- 
proved. •'  ^ 
New  Business. 

The  following  names  were  proposed  for  member- 
shipj  Ferdinand  Sheaffer,  city  ;  Joshua  L.  Lyte,  city; 


Dr.  P.  J.  Roebuck,|Lititz;  Dr.  Berntheisel,  Columbia 
E.G.  Eberman,  city;  Christian  Miller,  city.  On 
motion,  all  the  above  were  elected. 

The  discussion  of  the  regular  question,  "What 
breed  of  fowls  is  most  profitable?"  was,  on  motion 
deferred,  as  the  other  business  on  hand  it  was  be- 
lieved would  consume  all  the  time. 

Report  of  Executive  Committee. 

The  Chairman,  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  stated  the  com- 
mittee had  two  meetings,  one  at  Lititz  and  one  at 
Lancaster,  and  after  a  full  discussion,  it  was  decided 
that  an  exhibition  should  be  held. 

Chas.  E.  Long  read   the   rules    and   regulations 
adopted  by  the  committee  as  follows  : 
Section  First. 

HOW  THE  PREMIUMS  WILL  BE  AWARDED. 

Rulel.  The  premiums  of  this  society  are  open  to 
general  competition. 

Rule  2.  The  new  American  Standard  of  Excellence 
will  be  the  guide  of  the  judges  on  all  the  varieties 
for  which  premiums  are  offered. 

Rule  3.  Premiums  will  be  awarded  by  the  follow- 
ing scale  of  points  : 

First  premium  birds  must  score  at  least  170  points 
to  the  pair. 

Second  premium  birds  must  score  at  least  160 
points  to  the  pair. 

Section  Second. 

DIVISIONS   OF    CLASSES— MANNER    OF    EXHIBITING. 

Rule  4.  In  all  the  classes  an  entry  will  consist  of  a 
pair  of  specimens  shown  in  one  coop  together. 

Rule  5.  All  specimens,  whether  for'competition 
exhibition,  or  sale,  must  be  shown  in  the  coops  of 
the  society. 

Rule  6.  All  specimens  must  be  exhibited  in  their 
natural  condition,  with  the  exception  of  games  and 
game  bantams.  Any  violation  of  this  rule  will  ex- 
clude the  specimen  from  competing,  and  cause  the 
withholding  of  all  premiums  awarded  the  owner  of 
such  birds. 

7.  All  birds  competing  for  premiums  must  be 
strictly  the  property  of  the  exhibitor.  Any  attempt 
to  ev.ide  this  rule  in  any  particular  will  exclude  all 
specimens  entered  by  the  offending  party  from  com- 
peting if  discovered  in  time ;  if  not,  all  premiums 
awarded  such  exhibitor  will  be  withheld. 

Rule  8.  Cards  showing  the  name  of  the  exhibitor, 
the  variety,  and  the  entry  number  will  be  attach  3d' 
to  each  coop  as  soon  as  placed  in  position. 

Rule  9.  Cards  showing  in  detail  the  number  of 
"points"  allowed  to  each  specimen  will  be  attached 
by  the  judges  to  all  coops  of  premium  birds. 

Rule  10.  The  term  "  specimen"  implies  anything 
for  which  a  premium  is  offered. 

The  term  fowl— A  specimen  hatched  prior  to  1879. 

The  term  chicken— A  specimen  hatched  during 
1879.  ^ 


The    term   cockerel 
during  1879. 
The  term  hen — A  femal 


A   male    specimen   hatched 


pecimen  hatched  prior 

The  term  pullet— A  female  specimen  hatched  dur- 
ing 1879. 

Section  Third. 

MANNER    OF    MAKING    ENTRIE.S. 

Rule  11.  All  entries  must  be  made  in  writing  and 
must  be  received  by  the  Secretary  on  or  before  . 

In  all  cases,  the  variety,  the  number  of  specimens, 
and  full  name  of  the  exhibitor  must  be  plainly  and 
explicitly  stated  on  blanks  for  that  purpose,  which 
will  be  furnished  by  the  Secretary  on  application.— 
Errors  in  making  entries  will  bar  the  specimens 
from  competing  unless  corrected  by  the  Board  of 
Direction  before  the  coops  are  placed  in  position. 

Rule  12.  In  no  case  will  an  entry  be  placed  upon 
the  books  of  the  Secretary  unless  the  full  amount  of 
fees  accompanies  the  entry  blank. 

Rule  13.  Remittances  for  entry  fees,  etc.,  must  be 
made  by  postal  order,  certified  check,  or  bank  draft, 
and  made  payable  to . 

Rule  14.  Exhibitors  need  not  accompany  their 
birds.  They  can  be  sent  direct  to  the  exhibition 
hall,  and  direction  cards  printed  for  this  purpose  will 
be  furnished  by  the  Secretary.  All  specimens  will 
be  promptly  returned  to  their  owners  at  the  close  of 
the  exhibition  or  otherwise  disposed  of,  as  thev  may 
direct. 

Rule  15.  The  hall  will  be  open  for  the  reception  of 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


139 


specimens  from  10  a.  m.  until  12  m.  All  specimens 
received  after  that  time  will  be  excluded  from  tlie 
exhibition  hall,  unless  detained  by  unavoidable  de- 
lay, in  which  ease  they  may  be  admitted  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  Executive  Committee.  Excluded 
birds  will  be  cared  for  in  the  storage  rooms. 
Section  Fourth. 

ENTRY     FEES*. 

Rule.  16.  Exhibitors  must  in  all  cases  fully  prepay 
transportation. 

Rule  11^  An  entry  fee  of  fifty  cents  will  bechargcd 
for  fowls,  and  twenty-flve  cents  for  pigeons  entered 
for  competition. 

Rule  IS.  No  entry  fee  will  charged  for  specimens 
entered  for  exhibition  or  sale,  but  a  coop  rent  of 
twenty-five  cents  will  he  charged  on  such  entries. 
Exhibitors  will  be  allowed  to  sell  at  their  own 
prices  and  no  commission  will  be  charged  by  the 
society  on  sales  made  in  the  room.  On  all  entries 
for  combination  and  special  premiums  an  additional 
charge  often  per  cent,  of  the  premium  entered  for 
will  be  required. 

Rule  19.  Exhibitors  competing  for  "Combination 
Premiums"  will  be  allowed  to  make  three  entries 
for  each  combination,  and  will  pay  an  entry  fee  of 
ten  per  cent,  for  each  entry  made.  Should  there  be 
less  than  five  entries  for  any  one  premium,  the  entry 
money  will  be  promptly  returned.  In  case  there 
should  be  less  than  ten  entries  and  more  than  five, 
the  premium  will  be  divided  in  accordance  with  the 
following  scale  : 

Combination  Premiums 

$10  PURSE,  WITH  TEN  PER  CENT.  ENTRANCE. 

Ten  or  more  entries,  first  premium,  16;  second 
premium,  $i.  Five  entries,  first  premium,  $'A ; 
second  premium,  $2. 

$5  PURSE,  WITH  TEN  PER  CENT.  ENTRANCE. 

Ten  or  more  entries,  first  premium,  ?3  ;  second 
premium,  ?2.  Five  entries,  first  premium,  $1.50  ; 
secolid  premium,  ?1. 

Section  Fifth. 

THE     .TUUGES — APPEAL.S    FROM    THEIR     DECISIONS. 

Rule  liO.  Judges  will  not  exhibit  for  competition 
in  the  classes  which  they  are  to  judge.  They  will 
award  all  the  premiums — regular,  general,  special 
and  combination— offered  in  their  respective  classes. 
As  soon  as  their  awards  are  made  for  an  entire  class 
they  will  report  their  decisions  to  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  under  its  direction  will  personally 
attach  the  premium  cards  to  the  winning  coops. 

Rule  21.  Any  interference  with  the  judges  on  the 
part  of  the  exhibitors,  or  collusion  between  them, 
will  bar  the  exhibitor  from  competing.  If  not  dis- 
covered until  the  wards  are  made,  all  premiums 
given  such  exhibitor  will  be  withheld. 

Rule  23.  No  appeals  from  the  decision  of  the 
judges  will  be  entertained  except  in  caSes  of  clearly 
proven  fraud. 

Section  Sixth. 

IN  GENERAL. 

Rule  23.  The  Executive  Committee  will  have  entire 
control  of  all  departments  of  the  exhibition,  and  no 
specimens  will  be  removed  without  Its  consent.  All 
eggs  laid  while  the  birds  are  in  the  possession  of  the 
Executive  Committee  will  be  gathered  by  the  Hall 
Committee  and  their  vitality  destroyed. 

Rule  24.  The  society  will  not  be  responsible  for 
losses  or  accidents.  The  birds  will  be  carel'uUy 
cared  for,  and  every  possible  precaution  will  be  taken 
to  prevent  damage  and  loss. 

Rule  25.  Tickets  of  admission  will  be  issued  by 
the  Secretary  as  follows  :  Single  tickets  15  cents. 
Tickets  for  children  under  12  years,  10  cents.  No 
complimentary  tickets  will  be  issued.  Members  and 
exhibitors  will  be  furnished  at  50  cents  each — not 
transferable.  Keprescnlatives  of  the  pruss  are  re- 
quested to  present  their  indcutials  to  the  Secretary, 
who  will  atford  them  every  facility  for  obtaining  offi- 
cial information. 

Special  Premiums. 

FOR  THE  BEST  VARIETT  SCORING  THE  HIIiHEST. 

For  the  best  coop  of  any  variety,  not  less  than  six 
specimens,  ?10. 

Entrance  fee  $1. 

Combination  Premiums — with  10  per  cent,  en- 
trance : 

Light  or  Dark  Brahma  cock  or  cockerel,  $10. 

Light  or  Dark  Brahma  hen  or  pullet,  $10. 

White  or  Brown  Leghorn  cock  or  cockerel,  ?10. 

While  or  Brown  Leghorn  hen  or  pullet,  $10. 

Plymouth  Rock  cock  or  cockerel,  $10. 

Plymouth  Rock  hen  or  pullet,  $10. 

(lame  cock  or  cockerel,  any  variety,  .$10. 

Game  hen  or  pullet,  any  variety,  ?10. 

Game  bantam,  cock  or  cockerel,  any  variety,  $10. 

Game  hen  or  pullet,  any  variety,  $10. 

Hamburg  cock  or  cockerel,  any  variety,  $10. 

Hamburg  hen  or  pullet,  any  variety,  $10. 

Cochin  cock  or  cockerel,  any  variety,  $10. 

Cochin  hen  or  pullet,  any  variety,  $10. 


List  of  Premiums. 

BEST  PAIR,  $2.   SECOND  BEST,  $1. 

Asiatics— Light  and  DarK  Brahmas,  White,  Black, 
Buir  and  Partridge  Cochins. 

Games— Black  Breasted  Reds,  Brown  Rede,  Yel- 
low and  Silver  Duekwing,  Red  and  White  Piles, 
Black  and  White. 

Game  Bantams— Black  Breasted  Reds,  Yellow 
and  Silver  Duekwing,  Red  and  White  Piles. 

Hamburg— Black,  Silver  and  Golden  Penciled, and 
Silver  and  Golden  Spangled. 

Spanish— Black  .Spanish  and  White  and  Brown 
Leghorns. 

American — Plymouth  Rocks  and  Dominiques. 

Polish— Any  variety. 

French— Iloudans  and  Creve  Coeurs. 

Dorkings — Any  .variety. 

Miscellaneous— Sultan  and  Frizzled. 

Bantams— Golden  and  Silver  Sebrlghts,  Roseeomb, 
White  and  Black. 

Turkeys- Bronze,  Buff,  Slate  and  White. 

Ducks— Aylesbury,  Pekin,  Rouen,  White  and  Col- 
ored Muscovy. 

Geese — Toulouse,  Crubdcn,  Egyptian  and  Hong 
Kong. 

PIGEONS — BEST  PAIR  $1 — SECOND  BEST    .50  CENTS. 

Carriers— Black,  Red  and  Dun. 

Pouters— Yellow,  Red,  Black  and  Blue,  Pied  and 
White. 

Fantails— Black,  Red,  Yellow  and  White. 

Jacobins— Black,  Yellow  and  White. 

Tumblers— Short  Faced— Almond,  Black,  Mottled, 
Beard  and  Baldhcad. 

Tumblers— Long  Faced — Any  variety. 

Turbets — Any  variety. 

Trumpeters— Black,  Yellow  and  White. 

Antwerp— Any  variety. 

African  Owls— White  and  Blue. 

Swallows— Red,  Blue  and  Black. 

English  Owls— Blue  and  Silver. 

Dragons— Any  variety. 

Magpies— Any  variety. 

Nuns — Any  variety. 

Runts — Any  variety. 

Helmet s^Any  variety. 

Moorheads — Any  variety. 

Cage  birds— Belgian  Canary,  German  Canary, 
Mockingbird ;  Talking  Parrot. 

Sundries — Best  improved  incubator  in  operation, 
$10 ;  best  Improved  coop,  $1 ;  best  poultry  water 
fountain,  50  cents. 

J.  F.  Reed  thought  that  the  matter  should  be  left 
with  the  Executive  Committee. 

H.H.Tshudy  also  thought  that  the  best  plan, 
after  hearing  the  suggestion  of  the  members. 

S.  N.  Warfel  suggested  an  entry  of  birds  not  al- 
ready on  the  list. 

Several  other  members  made  similar  suggestions. 

A  motion  was  made  by  F.  R.  DifTenderfler  that 
the  Executive  Committee  be  continued,  and  the  en- 
tire details  be  lelt  to  them,  which  was  agreed  to. 

Chus.  E.  Long  moved  that  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee be  increased  by  the  addition  of  city  members, 
as  upon  those  residing  In  the  city  the  work  at  the 
exhibition  will  fall. 

At  this  point  the  members  of  the  society  entered 
into  a  Ions;  and  exhaustive  discussion  as  to  the  initial 
steps  requisite  to  make  the  coming  exhibition  a  suc- 
cess. After  a  full  exchange  of  opinions  was  had  the 
hearty  co-operation  of  all  present  was  promised, 
measures  were  agreed  upon  which  leaves  no  doubt 
of  the  ultimate  success  of  that  step.  We  think, 
therefore,  we  can  promise  our  readers  that  some 
time  during  the  winter  they  will  have  an  opportunity 
Of  seeing  what  they  have  heretofore  been  compelled 
to  go  abroad  to  see — a  flrst-class  poultry  exhibition. 

Messrs.  Charles  E.  Long  and  John  F.  Reed,  both 
of  this  city,  had  on  hand  model  exhibition  coops, 
H  lii<'h  \vi  le  regarded  very  favorably. 

ThiTi'  lii-ing  no  further  business  before  the  Society 
a  motion  to  adjourn  was  made  and  carried. 

FULTON  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  club  met  at  E.  H.  Haines',  Fulton  township, 
on  y<ptcm\)er  6.  Members  all  present  except  Wm. 
1'.  Haines  and  Wm.  King,  whose  families  were  rep- 
resented. Visitors,  Joseph  Brosiue  and  wife  and 
Lewis  Newcomer  and  wife. 

The  minutes  of  the  preceding  meeting  were  read 
and  apinoved.     The  last  meeting  was   held   at  Day 
Wood's,  and  was  large  and  interesting. 
Exhibits  of  Farm  Products. 

Sol.  Gregg:  Two  varieties  of  peaches,  one  "Slump 
the  World,"  the  other  a  seedlinir  ;  also  a  branch  five 
inches  long  containing  seven  good  sized  pears,  of  the 
Lawrence  variety. 

MontlUion  Brown  :  Some  grapes,  which  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  honey  bee.  The  subject  had  been 
discussed  before,  but  the  bee  was  not  thought  guilty 
then  by  most  persons.  Ills  grapes  grew  near  hie 
bee  hives  and  they  were  constantly  upon  his  grajieR. 
The  i'lea  that  a  wa.sp  accompanied  the  bee  and  stung 
the  fruit  before  the  bee  attacked  it  was  advanced, 
but  the  members  were  not  decided  which  insect  made 
the  beginning.    The  bee  was,  however,  considered 


very  destructive.  Mr.  B.  also  exhibited  a  fine  speci- 
men of  white  fox  grapes. 

R.  D.  King:  lona  and  two  kinds  of  grapes  for 
name ;  one  was  Christiana,  and  the  other  no  one 
knew. 

Franklin  Tolllnger  ;  A  sample  of  timothy  seed 
from  Ohio,  which  contained  some  small  black  seed, 
but  no  one  knew  what  kind  it  was. 

Asking  and  Answering  Questions. 

J.  Brown  :  Has  any  member  a  good  set  of  grass? 

None  of  the  members  were  satisfied.  Most  of  their 
clover  looked  well  when  their  wheat  was  cut,  but  the 
hot  sun  and  dry  weather  had  killed  It. 

E.  n.  Haines  :  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  the 
Rag  Weed  ? 

Some  would  leave  It  alone.  If  they  were  going  to 
plow  in  the  spring  ;  others  <^id  not  like  to  plow  the 
weed  down.  Sonic  advised  cutting  and  hauling  Into 
the  barn  yard.  One  would  cut  and  leave  the  winter 
weather  rot  It.  If  they  were  going  to  mow  next 
summer  some  of  the  members  thought  the  weed 
would  protect  the  grass  through  the  winter.  It  was 
remarked  that  these  are  sometimes  called  "  the 
farmer's  friend."  They  also  protect  the  young  grass 
from  the  hot  sun.  Those  who  have  sheep  would 
stack  them  In  a  convenient  (jlace  for  feed  during 
winter,  preferring  them  to  hay.  One  spoke  of  using 
them  for  litter,  and  considered  them  of  more  value 
used  In  that  way  than  when  left  on  the  ground. 

Lindley  King  :  Would  you  plow  stalk  cround,  or 
cultivate  for  wheat? 

A  majority  would  cultivate  only  when  barnyard 
manure  was  used.  A  few  would  plow  a!  d  one  would 
drill  without  any  other  preparation. 

R.  D.  King  :  Which  Is  the  greater  evil  to  the  com- 
munity—the man  who  breaks  into  your  house  or 
store  and  robs  it,  or  the  man  who  sells  you  rum  ? 

This  question  created  a  lively  discussion,  and  one 
which  most  of  those  present  took  an  Interest  in. 
One  thought  it  not  a  proper  question  In  this  place; 
that  the  members  are  a  temperance  people,  so  there 
was  little  opposition.  Kum  selling  is  a  busipess 
sanctioned  by  law,  consequently  the  man  does  not 
break  the  law,  while  the  thief  does.  Rum  was  con- 
sidered the  forerunner  of  all  evils,  and  tobacco  was 
mentioned  as  second  to  it.  The  Legislators  arc  most 
to  blame,  and  those  who  vote  for  them  are  very  llttte 
better.  The  man  who  votes  for  prohibition  alone 
can  be  clear  of  the  crime. 

While  in  the  midst  of  the  discussion  the  hostess 
announced  dinner.  The  question  was  dropped,  and 
for  want  of  time  was  not  taken  up  again. 

Afternoon  Session. 

Criticisms  of  the  host's  place  were  called  for. 
Nice  cabbage  and  hogs.  A  beautiful  new  carpet 
and  bookcase,  showing  that  although  the  host  would 
complain  of  his  business  not  paying  he  was  at  least 
not  going  back. 

The  beautiful  lawn — its  walks  and  flowers — dis- 
played a  taste  for  the  beautiful ;  some  weeds  In  the 
orchard  were  noticed.  One  advised  less  labor  In  the 
yard  and  more  among  the  weeds,  but  upon  the  whole 
everything  indicated  progress.  The  host  read  a 
selection  from  the  American  Agriculturist,  entitled 
"Success  in  Farming,"  showing  the  Importance  of 
taking  care  of  the  tools,  fences,  etc.  Dogs  do  not 
make  good  gates  or  fences  and  cost  more.  A  little 
care  at  the  proper  time  will  save  a  great  deal- 
Literary  Exercises. 

Mabel  A.  Haines  recited  "Seed-time  and  Harvest," 
and  Carrie  Blackburn  "Things  I  Love."  Mabel 
Haines  read  an  article  from  the  ITomehold  MagaztTie, 
entitled  "Poetry  of  Housekeeping." 

Sadie  A.  Brown  had  received  a  communication 
from  "The  Old  Man,"  In  reply  to  one  which  was 
found  on  the  floor  under  the  chair  of  one  of  our 
most  sedate  members  at  last  meeting,  from  "The 
Old  Woman,"  complaining  that  the  young  folks  had 
made  a  surprise — a  "Golden  Wedding"  they  called 
it ;  but  it  did  not  please  her  ladyship  to  get  married 
again  before  she  was  a  widow,  at  any  rate;  and  as 
for  the  baskets  of  good  things  they  brought,  she 
was  cooking  what  would  have  been  much  better  for 
them — a  good  farm  dinner.  She  didn't  much  believe 
in  these  new-fangled  Ideas,  and,  besides,  they  tore 
her  house  upside  down,  and  all  they  brought  would 
not  pay  for  the  horse  feed . 

The  "Old  Man"  was  ashamed  of  the  "Old 
Woman,"  to  write  to  the  Club  after  the  way  she  ate 
the  good  things.  He  was  sure  people  would  con- 
clude she  had  forgotten;  but  women  are  changeable. 
For  his  part  he  was  very  well  satisfied  ;  he  feared 
they  would  need  some  of  the  good  things  for  Polly's 
funeial  dinner.  His  married  life,  he  said,  had  been 
sometimes  sunny  and  sometimes  extremely  stormy. 
He  had  noticed  the  "cats"  peep  round  the  corner 
to  see  whether  they  might  venture  in,  and  had 
adopted  the  same  plan,  and  made  it  suit  to  stay  out 
when  he  would  have  come  In.  These  were  the. 
stormy  days.  It  w.as  with  them  "love  at  first  sight," 
and  he  sometimes  blamed  Polly  for  throwing  the 
dust  in  his  eyes  ;  but,  all  things  considered,  he  would 
take  Polly  In  preference  to  anyone  else,  if  it  were 
fifty  years  ago. 


140 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  September, 


Regular  Question. 

"Is  sheep  raising  more  profitable  than  any  other 
business  farmers  can  engage  in?" 

If  farmers  depend  upon  hired  labor  sheep  were 
considered  most  profitable  ;  while  if  you  do  not  have 
to  hire,  dairying  took  precedence.  A  ewe  was  allowed 
to  gain  one  hundred  per  cent,  by  some,  while  others 
considered  it  a  very  poor  cow  which  would  not  pay 
as  much.  If  we  had  a  stringent  dog  law  sheep 
raising  would  pay.  The  "city  gunner"  makes  the 
law  and  the  farmer  submits.  If  the  farmer  has  a 
nice  flock  of  birds  or  has  squirrels  they  come  and 
shoot  them.  It  is  so  much  trouble  and  expense  to 
enforce  the  law  that  it  is  seldom  done.  You  dare  not 
set  a  snare  or  shoot  a  bird  until  a  certain  day,  and 
the  "city  gunner"  sets  the  day.  It  was  remarked  by 
one  that  the  dog  makes  sheep  raising  profitable. 
Upon  the  whole,  it  is  whatever  you  are  suited  to  that 
pays,  and  not  the  business  in  itself. 

Question  for  discussion  at  next  meeting — Will 
stock  pay  fed  upon  purchased  feed  ? 

Appointments  for  next  meeting  :  Saffle  Brown  and 
Mabel  Haines  for  selections  and  essays;  Mabel  H. 
Haines,  AUie  Gregg,  Carrie  Blackburn  and  Phebe 
King  for  recitations. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  Franklin  ToUinger's,  on  the 
first  Saturday  in  October. 


THE  LINN.ffi;AN   SOCIETY. 

A  stated  meeting  was  held  on  Saturday,  August 
20,  Vice  President  Rev.  J.  R.Dubbs,  in  the  chair. 
The  minutes  and  preliminary  opening  attended  to, 
the  following  donations  to  the  museum  were  exam- 
ined. 

Quite  a  number  of  coleoptera  and  other  insects, 
that  were  donated  by  Prof.  Miles  Rock,  and  collected 
a  few  years  ago  by  him  in  South  America,  and  neatly 
mounted  and  arranged  by  Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  (for- 
merly noticed,)  were  now  beautifully  displayed  for 
detailed  Inspection.  A  pair  of  small  gold  flsh  in  a 
bottle  ;  a  spirobolus,  a  species  of  millepede  from 
Soufh  America,  by  David  Baxter;  a  bottle  contain- 
ing the  larvse — one  the  pupte  and  another  the  imaga 
or  perfect  insect,  of  the  elm  beetle,  by  Dr.  S.  S. 
Rathvon  ;  a  gall  found  on  beech  trees  in  the  grand 
duchy  of  Baden,  and  a  bottle  of  sea  ,water,  dipped 
up  in  mid  ocean  on  his  return  home  by  Franz  Bender. 
In  a  clear  flat-sided  bottle,  a  full  sized  Attacus 
cocropia,  inserted  while  yet  soft  from  its  escape  from 
the  cocoon ;  this  now  tightly  corked  displays  the 
expanded  wings  of  this  large  and  pretty-colored 
butterfly,  and  a  new  mode  of  preservation,  per  S.S. 
Rathvon.  William  B.  Fahnestock,  through  Jacob 
StauflTer,  donated  a  variety  of  coleoptera,  hemiptera, 
hymenoptera  and  diptera ;  also  four  pretty,  small 
snakes,  one  new  to  our  collection— the  beautiful  scai- 
let  snake  Osceola  elapsoidea  (Hoi.)  The  ring-necked 
snake  Diadoplds  punctutns,  the  abdominal  scutillae 
being  beautifully  iiuirkid  with  a  central  black  spot 
on  the  whitish  >;rnuiMl  ;  ri.liir,  dark  slate  colored 
with  a  white  riim  .inmn.l  llji-  iinck  ;  occasionally  met 
with  in  LanciiftcT  ((iiiniy,  two  specimens  having  a 
dark  color,  orange  red  alidomen  and  three  yellowish 
spots  on  the  back  of  the  head.  The  Storeria  Occipi- 
tomaculata, -DOt  new  to  our  collection;  a  small  lizard, 
by  some  called  the  cameleon,  a  specimen  sent  us  by 
Mr.  Charles  Nauman,  from  Florida,  named  Anolis 
principalis  by  Prof.  E.  D.Cope;  also  a  reddish  spot- 
ted salamander,  Nothalotnus  punctahtni ;  six  small 
sized  fishes,  much  like  our  Ehinichthix  and  a  speci- 
men much  like  our  striped  bass,  called  down  South 
the  "Coneras  trout,"  but  it  is  a  percoid  fish,  and  has 
no  analogy  to  our  trouts.  This  was  caught  in  the 
Coneras  creek,  Oconee  county,  South  Carolina ;  a 
remarkable  long-legged  fly,  with  upper  joint  of  the 
taris  very  much  enlarged,  like  a  paddle  of  a  broad, 
oblong  and  obovate shape,  and  skims  upon  the  water 
with  outstretched  wings.  Mr.  Stauffer,  after  figur- 
ing it  carefully,  found  that  Prof.  Glover  has  it  also 
beautifully  figured  among  his  dipteria,  plate  1.  fig. 
16,  but  no  name  is  attached,  nor  was  it  hunted  up. 
The  doctor  also  collected  and  neatly  pressed  a  num- 
ber of  plants.  Mr.  StauflTer  has  arranged  and  named 
them  ;  some  are  new  and  not  found  in  this  locality, 
such  as  the  Shrankia  Vncinata  ;  Spigelia  Marilandi- 
ca  ;   Oeranium  Caroliiiiana,  &c. 

Mr.  Stauffer  also  presented  a  singular  fungus,  cut 
through  the  centre.  This  was  given  him  by  his 
neighbor,  Mrs.  Solomon  Sprecher,  found  growing  in 
their  garden.  Itishemisphericallyconic;  the  base  has 
centrally  a  wiry  root.  When  cut  it  presented  a  cen- 
tral core,  milk  white,  embracing  on  each  side  a  dense 
dark  granular  mass  joined  above,  and  outside  of 
this  an  amber  colored,  jelly-like  mass  of  a  shining 
and  dense  consistency,  next  the  parchment-like  epi- 
dermis. This  is  much  like  the  two  specimens  sent 
us  by  J.  C.  Haub,  September  26, 1877,  found  in  the 
crevice  of  an  ice  cellar  at  QuarryviUe.  Having  cut 
open  one  specimen,  which  was  also  figured  and 
described  by  Mr.  Stauffer,  and  the  other  sent  to  W. 
G.  Farlow,  M.  D.,  of  Boston,  our  most  noted  Fungio- 
logist,  who,  in  his  letter  of  October  18, 1877,  informs 
us  that  during  the  time  it  had  developed  into  a 
species  of  P/iailus,  of  which  genus  Mr.  StauflTer  has 
five  species  figured.  These  show  a  sack  of  jelly-like 
substance  at  the  base,  a  stout  central  stripe,  with  a 
perforated  cap  on  its  upper  end,  and  wholly  different 


from  this  puflT-ball  like  fungus  at  this  stage  In  ap. 
pearance- 

Additions  to  the  Library. 

Pamphlets  :  Collections  of  the  Old  Colony  His- 
torical Society ;  papers  read  during  the  year  1878 ; 
report  on  the  Chaco  cranium,  &c.,  by  H.  J.  HoflTman, 
M.  D.;  Moore's  Rural  Life,  No.  1,  Vol.  I,  for  1879; 
The  Lancaster  Farmer  for  July  and  August, 
1-.N79;  United  States  Patent  Office  Gazette  up  to 
August  26,  1879.  Circulars  :  Preble's  History  of  the 
Flag  of  the  United  States.  Report:  Central  Park 
Menagerie ;  Book  Catalogues,  new  publications ;  a 
copy  of  the  Cherokee  Advocate,  in  part  in  that 
language. 

Papers  Read. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon  read  a  paper  making  special 
notes  of  information  given  him  by  Prof.  Miles  Rock. 
When  here  on  a  late  visit  from  Washington,  on  see- 
ing his  collection  displayed,  pointing  to  a  large 
hemipterous  insect  of  the  Reduvian  family,  which 
the  Spaniards  call  Vinchucas.  This  secretes  itself  in 
and  about  beds,  and  is  a  bloodthirsty  villain  to  the 
poor  sleeper  who  has  been  careless  to  exterminate 
him.  This  giant  bed  bug  gorges  itself  without  dis- 
turbing the  sleeper  often,  and  a  dozen  of  them  might 
prove  fatal.  Another  was  the  luminous  beetle — the 
Elater  Noclilucus,  a  kind  of  skip-jack.  These  at 
night  emit  a  steady  phosphorescent  light.  Three  or 
more  put  in  a  bottle  will  enable  one  to  read  by  them. 
The  Spaniards  call  them  "Quco,"  and  decoy  them 
by  a  torch  light,  and  the  words  repeated,  "Quco 
toma-pan,"  that  is  Quco  take  bread  ;  but  these  night 
flyers  are  rather  attracted  by  the  light  than  the  invi- 
tation to  take  bread.  In  looking  over  them  Mr. 
Rock  associated  mHch  of  interest  which  the  memory 
brought  up  that  we  cannot  here  report.    Paper  No. 

J.  Stauffer  read  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  objects 
deposited  by  Dr.  Wm.'B.  Fahnestock,  with  remarks, 
to  put  on  file.  No.  525. 

Mr.  Rathvon  read  a  detailed  account  of  his  obser- 
vations of  the  Elm  Tree  Beetle,  to  put  on  file, 
No.  526. 

New   Business. 

Dr.  David  B.  Wilson  was  nominated  by  Dr.  Dubbs 
and  Mr.  John  Burrowes  by  J.  Stauffer,  as  active 
members.  A  balot  was  had  for  each,  and  both  were 
unanimously  elected  active  members  of  this  society. 

Mr.  Rathvon  reported,  as  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  number  and  catalogue  the  sub- 
jects in  the  museum,  that  J.  Stauffer  having  made 
accurate  drawings  of  the  cases  and  compartments 
in  and  around  both  rooms,  with  letters  and  num- 
bers, in  accordance  with  which  a  portion  have  been 
numbered  and  catalogued  in  such  divisions;  but 
much  remains  to  be  done,  and  members  are 
earnestly  requested  to  come  forward  and  assist  in 
speedily  completing  the  work. 

Under  Scientific  Miscellany. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Kevinski  made  a  verbal  report  of  a  late 
visit,  in  company  with  Mr.  J.  T.  Reading  and  Mr. 
J.  Gumpf,  to  the  blowing  cave  on  the  Susquehanna. 
On  their  way  Mr.  Henry  Yost,  near  Good's  mill, 
on  the  Pequea,  called  their  attention  to  his  luxuriant 
tobacco  patch  ;  which  surpassed  anythnig  they  had 
yet  seen  in  that  line.  They  measured  one  leaf  which 
was  50  inches  h  ng,  36  broad  quentrally  and  24  inches 
wide,  18  inches  in  from  the  ends.  Arriving  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  they  tasted  the  temperature  of 
the  Spring.  They  then  zigzagged  their  way  up  the 
hill  side,  and  inspected  the  several  openings  through 
which  a  cold  current  escapes,  and  went  up  to  the 
higher  opening.  Into  this  Jhey  descended  to  a 
ledge,  down  from  which  a  rope  ladder  was  dropped 
about  twenty  feet.  Messrs.  Reading  and  Gumpf, 
being  less  in  bulk,  could  descend,  and  found  a 
number  of  fissures  and  tortuous  galleries  In  every 
direction  and  at  various  angles  from  45°  to  80°  but 
nothing  like  an  open  chamber.  It  seems  as  if  the 
rocks  had  been  rent  and  the  seams  laid  open  by 
some  upheaval;  but  no  truly  scientific  inspection  was 
made,  only  they  found  the  temperature  the  same  as 
the  water  in  the  spring  100  feet  below  them,  and 
that  the  wind  fell  above  was  the  draft  that  entered 
beneath,  through  the  flue-like  crevices  rising  up- 
wards. 

Mr.  Kevinski,  at  the  close  of  his  remarks,  made  a 
formal  donation  of  his  case  containing  thirty  draw- 
ers now  in  the  room,  but  excepted  the  contents.  A 
vote  of  thanks  was  cordially  offered,  but  he  objected 
to  having  it  published.  A  vote  of  thanks  to  Dr.  Wil- 
liam B.  Fahnestock  and  other  contributors  was  also 
given. 

No  further  business  offering,  on  motion,  ad- 
journed. 

Soiling 
saves  fences,  one  of  the  most  expensive  features  of 
ordinary  farming;  prevents  the  seeding  of  weeds  ; 
and  keeps  stock  from  trampling  down  and  wasting 
more  fodder  than  they  eat.  It  doubles  the  amount 
of  stock  which  can  be  kept  on  any  given  amount  of 
land,  and  there  is  a  vast  increase  in  the  amount  of 
valuable  manure  that  may  be  saved.  There  is  some 
additional  labor,  but  the  returns  are  so  much  greater 
that  soiling  is  the  system  of  the  present  as  well  as 
future  agriculture. 


Entomological. 


The  Snake  Worm. 

This  singular  little  animal  is  only  met  with  occa- 
sionally, but  Its  singular  habits  never  fail  to  elicit  a 
good  deal  of  interest,  and  especially  among  the 
uninformed  or  those  who  have  seen  it  for  the  first 
time.  On  this  occasion  it  appeared  on  Thursday 
morning,  (24th)  in  the  back  yard  of  Mr.  G.  M.  Zahm 
West  Chestnut  street.  It  Is  not  a  single  worm,  as 
the  above  term  might  imply,  but  thousand^  of  small 
worms  which  mass  themselves  together  In  sections 
of  greater  or  lesser  numbers,  the  heads  of  the  one 
section  seemingly  attached  so  the  tails  of  a  preced- 
ing section,  thus  forming  a  long,  ropy,  snake-like 
procession,  and  to  keep  the  resemblance  to  a  snake, 
the  column  Is  usually  enlarged  in  the  middle  and 
tapers  toward  the  ends.  They  come  up  out  of  the 
ground,  and  move  very  slowly  ih  an  obtuse  zigzag 
or  wavy  line,  which  still  more'enhanees  their  snaky 
appearance,  and  finally  they  disappear  in  another 
locality.  Each  little  worm,  or  maggot,  is  almost  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  about  the  thick- 
ness of  a  common  knitting  needle;  their  color  Is  a 
dirty  white,  with  a  middle  longitudinal  streak  of  an 
earthy  color,  and  a  small  very  black  head.  The 
streak  is  caused  by  the  contents  of  the  stomach  seen 
through  the  translucent  tissues  and  skin  of  the 
worms.  The  whole  mass  Is  protected  from  the  sun 
by  a  shiny  secretion  from  their  bodies  similar  to  the 
protecting  slime  of  the  "pear  slug."  The  proces- 
sion of  these  worms  in  Mr.  Zahm's  yard  was  over 
three  feet  long,  and  It  moved  northeasternly,  from 
nearly  opposite  the  kitchen  door,  to  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  main  building,  where  it  ensconced 
Itself  in  a  crevice  between  the  house  wall  and  the 
paving.  We  think  it  made  a  mistake,  for  the  sun 
shone  on  them  hot  and  dry  in  the  afternoon,  and 
many  of  them  no  doubt  perished.  The  nature,  or 
object  of  these  migrations,  is  more  or  less  conject- 
ural. Some  suppose  it  is  seeking  a  more  favorable 
feeding  ground,  while  others  suppose  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  selecting  a  better  place  to  pupate  and  under- 
go final  transformations. 

These  maggots  are  the  larvae  of  small  dipterout 
insects  (two-winged  flies)  and  which  to  the  family 
of  TiPUDiDjE,  which  includes  the  craneflies, 
mosquetoes,  and  others.  The  individuals  under  con- 
sideration belong  to  the  genus  Sciara  and  although 
it  Is  difficult  to  name  them  specifically  from  the 
larva  alone,  yet  it  is  very  probable  that  they 
are  toxoneura.  There  are  many  species  of  them 
however,  and  they  are  liable  to  be  confounded. 
Some  years  ago  specimens  were  sent  from  Bethle- 
ham.  Pa.,  that  had  come  up  between  the  cracks  in 
the  floor,  of  a  part  of  a  house  under  which  there 
was  no  cellar.  It  is  diflScult  to  continue  artificially 
the  conditions  necessary  to  their  successful  develop- 
ment, and  hence — although  they  have  been  observed 
more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  on  the  continent  of 
Europe — there  is  a  lack  of  definite  knowledge  in 
reference  to  their  life,  habit,  and  transformations. 
They  have  been  observed  from  May  to  September  at 
various  periods. 


'Saddle-back  Moth." 


Dozens  of  these  insects  in  their  larva  state  have 
been  brought  to  us  during  the  past  month,  which 
were  found  feeding  on  apple,  cherry,  pear,  quince, 
plum,  rose,  cabbage,  corn,  gladlola,  willow,  currant, 
and  other  species  of  vegetation,  illustrating  the  ex- 
ceeding omnivorous  character  of  their  feeding  hab- 
its— indeed,  they  seem  to  have  been  more  numerous 
the  past  summer  than  we  have  ever  known  them  In 
any  previous  season;  or,  it  may  be  that  the  observ- 
ing habits  of  the  people  are  more  active  than  they 
have  been  at  any  other  time.  Many  of  the  people 
had  never  noticed  them  before  and  these  thought 
that  they  must  have  been  something  new  and  rare, 
and  very  pretty  withal.  There  Is  a  number  of  genera 
that  are  more  or  less  allied  to  this  insect,  and  they 
are  commonly  called  "Hag-moths."  They  belong 
to  the  section  Heterocera,  their  antennm  being 
very  variable  and  the  forms  and  habits  of  the  larva 
still  more  variable.  They  are  included  in  the  family 
CoNCHiLOPiD.*,  and  the  Genus  Empretia,  the  most 
numerous  species  of  which  is,  stimula.  The  "body 
and  forewingsof  the  moth  are  a  uniform  ferru.inous, 
with  two  small  subaplcal  white  spots,  and  in  the 
male,  two  more  near  the  base  of  the  wing  beneath 
the  median  nervure ;  but  they  are  rarely  seen  in  the 
moth  state.  The  body  of  the  larva  is  semi-cylindri- 
cal and  obliquely  truncated  at  each  end,  with  a  pair 
of  anterior  and  posterior,  long,  fleshy,  and  slenderly 
spined  horns,  and  two  smaller  pairs  beneath  them. 
That  part  of  the  body  which  is  between  the  anterior 
and  posterior  horns,  is  of  a  fine  bright  green  color, 
bordered  with  white,  with  a  central  dorsal,  oval, 
reddish  brown  patch,  bordered  with  white  and  black. 
The  lower  part  of  the  body  Is  fleshy  and  whitish, 
and  they  do  not  appear  to  have  any  forelegs,  but 
seem  to  glide  steadily  along  rather  than  walk.  The 
spines  on  the  horns  produce  an  exceedingly  painful 
sensation,  when  they  happen  to  come  In  contact 
with  the  naked  back  of  the  hand,  or  any  other 
tender  portion  of  the  body. 


1879. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


141 


Bark  Lice  on  Apple  Trees. 

Judicious  pruuing  of  the  branches,  draining  the 
land  where  the  trees  stand,  manuring  the  soil  and 
keeping  it  free  from  grass  and  weeds,  all  have  the 
elTecl  to  promote  vigorous  growth,  and  are  therefore 
useful  in  preventing  the  depredations  of  bark  lice. 
Unless  a  vigorous  growth  of  a  tree  can  be  insured  It 
is  of  little  use  to  apply  substances  to  kill  the  lice. 
The  little  lady-bird,  whose  presence  should  always 
be  welcomed  on  farms,  is  the  mortal  enemy  of  the 
bark  louse,  as  it  is  of  many  other  sorts  of  insects. 
But  hurtful  Insects  Increase  so  much  faster  than  use- 
ful birds  do  that  we  may  never  expect  to  see  the  lat- 
ter exterminate  the  former.  Indeed  no  amount  of 
cultivation  and  no  number  of  birds  ever  collected  In 
an  orchard  will  be  sullicient  to  clear  it  of  the  scale 
bark  lice,  if  they  are  geuerally  distributed  among 
the  trees. 

If  but  a  few  trees  have  bark  lice  on  them  and  they 
are  well  covered  with  them,  It  Is  best  to  cut  them 
up.  This  heroic  treatment  will  prevent  their  spread- 
ing to  other  trees.  The  time  to  kill  the  insects  is 
when  they  begin  to  hatch.  They  are  most  readily 
killed  by  applying  some  wash  to  the  bark  with  a  stiff 
brush  or  swab.  The  articles  most  highly  recom- 
mended for  killing  the  lice  are  strong  lye  made  of 
wood  ashes,  a  solution  of  caustic  soda  of  potash,  di- 
luted solX  soap,  and  a  mixture  of  lime  whitewash 
and  kerosene  oil.  If  the  latter  is  employed  the  pro- 
portions of  the  mixture  should  be  one  pint  of  kero- 
sene to  a  gallon  of  the  whitewash.  Whatever  sub- 
stances are  chosen  should  be  applied  thoroughly. 
To  insure  complete  destruction  of  the  insect  a  seeoud 
application  should  be  made  some  days  after  the  first. 

The  Cabbage  AVorm. 
Repeated  inquiries  come  to  us  for  the  best  remedy 
for  this  formidable  destroyer  of  the  cabbage.  From 
the  many  experiments  made,  we  are  Induced  to  dis- 
card the  various  applications  which  soil  or  contami- 
nate the  leaves.  When  the  plants  are  young,  and 
when  the  worms  first  make  their  appearaiice  In 
comparatively  few  numbers,  they  are  to  be  removed 
by  hand.  The  plants  may  be  cleared  as  raprdly  as 
by  the  various  applications  used,  counting  in  the 
time  in  preparation  or  procuring  these  applications. 
As  soon  as  the  heads  form,  use  hot  water.  If  any 
injury  results  from  the  heat,  it  will  be  only  to  the 
edges  of  the  outer  leaves.  The  body  of  the  head 
cannot  become  heated.  If  the  Insects  have  become 
numerous,  this  will  be  found  a  rapid  mode  for  their 
extermination.  We  are  often  asked  for  the  degree 
in  temperature  to  which  the  water  should  be  heated. 
We  cannot  give  the  precise  degree.  The  watering- 
pot  in  which  it  is  carried  will  not  retain  a  high  heat 
long,  and  the  fine  streams  of  water  from  the  rose  are 
partly  clooled  in  their  passage  through  the  air.  It  Is 
supposed  that  a  temperature  of  120°  will  kill  the 
worms,  but  a  gr^at  -r  heat  is*  better,  provided  the 
cabbage  leaves  are  not  scorched.  Some  practice  is 
required  to  do  the  work'right,and  the  operator  may 
experiment  on  a  few  small  heads,  or  else  begin  with 
warm  water  and  gradually  Increase  the  temperature. 
In  a  little  time  he  will  learn  to  apply  the  water  as  it 
should  be.  Immediately  after  filling  the  watering- 
pot,  when  the  water  is  hot,  he  will  give  a  quick  or  in 
Btantaneous  dash,  and  this  will  be  sufficient  to  de- 
stroy all  the  worms;  after  the  water  has  partly  cooled, 
the  washing  will  continue  longer.  The  great  advan 
tage  of  this  treatment  is  that  the  cabbages  are  left 
perfectly  clean. — Country  Gentleman. 


The  Origin  of  Wheat  in  America. 

It  Is  diflicult  in  tlic  pretfut  day  to  realize  the  fact 
that  wheat  was  at  one  time  unknown  In  America  ; 
yet,  prior  to  the  discovery  of  that  continent  by 
Columbus  there  was  no  cereal  In  America  approach- 
ing in  nature  to  the  wheat  plant.  It  was  not,  ob- 
serves the  American  Miller,  until  1530  that  wheat 
found  Its  way  into  Mexico,  and  then  only  by  chance. 
A  slave  of  Cortez  found  a  few  grains  of  wheat  in  a 
parcel  of  rice  and  showed  them  to  his  master,  who 
ordered  them  to  be  planted.  The  result  showed  that 
"fsw heat  would  thrive  well  on  Mexican  soil;  and  to- 
day one  of  the  finest  wheat  valleys  In  the  world  is 
near  the  Mexican  capital.  From  Mexico  the  cereal 
found  Its  way  to  I'eru.  Maria  D'Escobar,  wife  of 
Don  Diego  de  Chauves,  carried  a  few  graijis  to  Lima, 
which  were  planted,  the  entire  product  being  used 
for  seed  for  several  successive  crops.  At  Quito, 
Ecuador,  a  monk  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis,  by  the 
name  of  Fray  Jodost  Bixi,  Introduced  the  new  cereal; 
and  it  Is  said  that  the  jar  which  contained  the  seeds 
is  still  preserved  by  the  monks  of  Quito.  Wheat 
was  introduced  into  the  present  limits  of  the  United 
States  contemporaneously  with  the  settlement  of  the 
country  by  the  English  and  Dutch  .-/'oH  Mall  Oazctte. 


Toads. 

Many  gardeners  already  appreciate  the  valuable 
services  of  the  common  toad,  and  afford  them  pro- 
tection for  their  insect-destroying  propensities, 
while  as  many  more,  perhaps,  are  ignorant  of  their 
usefulnsss.  To  the  latter  class  It  may  be  Interesting 
to  know  that  toads  live  almost  wholly  upon  slugs, 
caterpillars,  beetles,  and  other  insects,  making  their 
rounds  at  night  when  the  farmer  is  asleep — and  the 
birds,  too — and  the  insects  are  supposed  to  be  having 
it  all  their  own  way.  English  gardeners  understand 
these  facts  so  well  .that  toads  are  purchased  at  so 
much  a  dozen,  and  turned  loose,  and  the  best  of  It  is 
that  the  toads  generally  stay  at  home,  so  that  the 
garnener  is  not  troubled  with  buying  his  toads  over 
again  every  few  days 

The  toad  can  be  tamed,  and  will  even  learn  to 
know  "its  master,"  and  will  come  when  called  ;  the 
writer  has  not  only  had  such  pets  himself,  but  could 
give  other  instances  of  toad  taming  that  have  come 
under  his  observation.  Toads  can  be  made  very 
useful  about  the  house,  and  will  do  no  little  good  in 
destroying  cockroaches,  flies  and  other  household 
pests.— iV.  r.  Tribune. 


Self-Binding  Reapers. 
The  self-binding  reaper  was  brought  into  use  In 
1874,  when  fifty  tons  of  wire  were  required  for 
binding  sheaves;  in  1875,  :J40  tons;  In  lS7f;,  2,800; 
in  1877,  6,500  tons  ;  In  1878,  H,000  tons.  This  last 
amount  is  quite  as  much  as  all  of  the  wire  which 
was  manuufactured  in  this  country  in  I860.— Atlaii- 
tic  Monthly. 


Agriculture. 


Grass  as  a  Renovator. 

Many  farmers  labor  for  years.  Ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  a  close,  well-set  sod  is  the  foundation  of  good 
farming  and  the  basis  of  good  crops.  Soil  that  will 
produce  an  immediate  and  firm  set  of  grass,  will 
liring  a  good  crop  of  any  kind.  There  is  no  better 
way  to  test  the  producing  capacity  of  the  soil  than 
by  its  grass  production.  If  a  field  yields  a  scant 
grass  crop,  and  is  uneven  or  full  of  barren  spots.  It 
will  not  be  safe  to  depend  on  such  soil  for  any  other 
crop  without  extra  heavy  manuring,  and  even  then 
the  crop  is  not  of  so  great  certainty  as  if  the  ground 
was  covered  with  a  firm  sod  at  plowing  time.  There 
is  something  in  a  heavy  sod  that  will  perfect  a  crop 
even  in  an  unfavorable  season.  I  never  have  failed 
of  a  good  crop  on  such  land.  Soil  will  soon  be  reno- 
vated after  partial  deterioration,  if  grass  can  be 
densely  set  on  the  surface;  and  this  mode  of  renova- 
tion, I  claim,  is  the  quickest,  surest  and  cheapest  o% 
any.  There  never  was  a  mistake  made  so  full  of  loss 
to  the  farmer  as  to  allow  naturally  good  soil  to  dete- 
riorate at  all;  and  when  the  farmers  understand  and 
act  on  this  principle,  our  productions  will  never  fall 
below  an  average,  or  even  to  this  point. — Cor. 
Country  Oentleman. 


Fall  Ploughing. 
The  better  the  preparation  of  the  ground  the  bet- 
ter the  crop.  The  high  average  yield  of  the  English 
farms  is  no  doubt  largely  due  to  the  thorough  prep- 
aration of  the  ground  before  seeding.  Our  climate 
is  superior  to  that  of  England  for  wheal  growing; 
yet  a  yield  of  64  bushels  per  acre  is  not  at  all  infre- 
quent among  good  farmers  there,  while  here  40 
bushels  per  acre  is  an  unusual  yield.  Two  plough- 
ings,  several  harrowings  and,  in  many  cases,  rolling 
or  crushing,  and  the  excellent  preparation  of  the 
soil  by  a  previous  root  crop,  must  have  a  much  bet- 
ter effect  upon  the  soil  than  one  ploughing,  very 
poorly  done,  because  of  the  hardness  and  dryness  of 
our  soil  In  midsummer,  and  very  imperfect  harrow- 
ing. It  might  be  well  for  us  to  lay  out  more  labor 
on  our  wheat  crop,  and  so  prepare  the  ground  bet- 
ter, and  raise  our  average  from  12  to  at  least  20 
bushels  per  acre.  The  difference  In  the  amount  of 
wheat  at  harvest  would  pay  for  a  good  deal  of  extra 
work  in  ploughing,  etc.,  and  yet  leave  a  profit; 
beside  the  soil  would  not  forget  the  generous  treat- 
ment in  one  year  nor  two. 


For  Pennsylvania  Farmers. 

Since  the  1st  of  August  every  package  of  com- 
mercial fertilizers  offered  for  sale  in  this  Common- 
wealth must  have  plainly  stamped  thereon  the  name 
and  the  place  of  the  manufacturer,  the  net  weight  of 
its  contents  and  an  analysis  stating  the  percentage  of 
nitrogen  or  its  equivalent  in  ammonia  In  an  available 
form,  of  potash  soluble  in  water,  or  soluble  and  re- 
verted phosphoric  acid  and  of  insoluble  phosphoric 
acid.  Under  the  act  the  term  commercial  fertilizers 
applies  to  any  and  every  substance  imported,  manu- 
factured or  sold  for  fertilizing  or  manuring  purposes, 
except  barnyard  manure,  marl,  lime  and  wood  ashes. 
All  other  preparations  sold  as  fertilizers  come  under 
the  provisions  of  the  new  law,  and  It  must  be  of 
great  value  to  both  consumers  and  honest  manufac- 
turers and  dealers.  With  the  protection  against 
spurious  fertilizers  guaranteed  to  farmers  under  the 
act  the  sale  of  useful  artificial  manures  must  be 
greatly  increased. 

Treatment  of  a  Worn-out  Meadow. 
Meadows  that  have  been  run  down,  become  so 
bound  or  covered  with  moss,  sorrel,  or  other  weeds, 
may  be  renovated  without  plowing.  The  old  sod 
needs  to  be  disturbed,  but  a  thorough  harrowing  or 
chopping  of  the  surface  with  a  disk  harrow  will  dis- 


turb It  sufficiently  without  plowing.  Fresh  seed  is 
needed,  and  a  dressing  of  lime  may  in  many  cases 
be  all  that  Is  required  In  the  way  of  a  fertilizer.  If 
it  can  be  afforded,  a  moderate  quantity  of  fine  ma- 
nure, used  as  a  top-dressing,  and  harrowed  in  just 
before  sowing,  will  be  of  great  benefit.  The  work 
may  be  done  at  any  time  before  September,  so  that 
the  grass  and  clover,  the  latter  more  particularly, 
should  be  well  set  before  severe  fronts  occur.  Orchard- 
Grass  will  thrive  upon  soils  that  are  not  rich  eqougb 
for  timothy;  but  It  is  better  to  have  the  ground  good 
enough  for  the  latter  even  if  the  former  Is  to  be 
sown.  Grass  Is  a  crop  for  which  tlie  soil  can  not  be 
too  rich,  for  if  the  growth  is  excessive  It  can  be  cut 
at  any  time  and  made  Into  hay  or  fed  green. 

Minnesota's  Wheat  Crop. 
The  returns  from  the  Thrashers  furnish  a  basis  for 
an  estimate  of  the  probable  yield  of  wheat  in  this 
Slate.  The  whole  average  Is  much  better  than  last 
year,  but  lower  than  was  expected.  The  early  wheat 
is  the  poorest  in  the  southern  counties,  where  the 
average  yield  Is  from  ten  to  twelve  bushels,  and 
steadily  improves  to  the  north,  till  it  reaches  twenty 
to  twenty-five  in  the  Red  Kiver  Valley.  The  grade 
will  be  largely  No.  2  in  the  south  and  No.  1  in  the 
north.  A  conservative  estimate  places  the  average 
In  two-thirds  of  the  wheat  area  in  the  State  at  thir- 
teen bushels  per  acre,  and  In  the  remainder  at  seven- 
teen. This  would  give  40,000,000  bushels  as  a  whole 
crop,  and  more  than  half  of  It  No.  1. 


O.^ts  and  Wheat. 

The  experiment  has  been  made  of  sowing  oats  and 
wheat  together  with  a  view  to  gaining  a  winter  cov- 
ering for  the  wheat.  The  seed,  In  the  proportion  of 
one  part  of  oats  to  two  parts  of  wheat  was  sown  In 
the  fall  and  the  oats  sprang  up  quickly  and  were 
killed  by  the  early  frosts,  the  stalks  and  leaves  lying 
on  the  ground  all  winter,  keeping  the  snow  from 
blowing  away  and  preventing  the  tun  from  thawing 
the  frozen  ground.  In  the  spring  the  dead  oats  made 
a  good  top  dressing  for  the  growing  wheat.  The  crop 
of  wheal  secured  on  the  following  season  was  re- 
ported to  be  excellent,  while  wheat  on  adjoining 
land,  planted  in  the  usual  manner,  was  of  no  value. 
ticrihner  for  September . 


Storing  Hay. 
When  properly  cured,  hay  keeps  the  best  in  a  largt 
mow  in  which  it  has  been  thoroughly  packed.  Hay 
thrown  up  loose  on  a  scaffold  loses  that  aroma  and 
freshness  which  characterizes  that  from  the  center  of 
a  large  mow.  Hay  docs  not  demand  the  large  spaces 
between  the  outside  boards  of  many  barns  in  order 
to  preserve  it.  Put  the  boards  close  together  and 
keep  out  the  air  and  rain,  and  save  the  hay,  which 
would  otherwise  spoil  by  weather  staining.  It  looks 
better,  too. 


Horticulture. 


Pruning  Fruit  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

We  read  a  great  deal  about  tlic  proper  lime  of 
pruning  trees,  and  especially  the  apple  tree.  Some 
prefer  fall,  some  mid-winter,  some  early  spring,  but 
scarcely  one  recommends  the  very  best  time  in  our 
humble  opinion — mid-summer.  Doubtless  some  old 
fogies  will  open  their  eyes  and  hold  up  their  hands  at 
such  an  innovation,  and  denounce  it  as  an  absurdity; 
but  we  think  we  will  be  sustained  by  a  majority  of 
the  "live"  men  of  the  day. 

If  we  desire  to  improve  the  form  of  a  fruit  treeand 
get  rid  of  some  of  the  superfiuous  wood,  we  should 
prune  in  winter;  but  If  we  dssire  fruit  and  a  perfectly 
healed  stump,  we  should  prune  from  the  fifteenth  of 
June  to  the  twentieth  of  July.  We  have  done  this 
often  with  the  happiest  results.  The  fruit-beds  form 
after  this,  and  the  operation  In  suddenly  cutting  off 
its  growth  produces  buds,  while  the  winter  or  early 
spring  pruning  will  produce  only  wood. 

In  pruning  ornamental  trees  in  midsummer,  the 
bark.  Instead  of  receding  from  the  stump,  grows 
over  it,  and  in  a  few  years  will  completely  cover  it 
and  make  a  perfect  amputation.  We  have  noticed 
this  upon  our  own  premises  as  well  as  upon  those  of 
others  many  times.  This  pruning  is  done  when  the 
tree  Is  taking  its  mid-summer  "siesta,"  and  then 
wakes  up,  refreshed  for  another  start,  and  the  bark 
gradually  steals  over  the  stump  as  If  ashamed  of 
the  shabby  looking  exposure. 

When  the  tree  Is  In  full  leaf,  and  presents  its  full 
form  to  us,  we  can  see  exactly  where  the  pruning 
should  be  done,  in  order  that  while  the  overgrowth 
may  be  removed,  the  symmetry  of  the  tree  may  be 
preserved.  Especially  is  mid-summer  pruning  to  be 
preferred,  first,  to  produce  buds  on  fruit-bearing 
trees  as  before  stated;  and  second  when  large  limbs 
are  to  be  removed. 


Currant  Culture. 


The  currant  worm  has  played  havoc  with  one  of 
our  most  productive  and  healthful  fruits.  The  con- 
sequence is  that  the  price  of  currants  have  quad- 


442 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  September, 


rupled  with  a  few  years.  Those  market  gardeners 
who  have  fought  the  worm  with  persistence  are  re- 
ceiving from  15  to  20  cents  a  quart  against  4  and  5 
cents  received  in  former  years.  Then  again,  instead 
of  the  small  currant,  improved  and  larger  varieties 
are  cultivated.  The  Ked  and  White  Dutch  and 
Cherry  varieties  are  a  vast  improvement  on  the  old 
berry.  The  size  of  the  Cherry  will  always  give  it  an 
extra  value  in  market,  but  for  the  family  there  is 
nothing  superior  to  the  old  standard  Red  and  White 
Dutch.  Currants  will  grow  in  any  soil  where  corn 
grows.  The  fruit,  however,  is  best  in  a  rich  sandy 
loam,  kept  well  pulverized  and  free  from  weeds.  It 
is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  fruit  growing  that  high 
cultivation  increases  the  pulp  and  lessens  the  seed. 
Wood  ashes  make  the  best  fertilizer  for  currants. 
Where  ashes  are  not  to  be  had,  the  bushes  should  be 
mulched  wi'h  leaves  or  leaf  mold.  The  best  mode 
of  propagating  is  by  slips  or  cuttings.  The  slips,  a 
foot  long,  may  be  cut  in  the  fall  and  planted  imme- 
diately where  they  are  desired  to  grow  permanently, 
or  thickly  in  some  day  soil  where  they  can  be  left  till 
spring.  The  worm  has  done  less  damage  than  usual 
this  season  than  heretofore;  all  that  is  needed  to 
rout  him  is  a  complete  peppering  with  helleboie.  As 
no  fruit,  not  even  apples,  is  more  easily  raised,  and 
as  the  money  returns  are  more  compensating,  an 
extensive,  well-cared  for  patch  of  currants  will  cer- 
tainly pay  handsomely. 


The  Blackberry. 

The  blackberry  requires  nearly  the  same  treatment 
as  the  raspberry  ;  but  being  a  more  rampant  grower 
it  should  have  more  room,  and  needs  more  pruning 
or  pinching.  The  distances  of  the  rows  may  be  6  to  S 
feet  apart,  and  the  plant,  if  kept  single,  two  feet  in 
the  row.  Sometimes  they  are  allowed  to  grow 
thickly  or  in  a  continuous  line,  in  which  case  they 
should  be  well  cultivated  and  properly  pruned.  Con- 
stant cultivation  is  always  better  than  much  manur- 
ing. Pruning  the  blackberry  is  commonly  but  little 
understood.  We  hear  comp  aints  of  the  rambling 
and  straggling  growth  of  the  bush,  extending  across 
alleys,  tearing  dresses,  at  the  same  time  proving  un- 
productive. This  is  owing  to  a  neglect  of  summer 
pruning.  As  soon  as  the  new  shoots  have  reached 
2J4  or  3  feet  in  height  the  ends  should  be  pinched  ofl' 
with  the  thumb  and  finger,  which  will  cause  the 
protrusion  of  laterals.  These  in  turn  are  to  be 
pinched  off  when  they  have  grown  from  12  to  18 
Inches.  It  will  be  necessary  to  pass  along  the  rows 
every  two  weeks  in  doing  this  work,  as  new  shoots 
will  be  constantly  thrown  out  during  the  entire  sum- 
mer. The  plants,  being  thus  kept  within  bounds, 
will  present  neat,  compact  and  productive  bushes, 
instead  of  the  unproductive  stragglers,  as  if  left  un- 
touched. 

Famous  Apples   of   Lancaster   County 

Origin. 
Charles  Downing,  of  Newburgh,  N.  T.,  the 
famous  horticulturist,  writes  to  the  Countrij  Qen- 
tlenian  that  inquirtrs  after  the  history  of  the  Belmont 
or  Gate  apple  will  tind  it  in  the  transactions  of  the 
Ohio  fruit  growers  and  nurserymen,  held  at  Co- 
lumbus in  September,  1S47.  The  following  is  an 
extract;  "The  residence  of  Mamma  Beam,  mother 
of  Jacob  Nessley,  sr.,  was  uear  Strasburg,  Lan- 
caster county.  Pa.  The  Gate  apple  is  from  a  seed- 
ling which  grew  at  her  gate,  from  which  circum- 
stance it  was  called  by  the  family  the  'Gate  apple,' 
though  by  the  neighbors  it  was  called  Mamma 
Beam,  after  the  old  lady.  It  was  brought  to  the 
Ohio  river,  above  Steubenville,  by  Jacob  Nesslev,  sr. 
a  nurseryman,  about  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  and  propagated  throughout  the 
West."  Dr.  J.  K.  Eshleman,  who  introduced  the 
beautifnl  and  excellent  "Fanny"  apple  informed 
Mr.  Downing  that  it  originated  within  one  hundred 
yards  from  where  the  Gate  apple  did,  and  on  prop- 
erty formerly  owned  by  Jacob  Beam. 

Huckleberries. 

Speaking  of  the  culture  of  berries,  the  Massachu- 
setts Plottylitnan  says  :  "Tlie  culture  of  the  straw- 
berry has  been  carried  to  such  perfection  that  it  has 
become  a  staple  article  of  produce  as  much  as  corn 
or  potatoes.  The  blackerry  is  fast  coming  into  gene- 
ral favor.  Huckleberries  have  been  popular  from 
our  earliest  recollection,  yet  we  know  of  but  few  in- 
gtances  where  any  of  our  market  gardners  have  tried 
to  improve  any  of  the  numerous  varieties  which  can 
be  found  wild  on  almost  any  hillside.  If  the  wild 
strawberry  can  be  made  to  produce,  by  cultivation, 
such  fruits  as  we  have  seen  in  the  markets  this  sea- 
son, cannot  the  huckleberry  be  made  to  grow  pro- 
portionately large  ?  We  hope  those  of  our  market 
gardeners  who  have  not  already  begun,  will  give 
this  small  fruit  the  attention  it  deserves." 


Hotbeds  with  Muslin  Sashes. 
RufuB  Mason  in  the  Cincinnati  Orani/e  Bulletin 
says  :  "Three  years'  experience  with  muslin  sashes, 
where  the  thermometer  ranges  from  twenty  degrees 
below  zero  to  seventy  degrees  above,  satisfies  me  of 
their  superiority.    I  make  a  frame  of  one  and  one- 


fourth  inch  stuff  with  a  single  bar  of  the  same  size 
down  the  middle,  cover  it  with  common,  heavy, 
unbleached  muslin;  paint  it  over  two  coats  with 
boiled  linseed  oil  and  find  it  far  better  than  glass. 
Have  had  no  freezing  or  scalding,  but  better  colored 
plants,  more  stocky,  and. better  able  to  withstand 
early  transplanting.  After  the  hotbed  is  filled 
with  manure,  lay  in  the  soil  so  as  to  come  within 
three  inches  of  the  muslin,  sloping  exactly  as  it 
does.  As  the  season  advances  the  bed  will 
settle  about  as  fast  as  the  growth  of  the  plant 
requires  it.  This  plan  prevents  the  plants  from 
becoming  long-legged,  which  is  the  main  cause  of 
the  slow  aftergrowth,  and  in  the  cabbage  family,  of 
so  many  plants  failing  to  make  solid  head." 

Pruning  Grape  Vines. 

Trim  in  autumn  after  the  first  hard  frost.  Re- 
move tlie  ojd  wood  as  much  as  possible,  leaving  six 
canes  of  present  summer's  growth  which  are  the 
largest  and  most  thrifty,  and  as  near  the  base  of  the 
vine  as  canbe  found.  All  of  the  other  wood  is  cut 
out,  being  probably  fully  nine-tenths  of  that  which 
is  on  the  vine.  This  comprises  all  of  the  trimming 
needed  for  the  whole  year,  with  the  exception  of 
removing  the  extra  buds  in  spring.  Go  through  the 
vineyard  often  to  see  if  anything  is  amiss,  and  to 
admire  the  magnificent  bunches  of  fruit  as  they  are 
growing,  but  scrupulously  avoid  handling  them,  as 
Dame  Nature  has  provided  a  delicate  bloom  for  a 
covering,  which,  if  rubbed  off,  destroys  the  luscious 
ripening  process. 

The  Quince. 

The  quince,  of  the  fine  old  orange  variety,  is  mak- 
its  appearance  in  our  markets  from  California,  and 
commands  a  good  price.  Their  cultivation  has  been 
generally  abandoned  in  this  region,  owing  to  the  dep- 
redations of  the  worms  in  the  roots.  As  the  roots  are 
at  the  very  surface  of  the  ground  it  is  difficult  to 
protect  them  by  covering,  as  we  have  suggested  the 
dwarf-pear  should  be,  the  stock  of  which  is  quince. 
There  is  no  other  way  to  dislodge  the  worm  than  by 
ferreting  them  out  twice  a  year  with  a  wire.  The 
only  other  way  to  get  quinces  is  to  let  the  worm 
alone  in  its  operatious  and  always  have  a  fresh  lot 
of  trees  coming  on.  They  will  bear  six  years  before 
Requiring  renewal. 

Suckers  Around  Apple  Trees 

are  permitted  in  some  neglected  orchards,  disfiguring 
the  trees  and  doing  them  harm.  Now  is  the  time  to 
clear  them  oif,  and  so  that  they  will  not  sprout  again. 
Seize  them  by  the  tops  with  both  hands,  place  the 
cowhide  boot  which  you  wear  upon  them,  between 
the  sucker  and  tree,  and  one  stamp  with  the  foot 
and  corresponding  jerk  with  the  hands  will  tear 
them  off  at  the  base.  If  too  large  cut  them  out 
with  a  gouge  and  mallet  ;  do  not  leave  a  stub  to 
sprout  again. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Breakfast    Bacon. 

There  is  something  sensible  in  the  suggestion  con- 
tained in  the  following  article  which  we  clip  from 
ihe  Western  Stock  J ournal .  There  is  no  good  reason 
why  farmers  should  not  have  the  choicest  and  most 
substantial  food  in  the  land — unless  it  be  that  lack 
of  skill  necessary  for  properly  preparing  the  mater- 
ials is  a  good  reason.     We  quote: 

"For  country  town  or  village,  the  most  convenient 
and  to  many  persons  acceptable  dish  for  the  morning 
meal  is  breakfast  bacon.  Yet,  while  it  is  charged 
upon  the  farmer  that  he  lives  upon  pork,  breakfast 
bacon,  that  which  is  worthy  of  the  name,  is  seldom 
seen  upon  the  farmer's  table.  In  any  first-class 
hotel  in  the  larger  cities  it  is  regularly  found  upon 
the  bill  of  fare,  and  to  say  that  it  is  a  popular  dish  is 
the  least  we  can  say.  But  mind  you,  these  houses 
don't  buy  the  tough,  flabby  old  meat  known  among 
the  soldiers  as  "sow  belly,"  nor  the  thick,  greasy, 
over  salted  and  over-smoked  sides  of  a  three-year 
old,  four  hundred  pound  hog.  The  farmer's 'wife 
who  reads  this,  and  knows  not  of  the  reputation 
which  the  standard  bill  of  fare  breakfast  bacon  has 
before  travelers  and  what  are  termed  genteel  board- 
ers, is  ready  to  ask:  "Well,  tell  us  exactly  what  it 
is?"  We  will  tell  you  how  to  make  it.  When  new 
corn  is  ready  to  feed,  select  two  or  three  early  spring 
pigs  that  are  strictly  healthy,  yet  are  thin  in  flesh. 
Feed  these  up  rapidly,  thus  causing  the  fiesh  to  be 
tender.  At  butchering  time  take  the  sides  and  hams, 
and  the  shoulders  if  you  like,  into  your  own  keeping. 
Sugar-cure  these  in  the  most  careful  manner,  using 
plenty  of  sugar,  and  a  small  amount  each  of  salt 
and  saltpetre;  after  being  about  six  weeks  in  this 
preparation,  smoke  moderately,  not  for  a  month  or 
two,  steady,  until  the  meat  is  as  brown  as  the  skin 
of  a  mulatto,three-fourth6  black,but  gently  browned, 
and  having  the  flavor  of  the  curing  process  slightly 
through  the  meat.  Do  not  pursue  that  abominable 
practice  of  leaving  the  meat  in  the  smoke-house  to 
be  treated  to  a  heavy  dose  of  smoke  once  a  week,  to 
keep  the  flies  away,  but  encase  each  piece  separately 


in  heavy  paper  and  pack  away  in  dry  wood  ashes. 
When  wanted,  take  one  piece  at  a  time  from  the 
storage  place.  Cut  thin,  not  half  so  thick  as  the 
ordinary  farmer's  bacon  is  cut.  Broiling  is  better 
than  frying,  and  as  the  saying  is,  "  do  it  nicely,  and 
if  you  have  prepared  the  bacon  and  hams  from  two 
such  pigs  as  a  first  venture,  you  will  need  to  double 
the  allowance  for  the  next  season. 

Hints  for  the  Kitchen. 

If  your  coal  fire  is  low,  throw  on  a  tablespoonful 
of  salt,  and  it  will  help  it  very  much. 
A  little  ginger  put  into  sausage  meat  improves  the 

In  boiling  meat  for  soup,  use  cold  water  to  extract 
the  juices.  If  the  meat  is  wanted  for  itself  alone, 
plunge  in  boiling  water  at  once. 

You  can  get  a  bottle  or  barrel  of  oil  off  any  carpet 
or  woolen  stuff  by  applying  dry  buckwheat  plenti- 
fully. Never  put  water  to  such  a  grease  spot,  or 
liquid  of  any  kind. 

Broil  steak  without  salting.  Salt  draws  the  juices 
in  cooking;  it  is  desirable  to  keep  these  in  if  possible. 
Cook  over  a  hot  fire,  turning  frequently,  searing  on 
both  sides.     Place  on  a  platter;  salt  and  pepper  to 

Beef  having  a  tendency  to  be  tough  canbe  made 
very  palatable  by  stewing  gently  for  two  hours, 
with  pepper  and  salt.  Taking  out  about  a  pint  of 
the  liquor  when  half  done,  and  letting  the  rest  boil 
into  the  meat.  Brown  the  meat  in  the  pot.  After 
taking  up,  make  a  gravy  of  the  piU  of  liquor  saved. 
•  A  small  piece  of  charcoal  in  the  pot  with  boiling 
cabbage  removes  the  smell. 


Care  of  Farm  Implements. 
For  farm  implements  of  all  kinds  having  metal 
surface  exposed,  for  knives  and  forks  and  other 
household  apparatus,  indeed  for  all  metals  likely  to 
be  injured  by  oxidation  or  "rusting,"  we  know  of  no 
simpler  or  more  effective  application  than  that  fur- 
nished by  the  late  Professor  Olmstead.  He  used  it 
on  air  pump  telescopes  and  various  other  apparatus. 
Take  any  quantity  of  good  lard,  and  to  every  half- 
pound  or  so  add  of  common  resin  (rosin)  an  ampunt 
about  equal  to  half  the  size  of  an  egg  or  less — a  lit- 
tle more  or  less  is  of  no  consequence.  Melt  them 
slowly  ^together,  stirring  as  they  cool.  Apply  this 
with  acloth  or  otherwise,  just  enough  to  give  a  thin 
coating  to  the  metal  surface  to  be  protected.  It  can 
be  wiped  off  nearly  clean  from  the  surface,  where  it 
will  be  undesirable,  as  in  the  case  of  knives  and 
forks,  etc.  The  resin  prevents  rancidity,  and  the 
mixture  obviates  a  ready  access  of  air  and  moisture. 
A  fresh  application  maybe  needed  when  the  coating 
is  washed  off  by  the  friction  of  beating  storms  or 
otherwise.  There  was  talk  of  patenting  this  receipt 
at  one  time,  but  Professor  Olmstead  decided  to  pub- 
lish it  for  the  general  good. 


No  Eggs  so  Good  as  Fresh  Ones. 
For  the  life  of  me  I  cannot  see  the  sense  in  pack- 
ing eggs  for  winter  use,  when,  with  proper  care, 
Brahma,  Cochin  or  Plymouth  Rock  hens  will  keep 
the  family  supplied  with  fresh-laid  eggs.  I  have 
tried  all  the  ways  that  I  ever  heard  of,  but  never 
succeeded  in  keeping  eggs  over  three  months.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  they  were  good  for  eating,  bet- 
ter than  half  the  "fresh"  eggs  sold  in  cities,  but 
still  I  could  tell  them  from  new-laid  eggs.  At  the 
end  of  six  mouths  they  "would  do"  for  cooking — if 
you  could  get  none  better — but  it  was  like  "tolera- 
ble" oysters.  After  they  had  been  in  pickle  eight 
months  I  scrambled  some  (they  looked  best  that 
way),  and  tried  to  eat  them,  but  my  stomach  re- 
volted. 


Household  Recipes. 


Spiced  Cantaleup.— We  prefer  the  rough  skin, 
firm  fruit,  though  ripe.  Take  out  the  seed,  cut  and 
pare,  then  cover  the  whole  quantity  with  good  cider 
vinegar.  We  use  a  large  earthen  crock  and  let  it 
stand  dver  night.  Next  morning  measure  the  vine- 
gar and  throw  away  half  of  it.  Then  to  every  quart 
that  is  left  add  three  pounds  of  sugar,  and  put  it  on 
the  stove  with  the  fruit,  and  let  it  simmer  until  you 
think  it  is  done.  1  think  we  did  ours  over  two  hours. 
Don't  forget  to  cook  with  it  half  an  ounce  of  cloves 
and  one  oiince  of  cinnamon.  I  suppose  that  amount 
of  spice  to  every  quart  of  juice  is  the  right  way,  but 
I  only  put  thiit  quantity  to  five  pints  of  juice  or 
vinegar.  I  also  use  white  vinegar,  and  think  it  cheap 
as  any.  I  know  a  good  cook  who  does  the  most  of 
her  spicing  and  preserving  in  tin  pans,  and  I  followed 
her  example  and  had  no  trouble;  there  is  more 
danger  of  burning  preserves. — Becky,  in  Qerman- 
towH  Telegraph. 

Grape  Wine. — As  this  is  now  the  season  for 
making  grape  wine,  I  send  you  the  following  recipe, 
which  is  so  simple  and  produces  such  excellent  wine, 
that  I  hope  every  one  having  grapes  will  try  it : 

Five  Gallons  IFme.— Express  the  juice  from 
twenty  pounds  grapes,  rinse  the  pulp  and  skins  in  as 
much  water  as  will  cover  them,  mash  them  and 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


143 


strain  through  a  coarse  cloth,  add  this  to  the  juice 
and  put  in  two  pounds  of  brown  sugar  to  each  gal- 
lon; when  the  sugar  is  dissolved,  pour  the  whole 
into  a  keg,  having  the  bung  open,  and  let  ii  stand 
where  the  temperature  will  be  about  70  degrees  until 
fermentation  ceasei ;  then  bung  tight,  and  let  it  rest 
for  a  month  to  settle,  when  it  should  be  drawn  off 
quietly,  the  keg  well-washed,  and  the  wine  returned 
to  it,  adding  one  pound  good  raisins;  and  if  the  wine 
docs  not  seem  sweet  enough  two  pounds  sugar  may 
be  added  to  the  whole.  The  necessity  of  doing  this 
depends  upon  the  kind  and  quality  of  the  grapes. 

The  wine  should  remain  until  the  keg  is  wanted 
the  next  season,  when  it  may  be  bottled  for  use. — M. 
H.  a.,  Oermantown  Telegraph. 

Cheese  Pudding.— Melt  half  an  ounce  of  fresh 
butter  in  a  sauce-pan,  stir  into  a  tablcspoonful  ol 
flour;  when  the  two  are  well  amalgamated  put  in  a 
■small  quantity  of  milk  and  about  three  ounces  of 
grated  Parmesan  cheese.  Stir  the  mixture  on  a  slow 
Are  till  it  assumes  the  appearance  of  thick  cream, 
but  be  careful  not  to  let  it  boil;  then  add  some  Cay- 
enne pepper,  mix  thoroughly,  and  if  required,  add  a 
little  salt;  keep  on  stiring  the  mixture  at  a  very 
moderate  heat  for  about  ten  minutes;  take  the  sauce- 
pan off  the  fire  and  stir  the  contents  occasionally 
until  quite  cold;  then  stir  into  them  the  yolks  of 
three  eggs,  beaten  up  with  a  little  milk  and  strained, 
and  linally  the  whites  of  five  eggs  whisked  into  a 
stiff'  froth.  Put  the  mixture  into  a  pudding  dish, 
and  put  into  the  oven  at  once.  Serve  quickly  as  soon 
as  the  pudding  has  risen  and  the  top  is  well  browned. 

Green  Tomato  Sauce. — One  gallon  of  green 
tomatoes  and  one  pint  of  onions  chopped  fine,  two 
pints  of  vinegar,  one  pint  of  sugar,  two  table- 
spoonsful  of  salt,  one  tablcspoonful  of  ground  black 
pepper,  one  tablcspoonful  of  spice,  one  tablcspoonful 
of  cloves,  either  whole  or  ground,  one  and  one-half 
tablcspoonsful  of  table  mustard,  one  tablcspoonful 
of  red  pepper,  a  few  mustard  seed,  and  boil  all 
together  until  quite  tender.    It  is  best  to   put  up   in 


CucDMBKR  Pickles. — The  question  has  been 
asked  how  to  put  up  cucumbers  from  the  vine. 
Take  three  gallons  of  water,  to  which  has  been 
added  one  quart  of  salt,  put  it  in  a  kettle  and  let  it 
come  to  a  boil.  Then  prepare  your  cucumbers  in  a 
jar.  Now  pour  the  boiling  water  over  them  and  let 
stand  twenty-four  hours,  when  the  salty  water  must 
be  poured  off.  Then  take  cider  vinegar  make  it 
boiling  hot  and  pour  it  over  them  while  hot.  It  is 
then  ready  for  use. 

Brattleboro  Fricassee. — Take  two  chickens, 
cut  them  up  neatly,  and  lay  them  iu  a  skillet  with 
two  slices  of  thin-cut  ham,  two  small  onions,  and  a 
few  blades  of  mace,  seasoning  with  pepper  and  salt. 
Add  a  little  water,  and  put  on  a  quick  fire.  When 
about  half  done,  add  a  pint  of  cream,  and  a  lump 
of  butter  the  size  of  a  walnut,  rolled  in  flour.  Keep 
constantly  stirring  until  done. 

Tapioca  Cream.— Put  two  tablcspoonsful  of 
tapioca  to  soak  iu  cold  water  ;  set  it  on  .  the  stove, 
and,  when  thoroughly  dissolved,  pour  in  a  quart  of 
milk.  When  this  begins  to  boil  stir  in  the  yelk  of 
two  eggs  well  beaten,  with  a  cup  of  sugar.  When 
this  boils  stir  iu  the  whites,  beaten  to  a  stiff  frorli, 
and  take  it  immediately  from  the  Are.  Flavor  to  taste. 

Sweet  Green  Tomato  Pickles.— Wash,  remove 
any  imperfections,  weigh  out  eight  pounds,  chop 
fine,  add  four  pounds  of  white  or  light  brown  sugar; 
boil  slowly  for  three  hours,  then  add  a  quart  of 
vinegar  and  a  desertspoonful  each  of  ground  cinna- 
mon and  cloves.  Boil  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
longer,  and  when   cool,  put  into  bottles  or  jars. 

Frogs  and  Tomatoes. — Put  your  frog-legs  in 
boiling  water;  take  them  out  and  place  then  in  cold 
water  ;  prepare  your  tomatoes  as  for  a  sauce,  put  in 
a  casserole  your  frog-legs,  with  a  piece  of  butter, 
and  fry  them  gently,  serve  the  legs  nicely  arranged 
in  the  tomato  sauce ;  garnish  with  toast  cut  into 
lozenges. 

Fruit  Jelly.— One  box  of  gelatine,  rind  of  a 
lemon,  one  pint  of  cold  water  ;  allow  this  to  stand 
one  hour  and  a  half,  then  add  two  and  a  half  pints 
of  boiling  water,  two  pounds  of  granulated  sugar, 
one  pint  of  any  fruit  syrup;  stir  gently  until  the 
sugar  ia  dissolved,  then  pour  into  mould. 

Breakfast  Biscuit.— Rub  butter  in  flour  in  the 
proportion  of  %  of  a  pound  of  a  former  to  a  quart 
of  the  latter;  add  %  of  a  tcaspoonful  of  pulverized 
baking  soda,  and  a  little  salt;  mix  with  thick  milk 
and  bake  in  hot  oven. 

Boiled  Pudding. — Six  egg,  well  beaten;  seven 
tablcspoonsful  flour,  one  quart  milk,  nutmeg  ;  boil 
in  a  pudding  boiler  one  hour.  Sauce:  Cream,  one 
cup  of  butter  and  two  cups  fine  sugar ;  add  one 
claret  glass  of  sherry  or  currant  wine. 

When  molasses  is  used  in  cooking  it  is  an  im- 
provement to  boil  and  skim  it  before  you  use  it.  It 
takes  out  the  unpleasant,  raw  taste  and  makes  it 
almost  as  good  as  sugar. 

Lamp  Wkks. — Lampwick  soaked  for  a  quarterof 
an  hour  in  vinegar  and  then  dried  before  being  put 
into  a  lamp  will  not  smoke.    Try  so  simple  a  cure. 


Live  Stock. 


Pigs. 
Black  or  flesh-colored  pigs  are  freest  from  skin 
disease  in  hot  climates.  The  choice  is  practically 
between  the  Essex  and  Berkshlrcs  for  males  with 
which  to  improve  the  native  stock  of  hardy  grubbers 
of  the  root-or-die  variety.  Those  who  have  tried  the 
former  have  been  delighted  at  first,  but  after  a  few 
years  began  to  recall  with  longing  the  lean  hams  and 
slim  but  solid  flavorous  bacon  of  the  old  race-horse 
breed.  The  trouble  with  the  Essex  pigs  for  the 
south  Is  that  they  are  the  eat-aud-sleep  to  sleep-and- 
awake-to-cat  kind  and  their  grades  are,  of  course, 
like  them.  The  side  fat  is  superb,  and  so  is  the  leaf 
lard,  and  so  far  the  breed  is  all  that  could  be  desired; 
but  the  ham  and  shoulders  are  too  fat  for  profit,  and 
the  ham  is  not  marbled  with  fat  like  the  Berkshires. 
Tlicse  (the  Berks)  arc  much  more  wide  awake,  less 
easily  controlled,  but  good  foragers.  Their  grades 
are  a  wonderful  improvement  upon  the  original 
stock,  may  lie  made  very  fat,  and  yet  tlic  proportion 
between  the  fat  and  lean  hams,  shoulders  and  side 
pork  or  bacon  is  such  as  to  develop  and  preserve  the 
excellencies  of  the  meat.  The  hams  are  large  and 
rich  and  juey,  with  diffused  fat.  Berkshires  are  not 
quite  so  easily  fattened  when  penned  and  systemati- 
cally fed  as  the  Essex  grade,  but  they  will  take  much 
better  care  of  themselves  in  the  woods,  and  when 
penned  or  fastened  for  fattening,  may  be  flnished  off 
with  half  the  feed  the  original  "land  pikes"   would 


lire. 


With  many  northern  and  western  breeders  the 
Essex  is  a  more  profitable  pig  than  the  Berkshire, 
because  his  nature  leads  him  to  take  little  exercise, 
BO  that  all  he  eats  gois  to  flesh  and  fat.  Kesplration, 
which,  if  rapid,  reduces  fat  gently,  is  with  him  never 
accelerated  by  moving  about,  and  with  plenty  of 
feed,  the  sole  burden  of  life  is  to  digest  it.  This 
breed  is  pre-eminent  among  the  black  breeds  and  ex- 
celled by  none  as  fat  producers. — American  Agri- 
culturist. 

Sheep  in  the  Corn  Fields. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial 
says  that  he  has  found  the  corn  fields  excellent 
places  for  sheep.  After  the  corn  is  laid  by  tlic 
sheep  may  have  a  week's  run  there  with  great  ad- 
vantage. There  is  fresh  grass  along  the  fence 
rows,  and  perhaps  weeds  that  will  give  variety. 
We  have  never  had  lambs  do  better  than  in  the  corn 
fields  in  the  fall.  We  bring  them  out  every  night. 
In  this  way  they  do  not  break  down  the  corn.  The 
day  is  busily  spent,  and  the  field  as  well  as  the  flock 
looks  the  better  for  the  run  there. 

After  the  corn  has  eared  we  have  turned  the 
whole  flock  into  the  fields  and  been  well  pleased 
with  the  practice.  The  sheep  eat  millions  of  weed 
seeds  and  very  little  or  no  corn.  Should  an  ear  be 
pulled  off,  which  is  very  rare,  every  grain  on  that 
ear  will  be  picked  off  and  eaten  by  the  sheep,  and 
find  no  trouble  in  the  practice  of  turuiug  them  into 
tliecorn  fields  after  roasting  ears  have  well  formed. 
At  that  time  pastures  are  generally  the  poorest  and 
need  rest.  Changing  the  sheep  to  the  corn  fields 
will  give  the  needed  rest.  Then  the  sheep  can  take 
the  grains  of  the  pasture  bel'ore  the  severe  frosts 
injure  the  grass.  After  these  frosts  the  sheep  may 
find  a  fresh  change  in  the  corn  fields.  Sheep  need 
frequent  changes  of  range,  and  we  who  have  no 
woods  or  waste  lands  on  our  farms  can  make  a 
porfitable  change  to  tlie  corn  fields. 

Galled  Shoulders  and  Backs. 
During  the  hard  work  of  seed  time,  farm  horses 
are,  in  some  seasons  more  than  in  others — in  wet  and 
warm  seasons — subject  to  galled  shoulders  and  backs, 
which,  when  not  attended  to,  are  apt  to  produce 
troublesome  sores.  The  ekin  is  not  only  abraded  by 
the  collar  and  saddle,  but  irritated  and  inflamed; 
and  if  the  irritation  is  kept  up,  an  ichorous  discharge 
takes  place,  which  is  difficult  to  heal  without  giving 
tlio  horse  rest.  When  a  saddle-gall  is  observed,  the 
harness  should  be  looked  to,  and  the  pressing  points 
which  have  caused  tlie  sore  should  be  relieved.  A 
lotion  should  then  be  used  to  anoint  the  bruised  parts 
every  night,  after  they  have  been  washed  with  warm 
soap-suds,  and  dried  with  a  soft  clotli.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  useful  application:  Take  hot  lime  shells  of 
the  bulk  of  two  quarts,  and  pour  upon  them  two 
quarts  of  cold  water;  and,  after  they  have  intimately 
combined,  pour  off  t'.ie  liquid  into  a  dish.  Add  to 
this  liquid  five  wine-glassfulls  of  linseed  oil  and  two 
ounces  of  fine  powdered  sugar  of  lead,  dissolved  in 
a  little  water.  Stir  them  together,  and  then  bottle 
and  cork  up  for  use.  After  the  bruises  have  been 
washed  in  the  evening,  anoint  them  with  this  liquid 
with  a  feather  until  the  wounds  heal. 


the  dogs  ;  they  turn  their  tails  and  leave  the  sheep, 
fearing  the  noise  of  the  bells  will  lead  to  their  ex- 
posure. The  ratio  of  bells  may  be  made  to  vary  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of  the  flock. 

Driving  After  Eating. 

The  digestion  of  a  horse  is  governed  by  the  same 
laws  as  that  of  man,  and  as  we  know  that  it  is  not 
best  for  man  to  go  at  hard  work  the  moment  a.liear- 
ty  meal  is  eaten,  so  we  should  remember  tliat  a  horse 
ought  to  have  a  little  rest  after  his  meal,  while  the 
slomacli  is  most  active  in  the  process  of  digestion. 
Many  a  good  horse  lias  been  ruined  by  Injudicious 
haste  in  working  him  with  a  full  stomach. 


Preserving  Sheep  from  Dogs. 
On  one  sheep  in  every  ten  of  the  flock  put  a 
bell  of  the  usual  size  for  sheep.  The  instinct  of  the 
dog  prompts  hira  to  do  all  his  acts  in  a  sly,  stealthy 
manner  ;  his  attacks  upon  sheep  are  most  I'rcqucntly 
made  at  night  while  they  are  at  rest,  and  the  sim- 
ultaneous jingling  of  all  the  bells  strikes  terror  to 


Hurrying  the  Cows. 

If  moderation  is  needed  anywhere  on  the  farm,  It 
is  in  tlie  driving  of  cows.  A  boy  or  a  dog  that  will 
hurry,  and  therefore  worry,  the  cows  as  they  are 
taken  to  and  from  the  pasture  should  be — to  put  it 
mildly- attended  to.  Boys-,  do  not  run  the  cows 
home,  even  if  it  Is  getting  late,  especially  if  it  is  on 
the  way  to  the  yard  and  their  udders  are  full  of 
milk. 


Apiary, 


The  Harvest  White   Honey. 

Our  honey  harvest  usually  commences  al)out  June 
'JOth,  and  closes  from  July  20th  to  August  lOlh,  un- 
less we  get  a  yield  of  buckwheat  honey,  and  in  that 
case  it  closes  about  September  Ist,  we  almost  always 
having  a  period  of  nearly  two  weeks  scarcity  be- 
tween the  white  honey  liarvest  and  buckwheat.  The 
4th  of  July  is  the  earliest  we  ever  took  off  any  box 
honey,  we  believe,  so  we  will  sup|)Ose  that  our 
swarming  is  all  done  up  by  the  time  this  reaches 
you,  and  we  are  ready  to  look  after  the  boxes.  If 
you  did  not  forget  to  put  your  boxes  which  were 
nearly  full  of  comb  in  the  centre,  on  top  of  each 
hive,  you  will  now  only  need  to  look  after  those 
to  ascertain  if  any  are  fit  to  come  off,  as  those  will 
certainly  lie  the  first  finished.  To  do  this,  get 
your  smoker,  gently  pry  the  cases  apart  with  a 
stout  knife,  blow  in  a  little  smoke  so  the  bees 
will  get  out  of  the  way,  and  you  can  see  If 
they  are  completed.  If  they  are,  pry  the  cases  off  a 
little  at  the  bottom,  and  then  lift  out  gently  the  case 
holding  the  finished  boxes,  and  give  it  a  quick  shake, 
as  you  would  a  frame,  to  dislodge  the  bees  from  it. 
Shake  the  bees  off  at  the  entrance  so  they  may  read- 
ily enter  the  hive,  remove  the  boxes  from  the  case, 
and  shake  off  from  each  separate  box  the  few  bees 
that  may  still  cling  to  the  honey  ;  fill  the  ease  with 
empty  boxes  provided  with  starters,  and  put  it  in 
place  again  on  the  hive.  Set  your  honey  in  your 
wheelbarrow  or  cart  which  you  have  to  carry  the 
honey  to  your  honey-room  with  and  go  on  to  the 
next  hive,  and  so  on  until  tlie  apiary  is  gone  over. 
There  is  little  danger  of  robbing  at  this  season,  but 
if  the  bees  seem  disposed  to  follow  your  honey,  keep 
it  covered  with  a  sheet. 

In  a  week  start  over  the  apiary  the  second  time, 
and  so  keep  going  over  it  once  a  week,  being  sure 
that  all  filled  boxes  are  removed,  and  thus  your 
honey  will  be  nice  and  the  combs  as  white  as  snow. 
If  you  use  side  hnxi-s,  raise  the  partly  filled  ones 
from  the  sides  and  put  tlium  in  place  of  the  full  box- 
es, raise  the  partly  filled  ones  from  the  sides  and 
put  them  in  place  of  the  full  boxes  taken  off,  and 
place  the  empty  ones  at  the  sides.  We  usually  place 
but  one  tier  of  boxes  at  the  sides  at  first,  and  then 
when  the  bees  get  well  at  work  in  them,  push  them 
out  and  place  the  other  tier  between  them  and  the 
side  of  the  hive,  thus  inciting  the  bees  to  greater  ac- 
tivity. As  the  season  draws  to  a  close,  we  raise  the 
side  boxes  to  the  top  and  close  the  sides  with  the  fol- 
lowers, so  as  to  get  all  boxes  commenced  in  filled,  if 
possible.  With  the  top  box  hives,  we  crowd  the 
partly  filled  ones  together,  placing  the  empty  boxes 
on  the  outside  instead  of  the  centre,  as  at  first.  It 
usually  takes  us  four  days  to  go  over  the  apiary  in 
the  height  of  the  season,  leaving  us  two  days  to 
look  after  our  nuclei  and  attend  to  the  many  duties 
which  devolve  on  the  apiarist. 

Store  your  honey  in  a  small,  tight  room,  placed  on 
scantling,  so  that  the  fumes  from  burning  sulphur 
can  enter  or  pass  between  each  box,  so  as  to  kill  the 
larvae  of  the  wax  moth,  which  always  appear  to  .a 
greater  or  less  extent,  burning  three-quarters  of  a 
pound  of  sulphur  to  every  two  hundred  cubic  feet 
contained  in  the  room.  To  best  do  this  your  scant- 
ling should  be  raised  at  least  a  foot  from  the  floor, 
and  a  kettle  with  some  coals  in  it  placed  beneath. 
Pour  on  the  sulphur,  close  the  room  tight,  and  leave 
it  for  fifteen  minutes,  when  it  should  be  opened 
to  let  the  smoke  out,  for  if  it  settles  on  the  combs  it 
will  give  them  a  greenish  tint,  or  if  you  burn  more 
than  the  above  amount  it  will  turn  the  combs  green. 
We  have  found  it  a  nice  point  to  burn  just  enough 
sulphur  ;  if  you  use  too  much  it  hurts  the  looks  of 
the  honey,  and  if  too  little  all  the  worms  are  not 
killed.  Burn  your  sulphur  two  weeks  after  the  boxes 
are  removed  from  the  hives,  as  the  eggs  are  generally 
all  hatched  by  that  time,  and  if  you  store  all  In  the 


144 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  September,  18?0. 


same  room  sulphur  once  in  two  weeks  till  the  last  is 
off.  Tour  honey  should  be  assorted,  as  piled,  into 
about  three  grades — first,  second  and  third  quality. 
Put  nothing  but  No.  1  in  the  first,  the  colored  combs 
and  the  mixed  in  the  second,  and  the  buckwheat  in 
the  third.  By  this  way  you  will  be  saved  trouble 
when  you  come  to  crate  for  market.  In  short,  have 
an  eye  to  business,  as  this  month  is  the  harvest  time 
for  beekeepers  in  most  localities,  and  leave  no  stoue 
unturned  that  will  eive  you  a  pound  more  honey. — 
G,  M.  Doolittle  in  American  Bee  Journal. 


Why  Bees  Work  in  the  Dark. 
Every  one  knows  what  fresh  honey  is  like — a  clear 
yellow  syrup,  without  any  trace  of  solid  sugar  in  it. 
After  straining,  it  gradually  assumes  a  crystal  ap- 
pearance— It  candies,  as  the  saying  is,  and  ultimately 
becomes  a  solid  mass  of  sugar.  It  has  been  sus- 
pected that  this  change  is  due  to  photographic  action 
— the  same  agent  which  alters  the  molecular  ar- 
rangement of  the  iodine  of  silver  on  the  excited  col- 
lodion plate  and  determines  the  formation  of  Cam- 
phor and  iodine  crystals  in  a  bottle,  causes  honey  to 
assume  a  crystalline  form.  M.  Scheiber  inclosed 
honey  in  well  corked  flasks,  some  of  which  he  kept 
in  perfect  darkness,  while  the  others  were  exposed 
to  the  light.  The  result  has  been  that  that  portion 
exposed  to  the  light  soon  crystallizes,  while  that 
kept  in  the  dark  remains  unchanged.  Hence  we  see 
why  the  bees  are  so  careful  to  work  in  the  dark, 
and  why  they  are  so  careful  to  obscure  the  glass 
windows  which  are  sometimes  placed  in  their  hives. 
The  existence  of  the  young  depends  on  the  liquidity 
of  the  saccharine  food  presented  to  them,  and  if  light 
were  allowed  access  to  this,  in  all  probability  it 
would  prove  fatal  to  the  inmates  of  the  hive.—  West- 
ern Farm  Journal. 


Fertile  Workers. 


At  the  Western  Illinois  Convention,  Mr.  Argo  said: 
Fertile  workers  used  to  be  my  masters,  but  now  I 
am  their  master.  About  mid-day  take  out  two  or 
three  middle  frames  from  the  hive,  with  a  fertile 
worker ;  go  about  ten  yards  from  the  hive  and  shake 
off  every  bee  in  a  pile,  then  take  the  frames  to  a 
strong  stand  and  exchange  for  frames  full  of  brood, 
with  the  young  bees  just  emerging.  Brush  back  the 
bees  and  jjive  the  frames  to  the  fertile  worker-stand 
and  close  urp.  Then  you  can  give  them  a  queen  in 
the  cage  or  cell  to  rear  one  by  night,  as  by  that  time 
there  will  be  young  bees  enough  out  to  accept  and  pro- 
tect either.  Besides,  if  the  fertile  workers  ever  found 
there  way  back  to  the  hive,  they  will  kill  them  when 
they  have  a  queen  or  a  cell.  I  never  failed  in  this 
method. 


Poultry. 


Save  the  Choice   Fowls. 

It  is  too  commonly  the  practice  among  our  fan- 
ciers who  are  so  fortunate,  year  after  year,  as  to  be 
able  to  produce  finer  specimens  of  fowls — of  one 
kind  or  another — to  dispose  of  their  better  kinds  to 
the  first  comer  who  will  pay  the  fancy  price  demand- 
ed for  these  best  examples. 

The  temptation  of  twenty,  thirty  or  fifty  dollars 
for  a  choice  pair,  or  often  for  a  single  specimen  that 
is  A  1  in  a  quality,  is  very  great,  it  must  be  admitted. 
But  it  is  rarely  that  such  successful  raiser  of  these 
beautiful  fowls  reflects  upon  the  importance  of  re- 
taining in  his  own  possession  these  extra  cocks  and 
hens — with  which  he  may  be  able  to  produce,  in  a 
little  while,  dozens  or  scores  of  their  like — should  he 
kdep  and  breed  them  himself. 

We  suggest  the  propriety  and  advantage  to  the 
original  breeder  of  such  exceptional  fowls  of  saving 
these  choice  samples  for  himself  in  many  cases.  No 
one  can  breed  these  birds  so  well  as  he  can.  No  pur- 
chaser can  take  such  extra  fine  fowls  away  and  breed 
from  them  so  successfully  as  can  the  man  who  knows 
how  they  are  produced  and  what  they  should  be 
mated  with,  to  yield  the  average  future  good  results. 

At  the  least,  we  conceive  it  most  advisable  to  re- 
tain some  of  our  choicest  breeders  for  use  in  suc- 
cession. We  went  into  the  yards  of  an  Asiatic 
fancier  recently,  who  has  bred  some  rare  birds  in  the 
past  three  years,  and  were  astonished  when  we  asked 
to  see  the  splendid  fowls  we  knew  had  taken  so  many 
prizes  latterly,  to  be  informed  that  he  had  "  sold 
them  all — at  very  good  figures,  too!" 

He  relies  apon  his  young  stock,  now  coming  up, 
for  future  operations.  But  we  could  not  avoid  the 
impression  that  he  had  made  a  mistake  in  thus  clean- 
ing out  his  pens  of  the  fine  old  birds. 

Save  some  of  the  best  ones  annually.  Tou  may 
make  a  few  dollars  by  your  sales,  but  your  patrons 
are  the  men  who  make  the  test  of  this  bargain  with 
you  in  the  end. — Poultry  World. 


Poultry  Notes. 
Take  care  of  the  young  chicks;  protect  them  well 
at  night  from  rats,  cats,  and  "varmints,"  keep  their 
coops  out  in  a  clean  grass  plot,  and  keep  the  hen- 
house well  cleaned  and  whitewashed.  Don't  pen  up 
chickens,  if  you  wish  them  to  be  healthy;  let  them 
run  and  catch  the  insects. 


The  value  of  milk  as  a  drink  for  chicks,  or  as  a 
fluid,  when  scalded,  with  wliich  corn  meal  and  bran 
may  be  mixed  for  their  early  diet,  can  scarcely  be 
overestimated. 

Feed  often.  All  the  younglings  can  eat  up  clean 
at  a  time  should  only  he  furnished.  Pouring  into 
the  coop  a  mass  of  meal-posh,  uncooked  and  watery 
— to  "  save  time  " — is  not  feeding  chickens  well.  If 
hungry,  they  will  devour  a  portion  of  this  mess,  but 
it  does  them  little  good  comparatively.  The  balance 
sours,  thej  peck  it  for  lack  of  something  better,  and 
shortly  we  find  them  scouring,  getting  ill,  weaken- 
ing in  the  legs,  and  dying  off  by  degrees.  Good, 
sweet,  sound  food  is  indispensable. 

Some  farmers  make  it  a  practice  to  keep  their 
poultry  in  their  orchards  from  early  spring  until  cold 
weather  sets  in,  and  they  find  that  it  pays.  A  picket 
fence  should  be  built  around  the  orchard,  high 
enough  to  prevent  their  flying  over,  with  suitable 
buildings  in  one  corner  of  the  yard  to  shelter  them 
at  night.  Thus  situated  the  poultry  will  thrive  and 
prosper,  keeping  themselves  in  good  condition,  and 
the  increase  of  eggs  will  be  greatly  augmented  and 
their  usefulness  enhanced  to  their  owners  at  least, 
on  account  of  the  myriads  of  insects  and  worms 
they  destroy,  and  which  will  more  than  repay  the 
cost  and  labor  of  building  the  fence.  By  keeping 
them  inclosed  in  this  manner,  a  large  number  of 
ibwls  may  be  retained  in  the  orchard,  and  the  con- 
tinual scratching  which  is  done  by  them  will  prove 
advantageous  both  to  the  soil  and  trees  themselves. 
—  Western  Agriculturist. 


Vegetable    Food. 

Any  of  the  roots — as  potatoes,  rutabagas,  turnips, 
carrots,  etc.,  when  boiled  and  mixed  with  corn  and 
rye-meal — make  an  excellent  and  economical  daily 
food  for  poultry.  In  this  form  fowls  are  fond  of  the 
diet,  and  it  works  very  kindly  with  them. 

Most  inexperienced  breeders  think  it  necessary  to 
dole  out  dry  grain  only  to  their  chickens — generally 
whole  corn — from  year's  end  to  year's  end.  And 
where  large  numbers  of  fowls  are  kept  it  is  often 
considered  too  troublesome  to  supply  cooked  vege- 
tables for  the  fowl  stock,  the  dry-feed  system  being 
the  handiest,  of  course. 

But  there  is  nothing  that  Is  so  great  a  help  to  the 
poulterer,  first  and  last,  either  in  the  cost  or 
through  the  benefits  to  be  derived  to  the  stock,  as  a 
regular  feed  every  day  of  cooked  vegetables.  We 
have  tried  this  particularly  for  years,  and  we  have 
found  it  highly  advantageous,  as  compared  with 
any  other  method  of  feeding. 

There  are  other  kinds  of  vegetables  also  which 
are  quite  as  valuable  as  are  the  roots  mentioned,  for 
use  among  poultry,  in  their  season.  The  leaves  of 
turnips  or  carrots,  raw  cabbages  at  any  time  of  the 
year,  green  corn  in  the  ear,  etc.,  may  be  given  to 
poultry  freely,  and  these  will  all  be  relished.  But 
if  at  least  one-half  of  all  the  food  given  them  be  of 
some  sort  of  vegetable  and  green,  fowls  will  con- 
stantly be  found  in  better  thrift  and  in  finer  con- 
dition than  when  fed  in  any  other  way. — Poultry 
World.  ' 

Poultry. 

Poultry  needs  far  more  care  during  damp,  rainy,  or 
wet  weather  than  durmg  the  dry,  warm  weather  or 
the  clear  cold  of  winter,  for  dampness  engenders 
numerous  disorders,  many  of  which  are  difficult  to 
cure,  therefore  it  is  always  better  to  apply  the  pre- 
ventive than  to  administer  the  supposed  cure. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


Circular  letter  of  Commissioner  of  Agricul- 
ture, relative  to  the  manufacture  of  maize  and 
sorghum  sugars,  'l\  pp.  octavo,  Washington,  D.  C. 
W.  G.  LeDuc,  Com. 

Quarterly  Report,  of  the  Kansas  State  Board 
of  Agriculture,  for  the  quarter  ending,  June  ."0,  1879. 
Also  containing  statistics  relative  to  industries,  popu- 
lation, &c.,  &c.,  by  counties.  Alfred  Gray,  Secretary, 
Topeka,  Kansas,  with  table  of  contents,  66  pp.  8  vo. 

Report  of  Condition  of  Crops  to  Aug.  1st,  1.S79. 
25  pp.  octavo,  including  Table  of  Statistics,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

The  foregoing  documents  are  all  interesting  and 
useful  to  the  farmer  and  the  farm,  and  may  be  ob- 
tained by  sending  a  postal  card  to  the  respective 
addresses. 

Wholesale  Price  List,  of  the  Bloomington  Nur- 
sery. Principal  office  %  mile  N.  E.  of  Court  House, 
and  one  mile  south  of  Normal  School :  three  blocks 
south-cast  of  Normal  Passenger  Station,  Blooming- 
ton,  McLean  Co.,  111.  For  the  fall  of  1879.  Baird 
&  Tuttle,  agents.  For  J.  S.  Tuttle  and  A.  Follet, 
Proprietors,  20  pp.  octavo. 

A  General  Index  of  the  Agricultural  Reports  of 
the  Patent  Office  for  twenty-five  years,  from  1837  to 
1861,  and  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  for  fif- 
teen years,  from  1862  to  1876.  By  the  commissioners 
of  agriculture.  This  is  an  octavo  of  225  pages,  and 
will  be  exceedingly  convenient  to  those  who  wish  to 
consult  those  reports,  and  especially  to  those  who 
possess  them ;  and  will  add  materially  to  their  value. 


Not  a  subject  that  has  been  treated  in  those  reports 
during  the  last  forty  years,  but  what  may  be  found, 
under" its  proper  letter,  in  this  index,  and  the  Gov 
ernment  has  been  very  considerate  in  publishing  it. 

We  are  indebted  to  Cyrus  T.  Fox,  Esq.,  Secretary, 
for  a  complimentary  copy  of  the  Premiums,  Rules 
and  Regulations  of  the  Berks  County  Agricultural 
and  Horticultural  Society,  at  their  twenty-fifth  an- 
nual Exhibition;  to  be  held  at  Reading,  Pa.,  on 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday  and  Friday,  Sep- 
tember 30th  and  October  1st,  2d  and  3d,  1879. 
Berks  county  is  famous  for  its  agricultural  shows, 
and  to  judge  from  the  enterprise  manifested  in  this 
premium  list,  the  one  this  year  is  going  to  be  a 
success,  for  it  is  exceedingly  liberal,  and  looks  more 
like  business  than  any  we  have  seen  the  present 
season. 

Afield  and  Afloat.  A  demi-folio  of  12  four 
column  pages;  devoted  to  such  subjects  as  may  be  le, 
gitimutely  included  in  its  title,  namely  sporting  intelli- 
gence in  general,  and  the  manipulations  of  the  Rod 
and  Gun,  and  military  matters,  in  particular.  Pub- 
lished by  the  "Afield  and  Afloat"  Company,  at  607 
Sansom  street,  Philadelphia,  every  Saturday,  at 
$2.00  per  annum.  W.  C.  Ha.-ris,  managing  Editor. 
This  is  a  remarkably  well  gotten  up  journal,  with 
faultless  typography  and  a  fine  quality  of  paper;  and 
on  the  whole,  its  literary  composition  is  of  a  superior 
order  in  the  sphere  of  its  operation.  To  those  who 
lean  towards  the  pleasures  of  the  rod  and  gun,  it  is 
of  inestimable  value. 

Carpentry  and  Building,  a  9  by  13  quarto  of 
28  three  column  pages,  devoted  exclusively,  in  its 
advertising  and  literary  departments,  to  the  inter  ests 
of  theoretical  and  practical  building  ;  finely  em  bel- 
lished  with  appropriate  illustrations,  printed  on 
fine  white  calendered  paper,  and  in  clear  type.  The 
August  number  before  us  has  seventy-two  illustra- 
tive figures,  explanatory  of  elementary  and  practical 
building,  exclusive  of  those  which  exemplify  the 
advertisements,  and  60  separate  articles  on  various 
collateral  subjects.  One  dollar  a  year,  monthly,  83 
Read  street.  New  York;  220  South  Front  street, 
Philadelphia;  77  Fourth  street,  Pittsburg;  Merchants' 
Exchange,  Cincinnati;  Eighth  and  M  arket  streets, 
Chattanooga  ;  a  single  number,  10  cents. 

Annual  Report  upon  Explorations  and  Surveys 
in  the  Department  of  the  .Missouri,  by  E.H.  Ruffner, 
let  Lieutenant  of  Engineers  U.  S.  A.  Being  Ap- 
pendix S.  S.  to  the  general  work.  Through  the 
kindness  of  Prof.  Herman  Strecker,  of  Reading,  Pa., 
we  have  received  a  copy  of  this  work,  in  octavo,  and 
about  200  pages.  In  addition  to  other  matters  it 
contains  reports  from  Prof.  Asa  Gray,  Prof.  T.  S. 
Brandegee,  Prof.  Cyrus  Thomas,  and  Prof.  Herman 
Strecker,  on  the  Botany  and  Entomology  of  the 
survey. 

Prof.  Strecker's  paper  is  illustrated  with  beautiful- 
ly colored  figures,  making  two  full  page  plates, 
among  which  are  eight  new  species  of  Lepidoptera. 
Our  thanks  are  due  for  this  act  of  kind  considera- 

"Thb  South" — A  journal  of  Southern  and 
Southwestern  progress — Ably  inculcates  the  doctrine 
that  "wealth  is  a  natural  element  to  be  utilized  by 
labor.  The  highest  human  condition  is  possible 
where  climate,  soil  and  minerals  exist  in  the  greatest 
perfection."  Office  No.  9  Spruce  street,  Printing- 
House  Square,  New  York;  August,  1879.  $1.50  a 
year  in  advance.  This  may  be  called  a  monthly 
demi-fblio  of  20  pages,  and  four  columns  to  the  page; 
and  as  it  is  solid  and  mainly  in  small  type,it  contains 
a  more  than  ordinary  amount  of  well  written  and 
well  selected  reading  matter  on  subjects  relating  to 
its  specialties,  as  set  forth  in  its  enunciation  of  prin- 
ciples— prmeiples  that  underlie  our  whole  social  sys- 
tem, however  the  rigidly  righteous  may  affect  to 
despise  them;  for  wealth  is  the  great  lever  of  pro- 
greesB,  and  when  we  regard  it  as  a  "natural  ele- 
ment," and  subordinate  it  to  the  rational  and  the 
spiritual,  it  may  become  the  medium  of  human  re- 
generation. 

Kussel  on  Scientific  Horseshoeing,  for  the 
different  diseases  of  the  foot.  An  octavo  of  142 
pages,  with  a  full  page  portrait  of  the  author,  and 
fifty  excellently  executed  wood-cut  illustrations, 
distributed  throughout  the  work ;  together  with 
fac  similes  of  the  International  diploma  of  1876,  and 
of  Centennial  and  Cincinnati  Industrial  medals  ;  in 
eight  chapters  and  an  appendix.  This  is  a  remarka- 
bly well  gotten  up  work,  printed  with  clear  type,  and 
on  fine  tinted  calendered  paper.  These  chapters 
treat  respectively  on  anatomy,  the  practice  of  shoe- 
ing, shoeing  of  different  kinds  of  horses,  diseases  of 
the  foot,  forging,  speedy  cutting,  &c.,  gaiting  and 
balancing  the  action  of  horses,  the  mule,  and  shoes 
us^d  for  specific  purposes,  with  observations  on  the 
training  and  responsibilities  of  farriers,  &c.  If 
horses  are  to  be  shod  (and  we  think  to  be  used  in 
cities  with  paved  streets,  and  over  hard  macadamized 
roads,  they  ought  to  be,  notwithstanding  the  modern 
theory  to  the  contrary,)  then  they  ought  to  be  scien- 
tifically, artistically  and  practically  shod  ;  and  relia- 
ble information  on  those  very  subjects  is  what  this 
work  professes  to  furnish.  Substantially  bound  in 
cloth,  and  published  by  Robert  Clark,  &  Co.,  Cio- 
cinuati,  Ohio. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


ELASTIC    TRUSS 

Has  a  Pad  dif- 
fering     from 
all   others,  U 
oup-shaped) 
with  SELF- 
ADJUST 'NG 
BAI.I.  in  the 
center,  adapt! 
itself    to    all 
positions    of   the    body, 
whUe  the  BALIi  in  the 
Cnp   PRESSES    BACK 
THE    INTESTINES 
JUST  AS  A  PERSON 
WOULD  WITH   THE 
FINGER.     W^ith  light 


HEARING 


VERY&HARPKK, 


pressure 


the  Hernia  is 


held  seonrely  day  and  night,  and  a  rad- 
ical cure  is  certain.    It  is  easy,  durable 
&nd  cheap.    Sent  by  mail,  postage  paid. 
Circulars  free. 
Address.  Eggleston  Truss  Co.,  Manfira. 

Oi^  C.  H.  EGGLESTON  CO.,  Chicago,lll. 


NICHOLS,  SHEPARD&  CO., 

:Bttttlo  Creole,   Mlc-ll. 

ORIGINAL  AND  ONLY  GENUINE 

THRESHING  WftCHINERY. 

THE  Matchlewi  Onln-SaTlnif,  Tlme-SaWnf 
»qA  Mnnpy-Savtng  Thri'ntitTB  oftlilii  d«y  •pd  gcuer* 

uid  for  Bftrlog  Orftln  from  WftaUge. 


$5  TO  $20K 


LOWEST  PRICES  WILL  RULE. 


Lowest  Prices 

Ever  Known  in  the  U.  S.  for  Bones  and 
phates. 


we  have  this  day  reduced  the  price  of 

BAl^GirS  RAW  BONE  POOSPIIATE 

$30  PER  2000  lbs.  CASH, 

WITH  DISCOUNT  TO  DEALERS, 
Delivered  ou  board  boator  carsiuPhiladelphiaor Baltimore. 

Dealers  will  take  notice  they  will  be  protected  in  the 
Bale  of  this  Mauure.  Only  cue  dealer  will  be  established  in 
a  town,  who  will  be  furnished  with  the  Phosphate  at  whole- 
Early  correspondence  from  those  who  wiah  to  control  the 
above  goods  in  «iieciai  sections  oi-  towuships,  is  necessary, 
as  we  are  organizing  for  the  Summer  and  Fall  busiaesa  a 
system  of  unprecedented 

LOV^  PRICES, 

how  the  Agricultural  Community  th; 
ikiiigr  aiid  MclUn^ 

Bone  Fertilizers 

are  beyond  all  question,  uneurpaesed  iu  the 

UNITED  STATES. 


LOW  PRICES  WILL  RULE. 

BAUGH  &  SONS, 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore. 


lOutflt  free.    Address  True  &  Co.,  Augusta,  Maine. 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANDFACTUREP.  OP 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

COLLARS,  WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &o., 
also  dealer  in 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFAiO  ROBES, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &c., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

-1-1»]  LAHOASTEB,  PA. 


THE  ENTIRK  Threshing  Expenses  (and  often 
three  U)  Ave  times  that  aiiiouot)  can  be  made  by  the 
Extra  Grain  SAVED  by  these  Improved  Machines. 

GRAIN  Knlsers  will  not  submit  to  the  enor- 

NOT  Only  Tastly  Superior  for  Wheat,  Osts, 

Millet.  Clovci,  and  Uke 


JLWARTELOUS  for  Simplicity  of  Parts,  usinR 

Clean  Work,  with  no  Litterings  or  Seiitteriogs. 

rOUR  Sizes  of  Separators  Uade,  Banging 
from  Six  to  Twelve-Horsesize,  and  l»o styles  of  Mbunl- 
ed  Horse  Powers  to  match. 

TlOB  Particulars,   Call  on  onr    Dealers  or 


A  GOOD  PLAN. 

Anybody  can  learu  to  make  money  rapidly  operating  In 
Stocks,  by  the  "Two  TTneiTiui?  Rules  for  Success"  in  Messrs. 
Lawrence  &  Co.'s  new  circular.  The  combination  method, 
which  this  firm  has  made  so  successful,  enables  people  with 
large  or  small  meaus  torenpall  th.-benefitSof  largest  capital 
and  best  skill.  TlmuBauds  of  oniers,  in  various  sums,  are 
pooled  iuto  one  vast  amouiil  and  co-operated  aa  a.  viighty 
whole,  thus  HeL-unnt<  to  -.luU  shareholder  all  the  advantages 
of  thelargfHtoperalor.  Imnu-nseprolltsaredivided  monthly. 
Any  amoun!  from  $.t  to  $3,0(»>.  or  more,  can  be  used  success- 
fully. N.  Y.  BapiiHt  Weekly,  September  26th,  1S7S,  says, 
"By  ihe  combination  system  $'5  would  make  $75,  or  5  per 
cent  ;  $50  pays  $:^.J0,  or  T  per  cent.;  $100  makes  $1,000, 
or  10  per  cent,  on  Ihe  stock,  during  the  month,  according 
to  the  market."  Frank  Leslie's  f/lunfrated  Xcwupaper,  June 
29th;:  The  combination  method  of  operating  stocks  is  the 
most  successful  ever  adopted."  New  York  Independent 
September  l'2th:  The  comtiinrition  system  is,  founded  upon 
principles,  and    no  iiernon  need  be.  without 


Co.'s  combinations.' 

everything.  Stocks  and  hi. 
supplied.  Lawreuce  &  Co, 
N.  V. 


DISEASESOFLIVESTOCK 


of  all  the  usual  diseases  to  which  these  uttimals  are  liable, 
aud  the  most  successful  treatiuent  of  American,  Eugliah, 
and  European  veteriuariaus,  by  Li.otd  V.  Tellob,  M.  D. 
Pp.  ««.  Price,  cloth,  82.50.  /{old  only  by  mttKripUon. 
Specimen  copy  mailed  ou  receipt  of  price.  Kvery  Mtock 
owner  and  farmer  will  buy  this  book  on  Hieht, 
as  it  will  save  him  hundreds  of  dollars.  AN  ACIENT 
WANTED  IN  EVEKY  TOWN.  Agents  are  making 
from  $10  to  820  a  day   se  ling  it.    For  Circulars  and 


terms,  addr 


.  C.  WATTS  CO.,  608  Minor  8t.,  Plliladelphia. 


A  DEPARTURE 

High  Pricesfor  Phosphates. 


TWENTY  DOLL:\R  PHOSPHATE, 
WE    GUARANTEE 

tbe  following  analysis,  which  will  be  printed  ou 
every  bag : 
Ammonia,        -        -        -       a}  to    3  per  cent. 
Bone  Phosphate,  Soluble,        10  "  12       '' 
"  "  Insoluble,      7  "     8       " 

Price,  $20  per  2000  lbs.  in  NewBaesof 
200  lbs.  each, 

Free  on  borrd  cars  or  li.mu  in  I'lilliidi'lpbia  or  Baltunore. 

Philiidolphla. 


ARMS 


the  Kansas  Pacifio 
llbikaj.  3,000,000 
Acres  for  Sale  in  tbe 

GOLDEN    BELT. 


HOMES 


""nlf"M.,j')a'ar.'l'  fui'l    Mi'fi.in"',lll.'n' Fl 
8.  «Il.JitOBE,  Land  Coiiimi,».ui.,.r 
79-9-.3meom] 


OFFICE, 

9  North  Queeo  Stteel 

LANCASTER,  PA.. 


Is  an  old,  well-established  newspaper,  and  contains  just  the 
news  desirable  to  make  it  an  iuterestiug  and  valuable 
Family  Newspaper.  It  is  published  on  Wednesday  aud 
Saturday,  subscribers  having  the  choice  of  whichever  edition 
that  suits  their  mail  facilities  best.  The  postage  to  eub- 
Bcribers  residing  outside  of  Lancaster  county  is  paid  by  tbe 
publisher. 
Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  oont.ini 
the  news  by  mail  and  telegraph  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
ui>  to  the  hour  ef  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers at  all  the  towns  and  villages  in  tbe  county,  acces- 
sible by  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  €«aU  a  Week, 
or  by  maU  at  Five  Uollnrs  per  Year, 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nortti  Queen  St., 


THE  ,,'LANCASTER   FARMER. 


[September,  1879. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


A  MONTHLY  JOUEN AL, 


to  Agriculttire,  Horticulture.  Do- 
mestic Economy  and  Miscellany. 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the   Lancas- 
ter County  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 

ONEDOLLpPERANNUtll, 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPBIETOR. 

All    subscriptions    will    commence   with    the 
January  number,  unless  otherwise  ordered. 


Dr.  8.  S.  Rathvon,  who  has  so  ably  managed  the  editorial 
department  in  the  past,  will  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  His  contributions  on  subjects  connected  with  the 
science  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 
he  is  80  thorouhly  a  master— entomological  science— some 
knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  success- 
ful farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  Is  determined  to  make  "The  Farmer" 
a  necessity  to  all  households. 

A  county  that  has  so  wide  a  reputation  as  Lancaster 
ounty  for  its  agricultural  products,  should  certainly  be 
able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the 
exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  interested  in  this  mat- 
oter.  We  ask  the  co-oporation  of  all  farmers  interested  in 
tills  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer"  is 
Only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
induce  them  to  subscribe.  It  is  not  much  for  each  eub- 
acriber  to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  communications  In  regard  tothe  editorial  management 
ehould  be  addressed  to  Dr.  S.  8.  RathTOn,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptions  and  ad- 
Tertising  should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Rates  of 
advertising  can  be  had  on  application  at  the  office. 

JOHN  A  HIESTAND, 

No.  g  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


The  Feaeless 


The  only  machine  awarded  a  medal  on  both  Horse-Power  and  Thresher  and  Gleaner,  at  the  Centennial 
Exhibition,  as  shown  by  Official  Report,  which  eaya  :  "  For  Kpeclnl  features  In  the  Power  to  secure 
Ucbt  runnlUK  and  minimum  friction.  For  the  Ini-enlouo  form  of  the  Struw  Shakers,  which  Insuro 
tSe  proper  uKltatlon  to  Separate  the  tralD  from  the  straw."  For  Catalogue,»Prlce-Li8t,  and  full 
report  of  trial,  address  MINABD  HABDEH,  CobleskiU,  Schoharie  Co,  N.  Y. 

79-7-3nfl] 


$66' 


Address 
lyr« 


your  c 


WHY  GO  WEST 

When  desirable  Farm  Lands  in  the  Great  Fruit  Dis- 
trict of  the  Feiili>»ular  Garden  can  be  had? 
Cool  summers,  mild  winters,  pure  waters,  kind  soil,  and 
every  advantage  of  speedy  communication  by  Railroad, 
Telegraph,  and  Daily  Mails.  A  soil  producing  the  finest 
Grain,  Fruits  add  Flowers,  and  the  waters  the  choicest  Fish, 
Oysters,  Terrapin,  and  Wild  Fowl  " 
equalled; 


Del. 


For   Illustrated 
LAND  AGENT,  P.  W.  &  B.  R.  B. 

fWSpecial  advantages  offered 
[79-5-1 t 


HOME-MADE 

MANURES. 


scimfic  FflfiMULss  Foe  iHEie  MAnypftciyeE  on 
\m  im  m  lo  m  jooress, 


The  Cheape.st,  and  we  believe  the  most  ef- 
fective Manure  in  use,  can  be  made  with. but 
little  trouble,  by  u.sing  our  Fertilizing  Chemi- 
cals and  Bones,  which  we  furnish  of  the  best 
quality,  and  at  lowest  prices.  We  offer,  of  our 
own  manufacture  or  importation, 

Dissolved  Bones,  Sulphate  of  Ammonia, 

Perfectly  Pure  Ground  Bones,  Fertilizing  Salt, 

Acidulated  Phosphate  Rock,  Sulphate  of  Soda, 

Phosphate  Rock,  fine  ground.  Muriate  of  Potash, 

Land  Plaster,  pure  aud  fine  Oil  Vitriol,  full  strength, 

ground.  Sulphate  of  Magnesia 
Sulphate  Potash  (Kamit),  (Kieserite). 

Nitrate  of  Soda, 


HARRISON  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

ANALYTICAL  CHEMISTS, 


Maniifactnrers  of  FertilizinE  Clieiicals. 


(Established   1793.) 


FACTORIES  AND  MILLS  AT  GRAY'S  FERRY. 
Office:  105  Soutli  Front  Street, 

PHILADELPHIA  PA 


J".  ST^^XJIi^IJ^IEIin., 

SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER,  JfA., 
235  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

All  matters  appertaining  to  UNITED  STATES  or  CANA- 
DIAN PATENTS,  TRADE  MARKS,  and  COPYRIGHTS, 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  success  aud  faithful 
attention  to  the  interests  of  those  who  engage  his  services 
are  fully  acknowledged  and  appreciated. 

Preliminary  examinations  made  for  him  by  a  reliable  As- 
sistant at  Washington,  without  extra  charge  for  drawing 
or  deMripOon.  [7»-l-tf 


We  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  in  search  of 
good  homes  in  the  West  to  the  advertisement  of 
Farms  and  Homes  in  another  column,  and  advise  all 
to  send  to  S.  Gij-moke,  Salina,  Kansas,  for  a  free 
copy  of  the  Homestead,  a  paper  published  in  the 
interests  of  all  desiring  cheap  homes  in  a  good 
country. 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 


fpctlv 

Before  Taking  i'^/e's^^dyuseV/or  oTe?  After  Taking. 

thirty  years  with  great  success.  Full  particulars  in  our 
pamphlet,  which  we  desireto  send  free  by  mail  to  every  one. 
The  specific  medicine  is  sold  by  all  druggists  at  $1  per  pack- 
age, or  six  packages  lor  $>,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  on 
receipt  of  the  mouev  by  addressing 

THE  GRAY  MEDICINE  COMPANY, 
No.  10  IKeohaniCB"  Block,  Detroit,  Michigan. 
rS^SoUl  in  Liiucaster   by  H.  B.  Cochkan.  137  and  139  N. 
Queen  St  ,  aud  by  dnijjKisis  eve:  y where.  [79-3-12 


ZIMMERMAN 

FItZriT  AND    VEQEIASZM 

DRYER  &  BAKE  OVEN 

Over  11,000  in  use. 

The  BEST  in  the  market. 

Made  entirely  of  Galvanised  Iron 

AGENTS  WANTED. 

Send  for  Circular.    Address 


1879  SPRING  AND  SUMMER  187» 

Coats  aijd  Coatings^ 

PANTS  AND  PANTING8, 
VESTS  AND  VP:STINGS, 
SUITS  AND  SUITINGS, 
OVERCOATS  AND  OVERCOATINGS 

RATHVON  &  FISHER'S, 

IJerchant  Tailors,  Drapiers  and  Glotljiers, 

Corner  N.  Queen  and  Orange  Sts., 
LANCASTER,  PA. 

Underclothing  and  Fnrnishiiie  Goods.    All  the  noT- 

elties  of  the  Season. 

as  any  other  place  in  the  city.    Goods  all  wool,  perfect,  and 
satisfHctiou  guaranteed.    Orders  respect- 


1S79 


isfHctiou  guaranteed,    orders  res 
fully  solicited,  and  promptly  executed. 


lf«79 


KENDALL'S  "oe  ;iir:cu^flpa"v^nt 
splint.  Curb,  Callous,  *c.,  or  any  enlargement,  AND  WILL 
REMOVE  TIIH  HUNCH  WITHOUT  BLISTERING  or 
C«  13  A  ITTlWr  causing  a  sore.  No  remedy  ever 
^  W^  n.  V  XXII  discovered  equals  it  for  certainty 
of  action  in  stopping  the  lameness  aud  removingthe  bnuch. 
Price  $1  00.  Send  for  circular  giving  POSITIVE  PROOF. 
^^TTTS  T  8ULD  BY  DRUGGISTS  or  sent  by  the  in- 
yj  \J  ^&Xi  ventor,  B.  J.  Kendall,  M.  D.. 
FaUs,  Vt.  Johnston,  HoUoway  &  Co.,  Agts.,  6C 
rhiladelptiia,  Pa. 


79-8- tf. 


rgu 
St., 


ONE  DOLLAR  FEE  ANNUM.-SIITGLE  COFZES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  S.  S.  BATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER.  PA.,  OCTOBER,  1879. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND,  Publisher. 


145 


CONTENTS  OFJHIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 
.  The  Weather, 

•  Common  Sense,       ...... 

•  Our  Late  Local  Exhibition,        .... 
.  Maple  Coccus,       -        -        .        .        .        - 
^Thanks,  

QUERIES  AND  ANSWERS. 
.  Large  Water-Beetle, 145 

•  Spectre  Insect,    --..-..    145 

COMMUNICATIONS. 
-  Letter  From  Missouri— .B.  F.  Wylde,    -        -        146 

•Introductory, -     146 

March  to  the  Sea— J.   WittJch. 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

.TheHepatica,  or  Liver  Leaf— ,;■.  .SfaHjTer,    .  147 

SELECTIONS. 

•  Lancaster  County  Cattle,  -        ....  148 

•  Revised  Fruit  List, 148 

•  Home  and  Export  Tobacco  Market,  ...  149 

Seed  leaf— Siiles— Quotations. 

•  Sheep  Husbandry  in  the  United  States,  .  149 
,  Raising  Horses  in  Texas,  .  -  -  -  -  149 
,  Growth  and  Development  of  the  West,  -  -  150 
.  Production  and  Keeping  of  Eggs,  -  .  -  1.50 
.Tobacco,         ...         ....  151 

•  Essay  on  the  Subject  of  Manuring  Land  and  how 

to  Apply  it,  ......    1.51 

.  Labor-Saving  Implements,      -        .        .        .        i.^i 
.The  Balance  of  Nature— Fish,    ....     152 

^  Standard  of  the  American  Jersey  Cattle  Club,   .  152 
f  Whole  Acres  of  Perfume,        ....        1,52 

,  Altitudes  in  Pennsylvania,         -        -        .        -153 

»The  Cattle  Disease, 153 

■  Singular  Discovery,    ......    153 

,A  New  Use  for  the  Mullein,  -        .        -        .        1,53' 

<  Juice  of  the  Tomato  Plant  an  Insecticide,         -    153 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

•  Lancaster  County  Agricultural  and  Horticultu- 

ral Society, I53 

Report   of    Special    CommitteeB— Crop    ReportB— 
Should  C)rch,irdB  be  Cultivated— The  New  Society 
— Fiirmiug  iu  the  far  West— Amendmeut  to  By- 
l.aws— Bneiness   for   next    Meeting- Fruits   and 
Flowers. 
-  The  Poultry  Association 
Report  of  Committee—; 
.  Fulton  Farmers'  Club,    .        -        -        -        .        154 
Exhibit    of  Farm    I'rodncts- Asking    Questions- 
Viewing  the  Farm— Afternoon  Session- Literary. 

•  The  Linnsean  Society, 155 

Historical  Section — To  the  Library— Papers  read, 
AGRICULTURE. 

•  Application  of  Manure, 155 

•  Plowing  Down  Green  Crops,  .  -  .  -  155 
,  Putting  in  the  Wheat  Crop,  ....  155 
t  Smut  in  Grain, I55 

'*•  Western  farms  Much  Favored,      -        -        -  156 

, CultijTtating  Wheat  in  England,        .        .        .  150 

■  ,  To  Kiil^tael  #nd  Clean  Gravel  Walks,        -  156 

•  Fall  Plow!^-;^'r  Porn, 156 


'  Business. 


HORTICULTURE. 

Growing  the  Fear,  -        -       -        .        .        .  156 

Small  Fruits, 156 

Mulching  Strawberries,  .....  1.50 

Distances  for  Grapes,        -        -        -        -        -  1.50 

.Putting   Away   Potatoes,        ....  1,57 

.Beet  Sugar,        - 157 

Apples — Picking  and  Keeping  Them,    .        .  157 

Seedling    Fruits, 157 

Olives  in  California, 157 

,To  Prepare  a  Strawberry  Bed,    .        -        -        -  157 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 
Extravagance  of  American  Housekeepers, 
,A  Geose,      .---..- 


157 


Roast  Goose— Green  Goose,  to  Roast — Roast  Ducks 
—To  Boil  Ducks— Ducts  Stewed  with  Red  Cab- 
bage— To  Roast  Geese  and  Ducks. 

.  Proverbs  iu  Cookery,      .....  157 

.  Facts  About  Flour, 158 

Chinese  Cookery, 1.58 

A  Cheap  Ice  House,  --....  158 
HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 

.  To  Polish  Steel,       ......  158 

Salad  Dressing, 158 

,  Rancid  Butter^         ......  158 

To  Destroy  Aphides, 158 

Gumbo  Soup,  .......  15S 

•Apple  Omelette, 1.58 

CoB'ee  Ice  Cream, 158 

.  Green  Tomato  Soy, 158 

Domestic  Champagne,    ....        -  158 

,  To  Remove  Rust  from  Steel,      .        .        .        -  158 

Petroleum, 158 

To  Pickle  Fruit,        - 158 

Tomato  Soup,  1, 158 

',  Tomato  Soup,  2, 158 

Beef  Soup, 158 

Ice  Cream  with  Eggs, 1.58 

,  Squash  Pie,      -..--..  158 

Rabbit  Stew, 158 

Matelolte  D'Anguilles, 1,58 

Mock  Oysters,     --.....  15s 

LIVE  STOCK. 

•ows  in  Early  Winter,    .....  15s 

Runaway  Horses,        ......  1,59 

The  Wild  Cattle  of  Great  Britain,        .        .  1,59 

The  Cattle  Belt,        -...-.  159 

Swiss  D.iirymen  in  California,        .        .        .  1.59 

Hints  for  Horse  Trainers,   .....  159 

Colic  in  Stock, 1.59 

How  to  make  Cows  give  Milk,  -        .        .        .159 

Polling  Cattle,        ......  159 

Salt  for  Stock,    .        -        ...        .        _        -1,59 

To  Tell  a  Horse's  Age, 159 

POULTRY. 
Hints  to  Poultry  Breeders, 

Red  Canary  Birds, 

Chicken  Cholera,        .... 
Young   Fowls,         -        -  .        - 

Literary  and  Personal, 


159 


— THE— 

FIRST  ANNUAL  EXHIBITION 

or    THE 

LANCASTER   COUNTY 

POULTRY  I^SSOCIATION, 

WILL    BE    nKI-1)    IN 

LOCHER'S  BUILDING, 
CENTRE  SQUARE,  LANCASTER,  PA. 

Januarv  2,  3,  5,  6  and  7,  1880. 

$500  OFFERED  IN  PREMIUMS. 


Premium  List  sent  on  appliaition  after  No- 
vember 15,  1879. 

J.   B.  LICHTY, 

Secretary. 


PHARES    ^V.    FRY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WftLL  PAPERS  WINDOW  SHABES, 

Ilollnndn,  pinlii  SliiKie  C'lotli, 


FREEGiFT! 


use  Kook  win 

■mt  10  any  per- 
son afflicted  with  4'OiiNni»|.lioii,  IlronrhltiH, 
Astlima,  Sorr  Thront,  or   A'anal  Catarrh.     It 

ie  elejiautly  ijriuled  and  lUuetraled.  144  I'agen,  l^luo.  1879, 
It  hao  been  the  means  in  the  inovidmcc  of  God  of  sai-iag 
many  valuable  lives  Send  name  and  post  office  address, 
with  six  cents  postafte  for  mailing.  The  book  is  valuable  to 
persons  sufiTeriug  with  any  dieeaee  of  the  A'ONe,  Throat 
-  •  Idrcss,  Dr.  ST.  B.  WOI.FE.  Clncin. 

(79-10-«m. 


LnnirM.    Ad 
i,  Ohio. 


6ERMANT0WN  TELEGRAPH, 


Which  is  generally  acknowlcd,<td  to  be  the  best  Literary, 
Fanningaiid  Agricultural  Newspaper  In  PenusylvaDia,  Is 
issued  weekly  at  a«mianlown,  Philadelphia,  at  83.50  per 
annum.  It  will  commence  Its  60th  volume  with  the  first 
number  iu  Much,  proximo,  being  establisbed  and  conduct. 
e<l  by  Its  present  editor  and  proprietor.  No  family  glvUlg 
it  a  trial  for  a  year  would  be  willing  to  do  without  It  iS 
double  the  subscription  price.    Address 

PHILIP  R.  IKE  AS, 
T»-10-lm]  OermantowD,  Phils. 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


ENNSYrVAXIA  RAIl.ROAO  SCHEDULE. 

Trains  leave  tlie  Depot  iu  ttuB  city,  as  follows  : 

Lancaster. 


WE  TWARD. 

Pacific  Express' 

Way  Paseengert 

Niagara  Express 


Ko.  2  via  Oolumbia. , 

Sunday  Mail 

Fast  Line* 

Frederick  Accommodatii 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodatic 
Harrisburg  Express  . ... 
Pittsburg  Express.  ... 
Cincinnati  Express" 


EASTWARD. 

Atlantic  Express* 

Philadelphia  Expresst. 
Fast  Line* 

Harrisburg  Express.. 


1:20  p, 


3:45  p. 

Col.  2:45 

7:40  p. 


Columbia  Accommodation 

Pacific  Express* 

Sunday  Mail '.... 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express* 

Harrisburg  Accom 

The  Hanover  Accommodation,  west, 
with  Niagara  Express,   west,   at  9:35  a.  m.,  ana  wui  run 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommodation,  west,  connects  at  Lancas- 
ter with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2:10  p.  m.,  and  rune  to  Frederick. 

The  Pacific  Express,  east,  on  Sunday,  when  flagged,  will 
stop  at  Jliddletown,  Elizabethtown,  Mount  Joy  and  Landia- 
Tille. 

*The  only  trains  which  run  daily. 

tRuns  daily,  except  Monday. 


$77; 


■js.  IE',  :BO\7«rivr.A.3xr, 


AT  l.eWE!»T  POSSIBIrE  PRICES, 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.  106  KAST  KING  STREET, 

9-1-12]  Opposite  Lpopard  Hotel. 


GLOVES,  SHIRTS^UNDERWEAR.    H 
SHIRTS  MAdFtO  OEDER, 

AND  WARRANTED  TO  FIT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN, 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


S.  ^.  OOiXl. 


Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST„  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 

And  Manufacturers  of 

FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS, 

WAREROOMS: 

102  East  King  St.,  Cor.  of  Duke  St. 

■LANCASTER,  PA. 


NOTICE. 

A  VALUABLE  WORK. 

A  TREATISE 

—OH  THE— 

HORSE  AND  HIS  DISEASES, 

By  DK.  B.  J.  KENDALL,  of  Enosburgh  Falls,  Vermont, 

It  1«  nicely  iUustrated  with  thirty-five  engravinga,  and  is 
full  of  usefBl  horse  knowledge.  Every  horse  owner  should 
hAve  a  copy  of  it. 

SEND  2S  CENTS  FOR  A  COPT. 

Jun-tf 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND  FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CLOCKS, 

JEWELRY  I  TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

Repairing  strictly  attended  to. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

79-1-12 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


* 


Or.    SENER    &  SONS, 


X^XTlVEBSFt, 

The  best  Sawed  SHI^'GIiESiu  the  couutry.     Also  Sash, 
Doors,  Blinds,  Mouldings,  &c. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Comer  of  Prince  and  Walnut-sts., 

LAJSrCASTKR,  Fj^. 

79-1-12] 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 

Embracing  the  history  and  habits  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 
INSECTS, 

and  the  best  remedies  for  their  expulsion  or  extermination. 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  and  will  be  put  in 
press  (as  aoou  after  a  sufticieut  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtaiued  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 


Fruit,  Sliadeand  Ornamental  Trees. 

plant  Treea  raised  in  this  county  and  suited  to  this  climate. 
Write  for  prices  to 

LOUIS  C.LYTE, 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co..  Pa. 

Smoketown,  six  mile*  east  of  Lancaster. 


-12 


FARMERS, 

Look  to  Your  Interests 

IMPORTANT  TO  FAKMERS,  TRUCKERS 
AND  GARDENERS. 

A  NATURAL  FERTILIZER ! 


RICH  IN  DISSOLVED  BONES. 


PHOSPHORIC  ACID. 


POTASH,  SILICIC  ACID,  dC. 


I  Permanently  Enriches  Every  Variety  of  Soil. 
It  Doubles  the  Yield  of  Grass. 


change  for  land  after  the 
Lime. 

In  successful  use  here  over  100  years,  and  more  than  two 
thiids  of  the  cropped  land  of  Europe^improved  with  Marl. 

It  is  not  a  stimulant, as  patent  manures  are,  but  Its  eflecta 
are  lasliug. 

Farmers,  why  then  pay  from  $S0  to  $40  per  ton  for  Phos- 
phates, when  you  can  buy  a  Natural  Fertilizer  at  the  low 
rate  of 


$10  PER  TON, 


that  will  yield  yoa  a  rich  return  and  be  a  lasting  benefit 
to  your  soil. 

Its  History,  Analysis,  Application  to  different  Soils, 
Crops,  Testimonials,  and  further  information  regarding  its 
uses,  will  be  given  on  application  to 


D.  P.  BITNER 


Oeneral  Agent  for 


LANCASTER  COUNTY. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  OCTOBER,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  No.  10. 


Editorial. 


THE  WEATHER. 

Has  the  "oldest  inliabitaiit"  ever  before 
noticed  sixteen  consecutive  days  in  tlic  month 
of  October,  durinr;  whieli  the  temperaturo  was 
elev.ated  to  the  BU's  and  90's  of  the  thermom- 
eter ?  We  confess  that  wo  never  liave,  and 
we  are  now  as  old  as  AVashington  was  when 
he  died.  We  have  seen  one  or  two  days, 
rarely  three,  but  never  seventeen  as  has  been 
the  case  the  present  season,  including  tlie  last 
day  of  September,  which  was  nearly  as  warm 
as  the  sixteen  following  days. 

The  southern  portion  of  Lancaster  county 
is,  and  has  been  for  some  weeks,  very  dry, 
and  the  water  in  the  streams  and  wells  very 
low;  indeed  some  of  them  have  been  compelled 
to  "dry  up,"  a  contingency  very  inconvenient 
and  uncomfortable  to  domestic  life,  especially 
on  farms  which  have  no  running  streams  flow- 
ing through  them.  A  good  long  "soaking 
rain"  would  now  be  desirable,  but  not  accom- 
panied by  such  warm  weather  as  we  have  had 
for  two  weeks  or  more. 

Such  weather  is  a  great  breeder  of  the  Hes- 
sian-fly, midge  and  other  noxious  insects.  It 
also  heats  the  ground  and  invigorates  the 
"grubs"  and  other  insects  hidden  therein. 
Even  plowing  them  up  during  such  weather 
would  hardly  compass  their  destruction. 
First,  because  during  warm  weather  they 
have  sutticieut  vital  energy  to  rebury  them- 
selves. Moreover,  the  birds  are  now  about 
leaving  us  and  many  of  them  have  alre.ady  left 
for  the  sunny  South,  although,  perhaps,  had 
they  known  it  would  have  continued  so  warm 
they  would  not  have  been  in  such  a  hurry. 
This  being  the  case,  few  birds  except  crows 
will  be  on  hand  to  eat  up  the  grubs  and  other 
insects  that  may  be  turned  up  by  the  plow. 
On  the  18th  of  October,  the  hot  spell  of  weather 
was,  in  a  measure,  broken,  but  still  it  con- 
tinued warm  and  murky,  good  weather  for 
the  growing  crops,  but  with  warm  rains  likely 
to  bring  them  too  far  forward  to  bear  the 
winter  well. 

Up  at  Lancaster,  N.  11. ,  the  heat  was  100 
on  the  9tli,  and  from  many  other  poiiits  simi- 
lar reports  come  in.  On  the  15th  the  large 
and  beautiful  butterfly  {Danaus  archippes,) 
was  flying  about  the  streets  of  Lancaster  as 
gay  as  in  midsummer,  and  the  "White  Cab- 
bage Butterfly"  (Pitrcs  rapm,)  was  quite 
plenty  on  the  14th  and  15th.  TheJSusquehanna 
is  now  quite  as  low  as  it  was  in  1803,  which 
is  the  lowest  on  record.  The  mill  streams  are 
getting  hnv  and  flour  is  getting  high.  Many 
wells  and  springs  have  become  dry  that  have 
not  been  in  that  condition  for  half  a  century — 
and  still  no  rain. 


"COMMON  SENSE." 

We  have  received  a  very  handsome  little 
volume  purporting  to  be  a  common  sense 
treatise  on  the  treatment  of  asthma,  con- 
sumption and  catarrh,  and  especially  nasal 
catarrh,  or  "cold  in  head,"  (or  any  other  nose, 
throat  or  lung  disease,)  by  Dr.  N.  B.  Wolfe, 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  The  doctor  has  made 
the' treatment  of  the  organs  of  respiration  a 
special  practice  for  over  thirty  years,  and  has 
put  his  varied  experiences  and  reflections  in 
this  little  monograi)li,  which  he  offers  "a 
free  gift"  to  any  person  suffering  from  any  of 
the  above  diseases.  Tiie  book  is  very  hand- 
somely printed  and  illustrated,  and  not  the 
least  conspicuous  is  the  portrait  of  the  doctor 
him.self.  He  invites  all  to  send  for  it  by  all 
means,  especially  if  suffering  from  sore  throat 
or  lungs,  cough  or  disease  of  the  nose,  &c. 

Dr.  Wolfe  was  formerly  a  citizen  of  Colum- 
bia, in  this  county,  and  we  think  w.as  born 
there  or  at  Wrightsville,  immediately  oppo- 


site, in  York  county.  We  knew  him,  or  knew 
of  liim,  "long,  long  ago,"  when,  as  a  little 
"Nap,"  he  commanded  a  company  of  juvenile 
volunteers  in  the  borough  of  Columbia.  AVe 
have  peru.sed  his  book,  aud  we  tliink  that 
in  the  abstract  he  is  on  the  right  track  in  the 
treatment  of  nasal  catarrli  and  bronchial  in- 
flammations. We  have  suffered  many  weary 
years  with  nasal  catarrh,  and  if  we  could 
Iiave  had  access  forty  years  ago  to  treatment 
akin  to  his  system  we  believe  we  could  have 
saved  our  hearing,  which  now,  alas,  we  fear, 
has  departed  forever.  We  have  long  been 
using  medicated  fumes,  vapors,  infusions  and 
deturgents,  and  without  pretending  to  say 
that  these  alone  have  arrested  tlie  chronic 
character  of  our  case,  yet  it  is  chronic  no 
longer,  and  in  acute  attacks  we  invariably  re- 
sort to  inhalations,  and  generally  with  good 
results.  A  physician  who  makes  this  mode 
of  treatment  a  specialty  would,  no  doubt,  be 
preferable  to  one  who  only  employed  it  inci- 
dentally. Without  intending  to  forestall  the 
judgment  of  our  readers  we  think  we  can 
commend  the  perusal  of  this  book  to  their 
favorable  consideration. 

OUR  LATE  LOCAL  EXHIBITION. 

The  Fair  of  the  Lancaster  County  Agricul- 
tural and  Horticultural  Society,  at  the  North- 
ern Market  House,  on  the  10th,  11th  and  Idth 
of  September  last,  was,  under  all  the  circum- 
stances, both  financially,  and  in  respectabil- 
ity of  display,  a  success.  It  illustrated  fully 
that  with  the  proper  time  and  effort,  Lancas- 
ter county  can  and  tuill  get  up  an  exhibition 
that  will  rival  successfully  any  other  district 
of  the  "Keystone  State. "  With  a  liberal  and 
systematically  detailed  premium  list,  an  early 
and  energetic  beginning,and  a  more  extensive 
advertisement,  we  feel  confident  that  the  so- 
ciety in  future  will  be  able  to  accomplish  its 
end  with  credit  to  itself  and  the  community. 
The  present  season  has  been  peculiarly  a  pro- 
lific one  in  the  getting  up  of  exhibitions  all 
over  the  country,  and  so  far  as  we  are  able  to 
learn,  they  have  been  generally  successful. 
As  long  as  they  do  not  involve  a  financial  loss 
to  the  societies  getting  them  up,  or  to  exhibi- 
tors participating  in  them,  we  may  regard 
them  as  successful,  for  there  are  compensations 
accruing  to  the  participants  in  them  and  tlie 
public  at  large  that  are  beyond  immediate  pe- 
cuniary calculation — like  bread  cast  upon  the 
■waters  that  will  return  after  many  days. 


MAPLE  COCCUS. 
A  new  insect,  to  this  locality,  made  its  ap- 
pearance during  the  present  season  on  two 
"sugar  maple  "  trees  {acer  sacharium)  stand- 
ing in  East  Orange  Street,  on  the  south  side 
of  St.  James'  Church,  which  seems  to  be  the 
Pscudo-C'iccais  aceris,  of  Europe,  or  an  insect 
nearly  allied  to  that  species,  and  is  supposed 
to  have  been,  in  some  manner,  imported  from 
that  country.  There  are  millions  of  them, 
but  it  does  not  yet  appear  to  what  extent  they 
will  be  injurious  to  the  trees  they  infest. 
None  have  yet  been  noticed  on  the  "silver 
maple"  (acer  dasy  carpunn);  but  there  are 
very  few  leaves  on  the  sugar  maple  that  have 
not  more  or  less  of  the  white  floculent  or  cot- 
ton-like matter  on  the  under  sides,  which 
they  secrete,  and  which  covers  them.  All  the 
fissures  in  the  bark,  on  both  the  trunks  aud 
the  branches  are  filled  with  granulations  of 
the  same  white  substance,  and  many  of  the 
insects  are  secreted  under  it,  and  will  thus 
pass  the  winter.  Those  attached  to  the  leaves 
will  probably  perish;  but  as  they  are  tolerably 
active,  although  almost  invisible  to  the  naked 
eye,  and  may  crawl  up  the  trunk,  it  would  be 
well  to  gather  up  the  leaves  as  fast  as  they 
ftiU  and  bum  them,  even  though  they  may  be 


as  harmless  as  the  famous   "kegs,"  during 
the  revolution. 


THANKS. 
It  gives  us  more  than  ordinary  pleasure  in 
having  occasion  to  return  our  snicere  thanks 
to  Messrs.  William  Weidlc,  M.  I).  Kendig, 
and  Daniel  Smeych,  for  generous  donation.s  of 
Peaches,  Pears,  Grapes  and  Apples,  of  a  lus- 
ciousness  and  a  flavor  most  grateful  to  the 
"touch  and  taste."  These  gentlemen  are 
celebrated  for  the  production  of  fine  fruit,  and 
in  that  respect,  may  justly  he  ranked  in  the 
class  of  Horticultural  benefactors  ;  and  in 
nothing  is  this  more  manifest  than  in  their 
kind  remembrance  of  the  toiling  editor.  If 
the  man  who  causes  two  blades  of  grass  to 
grow  wliere  only  one  grew  before  may  be  es- 
teemed a  benefactor,  how  much  more  those 
men,  who,  through  thought  and  patient  labor 
of  head  and  hand,  have  wrought  such  wonder- 
ful improvement  in  the  size,  the  texture,  and 
the  flavor  of  the  different  varieties  of  fruit. 
May  they  receive  their  reward. 


Queries  and  Answers. 


LARGE  WATER-BEETLE. 
A  fine  large  specimen  of  Cf/bistcr  fimbrio- 
lalus — a  chestnut-brown  Water-Beetle — was 
placed  in  my  possession  by  Mr.  Hiram  Stamm, 
that  had  been  captured  alive  by  Mr.  John  J. 
Tripple,  of  Safe  Harbor,  Lancaster  county, 
Pa.  Mr.  T.  captured  this  insect  in  his  ram- 
stand,  and  never  having  seen  anything  of  the 
kind  before  he  is  naturally  anxious  to  know 
what  it  is,  aud  how  it  got  into  liis  rain-stand. 
These  insects  breed  in  the  water,  and  al- 
though, other  things  being  equal,  it  might 
have  bred  in  a  rain-st^nd  as  easily  as  else- 
where, still  I  do  not  think  it  did  ;  simply  be- 
cause in  its  larval  condition  it  is  a  most 
voracious  feeder,  and  would  not  be  likely  to 
find  food  enough  there— indeed,  they  have 
been  known  to  be  very  destructive  to  the  fry 
of  fish  in  fish-ponds.  Although  they  are 
aquatic  in  their  habits,  yet  in  the  adult  state 
they  arc  provided  with  ample  wings,  which 
lie  folded  up  laterally  and  transversely  be- 
neath their  elytra,  or  shield-like  wing-covers, 
and  by  the  aid  of  these  they  are  able  to  mount 
into  the  air  and  fly  a  considerable  distance, 
and  hence  they  often  fall  on  the  roofs  of 
buildings,  from  whence  they  find  their  way 
into  the  gutters,  down  the  spouting,  and  into 
rain-stands  and  cisterns.  I  have  found  them 
in  the  gutters  of  our  streets,  or  in  the  street 
itself,  floundering  about  without  being|able  to 
make  much  headway.  They  pass  the  winter 
in  the  mud,  at  the  bottom  of  ponds  and 
streams.  This  subject  would  probably  have 
been  in  the  mud  by  this  time  had  it  not  been 
for  the  extraordinary  warm  weather  now 
pending,  which  doubtless  has  deceived  it,  and 
should  it  continue  much  longer  we  may  next 
look  for  a  return  of  the  swallows.  This  in- 
sect is  nearly  two  inches  in  length  and  one 
inch  broad,  elliptic  in  form,  and  a  polished 
chestnut-brown  in  color.  Its  hind  limbs  are 
like  a  pair  of  oars,  and  it  uses  them  as  such. 
It  uses  them  very  effectively  in  water— its 
natural  element— but  it  is  an  indifferent 
pedestrian  on  land. 

SPECTRE  INSECT. 
Mr.  L.  H.,  North  Queen  Street.— The  large. 
gray,  and  long-legged  and  long-bodied  insect 
you  sent  me  is  the  "Spectre  insect,"  or 
"Walking-twig,"  {Spectrum  femoratum,)  and 
belongs  to  the  order  Okthopteba,  section 
Ambulatoria,  family  Phasmiadce.  It  feeds  on 
vegetation  and  is  remotely  allied  to  the 
crickets,  grasshoppers  and  trae  lociusts.    It 


146 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  October, 


ususually  feeds  on  the  leaves  of  trees— especi- 
ally the  sassafras — and  instances  are  known 
in  which  it  has  been  destructive.  This  is  a 
female  specimen  and  is  unusually  large. 


COMMUNICATIONS. 


LETTER  FROM  MISSOURI. 

Benton  Citt,  Audi-aiu  county,  Mo.,  } 
Sept.  27th,  1879.      <, 

Messes.  Editor  :  U  you  think  the  follow- 
ing would  interest  your  readers  please  give  it 
room  in  your  columns  : 

Benton  city  is  on  the  St.  Louis,  Kansas 
City  and  Northern  Railroad,  one  hundred 
mOes  from  St.  Louis  and  seven  miles  from 
Mexico,  which  is  the  county  seat  of  Audrain 
county,  and  has  a  population  of  about  6,000, 
but  no  saloon.  Good  unimproved  land- 
prairie  and  timber — is  worth  from  $4  to  $8, 
and  improved  land  $8  to  $16  per  acre.  Wheat 
is  yielding  15  to  30,  and  corn  30  to  60  bushels 
per  acre.  We  have  good  soil,  markets,  lumber 
and  water.  Also,  good  schools  and  good 
society,  and  a  healthful  climate,  but  the 
country  needs  more  farmers  and  manufactur- 
ers. I  have  lived  here  several  years  and  I 
find  that  I  can  do  better  on  a  farm  here  than 
I  could  do  in  any  of  the  several  States  in  which 
I  formerly  lived.  The  stock  range  is  an  item 
of  considerable  importance.  Sectional  preju- 
dice is  a  thing  of  the  past  here  now.  The 
population  is  from  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and 
sectionalism  would  not  know  where  to  begin. — 
Bespectfully,  B.  F.  Wi/lde. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

We  offer  no  apology  for  publishing  entire, 
in  the  Farmer,  the  following  diary  of  a  trip 
from  Elk  Grove,  California,  to  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific.  It  is  written  by  an  old  and  es- 
teemed native  citizen  of  Lancastec- county, 
who  cast  his  fortunes  in  the  Golden  State 
thirty  years  ago,  and  who  will  probably  end 
his  days  in  that  modern  El  Dorado.  He  has 
always  been  plain,  unostentations,  honest, 
frugal  and  industrious — an  honor  to  his  town, 
his  county  and  his  State— and  his  domicilia- 
tion in  California,  we  feel  confident  is  as  great 
a  gain  to  that  State,  as  his  absence  is  a  loss  to 
ours.  We  beheve  our  readers  will  be  inter- 
ested in  his  narrative,  and  some  of  them  may 
wish,  as  we  have,  dozens  of  times  in  reading 
it  over,  that  they  had  been  with  him,  to  have 
had  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  scenes  he 
describes  so  graphically.  From  it  they  may 
gather  something  about  the  civil  and  physical 
geography  of  California — its  products,  its  curi- 
osities, its  world-wide  wonders,  and  its  local 
phenomena.  Of  course,  he  makes  no  preten- 
sion to  scientific  lore,  or  he  might  have  devel- 
oped much  that  would  have  been  of  material 
interest  to  the  scientific  specialist.  As  it  is, 
it  cannot  but  be  interesting  and  also  useful  to 
the  farmer,  the  fruit  grower,  and  tlie  cultiva- 
tors of  cereals  and  garden  truck.  Under  any 
circumstances,  a  journey  of  that  character 
far  more  satisfactory  in  making  personal  ob- 
servations upon  the  country  passed  through, 
in  relation  to  its  quality,  its  soil,  its  hills  and 
valleys,  its  productions,  its  people  and  their 
ways  of  doing  things,  their  social  and  domes- 
tic condition,  and  its  climate,  than  in  passing 
through  it  at  a  rapid  railroad  speed— at  one 
motnent  elevated  in  mid  ah-,  and  the  next 
driving  through  deep  excavations  and  dark 
tunnels,  with  all  visible  objects  swiftly  reced- 
ing from  view,  and  apparently  running  with 
reckless  speed  in  an  opposite  direction.  Com- 
mend us  to  this  "good  old  way"  in  gaining  a 
a  knowledge  of  the  texture  and  composition 
of  the  country  we  are  traversing  for  pleasure 
and  profit. 

"  March  to  the  Sea." 

Elk  Geove,  September  11, 1879. 

Editor  Lancaster  Farmer — Dear  Sir  : 
General  Sherman  marched  from  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  to  the  Sea;  but  according  to  the 
adage  of  the  famous  Sam  Patch,  "some  things 
can  be  done  as  well  as  others."  My  friend,  Mr. 
Stewart,  Mrs.  Stewart  and  myself,  fitted  up  a 


two-horse  wagon  for  the  purpose  of  going  from 
Elk  Grove,  Sacramento  co.,  Cal.,  to  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  We  set  out  on  the  iith 
of  Jtdy,  1879,  at  7:30  a.  m.,  and  arrived  at 
Sacramento  City  at  12,  m.  Here  we  purchased 
a  tent,  provision,  and  an  outfit  for  camping  at 
our  various  stopping  places.  After  loading 
up  our  cargo  we  started  again  on  our  journey, 
and  crossed  the  bridge  that  spans  the  Sacra- 
mento river,  entered  Yolo  county,  continued 
up  the  river,  keeping  on  the  levee  until  we 
reached  Mr.  Clark's  ranch.  The  day  being 
very  warm,  we  made  our  first  camp  for  the 
night.  Mrs.  S.  got  us»up  a  nice  supper  of 
beefsteak,  boiled  eggs,  coffee,  cake,  and 
cheese.  After  supper  we  pitched  our  tent  in  a 
shadv  grove,  where  the  Alfalfa  clover  was 
two  feet  high. 

July  25.  This  morning  we  started  for  Wood- 
land, which  is  quite  a  large  town,  situated  in 
the  wheat-growing  district  of  Yolo  county; 
they  were  at  this  time  busily  engaged  in 
threshing  their  wheat  of  which  they  had  a 
large  crop.  After  leaving  Woodland  the  next 
place  we  arrived  at  was  Madison,  a  prominent 
railroad  station. 

There  is  an  immense  flouring  mill  at  this 
place  ;  also  large  storehouses  ;  and  there  are 
hundreds  of  tons  of  wheat  piled  up  in  and 
about  the  place.  After  leaving  Madison  we 
took  our  course  up  the  Cache  Creek  Valley. 
This  valley  has  some  of  the  best  farming  land 
in  the  county  of  Yolo,  or  perhaps  anywhere 
else  in  the  State.  After  reaching  the  head  of 
the  valley  we  entered  the  canyon,  which  has 
a  very  heavy  grade.  After  traveling  up  this 
grade  we  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain  and 
came  to  a  fine  sulphur  spring,  on  a  ranch  be- 
longing to  the  widow  Fisk.  To-day  we  saw 
the  first  deers,*  on  the  grade  descending  the 
mountain  on  the  otlier  side,  and  alter  driving 
pretty  late  we  pitched  our  tent  and  camped 
on  Mr.  Hall's  ranch. 

Jidy  26.  This  morning  we  had  "California 
Quail"!  for  breakfast,  and  it  being  Sunday  we 
remained  late  in  camp  to  rest  our  horses. 
After  starting  out  again  we  visited  some  of 
the  quicksilver  mines,  being  now  in  Lake 
county.  We  also  came  across  a  sulphur  spring, 
and  also  some  soda  springs,  and  after  resting 
ourselves  and  horses  we  started  on  and  camped 
for  the  night  two  miles  from  the  town  of 
Lower  Lake,  in  the  county  aforesaid. 

Jidy  27.  This  morning  we  drove  into  town 
and  fed  our  horses.  This  town  is  supported 
by  the  quicksilver  mines,  and  the  small  moun- 
tain ranches  in  the  neighborhood  ;  after  leav- 
ing here  we  drove  on  until  we  came  to  good 
water  and  grass,  and  here  camped  for  the 
night.  There  is  a  ranch  of  480  iCcres  of  the 
most  splendid  land  here  on  the  top  of  the 
mountain.  The  man  that  lives  here  informed 
me  that  he  could  not  grow  corn  nor  vegetables 
on  his  ranch,  as  the  deer  were  so  numerous 
that  they  destroyed  everything  in  the  shape 
of  garden  truck.  They  have  to  make  a  high 
fence  around  their  enclosures  in  order  to  keep 
out  the  deer. 

July  28.  This  morning  we  met  a  camp  of 
hunters.  They  brought  in  two  deer  and  we 
bought  a  hindquarter  from  them,  so  we  had 
venison  for  breakfast.  After  breakfast  we 
struck  camp  and  reached  Kelseyville  at  8 
o'clock,  A.  M.  From  there  we  went  to  Lake 
Valley,  which  is,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the 
greatest  wheat-growing  valleys  in  the  State  of 
California,  and  raises  immense  crops.  At  11 
A.  M.  we  arrived  at  Lake  Port,  which  is  quite 
a  fine  town,  situated  on  the  upper  end  of 
Clear  Lake.  This  lake  is  about  forty  miles 
long  and  has  several  steamboats  navigating 
it.  After  leaving  Lake  Port  we  passed 
through  Scott's  Valley,  which  is  small  but 
very  rich.  The  people  were  just  engaged  in 
heading  (harvesting)  their  wheat.  At  2  P.  M. 
we  arrived  at  Potter  Valley,  and  after  dinner 
we  hitched  up  and  took  the  road  for  Blue 
Lake.     Traveling  about  twelve  miles  we  held 


Pacific  coast  of  North  America. 

fCallfornia  Quail"  {Lcphortyxcali/or. 
crested  bird  belonging 
family. 


up  and  camped  for  the  night.  Our  bill  of 
fare,  as  usual,  was  fresh  venison  and  quails, 
prepared  in  Mrs.  S.'s  best  style  ;  and  doubt- 
less they  were  better  than  those  of  the  Israel- 
ites in  the  wilderness. 

July  29.  After  setting  out  from  camp  this 
morning,  we  arrived  at  Blue  Lake  at  10  a.  m. 
Blue  Lake  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sheets 
of  water  that  can  be  imagined,  and  is  as  blue 
as  indigo.  It  is  about  four  miles  long,  and 
we  continued  down  its  margin  until  we  came 
to  a  place  called  "Valley  Rest,"  where  we 
stopped  to  lunch.  After  traveling  down  the 
Canyon  for  some  distance  we  came  to  a  stream 
that  was  literally  filled  with  trout,*  and  here 
we  camped  for  the  night,  being  just  one  week 
from  home. 

July  30.  Mr.  S.  got  an  empty  barley  sack 
and  made  a  seine  and  commenced  fishing, 
with  indifferent  success.  At  10  a.  m.  we  ar- 
rived at  Ukiah  which  is  the  county  seat  of 
Mendocino  county.  There  is  a  very  fine 
Court  House  here,  and  it  is  a  lively  and 
handsome  town.  This  is  a  good  wheat  grow- 
ing valley,  settled  among  the  mountains. 
After  buying  supplies  we  started  on  the  up 
grade  for  the  mountains.  This  was  the  heavi- 
est grade  we  have  thus  far  met  with.  We  ar- 
rived at  the  top  of  the  moutain  at  6  p.  m., 
and  camped  at  a  spring  called  "  Shady-side." 
Here  we  fell  in  company  with  Mr.  Lapham, 
wife  and  brother,  from  Ohio.  He  is  an  artist 
taking  steroscopic  views  of  some  of  themouu- 
tains  and  valleys,  of  which  these  are  some  of 
the  most  magnificent  in  our  country. 

July  31.  This  morning  Mr.  Lapham  took  a 
view  of  our  two  camps,  and  the  scenery 
around  them.  We  now  commenced  to  enter 
the  Red-woodt  timber  over  a  heavy  grade, 
and  after  traveling  all  day  we  camped  at  a 
place  called  "Prairie  Camp." 

Awjust  1.  This  morning  we  crossed  the 
north  fork  of  Big  river.  In  crossing  the 
mountain  we  saw  a  small  bearj,  but  as  we  had 
not  lost  anything  we  passed  him  by.  At  noon 
while  feeding  the  horses,  we  picked  a  bucket 
full  of  huckleberries,  there!  being  acres  of  the 
finest  here.  At  4i  p.  m.,  we  arrived  at  Men- 
docino city,  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Here  the 
weather  was  so  cold  as  to  render  a  change  of 
clothing  necessary  in  order  to  be  comfortable. 
We  encamped  at  Little  river  in  an  enclosure 
belonging  to  Mr.  Stevens,  which  sheltered  us 
from  the  winds,  which  nearly  always  prevail 
along  the  Pacific  coast.  We  were  now  just 
ten  days  from  home. 

Augusfi.  This  day  was  spent  in  taking  a 
view  of  the  coast,  and  collecting  shells,  of 
which  there  are  sometimes  an  abundance,  and 
occasionally  some  rare  ones. 

Awjust  3.  To-day  Mr.  S.  and  myself  col- 
lected shells  and  crabs,  5  when  the  tide  was 
out,  and  we  had  them  for  dinner,  with  pota- 
toes baked  in  the  ashes,  and  huckleberry  pie, 
and  they  were  eaten  with  a  relish  more  than 
usual. 

August  4.  To-day  Mr.  S.  and  myself,  ac- 
companied by  an  old  German,  went  out  on 
the  coast  to  collect  Abolonies,  but  it  proved 
a  complete  failure.  We  then  made  arrange- 
ments with  an  old  sailor  to  go  out  again  next 
morning. 

August  5.  This  morning  Mr.  S.  went  out  with 
the  sailor,  and  they  soon  came  back  with  a 
sackful!  of  the  "Abolonies.  "If  We  did  not 
want  them  for  the  animal  mollusk  so  much  as 
we  did  for  the  shell.    Mrs.  S.  fried  one  of  the 

*Tlii8  was  pfobably  the  common  biook  trout  {iatmo  fon- 
tinalis),  which  abounds  in  many  of  the  clear  streams  of 
northern  North  America. 

+Red-wood.— This  may  be  the  Red-pine  or  Norway  pme 
(Pinus-rubra)  which  is  so  widely  distributed  throughout 
our  coubtry  and  is  so  exteusiyely  used  in  shipbuildmg, 
and  especially  for  mastB,  It  not,  what  is  it  ? 

tProbaWy  the  yonuK,  or  a  variety  of  the  Blacli  Bear, 
(Urmi.^  avierimmui).  The  "Cinnamon  Bear"  of  California 
and  OreROU  is  said  to  be  only  a  variety  of  the  common 

yxhe  -e  are  four  species  of  "huclileberry"  in'  the  United 
states  (GoyiussiKia).  namely  the  Box  (trocycera).  Dwarf 
(dumom).  Blue  (/roni/oso)  and  Black  {rennasa),  of  which  the 


arf  I 


)the 


:  ABC» 
■edible 


5  Probably  the  comn 
abounding  along  all  our  coasts. 

tXhe  term  "Abalony"  is  new  to  ua  and  must  be  very 
local.  From  the  fact  three  or  four  adult  persons 
made  a  meal  off  it,  and  that  probably  the  shell  was  saved 
entire,  it  must  have  been  a  large  bivalve,  sea  shell. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


147 


aboloaies  for  dinner,  and  I  do  assure  you  it 
was  very  fine.  She  was  so  well  pleased  with 
them  that  she  went  to  the  old  sailor's  camp 
and  presented  him  with  a  can  of  fruit.  ^Irs. 
S.  is  a  real  lady— one  of  nature's  nobility— 
and  enjoys  camp  life  hugely.  She  is  never 
tired,  and  is  always  in  a  good  humor  and  ready 
for  anything  that  may  turn  up  in  the  way  of 
rational  pleasure  or  fun.  We  spent  our  time 
very  ple;isantly  on  the  coast,  but  the  weather 
is  mucli  colder  than  it  is  in  the  interior,  or 
even  five  miles  back  in  the  timber  lands.  This 
is  a  great  timber  country.  There  are  saw- 
mills all  along  the  coast  and  ou  all  the  streams 
ruiming  into  the  ocean.  There  is  a  very  large 
business  done  here  in  the  way  of  getting  out 
railroad  ties  and  fence-posts.  The  timber  is 
red-wood.  The  weather  being  cold  and  windy, 
and  the  fogs  and  dews  heavy,  Mr.  S.  took 
sick,  he  being  unwell  when  we  left  home,  but 
gaining  all  the  way  until  we  came  here.  We 
had  to  leave  the  coast  after  being  here  just 
one  week. 

August  7.  This  morning  we  struck  our  tent, 
broke  camp,  and  went  down  the  coast  about 
seven  miles.  At  this  poiat  we  left  the  coast 
and  started  for  the  mountains.  After  travel- 
ing eighteen  miles  we  reached  Navaro  river, 
where  we  pitched  our  tent  at  a  tine  soda 
spring.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  persons 
here  from  San  Francisco  and  Oakland.  After 
sojourning  here  four  days,  on  Aug.  11  we 
set  out  on  our  journey  up  the  Navaro  river  to 
White  Hall,  vs'here  we  struck  Rauchero  river, 
and  at  5  o'clock  P.  M.,  we  camped  near  Rus- 
sian river,  in  famous  Sonoma  county. 

August  12.  This  county  has  the  reputation 
of  having  the  largest  vineyard  in  California, 
if  not  in  all  the  world,  having  an  area  of  over 
seven  hundred  acres.  "How  is  that  for  high  V" 
Nothing  but  grapes  on  grapes,  "far  beyond 
the  straining  vision's  gaze."  We  camped  at 
a  place  called  Alder  Glen,  kept  by  Mr.  R.  J. 
Shipley. 

August  13.  Here  there  are  a  number  of 
soda  springs,  four  of  them  being  all  in  a  line, 
and  can  all  be  covered  with  a  sixteen  feet 
board,  and  each  spring  had  a  different  kind  of 
water  flowing  from  it.  They  are  visited  by  a 
great  many  invalids.  It  is  a  beautiful  place, 
just  fitted  up  this  season  with  rustic  seats  and 
line  walks  on  the  mountain,  and  other  im- 
provements. 

Attgust  16.  Mr.  Shepley  is  to-day  bottling 
soda  water  and  shipping  it  to  San  Francisco, 
and  does  a  very  large  business  in  that  line. 
Although  everything  is  very  nice  here,  and 
Mr.  S.  seems  to  be  a  nice  sort  of  a  man,  yet 
he  is  something  of  a  "bilk."  After  making 
a  bargain  with  him  for  hay  for  our  horses  he 
charged  us  just  double  the  price  we  agreed 
upon,  when  we  were  ready  to  start  <away. 
There  is  within  three  miles  of  this  a  lady 
doctor,  by  the  name  of  Preston,  who  claims 
to  have  received  her  gift  directly  from  God, 
and  professes  to  cure  almost  any  kind  of  dis- 
ease. She  is  not  a  medium,  and  disclaims 
having  anything  to  do  with  spiritism.  There 
are  hundreds  of  patients  here  in  waiting. 
Every  house  in  the  neighborhood  has  as  many 
boarders  as  they  can  accommodate,  and  in 
Cloverdale  it  is  the  same,  besides  a  great 
many  that  live  in  tents.  I  had  a  good  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  and  conversing  with  a  num- 
ber of  those  who  had  been  treated  by  her,  as 
many  of  them  came  to  the  springs  every  day 
for  soda  water  while  1  was  there.  No  person 
drinks  any  other  kind  of  water  while  here. 
There  is  one  gentleman  here  who  had  doc- 
tored with  all  the  best  doctors  in  the  State, 
and  had  spent  thousands  of  dollars  in  vain. 
He  had  cancer  of  the  stomach,  and  his  phy- 
sicians all  told  him  that  they  could  do  nothing 
for  him,  and  he  therefore  must  die.  He  heard 
of  Mrs.  Preston  and  thought  he  would  trii  her, 
anyhow.  When  he  first  came  here  he  was 
carried  into  the  house.  He  is  now  well,  and 
the  day  before  we  loft  the  springs  he  went  out 
and  shot  a  deer  and  carried  it  half  a  mile  on 
his  shoulders.  This  is  only  one  ca.se  out  of  a 
great  number.  Mr.  Stewart  was  ou  the  sick 
list  when  we  left  home  and  when  we  came 
here  he  went  to  see  her.    She  told  him  the 


nature  of  his  disease — his  aches  and  pains- 
much  better  than  he  could  tell  himself,  and  at 
no  time  was  within  six  or  seven  feet  of  him. 
She  is  truly  a  wonderful  woman,;and  all  speak 
in  her  praise. 

Auguxt  17.  After  remaining  three  days  at 
Alder  Glen,  we  started  for  Clover  Dale, 
which  is  three  miles  from  the  Glen.  Clover 
Dale  is  (luite  a  nice  town  with  railroad  com- 
munication with  other  towns.  Here  we 
crossed  Russian  river  and  followed  Sulphur 
creek  to  the  Geysers.  These  are  among  the 
gi-eatest  wonders  of  the  world.  These  springs 
throw  up  great  volumes  of  water  of  every 
temperature,  from  icy  cold  to  hot  enough  to 
scald  a  hog  or  boil  an  egg  hard.  There  is  a 
jierfect  fog  or  cloud  of  steam  every  morning 
for  over  a  hundred  feet  high,  and  a  person  can 
smell  sulphur  for  a  mile  around.  Here  we 
pitched  our  tent  and  camped  between  two 
streams,  not  four  rods  apart.  One  we  used 
for  drinking  and  cooking,  and  the  other  was 
hot  enough  for  a  hot-batli. 

August  18.  This  morning  we  started  up  the 
mountain  and  at  1  p.  m.  we  reached  "Pine- 
flat,"  where  there  are  some  old  quicksilver 
mines,  but  since  they  have  ceased  working 
these  mines,  Pine-flat  has  "flattened  out," 
flat  enough.    It  was  at  one  time  quite  a  town. 


We  saw  but  two  men  and  one  woman  in  the 
whole  town.  From  here  we  passed  through 
Kellogs.  This  is  a  place  of  great  resort  and 
recreation  for  many  of  the  San  Francisco 
people.  After  traveling  five  miles  further 
we  camped  for  the  night. 

August  10.  This  morning  at  10  a.  m.,  we  ar- 
rived at  Mark  West  Springs.  This  is  the 
handsomest  fitted  up  place  that  wc  have  yet 
seen.  It  is  fitted  up  with  bath  houses,  cot- 
tages, swings  and  croquet  grounds.  The  ho- 
tel is  large  and  the  accommodations  good  and 
ample,  but  the  springs  do  not  amount  to  much. 
After  leaving  here  we  started  for  the  Petrified 
Forest,  which  is  one  of  the  greatest  curiosi- 
ties of  California.  There  is  about  a  mile 
square  covered  with  petrified  Red-wood 
trees.  There  is  one— the  largest  we  saw- 
that  is  eleven  feet  across  the  stump,  or  butt, 
and  eight  feet  at  the  top.  The  petrified  log  is 
sixty-eight  feet  long.  This  place  was  discov- 
ered, and  is  now  owned  by  an  old  Swiss  sea 
captain  named  Evans.  He  has  three  hundred 
and  forty  acres  and  asks  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars for  it.  Here  we  again  meet  our  friends 
from  Ohio.  Mr.  Lapham  took  another  pho- 
tographic view  of  our  camp  and  fixtures.  We 
parted  with  him  while  he  was  taking  views 


of  tjie  petrified  forest,  and  started  for  Calis- 
toga,  and  arrived  there  at  12  m.  Over  one  of 
the  springs  there  is  a  sign  board  which  has  in- 
scribed upon  it — '■'■Cook  for  yourscl/,^^  and  on 
a  .shelf  there  are  two  dishes,  one  containing 
pepper  and  the  otiier  salt.  You  put  a  little  of 
each  in  a  cup,  and  fill  it  up  with  water  out  of 
the  spring,  and  you  have  as  good  chicken 
broth  as  you  desire  to  drink.  After  leaving 
Calistoga  we  struck  the  valley  runing  to  N-apa, 
and  were  in  Napa  county.  There  are  some 
large  vineyards  in  this  valley,  and  also  some 
very  large  wine  cellars.  AVe  passed  through 
St.  Helena,  which  is  a  very  lively  town.  Napa 
valley  is  thirty  miles  longand  about  five  miles 
wide,  and  has  some  of  the  best  and  most  ad- 
veanced  improvements  of  any  place  I  have 
yet  been  in.  Napa  is  the  county  seat.  When 
we  arrived  in  Napa  city  we  pitched  our  tent 
in  Mr.  Davis's  large  yard,  he  being  an  old 
acquaintance,  formerly  residing  in  Elk  Grove. 
Nai)a  has  between  five  and  six  thousand  in- 
habitants, a  College,  a  Seminary,  a  number 
of  Public  Schools,  and  the  State  Insane  As- 
.sylum. 

August  215.  We  expected  to  hear  Dennis 
Kearney  speak  to-day,  as  his  name  had  been 
announced,  but  after  the  shooting  of  Kalloch 
by  De Young,  at  San  Francisco,  he  was  tele- 
gi'aphed  to  come  down,  when  he  immediately 
left.  We,  however,  had  the  gratification  of 
hearing  White,  the  candidate  for  Governor  on 
the  H.  B.  ticket,  ("Ilonoralile  Bilks.") 

August  24.  To-day  (Monday)  we  drove  out 
seven  miles,  to  a  splendid  place  owned  by 
Mr.  Iludemann.  It  is  in  the  biisin  of  the 
mountain,  and  he  has  a  beautiful  little  lake 
and  four  or  five  fountains,  with  every  imagin- 
able kind  of  flojvers.  The  place  is  fitted  up 
with  rustic  bridges,  seats  and  tables.  After 
having  tarried  three  days  at  Napa  and  here, 
we  started  out  for  the  great  wheat  fields  of 
Solano  and  Yolo  counties,  and  passed  through 
Bridgeport,  Suisun,  Elmira  and  Dixon,  and 
stopped  the  last  night  from  home,  at  the 
ranche  of  Mr.  Poorman.  Mr.  B.  keeps 
bachelor's  hall,  has  an  organ  in  the  house, 
which  he  plays  tolerably  well  for  an  amateur, 
in  my  judgment  very  well. 

August  28.  ^Ir.  P.,  this  morning,  refused 
any  compensation  for  the  hay  he  furnished 
our  horses.  We  hitched  up  our  horses  this 
morning  for  the  last  time,  and  started  for 
home.  We  arrived  at  Sac  city  at  2  P.  M., 
and  at  home  at  8  P.  M.  We  had  now  been 
out  forty-two  days  and  had  traveled  between 
four  and  five  hundred  miles,  and  taking  it 
altogether  we  had  a  splendid  time.  Had  I 
given  the  details  I  might  have  written  a 
book.— /.•  Wittkli. 


Contributions. 


For  TnK  I.ancarter  Fabmeb. 
THE  HEPATICA,  OR  LIVER  LEAF. 
This  is  an  humble  but  interesting  plant, 
and  one  that  usually  puzzles  the  young 
botanist.  The  botanical,  like  the  common 
name,  has  reference  to  the  lobes,  as  well  as 
color,  often,  of  the  leaves,  to  the^lobes  of  the 
liver.  This  is  one  of  our  earliest  flowering 
plants,  very  common  from  South  Carolina  to 
Canada  ;  according  to  Bongard  as  far  nortli 
as  Sitka  ;  blooming  in  February,  March  and 
April.  There  are  two  forms  noticed  in  the 
leaves  of  the  common  Hepatica  triloba,  named 
by  Chaix.  Linnaeus  named  it  Anemone  Ifepa- 
tica,  but  it  seems  the  name  given  it  by  Chaix 
has  the  priority.  One  form  has  the  lobes 
roundish  obtuse,  the  variety  ohtusa;  the  other 
has  three  to  five  lobes,  which  are  spreading 
and  acute,  the  acuta.  Loudon  gives  us  six 
European  varieties  of  the  Hepatica  triloba : 
the  blue,  cecrulea;  the  double  blue,  coeruko- 
plena;  red,  rubra;  double  red,  rubro-plena ; 
red-anth  white,  alba;  snowy-white,  nivea. 
These  are  in  Europe  great  favorites  of  the 
flower  border,  being  evergreen  in  its  foliage, 
and  for  its  abundant  blossoms  and  great 
variety  of  colors  and  shades.  It  is  a  question 
whether  our  common  wild  plant  would  not, 
under  cultivation,  become  equally  attractive, 


148 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  October, 


but  so  it  is  that  common  things  are  too  .often 
neglected,  when  if  some  attention  were  be- 
stowed upon  them  would  prove  them  to  have 
uncommon  hidden  properties  to  be  developed. 
To  analyze  these  flowers,  the  usual  calyx  in 
them  is  like  in  the  Anemone  (only  much 
closer  to  the  flower),  an  involucre  resembling  a 
three-sepalous  calyx  ;  so  that  it  really  has  no 
petals,  but  the  sepals  are  petaloid,  from  6  to  9 
in  two  or  three  rows.  The  involucre  one- 
flowered,  leaves  radical,  entire  or  three- 
lobed.  They  belong  to  the  cow-foot  family, 
order  Rammculacece.  To  cultivate  them  they 
should  be  grown  in  a  light,  sandy  soil  and  a 
shady  situation  ;  and,  as  they  have  a  pro- 
pensity to  raise  themselves  out  of  the  soil, 
they  should  be  taken  up  every  two  or  three 
years,  in  autumn,  and  replanted.  If  this  be 
not  done  the  earth  should  be  raked  or  hoed 
up  around  them,  so  as  to  cover  the  roots  ;  if 
these  are  left  exposed  they  will  wither  and 
the  plants  may  die  out.  The  flowers  of  the 
Hepatica,  unlike  those  of  most  other  plants, 
possess  their  full  color  from  the  first  formation 
in  the  bud.  Another  remarkable  fact  is,  the 
flower  lies  a  year  complete  in  all  its  parts 
within  the  bud  ;  the  seeds  are  oblong-ovate, 
involved  in  a  silky  substance,  and  many  of 
them  abortive.  The  plant  is  a  mild  astringent 
and  corroborant,  and  formerly  used  with  these 
intentions  in  an  infusion  like  tea,  or  in  a 
powder,  given  to  the  quantity  of  half  a  spoon- 
ful at  a  time.  It  is  found  wild  in  Sweden, 
abundantly  in  Denmark,  Switzerland,  France, 
Spain,  Italy,  and  other  parts  of  Europe ;  in 
woods  and  among  bushes,  with  blue,  red  and 
white  flowers,  single.  Cultivated  in  England 
in  1596,  by  Gerard.  In  the  language  of  flowers 
the  Liverwort,  as  it  is  often  called,  or  Hejxdica, 
signifies  confidence.  When  the  gardeners  see 
the  pretty  flowers  of  the  Hepatica  they  say  : 
"  The  earth  is  in  love,  we  may  sow  with  con- 
fidence."— J.  Stauffer. 


Selections. 


LANCASTER  COUNTY  CATTLE. 

Chief  among  the  many  attractions  at  the 
York  Co.  Agricultural  Fair  were  the  splen- 
did herd  of  Jersey  cattle  shown  by  Colin 
Cameron,  of  Brickerville,  Lancaster  county. 
Pa.  They  are  a  part  of  the  well  known  and 
justly  celebrated  herd  the  property  of  the  late 
G.  Dawson  Coleman — a  gentleman  of  large 
means  and  fine  culture,  and  who  was  second 
to  none  in  his  effort  to  further  the  cause  of 
agriculture,  having  especial  pride,  in  his  well- 
cultivated  lands  and  in  the  increase  of  his  fine 
and  pure  bred  stock. 

He  chose  the  Jerseys  on  account  of  their 
graceful  beauty  as  ornaments  for  his  lawn, 
and  again  for  the  rich  lusciousness  of  their 
cream,  and  the  peculiarly  gratifying  nutty 
flavor  of  their  golden  butter.  He  bought  the 
very  best  specimens  from  the  best  importers, 
and  as  it  was  his  pride  to  improve  on 
the  original  animals  he  was  signally  fortu- 
nate in  getting  Colin  Cameron  to  dh-ect  that 
improvement. 

Mr.  Cameron  has  gone  into  the  best  herds 
of  this  breed  of  cattle  in  America,  and  bought 
some  of  their  choicest  animals  to  keep  up, 
and  if  possible  raise  the  high  standard  of  the 
herd  in  his  charge.  How  successful  he  has 
been  the  cattle  on  exhibition  will  testify.  All 
are  registered  in  the  herd  book  of  the  Ameri- 
can Jersey  Cattle  Club,  and  of  the  thirteen 
animals  on  exhibition  not  one  is  an  imported 
animal — all  are  home  bred. 

The  bull  at  the  head  is  Vespers  Eoyalson, 
No.  2,946.  The  editor  of  the  York  Daily 
says,  in  shape  and  general  outside  appearance 
he  is  the  finest  Jersey  bull  it  has  ever  been  his 
pleasure  to  see — his  extremely  yellow  horns 
and  fairly  yellow  skin,  and  his  rudimentary 
teats— almost  the  size  of  a  yearling  heifer's 
— indicate  him  to  be — as  his  get  proves — a 
sire  of  unusual  worth. 

To  follow  him  in  his  herd,  Mr.  Cameron 
has  purchased  of  Mr.  Mackie,  who  is  one  of 
the  oldest  and  best  known  breeders  in  the 
country,  a  young  bull,  called  Coxcomb  of 


Pine  Cliff,  No.  3,507.  He  is  from  the  famous 
Hebe  family  of  Jersey  cows,  being  so  thorough- 
ly inbred  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his 
being  able  to  stamp  his  worth  on  any  herd. 
He  is  prized  very  highly.  The  last  of  the 
bulls  is  Kilgore,  No.  3,909.  He  was  bought 
of  T.  J.  Hand,  and  is  of  aristocratic  extrac- 
tion, as  far  as  the  records  at  the  pail  are 
concerned,  and  being  of  very  fine  appearance, 
straight  of  back  and  fine  of  limb,  mellow  of 
skin,  we  judge,  with  his  owner,  that  he  is  a 
coming  treasure. 

The  cows  are  LaBride,  No.  2,617  ;  Mount 
Lebanon,  No.  4,557  :  Lebanon  Girl,  No.  6,- 
104  ;  Lebanon  Mother,  No.  6,107.  The  heifers 
over  one  year  old  are  Lady  Seelock,  No.  6,932; 
Wilson  Dawson,  No.  7,581 ,  Emmie  Dawson, 
No.  7,582  ;  Alice  Dawson,  No.  7,583  ;  those 
under  one  year  being  Belle  Dawson,  No. 
8,270,  and  Lewis  Baron,  yet  a  calf. 

The  cows  upon  examination  prove  to  be  an 
even  lot  of  very  high  excellence.  They  are 
typical  representatives  of  the  Jersey  cow  that 
is  famous  for  thick  cream  and  rich  butter,  and 
in  every  particular  that  points  to  the  produc- 
tion of  those  articles  they  show  the  hands  of 
the  skilled  breeder. 

The  fine,  clean  cut  heads,  small  crumpled, 
waxy  horns,  light  necks,  wedge-shaped  bodies, 
thin  thighs,  large,  square  and  well  propor- 
tioned udders,  fed  through  large,  prominent 
and  knotted  milk  veins,  indicate  these  ani- 
mals to  be  large  producers  of  milk,  and  to 
have  undoubtedly  descended  trom  a  race  of 
great  performers  at  the  pail. 

Standing  almost  side  by  side  are  three  gen- 
erations in  one  family,  being  mother,  daugh- 
ter and  granddaughter,  in  the  order  named  : 
LaBride,  Lebanon  Mother  and  Alice  Dawson. 
Mount.  Lebanon  reproduces  herself  in  Belle 
Dawson. 

Another  noticeable  feature  is  that  five  of 
the  animals  shown— Lady  Seelock  and  all  the 
Dawsons— are  sired  by  that  famous  old  bull, 
Commodore  Eoxbury,  No.  1,586,  that  won 
the  First  Prize  and  highest  commendations 
wherever  he  has  been  shown,  as  being  not 
only  the  finest,  but  having  the  thinnest,  mel- 
lowest and  richest  skin,  and  the  best  escutcheon 
of  any  Jersey  Bull  in  the  United  States  ;  and 
a  careful  examination  of  these  heifers  would 
endorse  the  sound  judgment  of  the  men  who 
eulogized  the  old  bull.  Lady  Seelock  is  a 
marvel  in  development  of  her  mammary 
structure,  while  none  of  the  rest  are  far  be- 
hind her. 

The  Daily  adds  that  taking  the  herd,  as  a 
whole  or  singly,  it  is  one  of  the  very  best  ex- 
hibits that  has  graced  the  grounds  of  the  York 
County  Fair  for  a  long  time  ;  and  he  only 
hopes  for  the  manager  of  the  herd  the  success 
he  deserves,  and  that  each  year  may  fiud  him 
there  to  record  his  advancement  in  the  study 
of  the  science  and  the  practice  of  the  art  of 
breeding. 

REVISED  FRUIT  LIST. 

Since  the  last  publication  of  our  fruit  li.st 
we  have,  for  satisfactory  reasons,  changed  our 
opinion  with  respect  to  a  few  of  the  fruits 
which  it  contained.  But  in  regard  to  the  list 
as  a  whole  we  can  see  no  just  grounds  for  dis- 
turbingit.  Indeed,  we  do  not  see  how  it  can 
be  improved  for  this  section  of  country,  or  a 
general  list  for  all  the  Middle  States.  Some 
of  each  of  the  separate  selections  may  not  do 
well  upon  one  premises  that  will  succeed  ad- 
mirably on  another.  Each  grower  must  find 
out  for  himself  the  particular  apples,  pears, 
&c.,  especially  adapted  to  his  soil  and  location. 

According  to  our  present  preference  we 
should  select  the  following  for  our  own  plant- 
ing : 

Standaid  Pears.— 1,  Giffard  ;  2,  Doyenne 
d'Ete  ;  3,  Early  Catharine  ;  4,  Kirtland  ;  5, 
Bloodgood  ;  6,  Summer  Julienne  ;  7,  Tyson  ; 
8,  Brandywine  ;  9,  Bartlett ;  10,  Belle  Lucra- 
tive ;  11,  Manning's  Elizabeth  ;  12,  Seckel ; 
13,  Howell ;  14,  Anjou  ;  15,  Shelden  ;  16,  St. 
Ghislan ;  17,  Lawrence ;  18,  Reading. 

For  those  who  may  desire  a  smaller  num- 
ber we  should  select :  1,  Giffard  ;  2,  Early 
Catharine  ;  3,  Bloodgood  ;  4,  Tyson ;  5,  Bart- 


lett ;  6,  Belle  Lucrative ;  7,  Seckel ;  8,  Law- 
rence ;  9,  Reading.  They  ripen  in  about  the 
order  they  are  arranged. 

In  the  above  list,  from  No.  1  to  8  are  sum- 
mer varieties ;  from  9  to  16  autnmn  (early 
and  late  ;)  and  17  and  18  winter,  thus  attbrd- 
ing  a  sufficient  number  for  each  of  the  periods 
of  the  best  known  sorts  for  this  region. 

Dwarf  Pears.— 1,  St.  Michael  d'Archange  ; 

2,  Bartlett ;  3,  Comice  ;  4,  Rostiezer  ;  5,  Diel ; 
6.  Tyson  ;  7,  Belle  Lucrative ;  8,  Lawrence  ; 
9,  Ott ;  10,  Louise  Bonne;  11,  Bose;  12,  Bous- 
sock  ;  12,  Glout  Morceau. 

Apples.— I,  Maiden's  Blush  ;  2,  Baldwin  ; 

3,  Smokehouse;  4,  Jeffries;  5,  Smith's  Cider; 
6,  Fallawater;  7,  Cornell's  Fancy;  11,  Graven- 
stein  ;    12,   Tompkin's  King ;    13,    Roxbury 


We  add  to  the  foregoing  list  Tompkins' 
King  and  Roxbury  Russet,  both  most  excel- 
lent varieties ;  indeed  the  King  is  regarded 
by  some  as  unsurpassed. 

Peaches. — 1,  Crawford's  Early  ;  2,  Hale's 
Early ;  3,  York  Early ;  4,  Old  Mixon ;  5, 
Crawford's  Late  ;  6,  Ward's  Late  ;  7,  Smock's 
Late ;  8,  Susquehanna. 

There  is  no  solid  reason  to  change  this  list 
so  far  as  it  goes.  We  suggested  to  peach 
growers  to  favor  us  with  a  list  of  their  own, 
and  a  few  did,  but  where  they  differed  from 
ours  we  did  not  deem  it  an  improvement. 

Grapes. — 1,  Telegraph ;  2,  Concord  ;  3, 
Hartford  ;  4,  Clinton  ;  5,  Slem  ;  6,  Rogers' 
No.  32. 

We  have  added  to  the  list  Rogers'  No.  32, 
which,  should  it  maintain  its  present  charac- 
ter, will  be  the  best  out-door  variety  culti- 
vated. It  is  a  beautiful  pink,  or  rather  ma- 
roon colored  grape,  at  times  is  transparent. 
It  bears  regular  crops  yearly  with  us.  Clinton, 
in  the  foregoing  list,  is  only  for  wine,  and  is 
probably  the  very  best  for  that  purpose  in  that 
section. 

Cherries. — I,  May  Bigarreau  ;  2,  Belle  de 
Choisy  ;  3,  Black  Tartarian  ;  4,  Black  Eagle  ; 
5,  Black  Hawk  ;  6,  Eton  ;  7,  Downer's  Lane  ; 
8,  Early  Richmond  ;  9,  Early  Purple  Guigne; 
10,  Del.  Bleeding  Heart. 

The  ripening  of  the  list  will  range  from  the 
earliest  to  the  latest,  thus  carrying  one 
through  the  whole  cherry  season.  No  one 
can  go  amiss  in  adopting  this  list. 

Baspherries. — 1,  Hornet  ;  2,  Herstine  ;  3, 
Philadelphia  ;  4,  Brandywine. 

Straiobcrries.—l,  Captain  Jack  ;  2,  Seth 
Boynden  ;  3,  Monarch  of  the  West ;  4,  Tri- 
omphe  de  Gand. 

Currants.— 1,  Black  Naples  ;  2,  Red  Dutch: 
3,  White  Grape. 

These  three  varieties  are  the  best  among 
the  different  colors.  The  Red  Dutch  is  a 
regular  bearer  and  is  of  better  quality  than 
any  other.  There  are  others  larger,  but  they 
are  more  acid.  The  white  grape  is  trans- 
parent, of  good  quality,  and  ought  to  be  more 
generally  grown,  but  it  is  not  a  great  bearer. 

Oooseberriea. — 1,  Houghton,  2,  Downing. 

These  are  the  two  best  gooseberries  grown 
in  this  country.  They  bear  every  year  heavy 
crops,  are  free  from  mildew,  and  are  of  excel- 
lent quality.  They  are  large  enough  for  all 
practical  purposes.  Keep  clear  of  the  giants 
and  their  big  prices. 

Blackberries.— 1,  New-Rochelle ;  2,  Mis- 
souri Cluster ;  3,  Wilson's  Early  ;  4,  Snyder. 

The  Snyder,  a  new  Western  blackberry,  is 
highly  spoken  of  at  distant  points,  but  we 
prefer  to  wait  another  year  before  recommend- 
ing it,  but  in  the  meantime  we  give  it  a  trial. 

It  is  better  for  those  who  intend  to  cultivate 
fruit  and  have  to  make  purchases,  to  take 
this  list  with  them  to  the  nursey  and  adhere 
to  it  as  far  as  possible. 

In  selecting  fruit  trees,  or  any  others,  be 
careful  to  choose  those  with  smooth,  healthy 
looking  bark,  and  have  entirely  shed  their 
leaves,  with  plenty  of  small  fibrous  roots. 
Trees  on  which  the  leaves  remain  after  frost 
sets  in,  and  stick  to  the  branches  in  the  spring, 
may  be  regarded  as  not  healthy  and  in  some 
way  lackingstamina.— CrcrmajitoMwi  Telegraph. 

Please  send  in  your  back  subscriptions. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


149 


HOME  AND  EXPORT  TOBACCO  MAR- 
KET. 

Below  will  be  fouud  the  raoiitlily  trade  cir- 
cular of  Messrs.  J.  S.  Gans,  Son  &  Co.,  to- 
bacco brokers  of  86  Wall  street,  New  York. 
From  it  we  learn  what  has  for  sonic  time 
been  wliispered  in  trade  circles— that  the  1878 
crop  of  IVnnsjlvania  leaf  is  not  up  to  what 
was  expected.  The  best  portions  of  it,  such 
as  were  first  purchased,  will  no  doubt  bring 
full  prices,  but  the  inferior  kinds  will  have 
hard  work  to  hold  their  own  : 
Seed  Leaf. 

With  large  offerings  of  1878  pro])  by  stripped 
samples,  we  have  an  extensive  business  to  re- 
port, principally  in  Pennsylvania  and  New 
England.  The  former  does  not  by  any  means 
come  up  to  expectations,  as  far  as  leaf  is  con- 
cerned, and  wl\en  comi>ared  to  the  1877  crop, 
appears  very  liigh-priced;  so  much  so,  that 
some  of  our  manufacturers,  after  a  thorough 
examination  of  the  various  packings,  en^'crly 
bought  nearly  all  good  lots  of  1877  remaining 
on  the  market.  As  we  are,  however,  bare  of 
old  tobaccos,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  all 
the  finer  lots  of  1878  Pennsylvania  will  be 
rapidly  taken  by  consumers,  whilst  we  haidly 
believe  that  present  asking  prices  for  common 
lots  can  be  maintained. 

The  better  classes  of  New  England  to- 
baccos, (including  Housatonic)  look  extreme- 
ly well,  and  with,  as  we  hear,  the  demand  for 
abominable  black  cigars  falling  off,  we  should 
not  be  surprised  to  see  this  long  neglected 
article  again  come  into  fayor. 

Ohio  tobaccos  are  also  meeting  with  ap- 
proval from  home  buyers;  in  fact,  with  Wis- 
consin nearly  out  of  the  market,  it  is  the 
best  and  most  useful  article  for  cheap  cigars. 

The  export  trade  oll'ered  no  new  features; 
factors,  who  this  year  have  been  nearly  the 
only  exporters,  dispose  gradually  of  theiroffer- 
ings  abroad,  but  at  by  no  means  satisfactoiy 
profits,  and  the  German  markets  have,  accord- 
ing to  our  latest  advices,  become  duller. 

Of  the  new  crop  we  hear  the  most  flatter- 
ing reports,  and  only  regret  that  some  let  us 
hope  not  too  sanguine  operators  have  already 
commenced  buying  eastern  and  western  Ha- 
vana Seed  and  other  sorts;  in  Wisconsin 
nearly  all  the  Havana  has  been  bought  at 
from  8  to  12  cents  through,  unpacked. 
Sales. 

CHOP  OF  1877. 
New  England 600  cases. 


Cbop  or  1S7 


Pennsylvania . 

New  York 

Ohio 

Wisconsin 


New  England: 
Harana  seed 
Wrappers,  co 


Quotations. 


do  seleelious.. 

Seconds 

Fillers        

Pennsylvania* 
Assorted  lots,  commoi 


,.1C  @n 
..IS  @25 
..27>^@35 
@... 


....     @... 

13    @U)i 

16j!f@18 

20    @40 

9    @1» 


Wrappers 

FiUers 

New  York: 

Assorted  lots,  good 13    @15 

Ohio,  assorted  lots,  good 9    ©12 

do    wrappers 12    @18 

hSBorled   lots 8ii@10 


Wiscoi 


do 


Hava 


Crop  of  '78. 
22    @30 
13    @16 

16  ©18 
20  @25 
27>|(®35 
10    ®12>i 

5    @6X 

10  @12 

13  @15 

17  @22 
...  @... 

12>i@15 
8    @14 

...  @... 
8    @13 


1  Jan 


SHEEP  HUSBANDRY  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES. 

There  is  warrant  for  saying  that  this  coun- 
try is  entering  upon  a  new  era  in  sheep  hus- 
bandi7  which  is  fraught  with  great  promise 
for  the  future  of  that  important  industry— an 
era  which  will  bring  wealth  and  honor  to  in- 
telligent and  carefiil  flock-masters,  and  to  the 
counti7  at  large. 

First  there  is  the  assured  demand  for  wool 


to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  manufacturers 
of  woolen  goods,  or,  rather,  the  consumption 
of  sucli  goods  by  the  people.  During  the 
period  of  business  depression  through  vvliicii 
the  coimtry  has  passed,  there  was  under-con- 
sumption  of  woolen  fabrics.  Thousands  of 
people  were  not  able  to  buy  them,  and  to  sup- 
ply cheaper  goods,  the  mills  turuedouta  class 
of  fabrics  into  whose  texture  entered,  more 
or  less,  cut-up  rags.  Shoddy  goods  were  the 
rule,  and  straight  woolen  fabrics  the  excep- 
tion. Now  this  is  vastly  changed.  People 
will  buy  good  goods  if  they  are  able  to  do  so, 
knowing  that  the  best  is  the  cheapest.  Western 
nulls,  almost  without  exception,  make  straight 
good.'i,  and  eastern  manufacturers  will  be  com- 
pelled, sooner  or  later,  to  adopt  the  same 
policy.  Indeed,  the  percentage  of  the  stufl" 
which  circumstances  made  necessary  for  some 
years  past,  forms  an  inconsidcrable"porlion  of 
the  product  of  tlie  mills  at  the  present  time, 
and  as  it  is  being  relegated  to  the  rear,  there  is 
little  proljability  that  it  ever  regain  the  place 
it  recently  occupied. 

Again,  notwitlistanding  the  quantity  of  re- 
fuse with  which  rag-dealers  furnished  the 
mills,  the  country  has  been  a  large  importer 
of  wool  and  woolen  goods;  in  other  words, 
we  have  fallen  short  of  supplying  our  home 
requirements  for  wool  by  millions  of  dollars' 
worth.  If  this  was  the  case  while  prostra- 
tion marked  almost  every  branch  of  industry, 
how  much  greater  must  be  the  deficit  with 
labor  of  all  kinds  employed,  and  every  manu- 
facturing industry  in  active  operation,  unless 
the  wool  product  is  largely  increased?  We 
have  not  taken  into  account  the  increase  of 
population,  which,  as  recent  statistics  show, 
is  being  greatly  augmented  by  immigration, 
and  constitutes  an  item  by  no  means  insig- 
nificant in  forecasting  the  future  requirements 
of  the  country  for  wool  and  woolen  fabrics. 

The  foreign  meat  traffic  furnishes,  also,  an 
opportunity  to  extend  sheep  husbandry  in  the 
production  of  mutton,  which  must,  we  opine, 
awaken  a  far  greater  interest  in  that  branch 
of  the  business  than  has  hitherto  been  known 
among  us.  The  export  trade  in  mutton— live 
and  dead— is  increasing  every  year,  and  must 
do  so  for  some  time  to  come.  It  is,  as  yet,  in 
its  infancy;  and  as  American  farmers  come  to 
understand,  more  generally,  what  the  foreign 
market  requires,  it  needs  no  seer  to  predict 
that  this  traffic  will  reach  proportions  com- 
pared with  which  its  present  volume  is  insig- 
nificant. Our  capacity  for  the  production  of 
mutton  of  fine  quality  is  almost  without  limit, 
and  upon  the  quality  of  the  product  more 
than  anything  else  the  volume  of  this  traffic 
depends.  That  it  may  be  vastly  augmented 
does  not  now  admit  of  question;  and  that  it 
will  continue  to  grow  in  greater  ratio  even 
than  it  has  yet  done  is  scarcely  less  probable. 
Greater  care  in  selection,  in  breeding,  itr  rear- 
ing, in  alimentation,  on  -the  part  of  farmers 
who  make  this  branch  of  sheep  husbandry  a 
part  of  their  business,  will  mark  the  future  of 
this  industry,  and  place  it  on  a  higher  plane 
than  it  has  yet  occupied  in  American  agricul- 
ture, for  the  inducements  are  greater  than  they 
have  ever  been  before. 

But  another  feature  which  renders  the  fu- 
ture of  sheep  husbandry  still  more  promising 
has  been  inaugurated.  The  rearing  of  sheep 
for  breeding  purposes  to  supply  tlie  require- 
ments of  fai-mers  throughout  the  country  has 
long  been  a  specialty  with  some  breeders.  The 
demands,  also,  of  flockmea  in  the  southwest 
and  far  west,  have  for  the  last  few  years  con- 
siderably stimulated  this  branch  of  the  busi- 
ness. But  the  shipment  of  sheep  to  foreign 
countries  for  breeding  purposes  has  com- 
menced. It  has  not  been  long  since  a  ship- 
ment of  American  merinos  was  made  by  Mr. 
Markham,  of  New  York,  to  fill  an  order 
from  the  Government  of  Japan.  Nor  is  this 
all.  American  merinos  have  been  sought  and 
bought  by  Australian  wool-growers,  to  cross 
upon  the  sheep  of  that  region,  which,  as  in 
the  case  of  Japan,  there  is  hardly  room  to 
doubt,  will  be  followed  by  increasing  orders. 
From  South  America,  also,  there  are  inqui- 
ries for  our  sheep  for  breeding  purposes.  The 


fact  is,  our  American-bred  merinos  are  supe- 
rior in  all  essential  characteristics  to  their 
French,  English,  or  .Spanish  congeners,  and 
foreigners  who  are  largely  interested  in  wool- 
growing  learned  that  fact  at  the  centennial. 
Tlio  fruits  of  tliat  knowledge  are  beginning 
to  be  gathered.  The  American  sheep  of  this 
breed  have  greater  hardiness  and  constitu- 
tional vigor,  and  at  tlie  same  time  produce  a 
heavier  fleece  than  others,  the  the  shrewd 
flockmasters  of  the  vast  sheep-walks  of  Aus- 
tralia, South  America  and  elsewhere  are  be- 
gining  to  find  it  out ;  and  knowing  that  the 
maximum  of  profit  lies  in  breeding  from  such 
sheep,  they  are  turning  tlieir  attention  this 
way  to  secure  breeding  animals.  It  is,  there- 
fore, a  reasonable  supposition  that  this  branck 
of  American  sheep  husbandry  will  develop 
steadily  in  the  luture,  and  become  an  im- 
portant source  of  wealth,  as  well  as  fame,  to 
this  country. 

From  every  point  of  view,  therefore,  the 
outlook  for  sheep  and  wool  is  encouraging. 
The  oportunities  are  not  wanting  to  make  this 
industry  more  prosperous  than  it  has  ever 
been  in  this  country,  and  judicious  flock- 
masters,  breeders  and  farmers  will  turn  them 
to  advantage.  As  has  aptly  been  said  by  a 
prominent  authority  in  this  industry — "The 
'luck'  of  sheep  husbandry  is  so  thoroughly 
within  the  control  of  the  flock-master  that  he 
randy  need  look  beyond  his  own  management 
for  those  causes  and  efl(3cts  which  go  to  make 
or  mar  his  fortune."  The  present  isatime, 
we  believe,  when  the  chances  are  all  in  the 
flock-master's  favor.— ^merioon  Stockman. 


RAISING  HORSES  IN  TEXAS. 

One  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of  wealth 
in  this  county,  and,  in  fact,  throughout  the 
entire  State,  is  tlie  raising  of  horses.  This 
frontier  country,  until  within  a  very  recent 
date,  did  not  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  thorough- 
breds. In  former  years  tlie  Lone  Star  State 
boasted  of  fast  pacing  or  fast  runnmg  ponies 
and  Mexican  mustangs.  Tliey  were  small 
in  stature,  and  in  many  cases  quite  rapid,  the 
speed  of  some  reaching  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
twenty  seconds.  Within  the  past  few  years 
greater  interest  has  been  taken  in  stock,  and 
the  crosses  of  Kentucky  and  Canada  and 
other  more  hardy  and  vigorous  horses  with 
the  Texas  ponies  have  vastly  improved  the 
breed.  Each  year  increases  an  interest  in 
horse  raising  in  Texas,  and  produces  better 
animals.  As  the  blue  grass  region  of  Ken- 
tucky aflbrds  such  delightful  food  for  horses,  a 
more  extensive  and  greater  crop  of  mesquit 
grass,  peculiar  to  Texas  only,  furnishes  to  the 
stock-raiser  a  far  better  article  of  food,  and 
almost  without  limit.  Everywhere  west  of 
the  Trinity  river  it  is  abundant,  and  east  of 
that  river  it  is  found  in  many  localities. 
Until  very  recently  stockmen  and  horse- 
raisers  encountered  severe  trials  from  the 
Indians,  who  would  frequently  make  raids 
and  rob  tliem  of  much  of  their  property, 
taking  on  these  occasions  the  very  best  stock 
on  the  ranch.  One  of  the  peculiarities  of  all 
the  Indian  tribes  is  their  knowledge  of  and 
extraordinary  fondness  for  the  horse.  They 
seem  to  have  an  intuitive  understanding  of 
all  the  strong  points  about  the  animal,  and 
generally  steal  the  best  of  the  horses  on  the 
ranch  or  in  the  corral,  or  wherever  else  these 
governmental  thieves  make  their  predatory 
incursions.  Keeping  or  raising  horses  is  much 
easier  than  cattle  or  sheep.  After  securing  a 
ranch,  which  is  similar  to  selecting  the  proper 
location  for  cattle,  the  owner  divides  his 
stock  into  "bands,"  or  "bunches,"  or  "caval- 
lards"  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  mares  and 
their  colts  and  as  many  yearlings,  and  places 
a  stallion  with  them,  which  acts  in  the 
capacity  of  herder.  The  bunches  are  placed 
about  a  mile  apart.  The  stallion  guards  the 
cavallard  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  allows  no 
interference  from  other  horses,  often  battling 
so  ferociously  with  any  and  all  intruders  that 
when  the  owner  or  herdsman  approaches  he 
is  compelled  to  use  stones  or  other  missiles 
before  the  guardsman  allows  him  to  enter  the 
range  over  which  he  holds  supreme  jurisdic- 


150 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


t  October, 


tion.  When  the  horses  go  to  water  his  equine 
majesty  drives  them  to  the  creek,  stands  over 
them  while  tliey  drink,  quenches  his  ovrci 
thirst,  and  then  leads  tlie  band  back  to  their 
accustomed  feeding-grounds.  He  also  brings 
the  bmich  up  to  the  salting-place,  keeps  the 
closest  watch  over  those  intrusted  to  his 
guardianship,  and  when  all  have  received 
their  quota  of  salt  the  chief  circles  and  leads 
them  back  as  before.  Heiding  or  di'iving  by 
the  cavallard  horse  exhibits  the  sagacity  of 
the  animal.  In  case  of  either  of  the  mares, 
colts,  yearlmgs,  or  two-year-olds  wandering 
or  running  off,  the  attendant  promptly  fol- 
lows, circles,  or  promptly  runs  around  the 
estray,  and,  with  ears  well  set,  puts  his  head 
near  the  ground  on  the  side  opposite  to  the 
direction  in  which  he  desires  them  to  go  ;  and, 
understanding  his  nod,  usually  yields  willing 
obedience  and  starts  back  to  the  ranch,  or 
wherever  the  cavallard  may  be.  Should  the 
mares  become  rebellious  the  stallion  picks  and 
bites  them  until  they  become  obedient  and 
placed  under  complete  subjection.  The  su- 
preme command  of  this  horse,  and  the  auto- 
cratical manner  in  which  he  shows  his  au- 
thority, is  delightful  to  behold.  He  is  a  verv 
severe  disciplinarian,  a  most  careful  and  com- 
petent, guardian,  and  as  kind  to  those  under 
him  as  a  mother  can  be  to  a  babe.  When  by 
chance  two  cavallards  hajspen  to  meet,  the 
stallion  representing  each  will  advance  and 
commence  to  battle.  It  is  generally  sharp 
and  decisive.  The  bunches,  when  their  lead- 
ers begin  to  fight,  move  off  to  the  right  and 
left,  every  step  widening  the  distance  between 
them.  The  stallions  run  up  and  down  their 
respective  columns  with  more  anxiety,  and 
exercising  even  greater  surveillance,  than  a 
faithful  colonel  at  the  head  of  his  regiment. 
When  the  engagement  terminates,  and  quiet 
is  fully  restored  along  the  entire  line,  the 
stalUon  takes  his  accustomed  position  in  the 
rear.  When  on  the  move  for  better  grass, 
and  it  is  found,  and  it  is  necessary  for  the 
bunch  to  step,  the  stallion  selects  the  ground, 
and,  running  ifbrty  or  fifty  yards  ahead,  puts 
his  ears  back,  his  head  down,  and  comes  to  a 
halt,  facing  those  under  his  charge.  The 
bunch  will  instantly  obey  this  signal  and  go 
to  grazing.  Branding  the  colts  is  the  work 
for  October,  November  and  December.  The 
bunches,  or  cavallards,  are  driven  into  a  pen 
or  corral,  when  the  herdsman  and  two  others 
enter.  A  lasso  is  then  thrown  over  the  head 
of  some  colt  by  one  of  the  men,  while  the 
other  expertly  ropes  the  colt's  hind  legs. 
When  this  is  done  the  colt  is  thrown  to  the 
ground.  While  the  first  one  plants  himself 
on  the  colt's  neck  the  second  lariats  the  fore 
legs ;  the  third,  with  branding-iron,  red-hot, 
proceeds  to  apply  the  brand  in  exactly  the 
same  manner  that  is  used  in  branding  cattle. 
The  profits  on  horse-raising  are  not  so  large 
now  as  they  were  a  few  years  ago.  At  present 
they  will  possibly  not  exceed  30  per  cent. 
There  are  about  2,000  head  of  horses  raised 
in  Parker  county  annually,  and  each  year 
now  adds  to  the  number.  Every  farmer 
raises  all  he  has  facilities  for  attending  to, 
and  considerable  rivalry  is  going  on  between 
many  of  them  in  the  production  of  improved 
breeds  of  horses. — American  Stockman. 


GROWTH  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF 
THE  WEST. 

During  the  closing  session  of  the  American 
social  science  association  at  Saratoga,  on 
September  12,  Mr.  Eobert  P.  Porter,  of  the 
Chicago  Inter-Ocean,  read  an  interesting  paper 
on  the  growth  of  the  West.  The  immigra- 
tion at  the  West,  and  especially  in  Kansas 
and  Minnesota,  he  said,  exceeded  anything 
known  in  the  past  history  of  the  country.  It 
is  not  altogether  nor  chiefly  an  immigration  of 
foreigners,  but  also  a  movement  of  the  agri- 
cultural population  of  the  States  east  of  the 
Missouri  and  Mississippi,  their  places  being 
rapidly  filled  up  by  a  population  less  exclusive- 
ly of  the  farming  classes,  and  who  are  pro- 
moting the  general  industrial  development  of 
the  sections  into  which  they  are  moving  in  an 
unexpectedly  rapid  way.    The  centres  of  the 


great  industries  and  manufactm-es  are  travel- 
ing westward,  and  Massachusetts  and  Penn- 
sylvania discover  that  they  can  no  more  retain 
the  monopoly  of  the  handicraft  industries  of 
the  country  than  New  York  can  hold  a 
monopoly  of  its  import  and  export  trade. 
This  movement  is  an  entirely  natural  one, 
and  therefore  wholesome.  While  it  deprives 
sundry  sections  of  the  monopolies  secured  to 
them  by  the  combined  forces  of  legislated 
protection  and  aggregated  capital,  it  in  turn 
induces  these  sections  to  rely  upon  their 
strong  natural  resources.  It  teaches  Phila- 
delphia the  folly  of  depending  upon  a  home 
market  exclusively,  and  sends  commercial 
travelers  from  that  city  to  every  port  in  the 
West  Indies  and  South  America  to  sell  goods 
of  American  manufacture,  and  should  do  the 
same  with  Baltimore.  Mr.  Porter  contributed 
a  glowing  analysis  of  the  resources  of  the 
great  West,  and  of  its  capacity  for  reproduc- 
tion and  its  energy  in  self-development.  The 
great  corn  belt  of  the  Northwest,  with 
the  adjacent  subsidiary  areai-s,  produced 
in  1877  8225,000,000  worth  of  corn.  The 
wheat  fields  of  the  Northwest  the  same  year 
grew  crops  yielding  $208,000,000.  The  graz- 
ing lands  fed  cattle  the  same  year  the  produc- 
tive value  of  which  was  1125,000,000,  Be- 
neath these  purely  agricultural  resources  lies 
a  subsoil  teeming  with  the  potentiality  of 
manufactures  of  illimitable  variety  and  ex- 
tent. Illinois  alone  contains  a  seventh  of  all 
the  known  coal  on  the  continent.  In  Mis- 
souri, throughout  whole  broad  districts,  the 
iron  ore  has  been  piled  up  by  nature  into 
mountains,  while  Wisconsin  and  Michigan 
can  still  furnish  timber  in  practically  inex- 
haustible quantities.  The  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  manufacturing  centres  in  the 
West  may  be  inferred  from  the  surprising 
fact  that  while  in  1860,  in  a  total  population 
of  18,000,000,  72  per  cent,  was  rural,  against 
28  per  cent,  urban,  in  1870,  total  population 
23,000,000,  the  rural  population  was  66  per 
cent,  and  that  of  the  cities  and  towns  was  34 
per  cent.  The  census  of  1880  will  probably 
show  a  much  larger  diversion  of  population 
from  farming  to  manufactures  in  the  great 
Western  country.  Labor  in  the  West,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Porter's  figures,  is  more  re- 
munerative, in  proportion  to  the  scale  of  liv- 
ing and  general  expenses,  than  it  is  in  any  of 
the  other  great  sections.  In  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Missouri  and  Michigan  "manufacturing,"  he 
says,  "can  be  carried  on  cheaper,  and  labor 
paid  better,  in  proportion  to  the  cost  of  living, 
than  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States.  Lots 
are  cheap  in  Western  towns,  and  the  careful, 
industrious  mechanic  soon  has  a  home  of  his 
own  and  he  becomes  identified  with  the  city 
in  which  he  lives."  As  a  Rockford  (111.) 
manufacturer  is  reported  as  saying :  "  Our 
firm  have  aimed  to  keep  the  hands  partly  em- 
ployed through  the  hard  times,  and  now  that 
we  have  started  up  in  full  blast  again  I  find 
hardly  a  new  face  in  the  shop.  We  have 
tided  the  men  over  because  they  have  become 
part  and  parcel  of  the  city  of  Rockford." 
They  stood  by  their  employers  and  now  the 
latter  stand  by  them.  The  rate  at  which  the 
West  is  growing  in  manufactures  is  very  sur- 
prising. Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Indiana  and 
Kansas,  with  hardly  any  water  power,  last 
year  produced  upwards  of  30  per  cent,  of  all 
the  railroad  iron  produced  in  the  United 
States.  Missouri  and  Kansas  produced  one- 
seventh  of  all  the  rolled  iron.  The  iron  ores 
of  Missouri  and  Michigan,  owing  to  their 
freedom  from  phosphorus,  it  is  claimed,  must 
soon  become  the  standard  ores  in  the  manu- 
facture of  steel,  and  steel  will  shortly  sup- 
plant iron  in  all  the  more  important  branches 
of  this  great  industry.  Chicago  has  already 
outstripped  Pittsburg  in  the  production  of 
Bessemer  steel  rails,  and  as  for  furniture,  that 
city  supplies  all  the  country  west  of  Grand 
Rapids.  The  population  of  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  and  the  six  Northwestern  States, 
exceeds  that  of  New  England,  New  York, 
New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  by  more  than 
300,000 ;  at  the  same  time  the  growth  of  the 
former  States  is  more  than  twice  as  rapid,  and 


their  public  debt  and  local  taxation  but  little 
more  than  half  so  much  as  those  of  the  East- 
ern States  enumerated.  Mr.  Porter's  paper, 
of  which  we  have  been  able  to  give  but  the 
barest  abstract,  neglecting  many  important 
particulars,  has  only  to  be  read  by  the  ob- 
servant to  make  them  appreciate  fully  what 
is  meant  by  the  term,  "The  Great  West." 
And  yet  the  Middle  States  of  the  East  present 
attractions  for  successful  industry  and  comfort 
in  living  which  few  equal  and  none  surpass.— 
Baltimore  Sun. 


PRODUCTION  AND  KEEPING  OF 
EGGS. 

Oftentimes  it  is  a  matter  of  importance  to 
keep  eggs  for  a  time.  When  prices  rule  low, 
they  may  be  preserved  in  comparative  fresh- 
ness for  several  weeks,  even  in  July  and  Au- 
gust, if  care  be  taken  to  place  them  on  end  as 
soon  as  brought  in  from  the  nest.  One  not 
accustomed  to  the  handling  and  care  of  eggs 
can  form  no  idea  of  the  shortness  of  time 
required  for  the  yelk  of  an  egg  to  settle  on 
one  side,  where  it  adheres  to  the  shell  and 
quickly  spoils  in  warm  weather.  Always 
place  the  egg  on  the  big  end.  I  have  tried 
both  ends,  and  have  decided  in  favor  of  the 
former  position.  Eggs  should  be  gathered 
from  the  nest  every  day,  and  where  there  are 
many  hens  kept,  twice  in  a  day.  It  matters 
not  for  what  purpose  we  desire  eggs,  the  hens 
that  produce  them  should  always  be  young 
and  healthy.  Eggs  that  are  to  be  kept  for 
any  length  of  time  should  always  be  those 
from  young  hens,  or  if  two  years  old,  only 
from  those  in  perfect  health.  If  this  rule  is 
closely  observed  by  breeders  who  export  eggs 
for  hatching,  from  one  locality  to  another, 
there  will  be  better  satisfaction  given.  It  is 
of  much  importance  that  the  eggs  have  per- 
fect shells,  and  a  hen  not  in  perfect  health 
may  drop  her  eggs  regularly,  yet  the  shells 
may  possess  imperfections  that  render  them 
unfit  either  for  keeping  or  hatching. 

A  hen  in  perfect  health  will  not  drop  an 
egg  daily  for  more  than  three  days  in  succes- 
sion. Fowls  that  are  conftsed  in  narrow  en- 
closures for  any  length  of  time  cannot  be  in 
perfect  health.  They  are  forced  out  of  their 
natural  habits,  and  the  restraining  of  nature 
tells  on  the  system,  sooner  or  later.  Eor  im- 
mediate use,  their  eggs,  perhaps,  are  as  good 
as  any.  With  increasing  age  the  egg-shells 
grow  thinner,  and  some  drop  them  with  no 
shells  at  all.  Strength  and  stamina  of  the 
system,  supported  by  good  wholesome  food, 
produce  the  shell.  It  is  a  calcareous  sub- 
stance that  forms  around  the  egg  after  it  is 
perfected  in  the  oviduct.  The  completed  egg 
consists  of  several  component  parts,  each  one 
of  which  draws  on  the  vital  energy  and 
stamina  of  the  bird,  which  is  so  formed  that 
its  body  performs  its  natural  functions  in 
regular  order  when  in  health.  We  must  con- 
'sider  that  they  are  forced  out  of  their  natural 
order  when  we  feed  them  up  for  great  egg 
production.  Did  any  one  ever  hear  of  a  wild 
bird  that  dropped  a  soft  egg,  or  ever  see  a 
shelless  egg  that  was  dropped  by  a  wild  bird? 
We  have  produced  poultry  that  do  not  sit. 
Nature  intended  the  hen  to  sit  on  her  eggs 
for  three  weeks,  and  afterwards  to  nurse  and 
run  with  her  chicks  for  four  or  five  weeks 
longer.  In  this  interval  the  system  gains  tone 
and  strength.  It  is  an  entire  change  ;  a  di- 
vision of  labor,  and  the  fowl  gathers  strength 
and  tone  for  future  egg  production.  The 
regular  sitters  seldom  drop  more  than  sixteen 
eggs  in  a  clutch,  and  then  comes  broodiness. 

Our  non-sitters  are  the  result  of  successful 
breeding  from  fowls  which  had  manifested 
little  desire  to  sit.  It  was  a  great  achievement. 
They  are  a  manufactured  race,  and  must  be 
cared  for  differently  from  the  old  common 
breeds  much  giving  to  sitting  and  little  lay- 
ing. Many  years  back  perpetual  layers  were 
unknown,  as  well  as  the  production  of  eggs 
in  winter.  Among  the  birds  of  the  air  there 
is  one  species  known  as  "cow  blackbird,"  that 
never  sits,  but  perpetuates  its  kind  by  drop- 
ping its  eggs  into  the  nests  of  other  birds,  by 
which  the  young  are  brought  up.    Generally 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


151 


the  nest  of  a  smaller  bird  is  chosen,  and  in 
rearing,  the  smaller  birds  are  frequently  robbed 
of  their  foodand  perish,  the  overgrown  bird's 
beak  salting  the  larger  share  of  food.  Tlie 
cow  blackbird  cannot  be  any  great  layer,  or 
their  eggs  are  discarded  by  the  other  birds 
thus  imposed  upon,  for  tlie  species  is  not  very 
plentiful.  Eggs  dropped  in  May  and  .June 
keep  much  better  than  those  dropped  later  in 
the  season.  The  reason  is  that  the  fowls  are 
in  better  condition.  After  the  middle  of  July, 
the  close  summer  heats  and  sultry  nights  come 
on.  and  the  birds  are  more  or  less  cxliausted. 
The  moulting  season  is  close  at  hand,  and  the 
whole  sy.stcm  is  preparing  for  a  chnnt;!',  th(^ 
recovery  from  which  is  a  (luesiiDn  (irtiuic  and 
care.  15y  this  time,  if  left  unheeded,  their 
roosting  places  have  become  foul  and  infested 
with  vermin.  From  this  time  out,  stimulants 
and  mild  tonics  should  be  given  to  the  pcrjiet- 
ual  layers  as  required.  To  be  thoroughly 
profitable,  these  fowls  should  not  be  kept  over 
the  second  winter,  unless  it  be  in  exceptional 
cases.  There  is  no  breed  of  fowls  that  accepts 
management  as  readily  as  the  Brahmas.  They 
yield  to  confinement,  in  time,  place,  and  food, 
without  repining,  yet  they  are  tender,  and 
require  more  care  and  forethought  in  feeding 
than  any  of  the  other  races  of  sitters.  Perfect 
eggs,  after  once  obtained,  should  be  set  up  on 
end  in  good,  sweet,  clean  oats,  and  kept  in  a 
cool  place,  and  there  will  be  found  little  diffi- 
culty in  saving  them  to  obtain  a  fair  price  at 
the  fall  markets.  They  must  possess  good, 
thick,  perfect  shells,  or  they  will  not  keep. 

TOBACCO. 

The  Tobacco  Leaf  gives  a  large  assortment 
of  the  views  of  New  York  leaf  tobacco  mer- 
chants and  importers  on  the  condition  and 
prospects  of  the  seed  leaf  and  Havana  to- 
bacco trade  of  this  country.  We  select  some 
of  them  of  local  interest  for  republication  : 

A.  S.  jRosciitrtwni  it  Co.— We  consider  trade 
in  a  sound  condition,  and  the  prospect  is  good 
for  a  continuance  of  the  same,  providing  peo- 
ple do  business  at  a  fair  profit,  and  do  not  go 
into  speculation.  The  crop  of  last  year  is  thus 
far  affording  only  a  small  proportion  of  fine 
wrappers,  and  prices  for  those  that  are  fine 
will  be  well  sustained  throughout  the  season. 

E.  Roscnwald  <t  Bro. — It  seems  to  us  that 
all  seed  leaf  tobaccos  will  maintain  their 
prices,  and  fine  wrappers  of  the  1878  crop  will 
go  higher  than  they  are  at  present. 

H.  SchubartA  Co. — We  find  trade  very  good 
and  consider  the  prospect  very  favorable. 
Dealers  look  forward  to  and  must  have  higher 
prices,  as  they  do  not  want  to,  nor  intend  to, 
lose  money  on  their  investments.  Those  who 
have  good  tobacco  will  get  higher  prices  than 
are  now  paid.  Cigar  manufacturers  must  get 
higher  prices  for  their  goods  than  they  are 
now  receiving. 

J.  S.  Gmis's  Son  &  Co.— The  condition  of 
trade  is  very  satisfactory,  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  high  prices  of  the  1878  tobacco,  manu- 
facturers will  be  compelled  to  take  it  very 
freely  before  long.  In  fact,  during  the  pres- 
ent month  they  have  been  liberal  buyers.  We 
doubt  whether  the  prices  that  are  at  present 
ruling  will  in  all  instances  be  maintained.  We 
are  convinced  that  no  further  advance  in 
prices  is  to  be  expected. 

Charles  F.  Taij  <fc  Son. — There  will  probably 
be  a  legitimate  advance  on  the  stock  on  hand, 
enough  to  cover  the  interest  and  charges,  but 
we  don't  exisect  a  large  advance.  We  look 
forward  to  a  legitimate  supply  and  demand 
business.  The  new  tobaccos  have  been  bought 
rather  high,  and  it  is  going  to  be  a  slow  busi- 
ness to  sell  them.  The  old  stock  is  almost  all 
entirely  exhausted,  and  while  manufacturers 
will  have  to  take  the  new  we  do  not  antici- 
pate a  speculative  movement  in  it. 

L.  Gershel  <fc  JBro.— Our  idea  is  that  trade 
has  never  been  in  a  healthier  condition  than 
at  present,  and  we  feel  that  in  the  next  sixty 
days  higher  prices  than  are  now  paid  for  seed 
leaf  tobacco  will  be  obtained.  There  is  very 
little  old  stock  on  hand,  and  the  new  crop 
contains  but  a  small  portion  of  fine  goods. 
Those  who  hold  fine  wi-appers  are  in  posses- 


sion of  good  property  and  will  get  their  prices 
for  them. 

N.  Lachcnh-mch  &  Bro.— In  fine  goods  the 
market  is  very  bare,  and  we  think  for  them 
higher  prices  will  certainly  rule  in  the  near 
future.  AVe  believe  all  grades  of  Pennsylva- 
nia tob.acco  that  are  anyway  useful,  good 
property  to  hold  ;  as  also  fine  wrappers  of  the 
growth  of  other  .States.  We  are  having  offers 
for  our  1878  tobaccos  very  close  to  our  prices, 
and  think  it  will  noi  be  long  before  those  in 
want  of  them  will  come  up  to  our  figures. 
We  are  satisfied  prices  will  range  still  higher 
than  they  are  at  present.  The  market  is  in  a 
very  good  condition  indeed,  manufacturers 
l)(ing  very  busy,  and  yet  holding  exceedingly 
liglit  stocks. 

ILivciuci/rrs  &  Viijeliw.—Tvude  is  in  a  dull 
and  unsatisfactory  condition.  According  to 
oia-  oiiinion  tobacco  was  bought  at  too  liigh 
prices  last  year,  speaking  exclu.sivcly  of  the 
1878  crop.  Taking  into  consideration  the  fact 
that  a  large  crop  has  been  raised,  one  that 
has  been  pronounced  to  be  good  in  every 
State — not  only  good  but  excellent  in  every 
State— there  i.s,  according  to  our  idea,  no 
likelihood  of  an  increase  in  price.  As  trade 
is  now  we  certainly  cannot  look  for  a  great 
trade  ;  it  is  cut  up  so  much  that  there  can 
not  be. 

M.  Opjmihcimer.—I  consider  trade  in  a 
fair,  healthy  condition,  and  the  prospect  of 
its  remaining  so  is  good.  There  is  a  satisfac- 
tory demand  for  good  tobaccos.  In  general 
the  1878  crop  is  of  better  quality  than  we 
have  had  for  a  long  time.  The  Connecticut 
and  Ohio  are  both  leafy  crops,  and  will  yield 
as  many  wrappers  as  ever  before ;  and  as 
much  may  be  said  for  the  other  green  or  new 
crops. 

Buvzl  A  Dormitzer. — Trade  is  very^good. 
We  are  selling  as  fast  as  we  are  sampling, 
and  what  we  do  not  dispose  of  in  this  country 
we  find  a  ready  market  in  Bremen.  We  are 
getting  a  poor  crop  in  wrappers,  that  is,  poor 
in  serviceable  wrapper  leaf,  but  the  demand 
is  steady  and  legitimate.  There  is  more  of 
the  new  crop  going  to  Europe  than  is  gener- 
ally known,  the  Messrs.  Rosenwald  and  our- 
selves sending  a  good  deal  there  of  which  no 
account  is  made  public. 

ESSAY  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  MANUR- 
ING LAND  AND  HOW  TO  APPLY  IT. 
The  proprietor  of  the  Reading  Enijh  offered 
two  premiums  for  two  of  the  "  best'essays  on 
the  subject  of  manuring  land  and  how  to 
apply  it."  To  pass  upon  the  different  esSays 
written  in  response  to  these  premiums,  Hon. 
George  D.  Stitzel,  Ezra  High,  J.  H.  Punk, 
W.  G.  Moore  and  Christian  Shearer,  all  prac- 
tical farmers,  agreed  to  act  as  a  committee  to 
read  and  pass  upon  the  essays  and  award  the 
premiums.       * 

The  committee  examined  the  different 
essays  submitted  to  them  by  the  writers 
thereof,  and  after  due  consideration  awarded 
the  highest  or  first  premium  to  John  S.  Eckert, 
of  Womelsdorf,  and  have  decided  to  hold  the 
remaining  essays  under  advisement.  FoUow- 
mg  is  Mr.  Eckert's  essay: 

I  live  in  Heidelberg  township,  a  short  dis- 
tance below  Womelsdorf,  on  a  farm  owned  by 
one  of  my  best  friends,  George  B.  Eckert,  of 
Reading.  I  have  lived  on  this  farm  for  the 
last  fifteen  years.  The  community  know  the 
condition  of  this  farm  when  I  first  occupied 
it  and  believe  I  have  improved  the  soil  as  well 
as  the  general  appearance  of  the  farm  vei-y 
much.  From  what  1  know  of  fertilizing  land, 
I  believe  barnyard  manure  to  be  better  than 
guano  or  phosphates.  I  do  not  believe  in  top- 
dressing  with  manure,  for  after  you  seed  the 
ground  the  manure  will  still  be  on  top  and  a 
large  part  of  the  ammonia  will  be  lost,  instead 
of  entering  the  soil  and  enriching  it.  My 
plan  is  to  manure  oats  stubble  and  plow  it 
under.  The  best  wheat  I  ever  raised  was  by 
plowing  down  sod,  well  limed.  Manuring  the 
sod  or  the  oats  stubble  is  very  Mod,  and  I 
believe  with  a  good  season  a  splendid  crop 
will  reward  the  farmer. 
I  believe  farmers  make  a  mistake  in  seeding 


timothy.  It  would  be  better  to  cast  the  tim- 
othy seed  into  the  sea  and  double  seed  with 
clover.  To  plow  timothy  sod  you  will  find  it 
hard  and  touch,  the  ground  looking  poor  and 
the  soil  not  in  a  good  condition.  Clover  sod 
is  right  the  opposite  of  timothy — clover  being 
blacker  and  richer.  Some  farmers  argue  if 
they  do  not  raise  timothy  they  will  not  be 
able  to  feed  their  stock,  as  their  soil  is  marshy, 
and  clover  will  freeze  out.  Such  is  not  the 
fact  if  farmers  will  use  barnyard  manure  in- 
stead of  phosphates,  which  I  do  not  believe 
pay  the  farmer  at  all.  Phosphates  may  pay 
small  truck  farmers  near  a  city  or  book  farmers. 
The  latter  conclude  to  quit  the  city  and  live 
in  the  country,  then  buy  a  farm  and  expect 
results  from  it  just  as  practical  farmers  get. 
These  fancy  book  farmers  forget  the  long  and 
patient  toil  and  close  observation  of  the  laws 
of  nature  which  a  practical  farmer  mu.sl  pos- 
sess to  make  farming  profitable.  A  fancy 
book  farmer  believes  a  man  must  sei-ve  an  ap- 
prenticeship to  become  a  watchmaker,  but  that 
anybody  can  farm.  This  is  a  great  mistake. 
Exi)erience  on  the  farm  is  worth  more  than 
anything  else.  I  think  that  after  manure  and 
proper  cultivation  of  the  ground  a  good  .season 
comes  next,  for  without  weather  to  make 
what  we  plant  grow  a  farmer's  labors  will  not 
amount  to  much.  Every  farmer  should  know 
that  the  better  the  soil  is  tilled  the  more  it 
will  produce  and  pay.  Keep  your  weeds 
down. 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  lime- 
stone and  gravel  soil, and  also  between  rolling, 
level  and  low  lands.  Rolling  lands  will  require 
more  feeding  than  level  land  on  account  of  the 
drainage.  Heavy  rains  on  rolling  land  will 
wash  it  and  carry  off  the  fertilizers,  which  is 
not  the  case  with  level  lands  with  good  drain- 
age. To  raise  a  good  crop  of  com  plow  roll- 
ing land  in  the  spring  and  level  land  in  the 
fall.  Rolling  land  when  plowed  in  the  fall 
will  become  mellow  and  wash  out  the  sod, 
while  such  is  not  the  case  with  level  land.  I 
believe  in  deep  plowing,  if  the  soil  allows  it. 
Deep  furrowing  for  planting  will  save  corn 
from  drouth  and  it  will  not  blow  down  so 
readily. 

Canada  lliistlcs  cun  be  killed  by  using  fine 
dust  from  the  furnaces  put  on  about  four 
inches  thick.  I  have  killed  Canada  thistles  in 
this  way, and  also  have  enriched  the  .soil  by  it. 
You  can  get  the  fine  dust  from  furnaces  with- 
out cost,and  you  will  be  richly  repaid  for  your 
labor. 

A  grave  question  for  the  consideration  of 
farmers  in  the  future  will  be  fencing.  As  the 
country  becomes  more  thickly  settled  and 
timber  becomes  more  scarce  fencing  will  cost 
much  more  than  now.  To  overcome  thLs  pro- 
spective trouble  I  haveosagc  orange,  which 
will  last  a  lifetime  and  will  not  cost  iis  much 
as  post  fence.  I  plant  osage  orange  for  two 
thousand  feet  at  the  cost  of  tln-ee  and  a  half 
cents  a  foot,  which  are  growing  nicely.  I 
would  also  urge  my  fellow  farmers  to  plant 
shade  trees  around  their  dwellings,  for  in  this 
way  you  will  make  youi-  homes  more  comfort- 
able and  valuable. 

Often  city  people  speak  of  farmers  being 
careless  in  their  dress.  We  cannot  be  as  tidy 
in  our  dress  as  city  people,  for  our  business 
will  not  permit  it,  but  against  this  we  know 
how  much  better  fresh  mdk  is  from  a  cow  than 
after  it  is  hauled  to  the  city  and  drank  by  city 
folks.  We  also  know  hpw  much  better  fresh 
vegetables  are  than  after  they  are  kept  for 
several  days  and  then  sold  and  eaten  by  city 
people. 

To  my  fellow  farmers  I  would  say  again, 
plow  deep  while  sluggaixls  sleep,  and  we  will 
have  grain  to  sell  and  to  keep. 

Remember,  any  work  well  done  will  bring 
its  reward. 


LABOR-SAVING  IMPLEMENTS. 
A  great  historian  of  civilization  declares 
that  "wealth  alone  gives  leisure  for  study, 
culture,  and  true  education."  On  this  con- 
tinent, the  adaptation  of  every  description  of 
power  to  agricultural  and  household  imple- 
ments whereby  human  labor  and  toil  is  saved, 


152 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[October, 


gives  the  required  leisure  that  insures  rest  and 
recreation,  and  that  leads  to  culture.  We  are 
wont  to  look  at  this  saving  of  labor  exclu- 
sively as  the  means  of  multiplying  and  cheap- 
ening the  products,  and  ignoring  that  greater 
and  more  important  fact  of  the  time  it  saves 
to  every  sou  and  daughter  of  toil.  It  is  in 
the  memory  of  many  of  us,  before  the  adap- 
tation of  power  to  mowing  machinery,  that 
it  was  a  day's  labor  of  ten  hours  to  cut  an 
acre  of  grass;  to-day,  through  the  triumphs 
of  inventive  genius,  the  same  man  can  ac- 
complish ten  times  the  amount  of  labor  in  a 
day,  wherehy  ninety  hours  of  toil  are  gained. 
A  portion,  it  is  true,  goes  to  the  increasing 
and  cheapening  of  the  product,  but  the  greater 
gam  is  for  leisure,  to  be  devoted  to  moral  and 
intellectual  improvement.  This  Is  true  of 
every  implement  in  use  in  human  industry. 
It  is  this  adaption  of  other  than  the  power  of 
the  human  muscle  to  farm  improvements  that 
has  elevated,  by  rest  and  education,  more 
people  than  all  other  agencies  of  modern 
times.  It  is  this  that  will,  in  its  progress, 
make  agriculture  a  profession  rather  than  a 
mere  occupation.  The  genius  which  gave  to 
the  field  and  the  fireside  labor-saving  imple- 
ments, emancipated  thirty  million  laborers, 
men,  women  and  children,  in  this  country 
alone,  from  the  bondage  of  incessant  toil. 
That  genius  gives  wealth  to  found  institutions 
of  learning,  and  sons  and  daughters  their 
whole  youth  to  profit  by  them.  It  gives  wealth 
for  ten  thousand  periodicals  of  agriculture, 
of  art  and  science,  and  gives  you  time  to  read 
them.  It  creates  public  and  private  libraries, 
and  gives  leisure  to  study  them.  A  half  cen- 
tury ago  the  tilling  of  the  soil  was  the  merest 
manual  labor  ;  to-day  it  is  a  question  of  skill, 
art  and  intelligence.  Then  the  measure  of 
the  producing  power  of  any  region  was  the 
number  of  those  who  dug  and  delved.  Now 
it  is  from  the  number  and  character  of  farm 
implements,  and  the  skill  and  intelligence  of 
those  who  use  them.  Then  the  farming  popu- 
lation represented  mere  muscle ;  the  employer 
alone  represented  the  brain.  Now  an  agri- 
cultural population  represents  the  brain  ;  the 
implements  the  muscle.  The  agricultural 
population  represents  a  great  producing  power, 
but  labor  saving  machinery  represents  a  vastly 
greater. 

• 

THE  BALANCE  OF  NATURE— FISH. 

It  is  diiflcult  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  number  of  individual  fish  which  may 
compose  a  shoal  of  herrings,  and  it  has  been 
averred  that  they  would  speedily  impede  navi- 
gation were  it  not  for  the  vast  number  of 
agencies  that  are  at  work  to  prevent  an  un- 
due increase  of  their  number.  As  the  result 
of  recent  inquiry  we  have  been  informed  that 
the  quantities  which  man  takes  from  the  water 
for  food  uses  do  not  represent  a  tenth  of  what 
are  captured  by  the  sea  birds,  or  devoured  by 
marine  enemies.  As  the  herring  is  the  only 
fish  of  which  statistics  of  the  capture  are  col- 
lected and  tabulated,  we  are  in  possession  of 
figures  which  aflbrd  us  a  rough  idea  of  the 
number  annually  withdrawn  from  the  sea  for 
food  purposes.  In  a  recent  year  sufficient  her- 
rings were  taken  to  fill  a  million  barrels  ,  and 
as  each  barrel  contains,  on  an  average,  700 
fish,  we  have  thus  a  number  equal  to  700,000,- 
000.  This  quantity,  it  must  be  observed, 
represents  cured  fish  only,  and  only  those 
which  are  caught  in  Scotland  under  the  super- 
intendence of  the  Fishery  Board.  It  is  pretty 
certain  that  as  many  herrings  are  cap- 
tured and  offered  for  sale  as  fresh  fish  and 
"reds"  as  are  cured  for  the  markets  in  Scot- 
land and  offiered  for  sale  as  salt  herrings; 
which  gives  us  the  prodigious  total  of  1,400,- 
000,000  withdrawn  annually  from  the  sea  ; 
and  even  this  number,  vast  as  it  is,  does  not 
include  what  are  used  in  the  form  of  white- 
bait, or  those  which  are  sold  as  sprats.  After 
draining  the  sea  to  such  an  extent  it  might 
also  be  supposed  that  there  would' be  scarcely 
so  many  herrings  left  as  would  suffice  for  a 
breeding  stock  ;  but  the  demands  of  man  are 
a  mere  fraction  of  what  are  taken  out  of  the 
shoals.    All  that  are  captured,  as  well  as  all 


that  are  wasted  during  the  capture,  and 
destroyed  in  the  process  of  curing,  sink  into 
insignificance  when  compared  with  the  vast- 
ness  of  the  quantities  which  are  devoured  by 
other  enemies  of  the  fish.  Cod  and  ling  are 
known  to  prey  extensively  on  the  herring ; 
and  a  calculation,  based  on  the  number  of  cod 
and  ling  annually  caught  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Scotland  Board  of  Fisheries  (3,500,000 
were  taken  in  1876),  assumes  that  there  is  a 
capital  stock  of  these  fish  in  the  Scottish  firths 
and  seas  of  70,000,000  individuals  ;  and  that 
each  individual  consumes  420  herrings  jier 
annmn,  which,  at  the  rate  of  two  herrings 
every  day  for  seven  months  in  the  year,  shows 
a  consumption  of  29,400,000,000  individual 
herrings.  Nor  does  the  account  stop  at  this 
point.  The  commissioners  who  recently  col- 
lected information  on  Scottish  herring  fisher- 
ies assume  that  in  Scotland  alone  the  gannet 
(a  sea-bird)  will  annually  draw  on  the  shoals 
to  the  extent  of  1,110,000,000  herrings.  In 
addition  to  dog-fish,  cod,  gannets  and  other 
sea-birds,  the  herring  has  many  other  enemies  ; 
porpoises,  seals,  cod  fish  and  other  |predaceous 
fishes  are  constantly  lying  in  wait  to  fall  upon 
and  devour  them.  A  female  herring,  we 
know,  yields  over  30,000  eggs ;  but  at  the 
shoaling-time  myriads  of  these  eggs  are  de- 
voured by  a  variety  of  enemi,es,  besides  which 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  eggs  are  never 
touched  by  the  fructifying  milt  of  the  male 
fish,  and  so  perish  in  the  waters.— C/iawi6e?'s' 
Journal. 

STANDARD   OF  THE  AMERICAN  JER- 
SEY CATTLE  CLUB. 

A  letter  has  come  to  hand,  written  by  a 
gentleman  interested  in  dairy  matters  to  some 
extent,  in  which  the  writer  takes  exception 
(and  we  think  very  justly)  to  the  standard 
adopted  by  the  American  Jersey  Cattle  Club. 
We  have  not  that  standard  before  us,  but 
have  examined  it  hitherto,  and  do  not,  there- 
fore, speak  of  it  altogether  at  random.  Our 
correspondent  desires  to  know  what  our  views 
are  in  regard  to  the  scale  referred  to,  and  es- 
pecially in  reference  to  what  he  calls  "the 
frills  and  furbelows"  with  which  it  is  orna- 
mented. 

Not  having  the  scale  of  points  before  us, 
we  are  not  prepared  to  examine  it  in  detail, 
but  from  recollection  and  some  figures  given 
by  our  friend  we  shall  not  have  much  difficul- 
ty in  pointing  out  what  we  think  are  serious 
faults  it  contains,  and  at  the  same  time 
plainly  indicate  our  position  in  regard  to  some 
things  which  such  standards  should  recognize, 
as  well  as  some  tilings  they  should  ignore. 

In  deciding  upon  standards  of  excellence 
by  which  to  measure  any  class  of  stock,  it  has 
happened  not  unfrequently  that  the  import- 
ance of  the  real  merit  has  been  overlooked, 
or  that  the  most  desirable  points  have  not 
been  given  the  prominence  they  deserved, 
while  fanciful  and  non-essential  characteris- 
tics have  received  too  much  consideration  in 
the  scale.  The  behests  of  fashion  have  thus 
been  obeyed  to  the  detriment  of  true  interests 
which  were  at  stake.  It  is  only  proper  to  re- 
mark here  that  we  have  no  unfriendly  feel- 
ings against  the  American  Jersey  Cattle 
Club,  or  any  other  similar  club  or  association. 
And  so  far  as  Jersey  cattle  are  concerned,  we 
look  upon  them  as  a  very  useful  and  desirable 
breed  for  certain  purposes.  We  are  dealing 
entirely  with  a  scale  of  points  laid  down  by 
the  clubby  which  Jerseys  are  judged,  which,in 
our  our  opinion,  is  inimical  to  the  welfare  of 
breeders  of  and  dealers  in  that  breed  of  cattle 
in  this  country  ;  hence  we  are  free  to  say  in 
all  kindness  and  candor  that  in  catering  to 
fanciful  tastes  and  placing  undue  value  upon 
non-essentials,  we  believe  that  the  club  stands 
in  its  own  light,  and  is  really,  though  unin- 
tentionally of  course,  doing  an  injury  to  the 
Jersey  cattle  interest.  Eesults  at  the  pail  and 
in  the  churn  are  what  Jerseys  must  show — 
results  that  at  once  recommend  them  to 
farmers,  -io  dairymen  and  other's— if  they  are 
to  retain  i=eputati^n.-  If  these  are  sacrificed 
to  the  color  of  hair,  hor-ns,4ioofs,  and  to  high 
up  nostrils,  it  is  but  a  questioa-of  time  ^ben 


the  breed  wiU  lose  much  of  its  prestige  and 
prominence.  As  the  value  of  tlie  Jerseys 
consists  almost  exclusively  in  the  richness  and 
quantity  of  the  milk  they  produce,  the  true 
policy, of  course,  is  to  preserve  these  qualities; 
but  how  long  can  this  be  done,  if  they  are 
made  secondary  or  subservient  to  other  things 
which  are  not  material,  or  which  really  count 
nothing  by  the  side  of  these  useful  character- 
istics. In  the  scale  adopted  by  the  club  there 
are  thirty-four  points,  and  of  this  number 
four  only  relate  to  the  lacteal  characters  of 
the  cow,  viz. :  the  milk  veins,  the  front  and 
rear  udder,  and  the  teats.  Twenty-nine  points 
are  required  to  entitle  an  animal  to  a  prize  at 
a  competitive  trial,  or  to  be  classed  as  a  prize 
animal,  and  it  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  a 
cow  or  heifer  of  this  breed— whose  chief  and 
almost  only  recommendation  consists  of  its 
milk  quality — may  secure  a  prize  without 
possessing  a  single  one  of  the  points  indi- 
cating excellence  in  that  direction.  The  color 
and  size  of  the  ears  count  two  in  the  scale, 
and  the  length  and  quality  of  the  tail  also 
count  two,  so  that  ears  and  tail  equal  in  the 
count  the  number  of  points  given  to  milk 
veins,  front  and  rear  udder  and  teats.  Now 
we  respectfully  submit  that  milk  veins,  udders 
and  teats  are  likely  to  be  more  favorably  can- 
vassed than  delicate  and  deer-like  ears  by 
dairymen  and  others  desirous  of  adding  Jersey 
cows  to  their  herds  or  purchasing  for  family 
use  ;  and  further,  that  with  such  persons  it  is 
more  a  problem  of  pail  than  of  tail.  The 
question  of  utility  is  paramount,  and  hence 
the  folly  of  giving  undue  prominence  to  tests 
of  no  real  value,  or  at  least  of  such  small 
consequence  as  to  entitle  them  to  little  ap- 
preciable weight  in  any  proper  standard  or 
scale  of  points.  We  repeat  that  performance 
at  the  pail  is  the  highest  test.  The  quantity 
of  butter  a  Jersey  cow  produces  within  a 
year,  or  what  profit  she  yields  to  her  owner  in 
dairy  products,  has  more  to  do  with  her  value 
than  anything  else  ;  all  others  are  secondary, 
and  some  that  are  present  in  this  standard 
are  worse  than  useless. — American  Stockman. 

WHOLE  ACRES  OF  PERFUME. 

The  Swiss  limes  says :  Some  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  business  of  raising  sweet- 
scented  flowers  for  their  perfume  alone  may 
be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  Europe  and 
British  India  alone  consume  about  150,000 
gallons  of  handkerchief  pej-fume  yearly;  that 
the  English  revenue  from  French  Eau  de 
Cologne  of  itself  is  |40,000  annually,  and  the 
total  revenue  of  England  from  other  import- 
ed perfumes  is  estimated  at  $200,000  each 
year.  There  is  one  great  perfume  distillery 
at  Cannes,  in  France,  which  tises  yearly  about 
one  hundred  thousand  pounds  acacia  flowers, 
140,000  pounds  of  rare  flower  leaves,  32,000 
pounds  of  jasmine  blossoms,  and  20,000 
pounds  of  tuberose  blossoms,  togetlier  with 
an  immense  quantity  of  other  material  used 
for  perfume.  Victoria,  in  New  South  Wales, 
is  a  noted  place  for  the  production  of  perfume- 
yielding  plants,  because  such  plants  as  the 
mignonette,  sweet  verbena,  jasmine,  rose, 
lavender,  acacia,  heliotrope,  rosemary,  wall- 
flower, laurel,  orange,  and  the  sweet-scented 
geraniums  are  said  to  grow  there  in  greater 
perfection  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
South  Australia,  it  is  believed,  would  also  be 
a  good  place  for  the  growing  of  these  perfume- 
producing  plants,  though  they  are  not  yet 
cultivated  to  much  extent.  The  value  of  per- 
fumes to  countries  adapted  to  their  produc- 
tion may  be  gathered  from  the*  following  esti- 
mate of  their  growth  and  value  per  acre,  as 
given  in  the  London  (England)  Journal  of 
Horticulture:  An  acre  of  jasmine  plants, 
80,000  in  number,  will  produce  5,000  pounds 
of  flowers,  valued  at  11,250;  an  acre  of  rose 
trees,  10,000  in  number,  will  yield  2,000 
pounds  of  flowers,  worth  $375;  300  orange 
trees  growing  on  an  acre,  will  yield,  at  ten 
years  of  age,  2,000  pounds  of  flowers,  valued 
at  $250;  an  acre  of  violets,  producing  1,600 
pounds  of  flowers,  is  worth  $800;  an  acre  of 
cassia  trees  of  about  300,  will,  at  three  years 
of  age,   yield  900  pounds  of  flowers,  worth 


1879.J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


153 


8450;  an  acre  of  geranium  plants  will  yield 
sometliing  ovur  2,000  ounces  distilled  attar, 
worth  $4,000;  an  acre  of  lavender  giving  over 
3,500  pounds  of  flowers  for  distillation,  will 
ylelda  value,  of  $1,500. 

ALTITUDES   IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 

Following  is  the  elevation  ;il)ovenieaii  ocean 
level  at  riiiladelphia  of  points  on  thi'  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  and  hranelies,  compiled 
from  the  second  geographical  survey  of  Penn- 
eylvania,  which  it  would  he  well  to  preserve  : 

West  Philadelphia, :54 

Lancaster, •''•W 

Columbia, 2.51 

HarristiurR, 3J0 

P.  R.  H.  bridge  over  Sustiucliumia  liver,       .         MO 

Mifllin Wl 

Lewistown, 4'.)8 

Hunlingdou, •    '322 

Bedford,  B.  &  B.  R.  K. I,llli2 

Tyrone, 907 

Sandy  Kidge,  Tyrone  &  Clearfield  R.  R.,  .  1,922 
Phillipsburg,  Tyrone  &  Clearfleld  K.  R.,  1,433 
ClearBcld,  Tyrone  &  Clearfield  U.  K.,  .  1,10:! 
Curwensviile,  Tyrone  &  Clearlield  K.  R.,  1,141 
Bell's  Mills,  Junction  of  Bell's  Gap  K.  R.,  1,000 
Point  Lookout,  Bell's  Gap  R.  R.,  .  .  1,915 
Lloydsville,  Bell's  Gap  R.R.,  .  .  .  1,1S0 
Summit,  Bell's  Gap  R.  R.,  Bench  Mark  Sum- 
mit of  Mountain 3,."01 

AUoona, lil'J'S 

HoUidaysburg,  Hollidaysbui-g  Branch,        .  9oS 

Springfield  Mines,  Williamsburg  Branch,  1,.S79 

Henrietta,  Morrison's  Cove  R.  K.,        .        .      1,423 

Kittanning  Point, 1,594 

Dennington  Furnace 2,0.3« 

Gallitzin, 2,161 

Crcsson, 3,017 

Ebensburg,  at  High  and   Centre  streets,   ap- 
proximating,     ......        2,160 

Conemaugh, 1,2_'5 

JohnstoVn, 1,184 

Blairsville  Intersection, 1,113 

Blairsville  station,  Indiana  Branch,  .         .  1,011 

Indiana,  terminus  of  Indiana,        .         .         .      1,311 

Latrobe, 1,006 

Ligonier.Ligonier  Valley  R.  R.,  .        .        .      1,151 

Greensburg,       I 1,091 

Connellsville,  S.  W.  P.R.  R.,         ...         915 

Irwin 884 

East  Liberty 918 

Pittsburg 745 

THE  CATTLE  DISEASE. 

In  his  oSlcial  report  to  the  Governor  of  his 
work  under  the  act  of  May  1st,  1879,  during 
the  month  of  September,  Secretary  Edge  re- 
ports the  quarantine  of  seventeen  Irerds  in- 
fected with  pleuro-pueumonia.  These  herds 
contain  285  animals,  and  are  lucahxl  in  the 
counties  of  Chester,  Delawan'.  .Moutfcuniery, 
Bucks  and  Lancaster.  One  lierd  eacli  in 
Chester  and  York  counties  have  IJcen  released 
from  quarantine,  and  the  latter  county  is,  so 
far  as  known,  clear  of  the  disease. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  further  spread  of  the 
disease  in  the  herd,  and  to  prevent  its  spread 
to  adjoining  herds,  sixty  animals  have  been 
appraised  and  killed.  In  all  cases  the  disease 
has  thus  far  been  confined  to  the  herd,  after 
it  has  been  strictly  quarantined,  and  the  Secre- 
tary reports  that  all  owners  of  infected  cattle 
have  supported  him  in  his  attempts  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  the  disease. 

In  Chester  county  the  Sheriff  has  levied  on 
one  of  the  quarantined  herds  and  he  now 
finds  a  conflict  of  duty  between  himself  and 
the  agent  of  the  Governor ;  the  matter  will 
undoubtedly  be  settled  amicably,  but  if  forced 
to  a  legal  decision,  would  give  room  for  the 
display  of  much  legal  lore. 

Secretary  Edge  also  reports  that  in  these 
herds,  (one  of  which  is  that  of  Mr.  Turner,  in 
Colerain  township,  in  this  county,)  the  disease 
has  shown  itself  in  an  unusually  malignant 
form,  and  that  the  greatest  loss  has  been  in 
these  herds.  So  far  as  known  every  infected 
herd  has  been  quarantined  and  it  is  hoped 
that  the  authorities  have  the  disease  in  check. 

All  cattle  imported  from  Europe  are  quar- 
antined in  Philadelphia  before  they  can  be 
sold,  and  must  show  a  clear  bill  of  health  at 
all  times  after  their  shipment  in  England. 
One  importation  has  been  thus  quarantined, 
and  another  is  expected  soon. 

When  compared   with  neighboring  States 


of  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  New  Jcr.'iey, 
the  exjienso  in  Pennsylvania  has  thus  far  been 
very  sliglit.  In  Massachusetts  the  eradica- 
tion of  the  disease  cost  807,500  ;  New  York 
has  appropriated  835,000,  and  New  Jersey 
$25,000. 

SINGULAR  DISCOVERY. 
A  Lafayett(^  (Ind.)  man  accidentally  made 
a  most  singular  discovery  rc^spcctiug  the  elec- 
trical influence  of  the  ordinary  morning  glory 
vines.  Seated  near  the  lattice  work  over 
which  the  vine  was  trained,  his  attention  was 
attracted  to  a  single  branch  tipped  with  a 
growing  vine  extending  straight  out  from  the 
rest,  and  speculated  within  himself  whether 
the  tiny  hairs  with  which  the  stem  was 
clothed  were  not  placed  tliere  for  the  purpose 
of  conducting  the  electric  fluid  of  the  at- 
mosphere to  the  plant.  In  order  to  continue 
his  investigation,  he  approached  his  linger 
within  about  half  an  inch  of  it,  and  was 
amazed  to  observe  a  slight,  almost  impercep- 
tible, yet  unmistakable  motion  of  the  stem. 
As  he  pushed  his  finger  a  little  nearer  the 
stem  trembled  very  visibly,  and  was  •seem- 
ingly attracted  and  repelled  from  him.  The 
hairs  which  he  noticed  before  did  not  move, 
but  remained  erect.  There  was  no  wind  at 
the  time,  and  the  motion  was  purely  an  in- 
duced one.  After  this  interesting  experiment 
he  placed  his  finger  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  growing  bud  and  slowly  moved  it  in  a 
circular  direction.  The  stem  followed  the 
motion  until  it  was  bent  in  the  form  of  the 
letter  C,  and  when  the  finger  was  withdrawn 
instantly  regained  its  former  straight  posi- 
tion. The  last  experiment  was  witnessed  by 
several  persons,  all  of  whom  tried  it  with 
varying  success. 

• 

A  NEW  USE  FOR  THE  MULLEIN. 
A  correspondent  writes  to  an  exchange  as 
follows    about  the   flower   of  a  well-known 
plant : 

I  have  discovered  a  remedy  for  consump- 
tion. It  has  cured  a  number  of  cases  after 
they  had  commenced  bleeding  at  the  lungs 
and  the  hectic  flush  was  already  on  the  cheek. 
After  trying  this  remedy  to  my  own  satisfac- 
taction,  I  have  thought  philanthropy  required 
that  I  should  let  it  be  known  to  the  world.  It 
is  common  mullein,  steeped  strongly,  sw'eet- 
encd  with  coffee  sugar  and  drank  freely. 
Young  or  old  plants  are  good,  dried  in  the 
shade  and  kept  in  clean  bags.  The  medicine 
must  be  continued  from  three  to  six  months 
according  to  the  nature  of  tlie  disease.  It  b 
very  good  for  the  blood  vessels  also.  IL 
strengthens  and  builds  up  the  system  instead 
of  taking  away  the  strength.  It  makes  good 
blood  and  takes  inflammation  away  from  the 
lungs."  Itisthe  wish  of  the  writer  that  every 
periodical  in  the  United  States,  Canada  and 
Europe  should  publish  this  recipe  for  the  bene- 
flt  of  the  human  family.  Lay  this  up  and 
keep  it  in  the  house  ready  for  use. 

JUICE  OF  THE  TOMATO  PLANT  AN 
INSECTICIDE. 
A  writer  in  the  Deutsche  Zeitung  states  that 
he  last  year  had  an  opportunity  of  trying  a 
remedy  for  destroying  green  fly  and  other  in- 
sects which  infest  plants.  It  was  not  his  own 
discovery,  but  he  found  it  among  other  receipts 
in  some  provincial  paper.  The  stems  and 
leaves  of  the  tomato  are  well  boiled  in  water, 
and  when  the  liquor  is  cold  it  is  syringed  over 
plants  attacked  by  insects.  It  at  once  destroys 
black  or  green  fly,  caterpillars,  etc.  ;  and  it 
leaves  behind  a  peculiar  odor  which  prevents 
insects  coming  again  in  a  long  time.  The 
author  states  that  he  found  this  remedy  more 
eft'ectual  than  fumigating,  washing,  etc. 
Through  neglect  a  house  of  camellias  liad  be- 
come almost  hopelessly  infested  with  black 
lice,  but  two  syringings  with  tomato  plant 
decoction  thoroughly  cleansed  them.— jLojuZoh 
Gardener's  Chronicle. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


In  the  United  States  the  consumption  of 
tobacco  is  4^  pounds  per  head  of  population  ; 
in  Germany,  about  6  pounds. 


LANCASTER    COUNTY    AGRICULTU- 
RAL   AND     HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

The  regular  stated  meeting  of  the  Society  was 
held  on  Monday  afternoon,  October  6th,  in  their 
rooms  over  the  City  Hall. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  members  and  visitors 
who  were  present ;  Calvin  Cooper,  President,  Blrd- 
iu-Hand;  H.  M.  Englc,  Marietta;  M.  D.  Kendlg, 
Manor  ;  Joseph  F.  Witmer,  Paradise  ;  C.  .M.  Hostet- 
ter,  Eden;  S.  P.  Eby,  city;  \Vm.  McComsey,  city; 
VV.  W.  Grlest,  city  ;  Frank  R.  DifTendcrller,  city;  J. 
M.  Johnston,  city  ;  John  U.  Landis,  Manor  ;  W.  H. 
Krosius,  Drumorc  ;  Dr.  S.  H.  Rathvon,  city  ;  Johnson 
Miller,  Warwick  ,  Webster  L.  Hershcy,  East  Hemp- 
field  ;  E.  S.  Hoover,  Manhclm  ;  Peter  S.  RcUt, 
Litiz;  Jacob  B.  Garber,  Columbia,  Daniel  Smcycb, 
city  ;  Israel  L.  Landis,  city. 

The  members  were  called  to  order  by  the  Pregl- 
dent,  Calvin  Cooper. 

The  minutes  of  the  preceding  meeting  were  read 

by  the  Secretary,  and  on  motion  approved. 

Report  of  Special  Committees. 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  of  Die  fair   that 

was  held  last  month  made  a  report,  which  showed  a 

small  balance  In  favor  of  the  society. 

On  motion,  the  report  was  received  and  the  com- 
miltee  discharged. 

Johnson  Miller  said  he  was  one  of  the  committee 
to  visit  the  Berks  county  fair.  The  fruit  display  was 
better  than  at  the  State  fair.  The  cattle  were  very 
fine.  The  attendance  was  very  large.  The  fair  was 
a  complete  success.  He  thought  we  ought  to  be  able 
to  do  at  least  as  well  here  as  they  can  in  Berks. 
Crop  Reports. 
H.  M.  Engle  reported  fall  pastures  good.  Most  of 
the  wheat  is  sown  and  is  growing  very  rapidly — In- 
deed, too  much  so.  The  fiy  will  ravage  it  in  all 
probability.  The  rainfall  for  September  was  3)4 
inches. 

M.  D.  Kendig,  of  Manor,  reported  the  wheat  as 
being  all  sown.  The  winter  fruit  crop  is  very  small. 
The  rainfall  for  last  month  was  2^4  Inches. 

C.  M.  Hostetter,  of  Eden,  reported  grain  looking 
very  well.  The  fly  is  already  at  work.  Water  is 
becoming  scarce.  Wells  are  drying  up  Pasture  Is 
getting  poor.     Corn  is  not  yet  husked. 

W.  H.  Brosius  of  Drumore,  said  that  corn  Is  a 
medium  crop ;  grain  looks  well ;  grass  fields  are 
drying  up  ;  there  has  been  hardly  atiy  rainfall ;  the 
potatoes  are  half  or  two-thirds  of  a  crop. 

Johnson  Miller  said  wheat  in  Warwick  is  good  ; 
the  corn  crop  will  be  the  largest  for  years  ;  pasture 
is  good  and  grass  growing  finely,  except  young 
clover  ;  some  farmers  had  to  take  their  tobacco  down 
because  it  was  rotting. 

H.  M  .  Engle  said  some  of  the  tobacco  in  Donegal 
was  60  hail  cut  that  it  was  thrown  on  the  dung  heap. 
Should  Orchards  be  Cultivated. 
H.  M.  Engle  said  this  was  a  mooted  question. 
Some  successful  fruit  growers  never  cullivate  at  all ; 
others  believe  just  the  reverse.  The  best  fruit  he 
had  ever  seen  was  from  cultivated  orchards.  In 
peach  orchards  the  ground  Is  always  cultivated.  He 
was  not  certain  this  rule  was  good  for  apples.  Thos. 
Meehan  never  cultivates,  and  he  is  one  of  our  best 
fruit  growers.  Mr.  Satterthwait  cultivates  all  the 
time  and  is  also  very  successful.  Tobias  Martin,  of 
Franklin  county,  is  the  greatest  pear  grower  in  the 
country,  and  he  plows  annually.  He  was  therefore 
not  prepared  to  say  what  was  best,  but  he  would 
say  while  trees  are  young  you  can't  cultivate  too 
much  ;  if  you  don't  they  will  become  stunted.  As 
for  himself,  he  inclines  to  cultivation,  but  favors 
very  shallow  plowing  ;  a  common  cultivator  is  per- 
haps as  good  as  a  plow.  We  must,  however,  ma- 
nure ;  we  cannot  draw  on  our  orchards  without  mak- 
ing lliem  some  return. 

W.  McComsey  did  not  think  he  could  settle  this 
question,  but  he  believed  cultivation  and  fertilization 
were  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  orchards  in  good 
bearing  condition.  His  own  experience  has  proved 
this  to  him  clearly.  Whether  it  was  owing  more  to 
cultivation  or  the  manuring  he  was  not  able  to  say, 
but  he  attached  more  importance  to  the  latter  than 
the  former.  He  gave  an  instance  where  a  fine  tree 
began  to  give  inferior  fruit  from  year  to  year.  He 
used  some  pig  manure  and  the  change  was  really 
wonderful.  He  believed  it  all  due  to  the  manure. 
He  was  not  so  sure  as  to  th«  advantages  of  cultiva- 
tion. He  cultivated  an  orchard  that  had  run  down, 
and  also  manured  it ;  the  results  were  good. 

Johnson  Miller  hasaa  orchard  that  was  not  culti- 
vated for  twenty  years  and  yet  produced  wonderful 
crops.  He  gave  other  similar  Instances.  He  hag 
planted  a  young  orchard  but  Jdid  not  cultivate  it, 
and  it  has  done  very  well.  He  believed  in  manuring 
orchards. 

The  President  said  his  practice  was  not  to  culti- 
vate ;  he  manures  and  limes  often,  and  has  good 
crops ;  he  leaves  all  the  grass  and  weeds  on  the 
ground  ;  he  bas  pruned  but  little  ;   he  grubi  the 


154 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


t  October, 


grass  1 


thin  three  feet  of  the  stem  of  the  tree.  His 
;  branched  within  three  feH  of  the  ground. 

H.  M.  Engle  thought  while  one  man  succeeds  by 
cultiTation  another  may  fail ;  therefore  there  is  no 
certain  rule  ;  certain  soils  are  better  adapted  to 
fruit-growing  than  others;  this  must  be  conpidered  ; 
this  may  account  for  these  differences  ;  it  is  so  with 
nearly  all  crops.  These  facts  must  not  be  forgotten. 
Some  trees  also  bear  better  crops  than  others.  Some 
are  surer  bearers  ;  one  orchard  may  have  more  of 
these  latter  than  the  others.  Tlie  soil,  however, 
needs  replenishing. 

E.  S.  Hoover  gave  the  experience  of  a  friend,  who 
thought  that  an  orchard  ought  to  be  cultivated  from 
the  beginning ;  then  the  roots  would  go  down  and 
the  trees  not  be  injured.  He  has  an  orchard  that 
latterly  is  not  doing  well,  although  manured  and 
cultivated.  He  can't  account  for  the  change.  He 
was  careful  not  to  cut  any  large  roots.  He  will  not 
cultivate  again,  but  he  believes  in  manuring  as  reg- 
ularly ai  for  any  other  crop.  Perhaps,  also,  his 
orchard  is  growing  too  old.  It  is  a  nice  question 
whether  we  can  cultivate  our  orchards  without  in- 
juring the  trees. 

Webster  L.  Hershey  spoke  of  an  orchard  that  has 
not  been  cultivated  much  but  has  heen  regularly  ma- 
nured but  seldom  gives  a  crop ;  the  trees  are  of  the 
same  age,  and  in  the  same  kind  of  soil ;  pear  trees 
in  these  orchards  show  the  same  results ;  some 
seedling  trees  also  show  the  same  effect  under  the 
same  condition. 

W.  H.  Brosius  asked  whether  hogs  feeding  in  an 
orchard  were  injurious.  He  was  told  they  might  not 
hurt  the  fruit  crop,  but  they  would  the  sod  and  roots. 

E.  S.  Hoover  had  a  peculiar  experience;  he  tore 
down  an  old  hog  pen  and  planted  there  several  kind 
of  trees — pear,  peach  and  apple — all  of  which  died  ; ' 
finally  he  planted  a  crab  apple  tree,  which  grew 
wonderfully. 

H.  M.  Engle  said  wood  ashes  were  more  con- 
ducive to  the  growth  of  trees  than  anything  else.  He 
gave  instances  of  their  beneficial  effects  at  the  State 
Experimental  Farm. 

The  Ne-w  Society. 

W.  McComsey  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  an 
impression  prevails  that  our  meetings  are  now  only 
the  meetings  of  the  officers  and  not  of  the  society  in 
general.  He  thought  this  had  affected  the  size  of 
our  meetings.  If  it  was  the  same  old  society  he 
thought  it  ought  to  be  stated. 

H.  M.  Engle  also  observed  our  attendance  is 
smaller  than  formerly.  He  thought  that  the  Presi- 
dent ought  to  make  a  statement,  setting  this  thing 
in  its  proper  light,  and  publish  ft  in  the  papers. 

Considerable  discussion  arose  over  this  question, 
whether ,  the  members  of  the  old  society  are  full 
members  of  the  present  one,  all  holding  that  they 
ought  to  be. 

F.  R.  Diffenderffer  said  that  when  the  society  ob- 
tained its  charter  it  was  held  that  the  new  organiza- 
tion was  a  different  body,  and  it  was  then  proposed 
that  all  the  members  of  the  old  should  by  resolu- 
tions be  made  members  of  the  new. 

W.  H.  Brosius  thought  that  as  the  charter  was 
obtained  by  consent  of  the  members  they  must  be 
considered  as  members  of  the  new  organization. 

F.  R.  Diffenderffer  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tion, which  was  unanimously  adopted: 

"  Hesolved,  That  all  the  members  in  good  standing 
of  the  Lancaster  County  Agricultural  and  Horticul- 
tural Society  prior  to  its  incorporation,  be  and  are 
hereby  declared  full  members  of  the  chartered 
society,  and  as  such  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  society." 

W.  McComsey  said  that  John  H.  Landis,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Legislature,  was  present,  after  hav- 
ing made  an  extended  tour  through  the  far  West. 
He  moved  that  the  gentleman  be  invited  to  address 
the  societj . 

Farming  in  the  Far  West. 
Mr.  Landis  responded,  and  gave  an  account  of  the 
immense  crops  that  were  grown  in  the  new  States  of 
the  West.  Bu.siness  is  reviving.  Capital  no  longer 
seems  afraid  of  making  new  investments.  All  the 
great  industries  are  looking  up.  Everything  seems 
flourishing.  Different  causes  have  contributed  to 
this.  Among  these,  perhaps,  is  the  feeling  that  peo- 
ple once  more  have  confidence  in  the  money  'they 
now  have.  They  feel  that  the  dollar  they  have  will 
be  a  dollar  all  the  time  and  everywhere.  Surprised 
at  being  called  upon,  he  was  not  prepared  to  say 
more. 

On  motion  a  vote  of  thanks  were  extended  to  Mr. 
Landig  for  his  remarks. 

H.  M.  Engle,  having  Been  West,  was  also  asked  to 
relate  his  inipressions,  but  as  he  had  already  written 
several  articles  concerning  that  trip  he  asked  to  be 
excused  for  the  present. 

John  H.  Landis  consented  to  deliver  an  address 
before  the  society  at  its  next  stated  meeting. 
Amendment  to  By-Laws. 
The  following  amendment  to  the  by-laws,  h.aving 
been  offered  at  the  last  meeting,  was  called  up:  The 
Treasurer  of  the  society  shall  before  entering  upon 
the  duties  of  his  office,  give  bond  with  approved 
security  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  funds  and  proper 


disbursement  of  any  funds  of  the  society  which  may 
come  into  his  hands. 

On  motion  the  resolution  was  adopted. 

Daniel  Smeych  exhibited  the  branch  of  a  pear  tree 
loaded  with  fruit ;  this  tree  has  for  years  borne 
Hosenshenk  pears,  but  has  lately  commenced  bear- 
ing entirely  different  fruit.  The  limbs  are  gradually 
varying  from  the  original  variety.  Some  look  like 
the  original,  and  some  are  entirely  different.  The 
change  seems  to  be  going  on  constantly.  The  mem- 
bers were  seemingly  doubtful  of  such  a  freak  of 
nature,  and  were  inclined  to  think  a  stray  bud  or 
graft  may  have  surreptitiously  been  put  on  the  tree. 
Business  for  Next  Meeting. 

The  business  committee  reported  the  following 
questions  for  next  meeting  : 

What  kind  of  horses  are  most  profitable  for  the 
farm  ?    Referred  to  E.  S.  Hoover. 

What  branch  of  farming  will  pay  best  ?  Referred 
to  C.  M.  Hostetter. 

Are  large  or  small  farms  most  profitable?  For 
general  discussion. 

Jos.  I.  Witmer,  H.  M.  Engle  and  others  thought 
we  ought  to  adopt  some  new  features  to  make  our 
meetings  more  interesting.  We  ought,  now  that  we 
are  taking  anew  departure,to  make  some  advances  in 
our  proceedings.  It  was  suggested  that  the  German 
element  ought  to  be  brought  in.  No  people  any- 
where Understand  farming  better ;  if  they  would 
come  here  they  might  teach  us  much  ;  we  ought  to 
have  them  by  all  means. 

Fruits  and  Flowers. 

H.  M.  Engle  had  for  examination  a  number  of  fine 
pears  :  Urbaniste,  Bosc,  Kingsessings,  Buerre  Langa- 
lier.  Mount  Vernon  and  Sheldon. 

M.  D.  Kendig  had  a  Hericort  pear  and  also  a  hardy 
shrub  with  plumes — the  Xflalia  Jajionica  Varegata, 
and  a  handsome  flowering  plant,  the  Hydrangia 
I'aniculata  Grandiflora. 

There  being  no  further  business  before  the  society 
a  motion  to  adjourn  was  carried. 

THE   POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

The  stated  monthly  meeting  of  the  Lancaster 
County  Poultry  Association  was  held  Monday  morn- 
ing, October  6th,  in  their  rooms  in  City  Hall. 

The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present: 
Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  President,  Lititz  ;  J.  B.  Lichty, 
city;  Charles  E.  Long,  city;  Wm.  Schoenberger, 
city;  W.  W.  Griest, city; Charles Lippold, city;  Frank 
R.  Diffenderffer,  city;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  T.  F. 
Evans,  Lititz;  Amos  Ringwalt,  city;  Frank  B.Buch, 
Lititz  ;  Henry  Wissler,  Columbia ;  Ferdinand  Sheaf- 
fer,  city;  Washington  L.  Hershey,  West  Hempfleld; 
Jacob  B.  Long,  city;  William  J.  Kafroth,  West  Earl; 
S.  C.  Garber,  Rapho. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President. 
The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and 
apprpved. 

Report  of  Committee. 
Charles  E .  Long,  from  the  Executive  Committee, 
reported  that  that  body  had  met  at  Lititz  and  trans- 
acted a  large  amount  of  business,  among  which  was 
the  securing  of  the  room  above  D.  P.  Locher's  Bank- 
ing House,  at  a  rental  of  g3.00  per  day. 

The  committee  on  procuring  judges  for  the  com- 
ing exhibition  stated  it  was  not  yet  in  a  condition  to 
report. 

The  time  fixed  for  the  exhibition  is  from  the  sec- 
ond to  the  seventh  of  January. 

New  Business. 
Harry  Myers,  Mt.  Joy  ;  J.  W.  Bruckhart,  Salunga ; 
John  Lorentz,  Benj.  F.  Cox,  John  L.  Metzger, 
Gideon  Arnold  and  Joseph  A.  E.  Carpenter,  from 
the  city,  were  unanimously  elected  to  membership. 
J.  B.  Lichty  stated  that  since  last  meeting  a  num- 
ber of  new  subscriptions  had  been  received,  making 
a  total  up  to  this  time  of  $81,  towards  setting  the 
coming  poultry  show  on  a  sure  financial  basis.  Other 
members  came  forward  and  put  down  their  names, 
swelling  the  list  considerably. 

A  long  informal  discussion  occurred  at  this  point. 
The  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  stated 
that  while  the  success  of  the  coming  exhibition  was 
undoubted,  his  committee,  nevertheless,  felt  some 
reluctance  in  going  ahead  until  they  had  enough 
money  in  hand  to  pay  any  and  all  expenses  that 
might  be  incurred,  so  that  under  any  circumstances 
the  society  would  be  able  to  meet  its  obligations.  A 
number  of  plans  were  suggested  to  meet  the  desired 
end.  The  most  liberal  disposition  was  evinced  by  all 
the  members  present,  all  being  willing  to  do  their 
utmost  and  even  increase  the  number  of  tickets  they 
had  already  agreed  to  take.  A  committee  of  three, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  William  Schoenberger,  J.  B. 
Lichty  and  Chas.  Lippold,  was  appointed  to  solicit  a 
few  outside  subscriptions  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure.  This  committee  will  call  upon  the  hotel  keep- 
ers, and  perhaps  some  others,  for  subscription  to 
tickets,  and  as  it  is  believed  a  large  crowd  will  be 
drawn  they  may  easily  realize  far  more  than  the 
cost  out  of  the  persons  who  may  visit  the  city  to  see 
the  exhibition.  We  think  we  are  not  mistaken  in 
promising  the  people  of  this  city  a  poultry  show  that 
will  compare  favorably  with  those  of  societies  ten 
times  as  old  as  this  one. 


A  letter  was  received  from  A.  H.  Shriner,  of 
Sporting  Hill,  resigning  his  membership  on  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee,  because  of  the  impossibility  of 
being  present  often  enough.  The  resignation  was 
accepted.  The  filling  of  the  vacancy  was  deferred 
under  the  rules  untirthe  next  regular  meeting. 

A  motion  was  made  and  carried  to  meet  in  two 
weeks  from  to-day,  in  order  that  the  business  con- 
nected with  the  exhibition  could  be  more  fully  dis- 
cussed. 

There  bemg  no  further  business  before  the  society 
a  motion  to  adjourn  was  made.     Carried. 

FULTON  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  Club  met  October  3d,  at  Franklin  Tollinger's. 
The  members  were  all  present  during  part  of  the 
day,  and  they  also  had  the  pleasure  of  the  company 
of  three  neighboring  farmers  as  visitors — Davis  A . 
Brown,  Isaac  Bradley  and  Edwin  Stubbs.  The  Club 
was  called  to  order  by  the  president. 

Exhibit  of  Farm  Products. 
Josiah  Brown  exhibited  a  radish  of  immense  size, 
weighing  eight  pounds,  some  Yellow  Dent  Corn,  a 
few  large  sweet  potatoes  from  an  enormous  crop  for 
a  smali  number  of  plants,  and  an  apple  for  name, 
pronounced  the  Northern  Spy. 

C.  S.  Gatchell:  Two  varieties  of  apples  for  name, 
one  Paradise,  the  other  still  unknown. 

J.R.Blackburn:  Four  varieties  of  grapes,  which 
were  enjoyed  by  all  present.  Among  them  he  called 
our  attention  to  some  good  sized  fruit  that  had  blos- 
somed and  grown  since  the  11th  of  July,  at  which 
time  a  very  severe  hail  storm  passed  over  his  and  ad- 
joining farms,  in  all  cases  leaving  little  or  no  vegeta- 
tion. 

Mr.  B.'s  Isabella  grape  vine  seems  to  have  suffered, 
but  being  of  good  cheer  it  went  to  work  and  put  forth 
its  blossoms  anew,  and  although  the  fruit  was  not 
ripe  it  shows  by  example  that  we  are  intended  never 
to  get  disheartened  when  difficulties  overtake  us,  but 
turn  the  bright  side  to  the  task  and  with  willing 
hands  and  hopeful  spirit  try  to  win. 

Davis  A.  Brown  :  Four  kinds  of  apples— King  of 
Tompkins  county,  Rhode  Island  Greening,  Smith's 
Cider  and  Winter  Sweet. 
Montillion  Brown:  Corn. 

Asking  Questions 
What  would  the  club  do  with  cabbage  when  the 
heads  are  bursting? 

Most  would  loosen  the  roots  by  pulling  it  to  one 
side,  and  thus  prevent  it  from  growing;  and  some 
others  plant  late,  so  that  it  would  only  mature  in 
time  to  put  up  for  winter  use.  Still  others  would 
make  sauer  kraut,  and  by  this  method  preserve  those 
that  had  already  burst. 

How  is  sauer  kraut  made?  D.  A.  Brown  endeavored 
to  give  a  recipe,  but  we  failed  to  gather  it  accurately 
enough  to  report. 

Day  Wood  was  called  upon  to  give  a  report  of  his 
experience  of  the  Cooley  creamery.  Having  no  writ- 
ten report,  he  gave  some  idea  of  the  mode  and  his 
opinion  of  the  plan.  He  considered  it  a  very  great 
saving  of  work,  as  there  is  little  washing  required  to 
keep  them  clean,  and  when  the  milk  is  put  in  there 
is  no  danger  of  dirt  or  insects  getting  into  it.  The 
only  objection  was  that  it  took  more  room  to  hold 
the  cream  and  a  larger  churn  to  churn  the  cream. 
Not  the  great  increase  of  butter,  but  the  bulk  of 
cream  must  be  greater.    It  requires  very  little  ice. 

One  of  the  ladies  gave  a  recipe  for  removing  white 
spots  from  varnished  furniture  caused  by  heat.  Rub 
them  with  spirits  of  camphor.  She  had  tried  it,  and 
was  quite  successful. 

Dinner  being  now  announced,  the  club  adjourned 
until  afternoon.  The  table  was  not  only  laden  with 
good  things  to  eat,  but  a  large  and  beautifully  ar- 
ranged bouquet  of  choice  fiowers,  presented  by  one  of 
the  lady  visitors,  Mary  H.  Stubbs,  graced  the  table 
and  was  the  centre  of  admiration  by  both  sexes. 
Viewing  the  Farm. 
After  dinner  the  gentlemen  took  their  accustomed 
stroll  over  the  farm,  while  the  ladies  had  a  general 
good  time. 

Afternoon  Session. 
The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  held  at  this  place 
were  called  for,  and  aft*  the  reading  of  the  criti 
cisms  of  the  farm,  &c.,  were  in  order.  These,  how- 
ever, were  more  in  the  form  of  praise,  and  truly  our 
host  deserved  all  they  gave  him.  He,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  a  valuable  wife,  or  helpmate,  has  earned 
for  himself  a  comfortable  home  with  everything 
comfortable  around  them. 

If  the  young  men  who  look  on  would  take  our 
host  as  an  example  and  contrast  him  with  those  who 
started  at  the  top,  they  would,  we  think,  try  to 
save  the  littles.  It  is  the  young  man  who  rides  in 
fine  buggies,  drives  fast  horses,  smoke  cigars  and  in- 
dulges in  his  social  glass  who  will  be  the  poor  man 
of  a  few  years,  for  then  the  boy  who  is  now  poor,  if 
he  has  proper  ambition,  will  step  into  his  shoes  as  he 
steps  out. 

Literary. 
The  essay  of  the  host  was  substituted  by  Lauretta 
A.  King,  who  read  a  selection  entitled,  "Why  some 
1  men  are  poor."    It  laid  all   misery,  suffering,   mis- 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


165 


fortunB,  etc.,  at  the  door  of  neglecting  little  thintrs; 
but  we  are  not  certain  that  such  perfection  could  be 
reached,  and  if  it  were,  whether  it  would  be  prodt- 
able.  One  of  the  memberB  suggeetod  that  the  man 
who  wrote  it  was  like  the  temperance  lecturer  who 
waB  listened  to  by  two  Scotchmen.  After  it  was  over 
one  said  to  the  other,  "What  do  think  of  that?"  "1 
think  he  must  have  been  a  bad  lad,  or  he  would  nay 
hae  kenned  so  wcel ." 

One  present  thought  the  easiest  way  to  bring  about 
a  reform  was  to  slop  the  large  taxes,  and  the  first 
step  in  this  direction  was  to  vote  for  prohibition. 
The  man  who  does  not  vote  for  less  taxes  in  the  form 
of  prohibition  votes  for  a  large  tax,  and  not  for  him- 
self alone,  but  to  Buppo-t  others  who  arc  made  desti- 
tute by  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor. 

Allie  Gregg  recited  the  "Yankee  Girl,"  by  John 
G.Whittler;  Carrie  Blackburn,  "How  Maud  Kept 
Watch  ;"  Phebe  King,  "The  Will  of  St.  Keen ;" 
Mabel  A.  Haines,  "The  Death  of  the  Flowers." 

The  regular  question  was  now  taken  up,  "Whether 
it  is  profitable  to  feed  stock  on  purchased  food  V 
This  was  discussed  by  nearly  all  present,  but  we 
think  no  one  could  get  a  definite  idea  from  the  dis- 
cuBsion  of  tlie  truth  of  the  matter.  Hogs  were  the 
only  stock  that  seemed  to  pay,  and  some  thought 
they  would  not. 

Question  for  next  meeting— "All  things  considered, 
what  advantage  has  the  AVeslcrn  farmer  over  the 
Eastern?" 

Essays  for  next  time  :  Sadie  Brown,  Allie  Gregg, 
Renie  Tollinger,  Mary  A.  King  and  iUbel  A.  Haines. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  G.  A.  King's,  on  the  second 
Saturday  in  November. 

THE  LINN.ffi;AN  SOCIETY. 

The  Society  held  their  stated  monthly  meeting  on 
Saturday,  the  liTth  of  September,  President  Kev.  J. 
S.  Stahr  in  the  chair.  After  attending  to  the  opening 
duties,  the  donations  to  the  museum  were  examined, 
found  and  to  consist  of  a  well  feathered,  full  sized 
flicker  or  Golden-winged  Woodpecker,  Colaptus  aura- 
tns.  This,in  its  flight.came  in  contact  with  a  telegraph 
wire  and  was  captured,  and  donated  by  Albert  Clark, 
city,  and  neatly  mounted.  A  conglomerated  mass  of 
caterpillars,  adhering  together,  in  alcohol,  by  S.  S. 
Rathvon.  A  small  jar  containing  a  House  or  Milk 
snake,  a  small  ring-necked  snake,  and  several^red, 
black-spotted  salamandcrs,J,name  not  given.  Dr. 
IJaker  found  a  caterpillar  covered  over  with  small 
cotton-like  pellets.  These  were  the  cocoons  of  a 
small  parasitic  fly,  of  a  family  related  to  the  Ichneu- 
mons. A  beautiful  specimen  of  pipe  ore,  a  variety 
of  brown  hematite,  from  the  Mourer  mine,  at  New 
Providence,  Lancaster  county,  donated  by  A.  H.  Pea- 
cock, esq.  A  fine  specimen  of  Margarite,  from 
Pequca,  no  name  given.  A  singular  encrouite,  picked 
up  iu  the  street  at  Erie,  per  S.  W.  Mifflin,  esq.  A 
number  of  the  winged  fruit,  a  species  of  maple, 
picked  up  at  Saratoga,  by  Dr.  Baker.  These,  instead 
of  being  in  pairs,  were  iu  triplets,  and  each  had  only 
one  seed  vessel  which  was  riot  eaten  out  by  some 
creature.  This  seemed  curious  that  one  should  be 
spared,  but  Dr.  Davis  discovered,  on  inspection,  that 
all  those  that  were  not  eaten  out  or  defaced  were 
abortive  and  had  no  kernel  in  them.  A  sagacious 
creature — it  would  not  waste  time  to  open  a  barren 
shell.  Mr.  Melton  found  a  maple  tree  of  considera- 
ble Bize,  grown  wild,  the  leaf  of  which  is  like  the 
introduced  species — the  Norway  maple — no  fruitseen; 
rather  thick  leaves,  with  long  red  petioles  ;  seems  to 
difl'er  from  the  sugar  maples,  The  five-legged  frog 
donated  by  Mr.  Snyder,  North  Queen  street,  having 
been  put  in  strong  vinegar  instead  of  whisky,  when 
inspected  was  found  all  softened  to  the  very  bones, 
so  that  nothing  could  be  done  with  it.  Dr.  Davis 
took  it  along  to  experiment  whether  it  was  possible 
to  harden  it  so  as  to  retain  its  anatomy  of  the  bones, 
It  is  well  that  Mr.  Staufl'er  had  an  accurate  copy  of 
it  illustrated  in  the  Scientific  American  for  September 
18, 1879.  No.  11,  vol.  XLI,  page  165,  otherwise  this 
Interesting  monstrosity  would  have  speedily  become 
oblivious.    To  the 

Historical  Section, 
was  added  two  fine  plaster  casts,  taken  from  moulds 
furnis'aedby  the  actual  stones  sculptured  in  England 
from  a  kind  of  calcareous  rock  known  as  Oolite  or 
Koe-Btone,  having  the  coat  of  arms  of  Thomas  and 
Richard  Penn  on  the  north  side,  and  that  of  Lord 
Baltimore  on  the  south  side.  Every  fifth  mile  had 
one  of  those  stones  marking  the  boundary  betweeu 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  known  as  Mason  and 
Di.xon's  line.  The  intermediate  mile  stones  had 
simply  a  P  on  the  one,  and  an  M  on  the  other  side. 
William.  M.  Lee,  esq.,  of  Green  postoffiee,  Lancas- 
ter county,  at  some  trouble  and  expense,  hunted  two 
of  the  most  perfect  of  these  stones  to  copy  from,  as 
all  were  more  or  less  defaced.  We  understand  that 
he  has  a  few  duplicates  which  he  will  dispose  of  at  a 
reasonable  price.  Those  donated  to  the  society  are 
truly  beautiful  and  highly  valuable  mementoes  of 
our  early  history.  Mr.  Rathvon  also  deposited  ten 
envelopes  containing  15.3  clippings  of  newspaper  arti- 
cles of  historical  interest. 

To  the  Library, 
was  added  a  general  index  of  the   Agricultural  re- 


port of  the  Patent  Office  and  Department  of  Agri- 
culture; the  Patent  OIHce  Gazette,  up  lo  September, 
1879;  Tlie  Lancaster  Farmer  for  September,  2:i,  1879, 
and  book  circulars. 


Papers  Read. 


Rathv 


paper, 


'  Observations 


Pteudo-coecuK  aeeris,"  Infesting  the  leaves  and  lodg- 
ing in  the  bark  of  the  sugar  maple.  Acer  Sacchar- 
ium,  in  Lancaster  Pa.,  Illustrated  by  drawings,  per 
J.  Staufl'er,  No.  527.  The  remarkable  development 
of  a  fungus  illustrated,  and  a  description  given  by 
J.  Stauffer,  No.  r>2S.  This  Is  of  a  fungus  found 
growing  In  the  same  locality  In  Mr.  Sprechcr's  yard, 
from  which  that  was  taken  in  the  report  at  the  last 
meeting  (August  27.)  This  was  left  in  the  ground 
until  morning  of  September  23,  when  it  had  attained 
to  the  height  of  seven  inches.  The  gelatinous  bulb 
was  ruptured  and  a  thick  stipe  of  a  while  color, 
composed  of  large  open  cells,  and  centrally  hollow, 
surmounted  with  a  cap  only  attached  to  the  upper 
end  of  the  attenuated  stipe;  this  cap  hung  loose,  like 
a  boll,  smooth  inside;  on  the  outside  it  had  thin,  high 
meshes  or  cell-walls,  of-various  forms,  with  its  lower 
edge  bent  np  and  terminated  by  curved  points;  from 
the  stipe  under  the  cap,  a  loose  pendant  net  work  all 
around  like  a  veil  of  lace,  having  coarse  open  meshes. 
This  proved  to  be  like  a  specimen  found  by  Mr.  H. 
L.  Zahm,  in  his  garden,  October  0,  1876,  a  drawing 
of  which  was  sent  to  Dr.  Farlow,' Boston,  who  makes 
this  class  of  vegetation  a  specialty  ;  he  called  It  the 
Phallus  indccsiatus.  In  its  first  stage  it  was  like  those 
.sent  from  Quarryvillc,  by  I.  0.  Raub,  September  20, 
1877;  one  sent  to  Mr.  Farlow  had  partially  devel- 
oped, and  he  supposed  it  would  be  the  P?iaUus 
inpudieus,  which,  however,  has  no  such  pen- 
dant lace-work  like  veil.  That  such  a  potato- 
like, elastic  bulb,  which  looks  more  like  a  large  puff 
ball,  should  turn  into  a  Phallus  is  a  very  Interesting 
fact  in  its  development.  Mr.  Staulfer  also  read  a 
paper.  No.  529,  on  the  history  of  the  facsimiles  of 
the  line  stones  donated  by  Mr.  Lee,  and  the  date  of 
their  erection,  size  and  fiuting. 

On  motion  a  vote  of  thanks  was  cordially  given  to 
Mr.  Lee  for  his  liberality  in  bestowing  so  great  a 
favor  on  this  society. 

Mr.  George  F.  Rathvon,  who  has  a  share  of  stock, 
and  was  supposed  to  be  a  member,  was  on  motion 
unanimously  elected  an  active  member  of  this  society. 

On  motion  of  J.  Stauffer,  Mr.  Wm.  M.  Lee  was 
elected  a  corresponding  member  of  this  society. 

Scientific  gossip  was  indulged  in  on  various  topics 
suggested  by  articles  deposited,  and  an  interesting 
meeting  had. 

Society  adjourned  to  the  last  Saturday  in  October 
next. 


the  old  earthen  pattern,  so  that  the  roots  cannot  ex- 
tend dt)wn,  but  outwards. 

These  and  other  European  experiences  all  favor 
the  idea  of  surface-feeding.  We  are  Inclined  to  think 
also,  that  the  average  American  experience  has  been 
in  favor  of  keeping  the  manure  near  the  surface. 
Some  even  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  It  Is  best  ap- 
plied wholly  on  the  surface,  and  not  buried  in  the 
earth  at  all,  and  we  may  add  that  It  is  becoming 
more  and  more  the  custom  amonj;  our  best  farmers 
In  Eastern  Pennsylvania.  Nevertheless  we  shAuld 
like  to  see  the  matter  tested  more  thoroughly  than 
we  think  it  has  been,  and  the  results  sent  to  us  for 
publication.  As  we  have  said,  It  seems  that  the  best 
testimony  is  in  favor  of  surface  dressing;  but  there 
is  much  to  be  said  on  the  other  side,  and  our  columns 
arc  open  to  hear  from  it. — r/ermnulumi  Teleijraph. 


AGRICULTURE. 


Application  of  Manure. 

Manure  is  becoming  to  most  American  farmers 
something  more  than  a  mere  luxury— it  is  really  to 
plants  in  these  old-established  places  one  of  the  ne- 
cessaries of  life.  We  cannot  afford  to  waste  it,  and 
hence  any  information  that  leads  us  to  use  it  with 
economy,  is  welcome  to  us  all. 

The  subject  comes  up  periodically  as  the  fall  comes 
round,  and  seeing  its  importance,  it  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at.  The  proper  application  is  the  great 
question.  Singularly  enough,  though  pages  on 
pages  have  been  written  about  this,  the  most  in- 
telligent of  our  agriculturists  seem  to  differ  about 
it.  Some  insist  that  they  have  the  best  success 
when  they  bury  the  manure  deep  into  the  earth, 
while  others  contend  that  the  nearer  the  surface  the 
better. 

Judging  by  what  we  read,  much  of  the  arguments 
used  in  this  question  are  theoretical.  One  tells  us 
that  he  has  found  roots  of  grain  and  grass  two  or 
three  feet  from  the  surface,  and  as  they  thus  wan- 
der so  far,  manure  ought  to  be  scattered  all  along 
the  road  traversed  by  them.  Others  contend  that 
the  mass  of  roots  are  generally  near  the  surface,  and 
that  the  food  ought  to  be  chiefly  placed  where  there 
are  the  most  mouths  to  require  it.  For  our  part  we 
have  little  faith  in  any  rule  of  agricultural  practice 
that  is  derived  from  mere  theoretical  considerations, 
knowing  how  often  they  fail  when  put  to  the  test. 
We  know  that  in  Europe,  where  the  theories  of  in- 
telligent men  have  been  put  to  practical  test,  it  Is 
found  that  the  nearer  the  roots  can  be  kept  to  the 
surface,  the  better  are  the  crops.  Not  that  they  favor 
shallow  soil,  or  shallow  culture,  for  they  subsoil  and 
underdrain  at  an  expense  per  acre  that  would  frighten 
us;  but  this  is  chiefly  to  keep  the  ground  open  that 
water  may  pass  rapidly  away,  or  that  moisture  may 
come  up  by  capillary  attraction  at  a  dry  time.  But 
after  working  the  ground  up  thus  deeply,  they  take 
pains  not  to  let  the  roots  run  deep.  We  noticed  re- 
cently in  a  chapter  on  grape  growing  In  England, 
that  they  even  go  to  the  trouble  of  raising  roots  oc- 
casionally in  the  grape  borders,  so  as  to  bring  them 
nearer  the  surface, and  it  Is  well  known  in  Germany, 
that  in  order  to  have  walnuts  in  perfection,  the  roots 
must  be  compelled  to  keep  near  the  surface;  and  this 
they  insure,  by  planting  under  the  tree  a  milk  pan  of 


Plowing  Down  Green  Crops. 

The  more  I  sec  of  plowing  down  green  crops  the 
more  I  become  convinced  of  its  utility.  Even  If  there 
is  only  a  short  growth  so  that  It  covers  the  ground 
well,  and  though  young  and  tender,  exhibiting  little 
manurlal  value  according  to  analysis,  yet  the  effect 
is  undoubted  and  considerable.  It  adds  to  the  fer- 
tility and  Improves  the  mechanical  condition  beyond 
what  the  means  would  seem  to  warrant,  though  It  is 
known  that  shading  the  ground  mellows  and  cools  it 
and  thus  lessens  what  evaporation  of  its  fertilizing 
gases  might  take  place.  The  vegetable  growth 
plowed  under  also  furnishes  humus  rapidly,  acting 
at  the  same  time  chemically  upon  the  soil,  and  In  an 
advantageous  way  from  Its  equal  distribution  through 
the  soil.  Certain  it  Is  that  here  is  a  benefit  and  a 
profit  on  the  outlay.  This  Is  especially  the  ease 
where  plowing  can  be  avoided,  as  with  stubble  land, 
where  only  the  harrow,  or  eultlvsitor  followed  by  the 
harrow,  need  be  used  to  secure  a  seed  bed.  Where 
the  land  is  designed  for  a  spring  crop  rye  Is  perhaps 
the  best  to  sow,  as  it  grows  a  heavy  mat  by  late  fall, 
and  if  Intended  for  corn  quite  a  heavy  growth  can 
be  turned  down  before  planting,  if  the  soil  is  In  good 
condition  and  its  fertility  not  too  much  reduced. 

Buckwheat  may  be  substituted  for  rye.  This  is 
especially  good  for  earlier  sowing  where  a  crop  of 
rye,  or  wheat,  or  barley  has  been  removed.  The 
ground  in  this  case  will  be  better  shaded  and  hence 
protected,  will  be  mellower  and  weeds  arc  kept  down. 
The  pea  also  is  a  great  benefit.  Any  plant  that 
grows  well  and  covers  the  ground  will  answer. 
The  matter  Is  dependent  somewhat  upon  circum- 
stances, such  as  the  cheapness  of  the  seed,  the  plant 
best  adapted  to  poor  or  rich  land,  sandy  or  clay  soil, 
etc.;  also  whether  plaster  has  a  good  effect,  which  It 
almost  always  has  upou  the  pea,  and  being  the 
cheapest  of  manures  in  such  case  and  readily  aijplicd, 
recommends  itself.  This  little  labor  and  expense  the 
after  part  of  the  season  can,  in  most  if  not  all  cases, 
be  afforded,  as  the  harvest  Is  then  secured  and  the 
work  Is  less  crowding.  Our  stubble  land,  instead  of 
lying  idle  and  exposed  to  the  elements,  should  be 
given  something  to  do  so  as  to  protect  and  improve  it. 

Putting  in  the  Wheat  Crop. 

A  singular  discussion  arose  in  the  papers  lately  as 
to  whether  there  was  really  any  advantage  In  the 
drill  over  broadcast  sowing.  It  is  strange  to  find 
such  subjects  conling  up.  To  experienced  minds  It 
is  like  arguing  whether  we  had  not  better  abolish 
reaping  machines  and  return  to  the  old  cradle,  if 
not,  indeed,  to  the  sickle  at  once.  To  us  a  more 
reasonable  matter  would  be  the  width  of  the  drills. 
We  do  not  know  of  any  extended  and  satisfactory 
experiments  m  the  country  so  as  to  test  the  matter 
beyond  question.  At  any  rate,  what  a  foreigner 
would  call  very  close  sowing  is  the  rule  here.  In 
England,  however,  where  close  calculation  Is  much 
more  the  rule  in  farming  among  the  more  Intelligent 
than  with  us,  there  Is  a  growing  feeling  in  favor  of 
wide  drills.  Some  set  them  as  wide  as  ten  Inches, 
and  the  reports,  especially  this  year,  are  generally 
iu  favor  of  the  wide  drills. 

The  great  trouble  with  most  of  the  experiments  of 
this  kind  is,  when  made  in  experimental  grounds, 
that  they  extend  but  over  a  single  season,  when  it  is 
only  after  trial  through  a  series  of  years  that  a  gen- 
eral rule  can  be  formed.  It  makes  a  great  dilference, 
for  instance,  whether  the  experiments  are  made 
through  adry  season  or  a  moist  one.  In  a  dry  season, 
when  there  is  a  deficiency  of  moisture  in  the  ground, 
a  wide  row  will  have  the  advantage  over  the  nar- 
row, as  there  would  not  be  enough  for  all.  In  other 
seasons  when  there  is  moisture,  and  enough  for  all, 
the  result  might  favor  closer  rows.  So,  also,  the 
nature  of  the  soil  might  make  much  difference.  A 
soil  which  does  not  dry  out  easily  will  permit  of 
closer  sowing.  The  one  element  of  moisture  for  the 
growing  crop  alone  makes  a  considerable  element  to 
be  considered.  Still  an  average  of  years  would  show 
what  would  be  best  on  the  whole,  and  we  should  like 
to  see  such  figures^ 

Smut  in  Grain. 

The  black  powder  observed   In  grains  of  wheat, 

oats,  barley  or   rye,  and  ears  of  corn,  is  generally 

known  as  smut.    Viewed  under  a  microscope  of  high 

power  this  smut  is  seen  to  be  a  mass  of  black,  round 


156 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[October, 


balls.  These  are  the  seeds  of  a  plant  or  fungus 
which  has  several  intermediate  stages  of  growth, 
and  finally  reproduces  a  new  set  of  spores.  These 
seeds  will  float  in  the  atmosphere  and  adhere,  with- 
out being  noticed,  to  the  grain.  When  grains  of 
wheat  are  sown  with  this  fungus  attached,  the 
fungus  strikes  a  filament  into  the  tissue  of  the  plant 
and  afiects  it  as  with  poison.  The  parasite  pene- 
trates throughout  the  tissues  of  the  plant  sometimes, 
as  with  corn  bursting  out  upon  the  stock,  but  gener- 
ally appearing  in  the  ear.  It  has  been  discovered 
that  caustic  allies  destroys  the  substance  of  smut ; 
and,  also,  that  the  application  of  sulphates  of  iron, 
copper  and  zinc  have  the  same  etfect;  of  these  latter 
the  sulphate  of  copper— the  commonly  known  blue 
vitriol— is  the  most  useful.  The  usual  method  of  ap- 
plying these  remedies  is  to  steep  the  seed  in  a  solu- 
tion of  the  various  substances.  The  solution  may  be 
made  as  follows,  and  either  the  one  or  the  other  may 
be  used,  as  found  convenient  : 

One  pound  of  common  salt  in  one  gallon  of  water. 

One  pound  of  glauber  salts  in  one  gallon  of  water. 

Four  ounces  sulphate  of  copper   in  one   gallon  of 

SulHoient  of  the  solution  should  be  made  to  satu- 
rate the  seed,  or  thoroughly  moisten  every  gram. 
When  the  seed  has  steeped  for  two  hours  it  is  drained 
and  spread  upon  a  floor  and  sprinkled  with  dry  lime 
in  powder,  that  which  has  been  air-slaked,  by  ex- 
posure to  the  atmosphere  in  a  covered  shed,  until  it 
falls  into  a  fine  dusi,  is  best  fitted  for  the  use.  The 
seed  is  then  shoveled  and  stirred  until  each  grain  has 
been  coated  with  lime.  In  an  hour  or  two  it  will  be 
dry  and  may  be  sown.  There  are  at  least  fifteen 
species  of  the  smut  fungus  known  to  botanists. 

Western  Farmers  Much  Favored. 
The  growers  of  wheal  in  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
and  the  owners  of  cattle  ranges  in  the  prairies  beyond 
are  certainly  favored  individuals.  In  opening  up  a 
new  channel  of  trade,  most  persons  have  immense 
difficulties  to  contend  with;  they  have  not  only  to 
pay  what  might  be  called  regular  charges, but  usually 
have  extra  demands  of  one  kind  or  another  to  meet 
ID  consequence  of  their  ignorance  of  existing  cus- 
toms. In  the  aase  of  the  person  referred  to  above, 
this  friction  of  inexperience  seems  to  have  been 
avoided.  A  comparatively  new  trade  has  been  started 
of  shipping  surplus  grain  and  surplus  cattle  to  Eng- 
land from  the  far  West,  and  by  this  arrangement 
the  Western  farmer  is  put  in  an  exceptionally  easy 
position.  From  the  farm  to  the  seaboard  his  pro- 
ductions intendsd  for  export  are  carried  by  rail  at  a 
much  lower  rate  than  that  asked  for  taking  the 
wheat  of  an  Eastern  grain  merchant  from  Chicago 
to  New  York.  The  same  consideration  is  shown  on 
ship  board,  and  the  Granger  sends  his  wheat  and 
cattle  across  the  Atlantic  at  about  a  third  less  than 
he  would  pay  if  he  shipped  them  directly  from  New 
York.  We  had  supposed  that|the  advantage  ended 
here,  and  that,  when  once  in  England,  even  the 
farmer  of  the  mighty  West  was  placed  on  a  plane  of 
equality  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  this  judgment 
we  were,  however,  mistaken,  for,  from  a  debate 
which  recently  took  place  in  the  House  of  Lords,  it 
appears  that  his  influence  is  as  great  abroad  as  it  is 
at  home.  The  English  farmers  and  dealers  com- 
plain that  their  interests  are  sacrificed  to  cncourge 
American  trade.  They  point  out  that  the  railroad 
companies  take  American  beef  from  Liverpool  to 
London  at  25  shillings  a  ton,  while  they  charge  50 
shillings  for  transporting  English  beef  over  the  same 
distance;  again  a  preference  in  rate  of  about  one- 
third  is  given  to  American  grain  over  home  produc- 
tions.  

Cultivating  Wheat  in  England. 
Our  readers  well  know  that  we  have  not  favored 
what  is  called  the  new  system  of  "cultivating" 
wheat,  which  for  the  last  couple  years,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  our  state,  has  caused  some  excitement  among 
onr  farmers.  In  pursuing  the  "new"  method  it  was 
fortified  by  the  statement  that  it  had  been  adopted 
by  the  best  farmers  in  England  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  others.  In  our  reading  we  could  not  see  that  this 
statement  was  endorsed  to  any  considerable  extent, 
though  some  some  years  ago  it  became  somewhat 
practiced.  The  editor  of  the  Rural  New-  Yorker, 
wishing  reliable  information  on  the  subject,  wrote 
to  Dr.  J.  B.  Laws,  of  Rothamtted,  England,  and 
received  the  following  reply  :  ,       ,,  . 

"No  one  here  cultivates  wheat,  nor  has  thin  seed- 
ing  ever  made  much  way.  At  the  present  moment 
the  great  bulk  of  the  wheat  grown  in  this  country  is 
drilled  in  rows  about  five  inches  apart,  and  the  seed 
used  is  about  two  bushels  per  acre.  It  stands  to 
reason  that  if  one  plant  of  wheat  has  possession  of 
one  or  two  square  feet  of  soil,  its  power  of  growth 
must  be  increased,  but  except  upon  garden  soil,  or 
upon  farms  in  excessively  high  condition,  I  feel  sure 
that  thin  seeding  will  never  be  successful." 

This  would  seem  to  settle  the  question,  alike  as  it 
regards  cultivating,  thin  sowing  and  drilling-in  the 
crop  In  England,  where  labor  is  cheap  and  a  ready 
demand  for  every  bushel  of  wheat  that  can  be  raised 
at  good  prices,  they  are  quick  at  taking  up  every 
new  idea  that  looks  to  an  increased  production  at 


reduced  cost ;  and  this  ought  to  cause  American 
farmers  to  hesitate  to  adopt  a  system  that  kas  been 
tried  and  abandoned  under  circumstances  so  clearly 
condemnatory  of  H.—Germantoim  Telegruph. 


To  Kill  Sorrel  and  Clean  Gravel  Walks. 
A  correspondent  remarks  :  I  have  seen  several  in- 
quiries about  eradicating  sorrel  but  having  been  en- 
gaged hitherto  unsuccessfully  in  attempts  to  do  the 
same  thing,  I  have  had  no  suggestions  to  offer.  But 
I  have  recently  made  a  discovery  which  I  think  is 
valuable.  The  gravel  walks  in  my  lawn  have  given 
me  much  trouble  to  keep  free  from  weeds,  of  which 
sorrel  was  the  most  persistent.  The  fingers  and  hoe 
might  free  the  gravel  from  this  pest  to-day  and  in 
two  weeks  the  walks  would  be  again  covered  with  it. 
This  method  of  weeding  was  too  costly,  and  remem- 
bering an  old  plan  of  my  father's,  I  purchased  two 
bags  of  cheap  salt,  and  gave  the  walks  a  liberal 
dressing  of  it.  There  were  sorrel,  chickweed,  purs- 
lane, plantains,  crab  grass, so  called,  of  various  kinds, 
ragweed  and  others  of  which  I  knew  not  the  names. 
The  sorrel  was  the  first  to  succumb;  the  chickweed 
followed;  the  crab  grass  and  ragweed,  and  some 
grass  spread  from  the  lawn,  mainly  blue  grass  and 
white  clover,  were  uninjured  till  I  doubled  the  dose; 
then  every  green  thing  gave  in,  and  tlie  walks  were 
clean.  The  fact  as  to  the  sorrel  prompted  me  to  try 
salt  on  portion  of  the  lawn  overrun  with  it.  The 
effect  was  gratifying.  A  dressing  which  just  made 
the  place  white  as  though  hoar  frost  was  upon  it, 
killed  all  the  sorrel  but  left  the  grass  uninjured. 


Fall  Plowing  for  Corn. 
Heavy  clay  soils  that  have  a  good  covering  of 
clover  or  grass  sod  may  be  plowed  in  September  for 
a  crop  of  corn  next  season.  We  would  not  plow  the 
furrows  flat,  but  set  them  on  the  edge.  In  the 
spring  a  good  harrowing,  lengthwise  the  furrows, 
will  give  a  sufficient  depth  of  mellow  soil  for  plant- 
ing, leaving  the  decomposed  sod  just  where  the 
roots  can  reach  it.  A  light  application  of  artiflcial 
manure,  before  the  harrowing  in  the  spring,  would 
be  beneficial.  The  planting  should  immediately  fol- 
low the  harrow,  while  the  soil  is  fresh.  Light  or 
mucky  lands  had  better  be  left  till  spring,  as  this 
treatment  is  not  proper  for  them^ 


Horticulture. 


Growing  the  Pear. 
For  some  reason  or  another,  pear-culture  as  a 
profitable  investment  has  only  been  exceptionally 
successful  ;  and  yet  it  would  seem  that  there  ought 
to  be  some  way  to  make  them  as  good  a  paying  crop 
as  the  apple.  There  are,  however,  many  special 
localities  where  pear-culture  has  proved  very  remu- 
nerative ;  and  in  some  places  not  specially  favorable 
there  is  once  in  a  while  an  individual  who  does  pretty 
well  with  them.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  much 
of  our  ill-success  in  this  line  is  owing  to  the  wrong 
varieties  being  planted.  We  doubt  whether  the 
summer  varieties  ever  paid  very  much,  except  those 
who  personally  attend  to  their  own  retailing.  They 
keep  but  a  very  short  time,  and  are  often  rotten  if 
not  sold  in  a  week  from  gathering.  Fall  pears, 
which  will  keep  a  few  weeks,  do  better ;  but  the 
winter  pear,  when  well-ripened  and  cared  for,  is  the 
kind  which  pays.  ,     ^       .        , 

The  pear  is  one  of  the  most  regularly  beanng  ot 
all  fruits  in  Pennsylvania.  There  is  rarely  a  season 
when  they  are  total  failures,  as  apples  sometimes 
are  ;  and  if  the  kinds  suited  to  the  location  are 
judiciously  selected,  and  then  proper  attention 
o-iven  to  ripening  them,  they  ought  tcrbe  among  the 
most  profitable  of  all  crops  in  the  vicinity  of  popu- 
lous towns.  As  a  fruit  for  country  people  we  do  not 
think  as  a  matter  of  profit  the  pear  will  ever  com- 
pete with  the  apple.  They  cannot  be  barreled  and 
shipped  as  readily  as  the  apple  can,  without  danger 
of  rotting  by  the  way.  They  cannot  stand  hard 
treatment  as  the  apple  can.  And  then  they  cannot 
be  put  to  as  many  uses.  The  apple  can  be  cidered, 
and  dried,  and  buttered,  and  lots  of  other  things  ; 
and  even  when  it  reaches  the  kitchen  there  are  num- 
berless uses  to  which  the  apple  is  put  to  which  the 
pear  durst  not  aspire.  But  on  the  other  hand  the  apple 
on  the  dessert-table,  no  matter  how  roseate  and 
smiling  it  may  be,  is  always  passed  by  when  a  deli- 
cious pear  is  present.  In  this  particular  line  it  will 
always  rule,  and  for  this  purpose  will  always  com- 
mand a  readv  price  when  goodly  specimens  are 
offered.  Now'it  seems  to  us  that  in  pear  culture  the 
inhabitants  of  town  neighborhoods  have  a  great  ad- 
vantage which  the  apple  growing  country  cannot 
emulate.  , 

There  is  another  advantage  in  growing  the  pear. 
It  usually  throws  its  roots  deep  dawn  into  the  earth, 
and  does  not  seem  to  eat  out  the  surface  soil  for  a 
lono-  way  around  as  the  apple  does.  After  an  apple 
orchard  comes  fully  into  bearing,  we  must  give  up 
the  ground  wholly  to  it;  but  we  can  crop  up  almost 
to  the  trunk  of  an  old  pear  tree,  and  get  very  near  as 
good  vegetables  there  as  in  any  other  part  of  the 


garden  ground.  This  is  of  course  in  alluston  to  old 
standard  pear  trees  where  the  branches  have  been 
trimmed  up  to  a  good  height ;  as  however  rich  the 
soil,  good  vegetable  crops  cannot  be  grown  if  shaded 
by  branches.  The  main  point  is  that  the  roots  of 
the  pear  tree  do  not  rob  the  surface  earth  near  so 
much  as  the  apple  roots  do.— Geraiaii^own  Telegraph. 

Small  Fruits. 
H.  M.  Engle   &   Son,   nurserymen,  Marietta,  this 
county,   after    considerable  experience  with  straw- 
berries and  raspberries,  give  their  opinion  about  vari- 
ous varieties,  as  follows: 

STRAWBEBRIES. 

Chas.  Downing— One  of  the  best  for  cultivation. 

Seth  Boyden— Large  and  of  good  quality;  a  vig- 
orous grower. 

Cumberland  Triumph- Berries  large  and  uni- 
form shape,  bright  red  and  of  good  quality.  One  of 
the  best  for  home  market,  but  not  firm  enough  for 
distant  shipment. 

Crescent  Seedling- Although  not  recommend- 
ed by  some,we  think  this  a  most  valuable  sort  for  gen- 
eral cultivation.  It  is  a  rampant  grower,  an  immense 
cropper,  and  when  not  allowed  to  run  too  closely,  the 
fruit  is  very  fine  and  of  a  good  quality.  It  is  a 
pistillate,  and  should  be  planted  near  some  staminate 
sort  to  insure  proper  fertilization. 

Sharpless— From  one  season's  observation  and 
experience  with  this  variety  we  are  disposed  to  place 
it  at  the  head  for  size  and  vigor  of  growth  ;  while 
its  quality  and  productiveness  are  all  that  can  be  de- 
sired. It  will,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other  sort, 
repay  careful  cultivation,  and  when  kept  in  stools  or 
narrow  beds,  will  yield  a  handsome  crop  of  the  finest 
berries. 

President  Lincoln— Although  not  yet  exten- 
sively fruited  with  us,  we  think  well  of  this  variety. 
It  is  of  immense  size,  irregular  in  shape  and  of  best 
quality. 

RASPBERRIES. 

Brandtwine— We  have  tested  quite  a  number  of 
new  varieties  of  raspberries,  but  have  thus  far  found 
nothing  so  desirable  among  red  varieties  as  Brandy- 
wine.  There  may  be  sorts  of  better  quality  and 
larger  size,  but  for  beauty  of  color,  productiveness, 
and  general  market  purposes,  we  consider  it  the  best. 

DooLiTTLE  and  IVIiami  are  black-cap  varieties  of 
good  quality  and  very  productive. 

Gregg— A  new  black-cap  variety  of  great  promi- 
nence, a  strong  grower,  very  productive,  and  berries 
of  largest  size  and  best  quality. 

Mulching  Strawberries. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Country  Gentleman  says  : 
Ground  stirred  frequently  and  kept  fine  serves  as  a 
mulch  to  some  extent  and  promotes  growth  ;  but  a 
special  mulch  has  been  made  to  do  better.  Sawdust 
has  been  objected  to  as  possibly  souring  the  soil.  But 
I  doubt  whether  this  is  the  case,  or  at  least  enough 
to  form  an  objection,  as  I  have  seen  plants  grow  in 
it  in  the  most  thrifty  manner,  only  a  little  dust  being 
mixed  with  it,  resulting  from  the  thawing  of  ice 
embedded  in  it.  Leaving  the  winter  covering  on 
strawberry  plants  till  late— till  after  the  freezings 
and  thawings  are  past— which  serves  in  a  measure 
as  a  mulch,  I  find  to  be  an  excellent  plan,  protecting 
them  against  the  changes  of  the  weather.  The  pres- 
ent season  I  applied  a  heavy  mulch  of  buckwheat 
hulli  and  dust  obtained  at  the  mill.  This  being  dark 
absorbed  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  is  one  of  the  best 
materials  for  holding  moisture.  During  all  the  dry 
weather  it  kept  the  ground  moist.  Green  weeds  and 
swamp  grass  I  have  used  for  years  around  trees  with 
good  results.  I  give  a  thick  coat,  which  hugs  the 
ground  closely,  and  when  decayed   affords 


into  it.  Especially  is  it  good  on  clay.  It  also  retards 
the  pushing  forth  of  weeds  and  grasses.  We  do  not 
mulch  enough,  and  we  do  not  mulch  thick  enough. 
The  soil  should  always  be  worked  mellow  before  the 
mulch  is  applied.  A  thick  porous  mulch  is  to  the 
soil  and  the  roots  of  the  tree  what  an  air  chamber  in 
a  house  is  to  the  room  and  its  inmates--a  guard 
a<'ainst  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  and  sudden 
changes  of  temperature.  Now  is  the  time  to  apply 
it,  before  the  summer  drought  has  relieved  the 
ground  of  its  moisture,  the  mulch  serving  as  a  pre- 
ventive. Muck,  forest  mould,  sawdust,  cut  straw 
and  chaff,  each  makes  a  good  covering.  Where  fer- 
tility is  lacking  coarse  manure  is  the  best  mulch,  but 
should  be  applied  either  late  in  the  fall  or  eariy  in 
the  spring,  so  as  not  to  push  the  growth  too  late  in 

the  season.  ^ 

Distances  for  Grapes. 
The  strong-growing  American  grapevine  must  have 
ample  space  to  grow.  They  may  be  restricted  for  a 
few  years  and  bear  moderate  crops,  but  when  they 
are  older  they  should  have  a  full  chance  to  throw 
out  their  long  arms.  The  late  Wm..A  Underbill,  of 
Crown  Point,  N.  Y.,  showed  us  a  part  of  his  twenty- 
year  Isabella  vineyard,  where  he  had  allowed  the 
vines  to  extend  over  a  roadway,  giving  them  some 
sixteen  feet  more  room.  The  improvement  in  the 
crop  was  striking.  Mr.  A.  Hood,  of  Ontario,  planted 
Concords  six  feet  apart  each  way.    They  bore  litue 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


157 


fruit.  The  BprinR  of  the  eeventh  year,  he  took  out 
every  alternate  vine,  and  then  had  a  fine  crop.  He 
tried  a  similar  experiment  on  a  large  Catawba  vine- 
yard planted  eight  feel  apart;  the  result  was  a 
greatly  increased  quantltv  of  grapes.  lie  also  stated 
that  Concord  vines  covering  54  to  48  trellis,  carried 
by  actual  measurement  more  grapes  than  any  ad- 
joining vines  12  feet  apart  and  occupying  the  same 
extent  of  trellis.  An  experienced  grape-grower  has 
just  stated  to  us  that  he  had  planted  bis  vines  15  feet 
apart,  and  had  grafted  every  alternate  vine  with 
another  sort.  The  grafts  failed  to  grow,  and  the 
old  vines,  being  tlius  thinned  to  one-half  in  number,, 
gave  a  much  better  crop  than  the  whole  did  before. 
We  might  cite  many  other  cases— all  showing  the 
importance  of  giving  ample  space  to  strong  growers. 
And  one  other  precaution  should  always  be  observed, 
never  to  allow  the  vines  to  overbear;  thin  out  the 
numerous  bunches.  We  do  not  now  hear  vineyard- 
ists,  as  formerly,  boast  of  the  many  tons  of  grapes 
they  have  raised  to  an  acre,  as  they  have  learned 
that  the  fruit  is  better  and  the  vines  less  exhausted 
when  the  thinning  has  been  properly  done. 


Putting  Away  Potatoes. 

The  (icruiantown  Telegraph  says  :  "Every  method 
has  been  tried  by  farmers  to  store  and  preserve  their 
potatoes  through  the  winter,  and  we  may  say  until 
potatoes  come  again.  It  Is  the  most  valuable  of  all 
vegetables,  though  here._and  there  we  And  a  person 
and  a  writer  who  undertakes  to  tell  us  of  its  un- 
wholesomencss.  It  Is  universally  consumed  in  all 
civilized  countries,  as  where  it  cannot  be  grown  it  is 
imported,  which  can  be  done  long  distances  without 
injury  when  ventilation  is  attended  to.  In  sorting 
potatoes  several  methods  are  adopted,  yet  they  are 
all  practically  the  same,  the  object  being  to  protect 
them  against  freezing,  whether  buried  in  pits  or 
stored  in  cellars.  The  first  consideration  is  to  keep 
them  in  perfect  darkness  ;  the  next  is  the  bins  should 
not  be  too  deep— not  over  three  feet— to  produce 
warmth  and  cause  them  to  sprout.  When  stored  in 
the  field  straight  trenches  are  dug,  say  twenty  feet 
in  length  and  four  or  five  wide,  which  arc  filled  to 
the  depth  of  three  feet  with  potatoes,  then  well 
covereii  with  straw,  on  top  of  which  put  eighteen  or 
twenty  inches  of  earth.  In  a  pit  twenty  feet  long 
there  should  be  about  three  gas  escapes  or  ventilat- 
ing openings,  which  should  be  plugged  with  straw 
and  covered  with  a  board  set  an  angle  to  turn-  the 
rain.  If  in  cellars,  barn  or  otherwise,  the  bins  should 
be  covered  with  rugs,  old  carpetings  or  strjw .  Those 
intended  to  be  kept  for  late  spring  sales  should  be 
frequently  examined  and  all  sprouts  removed,  for  as 
soon  as  a  potato  begins  to  sprout  it  loses  its  solidity, 
dryness  and  quality." 

Beet  Sugar. 

Already  somi' fourteen  companies  have  been  formed 
In  the  states  and  Canada  for  the  manufacture  of  this 
sugar,  and  the  demand  for  seed  last  spring  was  so 
great  that  immense  quantities  have  been  imported 
from  France.  Several  tons  were  ordered  early  in  the 
year  for  New  Brunswick  and  Delaware  parties  ;  the 
Maine  Beet  Sugar  Company  took  three  tons  on  the 
14th  of  April,  and  on  the  13th  of  May  an  equal 
amount  arrived  for  the  farmers  of  the  Connecticut 
Valley.  These  are  but  a  few  among  the  many  in- 
stances which  might  be  named.  As  six  pounds  are 
held  to  be  ample  for  planting  an  acre,  it  can  easily 
be  seen  that  a  great  area  was  devoted  to  this  root 
this  year.  Good  beets  ought  to  yield  from  nine  to 
ten  pounds  of  sugar,  to  ten  hundred  weight,  which 
is  rather  more  than  the  samequantityof  cane  will  do. 

The  effect  of  beet  culture  on  the  prosperity  of  a 
community  is  well  exhibited  in  France.  OlHcial 
records  show  that  the  production  of  cereals  and 
meat  has  steadily  increased  in  those  departments 
where  the  roots  were  regularly  cultivated,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  similar  sections  of  Germany  and 
Belgium.  This  year's  venture  in  this  country  will 
have  a  more  iinpartant  influence  on  the  future  of  this 
Industry  here  than  any  which  have  preceedcd  it. 
But  the  complete  success  which  has  crowned  the 
efforts  of  those  who  have  heretofore  raised  the  sugar 
beet  on  a  small  scale  cannot  well  faU  to  be  the  reward 
of  those  who  are  now  making  trials  much  more  ex- 
pensive.— I'hiladelphia  Record. 

Apples— Picking  and  Keeping  Them. 

Stephen  Belts,  a  well  known  fruit  grower  of  Bucks 
county,  says  in  an  essay  read  before  his  county  soci- 
ety: "We  think  the  time  to  pick  apples  is  from  the 
25th  of  October  to  the  10th  of  November.  This  may 
seem  too  late  to  some;  but  our  experience  is  that  ap- 
ples left  on  the  trees  late  keep  much  better  and  are 
better  flavored  than  those  picked  earlier.  We  have 
reference  now  to.cider  and  Kidge  Pippin  apples,  Bald- 
wins would  have  to  be  picked  atiout  the  10th  of  Oc- 
ober.  Winesap  apples  ought  to  be  left  out  about  as 
long  as  they  will  remain  on  the  trees. 

For  keeping  apples  in  an  ordinary  cellar  it  is  well 
to  have  the  bottom  of  the  bin  eight  or  ten  inches 
from  the  floor;  keep  doors  or  windows  open  as  long 
as  it  does  not  freeze  much  in  the  cellar,  for  we  may 
let  it  freeze  a  little  without  injury;  but  wh«n  we  are 
c ompelled  to  close  the  cellar  tight  there  should  bo 


some  means  of  ventilation.  Probably  a  board  flue 
placed  In  the  window  on  cither  side  and  extending 
above  ground  two  or  three  feet  higher  than  the  first 
floor,  would  be  as  cheap  an  arrangement  as  could  be 
adapted  to  the  common  cellar.  We  would  prefer  a 
flue,  for  we  cannot  always  be  at  home  to  open  and 
shut  windows  or  doors  to  suit  the  weather. 

Seedling  Fruits. 
In  raising  seedling  fruits,  wherever  it  has  been 
attempted,  the  usual  way  is  to  take  some  kind 
already  superior,  and  from  this  endeavor  to  procure 
a  seedling  of  still  better  quality.  It  is  remarkable 
that  all  attempts  of  this  kind  have  failed,  so  far  as 
we  know.  No  person  has  ever  been  known  to  origi- 
nate a  good  variety  in  this  way.  All  our  best  fruits 
are  the  results  of  accident.  Those  who  have  perse- 
vered In  the  old  line  rarely  offer  us  anything  good, 
while  the  popular  kinds  are  generally  such  as  have 
been  found  In  wastes  or  fence  corners.  The  Seckcl 
pear  is  an  admirable  illustration.  This  was  found 
wild  in  a  meadow  below  Philadelphia.  It  Is  the 
most  popular  of  all  pears  for  flavor,  but  It  Is  small, 
a  slow  grower,  a  long  time  coming  into  bearing,  and 
ripens  at  a  season  when  pears  are  plenty.  If  these 
imperfections  could  be  remedied,  what  a  grand  thing 
wc  should  have  1  So  seeds  are  saved  of  the  Seckel, 
and  in  all  cases,  so  far  as  we  have  ever  known,  with 
results  inferior  to  that  of  the  parent.  Most  of  the 
seedlings  seem  to  have  a  tendency  to  produce  earlier 
fruit  instead  of  later.  The  Ott,  a  seedling  of  the 
Seckel,  is  earlier,  but  not  as  good,  and  never  will  be 
80  popular. — Oertnantown  Telegraph. 

Olives  in  California. 

Recently  Mr.  Ellwood  Cooper,  of  Santa  Barbara, 
Callibrnia,  shipped  to  San  Francisco  1,000  gallons  of 
well  clarifled  olive  oil,  the  product  of  his  orchard  at 
Santa  Barbara.  According  to  the  San  Francisco 
Alia,  Mr.  Cooper  has  6,000  trees,  some  of  them  seven 
years  old,  and  these  produce  20  gallons  of  berries. 
Trees  ten  years  old  in  a  good  soil  will  average  .50 
gallons  of  berries  in  a  good  year,  but  sometimes  will 
yield  150  gallons.  After  a  good  crop  the  tree  usually 
takes  a  year's  rest,  so  that  its  good  years  alternate. 
The  whole  yield  from  a  mature  orchard  may  be  set 
down  at  200  gallons  of  oil  to  the  acre,  and  of  this 
50  gallons  may  be  deducted  to  pay  for  gathering  the 
berries  and  making  and  marketing  the  oil. 

The  Alta  believes  that  the  olive  should  receive 
more  attention  in  California,  since  it  will  bear  good 
crops,  on  poor  soil,  with  less  care  than  any  other 
plant.  The  hillsides,  now  worthless,  should  be  cov- 
ered with  olives.  The  olives  requires  no  irrigation, 
grows  on  clayey  or  rocky  soil  without  much  cultiva- 
tion, and  begins  to  bear  in  five  years,  coming  to  full 
bearing  In  ten  years.— ScientiJIr  ' -'-■ 


To  Prepare  a  Strawberry  Bed. 
If  you  want  the  strawberry  bed  that  has  borne  you 
a  good  crop  one  season  to  bear  well  the  next  year, 
you  must  work  it  out  thoroughly  and  manure  well 
as  soon  as  it  is  through  bearing.  Don't  put  it  off 
until  the  bed  is  filled  with  weeds  and  grass.  First, 
plow  or  spade  the  ground  between  the  rows,  cutting 
the  rows  down  narrower;  then  work  the  rows  out 
well  with  a  fork  potato-digger,  and  scatter  in  them  a 
good  quantity  of  well-rotted  compost,  guano,  or 
poudrette.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  draw  fresh  earth  in 
among  the  plants.— /"cjii^  Recorder. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Extravagance  of  American  Housekeepers. 
Mr.  Delmonico,  talking  about  entrees,  says  that 
Americans  ought  to  copy  "the  French  method  of 
utilizing  small  bits  of  raw  meats  and  fowls,  and  of 
recooking  all  kinds  of  cold  joints  and  pieces  of  cooked 
meat  which  remain  day  by  day  from  dinner  in  almost 
every  family."  The  success  of  such  dishes  depends 
mainly  on  the  sauce,  which  is  best  made  from  broth. 
The  following  is  his  receipt  for  a  favorite  sauce : 
"Take  an  ounce  of  ham  or  bacon,  cut  it  up  in  small 
pieces  and  fry  in  hot  fat.  Add  an  onion  and  carrot, 
cut  up,  thicken  with  flour,  then  add  a  pint  or  quart 
of  broth,  according  to  quantity  desired,  season  with 
pepper  and  salt,  and  any  spice  or  herb  that  Is  relished, 
(better  though  without  that  spice,)  and  let  simmer 
for  an  hour,  skim  carefully  and  strain.  A  wine  glass 
of  any  wine  may  be  added  if  liked."  Cold  roast  or 
broiled  beef  or  mutton  may  be  cut  into  small  squares, 
fried  brown  in  butter,  and  then  gently  stewed  in  the 
sauce  above  described.  Mr.  Delmonico  describes 
croquettes  as  the  attractive  French  substitute  for 
Amcricanhash,and  tells  how  to  make  them  :  "Veal, 
mutton,  lamb,  sweet-breads,  almost  any  of  the 
lighter  meats,  besides  cold  chicken  and  turkey,  can 
be  most  deliciously  turned  into  croquettes.  Chop  the 
meat  very  fine.  Chop  up  an  onion,  fry  it  in  an  ounce 
of  butter,  add  a  tablespoonful  of  flour.  Stir  well 
and  then  add  the  chopped  meat  and  a  little  broth, 
salt,  pepper,  little  nutmeg.  Stir  for  two  or  three 
minutes,  then  add  the  yolks  of  two  eggs,  and  turn 
I  the  whole  into  a  dUh  to  cool.    When  cold  mix  well 


together  again.  Divide  up  Into  parts  for  the  cro- 
quettes ;  roll  Into  the  desired  shape  In  bread  crumbs 
again  fry  crisp,  a  bright  golden  color.  .  Any  of  these 
croquettes  may  be  served  plain,  or  with  tomato  sauce 
or  garniture  of  vegetables." 

A  Goose. 

Trussing.— Pick  and  stub  It  clean,  cut  the  feet 
off  at  the  joint,  and  the  pinion  off  at  the  first  joint. 
Then  cut  off  ihe  neck  close  to  the  back,  leaving  the 
skin  of  the  neck  long  enough  to  turn  over  the  ^ack. 
Pull  out  the  throat  and  tic  a  knot  at  the  end.  Loosen 
the  liver  and  other  matters  at  the  breast  end  with 
the  middle  flnger,  and  cut  It  open  between  the  vent 
and  the  rump.  Draw  out  all  the  entrails  except  the 
soul,  wipe  the  body  out  clean  with  a  cloth,  beat  the 
breast-bone  flat  with  a  rolling-pin,  put  a  skewer  Into 
the  wing,  and  draw  the  legs  up  close;  put  the  skewer 
through  the  middle  of  the  leg,  and  through  the  body, 
and  the  same  on  the  other  side.  Put  another  skewer 
In  the  small  of  the  leg,  tuck  it  close  down  to  the 
sidesman,  run  it  through,  and  do  the  same  on  the 
other  side.  Cut  off  the  end  of  the  vent  and  make  a 
hole  large  enough  for  the  passage  of  the  rump,  as 
by  that  moans  it  will  keep  in  the  seasoning  much 
better. 

Roast  Goose. 
Clean  and  wash  the  goose,  not  forgetting  to  put 
a  spoonful  of  soda  In  next  to  the  last  water,  rinse 
out  well  and  wipe  the  Inside  quite  dry.  Add  to  the 
usual  stufi'ing  of  bread-crumbs,  pepper,  salt,  etc.,  a 
tablespoonful  melted  butter,  a  large  sized  onion 
chopped  fine,  a  tablespoonful  chopped  sage,  the  yolks 
of  two  eggs,  and  some  minute  bits  of  fat  pork.  Stuff 
the  body  and  craw,  and  sew  up.  It  will  take  fully 
two  hours  to  roast,  if  the  fire  is  strong.  Cover  the 
breast  until  it  is  half  done  with  white  paper,  or  a  paste 
of  flour  and  water,removlng  this  when  you  are  ready 
to  brown.  Make  a  gravy  as  for  roast  duck,  adding 
a  glass  of  sherry  or  .Madeira,  or  (  if  you  can  get  It) 
old  Port.     Send  to  the  table  with  cranberry  or  apple 

Green  Goose,  to  Roast. 
Put  a  lump  of  butter  the  size  of  an  orange  Into 
the  goose,  spit,  and  lay  it  down  to  roast;  singe, 
dredge  with  flour,  and  baste  well  with  butter,  and 
when  done  enough,  dredge  again,  and  baste  till  a 
fine  froth  rises  on  it,  and  It  becomes  a  nice  brown. 
Gooseberry  sauce  is  the  correct  one,  but  apple  with 
a  little  ginger  and  sorrel  juice  answers  as  well. 
Roast  Ducks. 
Clean,  wash  and  wipe  the  ducks  very  carefully. 
To  the  usual  dressing  add  a  little  sage  (powdered  or 
green),  and  a  niluced  shalot.  Stuff,  and  sew  up  as 
usual,  reserving  the  giblets  for  the  gravy.  If  they 
are  tender,  tlicy  will  not  require. more  than  an  hour 
to  roast.  Baste  well.  Skim  the  gravy  before  put- 
ting in  the  giblets,  and  thickening.  The  giblets 
should  be  stewed  in  a  very  little  water,  then  chopped 
fine,  and  added  to  the  gravy  in  the  dripping-pan, 
with  a  chopped  shalot  and  a  spoonful  of  browned 
flour.  Accompany  with  currant  or  grape  jelly. 
To  Boil  Ducks. 
Let  them  lie  iu  hot  water  two  hours.  Then  wrap 
in  a  cloth  dredged  in  flour  ;  put  them  in  cold  water, 
salted  at  the  rate  of  half  a  teaspoonlul  of  sugar  for 
each  pint.  Let  them  simmer  half  an  hour ;  then 
take  them  up,  and  pour  over  them  a  sauce  made 
of  melted  butter  rubbed  into  flour,  and  seasoned 
(Pith  lemon-juice,  salt  and  pepper,  and  thinned  with 
gravy  or  hot  water.  Wild  ducks  must  be  soaked  iu 
salt  and  water  the  night  prevjous,  to  remove  the 
fishy  taste,  and  then  in  the  morning  put  in  fresh 
water,  which  should  be  changed  once  or  twice. 
Ducks  Stewed  with  Red  Cabbage. 
Cut  the  cold  ducks  Into  convenient  pieces,  and 
warm  them  very  gradually  in  a  good  clear  irravy,  by 
the  side  of  the  fire.  Shred  some  red  cabbage  very 
fine  ;  wash  it,  and  drain  it  on  a  sieve  ;  put  it  to  stew 
with  a  good  proportion  of  butter,  and  a  little  pepper 
and  salt,  iu  a  stewpan  closely  covered,  shaking  it 
frequently.  If  It  should  get  too  dry,  add  a  spoon- 
ful or  two  of  the  gravy.  When  well  done  and  tender, 
add  a  small  glass  of  vinegar ;  lay  it  on  a  dish  ; 
place  the  pieces  of  duck  upon  it,  and  serve. 
To  Roast  Geese  and  Ducks. 
Boiling  water  should  be  poured  all  over  and  inside 
of  a  goose  or  duck,  before  you  prepare  them  for 
cooking,  to  take  out  the  strong  oily  taste.  Let  the 
fowl  be  picked  clean  and  wiped  dry  with  a  cloth,  in- 
side and  out;  fill  the  bodv  and  crop  with  stuffing. 
If  you  prefer  not  to  stuff  It,  put  an  onion  inside  ;  put 
it  down  to  the  fire  and  roast  it  brow  "  •"' 
about  two  hours  and  a  half. 


iriU  take 


Proverbs  in  Cookery. 

The  second  of  Miss  Dods'  demonstrative  lectures 
In  cookery  was  given  recently.  Miss  Dods'  lectures 
are  full  of  little  bits  of  information  that  might 
properly  be  called  culinary  proverbs.  Here  are  a 
few   of  them  : 

The  only  kind  of  a  stove  with  which  you  can  pre- 
serve a  uniform  heat  is  a  gas  stove  ;  with  it  you  can 
simmer  a  pot  for  an  hour,  or  boil  it  at  the  same  rate 
for  twenty  minutes. 

Single  cream  is  cream,  that  has  stood  on  the  milk 


158 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  October, 


twelve  hours.  It  is  best  for  tea  and  coffee.  Double 
cream  stands  on  its  milk  for  twenty-four  hours,  and 
cream  for  butter  frequently  stands  forty-eight  hours. 
Cream  that  is  to  be  whipped  should  not  be  butter 
cream,  lest  in  whipping  it  change  to  butter. 

There  is  a  greenness  in  onions  and  potatoes  that 
renders  them  hard  to  digest.  For  health's  sake  put 
them  in  warm  water  an  hour  before  cooking. 

Good  flour  is  not  tested  by  its  color.  White  flour 
may  not  be  the  best.  The  test  of  good  flour  is  by 
the  amount  of  water  it  absorbs. 

A  few  dried  or  preserved  cherries,  with  stones  out, 
are  the  very  best  things  possible  to  garnish  sweet 
dishes. 

Nelson's  gelatine  is  the  best,  be.jause  it  is  stronger 
than  any  other  kind. 

To  beat  the  whites  of  eggs  quickly  put  in  a  pinch 
of  salt.  The  cooler  the  eggs  the  quicker  they  will 
froth.     Salt  cools  and  also  freshens  them. 

In  boiling  eggs  hard  put  them  in  boiling  water  ten 
minutes,  and  then  put  them  in  cold  water.  It  will 
prevent  the  yolk  from  coloring  black. 

Facts  About  Flour. 
Flour  is  peculiarly  sensitive  to  the  atmospheric 
influences,  hence  it  should  never  be  stored  in  a  room 
with  sour  liquids,  nor  where  onions  or  fish  are  kept, 
uor  any  article  that  taints  the  air  of  the  room  in 
which  it  is  stored.  Any  smell  perceptible  to  the 
sense  will  be  absorbed  by  flour.  Avoid  damp  cellars 
or  lofts  where  a  free  circulation  of  air  canrot  be  ob- 
tained. Keep  in  a  cool,  dry,  airy  room,  and  not  ex- 
posed to  a  freezing  temperature  nor  to  intense  sum- 
mer or  to  artificial  heat  for  any  time  above  70°  to 
75°  Fahr.  It  should  not  come  in  contact  with  grain 
or  other  substances  which  are  liable  to  heat.  Flour 
should  be  sifted  and  the  particles  thoroughly  disinte- 
grated and  then  warmed  before  baking.  This  treat- 
ment improves  the  color  and  baking  properties  of 
the  dough.  The  sponge  should  be  prepared  for  the 
oven  as  soon  as  the  yeast  has  performed  its  mission, 
otherwise  fermentation  sets  in  and  acidity  results. 


Chinese  Cookery. 
Americans  who  dine  with  the  Chinese  are  surprised 
at  the  perfection  to  which  they  have  carried  their 
cooking.  During  a  recent  Chinese  banquet  at  San 
Francisco,  an  orange  was  laid  at  the  plate  of  each 
guest.  The  orange  itself  seemed  like  any  other 
orange,  but  on  being  cut  open  was  found  to  contain 
within  the  rind  Ave  different  kinds  of  delicate  jellies. 
One  was  at  first  puzzled  to  explain  how  the  jellies 
got  in,  and  In  a  worse  quandary  to  know  how  the 
pulpy  part  of  the  orange  got  out.  Colored  eggs 
were  also  served,  in  the  inside  of  which  were  lound 
nuts,  jellies,  meats,  and  confectionery.  When  one 
of  the  Americans  present  asked  the  intrepreter  to 
explain  this  legerdemain  of  cookery,  he  expanded 
his  mouth  in  a  hearty  laugh,  ajid  shook  his  head 
and  said:  '"Melican  man  heap  smart ;  why  he  not 
findee  out'"— III.  Ch.  Weekly. 

A  Cheap  Ice-House. 
He  lays  down  some  rails  for  the  bottom,  on  which 
he  places  a  fifteen-inch  layer  of  sawdust.  He  then 
pack"  his  ice,  leaving  around  the  outside  a  space  of 
fifteen  inches,  to  be  packed  with  sawdust.  Straw  or 
boards  can  be  used  to  prevent  (he  sawdust  from 
escaping  through  the  cracks  between  the  rails.  Two 
or  three  feet  of  sawdust  should  be  placed  on  the  top 
of  the  ice  ;  and  finally  four  posts  or  forks  should  be 
set  up,  one  at  each  corner,  to  support  some  planks 
for  a  covering.  It  would  be  well  to  place  the  whole 
under  a  good  shade-tree,  and  with  such  a  device  one 
may  have  ice  throughout  summer. — Rural  Jfem 
Yorker. 


Household  Recipes. 


To  Polish  Steel. — Kub  it  with  a  piece  of  emery 
paper  from  which  you  have  removed  some  of  the 
roughness  by  rubbing  an  old  knife  with  it. 

Salad  Dressing. — Three  tablespoonsful  of  oil, 
half  a  spoonful  of  tarragon  vinegar  and  same  of 
common  vinegar,  a  little  black  pepper,  a  toaspoonful 
of  salt.     Mix  very  smooth.     Do  not  stir  until  used. 

Rancid  Butter. — I  know  of  nothing  that  will 
make  bad  butter  good  ;  but  it  may  be  reformed  and 
improved  somewhat  by  churning  "it  awhile  iu  good 
new  buttermilk,  then  working  the  buttermilk  out  of 
it,  as  at  first. 

An  English  florist  says  that  quassia  and  soft  soap 
will  destroy  the  aphides  found  upon  roses;  used  by 
steeping  four  ounces  of  quassia  chips  half  an  hour 
iu  about  one  gallon  of  water.  Strain,  and  when 
cold  adding  two  more  of  water  and  six  ounces  of 
soft  soap;  with  this  syringe  the  bushes. 

Gumbo  Soup  (as  made  in  Florida). — One  chicken, 
fried  brown  ;  one  gallon  water,  four  slices  of  ham  ; 
put  this  on  the  tire  to  cook  slowly  from  8  o'clock  to 
lli  M.;  have  ready  one  quart  of  okra,  chopped  fine, 
one  pint  green  corn,  one  pint  tomatoes,  peeled,  one 
onion,  chopped  fine  ;  salt  and  pepper  to  taste.  Let 
all  cook  till  done. 


Apple  Omelette. — Take  about  six  large  apples, 
pare  and  stew  them  as  for  sauce,  beat  them  smooth 
while  hot,  adding  one  tablespoonful  of  butter,  five 
tablespoonsful  of  sugar,  nutmeg  to  taste,  or  lemon 
should  you  prefer  ;  when  cold  add  the  beaten  yelks, 
and  lastly  the  whites  of  three  eggs  ;  pour  into  a  but- 
tered dish,  and  bake  in  a  moderately  hot  oven,  and 
serve  for  tea  with  graham  bread. 

Coffee  Ice  Cream.— Three  pints  of  cream,  one 
cupful  of  strong,  clear  coffee,  two  cupsful  of  sugar, 
two  tablespoonsful  of  arrowroot  wet  in  cold  milk; 
heat  half  of  the  cream  to  boiling;  stir  in  the  sugar, 
and,  when  this  is  dissolved,  the  cofl'ee;  then  the 
arrowroot;  boil  all  together  about  five  minutes;  when 
cold,  beat  up  very  light,  whipping  the  rest  of  the 
cream  by  degrees;  then  freeze. 

Green  Tomato  Soy. — One  peek  green  tomatoes, 
sliced  without  peeling  ;  twelve  good  sized  onions, 
also  sliced;  two  quarts  vinegar,  one  quart  sugar,  two 
tablespoonsful  of  salt,  two  tablespoonsful  ground 
mustard,  two  of  black  pepper,  one  tablespoonful  of 
allspice,  one  also  of  cloves ;  mix  all  together  and 
stew  until  tender,  stirring  carefully  lest  they  should 
scorch  ;  put  up  in  small  glass  jars. 

Domestic  Champagne. — When  grapes  are  just 
turning,  or  about  half  ripe,  gather  them,  pound 
them  iu  a  tub,  and  to  every  quart  of  pounded  fruit 
add  two  quarts  of  water ;  let  the  mixture  stand  four- 
teen days,  then  draw  it  off ;  to  every  gallon  of  liquor 
add  three  pounds  of  loaf  sugar  ;  when  the  sugar  is 
dissolved  pour  it  into  a  cask  ;  after  it  is  done  work- 
ing put  in  a  cellar ;  in  six  months  bottle  and  wire 
the  corks  tightly. 

To  Remove  Rust  from  Steel.— The  steel  to  be 
cleaned  should  be  washed  with  a  solution  composed 
of  one-half  ounce  cyanide  of  potassium  in  two 
ounces  of  water,  then  brush  with  the  following 
recipe:  Cyanide  of  potassium,  one-half  ounce; 
Castile  soap,  one  ounce  ;  whiting  and  water  sufficient 
to  form  a  paste.  Cyanide  of  potassium  is  a  most 
violent  poison,  and  persons  using  it  should  be  par- 
ticularly careful. 

Petroleum  has  a  strong  perservative  power, 
converting  soft,  perishable  woods  to  the  durability  of 
red  cedar.  It  improves  all  farm  implements,  baskets, 
all  wooden  tools,  as  rakes,  hoe  handles,  common 
water-pails  or  any  wooden  tool  which  is  exposed  to 
the  weather.  It  may  be  found  valuable,  also,  for 
rustic  work,  rustic  furniture  or  chairs  left  upon  a 
piazza.  Give  them  a  good  coat  of  this  oil  occasion- 
ally. It  will  harden  the  wood,  give  them  a  dark 
color  and  make  them  last  longer. 

To  Pickle  Fruit. — The  following  excellent  mode 
is  practiced  in  many  families  :  To  each  peck  of  fruit 
allow  four  pounds  of  sugar,  a  pint  of  sharp  vinegar, 
and  spice  to  taste  ;  boil  the  vinegar  and  sugar  to- 
getlier  for  a  few  minutes,  then  drop  in  the  fruit  and 
boil  until  moderately,  soft ;  when  done  pour  the 
vinegar  over  them  and  let  them  stand  until  cool 
before  covering.  Plums,  peaches,  pears,  &c.,  can  be 
done  in  this  way. 

Tomato  Soup,  I. — Take  a  shin-bone,  have  it 
broken,  and  put  in  soup-kettle  with  five  quarts  of 
cold  water;  allow  it  to  boil  steadily  and  skim;  in  an 
hour  put  in  four  dozen  of  good-sized  tomatoes;  do 
not  skim  them;  boil  until  your  soup  is  reduced  to 
one-half;  take  a  potato-masher  and  crush  the  toma- 
toes; pass  through  a  strainer;  return  to  kettle,  and 
remove  the  beef  before  serving;  season  with  salt  and 
pepper.     Tils  is  a  plain  country  tomato  soup. 

Tomato  Soup,  II — I  make  a  good  clear  stock 
the  day  beforehand.  I  take  two  quarts  of  the  broth 
and  a  dozen  large,  full-ripe  tomatoes,  a  bunch  of 
herbs,  and  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  rice.  I  scald  the 
tomatoes  and  peel  them  first  before  introducing 
them.  ,1  let  all  come  to  the  boil,  and  skim  frequetnly. 
I  reduce  to  about  one-half.  This  makes  rather  thick 
soup.  If  I  want  it  thin,  I  cook  my  tomatoes  first, 
just  as  if  for  stewing.  Cull  out  the  rice,  and  add 
the  stewed  tomatoes  to  the  broth  an  hour  before 
serving,  letting  the  soup  simmer  gently. 

Ice  Cream  with  Eggs. — One  quart  of  milk,  four 
eggs — the  whites  and  yolks  beaten  separately  and 
very  light — four  cupsful  of  sugar,  three  pints  of 
sweet  cream,  five  teaspoonsful  of  vanilla;  heat  the 
milk  to  boiling  ;  have  your  yelks  well  beaten  ;  pour 
the  milk  into  the  yelks;  add  the  sugar,  then  the 
whites,  beating  all  the  while;  return  to  the  fire  and 
beat  again,  stirring  and  watching  carefully  until  it 
begins  to  thicken  like  custard;  then  set  aside  to  cool. 
When  cold,  beat  in  your  cream  and  flavoring.  Freeze 
as  soon  as  possible  after  it  is  thoroughly  cool. 

Beef  Soup.— Three  pounds  good  juicy  beef,  cut 
into  about  20  pieces  ;  two  carrots,  one  turnip,  six 
large  onions,  teaspoonful  salt,  one-half  teaspoonful 
pepper,  two  good  heads  celery ;  cut  the  vegetables 
small ;  put  all  into  a  large  pot,  witli  four  quarts 
water  ;  let  it  boil  very  gently,  or  rather,  let  it  sim- 
mer eight  hours  ;  let  it  stand  all  night  ;  take  off  the 
pot  next  morning  ;  make  it  boiling  hot  when  wanted 
for  dinner;  this  is  excellent,  Jproperly  made. — 
Amy. 

Squash  Pie. — Stew  the  squash  as  usual  with  a 
little  salt;  rub  it  through  a  colander,  and  have  it 
perfectly  smooth;  mix  the  squash  with  sweet  milk; 


if  you  have  cream  it  will  be  all  the  better;  make  it 
about  as  thick  as  batter,  adding  the  yolks  of  two 
eggs;  sweeten  with  pulverized  sugar  to  taste,  flavor 
with  rosewater  or  with  nutmeg;  line  a  pie  dish;  fill 
with  squash,  and  bake  for  half  an  hour;  if  you  do 
not  want  a  pie,  make  fritters  and  fry  brown,  with 
good  butter;  when  about  to  serve,  sprinkle  a  little 
sugar  on  them;  squash  does  not  require  much  sweet- 
ening. 

Rabbit  Stew  (Gibelotte.) — Skin  and  cut  the 
rabbit  in  eight  pieces,  and  split  the  head  two  ;  cook 
it  in  a  stew-pan,  with  a  little  olive-oil ;  brown  it 
slightly,  season  with  pepper  and  salt,  add  to  it  a 
teacupful  of  good  stock ;  put  in  one-half  bottle  of 
good  red  wine,  and  a  small  wineglassful  of  brandy; 
let  it  all  simmer  until  the  sauce  is  reduced  one-half; 
serve  as  hot  as  possible. — Comperi  Loriot. 

[Agreater  use  of  sweet-oil  in  cooking  is  advised. 
It  is  no  more  expensive  than  butter  for  basting  or  fry- 
ing and  in  many  cases  gives'better  culinary  results. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  good  olive-oil  is  more  readily 
assimilated  than  butter] 

Matelotte  D'Anguilles  (Stewed  Eels). — 
Take  some  small  white  onions  and  stew  them  in  the 
best  butter,  season  with  thyme,  bay  leaves,  and  a 
very  small  bit  of  garlic,  not  bigger  than  a  pea; 
sprinkle  this  with  a  little  flour,  and  add  a  coffee- 
spoonful  of  brandy;  cut  the  eels  across,  in  pieces  of 
about  inches;  moisten  the  whole  with  a  teacupful  of 
bouillon  and  about  the  same  of  red  wine;  add  salt 
and  peppe;-;  when  it  is  on  the  boil,  put  in  the  pieces 
of  eel;  cook  not  more  than  ten  minutes;  before  dish- 
ing, let  it  keep  warm,  so  as  to  evaporate  the  sauce  a 
little.— CTemencJn,  Chef  of  the  Steamer  La  France. 

[This  matelotte  of  eels  has  been  tried  and  found 
to  be  excellent.] 

Mock  Oysters. — Take  one-half  dozen  of  good- 
sized  ears  of  corn;  put  them  in  cold  water,  and  when 
it  begins  to  boil  set  it  on  the  back  of  the  range,  and 
let  it  simmer  for  one-half  hour;  then  put  the  corn 
in  cold  water:  when  cool,  wipe  the  ears  with  a  dry 
towel,  and  grate  them  ;  then  put  them  through  a 
hair-sieve  to  rid  them  of  the  shells  of  the  corn;  have 
two  eggs  well  beaten,  two  tablespoonsful  of  cream, 
two  of  grated  crackers,  one  teaspoonful  of  salt, 
one-fourth  teaspoonful  pepper;  beat  this  all  well 
together;  have  a  lump  of  good  butter  about  the  size 
of  half  an  egg;  put  it  in  a  frying  pan;  when  hot  put 
the  corn  mixture  in  by  table6poonsfuls,allowing  space 
that  they  do  not  run  together;  when  they  are  a  nice 
brown,  turn  them  over  and  fry  the  other  side;  it  re- 
quires aBout  five  minutes  to  cook  them  ;  this  will 
make  about  two  dozen  oysters;  serve  them  hot. — 
M.  A.  M. 


Live  Stock. 


Cows  in  Early  Winter.  _^ 

At  no  season  of  the  year  do  cows  need  better  and 
more  generous  diet  than  in  early  winter.  The  change 
from  grass  to  dry  fodder  is  of  itself  sufflcient  cause 
to  produce  more  or  less  derangement  of  health. 
But  when  the  animal's  tone  and  vigor  have  been 
lowered  by  a  long  period  of  milking,  and  she  is  then 
subjected  at  the  same  time  to  the  rigors  of  winter, 
and  a  change  of  food  from  nutritious  herbage  to  dry, 
coarse,  and  often  innutritious  fodder,  a  severe  tax  is 
laid  on  her  system.  Yet,  on  many  farms  it  is  the 
practice  to  feed  to  cattle  in  early  winter  only  a  coarse 
and  inferior  fodder,  and  the  poorest  hay,  because 
these  articles  have  been  stowed  last  in  the  barn,  or 
on  the  tops  of  the  mows,  and  must,  therefore,  be 
disposed  of  before  the  better  portions  of  the  supply 
can  be  reached.  This,  however,  is  a  great  mistake, 
as  the  best  food  should  be  given  when  the  cows  first 
go  into  winter  quarters.  Afterward,  when  they  have 
been  dried  of  their  milk  and  have  grown  accus- 
tomed to  the  chauge  of  diet,  the  poorer  food  may  be 
used,  or,  better  still,  asauimals,  like  men,  are  fond 
of  variety  in  their  diet,  the  coarser  and  less  nutri- 
tious fodder  may  be  advantageously  used  in  con- 
junction with  that  of  a  better  quality. 

Through  neglect  of  this  precaution,  however,  it 
frequently  happens  that  cows  iu  milk  lose  flesh  in 
November  and  December,  and  sink  into  a  bad  con- 
dition to  endure  still  more  severe  weather  yet  to  be 
expected.  To  avoid  this  misfortune,  in  cases,  where 
poor  or  damaged  fodder  has  necessarily  to  he  given 
out  first,  the  feed  should  be  supplemented  wilh 
rations  of  ground  grain,  oat  and  corumeal  raixed, 
bran,  or  shipstuft",  to  add  a  proper  amount  of  nutri- 
ment to  a  given  bulk  of  fodder.  Compelling  cows  to 
consume  an  excessive  bulk  of  inferior  food,  in  order 
to  enable  them  to  support  life  and  yield  milk,  over- 
crowds the  stomach,  tends  to  derange  health,  and  is 
by  no  means  a  rare  cause  of  serious  ailments.  More- 
over, on  the  score  of  self-interest,  as  well  as  of  hu- 
manity, cows  should  not  be  allowed  to  lose  flesh  in 
early  winter,  for  it  would  require  much  more  food 
to  restore  them  to  good  condition  in  cold  weather 
than  in  summer.  Besides  this,  as  lean  animals  are 
more  susceptible  to  cold  than  those  in  flesh,  and  a 
proportionately  larger  amount  of  the  food  they  con- 
sume is  therefore  expended  in  generating  a  sufllciency 
of  animal  heat,  it  would  require  considerably  more 


1879. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


159 


food  to  carry  a  poor  beast  through  winter  than  a  fat 
one,  even  though  nothing  may  be  added  to  the  ani- 
mal's condition. 

"fhe  necessity  of  shelter  for  all  kinds  of  stock 
from  the  storms,  frosts  and  inclemency  of  this  bleak 
season,  has  been  frequently  dwelt  upon  In  these 
pages,  and  its  economy  as  well  as  its  humanity  fully 
demonstrated.— .Bunii  Xeie  Yorker. 

Runaway  Horses. 
If  you  arc  in  a  wagon  and  the  horses  take  fright, 
and  gets  on  a  full  jump  before  you  can  bring  your 
strength  to  bear  on  the  bits,  there  is  nothing  for  it 
but  to  hold  on  and  try  your  best  to  stop  him,  "saw- 
ing" if  neccessnry  on  the  bit.  Failing  in  this,  you 
perhaps  keep  him  in  the  road  until  his  wind  gives 
out,  or  should  a  good  opportunity  occur,  you  may 
turn  him  against  a  fence  or  the  side  of  the  house,  or 
in  fact  anything  tliat  will  stop  him.  This  last  is  a 
dangerous  recourse,  but  we  have  seen  it  done  with 
success.  When  a  span  of  horses  are  running,  the 
difficulty  is  increased,  and  more  strength,  more  skill, 
and  better  luck  on  the  part  of  the  driver,  are  very 
desirable  qualities.  A  strong  hand  and  a  determin- 
ed will  nearly  always  sufflce  to  stop  runaways,  if 
nothing  breaks.  If  the  lines  break  or  the  bits  give 
way,  an  active  person  may,  without  much  dilliculty. 
Is  Increased,  and  more  strength,  more  skill,  and  bet- 
ter luck  on  the  part  ftf-tha  driver,  are  very  desirable 
qualities.  A  strong  hand  and  a  determined  will 
nearly  always  sufflce  to  stop  runaways,  if  nothing 
breaks.  If  the  lines  break  or  the  bits  give  way,  an 
active  person  may,  without  much  difhculty,  climb 
over  the  dashboani,  get  on  the  animal's  back,  and 
check  him  by  grasping  his  nose.  Leaping  from  the 
carriage  while  the  horse  is  running  is  almost  certain 
to  involve  more  or  less  injury.  An  active  person 
may  do  it  safely,  but  it  is  the  part  of  pluck,  and 
generally  that  of  wisdom,  to  stay  by  the  carriage  as 
long  as  the  traces  hold.  When  the  horses  is  fairly 
stopped,  treat  him  kindly,  and  if  possible  let  him 
stand  until  his  nerves  are  quieted.  If  a  horse  is 
running  toward  you,  courage  and  adroitness  may 
eiiable  you  to  stop  him.  If  you  can  secure  a  hold  on 
the  reins  of  one  of  them  near  the  bits  you  are  all 
right.  Hold  on  and  within  a  few  rods  at  the  most 
the  horse  will  stop,  unless  he  is  a  most  extraordi- 
nary animal.  In  case  of  a  span,  if  you  stop  one 
horse  the  other  must  stop  too,  if  nothing  gives  way. 
We  can  tell  those  who  have  never  tried  it  that  it  is 
not  a  pleasant  pastime  to  stand  tiy  the  roadside  and 
watch  the  approacli  of  a  frantic  horse, making  calcu- 
lation the  while  to  catch  some  part  of  the  harness. 


The  Wild  Cattle  of  Great  Britain. 
The   Chillingham   herd   are  the    oonneclin 


link 


between  the  wild  cat 
Scotland — beautiful  crcaluri's,  witli  lihitk  rars  mid 
muzzles;  "their  horns  line,  wiUi  a  bold  and  cknaiit 
bend,"  who  hide  their  youug  and  leed  iu  the  uitrlil , 
ahd  whose  calves  lay  in  the  form  like  hares.  It  has 
had  many  chroniclers,  and  Bewick  and  Landseer 
took  portraits  among  its  members.  The  late  Lord 
Tankerville  observed  their  manners  and  customs  at- 
tentively, no  easy  task,  as  he  would  sometimes,  in 
summer,  be  for  several  weeks  at  a  time  without 
getting  sight  of  them.  At  that  season,  on  the 
slightest  appearance  of  any  one,  the  wild  cattle 
retire  into  their  forest  sanctuary;  but  they  come 
down  for  food  into  the  inner  park,  and  will  let  one 
come  almost  among  them,  especially  if  on  horse- 
back. Here  is  a  pretty  picture  of  these  strange 
creatures,  remnants  of  an  old  world,  which  have 
hitherto  been  preserved  under  extraordinary  diffi- 
culties, but  cannot,  we  should  think,  long  continue 
to  exist  ;  "When  they  come  down  into  the  lower 
part  of  the  park,  which  they  do  at  stated  hours, 
they  move  like  a  regiment  of  cavalry  in  single  file, 
tKe  bulls  leading  Ihe.  van;  and  when  they  are  in 
retreat,  the  bulls  bring  up  the  rear.  Lord  Ossulton 
was  witness  to  a  curious  way  in  which  they  took 
possession,  as  it  were,  of  some  new  pasture,  recently 
laid  open  to  them.  It  was  in  the  evening,  about 
sunset.  They  began  by  lining  the  front  of  a  small 
wood,  which  seemed  quite  alive  with  them,  when  all 
of  a  sudden  they  made  a  dash  forward  altogether  iu 
line,  and,  charging  close  by  him  across  the  plain, 
they  then  spread  out,  and  after  a  little  time  began 
feeding."  The  wild  white  cattle  are  ferocious 
animals,  valiant  fighters,  capable  of  domestication 
when  taken  very  youug,  but  once  partially  or  wholly 
grown  up,  quite  uutamable.  Mr.  Storer  says  that 
they  hate  and  fear  man,  scenting  him,  as  related  by 
Botchius,  and  he  adds  :  "I  am  convinced  that  if 
any  of  them  were  placed  in  captivity  his  description 
would  beveiifled:  they  would  be  'sa  impacient  that, 
eflir  thair  taking,  they  deit  for  importable  dolouro.'  " 

The  Caitle  Belt. 
"The  cattle  belt"  of  the  United  States  begins  to 
attract  attention  from  its  enormous  extent  and  the 
rapidly  increasing  value  of  its  products.  The  cattle 
yield  of  Colorado  is  said  to  exceed  its  bullion  pro- 
ducts in  value.  A  banker  in  Denver,  it  is  reported, 
says  that  he  would  rather  have  one  hundred  stock 
dealers'  accounts  than  three  hundred   mining  ac- 


counts from  depositors.  The  "cattle  belt"  rel'erred 
to  begins  at  the  Klo  Grande,  near  Corpus  Christi, 
and  extends  northwest  through  the  interior  to  the 
frontiers  of  Manitoba.  In  its  extreme  southern 
and  northern  portions  it  is  neither  highly  elevated 
nor  particularly  dry,  but  for  the  greater  part  of 
tlie  immense  area  included  under  this  distinctive 
denomination— and  it  Is  said  to  be  an  area  of  H50 
miles  In  width  by  2,000  miles  In  length— It  lies  along 
the  surface  of  high  table  lands,  of  which  Northern 
Texas  and  Colorado  are  fair  types.  Cattle  on  these 
plains  need  to  be  herded  and  watched,  in  order  that 
they  may  receive  water  at  proper  Intervals,  but  it  Is 
claimed  that  the  cost  of  raising  a  four-year-old 
steer,  selling  at  the  depots  at  an  average  of  $30, 
does  not  exceed  from  $2.50  to  $:(..')0.  The  average 
natural  increase  of  the  herds  is  about  TO  per  cent. 
The  business  is  one  which  requires  large  capital  at  the 
outset,  regular  wages,  and  strict  attention  to  the 
best  markets,  and  the  inference  is  that  it  will 
speedily  fail  Into  the  hands  of  a  few  large  drovers 
and  butchers.  The  enormous  droves  on  the  plains, 
said  to  number  at  the  present  time  nearly  1.5,000- 
000,  are  thought  to  be  In  some  danger  from  the  ap- 
proaches of  pleuro-pneumonia,  but  the  rapid  conver- 
sion of  grazing  lands  Into  farming  lauds  Is  probably 
the  chief  danger  to  the  profits  of  the  system,  which 
is  now  immiaeat. —Jialiiinore  Sun. 

Swiss  Dairymen  in  California. 
Fully  two-thirds  of  all  the  dairy  business  of  the 
upper  coast  counties  in  California,  says  the  San 
Francisco  Chronicle,  is  In  the  hands  of  Swiss,  either 
as  renters  or  owners.  "They  seem  to  be  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  business,  and  are  turning  out  a  very 
good  imitation  of  Swiss  cheese.  Most  of  the  prosper- 
ous dairymen  in  the  itate  are  men  who  but  a  decade 
since  came  here  without  money  and  have  made  valu- 
able homes,  and  stocked  their  farms  with  the  best 
breed  of  cattle,  by  their  own  Industry  and  ecouomy. 
One  of  the  peculiarities  of  this  people  is  their  dis- 
position to  assist  one  another.  A  Swiss  settlement 
takes  the  form  of  a  practical  mutual  aid  society, 
and  the  system  is  to  be  commended  all  the  more,  on 
account  of  the  absence  of  all  selfishness.  A  poor 
boy  comes  from  his  native  land  and  begins  by  work- 
ing ill  one  of  the  dairies  by  the  month.  By  scrupu- 
lous economy,  in  two  or  three  years,  he  has  accumu- 
lated money  enough  to  reut  a  piece  of  land  a  and  few 
cows.  His  countrymen  take  a  practical  interest  in 
him,  loan  him  money  as  he  needs  it,  and  in  every 
way  assist  him  to  become  the  owner  instead  of 
tenant,  and  when  he  has  achieved  that  result,  he  iu 
turn  helps  the  next  poor  countrymau  who  shows  a 
willingness  to  work.  The  Swiss  dairyman  prefers  a 
small  farm,  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  on  which 
lie  nus«p  the  finest  stock,  and  the  best  of  feed  for 
Uiriii.  The  average  California  dairyman  figures  on 
lioiji  loui  to  seven  acres  to  support  each  cow,  while 
a  Su  l^^  ilairyman  will  reverse  the  order  of  things 
iuid  keep  seven  cows  on  one  acre  very  soon." 


gives  all  the  milk  that  is  wanted  In  a  family  of  eight, 
and  that  from  It,  after  taking  all  that  Is  required  for 
other  purposes,  StjO  pounds  ofbutter  were  made  this 
year.  This  is  in  part  his  treatment  of  the  cow;— "If 
you  desire  to  get  a  large  yield  of  rich  milk  give  your 
cows  every  day  water  slightly  warm  and  slightly 
salted,  in  which  bran  has  been  stirred  at  the  rate  of 
one  (luart  to  two  gallons  of  water.  You  will  find,  If 
you  have  not  tried  this  daily  practice,  that  your  cow 
will  glvetwenty-llve  per  cent,  more  milk  Immediately 
under  the  effects  of  It,  and  she  will  become  so  at- 
tached to  the  diet  as  to  refuse  to  drink  clear  water 
unless  very  thirsty.  But  this  mess  she  will  drink 
almost  any  time,  and  ask  for  more.  The  amount  of 
this  drink  necessary  is  an  ordinary  water  pall  full  at 
a  time,  morning,  noon  and  night. 

Polling  Cattle. 
The  horns  of  our  cows  seem  to  be  neither  orna- 
mental nor  useful.  As  a  means  of  warfare  they  can 
only  have  consideration,  but  warfare  and  goring  Is 
precisely  what  we  desire  to  keep  away  from  the 
barnyard.  English  farmers,  whose  herds  are  prob- 
ably more  precious  and  closer  confined  than  In 
America,  have  introduced  the  practice  of  unhorning 
cattle  by  clipping  the  small  projections  in  calves, 
when  half  an  Inch  long,  using  simply  a  strong  pair 
of  shears.  It  is  true  It  hurts  the  calves  somewhat. 
There  will  be  a  little  bleeding,  but  that  will  stop  In 
an  hour  or  two  and  the  calves  will  soon  resume 
eating. 

Salt  For  Stock, 
I  have  never  been  so  successful  In  producing  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  milk,  or  even  flow,  as  wh  re  the 
cows  had  access  tosalt  at  their  opiion;  and  I  k  now 
that  it  affected  the  butter  and  churning,  the  butter 
being  better  and  "coining"  sooner  with  than  without 
salt.  Furthermore,  cattle  having  salt  as  freely  as 
they  choose,  look  smoother  and  do  not  have  a  staring 
coat,  as  do  animals  which  had  no  salt,  or  only  a 
trilie  at  long  Intervals.  May  not  these  favored  Indi- 
viduals who  sujiply  no  salt  to  their  stock,  fall  to  dis- 
cover that  their  slock  is  supplied  from  some  unknown 
source! — JSx. 

To  Tell  a  Horse's  Age. 

After  a  horse  is  nine  years  old  a  wrinkle  comes  in 
the  eyelid,  at  the  upper  corner  of  the  lower  lid,  and 
every  year  thereafter  he  has  one  well-defined  wrinkle 
for  each  year  of  his  age  over  nine.  If,  for  Instance, 
a  horse  has  three  wrinkles  he  is  twelve;  if  four, 
thirteen.  Aiid  the  number  of  wrinkles  to  nlue  and 
you  will  always  get  at  it. 


Hints  for  Horse  Trainers. 

Never  try  to  beat  a  colt  into  doing  a  thing,  for  if 
nervous  he  may  turn  out  a  vicious  horse,  and  if 
stupid  he  may  become  stubborn.  Remember  that 
by  patieuce  and  gentleness  he  can  be  got  to  do  any- 
thing that  will  not  hurt  him. 

When  the  horse  shows  signs  of  shying  at  an  object 
do  not  beat  him,  but  lead  him  up  to  it,  allowing  him 
to  stand  and  look  as  he  comes  close,  and  after  he 
examines  it  a  few  times  he  will  not  fear  anything  of 
the  kind  again.  In  passing  by  hedges  with  a  colt, 
throw  in  stones  and  stop  him  until  he  takes  no  notice 
of  the  noise. 

Before  putting  on  any  article  of  harness  let  your 
coll  smell  it,  and  then  rub  against  his  head,  neck 
and  body- 

Always  start  a  horse  with  the  voice,  never  with 
ilie  cut  of  the  whip.  In  starting  turn  a  little  to  one 
side;  ill  stopping  when  going  up  a  hill  do  the  same. 
— Norristown  Herald. 

Colic  in  Stock. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Massachusetts  rioughnum 
gives  the  following  cure  for  colic  iu  horses,  which  is 
convenient  at  all  times  and  easily  applied.  He  says 
he  has  never  known  it  to  fail :  Spread  a  teacupful 
or  more  of  fine  salt  on  the  back  of  the  animal  over 
the  kidneys  and  loins,  and  keep  it  saturated  with 
warm  water  for  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  or  longer 
if  necessary.  If  the  attack  is  severe,  drench  with 
salt.  I  have  a  valuable  bull,  weighing  nineteen  or 
twenty  huudred,  which  had  a  severe  attack  of  colic 
a  year  ago  last  summer.  I  applied  salt  to  his  back 
as  above,  and  it  being  difficult  to  drench,  we  put  a 
wooden  bit  into  his  mouth,  keeping  it  open  two 
inches,  and  spread  salt  upon  his  tongue  which, 
together  with  the  salt  on  his  back,  relieved  him  at 
ouce,  and  within  a  very  short  time  equilibrium  ap- 
peared fully  restored.  I  have  for  several  years  past 
successfully  applied  this  treatment  to  other  auinials 
ill  ray  herd. 

How  to  make  Cows  give  Milk. 
A  writer  in  the  Southern  Farmer  says  his  cow 


Poultry. 


Hints  to  Poultry  Breeders. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Massachusetts  Ploughman 
writes  some  good  hints  about  the  management  of 
poultry  in  answer  to  an  article  on  that  subject : 

"First,  you  say.  If  eggs  in  winter  are  wanted  the 
light  Brahma  or  white  Cochin  is  best  for  that  pur- 
pose. An  experience  of  ten  years  with  fowls  of  dif- 
ferent breeds  has  not  brought  about  such  a  conclu- 
sion with  me.  I  keep  fowls  foi  the  eggs— black 
Spanish,  white  and  brown  Leghorns— and  have  no 
trouble  about  their  laying  iu  winter.  I  find 
as  much  trouble  in  keeping  fowls  cold  In  the  sum- 
mer as  I  do  in  keeping  them  v^rm  in  winter.  I  keep 
Brahmas  for  hatching.  They  discount  all  other 
breeds  In  that  line  of  business,  and  their  motherly 
qualities  are  without  a  rival.  I  find  the  expense  of 
food  for  twenty  black  Spanish,  white  and  browu 
Leghorns,  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  fourteen  Brah- 
mas. There  is  no  question  in  my  mind  but  what  the 
Plymouth  Hock  excels  all  others,  when  brought 
upon  the  table  as  an  article  of  food.  For  eggs  the 
Plymouth  Rock  still  stands  as  second,  which  is  say- 
ing much  in  their  praise,  wheu  we  consider  the  num- 
ber of  good  laying  breeds  with  which  they  have  had 
to  compete.  A  hen  that  lays  one  hundred  eggs  iu  a 
year  is  not  an  unprofitable  one.  Still  she  cannot  be 
classed  as  a  very  profitable  one.  A  hen  to  be  in  favor 
with  me  must  produce  from  one  huudred  and  thirty 
to  one  hundred  and  eighty  eggs  a  year.  At  the  latter 
figure  I  can  make  them  pay  three  hundred  per  cent., 
on  the  investment,  beside  the  cost  of  food. 

"If  it  is  desired  to  obtain  a  stock  of  hens  for  lay- 
lug  eggs  to  sell  when  they  bring  the  highest  price  I 
like  the  hatching  to  take  place  the  first  week  in 
.M-ay,  if  of  the  black  Spanish,  white  or  brown  Leg- 
horu  breed.  They  will  lay  as  soon  as  the  tenth  of 
October.  From  that  time  until  the  first  of  March  is 
when  I  find  it  a  good  time  to  sell  eggs.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  feeding  feed  so  that  your  hens  shall  be  healthy. 
The  healthy  hens  are  those  from  whom  we  may  ex- 
pect eggs,  and  not  those  that  are  extremely  fat. 
Wheu  a  hen  does  not  lay  four  months  In  succession 
1  know  no  way  by  which  she  can  be  made  to  make 
up  for  lost  time,  any  more  than  I  can  tell  how  a 
farmer  can  be  made  to  make  up  the  loss  of  twodays' 
time  per  week  iu  a  grocery  store  discussing  his  neigh- 
bors' business.    As  for  a  hcu  not  being  profitable  to 


160 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[October,  1879. 


keep  for  laying  after  she  is  two  years  old  1  cannot 
indorse  it,  as  I  have  hens  that  are  four  years  old  and 
Btill  continue  to  deposit  one  dozen  a  month.  Still,  I 
prefer  young  liens.  In  selecting  hens  to  set  select 
eggs  from  those  hens  in  TOur  flock  that  you  know  are 
constantly  laying.  Black  Spanish,  white  and  hrown 
Leghorns,  are  not  of  much  account  for  the  table. 
Tekill  them  for  the  market  is  folly." 

Red  Canary  Birds. 

At  the  London  Exhibition  in  1872  Mr.  Bembrose, 
of  Derby,  exhibited  some  red  canary  birds.  The 
birds  received  no  prizes,  however,  as  the  jury  had 
doubts  as  to  the  origin  of  their  color,  and  believed 
them  to  be  dyed.  The  following  year,  at  the  exhi- 
bition held  at  Whitby,  the  red  canaries  were  recog- 
nized as  a  new  variety,  and  they  became  all  the  rage. 
In  numerous  controversies  Mr.  Bembrose  had  given 
his  word  of  honer  that  the  color  of  his  bird  was  not 
due  to  any  fraudulent  processes,  but  had  been  really 
obtained  through  a  special  mode  of  feeding.  But  as 
a  friend  to  whom  he  had  communicated  his  secret 
had  abused  his  confidence  and  sold  it,  the  author  has 
believed  it  his  duty  to  make  known  to  the  public  the 
process  which  he  used  to  obtain  his  results.  It 
appears,  according  to  him,  that  the  birds  are  fed 
upon  hard-boiled  eggs  crushed  up  with  the  crumbs 
of  common  white  bread  and  dusted  over  with  cay- 
enne pepper.  Dr.  Dusch,  a  Belgian  amateur,  adds 
the  following  :  Purchase  at  the  druggist's  some  of 
the  very  best  qualitv  of  cayenne  pepper,  ground  very 
finely;  for  each  meal  mix  some  of  it  with  stale  bread 
macerated  in  well  water,  and  press  it  together  so 
that  it  will  crumble,  but  not  form  a  paste.  Instead 
of  bread  the  white  of  an  egg  may  be  used  if  preferred. 
This  kind  of  food  should  be  given  to  the  bird  only 
before  and  after  moulting.  It  is  well  to  add  that  it 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  experiment  on  any  other 
canaries  than  those  of  the  Norwich  breed  or  on  birds 
that  are  not  of  a  very  dark  strain.  This  statement 
is  made  on  the  authority  of  Les  Mondes. 

Chicken  Cholera. 

The  New  York  Times  gives  the  following  remedy 
for  chicken  cholera:  Give  one-fourth  of  a  blue  pill 
to  the  fowl  as  soon  as  it  seems  to  be  sick,  and  repeat 
this  the  second  day  after.  Then  give  half  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  castor-oil.  After  the  fowl  improves,  give 
scalded  corn-meal,  in  which  a  teaspoonful  of  black 
pepper  for  each  fowl  has  been  mixed.  Poultry  need 
a  little  salt,  and  if  they  were  supplied  regularly  and 
moderately  tliey  would  be  more  healthful  than  they 
usually  are. 

Young  Fowls 

Are  the  best  for  laying  eggs.  It  is  not  good  to  keep 
hens  beyond  the  second  year.  A  good  authority  on 
such  matters  says  :  "Feeding  will  do  a  great  deal — 
a  surprising  work  indeed — in  the  production  of  eggs, 
but  not  when  old  hens  are  concerned;  they  may  put 
on  fat,  but  they  cannot  put  down  eggs.  Their  tala 
is  told,  their  work  is  over." 


Literary  and  Personal. 


French  and  Belgians.— By  Phebe  Earle  Gib- 
bons, author  of  "Penusylvania  Dutch,"  and  other 
essays.  Published  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co., Phila- 
delphia, Pa.,  1879.  Price,  $L'.00.  Pp.  441.  This 
may  be  called  a  royal  12  mo.,  and  is  executed  in  the 
publishers  best  style,  on  fine,  faintly-tinted,  calen- 
dered paper,  a  clean  print,  and  substantially  bound 
in  embossed  muslin.  People  may  difl'er  in  opinion  as 
to  its  literary  merits— and  they  have  a  perfect  right 
to  differ— but  the  reader  cannot  but  accord  due 
credit  to  the  author  for  the  energy,  the  industry  and 
perseverance  with  which  she  executed  her  mission, 
and  the  fund  of  information  which  she  has  de- 
veloped (sometimes,  too,  under  difHculties  which 
would  have  discouraged  one  of  a  less  tenacious  con- 
stitution,) and  the  interesting  and  inslruf-tive  manner 
in  which  she  has  presented  it  to  the  public.  The  first 
chapters  may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  somewhat 
desultory,  anil  may  contain  a  few  things  not  specially 
French  and  Belgian,  but  alike  common  to  humanity, 
or  the  natural  world  at  large,  but  taking  the  work 
all  through  it  will  be  found  an  epitome  of  the  social, 
domestic,  political,  educational  and  religious  life  of 
France  and  Belgium,  reflected  from  a  plane  of  ob- 
servation to  which  the  fewest  numbers  of  travelers 
and  writers  ever  attain.  It  may  be  true  that  the 
peculiar  style  of  the  writer  may  not  be  the  most 
agreeable  to  all  readers,  being  mainly  in  the  first 
person,  present  tense,  as  for  instance,  "I  say,"  "I 
ask,"  "I  see,"  "I  go,"  &c.,  but  this  only  evinces  the 
greater  practical  authenticity,  and  that  the  autlior 
narrates  what  she  has  actually  experienced— what 
she  herself  has  seen,  heard  and  done.  Many  facts, 
opinions  and  principles, as  they  exist  among  the  com- 
mon, the  agricultural  and  the  middle  classes,  are 
brought  out  in  this  book  that  we  find  in  no  other.  Buy 
it  and  read  it. 

How   TO   Select   Cows.- The    Guenon    system 
simplified,  explained  and  practically  applied.    By 


Willis  P.  Hazard,  secretary  of  the  Guenon  Cnmmis- 
sion,  &c.,  Ac,  &c.,  with  nearly  one  hundred  illus- 
trations, photographed  from  Guenon's  engravings. 
I.  M.  Stoddard  &  Co.,  787  Chestnut  street,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.  This  is  a  royal  octavo  pamphlet  of  84 
pages,  printed  in  clear  type,  with  a  portrait  of 
Francis  Guenon,  and  a  resume  of  his  entire  method 
in  selecting  stock,  and  seems  to  be  a  reprint  of  the 
same  article,  with  some  additions,  as  published  in 
the  Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for 
1878.  Of  course,  we  cannot  speak  of  the  system  ex- 
perimentally, but  in  as  much  as  some  of  the  best 
stock  men  in  the  country  are  takins:  hold  of  it  ap- 
provingly, we  commend  it  to  the  examination  of 
our  stock  dealing  and  dairy  readers.  Price  50  cents. 
Cloth  75  cents. 

Department  of  Agriculture.— Report  special. 
No.  12.    Investigation  of  diseases  of  swine,   and  in- 
fectious and   contagious  diseases   incident   to  other 
classes  of  domestic  animals.     Containing   an   intro- 
ductory and  reports  of  Drs.  Detmers,  Law,   Vogles, 
Salmon,  Dunlap,  Dyer,  Payne.  McNutt   and   Hives, 
together  with  correspondence  relating  to  the   preva- 
lance  of  diseases  among   domesticated   animals,   in- 
cluding pleuro-pneumonia,  rinderpest,  glanders,  and 
a  strange  disease  among  cattli  in   North   Carolina. 
29.;  pp.  royal  octavo,  with   17  full-page   plates   and 
one   chart,   embracing    81    figures    and    groups    of 
figures,  and  28  tabulated  series  of  experiments.  This 
work  is   handsomely   gotten   up,   and  the   full-page 
plates,  illustrating  the  diseased  condition  of  the  vari- 
ous animal  organs,  are  colored  to  life.    The  quality 
of  the   material    and    the    letter-press    are    rather 
in  advance  of  the  usual  documents  issued  by  that 
department.     The  work  contains  an   alphabetically 
arranged  index,  and  on  the  whole  must  prove  a  valu 
able  contribution   to   our  veterinary   literature  and 
practice,   although  our  personal  opportunities   and 
experiences  are  too  limited  to  pronounce  an  unquali- 
fied  endorsement.     The   commissioner    desires    the 
work  to  be  as  perfect  as  possible,   and  therefore  he 
solicits  the  co-operation  and  assistance  of  the  practi- 
cal portion  of  the  farming  and  stock  growing  public. 
But,  in  order  to  bring  the  chief  of  the  department 
and  the  public  concerned,  in  rapport,  we  append  his 
appeal  as  an  appropriate  conclusion  of  our  remarks  : 
Department  of  Agriculture,    Washington,   D.    C, 
Sept.  25,  1879.     Sir  :  In  forwarding  you  this  copy  of 
the"Investigationof  Diseases  of  Swine,   and   Infec- 
tious  and   Contagious    Diseases   incident    to    other 
classes   of  Domesticated   Animals,"  it   is   with  the 
hope  that  you  will  give  the  work  a  careful   perusal, 
and  favor  the  department  at  your  earliest   conveni- 
ence with  such  criticism  as  you  may  think  it  deserves. 
In  this  connection  permit  me  to  say  that   I   will  be 
pleased  to  have  the  results  of  any   experiments   you 
may  have  had  in  the  prevention,  treatment  or  cure  of 
infectious  and  contagious  diseases  of  swine  and  other 
classes  of  farm   animals,   and   the   extent  to  which 
such  diseases  prevail  in  your  locality.    Stock  breed- 
ing and  rearing  has  become  one  of  the   largest   in- 
terests of  the  country,  and  any  facts  or  observations 
that  are   likely  to   bring  about   a  more  intelligent 
system  of  breeding  and  treatment  of  farm  animals 
will  prove  of  interest  and  value  to  the   whole  coun- 
try.    If  you  have  been  successful  in  the   prevention 
of  diseases  among  your  domeeticated  animals,  pleas* 
give  your  system  of  breeding,  rearing,  and  preparing 
for  market,   and  the   preventives   employed,  if  any 
were  used.    If  remedies  have   been   employed  with 
any  degree  of  success,  please  state   the   ingredients 
and  the  proportions  in  which  they   are  compounded 
and  the  quantity  given.     Any  observations   relating 
to  this  subject  which  you  may   think  will   prove  of 
interest  to  the  public  will  receive  the  careful   atten- 
tion of  the  department.— rows,  respectfully,   Wm. 
O.  Le  Due,  Commissioner. 

The  North  American  Entomologist.— Edited 
by  A.  R.  Grote,  and  published  by  Reinecke  &  Zesch, 
No.  500  Main  street,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Eight  pages, 
8vo.  illustrated.  $2.00  a  year  in  advance.  We  have 
received  a  complimentary  number  of  this  work  (Oct. 
1879)  aad  we  are  much  pleased  with  it.  We  wel- 
come it  into  the  ranks  of  entomological  literature, 
and  sincerely  hope  it  may  have  a  longer  life  lease 
than  the  Practical  Entomologist  and  the  American 
Entomologist,  and  doubtless  it  will  if  enough  sub- 
scribers can  be  found  in  the  country  who  can  appreci- 
ate its  value.  It  is  about  the  size  and  is  gotten  up 
in  the  style  of  the  Canadian  Entomologist,  and  de- 
serves to  be  as  well  supported.  This  number  contains 
the  history  and  description  of  a  new  carniverous 
species  of  Lipedoptereo  {Dakruma  coccidevora). 
which  is  something  very  unusual  for  insects  of  that 

One  of  the  sweetest  songs  we  have  heard  this 
many  a  day  is  entitled,  ' '  We  Shall  Meet  all  the  Little 
Ones  There."  Words  and  music  by  Will  L.  Thomp- 
son, of  East  Liverpool,  Ohio.  Although  all  our  little 
ones  are  graciously  spared  in  the  editorial  home  we 
must  confess  to  a  breakdown  in  tears  when  trying  to 
sing  these  touching  words.  The  song  is  an  inspira- 
tion of  comfort,  surely,  to  all  whose  homes  have 
been  invaded  by  death.  It  is  one  of  the  few  composi- 
tions which  will  live  for  generations.  To  all  lovers 
of  music  we  may  say,  send  40  cents  to  the  author 
and  bless  the  household  by  a  copy  of  this  gem.— 
Methodist  Record. 


Local  Government,  at  Home  and  Abroad.— 
By  Robert  R.  Porter,  Esq.,  Chicago.  Being  article 
No.  1  from  the  Princeton  Review.  Price  5  cents,  at 
the  office  of  publication,  37  Park  Row,  New  York. 
This  able  paper  was  originally  published  in  the 
Princeton  Review  for  July,  1879,  but  is  also  pub- 
lished in  a  separate  royal  octavo  pamphlet  of  25 
pages,  and  those  pages  should  be  read  and  thought- 
fully pondered  by  every  man  who  aspires  to  or  is 
thrust  into  a  legislative  administrative  or  judicial 
office,  whether  it  be  National,  State  or  municipal. 
There  is  doubtless  a  great  deal  of  reckless  legisla- 
tion, executive  administration  and  judicial  decision 
that  is  the  result  of  present  impulse,  entirely  ignor- 
ing the  experiences  of  the  past,  and  having  little  re- 
gard to  the  welfare  of  the  future.  This  pamphlet 
discusses  with  ability  the  nature  and  origin  of 
local  government  in  the  several  States  of  our 
own  country,  as  well  as  in  foreign  countries,  and 
shows  that  all  forms  of  government,  domestic  or 
foreign,  are  the  outbirths  and  embodiments  of  local 
governments  from  time  almost  immemorial,  and 
that  the  tyranny  or  liberality  of  governments  are  due 
to  their  original  local  form.  The  vassalage  of  the 
Feudal  System  was  nothing  more  than  local  govern- 
ment,althoughnot  self-government  so  far  as  concerns 
the  masses  of  the  people  ;  out  of  vassalage  as  a  local 
form  grew  monarchy ;  out  of  local  self-government 
grew  republicanism  ;  and  the  success  of  both  are 
largely  influenced  by  the  financial  systems  that  have 
been  incorporated  with  them.  Send  for  the  pamphlet 
and  read  it. 

The  Phrenological.- We  have  received  the 
Phrenological  Journal  and  Science  of  Health  for  Oc- 
tober, and  find  it  filled  with  material  at  once  lively, 
entertaining,  criSp,  instructive,  and  seasonable.  The 
features  which  constitute  this  a  scientific  publication 
with  a  special  department  are  prominent,  hut  dis- 
cussed in  so  pleasant  a  manner  that  we  scarcely 
know  that  we  are  learning  important  principles  as 
we  read  the  attractive  pages.  First  in  the  order  of 
contents  we  notice  a  leading  railroad  man,  Daniel  L. 
Harris,  and  next  there  are  some  very  pertinent  re- 
marks on  Precocious  Children,  which  we  would  ad- 
vise all  doting  fathers  and  mothers  to  examine  care- 
fully. Then  there  is  a  pleasant  little  conversation 
on  the  nature  of  brain  development,  which  knocks 
the  under-pinning  out  of  the  common  talk  we  hear 
about  "bumps"  and  "bumpology."  Dr.  Wines  pro- 
vides a  second  letter  on  Prison  Reform.  A  new  in- 
stallment of  Brain  and  Mind,  entitled  the  Physiolo- 
gists and  the  Cerebellum,  appears  in  this  number,  in 
the  course  of  which  the  writer  shows,  with  every  ap- 
pearance of  candor,  the  merits  of  most  of  the  litera- 
ture nowadays  current  with  regard  to  the  functions 
of  the  cerebellum.  We  think  that  Phrenology  has 
decidedly  the  advantage  in  the  contest.  Mr.  Temple, 
in  his  third  installment  of  The  American  Novelist, 
writes  down  some  hard  facts.  A  portrait  is  given  of 
Chastine  Cox,  the  murderer  of  Mrs.  Hull,  and  a 
very  frank  consideration  of  his  character  as  indicated 
by  organization.  Some  hints  are  thrown  out  which 
are  suggestive  of  new  and  reasonable  views  of  the 
mentaforganism.  Other  topics  of  interest  are  The 
Women  of  Italy  ;  House-cleaning ;  The  Difference  ; 
The  Tea  Americans  Drink;  Soldier-bound.  The  de- 
partment allotted  to  Correspondents  is  rich  in  inte- 
resting counsel,  and  indeed  the  whole  number  is  wor- 
thy a  careful,  conscientious  reading.  The  Journal  is 
now  published  at  the  low  price  of  $2,00  a  year,  with 
a  valuable  book  premium  worth  |i.50,  and  the  bal- 
ance of  this  year  (three  months)  free  to  new  sub- 
scribers. A  single  number  is  20  cents,  but  is  oflfered 
to  new  subscribers  "On  Trial"  three  months,  in- 
cluding October  number,  for  only  25  cents.  Every 
reader  of  this  paper  should  send  25  cents  at  once  and 
see  for  themselves  the  peculiar  merits  and  fascinating 
nature  of  this  magazine.  Letters  should  be  ad- 
dressed to  S.  R.  Wells  &  Co.,  Publishers,  7.'57 
Broadway,  New  York. 

The  Entomologists'  Exchange.—"  Vestigia 
N-ulla  Rdrorsum."  New  Berlin,  N.  Y.  Addison 
Ellsworth,  editor.  Monthly,  at  25  cents  a  year.  4  pp., 
royal  octavo.  No.  5,  vol.  1,  for  September,  1879,  of 
this  spicy  little  sheet  has  been  placed  on  our  table, 
and  we  consider  it  an  interesting  and  useful  contri- 
bution to  the  periodical  entomological  literature  of 
the  country.  Every  entomologist,  at  least,  ought  to 
have  a  copy  of  it  in  his  library. 

QnARTERLY  Report  of  the  Pennsylvania  Board 
of  Trade,  for  June,  July  and  August,  1879.  22  pp. 
royal  8vo.,  containing  lists  of  officers  and  members  : 
State  fairs,  district  fairs,  county  agricultural  socie- 
ties, with  names  and  addresses  of  secretaries,  and 
programme  of  coming  fall  meeting  at  Mercer,  Mercer 
county.  Pa.,  together  with  sundry  enactments  re- 
lating to  agriculture,  and  other  valuable  and  inter- 
esting matter. 

Bryant's  Nurseries,  established  1845.  Retail 
price  list  and  catalogue  of  fruit  and  ornamental 
trees  grapes,  small  fruits,  forest  trees,  seeds,  &c., 
for  autumn  of  1S79  and  spring  of  18S0.  Princeton, 
Illinois.     22  pp.,  12mo. 

Department  op  AoniouLTURE,  Special  Report, 
No.  17,  upon  the  condlUon  of  crops  to  September  1, 
1879  22  pp.  royal  8vo.  The  wheat  crop  of  1879  is 
92  against  87  last  year.    We  are  "marching  along." 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER> 


III 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Fine  Engravings. 
We  have  received  from  George  Sliuson  &  Co.,  Art 
Publishers,  Portlaud,  Maiue,  a  proof  copy  of  the 
maKiiitieent  steel  ensravinj;  "La  .Madonna,"  after 
the  celebrated  painting  by  J.  Sant;  also  a  proof  copy 
of  a  fine  work  of  high  art  representing  "Italy"— the 
land  of  art  and  music.  This  enirraving  is  after  a 
painting  by  the  renowned  artist  Mr.  K.  H.  Pclham. 
in  our  opinion  these  fine  works  of  high  art  belong  in 
the  front  rank,  and  are  equal  to  any  ever  brought 
out  by  American  Publishers.     The  plates   were  en- 

f  raved  in  London  for  Messrs.  Stinson  &  Co,  by  Mr. 
.Bromley  and  C.  Tompkins,  two  of  the  foremost 
engravers  in  the  world,  at  an  expense  of  two  thou- 
sand pounds  sterling,  or  ten  thousand  dollars. 

This  house  publishes  all  dcseri|)tlon8  of  fine 
pictures.  Those  who  wish  to  beautify  their  homes 
at  moderate  expense,  should  send  for  tlieir  Art  Cat- 
alogue. 

Comsumption  Cured. 

An  old  physician,  retired  from  practice,  having  had 
placed  in  his  hands  liy  an  East  Indian  missionary  the 
formula  of  a  simple  vegetable  remedy  for  the  speedy 
and  permanent  cure  for  Consumption,  Bronchitis, 
Catarrh,  Asthma,  aud  all  Tliroat!and  Lung  Affec- 
tions, also  a  positive  aud  radical  cure  for  Nervous 
Debility  and  all  Nervous  Complaints,  after  having 
tested  its  wonderful  curative  powers  in  thousands  of 
cases,  has  felt  it  his  duty  to  make  it  known  to  his 
suflering  fellows.  Actuated  by  this  motive  and  a 
desire  to  relieve  human  suffering,  I  will  send  free  of 
charge  to  all  who  desire  it,  this  recipe,  iu  German, 
French,  or  English,  with  full  directions  for  prepar- 
ing aud  using.  Sent  by  mail  by  addressing  with 
stamp,  naming  this  paper?  W.  W.  Sherab,149  Pow- 
trs'  Slock,  Sochcster,  N.  Y.  [oct-Sm 


The  Poultry  Exhibition. 
The  first  annual  exhibition  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Poultry  Aasociation  will  be  held  in  Lancaster,  in 
Locher's  building.  Centre  Square,  on  the  3d,  'Ad,  5th, 
6th  and  7th  days  of  January,  1880.  Tl)ere  will  be 
five  hundred  dollars  offered  in  premiums  and  this 
should  certainly  be  an  inducement  to  all  who  own 
fine  poultry  to  put  it  on  exhibition.  This  is  the  first 
effort  of  the  Association  aud  we  trust  that  they  will 
receive  such  encouragement  as  should  be  given  to 
them.  On  and  after  November  15th  the  premium 
lists  will  be  ready  for  distribution  and  can  be  had  on 
application  to  the  Secretary,  J.  B.  Liehty,  Lancas- 
ter, ?a.  From  ttie  interest  now  manifested  in  the 
exhibition  we  have  proof  that  it  will  certainly  be  a 


Zahm's  Corner. 


As  the  holiday  season  is  approaching  and  our 
readers  are  thinking  of  the  presents  they  intend  to 
buy  for  their  friends,  we  desire  to  call  attention  to 
the  full  line  of  Jewelry,  Silverware,  Watches,  etc., 
for  sale  by  E.J.  Zahm,  Zahm's  corner,  Lancaster, 
Pa.  Their  advertisement  appears  in  another  column 
of  The  F.^kmer,  but  they  cannot  in  that  tell  our 
readers  of  all  the  magnificent  goods  they  have 
suitable  for  presents,  and  the  best  plan  will  be  when 
you  want  to  buy  anything  in  their  line  to  call  and 
see  them.  They  will  not  allow  themselves  to  ba 
undersold,  and  their  stock  of  Jewelry,  etc.  is  as  good 
as  the  best. 


Fearless  Railway  Threshing  Machine. 

We  call  the  attention  of  farmers  and  threshermen 
to  the  advertisement  of  the  Fearless  Horse-Power 
and  Thresher  and  Cleaner,  elsewhere  in  this  number 
of  our  paper.  This  machine  is  the  only  one  that 
received  an  Award  on  both  Horse-Power  and 
Thresher  and  Cleaner  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition, 
Philadelphia,  and  ranks  as  best  of  its  class.  An  Ex- 
President  of  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  Soci- 
ety said  of  Harder's  Machines,  "they  are  the  best 
ever  made,"  and  the  same  testimony  has  been  borne 
by  equally  good  authority  time  and  again. 

For  further  information  send  to  Minard  Harder, 
'Cobleskill,  N.  Y. 

A  Natural  Fertilizer. 

In  another  column  of  The  Farmer  is  the  adver- 
tisement of  D.  P.  Bitner,  who  is  the  agent  for  Lan- 
caster county  of  "Fossil  Marl  of  New  Jersey."  It 
is  claimed  that  it  is  rich  in  dissolved  bones,  phos- 
phoric acid,  potash,  and  enriches  every  variety  of 
soil,  and  insures  good  crops  of  wheat,  corn,  potatoes, 
vegetables  and  fruit.  It  is  an  excellent  change  for 
land  after  the  continued  use  of  lime,  and  the  price  is 
very  low  in  comparison  with  other  manures.  Its 
history,  analysis,  application  to  different  soils  and 
crops,  testimonials  and  other  information  regarding 
Its  uses,  will  be  given  on  application  to  the  agent. 
lOur  farmers  should  call  to  see  him  in  regard  to  it. 


Furniture. 
One  subscribers  iu  need  of  anything  In  the  furni- 
ture line,  would  do  well  to  call  on  WIdmyer  cfc  Uick- 
secker,  corner  of  East  King  and  Duke  streets.  They 
have  on  hand  a  very  large  stock  of  furniture  of  all 
kinds  and  styles  to  select  from  and  at  such  prices  as 
can  defy  competition.  They  are  an  old  firm,  reliable 
and  whatever  representations  are  made  In  their  es- 
tablishment the  buyer  can  depend  on  as  being  correct. 
Any  one  desiring  any  kind  of  furniture  should  call 
and  see  their  stock  and  prices  before  purchasing. 


Bicycle  Tournament. 
On  Saturday,  November  1st,  there  will  be  on  the 
grounds  of  the  Agricultural  Park  Association,  a 
grand  Bicycle  Tournament,  Velocipede  Itace  and 
Balloon  Ascension.  Prof.  Lippott,  who  Is  the  mana- 
ger, and  who  managed  the  last  one,  which  was  so 
great  a  success,  is  sparing  no  expense  to  make  No- 
vember 1st  a  "Grand  Jubilee  Day."  The  low  rates 
of  admission,  10  and  15  cents,  makes  it  within  the 
reach  of  all,  and  any  one  goiugcau  feel  assured  that 
they  can  spend  a  very  plea^iaut  afternoon  at  the  Park 


The  Secret  Key  to  Health. 
The  Science  of  Life,  or  Self-Preservation,  HOO  pages. 
Price,  only  ?1.  Contains  fifty  valuable  prcsciip- 
tions,  either  one  of  which  is  worth  more  than  ten 
times  the  price  of  the  book.  Illustrated  sample  sent 
onreceiptof6  cents  Ibr  postage.  Address,  Dr.  W. 
H.  Parker,  4  Bulflnch  St.,  Boston,  Mass.  oct-3m 

Watches  and  Clocks. 

Ezra  F.  Bowman,  East  King  street,  opposite  the 
Leopard    Hotel,   has    as    large    an    assortment    of 

watches  aud  clocks  as  is  in  the  city,  and  if  you  are 

in  need  of  a  good  timekeeper  go  and  see  him.  He 

also  deals  in  spectacles,   eye    glasses,   chains  and 
jewelers'  materials. 


Free  Gift. 
Dr.  N.  B.  Wolpe,  of  Cincinnati,  generously  offcrg 
as  a  Free  Gift,  his  able  work,  "jl/erficof  Cotmnon 
Sense,"  to  all  whosuffer  with  Consumption,  Asthma, 
Catarrh,  and  similar  troubles.  Read  what  he  says 
in  another  column. 


ELASTIC    TRUSS 

Has  a  Pad  dif- 
fering from 
all  others,  it 
cup-shaped, 
with  S£IiF> 
ADJTJST'NG 
BALL  in  the 
center,  adapts 
itself  to  all 
positions  of  the  body. 
irhUe  the  BALL  in  the 
I  Cup  PRESSES  BACK 
THE  INTESTINES 
JUST  AS  A  PERSON 
WOULD  WITH  THE 
FINGER.  W^ith  light 
pressure  the  Hernia  U 
beld  securely  day  and  night,  and  a  rad- 
ical cure  is  certain.  It  is  easy,  durable 
and  cheap.  Sent  by  mail,  postage  paid. 
Circulars  free. 
Address.  Eggleston  Truss  Co.,  Manfira. 

O^  C.  H.  EGGLESTON  CO.,  Chicago.llL 

79-T-ly] 

A  GOOD  PLAN. 

Anybody  can  learn  to  raake  money  rapidly  operatiuR  In 
StockB.  by  the  "Two Unerring  Rnlee for  Success"  iu  MenHiB. 
Lnwrence  &  Co. "8  new  circular.  The  combination  method, 
which  this  firm  hae  made  so  eucce«sful,  euables  people  with 
large  or  email  means  toreap  ail  thebenefltsof  largest  capital 
and  l>eHt  skiU.  Thousands  of  orders,  in  various  sums,  are 
pooled  into  one  vast  amount  and  co-operated  as  a  rnt'ghty 
whole,  thus  securing  to  each  shareholder  all  the  advantages 
of  tbelargeatoperator.  Immeuseprofltsaredividod  monthly. 
Any  amount  from  $f>  to  $5,000,  or  more,  can  be  used  succesB- 
fully.  N.  Y.  BaptUt  Weekly,  September  2f.th,  1878,  says, 
*'By  the  combination  system  $'5  would  make  $75,  or  5  per 
cent  ;  $50  pays  $350,  or  7  per  cent.;  $100  makes  $1.0«0, 
the  stock,  during  the  month,  according 


to  the  market."  Frank  Leslie's  liUtstraXed  Newnpaper, 
29th*:  The  combination  method  of  operating  stocKs 
moal  successful  ever  adopted."     New    York   Independent 


system  is  founded  upon 
principles,  and  no  person  need  be  without 
an  income  while  it  is  kept  working  by  Messrs.  Lawrence  & 
Co.llirooklyn  Journal,  April  20th:  "Onr  editor  made  a  net 
profit  of  $101.25  from  $aO  in  one  of  Messrs.  Lawrence  & 
Co.'s  combinations."  New  circular  (mailed  free)  explains 
everything.  Stocks  and  bonds  wanted.  Government  bonds 
supplied,  Lawrence  &  Co.,  Bankers,  67  Exchange  Place, 
t:9-5-12m 


September  1 


N.  y. 


J  Address  Stibson  &  Co.,  Portland,  Maiue. 


M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANDFACTUIIEU  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

NAItltl.KN. 

COLLARS,  "WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &o., 


TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUF.^LO  liDBES, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &o., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

-1-12]  LANCASTER,  PA. 


ARMS 


Goodclimale 
fine  BChoolM, 
acid  good 


the  Kansas  Pacific 
llhikiy.  3,000,000 
Acres  for  Sale  in  Iha 

LDEN    BELT. 


HOMES 


)PDl7    Mnpa  iiM.i  full    .ul-m.-.i,    i,   KKKK,. 

S.tlIIjrtOBK,  Laud  c„mu„.».»i..-.,  =......- 

-9-3meom] 


$72^ 


OFFICE, 


No,  e  North  Queeo  M\ 


LANCASTER,  PA. 


m 


Is  an  old,  well-establiehed  newspaper,  and  contains  Just  the 
news  desirable  to  make  it  an  interesting  and  valuable 
Family  Newspaper.  It  is  published  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday,  subscribers  having  the  choice  of  whichever  edition 
that  suits  their  mail  facilities  best.  The  postage  to  sab- 
scribers  residing  outside  of  Lancaster  county  is  paid  by  the 
publisher. 
Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 

s-crBscxair"xioiT  i 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (eicept  Sunday)  and  contains 
the  news  by  mail  and  telegraph  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
up  to  the  hour  of  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers at  all  the  towns  and  Wllagcs  in  the  county,  acces- 
sible by  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  Centa  »  Week, 
or  by  mall  at  Five  ttollarw  per  Tear, 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  North  Queen  St., 

LA-NCASTKR.  PA.. 


THE   LANCASTER   FARMER 


[Ootoher,  1879. 


A  HOME  ORGAN  FOR  FARMERS. 


The  "Fearless 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL, 

Devoted  to  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Do- 
mestic Economy  and  Miscellany. 


Founded  Under  the  Auspices  of  the  Lancas- 
ter County  Agricultural  and  Horti- 
cultural Society. 


EDITED  BY  DR.  S.  S.  RATHVON. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION  : 


ONEDOLLpPERANNUHf^ 

POSTAGE  PREPAID  BY  THE  PROPRIETOR. 


All    subscriptions    will    commence    with    the 
January  number,  unless  otherwise  ordered 


botb  Horse-Power 

Bhown  by  Official  Keport,  which 

Usht  running  and  minli  --       .. 

the  proper  Dflf     '      ' 
-•  —  *-'al, 


report  of  trial,  addresB 
79-T-3m] 


loiiA  form  or  tUe  Straw  Shakers,  which  Ins 

„     Htraw."     For  OAtalogue,«Frice-LiBt,  and 

MINABD  HABDES,  Cobleokill,  Schoharie  Co,  » 


NORBECK  &  MILEY, 


Dr.  8.  8.  Rathvon,  who  has  eo  ably  managed  the  editorial 
department  In  the  past,  will  continue  in  the  position  of 
editor.  His  contributions  on  subjects  connected  with  the 
science  of  farming,  and  particularly  that  specialty  of  which 
he  is  so  thorouhly  a  master — entomological  science — some 
knowledge  of  which  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  success- 
ful farmer,  are  alone  worth  much  more  than  the  price  of 
this  publication.  He  Is  determined  to  make  "The  Farmer" 
a  neceesity  to  all  households. 

A  county  that  has  so  wide  a  reputation  as  Lancaster 
onnty  tor  its  agricultural  products,  should  certainly  be 
able  to  support  an  agricultural  paper  of  its  own,  for  the 
exchange  of  the  opinions  of  farmers  Interested  in  this  mat- 
oter.  We  ask  the  co-oporation  of  all  farmers  interested  in 
this  matter.  Work  among  your  friends.  The  "Farmer"  is 
only  one  dollar  per  year.  Show  them  your  copy.  Try  and 
Induce  them  to  subscribe.  It  is  not  much  for  each  sub- 
scriber to  do  but  it  will  greatly  assist  us. 

All  communications  in  regard  to  the  editorial  management 
Ihould  be  addressed  to  Dr.  S.  S.  Kathvon,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
and  all  business  letters  in  regard  to  subscriptions  and  ad- 
vertising should  be  addressed  to  the  publisher.  Rates  of 
advertising  can  be  had  on  application  at  the  office. 


JOHN  A  HIESTAND, 

No.  9  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 

TRADE  MARK. The fciroat  Enjtrlisli  TRADE   MARK. 


overwork  of 
perfectly   harmless,  tct 

Before  Taking  l^^^e'sifiry  usedt'r  ove"  After  Taking. 

thirty  years  with  great  success.  Full  particulars  in  our 
pamphlet,  which  we  desiretosend  free  liy  mail  to  every  one. 
The  speclBo  medicine  is  sold  by  all  druggists  at  $1  per  pack- 
age,  or  sii  packages  for  $5,  or  will  be  sent  free  by  mail  on 
receipt  of  the  money  by  addressing 

THE  GRAY  MEDICINE  COMPANY, 
No.  10  Mechanics'  Block,  Detroit,  Michigan. 
rt*-Sold  in  Lancaster  by  H.  B.  Cochran.  137  and  139  N. 
Queen  St.,  and  by  druggists  everywhere.  [79-3-12 


PRACTICAL 


Carriage  Builders, 

cox  &  CO'S  OIB  ST1M>, 

Corner  of  Duke  and  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


THE  LATEST  IMPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHAETONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 


Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 

REPAIRING  promptly  attended  to.    All  work 
guaranteed. 


S£ND  rOR 

On   Concord  Grapevines,  Transplanted  Evergreens,  Tulip, 
-      ■       - Tree  Seedlings  and  Trees  for 


WINONA,  OOLUIMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


KENDALL'S 


CURE 

Falls,  Vt,    Johns 
Philadelphia,  Pa 


iijg  tlie  lameness  and  removing  the  bunch, 
d  for  circular  giving  POSITIVE  PROOF, 
SOLD  BY  DRUGGISTS  or  sent  by  the  in- 
veutor,  B.  J.  Kendall,  M.  D..  Enosburgh 
ton,  HoUoway  &  Co.,  Agts.,  602  Areh  St 
79-8-tf. 


1879 


FALL  AND    fflSTER 


188» 


Clotljs,  Cassirperes,  Coating 
Vestiijgs,  and 


Suitiijgs, 


FURNISHING  GOODS, 

Inchiding  the  usual  fashionable  varietias  of  the  season, 

PLAIN,  STRIPED  AND  FIGURED. 

ALSO, 

READY-Mi^DE  CLOTFIING, 

of  "all  sorts  and  sizes." 

AT  THE  VERY  BOTTOM  PRICES. 


LANCASTER. 

RATHVON  &  FISHER, 

R^erchant  Tailors,   Drapers  and  Clotljiers, 

Coi'ner  i>r.  Queen  and  Orange  Sts. 

*'  A  penny  saved  is  sixpence  earned." 


SAWING  THE  LOG. 


THE  GREAT  success!    . 

SrMK>^c™...,f... 
demonstrated  bv  the  number  in  u^e  and  the  Pi^ent 
demand  for  them  It  saw  3  Logs  of  any  size  On* 
man  can  saw  more  logs  or  cord  wooa  in  one  day 
and  easier  than  two  men  can  the  old  way.  I' J^' 
saw  a  two  foot  log  in  three  minutes.  Evejy jF""""?: 
er  needs  one.  Township  agents  wanted.  SBnd  for 
Illustrated  Circulaj- am.  Te^-.|^^^  ^  ^^ 

178  Elr"'     ""-  -" "' 

79-1 0-2m  


lUU  Plants  gr< 


PLANTED  WITH  BERRIES. 
■  10«  varittic-8  of  Schri.d  Fruil, 
i  grrown  tor  traniiplaiitiDK,  and 
Fruit  for  the  market.    CEJ-SteNew  Cutaloau* 
for  what  sorts  to  plant.    Sent  tree. .  Address 

JOHN  S.  COLLIN&\  Moorestown.  New  Jersey, 
ei?- Also  JERSEY  KEB  PIGS.  aU  pure  stock. 


FARM  ACCOUNTS ! 

Every  Farmer  should  know  how  to  keep  them.  An  eetii-ely 
new  and  complete  system  just  deviHed,  Send  postal  for 
free  Circulars  to  the  Bryant  &  Strattoii  Business 
College,  108  S.  Tenth  Street,  Philadelphia.         [79-10-3in 


OJHIS  uviti^Jxa  jrna  r^j^tr*  ujxl.— oiiNUJ^i:!  \j\jci.£iii  lu  y^stj^xo. 


NOVEMBER,  1879. 


HIESTAND,  FubliBher. 


.•lOCOIKl    <lllSS    Ml 


CONTENTS  OF  THIS  NUMBER. 


EDITORIAL. 


. Hermiin  Streiker — Stonecutter  ami  Lepidopter- 


,Thc  Colli  Snap,  -        -        -        - 

Heavy  Snow  Storraa  Rerorted  i 

Ould  Weather  Uni  rccedciited. 


North— The 


.  A  Grape  Phenomenon, 162 

.-The  Memories  of  Bees, IC>^ 

.The  Poultry  Show, 1C3 

•A  Queer  Fish,     -        - T'" 

Golden  Carp  with  a  Doulilc  Caudal  Aypeiidagp. 

.  A  Natural  Fertilizer,  .  -  -  -  -  I'iS 
-The   "Lancaster  Farmer,"        .        -        -        -    Ki.i 

•  Monthly  Reminders,        -----        103 

COMMUNICATIONS. 

.  A  Visit  to  Herman  Streukei— Zj/tiio  D.  Zell,    -    163  |' 

.  Colorado— Pitl«in  and  its  Progress,         -        -        16+ 

A  new  Mining  lC»uii)  outhe  Western  Slojio  of  the 

Uookifs  that  Uivals  Loadsille  ia  Riches— H.  A.R. 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 

»An Experience  in  Draining — A.B.K.        -        -    164 

,  Coptis  Trifolia,  Salisb,     -----        16.5 

Three-lea ved  Gold  Th  read;  Mont h  Koot— J.  .svaiitfcr. 

ESSAYS. 

.California, 165 

SELECTIONS. 
•The  New  York  Seed  Leaf  Marlvet,        -        -        167 
Sales  for  the  week. 

•  Starting  a  Flock  of  Sheep,        -        -        -        -    168 

•  Pasture  Fields— Their  Renovation,  -  -  1C8 
.  Comfortable  Quarters  for  Stock,        -        -        -    168 

•  American  Butter  and  Cheese  in  England,      -        169 

•  Management  of  Horses, 169 

•What  a  Deed  of  a  Farm  Includes,  -  -  -  169 
« When  to  Sell,    -------    170 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 
'  Lancaster  County  Agricultural  and  Horticultu- 
ral Society,        ------        170 

Keport  on  Artificial  Fertilizers— Weather  Reports 
—Calif oruia— Heading  Trees  Low— Referred  Ques- 
tiouB — The  Most  Profitable  Crop — New  Business 
— Business  for  Next  Meeting— fc'ruits  on  Kxhibi- 


•Boiie  Dust, -         - 

•  Fall  Plowing  for  Corn, 

Storing  of  Fodder-Corn, 

HORTICULTURE, 
Care  of  Potatoes,   Beets,  Turnips,  Carrots  and 

I'arsnipi!, 

Cirafliiig    (irape-vines,        -        -        . 
Apples  and  Apple  Trees,        .        -        -        - 
FLORICULTURE. 
,Careof  Plants  in  Winter,  -        -        -        -        - 

I*  The  Abutilon, 

»The  Quinine  Flower, - 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 
,  Oatmeal  in  the  Household,     -        -        -        - 
.  Inspect  Your  Cellars,        .        .        .        -        - 
» Hints  for  the  Kitchen,  -        -        -        -        - 
.Facts  About  Flour, 

•  A  Cheap  lee  House,        -        -        -        -        - 

•  Rest  After  Ealing, 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES. 

.To  Clean  Wall  Paper, 


Poultry  Association,  ------    171 

Adjourued  Jlectiug— Reports  of  Committees— Un- 
fluished  Business- Now  Members— Stated  Meet- 
ing. 
,Thc  Beekeepers'  Association,  -  -  -  171 
Reports- WiiiteriDK  Bees— Hiuls  to  Beginners- 
Some  Mietakts- When  and  How  to  Start  an  Apiary 
Don't  be  Afraid  of  Being  Stung- Comb  Founda- 
tion—Italian Bees— Honey  Comb  Foundations. 

Society, 172 

I  Library— Papers  Read. 


.  Stewed  Pigeons,         -        -        -        - 
I  Rice  Snowballs,      -        -        -        -        - 

)  Rolls, 

Miss  Parlon's  Recipe  for  Angel  Cake,    - 
Rabbit  Cutlets,   ----- 

Welsh  Rare  Bit, 

Apple  Jelly,        ----- 

,To  Clean  Black  Lace,      -        -        -        - 

•  Ginger  Snaps,        -        .        -        -        - 
,Hair  Invigorator,      -        -        -        -        - 

A  Nice  Tea  Cake,        .        -        -        - 
Lemon  Cake,  ------ 

Baker's   Gingerbread, 

LIVE  STOCK. 
,  Straw  as  Food  for  Cattle, 
Feeding  Cattle,  --■"--- 
Sugar  Beets  for  Fattening  Swine,  - 
POULTRY. 
1  Winter  Care  of  Fowls,     -        -        -        - 

Poultry  Habits,    -        -        -        -        - 

Salt  for  Poultry,  -        -        -        - 

■  Eggs  from  Different  Breeds, 
.Whole  Wheat  for  Fowls, 
Literary  and  Personal,      -        -        - 


•  Linuaeati 
v___A«aiuc 


•  Fulton  Farmers'  Club,  -        -        - 

Exceedingly  luterestiug — Kxprcssin 
Ijitorary  Exercises- East  or  \^■e8t,  ' 
gramme  for  Next  Meeting. 

•  Meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Agricultur 

The  Law  of  T 


AGRICULTURE. 
Summer  Cultivation  of  Wheat, 
'  A  Mlitnre  of  Grasses, 
■  Changing  Seed,        -        .        .        - 


172 


NOTICE. 

A  VALUABLE  WORK. 

A  TREATISE 

HORSE  AND  HIS  DISEASES, 

By  DR.  B.  J.  KENDALL,  of  Enosburgh  FaUs.  Vermont. 

It  is  nicely  illustrated  with  thirty-five  engravings,  and  Is 
full  of  useful  horse  knowledge.  Every  horse  owner  should 
i»Te  a  copy  of  It. 

SEND  26  CENTS  FOR  A  COPY. 

Jnn-tf 


OFFICE, 

No.  0  North  Queen  Stfeet, 

LANCASTER,  PA.. 
THE 


Is  an  old,  well-egtabllshed  newspaper,  and  coutains  just  the 
news  desir.ablu  to  makef  it  an  niteresting  and  valuable 
Family  Ncwspiper.  It  Is  published  every  Wedne»d»y 
morning.  The  postage  to  subcribers  residing  outsideof 
Lancaster  county  is  paid  by  the  publisher. 
Send  for  a  specimen  copy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  pnlilished  every  aftoiuoon  (except  Sunday)  and  contains 
the  news  by  mail  and  telegraph  from  all  p.irts  of  the  world 
up  to  the  hour  of  going  to  press.  It  is  furnished  to  sub- 
scribers at  all  the  towns  and  villages  iu  the  county,  acces- 
sible by  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  Centii  a  Week, 
or  by  mall  at  rive  Dollnr«i  per  Year. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nort^A  Queen  St., 

LANCASXKK.  PA. 

SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER.  FA.. 
235  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

All  matters  ai-pf-rtaiuhiR  to  UNITED  STATES  or  CANA- 
DIAN TATENTS,  TRADK  MARKS,  aud  COrVRIOHTS. 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  succcbb  and  faithful 
attention  to  the  IntereHte  of  thoae  who  engage  his  service* 
are  fully  acknowledged  and  appreciated. 

PreUmiuary  examinationB  made  for  him  by  a  reliable  A»- 
iiatADt  at  Waahlngton,  without  extra  charge  for  drawing 
ur  dMOriptloo.  [79-l.tf 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


-pEJfNSYI-VAHriA  V 

XT     Trains  LEAVE  fie  Bei 

WE  TWARD. 

RAILROAD 

ot  in  this  city. 

Leave 

Lancaster. 

2:40  a.  m. 

5:00  a.  m. 
10:05  a.  m. 
10:10  p.m. 
11:05  a.m. 
11:07  a.m. 
10:50  a.  m. 

2:10  p.m. 

2:15  p.m. 

7:25  p.m. 
8:50  p.  m. 
11:30  p.m. 

Lancaster. 
12:25  a.  m. 

4:10  a.  m. 

5:20  a.  m. 

7:35  a.  m. 

9.10  p.  m. 

1:25  p.  m. 

2:00  p.  m. 

3:0.^  p.m. 

5:20  p.  m. 

6:25  p.m. 
ion,  west,  conn 
t,  at  9:35  a.  m 

tiou,  west,  cou 
10  p.  m.,  and  ru 
ou  Sunday,  w 

a  daily. 

NrHEDlJL,E. 

18  toUows : 
Arrive 
Hanisburg. 

7:50  a  m 

Hanover  Acconmiortatiou,. 
Mail  train  via  Mt.  .Toy 

Col.  10:40  a.  m. 
12:40  p.  m. 
12:55  p.  m 

Sunday  MaU 

12:40  p.  m. 

Frederick  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation.. 

Harrisburg  Enpress 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express' 

EASTWARD. 

Col.  2:45  p.  m. 

T:40  p.  m. 
Col.  8:20  p.m. 
8:40  p.  m. 
10:10  p.  m. 
12:45  a.  m. 

Philadelphia. 
3:00  a.  m. 

PhUadelphia  Expresst 

7:00  a.  m. 

Harrisburg  Express 

Columbia  Accommodation.. 

10:00  a.  m. 
12;0   p.m. 
3:40  p.m. 

,     5:00  p.m. 

Johnstown  Express ' 

5:30  p.m. 
7:20  p.  m. 

The  Hanover  Accommoda 
with  Niagara  Express,  wes 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommod 
ter  with  Fast  Liue,  west,  at  2 

The  Pacific  Express,  east 
stop  at  Middletown,  EUzabet 
ville. 

■The  only  trains  which  ru 

tUuns  daily,  except  Mond 

cts  at  Lancaster 
.,and  ^vill  run 

nectsatLaucas- 
UB  to  Frederick, 
aen  flagged,  will 
loyand  Landis- 

NORBECK  &  MILEY 


PRACTICAL 


Garriage  Builders, 

cox  &  CO'S  OLB  STA^D, 

Cornef  of  Duke  and  Vine  Stfeets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


THE  LATEST  I.MPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES, 

PHAETONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 


Prices  to  Suit  the  Times. 

REPAIRING  promptly  attended  to.    All  work 
guaranteed. 

79-2-  


Manufacturer  of 

Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc, 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 

Large  Stock  of  New  and  Second-hand  Work  on  hand, 
very  cheap.  Carriages  Made  to  Order.  Work  Warranted 
tor  one  year,  [19-1-1'i 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN  AND   FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CI.OCKS, 

JEWELRY! TABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Aruudel   I'iuted 

SPECTACLES. 

Kepairiu;^  stdcUy  uttended  to. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


AT  I.OWKST  I>OS.SIBL,E  PltH^ES, 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.  106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  Oppmite   J.iopnrd  Hoti-I. 


ESTABLISHED  1832. 


a.    SENTER    &  SONS, 

MaiiufacturerH  aud  dealers  iu  :\\\  kiuds  of  rough  and 
fluished 

x.X7im[B]e:r, 

The  best  .Sawed  .SHINOI.ES  iu  the  country.     Also  Sash, 
Doors,  Blinds,  Mouldings,  &c. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walnnt-sts. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 

Embracing  the  biBtory  aud  habits  of 

NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 

and  the  best  remedies  for  their  expulsion  or  extermination. 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  and  will  be  put  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  sufficient  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtained  to  cover  the  cost)  i 
accomplished. 
19-2- 


the  work  ( 


$77; 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

Plant  Trees  raised  in  this  couuty  and  suited  to  this  climate. 
Write  for  prices  to 

LOUIS  C.  LYTE, 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co.,Pa. 

Nursery  at  Smoketowu,  bIx  miles  enst  of  Lancaster. 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 

And  Manufncturers  of 

FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS, 

WAKEROOHS: 

102  East  King  St.,  Oor.  of  Duke  St. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

79-l-l'2] 


Special  Inducements  at  the 
NEW  FURNITURE   STORE 

W.  A.  HEINITSH, 

pro.     XS     1-2     :E.     2£.III8'<3-      S>I'H.:EU1', 

(over  Bursk's  Grocery  Store),  Laucanler,  Pa. 
A  genei-al  assor'raent  of  furnitureof  all  kinds  constantly 
on  hand.    Don't  forget  the  number. 
XS  X-2  XiASt  EClxxg  Stx-eet, 

Nov-ly]  (over  Bursk's  Giocery  Store.) 


For  Good  and  Cheap  Work  go  to 
F.  VOLLMER'S 

FURNITURE  WARE  ROOMS, 

No   309  NORTH  QUEEN  ST.. 

(Opposite  Northern  Market), 

Also,  all  kiuds  of  picture  frames.  iiov-ly 


GREAT  BARGAINS. 

A  largeassortmeut  of  all  kiuds  of  Carpets  are  still  sold  at 

CARPET  '"f^LL 'offf's.  SHIRK, 

No.  202   West  King  St. 

Call  aud  examiue  our  stock  aud  Batisfy  yourself  that  we 
can  show  the  largest  assortment  of  these  Brussels,  three 
plies  aud  iugrain  at  all  prices— at  the  lowoat  Philadelphia 
prices. 

Also  on  hand  a  large  aud  complete  assortmeut  of  Rag 

Satisfaction  gu:iranteed  bath  as  to  price  aud  quality. 
You  are  invited  to  call  aud  see  my  goods.    No  trouble  in 
Bhowiug  thom  even  if  you  do  not  want  to  purchase. 
Don't  forget  this  uotice.  You  cau  save  money  here  if  you 


^'ork. 


Particular  attention  give 
Also  on  hand  a  full  assortment  of   Counterpanes,  Oil 
Cloths  and  Blankets  of  every  variety  [uov-iyr. 


PHILIP  SCHUM,  SON  &  CO.. 

38  and  40  "West  King  Street. 

We  keep  on  hand  of  our  own  manufacture, 

GUILTS,  COVERLETS, 

^  COUNTERPANES,  CARPETS, 

Bureau  and  Tidy  Covers.  Ladies'  rurnishing  Goods,  No- 


PHILIP  SCHUM,  SON  &  CO.. 

-ly  Lancaater,  Pa. 


THE  HOLMAN  LIVER  PAD 

Cures  by  absorption  witliont  medicine. 

Now  is  the  time  io  apply  these  remedies.  They  will  do 
for  you  what  nothing  else  on  earth  cau.  Hundreds  of  citi- 
zens of  Lancaster  say  so.    Get  the  geuuine  at 

LANCASTER  OFFICE  AND  SALESROOM, 

22  East  Orange  Street. 

Nov-lyr  


C.  R.  KLINE. 

5ATT0F(NEY-AT-|:iAW, 

OFFICE :    15  NORTH  DUKE  STREET, 

LA-NCA-STKR.    FA.. 

NOT-ly 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA.,  NOVEMBER,  1879. 


Vol.  ZI.  No.  11. 


Editorial. 


ORGANIZATION. 

Its  Order,  Its  Organic  Forms  and  Its  Power. 
It  has  often  been  written,  und  as  ollen  re- 
peated, that  "  Order  is  /tfai'cn's  first  law,'''' 
and,  we  niiglit  lejiitiinately  add,  that  true 
order  cannot  possibly  exist  witlioiiL  ort^aniza- 
tion.  The  most  obvious  nicauiiii;  of  ori,Mni- 
zation  is  simply  the  arrangfiiiciit  of  the  ele- 
mentary parts  and  prineiplfs  of  things,  in  a 
consecutive  series  of  order,  and  HuoukIi  the 
combined  energies  of  this  order  tho.se  ele- 
mentary principles  are  ultimatcd  in  visible 
forms.  There  are  no  energies  within  the 
realms  of  the  created  universe  that  are  not 
subordinated  to  the  principles  of  order  tlirough 
organic  manipulations.  The  Creator  of  ihe 
universe  himself  works  not  arbitrarily,  but  by 
orderly  means.  Every  creiited  thing  on  the 
earth,  in  the  waters  '"under  the  earth,"  and 
in  the  starry  canopy  above  the  earth,  is  obedi- 
ent to  the  organic  laws  through  which  it  was 
brought  into  sentient  being,  and  which  both 
stimulates  and  limits  all  its  active  energies. 
Every  beast  of  the  lield,  every  fowl  of  the  air, 
every  fish  of  the  sea,  and  the  innumerable 
hosts  of  creeping  things  "that  pass  through 
the  paths  of  the  sea,  "are  all  in  harmony  with 
the  order  in  which  they  were  created,  and 
their  organic  functions  are  a  reflex  of  the  or- 
ganized energy  through  which  they  "live,  and 
move,  and  have  their  being." 

The  inanimate  world  is  equally  subjected  to 
such  organic  laws  iis  are  adapted  to  its  de- 
velopment and  perpetuation,  and  its  progress 
is  proportioned  to  its  harmony  with  those 
organic  laws.  There  is  not  a  rock,  a  tree,  a 
shrub,  a  flower  or  a  perfume  that  is  not  the 
subject  of  orgauic  laws,  and  they  all  find  their 
highest  development  in  their  obedience  to 
those  laws;  and  so  far  all  is  "very  good." 
But,  there  is  one  exception  in  the  scale  of 
creation,  and  that  exception  embraces  the 
human  family— the  highest  intelligence  and 
the  crowning  work  of  the  whole.  Man  alone 
is  restive  under  the  rules  of  order  which  have 
been  instituted  for  his  supremest  good,  both 
physically  and  morally.  He  alone,  under  the 
simulation  of  liberty,  places  himself  in  an  at- 
titude antagonistic  to  order;  he  alone,  except 
for  selfish  or  ulterior  ends,  is  unwilling  to 
subordinate  himself  to  organic  rule,  he  alone 
is  indifferent  to  that  unity  which  is  the  result 
of  thorough  organization'.  "I  care  for  nobody 
and  nobody  cares  for  me,"  becomes  the  sel- 
fish motto  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  human 
family  ;  in  the  degree  and  to  the  extent  that 
they  imagine  themselves  independent  of  the 
ministrations  of  their  fellow-men  ;  a  senti- 
ment that  is  entirely  oppo.sed  to  the  very 
spirit  of  creation— opposed  to  every  law  of 
preservation  and  perpetuation — opposed  to 
social  organization  and  progressive  de\elop- 
ment — opposed  to  anything  and  everything 
that  does  not  culminate  in  self. 

In  all  the  vast  catalogue  of  created  objects, 
there  is  no  one  thing  that  is  entirely  indepen- 
dent of  all  other  things.  Every  single  thing 
is  immediately,  mediately  or  remotely,  depen 
dent  upon,  and  connected  with  some  other 
thing,  for  its  comfort,  its  convenience,  and 
its  progressive  development.  And,  in  the 
category  of  vast  creation  no  subject  assumes 
the  attitude  of  isolated  independence  more 
pertinaciously  than  man,  even  when  he  may 
be  in  a  condition  of  the  most,abject  surveilence. 
On  the  one  hand  he  may  ignore  or  resist  the 
restrictions  of  organic  rule  :  whilst  on  the 
other  hand  he  may  be  the  veriest  slave  of 
impulse,  or  the  victim  of  the  most  tyrannical 
habits.  In  a  quasi  jiolitical  sense  man  may 
be  said  to  be  independent,  but  he  is  not  so 


morally,  socially,  or  physically,  as  he  stands 
related  to  his  Creator,  or  his  fellowman.  It 
is  true,  that  ni;in  may  be  inlniisically  fn^  .so 
far  as  thai  fiT.-d.iia  nMatrs  to  tlic  ,;x.'n-isc  of 
his  own  moral  and  spiritual  volition,  liut, 
extrihsiciilly,  he  is  only  in  rational  IVeedoin  iii 
proportion  as  tlie  trutk  makes  him  free.  All 
libertv  independent  of,  or  beyond  this  stand- 
ard, 18  lial)le  to  digeiiorate  into  .selfishness, 
irresponsibility,  recklessness  and  lieeiise,  and 
these  attributes  are  adver.-e  In  those  organ- 
ized forms  of  aeiinii,  and  llmse  mutual  con- 
cessions, 80  essentiiil  to  lieallliy  luogress. 
Destroy  the  cohesive  attraction  through 
Inch  the  physical  universe  is  organized  and 
continued  in  orderly  se(iuence,  and  the  whole 
structure  would  lieeoine  disintegrated,  and  its 
component  atoms  \v(jnld  lly  off  in  so  many 
tangents  throuiih  illimilalilc  space.  Destroy 
the  .social  and  fraternal  (•ohesion  through 
which  the  human  race  is  bound  together,  and 
the  column  of  human  atliliation  would  topjile 
over,  and  men  would  become  moral  and 
social  "fugitives  and  vtigabonds"  on  the 
earth.  Nothing  is  really  a(:eom|)lished— no 
permanent  and  widely  dill'used  progress  is 
made  through  independent  individual  action 
alone  :  Even  in  cases  where  the  outward  ap- 
pearance seems  otherwise,  there  are  unseen 
sympathies,  aids  and  aspirations,  which  give 
impulse  and  energy  to,  and  determine  the 
quality  of  external  actions.  The  greatest,  the 
most  potent  and  rapid  strides  in  human 
progress,  are  those  that  are  made  in  man's  col- 
lective and  organized  capacity;  and  those  tire 
most  effective  where  human  energies  are  sub- 
ordinated to  those  rules  of  order  which  iire 
deemed  essential  to  effective  organization. 
The  true  principles  of  order  involve  energetic 
unitt/,  and  an  abnegation  of  self  for  the  sake 
of  the  common  good.  Where  these  principles 
prevail  there  is  not  an  integer  in  the  social 
compact  that  will  become  the  subject  of  pre- 
meditated neglect.  Every  function  will  be 
exercised— every  interest  will  be  served;  and 
whatever  other  reward  may  incidentally 
follow,  the  chiefest  compensation  will  be  the 
delight  afforded  in  the  performance  of  the  use. 
Social  organization  is  deemed  essential  to 
the  prosperous  advancement  of  all  the  various 
interests  which  may  distinguish  social  pro- 
gress. All  enterprises,  all  objects,  and  all 
pursuits  avail  themselves  of  the  benefits  of 
organization,  and  adopt  general  and  special 
rules  of  order  for  their  better  government. 
In  proportion  as  such  rules  are  fiiithfuUy  ob- 
served in  their  inherent  integrity, in  that  same 
degree  will  the  organization  adopting  them  be 
successful.  These  principles  of  action  do  not 
contemplate,  nor  do  they  involve  any  species 
of  coercion,  any  farther  than  the  individual 
may  feel  disposed  to  impose  such  coercion,  or 
self-compulsion,  upon  himself.  Hut  an  actiui- 
esence  in  them  may  be  cultivated  or  become  a 
habit.  It  is  nothing  to  tlie  credit  or  the  hap- 
piness of  any  individual  that  he  scorns  organic 
rule— that  lie  repudiates  social  government, 
or  that  he  assumes  an  attitude  of  selfish  inde- 
pendence. As  well  might  any  of  the  mem- 
bei-s  of  his  body  repudiate  the  vital  energies 
of  his  heart— the  ccntresttmce  of  his  very 
being — and  proclaim  its  independent  isolation. 
This  thing  of  regarding  ourself  iis  a  mere 
looker  on,  and  taking  no  interest  at  all  in  the 
various  enterprises  that  are  entered  into 
among  men  for  the  advancement  of  their 
social  and  moral  condition,  or  of  withholding 
all  sympathy  from  their  efforts,  is  likely  to 
narrow  down  the  minds  of  men  into  selfi.sh 
exclusiveness.  This  state  of  mind  is  the  fruit- 
ful source  of  prejudices  and  aversions  towards 
others,  without  an  adequate  cause.  It  does 
not  realize  our  connection  with  the  source 
from  whence  the  wliole  family  of  man  origi- 
nated, nor  the  harmony  of  action  and  reac- 


tion. It  does  not  seem  to  comprehend  that 
there  can  be  no  true  happiness  where  there  is 
isolation  and  loneliness.  When  anything  is 
separated  I  rom  the  part  to  which  it  belongs 
there  is  alua>s  nmre  or  less  imperfect  action 
and  a  (endeiH^v  to  unite  tigain  ;  and  while 
that  tendeiiryeontinues  there  is  more  or  less 
unrest  and  in.  ilieieiicy.  In  social  union  there 
is  the  tiue^i  hai'i'iness,  because  there  is  then 
a  freer  eir<-ulatiou  of  all  the  vitalizing  ele- 
ments and  properties  that  uplift  and  stimulate 
prou'iess,  an<l  a  more  liarnioiiious  action  of 
huinan  unity  is  recognized.  These  sentiments, 
of  course,  do  not  contemiilate  those  oi)po8ite 
extremes  through  which  social  union  and  sym- 
ptithy  degenerates  into  clanship,  proliigaci-, 
and  indolence  or  idleness. 

J5ut,  intermediate  between  tlie  true  forms  of 
order,  and  their  absence  altogether,  is  a  con- 
dition which  has  been  appropriately  styled 
the  ''unter  of  disorder,"  and  this  status  is  un- 
consciously assumed  by  many  of  the  organiza- 
tions of  the  country.  It  is  true,  that  no  one 
wills  it  so,  and  at  heart  all  may  desire  the  suc- 
cess of  the  organization  in  which  they  liold 
an  irresponsilne  membership;  but,  in  its  out- 
ward manifestation  such  is  the  effect  in  all 
cases  involving  a  unity  of  energy  for  their 
success.  Look  abroad  in  the  world  and  see 
what  has  been  accomplished  by  associated 
efforts  and  energies.  From  the  smallest  or- 
ganized association- if  it  be  only  a  partner- 
ship of  two  or  three— up  to  the  largest— as  for 
instance  an  army— an  efficient  exercise  of 
their  functions  is  based  upon  an  adhesion  to 
the  principles  of  order.  In  a  certain  sense 
every  human  being  thiit  has  attained  the  age 
of  civil,  nttional,  and  moral  accountability,  is 
a  society  in  its  least  form,  and  from  this  indi- 
vidual form  we  pass  up  through  the  various 
degrees  of  associated  organizations,  until  we 
embrace  the  entire  universe;  all  are  subject  to 
the  rules  of  order,  and  without  such  rules, 
things  would  be  ever  sttindiiig  in  each  other's 
way,  and  nothing  would  be  in  process  of  suc- 
cessful accomplishment. 

Political  parties  understand  the  potency  of 
organization,  ;ind  their  general  efficiency  and 
often  theirsuecessdepeiidsentirely  upon  their 
laithl'uhii  -->  lo  tlie  rules  lliathave  been  institu- 
ted for  their  ^ovennnent.  Even  when  parties 
lieeoinedisinFegrated,  or  split  up  into  factious, 
the  first  st'eps  taken  by  the  several  factions 
are  toward  a  reorganization  of  the  various 
elements  into  separate  iiarties  ;  for  they  know 
full  well  that  without  oiganiziition  they  can- 
not contend  with  those  who  are  antagonistic 
to  them  with  any  hope  of  success.  The  very 
church,  all  leligfons  and  educational  institu- 
tions, manifest  their  powers  through  organi- 
zation; and  although  all  power  upon  earth  is 
from  the  Deity  alone,  yet  that  Deity  does  not 
iict  arbitrarily  ;ind  immediately,  but  through 
the  medium  of  organic  instrumentalities,  and 
according  to  eternal  principles  of  order. 

All  philanthropic  movements;  all  financial 
enterprises  ;  all  great  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments ;  all  public  improvements  ;  all  in- 
corporated communities,  and  all  scientific,  his- 
torical and  profession  institutions  may  be  iu- 
cludi'd  in  the  same  category,  and  their  prac- 
tical efliciency  will  depend  upon  their  unity, 
their  energy,  their  integrity,  and  the  perfec- 
tion of  their  organization. 

Amidst  all  this  physical,  political,  meclian- 
ical,  intellectual  and  moral  machinery  of  the 
universe,  is  there  no  example  in  it  fit  for  the 
imitation  of  the  laborious  tillers  of  the  soil  ? 
Must  that  great  and  paramount  liuman 
interest,  which  underlies,  and  fundamentally 
underpins  the  moral,  civil  and  social  structure 
of  tlie  world,  continue  to  occupy  a  subordi- 
nate jiosition,  or  to  be  kicked  about  like  a 
footbtill  by  till  the  others,  for  the  want  of  ef- 
fective organization,   or  because    it  cannot 


162 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[November, 


subordinate  itself  to  tlie  simple  rules  of  order 
that  are  necessary  to  its  unity  or  its  efficiency 
as  a  body  politic  ?  It  is  true,  efforts  towards 
a  closer  and  more  compact  organization  of  the 
farming  public  have  been  made  all  over  the 
union,  but  still  the  masses  stand  aloof.  The 
masses  refrain  from  taking  hold  of  the  various 
enterprises,  and  assist  in  bearing  the  respon- 
sibility. The  masses  seem  to  be  restive  under 
rules  of  order.  If  it  be  true  that  "order  is 
heaven's  first  law,"  the  inference  would  seem 
to  be  a  rational  one,  that  men  should  subordi- 
nate themselves  to  it,  or  bring  themselves  in 
harmony  with  it,  as  a  preparation  for  those 
beatitudes  in  that  world  where  order  perpetu- 
ally reigns— and  selfish  aspirations  vanish 
away. 

HERMAN  STRECKER, 

Stonecutter  and  Lepidopterist. 

"There  are  a  great  many  people  in  Reading 
who  do  not  know  that  the  finest  collection  of 
Lepidoptera  (butterflies  and  moths)  in  Ameri- 
ca is  in  their  own  city.  The  gentleman  who 
has  brought  together  and  preserved  this  mag- 
nificent array  of  lepidoterous  insects  is  Mr. 
Herman  Strecker,  who  among  his  fellow- 
citizens  passes  for  a  mechanic  with  artistic 
taste,  but  among  scientists  is  recognized  as  an 
enthusiastic  entomologist.  He  is  a  modest, 
unassuming  man,  whose  studies  have  been  in 
a  field  which  a  few  patient,  thoughtful,  perse- 
vering specialists  have  all  to  themselves. 
Even  the  number  of  people  who  can  take  an 
interest  in  their  work  is  comparatively  small. 
Mr.  Strecker  earns  his  living  by  making 
memorial  monuments,  and  those  who  have 
visited  the  Charles  Evans  Cemetery  at  Read- 
ing need  not  be  told  that  he  is  a  sculptor  as 
well  as  a  mechanic.  He  has  devoted  his 
leisure  hours  to  the  study  of  entomology  and 
to  the  gathering  of  specimens  of  the  different 
varieties  of  butterflies  and  moths  from  all 
parts  of  the  earth,  until  he  has  a  museum 
such  as  cannot  be  duplicated  on  the  "Western 
Continent.  In  this  issue  of  The  Press  will  be 
found  an  interesting  sketch  of  Mr.  Strecker 
and  his  museum." 

"We  clip  the  above  from  the  Philadelphia 
Press,  and  only  regret  that  our  limited  space, 
and  our  peculiar  specialty  prevents  us  from 
inserting  the  long  and  interesting  article 
alluded  to  in  the  above  extract.  Mr.  Strecker 
is  yet  comparatively  a  young  man  (we  were 
married  two  years  before  he  was  born)  and  is 
now  presumably  in  the  prime  of  life,  although 
so  far  as  our  experience  goes,  the  collection, 
care  and  keeping  of  a  large  cabinet  of  such 
fragile  objects  as  Lepidopterous  insects  are  is 
about  as  great  an  "elephant"  as  could  possi- 
bly be  committed  to  human  hands,  and  if 
there  were  no  compensations  in  the  pursuit  of 
such  a  subject  itself,  it  involves  a  patient  and 
persevering  labor  that  the  average  of  man- 
kind will  hardly  ever  appreciate  or  requite, 
and  unless  a  man  is  endowed  with  more  than 
ordinary  powers  of  physical  recuperation,!  here 
is  suflicient  "wear  and  tear"  in  it  to  make 
him  prematurely  old.  It  is  unfortunate  forsuch 
men,  and  also  for  science,  that  in  so  many 
instances  they  belong  to  that  class  who  are 
compelled  to  follow  incompatible  secular  oc- 
cupations in  order  to  sustain  themselves  and 
their  families— burning  the  midnight  oil,  and 
laboring  while  others  are  resting  or  carousing 
in  the  lap  of  luxury,  and  "half  the  world  is  in 
solemn  darkness  hung."  But  "time  makes 
all  things  even,"  and  Providence  "ruleth  over 
all." 

THE  COLD   SNAP. 

Heavy  Snow  Storms  Reported  in  the  North. 
The  Cold  Weather  Uuprecedented: 
"A  despatch  from  White  Hall,  New  York, 
says  a  heavy  snow  storm  prevailed  all  day  on 
Monday  along  the  western  shore  of  Lake 
Champlain.  At  Plattsbnrg  about  ten  inches 
of  snow  has  fallen;  at  Point  Henry  and  Crown 
Point  twelve  inches;  also  ten  inches  at  Kere. 
This  is  the  most  severe  storm  which  has  ever 
prevailed  there  at  this  season  of  the  year. 


There  was  also  heavy  snow  in  New  Eng- 
land and  Nova  Scotia.  In  New  Hampshire 
and  "\^ermont  the  fall  in  places  was  from  15  to 
20  inches,  and  railroad  travel  was  delayed. 

A  despatch  from  Buffalo  says  the  wind  and 
snow  storm  on  the  lakes  on  Sunday  nighl  was 
very  severe.  Some  minor  disasters  are  re- 
ported. 

A  severe  snow  storm  prevailed  throughout 
Ontario  on  Sunday  night  and  Monday  morn- 
ing, and  in  some  sections  there  is  one  foot  of 
snow  on  a  level.  The  trains  on  the  various 
routes  are  running  on  time. 

A  despatch  from  "Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  says 
an  ice  bridge  has  been  formed  on  the  river 
there,  and  people  are  crossing  on  foot.  The 
weather  is  clear  and  cold." 

Tlie  foregoing  gleanings  from  various  news- 
paper and  telegraphic  sources,  we  clip  from 
the  columns  of  tlie  JVeto  Era  of  the  4tli  inst., 
as  indicative  of  the  initiation  of  "bleak  No- 
vember." How  very  different  from  the  char- 
acter of  "frosty  October,"  which  up  to  the 
18ch  was  not  only  unprecedentedly  mild,  but 
was  absolutely  warm,  if  not  really  hot.  What 
the  character  of  the  weather  may  be  before 
the  month  is  out,  we  can  tell  better  at  its  end- 
ing than  we  can  now,  but  this  far  it  has  some- 
what shaken  our  faith  in  those  prognostica- 
tions which  so  confidently  presaged  a  "very 
mild  November."  Somehow  both  September 
and  October  "slipped  through"  without 
bringing  the  usual  characteristic  "equinoc- 
tials." Can  it  be  possible  that  they  have 
been  transferred  to  November  V  At  the 
meeting  of  the  society  on  Monday  the  3rd 
inst.,  one  of  the  members  reported  that  "the 
cold  snap"  had  arrested  the  progress  of  the 
"Hessian-fly."  This  is  then  the  good  result- 
sug  from  an  autumnal  cold  snap,  immediately 
following  an  unusually  warm  one.  Not  only 
the  Hessian-fly,  but  also  many  other  noxious 
insects  may  come  to  grief  through  the  inter- 
vention of  excessive  cold,  and  if  the  farmer 
could  now  contrive  to  turn  over  the  soil  with 
the  plough  the  benefit  of  the  cold  snap,  in  this 
respect,  would  be  greatly  increased.  "It  is 
an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  good,"  is  an  old 
saying,  but  is  also  a  true  one. 

A  GRAPE  PHENOMENON. 
Through  our  neighbor,  Mr.  David  Hartman, 
of  North  Queen  street,  we  were  presented 
with  two  fine  and  luscious  clusters  of  Concord 
grapes,  from  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Ellmaker,  of 
Salisbury  township,  Gap,  Lancaster  county. 
For  the  22d  of  October  the  freshness  and 
flavor  of  these  grapes  were  remarkably  pre- 
served. Although  both  of  these  clusters  grew 
on  the  same  vine,  yet  there  was  a  marked 
difl'erenCB  in  their  size  and  also  in  the  inten- 
sity of  their  taste  and  flavor.  On  the  one 
cluster  the  berries  were  pretty  uniformly 
three  inches  in  circumference  (a  few  were  a 
trifle  more  and  a  few  a  trifle  less,)  whilst  on 
the  other  cluster  the  berries  did  not  average 
more  than  one  and  three-quarter  inches  in 
circumference.  The  smaller  berries  were  the 
sweetest  and  the  most  pronounced'  in  their 
flavor.  This  distinction  has  often  been  ob- 
served before,  betwoen  large  and  small  fruit 
of  the  same  variety,  in  apples,  peaches,  pears 
and  strawberries,  as  well  as  in  grapes,  and 
especially  in  the  mammoth  specimens  cultiva- 
ted in  Kansas  and  California,  when  compared 
with  the  same  varieties  cultivated  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  it  has  also  been  noticed  in  large 
and  small  specimens  of  the  same  variety  in 
the  same  locality.  In  unusually  large  fruit — 
where  it  greatly  exceeds  the  normal  size- 
quantity  is  gained  at  the  expense  of  quality. 
"Volume  is  gained,  but  the  inherent  sweetness 
and  flavor  are  in  the  same  proportion  diluted. 
The  extra  gain  is  mainly  water,  and  although 
this  may  not  always  be  the  case,  it  is  apt  to 
be  the  case  when  the  transition  is  sudden. 
But  why  the  sudden  difference  in  size  ?  So 
far  as  we  understand  the  representations 
made  to  us,  the  case  is  simply  this.  Last 
year,  or  last  spring,  Mr.  Ellmaker  laid  down 
a  lateral  and  covered  it  with  earth  for  a 
distance  of  five  or  six  feet  from  the  base  of  the 
main  vine,  leaving  a  few  buds  above   the 


ground  at  the  end.  From  these  three  vigor- 
ous scions  sprung,  and  he  pruned  the  two 
weakest,  letting  the  strongest  one  stand. 
This  was  practically  a  "survival  of  the  fittest." 
This  vigorous  shoot  bore  a  few  clusters  of  ab- 
normally large  grapes,  whilst  the  main  vine 
bore  its  usual  crops.  The  reasons  for  this 
are  obvious.  The  layer,  in  addition  to  draw- 
ing upon  the  parent  stem,  at  each  joint  made 
roots  of  its  own,  and  thereby  increased  its 
supply  of  the  sustaining  and  developmental 
elements.  Moreover,  buried  in  the  surface 
mould,  and  more  susceptible  to  the  influence 
of  heat  and  moisture,  it  had  feeding  opportu- 
nities not  accarded  to  the  parent  vine,  whose 
roots  may  have  penetrated  the  less  nutritious 
subsoil,  or  clay,  or  ground  beneath.  Separate 
that  layer  from  the  parent  vine,  and  plant  it 
elsewhere,  with  the  usual  volume  of  root,  and 
it  is  very  probable  that  its  fruit  may  relapse 
to  its  normal  size,  although,  with  generous 
and  judicious  cultivation,  it  is  po.ssible  that  a 
larger  variety  may  be  developed.  Cultivation 
has  much  to  do  in  increasing  the  size  and 
quantity  of  any  variety  of  fruit,  even  where 
it  does  not  enhance  its  quality.  We  are 
thankful  for  the  grapes,  and  relished  them  all 
thd  same,  whether  this  be  a  true  explanation 
of  the  phenomenon  or  not. 

THE  MEMORIES  OF  BEES. 

No  doubt  bees  remember  where  they  once, 
or  oftener,  have  been,  and  especially  so  when 
they  have  been  able  to  make  a  "good  find"  of 
honey  at  such  place,  or  places;  but  there  is  a 
grave  question  whether  they  have  any  appre- 
ciation of  "probabilities" — whether  they  have 
any  instinctive  perception  of  seasons — whether 
beyond  mere  temperature,  they  can  tell  win- 
ter from  summer.  Let  an  unusually  warm 
day  occur,  either  in  autumn,  winter  or  spring, 
and  the  bees  will  seek  the  places  they  visited 
before  the  last  "cold  snap"  in  great  numbers 
— the  wariner  and  the  more  continuous  the 
warmth,  the  greater  the  numbers — and  free- 
ly and  eagerly  appropriate  the  saccharine 
matter  such  places  aflbrd;  and  this  is  especi- 
ally the  case  about  grocery  stores,  cider  mills 
and  presses,  or  warehouses  where  sugar  and 
molasses  is  stored.  As  the  first  and  last  of 
these  places  furnish  the  mellifluous  substance 
they  are  in  search  of  all  the  year  round,  per- 
haps it  requires  very  little  sagacity  on  their 
part  to  find  the  way  back  to  them  as  often  as 
they  are  physically  vivified  by  intervening 
warm  days  during  the  winter  season.  But  we 
noticed  them  in  considerable  numbers  in  our 
leafless-  grape  arbor  on  the  10th  of  this  pres- 
ent November,  just  as  we  noticed  them  there 
during  July,  August  and  September,  or  as 
long  as  a  single  grape  remained  on  the  vines. 
It  is  not  our  purpose  to  discuss  the  question 
here,  "Do  bees  sting  grapes?"  (of  course,  by 
this  people  mean,  do  bees  cut  the  skins  of 
grapes  ?)  any  farther  then  to  say,  that,  not- 
withstanding all  the  testimony  2yro  and  con 
during  the  past  two  years,  the  question  seems 
to  be  still  in  an  unsettled  state.  Our  grape 
arbor  is  forty-five  in  length  and  has  a  southern 
exposure.  It  is  covered  with  vines  from  one 
end  to  the  other,  but  on  the  10th  inst.,  it  had 
hardly  a  dozen  leaves  on  it,  and  these  were 
crisp  and  ready  to  fall  at  the  firs^;  blast  of 
wind.  •  About  noon  of  said  day  the  sun  shown 
out  warm  and  genial,  and  at  2  o'clock,  when 
we  made  the  observation,  the  bees  were  then 
exploring  the  naked  vines  from  one  of  the 
arbors  to  the  other,  just  as  they  had  explored 
them  when  they  were  hanging  full  of  ripe 
fruit,  and  they  continued  to  do  so  for  at  least 
half  an  hour,  or  longer  ;  and  they  seemed  to 
be  restive  and  chagrined,  when  they  found 
their  search  a  barren  one.  Now,  it  perhaps 
is  not  at  all  surprising  that  they  should  have 
remembered  that  they  had  found  grapes  there 
on  former  occasions,  but  that  they  should  ex- 
pect to  find  them  there  at  this  season,  is  little 
short  of  a  reflection  upon  that  instinctive 
quality  which  they  in  other  respects  so  largely 
possess — about  equivalent  to  a  man  taking  hia 
eun  and  going  out  to  shoot  bull-frogs  on  a 
mild  day  in  December,  January  or  February, 
months  in  which  sportsmen  have  no  expecta- 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


163 


tion  of  finding  that  kind  of  game.  Of  course 
they  also  visited  every  belated  flower,  for  in 
our  garden  flowers  are  blooming  all  winter 
(notably  a  Black  Hellebore)  but  we  have 
grapes  only  a  few  weeks  in  the  year. 

THE  POULTRY  SHOW. 

What  we  would  like  the  readers  of  The 
Farmer  to  know,  is  that  they  should  do  all 
they  can  to  encourage  and  assist  the  Poultry 
Association  in  their  first  exliibition,  which  is 
to  be  held  in  Locher's  Building,  Centre 
Square,  Lancaster,  on  January,  2d,  3d,  .")th, 
6th  and  7th.  1880.  The  members  of  tlie 
association  are  doing  all  they  can  to  make  the 
exhibition  a  success,  and  if  it  receives  the  en- 
couragement from  tliose  outside  of  the  socie- 
ty that  it  does  by  tlie  members  it  will  certain- 
ly be  a  success.  We  think  it  will,  and  trust 
our  readers  will  help  make  it  so.  Don't  think 
the  only  encouragement  you  can  give  is  to  go 
and  see  it;  but  if  you  have  any  poultry  you 
think  is  good,  enter  it  tor  a  premium;  make 
the  exhibition  a  big  one.  If  your  neiglilwr 
has  any  fine  poultry  tell  him  to  enter  liis.  The 
Fmiitr;/  W'/rkl,  says  : 

"Poultry  raieiug  to  advantage  is  no  louger  a  prob- 
lem, as  to  its  paying  results,  where  the  operator  at- 
tends to  his  work  sensibly,  and  j»ives  to  this  under- 
tajtintf  the  same  care  and  judicious  management  , 
that  any  business  enterprise  requires.  Hundreds  and  ! 
thousands  of  our  people  have  proved  this  all  over 
the  country,  and  at  no  time,  within  our  Itnowlcdu-e, 


ous  prosperity  in  this  direction  than  all  the  Indica- 
tions afford  at  the  present  time." 

This  is  true,  no  doubt.  Improve  your  stock, 
get  better  chickens  and  it  will  pay  you  better 
in  the  end.  The  way  to  do  this  is  to  visit  the 
exhibition;  see  what  is  there;  get  eggs  from 
the  owners  of  some  of  the  fine  chickens;  raise 
fine  cliickens  yourselves  and  yon  will  find  that 
it  will  pay.  The  Society  ofters  five  hundred 
dollars  in  premiums,  and  besides  a  number  of 
special  premiums  have  been  ofiered  by  various 
parties.  Talk  the  show  up;  come  and  see  it 
yourself;  tell  your  neighbor  to  come,  and  see 
if  a  visit  to  it  does  not  end  in  your  improving 
your  stock  of  poultry  next  year. 

A  QUEER   FISH. 

Golden  Carp  with  a  Double  Caudal  Append- 
age. 
Mr.  Jno.  C.  Long,  of  this  city,  is  the  posses- 
sor of  not  only  a  "queer  fish,"  but  also  an  ex- 
traordinary fisli,  and  the  extra  consists  in  an 
unusual  caudal  development.  It  is  a  fine 
active  specimen  of  the  common  Golden  Carp, 
or  "Gold  Fish"  {Cj/j;n'iH(S(H/ratMs,)  and  is  pro- 
vided with  both  a  vertical,  and  a  horizontal 
caudal  fin,  and  from  the  adroit  manner  in 
which  it  manipulates  this  compound  append- 
age, it  seems  to  possess  more  than  ordinary 
balfincing  and  motive  powers.  The  caudal 
fin  or  tail  consists  of  three  lobes,  two  of  which 
are  horizontal,  and  the  third  one  is  vertical, 
and  is  of  the  same  length,  and  immediately  in 
the  middle  between  the  other  two.  Of  course 
this  is  an  abnormal  development,  for  we  know 
of  no  species  that  normally  possesses  this  rare 
combination,  but  our  knowledge  of  fishes  is 
too  limited  to  say  positively  that  there  are 
none.  But  generally  the  caudal  fin  is  vertical. 
It  is  rarely  that  we  see  an  animal  malforma- 
tion so  symmetrical.  There  must  be  some 
cause  for  this  departure  from  the  ordinary 
tail-type,  but  it  would  be  u.seless  to  enter  into 
speculations  upon  tlie  subject,  and  therefore, 
like  the  five-legged  frog  and  other  animal 
monstrosities,  we  must  record  it  as  a  lusm 
naturoc.  Nor  do  we  think  that  the  fish  itself 
has  any  reason  to  regret  it  (always  provided 
that  a  fish  has  the  attributes  of  reason  or 
regret,)  but  on  the  contrary,  if  a  fish  is  en- 
dowed with  any  degree  of  emotion,  it  must 
certainly  be  as  proud  of  this  caudal  appendage 
as  a  "dog  with  two  tails. "  If  that  fish  should 
happen  to  die— which  the  Fates  forefend— we 
should  like  to  possess  it  immediately  there- 
after, as  a  contribution  to  the  museum  of  the 
Linnoean  Society.  In  any  event,  we  trust 
that  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  preserve  it 
in  vinegar,   as   was  the  case  with  the  rare 


"five-legged  frog"  last  summer;  through 
which  the  bones  were  softened  and  the  flesh 
reduced  to  a  mass  of  incohesive  pulp. 

A  NATURAL  FERTILIZER. 
Those  of  our  patrons  and  readers  who  may 
be  in  want  of  a  fertilizer  to  recuperate  their 
soils,  will  be  instructed  what  to  get  and  when 
to  get  it,  by  consulting  the  advertisement  of 
Mr.  D.  P.  Bitner,  which  will  be  found  in  the 
third  column  on  the  second  page  of  this  num- 
ber of  our  Journal.  "The  fossil  Marl  of 
New  .Jersey  "  is  no  "villainous  compound," 
but  is  a  natural  product  of  the  marl  beds  of 
New  Jersey,  and  has  an  established  and  un- 
questionable reputation,  of  long  standing  and 
increased  appreciation.  The  marls  are  ricli 
in  dissolved  bone,  phosphoric  acid,  potash, 
silicic  acid  and  other  fertilizing  elements,  and 
impart  a  permanent  richness  to  the  soils  that 
receive  them.  Mr.  Bitner  is  the  agent  for 
Lancaster  county,  and  is  too  well  known 
among  its  people  to  engage  in  an  enterprise 
that  would  discredit  the  reputation  which  he 
has  estaV)lished  as  a  fair  business  man.  With 
oar  increasing  population  and  enhanced  pro- 
duction, the  demands  we  make  upon  our  soil 
cannot  be  honored  without  increased  fertili- 
zation ;  therefore  our  farmers  will  be  natural- 
ly looking  about  for  the  "cheapest  and  the 
best;"  a  rare  combination  which  is  more  like- 
ly to  be  realized  in  a  native  element  than  in 
one  that  is  artificial,  under  all  circumstances. 
Even  if  it  should  be  no  better  than  others,  the 
price  at  which  it  can  be  obtained,  involves 
less  risk  and  loss  to  make  a  trial  of  it,  than 
any  other  fertilizer  in  the  market.  We  com- 
mend the  subject  to  the  favorable  considera- 
tion of  our  readers. 

THE  "LANCASTER   FARMER." 

This  journal  for  October,  1879  (for  reasons 
perhaps  unavoidable,)  comes  to  hand  this 
month  a  little  later  than  the  usual  time,  but 
as  its  literature  is  mainly  of  a  standard  char- 
acter, its  issue  a  little  earlier  or  a  little  later 
does  not  make  any  material  difference. 
Although  this  number  does  not  contain  as 
much  original  matter  as  usual— which  may 
be  due  more  to  the  delinquency  of  (^ntribu- 
tors  than  to  either  editor  or  publisher— yet 
from  the  solid  character  of  its  selections  and 
the  interesting  proceedings  of  our  local  socie- 
ties, it  is  a  number  of  more  than  usual 
interest  to  the  farmer  and  to  the  housekeeper. 

On  the  whole,  it  contains  seventy-five 
articles,  editorial,  contributional,  commimi- 
cational  and  selected,  the  monthly  proceed- 
ings of  four  local  societies,  twenty  household 
receipts,  and  twelve  literary  notices,  an 
amount  of  solid  literary  matter  rarely  found 
in  a  journal  of  its  size.  The  Farjier  has 
no  huge  block-letters,  no  widely  leaded  edi- 
torials, and  no  unsightly  advertisements  dis- 
tributed through  its  columns  (in  which  self- 
interest  is  often  more  manifest  than  any 
consideration  for  the  reader)  on  the  contrary, 
it  is  compact  all  through,  and  when  bound 
makes  a  respectable  looking  quarto  volume, 
both  inside  and  outside,  which  may  be  profit- 
ably perused  at  any  time.  It  avoids  as  much 
as  possible  merely  ephemeral  literature,  and 
desires  to  make  a  permanent  record.  It  pre- 
sents a  rare  opportunity  for  the  intelligent 
and  progressive  farmers  of  Lancaster  county 
to  place  themselves  on  record  in  a  permanent 
form — a  form  easily  preserved  and  easily  re- 
ferred to  on  any  future  occasion. 

In  publishing  the  proceedings  of  the  dift'er- 
ent  societies  and  clubs  in  Lancaster  county, 
it  is  doing  more  to  "uplift  the  liring  estima- 
tion" of  the  county,  than  any  other  journal 
published  within  its  boundaries,  and  this  is 
necessarily  so  from  the  fact  that  its  contents 
and  enunciations  are  reflected  from  no  merely 
partisan  plane;  and  through  its  medium  noth- 
ing is  sent  abroad  in  relation  to  the  county 
that  reflects  upon  its  moral,  its  political  or  its 
religious  integrity.  The  man  who  reads  The 
Farmer  twenty,  fifty  or  a  hundred  years 
hence  will  not  have  to  blush  for  the  "crooked- 
ness" of  his  ancestry,  but  under  the  influence 
of  those  mysterious  cycles  which  often  char- 


acterize the  progress  of  eventful  time,  he  may 
rediscover  something  that  is  beneficial  for  him 
to  know  and  which  intervening  generations 
may  have  reglected  or  forgotten. 

"How  is  The  Farmer  sustained  ?"  is  an 
inquiry  more  often  and  more  anxiously  made 
by  people  abroad  than  bv  those  at  home.  Out 
of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants of  Lancaster  county,  the  half  of  whom 
at  least  are  farmers,  the  subscription  list  of 
their  local  journal  should  number /iff  thousand 
at  least;  aiid  it  will  attain  to  tliat  number  as 
soon  as  the  spirit  of  that  query — "Is  not  this 
the  carpenter's  son  V"— made  nearly  nineteen 
hundred  years  ago  is  dissipated,  and  men 
begin  to  look  at  home  and  within.  The  atti- 
tude of  tlie  agricultural  interests  of  tlic  county 
and  country  is  assuming  sucira  prominence 
that  they  cannot  well  afford  to  dispense  with 
their  local  representative  journals.— Ayricofa 
in  Examiner  and  Express. 

MONTHLY  REMINDERS. 

In  the  Middle  States,  the  season  for  garden- 
ing is  drawing  to  a  close;  indeed,  it  is  limited 
to  the  preservation  of  roots,  and  the  hardier 
vegetables  for  winter  use,  and  such  operations 
as  may  be  preparatory  to  another  season. 
Now  is  a  good  time  to  transplant  fruit  and 
ornamental  trees,  shrubery,  <!tc.  On  loamy 
and  light  land,  we  prefer  decidedly  fall  plant- 
ing; on  heavy  soil,  or  where  the  subsoil  isclay, 
thus  retaining  the  moisture  near  the  surface, 
Spring  man  be  a  more  favorable  season;  and 
it  is  also  generally  esteemed  the  best  for  ever- 
greens. 

Asparagus  beds,  winter  dress.  Beets  dig 
and  store.  Cabbages  place  in  safe  quarters. 
Carrots  dig  and  store.  Celery  earth  up 
finally,  drain  vacant  grounds  if  needful. 
Ilorsc-radish  dig  and  store  for  convenience. 
Onions  in  store,  examine.  Parsnips  di^  for 
convenient  access.  Salisify  ditto,  &c.  From 
the  Ist  to  the  '20th  of  this  month,  according  to 
locality,  the  Winter  supply  of  turnips  should 
be  cared  for.— Lamlreth^s  Rural  Register. 

We  welcome  to  our  columns  again  our  es- 
teemed contributor,  A.  B.  K.  of  Safe-Harbor, 
who,  through  physical  indisposition,  has  been 
absent  from  them  for  some  months.  We  hope 
that  his  health  lias  been  permanently  restored, 
and  that  he  may  be  able  to  scatter  abroad  the 
seeds  of  agricultural  knowledge  for  many 
years  to  come.  We  know  his  contributions 
have  been  much  esteemed  by  our  knowing 
readers,  who  will  be  equally  grateful  for  his 
return.  AVe  sorrow,  however,  to  think  that 
the  physically  and  intellectually  strong  men 
of  our  county  are  so  remiss,  and  cast  the  bur- 
dens of  literary  responsibility  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  weak. 


Communications. 


For  The  Lancasteh  Fabmeb. 

A  VISIT  TO  HERMAN  STRECKER. 

Being  in  the  city  of  Heading,  recently,  I 
recollected  that  it  was  the  home  of  Herman 
Strecker,  whose  name  is  known  wherever 
the  study  of  Natural  Science  is  prosecuted  or 
recognized.  Yielding  to  the  desire  to  see  this 
indefatigable  student  of  nature,  I  consulted 
a  directory  and  found  Herman  Strecker,  mar- 
ble cutter,  number  and  street  of  his  residence 
designated.  Upon  inquiring  at  his  hou.se,  we 
were  directed  to  the  marble  yard,  where  we 
met  him  in  working  dress,  much  dusted  with 
marble  dust.  He  is  tall,  good  figure,  eyes 
blue-gray,  heavy  beard  and  moustache,  two- 
thirds  gray,  though  but  forty-one  years  of  age. 
He  has  made  a  speciality  of  the  order  Lepi- 
doptera. 

The  butterflies  and  moths  of  this  order 
must  be  ranked  amongst  the  most  elegant 
objects  found  in  insect  life,  the  delicacy  of 
form  of  most  of  the  species,  the  charming 
contrast  of  colors  in  the  wings  of  others, 
while  some  seem  studded  with  pearls,  or  gems, 
or  gold  or  silver.  None  who  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  the  almost  unrivaled  col- 
lection of  this  gentleman  will  wonder  that  he 


164 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[Novembei', 


is  au  enthusiast,  a  devotee.     I  was  .so  fortu- 
nate as  to  be  invited  to  inspect  his  treasures; 
his  museum  is  quite  private.     Time  with  him 
is  of  the  utmost  value;  he  worlds  ten  hours 
every  day  for  a  salary;  every  evening  is  spent 
in  the  study,  never  retiring  before  one  or  two 
o'clock,  and  he  has  continued  tliis  practice 
for   twenty-five  years.     lie  began  to   collect 
when  a  boy;  his  fascinating  study  became  his 
ruling   passion.     Earns   money    to   get    the 
means  to  enrich  his  museum  and  library.    He 
has  expended  twenty  thousand  dollars  on  his 
cabinets  of  specimens.     The  library  is  very 
valuable,  containing  the  old  and  new  in  scien- 
tific   works    in  Latin,    Greek  and  English. 
Nothing  has  been  paid  for  tine  bindings,  blue 
and  gold,  and  gilt-edged  volumes;  many  are 
in  paper  covers;  the  study  is  a  small  apart- 
ment and  looks  smaller  from  the  way  it  is 
crammed.     Books    ranged    on  shelves    from 
floor  to  ceiling  around  three  sides  of  the  room, 
the  cases  of  drawers  containing  his  specimens 
are  ranged  through  the  centre  of  the  room, 
only  space  enough  between  to  open  the  door; 
the  foremost  case  encroaches  on  the  writing- 
table  so  closely  that  a  segment  of  a  circle  is 
cut  out  to  admit  of  opening  the  door,  the  table 
being  of  white  pine,  without  paint,  baize   or 
oil-cloth;  no  uselessly  fine  furnitm-e  has  been 
spoiled,  for  the  cost  of  it  would  procure  some 
rare  exotic  of  a  moth.     I  was  shown  three 
specimens  of  Papilio  antennce,  which  sometime 
since  cost  ninety  dollars,  and  the  pleasure  de- 
rived from  their  possession  is  keener  than  so 
much  money  invested  in  Queen  Anne  styles 
of  furniture.     Some  of  the  insects  are  interest- 
ing because  of  their  rarity.     A  C'olias  Boothii 
was  taken  in  the  second    Ross  expedition. 
This  is  probably  the  only  specimen  extant;  it 
is    not    very   pretty;    dun   color    with   dots 
and  markings    of  a   darker    shade.     Every 
known  or  accessible  part  of  the  globe  is  repre- 
sented: Finland,  China,  Japan,  Africa,  Aus- 
tralia,   Central    and   Soutli    America.    This 
collection  numbers  sixty  thousand  specimens, 
and  is  third  largest  in  the  world  of  the  order 
Lepidoptera    only.     In    the    collection    from 
("hina  is  seen  those  wonderful  imitations  of 
the  leaves;  the  mimicry  is  quite  startling;  even 
the  midrib  and  reticulated  venation  are  preser- 
ved; what  seems  a  twig  to  which  a  pair  or  two 
of  dead  leaves  are  attached,  or  small  bunch  of 
oak  leaves,  is  a  perfect  insect;  even  the  tliighs 
are  foliaceous,  some  are  bright  green.     It  is 
asserted  by  the  natives  where  they  are  found 
that  these  insects  are  all  green  at  first  and 
change  color  with  the  foliage,  but  they  are 
different  species.     They  have  the   significant 
family    name  of  Phyllidce.     The  subject    of 
this  article,  whose  labors  are  very  imperfectly 
noted,    for    his    correspondence,    home  and 
foreign,  is  very  largo,  and  I  have  no  list  at 
hand   of    his  publications— is  a  noteworthy 
example    of    what    might    be    accomplished 
in  a  lifetime.      Never    one  of   leisure;    en- 
gaged  ten  hours  every  day  in  the   marble- 
yard,  all  this  labor  has  been  accomplished  in 
the  hours  usually   given  to  recreation    and 
sleep.     But  how   does  his  health  stand  this 
strain  of  eighteen  hours  out  of  twenty-four  ? 
Very  much  better  than  if  addicted  to  nightly 
visits  to  the  taproom.     He  says  his  health  is 
perfectly  sound.     One  sort  of  work  seems  to 
be    an  antidote    against  the  exhaustion   or 
fatigue  of  another.— Lydia  D.  Zell,  Oct.,  1879. 

COLORADO. 


A    New  Mining   Camp  on  the  Western  Slope 
of  the  Rockies  that  Rivals  Leadville 
in  Riches. 
Pitkin,  Colorado,  Oct.  27, 1879. 
This  is  a  new  mining  camp  of  recent  discov- 
ery,  situated  on   Quartz  creek,    about    five 
miles  from  its  head,  in  the  county  of  Gunni- 
son, and  about  twenty-five  miles  northeast  of 
Gunnison  City.     It  is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  convenient  town  sites  on  the  western 
slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.    Most  of  the 
discoveries  in  this  region  have  been  made 
since  February  last,  some  of  which  a/e  ex- 
ceedingly promising.    The  best  mines  discov- 


ered thus  far,  lie  within  a  radius  of  about 
four  miles.  The  character  of  the  ore  as  far  as 
developed,  is  remarkable,  and  exceeds  in  rich- 
ness those  of  the  famous  Leadville  Camp. 

Among  the  most  promising  mines  are  the 
"Fairview,"  recently  sold  to  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Slaght,  of  Michigan,  assays  from  which  run 
un  into  the  thousands,  and  the  "Silver  Islet," 
anew  strike,  showing  wonderful  mineral,  at 
a  few  feet  below  the  surface.  There  have 
been  assays  made  from  all  parts  of  this  won- 
derful vein,  and  the  general  average  was 
found  to  be  between  160  to  170  ounces  to  the 
ton.  Among  the  other  promising  properties 
maybe  mentioned  the  "Silver  Age,"  acontin- 
uation,  or  extension  of  the  Silver  Islet,  a  mine 
which  will  doubtless  prove  equal  to  the  latter; 
the  "Red  Jacket,"  the  "Black  Cloud,"  the 
"New  Dollar,"  the  "Iron  Cap,"  and  the 
"Terrible;"  the  latter  a  lode  "rich  in  free 
gold,  and  carrying  at  the  same  time  a  remark- 
able rich  vein  of  silver  and  galena. 

The  ores  found  thus  far  at  Pitkin  are  easily 
treated,  and  are  not  what  are  properly  termed 
"dry  ores."  A  number  of  sites  for  smelting 
works  have  already  been  taken  up,  and  there 
are  parties  here  now  who  are  going  to  put  up 
a  "smelter"  this  fall.  One  of  the  great  ad- 
vantages of  this  mining  camp  is  its  accessibil- 
ity. AU  the  roads  to  the  south  are  open  for 
travel,  and  loaded  teams  can  come  in  and  go 
out  in  every  month  in  the  year.  According 
to  present  indications  there  is  not  a  doubt  but 
that  we  sliall  have  a  booming  town  here 
before  the  opening  of  the  coming  spring. 
About  six  miles  from  here  are  the  "Hot 
Springs,"  equal  in  medicinal  qualities  to  those 
of  Arkansas.  A  wagon  road  is  now  being 
made  to  that  point,  and  capitalists  who  visit 
Pitkin  can  avail  themselves  of  a  fine  opportu- 
nity of  enjoying  the  benefits  of  these  springs. 
The  owners  of  the  hotel  are  also  building  a 
road  from  their  mines  down  to  town,  and 
erecting  buildings  over  their  mines,  so  as  to 
keep  the  work  going  all  winter.  The  mines 
are  at  an  elevation  of  about  12,000  feet  alwve 
sea  level.  Prospecting  will  soon  cease  for  the 
winter,  and  those  who  intend  to  remain  in  the 
mountains  will  soon  get  in  the  necessary 
supplies  to  last  until  spring,  and  work  their 
prospects.  In  order  to  work  a  prospect 
during  the  winter  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
have  a  good,  comfortable  house  or  cabin  over 
the  works.  Judging  by  surface  indications, 
this  is  said  to  tar  exceed  any  portion  of  the 
Gunnison  country,  and  surpasses  any  portion 
of  Colorado.  The  Fairville  bids  fair  to 
be  equal  to  anything  in  Colorado  now,  except- 
ing the  famous  "Bassick,"  of  Rasilea.  What 
Leadville  is  to  the  Eastern  Slope  Pitkins  will 
no  doubt  be  to  the  Western. 

When  I  arrived  here  last  spring  from  Lead- 
ville, there  was  hardly  half  a  dozen  cabins, 
whilst  now  there  are  nearly  a  hundred,  the 
larger  number  of  which  have  been  built  since 
the  first  of  August  last.  Since  folks  on  the 
outside  have  convinced  themselves  of  what  is 
here,  capital  has  made  a  path  directly  to  us 
on  all  sides.  The  Denver  and  South  Park 
Railroad  made  their  survey  through  here 
some  time  ago,  and  their  intention  is  to  push 
the  road  through  to  Pitkin  as  quick  as  they 
possibly  can. 

About  fourteen  miles  from  Pitkin  is  the 
Fuonichi,  which  receives  the  waters  of  Quartz 
creek,  and  is  also  a  tributary  of  the  Gunnison. 
This  is  one  of  the  finest  hay  bottoms  in  the 
Gunnison  country,  and  its  waters  abound  in 
trout.  The  stream  is  settled  up  from  its 
mouth  to  its  head  by  ranchmen,  and  tiiey 
furnish  butter  and  other  farm  produce  of  an 
excellent  quality.  Such  game  as  deer,  ante- 
lopes, bears  and  elk  abound  in  considerable 
numbe)-s,  to  say  nothing  aliout  the  feathered 


kin  was  formerly  called  QuaHzville,  a  name 
that  was  temporarily  derived  from  Quartz 
creel;  on  which  it  is  located. 

From  the  rajiid  manner  in  which  towns 
grow  up  in  this  State,  when  they  are  located 
in  the  vicinity  of  paying  mines,  and  from 
present  indications,  it  would  not  be  irrational 
to  prophesy  that  Pitkin,  before  long,  will  be 
a  county  seat,  and  literally  a  "city  on  a  hill," 
having  an  altitude  greater  than  any  other  in 
the  American  Union.  H.  A.  R. 


Contributions. 


writing  our  camp,  and  those 
around  Pitkin  generally,  are  assuming  a  bet- 
ter appearance  than  they  have  had  since  their 
foundation.  The  way  to  reach  Pitkin  and 
our  camp  from  Leadville,  or  the  east,  is  by 
way  of  Alpine,  across  the  main  range. 

It  is  presumed  that  every  one  at  all  posted 
in  the  geography  of  Colorado,  knows  that  Pit- 


For  Tb 

AN  EXPERIENCE  IN  DRAINING. 
The  need  and  usefulness  of  draining  low  or 
wet  soils  is  denied  by  none,  and  no  doubt 
there  are  hundreds  of  acres  in  many  sections 
that  would  have  this  desirable  improvement 
made  but  for  the  diflBculty  of  gettmg  the  drain 
tiles. 

It  seems  to  be  one  of  the  anomalies  of  busi- 
ness enterprises  that  drain  tile  makers  do  not 
advertise  their  wares.  How  many  farmers 
have  ever  seen  grain  tiles  advertised  in  their 
regular  weekly  paper?  Even  the  agricultu- 
ral papers  seldom  contain  such  advertise- 
ments. 

There  are  many  excellent  works  on  drain- 
ing, and  it  is  very  desirable  before  commen- 
cing operations  to  consult  such  a  work,  on 
account  of  the  many  hints  which  may  be 
gathered.  But  with  the  exception  of  large 
areas  of  vei-y  level  land  it  is  not  at  all  neces- 
sary to  employ  surveyors  or  engineer  to  set 
out  stakes  for  the  depth  of  the  ditch  or  the 
course  of  the  drain.  Waring's  "Draining 
for  Profit  and  Health"  is  a  cheap  work  and 
will  answer  every  purpose  of  those  of  a 
higher  price. 

About  an  acre  of  our  meadow  was  so  low 
and  swampy  that  nothing  would  grow  on  it 
except  calamus  and  some  coarse  sedges. 
When  we  once  attempted  to  plow  a  surface 
drain  in  order  to  lead  off  the  water  so  that  we 
could  plow  up  this  part  and  destroy  the  cala- 
mus the  water  ran  in  a  stream  after  the 
plough, .and  we  had  quite  a  difficulty  at  some 
places,  as  the  ground  was  so  soft  and  yieldiug 
that  the  team  became  alarmed  and  did  not 
want  to  cross  such  spots.  We  then  concluded 
to  drain  it  the  succeeding  spring. 

The  first  difficulty  we  experienced  was  to 
gain  an  outlet  of  sufficient  depth,  as  the  brook 
that  flows  along  the  lower  end  of  the  meadow 
was  scarcely  eighteen  inches  below  its  surface, 
and  a  drain  should  be  at  least  four  feet  deep 
to  work  to  good  advantage.  The  neighbor 
below  us  now  came  to  our  help  by  deepening 
his  part  of  the  brook  to  guard  against  an  over- 
flow, and  we  were  enabled  to  start  in  at  a 
depth  of  about  three  feet;  this  soon  increased 
to  the  required  depth  as  the  ditch  advanced. 
We  determined  by  eyesight  the  greatest 
depression,  and  run  the  drain  along  that, 
using  stakes  solely  to  give  as  much  straight 
line  as  possible,  and  nothing  to  mark  the 
depth.  The  slope  of  the  bottom  was  gotten 
by  digging  a  few  feet  of  ditch  nearly  as  deep 
as  the  bottom  of  that  last  finished,  and  then 
taking  a  good  strong  hoe  and  working  out  the 
bottom  to  nearly  a  dead  level,  allowing  only 
slope  enough  to  cause  a  gentle  flow;  after  the 
ditch  was  four  feet  deep  more  slope  was 
allowed,so  as  to  keep  at  about  this  depth,or  a 
little  more,  according  as  the  surface  varied, 
the  object  being  to  keep  the  slope  of  the 
bottom  as  uniform  as  possible,  so  as  to  facili- 
tate the  laying  of  the  drain.  The  drain 
should  be  laid  as  fast  as  a  sufficient  length  is 
dug  or  the  banks  may  cave  in,  this  caving 
being  more  difficult  and  more  disagreeable 
t  J  remove  than  the  original  excavation,  as  it  in 
a  short  time  becomes  like  mortar.  The  width 
of  tlie  ditch  at  the  top  was  made  about 
eighteen  inches  and  the  bottom  about  ten 
inches,  though  the  top  can  be  made  as  narrow 
as  twelve  Indies  and  the  bottom  six  or  eight 
inches,  but  it  is  unpleasant  to  work  in  such 
narrow  quarters. 
It  is  often  recommended  that  draining  be 


1879.J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


165 


iloue  in  tiiue  ofu  droulli,  aiul  no  doubt  it  is 
nuicli  pleasiinti'i-  working  in  the  ditch  at  sucli 
a  timt  than  in  the  spriui;  when  the  soil  is  full 
of  water.  But  unless  .vou  are  one  of  the 
heroic  sort,  that  detenumes  what  should  be 
done  and  then  does  it,  do  the  draining  in  the 
spring:  or  anv  ollu-r  time  that  the  soil  is  full 
of  wati'r,  for  then  you  can  tell  exactly  what 
is  needed.  If  the  drainiiii;  is  done  in  adrouth 
you  may  extend  tlie  drain  only  so  far  as  to 
where  water  will  cease  to  come  into  the  ditch,, 
and  the  ne.xt  spring,  or  the  lirst  wet  spell  you 
will  discover  that  your  work  has  not  been 
carried  as  far  as  it  should  have  been. 

Xot  Ining  able  to  get  drain  tiles  without 
much  tnmlile,  recourse  was  had  to  the  folio w- 
injj  method  : 

A  .saw-miller  was  directed  to  rip  some  inch 
hoards  into  three  incli  and  four  inch  .strip.s, 
and  these  were  nailed  loucther  in  the  form  of  a 
sloped  troufih  (V),  nailinj;  the  strips  so  thatthe 
inside  of  the  trouuh  was  three  inches.  Had 
the  strips  been  laid  on  each  other  it  would 
have  made  a  light  joint  which  was  to  be 
-guarded  auain.st.  \u  old  leather  trace,  less 
than  a  (piartcr  of  an  inch  thick  was  therefore 
cut  into  inch  scpiare  pieces,  and  the  pieces 
laid  between  the  edges,  thus  leaving  a  place 
along  the  whole  length  of  the  trough  for  the 
water  to  enter.  These  troughs  were  then  laid 
in  the  drain,  sharp  end  down,  at  the  places 
where  two  troughs  came  together  to  make  a 
joint;  short  pieces  of  trough  (twelve  inches  or 
less  long)  were  laid  under  so  that  the  ends  of 
the  main  trough  mbt  about  in  the  middle. 
This  prevented  either  end  from  sinking  below 
the  level  of  its  adjoining  neighbor.  Strips 
from  five  to  si.\  inches  wide  were  used  as  a 
cover  to  these  troughs,  taking  care  that  the 
joints  of  the  cover  did  not  meet  those  of  the 
troughs,  the  idea  l)eing  to  always  i)reak 
jomts,"  as  it  is  termed.  As  soon  as  this 
cover  WHS  on,  the  earth  was  tilled  back,  and  a 
drain  was  had  that  worked  as  nice  as  any 
drain  ever  made.  The  only  objection  against 
it  is  that  it  will  rot  out  in  the  course  of  some 
years,  while  a  drain  made  of  earthen  tiles  is 
practicably  indestructible. 

But  why  was  the  trough  laid  iii  with  the 
sharp  end  down  V  Would  it  not  bo  (jp,sier  to 
lay  down  the  wide  board  first  and  then  invert 
the  trough  over  this  ? 

It  would  be  easier  to  lay  it  in  this  manner 
but  it  was  done  in  the  other  way  for  this  pur- 
pose :  If  the  broad  l)oard  was  laid  down  and 
the  trough  inverted  on  this,  the  surface  of  the 
bottom  I'f  the  drain  jiipe — as  it  might  be 
termed  now — would  be  some  "3  inches  or  more 
wide  and  when  little  or  no  rain  had  fallen  for 
some  time,  the  water  would  be  extremely 
shallow  on  this  bottom,  and  move  very  slug- 
gislily,  allowing  all  sand  and  other  heavy  for- 
eign matter  to  sink  to  the  bottom, and  in  time 
close  up  the  drain.  On  the  other  hand  with 
the  sharp  part  down  a  very  little  water  soon 
makes  a  brisk  curri-nt  and  carries  all  such  siit 
to  the  outlet.— ^1.  B.  K. 

COPTIS    TRiFOLIA,  SALISB, 

Three-leaved  Gold  Thread;   Mouth  Root. 

This  interesting'  littU^  plant  derives  its  name 
from  the  (Jreek  woid  '-/vi/jz/.s"  to  cut,  allud- 
ing to  the  divided  leaves,  and  its  eoimnon 
English  name  "Gold-thread,"  from  its  long, 
bright  yellow,  bitter  fibres  of  the  root.  The 
leaves  are  evergreen,  shining,  obovate-wedge- 
form,  sharply  toothed,  obscurely  3-lobed,  scape 
1-tlowered,  sepals  5-7,  petal-like,  deciduons. 
Petals  5-7,  small,  club-shaped,  hollow  at  the 
apex,  stamens  15-25.  Pistils  3-7  on  slender 
stalks.  Pods  divergent,  with  three  parted 
root-leaves,  tlowers  small,  white.  An  old  au- 
thority says  the  name  Coptis  is  derived  from 
the  Greek  word  sKimla,  in  reference  to  the  cut 
leaves.  Mr.  Salisbury  changed  its  generic 
name  given  it  by  Linnajus,  which  was  IkUf- 
horiia  trifnliun,  liifVering,  however,  in  having 
a  caducous  corolla,  &c..  forming  anew  genus. 

Tliis  plant,  although  much  sought  for,  is 
rarely  found  outside  of  shady  and  cold  boggy 
situations.  1  met  with  it  at  Ilauch's  Gai) — 
above  the  cold  springs  and  other  sections  of 


Lebanon  cc.  Pa.  We  are  informed  that  the 
dark  sphagnous  swamps,  which  iu  the  north- 
ern parts  of  our  continent  are  covered  with  a 
perpetual  shade  of  firs,  cedars  and  pines,  are 
the  favorite  haunts  of  this  elegant  little  ever- 
green. The  oldest  situations  seem  to  favor 
its  growth,  and  it  flourishes  alike  in  the  mo- 
rasses of  Canada  and  Siberia.  On  our  highest 
mountain  tops  it  plants  itself  in  little  bogs 
and  watery  clefts  of  rock,  and  perfects  its 
fructilicalion  in  the  short  summer  allowed  in 
tho.se  situations.  Our  Alpine  regions  of  the 
White  mountains  foster  it  among  the  Uiaptn- 
sia  and  Azuhvs  of  Lajiland,  the  blue  Mf„zi- 
esla,  the  IVa-nml  .Mpine  Hnlr„s  and  other 
plants  of  liigh  iicirthcrn  latitudes:  it  forms  the 
link  of  botanical  connections  between  the  two 


mis 


Here  we  have  a  delicate  plant  to  all  appear- 
ance, thai  will  not  abide  hot-liouse  culture, 
nor  open  sunshine — but  has  to  be  sought  for 
in  solitary,  damp  and  cold  situations;  hence  I 
presume  it  is  hard  to  raise  or  cidtivate.  .John- 
son in  his  Gardener's  Dictionary— says  of 
Coptis— (the^  only  mentioned  species  "tri- 
fnlia,")  •■Tlie  iiKits  ot  this  plant  are  used  in 
the  United  .^lalcs  medicinally,  under  the 
name  of  'Gold    Thread."     Ilanly,  herbaceous 


perennial,  division  of  the  roots  and  seeds; 
sandy,  peaty  soil;  requires  the  protection  of  a 
cold  1)11  in  winter."  I  cannot  see  why  it 
should  need  such  a  protection.  As  to  its 
medicinal  ]n-oiierties.  Dr.  J.  Bigelow  in  his 
American  Medical  Botany  (1817)  says  :  "The 
root  of  this  plant  is  a  pure  intense  bit- 
ter, scarcely  modified  by  any  other  taste.  In 
distillation  it  communicates  no  decided  sensi- 
ble (piallty  to  water.  The  constituent  with 
which  it  most  abounds  is  a  bitter  extractive 
matter;  soluble  both  in  water  and  alcohol.  It 
seems  destitute  of  resinous  or  gummy  por- 
tions, since  the  residuuni  from  an  evaporated 
solution  In  alcohol  is  lead ily  dissolved  in  water, 
an<l  vice  ver.sa.  It  Is  devoid  of  astringency 
when  chewed  iu  the  month,  anil  it  gives  no 
indication  of  the  presence  of  tannin  or  gallic 
add,  when  tested  with  animal  gelatin,  or 
with  sulphate  of  Iron."  Dr.  B.  gives  other 
tests  and  experiments.  "Of  this  arll<de,"says 
the  Doctor,  "larger  ipiaidities  arc  sold  in  the 
druiTLiists'  shops  in  Boston.  Ilian  of  almost  any 
indigenous  pnxluctlon.  Tlie  demand  for  it 
arises  from  its  sui)pose(l  elticiicv  a-  a  local  a))- 
lilication  in  aphthous,  and  dthri  iilreral  ionsof 
the  mouth.  Its  reputation,  iiouevii-.  in  this 
case  is  wholly  unmerited,  since  it  po.ssesses  no 
astringent  or  stimulating  quality,  by  which  it 


can  act  on  the  ulcerated  siwts."  Now,  there 
are  sometimes  otlierelements  come  in  |)lay,that 
may  be  new  to  our  experience;  hence  even  a 
I)opular  belief,  usually  has  some  foundation. 
He  admits,  however,  that  "Aa  a  pure  tonic 
hitter,  capable  of  Htrengtheinng  the  viBCera 
and  promoting  digestion,  it  is  entitled  to  rank 
with  most  articles  of  that  kind  now  in  use. 
Its  character  resembles  that  of  Geiilian, 
(^wmsid  and  ('nlwiiho,  being  a  simple  bitter, 
without  aroma  or  astringency.  The  tinc- 
ture, made  by  digesting  half  an  ounce  of  the 
bruised  roof  in  eight  ounces  of  diluted  alcohol, 
forms  a  preparation  of  a  line  yellow  color, 
possessing  Hit  whole  bitterness  of  the  pinnl. 
In  case  of  dyspepsia  and  convalescents  it  is 
very  satisfactory.  Ten  to  twenty  grains  in 
substance,  is  a" dose  and  rests  well  on  the 
stomach.  Dr.  Grillith  says  the  CojttiH  teita  is 
peculiar  to  India,  and  is  much  esteemed 
among  the  natives  as  a  tonic  and  stomachic, 
and  from  the  experiments  made  with  it  by 
Mr.  Twining  It  would  appear  to  justify  the 
high  character  that  has  Ik-cu  bestowed  upon 
it;  and  adi's,  it  very  closely  resembles  the 
Ci)])lh  trifiilia  In  Its  sensible  qualities  and 
medical  properties.  This  may  appear  of  no 
special  interest  to  farmers  in  general,  but  no 
one  meeting  this  elegant  little  plant  could 
help  to  notice  it;  and  the  beautifully  golden 
yellow  roots,  when  taken  uj),  would  arrest  at- 
tentlou,  and  a  desire  to  know  more  about  it ; 
to  me,  in  mv  bolanlcal  rambles,  known  only 
from  having  seen  It  lignrcd  and  de8eril)ed, 
so  that  when  I  met  with  it,  it  afforded  me 
as  much  joy  as  if  I  had  found  an  humble, 
worthy  friend  in  a  solitary  place,  of  whom  I 
had  heard  much,  and  desired  to  make  him  a 
pcreonal  acqnaintencc. 

I  a.ssure  you  it  was  a  welcome  contribution 
to  my  dry  garden — and  oh,  how  eagerly  I 
gathered  a  number  of  specimens,  and  what 
satisfaction  it  afforded  me  to  press  and  pre- 
serve the  specimens,  in  ray  herbarium.  Those 
who  observe  and  seek  to  know  the  plants  that 
flaunt  themselves  by  the  wayside,  or  seek  the 
solitude  and  reveal" themselves  only  to  those 
that  seek  them  out,  this  description  with  its 
illnstration  may  not  be  unacceptable  as  an 
object  lesson.— J.  Siauffa: 


Essays. 


*CALIFORNIA. 

That  the  world  moves  is  as  manifest,  if  not 
more  .so,  on  the  distant  shores  of  the  Pacific, 
as  it  is  anywhere  el.sc  on  the  continent.  The 
lieople  are  infused  with  a  goaheadtiveness, 
such  as  you  fail  to  find  in  the  Ea.st.  It  un- 
questional'ly  is  dueto  the  extraordinary  energy 
and  perseverance  of  the  people,  that  they  have 
made  such  advances  in  the  several  industries, 
esiiecially  iu  the  practical  pursuit  of  agricul- 
ture. 

Not  more  than  a  generation  ago  the  now 
great  State  of  California  was  yet  a  wilder- 
ness, liittle  did  the  pioneer  then  dream  of 
how  civilization  would  spread  itself  and  in 
the  near  future  convert  the  then  almost  un- 
known teiTitory  into  the  prosnerini;  and  flour- 
ishing young  empire  which  California  really 
is  to  day. 

Topographically  speaking,  Califi  rnia  is  the 
most  peculiar  State  in  the  American  Union 
to-day.  No  other  State  can  lx)ast  of  so  many 
natural  divisions. 

California  to-day  contains  within  her  geo- 
graphical limits  '.IO,ROO,(W(  acres— almost  one 
hundred  million  acres.  A  piece  of  territory 
three  and  a  half  times  as  larire  as  the  Stiitc  of 
Pennsylvania,  lar<:e  enough  to  make  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  Lanea-xfer counties.  Although 
she  is  a  sma'i  empire  within  herself  in  her  ex- 
tent of  territory,  there  is  no  other  siiotof  that 
size  in  the  whole  world  that  can  boast  of  the  • 
same  number  of  varied  interest*,  that  com- 
prises so  many  natural  divisions,  interspersed 
bv  so  many  natural  wonders  and  curiosities. 
This  Empire  State  of  the  Pacific  coast  has 

•Head  Ixsforetbe  Lancaster  Couuty 
ticultural  Sooiel  J.  by  John  H.  Landli 


166 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  November, 


her  isolated  volcanic  peaks,  her  towering 
domes  of  granite,  steep  and  awe-inspiring 
mountains,  deep  and  fertile  valleys,  desolated 
plains,  spacious  bays,  navigable  rivers,  beauti- 
ful waterfalls,  inexhaustible  mines,  forests  of 
giant  trees,  such  as  are  nowhere  else  seen— 
these,  all  these  are  hers. 

She  is  yet  a  youthful  state,  liaving  been  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  in  1850,  only  29  years 
ago.  Although  29  years  of  age,  she  to-day 
has  a  population  of  700,000  souls,  over  one- 
seventh  of  whom  are  Chinese.  I  have  it  from 
the  best  of  authority  that  there  are  over  100,- 
000  Chinese  on  the  Pacific  coast  to-day.  I 
have  but  a  word  to  say  of  the  Chinese.  They 
are  noted  for  their  industry,  economy,  sobri- 
ety, are  true  to  those  in  whose  employ  they 
are,  are  of  a  well  behaved  and  peaceful  dispo- 
sition, kind  in  their  manner,  are  very  prompt 
in  the  payment  of  debts;  and  perhaps  more 
than  any  other  people,  are  disposed  to  interfere 
with  or  molest  no  one,  and  attend  to  their 
own  business.  There  are  30,000  of  them  in 
San  Francisco  alone,  mostly  engaged  in  the 
laundry  business  and  peddling  fruit  and  vege- 
tables. I'd  put  them  up  against  the  world  as 
laundrymen.  It  is  to  John  Chinaman  that 
San  Francisco  owes  it  that  she  is  the  cleanest- 
collared  and  best  starched-bosomed  city  on 
the  continent.  John  is  a  perfect  laundry.  He 
is  hard  on  the  clothes  however;  he  does  not 
rub  them  as  a  Pennsylvania  wash-woman 
does,  but  with  a  brush  made  of  very  stiff 
bristles  he  scrubs  them,  &c. 

One  morning  I  met  an  old  "forty-niner,  as 
he  called  himself;  he  came  to  California  in 
1849,  and  he  told  me  that  he  had  no  idea  then 
that  in  the  red,  sunburnt  soil  in  that  country, 
there  could  ever  be  raised  either  crops  of 
grain  or  of  vegetables.  He  said  he  stood  there 
in  a  land  of  desolation,  hundreds  of  miles 
beyond  the  pale  of  civilization,  kicking  the  toe 
of  his  boot  into  the  sand  and  wondering  what 
such  soil  was  made  for  anyhow.  That  very 
spot  to-day  is  part  of  the  richest  valley  on 
this  continent.  When  the  old  forty-niner 
came  there  he  never  dreamt  that  in  less  than 
thirty  years  from  then,  in  that  same  valley, 
he  would  see  steam  used  as  a  motive  power  in 
ploughing  the  ground  and  threshing  the  splen- 
did crops  of  grain.  Would  a  man  have  told 
him  then  that  would  he  live  thirty  years  and 
visit  that  same  place  and  there  see  machines 
that  could  head  and  thresh  and  clean  and  bag 
2,000  bushels  of  wheat  per  day,  he  would  with- 
out any  hesitation  have  put  down  the  man 
who  told  him  so  as  a  confirmed  lunatic.  And 
why  should  he  not,  when  there  are  persons 
in  this  room  here  to-day  who  cannot  help  but 
doubt  the  truth  of  my  assertion  when  I  say 
that  this  is  actually  the  case  ?  Nevertheless 
it  is  true.  The  wheat  is  not  cut  close  to  the 
ground.  The  heads  are  merely  taken  off  and 
the  straw  left  on  the  field. 

When  the  glad  tidings  of  the  discovery 
of  gold  reached  the  east,  it  gave  a  stimulus  to 
immigration  to  that  country.  Since  the  day 
when  the  first  particles  of  gold  were  discov- 
ered in  the  tail-race  of  Sutter's  .saw-mill,  in 
the  county  of  El  Porado,  many  of  our  most 
progressive,  persevering  and  energetic  young 
men  in  the  land  came  here  and  cast  their  lot 
in  this  empire  of  mineral  and  agricultural 
richness,  and  have  built  up  one  of  the  wealth- 
iest and  greatest  states  in  our  union.  During 
those  thirty  years  California  has  minted 
millions  of  its  gold,  her  farms  have  raised 
billions  of  bushels  of  wheat,  corn  and  barley, 
and  millions  of  bales  of  alfalfa.  Her  orchards 
annually  yield  in  abundance  the  most  luscious 
fruit  the  world  produces,  her  vineyards  cover 
thousands  of  acres  in  which  grow  the  finest 
clusters  of  grapes  found  in  the  markets,  and 
above  all  she  raises  a  crop  of  boys  and  girls 
who  in  a  few  short  years  will  merge  into 
manhood  and  womanhood  in  whose  counte- 
nances are  visible  such  evidences  of  health  as 
are  seldom  seen.  It  is  no  wonder  indeed  that 
California  has  escaped  the  effects  of  the  recent 
panic  of  '7.S  as  she  has,  and  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  one  to  see  how  there  could  be 
any  possible  complaint  of  hard  times,  or  how 
business  could  be  depressed,  the  crazy  state- 


ments and  wild  theories  of  the  uncouth 
bellower  of  the  "sand  lots"  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding. 

Plant  the  counties  Alameda,  Butte,  Colusa, 
Contra  Costa,  El  Dorado,  Merad,  San  Joaquin, 
Santa  Clara,  Sonoma,  Sutter  and  Yolo  amid 
the  glens  of  Scotland,  among  the  Alps  or  the 
plains  of  Lombardy,  within  the  dykes  of  Hol- 
land, and  give  to  it  a  population  of  Germans, 
Swiss,  Italians,  Belgians  or  Austrians,  make 
them  the  owners  of  the  fee  of  the  soiI,aad  they 
would  consider  themselves  immeasurably 
blessed  with  unthought  of  riches,  and  they 
would  never  dream  to  complain  of  hard  times, 
as  the  people  of  the  East  are  so  apt  to  do 
when  they  are  not  only  blessed  with  the 
necessities  of  life  but  are  enjoying  so  many  of 
its  luxuries. 

Popular  education  is  on  the  asceiuleut  in 
California,  although  the  adoption  of  the  new 
constitution  has  given  it  a  backset;  yet  I  have 
reasons  to  believe  that  in  the  near  future  the 
constitution  will  again  be  revised,  and  steps 
will  be  taken  to  bring  the  thousands  of  chil- 
dren in  the  state  who  are  growing  up  in  utter 
ignorance  into  the  schools  and  educated.  It 
may  surprise  you  how  large  a  percentage  of 
the  children  do  not  attend  school  at  all. 
After  I  tell  you,  you  will  be  still  more  sur- 
prised that  Dennis  Kearney  has  no  more 
followers  than  the  last  election  indicates. 
There  are  to-day  136,000  children  of  school 
age  in  California,  of  these  73,000  go  to  school, 
although  some  of  them  but  a  small  portion  of 
the  year,  while  63,000  do  not  attend  school  at 
all.  Think  of  it,  63,000  children  growing  up 
in  ignorance.  Is  it  a  wonder  the  brayer  of 
the  sand-lots  has  the  following  he  has  ? 
Take  those  children  into  the  schools,  educate 
them,  and  you  will  make  such  citizeus  out  of 
them  that  when  they  come  to  exercise  their 
rights  to  the  elective  franchise  they  will  sweep 
Kearney  ism  from  their  state  and  it  wiil  forever 
be  a  stranger  in  their  midst. 

Garden  vegetables  grow  with  a  luxuriance 
that  is  not  found  elsewhere;  beets,  radishes, 
squashes,  pumpkins,  onions,  cabbage,  aspara- 
agus,  melons,  citrons,  beans,  peas  and  twice 
as  many  others  which  do  not  grow  with  us, 
and  hence  know  very  little  of. 

Cabbages  weighing  15  lbs.  are  wonders  in 
N.  Y.  In  San  Francisco  they  are  common; 
whole  fields  of  cabbage  heads  weighing  20  lbs, 
each  have  been  grown,  and  hard  solid  heads 
with  no  loose  leaves,  weighing  forty-five  and 
fifty-three  lbs.  each,  are  on  record.  One  cab- 
bage which  did  not  make  a  head  grew  to  be 
seven  feet  wide,  throwing  out  leaves  three 
and  a  half  feet  long  on  each  side. 

The  largest  squash  produced  in  California 
weighed  260  lbs.,  and  the  vine  which  l>ore  it 
had  several  others  weighing  over  100  lbs. 
each.  E!  «where  60  lbs.  is  a  very  large  squash, 
and  there  is  scarcely  a  record  in  the  Atlantic 
States  of  a  greater  |Weight  than  100  pounds, 
which  has  been  frequently  surpassed  here.  In 
1857  one  squash  vine  on  the  ranch  of  James 
Simmons,  in  Yuba  county,  produced  130 
squashes  weighing  in  all  2604  lbs.  In  the 
same  year  J.  Q.  A.  Ballon,  at  San  Jose,  grew 
two  squashes  weighing  210  and  204  lbs.  respec- 
tively. 

The  largest  California  onion  weighed  47 
ounces  avoirdupois,  and  measured  22  inches 
in  circumterence. 

The  largest  beet  weighed  118  lbs— five  feet 
long,  and  a  foot  in  diameter.  It  was  three 
years  old.  The  first  it  grew  so  large  that 
because  of  its  size  it  was  reserved  for  seed,  but 
it  disap7)ointed  its  owner,  and  instead  of 
producing  seed  the  next  year,  merely  kept  on 
growing,  and  reached  the  size  of  86  lbs.,  and 
the  following  year  got  to  118.  Such  beets 
can  be  grown  in  abundance.  A.  beet  of  20 
lbs.  is  a  wonder  in  New  York  or  Loudon; 
here  it  is  too  common  to  attract  more  than  a 
glance.  Beets  are  frequently  from  3  to  4 
feet  long  so  that  it  requires  no  little  trouble 
to  dig  them  out. 

The  largest  common  turnip  weighed  26  lbs; 
largest  carrot  10  lbs. ;  largest  watermelon  65 
lbs. ;  largest  tomato  measured  26  inches  in 
Circumference. 


Our  vegetables  grown  in  the  open  air  are 
in  the  market  during  a  greater  part  of  the 
year  than  any  other  of  the  United  States. 
We  have  cabbage,  lettuce,  turnips,  beets,  car- 
rots, cauliflower,  parsnips,  radishes,  horse- 
radish, celery,  green  onions,  leeks,  salsify  and 
parsley  throughout  the  year;  green  peas, 
beans,  watermelons  and  cantaloupes  from 
June  to  November,  tomatoes  from  May  to 
October;  Lima  beans  and  sweet  potatoes  from 
June  to  September;  asparagus  from  March  to 
July.  Our  tables  are  thus  supplied  with  a 
great  variety  of  fresh  and  wholesome  vegeta- 
bles throughout  the  year.  Garden  vegetables 
may  be  left  in  ground  all  winter.  Potatoes 
are  sometimes  not  dry  until  January,  and 
turnips  and  beets  are  generally  left  in  their 
beds  until  they  are  to  be  sent  to  the  market; 
there  is  never  enough  cold  to  freeze  them. 

Fruits. — As  a  fruit  growing  State,  Califor- 
nia takes  a  high  position.  In  no  part  of  the 
world  do  fruit  trees  grow  so  rapidly,  bear  so 
early,  so  regularly  and  so  abundantly,  and 
produce  fruit  of  such  large  size.  Peaches, 
pears,  apples,  apricots,  nectarines,  plums, 
olives  and  strawberries  are  thrifty,  healthy 
and  productive. 

In  the  California  orchards  fruit  trees  are 
trained  low,  the  lower  limbs  being  within  a 
foot,  or  at  most  two  feet  of  the  ground.  Men 
do  not  walk  under  the  trees  or  cUmb  after  the 
fruit.  The  advantages  of  low  training  are 
that  the  trees  bear  earlier,  the  trunk  is  shaded 
and  protected  against  the  disease  called  sun- 
scald;  the  earth  about  the  roots  is  kept  moist; 
and  the  trees  are  protected  against  the  wind. 
The  trees  are  planted  much  nearer  together 
(only  half  as  far  apart)  in  most  instances  than 
in  the  Eastern  States.  This  is  an  additional 
protection  against  tlie  sun  and  wind.  The 
ground  is  ploughed  several  every  summer  and 
is  kept  clean. 

Fruit  trees  in  California  are  generally  as 
large  at  two  years  old  as  they  are  in  New 
York  at  three  or  four  years.  The  instances 
of  unusually  rapid  growth  here  are  without  a 
parallel  elsewhere.  Cherry  trees  have  grown 
to  be  fourteen  feet  high  in  one  year,  pear 
trees  10  feet,  peach  trees  to  have  trunks  from 
two  to  three  inches  in  diameter.  These  were 
all  f  r(Jm  buds  on  yearly  stocks,  and  were  well 
provided  with  branches — not  trimmed  to  gain 
height.  At  Petaluma,  a  cherry  tree  two 
years  old  from  the  graft,  and  three  years  old 
from  the  seed,  had  a  trunk  7|  inches  in  cir- 
cumference, a  plum  tree  three  years  from  the 
seed  was  11  feet  high  and  had  a  trunk  seven 
inclies  in  circumference;  and  a  peach  tree  one 
year  from  the  bud  was  eight  feet  high  and 
eight  and  a  half  inches  in  circumference. 

Apple  orchards  begin  to  bear  fruit  the 
second  or  third  year. 

In  Alamedo  county  plum  trees  have  grown 
twelve  feet  in  one  year  from  the  bud. 

Abundance  of  fruit. — Of  the  temperate  fruit 
trees  California'has  over  4,000,000.  1.  2,450- 
000  apple  trees;  840,000  peach  trees;  360,000 
pear  trees;  243,000  plum  trees;  122,000  cherry 
trees;  31,000  nectarine  trees,  78,000  apricot 
trees;  19,000  prune  trees.     Total  4,143,000. 

2.  Of  the  sub-tropical  fruit  and  nut  trees 
there  are  252,000,  including  60,000  almond 
trees;  .58,000  English  walnut  trees;  50,000  fig 
trees;  39,000  orauge  trees;  38,000  oUve  trees; 
7,000  lemon  trees.     Total  252,000. 

3.  Besides  these,  30,000,000  grape  vines, 
14,000,000  strawberry  plants,  1,000,000  rasp- 
berry bushes  and  500,000  blackberry  bushes. 
In  all  there  are  44,500,000  trees,  vines,  plants 
and  bushes  bearing  fruit  or  nuts,  covering  an 
area  of  more  than  100,000  acres,  or  nearly 
half  an  acre  in  fruit  for  every  man  in  the 
State. 

4.  The  trees  generally  are  in  good  condition; 
Cherries  and  plums  are  not  troubled  by  the 
curculio,  and  apples  are  free  from  worms. 

Grrqjes. — California  is  a  favorite  land  of  the 
grape.  The  grape  vine  supposed  to  be  the 
largest  in  the  world  is  at  Montecito,near  Santa 
Barbara.  It  is  of  the  Los  Angeles  variety, 
was  planted  in  1795,  has  a  trunk  15  inches  in 
diameter  and  its  branches  are  supported  by  an 
arbor  115  feet  long  and  78  feet  wide.    It  has  in 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


i67 


a  favorable  year  borne  four  tons  of  grapes, 
but  is  now  losing  its  vigor  and  will  probably 
not  live  much  longer.  The  state  has  a  num- 
ber of  vines  whicli  bear  2000  bunches  annually. 

(hdnijm.—K  good  tree,  ten  years  old,  will 
bear  1000  oranges  annually  ;  and  the  average 
price  of  tliese,  delivered  at  the  orchard,  varies 
from  SIO  to  »30,  or  $500  to  .f  1,500  per  acre. 

Strawberries  are  cultivated  extensively  in 
Santa  Clara  county  for  San  Francisco  market. 
The  best  fields  of  vines  in  their  third  or  fourth 
year  will  yield  from  4000  to  GOOO  pounds  per 
acre,  and  the  wliolesale  price  in  San  Franci.sco 
is  about  0  or  7  cents  ])er  pound,  makinc;  a 
gross  yield  of  $210  to  .*420  per  acre,  the 
cost  of  picking  is  2  cents,  of  railroad  freight 
4  cent,  drayage  in  San  Francisco  ^  cent,  and 
commissions  8  percent.  The  amount  of  straw- 
lierries  received  is  sometimes  from  (iO.OOO  to 
70,000  pounds  daily,  indiciil ins  a  lively  con- 
sumption for  a  city  of  180,0(1(1  inluibitants. 
Strawl)errics  are  usually  grown  on  tlie  shares 
by  Oliinamen,  who  give  half  the  crop  for  the 
land.  As  the  vines  produce  nothing  the  first 
year,  and  the  Chinamen  are  poor,  the  land- 
owner usually  loans  his  credit  for  provisions, 
and  clears  SlOO  per  acre.  Six  Chinamen  do 
the  work  in  ten  acres  of  strawberries,  except 
in  the  picking  season,  when  three  extra  men 
are  employed  to  the  acre.  Strawberry  fields 
have  fallen  into  the  possession  of  the  Chinese 
within  the  last  five  or  six  years,  and  the  profits 
tif  the  landlords  are  greater  than  under  the 
old  system  of  paying  wao;es.  It  would  he  im- 
possible to  grow  the  berries  profitably  without 
Celestial  help,  and,  except  in  a  few  moist 
spots,  without  irrigation. 

OrnatiicnUd  Gardens.  Professional  garden- 
ers say  tliat  California  is  better  fitted  by 
nature  than  any  part  of  EuVope  or  the  Atlan- 
tic slopes  to  have  beautiful  ornamental  gar- 
dens. The  shrubs  are  more  numerous,  grow 
larger,  remain  green  longer,  and  Iiave  a  longer 
blooming  season  than  tliose  of  other  States. 
The  rose,  daisy,  pansy,  oclyssuni,  clyanthus 
l>etunias,  verbena,  hollyhock,  Ethopion  lily, 
bloom  here  in  the  open  air  every  month  in  the 
year.  The  honevsuckle  and  myrtle  bloom 
"from  March  to  Christmas  ;  the  geranium  and 
snowball  from  April  to  October;  the  violet 
from  Oct.  to  May,  and  the  camelia,  japonica 
from  January  to  May.  Among  the  creeping 
vines  grown  in  California  is  the  Australian 
bean,  which  has  a  dense,  bright,  evergreen 
foliage,  and  abundant  llowers  throughout  the 
year.  It  climbs  stiings,  and  is  therefore  well 
suited  to  shade  verandahs  and  to  grow  in  the 
front  of  porticoes. 

The  rose,  honeysuckle,  veronica,  oleander, 
lanrastiuus,  japonica,  verbenas,  may  safely  be 
said  to  make  twice  as  much  wood  in  a  year 
as  they  do  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  The  gera- 
niums" in  San  Francisco  are  almost  trees.  Rose 
sprouts  often  grow  twenty  feet  in  a  season, 
and  other  i)lants  in  proportion. 

Arh(,n'ri(lturc.  The  cultivation  of  forest 
and  shade  trees  is  yet  very  limited  in  California. 
For  timber  purpose  s the  blue  gum  or  eucalyp- 
tus is  iirelerred  on  iiccount  of  the  rapidity  of 
its  growth  and  the  hardne.ssand  durability  of 
its  wood.  The  black  locust  grows  rapidly  but 
it  gives  trouble  by  the  numerous  sprouts  that 
rise  from  its  roots.  The  sycamore,  cotton- 
wood,  Lombardy  poplar,  the  ailanthus  and 
California  maple  are  used  for  shade.  A  dis- 
tance from  the  coast,  where  the  summers  are 
not  very  warm  and  shade  is  not  much  needed, 
tlie  Monterey  cypress  and  the  pine  are  pre- 
ferred on  account  of  their  beauty  and  regu- 
larity of  growtli. 

The  largest  vineyard  of  the  State  is  that  of 
the  Bueno  Vista  Vinecultnral  Association, 
which  has  300,000  vines  near  the  town  of 
Sonoma.  B.  D.  Wilson,  at  San  Gabriel,  has 
200,000  vines ;  L.  J.  Rose,  near  the  same 
place,  has  130,000 ;  Matthew  Keller,  at  Los 
Angeles,  100,000.  In  Capo  Valley,  36  miles 
west  of  Sacramento,  there  is  one  of  100,000  ; 
Pi.  Chalmers,  at  Coloma,  has  100,000:  B.  N. 
Bugbey,  near  Folsom,  100,000;  S.  L.  Wilson, 
near  Sacramento,  75,000.  Most  of  these  vine- 
yards are  planted  with  700  or  800  vines  to  the 
acre. 


AjJple.s.  Apple  trees  are  generally  planted 
from  fourteen  to  eighteen  feet  apart.  The 
reason  is  to  prevent  injury  by  the  wind  and  to 
keep  the  eartli  moist  by  shading  it  against  the 
sun.  The  IVuit  usually  grows  larger  here 
thiui  else  whnr.  The  Glorio  Mundi,  which 
.seldom  exiicils  t'ourteen  ounces  in  weight,  in 
California  friciuently  reaches  twenty  ounces 
and  some  have  attained  the  great  size  of  two 
and  even  two  and  a  half  pounds.  The  flavor 
of  apples  here  is  not  quite  equal  to  those 
grown  in  the  Atlantic  States.  They  are  less 
juicy  and  more  mealy.  The  best  varieties,  .so 
far  as  ascertained,  about  the  bay  of  San 
Francisco  are  the  Summer  Pearmain,  Red 
Astraehen,  June  .and  Early  Harvest,  for  early 
apples;  the  Porter,  Gravenstein  and  Summer 
Queen  for  late  summer  ai)ples;  the  Baldwin, 
Roxbury  Russet  and  Rhode  Island  Greening 
for  fall  apples;  the  Golden  Russet,  Northern 
Spy,  Yellow  Newtown  Pippin,  White  Winter 
Pearmain  and  tlu^  Spjt/enberg  for  winter 
apples.  The  best  eider  apjile  is  the  Smith's 
Cider.  In  Sacramento  Valhy  the  Newtown 
Pippin,  Swarr  and  Rawli.s .hannette,  are  con- 
sidered the  best  winter  apple;  on  the  slopes 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  from  1000  to  3000  feet 
above  the  sea,  the  Spitzenberg  and  Wine  Sap 
are  preferred.  Of  the  ai)ple  trees  in  the  State 
1.200,000  are  in  Santa  Clara  county,  200,000 
in  Sonoma,  00,000  each  in  Alameda,  Sacra- 
mento and  El  Dorado. 

Peac/if.'!.— The  varieties  generally  preferred 
are  the  Late  and  Early  Crawford,  Late  Ad- 
mirable and  the  Smock. 

Apricots.— The  apricots  thrive  well  and 
bear  abundantly.  The  apricot  tree  is  more 
healthy  than  the  peach,  and  produces  more 
abundantly;  its  fruit  supplies  the  place  of  the 
peach  in  many  districts. 

Pears. — The  pear  is  the  most  healthy  and 
productive  of  the  fruit  trees  of  California.  It 
thrives  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  every- 
where its  fruit  is  delicate  in  flavor  and  large 
in  size.  There  are  pear  trees  at  San  Jose 
which  produce  2.500  pounds,  or  40  bushels 
each,  of  fruit  annually.  The  varieties  most 
prized  are  the  Madeline,  Bloodgood.  Diane 
d'ete,  Deerborn's  Seedling,  Seckel  and  Bart- 
lett  for  summer  pears;  and  the  Winter  Nelis, 
Glout  Morceau  and  Easter  Beurre  for  winter. 

California  has  3,500,000  acres  of  cultivated 
land,  upon  which  she  raised  last  year,  17,000,- 
000  bushels  wheat;  6,100,000  bushels  barley; 
3,000,000  bushels  corn;  1,400.000  bushels  oats; 
200,000  bushels  rve;  10,000  bushels  buck- 
wheat; 1,000,000  bus.  peas;  450,000  bus.  beans; 
220,000  tons  Irish  potatoes;  8,000  tons  sweet 
potatoes;  200,000  bushels  peanuts:  130,000 
bushels  onions;  900,000  tons  hay,  30,000  tons 
beets;  3.000,000  pounds  hops;  1,300,000  pounds 
flax;  300,000  pounds  tobacco;  150,000  pounds 
cotton;  16,000,000  pounds  wool;  1,500.000 
pounds  honey;  6,000,000  pounds  butter;  3,000,- 
000  pounds' cheese;  6,200,000  gallons  wine; 
300.000  gallons  brandy. 

This  is  a  great  beer  drinking  state,  hut  I  am 
unable  to  give  you  the  number  of  gallons  of 
beer  brewed.  You  can  form  a  faint  idea 
however,  when  I  tell  you  th.at  according  to 
the  returns  filed  in  the  United  States  internal 
revenue  collector's  ofllice  of  the  fir.st  district  of 
California,  which  embraces  the  City  of  San 
Francisco  only,  there  were  260,780  barrels  of 
beer  sold  during  the  year  1878. 

Mining.— The  annual  products  of  the 
mines  of  California  may  be  thus  stated  :  gold 
$20,000,000;  quicksilver  $3,000,000;  silver 
81,000,000;  coal  »800,000:  lead  $300,000;  cop- 
per SIOO.OOO;  borax  $100,000;  asphaltum  $.50,- 
000:  sulphur  $.50,000.    Total  $  25,400,000. 

Climate.— YoM  frequently  start  out  in  the 
morning,  chilly  as  December  In  Pennsylva- 
nia, at  eight  o'clock  you  unbutton  tlic  upper 
buttons  of  your  coat,  at  nine  vou  unbutton  all 
the  way  down,  at  ten  you  take  it  off  and  put 
on  a  light  one,  at  eleven  you  take  off  that  one, 
at  two  it  commences  to  gi-ow  a  little  cooler 
again,  and  you  put  on  the  light  coat  again,  at 
three  you  take  it  ofi"andput  on  your  heavy 
coat,  at  four  you  button  up  again,  at  five  you 
are  buttoned  up  to  your  chin,  and  if  you  arc 
out  on  the  street  you  will  be  as  cold  as  blazes 


until  you  get  warm  in  bed,  and  you  won't  get 
warm  there  if  you  have  a  lighter  cover  than  a 
heavy  woolen  blanket.  Yet  it  is  rarely  that 
the  thermometer  falls  as  low  as  32  degrees 
Fahrenheit  (freezing  point.)  The  number  of 
cold  nights  in  sau  Francisco,  those  in  which 
the  thermometer  fell  to  32  degrees,  numbered 
seventy-four  during  twenty  years,  less  than 
four  to  the  year  on  the  average.  Of  these 
seventy-four  cold  days,  twenty-four  occurred 
in  December,  thirty-tliree  in  January,  eleven 
in  February,  four  in  March,  one  in  April  and 
one  ill  May. 

January  is  the  coldest  month  in  California, 
having  an  average  temperature  of  forty-nine 
desrrecs.  .September  is  the  warmest  month, 
and  has  an  average  temperature  of  fifty-eight 
degrees.  October  is  as  warm  as  July,  and 
some  years  it  has  been  warmer.  In  June, 
July  and  August  heavy,  wet,  cold  mists, 
come  up  from  the  sea  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening  and  continue  until  eight  or  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  In  the  winter  these 
fogs  are  very  rare  and  in  these  respects 
winter  is  the  pleasantest  season  of  the  year  on 
the  Pacific  coast. 

The  average  temperature  of  Spring  is  54 
degrees.  The  average  temperature  of  Sum- 
mer is  57  degrees.  The  average  temperature 
of  Autumn  Is  .56  degrees.  The  average  tem- 
perature of  Winter  is  50  degrees. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  average 
temperature  each  month  in  the  year  in  the 
State  of  California. 

At  sunrise.         At  noon. 
January, 
February,  - 

March,  ...  48 
April,  ...  49 
May,  -  -  -  50 
June,  -        -        -   51        "  68 

July,    -     -         -         -      52         "  67 

Aui;u6t,      .        -        -    53        "  67 

September,      -        -      5.3>i     "  69 

October,     ...   53        "  68 

November        -        -     49        "  62 

December,         -        .  45        "  55 


65 


Average, 


49>^ 


Selections. 


THE  NEW  YORK  SEED  LEAF  MARKET. 

The  Tuhiu-i-o  Jnurnal  say.sof  the  market  and 
last  week's  sales  :  "Pennsylvania  of  the  '78 
crop  is  slowly  looming  up  again  as  an  article 
of  trade  In  our  market.  It  will  be  dealt  in 
vigorously  before  much  time  has  elapsed.  It 
must  be  bought  because  it  is  and  will  be 
wanted.  Those  that  sold  this  week  profess  to 
have  made  no  money  out  of  it,  a  declaration 
which  finds  hardly  any  disbelievers.  Ohio  of 
the  '78  crop  also  sold  in  limited  quantities, 
while  but  little  '78  Connecticut  changed 
hands.  In  1879  Connecticut  purchases,  a 
standstill  is  perceptible.  Farmers  claim  that 
it  is  owing  to  the  weather,  which  permits  no 
examination  of  the  crops.  We  claim  that 
packers  have  come  to  their  senses,  and  that 
in  future  they  will  not  pay  extraordinary  high 
prices.  We  repeat  our  last  week's  remarks 
regarding  the  '79  Pennsylvania.  Growers 
there  need  not  give  tobacco  away— they  can 
expect  reasonable  prices,  but  not  such  as  they 
received  last  year.  The  crop  is  too  large  for 
that.  Many  of  our  exchanges,  seemingly,  are 
dissatisfied  with  the  decisive  way  in  which  we 
offer  our  opinions  and  advice.  We  state  the 
condition  of  things  as  we  find  them  and  draw 
such  conclusions  therefrom  (which,  as  we 
need  hardly  say,  are  inevitably  unbiased)  as 
our  long  experience  enables  us  to.  Those 
that  heretofore  have  taken  our  advice  found 
us  correct  and  gained  by  it.  Last  week's 
transactions  sum  up  as  follows  : 

Pennsylvania— Crop  '77:  200  cases,  small 
parcels,  fillers,  13  ceute,  wrappers  40  to  50 
cents. 

Crop  '78  :  1,000  cases  running;  reported  14 
to  16  cents  (?) 

Connecticut— Crop  '78  :  400  oases,  17  to  20 
cents. 

Ohio— Crop  '78  :  630  cases,  10  to  12i  cents, 
running. 


168 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  November, 


Wisconsiu— Crop  '78  :  72  cases,  p.  t. 

Havana — Transactions  in  '79  arrivals  con- 
tinue brisk.  Quotations  for  them  in  bond  ; 
Remedios,  45  to  48  cents;  Partido,  46  to  50 
cents;  Vuelta  Abajo,  55  to  65  cents.  The 
remainder  of  1877  stock  sells  easily  at  former 
figures;  '78  moves  in  small  parcels. 
Sales  for  the  week. 

Sales  of  seed  leaf  tobacco  reported  by  J.  S. 
Gans's  Son  &  Co.,  tobacco  brokers,  Nos.  84 
and  86  Wall  street,  New  York,  for  the  week 
ending  Nov.  10  :  600  cases  '78  Pennsylvania, 
fillers,  8K3!9ic;  assorted  lots,  10|@16c;  50 
cases  '77  Pennsylvania,  wrappers,  18(5  30c; 
400  cases  '78  New  England,  ll@30c;  50  cases 
'78  state,  p.  t.;  1,500  cases  '78  Ohio,  6(S14c; 
93  cases  '78  Wisconsin,  p.  t.;  100  cases 
sundries,  9@17c.     Total,  2,793  cases. 

STARTING  A   FLOCK  OF    SHEEP. 

The  increasing  interest  in  sheep  husbandry, 
consequent  upon  the  advance  in  wool,  gives 
this  industry  more  prominence  among  farmers 
than  it  has  occupied  for  several  years  past. 
We  would,  however,  advise  caution  and  dis- 
cretion in  this,  as  in  all  other  branches  of 
farm  economy.  It  is  with  this,  as  with 
other  callings;  a  sharp  upward  turn  in  the 
price  of  a  given  product,  often  induces  a 
stampede  in  that  direction,  and  the  result  is, 
that  it  is  soon  overdone,  prices  fall  by  reason 
of  over-production,  entailing  losses  and  dis- 
appointments, in  greater  or  less  degree,  to 
those  who  rushed  into  the  business  without 
due  consideration  and  judgment. 

While  we  are  certain  that  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  wool  market  is  not  due  to  specu- 
lation, but  is  on  a  substantial  basis,  and  that 
prices  will  not  only  be  maintained,  but  will 
very  likely  harden  still  more  before  another 
wool  clip  comes  in,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
there  will  be  a  large  increase  in  the  crop  next 
spring.  It  is  well  to  recollect  that  the  stocks 
of  woolen  goods  in  the  country  before  the  rise 
in  the  staple  last  spring  were  very  low.  The 
prospects  for  fine  crops  and  a  market  abroad 
for  all  of  our  surplus  food  products,  together 
with  a  return  of  confidence  upon  the  heel  of 
resumption,  caused  a  revival  in  all  branches 
of  business,  and  the  woolen  industry  was 
among  the  first  to  feel  its  influence.  A 
demand,  strong  and  extensive,  sprang  up  for 
woolens;  which  has  been  kept  up,  and  will  no 
doubt  continue.  Of  course,  the  price  of  wool 
was  stimulated  and  as  long  as  the  present 
rate  of  consumption  of  the  staple  continues  it 
is  not  likely  that  it  will  decline.  There  is 
still  room  for  many  millions  of  pounds  of 
home-grown  wool  to  supply  the  reciuirements 
of  our  people  for  woolen  goods  and  manufac- 
turers, and  besides,  the  foreign  demand  for 
mutton  gives  the  subject  of  sheep  husbandry 
additional  importance,  as  the  American  Stock- 
man has  hitherto  frequently  pointed  out. 
That  more  sjeep  will  be  raised  is  now  certain, 
and  we  are  gratified  that  an  impetus  has  been 
given  to  the  business.  To  get  the  best 
results,  however,  requires  thought  and  care 
from  first  to  last.  Those  wlio  have  had  much 
experience  in  the  business  well  understand 
this  fact,  but  to  such  as  have  not  hitherto 
given  it  much  attention  a  few  suggestions  will 
hardly  be  taken  amiss. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  important  to  start 
right.  Loss  of  time,  money  and  labor  may  be 
avoided  by  beginning  with  the  right  kind  of 
stock.  By  tliis  we  do  not  refer  to  a)iy  partic- 
ular breed;  we  mean  that  the  foundation 
sliould  be  good,  young,  healthy,  vigorous 
sheep.  Every  fall  many  common  sheep  are 
disposed  of  to  the  butcher  for  mutton,  and 
among  them  are  frequently  found  young  ewes 
which  are  suitable  for  breeding  to  a  good 
buck.  In  selecting  them,  uniformity  in  size, 
*ige— yearlings  are  old  enough—  and  general 
characteristics  should  be  kept  in  mind.  This 
will  give  a  uniformity  in  the  flock  and  the 
progeny,  wliicli  will  be  of  great  advantage  hi 
the  outcome,  as  every  experienced  breeder 
knows. 

When  a  sufficient  number  of  such  ewes 
have  been  obtained,  they  should  be  bred  to  a 
thoroughbred  ram,  and  no  other.    Whatever 


breed  may  be  the  choice  of  the  buyer,— 
whether  Cotswold,  Southdown,  Merino, 
Leicester,  Sliropshiredown,  or  other  sort, — 
let  it  be  a  pure-bred  sheep  by  M  means;  and 
the  best  way  to  get  such  a  ram  is  to  go  to  an 
honest, well-known  breeder  of  the  kind  wanted, 
who  will  not  risk  his  reputation  by  selling  a 
ram  he  represents  as  piu-e-bred,  unless  it  is  of 
undoubted  purity.  This  course  will  secure  an 
animal  that  will  stamp  his  characteristics  on 
his  progeny.  His  valuable  qualities  will  be 
transmitted  to  his  get,  and  when  he  has  been 
in  use  two  years,  the  breeder  should  sell  him 
and  get  another  of  the  same  kind,  or  better, 
but  of  course  of  the  same  breed.  Rams  should 
be  changed  every  two  years,  and  after  breeding 
the  ewes  two  years  let  them  go  also.  Thus  a 
very  fine  flock  of  sheep  may  be  produced  in  a 
short  time, — one  which  will  be  profitable  to 
its  owner  as  well  as  a  credit  to  his  intelli- 
gence and  skill. 

This,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  is  upon 
the  supposition  that  the  sheep  are  well  taken 
care  of,  which  includes  proper  feeding  and 
good  general  management. 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  price  asked  fin- 
thoroughbred  rams  is  too  high  for  the  majori- 
ty of  farmers  to  pay,  and  fancy  prices — or 
what  may  be  called  such— may  deter  some 
from  purchasing  a  good  ram.  It  may  be  well 
to  ascertain  the  terms  of  a  number  of  pro- 
fessional and  well-known  breeders,  and  to 
purchase  where  a  good  animal  of  undoubted 
purity  of  blood,  vigorous  and  sound  in  every 
way,  can  be  had  for  the  least  money;  but  no 
considerations  of  false  economy  should  ever 
be  allowed  to  weigh  a  feather  between  a  good 
and  bad  ram.  Good  animals  cannot  be  had 
for  scrub  prices;  it  has  cost  too  much  to  pro- 
duce them.  They  represent  a  value,  so  far  as 
the  future  of  the  flock  is  concerned,  so  far 
above  a  scrub,  or  a  grade,  that  a  comparison 
is  absurd. — American  Stockman. 

PASTURE  FIELUS— THEIR  RENOVA- 
TION. 
Looking  over  an  old  pasture  ground  this 
fall,  we  are  tempted  to  tell  what  its  appear- 
ance told  us.  If  it  has  not  told  the  same  tale 
to  others,  we  are  much  mistaken,  and  when  we 
see  so  many  pastures  as  this  one  was,  we  sup- 
pose there  must  be  many  more  deaf  ears  than 
attentive  ones  in  tlie  world.  This  particular 
piece  said  to  us  that  it  was  really  desirous  of 
trying  to  turn  its  talents  to  some  account,  but 
that  it  was  found  to  have  rolled  them  up  in  a 
napkin.  It  called  us  to  witness  that  at  least 
four-fifths  of  its  legitimate  ground  had  been 
stolen  from  it  by  coarse  weeds,  that  not  a 
hungry  cow  would  eat,  and  so  much  of  what 
was  free  from  these  thieves  was  plastered 
over  by  the  excrements  of  animals,  as  to 
make  the  product  unfit  for  cattle  food.  And 
we  found  it  so  just  now.  On  the  higher  parts 
of  the  ground  the  worst  part  of  the  herbage 
consisted  of  oxeye  daisies  and  butter-cups, 
around  which  the  cows  had  picked  a  bit  here 
and  there.  In  the  bottom  land  most  of  the 
herbage  consisted  of  asters,  golden  rods,  iron 
weed,  rushes  and  coarse  sedges.  The  cows 
were  almost  hidden  by  the  weeds'  luxuriance, 
and  how  ever  it  could  pay  to  keep  such  a  pas- 
ture as  this  was  a  mystery  to  us.  Yet  this 
land,  probably  ten  acres,  was  on  a  property 
which  the  owner  held  at  four  hundred  dollars 
per  acre.  Now  taking  the  whole  utilized 
product  of  this  lot  as  we  saw  it,  it  would  cer- 
tainly do  no  more  than  keep  one  cow  for  a 
year,  so  that  the  interest  of  four  thousand 
dollars,  besides  labor  and  etceteras,  went  to 
support  one  cow.  Our  friend  is  one  of  those 
who  believes  that  soiling  cattle  does  not  pay. 
There  are  some  objections  to  this  plan  we 
know,  and  we  have  done  our  share  in  point- 
ing them  out,  as  the  duty  of  weighing  both 
sides  which  public  journalism  imposes  on  us 
calls  for.  But  if  such  specimens  as  this  was 
all  the  advocates  of  pasturing  had  to  depend 
on,  there  would  be  no  question  as  to  which 
was  the  best  side. 

Our  terrestrial  informant  clearly  showed 
that  with  a  very  little  care  it  was  good  land 
The  high  needed  a  little  manure  at'times  and 


the  lower  needed  ditching  and  draining.  It 
would  cost  but  little  to  do,  and  when  done  at 
the  very  lowest  two  tons  of  good  hay  to  the 
acre  would  be  the  result.  Now  the  product 
of  this,  at  the  lowest  figure  for  hay,  would 
be  the  interest  of  six  thousand  dollars  at 
least,  or  considerably  more  than  double  that 
which  it  was.  Not  more  tlian  a  quarter  of 
this  would  have  been  required  to  keep  a  cow 
on  the  soiling  plan,  while  another  quarter 
would  have  been  paid  for  the  extra  labor,  the 
other  half  would  have  probably  been  profit. 
The  simple  breaking  up  of  a  lot  like  this,  so 
as  to  clear  out  the  coarse  weeds,  and  the  little 
improvement  required  to  bring  a  good  growth 
of  grass,  is  equal  to  a  saving  of  two  hundred 
dollars  a  year,  even  at  the  owner's  estimate 
of  four  hundred  dollars  an  acre  as  the  value 
of  the  ground.  — 6 ermantoxvn  lelegraph. 


The  sharp  frosts  and  trying  winds  which 
are  common  at  this  time  of  the  year  admon- 
ish us  of  the  severe  weather  that  will  soon  be 
upon  us.  A  ride  over  a  portion  of  country  a 
day  or  two  ago  brought  to  mind  the  lack 
which  exists  on  many  farms  of  comfortable 
quarters  for  domestic  animals.  This  is  not  so, 
however,  in  all  cases.  There  are  provident, 
humine  farmers  in  all  this  region  by  scores  who 
have  provided  warm  stables  and  barns  wherein 
to  house  their  stock,  and  protect  them  from  in- 
clement weather.  The  contrast  presented,  how- 
ever, in  a  neighborhood  is  striking.  On  one 
farm  you  will  find  barns  and  stables  construct- 
ed so  as  to  combine  comfort  and  utility,  having 
every  convenience  and  appointment  calculated 
to  render  the  care  of  stock  easy,  expeditious 
and  perfect.  Nothing  seemingly,  has  been 
overlooked,  and  there  is  an  air  of  complete- 
ness and  humanity  about  the  premises  which 
is  pleasant  to  contemplate.  We  are  forcibly 
reminded,  in  the  language  of  the  aphorism, 
that   'a  merciful  man  is  merciful  to  his  beast. " 

Humanity,  in  the  first  instance,  should  in- 
cite the  owner  of  useful  domestic  animals  to 
provide  shelter  and  suitable  food  for  them 
during  the  winter  season;  but  on  tlie  score  of 
economy  a  prudent  man  understands  what  is 
for  his  interest  in  this  behalf.  He  knows  that 
warmth  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of  good  food 
given  to  his  stock  every  day  represents  money. 
It  has  value  in  dollars  and  cents;  it  touches 
the  pocket. 

A  decade  has  wrought  a  wonderful  change 
in  this  behalf  in  most  of  the  western  states, 
but  there  are  yet  very  many  farms,  we  regret 
to  admit,  on  which  the  old  order  of  things 
may  be  seen.  A  n  old  shed  or  two,  or  perhaps 
a  rickety  old  stable  or  barn,  with  broken  win- 
dows and  wide  cracks  between  boards,  is  the 
only  protection  there  to  keep  out  the  pierc- 
ing winds  and  driving  snows;  and  in  some 
other  instances  the  lee  side  of  a  straw  stack 
or  a  corn  crib  is  the  only  protection  afforded 
to  the  shivering,  suffering  brutes  whose  mis- 
fortune it  is  to  belong  to  so  pitiless  an  owner. 
In  this  climate  it  is  a  shame  for  any  man  who 
l)retends  to  keep  domestic  animals  to  subject 
them  to  such  treatment.  Such  a  condition  of 
things  should  never  be  found  on  the  farm,  nor 
should  the  miserable  structures,such  as  we  have 
referred  to,  which  are  a  travesty  and  a  bur- 
lesque upon  the  name  of  shelter,  be  tolerated. 
While  we  are  glad  to  know  that  cases  of  this 
character  are  becoming  fewer  from  year  to 
year,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  are  far  too 
common,  and  that  there  is  considerable  room 
for  missionary  work  for  our  humane  societies, 
whose  specialty  is  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to 
animals. 

It  would  appear  that  on  the  score  of  econo- 
my alone  the  necessity  of  providing  proper 
shelter  for  stock  would  be  apparent  to  every 
man.  Warmth  represents  food ,  vitality  and 
health,  and  in  the  case  of  young  animals, 
growth  also.  Profit  in  live  stock  lies  in  the 
direction  of  improvement.  Deterioration  is 
loss,  and  it  is  a  loss  which  rejiresents  more 
than  is  apparent  at  first  view.  When  animals 
are  kept  in  a  healthy,  thriving  condition 
during  the  winter  by  proper  food  in  kind  and 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


169 


quality,  and  good  care  in  other  respects,  tlioy 
come  out  of  winter  quarters  In  the  sprinj;  and 
start  off  with  the  now  season  in  a  condition  r.o 
realize  to  th.Mi-  owner  all   Hint  ■■an  or  niav  be 


they  are  s.i  n'dueed  that  weeks  nnist  elapse 
ere  they  reach  a  point  approxiniatiug  the  con- 
dition wliich  good  care  an<l  management 
would  have  secured.  It  is  a  dead  loss  which 
represents  tiinc  and  money,  in  tlie  case  of  each 
animal,  and  luisan  inlhiencc  iil'iiMitimes  inthc 
progeny  of  such  slock,  which  represents  a 
value  that  cauunt  lie  coniputeil. — Anicricun 
IStiK-hmn. 

AMERICAN  BUTTER  AND  CHEESE  IN 
ENGLAND. 

Col.  Robt.  M.  Littler,  of  Davenport,  Iowa, 
is  the  Secretary  of  the  national  Butter,  Cliecse 
and  Egg  A.ssociation,  lie  is  an  inteiliiieni, 
active,  energetic  man,  ftdly  alive  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  great  industries  to  which  his 
time  and  talents  are  devoted,  and  a  very  val- 
uable man  to  (he  interests  whicli  foituiialfly 
receive  his  .services.  Tie  was  a  d.legal.^  IVomi 
this  country  to  the  rulcrnalioiial  Dairy  Kair 
held  in  London  this  year,  and  kept  his  e)  es 
and  ears  open  not  only  while  there,  but  during 
a  somewhat  extensive  trip  to  several  marts  of 
trade  in  tireat  Britain.  The  other  day  he 
was  at  the  Dairy  Board  of  Trade  in  Elgin  and 
gave  some  account  of  his  triii.  lie  returns 
home  fullof  hojie  and  enthusiasm  in  regard  lo 
the  futur.;  of  the  butter  and  cheese  interests 
of  this  country  so  far  as  the  foreign  trade  is 
concerned,  but  exhorts  dairymen  to  strive  to 
make  good  articles  of  both;  for  that  iiuality  is 
t'le  only  kind  that  can  be  disposed  of  in  Great 
Britain.  We  are  pleased  to  know  that  Col. 
Littler  emphasizes  this  point.  He  tells  us 
plainly  that  poor  goods  are  not  wanted  over 
tliere.  It  is  idle  to  suppose  that  anything  but 
OSS  and  disappointment  will  attend  the  ex- 
portation of  poor  butter  and  cheese.  There 
is  always  a  demand  for  good  goods,  and  the 
evidence  of  Col.  Littler  goes  to  show  that  the 
better  the  quality  the  quicker  they  sell.  By 
making  first  class  articles  a  far  larger  quanti- 
ty of  dairy  products  from  this  country  can  be 
disposed  of  in  foreign  countries  at  fair,  remu- 
nerative prices.  It  is  by  no  means  compli- 
mentary to  us  that  but  about  five  per  ceut. 
of  butter  made  in  this  country  is  of  that 
grade. 

Col.  Littler  visited  stores  and  markets  in 
several  large  cities,  and  found  American 
cheese  at  all  of  them.  It  sells  there  from  six 
to  sixteen  cents,  according  to  <piality.  Since 
his  return  a  marked  improvement  in  prices 
has  occurred.  He  was  informed  that  the 
people  there  relished  American  cheese  fully 
as  well  as  the  English  article.  We  have  .said 
repeatedly  that  our  exjiort  of  dairy  products 
can  be  vastlv  increased  by  raising  the  stand- 
ard of  quality  of  the  bulk  cjf  our  make,  and 
this  is  now  all  that  is  re(iuired  to  render  this 
industry  one  of  the  most  profitable  in  which 
our  people  are  engaged. 

Col.  Littler  added  a  word  at  Elgin  for  the 
success  of  the  International  Dairy  Fair,  to  be 
held  in  New  York  city  in  December  next.  We 
join  in  urging  daiiyineu  here  and  elsewhere  to 
send  samples  of  their  products,  as  this  lair 
will  draw  a  large  number  of  foreign  buyers, 
and  therefore  an  opportunity  will  be  afforded 
for  the  inspection  of  goods  which  producers 
will  do  well  to  imiirove. 

This  fair  will  be  held  during  the  second 
and  third  weeks  in  December  next.  It 
will  be  the  seiMind  exhibition  of  the  associa- 
tion held  in  Xew  York,  and  extensive  prep- 
arations are  being  made  to  render  it  far  more 
interesting  and  useful  than  its  predecessor,  or 
any  similar  exhibition  which  has  occurred. 
at  least,  in  this  country.  The  entiic  Ameri- 
can Institute  has  been  engaged  in  order  to 
provide  ample  room  for  tlu'  display  of  dairy 
products,  utensils,  etc.  No  facility  will  he 
lacking  for  the  manufacture  of  butter  and 
cheese  on  a  large  scale.  In  order  that  any 
machinery  may  be  seen  in  motion  which  it  is 
desirable  to  thus  exhibit,  ample  motive  power 


will  be  employed.  Another  feature,  which  is 
novel  in  connection  with  such  exhibitions  in 
America,  has  been  arranged  for,  and  that  is  a 
sh.iw  of  dairv  cows,  a  provision  for  space  hav- 
ini;  been  made,  and  as  a  ixooelly  number  of 
breeders  have  sJunilied  their  intention  of  being 
on  hand  with  stock,  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  this  department  of  the  exhibition  will  be 
among  its  most  interesting  features.  We  un- 
derstand that  th.'  pidspects  of  a  large  and 
varied  display  of  foreign  dairy  products  are 
very  good,— a  result  of  the  "elVoi-ls  of  Col. 
Littler  and  other  geMlleman  who  have  been 
abroad  and  enlisted  foreigners  in  the  enter- 
prise. 

The  premium  list  ha.s  not  yet  been  announ- 
ced, but  that  it  will  be  liberal  and  varied 
there  is  no  room  to  doubt,  embracing  all 
classes  of  desirable  goods.  As  usual,  |)apers 
in  connection  with  dairying  will  be  read  from 
eminent  sources,  and  discussions  held  on 
prominent  topics  pertaining  to  this  interest. 
Those  who  wish  any  information  in  regard  to 
this  .■xbiliit,  other  than  is  here  given,  can 
address  the  .secretary  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, Mr,  T.  Mortimer  Seaver,  iJOO  Green- 
wich    street.     New    York    oily.— American 

Slnrkliiiln. 

MANAGEMENT  OF   HORSES. 

The  horse  is,  and  will  remain  In  this  coun- 
try, the  main  sonrci'  of  power  on  the  farm. 
In  some  |>arts  of  ivn-opi;  steam  power  is  used 
on  a  few  lar^i' estates,  but  the  horse,  after 
all,  is  the  main  dependence  there  as  well  as 
here.  This  noble  animal  has  been  the  servant 
and  the  friend  of  mau  from  a  period  beyond 
the  records  of  history.  In  peace  and  in  war 
he  has  alike  been  serviceable  and,  indeed,  in- 
dispensable to  the  human  race.  Ilis  intelli- 
gence is  greater,  and  his  nature  higher  than 
any  other  species  of  the  brute  creation. 
Under  varying  conditions  of  treatment  and 
care,  he  is  found  in  various  types  and  forms, 
adapted  to  every  use  in  which  his  services  are 
required,  from  the  fleet  Arabian,  and  the 
English  thoroughbred,  to  the  immense 
Percheron  and  Clydesdale.  These  diverse 
types  and  forms  are  the  result  of  breeding  and 
numagement,  and  demonstrates  what  may  be 
done  by  systeuuitic,  careful  breeding  and 
management. 

The  mass  of  farmers  in  this  country  have 
hitherto  pursued,  at  best,  a  wretched  policy 
in  rearing  horse  stock;  or  perhaps  it  would  be 
nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  they  have  fol- 
lowed no  policy  at  all,  but  adop'ted  a  hap- 
hazard, bit  or  nii.ss,  (tonrse  in  breeding  with 
results  which  niiglit  have  been  f.u-e.seen.  A 
want  of  judgment  and  discretion  in  coupling 
sire  and  dam  has  left  a  stock  of  nondescripts, 
of  almost  every  form  and  disposition.  It  is 
but  proper  to  say,  however,  that  a  marked 
improvement  herein  has  been  going  on  within 
a  few  years  in  the  west,  (and  it  is  this  jiortion 
of  the  country  to  which  these  remarks  speci- 
ally apiily.)  In  the  caily  days  in  this  region 
the  i)ioneers  could  only  use  such  sires  of  horse 
stock  as  were  within  their  reach,  and  the  sons 
of  these  men  followed  In  iheir  footsteps  until 
within  a  comparatively  recent  period.  With 
such  limited  opportunities,  of  couree,  there 
could  only  result  a  mongrel  class  of  horses, 
with  now  and  then  a  fair  animal  in  size,  style 
and  action.  But,  as  we  have  said,  within  a 
few  years  a  marked  change  has  occurred  and 
IS  now  going  on.  With  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  country,  the  growth  of  towns  and 
cities,  bringing  a  demand  for  horses  for 
various  uses,  thisluaneh  of  rural  economy  has 
necessarily  attracted  more  attention.  '  Tl\e 
in<iuiry  for  horse  stock  in  towns  and  cities  is 
rapidly  increasing.  Driving  horses,  for  bug- 
gies and  carriages,  fleet  roadsters,  and  fine 
steppers  are  in  demand,  as  are  also  heavy 
Ileuses  of  great  strength  and  good  action. 
\\\i\  this  demand  must  .always  exist.  The 
service's  of  this  useful  animal  are  ever  in 
demand  and  ever  will  be,  and  its  magnitude 
gives  this  branch  of  stock  raising  a  signifi- 
cance which,  in  its  way,  is  as  important  as 
any  other.  We  must  have  horses— horses  for 
a  variety  of  uses,  requiring  different  types 


and  styles.  We  must  raise  thoroughbreds — 
the  blood  horse  proper,  ns  distinguisliud  from 
other  lireeds— and  the  horse  for  general  pui- 
poses  ;  wi'  must  have  light  harness  heirsesand 
roadsters,  and  heavier,  stylish  b.ir.s.s  lor  car- 
riages ;  we  euigbt  [o  rai.se  anel  use  more  saddle 
boi-si's;  anel  last,  but  neil  least,  luravy  draft 
Ileuses,  wbe.se-  Weight,  size  and  muscular 
peiwei-  :Hla|.i  liieni  especially  for  lieavy  work. 
All  these-  ela-esof  horses  can  be  prexluced  of 
excellent  leuin  imd  style'  as  easily  ii.s  the  mon- 
grels  that  are'  now  raised  by  thcmsand.s.  Wo 
need  not  rely  so  nnich  upein  foreign  countries, 
becau.se  already  men  of  foresight,  enterprise 
and  means  have  imported  and  reared  horses 
to  breed  from  in  large  numbers.  To  these 
horses  and  their  progeny  we  may  look  for  a 
rapid  improvi'iiii  iit  of  thi'  horse  .stock  of  the 
ceiuntry,  an.l  e'spei'ially  of  the'  West.  But  in 
this,  as  iiie-viiy  eitluu'  biauehof  live  stock  hus- 
banelry,  it  is  eif  prime'  iiii|ieutauce  to  breed 
only  freim  full  blood  sire's,  and  to  select  dams 
well  sniteel  for  breeding  the  style  of  animal 
desireel.  A  fe'w  goeiil  teip-crosses  will  give,  if 
judiciously  manageil,  a  horse  possessing  the 
form  and  chaiacter  of  full  blood  animals,  and 
thus  in  time--  and  not  a  very  long  time  either 
—the  poor,  abnsiil  infeiior  horsc^s  which  are 
to  be  seen  everywlii  re'  among  western  farmers 
maybe  siippleini'iite  il  by  a  class  eif  horses  of 
the  variiuiseh'siralile  breeels,  which  will  add 
very  materially  tej  the  wealth  eiflhe  individu- 
al breeders,  as  well  as  to  the  aggregate  wealth 
of  the  country.— .dnier/cau  ISlockiuan. 

WHAT  A  DEED  OF  A  FARM  INCLUDES. 

The  following  is  from  an  address  of  Hon. 
Eilnumd  11.  Bennett,  delivered  before  the 
Massachusetts  .State  Board  of  Agriculture: 
"Of  course  every  one  knows  it  conveys  all  the 
fences  standing  on  the  farm,  but  all  might 
not  think  it  also  included  the  fencing  siufl', 
posts,  rails,  I'te:.,  which  had  once  been  usi'd  in 
the  feiK'c  liut  had  bee  n  taki'ii  elowii  and  piled 
up  feu-  futiiic  ii>.e  again  in  thi'.same  place.  But 
new  feiie'ing  material  just  benight  and  never 
attached  to  the  seiil  weuilel  not  pass.  .So  piles 
of  heieip  peiles,  steireel  away,  it  once  used  on 
the  lanel  have  be'cii  e'.insieh're'el  a  part  of  it;  but 
loose  beiarels  eu'  scalleilel  pe)les  laid  clo.sely 
across  the  beaius  e.t  the  barn  and  never 
fastened  tei  it  weiuld  neit  be  and  the  .seller  of 
the  farm  miglil  take  them  away.  Standing 
trees,  of  course,  also  pass  as  part  of  the  land; 
so  do  trees  blown  or  cut  down  and  still  left  iu 
the  woods  where  they  fell,  but  not  if  cut  and 
corded  up  for  sale  ;  tlie  wood  has  then  become 
liersonal  property. 

"If  there  be  any  manure  in  the  banij'ard 
or  in  a  compost  heap  on  the  field,  ready  for 
immediate  use,  the  buyer  ordinarily  takes 
that  also  as  belonging  to  the  farm,  though  it 
might  not  be  so  if  the  owner  had  iireviously 
.sidd  it  to  some  other  party  and  had  collected 
it  together  in  a  heap  by  itself.  Growing  crops 
also  pass  by  the  deed  of  a  farm,  unless  they 
are  expressly  reserved,  and  when  it  is  not  in- 
tended to  convey  those,  it  should  be  so  stated 
in  the  deed  itself;  a  mere  oral  agreement  to 
tiiat  effect  would  not  be  valid  in  law.  Another 
mode  is  to  stipulate  that  po.ssessiou  is  not  lo 
be  given  until  some  future  day,  in  which  case 
the  cre>p3  or  manure  may  be  removed  liefore 
that  time. 

"As  to  the  buildings  on  the  farm,  though 
generally  mentioned  in  the  deed,  it  is  not  abso- 
lutely necessary  they  should  be.  A  deed  of 
lanu  ordinarily  carries  all  the  buildings  on  it 
beleiiiging  to  the  grantor,  whethi'r  mentioned 
en-  iieit  ;  and  this  ruU'  includes  the  lumber  and 
timber  of  any  old  building  which  has  been 
taken  down  or  bleiwn  down  and  been  packed 
away  for  future  use  eui  the  farm. 

•'But  if  there  be-  any  buildings  on  the  farm 
built  by  some  thirel  persein,  with  the  farmer's 
leave,  the  eleed  weuilel  iieit  convey  these,  since 
such  biiililings  are  perseinal  [iroperty,  and  do 
not  beleeiiu'  tei  the  laneiowner  to  convey.  The 
real  owners  ther.'e.f  might  move  them  off, 
although  the  purchaser  e.f  the  farm  suppo.sed 
he  was  buying  and  iiaying  for  all  the  build- 
ings on  it.  Ilis  oidy  remedy  in  such  a  case 
would  be  against  the  party  selling  the  premises. 


i70 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[November, 


As  part  of  the  buildings  conveyed,  of  course 
the  window  blinds  are  included,  even  if  they 
be  at  the  same  time  taken  off  and  carried  to 
a  painter's  shop  to  be  painted. 

"It  would  be  otherwise  if  tliey  had  been 
newly  purchased  and  brought  into  the  house 
but  not  yet  attached  to  it.  Lightning  rods 
also  go  with  the  house;  if  a  farmer  has  any  on 
his  house.  A  furnace  in  the  cellar,  brick  or 
portable,  is  considered  a  part  of  the  house, 
but  an  ordinary  stove  with  a  loose  pipe 
running  into  the  chimney  is  not,  while  a 
range  set  in  brick  work  is.  Mantel  pieces  so 
attached  to  the  chimney  as  not  to  be  removed 
without  marring  the  plastering  go  with  the 
house,  but  if  merely  resting  on  brackets  they 
may  be  taken  away  by  the  former  owner 
without  legal  liability.  The  pumps,  sinks, 
etc.,  fastened  to  the  building  are  a  part  of  it 
in  law,  and  so  are  the  water-pipes  connected 
therewith  bringing"  water  from  a  distant 
spring.  If  the  farmer  has  iron  kettles  set  iti 
brickwork  near  his  barn  for  cooking  food  for 
his  stock,  or  other  similar  uses,  the  deed  of 
his  farm  covers  them  also,  as  likewise  a  bell 
attached  to  his  barn  to  call  his  men  to  dinner. 
If  he  indulges  in  ornamental  statues,  vases, 
etc.,  resting  on  the  ground,  by  their  own 
weight  merely,  and  sells  his  estate,  without 
reservation,   these  things  go  with   the  land." 

WHEN  TO  SELL. 

Every  one  who  is  engaged  in  any  depart- 
ment of  agriculture  or  manufacture  is  sup- 
posed to  have  from  time  to  time  something  to 
sell  or  exchange.  On  the  disposition  of  this 
surplus  depends  the  supply  of  all  articles  that 
the  person  does  not  raise,  embracing  all  im- 
plements and  improvements  of  every  kind 
that  require  an  outlay.  Hence  it  is  a  matter 
of  moment  that  the  sale  of  these  thin  s  be 
made  at  the  time  the  best  price,  all  things  con- 
sidered, will  be  obtained.  Is  it  possible  to  be 
certain  of  this  time  ?  In  general,  no.  There 
are  many  articles  that  constitute  exceptions. 
Those  that  cannot  be  conveniently  preserved 
must,  of  course,  be  thrown  on  the  market  at 
once.  Others  that  are  in  demand  in  certain 
seasons  only,  will  be  governed  by  the  season's 
trade.  But  the  most  common  and  valuable 
products  of  human  industry  are  always  in 
market,  and  yet  are  subject  to  frequent  fluctua- 
tions in  price.  Such  are  the  leading  products 
of  the  farm  and  most  of  the  useful  manufac- 
tures. As  to  these  no  fixed  rule  can  be  given, 
but  the  following  suggestions  will  commend 
themselves  to  the  prudent  : 

One  should  keep  himself  informed  of  the 
state  of  the  market,  especially  in  places  ac- 
cessible to  him,  and  as  fer  as  practicable  in 
places  whose  trade  affects  directly  his  local 
market.  The  best  way  to  secure  "this,  is  to 
take  and  read  good  papers,  that  give  not  only 
the  tabular  market  statements,  but  also  intei- 
licent  and  impartial  comments  and  counsels. 
When  necessity  compels  one  to  sell,  he  can 
only  submit,  regardless  of  prices;  but  in  all 
other  cases  he  ought  to  govern  him.self  con- 
sistently by  reasonable  probabilities.  Unless 
in  the  face  of  a  comparative  certainty  that 
there  will  be  no  advance,  economy  plainly 
forbids  the  disposal  of  a  commodity  at  a  price 
that  is  not  more  tlian  its  cost  to  the  jiroducer. 
Business  cannot  live  on  losses.  A  certain  far- 
mer, who  always  prospered,  made  it  a  rule  to 
sell  everything  he  could  spare  as  soon  as  it 
was  in  marketable  condition.  He  never  made 
much  at  one  time;  but  he  avoided  all  risks  of 
rogues  and  fires,  all  injuries  by  vermin  and 
weather,  all  the  trouble  and  expense  of  pro- 
tracted storage,  all  the  reduction  of  shrinkage 
and  incidental  waste,  and  he  was  receiving 
money  now  and  then  through  the  year. 

It  is  safe  advice  to  say  that  every  one  should 
be  content  to  sell  at  a  reasonable  profit.  To 
wait  for  very  large  prices  is  dangerous  policy, 
and  especially  as  to  the  necessaries  of  life, 
very  bad  morals.  Wliat  man  nmst  have,  his 
fellow-man  should  be  willing  to  furnish  at 
r.itps  that  are  not  exorbitant  or  oppressive. 
Business  should  never  violate  the  principles 
of  magnanimity  and  true  ch-diitj.—Bural 
New  Yorker. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


LANCASTER    COUNTY    AGRICULTU- 
RAL   AND     HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

The  reg:ular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Lancaster 
County  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society  was 
held  in  their  rooms  in  the  City  Hall,  on  Monday 
afternoon,  November  'i. 

The  meetins;  was  called  to  order  by  the  President, 
Calvin  Cooper. 

The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present : 
Calvin  Cooper,  Bird-in  Hand  ;  Joseph  F.  Witmer, 
Paradise;  A.  B.  Groff,  West  Earl;  Daniel  Smeych, 
city;  J.  C.  Linville,  Gap;  M.  D.  Kendig,  Manor; 
Jacob  Bollinger,  Warwick  ;  C.  A.  Gast,  city  ;  F.  R. 
DifTenderffer,  city ;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city  ;  C.  H.  Hos- 
tetter,  Eden;  JohnH.  Lan4is,  .Manor;  Mr.  Broom- 
eal,  Christiana  ;  Henry  M.  Engle,  Marietta  ;  Wash- 
ington L.  Hershey,  Chickies;  Amos  Eshleman, 
Paradise  ;  William  McComsey,  city  ;  Peter  Hershey, 
city;  S.  S.  Rathvon,  city,  Johnson  .Miller,  War- 
wick; Casper  Hiller,  Conestoga  ;  Christian  L.  Hun- 
secker,  Manheim  ;  And.  Frantz,  Wabank  ;  Webster 
L.  Hershey,  West  Hempfield ;  Simon  Hershey, 
Salunga. 

On  motion  the  reading  of  the  minutes  was  dis- 
pensed with. 

Mr.  Peter   Hershey   was   proposed  and   elected  to 
membership.     He  signed  tlie  constitution. 
Report  on  Artificial  Fertilizers. 

J.  C.  Linville,  from  the  Committe  on  Artificial 
Fertilzers,  said  the  committee  had  not  yet  met,  but 
he  had  made  some  investigations  for  himself.  He 
tried  three  kinds  of  fertilizers  on  wheat.  They  were 
the  Star  Phosphate,  the  High  Grade  Nitro  and  the 
Crop  Grower.  The  application  of  the  first  named 
two  gave  good  results.  They  were  drilled  in  with 
wheat,  about  200  pounds  to  the  acre  ;  the  yield  was 
six  or  seven  bushels  per  acre  more.  That  which  was 
drilled  in  gave  much  better  results  than  that  which 
was  harrowed  in.  When  only  a  small  quantity  is 
used  it  seems  much  the  best  to  drill  it  right  along 
with  the  grain,  so  that  it  can  reach  the  roots.  The 
cost  was  $4  per  acre.  The  Crop  Grower  proved  a 
failure. 

Calvin  Cooper  also  sowed  some  of  the  Crop 
Grower  fertilizer  broadcast  and  derived  no  benefit 
from  it. 

Peter  Hershey  said  his  experience  was  like  Mr. 
Linville's.  He  sowed  phosphate  on  the  surface  but 
it  did  little  good  ;  on  grass,  however,  it  gave  good 
results.  When  drilled  in  with  wheat  it  increased 
the  yield.  This  is  the  only  way  he  has  derived  benefit 
from  artificial  fertilizers.  He  had  been  prejudiced 
against  these  manures,  but  has  now  changed  his 
mind. 

H.  M.  Engle  applied  fertilizers  to  corn  for  two 
seasons  and  the  effect  was  marked.  He  used  Nitro 
phosphate.  This  fall  he  used  South  Carolina  phos- 
phate on  his  wheat  and  the  result,  of  course,  cannot 
yet  he  foretold.  He  knows  nothing  about  the  Crop 
Grower,  but  he  would  not  condemn  it  from  one  trial. 
On  other  soils  it  might  have  done  better.  He  thinks 
the  drill  sowing  may  show  more  immediate  efi'ects 
and  the  broadcast  better  afterwards.  We  must  know 
what  our  lands  require.  If  we  know  that  we  cannot 
go  far  wrong  in  getting  just  the  thing  we  want. 
Some  ingredients  produce  their  best  effects  in  the 
spring  jind  others  in  the  fall.  A  single  year's  ex- 
periment is  not  sufficient.  One  may  do  well  in  one 
crop  and  not  in  another.  These  points  must  all  be 
considered.  He  alluded  to  a  report  made  by  Prof. 
A.  F.  Allen  before  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
at  its  recent  meeting  at  Mercer,  on  this  very  subject, 
and  to  be  published  in  the  next  Agricultural  Society's 
report. 

J.  C.  Linville  thought  the  members  ought  to  read 
a  work  by  Joseph  Harris  on  manures,  a  most  valu- 
able and  exhaustive  work.  Farmers  have  not  time 
nor  money  to  try  these  experiments  for  themselves  ; 
they  can  avail  themselves  of  the  results  obtained  by 
others. 

Peter  Hershey  said  an  Englishman   raised   wheat 
for  thirty   years  successively  off  the  same   land  by 
sowing  about  eight  hundred  pounds  of  fertilizers. 
Weather  Reports. 

H.  M.  Engle  said  the  cool  weather  has  checked 
the  ravages  of  the  fly.  The  rain  fall  for  October  was 
2%  inches. 

In  Manor  township  the  rain  fall  was  l'^  inches,  as 
reported  by  M .  D.  Kendig. 

An  interesting  discussion  here  ensued  on  rain- 
gauges  in  general,  some  contending  that  the  ordinary 
gauge  is  not  a  true  one. 

California. 

John  H.  Landis,  who  had  been  put  down  for  an 
essay,  read  a  very  lengthy  article  on  California,  in 
which  the  various  productions,  diversified  interests, 
people,  climate  and  other  things  belonging  to  the 
Golden  State  were  told. 

On  motion  of  M.  D.  Kendig,  the  thanks  of  the 
society  were  given  to  Mr.  Landis  for  his  essay. 

In  answer  to  a  question  he  said  there  was  uo  rain 
fall  from  June  to  September,  and  that  the  fields  are 


irrigated  by  water  pumped  from  wells  and  cisterns 
and  conveyed  to  the  fields  by  pipes. 
Heading  Trees  Low. 

M.  Kendig  asked  why  we  do  not  head  our  trees 
low  here,  as  is  done  in  some  other  places. 

H.  M.  Engle  said  it  had  several  advantages.  The 
trees  were  more  shielded  from  the  winds  ;  the  fruit 
was  more  easily  picked,  and  the  ground  is  not  dried 
out  so  easily.  Through  the  west  trees  are  branched 
low. 

Referred  Quetions. 

Ephraim  Hoover,  to  whom  was  referred  the  ques- 
tion, "What  kind  of  horses  are  most  profitable  to 
the  farmer  ?"  being  personally  absent,  sent  a  brief 
essay  on  the  subject,  as  follows  : 

"This  question  I  shall  try  to  answer  from  my  own 
experience  and  observation.  For  the  farmer  to  con- 
fine himself  to  a  heavy  stock  of  horses  does  not 
meet  his  ends  for  practical  purposes.  If,  for  in- 
stance, he  selects  heavy  breeds,  adapted  for  heavy 
draught  only,  and  on  the  other  hand,  if  he  breeds 
from  stock  of  light  build  and  great  speed  entirely, 
they  are  not  adapted  for  farm  purposes.  The  sug- 
gestion then  naturally  comes,  that  we  should  select 
or  breed  such  stock  that  combines  both  qualities. 
For  instance,  cross  heavy  stock  with  light  stock, 
noted  for  speed  and  gentleness.  This  gives  the  farmer 
a  stock  of  horses  adapted  both  for  roadsters  and 
reasonably  heavy  draught,  making  a  breed  of  horses 
that  will  do  more  work  on  a  farm,  move  with  more 
ease  and  also  be  more  adapted  to  be  taken  from  the 
heavier  farm  draught  to  a  light  pleasure  carriage.  I 
would,  therefore,  have  a  breed  of  horses  for  farm 
purposes  that  combine  draught  with  speed— good 
size,  well  boned,  with  a  cross  of  English  blood- 
weight  from  eleven  hundred  to  thirteen  hundred. 
This  is  my  idea  of  the  horse  for  practical  farm  pur- 
poses, after  a  number  of  years  of  experience  with 
the  different  breeds." 

Joseph  F.  Witmer  thought  we  needed  fast  walkers 
on  our  farms.  They  can  easily  be  followed  and  get 
over  the  ground  much  more  quickly  than  slow  ones. 
He  liked  the  Morgan  horses  as  well  as  any. 

H.  iM.  Engle  also  thought  we  ought  to  have  bet- 
ter walking  horses.  We  either  have  slow  or  fast 
ones.  The  custom  was  to  put  colts  into  a  four-horse 
team  or  into  a  plow  to  be  broken,  where  they  ac- 
quired a  slow  gait.  This  is  wrong.  Put  them  in  a 
wagon  and  you  will  remedy  the  matter. 

Dr.  Rathvon,  who  was  charged  with  the  payment 
of  the  premiums  won  at  the  late  fair,  made  his  re' 
port.  He  made  a  report  showing  how  much  he  had 
paid  and  how  much  remained  unclaimed.  All  who 
have  not  lifted  their  premiums  have  forfeited  them, 
the  time  for  so  doing  having  expired.  The  sum  of 
$26.50  was  accordingly  paid  into  the  treasury. 

J.  C.  Linville  thought  a  colt  ought  to  be  ridden  to 
make  fast  walkers.  Our  farm  horses  are  too  small. 
We  want  larger,  heavier  horses;  that  is  the  kind  we 
must  raise  if  we  want  to  sell  them.  We  need  large 
mares  to  breed  from.  We  are  apt  to  run  after  fast 
travelers.  A  good  business  can  be  done  by  growing 
heavy  horses. 

Jacob  Bollinger  agreed  with  Mr.  Linville.  It  is 
our  own  fault  that  we  have  no  fast  walkers.  He 
bought  a  slow  horse  and  by  riding  him  daily  he  in- 
creased his  walking  gait  almost  one  hundred  per 
cent.  He  believed  in  heavy  horses.  They  cannot 
only  walk  fast  but  do  heavy  work  better  than  light 
animals. 

J.  F.  Witmer  did  not  agree  with  the  advocates  of 
heavy  horses.  Besides  they  eat  much  more  than 
smaller  ones,  and  thus  cost  more  for  feed. 

W.  L.  Hershey  did  not  favor  light  horses.  A 
heavy  horse  is  to  be  relied  on  in  emergencies.  A 
good  strong  team  is  required  to  break  up  heavy  sod. 
There  is  more  demand  at  the  present  time  for  heavy 
horses.  They  sell  better.  They  have  more  endur- 
ance. A  horse  for  driving  purposes  should  be  kept, 
and  he  ought  not  as  a  rule  to  be  used  for  heavy 
draught  purpos 

H.  M.Engletl 
horses.  H«  believed  the  four  horse  teams  wouU 
soon  be  things  of  the  past.  In  other  States  two 
horse  teams  are  almost  exclusively  used.  The  day 
has  gone  by  for  heavy  horses  for  farm  purposes. 

Calvin  Cooper  gave  his  experience  in  which  a  slow 
walker  was  taught  by  a  companion  to  become  a  fast 
walker.     He  was  opposed  to  heavy  horses. 

J.  F.  Witmer  thought  it  did  not  pay  most  farmers 
lo  keep  a  roadster;  they  could  not  afford  to  keep  one 
for  that  purpose  alone. 

The  Most  Profitable  Crop. 

"What  branch  of  farming  will  pay  best?"  being 
referred  to  C.  H.  Hostetter,  he  admitted  his  inability 
to  answer  it.  It  could  not  be  answered  to  suit  all 
men. 

C.  L.  Hunsecker  said  this  depended  on  circum- 
stances. Some  make  money  out  of  hay,  tobacco  and 
wheat,  but  tobacco  seems  latterly  to  have  been  the 
most  profitable.  Some  make  money  out  of  one 
thing,  and  others  fail  completely  at  the  same  thing. 
Out  in  Spring  Garden  there  were  twenty-eight  still 
houses  kept  going  by  distilling  apples,  which  made 
apple  growing  profitable;  but  that  was  many  years 
ago. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


171 


Jacob  Bollinger  thought  we  ought  to  dl6CU68  this 
question  thoroughly.  Corn  gave  him  the  beet 
results.  He  has  never  had  less  than  00  bushels  and 
this  year  he  got  69  bushels  to  the  acre.  Wheat  does 
not  give  him  so  good  a  profit.  If  he  could  get  any 
thing  more  profitable  than  corn  ho  would  grow  it. 
He  feeds  nearly  all  his  corn. 

H.  M.  Engle  said  all  depends  upon  circumstances. 
One  can  do  best  with  one  crop  and  his  neighbor  with 
another.  Market  gardening  pays  better  even  tlian 
tobacco. 

New  Business. 
New  business  being  in  order,  Casper  Hiller  Said  : 
Pearl  Millet  has  with  me  during  the  past  season 
by  no  means  come  up  to  what  we  were  led  to  expect 
from  the  glowing  accounts  that  seed  dealers  gave  of  it. 
It  was  said  that  iu  fortj-fivc  days  after  planting  It 
would  grow  to  seven  feet  high,  that  it  could  bo 
mowed  ^three  times  a  season,  and  would  aggregate 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  tons  of  grass  fodder,  that 
would  cure  fifteen  Ions  of  dry  feed.  In  forty-Uve 
days  after  planting,  mine  was  nearer  seven  inches 
than  seven  feet.  But  then  it  commenced  to  grow 
and  by  midsummer,  at  the  time  it  was  cut,  it  was 
about  four  feet  high.  The  second  growth  was  some- 
what better,  and  was  ready  to  cut  about  the  ist  of 
October.  I  made  no  estimate  of  the  quantity  pro- 
duced.    Tlie  seed  did  not  come  up  regular. 

From  my  experience  with  the  plant  I  would  infer 
that  two  mowings  a  season  is  all  that  we  can  make. 
That  with  good  seed  and  a  good  season  it  will  yield 
more  forage  than  any  other  millet,  and  probably 
more  tluin  Indian  corn,  and  will  besides  be  easier  to 
handle  than  corn. 

H.  M.  Engle  agreed  in  part  with  Mr.  Hiller  about 
Pearl  Millet;  he  will  leave  it  alone  hereafter;  he  does 
not  believe  it  as  good  as  corn  fodder  for  stock. 
Business  for  Next  Meeting. 
H.  M.  Engle  proposed  that  all  questions  for   dis- 
cussion be  first  referred  to  some  individual  member. 
The  following  referred  questions  were  proposed  for 
discussion  at  the  next  meeting  : 

"What  constitutes  high  farming  !"  Referred  to 
Henry  M.  Engle. 

"What  are  the  advantages  of  diversified  farming!" 
Referred  to  Peter  Hcrshey. 

"Will  dairy  farming  pay  in  Lancaster  county?" 
Referred  to  J.  C.  Linville. 

"Is  stock  raising  profitable  to  the  Lancaster  county 
farmer?"     Referred  to  M.  D.  Keudig. 

Casper  Hiller  called  attention  to  Blunt's  prolific 
corn,  of  which  he  had  a  specimen,  with  four  large 
ears  on  it,  at  hand.  Hardly  any  of  the  stalks  have 
less  than  two  ears,  many  have  four,  while  one  had 
twelve.  We  must  have  a  corn  that  is  prolific  in  ears 
rather  than  large  ears,  if  we  want  to  grow  big  crops 
of  corn.  He  also  gave  the  results  of  some  interest- 
ing experiments  in  root  pruning  practiced  on  corn. 
Th3y  were  quite  successful. 

Fruits  on  Exhibition. 
The  Committee  on  Nomenclature  made  the  follow- 
ing report  : 

Lawrence  pears,  from  W.  L.  Hershey,  fair;  a  seed- 
ling apple,  by  Daniel  Smeych,  large  size,  of  good 
quality,  worthy  of  propagation  in  case  it  proves  a 
reliable  bearer. 

Also  a  fine  apple  above  medium  size  from  S.  b>. 
Spencer,  quite  ^howy  and  of  excellent  quality,  name 
not  known  to  cooimittee. 

Apples  for  a  name,  by  W.  L.  Hershey,  of  good 
quality,  but  small.  By  same,  apples  named  Kauif- 
man's  seedling,  similar  iu  size  and  quality  to  those 
for  a  name,  both  of  which  are  not  sufliciently  valua- 
ble while  there  are  so  many  varieties  of  superior 
value. 

H.  M.  Enole, 
M.  D.  Kendki, 
Casper  Hillek. 
There  being  no  further  business,  the  Society  ad- 
journed. 

POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

Adjourned  Meeting. 

A  special  meeting  of  the  Poultry  Society  was  held 
on  Monday  morning,  Oct.  20,  in  the  Society  rooms, 
the  President,  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  in  the  chair. 

The  following  members  were  present:  Rev.  D.  C. 
Tobias,  Lititz;~J.  B.  Lichty,  city;  Wm.  Shoenberger, 
city;  Charles  E.  Long,  city;  Charles  Lippold,  city; 
Frank  R.  Diffendcrfl'er,  city;  H.  H.  Tshudy,  Litilz ; 
J.  B.  Long,  city;  T.  D.  Martin,  New  Haven;  Frank 
B.  Buch,  Lititz;  Jacob  A.  Buch,  Lititz;  G.  A.  Geyej-, 
Spring  Garden;  J.  A.  Stober,Schoeneck;  Eli  J.Barr, 
Lititz;  J.  R.  Trissler,  Lancaster;  Obadiah  Kendig, 
Lancaster;  William  Krump,  Oregon;  J.  M.  Johnston, 
city;  David  M.  Brosy,  Manheim;  Miller  Fraim,  city. 

On  motion,  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  last 
meeting  wai  dispensed  with. 

Reports  of  Committees. 

W.  H.  Schoenbergerjreported  having  visited  some 
of  the  landlords  of  the  city  relative  to  procuring  sub- 
scriptions. He  found  a  disinclination  to  do  so.  They 
prefer  to  take  tickets  when  the  proper  time  comes. 

Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias  reported  that  efforts  were  in 
progress  to  secure  proper  and  competent  judges, 
but  he  was  not  ready  to  make  a  full  report  as  yet. 


Unfinished  Business. 
Charles  E.  Long  read  the  list  of  all  who  had  agreed 
to  take  ticke's,  and  the  amount  oftheir  subscriptions. 
Some  of  the  members  present  who  had  not  already 
subscribed  did  so  now.  The  amount  is  such  that  the 
Executive  Committee  is  now  prepared  to  go  ahead. 
The  money  on  hand  is  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  neces- 
sary charges,  including  the  cost  of  coops,  hall  rent, 
printing  and  all  other  expenses,  giving  assurance  that 
all  winners  of  prizes  will  get  their  money  and  not  be 
sent  away  dieappoinlod,  as  has  been  done  at  other 
places  that  might  be  named. 

Jacob  B.  Long  moved  that  as  there  had  been  a 
sulliclent  amount  subscribed,  including  what  was  in 
the  treasury,  to  warrant  us  iu  going  ahead,  the  Exe- 
cutive Committee  be  Instructed  to  go  ahead  and  have 
the  tickets  reudv  lor  distribution  at  the  next  meeting. 
H.  H.  Tsliudy  si^coudcd  the  motion,  and  accom- 
panied it  with  assuring  remarks,  feeling  satisfied 
there  would  not  be  a  particle  of  risk. 

Charles  E.  Long  suggested  that  perhaps  members 
mightbo  willing  to  pay  their  yeariy  dues  in  Decem- 
ber and  thus  strengthen  the  treasury  against  all  pos- 
sible contingencies. 

New  Members. 
H.  C.  Demuth,  John  P.  Wclse,  William  Henderson, 
Henry  8.  Leibley,  from  the  city,  and  Dr.  J.  H.  Mayer, 
of  Willow  street;  F.  U.  Gantz,  Marietta;  Pierson  N. 
Eberly,  Reamstown;  Samuel  Denlinger,  Groff'sStoi'e; 
Martin  Bowman  and  Adam  Flowers,  of  Mt.  Joy; 
Peter  Hiller,  of  Conestoga;  and  Jacob  H.  Hershey,  of 
Rohrerstown,  were  nominated  to  membership  and  on 
motion  unanimously  elected. 

On  motion  the  Secretary  was  instructed  to  notify 
all  members  of  the  next  meeting  and. request  their 
attendance,  as  very  important  business  will  undoubt- 
edly come  up,  and  a  full  meeting  is  desired. 

A  letter  was  read  by  the  Secretary  from  H.  H. 
Stoddard,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Poij^fcj/  H'orW 
and  the  American  Poultry  Yard,  of  Hartford,  Ct., 
offering  the  above  two  periodicals,  value  $2.00,  as 
special  premiums  for  the  best  Light  Brahma  cockerel 
on  exhibition  at  the  show.  In  addition  to  the  above, 
he  made  the  same  offer  for  a  cockerel  of  each  of  the 
following  breeds:  Dark  Brahma,  Red  Pile  Game, 
White  Pile  Game,  Black  Game,  Blue  Game,  Malay, 
Black  Hamburg,  White  Leghorn,  Brown  Leghorn, 
Black  Leghorn,  Black  Spanish,  Andalusiau,  Ameri- 
can Dominique,Plymouth  Rock, White  Grcsted,  Black 
Polish,  Crevecoeur,  La  Fleche,  Sultan,  Silky,  Y.  D. 
Game  Bantam,  R.  Pile  Game  Bantam,  R.  C.  Black 
Bantam,  best  pair  White  Holland  Turkey,  African 
Geese,  Wild  Geese. 

On  motion,  the  above  offer  was  accepted  and  the 
thanks  of  the  Society  were  tendered  to  Mr.  Stoddard 
for  his  offer. 

Charles  L.  Long  also  moved  that  a  special  com^ 
mittee  of  three  members  be  appointed losolicit.other 
special  premiums  from  citizens,  to  be  offered  for  par- 
ticular classes  of  birds.  Carried.  The  President 
named  the  following  members  as  the  committee: 
Messrs.  J.  R.  Trissler,  J.  B.  Long  and  John  F.  Heed. 
There  being  no  further  business,  the  Society,  on 
motion,  adjourned. 

Stated  Meeting. 

A  stated  meeting  of  the  Poultry  Association  was 
held  in  the  room  of  the  Agricultural  Society,  on 
Monday  morning,  November  3,  commencing  at  10 
o'clock. 

The  followmg  members  were  present  :  Rev.  D.  C. 
Tobias,  President,  Litiz;  J.  B.  Lichty,  Secretary, 
city ;  Amos  Ringwalt,  city ;  Wm.  Schoenherger, 
city;  F.  R.Diffenderffer,  city;  C.  A.  Gast,  city;  J. 
M.Johnston,  city;  Charles  Lippold,  city;  Charles 
E.  Long,  city  ;  H.  H.  Tshudy,  Litiz  ;  Geo.  A.Geyer, 
Spring  Garden  ;  Henry  Wissler,  Columbia;  S.  P. 
Eby,  cily;  J.  A.  Stober,  Schtsneck  ;  S.  N.  Warfel, 
Slrasburg  ;  S.  F.  Stauffcr,  Adamstown;  J.  B.  Long, 
city  ■  P.  .M.  Eberiy,  J.  Hofl'man  Hershey,  East 
Heniptield;  John  F.  Reed,  city;  W.  L.  Hershey, 
Chickies. 

J.  B.  Long,  from  the  committee  on  special  premi- 
ums, reported  progress ;  he  said  he  had  called  on 
several  citizens,  who  had  promised  to  offer  special 
varieties  of  fowls  to  be  named  hereafter. 

President  Tobias  reported  that  the  executive  com- 
mittee had  secured  the  services  of  John  E.  Diehl,  of 
Beverly,  N.  J.,  and  W.  T.  Rogers,  of  Doylestown, 
Pa.,  to  act  as  judges  at  the  coming  poultry  exhibi- 
tion ;  and  these  gentlemen  had  very  generously 
agreed  to  make  a  reduction  in  their  usual  charges  if 
the  society  shall  not  have  sufficient  funds  to  pay  them. 

Mr.  Lichty  stated  that  he  had  waited  on  .Mr. 
Sturgis  and  ordered  fifty  coops  at  ?1.50  each,  with 
privilege  to  have  as  many  more  as  may  be  needed  at 
the  same  rate. 

Mr.  C.  E.  Long  suggested  that  at  least  oue  page 
of  the  premium  list  should  be  filled  with  special 
premiums  to  be  offered  by  individuals. 

The  following  special  premiums  were  then  volun- 
teered : 

S.  E.  Stauffer  offers  a  trio  of  White  Leghorns  for 
best  pair  of  white-faced  Black  Spanish  fowls  ou 
exhibition. 

Charles  Lippold  offers  a  pair  of  Antwerp  Carriers 
for  the  best  pair  of  white  Calcutta  Fantails. 


Amos  Ringwalt  offers  a  trio  of  Golden-spangled 
Hamburgs  for  best  Silver-penciled  Haniburgs. 

J.  B.  Long  offers  a  trio  of  Plymouth  Rock  chickens 
for  best  pair  of  Light  Brahmas. 

Col.  Win.  L.  Pelper  offers  $3  for  best  pair  of 
Plymouth  Rocks. 

Mr.  Keiper  offers  a  Bno  chromo  for  the  heaviest 
chicken  on  exhibition. 

Charies  L.  Gill  offers  a  fivc-pouml  iced  lady-caWe 
for  the  best  pair  of  Black  Leghorns. 
Isaac  Dlller  offers  82  for  best  pair  of  Malay  Games. 
Chas.  E.   Long  offers  a   pair  of  White   Calcutta 
Fantail  pigeons,  valued  at  l.'i,  for  best   pair  of  Pea- 
comb  Partridec  Cochins. 

.i.  W.  Heluitsh  offers  a  collection  of  mixed  gladiola 
bulbs  for  best  pair  of  black-breasted  red  Game 
Bantams. 

Rhnads  &  Reed  ofi'er  a  gold  pen  and  holder  for  the 
best  Brown  Leghorns. 

W.  J.  Kafroth  olfcrs  a  year's  subscription  to  one 
of  the  Lancaster  dally  newspapers  (to  be  selected 
by  the  winner)  for  the  best  pair  of  White  Leghorns. 
Mr.  C.  E.  Long  moved  that  the  committee  on 
premiums  be  authorized  to  place  all  special  premi- 
ums not  placed  by  the  parlies  offering  them.  Adopted. 
John  V.  Reed  was  unanimously  elected  a  member 
of  the  Executive  Committee  vice  Mr.  Shrelner  re- 
signed. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  nominated  for 
membership,  and  were,  on  motion,  elected  by  accla- 
mation :  Hon.  D.  W.  Patterson,  Hon.  John  T.  Mac- 
Goulgle,  Hon.  A.  HcrrSmllh,Col.  Wm.  L.  Peiper, 
Dr.  II.  E.  .Muhlenberg,  John  D.  Skiles,  John  R. 
BItner,  B.  J.  McGrann,  II.  Z.  Rhoads,  D.  P.  Locher, 
Wm.  D.  Weaver,  Esq.,  Charles  Eden,  G.  W.  Hull, 
John  Hull,  Philip  8.  Baker,  Wm.  Cox,  A.  F.  Hos- 
tettcr,  Cupt.  E.  McMellen,  Samuel  Groff,  B.  F. 
Eslilemau,  Esq.,  Jacob  S.  Strinc,  John  H.  Zellcr, 
Chas.  B.  Kaufman,  Esq.,  Lawrence  Knapp,  Benj.  P. 
Miller,  James  H.  Marshall,  Lewis  S.Hartniau,  Peter 
8.  Reist,  Dr.  S.  A.  Raudenbush,  Adamstown;  W. 
K.  Seltzer,  Esq.,  Ephrata. 

On  motion  of  F.  K.  Diffenderffer  it  was  ordered 
that  on  payment  of  $1  by  the  above  named  members 
and  of  members  previously  elected,  who  have  not 
yet  paid  their  annual  dues,  they  shall  be  credited  not 
merely  with  this  year's  payment  but  with  payment 
for  the  ensuing  year. 

On  motion  of  S.  P.  Eby  it  was  ordered  that  in  the 
absence  of  the  corresponding  secretary  (Colin  Came- 
ron,) the  recording  secretary  (J.  B.  Lichty,)  shall 
notify  the  members  elect  of  their  election. 

Tickets  of  admission  to  the  fair  were  distributed 
among  the  members  who  had  subscribed  and  paid 
for  the  same. 

Jacob  H.  Miller,  of  Mt.  Joy,  sent  in  a  postal  re- 
signiotr  his  position  as  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  because  of  his  inability  to  attend  the 
meetings  regulariy.  His  resignation  was  accepted 
and  the  vacanay  will  be  filled  at  the  next  stated 
meeting. 

THE  BEEKEEPERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Lancaster  County  Beekeepers'  Association 
met  statedly  at  two  o'clock  Monday  afternoon, 
November  iOth,  in  the  parlor  of  the  Black  Horse 
Hotel.  * 

The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present: 

J.  F.  Hershey,  Mount  Joy;  I  G.  Martin,  Eari 
township;  F.  C.  Pyle,  Drumore;  PeterS.  Reist,  Litiz; 
Elias  Hershey,  Leamau  Place;  Frank  R.  Diffenderf- 
fer, city. 

Reports. 

Reports  on  the  past  bee  season  having  been  called 
for,  the  following  members  responded  : 

J.  F.  Hershey,  of  .Mount  Joy,  who  is  one  of  the 
largest  beekeepers  in  the  couuty,  said  that  the 
pre^sent  season  could  not  be  regarded  as  a  very  suc- 
cessful one.  In  the  early  part  of  the  season  the  con- 
ditions were  favorable.  There  was  an  abundance  of 
flowers  and  the  bees  stored  it  quite  rapidly.  This 
state  of  things  lasted  until  haymaklug,  say  about 
June  :iO,  when  the  dry  spell  came  on,  and  from  that 
time  until  the  present  the  little  honey  makers  were 
unable  to  do  much.  The  season  is  now  over,  and 
the  honey  crop  has  been  gathered.  It  may  be  re- 
garded as  about  half  an  average  yield.  This  is  not 
the  case  in  Lancaster  couuty  alone,  but  seems  to  be 
the  prevailing  condition  of  things  the  whole  country 
over. 

But  there  has  not  only  been  a  poor  honey  season; 
many  colonies  are  in  a  [wor  condition  to  go  into 
winter  quarters.  Cases  arc  reported  where  colonics 
have  already  starved,  not  having  gathered  suflicient 
to  last  them  until  uow.  There  is  no  question  but 
that  many  beekeepers  will  have  to  feed  at  least  a 
portion  of  their  bees  during  the  approaching  winter. 
An  average  colony  will  consume  about  twenty 
pounds  of  honey  or  its  equivalent  between  the  time 
when  the  honey  season  closes  and  the  first  of  May. 
Where  a  considerable  number  have  to  be  fed  this  will 
be  quite  a  tax  on  the  owners. 

The  Italians  as  usual  have  done  better  than  the 
native  black  bees.  The  former  have  in  almost 
every  instance  filled  the  lower  box  and  have  again 
commenced  work  In  the  upper  boxes,  although  in 
some  instances  the  black  bees  have  done  the  same. 


172 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  November, 


The  increase  in  new  colonies  with  Mr.  Hershey  has 
avenijfcd  about  63  per  cent.,  which  is  less  than  the 
average,  but  Mr.  H.  gives  more  attention  to  raisins 
queens  than  to  honey  orswarmiug.  He  started  with 
62  colonies  last  spring.  He  reported  having  raised 
aOO  queen  bees,  1.50  ofwhieh  were  sold  at  an  average 
of  S1.50  each,  realizing  in  all  ?225  from  this  source. 
He  also  got  about  650  pounds  of  honey,  aud  sold  five 
swarms,  and  now  has  72  colonies  with  which  to  go 
into  winter  quarters.  All  his  own  swarms  have 
plenty  of  honey.  He  will  winter  them  in  tlic  pecu- 
liar house,  half  underground,  already  described  in 
our  former  reports.  He  also  submitted  the  following 
remarks  on 

Wintering    Bees. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  important  points  in  bee 
keeping.  Each  colony  should  be  carefully  examined 
before  it  is  put  into  winter  quarters,  to  ascertain 
whether  it  has  honey  enough  and  bees  enough.  If  it 
is  too  weak  in  bees,  then  unite  two  swarms;  if  short 
in  honey,  feed  it.  Food  is  prepared  by  taking  two 
pounds  of  ordinary  coffee  sugar  and  one  pound  of 
water,  and  bringing  them  to  the  boiling  point. 

Protect  your  bees  from  the  north  aud  west  winds. 
Take  off  the  honey  boxes  and  put  d,u  old  quilt  or 
blanket  on  the  top  of  the  frames,  and  place  on  a  cap 
of  straw.  Place  a  protector  on  the  alighting  board, 
to  keep  the  sun  off  from  the  entrance  when  there  is 
a  loose  snow  on  the  ground;  if  there  is  no  snow  on 
the  ground,  leave  the  protector  away  from  the 
entrance  and  let  the  bees  have  the  full  benefit  of  the 
sun's  rays. 

Never  disturb  bees  when  it  is  cold.  If  bees  are 
long  in  confinement  when  there  there  is  a  loose  snow 
on  the  ground,  and  there  comes  a  warm  day — warm 
enough  for  the  bees  to  fly— take  away  your  protector 
from  the  entrance,  to  allow  the  warmth  of  the  rays  to 
fall  directly  on  the  entrance.  Scatter  straw  in  front 
of  the  hives  on  the  snow,  for  the  distance  of  about 
fifteen  feet  from  the  hives,  for  the  bees  to  alight  on, 
in  case  any  should  drop  down  from  cold  or  other 
cause . 

So  soon  as  the  weather  becomes  warm  and  bees  fly 
freely,  al!  swarms  should  be  examined  to  see  whether 
they  have  queens.  If  some  are  queeuless,  unite  the 
colonies  with  weak  ones  that  have  a  queen.  Cage 
the  queen  about  twelve  hours  after  the  colonies  are 
united,  as  they  will  sometimes  kill  her  when  two 
swarms  are  put  together.  Colonies  that  are  short  in 
honey  in  '.he  spring,  ought  to  be  fed,  for  they  require 
a  great  deal  of  food  to  supply  the  brood  in  March 
aud  April.  They  consume  more  honey  at  that  time 
than  during  the  three  winter  months. 

I.  G.  Martin,  of  Earl  township,  started  into  the 
honey  season  with  twenty  colonies.  These  have 
increased  to  thirty.  From  these  he  has  taken  660 
pounds  of  honey  of  excellent  quality.  His  colonies 
are  amply  supplied  with  liuney  for  the  winter's  con- 
sumption. He  will  put  them  into  winter  quarters 
on  the  summer  stands,  as  is  his  usual  custom,  with 
a  protection  of  chaff,  as  heretofore  described. 

He  presented  the  following  interesting  paper: 
Hints  to  Beginners. 

In  writing  a  few  remarks  upon  bee  culture  I  wish 
to  state  in  the  outset  that  I  shall  not  perhaps  present 
anything  new  to  inany  of  the  members,  but  I  will 
offer  a  few  hints  to  beginners.  The  old  opinion 
ught  by  this  time  to  be  entirely  exploded,  that 


bees  will  take  care  of  themselves  and 


iruig  us  large 


returns  for  little  or  no  investment  of  capital  or  labor, 
is  still  a  stumbling  block  to  prosperous  bee-keeping. 
Added  to  this  are  the  misrepresentations  of  unscru- 
pulous dealers,  whose  advertisements  are  sure  to 
mislead  the  uninformed. 

Some  Mistakes. 

None  of  us  like  to  tell  of  our  failures  or  of  bad 
years  before  the  public,  and  consequently  the  reports 
In  the  papers  usually  show  only  the  bright  side  and 
large  yields.  Ignorance  of  the  business  then  is  the 
fault  of  a  large  proportion  of  ill  success.  What  then 
is  essential  is  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  business 
— plenty  of  application  and  hard  work.  Much 
useful  information  may  be  obtaiaed  by  leading  the 
best  works  and  papers  on  the  subject,  hut  actual 
practice  in  the  apiary  is  indispensable.  Many 
persons  are  naturally  unfit  for  the  business  from 
carelessness  and  inaccurscy  about  their  work.  I 
know  of  no  out-door  work  where  so  much  depends 
on  the  right  thing  being  done  at  the  right  time  aud 
in  the  right  way. 

When  and  How  to  Start  an  Apiary. 

Avoid  the  common  blunder  of  rushing  into  bee- 
keeping just  after  there  have  been  oue  or  two  good 
seasons.  The  fact  is  that  an  extra  good  yield  is 
usually  followed  by  a  very  moderate  or  poor  one. 
Beginners  should  purchase  but  a  small  number  of 
colonies  at  first,  and  the  bees  will  increase  as  fast  as 
your  knowledge  will  increase.  Buy  always  the  best 
that  can  be  found,  even  if  they  cost  more;  for  it  will 
often  pay  you  the  first  season.  Spring  is  the  best 
time  to  buy,  for  then  tiiey  are  through  the  wiuterand 
then  you  have  not  much  risk,  and  they  will  then 
soon  be  a  profit  to  you.  Use  some  good  movable 
flame  hive,  for  with  the  box  hive  the  best  results 
cannot  be  obtained. 

Don't  be  Afraid  of  Being  Stung. 

A  very  great  hindrance  to  handling  the  bees  is  the 


fear  of  stings.  Every  beginner  should  supply  him- 
self or  herself  with  a  good  bee  veil,  which  will  pro- 
tect the  face,  and  a  good  bellows  smoker  is  fas 
necessary  for  the  beekeeper  as  a  plow  is  for  a  far- 
mer. 

The  extractor,  for  removing  the  honey  from  the 
comb  without  injuring  them,  is  a  very  important 
implement,  for  then  you  can  use  the  combs  again, 
and  it  will  increase  your  yield  of  honey. 

Comb  Foundation. 

Use  comb  foundation  for  the  brood-chamber,  for 
it  will  insure  all  the  workers  comb,  which  is  of  great 
importance.  A  piece  of  drone  comb,  two  inches 
square,  in  the  center  of  the  brood-chamber,  is  a 
small  thing,  yet  it  is  a  space  in  which  every  21  days 
200  worker  bees  might  be  raised,  and  in  which  they 
will  raise  a  lot  of  drones,  which  are  not  producers, 
but  consumers  of  honey. 

I  have  but  mentioned  some  of  the  necessary  fix- 
tures of  a  first-class  apiary,  without  which  success 
cannot  be  obtained.  But  do  not  make  the  mistake 
of  thinking  that  if  you  get  these  fixtures  you  are 
sure  of  success.  They  are  only  aids  aud  it  will  take 
work  and  knowledge  yet  to  get  the  full  benefit  of 
your  work. 

Italian  Bees. 

The  merit  of  the  Italian  bee  are  thoroughly  estab- 
lished among  enlightened  beekeepers.  I  cannot  now 
mention  all  their  points  of  superiority,  but  I  would 
advise  all  beginners  to  try  the  Italian. 

Mr.  Samuel  Dillman,"  of  New  Holland,  presents 
the  most  favorable  report  so  far  heard  from  in  the 
county.  He  had  17  colonies  last  spring.  He  has  by 
judicious  swarming  increased  these  to  24,  and  got 
besides  800  pounds  of  honey,  nearly  all  comb  honey. 

W.  B.  Detwiler,  of  Mt.  Joy,  started  with  7.5  colon- 
ies last  spring.  "These  have  now  increased  through 
swarming  to  100.  He  got  from  them  about  SCO 
pounds  of  honey.  All  his  bees  are  in  good  condition 
to  go  into  winter  quarters. 

Other  beekeepers  were  reported  as  having  done 
about  (he  same  as  those  who  reported  personally, 
llev.  S.  S.  Henry,  of  Hinkletown,  began  with  two 
colonies  last  spring  and  by  natural  increase  now  has 
seven  colonies.  He  increased  their  numbers  largely, 
but  the  consequence  was  he  got  hardly  any  honey. 

C.  Sensenig,  of  Earl  township,  began  the  season 
with  four  swarms,  which  increased  to  16,  but  he  got 
no  honey  from  them. 

Another  gentleman  was  reported  as  having  taken 
327  pounds  of  honey  from  15  colonies  ;  one  of  these 
alone  yielded  fifty-five  pouuds. 

Honey  Comb  Foundation. 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  to  the  chair- 
man of  the  association: 

Sprout  Brook,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  6,  1879. 

Presuming  all  appliances  tending  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  beekeeping  community  will  be  wel- 
comed at  your  meeting,  we  send  you  samples  of  flat- 
bottom  honey  comb  foundation  for  distribution  to 
your  members.  We  have  used  the  thin  foundation 
this  season  in  surplus  boxes  f'ullsized  sheets  one-six- 
teenth of  an  inch  from  tin-  hidis,  ami  In.iii  i.iii.-.|uar- 

ter  to  one  eighth  of  an  inrh  Ir i  \ir  hoi  injn,  a<Miiiu- 

thereby  largely  to  the  yirld  ,,l'  1h,ii..v,  mnl  also  hi  its 

market  value.     The  wirc^l  Inuiidai  ion   lias  also  bei-ii 

used  with  good  satisfaction  during  the  past  seasou. 

Respectfully  yours. 

J.  Van  Deusen  iVi,  Sons. 

There  being  no  further  business,  the  society  ad- 
journed. The  meeting  was  very  pleasant  and  inter- 
esting, and  it  seems  a  pity  that  beekeepers,  as  a  rule, 
take  so  little  interest  in  these  gatherings. 

LINN/EAN  SOCIETY. 

A  stated  meeting  of  the  Linnsean  Society  was  held 
on  Saturday,  October  25,  President  Rev.  J.  S.  Stahr 
in  the  chair.  After  attending  to  the  preliminary 
duties,  the  donations  to  the  museum  were  examined, 
and  found  to  consist  of  two  specimens  of  rattlesnake 
{crvluiiis  iliirixsiis),  i)i\i-  -ji  large  black  snake  (Bas- 
caiiU'ii  fi'ifxtr'iclui-).  from  Luzerne  county,  Pa.  Also, 
a  lar:;r  and  i>aui itnlly  variegated  snake  from  the 
Islaiul  of  ('uha.  Tliis,  like  the  veuemous  serpents, 
hastlir  raiidal  aial  abdominal  scutllla  undivided, 
but  no  r.iiil.  —  a  class  now  under  two  divisions, 
those  lia\  in- no  |,oi>nn  fangs,  the  genus  Boa,  (the 
Boa  I  on.-i  ri' hjr  is  <iiH- of  the  largest  serpents);  the 
Sci/lfin  li.ivr  lan^s  and  are  separated  from  the  Boas, 
and  no  raitlr  .lisiinit  from  crotalus.  The  snake  in 
question  comes  very  close  to  that  described  by  Dr 
Russell  as  the  Boa  paeiala,  donated  by  Mr.  George 
Kinzer,  who  has  lately  left  this  city.  He  also  donated 
twelve  specimens  of  silver,  copper,  lead  and  other 
ores  and  minerals  from  Virginia  City,  Nevada,  and  a 
fossil  vegetable  formation  from  Luzerne  county.  Pa., 
for  which  a  vote  of  thanks  was  cordially  given  him. 
As  also  to  Mr.  Geo.  Miller,  of  the  restau.-ant.  East 
Kiug  street,  for  a  Mud  puppy  or  Hell-bender  (the 
3/cnopoma  AUeghenienHis).  A  spector  insect  or  walk- 
ing-stick, the  tipectrumfemoratum,yev  Levi  is  Haldy, 
city.  C.  A.  Heinitsh,  Esq.,  donated  a  copper  spike 
given  to  his  father,  Mr.  J.  F.  Heinitsh,  in  1»36,  by 
Captain  Budd.  U.  S.  Navy,  taken  from  the  rudder 
of  the  United  States  frigate  Constitution,   (the  old 


Ironsides,)  while  undergoing  repairs  at  Boston; 
originally  built  in  1798.  It  is  a  valuable  historical 
relic.  Mr.  Heinitsh  also  donated  a  very  desirable 
case  glass  sash,  placed  on  the  attic  for  specimens.  A 
cordial  vote  of  thanks  was  given  him  for  his  liberal 
consideration.  A  sample  box  of  glass-covered  cells, 
containing  18  kinds  of  seeds,  different  kinds  of  wheat, 
corn,  ifcc,  under  cultivation,  and  a  large  lump  of  the 
smoky  mica,  per  J.  Stauffer. 

Additions  to  the  Library. 

Proceedings  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Natural 
Science,  per  the  Corresponding  Secretary ;  Reports 
of  Explorations  and  Surveys  in  the  department  of 
Missouri,  per  Prof.  Herman  Strecker,  Reading,  Pa.; 
Report  of  Agriculture  for  1877,  per  Hon.  A.  Herr 
Smith  ;  Atlas  of  Ferns— Coal  Flora,  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, by  Leo  Lesquereaux  ;  second  Geological  Survey; 
Minerals  of  Pennsylvania,  per  William  "A.  Ingham, 
Esq.;  annual  reports  on  Railroads,  Canals,  etc.,  for 
1878;  Internal  Affairs,  industries  aud  statistics  for 
1878  ;  Inspectors  of  Mines  ;  Penn  Life  Insurance 
Reports  for  1878,  per  H.  C.  Demuth,  Esq.,  of  this 
city ;  Patent  Office  Gazette  up  to  October  21,  1879  ; 
The  Lancaster  Farmer  for  October,  1879  ;  sundry 
book  circulars  ;  historical ;  two  envelopes  containing 
twenty-seven  clippings  of  historical  interest ;  a  bogus 
fifty-cent  coin  as  a  specimen  chip,  per  S.  S.  Rathvon. 
Papers  Read. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon  read  a  paper.  No.  .5:30,  on  "Ob- 
servations during  the  mild  weather  of  October,  inst., 
and  the  stir  of  insect  life  and  vegetation." 

The  treasurer  reported  bills,  $5  for  subscription  to 
the  proceedings  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
and  $1  to  George  Flick,  Esq.,  for  mounting  a  flicker 
for  the  Society .  Ordered  to  be  paid.  Mr.  Heinitsh 
presented  an  article  published,  read  by  Mr.  Stauffer, 
with  regard  to  flowers  being  found  on  a  corpse  un- 
disturbed for  ten  years,  of  a  yellow  color,  with 
sepals,  stamens,  etc.  This  led  to  the  observation  of 
fungoid  matters,  sometimes  found  growing  on  living 
and  dead  matter,  had  been  observed,  but  notwith- 
standing the  Doctor's  high  position,  the  stamens 
may  ha\  ebcen  sporules  in  a  split  head  raised  on  a  si  ipe. 
This  led  to  mention  of  other  freaks  of  nature  which  are 
often  past  finding  out.  Mr.  Stauffer  referred  to  the 
buds  of  the  abutilon  clamping  one  of  the  pointed 
lobes  of  a  leaf  in  numerous  specimens,  as  witnessed 
in  the  yard  of  J.  M.  Johnston,  No.  9  South  Queen 
street,  this  city,  aud  published  in  the  Intelligeneer . 
Rev.  Mr.  J.  H.  Dubbs,  Stahr,  Heinitsh  and  Hostetter 
had  something  of  interest  to  impart  under  the  head 
of  scientific  miscellaney.  After  a  pleasant  session 
the  society  adjourned. 


FULTON   FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  November  meeting  was  held  at  the  residence 
of  G.  A.  King,  on  the  8th  inst.  The  attendance  was 
small. 

Visitors  :  Will  Moore,  Alvin  Kiug  and  Alfred 
Wood  in  the  forenoon,  and  Joseph  Jenkins  in  the 
afternoon. 

The  President  being  absent.  Day  Wood  was  ap- 
jiointed  for  the  day.  The  minutes  of  last  m-eting 
not  hi'in'j;  present  were  omitted. 

S|Hrinirn6  for  exhibition  :  E.  Henry  Haines,  four 
va  lilt  ins  of  apples;  a  visitor,  Black  Coal,  Rhode 
island  Greening,  Pinoch  and  Nottingham  Browns; 
William  P.  Haines,  beet,  weighing  6i<^  pounds,  and  a 
black  winter  radish. 

Answering  questions  :  Are  winter  radishes  worth 
raising?  No  one  present  had  any  experience.  Tliey 
are  to  be  sown  with  turnips.  2.  Is  it  better  to  sell 
chickens  at  nine  cents  a  pound  live  weight,  or  at 
thirteen  cents  per  pound  dressed, aud  pay  a  commis- 
sion ?  Most  of  the  members  favored  selling  at  nine 
cents,  unless  the  feathers  were  an  object.  3.  Does 
the  soapstone  griddle  do  Its  work  well  or  is  it  like 
some  other  things,  useful  for  a  time  and  then  laid 
aside  among  |the  things  that  were  U6eful|?  St  me 
had  used  it  and  found  that  the  particles  of  st  na 
wear  off  in  the  cakes  and  make  them  disagreeable. 
Some  disliked  the  noise,  &c.  None  of  the  ladies 
present  kept  them  in  constant  use.  One  of  the  gen- 
tlemen suggested  that  it  might  not  be  safe  at  all 
times  to  put  a  stone  in  every  woman's  hand.  4.  Do 
you  think  wheat  will  advance  to  $1.50  per  bushel, 
or  would  you  advise  to  sell  at  the  present  price  ? 
Some  thought  wheat  would  advance  in  May,  and  if 
you  have  a  good  place  to  store  it,  would  keep  il; 
oth'ers  would  sell  now.  5.  Would  you  sell  pork  at 
85.00  per  hun-^red  at  the  present  price  of  corn  » 
No  definite  answers.  6.  How  many  farmers  can  tell 
whether  lime  is  paying?  One  of  the  members  had 
put  river  lime  on  aud  thought  it  paid.  Most  of  the 
others  thought  lime  had  made  the  land  what  it  now 
is,  but  it  now  has  lime  enough  in  it,  and  needs  some- 
thing else.  Some  few,  however,  still  stick  to  lime, 
probably  for  the  good  it  has  done. 

Exceedingly    Interesting, 

Dinner  being  announced  the  club  adjourned  to 
the  dining  room,  when  the  inner  man  was  bountifully 
supplied  with  good  things. 

The  gentlemen  took  their  usual  stroll  over  the 
farm,  viewing  the  stock,  &c. 

Minutes  of  last  meeting  held  at  this  place  were 
read  upon  reassembling. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


173 


Expressing  Opinions. 

Criticisms  were  next  called  for.  The  corn  crop 
tolerable;  lioRS  looi;  well,  but  their  pen  miplit  be 
improved.  Tliere  should  be  flowers  in  the  front 
yard,  some  thought;  others  thought  a  well  kept  yard 
looks  better  without  flowers,  though  the  majority 
favored  flowers;  they  tend  to  reflncnient.  One  of  the 
ladies  thought  they  were  like  children— they  are  a 
pleasant  trouble. 

Literary  Exercises. 

Recitation,  "Good  Old  Farm,"  by  Vhebc  King; 
Mabel  A.  Haines  recited  "An  Incident,"  setting 
forth  the  diflferenl  positions  to  which  some  are  born, 
and  how  a  little  cliild  was  sent  with  a  bottle  to  get 
filled  with  rum  on  a  cold  night,  and  was  found  by  a 
lawyer,  who  had  been  musing  and  wondering  why 
he  was  favored  more  than  others.  On  going  but  he 
lound  this  little  creature  almost  dead.  He  tried  to 
bring  her  to  life,  when  she  begged  to  be  left  to  die 
saying,  that  even  for  her  father,  wliom  she  dearly 
loved,  she  could  not  enter  the  dreadful  ihu.  And 
also  showing  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  man  to  vote 
for  prohibition,  and  do  everything  in  their  power  to 
banish  intoxicating  liquor.  Mabel  Haines  read  the 
"Woman  Farmer,"  showing  what  a  woman  can  do. 
East  or  West,  Which? 

Regular  question,  "What  advantages  have  the 
Western  farmers  over  the  Eastern?"  The  principal 
advantage  was  that  no  fertilizers  are  needed,  but  to 
balance  this  they  get  small  prices  for  their  produce, 
and  they  have  to  undergo  many  privations.  If  we 
are  willing  to  live  here  as  we  have  to  in  a  new  coun- 
try, we  would  make  money  equally  as  fast.  A  farm 
in  the  West,  where  a  person  can  live  comfortably, 
costs  almost  as  much  as  East,  (a  farm  with  all  the 
Improvements).  The  only  advantage,  if  you  must 
endure  privations,  is  your  neighbors  are  like  you  and 
here  you  would  be  alone.  Many  persons  who  go 
West  do  not  succeed,  most  of  them  becoming  discon- 
tented ;  upon  the  whole,  we  think  the  argument  was 
in  favor  of  staying  East  and  improving  the  advan- 
tages we  have.  We  do  not  have  such  severe  storms 
and  do  not  have  so  many  destructive  insects. 
Programme  for  Next  Meeting. 

"Would  the  average  farmer  who  owns  a  farm  be 
justifiable  in  buying  another  of  the  same  size,  going 
into  -iebt  for  the  latter,  the  other  being  free,  if  he 
could  get  the  money  at  five  per  cent  ?" 

Literary  appointments:  Sadie  A.  Brown,  Nettie 
.lackson,  Mabel  A.Haines,  Phebe  and  Mary  A.  King, 
for  recitations  or  selections. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  the  residence  of  Josiah 
Brown,  on  the  first  Saturday  of  December. 


MEETING   OF  THE  STATE  BOARD   OF 
AGRICULTURE. 

A  meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  was 
held  at  Mercer,  October  17, 1879.  Dr.  Calder,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Slate  College,  read  an  essay,  entitled, 
"Should  Agricultural  Text-Books  be  Introduced  in 
the  Common  Schools?"  Dr.  Calder  is  too  well 
known  to  question  his  ability  to  handle  well 
any  subject  he  undertakes.  His  arguments  in  the 
affirmative  were  strong,  and  were  heartily 
endorsed  by  the  meeting.  A  resolution  was  passed 
to  that  efiect.  I  shall  be  disappointed  if  .such  a 
measure  will  not  be  carried  into  effect  in  the  rurtil 
districts  in  the  near  future,  as  the  head  of  the  scliool 
department  expressed  not  only  his  willingness  but 
also  hie  desire  to  give  it  his  hearty  co-operation. 

An  essay  on  potatoes,  their  culture  and  best  varie- 
ties, was  read  by  Hon.  N.  T.  Underwood,  of  Wayne 
county.  From  his  essay  it  was  easily  understood 
that  he  is  no  novice  in  potato  culture.  It  was  evident 
that  we  were  in  a  potato  region,  as  the  essay  elicited 
quite  an  interesting  discussion,  which  placed  promi- 
nent some  varieties  not  extensively  cultivated  in 
your  section.  Early  Vermont  and  Early  Ohio  were 
considered  more  desirable  than  Early  Rose.  Early 
Ohio  was  especially  highly  spoken  of.  Burbank's 
seedling  was  highly  spoken  of  as  a  late  variety,  both 
as  to  quality  and  productiveness.  Cuttings  or  whole 
potatoes  lor  seed  came  in  for  a  lively  debate,  but,  as 
usual,  may  be  considered  a  drawn  game;  nothing 
was  proven  except  that  both  methodswere  best. 
The  Law  of  Trespass. 
Mr.  G.  W.  Hood,  of  Indiana  county,  read  a  paper 
on  "The  Laws  of  Trespass  as  They  Relate  to  Agri- 
culture." The  gentleman  is  a  lawyer  by  profession. 
He  defined  quite  a  number  of  laws  which  every 
farmer  should  know  for  himself,  as  it  would,  no 
doubt,  prevent  many  litigations  which  are  invariably 
much  more  expensive  and  unpleasant  than  a  little 
study  of  common  laws  would  be.  The  discussion 
upon  this  subject  culminated  in  an  apparently  unani- 
mous agreement  that  a  small  manual  containing  the 
matter  referred  to  should  be  published  and  circulated, 
so  as  to  be  in  reach  of  every  farmer.  Who,  in  the 
face  of  so  many  lawyers  throughout  the  country 
will  prepare  such  a  work  ? 

"What  crops  are  most  profitable  on  the  cleared 
pine  lands  of  Pennsylvania?"  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Herr,  of 
Clinton  county,  contained  many  excellent  hints, 
which  if  put  into  practice  would  prove  that  there  is 
room  for  thousands  of  farmers  to  purchase  cheap 


lands  that  would  pay  good  interest  by  proper  man- 
agement, without  going  1,000  miles  or  more  west- 
ward. Mr.  Herr  is  of  Lancaster  county  stock,  and 
well  posted  generally. 

A  paper  was  read  by  Dr.  Roland,  of  York,  enti- 
tled, "The  State  Boaril  of  Agriculture."  in  which  he 
reviewed  the  past,  defined  the  present,  and  ventured 
some  prediction  of  the  usefulness  of  the  Board  In  the 
future,  if  it  continues  to  discharge  the  duties  for 
which  it  was  created. 

The  doctor's  term  expires  with  this  year,  and  he 
does  not  expect  to  return,  which  is  to  be  regretted, 
as  he  is  one  of  the  most  efllclent  members  of  the 
Board. 

Prof.  F.  A.  Allen,  of  Tioga  county,  read  an  essay 
on  "Experimental  agriculture— its  results  and 
lessons,"  which  was  replete  with  many  valuable 
hints  of  interest  to  farmeis  generally,  but  especially 
to  such  as  are  not  afraid  to  step  out  of  the  old  ruts. 
He  advocated  experimenting  in  agriculture,  but  not 
loosely,  as  is  the  very  common  practice,  which  is 
mostly  guess  work  and  is  unreliable. 

Mr.  Allen  experiments  extensively,  but  is  very 
cautious  in  drawing  conclusions.  He  applies  com- 
mercial fertilizers  largely,  and  is  quite  successful  in 
raising  regular  and  large  crops;  but  on  being  asked 
the  eti'eels  of  certain  fertilizers,  he  almost  invariably 
answered,  "I  don't  know."  His  method  is  appar- 
ently to  supply  his  land  witli  fertilizing  material, 
such  as  he  knows  crops  generally  require,  without 
relying  too  much  on  specialities. 

All  the  papers  presented  having  been  read  and 
discussed,  tlic  meeting  adjourned  «»«;  (itc  on  Thurs- 
day, Ifith  inst.,  at  2.:i0  p.  m. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  your  correspondent  to 
discuss  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  State  Board, 
but  he  would  direct  the  attention  of  every  farmer  in 
the  State  to  its  published  volumes  of  1877  and  1878, 
and  the  forthcoming  one  of  1.S79,  which  they  should 
carefully  compare  with  publications  of  the  same 
kind,  which  will  enable  any  fair-minded  man  to 
decide  whether  agriculture  receives  sufficient  lienefit 
to  justify  the  continuation  of  the  Board. 


Agriculture. 


Summer  Cultivation  of  Wheat. 

The  results  of  the  experin.cnts  in  the  cultivation 
of  wheat  during  the  past  year  have  not  realized  ex- 
pectations ;  at  least  not  in  this  section  of  the  coun- 
try. Several  farmers  in  tliis  and  the  adjoining 
county  of  Chester  last  autumn  put  in  a  small  quan- 
tity of  wheat,  generally  from  one  to  three  acres, 
with  wide  spaces  between  the  drills,  in  which  to  har- 
row in  the  coming  spring.  Generally  these  were 
stirred  three  times  and  the  grass-seed  sown  after  the 
last  dressing,  all  the  cultivation  being  finished  about 
the  10th  or  1.5th  of  May. 

And  while  the  crop  of  wheat  in  this  locality  is  not 
nearly  so  good  as  last  year,  when  it  was  the  largest 
grown  for  a  great  many  years,  it  is  still  above  "the 
<in:raf/e  of  several  years  past,  and  the  cultivated 
wheatsown  alongside  of  wheat  raised  in  the  ordinary 
way  in  the  same  field  and  with  the  same  manuring, 
is  not  so  good,  neither  in  straw  nor  grain.  Several 
bushels  of  grain  per  acre  seem  generally  to  be  the 
deficiency.  This  result  causes  us  to  inquire  whether 
this  method  of  raising  wheat  is  adapted  to  our 
cliraatC:  or  whether  Uie  present  season  had  anything 
to  do  with  it.  In  one  instance  at  least  in  this  county 
in  other  years — that  of  GroflT's — the  superiority  of 
the  cultivated  was  most  marked  and  beyond  dispute. 
Some  will  say  it  is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  wheat 
for  the  earth  around  the  plant  to  be  disturbed  while 
growing;  but  this  view  I  think  can  hardly  be  sup- 
ported by  any  just  analogy  with  other  species  of 
growth.  It  is  not  considered  good  farming  to  let  our 
corn  go  unworked,  no  matter  how  thoroughly  the 
ground  was  tilled  previous  to  planting.  In  setting 
out  a  new  orchard  it  is  considered  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  cultivate  it  until  the  trees  are  pretty  well 
grown  ;  and  the  belief  is  pretty  general  that  even 
rank  weeds  will  grow  better  when  the  earth  is  stir- 
red around  them  than  if  left  to  become  hard  and 
compact.  And  I  believe  this  theory  is  supported  by 
the  best  English  wheat-raisers  who  hoe  their  wheat 
in  the  month  of  May. 

Now  let  not  our  progressive  farmers  be  discouraged 
by  the  result  of  this  experiment  for  only  one  year, 
but  try  again.  'Tis  perseverance  that  uinavcls  the 
secrets  of  nature  and  teaches  the  farmer  useful 
things.— r.  JBaker,  Lancaster  county,  I'a.,  October, 
187il,  in  Qermantomi  Telegraph. 


A  Mixture  of  Grasses. 
It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  mixed  crois  are  r 
productive  than  those  sown  singly.  Thus  one  acre 
sown  to  oats  and  barley,  or  oats  and  peas,  will  yield 
as  much,  or  nearly  as  much,  as  two  acres  sown 
singly  to  either  crop.  So  in  grass  lands,  clover  and 
timothy,  mixed,  will  produce  nearly  twice  as  much 
as  if  the  ground  were  seeded  to  one  of  these  alone. 
It  is  also  a  well  known  fact,  that  our  grass  lands 
are  not  so  productive  as  we  could  wish,  and  the 
reason  of  this  may  be,  and  probably  is,  that  we  have 


but  one  or  two  kinds  of  herbage  in  Ihem.  If  we  ex- 
amine an  old,  thick,  luxuriant  sod,  in  a  pasture  or  a 
meadow,  it  will  be  found  to  consist  of  a  variety  of 
trasses  and  other  plants,  each  of  which  seems  to  vie 
with  the  other  in  occupying  the  soil  for  Itsetf.  This 
Is  the  result  of  natural  seeding,  and  gives  us  a 
lesson  which  we  may  well  proflt  by.  There  Is 
another  reason  why  grasses  should  be  mixed;  this  Is 
that  the  periods  of  greatest  vigor  of  different  varie- 
ties occur  at  different  times.  We  can  therefore 
secure  a  succession  of  herbage  lor  a  long  season  by 
sowing  a  variety  of  grass  seeds. 

To  grivc  examples,  we  might  mention  that  a 
mixture  of  orchard  grass,  red  clover  timothy  and 
Kentucky  blue  grass  will  produce  a  pasture  which 
will  be  in  good  condition  for  grazing  from  April, 
when  the  first  mentioned  grass  is  In  Hnc  condition, 
up  to  October,  wlien  the  last  is  In  Its  most  vigorous 
state,  the  clover  and  timothy  serving  to  fill  up  the 
interval.  With  one  of  these  alone  there  would  be 
but  one  month  of  good  herbage,  and  that  coarse  if 
given  the  whole  field  to  Itself.  In  like  manner,  a 
quantity  of  rye  grass  added  to  u  meadow  would  help 
to  furnish  a  qu.ck-growlng  herbage  which  rapidly 
and  constantly  recuperates  after  cutting  or  eating 
down. 

The  fact  is,  that  we  make  much  less  of  our  advan- 
tages in  regard  to  our  meadows  and  pastures  than 
we  might. — On  the  average,  seven  acres  of  pasture 
arc  required  to  keep  one  cow  through  the  pasturing 
season,  when  by  the  best  management  one  acre,  or 
at  the  most  two,  ought  to  be  sufflcleut.  This  Is  due 
in  great  measure  to  the  prevalent  fashion  of  seeding 
down  with  but  one  variety  of  grass,  with  clover 
added  sometimes;  a  fashion  which,  hereafter,  expe- 
rience teaches  us  should  be  more  honored  In  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance. — Atnerican  Ai/ricul- 
tnrist. 


Changing  Seed. 
Much  has  been  written  on  this  subject,  and  much 
of  it  is  true.  A  single  fact  has  been  brought  to  my 
notice  this  year,  which  Illustrates  the  good  effect  of 
such  change.  Not  having  seed  corn  enough  for  a 
field,  a  dozen  ears  were  bought — all  there  was  of  a 
choice  sample  of  Dutton  corn,  a  variety  long  grown 
in  this  neighborhood  and  well  liked.  This  sample 
was  planted  in  one  corner  of  the  field  and  marked. 
In  its  growth  nothing  particular  was  noticed.  When 
we  came  to  cut  it  up,  the  ears  were  better  than  on  other 
portions.  We  selected  twenty-four  strings  of  two 
dozens  ears  each, a  very  choice  sample  for  seed.  The 
remainder  was  also  nice.  From  no  other  part  of  the 
field  of  the  same  extent  can  one-half  as  much  select- . 
ed  seed  be  picked.  The  land  is  no  better,  and  only 
in  one  way  can  I  account  for  such  extra  growth — a 
cliange  of  seed. —  Correspondence  Country  (Jentleman. 


Bone  Dust. 

As  a  general  rule  when  American  farmers  use 
bone  dust  they  apply  too  small  a  quantity  to  show 
decisive  results.  Thus  in  improving  pasture  a  hun- 
dred pounds  or  so  might  not  show  much  good  result, 
because  the  growth  being  removed  daily  the  increase 
is  not  readily  recognized^  Only  think,  if  a  pasture 
season  be  considered  one  hundred  and  fifty  days, 
then  a  ton  increase  of  feed  per  acre  is  but  about 
thirteen  pounds  a  day  over  an  acre.  In  England, 
where -hone  manuring  is  in  favor,  large  quantities  are 
used  with  advantage.  Prof.  Tanner  recommends 
bone  dust,  applied  at  the  rate  of  one  ton  per  acre  in 
the  autumn,  for  the  improvement  of  grass  lands.— 
Scientific  Farmer. 


Fall  Plowing  for  Corn. 
Heavy  clay  soils  that  have  a  good  covering  of 
clover  or  grass  sod  may  be  plowed  in  September  for 
a  crop  of  corn  next  season.  We  would  not  plow  the 
furrows  flat,  but  set  them  on  edge.  In  the  spring  a 
good  harrowing,  lengthwise  the  furrows,  will  give  a 
sufficient  depth  of  mellow  soil  for  planting,  leaving 
the  decomposed  sod  just  where  the  roots  can  reach 
it.  A  light  application  of  artificial  manure  before 
the  harrowing  in  the  spring  would  be  beneficial.  The 
planting  should  immediately  follow  the  harrow, 
while  the  soil  is  fresh.  Light  or  mucky  lands  had 
better  be  left  till  spring,  as  this  treatment  is  not 
proper  for  them. 

Storing  of  Fodder-Corn, 
The  succulence  of  green  corn-stalks  renders  them 
difficult  to  dry  thoroughly.  To  stow  away  uncured 
corn-fodder  in  stacks  or  barns,  without  precautiODB 
to  prevent  moulding,  is  unsafe.  A  good  plan  is  to 
shock  the  bundle  in  a  convenient  place,  covering  the 
top  of  the  shock  with  a  sheaf  of  straw,  and  binding 
the  top  tightly  to  exclude  rain,  and  leaving  the 
shocks  out  of  doors  until  used.  A  few  s'.iocks  may 
be  brought  in  when  needed,  and  will  be  found  fresh, 
green  and  in  the  best  order.  Sweet  cornfodder,  with 
many  small  ears  and  nubbins  on  the  stalks,  may  be 
covered  and  kept  in  this  manner  in  the  best  condition. 


174 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


t  November, 


Horticulture. 


Care  of  Potatoes,  Beets,  Turnips,  Carrots  and 
Parsnips. 
Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the  cultiva- 
tion, care  and  quality  of  the  potato.  I  wish  to  add 
my  testimony  also.  Beina:  out  from  home  a  few 
days  ago  to  dinner,  and  amone;  other  things  on  the 
table  was  some  fried  potatoes;  it  was  about  as  much 
as  I  could  do  to  eat  them— so  strong.  The  question 
came  to  my  mind,  what  is  the  cause  of  so  many 
strong  potatoes  ?  I  find  it  is  a  general  complaint.  A 
friend  writing  me  from  an  Eastern  city,  says  :  "The 
potatoes  are  so  poor  and  strong."  Now  for  the  ques- 
tion. Does  not  light  injure  potatoes?  They  are  ama- 
tive of  darkness — that  is,  they  grow  under  ground — 
and  if  by  chance  any  of  them  come  to  the  surface 
they  turn  green  by  being  expo.«ed  to  the  light.  I 
have  frequently  seen  in  an  Eastern  city  potatoes  lay- 
ing in  the  market  from  day  to  day  and  fiom  week  to 
week,  exposed  to  the  light ;  is  not  this  one  cause  ? 
And,  furthermore,  I  sold  a  person  once  a  load  of 
potatoes  for  planting,  and  as  his  ground  was  not 
quite  ready  he  left  them  exposed  to  the  light,  and 
also,  I  presume,  to  the  sun  for  a  period  of  time.  I 
met  him  a  few  months  after.  He  says  to  me,  "Those 
potatoes  I  bought  of  .you  I  planted  and  they  never 
came  up."  I  replied,  that  is  very  strange,  for  I 
planted  out  of  the  same  lot  and  every  one  of  mine 
grew.  On  inquiry  I  found  the  fact  as  above  stated, 
that  they  had  remained  for  two  weeks  exposed  to 
the  light  and  sun.  A  second  case,  a  neighbor  of 
mine  carried  out  a  number  of  bushels  for  planting. 


the  potatoes  remained  for  one  v.-eek  exposed  to  the 
light  and  sun,  and  then  he  planted  them,  but  they 
did  not  grow  in  those  two  cases  ;  they  were  not  only 
injured  but  killed .  The  way  I  do  it,  in  this  latitude, 
I  never  let  them  remain  in  the  ground  longer  than 
the  first  week  in  October.  If  I  have  a  large  quantity 
I  put  a  sufficient  force  to  dig  them  at  once,  after  let- 
ting them  remain  a  very  short  time  to  dry.  I  remove 
at  once  to  my  da-k  cellar  or  root  house,  there  to  re- 
main till  called  for.  The  result  is  I  always  have 
good  potatoes. 

I  wish  to  say  now  something  about  the  care  of 
beets,  carrots  and  parsnips  :  After  digging  them  I 
remove  to  my  cellar  or  root-house  and  pack  them 
away  in  barrels  or  boxes,  and  cover  them  .with  dry 
sawdust  and  sand  to  the  depth  of  six  inches  ;  as  they 
are  used  the  remainder  is  kept  covered.  In  this  way 
I  keep  carrots  and  beets  till  they  come  again.  In 
this  latitude  parsnips  are  very  liable  to  rot  if  they 
remain  in  the  ground  through  the  winter,  and  in 
order  to  make  sure  of  them  I  dig  them  late  in  the 
fall  and  pack  them  the  same  as  the  beets  and  car- 
rots, and  then  I  put  them  in  my  wood-house  or 
granary  and  let  them  freeze  up  and  remain  frozen 
through  the  winter  and  use  them  in  a  frozen  state — 
they  may  not  be  quite  as  good,  j'et  eatable,  as  left  in 
the  ground  through  the  winter.  It  in  early  spring 
the  beets  and  carrots  should  sprout  I  take  them  out 
and  remove  the  sprouts  and  repack  them. 

Grafting  Grape-vines. 

Those  who  wish  to  graft  their  vines  over  with  other 
vines  shi.uld  remember  that  winter  and  not  spring  is 
the  time  for  it — and  in  this  the  grape  is  diflferent 
from  most  other  trees.  It  is  different  in  this;  that  in 
the  spring  of  the  year  there  is  such  a  tremendous 
pressure  upwards  by  the  ascending  sap  that  the 
parts  of  the  scion  and  stock,  which  to  unite  must  of 
course  touch  one  another, are  forced  by  the  sap  apart. 
When  the  grafts  are  put  in  at  this  season  there  is 
little  of  this.  The  several  cells  granulate  and  heal, 
and  when  the  sap  is  ready  to  flow  upward  strongly, 
it  goes  up  through  its  regular  channels  in  the  graft 
without  any  tendency  to  breakout  through  the  junc- 
tion. 

How  to  graft  grape-vines  admits  of  many  various 
replies.  The  best  is  probably  that  described  years 
ago  in  our  pages  by  Samuel  Miller,  then  of  Lebanon, 
In  this  state,  now  of  Missouri,  who  was  very  success- 
ful as  a  grafter  of  the  grape.  He  drew  away  the 
soil  from  the  stock  to  be  grafted,  cut  it  down  about 
two  inches  from  the  surface,  then  cut  with  a  stout 
sharp  knife  a  long  and  narrow  wedge-shaped  notch 
in  the  stock,  and  shaped  the  scion  as  a  wedge  to  fit 
in  the  notch  in  the  stock.  The  lips  of  the  notch  are 
then  tied  together  and  the  earth  drawn  in  and  around 
the  hole,  leaving  the  uppper  eye  of  the  graft  above 
the  ground. 

We  may  say  that  it  is  very  astonishing  that  grape 
grafting  is  not  more  generally  practiced,  and  especi- 
ally since  the  discovery  tnat  the  greatest  success  of 
the  Concord,  Clinton  and  a  few  other  grapes  is  not 
owing  to  any  extra  constitutional  hardiness,  but  to 
the  fact  that  the  power  to  throw  out  numerous 
fibrous  roots  is  greater  in  these  kinds.  If  this  be 
true,  and  it  seems  to  be  really  the  case,  wc  may  have 
the  choicest  and  best  of  grapes  by  grafting  them  on 
these  vigorous  rooting  stocks. 

For  once  the  French  seem  to  have  taken  a  start 
ahead  of  us  in  this  matter.  They  sent  an  agent  to 
this  country  some  years  ago — a  shrewd,  observing 
fellow — and   he  took   the  whole  situation  at  once. 


The  result  has  been  that  millions  on  millions  of  Con- 
cord and  Clinton  cuttings  have  been  sent  to  France 
the  past  five  or  six  years,  and  in  future  wines  of  that 
country  may  be  brought  to  a  higher  grade  of  per- 
fection than  ever  before. 


Apples  and  Apple    Trees. 

Apples  are  much  of  the  same  nature  as  pears. 
While  there  are  good  crops  in  some  sections,  there 
are  failures  in  others.  We  notice  this  the  present 
season.  Then  again  there  are  certain  varieties  that 
we  are  told  will  not  produce  any  longer;  the  trees 
get  sickly  and  after  a  time  die.  Newer  varieties  do 
better,  though  they  are  not  equal  in  quality  and  d.i 
not  sell  so  well.  Bat  the  truth  is  the  old  kinds  fail 
to  do  well  because  the  vigor  of  the  tree  is  exhausted, 
and  they  look  bad  because  they  have  finished  their 
course,  and  should  be  succeeded  by  an  orchard  of 
young  trees.  Indeed  there  should  always  be  two 
orchards  upon  a  farm — the  young  one  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old;  in  such  case  we  fancy  there  would 
be  little  complaint.  Smith's  Cider,  which  continues 
to  produce  such  fine  crops,  has  only  reached  middle 
life,  but  it  must  be  noticed  that  the  oldest  of  them 
are  beginning  year  after  year  to  bear  fruit  of  a  re- 
duced size.  Even  the  White  Doctor,  which  was 
supposed  to  have  died  out,  bears  well  upon  young 
trees.  A  farmer  told  us  the  other  tlay  that  on  a 
moderate-sized  tree  he  had  full  ten  bushels  of  the 
finest  apples  he  had  ever  raised— large,  smooth  and 
uninjured  by  the  worm. 

Farmers  should  not  therefore  give  up  the  good  old 
kinds,  which  formerly  were  so  popular;  but  when 
they  get  old  and  pruning  is  no  longer  of  any  avail, 
try  new  orchards  of  them.  Of  course  they  will  go 
on  planting  all  the  new  profitable  varieties,  but  give 
the  old  a  chance  again,  and  see  whether  what  we 
say  is  not  correct,.— Germantown  Telegraph. 


Floriculture. 


Care  of  Plants  in  Winter. 

Slips  should  be  cut  smoothly  from  the  plant  just 
below  a  joint  or  where  they  join  the  main  stem.  Any 
time  during  the  growing  season  will  do,  though  July, 
August  and  September  are  the  best  months'.  Most 
slips  stand  well  in  the  sand,  or  a  mixtureof  half  and 
half  soil,  kept  wet.  If  wanted  for  the  house  in 
winter  it  is  better  to  stand  the  slips  in  small  pots 
sunk  in  the  ground,  as  they  can  be  left  in  the  pots  or 
transferred  to  larger  ones  without  disturbing  the 
roots.  Oleanders,  honeysuckles,  southerwood  ai:d 
some  other  plants  are  best  started  by  putting  in  a 
vial  of  water  on  a  partly-shaded  window  sill,  putting 
a  piece  of  cotton  around  the  stem  at  the  neck  of  the 
vial,  both  to  steady  and  protect  the  plant,  and  pre- 
venting too  rapid  evaporation.  Plants  for  the  house 
in  winter  will  not  do  well  iu  smaller  than  four  or 
five  inch  pots.  Place  a  saucer  under  each.  Water 
every  day,  toward  night  putting  on  water  till  some 
of  it  runs  througli  into  the  saucer.  The  water  should 
always  be  tepid  and  once  a  week  a  few  drops  of 
ammonia  or  liquid  manure  should  be  added  to  each 
quart  of  water.  Do  not  water  if  the  soil  is  still 
moist ;  some  plants  do  not  need  as  much  water  as 
others.  A  little  top-watering  only  does  more  hurt 
than  good;  the  water  should  go  to  all  the  roots. 
After  January  they  will  need  more  water,  as  then 
they  begin  to  grow  ;  before  that  most  plants  simply 
live.  Cactuses  and  aloes  should  have  no  water  in 
the  early  winter  :  they  must  rest  if  you  wish  them 
to  bloom  well  later.  Keep  callus  standing  in  water. 
Keep  the  pots  and  leaves  clean  by  frequent  washing. 
Plants  will  not  thrive  if  dusty.  Some  plants  do  bc't- 
ter  in  glazed  pots  or  wooden  boxes,  the  common  pots 
being  so  porous  as  to  extract  all  the  moisture  from 
the  roots.  If  you  simply  wish  to  keep  slips  for  next 
year's  garden  fill  a  starch-box  with  sandy  soil,  set  a 
number  of  slips  in  it,  keep  wet  and  in  a  sunny 
window. 

The  Abutilon. 

One  of  our  scientific  contributors  writes  :  J.  M. 
Johnston,  reporter  of  the  Jntdligencer,  called  my 
attention  to  a  remarkable  growth  in  the  attachment 
of  one  of  the  prolonged  and  sharply  toothed  lobes  of 
a  leaf  firmly  clamped  by  the  terminal  combined 
sepals  of  the  fiower  buds.  I  was  astonished  to  see 
this  peculiarity  in  every  eightor  nine  buds  out  often. 
In  the  first  place,  I  never  saw  a  larger  or  finer  plant 
of  this  species,  the  "Abntilon  striatum.i'  The  ex- 
panded fiowers  are  truly  beautiful,  and  altogether, 
as  a  plant,  I  question  whether  it  would  not  carry  the 
premium  at  any  fioral  exhibition,  as  it  now  stands 
in  his  yard.  No.  9  South  Queen  street. 

The  Abutilon  belongs  to  the  Mulvacea,  or  "Mallow 
family."  This  species  is  properly  called  a  green- 
house plant;  it  is  also  called  sida  picta.  The 
Abutilon  striatum  is  a  native  of  Brazil,  and  half 
shrubby,  with  bell-shaped  flowers  of  a  bright  yellow, 
strongly  veined  with  scarlet,  which  hang  down  on 
slender  stalks.  Johiison,  in  his  Gardener's  Diction- 
ary (Ed.  London,  1S70,)  describes  eleven  species. 
The  above  and  the  A.  Venosum  seem  almost  iden- 
tical.   I  can  find  no  clue  to  account  for  the  strange 


freak  in  this  instance.  If  the  leaf-bud  and  flower- 
bud  were  actually  combined  during  the  early  stage 
of  development,  the  entanglement  of  the  long  termi- 
nal point  of  one  of  the  deep  cut  and  toothed  lobes  of 
the  leaf  might  account  for  it.  On  examination  I 
found  no  actual  union,  by  growth  or  mingling  of  the 
tissues,  between  the  leaf  and  the  green  flower- cup, 
usually  flve  parted;  in  this  stage,  I  noticed  that  the 
edges  of  three  on  one  side  and  two  on  the  other  side 
of  the  flower  were  coherent  to  the  point,  like  a  simple 
two-parted  flower-cup,  as  those  in  the  poppy;  but  a 
slight  force  separated  them  into  flve  parts.  The 
leaf,  on  its  petiole,  is  separated  distinctly  from  the 
unexpanded  flower-bud  and  a  few  inches  off;  still  one 
point  and  often  that  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  leaf  was 
turned  over  the  body  of  the  leaf  and  crumpled  and 
clamped  in  or  between  the  points  of  the  calyx  and 
flower  actually  clamped  fast.  It  looked  as  though 
the  point  of  the  leaf  had  been  attracted  by  and  taken 
hold  of  between  the  points  of  the  flowering-bud.  A 
single  case  might  be  accounted  for  as  an  abnormal 
or  accidental  occurrence,  but  when  it  comes  to  the 
general  character  of  the  developments,  some  law  in 
vegetable  philosophy  not  yet  understood,  would  seem 
to  demand  attention:  hence  I  go  to  some  length. 
Mr.  Johnston  can  corroborate  the  fact,  as  any  one 
else  who  will  go  and  examine  the  bush.  Has  a  simi- 
lar case  ever  been  noticed  before  ?  If  so,  let  us  hear 
of  it,  and  how  we  can  account  for  this  cohesion  of  a 
leaf-lobe  with  the  unexpanded  bud  ?  In  some  cases 
the  flower  cup  was  drawn  off  by  the  expansion  of 
the  leaf,  and  attached  in  a  withered  form  to  the  end 
of  the  lobe  or  point.  In  short,  I  can  offer  no  solution. 
I  can  trace  no  connection  with  it  and  insect  inter- 
ference, nor  abnormal  growth  or  development,  other 
than  the  singular  contact,  and  leave  it  for  one  more 
skilled  in  this  particular  than  J.  S. 


The  Quinine  Flower. 

The  American  Garden'  quotes  the  following  in 
regard  to  the  "quinine  flower,"  by  Dr.  Palmer,  of 
Florida.  From  its  description  and  effects  we  should 
consider  it  identical  with  what  is  well  known  as 
"boneset,"  a  very  valuable  wild  plant  in  cases  of 
chills  and  fever,  and  malarious  disease.  It  is  an 
annual  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  high,  has  an 
erect  green  stem,  linear  leaves  of  from  one-half  to 
one  inch  in  length,  and  small  white  fiowers.  The 
root  consists  of  numerous  slender  fibres. 

It  is  a  native  of  Florida,  and  is  found  most  abun- 
dantly in  fiat  pine  woods,  in  a  moderately  dry  soil, 
making  its  appearance  in  March  or  April,  and 
flowering  from  July  to  September.  The  specimens 
furnished  me  were  gathered  three  or  four  miles 
south  of  Monticello,  in  Jefferson  county-  In  the 
lower  portions  of  the  country  it  is  very  abundant,  and 
is  successfully  employed  by  those  living  in  its  vicin- 
ity for  the  cure  of  different  types  of  malarious  fever, 
the  whole  plant  being  used,  either  in  the  form  of 
decoction  or  extract,  and  is  given  ad  libitum,  or 
until  the  patient  feels  the  effects  of  quinine  in  his 
head. 

It  is  a  curiouo  fact,  that  persons  brought  under 
the  influence  of  this  remedy  experience  similar  sen- 
sations, such  as  tension  or  fullness  in  the  head,  ring- 
ing in  the  ears,  or  partial  deafness,  as  when  under 
the  influence  of  quinia  and  hence  its  name.  Its  repu- 
tation as  an  anti-periodic  was  established  during  the 
civil  war,  when  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  quinia  every 
opportunity  was  offered  for  testing  the  relative  value 
of  the  various  substitutes. 

The  quinine  flower  is  intensely  and  permanently 
bitter,  yielding  its  properties  to  water  and  alcohol. 
A  saturated  "tincture,  in  doses  of  one  teaspoonful 
every  two  hours,  was  found  suBicient  to  break  the 
paroxj'sm  of  intermittent  fever.  Large  quantities, 
however,  may  be  given  in  obstinate  cases,  or  in  the 
remittent«form  of  the  disease. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Oatmeal  in  the  Household. 

In  Great  Britain  children  of  all  ranks  are  raised  on 
an  oatmeal  diet  alone,  because  it  causes  them  to 
grow  strong  and  healthful,  and  no  better  food  can 
possibly  be  found  for  them.  It  is  also  quite  as  de- 
sirable for  the  student  as  the  laborer,  and  for  the 
delicate  lady  as  for  her  hard-working  sister  ;  indeed, 
all  classes  would  be  greatly  benefited  by  its  use,  and 
dyspepsia,  with  all  its  manifold  annoyances,  can  be 
kept  at  a  distance.  Oatmeal  is  more  substantial 
food,  it  is  said,  than  veal,  pork  or  lamb,  and  quite 
equal  to  beef  or  mutton,  giving  as  much  or  more 
mental  vigor,  while  its  great  desideratum  consists  in 
one's  not  becoming  weary  of  it,  for  it  is  as  welcome 
for  breakfast  or  tea  as  is  wheat  or  Grahom  bread.  It 
can  be  eaten  with  syrup  and  butter  as  hasty  pudding, 
or  with  cream  and  sugar  like  rice.  It  is  especially  good 
for  young  mothers  upon  whose  nervous  forces  too 
great  a  demand  has  been  made,  when  they  lose  the 
equilibrium  of  the  system  and  become  depressed  and 
dispirited.  Oatmeal  requires  to  be  cooked  slowly, 
and  the  water  should  be  boiling  hot  when  it  Is  stir- 
red in. 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


175 


Inspect  Your  Cellars. 

Many  of  our  farmers  who  have  no  special  place 
built  for  wintering  vegetables  and  fruit,  store  them 
In  the  cellar  of  the  dwelling-house.  In  order  to  keep 
them  from  freezing  there,  the  cellars  are  banked  up 
tightly  in  the  fall.  No  ventilation  is  provided  for, 
and  the  only  way  for  the  escape  of  the  noxious  gases 
arising  from  decaying  vegetables,  is  through  the 
openings  In  the  floor  Into  the  living  rooms  above, 
where  it  is  dealing  disease  and  perchance  death  to 
the  occupants.  Is  it  surprising  that  diphtheria  and 
scarlet  fever,  and  every  other  fever,  result  from  such 
total  disregard  of  the  laws  of  health?  A  person 
will  pay  this  inattention  to  sanitary  measures,  and 
then  if  his  children  sicken  and  die  he  blames  the 
weather,  or  murmurs  and  grumbles  at  tlie  dispensa- 
tion of  Providence — cannot  conceive  why  God 
should  afllict  him  thus  severely.  The  Almighty  is 
not  to  be  blamed  at  all  in  such  Instances;  the  fault 
lies  at  the  man's  own  door,  or  rather  In  his  cellar, 
and  he  ouje  ht  to  condemn  himself,  and  mourn  over 
his  own  neglect  of  duty,  instead. 

Hints  for  the  Kitchen. 

If  your  coal  fire  is  low  throw  on  a  tablespoonful  of 
salt  and  it  will  help  it  very  much. 

A  little  ginger  put  into  sausage  meat  Improves  the 
flavor. 

In  boiling  meat  for  soup  use  cold  water  to  extract 
the  juices.  If  the  meat  is  wanted  for  itself  alone 
plunge  in  boiling  water  at  once. 

You  can  get  a  bottle  or  barrel  of  oil  off  any  carpet 
or  woolen  stuff  by  applying  dry  buckwheat  plenti- 
fully. Never  put  water  to  such  a  grease  spot,  or 
liquid  of  any  kind. 

Broil  steak  without  salting.  Salt  draws  the  juices 
in  cooking  ;  it  is  desirable  to  keep  them  in  if  possible. 
Cook  over  a  hot  Are,  turning  frequently,  searing  on 
both  sides.  Place  on  a  platter  ;  salt  and  pepper  to 
taste. 


Facts  About  Flour. 
Flour  is  peculiarly  sensitive  to  atmospheric  influ- 
ences, hence  it  should  never  be  stored  in  a  room  with 
soui  liquids,  nor  where  onions  or  fish  are  kept,  nor 
any  article  that  taints  the  air  of  the  room  in  which 
it  is  stored.  Any  smell  perceptible  to  the  sense  will 
be  absorbed  by  Hour.  Avoid  damp  cellars  or  lofts 
where  a  free  circulation  of  air  cannot  be  obtained . 
Keep  in  a  cool,  dry,  airy  room,  and  not  exposed  to  a 
freezing  temperature  nor  to  intense  summer  or  to 
artificial  heat  for  any  length  of  time  above  70  to  72 
degrees  Fahrenheit.  It  should  not  come  in  contact 
with  grain  or  other  substances  which  are  liable  to 
heat.  Flour  should  be  sifted  and  the  particles 
thoroughly  disintegrated  and  then  warmed  before 
baking. 

A  Cheap  Ice  House. 

In  giving  the  following  cheap  plan  for  an  ice  house, 
the  Fruit  Record  leaves  one  without  excuse  on  the 
ground  of  expense.  "If  you  have  no  house  ready 
draw  one  hundred  or  more  blocks  of  ice  ;  pack  them 
close  together  in  a  solid  block  on  the  north  side  of 
a  building,  where  the  drainage  will  be  good.  After 
the  ice  is  all  packed  together  build  up  around  it  a 
cheap  board  or  rail  fence,  one  foot  away  from  the 
ice,  packing  the  space  between  the  sides  and  ice  with 
straw  ;  over  the  top  throw  a  few  inches  of  saw  dust, 
and,  putting  over  all  a  cheap  roof,  leave  a  good  air 
hole  in  the  top.  Ice  may  be  kept  in  this  way  until 
September  or  October." 

Rest  After  Eating. 
The  digestion  of  a  horse  is  governed  by  the  same 
laws  as  that  of  a  man;  and  as  we  know  that  it  is  not 
best  for  man  to  go  at  hard  work  the  moment  a 
hearty  meal  is  eaten,  so  we  should  remember  that  a 
horse  ought  to  have  a  little  rest  after  his  meal, 
while  the  stomach  is  most  active  iu  the  process  of 
digestion.  Many  a  good  horse  has  been  ruined  by 
injudicious  haste  in  working  him  with  a  lull  stomach. 


Household  Recipes. 


To  Clean  Wai.i,  Papek.— Sometimes  spots  will 
accidentally  get  upon  papered  walls  that  deface 
them  badly.  If  it  should  be  a  grease  spot,  a  paste  of 
hot  laundry  starch,  made  very  thick  and  spread  on 
while  boiling  hot,  quite  thick  over  the  surface  of  the 
spot,  and  left  till  dry,  then  rubbed  off  with  a  soft 
cloth,  will  remove  all  the  grease  a'nd  not  deface  the 
paper.  An  ink  spot,  or  other  dark  stain  can  be  cut 
out  with  a  sharp  pen-knife,  pulled  off,  and  a  bit  of 
new  paper  matched  and  pasted  over,  which  may 
save  the  trouble  and  expense  of  repapering  the  whole 
room.  When  the  paper  is  dingy  with  smoke,  take  a 
quart  of  wheat  bran  and  tie  up  in  a  thin  bag  loosely, 
and  rub  the  walls  with  it  quite  hard.  Shalieupthe 
bran  occasionally,  and  you  will  be  quite  surprised  to 
see  how  clean  and  nice  it  makes  the  paper  look,  well 
paying  for  the  labor  of  cleaning  .  When  the  edges  of 
the  paper  start  up,  a  little  paste  or  starch  applied 
with  your  finger  to  the  under  edge,  and  pressed 
down  with  the  surface  smooth,  will  keep  the  walle 
neat  In  appearance  and  well  preserved. 


Stewed  Pigeons.— Truss  and  season  tlie  pigeons 
with  pepper  and  salt,  and  having  stulle.il  them  with 
a  mixture  of  their  own  livers,  shred  with  beef  suet, 
parsley,  bread-crumbs,  marjoram  and  two  eggs,  sew 
them  up  at  both  ends  and  put  them  into  the  jug, 
breast  down,  with  half  pound  of  butter;  cover  up 
the  jug  so  that  the  steam  cannot  get  out ;  then  set 
hem  in  a  pot  of  water  to  slew.  They  will  take  two 
lOurs  and  more  in  doing,  and  they  must  boil  all  the 
time.  When  stewed  enough  to  take  them  out  of  the 
gravy,skim  off  the  fat ,  put  iu  a  spoonful  of  cream,  a 
little  lemon-peel,  an  anchovy  shred,  and  a  few  mush- 
rooms; add  a  little  white  wine  to  the  gravy,  and 
liaving  thickened  it  with  butter  and  Hour,  and  dished 
up  the  pigeons,  pour  the  sauce  over  them.  Garnish 
with  sliced  lemon. 

IJicE  Snowballs.— Ingredients— six  ounces  of 
rice,  one  quart  of  milk,  fiavoring  of  essence  of 
alnr.onds,  sugar  to  taste,  one  pint  of  custard.  Mode 
—boil  the  rice  In  the  milk  with  sugar  and  a  flavoring 
essence  of  almonds,  until  the  former  is  tender, 
adding  if  necessary  a  little  more  milk  should  it  dry 
away  too  much;  when  the  rice  ie  quite  soft  put  It 
into  teacups,  or  small  round  jars,  and  let  it  remain 
until  cold.  Then  turn  the  rice  out  In  a  deep  glass 
dish,  pour  over  a  custard,  and  on  the  top  of  each  ball 
place  a  small  piece  of  bright  colored  jelly.  Lemon 
peel  or  vanilla  may  be  boiled  with  the  rice  instead  of 
the  essence  of  almonds,  but  the  flavoring  of  the 
custard  must  correspond  with  that  of  the  rice. 

Rolls.— Two  quartsof  flour,  one-half  cup  of  sugar, 
a  piece  of  butter  or  beef  drippings  the  size  of  an  egg. 
Scald  one  pint  of  sweet  milk  and  let  it  cool,  then 
make  a  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  flour  and  pour  in 
the  milk  and  half  a  cup  of  yeast,  a  teaspoonful  of 
salt,  and  set  to  rise  in  a  warm  place  over  night  or 
until  very  light.  Then  knead  it  and  let  it  rise  again. 
When  well  risen  cut  the  rolls  half  an  inch  thick, 
shape  round,  spread  over  each  round  a  little  melted 
butter,  and  double  over  so  the  roll  is  a  half  circle, 
then  let  rise  very  light  and  bake.  Place  the  rolls  in 
close  contact  in  the  baking.pan  so  they  may  keep  in 
shape. 

Miss  Parlon's  Recipe  for  Anrel  Cake.— The 
whites  of  eleven  eggs.  One  cup  of  flour  after  sifting, 
one  teaspoonful  of  cream  tartar.  Sift  the  flour  and 
cream  tartar  four  times.  Beat  the  eggs  to  a  stiff 
froth,  and  then  beat  in  one  and  one-half  cup  of  sugar 
and  a  teaspoonful  of  vanilla.  Add  the  flour  and 
beat  lightly  but  thoroughly.  Bake  in  an  ungreased 
pan,  slowly,  forty  minutes.  The  pau  should  have  a 
thin  strip  projecting  above  each  corner,  in  order  that 
when  it  is  turned  over  to  cool  the  air  may  circulate 
freely  under  it.     Cut  it  out  when  cool. 

Rabbit  Cdtlets. — Prepare  the  rabbits  as  you 
would  lor  a  stew  ;  cut  the  different  limbs  into  the 
size  of  cutlets — such  as  the  shoulders  cut  in  half, 
also  the  legs,  with  the  ends  of  the  bones  chopped 
off.  Have'ready  some  bread-crumbs  and  the  yolk  of 
an  egg  beaten  up.  Drop  each  cutlet  into  the  egg, 
and  then  coverwithbread-crumbs,  as  for  veal  cutlets. 
Fry  them  a  nice  brown,  and  when  you  dish  them 
pour  around  them  some  rich,  brown  gravy,  which 
may  be  flavored  with  tomato  sauce  if  approved,  and 
put  around  them  rolls  of  fried  bacon. 

Welsh  Rare  Bit.— Slice  bread  half  an  inch  thick, 
and  toast  it  very  slightly  on  both  sides,  cutting  oif 
the  crust.  Then  slice  some  rich  cheese  not  quite  so 
large  as  the  toast,  upon  which  lay  the  cheese  in  a 
toaster  before  the  fire.  Watch  it,  lest  it  burn  or  grow 
hard.  Butter  each  piece  slightly,  and  use  in  eating 
it  mustard,  pepper  and  salt. 

Apple  Jelly.— A  very  nice,  firm,  rich  jelly  made 
from  the  parings  of-apples  and  the  cores.  Cover 
them  with  water  and  let  them  boil  until  the  water 
has  wasted  a  little,  and  the  appleskins  are  very  soft; 
then  strain  them  and  add  an  equal  quantity  of  sugar 
as  there  is  liquid. 

To  Clean  Black  Lace.— Take  the  lace  and  wipe 
off  all  the  dust  carefully  with  a  cambric  hankerchief, 
then  pin  it  out  on  a  board,  inserting  a  pin  in  each 
projecting  point  of  lace.  Wash  it  alTover  with  table- 
beer,  and  do  not  remove  the  pins  until  perfectly  dry. 
It  will  look  fresh  and  new. 

GiNOER  Snaps. — One  cup  lard,  one  cup  sugar, 
one  cup  molasses, one-half  cup  water,  salt,  onetable- 
sponful  ginger,  one  tablespoonful  cream  tartar,  one 
tablespoonful  soda,  roll  very  thin;  bake  quick  and 
you  will  have  delicious  ginger  snaps. 

Hair  Invigorator. — Bay  rum,  one  pint;  alcohol, 
half  a  pint;  castoroil,  half  ounce;  tincture  of  cantha- 
rides,  half  ounce;  mix  them  well.  This  mixture 
will  promote  the  growth  of  the  hair  and  prevent  it 
from  falling  out. 

A  Nice  Tea  Cake. — One-half  cup  of  butter  or 
cream  ;  one  of  sugar ;  one  egg  ;  one-half  cup  of 
thick  milk  oi  buttermilk  ;  a  teaspoonful  of  soda ;  a 
handful  of  currants.  Use  flour  to  make  the  proper 
thickness. 

Lemon  Cake. — One  cup  of  sugar,  four  eggs,  three 
tablespoonfuls  of  sweet  milk,  three  tablespoonfuls  of 
melted  butter,  three  tablespoonfulsof  baking  powder 
and  one  cup  of  flour. 

Baker's  Gingerbread.— Three-quarters  of  a 
pound  of  flour,  one  quart  of  molasses,  one-fourth  of 
a  pound  of  butter,  one  ounce  of  saleratus  and  oue 
ounce  of  ginger. 


Live  Stock. 


Straw  as  Food  for  Cattle. 
To  form  a  strictly  fair  comparison  between  the 
diflerciil  descriptions  of  straw  it  would  be  ne.:e8eary 
that  each  kind  of  straw  should  be  cut  at  exactly  the 
same  stage  of  maturity.  But,  on  the  other  band,'la 
practice  we  And  that  for  the  sake  of  the  grain  it  is 
usual  to  allow  one  crop  to  attain  a  greater  degree  of 
ripeness  than  another.  In  the  case  of  wheat,  for  ex- 
ample, It  Is  better  to  cut  the  crop  before  It  is  quite 
ripe — and  this  is  the  custom  of  most  good  farmers. 
It  is  In  this  case  quite  feasible  to  take  advantage  of 
the  superior  conditions  of  the  straw,  in  a  slightly 
unripe  condition,  without  In  any  way  Injuring  or  de- 
teriorating the  quality  of  the  grain.  But  barley  Is 
usually  considered  more  suitable  for  the  purposes  of 
the  malster  when  In  a  well  ripened  condition,  and 
l>arley  is  therefore  usually  allowed  to  stand  ripening 
in  the  field  for  a  comparatively  longer  period  than 
wheat — and  barley  straw  is,  therefore,  usually  riper 
than  wheat  straw.  Oats,  again,  are  usually  cut  in 
an  earlier  stage  of  ripeness  even  than  wheat,  since 
the  pendulous  grain  Is  liable  to  be  taken  out  by  the 
wind  and  so  lost,  if  the  crop  is  allowed  to  ripen  too  ' 
much. 

Wheat  straw,  in  an  average  condition,  neither 
under  nor  over  ripe,  was  found  on  analysis,  by  Dr. 
Voelcker,  to  contain  between  1  and  2  per  cent,  of 
fatty  matter,  from  2  to  3  of  nitrogenous  compounds, 
about  4  to  6  per  cent,  of  sugar  and  mucilaginous 
matter  soluble  in  water,  and  about  30  per  cent,  of 
fibre  In  a  sufficiently  soft  state  to  yield  to  the  action 
of  digestive  liquids.  Oat  straw.ls  somewhat  similar 
iu  composition,  as  far  as  the  proportions  of  oil  and 
nitrogenous  compounds  are  concerned,  but  it  con- 
tains more  sugar  and  extractive  matter,  and  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  digestible  fibre.  While  in  the 
case  of  wheat  straw  rather  more  tlian  one-fourth  of 
the  fibre  is  digestible,  in  the  case  of  oat  straw  con- 
siderable more  than  one-half  of  the  fibre  Is  soluble 
in  solutions  corresponding  in  strength  to  the  gastric 
juices.  Oat  straw  is,  therefore,  as  a  rule,  superior 
in  feeding  value  to  wheat  straw,  inasmuch  as  It  con- 
tains a  much  larger  proportion  of  digestible,  fat- 
forming  and  heat-producing  principles.  Barley  straw 
contains  more  nitrogenous  matter  than  either  wheat 
or  oat  straw,  but  in  the  ripe  state,  in  which  It  is 
most  often  harvested,  it  contains  but  a  very  small 
proportion  of  sugar,  more  than  nine-tenths  of  the 
fibre  it  contains  being  iu  a  perfectly  indigestible 
form.  When  less  ripe,  however,  barley  straw  Is  of 
a  much  more  digestible  nature,  and  on  account  of  Its 
superior  value  as  a  flesh-former  it  must,  in  that  case, 
be  considered  as  better  fodder  than  wheat  straw.  It 
is,  however,  rarely  that  barley  straw  is  harvested  in 
such  a  condition  as  to  be  equal  in  feeding  value  to 
good  oat  straw. 

It  Is  interesting  to  consider,  side  by  side  with  straw 
of  the  cereals,  the  so-called  "straw,"  or  more  proper- 
ly speaking,  the  haulm,  of  peas.  Pea  straw  con- 
tains from  U  to  9  per  cent,  of  nitrogenous  compounds 
and  about  2  per  cent,  of  oil,  about  8  per  cent,  of 
sugar  and  soluble  extractive  matters,  and  about  GO 
per  cent,  of  fibre,  of  which  nearly  one-third  may  be 
regarded  as  digestible.  Its  composition  more  nearly 
resembles  that  of  hay  than  does  that  of  any  of  the 
common  cereal  straws,  and  it  is  a  justly-prized  arti- 
cle for  both  sheep  and  cattle. 


Feeding  Cattle. 
The  theory  of  good  stock  is  very  simple  and  the 
mode  apparently  would  suggest  itself  to  any  feeder 
who  proposed  to  pursue  the  most  profitable  course, 
which  is  that  the  animal  should  be  kept  constantly 
in  a  growing,  thrifty  condition  by  having  a  full  diet 
of  nutritious  food  adapted  to  the  growth  and  building 
up  of  the  young  animal  frame.  Muscle  and  bone  are 
the  constituents  of  all  growing  animals,  while  fat  is 
the  surplus  accumulation  of  the  matured  beast.  Fat 
is  an  unwholesome  product  of  the  young  of  all 
species,  and  adds  nothing  to  the  well-being  and  good 
health  of  the  old.  But  the  breeder  of  stock  who 
allows  It  to  stand  still  or  not  gain  steadily  in  flesh, 
without  over  feeding  to  fatness,  is  losing  sight  of  his 
own  profit.  J.  D.  Gillet,  of  Elkhart,  Illinois,  who 
exhibited  the  fat  prize  ox  at  the  fat  cattle  show  held 
at  Chicago,  last  December,  gives  his  mode  of  feeding 
young  animals.     He  says  : 

"I  feed  my  young  cattle  just  enough  to  keep  them 
strong  through  the  winter  months.  After  they  are 
two  and  a  half  years  old,  commence  feeding  corn 
winter  and  summer  until  I  send  them  to  market. 
Attend  to  them  closely  and  keep  them  improving 
from  the  time  they  are  fed  on  corn  to  the  time  they 
leave  the  farm.  'Generally  feed  eight  to  twelve 
months  on  corn.  Intend  from  this  time  to  feed  one 
year  younger  and  send  one  year  sooner  to  market. 
Think  I  can  get  my  steer  at  thirty  months  old  to 
weigh  1,700  lbs.  This  course  will  pay  much  better 
than  to  keep  them  until  thirty-six  to  forty-tw» 
months,  and  get  an  average  of  2,000  to  2,100  lbs 
out  of  the  cattle." 

This  Is  a  very  brief  and  plain  direction — so  plain 
that  It  would  seem  that  even  a  wayfarer  could  not 
err,  and  yet  those  who  keep  their  stock,  young  and 


176 


tHE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  November,  1879. 


old,  on  short  rations  through  the  winter  under  the 
mist,iken  notion  of^  economy,  are  legion.  Such 
feeders  pursue  tlie  unwise  policy  of  saving  at  the  tap 
and  letting  run  at  the  bung. 

Sugar  Beets  for  Fattening  Swine. 
An  experiment  was  tried  some  time  ago  by  a  New 
England  farmer  in  fattening  a  pig  which  fed  largely 
on  suirar  beets.  The  animal  was  about  a  year  old 
and  the  feeding  on  boiled  sugar  beets,  tops  and  roots, 
began  on  the  10th  of  August,  and  was  continued 
three  times  a  day  until  the  1st  of  October,  after 
which  ground  feed  was  given,  consisting  of  two  parts 
of  corn  and  one  of  oats,  three  times  a  day  until  the 
animal  was  slaughtered,  the  meal  being  mixed  with 
cold  water.  The  result  was,  on  the  1.5th  of  August, 
when  sugar  beet  feeding  was  begun,  that  the  weight 
was  S06  pounds;  September  1.  -520  pounds,  October  1, 
4.50  pounds;  November  1,  .520  pounds.  This  is  the 
substance  of  the  statement  given,  by  which  we  per- 
ceive that  the  increase  the  last  of  August,  when  fed 
on  boiled  sugar  beets,  was  at  the  rate  of  two  pounds 
per  day;  the  rate  of  increase  on  the  same  food  con- 
tinued through  September.  When  feed  on  ground 
corn  and  oats,  made  into  cold  slop,  the  gain  for  the 
next  fifty  days  was  less  than  a  pound  and  a  half  per 
.day. 


Poultry, 


Winter  Care  of  Fowls. 

Now  that  the  cold  weather  is  coming  on,  those 
who  keep  poultry  should  see  to  it  that  everything 
practicable  is  done  to  make  their  fowls  comfortable 
while  the  fall  and  winter  last.  I  assume  that  pro- 
fessional poultry-raisers  will  attend  to  this  matter 
without  any  advice  or  hints  from  others,  but  it  is  a 
fact  that  a  great  many  people  who  keep  hens  and 
other  fowls  only  as  an  accessory  to  their  farming  or 
other  occupations,  are  accustomed  to  show  some  de- 
gree of  neglect  to  their  poultry  during  the  winter, 
letting  the  hens,  lor  the  most  part,  take  care  of  them- 
selves and  do  the  best  they  can,  without  being  care- 
ful to  funi'.^h  them  with  proper  food  and  quarters. 
Now,  if  poultry  is  worth  keeping  at  all  it  is  worth 
keeping  well,  and  no  kind  of  livestock  will  pay  better 
proportionally  for  proper  care  in  winter  weather  than 
is  the  ease  with  poultry. 

To  a  certain  extent,  the  warmer  the  quarters  for 
the  fowls  the  better.  If  it  can  possibly  be  helped 
they  should  never  be  kept  in  a  place  where  water 
will  freeze,  and  it  would  be  all  the  better  if  their 
quarters  could  be  kept  ten  or  twelve  degrees  above 
zero  all  the  time.  It  is  shameful  to  keep  poultry  as 
some  of  our  New  England  farmers  do,  in  old,  rickety 
barns,  with  chinks  an  inch  wide  or  more  between  the 
boards,  where  the  snow  can  drive  in  and  the  wind 
whistle  through.  In  such  cases  the  hens  cannot  do 
much,  if  anything,  in  the  way  of  egg  making.  The 
man  who  expects  that  his  hens  will  lay  eggs  when 
they  are  obliged  to  expend  nearly  all  of  their  vital 
force  in  their  ciTort  to  keep  warm,  and  to  stand  on 
one  leg  in  order  lo  keep  the  other  from  freezing,  will 
find  himself  sadly  mistaken,  and  no  little  disap- 
pointed in  the  size  of  the  egg-product.  If  you  wish 
to  have  your  hens  lay  in  winter,  above  all  things 
keep  your  hen-houses  warm,  even  if  you  have  to 
burn  a  little  wood  in  them  on  the  coldest  days.  The 
good  effects  of  warm  quarters  will  be  seen  not  only 
in  winter  but  in  spring  as  well,  for  it  will  not  then 
take  the  poultry  so  long  to  recuperate  from  the  in- 
jurious etfects  of  the  winter  weather. 

If  the  ]ii.uUry-l]()Uses  are  warm  enough  it  will  not 
so  mucli  iiKLitir  wliat  kind  of  food  the  hens  have, 
provided  ji  i^  u  lu'lr-orne  and  adapted  to  egg-making. 
But  it  i.s  wi'll  IM  niia.sionally  feed  them  with  warm 
mashed  potatoes  and  boiled  apples,  which  the  hens 
will  eat  voraciously.  If,  however,  the  hen-houses 
are  as  warm  as  they  should  be,  the  necessity  for  fur- 
nishing the  poultry  with  warm  food  will  be  so  much 
the  less,  although  it  will  do  them  good  in  any  case. 
As  to  drinking,  the  hens  should  have  all  the  water 
they  need,  but  the  quarters  should  be  so  warm  that 
the  water  will  never  be  in  danger  of  freezing.  Give 
the  fowls  good  quarters,  good  feed  and  plenty  of 
water,  and  they  will  amply  repay  you  for  your  ex- 
penditure of  time  and  money.  Otherwise,  you  will 
probably  find  poultry  keeping  a  dead  loss  in  winter. — 
AtncHcari  Cultivator. 

Poultry  Habits. 
Of  all  stock,  hens  are  the  most  easily  taught.  The 
education  of  hens  can  be  commenced  at  any  age ; 
but  best  while  young.  They  should  be  housed  and 
shut  in  every  night,  and  not  be  allowed  to  roost 
on  sheds,  well-sweeps,  or  trees;  even  a  neglect  to 
shut  the  door  on  them  for  one  night  will  cause  the 
timid  ones  to  seek  a  higher  roost  the  next  night, 
and  that  can  only  be  found  out  of  doors.  This 
leads  to  laying  out  of  doors— a  great  nuisance — 
and  to  constant  loss  from  night  enemies.  At 
sunrise  every  morning  call  the  hens  around  you, 
and  scatter  a  full  feed  for  them;  let  this  always 
be  done  on  the  same  spot  of  ground.  Keep  in  a 
convenient  place,  a  reservoir  of  fresh  clean  water, 
if  you  have  no  running  stream.  At  certain  and 
regular  limes  in    the  day,  you  will  find   the  whole 


flock  there.  Throw  no  scraps  of  food  around  the 
dwelling,  or  you  will  teach  them  to  become  a  house 
nuisance.  Burn  all  the  egg  shells,  or  you  will 
teach  the  hens  to  eat  eggs  in  the  nests.  If  you 
coop  youi-  chicks,  take  hen  and  brood  to  the  hen 
house  as  soon  as  the  crop  is  dispensed  with;  other- 
wise, when  winter  sets  in  you  will  have  to  spend 
hours  every  night  for  a  week  before  they  will  house 
well.  Protect  hens  while  sitting,  by  a  light  board 
or  lattice  cover  to  the  nest,  so  "that  they  shall  not 
be  annoyed  by  other  hens  wishing  to  lay  with  them. 
In  fact,  any  bad  habit,  or  any  which  does  not 
suit  your  surroundings,  may  be  entirely  broken  up 
and  changed  by  reasonably  preventive  measures. — 
Sural  New   Yorker. 

Salt  for  Poultry. 

The  question  as  to  whether  salt  is  injurious  to 
poul'ry  has  often  been  mooted.  To  get  at  the  facts, 
1  have  been  feeding  salt  to  all  my  poultry,  young  and 
old  alike,  and  closely  watching  the  result.  I  have  fed 
it  in  cold  mush  and  hot ;  in  bran  and  everything  else, 
all  the  spring  and  summer,  so  far,  w  ith  the  follow- 
ing result  :  The  poultry  will  eat  all  kinds  of  salted 
food  in  preference  to  unsalted;  they  are  better  in 
general  health  ;  not  a  louse  of  any  kind  in  young  or 
old  (the  first  year  I  have  been  able  to  say  so),  and 
they  are  beginning  to  molt,  many  of  them  laying  as 
though  not  molting.  Eggs  are  cheap  now,  and  the 
hens  will  be  ready  for  fall  laying  when  the  weather 
is  cold  and  eggs  scarce.  This  may  or  may  not  be 
the  result  of  feeding  salt,  but  I  am  compelled  to 
believe  this  to  be  so,  as  are  some  other  peculiari- 
ties. I  have  noticed  one  feature,  which  may  not 
be  in  favor  of  salt — the  hens  have  seemed  to  be 
more  persistenlly  inclined  to  sit,  it  being  very  diffi- 
cult to  break  off  the  inclination ;  they  sit  much 
closer  than  usual.  All  seem  voraciously  fond  of 
green  food  of  any  kind,  and  have  eaten  a  large 
quantity  of  clover,  grass,  young  corn  and  other 
similar  food.  My  observations  lead  me  to  the  con- 
clusion that  salt  is  a  needed  condiment  for  all  our 
poultry,  and  in  all  points  beneficial  to  them.  Pigeons 
are  excessively  food  of  salt  in  any  form,  and  why 
should  not  our  poultry  also  ?  Such  being  the  status 
it  behooves  us  to  consider  their  needs  and  attend  to 
them. 


Eggs  From  Different  Breeds. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Ohio  Farmer  says  :  After 
repeated  experiments  with  the  different  varieties  of 
fowls,  and  comparisons  with  others  who  have  exper- 
imented in  the  same  direction,  I  have  concluded  that 
the  laying  capacity  of  the  principal  varieties  is  about 
as  follows  : 

Light  Brahmas  and  Partridge  Cochins — eggs  seven 
to  the  pound,  lay  loO  per  annum. 

Dark  Brahmas — eight  to  the  pouad,  120  per  an- 
num. 

Black,  White  and  Buff  Cochins— eight  to  the 
pound,  125  per  annum. 

Plymouth  Rocks — eight  to  the  pound,  115  per 
annum. 

Houdans — same  as  Plymouth  Rocks. 

La  Fleche — seven  to  the  pound,  130  per  annum. 

Black  Spanish — seven  to  the  pound,  130  per  an- 
num. 

Leghorn — nine  to  the  pound ,  IfiO  per  annum 

Hamburgs— nine  to  the  pnunl,  1.50  per  annum. 

Polish— nine  to  the  pound,  125  per  annum. 

Bantams— sixteen  to  the  pound,  90  per  annum. 

Whole  Wheat   for  Fowls. 

The  PouUry  ^yor}(l  says:  "There  is  more  solid 
nutriment  in  whole  wheat,  as  a  feed  for  poultry, 
than  in  any  of  the  cereals,  weight  for  weight.  It 
is  an  excellent  kind  of  grain  for  this  use,  "though 
somewhat  more  expensive  than  other  sorts:  but  too 
much  of  this  hearty  feed  is  detrimental,  particularly 
when  carelessly  fed  to  Cochins,  Brahmas,  etc. 
Fowls  are  very  partial  to  wheat.  It  helps  the  laying 
capacity  of  hens,  but.  it  should  not  be  used  except 
with  discretion  as  to  the  quantity  allowed  them  daily. 
An  excess  of  this  raw  grain  will  induce  a  looseness 
in  the  bowels  very  frequently.  It  is  easy  of  diges- 
tion, and  should  be  furnished  in  moderation,  as  a 
needful  and  most  desirable  variety,  in  conjunction 
with  other  dry  grains,  such  as  cracked  corn,  oats, 
barley,  buckwheat,  etc.  If  not  more  than  one-third 
or  one-fourth  of  wheat  is  allowed  with  the  other 
cereals  mentioned,  for  ordinary  purposes  in  the  lay- 
ing season,  hens  will  do  quite  as  well,  and  they 
can  thus  be  kept  in  better  average  condition  than 
by  a  greater  allowance." 


Literary  and  Personal. 


Land  and  Home. — "For  land  owners  and  home 
lovers  every  where. — farmers,  gardeners,  stockmen, 
village  folks  and  city  people  with  rural  tastes." 
Terms  $2.00  a  year  in  advance,  37  Park  Row,  New 
York.  No.  1,  vol.  1  of  this  beautiful  16  page  quarto 
monthly  has  reached  our  table.  The  quality  of  the 
paper  and  the  typographical  execution  are  faultless, 
and  nothing  has  come  within  the  focus  of  our  vision 
for  a  number  of  years  that  is  so  easily  read  by  those 
advanced  in  life.    This  may  be  no  special  merit  with 


the  young,  but  it  is  a  mighty  great  one  with  the  old. 
Single  numbers  may  be  obtained  for  five  cents,  and 
we  feel  satisfied  that  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
line  of  its  specialties  cannot  do  a  better  thing  than 
to  send  for  a  number  and  judge  for  theniselves. 
The  articles  are  crisp,  short  and  able,  and  are  on 
various  subjects  within  its  line  of  specialties.  It  is 
solid  all  through,  in  the  style  of  The  Farmer,  and 
has  only  one  column  more  than  a  single  page  of 
advertisements.  The  great  increase,  emigration, 
and  great  expansion  of  our  population  would  seem 
to  indicate  an  opening  for  such  a  journal,  and  if 
there  is,  we  deem  Land  and  Iloine  a  worthy  candi- 
date for  it. 

The  Naturalists'  Directory  for  1879,  contain- 
ing the  names,  addresses,  special  departments  of 
study,  &c.,  of  the  naturalists,  chemists,  physicists, 
meteorologists  and  astronomers  of  North  America. 
Edited  by  Samuel  E.  Cassino,  Boston,  Mass.,  299 
Washington  street,  S.  E.  Cassino,  publisher.  This  use- 
ful little  12  mo.  volume — which,  only  three  years  ago 
was  only  issued  as  a  pamphlet — has  already  assumed 
the  dimensions  of  a  clever  sized  book  of  278  printed 
pages,  exclusive  of  a  number  of  blank  pages  (for  the 
pui|if>,4r  oi  lilliii-  ill  such  names  as  may  come  to  the 
knowlr^ljr  .,i  11. r  i„,s,sessor.)  The  edition  1879  con- 
tains :.i::'.i  niniirj.,  together  with  a  copious  index 
arruii-iil  alplialntirally  in  States.  Price  $1.00  in 
paper  covers,  and  from  |1.25  to  §1..59  in  other  styles 
of  binding.  The  army  of  naturalists  seems  to  be 
increasing,  or  at  least  their  whereabouts  are  becom- 
ing known,  creating  a  community  where  there  had 
previously  only  been  isolation,  and  in  this  consists 
the  main  usefulness  of  the  work,  not  only  to  natur- 
alists themselves,  but  also  to  the  public  who  may 
desire  to  be  in  communication  with  them. 

Illustrated  Home  Almanac  for  1880.— Price 
10  cents.  Published  by  C.  W.  Leach,  Concord,  Mass. 
This  is  a  remarkably  well  executed  12  mo.  of  32 
pages,  containing  the  usual  calculations  adapted  to 
the  various  latitudes  in  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
besides  thirty  interesting  literary  articles  and  fifteen 
finely  executed  illustrations,  exclusive  of  an  orna- 
mental title  page  on  the  cover.  How  forcibly  the 
illustrations  on  the  cover  represent  two  prominent 
periods  in  human  life,  both  of  which  we  have  often 
experienced.  Old  Father  Time  is  represented  driving 
a  horse  and  sleigh,  with  a  single  passenger  in  a  seat 
behind  him.  In  the  first  tablet  he  is  accompanied 
by  a  youth,  who  is  urging  him  forward  and  says, 
"Do  drive  on.  Father  Time,  I  never  saw  such  a 
wretched  old  slow  poke  as  you  are  in  my  life."  In 
the  second  his  passenger  is  an  old  man,  and  he  says, 
"Hold  on  !  hold  on  my  friend,  don't  drive  so  fast,  I 
am  not  in  a  hurry."  Some  of  the  other  illustrations 
are  equally  characteristic,  especially  that  entitled 
"April  fool— Boys  will  be  boys." 

The  Fruit  Recorder  and  Cottage  Gardener. 
—"To  till  and  keep,  and  of  the  fruit  to  eat,  and  the 
bi'autiful  to  enjoy,"  monthly  at  $1.00  per  year,  A. 
M.  Purdy  editor.  Palmyra,  New  York,  published  at 
Rochester.  This  is  a  16  page  royal  quarto,  similar 
in  style  to  the  foregoing,  and  devotes  eleven  columns 
of  the  October  number  to  "Questions  and  Answers," 
a  very  instructive  feature  where  people  are  suffi- 
ciently inqui-sitive  to  ask  the  questions,  which  is  not 
always  the  case.  This  journal  is  exclusively  devoted 
to  fruit  anl  garden  vegetation,  and  contains  a  great 
amount  of  practical  information  on  these  useful 
subjects.  The  question  and  answer  department, 
wliioh  is  even  more  extensive  than  that  of  the  Neien- 
lifie  American,  we  regard  as  a  most  useful  feature  in 
horticultural  literature. 

The  Journal  of  Science.— An  illustrated  peri- 
odical of  practical  information,  designed  for  popular 
i-eading  and  devoted  to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge. 
A  demi  folio  published  monthly,  at  ?1.00  a  year  in 
advance,  by  the  "  Journal  of  Science  Publishing 
Company,"  Toledo,  Ohio,  E.  H.  Fitch,  editor.  A 
very  handsome  little  paper  and  just  what  its  title 
indicates  it  to  be.  Its  matter  is  mainly  original,  and 
is  written  with  scientific  ability,  and  the  illustrations 
are  ample  and  of  a  superior  order.  Typographically 
it  is  faultless  and  easy  to  read ;  in  this  respect  it  is 
admirably  adapted  to  the  vision  of  the  advanced  in 
life,  which  is  a  gre&t  desideratum. 

The  Bee-Keepers  Exchange. — A  m<agazine  de- 
voted exclusively  to  the  best  interests  of  producers 
and  consumers  of  honey.  Published  monthly  at 
Canajoharie,  New  York  State.  J.  H.  Nellis  editor 
and  publisher.  Seventy-five  cents  a  year  in  advance 
with  liberal  deductions  for  clubs.  This  is  an  octavo 
of  14  pages,  exclusive  of  tinted  covers,  and  seems  to 
cover  the  ground  iiTdicated  by  its  title,  and  is  liberally 
embellished.  Its  matter  is  practical  and  instructive. 
Eclipse  Era. — "Something  good  for  everybody." 
A  demi-octavo  of  34  pages.  Published  by  Frick  & 
Co.,  quarterly,  at  Waynesboro',  Franklin  county. 
Pa.,  "U.  S.  .\."  Contains,  in  a  condensed  form,  a 
widely  diversified  quantum  of  solid  literary  matter. 
No.  5,  Vol.  I,  for  October,  has  been  laid  on  our  table 
and  we  like  it. 

Case's  Botanical  Index  and  illustrated  Quar- 
terly Botanical  Magazine,  Richmond,  Indiana,  comes 
laden  with  its  usual  freight  of  fruit  and  floral  riches, 
30  pp.  8vo.,  finely  illustrated,  and  only  $2.00  for  five 
copies,  or  15  cents  for  a  single  number. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER- 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Comsumption  Cured. 

An  old  physician,  n-tirea  from  practice,  havlnp  had 
placed  in  his  hands  by  au  East  Indian  missionary  the 
formula  of  a  simple  vegetable  remedy  for  the  speedy 
and  permanent  cure  for  Consumption,  Bronchitis, 
Catarrh,  Asthma,  aud  all  Throat'and  Luue  Affec- 
tions, also  a  posliive  aud  radical  cure  fpr  Nervous 
Debility  aud  all  Nervous  Complaints,  after  having 
tested  its  wouderful  curative  powers  in  thousands  of 
cases,  has  felt  it  his  duty  to  make  It  known  to  his 
sullcring  fellows.  Actuated  by  this  motive  and  a 
desire  to  relieve  human  sutlerinfj;,  I  will  send  free  of 
charfjc  to  all  who  desire  It,  this  recipe,  in  German, 
French,  or  English,  with  full  dlreetious  for  prepar- 
ing aud  usiui;  Sent  by  mall  by  addrcssiUK  with 
stamp,  uaminsr  this  paper,  \V.  W.  8iikkah,149  Pow- 
ers' Jilock,  Hochesler,  X.  Y.  loct-'im 

Worthy  of  Attention. 
Each  volume  of  the  American  Ayriculturut  gives 
some  800  original  engravings,  with  descriplious  of 
labor-saving  and  labor  helping  contrivances,  of 
plants,  fruits,  flowers,  animals,  etc.,  includiug  many 
large  aud  i)leasinK,  as  well  as  instructive,  pictures 
for  young  and  old.  The  constant,  systematic  ex- 
posures of  humbugs  and  swindling  schemes  by  the 
AgricuUnrift  are  of  great  value  to  every  one,  and 
will  save  to  most  persons  many  times  its  cost. 
Altogether,  it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable,  as  well 
as  cheapest,  journals  any  where  to  be  found.  The 
cost  is  only  $1..50  a  year,  or  four  copies  for  $5. 
Single  numbers  1.5  cents.  Subscribe  at  once  for 
18S0,  aud  receive  the  rest  of  this  year  free,  or  send 
three-cent  stamp  for  postage  on  a  specimen  copy. 
Address  Orange  Judd  Company,  Publishers,  345 
Broadway,  New  York. 

A  New  Book. 

\V.  H.  Bici-ly,  Esq.,  of  the  Williamsport  (I'u.)  bar, 
has  issued  a  new  book,  "The  Kigiiis  and  Duties  of 
County  and  Township  Officers."  It  contains  all  the 
acts  and  decisions  in  relation  to  the  various  county 
and  township  offices,  is  a  complete  hand-book  for 
election  officers,  aud  treats  the  tax  laws  fully. 
Every  officer  aud  tax  payer  will  buy  one.  It  con- 
tains 300  pages,  ueatly  printed,  bound  in  cloth  and 
gold,  and  sold  at  $i  per  volume.  The  ^Vellsboro' 
Agitator  says :  "  A  book  of  this  kind  is  badly 
needed  by  the  local  officers  of  the  State,  and  we 
believe  Mr.  Bierly's  compilation  will  be  found  of 
great  service.  Members  of  the  bar  cpmmend  it 
heartily." 


Munn  &  Co's.  Hand-book. 

The  Scientijic  Hand-book  is  the  name  of  a  work 
published  by  Munn  .t  Co.,  New  York,  aud  is  a 
valuable  little  book  to  inventors,  authors,  aud  in 
fact,  almost  every  one.  It  is  a  treatise  relating  to 
patents,  caveats,  designs,  trade  marks,  copy- 
rights, labels,  etc. 

"They  are  the  publishers  of  The  Scientific  Ameri- 
can, a  large  first-class  weekly  paper,  16  pp,  pro- 
fusely illustrated  with  engravings  representing  the 
newest  inventions  and  the  most  recent  advances  in 
the  arts  and  sciences. 

Schum's  New  Store. 
Philip  Schum,  Son  i&  Co.  have  opened  a  store  in 
the  building  formerly  occupied  by  H.  Z.  Khoads 
&  Bro.  as  a  jewelry  establishment.  They  keep  on 
hand  of  their  own  manufacture,  quilts,  coverlets, 
carpets,  counterpanes,  etc.,  besides  ladies'  furnish- 
ing goods  and  notions.  They  pay  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  manufacture  of  customer  rag  carpets, 
besides  doing  dyeing  and  scouring  of  all  kinds. 
Their  store  is  a  handsome  one,  and  is  well  worth 
a  visit. 

The  Examiner  and  Express. 

Thts  Weekly  Examiner  and  Expresa  is  published 
every  Wednesday  at  No.  9  North  Queen  street.  It 
is  a  large  four-page  paper,  with  a  supplement,  and 
contains  just  the  kind  of  reading  matter  to  make 
it  a  desirable  family  newspaper.  The  subscription 
price  is  two  dollars  a  year.     Subscribe  for  it. 


The  Secret  Key  to  Health. 
The  Science  of  Life,  or  Self-Preeervation,  HOO  pages. 
Price,  only  ?1.  Contains  fifty  valuable  prescrip- 
tions, cither  one  of  which  is  worth  more  than  ten 
times  the  price  of  the  book.  Illustrated  sample  sent 
on  receipt  of  6  cents  for  iwstage.  Address,  Dr.  W. 
H.  Parker,  4  Bulflnch  St.,  Boston,  Mass.         oct-Jto 

The  Dentaphone. 

The  American  Dentaphone  Co..  287  Vine  street, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  advertise  iu  this  issue  of  Tns 
Farmeu  the  Dentaphone.  It  is  an  instrument  to 
take  the  place  of  the  ear  trumpet,  and  on  applica- 
tion they  will  send  a  pamphlet  explaining  it. 


FARMERS, 

Look  to  Your  Inteests, 

IMPOUTANT  TO  FARMERS,  TRUt  KERS 
AND  <JAHnEXERS. 

A  NATURAL  FERTILIZER ! 


Jerse 


RICH  IN  DISSOLVED  BONES. 
PHOSPHORIC  ACID. 

POTASH,  SILICIC  ACID,  dC. 


I  Permaunutly  Enriches  Ever-y  Variety  of  Soil. 
It  Doubles  the  Yield  of  Grusfl. 

It  Insures  Gtood  Croi)s  of  Wheat,  Com,  I>olatoe8  Vegeta 
bles  aud  Fruit. 


Au  excelleQt  change  for  land  alter  the  coutinudd  use  of 

In  successful  use  here  over  100  years,  and  more  than  two 
thirds  of  the  cropped  laud  of  Europe^improved  with  Marl. 

It  is  uot  a  stimulaut.as  patent  manures  are,  bnt  Its  eflects 
are  lasting. 

Farmers,  why  then  pay  from  $30  to  tto  per  ton  for  Phos- 
phates, wUeu  you  cau  buy  a  Natural  Fertilizer  at  the  low 


$10  PER  TON, 

a  lasting  benefit 

different    Soils, 
ion  regarding  its 

D.  P.  BITNER, 

General  Agent  for 
LANCASTER  COUNTY. 


Agencies  where  BLARL  is  kept  constantly  on 
iiand : 

B,  &  B.  F.  Walter,  Christiana,  Pennsylvania  Railroad. 

Joseph  C.  Walker,  Gap,  •■  " 

Henry  H.  Bohrer,  Leaman  Place,  "  " 

.T.  B.  Newhauser,  Bird.in-Hand,  "  " 

Jacob  Mauck,  Rohrerstown,  "  " 

M.  G.  Shludle,  Mountville, 

II.  F.  Bruuer,  Columbia,  "  •* 

Miller  fc  MuBser,  Upper  Marietta, 

Groff  fc  Rutt.  LandisWIIe,  "  '• 

B.  G.  Groff,  Elizabethtown.  ■'  " 

Cassel  h  KIlug,  Mount  Joy,  "  " 

Shultz&Bio.,  Washington  Bor.,  Colum'a  k  Port  Deposit  R. 

Samuel  Harnish,  Pequea  Station,  '•  •• 

Kirk  Brown,  Haines  Station  *'  ** 

•\V.  Q.   Mellinger,  West  Widow,  Quarryville  Railroad. 

James  A.  Meok,  Refton  Station,  "  " 

Achcsou  &  Swarr,  Mechanics  Grove,      "  •' 

H.  W.  Graybill,  Petersburg,  Reading  h  Columbia  Railroad. 

Hershey  &  Danuer,  Manheim,  " 

Wm.  Evans  h  Son.  Litiz,  "  " 

P.  S.  Brubaker,  Millway,  "  " 

Sener  &  Bro.,  Ephrata,  "  " 

Brubaker  h  Co.,  Union,  "  " 

Diller  h  Sutton,  New  HoUand,  Wayneaburg  Railroad. 

D.  P.  BITNER,  Lancaster,  Fa. 

T»-10-lm. 


—THE— 

FIRST  ANNUAL  EXHIBITION 

111'    TMK 

LANCASTER    COUNTY 

POULTRY  i^SSOClATION, 

WILI,    UE    IIEI.U    IN 

LOCHER'fS  BllLDING, 
<'E\TRE  SiJlARE,  I,AN(  ASTER,  VS.. 

January  2,  3,  5,  6  and  7, 


$500  OFFERED  IN  PREMIUMS. 

Premium  List  soiit  on  ai>pliciition  to 

J.  B.  LICHTY, 

Secretary. 


.  M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANUI'ACTUREUOF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

K.4l>l»I,f:S. 

COLLARS,  "WHIPS,  FLY  NETS,  &c., 

ALSO    DKALKH    IN 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFALO  UUBKS, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &c., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

-1-12]  LANOASTKR,  PA. 


GLOVES, SHIRTS,  UNDERWEAR.   Ih 

Ed 

SHIRTS  MADE  TO  ORDER, 

AND  WAUUANTEU  TO  KIT. 


£.  J.  £RISMAIf . 

56  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


PHAHES    W.    FRY. 

Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in 

WftLL  PAPERS  WINDOW  SHABE8, 

HoIInnflM,  Plain  Shadp  4'lolli, 


1879  FALL  AND   WINTER  1880 

Clotljs,  Cassinjeres,  Coatings,  Suiliijgs, 
Vestirigs,  and 

FURNISHING  GOODS, 

lucludiuK  the  vinual  faBhiouable  variolies  of  the  seaaon, 

PLAllV,  STRIPED  AND  FIGURED. 

AI,80, 

READY^M/^DE  CLOTtJING, 

AT  THE  VERY  BOnOM  PRICES. 


LANCASTER. 

RATHVON  &  FISHER, 

fjerchant  Tailors,    Drapers  and  Clotljiers, 

Corner  N.  Queen  and  Orange  Sts. 

"  A  penny  aaved  is  sixpence  earned." 


Mddrens  Stibbom  &  Co.,  Portland,  MalusJ 


lY. 


Trails  2>te:-^77- 

ELASTIC    TRUSS 

HasaPaddif 
fering  from 
all  others,  is 
cup-shaped, 
with  SELF- 
ADJUST'NG 
BALL  in  the 
center,  adapts 

itself    to    all 

.^gj^^^^fc^    positions   of  the   hody, 

^SQ^M^Ki  while  the  BALL  in  the 

URBSHFJCnp   PRESSES   BACK 

^SS^Sr  THE    INTESTINES 

^S^       JUST  AS  A  PERSON 

""  WOtTLD  WITH  THE 

*"  ^""^^pJ.'""  "  ITNGER.     With  light 

pressure  the  Hernia  is 

bield  seonrely  day  and  night,  and  a  rad- 

leal  cure  is  certain.    It  is  easy,  durable 

and  cheap.    Sent  by  mail,  postage  paid, 

Circulars  ft-ee. 

Address,  Eggleston  Truss  Co.,  Manfira. 

Ov  c.  H.  EGGLESTON  CO.,  Chicago.lH. 

t9-T-ly] 


THE    LANCASTER   FARMER' 


[November,  1879. 


1        GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 

TRADE  MARK  IlieOroal  i'ng;liHli  TRADE   MARK. 

"■  [•niedt  willrromit  ^■~- 

ally    .mc; 
V  case  of 
\uub     Deliili  }    and        £iK^^'^\ 


OurlalLbt  inipro\ed  sawing  machine  cuts 
off  a  2fcot  l.jr  m  2  minutes.  A  $!00 
PRESENT  will  be  given  to  two  men  who 
can  saw  as  much  in  the  old  way,  as  one  man 
can  with  this  machine.  Circulars  sent  free. 
W.  Giles,  741  W.  Lake  St.,  Chicago,  IlL 


iig  Co 


stopping  all  infringements  upon 
wd  W.  W.  Bostwick  and  Farmers' 
lakiug  machines  like  "Ura.  We  have 

Star  City.  Ina.,  for  using  and  sell- 


A  GOOD  PLAN. 

Anybody  can  learn  to  make,  money  rapidly  operating  In 
Stocks,  by  the  "Two  Unerring  Rules  for  Success"  In  Messrs. 
Lawrence  &  Co.'s  new  circular.  The  combination  method, 
which  this  firm  has  made  so  successful,  enables  people  with 
large  or  small  means  to  reap  all  thehenentsof  largest  capital 
and  best  skill  Thousands  of  oraeis  in  \arous  sums  are 
pooled  into  one^ast  amount  and  no  itei  as  a.  vughty 
ttAo^,  thus  securing  to  p  ch  shTrohold  l  lU  tbe  advantTges 
of  thelaige=to!H  t  t-t  r  ntsaiedivided  monthly 

Any  amount  fr  le  can  be  used  a  xcces^ 

fully.    N    \  ember  ''jth    1S78  says 

"Bythecon  Id  make  $75   or  ■>  per 

cent ;  $dO  \  °inn  mikei  $1  000 

orlOpercBu  1       >        tl  orrting 

to  the  marke         /        k  J  June 

29tb;:  Tbe  combination  i  the 

most  successful  ever  a  I  i      t  d^nt 

September  12th    The  com  1       i  1  ol 

correct  business  pnncii le     ml  i  bout 

an  income  w  hile  it  is  kept  \\   rki  i^   )     V        s   T  nee  V 

Co.^BTQoUijn  Journal  Ai  nl  20th  Our  editor  made  a  net 
profit  of  JlOl  '>5  from  $aO  in  one  ot  Messrs  Lawrence  & 
Co. 'a  conibiuatlons  J,c-n  cirt-uHi  (ma  led  free)  e\pla  ns 

everything  Stocks  and  bonds  wanted  Ctovernn  ent  hoijde 
supplied  Lawrences.  Cn  B  ukcis  6"  Lxehauge  Place 
JJ.  T.  [i95i2m 


THE  BEST  PAPER!  TRY  IT 


BEAUTIFU LLY  ILLUSTRATED, 


3Stli  YEA.R, 


The  goientiflc  Amerioan. 


ATTENTION  !    FARMERS 

New  Process   Unseed   Meal. 

THE  BEST  AND  MOST  ECONOMICAL 


«  ATTI.E  FOOnS. 


GROVE  &   BRO., 
2I«  Kare  Street,  I'hlladclpbin 


p.iperou  fruit  and  flowers.     Specimen  free. 
ssfor  ilKelj:  Address  rUEDY.  of  Pahnyra,  N.  Y. 


THE  DEAF  HEAR 


I 


THROUGH  THE  TEETH! 

EliFECTI.V.  all   Ordinary  Conversation 
pectures.  Concerts,  etc.,  by  NEIV  CLani.pL. 

"  Deaf  ind''nu'mb-S°e  JV™  r'ik  UtrMd 


jttplaeen  all  E.nr-triiinneMi.  size  o 
dlnarr  Watch.  Soml  for  oiir  I'HEE  pnni|,l,l 
AMERICAN  DENTAPHONE  CO..  287  vine  SL,  ( 

Nov-3m 


I 


ARMS 


the  Kansas  Pacific 
I  Railway.  3,000,000 
Acres  for  Sale  in  the 

I  GOLDEN    BELT. 


1  20  tu  50  bnsbel9 ;  Corn 

I  4O10l0Olni«h.pe.ncr<-. 

I  Noittannroneodnl. 

1  Goodclimate,  p'ir..\v;iti'i , 

I  fine    KChooU,    ehiircli.^, 

j  and  good  society.   P.;ijli.i,' 

I  S-OIUaOBE,  LaudC 


mm 


The  Scient 
News)  arer  of 
style,  profuse \ 
aentiligthe  n^ 
in  the  Arts  ;r, 

Medical  Prog! 
Astronomy,    Tl 


rce  First-Class  Weekly 

tl  ii)  llic  most  beautiful 

naravinrjs,  repre- 


Hea: 


i  History, Geology, 
ihi.itle  prailiCil  papers,  by  emi- 
nent writers  in  all  departments  of  Science,  will  be  found  in 
the  Scientific  American. 

Terms,  $3.20  per  year,  $1.60  half  year,  which  includes 
postage.    Discount  to  Agents.    Single  copies,  ten   cents. 
Sold  by  a'l  Newsdealers.     Remit  by  postal  order  to  MUNN 
&  CO.,  Publishers,  37  Park  Row,  New  York 
"D  A  T'T'WTT'Q  I"    connection    with    the 

jrA.A.jUiyi  X9(  SeicntiHc  American, 
Messrs.  Munn  &  Co.  are  .Solicitors  of  Ameilcan  and  Foreign 
Patents,  have  had  35  years' expeiieiice,  «jd  now  have  the 
largest  establishment  in  the  world,  i'atents  are  obtained  on 
the  best  terms.  A  special  notice  is  made  in  tbe  Soleiitifle 
Atnerlcan  of  all  Inventions  patented  through  this 
Agency,  with  the  Hame  and  residence  of  the  Patantee.  By 
the  immense  circulation  thus  given,  public  attention  is  di- 
rected to  the  merits  of  the  new  patent,  and  sales  or  intro- 
daction  often  easily  efi'ected. 

Any  person  who  has  made  a  new  discovery  or  invention, 
can  ascertain, /rfp  o/ charr/p,  whether  a  patent  can  probably 
be  obtained,  by  writing  to'  Mdnn  b  Co.  We  also  send  free 
our  Hand-Book  about  the  Patent  Laws,  Patents,  Caveats, 
Trade-Marks,  their  costs,  and  how  procured,  with  hints  for 
procuring  advances  on  inventions.  Address  for  the  Paper, 
or  concorntng  Patents, 

MUNN  &  CO..  37  Park  Bow,  New  York. 

Branch  Office,  cor.  F  &  7th  Ste.,  Washington,  D.  O. 


^pOAdd 


L  your  own  town.    Terms  and  $5  outfit  free. 
)Addre88  H.  Hallbtt  b  Co.,  Portland,  Maine. 
■  jan-lyr» 


(h70A  WEEK.    $12  a  day  at    1 
O  (  Zoiitflt  free.    Address  Tur 

juu-lyr- 


FREE  GIFT! 


.Sei 


jcted  with    4'oiisiiinpti 
Asthma,  Sore  Tliront,  or   Nns.tl  <'alarrh.      It 

is  elegantly  printed  and  illustrated.  144  pages,  12mo,  18i9. 
It  has  been  the  means  in  the  providence  of  God  of  saving 
many  valuable  lives.  Send  name  and  post  office  address, 
with  six  cents  postage  lor  mailing.  The  book  is  valuable  to 
persons  sulTering  with  any  disease  of  the  Nose,  Throat 
or  I.iiiigs.    Address,  Br.  Sf.  E.  WOI.FE,  ICincin- 


natj,  O 


KS.     J 
hio. 


79-10-2m. 


SEND  FOR 

On  Concord  Grapevines,  Transplanted  Evergreens,  Tulip, 
Poplar,  Linden  Maple,  etc.  Tree  Seedlings  and  Trees  for 
timber  plantations  by  the  100,000. 

J.  JENKIDfS'  NURSERY, 
3-2-79  WINONA,  COLUMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


jd  fitcbj  mall  to  every  one. 
11  druggists  at  $1  per  pack- 

MEDIOINE  COMPANY, 
^  Block,  Detroit,  Michigan. 


SAWING  THE  LOG. 


WONDERFUL  IMPRO^TD 

Latior  Saviiie  RIi>l.'««  S  1«  M  4Cin.\i:  13  fUlly 

demonstrated  hv  the  numher  in  n<ip  and  the  present 
demand  for  them      It  s.iws  I.oas  of  any  size     One 

and  easier  than  two  men  can  tbe  old  way.    It  will 

saw  a  two  foot  log  117 

er  needs  one.  To  

Illustrated  Circular  and  Terms. 

Address  W.  W.  BOSTWICK  A  CO.. 
178  Elm  St.,  Cincinnati,  Oi. 
79-1 0^2m 


inn  APRFQ  PLANTED -WITH  BERErES. 

11911  Awn  to  lOOvarietiesof  Se!ec(e(i  J'-ru.V.. 
lUU  Plants  grown  for  triinsplantiiie,  and 
Fruit  for  tbe  niai'ket.   re'""See  New  t'atalosue 

for  what  surta  to  plant.    Sent  free.    Address 

JOHN  S.  COLLINS,  Moorestown.  New  Jersey. 
83f-  Also  JBliiSEY  itEU  PItiS,  all  pure  stick. 


FARM  ACCOUNTS! 


cm.     Au  eotirely 
Send  postal  for 


A  GHOICi:   GIFT 

For  all  times, 

HOLIDAYS,  WEDDING,  BIRTHDAY, 

*NNI«ERS«RY,  or  any  other  day;  for 
PASTOR,  TEACHER,  PARENT.  CHILD,  FRIEND, 


WEBSTER'S  UNABRIDGED. 

NEW  EDITION. 

Containing  a  SUPPLEMENT  of  over 

4600  JiEW  WORDS  and  Meanings. 

AL.SO  ADDED,  A  NEW 

Biographical   Dictionary 

of  over  9700  NAMES. 

A  NATIONAL  STANDARD. 

WEBSTER'S  is  the  Dictionary  used  in  the 
Government  Printing  OtMce.    Jan.  1879. 
Every    State    purchase  of    Dictionaries  for 
Schools  has  been  of  Webster. 
Books  in  the  Public  Schools  of  the  United 
States  are  mainly  based  on  Webster. 
Sale  of  Webster's  is   20  limes  «9  great  as  the 
sale  of  any  other  series  of  Dictionaries. 
THIRTY-TWO    THOUSAND  COPIES  have  been 
placed  in  the  public  schools  of  the  U.S. 
E'l^mtrinjs,— contains  3000,  nearly  three 
times  as  many  as  any  other  Dictionary. 
Reciimmeniied  by  State  Supt's  of  Schools  in 
3.5  States,  and  by  50  College  Pres'ts. 
Published  by  G.  &  C.  MERRISM,  Springfield.  "!» 


Nov- 


GENTS  I    READ    THIS  I 


n    We  will  pay  Agen 
month  and  expoHses 

1 
Nov-Om. 


ary 

a  lar 


and  wanderful   iuventtinns. 


ONE  DOLLAR  PER  ANNUM- SINGLE  COPIES  10  CENTS. 


Dr.  S.  S.  EATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER,  PA..  DECEMBER,  1879. 


jCHN  h.  HIESTAND.  Fub'.ijher. 


noivv  at  l.ii 


CONTENTS  OFJTHIS  NUMBER. 

EDITORIAL. 
To  Our  Pat  10118,      ..---- 

Analysis  of  the  Farmer,      -        .        -        -        - 
Special  Notice,         .-.-.- 
Our  Contributors,        ------ 

Condensed  Truth,  ------ 

The  Incubator,  ------- 

How  to  Hatch  Ctiickeus  wilhoin  Hens. 
Meteorological  Contrast, 

tJupreceileute<lI>  Cold  Weatlur  Tliroiigbont  Europf 
Scientific  Nomenclature,     -        -        .        -        - 

QUERIES  AND  ANSWERS. 
Aphids  Persica,        ------ 

Aphids,        ------.. 

Cicada  Septendecim,      -        -        .        -        . 

CONTRIBUTIONS. 
A  Christmas  Greeting,      -        -        .        -        - 
Cisterns,         -----.. 

SELECTIONS. 
Wool  Manufacturers  and  Sheep  Husbandry, 

Our  Grain  Capacity, 

Geese— And  Something  About  Them, 
Remedy  for  Diphtheria,  .        -        -        . 

Oatmeal,    - 

Ice-Houses,    ------- 

The  Duty  of  Our  Farmers,        -        .        -        . 
The  Intelligent  Farmer,         -        -        .        - 
How  to  Cook  Cheese,        .        -        -        .        . 
Whisky— Revenue  List  of  the  States,  - 
Coffee— A  Coffee-flcid  in  Brazil, 
AVashing  Fowls,      ------ 

How  to  Keep  Fowls,  - 

The  Grain  Crop,    ------ 

Comparative  Value  of  Woods,         -        .        - 


Statistical,  -        -        -     .  .        -        -        -        ,     i 

OUR  LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 
Lancaster  County  Agricultural  and  Horticultu- 
ral Society,        ----..        i 

Crop  Reports— High   Farming— Dairj    FaimIng— 
Slock  KaiBiLg— Slate  Agricultural  Society— BuBi- 
uege  for  Next  Meetlug. 
Poultry  Association,  ------    i 

MeuiberB  Preseut— The  Catalogue— Election  of  Kew 

.Members — Filling  a  Vacancy — Securing  an  Idch- 

bator— EgKS  Wanted— Misoellulieous. 

Special  Meeting  of  Poultry  AsBociation,    -        -    1 

Linnseau  Society,        ----..     i 

Additious  to  the  Library — Hiatorical  Collectious 

PaperB  Read. 

AGRICULTURE. 
The  Origin  of  Wheat  In  America,        -         -         1 
A  Senator's  View  of  Farming,         -        -        -     i 
Depth  of  Sowing  M'heat,       -        -        -        -  ] 

Wheat  and  Oats,        ......     i 

Feeding  Mowing  Lands,         -        .        -        .  1 

Plowing  by  Electricity,     -----     i 

About  Corn  and  Wheat,         -        -        -        .         i 
Rolling  After  Sowing  Wheat  Fields,         -        -      1 


18t« 


IHO 


190 


HORTICULTURK. 

Principles  of  Pruning, 
Fruit  Exports  of  the  United  States,      - 
Fastening  Zinc  Labels  on  Trees, 
Cleaning  Fruit  Trees,    -        -        -        ■ 
Manuring  Fruit  Trees, 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 
Chickens  to  Boil,        .        .        -        . 
Fried  Chicken,        .        -        -        -        . 
Roasted  Chicken  or  Fowl. 
Roast  Duck,        -         -        -        .        - 
Our  Receipt  for  Curing  Meat, 
Cough  Mixture,  .         ■        -        . 

HOUSEHOLD    RECIPES 
Pie  Paste,    ------ 

Ufeful  Accomplishment, 

Cleaning  Tinware,     -        -        -        - 

Rice  Pudding,         - litO 

Indian  Meal  Pancakes,       -----      190 
Beefsteak  Omelette,        -----         190 

Cream  Muffins,  -        - 190 

Delicate  Cake,        ------  190 

Japanned  Ware,        .--.-•       190 
Sooty  Chimneys  Cured,        -        -        -        -  190 

Lemon  Pies,      -        -        -        - 

Chicken  Cheese,    - 

Mince  Pies,        -        -        -        - 

To  Cure  Hams,      - 
Oat-Meal  Pudding,    - 
Pumpkin  Pudding, 
Tea  Biscuit,        -        -        -        - 

Orange  Pudding,    - 

LIVE  STOCK. 
•hoosing  Stock  for  the  Farm,    - 
Feeding  Cows,        -        -        -        - 

Mixed  Foods,     -        -        -        - 

A  Few  Suggestions  to  Horse  Trail 

Hay  as  Food  for  Hogs, 

Cracked  Heels,     -        -        -        - 

Unhorning  Calves,  - 

APIARY. 
Dysentery  as  a  Bee  Disease, 
How  Far  Bees  will  go  for  Honey, 
Profitable  Bees, 
Wonderful  Feats  with  Bees, 

POULTRY. 
Fattening  Turkeys,    -        -        - 
Poultry  Interests  of  America, 
Poultry  Breeding,        -     •  - 
Pure-Bred  and  Common  Fowls,      -        -        ■         19. 
Feeding  Troughs  for  Poultry,    -        -        -        -    192 

Eggs  for  Winter  Use,     -        -        -        -       -        192 

Literary  and  Personal,        .        .        -        .        -    19^ 


191 


191 


SEND  FOR 

Poplar,  Liiuleii   .Mui  I 
timber  pluutations  lij 

J.  JK\KII«N<  Nl 

8-»-7»  WINHNA.  COLUMBIANA  CO.,  OHIO. 


THE 
]V\\\        i   ITI 


OFFICE, 


Noi  9  North  Queen  Street 


LANCASTER.  PA.. 


lEILI  EMIIlHi  m  EXPRESS 

Is  an  old,  well-eBtabllBhed  newspaper,  and  contains  just  the 
news  desirable  to  inak(wit  an  iiiierestiug  and  valuable 
Family  Newspiper.  Il^ls  published  every  Wedueeday 
morning.  The  posiage  to  subcribers  residing  outside  of 
Lancaster  couuty  ia  paid  by  tbe  publisher. 
Seud  for  a  specimen  cojiy. 

Two  Dollars  per  Annum. 


Is  published  every  afternoon  (except  Sunday)  and  contains 
the  news  by  mail  ami  telegraptl  from  all  p;trt«  ot  tile  world 
up  to  the  hour  of  going  to  press.  It  is  furuished  to  sub- 
Bcrit)ore  at  all  the  towus  and  villagca  )u  the  county,  aocee- 
Biblc  by  rail  or  stage,  by  carriers  at  Ten  Onlit  a  We«k. 
or  by  mail  at  Five  Dollnrs  per  Yenr. 


JOHN  A.  HIESTAND.  Proprietor, 

No.  9  Nort'A  Qneen  St.. 

J".  ST-A-XJI^JE^EjF^, 

SOLICITOR  OF  PATENTS, 

LANCASTER,  j^A,, 
235  EAST  ORANGE  ST. 

.Ml  matterB  appertaining  to  UNITED  STATES  or  CANA- 
DIAN PATENTS,  TKADE  MAKK8,  and  COPYBIGHTS, 
promptly  attended  to.  His  experience,  success  a  d  faithful 
attention  to  the  interests  of  those  wlio  engage  his  servicea 
are  fully  acknowledged  and  appreciated. 

Preliminary  examinations  made  for  him  by  a  reliable  Af- 
sistant  at  Washington,  without  extra  charge  for  drawiim 
or  description.  [7»-l-t 


THE  LANCASTER   FARMER. 


Jr     Trains  LEAVE  the  Dei 
WE   TWARD. 

(AII.ROAD 

ot  iu  this  city. 

Leave 

Lancaster. 

2:40  a.  m. 

5:00  a.m. 
10:05  a.m. 
10:10  p.  m. 
11:05  a.m. 
11:07  a.  in. 
10:50  a.  m, 

2:10  p.  m 

2:15  p.m. 

5:46  p.  m. 

7:20  p.  m. 

7:25  p.m. 

8:50  p.m. 
11:30  p.m. 

Lancaster. 
12:25  a.  m. 

4:10  a.  m. 

5:20  a.  m. 

7:35  a.  m. 

9.10  p.  m. 

1:25  p.  m. 

2:00  p.  m. 

3:0.^  p.  m. 

6:20  p.m. 

6:25  p.  m. 
ion,  west,  coun 
,    at   9:35   a.  m 

tion,  west,  con 
to  p.m..  and  ru 
ou  Sunday,  w 
htowu,  Mount . 

J  daily. 

y- 

SCHEDITLE. 

IS  follows : 
Arrive 
Hanisburg. 
4:05  a.  m? 

7-50  a  m 

Mail  train  via  Mt.  Joy 

Col.  10:40  a  m. 
12:40  p.  m. 

Fast  Liue*              

3:25  p.  m. 

Frederick  Accommodation. 

Harrisburg  Accom 

Columbia  Accommodation.. 

Harrisbuvg  Express 

Pittsburg  Express 

Cincinnati  Express" 

EASTWARD. 

Col.  2:45  p.  m. 

7:40  p.  m. 
Col.  8:20  p.  m. 
8:40  p.  m. 
10:10  p.m. 
12:45  a.  m. 

Philadelphia. 
3:00  a.  m. 

PhUadelphia  Expresst 

7:00  a.  m. 

Harrisburg  Express 

Columbia  .\ccommodation.. 

10:00  a.  m. 
12:0   p.m. 

Johnstown  Express 

Day  Express* 

6:30  p.  m. 
7:20  p.  m. 

The  Hanover  Acoommodat 
with  Niagara  Express,  wes 
through  to  Hanover. 

The  Frederick  Accommod 
ter  with  Fast  Line,  west,  at  2 

The  Pacific  Express,  east 
stop  at  Middletown,  Elizabet 

•The  onlv  trains  which  ru 
tRuus  daily,  except  Mondj 

!Cts  at  Lancaster 
.and  will  run 

nectsat  Lancas- 
ns  to  Frederick, 
len  flagged,  will 
oyand  Laudis- 

NORBECK  &  MILEY, 


PRACTICAL 


Carriage 'Builders, 

(OX  &  (JO'S  m  STA  », 

Corner  of  Duke  aoJ  Vine  Streets, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

THE  LATEST  I.MPROVED 

SIDE-BAR  BUGGIES. 

PHOTONS, 

Carriages,  Etc, 


M 
Prices  io  Suit  the  Times. 

KEPAIRING  promptly  attended  to.    All  work 

Sjuaranteed. 

79  -2- ^__ 

£».  ^.  <Do:s., 

Manufacturer  of 

Carriages,  Buggies,  Phaetons,  etc. 

CHURCH  ST.,  NEAR  DUKE,      LANCASTER,  PA. 

Large  Stock  of  New  and  Second-hand  Work  on  hand, 
very  cheap.  Carriages  Made  to  Order.  Work  Warranted 
for  one  year.  [79-1-li 


EDW.  J.  ZAHM, 

AMERICAN   AND   FOREIGN 

WATCHES, 

SOLID  SILVER  &  SILVER  PLATED  WARE, 
CLOCKS. 

JEWELRY ITABLE  CUTLERY. 

Sole  Agent  for  the  Arundel  Tinted 

SPECTACLES. 

Re]»airiuK  strictly  atteLided  to. 

North  Queen-st.  and  Centre  Square,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


fTBEES 


Fruit,  Shade  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

Plaut  Treea  raised  in  thiM  couuiy  uud  waited  to  tills  climate. 
Write  for  prices  to 

LOUIS  C.  LYTE 

Bird-in-Hand  P.  O.,  Lancaster  co.,  Pa. 

Nursery  at  Smoketown,  six  miles  east  of  Laiicaster. 


WIDMYER  &  RICKSECKER, 

UPHOLSTERERS, 


And  Manufactu 


n.  T».  :^o  W]vx^a.ra, 


AT  LOWEST  l>4»>«SIBL,E  FRI4'E8, 

Fully  guaranteed. 

No.   106  EAST  KING  STREET, 

79-1-12]  Oiipnsirr   l.eopmd  Sotrl. 


ESTABLISHED   1S32. 


ia^^. 


4 


(-1.    SKXEli    &   i^OIS'S. 

Miiuufacturers  and  dcah-rs  iu  all  kinds  of  rough  and 
fli.i.shed 

The  best  Saw.d  .SHI^'GEESiu  the  country.     .Vlso  Sash, 
Doors,  Bliiidp.  MoulJiugs,  Sic. 

PATENT  0.  G.  WEATHERBOARDING 


OFFICE  AND  YARD  : 

Northeast  Corner  of  Prince  and  Walnnt-sts., 

LANCA.STKR,  P^. 


PRACTICAL  ESSAYS  ON  ENTOMOLOGY, 
NOXIOUS  AND  INNOXIOUS 

INSECTS, 

By  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Ph.  D. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 

This  work  will  be  Highly  Illustrated,  aud  will  be  j.ut  in 
press  (as  soon  after  a  Rufficieut  number  of  subscribers  can 
be  obtained  to  cover  the  cost)  as  the  work  can  possibly  be 
accomplished. 
79-2- 


FURNITURE  PD  CHAIRS. 

WAKRKOOM.S: 

102  East  King  St.,  Oor.  of  Dake  St. 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


Special  Inducemenis  at  the 

NEW  FURNITURE   STORE 

W.   A.   HEINITSH, 

3V«=..     IS    X-2    lEJ.    XCXl^rcSr     Sn-MJUT, 

(over  Bursk's  Grocery  Storei.  Laucabter,  Pa. 
A  general  assor'ment  of  furniture  of  all  kinds  constautlf 
on  hand.     Don't  forget  the  number. 
iS  X-a  XJAst  IS:ixxs  street, 

Nov-ly]  (overBurtk's  Grocery  Siore.) 


$77  > 


For  Good  and  Cheap  Work  go  to 

F.  VOLLMER'S 

rURMTURH  WARE  ROOMS, 

No    309  NORTH  QUEEN  ST.. 

(Opposite  Nurfbern  Market), 

Xja.xxo£i.istex-,  X*a.. 

Also,  all  kinds  of  ].iclu.e  frame,.  noi'-ly 


GREAT  BARGAINS. 

A  liirgf  assoctnifiit  of  uU  kiudH  of  Carpets  are  still  sold  at 

CARPET  HALL  OF  "hTs.  SHIRK, 

:So,  202   West  King  St. 

Call  iiud  exjiniine  our  stock  jiud  satisfy  yourself  that  we 
can  ahovt  the  largest  iissurtmeut  of  ttiese  Bruesels,  three 
plies  aud  idgralu  at   all  prices— at  the  lowest  Philadelphia 

Also  on  haud  u  large  aud  oODiplete  assortment  of  Rag 
Carpet. 

Kiitiatacliou  guaranteed  bath  as  to  price  and  quality. 

Voii  ;uv  invited  to  c  ill  and  see  my  goods.  No  trouble  m 
sbuwiiit^  ibe(n  I'ven  if  you  do  not  want  to  purchase. 

Dniit  foif^rf  this  liolice.  You  can  save  money  here  if  you 


PHILIP  SCHUM,  SON  &  CO., 

38  and  40  "West  King-  Street. 

We  keej'  on  band  of  uur  own  manufacture, 

QUILTS,  COVERLETS, 

^  COUNTERPANES,  CARPETS, 

Bureau  and  Tidy  Covers.  Ladies'  Furnishing  Goods,  No- 
Particular  attention  paid  to  customer  Rag  Carpet,  and 
scowering  aud  dyeintjof  all  kinds. 

PHILIP  SOHUM,  SON  &  CO., 

Nov-ly  I.iincaster,  Pa. 


THE  HOLMAN  LIVER  PAD 

Cures  by  absorption  witLont  niediciiie. 

Now  is  the  time  io  apply  these  remedies.  They  will  i 
for  you  what  nothing  else  on  earth  can.  Hundreds  of  cil 
zens  of  Lancaster  sty  so.    Get  the  genuine  at 

LANCASTER  OFFICE  AND  SALESROOM, 

22  East  Orange  Street. 


C.  R.  KLINE, 

^TTOF(NEY-AT-|:.AW, 

OFFICE  :    15  NORTH  DUKE  STREET, 

LA-NCA.STKR,    VA.. 
NoT-ly 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. 


Dr.  S.  S.  RATHVON,  Editor. 


LANCASTER.  PA.,  DECEMBER,  1879. 


Vol.  XI.  No.  12. 


Editorial. 


TO  OUR   PATRONS. 

Thi.siiuinlHTC(incliules  (lie  <lnrnth  mhimr 
of  The  I,AN(  ASTKi:  Fai:mi:i;.  :m<l  we  tinder 
to  our  patrniisouiaiuiu.il  ( 'hri.-iliiias^i-cctiims. 
We  have  strus;,'lfa  tlir(>u!,'li  annlluT  year,  ami 
we  luive  done  wliat  litlle  we  eiuild  in  advaiie- 
in<j  the  material  and  .soeial  iiileiests  of  the 
ch>ss  we  represent.  That  we  liave  not  done 
more  may  liave  been  from  a  want  of  resourci!S 
more  than  from  a  want  of  will.  From  the 
dark  night  of  adversity  throne;h  which  we,  in 
common  with  the  great  majority  of  our  coun- 
trymen, have  lieen  jiassiiig  for  a  series  of 
eventful  years,  we  trust  that  we  now  are 
emerging  into  the  light  of  a  brighter  day,  and 
that  the  facilities  for  a  higher  and  more  en- 
larged usefulness,  ou  our  part,  may  be  speed- 


eatpgoiy  of  modern  improvement;  l>ut,  as  true 
progress  can  make  no  step  l)ackward,  it  would 
bejust  aspossihl.'  to  dispense  with  all  these 
things,  as  to  dispense  witli  newspapers  and 
other  liteiiuy  piil)lieutions,  and  especially 
tho.se  devoted'  to  the  interests  of  local  agri- 
culture. It  is  these  considerations  which 
have  stimulated  us  in  our  efforts  to  build  up 
in  Laneaster  cniintv  an   agrieMltural  journal, 


isl 


ily  and  amply  developed.  Time,  tircnmst.ance, 
aud  home  and  foreign  opinion,  have  only  more 
lirmly  ti.Ked  in  our  mind  and  lieart,  tliat  our 
great  county  cannot  allonl  to  be  witliout  a 
local  exponent  of  her  aiirieultmal  interests, 
whether  she  herself  is  cognizant,  or  ever  will 
be  cogniziiut,  of  that  fact  or  not.  Neitlier  in- 
dividuals nor  communities  are  always  tlie  be.st 
judges  of  what  omjht  to  be.  Progress  is  ag- 
gressive, reformation  is  aggressive,  and  so  is 
social  improvement.  If  it  wrir  hi'i  lo  tlie 
dictation  and  movement  of  tiic  ma.-si  ,,  ihcre 
would  be  little,  if  any,  either  inonil.  s.i.ial  or 
mechanical  progress,  riio  minority,  and  often 
the  few,  stimulated  by  irresistible  impulses  of 
progress,  harness  themselves  to  the  car  of 
improvement,  and  pull  it  and  push  it  through 
avenues  and  into  places  it  never  would  be 
found,  if  it  had  to  Ije  accomplished  by  the  vol- 
untary aiMl  simultaneous  efforts  of  the  masses. 
Hence  the  whole  newspaper  and  publishing 
machinery  of  our  country,  and  all  other  civil- 
ized countries,  has  ever  been  an  aggressive 
work.  It  has  not  stopped  to  cavil  with  the 
people,  as  to  whether  its  presence  has  been  a 
necessity  or  not,  but  it  has  labored  to  make 
itself  a  necessity,  and  slowly  but  surely  the 
people  are  beginning  to  recognize  its  empire. 
Anihilate  the  press,"  and  you'seal  the  doom  of 
civilization.  The  pregnant  fact  that  the  press 
is  so  amply  sustained  in  our  country,  in  the 
very  face  of  its  great  abuse,  is  a  living  testi- 
mony of  its  use,  as  a  lever  of  civilization.  If 
this  is  true  as  a  general  proposition,  it  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  true  in  its  particular  appli- 
cation. Tliat  community  which  most  liber- 
ally sustains  tlie  press,  must  necessarily  be 
endowed  with  a  corresponding  degree  of  men- 
tal culture,  for  it  is  the  ignorant  and  illiterate 
who  do  not  read.  With  these  views  as  a  pre- 
liminary, it  must  be  ai)parent  that  the  higher 
and  more  important  the  industrial  interest, 
the  greater  need  of  a  medium  tlirough  which 
its  principles  and  its  progress  may  be  brought 
before  the  people.  Agriculture  is  not  merely 
a  secondary,  or  a  third  rate  interest.  It  stands 
first  and  foremost,  a  head  and  shoulders 
higher  than  any  other  interest  that  can  possi- 
bly engage  the  minds  and  hands  of  men.  It 
is  the  base  of  our  social  structure,  and  it 
would  be  but  a  natural  conclusion  to  expect 
that  sucli  an  interest  should  have  its  literature, 
and  its  literary  rejiresentative  wherever  it  ex- 
ists as  a  human  occupation.  Time  was  when 
there  were  no  agricultural  publications,  but 
for  the  matter  of  tliat,  tliere  was  a  time  when 
there  were  no  publications  of  any  kind.  So 
also  there  was  a  time  when  there  was  no 
modern  plow,  reaper,  thresher,  and  numerous 
other  implements  used  in  husbandry,  which 
have  been  developed  through  the  necessities 
pertaining  to  domestic  economy.  So  also 
there  was  a  time. when  there  were  no  steam 
engine,  no  railroafl,  no  telegraph,  no  gaslight, 
and  many  other  things  now  included  in  the 


"fixed  iustitiilioir,"  no  degree  of  prosiierity 
or  adversity  can  diminish  the  demands  of  the 
human  family  upon  the  storehouse  of  its  sus- 
taining treasures.  When  many  occupations 
become  a  hixunj  too  exiieiisive  to  be  indulged 
in,  agricultiiiv  still  iciiuiiiis  as  an  all-pervad- 
ing and  ever-pn  siiil  lur,  .-^aHii. 

We  desire  our  patrons  and  the  public  to 
maturely  ponder  these  things,  and  rellect 
whether  the  sphere  of  our  journal  cann  ,t,  and 
ought  not,  to  be  m.atorially  increased.  The 
lirospeets  now  are  that  the  American  farmers 
will  liicoine  the  feeders  of  the  world,  and  it  is 
lliiduyh  tlie  mediiun  of  the  press  that  their  in- 
tertsts,  Ijoth  at  lionicand  abroad,  can  be  most 
effectively  represented.  The  American  farm- 
ers are  now  enjoying  a  degree  of  prosperity 
not  enjoyed  by  any  other  occupation,  nor  by 
any  otlier  country  in  the  world;  they  have  a 
•  siiiT  thing"  under  any  circumstances,  and 
om-  wish  is  that  they  always  shall  have.  Time 
is  'inarcliing  along,"  and  it  is  but  meet  that 
they  should  "  keep  step"  and  march  abreast 
with  it,  if  not  in  advance.  A  year  of  reason- 
able health  and  plenty  to  the  farmer,  is  now 
coming  to  a  close,  and  if  there  is  no  occasion 
for  thankfulness  and  liberality  now,  then  it  is 
not  likely  such  an  epoch  will  ever  occur.  But 
before  the  advent  of  another  year  we  will  pass 
through  that  festive  season  which  commemo- 
rates '  'peace  on  earth,  good  will  towards  men, " 
and  if  there  has  been  the  least  goodness  or 
liberality  hidden  down  in  the  will  and  affec- 
tions, during  the  year,  that  could  not  be  ulti- 
mated  on  account  of  the  cares  and  anxieties  of 
business  life,  the  "coming  event"  will  be 
likely  to  develop  it  then.  That  peace,  friend- 
ship and  good  cheer  may  be  the  lot  of  all  our 
friends  and  patrons  is  our  greeting  being 
their  Memj  ChrisUnas  holidays. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  FARMER. 

In  preparing  the  index  of  The  Lancaster 
Faiimer,  for  tlie  year  1879,  we  were  more 
than  ordinarily  imi)ressed  with  the  amount  of 
labor  the  editing  of  our  journal  involved  dur- 
ing the  year,  a  labor  of  which  few  can  form  a 
just  conception,  until  the  matter  is  analyti- 
cally and  statistically  brought  to  their  notice. 
We  find  that  volume  eleven,  of  which  the 
present  is  the  concluding  number,  contains 
one  hundred  and  ten  editorial  articles,  from  a 
quarter  column  to  a  full  page  or  more  in 
length.  But  this  is  not  by  any  means  the 
most  laborious  division  of  the  work.  We  be- 
lieve we  but  reflect  the  general  sentiment  of 
the  editorial  "craft,"  when  we  say  that  "con- 
ning" half  a  hundred  monthly  and  semi- 
moiithlv  exchanges,  periodically,  and  making 
selections  therefrom,  adapted  to  any  special 
locality,  is  more  laborious,  perplexing  and 
fatiguing,  that  writing  ori.ginal  papers.  Of 
course  this  may  not  be  universally  the  case, 
but  it  is  measurably  so,  as  far  as  «'e  are  con- 
cerned. Many  people  imagine  that  an  editor 
ought  to  remember  all  tliat  he  has  WTitten 
during  the  year,  and  be  able  to  recall  it  in  de- 
tail, under  any  circumstance,  and  at  any  time 
or  place ;  but  as  well  might  they  expect  a 
compositor  to  recall  and  repeat  all  th.at  he  has 
put  in  tyi)e  during  the  year.  In  addition  to 
the  above  number  of  editorials,  Jive  commu- 
nications, fifty-seven  contributions;  twenty-thru. 


essays;  tvienlii-one  (\\\cr\es  and  answers, .  and 
iim  lni„d,;,l'  „„d  (innty-liro  personal  and  lit- 
erary iioticis,  lia\i' appeared  among  its  origi- 

(h-id  mill  siiriili,  II  original  papers,  a  little  over 
one  for  each  working  day  in  the  year.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  we  have  published  eiijhty-seren 
special  selections,  sonic'  of  which  covered  more 
than  a  page;  besides  i !iiliti/-Uira  excerpts  on 
agriculture:    si  >■,  niii-ilini    on    horticulture; 

siriiiliiii  oil  lloricuitlire;  snriiti/-tiro  on  do- 
mestic eeonomy;  Jij'ly-ci'jlit  on  live  stock; 
xiirnty-imf  i)\{  poultry;  (/iiV(.i/-s(a;  ou  insects, 
and  eiijhlcen  on  the  ai)iary'.  We  have  also 
publislied  the  proceedings  of  «/wr<e«?i  meetings 
of  the  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  .Society; 
tirebe  ot  thf  I'oultry  Association;  fmir  of  the 
Beekeepers'  Society;  lu-clve  of  the  Liunsean 
Society;  .Sfwi  of  the  Fulton  Fanners'  Club; 
four  of'  the  Warwick  Farmers'  Club;  one  of 
the  State  Board  of  Agriculture;  one  of  the 
State  Miller's  Association,  and  one  of  the 
Pcnnsvlvania  Fruit  Growers' Society;  besides 
one  hunih-cil  nwl  fifty-eight  household  receipts. 
All  these  literary  items,  numerically  amount- 
ing to  ten  hundred  and  fifty-eiyht,  wheth- 
er original  or  selected,  had  to  be  carefully 
read,  picked  over  letter  by  letter,  and  put 
into  print,  for  the  delectation  and  instruc- 
tion of  the  farming  public.  This  literary 
feast  has  been  furnished  during  the  year  1879 
for  the  small  sum  of  one  dollar.  Our  main 
object  has  been  to  furnish  permanent  and 
standard  matter  that  will  not  "siwil".  by  being 
kept  for  future  reference  by  posterity. 

SPECIAL  NOTICE. 

We  wish  to  imjiress  it  upon  the  memory  of 
the  subscribers  of  The  Farmer,  that  the 
editor  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
subscription  list  and  book  accounts,  nor  with 
the  terms  and  tenure  of  the  advertising  de- 
partment; those  matters  belong  to  the  specific 
domain  of  the  publisher  and  proprietor.  It 
seems  superfluous  to  nmkc  this  statement 
here,  for  it  is  made  in  evci7  number  of  The 
Farmer  throughout  the  year.  But  we  are 
so  often  written  to  on  subjects  purely  relating 
to  the  publishing  department,  that  we  feel 
compelled  to  admonish  the  patrons  of  the 
paper  to  read,  think  and  act  in  accordance 
therewith  in  relation  to  this  subject.  Of 
course,  when  convenient,  we  hand  these  com- 
munications over  to  the  publisher  or  his  agents, 
but  our  residence  is  not  in  or  near  the  print- 
ing ollice,  and  if  we  are  too  much  engaged, 
the  matter  is  likely  to  be  forgotten  Ijefore  we 
may  have  occasion  to  visit  the  office.  The 
functions  of  editor  and  publisher  are  entirely 
distinct;  and  it  appears  to  us  that  no  one  of 
common  intelligence  could  possibly  make  a 
mist.ake  in  this  respect;  and  yet  it  is  made  over 
and  over  again.  Editor. 

OUR  CONTRIBUTORS. 

We  return  our  sinceri'st  thanks  to  those 
friends  w)io  have  coutrilmled  to  our  columns 
during  the  year  IS"'.),  and  especially  to  those 
who  have  continued  their  contributions 
through  "rain  and  shine,"  through  "thick 
and  a\in,"  through  "ill-report  and  good," 
those  who  have  lifted  themselves  up,  and  only 
considered  the  advancement  of  our  journal 
and  the  dignity  of  our  eomminiity,  without 
regard,  to  person.  While  we  arc  none  the  less 
thankful  to  all,  no  matter  how  brief  their  do- 
nations to  our  columns,  or  how  "few  and  far 
between."  we  still  must  regret  that  those  have 
almost  ceased  to  "write  for  The  Farmer," 
whom  we  had  flattered  ourselves  felt  the 
deepest  solicitude  for  its  success.  Of  course 
we  mean  no  rebuke,  for  every  one  is  presumed 
to  know  hisown  business  best,  and  how  far  it 
is  within  the  scope  of  hi.s  time,  convenience, 


178 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  December, 


or  ability  to  write.  We  admonish  them  how- 
ever not  to  entirelj'  forget  us.  The  status  of 
an  agricultural  journal  is  very  much  what  its 
literary  contributors  make  it.  We  hope  to 
hear  from  them  anon. 

CONDENSED   TRUTH. 

"Every  farmer  of  Lancaster  county  should 
subscribe  for  and  read  the  Lancaster 
Farsieb,  our  home  agricultural  organ— and 
the  many  thousands  of  farmers  elsewhere 
throughout  the  union  would  also  find  that  by 
subscribing  for  The  Farmer  they  would  be 
making  a  most  judicious  investment  of  a 
dollar,  as  it  is  published  in  the  most  advanced 
agricultural  community  in  the  land,  and  is 
thoroughly  practical  throughout.  Farmers, 
try  it  for  one  year  and  be  convinced  of  its 
value.  J.  A.  Hiestaud,  publisher,  Lancas- 
ter, Pa."— Nei«  Holland  Clarion,  Bcvember  IS, 
1879. 

A  great  truth  compressed  into  a  very  small 
space— indeed  good  things  generally  come  in 
"small  packages."  Tue  above  is  only  one 
among  the  many  testimonials  to  the  excellence 
of  the  Lancaster  Farmer  which  we  have 
received  during  the  past  year,  and  we  prefer 
to  make  use  of  this  because  it  comes  from 
nearest  to  our  own  home.  Our  excellent 
contemporary  knows  whereof  he  speaks,  and 
no  more  appropriate  time  could  be  taken 
advantage  of  to  follow  his  wholesome  advice 
than  just  now.  If  you  wish  to  know  the 
intrinsic  excellence  of  a  thing  the  best  way  to 
obtain  that  information  is  to  ask  those  who 
are  nearest  related  to  it.  If  you  wish  to  know 
the  quality  of  a  man,  ask  his  .wife,  his  chil- 
dren or  his  neighbors.  Newspaper  publica- 
tions have  their  difierent  spheres  of  operation, 
within  wliicli  spheres  nothing  out  of  them  can 
so  eli'ectually  perform  their  special  uses.  The 
country  press  is  much  more  than  the  country 
gives  it  ciedit  for.  Take  any  of  our  metro- 
politan journals  and  notice  how  largely  they 
quote  from  the  country  press,  and  if  that 
source  of  information  was  entirely  suppressed 
they  would  be  very  dull  things  for  general 
country  reading.  The  Lancaster  Farmer 
is  the  only  purely  agricultural  journal  in 
Pennsylvania,  outside  of  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  is  published  in  the  centre  of  one  of 
the  most  wealthy,  proUHc  and  intelligent 
districts  in  the  State.  As  an  advertising 
medium  of  any  thing  relating  to  its  specialty, 
it  has  no  superior  in  the  county,  if  in  the 
entire  State,  and  it  scatters  its  information 
in  regions  far  beyond  our  State  aud  county 
borders.  What  we  ask  for  ourselves  we  also 
ask  for  other  local  journals,  and  especially  for 
the  New  Holland  Clarion,  which  has  most 
deservedly  become  one  of  the  fixed  institutions 
of  our  county.  May  its  lamp  continue  to 
burn,  even  if  ours  should  be  extinguished. 

THE  INCUBATOR. 

How  to  Hatch  Chickens  Without  Hens. 
"The  incubator  which  is  to  be  in  operation 
and  on  exhibition  at  the  show  of  "Tne  Lan- 
caster County  Poultry  Association"  has 
arrived  here,  and  is  now  being  put  in  opera- 
tion at  the  liouse  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Lichty,  in  order 
that  the  chicks  may  be  coming  out  on  the 
several  days  of  the  show,  and  for  the  present 
is  under  the  care  and  management  of  Mr. 
John  (J.  Burrowes. 

At  first  view  the  incubator  looks  like  a  box 
with  two  drawers  in  the  front,  a  hole  with  a 
valve  in  it,  an  electric  battery  with  an  electro- 
magnet and  some  clock-work  on  the  top,  and 
a  lamp  with  a  boiler  on  the  end.  When  the 
drawers  are  opened,  the  bottom  of  which  is 
wire  netting,  are  seen  a  pyrometer  and  a 
thermometer.  Under  the  egg-drawer  there 
is  a  large,  shallow  pan  filled  with  water;  this 
is  to  keep  the  eggs  moist.  Between  the  pan 
and  egg-drawer  there  are  iron  tubes  with 
small  holes  in  them,  extending  from  side  to 
side  of  the  machine.  'Xhese  are  to  give  a  free 
circulation  of  fresh  air.  Directly  above  the 
eggs  there  is  a  tank  extending  over  the  whole 
top  of  the  machine.  This  tank  is  in  connec- 
tion with  the  boiler  at  the  end,  and  there  is  a 


circulation  between  them,  so  that  all  the  water 
is  kept  at  about  the  same  temperature. 

But  what  is  the  use  of  the  electric  appara- 
tus ?  Well,  when  the  heat  gets  up  to  a 
certain  temperature  it  acts  on  the  pyrometer, 
which  is  connected  with  the  battery  and  the  ! 
magnet,  and  completes  the  circuit.  As  soon 
as  this  is  done,  the  magnet  attracts  the 
armature,  and  this  starts  the  clock  which 
opens  the  valve  and  lets  in  cool  air  until  the 
pyrometer  contracts  and  breaks  the  circuit, 
when  the  valve  closes.  In  this  way  a  very 
regular  temperature  is  maintained.  A  great 
deal  more  might  be  said  about  this  ingenious 
machine,  but  the  above  will  do  utitil  the  time 
of  the  exhibition,  when  all  can  go  and  see  for 
themselves,  and  will  be  fully  repaid  for  so 
doing." 

We  clip  the  above  from  the  daily  Intelligencer 
of  the  lath  inst.,  as  an  additional  reminder  to 
our  readers  {if  such  a  thing  be  necessary)  of 
the  great  poultry  show  to  come  off  at  Locher's 
building,  corner  of  West  King  street  and 
Centre  Square,  commencing  January  2d,  1880. 
Everything  indicates  that  this  will  be  the 
greatest  event  of  the  season— indeed  it  bids 
fair  to  eclipse  any  thing  ever  gotten  up  in 
Lancaster  heretofore.  The  statistics  of  the 
egg  and  chicken  trade  of  our  country  are 
matters  of  great  magnitude,  and  they  are 
rapidly  increasing.  None  of  our  readers 
should  by  any  means  fail  to  witness  it  or 
become  exhibitors.  The  list  of  premiums  is 
very  liberal,  and  everything  will  be  done  to 
render  ample  justice  to  all  who  may  feel  dis- 
posed to  participate  in  it.  Therefore  we  say, 
"don't  fail  to  come  and  see." 

METEOROLOGICAL  CONTRAST. 


Unprecedentedly   Cold   Weather  Throughout 
Europe. 

"London,  Dec.  H.-^The  weather  contin- 
ues severe  throughout  the  kingdom.  In  Paris 
the  Seine  is  frozen  over  for  the  first  time  since 
18(31.  Vienna  reports  hardest  and  most  con- 
tinuous frosts  at  this  season  of  year  since  1838. 
Snow  in  Sicily  and  Calabria  still  impedes  com- 
munication. In  Berlin  the  cold  is  still  in- 
tense. In  Upper  Silesia,  where  famine  pre- 
vails, the  thermometer  marked  twelve  below 
zero,  Fahrenheit,  Thursday."  • 

From  the  foregoing  paragraph  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  the  people  of  Europe  are  not 
favored  in  their  meteorological  conditions  as 
we,  thus  far,  have  been  in  this  western  hemis- 
phere of  ours;  and  that  instead  of  having  un- 
precedentedly cold  weather,  it  has  been  almost 
directly  the  reverse.  On  the  8th  of  December 
a  pea-sprout,  nearly  two  inches  long,  was 
given  us,  that  had  been  found  growing  be- 
tween two  bricks  in  a  paved  yard,  where  it 
had  no  weather  protection  whatever.  Now, 
young  pea-plants  are  amongst  the  most  deli- 
cate of  our  culinary  vegetation.  That  the 
seed  of  the  pea  should  have  germinated  and 
grown  in  such  a  situation,  is  an  indication 
that  our  weather  must  have  been  very  mild 
indeed — something  like  May  or  June.  On  the 
9th  of  December  we  took  a  stroll  down  to  the 
extreme  southern  extension  of  S.  Duke  street. 
The  sun  was  very  warm,  although  the  air  was 
bracing,  and  withall,  exhilarating.  Among 
other  subjects  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  we 
found  a  "dandelion"  {Taraxacum  densleonies) 
in  full  bloom;  a  golden  flower  of  which  we 
plucked  and  brought  it  home  with  us.  That 
fact  must  surely  indicate  a  pleasant  condition, 
contrasted  with  the  physical  condition  of  the 
poor  distressed  people  of  foreign  countries. 
Two  or  three  winters  ago  we  found  the  dan- 
delion in  bloom  every  month,  from  November 
to  May;  therefore  it  would  be  ditticult  to  de- 
termine whether  our  "find"  on  the  9th  inst. 
was  an  immature  one  of  1879,  or  a  premature 
one  of  1880.  It  seems  they  are  always  ready 
to  bloom  when  they  have  the  necessary  heat 
and  light.  On  the  10th  of  December  the  bees 
were  in  our  garden.  The  only  plant  in  bloom 
was  the  "black  hellebore,  "and  the  bees  fairly 
reveled  in  its  widely  expanded  flower-cups. 
Since  then  we  have  had  warm  rains,  a  "clear 
up,"  and  a  moderately  "cold  snap,"  and  slight 
freezing. 


SCIENTIFIC    NOMENCLATURE. 

The  great  similarity  in  scientific 
often  sorely  taxes  the  mental  energies  of  the 
novice  or  the  amateur,  especially  if  he  has  re- 
ceived no  education  in  the  languages.  But, 
there  are  some  of  these  names  that  seem  so 
arbitrary  and  "far  fetched"  that  if  we  even 
know  their  roots  we  find  little  or  no  analogy 
whatever  between  the  specimen  and  the 
object  or  objects  from  which  it  derived  its 
name.  As  many  of  the  generic  and  family 
names  of  plants  and  animals  are  Greek  com- 
pounds it  is  possible  that  in  the  long  lapse  of 
time  since  Greek  was  a  living  language  the 
meaning  of  many  words  may  have  become 
contracted,  corrupted  or  entirely  changed. 
This  must  also  be  the  case  with  many  Latin 
names.  We  remember  our  disappointment 
when  we  consulted  a  Latin  dictionary  to  find 
the  definition  of  Cicindela  (a  name  applied  to  a 
genus  of  "Tiger-beetles,")  to  find  that  it 
meant  a  "glow-worm  ;"  because  we  had  pre- 
viously been  familiar  with  the  glow-worm  as 
a  species  of  Lampyridce,  a  luminous  insect 
having  no  more  generic  or  family  alliance 
with  a  cicindela  than  a  goose  has  with  a 
golden  pheasant.  It  is  not  only  the  arbitrary 
alleged  roots  of  names  in  natural  history,  but 
also  theii  similarity  that  perplexes  the  student 
of  nature.  This  is  however  unavoidable,  for 
their  volume,  numerically,  so  increases  that 
it  is  difticult  for  language  to  supply  terms  by 
which  to  designate  them  as  fast  as  they  are 
discovered.  Moreover,  the  specific  shades  of 
ditt'erence  are  so  slight  that  they  only  warrant 
a  slight  modification  of  the  name.  Below  we 
adduce  a  few  familiar  examples  out  of  the 
multitudes  that  exist. 

Lycopodium  :  this  term  is  a  Greek  com- 
pound, and  literally  means  "Wolf's-foot," 
from  Lykos,  a  wolf  and  pous,  a  foot,  and  is 
applied  to  a  family  of  mdfses,  (LycoPODiACiE) 
familiarly  called  "club-mosses."  When  this 
moss  is  in  fruit  the  spikes  look  Mke  diminu- 
tive "clubs,"  and  a  cluster  of  these  spikes 
might,  by  a  prolific  exercise  of  the  imagina- 
tion, be  contorted  into  the  form  of  a  wolf's 
foot.  Notwithstanding  these  names  may 
seenx  "far  fetched,"  there  is  no  help  for  it 
now,  therefore,  we  must  accept  them  as  they 
are  and  make  the  best  of  them  we  can. 

Lycopersicum  :  this  is  also  a  Greek  com- 
pound, and  literally  means  "Wolf-peach," 
from  Lykos,  a  wolf  and  persicon,  a  peach,  and 
is  applied  to  a  genus  belonging  to  the  family 
SoLANACBiE  embracing  the  nightshades. 
There  is  but  one  plant  belonging  to  the  genus, 
and  that  is  now  known  under  the  name  of 
tomato,  although  formerly  it  was  known  as 
the  "Love  Apple."  The  potato,  [Solanum 
tuberosum)  belongs  to  this  family,  and  as  it 
bears  an  apple  on  its  vines  which  contains 
seeds  similar  to  tliose  of  the  tomato  this  may 
have  originally  suggested  the  name  of  apple 
for  the  fruit  of  the  tomato.  But  there  is 
nothing  in  connection  with  the  latter  that 
could  possibly  suggest  the  ideas  of  tcolf  or 
peach,  and  therefore  these  names  are  entirely 
fanciful. 

LycofeRDON  :  this  is  another  Greek  com- 
pound, and  litterally  means  "WoK's-f— t., 
from  Li/kos,  a  wolf  and  perdon,  to  eructate  or 
"break  wind;"  the  latter  of  which  may  allude 
to  the  explosion  which  follows  the  pressure  of 
a  "pufl'ball;"  for  this  name  is  applied  to  a 
genus  of  Puffballs  belonging  to  the  family 
Lycoperdace^,  which  includes  the  spher- 
ical/u/ii/i.  The  objects  in  natural  history  are 
so  numerous,  and  the  poverty  of  human  lan- 
guage is  so  manifest  that  we  must  bear  with 
tliese  remote,  and  in  many  instances,  insig- 
niflcnat,  derivations  of  names. 

Lycopbrdina  :  this  is  also  a  Greek  com- 
pound, but  it  is  not  primitive  in  its  character 
and  significance.  It  is  the  name  of  a  genus  of 
small  beetles  that  belong  to  the  family  En- 
domychid^.  Possibly  this  genus  may  origi- 
nally have  been  found  feeding  on  puff"- 
balls,  and  received  its  name  from  that 
circumstance;  just  as  Boletaphagus  derives  its 
name  from  feeding  on  a  species  of  fungus 
named  Boletus. 
Lycopus:  another  Greek  compound,  and 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


179 


also  meaning  a  wolPs  foot,  from  Lykos,  a 
wolf  and  poifs,  a  foot,  and  is  applied  to  a 
fjentis  of  plants  belonLriug  to  the  family 
Laiuat.k,  wliicli  iMLliiiii'S  the  Mints,  Dit- 
tany, IVniiyidyal,  Ihiarliound,  &c.-  As  these 
plants  are  familiar  to  most  readers,  they  will 
see  how  much  any  of  them  resemble  a  wolf's 
foot. 

Lycopsis  :  a  Greek  compound,  meaning  a 
wolf's  eye.  Applied  to  a  small  genus  of  Bor- 
ragewortij,  (BnrrutjiaucKv)  including  tile 
Heliotropes,  Borra<;es,  Buglosses,  Comfreys, 
&c.  The  name  is  suggested  by  the  small  blue 
flowers  of  Lycopsis,  which  fancy  has  likened 
to  a  wolfs  eye. 

Tlie  reader  may  be  surprised  that  the  wolf 
is  so  signally  symbolized  in  naming  the  sub- 
jects of  tlie  vegetable  kingdom,  liut  he  will 
remember  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  a  wolf 
we  probably  should  never  have  had  a  Bomu- 
Uis,  nor  a  Konie. 


Queries  and  Answers. 


II. 


APHIS   PERSICA. 
R.    F.,    Lanciistcr,    Pa.— The    peach 


branches  sent  us  near  the  end  of  November, 
infested  by  a  very  large  number  of  small 
brownish  insects  of  different  sizes  wore  duly 
examined,  and  we  think  tlinl  I  he  insects  with- 
out a  doubt  are  the  hist  ImikmI  (if  tlic  season  of 
the  •'Peach-Louse"  (Aphi.-:  p.  ,si.,(.)  They  ap- 
peared to  be  male,  f(  iiuih^  ;uid  young  of 
various  sizes  and  ages.  Of  course  by  this 
time  they  all  have  perished,  but  it  i.s  very 
likely  the  females  have  ''bridged"  the  season 
by  the  deposition  of  many  eggs,  which  will 
incubate  and  bring  forth  a  numerous  brood 
next  spring,  as  soon  as  the  weather  becomes 
warm  enough  to  hatcli  them  out.  We  never 
saw  so  many  aphids  crowded  together  in  the 
.same  space  before  at  this  season  of  the  year, 
which,  we  think  is  due  to  the  extraordinary 
warm  weather  we  had  during  the  past 
autumn.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  positively 
what  would  be  good  for  them.  So  far  as  it 
concerns  the  aphids  themselves,  they  are 
easily  destroyed.  White  Hellebore,  powdered, 
diluted  Paris-green,  lime,  ashes,  road  dust  or 
finely  powdered  tobacco,  if  applied  after  a 
shower,  or  when  the  trees  or  plants  are 
covered  with  dew,  or  after  an  artificial 
shower,  will  effectually  destroy  them  if  the 
application  reaches  them.  A  tobacco  decoc- 
tion, common  lye  diluted,  a  solution  of  whale 
oil  soap,  besides  many  other  liquid  substances 
will  have  the  same  effect — indeed  they  are 
such  delicate  little  creatures  that  millions  are 
destroyed  by  a  common  shower  of  rain,  espe- 
cially if  it  be  a  cold  rain.  But  from  the  fact 
that  the  eggs  on  the  naked  branches  will 
endure  the  cold  of  the  severest  winter,  even 
when  the  branches  are  covered  for  weeks  with 
ice  or  frost,  it  must  be  api>arent  that  the  ap- 
plications can  have  but  little  effect  upon  thim. 
Well,  what  then  ?  Why,  so  far  as  it  can  be 
judiciously  done,  prune  away  the  branches 
that  are  known  to  have  been  infested  and  burn 
them,  and  begin  early  in  the  spring  with  your 
applications,  or  as  soon  as  the  young  aphids 
emerge  from  the  eggs.  A  little  patient  and 
persevering  labor  bestowed  ou  trees  and 
plants  at  that  period  will  saAe  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  during  the  summer  and  autumn  fol- 
1  owing. 

APHIDS. 

LouELLA  P.  O.  Delaware  co..  Pa.,  1 
November  18,  1879.      ) 

"S.  S.  Rathvon— i»f«r  Sir:  Enclosed  I 
send  you  some  insecets  gathered  from  carna- 
tions in  my  green-house.  The  plants  are 
potted  plants,  and  came  from  Schroyer's 
green-house,  Lancaster,  about  a  week  ago. 
Other  carnations  from  Schroyer's,  taken  from 
the  garden  about  the  same  time  show  no  signs 
of  in.sects  of  any  kind.  Please  enlighten  me 
on  the  subject. "— Fery  truly  yours,  S.  W.  M. 

Your  insects  are  also  aphids  or  "plant- 
lice,"  but  are  of  a  different  species  from  the 
above,  and  would  yield  to  the  same  remedies. 


Being  in  the  green-house  you  would  be  likely 
to  have  them  all  winter,  and  could  apply  the 
remedy  or  remedies  at  any  time.  We  notice 
that  a  few  of  them  (two  or  three)  are  infested 
by  a  parasite.  If  the  temperature  of  the 
green-hou.se  was  congenial  to  their  develop- 
ment these  parasitcs(CiiALCiD.E)  might  even- 
tually destroy  the  apliids.  Of  course  if  you 
destroy  the  aphids  you  must  involve  the 
chaleids  in  (.he  same  destruction.  The  history 
of  aphid  life,  habit  and  procreation  is  a  very 
singular  and  comi)licatcd  one.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  s;inie  species  would  be  different 
in  the  open  air  from  what  it  would  be  in  the 
greeu-house,  at  least  it  would  differ  in  its 
powers  of  continuation.  The  aphids  tliat 
infest  perennials  also  differ  in  their  economies 
from  those  which  infest  annuals,  or  succulent 
vegetation.  Those  that  infest  tress  and  shrub- 
bery, we  may  suppose,  deposit  their  eggs  on 
the  branches,  and  are  carried  over  from  one 
season  to  another  in  that  manner,  the  eggs 
hatching  in  the  spring  as  soon  iis  the  leaves, 
the  bloom  and  the  young  and  tender  scions 
appear. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  account  for  the  appear- 
ance of  those  that  infest  plants.  For  instance, 
the  seeds  of  plants  of  different  kinds,  may  be 
sown  and  no  aphids  seen  until  they  are  pretty 
well  advanced,  or  in  bloom,  as  is  often  wit- 
nessed in  cabbages,  about  the  time  they  begin 
to  "  head,"  and  in  a  very  short  time  a  whole 
'•patch  may  be  overrun  with  aphids,  although 
none  had  been  seen  before.  Some  years  ago 
the  oat  croii  all  over  Lancaster  county,  and 
otiui  paiis  cif  Pennsylvania,  (in  some  locali- 
tii's  also  tin  \  (iiing  wheat,  after  the  blooming 
seasiiii)  was  MTiously  infested  by  the  "red- 
aphis"  or  oat  aphis,  (Aphis  anena).  There  were 
millions  upon  millions  of  them, giving  the  fields 
a  brick-red  color,  and  diminishing  the  size  and 
weight  of  the  grain  ;  in  many  instances  re- 
ducing the  crop  to  a  merely  straw  value.  We 
passed  through  oat  fields  of  from  ten  to  twen- 
ty acres  in  each,  and  found  the  aphids  from 
the  centre  to  the  circumference  of  the  fields, 
the  stems  and  grains  perfectly  festooned  with 
them,  all  engaged  in  pumping  the  very  life 
out  of  the  crop.  It  was  during  the  war  of 
the  rebellion,  and  an  extensive  purchaser  of 
supplies  for  the  army  informed  us  that  much 
of  the  oats  of  that  season  only  weiglied  from 
fourteen  to  sixteen  pounds  to  tlie  bushel, 
whereas  the  standard  weight  is  from  thirty- 
three  to  thirty-five  pounds.  After  the  de- 
pleted crop  ripened,  the  aphids  disappeared, 
and  except  in  a  few  isolated  instances,  and  in 
limited  numbers,  they  have  not  since  then  re- 
appeared. They  were  not  noticed  on  the  oats 
until  after  the  bloom,  and  the  grains  began  to 
fill.  Now,  the  problem  that  needed  solution, 
and  is  still  unsolved,  is,  where  had  they  or 
their  eggs  been  secreted  from  the  opening  of 
spring  until  their  appearance  on  the  wheat 
and  oats  ¥  It  is  very  certain  that  had  the 
aphids  appeared  in  such  vast  numbers  when 
the  oats  and  wheat  were  only  a  few  inches 
high,  they  would  never  have  been  able  to  put 
forth  heads  and  form  grains.  On  that  occa- 
sion we  noticed  more  "lady  birds"  and  their 
larvae,and  also  the  larvae  of  more  "lace-wings," 
in  one  day,  than  we  before  or  since  have  no- 
ticed in  a  whole  year.  We  also  noticed  that 
the  spaces  between  the  fence  rails  on  the 
windward  sides  of  the  fields  there  were  more 
"cobwebs"  than  we  ever  before  or  since  no- 
ticed, and  these  were  densely  covered  with 
winged  aphids,  for  both  sexes  of  this  species 
were  amply  provided  with  wings,  which  is  not 
the  case  with  all  the  species.  Two  years  ago 
the  cherry  trees  of  this  county  were  seriously 
infested  by  a  dark  brown  or  nearly  black 
aphis,  (Aphis  cerossi)  commonly  known  as  the 
"black"  or  "cherry  aphis,"  which  were  most 
numerous  about  the  time  the  cherries  began 
to  ripen.  On  that  occasion  we  found  a  young 
cherry  tree  about  six  feet  high  in  the  very 
centre  of  a  twenty  acre  enclosure  of  a  thickly 
wooded  forest  land,  and  that  small  tree  was 
covered  from  the  base  to  the  apex  of  all  its 
branches  with  these  black  aphids,  and  there 
was  hardly  a  single  sound  leaf  on  it.  About 
one  in  a  hundred  of  these  had  wings.    Al- 


though the  underwood  was  dense,  and  there 
was  much  tall  and  succulent  vegetation,  yet 
we  saw  no  apliids  in  the  enclosure  save  those 
on  the  little  cherry  tree,  and  these  were  the 
same  species  as  those  found  elsewhere  on  the 
cherry.  This  may  illustrate  that  although 
there  are  species  that  feed  indiscriminately  on 
different  sorts  of  vegetation,  there  are  other 
species  that  confine  themselves  to  one  kind. 
The  peculiarities  of  the  history,  habit  and 
transformations  of  some  species  are  not  diffi- 
cult to  trace  and  observe  if  we  have  time  and 
patience,  but  others  are  more  or  less  enig- 
matical. For  instance,  out  of  the  eggs  de- 
posited on  the  branches  of  the  trees  in  the 
iall,  a  brood  of  fertile  females  will  he  pro- 
duced the  following  spring.  These  will  differ 
entirely  from  the  parent  that  deposited  the 
eggs  from  which  they  were  developed;  in  short 
tiiey  are  not  oviporoiui  but  ricij)orous.  and  ac- 
cordingly bring  forth  their  young  alive,  and 
one  at  a  time,  just  as  a  cow  brings  forth  her 
calves ;  and  this  process  will  be  continued 
"all  summer,"  or,  as  some  say,  to  the  "four- 
teenth generation;"  but  we  think,  as 
long  as  the  weather  continues  warm  and 
genial,  as  we  have  observed  them  so  bringing 
forth  their  young  during  warm  "spells,"  as 
late  as  the  middle  of  November. 

But  usually  when  the  cool  autumn  weather 
approaches  and  the  leaves  begin  to  I'all,  and 
vegetation  in  general  loses  its  succulency,  a 
brood  of  males  and  females  are  produced,  the 
former  fertilizing  the  latter,  which  then 
become  oviporous  and  dei)osit  their  eggs  and 
then  die  Tliese  eggs  perpetuate  the  species, 
carrying  tliem  through  the  most  rigid  winter 
unharmed,  and  from  these  eggs  the  next 
season's  crop  is  propogated.  Now  it  has  been 
demonstrated  that  if  infested  plants,  trees  and 
shrubbery  are  removed  to  a  hot  or  green- 
house the  aphids  will  continue  in  their  vivip- 
orous  condition,  and  in  that  manner  continue 
reproducing,  just  as  if  no  winter  had  inter- 
vened, especially  in  those  species  infesting  per- 
ennials. Although  there  are  distinct  species  of 
aphid  that  infect  distinct  species  of  plants,  or 
more  than  one  species  found  on  the  same 
vegetation,  yet  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
there  are  some  species  that  are  perfectly  at 
home  ou  various  kinds  of  vegetation,  especi- 
ally if  it  be  of  the  same  family.  For  instance, 
the  Aphis  brassica  or  cabbage  aphis  would  in 
the  absence  of  cabbage  be  likely  to  infest  the 
cauliflower,  kale,  broccoli,  turnip,  radish, 
mustard,  or  any  other  of  the  CRiTciFER.iE. 
Plants  potted  and  left  out  in  tlie  garden  with 
a  view  of  subsequently  removing  them  to  a 
greeu-house,  may  become  inoculated  or  in- 
fested from  others  in  pro,\imity  to  them 
before  their  removal,  and  by  this  means  be 
carried  into  the  greeu-house,  where  finding 
the  temperature  congenial  they  would  rapidly 
increase,  much  more  than  they  would  outside, 
where  they  might  be  subjected  to  hindering 
casualties.  It  is  not  at  all  remarkable  that 
plauts  in  a  green-house,  where  they  receive  a 
more  careful  and  constant  supervision,  should 
be  entirely  cleiin,  whilst  those  on  the  outside, 
subjected  to  contingent  incursions,  snould  be 
more  or  less  infested. 

There  is  perhaps  not  a  tree,  a  shrub  or  a 
succulent  plant  that  is  not  liable  to  aphideous 
infestation  during  some  period  of  its  develop- 
ment, either  its,  leaves  its  flowers,  its  tender 
branches  or  its  roots,  but  there  are  many 
instances  of  their  seemingly  sudden  appear- 
ance in  immense  numbers,  in  which  it  might 
be  difflcult  to  demonstrate  where  they  came 
from  or  what  became  of  them.  Moreover, 
the  eggs  of  all  the  species  of  ajMs  are  exceed- 
ingly minute,  not  visible  to  the  ordinary 
naked  eye,  and  those  that  are  deposited  on 
the  branches  of  trees,  at  least,  are  covered 
with  a  protecting  mucilage,  insoluble  by 
water.  We  may  infer  therefore  that  the  eggs 
of  other  species  are  similarly  protected 
wherever  they  may  have  been  deposited. 
For  many  years  it  had  been  supposed  that  the 
Ailanthus  was  entirely  exempt  from  in.sect 
enemies  of  any  kind,  yet  a  few  years  ago  we 
found  them  infested  by  millions  of  a  large 
species  of  Aphidid^,  and  it  is  well  known 


i80 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[December, 


that  the  leaves  of  the  same  tree  are  fed  upon 
by  the Attacus  cynthia.  Analogous  to  the  aphids 
in  this  respect,  are  the  Coccip^.  We  have 
had  an  orange  tree  in  our  possession  ever 
since  it  was  a  foot  higli.  For  a  long  period 
it  was  perfectly  clean,  and  we  never  discov- 
ered an  insect  on  it  of  any  kind,  but  after  it 
was  large  and  old  enough  to  bloom  we  discov- 
ered that  it  was  infested  by  the  "orange 
coccus,"  (Cocats  hesperidum)  the  same  species 
that  infests  the  oranges  of  Florida  and 
Europe.  These  insects  were  first  noticed  in 
February  or  March,  months  after  the  tree  had 
been  appropriately  housed.  We  know  of  no 
other  tree  in  the  near  neighborhood.  These 
insects  are  easily  removable  by  a  little  time, 
patience  and  an  old  toothbrush.  We  cannot 
account  for  the  presence  of  these  cocci  any 
more  than  we  can  for  the  presence  of  aphids, 
for  although  the  males  of  the  former  have 
wings  and  are  able  to  fly  abroad,  yet  the 
females  never  have  wings,  but  remain  station- 
ary during  their  lives  after  they  are  once 

located. 

CICADA  SEPTENDECIM. 
Mr.  J.  T.,  Lancaster,  Pa.— Your  round- 
backed,  clay-colored  insect,  with  the  large 
anterior  feet,  is  the  larvce  of  Cicada  septende- 
cim,  or  seventeen-year  locust,  in  the  eleventh 
year  of  its  development.  It  is  therefore  about 
two-thirds  grown,  and  had  six  years  work  yet 
before  it  could  celebrate  its  majority.  It 
would  be  an  interesting  cabinet  to  have  a 
collection  of  these  larvse  from  one  year  old  up 
to  seventeen  years.  Some  one  perliaps  will 
do  it  sometime. 


Contributions. 


For  The  Lancaster  Fabmeb. 
A  CHRISTMAS  GREETING. 
A  Happy  Christmas  to  all,  and  may  charity 
warm  the  hearts  of  all  those  who  have  food 
and  fuel,  toward  those  less  fortunate,  and  yet 
equally  deserving.  "Remember  the  poor;" 
this  is  easily  said,  and  each  one  may  hope  his 
neighbor  may  not  neglect  so  great  a  duty. 
Individually,  it  is  not  so  convenient  to  hunt 
them  up  that  may  be  deemed  truly  deserving, 
and  they,  so  situated,  understand  the  selfish- 
ness of  mankind,  and  know  by  sad  experience, 
that  charity  is  cold,  and  they  would  rather 
suffer  tlian  to  be  under  obligations  to  those 
who  preach  their  charity  from  the  house  top, 
and  who,  out  of  their  abundance,  do  ostensibly 
manifest  a  spirit  of  cliarity.  Well,  thanks  that 
even  that  much  is  done  by  them,  but  alas  ! 
they  do  not  feel  the  sweet  reward  of  a  gener- 
ous" outgushing,  sympathizing  soul,  that  gives, 
and  however  little,  with  God's  blessing  en- 
hancing its  value,  to  accompany  it.  The  re- 
cipient feels  greatful  for  the  trifle,  realizing 
that  the  gush  of  pure  fellowship  of  humanity 
is  alive  in  that  soul,  and  that  all  are  not  dead 
and  barren.  He  thanks  God  and  takes  cour- 
age, for  as  Mrs.  Hemans  says: — 
We  pine  for  kindred  natures 

To  mingle  with  our  own; 
For  communings  more  full  and  high, 
Than  aught  by  mortals  known." 
We  all  crave  sympathy  in  the  hour  of  our 
misfortune,  though  a  conscious  pride  and  self- 
reliance  may  disguise  it  from  the  observer, 
but  when  like  a  sweet  melody  which  touches 
the  heart  strings,  so  in  the  voice  of  a  deep- 
felt  sympatliy,  breathed  gently,  lovingly,  into 
our  souls,"  the  cloistered,  or  pent  up  self- 
hood melts  by  the  warmth  of  love,  and  owns 
the  cliord  that  binds  humanity.  So  more  es- 
pecially if  the  Christlike  spirit  is  deeply  en- 
shrined, it  makes  us  akin  to  heaven,'  and 
quiets  all  our  fears,  drawing  out  our  soul's 
adoration  of  love  and  trust  in  Him,  whose  ad- 
vent is  so  generally  held  in  grateful  commem- 
oration. To  those  it  is  indeed  a  Happy  Christ- 
mas, and  by  a  genuine  faith,  links  happiness 
with  all  time  to  come,  for  time  and  eternity. 
But  alas!  each  must  be  wise  for  himself,  nor 
does  it  profit  us  mucli  by  an  increase  of  knowl- 
edge, since  our  kuowledge  is  simply  what  we 
accept;  so  we  accept  the  25th  day  of  Decem- 


ber as  our  feast  day  of  the  nativity  of  Jesus 
the  Christ.  That  he  was  and  is  we  know;  yet 
while  St.  Chiysostom  informs  us  that  in 
primitive  times  the  same  day  both  feasts  were 
celebrated  the  Christmas  and  Epiphany.  This 
latter  was,  or  may  still  be,  a  church  festival, 
signifying  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  and 
referring  to  the  appearing  of  the  star  which 
announced  his  bkth  to  the  Gentiles.  It  is  ob- 
served on  January  Gtli,  tlie  twelfth  day  from 
Christmas.  Tliat  Father  also  observes  that  it 
was  but  of  a  little  while  that  Christmas  had 
been  celebrated  at  Autioch  on  the  25th  of 
December  as  a  distinct  feast,  and  that  the  use 
tliereof  came  from  the  west.  The  Armenians 
made  but  one  feast  of  them,  as  low  as  the  12th 
century.  It  is  commonly  maintained  that 
Pope  Telesphorus  was  tlie  first  wlxo  ordered 
the  feast  of  the  nativity  to  be  held  on  the  25th 
of  December.  John,  Arclibishop  of  Nice,  in 
an  epistle  on  tliis  subject,  relates  that  at  the 
instance  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Pope  Julius 
procured  a  strict  enquiry  to  be  made  into  the 
day  of  our  Saviour's  nativity,  which,  being 
found  to  be  on  the  25  of  December,  they  began 
tlienceforth  to  celebrate  the  feast  on  that  day. 
However,  the  precise  day,  or  even  the  month, 
on  which  our  Saviour  was  born,  is  extremely 
uncertain.  Some,  as  Clemens  Alexandriuus 
informs  us,  affixed  it  to  the  25th  of  the  moutli 
Pachon,  corresponding  to  the  16tli  of  May. 
But  there  are  some  circumstances  which 
should  rather  lead  us  to  conclude  that  he  was 
born  in  autumn,  as  this  was,  in  every  respect, 
the  most  proper  season  of  the  year  for  a  gen- 
eral assessment,  which  took  place  at  the  birth 
of  Christ,  and  which  required  personal  atten- 
dance; and  as  there  were  shepherds  watching 
their  flocks  by  night  at  the  time  when  Clirist 
was  born,  and  therefore  it  is  probable  that  the 
sera  of  the  nativity  was  either  in  September  or 
October. 

After  scanning  the  various  epochs  in  chron- 
ology to  find  the  difference  between  epoch  and 
era,  I  find  the  doctrine  and  explanations  very 
perplexing  and  extensive.  The  Jewish,  Mo- 
hammedan, Greek  Olympiads,  that  of  the 
Romans,  Persians,  Nabonassar,  &c.,  while  it 
may  have  its  use  in  calculating  from  certain 
data  to  other  certain  data,  or  supposed  certain 
data,  be  they  what  tliey  may,  the  fact  re- 
mains. The  Christian  year  or  A.  D.,  dates 
from  his  circumcision,  that  is  from  the  first  of 
January.  This  period  being  the  471.3th  of  tlie 
Julian  period,  by  adding  1879,  the  present  A. 
D.  to  this,  it  would  be  the  6592d"year  of  the 
Julian  period.  Now,  so  also,  to  find  the  same 
Julian  period,  when  we  read  752  before  Christ, 
deduct  this  from  4713  and  you  have  3961,  the 
Julian  period  of  that  date.  But  figures,  if  they 
do  not  lie,  are  nevertheless  dry  to  the  major- 
ity of  readers,  and  as  to  years  to  measure  du- 
ration, it  is  like  a  yard  stick  to  measure  space. 
Those  who  heard  Proctor's  lecture  on  astron- 
omy, would  find  their  head  to  swim  in  chaotic 
confusion,  did  they  attempt  to  reason  it  out. 
Poor  finite  man,  be  he  farmer  or  philosopher, 
lias  to  plow  and  sow  in  faith,  trustingly;  that 
the  seasons  would  be  auspicious,  lie  dare  not 
withljold  his  hand,  because  he  cannot  overrule 
the  rain  or  sunsliine,  or  breathe  fertility  into 
the  germ.  But  trust  that  the  life  is  in  the 
germ,  and  properly  to  prepare  tlie  soil,  watch 
its  development,  remove  obnoxious  weeds, 
give  it  God's  sunshine,  and  verily  it  will  grow, 
blossom  and  yield  its  fruit,  and  reward  you 
for  the  care  bestowed  upon  it.  So,  however 
conflicting  theories  and  systems  may  be,  how- 
ever antagonistic,  yet  with  an  eye  single  for 
the  truth,  an  humble,  trusting,  filial  love  to 
Him  from  whom  the  vital  breath  of  your  life 
Cometh,  seek  that  the  sun  of  righteousness 
may  warm  that  God-given  germ  into  life,  cul- 
ture it,  let  your  soul  stretch  forth  its  tendrils, 
entwine  them  around  the  beloved,  be  in  Him 
and  He  in  you,  as  the  branch  is  in  the  vine, 
and  then  will  you  realize  the  joy,  the  comfort, 
by  the  assurance  of  your  knowledge  and  faith 
in  Him  who  giveth  liberally  and  upbraidcth 
not.  Such  are  still  my  humble  thoughts  and 
aspirations  after  all  tlie  learned  contentions, 
materialistic  suggestion  sand  so-called  heresies. 
There  is  a  truth,  a  God,  our  father,  love  and 


final    compensation — so    let    us    aU   enjoy  a 
Happy  Christmas. — /.  Statiffer 

CISTERNS. 

An  article  in  the  Lancaster  Hew  Era  a 
short  time  ago  set  me  to  looking  up  a  few 
facts  on  the  above  subject,  and  I  now  give 
them  to  the  columns  of  The  Farmer. 

Rain  water  cisterns  will  be  often  found  use- 
ful even  in  many  parts  of  the  country  where 
runnilig  water  is  close  by  or  wliere  wells  are 
never-failing— as  the  advertisements  run — 
because  this  rain  water  is  soft.  Where  water 
soft  enough  for  cleansing  purposes  can  be 
reached  by  wells  of  not  more  than  30  feet 
deep,  cisterns  are  of  course  needless. 

In  this  section  of  the  country  rain  water  is 
very  little  used  as  a  drinking  water,  as  it  is  not 
"brisk"  enough  to  the  taste,  being  insipid  and 
"flat"  to  tliose  not  used  to  it.  Nor  is  it  used 
much  for  culinary  purposes,  the  women  ob- 
jecting to  using  it  because  of  the  sediments- 
dust,  «&c.,  washed  from  the  roofs— and  object- 
ing, above  all,  to  the  "wrigglers"  found  in 
most  rain  water  which  has  been  standing  for 
some  days  in  the  summer  and  early  fall 
months.  I  must  confess  to  a  little  squeam- 
ishness  on  this  point  myself.  These  so-called 
"wrigglers"  are  the  larvae  of  mosquitos,  and 
can  be  prevented  by  making  tlie  cistern  so 
tight  everywhere  that  the  mosquitos  cannot 
enter  and  lay  their  eggs.  The  dirt  from  tlie 
roof  can  be  nearly  all  avoided  by  making  tlie 
entering  movable  and  then  moving  the  pipe 
aside  after  each  rain,  so  as  to  lead  the  water 
away  from  the  cistern;  then  when  a  rain 
comes  on,  the  first  water  from  tlie  roof,  and 
which  contains  the  objectionable  matter  will 
be  prevented  from  entering ;  as  soon  as  the 
roof  is  washed  clean  the  pipe  can  be  turned 
into  the  cistern,  and  the  result  will  be  that  no 
cleansing  of  the  cistern  will  be  required  for 
years,  aiid  the  water  is  as  clean  as  any  well 
water. 

Thus  far  we  have  looked  at  rain  water 
only  as  a  houseliold  convenience  ;  for  the  pur- 
pose of  furnishing  water  to  stock,  cistern  or 
well  water  is  far  superior  to  running  water. 
In  the  winter  it  never  gets  that  icy  chill  to 
which  the  latter  is  subject,  and  which  even  if 
it  does  not  freeze  over  entirely  often  leaves 
the  edges  of  the  brooks  so  slippery  as  to  en- 
danger the  limbs  and  lives  of  the  stock. 

In  building  a  cistern  it  is  an  important 
point  to  find  out  the  amount  of  water  needed 
in  three  or  four  months,  as  we  have  had  the 
experience  in  the  last  tew  years  that  some- 
times it  must  be  provided  for  that  length  of 
time.  Tlie  amount  that  is  usually  needed  for 
household  purposes  can  be  readily  found  out, 
but  for  tlie  wants  of  stock  it  is  not  so  easv  to 
determine.  Most  farmers  can  tell  about  how 
much  a  horse  will  drink  in  a  day,  but  wlien  it 
comes  to  cattle,  they  liave  very  vague  ideas  as 
to  the  amount  consumed.  The  American 
AqriculUirist  states  that  for  cattle  the  capacity 
of"  a  cistern  should  be  ten  gallons  for  each 
liead. 

Below  is  given  a  table  of  tlie  contents  in 
gallons  for  the  given  diameter  and  deptli  in 
feet: 


a 

Depth. 

1 

6 

8 

10 

12 

868 

1,157 

1,447 

1,736 

1,250 

1,067 

3,084 

2,500 

7 

1,701 

3,288 

2,836 

•2,'i22 

2,963 

3,704 

4,400 

2,811 

3,748 

4,686 

5,623 

10 

3,472 

4,630 

5,788 

6,9.54 

12 

5,000 

6,667 

8;3.34 

10,000 

1.5 

7,81.3 

10,418 

13,02:3 

15,627 

20 

13,891 

18,521 

23,152 

Where  accuracy  is  not  essential  the  con- 
tents of  any  cistern  can  be  foinid  out  by  the 
following  rule : 

Multiply  the  square  of  the  diameter  {%.  e. 
the  diameter  multiplied  by  itself,)  by  the 
depth  and  this  product  by  5|.  Thus  a  cistern 
7  feet  in  diameter  and  8  feet  in  depth  would 


1879.J 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


18i 


hold  7x7x>^x5J,  or  2254  gallons,  which  is  some, 
less  than  the  iictual  quantity.  The  rule  has 
the  advantage  of  being  short,  easy  to  reuieni- 
luT  and  easy  to  calculate. 

Now  if  a  family  uses  10()  gallons  of  water 
l>cr  wiik  and  want  to  make  sure  ofasupjily 
for  I'lHir  niiinlhs,  a  cistern  would  lie  ncedi-d  of 
a  caiiacitv  ofaliout  170(1  j^allons.  One  of  7  ffrl 
diauieler  and  (i  feet  deep  will  liolil  lliis. 
Wlier<'  all  licniselidld  iiurpDses  must  be  sup- 
plied from  the  rlslcin,  it  should  have  a  capa- 
city of  at  lc;i>l  10(1(1  gallons.  This  would 
re<pnre  one  lA'.i  Irct  diameter  and  9  feet  deep. 

In  lU-t.^rniiiiiiiL^  tlie  size  waided  it  is  well  to 
reniemli.r  that  a  cistern  with  llie  depth  and 
diaini'ter  almnt  the  same  will  cost  less,  and 
take  less  work  than  one  in  which  this  is  not 
the  case.  Thus  a  cistern  o  feet  in  diameter 
an<l  12  feet  deep  will  hold  about  the  same  quan- 
tity as  one  7  feet  in  diameter  and  (j  feet  deep, 
but  will  take  more  than  one-fom-th  more  bricks 
than  the  latter.  Kxeept  in  v<-rv  favorable 
soil  a  cistern  sliould  not  lie  more  than  \2  feet 
deep,  as  the  [iressure  of  the  water  on  tlw^  bot- 
tom is  so  great  that  leaks  are  apt  to  be  sprung. 
With  the  water  12  feet  deep,  the  pressure  at 
the  bottom  is  700  pounds  per  square  foot. 

To  make  a  Rood  job  out  of  it  the  cistern 
should  be  entirely  under  ground,  and  one 
built  in  a  hillside,  with  one  face  out,  as  I  have 
seen  them,  will  try  the  patience  of  the  best 
Job  among  us.  Built  in  the  latter  manner  a 
cistern  will  be  always  leaky  from  the  beavint; 
effects  of  frost.  In" northern  localities  it  has 
become  common  to  put  them  entirely  under 
ground.  iiriu^inLT  them  only  to  within  two  or 
tlirrc  lect  of  the  surface,  covering  them  with 
.some  duialile  timber  and  then  filling  earth  on 
top  of  this,  leaving  a  man-hole  for  the  pump 
and  as  a  place  to  enter  if  any  cleanini;  or  re- 
I)airing  is  needed.  Fixed  in  this  manlier  no 
danger  from  frost  need  be  apprehended,  and 
the  water  will  be  nice  and  cool  in  summer.  In 
view  of  the  latter  fact  this  is  also  one  of  the 
best  ways  to  build  for  warm  localites  when  it 
is  intended  to  use  as  a  drinking  water. 

Arches  of  brick  may  be  used  as  a  cover  in- 
stead of  tindii'i-,  as  they  are  more  durable  and 
will  cost  little  if  any  more.  In  the  smaller 
diameters  the  arch  is  made  with  the  edge  of 
the  brick  facing  ;  in  those  of  a  larger  size  the 
ends  of  the  bricks  are  made  to  f;ue,  and  con- 
sequently tlie  thickne.ss  of  the  arch  is  the 
len^'th  of  II  brick,  or  about  nine  inches.  When 
the  diameter  is  lifteen  or  twenty  feet,  a  central 
column  of  about  two  feet  in  diameter  shoidd 
1  e  made, and  the  arch  sprung  from  this  towards 
the  sides. 

In  the  construction  stone  may  be  used,  but 
they  should  not  be  of  as  large  a  size  as  are 
used  in  common  mason  work,  as  they  will  not 
make  a  tjood  job  and  the  wall  will  be  thicker 
than  is  needed.  Hard  burned  bricks  are  the 
best  material,  but  are  more  expensive,  par- 
ticularly where  the  distance  they  have  to  be 
liauled  is  considerable.  In  some  places  no 
wall  is  made  at  all,  but  the  cenjent  laid  di- 
rectly on  the  earth  lo  the  thickness  of  an  inch 
or  an  inch  and  a  half;  this  kind  of  a  cistern 
is  usually  egg-shaped,  benig  widest  at  the  top. 
Walled  cisterns  have  perpendicular  sides  and 
are  usually  round,  but  I  have  known  of  some 
that  are  square  ;  the  latter,  when  of  the  same 
capacity,  cost  more  than  the  round  ones,  as 
they  lake  eonsidc-ralile  mor(!  material. 

The  luunber  of  bricks  required  for  a  cistern 
can  be  pretty  I'losdy  found  by  the  following 
rules:  For  the  liottoin,  when  the  bricks  are 
laid  Hat,  multiply  the  diameter  by  itself  and 
this  product  by  .'! ;  for  the  sides,  when  the 
edge  faces,  nuiltiiily  the  diameter  bv  thedeiith 
and  Ibis  product  by  2(1-.  for  the  arJb,  if  one  is 
ma<l.-,  the  edgeof  Uic  brick  facing,  aild  one 
to  the  diameter,  fnuUiply  this  amount  bv 
itself  and  the  resulting  product  by  7. 

Thus  in  a  cistern  of  8  feet  in  diameter  and 
10  ti'ct  dee]!  the  following  numbers  of  bricks 

would  be  1 (led  :     Fm-  the  bottom.   Kx8x^  = 

l<t2;  for  the  side.  Sn|(Ix:.'0.  ic.oo;  f,,,-  the  arch, 
8  +  1,  or  OxOxT  .Mm.  (  nnipletcd,  without 
arch,  about  isiio:  with  aidi.  about  2H.".0. 

The  waste  pipe  is  an  important  part  of  a 
cistern,  and  should  be  placed  at  such  a  height 


as  will  keep  the  water  from  Hooding  any 
woodwork  or  running  over  top  and  endanger 
the  sides  by  eating  away  the  supporting 
earth.  It  should  have  at  least  the  capacity  of 
the  entering  pipe,  or  in  a  heavy  rain  it  might 
not  discharge  the  surplus  water  fast  enough. 

Wliere  the  cistern  lies  higher  than  the  place 
where  the  water  is  mostly  used  a  great  saving  of 
labor  can  be  made  b.\  putting  in  a. siphon  with 
a  sloii  cock.  The  iVmbest  part  of  the  sijdion 
should  be  a  litl  le  lower  lliau  the  wiisle  pipe, 
as  llun  it  the  siphon  isempiv  and  the  water 
raises  until  it  Mows  out  at  the  wast.'  pipe  the 
siphon  will  lill  by  mere  opening  the  stop-cock. 
The  submerL'ed  leg  should  not  <piite  reach  the 
bottom,  or  the  .sediments,  if  any,  will  be 
sucked  up.  ^Vhere  there  is  a  bank  of  only  (l 
or  8  feet  thickness  the  siiihon  of  course  need 
not  be  used,  but  a  hole  can  be  drilled  through 
the  bank  and  a  direct  pipe  laid  at  much  less 
expense.  To  draw  the  water  in  this  manner 
is  very  pleasant  and  easy  and  will  be  found 
particularly  useful  in  the  case  of  stock  or 
wherever  largo  quantities  of  water  are  used. 

If  a  pump  is  used,  three  important  points 
should  be  remembered   in  selecting  the  kind  : 

1.  It  should  throw  much  water. 

2.  It  should  work  very  easy. 

3.  It  should  be  durable  and  not  liable  to 
get  out  of  order. 

The  common  cucumber  pmui)  will  do  very 
Well  for  common  family  use,  but  is  not  dura- 
ble enough  and  does  not  throw  water  enough 
when  large  quantities  are  needed.  Never  put 
in  a  chain  pump,  as  they  are  a  great  nuisance 
after  they  are  used  a  year  or  two. 

The  tenor  of  the  article  looks  to  making 
the  cistern  large  enough  for  all  probable 
wants.  But  may  not  the  cistern  be  built  of 
a  larger  capacity  than  the  amount  of  water 
from  the  roof  needs.  Taking  the  average  of 
a  number  of  years  the  depth  of  rain  that  falls 
is  about  44  inches.  Making  it  only  40  inches 
every  100  square  feet  of  building  sheds  about 
2,50()  gallons  of  water  per  year ;  this,  in  a 
house  of  20  by  30  feet,  would  give  15,000 
gallons  or  nearly  300  gallons  per  week  ;  if  so 
much  water  as  this  was  con.sumed,  a  cistern  of 
5,000  gallons  would  be  needed.  Some  years 
the  water  falling  on  such  a  building  as  the  one 
supposed  would  not  amount  to  more  than 
12,000  gallons ;  in  the  years  of  a  maximum 
amount  of  rain  fall,  more  than  20,000  gallons 
could  be  gathered. 

And  then,  as  to  the  cost,  a  cistern  of  twice 
the  capacity  will  not  cost  twice  as  much 
money.  Thus,  a  cistern  of  nine  feet  diameter 
and  ten  feet  deep  will  hold  about  4,700  gal- 
lons ;  one  of  seven  feet  diameter  and  eight 
feet  deep  will  hold  about  2,300  gallons ;  the 
former  takes  less  than  800  bricks  more  and 
holds  2,400  gallons  more. 

Cisterns  as  large  as  twenty  feet  in  diameter 
are  mostly  used  in  irrigating  vegetable  and 
flower  gardens.— .4.  B.  K. 

Eruata  :  In  November  Farmer,  page 
165,  first  coluinn,  thirty-first  line  from  top, 
put  semicolon  (  ; )  after  word  doiun ;  thirty- 
third  line,  after  word  juint,  put  comma  (  , ). 
As  it  stands  little  or  no  sense  can  be  made. 


Selections. 


WOOL  MANUFACTURES  AND  SHEEP 
HUSBANDRY. 
At  a  late  meeting  of  woolen  manufacturers 
in  Philadelphia,  the  .secretary,  .John  L.  Hayes, 
LL.  D.,  read  the  annual  report,  which  was 
very  lengthy,  and  detailed  the  i)rogress  of  the 
Anierican  wool  industry  since  18G0.  Refer- 
ring lirst  to  what  it  termed  the  agricultural 
branch,  it  slated  that  in  1800  our  wool  pro- 
duction, accordini:  to  census  returns,  was,  in 
round   uuuilurs,  i'i(  1.0(10.000   pouiuls.     Careful 


42.0(10,000  jiouuds,  a  gain  in  the  twenty-four 
years  previous  to  18t>0.  of  IS.ooo  pounds'.  The 
iu'oduction  in  1807  reached  147,ooo,oooiiounds. 
In  1877  it  had  reached  208.ooo,0o('  ]ioiinds,an 
increase  of  246  per  cent,  in  eighteen  years 
from  1860,  as  compared  with  an  increase  of 
but  44  per  cent,  in  the  twenty -four  years  pre- 


vious to  18C.0.  A  more  rtMuarkable  fact  is  that 
the  product  of  1867  was  from  42.oiio,0(IOsbeep, 
while  the  product  of  1.S77  was  from  :J5,00(J,000 
sheep,  the  substitution  of  superior  races,  im- 
provements in  breeding,  and  a  more  advanced 
husbandry  being  th(^  cause  of  the  greatly  in- 
creasc<l  avera-e  yi.Od  of  (Icoce  since  1836. 
Tbci-e  has  been  a  constant  decline  in  liie  num- 
ber ..!' sheep  ill  ilie  nldei'  states.  80  that,  wliile 

the  w 1  prndiiction    in  the  whole  country  is 

five  limes  as  great  as  in  1830,  there  is  now  in 
the  older  states  less  than  half  the  number  of 
sheep  than  at  that  period.  This  has  been 
comiiensated  by  the  growth  of  sheep  husband- 
ry in  the  new  states  and  territories.  lu  1802 
llollisber  &  Dibbles  introduced  four  hundred 
pure  Spanish  Merino  ewes  to  California.  In 
twelve  years  tlie  increase  of  pure  stock  from 
this  flock  was  28,0(W.  The  iiroduction  from 
this  single  state  has reachen  50,(KX),0»H)  pounds 
in  one  year. 

Although  Texas  in  1845  had  no  sheep  but 
native  Mexicans,  with  a  fleece  almost  value- 
less, and  scarcely  a  sensible  progress  had  been 
made  before  the  war,  since  tliat  period  all  the 
original  stock  has  been  ameliorated  by  the  in- 
fusion of  Merino  blood. 

Her  sheep  exceed  4,000,(X)0;  her  produce  of 
wool  exceeds  14,000,000  pounds;  and  wool, 
but  a  few  years  ago  regarded  as  the  poorest  in 
the  market,  much  of  it  equals  that  of  Ohio. 
Sheep  husbandry  is  extending  throughout  the 
South,  for  wliieii  industry  that  section  i.s  ad- 
mirably fitted.  Mr.  Hayes  then  referred  to 
the  worth  of  ilerino  sheep  husbandry,  saying 
the  progress  at  the  best  recorded  yield  in 
Merinos  in  1809  was  9i  per  cent.,  and  tlie 
heaviest  fleece  27  pounds.  In  three  rams  bred 
in  Vermont  since  1873  the  yield  to  live  weight 
was  27i  per  cent,  of  unwashed  wool,  and  the 
average  weight  of  fleece  34^  pounds,  while, 
what  is  more  remarkable,  the  finest  of  the 
fibre  equaled  that  of  the  Saxon  super-electa 
breeders  in  Australia  and  South  America  on 
importing  these  animals  to  improve  their 
flocks. 

The  secretary  of  the  National  Wool  Grow- 
ers' Association,  has  this  season  carried  200 
American  sheep  to  Japan,  each  one  among 
the.se  in  good  condition,  and  Dr.  Hayes  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  him  in  China,  on  his  way 
to  Mongolia,  with  the  object,  under  the  au- 
spices of  General  (hant,  who  favored  his  mis- 
sion and  gave  him  letters  to  the  high  Chinese 
otlicials,  cif  intnHlucing  American  sheep  in 
that  distant  quarter  of  the  world. 

Speaking  of  the  improvements  in  manufac- 
ture, he  said,  in  1800  hand-combing  prevailed 
in  our  few  worsted  mills.  Since  that  period 
it  has  been  displaced,  first  by  the  Lister 
comber  for  long  wools,  one  machine  doin^the 
work  of  fifty  men,  followed  by  the  Noble 
comber  for  fine  wools,  introducing  a  quality  of 
yarn  wholly  unknown  in  our  mills  fifteen 
years  ago.  Carpet  filling  was  spun  by  hand; 
it  is  now  spun  by  power  with  a  great  gain  of 
economy.  In  our  cloth  mills  self-operating 
heads  have  been  applied  to  the  hand-spinning 
jacks,  and  self-operating  mules  have  been  in- 
troduced, effecting  a  saving  of  from  20  to  40 
per  cent.,  according  to  the  fineness  of  yarn,  in 
the  cost  of  spinning.  Self-feeders  on  the  first 
breaker  and  finisher  have  been  applied  to  card 
machines,  dispensing,  it  Is  declared,  with  half 
the  help  in  the  card-room.  Improved  wind- 
ers, dyers  anil  cloth  pressers  give  greatly  in- 
creased rapidity  to  the  processes  of  finishing. 
Looms  also  have  been  greatly  perfected.  The 
first  and  most  important  fact  illustrative  of 
progress  is  the  cheaixMiing  of  goods  to  the 
consumer,  effected  within  the  period  under 
review  by  our  manufacturers,  and  an  increased 
supply  of  our  domestic  wool. 

The  second  great  fact  is  that  the  ta-stes  and 
necessities  of  American  consumers  are  not 
only  cheaply  but  more  adequately  supplied  by 
the  improvement  of  old  and  the"  introduction 
of  new  fabrics,  or  those  not  in-eviously  made 
here.  While  we  produce  certain  fabrics  not 
made  abroad,  such  as  the  fine  blankets  for 
bedding,  and  coarse  ones  for  horse  covering, 
the  latter  exported  to  England,  and  our  indigo 
blue  suitings,  we  make,  wilh  the  exceptioa  of 


182 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[December, 


certain  especial  fabrics,  woven  on  hand  looms, 
the  last  novelties  in  dress  goods  and  uphol- 
steries, the  fine  merinos  and  cashmeres,  all 
the  fabrics  for  popular  consumption,  made  in 
the  European  mills,  instantly  adopt  all  the 
changes  of  style  required  by  European  fash- 
ions, preserving  the  cosmopolitan  character 
which  is  the  chaiacteristic  feature  of  the 
fabrics  of  this  age. 

The  third  great  fact  indicative  of  progress 
is  the  diminished  consumption  of  foreign 
fabrics.  In  1860  we  imported  in  manufactures 
of.  wool,  $37,937,190.  In  1878,  with  a  popula- 
tion increased  at  the  lowest  estimate  not  less 
than  12,000,000,  we  imported  a  value  of  S2.5,- 
230,154,  a  decline  owing  in  part  to  commercial 
inactivity,  but  mainly  to  our  increased  capac- 
ity to  supply  onr  own  consumption.  The  di- 
minished importations  in  certain  classes,  even 
in  later  periods,  are  remarkable.  Even  so  late 
as  1872  the  value  of  our  importations  of  ear- 
pets  was  $5,727,183.  In  1878  the  value  of  the 
importation  was  but  $308,389.  Our  principal 
import  is  in  dress  goods,  chiefly  for  wealthy 
consumers,  amounting  last  year  to  $12,000,- 
000,  though  diminished  $8,000,000  since  1872. 
This  is  the  youngest  branch  of  our  wool  man- 
ufacture, and  presents  the  field  in  which  the 
next  victories  over  our  foreign  rivals  are  to 
be  won. 

In  1872  about  five  and  a  half  million  yards 
of  carpets  were  im])orted  into  this  country;  in 
1878  only  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand 
yards.  We  are  making  to-day  six  million 
more  yards  of  carpets  than  we  were  1872,  and 
of  a  quality  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  for- 
eign carpets.  It  has  often  Ijeen  asserted  that 
in  Philadelphia  'more  j'ards  of  carpets  were 
manufactured  tlian  in  the  whole  of  Great 
Britain.  According  to  the  latest  statistics 
before  us,  it  is  now  manufacturing  fully  twen- 
ty million  yards  of  all  kinds  of  carpets  annu- 
ally. The  latest  published  statistics  of  the 
exports  of  the  United  Kingdom  for  the  year 
1878,  are  six  million  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  yards.  Allowing  the  same  quantity 
for  their  own  home  consumption,  it  gave 
Great  Britain  a  producing  capacity  in  1878  of 
thirteen  million  five  hundred  thousand  yards, 
while  the  city  of  Brotherly  Love  has  an  annual 
production  of  twenty  millions.  The  Eastern 
States  will  swell  the  total  to  thirty  million  an- 
nually, showing  that  we  manufacture  and  sell 
more  than  twice  as  many  yards  of  carpets  as 
the  whole  United  Kingdom  manufactured  and 
sold  in  1878.  While  these  statements  might 
appear  incredible,  they  are,  nevertheless, facts 
compiled  from  official  documents.  Endand, 
with  a  population  of  30,000.000  of  people,  and 
her  dependencies  on  which  the  sun  never  sets, 
with  400,000,000  more,  cannot,  nor  do  they, 
consume  one-half  the  quantity  of  carpets  we 
do  with  a  population  scarcely  one-tenth  in 
number. 


OUR  GRAIN  CAPACITY. 

A  Chicago  journal  says :  Tlie  statement 
frequently  made  of  late,  that  Western  farming 
lands  are  becoming  exhausted  by  constant 
cultivation,  etc.,  is  easily  answered.  It  was 
long  ago  demonstrated  that  by  rotation  of 
crops,  an  occasional  deep  plowing  and  crop- 
ping with  clover  once  in  eight  or  ten  years, 
the  original  fertility  of  the  soil  is  not  only 
preserved,  but  increased.  The  crops  for  the 
years  1877, 1878  and  1879  are  the  largest  ever 
harvested,  and  this  is  true  of  the  oldest  as 
well  as  the  newest  cultivated  land.  The 
officers  of  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment estimatp  that  when  the  level  lands  now 
in  cultivation  in  Illinois  are  tile  drained,  the 
total  average  production  of  the  entire  State 
will  increase  something  over  thirty  per  cent. 
That  work  has  begun  in  earnest,  and  is  now 
being  pushed  forward  rapidly. 

The  surface  soil  of  the  Illinois  prairies  is 
composed  largely  of  vegetable  loam,  strongly 
impregnated  with  lime;  it  absorbs  from  the 
atmosphere  readily  ammonia  and  other  fer- 
tilizing properties,  and  is  so  deep  that  fresh 
fertile  soil  may  be  thrown  up  from  any  depth 
at  which  it  is  possible  to  plow.    There  are  no 


stones  in  the  ground;  hence  the  plowing  is 
comparatively  easy  and  costs  the  farmer  Ijut 
little.  When  the  land  becomes  so  valuable 
that  owners  can  afford  to  bear  the  expense  of 
enriching  it  with  fertilizers,  the  yield  of  crops 
will  be  greater  of  course,  but  until  that  time 
comes,  the  production  will  be  increased  very 
largely  by  other  agencies. 

The  Illinois  wheat  crop  of  1879  is  the 
largest,  and  largest  average  per  acre  ever 
grown  in  the  State,  being  45,714,661  bushels, 
against  33,883,399  in  1878,  32,490,556  in  1877, 
and  33,371,173  in  1864— the  three  largest  pre- 
ceding crops.  It  is  claimed  by  some,  especi- 
ally the  advocates  of  greenbacks  ad  libitum, 
that  the  farmers  are  making  very  little  net 
profit,  because  of  the  low  prices  lecoived  for 
products,  and  instance  that,  although  the 
Illinois  wheat  crop  of  1879  is  17,000,000 
bushels  greater  than  that  of  1867,  the  smaller 
crop  had  a  greater  money  value  by  some  $12,- 
000,000.  How  little  there  is  in  such  a  claim 
is  easily  understood  when  it  is  considered 
that  in  1867  everything  the  farmer  had  to  ))uy 
was  from  100  to  300  per  cent,  higher;  that  the 
price  paid  for  labor  was  fully  double,  and  that 
freight  rates  were  more  than  twice  as  higli ; 
for  instance,  in  1867  grain  freights  from,  say 
Lincoln,  111.,  to  Chicago,  were  28  cents  per 
hundred,  now  they  are  little  more  than  one- 
third  as  much. 

Even  as  late  as  1871  lumber  from  Cliicago 
to  Kansas  City  was  $100  per  car,  now  $40 
would  be  regarded  an  outside  rate;  grain 
from  Kansas  City  to  the  Atlantic  was  $1.05, 
now  it  is  only  from  33  to  35  cents  per  hundred. 
The  carelessness  and  extravagance  of  those 
times  added  immensely  to  the  cost  of  living, 
and,  taking  all  the  facts  into  account,  it  will 
be  readily  conceded  that  $1  has  as  great  a 
value  to  the  people  now  as  $2.50  did  then,  but 
even  at  the  rate  of  two  to  one,  which  is  cer- 
tainly far  mider  the  mark,  the  practical  value 
of  the  wheat  crop  of  1879  is  $78,861,278,  as 
compared  with  $55,160,000  for  1807.  The 
same  rules  that  apply  to  the  wheat  are  equally 
applicable  to  all  other  crops. 

An  important  element  to  be  considered  in 
estimating  future  production  is  the  financial 
condition  of  the  State  and  the  local  govern- 
ment of  localities  from  which  the  increase  is 
anticipated.  It  is  important  to  know  whether 
the  people,  the  producers,  ai-e  now,  or  are 
likely  to  be,  loaded  with  taxation  whicli  will 
paralyze  their  eflbrts  and  retard  necessary 
public  improvements,  or  wliether  their  condi- 
tion is  such  as  will  favor  the  making  of  needed 
expenditures  and  a  liberal  development  of 
their  resources.  The  farmers  in  these  States 
have,  as  a  class,  accumulated  wealth  very 
rapidly;  perhaps  more  so  than  any  large  agri- 
cultural community  ever  had  before,  and,  as 
a  natural  consequence,  much  of  extravagance 
and  local  abuse  of  credit  has  followed,  but  at 
the  same  time  the  financial  afflairs  of  the 
States  and  corporate  subdivisions  have,  in  the 
main,  been  well  cared  for,  and  are  now,  as  a 
whole,  in  good  condition;  and  there  is  but 
little  taxation  except  in  cities. 

So  far  as  the  capacity  of  this  country  to 
produce  grain  and  provisions  in  large  quanti- 
ties and  deliver  them  cheaply  at  the  sea-board 
is  concerned,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that 
the  past  was  little  more  than  preparatory  to 
the  future. 

GEESE. 

And  Something  About  Them. 
A  farmhouse  looks  rather  incomplete  with- 
out its  usual  surroundings  of  poultry  in  the 
background,  and  nice  well-kept  poultry  are 
rather  iin  ornament  than  otherwise,  and  a 
variety  is  the  charm,  adding  beauty  and  utility 
to  the  surroundings.  None  of  our  domestic 
birds  arc  more  hardy  than  the  goose.  They 
are  thoroughly  aquatic  birds,  yet  they  will 
thrive  with  only  water  sufficient  to  drink. 
The  goose  will  endure  almost  any  amount  of 
cold  without  sufl'ering,  and  subsist  on  coarse 
diet  such  as  hay,  frost-bitten  grass  and  dis- 
carded vegetation,  without  injury,  whereas 
our  hens  and  chicks  would  perish.    Still  it  is 


better  to  allow  them  some  shelter  from  the 
winter's  severity  and  driving  storms,  and  to 
give  a  handful  of  corn  each  daily.  In  summer 
they  will  take  care  of  themselves,  and  should 
be  allowed  some  waste  place  on  the  farm— an 
unclaimed  swamp  or  boggy  marsh.  In  these 
places  tlie  grass  springs  up  early  in  the  season, 
and  is  fresh  and  lender— just  the  food  desira- 
ble for  young  goslings.  Goslings  do  not  re- 
quire much  feeding  if  taken  from  the  nest 
early  in  the  season,  while  the  grass  is  sweet 
and  nourishing.  They,  however,  need  a  lit- 
tle start  with  unsifted  meal,  moistened  with 
water,  adding  a  little  salt.  Goslings  make 
rapid  growth,  and  consequently  are  weak  and  . 
require  protection  from  pelting  storms.  A 
hard  .shower  will  destroy  a  whole  brood  of  a 
month  or  six  weeks'  growth,  simply  from  the 
beating  of  the  rain  on  their  uncovered  backs. 
The  wing  feathers  are  slow  in  coming,  and 
when  once  fully  matured,  entirely  cover  the 
back,  the  tenderest  part  of  the  goose. 

From  their  peculiar  habits,  which  lead  them 
to  inhabit  places  that  are  more  or  less  subject 
to  accidents,  from  the  vermin  whicli  infest 
such  grounds,  they  (especially  the  young)  are 
exposed  to  much  danger,  and  liable  to  injury, 
if  not  total  extermination,  by  those  enemies. 
If  the  birds  are  allowed  to  frequent  a  pond  of 
water,  the  sna.pping-turtle  also  dwells  there, 
and  lurks  beneath  the  smooth  surface  of  the 
water,  occasionally  thrusting  a  head  above. 
The  unsuspecting  goslings  launch  on  the  ele- 
ment which  they  are  so  well  fitted  by  nature 
to  navigate,  and  immediately,  ten  chances  to 
one,  a  bird  is  seized  by  the  leg, which  iseitlicr 
broken,  or  if  the  bird  be  young  it  is  swallowed 
entire.  Many  young  are  lost  in  this  way,  the 
prey  of  lurking  enemies,  which  do  not  trouble 
the' full  grown.  In  order  to  be  entirely  suc- 
cessful with  goslings,  they  should  he  kept 
from  such  places,  and  confined  in  grassy 
places  or  iuclosures,  and  supplied  with  fresh 
water  daily.  When  limited  in  their  range, 
they  must  he  fed.  Give  them  a  coarse  kind 
of  feed,  such  as  cold,  boiled  samp,  cooked  un- 
til tender  and  salted.  They  thrive  better  on 
coarse  diet  than  do  chiekens. 

Wlien  full  grown,  if  the  feathers  be  regu- 
larly plucked  throughout  the  season,  they 
should  be  given  a  trough  of  water  to  bathe  in. 
This  practice  of  plucking  feathers  from  the 
live  birds  may  seem  cruel,  yet  it  has  been  fol- 
lowed for  many  years,  and  will  continue  to  be, 
so  long  as  people  enjoy  the  luxury  of  feather 
beds.  If  done  by  an  expert,  and  at  a  certain 
time,  when  the  shaft  is  fully  ripened,  tlie 
plucking  is  rendered  easy  for  both.  The  breast 
feathers  are  the  principal  ones  desired,  and 
tliese,  on  our  common  gray  geese,  come  read- 
ily. If  allowed  to  remain  tliey  will  fall  off, 
and  thus  be  lost.  Do  not  pluck  the  feathers 
under  the  wings,  or  many  of  those  coarse 
ones  growing  on  the  thighs  They  are  of 
small  value,  yet  afford  a  support  for  the  wings. 
In  wrencliing  away  the  quills,  draw  only  the 
primaries  and  leave  the  secondaries,  as  they 
cover  the  back,  while  the  former  fold  under. 
Where  there  is  any  wild  blood  intermixed, 
the  feathers  come  liarder.  As  there  is  always 
a  certain  knowledge  to  be  acquired  in  the  per- 
formance of  any  labor,  so  also  is  there  a 
method  in  picking  geese.  Confine  the  bird's 
legs,  protect  the  beak  (as  some  birds  will  bite) 
by  drawing  a  stocking  over  and  down  the 
neck,  lay  the  bird  on  the  back  across  your  lap, 
witli  the  legs  and  tail  under  the  left  arm,  and 
witli  tlie  riijlit  forefinger  and  tliumb  proceed 
to  the  cruel  business.  If  every  one  who  now 
nightly  occupies  a  feather  bed  were  obliged  to 
pluck  each  feather  one  be  one  from  the  breast 
of  a  live  goose  or  gander,  feather  beds  would 
be  few  and  far  between^  Any  one  who  lias 
once  i)lucked  a  Wvc  old  gander,  or  even  a 
odose.  has  had  occasion  perhaps  to  arrive  at 
some  approximate  idea  of  the  amount  of 
strength  they  possess,  more  especially  if  a 
blow  be  received  from  the  wings.  The  better 
way  for  tender-hearted  and  sensitive  beings  is 
to  rear  a  large  brood  of  goslings  and  slaughter 
tliem  in  the  fall,  and  be  satisfied  with  feathei- 
beds  from  young  geese  picked  after  death.— 
C.  B.  in  County  Genllevian. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


183 


REMEDY  FOR  DIPHTHERIA. 

Impkrial  Kussian  Legation,     1 
Washington,  Nov.  16,  1879,  | 

III  view  of  llie  increasp  of  fliphtlicria  in 
several  places  of  the  State  of  New  York,  I 
hasten  to  communicate  to  you  for  publicity  a 
very  simple  remedy,  which,  having  been  used 
in  Russia  and  Germany,  may  prove  edective 
here.  Out  of  several  others,  i)r.  Letzerich, 
who  made  extensive  experiments  by  the  appli- 
cation of  this  reme<ly,  li:is  used  it  in  twenty- 
seven  cases,  eight  of  which  were  of  a  very 
serious  nature,  all  of  which  had  a  favorable 
result  except  in  one  case,  when  the  child  died 
■  from  a  eomplication  of  diseases.  For  chil- 
dren he  prescribes  the  remedy,  for  internal 
use  eveiy  one  or  two  hours,  as  follows  : 

Nath.  licii/oic.  pur.  .">  0  solv.  in  aq.  di.stillat 
a(i.  nienth.  |iipcr.  ana  40  Osyr.  cort.  aur.  10  0. 

For  children  from  one  to  three  years  old  he 
prescribed  it  from  seven  to  eight  grammes  for 
mu  grammes  of  distilled  water,  with  same 
syru]);  for  children  from  3  to  7  years  old  he 
prescribed  ten  to  (ifteen  grammes,  and  for 
grown  persons  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
grammes  for  each  100  grammes. 

Besides  this  he  uses  also  with  great  success 
the  insufflation  on  the  diphtherial  membrane 
(hroiigh  a  glass  tube  in  serious  cases  every 
three  hours,  in  light  ca.ses  three  times  a  day 
of  the  uatr.  benzoic  pulver.  For  grown 
people  ho  prescribes  for  gargling  a  dilution  of 
ten  grammes  of  this  pulver  for  200  grammes 
of  water. 

The  effect  of  the  remedy  is  rajjid.  Alter 
twenty-four  or  thirty-six  hours  the  feverish 
.symptoms  di.sai)pear  completely  and  the  tem- 
I)eraturc  and  pulse  become  moral.  This 
lemedy  was  used  also  with  the  same  success 
by  l)r.  Braham  Braum  and  Professor  Klebs, 
in  Prague;  Dr.  Senator  in  Cassel,  and  several 
other  in  Russia  and  Germany. 

Hoping  that  the  publication  through  your 
widely  spn  ad  jiaiier  will  prove  beneficial  in 
the  United  Stales,  Irema  in,  yours  very  truly, 
—F.  Sliishkin,  Minister  of  Russia  to  the  United 
States,  to  2few  York  Herald. 


THE  BEEFSTEAK  FUNGUS. 


The  Article  as  an  Edible. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  West  Chester 
Microscopical  Society,  there  was  exhibited  an 
edible  fungus,  known  to  mycologists  as  Fistu- 
iina  hepatica,  or,  where  it  is  extensively  used 
as  an  article  of  food  in  Europe,  commonly 
known  as  "  beefsteak  fungus. "  It  is  found  in 
our  woods  and  clearings  during  the  latter 
part  of  summer  and  in  early  autumn,  growing 
on  stumps  and  at  the  base  of  trees,  particu- 
larly the  chestnut,  in  some  abraded  or  decay- 
ing portions  of  the  tree.  It  grows  rapidly  in 
damp  weather;  and  on  the  authority  of 
Berkcly,  has  been  known  to  attain  to  the 
weight  of  nearly  thirty  pounds. 

When  fresh  it  is  of  "a  blood-red  color,  and 
advancing  in  age  it  bears  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  liver— hence  the  specific  name;  and 
the  term  "liver  steak"  is  sometimes  employed 
as  a  designation.  When  cooked  in  the  ordi- 
nary way  of  treating  the  common  mushroom, 
the  taste  is  very  similar  to  the  latter,  although 
toughness  (not  a  very  connncndable  charac- 
teristic) might  be  mentioned  as  one  of  its 
qualities.  A  transverse  section  of  the  plant 
being  shown,  exhibited  a  streaked  appearance 
not  unfrequently  observable  in  beefsteak. 

By  reference  to  the  fourth  volume  of  Cham- 
bers's Encyclopedia,  under  the  head  of  Fistu- 
lina,  this  plant  is  well-figured.  The  writer 
observes:  "This  fungus  is  much  esteemed  in 
some  parts  of  Europe  as  an  esculent;  it  is 
wholesome  and  nutritious,  and  tlieabuiulance 
in  which  il  may  often  be  procured  UKikes  it 
the  more  worthy  of  regard,  whilst  tlicre  is  al- 
most no  possibility  of  confounding  it  with  any 
dangerous  finigus.  Its  taste  resembles  that 
of  the  common  mushroom,  but  is  rather  more 
acid.  When  grilled  it  is  scarcely  to  be  distin- 
guished from  broiled  meat.  It  furnishes  itself 
with  abundance  of  sauce." 


OATMEAL. 

Its  Value  as  an  Article  of  Food. 
(Mmeal  is  a  food  of  great  strength  and 
nutrition,  having  claims  to  be  better  known 
and  more  widely  used  than  it  is  at  present. 
Of  much  service  as  a  brain  food,  it  contains 
phosphorus  enough  to  keep  a  man  doing  an 
ordinary  amount  of  brain-work  in  good  health 
and  vigor.  Ali  medical  authorities  unite  in 
the  opinion  that,  eaten  with  milk  it  is  a 
perfect  food,  and,  having  all  requisites  for  the 
development  of  the  system,  it  is  a  pre-emi- 
nently useful  food  for  growing  children  and 
the  young  generally.  Oatmeal  requires  much 
cooking  to  effectually  burst  its  starch-shells, 
but  when  it  is  well"  cooked  it  will  thicken 
liquid  much  more  than  equal  its  weight  in 
wheaten  flour.  The  oats  of  this  countl-y  are 
superior  to  those  grown  on  the  Continent  and 
the  southern  part  of  England,  but  certainly 
inferior  to  the  Scotch,  where  considerable 
pains  is  taken  to  cultivate  them,  and  it  is 
needless  .to  point  out  that  the  Scotch  are  an 
example  of  a  strong  and  thoroughly  robust 
nation,  which  result  is  justly  set  down  as 
being  derived  from  the  plentiful  use  of  oat- 
meal. IJr.  Guthrie  has  asserted  that  his 
countrymen  have  the  largest  heads  of  any 
nation  in  the  world— not  even  the  English 
have  sucli  large  heads— which  he  attributes  to 
the  universal  use  of  oatmeal,  as  universal  it 
is,  being  found  alike  on  the  tables  of  the  rich 
and  on  the  tables  of  the  poor— in  the  morning 
the  porridge  and  in  the  evening  the  tradition- 
al cake.  The  two  principal  ways  of  cooking 
oatmeal  are  iiorridge  and  cake  (bannock) 
which  I  will  describe,  and  also  .some  other 
modes  of  cooking,  in  order  to  afford  an  agree- 
able variety  of  dishes:  First,  then,  we  will 
commence  with  a  recipe  for  poiTidge.  To 
three  pints  of  boiling  water  add  a  level 
teaspoonf  ul  of  salt  and  a  pint  of  coarse  meal 
stirring  while  it  is  being  slowly  poured  in; 
continue  stirring  until  the  meal  is  diffused 
through  the  water— about  eight  or  ten 
minutes.  Cover  it  closely  then,  and  place  it 
where  it  will  simmer  for  kn  hour;  avoid  stir- 
ring during  the  whole  of  that  time.  Serve  hot, 
with  as  little  messing  as  possible,  accompan- 
ied with  milk,  maple  syrup  or  sugar  and 
cream.  To  make  oatmeal  cake,  place  in  a 
bowl  a  quart  of  meal,  add  to  it  as  much  cold 
water  as  will  form  it  into  a  soft,  liaht  dough, 
cover  it  with  a  cloth  fifteen  minutes  to  allow 
it  to  swell,  then  dust  the  paste-board  with 
meal,  turn  out  the  dough  and  give  it  a  vigor- 
ous kneading.  Cover  if;  with  the  cloth  a  few 
minutes,  and  proceed  at  once  to  roll  it  out  to 
an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  thickness;  cut  it  in 
five  pieces  and  partly  cook  them  on  a  griddle, 
then  finish  them  by  toasting  in  front  of  the 
fire. 

ICE-HOUSES. 

And  How  to  Build  Them. 

An  ice-hon.se  simply  to  keep  ice  in  for  sum- 
mer use  may  be  a  very  simple  affair.  If  straw 
is  used  for  filling,  the  walls  should  he  at  least 
two  feet  apart.  The  interstices  .should  be 
packed  tightly  whatever  the  material  used. 
Straw  is  one  of  the  poorest  non-conductors, 
easily  obtained,  and  sawdust  one  of  the  best. 
If  tan  bark  is  used,  from  oen  to  twelve  inch 
space  between  the  walls  are  left  to  be  filled. 

Two  by  four  inch  scantling  are  securely 
fastened  by  bed  pieces  in  two  regular  lines, 
and  about  two  feet  apart,  and  of  the  required 
distance  asunder  required  for  the  filling  ma- 
terial. To  these,  rough  boards  are  securely 
nailed.  A  house  twelve  feet  square  and 
twelve  feet  liigh  will  hold  plenty  of  ice  for 
family  use,  and  for  an  ordinary  family  dairy. 
No  ventilation  is  required  except  at  the  top, 
over  the  ice.  The  i-oof  may  be  of  boards  and 
the  gables  may  be  of  the  same,  with  a  window 
at  each  end  for  ventilation.  Doors  must  be 
made  at  one  end  of  the  sides  or  end 
to  allow  the  ice  to  be  luit  in,  and  afterward  be  j 
closed  and  filled  with  tan  bark.  The  bottom  i 
must  )ye  provided  with  jjerfect  drainage  to  j 
allow  the  water  from  the  melting  ice  to  pass  [ 


away.  The  first  course  of  ice  may  be  laid  on 
boards,  loosely  laid  on  beams,  i)laced  closely 
enough  together  to  prevent  sagging.  Pack 
the  ice  in  i)erfcctly  square  cakes,  as  closely  to- 
gether as  possible,  even  with  the  plates. 
Cover  with  eighteen  inches  of  slough  hay,  or 
twelve  inches  of  fine  wood  shavings,  and  the 
ice  should  keep  i)erfectly.  Have  no  part  of 
the  ice-house  underground.  Any  competent 
carpenter  should  be  able  to  build  it.-  If  a 
cooling  room  is  required  under  the  ice,  it  will 
be  altogether  better  to  apply  to  an  architect, 
.since  it  will  involve  a  very  strong  and  sub- 
stantial building,  with  scientific  ventilation 
that  cannot  be  well  explained  in  the  limits  of 
a  newspaper  article.  In  fact,  except  a  rough 
building  such  as  we  have  described  is  to  be 
.built,  and  such  a  one  will  keep  ice  as  well  as 
the  best,  the  work  must  be  undertaken  by  a 
professional  builder.  A  roimli  ice-house  may 
be  built  by  any  one  who  can  lay  a  foundation 
S(piare,  ))uild  vertical  sides,  saw  boards 
square,  and  drive  nails.  For  dairying  or  farm 
use  we  do  not  advise  an  expensive  building, 
with  cooling  room  underneath.  An  ample 
refrigerator,  according  to  the  quantity  of 
goods  required  to  be  kci>tcool,  may  be  cheaply 
built,  and  tem)>eraturc  kept  down,  by  the  use 
of  ice  from  the  ice-house.  In  answer  to  your 
question  as  to  the  proper  dejith  at  which 
water  pipes  are  to  be  laid  to  prevent  freezing, 
three  feet  will  do,  but  three  and  a  half  feet 
deep  will  do  better.  Dig  the  ditch  in  which 
the  pipes  are  to  be  laid,  with  vertical  sides, 
and  as  narrow  as  possible,  and  pound  the 
earth  firmly,  when  it  is  filled  up. 

THE  DUTY  OF  OUR  FARMERS. 

We  have  repeatedly  directed  the  attention 
of  farmers  to  the  imperative  necessity  of  ex- 
ercising extreme  caution  to  prevent  the 
spread  of  the  disease  known  as  pl-uro-pneu- 
mouia  among  the  cattle  of  this  country.  But 
circum.stances  have  cojne  to  our  knowledge 
which  impress  us  still  more  of  the  importance 
of  bringing  this  matter  before  our  farmers. 
Pleuro-pneumonia  is  one  of  the  most  conta- 
gious of  diseases,  and  such  being  the  case, 
the  great  importance  of  keeping  infected 
members  of  a  herd  completely  isolated  is  too 
apparent  for  further  argument.  Isolation 
and  the  killing  of  such  as  have  reached  the 
incurable  stage  of  the  disease  have  been 
found  to  be  the  only  means  of  safety.  This 
fact  has  again  and  again  been  imjiressed  upon 
the  public  by  Secretary  Edge,  of  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture,  and  it  cannot  be  too 
often  reiterated. 

It  has  come  to  our  knowledge  that,  instead 
of  diminishing,  this  dreaded  disease  is  likely 
to  increase  in  the  lower  end  of  this  county. 
There  has  been  in  Colerain  township  for 
quite  a  time  an  infected  herd  of  cattle 
belonging  to  Mr.  Jas.  F.  Turner.  The  most 
effectual  measures  have  been  adopted  by  the 
State  authorities  to  stamp  it  out  on  the  very 
farm  where  it  first  developed  itself,  and  there 
was  every  reason  to  believe  the  efforts  adopted 
would  prove  successful.  Some  time  aa:o, 
however,  two  farmers,  neiahlxus  to  the  owner 
of  the  diseased  herd,  had  the  misfortune  to 
have  their  dairy,  of  some  thirtv  cows,  get 
into  the  meadow  where  the  infected  cattle 
were  grazing,  and  now  they  have  lost  the  first 
cow  from  the  disease,  and  in  all  probability 
have  an  infected  herd,  which  mav  crive  no 
little  trouble,  and  cause  no  little  lo.s's  before  it 
is  finally  stamped  out.  No  less  than  three  of 
Mr.  Turner's  neighbors  now  have  the  disease 
on  their  farm.s.  This  may  not  be  due  to  care- 
lessness, but  it  may  be"  a  want  of  proper 
caution.  Indeed,  there  seems  to  be  no  other 
way  of  accounting  for  the  spread  of  the  dis- 
ease in  Mr.  Tumer's  neighborhood.  In 
Montgomery  county  an  entire  herd  has  been 
lost  by  the  introduction  of  the  disease  by 
moans  of  a  cow  bought  at  a  Philadelphia 
stock  yard,  and  which  was  coughing  at  the 
time  of  purchase. 

'  All  these  facts  go  to  show  that  nothing  but 
the  utmost  vigilance  can  prevent  the  intro- 
duction of  the  disease  toother  herds,  in  tha 
neighborhood .  of   an    infected    one.     Cattle 


184 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[December, 


sliould  be  kept  as  far  from  the  diseased  herds 
as  possible.  Under  no  circumstances  ought 
healthy  cattle  be  allowed  to  graze  in  fields  or 
roads  where  diseased  ones  have  been  feeding. 
It  is  true  that  the  State  authorities  have  been 
very  vigilant  in  the  matter  and  have  succeeded 
in  keeping  the  disease  in  check,  but  unless 
their  hands  are  strengthened  and  they  have 
the  active  co-operation  of  farmers  themselves, 
their  efforts  must  prove  comparatively  futile. 
It  is  to  the  inter,  st  of  farmers  to  immediately 
report  manifestations  of  the  disease.  A  time- 
ly effort  may  save  the  animal  attacked. 
Should  it  be  a  very  valuable  one  the  farmer's 
pocket  is  at  once  nearly  concerned.  If  it 
becomes  necessary  to  kill  infected  cattle  the 
State  becomes  responsible  for  the  value  of  the 
destroyed  ones,  wJiereas  it  takes  no  note  of 
those  that  die  without  having  been  reported 
to  the  authorities.  The  State  is  willing  to  do 
its  utmost  in  fifbnishing  gratuitously  veteri- 
nary aid  and  in  paying  for  the  cattle  it  kills, 
but  it  demands  co-operation  from  its  citizens 
besides.  Unless  this  is  freely  extended,  its 
most  strenuous  efforts  will  be  ineffectual  to 
battle  with  this  enemy.  There  should  be  no 
temporizing,  no  waiting  to  see  how  things 
will  t  um  out,  no  reliance  on  doubtful  reme- 
dies, Init  an  immediate  report  to  headquar- 
ters, and  the  employment  of  the  measures 
recommended  from  thence. 

THE  INTELLIGENT  FARMER. 

The  innumerable  articles  which  appear  con- 
tinually on  "  How  to  make  the  farm  pay"  are 
enough  to  make  a  horse  sick.  People  should 
know  by  this  time  that  fortunes  do  not  grow, 
but  are  made.  Once  in  a  while  one  may  stum- 
ble over  a  fortune,  as  lighting  strikes  a  tree; 
but  these  are  providential  occurrences  and  arc 
not  in  the  everyday  hands  of  man.  A  man 
may  have  the  most  fertile  soil  and  raise  the 
biggest  kind  of  crops;  but  if  he  has  not  brains 
enough  to  know  how-to  go  about  selling  what 
he  has  to  the  best  Advantage,  somebody  else 
will  reap  the  best  profit,  not  he.  Or  he  may 
have  the  best  knowledge  in  the  world  as  to 
where  the  best  market  is,  and  the  best  knack 
of  finding  out  who  will  give  the  best  prices; 
but  if  he  has  no  judgment  as  to  what  crops  to 
raise,  or  how  to  grow  them,  he  does  not  get 
along.  How  to  make  the  farm  pay  is  alto- 
gether a  matter  of  brains  It  is  no  more  of  a 
practical  question  than  how  to  make  the  mill 
pay,  or  how  to  make  the  store  pay.  Not  more 
than  half  the  men  in  the  world  have  any 
brains  to  spare.  The  other  half  have  more 
than  they  need.  They  spare  a  little  for  those 
that  are  short,  but  charge  a  big  interest  for 
the  use  thereof. 

A  piece  of  public  work  is  to  be  done,  and 
here  are  a  hundred  men  to  do  the  work,  but 
ninety-nine  don't  know  how  to  go  about  doing 
it.  They  can  work  when  directed,  but  who  is. 
to  direct?  The  one  steps  out  and  some  of  his 
brain  is  loaned  to  the  other  ninety-nine.  He 
makes  twenty-five  or  perhaps  fifty  cents  a  day 
on  each— clearing  twenty-flve  or  perhaps  fifty 
dollars  a  day.  This  is  the  percentage  on  the 
use  of  his  l)rains.  Without  this  the  men  could 
do  nothing.  They  could  not  earn  their  salt. 
One  dark-skinned  friend  was  not  ftir  wrong 
when  he  indignantly  denied  that  he  had 
charged  one  dollar  for  killing^the  calf.  It  was 
only  fifty  cents  for  killing— the  other  was  for 
the  "know  how." 

If  there  be  not  more  money  made  at  farm- 
ing than  there  is,  we  take  it  to  be  for  the  want 
of  spare  brains.  Brains  to  loan  out  as  capital 
to  other  men  who  have  none. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  the  popular 
saying  that  no  man  can  get  rich  by  hard  work. 
But  this  large  grain  of  truth  is  only  so  when 
it  has  to  pay  a  large  tax  to  the  brain  that  di- 
rects it.  The  employer  generally  works  harder 
than  the  one  he  employs.  After  he  works  at 
hard  manual  labor  for  years,  using  his  sui- 
plus  brains  to  make  a  little  more  than  his 
daily  need,  and  to  put  that  little  away,  and 
when  the  time  comes  to  loan  his  surplus 
brains,  he  has  to  work  early  and  late  to  keej) 
business  together;  while  the  laborer  knows 
just  when  his  work  is  done.    It  is  not  that  the 


employer  has  no  hard  work  to  do.  It  is  not 
that  he  is  making  money  by  hard  work.  He 
is  simply  making  money  by  the  loan  of  his 
brains  to  those  who  have  not  enough  of  their 
own,  or  have  not  had  time  to  lay  by  suflicient 
of  their  surplusbrain  earnings  to  loan  to  others 
in  the  same  way. 

To  make  the  farm  pay,  then,  one  must  be  a 
capitalist— have  brains  to  lend.  Yet  how 
many  ever  think  of  this  ?  By  one's  own  per- 
sonal labor,  a  boy  or  man,  or  half  a  dozen 
horses  only,  how  can  one  make  much.?  We 
never  could  see  why  a  farm  might  not  be  car- 
ried on  as  any  other  business  is— by  the  em- 
ployment of  large  numbers  of  men  who  luive 
no  idea  how  to  manage  themselves;  or,  what 
is  the  same  thing,  the  larger  use  of  machinery 
so  as  to  do  farming  work  on  a  large  scale. 

This  is  the  basis  of  all  the  fortunes  that  are 
made.  There  is  no  other  regular  way  to 
make  them.  We  see  perhaps  a  solitary  man 
standing  in  his  little  office  in  a  crowded  city, 
handling  bits  of  paper  in  some  commercial 
transaction,  employing  no  one.  But  he  really 
has  hundreds  of  men  in  the  background  pay- 
ing their  little  tributes  of  a  few  cents  only 
perhaps  for  the  use  of  his  brains,  doing  for 
them  what  they  are  unable  to  do  for  them- 
selves. 

And  we  are  quite  sure  that  those  farmers 
who  have  made  most  money  from  their  call- 
ings are  tliose  who  have  employed  the  most 
men,  not  recklessly  and  foolishly,  but  wisely 
and  well.  Business— the  farming  business 
included— is  not  a  mere  chance  game.  It  is 
an  art — an  art  like  the  art  of  war;  and  as  in 
war,  Providence  generally  smiles  on  the  heav- 
iest battalions.  We  want  first  a  general  witli 
an  abundance  of  brains;  then  the  more  men 
he  has  to  loan  them  to  the  better  for  his  cause. 
— Germantown  Telegraph. 

HOW  TO  COOK  CHEESE. 


The  first  one,  the  best  known,  the  most  eas- 
ily made,  is  stewed  cheese.  You  remember 
that  in  the  well-known  Welsh  rarebit,  fresh 
cheese  is  cut  into  slices,  put  upon  buttered 
toast  and  laid  in  a  cheese  toaster  until  it  is 
melted.  But  if  this  plan  were  followed  with 
cheese  that  was  beginning  to  get  dry  it  would 
not  melt  easily,  and  therefore  cheese  of  this 
sort  is  better  to  be  stewed.  For  this  it  should 
be  cut  into  thin  slices  and  put  into  a  saucepan 
with  a  little  old  ale,  then  stirred  over  the  fire 
until  it  is  melted.  The  saucepan  should  then 
be  taken  off  the  fire  for  half  a  minute,  and 
supposing  there  is  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of 
cheese,  the  yolk  of  one  egg  beaten  up  with 
half  a  teaspoouful  of  mustard  and  a  little 
cayeupc  pepper  should  be  stirred  into  the  mix- 
ture, first  off  the  fire  and  then  on  the  fire  for 
about  two  minutes.  The  preparation  should 
then  be  turned  into  a  very  hot  dish  and  served 
as  hot  as  possible,  little  three-cornered  ineces' 
of  dry  toast  being  stuck  into  it  here  and  there. 
If  the  cheese  is  not  very  rich  a  little  butter 
may  be  put  into  it,  and  will  help  to  soften  it. 
I  can  assure  you  that  very  many  people  would 
highly  appreciate  cheese  served  in  this  way, 
but  I  am  bound  to  tell  you  also  that  it  is  one 
of  the  most  indigestible  of  all  dishes. 

Macaroni  cheese,  always  so  much  liked  by 
gentlemen,  is  much  more  wholesome.  For 
this  grate  the  cheese  as  you  would  grate  nut- 
meg, only  on  a  coarser  grater,  and  take  two 
ounces,  weighed  after  it  is  grated  with  a  little 
pepper  and  salt.  Wash  half  a  pound  of  Naples 
macaroni,  break  it  up,  throw  it  into  boiling 
water  with  a  lump  of  butter  in  it,  and  boil  it 
till  it  is  perfectly  tender,  but  firm  and  'not  at 
all  broken.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the 
commoner  the  macaroni  the  more  quickly  will 
it  be  done.  The  best  will  take  about  half  an 
hour  to  boil.  When  tender  drain  it  dry;  melt 
an  once  of  butter  in  a  stewpan,  mix  with  it 
over  the  fire  an  ounce  of  flovu-  to  make  a  smooth 
paste.  This  paste  .should  be  made  smooth 
with  the  back  of  a  wooden  spoon.  Add  half 
a  pint  of  cold  milk  and  stir  the  sauce  till  it 
boils.    Season  it  with  salt  and  pepper  and  a 


pinch  of  cayenne  if  liked,  or  half  a  teaspoouful 
of  mustard  may  be  mixed  with  it;  add  half 
the  grated  cheese  and  the  macaroni  drained 
dry."  Turn  it  upon  a  hot  dish,  sprinkle  the 
rest  of  the  cheese  over  it,  and  brown  the  top 
in  front  of  the  fire.  Serve  the  preparation 
very  hot.  The  best  way  to  brown  the  top  is 
to  hold  a  red-hot  salamander  over  it  for  a 
minute  or  two;  that  does  the  business  both 
(piickly  and  well;  the  only  difficulty  is  thai  it 
is  not  every  one  who  possesses  a  salamander; 
but  an  old  iron  fire  shovel  will  answer  the 
same  purpose,  and  most  people  have  that. 
All  that  is  necessary  is  to  make  it  thoroughly 
hot  and  hold  it  over  the  macaroni,  moving  it 
about  so  that  the  surface  may  be  equally  col- 
ored. I  can  assure  you  that  if  it  is  nicely 
made  the  macaroni  cheese  is  sure  to  find  favor. 
But  now  I  must  tell  you  of  another  excellent 
dish  to  be  made  with  grated  cheese,  and  that 
is  cheux-fleur  au  gratin.  It  makes  a  capital 
dish  for  supper  or  luncheon,  and  is  inexpen- 
sive. It  can  be  made  of  a  whole  cauliflower, 
or,  if  preferred,  the  sprigs  only  of  one  or  two 
vegetables  can  be  used. 

When  it  is  well  managed  the  cauliflower  kept 
whole  looks  the  best.  It  is,  however,  rather 
difficult  to  keep  it  compact,  and  when  it  is 
straggling  all  over  the  dish,  it  does  not  look 
very  tidy.  In  order  to  avoid  this,  however, 
it  is  only  necessary  that  the  cook,  just  before 
she  pours  the  sauce  over  it,  should  squeeze 
it  together  with  a  clean  cloth  held  in  both 
hands.  For  the  sauce  procure  a  moderate 
sized  cauliflower,  close  and  white.  I  need  not 
say, be  careful  that  there  are  no  caterpillars  in 
it.  Cut  the  stalk  quite  close  and  trim  away 
the  outer  withered  leaves.  Put  it  head  down- 
ward into  a  large  saucepan,  with  plenty  of 
fast-boiling  water,  slightly  salted,  and  let  it 
boil  until  it  is  tender.  It  will  take  from  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  to  twenty  minutes.  If  it 
turns  over  in  the  water,  as  it  is  very  apt  to 
do,  it  mu.st  be  turned  back  again  with  a  fork, 
for  the  flowers  will  be  whiter  if  they  are  kept 
well  under  water.  Care  must  be  taken,  too, 
to  remove  any  scum  that  rises.  When  the 
centre  of  the  flower  yields  readily  to  pressure, 
it  is  done.  Take  it  up  carefully  with  a  slice 
and  drain  it  on  a  sieve.  But  while  it  was 
boiling  the  sauce  should  have  been  prepared. 
You  will  need  two  ounces  of  grated  cheese, 
grated  as  for  the  macaroni,  half  an  ounce  of 
butter,  an  ounce  of  flour,  a  quarter  of  a  pint 
of  cold  water,  a  tablespoonf  ul  of  cream,  and 
as  much  r-aveniie  ppjiiier  as  would  barely  cover  . 
the  (lat  siu'ihce  of  :i,  split  pea.  Put  the  butter 
and  tlie  llour  iiilo  ;i  small  stew-pan  and  mix 
them  thoi-uu.nlily.  (ilitlie  fire,  with  the  back  of 
a  wooden  spoon.  Add  a  quarter  of  a  pint  of 
cold  water  and  stir  the  sauce  over  the  fire  till 
it  is  thick  and  quite  smooth;  then  add  the 
cream  and  the  cayenne  and  a  pinch  of  salt. 
When  the  cauliflower  is  done  enough  to  take 
it  up,  cut  off  the  outside  green  leaves,  place  it 
on  the  dish  on  which  it  is  to  be  served,  and 
squeeze  it  together,  as  I  said  before,  with  a 
cloth  held  in  both  hands.  Stir  half  the  cheese 
into  the  sauce,  and  then  pour  it  gently  over 
the  flour.  Sprinkle  the  remainder  of  the 
chi'esr  (i\.r  til.-  t<<\)  and  brown  it  as  the  maca- 
nini  was  lu-i'W  ih  il.     Surve  it  very  hot. 

Cnislaili's  iiiti\-  be  made  some  day  when 
cook  1;. IS  been  making  pastry  and  has  a  few 
trimmings  left.  The  pastry  should  be  good, 
and  should  be  rolled  out  very  thin,  after 
which  small  patty  pans  or  moulds  should  be 
lined  with  it.  Grate  two  ounces  of  Parmesan 
into  a  basin,  and  mix  with  it  an  ounce  of 
waruK'd  (but  not  oiled)  butter,  the  yolks  of 
two  and  the  white  of  one  egg,  a  saltspoonful 
of  salt  and  a  pinch  of  cayenne.  Cayenne 
should  always  be  used  with  preparations  of 
chepse.  If  the  (■ij;gs  are  small  three  yolks  will 
be  rcipiircil  instead  of  two.  Put  a  small  spoon- 
ful nf  th  '  mixture  into  the  lined  moulds,  and 
hak''  I  111'  ciiistades  in  a  moderatelj'-heated 
ovrn.  \\'li(n  tlie.\-  ai-L-  set  and  the  pastry  is 
liolitly  (•(iIiiiimI  till')  :ni'  done  enough.  Their 
apprarauci-  will  \ir  improved  if  a  single  sprig 
uf  fried  iiarsle.y  is  put  on  the  top  of  each  anil 
grated  cheese  sprinkled  over  that. 

Now  for  the  cheese    straws.    Grate    two 


79.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


185 


ounces  of  Parmesan  into  a  liowl.  Mix  tKi« 
with  a  pincliof  salt,  a  little  cayenne  ami  two 
ounces  of  tlonr,  and  rub  two  ounces  of  l>ulter 
into  the  tuixtuie.  Make  the  iui;roclients  into 
a  stiff  paste  with  the  yolk  of  one  ej;f;.  Flour 
the  iia^trv  board  and  the  roUinc;  \)\u,  and  roll 
the  past iv  out  rather  tbiMlvlill  it  isabnid  half 
a(piartcr.,tan  inch  thick.  .\>  tl,c  si  r:nvs  arc 
to  licalmut  live  iiiclics  luim  it  will  be  vv.'ll  to 
roll  tlic  pastry  to  this  widtli.  Cut  the  [lastry 
into  lingers  half  a  (luarter  of  an  inch  wide; 
lift  them  carefully  one  by  one  upon  a  buttered 
baking  sheet  and  bake  them  in  a  hot  oven. 
When  thev  are  a  pale  lirown  color  thcv  are 
done  enoul'h;  Ihevwill  take  aliont  ten  "min- 
utes. Soiuetiiiies  small  rini;s  about  the  size  of 
a  penny  piece  are  cut  out  of  the  paste  ami  six 
or  eii,'ht  straws  are  imt  throuL;li  each  nt  these, 
in  iniilali«aiof  a  bundle  of  sticks;  or  the  straws 
arc  served  piled  on  a  dish  in  transverse  rows. 
They  arc  cal.en  cold.  If  put  away  in  a  tin 
they  will  keep  awhile. 

WHISKY. 

Revenue  List  of  the    States. 

In  the  whisky  revenue  list  the  following  is 

the  percentage  of  tlie  thirteen  leading  States  : 

Illiuois 30.5H 

Ohio 21.40 

Kentucky 10.3s 

Indiana 10.0r> 

New  York t;.'.'il 

Missouri 4.ns 

Peuiisylvauia V.yo 

MaeBachusettB 'i.-i.i 

Wisconsin I  7u 

NebraeKa 1  -I'-i 

Maryland 1.41 

Teuuesaee 1.35 

California 1  O.i 


phens 

SU|l|li 


and    .Sci 


If  llepresentative  Sti 
Conklins  were  ri,<;ht  in 
place  where  wliisk>  is  made  and  the  ta.\  on  it 
is  collected  pays  the  tax,  tlic  t'orcgoinj,'  tabli- 
would  make  a  frightful  exhibition  of  some  of 
the  States.  For  the  tax  is  really  paid  by  the 
consumers.  If  Illinois,  for  instance,  pays 
more  than  thirty  per  centum  of  the  whole  tax 
it  follows  that  she  drinks  more  than  ihirty 
per  centum  of  the  whole  quantity  of  whisky 
swallowed  in  the  Unitial  States.  ITpon  this 
theory.  Illinoi.s,  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Indiana 
drink  more  than  three  times  as  much  whisky 
as  the  remaining  thirty-four  State.s.  New 
York  has  been  supposed  to  do  her  share  of 
spirituous  absorption,  Ijiit  upon  this  showing 
she  drinks  about  aljout  one  titlh  as  much  as 
Illinois,  less  than  one-third  as  much  as  Ohio, 
and  only  three-lifllis  of  the  quantity  guzzled 
by  eitlier  Kentucky  or  Indiana.  It  is  there- 
fore in  the  interest  of  the  good  character  and 
steady  standing  of  the  several  States  as  well 
as  of  economic  truth  that  Mr.  Stephens  and 
Mr.  Conkling  ought  to  revise  tlieir  notions 
on  this  subject.  Tlie  next  time  they  refer  to 
the  matter  in  Congress  let  them  remember  to 
say  that  the  New  York  toper  who  crawls  out 
at  daybreak  for  his  morning  dram,  or  the  cus- 
tomary tii>pler  who  is  seen  wiping  his  mouth 
susi)iciousiy  about  11  o'clock  in  Wall  or 
Broad  street,  or  the  man  who  evades  the 
l)iohii)ition  law  in  a  dark  closet  in  Maine, 
contributes  to  the  internal  revenue  wlienever 
he  raises  liis  glass  to  his  lips.  In  this  way 
there  will  l)e  a  fair  distribution  of  the  whisky 
as  well  as  the  tax. 

COFFEE. 

A  Coffee-field  in  Brazil. 

From  a  very  full  account  of  the  UraziHtin 
Cortce  Industiy  in  Srrihncr  for  December,  we 
take  this  description  of  the  tield-work, written 
from  personal  observation  by  Herbert  H. 
Smith: 

In  southern  Brazil,  a  colfee-field  .seldom 
lasts  more  than  thirty  years.  The  plantations 
are  made  on  the  fertile  hill-side,  where  the 
forest  has  been  growing  thick  and  strong.  But 
the  soil  here  is  never  deep— six  or  eight  inches 
of  mould  at  the  utmost.  In  the  tropics  there 
are  no  long  winters  with  mats  of  dead  vegita- 
ble  matter  rotting  under  the  snow.  The 
leaves  fall  singly,  and  dry  up  until  they  break 
into  dust;  logs  and  decaying  branches"  in  the 


shady  woods  are  carried  away  by  white  ants 
and  beetles;  hence  the  mould  bed  incre;ises 
very  slowly;  in  twenty-live  or  thirty  years, 
the  strong-growing  coli'ec-trces  eat  it  all  up 
Most  i)lanters  simply  cut  down  the  forest  and 
leave  the  trees  to  drv  in  the  sun   for  six  or 

1  eight  weeks,  when    they  are  burned.     S , 

more  providei.l.  lets  the  logs  rot  where  they 
lie.  whieh  liny  do  in  a  year  or  two;  iu  the 
open  sunlight  they  are  saved  from  in8ects,and 
the  ground  receives  a  large  accession  to  its 
strength. 

Back  of  tlic  house  there  are  two  yards  or 
small    lields,    four  acres,    perhaps,    together. 

close  together,  oiilv  leavihi;  little  patliwa\s  at 
intervals.  Kaeh  oVthe  two  hundred  tliousand 
pots  eoiitains  a  thriving  young  coffee-plant. 
The  ground  tonus  a  gentle  slope,  and  water 
is  cdiistantly  running  over  it,  so  that  it  is  al- 
ways soaked.     The   pots,  tlirongh    orifices  at 

keep  the  roots  moistened.  The  young  plants 
are  protecled  from  the  .sun  by  mat  screens 
stretelied  (111  poles  aliove  tlie  ground. 

This  is  a  .cslU  svsteni.  Most  of  the  plan- 
ters take  rnnt  -hoots  at  random   from  the  old 

lields  and  .set  them  at   •<•    iiiio    unprepared 

ground.     Sr.  S 's  expei  inienl  Ikis  msl  him 

probably  $20,000;  the  pots  alum  r.,si  .-1  l.nuo. 
But  he  will  make  at  least  :^."ii).iiiiii  liy  the  ope- 
ration. In  the  first  phw'e,  he  gains  a  good 
year  in  the  start  that  he  gives  to  these  young 
plants.  Then  they  are  not  put  back  in  the 
transplanting;  the  pots  are  simply  inverted 
and  the  roots  come  out  with  the  earth.  They 
are  set  into  mould  or  compost  which  has  been 
prciiared  in  deep  holes.  The  tender  rootlets 
catch  hold  of  this  at  once,  and  in  a  day  or  two 
the  plant  is  growing  as  well  as  ever. 

The  nur.slings  come  from  selected  seeds  of 

half  a  dozen   varieties.     Sr.  S has  them 

planted  at  first  in  small  pots.  A  dozen  slaves 
are  engaged  transplanting  the  six-inch  high 
shoots  to  larger  pots.  Little  tired-looking 
children  carry  them  about  on  their  shoulders, 
working  ou   as   steadily  as    the   old  ones,  for 

they    are    Well    trained.     Sr.    S wants  to 

make  his  plants  last  fifty  year-s,  so  he  is  careful 
and  tender  with  them.  The  little  blacks  will 
be  free  in  lSi)2,  so  his  policy  is  to  get  as  much 
work  as  possible  from  them  while  lie  can. 

The  plants  are  set  in  rows,  about  ten  feet 
apart.  They  grow,  and  thrive,  and  are 
haiipy,  out  ou  the  hill-side.  Warm  sunshine 
cansses  the  leaves;  generous  rains  feed  the 
tender  roots;  the  ground js  kept  free  from  in- 
truding weeds  and  bushes,  and  the  planter 
waits  for  his  harvest.  After  four  years,  the 
trees  are  six  feet  high  and  begin  to  bear.  By 
th('  si.xth  year,  the  crops  are  very  large— three, 
or  even  four  pounds  per  tree  at  times.  Mean- 
while, corn  and  rnandiocaare  planted  between 
the  rows.  Often  in  a  new  plantation  the  ex- 
penses are  nearly  covered  by  these  subsidiary 
crops. 

In  this  month  of   November  only  a   few  of 

the  princnpal  gathering  month,  and  almost 
the  whole  force  must  tie  at  woi'k  in  tlie  licar- 
ing  orchards.  From  sunrise  to  sunset,  men, 
women  and  children  are  gathering  the  berries 
in  ba.-kets,  working  silently  and  .steadily  un- 
der the  over.seer's  eye.  Every  day,  each  slave 
gathers  on  the  average  berries  enough  to  pro- 
duce lifty  pounds  of  dried  coflije.  The  pick- 
ings are  collected  in  carts  and  brought  to  the 
mill-lKULse,  where  the  seeds  must  be  prepared 
for  the  market. 

WASHING  FOWLS 
One  of  the  correspondents  who  asked  for 
this  article,  observed  that  he  found  his  birds 
looking  rather  dirtier  after  his  washing  than 
before,  which  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the 
first  ditliculty  and  its  remedy.  The  ditiieulty 
itself  all  consists  in  the  facti  hat  people  al  flr.s't 
have  no  idea  how  tlioiowjh  the  icuxhhKj  of  a  fmrl 

\  for  (fhihUion  has  lobe.  They  give  tlieir  birds 
a  very  mild   soap  over  with   a  sponge,  rinse 

j  tliein,  and  think  they  are  washed.  Not  a  bit 
of  it.     Think  a  little,  about  wa.shiiig,  say  a 

I  pair  of  hands.    If  they  are  tolerably  cleau, 


and  you  plunge  them  into  a  hit  of  black  mud, 
they  will  (!oiiie  out  black  enough,  but  you  can 
wash  (/iwdirt  olV  with  very  little  trouble.  But 
suppose  your  hands  have  not  been  washed  for 
a  good  while,  anil  Mill  have  been  in  contact 
with  a  lot  of  things,  including  a  little  oil  or 
grease  for  a  specimen,  let  iis  say  an  engine- 
litter's  hand>,  at  the  close  of  a'dav's  work. 
CarefuUv  wiped,  ihey  will  show  far  less  dirt 
than  the  muddy  hands  before  menlioifed;  but 
this  kind  of  dirt  will  take  long  and  persistent 
scrubbing  to  remove.  Now,  the  dirt  on  a 
fowl  is  more  or  less  like  the  last  .sort.  It  is 
old:  it  is  wiOl  worked  in;  and  it  is  iiieorpora- 
feil  with  the  oil  of  ilie  pl,i„i:ig<>.  And  it  lakes 
dowiiri-hl  thon.:<,,h  washin-  to  -et  it  off. 

You  niii.sl  havi'  a  large  tnl),  at  least  a  foot 
deep,  and  fill  it  half  full  with  water  at,  say 
90'.  Make  this  water  into  strong  suds  by 
rubbing  a  good  large  cake  of  soaji  into  it  till  it 
latfieis  well.  The  suds  must  i.e  good  and 
strong,  or  it  is  no  use.  Then  put  vonr  bird 
in,  and  with  a  good  .sponge  drench  it  all  over 
witli    suds,  and  rub  it  thoroii^'hly,  taking  an 

occasional  rub  of  the  s|ioiil'i another  jiiece 

of  soap.  Yon  must  nevei  ruh  ",-  ih.'  Iniiher; 
but  otherwise  nib  awav  fieeU  ,  le.t  ciih  down, 
but  a  little  across  in  both  direct h.n.s;  not  furi- 
ously, of  eoujse,  but  still  as  if  you  me'iut  to 
el.  ;in  the  bird  down  to  the  ski'ii.  For  the 
hiaiK  mid  legs  you  must  take  a  brush,  which 
tilings  ciut  the  freshness  of  the  combs  wonder- 
fully, if  there  is  any  in  them.  Uememlier  this 
one  simple  thing:  that  your  birds  may  look 
rough  and  untidy  liecause  you  arc  inexperi- 
enced in  drying,  but  that  if.  after  washing, 
they  still  look  rlirti/,  it  is  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  vou  did  not  wash  them  moiujh. 

AVhen  washed,  lift  into  another  tub  of  clean 
warm  wati't,  and  with  a  clean  sponge  rin.se 
out  as  t  horoughly  as  possible.  Here,  too,  peo- 
])le  often  think  the  .soa|)  is  out  when  it  is  not; 
and  wIkmi  you  see  fowls  with  the  iilumage  ai)- 
pearing  to  hang  in  rilaments,  instead  of  web- 
liing  out  smooth  as  before,  llie  reason  is  that 
soap  has  been  left  in.  The  first  rinsing  in  the 
wann  water  will  not  get  all  out  as  it  .should 
be,  liut  sli..nld  get  all  the  stron-  suds  out.  A 
third  tub  will  get  the  bird  pretty  clear  of  so-aj); 
and,  finally,  we  strongly  recommend  a  thor- 
ough plunge— head,  ears,  and  all— into  a  tub 
of  clean  i-ohl  water,  or,  in  default  of  that,  to 
turn  on  cold  water  from  a  hose. 

The  drvinu  is  a  more  ticklish  matter.  Stand 
the  miserable  lo.iUing  object  you  have  jiro- 
duced  on  a  bench  or  the  top  of  an  empty  biis- 
ket,  and  with  a  sponge  iia.s.sed  gently  over  the 
way  of  the  feather,  ab.soib  all  the  water  that 
a  tightly  wrung-out  sponge  will  take  up.  Get 
off  all  you  can  this  way,  when  the  fowl  is 
ready  for  the  lire.  It  must  be  taken  pretty 
near,  but  not  exposed  to  fierce  heat,  which 
would  blister  the  face  and  curl  the  feathers. 
Much  depends  on  the  room;  but  the  object  is 
to  have  the  whole  bird  in  a  veri/  warm  but  not 
fierce  atmosphere.  If  attention  can  be  given, 
the  hrsi  plan  is  to  carefully  turn  the  bird  round 
now  and  then,  so  tliat  no  part  is  exposed  too 
long  to  direct  heat:  and  there  should  be  a 
screen  to  keep  olf  the  col.l  air.  A  large  box 
with  the  o|ien  side  turned  to  the  fire,  and  bed- 
ded with  clean  well  bruised  oat  straw,  keeps 
the  air  warm  round  the  fowls  verv  well;  and 
in  such  a  hot  chamber  the  fowls  inay  be  left 
with  an  occa.sional  inspection;  but  to  dry  well, 
care  must  betaken  toturiiany  espe  iallv  damp 
place  towards  the  beat  when  iieedid.'  The 
great  thing  here  is  to  dry  as  fast  as  pn.ssible 
without  violent  heat,  but  to  dry  ujuidh/ — 
otherwi.se  the  plumage  is  apt  to  tret  curled",  or 
bent  or  twisteil  in  a  very  prejudicial  way. 
Whilst  drying,  the  wings  should  be  several 
times  opened  to  get  thi'  heat.  When  only  a 
.sort  of  damp  seems  to  remain,  most  people 
think  it  best  to  placi!  each  bird  in  a  chaii  lined 
basket,  bedded  in  .^(ft  .straw,  like  oat  .straw, 
ami  leave  this  near  the  fire.  TheliniiiL'  of  the 
basket  keeps  in  a  gentle  steain,  which  assists 
the  feathers  in  webbing  together.  — From 
'•Washing  Poultry  for  Exhibition,"  in  Fan- 
ciers^ Jnuriml  of  December. 


Send  in  your  subscriptions. 


186 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  December, 


HOW  TO    KEEP  FOWLS. 

There  are  always  a  number  of  people  living 
in  large  towns  or  in  the  suburbs,  who  would 
very  much  like  to  keep  a  few  fowls  for  the 
sake  of  a  new  laid  egg,  and  who  at  the  same 
time  would  like  to  enter  into  the  excitement 
of  exhibiting  their  birds,  but  for  want  of 
sufficient  room,  and  the  absence  of  aerassrun, 
are  deterred  from  making  a  start.  Now  it  is 
astonishing  what  a  small  space  is  sufficient  to 
keep  Spanisli  in  the  most  perfect  liealth  and 
the  brightest  of  plumage.  A  run  only  a  few 
yards  square  will  be  ample  if  proper  attention 
is  paid  to  tlieir  wants,  and  they  are  kept 
clean,  and  theirsleepingplaces  well  ventilated. 
When  poultry  can  be  kept,  and  even  success- 
fully exhibited  under  such  conditions,  it  is  not 
surprising  tliat  all  the  best  Spanisli  are  bred 
in  or  near  to  large  towns,  as  there  are  so  very 
few  varieties  of  fowls  which  can  be  kept  sat- 
isfactorily by  an  amateur  not  living  in  tl)e 
country.  We  do  not  wish  to  mislead  our 
readers,  or  for  them  to  imagine  that  there  are 
no  difficulties  in  breeding  and  rearing  these 
birds,  and  we  will  at  once  state  that  Spanisli 
require  more  attention  and  care  than  any 
other  variety  we  know  of,  tliat  is,  if  a  fancier 
intends  to  enter  into  successful  competition; 
and  unless  he  is  endowed  with  an  unusually 
large  amount  of  patience  and  perseverance, 
and  a  real  love  for  poultry,  we  should  not 
advise  him  to  attempt  to  l^eep  them,  as  these 
qualities  will  be  well  tested  when  the  birds 
get  heavy  in  face,  large  in  comb,  and  in 
trimming  them  for  exliibitiou;  but  to  tlie 
fancier  who  is  found  of  being  with  his  birds, 
and  studying  their  habits,  they  will  be  a  con- 
tinual source  of  amusement  and  relaxation. 

For  eating,  their  flesh  is  somewhat  drier, 
and  wanting  the  luscious  flavor  of  the  Dorking, 
eame  and  French  breeds  ;  but,  as  egg  pro- 
ducers, there  is  not  another  fowl  that  can 
equal  them,  although  they  do  not  begin  to  lay 
quite  so  early  in  the  season  as  some  other 
varieties.  Pullets,  however,  if  well  fed  and 
eared  for,  will  mostly  commence  to  lay  when 
about  six  or  seven  months  old,  and  they  will 
continue  laying  almost  without  intermission 
for  eight  montlis,  producing  from  four  to  five 
eggs  per  week.  Hens  do  not  lay  quite  so 
freely,  but  with  good  feeding  they  will  gener- 
ally 'lay  every  other  day  for  seven  or  eight 
months  in  the  year;  and  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  any  one  living  in  the  midst  of 
London  can  obtain  a  plentiful  supply  of  very 
large  new  laid  eggs,  and  can  successfully 
compete  for  prizes,  it  is  not  surprising  that. 
Spanish  are  such  great  favorites  with  town 
fanciers. 

To  exhibit  this  variety  with  a  degree  of 
success,  it  is  necessary  that  they  should  be 
sent  out  in  the  very  best  condition,  for  with 
Spanish  this  is  of  greater  importance  than 
most  other  breeds.  Many  times  have  I  seen 
inferior  birds  carry  ofl  a  prize  entirely  owing 
to  the  capital  condition  in  which  they  were 
exhibited,  although  there  were  far  better 
birds  in  the  class.  It  is,  therefore,  absolutely 
necessary  that  these  birds  should  be  exhibited 
without  being  pinky  or  shabby  in  the  face, 
and  with  a  bright  coral  redness  in  tlie  comb, 
hard,  glossy  appearance  on  the  featliers. 
which  can  oiily  be  accomplished  by  having  a 
house  properly  constructed  for  them.  Tliis 
must  be  so  'arranged  that  the  birds  are 
sheltered  from  tl)e  cold  winds,  the  heat  of  the 
sun,  and  from  damp  or  rain.  but.  more  espec- 
ially, from  the  eflects  of  the  sun  during  tlie 
summer  when  tlie  weather  is  very  hot;  while 
in  tlie  winter  they  require  to  be  liept  moder- 
ately warm,  though  at  the  same  time  plenty 
of  fresh  air  is  most  essential,  or  their  combs 
will  lose  the  ruddy  appearance  and  turn  pale. 
—From  "The  Spanish  Fowl,"  in  Fanciers' 
Journal  of  December. 

THE  GRAIN    CROP. 

Tlie  grain  crop  of  the  United  States  is 
greater  this  year  than  ever  before.  In  Europe 
till  total  deficiency  is  estimated  at  7,000,000 
tons,  viz.  :  Great  Britain,  2,850,000  tons; 
France,  2,700,000  tons;  Italy,  426.000  tons; 
Spain;  .570,000  tons;   Holland,  285,000  tons; 


Switzerland,  169,000  tons.  To  meet  this  de- 
ficiency there  will  be  required  supplies  to  the 
amount  of  5,570,000  tons,  which  will  be  drawn 
from  various  countries  in  tlie  following  ratio  : 
From  the  United  States,  3,750,000  tons ; 
Hungary,  180,000  tons;  India,  280,000  tons; 
Australia,  500,000  tons;  South  Russia,  650,000 
tons;  Danubian  Principalities,  140,000  tons; 
Egypt,  70,000  tons. 

The  crop  of  this  country  this  year  is  said  to 
be  equal  to  400,000,000  bushels,  and,  there- 
fore, the  foreign  demand  for  140,000,000 
bushels  can  be  easily  met  by  us  without 
causing  a  material  imiMTisc  of  (irice  at  lionie. 
The  deficiency  to  be  siii.i.lird  to  Great  Bri- 
tain alone  willam<iniii  in  value  to  not  less 
than  $200,000,000;  to  France  over  $100,000,- 
000;  Holland,  Belgium  and  Switzerland  to- 
gether $125,000,000;  or  a  total  of  over  $425,- 
000,000,  nearly  four-fifths  of  which  come  from 
tliis  country.  These  figures  are  not  tlie  mere 
guess  of  irresponsible  persons,  but  are  sup- 
plied by  official  antliority,  and  may,  there- 
fore, be  depended  upon  to  be  pretty  nearly 
correct.  They  demonstrate,  at  least,  one 
reason  for  belief  in  an  advancing  era  of 
prosperity,  for  they  show  that  our  farmers  are 
to  find  a  good  market  and  excellent  prices  for 
their  grain,  and,  when  the  farmers  do  well, 
so  do  all  the  rest  of  tlie  people. 

COMPARATIVE   VALUE    OF  WOODS. 

It  is  a  great  convenience  to  kiiow^  tlio  com- 
parative value  of  different  kinds  of  wood  for 
fuel.  Slielllxirk  liickory  is  regarded  as  the 
lii.Ljbost  standard  of  our  forest  trees,  and  call- 
ing that  100,  other  trees  will  compare  with  it 
for  real  value  as  fuel  for  house  purposes,  as 
follows:  Shellbark  hickory,  100;  pignut  hick- 
ory, 92;  white  oak,  84;  white  ash,  77;  dog- 
wood, 75;  scrub  oak,  73;  white  hazel,  72; 
apple  tree,  70;  red  oak,  67;  white  beach,  65; 
black  birch,  62;  veilow  oak,  60;  hard  maple, 
59;  white  elm.  58;  red  cedar,  .56;  wild  cherry, 
.55;  veilow  pine,  54;  chestnut,  52;  yellow  pop- 
lar, "54;  butternut  and  white  birch,  43;  white 
pine,  30.  It  is  worth  bearing  in  mind,  that  in 
wood  of  the  same  species,  there  is  a  great  dif- 
ference according  to  the  soil  on  which  they 
grow.  A  tree  that  grows  on  a  wet,  low,  rich 
ground  will  be  less  solid  and  lesfe  durable  for 
fuel,  and  therefore  of  a  less  value  than  a  tree 
of  the  same  kind  that  grows  on  a  dry  and  poor 
soil.  To  the  ordinary  jiurehaser,  oak  is  oak 
and  pine  is  pine,  but  for  house  use  the  tree 
grown  on  dry  upland,  and  standing  apart  from 
all  others,  is  worths  great  deal  more. 

SUGAR 

Sorghum  and  Corn  Stalks  Being  Made  to 
Yield  an  Excellent  Crystallizable  Syrup. 

A  leading  feature  of  the  report  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  will  be  a  dissertation 
on  the  manufacture  of  sugar  from  sorghum 
and  corn  stalks. 

The  chemist  of  the  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment has  been  experimenting  this  year,  in 
order  to  ascertain  at  what  age  the  different 
varieties  of  plants  give  the  best  re.sults.  The 
Early  Amber  variety  of  sorghum  proves  to  be 
the  most  profitable.  Stalks  of  this  iilant  were 
gathered  on  the  18th  of  July  and  cut  in 
halves.  The  tops  gave  .0420  per  cent  of  suc- 
rose, or  crystallizable  syrup,  and  .0465  percent 
of  glucose,  or  uucrys'tallizable  syrup.  The 
experiments  were  continued  with  stalks  gath- 
ered about  once  a  week  until  August  30,  when 
the  seeds  were  just  beginnhig  to  become  dry. 
The  sucrose  or  valuable  matter  at  the  last  ex- 
periment had  increased  to  .1482  per  cent,  and 
the  glucose  had  decreased  to  .0115  per  cent. 
The  experiments  made  with  the  lower  halves 
of  the  stalks  gave  .0465  per  cent  of  the  sucrose 
and  .0288  of  glucose  on  the  18th  of  July,  and 
.1471  per  cent  of  surcose  and  .01.50  of  glucose 
on  the  30th  of  August. 

Commissioner  Le  Due  has  just  returned 
from  the  West,  whither  ho  went  to  inspect 
the  processes  of  various  sugar  growing  and 
manufacturing  enterprises.  He  reports  that 
the  most  promising  results  have  already  been 
obtained.     He  visited  one  manufactory  in  Illi- 


nois, where  43,000  pounds  of  sorghum  sugar 
iiave  been  made  this  season,  equal  in  every 
respect  to  the  best  product  of  the  sugar  cane; 
and  this  enterprise  has  been  carried  on  under 
exceptional  difficulties.  He  visited  or  received 
reports  from  many  other  loculities  to  whicli 
he  had  sentsorghum  seeds,  all  speaking  in  the 
most  favorable  terms  of  the  prospects.  Indi- 
vidual farmers  in  Texas,  Minnesota,  Virginia 
and  intermediate  States  report  having  made, 
at  very  little  expense,  their  own  yearly  supply 
of  sugar  from  seeds  supplied  by  the  depart- 
ment. 

"You  may  ridicule  the  project  to  your 
heart's  content,"  said  the  Commissioner  to  a 
correspondent,  "and  call  me  as  many  names 
as  you  like;  but  I  tell  you  that  it  will  not  be 
many  years  before  this  country  will  raise 
sugar  to  export." 

STATISTICAL. 

Our  Agricultural  Products. 
Mr  J.  R.  Dodge,  the  statistician  of  the 
Bureau  of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  has 
prepared  a  table  to  show  the  quantity  and 
value  of  our  main  products  for  the  past  ten 
years.  The  figures  are  startling  in  their  enor- 
mous aggregates.  The  average  quantities  and 
values  (at  home)  of  our  crops  per  year  for  ten 
years  are  as  follows :  Corn,  1,068,959,550 
bushels;  value,  ,$525,211,602.  Wheat,  273,- 
831,746  bushels;  value,  .$301,481,540.  Rye, 
18,016.030  bushels;  value,  $15,091,207.  Oats, 
291,036,670  bushels;  value,  $156,810,592. 
Barley,  30,606,609  bushels:  value  .$25,385,459. 
Buckwheat,  10,938,070  bushels;  value.  $9,204,- 
801.  Hay,  35,000.000  tons;  value,  $300,000,- 
000.  Cotton,  4,000,000  tons;  value,  $360,000,- 
000.  The  total  annual  products,  reduced  to 
pounds,  aggregate  173,343,320,500  pounds; 
valued  at  $1,553,175,201,  or  nine-tentlis  of  a 
cent  per  pound  for  all  products.  The  aggre- 
gate value  of  the  products  for  ten  years  is 
$15,637,752,010,  or  very  nearly  one-half  of  the 
total  valuation  of  the  country  by  the  census 
of  1870.  The  improved  lands  of  the  country, 
which  were  188,000,000  acres  in  1870,  now 
exceed  200,000,000  acres,  and  upon  this  basis 
the  average  product  of  each  acre  of.  arable 
land  in  cultivation  is  .43  of  a  ton  of  all  sorts 
of  agricultural  returns,  the  avenge  home 
value  of  the  ton  of  products  being  $17,  on  the 
basis  of  a  ten  year  valuation.  By  this  it  ap- 
pears that  the  average  annual  product  for  ten 
years  ot  improved  lands  in  the  United  States 
has  been  $7.37  per  acre,  including  of  course, 
a  good  deal  of  produce  consumed  at  home. 
The  butter  products  this  vear  are  estimated 
at  .$170,000,000;  cheese  aiid  milk,  $1.30,000,- 
000;  beef  and  its  products,  $270,000,000;  iiork 
and  its  products,  $250,000,000;  cotton,  $270,- 
000,000;  corn,  $410,000,000;  wheat,  $410,000,- 
000.  The  increase  this  year  in  production  of 
cereals  over  the  averatte  of  the  past  ten  years 
promises  to  be  about  28  per  cent,  but  tlie  ag- 
gregate value  will  not  be  greater. 


Our  Local  Organizations. 


LANCASTER    COUNTY    AGRICULTU- 
RAL   AND    HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

The  stated  meeliug  of  the  Lancaster  loiiuly  Agri- 
cultural and  Horticultural  Society  was  held  in  Iheir 
rooms  in  City  Hall,  Monday  afternoon,  December  7, 
the  following  members  hein?  present  : 

Henry  M.  Engle,  Marietta;  Joseph  F.  Wiimcr, 
Paradise;  Dr.  S.  S.  Rathvon,  city;  John  C.  Liuville, 
Salisbury;  Casper  Hiller,  Conestoga;  I.  L.  Landis, 
Miinheim;  George  W.  Mason,  city;  Jacob  Bollinaer, 
Warwick;  Henry  Kurtz,  Ml.  Joy;  Levi  S.  Heist, 
Manheim;  Johnson  Miller,  Warwick;  John  H.  Lan- 
dis, Manor;  Wm.  H.  Brosius,  Drumore;  Ephraim  S. 
Hoover,  Manheim;  J.  M.  Johnston,  city;  M.  D.  Ken- 
dig,  Manor;  W.  W.  Grieet,  city;  Elias  Hershey, 
Leamau  Place;  Harry  G.  Rush,  Pequea;Tind  John  H. 
Moore,  Donegal. 

The  President,  Calvin  Cooper,  being  absent.  Vice 
President  Henry  M.  Engle  was  called  to  tlie  chair. 
Crop  Reports. 

Casper  Hiller  said  the  growing  wheat  Ijelween 
Lancaster  and  Conestoga  Ccutie  looks  well,  with 
here  and  there  a  field  sllishtly  injured  by  the  fly  or 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


187 


the  drouth.  He  saw  but  one  field  that  looks  decid- 
edly bad.  The  clover  sowed  in  March  last  looks 
well,  while  that  sowed  In  .May  Is  generally  poorly 
set. 

Henry  Kurt/.,  of  Mount  Joy,  said  the  late-planted 
wheat  in  his  section  of  the  county  looks  very  well, 
while  the  early-planted,  looks  bushy  and  spotted, 
beiiiff  Injured  by  the  fly.  The  young  clover,  sowed 
last  spring,  is  very  poor,  and  some  of  it  Is  so  bad  that 
It  will  have  to  be  turned  under  to  make  room  for 
corn.  Some  tobacco  has  been  sold  in  his  neighbor- 
hood. One  crop  at  SO  cents  for  wrappers,  15  for 
seconds  and  5  for  flilers— equal  to  about  27  cents 
round.  He  had  heard  of  other  sales  at  about  the 
same  figures,  and  had  scon  a  telegram  to  Capt. 
Bricker,  of  Litiz,  otTcring  him  for  his  crop  25,  10,  10 
and  5,  which  offer,  he  heard,  had  been  accepted. 

Joseph  F.  Witmer,  of  Paradise,  said  thai  in  his 
neighborhood  the  fall  wheat  looked  very  well  indeed. 
A  number  of  tobacco  buyers  had  been  in  the  neigh- 
borhood and  sales  had  been  made  as  low  as  17  and  li, 
and  as  high  as  29  and  5,  these  prices  being  regarded 
as  very  satisfactory  by  the  growers.  The  young 
clever,  though  rather  backward,  is  improving. 

Wm.  H.  Brosius,  of  Drumore,  said  that  in  his 
neighborhood  the  wheat,  considering  the  dry  weather, 
looks  very  well.  He  saw  but  few  fields  well  set  in 
clover. 

Henry  M.  Engle  said  that  as  far  as  lie  had  seen  the 
growing  wheat  looked  very  well ;  he  had  seen  none 
that  was  seriously  affected  by  the  fly;  he  tliiiiks  the 
grain  goes  into  winter  quarters  in  remarkably  good 
condition.  The  young  grass  is  not  so  well  set  ;is  it 
usually  is,  but  it  too  looks  pretty  well,  so  that  alto- 
gether there  la  cause  for  congratulation.  .\  friend 
from  the  Cumberland  valley  told  him  that  in  some 
sections  of  the  valley  the  wheat  looks  so  bad  that  il 
is  thought  the  farmers  will  not  get  as  much  grain  as 
they  sowed. 

J.  C.  Linville,  of  Salisbury,  said  that  in  his  neigh- 
borhood the  young  clover  had  failed  entirely. 
High  Farming. 

The  question  "What  constitutes  high  fanning,  and 
will  it  pay?"  was  opened  by  Henry  M  .  Engle,  who 
said  the  question  was  a  hard  one  to  answer."  Amonir 
eminent  agriculturists  there  exists  a  great  diversity 
of  opinion.  Some  say  that  high  farming  consists  in 
a  heavy  application  of  manures;  others  that  high 
farming  consists  in  making  the  farm  yield  the  best 
paying  crops.  In  this  view  tobacco  growing  in  this 
county  may  be  regarded  as  high  farming  as  it  un- 
doubtedly pays  just  now  better  than  any  other  crop. 
It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  tobacco 
gets  the  best  land,  the  best  manure,  the  best  cultiva 
tlon  and  the  most  unremitting  care;  while  the  potato 
patch  in  the  adjoining  field  gels  poorer  soil,  little  or 
no  manure,  is  but  slightly  cultivated,  and  is  rankly 
overgrown  with  weeds.  Where  this  state  of  affairs 
exits  there  is  no  high  farming.  As  a  general  rule  he 
would  say  there  was  high  farming  where  everything 
is  neat  and  clean  and  all  the  crops  well  cultivated; 
where  buildings,  fences,  &c.,  are  kept  in  good  condi- 
tion and  where  the  farm  products  exceeded  the  farm 
expenses.  The  highest  farming  that  has  come  under 
hlB  observation  was  that  of  truck  farming,  where  two 
or  three  crops  are  grown  in  a  single  season  on  the 
same  ground  and  any  one  of  the  crops  would  pay  cx- 
expenses.  In  truck  gardening  he  had  known  as 
much  as  $2,000  worth  of  products  to  be  taken  from 
a  single  acre.  There  is  of  course  a  system  of  high 
farming  that  does  not  pay.  This  system  may  be 
illustrated  by  the  experience  of  Ucv.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  who  when  asked  how  he  could  afford  to 
pay  *000  per  acre  for  land  and  get  such  indifferent 
crops,  said  he  did  it  by  putting  a  little  more  on  the 
land  than  he  took  off.  This  kind  of  high  farming 
may  do  for  those  who  have  a  heavy  bank  accouiif, 
and  farm  merely  for  show,  but  is  not  to  be  recciu 
mended  to  farmers  who  expect  to  live  from  tin  ir 
farms.  High  farming  should  result  in  havingeviry 
thing  neat  and  tidy  about  the  farm,  in  growing  goeU 
crops  at  less  expense  than  they  will  yield  in  return, 
save  money  to  the  farmer  and  leave  the  land  in 
better  condition  than  it  was. 

John  C.  Linvillo  said  there  was  a  distinction  to  be 
made  between  liiL;li  r^uniinf;  ;nid  good  farming.  By 
a  prudent  api)liraii.in  ol  liTlilizcrs  and  good  cultiva- 
tion, 40  bushels  ol  ulu^t  |irr  acre  might  be  grown. 
By  extending  §.;0  more  per  aiie  .50  bushels  might  be 
grown,  but  the  extra  ten  bushels  of  wheat  would  not 
pay  for  the  extra  $20  expended.  He  agreed  with 
Prof.  Lowes,  who  classed  that  which  will  pay  as 
"good  farming"  and  the  extra  exi;enditure8  that  will 
not  pay  as  "high  farming." 

Henry  Kurtz  would  not  class  the  trucker  as  a 
farmer;"  it  might  he  very  easy  to  do  with  an  acre 
what  would  be  impracticable  on  a  large  farm.  He 
only  called  those  farmers  who  followed  a  system  of 
rotation  of  crops,  and  the  high  farmer  was  he  who 
made  these  crops  pay.  He  mentioned  several  eases 
which  he  knew  of  tobacco  farmers  who  rcufed  land 
at  ?40  per  acre  and  grew  tobacco  yielding  $400  per 
acre.  This  he  regarded  as  high  farming  and  good 
farming. 

Casper  Hiller  said  we  have  had  much  high  and 
profitable  farming  in  Lancaster  county.  Thirty 
years  ago  the  townships  south  of  Lancaster  did  not 
yield  half  as  much  per  acre  as  they  do  now.    Men 


who  were  then  tenants  are  now  wealthy  farmers, 
owning  one,  two  or  half  a  dozen  farms.  They 
farmed  high,  fertilized  liberally,  and  had  a  regular 
rotation  of  crops,  thus  constantly  Improving  the  soil. 
His  idea  was  that  no  farming  Is  high  farming  that 
does  not  pay. 

Mr.  Brosius  thought  it  would  be  dimcult  to  deter- 
mine where  common  farming  ends  and  high  farming 
begins.  Good  farming  is  that  which  Is  made  to  pay 
best  by  the  exercise  of  good  judgment,  practice,  ex- 
perience and  ol)6ervation,  whether  It  be  by  a  liberal 
or  economical  use  of  fertilizers  and  other  means. 
High  farming,  as  he  understood  it,  was  the  greatest 
possible  amount,  In  bushels  or  pounds,  from  an  acre, 
without  regard  to  what  the  cost  might  be. 

Dairy  Farming. 

"Will  dairy  farming  pay  In  Lancaster  county)" 
was  the  subject  referred  for  an  answer  to  John  C. 
Linv  He.  Ilesaid  the  solution  of  the  question  greatly 
depended  on  the  location  of  the  farm,  the  condition 
of  the  soil,  and  the  water  supply.  The  dairy  busi- 
ness has  languished  in  Chester  county,  where  they 
have  better  facilities  than  we  have.  Our  limestone 
land  is  not  well  suited  to  dairying.  He  did  not 
believe  it  advisable  to  let  cows  run  over  land  worth 
$300  per  acre,  ifil  could  be  put  to  more  profitable 
uses.  He  estimated  that  it  would  cost  $40  per  year 
to  feed  a  cow,  and  this,  taken  In  connection  with  the 
high  prices  of  good  cows,  their  liability  to  abortion 
and  other  diseases,  sometimes  resulting  fatally, 
would  outweigh  the  profits.  In  the  southern  part 
of  the  county,  win  re  the  land  was  cheaper  and  the 
[fras.'i  better,  dairying  might  pay:  but  even  there  it 
will  he  found  the  great  cimpetltion  will  come  from 
the  Western  states,  where  land  is  cheaper  and  where 
by  the  concentration  ofereat  numbers  of  cows  in  a 
single  dairy  butter  can  be  made  cheaper  and  better 
thiin  in  small  dairies.  Some  of  the  best  dairymen  of 
Chesler  county  say  they  cannot  make  butter  the 
year  round  for  less  than  60  cents  per  pound. 

Henry  M.  Engle  said  there  were  places  no  more 
eligibly  located  tlian  some  in  Lancaster  county  where 
the  dairy  business  was  profitable.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  dairy  business  embraced  milk- 
scllinL',  butter-making  and  cheese-making.  For 
milk  the  bliort-horn  cows  are  the  best;  for  cheese  the 
.\yrshire,  and  for  butter  the  Jerseys.  Success  de- 
pends in  getting  the  kind  of  cow  best  suited  to  the 
several  branehes.  As  to  the  cost  of  keeping  cows  It 
had  been  demonstrated  that  it  costs  but  little  more 
than  half  as  much  to  keep  them  by  the  soiling  sys- 
tem— that  is  by  stabling  them  and  feeding  them 
green  food  in  summer — as  it  costs  to  let  them  run  at 
large,  while  the  yield  of  milk  and  butter  will  also  be 

Levi  S.  Reist  believed  that  dairying  always  pays 
near  large  towns  and  cities  if  it  was  properly  attend- 
ed to.  lie  cited  several  cases  of  dairymen  near  Lan- 
caster and  Columbia  who  had  become  rich. 

In  answer  to  a  question  Mr.  Linville  said  that  the 
introduction  of  oleamargerine  had  not  affected  the 
market  for  first-class  butter,  but  that  il  had  greatly 
affected  the  market  for  low  grades  of  butter. 
Indeed  the  oleamargerine  is  preferable  to  much  of 
the  low  grade  butter,  and  when  good  butter  becomes 
very  cheap,  oleamargerine  cannot  compete  in  price 
with  it,  as  il  cannot  be  made  for  less  than  15  cents 
per  pound. 

Stock  Raising. 

"Is  stock  raising  profitable  ?"  was  the  question  re- 
ferred for  answer  to  M.  D.  Kendig.  lie  estimated 
that  a  cow  worth  ^40  will  have  cost  by  the  time  she 
comes  into  milking  $.57.50;  and  he  estimated  her 
yearly  product  in  butler,  milk,  &e.,  at  $62.  To 
raise  a  calf  for  beef  would  in  three  years,  at  which 
time  it  «!iould  weigh  1,300  pounds,  cost  the  farmer 
slii.si,  ,11-  :,<..  cents  per  pound.  A  western  steer  of 
I  111  ,^  iiiH  Hiight^pight  be  bought  for  4  or  4' j  cents 
|M'r  |i(Hii!ii .  On  thc^whole  he  thought  stock  raising 
lunirolilal.lc. 

Joseph  F.  Witmer  anAyHenry  Kurtz  thought  that 
stock  raising  might  be  miwV;  profitable  with  proper 
care,   and  gave  some  instanece  in  their  own  experi- 

Ephraim  S.  Hoover  said  that  th;e  raising  of  cattle 
on  our  high  priced  tillable  land  would  not  pay  but 
that  It  would  pay  to  raise  them  on  low,  unlillable 
land,  where  there  were  rank  grasses  or  on  other 
lands  that  were  not  tillable. 

State    Agricultural  Society. 

The  secretary  read  a  communication  from  the 
secretary  of  the  State  agricultural  society  slating 
that  the  term  of  membership  of  H.  M.  Engle  was 
almut  to  expire;  that  he  had  been  an  efficient  and 
useful  member  of  the  society  and  that  it  would  be  a 
very  satisfactory  to  the  board  to  have  him  re-elected. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Engle  the  matter  was  deferred 
until  next  meeting. 

Secretary  Witmer  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  prizes  awarded  to  Henry  M.  Engle  and  Casper 
!  Hlllcr  for  their  essays  on   wheat  culture  had   never 
been  paid . 

It  was  ordered  that  the  treasurer  be  directed  to  pay 
them,  and  thereu;K)n  Mr.  Engle  donated  his  prize  to 
'  the  society.     (Mr.  Hiller  was  not  present.) 
I      Israel  L.  Landis  presented  a  number  of  very  large 


chestnuts  sent  to  him  by  Mr.  Samuel  Potter,  of 
.Montgomery  county.  They  were  four  times  as  large 
as  the  ordinary  chestnut  and  equally  rweet. 

H.  M.  Engle  urged  the  Importance  of  introducing 
this  variety  Into  our  county  by  grafting.  He  said 
there  was  more  money  in  it  than  in  planting  choice 
fruit  trees,  while  plenty  of  waste  land  on  almost 
every  farm  may  be  found  snflal)le  for  its  growth . 

John  H.  Landis  exhibited  some  specimens  of 
Georgia  cotton  bolls. 

Business  for  Next  Meeting. 

The  following  questions  were  adopted  for  discus- 
sion at  next  meeting. 

"Which  Is  the  belter  farmer — he  who  makes  the 
most  manure,  or  he  who  buys  the  most."  Referred 
to  Eph.  S.  Hoover. 

"Does  it  pay  to  raise  trees  for  fencing  purposes?" 
Referred  to  .M.  D.  Kendig. 

"Is  there  siifnclent  evidence  that  'ensilage'  Is  a 
successful  method  of  preserving  food  for  stock?" 
Referred  to  Joseph  F.  Witmer. 

"Does  it  pay  to  cut  dried  corn  fodder  for  stock  ?" 
Referred  to  William  II.  Brosius. 

Adjourned. 

POULTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

I'll.  I  111  ill  r  I  oiinty  Poultry  Society  met  stated- 
ly III  M  '  11  Monday  mornlnir,  December  1st, 
ai  Ii.mI   ,.      ■    'II  .       j.irk-. 

Ill  i!  11!  -  11  i|  ilie  President,  Rev.  D.  C.  Tobias, 
the  rnoilinL'  "^i"  called  to  order  by  <i.  A.  Ciever,  the 
first  Vice  President. 

Members  Present 

Ml  f  i;ii,  (  ni  ron.  Brickervllle;  David  M.  Bro- 
s.  V      1  I      iM/D.  .Martin,  New  Haven:  W.J. 

Kill     !  I      "  i    111:  T.  E.   Evans,  H.  H.  Tshudy, 

IVhi  ~.  I  II  I,  i  i  1/.;  G.  A.Geycr,  J.  H.  Menaugh, 
L.  (..  Mill  I  111,  S|.iiiig  Garden;  Charleti  E.  LouL', 
Jacob  B.  Lichty,  Charles  Lippold,  John  C.  Biirrowes, 
Jacob  B.  LoiiL',  Joseph  R.  Trlssler,  Fcrlinand 
Sheatfer,  Charles  Eilcn,  Amos  Rinirwalt,  Lancaster; 
Joseph  F.  Witmer,  Paradise;  J.  .M.  Johnston,  C.  A. 
Gast,  Frank  (ireist  and  Geo.  W.  Mason,  Lancaster, 
reporters. 

The  Catalogue. 

Chas.  E,  Long  suggested  that  all  business  except 
such  as  pertained  to  the  approaching  cxhibitioo  be 
postponed.  He  re|K>rted  that  Mr.  Lichty  and  him- 
self had  succeeded  in  getting  .500  catalogues  printed 
without  any  expense  to  the  society  for  printing  or 
mailing,  the  cost  having  been  paid  by  inserting  ad- 
vcrtisements  in  the  book. 

Election  of  New  Members. 

Edwin  Brackbill,  Morris  Bachman  and  John  Ha- 
gens,  of  Strasburir;  E.  II.  Burkholder  and  Rudy 
Frankhouser,  of  West  Earl,  were  elected  members  of 
the  Society. 

Filling   a  Vacancy 

Joseph  R.  Trissler,  W.  J.  Kufrolh  and  Henry 
Wisslerwere  nominated  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  ex- 
ecutive committee,  caused  by  the  icRlgnati'in  of  J. 
H.  .Miller.  The  two  latter  "named  gcnlleincii  de- 
clined, and  Mr.  Trissler  was  unanimously  elected. 
Securing  and  Incubator. 

Secretary  Lichty  spoke  of  the  importance  of  se- 
curing an  incubator  for  the  approaching  exhibition, 
and  stated  that  Mr.  Reed  had  corres|)onded  with  a 
number  of  firms  manufacturing  the  machine,  and 
found  that  one  could  not  be  secured  for  exhibition 
for  less  than  ?25,  and  additional  expense  for  ex- 
pressagc,  etc. 

Mr.  Chas.  E.  Long  read  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Colin 
Cameron,  in  which  the  proposition  was  made  that  if 
the  Society  would  purchase  the  "Eclipse"  Incubator, 
manufactured  in  Massachusetts,  price  $75,  .Mr. 
Cameron  would  take  the  incubator  at  $.50.  Mr. 
Long  favored  accepting  Mrs.  Cameron's  proposition 
and  said  as  the  time  was  short,  the  Society  sliould 
decide  at  once,  "so  that  the  machine  could  be  secured, 
and  the  ecgs  placed  in  it,  in  order  that  the  chicks 
may  be  coming  out  during  the  exhiljition, 

Mr.  Lichty  thought  the  society  should  not  hesitate 
about  getting  the  incubator,  as  he  believed  il  would 
prove  of  sufficient  interest  to  draw  enough  people, 
who  otherwise  would  not  visit  the  exhibition,  to  jiay 
all  expenses. 

Amos  Ringwalt  also  favored  getting  I  he  incubator, 
and  said  even  if  it  didn't  pay,  a  rich  society  like  this 
should  not  be  afraid  to  incur  §20  expense. 

Jacob  B.Long  offered  to  be  one  of  a  number  lo 
take  $5  worth  oflickels  to  insure  the  society  that  the 
additional  expense  would  be  made  up. 

T.F.  Evans  thought  the  society  should  not  take 
the  money  out  of  the  treasury  to  pay  the  cost,  and 
argued  that  even  If  the  members  "did  take  the 
amount  in  tickets,  it  would  be  the  same  thing  as 
paying  the  money  out  of  the  treasury.  He  doubted 
the  expediency  of  getting  the  incubator,  and  sug- 
gested that  the  society  wait  until  its  next  exhibition 
to  secure  one. 

Charles  E.  Long  called  on  members  who  were 
willing  to  pay  32. .50  a  piece  out  of  their  pockets  to 
cover  additional  expense,  beyond  that  insured  by 
Mr.  Cameron,  to  rise  In  their  places. 


188 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[December, 


Mr.  Liclity  opposed  this  proposition.  He  was 
sure  the  exhibition  would  be  a  success.  Already 
$22.5  was  guaranteed,  and  he  didn't  believe  in  a  few 
nieinbers  paying  out  of  their  own  pockets  this  money. 
He  thought  there  were  enough  honorable  gentleman 
in  the  society  to  make  up  any  deficiency  that  might 
occur. 

A  number  of  members  planked  their  dollars  down 
ou  the  table,  and  there  was  a  long  rambling  discus- 
sion on  various  propositions  to  secure  the  machine. 
Finally,  H.  H.  Tshudy  moved  that  the  Society 
accept  the  offer  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cameron,  providing 
the  cost  does  not  exceed  #20.  This  motion  was 
carried.  Mrs.  Camr^ron  stated  that  the  expressage 
would  be  paid  by  her  husband. 

There    having   been   considerable  talk  about    the 
inability  of  some  members  to  dispose  of  their  ticket.-, 
Mr.   Kingwalt  suggested  they  be  usetj  as   currency.' 
lie  had  adopted  this  plan  and  found  it  worked  first- 
Eggs    Wanted. 

Mr.  Long  stated  the  oOO  good,  fresh  eggs  would  be 
needed  for  the  incubator,  and  asked  memljers  to 
donate  the  same.  W.  J.  Kafroth  said  he  would 
furnish  50,  J.  H.  Menaugh  guaranteed  100  from 
Spring  Garden,  Mrs.  Cameron  agreed  to  send  some 
game  egge,  but  wanted  them  mixed  with  the  others 
so  that  no  person  would  be  able  to  secure  a  flock  of 
game  chicks.  Mr.  Evans  said  Litiz  would  send  HO. 
It  is  intended  to  sell  the  chicks  hatched  to  visitors  at 
the  exhibition. 

Miscellaneous. 

Mr.  Liehty  moved  that  the  treasurer  be  authorized 
to  draw  his  check  for  |70,  the  price  of  the  incubator, 
so  that  the  machine  could  be  at  once  sent  for. 
Adopted. 

H.  H.  Tshudy  moved  a  vote^jf  thanks  be  tendered 
the  gentlemen  who  got  up  the  catalogue  for  their 
labor  in  securing  the  printing  without  cost  to  the 
Society.    Adopted. 

Mr.  Evans  suggested  members  furnish  corn, 
wheat,  buckwheat,  etc'  for  feeding  the  fowls  at  the 
exhibition. 

Mr.  Tshudy  suggested  and  Charles  E.  Long  moved 
that  the  secretary  be  authorized  to  employ  some 
competent  person  to  wait  on  the  newly-elected  mem- 
bers to  the  society  in  this  city,  and  solicit  their  mem- 
bership fee.     It  was  adopted. 

On  motion  of  John  K .  Trissler,  it  was  decided  to 
hold  the  next  meeting  of  the  society  on  December 
1.5,  at  lO;^  o'clock  a.m. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Johnston,  the  society  adjourned. 

SPECIAL  MEETING. 

A  special  meeting  of  the  Lancaster  County 
Poultry  Society  was  held  in  their  room  in  the  City 
Hall,  Monday  morning,  December  1.5. 

The  following  members  and  visitors  were  present  : 
Charles  E.Long,  city;  Charles  Lijipold,  city;  Wil- 
liam Shoenberger,  city;  Hev.  D.  C.  Tobias,  Litiz  J. 
B.  Liehty,  city;  S.  N.  Warfel,  Strasburg;  John  A. 
Stober,  Schoeneck;  A.  H.  Hostetter,  city;  Frank  R. 
Diffenderffer,  city:  C.  -\.  «ast,  city;  George  A.  Geyer, 
Spring  Garden;  John  Burrowes,  city;  H.  H.  Tshudy, 
Litiz;  J.  B.  Long,  city;  W.J.  Kafroth,  West  Earl; 
Ferdinand  Shaeffer,  city;  John  E.  Sebum,  city;  Eli 
J.  Barr,  Litiz. 

On  motion  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the 
previous  meeting  was  dispensed  with. 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Long,  from  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, reported  tliat  the  incubator  had  arrived,  and 
was  working  very  satisfactorily.  The  machine  is  at 
present  at  111'  residence  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Liehty,  who 
has  charge  of  it.  He  thought  the  machine  was 
going  to  prove  a  success.  The  eggs  were  placed  in 
the  incubator,  and  unless  no  unforseen  accident 
sliould  occur,  chickens  would  be  hatched  every  day 
during  the  show. 

Mr.  Warfel  said  there  were  a  few  features  in 
poultry  shows  that  are  very  interesting,  and  among 
these  features  he  mentioned  the  exhibition  of  golden 
pheasants.  He  thought  some  of  these  fowls  should 
be  procured  for  exhibition,  as  they  would  add  greatly 
to  the  show. 

Mr.  Lippold  suggested  that  the  society  should 
buy  a  pair  and  place  them  on  exhibition. 

Mr.  Long  said  there  was  no  doubt  these  fowls 
would  prove  a  valuable  addition  to  the  show.  They 
were  very  expensive,  however,  and  would  require  a 
very  large  cage  in  order  to  accommodate  them.  He 
also  suggested  that  .Mr.  Warfel  be  instructed  to 
corrc6|>oiia  with  Mr.  1 ;:,  nfNew  York,  and  make 

.Mr.  Wui  1.  I  n-|.r,  iiuli\  ihclined  the  honor,  and 
thought  till-  alhiii  roulil  hr  ;nn-iided  to  more  promptly 
and  with  belter  ^ul•^•l■^^  Ijy  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  society,  and  he  therefore  moved  that  the  sec- 
retary be  instructed  to  procure  the  pheasants. 

The  motion  was  amended  by  providing  that  the 
cost  shall  not  exceed  $10.  The  motion  as  amended 
was  carried,  and  the  secretary  was  instructed  to 
procure  the  birds. 

Mr.  Warfel  said  that  Mr.  Drexel,  of  Philadelphia, 
had  some  white  peafowls,  and  he  knew  they  could 
be  procured  by  the  society  free  of  charge.  He  also 
thought  they  would  be  a  valuable  addition  to  the 
show. 


Mr.  Lippold  said  that  the  express  charges  would 
not  be  overS'1.25,  and  he  therefore  moved  that  the 
matter  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, with  power  to  act.     The  motion  was  carried. 

Mr.  Liehty  said  that  several  entries  had  already 
been  made  for  the  exhibition;  and  he  urged  upon  the 
members  the  necessity  of  making  their  entries  as 
soon  as  possible,  in  order  that  should  additional 
coops  be  required,  they  could  be  ipanufactured  in 
time  for  the  opening. 

Mr.  Lippold  said  that  -Mr.  Liehty  was  kind  enough 
to  offer  a  silver  cup  for  a  match  between  Antwerp 
pigeons.  He  thought,  however,  that  the  distance 
the  birds  should  fly  should  be  announced  in  iime  to 
perniii  tlir-  binlR  tn  lie  trained  somewhat. 

Mr  I  i.  1:!'.  .Ill  iliathe  had  purchased  a  cup  for 
tlir|i,i  i  .nril.     The  birds  are  to  be  placed 

oil  .  Ill  ,  II  ,  I  III  ;-,liow.  The  birds  are  to  fly  from 
lu  Id  I.".  MiHr.,  Ill  ilie  winner  to  receive  the  cup. 
He  would  not  iiicntion  the  place  from  which  the 
birds  are  to  be  flown,  as  it  was  his  desire  not  to  give 
the  birds  any  practice.  He  was,  however,  willing  to 
make  the  distance  25  miles. 

Marcus  G.  Sener,  of  Lancaster,  Aaron  Good,  of 
Elizabethtown,  H.  L.  Stehman,  of  Rohrerstown, 
Samuel  Engle,  Marietta,  B.  J.  McGrann,  of  Lancas- 
ter, J.  Gust  Zook,  of  Lancaster,  and  Samuel  Eaby,  of 
Elizabethtown,  were  elected  members  of  the  society. 

Mr.  Schoenberger  thought  it  would  be  advisable 
to  set  apart  a  day  for  school  children,  and  lower  the 
price  of  admission  to  five  cents  on  that  day. 

Mr.  Long  suggested  that  they  be  admitted  on 
certain  days  for  several  hours  for  a  reduced  rate  of 
admission. 

On  motion  a  committee  was  appointed  to  make 
nominations  for  otlicers  to  be  elected  at  the  meeting 
in  January. 

The  following  is  the  commitk-e:  Messrs.  J.  A. 
Stober,  H.  H.  Tshudy  and  J.  B.  Long. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Ktifroth,  an  invitation  was 
extended  to  the  Children's  Home  to  visit  the  show  at 
a  convenient  time. 

On  motion  the  society  adjourned. 

LINN.ffiAN   SOCIETY. 

On  Saturday  the  29th  of  November,  the  Linnsean 
Society  met  statedly,  and  on  motion,  Professor  T.  R. 
Baker  took  the  chair.  Tlie  preliminary  opening 
being  attended  to,4he  donations  to  the  museum  for 
this  month  were  examined  and  found  to  consist  of  a 
number  of  specimens  sent  to  Dr.  Rathvon,  from  Cali- 
fornia, per  Mr.  John  Wittich,  of  Elkgrove,  Sacra- 
mento county,  California.  Among  them  were  the 
following: 

Petrified  wood  from  that  geological  wonder,  the 
buried  forests  of  California,  lately  illustrated  and 
fully  described.  A  large  shell  of  the  HalioHs  tnbcr- 
cidiila  ov  CAY  shell.  Mr.  W.  states  they  are  called 
"Alialniii-;"  that  they  .idhere  tn  the  rocks  so  firmly 

that  IK)  our  i.x   nlilrlfi   jiiill    tl i  off  with  the  b.and6 

only:  tluit  Mil  III  'i  i-  -  liil  lis  a  piece  of  pork  and 
far'lii-itri- III  I  li  I      n    -jiiak.-.  Iriim  experience. 

TliifppiTinirii  IN.   I,.  II'  ihili.s  in  width  and  8  in 

length,  uijil  lii-auiiiiii:>  nia-iin  in  its  inner  cavity. 
There  are  about  ma'  I  nninil  s|ii-(i<-s  described 
Other  shells  of  Gasl,  r. ■:>■„!  n,  ii  liy-lbotcd  Mollus- 
cous" animals,  embraiinL'  >  i^lii  ouli  is,  smong  which 
are  specimens  of  FU^m-Jia,  ahicld-bliaped,  perfora 
ted  at  the  summit,  exterior  surface  ribbed.  Nine 
species  of  the  "Limpet"  family , rather  too  water  worn 
to  decide  the  exact  species.  "A  sea-urchin"  or  sea- 
egg  of  the  family  Ectiiiioxidif,  but  broken  into  frag- 
inents  on  its  way,  not  being  protected  by  a  tin  or 
wooden  box.  A  rather  novel  specimen  of  the  "chiton 
family,"  which  seems  to  be  a  species  of  Trachyder- 
moH.  A  most  magnificent  cluster  of  J'ullkipes, 
having  a  tubular,  "tendinous,  scaly  |K-.lun(le,  of 
which  six  speciesof  each  geniis  an  .1,  ^iriln  .1,  and  a 
specimen  of  each  figured.  This  lainil\  nl  I'irrhi- 
p:rfa  has  ten  genera,  among  wliii  h  ar.-  ihr  Itarnacles 
balUHiis.  Several  iiatiM-  saline  sp.  i  iiiieiis,  one  of  a 
white  color,  like  a  larlnmair  III  soda;  the  other 
yellow,  of  a  highly  stypiir  ia>tr,  liki-  sulphuret  of 
iron  combined  with  aluniiiui.  Min.ials— A  specimen 
of  "Serpentine,"  one  n  appearance  of  black  quartz; 
another,  a  kiud  of  brown  oxide  of  iron.  Also  among 
the  lot  a  delicate  algae,  and  a  skin  of  some  rodent, 
allied  to  the  squirrels.  Mr.  Willich's  diary  was 
published  in  the  October  number  of  the  Lancaster 
Farmer,  which  gives  much  information  of  interest. 
The  Linnasan  Society  give  their  hearty  thanks  to  Mr. 
Wittich,  and  hope  others  will  do  likewise.  Thirty 
cents  po.xtage  for  a  distance  of  1,000  miles  by  mail, 
is  a  small  item,  while  its  benefit  in  a  scientific  point 
of  view  is  great. 

Mr.  C.  M.  Hess,  of  Quarry ville,  left  specimens  of 
a  micaceous  oxide  of  iron  found  abundant  near  his 
place,  to  be  analyzed  by  the  State  assayist  at  Harris- 
burg,  Pa. 

Another  addition  was  a  large  specimen  of  the 
Fsmulotrifon,  now  under  Hartnesque's  name  of 
N/ielcrpes  logicmulHs,  Cave  Salamander.  Mr.Stauffer 
said  of  this:  I  would  remark  here,  that  I  have  the 
longicanda  colored  and  figured,  and  named  by  Prof. 
Cope  for  me.  Then  I  have  another  specimen  figured 
which  has  a  shorter  and  fiattish  tail  like  the  tritons 
and  is  like  the  specimen  figured,which  has  a  shorter 
and  fiattish  tail  like  the  tritons  and  is  like  the  speci- 


men donated  by  Master  D.  Knight.  Although  alike 
in  color  and  spots,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  is 
an  undescribed  species,  and  confounded  with  the 
longicanda,  and  deserves  further  attention.  H.  L. 
Hendriekson  donated  a  very  large  specimen  of  a  water 
bug,  tbeBeloxtoma  gramlU,  captured  intheChickies. 
The  follicles  of  the  "sack-bearer"  or  "basket 
worm,"  unfortunately  named  "Thyridopteryz  ephe- 
nuera  forinis,"  taken  from  the  arbor  vitse,  by  Mrs. 
Ellmaker,  Gap,  Lancaster  county.  A  seventeen  year 
locust  (Cifiuto  neptemdcciiii.),  in  its  pupa  state,  at 
eleven  years  of  age,  dug  out  in  September  last  by 
George  0.  Hensel.  A  fine  specimen  of  a  crustaccau 
taken  out  or  from  among  oysters,  by  Samuel  Road- 
man. 

Specimens  of  leaves  of  the  Elm  tree  pasted  on  a 
card,  to  show  the  work  of  perforation  by  the  Elm 
Beetle,  Oaleritea^aiithmnalena,  iurinu:  this  summer 
on  our  city  shade  trees.  Also  the  leaves  of  the 
Maple  (Acer  mcchareurii)  infested  by  Pseudococcm 
aceris,  during  October  last,  neatly  pasted  on  ca.-ds 
with  flocculent  cottony  masses  adhering.  A  singu- 
lar large  oblong  pellet  of  hog's  hair  packed  together 
taken  from  the  stomach  of  a  fat  hog  owned  and 
slaughtered  by  Mr.  Aaron  Zell,  of  Springville,  Lan- 
caster county,  Nov.  24,  1879.  A  large  puff-ball, 
Lycoperdon,  from  the  office  of  the  jVchi  Mra. 
Additions  to  the  Library. 

Report  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1878, 
with  the  compliments  of  the  Commissioners,  amply 
illustrated.  Special  report  No.  18,  an  essay  ou  tea 
culture  in  the  United  States,  by  William  Saunders. 
Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Education,  1877. 
Pamphlet,  Bibliotheca  America.  Book  Catalogues. 
Patent  Office  Oazette  up  to  November  25,  1879.  '  The 
Lanoasteb  Farmer  for  November. 

His  orical  Collections. 

Afac  simile  of  a.  petition,  dated  August  27,  1726, 
to  the  court  of  what  was  part  of  Chester  county,  for 
a  license  to  open  an  ordinary  (otherwise  a  brewery) 
at  Donegal  run,  on  the  road  leading  from  Marietta  to 
.Mount  Joy;  donated  by  Samuel  Evans,  E.sq .,  of 
Columbia,  Pa.  About  a. year  ago  Squire  Evans 
published  short  biographical  mtices  of  these' signers, 
ministers,  church  niembers  and  farmers.  The  house 
is  still  standing  and  in  good  condition  to  last  another 
century.  A  pin  on  a  card,  from  an  assessment  roll 
dated  17.51,  per  S.  Evans,  Esq.  A  photosrraphic 
bird's-eye  view  of  Paris  and  Exposition,  1879.  An 
original  bill  dated  October  IS,  1787,  against  Jasper 
Yeates,  Esq.,  debtor  to  Franklin  College  lor  one  quar- 
ter's tuition  for  John,  .£1.  Receipted  and  signed 
W.  Reichenbach,  per  D.  M.  M.  Stauffer.  Eight 
European  papers  sent  home  per  Mr.  C.  A.  Heinitsh, 
druggist,  during  his  visit  in  18-18;  donated  by  Mr. 
Heinitsh.  Three  envelopes  containing  forty-three 
clippings  of  historical  interest,  by  Dr.  Rathvon. 
P.ipers  Read. 

Dr.  Rathvon  read  a  paper  on  the  California  and 
other  contributions,  with  notes  and  comments.  No. 
,531.  J.  Staufi'er  read  an  illustrated  paper.  No.  533, 
on  the  crustacean  given  him  by  .Mr.  S:  H.  Roadman. 
It  compares  nearly  in  evir  y  particular  with  a  species 
described  in  the  Uiiiiiil  .~;'iairs  ri-li  Commissioners' 
Report  page  .571-2.  Tlir  -V.  /  n-  ',i  ffmulit,  ^y  Harger, 
the  only  specimen  yet  taken,  timnil  on  the  dorsal  fin 
of  a  fish.  On  comparisira  with  numerous  others,  it 
failed  to  agree  generically,  hence  he  considers  it  a 
species  of  Xerocila. 

Under  scientific  miscellany,  various  topics  were 
discussed.  M.  L.  Davis,  M.  D.,  Mil lersville,  depos- 
ited the  remains  of  the  skeleton  of  the  five-legged 
frog.  The  fifth  leg  seems  to  have  been  double  in 
its  long  structure  and  the  muscular  portions  adherent 
from  the  opposite  sides  only.  The  pelvic  articula- 
tion was,  however,  higher  up  and  to  one  side,  with- 
out an  osseous  cavity;  a  caililaginous  ligature  held 
it  in  place. 

The  Society  adjourned  to  meet  (annual)  on  Satur- 
day the  27th  of  December  next,  1879. 


AGRICULTURE. 


The  Origin  of  Wheat  in  America. 
It  is  difficult  in  the  present  day  to  realize  the  fact 
tliat  wheat  was  at  one  time  uukown  in  America;  yet, 
prior  to  the  discovery  of  that  continent  by  Columbus 
there  was  no  cereal  in  America  approaching  in  na- 
ture to  the  wheat  plant.  It  was  not,  observes  the 
American  Miller,  until  15:i0  that  wheat  found  iis 
way  into  Mexico,  and  then  only  by  chance.  A  slave 
of  Cortez  found  a  few  grains  of  wheat  in  a  parcel  of 
lie  and  showed  them  to  his  master,  who  ordered 
them  to  be  planted.  The  result  showed  that  wheat 
would  thrive  well  on  Mexican  soil ;  and  to-day  one 
of  the  finest  wheat  valleys  in  the  world  is 
near  the  Mexican  capital.  From  Mexico  the 
cereal  found  its  way  to  Peru.  Maria  D'Escobar, 
wife  of  Don  Diego  De  Chauves,  carried  a  few 
grains  to  Lima,  which  were  planted,  the  entire  pro- 
duct being  used  for  seed  for  several  successive  crops. 
At  Quito,  Ecuador,  a  monk  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Francis,  by  the  name  of  Fray  Jodost  Bixi,  introduced 
the  new  cereal;  and  it  is  said  that  the  jar  which  con- 


1879.] 


tHE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


189 


tallied  the  seeds  is  still  preserved  by  the  monks  of 
Quito.  Wiieat  was  introduced  into  tlic  present  limits 
of  tlie  United  States  contemporaneously  with  the 
settlement  of  the  country  liy  the  English  and  Dutch. 
I'ull  Mall  Gazette. 

A  Senator's  View  of  Fanning. 

Senator  Chandler  of  Michigan,  had  lived  many 
years  in  Washington,  and  is  familiar  with  ollicial 
lite  as  it  exists  in  the  Senate  and  iu  the  departments. 
What  his  opinion  is  of  it  when  compared  with  farm- 
ini;  may  he  learned  from  the  following  : 

If  I  had  a  boy  today,  I  would  rather  put  him  on 
ail  eighty-acre  lot  that  never  had  a  plow  or  an  axe 
upon  it,  than  place  him  in  the  best  (Jovcrnmeut 
oHice  in  the  land. 

Make  your  houses  pleasant.  Make  them  so  at- 
tractive that  your  sons  and  daughters  will  love  their 
homes  better  than  any  other  place  on  this  earth. 
Make  tlie  business  of  I'arming  so  agreeable  that  your 
sons  will  see  that  It  is  the  most  healthful  and  prolil- 
able  occupation  in  which  they  can  engage.  Build 
good  houses  and  buy  good  implements.  Don't  get 
an  old  cracked  cook-stove,  but  put  iu  a  good  range. 
In  fact,  have  every  conveuienco  that  you  can,  so  that 
your  wives  and  daughters  will  deem  it  a  pleasure  to 
perform  their  household  work. 

In  this  way  you  can  bring  up  your  sons  and 
daughters  on  the  farm;  but  when  you  make  the 
home  repulsive,  you  drive  them  into  clerkships  and 
other  menial  positions,  when  they  ought  to  be  God's 
anointed  lords  of  creation. 


Depth  of  Sowing  Wheat. 
Farmers  who  are  wide  awak^  and  given  to  iuvcfti- 
gation  don't  sow  so  much  wheat  per  acre  as  they 
formerly  did,  and  they  don't  sow  it  so  deep.  The 
great,  heavy  harrows  of  ten  or  twenty  years  ago  are 
not  now  employed,  by  them  in  covering  seed,  and 
the  drill,  which  can  be  depended  on  better,  is  be- 
coming universally  popular.  In  broadcast  sowing, 
after  the  ground  is  thorouirhly  prepared,  the 
Thomas  smoothing  harrow  covers  the  seed  deep 
enough.  A  Wisconsin  writer  gives  the  results  of  an 
experiment  in  planting  at  different  depths— on  the 
surface,  one-fourth  inch,  one-half  inch,  three-fourth 
inch  and  so  on  to  several  inches.  That  on  the  sur- 
face lay  two  weeks  before  sprouting ;  that  oni- 
fourth  to  three-fourth  inches  deep  came  up  iu  four 
or  five  days,  and  so  on,  getting  later  as  the  de|)tli 
increased.  The  last  to  come  up  was  planted  thico- 
and-a-half  inches  deep,  and  wis  fourteen  days  in 
reaching  the  surface.  None  planted  deeper  ever 
reached  the  surface.  At  the  end  of  six  weeks  that 
planted  one-fourth  to  one-half  inch  deep  stood  far 
aliead  of  the  rest.— ijecord  and  Fanner. 

Wheat  and  Oats. 
A  number  of  agricultural  journals  have  advocated 
sowing  oats  and  wheat  together.  The  leaves  of  the 
oats  are  supposed  to  keep  the  snow  from  blowing 
away,  to  prevent  the  sun  from  thawing  the  frozen 
ground  and  to  make  a  good  top-dressing  for  the 
growing  wheat  in  the  spring.  But  it  seems  plain 
that  if  wheat  make  a  fair  growth  in  the  fall  its  own 
leaves  will  arrest  the  snow  as  well  as  oat  leaves, 
while  they  would  serve  ju.st  as  well  to  arrest  the 
action   of  the   sun  upon  the   frozen  ground 


'top-dressing"  we  do  not  belli 


the   wheat 


■rop 


vould  be  appreciably  benefited.  Not  until  the 
leaves  were  plowed  under  and  rotted  in  the  ground 
could  any  benefit  be  derived  from  them  as  a  manure. 
So  far  as  we  can  see,  therefore,  the  oats,  instead  of 
benefiting  the  wheat,  would  simply  exhaust  the  soil 
of  nutriment  and  moisture. 


Feeding  Mowing  Lands. 
Of  the  many  errors  that  farmers  are  likely  to  fall 
into  there  is  none  more  prolific  of  injury  than  that  of 
closely  feeding  those  fields  from  which  the  hay  crop 
has  been  taken,  and  from  which  it  is  expected  in  the 
future.  During  the  late  summer  and  early  fall 
months,  when  the  feed  in  pastures  becomes  short, 
and  the  flow  of  milk  diminishing,  with  a  field  of  good 
feed  that.has  sprung  up  since  cutting  the  crop  of 
hay,  the  temptation  is  very  strong  to  "turn  in  the 
cows"  for  a  baiting.  This  may  be  all  well  enough 
if  not  persisted  in;  but  A-hen  animals  are  allowed  to 
feed  in  such  fields  until  the  whole  is  gnawed  so 
closely  as  to  be  nearly  as  smooth  as  a  house  floor, 
such  a  field  cannot  be  depended  Ui,oii  for  much  of  a 
crop  of'hay  the  succeeding  season,  unless  a  liberal 
top-dresjSing  of  some  sort  of  fertilizer  is  applied. 

Plowing  by  Electricitj . 

Some  interesting  experiments  of  plowing  by  elec- 
tricity took  place  theother  day  atNoisiel,  in  France, 
in  the  park  of  the  well-known  Deputy  and  chocolate 
maker,  M.  Menier.  The  motive  power  was  supplied 
to  the  plow  by  a  Gramme  machine,  itself  set  in 
motion  by  water  power,  which  is  abundant  on  M. 
Menier's  estate.  The  plow  did  about  the  same  work 
as  if  it  were  drawn  by  four  oxen.  It  was  a  Fowler 
plow,  with  six  shares.  The  motive  power  was  sup- 
plied by  a  wire  at  a  distance  of  nearly   half  a  mile. 


To  a  profane  looker-on  it  was  amazing  to  see  a  plow 
propelled  by  an  unseen  agency  without  teams  or 
steam.  The  Gramme  machine  employed  was  the 
same  that  supplied  M.  .Menier's  manufactory  with 
electric  light 

iba\xt  Corn  and  Wheat. 
Corn  loses  one-llflh  by  drying,  and  wheat  one- 
fourteenth.  From  this  the  estimate  is  made  that  it 
is  more  profitable  for  farmers  to  sell  uiisholled  corn 
in  the  fall  at  7.5  cents  than  at  $1  a  bushel  In  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  and  that  wheat  at  9l--5iu  Decem- 
ber is  equal  to  $1.50  In  the  succeeding  June.  In  the 
case  of  potatoes — taking  those  that  rot  and  arc 
otherwise  lost— together  with  the  shrinkage,  there 
is  but  little  doubt  that  between  October  and  June 
the  loss  to  the  owner  who  holds  them  Is  not  less 
than  thirty-three  per  cent. 

Rolling  After  Se-wing  Wheat  Fields. 

The  objection  to  rolling  wheat  fields  after  being 
sown  has  been  made  that  the  snow  will  blow  off  or 
collect  in  drifts  here  and  there.  But  If  wheat  Is 
sown  early  the  leaves  should  cover  the  entire  sur- 
surface  before  winter,  and  we  should  suppose  would 
hold  the  soil  as  well  as  a  rough  soil  surface.  Whether 
this  supposition  is  well  founded  or  not,  we  have  this 
fall  rolkii  five  fields  after  the  seed  had  been  drilled 
in  or  sown  broadcast,  and  another  season  will  prob- 
ably enable  us  to  test  the  question. 


Horticulture. 


Principles  of  Pruning. 

Barry,  in  his  "First  Garden,"  rests  the  theory  of 
pruning  of  fruit  trees  on  six  gen(>ral  principles  ; 

First.  The  vigor  of  a  tree  subjected  to  pruning, 
depends  in  a  great  measure  on  the  equal  distribution 
of  sap  in  all  its  branches.  To  accomplish  this  the 
following  means  are  devised  to  be  successively  em- 
jiloj'ed  :  (1)  Prune  the  branches  of  the  most 
vigorous  parts  very  short,  and  those  of  the  weak 
jiarts  lo  :g.  (2)  Leave  a  largo  quantity  of  fruit  on 
the  strong  part,  and  remove  tlic  whole  or  greater 
part  t'roiii  the  feeble.  (:i)  Bond  the  strong  parts 
ami  kro|i  the  weak  erect,  and  the  more  erect  the 
livaiiclirs  are,  the  greater  will  be  the  flow  of  sap  to 
I  ho  ;;ru\viiig  parts.  This  remedy  is  especially 
apiiHoil  to  CBpalier  trees.  (4)  Kemove  the  vigorous 
part.s  (it  the  superfluous  shoots,  as  early  in  the 
Boasoii  a.s  piiBSible.  (.5)  Pinch  early  the  soft  extrem- 
iiios  nl'  I  ho  shoots  on  the  vigorous  parts  and  as 
lato  as  possible  on  the  feeble  parts,  except  always 
any  shoots  which  may  be  too  vigorous  for  then- 
position,  (fi)  Lay  in  the  strong  shoots  on  the 
trellis  early,  and  leave  the  feeble  parts  loose  as  long 
as  possible  in  espalier  trees. 

Second.  The  sap  acts  with  greater  force,  and 
produces  more  vigorous  growth  on  a  branch  or 
shoot  pruned  short  than  one  pruned  long;  hence  the 
practice  of  pruning  short  where  wood  branches  are 
desired,  and  long  for  fruit  branches. 

Third.  The  sap  tending  always  to  the  extremities 
of  the  shoots,  causes  the  terminal  bud  to  push  with 
greater  vigor  than  the  laterals. 

Fourth.  The  more  the  sap  is  obstructed  in  Its  cir- 
culation, the  more  likely  it  will  be  to  produce  fruit 
buds. 

Fifth.  The  leaves  serve  to  prepare  the  sap  ab- 
sorbed by  the  roots  for  the  nourishment  of  the  tree, 
and  aid  the  formation  on  the  shoots.  All  trees, 
therefore,  deprived  of  their  leaves,  are  liable  to 
perish . 

Sixth.  When  the  buds  of  any  shoot  or  branch  do 
not  develop  before  the  age  of  two  years,  they  can 
only  be  forced  into  activity  by  close  pruning,  and  in 
some  cases,  notably  the  peach,  this  even  will  often 
fail. 

Fruit  Exports  of  the  United  States. 
From  a  paper  issued  by  the  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment at  Washington,  we  And  the  following  on  the 
subject  of  dried  fruit :  "The  European  demand  for 
American  fruits  increases  with  the  supply,  and 
proves  to  be  very  generally  remunerative.  There  is 
enough  fruit  raised  in  the  United  States  to  supply 
both  our  own  country  and  Europe.  The  first  ex- 
portation of  apples  was  made  MO  years  ago,  when 
the  apples  commanded  from  six  dollars  to  eight  dol- 
lars a  barrel  in  Liverpool.  That  city  now  receives 
00,000  barrels  of  apples  annually.  The  value  of  the 
fruit  exported  last  year  was  ?2,!):i7,025.  The  ex 
portation  of  canned  fruit  is  rapidly  increasing.  The 
supply  of  dried  fruit  has  never  been  equal  to  the 
demand.  The  extraordinary  increase  in  the  pro- 
duction of  dried  fruit  in  the  last  few  years  has  been 
met  by  still  greater  consumption." 


Fastening  Zinc  Labels  on  Trees. 
Unless  frequently  examined,  the  wire  used  to 
fasten  labels  to  trees,  as  recommended  by  "Gris- 
wold"  in  a  late  Hural,  is  apt  to  injure  the  tree  by 
cutting  into  apd  sometimes  girdling  it.  An  im- 
provement on|this  is  to  make  and  attach  the  labels  as 


follows  :  A  convenient  size  is  five  or  six  inches  long, 
an  inch  wire  at  one  end,  tapering  to  a  point  at  the 
other.  Write  the  name,  date  of  setting,  and  auv- 
thlng  else  of  special  Interest  in  connection  with  the 
specimen,  on  the  widest  end  with  a  common  lead 
pencil,  and  wind  the  pointed  end  around  a  limb.  As 
fast  as  the  tree  grows  the  flexible  zinc  unwinds  with- 
out Injuring  the  tree.  The  pencil  marks  unite  chemi- 
cally with  the  ziuc,  and  soon  become  indellible.  The 
best  zinc  for  the  purpose  Is  that  which  is  thin,  old 
and  corroded.  I  obtain  them  at  the  tin  shojis  here, 
cut  to  order,  for  twenty-five  cents  per  liundrcd.— 
Correnpomlent  of  t/tr.  Hiiral  .Yeif    Yorker. 

Cleaning  Fruit  Trees. 
Autumn  is  the  best  time,  says  the  Rural  .^t." 
Yorker,  to  cleanse  fruit  trees,  and,  indeed,  all 
plants,  from  scales  and  other  InsectB.  Now  the 
fruit  trees  can  be  handled  with  less  Ifabilfty  of 
breaking  buds  and  spurs  than  in  the  spring,  after 
the  buds  have  begun  to  swell,  and  the  work  will  be 
as  efrecflvc  now  as  then.  Use  strong  soapsuds  of 
whale  oil  soap.  Apply  It  with  a  stiff  brush  ;,and  do 
not  confine  the  washing  to  the  trunk,  but  go  over  all 
the  small  branches  and  everywhere  on  the  tree 
where  scales  are  found. 

Manuring  Fruit  Trees. 
Now  is  the  time  to  mulch  and  manure  fruit  trees, 
and  prepare  them  to  endure  and  thrive  under  the 
severe  cold  of  the  coming  winter.  Well  rotted 
barnyard  manure,  mixed  with  loam,  is  probably  the 
best— but  a  sprinkling  of  wood  ashes  n-vind  each 
tree  will  have  a  good  cflTcct.  Even  cu.i.  aohcg  Is 
better  than  nothing.  The  spread  keeps  the  roots 
wariTi  ami  moist,  and  keeps  out  the  frost  to  a  large 
cxtini.  I'niii  i]o.  s  need  manuring  and  care  just  as 
muoli  ah  (ilhci-  iijanls  and  crops. 


Domestic  Economy. 


Chickens  to  Boil. 

Dress  in  the  usual  way,  cutoff  the  neck,  legs, 
wings,  and  break  the  back  in  two;  put  into  cold 
water  till  the  animal  heat  is  gone,  then  put  Into  a 
kettle  of  cold  water  and  boll  till  nearly  done;  salt 
and  pepper  and  boil  the  water  nearly  out.  If  the 
fowl  is  not  fat  add  a  lumpof  butter  v  lien  thoroughly 
done,  and  It  is  ready  for  the  table.  Or,  a  belter 
way,  after  cooking  as  above,  mix  a  spoonful  of  flour 
with  one  egg  and  a  quart  of  milk;  add  to  the  chicken 
and  boil  one  minute. 

Fried  Chicken. 

Chickens  must  be  younir  to  fry  well.  If  no  larger 
than  pigeons  they  may  be  fried  whole;  if  larger, 
dissect  as  above,  wash,  rub  salt  on  while  wet, 
pepper  and  fry  in  butter  or  lard,  keeping  the  dish 
covered.  Mix  one  or  two  eggs  with  a  spoonful  of 
flour  and  a  teacup  of  milk,  and  pour  over  the 
chicken  when  done,  setting  the  frying-pan  in  the 
oven  long  enough  to  cook  the  egg. 

Roasted  Chicken   or    Fowl. 

In  dressing  do  not  scald  enough  to  shrink  the 
skin;  it  Is  troublesome.  Cut  as  little  as  possible  In 
cleaning;  remove  the  neck  bone  as  low  as  you  possi- 
bly can  slip  the  skin  down.  Loosen  the  crop  all 
around  with  one  finger  and  draw  it  out  at  the  neck. 
Hold  something  hard  under  and  with  a  hammer 
break  the  bone  an  inch  above  the  joint  at  which  you 
cut  off  the  leg,  then  you  can  easily  remove  it  when 
it  becomes  bore  and  perhaps  burnt  by  touching  the 
oven.  Kub  salt  outside  and  in  while  the  fowl  is  wet, 
pepper,  cut  the  neck,  gizzard,  liver  and  heart  iu 
small  pieces;  put  in  cold  water  enough  to  fill 
the  fowl ;  boll  half  an  hour,  salt  and  pepper. 
Adil  as  much  old  bread  sliced  thin  as  the  water  will 
wet ;  put  in  a  little  butler,  stir  well  niid  put  into  the 
chicken ;  sew  up  with  coarse  thread  ;  fill  the  neck 
and  tie  it.  Put  Into  the  oven,  keeping  the  bottom  of 
the  dripping-pan  covered  with  walir,  which  dip  over 
t.he  fowl  occasionally,  and  turn  carefully  twice. 
Chickens  eight  months  old  will  roast  well  in  au 
hour,  old  fowls  require  half  a  day  ;  they  had  better 
be  lioiled.  When  done  take  out  the  chicken,  dip  off 
most  of  the  oil  and  make  a  gravy  by  adding  a 
spoonful  of  flour  and  a  pint  of  rich  milk. 

The  above  directions  are  good  for  turkey,  goose  or 
duck,  except  the  two  last  especially,  should  lie  tat  to 
be  good,  but  not  to  be  eaten.  Keniove  all  the  fat 
you  can  easily  both  before  and  after  cooking ; 
enough  will  be  left  then.— 5.  A.  It.  LimUcy,  Smr/ue- 
haniia  comity.  Pa. 

Roast   Duck. 

Pluck,  singe  and  draw  ;  blanch  the  feet  and  re- 
move their  skin  ;  make  a  stutling  with  sage,  onions 
(previously  blanched  and  chopped  fine)  and  bread- 
crumbs, using  twice  as  much  onion  as  sage,  and 
twice  as  much  bread-crumbs  as  onion,  add  a  little 
butter,  pepper  and  salt  to  taste.  When  stuffed 
truss  them,  tie  some  thin  slices  of  bacon  over  the 
breasts,  roast  for  fifteen  minutes  before  a  brisk  fire, 
basting  well  with  butter ;  remove  the  bacon  from 
the  birds  a  minute  or  two  before  they  are  roasted 
Serve  with  gravy  in  the  dish,  but  not  over  the  birds. 
—  Theresa,  'Germantown  Telegraph. 


190 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[December, 


Our  Receipt  for  Curing  Meat. 

As  tlje  season  has  arrived  wheu  curing  m3at  is  in 
order  we  publish,  as  of  old,  our  famous  receipt  for 
curing  beef,  pork,  mutton,    haras,  etc.,   as   follows: 

To  one  gallon  of  water  take  1'4  tbs.  of  salt,  Jo  tb. 
sugar,  \i  oz.  saltpetre  and  }.i  oz.  potash. 

In  this  ratio  the  pickle  can  be  increased  to  any 
quantity  desired.  Let  these  be  boiled  together  until 
all  the  dirt  from  the  sugar  rises  to  the  top  and  ie 
skimmed  otT.  Then  throw  it  into  a  tub  to  cool,  and 
ivhi-n  cold  pour  it  over  your  beef  or  pork.  The  meat 
must  be  well  covered  with  pickle,  and  should  not  be 
put  down  for  at  least  two  days  after  killing,  during 
which  time  it  should  be  slightly  sprinkled  with 
powdered  saltpetre,  which  removes  all  the  surface- 
blood,  etc.,  leaving  the  meat  fresh  aud  clean.  Some 
omit  boiling  the  pickle  and  find  it  to  answer  well, 
though  the  operation  of  boiling  purifles  the  pickle  by 
throwing  off  the  dirt  always  to  be  found  in  salt  aud 
sugar.  If  this  receipt  is  strictly  followed  it  will  re- 
quire only  a  single  trial  to  prove  its  superiority  over 
the  common  way,  or  most  ways  of  putting  down 
meat,  and  will  not  soon  be  abandoned  for  any  other. 
The  me&t  is  unsurpassed  for  sweetness,  delicacy  and 
freshness  of  color. 

Cough  Mixture. 
The  whites  of  six  fresh  eggs  beaten  to  a  froth  with 
half  a  teaspoonful  of  fine  white  sugar;  add  juice  of 
four  lemons,  three  tablespoonfuls  pure  honey,  quar- 
ter ounce  of  laudanum;  beat  all  together,  bottle  and 
cork  tightly.  Take  a  spoonful  when  the  coughing 
comes  on;  shake  well  before  taking;  crushed  sugar 
rolled  fine  with  a  roller  is  the  best  to  use. 


Household  Recipes. 


Pie  Paste. — To  prevent  pie  paste  from  soaking 
the  liquid  contained  in  the  filling  of  the  pie,  glaze 
the  under  crust  with  a  beaten  egg. 

Useful  Accomplishmknt.— To  be  able  to  solder 
basins  and  pots  and  pans  is  an  acoomplishment  well 
worth  the  trouble  of  boys  and  girls  to  acquire,  and 
the  tools  necessary  for  the  work  are  few  and  inex- 
pensive. 

Cle.^xing  TiNw.iKE.— The  best  thing  for  clean- 
ing tinware  is  common  soda.  Dampen 'a  cloth  and 
dip  in  soda,  and  rub  the  ware  briskly,  after  which 
wipe  dry.  Any  blackened  or  dirty  ware  can  be 
made  to  look  as  well  as  new. 

Rice  Pudding. — One  scant  half  cup  rice,  one-third 
cup  butter,  two-thirds  cup  sugar,  season  with  nut- 
meg ;  fill  a  three-pint  basin  or  pudding  dish  two- 
thirds  full  of  milk  aud  water,  half  andhalf ;  bake 
slowly  one  and  one-half  hours. 

Indian  Meal  Pancakes.— Beat  4  eggs,  add  a 
little  milk  and  form  into  a  paste  with  ten  spoonfuls  of 
Indian  meal ;  add  nearly  a  pint  of  milk  and  one  lea- 
spoonful  of  Royal  baking  powder;  work  smooth  and 
fry,  rolling  them  up  with  butter,  sugar,  nutmeg  and 
lemon  juice. 

Beefsteak  Omelette. — Three  pounds  raw  steak 
and  one  slice  salt  pork,  chopped  fine  ;  then  soda 
crackers  rolled,  one  egg,  half  a  cup  of  milk,  small 
piece  of  butter,  two  teaspoonsful  salt,  one  teaspoonful 
of  sage,  half  teaspoonful  of  pepper ;  mix  with  the 
hands  ;  pack  in  a  tin  and  bake  one  hour  and  a  half. 
When  cold  slice  thin. 

Cream  Muffins.— An  excellent  and  well-tried 
recipe.  One  quart  sweet  milk — half  cream,  if  you 
can  get  it — one  heaping  quart  of  Graham  flour,  six 
eggs,  and  salt  to  taste.  Bake  immediately  in  hot 
muffin  rings.  Your  oven  should  be  hot,  and  the 
muffins  sent  to  the  table  as  soon  as  they  are  taken 
up. 

Delicate  Cake. — Take  half  a  pound  of  butter, 
one  pound  of  "Ugar,  one  pound  of  flour,  half  a  pint 
of  sweet  milk  or  water,  four  eggs.  Beat  the  butter 
and  sugar  to  a  cream,  then  add  the  beaten  eggs, 
then  the  milk  or  water,  then  the  flour;  mix  thorough- 
ly and  put  the  batter  into  your  pan;  sift  fine  sugar 
over  the  top  and  bake  immediately  in  a  moderate 
oven. 

Japanned  Ware. — Do  not  pour  boiling  water 
over  tea-trays,  particularly  if  japanned,  as  it  will 
make  the  varnish  crack  and  peel  ofl".  Wet  a  sponge 
in  warm  wa'er  and  dampen  it  over  ;  then  wipe  off 
with  a  soft  cloth.  If  a  tray  becomes  spotted,  take  a 
bit  of  woolen  cloth  and  dip  into  a  little  sweet  oil, 
and  rub  it  as  hard  as  possible,  and  the  marks  (if 
effaceable)  will  disappear. 

SoOTT  Chimneys  Cured. — The  accumulation  of 
soot  in  chimneys  is  a  great  nuisance,  and  may  be 
remedied  by  mixing  considerable  salt  with  the  mor- 
tar with  which  the  bricks  composing  the  chimney 
are  laid.  Tbe  salt  acts  by  absorbing  moisture  when- 
ever it  is  damp  and  rainy,  and  the  soot,  becoming 
wet  and  heavy,  falls  into  the  Are  below.  This  is  an 
English  idea,  and  is  said  to  give  very  satisfactory 
results. 

Lemon  Pies.— Beat  four  eggs  very  light,  add  to 
them,  gradually,  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  fine  sugar, 
whisk  these  together   for   a  few  minutes,  strewing 


lightly  in  one  ounce  of  corn  starch  flour;  then  stir 
in  by  degrees  three  ounces  of  melted  butter;  beat  the 
whole  well  together,  and  stir  in  the  juice  and  grated 
yellow  rind  of  one  large  lemon.  Line  your  pie  dish 
with  a  good  puff  paste  rolled  thin,  fill  them  two- 
thirds  full  of  the  mixture,  and  bake  for  twenty 
minutes  in  a  moderate  oven. 

Chicken  Cheese.— Boil  two  chickens  till  tende'r. 
Take  out  all  the  bones,  and  chop  the  meat  fine; 
season  with  salt,  pepper  and  butter.  Boil  down  the 
liquor  the  chickens  were  boiled  in,  until  there 
remains  only  enough  to  make  the  chopped  meat 
quite  moist.  Put  the  meat  into  a  mold  of  any  shape 
that  is  desirable  or  convenient.  When  cold,  turn 
out  and  cut  into  slices.  It  is  excellent  for  picnics, 
or  for  a  lunch  when  traveling. 

Mince  Pies.— The  following  receipt  for  mince 
pies,  which  are  now  in  season,  is  confidently  recom- 
mended after  using  it  for  many  years  :  Boil  a  fresh 
beef  tongue  tender,  let  it  get  cold,  then  chop  it  fine 
with  one  pound  of  suet,  half  peck  of  apples,  two 
pounds  of  currants,  picked  and  washed  very  care- 
fully ;  pound  of  citron  sliced,  half  an  ounce  each  of 
powdered  cioveh,  nllspice,  cinnamon  and  ginger, 
three  pints  of  sweet  cider,  one  pint  of  Madeira  wine, 
half  a  pint  of  tiiaudy  with  enough  sugar  to  sweeten 
to  your  taste.     Tliis  will  make  a  large  jar  full. 

To  CuKF,  Hams.— This  receipt  is  50  years  old,  and 
I  think  it  is  the'  best.  To  each  30  pounds  of  green 
meat  make  a  mixture  of  one-fourth  of  a  pound  of 
brown  sugar,  and  a  dessert  spoonful  of  ground 
saltpetre;  rub  this  well  by  hand  into  the  meat;  then 
with  coarse  salt  cover  the  bottom  of  a  barrel,  say, 
to  half  an  inch;  put  in  hams,  and  cover  with  half  an 
inch  of  salt,  aud  so  on  until  the  barrel  is  full;  hams 
should  remain  in  a  cool  place  four  weeks;  when 
salted,  wipe  and  dry  them,  and  get  some  whole 
black  pepper,  which  you  must  grind  yourself,  and 
pepper  thoroughly,  especially  about  tlie  hock  and 
bone'  let  the  hams  lie  for  two  days;  then  smoke  for 
eight  weeks.— Old  Man. 

Oat-Meal  Pudding.— Put  in  a  basin  a  fourth  of 
a  pint  of  cold  milk  and  mix  into  two  ounces  of  finely 
ground  oat-meal,  then  add  to  it  a  pint  of  boiling 
milk— mixing  it  this  way  prevents  lumps;  put  it  on 
the  fire  and  let  it  boil  10  minutes;  have  some  dried 
bread-crumbs,  and,  taking  oflT  the  oatmeal,  mix  in 
the  crumbs  until  the  whole  is  rather  stiff;  chop  two 
ounces  of  suet;  cut  up  as  fine  as  possible  one  small 
onion,  beat  up  the  whites  and  yolks  of  two  eggs  and 
a  sprinkle  of  sage  and  marjoram,  and  mix  these  with 
the  cold  poi  ridge;  butter  a  pan,  put  in  your  mixture, 
and  bake  for  an  hour.  When  roast  beef  is  scarce, 
oat-meal  pudding,  with  a  little  gravy,  ekes  out  the 
feast  for  many  a— Poor  Scot. 

Pumpkin  Pudding.- Take  one  pint  of  pumpkin 
that  has  been  stewed  soft  and  pressed  through  a 
colander;  melt  in  half  a  pint  of  warm  milk,  one 
quarter  pound  butter  and  the  same  quantity  of 
sugar,  stirring  them  well  together;  one  pint  of  rich 
cream  will  be  better  than  milk  and  butter;  beat  eight 
eggs  very  slight,  and  add  them  gradually  to  the 
other  ingredients  alternately  with  the  pumpkin;  then 
stir  in  a  wine-glass  of  rose  water  and  two  glasses  of 
wine  mixed  together,  a  large  teaspoonful  of  powder- 
ed mace  and  cinnamon  mixed,  and  a  grated  nutmeg. 
Having  stirred  the  whole  very  hard,  put  it  into  a 
buttered  dish  and  bake  three  quarters  of  an  hour. 
If  you  try  it  once  you  will  try  it  again. — Polly. 
Wliilemarsh,  Monlijomery  county,  Pa. 

Tea  Biscuit.— Sift  four  pounds  of  flour  into  a 
large  wooden  bowl ;  make  a  cavity  in  the  centre  of 
the  flour,  and  stir  in  slowly  one  pint  of  lukewarm 
milk,  with  half  a  pint  of  good  yeast,  using  just 
enough  flour  to  make  the  yeast  and  milk  into  a  batter 
of  the  consistency  of  rich  cream.  Cover  this  over 
and  let  it  stand  for  two  hours;  then  cut  up  one 
pound  of  good  butter  into  one  pint  of  warm  milk, 
with  a  little  salt;  now  mix  all  the  ingredient  togeth- 
er, work  well,  dust  the  top  with  flour  and  let  stand 
one  hour,  after  which  make  the  dough  into  biscuits, 
about  the  size  of  an  egg;  butter  the  baking  tins  and 
lay  the  biscuits  in  rows  about  three  inches  apart; 
place  in  a  warm  situation  to  rise,  and,  as  soon  as 
light,  bake  them  to  a  nice  brown,  in  a  hot  oven;  as 
soon  as  they  are  taken  from  the  oven  wash  over  the 
tops  with  a  soft  brush  dipped  in  milk. 

Orange  Pudding. — Peel  and  slice  three  or  four 
oranges,  aud  lay  in  a  pudding  dish  with  one-third 
cup  of  sugar;  make  a  custard  of  one-pint  of  milk, 
the  yoks  of  three  eggs  and  one  spoonful  of  corn 
starch;  and  one-third  cup  of  sugar;  when  coald  pour 
over  the  oranges;  beat  the  whites  of  three  eggs  and 
one-third  cup  of  pulverized  sugar  to  a  stiff  froth  and 
pour  over ;  put  in  the  oven  a  few  minutes  to  brown. 
To  be  eaten  cold.  Another  style — Stew  six' large 
apples  and  pass  through  a  seive;  rub  together  a  quar- 
ter of  a  pound  of  butter  and  half  a  pound  of  sugar; 
stir  in  the  apples  while  hot.  After  taking  the  skin 
and  white  pith  from  two  large  oranges,  chop  very  fine 
and  add  to  the  other  ingredients;  beat  the  yolks  of 
six  eggs  very  light  and  add;  reserve  the  whites  for 
for  the  meringue.  Bake  in  a  rich  paste.  Flavrr  the 
meringue  frosting  with  orange  juice  and  a  little  fine- 
ly grated  rind. 


Live  Stock. 


Choosing   Stock  for  the  Farm. 

This  is  a  very  important  matter.  The  great  variety 
of  soils  and  of  stocks  enables  us  to  make  a  close 
adaption  of  the  two,  and  here  is  the  foundation  of 
profit.  The  kind  of  stock  must  be  governed  also  by 
the  variety  of  feed  economically  attainable,  by  the 
ability  of  the  owner  to  house  and  care  for  them,  and 
by  the  market  to  be  supplied.  If  for  beef,  milk,  but- 
ter, cheesse,  the  breed  must  be  exactly  suitable  to 
these  points  as  well  as  those  referred  to  above.  Many 
serious  mistakes  are  maade  for  want  of  due  previous 
consideration,  and  changes  cannot  be  made  without 
great  loss  of  both  time  and  money. 

It  is  better  to  aim  at  some  one  point,  some  especial 
market  and  then  select  to  suit  as  near  as  possible;  but 
one  point  is  essential— an  animal  that  will  utilize  the 
most  food.  To  secure  this  the  stock  must  be  healthy, 
hardy,  quiet  and  of  large  frame,  so  that  when  neces- 
sary to  be  fattened  off' there  shall  be  room  for  meat. 
If  th  s  is  not  provided  for  a  final  loss — more  than 
covering  all  previous  profit — is  a  sure  thing.  A  quiet 
animal  will  eat  more,  will  assimilate  closer,  retain 
flesh  easier,  and  fatten  much  quicker  than  one  of  un- 
easy disposition. 

Of  all  the  stock  kept  by  farmers  in  this  country  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  three-fourths  of  it  is  not  really 
profitable,  and  one-fourth  is  not  as  valuable  as  it 
ought  to  be,  or  as  it  might  be  made  to  be. — S.  Unfits 
-1/rt«art,  in  Gerrnantown  Telegrapfi. 

Feeding  Cows. 

No  rule  can  be  made  which  will  apply  to  all  cows. 
Overfeedins  for  one  would  be  semi-starvation  for 
another.  One  cow,  with  a  large  frame  and  strong 
digestive  powers,  may  need  fifty  or  sixty  per  cent, 
more  food  than  another  which  is  small  and  dainty. 
The  latter  should  have  food  of  a  good  quality,  and 
it  should  be  given  in  as  easily  digestible  form  as 
possible,  but  neither  one  should  be  fed  beyond  its 
power  to  digest  and  as.similate  the  food.  Cows 
which  have  an  abundance  of  fresh  air  and  regular 
exercise  will  eat  and  digest  more  food  than  they 
would  if  they  were  kept  closely  confined  in  their 
stables.  Regularity  of  feeding  and  plenty  of  pure 
water  also  tend  to  keep  the  cows  in  good  health, 
and  allow  them  to  use  a  liberal  quantity  of  food 
without  injury.  Many  men  will  buy  a  cow,  feed  her 
all  the  meal  she  can  bear,  and  in  two  or  three  years 
sell  her  for  beef.  Up  to  a  certain  point  high  feeding 
pays,  but  it  does  not  pay  to  try  to  make  a  cow  pro- 
duce fourteen  pounds  of  butter  per  week  when  she 
is  not  capable  of  yielding  more  than  ten.  Old  cows 
will  bear  this  forcing  process  much  better  than 
those  which  are  young,  and  in  all  cases  high  feeding 
should  not  be  commenced  before  cows  are  six  years 
of  age . 


Mixed  Foods. 


A  mixture  of  feeding  substances  is  always  con- 
ducive to  the  health  of  animals.  It  operates  as  a 
change  of  food,  and  it  is  more  convenient  to  mix 
several  substances  aud  to  use  them  together,  than  to 
feed  them  separately.  For  horses,  the  basis  of  the 
grain  feed  should  be  oats  or  barley.  It  might  be 
remarked  here  that  barley  is  too  much  neglected  as 
a  feeding  substance  ;  it  is  nutritious  and  healthful 
even  as  a  single  food,  while  mixed  with  corn  it  re- 
duces the  heating  character  of  the  latter.  Equal 
parts  of  oats,  barley,  corn,  wheat  or  rye  bran  and 
linseed,  ground  together  form  a  perfect  food  for 
horses,  containing  no  element  of  nutrition  in  excess, 
and  having  the  laxative  effect  of  the  oily  linseed  to 
keep  the  digestive  organs  in  perfect  order,  the  skin 
loose,  and  the  coat  smooth  and  glossy.  For  cows, 
the  linseed  may  be  changed  for  cotton  seed  meal, 
which  has  an  excellent  influence  upou  the  milk  and 
character  of  the  butter. 


A  Few  Suggestions  to  Horse  Trainers. 

Never  try  to  beat  a  colt  into  doing  a  thing, 
for  if  nervous  he  may  turn  out  a  vicious  horse,  and 
if  stupid  he  may  become  stubborn.  Remember  that 
by  patience  and  gentleness  he  can  be  got  to  do  any- 
thing that  will  not  hurt  him.  When  the  horse  shows 
signs  of  shying  at  an  object  do  not  beat  him,  but 
lead  him  up  to  it,  allowing  him  to  stand  and  look  as 
he  comes  closer,  and  after  he  examines  it  a  few  times 
he  will  not  fear  anything  of  the  kind  again.  In  pass- 
ing by  hedges  with  a  colt  throw  in  stones  and  stop 
him  until  he  takes  no  notice  of  the  noise.  Before 
putting  on  any  article  of  harness  let  your  colt  smell 
it,  and" then  rub  it  against  his  head,  neck  and  body. 
Alwayt  start  a  horse  with  the  voice,  never  with  the 
cut  of  the  whip.  In  starting  turn  a  little  to  one  side; 
in  stopping'  when  going  up  a  hill  do  the  same. 

Hay  as  Food  for   Hogs. 

Says  the  Nebraska  Farmer  :  "But  few  men  are 
aware  of  the  fact  that  hay  is  very  beneficial  to  hogs, 
but  it  is  true  nevertheless.  Hogs  need  rough  food 
as  well  as  horses,  cattle  or  the  human  race.  To 
prepare  it  you  should  have  a  cutting  box  (or  hay 


1879.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


191 


cutter,)  and  the  greener  the  hay  the  better.  Cut 
the  hay  as  short  as  oats,  or  shorter,  ami  mix  with 
bran  shorts  or  middllnEs  and  feed  as  other  food. 
Hogs  soon  learn  to  lilte  it,  and  if  soaked  in  swill,  as 
other  slop  food,  is  highly  relished  by  them.  In 
winter  use  lor  the  hogs  the  same  hay  as  you  leed  to 
your  horses,  and  you  will  find  that  while  it  saves 
bran,  shorts  or  other  food,  it  puts  on  flesh  as  rapidly 
as  anything  that  can  be  given  them.  The  use  of  hay 
can  be  commenced  as  early  as  the  grass  will  do  to 
cut,  and  when  run  through  the  cutting  box  can  be 
used  to  advantage  by  simply  soaking  in  fresh  water 
until  it  sours." 

Cracked  Heels. 
Exposure  to  wet  and  mud,  scarcely  avoidable  in 
autumn,  will  surely  produce  cracked  heels  in  horses, 
unless  precautions  arc  used.  When  the  cracks  are 
once  formed,  they  arc  ditlicult  to  heal,  because  at 
every  motion  of  the  foot  they  are  opened  and  the 
granulations  are  disturbed.  Prevention  consists  in 
frequent  cleansing  of  the  feet  by  washing  with  clear 
water  and  wiping  dry  at  once  with  a  cloth  or  towel 
kept  for  the  purpose.  The  dryine  of  water  upon 
the  skin  is  injurious,  and  should  be  carefully  avoided. 
A  little  of  the  veterinary  cosmoline,  or  even  crude 
petroleum,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  cosmoline, 
applied  in  the  morning  before  the  horses  are  taken 
out,  will  prevent  mischief,  and  the  same  remedy, 
with  regular  cleansing  with  soap  and  water,  will 
cure  cracks  very  rapidly.  If  the  cracks  are  severe, 
from  neglect  or  otherwise,  the  pastern  should  be 
protected  by  wrapping  a  bandage  around  it. 

Wnhorning  Calves. 
The  horns  of  cows  seem  to  be  neither  ornamental 
nor  useful.  As  a  means  of  warfare  they  can  have 
consideration,  but  warfare  and  goring  is  precisely 
what  we  desire  to  keep  away  from  the  barnyard. 
English  farmers,  where  herds  are  probably  more 
precious  and  closer  confined  than  in  America,  have 
introduced  the  practice  of  unhorning  cattle  by  clip- 
ping the  short  projections  in  calves,  when  half  an 
inch  long,  using  simply  a  strong  pair  of  shears.  It 
is  true  it  hurts  the  calves  somewhat.  There  will  be 
a  little  bleeding,  but  that  will  stop  in  an  hour  or  two, 
and  the  calves  will  soon  resume  eating. 


Apiary. 


Dysentery  as  a  Bee  Disease. 

At  the  late  meeting  of  the  National  Bee  Keepers' 
association  at  Chicago,  Mr.  E.  Rood  read  an  essay 
on  this  subject,  which  we  give  somewhat  condensed: 
Foul-brood  I  believe  has  often  been  conquered,  and 
the  bees,  hives,  combs  and  honey  saved,  but  it  is 
not  one-thousandth  part  as  destructive  as  dysentery. 
Let  us  endeavor  to  find  the  cause  and  cure  of  the 
latter  disease.  It  is  true  that  in  the  northern  states 
there  has  been  a  coiueidenee  with  the  extreme  cold 
winters  and  the  dysentery;  but  has  this  disease  never 
made  its  appearance  in  mild  winters  or  milder  lati- 
tudes? Has  it  not  been  fully  as  destructive  in 
scientifically  protected  apiaries  as  those  on  their 
summer  stands  without  protection  ?  Few  will  doubt 
that  bees  properly  protected  in  winter  are  far  more 
exempt  from  ordinary  casualties.  Many  know  that 
the  best  of  atmospheric  protection  will  not  ward  oil' 
this  disease.  If  the  extreme  cold  causes  it,  we  must 
suppose  that  Maine,  Vermont,  Poland,  Northern 
Russia  and  Siberia,  must  import  fresh  colonies  every 
Spring,  for  those  states  have  as  long  and  continu- 
ously cold  a  winter  every  year  as  New  York,  Michi- 
gan and  many  other  localities  in  similar  thermal 
latitudes  had  last  winter,  and  the  winters  that  the 
disease  visited  us  some  few  years  since  with  such 
fatal  and  wide  spread  results. 

Again,  the  disease  has  been  charged  to  the  juice 
of  the  apple  ;  but  is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  disease 
prevailed  in  many  apiaries  out  of  the  reach  of  cider 
mills  ?  It  has  been  supposed  and  asserted  that  it 
was  caused  by  late-gat lieri'd  thin  honey,  and  that 
this  soured  before  it  was  sufficiently  evaporated  to 
be  capped  over.  With  the  splendid  dry  autumns  in 
this  latitude  (especially  that  of  last  fall),  is  such  a 
cause  possible  ?  I  do  not  think  so  ;  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  argument,  suppose  some  honey  of  that  kind 
is  gathered.  Is  it  not  probable  that  every  drop  was 
consumed  between  the  first  killing  frost  and  the  time 
the  weather  was  too  cold  for  them  to.take  purifying 
flights  ?  Two  other  obstacles  are  presented  to  the 
theory  and  reasoning  of  the  beneflts  of  purifying 
flights,  and  capped  or  thick  honey.  We  know,  and 
assert  without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that 
they  died  as  rapidly  when  being  fed  exclusively  upon 
thick,  capped  honey,  gathered  in  the  preceding  June 
and  July,  and  with  the  purifying  flights  of  from 
once  in  two  weeks  to  every  day,  from  the  middle  of 
March  to  the  time  of  fruit  bloom.  I  am  giving  facts 
that  occurred  under  my  own  observation,  at  a  cost 
of  twenty  colonies,  strong,  well  packed  with  chaff, 
with  proper  ventilation,  and  on  their summerstands. 

We,  as  well  as  many  others,  have  lost  as  large  a 
proportion  of  our  bees  from  dysentery,  when  housed 
in  perfectly  constructed  and  ventilated  depositories, 
as  when  left  on  their  summerstands.  You,  nodoubt, 


expected  me  to  give  some  preventive  or  remedy  for 
this  fearful  disease.  I  know  of  none.  I  can  guess 
that  to  extract  all  of  their  honey  in  the  fall  and  feed 
them  sufllcieut  of  sugar  syrup  they  would  winter 
well  on  it  alone,  or  upon  sugar  candy,  into  which  a 
proper  proportion  of  rye  meal,  or  some  other  substi- 
tute for  pollen,  was  subsiltuted  ;  that  they  will  live 
for  at  least  six  weeks  upon  plain  sugar  candy,  placed 
ill  close  contact  and  at  the  top  of  the  cluster,  I 
know  ;  that  all  the  liiincy  gathered  in  the  summer 
months,  which  is  thick  and  capped  over,  is  not  good 
to  prevent  dysentery,  I  know  ;  that  the  disease  is 
caused  by  honey-dew,  I  suspect;  that  it  maybe 
caused  by  a  condition  of  the  at3iosphei'c,l8  |>os8ible. 

How  Far  Bees  Will  go   for  Honey. 

The  precise  distance  that  bees  will  lly  in  search  of 
forage  I  am  unable  to  stale.  Some  consider  three 
miles  the  extreme  limit,  while  others  place  It  as 
high  as  twelve.  The  most  satisfactory  results  may 
be  expected  if  abundant  stores  can  be  found  within 
two  miles,  ft  is  evident  that  they  will  work  more 
freely  ui>on  blossoms  at  some  little  distance  from 
the  apiary  than  uix)n  those  close  by.  If  I  were  to 
sow  anything  with  a  view  to  a  supply  of  honey,  1 
would  prefer  that  it  should  not  be  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  hives.  Their  flights  arc  evidently 
modlfled  by  local  conditions.  During  the  large  yield 
from  basswood  in  18T4,  as  the  blossoms  failed  in  the 
valley,  the  bees  continued  bringing  in  the  same 
quality  of  honey,  following  the  basswood  day  by  day, 
as  it  opened  on  the  hills,  until  the  first  week  In 
August,  when  they  still  came  in  heavily  loaded  but 
very  tired  from  a  long  flight.  I  drove  to  the  hills, 
six  miles  distant,  and  found  that  basswood  was  just 
there  coming  in  bloom.  I  iininediately  moved  48 
swarms  to  this  location,  and  in  the  following  week 
these  48  colonies  gave  me  one  ton  of  surplus  honey, 
while  the  71  swarms  left  at  home  did  not  secure 
one-half  that  amount,  yet  they  continued  working 
on  the  same  ground  during  the  entire  period.  This 
is  a  flue  illustration  of  the  advantage  of  obtaining 
forage  within  a  reasonably  short  distance.  I  have 
never  had  direct  pronf  lu  the  ellVc-.t  (yet  there  is 
ground  for  the  bclict )  ilui  ii  Imiiry  could  not  be 
found  nearer  the  li.i-u,,i;M  m!  lly  the  di.stance 
named  without  bein- ^ijlii, I, i,  1..!  ainngby  newly- 
opening  blossoms,  a^  in  tin'  ■  a-ic  mentioned. — 
Quiitby's  Xriit  Bee-Keepinr/. 

Profitable  Bees. 

A  well-known  bee-keeper  gives  in  the  American 
Bee  Journal  a  report  of  his  profits  from  bee-keeping 
for  the  past  seven  years.     He  says  : 

"Our  average  yield  for  each  colony  in  the  spring 
of  187:5,  was  t^O  pounds;  in  1^74,  a  fraction  of  a  pound 
less  than  a  hundred;  in  187.5,  a  little  over  lOii;  in 
l,s76,  just  50;  in  1877,  a  little  less  than  lfi7;  1878,  71; 
and  in  187il— the  present  season — .5S  pounds,  making 
an  average  yield  of  a  little  over  00  pounds  per  colony 
for  the  term  of  mvi-m  years.  By  looking  over  our 
diary  we  asci  rtain  thai,  nur  honey  was  sold  at  an 
average  pricL-  nt  :.■!  > ,  iinis  per  pound,  the  highest 
price  havinir  l"iii  ohiairn-.i  (28',.ic.)  in  1874,  and  the 
lowest  (10;<4C.)  ill  1S7>;. 

"From  past  experience,  we  believe  a  thorough 
practical  workingman  can  do  all  the  work  required 
to  be  done  with  100  colonies  of  bees,  and  from  the 
above  he  should  obtain  for  an  average  term  of  years 
(>,000  pounds  annually,  which  at  '^I'/ic.  per  pound 
would  bring  him  a  yearly  income  of  $1,912,50. 
Although  the  average  yield  per  colony  for  seven 
years  to  come  may  be  increased,  yet  the  price  during 
that  time  is  likely  to  be  lower,  as  the  high  prices 
caused  by  the  war'  are  passed,  and  unless  we  have 
some  unforseen  event  to  raise  the  price  of  honey;  it 
will  probably  never  bring  28  cents  per  pound  again. 
Still,  with  a  much  lower  price  for  honey  than  that 
averaged  for  the  last  seven  years  beekeeping  ranks 
favorably  with  almost  any  other  pursuit." 

Wonderful  Feats  with  Bees. 
The  Prince  of  Wales,  who  manifested  so  much  in- 
terest in  the  honey  recently  exhibited  in  the  Kilburn 
Show,  has  been  presented  with  an  American  beehive. 
To  Mr.  Hodge,  who  explained  the  method  of  operat- 
ing the  hive,  the  Prince  expressed  an  opinion  that 
the  stories  recoi-ded  of  Mr.  Wildman's  command 
over  bees  must,  to  a  great  extent,  have  been  mythi- 
cal ;  but  Mr.  Hodge  assured  his  Koyal  Highness  that 
he  could  demonstrate  to  him  that  they  were  quite 
possible,  and,  acting  upon  his  assertion,  he  moved 
his  hand  about  for  a  little  while  among  the  sw^irm 
of  live  bees  which  he  had  with  him,  when  they  began 
to  cluster  about  his  right  hand,  assuming  the  shape 
and  appearance  of  a  huge  bunch  of  grapes.  He 
then  worked  amongst  the  bees  with  his  left  hand, 
and  at  the  word  of  command  they  began  to  shift 
and  settle  upon  it,  then  placing  a  little  tube,  madcof 
wire  guuz,  between  his  teeth,  the  bees  began  to  ac- 
cumulate about  his  face  and  hang  like  a  long  beard 
from  his  chin.  He  next  coaxed  the  bees  back  into 
the  hive.  Mr.  Thurber,  the  honey  merchant,  says 
that  the  secret  of  Mr.  Hodge's  and  also  Mr.  Wild- 
man's  control  over  their  bees,  lies  in  securing  the 
queen  bee,  which  in  Mr.  Hodge's  case  was  confined 
in  a  wire  lube,  which  all  the  bees  followed  from  one 
place  to  another. 


Poultry. 


Fattening  Turkeys. 
It  is  a  goodly  sight,  as  the  summer  days  wane,  to 
see  the  flocks  ol^  turkeys  coming  home  from  the 
woods  and  pastures  at  nightfall  with  full  crops.  If 
the  farm  has  not  been  overstocked  with  these  birds, 
they  have  very  largely  made  their  living  upon  grass- 
hoppers, crickets,  worms  and  other  small  fi;y.  The 
regular  food  they  have  had  has  been  rather  to  keep 
them  wonted  than  to  supply  any  lack  of  forage.  As 
the  cool  nights  come  on  and  the  supply  of  insects 
declines,  the  business  of  fattening  projieriy  coa- 
menccB.  It  should  be  remembered  that  plump,  well- 
dressed  turkeys  not  only  bring  a  higher  price  in  mar- 
ket, but  enhance  the  reputation  of  the  producer,  and 
make  his  market  sure  for  future  years.  The  turkey 
Is  one  of  the  fluished  products  of  the  farm  and  one 
of  the  greatest  luxuries  in  the  market.  The  farmer 
should  do  his  best  in  preparing  his  flock  for  the 
shambles.  The  main  business  now  is  to  lay  on  fat, 
and  the  bird  should  have  every  night  and  morning  a 
full  supply  of  nutritious  and  fattening  food.  In- 
stinctively the  turkey  follows  his  feed,  and  if  the 
supply  Is  abundant  at  the  farm  yard  he  will  not  stroll 
far  from  home.  Boiled  |K>tatoe!i,  mashed  and  mixed 
with  meal,  and  fed  moilerately  warm,  is  a  very  ex- 
cellent feed  both  to  promote  growth  and  to  fatten. 
If  the  pigs  can  be  robbed  of  a  part  of  the  hot  pota- 
toes and  meal,  it  will  very  much  improve  the  dish. 
It  is  very  desirable  to  supply  the  place  of  insects 
with  some  kind  of  animal  food,  iin  i  butchers' 
scraps  is  one  of  the  cheapest  and  lu  ■'  desirable 
forms  of  food  for  poultry.  tJraIn  should  be  given  at 
least  once  a  day  with  the  soft  and  warm  feed. 
Nothing  is  better  than  sound  corn.  The  Northern 
corn  is  thought  to  contain  more  oil  than  that  of 
Southern  growth.  Old  corn  should  always  be  used 
for  this  purpose.  The  new  corn  keeps  them  too 
loose.  In  feeding  only  so  much  corn  should  be 
thrown  out  as  the  birds  will  eat  up  clean.  Take  a 
little  time  to  feed  them,  and  study  icsthetics  as  you 
watch  the  iridescent  hues  upon  the  glossy  plumage. 
There  is  nothing  more  charming  u|K>n  the  farm  In 
the  whole  circle  of  the  year  than  a  hundred  or  two 
of  these  richly-bronzed  turkeys  feeding  near  the  corn 
crib.  You  can  afford  to  enjoy  the  disappearance  of 
corn  while  the  turkeys  are  increasing  in  weight. 

Poultry  Interests  of  America. 

In  speaking  of  the  poultry  interests,  I  refer  princi- 
pally to  the  breeding  of  pure  bred  stock  for  pleasure 
or  profit.  A  glance  at  a  few  simple  statistics  will 
surprise  even  those  who  have  heretofore  considered 
themselves  posted.  .Mark  the  change  in  a  few  years. 
Ten  years  ago  not  a  paper  in  the  country  was  pub- 
lished in  the  interests  of  poultry;  to-day  there  are 
more  than  a  dozen,  with  a  combined  circulation  of 
upwards  of  thirty  thousand  subscribers.  We  can 
add  to  this  nearly  a  hundred  agricultural  papers 
which  devote  a  department  to  this  now  important 
branch  of  farm  industry.  A  few  years  ago  there 
might  have  been  found  a  breeder  here  and  there  in 
the  Eastern  States;  now  they  may  be  found  in  every 
part  of  the  country,  and  are  numbered  by  the  tens 
of  thousands.  Tlien  not  an  exhibition  was  made; 
to-day  there  already  over  forty  advertised  to  be  hclil 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  as  many  more 
will  be  held  later  on.  Even  Oregon  holds  its  State 
exhibition.  In  every  New  England  state  there  will 
be  from  two  to  half-a-dozen  exhibitions,  and  in  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Illinois  and  Indiana,  there  will 
be  six  to  ten  each,  and  sixteen  states  are  represented 
in  some  way.  The  cash  premiums  alone  at  these 
exhibitions  will  exceed  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

That  this  interest  at  the  present  time  is  growing 
more  rapidly  than  ever  before  is  apparent  upon 
every  side.  With  the  improvement  that  is  now 
taking  place  in  business  circles  in  every  part  of  the 
country,  the  interest  in  fine  stock,  including  poultry, 
will  also  secure  a  flrmer  hold.  The  good  prices  of 
the  past  will  be  fully  maintained  in  the  future,  and 
really  extra  choice  specimens  will  yet  And  purchasers 
at  the  figures  obtained  in  England,  where  the  "gold 
cup"  prize  Black  Red  Game  cockerel  at  the  Crystal 
Palace  exhibition  in  1877  sold  for  £100  lOs,  (nearly 
?500.)  Within  two  months,  8l(iO  has  been  offered 
in  New  England  for  single  birds  of  this  season's 
breeding.— 3".  F.  F. 

Poultry  Breeding. 

Within  the  past  few  years  public  attention  has 
been  repeatedly  called  to  the  question  of  poultry 
breeding,  and  great  surprise  has  been  manifested  at 
the  flgures  given  by  those  who  speak  with  authority. 

Every  village  and  hamlet  in  our  country  has  been 
reached  by  the  "fancy,"  and  the  story  Is  being 
everywhere  told  of  flue  feathers,  large  size,  high 
scoring  pedigree  birds.  To  have  claimed  a  pedigree 
for  a  hen  ten  years  ago  would  have  entitled  a  man  to 
a  certi^cate  of  admission  to  an  Insane  asylum  ;  yet 
to-day  we  flnd  that  among  our  most  reliable  breeders 
are  those  who  keep  an  authentic  pedigree  of  their 
stock. 


192 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


[  December,  1879. 


Two  results  have  been,  and  are  being  realized  by 
tlie  agitation  of  tliis  subject ;  more  attention  is  being 
given  to  the  value  of  poultry,  both  for  eggs  and  mar- 
ket, and  more  than  all  this,  the  value  for  production 
either  for  eggs  or  table  has  been  n>aterially  advanced. 
Buyers  of  poultry  for  market  state  that  they  find  the 
best  specimens  in  those  communities  where  the 
greatest  interest  is  taken  in  breeding,  and  that  the 
improvement  all  through  the  country  is  marked. 
Poultry  is  brought  to  market  in  better  condition,  in 
better  shape,  and  attention  is  paid  to  growing  that 
which  will  produce  meat  of  best  color  and  most 
evenly  distributed  over  the  body.  All  of  these  ques- 
tions have  been  considered  by  the  breeder  in  match- 
ing up  his  pens,  and  the  result  is  manifest  on  every 
hand.  The  fact  that  more  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  care  of  poultry,  their  feed  and  health  has 
given  greater  value  to  the  eggs. 

These  things  must  enter  into  a  consideration  of 
the  worth  or  magnitude  of  poultry  breeding. 

If  what  is  claimed  is  true,  that  birds  of  better 
color  and  size  are  offered  for  sale  in  our  markets,  and 
that  the  average  eggs  are  larger,  and  so  uf  greater 
value  than  formerly,  then  the  breeders  have  accom- 
plished part  of  their  mission. 

There  is  work  for  the  future.  More  attention  must 
be  given  to  the  production  of  table  fowl.  There  is 
room  for  improvement  still,  and  while  there  is  room 
we  ought  to  labor. 

One  great  obstacle  is  the  law  governing  the  sale  of 
eggs.  As  long  as  a  premium  is  put  on  small  eggs, 
the  breeds  which  produce  them  will  be  eagerly 
sought  after.  Let  the  law  be  repealed,  and  let  eggs 
be  sold  by  weight,  and  the  small,  unsightly,  black 
meated,  blue  legged  fowl  will  not  long  be  seen  in  our 
markets. — Zip,  Town  and  Cuunly. 

Pure-Bred  and  Common  Fowlss. 
The  views  of  the  roultry  World  on  this  subject 
are  expressed  as  follows  :  A  certain  writer  discredits 
the  claim  that  pure-bred  fowls  are  better  flesh  and 
egg  producers  than  common  stock.  While  admit- 
ting that  they  do  usually  furnish  more  meat  and 
eggs  than  art:  furnished  by  the  farmer's  Hock,  he 
thinks  this  is  due  to  superior  care  and  feeding.  He 
says  that  a  person  who  pays  two  or  three  dollars 
per  dozen  for  eggs,  or  a  higher  price  for  fowls,  will 
be  very  apt  to  give  them  extra  care.  There  is,  no 
doubt,  much  truth  in  the  saying  that  "  the  breed  is 
in  tlie  feed,"  but  it  is  only  the  statement  of  a  half 
truth.  Good  feeding  and  care  will  compel  any  flock 
of  fowls  to  do  Aeir  best ;  but,  after  all,  the  charac- 
teristic differences  of  the  varieties  remain,  and  can- 
not be  changed  by  feeding.  These  differences  are,  in 
many  cases,  constitutional ;  that  is,  by  a  long  course 
nl  •jilrriinii  aiid  local  intluences,  certain  traits  have 

I" !•    |i niiinently   fixed.     The   blood   of  certain 

\Hi. 'ir-  i~  vi-ry  strong,  and  will  show  itself  for 
i;rij  r;i  iMii-  in  each  successive  cross.  The  Game 
ccick  Hill  transmit  his  game  qualities,  his  proud 
carriage  and  closeness  of  feathering;  the  Leghorn 
bis  sprighly  disposition  and  wonderful  productive- 
ness; the  Asiatic  indolent  habits  and  tendency  to 
lay  on  nesh  and  fat ;  all  these  beino-  marked  features 
of  the  breeds  mentioned.  Now,  feeding  will  not 
alfect  these  distinctive  tendencies— at  least  not  to 
any  extent.  They  were  formed  by  climate  influences, 
operating  for  thousands  of  years,  aided  by  a  long 
process  of  selection,  sometimes  natural  and  some- 
times guided  by  man.  In  late  years  we  have  taken 
in  hand  the  several  families  of  domestic  fowls,  and 
by  earel'ul  s-jpction  anl  hrcfliim-  Inv    "^•:iL'r"r:itPd, 

as  it  Wri-.-,    I  l|.-!r    |„Tllli:i|-    llMiK. r    l,f. 

come  \'-r\-  - -  Iv  iii,irl>r,] .     '|. ,  -  ,  i ,  ,  ,:    .  i  jmt, 

as  a  Brahma  will  do  in  eight  or  uiuc  mouths,  is  to 
allirm  what  a  fair  trial  will  show  to  be  false. 


•  Feeding  Troughs  for  Poultry. 

Feeding  trouLcbs  for  |icMiltry,  properlyeonstructed, 
ought  to" be  gc-iieraily  siilistitutcil  for  the  wasteful 
practice  of  feetliiiL;  Innii  tin-  urouml.  Where  there  is 
a  scramble  for  the  food  that  is  thrown  helters-kelter 
the  weak  are  prevented  by  the  strong  from  getting 
their  share  until  the  latter  are  satislied  and  the  food 
is  trampled  in  the  dirt.  It  is  no  advantage  to  fowls 
to  eat  sand,  dirt  or  gravel  mixed  with  their  food. 
The  gravel  and  other  indigestible  substances  neces- 
sary to  the  proper  trituration  of  their  food  in  the  giz- 
zard can  be  given  separately,  and  should  be.  A  simple 
trough  may  be  made,  defended  by  slats  placed  ver- 
tically on  a  convenient  angle,  with  spaces  sufficient 
for  the  passage  of  the  head,  thus  preventing  the 
trampling  and  soiling  of  the  food,  which  will  not  be 
wasted,  as  in  the  ease  where  it  is  thrown  carelessly 
on  the  ground. 

Fatening  Poultry  for  Market. 
No  foul  over  two  years  old  should  be  kept  in  the 
poultry  yard,  except  for  some  special  reason.  An 
extra  good  mother,  or  a  finely  feathered  bird  that  is 
desirable  as  a  breeder,  may  be  preserved  until  10 
years  old  with  advantage,  or  at  least  so  long  as  she 
is  serviceable.  But  ordinary  hens  and  cocks  should 
be  fattened  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  for  market. 
When  there  is  a  room  or  shed  tliat  can  be  closed, 


the  fowls  may  be  confined  there.  The  floor  should 
be  covered  with  two  or  three  inches  of  ^ne  sawdust, 
dry  earth,  sifted  coal  ashes,  or  clean  sand.  The 
food  should  be  given  four  times  a  day,  and  clean 
water  be  always  before  the  fowls.  A  dozen  or  more 
fowls  may  be  put  at  once  in  this  apartment,  so  that 
there  may  not  be  too  many  ready  to  sell  at  one  time. 
The  best  food  for  rapid  fattening,  for  producing  well- 
flavored  liesh  and  rich  fat,  is  buckwheat  meal, 
mixed  with  sweet  skimmed  milk,  into  a  thick  mush. 
A  teaspoonful  of  salt  should  be  stirred  in  the  food 
for  a  dozen  fowls.  Two  weeks  feeding  is  sufficient 
to  fatten  the  fowls,  when  they  should  be  shipped  for 
sale  without  delay,  and  another  lot  put  up  for  feed- 
ing. If  the  shed  is  kept  dark  and  cool,  as  it  should 
be,  the  fowls  will  fatted  all  the  quicker  for  H.—  Cul. 
tivator. 

Eggs  for  Winter   Use. 

It  is  a  foolish  plan  to  be  seeking  the  best  methods 
for  putting  down  eggs  for  the  winter  use.  This  used 
to  be  one  of  the  first  tests  of  thrifty  housekeeping. 
But  it  is  better  and  just  as  easy  to  have  hens  lay  all 
the  year  around.  If  hens  have  a  warm  house  and 
enough  to  eat,  and  of  the  right  kind,  they  will  lay 
in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer.  Farmers  always 
expect  to  feed  some  grain  to  the  fowls,  then  if  they 
would  save  all  of  the  waste  meat  and  scraps  that 
accumulate  from  the  table,  and  feed  it  to  the  hens  in 
winter  they  would  be  repaid  in  fresh  eggs.  It  is 
also  a  good  plan  to  hatch  out  some  early  and  some 
late  chickens,  as  in  that  way  the  late  ones  will  be 
laying  when  the  older  ones  want  to  set. 


Literary  and  Personal. 


Farm  Field  and  Fikeside.— Devoted  to  agricul- 
ture, markets,  live  stock  and  home  literature.  A 
royal  quarto  of  16  pages,  monthly  at  $1.00  yer  year, 
Chicago,  Illinois. 

Fine  paper,  fine  engravings,  fine  letterpress,  fine 
editorials,  and  fine  selections— in  short,  like  all 
Chicago  publications,  this  one  is  truly  what  its  name 
indicates  in  the  realm  of  journalism. 

Ati.as  of  the  Coal  Flora  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  of  the  carboniforous  formation  throughout  the 
United  States.  By  Leo  Lesquereux,  fossil  botanist, 
Harrisburg.  Published  by  the  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  the  Second  Geological  Survey.  We  are 
indebted  to  K  'presentative  Demuth ,  of  this  city,  for 
a  copy  of  this  the  most  creditable  and  best  executed 
work  ever  published  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 87  plates  with  explanations. 

Department  OF  AnnicfLTrRE— .Special  report — 
No.  18,  containing  "  T.-a  Ciillun;  ;is  a  Possible 
American  Industry."  By  William  Saunders,  Super- 
intendent of  Gardens  and  (injiiniLs,  Department  of 
.Agriculture.  Head  before  the  Xc«-  York  Horticul- 
tural Society  at  its  meeting  in  New  York  city,  Oc- 
tober 7,  1879.  The  subject  is  ably  discussed,  but  it 
relates  to  an  industry  in  which  our  latitu'e  is  not 
mechanically  interested,  and  yet  is  in  sympathy  with 
its  success  wherever  it  can  be  made  available. 

Dominion  Bazaar. — ".MuLtum  in  Parvo."  To- 
ronto, Canada.  "Published  in  the  interest  of  society 
in  general,  and  the  publishers  hi  particular.  Office, 
No.  3  Adelaid  street.  Thisisal  pageddemi-octavo, 
and  is  devoted  to  the  dissemination  of  Philatelic 
knowledge,  or,  the  history,  collection,  exchange, 
sale  and  preservation  of  postage  stamps.  Monthly, 
at  ;35  cents  per  annum.  On  the  first  page  of  the 
November  number  is  an  article  entitled  "Stamp 
Collecting  Not  so  Foolish  Aftef  All,"  which  has 
more  j'oint  than  many  people  would  suspect  could 
be  made  on  such  a  subject. 

Holiday— Christmas.— "A  Merry  Christmas 
and  a  Happy  New  Year,"  12  pages  octavo,  contain- 
ing a  beautiful  poem,  handsomely  illustrated,  pub- 
lisTied  only  by  Rowley  &  Chew,  Mo.  712  Chestnut 
street,  Philadelphia,  and  specially  intended  for  the 
Christmas  and  New  Year  trade,  in  which  old  Santa 
Claus  figures  very  conspicuously,  laden  with  his 
holiday  gifts  for  the  children.  It  is  snowy  and 
sleighy  all  through,  and  could  only  be  fully  realized 
on  a  snowy  day.  Its  object  is  an  advertising  me- 
dium for  holiday  goods.  250  copies  with  bus  ness 
card  on  front,  *7.00;  500  copies,  §12.00;  1,000 
copies,  $22.00,  and  2,000  copies,  gli.OO.  Beautiful 
winter  scenes. 

Mind  and  Matter. — "Physical  Life — The  pri- 
mary department  in  the  school  of  human  progress," 
Philadelphia,  No.  713  Sansom  street,  $2.15  per 
annum  in  advance,  by  the  "Mind  and  Matter" 
Publishing  house,  J.  M.  Roberts,  editor.  A  remark- 
ably fair  and  well  printed  8  page  demi  folio,  devoted 
to  spiritualistic  philosophy.  No.  1,  vol.2,  contains 
a  biographical  sketch,  and  a  well  executed  wood  cut 
of  Dr.  James  V.  Mansfield,  the  great  medium.  A 
very  intellectual  looking  picture,  and  also  a  very 
positive  looking  one.  The  utterences  of  this  journal 
are  as  positive  as  those  of  the  Mormon  faith,  and 
time  may  demonstrate  that  either  one  cannot  he 
crushed  out  by  coercion  any  easier  than  the  other 
can.     They  are  "cither  of  God  or  of  men." 

The  Fanciers'  Journal  for  "December  closes 
Vol .  6.    The  articles  are  varied  and  of  interest  to 


poultry  and  pigeon  Fanciers.  We  have  first  the 
Dusky  or  Black  Duck,  so  well  known  to  American 
sporlsnK'ii.  Next  the  new  variety  of  bantam  to  be 
reporliil  La-  thr  Standard  for  the  first  time  next 
year,  i  ijc  spaiii.xli  Fowl,  the  conclusion  of  Exhibi- 
tion <iaini-s.  Kuli's  lor  Management  of  Laying  Hens, 
Washing  Poultry  lor  Exhibition,  and  a  column  of 
Poultry  Shows  fill  the  poultry  bill  of  fare.  Next 
follow  Homing  matters.  In  this,  the  Journal  leads 
everything  outside  of  Belgium.  Two  pages  give  the 
record  and  pedigree  of  the  Homing  bird's  of  the  past 
season's  flight.  There  is,  further,  a  portrait  of  a 
champion  bird,  a  chapter  on  the  care  of  Homers,  a 
page  or  more  of  flights  of  the  past  month,  and 
Homing  items.  Fancy  Pigeons  are  treated  bj  J.  C. 
Lyell  of  Scotland,  J.  Matthews  Eaton  and  others. 
Show  reports  and  notices,  with  a  page  of  contribut- 
ed matter  upon  poulti-y  and  pigeons,  completes  the 
number.  $1.50  per  annum:  single  copy  15  cents. — 
E.  S.  Starr,  Editor  and  Proprietor,  Springfield, 
Mass. 

Southern  Illinois  Farmer.— "Devoted  to 
Christian  and  political  economy,  statistics,  commerce, 
agriculture,  education,  meehanicism,  science,  litera- 
ature  and  news."  "Independent  in  all  things, 
neutral  in  nothing."  J.  P.  M.  Howard,  A.  M., 
editor,  Effingham,  Illinois,  monthly,  at  $1.00  per 
year.  This  is  a  large  quarto  of  8  pages;  a  new  enter- 
prise, the  number  before  us  being  the  first  of  vol.  1, 
December,  1879. 

It  should  have  specifically  included  poetry  in  Its 

catalogue  of  specialties,  for   nearly  every  editorial 

ixiragraph  is  prefaced  with  a  poetical  quotation.     To 

us  it  very  forcibly  recalls  the   "Wag  of  Windsor." 

"I'm  alderman  and  sexton  here, 

My  name  is  Caleb  Quotum; 

I'm  palate  .  glazier,  auctioneer, 

lu  short  I  am  Factotum.*' 

Its  typography  and  the  quality  of  the  paper  arc 
fair  averages  of  country  journals  in  general,  and  its 
literary  "make  up"  is  spicy,  entertaining  and  in- 
structive. Indeed,  having  so  many  specialties,  and 
consequently  so  many  sources  to  draw  from,  it 
cannot  well  be  otherwise  than  interesting  and  useful; 
and,  therefore,  we  wish  it  "God  speed."  As  its 
name  implies,  there  is  much  more  of  its  contents 
devoted  to  husbandry  than  to  any  other  subject, 
which  must  make  it  a  popular  journal  among  the 
reading  farming  public. 

Human  Nature. — How  to  Study  Phrenology: 
With  Hints  on  Co-operative  Observation  and  Prac- 
tice ;  Directions  for  the  Formation  of  Societies,  with 
Constitution  and  By-Laws ;  References  to  the  best 
Text-books,  etc.;  also,  An  Outline  of  the  Princi- 
ples of  Phrenology,  by  H.  S.  Drayton,  A.M.,  Editor 
of  the  Phrenological  Journal,  with  forty  illustrations. 

This  is  the  title  of  a  pamphlet  specially  prepared 
for  the  use  of  students  of  this  most  valuable  of 
human  sciences,  in  answer  to  the  question  so  many 
times  asked  by  young  and  old,  "  How  can  I  study 
Phrenology?"  It  will  be  found  to  answer  the  in- 
quiry very  fully,  giving  names  of  books  recom- 
mended, and  many  suggestions  to  the  student  in  re- 
gard to  the  general  and  special  application  of  the 
subject. 

The  outline  of  "First  Principles"  supplies  th.e 
reader  with  the  name  and  definitions  of  the  organs 
of  the  brain,  and  brief  expositions  of  the  functional 
relations  of  the  several  faculties  in  the  action  of  the 
mind.  Over  forty  illustrations  add  their  interest  to 
the  text. 

Price,  in  paper,  only  10  cents.  Send  the  price,  in 
stamps,  to  the  publishers,  S.  R.  Wells  &  Co.,  7:57 
Broadway,  New  York. 

Department  of  Agriculture. — Annual  reports 
for  the  years  1877  and  1S78.  We  are  indebted  to 
Hon.  A.'Herr  Smith  tor  a  copy  of  the  former,  and 
to  Commissioner  Le  Due  for  a  copy  of  the  latter. 
These  two  volumes  contain  1,200  octavo  pages,  and 
98  full  page  plates,  and  many  figures  illustrating  the 
various  subjects  treated  of  in  the  volumes  ;  also, 
four  folded  maps,  168  pages  of  the  letter  press,  and 
•^.2  of  the  plates  are  illustrative  of  the  many  phases 
of  entomology,  being  the  last  i-eport  of  Professor 
Glover,  and  the  only  annual  report  of  Professor 
Riley  during  his  brief  incumbency  of  the  office  of 
United  States  Entomologist.  Just  exactly  how 
much  use  an  entomologist  may  be  to  a  nation,  a 
State,  or  to  a  local  district,  will  depend  entirely 
upon  how  much  use  the  people  make  of  his  practical 
teachings — how  much,  and  how  understandingly 
they  read,  remember,  and  practice  what  they  read. 
In  the  matter  of  remedies  for  the  destruction  of 
insects,  and  especially  the  traps  and  implements  in- 
vented for  their  capture  or  extermination,  a  vast 
deal  has  been  suggested  and  promulgated  that 
speedily  becomes  obsolete  ;  not  always  because  they 
possess  no  merit,  but  because  they  are  often  expen- 
sive, unwieldy  and  undurable,  or  not  of  easy  appli- 
cation. A.s  a  single  instance.  Peck's  atomizer  for 
the  application  of  liquid  Paris  green  cost  $10.00, 
was  burdensome,  and  required  two  very  diverse 
motions  in  its  operations ;  and  now  Peek  has  in- 
vented a  hand  implement,  of  far  easier  manipula- 
tion, which  only  costs  75  cents.  Of  course  this  must 
supplant  his  first  invention,  and  remand  it  to  the 
great  infirmary  of  obsolete  and  superannuated  im- 
plements.    The  people  want  something  cheap. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER 


III 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Comsumption  Cured. 

An  old  phybiiiaii,  retired  from  practice,  having  had 
placed  in  his  liandsliy  an  East  Indian  missionary  the 
formula  of  a  simi)le  vegetable  remedy  for  the  speedy 
and  permanent  cure  for  Consumption,  Bronchitis, 
Catarrh,  Asthma,  and  all  Throat'and  Lung  Affec- 
tions, also  a  posidve  and  radical  cure  for  Nervous 
Debility  and  all  Nervous  Complaints,  after  having, 
tested  its  wouderful  curative  powers  in  thousands  of 
cases,  has  fi-lt  it  his  duty  to  make  it  known  to  his 
suliering  fellows.  Actuated  by  this  motive  and  a 
desire  to  relieve  human  suffering,  I  will  send  free  of 
charge  to  all  who  desire  It,  this  recipe,  in  German, 
French,  or  English,  with  full  directions  for  prepar- 
ing and  using  Sent  by  mall  by  addressing  with 
stamp,  naming  this  paper,  W.  W.  Shkuak,  14!I  I'ow. 
ers'  Block,  Jfoc/iesler,  X.   Y.  [oet-ISm 

A  Novelty  in  Roses. 
Buds  of  the  new  striped  Tea  Kose,  "American 
Banner,"  were  worn  for  the  Hrst  time  in  New  York, 
by  the  ladies  waiting  on  the  tables  at  the  great  Fair 
of  the  Seventh  Itegimcnt,  on  the  evening  of  Wednes- 
day, December  3.  This  rarity  among  llowcrs,  from 
Its  novelty  and  scarcity,  is  likely  to  become  in  great 
demand  this  winter ;  but  as  it  can  only  yet  be  sup- 
plied in  small  quantities  it  will  cost  more  than  its 
weight  in  gold  ! 


The  Secret  Key  to  Health. 
The  Science  of  Life,  or  Self-Preservation,:iOO  pages. 
Price,  only  $1.  Contains  tifty  valuable  prescrip- 
tions, either  one  of  which  is  worth  more  than  ten 
times  the  price  of  the  book.  Illustrated  sample  sent 
on  receipt  of  <1  cents  for  postage.  Address,  Dr.  W, 
H.  Parker,  i  Bultinch  St.,  Boston,  Mass.         oct-Sm 


Xfy  a„nu„l 
Se,-,!  for  1880 

theoriginulB,  wi! 


rff  tuhlg  and   t'loux'r 

i>;s.  from  photographs,  of 
ill  who  »pply.    My  old 

Mrroneof  the  largest  col- 
.uit  by  any  seed  house 

.  ii  were  growu  on  my  six 
Itivatifm  on  each  pack- 


in  Araericft,  a  1  ri: 
Bted  forms.    ruU 

age  All  sfe.l  u-airanted  lo  be  both  frcih  and 
80  far,  that  should  it  prove  otherwise,  /  «ji7(  refill  the  order 
gratis.  The  original  ititrnrtucer  of  the  Hubbard  Squash, 
PhiuneyV  Melon,  Mnrhlebeail  Cabbages,  Mexican  Corn,  aud 
Bcores  of  other  vegetables,  I  Invite  the  patron:ige  of  aU  who 
are  anxitins  in  have  their  fteed  directly  from  the  grower,  fresh, 
trxie,  and  of  the  very  best  strain. 
New  Vegetables  a  specialty. 

<iec-6m] 


FARMERS, 

Look  to  Your  Inteests, 

IMPORTANT  TO  FARMERS,  TRUCKERS 
ANIXIARDENERS. 

A  NATURAL  FERTILIZER! 


Jisiy 


!}°«|3  Printing  Press 

iForbuiine«orplpaiun..  y(.uneorold.  fctoyonrowniid- 
■  -ertl.lnR  ud  pflnOng.  CftUIOEUe  of  T>r«ue(,  type,  cardt, 

-  Mait.  Kelwr  AOo.Merlden,Oa*a 


RICH  IN  DISSOLVED  BONES. 
PHOSPHORIC  ACID. 

POTASH.  SILICIC  ACID.  £C. 


I  Pcimannntly  Enriches  Every  Variety  of  .SoU. 
It  Doubles  the  Yield  of  Grass. 

It  Insures  Good  Crops  of  Wheat,  Corn,  Potatoes  Vegeta 
bles  and  Fruit. 


An  excellent  change  for  land  after  the  continued  use  of 
Lime. 

In  successful  use  here  over  tflO  years,  and  more  thaw  two 
thirds  of  the  cropped  land  of  Europe'iinproved  with  Marl. 

It  is  not  a  BtimiiUut,uB  patent  manures  are,  bnt  its  eflects 


$10  PER  TON, 


that  will  yieM  you  a  rich  return  and  be  a  lasting  beuellt 
Its    History,    Analyslfl,   Application 


D.  P.  BITNER, 

General  .4gent  for 
LANCASTER  COUNTY. 

Agencies  where  MARL  is  kept  constantly  on 


B.  &  B.  F.  Walter,  Christiana,  Peunsylvania  Uailroad. 

Joseph  C.  Walker,  Gap,  ••  " 

Henry  H.  Uohrer, T^eaman  Place,  '*  " 

J.  B  Newhauser,  Bird-iu-Hand,  "  " 

.Tacob  Mauck,  Kobrerstown,  "  ** 

M.  G.  Shindle,  Mountville, 

H.  F.  Bruner,  Columbia, 

Miller  &  Musser,  Upper  Marietta,  "  " 

Groff  t  Rutt,  Landisville,  "  " 

B.  G.  GrofT,  Elizabethtowu.  "  " 

Oassel  &  K  ling.  Mount  .Toy,  "  •< 

Shnltz&Bro.,  Washington  Bor.,Colum'a  b  Port  Deposit  R. 

Samuel  Uaruish,  Pequca  Station,  ''  «' 

Kirk  Brown.  Haines  Station  "  " 

W.  G.    Mellinger,  West  Willow,  Quarryrillo  Railroad. 

James  A.  Meek,  Beflon  Station,  "  " 

Acheson  b  Swarr,  Mechanics  Grove,      "  " 

H.  W.  Oraybill,  Petersburg.  Heading  b  Columbia  Railroad. 

Hershey  b  Danner,  Manheim,  '* 

Wm.  Evans  b  Son.  Litiz, 

P.  S.  Bnibakcr,  MiUway,  "  " 

Sener  b  Bro.,  Ephrata,  "  " 

Brubaker  b  Co.,  Union,  '•  " 

Diller  b  Sutton,  New  Holland,  Waynesburg  Railroad. 

D.  P.  BITNER,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


-THE- 

FIRST  ANNUAL  EXHIBITION 

LANCASTER    COUNTY 

POULTRY  i^SSOClATION, 

WII.I,    BK    UKM)    IN 

LO(HER'S   BUILDING, 
CENTRE  SQUARE,  LANCASTER,  PA. 

Januarv  2,  3,  5,  6  and  7,  1880. 


$500  OFFERED  IN  PREMIUMS. 

Premium  List  sent  on  appliciitioii  to 

J.   B.   LICHTY, 

Secretary. 

M.  HABERBUSH, 

MANUFACTURKIt  OF 

Plain  and  Fine  Harness, 

n.4I»i>i,s.:n. 

COLLARS, "WHIPS,  PLY  NETS.  Sec, 

.\IX)  i)i;.\!,i-;i;  in 

TRUNKS,    TRAVELING    BAGS, 

BUFAU)  UOBKS, 

Horse  Covers,  Lap-Rugs,  Gloves,  &c., 
No.  30  Penn  Square, 

-1-12)  I.ANCAHTKU,  PA. 


GLOVES,  SHIRTS.  UNDERWEAR,   iw 


SHIRTS  MADE  TO  ORDER, 

ANb  WAUKANTEl)  TO   HT. 


E.  J.  ERISMAN. 

56  Nortb  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa 


PHAKES    W.    FKY, 

Wholesale  and  Retail   Dealer  in 

WftLL  PftPER&  WIMOOW  SHftQES, 

lIollantlH.  pinin  Slindc  4'l»lli. 

Fixtures,  Fringes,  T^issels  aud  all  goods  pertaining  to  a 

Paper  aud  Sbade  Store. 

No.  63  North  Queen  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


1879  FALL  AND   WINTER  1880 

Clotljs,  Cassinjeres,  Coalings,  Suitiijgs, 
Vestirigs,  and 

FURNISHING  GOODS, 

Incluiling  the  U8u.il  fashionable  varietien  ol  the  iieason, 

PLAIN,  STRIPE!)  AND  FIGURED. 

ALSO, 

READY-M|DE  CLOTfjING, 

ATTHEVKRY  BOnOM  PRICES. 


LANCASTER. 

RATHVON  &  FISHER, 

Rjerchant  Tailors,    Drapers  and  Clolljiers, 

Corner  A\  Queen  and  Orange  Sts. 

■'  A  penny  saved  is  aiipence  earned." 


THE    LANCASTER   FARMER' 


[December,  1S79. 


THIS    l^TElTT^r 

ELASTIC    TRUSS 


center,  adapts 

^^  itself    to    all 

^-l^^^ftfc     positions   of  the   body, 

nl^Bmki  -"^I^e  the  BALL  in  the 

KJH^SPPJCnp   PRESSES    BACK 

^SS^S»^THE    INTESTINES 

^^^^      JTJST   AS  A  PERSON 

^^^  -WOULD  WITH   THE 

%H    EMLAMED   VIEW    OF      DINGER.         With      UgM 

pressure  the  Hernia  is 
held  securely  day  and  night,  and  a  rad- 
ical cure  is  certain.  It  is  easy,  durable 
and  cheap.  Sent  by  mail,  postage  paid. 
Circulars  free. 
Address,  Eggleston  Truss  Co.,  Manfips, 

Or  c.  H.  EGGLESTON  CO.,  Chicago.HI. 


li  GOOD  nm. 

Anybody  can  learu  to  main  money  rapidly  operating  m 
Stocke,  by  the  '-Two  Unerring  Rules  for  Success"  in  Messrs. 
Lawrence  &  Co.'s  new  circular.  The  combination  method, 
•which  this  firm  has  made  so  successful,  enables  people  with 
large  or  small  means  to  reap  all  the  benefitsof  largest  capital 
and  best  skill.  Thousands  of  orders,  in  various  sums,  are 
pooled  into  one  vast  amount  and  co-operated  as  a  mighty 
whole,  thus  securing  to  each  shareholder  nil  the  advantages 
of  thelargestoperator.  Immeuseprolitsaii- divided  monthly. 
Any  amount  from  $5  to  $o,00i),  or  more,  can  be  used  succes-- 
fully.  N.  Y.  Baptist  Weekly,  September  26th,  1878,  says, 
"By  the  combination  system  $  5  would  make  $75,  or  6  per 
cent  ;  $50  pays  $.S50,  or  7  per  cent.;  $100  makes  $1,000, 
or  10  per  cent,  on  the  slock,  during  the  month,  accordmg 
to  the  market."  Frank  Lenlie's  Illiuitrated  Newspaper,  June 
29th':  The  combiuation  method  of  operating  stocks  is  the 
most  successful  ever  adopted."  AVio  York  Independent 
September  12th:  The  combination  system  is  founded  upon 
correct  business  principles,  and  no  person  need  be  without 
an  income  while  it  is  kept  working  by  Messrs.  Lawrence  it 
Co.'Brooklyn  Journal,  April  20th:  "Our  editor  made  a  net 
profit  of  $101.25  from  $aO  in  one  of  Messrs.  Lawrence  & 
Co.'s  combinations."  New  circular  (mailed  free)  explains 
.  everything.  Stocks  and  bonds  wanted.  Government  bonds 
BUpplied.     Lawrence  &  Co     Bankers,  67  Exchange  Pla 


N.  Y. 


[79-5-12 


THE  BEST  PAPER!  TRY  IT!! 

BEAUTIFULLY  ILLUSTRATED. 


GRAY'S  SPECIFIC  MEDICINE. 


Sawing  oS  a  Log, 
Easy  and  Fast, 


Our  latest  improved  sawing  macliine  cuts 
off  a   2-foot   loCT  in  2  minutes.     A    $IOO 
PRESENT  will  be  given  to  two  men  who 
can  saw  as  much  in  the  old  way,  as  one  man 
can  with  this   machine.     Circulars  sent  free. 
W.  Giles,  741  \V.  Lake  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
TAKE  NOTK'E.— We  have  sold  our  exclusive  right  to 
11  our  Sawing  Machines  to  A.  H.  Frank,  of  Buffalo.  N. 
'..for  the  folUnving  States,  to  wit:  New  York,  Pennsylva- 
lia,  Maryland,  Delaware.  New  Jersey,  Mass.,  Conn.,  Khode 
sland.  Vermont,  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  to  whom  all 
ommunications  and  orders  should  be  sent  for  said  States. 
dec-It]  


WELL-AUQER 


Ours  is  guaranteed  to  be  the 

cheapest  and   best  in   the 

nothing  can  beat  our  SAAVING  MA- 


3Stli  YEAK. 


The  Scientiflo  American. 

The  SciEKTiFic  American  is  a  large  First-Clasa  Weekly 
Newspaper  of  Sixteen  Pages,  printed  in  the  most  beautiful 
style,  pro/mely  ilhiifrated  icith  splendid  engravings,  repre- 
senting the  newest  Inventions  and  the  most  recent  Advances 
in  the  Arts  and  Sciences;  includinx  New  and  Interesting 
Facts  in  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  the  Home,  Health, 
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Astronomy.  The  most  valuable  practical  papers,  by  emi- 
nent writers  in  all  departments  of  Science,  will  be  found  in 
the  Scientific  American.  ,..,..     ,    ^ 

Terms,   $3.20  per  year,  $1.60  half  year,  which  mclndes 
postage.     Discotmt  to  Agents.    Single  copies,  ten   cents. 
Sold  by  a'l  Newsdealers.     Remit  by  postal  order  to  MDNN 
&  CO.,  Publishers,  37  Park  Row,  New  York 
T*  A  rWlTTtt'fllC!  In   connection    with    the 

Jt'^XXjJN  XlS*  Scieiitilic  American, 
Messrs.  MCNN  *  Co.  are  Solicitors  of  .Vinerlcau  and  Foreign 
Patents,  have  had  35  years' experience,  and  now  have  the 
lareest  establishment  in  the  world.  Patents  are  obtained  on 
the  best  terms.  A  specal  notice  is  made  in  the  Kci«lltlHe 
American  of  all  Inventions  patented  through  this 
Agenov  with  the  same  and  residence  of  the  Patantee.  By 
the  immeiise  circulation  thus  given,  public  attention  is  di- 
rected lo  the  merits  of  the  new  patent,  and  sales  or  intro- 
duction often  easily  effected. 

Any  )ierson  who  has  made  a  new  discovery  or  invention, 
can  ascertain, /rc«  0/ charge,  whether  a  patent  can  probably 
be  obtained,  by  writing  to  Munn  &  Co.  We  also  send  free 
our  Hand-Book  about  the  latent  Laws,  Patents,  Caveats. 
Trade-Mai  ks,  their  costs,  and  how  procured,  with  hints  for 
procuring  advances  on  inventions.  Address  for  the  Paper, 
or  concerning  Patents,  .....' 

LIUNN  &  CO.,  37  Park  Bow,  New  York. 

Branch  Office,  cor.  F  &  7th  Sts.,  Washington,  D.  C, 


$66a 


your  own  town.    Terms  and  $5  outfit  tree. 
Address  H.  Hallett  &  Co.,  Portland,  Maine. 
lyr» 


NOTICE. 

A  VALUABLE  WORK. 

A  TREATISE 

HORSE  AND  HIS  DISEASES, 

By  DB.  B.  J.  KENDALL,  of  Enosburgh  Falls,  Vermont. 

It  is  nicely  illustrated  with  thirty-five  engravings,  and  is 
full  of  useful  horse  knowledge.  Every  horse  owner  should 
lAve  a  copy  of  it. 

SEND  25  CENTS  FOR  A  COPY. 


thirty  years  with  t^r.at 
pamphlet,  wliicb  we  it.  . 
The  specific  medicine  is 
age,  or  six  packages  for 
receipt  of  the  money  by  addn 

THE  GRAY  MEDICINE  COMPANY, 
No.  10  Mechanics'  Block,  Detroit.  Michigan. 


AGENTS  WANTED  '^n,Z,::i'^^ 

complete  and  l^rilHant  History  of  the  great  ttutr  of 

Gen.  GRANT  ^^°Ji»">  WORLD 

by  Hon.  J.  T.  Headley,  the  prince  of  descriptive  au- 
thors. A  Hplcndia  gift  book,  ff:^  4  million  people 
want  it.  7  he  best  chance  of  your  life  to  make  money.  Be- 
;  ware  of  imitations  by  unknoum  authors.  The  Superior 
i  authorship,  nni<iue  illwitrations,  eldqnent  ;»a;j#r.  and 
marvelons  cheapness  render  this  book  immenfiely 
popular.  aO.OOO  BOOKS  SOI.D.  Circulars  /re«, 
terms  extremely  i«era(.  Otitfit  %l.iiO.  Address 
j  HUBBARD  BROS..  733  Sansom  St.,  Phllada.,  Pa. 

dec-ltl 


inn  ACRES  !5d^Jl?ieyo?ISfS. 

lUw  Pla.Qt8  grown  for  tra.nHplantin«,  and 
Fruit  for  the  market.   l^"See  New  Catalosue 
to  plant    Sent  free.   Address 
t,.  v^OLLINS,  Mnorestown, " 

JKKSEY  6eb  rUiti, 

-10-6m 


JOHN  I 


ARM  ACCOUNTS! 


THE  DEAF  HEAR 

I  THROUGH  THE  TEETH  infH 
PEIIUCCTLV.  all  Ordinary  Converaation.t^B 
Leomres,  Concerts,  etc..  by  ''*'?  ,'i""^te^B 
lh°/  Deor  Ind 'Dumb-See  N^^  Tork  tferaliT^H 
dlKDlaeeii  all  Ear-trumpeta.   ^iie  of  an  or-  ^H 


Every  Farmer  should  know  1 
new  and  complete  system 
free  Circulars  to  the  Brym 
<'«llese.  108  S    Tenth  Strt 


w  to  keep  them.  An  entirely 
St  demised.  Send  postal  for 
A  .Stratlon   Business 

,  Philadelphia.  [79-1 0-3m 


A  CHOICE  GIFT 

For  all  timefl, 

HOLIDAYS/ WEDDING,  BIRTHDAY, 

«NNI»ERS*RY,  o'  any  other  day;  for 
PASTOR.  TEACHER,  PARENT.  CHILD,  FRIEND. 


Uplaeen  all  Ear-trumpeM.   Slie 
dlnsry  Wotoh.     8en<1  Tor  our  HlHE  vninp 

AMEIICAN  BENTAPHONE  C0..a87Vb»Bt., 


ARMS 


80  to  50  bushels;  Corn 
40 10 100  bush,  per  acre. 
No  Manure  needed. 


fine  achools, 
and  good  Bocielv.  Railroad  a 
lent?  Maps  and  full  lufon 
S.  UILlnOBi:,  Land  Com 
79-9-3meom] 


the  Kansas  Pacific 
Railway.  3,000,000 
for  Sale  in  the 

DEN    BELT. 

.»7  per  aae^    11 


HOMES 


WEBSTER'S  UNABRIDGED. 

NEW  EDITION. 

Cont*ining  %  SUPPLEMENT  of  o^er 

4600  ^EW  WORDS  and  Meanings. 

ALSO  ADDED,  A  NEW 

Biographical   Dictionary 

of  over  9700  NAMES. 

A  NATIONAL  STANDARD. 

rEBSTER'Sis  ihe  Dictionary  us-ed  in  the 


w* 


,  Prin 


!  Offic 


s 


$72^ 


rlWed- 


FREE  GIFT  !|n. 

son  'tUicted  villi    4'<>ii.siiin|>tlon.    Bronchitis, 
Astliiua,  Sorp  'ihro.-it.  or   Nasal  t'atarrh.      It 

is  elegantly  printed  ami  lUustratefl.  144  pages.  12mo,  1819. 
It  has  been  tLe  means  in  the  providence  of  God  of  saving 
many  valuable  lives.  Send  name  and  post  otace  address, 
■■■  six  cents  postage  tor  mailing.  The  book  is  valuable  to 
-    ■  '■'   luv  disease  of  the  Xose,  Throat 

Ur.  N.  B.  WOLFE,  t'incin- 
[79-lll-2m. 


ry    State    purchase   of    Dictionaries   for 

Schools  has  been  of  Webster, 
ooks  in  the  Public  Schools  of  the  United 

States  are  mainly  based  on  Webster. 
i/e  of  Webster's  is  20  times  as  great  as  the 

sale  of  any  other  series  of  Dictionaries. 
HIRTY-TWO   THOUSAND  COPIES  have  been 

placed  in  the  public  schools  of  the  U.  8. 
icjratnngs,— contains  3000.  nearly  three 


Die 


ary. 


Published  by  G.  &  C.  MERRIAM,  Springfield. '«» 


Nov- 


persons  suflcring  wit 
or  I.nng:s 
nali.  Ohi 


KENDALL'S  ^  ^^r^^ 

splint.  Curb,  Callous,  &o.,or  any  enlargement,  AND  WILL 
REMOVE  THE  BUNCH  WITHOUT  BLISTERING  or 
C«  •r%-  A  TTTTVT  causing  a  sore.  No  remeay  ever 
i^ir,a.  V  XIM  discovered  equals  it  for  certainty 
of  action  in  slojipiiig  the  lameness  and  removing  the  bunch. 
Price  tl.no.  Send  for  circular  giving  POSITIVE  PROOF. 
^<<VTT^  T*  SOLD  BY  DRUGGISTS  or  sent  by  the  ia- 
*^  \j  Xkilj  veutor,  B.  J,  Kendall,  M.  D.,  Enosburgh 
Falls,  Vt      .lohnston,  Holloway  k  Co.,  Agts.,  602   Areh  St  . 


GENTS  I    READ    THIS! 

Salary    of  $100  per 


A. 

month  and  expeH!!«eM 
sion,  to   sell   our   uew  ii.n<: 

Nov-6ra. 


ATTENTION  !    FARMERS 

Now  Process   liinseed    Moal. 

THE  BEST  AND  MOST  ECONOMICAL 

t'ATTI.E  F001>S. 

It  is  worthy  of  your  immediate  attention.      Write  to  us  /o) 
Chart  giving  value  of  the  different  foods. 

GROVE  &  BRO., 
ai6  Kace  Sireet,  Philatleiph  io. 


**^^^