Title: Quarterly report of the Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture, no. 39-40 Place of Publication: Harrisburg, Pa. Copyright Date: 1889 Master Negative Storage Number: MNS# PSt SNPaAgOl 7.12 n ^^ f ' •-•-'♦*«fa^jsi*ilp'**#. i*i- i ItJcUm '/ 7^<>/l^ Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth QUARTERLY REPORTS J OF THE PENNSYLVANIA Board of Agriculture, vf HAKRlSBUHd: EDWIN K. MKYERS, STATE PRINTER. • 1889. ££.30.973 { 'V^ ,»f***^(ie*i&::*Ps»'*lfe*:«i!4Sfe :,, ,. , \^t\ -^ -/ ^^ r ,4*-rt^;fi(Mi&%^tejS«Mi^^ /i«iJai:,'«t'..*i^ft**A*- Stitzel, Thos. J. Edge (ex-officio). Secretary. Thos. J. Edge, Harrisburg. Botanist. Thos. Meehan, Germantown. Pomologist. Cyrus T. Fox, Reading. Chemist. Dr. Wm. Frear, State College. Consulting Veterinary Surgeon. Dr. R. S. Huidekoper, Philadelphia. Veterinary Surgeon. Dr. F. Bridge, West Philadelphia. Microscojnsts and Ilygienists. Dr. H. Leftmann, Philadelphia, Prof. C. B. Cochran, West Chester. Ento7nologist. Prof. W. A. Buckhout, State College. Ornithologist. Dr. B. H. Warren, West Cltester. Meteorologists, Prof. I. T. Osmond, State College, J. L. Heacock, Esq., Quakertown. Apiarist. Prof. G. G. Groll, Lewisburg. Mineralogist. Joseph Willcox, Philadelpliia. Geologist. Prof. J. P. Lesley, Philadelphia. Stenographer. H. C. Demining, Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. STANDlIsG COMMITTEES— 1889. IjKGLSLATION, N. F. Underwood, R. S. Searle, C. R. I.antz, F. Y. Clopper, W. H. H. Riddle, J. W. Mather, G. W. Atherton, Dr. E. W. Hale. Dairy 4Nd Dairy Products. J. B. Phelps, Chandlce Eves, Col. James Young. J. A. Herr, A. L. M(^Kil)ben, N. F. Underwood. [ist), I. Garretson, Prof. C. B. Cochran (Chem_ Silk and Silk Culture. Dr. J. I*. Barnes, C/iairman, R. S. Searle, P. Reeder, J. A. Gundy, H. W. Kratz, R. McKee, Dr. E. W. Hale. C. H. INIullin, C. R. Lantz. W. C. Gordon, H. IT. Colvin. A. D. Shinier, Grasses and Fodder Crops. N. F. Underwood, (Viair'n, G. Hiester, J. K. Murray, H. W. Kratz, Chairman. S. K. Downing, J. A. Gundy, Jos. Painter, E. Reeder, Chair man^ J. C. Sibley, H U. Scott, N. B. Critch field. Jolin Hofla, F. M. McKeehan, .T. McDowell, Chairman. R. S. Searle, E. Walters, S. S. Diehl, W. B. Powell, Chairman, J. A. Herr, G. Hiester, J. A. Gundy, Chairman, A. M. Fuller, S. F. Hofla, W. Benedict, ^ R. S. Searle, Chairman^ W. B. Powell, J. A. Herr, G. Hiester, W. A. Buckhout, W. R. Shclmire, J. MciC'racken. Jr., .T. C. Thornton. Wool and Textile Fibres. J. W. Axtel, \y. B. Powell, J. C. McNary, W. Slianafelt, . Cereals. Maj. S. V. Holliday, I. Garretson, J. H. Ijawrence, Public Roads. J. P. Barnes. John M. Miller, J. A. Woodward, H! W. Kratz, J. H. Lawrence, (^lias. Lott, N. G. Bunnell. J. McCracken, Jr. E. Reeder, C. Cooper. S. McCreary. S. R. Downing, Wm. Ij. (rraul, J. H. Wogan, W. H. H. Riddle. Sorghum and Sugar Crops. John Hoffa, J. A. Gundy, C. H. Mullin, G. D. Stitzel, Apiauy. F. M. McKeehan, C/iaiVman, J. E. Daugherty, David Wilson, H. H. Brown, Dr. G. G. Grolf, A. J. Weidner, Dr. S. W. Morison, J. B. Cox, Farm Implements. Chandlee Eves, Chairman, J. K. Murray, J. H. Lawrence, Chas. Lott, J. B. Phelps, G. D. Stitzel, Chairman^ Col. J. Young, C. Cooper, C: T. Fox, F. R. Miller, J. B. Smith, H. W. Northrup, R. S. Searle, Fruit and Fruit Culture. W. Shanafelt, Chandlee Eves, David Wilson, J. B. Smith. M. W. Oliver, I. Garretson, C. Cooper, P. Reeder, S. R. Downing, C. Cooper, N. B. Oitchfield, Robt McKee. Josiah Hoopes, W. IL Moon, H. M. Engle, G. Hiestei, R. S. Searle, Birds and Mammals. Dr. B. H. Warren, CAairmaw, R. S. SCarle, J. A. Gundy, C. T. Fox, G. B. Sennett, C. W. Roberts, A. D. Shinier, S. McCreay, Forests and Forestry. Dr. W. S. Roland, Chair'n, Dr. G. W. Atherton, Mrs. J. \\ Lundy, W. A. Bu.-kliout, J. W. Mather, J. A. Herr, J. 1*. Barnes, S. McCreary, L Garretson, H. S. Uuj)p, E. B. Engle, J. Hotta, E. P. Swift. W. S. Roland, J. A. Herr, J. K. Murray, J. C. Thornton. J. A. Gundy, C. H. Mullin, J. Mi'Tracken, Jr., J. Painter. r ^.4lkiU^i&4tftii^»K»i^> ..'«>£,:; $i^^^«iiiiMiM^< 4 Quarterly Report. LOCAL OK COUNTY INSTITUTES, IMd under the Auspices of the Pennsylvania State Board of Agri- culture, hy authority of the act of June ^, 1887, from November 27, 1888, to March 29, 1889. Susquehanna, Bucks, . - Juniata, . . Clinton, . . Columbia, . ^lontp^oniery Wayne, (^liester, . . Northampton liancaster, . ISIontour, . Chester, . . Korthumberlan T.a\vrence, . Washington,. Adams, . . Perry, . . . Y<^>rk, . . . Columbia, . Union, . . . Luzerne, . . d, Montrose, . . Quaker town, Port lloyal, . Maekevville, Millvil'ie, . . Hatl)oro' . . Honesdale, . Atf^jlen, . . . Slatinjjjton, . Lancaster, . . Danville, . . Kennet Square Milton, . . . New Castle, . W^ashington, Gettysburg, . New Bloom field York, .... Berwick, . . Lewisburg, . Huntingdon Mills, R. S. Searle, . . E. lleeder, . . . J). Wilson, . . . J. A. Herr, . . C. Eves, . , . .T. Q. Atkinson, N. F. Underwood, D. H. Branson, W. M. Benninger, H. M. lOngle, T. L. Clapp, . T. Richards, . Jolui Holla, . S. McCreary, J. McDowell, I. Garretson, . F. M. McKeehan, , Dr. W. S. Roland, J. W. Evans, . . J. A. Gundy, . . Z. S. Stevens, . . Nov. Dec. Dec. Jan. Jan. 11, Jan. Jan. Jan. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. , March March 27, 28 19, 20 21, 22 7,8,9 12, 13 16, 17 16, 17 18, 19 1,2 5, 6 7,8 13, 14 14, 15 14, 16 15, 16 19, 20 20, 21 21, 22 27, 28 19, 20 27, 28 { Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES OF LOCAL OR COUNTY FARMERS' INSTITUTES.^ FRUIT GRO\^riNG AS SOURCE OF PROFIT. By Dr, James CAiiDER, Harrishurg^ Penna. [An address at the Montrose Institute.] When disciissiTi»>i»*mf ..■■•ui.-.!«iM#'M)rs »*fc*-ifc»fc til «ii - iw» — wtum ina— a»i^w»>««i<««' -^ili^ ^'vi(««Aa(w«>-.*;*» :. ..«*«»««»«*,i-4.< .^U^ •'i'lrt-Mte X 8 Quarterly Report. Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture 9 blight shows itself on my pears, I at once cut off the branch which is affected so as to get two or three inches into (he sound wood and burn the effected limb up. After our fruit is grown we have to be very careful how we market it; it should be thorouglily ripe as a rule but, there are fruits wliich we do not want fully ripe. Pick your pears somewhat before they are ripe; take all that come off easily and lay them on the lloor of your spare room; never offer unripe i'ruit for sale. Always sort out the small fruit before you send it to market; if you do not, the pur- chaser will pay you the price of small fruit for the whole ; I can very often get three times as much jbr my largest strawberries as for my small ones, or as I would get if I sold all together. Then in this, as in everything else, cleanliness is an important factor; when you market your fruit have it in neat and clean packages and be neat and clean yourself, especially, if you retail the fruit to the consumers. Once at my market stall \ve ran out of potatoes and bought a few baskets at a neighboring stall, the owner of which was not neat in his ways, nor was his stall in a neat condition, we put them into our clean baskets; soon a lady came along, and pricing my neighbors potatoes at sixty cents, did not buy, but coming to my stall paid seventy cents for exactly the same potatoes, and so it is with fruit; much depends upon the condition in which it is offered to the consumer. For a single day or sale it may pay to put the largest and best on the top, but if you expect to stand at the same place, or in the same market, you will lose by it in the long run; we always make it a rule to have our packages run the same all through, and having once gained a customer we retain him so long as he wants anything which we have for sale. I also think that we as farmers ought obtain more for our products if we exercised a little more system in selling them ; in New Jersey the fruit is sent to Philadelphia upon certain trains so as to arrive in time for the morning market; it is not suffered to lav around the rail- road station any great length of time; when it arrives in Philadel- phia, wagons are waiting for it, and it is taken directlv to market while it is in good condition. Fruit can now be marketed at long dis- tances from the orchards; (he ten thousands acres of grapes around Keuka Lake are marketed in Washington, Boston, New York, Harris- burg and other points, but this is only profitably accomplished by system in picking and shipping; to arrive in good order, everything must be in its favour; it must not lay around the station long before its departure nor after its arrival. The fruit- growlers of California compete with us in many of their products and we should learn a lesson from them; by rapid trains and by only sending the best they can often offer as good or a better article and a less price and thus injure our trade; this is mainly because they have combined and work for their own interests and have regard for the credit of future shipment as well as for immediate profit. I offer these detached suggestions for your thought; think them over; all will not go into fruit-growing but many may readily mf^ke It profitable and succeed. You can weave a good many other tilings in with the fruit ; you can have a little nursery of vour own ; a littTe patch in which you can at odd times start good kinds of fruit and vine which will readily find a mafket with some less thrifty neighbor who can appreciate a good thing wlien he sees it but does not under- stand how to obtain it by his own exertions. Jn this way 1 have (i\ I I started and sold thousands of grape vines, large numbers of straw- berry plants and even fruit trees, and have always sold them at a good profit. You may readily raise bees in connection with fruit and buth branches may gain by the combination of interests; in fact bee •culture should go hand in hand with fruit culture. The bees will fertilize your iruit blossoms at the same time that they extract the honey and you will have more fruit with the bees than without them. 8ome claim that bees will injure fruit but this is a great mistake; if by wet weather or the attacks of birds the skin becomes broken the bees will suck the juice, but they will not, of themselves, injure any fruit; bees cannot break the skin of grapes or fruit; it is quite possi- ble that was{)s and hornets may do so but not bees. Question. How do you propogate your grape vines ? Answer. By layering; I dig^ a trench four inches deep and the length of the branch which I wish to lay down, commencing nearest the vine I put two eyes of the branch under the ground, then leave two above ground and so on alternately until the whole branch is layered; next season the buds above ground will each produce a healthy vine and in the fall they can be divided and planted either in the nursery or vineyard; or you may cut the branch into pieces having three or four eyes and after keeping them in a cool and damp place all winter, you may put them out in the usual way, and each one will produce a vine ; but if I am so situated that I can adopt it 1 prefer the layering plan. Question. When would you trim your vines? Answer. After the leaves fall off; I would keep at it every pleasant day throughout the whole winter if 1 did not get done before; common sense tell you that bleeding, after late trimming, will kill your vines, but experience shows that they are not at all injured by it. Question. How do grape growers usually keep their grapes? Answer. They have fruit houses in which they can keep them at a low temperature and thus in a measure retard ripening. You can keep many kinds of fruit back until the market is ready for them; a delay of two weeks will often double the market value of your fruit and turn loss into profit. Your fruit house will do just as well to keep egirs and butter in as fruit, and will often pay as well for it. Question. What growth of vine and grapes will ensure the best yield ? Answer. That will in great measure depend upon the variety which you have under cultivation; you must in great measure be governed by tlie nature of the variety you are treating; the Delaware is a delicate vine and should not be permitted to ripen too much; would not set too many clusters; many vines are injured and even killed by being allowed to set too many bunches; in inany cases if one-half had been removed they would have given more pounds of fruit at less loss of vigor to the vines ; do not let the vine retain more than it can perfect properly. Question. Our apple trees are much injured by caterpillars ; what shall we do with them? Answer. Drive away every gunner who comes on your premises and you will have done much to decrease the evil; the birds are the natural enemies of the caterpillars and if not in ;^ny way interfered with, will keef) them in check; encourage the birds in every i)ossil)le way and you will have much less trouble with insects ; the two cannot exist together and if you don't want the birds you will have the in- sects. L,^:»*^*''«teft(. ^r,. i>ait«>IM»'a""»""ii"i'afci*i«*nw"ttk nrfaAnmitiWa 10 Quarterly Report. EDUCATION FOR THE FARMER. By Jaspi]r'J. Jennings, New MiJford^ Pa. [Read at ^rontrose Institute. ] The subject I have selected for the present occasion is a very common one, and one that has been often written upon ; yet it is a subject that is inexhaustible, and always appropriate. ^'Education for the Farmer." If a young man sets out for a civil engineer, he studies the rules and principles of geometry at least so far as they have a bearing on his in- tended profession; he makes himself lamiliar with proportional lines and angles, and distances; he acquaints himself with geology and chemist rv in order that he mav know the strength and diirahiUtv of materials; he seeks information in regard to carpentry and architec- ture, and by a thorough course of study prepares himself for his call- ing. What kind of a railroad do you suppose a man would make who was ignorant of the lirst principles of leveling, curving and grading'^ He could pick and shovel dirt, it is true, and lay down ties and iron rails, but when done it would be devoid of the leading essentials, and the cars would not run upon it, oral most only very slowly and bung- lingly, by horse power only and at the expense of numerous accidents. Such a road would not pa v. It mii2;ht have answered a hundred vears ago, but the age in which we live is a fast one; and to-day such an institution would be laughed at. The Starrucca viaduct, the Croton aqueduct, the St. Gothard tunnel and the East River bridge would never have been built without a thorough knowledge of the underly- ing principles of their construction. The men who superintended those great works made themselves familiar with every possible point ; and the world points with pride to the successful accomplishment of the greatest engineering enterprises ever attempted by man. The doctor prepares himself for his profession by a thorough course of study in physiology, materia, medica and therapeutics ; he must know one disease from another, and though thesymptons run close together he must be able to distinguish the slightest diil'erence and determine what organs are afl'ected and to what extent and in what manner, and also what relation, influence and effect the diseased organs have upon others; he must know the course and office of every muscle, nerve and artery, the principles of digestion and respiration, the silent work- ings of chemistry in producing the manv changes ever going on in the wonderful laboratory of the human body; what effect certain medi- cines and drugs will produce in certain conditions and under certain circumstances; how to stimulate and increase the action of certain organs wiien they have become torpid, and hold others in check when they have become unduly excited; and a thousand other points that it would be tedious to enumerate in this connection. What kind of a doctor would a man make who should prescribe for the liver complaint when the disease is j)neumonia? Or for pleurisy when the ailment was rheumatism^ What kind of a doctor would a man make who should guess at diseases he could not identify, and ex})(M'iment with poisonous drugs that might be detrimental to health and dangerous to life^ He might possibly be able to eke out a miserable existence for j|l^ MiiiBilB»aii^|>ftJlifM» MMtfcMjDattKi. 4«ftitea>lln«.' ^f. '. ..: . ,p^-«ii#*'»*3**:. tlfflUHILlMLH- m.»»' kmi^i^t!':J^iJL^^ € I I Fe.nns^^lvajmia Board of Agriculture. 11 awhile by l)lundering upon a successful diagnosis a!id treatment once in awhile, but his practice would be very small, and he would gradually be discountenanced as a physician. llie lawyer studies and prepares himself for his business, and would not think of conducting a case without it. If many of our farmers knew the weary hours and days and sleepless nights our young law- yers have spent poring over Blackstone, law reports and digests, they would be surprised at the magnitude of the task. But when tiiey have acquainted themselves with these works, their task is far from being done. New laws and decisions are constantlv being made, and thev must inform themselves in order to present the points of their cases to the best advantage. Their work calls for a ceaseless round of study, to keep abreast of the legal enactments and progress of the prolession ; and he who studies most to keep himself posted, succeeds the best. What kind of a lawyer would that honorable member of the bar be, who should stop there,*and who should hinge his main points of argu- ment on old decisions that had been abrogated ten years before:* His opponents would easily bailie his best eflbrts, disclose his ignorance to the court and jury, and win their case. He would become unpop- ular, his business would wane, his work would yield small returns, and no honor to the profession. The teacher studies long and earnestly to qualify himself for his calling. The teacher who is satisfied, when he has once succeeded in passing a successful examination and securing a certificate, soon finds he is left behind. Mathematical and geographical science is advanc- ing, new rules, principles, ideas, discoveries, divisions and methods are comingjup every year; and unless he takes the trouble to acquaint himself with the passing changes, he becomes an old fogy, and his teachings are unsought and ignored. What kind of a teacher would that person make, who should tell his pupils that the sun was ninety- five million miles from the earth, instead of about ninety three'million? That there were thirty-two States in the Union instead of thirty-eight? That Iowa was a Territory instead of a State? That the population of the United States wastliirtv-six millionfinstead of over fiftv million ? He would soon have to quit the business, and seek some other occu- pation to gain a decent living. He nmst not guess at results and jump at conclusions, and say ''the mood and tense of a common noun is put in the subjunctive case ; Chicago is the capital of Austria; Ohio is bounded on the north by Minnesota and the Bay of Biscay; General Braddock surrendered to General Scott, on the field of (Jhancellorville, in 1821." It would not do. He must study and hiow the truths he is to impart, before he enters upon the business. Deficiency of proper education means failure at the outset, and without constant study and judicious a])plication, he will find "Failure!" ''Failure!" written plainer and j)lainer at every step as time rolls on, and he soon falls out of line and is known no more. He was but a stumbling block to the profession ; he is of no account. The minister devotes his life to thought and study, in order to be able to exi)lain the sublime truths of the Bible, and bring up illustra- tions and infer(uices that his congregation can understand. If lie would win souls to Christ he must be educated. He may be a very fluent talker, and do some good work as an exhort er, with a limi'ed knowledge, but if he would be thoroughly successful, he must under- stand th(^ j)rin('iples of theology, the history of Christianity from be- i^inning to end, the struggles of early martyrs, the trials and triuujphs ''--i(.^J ^*>f ' ' 'liiitiwyh .1. ^iTifTT-t^' WiiilliiiJii.iMli'iwaiBt'jJi.-^ ■"''■-.■--.■ '^ Iti QUAKTERLY RePORT. of the leaders and founders of tlie difTerent sects and creeds, the doc- trinal points and peculiariues of his own particular denomination, the manners and customs of the Jews, the <*;eography and topography of their country, their contlicts and wars, and vicissitudes, the story of the prophets and patriarchs, the travels and teachings of Paul, the words and works of Christ, and a thousand other points that they can only attain through a world of careful study and preparation. It would not do for him to misquote Scripture and say, Joseph led the Israelites safc^ly lhrouij:}i the waters of the Red Sea to the promised land, while (Joliah and his host came after to be overwhelmed in the sea. It would not do for him to sav Abraham was cast into the den of lions, or that Moses was swallowed by the whale, lie would soon be weighed in the balance of public opinion, and politely inlbrmed that ids services were no longer needed. If he would be successful^ he must read and study and reflect, not only upon the descriptions and revelations of Scripture, but upon nature and science, and art, and philosophy, and history, and thus be able to bring up compari- sons, illustrate by examples, and draw conclusions that will strike with convincing power to the willing heart of every hearer. Such a man stores his mind with a fund of living proof, he applies his illus trations and inferences aptly, there is weight and worth in his words, and the people appreciate and value them. He labors to excel, and education lifts him to the front rank in his profession. Now, let us see how it is with the farmer. His occupation is older than any other on earth. It began in the Garden of Eden, and has continued without intermission to the present liour. It leads, and ever will lead, all other trades and professions, and will never cease until man ceases to exist. What is he doing by way of education? He sends his boys to the district school wdien he can spare them from the farm, and if either of them should happen to advance a little more than the others, he is sent to the village academy and straightway prepared for a lawyer. The farmer points with foolish pride to his studious son. and savs : '^ John is too smart for a farmer, and so we are going to make a lawyer of him. Joseph is also pretty apt ; he is getting along finely with his education, and I think we shall be able to make a doctor of him. Rut Henry and George have been kept at home more, and they have not much education ; they'll make farm ers." Well, they grow up digging, hoeing, plowing and grubbing in the same old ruts that their father followed, for they know no other. They know the ground must be plowed to produce a crop; that oats and corn must be sown and planted sometime in the spring, and cut when they get ripe, because their father before them followed this rule ; and they also know they must make every hour count, or fall behind at the end of the year. The lives they lead are dull and mo nolonous, and in the midst of nature's grandest surroundings their finest perceptive powers become dormant and blunted, they take no interest in new ideas, mistrust every advocate of reform, sit down in an obscure part of the world, read or listen to only one side of a sub- ject, and drnw their entiie conclusions accordingly, gradually al- lowinj: themselves to lean and depend upon others, and thus belittling their God given powers and narrowing themselves down in the Iblds of their ignorance until they are so nearly buried they have but one little spot to see out, and are easily duped and led about by designing men as though they were slaves or animals with rings in their noses. Such farmers may manage to live by blundering along, but they are ■h i:. I I. I Pennsylvania Board of Agriculturj:. 13 not successful, and do nothing to advance the interests of the great branch of industrv thev iollow. Yet there are thousands and tens of 4^ a- thousands of them in our land, and it is this ignorance that is holding the great agricultural masses back in tl>e grand march of true progress to day. Why they tell us any old bushwhacker is good enough to be a farmer; that all the education he needs is to read, write and cipher through the four i)rimary rules, and that all he has to do is to put his seed in the ground at the proper time, cultivate to keep the weeds down, arid it will grow while he sleeps, and make him rich at the har- vest If a dairyman he will have to feed his hogs, cattle and horses, milk his cows, and set the milk for the cream gatherer, and that^s about all there is about it! There never was a greater mistake made by mankind. Agriculture is a science — the grandest, the deepest and the most profound of all. We barely know its first rudiments. The commercial man would not have education suflicient to master it; the doctor would not, nor would the lawyer. As a science it is one that has been sadly neglected, and the fruits of this neglect are already painfully apparent. Perhaps one of the first subjects that should engage his attention is the study of the soil, and right here most of us are wonderfully de- ficient in education. One gets the best results from plowing in the fall, and another gets the best results from j)lowing in the spring. One derives good results from the application of plaster; another de- rives no perceivable benefit from its use. One plows his manure under; another applies it upon the surface. One finds a certain kind of ferti- lizer the best adapted to his lands, and and another finds it worthless. Now how shall we reconcile all of these differences ? The question at once assumes a complicated form, and requires careful study and judg- ment to properly answer. In the lirst place the soils were probably widely difl'erent to begin with, and what would be adapted to one would not be appropriate lor the other. A certain property of one soil mav be deficient, or exhausted, and in another it mav be abun- dant. The soil in one place may be naturally adapted to raising clover, and in another adapted to red- top, or orchard grass ; and yet in nine cases out of ten the same kind of seed is sown, the same kind of cultivation practiced, and one wonders why his neighbor succeeds while he fails. One sow^s a piece of wheat, applies his fertilizer or. manure, and thoroughly pulverizes his ground with an improved spring-tooth harrow. He raises a line crop. His neighbor notes his success, and he proceeds to fit his ground and sow a fiehl in precisely the same manner, but it won't grow and yield as did the other. He however raises a famous crop of oats, while his friend who raised the fine crop of wheat falls behind with his oats. He notes the benefit some of his brother farmers have derived irom a coat of plaster, and he straightway buys a load and applies it to Ids lands, but it is no good. They will yield only one thing abundantly, and that is sorrel. This pest he finds everywhere, in his cornfield, among his potatoes, in his oats, in his meadow, completely sa])pinff the substance of the ground for its support. He broods over his ill luck and finally makes up his mind his farm is a poor one and cannot be made to yield under any system oi cultivation. As a last experiment he buys a load of lime and applies it, and Lo ! the sorrel disappears as if by magic. 'J1ie whole nature of the soil seems to undergo a change, and he suddenly finds he has no trouble in raising good crops, and in his estimation his f atmmitmHm ■ mill wt»i<>«!t>w>»i» ■i'lmiiM "nr~"' Quarterly Report. farm has increased in value fifty per cent. Like the doctor, who pre- scribed for the liver complaint when the disease w^as pneumonia, he failed for years, and only blundered upon the right thing at last by way of experiment. An education that would have enabled him to analyze his soil, w^ould have shown him at the start what ingredients or properties w^ere lacking, and w^hat would supply the deficiency. If he had understood the primary principles of agricultural chemistry, he would have known that sorrel requires a largie amount of acid for its support, and will grow only where it is abundant. He would have seen at once that his lands were soured on account of a superabund- ance of acid, and that lime was just what was required to sweeten them, and bring them to a proper condition to produce the desired crops, and thus all his expense and failure would have been averted. He went at his work ignorant of the nature of his soil, and like the teacher who I old his pupils that General Braddock surrendered to General Scott, on the field of Ohancellorville, in 1821, or the minister who told his hearers Abraham was cast into a den of lions, and Moses was swallowed by a whale, he found failure at every step, and his ig- norance held him back and cost him years of bitter experience. H, instead of wasting the long winter evenings poring over five cent novels and sensational literature, he would read the standard works on science and agriculture, and study the elementary principles of botany and agricultural chemistry, he would soon be able to know what the different soils recjuired in order to produce the different grains and grasses; the fields would enter a new era of fertility, and an abundant harvest would bring prosperity to the tiller of the soil. He desires to build a new house; and he studies up a nice plan to make it convenient and handy in every respect, and it is erected on a pleasant little knoll near the south-west margin of a pond or marsh. He has failed to inform himselt' in regard to the principles and laws of malarial poison ; the prevailing north-west winds w^aft the pestilential vapor from the decaying vegatation of the marsh directly upon his dwelling, and he soon finds his family stricken with ague, and fever, and diphtheria. Doctor's bills accumulate, and the health of all are undermined. A little education in regard to the effects of a pesti- lential atmosphere would have averted all ; but his ignorance allowed the evil to creep in, and he learns too late of the fatal error. Another point in which the farmer is more or less deficient is the lack of keeping a correct system of accounts. It requires a know- ledge of book-keeping to run a farm successfully just as much as it does to run a store or bank. The farmer should know how much labor and expense it requires to fence his fields and raise his croi)S, and how much his crops are worth when harvested; so that he can strike the balance and ascertain'his profits. He should be able to keep a correct account of all receipts and expenditures, and at the end of everv month balance his books and see how he stands financiallv wit lithe world. Neglect of this one thing has ruined thousands Little debts are contracted from time to time, and they are allowed to run on and on until he has no idea of the magnitude of the accumulation, and when payment is demanded he is not prepared to meet it, the mortgage and the judgment are forced upon him, the payment of in- terest gradually eats out his substance, the sheriff comes to his door and he is turned from the litth^ home to toil and struggle in the cold world in his old age as a day laborer. Oh farmers, beware of debt. Promptly balanced books faithfully kept would have shown many the Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. 15 i% i ■(\ t I path they were traveling in time for them to recover, and save them- selves from the financial crash upon the breakers of bankruptcy. To the thinking mind a thousand points arise where the average farmer needs an education which he does not now possess; but we forbear further mention at this time. He needs to know something of the fence and stray laws, the laws for the colleciion of debt, the laws in regard to landlord and tenant, the laws of trespass, and several others in order that he may legally protect himself againts shari)ers, fraud, and imposition which a certain portion of humanity are ever seeking to practice upon him. There is one very important point, however, which we cannot afford to pass by in silence ; and that is the marketing of farm produce. After raising the crop we in most instances send our surplus to New York, and place it in the hands of strangers to pay us what they see fit. We have nothing to say in regard to the price, but wholly abandon ourselves to their mercy. The commission men can buy it themselves at their own price, and double on it if they choose, and we have no means of redress. What would be thought of the manufacturers if they should send us their wagons, and plows, and mowing machines, to set prices upon and buy and sell as we saw fit? If we saw fit to give them twenty-five dollars for a wagon we could have it by saying so, and if we could sell it for seventy-five it would be none of their business. We could send them the bill, and corresponding check, and they could take it or nothing. No, my friends, such a system is not right. Our ignorance has allowed the evil to blind and fetter us, and w^e need education to lift us out of the old ruts and ])ring us face to face with the great commercial centers of the world. We have the right to set the price on our commodities as much as other classes do on theirs. We don't em])loy a doctor and when he has done his duty tell him we will allow him fifty cents for his services. We don't employ a lawyer to conduct a case for us, and at the close of the trial tell him we will pay him seventy five cents. We don't ask them for their services thus, and they w^ould consider themselves insulted if we did. They have no more moral right to establish prices for us. Such a system makes us menial slaves; toil- ing only to be robbed of the fruits of our honest labor. An army of greedy speculators fatten from the profits of our industry, while we are left barely enough to pay the necessary expenses of running our farms and keep square wiih the world. What w^e want is to com rive some wav to reach the consumer; and at less than three Iburths of the prices they are paying to day for our butter and farm produce there would be money in farming, and ample compensation for our labor. Brother farmers, did you ever stop to think what an advance of one cent a pound on the butter of our country means ? It means twenty- nine thousand seven hundred and ninety dollars! Enough to hire a competent salesman and open a market for the sale of our produce in the great metropolis. A proper commission for the handling and sale of produce is all right; but when men take advantage of their position to rob and swindle the producer it is time to look into the matter and call a halt. But this is not all. Another hydra-headed evil, that is laying its powerful hand ujx)!! us with crushing ellcct, is inequality of taxation. Because we have been duped so long, and submitted to every indignity so willingly, they have finally saddled nearly five-sixths of the taxes upon us. Farmers and laborers, don't take anybody's word for this, but look the matter up yourselves. The public documents will show - ii / *^»*(Wi'4a» . tLi.iMinwi>impt»,ifi~.,^, ' /.ui^, iiimn 'iwiiiTi^iiVKftfiSnMfcwMP^iMBBBBMI^^HBBWb \" 16 Quarterly Report. » the fi>''^^ • 18 Quarterly Report. * one ^ood animal than you can out of two poor ones; and as to crops, a poor one is always a losino; investment, while as a rule, the better you can make it the more money value for your work. Now one of the essential conditions we must observe in order to the production of the best crops is the use of *2;ood seeds. Of course this is not the only necessary condition; but a failure at just this point will work disaster to all other favorable conditions we may be able to produce. What then constitutes good seed ? First, it must be pure. We seldom reap a better harvest than the seed we sow, and many of the tendencies and conditions of reproduction are such as to produce a poorer quality. The money value of seeds is not a small item to the farmers, many of whom meet it by using tliat wdiich will cost them the least. Now I think that while trouble and expense in regard to our seeds may not always be a safe guide, there are many seeds used which are too costly at any price, or no price at all. Good judgment riii^ht here is highly essential to success. For example, many farmers are in the habit of sowing oats just as they come from the thrasher, without even 80 much as screening them— oats, weed seed and all. Tiiis is a very careless, if not a very lazy, act for which the hurry of the seed time will not offer even an excuse, because the seed should have been made ready before the hurry came. I think such instances of indis- cretion would not occur so otten if we would stop long enough to re- call a single instance of two successful crops, one of grain and one of weeds, both occupying the same ground at the same time. If we would remember that we are thus sowing tares which will seriously injure the following crops, and which will cause us much toil and perplexity to keep in reasonable subjection. But this is not so serious a matter after all, as an equally careless use of imported grass seeds. We will get*no new pests with our oats; but with our grass seeds we are con- tinually getting something new, and not unfrequentlv the last evil is a tenfold greater one than the first. I can see no practical remedy for this evil at present. We may find a partial one by buying and using only the very best seeds we can obtain. But this requires some knowledge and skill on the part of the buyer. He should be able to recognize any plant usually found growing about him by its seed under a magnifying glass. He must use this knowledge by carefully examin- ing the seeds offered him before purchasing and be satistied he is getting what he wants. It is not a dillicult task to learn to recognize at least the seeds he seeds to use; if he goes on farther and also learns to recognize the myriad of weed seeds. We need also to know some- thing of the methods used by the trade to prepare the seeds for the market. It will aid us materially to know; also, the habits and times of the seed production of our enemies, the weeds, not only as an aid in extermination, but also as a protection in buying. For instance, when we know that much of the clover seed on the market is raised from the second cutting, and that wild carrot does not seed uutil after the first cuttings are gathered, we are thus aided to know where to find this enemy. Not unfrequently are we very particular in buying timothy seed, but do not scrutinize the clover seed. One word here in regard to changing seeds to different localities. It has its advan- tages and its disadvantages. As a rule, I believe better results will be experienced by a judicious selection of seeds from our own crops, unless we wish to change varieties; and this should be done with much caution. Jlemember always, that location, surroundings, seasons and culture have very much to do with the yield of any variety. Kemem- Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. 19 V \ h K ber, also, that vitality of seeds is a very important element to a success- ful crop. Seeds to produce the best results should be perfectly de- veloped. Seeds as usually harvested are in all stages of development, from the perfect specimen down through all the gradations to the worthless hull. Now apply the principle 'Mike produces like.'' and you have the embodiment of the thought I wish to convey. '* What- soever a man sows that shall he also reap.'' 1 have found it decidedly beneficial to reclean my seeds, not using more than one-third to one- half as it comes from the thrasher. You have all noticed that all seeds that germinate do not produce strong, healthy plants; that seed corn properly and carelully selected and cured will produce a decidedly thriftier plant than corn however carefully selected from the crib; and the difference (other things being equal) will be more marked in the harvest. Is not this also true in other grains^ The most per- fectly developed heads are the fruit of the most perfectly developed seed. We have a saying in stock raising that '' blood will tell," and I am satisfied that the rule will apply equally in raising crops. One of the essentials to a properly developed seed is thoroughly ripened. For various reasons the most of the grain crops are harvested belore they are fully matured— ''dead ripe." This is a serious detriment to their value for seed purposes. Here is an illustration from actual ex- perience. In harvesting a piece of wheat a portion of the field was- left uncut in order to save the timothy seed in it, until it was "dead ripe." This wheat was kept separate from the earlier cut and used for seed. A field was prepared and a portion of it sown with this seed,, and another portion with seed from the earlier cut, both being sown the same day and receiving like culture The result was that in the harvest there was a much better yield both in quality and quantity in favor of the ripened seed. This may explain, in part, why we g:et better results from the carefully selected corn than from the general crib. Perhaps here may be one of the secrets to getting a '' catch" of grass seed. We do not always know what we are buying in seeds. Said a friend to me a few days ago, who has l)een managing a large farm near Binghamton for thirty years, s])eaking of a firm who are doing a large business in recleaning and wholesaling seeds : '-You cannot buv a bushel of their chiocest best seeds; it is all shipped." If this be true, the trade here can only buy the inferior grades. And are you aware that a portion of the seeds upon the market is cleaned out of the seed scatterings from handling hay ^ I have several times received communications from recleaners wishing to purchase the seed scatterings from the hay press. Need I say that we cannot expect to get much fullv matured seed from such a source? 'J1iis brings me to speak of another serious defect in seeds, namely, destroyed vitality or life. The seed germ under certain conditions is very fragile and tender. When it is in this condition an extreme temperature of either heat or cold proves fatal to its life. A few shocks of corn heaped together will, and often does generate heat sufficient to destroy the geVm vitality. Freezing before it is thoroughly dry u])on the cob will produce a like pffect. What then ought we to expect from the im- matured seed cured in a heating hay mow. or any othercarelessmanner of producing and curing seeds for the market ? Again, the cracking of the kernel will also destroy or greatly impair the germ vitality; and timothy seed, with its inner hull removed, I think is no better than withit'^on. As for myself; I reject it in buying. . ,, , • In conclusion, let me add that there is no class more easily swindled I iiai-iii M>HII •■Mia ■MMMMI i5:i:'j« * ■/.^■■^gj'witiilwi^^ . -.^.itit^tmi^itsm!''' mHr ■aMgBit ■' iM jijxm g' 20 Quarterly Report. Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. 21 •out of their earnings than the honest, unsuspecting, hard-working farmers, the real producers of very much of the wealth of the country, but not the real owners by a long way. And there are not a few un- principled, unscrupulous men who will not work or produce a dollar of wealth, who stand ready watching to take advantage of this weak- ness, to transfer this wealth to their own pockets, and not only live in luxury upon the spoils of their victims, but also look down with con- tempt upon these who toil to support them. If the farmer would take time to think and know more of the inside workings of this class of men, and then protect himself by thorough organization, he would not only have more dollars in his pocket, but would, in a great measure, put a veto on many of the practices by which he is now beat out of his just earnings. And when he will arise and assert his man- hood, and, with his b illot, protect himself and his professional interests instead of being a mere tool in the hands of party politicians for their own aggrandizements and protection of trusts and monopolies, he will find that the government, in all its departments, will recognize that he has rights which it is bound to respect, and which they will pro- tect. The burden of taxation will be put where it belongs, and other grievances will be righted. Surely he is now reaping precisely what he is sowing. RURAL SCHOOLS. By S. S. Thomas, Montrose^ J*a. [Read at Montrose Institute.] Sterne, in '^Tristram Shandy," quotes, as a French proverb, "Apology is egotism wrong side out." We have no apology to make, nor is it demanded, that the management of this institute should offer any apoloay for devoting a portion of its time to matters of education. It is well that, while, as farmers, we are conferring on the best methods of conducting the dilferent branches of farm work with a view of making as large as possible the moiety of our own created wealth, which capital and corporation are pleased to leave us, that we should give some thought to the interest to which all other interests are sub- servient. Underlying all other interests and taking precedence of all other questions is this: What can we do to secure the highest development of our socinl, intellectual and moral nature? — growth in the higher life, that life which we share, not with the animals that minister to us and to which we minister — share not with men whose only aim and ambition is to get money. Millionaire Senator i'almer, of Michigan, says: ''All that a man needs in this world is enough to eat and a decent suit of clothes." I pity Senator Palmer, his dollars have so little purchasing power for him. No one can travel among the farmers of Susquehanna county, and fail to notice the rapid growth and sun-like intluence of this senti- ment of a higher life among them. It shows itself in a hundred ways — in more tasty dwellings, more and choicer tlovvers, pictures upon k\ V y the walls, magazines on the table, and music to cheer and strengthen the heart and bring out the better angels of our nature. I am here to-day to claim this advance in good living as largely the output of the ''rural schools." I am here, not to defend that which needs no defense, but to resent, with all the earnestncbs of my being, the silly charge of superannuated old croakers, who are forever ranting of their weakness or worthlessness and the superiority of the schools when they were boys. Why, sir, the schools of to day are as far in advance of those of fifty years ago as the self-binder is in advance of the sickle forged by the local blacksmith. In saying this we reilect no dishonor on the teacher of that distant day. ''There were giants in those days; men whom you could not hold in the school-room to-day, for the simple reason that their ability is accorded ten fold better recognition on many another field. The farmer's boy to-day, who could hardly secure a low grade cer- tificate from our county superintendent, can, if full of sense and sand^ and thoroughly honest through and through, go into the city and se- cure a position which will, inside of two years, give him better jjay than is received by any teachers in this county, with two or three ex- ceptions. The teacher of half a century ago was king among men — a veteran in the advance guard against ignorance and superstition. It is the product of his work that is filling all thp high places to-day. Given him the school house of to-day, with all its accessories; given him the local institute, and the county institute of to-day, with the instructions of such men as Dr. Brooks, S. S. Neif and Alex. F'rye, and the counsel and encouragement of the noble men we have had and still have for county superintendents, and he would have made that old log school- house a university. Even the New York Times^ which, as an educator and an apostle of high living, stands head and shoulders above its fellows, depreciates the poor quality of rural schools in comparison with the kindergarten system of the city. In illustration of its position in cities, the case of the city little gin, who, on witnessing the operation of potato peeling, asked if all those eyes made new'potatoes. This astonishing sagacity, it was claimed, was the result of kindergarten training. Now we owe the kindergarten no grudge — we have faith in its efficiency in stimu- lating inquiry, and securing a normal and healthy development of the perceptive and reasoning faculties, but if that agricultural editor of the Times will spend one summer with a live farmer boy, the boy will furnish him a whole encyclopedia full of facts relative to i)\[\\\\ life that arc* his own private property by self-acquisition. The kindergarten is almost a necessity to the city child, while the farm- bred one enjoys as his birthright a better kindergarten than Col. Parker ever dreamed of, and the amount of usable knowledge of nature which the country boy or girl has accumulated before a dozen years old, would, if classified and published, form quite a library. Nothing can be more entertaining than to witness the eagerness with which the city child absorbs the many object lessons a visit to the country nffords her. She was with us several weeks last summer. The first night after her arrival, she went with her country cousins to see the milkimr done. The first puzzle that cliall(Miged Ikt inves- tigation was : ''Whatever are the cows chewing?" After her hayseed uncle had given her a somewhat lengthy, and more or less lucid ex- planation of rumination, to which she listened with as much delight li»* 111 Mil Itm -f^n ilH ii»iBrtlrl'ffiii»¥ V ^"'^'■ff ■ "■""'' ^. 'r"'fy"^i>i'»^'^'--»'«^*«..*iB.«^. ,^^., r ) Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. 23 Again, a school of forty pupils means, usually, about thirty recita- tions in six hours. Out of this six hours must come recesses, which in the rural school we deem a necessity to both pupils and teacher. You can see that the time must be cut up most economically so that there are no remnants left. How about getting through if tardiness in the morning robs the school of half an hour? Then perhaps you will howl around the neighborhood because Mary did not read but once yester- day. Again, we mount the steps of learning as Holland says we do the ladder to heaven— "round by round." In school we build the ladder from day to day. H' your child is out of his grammar or arithmetic chiss to day he cannot reach to the next round in the ladder and the teacher must stop and help him put in the missing one. Hence the importance oi regular attendance. There is a weather beaten and battle-scarred old soldier that has been through half a dozen campaigns and in an engagement on every day of each campaign that should Ije accorded an honorable discharge. His uniform was, originally, a bright scarlet or delicate maroon, but has now become so very neutral in tint that — well — in many cases the color has departed and taken the uniform along with it. We mean that venerable first reader or primary geography which has been handed down to each of your children successively. In their hands it has received many cuts besides the wood cuts that originally embel- lished it. Instead of being bright and attractive, inspiring its present owner to keep it neat, it has become so repulsive in appearance as to suggest the idea of disinfection. The worst of it is, so many of the leaves are gone that the excuse, '' The lesson is'nt in my book " has become chronic. I know that text books are a tax — a heavy expense — I know their price is twice what it should be, but I know too, you would not hire a man to mow for you at two dollars a day and send into the field with a scythe that was thrown aside five years ago, because a new one would cost a dollar and wear out in a single season. Indulge me in a single suggestion more — Do not publicly criticise your teacher. Matters are constantly occurring in the schoolroom that demand instant action, in w^hich to be sure of acting always with wisdom and exact justice one needs time for reilection. To meet all these cases and never make a mistake implies an approach to omniscience that God has never delegated to a liuman being. No one is so keenly aware of this fact or regrets it so painfully as the teacher himself. If you feel that your child has been wronged by the teacher go to that teacher, male or female, in the spirit of christian courtesy and you will, in nine cases out of ten, be met in the same spirit and the private interview will be of mutual benefit. To go bawling on the street about the worthlessness of the school seems to me about as wise as to warm your hands at a fire kindled in your own haymow, or to mingle paris green with the salt that you give your cattle. Nay more suicidal, inasmuch as boys and girls are of more value than Clydesdale colts or Jersey heifers. I am glad that the cudgel (ferule), the rawhide and other instruments of torture have been banished from the schoolroom, relegated to the barbaric past, but I am sorry if the sentiment o^ obedience to rightful authority has vanished with them. I have talked perhaps too long already, but I am loth to close with- out expressing my idea, not of what we are^ but what a teacher should e. He is one like the knights of old whose " strengt h is as the strength wHtimmAittm irwmmmtmwn MtaMtm ""-^^ .- ....^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ '*':ii'j«'U''Li'HJ"iirmiK 'riilittiMaWiiiirmtti r-i'i iiirtit -fr )■ ■^■■. " '; ,.: *4>ei..»*'»w^V IMiUlWMIiWPI'HiiWM 34 Quarterly Report. Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. 25 II ' ( I often because his heart is pure." He fears to look no human being in the face, because he has never consciously wronged a human being. He hears the unjust criticisms of public opinion which sometimes knows no law but mob law, with silent faith that '-God is just." To be misunderstood in his inevitable lot. There are experiences in his life that one word only can paint and that word— Gethsemane. He seeks daily fresh food for the upbuilding of mind and heart in his pupils, lays every available source of information under tribute to furnish aliment for their growing souls. He suggests to my mind the bird which Audubon first made known to the reading world, which with all his knowledge of woodcraft and bird-life he succeeded in capturing only after six weeks constant effort— The Washington eagle— unlike the white headed scoundrel that disgraces our national escutcheon, he lives not by stealing the hard-earned food of another. He makes the whole realm that his free and tireless wing can cover his hunting ground, that he may bring in food for the nestlings for they must have eagle food if their eye is to gaze unblanched on the noonday sun, if their pinions are to enable them to breast the mountain hurricane— if their muscle is to sustain them in their flight uj). CAPITAL PER ACRE. By S. Edward Paschall, Doylestoivuy Penna. [Read at Quakertown Institute.] Throughout the country there is a common saying that farming does not pay. This statement has been so often made, and emphasized by so many disastrous failures, that it has come to ])e generally accepted as a lamentable truth. It is a fact, and a melancholy fact, that a large percentage of the young farmers who began business since the war, have worked hard only to fail in the end. There are scores of illus- trations of this statement all about us, and the end is not yet. On the other hand, we find in every neighborhood a few men who are making agriculture profitable, even under past and present ad- verse circumstances. Let us take up a few cases in a general way, and see whether these successful farmers can furnish us any valuable hints ; whether there is any factor of success common to all of them, and without which they might have failed in their effort to make a living by cultivating the soil. AVe shall deal only with real cases; with real Bucks countv farmers, and while using general terms in describing their methods, 1 will try to keep entirely inside of the limit of facts. Here is a man with less than twenty five acres of land. He began farming with a wretched set of buildings, and with neighborly pre- dictions that the sherilT would get buildings and lands both, before many years. He had but a small amount of ready money, but I think the sum was nearly sufficient to pay for the place. lie had to borrow some money for the first years operations. It, was soon after the close of the war. He cleared perhaps a hundred dollars the first year, and r >i\ i ) ^ did a little better each successive year. Every building on the little farm was in time replaced by a better one. A large family of children, mostly boys, were brought up and turned out into the world, and are now successful business men. The little farm to-day continues to yield a fair profit, and last year's savings, above expenses, amounted to a thousand dollars. The money is made mostly by bona fide farm- ing, but is somewhat augmented by the profits from summer boarders. In an adjoining township, on a forty-acre farm, there is a man who is much talked about by his neighbors. I have not access to his ac- counts, but by reputation he is making money. He keeps a large number of cows, buys feed by the car load, is a big feeder, manures heavily, has big stacks of grain outside of his barn, and is credited with raising as much stuff as is usually grown upon a farm of one hundred acres. Moreover, his land is supposed to be increasing in fertility all the time. In the same township, on a farm of one hundred and thirty acres, the owner published ^$3,800] as being the receipts, and $2,100 as being the expenses for the year, 1885. This farm. I have no doubt, is wholly clear of incumbrance, and has been heavily coated with Philadelphia and home-made manure for many years past. Down in one of the lower townships there is an instance of a thrifty young Irishman, who bought a farm and married a wife about the same time. He had little or no means. It was a large farm, con- venient to the Trenton market. He has paid the interest and S 1,000 of the principal for years right along, and now is almost clear of debt. The information came to me from the man who loaned him the money to buy the farm, and is reliable. In my own township there is a man who owns a farm of ninety acres, and works it with apparent profit, being assisted by his wife. But in vain do I look around for large farms, incumbered with liens, that are yielding fair profits. I call to mind a fertile valley to the eastward of my home, where there are several farms which are supposed to pay pretty fair profits to their owners. If not in error, I should place the farms at less than one hundred acres each. They yield fair crops, but the neighborhood gossip more frequently speaks of ''good farmers" than of '^good farms.'' It is probably more owing to the skill of the husbandman than to the fertility of the land that success is due, in their cases. One of my friends, with a farm of nearly one hundred acres of gocd land, some- times contrasts his gross yearly sales with the sales of an adjoining neighbor on a seven-acre lot, and wonders whether the little piece of ground does not produce net profits neaily as large as his own. And so we might go on, extending this inquiry into other neighbor- hoods. ^ But a multiplication of these illustrations would ])e useless. The philosophy of success can be read in these as well as in a greater nil mber. It is a question of capital. Let us review the above instances, with this idea in mind. The man with the twenty five acre farm con- centrated his own and his children's energy and labor upon a com- paratively small piece of ground. Enormous quantities of manure were used, procured from stables, pig pens and hen roosts. His expense account was kept down by absence of heavy rent or heavy taxes or heavy repairs. In other words, he sold his own labor for its highest market value. With big returns from fertile fields, and with small expense for labor, he had a balance to his credit from the beginning. The caseis much the same witli the man with the forty-acre farm. He is getting maximum crops at a minimum costs. His receipts are greater than his expenses, which, of course, guarantee success. The y .'.^iM^im: i>^'%,' mamtmttmtkmvioM p.tiinyriiiiiff'nrW'j^j'M^at ' --•M;MM»«ai!'iMlii«(ii«td>cM»>«'4nM''«'^> - ^.^..^mf^m-^Ai^Siti ' »• ,.gr._,-,. ■,.,,... -.-..^...fc^_.._,^^^.^^v . ■■dmtoitfii ■ ' I 26 Quarterly Report. bi^ farm of one hundred and thirty acres is paid for, and is in solendid order, but it cannot yield profits in proportion to the smaller farms. The thrilty young Irishman, in the lower part of the county, had capital of another sort. He and his wife must have been endowed with more than an average amount of health and endurance; other- wise Ihey would have failed in their big undertaking. Few men or w^omen can continue to work under such heavy strain. Out of a hundred men thus starting over ninety will assuredly go to the wall. The fact that one has here and there succeeded is wholly exceptional. The case is mentioned here because such things do sometimes happen ; but all experience teaches it to be dangerous to begin farming or any other business with no capital and under heavy debt. In the other cases cited the odds seem to be in favor of the smaller farms. It is, as above said, a question of capital. Let a man at starting, estimate his cash resources. To this he may add the capitalized value of his own ability. The total gives him his true business capital. Farmers must carefully consider this matter of capital per acre. How much must a man possess at starting? We have seen that the large farms are not paying as well in proportion as the smaller farms, even when clear of incumbrance. Everybody knows that the large farms to-day beg for purchasers when offered at public sale, and that titles are changed at half or less than half of former values. On the other hand many small farms have within recent years been sold at pretty fair rates— much nearer their former values than in the case of the large tracts of land. This fact indicates that farming cannot be made very profitable except by the concentration of capital; or by the concentration of labor, which is exactly the same thing. This is true of every department of business. There is a tendency everywhere toward concentration. We see it in what are called mono- polies, m the 80 called trusts, in the corporations growing up for every conceivable purpose. It is an outgrowth ot the age in which we live. Increased competition can be met in no manner except by concen- tration of energy. Farmers must increase their capital, and they can do it in no other way than by decreasing the size of their larms. A farmer must put his money, his labor, his manure upon one-half or one-fourth the acreage of his forefathers if he w^ould reap the same traditional profits. In no other way can he compete with the com- petition of the age in which he lives. Big farms are doomed in the older parts of the country, so far as profits are concerned; unless such farms are to be worked by a combination of capital. I have endeavored to put these conclusions into figures, but I am more certain of my facXs than of my deductions. But it seems to me that as an abstract proposition it w^ould l)e safe to say that anv young farmer in Bucks county would have a better prospect of making a living olf of fifty acres of land than from a hundred acres, under existing conditions. As to the capital recpiired I would put the sum at $100 per acre ; and more for small tracts of land. Feter Henderson, of New York, a thoroughly practical man, who earned his starting capital of $500 by three years of hard labor, says that no person ought to begin market gardening in the vicinity of New York city, with a capital of less than $^]00 per a?re. He particularly cautions young men not to attempt to spread over too much land, and r K ^ i \ 'k. ) Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. 27 notes case after case of failure arising from this very cause. He ad- mits that the capital requisite for farming would be very considerably less than $300 per acre. But the sum cannot be much less than $100, and in case of very small farms, it ought to be greater. It is hard to teach old dogs new tricks, and the older farmers will go on as at present. Indeed they could scarcely change their habits with advantage, even if so disposed. But with younger men, men just starting in business, the case is different. Debt must be avoided. It is a millstone about the neck. It swallows profits, puts a w^et blanket upon the ambitious, and dwarfs the energies. Let young men re- member Peter Henderson's advice, and avoid spreading themselves over too much ground. Look toward the i)urchase and ownership of small farms, even if landed neighbors do speak of your places as mere ''lots." Keep strict business and bank accounts. Give no notes if you can avoid it, and where unavoidable, be very careful to take good care of them. Endorse no paper, except in exceptional cases. Smaller holdings of land will make these hints j)racticable. They are not advanced as new or novel, but are painfully pertinent when the subject of farmers' profits comes up for discussion. Eastern farmers must compete with western farmers, since the days of cheap freights. We must do what the w^est cannot do, or be con- tent with their x^rices. We complain because they have reduced the prices of grains. They have the advantage in the matter of big fields all the time, because land is still cheap there. But we can outdo them here in the matter of tillage and manure, provided we concentrate our energies; provided we concentrate labor and fertilizers upon fewer acres ; provided we increase our capital per acre. That is the secret — provided we increase our capital per acre. The tendency of our agriculture is in that direction. We cannot misunderstand the logic of the facts above stated. We cannot deny that big farms are selling in Bucks county at half price, and we can- not be mistaken in saying that the reason for this is because they are not paying investments. Neither can we deny that small farms and lots are everywhere sell- ing for prices nearer their former values. The facts are before us. Let us grasp their true meaning. THE VEGETABLE FLORA OF BUCKS COUNTY. By Dr. Isaac S. Moyer, Richland Centre^ Pa. [Read at (iuakertown Institute.] The flora of Bucks county is exceedingly rich and varied. 1 do not believe that any county in the State, with the possible exception of Lancaster, which contains an area twice as large as ours, can success- fully vie witli Burks in the richness of its vegetable productions. ^ Our geographical position is an exceedingly favorable one, botanically speaking. In the south-eastern portions conditions, geological and otherwise, prevail which are almost indentical with those of New Jersey. Every botanist knows how rich a (lora that sandy common- I • "r :- ^i^^^jr^t' •y^'-'-f^.-^-riB. ^-.■!^'^iKi)ffi^ *'*"" ' ■' -* -I I ■-jmiamiSA -• "^'^ fSHmmmnHmmmm JuJuLJjluatilWttJIWfal^WMWfHWrt'^ it.«V«M^'*w^-i ..-.<.?j«i*w,:,«jC-.. Liiiiiji^niT'liiiyiiiM -fiii'ii-fiiiiiiVftli^fiiiiitfiii i«aiiai 28 Quarterly Report. wealth has. Many of the characteristic plants of New Jersey are found m the lower portions of Bucks county and are found nowhere else within .our borders. A broad belt of trap-rock traverses the upper portions ol the county from east to west. Many beautiful and peculiar plants are only found within this belt and make it a most interestinir collecting ground. ^ In the extreme upper portions of the county the surface becomes very hilly, almost mountainous, and here we meet a northern flora of the same character as that of the mountain regions of central and south-central Pennsylvania. Many species are only met with in this part of the county. The beautiful Delaware, which forms our entire eastern and south- eastern border from Durham to Bensalem, affords a congenial habitat tor those plants that love the shore and islands of the larger streams Many beautiful and rare plants reward the searcher among the bluffs and ravines of this historic stream. Whilst good collecting ground is found at almost any point alone: the river there is one locality that surpasses all others in the number and rarity of its plants. This station is known as the Nockamixon rocks; by the residents of the vicinity it is known as the narrows Several generations of botanists have made this place famous by their explorations and discoveries of rare species. The scenery of this region IS grand and picturesque; the record of the rocks makes plain to the initiated the mighty power of the elements exerted during ages of time.^ Some of the plants found here are believed to be relics of the glacial epoch, brought down from much more northern regions at that far distant time. The Neshaminy is another beautiful stream, traversing almost the whole county, and on its banks many fine plants are found. More than twelve hundred species of flowering plants and ferns are tound within the limits of the county, making a most gratifying total tor this, one of the three original counties of the Commonwealth. This nora ot the county is not a fanciful one, nor one constructed from proba- bilities as to what might or ought to grow here. Everv species has been actually collected on her soil, either by the writer Jr his friends and every species is represented by specimens in our herbaria. The exploration of the county has been very thorough and has extended over a number ot years. It is so difricult, I might say impossible, to exhaust a field even no larger than Bucks county, that no claim is made of absolute complete- ness, and I have no doubt that many more species remain to be dis- covered. To the flora of Bucks county, published in Gen. Davis' History in 1876, more than one hundred species have since been added and every year up to the present time new finds have been recorded! ine value ot these local floras and faunas are more thoroughly appre- ciated year by year, and it is by a compilation of these that we may eventually hope to build up rational State and National floras and taunas. Although this work in natural history is largely a labor of ove Its reward lies in the pure and unalloyed pleasure w^hich every over ot nature feels in this close communion with the beautiful things that God has created so lavishly. In a short popular essay, it is impossilde to enter much into detail but^ having given an imperfect and very cursory resume of the flora ot Bucks county, as a whole, it would l)e very easy to enlarge in many directions. \V hether we regard our flora in its horticultural, agricul- / f ) Pennsylvania Board op Agriculture 29 tural, economical, or botanic medical aspects, much might be written ^Von one or all of these phases of the subject. I have often thought that the only thing necessary to make a flower or plant popular is the distance it has traveled to reach us. Label a plant Japonica, Chinensis, Indicia, Asiatic, Alricana, Madagascarensis, and it at once springs into popular favor, and fabulous prices are paid for it, notwithstanding that lew are hardy and all are ditficult to cultivate. In the meantime the beautiful denizens of our own forests, copses, fields and meadows are neglected. By the same law I suppose our own vegetable productions are appreciated in other countries. Ever since the correspondents and contemporaries of Linnaeus and other old world botanists first began to send them the treasures of our flora, our trees, slirubs and herba- ceous plants have occupied a high place in the gardens of the old world. I am glad to say that within recent years, we have begun to appreciate the beautilul things that grow at our very doors, and thanks to such men as Meehan and Peter Henderson, the managers of the Arnold Arboretum, etc., a new era has dawned and a flora, than which none more varied and beautiful exists, is beginning to be rated at its true worth. A very brief review of a few plants of our county must suffice in this connection. In swampy grounds in the upper portion of the'county, we have the fringed gentian, a more beautiful flower than this even fancy could scarcely picture. The large flowers are fully tw^o inches long, of a most intense ultra-marine blue. TJjey grow in large panicles; I have seen more than forty flowers on one stalk. The effect when a whole meadow is in September covered with this plant is most striking. The orchids, of which we have more than thirty species, are a most beau- tiful family. In June the bogs of the northern townships are purple with lovely calopogons and pogonias. The choice cypripedums grace, in suitable localities, all portions of the county; one, the peerless purple lady's-slipper, adorns especially sandy woods and hillsides in the middle and lower portions of the county. In rocky woods the botanist will sometimes meet with a plant with beautifully variegated leaves. This is the rattlesnake plantain, one of the most L>vely of our orchids, and especially interesting on account of the variegation of its leaves, which is very rare in nature, though sufficiently common among florists' flowers. All our orchids are beau- tiful, and every one would well repay cultivation. Our lilies, of which we have three, the orange-red, the yellow and the Turk's cap, are all most beautiful, and I see they are now claiming a place in all first- class gardens. In the American centaury, which is not rare in some sections of the county, we have not only a most lovely plant, with its abundant rose-purple bloom covering whole hillsides with rich warm color, but a valuable medical plant, now, however, too much neglected. Near Bristol we have several additional centauries, all belonging to the gentian family. In the fox-glove family I cannot forbear to men- tion the beautiful gerardias, of which we have half a dozen species, some purple, others yellow. These are stately plants with their ample spikes and panicles of flowers. Near Bristol the beautiful purple gerardia is one of the most striking ornaments of the bogs. In the same family the painted cup, covering whole meadows with scarlet flame llowers, makes a grand display. By some occult associa- tion this flower always brings back childhood's days, though why or how I cannot tell In the heath family, our county is very rich and all are lovely. Here belong the azaleas, the laurels, the rhododen- '^'■IT ■mil liliililWMMMliMil ..„.-«>**fe--i(vtij!jfc«! s^^a^^ Ft, I 1 1 4 A 80 Quarterly Report. (irons, tlie pyrolas, the wintergreens, and last, though not least, the trailing arbutus. This sweet harbinger of spring is perhaps best known of all liowers by the people generally ; none know it but to love it. It is a promise and a fuliilment that the bonds of winter are again broken, and thai beautiful spring is al>road in the land. Before lay- ing down this branch of the subject, which, however, is bdt just begun and might be profitably extended to a host of other lovely Bucks county liowers, did time permit, I w^ll mention the lobelias. Bucks is favored with a lialf dozen of them, all line plants; two of them, however, are the especial pride of our wet meadows. The scarlet lobelia, or cardinal llower, is a Hashing gem of crimson. He who sees this llower gleaming blood red in the marsh, and the scarlet tanager vieing in color on the branches overhead, has seen a bit of American landscape in colors that he will not forget to his dying days. Look- ing at our llora, therefore, in its purely aesthetic features, it is well worth more and closer attention than has hitherto been given to it. Although this is a utilitarian age, there is a constantly increasing number who, ardent lovers of the beautiful, refuse to respect any- thing that has not a dollars and cents side to it. Originally Bucks county was a densely wooded country and a very large number of trees and arborescent plants covered its surface. All the hard woods peculiar to this latitude flourished here. Although the most reckless and destructive deforestation has been going on since almost the first settlement of the county enough still remain to show what a mine of wealth a judicious conservation of the forests would have been to the inhabiiants of the county. Forestry is still in its infancy in this country, but the intelligent interest now^ shown in the subject is one of the healthiest signs of the tinies. Under the stimulus now being given to the subject we may hope in the course of time to see new forests waving in the place of those so ruthlessly destroyed. We see in Europe what effort, systematically directed, is able to accomplish even in comparatively short periods of time. A short account of sorne of the principal timber trees of Bucks county may not be without interest. Of evergreens we have a sparse representation in our county. The white pine is very scarce and is only met with here and there, chielly in the upper districts. The magnificent and rather rapid growth it makes witli us, even without cari, shows whit p^ssibi iiies there mights be in its careful cultivation. The hemlock, even as lately as thirty years ago, was quite a feature along all our larger streams. I remember many very fine specimens, but it is becoming every year more rare. The red cedar is abundant in all parts of the county in sterile soil. In the upper districts this tree is quite a source of ])rofit to farmers in rocky places. One of the most valuable of our trees is the oak in its different species. We have no less than fifteen distinct species of oaks in Bucks county. Some half dozen of these are rare and are only interesting in a botanical point of view. For instance, the laurel oak is only found near Bristol; the true Spanish oak has only been found in Bensalem, by 1. O. Martindale, of Camden, who has done so much to elucidate the flora of Buc^ks county. The white oak, the swamp wdiite oak, the post oak, the chestnut oak, the black and red oak and the pin oak crow into noble proportions in our county, and are not only a source of great value as timber, but add great beauty to the landscape and furnish gratetul shade to man and beast. The black walnut furnishes, I supx^ose, the most valuable timber of J Pennsylvania Board of AaRicuLTURE. 31 any of our trees, and is furthermore most beautiful, and also valuable, on account of its fruit. This fine tree finds a congenial home with us and grows to a large size. On the old Richardson place, near Bunker Hill, there existed until lately, one of the finest walnut groves I ever saw. The present owner sold the timber for a handsome sura, and this beautiful grove is a thing of the past. The butternut is very common in the upper end, and sometimes grows large and becomes a timber tree of some value. The hickories, that handsome and valuable genus, which we can claim as peculiarly our own, as no species are found without the limits of the United States (unless we except a few doubtful species recently discovered in Mexico), is well represented in Bucks county, there being no less than five within our limits. These trees, like the walnut, are valuable both as regards timber and fruit. Hickory nuts are exported to all parts of the world. That eminent botanist and floriculturist, Thomas Meehan, has sent thousands of bushels of these nuts to Europe and other places for the purpose of planting. The buttonwood, sometimes called the sycamore, grows to a very large size along our streams. No tree is more striking in winter. The white bark makes it conspicuous, and it can be picked out and counted at a long distance. Of birches we have three, the wiiite, black and sw^eet birch. They are all large and beautiful trees, hanging iheir handsome catkins out before their leaves expand. The sugar-berry and the two elms, the white and red, or slippery elm, are all handsome trees and are very abundant in Bucks county, especially along our streams. The common, or white elm, with its pendant branches, is a tree famous in song and prose. 1 never think an elm complete, unless one or more nests of the Baltimore oriole are swinging in its branches — one seems to round out the beauty of the other. The beach is one of our commonest trees, and grows to a large size in some of our alluvial bottoms. The nuts play an important part in the economy of the animal kingdom. The chestnut is found all over the county, and is especially abund- ant ano fine in the north western sections, where in addition to (he value of the timber, the fruit enters largely into the sum total of the productions of the farm. One of our finest timber trees, and one of the most beautiful also, is the tulip i)oi)Iar. No natural object is more delightful than one of these trees in the beginning of June, when the whole majestic tree is covered with the large tulip-like flowers. Passing with a mere mention our beautiful maple, of which we have five species, and also our plums, cherries and thorns, and omitting en- tirely many other interesting trees, we come to speak only for a mo- ment of our beautiful shrubs. Bucks county has a veritable wealth of handsome shrubs. Whether we regard flowers, foliage, or fruit, large numbers of them are worthy of cultivation in our grounds or lawns. Nothing could be finer than the rich, green and shininf; foliage of our sumachs. A cIum})of sumachs caused one of the older European botanists to exclaim on first seeing it: ^'This is the perfection of sym- metry, and symmetry is beauty." More than one hundred species of grasses grow wild in Bucks county. About twenty of these are naturalized from Eur()[)e or other countries, but all the rest are to the "manor born." A number of these grasses V f ^*tms^&mka' .%"- i^ 'W <■ f'-i*.! ..-. w hummM'T^ni l^yai^l^g|^K^ ii(ii|,^i»|i,ffli{!».'t;j»W'f(!.'W* ■ 'yyi»'*"i»Jg'*«»,«»' w i'ii|w*y^^ <., " * am" ' *-^T"^-t^"-" .^-^^««»«.''« i I I I 32 Quarterly Report. are of no value as x)asture grasses, but the greater number are rich and nutritious, well adapted to form natural meadows or to yield abundant crops of the linest hay under cultivation. The study of our grasses is a profitable subject for the intellio;ent farmer of our day. Eight here allow me to say that the study of botany has an utilitarian, as well as an aesthetic side, just as much so as entomology, ornithology and other cognate subjects of natural history. In bringing this rapid and imperfect paper to a close. I must enter a plea for more ^natural history in our public schools. A teacher properly equipped, as all our teachers should be, can lay the founda- tions for a love of nature in the minds of his pupils, which will not only be a source of great pleasure, but of profit also for that pupil through all his after life. The elements of natural history are best taught orally and need consume very little time. Let the pupils be encouraged to bring natural objects to the teacher, be they minerals, plants, insects, birds, mammals, or whatever they may happen to ob- tain. Lessons thus impressed upon the minds of the children will not easily be affected. The necessary information for such elementary instruction no teacher should be unwilling to acquire, and the bene- fits between teacher and pupnl will be mutual. On the flora of Bucks county much more might be profitably written, but with these rapid reviews, we will close a most interesting subject. I fondly hope that the lovers of nature may be increased in our midst. ^^;'HAT CIVILIZATION HAS DONE FOR WOMAN By HANNA.H Kenderedine, Lumbervilley Pa. [Read at Quakertown Institute.] Each advancing step of civilization is marked by the improved con- dition of woman. No longer do bond women form a j)art of the house- hold. No longer is the position represented by Hagar known in christian communities. No longer is servile dependence and conscious inferiority felt by women in their associations as members of society. 'i'he old maxim, '^Tiie humble wife is the husband's boss," once so ready in its application, has lost its point and effect through the grow- ing iniluence of that feeling that graciously grants us women an almost equal freedom with men. The patriots of 1776, although they may not have been first to conceive the idea that "all men are created equal," were the first to successfully lay the foundation for carrying out to a practical solution such a generous admission. When men discovered an equality am()ng themselves the door was opened for the advancement of women to the same relative position. Out of this admission has evolved the condemnation of class distinction, of diller- ence of blood, of birth and caste, to be followed by a disbelief in the divinity of kings. An earnest dispute of such assumed rights led farther onward, until plebeian men justly claimed equality in birth and freedom with austere nobles of the land, and demanded the privilege of enacting laws for their own protection. Now pioneer women of to-day are demanding the same enfranchise- > 1 Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture. 33 ment with many encouraging hopes of success. But before such a consummation is reatdied we women have much preparation to make. Until we more fully understand the duties consequent to such advance- ment, can more confidently rely on our own resources and become sufficiently informed in governmental management, 1 fear we will sadly fail in our efforts to successfully compete with those who have been so long favoured with greater opportunities. The position occupied by woman in the many religious organizations that have existed from the reign of Judaism to the advent of christ ianity, from the reformation to near the close of the present century has been x^rogressive. Her advancement has been slow, but when compared with the progress made by man her improvement has kept pace with his. Always a step behind, but ever in anxious readiness for farther advance. It was the old heathen idea of the iniquity of woman that led the Jews to place them in the galleries overlooking the synagogue while they and their rabbis were demonstrating their devotions to the ark and the covenant in the main hall below, their women, meanwhile, gazing down u])on them and with humble simplicity admiring the great majesty of man. Christianity has for nearly nineteen hundred years been striving to outgrow this feeling, but not until this prejudice has wholly disappeared will i)erfect equality be granted to women. To the society of Friends belongs the honor of first conceding to women the right to preach in public, and to manage their own meetings for business In the early days of this society, when these rights were first granted to women, it was a great stride in advance of other religious sects, and for two hundred years have maintained the equality of the sexes. 8o long as many of us are justly accused of masculine adoration, or seemingly look upon some men '^ as little lower than the angels," or submissively idolize our professional teachers, we cannot claim that independence of character so necessary to perfect freedom. Many of our rights are respected and conceded by our masculine lawmakers. New laws are being passed as fast as they become necessary for our better protection. In some States women can hold the office of school director, a position many of them are well qualified to fill. Many of the older persons now living can well remember when our school teachers were all men, and female teachers the exception. Now the positions are reversed and women stand pre-eminently prominent as teachers. It is only our political privileges and our rigid exclusion from such positions as religious instructors and spiritual guides that are yet de- nied us ; but before we can enjoy all these great privileges we must first out-grow that feeling of dependence we so often manifest in the presence of our friends, the men, and can freely assume our full share of the cares and responsibilities that such prominent positions would impose upon us. There can be no dispute but that the advice ascribed to Paul, wherein he commands '' that women remain silent," '' that it was a shainc^ for a woman to speak in the church," and for their instruction they ''should seek inibrmation from their husbands at home," has been by far the greatest of all obstacles to the advancement of women. It has been the weapon of defense with those in authority to retain their supremacy and exact submission. ''The husband shall love 3 r I r > litrrs •>s.****te,fe»^^.,;' /:::^mmm&^Hm. •i^*i ^msim '::s»^^mm&iim!iM