Skip to main content

Full text of "The Lancaster Farmer"

See other formats 


.    V  •*  i:-- 


m 


■^/%r^ 


1  (VVM 


V'\ 


L%4S 


\ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Lyrasis  Members  and  Sloan  Foundation 


http://www.archive.org/details/lancasterfarmer04jbde 


A 


1 


^,^c 


■  t.    'i%yL^ 


THE 


LANCASTER   FARMER, 


PUBLISHED  MONTHLY, 


UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  OF  THE 


LANCASTER  COUNTY 


Agricultural  AND  Horticultural  Society, 


Terms — $1.25    Per  Year    in   Advance. 


VOL.    IV,    1872. 


J.  B.    DEVELIN,  PUBLISHER. 

LANCASTER,  PA.: 

WYLIE  &  GRIEST,  INQUIRER  PRINTING  HOUSE  AND  BINDERY,  NO.  53  &  55  N.  QUEEN  ST. 


\ 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  IV. 


Agricultural,  1,  21,  41,  61,  83,  128,  148,  184, 184, 

205,  224. 
An  old  Settler  on  Thistles,  30. 
"  A  Good  Cheap,"  43. 
An  Alliterative  Reporter,  58. 
Atmospheric  and  Electric  Fertilizers,  61. 
Apples,  69,  71. 

A  New  Potato  Insect  Coming,  73. 
Asparagus,  80. 
Agricultural  Chemistry,  83. 
Aiding  the  Corn  Crop,  87. 
A  Cure  for  the  Piles,  94. 
Anthracite  Coal,  95. 
A  Dying  Nation,  97. 
All  Kinds  of  Poultry,  100. 
Alternate  Mowing  and  Crazing,  108. 
A  Correspondent,  etc.,  118. 
Apocryphal,  127. 
Agricultural  Production,  128. 
Agricultural  Items.  129. 
Answers  to  Correspondents,  131,  176. 
An  Expression  of  Grief,  135. 
A  Perpetual  Weather  Table,  142. 
Artificial  Remedies,  146. 
A  Few  Facts,  152. 
A  Large  W^eat-field,  166. 
American  Monsters,  180. 
Agricultural  Colleges,  184. 
A  Cup  of  CotTee,  199. 
Another  Corner  oa  Corn,  205. 
Applying  Corn  Culture  to  Wheat,  206. 
A  Visit  to  Cinnaminson,  N.  J.,  "209. 
Agricultural  Fair.s  218. 
American  Homes,  14. 
Alsike  Clover,  79. 

A  Pretty  Way  to  Train  Fuschias,  113. 
Almond  Cake,  138. 
An  Egyptian  Plague,  192. 
A  Correspondent  of  American  Stock  Journal. 

118. 
A  Simple  Filterer,  117. 
All  Kinds  of  Meat— How  to  Cook  It,  100. 
Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  224. 
A  Destroying  Ant.  229. 
Address  of  U.  S.  Centenial  Comniission,  223. 
An  Enormous  Crop  of  Wheat,  237. 

B 

Bees,  3. 

Book  Notice,  14,  70. 

Botany,  27,  46,  74,  172,  183,  214. 

Book  Table,  39,  59,  81,  101,  121,  141,  161,  181, 

201,  222. 
Blackberries,  69. 
Boiled  Custards,  80. 


Bathing,  121. 

Roiling  Indian  Pudding,  122. 

Bee  Culture,  147,  212. 

Bee-Keeping,  169,  190. 

Botanical  Garden,  I).  C,  172. 

Blight,  192,  195. 

Botanical  Gossip,  214. 

Butter  Churn,  191. 

Black  Swan,  208. 

Beetles, 

c 

Closing  Remarks, 

Correspondence.  9,'  29,  47,  75,  117,  154,  193,  9  . 

Care  of  Stock,  10. 

Cob  Meal,  55. 

Cherries,  69. 

Currants,  69. 

Chapped  Hands,  73. 

California  Correspondence,  75. 

Columbia  Correspondence.  76.  117,  50. 

Chicago    Markets,  82,   102,  122,  141,  162,  182, 

202,  222. 
Cincinnati  Market,  82. 
Cleaning  Tinware,  121. 
Cocoanut  Cake,  138. 
Cooking  Pood  for  Stock,  139. 
Colorado  Potato  Beetle,  143. 
Covering  Grape  Trellises,  15.3 
Cattle  Market,  162. 
Curious  Things  to  Know,  177. 
Cold  Germination,  180  . 
Consumption  of  Hay,  217. 
Crib-biting  Horses,  52. 
Clover — How  it  enriches  the  Soil,  149. 
Charcoal  and  Pigs,  41 
Connecticut  Tobacco,  42. 
Clover  For  Hogs,  201. 
Currant  and  Raspberry  Ice,  340, 

D 

Does  electricity  perfect  oiTr  Wheat  Crop,  3. 

Destruction  vs.  Construction,  23. 

Diminished  Production  of  Wheat,  36. 

Death  to  Grasshoppers,  45. 

Don't  waiite  the  Soap  Suds,  47. 

Dwarf  Pears,  69. 

Doctoring  old  Orchards,  71. 

Domestic  Recipes,  94. 

Deep  Plowing,  109. 

Death  of  Stuart  A.  Wylie,  134. 

Doughnuts,  138. 

3)ry  Earth  and  Poultry  Houses,  170. 

Danger  of  sewing  .Winter  Wheat  too  Early,  207. 

Do  Forests  Induce  Rain  ?  5. 

Domestic.  71,  94. 

Daniel  Webster's  Old  Home.  179. 


Index- 


English  Farming.  341. 

Entomology,  9.  4.5,  113,  130,  153,  166.  216. 

Editorial'Il,  .50,  1.57.  175,  78. 

Elevating  Farming,  37. 

Electricity  vs.  Wheat-growing  47. 

Experience  with  the  Egg-plant,  57. 

Egyptian  Corn,  67. 

Easter  Bergamot  Pear,  68. 

Experiments  with  O.iions,  71. 

Essay.  123,  144,  2U3. 

English  Buns,  138. 

1-  astern  Experimental  Farm,  163. 

Evergreens,  40. 

Every-day  Pudding.  136. 

iMiormous  Crop  of  Wheat. 

English  Rules  for  Preserving  Fruit,  229. 

Epizooty,  231. 

F 

Forests  and  Timber,  2. 

Fresh  Eggs  in  Winter,  6. 

Fifty  Years  in  the  Field,  14. 

Farmci-s'  Hay  and  Straw  Market,  20. 

Fried  Halibut,  27. 

Farmers'  Wives,  37. 

Fattening  Poultry,  40. 

Farmers'  Gai"dens,  95,  151. 

From  Crass  to  Winter  Feed,  238. 

Facts  and  Science.  104. 

Fowls  that  vShow  Weakness,  106. 

Fig  Culture,  156. 

Fruit  in  Tin  Cans,  179. 

Floor  Warming.  188. 

Farmiug  a  dull  Business,  197. 

Feeding  Bees,  213. 

Fruits  and  Berries,  211. 

Feeding  Swiue  and  Eating  Pork,  223. 


Grapes  and  their  Easy  Culture,  340. 

Grosving  and  Saving  Clover  Seed,  19. 

General  Washington's  Farm,  22. 

Grapes,  69. 

Griddle-cakes,  94. 

God,  First  and  Last,  98. 

Grafting  Geraniums,  121. 

Gingerbread.  138. 

Gossip,  155,   183. 

(irasshoppere  in  Dakota,  198. 

Gapes  in  Chickens,  200. 

Gooseberries,  69. 

Good  recipes  for  cakes,  138. 

Give  us  more  Fruit  trees,  230. 

H 

Horticulture,  7,  25,  68,  209,  229. 

Heading  off  the  Borer,  29. 

Harlequin  Cabbage  Bug. 

Houghton's  Seedling  (Gooseberry,  70. 

How  much  Horses  feel,  72. 

How  to  make  Farm  Lile  Attractive,  73. 

Horseradish,  80. 

How  to  set  Cabbage  Plants,  90. 

How  to  get  rid  of  Rats  and  Mice,  96. 

How  to  raise  Celery,  113. 

Hot  Cakes,  120. 


How  to  wash  Colored  Flannels,  133. 

How  to  get  a  Good  Wife,  133. 

Hints  for  the  Sick  Room,  137. 

How  to  Cure  Hams,  139. 

How  long  shall  We  Sleep  ?  140. 

How  Clover  Enriches  the  Land,  149, 

Horse  Distemper, 

How  shall  I  Cut  My  Asparagus,  24. 

Hungarian  (Jrass,   150. 

How  Money  is  Made  in  Farming,  181. 

Horticultural  Exhibition,  194. 

How  Shall  1  Distino-uish,  196. 

House  Planis,  197,^99. 

Hints  to  Housekeepers,  232. 

How  to  Beautify  our  Homes  in  Winter,  197. 

How  to  Have  a  Neat  Farm,  205. 

How  to  Get  Plenty  of  Fresh  Eggs,  217. 

How  to  Brighten  Straw  Matting,  221. 

Housekeeping  Hints,  136. 

Hints  to  Housekeepers. 

I  and  J 

Improvement  of  Crops,  19. 

Influence  of  Electricity,  etc.,  31. 

Indian  Bannock,  94. 

Insects  "  Fiddling,"  167. 

In  Defense  of  the  Cockroach,  191. 

International  Exhibition,  235. 


Keeping  Sheep,  15. 
Kittatinny  Blackberry,  45. 
Keeping  Cream,  220. 
Keeping  Apples  in  Plaster,  230. 

L 

Literary  Notices,  342. 
Live  Stock  Market.  20,  59,  162. 
Lightening  Hard  Work,  72. 
Longevity  of  Farmers,  96. 
Linseed  Oil,  117. 
liight  Gingerbread,  138.     . 
Leaks  in  Dairy-Farming,  159 
Letter  from  Dr.  Fitch,  174. 
Liquid  Fuel,  185. 
Live-Stock  Journal,  207. 
Lateral,  or  Bark-Graft,  211. 
Locusts  as  food,  235. 
Light  Gray  Brahmas,  227. 


Meetings  of  A.  and  H.  Society,  12,  30, 51, 79, 100, 

118,  157,  17.5,  19.5,  219. 
Miscellaneous,  14,  31,  52. 
Markets,  39,  59,  81,  342. 
Manuring  Orchards,  40. 
Mauures,  43. 

Manufacturer  and  Builder,  117. 
Milk  Biscuit,  138. 
Mildew  on  Plants,  151. 
More  About  the  Col.  Potato  Beetle,  166. 
More  Utility,  219. 
Milk  as  a  Remedial  Agent,  220. 
MoreWlieat  than  can  be  Sent  to  Market,  220. 
Mechanism  of  an  Egg,  230. 
May  be  Worth  Preserving,  232. 


Index. 


3 


N 

Notes  on  Farming  Potatoes,  21. 

Number  of  Hens  to  a  Cock,  29. 

Noxious  Insects,  113. 

Nutritive  Value  of  Milk  120. 

National  Agricultural  Congress,  134. 

No  Starvation,  136. 

New  York  Markets,  59,  81,  102,  122,  141,  161, 

182,  201.  222. 
No  Summer,  339. 

o 

Officers  of  P.  F.  G.  Society,  13. 

Our  Book  Table,  39,19,  81, 101, 121, 141, 161, 181, 

20.5,  222. 
Ornamental  .Trees,  53. 
Our  Revised  Fruit  List,  69. 
Onions,  93. 
Obituary,  1.34. 

One  Cord  of  Wood,  etc.,  151. 
Our  National  Wheat  Crop,  36. 
Opinions  of  the  Press,  39. 
Old  and  New, 


Plowing  Under  Snow,  1. 

Pro.  Veg.  Names  in  Four  Languages,  8. 

Pennsy  vania  Fruit  Growers'  Society,  13. 

Preserving  Kggs.  18. 

Pruning  Too  liate  in  Spring,  34. 

Plant  Grape  Vines,  35. 

Philadelphia  Markets,  20,40, 59, 82, 102, 122, 141, 

161,  182,  202,  222,  342. 
Pumpkin  Preserves,  40. 
Pittsburg  Markets,  59. 
Peaches,  ?9. 

Planting  Trees  in  Grass,  111. 
Pruning  in  June,  112. 
Potatoes  in  the  Olden  Time,  117. 
Plowing  Twice  for  Wheat,  166, 
Pickels,  186. 
Pheasants,  187. 

Preserving  Posts  from  Decay,  223. 
Pine-apple  Ice,  340. 

R 

Random  Sketches,  14,  52,  74, 159. 

Rotating  Manures,  33. 

Raspberries,  69. 

Rye  for  Milch  Cows,  96. 

Results  of  Thorough  Manuring,  110. 

Rag  Carpets,  138.  198. 

Room,  or  Parlor  Plants,  150. 

Rules  for  the  Care  of  Sheep,  162. 

Remember  these  two  Things,  180. 

Rural  Life  and  Rural  Homes,  203. 

Rapid  Growth  of  Timber,  210. 

Rotation,  88. 

Review  of  the  May  Number,  116. 

Raspberry  Moth,  114, 

s 

Sprains  and  Bruises,  340. 
Selecting  Poultry,  340. 
Saving  Seed,  16. 
Sowing  Oats  in  February,  35. 
Selected  Recipes,  40. 
Seed  Corn,  58,  151. 


Steam  for  Dwellings,  60. 

Soap  for  Borers.  67. 

Strawberries,  69, 

Strawberry  Market,  91. 

Steamed  Pudding,  121, 

Store  Hogs,  121. 

Scientific  Farming,  140. 

Supply  of  Nitrogen,  148. 

Sowing  Flower  Seed,  149. 

Signals,  180. 

Something  Worth  Knowing,  180. 

Salt  for  Farm  Stock,  189. 

Saw-dust  as  Manure,  200. 

Sour  Subject,  201. 

Senex  Writes  to  Know,  216. 

Stir  the  Surface,  221. 

Spiced  Apples,  24. 

Soda  Cakes,  94. 

Science  and  Fairy  Rings,  116. 

Standard  Pears,  69. 

Scratches,  340. 

Sweeney  in  Horses,  237. 

Steaming  Food  for  Stock,  237. 

Strawberry  and  Raspberry  Ice,  340. 

T 

Toads  vs.  Insects,  17. 

The  Seckel  Pear,  25. 

The  Curculio  Mastered  at  Last,  26. 

To  Kill  Pea-weevils,  26. 

The  Cow  Tree,  28. 

The  Battle  of  the  Ants,  216. 

The  Curculio  Again,  45. 

The  Persimmon,  48. 

The  Lancaster  Farmer,  52,  218. 

The  Weather,  78. 

Trimming  Grapevines.  82. 

The  Pennsylvania  Hay  Crop,  87. 

The  Tulip,  89. 

Triomph  de  Gand  Strawberry,  91. 

The  Crop  Prospect.  99. 

The  Loneliness  of  Farming  Life,  103. 

The  Law  of  Storms,  106. 

Turning  Under  Clover,  109. 

The  Agriculture  of  Pennsylvania,  115. 

The  Sweet  Potato,  114. 

The  A^alue  of  Red  Clover,  117. 

The  Weather  and  the  Crops,  119. 

The  Lesson  of  the  Drought,  156. 

Tobacco— How  to  Grow  It,  119. 

Treatment  of  Soft  Corns,  120. 

To  take  Bruises  out  of  Furniture,  122. 

The  Seven*een-year  Locusts  of  187^,  123. 

The  Key  Note,  129. 

The  House  Cricket.  130. 

To  Kill  Curculio  on  Plums,  131. 

Tribute  of  Respect,  135. 

To  Farmers  and  Gardeners,  143- 

The  Bee  and  Bee-keeping,  147,  169, 190, 212. 

The  Farmers  Progress,  164. 

The  Apple  Borer.  168. 

The  Mallard  Duck,  170. 

The  Public  Grapery,  171. 

The  American  Prun^^  178. 

The  Use  of  Fruit,  179. 

The  Corn-cob  Hum  lUg,  181. 

The  Work  of  the  L.af,  210. 


4 


Index. 


The  Cocoa-nut,  210. 

Farming  Leather,  160. 

Table  of  Quantity  of  Seeds,  212. 

The  Horse  Distemper,  231. 

The  Old  and  the  New,  236.' 

To  Crystalize  Flowers,  339. 

To  Renew  Old  Grape  Vines.  341. 

Table  of  number  of  Seeds.  212. 

The  Testimony  of  Agriculture,  217. 

To  Remove  Iron  Rust.  221. 

The  Western  Farmer,  221. 

The  Fruit  Recorder,  221. 

The  Cow's  Intelligence,  6 

To  the  Readers  of  the  Farmer,  11. 

Tobacco  Market,  20. 

To  Prevent  Oattle  from  Jumping  Fences,  64, 

The  Cabbage  Butterfly,  153. 

The  Southern  Cabbage  Butterfly,  229. 

u. 

Uncle  Joe's  Hints  to  Farmers,  24, 

V. 

Vegetable  Leather,  50. 

Visiting,  94. 

Value  of  Re-planted  Corn,  111. 

w. 

Wilson's  Early  Blackberry,  7. 

Washington's  Farm,  22. 

What  are  Artificial  Manures,  38. 


What  Shall  Farmers'  Boys  Study,  49. 

What  Breed  of  Dairy  Cows,  56. 

Winter  Bergamot  Pear,  68. 

Weather  and  Crop  Observations,  107,  119. 

When  should  Pigs  be  Weaned?   122. 

Why  Matches  Ignite,  193. 

What  is  the  Law  ?  199. 

White  Swan,  208. 

Wintering  Roots,  211. 

Water  in  Milk,  213. 

White  Scour  in  Oalvss,  341. 

Y, 

Yellows  in  Peach  Trees,  193. 
Yeast  from  Grape  Leaves,  215. 


LIST    OP    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Wilson's  Early  Blackberry,  7, 

Seckel  Pear,  25. 

Kittatinny  Blackberry,  44. 

Easter  Bergamot  Pear,  68. 

Houghton's  Seedling  Gooseberry,  70. 

Gesner's  Tulip,  89. 

Triomph  de  Gand  Strawberry,  91. 

Mallard  Ducka.  171. 

Crested  Pheasants,  187. 

White  and  Black  Swan,  208. 

Light  Brahma  Fowls,  227. 


lEtttast^r 


DEVOTED  TO 
Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany , 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  KATHVON  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 
"  The  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  civil izaf ion.''— WEBSTI.R. 


Vol.  IV. 


JAJVUARY,  1872. 


JVo.  1. 


AGRICULTURAL. 


PLOWING  UNDER  SNOW. 


FOR  the  third  time  quite  an  interesting 
case  has  come  under  my  observation, 
which  I  think  is  worth  recording.  Every  one 
has  heard  the  old  saying  that  "  a  late  snow  is 
the  poor  man's  manure;"  evidently  there  mu?t 
be  some  foundation  for  it  to  rest  upon,  or  it 
would  not  be  so  frequently  repeated.  Last 
fall,  while  plowing  for  corn,  there  fell  during 
the  night  about  three  inches  of  snow.  The 
preceding  day  was  clear  in  the  morning, 
cloudy  and  very  smoky  in  the  afternoon  ;  the 
next  day,  when  I  began  to  work,  I  had  a 
seven-pace  land  about  half  done  ;  I  plowed 
this  and  three  more  lying  in  the  middle  of  the 
field,  turning  under  the  snow.  The  land  is  a 
light  friable  clay,  one  rod  as  good  as  another, 
laying  alike,  pitching  slightly  to  the  east,  light 
sod  turned  under,  and  no  manure  used  upon  it 
during  the  past  fifteen  years.  The  preceding 
crops  alike  all  over  the  piece.  I  state  this 
fully,  because,  I  think  all  experiments 
should  be  so  stated.  Now,  the  corn  on  those 
three  and  a  half  beds  is  at  least  one-quarter 
larger  than  any  of  the  rest ;  nearly  every  hill 
grew,  while  the  rest  failed  more  or  less.  The 
division  is  so  clearly  marked  that  there  can  be 
no  mistake  about  the  cause.  Twice  before  in 
my  life  I  had  the  same  experience,  with  the 
same  results  ;  once  with  corn  and  once  with 
oats.  Now,  why  is  this  ?  We  all  know  how 
much  more  quickly  grass  starts  in  the  spring 
after  a  sap  sqow  than  after  a  rain.  Does  the 
snow  bring  down  the  smoke  and  gases  from 
the  air,  or  why  does  ic  produce  a  greater  effect 
than  rain  ?  Snowy  countries  are  always  bet- 
ter grass  countries  than  those  where  snow  sel- 
dom falls,  and  there  must  be  something  in  the 
snow  to  produce  this  effect. — Cor.  Country 
Gentleman. 

Perhaps  no  fact,  in  connection  with  the  sub- 
ject of  snow,  and  its  relations  to  the    soil 


upon  which  it  happens  to  fall  and  lie  during 
the  winter,  is  more  generally  conceded,  than 
that  it  not  only  protects  the  crop  of  grain  or 
grass  thereon,  but  that  in  some  way  it  also 
increases  the  fertility  of  the  soil ;  and  there- 
fore, the  experiments  contained  in  the  above 
extract,  from  a  correspondent  of  the  Country 
Gentleman,  may  find  their  counterpart  and 
corroboration  in  the  experience  of  many 
farmers  of  Lancaster  county.  All  are  per- 
fectly aware  of  the  fad,  that  where  snow  falls 
before  the  ground  is  frozen  much,  and  lies  all 
winter,  that  it  is  much  warmer  xuider  the  suow 
than  it  is  a&oi'g  it;  and  therefore  what  is  known 
as  "  winter  freezing  "  of  the  crop,  is  entirely 
avoided.  In  many  instances  sheep,  cattle  and 
other  animals  have  remained  embedded  be- 
neath the  snow  for  many  days  without  having 
sustained  much  injury,  and  when  found  dead, 
the  surrounding  circumstances  have  evinced 
that  they  have  died  from  starvation,  rather 
than  from  cold.  But  what  ingredients  there 
are  in  the  composition  of  snow,  which  consti- 
tutes it  the  "  poor  man's  manure,"  is  not  yet 
so  well  understood  as  it  ought  to  be.  Snow 
(German  schnee)  is  defined  as  "  congealed 
water  which  falls  from  the  bosom  of  the  atmos- 
phere ;"  but,  very  little  seems  to  be  known 
of  the  meteoric  formation  of  this  substance. 
It  has  not  been  ascertained,  for  instance, 
whether  the  clouds  which  produce  it  are  com- 
posed of  vasicular  vapors,  or  of  frozen  parti- 
cles ;  nor  whether  the  flakes  are  completely 
formed  before  they  begin  to  descend,  or  re- 
ceive an  increase  in  passing  through  the  lower 
strata  of  the  atmosphere.  The  precise  tem- 
perature of  the  flakes,  and  the  circumstances 
which  determine  their  form  and  volume,  are 
likewise  unknown ;  and  if  all  this  were  posi- 


^ 


TEE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER. 


tively  known,  it  perhaps  would  not  elucidate 
in  what  manner  snow  benefits  the  soil,  or 
produces  the  results  described  in  the  above 
extract,  except  it  might  be  the  resultant  satu- 
ration and  consequent  irrigation,  produced  by 
the  gradual  melting  of  the  snow,  after  the  cold 
winds  of  winter  and  early  spring  have  ceased 
to  prevail.  Perhaps  the  only  observations 
which  may  at  all  be  considered  complete,  in 
regard  to  snow,  are  those  which  have  refer- 
ence to  its  crystallization , or  the  different  forms 
the  flakes  assume.  The  most  interesting  series 
of  observations  made  in  this  field  are  those  of 
ScoRESBY,  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  his 
representations  of  these  beautiful  crystalline 
forms,  mainly, have  found  their  way  into  books 
and  pamphlets,  in  which  the  phenomena  of 
snow  have  been  illustrated  and  described.  In 
addition  to  all  this,  there  is  a  bright  cheerful- 
ness about  snow  which  dissipates  much  of  the 
gloom  attending  long  and  cold  winters. 

Of  course,  it  is  needless  to  admonish  our 
readers,  that— according  to  the  caption  of  our 
extract — they  are  not  to  suppose  that  any  one 
has  been  carrying  on  the  agricultural  manip- 
ulation, called  ploiving,  under  the  snow,  but 
that  the  writer  simply  means  that  he  plowed 
a  layer  of  superincumbent  snow   down,   or 
under,  just  the  same  as  if  he  had  been  plow- 
ing down  or  under  a  layer  of  lime  or  stable  ma- 
nure.   Perhaps  the  peculiarity  of  the  caption 
may  have  the  effect  of  calling  the  attention 
of  the  wonder-loving    to  the  perusal  of  this 
article,  in  hopes  of  meeting  with  the  recital 
of  an  extraordinary   instance,  in  which  the 
snow  was   so  deep   and   laid  so   long,  that 
people  were  compelled  to  do  their  plowing 
under  it.    If  that  can  induce  any  agricultural 
reader  to  make  similar  experiments  and  ob- 
servations to  those  in  the  extract,  and  to  re- 
cord the  results,  the  temporary  misconcep- 
tion of  the  import  of  the  title  of  our  extract, 
will,  so  far,  be  beneficial ;  because  the  corrob- 
orative testimony  that  "  snowy  couotries  are 
always  better  grass  countries  than  those  where 
snow  seldom  falls,"  must  also  evince, we  think, 
that  there  is  "  something  in  the  snow  to  pro- 
duce this   effect;"  therefore,  the   idea  that 
snow,  in  falling  through  the  atmosphere,  may 
absorb  and  bring   down  some   nutritive  ele- 
ment— whether  it  be  "  smoke  "  or  other  ele- 
ment—is well  worthy  of  careful  and  serious 
consideration.    There  are,  perhaps,  few  farm- 
ers, of  the  contemplative  and  observant  kind, 
who  could  not  relate  some  marked  instance, 


in  which  snow  was  greatly  beneficial  to  the 
grass  and  grain  crops  in  general,  and  espe- 
cially to  root  and  bulb  plants,  which  remain 
in  the  ground  during  the  winter,  even  if  it 
should  afford  nothing  more  than  a  sort  of 
carpet,  to  protect  them  from  hard  freezing. 
It  is  well  known  that  occasionally,  in  different 
parts  of  the  world,  snow  of  a  pink  or  red 
color  has  fallen  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three 
inches,  which,  on  analysis,  by  distinguished 
naturalists,  has,  in  their  opinions,  produced 
different  results.  Saussure  supposed  the  col- 
oring matter  to  consist  of  vegetable  dust. 
Dr.  "Wollaston  remarked  that  it  is  composed 
of  minute  spherical  globules,  which  have  a 
transparent  envelope,  and  are  filled  with  a 
species  of  red  oil,  insoluble  in  water;  while 
DeCandoUe  supposed  the  globules  to  be  a 
kind  of  algcB.  Here  we  have,  at  least,  vege- 
table dust,  or  oil,  or  miuute  moss-plants,  any 
of  which,  in  their  decomposition,  may  be 
supposed  to  add  something  to  the  fertility  of 
the  underlying  soil,  after  the  melting  of  the 
snow,  and  if  these  substances  may  occasionally 
occur  of  a  reddish  color,  why  may  they  not 
frequently  occur  white,  or  colorless?  and  thus 
demonstrates  that  a  fall  of  snow  indeed  "  adds 
fat  to  the  soil,"  and  may  thus  be  practically, 
as  well  as  ^theoretically,  "  the  poor  man's 
manure."  R. 


FORESTS  AND  TIMBER. 


BY  PETER   S.    RE' ST. 

NOT  many  days  ago  we  applied  the  wood- 
man's ax  to  a  large  white  oak  tree  that 
measured  over  five  feet  across  the  stump,  and 
from  the  growths  counted  was  evidently  up- 
ward of  two  hundred  years  of  age.  Prom 
this  tree  we  measured  two  logs  of  sixteen 
feet  each,  one  of  twenty  feet,  and  another 
of  ten  feet.  The  first  log,  at  a  rough  calcula- 
tion, may  be  set  down  as  worth  $16.00,  the 
second  $10.00,  the  third  $7.00,  the  fourth  $3.00, 
and  with  the  top  estimated  as  worth  $12.00, 
the  tree  can  be"  considered  as  worth  $48.00  in 
the  aggregate.  Of  course,  the  expenses  of 
cutting  and  hauling  are  to  be  deducted. 

This  tree  was  an  instance  of  one  spared 
originally  by  the  aboriginal  natives,  next  by 
our  forefathers,  and  lastly,  from  the  fact  of 
its  standing  near  a  line  fence,  was  removed 
out  of  the  way,  and  thus  grew  unmolested. 


THE  LANCASTER  FAIUIEK 


S 


Our  estimate  of  the  value  of  this  tree  maj,  to 
the  readers  of  the  Farmer,  seem  a  very  ex- 
erbitant  one,  but  we  hesitate  not  to  affirm 
that  many  a  tree  in  Lancaster  county  could 
not  be  purchased  at  less  figures,  nor  some 
even  for  higher. 

In  this  we  see  the  great  value  that  timber 
is  coming  to  be,  especially  in  the  older  settled 
counties-,  and  this  is  sufficient  to  suggest  us 
reflections  as  to  methods  of  replenishiug  our 
country  again  with  timber.  From  the  natural 
wastfi  and  destruction  of  timber  that  is  going 
ou  in  our  country  ,we  can  safely  predict  that  the 
day  is  not  distant  when  its  restoration  must 
becoiue  a  question  of  governmental  interest. 
It  should  become  such  without  delay,  and  he 
will  be  a  true  friend  of  his  country  who  may 
introduce  into  our  State  and  National  Legis- 
latures measures  looking  toward  the  planting 
of  timber  trees  that  may  in  years  grow  into 
valuable  forests.  We  have  men  in  our  Legis- 
lature who  come  from  among  the  farming 
communities,  and  such  as  experience  -,  Iready 
a  scarcity  of  timber,  and  why  is  it  that  some 
of  tbem  do  not  introduce  measures  for  the 
protection  and  growth  of  new  forest  timber. 
If  our  Legislature  would  undertake  the  mat- 
ter and  compel  districts  to  plant  a  certain 
number  of  acres  in  timber  every  year,  it  could 
not  inaugurate  a  wiser  policy,  nor  one  that 
would  entail  more  beneficial  consequences 
for  coming  generations. 


BEES. 


BY  PETER  S.  REIST. 


MESSRS.  EDITORS: -Could  we  not, 
through  the  medium  of  the  Farmer, 
create  sufficient  interest  in  Lancaster  county 
as  to  hold  a  oee-keepers  meeting  in  Lan- 
caster, or  some  other  convenient  place  that 
might  be  agreed  upon  ?  Any  one  reading  the 
bee  journals  will  notice  meetings  being  held 
all  over  the  country',  and  communications  from 
almost  all  places  except  Lancaster  county. 
Indeed,  many  profitable  hints  would  be  ob- 
tained were  bee-men  to  meet  together  in  our 
county,  as  every  one  is  aware  who  is  in  the 
habit  of  reading  a  journal  devoted  to  this 
branch  of  industry. 

Bees  are  more  profitable  than  almost  any- 
thing  to  which  a  man  can  turn  his  attention, 
which  is  saying  a  good  deal.    Any  one  in 


possession  of  bees,  that  has  ordinary  luck, 
will  soon  be  convinced  that  this  is  the  fact. 
The  bees  are  a  class  of  laborers  that  work  for 
their  owner  at  little  expense,  and  besides  the 
small  amount  of  care  required  to  attend  to 
them,  their  increase  is  clear  profit  to  their 
possessor. 

Feeling  that  others  entertain  similar  no- 
tions with  myself,  and  that  any  hints  upon 
this  subject  will  be  received  with  pleasure,  I 
submit  hereby  a  few  remarks  upon  my  success 
in  the  bee  business,  which  may  have  a  tend- 
ency to  prompt  others  to  experiments  of  the 
same  kiui).  Some  eight  years  ago  I  began  the 
keeping  of  bees,  having  some  four  or  five 
hives  of  black  bees,  with  which,  however,  I 
had  no  success.  In  1869,  I  purchased  four 
Italian  hives  at  eighteen  dollars  per  piece, 
and  these  have  so  increased  that  therefrom  I 
have  had  fifty-four  hives  at  a  time.  This  last 
fall  I  secured  about  three  hundred  pounds  of 
honey,  and  all  of  an  excellent  quality. 

Much  more  I  might  here  say,  but  desire  not 
to  be  tedious.  A  fevv  days  ago  I  handled  all 
my  hives,  and  gave  good  honey  to  some  of  the 
weakest  of  them-  Most  of  the  hives  I  found 
in  pretty  good  condition,  except  two,  which 
were  dead— one  for  want  of  honey,  and  the 
other  for  what  cause  I  was  unable  to  conceive, 
unless  it  was  that  it  were  queenless.  I  keep 
them  all  on  their  summer  stand,  which  is  well 
secured  from  the  cold  winds,  the  front  being 
so  arranged  that  I  can  close  it.  I  might  say 
much  in  regard  to  the  kinds  of  bees— natural 
and  artificial  swarming-  the  latter  method  of 
which  I  adopted  this  last  year.  I  had  as  high 
as  three  swarms  in  a  day,  and  swarming  con- 
tinaied  from  early  in  June  till  as  late  as  August 
8th ;  on  this  last  day  the  swarms  came  off, 
one  of  which  is  doing  as  well  as  could  be  ex- 
pected. 


DOES    ELECTRICITY  PERFECT    OUR 
WHEAT  CROP  ? 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  :  Will  you  allow 
me  to  offer  a  few  remarks  on  the  lead- 
ing article  in  the  December  number  of  the 
Lancaster  Farmer,  from  your  contributor 
from  Manhiem  township,  who  appears  to  have 
"a  local  habitation," — but  no  name.  He 
says  "  he  has  kept  an  eye  on  the  articles  in 
the  Farmer,  in  the  hope  of  finding  some- 
thing that  would  dispel  the  cloud  that  over- 


^ 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


hangs  and  befogs  the  wheat-raising  theory, 
but  so  far,  has  not  been  able  to  glean  any- 
thing thit  would  impart  the  instruction  so 
eagerly  sought."  Grueps  he  too  is  on  the 
lookout  for  that  compoat,  or  whatever  it  may 
be,  that  is  to  produce  the  thirty  or  forty  bush- 
els of  wheat  per  acre. 

I  do  not  generally  notice  the  writings  of 
persons  who  have  no  names,  yet  in  this  case 
it  appears  to  me,  that  this  (to  many)  new 
theory,  of  electrical  influence  on  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  wheat  crop,  deserves  at  least  some 
explanation — whether  there  is  anything  in  it 
worth  our  notice,  also  to  see  if  this  "  thunder- 
gust  theory  "  will  give  any  light  on  the  ques- 
tion, or  still  further  "  befog  the  wheat-raising 
theory." 

That  electricity  is  a  powerful  agent  (either 
for  good  or  evil)  when  applied  by  Him  who 
governs  the  universe,  none  will  dispute,  but 
that  our  good  crops  of  wheat  in  1871  were  pro- 
duced through  the  agency  of  thunder-storms, 
or  an  excess  of  electricity  in  the  atmosphere, 
is,  to  say  the  least,  to  my  mind  rather  doubt- 
ful. This  nameless  writer  says,  "  I  presume 
it  will  be  admitted  by  all  who  observe  pass- 
ing events,  that  our  section  of  country  was 
visited  with  more  thunder-storms  last  sum- 
mer, than  it  had  been  for  many  years  before." 
"What  are  the  facts  ?  I  will  refer  to  my  re- 
cord, and  take  the  months  of  April,  May  and 
June  for  ten  years  back ;  these  three  months 
grow  and  mature  the  wheat  plant— so  it  is  not 
necessary  to  take  in  the  mouths  after  June, 
by  this  record  I  find  we  had  the  following 
number  of  thunder-gusts  during  the  three 
mouths  respectively,  from  1862  to  1871,  both 
inclusive. 

1862—14  thunder-storms,  1 

18ti3— U  "  "  I 

1864—21  "  "  I 

186)— 18  "  <' 

1866—16  "  " 

1867—  9  "  " 

1868—18  '<  '• 

1869—13  "  "  1 

1870—17  <<  <<  I 

1871—12        "  "  J 

Thus  it  appears  during  seven  of  the  ten 
years,  there  were  more  thunder-gusts  than  in 
1871,  yet  in  all  these  years,  our  wheat  crops 
were  inferior  to  the  crops  of  last  season. 

In  California  there  were  no  thunder-gusts 
known  until  last  season;  still  they  had  better 
wheat,  and  larger  yield,  that  we  can  raise. 
Thirty  to  fifty  bushels  per  acre  is,  with  them, 
an  average  crop — some  special  crops ,  on  good 
soil,  good  cultivation — and  a  favorable  season, 


During  the  3  months  of  April, 
May  and  June. 


eig'aty  bushels  have  been  grown  on  an  acre. 
And  what  they  call  volunteer  wheat — that  is, 
wheat  droppe  d  iu  harvesting  without  cultiva- 
tion, frequently  produces  twenty  and  more 
bushels  per  acre. 

The  season  of  1871  was  more  of  a  failure  of 
the  wheat  crops  in  California  than  for  many, 
years.  Could  the  thunder,  which  was  new  to 
the  Californians,  have  had  any  agency  in  re- 
ducing their  crops  ?  I  opine  just  as  likely  to 
reduce,  as  to  increase  it. 

Thus  I  think  the  question  of  electricity 
being  the  cause,  or  having  had  any  agency  in 
the  production  of  our  superior  wheat  crop 
last  year,  is  pretty  well  ventilated  and  explo- 
ded. 

However,  the  idea  of  electricity  producing 
most  astonishing  results  on  vegetation  was 
extensively  circulated  in  the  papers  many 
years  since. 

It  was  stated  that  with  a  coil  of  copper,  and 
another  of  zinc,  with  a  copper  wire  connecting 
the  one  with  the  other,  and  buried  under 
ground,  that  plants  growing  above  this  wire 
would  grow  with  amazing  rapidity.  As  I  al- 
ways had  a  love  of  trying  new  experiments, 
I  wasn't  slow  in  testing  this  new  idea.  But 
if  there  was  any  effect  produced,  good,  bad  or 
indifferent,  I  could'nt  see  it  I  The  row  of 
"  Murphys"  planted  over  the  wire, just  grew 
along  slowly,  like  all  the  other  potato  rows  in 
the  patch. 

A  Rev.  gentleman  once  wrote  me  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Mammoth  Rocky  Mountaiu  black- 
berry, that  those  having  it  lor  sale,  must  have 
viewed  it  through  a  pair  of  magnifyiag  spec- 
tacles, to  make  them  look  as  large  as  goose 
eggs.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  have  also  examined 
my  row  of  potatoes  through  a  powerful  mag- 
nifier— but  I  didn't. 

Another  subject.  In  a  former  number  of 
the  Farmer,  in  speaking  of  artificial  manure, 
1  made  the  comparison,  that  it  was  very  much 
like  the  Indian's  gun,  costing  more  than  it 
comes  to;  in  other  words,  more  than  it  was 
worth.  Thus  our  "nameless"  friend  says: 
"  With  your  permission,  and  the  approbation 
of  our  friend  I.  B.  Gr-,  I  will  make  a  few  re- 
marks with  regard  to  the  repairing  of  the  In- 
dian's gun.  It  seems  that  the  Indian  did  not 
much  like  the  fun  of  paying  more  for  the  repair 
of  his  gun  than  what,  in  his  estimation,  the  gun 
was  worth  after  being  repaired."  Now,  our 
nameless  friend  says,  "  might  not  that  gun,  if 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


properly  charged,  and  fired  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, with  precision,  have  paid  itself  at  a  sin- 
gle fire?  yea  more,  even  ten-fold  more."  To 
be  sure,  he  miglit  have  so  remunerated  him- 
self. But  that  was  not  the  drift  of  the  argu- 
ment at  all !  at  all !  Miglit  not  the  poor  In- 
dian with  the  same  amount  of  money,  or  pelf, 
that  his  old  gun  cost  for  repairs,  have  pur- 
chased a  bran  new  gun?  As  was  once  said, 
"some  things  maybe  done  as  well  as  others." 
But  I  guess  I''ll  stop ;  for  after  all  said  and 
done,  this  wheat  question  still  remains  in  the 
same  condition,  and  I  do  not  pretend  "  to  dis- 
pel the  cloud  that  overhangs  and  befogs  the 
wheat-raising  theory." 

J.  B.  Gaeber. 


DO  FORESTS  INDUCE  RAIN? 

BT  LEVI  S.  REIST. 

THE  above  question  is  one  deserving  of 
consideration.  If  forests  produce  rain 
a  strong  reason  exicts  therein  for  the  plant- 
ing of  forest  trees.  One  fault  is  asserted  that 
since  the  introduction  of  trees  into  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  rains  are  more  frequent  than 
in  the  olden  time.  The  Philadelphia  Ledger 
says:  "  Where  the  land  has  been  denuded  of 
forest  trees  periodical  droughts  are  as  sure  to 
follow  as  the  sun  is  sure  to  rise  after  it  has 
set."  Forests  retain  moisture  in  the  earth, 
while  vast  tracts  of  land,  when  cleared,  be- 
come parcned  and  dry,  and  the  small  streams 
dry  up. 

It  has  been  frequently  stated  in  the  western 
papers  that  the  Mississippi,  Missouri  and 
Illinois  rivers  have  become  shallower  of  late 
years  than  they  used  to  be  in  former  times, 
and  the  same  is  believed  to  be  case  with  all  the 
western  streams.  In  Pennsylvania  streams 
are  not  effected,  it  seems,  as  they  are  in  the 
western  States. 

The  Pasha  of  Egypt,  under  the  advice  of 
some  French  engineers  in  his  employ,  caused 
a  large  number  of  trees  to  be  planted  on  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  in  hopes  that  a  change  in 
the  climate  might  thereby  be  produced,  and 
the  result  seems  to  have  somewhat  met  his  ex- 
pectations.  M.  De  Lesseps  planted  trees  on 
both  sides  of  the  Suez  canal,  both  for  shade 
and  to  induce  moisture  in  the  atmosphere, and 
with  entire  success.  That  a  change  of  climate 
took  place  along  the  Suez  canal  seems  con- 


ceded, but  whether  from  the  planting  of  trees 
or  not,  is  not  yet  fully  ascertained.  I  rather 
incline  to  the  opinion  that  the  water  in  the 
canal  and  the  loose  earth  on  its  banks  had 
more  effect  in  attracting  rain  than  the  few 
trees  planted  upon  its  banks. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  unsettled  countries 
and  those  covered  with  limber  have  in  many 
instances  suffered  from  droughts  as  well  as  set- 
tled countries.  Kansas,  as  many  may  recollect' 
was  sugaring  from  severe  droughts  at  the  period 
of  its  first  settlement,  and  it  is  known  that  our 
county  sufiered  from  severe  droughts  about 
year  1760.  So  grevious  does  tradition  inform 
us  that  the  drought  became  in  Lancaster 
county  about  that  time,  that  the  cattle  had  to 
subsist  on  wheat  stubble  after  harvest,  and 
that  the  trees  had  to  be  felled  for  food 
for  the  cattle.  Of  course,  at  that  period 
Lancaster  county  was  covered  with  dense 
forests.  The  last  severe  drought  that  occurred 
in  this  county  was  in  the  year  1822.  At  that 
time  everything  became  so  parched  that  the 
grass  was  as  dry  as  hay,  and  the  sportsmen 
had  to  be  cautious  lest  they  might  set  a  whole 
section  of  country  on  fire.  The  streams  in 
the  county  sunk  very  low,  and  the  water  from 
the  Litiz  spring  would  no  longer  flow  across 
the  road  between  Litiz  and  Warwick. 

I  will  add  some  observations  of  my  own 
during  the  last  forty  years  in  this  county. 
From  1830  to  1850  the  streams  had  less  water 
in  them  than  they  have  had  from  1850  to  1870. 
A  small  stream  passes  through  my  farm  which, 
thirty  years  ago,  became  dry  in  the  summer, 
but  now  continues  to  run  the  whole  year. 
This  stream  thirty  years  ago  took  its  source 
in  ground  covered  with  forests,  but  which  is 
now  all  cleared.  Forty  years  ago  the  county 
abounded  in  forests,  now  it  is  almost  denuded 
of  timber,  yet  the  streams  of  water  are  stronger 
at  this  time  than  they  were  then.  This  evi- 
dence does  not  seem  to  agree  with  the  opin- 
ions advanced  by  the  paper  above  referred  to, 
nor  with  the  opinions  that  generally  seem  to 
prevail  on  this  point ;  but  the  observations  I 
adduce  are  simply  confined  to  this  county. 

I  desire  to  elicit  further  information  on 
this  question,  as  it  is  only  by  an  accumulation 
of  evidence  from  many  quarters  that  it  can 
finally  be  decided.  In  my  own  mind  it  is  a 
question  wliicli  induces  the  more  moisture,  cul- 
tivation or  trees.  Lancaster  county  is  now  bet- 
ter cultivated  than  it  was  ever  before,one-third 


6 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


of  the  land  being  generally  put  out  in  corn, 
Mliich  is  well  cultivated  before  harvest,  and 
as  soon  as  the  araiu  is  cut  plowing  again  com- 
mences, and  thus  in  this  way  fully  one-third  of 
the  surface  is  kept  during  the  whole  summer 
in  a  loose  and  mellow  state,  which  may  at- 
tract the  moisture  and  cause  rain.  I  there- 
fare  do  not  pretend  to  entertain  an  opinion 
upon  this  question,  and  have  merely  thrown 
out  a  few  hints  in  the  hopes  rather  of  gaining 
than  of  imparting  information.  • 


THE  COW'S  INTELLIGENCE. 

THAT  cows  have  memory, language,  signs 
and  means  of  enjoying  pleasant  associa- 
tions, or  combine  for  aggressive  purposes,  has 
been  recognized,  but  scarcely  to  the  extent 
the  subject  merits.  Traveling  in  Italy 
many  years  aco,  we  visited  some  of  the  large 
dairy  ifarms  in  the  neighb  .rhood  of  Ferara. 
Illt^rposed  among  much  low  lying,  unhealthy 
laud,  remarkable  for  the  prevalence  on  it  of 
very  latal  forms  of  anthax  in  the  summer 
season,  are  fine  uodulati!)g  pasture  lands,  and 
the  fields  are  of  sreat  extent.  We  happened 
to  stop  at  a  farm-house  one  fine  summer  after- 
noon when  the  cows  are  about  to  be  milked. 
A  herd  of  one  hundred  were  grazing  home- 
ward. The  women  took  their  positions  with 
stool  and  pail  close  to  the  house,  and  as  the 
C0W8  approached,  names  were  called  out, 
which  we  thnuyrht  addressed  to  the  milk- 
maids, at  first !  Rosa,  Florenza,  Gilio,  Sopsa, 
and  many  other  names  which  were  not  noted 
by  us  at  the  time,  vt^ere  called  out  by  the 
overseer,  or  one  of  the  women,  and  we  were 
astonished  to  see  how  cow  after  cow  ceased 
feeding  or  chewing  the  cud,  and  made  direct, 
sometimes  on  a  trot,  for  her  woman  who 
usually  milked  her.  The  practice,  we  found, 
was  not  confined  to  one  farm  ;  all  the  cows  on 
each  farm  knew  their  respective  names,  and 
took  up  their  positions  in  the  lot  ju^t  as 
r.-adily  as  the  individual  members  of  some 
large  herd  in  the  country  returning  from  the 
fields,  take  their  places  in  the  shod. — Milk 
Journal. 

When  a  mere  boy,  and  working  on  a  farm, 
where  there  were  from  forty  to  fifty  cattle  to 
house  and  feed  during  the  winter,  we  were 
often  struck  with  their  memory  of  their  re- 
spective places,  and  especially  the  cows;  no 
one  of  them  got  into  the  place  of  another, 
and  if  it  did,  it  soon  "  backed  out  "  and  found 
its  own  proper  place,  although  we  boys  often 
drove  them  in  '•  pell-mell,"  in  order  to  hurry 
our  evening  work  through  before  supper.  If 
cows  are  not  endowed  with  more  than  an  or- 
dinary  share  of  animal  intelligence,  and  ap- 


parently a  good  deal  of  mental,  the-n  their 
looks  belie  them.  Instances  without  number, 
analogous  to  those  in  the  above  extract,  have 
come  uuderour  own  observation,  and  we  have 
often  been  rebuked,  as  we  thought,  by  the 
very  look  of  the  cattle,  when  we  have  been 
derelict  in  cur  duty  toward  them.  No  doubt 
many  of  those''  who  have  been  raised  among 
cows  "  will  have  observed  their  grave,  calm 
and  philosophical  look,  as  they  stand  on  the 
sunny  side  of  a  barn,  in  winter  days,  quietly 
chewing  their  "  cuds."  And  when  a  stranger 
approaches,  what  an  inquisitive  stare  they 
give  him,  much  as  to  say,  "  What  do  y.ou  want 
here  ?" 

And  when  we  enter  a  barnyard,  or  an  en- 
closure, even  now,  where  cows  are  feeding, 
their  very  smdl  brings  up  all  the  pleasant  as- 
sociations of  our  youth— for  the  milky  smell 
of  a  well  kept  cow,  is  more  grateful,  and  v/e 
doubt  not  more  healthful,  to  the  nostrils  than 
much  of  the  perfumery  used  at  the  present  day 
by  stinking  specimens  of  humanity.  That 
rural  swain,  who  likened  the  breath  of  bis 
sweetheart,  to  that  of  a  cow,  made  use  of  a 
simile  that  was  not  only  rational,  but  also* 
highly  complimentary.  The  cow  is  an  emblera 
of  civilization,  and  when  we  find  her  domesti- 
cated and  properly  cared  for,  we  are  likt^y  to 
find  people  who  will  have  a  liberal  and  chaii- 
table  care  for  human  beings.  And  then,  see 
how  lady-like  Mrs.  Brindle  is.  She  goes  forth 
in  the  morning  gatheriug  and  distilling  health- 
ful sweets,  and  in  the  evening  she  returns,  and 
walks  up  to  your  very  door,  almost  begging 
for  you  to  come  and  relieve  her  from  that  for 
which  she  has  no  special  use,  but  which  will 
be  of  much  use  to  you.  We  would  not  like  to 
be  compelled  to  kill  a  good  cow,  or  one  that 
ever  had  been  good.  We  say  nothing  about 
the  moral  quality  of  such  a  deed  :  we  only  say 
that  we  would  not  like  to  be  the  perpetrator 
ot  it,  even  in  a  case  of  necessity.  It  is  enough 
that  the  constitution  of  society  is  such  that  we 
are  required  to  cannibalize  on  the  carcass  of 
the  cow,  when  it  is  dressed  for  the  table, 
without  being  the  slayer  of  such  an  animal. 


Eeesh  Eggs  in  Winter.— For  winter  eggs, 
now  is  your  time  to  lay  in.  Raise  pulie's  of 
the  Brahma  kind,  or  Cochins.  When  they 
are  seven  months  old,  if  well  kept,  they  will 
lay.  They  will  do  so  whether  cold  or  hot, 
temperature  having  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
This  will  give  fresh  egss  the  winter  through. 
A  fev/ chickens  are  sutficient.  A  neigbi'or  of 
ours  has  eight  hens,  which  furnish  him  all  the 
eggs  he  wants,  with  some  to  spare  for  the 
neighbors.  He  has  four  members  in  his  family. 
His  hens  are  a  cross  between  the  Brahma 
and  Black  Spanish. 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


HORTICULTURE. 


WILSON'S  EARLY  BLACKBERRY. 

THIS  variety  of  the  blackberry  is  valua- 
ble, mainly,  oa  account  of  its  early 
ripening,  which  brinies  it  into  market  from 
eight  to  ten  days  earlier  than  any  other  varie- 
ty cultivated  in  this  latitude;  and  this  quality 
alone  would  enhance  its  value.  But  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  it  generally  perfects  its  whole 


and  is  considered  more  healthful,  and  can  be 
put  to  more  uses.  Blackberries,  in  general, 
when  perfectly  ripe, act  on  the  human  system 
as  a  gentle  astringent,  and  this  variety  ripens 
about  the  season  when  the  human  system  is 
liable  to  suffer  most  from  summer  laxation. 
Wilson's  Early  i<,  however,  not  as  strong 
a  grower  as  the  Kittatinuy,  and  has  not 
proved  quite  as  hardy  in  this  locality,  during 
severe  winters,  as  some  others  of  the  culti- 
vated varieties;  but  the  first  is  large,  and  the 


Wilson's    Early  Blackberry. 


crop  before  any  other  variety  has  fully  ripen- 
ed its  earliest  berries,  and,  therefore,  it  al- 
ways is  sure  of  commandmg  the  very  highest 
price,  and  has  the  almost  entire  patronage  of 
the  market.  It  is  a  worthy  and  valuable  suc- 
cessor to  the  strawberry  and  raspberry  crops, 


canes  productive  and  vigorous.  Moreover, 
the  berries  bear  carriage  remarkably  well 
without  changing  color. 

The  above  illustration  and  notice  of  "  Wil- 
son's Early  Blackberry,"  is  taken  from  the 
"  Illustrative  and  Descriptive  Catalogue    of 


8 


THE  LAJSrCASTER  FARMER. 


small  fruits,  seeds,  potatoes,  &c.,"  cultivated 
and  for  sale  by  John  G.  Kreider,  "  Nursery- 
man and  Fruit  Grower,"  Lancaster,  Pa. 

In  addition ,  we  may  add,  that  blackberries  in 
general  are  considered  one  of  the  most  health- 
ful fruits  that  grows.  Whether  the  well- 
ripened  simple  fruit,  or  in  the  form  of  jellies, 
syrups,  or  wines,  there  is  nothing  more  sim- 
ple and  accessible,  as  a  remedy,  in  summer 
bowel  complaint.  Although  there  may  be 
special  cases,  in  pecular  stages  of  disease, 
when  they  may  be  too  active  as  an  astringent, 
and  their  use  would  not  be  advisable,  yet  in 
the  majority  of  acute  cases,  they  are  benefi- 
cial. The  unripe  fruit,  however,  like  all  other 
unripe  fruit,  is  very  liable  to  prove  hurtful 
when  taken  into  a  diseased  system  ;  but  this 
is  one  of  those  contingencies  in  which  "  cir- 
cumstances alter  cases  "—or  all  things  are  not 
equal.  When  we  mention  blackberry  wine,  of 
course,we  refer  to  it  as  a  medicine,  and  not  as 
a  common  beverage.  If  pulling  a  tooth  is  a 
good  cure  for  toothache,  it  would  be  folly  to 
pull  out  all  the  teeth,  whether  they  ached  or 
not,  simply  for  the  purpose  of  doing  that 
which,  under  other  circumstances,  was  deem- 
ed ^oocZ.    'Tis  even  so  in  the  use  of  wine. 


PRONUNCIATION  OF  VEGETABLE 

NAMES  IN  DIFFERENT 

LANGUAGES. 

BY  JOHN  G.  KREIDER,  LANCASTER,  PA. 


English, 

German. 

French. 

Spanish. 

Artichoke, 

Artiscboke, 

Artichaut, 

Alcacbofa. 

Asparagus, 

Spargal, 

Afperge, 

Esparrago. 

Beans, 

Bohnan, 

Haricot, 

Frijolenano. 

Beet, 

Both  rube, 

Betrare, 

Remolacha. 

Borecole, 

Grune  kobl, 

Choul, 

Breton. 

Brussels 

Gruner  spros 

Choudebrux 

-  Breipn  de  bru 

sprouts, 

sen, 

elles, 

sclas. 

Cabbage, 

Kopiikobl, 

Chou  pomme 
ou  cabos. 

RepoUo. 

Ca'rots, 

Mohre, 

Carotte, 

Zanahoria. 

Cauliflower, 

Blumen-kobl 

,  Choufleur, 

Coliflor. 

Celery, 

Sellerie, 

Celeri, 

Apio. 

Corn, 

Rel'Clikorn, 

Mais, 

Maiz. 

Cress, 

Kresse, 

Cresaon, 

Mastuerzo. 

Corn  salad, 

Ackersalat, 

Mache, 

Valeriana. 

Cucumber, 

Gurke, 

Concombre, 

Pepino. 

Egg-plant, 

Leierpflanze, 

Aubergine, 

Bert-ngena. 

Endive, 

Endive, 

Cbicoree, 

Endibia. 

Garlic, 

Knoblanch, 

Ail, 

Ajt.. 

Kobi-rabl, 

Kobl  rabi, 

Cbou-rare, 

Kobl-rabi. 

Leek, 

Laucb, 

Poireau, 

Puerro. 

Lettuce, 

Gart  nsalat. 

Laitue, 

Lechuga. 

Me.'on-water 

■Wassermelone,  Melon  d'eau 

,  Sandia. 

Melon,  musk 

,  Melone, 

Melon, 

Melon. 

Onions, 

Zinbiel, 

Oignon, 

CeboUa. 

Parsley, 

Petersilie, 

Persil, 

Perejil. 

Parsnip, 

Pastinake, 

Panals, 

Pastinaca. 

Peas, 

Erbse, 

Pois, 

Guisante. 

Pepper, 

Pfeffdr, 

Piment, 

Pimiento. 

Potato, 

Kartofel, 

Pomme  de 

Solanum. 

Pumpkin 

Kurbies, 

Courge,[terre 

,  Calabaze. 

Radish, 

Radies, 

Radis, 

Rapano. 

Rhubarb, 

Rhubarrer, 

Rhnbarre, 

Raibarbo. 

Sorrel, 

Saueriupfer, 

Orsile, 

Acedera. 

Spinach, 

Spinat, 

Epinard, 

Espinachi 

Squash, 

Kurbiss, 

Courge, 

Calabaza  ton- 
tanera. 

Tomato, 

Liebesapfel, 

Tomate, 

Tomate. 

Turnip, 

Rube, 

Naret, 

Nabo  coraun. 

ENTOMOLOGY. 

R.  H.  M.  E.,  Marietta,  Pa.— The  bird 
you  sent  us  by  express,  a  few  days  ago, 
is  a  specimen  of  the  "  Great  American 
Shrike"  or  "  Butcher-bird" — Lanius  borealis 
of  Veillat — and  the  pugnacious  character 
which  you  witnessed  is  very  common  to  this 
bird.  They  live  upon  mice,  small  birds,  and 
insects — sometimes  on  frogs  and  other  small 
Reptilia  also— and  their  habit  of  impaling 
these  animals  on  thorns,  has  been  observed 
and  commented  upon  more  than  fifty  years 
ago.  But  their  object  in  impaling  these  ani- 
mals, or  parts  of  animals,  is  not  so  apparent, 
as  they  are  known  to  impale  much  more  than 
they  ever  eat,  or  indeed  more  than  they  ever 
return  to  again. 

Miss  A.  K.,  Lancaster,  Pa.— The  small, 
reddish,  wormlike  animal,  which  you  found  in 
the  fresh  water,  pumped  up  out  of  the  well  on 
North  Queen  street,  seems  to  be  a  species  of 
Planaria,  belonging  to  Cuvier's  second  order 
ofENTOzoA,  named  Parenchymata,  because 
their  bodies  are  filled  with  "parenchyma," 
or  pulpy  matter,  either  in  a  cellular  tissue,  or 
simply  in  an  internal  cavity,  in  which  there  is 
no  alimentary  apparatus  that  can  be  discov- 
ered. They  are  usually  very  voracious  ani- 
mals, and  in  the  absence  of  other  food,  will 
feed  upon  each  other.  Mutilated  parts  of 
these  animals  very  readily  reproduce  new  in- 
dividuals, although  reproduction  also  takes 
place  in  the  ordinary  manner,  through  the 
intervention  of  fertilized  ova.  It  is  difficult  to 
determine  th(  ir  use  in  the  economy  of  nature. 
Mr.  L.  R.,  Lancaster,  Pa.— The  living 
beetle  you  picked  up  in  your  yard  on  Christ- 
mas day  was  a  spec'es  of  "  Bacon  beetle  " — 
Dermestes  mai'moratus—^hioh  had  been  tem- 
porarily revived  from  its  winter  hybernation, 


THE  LAjy CASTER  FARMER, 


9 


by  tbe  supervening  mild  weather.  The  vi- 
tality of  some  insects  is  so  enduring  that 
the  coldest  winter  cannot  freeze  the  life  out 
of  them,  and  a  few  mild  days  will  revive  them 
during  the  winter  at  any  time,  and  as  often 
as  it  may  occur.  These  beetles  usually  de- 
posit their  eggs  on  hams,  shoulders,  flitches 
of  bacon,  or  greasy  peltry,  and  the  larvae  feed 
thereon.  This  larva  is  not  the  maggot  which 
gets  in  around  the  bones  of  hams.  That  is  a 
Dipterous  larva  and  produces  a  two-winged 
fly.  The  larva  of  Dermestes  is  flat,  has  six 
feet,  and  is  as  good  a  walker  as  the  perfect 

insect. 

R. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

ESSRS.  EDITORS  Lakcaster  Farm- 
er: I  do  not  know  if  the  following 
transcript  of  a  letter  will  be  of  interest  to  the 
readers  of  the  Farmer,  so  I  submit  it  to  your 
better  judgment.  My  friend,  a  lady  of  Iowa, 
thus  sends  me  an  account  of  a  journey  she,  in 
company  with  several  others,  made  to  Kansas. 
She  writes  as  follows  : 

"Had  you  seen  us  you  would  doubtless 
have  considered  our  mode  of  conveyance  very 
odd.  In  a  two-horse  lumber  wagon  with  a 
white  cover.  Thus  prepared  we  started  on 
the  4th  of  September,  went  by  way  of  Ne- 
braska City,  Tecumseh,  Marysville,  Pawnee 
City,  Clyde,  Concordia,  Quaker  City,  and 
Gaylord,  which  last  named  place,  by  the  way, 
you  will  have  to  look  close  for  to  find  on  the 
map,  as  there  is  only  one  little  dirt-roofed 
log  cabin,  and  the  stakes  for  the  coming  city. 
That  is  in  Smith  county,  Kansas,  on  the  north 
fork  of  Solomon  river.  It  rained,  or  rather 
poured  down,  the  second  night  out,  but  we 
did  not  get  wet.  After  that  night  we  were 
considerably  troubled  to  get  wood  and  water 
to  do  our  cooking.  There  were  plenty  of 
places  where  streams  should  have  been,  but 
they  were  all  dry,  with  the  exception  of  holes, 
or  Buffalo  wallows ,  as  they  are  called,  we  used 
water  out  of  some  of  these  that  way  so  full  of 
green  animalcula3,  that  we  had  to  strain  it  be- 
fore we  could  use  it.  Sometimes  we  had  to 
haul  our  wood  with  us.  One  night  that  we 
camped  on  the  prairie,  we  had  only  a  little 
wood,  so  next  morniog  we  drove  seven  miles 
before  breakfast.  We  here  found  only  a  little 
standing  water — and  so  hard,  that  if  you  put 


soap  into  it,  it  was  like  dipping  your  hands  in 
grease.  It  commenced  raining  on  Friday  and 
continued  till  Wednesday,  not  all  the  time, 
but  enough  to  make  it  disagreeable. 

"  There  is  some  fine  looking  land  throughout 
iSTebraska  and  Kansas,  in  spite  of  its  disad- 
vantages, and  some  very  good  and  productive. 
I  think  it  will  be  a  famous  peach  country  in 
two  or  three  years,  we  saw  many  young  trees 
not  old  enough  to  bear.  One  orchard  near 
Pawnee  City  was  hanging  fuH  of  fine  look- 
ing fruit.  There  are  some  apple  orchards 
newly  planted.  Those  two  States  will  in  all 
probability,  in  time,  be  the  most  beautiful  in 
the  Union.  Being  scarce  of  timber  they  are 
obliged  to  make  hedge  fences  mostly.  The 
laws  of  the  State  compel  them  to  make  all 
laid-out  roads  on  the  section  lines.  It  takes 
a  very  small  capital  to  open  a  farm.  A  man 
goes  there  and  breaks  his  ground,  puts  in  a 
crop  of  corn  or  what  else  he  chooses — sets  out 
a  few  trees,  builds  a  little  .shanty.  The  next 
year  he  can  set  out  his  hedges  ;  if  he  keeps 
stock  he  must  either  stake  them  out  or  herd 
them.  There  is  some  land,  however,  so  poor 
that  weeds  can't  grow  on  it,  much  less  any- 
thing else.  You  Eastern  people  might  say,  if  , 
you  had  traveled  over  both  these  States,  that 
there  was  no  timber ;  but  people  there  find 
the  scarcity  of  timber  not  so  great  a  drawback 
as  water.  They  do  not  need  much  timber,  as 
they  have  plenty  of  fine  building  stone  and 
coal  for  fuel.  Bu':  water  is  one  of  the  essen- 
tials. I  like  the  situation  of  my  brother's 
claim  very  well,  two  sections  of  eighty  acres 
lying  along  Beaver  creek,  a  running  stream. 
He  has  good  farming  land,  and  considerable 
timber  (for  that  country),  plenty  of  stone,  and 
a  good  prospect  for  stone  coals.  The  stone 
is  white  limestone,  almost  as  white  as  the 
lime  itself.  He  is  about  four  miles  north  of 
the  north  fork  of  Solomon  river. 

"  We  arrived  on  the  15th,  being  eleven  days 
on  the  road.  I  think  the  animal  kingdom  is 
pretty  well  represented  out  here,  in  flying 
and  creeping  things,  as  well  as  larger  ones- 
There  are  more  butterflies,  more  varieties  of 
grasshoppers,  more  and  bigger  olack  crickets 
than  I  ever  saw ;  plenty  of  rattlesnakes  and 
prairie  dogs.  These  little  animals  are  the 
cut3st  Ihin^s  you  ever  saw,  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  kill  one,  unless  it  is  away  from  its 
hole,  for  they  will  almost  invariably  'drop.' 
We  stayed  at  my  brother's  place  till  the  20th, 


10 


THE  LAJy CASTER  FARMER. 


we  females  cooking,  and  the  boys  hunting  and 
looking  at  the  country  ;  then  we  all  went  on  a 
general  hunt  some  twelve  or  fifteen  miles 
north.  The  first  evening  they  killed  a  two- 
year  old  buffalo,  and  two  young  turkeys. 
The  next  day  sister  and  I  and  the  children, 
and  fi;ur  men  (there  were  nine  altogether), 
went  out  again  ;  we  had  traveled  six  or  seven 
miles  and  concluded  there  was  no  game  in 
that  direcli  n,  when  they  looked  off' south  and 
saw  four  buffUlo,  that  were  just  right,  for  the 
wind  was  from  the  south  ;  the  men  set  off  on 
a  run,  leaving  a  boy  with  us,  we  followiag 
slowly.  The  boy  shot  a  big  wolf  in  the  mean- 
time. We  drove  near  enough  to  hear  them 
shooting.  Then  the  boy  left  us  in  charge  of 
the  team,  and  started  for  the  men  ;  just  as  he 
got  on  the  hill,  a  big  buffalo  came  up  on  one 
side.  He  shot  at  him,  and  before  he  could  load 
another  came  up  on  the  other  side,  nearer 
than  the  first.  He  came  down  the  bill  and 
across  the  gulch,  straight  toward  us.  I  had 
as  much  as  I  could  do  to  hold  the  horses.  The 
children  were  afraid,  and  I  too  a  little,  but  he 
soon  turned  on  his  course  ;  he  was  wounded, 
but  still  able  to  travel.  We  then  drove  our 
team  to  where  the  men  had  two  buff"aloes 
down.  One  was  dead  and  the  other  was 
wounded  so  that  he  could  not  get  up,  so  sister 
Myra  went  and  shot  him  dead,  I  preferred 
to  remain  at  a  little  distance,  for  fear  he  mit-ht 
get  up,  as  they  are  very  dangerous  when 
wounded,  and  you  never  know  that  they  can't 
get  up  until  their  hams  are  cut  olf.  That  and 
the  tenderloin  is  about  all  that  is  taken,  and 
sometimes  the  shoulders.  The  one  they  killed 
the  first  day  was  shot  sixteen  times.  When 
we  got  back  to  camp  the  other  boys  had  killed 
three  more  turkeys.  We  then  had  as  much 
meat  as  we  could  take  care  of,  so  we  returned 
to  my  brother's  place,  and  stayed  there  a  day 
and  a-half  to  dry  the  meat.  I  think  the  meat 
is  better  than  beef.  The  antelope  s,  of  which 
we  saw  more  than  a  hundred,  were  to  o  sharp 
for  us ;  we  could'nt  get  one.  A  neighbor  gave 
us  a  ham,  and  I  think  that  was  the  best  meat 
I  ever  tasted.    They  are  a  beautiful  animal. 

"  We  started  for  home  on  the  27th,  taking  a, 
different  route,  part  of  the  way.  There  was 
more  timber  and  water,  though  in  one  locality 
it  was  twenty-two  miles  without  any  water, 
except  "  Buffalo  Wallows."  Some  places 
where  there  was  timber,  there  was  no  dry 
wood  that  would  burn,  as  so  many  bad  camped 


there,  that  everything  that  would  burn  had 
been  used  up.  We  arrived  home  October  2d, 
having  been  gone  four  weeks.  My  health  has 
been  greatly  improved  by  this  squatter  life." 

In  a  later  letter  in  response  to  one  from  me, 
she  says  : 

"November  lOlh:  Youis  duly  received, 
and  I  write  to  say  there  is  much  corn  out  in 
the  fields  yet,  and  the  crop  is  more  than  an 
average  one,  but  wheat  has  pr.wed  an  entire 
failure.  Corn  is  worth  15  cents  per  bushel, 
and  no  feeders  this  year.  Oats,  18  cents ; 
wheat,  $1.00;  potatoes,  25  cents;  sweet  po- 
tatoes, 50  cents  ;  hogs,  3  cents  gross;  apples, 
95c.  to  S1.25." 

On  my  doubting  that  buffaloes  are  slaughter- 
ed merely  for  sport,  and  the  carcass  left  on 
the  ground  for  the  wolves,  Jlc,  she  says. 
"  Possibly  you  might  not  wish  to  slay  them 
for  mere  sport,  but  by  the  time  you  had  climb- 
ed rocky  points  and  descended  deep  ravines, 
stopping  in  the  mfeanlime  to  pick  sand-burrs, 
getting  your  fingers  full,  and  having  been  out 
long  enough  to  have  eaten  up  all  your  pro- 
visions, and  being,  perhaps,  20  tu  50  milci 
from  7ww]iere,  to  use  a  common  expression, 
with  such  an  appetite  as  I  had,  I  think  you 
would  not  stop  long  to  slay  the  first  buff'alo 
you  came  in  sight  of.  Bat  I  willini>ly  admit 
that  there  are  more  buff.iloes  killed  than  is 
use  for.  Western  life  changes  people  greatly. 

"I  wish  I  could  send  you  such  a  boquet  as 
Myra  and  I  gathered  on  the  evening  of  our 
arrival  at  my  brother's.  I  gathered  some 
seeds  but  lost  them  ;  also  a  few  plants,  which 
are  planted.  There  are  many  cactus  growing 
in  this  country ;  there  are  two  varieties,  one 
is  called  the  '  prickly  pear,'  it  was  full  of 
small  red  pear  shaped  fruit,  and  is  well 
named,  as  I  found  on  gathering  some  of  ihe  truit 
my  hands  gotfull  of  prickles.  Tbe  other  variety 
ha-i  spines  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  and  so 
strong  that  it  will  penetrate  a  man's  boot  if 
tramped  on.  Both  are  said  to  have  beautiful 
flowers,  but  their  flowering  season  was  past 
when  I  saw  them.  Yours,  etc., 


Care  OF  Stock. — The  fVirmer  who  stints 
the  feed  of  his  stock  during  the  winter  months, 
in  order  to  have  something  to  carry  to  mar- 
ket, is  foolish  ;  the  farmer  who  feeds  his  stock 
well  through  the  winter  months  is  wise.  One 
makes  his  stock  bring  a  price  far  more  than 
the  cost  of  the  extra  feed  given ;  the  other 
has  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  neighbor's 
stock  sell  readily  at  the  highest  market,  while 
his  own  is  slow  of  sale,  and  at  a  reduced 
price. 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


11 


LANCASTER,  JAKUAKY,  1872. 
S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editors. 

Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Agricul- 
Tur.AL  AND  Horticultural  Society. 

@l.!i3  per  year  in  advnncc. 

A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 


All  communication.'!,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
bands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Bath  von  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remitt.ancesto  the 
addressof  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DKVKLIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


We  have  a  number  of  copies  of  the  Farmer 
bound  in  volumes  of  one,  of  hoo^  and  of  three 
years,  which  we  propope  to  ofl'er  as  premiums 
to  any  one  who  may  get  up  chib  subscriptions 
for  1872,  on  the  follovviug  conditions.  Any 
person  who  shall  bring  or  send  us  within  the 
next  three  months,  ien  responsible  new  sub- 
scribers, shall  receive  a  bound  volume  of  one 
year  ;  for  twenty  subscribers,  a  volume  of  two 
years  ;  and  for  thirty  subscribers  a  volume  of 
three  years ;  and  if  they  are  accompanied  by 
the  cash  in  advance,  they  shall  receive  in 
addition,  twenty-Jive  cents  on  each  subscription 
— our  terms  beiug  rated  at  $1.25  a  year. 


TO  THE  READERS  OF  THE  FARMER. 

AFTER  another  year  of  unprecedented 
"  peace  and  plenty "  within  our  bor- 
ders, we  come  again  before  our  readers  with 
our  annual  greetings.  Our  wishes  for  their 
happiness  and  welfare  are  neither  formal  nor 
timeserving,  but  the  earnest  out;j;oiugs  of  our 
liearts,  and  a  desire  that  they  may  realize  in 
the  ]^ew  Year,  all  the  expectations  vvh'ch  the 
Old  Fear— now  buried  in  the  grave  of  the 
past — has  left  unaccomplished.  TFe,  iu  com- 
mon with  them,  turn  over  a  new  leaf  in  the 
book  of  Time,  and  if  we  or  tliey  have  soiled 
or  marred  the  pages  of  the  past,  let  all  our 
shortcomings  serve  as  warnings  for  the  years 
that  may  still  be  before  us,  in  the  long  and 
unknovyn  future.  Under  any  circumstances, 
there  is  uo  time  like  the  present,  in  starting 


anew  in  the  journey  of  life  ;  for  the  present  is 
all  that  we  have.  The  past  belongs  to  God 
and  history,  and  the  future  may  never  be  ours. 
In  contemplating  these  annual  epochs  in  the 
cycles  of  time,  the  whole  human  family  have 
much  to  be  thankful  lor,  whatever  appear' 
ances  of  a  contrary  character  may  outwardly 
exist.  We  can  hardly  conceive  of  an  evil  of 
any  kind,  which,  on  mature  reflection,  we  can- 
not see  might  have  been  something  worse. 

The  fertile  hills  ond  valleys  of  our  good  old 
county,  during  the  advent  of  1871,  have  amply 
rewarded  the  husbandman  for  his  honest,  in- 
cessant, and  often  weary  toil.  With  abun- 
dance of  subsistence,  and  an  appetite  to  relish 
and  appropriate  it — with  a  sound  constitution 
and  a  peaceful  and  contented  mind,  he  stands 
before  the  world,  as  one  of  nature's  beneficent 
and  man-sustaining  noblemen.  If  he  lacks  in 
anything,  it  is  in  that  which  perhaps  is  lack- 
ing everywhere  among  the  masses  of  man- 
kind, namely :  a  higher  degree  of  moral  and 
intellectual  culture.  That  culture  will  be 
facilitated  by  a  ready  recognition  of  human- 
ity, outside  of  himself,  and  by  embracing  the 
opportunities  and  the  means  that  are  em- 
ployed for  his  moral  and  mental  elevation, 
"  No  pent  up  Utica  "  should  contract  his 
powers,  but  the  whole  continent  of  intelli- 
gence sh  uld  be  his.  Having  freely  received, 
he  should  as  freely  give,  wherever  his  gifts 
can  be  worthily  and  usefully  bestowed.  It  is 
sometimes  as  charitable  to  withhold  as  it  is  to 
give ;  but  it  requires  more  than  merely  ordi- 
nary intelligence  to  make  the  proper  discrim- 
ination. This  intelligence  is  one  of  the  bene- 
fits flowing  from  the  "republic  of  letters," 
but  it  is  only  attainable  through  mutual  co- 
operation and  persevering  labor. 

Such  is  the  stcdus  of  our  desires,  our  wishes, 
and  our  aims,  feebly  and  hastily  reflected  in 
these  desultory  and  imperfect  lines.  But  in 
coming  before  our  readers  with  our  fourth 
salutatory,  we  confess  that  we  do  so  under  a 
very  peculiar  state  of  feeling — a  feeling  vacil- 
lating between  a  hope  of  ultimate  success,  and 
an  api)rehension  of  final  failure  ;  for,  in  our 
life  experiences,  we  can  only  practically 
judge  the  future  by  the  past.  For  three  long 
weary  years  we  have  been  catering  for  the 
intellectual  wants  of  the  agricultural,  horti- 
cultural, domestic  and  miscellaneous  interests 
of  the  friends  of  these  specialties,  in  the  coun- 
ty of  Lancaster,  with  little  hope  of  any  present 


n 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


or  future  reward.  Indeed,  our  desire  has  been 
so  much  to  see  our  native  county  the  acknow- 
ledged center  of  agricultural,  mechanical  and 
literary  effort,  in  the  "Keystone  State,"  that 
we  have  thought  but  little  of  personal  remun- 
eration or  reward.  Were  it  not  for  the  liberal 
advertising  patronage  which  we  have  re- 
ceived, during  the  past  three  years,  the  Lan- 
caster Farmer  would  have  been  utterly 
"  swamped"  long  ago  ;  but  even  with  this,  and 
all  the  other  income  combined,  it  has  not  yet 
paid  expenses. 

If  we  are  asked — "  Then  why  desire  the 
continuance  of  the  journal  ?"  our  reply  would 
be,  that  we  had  hoped  and  still  hope  lor  final 
success.  Under  the  Scriptural  admonition 
that  "  He  that  layeth  his  hand  to  the  plow 
and  looketh  back  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of 
God,"  we  have  ever  been  looking  forward. 
We  have  not  the  moral  courage  to  disappoint 
the  expectations  of  the  friends  who  have 
stood  by  us  and  sustained  us  so  far  as  their 
means  and  influence  extended — from  the  very 
begmning,  and  who  would  feel  deeply  morti- 
fied at  the  discontinuance  of  the  journal  now- 
We  still  believe  that  the  elements  and  the 
material  support  of  a  good  magazine,  devoted 
to  the  intertsts  of  agriculture,  horticulture 
and  the  domestic  fireside,  exists  in  Lancaster 
county,  and  is  capable  of  being  finally 
developed. 

We  may  not  be  the  proper  individuals  to 
effect  such  a  development ;  but,  then,  be  it 
distinctly  understood,  that  from  the  very  be- 
ginning we  have  only  regarded  ourselves  as 
a  sort  of  pioneers  or  scouts,  ready  and  will, 
ing  at  any  moment  to  resign  our  charge  into 
more  competent  and  efficient  hands,  without 
withdrawing  any  moral,  literary  and  pecu- 
niai-y  support,  which  it,  from  time  to  time, 
might  need. 

Elated  and  encouraged  by  this  hope,  we 
have  again  launched  our  little  craft  upon  the 
sea  of  journalism,  and  are  bound  to  make 
another  voyage.  Whether  it  be  rough  and 
boisterous,  or  smooth  and  placid,  whether  it 
ultimates  in  reasonable  success,  or  in  fatal 
disaster,  will  depend,  perhaps,  something  upon 
our  own  energies,  but  we  opine  more  upon 
the  measure  of  support  we  shall  receive  from 
those  whom  it  most  concerns.  Come  what 
may,  we  cannot  do  less  on  this  occasion,  with- 
out doing  violence  to  our  own  feelings,  than 
to  wish  one  and  all  a  prosperous  and  Happy 
New  Year.  Eds.  and  Pub. 


MEETING    OF    THE    AGRICULTURAL 
AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

THE  Society  met  December  4,1871,  and 
the  minutes  of  the  last  meetmg  were 
read  and  approved. 

On  motion,  all  delinquents  liable  to  fine 
for  non-appearance  at  1  o'clock,  as  per  resolu- 
tion of  former  meeting,  were  excused. 

In  answer  to  question  as  to  the  best  time  to 
plant  chestnuts,  J.  B.  Gerber  said  when  they 
are  ripe. 

H.  M.  Eogle  thought  nature  designates  this 
as  the  proper  period  to  plant  nuts  of  any  k^nd. 
They  must  not  be  covered  deep,  else  they  wiU 
rot.  He  thought  no  subject  of  more  impor- 
tance than  this  to  the  farmers  of  Lancaster 
county,  for  thereby  they  find  instruction  as  to 
the  method  of  replenishing  the  county  with 
timber. 

E  Hoover  spoke  of  the  subject  of  growing 
turnips  for  cattle  feed.  An  important  point 
in  this  connection  was,  what  is  the  proper  time 
to  sow  the  turnip  seed  as  to  make  the  crop  a 
surety. 

Levi  W.  Groff  nas  never  had  any  difficulty 
in  growing  turnips.  He  generally  grows  them 
among  his  corn. 

Levi  S.  Reist  believed  last  year  the  best  for 
a  turnip  crop  that  we  have  had  for  years  in 
this  county. 

H.  M.  Engle  did  not  believe  any  particular 
time  could  be  fixed  for  sowing  the  seed.  All 
that  is  necessary  is  to  have  a  cool,  dry  climate, 
as  that  in  England  or  Canada.  In  this  country 
the  best  turnips' are  usually  grown  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  year.  They  may  do  well  when 
sown  among  the  corn  if  rain  soon  follows.  A 
very  successful  turnip  grower  of  his  knowledge 
was  in  the  habit  of  passing,  after  the  seed 
was  sown,  among  the  corn  with  a  small  har- 
row. He  himself  has  been  in  the  habit  of 
sowing  the  turnip  seed  and  covering  it  with  a 
hand  harrow  or  drag.  Our  farmers  will  be 
yet  obliged  to  come  to  recognize  the  im- 
portance of  root  crops  as  feed  for  their  cattle. 

Casper  Hiller  has  never  had  much  experi- 
ence in  growing  root  crops,  but  one  thing  to 
be  remembered  about  this  is,  that  the  seed 
should  be  sown  upon  freshly  tilled  ground 
upon   which  rain  has  not  yet  fallen. 

Levi  W.  Groff  sowed  about  2  lbs.  of  seed 
upon  ten  acres  of  corn  ground. 

J.  G.  Peters,  one  of  the  essayists  of  the 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


13 


meeting,  was  en  motion  excused  till  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Society. 

Mr.  Peters  regarded  the  root  question  as 
one  of  great  inaportance,  as  he  has  come  to 
know  how  extensively  it  is  prosecuted  in  va- 
rious countries  of  Europe.  Some  American 
people  are  but  obtaining  a  hint  of  it. 

H.  M.  Eagle  consilered  the  carrot  one  of 
the  most  profitable  root  crops  for  cattle.  The 
sugar-beet,  ruta-baga  and  kohl-rabi  are  like- 
wise valuable  crops.  A  cool  barn  cellar  is 
one  of  the  best  places  to  keep  roots  during 
winter,  and  it  must  be  one  neither  too  warm 
nor  too  cold.  A  question  here  to  be  consider- 
ed, and  one  somewhat  mooted  is.  Do  these  roots 
impart  any  peculiar  flavor  to  the  milk  and  but- 
ter ? 

H.  K.  Stoner  desired  to  know  if  roots  should 
be  cut  for  cattle  feed.  He  named  several 
leading  farmers  who  never  cut  the  turnips 
for  their  cattle.  * 

J.  G.  Peters  always  cuts  his  turnips  for  cat- 
tle. Some  loss  has  been  sustained  by  him 
from  neglect  of  this,  some  of  his  cattle  hav- 
ing choked  on  the  whole  turnips. 

H.  M.  Engle  thought  all  progressive  farmers 
not  only  cut  their  turnips  for  the  cattle,  but 
they  likewise  cut  all  their  hay,  corn-fodder 
and  other  feed. 

J.  G.  Peteis  mentioned  J.  G.  Stehman, 
whom  he  regards  as  the  leading  farmer  in 
Couestoga  township,  who  not  only  cuts  all 
hU  feed  for  his  cattle,  but  also  steams  it. 

C.  L.  Hunsecker  proceeded  to  read  an  essay 
upon  "Wheat  as  a   Civilizer  of  Mankind." 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  essay,  a  vote  of 
thanks  was  tendered  Mr.  Hunsecker  for  his 
production. 

E.  Hoover  believed  more  nutriment  was 
coutainedin  wheat  than  in  any  other  grain. 

C.  L.  Hunsecker  remarked  that  the  ques- 
tion of  wheat  culture  was  arresting  the  atten- 
tion of  thoughtful  men  throughout  the  world. 
Straw  is  a  very  important  item  in  the  value 
of  a  wheat  crop.  Years  ago  as  much  wheat 
was  exported  out  of  this  country  as  at  the 
present  day.  In  countries  where  wheat  is  not 
grown  the  people  live  in  a  state  of  abject 
misery.  Enough  of  wheat  is  still  not  yet 
raised  to  supply  the  consumption  of  the  world. 

J.  G.  Peters  thought  our  people  were  too 
apt  to  be  discouraged  in  growing  crops  when 
an  occasional  failure  occurs.  It  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  success  in  the  main  crowns 


the  farmer's  labors,  for  do  we  not  see  most  of 
them  becoming  rich  and  independent.  He 
suggested  that  a  method  might  yet  be  dis- 
covered for  extracting  the  essence  of  wheat 
and  having  it  in  smaller  bulk. 

C.  L.  Hunsecker  said  this  already  was 
attainable  in  the  different  grades  of  flour,  the 
best  grade  being  by  far  the  most  nutritious. 
Lancaster  is  known  far  and  wide  as  a  great 
wheat-growing  county. 

J.  G  Frantz  took  Mr.  Peters  to  task  for  his 
eulogistic  remarks  upon  Lancaster  county. 

Mr.  Peters  retorted  by  saying  that  he  be- 
lieved Lancaster  county  could  comppete  with 
any  district  in  the  world  as  regards  intellect- 
ual capacity.  Dr.  E.  K.  Hertz  considered 
the  wheat  question  one  of  great  importance. 

Society  on  motion  adjourned. 


PEiq'NSYLYAKIA  FRUIT  GROWERS' 

associatio:n^. 

The  following  circular  has  been  issued  an- 
nouncing the  annual  meeting  of  this  thriving 
association  which  is  to  be  held  in  Horticultural 
Hall,  Philadelphia,  on  the  seventeenth  of 
January.  A  strong  appeal  is  made  to  fruit 
growers  to  attend  this  meeting,  which  we 
hope  will  be  cheerfully  responded  to.  There 
is  wide  room  for  improvement  in  fruit  culture 
in  our  State.  It  is  a  fact  not  very  creditable 
to  our  horticulturists  generally,  that  nearly 
all  the  fruit  consumed  by  Pennsylvanians,  and 
especially  Philadelphians,  comes  from  other 
States.  The  convention  promises  to  be  a  very 
interesting  one,  as  a  number  of  prominent 
pomologisis  from  abroad  have  agreed  to  be 
present,  and  participate  in  the  proceedings. 
The  committee  announces  also,  that  it  is  ex- 
pected that  the  railroad  fares  of  the  delegates 
will  be  reduced. 

Officers  for  1871.— President,  Josiah 
Hoopes,  West  Chester ;  Vice  Presidents, 
Samuel  W.  Xoble,  Jenkintown,  Dr.  J.  L. 
Suesserott,  Chambersburg,  J.  B.  Garber,  Co- 
lumbia ;  Recording  Secretary,  AlexanderHar- 
ris,  Lancaster ;  Corresponding  Sec'y.,  Thomas 
Meehan,  Germantown ;  Treasurer,  Robert 
Otto,  West  Chester  ;  Committee  on  Arrange- 
ment and  Reception,  J.  E.  Mitchell,  A.  W. 
Harrison,  William  Hacker,  Dr.  J.  S.  Houghton, 
D.  W.Herstine. 


u 


TEE   LAKCASTEB  iARMER. 


FIFTY  YEARS  IK  THE  FIELD. 

The  New  York  Observer  is  celebrating  its 
jubilee,  entering  upon  its  fiftieth  year,  Janu- 
ary 1st,  1872.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  news- 
papers in  the  country,  one  of  the  ablest,  and 
one  of  the  most  steadfast  and  fearless  in  main- 
taining the  truth  in  religion,  the  right  in 
morals,  and  honesty  in  all  public  and  private 
affairs.  It  announces  for  the  coming  year, 
the  publication  of  the  second  volume  of  its 
Y'ear-Book,  a  vast  repository  of  information, 
statistical  and  otherwise,  relating  both  to 
Church  and  State,  which  will  be  sent  free  to 
all  who  pay  their  subscription  for  1872.  This 
volume  last  year  was  worth  the  subscription 
price  of  the  paper,  and  the  publishers  promise 
a  more  complete  Year-Book  for  1872.  Speci- 
men copies  of  the  paper,  with  prospectus  for 
the  Year-Book,  sent  free  on  applicaiion  from 
any  source. 


BOOK  NOTICE. 


American  Homes  :  The  January  number 
of  this  popular  illustrated  dollar  magazine  is 
as  full  of  good  things  as  a  Xew  Year's  morn 
is  of  good  promises.  Among  the  notable  arti- 
cles is  one  on  "  Society  in  Washington  "  by 
Mr.  Ramsdell,  the  well-known  "Washington 
correspondent,  and  there  is  the  usual  supply 
of  stories,  disquisitions,  wit,  household  arti- 
cles, a  popular  song,  and  departments  for 
Freemasons,  I.  0.  O.  F.,  G.  A.  R.,  K.  of  P., 
&c.,  the  whole  forming  a  rich  collection  of 
literature  for  ten  cents.  The  New  York  Tri- 
bune well  says,  that  its  pictorial  embelliah- 
ments  enhance  the  value  of  American  homes, 
and  that  it  will  hold  its  own  in  many  families 
against  more  costly  magazmes."  A  new 
story  by  George  Alfred  Townsend  is  an- 
nounced for  the  February  number.  A  perfect 
copy  of  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis'  autograph  is 
sent  with  the  January  number,  and  our  speci- 
men snows  that  it  is  a  valuable  memento  of 
the  Duke's  visit.  Chas.  H.  Taylor  &  Co.,  51 
Water  street,  Boston,  are  the  publishers. 

Any  subscriber  to  the  Lancaster  Farmer, 
who  may  desire  the  above  valuable  journal, 
by  paying  S2  cash,  in  advance,  will  not  only 
receive  both  magazines  for  the  year  1872,  but 
also  a  large  and  popular  engraving— 18  inches 
by  14— entitled  '''  The  Family  Reunion."  We 
have  a  copy  of  the  January  number  of  this 
journal  before  us,  aud  can  fully  indorse  all 


that  the  Tribune  says  in  reference  to  its  "  pic- 
torial embellishments."  Send  in  your  names 
immediately,  and  receive  the  Lancaster 
Farmer,  and  American  Homes,  one  year,  for 
two  dollars. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

RANDOM  SKETCHES  AND  FARM 
ITEMS— No.  10. 

BY  n.  M.   ENGLE. 

BLEAK  winter  is  at  our  doors.  While 
jotting  this  article,  the  ground  is  cov- 
ered with  snow  for  the  first  time  this  season. 
The  farmer  generally  has  almost  everything 
necessary  for  comfort.  Although  the  winter 
winds  whistle  around  his  dwelling,  he  can  sit 
cosily  by  his  fireside,  with  an  abundance  to 
eat  a15d  driuK,  and  raiment  for  hi*  protection 
against  all  inclemencies  of  the  season.  To 
all  this  he  is  fully  entitled  in  return  for  his 
frugality  and  labor.  He  at  the  same  time 
owes  important  duties  which  are  in  many 
cases  neglected.  His  dumb  brutes  in  many 
instances  are  subjected  to  such  inhuman 
treatment,  that  a  Berg  or  a  Reicheubach 
should  be  at  hand,  to  enforce  the  laws  for 
their  protection. 

The  majority  of  farmers  have  good,  com- 
fortable stabling  (in  this  section  at  least),  but 
many  turn  out  their  stock  all  day,  thus  ex- 
posing them  to  storms, snow,  sleet  and  rait, 
oftimes  to  stand  and  shiver  for  hours. 

Some  have  such  poor  shelter  that  it  aflF>rds 
but  little  protection.  While  others  expose 
some  of  their  anima's  day  and  night  to  all 
the  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  the  whole 
year  round. 

It  is  hi>;;h  time  that  all  who  own  animals 
should  know  it  to  be  to  their  interest  pecuni- 
arily to  feed,  shelter  and  treat  them  humanely ; 
and  where  self-interest  does  not  prompt  men 
to  such  duty.  Christian  feeling  and  piiblic  sen- 
timent should  create  and  enforce  such  laws  as 
will  protect  ail  brutes  from  cruel  treatment 
in  every  respect. 

Ice  Houses.— Ice  has  become  a  necessity, 
instead  of  a  luxury,  as  formerly.  With  such 
a  fine  crop  early  this  season  and  favorable 
weather  for  housing  it,  there  will  be  no  ex- 
cuse next  August  for  a  scarcity  of  the  article. 

Farmers^  Clubs. — It  is  to  be  regretted  that 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


15 


so  few  agricultural  and  horticultural  societies 
exist  in  our  State,  even  in  sections  that  have 
a  reputation  for  good  farming.  Every  town- 
ship or  school  district  should  have  an  organi- 
zation that  would  meet  weekly  or  semi- 
monthly, at  least  during  the  long  winter  even- 
ings, where  the  isolated  experience  and  wis- 
dom of  farm  husbandry,  and  kindred  subjects 
would  be  brought  together  and  thrown  into 
common  stock,  whereby  no  one  would  lose, 
but  all  would  gain. 

Fencing  Farms.— It  has  become  an  impor- 
tant question  whether,  at  the  present  prices  of 
timber,  it  pays  to  keep  farms  fenced  into  fields 
simply  for  the  purpose  of  pasturing.  Many 
of  the  most  intelligent  and  successful  farmers 
have  abandoned  fencing  cli*  into  fields,  and 
would  not  fence  at  all  to  keep  their  stock  in, 
but  under  present  laws  they  are  obliged  to 
fence  other  stock  out. 

In  many  of  the  older  countries  the  fencing 
system  has  long  since  b.een  abandoned,  partly 
on  account  of  the  value  of  land,  but  more  on 
account  of  the  scarcity  of  timber. 

At  the  present  rate  of  the  destruction  of 
forests  and  woodlaudi,  a  large  proportion  of 
this  country  is  rapidly  drifting  into  the  same 
condition. 

It  IS  merely  a  question  of  time,  when  we  or 
our  posterity  will  see  the  folly  of  "  killing 
the  goose  that  lays  the  golden  egg." 

The  agitation  East  and  West  of  the  timber 
question  will,  howerer,  create  a  sentiment 
that  must  produce  good  results,  not  only  in 
preventing  the  unnecessary  and  rapid  destruc- 
tion and  waste  of  timber,  but  will  also  stirau- 
late  the  planting  of  new  groves  and  forests. 
Men  of  science  and  extensive  observation 
have  shown  beyond  question  the  influence  of 
forests,  and  fields,  and  fruit  crops.  Long  con- 
tinued droughts  and  great  floods  are  the  ex- 
tremes which  have  followed  the  denuding  of 
large  sections  of  country  of  its  forests. 

It  is  also  a  fact,  that  sections  of  country 
that  had  been  barren  trom  want  of  rain  have 
been  made  fertile  by  the  planting  of  belts  and 
groves  of  timber,  which  cause  rain  to  fall 
where  little  or  none  fell  before.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  the  Government  will  soon  have  to 
take  this  matter  in  hand  by  reserving  a  por- 
tion of  its  forest,  and  also  plant,  or  provide 
by  statute  for  the  planting  of  forests,  se  as  to 
keep  a  proper  balance  between  the  timber 
and  arable  lands. 


KEEPING  SHEEP. 

The  great  excitement  in  the  wool  markets 
must  give  a  new  start  to  sheep  farming. 
American  farmers  are  so  liable  to  change — so 
many  will  drop  a  crop  or  product,  when  the 
price  is  low,  and  rush  into  it  when  apparently 
doing  better — that  hereaftei  we  may  expect 
that  sheep  will  be  in  demand.  The  erradual 
decline  in  dairy  products  and  the  large  decline 
in  fat  cattle,  will  also  have  some  influence- 
For  a  few  years  beef  and  pork,  and  butter  and 
cheese  have  brought  good  prices,  while  wool 
was  quite  low,  but  the  recent  changes  will 
restore  the  equilibrium,  and  at  least  for  a  time, 
sheep  may  be  expected  to  pay  as  well  as  any 
other  stock. 

This  change  will  be  of  considerable  advan- 
tage on  grain  farms,  where  a  rotation  of 
crops  and  keeping  considerable  stock  is  prac- 
ticed. One  of  the  worst  difficulties  on  such 
farms  is  the  scarcity  and  high  prices  of  good 
help;  hence,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
stock  that  requires  the  least  labor  and  atten- 
tion will  be  ths  most  desirable.  In  this  re- 
spect there  is  scarcely  any  stock  that  is  ahead 
of  good  grade  merino  sheep.  In  the  winter 
they  need  less  labor  in  their  pens  or  sheds — 
they  should  have  shelter — than  any  kind  of 
cattle  in  stables  ;  and  in  summer,  although 
they  should  have  water,  they  need  less  labor 
and  attention  than  most  other  stock.  A 
moderate  number  of  these  sheep  are  very 
easily  and  cheaply  kept  on  a  good  grain  farm. 
If  teams  are  pastured  they  must  have  good 
feed  to  keep  them  in  good  condition  for  labor  ; 
cows  must  also  have  good  pasture  in  order  to 
give  profitable  returns ;  hence  many  fields 
that  no  longer  afford  suitable  pasture  for 
teams  and  cows  will  answer  well  for  sheep. 
Summer  fallows  will  also  afford  some  feed;  in 
fact  they  are  the  only  stock  that  should  be 
kept  on  a  fallow  after  it  is  plowed.  On  the 
smaller  farm  a  few  sheep  will  glean  afier  other 
stock  to  good  advantage ;  on  large  farms, 
where  labor  is^iot  plenty,  besides  the  teams, 
cows  and  other  stock  needed  for  the  use  of 
the  farm,  such  sheep  may  answer  as  well  as 
any  other  stock. 

But  on  all  grain  farms  much  care  is  needed 
to  auoid  overstocking  the  land  with  sheep. 
It  is  not  good  policy  to  feed  pastures  too 
close;  many  have  been  injured  by  feeding 
them  down  very  short  with  sheep.    It  is  also 


16 


TEE  LAJSrCASTER  FARMER. 


poor  policy  to  feed  meadows  down  close  in 
the  fall,  as  overstocked  farmers  are  often 
forced  to  do.  Besides  it  is  never  good  policy 
to  keep  more  stock  than  can  be  kept  improv- 
ing. Sheep  in  good  condition  can  usually  be 
sold  to  good  advantage  ;  those  not  in  condi- 
tion, that  the  owner  must  sell  because  he  is 
overstocked,  ara  often  sold  at  a  loss.  It  is 
most  profitable  to  sell  finished  products.  If 
a  farmer  must  sell  his  surplus,  his  wethers 
and  dry  ewes  in  moderate  condition,  he  must 
not  only  sell  so  the  purchaser  can  get  pay  for 
feeding,  but  there  must  be  an  allowance  for 
contingencies  and  profits  besides.  Hence  it 
is  better  for  all  farmers  to  make  such  sheep 
fat— to  sell  finished  products  instead  of  divid- 
ing the  profits  with  others.  Sheep  in  good 
condition  also  shear  better,  and  are  less  liable 
to  losses  from  diseases  and  accidents ;  hence 
it  pays  in  this  way  to  keep  gheep  well,  giving 
the  two-fold  advantage  of  better  returns  and 
better  sales  for  those  thus  kept. 

Of  course  this  mainly  relates  to  common 
farming,  where  wool  is  the  main  object,  and 
only  the  moderate  surplus  of  such  flocks  go 
for  mutton.  Bat  improved  farming,  where  all 
necessary  care  can  be  given,  sheep  may  be 
managed  so  as  to  return  a  good  deal  more 
money.  There  are  two  principal  ways  in 
which  this  can  be  done.  One  is  in  keeping 
some  of  the  leading  long  wool  breeds,  in 
which  combing  wool  and  mutton  will  both 
pay  well;  and  the  other  is  in  raising  early 
lambs  for  market.  It  has  been  repeatedly 
demonstrated  that  by  using  a  buck  of  some 
one  of  the  larger  breeds  on  good  common  or 
grade  merino  ewes,  so  the  lambs  will  come  in 
the  winter,  these  lambs  may  be  made  to  sell 
for  $5  or  more  apiece  in  the  spring,  and  the 
ewes  give  a  good  fleece  besides.  If  the  ewes 
are  well-fed,  as  they  should  be  to  have  the 
lambs  do  well,  some  two  months'  feeding  after 
the  lambs  are  sold,  so  that  they  may  be  ready 
for  market  soon  after  shearing,  may  make 
them  sell  well  also.  So  it  should  not  be  dif- 
ficult to  realize  $10  each  in  lambs,  fleeces, 
and  advance  on  cost  or  value  at  the  com- 
mencement,for  less  than  a  year's  keeping,  on 
such  ewes.  With  warm  stables  and  barn 
cellars,  so  lambs  could  come  in  the  fore  part 
to  the  middle  of  winter,  and  near  large  mar- 
kets, much  better  than  this  has  been  done; 
hence  this  may  be  considered  a  safe  estimate 
where  there  is  good  management. 


This  is  the  next  thing  to,  though  not  equal  to 
keeping  long  wool  sheep ;  as  with  such  sheep 
more  and  heavier  lambs  may  be  raised,  and 
more  money  realized.  It  is  also  probable  that 
if  the  increase  of  such  sheep  is  kept  until 
some  20  months  old  and  well  fed,  giving  a 
heavy  fleece  in  the  meantime,  they  will  pay 
still  better.  If  good  blood  is  secured,  and  the 
best  are  sold  for  breeding,  no  doubt  a  still 
larger  profit  may  be  realized. 

On  good  farms,  in  all  the  older  sections,  in 
reach  of  good  markets,  some  such  course  of 
raising  lambs  or  mutton  sheep  for  market 
should  be  adopted.  Then  keeping  sheep 
mainly  for  wool  may  be  confined  to  the  poorer 
farms  and  farming  in  the  older  States,  and  to 
the  very  extensive,  rich,  and  cheap  pasturage 
of  the  Western  and  South-western  States  and 
Territories,  where  wool-growing  is  attended 
with  very  little  expense. — Country  Gentleman. 


SAVING  SEED. 


Each  farmer  is  to  have  seed  to  sow  and 
plant.  This  he  usually  retain?  trom  his  crops. 
Sometimes  he  is  careful  to  select,  sometimes 
not. 

Now,  each  farmer  can  be  an  imppover  of  his 
seed,  his  crops,  as  is  done  by  those  who  make 
it  a  business  to  improve.  It  is  done  by  selec- 
tion—selecting every  time  such  quality  or 
qualities  as  he  wants.  Selecting  every  time 
the  largest,  earliest  and  best  ears,  there  will 
be  a  show  of  larger,  earlier  and  better  corn. 
So  with  potatoes.  Secure  always  the  larger 
and  coarser,  and  there  will  be  large  and 
coarse,  tillage  the  same.  Tnis  will  do  for 
feeding.  But  a  smaller  potato  is  wanted  for 
the  table,  a  finer  grained,  better  form,  ap- 
proaching the  flat  and  smooth,  so  that  the 
cooking  is  expedited.  There  is  also  more 
sweetness  and  better  quality  generally  in 
medium-sized  tubers.  These,  and  only  these, 
should  be  selected  yearly. 

Squashes  and  lumpkins  may  be  improved 
in  the  same  way.  Select  such  as  you  want 
every  time,  and  of  the  same  quality.  Thus  to- 
matoes improve  or  deteriorate  according  as 
we  select  them.  Poor,  dirty  wheat  (or  any 
grain)  will  give  poor,  dirty  wheat;  that  is  the 
tendency.  If  the  season  is  very  favorable, 
this  will  be  less  seen ;  but  the  tendency  is 
nevertheless  there,  and  a  good  selection  of 


THE  LAJf CASTER  FARMER. 


17 


seed  would  have  made  a  better  crop.  Each 
farmer  may  thus  be  his  own  improver  of  what 
he  raises. —  Cor.  Country  Gentleman. 


TOADS  vs.  INSECTS. 

[The  toad  is  a  much  abused  animal.  For 
the  benefit  of  those  who  are  not  aware  of  the 
great  insect-destroying  propensities  of  this 
not  beautiful  little  animal,  we  publish  the  fol- 
lowing facts] : 

The  question  of  toads  vs.  insects  is  sure  to 
come  up,  and  perhaps  an  experiment  of  mine 
on  the  capacity  of  a  toad  may  be  of  interest. 
Dr.  T.  W.  Harris,  remarked  to  me  some 
twenty  years  ago,  that  he  supposed  the  odor 
of  the  squash  bug  (Corews  tristis)  would  pro- 
tect it  from  the  toad,  and  to  test  the  matter  I 
offered  one  to  a  grave-looking  buffo  under  a 
cabbage.  He  seized  it  eagerly,  but  spit  it  out 
instantly,  reared  up  on  his  hind  legs  and  put 
his  fore  feet  on  the  top  of  his  head  for  an  in- 
stant, as  if  in  pain,  and  then  disappeared 
across  the  garden  in  a  series  of  the  greatest 
leaps  I  ever  saw  a  toad  make.  Perhaps  the 
bug  bit  the  biter.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  I 
hunted  up  another  old  toad,  who  lived 
under  the  piazza,  and  always  sunned  him- 
self in  one  place  in  the  grass,  and  offered 
him  a  fine  squash  bug,  which  he  swal. 
lowed,  winking  in  a  very  satisfied  manner. 
Twenty  other  fine  bugs  soon  followed  the 
first,  with  no  diflSculty  nor  hesitation  in  the 
taking  nor  swallowing,  though,  from  his 
wriggling  and  contortions  afterward,  it  seemed 
as  if  their  corners  did  not  set  well  within. 
The  stock  of  bugs  being  then  exhausted,  I 
found  a  colony  of  smooth  black  larviB  on  a 
white  birch,  each  about  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  long,  and  fed  him  over  a  hundred  of 
them.  Touching  one  of  them  with  the  end  of 
a  straw  it  would  coil  around  it,  and  then  when 
shaken  before  him,  he  would  seize  and  swal- 
low it  at  first  eagerly,  but  then  with  dimin- 
ished zest  as  the  number  increased,  until  it 
became  necessary  to  rub  the  worm  against 
his  lips  some  time  before  he  could  decide  to 
take  it.  He  would  then  take  it  and  sit  with 
his  lips  ajar  for  a  short  time,  gathering 
strength  and  resolution,  and  then  swallow  by 
a  desperate  effort. 

There  is  no  telling  what  the  number  or  re- 
sult would  have  been  but  the  dinner-bell  rang 
as  the  one  hundred  and  first  worm  disap- 


peared, and  by  the  close  of  the  meal  he  had 
repaired  to  his  den  ;  nor  did  he  appear  for 
four  days  in  his  sunning  place.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  he  slept  well,  but  there  might  have 
been  nic^htmavQ.— Entomologist  and   Botanist. 

We  make  the  following  extracts  from  some 
passages  iu  Fogt's  book  "  On  Noxious  and 
Beneficial  Animals,"  which  are  quoted  at  full 
length  in  the  fourth  number  of  Le  Naturalists 
Canadien— For  the  benefit  of  the  American 
reader,  we  translate  from  the  original  French  : 

"  A  remarkable  fact  has  lately  been  pub- 
lished in  the  newspapers.  There  is  actually  a 
considerable  commerce  iu  toads  between 
France  and  England.  A  toad  of  good  size 
and  in  fair  condition  will  fetch  a  shilling 
(twenty-five  cents)  in  the  London  market,  and 
a  dozen  of  extra  quality  are  worth  one  pound 
sterling  (five  dollars.)  You  may  see  these 
imported  toads  in  all  the  market  gardens  where 
the  soil  is  moist,  and  the  owners  of  those  gar- 
dens even  prepare  shelter  for  them.  Many 
grave  persons  have  shaken  their  heads,  when 
they  heard  of  this  new  whim  of  the  English  ; 
but  those  laugh  the  best  who  laugh  the  last. 
This  time  the  English  are  in  the  right.  I 
used  to  have  in  my  garden  a  brown  toad  as 
big  as  my  fist.  In  the  evening  he  would  crawl 
out  of  his  hiding  place  and  travel  over  a  bed 
in  the  garden.  I  kept  careful  watch  over 
him  ;  but  one  day  an  unlucky  woman  caught 
sight  of  him  and  killed  him  with  a  single 
stroke  of  her  spade,  thinking  that  she  had 
done  a  very  fine  thing.  He  had  not  been 
dead  many  weeks,  before  the  snails  ate  up  all 
the  mignonette  that  formerly  perfumed  every- 
thing round  that  bed.  *  *  #  » 
— American  Entomologist. 


THE  ORCHAED. 


Many  farmers  do  not  place  a  very  high  esti- 
mate upon  the  orchard.  To  them  it  has  never 
been  of  much  account,  and  they  cannot  see 
much  encouragement  for  the  future.  To  be 
sure,  years  ago  they  set  out  several  hundred 
apple  trees,  cropped  the  ground  with  corn, 
oats  and  wheat,  for  several  years,  and  then 
seeded  the  ground  to  clover  and  timothy,  and 
have  mowed  it  ever  since.  This  they  con- 
sider good  treatment,  yet  their  trees  yield 
but  very  light  crops  of  very  poor  fruit.  In 
deed,  they  never  have  but  very  few  apples 
sell,  and  those  so  small  and  gnarly  that 


18 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


price  obtained  hardly  pays  for  the  time  re- 
quired to  gather  them.  This  need  not  be  the 
case.  The  orchard  may  be  made  a  very  profi- 
table part  of  the  farm.  But  it  will  coat  some- 
thing to  have  an  orchard  that  the  owner  may 
well  be  proud  of  and  that  will  pay  a  handsome 
interest  on  the  time  and  means  expended. 
Many  labor  under  the  mistaken  notion  that 
the  orchard  should  cost  nothing  except  to  har- 
vest tie  crop.  This  is  a  great  mistake,  but  a 
verycdnnon  one.  As  a  general  rule,  if  an 
orchard  cost  nothingbut  harvesting,  the  crop 
will  not  be  worth  harvesting. 

Many  farmers  who  have  no  orchard,  make 
a  mistake  at  the  outset,  in  this  way.  A  neigh- 
bor is  harvesting  and  marketing  a  splendid 
crop  of  apples,  for  which  he  obtains  a  great 
price.  The  returns  from  his  orchard  are  so 
great  that  they  make  up  their  minds  there  is 
more  money  in  a  large  orchard  than  in  any- 
thing else.  So  they  send  an  order  to  the  nur- 
sery for  irees  enough  to  set  out  five,  ten,  and 
sometimes  many  more  acres,  without  even  once 
taking  a  thought  of  the  labor  necessary  to 
make  such  an  orchai'd  a  success.  They  do 
not  seem  to  take  into  consideration  the  fact 
that  those  trees  must  be  cultivated  just  as 
carefully  as  any  farm  crop — that  the  soil 
should  be  made  richer,  as  a  general  thing,  and 
not  robbed  year  after  year  by  grain  crops,  that 
take  ofi"the  very  material  that  the  trees  ought 
to  have.  They  do  not  think  that  with  all  that 
trash  about  their  trunks,  during  the  coming 
winter,  the  mice  will  girdle  half  of  them — 
that  next  season  when  they  are  too  busy  to  at- 
tend to  the  trees,  the  tent  caterpillar  will  strip 
the  leaves  from  the  rest  of  them,  thus  giving 
them  such  a  check  that  they  will  never  wholly 
recover.  They  take  no  notice  of  the  borer 
that  is  slowly  but  surely  cutting  out  the  life 
of  the  trees.  If  they  had  given  these  things, 
and  many  more  that  might  be  spoken  of,  that 
consideration  which  they  deserve,  their  order 
on  the  nursery  would  have  been  much  small- 
er, which  would  not  only  have  been  a  good 
thing  for  them,  but  also  for  the  community, 
as  there  would  not  be  so  many  large  orchards 
that  have  proved  failures,  thus  discouraging 
many  from  setting  even  small  ones. 

The  foregoing  discouraging  picture  need 
deter  no  one  from  setting  an  orchard — a  large 
one  if  they  wish— and  making  it  a  success. 
The  proper  attention  given,  at  the  right  time, 
will  be  fully  rewarded.    It  is  better  to  guard 


against  girdling  by  mice,  by  attention  in  the 
fall,  than  to  repair  their  darpages  in  the 
spring.  It  takes  far  less  time  to  dig  out  the 
borer  as  soon  as  he  can  be  discovered  in  a 
tree,  thin  it  does  to  plant  and  raise  another 
in  its  place.  It  takes  far  less  time  to  destroy 
the  tf  lit  caterpillar  when  in  the  egg  or  just 
hatched,  than  it  does  after  it  has  spread  over 
half  the  tree  and  badly  damnged  it.  Though 
the  caterpillar  moth  may  fly  from  one  orchard 
to  another  to  lay  its  eggs,  yet  it  is  not  half  so 
apt  to  as  it  is  to  lay  its  eggs  in  the  orchai-d 
where  it  came  into  life;  so  that  if  the  cater- 
pillars are  all  destroyed  this  year  in  one  or- 
chard, there  will  be  far  less  next  year  than  in 
an  orchard  near  to  it  where  they  were  not 
thus  destroyed.  There  is  an  orchard  of  sev- 
eral hundred  trees  in  sight  of  where  I  now 
write,  where  they  have  always  been  destroyed 
as  soon  as  possible.  This  season,  thus  far, 
there  have  been  but  six  nests  found,  while  or- 
chards in  the  vicinity  where  they  were  al- 
lowed to  go  to  seed,  are  very  full  of  them ; 
more  than  six  nests  can  frequently  be  counted 
in  a  single  tree.  Horses  and  cattle  can  de- 
stroy trees  much  faster  than  the  damage  can 
be  repaired.  Without  proper  attention,  the 
orchard  will  prove  a  failure ;  with  proper 
care,  even  a  small  orchard  will  furnish  a 
family  with  excellent  fruit  the  entire  year, 
and  make  a  handsome  return  in  cash  besides. 
— Cor.  Country  Gentleman. 


[From  the  Weekly  Intelligencer.] 

PRESERVING  EGGS. 

BY  THE  EDITOR. 

Hens  do  not  lay  well  during  the  early  part 
of  winter,  hence  the  eggs  become  scarce  and 
are  high  in  price.  It  is  therefore  desirable  to 
preserve  them  when  plentiful  and  cheap,  so  as 
to  keep  them  fresh  during  the  winter.  All 
fresh-laid  eggs  packed  now  or  during  the  fall, 
will  keep  fresh  until  spring,  if  treated  pro- 
perly. Various  methods  are  recommended — 
some  good,  some  bad.  Some  time  ago  the  fol- 
lowing, in  substance,  went  the  rounds  of  the 
press  :  "  Set  eggs  an  instant  in  boiling  water  ; 
it  will  coagulate  a  thin  fibre  of  the  albumen, 
and  thusmake  eggs  keep  a  long  time."  This 
is  all  humbug.  Eggs  so  treated  will  not  keep 
as  long  as  those  not  so  treated  ;  in  fact,  they 
will  spoil  in  a  very  short  time.  It  is  well 
known  that  a  boiled  egg  will  soon  become 


THE  LAJf CASTER  FARMER. 


19 


unfit  for  use.  "Who  would  like  to — or  who 
could — eat  an  egg  that  had  been  boiled  a  few 
weeks  bt fore?  No  doubt  the  author  of  the 
above  method  for  preserving  eggs  would  find 
some  difficulty  in  swallowing,  were  he  to  try 
the  experiment.  In  the  same  manner  the 
eggs  dipped  m  boiling  water  will  hasten  the 
decay  of  the  thin  layer  which  has  been  boiled, 
the  same  as  if  the  whole  egg  had  been  boiled. 
This  ibin  layer  of  albumen  becomes  dead 
matter  by  the  boilirg,  and  of  course  decay 
immediately — or  in  a  few  hours — begins  as 
with  all  dead  matter.  Let  no  one  try  this 
new  egg-preserving  hoax,  unless  he  is  fond  of 
rotten  eggs. 

There  are  two  causes  for  the  spoiling  of 
eggs,  and  unless  one  or  both  of  these  are 
avoided,  we  cannot  hope  for  success.  The 
first  is  exposure  to  a  high  temperature,  and 
the  other  is  access  of  air.  The  freezing  point 
is  too  low  for  the  preservation  of  ecgs  in  good 
condition,  as  freezing  affects  the  flavor  unfa- 
vorably ;  but  they  should  be  kept  cool— say 
to  a  temperature  of  fifty  degrees  if  possible. 
But  it  will  be  of  no  use  to  keep  the  eggs  in 
a  cool  place,  if  they  have  been  previously  ex- 
posed for  hours  to  a  temperature  of  over 
ninety  degrees.  The  collection  of  eggs  must 
therefore, in  the  first  place,  engage  our  atten- 
tion. They  must  be  collected  every  day,  or 
if  a  number  o.  hens  lay  in  the  same  nest,  they 
should  be  gathered  several  times  a  day.  If 
any  one  will  attempt  to  preserve  eggs  that 
have  been  sat  upon  for  a  day  or  more,  he  will 
discover  the  force,  of  this  statement.  After 
collecting  then'  carefully  we  preserve  ours  in 
the  following  manner  :  We  take  a  box  or 
keg,  place  the  eggs  in  as  soon  as  gathered, 
with  the  small  end  downward,  on  each  layer 
we  sprinkle  coarse  saU  enough  to  cover  them. 
We  then  ktep  in  a  cool  place,  and  never  have 
any  difficulty  in  keeping  them  through  the 
winter.  Other  methods  are  recommended — 
greasing  the  shells  with  lard  to  prevent  the 
admission  of  air,  covering  with  lime  water 
and  other  methods.  These  methods  are  no 
doubt  all  effectual,  if  the  eggs  are  in  proper 
condition  when  packed,  and  are  afterward 
kept  in  a  cool  place. 


GROWING  AND  SAYING  CLOVER- 

SEED. 

Upon  this  subject   Birdsdale,  in  his    Clover 
Leaf,  says :  It  requires  some  skill  in  growing  ' 


clover  for  seed,  to  understand  how  long  to 
pasture  and  when  to  mow  the  first  crop.  Of 
course  the  season  has  much  to  do  with  its  fill- 
ing,  yet  the  crop  can  be  materially  helped  if 
managed  as  it  should  be.  The  large  kind,  if 
saved  for  seed,  can  be  pastured  till  the  15Lh 
of  June,  and  very  close;  tliea  give  it  a  coat 
of  plaster,  so  as  to  give  it  a  good  start.  The 
medium  or  common  clover  should  be  pastured 
till  25ih  of  June,  or  if  mown,  cut  th'i  same 
time,  and  be  sure  and  get  it  off  July  1st. 
You  can  then  look  for  a  good  yield  of  seed, 
and  if  later,  your  crop  will  not  pay  for  hand- 
liug^  Give  it  a  coat  of  plaster,  and  you  will 
find  it  very  beneficial,  and  pirticularly  on 
light  soil,  and  if  the  season  is  dry. 

Be  sure  and  keep  your  stock  out  of  the  clo- 
ver saved  for  seed,  as  it  will  spoil  the  young 
plants.  In  cutting  the  seed,  do  not  let  it 
stand  till  dead  ripe,  as  one-third  will  rattle  off 
and  be  wasted.  Cut  when  the  head  is  hand- 
somely brown  and  the  stalk  not  quite  dead ; 
there  will  then  be  scarcely  any  waste,  and  the 
seed  just  as  plump.  Many  people,  in  gather- 
ing cloverseed,  waste  at  least  one-fourth  in 
allowing  it  to  stand  too  long  before  cutting. 
Cut  with  a  mower  or  reaper — a  mower  is  pre- 
ferable— attaching  a  drag  apron,  and  throw 
•  iff  in  bunches  of  medium  size  aud  in  winrows. 
Turn  it  over  when  the  dew  is  oa,  so  as  not  to 
rattle  off  the  bolls.  When  thoroughly  dry, 
you  can  thrash  immediately,  or  put  it  away 
where  it  will  keep  dry,  as  damp  clover  is  very 
difficult  to  hull,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is  im- 
possible to  get  all  the  bolls  from  the  straw. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  CROPS. 

Almost  every  crop  raised  upon  the  farm  or 
in  the  gaiden,  is  susceptible  of  impro  vement. 
The  Trophy  tomato  is  the  result  of  twenty 
}  ears,  or  more,  of  study  and  selection.  Its 
good  qualities  are  madj  permanent,  and  with 
little  care  can  be  kep:  up  to  its  present 
standard  of  excellence.  The  French,  who 
cultivate  the  sugar  beet  for  its  saccharine. 
qualities,  have,  by  selection  aud  cultivation, 
produced  a  beet  that  yields  nine  per  cent  of 
sugar,  instead  of  four  and  a  half,  in  root,  with 
which  they  began.  The  wheat  plant  is  sus 
ceptible  of  very  great  improvement,  and  most 
of  the  varieties  now  cultivated  are  the  results 
of  a  careful  selection  of  the  largest  seed,  or 
the  longest  and  fullest  ears.    A  large  crop  pf 


20 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


corn  can  be  grown  by  selecting  the  best  ears 
from  the  most  productive  stalks,  boine  far- 
mers du  this  haMtually,  and  find  the  plaot 
very  tractable  in  their  hands.  The  amount 
of  fodd^a-  in  the  stalk  can  be  increased  or 
diminished  by  the  selection  of  seed  and  change 
of  soil.  Every  plant  will  be  found  plastic  to 
human  skill ,  and  every  animal  can  be  moulded 
in  successive  generations  to  our  convenience 

and  taste.  ,        p    -t. 

Even  the  Canada  wild  goose,  whose  feathers 
seemed  to  be  fixed,  hopeless  of  change,  has 
yielded  to  the  influences  of  domestication  at 
Bronxville,  and  broken  out  into  new  colors. 
White  wild  geese  may  yet  be  in  ths  market. 
These  plastic  qualities  of  the  plants  and  am- 
mals  under  our  care  should  be  carefully  studied 
and  turned  to  economical  use.  It  will  give  us 
more  <^ras8  and  grain  to  the  acre  ;  larger  pota- 
toes and  of  better  quality;  more  luscious 
fruits  and  longer  keepers ;  better  milkers  la 
the  stall  -,  working  cattle  of  fleeter  step  and 
greater  symmetry ;  more  eggs  in  the  basket, 
and  more  pounds  of  poultry  for  the  Christmas 
market.  It  cannot  fail  to  make  all  our  labors 
lighter,  pleasanter,  and  more  profitable.— 
Hearth  and  Rome. 


REVIEW  OF  MARKETS. 


PHILADELPHIA  CATTLE  MAKKET. 

Monday  Evening,  January  1 — There  was  more 
demaod  for  Beef  Cattle  this  week,  and  prices  gen- 
erally were  firmer.  The  cfierings  of  "show"  cat- 
tle were  leps  liberal,  and  pales  were  made  at  SaQjC. 
We  quote  extra  at  7a7|c;  fair  to  good  at  6i-E6|c, 
and  common  at  4a5^c  '^  ft*  gross.  Eeceipts,  1550 
head. 

Cows  and  Calves  were  exceedingly  dull  and 
prices  for  the  most  part  nominal.  Sales  of  springers 
at  $40a55,  and  fresh  Cows  at  $45a60.  Eeceipts,  150 
head. 

Sheep  were  in  small  supply  and  held  firmly. 
Sales  of  fair  to  choice  at  6a7ic,  and  common  at 
$3a4.  Lambs  ranged  from  GaTjC.  Eeceipts,  2000 
head  at  the  Avenue  and  10,000  head  at  the  Park 
Drove  Yard. 

Hogs  were  in  light  supply,  but  there  was  not 
much  dem«id.  Sales  of  corn-fed  at  6|a6jC,  the 
latter  for  extra  quality.     Eeceipts,  2472  head. 


Grain — The  wh^at  market  is  firm,  and  there  is 
a  fair  demand  from  the  local  millers  for  prime 
lots,  but  the  absence  of  stock  r<i^stricts  transactions. 
Sales  of  Pennsylvania  red  at  $1  54al  57;  amber  at 
$1  58al  60;  and  white  at$l  69  A  lot  of  fancy 
sold  at  $1  83.  Eye  ranges  from  88a90c  for  western 
and  Pennsylvania.  Corn  is  steady,  but  there  is 
not  much  doing.  Sales  of  6000  bushels  yellow  at 
68a70c,  and  western  high  mixed  at  70a71c.  Oats 
are  without  essential  change  ;  5500  bushels  western 
white  sold  at  54a55c  for  white,  and  50'i52c  for 
mixed.  The  receipts  to-day  are  as  follows :  1427 
barrels  flour,  2500  bushels  wheat,  20,300  buihela 
corn,  7700  bushels  oats,  200  bbls  whisky. 

Provisions  continue  quiet,  and  prices  unchanged. 
Sales  of  Mess  Pork  at  $14  50al5  50  per  barrel  for 
old  and  npw.  City  packed  extra  Mess  Beef  \a 
taken  at  $15al5  50  per  bar-el.  Bacon  is  steady. 
Sales  of  plain  sugar-cured  city-smoked  Hams  at  12 
al3c,  canvassed  western  at  13al4c,  sides  at  B-",  and 
shoulders  at  7c.  Green  Meats  are  unchanged.  Siles 
of  pickled  Hams  at  9al0c  ;  and  shoulders  in  salt  at 
5|a6c.     Lard  U  quiet.     Sales  at  g^alOc  per  pound. 

Seeds. — There  is  less  doing  in  Clover;  200  bush- 
els sold  at  lO^c  %T  ft.  Flaxseed  sold  at  $1  SOal  82 
and  Timothy  at  $3  25a3  50  "^  bushel. 

FAEMERS'  HAY  AND  STRAW  MAEKET. 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  30  — During  the  past  week 
384  loads  of  Hay  and   55  of  Straw  were  weighed 
and  sold  at  the  following  prices  . 
Prime  Timothy        -        -        -        -       $1  70al  80 

Mixed  Timothy 1  50al  60 

Straw 1  20al  25 


PHILADELPHIA  GRAIN  MAEKET. 

Flour — The  market  was  very  quiet  to-day,  but 
prices  are  quotabiy  the  same.  The  demand  is 
mostly  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  home  consumers, 
whose  purcnases  foot  up  1000  barrels,  i'' eluding 
superfine  at  $5  25  ■  5  75  ;  e'stras  at  $6a6  50  ;  A'ls- 
consin  extra  family  at  $7  25a7  62}  ;  Minnessota  do 
do  at  $8d8  50 ;  Pennsylvania,  Indiana  and  Ohio  do 
do  at  $7a7  50,  and  fancy  brands  at  $8a9,  as  in  qual- 
ity ;  1000  bbls  Quaker  City  Mills  sold  on  private 
terms.  Eye  flour  is  steady  at  $5.  In  Corn  Meal 
no  change. 


TOBACCO  MAEKET. 

Tobacco. — Large  sales,  market  being  excited 
owing  to  so  many  foreign  and  local  buyers.  8200 
bales  changed  hands  at  from  $50a60  '^5  qtl,  as  to 
quality.  New  crop  promises  to  be  large  and  of  good 
class,  plantings   being  extensive  all  over  the  land. 

LIVE  STOCK  MAEKET. 

New  York,  Friday,  Dec.  29. — Thirty-four  cars, 
or  549  beeves  arrived,  making  2,261  since  Monday, 
preciselv  the  same  number  as  for  the  same  time 
last  week.  The  market  was  firm,  and  the  cattle 
were  all  sold  before  noon  at  higher  prices,  consid- 
ering the  quantity  of  the  stock,  than  have  been  re- 
ported during  the  laft  three  months.  Commonish 
to  prime  native  steers  were  readily  sold  at  10il2J  ; 
common  to  fair  Texans  at  BjaOc.  ;  and  bulls  and 
rough  stags  at  about  8jc.  "Wholesale  slaughterers 
generally  paid  lOfallfc.  '^  th.  for  their   supplies. 

Two  cars,  or  331  sheep,  arrived,  making  5,907 
since  Mondav,  against  11,443  for  ti  e  same  time 
la^t  week.  There  was  not  enough  stock  offered  to 
make  a  market,  but  quite  enough  for  the  demand, 
and  no  advance  could  be  made.  A  few  good  lambs 
were  said  at  8c  per  pound,  and  some  very  good 
sheep  a  6|c. 

Nine  cars,  or  1,220  hogs,  were  received,  making 
13,377  sin«e  Monday,  against  21,313  for  the  same 
time  last  week.  The  market  was  better  ;  live  hogs 
were  sold  at  $4  87  ^a5  06 J^  per  100  pounds. 
Western  dressed  at  5Ja5|c  ;  and  city  dressed  at  5| 
a6Jc. 


DEVOTED  TO 
Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany , 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATIIVOX  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 


**  Tlie  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  civilization.''— WEBSTER. 


■Vol.  IT. 


FEBRUARY,  1872. 


JVo.  2. 


AGRICULTURAL. 

NOTES  0^  FARMING  POTATOES. 

BY  D.  L.  RESII. 

POTATOES  require  a  good,  rich,  well- 
manured  soil.  Clover  plowed  under 
will  do  in  lieu  of  a  dressing  of  harn-3'ard  ma- 
nure. One  or  the  other  is  essential  to  secur- 
ing a  good  crop. 

The  ground  should  be  plowed  to  a  medium 
depth,  and  well  pulverized,  then  marked  out 
by  going  twice  through  the  same  furrow,  so  as 
to  throw  loose  soil  on  either  sidii  and  secure 
a  furrow  of  sufficient  depth.  Three  or  four 
inches  below  the  surface  is  deep  enough. 

The  rows  should  be  two  and  a  half  feet 

apart.    It  has   been  proven   by  experiment 

that  more,  and  fully  as  large  potatoes,  can  be 

raised  from  an  acre,  with  the  rows  at  that  dis- 

.  tance  apart,  than  at  a  further  distance. 

There  are  various  theories  held  by  potato 
growers,  as  regards  the  preparation  and  plant- 
ing of  the  seed.  Practically,  we  consider  the 
following  the  best : 

The  seed  potatoes  should  be  cut  two  eyes 
to  a  piece,  and  dropped  or  thrown  into  the 
row  about"  fifteen  inches  apart.  It  matters 
not  which  »ide  of  the  potato  is  turned  up, 
though  if  the  cut  side  is  turned  up  the  roots 
will  strike  a  little  sooner,  and  the  young  plant 
will  appear  at  the  surface  perhaps  a  few  days 
earlier. 

Cov,er  to  the  depth  of  about  two  inches, 
with  a  common  one-horse  hoe-harrow,  taking 
out  all  the  shovels  except  the  two  hind  ones, 
and  allow  the  horse  to  walk  in  the  furrow,  as 
he  will  not  injure  the  potatoes  more  than  to 


occasionally  tread  a  piece  a  little  deeper  into 
the  ground.  Three  or  four  small  boys  can 
drop  them  as  fast  as  a  man  can  cover. 

Small  potatoes  should  never  be  used  for  seed, 
they  are  worth  more  to  hogs  or  cattle  ;  medium 
sized  will  do,  but  here  as  elsewhere  the  larger 
and  better  the  seed,  other  things  being  equal, 
the  larger  and  better  will  be  the  yield. 

The  seed  potatoes  should  be  prepared 
several  weeks— not  longer — before  planting, 
so  as  to  have  everything  in  readiness  when 
the  time  comes  for  planting,  which  should  be 
as  early  in  the  spring  as  the  weather  permits 
— say  from  April  1st  to  15th.  An  early  crop 
generally  yields  better  than  a  late  one,  because 
it  receives  the  benefit  of  the  spring  rains. 

The  hoe  and  hoe-harrow  are  the  only  im- 
plements needed  for  working  the  soil  after 
the  young  plant  has  reached  the  surface  ;  be- 
fore that  time  little  attention  is  required. 

The  advantage  of  marking  out  deep  is  that 
the  soil  is  gradually  worked  against  the  plants 
as  the}'  uead  it,  and  thus  more  tubers  are  pro- 
duced, and  if  the  crop  is  put  in  early  they  will 
all  have  time  to  mature.  A  top  dressing  of 
ashes  or  plaster  on  the  rows,  about  a  month 
after  planting,  is  beneficial. 

For  raising  potatoes,  the  common  two-horse 
shovel  plow,  or  a  plow  made  for  the  purpose 
by  R.  II.  Allen  &  Co.,  of  IS".  Y.,  are  the  best. 
A  machine  for  raising  and  sorting  has  been 
patented,  which  we  believe  works  well  where 
the  ground  is  enUrely  free  from  clods  and 
stones. 

In  good  soil  175  to  200  bushels  per  acre  is 
a  fair  yield,  and  this  crop  pays  better  than 
any  other  legitimate  crop  raised  on  the  farm. 
It  costs  less  to  raise  100  bushels  of  potatoes 
than  to  raise  so  much  wheat  or  corn. 


n 


THE  LAjYCASTEK  FARMER. 


It  would  be  well  for  farmers  to  devote  part 
of  the  space  given  to  the  oat  crop  to  potatoes. 
They  thrive  well  on  the  loose  soil  where 
corn  was  grown  the  previous  year — provided 
the  soil  be  well  manured. 

There  are  innumerable  varieties  of  pota- 
toes, and  new  ones  are  constantly  being  intro- 
duced. Among  the  best  for  this  locality  we 
may  mention,  for  an  early  crop,  the  Early 
Rose — which  is  evidently  the  best,  Early  Mo- 
hawk, and  Buckeye.  For  late  crop,  Mercer, 
Peach  Blow,  and  Peerless.  The  latter  prom- 
ises to  become  a  universal  favorite,  as  its 
quality  is  good  and  it  is  also  a  great  yielder. 

Marietta  Jan.  20, 1872. 


GEN.  WASHINGTON'S  FARM. 

The  farm  of  General  Washington  at  Mount  Ver- 
non, contained  ten  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  one  body — equal  to  about  fifteen  square 
ujiles.  It  was  divided  into  farms  of  convenient  size, 
at  the  distance  of  two,  three,  and  five  miles  from  his 
mansion  house.  He  visited  these  farms  every  day, 
in  pleasant  weather,  and  was  constanty  engaged  in 
making  experiments  for  the  improvement  of  agri- 
culture. Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  his  farming  op- 
erations may  be  formed  from  the  following  facts ; 

In  1787  he  had  five  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in 
grass ;  sowed  six  hundred  bushels  of  oats ;  seven 
iiundred  acres  with  wheat — and  as  much  more  in 
corn,  barley,  potatoes,  beans,  peas,  &C.,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  with  turnips.  His  stock  consist- 
ed of  one  hundred  and  forty  horses  ;  one  hundred 
and  twelve  cows,  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  work- 
ing oxen,  heifers,  and  steers,  and  five  hundred  slieep. 
He  constantly  employed  two  hundred  and  fifty 
bands,  and  kept  twenty-four  plows  going  during  the 
whole  year,  when  the  earth  and  state  of  weather 
would  permit.  In  1780  he  slaughtered  one  hundred 
and  fifty  hogs  for  the  use  of  his  family,  and  provis- 
ions for  his  negroes,  for  whose  comfort  he  had 
great  regard. 

Washington  was  emphatically  a  farmer, 
whatever  else  he  may  have  been.  He  was 
born  on  a  farm ;  he  made  the  farm  his  home 
throughout  his  whole  life,  and  he  died  on  the 
farm.  That  was  his  coveted  relation  to  socie- 
ty, and  the  one  he  ultimately  expected  to  re- 
sume when  called  to- occupy  other  positions 
in  the  service  of  his  country.  Washington  the 
surveyor,  Washington  the  soldier,  and 
Washington  the  statesiran,  were  only  inci- 
dental relations,  and  were  subordinate  to 
Washington  the  fanner.  Even  while  he  was 
President  of  the  United  States  he  could  so 
far  withdraw  himself  from  the  more  weighty 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  his  august  office 
as  to  send  written  instructions  to  his  agents 
on  the  farm,  giving  the  most  minute  details. 


in  relation  to  farming  improvements  and  farm 
labor.  He  was  eminently  a  "  book-farmer" 
too,  in  more  senses  than  one  ;  for  he  not  only 
patronized  all  that  was  extant  on  agriculture 
in  his  day,  but  he  kept  precise  and  elaborate 
accounts  of  what  he  was  doing  as  a  farmer. 
If  perchance  there  should  be  any  among  our 
readers  who  are  averse  to  book  farming,  or 
who  indulge  in  depretiatory  notions  concern- 
ing intellectual  farmers,  or  who  lack  confi- 
dence in  the  quality  of  the  productions  of  the 
Mount  Yeruon  farm,  we  need  only  refer 
them  to  i\\Q,  fact,  well  known  in  history,  that 
Washington's  brand  on  a  barrel  of  flour  was" 
sufficient  to  exempt  it  from  the  customary  in- 
spection in  any  port  where  his  name  was 
known;  and  good  four  implies  good  wheat, 
as  a  prior  assumption.  Washington  did  not 
entertain  ultimate  views  of  a  city  or  town 
life,  but  being  every  inch  a  farmer,  he  cher- 
ished a  longing  desire  to  return  to  the  farm, 
so  soon  as  he  could  be  honorably  released 
from  those  public  duties  which  he  felt  he  owed 
to  his  country;  and  when  death  at  length 
came,  there  is  the  place  where  he  met  him, 
and  where  he  desired  to  meet  him.  Think  of 
this,  ye  temporary  farmers,  who  are  longing 
for  the  corrupt  atmosphere,  and  the  sharp 
practices  of  a  city  or  a  large  town.  Real  suc- 
cess in  life  does  not  involve  the  rapid  accumu- 
lation of  a  large  fortune,  so  much  as  it  does 
the  consciousness  of  being  nsefxd  to  the  worM 
and  the  human  family ;  and  in  this,  is  life's 
chiefest  happiness. 

In  our  advanced  states  of  agriculture  and 
agricultural  facilities,  we  can  hardly  realize 
the  harvesting  of  seven  hundred  acres  of  wheat, 
by  one  farmer,  at  that  early  day  in  the  domes- 
tic history  of  our  country,  when  our  present 
horse-ieapers— or  even  the  grain-cradles,  and 
horse-  rakes — were  totally  unknown.  As  to 
a  "  turnip  patch  "  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  we  doubt  if  it  has  been  equaled  in 
modern  times,  unless  by  some  person  who  has 
made  the  cultivation  of  turnips  a  specialty. 
Some  of  the  great  prairie  wheat  fields  of  the 
West  may  be  equal,  or  may  even  exceed  in 
area,  those  of  Washington's,  but  his  turnip- 
patch  we  think  will  be  hard  to  beat.  But 
the  great  farmer,  soldier  and  sage  of  Mount 
Vernon,  had  more  mouths  to  feed  than  falls 
to  the  lot  of  ordinary  farmers,  and  the  above 
extract  implies  that  he  provided  for  them 
bountifully.     No    hungry    mortal    ever    left 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


23 


Washington's  hospitable  mansion  unsatisfied, 
whilst  it  was  in  his  possession,  for  a  farmer's 
cheer  and  a  farmer's  welcome  was  extended 
to  every  one,  and  doubtless  to  many  who 
may  not  have  deserved  ii. 

The  22d  day  of  this  month  is  the  one  hun- 
dred and  fortieth  anniversary  of  Washington's 
birthday.  The  small  spot  on  this  earth  where 
Washington  was  born  in  1732,  is  now  an  open 
field,  and  part  of  b.  farm,  with  scarcely  any- 
thing to  distinguish  it  from  its  surroundings ; 
and  yet  Washington  "  still  lives."  In  con- 
templating such  a  noble  specimen  of  a  farmer, 
well  might  Henry  Lee  have  been  inspired  with 
the  historic  phrase — "  First  in  war,  first  in 
peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  country- 
men." R. 

DESTRUCTION  vs.  CONSTRUCTIOX. 

BY  LEVI  S.  REIST. 

THE  destruction  of  timber  is  a  matter  that 
is  beginning  more  and  more  to  arrest 
public  attention.  In  view  of  the  wholesale 
manner  in  which  the  timber  of  our  county  is 
made  to  disappear,  it  is  indeed  no  wonder  if 
the  public  mind  should  begin  to  wake  up  to 
the  importance  of  this  great  interest.  The 
fact  that  while  counties  in  the  Western  States 
in  Minnesota,  Wisconsin  and  Michigan,  are 
denuded  of  their  forests,  by  the  most  reckless 
destruction  of  the  timber,  is  one  of  the  misfor- 
tunes to  be  lamented.  In  the  terrible  fire  of 
Chicago,  in  which  its  lumber  yards  perished, 
see  the  vast  amount  of  valuable  material  that 
has  been  taken  away  from  the  aggregate  wood 
material  of  our  country  ;  and  all  this  the  for- 
ests must  supply.  While  we  live  in  an  age 
of  progress,  we  also  live  in  one  of  destruction. 
Consider  the  extensive  machine  shops  and 
manufacturing  establishments  of  the  United 
States,  all  of  which  must  be  kept  in  motion  by 
the  aid  of  fuel.  Timber  is  requi'-ed  to  build 
cars  and  other  implements  of  industry,  and 
fuel  is  needed  to  keep  in  motion  the  machinery 
for  this  purpose.  Look  at  the  vast  amount 
of  timber  it  requires  for  the  numerous  rail- 
roads of  the  country  now  being  built  and  rami- 
fying in  all  directions. 

Already  many  of  the  older  states  are  al- 
most divested  of  their  timber.  In  the  West, 
many  states  are  so  wanting  of  timber  that 
they  have  to  draw  their  supplies  from  the  tim- 
bered ones;  and  even  that  required  for  build- 


ing purposes  must  come  from  districts  outside 
of  their  borders. 

Much  timber  is  now  destroyed  by  farmers  in 
the  wooded  states,  usmg  greater  quantities 
for  fencing  and  other  purposes  than  is  re- 
quired. Fences  could  be  sufficiently  made  of 
four  instead  of  five  rails,  and  thus  much  noa- 
terial  be  saved  for  other  purposes.  The  esti- 
mated cost  of  fencing  material  in  the  west  is 
put  down  at  $130,000,000. 

The  time  must  come  ere  long  when  farmers 
will  be  able  to  have  only  outside  fences  around 
their  farms,  and  indeed  it  is  apprehended  that 
the  time  will  be  when  there  will  be  no  fences, 
as  is  the  case  in  Germany  and  in  England, 
and  this  because  of  the  reckless  manner  in 
which  the  timber  has  been  destro5'ed.  If 
farmers  had  been  saving  of  their  white  oak 
trees,  many  of  them  might  yet  be  standing 
relics  of  the  olden  aboriginal  times.  Again, 
had  they  replenished  their  farms  with  timber 
by  planting  locust,  as  they  might  have  done, 
many  an  oak  might  now  be  standing  that  has 
been  cut  down  and  made  into  posts  only  to 
rot  ia  from  ten  to  twelve  years.  They  could 
have  raised  locust  for  posts,  which  would  last 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  years. 

A  neighbor  lately  cut  down  a  white  oak 
that  measured  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  by 
counting  the  growths  its  age  was  estimated  at 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Many  of  our 
Lancaster  county  farmers  have  no  excuse  for 
cutting  the  last  remnants  of  timber  left  them 
by  their  ancestors  ;  nothing  but  the  sordid 
greed  of  money  induced  them  to  fell  the  old 
beacons  of  former  ages.  I  might  individual- 
ize some  of  ray  acquaintances,  who,  though 
under  no  necessity  to  do  so,  yet  in  order  to  in- 
crease their  loans,  have  cut  the  last  remaining 
white  oaks  upon  their  farms.  It  is  all  right 
for  a  man  to  increase  his  means  by  all  honesty, 
but  scarcely  by  the  destruction  of  so  valuable 
an  appendage  to  the  farm  as  timber.  Ho 
who  is  willing  to  do  so  seems  to  lose  all  sight 
of  everything  save  self,  which  feeling  is  surely 
not  to  be  commended. 

Instead  of  cutting  down  the  remaining 
scattering  trees  of  our  farms,  every  farmer 
should,  as  it  strikes  us,  set  aside  a  small  part 
of  his  farm,  in  which  he  would  plant  timber 
for  futurity.  By  so  doing,  he  would  rather 
enhance  than  diminish  the  value  of  bis  estate, 
and  comirg  ;jent  :3'ior^  would  hold  his  name 
in  honor  for  so  doing.    I'ublic  opinion  is  now 


^Jf 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


coming  to  view  this  matter  in  its  proper  light, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  enlightened  legisla- 
■  tion  will  follow  in  its  wake  that  shall  make 
the  planting  of  timber  a  matter  of  obligation 
upon  all  sections  of  our  country. 


"UNCLE  JOE'S"  HINTS  TO"  FARMER 
BOYS." 


u 


ncle  Joe  "  has  been  among  the  "  far- 
mer boys,"  and,  as  among  every 
other  kind  of  boys,  has  found  some  who  were 
disposed  to  be  a  little  careless.  In  the  hope 
that  he  may  thereby  sow  some  good  seed,  he 
has  constrained  to  throw  out  a  few  hints  to 
this  class,  which  may  do  them  good,  and  per- 
haps even  their  elder  brothers  and  friends, 
the  "  farmer  men,"  also. 
And  first  he  would  suggest : 
Be  Careful. — Never  use  wooden  or  "shak- 
ing forks"  in  damp  straw,  nor  allow  them  to 
become  wet,  as  this  will  tend  to  straighten 
the  prongs  and  thus  impair  their  use. 

Never  leave  an  iron  fork  or  hook  in  such  a 
position  that  any  person  might  tramp  or  fall 
on  it.  Painful  accidents,  and  even  death, 
have  resulted  from  such  negligence. 

In  feeding  cattle,  be  careful  not  to  spill 
part  nor  throw  any  across  the  troughs.  You 
are  robbing  the  cattle  by  so  doing,  besides 
wasting  that  for  which  some  one  must  pay. 

In  empting  bran  or  chop,  boys,  be  sure 
to  shake  them  out  well.  "  Every  little 
helps." 

Never,  through  haste  or  neglect,  fail  to  give 
each  creature  under  your  charge  just  its 
proper  portion  of  food.  Half  of  your  usual 
food  denied  you  would  make  you  feel  very  un- 
comfortable. 

,  Do  not  forget  to  give  your  stock  salt  occa- 
eionally.  Salt  is  as  necessary  to  them  a"?  it  is 
to  us. 

Never  use  a  lantern,  except  when  absolutely 
necessary,  and  then  only  with  the  utmost  care. 
Never  light  matches  nor  extinguish  a  light 
in  the  vicinity  of  straw,  hay  or  other  combus- 
tible matter. 

Never  hanga  scythe  where  any  one  is  likely 
to  walk.    You  might  have  cause  to  regret  it. 
Be  sure  your  lines,  traces,  &c.,  are  all  in 
their  proper  places  after  tbe  day's  work. 

Be  Neat. — Keep  your  "  entries"  clean. 
Some  hungry  calf,  colt  or  ox,  may  be  glad  for 
the  clover  leavings,  you  will  oiLuwise   be 


tramping  on,  and  you  will  feel  all  the  better 
for  having  a  clean  "  work-house." 

Never  leave  feed  chests  and  doors  open. 

Do  not  accumulate  cornstalks  in  your  racks, 
nor  dirt  in  your  troughs.  You  would  be  loth 
to  eat  out  of  filthy  dishes. 

A  little  care  and  a  pair  of  "  overalls"  dur- 
ing feeding  will  save  your  clothes  many  a 
"  trou-shot"  and  stain. 

Never  allow  chickens  to  roost  in  your  stables 
if  you  can  possibly  prevent  it. 

"Would  you  like  to  drink  out  of  a  stagnant 
mud-puddle  V  Look  at  yonder  watering-trough 
and  see  that  it  is  clean  and  the  water  therein 
fresh  before  allowing  your  horses  to  drink. 


How  Shall  I  Cut  my  Asparagus.— Beds 
have  been  set  about  twelve  years,  trenched 
deep,  put  in  a  good  portion  of  manure.  Set 
the  crowns  four  or  five  inches  below  the  sur- 
face. I  manure  pretty  thoroughly  in  the  fall, 
salt  in  spring,  and  fork  over  lightly.  Soil 
originally  clay  loam  ;  have  mixed  sand  with 
it  so  that  it  is  now  quite  light.  I  have  usually 
cut  it  until  the  middle  or  last  of  June  ;  some 
years  have  cut  all  clean  as  long  as  I  cut  any, 
other  years  have  only  cut  the  longest  stalks 
and  left  the  slender  ones  to  grow  up,  think- 
ing it  would  make  stronger  roots  and  come 
up  larger  the  next  year.  Did  so  last  year, 
but  do  not  see  much  improvement  this  year. 
Am  now  cutting  it  clean  again.  Which  is  the 
best  way  to  inpurc  strong  stalks?— A  New 
Subscriber. 

This  inquiry  has  been  overlooked,  but  we 
answer  it  now.  It  will  probably  make  very 
little  difference  whether  you  cut  all  the  stalks 
or  leave  a  few  of  the  smallest  on  each  hill. 
The  general  practice  is  to  cut  everything  clean, 
leaving  no  stalks  to  grow  during  the  cutting 
season.  The  greatest  injury  done  to  asparagus 
beds  is  continuing  the  cutting  too  late  in  the 
season.  We  have  known  quite  large  planta- 
tions to  be  almost,  if  not  quite,  ruined  by  this 
practice,  owing  to  the  greediness  of  the 
owners  to  obtain  large  returns  from  one 
season's  crops. 

» 

Spiced  Apples. — Eight  pounds  of  apples, 
pared,  four  pounds  of  sugar,  one  quart  of  vine- 
gar, one  ounce  stick  cinnamon,  half  ounce  of 
cloves.  Boil  the  sugar,  vinegar  and  spices 
together;  put  in  the  apples  when  boilin2,and 
let  them  remain  until  tender — about  twenty 
minutes.  Take  them  out,  and  put  them  in  a 
jar.  Boil  down  the  syrup  until  thick,  and 
pour  it  over. 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


25 


THE    SKCKEL    PEAK 


HORTICULTURE. 


THE  SECKEL  PEAR. 


I'^REE  of  healthful  but  not  rapid  growth;  form- 
ing a  compact,  tymmetrical  head,  n(  t  attain- 
ing a  very  large  Bize. 

Young  th wis  brown  clive,   stout  and  fhort.     A 

pood   and   regular  bearer.     Fruit   small,  obovate, 

rfddish-brown.     Flesh  white,  buttery,  juicy,  and 

mflting. 

Flavor  peculiarly  high,  rich  and  aromatic.   The 


very  finest  of  pears.  Ripens  in  the  house,  through 
September  and  October,  or  later. 

This  small,  but  exquis^ite  fruit,  stands  deservedly 
at  the  head  of  all  pear?",  for  its  peculiarly  "ich,  high 
flavor.  There  is  no  European  variety  that  resem- 
bles or  comparer  with  it.  It  is  not  a  result  of  care- 
ful, intelligent  cul'i nation,  but  like  many  of  our 
foremost  fruits,  an  "accidental  variety."  The  pre- 
cise derivation  i^  unknown. 

The  original  tree  wan  found  near  the  Delaware, 
a  few  miles  frcm  Philadelphia,  and  was  in  bearing 
at  the  period  of  the  Revolution;  but  the  fruit  re- 
mained in  obscurity  until  the  land  on  which  the 


f 


26 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


parent  tree  stood,  and  perhaps  still  stands,  became 
the  property  of  Mr.  Seckel,  after  whom  the  pear  is 
named,  and  by  whom  it  was  first  brought  to  public 
notice. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  tree  originated  frosi  seeds 
dropped  by  Germans  who  emigrated  from  Germa- 
ny, as  it  bears  some  affiuity  to  the  Eousselet. 

The  foregoing,  from  Deitz's  Eoio  to  Make  the 
Farm  Pay,  in  reference  to  this  luscious  little 
pear,  needs  no  indorsement  of  ours  to  give  it 
currency,  for  the  Seckel  has  long  bince  been 
almost  universally  regarded  as  the  prince  of 
pears.  Culture  has  wrought  an  increase  in 
the  size  of  this  fruit,  in  some  cases,  but  it  has 
always  appeared  to  us  that  we  have  never 
tasted  an  overgrown  Seckel  that  we  did  not 
think  had  lost  something  in  the  quality  of  its 
"flesh  and  flavor."  The  superiority  of  this 
pear  is  now  so  far  conceded,  that  in  discussing 
the  merits  of  the  different  varieties,  the  "talk" 
is  conducted  pretty  much  outside  of  its  limits; 
for  although  there  are  other  excellent  varie- 
ties of  the  pear,  and  some  that  occupy  a  place 
in  fruit  economy  to  which  the  Seckel  cannot 
attain,  yet,  when  quality  alone  is  considered, 
they  are  all  nowhere^  in  the  estimation  of  ccn- 
noisures.  R. 


THE  CURCULIO  MASTERED  AT  LAST. 


THE  following  is  one  of  the  most  sensible  plans 
of  killing  the  Curculio  that  we  have  yet  seen, 
even  better  than  the  jarring  process  in  some  re- 
spects, being  much  easier  ;  still  that  should  not  be 
omitted.  We  quote  from  the  Ohio  Farmer  : 
^  'Tor  many  years  past  Curculio  has  been  an  al- 
most unconquerable  enemy  of  the  fruit-grower,  and 
not  a  few  have  cut  down  their  plumb  trees  as  cum- 
berers  of  the  ground,  not  receiving  any  return  from 
them.  I  have  remaining  a  few  nice  trees,  left 
standing  for  ornament  and  shade,  and  year  after 
year  these  trees  have  bloomed  and  set  full,  but  in 
spite  of  every  eflbrt,  until  the  present  season,  not  a 
quart  of  fruit  was  received.  While  the  trees  were 
ia  full  bloom  last  spring,  my  wife  determined  to 
try  an  experiment  upon  one  of  tht-m,  which  she  did, 
and  it  resulted  more  favorably  than  could  have  been 
exfxjcted. 

Early  every  morning,  while  in  fuU  bloom,  corn- 
meal  was  strewn  over  the  ground  beneath  the 
branches,  and  the  whole  flock  from  the  poultry- 
yard  at  once  set  to  work  to  gather  up  the  particles 
of  grain.  The  ground  was  daily  thoroughly  scratch- 
ed over,  and  meal,  insects,  and  everything  to  the 
fowls  edible  gathered  up.  Later  in  the  season  a 
brood  of  chicks  were  cooped  beneath  the  tree,  and 
the  operaticn  of  sowing  meal  still  continued.  The 
operation  was  not  omitted  for  a  day  from  the  time 
of  the  putting  forth  of  the  trees  until  the  plums 
were  beyond  the  reach  of  the  litt'e  pests. 

Now,  for  the  result :  This  tx  f,  and  this  alone, 
was  loaded  with  fruit,  to  the  perfect  amazement  of 
all  who  saw  it.    It  was  literally  covered  with  fruit 


as  perfect  as  could  be  desired.  So  heavily  were  the 
limbs  laden  that  props  had  to  be  used  all  around  the 
tree.  I  really  believe  there  were  more  and  better 
plums  upon  this  single  tree  than  all  in  the  town- 
ship, and  I  am  disposed  to  say,  all  of  the  county. 

Not  a  plum  matured  on  any  other  tree  on  my 
premises,  and  all  are  of  the  same  variety  as  the  one 
saved. 

I  would  earnestly  urge  a  trial  of  this  method  by 
all  who  have  fruit-trees.  It  will  certainly  be  con- 
tinued by  me,  as  I  believe  it  to  be  a  specific  against 
the  ravages  of  insects. 

The  foregoing  curculio  remedy  has  a  strong 
plausibility  for  its  support,  and  therefore  we 
do  not  hesitate  the  recommendation  of  a  trial 
of  it  to  our  horticultural  readers.  Twelve 
years  ago  we  witnessed  a  similar  remedy  ;  we 
recommended  it  then.  We  saw  a  plum  tree, 
standing  in  the  middle  of  a  "  chicken  yard," 
and  another,  the  branches  of  which,  on  the 
outside,  hung  over  the  same  yard,  and  thus 
bore  and  matured  a  splendid  crop  of  fruit ; 
whilst  other  trees,  including  the  other  half  of 
the  second  named  tree,  which  were  not  so 
situated,  did  not  mature  half  a  dozed  plums,  al- 
though there  was  no  difference  in  the  blossom- 
ing or  setting  of  the  fruit.  The  yard  alluded 
to  had  been  kept  for  that  purpose  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  the  surface  trodden  down  toler- 
ably hard  by  the  poultry,  and  nowhere  yield- 
ing a  single  spear  of  grass ;  the  central  tree, 
forming  a  shade,  resorted  to  by  the  poultry 
during  the  day  to  get  out  of  the  sun,  and  where 
they  often  were  fed.  Reader,  make  a  mark  of 
this,  and  try  the  "  corn-dodg-(er),"  anyhow, 
when  convenient.  R. 


TO  KILL  PEA  WEEVILS. 


MANY  years'  experience  has  satisfied  me  of  the 
eflicacy  of  "spirits  of  turpentine"  for  the 
preservation  of  peas  and  beans  from  the  weevil. 
For  the  garden,  put  the  peas  and  beans  in  a  com- 
mon glass  bottle,  with  a  few  pieces  of  paper  satu- 
rated with  spirits  of  turpentine,  and  cork  tightly. 

Last  year  I  preserved  my  field  peas  perfectly 
sound  and  bright  by  placing  strips  of  paper  saturated 
with  turpentine  in  the  bottom  of  a  flour  barrel, 
then  a  bushel  of  peas,  and  again  strips  of  paper  as 
above,  until  the  barrel  was  full.  The  peas,  when 
taken  out  late  to  plant,  late  in  June,  were  sound, 
and  no  sign  of  the  weevil  about  them ;  a  few  not 
used  in  planting  are  still  free  from  weevil  at  this 
date.  My  invariable  success  with  spirits  of  turpen- 
tine, in  the  preservation  of  peas  and  beans,  justifies 
m9  in  recommending  the  above  method.  Care 
should  be  observed  not  to  pour  the  turpentine  on 
1  he  peas,  or  they  will  not  germinate. — Cor.  Field 
end  Factory. 

Tbe  weevil  lays  her  eg^s  in  the  pods  of  the  peas 
in  s  imraer,  where  they  hatch,  and  the  larva  or 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


27 


grub  penetrates  to  the  pea,  in  which  it  undergoes 
its  transformations.  Now,  if  the  turpentine  does 
any  g<^od,  it  is  in  destroying  the  beetle  or  its  larva 
while  in  the  pea,  not  in  protecting  the  pea  from  the 
attacks  of  this  insect ;  and  the  sooner  the  remedy  is 
applied  after  the  peas  are  gathered  the  belter,  be- 
cause the  grubs  in  them  are  at  this  time  quite 
small. 

The  bean  weevil  is  another  very  destructive  in- 
sect of  similar  habits,  which  probably  would  also  be 
destroyed  by  the  use  of  spirits  of  turpentine  if  ap- 
plied in  the  same  manner  soon  after  the  crop  was 
harvested. — Ag.  Ed.  M'eekly  Sun. 

"Pea  weevils"  and  "bean  weevils"  are 
tolerably  abundant  in  Lancaster  county  in 
some  seasons— especially  the  former,  and  we 
therefore  offer  the  above  to  our  readers  for 
what  it  may  be  worth,  on  "  due  trial  and  ex- 
amination." "We  confess,  however,  that  no- 
thing but  a  practical  test  would  entirely  con- 
vince us  of  its  etlkacy.  We  apprehend  that 
it  would  take  a  good  deal  of  turpentine  to  kill 
either  the  larva  or  imago,  snugly  ensconsedas 
they  are  in  their  thin  separate  pea,  and  sur- 
rounded by  an  almost  impervious  integument 
— enough,  perhaps,  to  impair  the  quality,  if 
not  the  vitality,  of  the  pea.  We  have  seen 
this  remedy  in  print  long  ago,  and  it  always 
seems  to  imply  that  the  pea  weevil  deposits 
its  eggs  upon  or  in  the  peas  after  they  are  ripe 
and  gathered.  If  this  was  the  case,  turpen- 
tine would,  doubtless,  prevent  the  insect  from 
approaching  the  seeds  to  make  a  deposit  of 
its  eggs  in  such  a  place. 

But,  unfortunately,  as  the  editor  above 
justly  remarks,  the  embryo  of  the  insect  is  al- 
ready in  the  peas  when  they  are  gathered  and 
stored  away.  Still,  as  "  many  years  of  expe- 
rience," has  satisfied  the  correspondent  above 
alluded  to  of  the  "  ciricacy"  of  the  remedy, 
it  may  also  satisfy  others,  and  therefore  may 
be  worthy  of  a  trial.  But  has  it  ever  occurred 
to  this  experimenter  that  some  season.^,  often 
several  seasons  in  succession,  there  are  few 
or  no  pea  weevils,  especially  in  the  more 
northern  localities  of  our  country,  and  that 
he  may  have  struck  one  or  more  of  these  ? 

R. 


Fried  Halibut. — Have  the  slices  seasoned 
some  hours  before  frying,  as  it  will  be  less 
liable  to  break  in  turning  ;  when  ready  to  fry, 
dip  it  in  egg  beaten  up  and  roll  it  in  bread 
crumbs  ;  then  fry  in  hot  lard,  or  have  three  or 
four  slices  of  sweet  salt  pork  fried  till  quite 
orown  and  crisp,  and  then  fry  the  halibut  in 
the  hot  lard  which  came  from  the  pork.  Dish 
it  and  lay  the  crisp  brown  pork  around  it. 


BOTANY 


BOTANY, 


BY  JACCB   STAUFFER. 


THIS  term  does  not  merely  include  a  list 
of  names  and  dry  descriptions  of  plants 
as  many  would  infer  from  the  books  pub- 
lished on  botany.  It  embraces  not  only  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  but  the  structure  and  or- 
ganization of  plants.  This  comprehends 
whatever  relates  to  the  various  forms  of  tis- 
sues of  which  plants  are  anatomically  con- 
structed; it  explains  the  exact  organization 
of  all  those  parts  through  which  the  vital, 
functions  are  performed;  and  the  relation 
that  one  part  bears  to  another,  with  the  de- 
pendence of  the  whole  upon  the  common  sys- 
tem. 

Descriptive  botany  is  simply  an  expression 
of  language  by  which  one  plant  may  be  known 
from  another,  without  necessarily  impressing 
the  mind  so  as  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the 
fundamental  laws,  or  physiology  of  plants. 
Vegetable  physiology  belongs  to  the  highest 
branch  of  natural  science,  and  is  not  merely 
a  general  idea  of  external  form,  or  a  vague 
notion  of  internal  anatomy,  but  the  most  pre 
else  knowledge  that  the  nature  of  the  subject 
will  admit. 

What  is  termed  Morphology— a.  word  which 
signifies  literally  the  "  science  of  changes  or 
transformations,"  a  very  important  and  inter- 
esting branch  of  comparative  anatomy  in 
plants  or  animals.  It  is  found  that  vegetable 
structure  follows  certain  laws,  and  varies  in  a 
simple  change  or  plan  of  arrangement,  and 
the  study  of  which  constitutes  the  basis  of  the 
theory  of  botany.  These  laws  are  so  general 
that  we  scarcely  pay  attention  to  them  ;  but 
our  curiosity  is  at  once  excited  when  thpy 
seem  to  be  violated  by  an  abnormal  develop- 
ment, or  so  marked  through  degeneracy,  abor- 
tion and  cohesion  with  which  the  vegetable 
kingdom  abounds. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  view  the  leaves, 
flowers  and  fruit,  so  evident  to  our  senses, 
and  dissimilar,  as  diflerent  states  of  a  definite 
outgrowth.  We  can  hardly  conceive  that  the 
pure  white  petals  of  the  lily,  the  rich  red  flow- 
ers of  the  rose,  the  sweet-smelling  blossoms 
of  the  jasmine  and  the  orange,  or  the  long 
trumpet-shaped  corollas  of  the  honeysuckle, 
should  all    be    transformed   leaves,  or  that 


28 


TEE   LAJVCASTER  EARMER. 


the  stamens  in  which  the  utilizing  powder 
is  locked  up,  the  pistils  which  are  destined 
to  receive  the  influence  of  the  pollen,  the 
ovules  that  they  contain,  and  finally,  the 
fruit  which  is  the  result  of  the  action  of  the 
two  last,  are  all  so  many  parts  formed  out 
of  one  common  organ,  which  in  a  very  par- 
ticular and  frequent  state  is  what  we  call  a 
leaf.  It  need  not  be  inferred  that  when  we 
eat  an  apple,  or  an  orange,  or  a  peach,  we  are 
under  a  mental  delusion,  and  simply  fancy  en- 
joying its  delicious  flavors,  while  we  are  really 
chewing  the  leaves  of  the  plants.  Still,  it  is 
no  less  true  that  they  are  so  developed  by  cer- 
tain laws  to  produce  such  results  by  certain 
fixed  laws  and  a  generally  uniform  plan  with 
respect  to  each  other  ;  so  that  all  the  other  or- 
gans, whether  calyx,  corrola,  stamens,  pistils 
or  fruit,  have  an  atomical  structure  essentially 
the  same,  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  axis 
that  they  grow  upon,  are  developed  accord- 
ing to  the  same  laws,  are  arranged  upon  the 
same  certain  and  uniform  plan  as  before  said, 
and  finally,  are  constantly  becoming  trans- 
formed into  leaves  of  the  ordinary  appear- 
ance, thus  losing  the  condition  in  which 
they  are  usually  found,  and  reverting  to  their 
structural  type.  It  does  not  follow  that  our 
knowledge  becomes  obscured  by  witnessing 
the  second  development  of  green  leaves  from 
that  of  flowers,  as  any  one,  who  has  paid  at- 
tention to  the  subject,  frequently  meets  with 
cases  of  such  transformation — but  on  the  con- 
trary enables  us  the  better  to  understand  the 
real  nature  of  the  organization  of  any  part,  and 
the  plan  upon  which  the  most  complicated  ar- 
rangement of  these  organs  has  been  effected. 
For  example,  who  is  to  explain  how  it  hap- 
pens that  buds  occasionally  spring  from  the 
axis  of  petals  or  sepals,  that  anthers  are 
found  bearing  ovules,  that  branches  push  forth 
from  the  center  of  pistils,  that  petals  become 
antheriferous  and  stamens  petaloid,  unless 
the  proposition  is  admitted  that  all  these  ap- 
parently different  parts  are  formed  upon  a 
common  plan,  the  type  of  which  is  a  leaf,  and 
hence  all  interchangably  convertible  into  each 
other  ? 

The  microscope  has  brought  to  light  many 
wonderful  physiological  facts,  showing  the 
foresight  and  wisdom  with  which  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  universe  have  been  adapted  by 
the  Great  Author  of  our  being  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  objects  for  which  they 
have  been  severally  intended. 


The  vegetable  tissues,  how  admirably  adapt- 
ed by  its  cellular  structure  ;  capable  of  indefi- 
nite extension ;  possessing  also  prodigious  com- 
pressibility, its  particles  either  cohering  firmly 
or  loosely,  according  to  circumstances;  its 
sides  composed  of  a  most  delicate  membrane, 
through  which  fluid  and  gaseous  matter  passes 
readily  in  every  direction,  is  destined  to  form 
the  principal  mass  of  the  vegetable,  and  to 
execute  all  those  functions  with  which  ab- 
sorption and  respiration  are  connected.  The 
fibrous  tissue,  composed  of  myriads  of  threads 
compactly  combined  into  bundles,  dispersed 
through  the  cellular  substance  which  supplies 
the  place  of  bones  and  nerves  found  ic  the 
animal  economy,  aflbrding  strength,  solidity 
and  elasticity  to  the  most  delicate  parts ; 
while  the  vascular  tissue  exclusively  intended 
for  the  reception  and  rapid  transmission  of 
gaseous  and  liquid  matter  from  the  roots  to 
the  extremities,  is  most  wisely  contrived  and 
most  carefully  prepared  by  its  spiral  struct- 
ure, for  extending  and  turning,  as  the  cellular 
substance  develops,  to  those  parts  where  the 
peculiar  matter  that  ic  contains  is  most  re- 
quired. There  is  no  confusion ;  each  part  has 
its  peculiar  functions  assigned  to  it,  for  which 
it  has  been  especially  destined  and  for  which 
it  is  specifically  adapted.  The  leaves  may  be 
considered  to  perform  the  fuctions  of  the 
stomach  in  animals,  (hat  is,  it  is  in  them  that 
the  fluid  matter  taken  up  by  the  roots,  and 
injected  into  them  from  the  stem,  is  digested 
and  inspissated,  and  separated  into  the  nu- 
tritious and  excremental  portions.  This  di- 
gestion of  the  leaves  is  chiefly  by  the  absorp- 
tion of  carbonic  acid,  the  emission  of  oxygen, 
and  the  evaporation  of  water,  with  suitable 
provisions  to  guard,  to  a  certain  extent, 
against  excessive  dryness,  moisture  and  cli- 
mate changes,  or  atmospheric  vicissitudes. 
[To  be  continued.) 


THE  COW  TREE. 

Among  the  many  curious  phenomena  pre- 
sented to  the  traveler,  none  affect  the  imagi- 
nation more  powerfully  than  the  "  Galactod- 
endon  Utile,"  or  Cow  Tree.  This  useful  tree 
grows  on  the  parched  side  of  rocks  among 
the  mountains  of  Venezuela,  and  has  dry, 
leathery  foliage,  with  large,  woody  roots 
scarcely  penetrating  the  ground.  For  several 
mouths  in  the  year  the  leaves  are  not  moist- 
ened by  a  shower ;  the  branches  look  dead 


THE  LAJy  CASTER  FARMER. 


29 


and  withered,  but  when  the  trunk  is  bored,  a 
bland  and  nourishing  milk  flows  from  it.  The 
vegetable  fountain  flows  most  freely  at  sun- 
rise, and  at  that  time  the  natives  are  seen 
coming  from  all  quarters  provided  with  large 
bowls  to  receive  the  milk,  which  grows  yel- 
low and  thickens  at  the  surface.  Some  empty 
their  vessels  on  the  spot,  while  others  carry 
their  contents  to  their  children. 


Number  of  Hens  to  a  Cock. — We  have 
no  hesitancy  in  recommending  to  breeders 
the  following  ratio  of  hens  to  a  cock  of  the 
breeds  named  :  Houdans,  twenty  hens  to  two 
cocks  ;  Creve-ca3urs,  eight  hens  to  one  cock  ; 
Buff"  Cochins,  twenty -four  hens  to  two  cocks  ; 
Gray  Dorkings,  ten  hens  to  one  cock ;  White 
Leghorns,  fourteen  hens  to  one  cock;  Span- 
ish, twelve  hens  to  one  cock;  Ilamburghs, 
fourteen  hens  to  one  cock ;  Polands,  twelve 
hens  to  one  cock;  Game,  ten  hens  to  one 
cock.  With  this  proportion  of  hens  to  a  cock, 
the  vitality  of  the  eggs  will  prove  good,  and 
at  least  eleven  out  of  twelve  set  will  produce 
chicks.  For  breeding  purposes,  we  inclose  in 
a  yard  ten  or  fifteen  hens  of  each  variety  we 
wish  to  propagate,  and  with  them  one  cock. 
If  we  have  two  or  more  cocks  whose  qualities 
are  equal,  we  think  it  preferable  to  change 
every  two  days,  leaving  only  one  cock  with 
the  hens  at  a  time.  Two  weeks  are  necessary 
to  procure  full-bloods  ;  and  we  prefer  the  eggs 
the  third,  rather  than  the  second  week. 


Heading  off  the  Borer. — A  writer  in 
the  Canadian  Farmer  says  one  mode  of  doing 
this  is  to  rub  the  trees  over  with  common  soap 
—soft  soap  will  do  very  well — early  in  June, 
;  ust  before  the  beetles  lay  their  eggs.  Another 
mode  suggested,  is  to  plaster  over  the  trunk  of 
the  tree  with  a  thick  mixture  of  cow-dung  and 
clay ;  this  is  said  to  prevent  the  egress  of  the 
insect,  and  causes  it  to  die  underneath. 
Thinks  it  would  also  prevent  the  eggs  being 
laid  on  the  tree,  or  at  any  rate  be  a  hiuderance 
to  the  newly  hatched  grub  in  his  attempts  to 
penetrate  the  bark. 


CORRESPONDENCE, 

Editors  Lancaster  Farmer:  At  the 
last  meeting  of  the  Horticultural  and 
iigricultural  Society,  held  at  Lancaster,  a  pa- 
per was  read  from  the  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture in  regard  to  the  proper  time  of  apply- 
ing manure  to  the  wheat  crop.  The  commis- 
sioner contends  that  the  application  of  fresh 


stable  manure  to  the  land  just  before  seeding 
is  to  some  extent  injurious,  or  at  least  not 
the  proper  time  of  applying  it. 

His  plan  is  to  put  the  raw  stable  manure 
on  the  ground  in  the  sprinsr,  raise  a  crop  of 
corn,  and  the  following  spring  seed  to  oats, 
and  in  the  fall  follow  with  wheat  without  any 
additional  manure.  He  asserts  that  on  this 
plan  he  has  raised  crops  of  wheat  that  have 
not  been  aff'ected  by  the  general  decline  that 
has  attended  the  crop  for  years  past. 

This  failure  of  the  wheat  crop  has  been  the 
cause  of  much  speculation  and  solicitude 
among  cultivators.  Various  theories  are  ad- 
vanced from  time  to  time,  but  very  little  has 
resulted  in  anything  practical.  The  great  im- 
portance of  the  question  should,  however,  in- 
duce us  to  examine  into  all  plans  that  have  a 
plausible  appearance. 

For  this  reason  I  looked  around  my  locality 
but  could  find  no  one  that  had  worked  a  rota- 
tion on  that  plan.  A  rotation  that  somewhat 
approaches  it  is  practiced  by  a  few,  as  fol- 
lows: a  clover  sod  is  plowed  in  the  spring, 
from  50  to  100  bushels  of  lime  spread  thereon, 
and  is  then  planted  to  corn.  The  following 
spring  this  ground  is  well  manured  and  plant- 
ed to  corn  again.  In  the  fall  the  corn  is  cut 
off"  and  shocked  in  rows  40  or  50  yards  apart, 
and  the  intermediate  spaces  are  plowed  up 
and  seeded  to  wheat,  and  on  the  following 
year  the  wheat  is  repeated.  All  these  crops 
being  raised  from  one  dressing  of  lime  and 
one  of  stable  manure,  and  they  are  fully  equal 
to  the  best  crops  raised  on  freshly  manured 
ground. 

A  second  approach  to  it  is  the  seeding  of 
tobacco  ground.  This  is  usually  heavily  man- 
ured with  fresh  stable  manure  in  the  spring, 
and  afrer  the  tobacco  is  harvested  the  gronnd 
is  seeded  to  wheat,  with  a  result  usually  bet- 
ter than  the  freshly  manured  oat  stubble,  thus 
creating  the  impression  that  tobacco  is  not 
an  exhaustive  crop ;  when  it  really  is  one  of 
the  most  exhaustive  crops  that  can  be  planted. 
The  foregoing  examination  seems  to  favor 
the  conclusions  of  Commissioner  Watts :  that 
it  will  prove  a  complete  remedy  for  the  fail- 
ure of  the  wheat  crop  is  not  probable,  but  if 
it  should  prove  only  one  step  in  the  right  di- 
rection, it  will  be  well  worthy  the  attention 
of  the  readers  of  the  Farmer. 

Casper  Hiller. 
Co7iestoga,  Jan.  8, 1872. 


30 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


LANCASTER,  FEBRUARY,  1872. 

S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editors. 

Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Agricul- 
tural AUD  HOUTICULTUKAL  SOCIETY. 


1^1.^5  per  year  in  advance. 


A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 


All  communications,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Kathvon  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remittances  to  the 
addressof  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


MEETIKG  OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL 
AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

THE  society  met  January  1st,  1872,  in  the 
Orphans'  Court  room,  and  after  the 
reading  and  approval  of  the  minutes,  Presi- 
dent  Engle  proceeded  to  read  his  valedictory 
address  upon  the  conclusion  of  his  official  term. 

^ym.  R.  Seltzer,  of  Ephrata,  Tobias  D. 
Martin  and  W.  L.  Hershey,  were  elected  mem- 
bers of  the  society. 

Levi  S.  Reist  spoke  of  the  success  so  far  of 
the  agricultural  society,  and  reflected  with 
some  regret  upon  the  jealousy  of  certain  in- 
dividuals connected  with  the  press  in  this 
county,  and  remarked  that  if  our  society  was 
supported  by  the  entire  press  of  the  county  it 
would  become  one  of  the  most  influential  so- 
cieties in  the  whole  State. 

Joseph  C.  Snyder  presented  to  the  society 
the  "  Annual  Report  of  the  Chief  of  the  Bu- 
reau of  Statistics  on  Commerce  and  Kayiga- 
tion"  for  1870.    Yote  of  thanks  passed. 

Simon  P.  Eby  drew  attention  to  a  letter  of 
Judge  Watts,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture. 
The  letter  was  on  motion  read  by  the  secre- 
tary. 

Jacob  Stauffer,  H.  M.  Engle  and  Peter  S. 
Reist  made  some  general  remarks  as  to  the 
requirements  of  soil  in  order  to  keep  it  in  a 
condition  of  fertility. 

H.  M.  Engle  spoke  of  the  matter  of  allowing 
land  to  rest^  and  did  not  seem  to  believe  any- 
thing was  gained  by  this  method,  provided 
sufficient  nutriment  was  added ;  he,  however, 


stated  that  the  permitting  of  the  ground  to 
remain  in  grass  certainly  adds  to  its  fertility. 

P.  S.  Reist  referred  to  the  habit  of  farmers 
in  the  olden  time  allowing  their  land  to  rest ; 
he  did  not  believe  it  essential.  He  neverthe- 
less believes  that  land  is  benefited  by  resting. 
He  considers  that  manure  should  be  applied 
to  land  as  soon  as  it  can  be  after  it  is  taken 
out  of  the  stables. 

E.  Hoover  thought  that  owing  to  the  high 
price  of  land  in  Lancaster  county  it  is,  as  a 
usual  thing,  overworked,  and  this  in  his  opinion 
is  a  main  reason  for  the  failure  of  our  crops. 
Farmers  must  be  more  sparing  of  their  farms 
if  they  expect  to  get  them  in  good  crop-pro- 
ducing condition  in  the  future. 

Jacob  Staufter  said  that  when  ammonia  is 
escaping  from  manure,  by  scattering  salt  over 
it  the  ammonia  becomes  absorbed  and  the 
strength  is  retained  in  the  manure. 

S.  P.  Eby  seemed  to  discern  the  philosophy 
of  manuring  wheat. 

Mr.  Engle  recommended  his.  composting 
system,  and  P.  S.  Reist  in  his  hauling  the 
manure  out  as  soon  as  it  is  taken  from  the 
stable.  The  great  object  is  to  adopt  that 
method  which  will  be  to  prevent  the  escape 
of  ammonia. 

E.  Hoover  wants  his  manure  plowed  down 
as  soon  as  it  is  hauled  out. 

On  motion,  society  went  into  an  election  for 
officers  to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year.  The 
old  officers  were  all  re-elected  by  acclamation. 

The  Chair  appointed  D.  G.  Swariz  as  es- 
sayist for  the  February  meeting  of  the  society. 

Society,  an  motion,  adjourned. 


An  Old  Settler  on  Thistles.— No  good 
farmer  need  be  afraid  of  thistles.  We  know 
this  by  trial.  Fifty  years  ago  we  bought  most 
of  this  farm— all  woods  then,  nearly.  Wood 
was  nearly  all  cut  to  boil  salt,  and  hauled 
twelve  miles.  Of  course,  the  land  was  cleared 
slowly,  and  Canada  and  Bull  Thistles  overran 
the  farm.  Yet  no  man  in  the  county  beat  us 
raising  grain  of  all  kinds  when  we  got  at  it. 
There  were  then  no  reapers,  no  threshing 
machines.  I  have  threshed  3,000  bushels  of 
grain  in  one  year  with  two  horses  ;  hauUd 
wheat  to  Albany  on  a  wagon  fifty  years  ago 
this  winter.  I  can  show  titles  of  land  with 
Asaver  C.  Fag's  name  to  them ;  Benjamin 
Knower,  State  Treasurer ;  Simeon  Dewitt, 
Surveyor-General.    I  worked  land  here  before 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


31 


one  shovelful  of  dirt  was  thrown  out  of  the 
Erie  Canal.  I  saw  Scott's  army  go  by  and  stay 
in  this  town  over  night.  He  was  then  only 
twenty-six  years  old.  What  would  boys  say 
now  to  our  old-time  tools  ?  On  the  8th  day  of 
March,  1817,  we  saw  in  Albany  two  pairs  of 
c:ood  horses  loaded  with  one  rope,  bound  for 
Buffalo ;  the  teamster  got  S300  to  take  it  there. 
What  changes  since  !— O.Smith, ilfanZms  Cen- 
ter, Dec,  1871. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 


HARLEQUIN  CABBAGE  BUG. 

INCLOSED  I  send  you  a  specimen  of  a  bug 
which  made  its  appearance  here  about  Ibiee 
years  since.  They  are  numerous  in  many  p'aces, 
and  very  destructive  to  cabbabe  and  rutabagi's. 
They  completely  destroyed  my  entire  crop  of  .cab- 
bage this  year,  not  leaving  one  sprout.  I  tried 
sprinkling  lime  and  then  soot,  to  no  effect,  except 
to  drive  them  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  leaf. 
Can  you  tell  me  the  name  and  how  to  get  rid  of 
them,  and  oblige  ?  Y.  M.  S. 

Stony  Hill,  Richmond  county,  Va. 

This  is  certainly  a  formidable  pest,  and  is  no  other 
than  the  Harlequin  cabbage  bug  (strachia  liistrion- 
ita  of  Hahn.)  The  first  account  we  have  of  its 
habits  ig  that  given  by  Dr.  Gideon  Lincecum,  of 
Washington  county,  Texas,  in  the  first  volume  of 
the  "  Practical  Entomologist,"  p.  110,  1866.  At 
first  it  was  supposed  that  this  insect  would  confine 
itself  to  the  more  Southern  States,  but  in  this  all 
have  been  disappointed,  for  every  season  since  the 
time  named  we  have  received  specimens  from  lo- 
calities which  showed  that  it  was  gradually  woik- 
iug  northward,  a  few  having  been  received  this 
year  from  the  Southern  counties  of  Pennsylvania. 
This  destructive  pest  does  not  confine  itself  to  the  cab- 
bage, but  will  eat  turnips,  horseradish,  mustard,  and 
every  plant  belonging  to  the  crucifo  ai  or  mustard 
family.  The  gay  appearance  of  this  bug,  it  being 
beautifully  marked  with  blaok  anJ  yellow,  no 
doubt  suggested  the  name  of  Harlequin.  The  per- 
fect insect  lives  through  winter,  and  is  therefore 
ready  to  deposit  iN  eggs  upon  the  first  cabbage  or 
other  plant  of  the  same  family  that  app3ars  in 
spring.  Many  ditterent  methods  of  destroymg  it 
have  been  suggested  and  tried,  but  we  do  not  know 
of  any  that  have  met  witli  success,  except  that  of 
handpicking,  although  this  is  an  almost  endless  task 
where  the  bugs  are  abundant.  Birds  or  domestic 
fowls  will  not  touch  them,  and  there  seems  to  be 
little  hope  of  checking  the  ravages  of  this  pest  un- 
less soine  chemical  compound  is  discovered  that 
will  destroy  them  and  at  the  same  time  i  ot  inju. 
-the  plants.  We  would  suggest  trying  powdered 
white  hellebore,  the  same  as  used  to  destroy  the 
currant  worm.  In  fact  those  who  ht.ve  the  oppor- 
tunity should  not  cease  their  efforts  to  discover  a 
preventive  until  one  is  found. 

We  have  been  informed  that  the  "  Harle- 
quin cabbage  bug"  has  been  found  in  the 
southern  townships  of  Lancaster  county,  but 


we  have  not  received  any  specimens  of  it  yet. 
It  affects  cruciferous  vegetation  pretty  much 
the  same  as  the  "  squash-bug  "  does  the  cu- 
curbitacecc,  causing  them  to  wilt  and  die  as 
surely  as  if  they  had  been  scalded,  and  they 
continue  reproducing  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  spring  and  summer  season.  We  have 
found  several  allied  species — Scutellerida — in 
this  county  twenty  years  ago,  and  there  seems 
to  be  no  special  assignable  reason  why  Stra- 
chia histrionica  may  not  eventually  become 
domicilated  here  also.  We  do  not  wish  evil 
to  our  neighbors,  although  we  do  wish  that 
this  insect,  if  it  must  be  in  the  land,  would 
come  no  further  north  than  it  is,  for,  aside 
from  our  beets,  turnips  and  radishes,  we  would 
not  like  to  see  our  "saur-kraut "  in  jeopardy. 
]fit(?ofs  come,  however,  a  united  effort  at 
hand-picking  will  be  necessary  to  exterminate 
it ;  but,  if  other  remedies  must  be  resorted  to, 
then  in  addition  to  the  remedy  above  named, 
"Paris  green,"  carefully  and  judiciously  ap- 
plied, would,  no  doubt,  prove  an  effective  ex- 
tinguisher. Like  all  the  Sciitelleridce,  this  is  a 
hybernatiug  insect,  and  must  be  first  looked 
for  early  in  the  spring,  when  it  is  in  the  act 
of  laying  it»  first  brood  of  eggs  on  the  lower 
side  of  the  leavesof  its  favorite  plants. 

E. 


IS  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  ELECTRICITY 
ON  THE  VEGETABLE  KINGDOM  EN- 
TIRELY VENTILATED  AND  EX- 
PLODED ? 


MESSRS.  EDITORS  :— I  did  not  thiuk 
that  I  would  again  trouble  you  with 
any  more  of  my  scribbling,  but  iu  looking  over 
the  last  Farmer,  I  found  an  article  over  the 
signature  of  J.  B.  Garber,  Eeq.,  who  seems  to 
be  shooting  thunder  at  a  nameless  friend. 
Now  1  do  not  exactly  know  for  whom  the  fire 
was  intended,  but  after  reading  his  production 
carefully,  it  appeared  to  me  to  have  such  a 
strong  bearing  on  an  article  that  I  handed  you, 
and  which  you  saw  proper  to  publish  in  the 
December  number,  that  I  take  it  for  grant- 
ed that  it  is  me  that  his  attention  was  di- 
rected to.  It  therefore  becomes  necessary  for 
me  again  to  ask  your  indulgence  for  occupy- 
ing your  time  and  attention,  whilst  I  will  en 
deavor  to  maintain  the  position  I  assumed, 
however  new,  or  howevtr  full  of  electricity,  or 


3^ 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


goose-egg  blackberries,  tbe  theory  may  seem 
to  be. 

Our  good-humored  friend  certainly  wouldn't 
have  had  need  to  have  troubled  himself 
about  guessing  that  I  too  was  on  the  lookout 
for  something  that  would  enable  me  to  raise 
from  thirty  to  forty  bushels  of  wheat  to  the 
acre,  for  this  appears  to  me  should  be  the 
natural  inclination  of  all.  I  will,  therefore,with 
the  permission  of  our  fortunate  friend  with  a 
name,  class  myself  among  that  number,  unfor- 
tunate and  nameless  as  I  am.  I  do  not  care  so 
much  for  a  name  as  I  do  for  the  game,  especi- 
ally the  game  where  there  is  so  much  labor 
involved,  and  which  is  of  so  much  interest  to 
us  all. 

Kow,  Messrs.  Editors,  let  us  see  how  far 
our  friend  has  succeeded  in  ventilating  and 
exploding  the  theory  '•  that  electricity  has  a 
salutary  influence  on  all  vegetation."  He  does 
not  deny  that  it  is  a  powerful  agent  either  for 
good  or  evil.  He,  however,  seems  to  be  very 
full  of  doubt  as  to  the  good  it  may  have  done 
to  the  wheat  crop  last  season,  and  refers  to 
his  record  (which  unfortunately  I  do  not  keep) 
for  facts,  from  which  it  appears  that  out  of 
ten  years  there  were  seven  years  that  had 
more  thunder-storms  than  the  year  1871,  in 
the  months  of  April,  May,  and  June.  The 
truth  of  this  I  do  not  doubt ;  but  if  he  would 
have  given  us  the  record  for  the  whole  season 
it  might  perhaps  have  changed  the  table  some- 
what. My  remarks  were  made  from  recollec- 
tion and  from  record,  and  were  intended  for 
the  whole  season.  I  also  stated  that  these 
storms  were  attended  with  more  intensely 
vivid  lightning  than  we  had  for  some  time  be- 
fore. From  the  number  of  buildiugs  that  were 
struck  and  consumed  by  the  fluid  last  season, 
I  would  infer  that  it  was  brought  in  very  close 
contact  with  old  mother  earth,  and  would 
again  say  that  it  might  have  imparted  that  es- 
sential ingredient  to  the  earth,  or  to  the  plant 
itself,  that  was  requisite  to  produce  the  crop. 

The  number  of  storms,  however,  is  a  matter 
of  very  little  consequence  ;  one  will  suffice, 
if  the  fluid  is  properly  applied  and  at  the  right 
time,  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  as  well  as  on 
the  human  body,  as  I  think  was  very  plainly 
shown  in  the  extraordinary  case  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Winder,  to  which  I  had  reference  before. 

I  presume  that  our  friend  will  be  ready  to 
admit  that  we  did  not  knowingly  ad  1  anything 
to  the  soil  that  Drought  about  thi^  beneficial 


result,  and  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  at- 
mospheric fertilizers  or  atmospheric  influence 
on  all  plants.  Now,  Messrs.  Editors,  until 
our  friend  will  show  that  it  was  something 
that  was  done  by  the  farmer  that  brought 
about  this  happy  result,  I  must  continue  to 
believe  that  it  was  nature's  laws  operating 
with  nature's  great  laboratory,  the  earth,  that 
supplied  the  deficiency  which  wrought  the 
change,  and  that  electricity  might  have  done 
its  share  of  the  work.  Our  friend  says  that 
in  California  there  were  no  tliunder-gusts 
known  until  last  season,  still  they  had  better 
wheat  and  larger  yield  than  we  could  raise, 
and  that  the  season  of  1871  was  more  of  a 
failure  of  the  wheat  crop  than  for  many  years  ; 
and  then  asks  the  question,  could  the  thunder, 
which  was  new  to  them,  have  had  any  agency 
in  reducing  their  crop  ?  The  soil  in  Califor- 
nia being  new  and  no  doubt  possessing  all  the 
ingredients  required  for  the  successful  raising 
of  the  wheat  crop  together  with  the  favorable 
seasons,  wculd  seem  to  be  the  great  secret  of 
their  success.  But  the  Californians,  like  a 
great  many  others  in  new  countries,  may  have 
continued  a  succession  of  crops  until  the  most 
essential  ingredients  were  exhausted,  and  like 
ourselves,  are  to  grope  their  way  in  the  dark  ; 
and  hence  the  failure,  thunder  being  nothing 
more  than  the  report  of  exploded  electricity, 
which  might  have  taken  place  so  far  from  the 
earth  that  the  fluid  failed  to  have  an  effect. 
But  if  the  wheat  pla.it  is  of  a  very  nervous 
temperament,  and  susceptible  of  being 
frightened  out  of  a  year's  growth,  or  even  to 
death,  by  any  sudden  and  strange  noise,  then 
I  am  ready  to  admit  that  the  novel  and  terrific 
report  of  such  an  explosion  might  have  had  a 
detrimental  effect.  I  feel  as  if  I  was  entirely 
denuded  of  the  optical  magnifier,  of  which  our 
humorous  friend  speaks,  and  which  he  says 
he  didn't  use  to  examine  his  row  of  pota- 
toes with ;  yet  methinks  I  can  see  that  our 
friend  jumps  at  conclusions  too  hastily,  and 
endeavors  to  catch  lightning  by  the  tail  for 
the  purpose  of  retarding  its  progress.  Did 
not  our  friend  err,  in  his  experiment,  by  bury- 
ing the  wire  under  ground  (which  would  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  case  from  his  descrip- 
tion) along  the  line  of  his  row  of  potatoes '? 
Ought  he  not,  at  least,  to  have  left  one  end  of 
it  above  ground  for  the  purpose  of  attracting 
the  fluid  ?  But  when  attracted,  copper  being 
considered  one  of  the  best  conductors,  would 


THE  LAJy CASTER  FARMER. 


3S 


have'carried  it  along  his  row  of  potatoes  to  the 
other  end.  The  great  probability  is  that  it 
would  have  passed  along  the  row  (the  same 
as  the  cable  carries  it  through  the  Atlantic) 
and  been  discharged  in  the  earth,  at  the  other 
end,  away  from  the  roots  of  the  plants,  and 
consequently  be  of  no  benefit  to  his  "Mur- 
phys." 

AVould  his  experiment  not  have  succeeded 
much  better  if  he  would  have  cut  his  wire, 
and  inserted  the  pieces,  with  one  end  in  the 
ground,  along  his  row  of  potatoes,  about  the 
depth  they  were  planted,  thus  conducting  and 
bringing  it  in  contact  with  the  earth,  around 
the  roots  of  the  plant,  and  there,  by  nature's 
law,  be  mingled  with  the  earth,  and  in 
nature's  great  laboratory  be  converted  into 
nourishing  food  for  the  plants '?  I  however 
believe  that  no  experiment  will  succeed  as 
well  as  a  natural  application  of  this  fluid.  I 
very  often  have  to  call  into  play  the  article 
that  is  stuck  on  the  nasal  organ  for  the  pur- 
pose of  aiding  vision  ;  but  in  this  case  it  ap- 
pears to  me  I  can  see  enough  without  it — to 
know  that  the  more  knowledge  we  finite  men 
acquire,  the  better  we  must  know  that  we  are 
short-sighted  and  dull  in  comprehension,  when 
compared  with  that  infinite  wisdom  displayed 
in  nature. 

I  beg  pardon  for  allowing  myself  to  be  so 
fir  led  astray  as  to  mistake  the  drift  of  our 
friend's  argument,  but  with  all  deference  daa 
to  our,  apparently,  veiy  good-natured  friend, 
I  would  say,  that  it  looked  very  much  as  if  he 
had  made  the  comparison  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  the  worthle&sness,  or  extravagance, 
of  using  artificial  manure.  I,  therefore,  sim- 
ply made  another  comparison,  with  the  same 
poor,  old  Indian's  gun,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  artificial  manures  could  be  eco- 
nomically and  beneficially  used  ;  all  that  is 
necessary  is  to  know  how  and  when  to  apply 
them,  as  was  fully  illu3trated  iu  the  case  of 
"  Prof.  Mapes."  Our  friend  has  very  truly  said, 
that  some  things  may  be  done  as  well  as  oth- 
ers, and  asks  the  question,  might  not  the  poor 
Indian  have  purchased  a  bran  new  gun  with 
the  money  he  paid  for  repairing  the  old,one  ? 
Certainly  he  might,  if  the  charges  for  repairs 
were  high  enough,  but  even  new  things  some- 
times are  defective,  and  only  become  good  af- 
ter being  repaired. 

To  illustrate  this,  I  will  relate  a  case  I 
heard  a  few  days  ago  :  I  heard  aMr.  H.  state 


that  he  had  a  new  entry  door  at  his  barn,  and 
that  sometime  ago  his  bull  took  a  notion  to 
break  it;  as  was  quite  natural,  Mr.  H.  went 
to  work  to  repair  it,  making  it  much  stronger 
than  it  was  before,  and  he  said  the  scamp 
couldn't  break  it  since. 

As  I  do  not  consider  myself  competent  to 
appear  before  the  public  as  a  writer,  I  will, 
therefore,  close  by  subscribing  myself  an  hum- 
ble observer,  in  a  local  habitation,  and  pa- 
tiently awaiting  further  developments. 

January  15,  1872. 


ROTATING  MANURES. 

BY  DAVID   Z.   EVANS,  JR. 

THE  title  of  this  article  may,  and  no  doubt 
does,  sound  strange  to  many,  for,  al- 
though all  have  heard  of,  and  many  put  into 
practice,  rotating  crops,  yet  when  we  couple 
the  word  rotating  with  manures  it  has  a  rather 
odd  sound. 

That  rotating  manures  is  beneficial  to  land 
requires  but  a  few  trials  to  be  abundantly 
verified.  Even  the  best  of  all  manures,  stable 
manure,  which  possesses  most  of  the  elements 
suitable  for  sustaining  the  growth  of  vegeta- 
tion, is  no  exception  to  this  rule,  although  it 
can  undoubtedly  be  used  for  successive  years 
for  a  longer  period  than  almost  all  others, 
without  the  crops  showing  that  a  rotation  or 
change  would  be  advisable  or  desirable.  Next 
to  stable  manure,  in  point  of  permanency,  in 
my  opinion,  comes  the  pure  ground  bone,  or 
bone  meal  or  flour,  not  what  is  known  in  a 
commercial  sense  as  pure  ground  bone,  for 
most  of  this,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  more  or  less 
adulterated  with  some  foreign  or  bulky  sub- 
stance, as  we  have  found  out  by  experience, 
but  crushed  bones  and  bones  only ;  this  manure 
is  strong  in  plant  food,  and  will  for  several, 
perhaps  many  years,  support  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  vegetation,  especially  grass  or  clover, 
which  delight  in  an  abundance  of  it.  Peruvian 
guano  can  be  said,  and  rightfully,  too,  to  come 
next  to  bone  for  durability,  when  it  is  pure 
and  unadulterated,  and  can  be  applied  for 
several  years  to  almost  all  crops  with  marked 
good  results.  We  might  next  name  some  of 
the  phosphatps ;  but  having  tried  several 
kinds  without  any  flattering  results,  and  in 
some  cases  with  much  loss.  I  am  not  very  en- 
thusiastic in  their  praise,  for  where  you  find  a 


3Jf 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


sort  that  really  does  well,  the  effects  are  far 
from  being  permanent ;  nor  is  it  desirable  to 
apply  these  phosphates  year  after  year  to  the 
different  crops,  for  it  gradually  and  surely 
kills  the  soil,  and  here  it  is  that  we  see  the 
great  desirability  of  rotating  manures.  It  is 
with  the  soil  as  it  is  with  man,  so  to  speak. 
The  manure  put  on  is  the  food  the  land  re- 
quires for  supporting  the  growth  of  vegetation, 
its  allotted  task  ;  but  if  it  has  the  same  kind 
of  food  year  upon  year,  it  will  become  wearied 
in  well  doing,  just  the  same  as  a  man  would  if 
fed  on  one  kind  of  food  for  an  indefinite  period. 
A  rr  tation ,  say  from  manure  to  bone  or  to  green 
manuring,  will  work  such  a  great  change  as 
would  be  gratifying  to  all.  I  do  not  rtean  to 
substitute  one  for  the  other,  and  then  continue 
with  the  one  substituted  for  several  years,  but 
only  for  one  or  two  years  at  the  most,  after 
which  continue  the  rotation  in  favor  of  some 
other  fertilizer  of  a  desirable  nature,  when 
jou  can  then  revert  to  stable  manure,  and  at 
the  same  time  be  increasing  the  richness  and 
capacity  of  your  soil,  which  latter  should  be 
the  great  desideraium  with  all  would-be  farm- 
ers, and  is  with  all  thorough  ones.  There 
are  many  who  utterly  condemn  and  complain 
of  the  complete  worthlessness  of  all  the  phos- 
phates and  patent  manures  manufactured, 
having  been,  no  doubt,  at  some  past  time  se- 
verely bitten  with  ihem ;  but  I,  although 
badly  served  wiih  some,  will  be  more  gener- 
ous, for  I  think  that,  as  manures  to  use  in  the 
series  of  a  rotation,  the  best  and  purest  brands 
of  course  they  are  indeed  good.  I  have  seen 
much  of  it  basely  adulterated,  but  this  does 
not  say  that  all  is  so  done,  for  I  know  to  the 
contrary. 

I  know  that  some  of  the  readers  of  this  will 
consider  me  too  enthusiastic  or  over-zealous 
in  regard  to  the  rotation  problem  ;  but  if  they 
only  take  the  trouble  to  solve  it  as  we  have 
done,  they  will  tind  the  results  just  the  same 
and  in  good  keeping  with  what  I  have  just 
said,  I  koow  that  thus  far  comparative 
little  attention  has  been  paid  to  this  subject 
by  those  who  are  or  should  be  the  most  inter- 
ested in  it ;  and  why  it  is  so  I  cannot  imagine, 
for  its  importance  or  value  is  not  so  small  as 
to  be  unworthy  of  a  careful  attention,  when 
the  increased  richness  of  the  soil,  and  a&A 
matter  of  course,  the  greater  yield  obtained 
from  pursuing  such  a  case,  is  taken  into  con- 
sideration.   As  the  season  for  active  opera- 


tions on  the  farm  is  soon  to  commence,  I 
would  earnestly  a?k  the  farmers  to  give  this 
matter  a  trial,  for  it  deserves  it;  and  it  is  not 
necessary  to  make  the  experiment  on  a  large 
scale,  if  not  so  desired,  for  you  can  make  it 
upon  an  acre  or  so  without  much  or  any  ad- 
ditional expense  being  incurred  by  the  experi- 
menter. If  the  market  gardeners  would  only 
give  the  subject  of  rotating  manures  at  least 
one  trial,  usmg  green  manures,  if  convenient, 
the  results,  I  am  confident  to  assert,  would 
warrant  a  repetition  of  the  same,  or  rather  a 
continuance.  Of  course  you  must  use  your 
judgment  in  the  matter,  for  it  requires  fore- 
thought as  well  as  anything  else  does,  and 
must  not  be  rushed  at  blindly,  or  blunders 
might  be  the  legitimate  results  of  such  a  hasty 
course. — Mass.  Ploughman. 


TRUNING  TOO  LATE  IN  SPRING. 

In  passing  through  the  country  we  observed 
a  great  improvement  in  the  management  of 
newly  set  orchards.  Twenty  or  thirty  years 
ago  not  one  orchard  in  fifty  received  proper 
cultivation.  The  consequence  wjis  that  a  large 
majority  of  the  trees  set  out  either  perished 
in  a  few  years  or  else  made  a  feeble  and  sickly 
growth.  In  some  instances  not  ten  per  cent, 
survived.  An  extensive  observer,  whose  busi- 
ness gave  him  special  opportunities  for  judg- 
ing, informed  us  he  was  satisfied  that  among 
dwarf  pears  not  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  mul- 
titudes that  were  set  out  ever  made  a  good 
growth  or  came  into  successful  bearing.  But 
at  the  present  time,  total  neglect  has  become 
the  exception,  and  good  clean  cultivation  is 
more  and  more  common.  Thrifty  young  or- 
chards are  frequently  met  with,  and  good  fruit 
is  finding  its  way  among  all  classes. 

But  while  we  see  a  great  improvement,  so 
far  as  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  is  concerned, 
there  is  frequently  a  serious  loss  from  improper 
pruniag,  and  the  importance  of  observing  the 
right  season  for  the  work  is  less  understood. 
These  remarks  are  specially  suggested  at  the 
present  moment  by  seeing  a  large  and  newly- 
set  pear  orchard  nearly  ruined  by  cutting  back 
after  the  buds  had  opened.  The  trees  selected 
for  setting  out  were  of  good  size,  handsome 
and  thrifty  when  taken  up,  the  work  was  done 
in  the  best  manner,  and  the  ground  where 
they  stand  is  kept  clean  and  mellow,  and  in 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


35 


the  best  condition.  But  one  important  part 
of  the  work  has  been  done  wrong.  The  trees 
had  been  heeled  in  until  the  leaves  be^an  to 
expand ;  the  shoots  and  branches  were  then 
shortened' back  at  the  time  of  setting  out.  It 
is  now  midsummer,  and  none  of  them  have 
grown  half  an  inch — many  barely  survive. 
Had  the  cutting  been  performed  early  in 
spring,  when  the  trees  were  dug  up,  and  be- 
fore the  buds  had  swollen,  we  see  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  have  made  a  growth  of  a 
foot  or  two,  and  have  presented  a  thrifty  and 
handsome  appearance.  Nothing  checks  a 
young  tree  more  than  heading  back  too  late. 
Some  have  pronounced  the  practice  ot  cutting 
back  at  all  to  be  worse  than  useless,  because 
they  did  it  at  the  wrong  time.  Pears  and 
cherries  are  particularly  sensitive  to  this  man- 
agement. Young  cherry  trees  are  sometimes 
ruined  by  it.  We  have  seen  rows  of  standard 
pear  trees  in  a  nursery  that  had  been  budded 
the  previous  season,  actually  killed  by  scores, 
by  cutting  down  after  growth  had  commenced. 
We  have  had  occasion  to  speak  before  of  this 
error  in  practice  ;  but  while  the  subject  is  so 
commonly  misunderstood,  we  shall  have  to 
give  line  upon  line  until  the  error  is  corrected. 


PLANT  GRAPEVINES. 

It  is  surprising  that  so  many  families  in 
the  country  are  willing  to  live  year  after  year 
without  cultivating  a  single  grapevine  about 
their  dwellings.  They  are  compelled  to  pur- 
chase the  delicious  fruit  for  the  table,  or  not 
taste  it  during  the  season.  There  is  a  com- 
mon impression  that  to  cultivate  grapes  prop- 
erly, a  vast  amount  of  knowledge  and  tact  is 
required.  To  many,  the  simple  trimming  of 
a  vine  is  a  mystery,  more  ditiicult  to  compre- 
hend than  the  hardest  problem  of  Euclid. 
This  is  an  erroneous  view,  and  ought  not  to 
prevail.  Any  person  of  ordinary  intelligence 
can  learn  in  one  hour  how  to  trim  and  nou^  • 
ish  vines,  and  if  instruction  cannot  be  obtained 
from  some  experienced  cultivator,  Ihere  are 
books  filled  with  cuts  and  illustrations  which 
make  everything  plain.  Three  vines,. of  as 
many  different  varieties,  planted  in  some  sunny 
nook,  or  by  the  side  of  buildings,  so  as  to 
obtain  shelter,  will,  if  properly  cared  for,  fur- 
nish many  bushels  of  delicious  grapes  every 
year.  Select  a  Concord,  a  Delaware, and  Ad- 
riondack;  make  the  ground  mellow  and  rich. 


by  the  use  of  the  spade,  and  by  employing  old 
manure,  fine  ground  bone  and  ashes,  and  set 
out  the  plants.  In  three  years  the  rich  clus- 
ix^  will  appear,  and  in  four  years  the  product 
will  be  abundant. 

It  is  well  to  have  vines  planted  so  that  the 
waste  liquids  from  the  dwelling  can  be  used 
in  fertilization.  If  there  is  any  food  the  vine 
specially  loves,  it  is  the  soapy  liquids  which 
accumulate  on  washing  days  in  families. 
Vines  drenched  every  week  with  these  liquids 
will  flourish  amazingly,  and  extend  themselves 
so  as  to  cover  laige  buildings,  every  branch 
bearing  fruit.  We  say  to  our  readers  every- 
where, plant  vines — Journal  of  Chemistry. 

SOWING  OATS  IN  FEBRUARY. 

Several  years  since  I  seeded  oats  on  the 
last  snows  in  February.  The  result  was  the 
crop  ripened  two  weeks  earlier  than  that 
seeded  early  in  the  month  of  April,  and  a 
marked  diflTerence  of  product  in  favor  of  Feb- 
ruary  seeding  was  strikingly  perceptible,  say- 
ing nothing  of  the  advantage  gained  by  get- 
ting the  crop-in  market  in  advance. 

Wmter  oats,  sown  early  in  the  month  of 
October,  will  ripen  upward  of  a  month  earlier 
than  those  sown  in  April.  I  cannot  speak 
practically,  but  I  suppose  oats,  like  wheat  and 
rye,  can,  by  repeated  seeding  in  the  autumn, 
become  sutliciently  hardy  to  resist  the  winter 
frosts,  and  vice  versa.  I  was  told  a  short 
time  since  by  an  intelligent  Irish  farmer,  that 
in  Dublin  county,  Ireland,  oats  are  almost 
exclusively  sown  in  the  autumn. 

In  making  the  experiraeut  alluded  to,  I 
plowed  an  acre  of  light  loam  in  the  month 
of  November,  where  potatoes  were  previously 
grown.  Plowing  may  be  done  at  any  time 
during  the  winter,  when  the  ground  is  suffi- 
ciently dry  and  friable.  In  such  land  harrow- 
ing is  unnecessary,  fi-om  the  fact  that  the 
freezing  and  thawing  process  renders  the  soil 
sufficiently  level,  friable  and  in  good  condition 
to  receive  the  seed,  which  will  be  sufficiently 
covered  by  the  porous  condition  of  the  land. 
Previous  to  sowing,  the  oats  ought  to  be 
passed  through  a  fa'^nlug  mill,  giving  a  heavy 
blast  of  wind  for  the  purpose  of  separating 
the  light  oats  and  weed  seeds  from  the  heavy, 
well-ripened  oats.  After  the  plants  become 
sufficiently  rooted  and  the  soil  dry,  a  harrow 
ought  to  be  passed  over  the  crop,  followed  by 


36 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


a  roller.  Previous  to  harrowing  and  rolling, 
it  is  advisable  to  sow  clover  and  orchard  or 
mixed  grasses  for  a  succeeding  crop.  No 
advantage  can  be  gained  by  steeping  the  seed. 

An  advantage  will  be  gained,  however,  by 
coating  the  seed  (for  an  acre)  with  ten  bushels 
dry  sifted  ashes,  with  enough  beef  or  pork 
brine,  or  its  equivalent  in  salt,  using  black 
water  for  dilution  (brine  is  preferable,  because 
it  contains  nitre,  blood,  etc.),  to  produce  a 
mass  to  the  consistency  of  thick  cream  or 
lard;  i  ext  add  the  oats;  mix  by  turning  over 
the  mass  frequently,  or  until  the  oats  become 
well  coated  ;  then  dry  the  mass  with  sufficient 
gypsum  or  dry  screened  clay ;  screen  the  oats 
from  the  mass  and  sovv  immediately.  The 
screenings  will  be  valuable  for  the  potato  and 
other  crops,  or  for  the  preparation  of  addi- 
tional seed.  Two  to  three  bushels  of  oats  are 
sutBcient  to  seed  an  acre  ;  the  former  quantity 
if  the  seed  is  heavy,  short,  and  well  ripened. 
/S.,  Baltimore,  Md.,  in  Country  Gentleman. 

[The  above  practice  probably  would  not  an- 
swer in  more  northern  localities,  but  it  teach- 
es a  very  important  lesson,  viz.,  that  farmers 
as  a  rule  do  Jot  sow  their  oats  early  enough  in 
the  spring.  Oats  will  grow  in  very  cool 
weather,  and  when  the  seed  first  germinates 
it  requires  a  large  amount  of  moisture.— ii'd. 
Sun] 


OUR  NATIONAL  WHEAT  CROP. 

Such  frequent  allusions  have  been  made  to 
the  fact  that  our  American  wheat  crop  is  rap- 
idly deteriorating,  that  it  would  seem  as 
though  the  farmers  ol  the  country  would  rise 
en  masse  and  resolve  that  they  will  retrieve 
their  repututions,  by  proving  that  they  are 
not  only  capable  of  but  determined  to  main- 
tain unimpaired  the  original  fertility  of  th3 
soils. 

Here  and  there  we  find  one  who  appears  to 
adopt  this  determination,  and  the  pity  is  that 
there  are  not  more.  Thus  for  instance  we 
find  it  recorded  that  on  Sherwood  Island, 
California,  09  bushels  of  wheat  have  been 
raised  to  the  acre.  Now  it  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  such  an  enormous  yield  as  this 
could  be  made  general,  but  it  seems  to  show 
that  we  have  wheat-lands  in  the  United  States 
unsurpassed  in  the  world. 

Again,  I  noticed  a  day  or  two  since  that  in 
Monroe  county,  Pa.,  a  trifle  over  40  bushels 


per  acre  of  Diehl  wheat  was  raised.  The 
owner  of  the  farm  on  which  this  fine  crop  was 
gathered  plows  to  the  depth  of  12  inches,  the 
furrows  are  leveled  with  a  harrow  and  the  soil 
is  then  thoroughly  disintegrated  with  a  wheat 
cultivator,  .  with  teeth  15  inches  long  and 
drawn  by  four  horses.  The  seed  bed  is  thus  12 
inches  deep,  the  land  is  largely  clayey,  deep 
and  fertile.  Now  as  there  are  millions  of 
acres  of  land  similar  to  this  in  our  country, 
why  cannot  the  same  thing  be  done  on  them? 
If  itbe  possible  for  one  man  to  raise  40  bushels 
of  wheat  to  the  acre,  why  should  not  all 
farmers  with  equally  good  lands  do  the  same, 
or  at  least  approximate  to  it  ? 

Even  in  Burlington  county,  N.  J.,  we  find 
farmers  who  grow  an  average  crop  of  over  30 
bushels  to  the  acre,  and  if  the  proper  system 
were  adopted,  this  happy  state  of  affairs 
would  prevail  generally,  or  at  least  we  would 
be  able  to  report  an  average  crop,  which  year 
for  year  would  exceed  the  present  one  at 
least  on3  half. 

Planting  as  deep  as  the  nature  of  the  soil 
will  permit,  thorough  pulverization  of  the 
entire  depth  of  the  seed  bed,  and  a  liberal  ap- 
plication of  manure,  are  the  requisites,  and 
these  are  within  the  reach  of  all  who  have  the 
spi''it  to  avail  themselves  of  them.  If  we 
had  such  a  system  of  cultivation  as  should 
prevail,  and  as  is  followed  by  the  farmers  to 
whom  allusion  in  this  article  has  been  made, 
the  average  wheat  crop  of  the  country  would 
not  be  less  than  twenty-five  bushels. — Vor. 
Journal  of  the  Farm. 


DIMINISHED  PRODUCTION  OF  WHEAT 
UNDER  THE  COMMON  ROUTINE. 

The  following  letter,  which  we  find  in  the 
Rural  Messenger,  from  our  new  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture,  Judge  Watts,  possesses  interest 
at  this  time : 

"  Department  of  Agriculture,      \ 
Washington,  D.  C,  Sept.  27,  1871.  S 

"  Sir — Your  letter  brings  to  my  mind  again 
what  has  frequsntly  occurred  to  me  as  a  mar- 
velous result  of  the  great  improvement  in 
agriculture  which  characterizjs  the  present 
day— a  great  dimunition  in  the  production  of 
wheat,  the  great  staple  of  the  country.  To 
what  cause  we  may  attribute  it,  is  a  question 
which  presents  itself  to  the  mind  of  every  ag- 
riculturist who  takes  an  interest  in  the  success 
of  this  great  leading  interest  of  the  land.    An 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


37 


easy  solution  is  given, '  that  our  soil  haa  lost 
that  original,  rich  virgin  character  which  it 
had  in  the  beginning  of  our  operations.'  But 
when  was  that  beginning?  It  is  not  now,  so 
far  as  concerns  newly  cleared  and  cultivated 
lands  ?  Are  they  not  as  they  were  one  hun- 
dred years  ago?  No,  we  must  look  for  some 
other  rational  cause,  and  he  who  can  trace  it 
to  a  satisfactory  and  practical  conclusion,  will 
benefit  mankind.  Until  it  is  discovered,  let 
us  console  ourselves  with  the  reflection  that 
human  skill,  knowledge  and  experience  will 
solve  the  difliculty.  Where  so  many  minds 
are  occupied,  as  there  are  upon  this  subject, 
the  truth  will  be  discovered. 

"  Let  me  add  my  mite  to  the  consideration 
of  it.  The  ordinary  routine  (I  now  speak  of 
the  practice  in  the  Middle  States)  is  clover, 
corn,  oats,  wheat;  and  the  last  often  re- 
peated. Inasmuch  as  this  embraces  the  whole 
course  of  farming,  the  solution  of  the  great 
question  must  be  found  here,  if  it  be  found  at 
all  in  the  fault  of  the  the  farmer.  If  it  be  in 
the  seasons,  in  the  atmosphere,  or  otherwise 
Providential,  we  may  excuse  ourselves  to  the 
world,  and  be  content  with  the  reflection  that 
He  doeth  all  things  wisely. 

"  But  my  experience  leads  me  to  the  belief 
that  the  fault  or  the  failing  is  ours.  The 
experience  of  many  years  has  led  me  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  deterioration  of  the  wheat 
crop  is  mainly  attributable  to  the  improper 
and-untimely  use  of  barn-yard  manure.  In 
our  practice,  the  clover  sod  is  turned  down 
and  planted  with  corn.  The  ground  is  again 
plowed  in  the  spring,  and  sowed  with  oats, 
and  upon  the  stubble  of  this  crop  all  the  man- 
ure of  the  barn-yard  is  put ;  then  plowed 
again,  and  sowed  with  wheat.  This  delicate 
plant  is  thus  subjected  to  the  rawness  and  gross- 
uess  of  barn-yard  food,  with  all  its  germs  of 
flies,  worms,  lice  and  bugs— seemingly  a  sufh- 
cient  cause  of  the  unsuccessful  growth  of  a 
grain  so  pure  and  delicate  as  wheat. 

"  Corn  is  the  hog  of  plants,  and  will  devour 
food  of  any  quality  and  thrive  upon  it.  Here, 
then,  upon  the  sod  to  be  plowed  for  corn  is 
the  place  for  barn-yard  manure.  Bury  it  deep, 
and  when  the  corn  is  cut  off  break  the  stub- 
ble even  with  the  ground  during  the  winter. 
In  the  spring  harrow  the  ground  well,  sow 
your  oats  upon  it  and  roll  it.  You  will  thus 
keep  your  manure  where  you  put  it.  and  not 
subject  the  oat  crop  to  bei"g  thrown  down  by 


it.  When  this  crop  is  removed,  bring  your 
manure  to  the  surface  by  deep  plowing  and 
thorough  tillage.  The  barn-yard  manure 
having  thus  received  proper  preparation,  is  a 
fit  food  for  the  wheat  plant. 

"  Experience  has  taught  me  this  lesson  : 
On  my  farm,  in  Pennsylvania,  I  never  fail  to 
raise  a  satisfactory  crop  of  wheat,  and  I  have 
known  no  such  thing  as  midge,  Hessian  fly, 
or  army  worm. 

"I  remain,  sir, very  respectfully,  your  obe- 
dient servant, 

"Frederick  Watts, 

"  Commissioner." 


ELEVATING    FARMING— EARMERS' 
WIVES. 

Our  physical  growth,  our  political  safety, 
and  our  moral  and  intellectual  well-being, 
depend  largely  on  our  agricultural  advance- 
ment and  a  popular  understanding  of  its  value, 
let  our  farming  is  often  wretchedly  rude, 
our  system  deplorably  defective,  and  we  fail 
to  develop  such  great  improvements  in  agri- 
culture as  characterize  other  occupations. 
To-day  scarcely  one  farmer  in  a  hundred  real- 
izes 5  per  cent,  on  his  money  invested,  while 
money  in  large  quantities  is  readily  lent  for 
10  per  cent,  on  the  best  land  securities.  Why 
is  it  ?  Are  our  farmers  lazy  ?  Is  the  soil  nat- 
urally unproductive  ?  Are  our  markets  poor  ? 
Emphatically,  no!  Our  farmers  are  unsur- 
passed for  energy,  our  soil  is  without  a  rival 
in  productiveness,  and  our  markets  are  amply 
remunerative.  The  source  of  our  trouble  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  we  lack  education.  We 
cannot  talk  understandingly  of  acids  and  phos- 
phates.  We  are  ignorant  of  chemistry  and 
botany,  and  we  do  not  know  where  to  set  our 
cabbage  plants  that  the  harvest  may  not  prove 
us  to  be  cabbage-heads  ourselves. 

An  ambitious  young  man  brought  up  on  a 
farm  now-a-days,  sees  ihe  defects  of  our  agri- 
cultural system,  and  the  ignorance  of  his  fel- 
low-farmers, and  resolves  to  elevate  the  call- 
ing. He  enters  college  with  this  object  in 
view,  and  whether  it  be  a  classical  or  an  agri- 
cultural mstitution,  he  finds  a  new  world 
opened  to  him.  The  rust  and  shackles  which 
confined  his  latent  powers  are  worn  away. 
He  finds  new  society,  and  is  most  favorably 
impressed  with  the  improvement  on  his  form- 
er social  privileges.     He  returns  home   to 


S8 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


spend  his  vacation,  and  everything  seems  al- 
tered to  him.  His  enthusiasm  for  farming  has 
leceived  a  check  during  his  absence,  and  his 
friends  at  home  noticing  the  improvement  in 
the  young  man's  manners  and  appearance, 
become  ambitious  to  have  a  lawyer  or  a  doc- 
tor in  the  family.  Hence  every  influence  is 
employed  to  divert  him  into  the  new  channel; 
the  growing  contrast  between  home  society 
and  college  privileges,  which  becomes  more 
apparent  during  each  succeeding  vacation, 
casts  the  die,  and  the  young  collegian  studies 
law ;  while  his  duller  brother,  debarred  from 
college  privileges,  follows  in  the  foot-steps  of 
his  father,  and  farming  remains  in  statu  quo, 
for  another  generation  to  do  likewise. 

Occasionally,  however,  an  educated  young 
man  turns  his  attention  to  farming,  and  the 
question  that  gives  him  the  greatest  embar- 
rassment is  where  to  find  a  wife,  educated, 
energetic  and  refined — one  who  can  sympa- 
thize and  talk  intelligently  with  him  on  gen- 
eral matters  outside  of  the  domestic  routine — 
whose  education  has  not  unfitted  her  for  the 
cares  and  duties  incumbent  upon  her.  Un- 
fortunately, great  as  is  the  tendency  in  our 
colleges  to  lead  young  men  from  rural  pur- 
suits, many  times  more  pernicious  is  the  edu- 
cation received  in  our  female  seminaries  by 
discouraging  young  ladies  from  becoming 
farmers'  wives  ;  and  it  is  a  frequent  expres- 
sion among  them,  "  rather  than  marry  a  farm- 
er, I'd  live  and  die  an  old  maid  !"  They  re- 
member, if  they  are  farmers'  girls,  the  few 
social  privileges  of  their  younger  days — that 
farmers  and  farmers'  sons,  as  a  rule,  fail  to 
cultivate  the  sesthetical  part  of  their  natures, 
and  they  become  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
farmers  are  boors  and  farming  contemptible. 
They  connect  the  term  "  gentlemen"  with 
"Alexandres"  and  silk  hats,  a  No.  G  French 
calf  boot,  and  hair  parted^  in  the  middle— ig- 
noring the  fact  that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
under  the  coarse  shirt  of  the  farmer  beats  a 
heart  and  lives  a  principle  as  much  strangers 
to  the  kid-gloved  gentleman  as  decency  is  to 
the  wild-Women  of  the  Victeria  Woodhull 
school.  Some  girls,  too,  are  so  foolish  as  to 
have  their  heads  turned  by  the  reputation 
gained  by  leading  "  female  sufl'rage"  ladies, 
and  to  lose  themselves  in  a  mad  passion  for 
notoriety.  The  beef-steak  burns,  shirts  re- 
main buttonless,  and  unclean  pens  are  wielded, 
to  the    neglect  of  clean  clothes.    Added  to 


this,  the  fact  stares  us  in  the  face  that  many 
American  women  have  no  health  and  no 
physique.  Slate  pencils,  lily-white,  horse- 
hair, plumpers,  cotton,  india-rubber,  steel 
corsets  and  arsenic  have  done  their  work  un- 
til adulteration  seems  to  be  getting  almost  as 
applicable  to  our  American  women  as  to  Am- 
erican whisky. 

But  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell  tells  us 
that  she  has  found  healthy  women  even  in 
America — rosy-cheeked  maidens  whose  edu- 
cation has  not  contracted  their  chests  or  their 
intellect,  who  have  established  a  harmony  be- 
tween mind  and  body  by  educating  their  men 
tal  faculties  and  still  retaining  a  fair  share  of 
physical  beauty.  Such  girls,  as  wives,  will 
bring  health  and  refinement  to  the  farm— a 
love  of  labor  where  duty  demands  it,  and  a 
love  of  literature,  taste,  culture  and  music  all 
the  time,  making  home  attractive,  and  destroy- 
ing the  contrast  between  home  society  and 
college  associations.  By  woman's  aid  only 
can  we  hope  to  destroy  the  supposed  antago- 
nism between  education  and  agriculture,  and 
elevate  our  calling  by  drawing  the  young  men 
back  to  farming  after  finishing  their  college 
course,  and  thus  bringing  into  practical  use 
the  latest  developments  of  science. — Cor. 
Cotiniry  Gentleman. 


What  are  Artificial  Manures.— There 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  clear  understanding  as 
to  what  are  natural  and  what  are  artificial 
manures.  Many  farmers  have  a  prejudice 
against  what  are  called  chemical  manures, 
probably  for  the  reason  that  they  can  not  see 
the  connection  which  exists  between  a  product 
of  a  chemical  manufactory  and  the  needs  of 
the  vegetable  products  of  their  soil.  Such 
manures,  therefore,  as  nitrate  of  potash,  ni- 
trate of  soda,  chloride  of  sodium  (salt),  sul- 
phate of  lime  (plaster),  etc.,  are  looked  upon 
as  either  useless  or  of  doubtful  advantage. 
But  there  are  many  so-called  artificial  manures 
which  are  really  as  much  the  natural  products 
of  the  farm  as  the  manure  from  the  stables  or 
hog-pen.  For  instance,  bone-dust  and  super- 
phosfhate  of  lime  return  to  the  soil  precisely 
the  same  elements  which  they  derived  from 
it.  So  with  many  articles  manufactured  from 
refuse  flesh,  blood,  waste  of  tanneries  and 
soap-works.  If  these  are  not  adulderated  with 
useless  foreign  articles  they  but  bring  back  to 
the  soil  what  was  originally  taken  from  it. 
For  this  reason,  if  these  manures  can  be  pro- 
cured at  their  actual  value,  their  use  should 
become  as  regular  a  part  of  the  farm  economy 
as  that  of  barn-yard  manure.  Every  calf, 
hog,  or  sheep  sold  off  the  farm  creates  a  de- 
mand for  the  return  of  a  portion  of  one  or  an- 
other of  these  incorrectly  called  artificial  ma- 
nures, as  much  so  as  the  feeding  of  an  animal 
calls  for  the  return  of  its  waste. — American 
Agriculturist. 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


39 


BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  NOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

SPECIAL  AND  LOCAL  NOTICES. 

TEN  0EKT3  TEU  LINE  EACH  INSEKTION. 


We  have  on  our  table  a  copy  of  Puijlic  Ledger  Al- 
manac for  1872.  It  is  handsomely  printed,  and  full  of  use- 
ful information.  A  copy  of  this  Almanac  is  dibtributed 
gratuitously  to  each  of  its  eighty  thousand  subscribers. 

The  N.  y.  Tribune  Alma.nac  for  1872,  has  made  its  ap- 
pearance, and  is  as  interesting  and  as  useful  as  ever.  It 
can  bo  procured  at  any  book  store  in  the  county  ;  price,  20 
cents. 

How  TO  Make  The  Farm  Pat.— This  sprightly  agricul- 
tural monthly  is  making  rapid  progress  as  one  of  the  best 
of  its  kind  published.  Jas.  F.  Downey,  of  this  city,  has 
charge  of  the  advertising  department.  It  is  edited  and 
published  by  Geo.  A.  Deitz,  Ohamberrburg,  Pa.,  pric3,  50 
cents  a  year.  We  will  furnish  the  Farmer  and  Hno  to 
Make  the  Farm  Pay,  one  year,  for  SI. 53. 

OUR  BOOK  TABLE. 

Tub  January  numbar  of  the  Pennsylvania  School  Jourrml 
appears  in  a  new  dress  of  beautiful,  clear-cut  type.  It  eon- 
tains  the  Thirty-eighth  Annual  Report  from  the  Department 
ment,  showing  the  present  condition  and  remarkable  devel- 
opment of  our  Common  School  system  ;  an  article  on  "  Con- 
ducting Recitations,"  by  Prof.  Wm.  F.  Phelps,  of  Minnesota; 
"The  Swedish  School  System,"  by  Mrs.  Anna  Randall  Diehl ; 
"Programme  and  Tirae-Table  for  an  Ungraded  Schosl,"  by 
Hon.  M.  A.  Newell,  State  Superintendent  of  Maryland; 
"  The  SchoolJQuestion  in  Europe,"  by  Hon  B.  G.  Northrop  ; 
with  full  Editorial  department.'lnteresting  miscellany,  book 
notices,  and  publishers'  department.  Do  you  rea<l  an  edu- 
cational journal  ?  If  a  teacher  or  director,  hero  is  what 
you  need.  Begin  with  the'New  Year.  Subscription  price, 
$1.50;  to  clubs  of  five  or  more,  S1.25.  Address,  J.  P.  Wick- 
ersliam.  &  Co.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

The  Gardener's  Monthhj,  for'January,i872,  prompt,  fresh 
and  vigoroiis,  and  as  full  of  good  things  "as  an  egg  is  full 
of  meat."  Every  fruit  and  flower  gardener  ought  to  have 
it.     $2  a  yea  -.    Th.  Meeuan,  Ed.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

American  Homes Published  by  Cbaa.  H.  Taylor  &. 

Co.,  Boston,  Mass.,  is  a  domestic  magazine,  which  fills  au 
important  place  in  the  tamijy  fireside.    Only  J-1  a  year. 

"Tub  Laws  of  Life  and  Woman's  Health  Journal," 
Edited  by  Harriet  N.  Austin,  M.  D.,  and  aided  by  four 
assistant  editors,  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  woman, 
at  least,  who  has  any  appreciation  of  her  life  and  mission 
on  earth.    Dansville,  N.  Y.,  S1.50  a  year. 

The  National  Live  Slock  Journal,  for  January,  1S72,  ed- 
ited by  Jno.  p.  Reynolds,  Chicago,  111.,  is  a  capital  num- 
ber of  an  illustrated  quarto,  ably  conducted,  and  devoted 
to  the  specialty  embraced  in  its  title.  Terms,  $2  a  year,  in 
advance. 

■  EvERyBOD\'s  JouuNAL— A  live,  neat,  at  d  racy  folio, 
published  monthly  by  John  Wananaker,  corner  of  Si.\th 
&  Market  streets,  Philadelphia,  at  50  cents  per  annum. 
The  typographical  execution,  the  quality  of  (he  paper, 
and  the  tone  of  its  literary  contents  are  unexceptionable; 
and  on  the  whole,  it  is  just  su(h  a  journal  as  one  might 
wish  to  see  as  a  weekly  visitor  iastead  of  only  mcnihly.  Aiily 
edited  by  Mr.  H.  Jones,  and  devoted  to  the  young  men  of 
our  country.  The  January  number  comes  to  us  with  a 
supplement,    containing  a  catalogue  of  books  which  are 


given  as  premiums  to  clubs  of  subscribers,  from  four  up  to 
eighty  E  ^ery  subscriber  of  the  Farmer  ou^ht  also  to  be- 
come a  subacriber  to  this  journal;  for  there  is  no  conflict 
in  their  separate  interest — and  to  facilitate  that  end  we  will 
furnish  the  two  at  if  1.50  per  annum  . 

New  Banking  Firm.— By  reference  to  our  advertisiog 
columns  it  will  be  noticed  that  Dr.  W.  L.  Diffenderfer, 
well  known  to  our  readers,  has  associated  himself  with  hij 
two  brothers  to  engage  in  tho  banking  bui-iness  in  this  city. 
To  such  persons  as  require  the  service  of  a  banker,  we  re- 
commend them  as  safe,  prompt  and  reliable  businessmen, 
meriting  any  trust  that  may  be  reposed  in  them.  Putting 
into  their  business  a  capital  as  gr.3at  as  that  of  any  other 
private  banking  firm  in  this  city,  they  will  no  doubt  at  once 
fill  a  prominent  place  and  receive  their  full  share  of  pat- 
ronage.   We  wish  them  success. 

OriNIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

"Lancaster  Farmer.— The  January  number  of  this  neat 
and  valuable  agricultural  and  horticultural  journal  is  re- 
ceived. Every  farmer  in  this  and  adjoining  counties  who 
defies  to  keep  up  with  tho  progr.ss  of  his  business  should 
subscribe  for  it.  It  gives  the  experience  of  many  of  our 
best  farmers,  besides  m'lch  scientific  and  other  informa- 
tion important  to  farmers.  Terms,  Sl.23  per  year  in  ad- 
vance. J.  B.  Develin,  publisher,  Lancaster,  Pa.  We  will 
furnish  the  Berald  and  Farmer  one  year  for  |2." 

The  above  is  from  our  modest  rural  co temporary,  tha 
Mount  Joy  Herald,  whose  good  opinion  is  far  more  flatter- 
ing to  us  than  the  commendations  of  more  pretentious 
journals,  simply  because,  occupying  our  own  i)lane  of 
use  it  has  a  better  conception  of  oar  worth  to  rural 
readers. 


MARKETS. 


CHICAGO  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Saturday,  January  27, 1872. 

Cattle. — The  offerings  embraced  every  grade  ot  stock, 
from  scrawny  rows  up  to  finely  formed,  thoroughly  fattened 
blooded  steers,  and  sales  were  reported  all  the  way  from 
S2  25  to  17.  Sales  at  tha  extremes,  however,  ware  few, 
most  of  the  transfers  being  made  at  and  within  the  range 
of  $4  25a5  73.  The  notable  sales  of  the  day  were  fifteen 
head,  averaging  1,7SG  lbs,  and  11  head  averaging  1,720  ftis, 
at  S7. 

Stock  steers  continue  in  steady,  fair  request,  and  all 
suitable  lots  find  buyers  at  full  previous  rates,  or  S3a3  50 
for  common  lota  averagina  from  700  to  900  ft s.,  and  at 
.'rrS  7ia4  25  for  fair  to  prime  droves  averaging  trom  950  to 
1050  fts.  Thero  is  also  a  good  demand  for  fat  cows  au  I 
light  fleshy  Pteers  to  supply  the  city  trade.  The  market 
clo.'ied  steady  for  good  to  choice,  but  dull  and  a  shade 
lower  for  common  thin  cattle. 

Extia  Graded  steers,  averafing  1500  lbs  and  upward, 
$6  25aG  75  ;  Choice  beevet,— Fine,  fat,  well-f )rmfd  3  to  5 
year  (dd  steers,  aud  averaging  1300  to  1100  lbs,  £5  75a  6  00; 
Goid  beeves — Well  tflttened.  fin*  ly-formed  steers,  averap- 
iog  1100  to  1300  lbs,  S5  25n5  50  ;  Fair  erades— S'air  steers  in 
fair  flesh,  averaging  1050  to  1200  lbs,  Si  75a5  00;  Medium 
class — Medium  steers  and  good  cows  for  city  slaughter,  av- 
eraging ^03  to  1100  lbs,  V3  25a4  50;  Stock  cattle — ('omraon 
cattle,  in  decent  flesh,  averaging  700  to  1050  lbs,  S3  OOai  25; 
Inferior— Light  and  thin  cows  and  steers,  2  50,'2  75. 

The  extreme  range  of  prices  was  4  lOal  CO,  with  the 
bulk  of  the  sales  at  $1  20a4  40  for  fair  to  good  fat  smooth 
even  lots.  As  showing  that  a  shade  better  prices  prevailed 
at  the  close  than  at  the  opening  of  the  marker,  may  be 
mentioned  th^  sale  eflected  late  in  the  afternoon,  of  29  car 
load3,at84:V".-i4C0. 

Sheep— Without  being  quotably  lower,  prices  for  this 
class  of  stock  w.-re  weakt-r-  There  was  only  a  moderate 
demand  either  on  local  account  or  for  shipment,  and,  in 
view  of  thfi  li^e^:^l  Eiirp'y.  ^'■''^er^  seemed  willing  to  con- 
cede a  little  when  by  so  doiii^  the V- could  effect  a  sale,  as 
the  close  of  the  week  is  near  at  hand,  and  none  are  desirous 


I 


JfO 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


of  "  holding  over."  Good  to  choice  were  salable  at  8'  50a 
6  75,  and  medium  grades  at  $1  65a5  25.  Common  thin  lota 
were  neglected  at  3-la4  5'J.  A  good  many  remain  in  the 
pens  unsold. 

PHILADELPHIA   MARKETS. 


MoHDAT,  January  29,  5  p.  m. 

JTLOUR.— The  market  is  dull  and  weak.  The  inquiry  is 
confined  to  the  wants  of  the  home  consumers,  and  their 
wants  are  limited.  A  few  hundred  barrels  were  disposed 
of,  including  superfine  at  S5  25a5  75  per  barrel ;  extras  at 
$5  87^^86  50;  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  extra  family  at 
^7  25a8  25 ;  Pennsylvania  do.  do.  at  $7a7  50  ;  Indiana  and 
Ohio  do.  do.  at  $8  50alO.  Nothing  doijg  in  Rye  Flour  or 
Corn  Meal. 

Grain. — The  Wheat  market  is  very  dull,  and  prices 
hardly  maintained.  Small  sales  of  Pennsylvania  and  West- 
ern red  at  SI  53  a  1  68,  and  white  at  $1  70  a  1  75.  Eye 
commands  92c.  There  is  no  change  in  Corn.  Sales  of  GOOO 
bushels  new  yellow  at  66  a  67140.,  and  Western  mixed  at  08 
a  70  cts.  Oats  are  steady  wiifi  sales  of  white  at  55  a  56c., 
and  mixed  at  5  c.  The  receipts  to-day  are  as  follows :  1052 
bbls  flour;  1701  bush  wheat;  11,155  bush  corn;  5700  bush 
oats  ;  529  bbls  whisky. 

Provisions  continue  quiet,  and  prices  are  unsettled. 
Sales  of  M  ss  Pork  at  14  50  per  bbl  for  o'd  and  new.  City 
packed  extra  Mess  Beef  is  taken  at  $15  a  15  50  per  bbl. 
Bacon  is  steady  ;  sales  of  plain  sugar-cured  city  smoked 
Hams  at  12  a  10c;  canvassed  Western  at  13c,  sides  at  8c, 
and  shoulders  at  7c.    Green  Meats  are  unchaiged  ;  sales  of 

Eickiaa  Hamsrt  9'^  a  9'/^c,  and  shoulders  in  salt  at  5j/^c. 
ard  is  quiet ;  sales  at  9  j^  a  9J/<c  per  pound. 


PHILADELPHIA  CATTLE  MARKET 


Monday,  January  29,  5  p.  M. 

The  <^attle  Market  was  dull  this  week  and  prices  favor- 
ed buyers ;  about  2000  head  arrived  and  sold  at  7  j^a7  ^40. 
for  extra  Pennsylvania  and  Western  steer*,  8>^c  for  a  lew 
choice,  6a6)^c.  for  fair  to  good  do.,  and  4a5>^c.  ■t?'  lb 
gross,  for  common  as  to  quality. 

Cows  were  without  change;  200  head  sold  at  S:i5a65^ 
head. 

Shbbp  were  in  demand  ;  15,000  bead  sold  at  5>^a8c,  ^ 
Ib^ross,  as  to  condition. 

Hogs  were  in  better  demand  ;  4  000  sold  at  S6  2,5a7  ^  100 
Jbs.  net. 


FATTENING  POULTRY. 

Corn  is  in  this  country  the  obviously  iiroper 
feed  for  fattening  fowls.    It  makes  flesh  of 
fair  quality.     Oatmeal  gives  a  better  flavor 
but  less  fat.    Corn  should  predominate,  and 
be  fed  for  the  most  part  ground,  because  more 
can  be  digested  than  when  it  must  all  be  reduced 
by  a  slow  process  in  the  gizzard.    The  latter  is  a 
perfect  mill,  but  if  employed  too  much   for 
muscular  exertion  of  working  it  takes  some- 
thing from  the  rate  of  fattening.    The  corn 
meal  should,  for  a  few  days,  be   thoroughly 
cooked,  but  the  mess  will  soon  pall  upon  the 
appetite,  and  then  the  meal  may  be  merely 
scalded  and  fiaally  fed  raw,  since  fowls  like 
this  best,  and  they  should  be  induced  to  eat  as 
much  as  possible.    To  tempt  with  variety, 
give  an  occasional  feed  of  buckwheat,  corn, 
and  wheat  whole,  and  oats,  which  last  should 
be  ground  and  screened,  so  as  to  remove  all 
the  larger  fragments  of  the  hulls.     Boiled  po- 
tatoes and  fresh  cooked  meal  &L .  aid  be  al- 


lowed sparingly,  and  every  other  day  a  little 
cayenne  and  salt  must  be  added  to  the  dough. 
Feed  adult  poultry,  for  fattening,  three  times 
a  day,  and  chickens  four.  It  is  especially  ne- 
cessary, when  the  days  are  short,  to  give  the 
first  food  at  the  appearance  of  light,  and  the 
last  as  late  as  possible.  After  they  have 
eaten  to  satiety,  always  remove  what  is  left. 
Feed  at  stated  hours,  and  keep  the  feediog 
trough  clean  and  sweet.  It  is  best  to  confine 
grown  fowls  in  rather  small  coops,  as  exercise 
prevents  fattening.  If,  however,  individuals 
unacijuainted  with  each  other  are  put  together, 
there  is  no  gain  in  close  quarters,  for  they  be- 
come uneasy ;  and  also  half-grown  chickens 
ought  not  to  be  shut  up,  but  rather  induced 
to  eat  so  much  that  they  will  roam  as  little  as 
possible,  for  if  taken  from  the  accustomed 
run  they  are  apt  to  worry  constantly.  Shut 
Qut  light  from  the  coop,  excepting  at  feeding 
time,  to  promote  quietness.  There  should  be 
no  perches.  Cover  the  floor  with  dried  earth, 
often  renewed. 


SELECTED  RECIPES,  ETC. 

Pumpkin  PRESERVES.—Mahala  Eaton  ,Rcck 
Island,  111.,  writes  :  "  Cut  a  nice  ripe  pump- 
kin into  pieces  a  third  of  an  inch  thick,  par- 
ing them.  Take  equal  weight  in  white  sugar. 
Allow  the  juice  of  one  lemon  to  a  pound  of 
pumpkin.  Let  the  pumpkin  remain  in  a  pan 
with  the  sugar  and  juice  all  night.  In  the 
morning  put  into  a  preserving  kettle,  cooking 
till  perfectly  clear.  Be  sure  to  skim  well. 
Then  add  lemon  peol  cut  in  pieces  small  as 
marbles.  Take  out  and  strain  the  syrup 
through  a  jelly-bag  and  pour  over  the  pump- 
kin.—  Western  Rural. 


Evergreens  are  planted  more  extensively 
every  year,  now  that  their  value  is  apprecia  - 
ted,  and  this  a  good  time  in  which  to  decide 
where  they  can  be  used  most  advantageously 
to  give  a  pleasing  effect.  Too  many  ever- 
greens near  a  house  are  in  bad  taste,  as  they 
give  it  too  sombre  an  aspect.  There  should 
be  a  proper  admixture  of  diciduous  trees. 


Manure  may  be  carted  upon  the  orchard 
during  the  winter ;  or  it  may  be  carted  to 
some  convenient  place,  and  the  coarrer  por- 
tions allowed  to  rot. 


DEVOTED  TO 
Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Dornestic  Economy  and  Miscellany , 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATHVOX  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 


**  The  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  civilization." — WEBSTER. 


Vol.  IV. 


MARCH,  1872. 


JVo.  S. 


AGRIGULURAL. 

CHAECOAL  AND  PIGS. 

HOGS  that  are  much  confined,  and  cannot  get 
to  earth,  will  frequently  be  benefited  by  hav- 
ing a  Uttle  charcoal,  soft  brick  bats,  or  rotten  wood 
thrown  into  them;  and  a  trifling  quantity  of  brim- 
Btone  occasionally,  mixed  in  their  food,  is  an  ex- 
cellent thing. 

We  are  not  much  of  a  pig  fancier,  have  no 
special  partiality  for  pigs  in  any  shape,  never- 
theless, some  years  ago,  we  had  a  limited  ex- 
perience in  raising  pigs,  confined  in  a  pen. 
The  above  brief  escerpt,  which  we  clipped 
from  the  columns  of  a  cotemporary,  recalls  to 
our  memory  an  instance  of  strong  corrobora- 
tive testimony  in  our  experience.  In  the  month 
of  April,  1839,  we  purcha^^ed  a  six-weeks'  old 
pig,  and  paid  two  dollars  for  it.  It  was  the 
poorest,  smallest  and  "  scrawneyest"  among 
a  lot  of  six,  but  ours  was  the  last  choice,  and 
we  were  bound  to  have  a  pig  in  any  event. 
At  first  it  remained  in  statu  quo,  until  a  friend 
advised  us  to  give  it  charcoal.  Our  swill  bar- 
rel was  kept  under  a  shed  which  sheltered  the 
oven,  and  on  every  "  bake-day"  a  shovelful 
of  charcoal  from  the  oven  was  thrown  into 
the  swill.  This  kept  the  swill  in  "  color" 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  the  pig  began  to 
thrive  on  it.  Until  the  first  of  October  that 
pig  got  nothing  but  the  slops  from  the  kitchen 
of  a  small  family  and  the  garbage  from  a 
small  garden,  but  still  it  waxed  in  stature,  in 
flesh,  and  in  the  general  beauties  usually 
claimed  for  a  thrifty  pig. 

From  about  the  middle  of  October  to  the 
20th  of  December,  in  addition  to  the  char- 
coaled slops,  the  pig  goitTiree  bushels  of  yellow 
corn  fed  in  grains ;  sometimes  boiled,  but  oft- 


ener  hard  and  dry.  Lumps  of  coal  as  large  as 
walnuts  would  go  into  the  trough  along  with 
the  swill  for  several  feedings  after  bake-day, 
but  before  the  return  of  the  next  these  would 
all  be  consumed  at  his  pig^hip's  leisure.  A 
few  days  before  Christmas  of  the  above  named 
year,  the  pig  was  slaughtered,  and  when 
dressed  weighed  three  hundred  and  thirty  odd 
pounds,  which  was  considered  a  good  porker 
in  those  days  for  a  chance  pig,  entirely  with- 
out pedigree.  The  highest  weight  attained 
by  the  most  choice  pig  of  that  litter  was  only 
about  two  hundreds  and  fifty  pounds,  after 
feedinsr  to  them  double  the  quantity  of  corn 
that  we  did. 

Now  we  are  not,  by  any  means,  going  to 
recommend  charcoal  as  a  specific  in  all  cases 
of  "  scrawny  pigs,"  but  merely  to  record  a 
fact,  in  corroboration  of  the  theory  that  char- 
coal, in  the  absence  of  anything  better,  is 
beneficial  to  the  thrift  of  pigs.  Our  pig-stye 
had  a  plank  floor,  and,  therefore,  our  pig  never 
got  his  nose  into  any  other  dirt  than  his  own 
droppings,  except  that  which  might  have  ad- 
hered to  the  roots  of  the  weeds  thrown  in  to 
him. 

Many  years  ago  a  story  went  the  rounds  of 
the  newspapers  to  the  eft'ect  that  a  pig  bad 
somehow  got  lost,  in  the  hold  of  a  sailing  ves- 
sel, in  which  it  could  not  possibly  have  Iiad 
access  to  anything  but  charcoal,  and  perhaps 
water.  After  an  incarceration  of  eight  or  ten 
weeks,  piggy  was  found  in  blooming  health 
and  as  "  fat  as  butter,"  although  its  character, 
externaVy,  was  somewhat  "  blackened  "  by  its 
contact  with  the  coal. 

"  Charcoal " — according  to  Brande — "  ex- 
clusive of  its  important  uses  as  a  fuel,  is  pos- 
sessed of  some  curious  and  valuable  proper- 


Jf 


^ 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


ties.  It  is  an  indifferent  conductor  of  heat, 
and  hence  powdered  charcoal  is  used  to  sur- 
round tubes  and  vessels  which  are  required  to 
retain  their  heat.  It  is  not  injured  by  air  and 
moisture  ;  hence  stakes  and  piles  are  super- 
ficially charred  to  preserve  them.  It  is  infus- 
ible, and  provided  air  be  carefully  excluded,  it 
undergoes  no  change  in  most  intense  heats. 
It  absorbs  air  and  moisture,  and  also  the  color- 
ing and  odoriferous  parts  of  many  animal  and 
vegetable  substances.  Tainted  flesh  and  pu- 
trid water  are  thus  sweetened  by  the  action 
of  powdered  charcoal.  Colored  vegetable  so- 
lutions, filtered  through  well  burned  charcoal, 
are  materially  discolored  by  it." 

When  charcoal  is  burned  in  oxygen  or  air, 
it  is  converted  into  carbonic  acid. 

As  a  common  human  remedy,  pulverized 
charcoal  is  often  used  in  cases  of  indigestion, 
flatulency,  heart-burn,  and  "waterbrash;" 
the  last  of  which  is  a  kind  of  fermentation  or 
souring  of  the  contents  of  the  stomach.  Now, 
whatever  beneficial  effect  charcoal  might  have 
on  the  diseased  stomach  of  a  man,  it  probably 
would  have  the  sameeflect  on  that  of  a  pig. 
(There  is  a  class  of  "rough"  phybiologisls, 
which  contends  that  the  "  innerds  "  of  a  man 
and  a  pig  are  alike.)  Be  that  as  it  may,  if 
charcoal  purifies  the  contents  of  the  stomach, 
and  thus  promotes  digestion,  more  of  the  nu- 
tritious properties  of  the  food  it  contained 
will  be  appropriated  and  converted  into  blood, 
muscle,  tissues  and  fat,  in  a  healthy  and  vig- 
orous exercise  of  the  digestive  functions,  thau 
when  they  are  diseased  and  feeble. 

Carbonic  acid  gas,  when  inhaled  into  the 
lungs,  is  known  to  be  fatal  to  human  and  ani- 
mal life  ;  but  when,  in  the  form  of  charcoal, 
it  is  taken  into  the  stomach  it  may  furnish  a 
vital  j^re,  and  differ  in  its  effects,  just  as  the 
poison  of  the  rattlesnake  differs  when  infused 
into  the  blood,  or  is  taken  into  the  stomach. 

We  have,  very  probably,  much  yet  to  learn 
in  reference  to  the  effects  of  various  substan- 
ces upon  the  physical  economy  of  the  animal 
world,  and  of  the  modus  operandi  we  proba- 
bly will  never  be  informed.  Even  physicians 
of  toe  longest  experience  and  of  the  greatest 
eminence  sometimes  confess,  that  in  relation 
to  internal  causes,  they  are  more  or  less  grop- 
ing in  the  dark,  because  the  external  manifes- 
tations or  symptoms  often  betray  them. 

In  conclusion  we  may  add  that  an  excess- 
ively fat  and  unwieldy  condition  cannot  ab- 
stractlj  be  regarded  as  the  normal,  state  of  any 


animal.  That  itself,  is  an  abnormal  condition, 
produced  by  artificial  means — by  the  diver- 
sions and  concentrations  of  the  functions  in 
such  a  channel  as  will  develop  the  greatest 
mass  of  matter  at  the  expense  of  strength, 
vitality,  and  activity.  Fat  pigs,  or  fat  kine, 
cannot  pass  the  ordeal  that  lean  ones  can.  It 
is  a  pecuniary  interest  in  their  carcass  alone 
that  saves  them.  R. 


CONNECTICUT  TOBACCO. 

BY  LEVI  S.  KEIST. 

THE  Hartford  (Conn.)  Post  lately  con- 
tained  an  article  on  Connecticut  tobac- 
co, which  was  extensively  copied  into  our 
Pennsylvania  papers  as  being  of  interest  to 
tobacco  growers.  Last  year's  tobacco  crop 
in  the  Connecticut  valley  was  a  most  remark- 
able one,  and  the  growers  have  discovered 
that  the  stable  manure  is  the  best  fertilizer 
that  they  can  use.  The  consequence  is  that, 
instead  of  being  sold  for  fifty  cents  a  load, 
stable  manure  now  commands  ten  and  twelve 
dollars  per  cord. 

The  prices  obtained  for  Connecticut  tobac- 
co are  enormous.  One  purchaser  sold  three 
cases  of  East  Hartford  leaf  at  55  cents  per  lb. 
Three  acres  of  Newington  were  bought  for 
37  c.  per  lb. ;  another  purchase  is  given  of  East 
Hartford  variety,  at  from  60  to  69c.  per  lb. 
One  grower  sold  the  product  of  seven  acres 
and  a  half  for  over  $12,000.  Hartford  county 
alone  raised  $4,000,000  worth  in  1871. 

The  only  points  specially  interesting  to 
Lancaster  county  tobacco  growers  are  the 
prices  realized  for  tobacco  raised  in  the  Con- 
necticut valley,  and  that  stable  manure  has 
been  discovered  to  be  the  best  fertilizer  in  the 
growth  of  this  crop.  This  discovery  of  the 
Eastern  people  touching  stable  manure  is  no- 
thing new  to  the  people  of  Lancaster  county, 
for  our  farmers  have  never  had  strong  faith  in 
any  other  kind  of  fertilizers.  Our  Pennsyl- 
vania journalists  are  mistaken  if  they  suppose 
this  is  a  discovery  for  our  farmers ;  it  is  sim- 
ply a  confirmation  of  their  long  retained 
opinions. 

Tobacco  growing  scarcely  exists  outside  of 

the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  river,  and  their 

resources  for  stable  manure  are  alone  to  be 

j  found  in  the  city  of  Hartford  and  outside  of  the 

State.    W  ith  us  in  Lancaster  county  the  case 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


4S 


is  different.  We  grow  wheat,  bay  and  corn, 
the  very  things  out  of  which  abundance  of 
stable  manure  i?  manufactured,  and  thus  we 
shall  be  enabled  to  keep  up  the  strength  of 
our  soils  from  our  own  stables.  "We  can  thus 
raise  tobacco  m  great  quantities  without  ihe 
impoverishment  of  our  soils. 

On  sandy  soil,  as  is  found  in  Drumore  and 
Little  Britain  townships,  of  this  county,  my 
opinion  is  that  with  heavy  manuring  as  fine 
tobacco  might  be  grown  as  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley. 

With  its  excellent  facilities,  Lancaster 
county  must  rise  in  scale  of  tobacco  culture 
and  become,  it  is  probable,  as  favored  as  Con- 
necticut. Oar  growers,  it  seems  to  us,  need 
not  apprehend  a  great  fall  in  price,  as  dis- 
tricts well  adapted  to  its  growth  are  not  so 
numerous  as  might  be  supposed. 


Another  matter  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that 
the  excrement  of  cattle  is  valuable  in  accor- 
dance with  the  feed  that  the  cattle  have  con- 
sumed. 


MAIN'URES. 


BY  PETER  G.  REIST. 


THE  subject  touched  by  Judge  Watts,Com- 
missioner  of  Agriculture,  and  discussed 
before  our  agricultural  society, has  been,  per- 
haps, satisfactorily  handled  in  the  estimation 
of  some,  but  a  word  yet  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  the  uninstructed,  who  are,  by  no 
means,  of  small  number.  Dang,  manure  and 
compost  are  terms  of  somewhat  synonymous 
import,  each,  however,  signifying  something 
different  from  the  other.  The  first  signifies 
the  excrement  of  cattle,  the  second  the  same 
with  straw  and  the  other  ingredients  inter- 
mingled, and  the  last  implies  a  collection  of 
decomposed  matter  of  any  vegetable  matter 
whatever.  The  first  in  itself  evidently  has 
the  greatest  strength,  the  second  next  to  it, 
and  compost  is  necessarily  of  still  less  value. 
If  farmers  desire  afertilizer  of  strength  and 
permanent  value  they  must  obtain  it  in  the 
excrement  of  their  catUe  and  horses,  for  the 
addition  of  straw  to  it  adds  less  strength  than 
is  generally  imagined.  Kot  that  I  desire  to 
be  understood  as  advancing  the  opinion  that 
straw  is  of  no  value  and  to  be  neglected,  for 
its  use  is  considerable  ;  but  if  we  want  ma- 
nure of  real  value  it  must  be  sought  ia  animal 
excrement.  Compost  is  also  of  some  value 
and  should  be  attended  to  wherever  practi- 
cable, as  all  aids  in  the  building  up  of  our 
soils  to  a  higher  grade  of  fertility,  and  that  is 
the  great  requisite  of  the  farmer. 


"  A  GOOD  CHEAP."     [A  bon  march^ 

THERE  may  be  many  words  in  foreign  tongues, 
misapplied  for  aujjht  we  know,  but"  we 
know  of  none,  in  onr  ow  n  native  English  so  much 
abused  as  c/teap.  llo^v  often  may  we  hear  peo- 
ple say,  a  tiling;  is  not  good,  but  it  is  cheap — 
meaning  that  it  is  ofl'ered  ber.eathits  value  ;  but  caa 
anything  which  is  not  good  be  cheap,  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word.  It  would  hardly  do  to  say  that 
sugar  which  had  been  sanded  was  cheap,  though 
sold  beneath  the  price  of  a  good  article  ;  that  shoes 
were  cheap  which  had  the  s-oles  pasted  (as  has  hap- 
pened), instead  of  being  sewn,  or  pegged — so  it 
would  be  manifestly  an  abuse  of  words  to  say  that 
dead  or  impure  seeds  were  cheap,  at  a  penny  a  pa- 
per; and  yet  vast  quantities  of  just  such  seeds  are 
liawked  about  the  country,  deposited  at  village 
stores,  with  the  hope  people  may  be  found  willing 
to  purchase  them,  at  some  price.  We  make  no 
charges,  but  it  is  a  proverbal  saying,  that  boxes  of 
such  seeds  are  transferred  fi'om  store  to  store  doing 
duty,  at  eacli  one  season  ordy,  and  thus  forever 
fresh — at  least  where  last  deposited  on  commission. 
One  might  think  it  were  poor  compensation  at  the 
end  of  a  seas  m  to  reflect  that,  though  the  garden 
was  a  failui-e  the  seed  cost  but  little — surely  it 
could  not  be  said  they  were  ckecq:) — that  the  absence 
of  abundant  vegetables,  which  might  have  been  en- 
joyed if  good  seed  (even  at  greater  cost  had  been 
procured),  was  compensated  in  degree  by  the  trifle 
saved  in  seeds ! 

We  may,  perhaps,  occasionally  amuse  ourselves 
in  some  respects  with  "-Cheap  Johns" — but  it  will 
be  safe  to  steer  clear  of  them  in  garden  seeds. 

We  doubt,  exceedingly,  whether  aiiy  article, 
obtained  ''  too  cheap  to  be  good,"  is  any  safer 
investment  of  money,  than  "  to  throw  it 
away "  in  spurious  garden  seeds.  There  is 
perhaps  no  subject  upon  which  the  mass  of 
mind  is  so  singularly  obtuse,  as  upon  that  of 
cheapness.  Many  people  seem  to  think  that 
when  an  article  is  sold  at  a  comparatively  low 
price,  it  must  necessarily  be  cTieap.  This  is  a 
mistake.  The  best  is  always  the  cheapest,  to 
those  who  can  afford  to  buy  the  best.  Some 
people  are  in  the  habit  of  surrounding  them- 
selves with  quantities  of  tawdry  and  useless 
"  trash,"  only  because  they  have  obtained  it 
at  prices  which  they  have  mistakenly  regard- 
ed as  cheap.  Our  farmers,  however — at  least 
the  more  intelligent  among  them — are  begin- 
ning to  dissipate  this  phantom,  and  take  a 
wiser  and  more  economical  course.  When 
people  are  so  poor  that  they  are  compelled 
to  buy  the  lowest  priced  article,  of  course, 
nothing  else  can  be  expected.  Still,  the  arti- 
cle may  be  dear  euoui!;h  to  thera  in  the  end  ; 
and  the  great  pity  is  that  this  class  of  people 
become  so  much  the  subjects  of  imposition, 
often  voluntarily  so,  and  when  they  have  the 
means  to  avoid  it,  or  modify  it.  * 


u 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER, 


KITTATINNY   BLACKBEBBY. 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


45 


HORTICULTURE. 

KITTATINNY  BLACKBERRY. 

Grown  by  John  G.  Kreider,  Nurseryman  and  Fruit 
Grower,   near    Lancaster,  Pennsylvania. 

'nr^HIS  resembles  the  Lawton,  but  lar- 
i  ger,  earlier  and  more  productive, 
and  remains  a  loncj  time  in  bearins; ;  berries 
are  firm,  sweet  and  of  excellent  flavor,  and 
are  perfectly  ripe  as  soon  as  they  turn  black  ; 
is  a  vigorous  grower  and  hardy  ;  it  has  with- 
stood the  winter  when  all  other  varieties  with 
me  were  winter-killed." 

These  are  all  most  excellent  qualities  in 
this  berry ;  and  so  far  as  its  edible  character  is 
concerned,  we  take  pleasure  in  being  ready 
to  stand  as  one  of  its  indorsers.  It  is  really 
gratifying  to  witness  the  efforts  made  by  fruit- 
growers to  produce  improved  varieties  of  the 
long  neglected  hlackherry—i\xQ  berry  of  our 
youth,  and  except  the  dewberry^  almost  the 
only  berry  with  which  our  boyhood  had  any 
intimate  acquaintance.  Tastes  may  differ, 
but  the  Kittatinny  is  amongst  the  best  "  Kit- 
tys" we  know  of,  according  to  our  humble 
opinion. — Ed. 


ENTOMOLOGY. 


THE  CURCULIO,  AGAIN. 

REGENTLY  a  jparagraph  has  been  "  going  the 
rounds  of  tbe  papers"  to  the  eftect  that  air 
concussion  was  an  exterminator  of  the  curculio. 
This  discovery  is  claimed  by  Col.  L.  A.  Hardee,  of 
Florida,  who  lately  addressed  a  meeting  at  .Taclcson- 
ville  explanatory  of  his  theory,  in  which  hf^  re- 
marked : 

" I  claim  to  have  utilized  concussion  ia  the  per- 
fect annihilation  of  the  horticultural  pest  known  as 
curculio.  I  was  led  to  believe  that  tiie  noise  of 
the  whistle,  or  jarring,  was  the  cause  of  their  disap- 
pearance from  the  vicinity  of  the  railroad.  To  satisfy 
myself,  I  placed  two  pounds  of  powder  in  the  liollow 
of  alive-oak  stump,  immediately  iu  the  vicinity  of 
where  they  promised  the  entire  destruction  of  some 
plums,  loaches,  etc.  Tliis  powder  was  fired  off  one 
calm  night,  and  it  not  only  destroyed  every  curculio, 
but  every  M'inged  insect  in  my  entire  orchard." 

We  have  been  in  correspondence  with  (Jol.  Hardee 
since  the  meeting  at  Jacksonville,  and  find  him  con- 
firmed in  Ills  opinion  as  therein  expressed.  He 
says  :  "it  has  been  proven  that  concussion  will  de- 
stroy the  cotton  caterpillar."  If  so,  who  can  esti- 
mate the  value  of  the  discovery.  But  we  have 
learned  to  doubt — the  hard  lessons  of  life  incline  us 
to  ask  for  proof. 

Forty-five  years  ago  the  writer  of  this  article  was 
corresponding  secretary  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hor- 
ticultural kSociety  (the  fruitful  mother  of  all  Hort- 
cuUural  Societies  within  the  Union),  and  he  recol- 
ects  quite  distinctly  the  results  of  a  large  premium, 
perhaps  a  thousand    dollars,    which    the    society 


offered  for  a  preventive  to  blight  in  pear  trees.  It 
was  his  duty  to  receive  and  report  upon  the  respon- 
ses, which  flowed  in  in  an  unbroken  current — each 
claimant  for  the  prize  fully  self-assured  he  had  pro- 
posed a  sure,  unfailing,  unquestionable  remedy. 
But,  alas  for  their  pretensions,  the  prize  was  never 
gained,  and  the  pear  blight  still  holds  its  undisputed 
sway. 

We  have  "  scissored"  the  above  from 
"  Landreth's  Rural  Register  and  Almanac, 
for  1872,"  not  so  much  for  v/hat  it  is  worth 
as  for  what  it  possibly  7nay  be  worth,  to  our 
curculio-ridden  readers  and  subscribers,  who, 
in  semi-despair,  are  anxiously  looking  for 
some  easy  remedy  to  get  rid  of  this  enemy  of 
the  plum  and  peach  crops.  Let  them  try  it 
in  any  event.  The  case  is  such  an  aggravat- 
ing one  that  it  would  justify  almost  any  ef- 
fort to  forestall  the  curculio.  A  series  of  pa- 
triotic anniversaries  celebrated  in  our  orch- 
ards, accompanied  by  copious  explosions  of 
"villainous  saltpetre,"  might  thus  be  utilized 
in  behalf  of  "  suffering  humanity."  Suppose 
they  are  deceived  in  the  remedy  ?  According 
to  the  above  extract  they  will  have  the  con- 
solation of  knowing  that  a  "  live  colonel" 
was  deceived  before  them.  Town  gunners 
might  be  tolerated  on  the  farmer's  premises, 
provided,  they  kept  up  whilst  there  an  inces- 
sant firing ;  for  if  they  found  no  other  game 
they  would  be  of  some  use  in  frightening  off  the 
the  curculio.  But  what  would  become  of 
them  y  Where  would  they  go  to  ?  That  is 
another  question.  X. 


DEATH  TO  GRASSHOPPERS. 

A  NOVELTY  iu  machinery  is  reported  from 
Salt  Lake  City,  wliere  a  machine  has  been  in- 
vented to  kill  grasshoppers.  The  cost  of  the  ma- 
chine is  $75,  and  it  should  at  once  be  imported  in 
large  numbers  into  those  countries  where  locusts 
abound,  as  it  might  make  a  sensible  difference  in 
their  ravages.  The  machine,  which  is  drawn  by 
two  horses,  consists  of  a  large  iron  apron,  which 
picks  up  the  insects  as  it  is  drawn  forward.  Be- 
hind the  apron  is  a  pair  of  rollers,  driven  by  the 
cai'rying-wheels,  and  whatever  finds  its  way  into  the 
froiit  of  the  machine  is  obliged  to  pass  between 
these  rollers — a  passage  fatal  to  grasshoppers.  The 
amount  of  execution  done  against  tlie  enemy  is, 
theiefore,  proportioned  to  the  strength  of  the  horses. 
IIow  far  these  machines  may  be  cipable  of  dealing 
with  a  really  fine  swarm  of  locusts  remains  to  be 
seen,  but  four  or  five  of  them  working  steadily 
backward  and  forward  all  day  might,  perhaps,  do 
something  to  defeat  the  advancing  hosts. — National 
Oil  Joitrnal. 

If  a  machine  has  been  invented,  able  to 

successfully  "  pick  up"  grasshoppers  "  as  it  Is 

drawn  forward,"  it  must  be  "  quicker  on  the 


46 


TEE  LAJ\rCASTER  FARMER. 


trigger"  than  we  have  been  even  in  our  best 
days.  In  passing  through  fields  infested  with 
with  saltitorial  insects,  we  never  could  see 
any  of  them  just  on  the  spot  where  we  stood, 
but  any  number  some  distance  in  advance  of 
us,  and  they  also  kept  that  distance  between 
us.  Still,  they  ought  to  know  all  about  grass- 
hoppers in  the  Salt  Lake  region,  and,  there- 
fore, we  shall  wait  patiently,  and  see  what 
comes  of  this  "  machinery."  R. 


BOTANY 


BOTANY. 


BY  JACOB  STATJFFEE. 


Continued  From  Page  28. 

UPON  the  birth  of  a  plant  one  or  two 
leaves  are  developed,  directly  from  the 
seed,  called  the  seminal  leaves,  which  are  fed 
by  the  albuminous  deposit  through  an 
umbilicus,  in  other  words ;  the  seed  feeds 
the  infant  plant  until  it  is  strong  enough  to 
develop  one  or  two  more.  These  last  not 
only,  like  the  first,  proceed  without  exception 
from  opposite  sides  of  the  stem  or  body,  but 
are  so  placed  as  to  alternate  with  the  first. 
This  goes  on  with  unvarying  uniformity  as 
long  as  growth  continues  ;  so  that,  view  a 
plant  in  whatever  way  we  will,  whether  in  its 
earliest  state,  or  at  the  most  advanced  period 
of  its  existence,  it  will  always  be  seen  to  ex- 
hibit the  same  beautiful  symmetry  as  the  most 
highly  developed  animal. 

A  counterpoise  is  observed  on  the  respect- 
ive sides;  in  order  to  protect  the  young  and 
tender  buds  against  cold,  the  leaves  surround- 
ing the  buds  suddenly  contract  into  hard 
scales,  perhaps  exude  some  resinous  or  gummy 
matter,  or  clothe  themselves  in  a  deep  cover- 
ing of  wool,  and  an  impenetrable  living  shield 
is  thus  interposed  between  the  bud  and  dan- 
ger. 

To  develop  the  flower  so  beautiful  to  the 
eye,  its  leaves  again  contract  ;  the  interposed 
space  obliterated,  new  colors  are  assumed, 
and  petals  are  created  with  all  their  varied 
and  brilliant  hues,  or  exhaling  the  most  fra- 
grant perfumes.  To  propagate  its  kind,  the 
petals  contract  into  stamens ;  their  central 
substance  becomes  changed  into  pollen  folded 
within  the  anthers,  resolved  into  living  mat- 
ter, which,  in  conjuuction  with  other  leaves, 
is  rolled  together  in  the  form  of  a  pistle  (the 


apex  of  the  midrib  being  denuded,  and  young 
buds  developed  at  the  margins).  A.  grain  of 
pollen  falls  upon  the  denuded  apex  of  the 
fructifying  leaf,  absorbs  moisture  from  it,  dis- 
tends, and  finally  produces  a  tube  of  incon- 
ceivable fineness,  which  abstracts  from  the 
pollen  its  impregnating  matter,  some  of  which 
descends  the  midrib  into  the  matrix  of  the 
leaf,  and  thence,  entering  the  young  buds  or 
ova  that  are  developed  at  its  margins,  is  finally 
hatched,  and  appears  at  last  in  the  form  of  a 
perfect  seed  or  embryo  plant.  Such  is  the 
simple  teaching  of  modern  microscopic  inves- 
tigation observable  in  the  most  perfectly 
formed,  the  most  elaborately  constructed 
plants.  In  the  lower  formation  of  plants  the 
propagation  is  still  more  simple.  A  vesicle 
elongates  and  distends  until  it  becomes  a 
tube  ;  from  the  end  of  this  tubo  more  vesicle  s 
are  generated,  which  themselves  give  birth  to 
others,  and  thus  a  simple  branching  plant  is 
formed.  As  a  general  rule  a  green  matter  is 
deposited  inside  of  each  tube,  and  in  due  time 
it  is  emitted  in  the  form  of  little  green  vesi- 
cles, like  that  from  which  the  plant  originally 
sprang,  and  themselves  capable  of  develop- 
ing as  new  plants. 

In  certain  tubes  this  dissolution  takes  place 
in  a  much  more  astonishing  manner,  not  into 
inert  green  matter,  but  moving  particles,  hav- 
ing all  thft  properties  of  spontaneous  motion 
and  animal  existence.  Soon,  however,  the 
moving  particles  elongate ;  thus  losing  their 
power  of  motion  and  becoming  plants  to 
whose  laws  of  life  they  ever  after  submit. 

Botany,  to  many  mind,  appears  to  be  a  dry 
and  barren  subject.  The  hard  names,  derived 
from  the  classic  Greek  and  Latin,  are  objected 
to,  but  when  duly  considered  that  these  names 
are  significant  to  scholars  of  various  nation- 
alities and  languages,  it  is  found  much  better 
to  learn  the  universal  name  of  a  thing  than 
the  mere  vernacular  or  local,  as  the  same 
thing  is  known  by  a  variety  of  local  names, 
unintelligible  to  those  of  another  locality. 
How  can  we  write  about  a  thing  so  as  to  be 
understood  the  world  over  in  the  use  of  names 
confined  to  a  certain  limited  section?  Hence 
it  is  better  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the 
proper  names  known  to  science,  if  somewhat 
difiicultat  first.  But  not  to  seem  pedantic,  I 
sha'l  endeavor  to  use  such  terms  as  will  con- 
vey a  correct  idea.  No  man  can  know  all 
things  relating  to  such  a  science  as   this — 


THE  L A  J^  CASTER  FARMER. 


47 


hence,  we  need  a  means  of  forming  clear 
knowledge  by  a  proper  classification  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  This  is  not  so  very  diffi 
cult,  if  attention  is  paid  to  the  doctrines  of  af- 
finities. 

Every  one  must  have  seen  that  some  species 
of  plants  are  more  like  each  other  than  they 
are  like  difierent  species.  Every  farmer 
knows  that  a  radish  is  more  like  a  turnip 
than  it  is  like  a  cucumber;  that  a  pea  is  more 
like  a  beau  than  an  apple,  and  so  on.  The 
affinities  of  plants  are  more  or  less  indicated, 
however  variable  in  some  particulars.  Classi- 
fication is  founded  upon  a  consideration  of 
general  resemblances  and  differences;  and 
by  carefully  examining  the  characteris- 
tic organs  of  plants,  those  species  may  be 
classed  most  nearly  together  which  have  the 
greatest  degree  of  resemblance  and  the  most 
perfect  constitutional  agreement. 

Thus  the  knowledge  of  one  species  is  the 
key  to  many  or  other  species  of  the  same 
group.  For  example,  in  the  Cruciferce ,  con- 
sisting of  perhaps  1,600  species,  the  study  of 
the  common  radish  or  mustard,  or  the  cress, 
will  give  the  student  a  very  accurate  general 
knowledge  of  the  remaining  number,  because 
they  are  all  close  modifications  of  the  same 
forms.  This  order  is  so  named  because  the 
flowers  of  four  petals  are  in  the  form  of  a 
Maltese  cross ;  their  fruit  consists  in  a  short  or 
long  pod,  either  siligusae  or  siliculosce.  They  all 
possess  a  more  or  less  degree  of  pungency  and 
antiscorbutic  and  stimulant  properties — such 
as  the  mustard,  horseradish,  cress-radish,  etc. 
This  order  is  allied  to  C'apjsmrfaccee  (the  caper 
family),  but  differ  in  their  tetradynamous 
stamens  (4  long  and  two  short) ;  and  also  to 
the  Papaveracecc  (poppy  family)  and  Fuintri- 
arte,  from  which  they  are  readily  distinguished 
by  the  seed.  Thus  there  are  certain  affinities 
by  which  orders  approximate  to  each  other, 
and  yet  differ  collectivelj'  in  the  genera  com- 
posing each  order,  as  species  differ  in  the  same 
genus.  So  with  Solanacece,  which  contains  the 
common  potato  and  night  shade  ;  or  the  Labi- 
ate embracing  2,000  species  of  the  mint  tribe. 
Thus  we  gam  great  assistance  from  a  knowl- 
edge of  one  plant  by  which  to  know  others  of 


its  kind. 


(,  To  be  continued.) 


Don't  waste  the  soap  suds,  but  apply  it  to 
garden,  vines,  bushes,  evergreens,  or  lawn.  It 
is  too  valuable  to  be  turned  out  at  the  back 
door. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

ELECTRICITY     VERSUS     WHEAT 
GROWING. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  :  On  looking  over 
the  January  number  of  the  Lan- 
caster Farmer,  I  find  that  our  name- 
less friend,  from  the  drift  of  his  article,  "  ex- 
pects that  I  should  'ventilate'  his 'thunder- 
gust  theory'  in  regard  to  the  fertilizing  ef- 
fects of  electricity  on  the  wheat  crops  of  1871. 

"  Says  :  '  until  oiir  friend  will  show  that  it 
was  something  done  by  the  farmers,  that 
brought  about  this  happy  result,'  [a  good 
crop  of  wheat], 'I  must  continue  to  believe 
that  it  was  nature's  laws  operating  with 
nature's  great  laboratory,  the  earth,  that 
supplied  the  deficiency  that  wrought  the 
change,'  [just  so!]  'and  that  electricity 
might  have  done  its  share  of  the  work.'  Ho 
thinks  '  I  will  admit,  that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  atmospheric  fertilizers  (?)  or  at- 
"  mospheric  influence  on  all  plants.'  " 

As  to  atmospheric  fertilizers,  I  plead  igno- 
rance, but  as  to  atmospheric  influences  there 
can  be  no  diversity  of  opinion — sometimess  fa- 
vorable sometimes  the  reverse.  He,  himself, 
admits  the  destructive  influence  of  electricity 
from  the  number  of  buildings  that  were  struck 
and  consumed  by  the  fluid  last  year,  but  fails 
to  give  any  proof  of  its  fertilizing  effects. 
True,  we  have  abundance  of  proof  of  its  de- 
structive influence.  Atmospheric  i-^flueuce  we 
experience  every  season,  indeed  all  the  time. 
A  few  years  since  we  had  a  fair  promise  of  a 
fine  crop  of  wheat  to  within  a  week  of  its  ripen- 
ing, then  a  hot  spell  so  scorched  and  dried 
the  straw  that  the  wheat  kernels  failed  to 
fill  up.  Sometimes  we  have  a  hot  and  moist 
spell  just  as  the  grain  is  being  perfected ; 
then  this  atmospheric  influence  is  favorable 
to  the  spores  of  mildew  and  rust,  again  in- 
juring the  crop.  Light,  heat,  moisture  and 
aridity,  all  eflect  growing  crops  for  good  or 
ill. 

If  electricity  has  the  fertilizing  quality  at- 
tributed to  it  by  our  nameless  friend,  surely 
we  are  open  to  conviction,  but  we  would  like 
very  much  to  have  some  better  proof  of  its 
efficiency  than  the  mere  saj^-so  of  a  writer 
who  even  fears  to  give  his  name  to  the  public. 

I  certainly  do  not  intend  "  to  show  that  it 
was  something  done  by  the  farmers  all  over 


Jf8 


THE   LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


the  county  simultaneously  that  produced  an 
extra  crop  of  wheat.  '  Man  may  sow,  but  God 
giveth  the  increase  !'  " 

Without  atmospheric  influencesthere  would 
be  no  vegetation.  May  not  planetary  and 
steller  influences  also  have  some  effect  on 
growing  crops  ? 

After  preparing  the  soil,  by  manuring  and 
cultivating,  and  sowing  the  seed,  we  are  at 
the  mercy  of  the  elements.  Atmospheric  in- 
fluence may  give  us  thirty  or  forty  bushels  of 
wheat  per  acre,  or  it  may  give  us  less  than 
the  seed. 

In  my  article  I  only  noticed  the  thander- 
strrms  for  April,  May  and  June,  for  the  last 
ten  years,  supposing  those  after  harvest  of 
course  could  have  no  fertilizing  effect  on  the 
wheat  that  was  harvested.  But  he  says  :  "  Had 
I  given  the  record  for  the  whole  season  it 
might  have  changed  the  table  somewhat." 
That's  so  !  I  could  easily  have  done  so ;  but  if 
he  believes  that  electricity  after  harvest  will 
have  any  salutary  effect  in  perfecting  the 
grain,  I  can  yet  accommodate  my  nameless 
friend  by  giving  the  record  of  all  the  thunder- 
gusts  for  ten  or  thirty  years  !  'Tis  true,  nearly 
all  the  heavy  thunder-gusts  came  after  har- 
vest—destroying buildings,  etc.  Does  he  sup- 
pose that  electricity  can  eflect  beneficially 
wheat  in  the  barn  ?  If  it  has  the  fertilizing 
quality  that  our  friend  thinks  it  might  have, 
then  the  thunder-gusts  after  June,  1871,  will 
only  be  appreciated  the  present  season  of 
1872.  May  we  not,  therefore,  hope  for  a  crop 
of  thirty  or  forty  bushels  per  acre  the  present 
season  ? 

Says:  "He  does  not  care  so  much  for  a 
name,  as  for  the  game."  Be  it  so.  There  is 
an  old  saying,  "  What's  in  a  name  ?  a  rose  by 
any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet !" — yet 
were  arose  without  a  name,  we  might  mistake 
a  bkiink  cabbage  for  it,  and  that  certainly 
would  Hoi  smell  as  siveet !    So  you  may  per- 

cieve  friend !  if  you  wish  to  secure  the 

game,  you  had  better  also  have  a  name  ;  oth- 
erwise some  interloper  may  rob  you  of  your 
xdiQaX  fertilizing  electrical  laurels. 

In  my  former  article  I  made  the  compari- 
son of  the  Indian's  gun — "  costing  more 
than  it  comes  to" — with  artificial  manures; 
not  that  such  fertilizers  are  entirely  worthless, 
but  their  cost  exceeds  the  profits,  or  that  we 
receive  a  benefit  by  using  them  on  our  land  in 


proportion  to  the  cost.    They  cost  more  than 
they  are  worth.    Is'nt  that  so  ? 

J.  B.  Garber. 

Columbia, Pa.,  Feb.  12, 1872. 


THE  PERSIMMON. 


ESSRS.  EDITORS :  I  think  this  fruit 
is  not  appreciated  as  it  deserves. 
Would  it  not  be  advisable  to  grow  more  of  it  ? 
The  trees  are  free  from  the  depredations  of 
insects,  so  destructive  to  all  our  other  fruits. 
Keither  heat  nor  cold  seems  to  injure  the 
trees.  There  are  many  varieties  (as  with  the 
apple  and  pear)  all  over  the  country.  Some 
ripen  early  before  frost,  others  require  freez- 
ing to  bring  them  to  perfection.  Some  are 
small,  others  larger ;  and  again,  there  are  some 
that  are  very  full  of  seeds,  while  other  varie- 
ties are  seedless.  There  is  not  a  more  deli- 
cious fruit  grown  than  the  persimmon,  when 
in  perfect  condition ;  and,  if  dried,  they  are 
a  very  grateful  addition  to  the  stock  of  delica- 
cies during  the  winter.  The  trees  mostly 
grow  naturally  in  damp,  though  not  wet,  situa- 
tions, where  no  other  fruit  trees  will  live; 
though,  in  many  localities,  they  grow  and 
bear  profusely  in  soil  composed  almost  en- 
tirely of  sand. 

In  the  lower  part  of  Maryland,  along  near 
tide-water,  where  there  is  simply  a  poor, 
sandy  soil,  these  trees  grow  and  flourish  in 
abundance.  There,  too,  some  trees  produce 
very  large  fruit.  I  have  seen  some  that  meas- 
ured seven  and  a  half  inches  in  circumference. 
Whether  these  large  varieties  will  continue 
to  produce  such  large  fruit,  when  grown  on 
our  limestone  or  slate  soil,  is  yet  to  be  tried  ; 
though  apparently  they  are  a  different  va- 
riety from  those  growing  in  our  section,  as 
the  seeds  are  shorter,  wider  and  lighter  col- 
ored. The  trees  may  be  grafted,  and  are  almost 
as  sure  to  grow  as  the  apple  or  pear.  By  rais- 
ing seedlings  of  our  common  kinds,  or  where 
young  trees  or  even  sprouts  can  be  obtained 
by  grafting  the  large  or  better  varieties  on 
them,  great  improvement  will  result.  I  now 
have  a  tree  that  was  grafted  on  the  top  some 
three  years  since,  with  some  thirty  grafts,  of 
a  seedless  variety.  Some  twenty-five  of  the 
grafts  grew,  and  the  tree  has  now  a  perfect 
top — bearing  some  two  dozen  of  fruit  last  sea- 
son. Though  it  is  called  a  seedless  variety, 
it  is  not  entirely  free  from  seeds,  as  the  largest 
specimens  generally  have  from  two  to  four 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


49 


seeds,  but  many  of  the  smaller  fruits  are  free 
from  seeds,  and  a  most  luscious  mouthful ! 

However,  we  may  hope  soon  to  grow  the 
mammoth  varieties  from  Japan.  A  nursery 
man  in  Kentucky  informs  me  that  last  fall  he 
had  the  good  fortune  to  secure  six  of  these 
Japan  varieties.  He  will,  of  course,  increase 
them  as  fast  as  possible,  so  as  to  offer  them 
to  the  public. 

From  the  descriptions  that  I  have  seen  of 
these  large  persimmons,  I  doubt  not  but  they 
will  prove  a  great  acquisition  to  our  list  of 
fruits. 

Several  persons  who  have  seen  them  in 
Japan,  and  given  us  descriptions,  say  they 
are  as  large  as  a  good  sized  apple,  some  as 
large  as  a  "coffee  cup;"  some  are  round, 
others  pear  shaped,  egg  shaped,  &c. ;  some 
ripen  early,  and  others  keep  till  February. 
They  are  eaten  with  a  spoon  ! 

Some  years  since,  when  Mr.  Hogg  was  Con- 
sul to  Japan,  he  wrote  home  to  his  brother  in 
York  State  that  the  persimmons  in  Japan 
were  the  only  fruit  that  he  had  met  with  that 
were  really  worthy  of  being  introduced  into 
America.  It  now  appears  that  Mr.  Hogg 
brought  some  trees  home  with  hiai,  and  that 
last  season,  for  the  first  time,  one  of  his  trees 
produced  fruit.  He  Jnvited  some  of  his  friends 
to  come  and  taste  this  new  fruit.  Mr,  P. 
Berry,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y,,  and  ottiers,  avail- 
ed themselves  of  the  privilege,  examined, 
tested  and  tasted  the  fruit,  and  they  say  it 
•was  very  sweet  and  most  delicious.  The 
trees  begin  to  bear  while  yet  quite  small,  and 
appear  to  be  as  hardy  as  our  native  varieties. 

Evidently  this  fruit  is  worth  looking  after. 
J.  B.  Gakber. 

Columbia,  Fa.,  Feb.  14,  1872. 


For  fbe  Lancaster  Farmer. 

WHAT  SHALL  FARMER  BOYS  STUDY? 

We  know  full  well,  from  personal  experi- 
ence, what  difficulties  beset  the  pathway  of 
the  farmer  boy,  what  obstacles  he  must  over- 
come in  his  upward  march  of  intellectual  ad- 
vancement. We  know,  too,  that  many  lose 
both  their  mental  energy  and  their  ambition 
for  intellectual  triumphs  long  before  they 
have  reached  the  goal  of  that  ambition. 

It  is  the  case  with  many  of  this  class  of  boys : 
after  their  school-days  in  the  old  school-house 
are  over  they  consider  their  education  com- 


pleted. They  think  the  only  thing  now  left 
for  them  to  do  is  to  look  around  for  a  wife, 
and  after  they  get  one  to  settle  down  to  their 
business  and  work  along  in  the  same  61^ 
beaten  path  that  their  fathers  trod  before 
them. 

They  not  only  cease  to  make  any  new  men- 
tal acquisitions,  but  forget  a  great  deal  of 
what  they  had  acquired  at  school.  Subjects 
in  which  they  once  took  a  lively  interest 
cease  to  arouse  their  feelings,  and  the  great 
questions  which  agitate  the  nation  and  the 
age  are  treated  by  them  with  cold  indiffer- 
ence. 

This  is  certainly  wrong,  and  the  result  is 
the  mental  deterioration  of  that  large,  and  by 
nature  the  better  class,  of  our  citizens,  the 
sturdy  yeomanry  of  the  land,  from  whose 
ranks  spring  our  great  men — the  men  who 
wield  the  power  in  the  learned  professions 
and  in  the  Senate  halls  of  the  nation. 

What  we  said  above  about  farmer  boys  ap- 
plies, perhaps,  with  greater  force  to  other 
boys  and  young  men  everywhere. 

How  can  this  mental  retrogression  be  ar- 
rested? Only  by  continued  mental  labor. 
The  mind  like  the  body  is  developed  by  exer- 
cise— the  mental  faculties  are  kept  bright 
only  by  constant  use.  The  farmer  boy  can 
find  many  objects  worthy  his  attention  and 
study  all  around  him,  by  which  he  can  keep 
his  mind  employed  all  his  working  hours. 
The  sky  above  him  ;  the  earth  below  him  ; 
the  little  plant  at  his  feet;  the  rocks  and 
pebbles  by  the  wayside  ;  all  are  interesting 
subjects  for  thought,  and  a  knowledge  of 
which  is  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  farmer 
in  the  successful  prosecution  of  his  business. 

A  knowledge  of  farming  consists  of  a 
knowledge  of  the  soil  and  its  properties  ;  of 
manures  and  how  to  apply  them ;  of  plants 
and  seed  and  the  fitness  of  certain  varieties 
for  different  kinds  of  soil ;  of  the  many  useful 
and  labor-saving  implements  ;  and  lastly,  but 
not  of  the  least  importance,  a  knowledge  of 
the  infinite  variety  of  animals  (including  in- 
sects, useful  and  iujurious,)  used  and  found 
upon  the  farm. 

Chemistry,  botany,  natural  philosophy  and 
zoology  are  the  sciences  which  treat  of  these 
subjects. 

It  w'ould  be  well  for  farmer  boys  to  save 
their  pocket  money  and  buy  a  text-book  on 
each  of  these  subjects,  and  we  would  include 
astronomy    and   geology.    Let  them  spend 


50 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


their  long  winter  evenings  studying  these,  in- 
stead of  worse  than  wasting  their  time,  as, 
alas !  too  many  of  them  do,  in  stores  and  ho- 
tel bar-rooms,  where  nothing  is  heard  that 
tends  to  enlighten  the  human  mind. 

By  diligent  application,  and  by  economizing 
time,  a  farmer  boy  can,  in  a  few  years,  gain 
as  good  a  knowledge  cf  the  above  branches 
as  can  be  obtained  at  college.  Though  it  may 
require  longer,  he  has  this  advantage :  he 
does  not  receive  his  knowledge  from  the  lips 
of  teachers  and  professors,  but  masters  every 
difficulty  himself.  What  is  thus  learned  is 
deeply  impressed  upon  the  mind,  never  to  be 
erased,  while  what  is  heard  from  the  lips  of 
others  is,  frequently,  soon  forgotten. 

If  any  feel  discouraged  amid  the  many 
difficulties  which  they  meet  at  every  step  of 
their  upward  course,  let  them  for  a  moment 
think  of  a  Hugh  Miller  or  an  Elihu  Burrit, 
the  one  a  stone-mason  the  other  a  blacksmith, 
both  from  being  mere  physical  laborers  ele- 
vated themselves  to  a  high  position  in  the  in- 
tellectual world.  They,  when  the  severe  phy- 
sical labors  of  the  day  were  over,  left  their 
companions  to  enervate  themselves  with  pipe 
and  beer,  and  employed  their  evenings  in 
study— hard,  earnest,  patient,  toiling  study, 
and  left  their  impress  upon  works  which  will 
enlighten  mankind  for  ages  to  come. 

The  sciences  of  chemistry  and  botany,  es- 
pecially, are  easy  and  fascinating  studies  for 
farmer  boys  and  girls  to  pursue  during  the 
leisure  hours  between  v/ork. 

To  analyze  a  flower — to  learn  its  name  and 
characteristics,  during  the  resting  hour  at 
noon,  is  of  infinitely  mi, re  value  to  the  farmer 
boy  than  to  read  the  columa  of  stale  jokes  in 
the  weekly  newspaper. 

The  great  Washington  said  "  inarming  is  the 
most  useful,  the  most  healthful,  and  the  most 
noble  employment  of  man." 

The  most  useful  and  the  most  healthful  it 
most  certainly  is,  and,  it  raiionally  pursued,  it 
is  also  the  most  noble.  It  lies  ia  our  power 
to  make  it  such.  Let  us  preserve  the  dignity 
of  the  time-honored  calling  by  preserving  the 
dignity  of  our  own  minds.  Phjjsical  labor  is 
good,  useful,  necessary;  but  after  all,  it  is  the 
mind  that  makes  the  man. 

What  a  celebrated  writer  said  a  century 
ago  ia  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  then : 

'Could  I  in  stature  reach  the  pole 

Or  grasp  creation  In  mv  span, 
I'd  still  be  measured  by  iny  soul ; 

It  is  the  mind  that  makes  the  man."    D  L.  R. 


Columbia,  Feb.  7, 1872. 

Mr,  J.  B.  Develin,  Publisher  Lancaster 
Farmer — Dear  Sir  :  I  haye  been  too  neglect- 
ful of  the  Lakcaster  Farmer,  and  have 
suffered  my  subscription  to  remain  urpaid — 
because,  I  presume,  no  personal  application 
had  been  made  for  the  money,  and  the  work 
was  sent  in  the  first  instance  without  my  soli- 
citation. This,  however,  does  not  excuse  me. 
I  certainly  wish  well  to  the  agricultural  inter- 
ests of  the  whole  country,  and  feel  a  special 
pride  and  self-interest  in  that  of  our  county. 
Shall  be  glad  to  know  that  the  circulation,  the 
usefulness,  and  the  pecuniary  success  of  the 
Farmer  increases.  My  February  l^o.  is 
marked  S.  H.  M.,  April  1,  1870.  Will  that 
make   two  years  unpaid?    I  inclosed    S5.00. 

Please  return  me  a  receipt  for  that  amount 
as  far  as  it  pays. 

Respectfully  yours,  &c., 

S.  H.  M. 

[We. publish  the  above  communication  out 
of  a  number  sent  to  us  of  the  same  import, 
because  it  expresses  so  fully  and  so  fairly  the 
sentiment  of  personal  obligation,  in  a  case 
where  an  individual  had  not  been  a  voluntary 
subscriber  to  our  journal.  There  is  no  at- 
tempt here  to  evade  the  responsibility  which 
every  honorable  man  assumes,  when  he  con- 
tinues to  take  a  paper  sent  to  his  address, 
even  though  he  had  not  subscribed  for  it. 
When  we  send  one  or  two  numbers  of  our 
journal  to  any  person,  under  such  circumstan- 
ces, it  is  merely  a  solicitation,  tiud  if  they  do 
not  desire  it,  a  return  of  the  number,  or  num- 
bers, to  the  office  from  which  it  was  sent, 
ends  the  whole  matter.  But  when  this  is  not 
done,  we  take  it  for  granted  that  they  intend 
to  give  us  their  support  in  aid  of  our  enter- 
prise in  the  establishment  of  a  local  journal 
in  Lancaster  county,  devoted  to  the  interests 
of  agriculture  and  kindred  occupations,  and 
we  feel  greatful  for  such  support. — Ed.] 


Vegetable  Leather  is  now  extensively 
manufactured,  the  principal  materials  being 
caoutchouc  and  naptha.  The  product  is  only 
one-third  as  costly  as  ordinary  leather,  which 
it  resembles  so  closely  that  they  can  be  dis- 
tinguished only  by  close  inspection ;  and  the 
vegetable  leather  has  the  additional  advantage 
of  being  made  in  entire  pieces  of  fifty  yards 
in  length,  if  desired,  one  and  half  yards  wide, 
of  any  thickness  demanded,  of  uniform  quality, 
and  ample  strength. — National  Oil  Journal. 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


51 


Wixt  p^wciistw  $jkx\\m 


LANCASTER,  MARCH,   1872. 


S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.  HARRIS,  Editors. 
Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Agricll- 

TUUAL  AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 


$1.!35  per  yeinr  iu  ndvaiicc. 

A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 


All  communications,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Kathvou  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remittances  to  the 
address  of  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


MEETING    OF   THE    AGRICULTURAL 
AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

The  regular  meeting  of  the  society  was 
held  at  the  usual  place  of  meeting,  February 
5th,  1862.  Henry  M.  Engle  in  the  chair. 
The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read 
and  approved. 

Peter  H.  Summy,  of  East  Hempfield,  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  society. 

Peter  S.  Reist  spoke  of  the  subject  of 
manure,  and  said  that  the  straw  added  to  it 
did  not  much  increase  its  value,  but  simply 
enabled  it  to  keep  the  ground  more  open  and 
porous. 

JJaniel  Rhoads,  on  this  point,  begged  to 
difi'er  with  Mr.  Reist,  as  in  his  opinion  the 
straw,  being  composed  of  vegetable  matter 
and  silica,  must  add  greatly  to  the  Value  of 
the  manure  with  which  it  is  mixed.  "When 
straw  is  put  in  stables  it  absorbs  the  urine  of 
the  cattle  and  adds,  in  h.is  opinion, greatly  to 
the  strength  and  substance  of  ihe  manure. 

P.  S.  Reist  adheres  to  the  opinion,  by  hiin 
expressed  at  a  former  meeting,  that  it  is  best 
to  hall  the  manure  out  upon  the  land  as  soon 
as  it  is  taken  out  of  the  stable. 

Daniel  Rhodes  was  ready  to  admit  that  it 
would  be  best  to  hall  it  out  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble after  it  is  taken  out  of  the  stable,  but  such 
apian  is  utterly  impracticable,  as  it  would 
entail  too  much  labor  upon  farmers  to  drop 
their  other  work  and  hall  manure  according 
to  this  plan. 

H.  M.  Engle  differs  with  Mr.  Reist  as  to 
some  of  his  ideas  of  manuring.  He  is  yet  of 
the  opinion  that  judicious  composting  is  the 


best   method  for    the  preservation    of    the 
strength  of  the  manure. 

P.  S.  Reist  does  not  condemn  the  system  of 
composting.  By  collecting  vegetable  matter 
together  and  covering  it  with  clay,  a  good 
quality  of  manure  is  obtained. 

R.  G.  Swartz  next  proceeded  to  read  an 
essay  upon  the  "  Almanac." 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  the  essayist 
for  his  able  and  learned  production. 

On  motion,  Mr.  Swartz  was  invited  at  some 
future  meeting  to  ontinue  this  essay. 

Dr.  P.  W.  Hiestand,  treasurer,  reported  the 
condition  of  the  finances  rf  the  society,  show- 
ing that  on  January  1, 1872,  the  sum  of  S58.90 
was  in  the  treasury. 

P.  S.  Reist  introduced  the  question  of  bee 
culture  by  saying  it  was  one  of  great  interest 
and  importance.  He  considered  no  other  could 
be  named  of  more  value  for  discussion  before 
the  society.  He  named  an  apiarist  who  from 
600  hives  derived  a  profit  of  from  five  to  six 
thousand  dollars.  The  bees  are  simply  the 
gatherers  of  what  otherwise  is  lost.  What 
they  add  is  then  for  a  community  clear  gain. 

J.  B.  Erb  was  desirous  to  hear  of  the  profit 
from  keeping  bees.  He  is  conversant  with 
the  methods  of  raising  them,  but  he  has  never 
yet  been  able  to  get  a  sight  of  the  profits. 

Charles  E.  Long  keeps  some  bees  for  profit 
and  pleasure,  and  has  obtained,  satisfactory 
results  with  them.  He  instanced  from  bee 
journal  statistics  some  exceedingly  profitable 
results  in  bee  culture.  He  gave  a  case  when 
in  this  county  110  pounds  of  honey  in  one  sea- 
son were  obtained  from  one  hive  of  bees. 

P.  S  Reist  submitted  some  results  of  bee 
culture  iu  his  experience.  His  bees  (Italian) 
do  not  stand  hi  n  over  SlOO,  and  he  should 
scarcely  be  willing  now  to  dispose  of  his  stock 
for  less  than  ten  times  their  original  cost. 
Of  course  care  and  atlenciou  are  necessary  to 
be  bestowed  upon  them.  From  a  small  be- 
ginning of  Italian  bees  a  large  stock  can  soon 
be  obtained.  If  he  could  not  get  Italian  bees 
he  should  have  nothing  to  do  with  bee  raising. 
No  others  pay.  He  is  perfectly  satisfied  that 
millions  of  dollars  could  be  made  in  this  busi- 
ness. He  would  like  to  see  a  society  of  bee- 
growers  established  in  this  county.  A  few 
men  interested  iu  this  branch  of  business  by 
coming  together  and  by  an  interchange  of 
sentiments  could  learn  much  of  one  another. 
Levi  S.  Reist  is  not  so  sanguine  as  regards 
bee  cultm-e.    He  has  had  of  the  Italian  bees, 


5^ 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


yet  has  experienced  no  luck  with  them.  He 
cannot  see  any  profits  in  keeping  bees.  He 
would  not  advise  any  to  go  into  the  culture  of 
bees  unless  they  are  adepts.  If  any  wish  to 
try  it  let  them  do  so  cautiously. 

J.  B.  Erb  has  carefully  studied  some  of  the 
elevated  systems  of  bee  keeping,  and  has  ob- 
tained and  managed  his  bees  as  the  books 
directed,  but  instead  of  doing  so  with  profit  it 
has  been  with  loss.  J.  B.  Breckbill  thought, 
under  the  question  of  bees,  he  might  suggest 
a  word  in  favor  of  the  bumble  bee,  on  account 
of  its  utility  in  the  fertilization  of  the  clover 
crop  ;  where  they  are  plenty  clover  is  abund- 
ant. 

The  president  presented aletter  from  a  com- 
mittee representiog  the  interests  of  the  Ex- 
perimental Earm,  of  Chester  county,  and 
asking  the  appointment  of  a  delegate  to 
represent  the  society  in  the  meetings  con- 
cerning the  said  farm.  On  motion,  society 
agreed  to  appoint  a  delegate,  and  chose  H.  M. 
Eagle  as  said  delegate,  with  Levi  S.  Reist  as 
alternate. 

Society,  on  motion,  adjourned. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


The  Lancaster  Farmer. — A.mont.}ily  journa], 
devoted  to  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Econ- 
omy and  Miscellmiy  ;  and  published  monthly  by  J. 
B.  Daveiin,  under  the  au-=pioe8  of  the  "  Lancaster 
Cou;ity  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society," 
at  $1  25  per  annum  in  advance.  Thin  is  an  octavo 
magizine,  illustrative  of  the  sptcialiies  afore- 
named, and  is  mainly  made  up  of  local  contribu- 
tions from  farmers  in  thi-s  coun'y,  where  it  is  pub- 
lished, and  as  mch  must  possess  an  interest  to 
many  in  the  same  belt  of  latitude  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  great  county  of  Lxncaster. 

"We  clip  the  above  notice  of  our  journal 
from  the  columns  of  the  Strasburg  Free  Press, 
because  we  value  the  local  opinion  of  one  who 
knows  more  than  we  do,  the  opinions  of  a  hun- 
dred who  knoio  nothing  about  a  matter.  It  is 
the  "  local  contributions  "  above  referred  to 
that  gives  to  our  journal  its  practical  charac- 
ter, and  who  will  say  that  an  intelligent  Lan- 
caster county  farmer  may  not  know  as  much 
about  his  calling  as  the  most  exalted  in  the 
land. 


M.  J.  Carter  writes  to  the  Rural  New  York- 
er that  if  those  who  have  crib-biting  horses 
will  nail  a  sheepskin,  wool  side  up,  wherever 
there  is  a  chance  for  the  horse  to  bite,  he  will 
not  do  very  much  cribbing  in  the  stable.  His 
father  has  tried  it  successfully. 


RANDOM  SKETCHES  AND  FARM 
ITEMS.— NO.  IL 

BY  n.  M.  ENGLE. 

S  the  season  is  at  hand  for  the  farmer  to 
prepare  his  land  for  the  summer  crops, 
the  plow  will  be  the  first  in  requisition.  The 
improvement  of  this  implement  from  its  prim- 
itive crude  form  to  its  present  complete  con- 
struction is  great  indeed ;  but  whether  it  is 
applied  in  proportion  to  its  increased  capacity 
is  doubtful.  A  little  deeper  plowing  each 
successive  time,  and  fertilizing  material  ad- 
ded in  proportioQ,  is  adding  acres  by  strata 
instead  of  by  area.  To  acquire  lands  by  the 
former  course  is  far  more  desirable  than  by 
the  latter.  The  great  advantages  are,  the 
saving  of  fences  and  taxes,  seed  and  labor, 
time  and  distance,  with  almost  every  other 
advantage  in  its  favor. 

The  best  farmers  in  the  country  understand 
this,  and  those  that  practice  it  reap  its  rich 
benefits.  Such  a  course  is  much  more  laudi- 
ble  than  to  spread  over  a  greater  area  than 
can  be  worked  to  its  full  capacity.  Had  this 
course  been  followed  generally,  in  the  past 
half  century,  instead  of  the  expanding  and 
skinning  systems,  the  country  would  be  better 
and  richer  for  it.  There  would  have  been  no 
occasion  to  denude  the  country  of  so  much  of 
its  finest  timber  under  the  pretext  of  neces- 
sity of  more  arable  land.  What  an  amount 
of  wealth  there  might  have  been  botli  saved 
and  earned. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  deep  tillage  sys- 
tem, a  cheap  available  fertilizer  is  of  the  first 
importance ;  for  this  purpose  clover  stands 
preeminent.  Some  soils  are  either  impover- 
ished by  slovenly  cultivation,  or  by  nature  so 
poor  that  some  other  fertilizer  is  required  ;  but 
wherever  clover  will  set,  it  has  scarcely  a  rival 
(except  stable  manure)  as  a  renovator  of  soils. 

The  value  of  root  crops  for  winter  feeding 
of  stock  is  not  fully  appreciated  in  this  coun- 
try. Many  of  the  most  progressive  and  suc- 
cessful farmers  consider  thvm  indispensable 
where  stock  is  to  be  kept  in  the  best  condi- 
tion, with  the  least  expense  ;  but  their  great- 
est value  is  obtained  by  feeding  to  milk  cows. 
The  increased  amount  of  milk,  and  the  rich 
cream  and  butter  produced  therefrom,  should 


TEE  LAJfCASTER  FARMER. 


53 


be  sufficient  to  induce  every  farmer  in  the 
country  to  raise  root  crops. 

Tlie  scarcity  of  water  the  past  winter  should 
be  sufficient  to  impress  many  with  the  neces- 
sity of  being  better  provided  in  the  future. 

The  sinking  of  wells  is  on  an  average  ex- 
pensive. It  has  prevented  many  an  enter- 
prising family  from  acquiring  a  homestead. 

The  want  of  supply  of  pure  v/ater  has  caused 
untold  misery  and  death  in  the  human  family, 
and  also  among  the  brute  creation.  Were 
the  valueof  cisterns  with  filters,  and  their  com- 
parative cheapness,  better  understood,  the 
want  of  this  pure  element  would  certainly  be 
better  supplied  throughout  the  country.  My 
own  experience  and  observation  in  this  mat- 
ter justify  the  assertion.  Could  we  enumerate 
and  look  upon  all  the  aches,  jains,  sickness, 
distress  and  dgath  in  consequence  of  the  lug- 
ging of  water  where  a  slight  expense  would 
have  prevented  it,  we  would  shrink  with  hor- 
ror from  the  sad  spectacle.  I  will  further  as- 
sert that  there  are  thousands  who,  would  they 
avail  themselves  of  a  full  supply  of  filtered 
rain-water,  would  wonder  at  their  previous 
ignorance  of  the  value  and  blessing  of  this 
heaven  distilled  liquid,  so  free  to  all. 

Grape  vines,  if  not  yet  pruned,  should  be 
attended  to  at  once,  to  prevent  bleeding.  It 
is  claimed  by  some  that  bleeding  is  not  inju- 
rious, but  the  best  and  strongest  testimony  is 
on  the  other  side. 

Hot  beds  should  be  made  as  soon  as  the 
condition  of  the  ground  will  permit.  Seeds 
of  the  hardier  vegetables  maybe  sown  at  once, 
if  the  beds  are  protected  on  cold  nights.  Glass 
alone  is  not  sufficient  against  frost.  It  is  not 
generally  known  that  plants  are  much  im- 
proved by  frequent  transplanting  in  the  beds ; 
by  this  method  they  can  be  set  out  perma- 
nently in  any  kind  of  weather  with  scarcely  a 
visible  effect  upon  the  plant.  The  same  rule 
holds  good  with  flowers,  shrubs,  trees  or  any- 
thing that  may  be  transplanted. 

Potatoes  may  be  sprouted  the  same  as  sweet- 
potatoes,  and  by  proper  management  will 
mature  a  full  crop,  considerable  earlier  than 
by  any  other  method,  beside  the  great  saving 
of  seed. 

It  is  still  not  too  late  to  destroy  most  of  the 
broods  of  insects  in  cocoons,  or  in  whatever 
condition  the  pupa  may  be  found. 

Marietta,  Feb.  26, 1872. 


ORNAMENTAL  TREES. 

AT  the  meeting  of  the  New  York  Rural 
Club,  Dec.  7,  Mr.  Josiah  Hooper,  presi- 
dent of  the  Pennsylyania  Horticultural  So- 
ciety, read  a  lengthy  and  excellent  paper  on 
ornamental  tree  planting,  from  which  we 
make  the  following  brief  extracts : 

I  invariably  commence  with  a  stereotyped 
phrase  :  '*  Don't  plant  large  trees  in  small 
yards."  One  of  the  greatest  of  all  errors,  and 
one  that  is  indulged  in  by  so  many  of  our 
planters  in  their  horticultural  infancy,  is  that 
of  setting  out  a  first-class  tree  in  a  second- 
class  yard.  Scarcely  a  town  lot  or  a  cemetery 
iuclosure  is  laid  out  but  this  mistake  is  made, 
although  ignorance  in  nearly  every  instance 
is  the  excuse,  and  justly  so  too.  Taking,  for 
instance,  the  laborer's  cottage,  with  its  few 
square  feet  of  grass  in  front — and,  by  the  way, 
what  is  more  attractive  than  a  well  kept  sod  ? 
— in  the  place  of  a  Norway  spruce  or  Aus- 
trian pine,  I  would  suggest  what  is  termed  a 
dwarf  evergreen — one  of  the  smaller  forms  of 
arbor  vitte,  now  becoming  so  popular,  or  a 
juniper,  with  its  variety  of  outline,  or  perhaps 
a  form  of  the  newer  genus  Retinispora.  If  the 
front  should  have  a  northern  aspect,  the  best 
plant  for  this  purpose  is  either  some  hand- 
somely variegated  variety  of  Aucuba  or  Eno- 
nymus  Japonica.  The  newer  introductions  of 
these  are  exceedingly  attractive,  and  a  group 
composed  of  distinct  kinds  forms  an  agreea- 
ble feature.  To  those  whose  taste  for  flowers 
is  predominant,  I  would  recommend  a  circu- 
lar bed  of  roses,  not  planted  promiscuously, 
but  in  lines  or  ribbons,  each  circle  a  distinct 
color,  all  trimmed  low,  and  consequently  well 
branched.  If  the  entire  bed  should  be  of  one 
variety,  the  eftect  will  also  be  very  fine.  For 
this  purpose  the  China  or  Bengal  class  can- 
not be  excelled. 

As  I  am  not  here  to-night  to  give  you  a  les- 
son upon  landscape  gardening,  even  had  I  the 
ability  to  do  so,  I  shall  simply  call  your  at- 
tention to  a  few  of  the  most  desirable  trees 
for  what  might  be  termed  second-class  places. 
For  a  group  of  low-growing  trees,  commend 
to  me  always  certain  species  of  the  Magnolia. 
The  M.  conspecua,  with  pure  white  bloom ; 
M.  Sonlangeana,  with  its  white  flower,  striped 
and  shaded  with  purple ;  M.  cordata,  with  yel- 
low, odorous  bloom  ;  and  lastly,  but  very  far 
from  least,  the  beautiful  M.   Thompaoniana, 


5Jt. 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


with  creamy-white  fragrant  flowers.  We  have 
here  a  group  of  four  trees  that  cannot  be  ex- 
celled— hardy,  beautiful — in  foliage  and  flower, 
and  so  entirely  free  from  iojurious  insects 
that  they  seem  to  combine  all  the  excellencies 
one  could  desire. 

Another  pretty  group  of  small-sized  trees 
may  be  composed  of  the  Ealesta  ietraptera  or 
Silver  Bell,  Laburnum  or  Golden  Chain,  and 
the  Cercis  Canadensis^  Red  Bad  or  Judas  tree. 
Still  another  group  of  the  same  size  can  be 
formed  of  the  Prunus  Padus  or  European 
Bird  Cherry,  Rhus  cotinus  or  Purple  Mist, 
Chionanthus  Virginica  or  White  Fringe,  and 
the  Cladrastis  tinctoria,  Yellow  Wood  or  Vir- 
gilia. 

In  a  corner  of  the  grounds  a  closely-massed 
group  of  the  diff'erent  colored  double  flower- 
ing peaches  will  be  very  pleasing  when  in 
bloom,  and  where  they  will  succeed  nothing 
can  excel  the  numerous  varieties  of  thorns. 
In  the  center  of  the  peaches  I  would  insert  a 
tree  of  Reid's  weeping  variety,  a  graceful 
drooping  tree,  and  among  the  thorns  plant 
the  weeping  variety  of  it.  These  have  a  tend- 
ency to  remove  a  certain  uniformity  of  outline 
prevalent  in  all  such  masses.  As  we  have  the 
small  class  of  trees  and  advance  to  those  of 
larger  growth,  I  unhesitatingly  place  in  the 
front  rank,  if  not  at  the  very  head,  the  Norway 
Maple.  Seldom  do  we  find  its  equal  in  all 
that  pertains  to  a  specimen  tree.  With  ample 
foliage  of  the  richest  shade  of  green,  globular 
in  form,  perfectly  hardy  and  healthy  in  almost 
every  situation,  it  appears  peculiarly  adapted 
to  stand  alone  on  a  beautiful  lawn.  Another, 
although  of  a  widely  difierent  character,  is  the 
White  Birch  [JBetula  alba),  and  iis  delicate 
cut-leaved  variety.  The  silver-leaved  Linden 
succeeds  well  everywhere,  and  is  undeniably 
a  beautiful  specimen  tree,  as  well  as  the  Eng- 
lish cork-barked  maple  when  branched  to  the 
ground.  Although  of  large  size,  the  Sweet 
Gum  (Liquid  amber)  forms  one  of  our  most 
available  ornamental  trees.  Beautiful  at  all 
seasons,  with  its  curious  corky  bark,  rich, 
glossy  star-shaped  leaves  and  picturesque  form, 
it  is  well  adapted  for  creating  marked  efi'ects ; 
and  then  in  the  autumn  its  brilliant  crimson 
hue  is  remarkably  attractive.  Either  for 
grouping  or  as  single  specimens,  the  genua 
Fagus  or  Beech  supplies  ua  with  a  charming 
set  of  trees.  Among  the  most  striking  in 
character  I  would  place  the  fern-leaved  and 


purple-leaved  as  especially  fine.  The  cut- 
leaved  Alder  and  the  newer  variety  asplenifo- 
lia  I  consider  very  desirable  for  particular  lo- 
calities. 

There  are  very  many  other  trees  of  beauti- 
ful form  that  are  unfortunately  not  adapted 
for  general  planting.  In  the  neighborhood  of 
Philadelphia  we  cannot  use  the  elms,  because 
the  leaves  are  often  perforated  by  insects  : 
nor  the  ashes  on  account  of  the  borers ;  the 
Mountain  Ash  meets  with  the  same  fate,  and 
the  Thorns  are  destroyed  by  a  fungus ;  the 
Horse  Chestnuts  become  disfigured  by  midsum- 
mer, and  so  we  have  to  rely  on  other  trees  ; 
but  where  this  list  will  succeed,  as  they  evi- 
dently do  in  central  New  York,  my  advice  is 
to  use  them  all  freely.  There  are  four  genera 
belonging  to  the  great  natural  order  Coniferae, 
that  are  furnished  with  deciduous  leaves  and 
tall  spiral  tops,  all  well  adapted  for  the  cen- 
ter or  background  of  groups — the  Larch  fam- 
ily, of  which  the  European  species  is  prefer- 
able ;  the  Salisburia,  or  Japan  Ginako,  with 
curious  yet  pretty  fan-shaped  foliage  ;  the 
Deciduous  Cypress,  with  light  feathery  leaves  ; 
and  the  Glyptosti-obus,  or  Weeping  Cyprus, 
having  unusually  graceful  foliage  and  pendant 
branchlets. 

Every  place  should  have  at  least  one  droop- 
ing tree,  as  much  for  its  intrinsic  beauty  as 
for  the  effect  it  produces  when  grown  near 
other  forms.  For  this  purpose  the  Weeping 
Beech  posseses  an  individuality  peculiarly  its 
own.  Not  so  pretentious  perhaps  as  the  pre- 
ceding, but  with  a  graceful  drooping  of  the 
more  slender  branches,  the  Weeping  Linden 
stands  next  in  the  list.  Where  they  will  flour- 
ish, the  Weeping  Elms  and  Weeping  Moun- 
tain Ash  are  very  handsome  ;  and  the  old- 
fashioned  Weeping  Willow,  especially  when 
in  the  vicinity  of  water,  is  often  a  valuable 
assistant  for  creating  a  beautiful  picture.  For 
small-sized  weepers  I  would  suggest  the  fol- 
lowing, all  of  which  are  useful,  and  in  fact 
indispensable  to  tho  landscape  gardener :  The 
thorn,  grandidentata  poplar,  Kilmarnock  wil- 
low, dwarf  cherry,  sophora,  and  beech.  The 
drooping  varieties  of  the  common  ash  are  stiff" 
and  formal  in  outline,  yet  often  attractive 
from  their  very  oddity. 

A  feature  often  overlooked  in  American  gar- 
dens is  the  massing  of  trees  that  axe  beautiful 
in  the  autumn.  Most  places  can  be  improved 
by  a  little  group  of  these  bright-tinted  species, 


TEE  LAJyCASTEB,  FARMER. 


55 


and  for  this  purpose  I  would  name  for  the 
hack-ground  the  scarlet  oak  ( Querous  coccinea) , 
dazzling  in  its  scarlet  dress ;  the  sour  gum 
(Nyssa  multijlora),  with  the  deepest  shade  of 
crimson  ;  the  red  maple  (Acer  rubnim),  gray 
with  yellow,  red,  and  orange;  and  a  sassafras 
(S.  Officinale),  with  golden  yellow  leaves.  To 
the  front  I  would  place  a  white  flowering  dog- 
wood [Cornus  Florida),  with  its  vivid  shade  of 
red;  one  or  two  common  sumachs  {Rhiis  gal- 
bra),  as  hright  as  the  petals  of  a  crimson 
poeony,  with  a  few  vines  of  the  green  brier 
{smilax  rotundifolia) ,  of  golden  hue,  and  am- 
pelopsis  quinguefolia,  dyed  with  crimson, 
clambering  over  the  whole.  It  is  needless  to 
add  that  the  eflfect  of  such  a  blending  of  colors 
cannot  be  overrated.  In  leaving  the  decidu- 
ous trees,  I  would  merely  call  your  attention 
to  the  neglected  family  of  oaks,  although  be- 
yond the  limits  of  such  places  as  we  are  dis- 
cussing to-night.  For  very  large  lawns  no 
genus  in  the  flora  of  the  world  can  exceed 
their  majesty  of  form,  their  picturesqueness 
of  outline,  nor  their  value  for  every  purpose 
appertaining  to  the  landscape  art. 

We  now  arrive  at  the  Evergreens,  but  as 
my  time  has  nearly  expired,  I  will  hurriedly 
particularize  a  few  of  the  most  valuable  for 
a  majority  of  our  country  places,  all  of  which 
will  undoubtedly  succeed  in  this  vicinity.  In 
the  spruce  family,  as  not  only  the  first  in  the 
genus,  but  among  all  cone-bearing  trees,  the 
Norway  spruce  is  fully  entitled  to  considera- 
tion before  any  other.  You  all  know  it  well, 
and  knowing  it,  haye  nothing  to  say  against 
it.  It  is  a  tree  at  once  appropriate  in  all  situ- 
ations and  for  every  purpose  ;  hardy  every- 
where, and  unexceptionably  beautiful. 

More  formal  in  outline,  but  remarkably 
pleasing  in  color,  the  white  spruce  stands 
next,  and  the  hemlock,  with  its  charming 
drooping  branchlets,  curving  in  even  circles 
to  the  ground  must  never  be  neglected.  In 
particular  localities  and  exposures,  the  Abies 
Smithiana,  A.  Dotiglasii,  and  A.  Menziesii  ar© 
among  our  handsome  kinds.  In  silver  firs,  the 
A.  Nordmanniana  is,  without  doubt,  the  best 
hardy  species  known  to  us  at  present — always 
beautiful  and  healthy,  we  cannot  well  dis- 
pense with  its  presence  ;  and  almost  as  valua- 
ble, the  A.  PicTita  ranks  next.  With  varying 
success,  although  generally  firm,  I  would 
name  the  rare  A.  amabilis,  A.  grandis,  A. 
nobilis,  and  A.  Cephatonicay  while  common  bal- 


sam fir  and  European  silver  fir  are  unexcep- 
tionable in  many  grounds.  The  pines  must 
be  used  sparingly,  as  they  are  rather  coarse 
for  close  proximity  to  the  dwelling.  Among 
well-tested  kinds,  the  Austrian,  Cembren, 
White,  Lambert's,  and  Scotch  are  all  hardy, 
and  deservedly  admired,  and  where  the  P. 
excelsa  is  free  from  blight,  I  would  add  it  to 
the  list.  A  few  of  the  newer  species,  such  as 
P.  ponder osa,7ixi([  P.  Massoniana  are  promis- 
ing to  be  valuable,  but  they  require  a  more 
extended  trial.  The  Cedar  of  Lebanon  must 
not  be  forgotten,  not  alone  for  the  many  re- 
minipcence=!  connected  with  it  by  the  sacred 
writers,  but  for  its  individual  beautv  on  the 
lawn.  The  Lihncednis  decurrens,  Cypressus 
Laicsoninna,Q.n(S.  C.  iVw^iaensi,?.  notwithstand- 
ing they  are  almost  unknown  to  cultivators, 
are  surpassing  our  most  sanguine  expecta- 
tions, where  they  have  been  tested.  Our 
American  Arbor  Vitfe,aswell  as  the  Sibe- 
rian variety,  are  so  well  known  and  appreci- 
ated that  it  seems  unnecessary  to  urge  their 
claim  to  public  notice.  Low-growing  coni- 
fers are  of  such  vast  importance  to  the  land- 
scape gardener  in  creating  dense  evergreen 
masses,  that  of  latter  years  our  arboricultur- 
ists have  been  eagerly  gathering  from  every 
available  source  all  of  which  have  proven  dis- 
tuict. 


COB  MEAL. 


CORRESPONDENT  inquired  two  or 
three  weeks  ago  as  to  the  value  of  the  cob 
of  Indian  corn.  We  had  not  space  in  our  reply, 
at  that  time,  to  do  more  than  to  allude  to  it 
as  a  comparatively  worthless  article,  paying 
little  more  than  the  cost  of  grinding.  It  is, 
however,  an  article  in  pretty  common  use, 
and  it  may  be  well  to  speak  of  it  a  little  more 
in  detail.  A  pig  when  put  up  to  fatten,  if  fed 
too  exclusively  on  fine  Indian  meal,  which  is 
a  very  hearty  food,  will,  unless  some  care  is 
taken  to  provide  a  little  change,  especially  to 
see  that  there  is  some  bulky,  and  less  con- 
centrated food,  be  very  liable  to  cloy,  from 
the  fact  that  the  meal  will  lie  in  a  solid  mass 
in  the  stomach  and  not  furnish  a  sufficient 
distension  to  the  walls  of  that  organ,  and  in 
the  intestinal  canal.  All  animals  that  are  fed 
upon  highly  concentrated  and  hearty  food, 
must  have  something  coarser  and  more  bulky 
to  be  fully  satisfied,  and  to  keep  the  digestive 
organs  in  full  activity  and  health. 


56 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


Now  although  the  actual  amount  of  nulri- 
ment  in  the  cob  is  very  small,  so  slight  that 
if  it  wero  ground  alone  after  the  corn  is 
shelled  off,  no  animal  could  be  induced  to 
touch  it,  yet  when  it  is  ground  with  the  grain 
as  we  commonly  find  cob-meal,  it  undoubtedly 
serves  the  purpose  of  distending  the  stomach, 
and  giving  to  the  food  the  bulk  which  the  ani- 
mal requires.  An  ox  fed  on  meal  will  often 
eat  coarse  swale  hay  with  avidity  to  gain 
that  distention  which  a  too  concentrated  food 
does  not  furnish,  and  without  which  there  will 
be  the  gnawings  of  hunger. 

Still  there  is  a  trace  of  nutriment  in  the  cob 
itself.  Dr.  Salisbury,  who  wrote  a  prize  essay 
on  Indian  corn  for  the  New  York  State  Agri- 
cultural Society,  said  that  "  by  rejecting  the 
cobs  of  one  thousand  pounds  of  dry  ears, 
about  two  hundred  pounds  of  organic  matter 
is  lost,  which  consists  of  thirteen  and  one-half 
pounds  of  sugar  and  extract,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  and  one-half  pounds  of  fibre, 
forty-five  and  one-half  pounds  of  matter  sepa- 
rated from  fibre  by  a  weak  solution  of  potash, 
one  and  one-half  pounds  of  albumen,  twenty, 
eight  one  hundredths  of  a  pound  of  casein, 
two  and  three-tenths  pounds  of  glutinous  mat- 
ter. Hence  the  cob,  although  not  rich  in 
nutritive  matter,  can  by  no  means  be  said  to 
be  destitute  of  those  proximate  principles 
which  go  to  support  respiration,  and  sustain 
animal  heat,  and  those  which  are  capable  of 
being  transformed  into  nerve,  muscle,  etc., 
and  the  phosphate  which  contribute  so  largely 
to  the  formation  of  bone."  It  is  probable 
that  a  mixture  of  the  cob  with  the  meal  se- 
cures in  many  cases  a  more  complete  diges- 
tion of  the  food.  This  is  an  incidental  ad- 
vantage which  is  independent  of  any  slight 
nutriment  there  may  be  in  the  cob  itself,  and 
which  as  we  said,  is  so  slight  of  itself  as,  in 
our  opinion,  not  to  pay  for  the  expense  of 
grinding,  especially  as  we  can  gain  all  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  proper  distension  of  the  stomach 
by  feeding  some  roots,  pumpkins,  or  other 
coarser  food  in  connection  with  meal.— i/a^sa- 
cJiusetts  PlougTim,an, 


WHAT  BEEED  OF  DAIRY  COWS  ARE 
THE  BEST  FOR  ALL  PURPOSES? 

THIS  is  a  question  often  asked,  but  a 
difficult  one  to  answer,  unless  by  the 
sweeping  assertion  that  we  want  them  all. 
So  far  as  we  are  able  to  learn,  there  is  no  one 


breed  that,  as  a  rule,  is  possessed  of  all  the 
points  desired.  There  may  exist  individuals 
in  almost  all  of  the  established  breeds,  that 
possess  all  good  qualities  in  a  sufficient  degree 
to  answer  the  purposes  of  the  ordinary  farmer, 
but  as  a  race,  there  are  none  that  embrace  all 
good  qualities,  and  every  farmer  must  be  gov- 
erned in  his  choice  by  his  situation. 

If  he  has  rich  pasture  and  extensive  corn- 
fields, and  is  near  a  market  where  the  price 
0^  good  6ee/ rules  high,  the  Durham  will  prob- 
ably be  as  near  perfection  as  any  that  can  be 
obtained. 

The  Shorthoros  are  great  eaters.  If  they 
run  to  milk  they  give  a  large  quantity  of  it.  If 
they  have  a  tendency  to  fatten,  they  fatten 
with  great  rapidity.  They  grow  rapidly,  and 
are  capable  of  carrying  an  immense  load  of 
flesh.  They  require  the  best  of  care  and  the 
richest  of  feed,  and  with  this  they  will  amply 
repay  all  outlays. 

But  if  allowed  to  r^am  in  the  public  roads 
and  wild  pastures  in  summer,  and  kept  on 
poor  hay  and  mouldy  corn-fodder  in  winter, 
they  will  invariably  prove  the  worst  scrubs, 
and  the  poorest  investment  that  a  farm  can 
make.  The  objection  to  them  as  dairy  cows 
is,  that  you  are  not  sure  whether  they  will 
prove  to  be  great  milkers  or  great  feeders,  or 
half-and-half.  The  remedy  is  to  feed  liber- 
ally at  all  times,  and  if  the  cows  are  good 
milkers  they  will  be  very  good  ones,  and  if 
not,  they  will  fatten  rapidly,  and  can  be  dis- 
posed of  to  good  advantage  as  beef.  With  a 
dairy  of  forty  cows,  a  dozen  or  so  of  the  best 
heifer  calves  should  be  raised  each  year,  and 
ten  or  a  dozen  cows  fattened  each  winter  to  be 
sold  in  the  spring,  when  the  beef  commands 
a  very  high  price. 

If  he  keeps  Shorthorns,  on  the  system  pro- 
posed, he  will  not  receive  as  much  money 
from  the  cheese-factory  as  if  he  kept  Ayr- 
shires  or  natives.  But  it  is  for  him  to  decide 
whether  half  a  dozen  or  more  fat  cows  sold 
every  spring  to  the  butcher,  will  not  make  up 
for  the  deficiency.  On  the  whole,  we  would 
say,  if  he  has  high-priced  land  and  proposes 
to  adopt  high  farming,  take  the  Shorthorns  ; 
cows  solely  to  the  production  of  milk  and  but. 
ter,  take  the  Ayrshire  or  Alderney. 

If  the  location  is  near  a  large  city,  where 
milk  is  the  chief  object,  we  must  have  the 
Ayrshires,  as  there  is  no  race  that  can  equal 
the  pure  Ayrshire  in  quantity  of  milk ;  it  being 


THE  LdJYCASTER  FARMER. 


57 


generally  esliraated  at  from  30  Lo  50  pounds 
per  day.  Our  best  Ayrshire  cows  give  60 
pounds  of  milk  per  day.  A  commi'.tee  ap- 
pointed for  tlie  purpose,  testified  under  oath, 
that  one  of  Messrs.  Waleot  &  Campbell's  cows 
gave  85  pounds  of  milk  per  day,  f  )r  several 
days  ia  succession. 

The  Ayrshiros  have  been  bred  exclusively 
for  milk,  and  will  probably  yield  a  greater 
quantity  for  the  food  consumed  than  any 
other  breed.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  pro- 
poses to  sell  beef  and  raise  oxen  as  well  as 
cheese  and  butter,  we  would  advocate  the 
Devon. 

The  Devons,  as  a  race,  are  thrifty,  and  with 
good  pasture  present  a  handsome  appearance. 
The  milk  is  quite  rich,  and  prodaees  butter  of 
a  better  color  than  that  obtained  from  the 
Durham,  but  the  quantity  is  not  large.  They 
are  a  quick,  active  race,  and  for  farm  labor, 
the  oxen  can  hardly  be  excelled.  They  will 
move  the  plow  almost,  perhaps  quite,  as  fast 
as  the  horse.  To  cany  out  the  laiter  system 
of  raismg  cattle  for  beef,  rather  than  the  dairy, 
to  the  best  advantage,  we  must  adopt  a  higher 
order  of  feeding  than  when  the  only  object  is 
milk.  We  want  cows  that  will  eat  a  large 
amount  of  food.  This  is  of  the  very  first  im- 
portance. An  animal  that  will  not  eat  freely 
should  be  rejected. 

If  there  is  no  great  demand  for  beef,  but  a 
large  one  for  good  butter,  then  the  Aldeniey 
will  come  as  near  the  standard  as  any  v/e 
have.  For  richness  of  milk,  ihey  have  no 
equal,  but  their  diminutive  size  puts  beef  en- 
tirely out  of  the  question  •,  but  there  is  uo  race 
of  cattle  that  can  surpass  them  in  producing 
golden  lumps  of  butter,  and  plenty  of  them. 

A  good  butter-maker,  with  a  herd  of  Alder- 
ueys,  will  produce  a  "  fancy  brand  "  of  butter 
that  will  command  a  ready  sale,  at  double  the 
price  that  can  be  obtained  for  common 
brands.  Good  specimens  of  this  stock  will 
make  from  twelve  to  fourteen  pounds  of  but- 
ter per  week,  of  a  peculiar  yellow  color,  not 
attained  by  any  other  race.  Some  extra  good 
cows  have  produced  from  eighteen  to  twenty 
pounds  per  week ;  but  this  stock  is  deficient 
in  beef  qualities.  We  most  earnestly  recom- 
mend the  use  of  a  thoroughbred  bull  on  all  dairy 
farms.  Whether  it  stould  be  an  Ayrsliire,  De- 
von, Alderney,  or  a  ShorLhorn,  depends  very 
much  on  whether  the  dairyman  wishes  to 
turn  oif  some  fat  cows   every  year  to  the 


butcher,  or  whether  he  intends  to  keep  his 
cows  till  they  are  used  up,  and  then  sell  them 
for  about  what  they  are  worth  for  their  hides. 
If  he  adopts  the  latter  course,  we  should  re- 
commend the  use  of  an  Alderuey  or  Ayrshire 
rather  than  the  Shorihora  bull.  In  all  sea- 
sons dairy  farmers  are  apt  to  have  an  unne- 
cessarily large  percentage  of  barren  cows,  ow- 
ing to  the  irrational  management  of  the  male 
animal.  In  some  districts  it  is  the  fashion  to 
use  yearling  bulls  •,  whilst  to  make  matters 
worse,  the  weakly,  immature  subjects  are 
scandalouslj'  overworked. — American  Stock 
Journal. 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  THE  EGG-PLANT. 

I  WAS  interested  in  an  article  by  Peter 
Henderson,  in  the  October  Agriculturist 
upon  the  egg-plant,  and  as  I  have  succeeded 
in  raising  an  abundance  of  this  delicio  js  veg- 
etable during  the  past  season  in  a  rather  less 
expensive  way  than  he  deems  essential,  I 
will,  for  the  information  of  your  readers  who 
have  never  raised  it,  narrate  my  experience. 
I  grew  the  two  varieties.  Black  Pekin  and 
Improved  New  York  Purple,  of  which  I 
made  my  first  sowing  in  boxes  in  the  house, 
late  in  March,  but  keeping  them  in  a  room  in 
wh'ch  ther;;  was  no  fire  ;  it  was  over  a  month 
before  they  germinated.  My  second  sowing 
was  made  in  my  hot-bed  on  April  1st,  and 
they  came  up  in  eight  days.  This  was  twenty 
days  too  early,  according  to  Mr.  Henderson's 
view,  and  had  I  kept  up  a  heat  of  70*  until  it 
was  safe  to  transplant  them,  they  mu'^t  cer- 
tainly have  outgrown  the  bed,  which,  by  the 
way,  had  mudin  covers  instead  of  glass  sash- 
es ;  but  the  heatiug  material  being  solely 
fresh  horse-manure,  the  heat  was  soon  ex- 
hausted, and  their  growth  for  a  long  time 
very  slow.  I  also  made  a  third  sowiog  in  a 
cold  frame,  similarly  covered,  on  Auril  10th, 
where  they  came  up  in  eighteen  day^. 

May  17tb,  I  transplanted  several  of  the 
purple  plants  from  the  hot-bed  into  tlie  field, 
but  their  vitality  was  impaired  by  the  cold, 
and  they  soon  succumbed  to  the  attacks  of  a 
small  black  flea,  that  first  appeared  about  that 
diite.  I  do  not  recall  tlic  name  of  this  flea, 
but  it  was  an  old  acquaintance,  that  had  de- 
stroyed my  plants  on  a  former  attempt  to 
raise  them.  It  attacks  all  the  plants  of  the 
Solanum  family,  so  far  as  I  know,    except 


58 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


peppers.  They  destroyed  all  my  tomatoes 
sown  in  the  open  eround,  and  made  sad  havoc 
in  my  beds,  damagina:  tomatoes  there,  and 
threatening  the  entire  destruction  of  petunias 
and  egg-plants,  even  going  so  far  as  to  riddle 
the  leaves  of  the  wild  Bittersweet  [Solanuvi 
Dulcamara),  while  I  have  seen  potato-vines 
covered  with  them.  To  check  them,  I  tried 
dusting  with  lime  and  sprinkling  with  solu- 
tions of  tobacco,  guano,  etc.,  which  were  at 
best  but  partially  successful,  as  every  one  of 
the  egg-plants  in  the  cold  frame  perished,  and 
a  part  in  the  hot-bed,  the  remainder  suffered 
severely.  As  they  did  not  attack  my  plants 
in  the  house,  I  am  of  the  opiuion  that  a  box 
in  a  warm  room  would  be  the  safest  and  per- 
haps the  best  place  for  us  to  start  them. 

July  12th  I  transplanted  about  twenty  of 
each  variety  from  the  hot-bed  into  the  field, 
and  although  they  seemed  very  impatient  of 
removal  they  all  survived.  The  Black  Pekins 
commenced  to  bloom  July  21st,  several  days 
before  the  others,  and  were  far  ahead  in 
fruiting,  but  not  as  prolific.  We  have  had  an 
abundant  supply  ot  both  through  September 
and  October  thus  far,  and  would  have  had  a 
large  stock  on  hand  now  had  not  I  been  so 
hasty  as  to  cut  them  up  and  house  my  fruit 
on  September  22d,  in  anticipation  of  the  frost 
which  occurred  on  the  next  succeeding  night, 
but  did  not  kill,  only  scotched  the  vines  I 
left.  There  has  not  been  a  sign  of  frost 
since,  and  I  might  just  as  well  have  had  the 
benefit  of  a  whole  month's  growth,  and  dou- 
ble the  quantity  of  sound  fruit  on  the  vines  at 
.  thi«  date,  as  to  have  a  pile  of  them  nearly  all 
.  decayed  in  an  out-house.  Thus  have  I  learn- 
ed how  "  haste  makes  waste." 

Those  sov/n  in  boxes  in  the  house  and  kept 
spindling  in  the  shade  in  a  cold  room,  I  trans- 
planted into  the  old  hot-bed  June  12th,  and 
from  thence  into  the  open  ground  on  July  25  th, 
yet  they  had  eggs  as  large  as  the  largest 
apples  by  September  20th.  Had  these  plants 
been  kept  in  a  warm  room  instead  of  a  cold 
one,  it  would  have  made  nearly  a  month's 
difference  in  their  growth,  and  they  might 
have  been  as  early  as  any ;  their  exemption 
from  the  attacks  of  the  flea  giving  them  one 
great  advantage  over  even  those  grown  in  the 
hot4)ed. 

From  these  facts,  I  conclude  that  a  uniform 
temperature  of  70"^,  although  desirable,  is  not 
absolutely  required,  or  even  the  most  impor- 
tant requisite  for  the  egg-plant. — American 
Agriculturist-, 


SEED  CORN. 

Now  is  the  time  for  farnaers  to  make  ar- 
rangements to  secure  new  and  valuable  seed, 
as  we  have  now  in  store  the  best  seed  corn 
ever  offered  to  the  farmer.  "We  have  just  re- 
turned from  a  trip  through  the  western  part 
of  the  country,  where  corn  is  made  a  spec- 
ialty, and  selected  of  the  best.  We  have 
secured  specimens  from  most  every  part  of 
the  country  where  corn  is  grown,  all  of  which 
has  been  thoroughly  tested.  That  which 
proved  to  be  good  we  so  improved  that  we 
feel  safe  in  saying  that  we  offer  the  farmer 
the  best  seed  corn  known  in  this  country. 

In  regard  to  the  many-eared  varieties,  it 
ha-*  been  proved,  so  far,  that  not  more  than 
two  to  three  large  ears  can  be  produced  to  a 
stalk  of  the  field  or  stock  corn  varieties.  All 
of  the  varieties  tested  by  us  show  that  the 
stalks  which  produce  many  ears  always  pro- 
duce small  and  inferior  corn  for  field  cultiva- 
tion. 

1 1  is  only  the  Parching  Corn  varieties  that 
give  many  ears  per  stock  ;  and  all  the  experi- 
mental crossing  has  proved  of  no  benefit 
whatever  to  the  farmer.  There  are  several 
persons  advertising  the  branching  corn  as  field 
or  stock  corn  varieties,  yielding  immense 
crops  of  large  cora.  We  feel  it  our  duty  to 
inform  our  readers  that  they  are  nothing  more 
than  our  Parching  or  Branching  Pop  Corn 
varieties,  and  are  of  no  benefit  to  the  farmer 
to  raise  a  crop  of  merchantable  corn.  The 
Mammoth  Orange  Dent  or  Hybrid  Yellow 
Dent,  Kentucky  Mammoth  Dent  and  Early 
Mammoth  Mulatto  Corn  have  from  one  to 
two  ears  per  stalk,  and  are  considered  the 
choicest  merchantable  corn  grown.  The 
King's  White  Prolific  is  a  well-established, 
large  two-eared  Variety,  and  novf  considered 
the  best  bread,  as  well  as  stock  corn,  known  in 
this  country.  It  can  only  be  planted  with 
success  south  of  40°.  We  have  established  a 
Hybrid  corn,  half  white  and  half  yellow,  that 
is  earlier,  and  produces  two  to  three  large 
ears  on  each  stalk.  We  think  it  will  make  one 
of  the  best  field  corn  varieties  yet  introduced. 
— How  to  Make  the  Farm  Pay. 


An  alliterative  Illinois  reporter  fathers  the 
following : 

"  Parson  Palmer,  of  Padola,  is  the  proprie- 
tor of  a  pen  of  pigs.  These  pigs  escaped 
and  persecuted  a  peaceable  neighbor  named 
Piper.  Piper  persuaded  them  off  his  prem- 
ises with  dogs,  and  punished  Palmer's  boy. 
The  Parson  paid  his  respects  to  Piper,  pra- 
ting of  a  prospective  prosecution,  and  was  in 
turn  pounded  to  a  pulp  by  the  precipitate 
Piper.  The  penitent  man  at  present  lan- 
guishes in  prison." 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


59 


BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  NOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 


OUR  BOOK  TABLE. 

Deber'8  Garden  Oalkndar,  for  1872,  isa  neat  12coo.of 
16G  pages,  illuftrated  with  many  engravings  of  fruits,  flow- 
on.,  vegetables  and  plants;  and  furnishes  "  brief  directions 
for  the  cultivation  and  raaDagement  of  the  vegetable  and 
flower  garden,"  containing  also  ''select  lists  of  seeds 
juid  plants."  Address  Henry  Dreer,  Seedeman  and  I'lor- 
1st,  No.  714  Chestnut  street,  Philadelphia. 

Landreth's  Rural  Register  and  Almanac  for  1R72, 
published  for  gratuitous  distribution,  annually  is  a  12mo. 
of  75  pages,  containing  lists  of  sttds,  and  instructiye  farm 
and  garden  calendar*  for  each  sepaiate  month.  Perhaps 
no  similar  publication  in  thi.s  country  has  reached  the 
number  this  has.  "  500," OO  copi.s  of  the  edition  of  1871 
were  distributed,"  and  lh72  will  probably  exceed  that  num- 
ber, it  has  b-en  translated  into  the  German  and  Swed- 
ish, 

The  fJouRNAL  OF  THE  FARM  a  si.xteen  pag«  illustrated 
monthly  quarto,  published  simultaneously  at  Philadelphia 
and  Clucapo,  at  .$1  a  year,  for  a  single  subscription,  and 
liberal  club  rates.  The  February  nutnber  is  on  our  teble, 
and  is  both  interesting  and  useiul  in  the  details  of  its 
various  departments. 

The  National  Oil  Journal,  for  January,  1872,  is 
also  on  our  table.  This  is  a  large  folio  monthly,  publish- 
ed at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  is  devoted  aimost  exclusively  to 
the  oU  interest  of  the  country — and  especially  of  Pennsyl- 
vania.   $1  per  annum. 

The  Mew  York  Oopt  Book  's  published  in  the  interest 
»of  newspaper  publishers  throughout  the  United  States,  by 
the  "  Blackwell  JSIanufacturing  Company."  This  is  a 
folio  paper  of  valuable  scientific,  agricultural,  historical, 
literary  and  domestic  import,  and  any  article  it  contains 
may  he  obtained  in  stereotype,  by  addressing  the  compa- 
ny, at  very  reasonable  rates. 

The  Little  Corporal  presents  the  following  inter- 
<  sting  table  01  contents  for  February:  Dora,  chapter  II., 
■with  illustration — by  Heien  C.  Week«.  Parsonage  Doves, 
witk  illustration— by  Miry  E.  C.  Wyeth.  Quest  of  the 
Flower — bj'  Kdgar  Fawcet  Number  Three— by  A.  H. 
Poe.  Lillie's  Valentine — by  Olive  Thome.  Summer  days 
at  Kirkwood,  chapter  VII— by  Emily  Huntington  IMiller. 
Afloat  on  an  Ice  Cake,  with  illustration — by  iJharK  s  IC. 
Kurd.  The  Rivals,  with  full  page  illustration— by  Gprald 
North.  Prud  's  Pocket  is  tilled  wita  the  usual  variety  of 
spicy  letters  from  the  lit'le  folks;  and  Piivate  Queer's 
Knapsack  is  crowded  vriih  things  to  puzzle  the  minds  of 
the  boys  and  girls  for  months  to  come  If  you  want  a  mag- 
azine that  is  always  )resh,  sparkling,  and  vigorous,  sub- 
scribe for  The  LlTTLt;  CoRPotiAL.  Terms — $1.5U  a  year. 
John  E.  Miller,  publisher,  Chicago,  111. 


SPECIAL  NOTICE. 

Gregoj-y'b  Sbkd  Catalogue.— Mr.  J.  J.  H.  Gregory, 
of  Marlilebead,  Mass.,  wlio  advertises  his  Catalogue  iu 
our  papijr  fills  a  position  somewhat  unicino  among  seeds- 
men, being  a  giower  of  se,  d  as  well  as  dealer  in  them. 
The  extracts-  Irom  letters  received  from  over  thiriy  differ- 
ent States  and  Territories  published  on  the  cover  of  his 
catalogue  are  a  very  satisfactory  evidence  in  favor  of  the 
reliability  of  the  Eet>d,  as  well  as  of  his  honesty  as  a  dealer  ; 
while  the  well-known  fa''.t  of  t  is  having  been  the  originai 
introducer  of  the  Hubbard  Squash,  and  numerous  other 
valuable  vegetables  that  have  become  well-known  through- 
out the  United  States,  are  pleasing  evidence  that  his  cata- 
logue as  issued  from  year  to  year,  will  always  prove  a  live 
one. 


MARKETS. 


PHILADELPHIA  MARKETS. 

Philadelphia,  Feb.  28. 
Floue  and  Mbal. — There  has  been  less  demand  for 
Flour,  but  holders  are  as  firm  as  ever  in  their  views. 
Supplies  from  all  sources  come  forward  slowly,  and  with  a 
relatively  light  stock,  and  high  prices  for  wheat,  the  re- 
cent advance  is  lully  maintained.  Sales  ot  100  bbls  su- 
perfine at  $5  50:  100  bbls  Pennsylvania  extra  choice  at 
$6  50;  100  l)bl8  Minnesota  extra  family  at  $7  75  ;  300  bbls 


Pennsylvania  do  do  at  $7  2r>a7  50 ;  100  bbls  do  do.  choice, 
at  S7  75,  and  100  bbls  Ohio  do  do,  fancy,  at  $8  50.  Rye 
Flour  is  unchanged.  Hmall  sales  at  5f4  87'^a5.  In  Corn 
Meal  there  is  nothing  doing.  We  quote  Brandywiue  at 
$3£0. 

GrjMN. — There  is  more  demand  for  "Wheat  for  the  sup- 
l->ly  of  local  millers,  tiut  shijipers  are  not  operating  at 
present  prices.  .Sa|es  ot  7,60u  bus  fair  and  prime  Penn- 
sylvania red  at  Si  (JOal  52;  1,000  bushels  ito  do  on  private 
terms,  and  400  bus  do  anibei  at  !*1  G4.  We  quote  prime  at 
$1  75al  93.  Rye  comes  in  slowiy,  and  800  bus  Pennsylva- 
nia fcold  at  95c.  Corn  is  in  bettor  demand,  but  we  can 
record  no  improvement  in  priie-<;  sales  of  400  bus  old 
Western  yellow  at  C7c  ;  800  bus  new  do  do  at  62aiC  ;  1,000 
bushels  .Southern  do  at  6yaG6c  ;  400  bushels  Penn.sylvania 
do,  pale,  at  65c  ;  5,000  bus  Western  high  mixedat  66a 
66Vic,  and  10,000  bus  do  for  forward  delivery  at  G5c.  Oats 
are'duil ;  sale.-:  of  2,700  bus  West'irn  white  at  .54a55c,  and 
1  500  bUN  do  mixed  at  53 ^^'c.  in  Barley  nothing  doing. 
Barley  Malt  ranges  from  $1  10  to  SI  30. 

Provisions  are  held  firmly  ;  sales  of  Mess  Pork  at  $14.50 
al4  75,  and  prime  Mess  at  $i2  50  ;  city  packed  extra  Mo.ss 
Beet  sells  at  $14  75  per  bbl.  Beef  Hams  command  .$25a 
20.  Bacon  is  steady.  Sugar-cured  city-smoked  Hams 
sell  as  wantpd  at  na!2c  ;  Sides  at  8a83^c,  and  .shotilders 
at  G^aHUb.  Green  Meat-i  are  steady ;  sales  of  800  tierces 
pickled  hams  at  9,3^0,  sides  at  GJiJaGj^c,  and  shoulder^,  in 
salt,  at  5^a5>|^c.  Lard  is  held  -vith  much  firmness  ;  sales 
ot  bbls  and  tierces  atOXaOj^c.for  western  steam  and  kettle- 
recdered  C^beese  is  in  suiall  suptilv  and  firm;  sales  of 
New  York  Factory  at  lG,'^al73^c.  Butter— There  is  noth- 
ing exciting  in  the  trade  to  note;  t^e  feeling,  howevor,  is 
better  on  all  grades,  and  quotations  are  well  sustained; 
the  receipts  are  light,  and  the  late  accumulations  are 
pretty  well  worked  off}  salrs  of  roll  at  17a25c.  and  nacked 
at  12al6c.  Eigs — Keceipis  light;  sales  on  arrival  at  32a3oo. 
per  dozen.    Receipts  tor  the  week,  5S3  bbls. 

Seeds. — Clover  seed  is  more  sought  after,  and  1,210 
bushels  were  taken  at  9a9>.<c,  and  130  bushels  recleaned  at 
10c.  Timothy  is  held  at  $3  62X,  and  Flax  seed  at  §2  00, 
with  a  great  scarcity  of  the  latter. 

PHILADELPHIA  CATTLE  MARKET. 

IvIONDAT,  February  26. 

There  was  only  a  limited  demand  for  beef  oattln  this 
ruoming,  and  with  libfral  olferiogs  prices  favored  buyers, 
f-'alef  of  extras  at7!|2'a8e.;  choice,  G>^a  7'*. ;  fair  to  good  at 
5a6c.,  and  common  -i  4a43^'c.     Receiptr,  2,400  he^d. 

Cows  and  Cilves  attr.icted  but  littie  atiention,  but 
prices  were  steady.  Sales  of  springers  at  $30*4  ',  and  fre* 
and  I'rcth  Cowh  atS35a05.     Receipts.  2  0  brad. 

Pheep  met  a  f.ur  inquiry  at  fortntT  figures;  sales  of 
choice  at  10c  ;  fnir  to  good  at  7i;jabXe.  per  pound,  and 
common  at  .$3:(5  per  l;ei>d. 

Hogs  declined,  and  were  much  In  requsBt.  Sales  «>f 
corn-fed  at  S7a8  pt-r  hundred  pounds,  net,  the  Isttter  for 
choice 

NEW  YORK  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  February  26. 

With  'V  fair  off-rin?,  Bpeve.s  were  firmer  and  more  ac- 
tive than  on  Tbur.-day  and  Friday,  and  the  oflVrings  w.  r.-» 
nearly  closed  out  at  noon.  Price-^  rangf^d  from  lOi'.  to  13c. 
per  pound,  with  a  Jew  fancy  sold  ai  i;'.;^c.  Sipep  were 
comparatively  scurce,  ai.d  the  twenty  carloads  otf  red  had 
a  quick  sale  at  7>j'a9>i'c.  per  pouud.no  poor  lots  bf-ingof- 
feied  There  was  uotliing  in  Live  Ho  s,  as  the  consign- 
ments wore  exclusively  for  slaughternr*.  Drcsied  firtuer 
but  iuaciive  at  5^'^a57aC.  for  western  and  G,':^a6jhC.  for  city. 

Cows  and  Caivcs  Uave  ruled  dull  ann  prices  arw  v.n- 
cbang'd.  We  quote  at  $30a80,  as  in  quality.  Receiijts, 
128  head. 

Veal  calves  are  dull  and  in  the  buyers'  favor.  Wo  q'lote 
at  5allc.     l{.ec<^i pt.M,  92.->  head 

Good  Hogs  are  (piotid  at  5^  per  pound. 

PITTSBURG  LIVE    STOCK  MARKET. 

The  Commercial  of  Saturday  has  the  followimr:  The 
following  are  the  arriv;  Isof  live  sto-k  for  the  week  ending 
to-day,  as  reported  by  ]\Ir  C.  R.  Martin,  yard  master :  Cat- 
tle, 320  car.. ;  hogs,  12'9  cars;  sheep,  85  cars,  and  hois"-?,  ."i? 
cars.  Comparing  these  with  the  arrivals  of  last  week,  we 
find  there  has  been  an  increase  of  4  cars  of  cuttle  and  14 
of  horses,  and  a  cle>rance  of  29  of  hogs  ard  07  of  sheep. 

Cattle.— As  will  be  seen  by  the  abofe  report,  the  arri- 
vals of  tJattle  for  the  week  have  been  about  the  same  ■% 
last,  and  the  quality,  taking  lots  all  through,  a  little  mor.^ 
common,  though  we  beli-ve  there  was  a  bunch  or  two  <.f 
as  good  Cattle  offered  as  have  been  on  the  market  for  some 


60 


THE  LAJsTCASTEE  FARMER. 


lime.  Cue  lot  of  them  sold  for  S7.12  per  100  Jbs.  The 
market  during  the  week  ruled  incd<:rat>  ly  act.ivt,  and  lasi 
wetk  figures  wore  fully  sustaiued  on  prime  griides,  ynd  we 
tliink  commtiii  sold  a  shade  lowc  r,  ihoiisrh  not  ejiougti  so  to 
make  any  (luotable  change.  Toward  the  close  the  market 
rulM  a  little  dull  on  Friday,  with  but  fev  buyers  present 
find  some  lots  unsold.  The  d*  maud  for  the  wetk  was  not 
heavy,  pnd  dealers  did  not  purchase  liberally.  Some  few 
lots  of  Cattle  are  f'till  urpold,  one  !oad  of  which  goes  to  Al- 
leghany for  rt-tail.  Following  are  t'le  rates  curient  forthe 
ditn'rcnt  grades:  Extra.  1  300  to  1,500  lbs  steers,  t().50  to 
86.75  ;  prime,  1,100  to  1,200  lbs  steers,  1f5  50  to  $6  2.5  ;  common 
to  medium  1,0(10  to  1,100  tt)s,  H75  to  §5  25;  bulls,  S2.75  to 
%?,.m  ;  eows,  S3.50  to  $4  -50 

Hoss.— The  rtceipis  of  Hogs  for  the  week  have  been  some 
29  cars  higher  than  the  week  ]>revious.  Prices  bs'vo  de- 
clined a  little  every  day  for  the  last  f.iw  days,  although  the 
runs  were  not  heavy.  At  Philadelphia  trade  was  reported 
dull  and  s'uggish,  and  with  these  advices  in  the  markft  on 
the  best  grades  aecliued  steadily  and  slowly.  To-day  there 
18  very  little  doing  and  the  feejing  has  not  improved  any, 
A  bunch  of  extra  Philadelphia  Hogs  sold  to-day,  to  b^ 
weighed  on  Monday  morning,  at  S5  4ii  per  KiO pounds.  The 
hogs  are  very  ,sood,  and  this  (inuie  may  now  be  con.-idejr d 
at  the  top  of  the  market.  Following  are  the  current  rates 
for  the  diflerent  grades  and  kinds  as  bought  and  sold  here  : 
Extra  Philadelphia,  $5.25  to  SO  40  ;  prime  Philadelphia,  .*5 
to  §5.15;  prime  Yorker,  S4.50  to  $4.05;  common,  $4.25  to 
$4.45. 

Sheep.— The  receipts  of  sh'=ep  to-day  were  light,  ana  for 
the  week  some  G7  cars  higher  than  the  preceding  on.?. 
Trade  has  ruled  moderately  active  on  the  best  grades.  To- 
ward the  close  priofs  were  a  little  lower,  say  from  5  to  10c 
per  hundred  pounds.  To-dav  there  is  nothing  doing ;  no 
buyers  here,  and  business  is  at  a  standstill.  Tue  lollowing 
are  the  current  prices  for  the  dift'eient  grades  bought  and 
Sold  in  the  market:  Extra,  lOo  to  110  pounds,  $8  25  ;  from 
85  to  SiO  pounds,  i?7  75a8 ;  medium,  80  to  85  )>ounds,  $6  75a7 
6u  ;  common,  $5  25a5  75  ;  scallawags,  %t  50a3. 


CHICAGO  MARKET. 

CuiCAGO,  Ft  brnary  2C,  1872. 
Flour  in  Tgbt  demand  but  holders  are  Arm  ;  extra .'  pring 
$6  50^6  65.  Wheat  in  active  demand  but  prict  s  are  un- 
changed ;  No.  2  spring  $1  25;^  ;  seller.  March  SI  26^;;. 
Oorn  dull  and  declined;  No.  'i  mixed  39a3:) '„ c ;  coru  on 
track,  37c.  Oats  dull;  No.  2,  32c.  Bje  quiet  and  nu- 
f  nanced  ;  No.  2,  74o.  Barley  quiet  and  unchanged  ;  No. 
2  tan  .■•.)c  for  regular  and  oOc  for  tresh.  Mess  iciork  dull 
and  declined;  .sales  for  cash  and  March  at  S12  35.  Lard 
dull  and  a  fhade  lower  at  *8  83a8  85.  There  was  no 
essent'al  change  in  green  and  bulk  meats.  Hogs  quiet ; 
range  from  $1  t5  to  $4  60.  Dre.ssed  hogs  were  in  good  de- 
mand ;  soft  S-i  95  ;  ■  tiff  $4  35a5  10.  Cattle— good  grades  in 
strong  demand,  and  the  supply  was  scarce. 


STEAM  FOR  THE  DWELLING. 

The  matter  of  improvemert  in  heating  our 
houses  has  long  been  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent items  of  di'^cussiou,  both  among  builders 
and  householders.  Many  have  been  the  de- 
vices suggested;  many  have  been  the  im. 
provements  patented.  Many  have  been  the 
bold  ideas,  emanating  from  fertile  brains, 
only  to  find  permanent  burial  in  the  form  oi 
models  in  the  show  cases  of  that  great  char- 
nal  house  of  invention,  the  Patent  Office  at 
Washington.  And  yet  we  are  dependent  ou 
moans  of  heating  little  better,  for  the  most 
psirt,  even  if  more  complicated,  than  those 
enjoyed  by  oui- forefathers.  The  forefathers 
clustered  by  families  around  their  old  hearth- 
stones, and  our  poetfi  yet  sing  of  our  hearth- 


stones. But  the  hearthstone  of  the  past  has 
given  place  to  the  hole  in  the  floor,  or  open- 
ing in  the  wall,  through  which  the  heat  as- 
cends from  the  cellar,  and  the  great  fire  place 
of  former  days  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 

The  open  grate  is  cheerful  to  look  upon, 
but  troublesome  to  keep  in  order.  It  is  dusty 
and  costly  in  its  operation.  The  best  place 
to  secure  the  heat  generated  by  the  fire  which 
occupies  it,  is  at  the  top  of  the  chimney.  A 
coal  stove  in  each  room  may  be  "  a  thing  of 
beauty,"  if  the  ornamental  castings  on  it  are 
handsome ;  but  to  have  Bridget  bouncing  in 
at  intervals,  with  a  scuttle  of  coal,  and  to  lis- 
ten to  the  sound  of  the  poker  with  which  she 
vexes  the  burning  anthracite,  is  hardly  "  a  joy 
forever."  The  quiet  working  of  a  gas  stove 
secures  exemption  from  cinders,  ashes  and 
dust ;  but  the  carbonic  acid  generated  by  it  is 
unwholesome,  the  expense  is  great,  and,  ex- 
cept for  very  small  rooms,  the  heat  obtained 
is  inadequate.  The  furnace  in  the  cellar 
spends  a  large  proportion  of  its  energy  in 
warming  the  bricks  vrhich  surround  it,  and  in 
giving  out  beat  to  that  portion  of  the  hcuse 
which  is  not  generally  used  for  habitation, 
save  by  cats  and  rats. 

Are  we  on  the  road  to  anything  better  ? 
Steam  has  been  used  with  advantage,  for  the 
heating  of  dwellings,  hotels  and  factories.  A 
convenient  low  pressure  apparatus  seems  to 
work  well,  the  principal  objection  against  it 
being  its  costliness.  For  small  houses  this  is 
an  insuperable  obstacle  to  its  general  intro- 
duction. 

The  idea  is  now  advanced  tha;t  we  may  heat 
our  dwelling-houses  .in  cities  by  means  of  steam, 
furnished  in  pipes,  from  a  certain  steam  appa- 
ratus, as  gas  is  furnished.  To  a  certain  ex- 
tent this  may  be  practicable,  but  there  is  a 
distance  at  which  steam  loses  its  value,  and 
stale  steam  is  about  as  worthless  a  thing  as 
can  be  charged  for.  If  generators  are  placed 
within  convenient  distances  of  each  other, 
there  is  no  good  reason  why  steam  should  not 
be  furnished  to  whole  neighborhoods  as  a 
means  of  heating  and  cooking.  A  block  of 
houses  could  easily  be  heated  in  this  manner, 
and  with  great  economy.  If  the  steam  is  fur- 
nisbed  regularly  and  reliably,  the  amount  of 
domestic  comfort  promoted  would  be  incalcu- 
lable. The  saving  of  dust,  ashes,  smoke, 
cinders,  and  general  botheration,  would  be 
incredible. 


site  iHittast^r  Amur. 


DEVOTED  TO 


Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany , 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATHVOX  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 


"  The  Farmer  is  the  founded'  of  civilization." — WEBSTER. 


Vol.  ir. 


APRIL,  1872. 


A'o.  4. 


AGRICULTURAL. 


ATMOSPHERIC  AND  ELECTRIC  FER- 
TILIZERS. 


MESSRS.  EDITORS:  Our  venerable 
friend  of  Columbia  seems  to  be  deter- 
mined not  to  believe  in  atmospheric  fertili- 
zers, nor  in  the  salutary  influence  of  electrici- 
ty on  plants,  and  is  even  skeptical  as  to  the 
economical  use  of  artificial  manures.  Now,  I 
wonder  if  a  little  peal  of  California  thunder, 
together  with  a  trifling  flash  of  lightning, 
might  not  have  a  tendency  to  shock  him  a 
little,  and  like  on  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
drive  out  all  that  is  calculated  to  vitiate,  and 
restore  him  to  a  healthy  ondition,  thereby 
relieving  his  mind  of  that  ignorance  which  he 
acknowledges  with  regard  t  j  atmospheric  fer- 
tilizers. 

For  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  the  con- 
summation of  such  a  happy  state  of  things,  I 
will  associate  myself  with  an  author,  whose 
name  I  will  not  mention,  not  because  I  am 
not  ashamed  or  afraid  of  him,  for  I  will  stick 
to  him  with  the  utmost  tenacity,  so  long  as 
there  is  a  button  left  on  his  coat,  and  endeavor 
to  ward  off  all  interlopers  who  mxy  attempt 
to  rob  him  of  his  atmospheric  fertilizing 
laurels : 

"  I  know  that  it  is  not  common  to  look  on 
the  gases  in  the  atmosphere  in  the  light  of 
manures,  but  they  are  nevertheless  decidedly 
so.  Indeed,  they  are  almost  the  only  organic 
manures  ever  received  by  the  uncultivated 
parts  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  a  large  portion 
of  that  which  is  occupied  in  the  production  of 
food  for  man.  If  these  were  not  manures, 
if  there  were  no  means  by  which  they  could 


be  used  by  plants,  the  fertility  of  the  soil 
would  long  since  have  ceased,  and  the  earth 
would  now  be  in  an  unfertile  condition. 

"  That  this  must  be  true  will  be  proved  by  a 
few  moments'  reflection.  The  fertilizing  gases 
in  the  atmosphere  being  composed  of  the  con- 
stituenls  of  decayed  plants  and  animals,  it  is 
as  necessary  that  they  should  be  again  re- 
turned to  the  form  of  organized  matter  as  it  is 
that  constituents  taken  from  the  soil  should 
not  be  put  out  of  existence." 

Thus  in  the  course  of  nature  the  atmospheric 
fertilizers  are  plentifully  supplied  to  the  soil, 
without  the  immediate  attention  of  the  farmer. 
The  laws  of  nature  are  so  beautifully  and  har- 
moniously arranged,  and  perform  their  func- 
tions in  such  a  quiet  way,  that  unmindful  man 
may  be  surrounded  with  the  most  astonishing 
works,  and  enjoy  all  the  benefits  of  their  pro- • 
duction,  and  yet  be  iijnorant  of  the  cause  that 
produced  the  effect.  But  must  this  necessa- 
rily be  so?  Can  we  not  by  exercising  our 
plebian  reasoning  faculties  unravel,  at  least, 
some  of  the  mysteries  of  nature?  Now  I 
claim  no  such  honors  fur  myself,  but  being 
dependent  on  the  atmosphere,  I  am  induced 
with  Pope  to  say:  "I  am  an  atmospheric 
creature." 

My  associate,  who  keeps  himself  very  close 
to  my  elbow,  is  continually  whispering  such 
things  into  my  ear,  and  from  the  language 
that  hn,  uses  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  he 
knows  something  and  has  actually  made  some 
discoveries.  Now  I  do  rot  want  him  to  prompt 
me  too  much  with  these  newfangled  ideas, 
or  our  friend  might  think  that  I  am  writing  a 
novel.  But  he  continues  to  say  that  the  air, 
in  circulating  through  the  soil,  gives  up  fertiliz- 
ing gases  to  the  carbon  which  it  may  con- 


62 


THE  LANCASTER  EARMER. 


tain,  and  also  gives  an  analytical  table,  in 
which  he  shows  that  ten  bushels  of  wheat  will 
extract  from  the  soil  twelve  pounds  of  inor- 
ganic matter,  and  that  the  twelve  pounds  are 
composed  of  nine  different  ingredients,  all  of 
which  are  necessary  to  raise  the  ten  bushelfl 
of  wheat.  Now  of  the  twelve  pounds  6.01  are 
phosphoric  acid,  a  little  over  one-half  of  all 
the  ingredients,  showing  clearly  that  this 
ingredient  is  v-jry  heavily  drawn  on,  and  that 
it  is  oae  of  the  principal  coQstituents  in  the 
formation  of  wheat;  hence  the  necessity  of  a 
liberal  return  to  the  soil  of  this  ingredient  in 
order  to  keep  up  the  supply  and  iusure  success. 
Novv  as  lightning  contains  a  great  deal  of 
phosphorus,  and  during  the  prevalance  of 
thunderstorms  emits  it  freely,  Avith  which  the 
air  becomes  impregnated,  and  the  air  circulat- 
ing through  the  soil  would  naturally  deposite 
it  there,  as  one  of  the  most  important  elec- 
trical atmospheric  fertilizers.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  all  the  other  ingredients  may  find 
their  way  to  the  soil,  through  some  natural 
channel  of  which  vre  are  ignorant. 

Now,  Messrs.  Editors,  as  we  farmers  have 
been  goiog  on  in  the  even  tenor  of  our  way, 
manuring  and  cropping  year  after  year,  and 
not  knowing  what  ingredients,  nor  what 
quantity,  we  added  to  the  soil,  and  also  not 
knowing  what  amount  of  these  ingredients 
ours  crops  extracted  from  the  soil,  thus  going 
it  blind  and  being  dependent  on  chance,  may 
\\iQ  not,  by  our  ignorance  of  this,  have  ex- 
hausted, or  so  far  reduced  some  of  the  most 
essential  ingredients,  as  to  cause  the  failure, 
and  then  leave  nature  to  do  what  we  didn't 
know  how  to  do.  Truly,  sirs,  successful  farm- 
ing has  become  a  science,  and  in  order  to  be- 
come successful  we  must  become  acquainted 
with  the  laws  that  trovern  it,  or  else  continue 
to  go  it  blind,  and  only  to  take  good  crops 
when  nature  will  bestow  them.  There  has 
been  a  great  deal  said  in  your  journal  about 
the  failure ;  but  no  plausible  cause  assigned 
and  no  remedy  suggested.  I  therefore  ven- 
tured to  offer  a  suggestion,,  with  the  hope  of 
seeing  some  developments  made  and  gaining 
some  information  on  the  subject,  which  ap- 
pears to  me  ought  to  be  the  undoubted  right 
of  every  reader.  But  our  friend  from  "  Co- 
lumbia "  seems  to  think  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  I  sugg83ted.  Will  our  esteemed,  unknown 
friend,  with  a  name,  have' the  kindness  to  sug- 
gest something  more  plausible  and  relieve  me 


of  such  a  great  iiJeal  delusion  ?  Until  he  doe's, 
I  must  continue  to  adhere  to  this  like  bricki* 
to  mortar. 

Our  friend  has  very  truly  said  that  "  man  • 
may  sow,  but  Gnd  giveth  the  increase."  This 
he  is  doing  all  the  time,  by  the  Avise  and  har- 
monious administration  of  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  doing  it  in  such  a  quiet  and  mysterious 
way  that  we  short-sighted  men  can't  conceive 
it,  but  in  innumerable  instances  are  forced  to 
acknowledge  our  ignorance. 

But  where  is  the  man,  especially  the  mau 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  who  is  re- 
veling, as  it  were,  in  the  very  lap  of  nature, 
that  will  look  at  nature  around  him  and  its 
wisely  governed  laws,  that  will  not  find  some 
little  room  and  time  for  study  and  admiration, 
and  thereby,  from  some  a;)pareGtly  novel 
(there  is  nothing  new  in  nature,  it  is  only 
because  man  is  ignorant  that  it  appears  so), 
idea  of  the  unbounded  and  indefinable  claim 
of  causes  and  effects. 

I  have  formed  a  slight  acquaintance  with 
another  author.  "•' Oh  !  no  I'll  never  mention 
him,  but  his  name  is  sometimes  heard,''  who 
says:  "'  At  sea  the  winds  swell  the  mariner's 
sails,  and  speed  his  course  along  the  watery 
way."  By  land  they  perform  the  office  of  au 
immense  seedsman,  scattering  abroad  the 
seeds  of  numberless  plants,  which,  through 
the  support  of  many  animals,  are  too  small 
for  the  management  or  too  mean  for  the  at- 
tention of  man.  Here  are  lightnings  stationed, 
in  the  act  to  spring  whenever  their  piercing 
flash  is  necessary,  either  to  destroy  the 
sulphurus  vapors,  or  dislodge  any  other  nox- 
ious matter  which  might  prejudice  the  deli- 
cate temperature  of  ether,  and  impart  that 
life-giving  principle  which  is  so  necessary  to 
all  vegetation.  Here  we  may  well  give  vent 
to  the  ideas  of  Pope  : 

"  Vast  chain  of  being  which  from  God  began, 
Nature's  ethereal,  liumau  augel,  man." 

Now,  Messrs.  Editors,  I  hardly  know  what 
to  do.  This  new  companion,  with  whom  I 
thought  I  had  formed  but  a  slight  acquaint- 
ance, seems  to  be  a  very  warm-hearted  fel- 
low, and  is  actually  becoming  more  annoying 
than  the  first  one.  He  keeps  sliding  up  so 
closely,  and  seems  fully  determined  to  put  into 
my  head  some  of  his  newfangled  electrical 
ideas,  whether  I  am  willing  or  not.  "  He  seems 
determined  to  convince  me  against  my  will, 
but  I  think  I'll  hold  my  own  opinion  still." 

Now  mark  what  he  says.    It  appears  to  me 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


he  holds  very  singular  ideas.  lie  says:  "  One 
very  particular  effect  of  lightning. is  what  the 
vulgar  call  fairy  circles.  These  are  of  two 
•kinds.  One  kind  is  around,  bare  path,  about 
a  foot  broad,  with  green  grass  in  the  middle, 
and  is  frequently  seven  or  eis'ht  yards  in 
diameter.  The  other  is  a  circle  of  the  same 
breadth,  of  very  green  grass,  much  fresher 
than  that  in  ihe  middle.  These  are  generally 
observed  after  storms  of  thunder  and  iight- 
uing.  And  it  is  no  wonder  that  lightning 
like  all  other  fires,  moves  circularly,  and  burns 
more  at  the  extremity  than  in  the  middle. 
The  second  kind  of  circles,  without  all  doubt, 
spring  originally  from  the  first,  the  grass 
which  was  burnt  up  by  the  lijjhluing  growing 
uf.erward  more  fresh  and  green." 

Now  I  must  consider  this  matter  a  little 
while  before  I  will  allow  myself  to  be  con- 
vinced. Could  the  simple  burning  of  the 
grass  on  the  surface  have  produced  this  luxu- 
riant growth  ?  Or  did  Ihe  fluid  in  performing 
its  revolutions  impart  an  essential  ingredient 
to  the  earth,  that  in  Ihe  great  natural  labora- 
tory was  converted  into  food,  and  taken  up 
by  the  uuburned  roots,  that  cau-sed  the  grass 
to  grow  so  wonderfully  fi:esh  and  green  ?  If 
the  latter  is  the  fact,  and  it  certainly  looks 
plausible,  then  I  must  admit  that  I  am  con- 
vinced, beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  and 
that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  atmospheric  fer- 
tilizers, and  that  this  is  one  of  the  beneficial 
effects  of  electricity  on  ail  vegetation. 

Our  worthy  friend  asks  whelher  I  could  sup- 
pose tbat  electricity  can  effect  beneficially 
wheat  in  the  barn  ?  This  appears  to  me  to 
be  a  most,  singular  question.  Whoever  heard 
<.f  ^ucli  a  novel  idea?  I  am  sure  I  didn't.  I 
hardly  know  how  to  answer,  but  for  the  sake 
of  liaving  something  to  say  I  will  suppose  one 
of  these  vulgai- electrical  fairy  circles  wending 
its  way  into  a  mow  stored  full  of  wheat,  and 
keep  dancing  around  in  there  for  a  while  in 
regular  Indian  war  style.  The  only  inference 
I  caa  draw  is,  that  it  would  very  soon  be  in 
ashes,  and  that  this  would  be  one  of  the  ill 
effects  of  electricity. 

The  a-^-hes,  however,  might  be  beneficially 
used  in  the  raising  of  another  crop  ;  but  then, 
1  tliiuk,  it  would  require  such  a  vast  amount 
of  chemical  knowledge  to  apply  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  make  it  pay  that  we  might  as 
well  class  it  among  our  friend's  extravagant 
artificial  manures.    Don't  you  think  so  ? 


Our  friend,  who  "  hails  from  the  happy  land 
of  Columbia,"  seems  to  have  his  mind  consid- 
erably disturbed  for  want  of  knowing  a  name. 
I  am  not  much  of  a  florist;  but  it  appeals  to 
me  I  would  select  the  rose,  however,  full  of 
thorns,  and  namtless  it  might  be,  and  allow 
liitn  to  hold  on  to  the  skunk  cabbage  with  all 
its  cinuining  beauties  and  odoriforous  allure- 
ments. Siuely,  my  friend,  according  to  the 
laws  of  equity,  a  fair  choice  would  be  no  rob- 
bery. As  to  laurels,  I  claim  none,  and  the 
inttrioper  that  would  uadertake  to  rob  me 
would  be  mo.-5t  sadly  disappointed,  for  in  all 
my  subtractions  1  have  found  that,  to  take 
nothing  from  nothing,  nothing  remained. 

Our  friend's  skunk  comparison  reminds  me 
of  an  anecdote  I  rf'ad  some  years  ago  of  a 
well-to-dj  Irish  farmer.  I  don  ot  recollect  the 
exact  language,  but  will  try  to  givesomel,hing 
near  it :  He  purchased  a  farm  in  a  certain 
neighborhood,  one  field  of  which  was  detached 
by  a  small  farm  owned  by  an  American,  and 
as  Americans  are  very  fond  of  flowers,  they 
had  reared  a  beautiful  flower-garden  along 
the  road-side,  oa  which  they  erected  a  small 
implement-house  with  a  board  floor  in  it,  and 
under  which  a  skunk  had  taken  up  its 
"  io' al  habitation"  for  the  purpose  of  propa- 
gating its  race.  Now  as  the  attachment  of  the 
mother  skunk  to  its  young  is  very  strong,  she 
will  show  fight  whenever  annoyed. 

Along  this  road  the  Irish  farmer's  sou,  a 
soiall  boy,  had  to  drive  the  cattle  to  pasture 
in  the  detatched  field.  When  he  came  along 
in  the  evening,  while  driving  the  cattle  out 
for  the  night,  this  skunk  would  make  its  ap- 
pearance and  assume  quite  a  menacing  atti- 
tude ;  the  boy,  being  afraid,  kept  off  at  a  re- 
spectable distance.  He  repeatedly  expressed 
his  fears  to  his  father,  but  be  never  heeded 
him  uniil  matters  grew  so  serious  that  the 
son  refused  to  drive  the  cattle  along  there  any 
longer,  and  he  begged  to  be  allowed  to  drive 
them  into  another  field.  "-No,"  said  the  heroic 
father,  "  there  they  must  go  \  come  along  you, 
•ittle  fraid,  I'll  co  with  you  and  see  if  any  of 
the  American  tlowers  can  fvighten  me."  Well, 
away  they  went,  the  son  keeping  on  behind 
when  approaching  near  the  garden.  The 
skunk,  as  usual,  made  its  appearance  ;  the  son 
took  to  the  fence  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  road  to  witness  the  fight,  and  the  old 
man  v/ith  a  braaen  front  approached  the 
flowery  enemy,  and,  when  near  enough,  with 


6^ 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


one  dash  of  the  foot  sent  him  a-flyine,  how- 
ever not  itjuring  h-ra  much.  As  soon  as 
the  enemy  recovered  his  equilibrium  he  put 
himself  in  position  again,  and  wiih  one  twirl 
of  his  extreme  appendage  sent  such  a  shower- 
bath  of  sweet-scented  aroma  on  the  old  hero 
that  caused  him  to  change  front  and  take  to 
his  heels  ;  the  enemy,  taking  advantage  of  th's 
part  of  the  battle,  pursued.  The  son  on  the 
fence  witnessing  his  father's  defeat,  en- 
couraged him  by  crying  aloud:  ''liun,  bigfraid, 
or  little  fraid  will  catch  you  "  As  soon  as  the 
would-be  Irish  hero  arrived  at  home  and  re- 
covered his  equilibrium  somewhat,  but  before 
being  altogether  relieved  of  the  effects  of  the 
battle,  he  declared  that  if  his  Araerioan  neigh- 
bors did'nt  quit  raising  such  nasty  things  in 
their  flower  gardens,  that  will  «pit  in  their 
neighbor's  faces  in  such  a  way,  he  would  sell 
out  and  lave  the  countfary. 

Well,  there  does  appear  to  be  something  in 
a  name.  I  have  no  doubt,  if  our  Irish  hero 
would  have  know  the  name  and  nature  of  the 
animal,  he  would  have  guarded  himself  with 
more  precaution,  and  armed  himself  with  the 
poor  old  Indian's  gun. 

Our  friend  also  asks  whether  we  may  not 
.hope  f(;r  a  crop  of  30  or  40  bushels  to  the  acre, 
next  harvest,  on  account  of  the  )  eavy  thun- 
der stoTms,  after  harvest  last  year? 

Now,  as  inhalation  and  exhalation,  in  the 
verv nature  of  things,  are  going  on  all  the 
time,  I  will  answer  by  asking  another  ques- 
tion. 11  our  friend  should  happen  to  get  sick 
(which  I  hope  may  never  be  the  case),  an<i  be 
cured  by  a  certain  medicine,  and  after  being 
curedhe  would  take  a  dose  of  the  same  medi- 
cine, could  he  hope  that  that  dose  would  cure 
him  of  the  same  disease  a  year  afterward? 
Does  he  not  believe  that  by  a  natural  course 
of  evacuation  it  would  be  carried  eft',  and  re- 
quire a  fresh  dose? 

Messrs.  Editors  :  You  uo  doubt  have  been 
tired  of  me  long  ago.  I  will  therefore  clo&e  by 
bidding  our  friend  adieu,  and  wishing  him 
every  degree  of  comfor  .  I  remam  yery  truly 
an  humble  observer  in  a  local 

March  13,  1872.  HABITATION. 


To  Prevent  Cattle  from  Jumping 
Fences. — Clip  off  the  eyelashes  of  the  uuder 
lids  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  the  ability 
of  disposition  to  jump  is  as  effectually  destroy- 
ed as  Samson's  power  was  by  the  loss  of  his 
locks.  The  animal  will  not  attempt  a  fence 
until  the  lashes  are  grown  again. 


[We  publish  the  following  address  of  the 
Kafional  Agricultural  Association  in  order 
to  help  to  extend  its  organization  and  thus 
become  more  national.] 

UNITY    OF    ACTION    AMONG    AGRI- 
CULTURISTS. 

TO    THE    PRESS    THROUGHOUT  THE    UNITED 
STATES  AND    TERRITORIES. 

The  duty  of  transacting  the  business  of  the 
National  Agricultural  Association  ad  interim 
devolves,  by  the  Constitution,  upon  the  Presi- 
dent and  Secretary.  Our  first  and  greatest 
duty,  unquestionably,  is  to  make  known  to  the 
people  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
our  land  the  existence  of  such  an  organization; 
its  purposes  and  ol  jecis,  the  time  of  meeting, 
the  basis  of  representation  and  such  other 
matters  as  may  be  of  general  interest  to  the 
farmers  and  other  agricultural  associations 
throughout  the  United  States.  There  is  no 
method  by  which  this  can  be  done  so  effectually 
and  so  quickly  ss  by  and  through  the  press ; 
and  we  trust  that  we  are  not  asking  too  much 
of  it  to  aid  us  in  an  enterpiise  so  praiseworthy, 
so  patriotic,  and  with  possibilities  tor  good  so 
immens  ■,  wides^pread,  and  of  such  transcendent 
importance  to  the  highest  interests  of  the 
country. 

Any  improvement  in  the  methods  of  agri- 
culture guarantees  is  an  improvement  in  every 
other  industrial  pur.-uits.  The  business  of  ag- 
riculture li  8  at  the  foundation  of  all  others, 
and  unless  the  farmers  are  prosperous  oth  r 
classes  cannot  be,  for  the  material  of  art  must 
of  necessity  be  supplied  by  the  production  of 
nature.  Any  organization,  therefore,  that 
look«  to  an  enlarged  and  progressive  develop- 
ment of  agricultural  science  and  a  diffusion  of 
agricultural  facts  and  an  elevation  of  ag- 
ricultural industry,  is  of  general  and  perma- 
nent benefit  to  the  entire  country.  The  ob- 
jects of  the  National  Agricultural  Association 
are  : 

1.  To  protect  this  leading  industry  from  un- 
just discriminations  m  the  legislation  of  the 
country.  Ail  other  arts  and  trades  have 
their  organizations,  and  their  voices  are  heed- 
ed in  our  legislative  halls.  The  farmers  of 
the  country  Iiaye  no  perfected  national  or- 
ganization. Instead  of  joining  their  united 
energies  to  effect  deliverance  from  those  evils 
that  have  oftentimes  sorely  oppressed  them, 
they  have  preferred  to  work  singly,  pulling  in 
various  and  oftee  opposite  directions ;  neu- 


\. 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


65 


tralizing  the  power  of  each  other  and  pro- 
ducing a  state  of  rest  and  inactivity  by  the 
exertion  of  equal  and  opposing  forces.  In 
this  way  they  have  in  a  large  measure  nulli- 
fied t'eir  influence  and  importance.  One  of 
the  leadius  objects  of  the  Association  is  to 
centralize  and  consolidate  this  power,  so  that 
it  may  be  used  at  any  time  that  it  may  be 
nece^^sary  for  the  pr  )tecLioa  and  defense  of 
the  pursuit  of  agriculture. 

2  To  collect  and  disseminate  information 
pertaining  to  agriculture,  and  lo  act  conj  oiully 
with,  and  as  an  assistant  to,  the  Agricultural 
Depar  ment  at  Washington. 

3.  To  awaken  among  farmers  a  class  spirit 
which  induces  co-operatiou  and  associated 
effort. 

4.  To  dignify  and  popularize  I  he  business 
of  agriculture,  by  showing  its  importance  and 
usefulness  to  the  country  ;  by  making  it  a  de- 
sirable field  for  educated  young  men  to  enter; 
by  holding  forth  its  past  history,  its  splendid 
promises,  its  many  advantages,  its  independ- 
ence, its  liberalizing  tendencies,  its  con  serva- 
tism,  its  comparative  freedom  from  failure, 
and  its  healthful  and  invigorating  influences. 

5.  To  create  unity  of  aims  as  well  as  con- 
cert of  action  in  refer^tice  to  those  measures 
calculated  to  insure  efficiency  aud  to  secure 
the  development  of  this  great  national  pur- 
suits ;  also  to  consider  questions  affecting  its 
commercial  relations  and  the  means  of  trans- 
portation, and  to  tike  such  steps  as  may  be 
necessary  and  proper  to  protect  it  against  the 
influences  of  the  great  accumulations  of  capi- 
tal in  commercial  centers,  guarding  it  against 
heartless  speculators  and  great  corporations. 

BASIS  OF  REPRESENTATION. 

The  constitution  provides  that  each  State 
and  Territory  shall  be  entitled  to  two  delegates, 
to  be  appointed  by  the  State  Agricultural 
Society  or  Association,  if  there  be  such  an 
organization  ;  if  there  is  not,  then  the  Gover- 
nor of  such  State  or  Territory  shall  appoint 
its  delegates. 

Each  agricultural  college  in  the  United 
States,  organized  in  conformity  with  the  law 
of  Congress  of  1862,  made  for  that  purpose, 
shall  be  entitled  to  one  representative. 

That  each  regularly  orgauiz  >d  agricultural 
society,  of  fifty  or  more  members,  which  shall 
have  contributed  to  the  funds  v*f  this  national 
organization,  in  proportion  to  their  represen- 


tatives, shall  be  entitled   to  one  representa- 
tive. 

Delegates  in  all  cases  shall  be  active  mem- 
bers of  some  agricultural  organization;  they 
shall  preseet  credentials  u.der  seal  from  their 
respective  constituencies;  their  certificates 
shall  state  the  bodies  represented,  and  the 
number  of  members  in  each. 

DUES. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Council  of 
the  National  Association,  upon  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  convention,  it  was,  on  motion,  re- 
solved that  each  agricultural  organization  in 
each  Slate  and  Territory  of  the  United  States, 
upon  the  payment  to  the  treasurer  of  five 
dollars  for  the  first  fifty  members,  one  dollar 
for  each  additional  fifty  members,  or  frac- 
tional part  thereof,  and  such  further  contri-' 
butioDS  as  they  may  deem  proper,  shall  be 
regarded  as  constituent  bodies  of  this  Asso- 
ciation, and  shall  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of 
every  publication  or  report  emanating  from 
this  association. 

The  present  treasurer  is  F.  H.  French, 
Xashville,  Tenn.,  to  whom  remittances  may 
be  made  by  the  various  agricultural  associa- 
tions. 

The  next  session  will  be  held  in  St.  Louis, 
on  the  4lh  Monday  in  May,  1872.  We  hope 
that  every  local  organization  in  the  United 
Slates  will  be  repieseuted.  Essayists  have 
been  appointed,  aud  it  is  expected  that  the 
occasion  will  be  one  of  great  interest  to  those 
engaged  in  agriculture.  All  who  want  more 
definite  information  can  procure  a  copy  of  the 
coastitntiou  and  proceedings,  by  addressing 
the  secretary  at  Nashville,  Tenn 

F.  Julius  LeMoyne,  President. 

J.  B.  Killebrew,  Secretary. 


WHENCE  PLANTS  DERIVE  THEIR 
FOOD. 

FRIEND  FREAS:  In  the  Telegraph  of 
January  31st,  Mr.  Royal  Smith  has  an 
article  on  this  subject,  upon  which  I  wish  to 
offer  some  comments.  Although  I  am  not  a 
scientific  scholar,  I  am  a  sort  of  a  naturalist, 
and  have  learned  many  things  from  nature,  ob- 
servation and  practice.  I  have  also  read 
some,  and  while  working  or  reading  my  mind 
has  been  thinking. 

Many  years  ago  I  learned  that  Judce  Buel, 
the  founder  of  the  Albany  Cultivator^  the  paper 
upon  which  our  prestnt  Country  Gentleman  was 


66 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


engrafted,  went  from  Eoctester  to  Albany 
and  bought  a  piece  of  poor  sand  plain  near 
the  city.  He  cut  a  trench  eight  inches  deep 
and  three  feet  wide,  and  threw  the  saody  soil 
one  side,  then  filled  the  trench  with'clay  from 
adjoining  laud;  then  cut  another  trench,  lay- 
ing the  sandy  soil  on  the  clav,  and  so  went 
over  his  acres  for  a  farm,  the  size  I  have  for- 
gotten. Then  he  had  a  poor  sandy  soil  with 
a  clay  subsoil,  naturally  well  underdrained. 

He  then  sowed  on  clover  and  plowed  in  Ihe 
crop,  and  repeated  this  two  or  tliree  times 
until  he  had  his  soil  equal  to  the  bc^t  eandy 
loam.  Although  thi^  was  expensive,  being 
near  the  city  it  was  worth  more  than  it  cost 
Now  I  have  got  the  foundation  text  to  preach 
from. 

From  whence  did  Judge  Buei'sgoil  get  its 
fertility?  Prom  the  clover,  to  be  sure  ;  and 
the  clover  must  have  returned  to  the  soil  a 
vast  amount  of  fertility  that  it  got  elsewhere 
than  from  the  soil.  It  cannot  be  from  the 
rain  water,  for  whilst  we  liave  three  feet  of 
rain  water  annually,  the  sterile  clay  or  sand 
is  not  fertilized.  Animal  and  vegetable  growth 
are  much  alike  in  many  re-pects  ;  they  both 
derive  much  of  their  food  from  the  atmos- 
phere. 

But  Mr.  Smith  will  ask,  why  do  we  attach  so 
much  importance  to  rich  soil  and  cultivation? 
The  rich  soil  and  manure  are  a  chemical 
laboratory  to  assist  in  the  manufacture  of  tJie 
g.ases  upon  which  the  plant  feeds.  The  roots 
must  have  air  to  feed  upon  as  well  as  water. 
Water  is  a  mechanical  agent  to  assist  in  ex- 
panding the  cells,  forming  the  leaves  and 
growth  of  wood.  The  plant  or  tree  is  full  of 
water  and  air,  and  is  constantly  giving  off 
large  quantities  of  water.  It  matters  but 
little  whether  that  water  is  from  the  well,  rain 
or  distilled  water.  It  has  to  be  finely  filtered 
through  the  bark  of  the  roots,  and  nearly  all 
the  earthy  substance  excluded  from  the  pores 
of  the  wood.  Experiments  have  taught  us 
that  when  a  tree  was  planted  in  a  tub  of  earth 
it  took  but  a  small  moiety  of.  its  weight  when 
dried  from  the  earth,  and  the  water  used  by 
the  tree  was  distilled  to  exclude  earthy  sab- 
stances.  ; 

Professor  Johnson,  of  Yale  College — and 
we  have  no  higher  authority  in  our  country — 
}ias  told  us  "  that  from  ninety-five  to  ninety- 
nine  per  cent,  of  the  entire  mass  (weight)  of 


agricultural  plants  ]s  derived   directly  or  in- 
directly from  the  atmosphere." 

This  was  considerably  more  than  my  former 
calculation,  and  perhaps  it  will  be  quite  in- 
credible to  Mr.  Royal  Smith,  and  most  other 
farmers  and  gardeners.  Nevertheless,  I  took 
it  as  a  truth  and  set  myself  about  its  applica- 
tion and  adoption. 

We  have  been  taught  that  a  tree  obtains  its 
plant-food  through  the  youngr,  tender,  succu- 
lent ends  of  its  roots,  called  "  spongioles," 
and  through  its  shreds  and  root-hairs.  But  I 
early  learned  that  when  I  transplant  a  tree  I 
leave  all  the  spongioles,  rootlets  and  root 
hairs  in  the  grou  id,  and  set  the  iree  out  with- 
out them,  and  it  immediately  goes  into  action 
of  growth,  damaged  only  about  in  proportion 
to  the  amount  of  root  left  in  its  original  place, 
and  the  dimage  of  imperfect  setting  out.  If 
we  had  left  all  its  nwu  hs  to  receive  its  food, 
we  certainly  should  have  kil'ed  the  tree.  It 
certainly  receives  food  through  every  pore  of 
the  bark  of  all  the  roots,  both  great  and  small. 
I  once  transplanted  a  tree  bj'  setting  it  in  stiff 
clay  mud,  and  it  never  opened  a  bud.  Why  ? 
Not  because  it  lacked  its  spongiole  mouth?, 
but  because  I  have  of  en  set  out  trees  with 
their  roots  worse  mulSlated,  and  they  grew 
readily.  Not  because  it  lacked  a  supply  of 
water  and  earth.  But  because  it  lacked  air  at 
the  roots. 

Now  from  these  facts  and  my  practical  ex- 
perience I  learn  this  lessou  :  The  transplanted 
tree  is  in  best  condition  when  it  has  suitably 
rich  earth,  air  and  water,  fr  m  which  the  gases 
upon  which  it  feeds  are  generated,  the  earth 
finely  pulverized  and  closely  packed  upon 
every  part  of  the  bark  of  all  the  roots,  leaving 
the  spongioles  and  rootlets  out  of  the  opera- 
tion, and  the  work  is  well  done.  The  tree 
feeds  upon  water  and  m'  stly  oxygen  gas,  with 
some  carbonic  acid ;  but  precisely  how  it 
manufactures  them  into  leaves,  flowers,  fruit, 
wood  and  bark,  is  among  higher  laws  of  nature, 
the  secrets  of  which  I  have  never  been  able  to 
get  into.  Mr.  Smith  is  a  little  puzzled  to  know 
how  it  is  that  one  crop  exhausts  certain  quali- 
ties of  the  soil.  Each  variety  of  plant  has  the 
power  of  choosing  and  absorbing  the  particu- 
lar properties  of  the  gases  it  most  delights  in 
— the  wheat,  corn  and  potatoes,  and  the  oak, 
apple  and  pine,  varying  somewhat  in  their 
wants  ;  but  more  essentially  varying  in  their 
inherent  faculty    of  manufacturing  the  raw 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


67 


material  into  their  particular  products.  These 
are  interesting  studies,  proper  for  students  at 
our  Agricultural  Colleges,  where  the  hand 
that  works  must  accompany  the  mind  that 
thinks.  SuEii  Foster. 

Muscatine  county^  Iowa. 

[The  above,  communicated  to  the  German- 
town  Telegraph,  involves  a  problem  that  per- 
haps never  will  be  satisfactorily  solved,  and 
probably  the  solution  is  not  of  so  much  im- 
portance in  vegetable  economy  as  the  fact. 
It  brings  to  our  rfcollectioa  a  test  whicb  was 
said  to  have  been  made  when  we  were  still  a 
"  sm^ll  boy."  A  hundred  pounds  oT  earth, 
and  one  pound  of  willow  were  pUced  in  a  tub. 
After  receiving  nothing  but  water  for  five 
years,  they  were  again  weighed  and  there  was 
twenty  pounds  of  willow  and  still  nearly  a 
hundred  pounds  of  earth.  The  question  was, 
where  did  the  nineteen  poundnot'  willow  come 
from?  The  answer  was,  that  the  earth,  thy 
water,  and  even  fertilizers,  are  but  mediums 
throutjh  which  imponderable  substances  are 
absorbed,  conveyed  and  condensed  into  j)ou- 
flerable  and  tangible  substances,  but  how  it  is 
<lone,  is  perhaps  not  for  us  to  know  ;  all  that 
we  need  is  to  know  that  it  is  so,  without  a  perad- 
venture. — Ed.] 


EGYPTIAN  CORST. 


'E  have  rtcenily  seen  the  advertise- 
ment of  this  corn  iu  one  of  the  most 
respectable  journals  in  the  country  .  The  seed 
is  now  for  sale  by  Mr.  F.  E.  G.  Lindsey,  Hol- 
ston,  Washington  county,  Virginia,  at  SI. 50 
per  package;  and  when  it  is  said  that  from 
one  package  of  seed  enough  can  be  raised  this 
season  to  plant  twenty  or  thirty  acres  next 
season,  our  readers  of  a  mathematical  turn  of 
mind  may  be  able  to  determine  by  a  rule  of 
supposition  how  m  iny  grains  of  corn  such  a 
package  contains.  The  original  seed  was 
brought  to  the  United  States  by  Mr.  Jones, 
our  consular  agent,  on  his  return  from  Egypt. 
In  addidon  to  Mr.  Lindsey,  it  h.is  been  tested 
and  indorsed  by  R.  B.  Hamilton,  Esq.,  Ra- 
ven's New  P.  O.,  Va.;  Capt.  T.  M.  Coble, 
Craig's  mills,  and  Capt.  J.  C.  Staufield,  Hol- 
ston  ;  and  the  veracity  of  these  men  has  been 
indorsed  by  postmasters,  ex-sht  rifls  and  justi- 
ces of  the  peace.  The  corn  itself  has  been 
favorably  noticed  by  the  Abiogton  Virginian., 
the  Cliniou  (Mo.)  Advocate.,  and  the  Washing- 
ton Constitutional  Union.  Its  merits  are,  early 
maturing,  prolific  character,  and  comparative 
indifference  to  soil,  as  well  as  its  weight  and 
nutritious  qualities.      It  is  alleged  that  it  will 


ripfin  as  far  north  as  the  city  of  Boston,  even 
when  planted  in  the  last  of  July,  and  iu  the 
South  two  crops  on  the  same  ground  can  be 
raised  in  one  season. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  bu-hels  to  the  acre 
has  been  estimated  as  its  yield  with  good  soil 
and  proper  culture  ;  but  that  an  average  crop 
may  be  produced  with  only  the  most  ordinary 
culture.  Its  weight,  by  "  sealed  measure,"  is 
claimed  to  be  sixty-five  pouuds  to  the  bushel. 
For  domestic  purposes,  it  is  said  to  be  unpa- 
ralleled, for  when  ground  aad  prop  rly  bolted 
it  is  equal  in  fineness  and  color  to  wheateu 
flour.  It  grows  in  the  form  of  a  tree,  and 
thifty-four  ears  have  been  known  to  grow  on 
one  stalk,  but  the  average  is  from  five  to  fif- 
teen. Ocher  merits  are  claimed  for  it,  espe- 
cially as  a  forage  ;  but  we  cannot  enumerate 
them  here,  and  we  only  call  the  attention  of 
our  farmers  to  the  subject  from  the  fact  that 
there  seems  to  be  a  gap  in  the  productiveness 
of  our  breadsluffs  in  this  country  and  State 
that  is  waiting  for  something  to  fill  it  up.  It 
is  true  we  have  tobacco  in  abundance,  but  what 
is  tiiis  weed  to  the  hungry  poor  in  a  season  of 
the  failure  of  vvheat.  Should  the  wheat,  rye, 
and  oat  crop  all  fail  in  any  season,  there  is 
still  time  enough  to  mature  a  crop  of  the 
Egyptian  corn  under  ordinary  circumstances. 
Of  course  the  representations  in  reference  to 
it  might  not  be  realized,  but  we  confeos  that 
if  we  were  a  corn  cultivator  we  would  "  risk 
one  package  anyhow." — Er>s. 


Soap  foe  Borers. — The  Prairie  Farmer 
says  that  in  order  to  make  the  application  of 
soap  to  ihe  trunks  of  apple  trees  entirely  ef- 
fectual for  the  exclu-iou  of  the  borer,  it  is 
necessary  to  take  a  very  thick  soft  soap  ;  with- 
out diluting,  heat  it  to  the  boiling  point,  and 
then  paint  the  trees  freely  with  it,  especially 
near  the  ground  and  thei.ce  up  some  distance 
among  the  branches.  It  strikes  into  the  bark 
when  thus  put  on  hot,  so  that  one  aj  plication 
about  the  first  of  June  protects  the  trees  for 
the  season,  killing  the  young  borers  or  eggs 
which  happened  to  be  at  the  surface  of  the 
bark.  We  have  never  tried  this  mode^  but 
have  used  tue  old  one  of  rubbing  with  cold 
soft  soap,  which  always  proved  useful,  but 
never  entirely  eftectual ;  and  it  was  always 
necessary,  iu  order  to  t  If  set  compleie  extir- 
pation, to  go  over  the  for  IS  once  <r  twice  a 
year  with  the  knife  and  fivxib  e  wire.  Our 
readers  will,  of  course,  undi-rstand  that  the 
soap  has  no  tffdct  on  borers  already  in  the 
wood. 


68 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


Easter  Bergatnot  Fem\ 


HORTICULTURE. 

SYNONYMS 

WINTER  BERGAMOT  ;  Bergamot  de 
Paques :  Bergamot  d''Hivfr;  Padding- 
ton.  Described  technically  under  the  follow- 
ing formula:  "  Size,  medium  or  rather  large  ; 
round  obovate,  approaching  turbinate,  nar- 
row at  stalk ;  surface  yellowish-green  ;  dots 
oouppicuous  ;  stalks  from  three-fourths  to  an 
inch  and  a  half  long;  calyx  small ;  basin  round ; 
flesh  firm,  becoming  melting,  juicy,  bnttery  ;  a 
second  or  third-rate  dessert  fruit,  but  fine  for 
fstewing,  keeping  ihrcjush  winter.  Differs  from 
Easter  Baxirfe  in  its  inferior  quality,  rounder 
form,  lighter  color,  and  in  its  green  shoots." 
This  pair  is  ?aid  to  succeed  better  on  the 
quince  stock  than  on  pear,  and  therefore  it 
shouM  be  mainly  cultivated  as  a  dwarf.  A 
good  keeping  winter  pear  is  certa'nly  very 
desirable,  and  one  that  will  keep  well  until 
Easter   posseses  a  rare  merit  that  will  fully 


compensate  for  a  shade  or  two  of  inferiority 
in  quality. 

Although  in  an  economical  sense  the  pear, 
as  an  object  of  general  fruit  culture,  cannot  at 
'all  be  compared  with  the  apple,  yet,  when 
grown  in  full  perfection,  it  far  surpasses  that 
fruit  in  its  greater  delicacy,  its  melting,  juicy 
testure,  and  perhaps  only  falls  below  it  in  con- 
sequence of  the  less  uniformly  healthy  habit 
of  the  two.  The  great  number  of  varieties 
in  this  fruit  is  perfectly  astounding,  and  every 
year  this  number  seems  to  be  increasing,  so 
that  without  some  reliable  guide  upon  this  sub- 
ject the  inexperienced  culturist  would  bard- 
'  iy  know  what  variety  or  varieties  he  ought  to 
adopt.  Some  of  these  varieties,  of  course,  are 
very  inferior,  and  the  only  use  in  their  culture 
at  all  has  been  to  illustrate  what  ought  to  be 
rejected.  There  are  not  many  J^rs^ra<«  pears, 
and  therefore  a  fruit  of  this  kind  that  is  sf- 
ond-rate.,  or  even  third-rate,  comes  within  the 
category  of  what  is  worthy  of  cultivation.  A 
good  winter  culinary  variety,  as  we  before 


THE  L A J^  CASTER  FARMER. 


69 


have  said,  is  furely  something  very  desirable 
at  that  season  of  the  year,  when  there  is  usu- 
ally a  dearth  of  the  luxurious  snd  refreshing 
summer  fruits  ;  and  of  such  we  think  it  safe  to 
recommend  the  curivation  of  the  Easter  Ber- 
gamof. 


OUR  REVISED  FRUIT  LIST. 

WE  again  present  to  our  readers,  as  the 
time  approaches  for  transplanting,  a 
revised  list  of  fruit  trees,  vines,  etc..  w  ich 
we  can  recommend  for  general  cultivation. 
Twelve  or  fifteen  varieties  of  psars  and  eight 
to  ten  of  apples  are  all-sufficient,  provided 
they  are  the  best  adapted  to  the  soil  ai;d 
locality — a  fact  which  each  one,  upon  trial, 
must  judge  for  himself.  Frequently  a  pear, 
an  apple,  or  a  grape  may  do  well  for  a  few 
years  and  then  deteriorate ;  or  may  do  ex- 
cellently well  in  one  location  and  not  in 
another,  though  separated  by  a  very  narrow 
space.  In  such  case  it  had  better  be  disposed 
of  by  grafting  it  with  more  reliable  varieties. 
We  have  changed  our  opinion  respecting  a 
number  of  fruits  within  the  last  half  dozen 
years,  and  yet  in  some  of  the  instances  we  are 
convinced  the  fault  was  in  the  location  and 
soil. 

According  to  our  present  preference,  we 
should  select  the  following  for  our  own  plant- 
ing: 

STANDARD  PEARS. 


J.  DoyeTme  d'Ftp, 

2  Earlv  Catharine, 

3  Bloodirool, 

4.  Summer  Juliana, 

5.  Tyson, 

6.  Hartlett, 

7.  Belle  Lucrative, 

8.  Boussock, 

9.  Manning's  EMzabeth, 


10  Spokel, 
n.  Giffar<1, 
12.  Howell, 
18   Lodge, 

14.  Sbelrien, 

15.  Aiilou, 
Ifi.  Lawrence, 

17.  Feaster, 

18.  Reading. 


For  those  who  may  desire  a  smaller  num- 
ber, we  should  select,  1.  Doyenne  d'Ete  ;  2, 
Bloodgood ;  3.  Tyson ;  4.  Bartlett ;  5.  Belle 
Lucrative  ;  G.  Seckel ;  7.  Lawrence  ;  8.  Read- 
ing. They  ripen  in  the  order  they  are  ar- 
rauired. 

Of  the  above  general  list,  from  No.  1  to  6 
are  summer  varieties  ;  from  6  to  14  autumn  ; 
and  16  to  18  winter,  thus  affording  a  suflQcient 
number  for  each  of  the  periods,  of  the  best 
known  sorts  for  this  region. 

It  will  be  seen  that  we  have  added  the 
Beading,  and  arc  satisfied  that  it  is  fully  en- 
titled to  a  place  in  our  list  of  standard  pears. 
It  is  a  sub-acid  pear,  fully  as  large  as  the 


Bartlett,  and  is  a  brisk,  spicy  and  most  re- 
freshing fruit.  We  had  some  grafts  of  it 
years  ago,  but  being  put  on  an  old  Windsor 
tree,  they  all  died.  At  the  city  of  Reading, 
Pa.,  it  is  highly  esteemed,  where  it  is  raised 
in  great  quantities.  As  we  write  this  we  have 
half  a  dozen  in  our  fruit  closet,  irom  a  basket 
sent  us  by  a  friend  two  weeks  ago,  and  they 
are  decidedly  the  best  pear  we  have  at  this 
season  of  the  year.  It  will  easily  keep  into 
March  or  later  with  care. 

After  the  present  year's  trial  we  sha  1  de- 
cide whether  or  not  to  retain  the  Anjuu  and 
Howed  upon  the  list. 

DWARF  PEARS. 


7.  Belle  Lucrative, 

8  Lawrence, 

9  Dearboru's  Seedling, 
III.  Feaster, 
11.  Bosc 
i2.  Boussack. 


1.  St.  Micliael  d'Archange, 

2.  Bartlett, 

3.  Oomice, 

4.  Rostiezer, 

5.  Diet, 
C.  Tyson, 

APPLES. 

1.  Maiden's  Blusli,  5.  Smith's  Cider, 

2.  Baldwin,  G.  Ward's  La  e, 

3.  Ku-set,  7    Fornwalder, 

4.  Jtfteries,  8.  Cornell's  Fancy. 

PEACHES. 

5.  Crawford's  Late, 

6.  >ortbt-rn  S|iv, 
7    Frteman's  White, 
8.  Smack's  Yellow. 

GRAPES. 

5.  Martha, 

6.  Croveling, 

7.  Delaware, 
6.  Rogers  No.  32 

CHERRIES. 

5.  Belle  Mngniflque, 

6.  Downtou, 

7.  E'ton, 

8.  Kentish  or  Pie. 
RASPBERRIES. 

1.  Brinckle's  Orange,  |4.  Hprstine, 

2.  Hornet,  5.  Philadelphia, 

3.  Catawissa,  |6   Hudson  Antwerp. 

STRAWBERRIES. 

1.  Triomphe  de  Gand,  13.  Hovey's  Seedling, 

2.  Green  Prolific,  |4.  Albany  Seedling. 

CURRANTS. 

|2.  Red  Dutch. 
GOOSBERRIES. 

1 2    Downing. 
BLACKBERRIES. 

13.  Wilsjn'a  Early. 


1.  Crawford's  Early, 

2.  Hale's  Earlv, 

3.  Troth'.s  Early, 

4.  Oldmixon, 

1.  Telegraph, 
2    Concord, 

3.  Hartford, 

4.  Rogers  No.  4, 

1.  May  Duke, 

2.  Etrly  Hichmond, 

3.  Black  Tartarian, 

4.  Black  Eagle, 


1.  Black  Naples, 
1.  Houghton, 


1.  New-Rochelle, 

2.  I'Jorchester,  | 

It  is  better  that  those  who  intend  to  culti- 
vate fruit  and  have  to  make  purchases  should 
take  this  list  with  them  to  the  nursery,  and 
adhere  to  it  as  far  as  possible.  It  is  not  fair 
to  the  nurseryman  to  ask  him  for  a  list  of  the 
best  sorts,  as  he  has  all  kinds  to  sell  to  accom- 
modate every  taste  and  demand. 

The  amateur  or  those  who  want  only  a  few 
varieties  will  find  the  above  list  entirely  re- 
liable, and  hence  cannot  go  wrong  by  adhering 
to  it. 

"We  cull  from  the  columns  of  the  German- 


70 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER.. 


town  Telegraph,  of  February  28,  1872,  the 
above  list  of  fruits,  which,  from  our  own 
limited  observation  and  experience,  but  more 
particularly  the  indorsement  of  the  veteran 
editor  of  that  journal,  we  submit  to  the  fruit 
growers  of  Lancaster  county  as  worthy  of 
their  cultivation,  subject  to  the  contingencies 
and  qualifications  included  in  his  explaidtory 
remarks.  Indeed  we  want  no  better  general 
authority  in  matters  of  this  kind  than  Maj. 
Freas,  although,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  this 
county,  we  would  include  in  the  list  of  apples 
our  l<)cal  varieties  now  becommg  known  under 
the  names  of  "  All  Summer,"  and  "  Agues." 


And  now,  as  germain  to  this  subject,  we 
may  be  permitted  to  say  that  we  have  not  a 
more  able  and  welcome  visitor  on  our  ex- 
change list  than  the  Germantown  Telegraph- 
Altho  igh  it  onlv  devotes  about  one  third  of 
one  ■.  f  its  larare  pages  to  practical  agriculture 
in  its  various  departments  and  economies,  yet 
what  it  does  furnish  is  condensed  and  reliable. 
Moreover,  its  literary,  political  and  domestic 
departments  are  of  a  high  order,  and,  on  the 
whole,  it  Kipplies  a  place  occupied  by  few 
other  journals  in  the  country,  whatever  their 
pretentions  may  be. — R. 


Houghton's  Seedling  Gooseberry. 


HOUGHTON'S  SEEDLING  GOOSE- 
BERRY. 

THIS  variety  is  best  suited  to  our  climate 
on  account  of  it  being  entirely  free  of 
mildew.  The  bush  is  a  strong  grower,  hardy 
and  very  productive  ;  fruit  medium,  roundish, 


inclined  to    oval;   skin,  pale   red,    valuable 
market  variety. 

The  above  illustration  and  description  of 
the  Houghton's  Seedling  Gooseberry  is  taken 
from  the  illustrated  and  descriptive  catalogue 
of  small  fruit,  plants,  seed  potatoes,  etc.,  cul- 
tivated and  for  sale  by  John    G.  Kreider, 


THE  LAJf CASTER  FARMER. 


71 


nurseryman  and  fruit  gro-^^er,  Lancaster,  Pa. 
[We  are  pleased  to  see  the  perceptible  ad- 
vance which  is  beinsr  made  in  the  culture  of 
the  gooseberry,  and  any  variety  which  is  free 
from  mildew — which  appears  to  have  been 
the  great  drawback  to  its  culture  in  times 
past,  will  be  sure  to  reward  the  grower  of 
small  fruits  lor  all  his  toil.  As  a  general 
thing  they  are  hardy  and  proliflc  bearers, 
and  well  adapted  to  the  common  i;un  of  soil, 
and  for  culinary  purposes  have  not  many 
equals.  Their  firm  character  makes  them 
particularly  desirable  as  a  market  article,  as 
no  small  fruit  can  bear  transportation  better 
than  they.  Houghton's  Seedling  has  received 
the  indorsement  of  some  of  our  best  fruit 
growers,  and  therefore  it  must  ultimately 
come  into  general  favor.] 

DOMESTIC. 

EXPERIMENTS  WITH  ONIONS. 

JOHNB.  WOLF,  M,  D,,  of  Washington, 
forwarded  to  the  Farmers'  Club,  New 
York,  the  following  communication  : 
On  shipboard,  at  New  Orleans,  in  the  year 
1849,  in  charge  of  one  hundred  marines,  with 
cholera  among  them,  I  observed  that  those 
who  ate  freely  of  onions,  supposing  thsm  to 
be  healthy,  were  attacked  certainly  and  fa- 
tally. Onions  and  salt  cured  the  bi.e  of  a 
rattlesnake  on  my  son,  and  are  considered 
specific  in  all  snake  bites.  I  have  found 
four  separate  witnesses  of  phenomena  con- 
nected with  small-pox  and  fever  : 

1.  Onions  in  rooms  wiih  small-pox  rot 
rapidly. 

2.  Blisters  rise  on  them. 

3.  They  retain  and  communicate  the  virus 
many  weeks  after  the  epidemic  has  sul  sided. 

4.  Applied  to  the  feet  of  fever  patients, 
they  rapidly  turn  black, 

5.  They  prevent  the  spread  of  small-pox  in 
thickly  populated  tenements  by  absorbing  the 
virus. 

G.  A  man  with  hydrophobia,  in  his  frenzy, 
ate  voraciously  of  onions,  and  recovered. 
From  all  these  facts  may  be  deducted: 

1.  That  onions  should  not  be  eaten  when 
there  is  a  prevailing  epidemic. 

2.  That  onions  sliced  and  frequently  changed 
are  good  dibinfectants. 

3.  That  experiments  should  be  made  to  test 


the  extent  of  their  usefulness.  For  many 
years  I  have  opposed  vaccination  as  ordin- 
arily done,  and  hence  hail  with  satisfaction 
any  means  of  mitigating  the  virus  of  this  dis- 
temper. 

♦ 

DOCTORING  OLD  ORCHARDS. 

SEVERAL  mo-^es  are  recommended  how 
this  can  be  successful'y  done;  but  we  do  not 
see  how  it  can  be  more  effectually  done  than  by 
the  one  we  have  frequently  recommended. 
That  is  to  cut  out  all  the  dying  v\'ood,and 
three-fourths  of  the  suckers,  scrape  the  trunks 
of  the  trees  completely,  removing  all  the  old, 
hard,  broken  bark  ;  wash  with  a  preparation 
of  whale-oil  soap  and  water,  a  pound  of  soap 
to  a  bucket  of  water ;  and  give  the  orchard,  not 
merely  under  the  trees,  but  every  part  of  it, 
a  heavy  top-dressing  of  good  barn-yard  or 
compost  manure.  If  there  is  any  life  or  pro- 
ductiveness lefc  in  the  trees  this  will  bring  it 
out. 

The  suggestion  that  the  trunks  of  the  trees 
should  be  shorn  of  all  the  boughs  and  allowed 
to  sucker,  and  some  of  these  when  lars;e 
enough  grafted,  will  prove  a  failure.  The 
grafting  of  the  ordinary  suckers  growing  from 
the  trunks  of  old  trees  can  rarely  be  done  with 
success.  We  tried  this  several  times,  and  the 
grafts  all  died  at  the  end  of  the  second  or  third 
year.  Far  better  to  graft  the  old  trees  when- 
ever there  is  any  smootJi-barked  wood  near 
enough  to  a  main  bough.  They  will  not  only 
grow,  but  iu  most  cases  fruit  the  second  year, 
and  all' ays  the  third  year.  We  have  now 
growing  on  suckers  from  the  main  boughs, 
grafts  of  the  Chance'lor  pear  set  eighteen  years 
ago,  and  they  are  yet  to  fruit  the  first  speci- 
men! 

Not  a  day  should  be  lost  in  getting  at  the 
orchards. —  Gennantown  Telegraph. 


APPLES. 

WE  do  not  use  apples  enough  in  our  families. 
Baked  sweet  apples  should  be  on  our  tables 
every  day  ;  some  prefer  sour  apples.  We  should 
use  them  in  pif\s,  tarts,  puddings,  apple  sauce,  apple 
butter,  or  in  some  way  every  day.  They  are  more 
healthy  than  corn  and  pork. 

The  above  is  all  very  true,  but  that  is  not 
"  what's  the  matter."  We  want  to  know 
how  a  man  in  indigent,  or  even  moderat  e  cir- 
cumstances, is  to  keep  his  table  daily  supplied 
with  either  pies,  tarts,  puddings,  butter,  or 


7^ 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


sauce,  made  of  apples?  Indeed  it  might  be 
difficult  for  even  a  rich  man  to  do  so.  We  are 
exceeding  y  fond  of  apples,  and  have  a  high 
appreciation  of  their  healthful  qualities,  but 
we  confess  that  we  cannot  afford  to  use  them 
as  above  recommended  without  an  entire  de- 
pletion or  embarassment  of  our  finances,  and 
we  cannot  but  think  that  there  must  be  a 
"screw  loose"  somewhere  in  the  productive 
economy  of  the  country,  that  a  fruit  which  is 
deemed  so  essential  to  domestic  comfort  as  the 
apple,  should,  to  the  larger  portion  of  the  p  eo- 
ple,  and  during  the  larger  part  of  the  year,  so 
distinctly  occupy  the  position  of  a  luxury — and 
sometimes  an  exceedingly  rare  luxury.  "We 
have  seen  prominent  frut  growers  of  this 
county  pay  as  high  as  %'i  CO  a  barrel  for  ap- 
ples, who  had  orchards  of  the  capacity  to 
bear  hundreds  of  bushels  ;  and  where,  or  how, 
under  such  circumstances,  is  the  poor  man  to 
get  them?  It  is  true  "we  do  use  apples 
enouo;h  in  our  families;"  but  how  to  get 
enough  at  a  fair  price  is  a  problem,  the  solu- 
tion of  which  we  have  long  been  looking  for. 


LIGHTENING  HARD  WORK. 

THiRE  are  many  things  in  one's  every- 
day work  which  will  be  done  in  diflerent 
ways  by  different  people.  Some  get  over  a 
great  deal  easily  and  in  a  short  time,  and  this 
is  termed  by  practical  people  the  "  knack  "  of 
doing  things,  and  by  others  common-sense. 
We  are  not  sure  hut  some  would  say  it  was 
science.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  U  a  very  good 
thing  to  have. 

Here  is  a  man  trying  to  split  a  log.  He 
drives  in  his  ax  from  the  top  of  the  chunk 
downward,  and  keeps  on  driving  with  all  his 
force,  and  very  often  gives  it  up  in  disgust. 
Another  takes  the  ax,  sets  the  piece  up  with 
the  narrow  end  downward,  and  with  one 
short,  easy  stroke  the  pieces  fly  apart  as 
easily  as  if  the  log  was  a  piece  of  cheese. 

And  now  comes  the  Country  Gentleman^ 
with  another  kink  which,  simple  as  it  is,  will 
be  a  blessing  to  the  boy  who  has  to  do  the 
wood-splitting.  After  the  pieces  have  been 
sawn  into  fire-place  lengths  in  order  to  split, 
it  is  often  the  question  how  best  to  make  the 
pieces  stand  up  or  lie,  while  they  are  operated 
on.  Many  a  toe  has  been  cut  while  steadying 
the  block,  and  many  an  eye  has  been  black- 
ened by  the  flying  piece  !    This  genius  gets  a 


hollow  trunk,  about  half  the  depth  of  the 
piece  to  be  slit,  and  sets  said  piece  upright  in 
the  trunk.  Thus  they  are  split,  but  cannot 
fall  down,  and  the  splitter  can  keep  on  split- 
ting till  the  whole  is  as  small  as  (thick)  match 
wood,  and  never  stop  to  pick  up  one  single 
piece  I 

And  so  it  goes!  It  was  atone  time  sup- 
posed that  the  editor  had  the  easy  work.  He 
had  to  tell  how^  but  the  worker  had  to  do  the 
hard  work.  All  the  farm  work  is  getting  so 
light  that  we  shall  soon  want  to  give  up  the 
pen,  and  take  to  the  easier  and  much  more  de- 
lightful task  of  splitting  wood. 


HOW  MUCH  HORSES  FEEL. 

MR.  ROWELL  relates  some  hornble 
cases  in  which  horses  had  broken 
their  bones  at  the  fetlock  joint  and  were  com- 
pelled to  walk  upon  their  stumps,  with  their 
fore-feet  turned  up,  as  we  should  turn  b;ick  our 
knees,  and  yet  continued  to  graze  quietly  un- 
til they  were  dispatched.  He  acknowledges 
that  horses  are  keenly  alive  to  the  stroke  of 
the  whip,  the  prick  of  the  spur  and  the  sting 
of  an  insect.  That  they  are  peculiarly  sensi- 
tive to  lameness  is  also  a  matter  of  every-day 
experience.  They  groan  when  they  are 
wounded  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  by  their 
looks  and  their  restlessness  betray  great  un- 
easiness when  the  lacerated  flesh  begins, to 
inflame.  The  absence  of  pain,  particularly 
instances  of  extensive  injury,  can  only  be 
temporary,  in  the  same  way  that  the  soldier 
is  often  unconscious  for  a  time  that  his  arm 
has  been  shot  off  or  a  ball  been  lodged  in  his 
body.  The  numbness  which  appears  to  be  pro- 
duced by  the  concussion  passes  away,  and  the 
sensitiveness  is  to  be  judged  by  the  suffering 
which  ensues  at  a  subsequent  stage.  Horses, 
no  doubt,  feel  less  than  men,  but  they  feel  a 
great  deal.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to 
gauge  with  precision  the  degree  of  anguish 
which  is  allotted  to  each  grade  of  animal  life. 
— London  Quarterly  Review. 

[  We  hope  that  no  owner  or  driver  of  a  horse, 
will  ever  attempt  to  shelter  himself  behind 
the  assumption  that  horses  do  not  feel  pain  as 
sensibly  as  man.  It  is  said,  that  when  Maj. 
Ringgold  had  his  both  legs  shot  off— or  nearly 
off— in  one  of  the  early  battles  of  the  Mexican 
war,  he  suffered  no  pain,  but  calmly  sunk  into 
the  arms  of  death  from  exhaustion.    A  horse 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


73 


or  a  dog,  or  any  other  mammal,  may  occasion- 
ally exhibit  the  same  indifference  to  pain,  but 
these  are  only  exceptional  cases,  influenced 
by  counteracting  causes,  whatever  they  may 
be.  VV  e  believe,  however,  that  the  lower  we 
go  down  in  the  scale  of  animal  organization, 
the  less  they  are  liable  to  the  sensation  of 
pain— indeed,  some  of  the  very  lowest— the 
polypi  for  instance — if  cu.  up  into  pieces,  each 
piei.e  will  become  reorganized  into  a  new  and 
separate  animal.  Animals  so  circumstanced 
cannot  be  supposed  to  feel  pain.  So  also 
dragon  flies  and  bees  which  have  been  de- 
prived of  the  abdominal  portion  of  their 
budies ;  the  head  and  thorax— to  which  are 
attached  the  feet  and  wings— have  returned 
to  their  accustomed  food,  as  though  nothing 
serious  had  happened,  but  a  sudden  crushing 
of  the  segments  which  compose  their  bodies 
will  produce  a  nervous  tremor  which  seems  to 
indicate  the  presence  of  great  pain.  Instances 
of  the  apparent  absence  of  pain  might  be 
enumerated  amongst  the  chelonians,  but  it  is 
most  humane  to  regard  all  animals  as  subjects 
of  pain. J 

Chapped  Hands.— The  easiest  and  simp- 
lest remedy  is  found  in  every  store.  Take 
common  starch  and  grind  ic  with  a  knife  until 
it  is  reduced  to  smooth  powder.  Take  a  tin 
box  and  fill  it  with  the  starch  thus  prepared, 
so  as  to  have  it  continually  at  hand  for  use. 
Then  every  time  the  hands  are  taken  from 
the  suds,  or  dish  water,  rinse  them  thoroughly 
iQ  clean  water,  wipe  them,  and  while  they 
are  still  damp,  rub  a  pinch  of  the  starch  thor- 
oughly over  them,  covering  the  whole  sur- 
face. The  eff  it  is  magical.  The  rough, 
smarting  skin  is  cooled,  soo.hed  and  healed, 
bringing  and  insuring  the  greatest  degree  of 
comfort  and  freedom  from  this,  by  no  means 
insignificant  trial.  We  know  many  persons 
formerly  afflicted  with  hands  that  would  chap 
until  the  blood  oozed  from  many  minute  crevi- 
ces, completely  freed  from  the  trouble  by  the 
use  of  this  simple  remedy. 


HOW  TO  :\Iake  farm  life  at- 

TRACTIVE. 

First— By  less  hard  work.  Farmer?  often 
unr'ertake  more  than  they  can  do  well,  and 
consequently  work  too  early  and  too  late. 

(Second— By  more  system.  The  farmers 
should  have  a  time  to  begin  and  stop  labor. 


They  should  put  more  mind  and  machinery 
into  their  work.  They  should  theorize  as 
well  as  practice,  and  let  both  go  together. 
Farming  is  healthy,  moral  and  respectable, 
and  in  the  long  run  may  be  made  profitaole. 
The  farmers  should  keep  good  stock  and  out 
of  debt. 

Third— By  taking  care  of  health.  Farmers 
have  a  healthy  variety  of  exercises,  but  too 
often  neglect  cleanliness,  eat  irregularly  and 
hurriedly,  ^leep  in  ill-ventilated  apartments, 
and  exp  se  themselv.s  needlessly  to  cold. 

Fourth — By  adorning  the  home.  Books, 
papers,  pictures,  music  and  reading  should 
all  be  brou2;ht  to  bear  upon  the  in-door 
family  entertainments ;  and  neatness  and 
comfort,  order,  shrubbery,  bowers  and  fruits, 
shou'd  harmonize  all  without.  There  would 
be  fewer  desertions  of  the  old  homesteads  if 
pains  were  taken  to  make  them  more  agree- 
able. Ease,  order,  health,  and  beauty  are  com- 
1  atible  with  farm  life,  and  were  ordained  to 
go  with  it. 


ENTOMOLOGY. 


A  NEW  POTATO  INSECT  COMING. 

A  CALIFORNIA  paper  says:  Olive-green  bugs 
about  as  large  as  a  grain  of  tiax  seed  have 
completely  ruined  several  fielJs  of  potatoes  in  Peta- 
luma  valley.  They  appeared  suddenly  in  great 
numbers,  and  in  a  day  or  two  ate  the  vines  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  eoukl  not  live.  There  is  a  de- 
mand for  information  about  the  best  means  of  pre- 
venting their  ravages,  says  the  same  paper.  Will 
not  Prof.  Riley  give  us  information  in  regard  tj 
this  "  new  departure"  fom  the  Pacific  slope,  wh  )se 
intent  is  to  devastate  our  potato  fields,  peihaps,  the 
coming  season  ?    "Forewarned  is  forearmed." 

The  above  very  lucid  description  of  "  a  new 
potato  insect"  is  going  "  the  rounds"  of  the 
newspaper:^.  Neither  Prof.  Riley,  nor  any- 
body else,  that  had  not  seen  the  insects,  could 
give  any  more  "  information"  on  such  a  sub- 
ject than  if  the  writer  had  said  they  were  as 
green  as  "  cheese"  and  the  size  of  a  "  piece 
of  chalk."  The  essential  preliminary  steps, 
when  any  new  insect  depredator  has  been 
discovered,  is  to  capture  specimens  of  it  and 
send  them  to  an  entomologist.  They  may, 
perchance,  be  new  to  him,  but  he  will  know 
to  what  ord  r,  family,  and,  perhaps,  the  genus 
they  belong  to,  even  if  he  does  not  know  the 
species.  He  will  then  also  be  in  a  better  con- 
dition to  give  information  in  reference  to  their 
habits,  and  the  necessary  means  to  effect 
their  destruction. 


74 


THE  LAJyCASTER  FARMER. 


BOTANY. 


BOTAKY— IJANDOM  SKETCHES. 

BY  J.    STAUFFER. 

'HAT  can  I  say  that  has  not  been  said 
over  and  over  again,  and  may  be 
found  in  the  books?  Still  there  are  things 
learned  in  forty  years'  s'udy  that  may  be  of 
use  to  others,  and  there  are  facts  recorded  in 
books  to  which  aiany  have  no  access,  and 
are  yet  equally  interested.  I  therefore  crave 
the  indulgence  of  the  readers  of  the  Farmer, 
■who  may  knovir  all  about  the  matter,  or  do  not 
care  to  know,  the  latter  will  no  doubt  skip  it, 
and  consider  it  a  waste  of  valuable  space. 

But  relax  your  austerity,  and  let  us  enjoy  a 
botanical  ramble  together,  in  early  spring, 
when  nature  laughs  out  io  her  thousand  varie- 
ties of  flowers.  See  !  here  is  a  fine  white  flower 
proceeding  frbm  the  bosom  of  a  young  con- 
voluted leaf — right  here  in  the  shady  wood 
along  our  path  ;  what  is  it?  Every  school 
boy  knows  the  blood-root.  Well,  suppose  we 
want  to  know  what  the  books  say  of  this,  we 
find  that  it  has  many  local  names,  such  as 
Blood-root,  Puccoon,  Turmeric,  Red-root, 
Ponesou,  etc.;  in  German ,  Bothivurz  and  Blut- 
wurz.  The  botanical  name  is  "  Sanguinaria 
canadensis."  The  generic  name  is  derived 
from  the  Latin — sanguis  (blood)  from  the  color 
of  the  juice  in  the  root.  This  common  and 
only  species,  growing  in  rich  woods,  is  truly 
handsome  in  cultivation.  The  root  is  an  acrid 
emetic,  and  dangerous  in  over-doses.  The 
tincture  in  small  doses  excites  the  stomacli 
and  accelerates  the  circulation.  It  is  used  in 
various  forms.  Farriers  use  the  leaves  to 
sweat  horses.  The  Indians  used  it  as'a  paint, 
a  dye  and  a  medicine.  It  belongs  to  the  pop- 
py family,  which  have  a  milky  or  colored 
juice,  like  the  celandine,  the  juice  of  which  is 
orange  yellow,  while  in  the  poppy  it  is  white. 
The  opium  poppy  is  the  Papaver  somniferum. 
Here  also  we  fiad  the  May-apple  iu  full 
bloom.  Some  call  it  mandrake^  which  name 
really  is  applied  to  the  "  Mandragora,"  quite 
a  wonderful  and  celebrated  plant,  and  is  sim- 
ply a  corruption  of  its  proper  name  ;  other 
local  names  are  applied  to  it  as — wild  lemon, 
raccoon-berry,  duck's-foot,  pecan,  yellow- 
berry,  ground-apple,  or  in  German :  Busch 
Apfel  and  Enten  Fuss.  Thus  we  see  the  ne- 
cessity of  proper  scientific!  names,  at  once  ex- 


pressive to  every  scholar  at  least,  of  what- 
ever language.  This  well  known  common 
plant,  has  the  scientific  name  of  Podophyllum 
peltatum.  I  admit  it  is  not  so  short  as  ''  May- 
apple."  Excuse  ine  for  analyzing  the  scientific 
name,  because  many  are  prejudiced  against 
the  science  on  that  account.  This  hard  name 
is  coined  from  the  Greek — Podos,  a  foot  and 
Puillon  a  leaf,  just  as  the  German  proper 
name  '•'•Enten  Fuss'''  or  dack's-foot,  the  stem  of 
the  leaf  centrally  attached  or  peltate  (shield- 
like) as  in  the  "  siurtion"  properly  Nasturtium 
or  Indian  cress,  in  which  the  leaves  are  pel- 
tate but  undivided.  The  roots  of  this  plant 
run  along  under  the  ground  and  form  buds, 
and  are  really  an  underground  stem,  rooting 
at  different  points,  which  is  termed  a,  Phizoma, 
in  botanical  language,  and  not  properly  a  root. 
This  also  has  medicinal  properties.  However, 
we  are  not  now  on  medical  botany,  but  in  the 
woods  so  familiar  to  all  of  us.  Let  us  look 
around.  Here  is  the  common  blue  violet,  but 
it  has  not  the  fragrant  smell  of  the  sweet 
violet— the  Viola  odorata,  as  we  find  it  in  cul- 
tivation. This  is  the  V.  cucullata,  the  tallest 
and  commoaest  among  the  blue  violets.  The 
violet  is  emblematic  of  modesty — as  it  par- 
tially conceals  itself  aoaid  the  foliage,  as  it 
were  in  bashful  timidity.    W.  Smith  says  : 

"A  worn  id's  1ov3  da«!p  io  the  heart, 
Is  like  the  violf.t  fiower, 
That  lilts  its  luodtst  head  apart 
In  sonio  sequestered  bower." 

Yes,  flowers  have  tht-ir  language  ;  theirs  is 
an  oratory  that  speaks  in  perfumed  silence, 
and  there  is  a  tenderness  induced  while  con- 
templating their  variegated  beauty.  To  the 
poetical  mind,  they  are  not  mute,  and  to  the 
pious  they  form  liaks  between  us  and  the  Cre- 
ator. But  come,  let  us  look  around  us.  See, 
here  we  fiad  a  small,  modest,  purplish  flower, 
close  to  the  ground,  with  its  three  lobed  livor- 
shaped  leaves,  called  the  iiver-leaf,  and  just 
so,  botanically,  it  is  the  Repatica  triloba.  The 
Greek  ^ejyaz- signifies  the  liver,  and  hepatitis 
inflammation  of  the  liver,  which  it  was  sup- 
posed could  be  cured  by  this  plant.  Let  us 
examine  the  flower  more  carefully,  and  we  see 
what  seems  to  be  calyx  is  really  an  involucre, 
and  the  colored  sepals  are  mistaken  for  petals. 
Compare  it  with  other  fl  jwers,  it  really  be- 
longs to  the  Apetake  ;  but  the  sepals  are 
petal-like,  the  involucre  like  a  three-leaved 
calyx. 

Here,  too,  so  early  as  May,  wa  find  a  low 
plant  of  a  single  stem,  terminated  by  purplish 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


'5 


flowers  like  ia  the  common  radish,  cruciform, 
of  four  petals,  with  a  whirl  of  three  compound 
leaves,  variously  toothed  ;  dig  up  the  root,  it 
is  horizontal  and  fleshy,  with  a  mustard-like 
taste,  or  like  water  cress,  called  tooth-wort 
and  pepper  root.  This  belongs  to  the  natural 
order  of  the  Cruciferai  (mustard  family)  and  is 
the  Dentaria  laciniata.  There  are  other  spe- 
cies, but  not  so  common  around  here.  Here 
we  have  cometo  a  rocky  portion  of  the  woods 
along  the  stream.  See  the  large  white  blos- 
soms of  the  flowering  dogwood.  These  grow 
from  twelve  to, thirty  feet  and  are  very  showy 
shrubs.  A  facetious  wag  told  m  *  h^  kaew 
the  dog  wood  by  the  "  bark."  This  s  the 
Cornus  florida.  These  large  louud,  or  heart- 
shapedaudnotched  white  pel aMike  leaves,  are 
not  the  flower,  as  many  think,  but  an  involu- 
cre. Examine  closely  and  you  tiod  a  group  of 
small  flowers  in  the  center  of  the  iuvolu- 
crum, each bavingfour petals  and  four  stame-s. 
The  dwarf  cornel  or  buuchberry  is  rather  rare 
with  us,  more  common  northward.  This  has 
a  similar  involucre,  but  only  grows  to  the 
height  of  five  to  seven  inches.  Tlie  other  spe- 
cies of  cornel  are  shrubs  three  to  ten  feel 
high.  The  Cornus  sericece,  common  in  damp 
situations,  is  the  "silky  cornel,"  or  kinnikinnik. 
But  the  other  seven  species  do  not  have  the 
showing  involucre. 

The  American  papaw  we  find  in  flower. 
These  are  axillary  and  solitary,  and  very  pecu- 
liar. The  petals  are  dull  purple,  one  and  a  half- 
inch  wide,  thickish ;  the  calyx  has  three  sepals, 
and  the  corolla  is  formed  of  six  petals  in  two 
rows ;  stamens  very  numerous ;  a  tree  ten 
to  twenty  feet  high;  fruit,  two  to  three  inches 
long,  and  relished  by  some.  These  belong  to 
a  tropical  family,  and  is  the  only  one  genus 
found  outside  the  tropic?,  and  is  our  cus- 
tard-apple, the  Asamina  triloba.  The  pa- 
paw  found  in  the  East  and  West  Indies  is  the 
Carica  papaya,  and  is  a  remarkable  plant  or 
small  tree,  with  a  soft,  spongy  stem  ;  large, 
deeply  lobed  leaves  ;  having  gashed  segments, 
and  unisexual  flowers,  succeeded  by  oblong-, 
dingy,  yellow  fruit.  Throughout  the  West 
Indies  the  juice  of  this  treo,  or  an  infusion  of 
its  fruit  or  leaves,  is  reputed  to  possess  the 
remarkable  property  of  causing  a  separation 
of  the  muscular  fibre  of  animal  flesh,  and  thus 
rendering  the  toughest  meat  tender.  An  old 
author  describes  our  native  species  under  the 
genus  "Annona,"  aad  says  :   "  All  parts  of  it 


have  a  rank  if  not  a  fetid  smell ;  and  few,  ex- 
cept the  negroes,  relish  the  fruit.  It  usually 
grows  in  low,  shady  swamps,  and  in  a  very 
fat  soil ;  it  is  a  native  of  the  Bahama  Islands, 
Carolina,  Maryland  and  Virginia."  He  might 
have  added  Pennsylvania.  My  neighbor,  Mr. 
Matthias  Zahm,  has  quite  a  tall  tree  in  his  lot 
in  this  city,  that  blooms  and  bears  fruit  every 
year. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


CALIFORNIA   CORRESPONDENCE. 

PER  J.  B.  G.— Your  favor  of  22 1  January 
came  to  band  a  few  days  asro  at  the  end 
of  the  snow  blockade.  Rain  commenced  De- 
cember 17,  1871,  and  then  it  began  to  be  a 
certainty  that  a'l  intercourse  with  the  East 
would  he  interrupted  with  for  a  while,  and 
therefore  I  did  not  write,  but  was  just  going  to 
write  when  I  received  yours,  and  for  a  few 
days  since  have  been  very  basy  day  and  night, 
hurryhig  through  my  grahing.  We  have  had 
a  most  stormy  winter,  much  worse  than  1862. 
The  ground  is  so  wei  that  we  can  hardly  go 
on  it.  We  have  had  few  perfectly  clear  days 
since  December  17. 

There  will  be  double  the  crops  put  in  this 
season  than  usual.  But  we  vegetable  men 
will  be  very  late  in  getting  in  our  crops.  There 
was  a  short  time  before  the  17th  of  December, 
when  some  little  rain  had  fallen  that  some 
few  got  their  crops  in  the  ground,  but  gener- 
ally the  spring  vegetables  are  behind.  We 
have  had  here  38  80-100  inches  of  rain  so  far, 
with  prospects  of  sudden  showers  daily.  I 
hope  it  will  be  dry  enough  soon  to  lay  out  my 
orchard  and  to  plant  my  peas,  which  were  in- 
tended for  early  market,  but  will  now  go  in 
as  second  crop.  The  snow  blockakehas  been 
very  annoying.  It  was  over  four  weeks  that 
we  got  no  eastern  mails.  Now  it  is  hoped  we 
shall  get  mails  more  regularly.  The  mails 
have  not  all  got  in  yet.  The  papers  announced 
800  bags  to  arrive  to-day. 

Last  season  was  so  dry  that  I  lost  all  the 
grafts  and  cuttings  sent  me  from  the  East.  I 
put  in  one  graft  of  euraalon  grape,  in  a  stock 
four  years  old,  in  May,  when  the  shoots  were 
twelve  to  eighteen  inches  long  It  lived  and 
made  twenty-seven  good  cuttings  besides  wood 
to  bear  fruit  this  season.  Besides  that  I  had 
about  twenty  varieties  of  the  best  American 
grapes,  new  kinds,  and  lost  them  all.  I  shall 
mail  you  a  package  containing  two  trees  of  my 
Egerton  peach,  some  of  the  Japan  plum 
"  Domby,"  and  some  of  the  Utah  hybrid 
cherry,  a  hybrid  between  a  plum  and  a  cherry, 
hiijhly  recommended,  but  curiously,  is  to  be 
worked  on  the  peach  stock.  The  Egerton 
peach  is,  I  am  satisfied,  as  early,  or  a  few  days 


76 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


earlier,  than  Hale's  early,  and  then,  oh,  how 
much  better. 

You  mention  snow  with  you.  We  had  a 
little  here  on  the  17th  of  December,  but  it  did 
not  reach  (he  j^round.  Some  on  the  m  mn- 
tains  near  las'.ed  several  days,  but  since  the 
storms  set  in  the  rains  have  been  warm,  and 
no  frost. 

If  I  succeed  in  ray  operations  this  year  and 
get  ray  or-mae  orchard  I  think  it  will  be  a  pay- 
ino;  investment,  for  I  expect  to  clear  from  S300 
to  $1,000  per  acre,  when  three  to  five  years 
old,  and  "  ttn  acres  will  be  enough,"  sure. 
Yours,  etc.  

A  correspondent  in  Indiana  writei  me  as 
follows— abridijed  : 

"  I  have  all  the  new  varieties  of  grapes  you 
mention,  wth  many  others  new  and  valuable  ; 
•I  also  have  a  number  of  Utah  grapes,  seven 
generations  from  the  old  mission  grape  of 
California,  perfectly  hardy ,  and  very  valuable ; 
beside  those  named  in  Rural  New  Yorker,  I 
have  Greeley,  Judd,  Ledger,  Elizabeth,  Susan, 
Marcellus,  Florence,  Harris,  Tucker,  New 
Seedlings  of  Mr.  R.  Steward,  and  all  very  pro- 
mising ;  have  also  Thompson's  Farmers'  Club, 
N.  C.  Eby,  Lavina,  Eleanor,  Grant  and  Car- 
penter, of  whi  h  the  two  latter  are  lemarka- 
bly  fine  in  fruit  audvine;  I  have  Cay  wood, 
red  Walter,  improved  Hybrid,  Clinton,  Mo- 
hawk, and  Hudson,  also  Herman,  Cottage, 
Una,  Angwick,  Cynthiaua,  etc.,  etc." 

I  began  ci  Uecting  fruits  for  the  purpose  of 
having  fine  fruit  myself,  but  finding  it  easy  to 
propagate  I  have  concluded  to  go  into  that.  I 
propose,  friend  Garber  (God  willing),  to  have 
a  garden  of  fruits  unequaled  in  the  West,  and 
shall  spare  no  means  or  labor  to  have  it  so,  and 
propose  letting  out  new  fruits  at  living p7-ices, 
knowing  full  well  that  present  prices  of  most 
nurseries  are  too  hiah.  I  have  over  80  varie- 
ties of  new  grapes  ;  I  also  have  250  varieties 
of  pears,  choice  and  new,  raany  of  which  can- 
not be  had  in  the  United  States.  I  have 
bought  them,  at  great  expense,  from  all  parts 
of  Europe  and  even  Asia.  1  have  gotten  ray 
pears  from  England,  Germany,  France  and 
Prussia;  my  apples  from  Russia,  France  and 
England,  besides  all  American  varieties  of 
real  value.  I  received,  last  November,  70 
new  varieties  of  pears  from  France — have 
an  order  out  now  for  100  varieties  of  new, 
choice  European  fruits,  to  be  sent  me  In 
March.  I  propose  issuing  a  catalogue  next 
fall  and  giving  descriptions  and  prices  of  all 
such  fruits  as  I  have  ready  to  spare.  Will 
send  you  some  cuttings  of  grapes  and  pear«. 
Very  respectfully,  etc., 


MESSRS.  EDITORS :  We  feel  at  times 
as  if  everything  that  could  be  said  in 
favor  of  the  raising  of  fruit  had  been  already 
said,  and  that  nothing  remains  to  be  added. 
If,  however,  we  reflect  that  we  live  in  an  age 
of  improvement  and  progress,  and  that  a  kind 


and  merciful  providence  shows  in  this  economy 
of  creation  a  never-ending  movement  in  the 
change  from  summer  to  winter  aad  the  re- 
verse, which  alternation  supplies  us  with  the 
bounties  of  earth,  are  we  not  admonished 
thereby  to  aid  in  our  efforts  and  co-operate 
with  the  beneficent  Father  of  creation  ?  Let 
our  watchw^ord  then  be  onward,  and  let  our 
efforts  be  untiring  in  the  production  of  new 
fruits  and  in  the  improvement  of  our  time  in 
raiding,  if  not  new  varieties,  the  best  of  what 
we  have  in  our  possession. 

Gradual  improvement  and  skillful  practice 
in  cultivation  have  given  us  the  present 
varieties  of  superior  apples,  pears,  peaches, 
and  other  small  fruits  which  we  now  possess  ; 
and  eyen  wheat  itself,  the  staff"  of  life,  is  a 
production  of  skillful  cultivation,  being  in  its 
native  state  an  inferior  plant,  no  better  than 
cheat  or  chess.  The  apple  was  originally 
raised  irom  the  sour  and  bitter  crab  ;  the  pear 
from  the  hawthorn.  All  are  excellent  fruit 
was,  in  its  native  state,  of  a  very  inferior 
quality,  and  by  the  cultivation  of  the  same 
Irom  seed  it  has  been  brought  to  its  present 
state  of  superiority.  How  many  of  us  sup- 
plied ourselves  with  seed  last  fall,  and  having 
planted  the  same  are  now  waiting  with 
anxiety  to  see  its  germinating  shoots  appear 
above  the  giound  and  its  subsequent  growth 
as  ornamental  or  fruit  trees,  and  to  which  we 
miaht  in  after  years  point  out  to  our  children 
and  graudchi  dren,  and  say  to  them  :  "  This 
tree  is  one  of  my  own  planting  from  the 
seed."  Have  we  looked  all  over  our  grounds 
to  see  it  there  be  no  suitable  place 
for  forest,  fruit  or  ornamental  trees?  How 
much  vacant  space  have  we  yet  upon  our 
land  that  is  not  so  occupied  ?  Have  we  made 
out  a  list  of  what  we  want  and  what  we  can 
plant  to  advantage  on  our  premises  ?  Have 
we  been  at  our  nearest  nurseries  to  engage 
such  trees  as  are  appropriate  for  our  places  ? 
If  we  have  not  done  so  let  this  be  attended  to 
without  delay,  and  if  we  are  unable  to  get  the 
verv  kinds  we  desired,  then  let  us  lake  the 
thriftiest  trees  of  other  varieties.  There  is 
nothing  like  getting  strong  and  vigorous 
growers  when  you  »re  selecting  trees  to  plant, 
for  if  you  have  not  the  kinds  you  should  desire 
you  can  graft  them  with  other  varieties  and 
soon  have  your  orchard  all  that  you  desire. 
If  you  have  not  prepared  yourself  with  giafts 
do  so  at  once  as  the  season  is  late.  There  is, 
however,  time  to  do  so  yet. 

I  deem  it  useless  to  commend  certain  vari- 
eties of  fruit,  as  most  people  have  a  choice, 
and  it  is  not  for  want  of  a  knowledge  of  vari- 
eties that  planting  is  neglected,  but  because 
care  and  expense  are  required.  It  is  well- 
laid-out  money,  however,  that  is  expended  in 
procuring  fruit  trees  for  a  farm,  and  an  ample 
interest  is  obtained  on  the  investment.  So 
I'^ng  as  a  necessity  exists  that  the  planting 
of  trees  be  continued  every  season,  we  should 
be  excused  for  reminding  our  friends  of  their 
duty  to  do  80  for  themselves,  their  children 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


77 


and  their  neighbors.  And  is  it  our  want  of 
comprehension  that  induces  us  to  infer  that 
all  is  said  upon  this  subject  that  can  bp  said. 
The  subject  is  inexhaustible,  and  should  be 
discussed  from  time  to  time,  or  we  will  re- 
trograde like  the  Egyptians  and  Persians, 
who  have  abandoned  religion  and  the  grow- 
ing of  forest  and  fruit  trees,  and  yet  who,  in 
the  early  history  of  the  world,  were  the  first 
civilizers  of  mankind.  L.  S.  R. 


MESSRS.  EDITORS  of  "Lancaster 
Farmer  :  "  Do  you  know  what  I 
would  like  to  see?  Can  you  guess?  No, 
that's  nor,  it,  so  I'll  tell  you.  I  would  like  to 
see  you  issuing  ten  thousand  copies  of  the 
Farmer  each  month  1  That's  what  I  would 
like  to  see — yes,  to  our  farmers  of  Lancaster 
county  alone,  and  as  many  more  to  others 
outside  of  our  ccunty.  Then  you  could  "  in- 
crease the  size  and  reduce  the  price."  Then 
you  would  not  only  iind  it  a  paying  investment, 
but  the  subscribers  would  receive  more  valua- 
ble and  interesting  ioformation,  and  that  too 
for  less  money.  Isn't  that  so  ?  And  why 
should  not  every  farmer  in  the  county,  and 
hundreds  of  them  outside  the  county  as  well, 
become  paying  subscribers,  and  readers  ? 
would  not  every  one  get  the  worth  of  his 
money?  Certainly  there  are  none  so  wise, 
but  that  they  could  meet  with  some  items 
during  the  year,  that  would  more  than  com- 
pensate them  for  so  trifling  an  investment  as 
a  dollar  and  a  quarter  or  if  a  number  join  on 
club  terms,  even  for  less  thau  the  dollar. 
Again,  on  the  other  side,  is  there  a  single  man 
in  the  county  so  ignorant,  or  so  involved  in 
moral  darkness,  as  to  stand  in  his  own  light, 
and  not  see  that  a  years  reading  of  the  Farmer, 
will  give  him  information  not  otherwise  ob- 
tainable, that  will  pay  him  ten  times  over,  for 
the  paltry  investment?  Then  why  do  not 
all  our  farmers  encourage  our  home  papers, 
as  well  as  home  industries?  Aye  and  thous- 
ands who  are  not  farmers  can,  by  subscribing 
for  this  "  home  farmer,"  and  placing  it  within 
reach  of  their  families,  be  benefited  far  more 
than  the  value  of  1  he  dollar.  Who  that  can 
look  back  for  half  a  century,  and  recall  to 
mind  the  wonderful  discoveries  and  improve- 
ments that  have  been  brought  to  light  during 
this  period  of  time  !  Well  may  we  be  aston- 
ished ;  will  these  discoveries  and  improve- 
ments be  continued  during  the  next  half  cen- 
tury ?  That  is  a  question  only  to  be  answered 
by  the  next  generation.  These  many  discov- 
eries and  improvements  that  are  called  "labor- 
saving,"  have  greatly  .benefited  the  farming 
community  as  we  I  as  mechanics,  artisans  and 
others.  AH  the  diflerent  trades,  occupations 
and  sciences  are  directly  or  indirectly  con- 
nected and  interested  in  the  productions  of 
the  soil,  in  the  progress  and  well  doing  of  the 
farmer.  The  improvements  in  any  one  branch, 
directly  or  indirectly  conduces  to  the  well- 
being  of  others. 


Formerly,  and  I  well  remember  the  time, 
farmers  considered  thirty  bu.*hels  of  wheat  per 
acre  only  an  average  crop— forty  bushels  was 
not  uncommon  ;  now  ten  or  fifteen  is  proba- 
bly above  the  avprage.  We  have  lately  been 
told  that  "  by  proper  management  we  may 
again  raise  thirty  to  forty  bushels  per  acre." 
How  this  is  to  be  done,  we  trust,  will  some 
time  appear  in  our  Lancaster  Farmer. 
This  alone  will  be  worth  many  times  the  price 
of  the  paper.  Another  discovery  durini^  the 
last  half  century  we  must  bring  into  this  arti- 
cle from  its  probable  tendency' to  the  improve- 
ment of  our  farms.  We  are  now  all  familiar 
with  that  wonderful  discovery  of  the  electric 
telegraph;  how  it,  the  electricity,  is  made  to 
carry  messages  all  through  and  even  around 
the  world!  May  there  not  be  other  uses  not 
yet  discovered  to  which  this  subtle  invisible 
fluid,  or  whatever  it  is,  may  yet  be  applied  : 

A  late  writer  in  the  Farmer  even  suggests 
that  "  electricity  is  a  powerful  fertilizer,  and 
might  have  used  its  influence  in  producing  a 
belter  crop  of  wheat  in  1871,  then  for  many 
previous  seasons."  May  we  not,  therefore, 
hope  that  this  fertilizing  element  of  electricity 
may  in  time  become  available  as  a  manurial 
stimulus  to  our  crops?  "  Wooders  never 
cease,"  and  "  we  know  not  what  a  day  may 
bring  forth."  Thus  I  am  fully  convinced  tlui; 
by  reading  agricultural  papeis  we  become  ac- 
quainted with  all  those  new  discoveries  that 
relate,  or  are  applicable,  lo  our  farming  ope- 
rations. 

Therefore  I  would  say,  encourage  our 
Lancaster  Farmer,  our  home  orgau, 
and  the  editors,  who  exchange  with  other 
publications  of  similar  tendencies,  will  select 
such  matter  as  may  be  new  or  interesting  to 
our  Lancaster  county  farmers,  and  by  such 
means  we  can  avail  ourselves  of  all  new  appli- 
ances and  improvemen  t*.  Progress,  as  I  slated 
before,  is  the  watchword  of  these  times,  and 
he  who  fails  to  glean  the  knowledge  spread 
broadcast  over  the  land  through  the  agency  of 
the  press,  and  esi)ecially  the  agricultural 
press,  so  far  as  farmeis  are  :iarticularly  anrt 
pecuniarily  interes^ted,  will  not  be  enabled  to 
keep  pace  wih  the  times  iu.  any  calling,  and 
much  less  iu  the  cultivations  a^d  utUizatiotiM 
of  mother  earth. 

If  th"  above  remarks  are  true,  then  I  would 
advise  every  farmer  in  the  county,  and  many 
other  counties,  lo  at  once  sub-cribe  and  jia  v 
for  our  home  organ,  the  Lancaster  Far.aii^.k 
and  my  word  for  it,  you  will  receive  iu  return 
a  greater  per  centage  iu  knowledge  and  infoi- 
matiou,  than  can  be  acquired  by  any  oilier 
means.  Wish  we  cuuld  reach  every  farmer 
iu  our  county,  and  many  outside  of  it,  too, 
who  do  not  read  agricultural  papers— but  eb- 
pecially  our  Lancaster  Fakmer.  Then  we 
would  see  our  publisher  issuing  each  month 
ten  thousand  or  more  copies.  That,  Messrs*. 
Editors,  I  would  like  to  see  I    Would'nt  you  ? 

J.  B.  G. 


78 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


LANCASTEU,  APRIL,   1872. 

S.  S.   RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editors. 

Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Agricdl- 

TURAL  AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOOIETT. 

$1.35  |»er  year  in  advance. 

A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 


All  communieation.s,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Bathvon  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subsoriptionsand  remittances  to  the 
addressof  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  fa. 

Three  Years  in  a  Man-Trap. — By  T.  S.  Arthur : 

The  long   expected   companiou   to    "Ten 

NrGHTSiN  A  Bar-boom"  is  nearlj  ready, 

and  will  shortly  appear. 

The  popularity  and  great  usefulness  of  that 

standard  temperance  book  is  evinced  by  the 

immense  sales  that  have  been    made — much 

greater,  perhaps,  than  any  book  of  its  class 

ever  published. 

'Who  has  not  read  Ten  Nights  in  a  Bar-room., 
so  true  to  nature,  so  intense  in  effect,  and  so 
terrible  in  its  moral ;  and  who  that  has  read  it 
has  not  wished  for  a  companion.  To  satisfy 
this  desire,  the  authur  has  just  completed  a 
new  volume  that  unmasks  the  liquor  trafiic  in 
a  way  to  startle  the  public.  The  new  book, 
. "  Three  Tears  in  a  Man-Trap.,''''  gives  an  inside 
view  of  the  liquor  trade,  and  portrays  the 
terrible  effects  of  the  traffic,  in  a  series  of  life 
pictures,  full  of  interest,  with  the  skill  and 
fidelity  to  nature  so  eminently  characteristic 
of  the  authur.  The  book  cannot  fail  to  make 
a  strong  impression,  and  as  a  new  auxiliary  to 
the  temperance  cause  will  have  a  wide  and 
powerful  influence.  Kothing  could  be  more 
timely  than  its  appearance  now.  We  learn, 
by  the  publisher's  circular,  that  it  is  to  be  sold 
exclusively  by  agents,  and  as  it  is  a  good  op- 
portunity to  secure  a  book  that  will  sell  easily, 
and  at  the  same  time  do  a  vast  amount  of 
good,  those  who  desire  profitable  employment 
would  do  well  to  apply  immediately  to  J.  M. 
Stoddard  &  Co.,  publishers,  Ko.  733  Sansom 
Street,  Phil'a.,  and  secure  an  agency. 


One  of  the  most  welcome  visitors  to  our 
editorial  desk  is  Wood''s  Household  Magazine. 
Kg  na,me  for  a  journal  of  its  class  could  have 


been  more  appropriately  selected.  Its  pages 
abound  with  the  choicest  producdons  of  our 
best  writers,  and  the  subjects  treated  awaken 
an  interest  in  the  reader  that  make  him  long 
for  the  coming  of  the  next  number. 

We  have  hanging  on  the  wall,  over  our 
desk,  the  beautiful  chromo  of  Niagara  Falls, 
which  is  given  to  every  subscriber  to  the 
magazine  for  three  years  in  advance.  We 
will  not  attempt  to  describe  this  beautiful 
work  of  art,  but  will  let  our  readers  see  the 
opinion  of  an  exchange  : 

"  Niagaba  Falls. — We  received,  a  few 
weeks  since,  this  beautiful  chromo  from  S.  S. 
Wood  &  Co.,  Newburgh,  New  York,  pub- 
lishers  of  Wood''s  Household  Magazine.  As  we 
glance  at  it  as  it  hangs  on  our  wall,  in  the 
deep  gilt  frame  in  which  we  have  placed  it, 
we  seem  to  be  looking,  not  at  a  picture,  but 
at  the  real  falls  in  the  distance,  and  we  almost 
listen  to  the  roar  of  that  wonderful  sheet  of 
water,  as  it  rushes  headlong  over  the  preci- 
pice, dashing  against  the  rocks  beneath.  The 
Tower  and  Horse-shoe  Fall,  with  all  their 
surroundings,  are  as  clearly  portrayed  as  the 
soft,  silvery,  overhanging  mist  will  fallow ; 
and  the  scenery  in  the  rear,  so  far  away  and 
5et  so  real,  contrasted  with  the  bold  ever- 
greens which  stand  out  so  distinctly  in  the 
foreground,  lends  an  added  charm  to  the  pic- 
ture, which  is,  ia  a  word,  a  grand,  truthful 
representation  of  a  well-known  and  far-famed 
subject.  The  regular  price  of  this  chromo  is 
five  dollars.  We  know  our  readers  will  say, 
as  they  walk  into  our  sanctum,  it  ought  to  be 
in  the  parlor  of  every  family." 

We  have  made  arrangements  with  the  pub- 
lishers to  place  this  magazine  on  our  premium 
list,  and  can  furnish  this  chromo,  worth  $5, 
Wood^s  Homsehold  Magazine,  $1,  and  the 
Lancaster  Farmer,  for  one  year,  at  $4.25. 


THE  WEATHER. 


THE  weather — how  cold  how  continuously 
and  uniformly  cold  it  has  been,  and  is, 
the  present  winter ;  for,  although  far  on  in  the 
month  of  March,  as  we  are  writing  this, 
(March  20th)  winter  still  reigns  supreme.  We 
may  have  had  winters  when  the  cold  was 
more  intense,  but  few,  if  any,  within  our  life's 
experience  of  sixty  years,  of  which  we  have  a 
clear  recollection,  that  were  so  evenly  cold, 
and  in  which  the  cold  weather  commenced  so 
early  and  continued  so  late.     The  Susque- 


TEE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


'9 


hanna  river  closed  duriusj  the  last  quarter  of 
November  '71,  and  it  is  still  bound  in  its  icy 
fetters,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
days— nearly  one  third  of  a  whole  year.  Per- 
haps that  ubiquitous  individual,  the  "  oldest 
inhabitani."  who  may  be  squatted  some- 
where, everywhere  or  anywhere,  along  its 
borders,  cannot  recall  a  similar  event  in  the 
history  of  the  weather,  and  its  congealing  ef- 
fects upon  thatstream.  There  has  been  but 
little  snow,  andjustas  little  rain  during  all  that 
long  period  of  cold  weather ;  and  this, 
in  connection  with  the  fa'^t,  that  the 
water  was  at  a  low  stage,  at  the  time 
the  river  was  first  frozen  in,  has  produ- 
ced a  result  that  might  have  been  far  oth- 
wise  if  heavy  snows,  thaws  and  rains  had 
supervened.  "What  effect  all  this  will  have 
upon  the  crops,  and  the  sanitary  cmditinn  of 
the  insect  world,  are  contingencies  that  time 
alone  can  clearly  maniftst.  Uniformly  dry 
w  tii<  rs,  although  cold,  are  generally  favora- 
ble to  the  preservation  of  hybernatlng  insec's, 
their  eggs,  their  Zaft-a'  and  their  jtK/jofc.  Could 
our  farmers  have  f  uud  any  period,  or 
periods,  between  the  first  of  December 
and  the  fifteenth  of  March,  favorable 
to  turning  up  the  soil  with  the  plow, 
they  might  thereby  have  facilitated  the 
destruction  of  many  noxious  insects  in  their 
various  stages  of  developmei  t. 

They  could  not  have  survived  the  many  al- 
ternate severe  night  freezes  and  midday 
thaws,  to  which  they  would  have  been  exposed. 
It  would  be  difficult,  under  present  circum- 
stances, to  prophesy  what  the  final  result  may 
be  iu  this  respect ;  because  there  may  be  some 
counteracting  influences  at  work  of  which  we 
are  not  aware.  Such  a  winter  cannot  be  very 
favorable  to  the  winter  grain,  and  the  grass 
crops,  althous;h  copious  spring  rains,  at  the 
proper  times,  may  efi'ect  a  recovery  of  what 
has  been  delayed,  dimiuished  or  suspended 
by  a  long  open  exposure  and  i)rotracted 
cold.  K. 

P.  S. — After  one  of  the  most  boisterous, 
coldest  and  dryest  equinoctial  blows,  within 
our  immediate  recollection,  the  Susquehanna 
river  is  still  fast  bound  in  its  icy  letters 
(March  28),  a  full  period  of  four  months,  and 
the  weather  is  still  unseasonably  cold. 


Alsike  clover,  rye  and  orchard  grass  do 
best  on  moist  soils.  Ou  dry  soila  they  soon 
run  out. 


MEETING    OF    THE     AGRICULTURAL 
AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

THE  regular  meeting  of  the  society  was 
held  March  4tb,  1872,  in  the  Orphans' 
Court-room,  and  after  the  reading  and  appro- 
val of  the  minutes,  the  president  excused  him- 
self for  his  inability  to  attend  the  meeting  at 
the  Experimental  Farm  iu  Chester  county. 

Ou  motion  Milton  G.  Eshelman,  of  Paradise 
township,  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
society. 

Casper  Hiller,  took  occasion  to  call  atten- 
tiou  to  the  Krouser  apple,  as  one  of  the  best 
varieties  that  he  grows.  It  keeps  better 
even  than  the  old  Romanite,and  is  one  of  the 
kinds  that  every  one  setting  out  a  new  orchard 
should  procure, 

Jacob  G.  Peters  obtained  leave  of  the  soci- 
ety to  introduce  to  the  attention  of  the  mem- 
bers his  new  improved  "  Celebrated  Cham- 
pion Combined  Cultivator."  Mr.  Peters,  in 
stating  the  advantages  of  this  new  improve- 
ment, explained  that  with  it  a  man  did  the 
work  that  is  now  performed  by  five  other  im- 
plements of  husbandry,  and  that  a  workman 
could  with  it  do  double  the  amount  of  work  in 
one  day  than  can  be  done  with  the  old  culti- 
vators. He  showed  that  his  improved  cultiva- 
tor is  recommended  by  a  number  of  the  lead- 
ing farmers  of  the  county,  who  regard  it  as  a 
great  labor  saving  machine,  and  the  best  they 
have  ever  setn. 

Henry  M.  Engle  was  fully  convinced  of  the 
utility  of  this  new  improvement,  and  intends 
procuring  one  this  season.  He  sees  its  supe- 
riority from  the  fact  that  it  can  be  turned  to 
so  many  useful  purposes. 

J.  G.  Frantz  has  used  this  machine,  and 
seen  it  iu  use,  and  he  is  fully  satisfied  that  it 
surpasses  anything  as  a  cullivaior  of  which 
he  has  any  knowledge. 

Cyrus  T.  Fox  has  examined  this  machine, 
and  he  is  satisfied  that  it  is  going  to  be  a  great 
improvement  upon  the  farm.  He  agrees  with 
Mr.  Hiller  iu  his  estimate  of  the  Krouser  apple, 
and  considers  it  one  of  the  finest  apples  grown 
in  this  locality.  It  is  a  native  of  Berks  county. 
The  Krouser  apple  is  an  excellent  cooking 
apple,  and  serves  both  as  an  early  and  late 
one.  It  gets  ripe  early  in  the  fall  and  lasts 
till  May,  and- is  a  good  eating  apple  all  this 
time. 

Henry  M.  Engle,  in  accordance  with  an- 
nouncement, proceeded  to  deliver  a  lecture 


80 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


upon  grape  culture,  and  illustrated  his  method 
of  culture  by  means  of  the  blackboard.  He 
regards  wood  ash  the  very  bsst  manure  for  the 
production  of  a  good  grape.  The  best  vines 
are  grown  from  cuttings  of  a  s'ngle  eye  ;  cat- 
tings  with  two  eyes  are  also  jjood,  having  one 
inch  of  wood  above  the  last  eye,  and  thi  cut- 
ting should  be  placed  ao  that  the  earth  covers 
the  eye.  Some  varieties  of  "gr  if)es  grow  from 
cuttings  better  than  others.  Taose  growing; 
best  are  the  Isabella,  Concord,  a  d  Hartford 
Prolific.  Grafting  thegrapeviue  has  been  suc- 
cessfully practiced. 

In  the  matter  of  producing  grapevines,  the 
plant  should  be  placed  five  or  six  inches  be- 
neath the  surface  of  the  earth  ;  grow  the  plant 
for  the  first  year  with  a  stake  to  assist  it ;  af- 
ter one  year's  growth  cut  the  vine  back  to  a 
few  eyes  ;  the  plaat  should  be  left  one  foot  or 
fifteen  inches  in  height.  The  second  season 
take  the  vines  growing  from  the  two  eyes,  and 
attach  each  to  a  stake  ;  thsre  will  be  laterals 
growing  out  from  the  vine,  and  when  these 
laterals  obtain  a  length  of  several  eyes  pinch 
them  back  to  one  or  two  eyes,  .so  as  to  give 
more  strength  to  the  main  vine.  Afcor  the 
second  sea.sou  the  vine  is  ready  for  trel Using, 
having  attained  a  height  ot  perhaps  six  or 
eight  feet.  Now  take  away  the  stakes  and  cut 
the  vines  down  to  a  height  of  about  five  feet. 
After  tTainiug  upon  the  trellis,  pinch  off  the 
laterals,  and  you  now  .have  a  bearing  vine, 
each  stem  producing  probably  two  or  three 
bunches  of  grapes.  As  these  stems  grow  up- 
ward on  the  trellie  they  should  be  occasionally 
pinched,  in  order  to  give  strength  to  the  base 
of  the  vine,  thus  driving  out  the  foliage  be- 
low, which  is  always  t<5  be  desired.  The  sap 
will  continually  course  upward,  and  by  pinch- 
ing back,  the  cane  obtains  more  strength  at 
its  base,  which  is  just  what  ought  to  be.  The 
question  now  arises  how  to  keep  this  vine 
upon, the  original  trellis,  how  to  prevent  it 
from  running  out  and  away  from  the  base, 
until  it  will  require  another  trell  s  to  accom- 
modate it.  The  matter  is  simple  :  cut  the  old 
cane  away,  down  to  the  first  eye,  nest  the 
base,  and  from  this  eye  raise  your  vine-vihe 
rule  being  to  look  to  your  one-year  old  wood 
far  fruit,  two-year  old  wood  si  Idem  producing, 
although  it  does  occasionally  in  some  varie- 
ties of  grape. 

On  motion  members  of  the  soci-ety  were 
permitted  to  take  one  book  out  «f  the  library 
for  a  month  at  a  time,  and  if  the  member 


retain  it  when  over  a  month  he  shxU  bs  lia- 
ble to  a  fine  of  twenty-five  cents  for  every 
month  till  it  be  returned. 

Cuttings  of  Duchess  de  B  irdeaux  and  Cyn- 
thiona  pears   (the   latter    from  Texas)  were 
presented  for  distribution  bv  Jacob  B.  G-arber. 
Also,  cuttioKS  of  the  Mount  Vernon  pear  were 
presented  by  John  Huber,  of  Jjitiz. 

On  motion  society  adjourned  to  meet  on 
the  second  Monday  of  April  instead  of  thj 
fir.st  Monday. 


HoRSEKADisii  is  an  excellent  condiment  (o 
mix  with  the  food  of  cows  to  give  them  an  ap- 
petiie,  and  make  them  sleek  and  thrifty.  It 
should  be  fed  freely  to  all  animals  that  are 
not  well,  and  it  will  be  of  great  service  to 
working  oxen  troubled  with  hert.  If  given 
to  cows  in  doses  of  a  pint,  mixed  with  pota- 
toes or  bran,  it  will  prevent  or  relieve  cows 
of  the  disease  called  cake  in  the  bag.  Few 
animals  will  refuse  to  eat,  and  some  will  eat 
of  it  greed  ly,  as  much  as  half  a  peck  at  a 
time. 


Boiled  Custards— Excellent.— Mix  the 
yelks  of  4  eg^s  with  1  spoonful  (jf  sugar,  4  of 
milk  and  a  pinch  of  salt.  Beat  the  whites  till 
you  can  turn  the  plate  over  without  their  fall- 
ing off;  heat  a  pint  of  milk  in  a  flat  dish  like 
a  spider  or  pan;  just  before  it  boils  put  the 
whites  of  the  eggs  in  the  milk,  a  spoonful 
in  a  place,  turn  immediately,  each  spoonful 
separately.  Take  out  on  the  plate  ;  turn  the 
yelks  in  the  milk  ;  stir  constantly  till  it  begins 
to  boil ;  do  not  let  it  whey  ;  turn  into  a  dish  for 
the  table  ;  flavor  with  vanilla  and  lemon;  put 
the  whites  on  top  with  bits  of  jelly  on  each 
To  be  eaten  cold. 


Asparagus —Sow  early  in  spring,  in  rich 
soil,  in  drills  a  foot  apart,  and  one  inch  deep, 
thinning  the  plants  to  3  inches  apart  in  the 
rowis;  when  one  or  two  years  old  tran=5pldut 
to  well-trenched  and  enriched  ground,  plant- 
ing in  beds  4  feet  wide,  with  path  2  feet  wide 
between,  and  setting  plants  1  foot  apart  each 
way  and  4  inches  deep ;  late  in  the  fall  mow 
off' the  tops  and  cover  the  beds  deeply  with 
manure,  which  fork  early  in  the  spring  and 
give  a  good  dressing  of  salt ;  allow  two  sea- 
sons of  growth  before  cutting  from  the  bed. 


THE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER. 


81 


BOOK  AND  SPECUL  NOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

OUR  BOOK  TABLE. 

PocKEnr  DiCTioNART.— We  have  received  from  tbe  pub- 
lishers. 1S8  and  Ho  ({rand  street,  a  copy  of  Wt-bster's 
Pocket  Dii  tionary,  \vhich  is  ii  gnat  impiuwerui  nt  iiver  all 
rrevious  t'cli^.  ons  »nd  all  siniilar  work.-.  In  the  first  plaice 
it  is  neatly  printed,  nnd  bound  in  morocco,  w  th  i;ilt  e<ig-8. 
Then  it  cont  iti.s  2ijO  [lictori  il  illustrations,  which  give  a 
much  clt-arer  idea  of  the  itiKHniiig  of  iiianf  words  than 
could  posbihiy  bfi  conv.  yed  tiy  the  usual  definition.  Tlie 
little  voliuue,  while  l»e,iug  no  larger  than  au  ordinary 
fiocket-boi>k,  erahraci's  in  its  vocabulary  acaieiul  pe  ec- 
tion  of  over  18  Oofl  of  the  iH'v-t  itnuortant  words  of  the 
lanauagh",  with  detintions  suttierent  y  clear,  though  neces- 
»>arily  brief,  to  meet  thj  ordin  ry  wants  of  any  one  requir- 
ing its  U'^e.  Prefix  d  to  the  wo  k  are  taldes  or  niout-y. 
weight  and  measure,  a  brevialious  words  and  pfira.^cs 
fr.iic  f  reign  languages,  rnlt-s  fur  .sp 'Uing,  explanationi-, 
etc.  It  is  in  fact  a  most  valii  ible  little  book,  and  is  doubly 
v?orth  the  dollar  it  costs.  The  t'ublishers,  Ivison.  Bhike- 
man  Tuylor  &;  o  ,  13'^  and  140  Grand  street,  N<rW  Yoik, 
■will  forward  it  by  mail  on  recei{it  of«««  doiUr,  or  it  can  be 
bought  at  almost  any  book  store. 

We  do  not  con.sMer  t  e  sueoe^^  of  the  Blancbar<i  Churn 
to  be  wondervd  at.  Everybody  koowsi  that  "thebtat" 
will  awayswin. 

Thk  Celtic  Wekki.t. — Tn  apivcarance  and  contents  the 
■first  number  of  this  new  illustrattd  j.>urn;il  is  fully  egual 
to  our  most  p'pul'r  literary  weeklies,  P'.very  cdumn  is 
fi'led  with  ''ntertilning  arUter,  fact  and  tiction  ot  the 
choisest  kidd.  The  st.iff  of  writers  embraces  a  liost  of 
names  well-known  in  the  high  walks  of  Irish  and  ■  rish- 
American  Literature  As  a  tamilv  jo  uual,  we  know  of 
none  that  can  be  con-id  ;red  supeiior  to  this  new  compe  i- 
tor  foi- popular  patrouage.  Its  illustrations  are  finisher), 
and  full  of  vigor.  No  advertisements  admitted  to  its  col- 
amns. 

Who  was  "  Dolly  Vardbn  ?  "—The  nnly  correct  thing 
from  which  to  make  up  lov.dy  .spring  dresses  lor  ladies  is 
a  gorgeous  ittnterial— all  bright  blo^soui-i  and  maizy  inter- 
twining bt 'ms—k;  own  as  "  Dolly  Varden."  Wh.*nce  thi.s 
sin t!UUr  appellation  for  dres.s  go(xls  n  tural'yqueri  s  the 
fair  seK.  The  npw  name  in  dry  goods  is  ihat  of  o'C  of 
Charles  Utckens'  heroines.  "  Doily  Varden"  is  one  of  ♦^he 
female  characters  in  "  Batnaby  Kti  lye."  is  the  dHught  r 
«t  tiabriel  Varden,  a  locksmith;  is  sought  in  mar  inge  by 
"Sim  Tappertii,"  a  vain  Londoi  apprentice,  a^ul  .Foe  Wil- 
lett,  a  very  eKemplsirv  young  geutieman  indeed.  Miss 
l>olW  becouies  Mrs.  Willett.  She  is  described  by  Dickens 
a«  possessing  •'  a  face  lighted  up  by  the  loveliest  pair  of 
sparkling  eyes  that  evr  locksmith  iook^'d  upon  ;  the  face 
of  a  pretty  (attghing  girl ;  oiuipled  and  fresh,  and  health- 
ful— the  very  impersonati  >n  of  good  humor  aud  1(»  )miog 
beauty."  as  for  Mjss  Dolly's  atcire,  «e  refer  <iur  readers 
to  the  ilhistrat^l  editions  of  Charles  Dickens'  Works, 
pu'^lished  iu  endless  variety,  and  at  all  prices,  liy  T.  B. 
Pettrson  and  Brothers,  No.  306  Chestnut  street,  Phila. 

A  NoBLK  LoRi>,  b.-ing  the  Sfjuel  to  "  The  Lost  Heir  of 
LinlithgOK  ,"  by  Mrs.  Kmma  I>.  K.  N.  Southworth,  ia  in 
press,  and  will  be  published  in  a  few  d  lys  by  T.  B,  I'eter- 
son  &  Brothers,  Philadelphia.  Pa.  It  is  s  tid  to  bT  the 
bast  book  thnt  this  popular  authoress  has  ever  written. 
"A  Noble  Lord  "  will  be  issued  in  a  lar^e  duod.  cinio  vol 
"mo,  uniform  with  Mrs  .Soiilliworth's  other  works,  and 
will  be  sold  at  the  1  iw  price  of  .#1.7.5  in  cloth,  or  SI. 50  in 
paper  cover;  or  copie.s  will  bg  sent  bv  mail,  1o  a'ly  place, 
post-paid,  by  the  putdishers,  on  receipt  of  the  price  of  tbe 
work  in  a  letter  to  them,  ftie  fi)llowin2;  new  books  are 
having  immense  sal  s  and  should  he  read  br  .all :  ''  John 
Jasper's  Secret,"  being  the  senuel  to  Char'es  Dickens' 
'•  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood;  "  a  new  and  enlarced  edition 
of"  Bleister  Karl's  .Ske'ch  t'ook."  by  (Mia  les  G.  Lela'  d  ; 
"  Aunt  Patty's  Scmp  Bag,"  by  Mrs  ('.iroline  Leo  Hentz  ; 
"A  Noble  Woman,"  by  Mrs.  Ann  S  Step  ens;  ••  Cvrilla." 
by  author  of"  Initials  ;"  "  Kite  Kennedy,"  by  Mr-".  0.  .1. 
Newhv;  "Monsieur  Antoine,"  by  Creorge  Sand;  and  the 
popularpoeiaof"  Beautiful  Snow."  Send  to  T.  B  Peter, 
son  &  Brothers,  Philad'a,  tor  their  Illustiated  Catalogue. 

Westrrn  Pomolootst  and  GARDKNI3R "  Dcvote  1  to 

Pomology,  Horticulture,  '^loricultur^.etc."  Tbisjournal, 
now  reduced  in  size  to  the  popular  magazine  form,  is 
among  the  best  works  of  the  kind  on  our  exchange  list. 
Ably  conducted,  and  illustrated;  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 
Terms,  $1.50  a  year. 


Some  of  our  very  best  dairymen  tell  Uj  that  they  com- 
pli^te  the  whole  prticcss  of  butter-making,  churning,  work- 
ing and  salting,  to  their  entire  satisfaction  in  the  Blanchuid 
Churn,  without  touching  their  hands  to  the  butter.  We 
know  it  can  be  done. 

Thb  Stockholder,  a  "  monitor  t'f  finance  and  industry 
milling;  ami  railway  record,''  a  royal  quarto  o''  l(i  pages, 
published  by  I)i  smoke  &  i  o  ,  No.  .5'J,  Cedar  street,  N.  Y. 
As  its  title  implies  it  giVts  a  copious  account  of  all  tin 
different  kinds  of  put>lic  s^ocka  in  the  country,  including 
railroad  shar  s  liondi  and  earnings,  municipal  securities 
and  bonds,  bank  stocks,  insurance,  telegr  iph,  gas  and  ex- 
press stocks,  State  and  U.  S.  bonds,  and  a  record  of  the 
(lai  y  trair,saciioiis  thereitt,  with  interesting  juiscellaneom 
mit:«r.    Price  10  cents  a  number. 

luDrsTKiAL  Bulletin,  devoted  to  thn  "Protection  of 
American  Industry;"  published  by  the  Industrial  League, 
•John.-town,  Pa.— au  ably  coniucted  royal  quarto  of  8 
pages. 

AMERICAN  Bank  Circular,  and  "  Invester's Guide,"  of 
the  same  z>>.  of  the  immediately  pree«eding.  A.  Wilkins, 
editor  and  proprietor,  Detroit,  Michigan.  I'erms.  Si  00  a 
year.  A  very  useful  medium  iu  all  that  relates  to  financial 
en'er,vrises  an    investments. 

iNDtJSTni.vL  MnTOR— '' For  the  promotion  of  iod  istry 
science,  arf..  health,  v.'ealth.  virtue     and   happiness  "    Is- 
su  d  from  tht^  Iowa  p,at-iit  office,  Des  Moines.     A  siiirite«l 
eight-pige  r  lyal  quatto;    monthly,  at  50  ceuts  a  year,   oc- 
cupying an  important  place  in  economical  literature. 

The  Practical  Farmer.— The  March  number  of  thLj 
mOit  excellent  and  substantial  agricultural  monthly  is  on 
our  table.  It  is  eiiited  wi'h  judj;ment  anl  ability,  aud  po  - 
scf-ses  corp^  ot  correspundenrs  who  are  eminently  prac- 
tical men,  discussing  practical  quH.stions  from  the  stand- 
point of  actual  experience  Thf.  Farm.'ir  is  thus  rendered 
line  of  thf  very  best  journals  of  its  class  pub!i.-hed,  and  in 
worthy  of  a  larg-?  p-atronage.  For  terms  aud  specimen 
cupy,  ad<!rf  .ss  Pacchall  Morris  &  Knight,  No.  IS  North  ISlli 
street,  Philadelphia. 

National  Business  Index. — The  National  Business  In- 
dex is  a  new  monthly  m-^gazine  ;  "  an  encyclopedia  of  bu.si- 
ness  knowledge  for  the  people."  It  contains  a  very 
lar^e  amount  of  infjrmaiion  botl\  iuterealiog  and 
valuable  to  th'?  general  putdic.  Every  thing  is  clas- 
sified and  arranged  with  thorongti  system,  and  at  the  same 
time  prtsented  in  -  readable,  attractive  .style.  The  price  is 
exceedingly  low,  only  •''lO  cents  a  year.  The  publishers  also 
present  a  very  fine  ehromo,  "Apple  BlosS'tms,"  (one  of 
Prang's,  wortii  iu  th  i  art  stores  Sl.OO  eacii),  to  each  sut>- 
scriber.  Send  for  specimen  c)py  ta  THii;  Inde.x  CoiirANY, 
443  West  JacltsoD  strett,  Chicago,  111. 

American  Farmev.s'  Advocate,  the  "official  organ 
ot  thii  Agricultural  Congrti,ss,"  dt-vottd  to  the  special  in- 
terests of  the  farmers  of  the  whole  country,  at  8100  a 
year  Issued  at  Jackson,  Tenn.  A  large  quarto  ol  20 
pages,  lull  of  etitertainiug  and  iastructive  matter  on  ag- 
ricultural and  domestic  subjects. 

The  "  Farmers'  Club,"  a  spicy,  eight-page  q'larto, 
by  K.  P.  L"fev  r,  Oxford,  Chester  county.  Pa.  devoted  to 
the  interests  ot  the  larm,  and,  and  especially  to  "  Farmerii 
clubs,"  at  $1  5)  a  year. 

Nursery  Catalogues  Fou  Spring,  1872.— James  J.  II. 
Gregory's  "  Hetail  Catalogue  of  Choice  Vegetable's  ami 
Flowers."  M'l'blehead,  Mass.  i".  B.  Flemming''s  Retail 
Catalogue  rf"  Choice  Farm  and  Garden  Seeds."  James- 
port,  L.  I.,  N.  Y.  Edward  J.  Rvans  <£-  Co.'s  "catalogue  of 
(re.sh  genuine  Garden  Seeds  "  York  Pa.  "Monthly  Heport 
of  Dept.  of  Agriculture,"  Wa.shingtou  O.  C  Prter  Hindt.r- 
son'.i  ■■.'Spring  catalogn  ot  new,  rare  liud beautiful  plants. " 
O.  L:  Allen  <£•  Co^s"  Illustrated  catalogue  of  seeds,  bulbti 
aud  plants." 


MARKETS. 


NEW  YORK  MARKETS. 

Ivy.w  York,  March  28. 
Flour,  &c.— Only  a  limited  demand  for  Flour,  and  the 
market  is  heavy  f  )r  the  low  grades  and  steady  tor  the  me- 
dium grades  and  fairly  active  and  quitt  and  tirm  for  fam- 
ily extras.  Good  No.'2  and  ruperline  in  fair  demand  at 
full  prues.  At  the  close  the  market  is  fairly  active  lor  all 
grades  above  S8.  The  s  des  are  9^00  barrels.  We  quote: 
Sour,  SSrtfi  20  ;  No.  2  at  $.5a6  15  ;  supcrtine  S6  40af>  70  ;  Sta^e 
extra   brand,  S«S5i7;    State,     fancy    brand,  $7  20a  7  50  ; 


8^ 


THE  LAJVCASTER  J^AUMEE. 


■western  shipping  extras  $6  75a7;  Minnesota  pxtr-is  $7a 
8  50  ;  good  t )  choice  spring  wheat  extra  $7  3ra7  75  ;  extra 
amber  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Michigan  .$7sna8;  Ohio,  Indi- 
ana and  Illinois  (-uperdne  $6  40a6  70 ;  Ohio  roinid  hoop 
extra  (t-hippuu),  S;7a7  10  ;  Ohio  exu-i  trad*  brands  V]  soa 
7  75;  wliit'J  wh-tat  extra  Ohio.  Indiana  and  Aiich'gau 
$7  75iS  80 ;  double  extra  do  do  S8  hOai)  50. 

Eye  Flour  is  in  fair  demand  and  is  steaf'y.  Sales  of  190 
bbN.  Westen  at  $4  10a4  70  ;  State  and  Tennsylvania  at 
Jl  65a5  05.  Corn  meal  is  firm  but  dull  Trie  sales  are 
350  btirrf^ls.  We  quote  :  Jersey  at  *3  50a3  55  ;  western  at 
$3  50;'3  70;  western  white  at  ,f  ?  .^0h3  60;  Brandywine  at 
$3  75a3  80;  do  puncheons  S18  25ilS  50 

Grain — A  limited  demand  for  spring  wheat,  and  the 
market  is  heavy  and  unsettled.  Winter  is  held  with 
much  firmntss  At  the  close  the  demand  is  fair,  but  at 
prices  below  the  views  of  holders.  Spring  is  steadier  and 
winter  stronger.  The  sales  are  33,800  hushe's,  at  $1  50 
for  No  2  Cldcago  spring,  in  store;  SI  CO  for  No.  1  Mil- 
waukee, in  siore  ;  $170  for  red  wp.«tirn,  in  ftore,  «1  6fa 
1  69  for  red  .Tersey.  on  pier,  $1  90  tor  white  Mi'-higm, 
alioat ;  SI  75  for  aiiibir  do,  in  stor-«. 

Barley  is  heavy  and  the  demand  light;  sales  of  11,200 
bushels  two-rowed  State  $1.  and  Ca  ada  Lake  on  pr  v^tte 
terms,  supposed  $1  10.  Barley  Malt  is  in  limited  rt  (luest ; 
the  supply  is  fair ;  sab  sot  5200  bushels,  at$l  for  two-j  owe  i 
State  and  SI  403$1  50,  prime.  Onts  are  less  active  and 
easier  for  mixed  and  tirm  tor  white;  the  s  les  are  16,400 
bushels;  western  mixed  at  SSX"  store  and  56c  afloat,  and 
whife  ;it  57c  on  track  and  5So6yc  afloat;  State  mixed  on 
track  at  Thirty-third  street  at  Stic  Kye  Inac  ive  aiul  stea- 
dy ;  83c  bid  for  we.-tern,  in  store.  Coi  n  is  quite,  ac  ive  and 
niuch  better,  with  more  inquiry  lor  the  future  ;  the  de- 
mand is  chiefly  for  export ;  th  :  sales  are  136  000  bn^hels  ; 
damp  and  unsound  at  TOc  ;  western  mixed  70a7lj^c  «fioat, 
closing  strong  at  71XC  and  71c  for  next  week,  and  70c  in 
store :  do  white  at  72c ;  do  yell  w  at  72a73c  ;  sou  h  rn 
v'liite  at76a76^c;  do  yellow  at72a72j^c  ;  Jersey  do  at  71^ 
a72c. 

Jr'iiOVrsiONS. — Pork  js  m  modera'e  demand  at  about 
former  rates,  with  fair  offerings  of  stock.  The  sales  cash 
and  regular,  are  400  bbls.  at  S12  3)al2  50  tor  old  mess,  and 
#12  S7>^>il3  for  new  do.  For  inture  delivery  the  market  is 
dull,  ^ales  of  250  bbls  mess  at  $1275  forApril  a,nd  250 
bbls  at  %Vl  S-S  for  May.  Heef  con.inues  iu  fair  jobbins  de- 
mand and  thit  market  is  steady.  Sales  of  I7.t  bb;s  at  ff-falO 
for  p  ain  mess,  and  $10al2  tor  extr^  mess.  Tierce  J/c  t  is 
dull  and  noninal,  though  former  figures  woud  he  accept- 
ed. We  quotp  at  $l5al8  for  prime  mes^,  and  $18a21  for 
India  mess.  Bet-f  hams  are  firm  for  all  choice  grades  with 
a  fiir  trade  demand  current.  Sales  of  70  bb's  at  $22.^26  for 
western. 

Out  meats  s  re  fairly  active  and  st^'ady  for  light  we'ehts, 
>iut  heavy  stoc'x  is  weak.  Snles  of  3U0  pkgs  at  8^a9^c  for 
h^ms.  Bacon  is  wanted,  and  clear  stock  steady,  but  th« 
otferinga  are  tair.  Sales  of  UOJ  boxes  at  7c  for  long  clear, 
and  7;^'c  for  short  clear.  Dressed  hogs  steady.  We  quote 
at  5j4a6>^cfor  cty. 

Lard  is  dull,  an  I  lbs  market  standi  at  abont  f-rnier 
rates.  Sales  of  300  blls.  and  tcs.  at  8Uh8,^c  for  No.  1; 
g^aSj^c  fur  city  ;  87^0  for  fair  to  prime  steam,  and  9e  for 
ketile  rendered.    Fur  future  delivery  fl.mer. 

Hay— Tbe  market  for  shipping  continues  quiet  but  firm 
at  $1  35al  40.  Ret'>il  lots  are  steady  and  quiet  at  «1  4(ia 
175.  Salt  Hay  is  quoted  at  50  iG>,  and  Clover  at  75a80c 
Straw  remain'"  dull  and  unchanged  at  Si  05al  15  for  long 
rye  ;  85a95  for  short  do,  and  75a85c  for  oat. 

Broom  Corn— The  m  irket  is  dull  and  unchanged.  We 
quote  old  mixed  »t  3.i6c  per  lb  ;  new  red  3a5  ;  n  ediiim 
g'ef n  5a8c  ;  choice  hurl  atOalOc.  Brooms  are  quiet  but 
tirm. 

gi^pds— Clover  is  in  limited  demand,  and  steady  at  OaD^c 
for  Ohio,  and  9jiial0c  for  Indiani.  Timothy  steady  at 
$3a3  25. 


PHILADELPHIA  MARKETS. 

Thursday.  March  28.  1872 
Serds — There  is  more  Clover,<eed  ottering,  anl  the  de- 
mand is  limited  ;  sales  of  100  bus.  in  lots  at  8>4a9  5j'c,  the 
latter  for  choice.  300  hags  Tiinothv  sold  at  a  price  kept 
st-cret  ;  we  quote  at  $2  87i^a3.  The  market  is  bare  of 
Flaxseed,  and  it  is  wanted  at  $2. 

Bark— The  stock  of  quercitron  bark  is  reduced  to  a  very 
low  figure,  and  holders  now  demand  $3.5  per  ton  for  first 
qualitv  No.  1.  Tanners'  Bark  is  nominal  at  $13al4  for 
Chpstnut,  and  SHaiS  per  cord  for  Spanish  o^k. 

Flour.— The  flour  market  continues  very  firm,  but  the 
demand  is  less  active.  J^he  receipts  continue  small  from 
all  sources,  and  the  stock  is  now  greatly  r  duced.  Sales 
of  ino  barrels,  low  grade,  superfine  ac  $5  25;  extras  at 
$6  25a6  75  ;  200  bbls.  Northwest  extra  family  at  $7  75  ; 
100  bbls.  Minnesota  do.  at  $8  12>^  ;  600  bbls.  Pennsylvania 


do  at  7  75a8  ;  500  bbls.  do,  on  secret  tern>s ;  600  bbls. 
Camden  Mills,  also  on  f^ecret  terms,  and  Ian  y  lots  at 
$9  50al1.  Kye  flour  is  firmer,  and  2'i0  bbls.  so'd  at  $4  75a 
5  ;  ■.  00  bbls.  we  e  taken  on  .secret  terms.  Corn  meal  is  in- 
active ;  holders  ask  %'',  51  for  Brandywine. 

Grain.— The  i^'  ceij.ts  of  Wheat  continue  small,  and 
choice  lots  are  held  firmly  at  the  advance  recorded  yester- 
day, but  tbe  demand  is  lim'ted;  ^ales  of  2  600  bushels 
Pennsylvania  and  Western  red  at  Sl-76al.T7;  400  bushels 
Western  amber  at  $1.78,  and  400  bushels  Penn.sylvania 
wbi'p  at  $1.88)^.  Rye  is  very  quia'  ;  we  quote  Western 
and  Penn.svlrania  at  87a88c.  Corn  is  dull,  and,  within- 
creased  otiVriiigs,  prices  favor  buyers;  sales  of  5  000 
bushels  yellow  at  65c  ;  Western  mixed  is  otled  at&lc  with- 
out finding  buyers  ;  15  000  I)nshei8  sold  on  private  terms. 
Oats  are  quiet  and  lotfer  ;  sale."  of  ,5  000  bushels  Wesiern 
white  at  5.3c.  and  2,000  bushels  Western  mixed  at  51a,53e. 
Barley  is  held  firmly,  bTit  no  further  sales  have  been  re- 
ported. Barley  Mait  ranges  fri.m  $1.15  to  $150,  accord- 
ing to  quality. 

CHICAGO  MARKETS. 

Thursbay,  March  28,  1872. 

Flour— Extra  spring,  $6  50a7.  Wheat  firmer;  No.  2 
spring  $1  20s^al  2  )i.  Corn  firmer,  but  quiet'.  No.  2mi.xed, 
37%a37>!i'c.  OatsquiVt;  No.  2  at  3034a30.1b;c.  Ryestrongerp 
No.  2  at  69a70c.  Barley  easier  and  qiiiet,  at  50c.  Mess 
pork  unsfttled,  at  811  30.  Lard  unsettled,  at  8a].5.  Balk 
meats  unchaj3..'ed;  b  ose  shoublers,  3^^340  ;  clear  rib  sides, 
5,^a6c  ;  clear  sides,  ^%iS>%c.  Hams  in  picrkeJ  du>I.  at  6^^^' a. 
giij'c.  Live  hosjs  lower,  at  $la4  80.  Cattle  firm,  at  $5  ;  bhip- 
ptiig  st^ers,  $7  25. 

HALTIMORli:  MAKEtg.  March  2S.— Cattm:  ojene-l 
with  some  litt'e  animiiion.  I  nt  closed  dull  and  %^^ 
lower;  very  best  on  sale  today  6aTc ;  that  generally 
rated  first  quality  5^a6c  ;  roeiiiom  or  good  lair  (jiia'ity  4 
a5t^c  ;  sales  961  head  ;  977  H'-gs  iw  full  szrpply  and  only 
moderate  dem'.<n(^,and  declined  about  ^c  ;  siles  at  6,'^a7c; 
net  receipts  9610  head.  Shoep  in  light  supply  and  good 
demand  and  i^c  h  ghtj;  saUs  at  G^^ag^cj  receipts  794 
head. 

CINCINNATI  MARKETS. 

THtrRfi>A'S',  Mareh  2S. 

Foirti  dull  and  drooping.  Wheat  quiet  and  unchanged; 
red  $1  70al  72.  Oorn  opened  firm  but  closed  dull  at  4.Ta46c, 
Kye  in  lair  demind  and  firm  at  90ti&2c.  Oats  and  Barley 
quiet  atd  unchanged. 

pROvisioBH — Mess  pork  dull  and  iinehaaged  at  $12asie(}, 
Lar  \  in  fair  demand  and  lower  ;  sales  prime  steam  at  8^c. 
Bulk  meats  Q  ii;t  and  un»haT'g>^d  ;  sVoulders,  -ic ;  sides, 
5^,6a6,Vc  Bacon  unchanged  at  5,  6?4a7/|^c.  Live  hc^ 
steady  at  ^5ua4  85;  reeeip     1:^80  he  d. 

PHILADELPHIA  CATTI^E  MARKET. 


MoN»AT,  March  25  5  P,  M. 

Beef  Cattle  were  <iull  this  week,  but  prices  remain  about: 
tbe  same  as  bst  q>iot  d.  2050 hetd  arrived  and  sold  at  7% 
aS^c  for  extra  Pennsylvania  and  Westeju  steers;  6,^a7c 
for  fair  to  good  do.,  and  4aSc  per  lb.,  gross,  for  coaamou,  a* 
to  quality. 

Cows  and  Calves  were  dull  of  sale.  We  quote  springers 
at  $40a50,  and  fiesh  cows    at  $4.'^a35.    Rpt-ei|its,  200   head, 

Phf'cp  were  in  demand  at  full  prices  at  ^a^/^c  for  c-boice; 
S'4a9Kc  for  fair  to  goi  d,  and  7a8c  for  common.  Receipts 
15,'000  hpad. 

Hogs  were  also  in  demand,  but  prices  favor  buyers,  zX 
J6  75a7  75,  the  latter  for  corn-ftd.    Receipts,  4000  head. 


Trimming  Grapevines.— A  correspond- 
ent of  tbe  weekly  Sun^  living  in  western 
Maryland,  senfLs  us  the  following,  which  is  ia 
fact  the  application  of  rude  surgery  to  plants. 
But,  unless  tbe  trimming  be  delayed  until  tbe 
sap  begins  to  rise  i'»  the  spring,  there  is  hardly 
any  neces.^ity  at  all  for  stanching  : 

"La-t  February  I  trimmed  some  of  ray 
choicest  vines  too  close,  thereby  causing  them 
to  bleed  so  much  that  I  was  in  danger  of 
losing  them.  Seeing  (hat  some  of  the  smaller 
ends  had  dried,  and  thereby  having  their 
pores  closed  did  not  bleed  at  all,  I  heeded  the 
lesson  it  taught  me,  and  heating  an  iron  seared 
the  wounds,  which  closed  up  the  pores  and 
saved  my  vines." 


©Ire  iHittitsti^r  ^unuw 

DEVOTED  TO 
Agricidticre,  Horticidture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany  ^ 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATHVON"  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 
"  The  Farmer  is  the  foiiuder  of  civifizafion."—WEESTEK. 


Vol.  ir. 


MAY,  1872. 


JVo.  5. 


AGRICULTURAL. 


AGRICULTURAL  CHEMISTRY. 


An  e.=Bay  read  before  the  Lancaster  County  Agriciiltural 
and  HorticuHural  Society,  by  JacoB  Staupfbb,  IbTl. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  &  GENTLEMEN; 
Being  desired  to  make  some  remarks 
ou  Agricultural  Chemistry,  at  this  meeting,  I 
shall  comply  without  wasting  any  time  in 
making  apologies  or  a  lengthy  preface.  You 
will,  however,  bear  in  mind  that  chemistry  is 
so  intimately  connected  with  the  soils,  ma- 
nures and  vegf  table  physiology ,that  it  is  not  an 
independent  science,  its  actions  being  mani- 
fest ia  all  the  ctianges  takiag  place  in  the 
germmation  of  seeds  and  the  growth,  matur- 
ity and  decay  of  plants. 

Agricultural  chemistry,  in  its  application  to 
farming,  is  comparatively  a  new  science,  and 
professors  of  chemistry  are  too  apt  to  over- 
estimate their  own  powers,  and  set  them- 
selves up  as  guides,  without  that  experimental 
knowledge  to  enable  them  clearly  to  ex- 
plain themselves  in  a  manner  as  to  be  truly 
beneficial  to  practical  men. 

"We  require  experiments  made  for  special 
purposes,  researches  carried  on  in  the  field  as 
well  as  in  the  laboratory.  A  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  involved  is  certainly 
of  great  advantage,  and  will  enable  the  judi- 
cious agriculturalist,  iB  step  aside  from  the 
mere  imitative  routine  established  by  custom, 
when  changed  conditions  demand  a  change  of 
operation. 

It  is  ascertained  by  analysis  of  various  soils, 
that  certain  elements  are  found  in  various 
proportions.    For  instance,  a  square  foot  of 


earth,  6  inches  deep,  through  which  rain- 
water is  passed,  in  one  million  parts  of  this 
filtered  water  the  soluble  constituents  are 
clai5sified  and  a  table  of  each  of  five  experi- 
ments given  by  Dr.  Fraas,  of  Munich.  Dry- 
ing the  solid  residue  at  212^ and  analyzing  the 
solution,  he  found  potash,  soda,  lime,  mag- 
nesia, peroxide  of  iron,  chlorine,  phosphoric 
acid,  sulphuric  acid,  and  soluble  silica. 

The  soils  experimented  upon  gave  good 
crops  of  corn  and  straw^  and  the  quantities  of 
potash  and  phosphoric  acid  required  by  these 
crops  much  exceed'*  those  which  would  be 
furnished  by  solutions  of  the  above  composi- 
tion. Moreover,  the  comparison  of  ash  of 
cpreals,  nnd  the  substance  dissolved  from  the 
soil,  is  inconsistent  with  the  opinion  that  the 
food  of  plants  is  supplied  in  solution,  unless 
they  are  supposed  to  possess  a  very  consid- 
erable selective  power. 

In  reference  to  the  culture  of  ruot  crops, 
Prof.  Voelcker  says,  that  generally,  ammon- 
iacal  manures,  such  as  guano,  are  thrown 
away  on  roots,  and  the  phosphates  are 
more  profitable.  Guano  and  superphos- 
phate of  lime  both  rather  retard  the  germin- 
ation of  the  seeds,  but  they  push  forward  the 
young  plant  in  its  early  growth.  This  we  be- 
lieve to  form  the  true  value  of  such  manures, 
though  perhaps  this  is  over-estimated. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  in  none  of  the  resi- 
dues, above  referred  to,  could  the  presence  of 
a  soluble  compound  of  alumina  or  of  ammonia 
be  recognized.  It  was  only  by  boiling  for  a 
long  time  with  concentrated  caustic  potash, 
that  ammoniacal  reaction  became  percepti- 
ble, and  that  was  probably  due  to  the  decom- 
position of  a  nitrogenous  organic  substance. 
There  is,  however,  so  large  an  amount  of  ni 


SJi- 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


trie  acid  present,  that  when  the  residues  of 
of  evaporation  are  heated  upon  platinum  foil 
they  deflagrate ;  and  when  the  solution  is 
heated  with  sulphuric  acid,  it  decolorizes  indi- 
go solution. 

This  nitric  acid  may  originate  chiefly  from 
ammonia  by  oxidation,  or  in  part  be  produced 
directly  by  the  combination  of  atmospheric 
nitrogen.  With  the  oxygen  condensed  by  the 
aoil,  ammonia  would  always  be  oxidized  first, 
and  converted  into  nitrate  of  ammonia.  How- 
ever, since  the  nitric  acid  in  the  solution 
from  soils  exists  in  the  state  of  a  linae  or 
magnesia  salt,  this  is  a  further  proof  of  the 
powerful  attraction  of  the  soil  for  ammonia. 

Nature  is  avast  chemical  laboratory,  per- 
formiHg  its  wonders  silently  and  unseen,  and 
when  we  consider  the  numerous  compound 
products  used  as  food,  for  medicine  or  in  the 
arts,  resulting  from  the  assimilation,  absorb- 
tion  and  elaboration  of  the  elements  difl"used 
through  earth,  air  and  water,  it  is  truly  mar- 
velous. Such  as  gum,  sugar,  starch,  gluten, 
albumen,  fibrine,  extract,  tannin,  coloring 
matter,  bitter  principle,  narcotic  principle, 
acids,  oils,  wax,  resin,  gum  resin,  balsams, 
camphor,  caoutchouc,  cork,  woody  fiber,  s-ap, 
proper  juice,  charcoal,  a-hes,  alkalies,  earths, 
and  metallic  oxides,  and  perhaps  other  pro- 
ducts omitted,  all  resulting  from  chemical 
changes  produced  by  the  analysis  of  certain 
and  various  plants,  or  derived  from  the  vege- 
table kingdom ;  exhibiting  a  great  diversity  of 
combinations,  mainly  comprised  of  carbon, 
oxygen,  hydrogen  and  nitrogen. 

As  water  is  a  compound  of  hydrogen  and 
oxygen,  it  is  itself  the  chief  element  of  food  to 
plants ;  as  certain  plants  perform  all  their 
functions  when  immersed  in  water,  without 
the  aid  of  any  soil,  or  exposure  to  the  atmos- 
phere. Nevertheless  it  is  not  the  only  food 
as  some  writers  have  supposed,  and  ofiered. 
experiments  in  proof  of  their  theory— among 
whom  were  such  distinguished  men  as  Von 
Humboldt,  Boyle,  Bonnet  and  Du  Hamel; 
the  latter  reared  in  water  alone,  plants  of 
the  horse  chestnut  and  almond  to  some  con- 
siderable size,  and  an  oak  till  it  was  eight 
years  old— un  which  these  opinions  were 
based. 

Tulips,  hyacinths  and  other  bulbous  roots, 
as  well  as  some  other  plants,  are  known  to 
grow  and  flower  in  water.  Nevertheless,  the 
atmosphere  is  known  to  supply  not  only  food, 
but  gives  a  vigor  and  stimulus,  aided  by  the 


changes  of  light  and  darkness,  performing 
very  important  offices  in  she  growth  and  per- 
fection of  plants — their  blossoms  and  fruit. 

That  water  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
commencement  of  vegetation  as  well  as  to  its 
progress  (to  the  roots  especially ),  there  is  no 
question.  We  will  now  consider  a  few  facts 
resulting  from  the  experiments  of  Thenard 
and  Gay  Lussac  with  respect  to  the  propor- 
tional constituents  of  the  elements  combined. 

1.  Vegetable  substances  are  always  acid 
when  the  oxygen  they  contain  is  to  the  hydro- 
gen in  a  greater  proportion  than  in  water. 

2.  Vegetable  substances  are  always  resinous, 
or  oily^  or  spiritous,  when  the  oxygen  they 
contain  is  to  the  hydrogen  in  a  smaller  propor- 
tion than  in  water, 

3.  Vegetable  substances  are  neither  acid, 
nor  resinous,  but  saccharine  or  mucilaginous, 
or  analogous  to  woody  fiber  or  starch,  when 
the  oxygen,  and  hydrogen  they  contain  are  in 
the  same  proportions  as  in  water. 

Water  is  a  compound  of  oxygen  and  hy- 
drogen ;  two  volumes  or  measures  of  hydrogen 
gas,  and  one  of  oxygen  gas.  The  proportion 
of  the  ingredients  in  weight,  is  88.9  parts  of 
oxygen  to  11.1  of  hydrogen,  as  analyzed  by 
Berzelius. 

Oxygen  is  an  electro-negative  basifying  and 
acidifying  elementary  principle.  It  is  the 
vital  part  of  the  atmosphere.  In  union  with 
azote  or  nitrogen,  it  forms  atmospheric  air, 
of  which  it  constitutes  twenty-one  parts  to 
i?eventy  nine  of  azote  or  nitrogen  out  of  every 
one  hundred  parts,  ly  volume.  The  name 
azote  is  derived  from  its  fatnl  effects  an  animal 
life,  but  more  generally  nitrogen  gas,  from  its 
forming  nitric  acid  by  combination  with  oxy- 
gen. Combined  with  hydrogen,  in  a  certain 
proportion,  it  forms  ammonia,  and  it  enters 
into  the  composition  of  most  animal  substances 
particularly  of  the  muscular  fiber. 

Hydrogen  gas  is  an  aeriform  fluid,  the  light- 
est body  known,  and  though  extremely  in- 
flammable itselfjit  extinguishes  burning  bodies, 
and  is  fatal  to  animal  life.  Its  specific  gravity 
is  0.0694,  that  of  air  being  100,  or  in  round 
numbers,  700  times  lighter  than  the  air  we 
breathe  ;  hence  it  is  employed  for  filling  air 
balloons.  As  these  elementary  principles  are 
frequently  mentioned  and  perform  important 
offices  in  the  economy  of  nature,  I  can  do  no 
less  than  give  a  brief  definition ;  to  this  we 
might  add  carbon,  an  elementary,  cumbusti- 
ble  substance,  existing  pure  and  crystallized 


THE  LAJSrCASTER  FARMER. 


85 


in  the  diamond  and  sometimes  in  graphite. 
One  equivalent  of  carbon  and  two  of  oxygen 
composes  carbonic  acid  gas.  One  of  carbon 
and  one  of  oxygen  is  called  carbonous  acid. 

The  gases  constituting,  or  in  other  words, 
the  atmospheric  air,  is  indispensably  neces- 
sary to  the  health  and  vigor  of  the  plants,  as 
may  be  seen  by  the  different  aspects  of  plants 
exposed  to  a  free  circulation  of  air  and  plants 
deprived  of  it ;  the  former  are  vigorous  and 
luxuriant,  the  latter  w^eak  and  stunned. 

The  result  of  experiments  on  this  subject  is, 
that  atmospheric  air  and  water  are  not  the 
only  principles  constituting  tlie  food  of 
plants.  In  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Priestly 
and  others,  the  results  are  :  1st.  That  car- 
bonic acid  gas  is  of  great  utility  to  the  growth 
of  plants  vegetating  in' the  sun,  as  applied  to 
the  leaves  and  branches,  and  whatever  in- 
creases the  proportion  of  this  gas  in  Lei"  at- 
mosphere, at  least  within  a  giv.i'-  -:■v:^^^.  icr- 
wards  vegetation.  The  oiubu-ition  on  rti). 
road  trains,  lime  kilns,  furnaces,  etc,  I  appre- 
hend aid  in  increasiug  this  element.  2d.  That, 
as  applied  to  the  leaves  and  branches  of  plants, 
it  is  prejudicial  to  vegetation  in  the  shade 
if  administered  in  a  proportion  beyond  that  in 
which  it  exists  in  atmospheric  air.  3d. 
That  carbonic  acid  gas,  as  applied  to  the 
roots  of  plants,  is  also  beneficial  to  their 
growth,  at  least  in  the  more  advanced  stages 
of  vegetation,  but  founJ  to  be  altogether  pre- 
judicial in  the  process  of  the  germination  of 
the  seed. 

The  chemical  phenomena  of  germination 
consist  chiefly  in  the  changes  which  are 
effected  in  the  albumen  or  nutriment  of  the 
seed,  destined  for  the  support  and  develop- 
ment ot  the  embryo  until  it  is  converted  into 
a  plant.  I  must  be  very  brief  on  this  and 
kindred  topics.  I  simply  wish  to  refer  to  the 
important  agency  of  oxygen  gas,  which  is  in- 
dispensable to  germination  ;  being  gradually 
inhaled  by  the  seed,  the  farina  or  albumen  is 
tound  to  have  changed,  either  to  an  acid  or 
analogous  to  sugar,  precisely  like  fci'mentation 
in  barley  when  converted  into  malt,  as  known 
by  the  name  of  the  saccharine  fermentation, 
in  which  oxygen  gas  is  absorbed,  heat  and 
carbonic  acid  evolved,  andja  tendency  to  ger- 
mination indicated  by  the  shooting  of  the 
radicle. 

The  effect  of  oxygen,  therefore,  in  the  pro- 
cess, is  that  of  converting  the  farina  of  the 
albumen  or  cotyledons  into  a  mild  and  eac- 


schariue  food,  fit  for  the  nourishment  of  the 
infant  plant  by  diminishing  the  proportion  of 
its  carbon  and  in  augmenting,  by  conse- 
quence, that  of  its  oxgen  and  hydrogen.  The 
radi«le  gives  the  first  indication  of  life,  ex- 
panding and  bursting  its  integuments,  and  at 
length  fixing  itself  in  the  soil ;  the  plumalet 
next  unfolds  its  parls,  developing  the  rudi- 
ments of  leaf,  branch  and  trunk ;  and 
finally,  the  seminal  leaves  decay  and  drop  off, 
and  the  embryo  has  been  converted  ii.to  a 
plant,  capable  of  abstracting  immediately 
from  the  soil  or  atmosphere  the  nourishment 
necessary  to  its  future  growth. 

The  flower-bud  will  not  expand  if  confined 
in  an  atmosi)here  deprived  of  oxygen,  nor 
will  the  fruit  ripen.  Flower-buds  confined  in 
an  atmosphere  of  pure  nitrogen  faded  without 
expanding.  A  bunch  of  unripe  grapes  intro- 
duced into  a  globe  of  glass  which  was  luted 
by  its  orifice  to  the  bough  and  exposed  to  the 
sun,  ripened  without  aflfecting  any  material 
alteration  in  its  atmosphere ;  but  when  a 
bunca  was  placed  in  the  same  circumstances, 
with  the  addition  of  a  quantity  of  lime,  the 
atmosphere  was  contaminated  and  the  grapes 
did  not  ripen.  Oxygen,  therefore,  is  essen- 
tial to  the  development  of  the  vegetating 
plant. 

The  proper  tissue  of  plants  is  composed  of 
three  elements  only,  namely  :  Carbon,  hydro- 
gen and  oxygen.  Plants  as  a  necessary  result 
of  assimilating  their  inorganic  food,  decom- 
pose carbonic  acid  and  restore  its  oxygen  to 
the  atmosphere.  On  the  other  baud,  animals 
in  respiration  continually  recompose  carbonic 
acid  at  the  expense  of  the  oxygen  of  the 
atmosphere  and  the  carbon  of  plants. 

What  a  field  for  reflection  is  laid  open  by 
the  wonderful  harmony  manifested  in  the 
economy  ot  nature,  but  we  must  not  digress. 

Though  nitrogen  gas  is  in  so  large  a  pre- 
ponderance, it  does  not  seem  capable  of 
aft'urding  nutriment  to  plants;  for  as  seeds 
will  not  germinate,  so  neither  will  plants 
vegetate  in  it,  but  for  a  very  liuiited  time, 
with  the  exception  of  the  vinca  minor,  lythrum 
salicaria,  irula  dysemterica,  epilobiura  hirsu 
tum  and  polygonum  persicaria,  so  tar  as  ex- 
perience goes,  which  seem  to  be  the  only 
plants  that  succeed  equally  well  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  nitrogen  gas  as  iri'aji  atmosphere  of 
common  air.  Nitrogen  is  found  in  almost  all 
vegetables,  particularly  in  the  wood,  in  ex- 
tract and  in  their  green  parts,  deprived,  no 


S6 


THE  LAJ\rCASTER  FARMER. 


doubt,  from  the  extractive  principle  of  vegeta- 
ble mould. 

This  vegetable  mould  contains  a  large  per 
cent,  of  vegetable  extract;  in  the  common 
soil  it  is  not  in  general  very  considerable. 
The  soil  when  deprived  of  this  extract  is  not 
so  well  fitted  for  the  plant  as  when  it  is 
present,  and  as  the  pxtract  contains  nitrogen  ; 
for  it  yields  by  distillation  a  fluid  impregnated 
with  ammonia.  Although  plants  refuse  nitro- 
gen in  a  gaseous  state,  it  is  plain  that:  it  must 
admit  it  along  with  the  extract  and  a  small 
quantity  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  which  is  also 
found  to  exist  in  the  extractive  principle. 

The  soil  may  be  regarded  as  consisting  of 
earths,  water,  vegetable  mould,  decayed  ani- 
mal substances,  salts,  ores,  alkalies,  gases, 
perhaps  in  the  proportion  corresponding  to 
the  order  in  which  Lhey  are  enumerated. 

The  food  of  plants,  whether  lodged  in  the 
soil  or  wafted  through  the  atmosphere,  is 
taken  up  by  what  is  termed  introsusception, 
in  the  torm  of  gas  or  other  fluids.  It  is  then 
known  as  their  sap  ;  this  sap  ascends  to  the 
leaves,  where  it  is  elaborated  as  the  blood  of 
animals  is  in  the  lungs.  It  then  enters  into 
the  general  circulation  of  the  plant  and  pro- 
motes its  growth. 

The  causes  of  the  sap's  ascent,  and  its 
elaboration,  belong  as  much  to  vegetable  phy- 
siology as  to  its  chemistry.  Many  theories 
have  been  advanced  in  explanation  of  these 
phenomena,  which  we  can  not  stop  now  to 
consider.  The  most  satisfactory  hypothesis, 
however,  for  the  ascent  of  the  sap,  is  that  of 
M.  Dutrochet.  He  refers  it  to  a  kind  of  polarity 
or  two  distinct  currents  of  electricity;  one 
negative,  by  which  the  vessels  have  the  power 
of  absorption,  which  he  calls  the  endosmose, 
and  by  which  the  vessels  become  turgid  ;  and 
the  other  posifve,  by  which  the  vessels  exude 
or  secrete,  which  power  he  calls  exosmose. 
I  can  not  follow  him  in  his  microscopical  ex- 
periments and  the  reason  he  assigns  for  his 
philosophy.  He  also  accounts  tor  the  causes, 
of  the  descent  of  the  sap,  or  rather  the  proper 
juice.  By  way  of  a  hint  for  further  experi- 
ments, I  will  state  that  the  experiments  with 
several  artificial  stimulants  have  been  found 
to  operate  as  an  agency  to  the  vital  principle 
when  artificially  dissolved  in  water,  and  ap- 
plied to  the  root  or  branch. 

Oxygenated  muriatic  acid  is  one.  Kitre  in 
solution  accelerates  the  vegetation  of  hyq,c- 
inth  and  narcissus.    Dr.  Barton,  of  Philadel- 


phia, found  that  a  decaying  branch  of  the 
tulip  tree  (Liriodendron  tulipifera)  and  a 
fa  5ed  flower  of  the  yellow  iris,  recovered  and 
continued  long  fresh  when  put  into  water  im- 
pregnated with  camphor  ;  though  flowers  and 
branches,  in  kU  respects  similar,  did  not  re- 
cover when  put  into  common  water. 

When  the  sap  has  recovered  its  last  degree 
of  elaboration  irom  the  diflTerent  organs 
through  which  it  has  passed,  it  is  converted 
into  a  peculiar  fluid,  called  the  proper  juice. 
This  fluid  may  be  distinguished  from  the  sap 
by  means  ol  its  color,  which  is  generally 
green,  as  in  periwinkle,  or  red  as  in  logwood, 
or  yellow  as  in  celandine,  or  white  as  in  euphor- 
bia, milkweed,  etc.  Its  principal  seat  is  in  the 
bark,  when  it  occupies  the  simple  tubes)  or 
between  the  bark  and  the  wood,  as  in  the 
juniper  tree  or  in  the  leaf,  as  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  herbs.  The  virtue  of  plants  gen- 
erally reside  in  their  proper  juices. 

When  vegetables  are  burned  in  the  open 
air  the  greatest  part  of  their  substance  is 
evaporated  during  the  process  of  combustion  •, 
but  ultimately  there  remains  a  portion  which 
is  altogether  incombustible,  and  incapable  of 
being  volatilized  by  the  action  of  fire.  This 
residuum  we  call  ashes.  Herbaceous  plants, 
after  being  dried,  yield  more  ashes  than  woody 
plants  ;  the  leaves  more  than  the  branches ; 
and  the  branches  more  than  the  trunk.  The 
alburnum  also  yields  more  ashes  than  the 
wood ;  and  putrified  vegetables  yield  more 
,  ashes  than  the  same  vegetables  in  a  fresh 
state,  if  the  putrifaction  has  not  taken  place 
in  a  current  of  water.  The  analysis  of  the 
ashes  are  found  to  contain  alkalies,  earths, 
and  metals,  which  must  therefore  be  consid- 
ered as  ingredients  in  the  composition  of 
vegetables.  There  are  found  other  principles 
generally  overlooked  on  account  of  their  small 
proportions. 

I  am  admonished  by  the  facts  before  me, 
however  much  I  may  have  omitted  to  say — 
even  in  this  brief  skimming  most  of  it  may  be 
of  little  use  for  the  practical  members  pres- 
ent. Yet  I  will  say  a  few  words  on  soils. 
To  ascertain  the  quality  of  soils  by  chemical 
analysis,  is  both  tedious  and  difficult.  I  will 
therefore  state  how  the  quality  of  soil  can  be 
discovered  mechanically  and  empirically.  1st 
then  as  to  the  specific  gravity.  Take  a  vial 
that  holds  4  ozs.  of  water,  fill  it  half  full  with 
water,  then  add  soil  till  the  fluid  rises  to  the 
mouth,  the  difierence  between  the  weight  of 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


87 


the  soil  and  that  of  the  water  will  give  f^e  re- 
sult. Suppose  it  now  weighs  6  oz.— then  the 
soil  weighs  4  and  the  water  2,  or  is  twice  as 
heavy  as  the  water. 

The  presence  of  clay  and  sand  in  any  soil 
can  be  felt  by  the  touch,  the  one  by  its  tena- 
city, the  other  by  its  roughness  to  the  touch, 
and  by  scratching  glass  when  rubbed  on  it. 

Calcareous  matter  in  soil  is  ascertained  by 
pouring  muriatic  acid  on  it  and  observing  if  it 
effervesces  freely.  Calcareous  soils,  magnesian 
soils  and  clays,  are,  for  the  most  part,  softer 
to  the  touch  than  arenaceous  or  sandy  soils. 
To  ascertain  the  quantity  of  calcareous  pres- 
ent, dry  soil  thoroughly,  and  weigh  100  grains 
of  it,  which  gradually  add  to  one  drachm  of 
muriatic  acid  diluted  with  two  drachms  of 
water  in  a  vial  balanced  in  a  scale  ;  the  loss 
of  weight  will  indicate  the  escape  of  carbonic 
acid,  which  will  be  44  per  cent  of  the  quanti- 
ty of  calcareous  earth  in  the  soil. 

Organized  matter  in  any  soil  may  be  ascer- 
tained very  satisfactorily  by  weighing  it  after 
it  is  thoroughly  dried  ;  then  subjecing  it  to  a 
red  heat  and  weighing  it  again,  the  weight 
last  found  will  be  the  proportion  of  organic 
matter  and  carbonic  acid  gas,  if  thore  should 
have  been  any.  The  same  object  may  also  be 
attained  by  ascertaining  the  specific  gravity 
of  the  soil,  but  with  less  accuracy. 

Metallic  Oxides  are  generally  known  by  the 
color.  Ferruginous  soils  are  red  or  yellow ; 
cupreous  soils,  interspersed  with  greenish 
streaks,  etc.  Cupreous  soil  is  rare,  green  or  a 
greenish  matter  is  also  caused  by  iron,  which 
is  almost  tbe  only  u)elallic  impregnation  in 
quantity.  Salt,  sulpher,  coal,  etc.,  may  be 
known  by  the  absence  or  peculiarity  of  vege- 
tation, as  well  as  by  color,  and  the  appearance 
of  water  of  such  soils.  Saline  soils  may  be 
distinguished  by  the  taste ;  sulphurous  soils 
by  their  smell  when  thrown  on  a  hot  iron  ; 
and  the  presence  of  coal  by  its  fragments, 
which  will  be  left  after  the  soluble  matters 
are  removed  by  water  and  muriatic  acid. 

The  capacity  of  soil  for  retaining  water  may 
be  acertained  by  placing  a  glass  funnel  or  tube 
in  a  tumbler.  Provide  two  such,  put  the  soil 
moderately  packed  (like  in  nature)  around  the 
tube,  in  the  center  of  the  glass,  of  each  sam- 
ple ;  now  pour  equal  quantities  of  water  into 
each  tube,  and  the  capillary  attraction  of  the 
soilSj  will  show  which  conducts  it  more  rapid- 
ly and  prove  to  be  the  better  soil. 


AIDING  THE  CORN  CROP. 

THE  first  great  point  in  corn  culture  is, 
to  work  the  soil  after  the  corn  is 
planted.  We  will  begin  in  the  start  and  say 
it  is  difficult  to  work  it  too  much.  Every 
working  enriches  the  land,  gives  a  shock  to 
the  weeds  and  thus  aids  on  the  corn.  Weeds 
rising  up  certainly  hurt  the  crop,  even  if  the 
weeds  are  but  small,  and  here  is  a  point  that 
all  should  consider :  what  the  corn  loses  in  its 
early  growth  is  lost  forever  ;  the  stunt  goes  toith 
it  to  the  end.  Attend  then  to  the  corn  till  the 
stand  is  well  established.  By  this  time  it 
will  be  too  large  to  work  in,  and  the  weeds 
will  have  been  quieted.  It  will  then  take 
care  of  itself.  But  see  that  the  start  is  a  good 
one  ;  ground  kept  mellow  and  worked  till  up 
to  the  C'>rn.  This  keeping  afresh  surface  for 
the  air  to  act  upon — this  is  what  is  wanted, 
and  there  are  so  many  implements  to  do  this 
the  man  is  inexcusable  who  neglects  it.  We 
must  help  our  corn  along,  and  as  we  have 
said,  every  neglect  will  be  beyond  remedy. 
Do  not  say  the  hot  weather  will  bring  it  up. 
It  will  bring  it  up  to  a  certain  extent,  but  not 
to  a  full  crop.  Who  ever  heard  of  a  premium 
crop  being  raised  by  early  neglect  ?  At  best 
there  is  but  a  fair  crop  ;  never  the  large  yields 
we  read  of.  To  secure  this  it  requires  the 
whole  of  the  benefit.  Push  the  early  parts  of 
the  season,  and  when  the  heats  of  summer 
arrive  they  will  find  large  corn  to  be  readily 
pushed  on  to  the  highest  point.  Wbat  will 
prevent  a  large  yield  in  such  a  case  ?  A  con- 
stant Use  of  the  implements  is  sure  to  aid 
largely,  while  without  it  what  do  we  get? 
Weeds  and  stunted  corn,  yielding  little.  One 
or  two  workings  will  help,  but  they  will  not 
be  sufficient.  It  wants  a  constant  attention, 
occupying  all  the  soil,  so  that  the  ground 
about  the  plants  and  in  immediate  c<<ntact 
is  fresh  and  moist.  If  this  does  not  pay,  corn 
culture  must,  from  necessity,  be  a  failure, 
notwithstanding  the  richness  of  the  ground, 
which  may  grow  weeds,  and  it  always  grows 
them  more  successfully  if  let  alone,  overcom- 
ing the  corn.  The  success  of  our  corn  crop  is 
depending  upon  what  we  do  to  it  the  first  few 
weeks  or  more  after  it  makes  its  appearance 
— County  Gentleman. 


The  Pennsylvania  hay  crop  of  1868  reached 
2,448,000  tons,  valued  at  S39,1G8,000. 


88 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


ROTATION. 

OUGHT  THE    FARMER  TO   APPLY  THE   USUAL 
ROTATION  TO  ALL  HIS  LAND. 


THIS  is  a  nice  question .  and ,  we  fear,  is  not 
sufficiently  considered.  There  is  great 
diversity  of  soil,  and  this  diversity  requires 
different  treatment.  Hence  (for  one  thing) 
there  is  no  end  to  the  variety  of  rotation.  A 
black  sandy  loam  requires  a  different  treat- 
ment from  a  coarse,  stubborn  clay.  Color  is 
essential,  acdhas  its  influence  on  the  direc- 
tion of  crops.  We  are  more  inclined  to  i)ut 
corn  on  dark  soil  so  as  to  get  the  heat  of  the 
snn.  On  the  contrary,  wheat  wants  the  color 
of  clay,  requiring  less  heat.  The  grasses  also, 
of  a  cool  nature,  flourish  best  on  clay  land.  So 
the  potato  will  thrive  most  on  yellow  or  light- 
eolored  soil.  Clover,  oats,  barley,  peas,  will 
do  for  all  soils  ;  these  can  be  relied  on  for  a 
regular  rotation  on  any  land. 

But  not  only  the  soils  in  their  color  have 
an  influence,  adapted  to  particular  grains,  but 
the  seasons  have  an  equal  if  not  superior 
effect.  A  cold  season  is  hard  upon  claiy,  and 
corn,  even  on  a  rich  soil,  would  not  do  well ; 
but  the  grasses  would  flourish  exceedingly, 
especially  with  moisture  accompanying.  So 
would  wheat  and  other  crops.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  dry,  hot  season  would  give  us  the  op- 
posites,  making  a  difference  of  half;  this  is 
good  ground ;  on  poor  land  the  difference 
would  still  be  greater,  amounting  almost  to  a 
failure  in  some  cases.  A  warm  showery  sea- 
son would  favor  all.  Much  rain  would  injure 
all,  some  more,  some  less,  depending  upon  the 
amount  of  drainage  and  the  kind  of  product. 
Thus  the  potato  in  such  a  season,  on  porous 
laud,  would  do  well,  requiring  coolness  and 
moisture  as  it  does. 

Then  the  climate  has  its  influence,  in  some 
some  parts  of  the  country  varying  more  than 
in  others,  and  making  early  or  late  crops  un- 
reliable. Particularly  is  this  the  case  with 
respect  to  fruit-growing.  Connected  with 
climate  is  the  inclination  of  the  land,  that 
facing  north  having  a  different  influence  from 
that  facing  south,  and  requiring  a  different 
management. 

We  have  not  mentioned  all  that  goes  to  ef- 
fect a  difference,  but  sufficient  to  show  that  a 
strict  uniformity  in  rotation  will  not  do.  It 
becomes  us,  therefore,  to  look  carefully  into 
the  matter,  so  as  to  discriminate  and  apply 


the  means  proper  to  each  soil.  This  requires 
tact  and  extensive  knowledge,  and  then  much 
will  have  to  be  mere  haphaz3rd. 

The  farmer  who  has  his  hills  of  drift,  light- 
colored  and  cold,  will  do  well  with  clover  and 
timothy,  aided  by  light  and  rather  frequent 
top-dressinos,  particularly  of  barc-vard  manure 
or  compost.  In  such  case,  and  in  almost  all 
seasons,  the  best  of  crops  are  raised  here,  and 
for  years  requiring  no  rotation,  as  the  land  is 
improving  all  the  while,  the  sod  thickening 
and  preparing  the  land  for  the  plow.  On  such 
a  soil,  in  a  warm,  moist  season,  corn  may  be 
raised ;  but  it  is  not  generally  practiced.  It 
is  found  that  the  lower  land  with  the  black 
mould  will  pay  best  with  corn ;  that  it  seldom 
fails,  while  the  hills  frequently  do.  We  raise 
oats,  barley,  wheat  and  other  crops  on  our 
hill  soils;  this  two  years  in  succession,  gener- 
ally without  manure  ;  then  the  land  is  put  to 
grass  and  clover  again.  In  this  way  our  hills 
have  been  treated  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
and  the  result  of  what  before  was  worn  out 
soil  is  the  land  that  is  greatly  improved;  pro- 
fitable crops  meantime  have  been  realized, 
and  of  late  years,  since  the  introduction  of 
machinery,  with  little  labor.  Top-dressings 
of  these  lands  are  relied  upon  by  the  best  of 
farmers,  and  are  of  more  benefit  than  on  the 
low  land,  a  little  manure  going  further  than 
a  little  more  in  the  valleys.  It  is  remarkable 
how  these  uplands  will  show  the  benefit  of 
small  applications  of  manure,  a  thin  coat  from 
the  stables  in  the  fall  raising  a  cloud  where 
before  was  but  an  ordinary  crop.  A  simple 
rotation  will  therefore  do  for  these  hills,  grass 
and  clover— that  is  timothy  and  clover — being 
most  relied  upon,  and  grass  is  nature's  coat, 
that  needs  no  change,  but  is  improved  by  it 
sometimes ;  it  is  improved  by  enrichment 
(from  the  top)  and  by  turning  down  and  thor- 
oughly decomposing  and  pulverizing  the  sod, 
thus  preparing  it  for  a  better  coat,  and  par. 
ticularly  for  that  most  excellent  of  crops,  the 
clover. 

In  a  dark  soil,  in  an  intervale  for  instance, 
a  wider  rotation  may  be  practiced.  Here  corn 
follows  the  sod,  succeeded  by  the  grains,  and 
a  great  variety  of  the  latter  may  be  indulged 
in.  Koot  crops  may  be  risked  here,  almost 
any  crup  in  almost  any  season,  so  that  the 
soil  is  deep  and  rich  and  well-drained.  If 
quite  dark,  a  dense  growth  will  still  lessen  the 
heat  (by  its  shade) ;  and  if  cold,  the  heat  will 
be  invited  by  glimpses  of  the  sun  and  the  less 


THE  LAJ^CASTEU  FARMER. 


8 


dense  growth,  so  that  there  still  may  be  a  fair 
yield.  If  further  the  ground  is  made  warm 
with  manure  and  rich,  it  must  be  indeed  an 
inhospitable  season  if  there  is  not  at  least  a 
fair  yield,  so  that  in  the  valleys  we  may  prac- 
tice a  regular  system  of  rotation— and  we 
'  may  do  it  with  safety  if  th"^  work  is  thorough- 
ly done,  drainage,  manure,  proper  cultivation, 
being  applied.  This  is  different  from  the  hills, 
which  cannot  therefore  be  brought  under  the 
same  system  of  changes  in  the  valleys.  So 
we  should  aim  to  have  less  corn  and  more 
grass    on    our  land  inclining  to  the  north. 


Wheat  will  do  well  here,  and  potatoes  and 
root  crops,  and  will  alternate  well  with  the 
grasses.  But  the  corn  will  only  in  a  hot  sea- 
son do  well,  which  cannot  be  foreseen  ;  but  as 
the  seasons  are  getting  more  and  more  drouthy , 
there  is  less  risk  with  corn  when  other  grains 
are  more  suitable  ? 

Thus  we  see  that  the  same  locality  has  dif- 
ferent systems  of  rotation,  the  same  farm, 
even,  each    adapted    to    the  c  rcumstances. 

There  may  be  shorter  or  longer  rotations 

Cor.  Country  Gentleman. 


THE  TULIP, 


THE  TUlAP—TuUpa  gesneriana. 

PERHAPS  no  subject,  in  the  long  cata- 
logue of  flowering  bulbs,  has  created  so 
great  a  sensation  in  the  floricultural  world  as 
that  of  the  tulip,  in  times  past;  and  yet,  in 
many  of  the  beautifully  illustrated  catalogues 
of  the  present  day,  we  can  scarcely  find  a 
single  allusion  to  it,  so  completely  does  it 
seem  to  have  been  superceded  by  other 
beauties  of  the  floral  realm.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  general  neglect,  however,  there  are 
still  a  few  florists  who  make  it  somewhat  of  a 
specialty.  The  (ulip  belongs  to  the  natural 
family  Leltace-E  of  Linnaeus.  It  is  a  native 
of  the  Levant,  and  is  found  wild  in  Syria  and 


Persia,  and  by  the  latter  nation  was  called 
Thoulyban,  from  whence  the  French  name 
Tulipan,  and  no  doubt  also  the  common  Ger- 
man name  Dulibawn,  are  derived — and  the 
English  name  Tulip.  Ried  says,  it  appears  to 
have  been  brought  from  Persia,  by  way  of 
Constantinople,  into  Europe  in  1559,  and 
about  a  hundred  years  thereafter  it  became 
an  object  of  considerable  trade  in  the  Nether- 
lands. For  a  considerable  period  after  this 
time  the  demand  for  tulips  among  the  Dutch 
became  a  sort  of  mania— so  much  so  indeed 
that  quite  frequently  a  single  favorite  bulb 
has  been  sold  ior  Jive  himdred  pounds.,  and  im- 
mense amounts  of  money  were  lost  and  made 


90 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


by  speculators  in  this  flower.  It  was  intro- 
duced into  England  near  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  about  the  beginning  of  the 
eighth  century  it  had  gained  its  zenith  there, 
but  soon  after  it  declined,  and  the  English 
taste  was  turned  in  a  different  direction. 
Although  it  has  lost  much  of  the  fashionable 
patronage  it  at  one  time  commanded,  it  is  still 
cultivated  extensively  in  Holland,  from  which 
all  Europe  and  America  have  been  supp  led. 
Allen  &  Co.'s  catalogue  enumerates  about 
seventy  varieties  which  they  have  under  culti- 
vation, belonging  to  several  groups,  as  the 
"Due  Van  Thol,"  the  "Parrot  Dragon,"  ±e 
"Early  Single  Flowering,"  the  "Late  Flower- 
ing," the  "  Bizarres,"  and  the  "  Double 
Tulips."  "We  have  seen  some  so  very  double 
that  if  it  were  not  for  the  great  distinction  in 
the  laws,  they  might  easily  have  been  mis- 
taken for  a  double  poppy.  The  brilliant  colors 
of  some  of  the  varieties,  their  early  blooming, 
and  the  fact  that  they  may  occupy  ground 
upon  which  an  "  after-crop"  of  other  flower- 
ing plants  may  be  grown,  together  with  old 
association,  renders  the  tulip  stil  mu-^h  of  a 
favorite  as  a  bed  and  border  garden  flower. 
Frequent  change  of  soil  is  recommended— as 
well  as  change  of  situation — as  a  means  of  ex- 
pediting the  variegation  of  tulips.  In  raising 
from  the  seed,  that  from  the  healthiest  and 
strongest  plants  is  preferable,  and  is  not  t^ 
be  gathered  until  the  pericarp  or  seed  vessel 
assumes  a  brownish  color.  Offshoots  should 
be  planted  very  soon  after  they  »re  separated 
from  the  parent  bulb,  in  beds  of  fresh  study 
loam  mixed  with  decayed  cow  droppings, 
from  seven  to  twelve  laches  below  the  sur- 
face, according  to  the  best  authorities,  and  in 
a  dry,  airy  situation.  Tulips  wiil  bear  to  be 
shaded  or  covered  from  light  longer  than  any 
other  plant,  without  sustaining  any  very  per- 
ceptible injury.  On  this  account,  they  may 
be  cultivated  under  vines,  shrubbery  and 
trees,  where  if  even  the  shading,  if  long  con- 
tinued, would  be  injurious,  their  blooming 
period  would  be  past  before  the  trees,  shrubs 
and  vines,would  be  in  full  foliai,c.  The  early, 
dwarf  varieties  are  consid  red  the  best  for 
forcing  in  pots  or  water  glasses.  The  bulbs 
are  perhaps  less  liable  to  disease  than  any 
other  kind  of  bulbous  plants,  but  when  they 
are  attacked  by  grubs,  wire  worms  or  fungi 
the  best  remedy  is  to  remove  them  altogether 
and  plant  fresh  ones. 


HORTICULTURE. 

HOW  TO  SET  CABBAGE  PLANTS. 

THE  cabbage  is  a  plant  that  needs  to  be 
worked,  either  with  the  hoe  or  plow ; 
and  in  transplanting  t ney  should  be  so  set  as  to 
facilitate  the  after-working.  Our  experience 
with  them  has  been  limited  to  garden  culture, 
though  on  a  pretty  large  scale  ;  and  we  have 
long  practiced  a  plan  of  setting  that  renders 
after-working  with  a  hoe  a  very  quick  oper- 
ation. We  first  ridge  up  the  ground  in  beds, 
as  if  for  cotton  plantmg,  and  in  dry  weather, 
with  the  garden  line,  mark  the  row  distinctly, 
so  that  the  plants  may  be  set  in  straight  lines, 
which  adds  greatly  to  the  fine  appearance  of 
the  crop  in  the  garden.  This  row  is  marked 
nut,  not  on  the  top  of  the  bed,  but  on  the  side 
of  and  as  near  the  bottom,  or  waer  furrow,  as 
it  can  be,  not  to  have  water  stand  or  collect 
about  the  plants  when  they  are  set. 

We  prefer  a  rainy  spell  for  setting  plants, 
and  the  operation  is  performed  in  the  usual 
manner,  with  a  short  pointed  stick  for  a 
dibble. 

As  soon  as  the  rain  is  over,  and  the  soil 
dry  enough,  the  plants  are  caref'illy  but 
lightly  hoed  over  ;  and  we  find  frequent  stir- 
ring of  the  soil,  while  the  dew  is  on,  early  in 
the  morning,  very  promotive  of  a  quick,  vig- 
orous growth.  By  reason  df  the  plants  being 
set  low  down  on  the  side  of  the  bed,  with  the 
ridge  of  earth  in  between  every  two  rows,  the 
first  three  or  four  .workings  are  very  quickly 
done  by  merely  drawing  down  a  part  of  the 
bed  and  pulling  the  fresh  earth  up  around  the 
roots.  The  operation  is  much  more  quick 
than  when  the  plants  are  set  on  the  level 
ground,  or  on  top  of  the  beds,  as  is  the  prac- 
tice of  many  persons.  A  chief  advantage  of 
this  method,  also,  is  that  when  the  earth  is 
finally  worked  down  to  a  level,  as  it  will  be, 
after  a  few  hoeings,  the  plant  is  then  found  to 
be  deeply  set  in  the  ground,  which  is  very 
necessary  if  the  cabbages  are  expected  to 
make  firm  heads. — Ex. 


Water  for  the  Ear. — From  careful  ex- 
periments, made  by  a  physician  of  Lyons,  it 
has  been  ascertained  that  the  old  remedy  of 
warm  water  is  the  best  solvent  of  accumulated 
wax  in  the  ear,  being  superior  to  olive  oil, 
glycerine,  etc. 


THE  L A J^  CASTER  FARMER. 


91 


"  TRIOMPHE  DE  GAND 
BERRY. 


STRAW- 


•  *  X^RUIT,  bright  scarlet ;  flesh,  very  firm, 
X^  sweet  and  juicy ;  strong  grower  ;  har- 
dy and  very  productive  ;  one  of  the  best  ber- 
ries for  both  market  and  table  use'' 

Our  illustration  and  brief  description  of  the 
"Trioraphe  de  Gand"  strawberry  is  takt-n  from 
the  illustrated  and  descriptive  catalogue  of 
small  fruits,  plants  and  vegetables  cultivated 
by  Jdo.  G.  Greider,  nurseryman  and  fruit- 
grower, Lancaster,  Pa.  Although  on  the  whole 
this  strawberry  may  not  be  as  prolific  a  bearer 
or  occupy  as  wide  and  diversified  a  geograph- 
ical range  as  "  Wilson's  Albany  Seedling," 
yet  in  size,  flavor  and  color  it  is  far  superior 
to  it,  and  by  comparison,  in  many  instances,  it 
has  proved  as  profitable  a  bearer.  The  size 
that  many  of  them  sometimes  attain  is  truly 
astonishing— looking,  at  a  distance,  more  like 
a  dish  of  clever-sized  tomatoes  than  like  straw- 
berries— and  the  prices  they  often  bring  are 
fabulous.  As  an  alternating  crop  with  the 
the  Albany  seedling,  and  other  prolific  varie- 
ties, they  have,  perhaps,  very  few  equals,  if 
any. 

Perhaps  nothing  has  been  so  marked  in  the 
horticulture  of  our  county— and  the  entire 
country— nor  has  produced  such  astonishing 
results,  as  the  cultivation  of  the  strawberry. 
From  the  insignificant  position  it  occupied 
forty,  and  even  thirty,  years  ago,  it  has  risen 
to  one  of  the  most  exalted  among  the  "  small 
fruits,"  and  millions  of  dollars  are  invested  in 
its  cultivation.    From  a  rare  luxury  it  has  be- 


come almost  as  essemial  as  potatoes,  and 
through  the  invention  of  the  canning  and  pre- 
serving process,  its  use  is  extended  from  a  few 
weeks  throughout  the  entire  year,  and  by  hot- 
house culture,  it  has  bten  brought  into  mar- 
ket, in  this  country,  as  early  as  February,  as 
fresh  and  luscious  as  we  find  it  in  June.  "When 
properly  ripened,  no  danger  need  be  appre- 
hended from  its  free  use,  for  the  fruit  possesses 
sutficient  astringent  qualiiies  to  render  it  agree- 
able to  the  most  delicate  stomach,  and  decoc- 
tions of  the  leaves  and  roots  are  often  admin- 
istered in  cases  of  intestinal  laxation.  It  has 
been  said  that  in  the  production  of  large  straw- 
berries, quantity  is  always  attained  at  the  ex- 
pense of  quality.  This  may  be  so,  and  if  so, 
it  is  only  a  jule  that  may  be,  with  equal  truth- 
fulness, applied  to  all  kinds  of  fruits  ;  but  we 
think  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  the 
Kit ta tinny  blackberry  is  inferior  in  flavor  to 
our  common  wild  varieties. 

The  strawberry,  however,  is  so  superior  in 
its  flavor,  and  so  delicious  in  its  edible  quali- 
tis,  thit  we  can  afi'ord  to  accept  a  dilution  of 
these  properties  wheie  quantity  is  insured. 
Indeed,  the  very  pronounced  and  intense  fla- 
vor of  the  strawberry  is  urged,  by  some  per- 
sons, as  an  objection  to  it,  especially  when 
canned  or  preserved,  but  most  especially  iu 
wines.  To  our  mind  there  is  only  one  thing 
lacking  in  reference  to  the  strawberry,  and 
that  is,  that  it  has  never  yet  been  produced  in 
this  county  in  quantity  large  enough,  and  in 
price  low  enough,  to  bring  its  consumption 
within  the  means  of  the  poor.  Indeed  a  fam- 
ily that  can  afford  to  use  strawberries  but  once 
a  day  during  their  season,  at  the  prices  they 
have  heretofore  brought,  cannot  be  exactly 
ranked  with  the  poor  families  of  our  county. 
Therefor",  there  need  be  no  apprehension 
that  we  shall  have  too  many  strawberries  for 
some  time  to  come.  Neither  is  there  much 
danger  of  a  reduction  in  prices  unless  every- 
body who  has  a  garden  begins  a  skillful  culti- 
vation of  them  for  themselves,  and  if  so  I 
would  admonish  them  that  in  making  their  se- 
lections of  stock  tbey  should  not  forget  to  in- 
clude the   Tiiomphe  de  Oand. 

R. 


THE  STRAWBERRY  MARKET. 

THE  following  remarks,  made  by  J.  B. 
Lyman  before  the  Rural  Club  of  New 
York,  and  published  in  i\xQ  Horticulturist ,  con- 
tain  many  interesting  facts  on  the  influence 
of  latitude  on  the  strawberry  market. 


92 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER, 


I  have  been  astonished  at  the  evidences  of 
enormous  growth  in  the  strawberry  business. 
From  the  frequency  with  which  this  most  deli- 
cate  of  fruits  is  met  with  on  our  tables, 
from  the  length  of  fruit  trains  and  the  num- 
ber and  size  of  coasting  vessels  engaged  in  the 
transport  of  strawberries,  we  have  supposed 
that  the  business  had  largely  increased.  But 
a  day  spent  among  the  commission  men  along 
our  wharves  has  convinced  tue  that  we  have 
now  three  great  national  fruits,  the  traffic  in 
which  must  be  reckoned  by  millions  of  pack- 
ages, and  the  proceeds  from  which  make 
handsome  incomes  for  thousauds  of  farmers. 
These  gr  at  fruits  are  the  strawberry,  the 
peach  and  the  apple.  The  strawberry  sea- 
son now  covers  one-fourth  of  the  year.  On 
the  10th  of  April  560  packages  of  berries  were 
received  by  the  Charleston  sieamer.  Last 
year  the  shipments  from  Rochester,  and  the 
cool,  late  clay  lands  of  Wayne  and  Sc.  Law- 
rence and  Niagara  counties  in  New  York, 
lasted  till  the  20th  of  July.  Beginning  at  the 
southern  margin  of  the  Eepublic,  on  soils 
warmed  by  mellow  airs  from  the  Lower  Gulf, 
and  closing  with  the  grovvth  of  Upper  Canada , 
the  extremes  of  the  season  take  in  a  hundred 
days. 

But  in  a  commercial  sense  the  business 
commences  its  upward  grade  on  the  middle  of 
April,  continues  to  wax  and  wax  till  the  10th 
or  15th  of  May,  and  then  holds  its  way  on  a 
table-land  of  perpetual  demand  aod  supply  till 
the  20  h  to  25th  of  June,  when  it  enters  on  a 
down  grade,  which  falls  off  quite  rapidly  till 
the  middle  of  July,  when  strawberry  time  is 
over.  Charleston  has  begun  the  work  of 
making  April  a  full  strawberry  month.  By 
another  year  our  receipts  from  that  coast  will 
number  thousands  of  crates.  There  is  more 
profit  in  extending  the  season  at  this  end  than 
from  pushing  it  into  July.  In  April  it  comes 
in  competition  with  nothing  but  the  cran- 
berry. In  .July  and  the  last  quarter  of  June 
it  kenps  up  a  brave  contest  With  the  rasp- 
berry, with  currants,  with  c'^erries  and  Ar- 
kansas plums,  with  early  blackberries  and 
with  Carolina  peaches.  Yet  it  dies  game,  for 
well  in  July  such  berries  as  Dr.  Hexamer 
shows  us  will  command  fifty  cents  a  quart, 
when  the  finest  raspberries  are  slow  at  fifteen. 
About  the  first  of  June  there  often  occurs 
that  curious  phenomenon,  that  crisis  in  de- 
mand and  supply  which  the  market  men  call  a 
glut.     There  are  probably  200,000  of    our 


population  who  eat  strawberries  about  as 
often  as  they  eat  fresh  figs  ;  yet  while  streets 
and  wards  full  of  the  poor  are  languishing  and 
growing  sick  for  want  of  a  v.  ried  and  gener- 
ous diet,  a  pint  of  berries  will  sometimes  sell 
on  the  tip  of  this  island  for  one  cent.  The 
last  large  glut  happened  two  years  ago,  on  the 
8th  of  June,  1869,  and  this  is  the  description 
of  it  in  the  language  of  the  market : 

"  This  is  the  greatest  day  ever  known  in 
the  strawberry  line,  so  far  as  receipts  go. 
The  New  Jersey  road  alone  brought  in 
twenty-eight  car  loads,  besides  two  express 
loads  and  thousands  of  crates  by  boats.  Never 
before  were  so  many  berries  carried  over  as 
remained  unsold  to-night.  Besides  the  enor- 
mous receipts,  vhe  weather  has  been  very  un- 
favorable. In  such  a  glut  the  peddler  boys 
usually  go  in  heavy,  and  help  the  dealers  out; 
but  the  showers  of  to-day  interfered  with 
them.  Norfolk  berries  are  over.  The  stock 
to-day  was  half  Jersey,  the  other  half  from 
Maryland  and  Delaware.  It  is  impossible  to 
give  any  fixed  quotations,  prices  varjiing 
from  twenty  cents  for  fine  to  ten  for  medium. 
The  sales  of  one  dealer  are  a  fair  sample  : 
Thirtj -three  crates  Wilson,  hulls  on,  at 
twenty ;  soon  after  the  same  berry  sold  at 
sixteen — then  fifteen;  then,  as  they  were  in 
danger  of  going  over,  ten  cents.  Small  bas- 
kets of  hulled  berries,  four  to  a  quart,  sold  at 
two  and  three  cent^,  and  some  at  one  cent." 

Yet  seven  days  later  we  find  Extra  Wilsons 
selling  at  twentj-five  cents  per  quart,  and 
Fancy  Jucunda,  Barnes  and  Agriculturist 
commanding  twenty  to  twmty-five  cents  per 
pint.  So,  within  a  week,  we  find  small  ber- 
ries selling  at  two  cents  a  pint,  and  berries 
such  as  these  worth  twenty-five,  the  former  a 
slow  sale  and  the  latter  eagerly  sought. 
Sometimes  bitter  things  have  been  said  of  the 
cupidity  and  beartlessness  of  hucksters  who 
would  throw  crates  of  delicious  fruit  into  New 
York  harbor  rather  than  lower  the  demand  or 
allovv  a  plethora  to  have  legitimate  efl:ect  in 
forcing  down  the  price.  Most  of  those  stric- 
tures are  unjust.  I  find  the  truth  of  the  old 
saw  is  perfectly  understood  on  our  wharves — 

Th"  worth  ol  a  thiug 
Is  what  itwiU  bring. 

The  real  cause  of  a  glut  is  not  overproduc- 
tion ;  it  is  large  arrivals  of  fruit  unfit  for  ship- 
ment to  the  northern  towns.  For  instance, 
two  days  of  moist  and  hot  weather  will  bring 
10,000  crates  of  Dele  ware  and  Jersey  berries 


THE  LAMCASTER  FARMER. 


93 


on  our  wharfs.  We  can  consume  5,000  in  the 
usual  course  of  trade  ;  the  other  5,000  should 
be  shipped  up  the  Hudson,  on  the  Fall  River 
line,  up  Erie  and  toward  Hartford,  Spring- 
field and  Worcester,  some  should  go  to  Port- 
land, and  Montreal  would  appreciate  two  or 
three  score  crates.  But  the  mnist,  dog-day 
weather  sours  the  benies,  shippers  ai'C  afraid 
of  them,  and  leave  them  m  first  hands.  This 
creates  a  glut.  In  short,  the  producer  has 
two  elements  in  his  calcu'atiou^;.  He  may 
be  sure  that  he  is  growing  for  a  consuming- 
population  of  10,000,000  an  article  that  every 
individual  of  those  10,000,000  likes  and  is  will- 
ing to  pay  him  for.  Oa  the  other  hand,  his 
product  is  in  the  last  degree  perishable,  and 
if  the  weather  is  bad  he  cannot  reach  his  con- 
sumers with  a  berry  which  they  will  buy  at 
any  price. — Country  Gentleman. 


ONIONS. 

ONION  growing  near  cities  or  railroads, 
may  be  made  a  very  sure  and  profitable 
business  by  those  having  a  good,  strong, 
kind-working  soil,  with  plenty  of  manure  at 
hand.  If  the  proper  care  be  taken  in  select 
ing  and  preparing  the  ground,  and  in  cultivat- 
ing the  crop,  there  will  generally  be  a  good 
yield  ;  and,  if  convenient  to  market,  there  will 
always  be  a  ready  sale  for  the  product.  This 
profit,  too,  may  be  increased  by  raising,  as 
we  do,  one's  own  sets.  It  requires  from  8  to 
10  bushels  of  sets  to  plant  an  acre.  These 
sets  are  worth,  here,  two  dollars  per  bushel, 
thus  making  it  cost  from  eighty  to  a  hundred 
dollars  to  plant  one  acre  of  land.  This  ex- 
penditure ma}  be,  for  the  greater  part,  saved 
by  sowing  onion  seed  in  he  fall,  and  raising 
your  own  sets.  Four  pounds  of  seed  will 
plant  an  acre,  costing  $20.  The  following  re- 
mark will  show  our  plan  of  growing  this 
crop: 

New  land  is  not  so  good  for  an  onion  crop 
as  older,  clean,  nearly  level  land,  which  has 
been  previously  manured  for  other  crops. 
We  use  the  same  land  every  year  for  onions, 
as  this  i3  one  of  the  crops  which  do  not  re- 
quire rotation  ;  and  we  find  that,  after  having 
cultivated  this  crop  on  the  same  land  for  two 
or  three  years,  we  have  but  little  trouble 
with  weeds,  and  const-quentiy  can  work  over 
the  crop  in  a  short  time,  and  do  not  have  to 
work  it  over  so  often.  Having  selected  the 
ground,  about  the  15th  of  September,  manure 


it  very  heavily.  Bear  in  mind,  that  to  make 
large  crops  of  fine  onions,  the  land  must  be 
verij  rich,  light,  deep  and  well  pulverized. 
Spread  the  manure  evenly  over  the  surface. 
After  you  have  put  about  enough  on,  at  least 
what  you  suppose  to  be  sufficient,  put  on  as 
much  more,  and  you  will  have  it  about  right. 
Turn  over,  five  or  six  inches  deep,  with  a 
turning  ylow,  and  follow  in  the  same  furrow 
with  a  two  horse  sub-soil  plow,  as  deep  as  the 
team  will  readily  pull  it  There's  no  danger 
of  getting  too  deep  in  red  clay  land,  provided 
the  soil  is  in  good  working  condition.  After 
it  has  been  plowed  thoroughly,  harrow  until 
the  soil  is  well  pulverized  and  the  surfiice 
level ;  then  pass  a  roller  over  and  crush  the 
remaining  clods,  which  will  leave  but  little 
work  for  the  rake. 

Mark  off,  by  stretching  a  line  across  the 
land  and  marking  with  an  instrument  made  to 
mark  off  five  rows  at  a  time,  ten  inches  wide 
and  one  inch  deep.  Sow  the  seed  in  the  rows 
with  a  seed  drill  or  with  the  hand,  rather 
thick,  for  some  of  the  young  plants  may  be 
killed  by  winter  weather.  Cover  lightly  with 
a  rake  or  hand  roller;  the  latter  is  preferred, 
as  the  seed  come  up  better  when  the  soil  is 
pressed  on  them  with  a  light  roller.  Work 
the  plants  over  after  two  or  three  sharp  frosts, 
to  destroy  the  weeds  which  the  frosts  fail  to 
kill,  but  do  not  thin  them  to  a  stand  until 
spring,  so  that  you  may  have  enough  plants 
to  take  the  places  of  the  few  killed  by  the 
winter.  In  the  spring,  so  soon  as  the  land  is 
in  good  working  order,  we  apply  a  top-dress- 
ing of  Peruvian  guano,  fine  bone  dust  and 
salt.  Work  it  ligbtly  by  hoeing.  At  the 
same  time,  thin  out  the  sets  so  as  to  leave 
them  standing  three  inches  apart  in  the  row, 
and  fill  missing  places  with  the  sets  pulled 
out.  After  this  they  will  require  three  or 
four  more  careful  workings.  And  here  we 
suggest,  in  regard  to  working  this,  and,  in  fact, 
all  other  crops,  that  the  proper  time  to  work 
them  is  just  as  so  n  and  as  often  as  the  grass 
and  weeds  make  their  appearance,  and  not,  as 
most  people  seem  to  think,  when  the  patch 
has  become  be.tutifully  green  with  grass  and 
weeds.  One  man  can  work  over  more  garden 
ground  in  one  day,  when  the  weeds  are  just 
starting  from  the  ground,  than  six  or  eight 
men,  after  the  weeds  are  six  inches  high. 

The  onion  crop  may  be  harvested  in  time 
to  get  another  crop  of  late  cabbage,  turnips 
or  late  potatoes,  by  those  who  wish  two  crops 
on  the  same  land. 


94 


TR£  LAJYCASTER  FARMER* 


■  From  three  to  six  hundred  bushels  of  on- 
ions may  be  grown  to  the  acre — much,  of 
course,  depending  on  the  season,  ground, 
manure,  and  preparation  and  cultivation  of 
the  soil.  They  bring  in  this  market  from  one 
dollar  to  one  dollar  and  a  half  per  bushel.  We 
do  not  know  how  many  could  be  sold  here  ; 
but  we  do  know  that  there  are  not  half  enough 
raised  here  to  satisfy  the  demand.  Nearly  all 
the  onions  used  in  winter  in  this  State  are 
brought  from  the  North  or  East.  This  should 
not  be  so.  Let  us  grow  at  home  at  least  what 
vegetables  and  fruits  we  use.  The  farmer 
who  attends  well  to  his  garden  and  orchards 
will  have  better  living,  better  health,  more 
real  enjoyment  of  life,  and  more  money,  than 
he  who  neglects  garden  and  orchard  to"j;;Zan^ 
all  cotton.^^ — Rural  Southerner. 

DOMESTIC. 

VISITING. 

I  HAVE  often  thought  that  there  should  be 
a  change  among  farmers'  families  in  their 
mode  of  visiting.  No  ono  enjoys  to  a  greater 
extent  than  I  do  myself  the  friendly  inter 
course  between  families,  especially  those  en- 
gaged in  farming.  Nothing  mdeed  conducts 
more  to  that  feeling  of  good  ueishborhood 
which  should  ever  prevail  in  the  same  commu- 
nity. It  is  one  of  the  sails  of  the  earth,  and 
without  it  we  should  all  become  selfish  and 
morose. 

But  what  I  desire  to  suggest  in  the  urief 
communication  is  that  thei^e  visits  should  be 
properly  timed.  When  a  formal  visit  is  made, 
that  is,  when  intended  to  speod  the  day,  or 
stay  for  a  meal,  it  should  always  be  an  under- 
stood thing  with  the  family  to  be  visited,  in 
order  that  they  may  have  no  other  engage- 
ments upon  their  hands,  and  that  their  domes- 
tic affairs  may  be  properly  arranged  to  suit. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  case  generally.  In- 
deed, it  is  the  common  practice  of  many 
never  to  give  notice  of  their  intended  visit, 
but  to  go  just  when  it  suits  them.,  however  in 
convenient  it  may  be  to  others,  or  whatever 
engagements  others  may  have.  This  should 
not  be.  A  visit  should  produce  equal  pleasure 
to  both  parties ;  but  this  will  never  be  the  case 
while  this  practice  continues. 

But  where  these  matters  are  suitably  ar- 
ranged I  know  of  nothing  so  agreeable.  The 
very  essence  of  it  is  friendliness  and  good 


neighborhood,  and  promotes  a  kindly  feeling 
which  pannot  be  too  much  sought  after  in  this 
world  of  so  many  troubles  and  trials.  They 
banish  selfish  thoughts  for  a  space,  and  in- 
spire other  and  better  feeling«,  and  make  of 
us  all  an  improved  human  machine.  I  know 
of  nothing  so  pleasant  in  rural  life  and  toils  as 
good,  kind  neighbors,  and  I  shall  try  at  least  to 
be  one  of  ihQva.—Germantowii  Telegraph, 


DOMESTIC  RECIPES. 

INDIAN  BANNOCK. 

Take  one  pint  of  Indian  meal  and  stir  it 
into  a  pint  of  sour  milk— fresh  buttermilk 
is  better  -half  a  teaspoonful  of  salt,  a  spoon- 
ful of  molasses,  and  a  spoonful  of  melted  but- 
ter. Beat  two  eggs  and  add,  and  then  stir  in 
a  pint  of  wheat  flour ;  then  thin  it  with 
milk  to  the  consistency  of  drop  cakes,  and 
when  ready  to  bake  a'M  two  heaping  tea- 
spoonfuls  of  soda  dissolved  in  hot  water. 
Pour  in  square  buttered  paus  an  inch  thick, 
and  bRke  fifteen  minutes.  This  quantity 
makes  two  pans.    Try  it. 

SODA   CAKES. 

Take  one  quart  of  flour,  one  tablespooful  of 
soda,  and  one  of  cream  tartar,  dissolved  in  hot 
water  ;  one  tablespoonful  of  lard,  one  of  but- 
ter, rubbed  into  the  flour  ;  a  little  salt ;  mix 
soft  with  sour  or  buttermilk,  and  cut  with  a 
tin  in  round  cakes ;  bake  in  a  quick  oven. 
These  are  very  nice  for  tea. 

GRIDDLE    CAKES. 

To  one  quart  of  flour  add  one  teaspoonful 
of  cream  of  tartar  and  one  three-fourths  full 
of  soda;  mix  with  sour  or  buttermilk  and 
bake  on  a  griddle  ;  season  to  taste.  Butter- 
milk cakes  made  the  same  way,  adding  two 
eggs,  are  very  nice. — Ibid. 


A  CURE  FOR  THE  PILES. 

The  South  Side  Signal  publishes  the  follow- 
ing : 

Ed.  Signal  :  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  communi- 
cate to  you  the  following  directions  for  the 
cure  of  the  above-named  disease,  and  by 
giving  publicity  to  it,  no  doubt  you  will  confer 
a  great  favor  on  many  of  the  Signal  readers. 
In  the  first  place,  put  about  ore-half  pint  of 
cold  ashes  in  the  bottom  of  a  chamber,  and  on 
these  ashes  a  coal  fire,  and  on  the  coal  a  piece 
of  rosin  the  size  of  a  pea,  or  a  little  larger, 
and  sit  immediately  over  the  burning  rosin  a 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER  . 


95 


few  minutes  raorniog  and  evening,  for  a  few 
days.  A  cure  can  thus  be  afiected  at  the  ex- 
pense of  less  than  two  cents. 

In  proof  of  the  above  remedy,  I  would  say 
I  suffered  extremely  for  a  number  of  years, 
earnestly  sought  every  remedy  within  reach 
that  appeared  reasonable,  but  hardly  obtained 
momentary  relief,  and  feared  I  should  have  to 
give  up  labor  entirely,  as  a  neighbor  of  mine 
had  done,  and  had  taken  his  bed  expecting  to 
die  with  this  disease,  as  his  father  had.  This 
was  in  May,  1870,  and  in  a  most  suflering 
condition,  his  doctor  failing  to  relieve  him,  a 
friend  of  his  hearing  of  his  illuess  sent  the 
above  directions.  I  called  to  see  him  the  same 
evening,  when  he  told  me  of  the  cure;  that  he 
was  immediately  relieved  of  the  soreness  and 
unpleasantness  of  the  disease.  I  went  imme- 
diately home  and  applied  the  same  remedy, 
and  was  relieved  in  tw  o  minutes  of  the  pain 
and  soreness,  and  after  applications  of  per- 
haps not  more  that  six  or  eight  sittings  over 
the  burning  resin,  I  was  relieved  of  all  sore- 
ness and  afflicting  sensations.  I  write  thus 
particularly,  for  if  only  one  of  your  readers 
should  be  benefited  as  my  neighbor  and  self 
have  been,  he  will  have  cause  to  regard  you 
as  the  instrument  of  conferring  a  great  bless- 
ing upon  him.  After  two  years'  liberation, 
from  such  extreme  suffering,  I  submit  the  cure 
for  other  aflSicted  ones.    It  is 

NO  HUMBUG. 


ANTHRACITE  COAL. 

This  coal  was  discovered  in  Pennsylvania 
about  eighty  years  ago.  A  gentleman  named 
Guiter  was  hunting  among  the  mountains  and 
found  some  out-croppings  of  anthracite  coal ; 
but  he  did  not  know  it  was  coal,  and  nobody 
else  thought  it  was  coal ;  so  it  was  called 
"blackstone."  First  one  and  then  another 
looked  at  the  blackstone,  and  after  a  few 
years  some  few  began  to  think  that  it  was  a 
peculiar  kind  of  coal.  Some  took  a  little 
home  and  tried  to  make  a  fire,  but  nothing 
could  be  done  with  it,  no  stove  could  burn  it. 

At  lenj;th  a  gentleman  in  Philadelphia 
thought  he  could  do  something  with  the 
"  blackstone."  He  tried  it  in  a  stove,  in  an 
open  fire,  and  in  a  furnace.  Many  and  various 
ways  he  tried,  and  at  last  he  discovered  that 
he  could  burn  it ;  that  it  was  fuel.  He  went  to 
his  dinner  one  day  feeling  sad,  very  sad;  he 
had  been  trying  all  the  morning  to  make  the 


"  blackstone"  burn,  but  nothing  could  be  done 
with  it.  Twelve  o'clock  came,  his  dinner 
hour  ;  he  pushed-to  the  furnace  door,  and  off 
he  went  to  dinner.  That  was  just  the  thing 
needed ;  the  draft  was  open  and  while  he  was 
eating  his  dinner  the  coal  took  fire  from  some  ^ 
burning  wood  inside  the  furnace,  and  lo  !  the 
heat  wa«!so  great  that  his  furnace  was  nearly 
destroyed.  Sadly  he  walked  back  to  his  fur- 
nace after  his  dinner  ;  he  little  thought  what 
had  been  goina:  on,  never  dreamed  of  finding 
a  hot  fire,  and  his  astonishment  and  delight 
can  be  better  imagined  than  described. 

The  news  spread — the  "  blackstone"  was 
coal !  the  "  blackstone  was  fuel !  Forty  years 
had  passed  sioce  the  anthracite  coal  had  been 
discovered  by  the  hunter.  The  world  had 
been  forty  years  in  learning  how  to  burn  an- 
thracite coal. 


FARMERS'  GARDENS. 


Few  are  aware  how  much  a  good  and  well- 
cultivated  garden  saves  to  a  family  in  the 
course  of  a  year.  There  are  certain  things 
which  may  be  regarded  as  indispensable, 
whether  regarded  in  point  of  health  or  econ- 
omy.  Many  of  our  garden  vegetables  are 
great  luxuries.  They  can  be  had  cheaply  and 
fresh  only  in  the  farmer's  own  garden. 
Radishes,  rhubarb,  celery,  asparagus,  straw- 
berries and  the  smaller  fruits  generally,  ought 
to  be  cultivated  on  a  much  greater  extent 
than  they  are,  and  consumed  more  extensively 
in  every  farmer's  family. 

Green  peas,  too,  are  easily  cultivated,  and 
to  most  persons  they  are  very  healthful  and 
nutritious;  and  so  are  summer  squashes, 
cucumbers,  melons,  and  a  vast  number  of 
other  plants  that  might  be  named.  The  more 
general  use  of  these  vegetables  would  reduce 
the  amount  of  the  butcher's  bill  and  also  that 
of  the  doctor. 

Now  is  the  time  to  prepare  for  a  supply  of 
these  important  articles,  and  the  means  of  in- 
formation in  regard  to  all  these  crops  are  so 
easily  within  reach  of  all,  that  there  should 
be  no  hesitation  in  attempting  their  culture, 
even  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  never 
raised  them. 

If  any  farmer  has  neglected  his  asparagus, 
or  his  rhubarb  plants,  let  him  begin  now.  If 
any  one  has  neglected  to  set  out  a  strawberry 
bed,  let  him  neglect  it  no  longer.  If  any  one 
has  failed  to  have  a  supply  of  currants,  or  to 


96 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


give  them  the  proper  care  and  treatmeut,  let 
them  begin  to  set  out  and  cave  for  a  few 
plants,  aad  he  will  soon  find  his  family  well 
supplied,  if  farm  work  presses,  never  mind. 
The  garden  will  pay  better  than  the  farm  and 
ought  to  have  the  first  care. — Massachusetts 

Ploughman. 

. ^ 

Longevity  of  Farmebs.— In  a  late  ad- 
dress before  the  Farmers'  Club  of  Prin<?eton, 
Mass.,  Dr.  Nathan  Allen  said  that  according 
to  the  registration  report  of  deaths  in  Massa- 
chusetts, published  now  for  about  thirty 
years,  and  preserved  with  more  accuracy  and 
completeness  than  anywhere  in  the  country, 
the  greatest  longevity  is  found  to  obtain  in 
agricultural  life.  In  the  ten  different  occupa- 
tions as  given  in  these  reports,  the  cultivators 
of  the  earth  stand,  as  a  class,  at  the  head, 
reaching,  on  an  average,  the  age  of  nearly 
65  years,  while  that  of  the  next  class,  mer- 
chants, is  only  about  45  years  ;  that  of  me- 
chanics, of  all  kinds,  about  43  years,  and  that 
of  shoemakers,  about  41  years.  Thus  there 
is  an  advantage  of  about  15  years  on  the  side 
of  farmers  as  compared  with  merchants,  and 
they  reach  an  average  age  but  little  short 
of  the  three  score  years  and  ten  allotted  by 
the  psalmist  for  human  life. 


Rye  for  Milch  Cows. — A  foreign  paper 
says  :  When  rye  is  of  good  quality,  it  certainly 
constitutes  an  excellent  food  for  all  kinds  of 
stock.  Dairy  cows  fed  daily  on  five  pounds  of 
rye  meal  and  a  sufficiency  of  cut  straw  have 
been  found  to  yield  very  large  quantities  of 
milk.  In  Holland,  which  is  famous  for  its  ex- 
cellent butter,  rye  is  a  common  food  for  milch 
cows ;  and,  indeed,  generally  throughout 
northern  and  central  Europe  there  exists  as 
great  a  prejudice  in  favor  of  rye  as  a  cattle 
food  as  there  is  a  prejudice  against  it  in  these 

countries. 

• 

How  TO  Get  Rid  of  Rats  and  Mice. — 
A  gentleman  of  large  experience,  and  fully  as 
humane  as  the  most  of  us,  says  he  gets  rid  of 
rats  by  putting  potash  in  their  holes  and  runs. 
The  poor  wretches  get  it  on  their  feet,  and 
over  their  fur,  then  lick  it  and  don't  like  the 
taste  of  it ;  it  burns  them  somewhat,  and  the 
more  they  see  of  it  the  less  they  like  it ;  so  they 
clear  out  almost  as  soon  as  the  application  is 
made.  To  get  rid  of  mice  the  same  person 
uses  tartar  emetic  mingled  with  any  favorite 
food ;  they  take  it,  become  sick  and  take  their 
leave. 


wo]s:ders  kever  cease. 

ESSRS.  EDITORS  :— In  looking  over 
the  last  Farmer,  the  above  sentence 
was  brought  to  my  notice,  in  an  article  pro- 
duced by  our  venerable  agricultural  father. 
It  appears  to  me  the  sentence  contai-is  a  vast 
amount  of  meaning,  but  for  want  of  time  I 
will  have  to  content  myself  with  but  a  brief 
cocsideradon  of  it,  as  well  as  some  other  por- 
tions of  the  article . 

If  the  list  of  subscribers  to  the  Farmer 
could  be  swelled  to  the  magnitude  that  his 
imagination  fancies — and  it  is  a  consummation 
most  devoutly  to  be  wished — then  it  would 
truly  be  wonderful,  and  then  indeed  we  might 
experience  the  verification  that  "  wonders 
never  ceJise  ;"  because  there  might  be  such 
an  array  of  scientific,  electrical  theorists 
brought  into  the  ring  of  contributors  that  could 
give  us  their  experiences,  not  only  theoreti- 
cally butpracticaUy,  in  manner  so  plain  that 
would  cause  us  to  stand  aghast  with  utter  as- 
tonishment and  wonder  at  our  own  ignorance, 
and  as  wonder  is  the  effect  of  novelty  upon  ig- 
norance we  might  well  be  filled  with  wonder 
and  amazement  at  things  that  might  happen. 

There  is  not  a  solitary  discovery  made,  nor 
machine  or  implement  invented,  however  sim- 
ple or  complicated,  with  which,  through  daily 
use,  we  have  become  familiar,  and  which  now 
to  our  minds  appear  very  simple,  yet  when 
first  discovered  were  the  great  wonders  of  the 
age,  and  even  aroused  our  prejudices  against 
them,  which  took  a  considerable  time  to  over- 
come and  teach  us  the  utility  of  their  use. 
Bacon  says  :  "To  try  things  and  never  to  give 
over  doth  wonders."  Truly,  sirs,  "  Wonders 
will  never  cease. 

However  numerous  the  discoveries  may  be, 
there  are  yet  millions  upon  millions  of  secrets 
hidden  in  the  future,  which  leaves  plenty  of 
room  for  the  mind  of  man,  and  as  the  tide  of 
improvement  is  upward  and  onward,  so  long 
as  the  inventive  genius  of  the  mind  of  DLan 
will  continue  to  pry  into  the  secrets  of  nature 
"  wonders  will  never  cease." 

Will  we  have  to  leave  to  the  rising  gener- 
ation all  the  discoveries  ?  Is  it  not  a  duty 
we  owe  to  God,  our  fellow-men  and  to  our- 
selves to  exercise  the  reasoaing  faculties 
with  which  we  have  been  endowed,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  gather  information  and  hand  it 
down  to  posterity,  ther^-by  elevating  our- 
selves in  the  scale  of  being  to  that  point 
for  which  we  were  designed  by  creation.  The 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


97 


more  we  study  the  works  of  nature  the  nearer 
will  we  approach  to  that  stage  of  perfection 
which  imperfect  man  is  capable  of  gaining. 
Creation  is  so  immense  and  nature  so  diversi- 
fied in  her  productions  that  the  mind  of  man, 
comparatively  speaking,  is  but  a  mjth  ;  but 
when  we  look  at  nature  around  us,  and  by 
chance  discover  some  of  her  mysteries,  and 
then  reflect  how  many  mysteries  ara  hidden 
from  our  view,  may  we  not  be  well  induced  to 
exclaim  with  astonishment — truly,  "  wonders 
will  never  cease  !" 

There  is  not  a  day  that  will  not  force  upon  our 
minds  something  apparently  new  (however 
old  in  nature),  and  the  mind  thus  engaged 
cannot  help  but  fill  up,  and  betimes  overflow, 
and  impart  something  that  will  be  beneficial 
to  his  fellow-man. 

Among  the  many  discoveries  made,  within 
the  last  few  years,  for  the  benefit  of  the  agri- 
cultural portion  of  the  community,  is  the 
"  Buckeye  Feed-Steamer  Baker,  Drier  and 
Range,  all  combined,  and  complete  in  one 
machine,  which  stands  pre-eminent  in  point 
of  utility  and  economy.  There  is  an  old 
adage,  that  the  man  that  causes  two  blades  of 
grass  to  grow,  where  but  one  grew  before,  is 
a  benefactor."  But  what  shall  we  say  of  the 
man  who  has  invented  a  machine  that  will 
economize  and  utilize  oae-fourth  of  a  crop 
raised  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow  of  the  farmer? 
Truly,  sirs,  "  Wonders  will  only  cease  "  when 
men  ceases  to  think  and  act.  Without  going 
into  a  discussion  of  the  merits  of  this  machine, 
I  would  in  conclusion  say,  that  all  it  needs  is 
a  fair  and  impartial  trial,  to  remove  every 
prejudice,  and  satisfy  every   discerning  mind. 

I  very  respectfully  remain  an  humble  obser- 

r,in  a  loca 

Habitation. 
A  ri  I  15th,  1872. 


A    DYING   NATION. 


THE  accounts  of  the  famine  in  Persia, 
which  continue  to  arrive  in  greater  de- 
tail, bid  fair  to  treat  the  world  to  a  spectacle 
of  a  calamity,  the  like  of  which  has  not  been 
witnessed,  in  historic  times  at  least — the  sud- 
den extinction  of  a  nation  frc.m  want  of  food. 
This  has  really  been  the  fate  of  the  great 
States  which  once  filled  the  valley  of  the 
Euphrates,  and  it  is  a  fate  which  has  for  cen- 
turies been  threatening  some  modern  States — 
Spain,  for  instance.  Man  has  stripped  the 
soil  of  trees  ;  the  absence  of  trees  has  brought 
droughts  -,  droughts  have  slowly  diminished 
the  productive  powers  of  the  ground,  and 
finally  destroyed  them — the  population  in  the 
mean  time  dwindling  in  numbers  and  vitality. 
Spain  had  forty  millions  of  people  in  the  time 
of  the  Romans,  and  flowed  with  milk  and 
honey;  it  is  now  an  arid  region,  only  half  of 
it  under  cultivation,  with  only  sixteen  millions 
of  inhabitants,  and  if  modern  science  had  not 
come  to  its  aid,  would  probably  go  the  way  of 
Babylon.    Persia  was  one  of  the  most  power- 


ful States  of  antiquity,  and  even  in  the  four- 
teenth century  was  able  to  support  the  arrjiy 
of  Tamerlane,  who  marched  without  commis- 
sariat or  bagcjage  during  a  bloody  contest.  It 
is  now  almost  a  wilderness,  with  a  population 
of  two  millions — about  half  of  them  nomads — 
which  is  rapidly  perishing  from  famine 
brought  on  by  a  three  years  drought.  The 
worst  of  it  is,  that  owing  to  the  absence  of 
either  common  roads  or  rjiilroads,  it  seems  to 
be  impossible  for  the  charity  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  to  reach  the  suflerers>  go  that  there  is 
really  a  strong  prospect  of  the  depopulation 
of  the  whole  country.  The  moral  of  this  hor- 
rible story  is — look  after  your  trees. 

[The  abvve  extract  from  the  New  York  Nation 
is  Bf nt  to  U3  by  an  anonymous  friend  of  humaniiy, 
with  a  request  that  we  should  eive  it  a  place  in  the 
columns  of  the  Farmer;  which  we  cheerfuliy  do, 
for  there  is  a  significance  in  the  spirit  of  the  arti- 
cle that  must  excite  the  rtflsctions  of  ths  com- 
monest mind  that  reflec  s  at  all.  The  geiceral 
theory  of  the  cHraatio  and  sanitary  chmges  caused 
by  the  wh;  legale,  and  often  wanton,  destruc  ion  or 
displacement  of  forests  in  our  country,  has  been 
discussed,  through  various  ariicles  ou  that  subject, 
which  have  appeared  in  thecolumns  of  this  journal ; 
and  although  fome  of  them  have  been  sufficiently 
pronounced,  as  to  what  is  likely  to  occur  from  this 
cause  in  the  future,  none  have  so  explicitly  identi- 
fied with  it  me  calamities  and  ruins  of  the  present 
and  lhepa.s<.  Indeed  the  men  living  now,  who  were 
able  to  make  observations  upon  the  gradual,  though 
marked,  climatic  change-^,  which  have  taken  place 
in  this  country  during  the  past  fifty  years,  have 
com?  to  the  very  general  conclusion  that  theae 
changes  are  largely,  if  not  entirely,  attributable  to 
the  removal  of  our  forest  trees.  We  are  convinced 
tha^  all  warnings  on  this  subject,  as  a  general 
thing,  will  be  about  as  futile  as  ''  preaching  sermons 
to  millstones"  so  long  aa  there  is  a  demand  for 
lumber,  and  lumbering  is  pursued  as  a  business  of 
profit.  But  there  are  some  who  will  think  of  the 
matter,  if  they  do  not  heed  the  warnings,  and  those 
we  would  admonish  to  begin  to  devise  some  amends 
for  the  mutilations  and  destructions  of  the  past.  A 
time  certainly  ivill  came — it  may  not  be  in  our  fife- 
time — but  it  may  be  in  the  life-time  of  our  im- 
mediate posterity — when  the  use  of  lumber  must 
be  superceded  by  some  other  material  for  builoing 
purposes,  just  as  its  use  has  been  superceded  as  a 
subject  of  fuel.  A  more  thorough  cultivation  and 
regeneration  of  the  cleared  land  we  now  have,  aud 
the  replanting  of  the  bare  hills  and  ridges — where 
crop  cultivation  is  not  practicable — will  be  ab- 
solutely necessary,  and  will  so  far  restore  that 
equilibrium  which  has  already  been  destroyed. 
And  not  only  this,  but  every  lane  and  public  road 
should  be  flanked  with  rows  of  trees,  and  i-f  these 
should  involve  too  much  danger  in  the  case  of  rail- 
roads, these  should  be  flanked  with  rows  of  hedge, 
which  would  not  be  so  liable  to  prostration  .and 
perilous  obstruction  from  the  intervention  of 
storms.  If  fence  lines  muM  be  continued  to  divide 
farm  lands,  or  for  special  inclosures,  let  hedges  be 
used  for  tnis  purpose,  for  before  the  close  of  the 
century,  timber  fencing  may  be  too  expensive,  ex- 
cept to  men  of  the  most  ample  means.  And  if  there 
were  no  other  considerations  than  merely  pecu- 
niary economy,  there  are  many  places   where  the 


98 


THE  LAJfCASTER  FAR  MER- 


EDS.  Fakmer— /Sirs;  In  the  April  uum 
ber  of  your  valuable  monthly  appears 
an  abridged  portion  of  a  private  letter  written 
by  me  to  my  friend  Garber.  Inasmuch  as  I 
never  thousihi  of  its  appearing  in  print  and  as 
its  construction  is  such  as  to  cause  misunder 
standing,  I  ask  you  to  insert,  this  in  May 
numb3r.  In  the  article  referred  to  I  speak 
of  having  Mr.  R.  Stewart's  and  Thompson's 
seedling  grape,  many  of  which  are  indeed 
very  good.  1  here  remark  that  I  have  not 
the  right  to  sell  these,  although  negotiations 
are  pending  for  the  purchase  of  Mr.  Stewart's. 
I  have  several  other  kinds  also  on  trial,  not 
being  permitted  to  offer  for  sale. 

My  object  is  to  work  for  the  general  good 
of  the  friends  of  pomology,  and  in  order  to  do 
80  to  test  critically  any  new  fruit  trusted  to 
my  care. 

Among  the  new  grapes  I  regard  especially 
valuable  are  Onondaga,  Crotou,  Senasqua, 
Paxton,  Wordens,  Irving,  Early  Black,  Car- 
penter, Grant,  Sumner,  etc. 

Of  new  pears,  "  Clapp's  Sarah,"  Mt.  Ver- 
non, Goodale,  Dr.  Reeder,  are  very  promising, 
and  of  European  kinds,  Souvenir  du  Congrt  s. 
Marshal  "Wilder,  St.  Louis,  Leclere  Thouin, 
are  very  good  and  trees  remarkably  fine. 

In  conclusion  all'W  me  to  say  it  will  afford 
me  pleasure  to  report  my  success  of  any  new 
fruits  which  I  may  have,  and  when  I  am  pre- 
pared to  offer  for  sale  due  notice  will  be 
given  to  the  people  of  your  section  through 
the  advertising  columns  of  the  Lancaster 
Farmer. 

Yours,  etc., 

Delphi,  Ind.                         J.  H.  Hayes. 
• 

GOD  FIRST  AND  LAST. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  :  This  may  seem  a 
queer  piece  to  put  i'l  the  Farmer;  but 
might  it  not  have  a  place,  too,  while  we  find 
many  persons  that  do  not  believe  that  God 
has  anything  to  do  with  the  affairs  of  men  and 
nations,  in  regard  to  their  prosperity  and  ad- 
versity on  their  rise  and  downfall  ? 

Now  I  contend  that  in  proportion  as  a 
people  own  and  seek  after  God,  just  in  such  a 
degree  will  it  go  well  with  themV  Therefore 
I  send  this  with  the  hope  that  it  may  induce 


surface  of  the  soil  would  afford  ample  material  to 
build  stone  walJs  instead  of  lumber  fencing,  and 
would  leave  said  soil  in  a  better  cond  tion  for  i  ro- 
ductive  cultivation.  The  country  Ti^eds  thin  labor 
maTdpulaticr,  for  without  a  hetUhful  and  prosper- 
ous ci  uniry  around  it,  there  cannot  long  coutinne  a 
healthful  and  prosperous  city  or  town.  But  tbe^e 
prospective,  prosperous  ar  d  economic  il  results  are 
merely  sfconday  coat^ideratiuns,  whtn  compered 
with  the  future  sanitary  condit'on  of  the  country — 
the  prevention  of  the  droughts,  the  epideusic  .  and 
tile  famines  which  may  *  e  in  store  for  thi^  future  i 
yic^ints  of  CUT  present  selfishness — a  fuure,  akhdugh 
far  distant,  yet  which  will  f^urely  come,  r.nd  whe?!.  it 
come;-,  may  leave  a  d(so]at.i  wake  behind  it.    R  ] 


some  to  raise  their  thoughts  higher  than  I  or 
the  things  that  perish. 

Have  ye  not  known  ?  have  ye  not  heard  ? 
hath  it  not  been  told  you  from  the  beginning? 
have  ye  not  understood  from  the  foundations 
of  I  he  earth  ?  It  is  He  that  sitteth  upon  the 
circle  of  the  ear  h  (and  the  inhabitants  there- 
of are  as  grasshoppers);  He  thatstretchelh  out 
the  heavens  as  a  curtam,  and  spteadeth  them 
out  as  a  tent  to  dwell  in  ;  that  brinsreth  the 
princes  to  nothing;  He  maketh  the  judges  of 
the  earth  as  vanity.  Behold,  the  nations  are 
as  a  drop  of  a  bucket,  and  are  counted  as  the 
small  dust  of  the  balance;  behold,  He  taketh 
up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing.  All  nations 
before  Him  are  as  nothing,and  they  are  count- 
ed to  Him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity. 

To  whom  then  will  we  lilien  God  ?  or  what 
likeness  will  ye  compare  unto  Him?  who 
hath  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of 
01  His  hand,  m^•ted  out  heaven  with  the  span, 
and  comprehend  the  dust  of  the  earth  in  a 
measure,  and  weighed  the  mountains  in  scales, 
and  the  hills  in  a  balance? 

Who  hath  directed  the  spirit  of  the  Lord, 
or  being  his  counselor,  hath  taught  Him  ? 
With  whom  took  He  counsel,  and  who  in- 
structed Him,  and  tau2;ht  Him  in  the  path  of 
judgment,  and  taught  Him  knowledge,  and 
showed  to  Him  the  way  of  understanding  ? 

Lift  up  your  eyes  on  high,  and  behold  who 
hath  created  these  things,  that  bringeth  out 
their  host  of  number  ;  He  calleth  them  all  by 
names, by  the  greatness  of  His  might,  for  that 
He  is  strong  in  power  ;  not  one  faiieth.  Who 
hath  wrought  and  done  it,  calling  the  genera- 
tions from  the  beginning  ?  I  the  Lord,  the 
first,  and  with  the  last.  I  am  He.  Is  my 
hand  shortened  at  all,  that  I  cannot  redeem  ? 
or  have  I  no  power  to  de  iver? 

Behold  at  my  rebuke  I  dry  up  the  sea  ;  I 
make  the  rivers  a  wilderness,  and  I  have  made 
the  earth,  and  created  man  upon  it ;  I,  even 
my  hands,  have  stretched  out  the  heavens, 
and  all  their  host  have  I  commanded.  Hast 
thou  not  known,  hast  though  not  heard,  that 
the  everlasting  God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is 
weary  ?  Thou  shalt  worship  no  other  God. 
And  ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to 
your  fathers,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people,  and 
I  will  be  your  God,  and  I  will  call  for  the  corn 
and  will  increase  it,  and  lay  no  famine  upon, 
you.  And  I  will  multiply  the  fruit  of  the  tree 
[without  any  patent  compound,  etc,]  and  the 
increase  of  the  field,  that  ye  shall  receive  no 
more  reproach  of  famine  among  the  heathen, 
etc.  Then  the  heathen  that  are  left  around 
you  shall  know  that  I,  the  Lord,  build  the 
ruined  places,  and  plant  that  was  desolate ; 
I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it,  and  I  will  do  it. 
And  they  shall  say,  this  land  that  was  deso- 
late has  become  like  the  garden  of  Eden. 
Thou  art  worthy,  0  Lord,  to  receive  glory, 
and  honor,  and  power,  for  Thou  hast  created 
all  (things,  and  for  Thy  pleasure  they  ,are  and 
were  created.  JohnB.  Erb. 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMEB- 


99 


%\\t  ^mtmin  ^mux. 


LANCASTER,  MAY,  1872. 


S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.    HARRIS,  Editors. 

Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  theAor.icuL- 
TURAL  AND  Horticultural  Sooiett. 

#1  !35  per  Year  In  Advance. 

A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 

All  communications,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Raihvon  So  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remittances  te  the 
address  of  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


thousand  inhabitants  of  Lancaster  county 
before  the  close  of  the  present  volume,  and 
we  want  every  intelligent  farmer  to  have  it  in 
his  family.  We  are  often  told  by  subscriber.?, 
far  away,  that  they  read,  with  "  pleasure  and 
profit,"  our  whole  jouinal,  from  "  hecjinning 
to  end,"  every  month;  and  we  want  our  home 
readers  to  do  likewise ;  and  we  believe  they 
will  be  fqualy  pleased  and  profited.  ThaVs 
what  we  want. 


WHAT  WE  WANT. 

"  Man  wan^s  but  little  here  below, 
Nor  wants  that  little  long." 

WE  are  compelled  to  confess  that  we  are 
just  "  weak  and  vile  "  enough  to  be 
dissatisfied  with  the  abstemious  philosophy 
of  the  above  little,  widely- known,  and  oftly- 
repeated  couplet.  We  want  a  large  num- 
ber of  good  advertisers  and  a  long  list  of 
paying  subscribers.  We  want  to  enlarge  and 
improve  the  Farmer,  and  we  want  a  longer 
list  of  good  contributors.  We  want  to  make 
our  journal  the  honorable  and  well-merited 
representative  of  the  most  honorable  and  use- 
ful men,  as  a  class,  that  grace  any  community, 
and  we  want  them  to  permit  us  to  make  it  so 
every  new  paying  subscriber  is  such  a  permit. 
We  want  suflScient  pecuniary  emolument  to 
cover  our  expenses  for  the  paper  and  ink  con- 
sumed during  the  past  three  years  or  more, 
working  in  its  editorial  harness — not  even  a 
pint  of  peanuts  more — to  say  nothing  about 
the  time  employed  in  its  service.  This  may 
be  an  extravagant  want,  and  not  in  harmony 
with  our  poetic  quotation,  but  then  we  have 
placed  it  at  the  head  of  this  article  to  be 
understood  Pickwickianly. 

We  have  as  large  and  respectable  a  list  of 
"  foreign  exchanges  "  as  any  other  paper  in 
the  country,  and  our  journal  in  its  circulation 
reaches  farther ;  and  although  this  might  be 
regarded  as  length  sufficient  to  gratify  the 
ambition  of  any  editor  or  publisher,  yet  we 
confess  we  want  a  little  more  breadth,  as  a 
base  of  home  operations.  We  want  to  circu- 
late at  least  seven  thousand  copies  of  the 
Farmer  among  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 


THE  CROP  PROSPECT. 


E   must  confess  that  the  prospects  of 
even  a  "  half-crop  "  of  cereals,  which 
are  now   immediately   before   us,  are   by  no 
means  encouraging,  if  they  are  not  absolutely 
gloomy.    The/y,  last  fall,  and  the  cold,  open 
and  dry  character  of  the  intervening  winter, 
have  had  a  bad  effect  upon  the  growing  wrain, 
over  our  whole  State,  with  few  exceptions.  A 
few  of  our  farmers  are   plowing  down   their 
worst    grainfields,    and    are    preparing    the 
ground  for  a  crop  of  corn.    Thia  may  be  "wise 
or  otherwise  "    just  in  proportion  to  its  pres- 
ent real  condition,  and  the  character  of  the 
coming  summer  and  autumn.    At   least,  we 
have  known  instances,  in  our  life-time,  when 
those  who  "  plowed  down  "  made  a  mistake, 
and  those  -who  d  d  not  realized  an  average 
crop.     Circumstances,  however,  alter  cases, 
and  if  therefore  a  large  crop  of  corn  can  be 
secured,  it  will  be  some  compensation  for  the 
loss  of  wheat.    In  addition   to  this,  if  the 
weather  should  prove  favorable,  we  may  also 
have  the   oat,  potato,  vegetable  and  tobacco 
crops  to  fall  back  upon.  It  is  true  that  tobacco 
would  be  a  poor  substitute  in  case  of  entire 
failure  or  fatuiue  ;  but  then  it  brings  in  money,  • 
and  with  mi-ney  m  a  country  so  vast  and 
diversified  as  ours,  if  the  means  of  subsistence 
fail  in  the  one  district,  ii  can  be  obtained  from  • 
another   more   fortunate    one.      Along    the 
"  Pacific  Slope,"  especially  in  California,  the 
prospects  seem  to  be  more  favo table.    So  far 
as  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  up  to  the  pres- 
ent writing,  the  prospects  of  a  fruit  crop  are 
more  promising,  and  even  now  the  trees  are 
blooming    profusely   beautiful.     The    injury 
which  the  fruit  trees  really  sustained  last  win- 
ter cannot  truly  be  known  until  the  fruit  be- 
gins to  "  set."    But  even  if  it  has  escaped  in- 
jury from  winter  freezing,  storms,  hail  and 
cold  dashing  rains,  at  the  fertilizing  period, 


100 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER, 


may  produce  results  as  damaging  as  freezing — 
results  which  we  have  had  cause  to  deplore 
on  many  previous  occasions.  These  results 
probably  will  never  cease,  as  contingencies, 
until  there  can  be  some  return  to  primitive 
forest  protection  ?  far  in  the  future  we  fear. 


MEETING   GF    THE  AGRICULTURAL 
AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

THE  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  soci- 
ety was  held,  pursuant  to  adjournment, 
on  Monday,  April  9, 1872,  and  in  the  absence 
of  the  chairman,  Levi  S.  Reist,  First  Vice 
President,  called  the  society  to  order,  and  the 
minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and 
approved. 

A  committee  of  ladif  s  representing  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Children's  Home  called  upon  the 
society  and  asked  that  the  members  would 
consent  to  inaugurate  a  plan  for  the  raising  of 
supplies  for  the  Home  in  different  parts  of  the 
county. 

On  motion  of  Jacob  G.  Peters  a  committee 
of  four  members  of  the  society  was  appointed 
to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  managers  of  the 
Home  to  devise  some  method  for  the  raising 
of  supplies  for  the  Home,  and  to  report  to  the 
next  meeting. 

Committee,  J.  G.  Peters,  H.  K.  Stoner  and 
Jacob  M.  Frantz. 

D.  L.  Resh  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
society. 

Henry  M.  Engle  proceeded  to  submit  some 
views  as  to  the  best  method  of  raising  early 
potatoes.  He  considers  the  Early  Rose  the 
leading  potato  now  grown  as  regards  produc- 
tiveness, quality  and  earliness. 

Milton  B.  Eshleman  agrees  with  Mr.  Engle 
in  his  estimate  of  the  Early  Roso.  He  thinks 
small  white  potatoes  the  best  for  planting. 

Levi  S.  Reist  thinks  the  Early  Rose  will  do 
well  also  for  a  late  potato. 

Henry  M.  Engle  thinks  that  the  Early  Rose 
will  do  well  for  a  late  potato.  A  diflSculty  in 
having  it  for  a  late  potato,  however,  is  that  it 
grows  very  early  in  the  spring.  The  process 
to  secure  an  early  variety  of  potatoes  is  to  plant 
always  those  that  first  mature,  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  you  still  get  them  earlier  and  ear. 
lier,  "and  rice  versa^  by  planting  the  late-ma- 
turing ones  you  get  a  late  variety.  This  seems 
to  be  a  web  of  nature  that  obtains  not  only  in 
'  potatoes,  but  also  in  corn  and  other  vegetables. 


To  question  of  H.  K.  Stoner,  Mr.  Engle  re- 
plied that  it  makes  no  difference  whether  we 
plant  large  or  small  potatoes.  He  has  plant- 
ed large  and  small  ones,  side  by  side,  and  no 
preceptible  difference  in  the  crop  was  ever 
perceived.  He  however  is  inclined  to  think 
that  by  constantly  planting  the  largest,  the 
variety  may  be  improved,  and  on  the  other 
hand  by  planting  the  small  ones  for  years 
they  would  in  time  degenerate. 

To  question  of  Israel  Landis,  concerning 
Chester  county  mammoth  corn,  Johnson  Mil- 
ler said  that  he  had  tried  it  last  year,  and  he 
found  it  not  equal  to  Lancaster  county  corn. 
Milton  B.  Eshelman  knew  a  farmer  who  had 
grown  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  bushels  of 
Chester  Mammoth  corn  per  acre. 

Johnson  Miller  thinks  farmers  should  al- 
ways select  the  finest  ears  of  corn  for  seed. 

As  regards  the  comparative  quality  of  fer- 
tilizers, Milton  Eshelman  said  that  although 
he  owned  a  bone  mill  and  sold  considerable 
quantities  of  bone  dust,  yet  he  was  free  to  say 
that  he  still  regards  stable  manure  as  the  best 
of  fertilizers.  Next  to  stable  manure  he  esti- 
mates bone  dust. 

Israel  L.  Landis  had  seen  in  an  agricultural 
paper,  that  the  tobacco  growers  of  Connecti- 
cut had  abandoned  all  fertilizers  except  barn- 
yard manure . 

"Webster  L.  Hershey  remarked  that  manure 
is  better  preserved  in  the  Eastern  States  than 
in  Pennsylvania.    There  they  generally  keep 
their  manure  under  cover. 

H.  M.  Engle  whilst  ready  to  concede  that  ia 
most  cases  barn-yard  manure  is  the  best,  yet 
in  some  cases  he  thought  artificial  fertilizers 
might  answer  equally  as  good  a  purpose. 

Milton  B.  Eshelman  was  named  as  essayist 
for  the  meeting  in  May,  and  Ephraim  Hoover 
for  the  June  meeting. 

Society  on  motion  adjourned. 


All  kinds  of  poultry  and  meat  can  be  cook- 
ed quicker  by  adding  to  the  quart  of  water  in 
which  they  are  boiled  a  little  vinegar  or  a  piece 
of  a  lemon.  By  the  use  of  an  acid  there  will 
be  a  considerable  saving  of  fuel,  as  well  as 
shortening  of  time.  Its  action  is  beneficial 
on  old,  tough  meats,  rendering  them  quite  ten- 
der and  easy  to  be  digested.  Tainted  meats 
and  fowls  will  lose  their  bad  taste  and  odor  if 
cooked  in  this  way,  and  if  not  used  too  freely, 
no  taste  of  it  will  be  acquired. 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


101 


BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  iNOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 


OUR  BOOK  TABLE. 

Gardener'8  Monthly.— We  know  of  mo  .iournal,  de- 
voted to  a  similar  speciality,  more  punctual,  more  retresu- 
ing,  or  teeming  with  a  greater  vaneiy  than  thw  ever  wel- 
come monthly.  The  April  number,  be  tore  us,  '  last  and 
beat,"  is  apropos  to  the  season. 

We  have  received  a  copy  of  an  "  Address  to  the  Agri- 
cultural Organizations  in  the  United  Sta-es,  preparea  by 
a  committee  in  Obedience  to  a  rcsolutioa  by  tne  JVatiunal 
Agricultural  Aisociauon,  together  wituthe  c^ustuution  and 
proce<5ding3,"  and  aiso  a  list  of  its  officers.  We  refer  our 
reidera  to  our  April  number,  pago  64,  and  hope  to  pubiish 
the  ad.lress  in  some  future  number. 

Never  get  a  poor  farm  implemen;,.  Oct  the  best.  Get 
the  Blanchard  Ohurn. 

A.  B.  Allen  &  Go's  "  Descriptive  catalogue  of  Live 
Stock,  both  imported  and  home-bred,  lucluaing  uoraes, 
neat  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  swine,  dogs,  poultry,  pigeons, 
rabbits,  and  useful  and  ornameut*i  tisu,"  la  tue  very 
thing  for  stock  tanciers  to  consult.  Address,  Jf .  O.  JtSox 
376,  New  York. 

The  South— An  8-page  folio,  "  devoted  to  the  material 
interests  of  the  Southern  States,"  contdius  a  vaso  d,mouut 
of  useful  information,  especially  to  those  who  think  of 
emigrating  to  that  sunny  region.  JStw  York.  jfS.uO  per 
annum. 

The  Iron  World  and  Manufacturer,  "  a  represen- 
tative of  American  Metal  Manufacturers,  Workeis  a  d 
Dealers.  This  is  a  royal  illusiratad  fodo,  containing  the 
"  prices  current"  ana  much  other  useful  aud  interesting 
matter  relating  to  the  subjects  embraced  in  its  title. 
Pittsbarg.    $4.00  per  year. 

Amkhican  Kural  Homes,  a  royal  quarto,  devoted  to 
tiild  and  stock  husbandry,  rural  misceliany,  hoiticulture, 
practical  science,  the  heartnsioue,  6abbatU  reauiug,  liter- 
ature, exchange,  the  outside  world,  and  hous.-keeping. 
Kochester,  New  York.    $2.00  per  annum. 

The  Building  Association  Journal,  published  by 
Oharies  H.  Marot,  23  North  btn  street,  Fhii'a.,  is  on  our 
table.  This  journal  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  mem- 
ber of  a  Building  Association.  It  is  published  monthly  at 
only  50  cents  per  year. 

Over  Fifty  Thousand  Blanchard  Churns  are  now  in  suc- 
cessful operation.  Pretty  good  pruof  that  they  are 
liked. 

Our  Church  Work— "  Nil  desperandumdsoduce  "  pub- 
lished monthly  by  the'- Church  r-rtsj  Association, "  jial- 
timore,  Md.,  Hev.  Hugh  Boy  Scott  editor.  An  Episcopal 
disseminator  of  religious  instruction  to  the  common  peo- 
pie.    $1.00  per  annum. 

The  American  Agriculturist  and  the  New  York  Rural 
those  twin  princes  in  agricultuial  and  domestic  literature' 
are  regularly  upon  our  table,  aud  freighted  with  usefui 
and  entertaining  matter  in  their  special  departments 
They  are  both  too  well  established  to  need  any  eulogy 
from  us. 

The  GermarUown  Teiegraph,  the  New  York  Observer  and 
the  exchanges  generally,  which  hive  been  noticed  ia  our 
February,  March  and  April  numbern,  have  come  regu- 
larly to  hand.  Also  the  Manheim  Sentmel,  the  Vallev 
Spirit,  The  Free  Press,  theMoutU  Joy  Herald,  and  other  city 
and  county  papers. 

A  Noble  Lord,  sequel  to  '<  The  Lost  Heir  of  Linlith- 
gow," by  Mrs.  Eiuma  D.  E.  N.  Southworth,  has  Just  been 
published  by  T.  B.  Peterson  &  Brothers,  Philadelphia. 

Ail  who  have  read  that  most  fascinating  of  modern 
novels,  "  The  Lost  Heir  of  Linlithgow  "—and  who  has 
not,  as  it  has  passed  to  four  editions  in  tive  weeks-  will  be 
pleased  to  learn  that  its  gifted  authoress  has  provided  a 
sequel  to  the  wondrou.sly  interesting  story.  "  A  Noble 
Lord  "  is  the  title  of  the  conclusion  of  the  last  entrancing 
narrative  from  the  prolific  and  graphic  pen  of  Mrs.  South- 
worth.  It  takes  up  the  thread  of  the  absorbing  romance 
where  the  tinul  chapter  of  the  "  The  Lost  Heir  "  left  it,  and 


from  the  woof  and  web  of  the  thrilling  incidents,  myste- 
rious circumstances,  and  interesting  and  sharply  indiviu- 
ualized  characters,  the  practiced  and  talented  novelist 
has  wrought  out  a  literary  masterpiece  in  the  popular 
held  of  prose  fiction.  Those  desiring  entertaining  reading 
of  the  highest  order  should  .secure  both  Mrs.  Soutuworth's 
last  great  novel  and  its  sequel.  Published  in  uniform, 
elegant  and  durable  style  by  X.  B.  Peterson  &  Brothers, 
No  306  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

It  is  issued  in  a  large  duodecimo  volume,  and  sold  by  all 
booksellers  at  tue  low  price  of  $^1.75  in  cloth,  or  $1.50  in 
paper  cover ;  or  copies  will  be  sent  by  mail,  lo  any  place, 
postpaid  by  the  publishers,  on  receipt  ot  the  price  oi  the 
worK  in  a  letter  to  tliem. 

The  LiDT's  Friisnd  for  May.  This  number  opens 
with  an  uncommonly  beautilui  engraving  of  ••  The  Lady 
Elleyu  " — who  u  kneeling  at  an  open  window,  and  evi- 
dently awaiting  the  eouilug  ot  her  own  true  Knight.  The 
Fashion  UesiJiis  are  as  usuil,  novel  and  stylish,  and  the 
pattern  dep^trtuient  is  ampiy  i.lustrated  with  mo  lels  lor 
useful  and  ornamental  wear,  suitable  for  ladies  of  mod- 
erate means,  as  well  as  tue  wealthy.  In  the  literary  de- 
partment, wnich  is  as  rich  as  usual,  we  note  '•  Pink 
Corals,"  by  Daisy  Veutnor  ;  -'The  Old  Maids  of  Hope- 
ton,"  by  Sarah  Brion  ;  '•  Shiloh,"  by  Mrs.  M.  c.  Pyle  ;  and 
Mrs  Henry  Wood's  absorbingly  interesting  story  ot 
•'  Within  the  Maze  ;  or.  Lady  Andinniau's  Trial,"  which 
none  of  our  laUy  leaders,  who  like  a  good  story, should 
fail  to  peruie.  I'he  Music  this  month  is  the  song  of  '•  Ethel 
Wayne."  Price,  .if 2  00  a  year.  Four  copies,  $6.00.  Eight 
copies  (and  one  gratis)  $12  00.  "  The  Lady's  Friend  "  and 
"  xhe  Saturday  Evening  Post,"  $4.00.  Publishedjby  Dea- 
con tS  Peterson,  Puiladelpuia.  /Single  copies  for  sale  by  all 
News  Dealers,  and  by  the  Publishers,  price  20  cents. 

Home  AND  Health. — The  April  number  of  this  valu- 
able and  spicy  family  and  health  journal  is  received.  The 
Miy  number  is  to  be  greatly  enlarged,  and  will  be  under 
the  eaitoiial  management  of  Kev.  Geo.  Lyon,  a  gentle- 
man 01  rare  acquirements.  In  every  number  there  will  be 
tne  most  entertaining  and  instructive  reading  tor  parents 
aud  aduUs,  va.uable  iniormatiou  on  plants,  limts  and 
flowers  useful  hints  on  housekeeping  and  cooking,  to- 
gether with  the  most  varied  and  elaborate  articles  ou'hy- 
giene  aud  medicine,  and  on  the  heme  treatment  of  all 
diseases  and  ailments.  Notwithstanding  all  these  im- 
provements the  price  is  to  remain  the  same,  $1.50  per 
annum.  Address,  Home  Publishing  House,  or  De  Pay, 
Lyou  &  Co.,  62  Fourth  Avenue,  Now  York. 

Tna  Printers'  uiecular  published  by  R.  S.  Menamin 
515,  517  and  oiO  Minor  street,  Philadelphia,  is  on  our  tabl«'' 
and  is  as  intcrtstijg  as  it  is  useful.  Our  friend,  -'Bob  '' 
knows  how  to  cater  to  the  good  tastes  ot  the  piinters.  His 
journal  is  more  reliable  than  any  other  of  its  class  pub- 
lished. 

Pure  Hubbakd  Squash. 

Having  been  the  original  introducer  of  this  famous 
Squasii,  I  am  prepared  to  supply  seed  dealers  and  farm- 
ers aud  gardeners  with  the  purest  seed  of  my  own  raising. 
Catalogues  with  prices,  fe:e  to  all. 

JAMES  J.  H.  GUEGOBY,  Marblehead,  Mass. 
Marblehead  Mammoth  Cabbage. 
This  is  the  largest  Cabbage  in  the  world ;  has  been  grown 
to  the  weight  of  sixty  pounds.  Packages  of  seed  with  an 
engravingof  this  Cabbaga,  aud  full  instructions  for  grow- 
ing, 25  cents :— par  ounce,  $1.00.  I  am  the  original  intro- 
ducer of  this  Cabbage,  and  my  seed  is  pure.  Descriptiye 
Catalogues/rec  to  all. 

JAMES  J.  H.  GREGORY,  Marblehead,  Mass. 

It  will  pay  you  to  send  to  Porter  Blanchard 's  Sons,  Con- 
cord, N.  H.,or  to  any  dealer  in  fist-class  dairy  machinery, 
for  the  circulars  oi  their  excellent  churn. 

TuKNew  York  Ind -.pendent  is  the  one  of  all  our  religious 
Ameriean  lewspapers  that  deserves  to  find  a  place  in  tl»a 
family  of  every  farmer  of  our  couutry.  Its  articles  Hre 
from  the  penof  the  uiost|talentcd  writers,  and  they  breathe 
a  freshness  and  vigor  of  thought  tliat  are  p(>culiar  charac- 
teristic.** of  the  Ind  pendent,  'iae  cireulation  of  this  paper, 
which  in  18G2  was  already  very  large  has  since  thit  tim- 
almost  trebled  itself,  is  steadly  increasing.  Any  of  our 
readers  who  wish  to  subscribe  for  a  first-class  religious  pi- 
per, should  procure  the  Independent.  Terms  S3  5i)  per 
annum.  Addres-*,  Henry  U.  Bowen,  publi-her.  No.  3  Park 
Place,  New  York. 


102 


THE  L A J^ CASTER  FARMER. 


PH1L,ADELPHIA  MAKKETS. 

Monday,  April  29,  1872. 

B AEK  is  scarce  and  firmly  held  at  $37 .50a-l0  ^ton  for  No_ 
1  Qaercitron.    Tanner's  is  nominal. 

Seeds. — Cloverseed  moves  slowly  and  ranges  from  8  to 
8J^c  for  common,  up  to  S^iaOij'c  fur  good  and  prime  Penn- 
sylvania and  Wes-tern.  Timothy  is  nominal  at  $2.87X- 
Flaxseed  is  scarce  and  commands  $2.10a2.15. 

Feed.— Bran  is  dull  and  otter-d  at  $29  ^  ton. 

Flour. — There  islpf?s  activity  in  the  Flour  market,  bu^, 
with  very  moderate  receipts  aud  a  greatly-i educed  stoik, 
holders  are  very  firm  to  their  views,  particularly  for  de- 
sirable grades  of  extra  familins.  The  demami  is  princi- 
pally from  the  home  trade,  who  are  temporarily  well  sup- 
plied. Small  sales  of  superfine  at  5.75*6  25;  extras  at 
$e  50a7  25  ;  ICO  bbls  Wisconsin  extra  family,  good,  at  $8  , 
100  bbls  Iowa  do.  at  S8  ;  100  bbis  Minnesota  do.  at  t8.50  ; 
400  Ibis  Pennsylvania  do,  good  and  choice,  at  S9a9.25 ; 
Ohio  and  Indiana  do.,  in  lots,  at  S9i9  .W  ;  2C0  bbls  We-^tern 
fancy  at  $10  ;  and  high  grad-s  at  $10  51*11.  Rye  Flour  is 
uncbaiige  1 ;  sales  of  100  bbls  at  $5.25.  In  corn  meal  noth- 
irgdoing 

Grain.— The  receipts  and  ofienngs  of  Wheat  are  small, 
and  holders  are  very  stitf  in  their  vi-ws,  in  tact,  many  are 
indifferent  about  operating  at  present  prices  ;  sales  of  500 
bushels  Pennsylvania  red  at  $1  92  ;  2,300  bushels  Western 
do.  at$l  91al  93;  800  bushels  Indiana  amber  at  S2  :  400 
bushels  Michigan  white  at  82  10  ;  400  bushels  Pennsylva- 
nia do.  at  82.  and  400  bushels  No.  1  sprins;  at  $177  The 
receipts  of  ttye  are  small,  and  it  Is  held  firmly  at  $1.  Corn 
is  in  fair  request  at  Saturday's  quotations;  sales  of  1,200 
bushels  yellow  at  69.-; ;  400  bushels  low  and  high  Western 
mixed  at  68a69e,and40,000bushelsdo.  do.  on  private  terms. 
Oats  are  in  moderate  request  atformer  rates  ;  salesof  1,400 
bushels  Western  white  at  55a56c,  and  some  mixed  at  53a 
54c.    In  Barley  and  Barley  Malt  no  sales  were  reported. 

Provisions  are  without  improvement  Sales  ot"  Mess 
Pork  at  $13  25al3  -50  ^  bbl,  prime  Mess  at  $12,  and  Mess 
Beef  at$14  50al4  75.  Beef  Hams  are  worth  $23 1.27.  Bacon 
is  depressed  ;  sales  of  plain  sugar  cured  city-smoked  hams 
at  lOallc,  canvassed  Western  at  Halite,  sides  at  lul^c, 
and  shoulders  at  5>4'c.  Green  meats  are  steady;  sales  of 
pickled  hams  at  9V;ic  for  14  lbs  averages,  ^'r^a  for  15  lbs, 
and  9c  tor  16  lbs  ;  'sides  at  6a6;^c,  and  shoulders,  in  s  It, 
at4^a43i^c.  Lard  attracts  but  little  attention;  sates  of 
bblsand  tcsat9a9ji^c  for  Western  steam  and  kettle-ren- 
dered. 

CHICAGO  MAKKETS. 

Chicago,  April  29, 1872. 
Flour — Strong  but  quiet;  spring  extr^  $6  25a7  25.  Wheat 
strong;  No.  2  at  $135.  Corn  active;  JSo.  2  mixed  43xa 
43^c.  Oats  active  ;  No.  2  at  ;^5a35!.^c.  Kye  strong  ;  No.  2 
at  75c.  Barley  firm;  No.  2  at  57c.  Provisions  opened 
stro'  g  but  closed  weak.  Mess  pork  $12  55a  12  60  Lard 
S8  75aS  80.  Bulk  mtats  steady ;  shoulders  i]4c,  clpar  ribs 
6^a6;^c,  clear  sides  7,Va'?Mc,  hams  in  pickle  8a9;^c.  Liva 
bogs  active  but  a  shade  easier  ft  $4  10a4  45.  Iteceipts— 
Flour  5,000  bbls,  wheat  400  bush,  corn  187,000  do,  oats  35,000 
do,  rye  100  do,  barley  2,000  do,  hogs  3000.  Shipments — Flour 
6,000  bbls,  wheat  55,000  bush,  corn  780,000  do.  oats  26,000 
do,  rye  2,000,  do,  bai  ley  8,000  do,  hcgs  4,000. 

ST.  LOUIS  MARKETS. 

St.  Louis,  April  29,  1872. 
Flour— Demand  light  and  holders  firm;  treble  $8 25a 
8  75  ;  family  S9a9  80.  Wheat  active  and  higner  ;  No.  3  fall 
SI  65 ;  No.  2  winter  red  $2  05 ;  No  2  spring  nominally 
higher  at  $1  40.  Corn  active  and  higher  and  irregular ;  No. 
2mixed43Xa45c.  Oats  higher ;  No.  2  at  40c,  Barley  dull; 
choice  Towa  70c.  Bye  firm  ;  No.  2  at  82c.  Provisions- 
Mess  pork  higher  at  $12  75  ;  generally  held  at  Sl3.  Dry 
salted  meats  active  and  higher  ;  loose  Jhoulders  4i^c;  dear 
rib  sides  6>^c  ;  clear  sides  6%c  ;  hams  l}i@:iy^c;  boxed  8c. 
Bacon  active  and  higher;  packed  phouldsrs  5xc  ;  clear  rib 
sides7>4c  ;  clear  sides  1%c;  last  half  May  8c;  loose  clear 
rib  sides,  same  option,  held  at  7  xc.  Lard  wanted  atS^c; 
heldatsjlic.  Live  Hogs  quiet  at  $3  75a3  70.  Cattle  un- 
changed at  $3  50a6  75.  Receipts— 4,000  bbls  flour,  4,000  bush 
wheat,  15,000  do  corn,  4,000.do  oats,  2,000  do  barley,  1,000 
^hogs. 

PHILADELPHIA  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  April  19,  P.  M. 
Bebf  Cattlw.— The  prominent  features  of  ihe  cattle 
market  remain  subsvantially  the  same  as  at  the  close  of  our 
last  r.port.  Some  extra  droves  were  on  sale,  and  were 
taken  un  quickly  at  very  full  figures,  but  for  other  descrip- 
tions tlitre  was  no  demand  of  moment,  and  prices,  if  any- 
thing, favored  buyers.  We  quote  extra  at  7Ji,'a9e;  choice 
at  7a7>^c  ;  fair  to  good  at  5>^a6)7<c,  and  comiuon  at  4a5c  ^ 
lb.  gro,.s.  Receipts,  2,100  head,  of  which  1,200  were  from 
Pennsylvania. 


Cows  and  '^-alves  met  a  fair  demand  at  about  last 
week's  figures;  sales  of  springers  at  $40a55  ;  fresh  cows  at 
$50a70  ;  receipts,  200  head. 

SHEKP.-The  gjneral  market  was  devoid  of  animation, 
and  prices  favored  buyers;  sales  of  wooled  at  lOalO^c  tor 
choice,  9j4a9>^c  for  fair  to  good.  Tjy^etS^c  for  common,  and 
clipped  at  6a7^c  W  lb.  gross.  Lanibs  were  taken  as  want- 
ed at  $2  50a4  tor  common  up  to  $5  07  lor  prime  ;  receipts, 
16,000  hea.J 

Hogs  attracted  but  little  attention,  buyers  purchasing 
only  to  supply  pressing  wants  ;  sales  of  slop  at  $6  25a5  50, 
and  corn-fed  at  $7a7  25  ^  100  lbs.  net ;  receipts,  4,049 
head. 

NEW  YORK  MARKETS. 

New  York,  April  29,  1872. 

Flour,  etc — Our  market  for  Flour  is  quiet  but  firm;  the 
demand  is  chiefly  for  the  low  and  medium  grades;  these 
are  in  moderate  supply  and  wanted  for  the  West  Indies. 
Family  brands  ttroug.  At  the  close  the  market  is  quiet 
but  firm.  The  sales  were  7,500  barrels.  We  quote  as  fol- 
lows :  Sour,  =r  barrel,  $5  OOaO  75  ;  No.  2  $4  70a6  45 ;  super- 
fine $6  55a7  00 ;  State,  extra  brancJs,  $7  25, .7  60 ;  State  fancy 
ditto,  Wi  50a8  20  ;  western  shipping  extras  $7  15a7  40;  Min- 
nes  ta  extras  $7  90a9  50  ;  good  lO  choice  spring  wheat  ex- 
tras $7  90a8  75  ;  extra  amier  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Michigan 
$8  60al0 ;  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  superfine  $6  60a7  00  ; 
Ohio  round-hoop  extra  shipping  $7  60u7  95  ;  Ohio  extra 
trade  brands  .$8  00a9  00  ;  white  wheat  extra  Ohio,  Indiana 
and  Michigan  $8  80al0 ;  double  extra  do  do  S9  SOalO  50; 
St.  Louis  single  extras '$9a9  75;  St.  Louis  double  extras 
,$9  85all  75 ;  St.  Louis  triple  extras  $11  85al3  25  ;  Genesee, 
extra  brand?,  $9  25al0. 

Grain. — At  the  close  the  market  ia  heavy  and  inactive 
for  spring  and  firmer  for  winter.  The  sales  are  31,600  bush- 
els, at  $1  85  lor  red  western  in  store  ;  $2  for  white  Michi- 
gan on  canal,  and  $2  10  afloat;  1  93  bid  for  amber  do  in 
store. 

Barley  is  inactive  and  tame  for  common  but  firm  for 
choice.  Barley  malt  is  dull  and  heavy.  Oats  are  more  ac- 
tive and  firmer.  The  sales  are  61,400  bushels;  new  Ohio 
mixed  at  52a52>^c  in  store  ;  white  at  54c  in  store ;  western 
mixed  at  52c  in  store,  a  d  53c  afloat ;  white  at  58c  on  track. 
Kye  is  belter  and  more  active,  the  demand  in  part  specu- 
lative. The  sales  are  28,600  bushels  ;  western  at  93a94c  in 
store,  and  small  lots  at  56c  ;  State  at  $1  00. 

Corn  ia  less  active,  and  closes  tame ;  shippers  hold  off, 
and  there  is  only  a  limited  speculative  inquiry  for  the  fu- 
ture. The  sales  are  82,600  bushels ;  western  mixed  at  76a 
77c,  closing  tame  at  76c  ;  western  white  at  77)^0  ;  western 
yellow  at  77a77;^c  ;  souihern  white  at  78;  State  round  yel- 
low at  86c. 

Seeds.— The  market  for  both  clover  and  timothy  re- 
mained inactive  and  quotations  entirely  nominal  at  9;^a 
10c  for  clover  and  $2  75a3  for  timothy. 

Tallow  dull  and  nominal.  Most  of  the  holders  ask  9i^c 
for  citv.     Later  sales  of 25, 000  lbs  at  9%c. 

Tobacco. — seed  leaf  continues  in  good  demand  and  the 
market  is  firm,  but  in  prices  we  learn  of  no  particular 
change.  Wi^  quote  old  crop  ar  25a40c  for  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts  wrappers ;  20a25c  for  do.  secou'S,  and  16a 
16  lor  do.  fillers;  2ori40c  tor  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  wrap- 
pers; 15a25c  for  average  lots,  and  12al5c  for  tillers  and 
binders,  and  new  crop  at  8;^al0c  for  State  running  lots; 
12i^.i21,'^c  for  Pennsylvania  fair  to  fine  ;  lOaH^^c  for  Ohio 
running  lots,  and  S^iaOc  for  Missouri  and  western. 

Hay.— There  continued  a  good  demand,  and  the  market 
is  firm.  We  quote  :  $1  40al  45  for  shipping  ;  $1  50al  85  for 
retail  lots;  60a80c  for  salt  hay,  and  $lal  10  for  clover. 
Straw  in  limited  demand  ana  steady,  at$lal  15  for  long  rye, 
80ca$l  for  short  do,  and  80a90c  for  oat. 

Provisions— The  pork  market  is  fairly  active  and  steady, 
but  otfered  with  a  little  more  freedom.  The  sales,  cash  and 
regular,  are  800  bbls  at  $13  25  for  old  mess,  $13  90al4  for 
new  do ;  $13al3  50  for  western  prime  mers.  For  future  de- 
livery dull.  Beef  is  in  moderate  request  and  prices  are 
steady.  Sales  oi  200  bbls,  at  gSaiO  for  plain  mess  and  ftlOa 
12  for  extra  mess.  Tierce  meat  is  in  rather  better  de- 
mand, and  though  no  higher,  the  market  has  a  compara- 
tively steady  tone.  Sales  of  300  tcs  at  $15al8  for  prime 
mess  and  $i8all  for  India  mess.  Beef  hams  are  firm  and 
in  good  jobbing  demand,  sales  of  195  bbls  at  $22a27  for 
western. 

Cut  meats  are  sparingly  offered,  meet  with  a  good  de- 
mand, and  generally  rule  qui-e  firm  on  all  grades;  sales 
of  275pkg8  at55^a5;^c  for  shoulders,  and  9al0c  for  hams 
in  dry  salt  and  pickle.  Bacon  is  not  active  and  hardly  so 
firm;  sales  of  25  boxes  at  7>4'c  for  short  rib.  Dressed 
Hogs  are  firm;  we  quote  6a6xc  for  city.  Lard  is  not  ac- 
tive and  barely  steady  ;  sales  of  350  bbls  and  tcs,  at  9c  for 
No.  1,  9^0  for  city,  9^ for  fair  to  prime  steam,  and  0%c 
for  ketlld  rendered.  For  future  delivery,  sales  of  2,000  tcs 
at  9X^  tor  June  and  9^  for  July. 


DEVOTED  TO 
Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany . 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  KATHVOX  AXD  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 
"  Tlte  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  civiUzatloii.''--WEBSTER. 


Vol.  ir. 


JUJVE,  1872. 


JVo.  6. 


THE  LONELINESS  OP  FARMING  LIFE 

IN   AMERICA. 

IN  Scribner^s  Monthly  for  June,  which  is  al- 
ready upon  our  table,  Dr,  J.  G- Holland 
gives  a  new  and  not  over-agreeable  picture  of 
American  farm  life  in  the  following  sketch  : 

An  American  traveler  in  the  Old  World 
notices  among  the  multitude  of  things  that 
are  new  to  his  eye,  the  j;athering^  of  agricul- 
tural populations  into  villages.  He  has  been 
accustomed  in  his  own  country  to  see  them 
distributed  upon  the  farms  they  cultivate.  The 
isolated  farm  life,  so  universal  here,  either 
does  not  exist  at  all  in  the  greater  part  of 
continental  Europe,  or  it  exists  as  a  compara- 
tively modern  institution.  The  old  popula- 
tions, of  all  callings  and  professions,  clustered 
together  for  self-defense,  and  built  walls 
around  themselves.  Out  from  these  walls, 
for  miles  around,  v/ent  the  tillers  of  the  soil 
in  the  morning,  and  back  into  the  gates  they 
thronged  at  night.  Cottages  were  clustered 
around  feudal  castles,  and  grew  into  towns ; 
and  so  Europe  for  many  centuries  was  cultivat- 
ed mainly  by  people  who  lived  in  villages  and 
cities,  many  of  which  were  walled,  and  all  of 
which  possessed  appointments  of  defense. 
The  early  settlers  in  our  own  country  took  the 
same  means  to  defend  themselves  from  the 
treacherous  Indian.  The  towns  of  Hadley, 
Korthfield,  and  Deerfield,  on  the  Connecticut 
river,  are  notable  examples  of  this  kind  of 
building;  and  to  this  day  they  remain  villages 
of  agriculturists.  That  this  is  the  way  in 
which  farmers  ought  to  live  we  have  no  ques- 
tion ,  and  we  wish  to  say  a  few  words  about  it. 

There  is  some  reason  for  the  general  dis- 
position of  American  men  and  womt  n  to  shun 
agricultural  pursuits  which  the  observers  and 
philosophers  have  been  slow  to  find.  We  see 
young  men  pushing  everywhere  into  trade, 
into  mechanical  pursuits,  into  the  learned 
professions,  into  insignificant  clerkships,  into 
salaried  positions  of  every  sort  that  will  take 
them  into  towns  and  support  and  hold  them 
there.    We  find  it  impossible  to  drive  poor 


people  from  the  cities  with  the  threat  of 
starvation,  or  to  coax  them  with  the  promise 
of  better  pay  and  cheaper  fare.  There  they 
stay,  and  starve, aud  sicken,  and  sink.  Young 
women  resort  to  the  shops  and  fact;)rie3 
rather  than  take  service  in  farmers'  houses, 
where  they  are  received  as  members  of  the 
family ;  and  when  they  marry,  they  seek  an 
alliance,  when  practicable,  with  mechanics 
and  tradesmen  who  live  in  villages  and  large 
towns.  The  daughters  of  the  farmer  fly  the 
farm  at  the  first  opportunity.  The  towns 
grow  larger  all  the  time,  and,  in  New  Eng- 
land at  least,  the  farms  are  becoming  wider 
and  longer,  and  the  farming  population  are 
diminished  in  numbers,  and,  in  some  locali- 
ties, degraded  in  quality  and  character. 

It  all  comes  to  this,  that  isolated  life  has 
very  little  significance  to  a  social  being.  The 
social  life  of  the  village  aud  the  city  has  in- 
tense fascination  to  the  lonely  dwellers  on  the 
farm,  or  to  a  great  multitude  of  them.  Espe- 
cially is  this  the  case  with  the  young.  The 
youth  of  both  sexes  who  have  seen  nothing  of 
the  world  have  an  overwhelming  desire  to 
meet  life  aud  to  be  among  the  multitude. 
They  feel  their  life  to  be  narrow  in  its  oppor- 
tunities and  its  rewards,  and  the  pulsations  of 
the  great  social  heart  that  comes  to  them  in 
rushing  trains  and  passing  steamers  and  daily 
newspapers,  damp  with  the  dews  of  a  hundred 
brows,  thrill  them  with  longings  for  the  places 
where  the  rythmic  throb  is  felt  aud  heard. 
They  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  this.  It  is  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world.  If  all  of 
life  were  labor— if  the  great  object  of  life 
were  the  scraping  together  of  a  few  dollars, 
more  or  less — why,  isolation  without  diver- 
sion would  be  economy  and  profit;  but  so 
long  as  the  object  of  life  is  life,  aud  the  best 
and  purest  and  happiest  that  can  come  of  it, 
all  needless  isolation  is  a  crime  against  the 
soul  in  that  it  is  a  surrender  and  sacrifice  of 
noble  opportunities. 

We  are,  therefore,  not  sorry  to  see  farms 
growing  larger,  provided  those  who  work 
them  will  get  nearer  together ;  and  that  is 
what  they  ought  to  do.     Any  farmer  who 


lOJi. 


THE  LAJ^VASTER  FARMER, 


plants  himself  and  his  family  alone — far  from 
possible  neighbors — takes  upon  himself  a  ter- 
rible responsibility.  It  is  impossibie  that  he 
and  his  should  be  developed  and  thoroughly 
happy  there.  He  will  be  forsaken  in  his  old 
age  by  the  very  children  for  whom  he  has 
made  his  great  sacrifice.  They  will  fly  to  the 
towns  for  the  social  food  and  stimulus  for 
which  they  have  starved.  We  never  hear  of 
a  colouy  settling  a  Western  prairie  without  a 
thrill  of  pleasure.  It  is  in  colonies  that  all 
ought  to  settle,  and  in  villages  rather  than  on 
separated  farms.  The  meeting,  the  lecture, 
tbe  public  amusement,  the  social  assembly, 
should  be  things  easily  reached.  Thi-re  is  no 
such  damper  upon  free  social  life  as  distance. 
A  long  road  is  the  surest  bar  to  neighborly 
intercourse.  If  the  social  life  of  the  farmer 
were  richer,  his  life  would  by  that  measure  be 
the  more  attractive. 

After  all,  there  are  farmers  who  will  read 
ibis  article  with  a  sense  of  affront  or 
injury,  as  if  by  doubting  or  disputing  the  suf- 
ficiency of  their  social  opportunities  we  insult 
Ibem  With  a  sort  of  contempt.  We  assure 
them  that  they  cannot  afford  to  treat  thor- 
oughly sympathetic  counsel  in  this  way.  We 
know  that  their  wives  and  daughters  and  sons 
are  on  our  side,  quarrel  with  us  as  they  may  ; 
and  the  women  and  children  are  right.  "The 
old  man,"  who  rides  to  market  and  the  post- 
office,  and  mingles  more  or  less  in  business 
with  the  world,  gets  along  tolerably  well ;  but 
it  is  the  stayers-at-home  who  sutler.  Instead 
of  growing  wiser  and  better  as  they  grow  old, 
they  lose  all  the  graces  of  life  in  unmeaning 
drudgery,  and  instead  of  ripening  in  mind 
and  heart,  they  simply  dry  up  or  decay.  We 
are  entirely  satisfied  that  the  great  curse  of 
farming  life  in  America  is  its  isolation.  It  is 
useless  to  say  that  men  shun  the  farm  because 
they  are  lazy.  The  American  is  not  a  lazy 
man  anywhere  ;  but  he  is  social,  and  he  will  fly 
from  a  life  that  is  not  social  to  one  that  is.  It 
we  are  to  have  a  larger  and  better  population 
devoted  to  agriculture,  isolation  must  be 
shunned,  and  the  whole  policy  of  settlement 
hereafter  must  be  controlled  or  greatly  modi- 
fied by  social  considerations. 

The  above  comes  from  such  a  high  literary 
authority,  and  contains  so  many  good  thoughts 
on  Social  Economy,  that  we  have  concluded  to 
transfer  it  to  our  columns,  as  something  which 
every  progressive  and  intelligent  farmer 
ought  seriously  to  ponder.  We  never  can 
forego,  or  by  any  morbid  system  of  isolation 
or  exclusiveness  hedge  in  or  stamp  out  the 
fact,  that  man  is  normally  and  essentially  a 
social  being,  and  that  deviation  or  departure 
from  this  status  is  an  abnormal  condition  of 
his  being — whether  it  is  self-imposed  or 
through  circumstances  over  which  he  has  no 
control.     Perhaps   no    man    who   has  been 


brought  up  exclusively  in  the  country  can 
call  up  more  pleasing  recollections  than  those 
connected  with  his  school-days,  the  country 
singing  schools,  or  the  annual  Christmas  fes- 
tivals, mainly  on  account  of  the  predominat- 
ing social  elements  which  gave  them  their 
specific  characters.  From  the  period  of  boy- 
hood to  early  manhood,  wherein  the  social 
principle  ruled,  they  were  bright,  joyous  and 
progressive,  and  only  receded  from  this  con- 
dition and  became  moody,  dull  and  selfish  in 
proportion  as  they  withdrew  from  and  abjured 
the  social  circle  and  social  sentiments.  Na 
wonder  then,  in  obedience  to  their  natural 
impulses  and  instincts,  so  many  of  those  resid- 
ing in  the  rural  districts  should  be  yearning 
after  the  social  intercourse  of  the  towns. 
And,  although  that  social  intercourse — from  a 
want  of  judgment,  consequent  of  their  former 
isolated  condition — in  many  instances  may  be 
morally  and  socially  hurtful,  yet  under  proper 
discriminations  it  is  edifying,  enlarging  and 
elevating.  But,  man  is  not  only  naturally 
a  social  being,  but  be  is  also  spiritually  so, 
and  he  feels  a  greater  moral  and  spiritual  con- 
solation and  support  when  he  unites  with  hi» 
fellow-man  in  social  wor&bip,  than  he  does- 
when  he  has  worshiped  alone,  especially 
when  he  engages  m  re)igioas  exercises  with 
those  whose  sentiments  and  experiences  are 
in  harmony  with  his  own.  E. 


SCIENCE, 


FACTS  AND  SCIENCE, 

BY  J,  STAUFFEK. 

THERE  is  an  inherent  tendency  in  every 
reflecting  mind  to  acquire  knowledge  ; 
there  is  a  pleasure,  independent  of  the  many 
extrinsic  advantages  which  it  brings  to  every 
individual,  according  to  the  station  of  life  in 
which  he  is  placed.  The  pursuits  of  science  have 
a  peculiar  interest  for  men  of  a  peculiar  turn. 
Some  thirst  after  general  knowledge.  These 
may  acquire  a  fund  of  information  scattered 
over  various  fields  of  research,  and  yet  are 
not  considered  scientific.  Profound  erudition 
is  obtained  but  by  few. 

Science,  it  is  claimed,  is  the  natural  enemy 
of  superstition,  and  as  such  it  has  assailed  and 
overthrown  idolatry,  witchcraft,  and  kindred 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER, 


105 


follies,  but  with  them  deep  gashes  and  fester- 
iog  wounds  were  given  to  theology. 

Learned  men  of  perverse  minds,  unhappily, 
were  as  fanatical  in  their  skepticism  as  those 
they  abused  for  their  fanatical  faith.  Hpncei 
they  are  as  dogmadc  and  rampant  in  one  ex- 
treme as  the  ignorant  boor  may  be  in  his  su- 
perstitious notions  in  the  other. 

Such  results  arise  from  a  morbid  train  of 
thought  running  in  certain  grooves,  and  as  the 
faculties  of  the  most  learned  men  differ  in 
certain  modes  of  reflection,  they  arrive  at  dif- 
ferent conclusions.  Hence,  a  one-sided 
knowledge,  no  matter  how  great,  may  prevent 
a  due  perception  of  the  most  essential  quali- 
ties for  arriving  at  correct  conclusions. 

But  to  which  side  this  morbid  action  of  the 
mind  is  chargeable,  causes  the  contest,  and 
volumes  of  controverted  matter  was  and  is 
written  continually  in  vindication  of  both 
sides,  and  each  side  has  its  adherents  and 
claims  the  triumph  of  their  opinions. 

Pope  says :  "  A  little  knowledge  is  a  dan- 
gerous thing."  No  doubt  iu  the  mind  of  one 
puffed  up  with  conceit  such  is  the  case  of  all 
superficial  knowledge  ;  yet  we  may  ask  like 
Denham : 

"  Can  knowledge  have  no  bound,  but  mu-t  advance. 
So  far  to  make  us  wish  tor  ignorauce  ?" 

Yes,  science  unfolds  marvelous  things,  and 
vain  man  finds  God  in  matter,  and  matter 
God  ;  an  accidental  monad  in  time  to  people 
space,  by  evolution,  aggregation  and  subdi- 
visions.   We  may  exclaim  : 

"Are  there  (still  more  amazing  !)  who  resist 
The  rising  thought,  who  smother  in  its  birth 
The  glorious  truth,  who  struggle  to  be  brutes  ? 
Who  fight  the  proof*  of  immortality  ?" 

So  I  turn  from  that  science  that  links  man 
to  the  monkey  and  the  latter  with  the  reptile, 
and  take  my  stand  with  a  higher  class  of  think- 
ers, who  believe  that  God  is  absolute  be- 
ing above  the  world,  which  is  of  God,  but 
which  is  not  God.  He  is  the  unity  of  special- 
ties; having  the  perfection  of  beiug,  therefore 
self-existent ;  unconditioned  as  to  time,  there- 
fore eternal,  having  neither  beginning  nor 
ending  ;  unconditioned  as  to  space,  therefore 
everywhere  present  ;  having  the  perfection 
of  power,  therefore  almighty.  In  Him  all 
specialties  are  resolved  into  universality, 
therefore  he  is  incomprehensible.  Thus  there 
is  no  point  in  space,  no  atom  in  matter,  in 
which  God  is  not.    Change  indictates  growth 


or  decay,  and  God  being  eternal,  there  can 
be  neither  one  nor  the  other  in  Him. 

"With  this  view  of  the  matter  we  can  accept 
the  wonders  discovered  by  Lenwenhoeck, 
Mantell,  Spallanzani  and  others,  who  have 
found  that  the  microscopic  animalcnles,  suffer- 
ed to  dry  up  on  the  glass  on  which  they  were 
swimming  about  in  a  drop  of  water,  and  the 
glass  stuck  into  dry  sand,  were  again  restored 
to  life  after  twenty-one  months,  by  being  sim- 
ply moistened  with  water,  and  this  as  often  as 
fifteen  times  repeated.  This  would  stagger  our 
faith,  but  science  has  established  the  fact. 
Many  formerly  considered  animalcules  are 
now  found  to  be  the  nuclei  of  vegetable  struc- 
tures, called  zoospores — found  active  in  Algse, 
etc.,  endowed  with  apparently  voluntary  mo- 
tion. 

The  occurrence  of  spores  of  this  class  was 
formerly  considered  so  surprising  that  it 
was  either  rejected  as  unworthy  of  credit,  or 
the  organisms  which  produced  them  were  con- 
sidered as  animals. 

It  is  now,  however,  generally  allowed  that 
there  is  no  essential  difference  between  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  life,  and  that  therefore  the 
usual  indications  of  either  are  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  decisive  of  the  especial  kingdom  to 
which  beings  belong  iu  which  they  are  mani- 
fested. Zoospores,  so  long  as  they  are  free, 
have  indeed  a  great  likeness  to  infusoria,  but 
as  soon  as  they  have  found  a  fit  resting  place 
all  traces  of  motion  cease,  and  their  offspring 
comforts  itself  as  a  vegetable. 

"We  must  actually  witness  these  wonderful 
minute  creations  in  all  their  diversified  forms 
and  prolific  increase— in  short,  without  giving 
the  subject  some  attention,  no  one  would 
dream  of  the  wonders  made  known  by  the 
microscope,  in  the  minute  thiugs,  as  also  with 
the  telescope  in  the  vastly  great. 

Reflecting  upon  this  subject  connected  with 
the  germination  of  seeds,  something  like  the 
following  came  before  my  mind's  eye.  So  far 
as  I  know  it  is  original,  but  may  have  occur- 
red to  others. 

Let  us  examine  a  grain  of  corn,  in  its  milky 
state;  how  soft  a^d  tender,  with  its  delicate 
thread  of  silk  attached  to  each  seed,  so  neatly 
arranged  to  its  rachis  or  cob,  and  carefully 
wrapped  up  in  the  husk.  When  we  reflect 
that  these  numerous  seeds,  leaves,  tassel  and 
stock  have  all  sprun    from  a  single  seed,  it 


106 


TEE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


seems  truly  marvelous,  but  too  common  to 
arrest  our  attention. 

What  are  called  Twilight  Monads  are  only 
24-1000  of  an  inch  long;  some  only  12-000. 
The  conception  of  such  minuteness  is  beyond 
the  grasp  of  our  mind;  yet  each  is  proved  to 
be  an  organized  structure,  and  is  adapted  to 
the  mode  and  ra  ige  of  its  existence.  The 
question  arises,  are  not  all  the  vegetable 
juices  stimulated  in  their  vital  action,  from  ex- 
ternal relations,  impelled  by  such  mmute  liv- 
ing bodies  to  branch,  bud,  bloom  and  fructify. 
In  other  words,  to  return  to  ray  grain  of  corn: 
just  as  miriads  of  polypi  build  up  the  gigantic 
sponges— a  living  vase  called  the  Cup  ofKep- 
tune  (Neptune's  cup—Baphidophora  Patera), 
corrals,  stone  lilies,  etc.,  might  also  be  cited, 
but  the  sponge  referred  to  Cumes  nearer  the 
vegetable  structure. 

These  fragile  animals  work  each  on  its  own 
hook,  commence  on  the  bare  and  narrow 
stalk,  widen  out,  and  flute  the  sides  and  ex- 
cavate the  top,  80  that  when  the  habitation 
is  finally  complete,  three  feet  in  height  per- 
fectly symmetrical  without  stiff  or  formal  out- 
lines, but  gracefully  curved  and  rounded  so  as 
to  form  an  object  of  beauty.  In  this  structure 
the  animals  can  be  seen  at  work.  Should  it  be 
a  sigQ  of  mental  weakness  to  suppose  that 
still  more  minute  organisms  constitute  the 
vitality  and  growth  of  plants,  and  dwell  in 
their  juices,  like  in  the  sap,  elaborated  into  the 
milk  of  the  grain,  this  becomes  consolidated 
into  the  albumen^  the  silicious  particles  form- 
ing the  husk  or  hard  outer  shell  of  the  grain, 
the  nutritious  portions  encased  and  the  vital 
action  retires  to  a  point  and  dries  up  as  the 
animalcula  mentioned  before,  not  dead,  but 
the  vital  principal  dormant,  locked  up— until 
again  started  to  action  through  moisture,  and 
the  chemic  action  of  the  albumen  in  the  act 
of  germination,  again  to  reproduce  all  the 
phenomena  of  growth,  flower  and  seed,  turn- 
ing its  course  to  its  ultimation,  and  then  rest- 
ing. Is  this  strange  ?  It  is  at  least  true,  ac- 
count for  it  as  you  will. 


Fowls  that  show  lassitude  or  weakness  may 
be  strengthened  by  giving  a  decoction  of  ci- 
trate of  iron  mixed  with  water  in  such  pro- 
portion as  to  be  given  every  perceptible  taste 
of  iron.  Iron-water  for  fowls,  made  by  put- 
ting some  scrap-iron  of  any  kind  in  a  trough 
or  pail  of  water,  also  answers  them  the  same. 


METEOROLOGICAL. 


THE  LAW  OF  STORMS. 


IN  the  fourth  meteorological  report  by  Prof. 
J.  P.  Espy,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  we 
find  tne  following  instructive  generalizations  : 

1.  The  rain  and  snow-storms,  and  even  the 
moderate  rains  and  snows,  travel  from  the 
west  toward  the  east  in  the  United  States, 
during  the  months  of  November,  December, 
January,  February  and  March,  which  are  the 
only  months  to  which  these  generalizations 
apply. 

2.  The  storms  are  accompanied  with  a  de- 
pression of  the  barometer  near  the  central 
line  of  the  storm,  and  rise  of  the  barometer  in 
the  front  and  rear. 

3.  The  central  line  of  minimum  pressure  is 
generally  of  great  length  from  north  to  south, 
and  moves  side  foremost  toward  the  east. 

4.  This  line  is  sometimes  nearly  straight, 
but  generally  curved,  and  most  frequently 
with  its  convex  side  to  the  east. 

5.  The  velocity  of  this  line  is  such  that  it 
travels  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Connecti- 
cut river  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  from  the 
Connecticut  to  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  in 
nearly  the  same  time,  or  about  thirty-six  miles 
an  hour. 

6.  When  the  barometer  falls  suddenly  in  the 
western  part  of  New  England,  it  rises  at  the 
same  time  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  also  at  St.  John's,  Newfoundland. 

7.  In  great  storms  the  wind  for  several 
hundred  miles  on  both  sides  of  the  line  of 
minimum  pressure  blows  toward  that  line  di- 
rectly or  obliquely. 

8.  The  force  of  this  wind  is  in  proportion  to 
the  suddenness  and  greatness  of  the  depres- 
sion of  the  barometer. 

9.  In  all  great  and  sudden  depressions  of  the 
barometer  there  is  much  rain  or  snow;  and  in 
all  sudden  great  rains  or  snows  there  is  a  great 
depression  of  the  barometer  next  the  center 
of  the  storm,  and  rises  beyond  its  borders. 

10.  Many  storms  are  of  great  and  unknown 
length  from  north  to  south,  reaching  be- 
yond our  observation  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  on  the  northern  lakes,  while  their  east 
and  west  diameters  are  comparatively  small. 
These  stoima  therefore  move  side  foremost. 

11.  Most  storms    commence  in    the    "  far 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FABMEB- 


107 


"West,"  beyond  our  Western  observers,  but 
some  commence  in  the  United  States. 

12.  When  a  storm  c(  mmences  in  the  United 
States  the  line  of  minimum  pressure  does  not 
come  from  the  "  far  West,"  but  commences 
with  the  storm,  and  travels  with  it  toward  the 
eastward. 

13.  There  is  generally  a  lull  of  wind  at 
the  line  of  minimum  pressure,  and  sometimes 
a  calm. 

14.  When  this  line  of  minimum  pressure 
passes  an  observer  toward  the  east,  the  wind 
generally  soon  changes  to  the  west,  and  the 
barometer  begins  to  rise. 

15.  There  is  generally  but  little  wind  near 
the  line  of  the  maximum  pressure,  and  on 
each  side  of  that  line  the  winds  are  irregular, 
but  tend  outward  from  that  line. 

16.  The  fluctuations  of  the  barometer  are 
generally  greater  in  the  eastern  than  in  the 
western  part  of  the  United  States. 

17.  The  fluctuations  of  the  barometer  are 
generally  greater  in  the  northern  than  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  United  States 

18.  In  the  northern  parts  of  the  United 
States  the  wind  generally  sets  in  from  the 
north  of  east,  and  terminates  from  the  north 
of  west. 

19.  In  the  southern  parts  of  the  United 
States  the  wind  generally  sets  in  from  the 
south  of  east,  and  terminates  from  the  south 
of  west. 

20.  During  the  passage  of  storms  the  wind 
generaUy  changes  from  the  eastward  to  the 
westward  by  south,  especially  in  the  southern 
parts  of  the  United  States. 

21.  The  northern  part  of  the  storm  gene- 
rally travels  more  rapidly  toward  the  east 
than  the  southern  part. 

22.  During  the  high  barometer  on  the  day 
preceding  the  storm  it  is  generally  clear  and 
mild  in  temperature,  especially  if  cold  weath- 
er preceded. 

23.  The  temperature  generally  falls  sudden- 
ly on  the  passage  of  the  center  of  great 
storms,  so  that  sometimes,  when  a  storm  is  in 
the  middle  of  the  United  States  the  lowest 
temperature  of  the  month  will  be  in  the  west 
on  the  same  day  that  the  highest  tempera- 
ture is  in  the  east. 

Some  of  the  storms,  it  is  true,  are  contained 
entirely,  for  a  time,  within  the  bounds  of  my 
observers,  and  in  that  case  the  minimum  ba- 
rometer does  not  exhibit  itself  in  a  line  of 


great  length,  extending  from  north  to  south, 
but  it  is  confined  to  a  region  near  the  center 
of  the  storm,  and  travels  with  that  center 
toward  the  eastward. 

From  the  experiments  it  may  be  safely  in- 
ferred, contrary  to  the  general  belief  of  scien- 
tific men,  that  vapor  permeates  the  air  from  a 
high  to  a  low  dew  point  with  extreme  slow- 
ness, if,  indeed,  it  permeates  at  all ;  and  in 
meteorology,  it  will  hereafter  be  known  that 
vapor  rises  into  the  region  where  clouds  are 
forced  only  by  being  carried  up  by  ascending 
currents  of  air  containing  it. 


weather  and  crop  observa- 

tio:n's. 

ONE  feature  distinguishes  modern  sci- 
entific researches  from  those  of  past 
times,  and  that  is  the  wide  extent  of  their 
range.  In  former  days  philosophers  were 
comparatively  few,  and  scattered  here  and 
there.  They  had  to  rely  on  their  own  obser- 
vations and  their  own  comparisons  of  the  ob- 
servations made  by  others,  and  these  were 
not  always  easy  of  access.  It  might  be  mouths, 
or  even  years,  before  the  discoveries  of  a  scien- 
tific man  in  this  country  could  he  made  known 
to  one  in  a  far  distant  land,  Russia,  for  in- 
stance. Now  how  changed  is  all  this !  By 
mutual  arrangement  and  the  use  of  the  tele- 
graph, observers  far  apart  from  each  other 
can  make  simultaneous  observations  of  any 
given  object,  and  these  can  at  once  be 
classified  and  published.  What  formerly  re- 
quired years  to  achieve  can  now  be  done  in  a 
few  days  with  greater  ease  and  certainty, 
and  the  results  to  the  world  are  as  much 
greater  as  the  ex'ent  of  the  area  of  the  oper- 
ations is  widened.  A  very  striking  illustra- 
tion of  this  occurs  in  a  project  recently  sugges- 
ted for  the  establishment  of  a  system  of 
weather  and  crop  observations  all  over  the 
world,  from  which  reports  can  be  framed 
keeping  producers  in  all  lands  informed  of 
what  is  going  on  everywhere  in  matters  which 
specially  concern  them.      ^ 

This  has  long  been  a  disideratum  among 
agriculturists,  merchants  who  deal  in  agri- 
cultural produce,  and  manufacturers  whose 
raw  material  comes  from  the  farm  and  the 
plantation,  for  it  is  important  for  them  to 
know  wherewith  they    are    competing,  and 


108 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER* 


what  their  prospects  are  in  the  markets.  They 
are,  in  fact,  incessantly  enga2;ed  in  a  compe- 
tition with  all  the  producers  in  the  world,  but 
at  present  it  is  carried  on  to  a  great  extent  in 
the  dark.  A  bl'ght  may  fall  on  the  crops  of 
Southern  Russia,  and  yet  remain  unknown  to 
producers  in  other  countries  ;  yet  the  failure 
of  the  former  crops  will  cause  an  increased 
demand  for  those  of  this  and  other  countries, 
and,  of  course,  materially  effect  the  prices  of 
the  latter.  But  if  the  producers  remain  igno- 
rant of  the  fact,  the  middlemen  and  specula- 
tors, who  make  it  their  business  to  keep  them- 
selves informed  ot'  the  state  of  the  world's 
markets,  take  advantage  of  ihe  rise  in  the 
prices,  and  realize  enormous  profits,  but  a 
small  share  of  which,  if  any,  goes  to  the  pro- 
ducers. So  again,  the  cotton  crop  in  India 
may  turn  out  very  poor  ;  yet  our  Southern 
planters  may  send  their  produce  to  market 
without  having  the  advantage  of  early  infor- 
mation. Some  striking  illustrations  of  the 
losses  suffered  by  our  agriculturists  from  the 
present  unreliable  methods  of  estimating  the 
value  of  the  coming  crop  have  been  recently 
published. 

During  the  eight  particular  years,  in  the  in- 
terval between  1853  and  1860,  estimates  were 
made  of  the  coming  crop,  which  fixed  its 
amount  on  an  average  for  each  of  the  years  at 
2H  per  cent,  in  excess  of  what  it  afterward 
really  proved  to  be.  The  price  paid  to  the 
planters  was  based  on  this  e»timatp,  but  when 
all  the  cotton  had  been  sold  by  them  and  was 
in  the  market,  it  Wcis  found  that  iis  amount 
fell  short  of  the  anticipation,  and  conse- 
quently prices  advanced  in  the  same  ratio  as 
the  amount  of  the  crop  had  been  overesti- 
mated. This  advance,  which  properly  be- 
longed to  the  growers,  went  into  the  pockets 
of  the  speculators,  and  was,  of  course,  so  much 
loss  to  the  farmer.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
loss  for  these  eight  years  aggregated  to  the 
enormous  amount  of  $375,000,000.  Similar 
losses  by  farmers,  through  incorrect  reports 
of  the  growing  wheat  crops,  are  also  noticed. 
Thus,  the  price  fixed  for  wheat  in  London 
and  Liverpool,  in  October,  1866,  based  upon 
the  unreliable  reports  then  at  hand,  was  $1.- 
49i  per  bushel ;  but  the  crop,  when  delivered, 
falling  short,  it  rose  to  S1.59i.  before  the  end 
of  the  year,  and  to  S1.92i  in  1867  ;  so  the  far- 
rapr  lost  424c  per  bushel,  or  at  the  rate  of 
$8.07i^  per  acre  of  19  bushels.    The  instances 


cited  are  sufficient  to  prove  the  value  of  some 
remedial  system.  The  most  recent  suggestion 
was  submitted  to  the  Rockford  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  Society  of  Virginia  at  one  of 
its  recent  sessions.  It  provides  for  united 
meteorological  observations  in  all  countries, 
and  on  board  national  cruisers,  the  results  of 
which  are  transmitted  by  telegraph  from  one 
meteorological  station  to  another  and  each 
commercial  center.  It  also  provides  for  the 
elaboration  of  a  scheme  of  universal  crop  re- 
ports, by  the  perfecting  of  the  method  of  the 
Agricultural  Bureau,  and  by  the  appointment 
of  crop  inspectors  to  every  10,000  square 
miles  of  territory  in  all  the  civilized  countries 
of  America,  Europe,  Africa  and  Australia, 
and  of  course  in  all  parts  of  Asia  where  prac- 
ticable, as  in  British  India  and  the  Russian 
dominions. 

By  this  telegraph  meteorological  system  it 
is  expected  that  an  approximately  correct 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  laws  which  govern 
atmospherical  phenomena  and  that  forecasts 
of  the  weather,  useful  alike  to  the  agricu  tur- 
ist  and  tbe  seaman,  may  be  made.  And  by 
the  system  of  crop  reports,  based  on  personal 
observations  of  the  state  and  prospects  of  tbe 
growing  crop,  it  will  be  possible  every  year  to 
form  correct,  or  nearly  correct  estimates  of 
their  quantity  and  quality,  and  thus  enable 
the  farmer,  the  planter  and  the  merchant  to 
determine  with  a  considerable  degree  of  prob- 
ability the  prices  which  ought  to  rule  in  the 
coming  season.  It  is  proposed  to  petition  the 
Government  to  communicate  with  the  Gov- 
ernments of  all  other  civilized  nations,  in  or- 
der to  take  steps  by  a  convention  of  the  lead- 
ing meteorologists  of  the  world  (similar  to  that 
held  at  Brussels  in  1853,  with  reference  to 
sea-coast  observations),  to  introduce  the  sys- 
tem into  general  operation. 


ALTERNATE  MOWING  AND  GRAZING. 

I  ALLUDE  more  particularly  to  land  lying 
in  grass  for  many  years,  where  a  variety 
exists.  A  piece  of  the  best  hay  I  have  seen 
for  many  years,  cut  and  being  cut  last  week, 
suggested  my  mentioning  this  subject  again. 
Mr.  Whimpy  says  that  he  mowed  it  the  year 
before  last,  having  done  so  some  preceding 
years  too,  and  manured  it,  as  he  does  all  his 
land,  with  stable  dung  brought  from  Balti- 


THE  la:n'CAster  farmer. 


109 


more,  as  well  as  what  he  makes  at  home  ;  but 
the  grass,  chiefly  timothy  and  orchard  grass, 
was  becoming  thin  in  the  bottom,  and  last 
year  (spring  of  1870)  it  looked  rather  unprom- 
ising for  hay,  so  he  rented  it  to  a  dairyman 
for  the  summer,  and  it  was  well  grazed,  Mr. 
W.  thinking  to  plow  up  and  seed  down  again. 
However,  there  has  come  such  an  extraordi- 
nary mass  of  white  clover  and  bottom  grass  of 
other  descriptions  that  it  is  a  prodigiously 
heavy  crop,  and  the  quality  the  very  best, 
taking  two  and  three  days  turning  to  cure,  be- 
ing so  youug,  thick  and  full  of  sap  ;  in  fehort  it 
is  like  much  of  the  best  English  upland  hay, 
an-d  like  that,  leaves  the  ground  looking,  after 
the  grass  is  cut,  as  if  the  roots  were  killed,  the 
short  stems  being  yellow;  but  there  is  already 
a  densely  thick  aftermath  two  inches  high  on 
the  parts  first  cut.  The  owner  has  rented 
more  this  season  for  grazing,  and  will  continue 
to  do  60,  f  wd  it  is  probable  that  he  will  har- 
vest every  year  nearly  as  much  hay,  a  id  of 
much  better  quality,  from  l^alf  the  land,  and 
pocket  the  rental  of  the  other  moiety,  besides 
u-ing  six  times  the  afterfeed,  as  mowing  so 
much  earlier  as  he  is  obliged  to  do,  lest  the 
white  clover  and  orchard  grass  should  ripen, 
the  quantity  to  graze  is  in  fact  much  more  than 
is  mowed  by  tnose  who  mow  year  after  year 
when  their  grass  is  ripe.  Here  are  two  fal- 
lacies exposed  which  are  very  serious  to  the 
country  -that  grazing  injures  an  old  mowing, 
and  the  mowing  early  and  eating  the  after- 
grass does  so  too. 

I  mentioned  some  years  since  the  particu- 
lars of  a  piece  of  land  on  the  side  of  the  bot- 
tom part  of  one  of  the  iSTew  Hampshire  moun- 
tains, wh'ch,  having  been  closely  grazed  down 
for  two  successive  summers  with  sheep,  was 
supposed  to  be  ruined,  and  being  unexpected- 
ly brought  to  the  hammer  through  the  owner's 
death,  made  several  di  liars  per  acre  less  than 
had  previously  been  paid  for  it,  and  after- 
ward proved  to  be  the  thiv-kest  set  grass  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  continued  benefited  by 
close  grazing.  I  saw  an  instance  given  where 
a  mowing  had  been  grazed  because  it  was  not 
worth  mowing  longer,  the  intention  being  to 
plow  up  and  plant  corn  ;  the  result  in  this  case 
was  similar — complete  renovation  and  the 
springing  into  existence  of  a  new  set  of  bot- 
tom grass  which  made  it  better  than  it  had 
ever  been  before. 

Although  I  may  lay  myself  open  to  a  charge 


of  repetition  I  cannot  avoid  asking  graziera 
who  still  hold  the  opinion  that  half  the  pas- 
ture ought  to  rot  on  the  ground,  to  look  at  the 
parts  closely  eaten  down,  and  see,  whenever 
the  stock  is  taken  away  for  a  while,  and  after 
a  shower,  where,  the  grass  starts  first,  and  to 
notice  near  any  premises  where  all  kinds  of 
animals  have  access  and  thus  always  kept 
short,  if  there  is  any  bottom  grass  thick  like  a 
beautiful  lawn,  as  that  is  among  those  fields 
where  half  rots  on  the  ground. — Cor.  Country 
Gentleman. 


AGRICULTURAL. 

DEEP  FLOWING-TURNING  UNDER 
CLOVER. 

MR.  THOMAS  FOSTER  has  recently 
furnished  the  writer  an  account  of 
some  experiments  in  deep  plowing  and  turn- 
ing under  clover,  made  on  his  farm  in  Claren- 
don, Orleans  county,  that  may  be  of  interest 
to  others. 

The  most  interesting  experiments  were 
made  on  a  field  situated  on  an  elevated  ridge, 
at  some  distance  from  the  barns  and  not  con- 
venient to  manure  with  barn-yard  manure. 
The  soil  is  a  limestone,  clayey  loam,  natur- 
ally good,  but  was  reduced  by  repeated  crop- 
ping, without  seeding  down  or  manuring,  be- 
fore it  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Poster.  It  then 
produced  about  15  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre, 
and  was  seeded  to  clover.  The  next  season, 
when  this  clover  was  in  blossom,  it  was 
plowed  under.  The  plow  was  taken  on  to 
the  barn-floor  and  set  to  run  one  foot  deep, 
and  the  field  plowed  with  it  thus  gauged ;  but 
the  actual  depth  plowed  averaged  ten  inches. 
The  land  was  then  fitted  with  the  harrow  and 
cultivator,  not  plowed  again,  and  the  wheat 
sown  broad-cast ;  the  yield  was  25  bushels  of 
Mediterranean  wheat  per  acre. 

Clover  was  sown  with  the  wheat,  and  the 
next  spring  the  clover  was  plowed  under  for 
corn,which  gave  a  splendid  crop.  The  next  sea- 
son this  field  was  again  plowed  deep,  summer- 
fallowed  and  sown  to  wheat,  which  also  gave  a 
heavy  crop.  Clover  was  sown  with  this  crop 
of  wheat  also,  and  the  next  season  siaved  for 
seed — the  first  crop  giving  over  three  bushels 
per  acre  ;  the  subsequent  growth  that  season 
was  left  on  the  land.    This  was  in  1869.    la 


no 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


1870  the  clover  again  made  a  heavy  growth, 
aud  when  in  blossom  was  turned  under,  plow- 
ins;  as  deep  as  first  described,  and  the  land 
fitted  and  sown  to  Treadwell  wheat.  Mr. 
Fost':r  says  there  is  now  a  splendid  crop  of 
wheat  on  the  ground,  which  all  who  have  seen 
it  estimate  at  40  bushels  per  acre ;  he  says 
that  if  nothing  happens  to  the  crop,  it  may  go 
40  bushels. 

Mr.  Foster  says  that  plowing  under  clover 
IS  the  easiest  and  best  way  to  manure  such 
land.  It  makes  the  soil  loose  and  mellow, 
and  one  good  span  of  horses  will  plow  his 
field  as  deep  as  described  without  difficulty. 
Turning  under  clover  and  deep  plowing  are 
all  that  are  needed  to  make  the  land  very 
productive  ;  except  plaster  on  the  clover  no 
other  fertilizers  are  needed,  and  even  the 
straw  may  be  sold  or  used  for  the  benefit  of 
other  parts  of  the  farm,  as  may  be  convenient. 
He  also  said  that  plowing  under  clover  is 
the  best  way  to  manage  clay  land,  and  re- 
lated an  instance  in  which  a  field  plowed  up 
very  hard  and  lumpy— the  lumps  so  large  and 
hard  that  they  had  to  be  pounded  to  pieces 
before  the  land  could  be  got  into  good  condi- 
tion for  the  wheat.  Plowing  under  one  crop 
of  clover  made  a  great  difference  in  this  land  ; 
no  more  large  lumps  were  seen,  and  now, 
after  several  crops  of  clover  have  been 
plowed  under,  the  soil  works  up  loose  and 
mellow  without  the  least  difliculty.  It  is  thus 
evident  that  a  large  amount  of  labor  may  be 
saved,  as  well  as  a  great  increase  of  fertility 
be  secured,  by  a  judicious  use  of  clover. 

Mr.  Foster  also  related  an  experiment  of 
top-dressing  wheat  with  rotten  manure.  This 
manure  was  piled  in  the  spring,  and  lime 
mixed  with  it  when  piled  at  the  rate  of  three 
or  four  bushels  to  100  loads  of  manure.  The 
wheat  was  well  put  in  on  a  summer  fallow, 
and  immediately  after  sowing,  the  manure 
was  finely  spread  on  the  surface.  This  gave 
36^  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre.  This  crop  was 
grown  last  year.  Clover  was  sown  with  the 
wheat,  and  this  spring  the  land  was  well 
manured  with  coarse  manure,  plowed  and 
planted  to  corn,  and  ha3  a  splendid  crop  now 
growing. 

Mr.  Foster  also  spoke  very  favorably  of  his 
tenant  who  raises  these  crops  and  carries  out 
these  operations  under  his  general  directions. 
The  farm  was  first  let  for  one  year,  but  the 
tenant  has  now  had  it  five  years.    Others 


have  asked  how  long  he  was  going  to  stay, 
saying  they  would  like  to  g.et  him  if  any 
change  was  expected ;  but  Mr.  Foster  8ay» 
the  tenant  can  stay  as  long  as  he  does  as  well 
as  he  has  done. 

This  is  an  example  that  should  not  be  over" 
looked  by  men  that  take  farms.  There  are 
thousands  that  only  fail  of  procuring  perma- 
nent situations  on  good  farms  like  this,  be- 
cause they  don't  farm  well.  In  Eogland, 
farmers  prefer  to  rent  land  instead  of  buying 
it,  as  their  money  used  to  work  the  farm,  pays 
much  better  interest  than  when  invested  in 
land.  With  good  farming  this  may  often  be 
the  case  here,  and  the  tenants  do  better  by 
thoroughly  working  a  good  farm  than  by  any 
other  course  he  could  take.— Cor.  Countri/ 
Gentleman. 


RESULTS  OF  THOROUGH  MANURING, 

AN  exchange  says  :  One  of  our  neighbors, 
with  land  not  any  too  good,  barely  able 
to  support  a  family,  tried  upon  advice  the  ex- 
periment of  applying  manure  to  wheat  spread 
on  the  surface .  It  was  compost,  also  made 
upon  recommendation,  and  applied  evenly  on 
the  land  jnst  before  sowing.  Only  part  of  the 
lot  was  thus  treated.  The  wheat  was  sown 
and  the  land  well  harrowed.  At  the  end  of 
the  fall  the  difference  was  so  great  that  a  dis- 
tinct line  marked  the  manured  part. 

In  the  spring  there  was  still  (he  difference 
a  whitish  and  partly  green  hue  pervaded  the 
manured  part.  The  rest  was  barren.  Here 
and  there  on  the  manured  part,  where  the 
land  was  wet,  the  grain  lay  on  the  surf;  ce. 
This,  however  only  in  a  few  small  spots.  In 
a  short  time  the  manured  part  was  a  dense 
green,  the  rest  straggling  and  backward,  and 
most  discouraging  to  all  who  saw  it.  Toward 
the  last  this,  however,  brought  up  some  in 
comparison  with  the  other.  The  manured 
part  grew  less  rank  and  matured  well,  yield- 
ing over  200  per  cent,  more  than  the  other. 
An  estimate  was  made  of  the  expense  of  the 
manure  and  labor,  and  there  was  something 
nice  in  favor  of  the  applicatios. 

But  the  best,  perhaps,  is  not  yet  told.  The 
land  had  been  seeded  down  early  in  the 
spring,  and  it  was  recommended  to  use  plenty 
of  seed,  which  was  but  partially  followed  out. 
Still  the  manured  part  of  the  lot  showed  not 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


Ill 


only  a  good  catch,  but  what  was  thought  a 
thick  stand,  growing  well,  and  continuing 
late  in  tbe  fall.  The  rest  of  the  lot  was  as 
usual,  a  poor  thing,  not  paying  for  seeding  ; 
there  was  not  the  catch  and  not  the  growth  as 
in  the  other. 

This  satisfied.  Tbe  year  following  the  dif- 
ference was  still  greater  (in  the  two  the  crops 
which  it  was  advised  to  cut),  not  so  much  be- 
fore harvesting  as  in  the  crops  secured.  Then 
it  was  found  what  a  little  manure  did— that  it 
brought  ail  the  seed,  while  the  rest  had  lost 
much  of  it  that  did  not  come,  and  did  not 
grow  so  well.  In  the  spring  following, 
upon  advisement,  the  land  was  plowed 
and  put  to  corn;  the  difference  being 
even  greater  here,  if  possible,  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding crops.  This  was  followed  by  barley 
and  oats  mixed,  continuing  the  same  difference 
— a  large  crop  on  the  manured  part,  and  ordi- 
nary on  the  other.  Seed  was  sown,  and  nearly 
the  same  variation  was  observable.  But  be- 
fore this  was  reached  other  land  was  treated 
similarly,  only  that  the  manure  was  applied 
to  the  whole  field.  The  neighbors  took  the 
contagion — all  but  the  indolent — and  there  is 
a  general  improvement. 

Why  is  it  that  this  thing  is  not  done  more  ? 
So  repeatedly  is  it  advised  to  top-dress  with 
manure  land  that  is  so-"n,  if  poor  and  in- 
tended to  seed  down.  And  yet  people  are 
not  doing  it,  only  the  few.  It  pays  in  the 
grain,  and  still  more  m  the  grass  crop  which 
is  to  follow,  and  in  after  culture.  It  is  the 
manure  that  helps  the  grass  (or  clover)  to  the 
nutriment  of  the  atmosphere,  after  first  being 
established  in  the  soil,  getting  not  only  a 
catch,  but  a  thick  stand.  Then,  aided  by  a 
little  plaster,  there  can  be  no  failure,  espe- 
cially with  clover. 

VALUE  or  REPLANTED   CORN. 

THE  practice  of  replanting  corn  is  com- 
mon enough,  being  usual  on  every  farm 
and  plantation  where  the  stand  is  not  perfect 
in  the  first  instance.  According  to  the  sug- 
gestion of  an  intelligent  planter,  the  replant- 
ed corn  is  of  essential  value  in  the  crop, 
more  than  is  apparent,  and  he  himself  makes 
it  a  rule  to  replant  whether  the  first  stand  is 
good  or  not.  If  the  first  stand  is  perfect,  as 
rarely  occurs,  he  still  replants  in  about  every 
fifteenth  or  twentieth  hill  in  every  tenth  or 


fifteenth  row,  either  cutting  out  the  plant 
already  growing,  or  putting  in  an  extra  hill, 
if  the  space  will  admit.  The  purpose  of  the 
replanted  or  late  stalks  is  to  furnish  pollen, 
in  case  a  dry  sjiell  should  wilt  the  tassels  of 
the  first  planting  before  the  grains  are  filled. 
One  stalk  in  two  hundred  will  shed  pollen  in 
abundance. 

If  the  weather  turns  very  dry  in  the  filling 
time,  both  the  silks  and  tassels  wilt.  When 
rain  falls,  if  it  comes  in  time,  t^e  silks  re- 
cover and  become  fresh  again,  but  the  tassel 
once  dry  does  not  revive.  The  replanted 
corn  being  younger;  will  wl  en  the  tassel 
blooms  furnish  pollen  for  all  the  older  stalks 
around.  Deficient  or  unfilled  ears  are  caused 
by  want  of  pollen  on  the  silk. 

Such  is  the  suggestion  of  an  observant 
planter,  and  we  submit  it  for  the  benefit  of 
our  readers. — Planters''  Journal. 


HORTICULTURE. 

PLANTING  TREES  IN  GRASS. 

FOR  setting  out  orchards  of  apples, 
pears,  plums  and  cherries,  the  Garden' 
er^s  Monthly  recommends  the  following  prepa- 
ration of  the  ground  and  subsequent  manage- 
ment :  Manure  the  ground  heavily  and  put  in 
a  crop  of  potatoes  the  first  year ;  manure 
again  lightly  in  October  and  sow  rye.  Sow 
red  clover  seed  on  tiie  rye  m  April ;  take  off 
the  rye  and  set  out  the  youug  trees  in  small 
holes  cut  in  the  clover  sod,  just  large  enough 
to  receive  the  roots,  in  autumn.  Tread  the 
soil  and  trim  in  the  head  severely.  The  fol- 
lowing spring  "just  break  the  crust  and  leave 
everything  to  grow."  Cut  the  clover  as  hay 
in  June  or  July — this,  it  is  stated,  will  pay  for  . 
all  the  labor.  Then  spread  a  quarter  or  half 
an  inch  of  rich  earth  around  the  tree  as  far  as 
the  hole  extended.  Mow  annually  afterward, 
top-dressing  every  two  or  three  yeprs  "for 
the  sake  of  the  grass,"  which  is  thus  to  pay 
the  way.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  pro- 
posed system. 

An  objection  will  occur  to  most  planters — 
the  loss  of  the  two  years  in  preparing  the 
clover  sod  in  which  to  set  the  young  trees. 
Many  would  prefer  planting  the  first  year,  in 
the  soil  enriched  and  prepared  for  the  pota- 
toes, allowing  the  trees  and  potatoes  to  grow 
together,  and  thus  gaining  at  least  two  years. 


112 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


There  is  no  doubt  the  editor  of  the  Gar' 
dener^s  MontJily  has  been  successful  with  this 
treatment,  or  he  would  not  recommend  it ; 
but  it  is  obviously  adapted  only  to  peculiar 
circumstances.  With  a  soil  naturally  very 
rich,  and  then  heavily  manured,  and  in  a  cli- 
mate as  warm  at  southern  Pennsylvania,  the 
young  trees  might  be  made  to  make  a  fair 
growth  ;  but  in  most  parts  of  New  York  and 
New  England,  the  course  would  be  little  bet- 
ter than  ruinous.  As  far  north  as  our  own 
latitude,  we  should  almost  as  soon  attempt  to 
raise  corn  in  clovei,  as  to  make  young  and 
newly  set  trees  grow  well  the  first  year.  In 
other  instances  they  have  barely  survived, 
none  making  an  annual  growth  of  more  than 
two  or  three  inches ;  while  on  young  trees 
set  in  potato  ground,  where  the  surface  was 
kept  clean  and  mellow,  the  growth  of  the 
shoots,  under  similar  circumstances  in  other 
respects,  was  one  and  a  half  to  two  feet.  We 
have  seen  a  young  pear  orchard,  which  had 
been  set  out  five  years  before,  and  kept  culti- 
vated, seriously  checked  and  stunted  by  a 
single  year  of  clover  on  the  ground,  although 
the  vigor  was  subsequently  restored  in  a 
great  degree  by  plowing  under  the  clover  as  a 
green  crop. 

John  Morse,  of  Cayuga,  N.  Y.,  who  sells 
annually  from  four  to  eight  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  fruit  from  his  standard  pear  trees,  at 
first  adopted  the  practice  of  allowing  the 
"ground  to  run  to  grass ;  but  he  has  long  since 
repudiated  the  practice,  and  he  now  keeps  the 
whole  surface  plowed  and  cultivated,  planting 
with  corn,  potatoes,  and  other  bowed  crops. 
The  thrift  of  his  trees  (some  18  or  20  years 
old)  has  increased,  and  his  fruit  is  so  much 
improved  that  he  obtains  /or  much  of  his  crop 
about  twice  the  sum  in  market  paid  for  fruit 
grown  on  uncultivated  trees.  His  soil  is 
naturally  excellent  for  the  standard  pear,  and 
the  roots  not  being  coofiued  to  the  surface,  a 
very  small  portion  of  them  is  injured  by  the 
necessary  processes  of  cultivation.  Doubtless 
the  depth  of  the  roots  varies  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  subsoil ;  we  have  apple  trees  on  our 
own  grounds,  thirty  years  old,  and  although 
some  of  them  necessarily  stand  in  grass  where 
the  surface  roots  are  never  disturbed,  most  of 
them  run  to  a  depth  varying  from  one  to  four 
feet,  and  some  deeper.  It  is  an  easy  thing  to 
injure  an  orchard,  however,  by  cutting  the 
roots  in  plowing,  if  this  is  done  while  the  trees 


are  growing  ;  but  we  have  never  known  any 
injury  whatever,  when  the  plowing  has  been 
done  early  in  spring,  while  the  trees  were  yet 
dormant. 

In  discussing  the  merits  of  the  difterent, 
modes  of  cultivating  and  managing  fruit  trees 
a  great  deal  of  needless  controversy  would 
be  avoided,  if  the  partisans  would  observe  the 
index  or  guide  which  we  have  repeatedly 
recommended,  to  determine  whether  to  stim- 
ulate or  increase  growth  by  manuring  and 
mellowing,  or  to  check  it  by  suspending  cul- 
tivation and  laying  down  to  grass.  The 
general  instruction  may  be  given,  to  check  the 
growth  when  too  vigorous,  and  stimulate  it 
when  too  feeble ;  but  how  are  we  to  deter- 
mine, without  some  definite  rule,  when  either 
of  these  conditions  prevails,  as  they  are 
merely  comparative  ?  We  answer,  by  the 
very  simple  operation  of  inspecting  the  an- 
nual growth,  laying  it  down  as  a  general  rule 
that  young  trees,  in  the  first  years  of  their 
growth,  should  not  make  annual  shoots  more 
than  about  two  and  a  half  or  three  feet  long, 
and  that  older  and  bearing  trees  should  not 
grow  more  than  from  one  to  two  feet.  If  they 
grow  only  a  few  inches  annually,  they  will 
not  bear  so  heavy  crops  or  so  good  specimens, 
and  the  trees  must  suffer  by  the  cropping. 
Such  trees  obviously  need  stimulating. 

A  few  words  on  the  subject  of  manuring 
may  not  be  out  of  place.  We  always  obtain 
better  and  healthier  trees  (where  the  soil 
possesses  a  fair  degree  of  fertility)  by  depend- 
ing more  on  a  clean,  mellow  surface  than  on 
manure  mixed  with  weeds,  grass  and  neglect. 
This  is  especially  the  case  with  standard  pear 
trees,  the  frequent  and  thorough  mellowing 
of  the  surf  ice  tending  to  promote  a  sufficient- 
ly thrifty  and  a  healthy,  well-ripened  condi- 
tion of  the  young  shoots,  which  is  the  best 
protective  against  disease,  and  which  cannot 
be  obtained  by  making  up  through  the  appli- 
cation of  manure  for  the  neglect  of  cultiva- 
tion.— Country  Gentleman. 


PRUNING  IN  JUNE. 


N  your  issue  of  Feb.  14, 1  noticed  two  cor. 
respondents  asking  for  information  as  to 
the  best  time  for  pruning  trees,  and  W.  D.  N., 
of  Cedar  Hill,  N.  J.,  asserting  that  spring  was 
the  best  time,  as  he  has  always  practiced  it  at 
that  time,  and  his  trees  had  done  well.    I 


THE  LAJ^  CASTER  FARMER. 


113 


have  been  engaged  in  cultivating  fruit  trees 
for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  have  pruned 
apple  and  pear  trees  in  every  month  of  the 
year.  If  I  could  always  have  the  time  to 
spare  I  would  prefer  to  prune  in  the  month  of 
June,  for  the  following  reasons:  First,  the 
wound  made  by  the  removal  of  a  branch  at 
this  season  will  heal  sooner  than  one  made  at 
any  other  time  of  the  year.  Second,  very  few 
water  sprouts  will  grow  after  pruning,  and  the 
fruit  which  remains  will  be  mUch  larger  in 
consequence.  Any  person  who  is  at  all  ac- 
quainted with  the  management  of  fruit  trees, 
knows  that  if  a  tree  is  barked  in  June  the 
wound  will  heal  in  a  very  short  time.  To 
prune  in  June,  persons  should  wear  rubber 
or  other  soft  shoes,  to  prevent  breaking  the 
branches.  My  reasons  for  not  pruning  in  the 
the  spring  are,  we  generally  have  high  winds 
and  copious  showers,  the  winds  dry  and  crack 
the  new  wound,  and  the  rain  enters  and  black- 
ens it,  which  it  does  not  do  in  June.  Water 
sprouts  will  also  grow,  which  will  have  to  be 
trimmed  off  every  season.  You  suggest 
covering  the  wound  with  paint  or  wax ;  but 
every  farmer  does  not  always  have  these  ma- 
terials at  hand,  and  in  June  he  does  not  need 
them.— iV^.  F.  Sun. 


soil  between  the  rows  on  each  side,  to  the  top 
of  the  plants.  In  this  way  the  celery  will  be 
ready  for  the  table  in  September." 


How  TO  Raise  Celery. — A  correspondent 
of  the  Journal  of  Agriculture  says  :  "  There  is 
no  need  of  a  hot-bed  for  starting  celery  plants. 
In  April,  as  soon  as  the  ground  can  be  thor- 
oughly worked,  sow  your  bed.  Keep  the 
weeds  out  and  use  a  little  patience,  as  celery 
is  slow  to  make  its  appearance.  To  insure 
stocky  plants  the  tops  should  be  shorn  off  once 
or  twice  before  transplanting.  About  the 
middle  of  June  prepare  thoroughly  the  plat  of 
ground  you  desire  the  celery  to  grow  upon ; 
transplant  in  rows  three  feet  apart,  setting  the 
plants  five  to  six  inches  from  each  other  in 
the  row.  The  ground  should  be  moist  at  the 
time  of  planting  ;  if  not,  press  the  earth  by  the 
side  of  the  plant  gently,  with  the  foot.  After 
this  keep  the  we  ids  down  and  the  ground 
mellow  until  August.  During  this  month,  for 
fall  use,  the  bleaching  process  should  be  com- 
menced. To  do  this  it  is  best  to  use  the  hoe 
in  drawing  the  soil  up  against  the  plant,  and 
then,  witu  the  hand,  press  close  around  each 
plant  the  soil,  the  leaves  being  held  firmly 
in  an  upright  position.  Draw  up  more  soil  as 
a  support  and  finish  by  breaking  up,  with  the 


A  Pretty  way  to  Train  Fuschias. — 
When  a  slip  has  grown  six  or  eight  inches 
high  nip  out  the  top  down  to  the  last  set  of 
leaves ;  it  will  then  throw  out  branches  on 
each  side.  Let  these  grow  eight  or  ten  in- 
ches, then  nip  out  as  before  ;  the  tops  of  each 
branch,  when  grown  the  same  height  as  the 
others,  nip  out  again ;  then  procure  a  stick  the 
size  of  your  finger,  eighteen  inches  m  length  ; 
take  hoopskirt  wire,  twine  back  and  forth 
alternately  through  holes  made  in  the  stick 
equal  distances  apart ;  place  this  firmly  in  the 
pot  back  of  the  plant,  tie  the  branches  to  it, 
and  you  will  have,  when  in  flower,  a  beautiful 
and  very  graceful  plant.  Having  one  trained 
in  that  way  last  summer,  it  was  the  admira- 
tion of  air  who  saw  it. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL. 


NOXIOUS  INSECTS. 


YOUNG  cabbage  plants,  after  being  trans- 
planted, sre  frequently  cut  off"  at  the 
stem  by  a  black  grub,  which  lodges  in  the 
ground.  Whenever  that  is  observed  .search 
around  the  root  of  the  plant,  cut  off  aid  you 
will  find  the  grub  a  quarter  of  an  inch  under 
the  surface,  and  kill  it.  If  it  is  not  there  it 
will  be  on  the  plant  next  to  it,  and  near  by 
there  will  be  another.  They  are  always  in 
pairs,  and  near  to  each  other. 

There  is  a  small  black  flea  in  vast  numbers, 
which  eats  off  the  leaves  of  young  cabbage, 
both  when  they  have  just  come  up  from  seed 
and  after  being  transplanted.  If  the  plants 
are  lightly  dusted  over  with  fresh  slaked 
lime  for  two  mornings,  while  they  are  wet 
with  dew,  the  lime  will  kill  or  drive  off  the 
fleas  and  the  plants  will  thrive. 

There  is  a  greenish,  mealy  louse  that  at- 
tacks cabbages  when  half  or  nearly  full  grown, 
frequently  covering  the  whole  plant.  A  dust 
of  fresh  lime  for  two  mornings,  over  the 
plants  while  wet  with  dew,  will  kill  all  the 
intruders. 

A  large,  green  grub,with  black  bands  around 
its  body,  which  devours  tbe  leave  of  carrots, 
celery,  parsnip  and  parsley.  It  is  slow  in 
motion,  and  can  be  gathered  with  the  hands 
and  killed. 

All  kinds  of  fruit  trees  should  have  their 
stems  washed  now  with  a  strong  solution  of 
carbolic  soap  and  water.  It  will  keep  off 
borers  and  cut-worms,  and  if  the  leads  of  the 


lU 


THE  LAJyCASTER  FARMER. 


tree  are  syringed  with  a  weak  solution  of  the 
carbolic  snap  and  water,  insects  will  not  be 
apt  to  attack  them.  Another  syringing  of  the 
heads  of  the  trees,  after  the  fruits  are  set, 
may  keep  off  "  curculio"  from  plum  and  peach 
trees.  The  cause  of  failures  in  keeping  off 
insects  is  that  remedies  are  not  persevered  in 
a  sufficiently  long  time.  A  man  standing  upon 
a  pair  of  steps  ten  feet  high  can  syringe  over 
trees  twenty  feet  hxgh.— Journal  of  the  Farm. 
[There  is  not  a  doubt  that  the  above 
suggestions,  if  perseveringly  followed,  would 
yery  much  tend  to  the  diminishing  of  the 
number  of  "  noxious  insects."  Although  it  is 
of  some  importance  to  know  the  name,  and 
something  of  the  history,  of  the  insects  re- 
ferred to,  still  farmers  and  gardeners  are  so 
well  acquainted  with  their  destructive  habits, 
that  if  they  have  the  animal  itself  before 
them,  and  are  able  to  apply  the  proper 
remedy,  it  makes  little  difference  about  the 
scientific  name.  They  would  onl>  be  unable 
to  communicate  to  others— in  the  absence  oi 
specimens— t<?7ia^  they  had  succeeded  in  de- 
stroying—that's all.  We  may  suggest,  how- 
ever, that  the  washing  with  carbolic  soap  and 
the  "  syringing"  process,  would  be  an  im- 
mense job— where  the  infestation  should  ex- 
tend over  an  orchard  of  two  or  three  thou- 
sand of  fruit  trees — be  it  ever  so  effective. 
Still,  so  far  as  it  can  be  done,  it  ought  to  be 
done  ;  not  once  only,  but  all  the  time,  during 
the  whole  season,  or  so  long  as  insects  in 
any  form  are  known  to  be  present.  The 
greatest  failure  in  remedies,  is  perhaps  not  so 
much  on  account  of  the  quality  of  the  remedy, 
as  upon  a  lax  application  of  it,  or  the  absence 
of  a  simultaneous  effort  by  a  whole  neighbor- 
hood. Many  remedies  only  go  a  little  way  in 
the  destruction  of  insects— so-ne  so  little  that 
it  would  be  almost  as  well  not  to  try  them  at 
all — so  little  judgment  is  displayed  in  their 
use  ;  and  this  lack  of  judgment  comes  from  a 
lack  of  intelligence,  and  this  is  perhaps  be- 
cause people  don't  sufficiently  "  heed  what 
they  read,"  or  what  is  less  hopeful,  don't  read 
at  all.  It  is  true  that  many  "humbug"  rem- 
edies are  from  time  to  time  published,  but  on 
the  whole  if  people  are  occasionally  humbugged 
in  what  they  read,  they  may  learn  at  least 
what  to  avoid,  and  although  .this  may  be  only 
a  nesative  kind  of  knowledge,  it  is  much 
better  than  no  knowledge  at  all.  To  conclude, 
we  know  that  fresh,  pulverized  lime  is  death 
on  all  kinds  of  plant-lice,  when  properly  ap- 
plied.] 


Raspberry  Moth. — This  evening  (May 
20)  through  the  open  window  came  a  beauti- 
ful little  grass-green  insect,  which  the  unin- 
formed would  call  a  "  tiny  butterfly,"  but 
which  belongs  to  the  "geometer  moths,"  of 
the  order  Lepidoptera,  and  which  has  been 
described  by  Mr.  Chas.  V.  Riley  as  the 
"  Raspberry  and  blackberry  moth"  (Aplodes 
ruhivora)  in  his  first  report,  on  the  noxious 
and  other  insects  of  the  State  of  Missouri. 
The  body  of  this  little  moth  is  about  a  quar- 
ter of  an  inch  in  length,  and  it  is  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  ar.  inch  across  the  expanded 
wings.  As  we  said  before  the  color  is  a  grass 
or  verdigris-green,  but  the  color  is  not  opaque 
— indeed,  through  a  magnifying  glass  the 
wings  seem  to  be  sparsely  covered  with  the 
green  colorings,  and  there  are  two  delicate 
wh  te  lines  across  each  of  the  fore  wings  and 
hind  wings,  dividing  them  nearly  into  three 
equal  parts.  As  the  larva  of  this  little  insect 
feeds  on  the  fruit  of  the  blackberry  and  rasp- 
berry, the  appearance  of  the  moth  at  this 
time  seems  a  little  premature.  But  that 
question  does  not  bother  us  so  much  as  the 
question  of  where  it  has  been,  and  how  it 
has  preserved  itself,  during  the  long  and  severe 
winter  which  h-^s  intervened  since  the  rasp- 
berry and  blackberry  season  of  last  year.  The 
larva,  which  we  do  not  remember  ever  having 
seen — although  the  moth  we  have  observed 
at  intervals  for  more  than  twenty  years — is 
described  by  Mr.  Riley  as  a  small,  ten-legged 
"  geometer,"  over  tbree-quarters  of  an  inch 
in  length,  and  of  a  light  yellowish-gray  color ; 
excavating  the  berries,  and  concealing  itself 
by  covering  its  body  with  small  particles  of 
the  skins  and  seeds  of  the  berry,  and  also  its 
own  debris.  The  extent  of  its  depredations, 
as  a  general  thing,  must  be  very  limited, 
although  it  is  said  to  have  done  considerable 
damage  to  these  fruits  in  some  parts  of 
Illinois.  Under  any  circumstances,  it  is  not 
pleasant  to  contemplate  the  presence  of  such 
a  little  pest,  particularly  as  the  application  of 
a  remedy  wou^d  be  as  likely  to  injure  the 
quality  of  the  fruit  as  to  destroy  the  worm. 


The  Sweet  Potato.— To  grow  a  pretty 
vine  from  the  sweet  potato,  put  a  tuber 
in  pure  sand  or  sandy  loam,  in  a  hanging 
basket,  and  water  occasionally.  It  will  throw 
out  tendrils  and  beautiful  leaves,  and  will 
climb  fref  ly  over  the  arms  of  the  basket,  and 
upward  toward  the  top  of  the  window.  Not 
one  visitor  in  a  hundred  but  will  suppose  it 
to  be  some  rare  foreign  plant. 


THE  LAJyCASTER  FARMER. 


115 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


THE  AGRICULTURE  OF  PENNSYL- 
YANIA. 

ADVANCE  sheets  of  the  volume  of  Agri- 
cultural Returns,  by  the  census  of  1870, 
have  just  been  received  at  the  Census  Bureau. 
The  following  are  the  returns  for  Pennsyl- 
vania for  the  year  in  which  the  census  was 
taken : 

Acres  of  improved  land 11,515,965 

Acres  of  woodland 5,740,stii 

Acres  ot  other  unimproved  land 737,371 

Total  i,umber  of  aLies ;. 17,991,2U0 

Cash  value  of  farms $1,043,841,582 

Value  of  implements  and  machinery ig35,6a8,196 

"Wages  paid  during  the  y-^ar $23  181944 

Value  of  farm  productions $183,946,027 

Value  of  orchard  products $4,208,094 

Produce  of  market  gardens 11,810,016 

Forest  products $2,670,370 

Home  manuta!:tuifcs $1,503,7 14 

Value  of  all  live  stock 8115,647,075 

Number  of  horses 400,339 

Number  of  mules  and  asses 18,009 

Number  of  milch  cov?s 706,437 

Number  ot  working  oxen 30,048 

Number  of  other  cattle 608,066 

Number  of  sheep 1,794,301 

Number  of  swine 867,548 

Bu-sbels  of  whea,t  produced 19,672,907 

Bushels  of  rye 3,577,607 

Bushels  of  Indian  corn 34,702,004 

Bushels  of  oats 36,478,581 

Bushelf  of  barley 529,562 

Bustiels  of  buckwheat 2,532,173 

Pounds  of  tobacco 3,467,539 

Pounds  of  wool 6,,561,722 

Bushels  of  peas  and  beans 39,574 

Bushels  of  Irith  potatoes 12,899,367 

Bushdls  of  sweet  potatoes 131,572 

Gallons  of  wine 97,165 

Pounas  of  butter 60,834,614 

Pounds  of  cheese l,145,20i^ 

Gallons  of  milk  sold 14.411,729 

Tons  of  hay  producea 2,848,219 

Bushels  of  cloverseed  produced 200,679 

Busbels  of  grass  seed  produced 50  612 

Pounds  of  hups 9o,6S8 

Tons  of  hemp 571 

Pounds  of  llax 815,906 

Bushels  of  flaxseed 15  624 

Pounds  of  maplo  sugar 1,645,917 

Gallons  or  soruhum  molasses 213,373 

Gallons  of  maplo  molasses 39,385 

Pounds  of  wax 27,033 

Pounds  of  honey 796,989 

The  following  are  some  of  the  leading  re- 
turns of  the  State  according  to  the  census  of 
1860  and  1850 : 

I860.  1850. 

Acres  of  improved  land 10,436,296  8,628,619 

Acres  of  unimproved  land 6,548,844  6,264.728 

Value  of  larms $662,050,707  $407,876,699 

Value  of  implements,  etc $22,442,842  %\\,Vl'2.,b\\ 

The  total  number  of  farms  in  Pennsylvania 
in  1870  was  174,041,  against  156,357  in  1860, 
and  127,577  in  1850.  In  1870  there  were  in 
the  State  95  farms  containing  1,000  acres  and 
over;  76*  containing  between  500  and  1.000 
acres  ;  38,273,  containing  between  100  and  500 
acres  ;  61,268  containing  between  50  and  100 
acres ;  74,348  containing  under  50  acres.  The 
percentaore  of  unimproved  land  in  farms  was 
36  against  38.5  in  1860.  The  average  size  of 
farms  in  1*70  was  103  acres ;  in  1860  it  was 
109  acres;  and  in  1850  it  was  117  acres.— 
Daily  Express. 


From  the  work  before  named,  of  which  we 
have  also  received  an  advanced  copy,  we 
quote  the  following,  relating  to  the  Coimti/  of 
Lancaster,  and  which,  according  to  the  cen- 
sus returns,  contains  in  area  540,691  acre=(,  of 
which,  65,413  are  woodland,  and  11,445  other- 
wise unimproved;  leaving  463,833  acres  im- 
proved. From  these  figures,  it  seems  self-evi- 
dent that  the  early  climatic- and  meteorologi- 
cal status  of  Lancaster  county  will  never  more 
be  attained,  so  long  as  these  disproportions 
of  improved  and  forest  lands  exist. 

The  present  cash  value  of  these  lands,  in- 
cluding implements  and  machinery,  is  $73,180, 
564.  Total  amount  of  wages  paid,  including 
value  of  board  during  the  year  1869,  $1,979° 
768,  and  the  total  value  of  farm  productions 
during  the  same  year,  including  "  betterments 
and  additions  to  stock,"  was  $11,845,008.  The 
orchard  produce  was  $218,566,  and  the  pro- 
duce of  market  gardens  $87,399.  Value  of 
forest  products  $31,624,  of  home  manufactures 
$39,708,  and  the  value  of  animals  slaughtered, 
and  sjld  for  slaughter,  $2,371,809.  The  gross 
value  of  live  stock  was  $6,044,215,  the  details 
of  which  will  be  given  in  our  July  number. 

The  total  number  of  bushels  of  wheat,  rye 
corn,  oats,  barley  and  buckwheat  produced 
the  same  year,  was  5,338,480,  tobacco  2,692,- 
584  pounds,  wool  20,092  pounds,  butter  2,462,- 
376  pounds,  cheese  82,614  do.  and  of  hay  124,- 
185  tons.  The  number  of  gallons  of  wine 
produced  7,722,  and  of  milk  142,630;  of 
peas,  beans  and  potatoes  454,793  bushels. 
There  are  many  other  interesting  details 
which  we  will  note  in  our  next  number, 
in  reference  to  these  and  other  products. 
There  are  in  the  couuiy  cf  Lancaster,  of  all 
sizes,  7,447  farms,  of  which  nine  are  un- 
der 3  acres,  927  over  3  and  under  10  acres,  949 
over  10  and  under  20,  1,423  over  20  and  under 
50,  2,465  over  50  and  uader  100,  1,702  over 
100  and  under  500,  and  two  over  500  and  under 
1,000  acres. 

The  whole  state  of  Rhode  Island  has  only 
5,368  farms— 2,079  less  than  the  county  of 
Lancaster,  and  yet  the  former  possesses  2 
farms  over  1,000  acres.  This  gives  a  favorable 
exhibit  of  our  grand  old  county,  and  illustrates 
that  the  days  of  largo  landed  monopolies  and 
consequent  aristocracies,  are  gradually  pass- 
ing away,  and  that  an  era  of  greater  social 
freeholds  and  pecuniary  equality  is  approach- 
ing in  our  county,  "a  consummation  devoutly 
wished  for." 


116 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


REVIEW  OF  THE  MAY  NUMBER. 

BY  "  COSMOS." 

LAST  year  we  were  much  instructed  and  en- 
tertained hs  reviews  of  articles  in  previous 
numbers,  by  your  correspondent  Humboldt. 
That  correspondent  seems  to  have  become  de- 
funct with  the  old  year  beyond  hope  of  resur- 
rection ;  but  his  spirit,  like  that  of  the  old  Ger- 
man philosopher  whose  name  he  had  adopted, 
still  lives  in  "  Cosmos  " 

The  first  article  in  the  May  number  is  one 
well  worthy  of  perusal  and  study  by  agricul- 
turists. Agriculhtral  Chemistry  is  a  subject 
"which  is  daily  becoming  of  more  importance 
to  farmers.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  this 
important  subject  would  greatly  enhance  the 
material  interests  of  our  country. 

Aiding  tlie  Corn  Crop. — *'  What  corn  loses  in 
its  early  growth  is  lost  forever  "  is  an  agricul- 
tural truth.  This  crop  can  be  greatly  aided 
by  putting  a  tablespoonfal  or  less  of  stimulat- 
ing fertilizer  with  the  corn  in  the  hill  when 
planting,  or  on  it  as  soon  as  the  plants  have 
made  their  appearance  above  the  surface. 
Ashes,  plaster,  guano  or  hen  manure  are  good. 
This  plan  was  formerly  pursued  to  a  greater 
extent  than  at  present,with  much  benefit.  The 
young  plants  will  thus  get  a  start  ahead  of  the 
weeds. 

Rotation  is  carried  out  more  perfectly,  we 
think,  in  Lancaster  county  than  elsewhere, 
and  generally  a  uniform  system  is  pursued. 
Will  some  old  farmer,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
less  experienced,  give  a  detailed  account  of 
the  system  under  which  his  farm  has  been 
steadily  improving  for  many  years,  notwith- 
standing heavy  cropping. 

In  the  article  on  onions  it  was  shown  that 
as  a  crop  they  are  very  remunerative  in  the 
Southern  States.  They  are  the  same  here. 
Why  do  we  not  pay  more  attention  to  this  nu- 
tritious, health-producing,  disease-preventing 
vegetable. 

"  Habitation,''^  in  speaking  of  wonders  refer- 
red to  the  Improved  Feed  Steamer,  but  omit- 
ted to  mention  the  two  great  Lancasterian  in- 
ventions— which  directly  concern  the  farmer 
in  the  field.  The  first  is  the  improved  double 
cultivator,  which  can  be  used  as  a  corn-marker 
and  corn-cultivator,  and  also  as  a  general  field 
cultivator.  With  it  one  man  can  perform  the 
labor  of  two  men  and  a  boy,  in  cultivating 


corn.  The  little  plants  are  not  covered  and 
no  "  setting  up  "  is  required.  The  second  is 
the  great  improvement  in  farm  fences.  By 
the  use  of  light  posts  and  portable  panels  much 
labor  and  material  are  saved  in  the  matter  of 
fencing. 

Plant  Trees,  by  all  means.  Every  one  owning 
a  plot  of  ground  should  appropriate  a  few 
dollars  each  year  to  the  planting  and  care  of 
fruit  anl  forest  trees,  so  that  our  now  prosper- 
ous country  may  never  share  the  sad  fate  of 
the  "  dying  nation" — Persia.  We  should  heed 
the  moral  of  the  dreadful  story  and  pay  at- 
tention to  this  much-neglected  matter  of 
planting  trees.  Our  country  is  fast  becoming 
treeless.  A  treeles  country  can  never  be  a 
fertile  one. 

"  What  we  wanf^ — a  first-class  agricultural 
journal  suppoited  by  every  intelligent  farmer 
in  the  county.  This  is  a  journal  for  the 
farmer,  and  from  us  farmers  mainly  must 
come  its  support.  We  have  men  and  women, 
too,  in  the  agricultural  community,  who  have 
heads  that  think  and  hearts  that  feel  in  this 
work.  Let  us  unite  our  efforts  in  raising 
The  Farmer  to  a  still  higher  standard,  and 
in  increasing  its  circulation  and  thus  advance 
the  noble  cause  in  which  we  labor. 


SCIENCE  AND  FAIRY  RINGS. 

EVERY  one,  says  Once  a  Week,  who  is  ac- 
customed to  the  country  knows  a  fairy 
riug  when  he  sees  it.  Each  ring  is  only  a  belt 
of  grass  of  a  much  darker  green  than  that  sur- 
rounding it.  In  a  paper  on  "  The  Fairy  Rings 
of  Pastures,"  read  by  Professor  Wray  before 
the  British  Association,  at  Southampton,  in 
1846,  it  was  stated  that  the  grass  of  which 
such  rings  are  formed  is  always  the  first  to 
vegetate  in  the  spring,  and  keeps  the  lead  of 
the  ordinary  grass  of  the  pastures  till  the  per- 
iod of  cutting.  If  the  grass  of  these  fairy  rings 
be  examined  in  the  spring  and  early  summer, 
it  will  be  found  to  conceal  a  number  of  agaries 
or  toadstools  of  various  sizes.  They  are  found 
situated  either  entirely  on  the  outside  of  the 
ring,  or  on  the  outer  border  of  the  grass  which 
composes  it. 

The  professor's  view  of  the  formation  of 
these  fairy  rings  was  as  follows  :  A  fungus 
is  developed  on  a  single  spot  of  ground,  sheds 
its  seed,  and  dies.  On  the  spot  where  it  grew 
it  leaves  a  valuable  manuring  of  phosphoric 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


117 


acid  and  alkalies,  some  magnesia,  and  a  little 
sulphate  of  lime.  Another  fungus  might  un- 
doubtedly grow  on  the  same  spot  again  *,  but, 
on  the  death  of  the  first,  the  ground  becomes 
occupied  by  a  vigorous  crop  of  grass,  rising, 
like  a  phoenix  from  its  ashes.  Dr.  Wollaston 
and  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  both  adopted  this 
elucidation  of  Professor  Wray's  as  the  correct 
one  ;  and  his  is  the  explanation  most  general- 
ly accepted  by  the  best  naturalists.  The 
theory  has  also  been  very  clearly  stated  in  an 
early  volume  of  the  London  Medical  and  Physi' 
cal  Journal  thus  :  Every  fungus  exhausts  the 
ground  on  which  it  grows,  so  that  no  other  can 
exist  on  the  same  spot.  It  sheds  its  seeds 
around  ;  and  on  the  second  year,  ins  ead  of 
a  single  fungus  as  a  center,  a  number  arise  in 
an  exterior  ring  around  the  spot  where  the 
individual  stood.  These  exhaust  the  ground 
on  which  they  have  come  to  perfection  •,  and 
in  the  succeeding  year  the  ring  becomes 
larger,  from  the  same  principle  of  diver- 
gency. 


Linseed  Oil.— Linseed  oil  is  made  from 
the  seeds  of  the  flax  plant  (formerly  called 
lint  seed),  by  grinding  them  in  a  mill,  and 
pressing  the  powder  in  a  hydraulic  or  other 
power.  When  first  pressed  it  is  of  a  golden 
yellow  color,  but  soon  collects  impurities  from 
the  air  and  turns  brown.  The  impurities  can 
be  washed  out  by  stirring  water  into  it  thor- 
oughly, and  leaving  the  water  to  settle.  It 
contains  no  stearine,  and  hence  does  no^ 
congeal  at  low  temperature.  Its  chief  use  is 
in  decorative  and  preservative  painting. 
Being  mixed  with  the  powdered  colors,  and 
spread  on  wood,  stone  or  iron  with  a  brush, 
it  soon  dries  and  hardens  into  a  coating  which 
acts  as  a  cement-varnish,  and  shields  from 
weather.  To  quicken  its  drying  it  is  often 
boilod  before  using.  It  is  sometimes  used  in 
medicine  as  a  laxative,  and  for  this  purpose  is 
made  from  the  raw  seed  without  roasting.  It 
is  quite  an  important  article  of  commerce. 


The  Manufacturer  and  Builder  gives  the 
following  directions  for  a  simple  filter  to 
purify  cistern  water :  "  Place  on  the  per- 
forated bottom  of  a  box  a  piece  of  flannel, 
and  on  this  some  coarsely  powdered  charcoal, 
then  coarse  river  sand,  and  cover  the  whole 
with  sandstone  broken  into  small  pieces." 


Potatoes  in  the  Olden  Time. —An  En- 
glish writer  of  a  hundred  yearspgo  thus  speaks 
of  the  status  of  the  potato  :  "•This  root  in- 
creases prodigiously,  and  is  very  proper  for 
feeding  and  fattening  cattle.  They  are 
boiled  in  water,  and  require  but  little  boiling, 
though  they  may  have  been  kept  two  months 
in  the  store.  Cattle  can  eat  them  raw,  but 
for  the  stable  they  are  wholesome  boiled.  I 
earnestly  recommend  the  culture  of  this  plant 
to  husbandmen,  as  it  is  not  only  excellent  food 
for  cattle,  but  iiood  for  man  in  years  of  scarcity. 
After  a  little  use  the  taste  becomes  at  least 
as  agreeable  as  turnips,  and  particularly  if 
the  potatoes  are  boiled  with  bacon  and  salt 
pork." 

The  Vadtje  of  Bed  Clover.— Soils  in 
our  climate  need  to  be  kept  covered  in  clover 
and  grass  to  as  great  extent  as  is  consistent 
with  good  husbandry.  They  improve  under 
the  shade  of  clover,  because  this  dense  cover- 
ing prevents  evaporation  ;  and  because  also 
the  long  tap-roots  of  this  fine  forage  plant 
penetrate  deep-down  into  the  soil  where  they 
root  and  furnish  aliment  for  succeeding  crops. 
A  good  crop  of  clover,  turned  under  with  a 
plow,  is  equivalent  to  a  good  dressing  of  barn- 
yard manure,  for  it  contains  all  the  constitu- 
ents in  which  the  cereals  delight. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Columbia,  May  25, 1872. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS :  I  have  often  thought 
tbat  we  farmers  do  not  fairly  or  fully  com- 
prehend the  cowi^^araiiVg  value  of  artificial  fertil- 
izers, or  more  properly,  as  stimulants  to  vege- 
tation— as  their  action  on  our  soils  is  of  short 
continuance  and  not  truly  permanent  im- 
provers of  the  ground.  Our  barn-yard  ma- 
nure, after  all,  is  our  main  stay,  though  oc- 
casionally we  have  not  this  in  sufficient  quan- 
tity, or  does  not  push  things  fast  enough  for 
this  fast  age,  so  we  resort  to  these  artificial 
stimulants  to  fjrce  vegetation  into  a  more 
vigorous  growth.  Do  we  fully  consider  their 
real  value  (even  allowing  the  preparation  to 
be  honestly  prepared)  ?  In  plain  language, 
are  they  worth  what  they  cost  ?  I  would  be 
pleased  to  see  those  better  posted  than  my- 
self take  up  this  question  and  give  us  their  ex- 
perience or  opinions  through  the  pages  of  our 
Lancaster  Farmer — in  comparison  with 
barn-yard  manure.  I  may  at  some  future 
time  try  and  have  something  more  to  say  on 
this  subject,  but  in  the  meantime  would  like 
to  hear  from  others.  J.  B.  Garber. 


118 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


%\u  p 


?A%in  ^mwm. 


LANCASTER,  JUNE,  1872. 


S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editors. 

Pablished  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  Abkicul- 

TURAL  ANDHoBTICULTUEAL  SOCIETY. 

$1^5  per  Tear  In  Advance. 

A  c'onsiderable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 

All  commuuicitions,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Rathvon  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remittances  te  the 
address  of  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


MEETING    OF    THE    AGRICULTURAL 
AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

THE  moQthly  meeting  of  the  Society  was 
held  May  6th,  1872,  Levi  S.  Reist,  iu  the 
chair.  The  miautes  of  the  last  meetiog  were 
read  and  approved  by  acquiescence. 

Levi  S.  Reist  read  an  essay  on  "  Wheat 
Failure. ^^ 

Milton  B.  Eshelman  next  proceeded  to  read 
an  essay  upon  labor,  and  was  complimented 
upon  its  conclusion  by  a  unanimous  vote  of 
thanks  for  the  production. 

Ephraim  Hoover  thought  the  essayist  had 
furnished  the  ablest  production  ever  read  be- 
fore the  society,  and  concur  red  in  the  view  of 
the  essayist,  that  it  is  by  labor  that  every- 
thing of  excellei  ce  is  obtained. 

A.  Harris  regarded  the  essay  as  ^^ar  excel- 
lence e  unciating  the  soundest  maxims  of 
wisdom,  as  regards  the  importance  of  labor, 
that  had  ever  been  expressed  before  the  so- 
ciety. The  essay  was  a  succinct  resume  of  the 
advantages  secured  by  labor,  and  the  same 
that  the  wisest  minds  of  all  ages  have  con- 
curred in  expressing,  and  which  the  observa- 
tion of  every  day  practical  life  fully  corrobo- 
rates. 

P.  S.  Reist  agreed  in  characterizing  the  es- 
say as  the  ablest  ever  delivered  before  the 
society. 

C.  L.  Hunsecker  regards  labor  as  the  basis 
cf  all  prosperity,  and  he  is  ready  to  accredit 
high  honor  to  the  man  who,  by  the  sweat  of 
his  brow,  rears  his  family  in  comfort  and  sur- 
rounds it  with  the  blessings  that  a  wise 
Providence  showers  upon  the  diligent  and  in- 
dustrious. 


R.  L.  Rfcsh  considers  labor  an  admirable 
theme  for  the  pen  of  the  essayist.  There  are 
still  too  many  in  our  country,  however,  who 
do  not  labktr  as  they  should.  But  our  agricul- 
turists should  by  no  means  neglect  to  avail 
themselves  of  labor-saving  implements  of  in- 
dustry, as  by  the  application  of  these  mental 
takes  the  place  of  manual  labor,  and  success 
in  agriculture  is  thereby  greatly  promoted. 
Idleness  is  the  mother  of  vice.  It  is  not  for 
the  accumulation  of  money  solely  that  labor 
should  be  expended,  as  higher  aims  should  be 
objects  of  man's  aspirations,  such  as  the  ele- 
vation of  humanity  and  the  advancement  of 
civilization. 

Society  on  motion  adjourned. 


A  CORRESPONDENT  of  the  American 
Stock  Journal  says  :  We  have  been  in 
the  habit,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  of  weigh- 
ing all  the  hay,  fodder,  straw,  grain,  etc.,  fed 
or  sold  on  the  farm,  and  we  are  satisfied  that 
we  have  saved  the  price  of  a  pair  of  good 
platform  scales  every  year  by  so  doing. 

The  profits  of  farming  depend  very  largely 
upon  the  attention  to  things  small  in  them- 
selves, but  in  the  aggregate  amountiug  to  a 
large  share  in  one's  income.  With  this  in- 
strument at  hand  he  may  knowjusthow  much 
corn  is  fed  to  the  hogs  and  poultry  ;  how  many 
oats  to  the  horse  ;  how  much  seed  is  sown 
upon  the  land,  and  many  other  points  equally 
valuable  to  know.  For  instance,  in  selling 
live  stock,  the  weight  is  usually  estimated  by 
the  drover  or  butcher  buying  at  the  farmer's 
door. 

The  careless  farmer  feeds  his  cattla  until 
he  thinks  they  are  fat  enough  to  turns  ofi,  sell 
them  to  the  butcher  at  their  estimated  dressed- 
weight,  and  pockets  the  proceeds.  How  much 
of  the  amount  is  profit  he  cannot  tell ;  he  did 
not  measure  the  feed  or  weigh  the  animal. 

Long  practice  enables  the  buyer  to  weigh 
them  very  correctly  with  the  eye,  and  thus  he 
has  the  inexperienced  seller  at  an  advantage, 
which  he  is  not  slow  to  use.  A  good  Fair- 
banks' Standard  Platform  scales  would  save 
its  own  cost  in  a  few  such  transactions. 

The  careful  farmer  feeds  out  grain  by  meas- 
ure or  weight,  and  charges  it  to  the  bullock ; 
at  intervals  of  a  week  or  so,  he  rigs  his  plat- 
form scale  so  that  the  animal  can  stand  upon 
it,  notes  how  much  beef  it  shows  for  the  grain 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


119 


eaten,  and  when  the  feedinti;  does  not  pay,  sell 
to  the  butcher  or  drover.  In  doing  this  he  is 
not  afraid  of  the  buyer's  practiced  eye,  which 
can  almost  fix  the  notch  at  which  a  bullock  will 
turn  the  scale. 


THE     WEATHER     AND    THE    CROPS. 

THE  complaints  and  the  anxieties  we  al- 
luded to  in  our  May  number,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  crop  prospects,  still  remain  in 
statu  quo.  There  has  been  just  sufficient  rain 
to  enable  the  seeds  that  have  been  planted 
to  germinate,  and  give  the  grasses  and  the 
foliage  of  the  trees  a  summer  greenness.  We 
do  not,  however,  despair,  but  look  to  the  future 
hopefully.  An  excellent  and  refreshing  rain 
fell  last  night  (May  23)  that  will  be  worth  mil- 
lions to  the  country,  and  although  the  wheat 
crop  may  be  irrecoverable,  still  it  will  not  be 
a  total  failure.  But  now  that  the  long  dry 
spell  is  bioken,  we  may  hope  to  have  a  suc- 
cession of  showers  at  the  usual  intervals.  We 
can  only  judge  the  future  by  the  past,  and  in 
all  past  times,  the  average  fall  of  rain  during 
the  whole  year  has  not  very  materially  dif- 
fered. If  this  rule  proves  true  the  present 
year,  we  may  expect  more  rain  between  now 
and  the  first  of  November  than  we  actually 
need. 

The  absence  of  drenching  and  disturbing 
rains  have  been  rather  beneficial  to  the  fruit 
prospects,  and  these  are  beginning  to  loom  up 
mere  prosperously  than  we  had  dared  to  hope 
earlier  in  the  season.  Of  course,  small  fruits, 
not  deeply  rooted,  and  which  depend  more  or 
less  on  a  humid  surface  soil — as  the  strawberry 
for  instance— will  be  shortened  in  their  growth 
and  productiveness  by  the  want  of  rain  at  the 
proper  time,  but  grape  vin'es,  peaches,  apples, 
pears  etc.,  will  be  able  to  bear  a  greater 
drought.  On  the  whole  we  do  not  think  it 
wise  to  entertain  unnecessary  anxieties  about 
the  future,  but  continue  to  do  our  whole  duty 
in  the  present,  and  when  the  year  1872  closes 
we  may  have  reason  to  be  thankful,  that  an 
unseen  wisdom,  that  far  transcends  our  own, 
has  "  carried  us  through,"  in  "  manner  and 
matter,"  far  beyond  our  most  sanguine  expec- 
tation. But  should  these  hopes  not  be  realiz- 
ed ?  What  then  ?  "  Why,  be  resigned,  uncle 
Joe,  be  resigned  !  "  What  better  philosophy 
can  fretting  suggest  ?  It  is  worth  trying  in 
any  event. 


TOBACCO—AND  HOW  TO  GROW  IT. 

BY  "  BRU." 


THE  first  thmg  necessary  to  the  perfect 
growth  of  every  plant  is  perfect  seed. 
Without  it  the  grain  itself  will  deteriorate, 
and  each  succeeding  crop  will  be  less  pro- 
ductive. With  it  the  quality  will  become 
finer  and  the  yield  larger.  Comparatively 
speaking — take  care  of  the  seed  and  the  seed 
will  take  care  of  itself.  This  manifests  itself 
plainly  in  tobacco. 

THE  SEED. 

Let  every  tobacco  grower  first  get  perfect 
seed.  Secure  it  early  and  sow  it  about  the 
latter  end  of  March.  Seed  sown  at  this  time 
is  as  large  as  a  man's  three  fingers  by  trans- 
planting time.  Spade  barnyard  manure 
down  in  some  moist  place  in  the  garden  and 
sow  the  seed.  If  the  ground  becomes  dry 
sprinkle  it  with  rain  water.  If  your  tobacco 
is  good  you  should  raise  your  own  seed  the 
coming  year.  Let  the  finest  stalks  grow  and 
trim  oil  the  lower  leaves.  Twelve  buds  at 
the  upper  end  of  the  plant  will  raise  sufficient 
seed.  Cut  off  the  stalKs  when  the  pods  are 
perfectly  dry  and  hang  them  away  in  a  dry 
room  until  you  are  ready  to  sow  the  seed. 

THE  SOIL 

should  be  rich  and  loamy.  Fall  plowing  is 
always  preferable  and  should  be  from  twelve 
to  fourteen  inches  deep.  Then  haul  on  about 
eight  four-horse  loads  of  barnyard  manure  and 
one  hundred  bushels  of  lime  to  the  acre.  As 
soon  as  the  frost  is  out  of  the  ground  plow 
again.  Harrow  once  and  roll  if  cloddy  (a 
roller  is  always  preferable  to  a  drag).  The 
patch  should  now  be  left  lay  until  the  latter 
end  of  May.  Then  plow  shallow  and  harrow 
till  it  is  thoroughly  pulverized.  Mark  out  four 
feet  each  way— known  as  "  checkering." 
Make  a  hole  with  the  finger  and  set  the  plant 
deep. 

CULTIVATE 

thoroughly  and  keep  the  bed  full.  Cut-worms 
are  sometimes  bad.  Replant  every  niorning 
until  the  plants  are  well  started.  The  ground 
should  be  cultivated  at  least  once  a  week  and 
oftener  in  cases  of  heavy  rains.  Keep  the 
ground  loose  around  the  plants  with  a  hoe. 
Continue  this  until  the  tobacco  shades  the 
ground.    Hoeing  alone  is  not  sufficent.    The 


120 


THE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER. 


ground  must  be  loosened  up  in  order  to  absorb 
the  dews  and  rains. 

WORMS 

are  this  plant's  great  enemy.  The  "  eternal 
vigilance"  of  "  early  rising  "  is  the  only  way 
to  rid  them  out.  Tobacco  should  be  wormed 
every  morning.  The  worms  then  in  the  mid- 
dle and  edges  of  the  plant  are  easily  seen  ; 
•while  in  the  heat  of  the  day  they  keep  close 
to  the  stem  of  tbe  plant.  The  top  should  be 
pinched  from  every  stalk  when  about  fourteen 
leaves  have  grown  thereon.  Suckers  now 
begin  to  come.  When  they  are  about  three 
inches  long,  twist  them  oflF. 

PUTTING  AWAY. 

Cut  down  the  tobacco  with  a  hatchet 
and  leave  it  lay  across  the  rows  till  it  wilts. 
This  prevents  its  breaking.  Then  haul  away 
on  a  plank  wagon.  Load  with  buts  out  on 
both  sides.  There  are  several  methods  of 
hanging  it.  One  is  spearing  on  laths ;  an- 
other is  nailing  to  rails.  Spearing  is  the 
most  speedy  method  and  speared  tobacco  will 
cure  sooner  than  any  other. 

SHEDS, 

A  good  shed  should  be  thirty-five  feet  high. 
It  will  then  hold  four  tiers.  Leave  all  the 
air  doors  open  until  the  tobacco  is  half  cured. 
They  should  then  be  closed  until  it  is  thor- 
oughly cured.  It  should  be  stripped  about 
the  holidays.  "When  the  weather  is  rainy  and 
damp  open  the  air-doors.  When  the  tobacco 
is  damp  and  tough  take  it  down  and  strip  it. 
It  should  be  well  sorted  into  lots.  Every 
stalk  should  make  a  "  hand."  Pack  into  a 
cellar  and  it  is  ready  for  market ;  or— sell  it 
for  twenty  cents  a  pound. — Marietta  Register. 

Wal  Oak  Farm,  Jan.  20,  1872. 


DOMESTIC. 


Treatment  of  Soft  Corns. —A  small 
piece  of  sal-ammoniac  dissolved  in  two  table- 
spoonfuls  spirits  of  wine,  and  the  same 
quantity  of  water.  Saturate  a  small  piece  of 
sponge  or  linen  rag,  and  place  it  between  the 
toes,  changing  it  twice  a  day.  This  will  cause 
the  skin  to  harden,  and  the  corn  may  be 
easily  extracted.  A  good  remedy  for  soft 
corns  is  common  chalk  rubbed  on  the  corn 
every  day,  and  a  piece  of  cotton  wool  worn 
between  the  toes  affected,  to  prevent  pressure ; 
the  chalk  appears  to  dry  up  the  corn. 


NUTRITIVE  VALUE  OF  MILK. 

A  CHEMIST  of  Providence,  Pt.  I.,  states 
that  milk  is  more  nutritious  than  meat. 
The  nutritive  value  of  milk,  as  compared  with 
other  kinds  of  animal  food,  is  not  generally 
appreciated.  There  is  less  difference  betweea 
the  economical  value  of  milk  and  beefsteak 
(or  eggs  or  fish)  than  is  compaonly  supposed. 
The  quantity  of  water  in  a  good  quality  of 
milk  is  eighty-six  per  cent.,  in  round  steak 
seyenty-five  per  cent.,  in  fatter  beef  sixty  per 
C€nt.,in  eggs  about  sixty-eight  per  cent  From 
several  analyses  made  last  winter,  I  estimated 
sirloin  steak  (reckoning  loss  from  bone),  at 
thirty-five  cents  a  pound,  as  dear  as  milk  at 
twenty-four  cents  a  quart;  round  steak,  at 
twenty  cents  a  pound,  as  milk  at  fourteen 
cents  a  quart ;  eggs  at  thirty  cents  a  dozen,  as 
dear  as  milk  at  twenty  cents  a  quart.  Many 
laborers,  who  pay  seventeen  cents  for  corned 
beef,  would  consider  themselves  hardly  able 
to  pay  ten  cents  lor  milk,  when,  in  fact,  they 
could  as  well  afford  to  pay  fifteen  cents. 

Milk  is  a  most  wholesome  and  economical 
food  for  either  the  rich  or  poor.  It  ought  to 
be  more  largely  used.  If  the  money  expend- 
ed for  veal  and  pork  were  experded  for  milk, 
I  doubt  not  it  would  be  an  advantage  both  to 
the  stomach  and  pocket,  especially  during  the 
warm  season.  Relatively  speaking,  then, milk 
at  ten  cents,  or  even  twelve  cents  a  quart,  is 
the  cheapest  animal  food  that  can  be  used. 
Whether  farmers  can  afford  to  produce, it 
cheaper  is  a  matter  for  them  to  decide.  „  is 
very  probable  that  were  they  to  ask  twelve 
cents,  a  very  large  number  of  poor  people 
would  refrain  from  its  use  from  mistaken  no- 
tions of  economy,  notwithstanding  they  are 
excessive  meat  eaters. 


Hot  Cakes. — A  griddle  for  baking  cakes 
should  never  be  greased,  as  apart  from  the 
annoyance  caused  by  the  smoke  arising  from 
a  greased  griddle,  the  delicate  flavor  of  the 
cakes  is  destroyed.  Scour  well  with  a  cloth 
and  sand,  wash  with  hot  suds,  wipe  dry,  and 
just  before  baking  rub  with  a  coarse  cloth  and 
salt.  It  is  not  necessary  to  wash  and  scour  it 
every  time  it  is  wanted  ;  only  once  to  get  all 
the  grease  out ;  but  use  the  cloth  and  salt 
every  time  you  put  fresh  cakes  on,  just  as  you 
would  grease  the  pan. 


THE  LAJf CASTER  FARMER. 


121 


Bathing. — Many  pei-sona  have  lost  their 
lives  in  the  process  of  bathing;  sometimes  by 
going  into  tlae  bath  too  soon  after  eating.  Ko 
person  should  take  any  kind  of  bath  sooner 
than  three  hours  after  a  regular  meal,  and  the 
•room  should  show  a  heat  of  seventy  five  de- 
grees of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  at  about 
■five  feet  above  the  floor  in  the  middle  of  the 
room,  in  order  to  avoid  dangerous  chills  ;  per- 
sons of  a  feeble  circulation  should  have  the 
room  still  warmer  ;  if  there  is  an  uncomfort- 
able feeling  of  coldness  to  the  body  when  it 
comes  out  of  the  water,  the  room  is  too  cold. — 
HalVs  Journal  of  Health. 


Grafting  Geraniums.— Many  of  the  new 
Zonal  geraniums  are  wonderfully  slow  grow- 
ers on  their  own  roots,  requiring  two  or  three 
years  to  obtain  a  good  showy  plant.  Among 
the  plain  leaved  sorts  there  are  plenty  of 
etroDg,  vigorous  growers.  I  am  using  these 
for  stocks  upon  which  to  graft  the  more  deli- 
cate kinds.  Grafting  geraniums  has  been 
practiced  but  very  little  in  this  country,  but  I 
thmk  when  our  gardeners  learn  its  value,  it 
will  be  extensively  used  for  tho  slow-growing 
but  elegant  Zonal  varieties.  Even  for  the 
purpose  of  obtainirg  a  supply  of  good  strong 
cuttings,  grafting  the  weaker  sorts  upon  the 
stronger  will  be  found  of  considerable  value 
to  the  commercial  florist. 


Steamed  Pudding.— Two  eggs,  two  tea- 
cupfuls  of  sour  milk,  one  teaspoouful  of  soda, 
a  little  salt,  flour  enough  to  make  it  quite 
^^'  k,  or  it  will  be  heavy.  Beat  this  smooth. 
Ai.d  cherries,  raspberries,  currants,  or  any 
dried  fruit  you  may  have.  Steam  two  hours, 
taking  care  that  the  water  is  kept  over  the  pud- 
ding or  bag  all  the  time,  and  that  it  does  not 
stop  boiling.  Eat  with  cream  and  sugar,  hard 
sauce,  or  any  liquid  sauce  you  may  prefer. 


Cleaning  Tinware. — An  experienced 
housekeeper  says  the  best  thing  for  cleaning 
tinware  is  common  soda.  She  gives  the  fol- 
lowing directions :  Dampen  a  cloth  and  dip 
in  soda  and  rub  the  ware  briskly,  after  which 
wipe  dry.  Any  blackened  ware  can  thus  be 
made  to  look  as  good  as  new. 


BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  IsOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 


Store  Hogs  should  be  kept  in  a  growing 
condition,  and  not  be  suflTered  to  stand  still  in 
their  growth. 


our  book  table. 

The  Lady's  Friend  for  Ju^E. — The  June  number 
leads  ott"  with  ii  charming  picture  of  ilie  heroine  of  theday, 
Dolly  Varden.  Here  Bhe  is,  in  all  her  glory  of  youth  arid 
beauty.  On  theoIJpo^ite  page,  a  picmresque  ecens  in 
Switz»'rlaT)d  areets  Uh.  The  music  is— "Some  One  to  Weep 
when  I  am  Gone."  Mrs.  Henry  Wood's  novel,  "Within 
the  Maze,"  grows  more  absorbingly  interestniK  with  p-^ery 
number.  There  are  als->  exce  lent  storif.s  by  Daisy  Vent- 
nor  and  Anrje  L.  P'oroelle,  and  Mies  Douglas  begins  one 
of  her  attract' Vf^  s.-ria  s,  ''An  Every-day  Heroin*-."  The 
Fashion  and  Housekeepini;  Departments  apjear  to  be 
thoroufjhly  attended  to.  Pnce,$2.00  a  year.  Published 
by  Deacon  &  Peterson,  Philadelphia.  C  p  es  for  mile  by 
all  News  Dealers,  and  by  Ike  Publishers,  price  20  ctiHs. 

Thb  New  York  In'lepend'nt  is  the  one  of  all  our  religious 
American  n-wspapei  s  that  (i(  sprves  to  find  a  place  in  the 
family  of  every  farmer  of  our  country.  Its  articles  a'e 
from  the  pen  of  the  ran.st  talented  writers,  and  they  breathe 
a  freshness  and  vigor  of  ihiut^ht  that  are  peculiar  chnrac- 
teristics  of  the  Indrppwleid.  The  ci-culation  of  this  papT, 
which  in  1862  w*8  already  very  large,  has  since  that  time 
almost  treb  ed  itself,  is  steadily  increasing.  Any  of  our 
readers  who  wish  to  subscribe  for  a  tirst  class  religious  pa 
per,  thould  procure  the  Independent.  Terms  #3  00  p  r  an- 
num. Address  Henry  C.  Brown  Publisher,  No.  3  Park 
Place,  New  York. 

Home  and  Health  for  June  is  before  us,  and  is  cer- 
tainly a  very  valuable  number.  No  other  migazine  sur- 
passes it  in  the  qualiiy  of  its  literature,  while  it  sur- 
passes all  others  ot  its  size  in  the  number  and  variety  of 
its  artl  les,  and  in  its  adaptation  to  all  the  wants  of  the 
family.  Its  dei>ar  ment  of  Health  Culture,  and  ■  ome  En- 
tertainmt'nt,  Humorous  Incidents  and  Current  Events, 
make  it  the  mo.Ht  valuable  pnd  cheapest  family  magazine 
published  in  the  country.  Older  it  from  the  N.  wslealers, 
or  send  direct  to  De  Pu7,  Lyon  &  Co.,  No.  52  Fourth  Ave- 
nue, New  YorK.    Single  copies  15  cents ;  §1.50  per  annum. 

The  New  Yoyk  Independent  is  the  one  of  pU  our  religlona 
American  nwwspspers  that  deserves  to  find  a  place  in  the 
family  of  every  farmer  "f  our  country.  Its  articles  are 
from  the  pens  of  the  most  talpnted  writers,  and  they 
breathe  a  freshness  and  vigor  of  thought  that  are  peculiar 
characteristics  of  the  Independent.  The  circulation  ot  this 
paper,  which  ia  18G2  was  already  very  large,  has  since  that 
time  almoMt  treble  i  itselr,  and  is  steadily  increasing.  Any 
of  our  readtrs  who  wish  to  sub.ocri'^e  fur  a  first- class  reli- 
gious paoer  should  pr  )cu-e  the  Ind'pendent.  Term:*,  $2.50 
per  annum.  Addrcsi  Hecry  C.  Bowen,  Publisher,  No.  8 
Park  P. ace,  New  York. 

We  again  insert  the  above  notice  of  the  New  York  Inde- 
pendent because  of  the  mistake  that  occurred  in  our  May 
issuB  in  making  the  terms  of  the  paper  $3.50  per  annuna 
instead  of  $2.50. 

The  National  Business  Index  has  more  condensed 
information  on  Agriculture,  Commerce.  Education,  Fi- 
nance, Government,  Insurance.  Legul  Intellijence,  Legis- 
lation, Literature  Manufactures,  Mining,  Kailrtads,  Ship- 
ping, Real  Est.ite.  Science,  Art,  RoUgion.  Benevolence, 
Adverisiner,  and  S-'pecial  and  Jtiscellaneous  matters,  com- 
pacted in  the  snialUs*.  space,  than  any  other  publication  in 
the  countrv.  Putdished  by  the  Index  Company,  Chicago, 
Ko.  433  West  Jackson  street,  at  50  cents  a  year.  No.  1  for 
March,  1872,  received. 

The  Induptuial  Monthly  for  May,  1872.  is  a  rich  and 
finelv  illu.strated  number,  of  a  quarto,  published  in  the  In- 
terest of  Manufacturers,  Mechanics,  Builders,  Architects, 
Engineers,  Inventors,  and  Railways.  New  York  :  $1.5C  a 
year. 

Wood's  Household  Magazin'— for  .June,  '72— Newburgh, 
N.  Y.,  one  dollar  a  year",  is  "the  early  bird  that  catches  the 
worm,"  and  what  it  catches  it  keeps.  Its  contents  are  so 
interesting  and  so  morally  toned,  as  to  be  sure  of  catching 
the  attention  of  the  reader,  and  not  only  this,  but  also 
ke'ping  that  attention.  No  wonder  it  is  sent  to  15,147  post- 
offices,  in  fifty  states  and  territories,  where  a  further  dis- 
tribution among  a  larger  numberof  intelligent  subscribers 
takes  place.  Amone  its  contributors  are  such  names  as 
Horace  Greeley,  Gail  Hamilton,  Harriet  Prescntt  Stopford, 
James  Parton,  Violet  Hastings,  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  Luella 
Dowd,  etc. 


n'^ 


TEE  LAJVCdSTER  FARMER. 


American  Stock  Journal,  Monthly  Report  Departs 
ment  of  Agriculture  for  April,  National  Agitator,  Iron 
World,  Pra  tiunl  Farmer,  American  Farmers'  Advocate, 
Journal  of  the  Farm,  New  York  Rural,  Everybody's  Jour- 
nal, American  AgricuUuri-t,  American  Homes,  Journal 
of  Health,  New  York  Independent,  NevF  York  Observer, 
Germautdwn  Telegraph,  and  the  Patent  Riiht  Gazette, 
all  freighted  with  the  current  matters  of  the  times  in  their 
vari  us  specialties,  have  been  received  for  the  month  of 
May,  1872. 

F<R  simplicity,  beauty,  durability,  cheapness,  and  ef- 
fectiveaess,  we  sincerely  commend  that  Queen  of  dairy 
implements,  the  Blanchard  Churn. 

Few  im- laments  that  farmers  use  have  been  tested  and 
Improv-d  for  so  manyyeirs,  that  they  are  as  near  perfect 
as  any  thing  can  be  made  of  wood  and  iron.  The  Blanch- 
ard Churn  is  one  of  this  kind. 


NEW  YORK  CATTLE  MARKET. 

New  York,  May  20, 1872. 
The  offerings  comprised  4:J00  Beeces,  125  Cows  and 
Calves,  4,339  Veals,  15426  Sheep  aid  Lambs,  and  3.3.302 
Swine.  Beeves  are  rather  depressed,  under  heavy  offer- 
ings, and  prices  are  called  at  !4  c.  below  below  last  Mon- 
day's quitations.  The  extremes  of  the  market  are  10  to  13 
cents  per  lb.  Milch  Cows  are  io  light  demand.  A  few 
choice  were  sold  at  *80 ;  poor  &tock,  $25  per  head;  me- 
dium, trom  $40  to  $60.  Veal  Calves  active,  and  higher 
for  all  grades.  W.J  quote  from  6>^  to7>^  c.  per  lb.,  as  in 
qua'ity.  Sheep  are  >;$c.  per  ,b.  higher.  Lamb?  abundant, 
and  rather  easier.  Tne  tormersoid  at  Q%(g)lO],-^  c.  per  lb.; 
and  the  latter  at  12ail7c.  Nothing  doing  in  Liive  Hogs; 
Dressed  sell  at  5-%  to  63!^  c.  per  lb. 

NEW  YORK  MARKET. 

New  York,  May  21. 
Cotton  is  more  active  and  in  betttr  demand  ;  middling 
upland  24  j^c.  Flour  quiet ;  superfiae  western  and  State, 
$7,10@7.3; ;  common  to  good,  S7,60@8,10;  good  to  choice 
$8,15®9,0U;St.  Louis  $9,50fa)lH,50.  Rye  flour  ^nd  cnrn  meal 
u  iijuiu^  vl.  Wheat  uusettled;  spring  No.  1  $1,730)1,75; 
No.  2$l,67@l,71;  amber  red  western  $1,98;  No,  2  Chicago 
spring  $1,68  Rye  dull ;  western  in  store  90c.  Barley  and 
malt  u.  changed.  Corn  heavy ;  western  mixed  afloat 
74a74>^c  Oats  active  and  firmer;  western  fi6a58c;  Ohio 
57a6oc  Hay  firm ;  shipping  $1,75.  Hops  firm  at  25a65c 
for  '7 1 ;  inaSOc  for  '70 ;  10al5  for  '69.  Pork  held  momlnally 
atSl3  90  tor  mess.  Beef  and  Cut  Meats  unchanged.  Lard 
unchanged.    Butter  steady  at  29a31c  for  new. 

CHICAGO  MARKET. 

Chicago,  May  20. 
Flour  quiet.  Wheat  active  for  spot;  famiiy  active  on 
speculation  prices  and  higher;  No.  2  spring  $1,52  ;  spot 
$1.52,  seller  June;  $l,f4x  seller  July.  Corn  firm  andjad- 
vanced;  No.  2  mixed  4l3.^a43J^c,  spot;  48}/^a483|c,  seLer 
June;  rejected  45a45>^c.  Oats  dull ;  No.  2  4i)^c.  Rye 
fi  m;  No.  2  85c.  Barley  quiet  and  a  shade  firmer;  No.  2 
fall  60a65c. 


PHILADELPHIA  MARKETS. 

PniLADELPHiA,  May  20,  1872. 

Flour.— There  is  not  much  doing,  but  holders  are  de- 
manding high  figures.  Sales  of  1200  bbis  ,  including  super- 
fine at  $a6,75  ;  extra  at  $7.^7,75;  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota 
extra  family  at  $8,50;  Pennsylvania  do.  do.  at  $9,50al0,f0; 
Indiana  and  Ohio  do.  do.  at  $9,10,  and  high  grades  at  $i,- 
50dll,5i>.     Rye  flour  commands  $Ga6, 25.  ^.orn  Mealis  dull. 

Grain.— Wheat  is  quiet,  and  prices  rather  weak.  Sales 
of  28'jO  bu'hels  New  "Vork  and  Western  red  at  $2.20.  Rye 
is  worth  $1.10.  Cora  is  in  limited  request,  with  sales  of 
yellow  at  74a75c.,  and  Western  mixed  at  73a74c.  10,000 
bushels  of  the  latter  sold  ou  secret  terms.  Oats  are  un- 
changed ;  sales  of  5,000  bushels  white  at  58c.  and  4,500  bush- 
els mixed  at  57c.  Birley  and  Malt  are  dull.  Thereceipts 
to-lay  are  as  follows :  2121  bbls  flour;  9,000  bushels 
wheat;  54,800  bushels  corn;  11,700  bushels  oats;  504  barrels 
of  whisky. 

Provi-ions  continue  quiet,  but  prices  are  unchanged. 
Sales  of  Mess  Pork  at  $l3,75al4  per  barrel.  City  packed 
extra  Mess  Beef  is  taken  at  $14,5.:al5  per  barrel.  Bacon 
18  steady;  sales  of  plain  sugar-cured  city-smoked  Kam.o  at 
lliillX  cants.  Canvassed  western  at  12c.,  sires  at  8c.,  and 
shoulders  at  7c.  Green  meats  are  quiet.  Sales  of  pickel- 
ed  Hams  at  93^  to  lOc,  and  shoulders  in  salt  at  5a5xc. 
Lard  is  quiet;  sales  at  9a9)^  per  lb. 


Seeds. — There  Is  less  doing  in  Clover  ;  small  sales  at  9a 
10c  per  lb.  Flaxseed  sold  at  $2,15,  and  Timothy  at  $2,75 
per  bushel. 

PHILADELPHIA  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Philadelphia,  Mav  20, 1872. 

Beep  Cattle  were  dull  this  week,  and  p'ije"  favored 
buyers  ;  abou''  2000  head  arrived  and  sold  at  7^'^a8o  for  ex- 
tra Pennsylvania  find  Western  Steers;  6a7c.  lor  fair  to  good 
do.  and  5.i5)^c  per  lb.  gross  tor  common,  as  to  quality. 

Cows  were  wiihout  change;  200  head  sold  at  $35a65  per 
head,  as  lo  quality. 

Shkep  were  in  fair  demand;  15,000  head  arrived  and 
sold  at  6>;,'a73^c  per  lb,  for  clipped,  and  $3  to  8  per  head  for 
lambs. 

Hogs  were  rather  lower;  3261  head  sold  at  $5,7 5a7  per 
100  lbs.,  net — the  latterrate  for  prime  corn  fed. 


WHEN  SHOULD  PIGS  BE  WEANED? 

The  Field  and,  Factory  gives  the  following 
answer  to  the  above  question  : 

"  Eight  weeks  old  is  the  best  age.  Seven 
weeks  will  do.  They  should  become  accus- 
tomed to  food,  such  as  ordinarily  given  to 
hogs  before  weaning,  and  then  there  will  be 
no  need  of  any  loss  in  growth  from  the  loss  of 
the  mother's  milk.  If  they  are  at  all  inclined 
to  scour,  one  of  the  best  preventives  is  an 
occasional  day's  feed  of  whole  corn,  or  a  few 
kernels  with  their  other  food  each  day.  They 
should  have  all  they  will  eat,  and  the  growth 
will  generally  pay  at  least  fiity  per  cent,  over 
and  above  the  cost." 


To  take  bruises  out  of  furniture,  wet  the 
part  with  warm  water ;  double  a  piece  of 
brown  paper  five  or  six  times,  soak  it  in 
the  warm  water,  and  lay  it  on  the  place 
apply  on  that  a  warm  but  not  hot  flat- 
iron  till  the  moisture  is  evaporated.  If  the 
bruise  be  not  gone  repeat  the  process.  After 
two  or  three  applications,  the  dent  or  bruise 
be  small,  merely  soak  it  with  warm  water,  and 
hold  a  red-hot  iron  near  the  surface,  keeping 
the  surface  continually  wet — the  bruise  will 
soon  disappear. 


Boiling  Indian  Pudding.  —  Into  one 
quart  of  boiling  milk  stir  as  much  Indian-meal 
as  will  make  a  batter.  Add  half  a  pint  of 
beef-suet,  chopped  finely ;  one  quart  of  dried 
apples,  chopped ;  a  teacupful  of  sugar,  and  a 
teaspoonful  of  salt.  Mix  well  together,  and 
then  proceed  as  with  the  flour-pudding,  only 
boiling  sis  hours  instead  of  two.  Dried  cher- 
ries or  pears  will  answer  as  well  as  dried  ap- 
ples.   Serve  with  cream-sauce. 


mu 


iirnier. 


DEVOTED  TO 
AgrLcidtivre,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Econormj  and  Miscellany* 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATHVOX  AXD  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 


"  The  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  civiUzaUoii."—WY.BSTER. 


Vol.  IV. 


JULY,  1872. 


JYo.  7. 


ESSAY. 


THE  SEVENTEEN- YEAR  LOCUSTS  OF 

1872. 

[Cicada  Sepzendecino.] 

N  the  25th  of  May  last  we  were  informed 
that  a  large  brood  of  these  singular  in- 
sects had  made  its  appearance  in  "  Pire 
.Swamp  Valley,"  Hellam  township,  York  cu., 
I'a.,  and  subsequently  we  noticed  in  the  news- 
papers that  "  locusts  were  appearing  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground  in  Union  co.,  Pa.,  and 
:ilso  Perry  county,  atid  that  the  Sinliiag 
Valley  farmers  had  plowed  them  up  by  mil- 
lions." On  the  29th  of  the  same  month,  in 
company  with  Mr.  H.  M.  Engle,  we  visited 
ihe  Ilellam  township  locality,  and  found  the 
report  verified— indeed,  we  found  the^e  insects 
m  n-e  nnnjerous  than  we  had  ever  seen  them 
hi  fore  aiiijwhere,  especially  in  that  portion  of 
Mr.  i'"s  peach  orchard,  which  seventeen  years 
a^o  had  been  forest  land.  Peach  tree?,  apple 
trees,  pear  trees,  cherry  trees,  oak,  chestnut, 
liickory,  walnut,  sassafras,  and  other  sprouts, 
as  well  a.s  wild  grape,  milk-weed  (Aschpeas), 
clover  and  grass,  and  weeds  in  general,  were 
Hlerally  covered  with  them.  The  ground 
everywhere  wua  perforated  with  hole.",  and 
tiii-ir  evacuated  pxipa  shells  were  found  adhrr- 
ii'g  to  stones,  clods  cf  earth,  chips,  fences, 
weeds,  trunks  of  trees,  or  any  other  objiHst  that 
li'st  came  in  their  way  after  they  came  out  of 
ilie  ground. 

Mr.  .Jacob  Fahrey,  a  /armer  residing  in  the 
valley,  informed  us  that  to  the  best  of  his  re- 
collection, the  locusts  appeared  in  that  locali- 
ty about  the  year  1855,  and  that  then,  as  now, 


they  were  confined  to  the  north  side,  which 
has  a  southern  exposure,  and  few  or  none  on 
the  soulhside,and  also  that  he  heard  they  were 
appearing  on  the  south  side  of  the  hills  which 
bound  Kreutz  Creek  Valley.  After  securing 
a  number  of  specimens  we  returned  home  and 
addressed  letters  to  several  persons  in  York 
county,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  the 
range  t»f  this  brood.  On  the  Gth  of  June  Gen. 
A.  II.  Glatz  wrote  us  to  the  effect  that  "  the 
locusts  have  appeared  in  great  numbers  on  the 
river  hills  from  the  Codorus  to  Pine  Swamp, 
in  the  townships  of  Spring  Garden  and  Hel- 
lam. On  the  14th  of  June  the  same  gentlemati 
wrote  us  that  while  on  a  visit  to  the  country 
he  found  that  "  the  seventeen  year  locusts 
have  appeared  on  the  hills  bounding  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  Kreutz  Creek  Valley,"  but 
could  not  learn  how  far  they  extended.  About 
the  same  date  the  following  response  to  our 
inquiries  appeared,  which  we  take  from  the 
Lancaster  Express  •• 

Seventeen"- YEAR  Locuars.— The  York 
True  Democrat  ot  to  day  says:  "Some  of  our 
readers  will  no  doubt  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  tlie  seventeen-vear  locusts,  as  they  are 
called,  have  made  their  appearance  in  large 
numbers  iu  some  portions  of  York  county. 
The  localities  they  have  visited  are  princi- 
pally those  bordering  along  the  Susquehanna 
river,  extendiug  fromPleasureville,  in  Spring 
j  Garden,  to  a  short  distance  this  side  of 
Wrightsville,  iu  Hellam  township.  We  have 
not  heard  of  them  being  anywhere  else.  The 
peculiar  croaking  of  a  few  of  them  has  been 
heard  a  short  distance  beyond  our  borough 
line,  in  the  direction  of  Prospect  Hill  Ceme- 
tery, but  they  are  not  numerous  and  are  prob- 
ably stragglers  from  the  brood  which  has  ap- 
peared in  the  localities  above  mentioned.  Jt 
will  be  remembered  that  three  years  ago  they 
were  in  the  borough  of  York  and  its  surround- 
ings, and  did  considerable  injury  to  young 


12Jf 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


fruit  trees.  The  writer  of  this  article  had  a 
fine,  large  pear  tree,  which  was  coverad  with 
fruit,  entirely  destroyed  by  them  that  season. 
This  was,  however,  inside  the  borough  limits. 
Pieasureville,  where  they  have  appeared  this 
year,  is  a  small  village,  about  two  miles  north- 
♦^ast  of  York,  in  Spring  Garden  township. 
From  that  place  on  along  the  hills  down  to  the 
Susquehanna  river,  they  are  said  to  be  numer- 
oup.  Ou  inquiry  we  ascertain  tbat  there  were 
none  seen  in  this  locality  three  years  ago,with 
the  exception  of  here  and  there  a  wandering 
one — a  straggler,  doubtless,  from  a  brood 
■which  was  operating  in  some  near  vicinity. 
But  we  never  knew  them  to  be  more  plentiful 
than  they  were  in  the  borough  of  York  that 
season. 

In  a  letter  from  Mr.  George  Keesey,  of  Co- 
dorus  Furnace,  in  York  county,  dated  June 
lOth,  he  says  :  "The  locusts  are  very  numer- 
ous in  our  neighborhood,  the  woods  btingfull 
of  them.  They  extend  all  the  way  to  York 
wherever  there  is  timber,  a  distance  of  eight 
miles  ;  also  all  the  way  from  here  to  the  Cone- 
wago  mountains,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles ; 
where  I  understand,  hogs  have  died  from  eat- 
ing them. 

"  If  I  mistake  not,  they  were  in  our  neigh- 
borhood in  the  year  1855  and  1838.  There 
v/ers  a  good  many  of  them  in  part  of  the  tim- 
ber, about  a  mile  south  of  this  place  in  1868 ; 
and  also  about  Mount  Wolf,  four  and  a  half 
miles  north-west  of  us,  in  1851." 

On  our  visit  to  Pine  Swamp  Valley,  there 
were  no  locusts  on  the  north  side  of  the  hill 
which  separates  this  little  valley  from  the  Sus- 
quehanna, and  many  of  those  ou  the  south 
side  were  pairing,  and  some  even  ovipositing ; 
but  on  the  17th  of  June,  Mr.  Engle  and  others 
informed  us  that  their  area  had  been  extended 
down  the  north  side  lo  the  river,  that  they 
were  as  numerous  and  as  musical  as  their  val- 
ley cogeners,  and  that  their  songs  can  be 
heard  distinctly  across  the  Susquehanna,  in 
Lancaster  county. 

T3y  the  21st  of  June  their  area  had  extend- 
ed on  the  face  of  the  hills  as  far  eastward  as 
opposite  the  borough  of  Marietta,  and  the 
citizens  of  tbat  place  could  hear  them  dis- 
tinctly from  the  front  street,  near  the  bank 
of  the  river.  This  is  the  more  remarkable 
because  they  appeared  in  that  locality  in 
1834, 1851  and  1868,  but  we  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  their  having  been  in  the  same  locality 
iu  1838  or  1855.  In  1834  we  resided  at  Ma- 
rietta, and  know  the  locusts  to  have  been  both 
■  In  and  around  that  town,  and  also  along  the 


north  side  of  the  hills  in  York  county  oppo- 
site the  town.  We  did  uot  reside  at  Marietta 
in  1851,  but  Mr  Jacob  P..  Hoff^^r,  of  the  bor- 
ough of  Mount  Joy,  ioforms  us  that  he  has  a 
distinct  recollection  that  when  the  locusts  ap- 
peared in  Lancaster  county  in  1851,  they  also 
appeared,  about  two  weeks  later,  on  the  north 
side  oC  the  river  hills  in  York  couuty,  and 
they  were  so  numerous  that  he  plainly  heard 
them  from  the  shore  in  Lancaster  couuty. 
Mr.  Joseph  Windolph,  of  Marietta,  informed 
us  that  he  both  heard  and  saw  them  in  the 
same  locality  in  1868,  but  that  there  were 
none  on  the  south  side  of  the  hills  in  Pine 
Swamp  and  Kreufz  Creek  valleys,  but  that 
the  people  informed  him  that  they  would  ap- 
pear there  again  in  1870.  Fro'n  this  it  will 
appear  that  they  committed  an  errrorin  their 
calculations,  which  is  not  at  all  surprising 
with  people  who  do  not  make  a  written  rec- 
ord of  such  events.  This  erroneous  report 
having  been  communicated^to  M,  C.  T.  Riley, 
State  entomologist  of  Missouri,  he.  thereupon 
made  use  of  it  in  establishing  his  theory  of 
broods;  which,  not  being  verified,  was  criti- 
cised by  Rev.  Morris,  a  distinguished  ento- 
mologist of  Baltimore,  and  both  seemed  to 
hold  us  responsible  for  the  discrepancy  in 
this  part  of  the  aforesaid  theory,  when  we 
never  intended  it  as  evidence  in  support  of 
amj  system  of  broods. 

From  all  the  foregoing,  taken  together, 
there  seems  to  be  a  Lancaster  and  a  York 
county  brood,  and  that  the  area  of  these  over- 
lap each  other  along  the  north  fide  of  the 
hills  which  margin  York  county  on  its  river 
boundary — at  least,  from  Marietta  to  the  Con- 
cwago  hills,  a  distance  of  fourteen  or  fifteen 
miles,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Kee- 
sey, v/ho  is  a  man  of  intelligence,  integrity, 
and  of  practical  observation.  Bat  we  have 
to  notice  another  brood  in  our  own  county. 

On  the  10th  of  June — in  answer  to  an  in- 
quiry on  the  subject — Mrs.  P.  E.  Gibbons,  of 
Enterprise,  this  county,  wrote  us  to  the  follow 
ing  effect :  That  on  mentioning  the  matter,  a 
colored  woman,  ia  her  employ,  informed  her 
that  she  could  have  brought  her  a  pint  of  the 
pupai  shells  of  the  locust  from  Zion — the 
meeticg-house  of  the  colored  people,  near 
Penningtonville — the  previous  Sauday.  This 
brought  distinctly  to  her  mind  a  remark  made 
by  her  friend,  J.  Williams  Thorne,  at  that 
time  one  of  her  most  intelligent  and  observing 


THE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER. 


125 


cal,  or  differently  dated  brood  of  locusts, 
made  its  appearance  on  one  side  of  a  ridge 
near  his  house,  he  thon  living  on  a  farm  on 
the  "  Mine  Hill,"  not  far  from  the  Mt.  Ver- 
non  Tavern,  about  two  miles  north-west  of 
Parkesburg.  They  were  then  conversing 
upon  the  suuject  of  the  locusts  of  1868.  Mr. 
Thome  made  the  same  remark  to  us  at  the 
June  exhibition  of  the  Laocaster  Horticul- 
tural Society,  in  the  Court  House,  that  year, 
when  we  had  some  locusts  on  exhibition. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  Mr.  John  Linville,  an 
intelligent  farmer,  near  Belleview,  in  this 
county,  informed  us  that  the  locusts  were  then 
'  swarmicg  "  on  the  Gap  hills,  from  the  afore- 
named village  to  Mfc.  Vernon,  a  distance  of 
two  miles. 

Mr.  L.  also  informed  us  that  the  locusts  were 
in  that  district  in  1855,  but  that  then,  as  now, 
there  were  very  few  in  Pequea  Valley,  and 
tha*.  the  old  inhabitants  had  observed  tiat  at 
each  returning  cycle  these  insects  were  be- 
coming fewer  in  that  valley,  and  were  princi- 
pally confined  to  the  hills  which  bound  it. 
Only  a  few  stragglers  were  found  in  the  valley 
of  the  Pequea  the  present  season,  here  and 
there,  where  there  had  been  timber  growing 
seventeen  years  ago.  On  the  17th  of  June, 
Mr.  S.  L.  Deuney,  a  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  L., 
brought  us  a  box  containing  thirty-eight  lo- 
custs, which  he  had  picked  oil' a  single  bush 
that  morning  at  Bellville,  stating  that  they 
could  be  gathered  by  thousands  anywhere  on 
the  Gap  hills,  for  a  distance  of  two  or  three 
miles.  Mr.  D.  says  that  in  a  grain  field  of  his, 
which  seventeen  years  ago  was  timber  land,  he 
counted  ten  holes  in  a  square  foot,  in  a  path 
which  leads  through  it,  and  this  was  the  first  in- 
dication he  had  of  their  presence,  for  on  ex- 
tending his  observations,  he  found  the  insects 
or  their  evacuated  shells  in  great  numbers  on 
the  stalks  of  growing  grain.  He  says  he  has  a 
distinct  recollection  of  these  insects  being  in 
that  locality  in  1868,  in  185~»  and  in  1851. 
From  this  it  will  appear  that  there  is  a 
Chester  county  brood  of  locust*,  which  over- 
laps our  Lancaster  county  brood  on  the  east,  as 
well  as  the  York  county  brood  on  the  south. 
Penniugtonville,  where  the  colored  woman 
saw  so  many  of  their  "  hulls,"  is  in  Chester 
couuty,  and  perhaps  the  reason  she  did  not 
see  the  locusts  themselves,  was  because  they 
lar  instance  a  physical  impossibility.  The 
ast  we  hear  of  comes   from  York  county, 


had  made  their  flight  to  the  tree  tops.  It  was 
the  same  in  Mr.  Engle's  orchard,  in  York 
county.  Where  there  were  no  trees  the 
ground  was  perforated  with  holes  out  of  which 
they  had  issued,  and  clods,  sticks  and  stones, 
were'covered  with  their  pupa  shells,  but  the 
insects  themselves  took  to  the  bushes  and 
trees.  And  here  we  may  state  that  Mr.  E. 
confirms  an  observation  which  we  made  in 
1868,  but  did  not  record  it,  because  it  was  only 
limited  to  one  tree.  It  is  this— although  the 
'•  sprouts,"  which  grew  up  around  the  stamps 
the  present  season  in  the  "clearing"  were 
full  of  locusts  sometimes  a  hundred  or  more 
on  a  single  bush,  yet,  when  the  time  to 
oviposit  came,  they  all  left,  and  took  to  the 
older  trees  in  the  orchard,  and  even  there  they 
did  not  deposit  any  of  their  eggs  in  the  wood 
of  the  present  season's  growth,  but  generally 
selected  that  of  the  growth  of  last  season. 

We  have  here,  in  the  city  of  Lancaster,  a 
small  artificial,  or  introduced  brood  of  the 
Chester  county  locusts.  In  1855, Mr.  George 
Hensel,  of  this  city,  was  working  in  Chester 
county,  when  the  locusts  appeared  there  in 
vast  numbers.  He  gathered  a  box  fiill  of 
these,  brought  them  home,  and  set  them  at  lib- 
erty on  his  premises.  The  box  contained 
twenty-two  hundred  which  were  alive,  and 
many  that  were  dead.  The  living  individuals 
immediately  flew  to  the  trees  and  shrubbery 
in  his  and  his  neighbors'  gardens.  Mr.  H.  is 
now  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  flowering 
plants,  and  the  present  season  he  dug  up  num- 
bers of  i\iQ  pupa  in  di2"erent  parts  of  his  gar- 
den early  in  the  spring,  and  lately  a  goor'ly 
number  of  the  mature  insects  evolved,  which- 
he  has  no  doubt  is  a  return  of  the  brood  he 
transplanted  seventeen  years  ago.  However, 
here  and  there  in  this  city,  as  well  as  other 
places  in  this  county,  a  few  locusts  have  been 
heard  and  seen  everj'  season  since  1868.  We 
saw  one  or  more  specimens  in  1860,  in  1870 
and  in  1871.  This  was  also  the  case  in  parts 
of  York  counlv. 

Of  course,  the  old  stories  of  people  being 
stung  by  locusts  are  repeated  again  the  pres- 
ent season,  but  none  of  these  tales  come  Avith 
sufficient  authority  to  give  thein  credence 
among  intelligent  people.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  they  should  sting,  but  the  circumstances 
under  which  such  stinging  usually  occurs,  are 
{  of  such  a  character  as  to  render  that  particu- 
;  neighbors,  to  the  cfioet  t^at  an  interperiodi- 


126 


THE  LAjYCASTEB  FARMER. 


througli  a  citizen  of  Marietta.  A  locust  was 
sitting  on  a  boy's  back  or  coat-sleeve,  or 
other  part  of  his  body,  when  another  boy 
struck  it  off,  aud  was  stung  in  the  ficger. 
This  could  not  be.  Admitting  a  locust  can 
sting,  it  could  not  sting  so  quick  as  that,  either 
with  its  proboscis  or  its  ovipositor. 

In  that  respect  it  would  be  like  a  mosquito, 
a  horse-fly,  or  a  squash-bug  or  bed-bug.  It 
would  require  some  time  to  introduce  its 
piercer,  if  it  attempted  to  sting  with  its  probos- 
cis; and  if  with  the  ovipositor,  it  would  be  like 
a  saw-fly,  requiring  some  time  to  make  an  in- 
cision ;  for  its  ovipositor  is  not  a  lance,  it  is  a 
saw.  The  ovipositor  or  sting  of  a  locust  is  by 
no  means  like  that  of  a  bee,  a  wasp,  a  hornet, 
or  a  yellow-jacket — not  so  sharp. 

A  hand-saw  would  not  be  a  very  good  weap- 
on to  execute  "  cut  and  thrust"  v.-ith,  but  give 
the  manipulator  time,  and  he  could  "  go 
through"  more  with  it,  than  he  could  with  a 
sword.  And  this  brings  us  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  damages  done  to  vef.etation  by 
locusts.  We  often  see  paragraphs  in  the 
newspapers  to  the  effect  that  locusts  have  ap- 
l^eared  in  great  swarms  in  certain  districts  of 
our  country,  and  have  devoured  the  foliage  of 
trees,  shrubs  and  vegetation  in  general.  The 
error  here  is  in  the  misnomer  of  the  insect. 
The  insect  known  in  this  country  as  the 
"  seventeen-year  locust,"  canuoi  possibly 
"  devour"  vegetation.  The  organic  structure 
of  its  mouth  is  such  that  it  cannot  masticate 
anything,  and  vvuatever  food  might  be  ne- 
cessary for  its  sustenance,  must  be  appro- 
priated in  a  fluid  form.  But  its  life  is  so 
brief  that  food  does  not  seem  necessary,  and 
therefore  it  is  chiefly  occupied  in  the  propa- 
gation of  its  species,  after  which  it  soou  dies 
— indeed  the  labors  of  ovipositiou  arc  so 
great,  that  the  females  often  die  in  a  very  short 
time  thereafler  from  shear  exhaustion,  and 
the  males  share  the  same  fate  soon  after  the 
labors  of  imprfgnation.  Sometimes  the  lives 
of  a  few  are  extended  beyond  the  usual  time, 
but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  these  are 
among  those  which  have  not  been  mated. 
But  there  is  nothing  ou  record  to  show  that 
these  insects  have  ever  injured  vegetation  in 
any  other  manner  thau  by  the  perforations 
the  females  make  in  the  smaller  branches  of 
trees  and  shrubs  in  depositing  their  eggs. 

In  the  whole  history  of  this  insect  in  this 
country,  there  has  been  but  very  little  indi- 


cation, above  ground,  to  show  that  locusts 
have  been  injurious  to  vegetation  under 
ground.  It  is,  however,  not  impossible  that 
they  should  thus  injure  it,  but  the  subject  is 
so  completely  covered,  that  there  seems  to  be 
no  certainty  as  to  the  where,  when,  and  how. 
In  those  enclosures  in  this  city  and  county 
where  the  locusts  are  remembered  to  have 
appeared  at  regular  intervals  of  seventeen 
years,  ever  since  1783,  no  one  has  ever  noticed 
that  vegetation,  immediately  before  and  after 
their  visits,  was  in  anything  different  from 
what  it  was  during  the  long  interval  between 
their  visits,  except  the  damage  sustained  by 
young  trees  and  shrubbery,  while  the}'^  were 
above  ground.  Their  earth  range  seems  to 
be  below  that  of  garden  vegetation,  and  if 
they  tap  the  roots  of  trees,  their  demands  are 
so  limited,  that  a  large  tree  would  never  feel 
the  loss. 

It  is  true,  there  is  an  isolated  case  reconied 
by  Miss  Morris,  of  Germantown,  where  a 
sickly  pear  tree  was  dug  up,  and  the  roots 
found  to  have  a  number  of  larvcc  of  the  lo- 
cust adhering  to  them,  which  were  said  to 
have  caused  the  depletion,  but  if  we  do  not 
soon  have  a  more  emphatic  corroboration  of 
this  record  thau  any  made  before  or  innce, 
we  fear  that  practical  entomologists  will  ul- 
timately come  to  regard  it  as  a  myth  ;  and  yet 
v/e  do  not  dispute  tha  fact,  for  it  is  a  rational 
supposition  that  these  insects  must  be  physi- 
cally sustained,  by  food  of  some  kind,  during 
their  long  larval  period. 

It  is  not  known  how  far  down  into  the  earth 
they  uniformiv  go.  It  was  recorded  in  this 
county  in  1834,  that  a  single  individual  was 
found,  some  time  previously,  thirty  feet  be- 
low the  surface.  Others  have  been  found  six, 
eight,  and  tea  feet  down.  In  1868,  they  came 
up  through  the  bottom  of  a  newly  dug  cellar, 
which  was  about  eight  feet  deep,  m  the  old 
south-east  ward  of  this  city  (Lancaster.)  It 
is  certain  that  they  approach  the  surface,  and 
then  retreat  to  lower  regions  in  their  burrows, 
according  to  the  temperature  of  the  weather, 
immediately  before  their  septendecenial,  or 
final  issue,  from  their  earthy  homes.  Mr. 
Engle  informs  us  that  the  damage  done  to  his 
young  trees  the  present  season  will  be  very 
considerable,  and  that  some  of  the  smaller 
ones  are  injured  beyond  recovery,  but  that 
the  larger  ones  will  only  receive  a  summ-^i 
pruning  from   which  they  will   ultimately  re- 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


127 


cover.  AVhere  locusts  were  abundant  in  1868, 
we,  on  several  occasions,  have  seen  young 
trees  totally  destroyed.  Some  think  that  these 
insects  infuse  an  active  poison  into  the  per- 
forations they  make,  which  kills  the  branches 
of  the  trees,  and  otherwise  effects  the  whole 
body,  but  this  does  not  seem  to  be  warranted 
by  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  The 
eg^s  of  the  locust  cannot  mature  and  hatch 
in  a  dead  branch,  unless  it  receives  some 
moisture  from  other  sources.  In  every  in 
stance  where  we  have  so  tried  to  breed  them 
from  dead  wood,  we  have  failed.  The  egajs 
increase  in  size,  and  their  incubation  is  as- 
sisted by  the  surrounding  sap;  therefore,  all 
the  young  locusts  which  are  bred  from  their 
eggs,  are  those  which  are  in  the  living  wood, 
and  few  or  none  from  dead  or  dry  wood. 
This  has  been  corroborated  by  obiervalions 
made  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  where 
they  have  existed. 

In  conclusion  we  would  remark,  that  we 
looked  in  vain,  in  the  "  Pine  Svyamp  Valley" 
brood  of  locusts,  on  the  29th  of  May,  for  the 
small  black  variety,  which  was  so  numerous 
among  the  Lancaster  county  broods  of  1834, 
1851,  and  1868.  Nor  were  there  any  among 
those  brought  us  from  the  Gap  hills  by  Mr. 
Denney — nor  yet,  so  far  as  we  observed,  but  a 
single  individual  among  Mr.Hensel's  trasplant- 
ed  brood,  of  this  city.  Mr.  D's  collection  was 
made  on  the  June  17,  ours  on  the  May  29.  He 
gathered  his  promiscuously,  and  among  them 
were  29  females  and  9  males,  whilst  in  the 
York  county  brood  there  were  abnul  •  ie'it 
niales  to  one  female,  and  this  was  about  tlio 
proportion  of  the  'sexes  in  this  county  in 
1808.  Before  we  close,  we  must  say  to  our 
readers,  that  we  throw  ourselves  upon  their 
kind  indulgence  for  having  said  so  much  upon 
a  subject  which  seems  so  foreign  to  the  ob- 
jects of  our  journal  •,  but  the  insects  come 
so  seldom,  and  th^re  is  something  so  wonder- 
ful about  their  coming  and  going,  that  we 
know  it  will  be  interesting  to  them  and  their 
children  in  future  years,  to  be  able  to  refer  to 
these  records,  particularly  because  there  are 
po  few  in  any  community  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  recording  and  dating  events  passing  around 
thpm.  Sen.  Ep. 

AFOCRTTHAL. 

—Since  writing  the  foregoing  sketch  we 
hire  been  informed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Cumminge, 


of  this  city  (Lfincaster),  that  one  year  after 
the  appearances  of  the  locusts  in  Lancaster 
county  in  the  years  18:U  and  1851 ,  they  had  ap- 
peared in  great  numbers  on  the  river  hills  op- 
posite Marietta,  in  York  county. 

With  due  respect  for  the  testimony  of  Mr. 
C,  we  are  nevertheless  compelled,  in  this  in- 
stance, to  regard  it  as  apocryphal  until  verified 
by  corroborative  testimony.  Unless  there  is  a 
written  record  to  appeal  to — made  at  the  time 
the  event  transpired— we  find  the  verbal  data 
of  the  appearances  of  these  insects  very  con- 
tlictinir,  and  therefore,  in  that  degree,  unrelia- 
ble as  a  finality. 

May  it  not  have  been  m  1838  and  1855  in- 
stead of  1835  and  1852,  that  Mr.  C.  made  his 
observations?  He  must  have  been  a  very 
"  small  boy"  in  1835  at  least.  We  were  then 
twenty -four  3  e:t:s  of  age,  a  married  man,  and 
not  altogether  unconscious  of  v/hat  was  trans- 
piring m  the  world  of  nature  around  us 
and  although  we  have  a  distinct  recol- 
lection of  the  loc-ists  in  Lancaster  and  York 
counties  in  1834,we  never  before  heard  of  those 
in  1835. 

We  arc  in  the  same  predicament  in 
reference  to  their  appearance  in  that  locality 
in  1852;  but  as  we  did  not  then  reside  in  the 
vicinity,  we  had  not  the  opportunity  of  a  per- 
sonal obsyrvati'..;:.  All  through  the  foregoing 
r<-marks,  ihere  seems  to  be  the  harmonious  tes- 
timon^y  of  two  overlapping  broods  of  locusts  on 
the  eastern  and  southern  borders  of  Lancaster- 
county,  the  one  appearing  four  years  before 
or  after  the  other,  wit",  the  usual  seventeen 
year  interval  between  the  appearing  of  each 
brood,  but  nothing  of  any  other  interperiodi- 
cal  brood.  Xo  brood  of  locusts  appeared  in 
in  that  loci^lity  in  York  county  in  1809  that  Ave 
have  heard  of,  although,  as  we  before  have 
stated,  a  few  stragglers  were  found  at  different 
places,  in  both  of  the  afore  named  counties, 
in  1852,  1853  and  1854,  and  then  again  in  1809, 
1870  and  1871.  Still  we  do  not  declare  such 
reported  events  either  untrue  or  impossible, 
and  in  making  this  addenda,  our  object  is 
solely  to  place  on  record  what  is  known  and 
reported  to  be  known  about  these  singular 
denizens  of  the  insect  world,  as  a  chronicle 
of  future  reference,  leaving  the  matter  to  time 
and  further  observation,  for  a  confirmation  or 
contradiction  of  the  statements  therein  made. 
—Ibid. 


128 


THE  LAJfCASTEE  FARMER. 


AGRICULTURAL. 


AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTIONS. 

THE  advance  sheets  of  the  third,  volume 
of  the  census  returns  of  1870  contain  a 
great  variei}'  of  the  hi2;hly  interesting  statis- 
tics of  agricultural  productions  in  every  State, 
territory,  county  and  township  in  the'Utiiou. 
We  extract  the  following  in  regard  to  our  own 
county,  compared  with  the  productions  of  the 
adjoining  county  of  Chester,  which,  next  to 
Lancaster",  rather  makes  ttie  best  exhibit  on 
ihe  whole,  though  Berks  is  very  little  behind 
Chester,  and  in  tome  of  the  principle  items 
largely  exceeds  it.  In  Berks,  indeed,  the 
total  value  of  farm  productious  exceeds  that 
of  Chester  more  than  half  a  million  of  dol- 
lars, the  amount  being  given  at  $9,150,789  : 


Laucasrer.l    Otiestcr. 


Improved  Laud,  acres 

Woodland 

<'ash  value  of  larms 

Do.  farm  implements  and  machin- 

eiy 

AVagea  paid  including  board 

Value  of  farm  products  and  addi-j 

tions  to  stock 

Orchard  products 

Produce  of  market  gardens 

Purest  products 

Value  of  home  manufHclures  .... 
Do.  animals  slaughtered  or  sold  for 

same 

Value  of  all  live  stock 

Number  horsep 

I-Jo.  mule.s  and  asses 

ivtilch  cows 

Working  oxen 

(Jihcr  cattle 

>-heep 

Swine 

Wheat,  bushels 

Kye,  bushels 

Indian  corn,  bushels 

Oats,  busUelf 

Barley,  bushels 

Buckwheat,  bushels 

Irish  potatoes,  busliels 

Tobacco,  pounds 

Wool,  pounds 

liiitter,  pounds 

<Jhee.«e 

Tffiy,  tons 


40?.  833 1 

f)5,41S 

$:0,721.908 

S»2,4'=5.65fi 
S1,'J79TGS 

S11.845,0n.s 

.*213,6Gr) 

*h7,390 

*3l  624 

$39,708  j 

S(!2,371,SC.n 

.$6,044,2 1. n 

21 ,4091 

2,5(14' 
313(if^ 
1.14-.' j 

1  r S'2]  I 

.'.(I  07(1 
2,077,4131 

88,24.5  I 
2,820,S2.5 
1,9 '3  577 

]5,o?S 

3  Mn! 

4]9,7;>6 
2,W)2,.'i84 
20  0.no 
2,402  .37h  I 
82,014 
]24.f85 


o74,7o9 

02,161 

$46,737,683 

%\  «i;o,2ii 

SI, 058,2.56 

58.554,928 

il«2:<2,279 

.¥3.5,103 

JKi.-;,.5i>.5 

Sti8.,o75 

P  2, 181 ,79.^ 

;if.3  192,517 

t4.0,S6 

7iiS' 

32,070 

3  37 1 

18,545 

13,009 

28  105 

7.^3..<<ri3 

12.481 

1,540,125 

1,031430 

I.SSI 

2,440 

404,303 

2,400 

31.776 

2,848.243 

8,526 

114  898 


The  tables  embrace  many  minor  products 
iu  addition  to  the  above,  such  as  milk,  wine, 
grass  seed,  tlax,  etc.,  etc.,  which  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  copy. 

The  only  coaaty  in  th  >.  United  States  out- 
side of  Penusylvauia  in  which  tho.  total  value 
of  farm  productions  approaches  Lancaster,  is 
St.  Lawrence,  N.  Y.,  where  the  amount  is 
89,598,071.  Five  other  counties  in  Kew  York 
)-ange  from  seven  to  eight  millions,  one  in 
Missachu-ietts  (Worcister)  .?ti.351,4Il  Be- 
sides these,  uo  county  iu  the  Union  reaches 
6ix  n-!illioa&. 

[We  promised,  in  out-  lant  issue,  to  give 
further  sLatistics  from  the.  census  returus,  of 


the  products  of  our  county  ;  but  we  find  all 
that  seems  to  be  essential,  for  the  present,  in 
the  above  table  which  we  extract  from  the 
columns  of  the  Daily  Express,  although  it  may 
contain  some  items  which  we  have  given 
before.  The  most  interesting  feature  of  it  is 
the  comparison  made  between  our  own  county, 
and  the  best  of  those  outside  of  the  limits  of 
our  State— when  we  say  the  best,  of  course  we 
mean  those  which  have  yielded  the  largest 
aggregate  producfs.  From  these  returns,  it 
appears  that  Lancaster  county  is  the  foremo^t 
in  the  Union  in  the  amount  of  its  agricultural 
or  farm  products.  In  comparison  with  our 
sister  county  of  Chester,  we  find  that  she  ex- 
ceeds us  in  forest  products,  house  manufac- 
tures, milch  cows,  working  oxen,  sheep  and 
butter.  Notwithstanding  her  area  of  improved 
land  is  nearly  one-fourth  less  than  that  of  our 
count}',  yet  her  annual  product  of  butter  is 
385,807  pounds  more  than  ours.  Our  greatest 
"  ofl'set"  to  this  is  our  tobacco  crop,  which  is 
2,69'^, 184  pounds  more  than  hers  ;  but  this  is  a 
matter — except  for  its  pacuaiary  value  — 
might  "  not  bo  much  to  brag  of." 

But  let  the  tobacco  take  care  of  itself— we 
think  it  has  become  sufficiently  important  to 
do  so  now.  We  will  have  to  balance  the  over 
production  of  Chester's  butter  with  our 
wheat,  which  is  1,343,015  bushels  more  than 
herd.  From  this  it  is  manifest  Ihat  Lancaster 
and  Chester  counties  "■  br^ad  and  butter"  a 
gresit  many  people  beyond  their  respective 
borders,  and  that,  in  their  specialties,  they 
are  both  on  the  high  road  of  usefulness.  We 
feel  sure  that  in  looking  over  these  figures, 
the  farmers  and  producers  of  our  county  have 
abundant  reason  to  entertain  a  reasonable 
pride  in  results  so  favorable  to  their  locality 
and  taeir  callings,  and  also  something  to  be 
thankful  for.  As  there  is  abundant  room  for 
still  greater  improvement  and  productiveness 
m  every  department  of  agriculture,  these  facts 
ought  to  serve  as  a  stimulant  to  renewed  and 
intelligent  effort,  so  that,  when  the  next 
census  is  taken,  an  increase  may  be  exhibited 
commensurate  with  the  progressive  spirit  of 
the  age.  As  the  population  increases  the 
demand  will  increase,  and  this  must  be  met 
with  an  increased  supply.  We  must  not 
it  suddenly  became  cold,  and  all  the  insects 
deserted  the  carcase.  They  had  visited  it  for 
the  purpose  of  enjoying  a  temporary  "  winter 
s^ap^" 


THE  LAJVCASTEE  FARMEli. 


Ii9 


retrograde  iu  anythiug ;  our  march  must  be 
onward,  and  not  only  onward,  but — if  we  pro- 
gress healthfully — it  will  also  be  upward. 
Brighter  days  mny  be  in  the  future. — Eds  ] 


"THE  KEY-NOTE." 

WE  must  raise  larger  crops  ;  aud  to  do  this 
we  must  raise  theiuless  frequently.  This 
is  the  key-note  of  the  coming  improved  system 
of  American  agriculture  in  all  sections  where 
good  land  is  wortti  less  than  SlOO  per  acre.  In 
the  neighborhood  of  large  ciliss,  and  where- 
ever  land  commands  a  high  price,  we  must 
keep  our  farms  in  a  high  state  of  fertilil}'  by 
the  purchase  of  manures  or  cattle  food.  Those 
of  us  in  the  interior,  where  we  cannot  buy 
manure,  must  raise  fewer  grain  crops  and 
more  clover.  We  must  aim  to  raise  forty 
bushels  of  wheat,  fifty  bushels  of  barley,  eighty 
bushels  of  oats,  and  one  hundred  bushels  of 
shelled  corn,  and  five  bushrls  of  clover-seed 
per  acre.  That  this  can  be  done  on  good, 
well-drained  land,  from  the  unaided  resources 
of  the  farm,  I  have  no  doubt.  It  may  give  us 
no  more  grain  to  sell  than  at  present,  but  it 
will  enable  us  to  produce  much  more  mutton, 
wool,  beef,  cheese,  butter  and  pork  than  at 
present.  "  But  tlittii  will  there  be  a  demand 
for  the  meat,  wool,  etc.  ?  "  The  present  in- 
dications are  highly  f  ivorable.  But  we  must 
aim  to  raise  good  meat.  The  low-priced  beef 
aud  mutton  sold  iu  our  markets  is  as  profit- 
able to  the  consumer  as  it  is  to  the  producer. 
Wc  must  feed  higher,  and  to  do  this  to  advan- 
la^o  >v.i  m  Ht  h  ive  improved  stock.  There  is 
no  prolit  iu  iaimiug  without  good  tillage,  lar- 
ger crops,  improved  stock  and  higher  feeding. 
—  Joseph  Hur)  ix. 

♦ 

AGRICULTURAL  ITEMai. 


STABLE  manure  is  sold  in  the  Connecticut 
Yalicy  for  SIO  a  cord. 
The  potato  crop  of  M:ui)o  last  year   is  esti- 
mated at  2,500,000  bushels. 

A  cheese  factory  is  about  being  started  at 
Lake  Crystal,  Miuu.,  with  the  -nilk  from  400 
cows. 

Nearly  800  barrels  of  sugar  were  produced 
last  year  from  250  acres  of  beets,  in  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin. 


A  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Association  is 
being  organized  at  Mankalo,  Minn.,  with  a 
capital  of  $25,000. 

The  receijits  of  the  Iowa  State  Agricultural 
Society  last  year  were  $22  280.95,  aud  the  ex- 
penditures S- 1 5.770  05. 

The  receipts  of  the  Michigan  State  Agricul- 
tural Society  last  year  were  S14.214  25,  and 
the  expenditures -Si 4,024.07. 

The  seed  establishment  of.Briggs  &  Bro., 
Rochei-ter,  IT.  Y.,  is  said  to  have  over  60,00(> 
square  feet  of  floor  room. 

A  Kansas  paper  says:  "The  beef  of  an 
average  Texan  ox,  if  the  bones  are  taken  out, 
can  be  salted  away  in  the  horns." 

Johnson  county,  Iowa,  during  the  last  three 
years,  has  sold  S70,000  worth  of  limothy  seed 
and  $150,000  worth  of  flax  crop. 

The  last  year's  pecan  crop  ia  Texas  is  esti- 
mated at  over  1,000,000  bushels  for  export, 
which  will  realize  to  that  State  several  mil- 
lions of  dollars. 

The  Springfield,  Mo.,  Board  of  Trade  ofler 
a  premium  of  $;175  for  the  best  specimen  aud 
bale  of  cotton  raised  north  of  the  Arkansas 
rivor. 

In  June  last  there  were  0,700,000  sheep  in 
Scotland,  4,500,000  of  which  were  on  regular 
mountain  sheep  farms  •,  the  remainder  on  ara- 
ble lands. 

M.  M.  Baldridge,  of  St.  Charles,  111.,  took 
605  pounds  of  honey,  net  weight,  from  four 
stocks  of  bees  in  1871 ,  and  had  an  increase  of 
seven  swarms. 

Makanda,  Jackson  county.  111.,  shipped  the 
past  year  90,840  boxes  of  peaches,  152,000 
pounds  of  strawbrrries,  aud  24,850  pounds  of 
raspberries. 

The  directors  of  the  Northern  Michigan 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Society  have 
voted  to  ofler  .SIO.OOO  in  speed  premiums  for 
horses  at  the  fair  next  fall. 

A  correspondent  claims  that  Montana  will 
be  the  finest  agricultural  State  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  v,ii,h;  perhaps,  the  excep- 
tion of  California.  The  Territory  now  cou- 
tains  20,000  population. 

In  some  parts  of  Virginia  peanuts  are,  next 
to  corn,  the  standard  crop,  and  are  very  prof- 
itable. With  good  cultivation  they  yield 
from  50  to  100  bushels  per  acre,  aud  average 
about  S2  per  bushel. 


130 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


Mr.  Bidwell  of  South  Haven,  Mich.,  has 
auocessfully  undertake q  the  culture  of  figs, 
having  300  trees  in  i3ne  growing  condition. 
He  hati  aU'eady  raised  two  crops,  and  has 
made  a  handsome  profit. 

So  greatly  has  the  stock  of  short-horned 
cattle  in  this  country  improved  under  tlie 
hands  of  American  feeders  and  breeders,  that 
English  breeders  are  now  to  be  found  amongst 
the  purchasers  at  our  public  sales. 

The  Ohio  State  Board  of  Agriculture  have 
decided  to  locate  the  Ohio  State  Fair  for  the 
next  two  years  at  Mansfield.  The  fair  will  be 
held  from  the  2(1  to  the  Gth  of  September.  In- 
creased premiums  are  to  be  ofiered. 

General  Diven,  of  the  Elmira,  K.  Y.,  Far- 
mer's Club,  thinks  that  five  tons  of  straw, 
with  one  ton  of  cornmeal  for  feed,  is  equal  to 
six  tons  prime  hay.  Ftating  hay  at  $18  a  ton 
and  meal  at  3i)40,  straw  would  be  worth  $13.50 
a  ton . 

There  is  a  great  scarcit}''  of  hay  in  some  of 
the  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  owing  to  the  ex- 
tensive drouth  last  summer.  Speculators  have 
found  it  out  and  are  shipping  to  destitute  lo- 
calities, where  they  get  about  $30  a  ton. 

The  culture  of  rice  is  attracting  the  atten- 
tion of  agriculturists  in  California.  The  val- 
leys of  San  Joaquia  and  Sicramento  rivers  are 
said  to  contain  extensive  swamp  lands  suita- 
ble for  the  culture,  the  climate  also  being  fa- 
vorable ard  the  soil  rich. 

In  the  lowlands  of  Scotland  about  two  acres 
are  required,  on  an  average,  for  each  sheep, 
and  each  farm  grazes  from  500  to  2,500  ani- 
mals. The  principal  stocks  are  the  Cheviot 
breed.  Th3  Highland  farms  comprise  from 
1,000  to  2,500  sheep,  a  largo  proportion  of 
which  are  the  hardy  black  faced  breed. 

Ivlr.  William  Stewart,  of  the  Belle  Yiew 
stockfarm,Ill.,hasonecow,"  Violets  Forth," 
for  which  he  paid  $1,800  in  gold.  He  also  has 
seventeen  imported  Gotswold  sheep,  the 
bucks  costing  $160  each,  two  of  the  ewes  $120 
each,  and  the  remainder  $85  each.  The  value 
of  the  blooded  stock  on  this  farm  is  over 
$30,000. 

The  most  successful  experiment  iu  manufac- 
turing beet  sugar  in  this  country  is  reported 
from  Alvarado,  Cal.,  where  a  factory  has  been 
built,  capable  of  handling   GO  tons   of  beets 
every  twenty-four  hours  ;  500,000  pounds  of 


sugar  were  manufactured  in  1870  at  a  fair  mar- 
gin of  profit,  and  it  is  thought  the  products  of 
1871  will  be  double  that  of  1870. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL 


THE  HOUSE  CRICKET. 

THIS  little  inmate  of  our  dwellings  is  well 
known  for  its  habits  of  picking  out 
the  mortar  of  ovens  and  fire-places,  where  it 
not  only  enjoys  warmth,  but  can  procure. 
abundance  of  food.  It  is  usually  supposed 
that  it  feeds  on  bread.  M.  Latreille  says  it 
only  eats  insects,  and  it  certainly  does  thrive 
well  in  houses  infected  by  the  cockroach;  but 
we  have  also  known  it  to  eat  ard  destroy 
lamb's  wool  stockings  and  other  woolen  stuff 
hung  near  a  fire  to  dry.  It  is  evidently  not 
fond  of  hard  labor,  but  prefers  those  places 
where  the  mortar  is  already  loosened,  or  at 
least  is  new,  soft  and  easily  scooped  out;  and 
in  this  vray  it  will  dig  covert  ways  from  room 
to  room.  In  summer,  crickets  often  make 
excursions  from  houses  to  the  neighboring 
fields,  and  dwell  in  the  crevices  of  rubbish,  or 
the  cracks  made  in  the  ground  by  dry  weather, 
where  they  chirp  as  merrily  as  in  the  snuggest 
chimney  corner.  Whether  they  dig  retreat 
in  such  circumstances  we  have  never  ascer- 
tained, though  it  is  not  improbable  they  may 
do  so  for  the  purpose  of  making  nests.  The 
Spaniards  are  so  very  fond  of  crickets  thai 
they  keep  them  in  cages  like  singing  birds. 

The  cricket  above  alluded  to  is  perhaps  the 
"cricket  of  the  hearth" — Achcta  domestica — 
which  is  said  co  have  been  introduced  into 
Virginia  long  ago  from  England.  They  are 
said  to  be  running  wild  in  the  fields  in  Vir- 
ginia, but  hie  themselves  to  human  habita- 
tions at  the  approach  of  winter,  where  they 
are  said  to  eat  sometliiug  more  than  vegeta- 
bles. "We  had  a  specimen  sent  from  Virginia 
fifteen  years  ago  or  more  ;  snd  on  one  or  two 
rare  occasions,  it  has  been  found  in  this  enmi- 
ty. Once  on  a  warm  aiternoou,  tluri.,g  the 
month  of  November,  we  encountered  iu  our 
path,  the  carcass  of  a  calf  which  seemed  to 
have  died  only  the  night  before.  Several 
places  the  skin  was  torn  oft' as  if  by  dogs, 
leaving  the  fiesh  exposed.  These  places  were 
literally  covered  with  crickets — AcTieta  nigra 
and  ahhremata — which  were  so  intent  on  gorg- 
ing themselves,  that  they  suffered  themselves 
to  be  taken  without  making  much  of  an  at- 
tempt to  escape.  There  wei'e  also  many 
"carrion  beetles"  present — N^ecrojjJwrus ameri- 
canus  and  orbicallis.     Three  days  thereafter 


THE  LAj\  CASTER  FARMER. 


131 


TU  KILL  CURCULIO  OX  PLUMS. 

A  COltRESPONDENT  says  that  he  wraps 
/  \_  plum  trees,  below  the  lower  limbs,  with 
cotton,  which  he  keeps  wet  with  camphor  and 
spirits  of  ammonia.  He  wets  the  cotton  twice 
a  week,  and  the  result  has  been  a  good  crop 
of  plums  and  no  curculio.  A  correspondent 
in  another  journal  says: 

"I  have  seen  various  methods  for  keeping 
these  insects  off  plum  trees,  but  none  so  sim- 
ple or  yet  so  effectual  as  the  following  :  Soak 
corn-cobs  iu  sweetened  water  until  thoroughly 
saturated,  then  suspend  them  to  the  limbs  of 
the  trees  a  little  while  after  blossoming,  being 
gure  to  burn  the  cobs  after  the  fruit  ripens,  as 
they  will  be  found  full  of  the  young  insects. 
A  good  plan  is  to  change  the  cobs  every  few 
weeks.  My  theory  is  this— that  the  insects 
deposit  their  eggs  in  the  cobs  in  preference  to 
doing  so  in  the  young  plums.  The  first  sea- 
son I  tried  it  upon  one  or  two  only,  and  in  the 
summer  was  rewarded  by  a  good  crop  of  as 
fine  plums  as  ever  ripened,  while  those  on 
the  other  trees  fell  off  when  about  half  grown. 
I  have  since  tried  it  more  thoroughly  and 
have  never  known  it  to  fail." 

Go  ahead,  try  anything,  and  everyihSxig ;  but 
be  sure  not  to  wait  until  the  plums  are  ripe 
before  you  burn  the  cobs.  The  man  who 
would  give  such  advice,  don't  know  much 
about  the  "  plum  weevil" — indeed  we  doubt 
whether  he  would  know  one  if  he  saw  it. 
Just  as  if  a  curculio  would  remain  in  a  dry 
corn-cob — for  it  must  become  dry,  long  before 
the  plums  are  ripe,  and  wait  until  the  fruit 
ripens,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  being  gathered 
in  and  burned,  if  any  ever  got  into  a  cob. 
But  this  remedy  will  not  injure  anything, 
therefore  try  it.  If  it  don't  kill  the  curculio, 
it  will  kill  nothing  else,  except  the  time  re- 
quired to  perform  the  operation.  This  insect 
lias  become  such  a  desperate  enemy  to  the 
plum,  the  peach  and  the  apple,  that  any 
remedy,  no  matter  how  desperate  it  is,  should 
be  thoroughly  tried.  If  you  cannot  circum- 
vent it  with  your  eyes  open,  then  "  go  it 
blind,"  for  it  is  said  "a  blind  sow  will  some- 
time find  an  acorn."  Knowing  something 
about  the  habits  and  instincts  of  the  curculio, 
we  "  can't  see"  how  it  could  get  its  eggs  into 
a  tough  corn-cob,  unless  it  could  manage  to 
gain  access  to  the  pith  in  it.  It  might,  how- 
ever, do  so.  but  then  again  it  might  not,  and 
there  is  where  the  ruh  comes  in. 


Get  Up  Clubs  for  the  Farmer,  the  best, 
cheapest  and  only  jouraal  of  its  kind  in  the 
State. 


ANSWERS   TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 

Mk.  U.  S.,  Columbia,  Pa.— The  long  four- 
winged  insect,  with  the  two  long  filaments  at 
the  hind  end  of  the  body,  is  an  immature 
specimen  of  a  "  May  fly"  {Palingenia  bilineaia) 
which  you  will  have  found  common  along  the 
Susquehanna  during  the  month  of  June,  with 
only  ordinary  observation.  The  larvcv  and 
pupa  live  in  the  water,  and  require  three 
years  to  come  to  maturity,  when  they  crawl 
out,  affix  themselves  to  any  object  that  is  iu 
the  way,  and  undergo  a  pseudo  transforma- 
tion, after  which  the  real  transformation  takes 
place,  leaving  their  while  skins  adhering  to 
the  place  of  final  change.  They  belong  to  a 
division  called  Pseudo  Neukopter-e  from 
this  peculiarity  iu  their  metamorphosis.  The 
larvcB  feed  on  other  small  water  larvce  (doubt- 
less on  those  of  the  mosquito  amongst  the 
rest),  but  the  mouth  of  the  mature  insect  being 
nearly  obsolete,  they  are  incapable  of  par- 
taking of  any  food,  and  therefore,  after  a  very 
brief  life,  during  which  the  females  become 
fertilized,  and  deposit  their  eggs  on  the 
water  to  perpetuate  the  species,  they  all  die. 
Many  of  them  are  blown  into  the  streams, 
where  they  become  food  for  fishes — others  arc 
eaten  by  birds  and  other  animals. 

Mr.  J.  L.,  Landis  Valley,  Lancaster  Co. — 
The  white  and  brown  striped,  long-horned 
insect  you  brought  on  the  15th  of  June,  is  a 
mature  specimen  of  the  common  "  apple  tree 
borer"  [Saperda  Candida),  which  at  that  period, 
and  also  earlier  and  later,  comes  forth  in  the 
beetle  form,  after  having  passed  three  years 
as  a  wood-boring  worm  near  the  base  of  some- 
body's apple,  pear  or  quince  tree.  As  a 
means  of  preventing  the  females  from  de- 
positmg  their  eggs  around  the  base  of  the 
trees,  they  should  be  protected  from  the  first 
of  June  until  the  first  of  August,  by  any  kind 
of  a  contrivance  that  will  effect  that  end. 
Stiff  paper,  canvas,  old  clothing,  sheets  of  old 
tin,  with  the  earth  heaped  up  around  them 
will  answer,  if  properly  done.  Some  wash 
the  parts  with  tobacco  decoctions,  or  sapon- 
aceous solutions— especially  the  carbolic  and 
whale-oil  soaps— but  these  require  frequent 
renewals.  These  insects  always  deposit 
their  eggs  near  enough  to  the  earth  to  supply 
them  with  the  necessary  moisture  to  hatch 
the  eggs,  and  also  because  near  the  roots,  the 
bark  is  more  tender  and  penetrable.    These 


13 


o 


THE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER. 


precautions,  of  course,  will  Lave   no  effect 
upon  the  worms  already  in'the  trees. 

Mr.  G.  W.  M.,  Marietta,  Pa. — The  minute 
insects  appearing  lilse  "  little  heaps  of  pow- 
der," which  have  been  coming  up  out  of  the 
ground  iu  your  garden-walks  in  the  months 
of  May  and  June,  for  the  last  two  or  three 
years,  belong  to  a  wingless  order  of  insects 
called  Aphanipteba,  or  Aptera,  by  authors, 
the  latter  name  meaning  simply  without 
wings ;  of  which  the  fiea  of  North  America, 
and  the  Jigger  of  South  America,  are  the  most 
common  examples.  These  little  subjects  be- 
long to  Q,  family  in  that  order,  called  Podtjri- 
DA,  or  "  Spring-tails,"  from  the  fact  that  they 
have  a  crudal  appendage  that  turns  under  the 
body,  and  by  the  springing  of  which  they  pro- 
pel themselves  on  the  land,  something  like 
a  lobster  propels  itself  in  water.  We  are  not 
sure  of  the  species,  for  about  forty  or  fifty 
have  been  described  in;Europe  and  America, 
as  belonging  to  the  typical  genus  Podura  alone. 
We  are  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  these 
may  be  referred  to  Symuthurus  hortensis,  or 
"  Garden-flea,"  of  Dr.  Fitch,  or  a  species  near- 
ly alliedjto  it.  Twenty  years  ago,  Dr.  F.  al- 
so described  a  similar  species  {Podura  nivico- 
la),  commonly  known  as  the  "  Snow-flea,"  be- 
cause it  was  often  found  like  gunpowder,  scat- 
tered over  the  snow.  "  According  to  Nicolet, 
the  PODURiDAE  are  very  prolific,  as  he  found 
1,3G0  eggs  in'a  single  individual,"  and  this.may 
account  for  the  immense  numbers  found 
in  your  garden  walks  ;  and  the  fact  that  they 
are  found  issuing  from  the  ground  there  and 
nowhere  else,  may  be  owing  to  the  fact  of 
the  presence  of  a  stratum  of  "tan-bark" 
which  underlies  their  present  surface.  These 
msects  are  said  to  have  been  injurious  to 
young  and  tender  vegetation  in  many  places. 
They  occupy  a  very  equivocal  position  in  sys- 
tematic classification  ;  some  authors  consider- 
ering  them  a  degraded  family  of  Neuroptera 
which  includes  the  dragon-flies,  May-flies,  etc. 
Scalding  them  as  they  come  out  of  the  ground 
would  be  perhaps  the  most  ready  way  to  ex- 
tinguish them.  Cold  water,  we  apprehend, 
would  have  little  effect  upon  them.  We  tried 
to  immerse  some  of  those  you  sent  us  in  cold 
water,  but  we  have  not  yet  succeeded.  After 
ten  days  they  remain  floating  dry  on  the  sur- 
face, "shake  them  up  "  as  often  and  as  vio- 
lent as  you  will,  whilst  those  immersed  in  al- 
cohol all  sank  to  the  bottom  withiu  half  an 


hour  afterward.  The  minule  scales  which 
cover  them  resist  the  action  of  the  water  simi- 
lar to  the  feathers  on  a  duck. 

Mr.  H.  M.  E.,  Marietta  Pa.— The  brownly 
blotched  apples  which  you  brought  us  from 
Mr.  D's.  orchard  on  the  25th  of  May,  and 
those  from  your  own  orchard  on  the  17th  of 
June,  are  similarly  infected,  but  what  the 
cause  of  the  iufectation  is  is  more  than  we 
are  able  to  say.  It  seems  to  be  a  species 
"  blight,"  like  that  which  sometimes  effects 
bunches  of  leaves  on  apple  and  other  trees, 
without  any  visible  cause.  On  cutting  them 
open,  the  inside  is  found  to  be  perfectly  sound, 
and  no  indication  of  the  presence  of  an  insect 
of  any  kind.  On  submitting  small  portions  of 
the  fruit  to  our  highest  magnifying  power,  we 
found  a  reddish-brown  giazed  surface,  ramified 
by  eccentric  cracks  or  breaks  iu  the  skin,  ex- 
actly like  the  upper  surface  of  a  brownly  baked 
and  glazed  loaf  of  bread.  Those  first  received 
are,  at  this  writing,  all  shriveled  up,  and  hard 
and  dry  as  pine  knots,  so  that  they  probably 
did  not  contain  either  insect  or  insect  eggs, 
Ko  puncture  or  incissions  of  any  kind,  that 
seemed  to  have  been  made  by  an  insect  of  any 
kind,  were  visible.  We  could  not  discover 
anything  even  that  looked  like  a  fungus  of 
any  kind,  and  therefore  we  are  reluctantly 
compelled  to  pronounce  the  case  outside  of 
the  limits  of  our  scientific  accessibilities. 

Mr.  p.  M.  PldladelpTiia,  Pa. — In  our  com- 
munication in  reference  to  the  apples  you 
sent  us  on  the  GLh  of  May  we  endeavored  'to 
explain  what  it  was  that  gnawed  those  cavi- 
ties on  the  fruit,  and  therefore  we  do  not 
deem  it  nece.^sary  to  say  anything  more  on 
that  subject  now.  We  placed  the  apples  on  a 
smooth  surface  and  turned  a  glass  cup  over 
them,  and  by  the  17th  of  Jane  we  found  all 
except  the  stems  reduced  to  a  brownish  pow- 
der, and  ten  or  twelve  larvfe  therein,  most  of 
them  fully  developed,  which  on  exarainatiou 
are  merely  in  correspondence  with  the  larvre 
of  CojiGtraelieh's  neunphar^  otherwise  the  plum 
curculio.  We  have  transferred  them  to  a  ves- 
sel, and  have  also  added  some  moist  earth,  and 
now  await  their  final  transformation.  If  all 
your  friend's  apples  v/ero  infested  as  these 
were,  we  would  not  giye  him  a  pinch  of  snuff 
for  his  whole  crop.  In  all  our  experience 
with  the  curculio  we  never  before  witnessed 
such  a  destruction,  nor  so  many  of  the  insects 
present  in  such  a  small  quantity  of  substance. 


THE  TLAJYCASTER  FARMER, 


ISS 


There  is  just  sufficient  difference  between 
these  larvfe  and  others  of  this  genius  we  have 
examined  to  indicate  the  possibility  of  a  dif- 
ferent species,  although  we  have  discovered 
variations  in  others. 

Hon.  J.  J.  L.—MarieUa,  Fa.— The  ap- 
ples you  brought  to  us  on^  the  1st  of  June, 
together  with  the  two  green  LepidopUrous 
larvas  have  been  under  our  observation  since, 
but  owing  to  the  death  of  the  one,  and  the 
other  burying  itself  in  the  ground  in  the  box 
in  which  we  confined  them,  we  are  not  able 
to  give  a  specific  account  of  them,  any  further 
than  what  may  be  based  on  conjecture.  The 
larger  green  larva,  about  1  i  inches  long,  which 
you  say  you  detected  in  the  act  of  eating  a 
cavity  into  the  apple,  burrowed  into  the  ground 
on  the  7th  of  June.  On  examining  the  earth 
on  the  17th  of  June  we  found  a  plain  pup 
of  a  mahogany- brown  color,  %  inch  long,  hav- 
ing two  diverging  bent  spines  on  the  caudal 
segment,  and  exhibiting  the  usual  characters 
of  nocturnal  Lepidoptera,  in  other  respects  ; 
this  pupa  was  contained  in  a  weli-formed 
earthy  cavity,  having  its  wall  very  smooth  on 
the  inside  ;  but  until  the  moth  evolves  we 
must  refrain  from  any  attempt  to  locate  it 
specifically  or  even  generically.  It  can 
hardly  be  the  "  rascal  leaf  crurapler"  of  the 
west,  for  Mr.  Ilile^/  says  that  inspct  changes 
to  a  pupa  in  its  case  among  the  crumpled 
leaves.  (Strange  that  Mr.  R.  in  neither  his 
popular  or  scientific  description  of  that  larva 
says  anything  about  its  length.)  The  other 
larva  was  also  of  a  green  color,  less  than 
half  an  inch  in  length,  and  occupied  a  sort  of 
silken  case,  in  a  cluster  of  crumpled  leaves, 
held  together  by  a  number  of  silken  cords ; 
but  it  seemed  to  have  been  injured,  and 
could  not  leave  its  case,  and  died  a  day  or 
two  after  we  received  it.  This  larva  seemed 
to  be  entirely  different  from  the  one  first 
named,  and  makes  an  approximation  to  Mr. 
"Walsh's  "  rascal  Icaf-crumplcr,"  reproduced 
by  Mr.  Riley  in  his  fourth  report  of  the  nox- 
ious and  beneficial  insects  of  the  State  of 
Missouri  (Pycita  mehdo),  which  he  says  is 
about  naif-grown  when  winter  sets  in,  remain- 
ing in  that  condition  among  the  crumpled 
clusters  of  leaves  until  the  return  of  spring, 
when  it  cojupletes  its  larval  development, 
and  appears  in  the  moth  state  at  various  pe- 
riods during  the  month  of  June.  These  clus- 
ters of  crumpled  leaves  containing  the  larvus,  [ 


are  fastened  securely  to  the  branches,  and 
may  easily  be  removed  after  all  the  other 
leaves  are  fallen,  and  then  is  the  best  time  to 
gather  and  destroy  them.  But,  as  they  are 
often  infested  by  parasites,  M.  R.  suggests  the 
removal  of  them  to  some  locality  remote  from 
trees,  where  the  parasites  would  evolve,  and 
the  Zca/'cru»i/>Ze>-5  would  starve  for  the  want 
of  their  proper  food. 

Mr.  J.  G.  K.—Marielta,  Pa.:  The  large 
gray  insect,  with  the  two  black  velvety  spots 
on  the  upper  side  of  its  chest  {thorax),  was  a 
specimen  of  the  largest  species  of  "  click- 
beetle,"  "  Sehnellkaefer"  (Alaus  occulatm), 
known  to  the  Northern  United  States.  Al- 
though we  by  no  means  regard  it  as  a  rare  m- 
sect,  yet,  from  the  fact  that  it  seems  to  be  a 
"  new  thing"  to  you,  it  cannot  be  regarded  as 
very  common.  The  larva  or  "  grub,"  from 
v,'hich  the  beetle  is  bred,  is  a  wood-boring 
worm,  but  it  is  usually  found  in  wood  that  is 
dried,  or  partially  decayed.  It,  however,  does 
not  confine  itself  to  one  particular  kind  of  wood 
ior  we  have  found  it  in  white  oak,  apple  and 
locust.  It  takes  its  specific  name  from  the  eye- 
like  spots  on  its  thorax,  and  when  we  tell  you 
that  over  two  thousand  of  these  click-beetles, 
of  various  colors  and  sizes,  have  been  de- 
scribed by  naturalists,  you  can  form  some  esti- 
mate of  the  value  of  specific  names.  In 
systematic  classification  it  belongs  to  the 
"  saw-horns"  (Serriconico),  the  family  of 
"click-beetle  (Elateridce),  and  the  order  of 
"  sheath-winged"  insects  (Coleoptera.)  It 
is  not  considered  injurious  to  living  timber, 
but  accelerates  the  decay  of  that  which  is  dead. 

How  TO  Wash  Colored  Flannels.— 
To  wash  colored  flannels  and  prevent  them 
from  shrinking,  take  half  the  weight  of  soda 
there  is  of  soap  ;  boil  them  with  water,  allow- 
ing a  gallon  to  every  pound  of  soap,  and  use 
it  when  perfectly  cold.  Wet  the  flannel  in 
cold  water,  wash  it  then  in  fresh  water,  with 
some  of  the  above  boiled  mixture  among  it ; 
changt  the  water  until  the  flannel  becomes 
perfectly  clean  ;  then  rinse  well,  and  dry  in 
the  shade.  To  prevent  flannels  from  shrink- 
ing at  the  first  washing,  put  them  in  a  pailful 
of  boiling  water,  and  lot  them  remain  until 
cool. 

HoAV  to  get  a  good  wife— take  a  good  girl 
and  go  to  the  parson. 


13Jf 


THE  LAjYCASTEK  FARMER. 


LANCASTER,  JULY,  1872. 


S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editors. 

Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  ^.oiucul- 

TUP.AL  AN^IIOETICULTUKAL  SOCIETY. 

$1.35  per  Year  in  Advanoe. 

A  considerable  deduction  ta  clubs  of  live  or  more. 

All  communications,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress KatliTon  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remittances  fo  the 
address  of  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


It  is  not  a  little  merit  that  an  article  for 
common  use  should  be  tastefully  finished  as 
well  as  thoroughly  made.  The  Blanchard 
churn  is  one  of  the  Jiandsomest  things  a  farmer 
can  have  in  his  house. 


NATlOi^AL  AARICITLTURAL  COK- 
GRESS. 

Secretary's  Office,  ] 
Jackson,  Tenn.,  June  20, 1872.     J 
Publishers  of  the  Lancaster  Farmer  : 

Dear  Sirs  :  To  secure  the  most  efficient  co- 
operation among  farmers,  it  becomes  rdvis- 
able  and  necessary  for  me  to  open  correspon- 
dence with  all  of  the  Agricultural  societies 
and  clubs  of  the  country.  At  present  there 
seems  to  be  no  correct  list  of  such  societies 
obtainable,  not  even  through  the  Department 
of  Agriculture ;  and  I  ask  your  assistance  to 
obtain  such  a  list,  for  which  I  will  reciprocate 
as  opportunity  offers.  If  the  entire  agricul- 
tural press  of  the  country  will  give  conspicu- 
ous place  to  the  following  notice  in  their 
columns,  there  is  no  doubt  but  some  one  or 
more  papers  will  reach  every  society  in  the 
land. 

KOTICE. — We  are  requested  to  ask  of  the 
officers  of  all  agricultural,  Horticultural  and 
kindred  societies  and  clubs  that  they  will 
send  at  oucc  the  address  of  their  President 
and  Secretary,  to  Chas.  W.  Greene,  Secretary 
of  National  Aj^^rlcultural  Congress,  at  Jackson, 
Tenn.  It  will  )^e  greatly  to  their  interest  to 
comply  with  this  request. 

The  list  will  be  carefully  compiled  aiid 
printed,  and  wc  shall  be  pleased  to  furnish  a 


copy  to  any  publisher  giving  the  above  notice 
two  or  three  insertions. 

In  this  connection  permit  me  to  ask  your 
attention  to  the  following  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions presented  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Johnson,  of 
Indiana,  and  unanimously  adopted  at  the 
recent  session  of  the  Congress. 

Preamble.  "Whereas,  we  recognize  the 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  press  of  our 
country  as  liaving  a  common  aim  and  sym- 
pathy with  us  in  advancing  the  interests  of 
the  agriculturists  and  horticulturists  of  the 
nation,  and  as  being  the  best  medium  through 
which  to  disseminate  the  facts  and  principles 
it  is  the  object  of  this  organization  to  promul- 
gate ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  recommend  to 
the  county  and  district  Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  societies  throughout  the  country 
that  they  offer  subscriptions  to  the  best  agri- 
cultural and  horticultural  periodicals  pub- 
lished in  their  respective  States  or  sections, 
as  premiums  on  articles  for  which  money  or 
silverw.ire  of  equivalent  value  are  usually 
given,  and  that  they  aid  by  all  other  legitimate 
means  in  their  power,  as  corporate  bodies,  to 
extend  the  circulation  of  such  periodicals. 

And  also  to  the  following : 

liesolved,  That  while  this  Congress  is  with- 
out a  recognized  organ  we  invite  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  press,  especially  the  agricultural 
journals  of  the  country,  in  disseminating  its 
transactions. 

Very  respectfully, 

Chas.  W.  Greene, 

Secretary. 

JoiiN  Reynolds,  Pres.,  Rockford,  111. 

Lee  R.  Shryock,  Treas.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

CiiAs.  W.  Greene,  Sec'y,  Jackson,  Tenn. 


OBITUARY. 

EATHOFSTUARTA.WYLIE,KSQ  : 

Stuart  A.  "Wylie,  Esq.,  of  the  firm  of 

AVylie  &  Griest,  Inquirer  printing  establish- 
ment, died  at  his  residence  in  Litne  street, 
this  city,  between  12  and  1  o'clock  to-day,  in 
the  oud  year  ol  his  age.  Deceased  was  born 
in  Lancaster,  and  at  the  close  of  his  school 
life  entered  the  office  of  the  Inland  Daily  as  a 
reporter,  then  published  by  Theo.  Fennand 
edited  by  II.  L.  Goodall.  In  this  position  he 
remained  for  several  years,  and  on  the  1st  day 
of  January,  1S59,  he  started,  in  connection 
with  several  others,  the  Lancaster  Inqw'rer,  a 
weeklv  iourual,  which  iu  1831  gave  support  tci 


TEE  LAJVCASTEB,  FARMEB. 


135 


the  presidential  ticket  headed  by  Stephen  A. 
Douglas.  Subsequently  the  Inquirer  become 
a  warm  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  which  it  continues  to  main- 
iKin  at  this  time.  In  September,  1860,  Mr. 
Wylie  became  sole  proprietor  of  the  Inquirer, 
and  on  the  7th  of  July,  1862,  commenced  the 
publication  of  the  Daiki  Inquirer,  which  was 
continued  until  February  l;5th,  1864.  On  the 
Ist  of  May,  1868,  Mr.  "VVylie  sold  an  interest 
in  the  Inquirer  to  Elwood  (Jrieat,  which  was 
ilie  origin  of  the  present  lirm  of  Wylie  & 
(iriest.  The  deceased  was  a  young  man  of 
fi;reat  energy,  and  succeeded  in  building  up 
one  of  the  most  extensive  printing  and  bind- 
ing establishments  in  Pennsylvania,  the  pre- 
sent force  of  employees  ?.mouating  to  nearly 
two  hundred  persons.  A  few  years  since  he 
completed  the  large  four-story  building  on 
North  Queen  street,  known  as  the  Inquirer 
building,  in  which  the  business  of  the  es- 
tablishment is  conducted.  Mr.  Wylie  was 
extensively  known  throughout  the  county 
and  largely  in  the  State,  and  was  regarded  as 
a  geutlemau  of  strict  habits  aud  generous 
impulses.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Union  Fire  Company,  and  for  the  past  ten 
years  one  of  its  vice  presidents.  He  also  be- 
longed to  many  of  the  secret  Orders— all  of 
them,  we  believe,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Masons.  He  had  been  in  his  usual  good 
health  up  to  Saturday  last,  when  he  v/as  at- 
tacked with  cramp  in  the  stomach,  aod  lin- 
gered in  great  agony  until  his  death.  He 
was  a  good  citizen  whose  place  cannot  bo 
easily  supplied.  Mr.  Wylie  leaves  behind 
him  a  devoted  wife  and  several  interesting 
children  who  will  sadly  mourn  their  loss. — 
Luihj  Express,  June  12th. 

TRIBUTE  OF   RESPECT. 

The  employees  of  the  Inquirer  Printing 
House  met  on  Thursday  afternoon,  June  13th, 
aiid  organized  as  follows  : 

Cbairman — Charles  W.  Wiley. 

Vice  President— Charles  P.  Kraues. 

Secretary — Henry  O-  Gusley. 

After  appropriate  remarks  by  several  gen- 
tlemen the  following  paper  was  presented 
and  adopted  : 

AN  EXrHESSlON  W   GRIEF. 

God,  in  His  mysterious  workings,  having 
seen  fit  to  call  from  earth,  in  the  very  midst 
of  his  usefulness,  our  dearly-beloved  and 
highly  honored  employer,  Stuart  A,  Wtlie, 
we  meet  here  to  day  to  give  oral  expression 
to  those  feelings  of  deep  sorrow  and  regret 
which  fill  our  hearts  to  overflowing,  and  to 
mingle  cnr  grief  and  sympathy  with  those 
nearer  and  dearer  to  him  than  all  else  of  this 
earth.  We  can  do  no  more,  for  He  who,  in 
Ilis  all-wise  dealiugs,  bringeth  sorrow  to  the 
beans  of  bis  children,  alone  can  heal. 

lat.  As  an  employer  we  always  found  him 
jufet  and  equitable— a  friend,  a  brother.  The 
dividing  Hue  between  employer  and  employee 


was  never  rigidly  drawn  bv  him,  but  he  en- 
deavored, by  the  exercise  of  a  natural  kind- 
heartedness  and  charity, to  gain  the  affections 
of  those  in  his  service  wtiile  commanding  their 
respect.  He  taught  us  to  love  him  •,  and  now 
that  he  is  no  more,  we  honor  his  memory  and 
shall  ever  cherish  it  fondly. 

2d.  We  feel  that  his  sudden  death  has  left 
vacant  a  place  not  soon  to  be  filled.  A  few  of 
us  know  more  of  his  secret  acts  of  kindness 
and  that  "  charity  that  vaunteth  not  itself" 
than,  out  of  respect  to  a  natural  desire,  when 
living,  to  hide  them,  we  can  here  make  public. 
3d.  As  a  citizen,  his  loss  will  be  as  deeply 
regretted  as  an  employer.  He  was  prog'-essive, 
liberal-spirited,  generous  and  honorable  in  all 
his  dealings.  As  a  friend,  he  was  never-fail- 
ing. With  all  public  charities  he  was  open- 
handed. 

4th.  In  his  intercourse  with  his  employees 
he  ever  endeavored  to  make  them  feel  that 
their  interests  were  his,  and  he  always  evinced 
an  unselfish  and  most  liberal  disposition  to 
aid  them  collectively,  or  individually,  in  all 
honorable  enterprises.  But  we  have  his  genial 
companionship  no  more,  and  his  good  counsels 
will  be  no  longer  heard.  The  Omnipotent 
has  stretched  forth  His  hand  :  the  silver  cord 
is  loosened  :  the  golden  bowl  is  broken,  and  we 
bow  in  humble  submission. 

5th.  As  a  further  expression  of  our  respect 
and  esteem  for  the  deceased  we  will  attend  his 
funeral  in  a  body,  and  order  that  this  expres- 
sion of  our  grief  be  published  in  the  papers  of 
the  city  and  county. 

James  F.  Downey, 
Chas.  p.  Krauss, 
J.  F.  CuxotiNs, 
G.  Ebw.  Hegener, 
George  H.  Rotiier3iel, 
Geo.  Leiblet, 
Amos  Hoffman, 
CiiAs.  G.  Bates, 
Reuben  S.  K  Huffman. 
[Although  it  is  not  usual  for  us— in  our  limited 
space — to  notice  the  death  of  individuals,  how- 
ever distinguished  they  may  be,  yet  the  subject 
of  these  records,occupyiug  the  peculiar  relation 
he  did  to  our  journal,  forms  an  honorable  ex- 
ception. 

It  was  mainly  through  Mr.  Wylie\s  enter- 
prise in  assuming  the  responsibilities  of  pub- 
lication, when  the  matter  still  was  involved 
in  doubt,  that  the  Lancaster  Farmer  finally 
ultimated  in  a  "  local  habitation  and  a  name,"' 
and  it  has  been  printed  by  the  establishment 
of  which  he  was  the  leading  spirit  from  that 
time  to  the  present.  There  may  be  reasons 
for  his  sudden  recall  from  a  field  of  use  in 
which  he  seemed  so  efficient,  that  cannot  bp 
comprehended  by  a  finite  mind  ;  we  can  only 
submit  to  the  Infinite,  and  try  to  properly 


136 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


realize  that  "  in  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in 
death,"  whether  in  blooming  youth,  mature 
manhood,  or  decrepit  age.] 


ISO  STARVATIOJ^. 

According  to  reports  from  the  West  we 
don't  think  there  will  be  much  starving  ne- 
cessary before  the  harvest  of  1873.  From  the 
Chicago  Tribune  we  learn  that  California  will 
have  ten  million  bushels  of  wheat  for  expor- 
tation, or  at  least  four  times  as  much  as  she 
had  last  year  ;  and  the  increase  of  the  export- 
able surplus  in  that  State  alone  will  add  25 
per  cent,  to  the  usual  annual  export  from  the 
whole  United  States. 

We  congratulate  our  readers — and  we  trust 
that  inwardly  we  do  more — that  many  of  our 
exchanges  contain  paragraphs  like  the  above, 
and  that  there  need  be  no  unnecessary  iudv.l- 
gence  in  fears  of  want,  calamity  or  starvation 
from  present  indications.  Indeed,  if  there  is 
any  disappointment  in  the  crops,  it  seems  like- 
ly now  to  be  an  agreeable  one  for  things  look 
much  more  hopefully  than  they  did  earlier  in 
the  season.  There  is  a  world  of  philosophi- 
cal resignation  in  "  Old  Cudjo's  "  blessing, 
which  it  would  be  well  to  cultivate  in  times  of 
threatened  failure  : 

"  Blessed  am  dem  wTiat  donH  expect  nuffen, 
case  dey  wonH  he  disappointed.'''' 

Even  in  Lancaster  county  some  of  the  grain 
fields  are  looking  promising,  and  although  it 
is  certain  there  will  be  less  straw  than  usual, 
yet  the  yield  of  solid  grain  may  be  propor- 
tionally larger.  The  grass  also  in  many  places 
could  not  be  desired  better.  Even  if  we  get 
but  a  quarter  of  a  crop  no  one  need  suffer. 
Our  country  is  so  vast  and  varied,  our  trans- 
portation facilities  are  increasing  so  rapidly, 
and  our  means  of  diffusing  information  are  so 
effective  and  efficient,  that  we  can  soon  learn 
the  condition  of  every  part  and  also  have  ac- 
cess to  it,  in  a  very  short  time  and  at  a  small 
cost. 


"Every-day"  Pudding.— Half  a  loaf  of 
stale  bread  soaked  in  a  quart  of  milk ;  four 
eggs,  four  tablespoonfuls  of  flour;  a  little  fruit, 
dried  or  fresh,  is  a  great  addition.  Steam  and 
boil  three-fourths  of  an  hour.  Serve  with  the 
following  sauce : 

''  Wine  sail ce'''  uitlwut  Wine. — Butter, sugar 
and  water,  thickened  with  a  little  corn  starch 
and  flavored  with  lemon  extract  or  lemon 
juice  and  rind. 


DOMESTIC. 


HOUSEKEEPING  HINTS. 

EALTH  is  impaired,  and  even  life  lost 
sometimes,  by  using  imperfect,  unripe, 
musty  or  decaying  articles  of  food.  The  same 
mgney's  worth,  of  a  smaller  amount  of  good , 
is  more  nutritious,  more  healthful,  and  more 
invigorating  than  a  much  larger  amount  of 
what  is  of  an  inferior  quality.  Therefore,  get 
good  food,  and  keep  it  good  uut"l  used.  Re- 
member that 

Fresh  meat  should  be  kept  in  a  cool  place, 
but  not  freezing  or  in  actual  contact  with  ice. 

Flour  and  meal  should  be  kept  in  a  cool,  dry 
place,  with  a  space  of  an  inch  or  more  be- 
tween the  flour  and  the  bottom  of  the  barrel. 

Havana  sugar  is  seldom  clean,  hence  not  so 
good  as  that  from  Brazil,  Porto  Rico  and  Santa 
Cruz.  Loaf,  crushed  and  granulated  sugars 
have  most  sweetness,  and  go  further  than 
brown. 

Butter  for  winter  use  should  be  made  in 
mid-autumn. 

Lard  that  is  hard  and  white,  aud  from  hogs 
under  a  year  old,  is  best. 

Cheese  soft  between  fingers  is  richest  and 
best.  Keep  it  tied  in  a  bag  hung  in  a  cool, 
dry  place.  Wipe  off  the  mold  with  a  dry 
cloth. 

Rice,  large,  clean  and  fresh-looking,  is 
best. 

Sago,  small  and  white,  called  "  Pearl,"  is 
best. 

Coffee  and  tea  should  be  kept  in  close  can- 
isters, and  by  themselves.  Purchase  the  for- 
mer green;  roast  and  grind  for  each  day's 
use. 

Apples,  oranges  and  lemons  keep  longest 
wrapped  in  paper,  and  kept  in  a  cool,  dry 
place.    Thaw  frozen  apples  in  cold  water. 

Bread  and  cake  should  be  kept  in  a  dry, 
eool  place,  in  a  wooden  box,  aired  in  the  sun 
every  day  or  two. 

All  strong-odored  food  should  be  kept  by  it- 
self, where  it  cannot  scent  the  house. 

Bar-soap  shcild  be  piled  up  with  spaces  be' 
them  in  a  dry  cellar,  having  the  air  all  around 
it  to  dry  it  for  months  before  using  ;  the  less 
waste. 

Cranberries  kept  covered  with  water  vril  1 
keep  for  months  in  a  cellar. 

Potatoes  spread  over  a  dry  floor  will  not 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


137 


sprout.  If  they  do,  cut  oft"  the  sprouts  often. 
If  frozen,  thaw  them  in  hot  water,  and  cook 
them  at  once.  By  peelinoj  oti"  the  skin  after 
they  ar ;  cooked,  the  most  nutritious  and 
healthful  part  is  savet'. 

Corned  beef  should  be  put  iu  boiling  water, 
and  boil  steadily  for  several  liours. 

Hominy  or  "  samp"  should  steep  in  warm 
water  all  night,  and  boil  all  next  day  in  an 
tarthen  jar  surrounded  with  water. 

Spices  and  peppers  should  be  ground  fine, 
and  kept  in  tin  cans  in  a  dry  place. 

A  good  nutmeg  "  bleeds  "  at  puncture  of  a 
pin.  Cayenne  pepper  is  better  for  all  purpo- 
ses of  health  than  black. 

Beans,  white,  are  the  cheapest  and  most  nu- 
tritious of  all  articles  of  food  in  this  country. 
The  best  mealy  potatoes  sink  in  strong  salt 
water. 

Hot  drinks  are  best  at  meals  ;  the  less  of 
any  fluid  the  better.  Anything  cold  arrests 
digestion  on  the  instant. 

It  is  hurtful  and  is  a  wicked  waste  of  food  to 
eat  without  an  appetite. 

All  meats  should  be  cut  up  as  fine  as  a  pea, 
most  especially  for  children.  The  same 
amount  of  stomach-power  expended  on  such 
a  small  amount  of  food,  as  to  be  digested  per- 
fectly,Vithout  its  being  felt  to  be  a  labor, 
namely,  without  any  appreciable  discomfort 
in  any  part  of  the  body,  gives  more  nutriment, 
strength  and  vigor  to  the  system  than  upon  a 
larger  amount,  which  is  felt  to  require  an 
(-fl'ort,  giving  nausea,fullnes8,  acidity  ,wind,  etc. 

Milk,  however  fresh  and  rich,  if  drunk  large- 
ly n\  eic-h  meal,  say  a  glass  or  two,  is  gener- 
ally hurtful  to  invalids  and  sedentary  persons, 
as  It  tends  to  cause  fever,  consumption  or  bil- 
iousness. 


HINTS  FOR  THE  SICK-ROOM. 

IN  nothing  is  there  so  much  ignorance 
manifested  as  in  the  proper  arrangement  of 
furniture  and  other  surroundings  in  a  sick-room. 
More  persons  die  from  their  rooms  being 
lunereal  and  gloomy  than  people  would  gen- 
erally believe.  A  writer  in  Sci-ibner^s  Month- 
ly says  truly  that  a  sick-room  should  liave  a 
pleasant  aspect.  Light  is  essential.  Blinds 
and  cm'tains  may  be  provided  to  screen  the 
eyes  too  weak  to  bear  full  day,  but  what  sub- 
stitute makes  up  for  the  absence  of  that  bless- 
ed suDsbiae  without   which  life   languishes  ? 


The  walls  should  be  of  cheerful  tint ;  if  possi- 
ble, some  sort  of  out-door  glimpse  should  be 
visible  from  the  bed  or  chair  where  the   inva- 
lid lies,  if  it  is  but  the  top  of  a  tree  and  a  bit 
of  sky.    Eyes  which  have  been  traveling  for 
long,  dull  days  over  the  pattern  of  the  paper- 
hangings,  till  each  bud  and  leaf  and  qairl  is 
familiar— and  hateful — brighten  with  pleasure 
as  the  blind  is  raised.    The  mind,  wearied  of 
the  grinding  battle  with  pain  and  self,  finds 
Hnconscious  refreshment  in  the  new  interest. 
A  view  out-of-doors  is  full  of  refreshment,  es- 
pecially in  these  days,  when  the  birds  are 
sporting  in  she  newly  clothed  branches  of  the 
trees,  and  all  nature  seems  aglow,  looking 
with  kindly  eyes  of  interest  even   into  the 
room  where  sickness  is,  giving  (he  heart  cour- 
age as  nothing  else  will,  and  seeming  to  im- 
part new  life  to  the  blood,  carrying  oif  the 
Beeds  of  death,  and  bringing  instead  those  of 
life.    The  writer  quoted  above  says  further 
that  if  nurses  and  friends  knew  how  irksome, 
how  positively  harmful,  is  the  sameness  of  a 
sick-room,  surely  love  and  skill  would   devise 
remedies.    If  it  were  only  bringing  in  a  blue 
tiower    to-day,  and  a  pink  one  to-morrow  ; 
hanging  a  fresh  picture  to  vary  the  monotony 
of  the  wall,  or  even  an  old  one  in  a  new  place 
— something,  anything — it  is  such  infinite  re- 
lief.   Small  things  and  single  things  suffice. 
To  see  many  of  his  surroundings  changed  at 
once,  confuses  an  invalid  ;  to  have  one  little 
novelty  at  a  time  to  vary  the  point  of  obser- 
vation,   stimulates    and    cheers.    Give  him 
that,  and  you  do  more  and  better  than    if  you 
filled  the  apartment  with  fresh  objects.    It  is 
supposed  by  many,  that  flowers  should  be 
carefully  kept  away  from  sick  people — that 
they  exhaust  the  air   or  communicate  to  it 
some  harmful  quality.    This  may,  in  a  degree, 
be  true  of  such  strong,  fragrant  blossoms  as 
lilacs  or  garden  lilies,  but  of  'the  more  deli- 
cately scented  ones,  no  such  effect  need  be  ap- 
prehended.   A  well  aired  room  will  never  be 
made  close  or  unwholesome  by  a  nosegay  of 
roses,  migonette   or  violets,  and  the  subtle 
cheer  which  they  bring  with  them  is  infinite- 
ly   reviving    to    weary  eyes   and    depressed 

spirits. 

■ 4. 

Messrs.  P.  Blanchard's  Sons  give  due  credit 
for  their  large  sales  to  a  very  liberal  use  of 
printers'  ink.  "We  asrree  with  them, but  must 
add  that  even  printers'  ink  will  not  m«tke  a 
permanent  success  of  a  poor  thing.  They 
make  "  the  best"  churn. 


7-?^" 


TI[£  LAA'aiST£E  FA£.M£Ji 


(JOOB  RECIPES  FOR  CAKES. 

Lipy  Gingerbreads— Three  cups  of  flour, 
one  of  sugax,  one  of  butter,  and  one  of  mo- 
issse*,  three  e^i^  beaten  light,  rablespoonful 
cf  ginger,  ter  spoonful  of  peiirlss^h  and  some 
cIoTGS.  Feat  the  butter  in  sui;:ar  as  for  ix)un<!-' 
cake,  then  add  the  other  inirreilienfs.  putiiug 
in  the  pe^ariasb  last.  Bake  ibtiu  in  cake 
lies. 

Cocoanut  Calx. — For  1  pound  of  oocoanut 
grated,  put  a  pound  of  loaf  sugar  and  a  sutW- 
cient  quantity  of  flour  to  make  a  paste.  Put 
paper  on  the  tins  and  bake  them  iu  h  warm 
oven. 

Rod-  Cal'i. — The  whites  of  four  eggs  beaten 
vert  light,  pound  of  loaf  sugar  added  to  them, 
three^ourths  pound  of  sweet  almonds  slightly 
biuised.    Baked  on  paper  in  tins. 

Gingerbread, — Three  pounds  of  flour,  one 
pound  of  butter,  half  a  pound  of  sugar,  a 
quart  of  molasses,  two  ounces  of  ginger,  an 
ounce  of  cinnamon  an  ounce  of  allspice,  ounce 
and  a  half  cloves.  Washed  before  baking, 
with  molasses  and  water. 

EnglisJi  Suns. — One  pormd  ot  flour,  i  pound 
of  sugar,  i  pound  of  butter,  some  cinnamon,  i 
pint  of  rasins:  rub  them  all  together  ard  mix 
with  milk  and  4  or  o  drops  of  pearlash ;  wash 
them  after  they  are  baked  with  sugar  water. 

Almond  Cake. — One  pound  of  sugar,  i  pound 
of  flour,  10  eggs.  1  ounce  bitter  almonds,  a 
glass  of  kase  water  :  beat  the  yolks  tiU  they 
are  quite  a  batter,  then  add  the  sugar  and  heat 
it  well :  bavins  previously  pounded  the  al- 
monds fine  in  the  kase  water,  sdd  them  to  the 
yolks,  the  whites  must  be  beaten  very  light, 
and  then  add  the  flour  lust  stirred  into  the 
other  ingredients.  Bake  it  one  hour  and  ten 
minutes  in  rather  a  quick  oven. 

Milk  Bhcvit. — One  quart  of  milk,  one  pound 
cf  butler,  enough  flour  to  thicken  it,  a  small 
tea-cup  of  yeast:  set  them  to  rise  early  in  the 
morning. 

Soft  Gingerbread-. — Take  6  cups  of  flour,  2 
of  sugar,  '2  of  butter,  2  of  molasses  and  2  of 
milk,  4  eggs,  tablespoonfol  of  ginger,  a  little 
allspice;  beat  the  butter,  sugar  and  eggs 
light,  then  stir  in  the  other  ingredients.  And 
a  teaspoonful  of  pearlash  dissolved  in  vinegar, 

BouglinadS' — Take  3  pounds  of  flour  i  pound 


of  sugar .  1  pound  of  butter.  6  eggs,  2  wineglass- 
fuls  of  go^d  yeast,  mix  them  with  milk  to  a 
I  paste,  set  it  to  rise,  shape  them  and  fry  in  lard. 

Phil/idelphia. 


RAG  CARPETS. 


Most  housekeepers  seem  to  thiuk  ;t  the 
height  ot   economy  and  good  management  to 
convert  iheir  worn-out  aud  cast-ofl'  clothing 
,  into  good  substa.ntial  cai'peting.    Sometimes 
it  13  ;  but  we  have  known  some  of  these  gaily 
'  striped  rag  carpets  to  be  very  expensive  af- 
fairs.   Frequently  articles  are  cut  into  carpet 
rags  which  could  be  worn  much  longer,  or 
made  over  for  the  little  ones.    For  instance, 
i  madam,  this  old  pair  of  pantaloons,  patched 
I  in  the  seat,  and  worn  through  at  the  knees, 
if  turned,  will  be  found  to  look  like  new  ou 
■  the  wrong  side  :  and  a  skirt  for  your  little  six 
years  old  girl  can  be  made  of  it.    You  will 
find  the    eored  breadths  can  be  cut  nicely 
from  it.    Trim  wiih  bands   of  blue  or  scarlet 
flannel,  pinked  on  both  edges  and  staohed  on 
wiih  ;hc  machine,  and  i:  will  be  prettier,  and 
j  warmer  and  more  durable  than  the  felt  skirts, 
:  costing  from  $1.50  to  t2. 
j      It  is  almost  always  the  case  that   afier  the 
\  carpet  is  fairly  off"  to  the  weaver's,  and  the 
!  good  housewife  is  resting  from  her  labors, 
j  that  more  of  son- e  particular  color  or  stripe 
must  be  had  to  fiDi>h  it.    Then  various  arti- 
cles  now  in  u-e  must  be  sacriflced,  and  the 
\  "  gude  man  "'  is  compelled  to  sleep  with  his 
last  pair  of  unmentionables  under  his  pillow 
for  fear  he  will  awaken  iu  ihe   morniug  and 
!  find  that  that  insatiable  rag  carpet  h.<is  ab- 
sorbed   tveu    them.      Sometimes    the    good 
I  housewife,  in  her  ambitious  attempts  to  make 
j  a  carpet  whose  brilliant  hues  shall  uut-rival 
j  all  her  neighbors,  buys  yard?  of  gay  calico 
i  and  flannel  to  tear  into  carpet  rag  s.    In  such 
^  cases  the  actual  cost  of  the  carpet  is  about  the 
same  as  English  body  Brussels. 

Persons  wiih  any  tendency  to  pulmonary 
1  difficulties  should  never  work  at  tearing  car- 
pet rags.  A  dear  friend  of  ours,  after  breath- 
ing the  poisonous  dust  arising  from  the  tear- 
\  ing  of  colored  rags,  died  of  ^uick  consumption. 
A  very  expensive  carpet,  that,  to  her  husband 
and  little  children. 

But  where  the  rags  could  not  be  better  era- 
ployed,  it  if.  far  preferable  to  have  rag  car- 


THE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER. 


1S9 


pels  than  the  bare,  desolate-looking  floors  we 
tind  in  so  many  farmers'  houses,  and  which 
cause  so  many  hours  of  moppinof  and  scrub- 
bing to  keep  clean.  And  when  your  new  car- 
pet is  lacked  down,  don't  forget,  from  the 
halls  that  are  left,  to  crochet  rugs  to  lay  over 
the  parts  most  liable  to  wear,  thus  making  the 
carpet  last  much  longer. — Rural  -Veu-    Torker. 


HOW  TO  CURE  HAMS. 

AAMOST  every  farmer  ha?  his  own  partic.  I 
ular  recipe  for  curing  his  pork  and  hams, 
liut  this  is  not  saying  that  every  one  of  them 
succeeds  in  producics  a  first-rate  article,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  but  some  might  improve 
upon  their  present  mode  of  curing  hams.  The  I 
following  four  recipes  are  said  to  be  those 
after  which  the  premiums  were  cured  that 
gained  a  prize  at  the  Maryland  State  fair  : 

First  Premium. — Mix  two  and  one-half 
pounds  saltpeter,  finely  powdered,  one-half 
bushel  fine  salt,  three  pounds  brown  sugar, 
one-half  gallon  molasses.  Rub  the  meat  with 
the  mixture;  pack  with  ekin  down.  Turn 
over  once  a  week  and  add  a  little  salt.  After 
being  down  three  or  four  weeks,  take  out, 
wash,  and  hang  up  two  or  three  weeks  until 
it  is  dry.  Then  smoke  with  hickory  wood 
three  or  four  weeks;  then  bag  or  pack  away 
in  a  cool  place  (not  a  cellar)  in  chaff  or  hay. — 
Thomas  Love. 

Second  Premium.— The  meat,  after  being  cut 
out,  must  be  rubbed,  piece  by  piece,  with  very 
finely  powdered  saltpeter,  on  the  flesh  side, 
and  where  the  leg  is  cut  off  a  tablespoonful 
(not  heaped)  to  each  ham,  a  dessertspoonful 
to  eaoh  shoulder,  and  about  half  that  quantity 
to  each  middling  and  jowl ;  this  must  be 
rubbed  in.  Then  salt  it  by  packing  a  thin 
coaling  of  salt  on  the  flesh  side  of  each  piece, 
say  one-half  an  inch  thick;  pack  the  pieces  on 
a  scaflblding,  or  on  a  floor  with  strips  of  plank 
laid  a  few  inches  apart  all  over  it  (that  is, 
under  ihe  meal) ;  the  pieces  must  be  placed 
skin  side  down,  in  the  following  order  :  First 
layers, hams;  second, shoulder3 ;  third, jowls; 
fourth,  middlings  ;  take  the  spare  ribs  out  of 
the  middlings.  The  meat  must  lie  in  this  wise 
six  weeks  if  the  weather  is  mild  ;  eight  if  cold, 
the  brine  being  allowed  to  run  freely. — /. 
Hoirard  McEenrtj. 

Tldrd  Premium.— U&U  bushel  of  fine  salt, 
three  pounds  of  brown  sugar,  two  and  one- 


half  pounds  saltpeter,  one-half  gallon  best 
molasses.  Mix  these  ingredients  together, 
then  rub  each  piece  well  with  the  mixture  un- 
til all  be  absorbed.  The  meat  must  be  taken 
out  of  the  pickle  once  a  week  for  six  weeks  ; 
the  two  first  times  the  meat  is  taken  out,  there 
is  to  be  a  plate  of  alum  salt  added  lo  the 
pickle. — Mrs.  William  II.  Harriott. 

Fourth  Premium.— Two  and  one-half  pounds 
saltpeter,  dried  and  finely  powered,  one-half 
bushel  best  Liverpool  salt,  three  pounds  of 
brown  sugar,  and  one-half  gallon  molasses. 
Mix  all  in  a  vessel,  rub  the  meat  well  with 
same,  and  pack  with  skin  down.  The  above 
is  the  exact  amount  required  for  1,000  pounds 
of  pork.  After  being  in  salt  three  to  four 
weeks,  take  out,  wash  clean  the  pieces,  dry, 
and  hang  it  up  for  smoking.  Three  weeks  is 
sufficient  to  smoke  them  thoroughly  by  fire 
made  of  hickory  wood.  When  smoked,  take 
down  or  pack  away  in  dry  chaff  or  cut  straw. 
Examine  them  occasionally,  and  if  found  to  be 
at  all  damp,  renew  th3  packing  with  dry 
material. 

i  COOKHnCt  food  for  STOCK. 

THOSE  who  oppose  cooking  food  for  stock 
en  general  principles  will  be  pleased 

■  with  the  following  from  the  London  (Eng.) 
I  Country  Gentleman  s  Magazine: 

;      Thorough  mastication  of   food    la  recom- 
i  mended  as  all-important,  but  it  must  be  re- 
i  membered  that  cooked  food  rarely  calls  forth 
!  the  necessary  process,  and  no  amount  of 
i  cooking  will    render  food    more    nutritious. 
'  Mastication  is  necessary  for  two  purposes — to 
break  down  and  saturate  the  food  with  an 
important  fluid — the  saliva,  that  fluid   eSect- 
;  ing  important  changes  in  the  nutritive  ele- 
ments to  fit  them  to  undergo  subsequent  ac- 
tions by  other  juices  of  the  digestive  organs. 
(  It  is  not  possible  to  supplant  these  secretions 
by  any  process  of  preparations  by  cooking  or 
i  addition  of  fluids.    Dame  nature  has  supplied 
;  vesretable  food  for  every  season,  and  only  re- 
quires of  man  that  he  should  observe  the  je- 

■  cularit^es  of  each,  and  give  the  benefits  to 
j  animals  as  far  as  possible.  It  is  a  decided 
j  mistake  to  cook  the  food  of  animals  when  it 
'  is  sound  and  sweet.    The  mistake,  so  called, 

of  supplying  the  dry  food  m  winter,  is  more 
apparent  than  real.  The  exercise  of  common 
sense  is  called  for  in  order  to  regulate  the 


UO 


TEE  LAJS'CASTER  FARMER. 


practice  with  suitable  roots  and  proper  shelter 
and  warmth,  more  than  is  usually  done.  It  is 
a  mistake  to  neglect  the  young  stock  so  much 
as  is  commonly  done.  If  more  attention 
were  paid  to  them,  and  supplying  of  artificial 
food  increased  during  the  period  of  their  most 
active  growth,  adverse  states  would  not  be 
so  general,  and  the  remedy  less  sought  after 
in  useless  preparations  of  food  which  run  into 
expenses.  Among  working  horses  the  ef- 
fects of  cooked  food  are  something  marvelous. 
Colic,  and  indigestion  generally,  with  di- 
cease  of  the  liver  and  kidneys,  is  of  common 
and  fatal  occurrence.  It  may  be  more  easily 
understood  to  say  such  preparations  are  quite 
unnatural,  the  digestive  organsare  constituted 
to  act  upon  the  most  nutritive  grains.  It  is 
also  commonly  believed  that  animals,  es- 
pecially horses,  pass  much  away  by  the  bowels 
ihat  ought  to  be  digested  and  appropriated  to 
the  system.  This  question  requires  more 
philosophical  research  before  it  can  be  de- 
finitely and  accurately  settled,  but  we  can  go 
so  far  as  to  say  that  when  the  masticatory  or- 
gans are  in  good  order,  and  digestion  perfect, 
a  proper  allowance  of  food  is  thoroughly  as- 
similated. Apparently  whole  grains  may  be 
found  in  the  excrement,  but  upon  close  ex- 
amination they  will  turn  out  to  be  the  shells 
only,  which,  by  the  action  of  the  digestive 
juices,  have  been  divested  of  their  internal 
nutrient  parts.  Some  persons  look  upon  di- 
gestion as  a  process  in  which  everything 
must  be  utilized  for  the  building  up  of  tissue. 
They  forgot  it  is  quite  as  essential  that  other 
substances  should  be  present — those  non- 
nulritious  in  themselves,  but  by  their  con- 
stitution and  presence  give  bulk  to  the  rest, 
and  assist  in  their  general  reduction  in  the 
stomach  of  the  higher  animals,  exactly  as  the 
sand  and  pebble  act  in  the  crops  of  birds^ 
The  success  of  feeding  our  domestic  animals 
does  not  lie  in  the  way  of  cooking  food  and 
administration  of  condiments,  but  in  a  judi- 
cious management  generally,  in  which  the 
peculiar  features  of  organization,  physiology, 
geology,  meteorology,  and  hygrometrics,  play 
their  respective  parts,  and  agricultural  suc- 
cess will  never  be  certain  until  these  branches 
of  science  are  more  definitely  acknowledged. 


rising  become  impossible.  We  take  irore 
sleep  than  our  ancestors,  and  v/e  take  morvi 
because  we  want  more.  Six  hours  sleep 
a  day  will  do  very  well  for  a  plowman  or  a 
bricklayer,  or  any  other  man  who  has  no  ex- 
haustion but  that  produced  by  manual  labor, 
and  the  sooner  he  takes  it  after  his  labor  is 
over  the  better.  But  for  a  man  whose  labor 
is  mental  the  stress  of  work  on  his  brain  and 
his  nervous  system,  and  for  him  who  is  tired 
in  the  evening  with  a  day  ot  mental  applica- 
tion, neither  early  to  bed  or  early  to  rise  is 
altogether  wholesome.  He  needs  letting  down 
to  the  level  of  repose.  The  longer  interval 
between  the  active  use  of  the  brain  and  his 
retirement  to  bed,  the  better  his  chance  of 
sleep  and  refreshment-  To  him  an  hour  after 
midnight  is  probably  as  good  as  two  before  it, 
and  even  then  his  sleep  will  not  so  completely 
and  quickly  restore  him  as  it  will  his  neigh- 
bor who  is  physically  tired.  He  must  not 
only  go  to  bed  later,  but  lie  longer.  His  best 
sleep  probably  lies  in  the  early  morning  hours, 
when  all  the  nervous  excitement  has  passed 
away,  and  he  is  in  absolute  rest. 


How  Long  Shall  we  Sleep.— The  fact 
is  that,  as  life  becomes  concentrated,  and 
its  pursuit  s  more  eager,  short  sleep  and  early 


Scientific^  Farming. — Scientific  farming 
consists  altogether  and  solely  in  deriving  the 
greatest  possible  profit  from  the  soil.  Lessen 
the  labor  and  increase  the  yield,  is  the  sum  of 
the  whole.  To  do  this  everything  must  be  done 
at  the  right  time,  and  in  the  best  manner.  By 
draining,  the  water  must  be  got  rid  of ;  by  cul- 
tivation, weeds  must  be  destroyed  ;  by  manure, 
the  soil  must  be  enriched;  by  rotation  of  crops 
the  largest  yield  must  be  secured;  by  improving 
stock,  the  feed  must  be  economized  and  made 
of  more  value  ;  and  the  how-to-do-ali  this  is  the 
sum  and  substance  of  agricultural  science 
Books  on  farming  relate  the  experience  of 
successful  men,  the  experiments  they  have 
made,  and  the  results  they  have  attained. 
Any  and  every  farmer  who,  by  the  use  of  his 
reasoning  powers,  is  enabled  to  raise  one 
bushel  of  corn  per  acre  more  than  he  has  hith- 
erto done,  by  improved  methods,  is  a  scien- 
tific farmer,  however  much  he  may  disown  the 
name  ;  and  not  only  has  he  done  a  good  thing 
for  himself,  but  the  world  at  large  is,  to  some 
extent,  better  for  his  efforts  and  success  ;  his 
mission,  g'?  a  man,  has  been  to  that  extent 
fulfilled,  and  he  will  leave  the  world  better 
than  he  found  it. — Hearth  and  Home. 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


Ul 


BOOK  ANT)  SPECIAL  NOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 


OUR  BOOK  TABLE. 
Ouii  OWN  FiKKSiDK.— A  large  quavlo  of  sixteon  pages, 
published  by  W.  1..  Gumi-  at  »l.."0  a  year,  and  devoted  to 
home  literature  and  domestic  aliaiis, contains  an  immense 
anr.otint  ol"  iuterestlnfj  reading  matter  of  a  healtliy,  moral 
and  social  character,  with  only  a  single  page  of  advertise- 
ments.   New  Vork,  Ko.  7,  Sun  Buiiding. 

The  Pkintbk  ARTizAJf. — A  beautifully  illustrated  ad- 
vertising quarto,  of  eight  pages,  devoted  to  the  printer's  art. 
The  typograi)hical  execution  is  superb.  Printed  in  colors 
on  fine  paper,  by  C.  C.  Child,  at  5G  Federal  street,  Boston. 

American  Newspaper  Eepokter  at^d  Printers' 
Gazette,  a  royal  octavo  of  sixteen  pt-ecs,  devoted  entirely 
til  matters  relating  to  professional  and  practical  printing 
snd  printers.  A  copious  advertising  medium  for  the  trade, 
published  by  Geo.  P.  Koavell  »&  Co.,  weekly.  No.  41  Park 
KovF,  New  York,  at  ^2.00  per  annum. 

The  Faem  and  Fireside.— A  folio  of  eight  pages,  de- 
voted to  domestic  literature  and  agriculture,  lliustra  ed 
and  published  by  the  "Farm  and  Fireside  Association." 
No.  12  Pine  street,  N.  Y.,  at  Sl.OO  a  year. 

The  ViKfiiNiA  Real  Estatk  and  Farm  .Tournal, 
liy  A.  F.  Kop.ertson  &  Co.,  Lynchburg,  Va.,  at  iSl  00  a 
a  year.  A  medium  folio  of  eight  pages  and  devoted  to 
the  specialties  named  in  its  title. 

The  Copy  Book,  "  Issued  in  the  interest  of  newspa- 
per publishers  throughout  the  United  States.  Printed 
from  stereotype  plates,  which  are  imposed  and  Lcid  in 
columns  by  Blackwell's  Improved  Method ;  duplicate 
plates,  to  fit  columrs  of  various  widths,  furnished  by  the 
N  tional  Newspaper  Union,  3-t  Park  Row,  New  York." 
This  Journal  contains  choice  articles  in  Poetry,  Miscel'a- 
ny,  Agriculture,  Biography,  Anecdotes,  Foreign  Intelli- 
genca.  Travelers'  Sketches,  Literature,  Fashions,  Hous?- 
ho'd  Atf.irs,  Science,  Usefal  Information,  Wit  and  Wis- 
dom, Humorous  Incidents,  Home  Culture,  &nd  Religion. 
Each  of  the  thirtj-two  columns  has  the  number  of  the 
volume,  tbo  date,  and  the  number  of  the  column  and 
similar  numbers  are  also  attached  to  each  of  its  original 
articles;  and  we  infer  that  any  newspaper  desiring  to 
use  any  of  these  articles,  can  do  so  by  paying  a  fee  for  the 
stereotyped  plates,  which  would  be  a  great  saving  of  time, 
labor  and  expense,  in  getting  up  a  paper. 

The  ConnBADo  Real  Estate  Begistfk — A  sixteen- 
page  nv-.arto;  "Devoted  to  Real  Estate,  Railroads,  Insur- 
ance, Finance,  Agriculture,    Mining,    Live    Stock,  and 
General  Industry  of  Colorado."    $2.00  a  year.  E.  V,.  Mat- 
hew  &  Co.,  Denver,  Colorado. 

Amerioak  Homes  SurPLEMExr.— A  New  Oil  Chromo, 
railed  the  "  Two  Pets,"  has  been  issued  by  Ohas.  H.  Taylor 
it  Co.,  of  Boston,  publishers  of  American  Homes,  the  poj)- 
ular  illustrated  magazine.  It  is  a  rich  and  beautiful'y 
executed  chromo,  and  is  given  with  the  magazine  for  only 
:fl.25,  through  agents.  People  who  subscril>e  by  mail, 
send  ten  cents  extra  for  postage  on  the  chromo.  '*  The 
Two  Pets"  consist  of  a  beautiful  little  golden- headed  girl 
and  a  large  Ne-.rfouadIaud  dog,  and  the  HuiforA  Coiiranf 
and  other  leading  newspapers  weli  say  that  it  is  Tt-orth 
far  la.tre  than  the  price  of  the  subscription.  The 'June 
number  of  Am^rimn  Homes  is  fully  up  to  the  high  stand- 
ard of  the  pa^t,  and  the  maga/.ine  continues  on  its  bright 
career  of  proispcrity,  to  which  there  seems  to  be  no  limit. 


Rkceitkd. —  American  Agriculturist,  New  York  Ru- 
ral, Farmers'  Club,  School  Journal,  National  Oil  Journal, 
American  Stock  Journal,  Industrial  Bulletin,  Practical 
Farmer,  National  Live  Stock  Journal,  Journal  of  the 
Farm,  Building  Association  Journal,  Journal  of  Health, 
Farmers'  Zeitung,  Manheiui  Sentinel,  Everybody's  .Ictrn- 
al.  Valley  Independent,  Carthage  Gazette,  Mouot  Joy 
Herald,  Free  Press,  New  York  Observer,  Our  Churoh 
Work,  Independent,  Germantown  Telegraph,  and  VolkJ- 
freund,  up  to  the  latest  issues  have  been  regularly  re. 
ceived.  Any  of  our  subscribers  who  may  have  ability  and 
desire  to  subscribe  for  one  or  mire  papers  than  they  are 
now  taking,  will  do  well  to  consult  the  list  of  publications 
noticed  in  this  Journal. 

V/k  acknowledge  the  reciept  of  a  quarto  vo'.umj  of  the 
Ninth  Agricultural  Census  of  tha  United  States,  contain- 
ing tables  3,  4,  5,  0,  and  7.  We  hivj  published  Interesting 
extracts  from  it,  in  our  June  anl  July  numbers,  so  far  a^ 
they  related  to  our  State  and  county,  and  on  futuri  o.'c  i- 
sions  we  shall  refer  to  its  pages  again. 

AL30,  the  R'.port  of  thr:  Commissioner  of  Agricjdtart,  on. 
fht  Diseases  of  the  Cattle  of  the  Uniled  Slates  :  An  illustrated 
quarto  volume  of  205  pages;  from  which  we  expact  to 
cull  sams  useful  and  interesting  inf>rmition,  as  soon  as 
we  can  flad  time  to  lojk  it  throug'i,  which  wa  w.U  gva  to 
our  readers. 

Also  the  Proct*dings  of  the  XMional  AjricuUur>,l  Conven- 
tion, held  at  Washington  City,  February  1.5,  IR,  and  17, 
1872,  an  octavo  pamphlet  of  eighty-four  pages  of  interest- 
ing matter. 

Also  the  American  Farmers'  .4(i('jca/d— official  organ  o  ' 
the  Agricultural  Congress,  and  Sam  MBrideU  Advertiser 
Peublo,  Colorado. 


PHILADELPHIA     CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  June  24. 

Bebp  Cattle.— The  dullness  which  has  marked  the 
course  of  the  market  for  all  deicriptions  of  stock  for  some 
time  past  was  the  prevailing  feature  to-day,  and  with  lib- 
eral arrivals,  in  the  aggregate  reaching  3,000  head,  prices 
favored  buyers.  A  few  inirehasers  could  be  found  nego- 
tiating on  "small  line.-i,  but  they  were  by  no  means  anxious 
to  handle  stock,  and  did  not  bid  very  full  figures  ;  we 
quote  extra  at7"3aKc;  fair  to  choice  at  6a7Xc  ;  common 
at  5a5J,'c,  and  scalawags  at  3i4c  t<  Hi. 

Cjwsand  Calves  arecxcessively  dull,  and  prices  have  n 
downward  tendency  ;  sales  ot  Springers  at  822a,S0,  and 
Fresh  Cows  at  S^it'aio.    Receipts,  2.50  head. 

SiiicEP.— The  market  is  wihout  features  of  interest. 
The  demand  is  ((uite  limited,  and  the  tone  decidedly 
tame;  we  quote  fair  and  good  at  5*6o  ~f,  lb,  and  stock  a'- 
»:ia^  50  i^  bead.  L-^mb-^  are  worth  «alOc  j^  lb  for  good,  and 
$1  50»:^.')0  perhead  for  common.    Receipts,  13,000  head. 

Hoes  are  in  lively  request  at  full  figures  ;  sales  of  corn 
fed  at  CoOaO  75  ■^  100  lbs  net.    Receipts,  3,528  hea<l. 

NEW  YORK  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  June  24. 

Receipts,  9,5.00  head.  Poor  to  medium  Cattle  10a Uc  ; 
medium  to  fair  steers  llallxc  ;  good  steers  and  fat  oxen 
llVall\'c;  prime  to  extra  steers  12aI2,'^c  ;  choice  12'.,? 
12»,c;  ianoy  13al3vc.  The  majority  of  the  sales  wore  at 
U'<!'al2c;  average  price  11  J,  c. 

Sheep  heavy  ;  receipts,  22,«5.5.  Clipped  Sheep— Cora 
mon  to  fair  5a.T  V  c ;  fair  to  good  5?^  a6  ',^-  ;  extra  o  V  A^^'i 
choice  6'.:a6:',c;  Lambs  7al2c. 

IIoGs.— 'Reueiots  44,200  head.  Prime  heavy  corn  fed, 
live,  is4.50a4.62>^;  dressed  5?,a6c;  medinm  liye  .«4.37j,a 
1.50:  dreE'JCd  6a6'v. 

I  CHrCAGO   MARKET. 

(  .Monday,  June  24. 

'      Fi.OLa  dull  and  nominal  and  no  sales  reported. 

Wheat  (lull  and  a  shade  lower  for  cash,  and  ill  fair  de- 
I  mand    but  at  lower  rates  for  futures;  No.  i'  spring  Sl.iO'i 


U2 


THE  LAJVCASTmi  FARMER. 


cash,  and  iiSl.30  ]4a\.'6QY.  for  July  and  August ;  No  1  spring 
sold  at  1  yiMai.32. 

Corn  steady  ;  No.  2  mixed  •i2^<;a42'Xc  on  the  spot  for  reg- 
ular  and  fresh. 

Oats  in  pood  demand  and  highor ;  No.  2  at  29c  casli. 

Ba'K  dull  and  nomin.nl ;  No.  2  at  62c. 

Baklev  .«tP:Kty  ;  No.  2  fail  .50a. 5Sc. 

PKOvrs.'ONs. — ivie.ss  Pork  S12  85  ou  the  spot.  Lard  stea- 
dy at  S8. 7.5  cash.  Bulk  ments  and  Bacon  steady  and  un- 
changed, and  no  .sales  of  either. 

Cattlis  easier  but  not  quotably  lower ;  heavy  receipts 
depress  the  market.  Live  Hogs  active  and  higlier  at 
S:-;.80a4.25. 


NEW    YOKIC    MARKETS. 

MOKDAV,  June  24. 

Flour,  etc. — The  Flour  market  is  dull  and  declining. 
We  learn  of  sales  of  4,8uo  bbls  at  $-5.55a6.15  for  supeitine 
State ;  $6.4530.75  for  extra  .State  ;  SC.SOaO.'.ni  for  cho  ce 
do  ;  S:6  9.5dT.OO  fancy  do  ;  ipJ.oSat!  1.5  for  superhne  western  ; 
*6  45a7.00  for  common  to  medium  extra  western  ;  ^T.Ooa 
7.50  for  choice  do  ;  P7.95a0.40  for  common  to  choice  white 
wheat  western  extra ;  S6.70a6.90  for  common  to  good 
.shipping  brands  extra  round  hoop  Ohio;  S-6.95a9  20  for 
trade  brands;  SfS.lOalO  for  common  to  fair  extra  St. 
Louis,  and  .*IO.f  .5a]2  for  good  to  choice  do. 

Soutliern  Flour  is  quiet.  The  sales  are  :;20  bb's  at  %1  50a 
9  75  for  common  to  fair  evtra,  and  S9.80al3  for  good  to 
choice  do_.  Rye  Flour  is  dull.  The  sales  a. e  200  bbls  at 
$4.2035  1.1).    Corn  5Ieal  is  quiet. 

Gkain.— Tn  Wheat  there  wis  nothing  doing.  At  the 
opening  holders  advanced  their  prices,  and  .shippers  held 
back.  The  market  closes  epsy  for  spring,  with  a  limited 
demand.  Winter  Wheat  in  ntglccted  and  nominal.  The 
.«ales  are  .'>2i00  bushels  at  S1.59  for  No.  2  Chlc'ac.o  spring 
alioat;  $1.62  for  No.  2  Milwaukee;  $1.75  for  white  Cana- 
dian in  bond. 

Barlky  is  quiet  and  prices  are  unsettled.  B  »rley  Malt 
in  ijiudeiate  demand  and  steady;  sales  of  :>.o;)0  biishels 
at  ?•' 50jil.."5.  Ocits  are  firmer  r.ud  lairly  active,  the  de- 
mand chiehy  for  the  traue,  though  in  part  speculaMve. 
The  sales  are  94  000  l>urhels:  New  Ohio  mixed  at  47c; 
white  at  49a50c  on  track  ;  western  mir.ed  at  i''-d.i'l}ic.  afloat; 
wljite  at  49a50c  :  State  at  olauo  on  track.  Rye  "is  lowsr 
and  in  limited  demand ;  sales  of  7,800  bushels  West- 
ern at  S()C  afloat.  ( "oru  in  good  supply  and  a  shade  easier, 
tue  demand  fair  at  the  concession.  Much  of  the  C(vrn  to 
hand  lo-day  was  previou,sly  sold.  The  sales  are  170  000 
bushels  :  Damp  at  0latil>^c  ;  62aG3cfor  steamer  ;  we«'ern 
mixed  at  653660  ;  do  white  at  80c  ;  do  vel'ow  at  66  >^  a67c. 

Provisions.— Pork  fairly  active,  but  the  dem/ii'l  met 
and  pri''es  easy.  The  sales,  cash  and  regular,  are  900  bbls, 
at  .'|1;12.62i/2al2  75  for  old  mess;  iS;i3.25a]3.50  for  new  do; 
^^10.75  for  extra  prime  ;  §1275  for  western  prime  mess. 
For  future  delivery  in  very  good  demand,  with  easy 
Terms.  Sales  of  1,000  bbls  mess  at  .*613.25  for  July.  Beef 
remains  very  (^uiet.  but  prices  are  without  change  ;  sales 
of  l2o  bb's,  at  $7a9  for  plain  mess,  and  ??9al2  for  extra 
mess.  Tierce  Beef  is  dull  and  heavy  ;  sales  of  70  tierces 
at  S!4al7  for  jjrime  mess,  and  S17a20  tor  India  mess.  Bejf 
hams  are  dull  and  unchanged  ;  sales  of  30  bbls  at  ,S20a25 
for  western. 

Cut  Meats  remain  about  as  before,  very  choice  and 
fancy  grades  showing  a  steady  uniform  tone,  but  medium 
and  common  lots  rather  favoring  the  buyer.  .Sales  of  175 
pkgs,  mostly  pickled  ilanii  at  fl  yi?A\%v.,  with  a  Jew  light 
at  12al2>jC  fi,  1b.  Bacon  is  in  fair  dem^ud,  and  the  mar- 
ket remains  tiim.  L>rtsied  Hogs  are  firmer  ;  we  quote  fit 
5;3a6'4'c  for  city.  Lard  is  firmer  and  in  good  demand  to 
meet  contracts;  sales  of  8,50  bbis  and  tcs,  at  8V„'c  for  No.  1; 
8'„c  for  city  ;  9.7-16a9;{c  for  fair  to  prime  steam,  and  9 'j'a 
9  's  c  lor  kettle  rendered. 

PHfLADELPHIA   iVIAKKETS. 

Monday,  .June  21. 

Ir'LouR — There  is  very  little  demand  for  either  export 
or  home  use,  a-"<i  the  market  continues  very  dull.  About 
'■CO  Itblssold  in  luti  co  the  home  trade  at  ??5..50a6  for  super- 
hne  ;  .$6a7  lor  extras ;  $7.7,')a8.25  tor  Wisconsin  extra  tami- 
'y;  *8.7.ia9.25  for  Minnesota,  do  do  ;  $9?9.7.5  for  Penrsyl- 
vania  do  do  ;  SO^in  f-  r  Indiana  and  Oh'o  do  do;  .«i0.- 
25*11. i'o  for  fancy  bran  's.  Kyo  tlour  is  quoted  at  3f5.25a 
5  .lO. 

•jRAiN.— The  Wheat  market  is  exceedingly  dull,  an'' 
prices  aro  weak,  b,  ^e.s  of  weftern  and  PeurV.lvknia  red 
.H.t  S1.99a3.9.5,  n.n.bh^r  at  SI  35a 2,  and  whifp  ats2i2.0.5.  i:ye 
's  held  at  )^7a90c  for  wcftern  avd  Pennsvlvani.i.  Corn 
meets  witij  a  limited  inquiry.  Sales  of  vpIIow  at  66i67o, 
and  .5,00Q  busheJs  w-'-^  fern  "mixed  jit  64a54;.4C.  Oa»s  ire 
unchanged.    Sales  of  7,000  biishels  ■ffeaieru   at  45a46c   for 


white,  and  43a44c  for  mixed.  The  receipts  tn-day  areas 
follows:  2. £65  bbls  of  flour  ;  2  800  bu«heis  wheat;  40,000 
bushels  corn  ;  24  900  bushels  oats,  and  726  bbls  -whisky. 

Provisions  continue  (juiet,  but  prices  are  without  ma- 
terial change.  Sales  of  Mess  Pork  at  $14^14  25  f)  bhl. 
<5ity  packed  fx  ra  Mf.«s  Beef  is  taken  at  Sl4  10al5  'f  bl>l. 
Bacon  is  steady;  sales  of  plain  s\igar-cur('d  city-smoked 
Haras  at  12' ^;ai4c,  canvassed  western  at  12c,  .sides  at  8r. 
and  shoulders  at  6c.  Green  Meats  are  quiet.  Sales  of 
pickled  Hams  at  I2al2\>,  and  shoulders  in  salt  at  5>;;'c. 
Lard  is  quiet ;  Sales  at  s^ti'ao  ..  c  'x>.  lb. 

Sebds — Tlipre  is  less  dome  in  (over:  Fniall  sales  af 
OalOcv  fti.  Flax'ecdsoldat  Sf2.iO  ;  and  Timothy  at  $3.20 
T*  bushel. 


A  PEPtPETUAL  WEATHER  TAliLE. 

J.  Cool,  Mexico,  Miami  county,  Indiana, 
sends  the  following  table  which,  he  says,  was 
constructed  by  ths  celebrated  Dr.  Herschell, 
upon  a  philosophic  consideration  of  the  at- 
traction of  the  sun  and  moon.  It  is  confirm- 
ed by  the  experience  of  many  years'  obser- 
vation, and  will  suggest  to  the  observer  what 
kind  of  weather  will  probably  follow  the 
moon's  entiance  into  any  of  her  quarters.  As 
a  general  rule  it  will  be  found  to  be  wonder- 
fully correct : 

If  the  mo.m  changes  at  12  o'clock,  noon,  the 
weather  immediately  afteiward  will  be  very 
rainy,  if  in  summer,  and  there  will  be  snow 
and  rain  in  winter. 

If  between  2  and  4  o'clock  P.  M.,  changeable 
in  summer — fair  and  mild  in  winter. 

Between  4  and  6  o'clock,  fair  both  in  win- 
ter and  summer. 

Between  6  and  10  o'clock  P.  M.,  in  summer 
fair,  if  the  wind  is  north-west;  rainy,  if  soutli 
or  south-west.  In  winter  fair  and  frosty,  if 
the  wind  is  north  or  north-west ;  rainy  if  south 
or  south-wes*^. 

Between  In  and  12  o'clock  P.  M.,  rainy  in 
summer  and  fair  and  frosty  in  winter. 

Between  12  at  night  and  2  o'clock  AM.,  fair 
in  summer  and  frosty  in  winter— unless  the 
wind  is  from  the  south  and  south-west. 

Between  4  and  6  o'clock  A.  M.,  rainy  both 
in  winter  and  summer. 

Between  6  and  8  o'clock  A.  M.,  wind  and 
rain  in  summer,  and  stormy  in  winter. 

Between  8  and  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  showery  in 
summer,  and  cold  and  blustery  in  winter. 

The  lungs,  after  a  full  inspiration,  contain 
220  cubic  inches  of  air,  Ihus  making  their  in- 
ner surface  equal  to  440  square  feet,  nearly 
thirty  times  greater  than  the  body ;  and 
these  organs  on  an  average,  make  from 
28,000  to  30,000  respirations  ju  twenty-four 
hours. 


DEVOTED  TO 
Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  unci  Miscellany* 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATH  VON-  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 
**  The  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  civil ization."— WEBSTER. 


Vol.  IV. 


AUGUST,  1872. 


JVo.  8. 


lELSSKY. 


[  A.S  the  Colorado  Potato  beetle  has  been 
found  in  Lancaster  county,  and  very  probably 
will  "  spread  itself,''  and  as  the  present  indif- 
ference of  many  readers  may  chanij;e  to  anx- 
ious inquiry  in  future,  we  have  thought  it  ad- 
visable to  republish  from  the  columns  of  the 
Express  the  following  paper  on  that  subject.] 

COLORADO  POTATO-BEETLE  1 1 


TO  THE  FARMERS  AND  GARDENERS  OF  LAN- 
CASTER COUNTY  AND  ELSEWHERE. 

THE  unpleasant  duty  devolves  upon  me 
of  proclaiming  that  the  notorious  "Colo- 
rado Potato-beetle,"  or  "  Ten-line  Spearman" 
{Doryphora  \0-lineata)  is  at  last  domicilated  in 
the  Susquehanna  valley,  in  Lancaster  county. 
How  extensive  I  am  not  able  to  say;  but  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Horticultural  Society,  held 
at  the  C(  uit  House  on  July  1st,  H.  M.  Engle 
and  George  W.  MehafFey,  Esqrs.,  exhibited 
about  forty  specimens  of  the  mature  beetle 
and  larva  in  its  various  stages  of  development, 
gathered  in  the  potato  field  of  H.  S.  Musser, 
Esq.,  about  half  a  mile  above  the  western 
borough  line  of  Marietta,  along  the  railroad, 
and  they  report  that  they  are  also  in  potato 
fields  of  Messrs.  Sharp  and  Sourbeer,  in  the 
same  vicinity,  with  a  probability  of  being  at 
other  places  in  that  valley.  On  examination 
and  comparison,  I  find  these  true  Colorado 
beetle,  which  has  for  years  been  so  damaging 
to  the  potato  crops  of  the  Western  States, 
specimens  of  which  had  been  sent  me  on  vari- 
ous previous  occasions,  so  that  their  identity 
is  unquestionable.  These  beetles  may  be 
seen  at  any  time  during  business  hours  at  the 
corner  of  North  Queen  and  Orange  streets 


(No.  101),  Lancaster  city,  and,  therefore,  po- 
tato growers  may  make  themselves  acquainted 
with  their  appearance  if  they  choose,  for  the 
time  has  come  when  the  subject  can  no  longer 
be  regarded  with  indifference. 

These  insects  were  first  noticed  in  the  afore- 
said locality  on  the  28th  or  29th  of  June,  but 
as  the  fully  developed  beetle,  and  the  matured 
larva  were  also  found,  they  must  have  been 
there  some  days,  if  not  weeks,  earlier.  I  have 
n'^t  heard  of  them  being  in  any  other  part  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  that  they  have  appeared  so 
suddenly,  and  so  near  the  eastern  limit  of  the 
State,  is  a  marvel,  unless  they  have  been 
borne  thither  among  the  Western  freight  car' 
goes  on  the  railroad.  This  suggestion  is  ren- 
dered at  least  probable  from  the  fact  that  in- 
sects are  often  found  here  in  Lancaster  coun- 
ty which  belong  to  localities  and  latitudes 
far  north  of  this,  and  which  are  brought  hith- 
er in  cargoes  of  lumber  from  the  north  by 
way  of  canals,  railroads,  and  the  Susquehanna 
river.  Indeed,  the  Hon.  M.  P.  Wilder  had 
communicated  to  the  New  England  Farmer, 
last  summer  already,  that  these  insects  had 
been  found  in  a  potato  patch  in  the  town  of 
Worcester,  Mass.,  whither  it  was  supposed 
they  had  been  conveyed  on  the  railroad.  I 
have  heard  no  tidings  from  that  quarter  since, 
but  even  that  communication  stimulated  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture  to  at  least  contem- 
plate some  action  in  the  case.  About  three 
years  ago,  some  person  unknown  to  me  sent 
me  a  box  containing  about  one  hundred  of 
these  insects,  all  alive,  from  some  point  in 
Kansas.  Not  a  single  line  accompanied  the 
box.  Now,  suppose  he  had  sent  them  to  some 
person  who  had  not  known  what  they  were, 
how  easily  they  might  have  been  colonized 
here  ;  or  suppose  the  box  had  been  broken  on 


lU 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


the  way,  how  easily  they  might   have   then 
been  scattered  abroad. 

la  carder  to  demonstrate  this  to  practical 
entomologists  as  well  as  others,  I  would  state 
that  Sphceroderus  niagarensis.,  Leptura  cana- 
densis, Upis  ceramboides,  MonoTiamtnus  titilator 
and  dentator,  and  other  rare  species  of  coleop- 
tera,  have  occasionally  been  found  in  the 
lumber  yards  along  the  lower  Susquehanna— 
the  last  two  named  species  quite  frequently, 
even  in  the  lumber  yards  of  Lancaster  city. 

When  we  reflect  that  our  common  "  cock- 
roach," and  many  other  insects,  as  well  as  the 
"  Norway  rat,"  have  been  imported  in  car- 
goes of  various  kinds  from  Europe,  it  will  not 
be  so  surprising  that  this  insect  should  be 
thus  carried  to  diflferent  localities  in  our  own 
country. 

As  the  iiisect  is  now  amongst  us,  the  first 
inquiry  naturally  will  be,  how  to  destroy  it, 
or  prevent  its  increase?  The  first  thing  I 
would  recommend,  while  its  numbers  must 
yet  be  limited,  is  a  thorough  examination  of 
the  vines,  and  vigorous  handpicking.  If  you 
can  help  it  don't  leave  a  single  survivor.  This 
may  be  effectual  in  the  present  state  of  the 
case. 

But  more  on  this  part  of  the  subject  here- 
after ;  for  the  present  allow  me  to  call  the  at- 
tention of  the  reader  to  the  history  and  habits 
of  oue  of  the  most  destructive  insects  known 
to  those  regions  of  our  country,  where  it  has 
had  an  existence,  although  from  its  recent  in- 
troduction here,  and  want  of  time  and  oppor- 
tunity, I  shall  be  able  to  add  nothing  new  to 
those  who  are  familiar  with  its  character. 
When  we  reflect  that  the  losses  which  West- 
ern farmers  have  sustained  from  the  ravages 
of  thi3  insect,  may  be  estimated  by  tens  of 
thouyands  of  dollars— if  not  millions,  it  will 
become  apparent  how  important  the  subject 
is,  how  criminal  it  is  for  those  most  aff'ected 
by  its  presence  to  remain  in  blissful  igno- 
rance of  its  history  and  habits,  and  the  means 
of  its  destruction. 

HISTORY. 

About  the  year  1846  Mr.  John  Wittick, 
fomerly  of  Marietta,  Pa.,  but  then  residing 
at  Grand  Detour,  Wiaconsin,  sent  me  a  collec- 
tion of  coleoptera  from  that  locality,  among 
which  were  fou  specimens  of  an  insect,  which 
an  experienced  entomologist  labeled  for  me 
Poljjgramma  lO-lineatce  Say,  and  during  the 
war  of  the  rebellion  Lieut.  J.  M.  Johnston 


sent  me  specimens  of  the  same  insect  from 
Tennessee ;  but  prior  to  that.  Judge  Libhart 
had  given  me  two  specimens  from  Virginia. 
These,  I  had  always  supposed,  were  identical 
with  the  insect  which  is  the  subject  of  this 
paper;  and  according  to  Mr.  Riley,  in  his 
"  First  Report  on  the  Noxious  and  Beneficial 
Insects  of  Missouri,"  "  Up  to  the  autumn  of 
1865  it  was  generally  supposed,  by  economic 
entomologists,  that  this  destructive  insect  had 
existed  from  time  immemorial  in  the  North- 
western States,  feeding  upon  some  worthless 
weed  or  other  ;  and  that  of  late  years,  from 
some  unexplained  cause,  it  h.id  all  of  a  sud- 
den taken  to  attacking  the  potato  plant." 
But  in  the  year  above  named,  Mr.  Walsh,  of 
Rock  Island,  Illinois,  clearly  demonstrated 
that  my  insects  were  the  Dorapliory  jiincta,  o 
Germar,  and  that  the  true  Colorado  potatof 
beetle  originated,  or  had  its  exclusive  home 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  it  had  been 
known  to  exist  for  at  least  forty-five  years, 
feeding  on  Solanum  rostratum,  a  wild  species 
of  the  potato  peculiar  to  that  region,  and  that 
when  civilization  was  extended  to  that  far-ofl" 
region,  and  the  domestic  potatoes  began  to  be 
cultivated  there,  these  insects  gradually  ac- 
quired the  habit  of  feeding  on  that  plant,  in 
preference  to  the  original  wild  species.  This 
peculiar  characteristic  of  insects  is  also  mani- 
fested in  other  species,  conspicuous  among 
which  are  the  "  Curculio''  and  the  "  apple- 
tree  borer,"  and  many  others. 

As  the  potato  fields  of  the  West  sprung  up 
and  increased  in  numbers,  the  potato-beetle 
increased,  and  began  to  travel  eastward,  and 
in  1859  it  already  reached  a  point  one  hundred 
miles  west  of  Omaha,  in  Nebraska.  In  1861 
it  reached  Iowa  and  in  1864  or  1865  it  crossed 
the  Mississippi  and  invaded  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois. In  1867  it  passed  through  Illinois  and 
advanced  as  far  as  Indiana  and  the  south-west 
corner  of  Michigan.  In  1868  it  had  already 
made  its  appearance  in  Ohio.  Mr.  Riley  re- 
marks :  "  Thus  it  appears  that  its  average  an- 
nual progress  toward  the  east  has  been  up- 
ward of  seventy  miles.  At  the  same  rate  of 
progression  it  will  touch  the  Atlantic  ocean 
in  about  1878  ;  so  that,  in  any  event,  it  must 
have  reached  Pennsylvania  within  the  pres- 
ent decade  ;  but  in  some  manner  it  seems  to 
have  anticipated  its  ordinary  progress,  and  is 
now  in  the  third  county  from  the  eastern  bor- 
der of  the  State. 


THE  L A jY CASTER  FARMER. 


IJfO 


HA15ITS. 

The  "  Colorado  Potato-beetle"    belongs  to 
the  family  of  Chrisomelans,  and  among  the 
common  people  would  doubtless  be  called  a 
large  striped  "  Ladybird,"  or    "  Ladybug," 
and,  like  those  insects,  it  has  an  ample  pair  of 
wings,  folded  up  under  its  striped  wingcov- 
ers,  and,  therefore,  it  can  fly  if  it  will,  but 
does  not  readily  do  so,  and  hence  it  is  easily 
captured.    Its  color  is  rather  a  cream  yellow, 
and  it  has  five  black  lines  on  each  of  its  wing- 
covers.     The  thorax,  or  chest,    is    spotted 
blackish  on  top,  two  central  spots  being  ob- 
long and  diverging  in  front,  forming  a  discon- 
nected V.    The  average  length  of  the  insect 
is  half  an  inch,  and  its  greatest  width  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch,  rather  more  than  less.  As 
it  is   entirely  a  new  subject  to    Lancaster 
county,  I  can  only  speak  approximately  of  its 
periods.    In  the  West  the  mature  insects  is- 
sue from  the  ground  about  the  first   of  May, 
and  the  last  brood  enters  the  ground  to  pass 
its  winter  hybernation  some  time  in  October. 
Although  this  insect  is  generally  considered 
three-brooded,  yet  in  the  localities  where  it 
has  heretofore  existed  it  may  be  found  almost 
at  liny  time  in  its  different  stages  of  develop- 
ment.   This,  according  to  Mr.  Riley,  is  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  female  deposits  her  eggs 
in  patches  from  time  to  time,    covering    a 
period  of  about  forty  days ;  and  also  to  an- 
other fact,  among  insects  in  general,  that  from 
some  cause  or  other  some  eggs  will    hatch 
sooner,   and  some  larvce  will  develop   more 
rapidly  than  others,  often  making  a  difference 
of  eight  or  ten  days  between  them.    Each  fe- 
male is  capable  of  depositing  about  one  thous- 
and eggs  before  she  becomes  barren,  and  in 
from  thirty  to  forty  days  after  they  are  de- 
posited they  will  have  been   developed  into 
perfect    beetles.     These  beetles  are    again 
capable  of  depositing  eg^s  in  about  two  weeks 
after  tliey  issue  from  the  ground,  and  thus  it 
will  be  seen  that  they  possess  extraordinary 
powers  of  increase. 

When  the  larva  is  mature,  it  is  about  half 
an  inch  in  length,  of  an  orange  color,  has  a 
black  head,  black  feet,  two  rows  of  black 
spots  on  each  side  of  the  body,  and  the  first 
segment  transversely  margined  with  black. 
It  then  goes  into  the  ground  and  forms  a  harfl 
and  smooth  cavity,  in  which  it  is  transformed 
to  a  jau^a,  which  is  of  the  same  color  as  the 
larvdy  and  makes  an  approximation  to  the 


form  of  the  mature  insect.  In  about  ten  days 
XhQ  pupa  is  transformed,  and  the  beetle  comes 
forth  from  the  ground,  very  soft  and  of  a  pale 
color,  and  without  any  markings  of  the  mature 
insects. 

The  true  Colorado  potato-beetle  is  destruc- 
tively partial  to  the  domestic  potato  (SoZawwrn 
^MfeerosHTw),  because  this  seems  to  be  nearer  the 
species  of  plant  on  which  it  was  originally 
discovered,  but  occasionally  it  has  been  found 
feeding  on  the  tomato,  the  "ground  cherry" 
{Physalis),  the  "gympson  weed"  (Datura)  and 
on  the  "  horse  nettle"  [Solanum  carolinensis), 
the  latter  of  which  it  prefers  to  some  varieties 
of  the  potato.  It  is  also  said  to  be  as  destruc- 
tive to  the  egg  plant  as  it  is  to  the  potato, 
and  thus  it  seems  that  the  nearer  the  plant 
comes  to  the  domestic  potato  the  better  the 
insect  likes  it.  Mr.  Eiley  says  that  he  could 
never  succeed  in  making  them  feed  on  any 
plant  that  did  not  belong  to  the  potato  family, 
although  specimens  have  been  sent  to  him, 
said  to  have  been  feeding  on  the  raspberry  and 
other  plants  not  solanaceous.  It  is  also  on 
record  that  they  not  only  eat  the  tops  of  the 
potato,  but  that  they  greedily  attack  the 
tubers  after  they  are  dug  out  of  the  ground. 

REMEDIES. 

First,  there  are  natural  remedies,  that  are 
constantly  and  silently  operative,  but  these 
are  not  always  present,  or  not  in  proportion 
to  the  evil,  and  wherever  this  absence  or 
disproportion  exists,  there  the  Potato-beetle 
will  get  the  upper  hand.  Therefoie,  although 
these  natural  remecies  will  ultimately  assist 
the  potato  grower,  he  must  not  relax  his  in- 
dividual efforts  and  depend  on  them.  Among 
these  are  the  "  Lady  birds,"  which  destroy  the 
eggs  of  the  Potato-beetle.  When  these  little 
insects  once  become  locited  in  a  colony  of 
those  pests,  they  remain  there  all  the  time,, 
and  do  not  go  into  the  earth  to  undergo  their 
transform  itions.  Th'^y  not  only  feed  on  their 
eggs,  but  alsi-  on  the  "  plant  lice,"  and  other 
noxious  (depredators.  But  there  is  a  parasitic 
[Lydella  doryphara')  described  by  Mr.  Le 
Baron,  State  Entomologist  of  Illinois,  which 
is  said  to  have  been  more  efficient  in  check- 
ing the  increase  of  the  Colorado  Potato-beetle 
than  any  other  yet  known. 

The"Spiued  Soldier  bu^''^  {Arwa  spinosa) 
is  known  to  have  depredated  extensively  on 
the  larva  of  the  Potato-beetle  in  Illinois  and; 
Missouri,  although  it  also .  destroys  other  iu,. 


U6 


THE  LdJVCASTER  FARMER- 


sects.  This  busf  has  been  long  known  in  this 
county,  and  may  help  to  diminish  the  number 
of  Potato-beetles,  should  they  unfortunately 
be  spread  amonsrst  us.  We  have  also  in  this 
ouaty  the  "  Many-banded  Sjldier  bug" 
[Harpactor  cinctus) .  th.Q  Rapacious  "Soldier 
\)ni'[Redvmm  rajyt  jtorius),  and  others  which 
have  been  observed  to  attack  the  larva  of  the 
Colorado  Potato-beetle  in  some  of  the  "West- 
ern States.  Among  our  local  beet'e  (Coleop- 
te7-a)  there  are  also  several  species  which  have 
been  occasionally  noticed  destroying  the  larva 
aforesaid.  Namely,  the  "  Fiery-ground  bee- 
tie"  [Colosoma  caUdum),a.  large  black  insect 
■with  Drassy  or  coppery  spots  on  its  wing-co* 
vers,  and  the  larva  of  which  preys^upon  cut- 
worms and  caterpillars,  and  hence  is  called 
the  "  cut-worm  lion  ;"  the  "  Elongate  ground 
beetle''^  (Fasimachus  elongatus)  a  black  pol- 
ished insect  with  a  broad  head,  and  thorax, 
and  a  deep  blue  line  around  the  edges ;  the 
"  Murky  ground  beetle"  {Pangus  caHginasas) 
of  a  dull  black  color,  and  longitudnial  grooved 
lines  on  the  wing  covers  ;  and,  "•  strange  to 
say,"  as  Mr.  Riley  remarks,  two  at  least  of 
our  "blister  beeJes,"  which  are  known  to 
depredate  on  the  potato  vines,  here  and  else- 
where, are  known  to  have  destroyed  the  larva 
of  the  potato  pest,  namely,  the  "  striped 
'blister  beetle"  [Lytta  lineata)  and  the  "  ac*h- 
gray  blister  beetle,"  (L^^te  cinerea.)  Although 
these,  and  many  other  insects  which  1  cannot 
even  name  in  this  paper,  are  destructive  to 
the  potato-beetle  •,  yet,  neither  ducks,  geese, 
turkeys,  nor  chickens  will  touch  these  insects 
when  offered  to  them,  and,  therefore,  the  ap- 
prehensions of  the  people  in  reference  to 
.poisoned  fowl's  flesh,  from  this  cause,  are 
groundless. 

ARTIFICIAL  EEMEDIES. 

Of  course,  after  hand-picking,  or  where  it  is 
ineffectual  or  impracticable,  resort  should  be 
had  to  other  means.  In  hand-picking  a  pair 
of  V,  ooden  or  iron  pinoers,  made  for  that  pur- 
pose, may  be  Ubed,  and  every  individual,  as 
fast  as  they  appear  above,  ground,  should  be 
crushed.  I  used  such  an  instrument  effectu- 
ally in  crushing  the  "squash  bug"  [Cereus 
tristis)  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  After 
all  that  has  been  tried  and  written  about  in  re- 
gard to  artificial  remedies,  nothing  has  been 
develOf^ed  for  the  purpose  bttter  than  Paris 
(/ree«— that  is,  pure  Paris  green,  mixed  with 
ilour  or  pulverized  plaster   of  Paris.     When 


this  poison  is  of  a  good  quality,  it  will  bear  a 
dilution  of  25  parts  of  flour  to  1  part  of  the 
green.  This  powder  put  into  a  tin-box,  with 
a  perforated  lid,  like  a  large  pepper-box,  and 
with  a  handle  of  aboiit  four  feet  in  length,  if 
held  inverted  over  the  plants,  and  then  a  smart 
blow  is  struck  on  the  handle  with  a  small  bil- 
let of  wood,  enough  of  the  contents  will  be 
precipitated  to  kill  the  bugs.  In  this  way  the 
operator  should  follow  tho  rows  and  give  them 
a  thorough  peppering  wherever  the  beetles 
may  be  found.  Whether  this  poison  affects 
the  soil  or  the  quality  of  the  potatoes  has  not 
been  satisfactorily  demonstrated,  but  certain 
it  is,  that  a  notion  to  that  eff'tct  exists,  strong 
erough  to  make  a  dijtinction  in  the  market 
price  between  potatoes  raised  with  or  with- 
out the  aid  of  green.  It  may  be  necessary  to 
say  that  Paris  green  is  a  deadly  pois  -n,  ii  in- 
haled in  large  and  undiluted  quantities,  and 
therefore  in  applyirg  it  the  operator  shuuld 
keep  to  the  windward.  Diluted  it  is  not  in- 
jurious or  at  least  not  dangerous  in  homoeo- 
pathic doses 

There  have  also  been  several  machines  in- 
vented for  striking  the  beetles  off  the  vines 
and  gathering  them  in  a  receptacle  at  the 
bottom  ;  but  in  the  present  aspect  of  the  case, 
in  this  county,  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to 
give  a  description  of  these  now.  The  best  ex- 
perienct-s  in  the  premises  at  this  time  recom- 
mends early,  constant  and  vigilant  hand-pick- 
ing, a,s  the  simplest,  the  most  harmless,  aid 
the  most  thorough  remedy. 

In  conclusion  upon  this  subject  for  the  pres- 
ent, I  would  respectfully  remark,  that  al- 
though I  do  not  wish  to  create  unnecessary 
alarm,  yet  I  utter  no  uncertain  sound  :  The 
Colorado  Potato-beetle  is  now  located  within  the 
limits  of  Lancaster  county,  and  the  people 
should  know  it.  If  "  to  be  forewarned  is  to 
be  forearmed"  in  any  case  it  may  be  so  in 
this  ;  therefore,  every  newspaper  in  the  county 
should  publish  as  much  of  this  article  as  may 
be  useful  to  its  agricultural  readers,  if  it  can- 
not publish  the  whole  of  it,  without  regard  to 
the  paper  in  which  it  Jirst  appears.  The 
writer  would  cneerfully  have  furnished  dupli- 
cate copies  of  the  manuscript,  but  he  has  not 
the  time  to  prepare  them.  S.  S.  R. 

Lancaster,  July  4, 1875. 


Subscribe  for  the  Farmer,  the  best  Agri- 
cultural Journal  in  the  State. 


THE  LAJf CASTER  FABMER- 


w^ 


BEE   CULTURE. 


THE  BEE  AND  BEE-KEEPING. 


M 


ESSRS.  EDITORS  :  Why  so  few  bees 
are  kept  ia  Lancaster  county,  and 
these  few  receive  so  little  attention — or  so 
much  inattention — is  a  mystery  to  me.  They 
give  a  greater  return  for  the  amount  of  mon- 
ey expended  and  the  cave  bestowed  on  them 
than  any  other  live  slock  that  farmers  can 
keep.  They  help  themselves  ;  that  is,  they 
furnish  their  own  provisions,  and  besides  give 
us  of  their  surplus  for  our  consumption.  All 
they  ask  of  us  i<  a  proper  home,  and  a  little 
attention  and  ])io  ection. 

I  intend  to  wiite  a  series  of  short  articles 
on  the  bee  and  bee-keeping,  for  the  Farmer, 
which  I  hope  may  prove  interesting  to  a  por- 
tion of  its  readers.  I  do  not  claim  that  all 
or  many  of  the  facts  which  I  shall  give  have 
been  discovered  by  myself,  or  that  the  ideas 
advanced  are  original  with  me,  but  on  the 
contrary,  much  of  my  information  in  the  first 
place  was  received  by  reading  books  and  peri- 
odicals on  bee-keeping,  and  by  profiting  there- 
by. Although  many  of  the  facts  and  ideas 
are  not  original  with  me,  they  have  been 
verified  by  my  own  observations.  The  first 
few  of  these  articles  will  be  for  beginners  and 
for  those  who  have  paid  little  or  no  attention 
to  this  subject.  Those  who  have  given  this 
subject  more  study  will,  therefore,  bear  with 
me,  if  I  do  not  leave  first  principles  as  soon 
as  they  may  desire.  So  much  by  way  of  ex- 
planation and  introduction. 

THE  QUEEN. 

Every  prosperous  colony,  or  stock,  con- 
tains one  queen,  several  thousand  workers. 
Some  say  a  good-sized  swarm  coi.tains  forty- 
thousand  workers,  and  during  a  few  months 
in  the  spring  and  summer,  a  few  hundred 
drones. 

Not  many  years  ago  a  celebx-ated  legislator 
declared  that  "  the  queen  bee  is  a  myth,"  and 
not  long  since  an  old  gentleman  who  has 
kept  bees  for  forty  years  or  more  contended 
in  my  presence  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
a  "queen-bee,"  giving  as  proof  that  in  all  his 
experience  he  had  seen  but  two  kinds  :  work- 
ers and  drones.  When  such  ignorance  exists 
among  those  who  keep  bees,  can  the  best  re- 
sult be  expected?    Bee-keepers  should  under- 


stand the  natural  history  of  the  bee  ;  its  hab 
its  and  nature,  to  be  successful. 

The  queen  is  a  female,  and  hence  the  name 
king,  which  we  still  hear  applied  sometimes, 
is  a  misnomer.  She  res  rabies  in  irhape  the 
wor  er,  more  than  the  drone,  but  is  longer 
than  either.  She  p'^sses^ses  a  sting  but  seldom 
uses  it.  except  in  a  battle  with  a  rival  queen. 
She  lays  all  the  eggs,  and  as  .ihe  does  not  gov- 
ern fhe  colony  and  regulate  all  its  affairs  as  a 
queen  proper,  the  name  wotTier  would  be  more 
appropriate  than  queea.  She  is  reared  in  a 
cell  entirely  different  from  worker  and  from 
drone  cells,  and  is  fed  on  peculiar  food,  some- 
times called  royal  pap.  Queen  cells  are  gen- 
erally built  at  the  edge  of  the  combs,  and  in- 
stead of  being  horiz  mtal,  are  vertical,  hanging 
downward,  the  young  queen  standing  on  her 
head,  while  in  the  cell.  While  the  queen 
cell  is  quite  short  the  egg  is  deposited  there- 
in, and  the  same  cell  is  never  used  more  ihau 
once.  After  the  egg  has  been  in  the  cell 
about  three  days  a  small  white  worm  may  be 
seen  at  the  bottom,  or  rather  at  the  top,  of 
the  cell ;  it  is  then  called  a  grub  or  larva,  and 
remains  in  this  state  about  five  or  six  days, 
after  which  it  is  sealed  up,  when  it  is  said  to 
be  in  the  pupa  state,  in  wh  ch  it  remains  about 
seven  or  eight  days,  thus  taking  about  sixteen 
days  from  the  egg  to  the  mature  queen.  I 
should  have  said  that  as  soon  as  she  is  a  larva, 
the  bees  begin  to  leuijthen  the  ce  I.  Ic  is  ar- 
gued by  many  that  the  que«n  never  deposits 
an  egg  in  a  queen  cell,  but  that  the  eggs  are 
transferred  from  the  worker  cells  to  the 
queen  cells,  by  the  workers,  when  wanted 
there ;  that  her  antipathy  toward  another 
queen,  althouirh  an  immature  one  and  her 
own  offripring,  is  suflii;ieut  to  prevent  her  de- 
positing eggs  in  these  cells.  1  do  not  believe 
that  the  bees  ever  remove  an  egg  from  a 
worker  cell  to  a  queen  cell,  and  I  have  evi- 
dence to  that  effect.  In  making  artilicial 
swarms,  as  soon  as  queen  cells  were  started 
and  eggs  deposited  in  some,  we  examine  very 
closely  all  queen  cells  that  were  started,  and 
we  have  found  invariably  that  those  queen 
cells  that  contained  no  eggs  or  larvte,  when 
the  old  queen  was  removed,  would  remain 
empty,  while  worker  cells  containing  eggs 
were  changed  into  queen  cells.  Queens  and 
workers  are  reared  from  similar  eggs,  while 
drone  eggs  are  difi'erent.  But  more  of  this  in 
a  subsequent  article.    Worker  cells  can  also 


U8 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


be  changed  into  queen  cells,  eapecially  when 
short  or  near  the  edge,  by  turning  them  down- 
ward and  prolonging  them. 

HINTS  FOR  AUGUST. 

I  shall  aUso,  each  moQth,  give  appropriate 
suggestions  for  the  management  of  bees  dur- 
inij  that  month. 

During  August  weak  colonies  are  \a  danger 
of  suffering  from  the  moth.  As  a  protection 
make  a  mixture  of  molasses,  waer  and  a  little 
vinegar,  and  set  in  saucers  or  shallow  dishes 
near  the  hives  at  ni^ht.  The  moths  are  pas- 
sionately f)nd  of  this  liquid,  and  will  be 
caught  in  it.  Destroy  every  morning  those 
that  are  alive,  and  set  the  liquid  again  in  the 
evening.  Cohtuies  that  were  allowed  to  over- 
swarm,  and  late  swarms  might  be  entirely  de- 
stroyed if  not  protected  by  destroying  the 
moths. 

In  sections  in  which  no  buckwheat  is  raised 
the  supply  of  honey  has'c^ased — unless  there 
be  honey  dew ;  and  weak  stocks  must  also  be 
protected  against  robbers  by  contracting  the 
entrance,  aud  all  surplus  honey  boxes  should 
be  removed,  for  if  any  unsealed  honey  remain 
it  will  be  carried  below.  In  buckwheat  sec- 
tions, strong  colonies  will  store  considerable 
surplus  honey,  and  sometimes  cast  swarms. 
When  the  largest  increase  in  stocks  is  desired 
they  may  be  hived,  if  early  in  the  buckwheat 
season,  and  thsy  may  store  honey  enough  to 
winter.  When  an  increase  in  colonies  is  not 
particularly  desired,  or  if  near  the  close  of 
the  buckwheat  season,  they  had  better  be  re- 
turned to  the  parent  stock. 

All  box  honey  that  is  intended  for  keeping 
through  the  season  mast  be  watched,  tf  a 
streak  ar  white  powder-like  substance  appear 
on  the  surface  of  the  combs,  it  is  a  sign  that 
a  swarm  is  there  ;  although  yet  so  smaU  as  to 
be  hardly  perceptible.  Put  the  honey  box  in 
a  close  box  or  barrel,  and  smoke  with  brim- 
stone, but  not  so  strong  as  to  discolor  the 
combs. 

The  early  part  of  the  present  season  was 
cool,  which  prevented  the  bees  from  storing 
early  in  the  surplus  boxes,  and  consequently 
they  stored  too  much  honey  in  the  hives,  oc- 
cupying the  place  that  should  have  been  re- 
served for  breeding.  In  consequence  stocks 
that  cast  swarms  will  not  have  bees  enough, 
but  a  superabundance  of  honey.  If  you  have 
any  such,  and  also  swarms  that  have  propor- 
tionately more  bees  than  honey,  and  if  you 


use  the  movable  comb-hives,  exchange  a  comb 
or  two  fu'l  of  honey  for  comparatively  empty 
ones. 


AGRICULTURAL. 

SUPPLY  OF  NITaO&EN". 

IN  speakiiig  of  the  necessity  of  a  combina- 
tion of  elements  in  the  preparation  of  a 
perfect  special  fertilizer  for  grass,  in  an  article 
on  Grass  Lands  in  the  last  issue  of  the  Plough- 
man, we  did  not  allude  to  the  sources  of  supply 
of  this  all  important  constituent.  Every  farmer 
is  of  course  interested  in  knowing  where  it 
comes  from.  Nitrie  acid  is  indeed  the  most 
important  of  all  the  compouaas  of  nitrogen 
and  oxygen  and  the  source  from  which  most 
nitrogen  compounds  are  obtained.  It  occurs 
in  nature  most  coraTionly  in  combination  with 
patash  or  soda  or  lime  in  the  soil,  especially 
in  tropical  countries,  and  in  some  parts  of  In- 
dia and  Per  i.  When  combined  with  potash 
it  is  known  as  nitre  or  the  saltpeter  of  com- 
merce. 

There  is,  in  Chili  and  Peru,  a  desert  called 
Atacama,  where  it  is  found  in  vast  quantities 
n  combination  with  soda,  and  is  the  nitrate 
of  soda,  often  called  "  Chilian  saltpeter,"  or 
cubic  nitre.  We  believe  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  the  nitrate  of  soda  now  so  largely  used 
in  the  preparation  of  artificial  fertilizers  comes 
from  there.  Nitrate  of  potash  is  common 
saltpeter.  Nitrate  of  [soda  is  the  "Chilian 
saltpeter"  of  commerce.  In  this  crude  from 
as  it  comes  from  the  desert  it  is  never  pure 
nitric  acid,  and  is  of  a  sort  of  golden  yellow 
color,  though  pure  nitric  acid  is  quite  colorless. 
It  is  one  of  the  strongest  acids,  intensely  sour 
to  the  taste,  ranking  next  in  strength  to  sul- 
phuric aciJ.  It  attacks  most  inorganic  sub- 
stances and  all  living  or  organic  tissues,  turning 
skins,  feathers,  and  other  .  substances  which 
contain  albumen,  to  a  bright  yellow.  The 
orange  colors  in  our  common  table  cloths  are 
produced  by  its  use.  In  its  pure  aud  concen- 
trated state  it  is  so  powerful  that  if  the  fibers 
of  cotton  are  soaked  in  it  only  a  few  mo- 
ments and  then  washed  in  water,  they  are 
changed  into  an  explosive  substance  like  the 
well  known  gun  cotton. 

The  source  of  obtaining  the  phosphoric 
acid,  to  which  we  alluded  in  the  same  article 
as   essential  to  a  special  grass  fertilizer,   is 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


U9 


bone  dust  or  superphosphate.  This  mater- 
ial in  a  crude  form  is  found  in  inexhausti- 
ble quantities  in  the  phosphate  beds  of 
Charleston,  S.  C,  or  it  may  be  from  bones  in 
any  form,  after  preparation  with  sulphuric 
acid.  The  South  Carolina  phosphate  beds  are 
regarded  as  of  immense  importance  to  agri- 
culture. 

Potash  is  found  abundant  enough'  in  wood 
ashes,  but  these  are  so  scarce,  and  expensive 
that  the  discovery  of  the  potash  salt  beds  at 
Strassfurth,  in  Germany,  is  regarded  as  of 
the  highest  value  to  the  agriculture,  not  of 
Germany  only,  but  of  the  civilized  world. 
These  salts  are  now  extensively  imported. — 
Massaclmsetts  Ploughman, 


SOWING  FLOWER  SEED. 

THE  time  is  now  approaching  for  sowing 
the  seed  of  annuals  or  other  plants, 
and  it  is  important  that  the  work  be  properly 
done.  We  once  employed  a  novice  to  sow 
srme  seed,  in  the  absence  of  a  better  'gar- 
dener, and  he  resolved  to  do  his  work  well. 
He  accordingly  buried  the  seed  so  deep  that 
few  ever  came  up,  and  the  seedsman  was  de- 
nounced for  selling  what  was  bad.  A  portion 
was  left  for  a  time,  and  then  sowed  in  a  hurry, 
the  man  having  time  only  to  give  a  thin  dash 
of  earth  over  them.  These  came  up  pro- 
fusely, and  the  reputation  of  the  seedsman 
was  rescued.  The  rule  which  we  have  adopt- 
ed for  beds  in  open  ground  is  to  cover  all  seed 
from  three  to  five  times  their  shorter  diame- 
ter—small seed  receiving  only  a  slight  sprink- 
ling, and  larger  a  more  copious  sifting  of  the 
fine  mould.  No  seed  should  be  sown  when 
the  soil  is  not  dry  enough  to  reduced  to  fine 
powder.  The  best  soil  is  sandy  loam,  but  a 
larger  proportion  of  clay  makes  a  good  ma- 
terial if  dry  enough  to  be  made  perfectly  mel- 
low. The  addition  of  sand  and  leaf  mould 
will  make  any  soil  of  proper  consiteucy. 
The  best  way  to  sow  seeds  is,  in  the  first 
place  in  drills  or  circles  ;  then  the  weeds  may 
be  easily  taken  out.  If  sown  broadcast,  it 
will  be  more  ditllcult  to  keep  the  bed  clean. 
Provide  a  quantity  of  finely  pulverized  mould 
in  a  basket  or  barrow,  and  cover  them  by 
sprinkling  it  evenly  over  with  the  hand.  Avoid 
soaking  the  beds  with  water  until  the  plants 
are  up.  If  the  surface  is  likely  to  become  too 
dry  after  sowing,  which  is  often  the  case,  put 


on  a  thin  gauzy  mulching.  This  may  be  pul- 
verized moss,  thin  canvas,  or  even  a  news- 
paper. Every  person  who  plants  a  flower 
garden  should  know  the  hardy  plants,  which 
usually  come  up  soon,  and  may  be  sown  early, 
from  the  tender,  which  are  often  more  tardy. 
Most  seed  catalogues  designate  these  sep- 
arately. 


CLOVER  — HOW    IT    ENRICHES    THE 
LAND. 

WE  are  afraid  of  clover.  We  are  afraid 
to  raise  it  largely  ;  afraid  to  feed  it  ex- 
-ensively,  especially  as  a  main  feed ;  and  afraid 
to  plow  it  in. 

This  is  wrong,  very  wrong ;  we  are  con- 
stantly losing  by  not  growing  more  clover; 
losing  in  many  respects.  Clover,  if  we  could 
only  impress  the  fact  on  the  general  farmer, 
is  a  plant  that  draws  from  the  atmosphere  and 
enriches  the  land.  Other  plants  do  this,  but 
clover  more ;  it  has  to  do  with  the  most  vital 
and  important  element  in  manure,  nitrogen, 
the  very  thing  that  is  the  rarest  and  most  dif- 
ficult to  obtain.  It  improves  the  soil  by  its 
roots  alone,  if  the  crop  is  used  for  other  pur- 
poses ;  this  even  if  a  seed  crop  is  taken.  IIow 
much  more  benefit,  then,  if  a  whole  crop  is 
turned  down  containing  so  much  nirogen? 
And  you  have  the  manure  without  working 
for  it.  The  plant  works  for  itself  and  for  you. 
We  get  its  strength  from  a  free  source,  the 
atmosphere,  the  great  storehouse  that  gathers 
from  all  sources,  but  most  from  the  energetic 
farmer. 

And  you  can  make  this  plant  work  for  you 
on  a  poor  soil.  A  little  manure  applied  on 
the  surface  will  do  this  ;  and  if  plenty  of  seed 
is  sown  there  will  be  a  thick  set.  Then  it 
needs  but  a  chance  with  the  atmosphere,  aad 
plaster  will  aid  this  greatly.  With  warm 
showers  there  will  be  a  growth  almost  surpris- 
ing. It  will  be  dense,  fine  stemmed  and  of  a 
fair  length,  depending  somewhat  on  the  sea- 
son. Cut  this  when  it  begins  to  lodge,  which 
will  be  about  the  time  when  blossoms  appear, 
and  then  will  be  avoided  all  rot  or  niildew 
consequent  on  long,  coarse  lodging,  and  the 
yield  will  surprise  you— two  aid  a  half  or 
three  tons,  and  such  hay  is  not  made  from  any 
other  plant.  And  the  second  crop  will  be 
nearly  or  perhaps  quite  as  good  as  the  first. 
— Live  Stock  Journal. 


150 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


HUNGARIAiq'  GRASS. 

I  IT  answer  to  inquiries  how  to  manage  Hun- 
garian-grass hay,  we  insert  the  following 
from  a  former  number  of  our  paper  : 

"The  trouble  about  Hungarian  grass  is, 
that  it  is  not  generally  cut  at  the  proper  time. 
I  have  raised  it  for  twenty  years  and  consider 
it  the  very  best  hay  for  horses.  They  will 
keep  fal  on  it  where  on  timothy  they  will 
grow  poor.  I  sow  one  one-half  bushel  per 
acre.  It  then  makes  fiue  hay,  aud  on  good 
land  should  yield  from  two  to  three  tons  per 
acre.  Cut  it  when  in  the  blow,  before  any 
seed  is  formed ;  wilt  in  the  swath  the  same  as 
clover  and  make  in  the  cock.  The  stalk  is 
nearly  solid  and  the  hay  very  heavy,  and  if 
mada  in  this  way  will  be  as  green  as  gr.iss, 
and  a  horse  will  want  little  grain  for  ordinary 
farm  work.  I  only  feed  grain  in  the  spring 
when  doing  heavy  plowing.  Give  your  horses 
all  they  will  eat  of  it  and  they  will  fatten, 
with  decent  usage.  But  if  allowed  to  turn 
yellow  and  form  seed,  it  is  the  same  as  any 
other  grain,  and  will  of  course  injure  a  horse 
the  same  as  if  he  were  fed  wheat  in  a  bundle, 
to  excess.  Any  over-fed  grain  is  bad.  It  is 
better  to  rake  it  by  hand,  but  ou  good  soil 
you  will  tumble  up  a  big  cock  in  a  small 
space." — Prairie  Farmer. 


ROOM  OR  PARLOR  PLANTS. 

EASTERN  windows  are  preferable  to 
southern  oues  ;  the  sun  is  now  too  pow- 
erful, and  the  morniog  sun  being  more  conge- 
nial than  that  of  the  after  part  of  the  day, 
even  west  or  north  windows  are  now  better 
than  those  opening  toward  the  south.  Plants 
that  become  dusty  should  occasionally  be  put 
out  during  light  showers,  taking  care  not  to 
drench  them.  Roses  and  geraniums  should 
be  kept  very  near  the  light,  or  they  will  lose 
color  and  become  pale.  Plants  that  have  been 
in  the  cellar  during  the  winter,  ought  to  be  ex- 
posed by  the  end  of  the  month,  unless  the  sea- 
sou  should  be  unusually  late.  Re-pot  or  plant 
out  such  as  require  root  room.  Xeep  hydran- 
geas in  shady  situations.  Cleanse  wood  and 
foliage  as  early  as  practicable.  A  little  pul- 
verized wood  charcoal  on  the  surfrce  of  the 
of  the  earth  iu  the  pots  containing  parlor 
plants  is  always  advisable,  and  by  changing  it 
two  or  three  time  during  the  season,  it  will  be 


found  to  obviate  bad  odors,  and  to  increase 
the  thriftiness  of  the  plant. 

When  potted  plants  are  placed  in  the  ground 
some  earth  should  be  drawn  up  about  the 
stems  so  as  to  form  a  cone  to  lead  off  the  ex- 
cess of  moisture.  Very  few  "plants  that  have 
been^housed  during  the  winter  will  stand  the 
full  sun  in  early  spring  and  summer ;  theraxbre, 
the  warmest  exposures  should  not  be  selected 
for  them. 


THE  USE  OF  CONCENTRATED    PER- 
TILIZERS. 

THE  cause  of  failure  in  the  use  of  the 
concentrated  fertilizers  is  often  due  to 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  applied.  It  is 
difficult  for  those  who  have  been  accustomed 
to  use  bulky  manures  to  realize  that  the  full 
fertilizing  potency  of  a  bushel  of  animal  ex- 
crement may  be  held  in  a  large-sized  table- 
spoon, and  that  a  handful  of  one  adds  to  plant 
structures  as  decidedly  as  several  shovelfuls 
of  the  other.  A  full  dose  of  opium  as  given 
to  patients,  furnishes  quite  a  dark,  bulky  pow- 
der or  pill:  but  if  we  sepaiate  the  alkaloidal 
principle  upon  which  its  hypnotic  power  de- 
pends, we  have  only  a  delicate  white  powder 
which  a  breath  of  wind  will  blow  away. 

The  one-cighth-grain-powder  will  effect  the 
human  organism  as  powerfully  as  ten  times  the 
weight  of  opium.  If  we  were  so  forgetful  of 
potencies  as  to  administer  as  much,  or  even 
one  quarter  as  much  of  the  white  concentrated 
powder  as  of  the  bulky  dark  one,  we  should 
destroy  our  pa'ient's  life,  or  at  least  do  great 
injury  to  his  health.  So  it  is  ia  the  use  of 
genuine  superphosphate  or  guano,  or  ground 
bone  and  ashes  ;  we  forget  their  power,  and 
apply  them  too  directly — we  endanger  the  life 
of  our  plants. 

An  experiment  made  upon  corn  affords  an 
illustrative  case  in  point.  At  the  time  of 
planting,  upon  a  field  divided  by  a  narrow 
strip  of  sward  land,  we  directed  that  on  one 
side  a  tablespoonful  of  the  mixed  bone  and 
ashes  should  be  placed' in  each  hill,  and  well 
covered  with  soil ;  upon  the  other,  four  rows 
were  to  be  treated  similarly,  and  upon  the  re- 
mainder the  hills  should  receive  a  double 
quantity.  It  is  curious  to  observe  the  effect. 
The  first  field  and  four  rows  are  remarkably 
thrifty.  The  corn  came  up  well,  and  has 
manifested  remarkable  vigor  from  the   start. 


TEE  LAJV'CASTER  FARMER. 


151 


On  the  other  hand,  the  overdosed  corn  ap- 
peared for  a  long  while  as  if  it  had  been  par- 
alyzed by  some  wasting  disease.  It  could  not 
bear  up  under  so  much  of  the  good  thii  g. 
More  free  ammonia  was  formed  at  the  start 
than  could  be  appropriated  by  the  tender 
plants,  and  many  of  them  perished  from  over- 
Btimulatiou  and  heat  produced  by  the  fermen- 
tative  changes  of  the  active  bodies  in  contact. 
The  corn  that  survived  is  at  present  growing 
finely,  and  will,  no  doubt,  afford  a  large  yield. 
Kow,  if  this  had  happened  in  the  course  of 
our  regular  agricultural  labors,  and  without 
any  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the  fertili- 
zing substance  used,  it  is  probable  it  would 
have  been  condemned  as  a  worthless  or  dan- 
gerous article.  This  has  been  the  case  with 
hundreds  of  experiments,  and  is  indeed  a  per- 
fectly natural  conclusion  to  reach.  But  we 
must  learn  to  reason,  learn  to  have  patience, 
learn  the  character  of  the  substances  we  em- 
ploy upon  our  lands.  We  must  be  careful  how 
to  reach  conclusions  ;  we  must  examine  close- 
ly to  see  if  they  are  based  upon  principles  in 
agriculture  ;  let  us  cling  to  them,  and  when 
we  get  results  that  are  puzzling  or  paradoxi- 
cal, we  must  study  causes,  and  not  judge 
hastily. —  Journal  of  Chemistry. 


Fai^meks'  Gardens.— We  find  the  follow- 
ing couplet  of  excellent  suggestions  about 
farmers'  gardens  in  the  Tribune  of  South 
Bend,  Indiana : 

As  a  general  thing,  we  see  the  same 
form  of  beds  and  ridges  as  were  common  fifty 
years  ago,  some  at  least  one  foot  high,  and 
that  too  on  our  porous  sandy  soil.  Kow,  if 
either  should  be  higher,  we  would  elevate 
the  walks,  and  thereby  we  have  the  benefit 
of  the  showers,  thus  utilizing  the  resources 
for  growth,  and  avoiding  the  collection  of  wa- 
ter in  the  walks  and  alleys  ;  besides  this,  it 
requires  much  hard  labor  to  make  those  high 
riiiges  and  beds,  and  when  made,  they  do 
with  their  inclined  surface,  throw  off  much  of 
the  water  that  is  of  vast  account,  especially  in 
a  season  of  light  showers  or  drouth. 

Have  the  garden  so  arranged  that  it  can  be 
cultivated  by  horse  power.  Select  a  suitable 
piece  of  ground  where  you  can  have  gtod 
turning  room  at  each  end  ;  then  lay  ofl"  your 
rows  clean  through.  I  find  it  pays  to  lay  off 
the  rows  with  a  line,  so  as  to  have  them  per- 
fectly straight  and  of  uuif  >rm  width.    In  these 


rows,  plant  your  vegetables — early  potatoes, 
peas,  beans,  tomatoes,  sweet  corn,  cabbage, 
e;c.  Now  if  you  will  run  through  these  rows 
at  least  once  a  week  with  the  horse  and  culti- 
vator the  hoeing  will  be  a  comparatively  light 
job,  and  can  be  done  by  children.  Beside,  the 
frequent  and  thorough  stirring  of  the  soil  will 
give  your  "  truck"  a  much  more  vigorous 
and  thrifty  growth  than  the  cultivation  it 
usually  gets  in  the  garden.  This  is  the  meth- 
od'pursued  by  nurserymen,  and  market  gard- 
eners, and  I  am  sure  its  practical  adoption  by 
farmers  would  be  a  great  improvement  on 
the  little  square  "  garden  full  of  weeds"  now 
so  common. 


Seed  Corn. — A  Maryland  correspondent 
sends  us  a  couple  of  ears  of  corn,  which  he  calls 
Kent  corn, and  of  which  he  says:  "It  was  intro- 
duced into  our  county  pf  Kent  some  years  since , 
from  Nova  Scotia,  and  is  now  thoroughly  ac- 
climated. After  experimenting  with  and 
testing  all  the  prominent  seed  corn  to  be 
found  here,  I  am  convinced  that  this  is  the 
best  and  most  productive,  and  hence  take 
pleasure  in  recommending  it  for  its  early  ma- 
turity'and'its  large  yield  from  the  weight  on 
the  cob.  In  your  market,  70  lbs.,  of  corn  on 
the  cob  is  sold  as  a  bushel  of  56  lbs.  Owing 
to  the  small  cob  of  this  corn,  the  yield  is 
from  58  to  61  lbs.,  as  I  have  often  demon- 
strated by  weighing  on  a  fine  balance.  I  send 
you  two  ears  to  look  at — one  shelled,  which 
weighed  134  oz.  before  shelling,  giving  11^ 
oz.  corn,  or  above  52  lbs.  to  the  70  ;  hence 
about  70  such  ears  will  produce  56  lbs,  of 
shelled  corn.  In  conclusion,  will  say  that 
this  corn  can  be  purchased  in  our  market 
(Baltimore)  at  the  present  time  for  about  65 
cents  a  bushel — not  a  pint.'''' — Country  Gentle- 
man, 


Mildew  on  plants  may  be  removed  by 
syringing  them  with  a  strong  decoction  of 
green  leaves  of  the  elder,  or  solution  of  nitre, 
made  in  the  proportion  of  one  ounce  nitre  to 
one  gallon  water.  A  mixture  of  soap  suds 
and  water  will  also  answer. 


One  cord  of  wood  cut  and  split  fine,  and 
corded  up  beneath  a  shelter  while  it  is  yet 
green,  will  furnish  more  heatjafter  it  has  be- 
come seasoned  than  two  cords  of  the  f^ame 
kind  of  wood  which  have  been  continually  ex- 
posed to  the  alternate  influences  of  storms 
and  sunshine. 


152 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


HORTICULTURE. 


A  FEW  FACTS. 

A  FARMER  who  expects  to  raise  nice-fla- 
vored apples  and  of  laro;e  size,  and  yet 
takes  no  care  of  his  apple  orchard,  will  find 
himself  greatly  mistaken.  It  is  one  of  nature's 
eternal  laws  that  nothing  can  grow  where  the 
natural  food  is  wanting.  The  trees  of  our 
woods  have  their  leaves,  the  decayed  branches 
andshrubs  besides  the  natural  benefits  of  rams 
and  atmospheric  influences-  Siill  when  oak 
woods  have  had  their  time,  oak  will  grow  no 
more  in  the  same  soil,  at  least  thriftily,  and 
withou  t  changing  its  constitution.  It  is  a  well 
known  fact  that  virgin  soils  produce  sponta- 
neously, first  the  noblest  among  the  forest 
trees,  afterward  an  inferior  grade,  till  noth- 
ing but  cedars  or  resinous  plants  will  cover 
the  once  rich  but  now  worn-out  soil. 

The  inquiry  often  arises,  why  do  the  apple 
trees  fail  of  bearing,  or  why  yield  such  a  scanty 
crop  ?  Why  is  the  fruit  of  such  poor  quality  ? 
Why  so  wormy  ?  and  why  will  it  not  sell  in 
the  market  like  other  fruit  ?  The  reply  is  easy. 
The  soil^  are  worn  out  by  fifty  or  more  crop^ 
of  applfcs,  and  also  by  grass  crops  innumer- 
able, by  which  the  phosphates,  carbonates 
and  the  once  abounding  potashes  of  the  old 
forests  have  been  carried  to  market,  without 
any  restitution  to  the  generous  soil.  So  much 
for  the  growth  of  the  trees  and  their  bearing. 
Now,  when  it  happens  that  by  a  long  interval 
of  rest  the  trees  have  regained  their  strength, 
by  some  of  the  natural  influences  of  the  air, 
rain  and  snow,  nitrogen  and  ammonia,  they 
soon  blossom  and  yield  another  crop  of  fruit. 
But  the  soil  has  been  so  long  in  grass,  and  Sq 
long  neglected,  that  worms,  bugs  and  a  legion 
of  insects  have  found  in  that  undisturbed  soil 
a  permanent  home  for  themselves  and  their 
generations,  and  no  sooner  is  a  fruit  tree  set 
than  they  are  at  work  by  hundreds  to  sting 
and  deform  it. 

A  fruit  orchard  requires  higher  cultivation 
than  any  other  crop,  because  its  cultivation  is 
in  two  stories,  a  crop  below  and  one  above. 
All  that  seems  so  very  plain  that  I  am  very 
often  amazed  when  I  see  able  and  intelligent 
farmers,  who  would  laugh  at  the  idea  of  get- 
ting a  crop  of  wheat  in  an  old  and  worn  out 
field  without  any  manure  or  extra  labor.    To 


the  farmers  we  say  look  at  your  apple  orchards 
and  see  if  they. are  an  exceptioa  to  this  rule  ; 
and  can  they  expect  them  to  bear  every  year, 
no  matter  how  poor  the  soil  is,  because  they 
did  so  fifty  years  ago?  The  country  is  now 
so  cleared  of  foi-ists  that  the  winds  sweep 
away  all  the  leave"  from  under  the  apple  trees 
and  this  deficitncy  should  be  made  up  by  an 
application  of  ashes  or  manure  of  such  a  kind 
as  the  soil  is  deficient  in. 

J.  L.  Hersey. 
Tuftonburough^  N.  H. 


THE  GRAPEVINE    IN  SUMMER. 

PERHAPS  the  most  serious  difficulty  the 
vine  grower — whether  he  has  a  single  vine 
or  a  thousand,  has  to  contend  with  i-  mildew. 
The  trouble  with  this  is  that  its  approach  is  so 
insidious  that  the  mischief  is  done  before  the 
inexperienced  cultivator  has  detected  the  pre- 
sence of  the  enemy.  A  discoloied  spot  upon 
the  up;ier  part  of  the  leaves  is  seen  ;  in  a  few 
days  this  becomes  brown,  and  the  leaf,  if  se- 
verely attacked,  curls  up  and  dies.  Mildew 
not  only  attacks  the  leaves  but  the  fruit  clus- 
ters and  the  young  wood.  It  may  be  arrested 
if  attacked  in  time.  Tbe  vines  should  be  fre- 
quently watched,  and  if  grayish  patchrs  ap- 
pear upon  (he  underside  of  the  leaves,  upon, 
the  stem  of  the  bunches,  indeed,  if  they  are 
found  anywhere,  apply  sulphur  immediately. 
Do  not  wast  until  the  next  day,  nor  even  the 
next  hour,  but  apply  at  ones.  So  certain  a 
remedy  is  sulphur,  and  so  very  apt  are  vines 
to  be  attacked  by  mildew,  that  many  grape 
growers  find  it  to  their  advantage  to  pursue  a 
systematic  sulphurizing,  whether  indications 
of  mildew  are  visible  or  not.  The  vines  are 
dusted  as  soon  as  tbe  leaves  expand,  when 
they  are  in  flower,  when  the  berries  are  of 
the  size  of  peas,  and  when  the  fruit  begins  to 
color.  This  is  done  regularly,  and  if  any  signs 
of  mildew  are  in  the  intervals,  sulphurizing  ia 
immediately  resorted  to. 

Flour  of  bulphur  is  the  form  in  which  it  ia 
used,  and  it  is  best  applied  by  a  bellows. 
There  are  blowers  and  other  implements  in 
use, but  a  propcT-ly  constructed  bellows,  such  as 
may  be  had  at  the  implement  and  seed  stores, 
is  the  most  convenient  for  applying  it.  The 
bellows  having  a  curved  nozzle,  allows  the 
undersides  of  the  leaves  to  be  dusted,  which 
is  very  important.    The  application  should 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


153 


be  made  on  a  dry  day,  and  if  the  rain  should 
wash  away  the  sulp'^ur  soon  after  it  is  applied, 
the  dusting  should  be  renewed.  One  with  a 
little  practice  can  so  manage  the  bellows  as  to 
throw  the  sulphur  in  a  fine  cloud  of  dust,  which 
will  settle  upon  and  cover  all  parts  of  the 
vine  with  an  evenly  distributed  but  almost  im- 
perceptible coating.  Next  in  destructiveness 
to  the  mildew  c<  me  the  hordes  of  insects. 
The  most  (ffectual  remedy  for  the  majority  of 
these  is  hand-picking.  Old  vines  especially 
are  disposed  to  push  out  adventitious  buds 
and  form  branches  where  they  are  not  need- 
ed. These  should  be  rubbed  off. — American 
Agriculturist. 


decided  effect  in  preventing  rot  in  the  berry, 
that  disease  proceeding  from  the  soil  rather 
than  from  atmospheric  influences. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL. 


Covered  Grape-Trellis.— The  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Experimental  Garden  and 
Grounds  at  Washington  says  that  inquiry  is 
frequently  made  relative  to  the  efficiency  of 
the  covered  grape-trellis  described  in  the  re- 
port of  1861,  a'^d  its  effects  as  a  preventive  of 
mildew  and  rot.  A  trellis  of  this  kind  was 
erected  in  the  garden  early  in  the  spring  of 
1863,  and  has  proved  valuable,  enabling  us 
to  tfst  the  qualities  of  many  varieties  of 
grapes  that  failed  to  ripen  on  the  common 
trellises  a  few  yards  distant,  on  account  of  the 
destruction  of  the  foliage  by  mildew.  The 
philosophy  of  the  action  of  protection  in  this 
particular  case  seems  to  be  its  tendency  to 
arrest  radiation  of  heat,  thus  protecting  the 
foliage  trom  the  cooling  action  of  night  tem- 
peratures, which  in  turn  prevent  condensa- 
tion of  atmospheric  moisture  on  the  leaves, 
thereby  checking,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  pre- 
disposing cause  of  mildew. 

In  experiments  with  registering  thermome- 
ters, it  was  found  that  during  clear,  still 
nights  in  July,  an  exposed  thermometer  would 
mark  from  f^ix  to  ten  dt^grees  lower  than  that 
under  the  cover,  the  foliage  being  thus  kept 
warmer,  and  in  consequence  dryer,  on  the  pro- 
tected plants.  This  would  almost  seem  to 
give  a  reason  for  the  eariy  maturity  of  the  fruit, 
which  has  been  observed  to  result  from  protec- 
tion. The  best  grapes  climated  in  this  country 
are  those  of  greatest  immunity  from  dews,  and 
it  has  been  proved  beyond  a  doubt  that  protec- 
tion from  dew  will  enable  many  varieties  of 
grape  to  mature  which  otherwise  cannot  be 
successfully  grown  in  ungenial  locations. 
These  covered  trellises  do  not  seem  to  have  any 


THE  CABBAGE  BUTTERFLY. 
\Pieris  rapce.] 

THIS  insect  has  been  imported  into  this 
country  from  England,  and,  like  other 
imported  insects,  it  increases  more  rapidly 
than  any  of  our  native  species,  or  perhaps 
than  it  does  in  its  native  country.  In  England 
its  common  name  is  the  "Little  Garden  Whit," 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  larger  species  [Pie- 
ris  brassica),  which  feeds  upon  the  same  plant. 

It  seems  to  have  been  introduced  into  Cana- 
da about  the  year  1857,  from  whence  it  spread 
over  parts  of  that  country,  especially  south- 
ward, and  reached  New  Hampshire,  Vermont 
and  New  York  in  1866.  In  1869  it  was  no- 
ticed in  Massachusetts,  and  in  1870  it  reached 
New  Jersey.  A  few  specimens  were  obser- 
ved in  Lancaster  county,  Pa.,  in  the  summer 
of  1871,  although  it  may  have  been  here  earli- 
er, but  the  present  season  it  is  quite  numer- 
ous, and  we  learn  very  destructive  to  the  cab- 
bages in  parts  of  Donegal  township. 

Mrs.  Gibbons  sent  us  specimens  of  the 
larvce  from  Enterprise,  and  Mr.  J.  B.  Erb 
from  Beaver  Meadow,  where  it  has  done  con- 
siderable damage.  AVe  have  noticed  it  ab 
large  the  present  season  in  Lancaster  city, 
and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  be- 
f.>re  long  it  may  prove  a  serious  obstacle  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  cabbage  in  this  and  other 
localities  where  the  insect  abounds. 

The  larva  is  a  green  worm,  about  an  inch 
and  a  half  long,  when  it  is  fully  developed,  of 
apale  green  color  and  finely  dotted  with  black, 
but  this  dotting  is  not  perceptible  to  most 
persons,  without  using  a  magnifier  ;  it  has  a 
fine,  pale,  yellow  line  down  the  middle  of  the 
back,  and  a  row  of  yellow  dots  on  each  side,- 
on  a  line  with  the  breathing  holes.  This 
worm  is  not  content  with  merely  eating  the 
loose  outside  leaves  of  the  cabbage, but  bores 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  plant,  and  for  this 
reason  among  the  French  it  is  called  "Heart- 
worm,"  (Ver  du  cmir.)  Mr.  Riley  says 
( Amer.  Ent.  p.  75):  "  It  leaves  the  plant  and 
changes  into  a  chrysalis  in  the  middle  or  la  t 


154 


THE  LAJ\VASTER  FARMER* 


ter  part  of  Sepiember,  ani  in  this  stage  it 
hybernates,"  the  butterfly  appearing  the  fol- 
lowing spring. 

There  are  two  broods  of  the  insect  in  this 
latitude  in  one  season.  Mr.  Erb  exhibited, 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Horticultural  Society, 
July  1,  a  cabbage  leaf,  having  a  number  of 
larva,  and  two  chrysalids  u)on  it,  from  the 
latter  of  which  butterflies  evolved  on  the 
15th  of  July  ;  and  at  this  writing  the  butter- 
flies are  at  large  in  s-everal  parts  of  Lancaster 
city.  On  the  13th  of  July  Mrs.  G.  brought  us 
a  similar  group  of  larvfe  and  chrysalids,  from 
which  a  butterfly  evolved  on  the  17th.  All 
of  these  larvce  are  now  changed  to  various 
colored  ^wpfB,  or  chrysalids.  Some  are  green 
of  difl^erent  shades,  some  yellowish,  and  others 
brownish,  and  all  more  or  less  speckled,  with 
minute  spots  of  black.  We  noticed  that  those 
pupte  which  had  changed  on  the  leaf  devel- 
oped into  butterflies  much  eariier  than  those 
which  left  it  and  changed  on  the  sides  of  the 
cage  that  contained  them. 

The  perfect  butterfly  expinds  two  inches, 
and  the  body  is  about  three-fourths  of  an  inch 
in  length.  The  color  is  white,  faintly  veined 
with  black.  The  head  and  body,  the  tips  of 
the  forewings  and  the  clubs  on  the  ends  of  the 
autenufe  are  black.  The  other  markings  are 
sexual,  for  instance,  in  the  male  there  is  a 
round  black  spot  on  each  of  the  forewings, 
near  the  middle  of  the  outer  third  ;  and  a  small 
oblong  spot  near  the  front  edge  of  the  hind 
wings.  The  under  surface  of  all  the  wings 
are  a  yellowish  white  or  pale  yellow.  Ou 
the  female  there  are  two  black  spots  on  the 
forewings,  similar  to  those  of  the  male,  but 
larger.  Both  male  and  female  vary  in  their 
markiua'S  ;  in  some  the  black  spot  ou  the  hind 
wings  is  absent,  and  in  some  females  there  are 
thrje  spots  on  the  forewings  and  an  addition- 
tional  small  faint  spot  near  the  middle  of  the 
hind  wings.  In  some  males  also  two  spots  are 
visible  on  the  underside  of  the  front  wings. 

In  company  with  the  larvse  brought  by 
Mrs.  G.  were  two  specimens,  evidently  of  the 
"Southern  cabbage  Butterfly"  (Pleris proto- 
dice)  which  we  have  noticed  in  this  locality, 
in  limited  numbers,  for  many  years. 

Remedy. — As  these  larvce  usually  leave  the 
plant,  and  seek  any  convenient  object  upon 
which  to  undergo  their  metam-rphoses,  if 
pieces  of  boards,  raised  two  or  three  inches 
from  the   ground,  in  the  form  of  low,  roughly 


made  stools  or  benches,  were~distributed 
through  the  cabbage  patch,  the  larvee  would 
resort  to  these  instead  of  the  fences  or  other 
places,  where  the  chrysalids  might  be  col- 
lected and  destroyed.  The  butterfly  itself 
should  also  be  taken  in  a  net  and  destroyed, 
and  the  larvfe  be  hand-picked  ofl"  the  cab- 
bages. When  they  are  very  numerous,  per- 
haps a  douche  of  tobacco  water,  or  strong  soap- 
suds, would  be  a  quicker  way  to  exterminate 
them.  Pulverized  quicklime,  white  Helle- 
bore, or  fine  snuS",  would  have  a  beneficial  ef- 
fect upon  those  ou  the  surface  of  the  plant  ; 
but  as  these  worms  sometimes  eat  into  the 
head  of  the  cabbage  none  of  these  remedies 
would  reach  them.  At  this  moment  (July  19) 
one  which  we  are  still  feeding  has  eaten  it- 
self about  half  way  into  the  stem  of  a  red- 
beet,  upon  which  we  have  been  feeding  it,  in 
the  absence  of  cabba:e.  If  sparows,  while 
they  are  rearing  their  young,  could  be  in- 
duced to  trust  civilized  beings,  so  far  as  to  lo- 
cate their  nests  in  or  about  their  cabbage 
patches,  they  might  destroy  many  of  these 
larvce.  The  titmouse  is  said  to  eat  them  at 
all  times,  but  we  have  not  seen  a  titmouse 
within  gunshot  of  a  human  habitation  for  a 
long  time  past.  R. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 


GOSSIP. 


U 


W 


HAT  I  know  about  farming,"  is 
very  little,  practically ;  and  as  to 
theorizing  we  have  any  amount  of  it.  I  doubt 
much  whether  Horace  Greeley  acquired  any 
popularity  on  the  subject  of  farming.  The 
numerous  squibs  and  jokes  circulating  are 
enough  to  try  his  philo-iophy. 

There  are  other  things,  however, 'worthy  of 
cultivation,  besides  pumpkins  and  pickles — 
for  instance,  patience  it  an  herb  that  it  is  well 
to  have  at  hand  on  trying  ocr^asions,  either 
on  the  fa,rm  or  in  the  family.  An  o'd  German 
couplet  says 

"  Gediilt  ist.  das  beste  graut, 
Das  maun  in  America  baut  " 

If  that  is  not  good  German,  it  will  pass  for 
Lancaster  County  Dutch,  whether  Mrs.  G.  or 
Pete  Schwefl"elbrenner  approve  of  it  or  not. 
Addison  in  one  of  his  poems,  says— 

"  But  tbo'  heav'n 
In  every  breatb  lias  sown  tbese  early  see  8 
Of  love  and  admiration,  yet  in  vain 
Without  fair  culture's  kiiid  parental  aid. 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


155 


I  claim,  therefore,  that  not  only  mental  cul- 
ture and  that  of  the  social  virtues  -are  of  as 
much,  if  not  of  greater  importance,  than 
agriculture,  and  should,  as  it  also  is,  be  asso- 
ciated with  it. 

Now,  I  claim  to  be  good-natured  and  not 
wholly  void  of  good  manners,  and  ask  your 
civility,  because  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  wiser 
than  my  gentle  reader.  Mark  Twain,  has  it 
"  ferocious  reader  ;"  he  says  the  word  gentle 
reader,  is  too  common-place,  and  has  lost  its 
meaning — played  out ;  but  Mark  is  no  good 
authority  on  matters  of  taste,  and  has  .good 
sense  enough  to  "  own  the  corn." 

There  is  no  harm  in  using  spice  Jn  our  food, 
and  I  relish  it  even  in  ordinary  hum-drum 
matters  of  fact,  be  it  on  botany  or  horticul- 
ture. 1  trust  I  know  enough  to  avoid  as  'tis 
said  i'  the  adage: 

lU  nBc,  10  make  a  leak  a  cabbage. 

There  is  a  kind  of  cabbage,  that  proves  a 
leak  in  matters  of  finance,  in  bank  shares; 
jilow  shares  are  less  subject  to  being  handled 
by  the  light-fingered  gentry,  who^need  culture 
aud  ought  to  be  trained  against  a  wall  with 
a  sunny  exposure,  or  be  plarted  below  the 
frost  line.  If  they  wouldn't  come  up  there 
would  be  no  great  loss  to  society. 

If  you  consider  this  a  medley  of  nonsense, 
I  shall  take  no  ofieuse  in  being  told  so  by  the 
Farmer's  critic,  Humboldt,  or  "any  other 
man."  Ic  is  true,  our  self-love  does  not  relish 
to  own  its  folly.  The  Indian  became  ^exceed- 
ingly indignant  when,  on  inquiring  the  road  to 
hia  wigwam,  the  astonished  per  on  observed  : 
"  What,  ail  Indian  lost?  '  Ugh  I  ludian  not 
lost,  but  wigwam,''''  was  tbe  surly  reply,  and, 
truly  analyzed,  he  was  right.  He  knew  ex- 
actly where  he  stood,  but  could  not  tell  the 
locality  of  his  wigwam.  Well  it  is  for  us  if 
wc  really  know  where  we  stand.  Our  indivi- 
dual standing  in  tne  estimation  of  others,  too, 
is  highly  imporiant,  and  without  due  cultiva- 
tion we  may  remain  like  stubble  in  the  field, 
a  standing  disgrace,  fit  to  be  turned  under  to 
make  room  for  a  better  crop. 

It  is  said  we  have  five  senses,  all  of  which 
can  be  cultivated,  and  yet  some  folks  lack  an 
important  sense,  which  is  common  sense.  But 
do  you  know,  my  '\gentle  reader"  (I  will  say 
gentle,  Mark  Twain  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing,) that  It  is  proved  that  we  have  six 
senses  ;  thusly,  make  a  cube  of  equal  size,  one 
of  lead,  the  other  of  wood;  gild  them  both, 


and  let  them  be  as  exactly  alike  as  possible, 
and  equal  in  temperature  ;  and  not  one  of  our 
five  senses  is  able  to  tell  which  is  the  wood 
and  which  the  lead.  Sight,  hearing,  taste, 
touch  and  smell  will  not  aid  you  •,  but  handle 
it,  the  weight  determines  the  fact.  Now  it  is 
argued  that  weight  is  as  much  one  of  the  sen- 
ses as  any  of  the  rest  This  is  considered  a 
new  discovery,  but  Dr.  Thomas  Brown  and 
Sir  C.  Bell  have  propounded  the  doctrine  of  a 
sixth  sense,  called  tne  muscular  sense — our 
whole  muscular  frame  being  supposed  to  be  a 
distinct  organ  of  sense,  a  doctrine  to  which 
Dr.  Whewell  declared  his  adherence  in  his 
Philosophy  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,  etc. 
Therefore,  this  new  discovery  of  the  sense  of 
weight  is  not  so  very  new  after  all. 

But  science  is  a  wonderful  thing  ;  it  makes 
grand  discoveries,  and  is  often  fooled.  A 
microscope  will  show  you  minute  creatures, 
as  lively  in  a  drop  of  water  as  "  eels  in  the 
mud,"  and  more  abundant  and  active,  but  it 
does  not  teach  you  how  or  where  they  come 
from.  So  they  analyze  the  brain  and  physi- 
cal man.  What  is  the  result  ?  "A  man  is, 
chemically  hpeaking,  45  pounds  of  carbon  and 
nitrogen,  diffused  through  54  pailfuls  of  wa- 
ter." In  plants  we  find  water  thus  mingling 
no  less  wonderfully.  "A  sunflower  evaporates 
H^pints  of  water  a  day,  and  a  cabbage  about 
the_same  quantity."  This  is  science,  true  no 
doubt  in  one  sense,  but  we  have  six,  and  the 
other  five  must  not  be  ignored.  We  are  none 
the  less  conscientious  and  accountable  beings 
that  sadly  need  cultivation.  The  doctor's  scalpel 
and  the  savans'^materiality  requires  a  higher 
training,  than  assumptions  aud  conclusions 
drawn  from  surrounding  matter.  But  sci- 
ence is  wonderful.  The  London  Chemical 
Society  have  discovered  a  new  organic  base,  to 
which  they  have  applied  the  name  "  Azodin- 
apthyldiamine,"  and  another  they  call  "  Azo- 
dinapthyldicitraconanaic."  I  have  tried  to 
give  it  in  plain  letters,  for  it  is  a  sober  fact, 
and  copied  let.er  for  letter.  If  Mark  Twain 
dislocated  his  jaw  in  trying  to  pronounce  the 
name  of  a  Russian  lady  that  smote  his  fancy, 
I  fear  the  task  in  getting  the  type  right  will 
prove  a  puzzle.  I  caution  the  setter-up,  but 
it  is  hardly  possible  to  exaggerate  such  names. 
"Fact  is  stranger  than  fiction,"  but  the  learned 
asses  string  a  lot  of  Greek  words  in  a  row,  after 
the  manner  of  the  Chinese.  The  whole  word  is 
composed  ofcertain  hooks  aud  crooks  forming 


156 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER, 


one  letter,  however  long  the  word  may  be. 
Is  it  science  or  is  it  nonsense  to  coin  names 
that  are  unpronounceable  i*  I  find  strange  in- 
ventions, also,  of  the  sphygmograph,  myo- 
graph 8tomatoscope,iridoscope,  etc.  We  are 
familiar  with  stereoscope,  and  spectroscope. 
I  like  inventions  and  try  to  make  myself  useful 
to  inventors.  But  I  must  stop  or  some  Jew  that 
hates  pork  will  accuse  me  of  sandwiching 
business  into  articles  for  the  farmer — like 
slipping  a  slice  of  fine  ham  between  two  slices 
of  buttered  bread — not  hard  to  take,  provided 
you  have  no  conscientious  scruples.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  I  am  a'*  solicitor  of  patents" 
and  will  be  at  your  service  on  fair  terras,  but 
you  may  infer  what  you  please.  What  I  say  is 
in  defense  of  your  inference  of  what  do  I 
mean — that  is,  if  you  donH  see  the  point,  and 
just  so,  if  you  do.  But  I'll  stop  like  the  old 
lady  that  spoke  out  in  meeting  and  then 
checked  herself  for  "talking  and  kept  on  talk- 
ing to  tell  how  ashamed  she  was  for  being 
guilty  of  disturbing  the  meeting.  I  will  con- 
clude by  appealing  for  your  pardon  in  the 
lines  of  Dryden 

The  powers  above  are  slow 
In  punishing,  aad  should  we  not  resemble  them  ? 

J.  Stauffer. 


FIG  CULTURE. 


ESSRS.  EDITORS  :  As  the  cultivation 
of  the  fig  is  attracting  considerable  at- 
tention of  late,  I  beg  leave  to  make  some 
inquiry  through  your  columns. 

Some  forty  years  ago  in  a  garden,  not  more 
than  six  miles  from  your  city,  I  knew  a  clump 
of  fig  trees  that  would  shoot  up  as  thick  as  a 
cane-brake  every  spring,  blossom,  and  be  full 
of  small  figs,  about  two-thirds  grown,  when 
the  first  frost  would  come.  That,  of  course, 
put  a  stop  to  their  further  development,  and 
the  winter  following  would  kill  all  to  the 
ground. 

The  following  spring  they  would  come  up 
again  and  repeat  the  same  story.  One  fall 
my  father  set  a  shock  of  corn-fodder  around 
them,  thinking  to  save  them  through  the  wir_ 
ter,  but  it  availed  nothing. 

It  was  on  a  place  in  Pequea  now  owned  by 
Cyrus  N.  Herr,  if  not  lately  changed   hands. 

Now  it  is  possible  that  some  one  may  still 
have  that  kind  of  fig  on  their  grounds,  and  if 
so,  it  would  interest  me  very  much  to  get  a 
start  of  them  here  ;  as  I  believe  that  the  six 


weeks  more  of  a  season  we  have  here  would 
ripen  them,,  even  if  they  would  die  down 
every  wiiiter. 

If  any  of  your  readers  (in  case  you  should 
publish  this)  can  give  me  any  irformation  on 
this  subject,  it  will  be  thankfully  received  and 
reciprocated. 

I  have  now  four  varieties  of  figs  growing, 
and  as  soon  as  wood  is  to  spare,  will  be  ready 
to  distrioute  gratis. 

We  have  a  semi-circular  amphitheater  be- 
tween two  lofty  cliffs,  facing  the  south,  where- 
in  they  may  even  stand  the  winter  after  they 
are  a  few  years  oLl. 

To  give  you  an  idea  of  our  season,  I  will 
state  that  tomatoes  are  \'\\,q,  corn  ten  feet 
high,  and  in  the  tassel,  a  late  variety;  sweet 
corn  for  some  time  ;  Hale's  early  peach  nearly 
ripe  ;  Mary  Ann  grapes  colored,  etc. 
Yours  truly, 

S.  Miller. 

Bluff  ton ,  Mo.,  July  10,  1S72. 


THE  LESSON"    OF    THE  LAST  YEAR'S 
DROUGHT. 

THE  following  extract  is  from  a  report  by 
W.  W.  Daniels.  Professor  of  Agriculture 
in  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  which  we  find 
in  the  Western  Farmer  : 

"  While  there  is  no  means  of  preventing  the 
recurrence  of  these  extremes  of  climate,  and, 
perhaps,  no  means  of  modifying  their  eff"ects 
that  will  be  universal  in  its  application,  ther« 
is  a  remedy,  general  in  its  nature,  which  is 
within  the  reach  of  all  farmers.  It  i^  the 
adoption  cf  a  better  sy^iem  of  culture,  better 
and  deeper  plowing,  better  cultivating,  and 
better  manuring. 

The  stratum  of  soil  needs  to  be  deepened, 
to  be  more  thoroughly  pulverized,  and  to  be 
made  richer.    Any  means  that  m  ly  be  adopt- 
ed that  will  accomplish  these  ends  will  be  of 
value  as  a  remfdy  against  drouoht. 

There  is  another  means  of  preventing  the 
evil  eff'ects  of  both  droughts  and  floods  upon 
all  clay  land .  or  upon  those  having  a  clay  sub- 
soil, and  \vhi  h  at  the  same  time  increases  the 
productiveness  of  the  soil  so  as  to  pay  well  for 
its  adojtion.  It  is  under-draining.  Tiie  effect 
of  uoder-di-air.ing  is  to  pulverize  the  soil  by 
natural  uitans  to  nearly  or  quite  the  depth  of 
the  drains,  and  by  this  deep  pulverization 
the  soil  is  enabled  successfully  to  withstand 
drought^  so  severe  as  to  ruin  crops  upon  simi- 
lar laiid  undrained,  while  the  drairis  benoath 
the  surface  form  a  ready  means  cf  escape  for 
the  surplus  water  of  wet  seasons.  In  the 
adoption  of  a  thorough  system  of  under-drain- 
ing upon  all  heavy  soils  will  be  found  ".he 
most  effVctnal  remedy,  and  the  one  most  gen- 
eral in  its  a]) plication,  against  such  extremes 
as  thoye  of  the  past  three  seasons." 


THE  LAJy  CASTER  FARMER. 


157 


%\\t  %mwAn  p(\mt. 


LANCASTER,  AUGUST,  1872. 

S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editars. 

Published  luoiitlily  under  the  auspices  of  the  Agricul- 
tural AND  Horticultural  Society. 

$1.!2S  per  Tear  in  Advance. 

A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 

All  communiMtions,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
bands  of  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Rahvon  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remittances  to  the 
address  of  the  publisher,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


W'E  respectfully  call  the  attention  of  ouj. 
readers,  to  the  two  entomological 
contributions  in  this  issue,  on  the  ''  Colorado 
Potato  Beetle,"  and  the  "  Garden  White 
Butterfly,"  as  two  enemies  to  the  potato  and 
cabbage  plants  that  are  likely  to  become 
formidable  in  this  county  before  many  years. 
It  therefore  becomes  potato  and  cabbage 
growers  to  keep  a  vigilant  watch,  and  make 
an  energetic  warfare  upon  them.  It  will  not 
do  to  remain  ignorant  of  their  history,  their 
habits,  and  their  appearance,  and  also  of  the 
best  means  to  fight  against  them  ;  because, 
the  time  may  come  when  such  ignorance  may 
involve  great  loss,  a  loss  too,  that  is  as  likely 
to  reach  the  poor  man  as  the  rich  one,  be- 
cause it  strikes  at  the  very  foundation  of  the 
poor  man's  most  reliable  home  supply.  We 
hope  that  these  enemies  to  vegetation  may 
not  have  a  wide  circulation  in  ourcouuty  \  but 
the  present  season  is  peculiarly  favorable  for 
insect  propagation,  and  therefore  the  chances 
are  in  their  favor. 

Since  our  last  issue,  the  harvests  of  hay, 
wheat  and  oats,  have  been  giUhcred,  and  al- 
though they  have  not  been  nearly  eo  short  as 
was  anticipated  earlier  in  the  season,  yet,  if 
any  calamity  should  befall  the  corn,  the  pota- 
toes and  cabbages,  the  supply  of  our  necessary 
food  might  become  scarce  and  high  iu  price. 
Farmers  are  becoming  vigilant  enoiigh  in  their 
warfare  agaiust  the  enemies  of  tae  tobacco, 
and  this,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is  perhaps  all  right ; 
but  there  will  not  be  much  economy  display- 
ed in  saving  the  tobacco  at  the  expense  of 
those  productions  more  immediately  connect- 


ed with  the  life,  the  health,  and  the  comfort 
of  the  people  at  large.  We  should  think  more 
upon  poor  famine-stricken  Persia,  and  reflect 
that  a  similar^condition  here,  cannot  be  reck- 
oned in  the  list  of  impossibilities.  On  the 
whole  we  are  still  prospering,  and  therefore 
we  should  not  be  unmindful  or  unthankful  of 
prosperity. 


MEETING  OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL 
AND  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

SOCIETY  met  in  the  new  apartment  ap 
propriated  by  ,the  commissioners,  for 
the  first  time  after  the  division  of  the  old  Or- 
phan's Court  Room,  June  3d,  1872.  Minutes 
read  and  approved,  none  dissenting. 

Henry  M.  Eugle,  Chairman,  called  for  the 
reports  as  to  the  condition  of  the  crops. 

8.  M.  Kendig  spoke  of  the  condition  of  the 
wheat  crop  as  indicating  better  than  it  had 
early  in  the  season.  Farmers  were  puttin<y 
out  their  tobacco  crop.  The  first  in  general 
was  well  set  and  promises  a  good  crop. 

John  B.  Erb. —  Wheat  fields  exposed  to  the 
winds  look  very  poor.  The  cut-worms  are 
very  bad  upon  all  things  planted  this  spring. 
Had  seen  as  much  as  ten  or  twelve  worms  at 
one  stalk.  Raspberries,  except  the  hardy 
ones,  were  frozen  down  to  the  ground  last 
winter.  Apples  promise  well  and  potatoes 
have  a  good  appearance. 

Levi  IS.  Reisc  did  not  agree  with  Mr.  Ken- 
dig's  estimate  that  the  wheat  was  improvintr. 
With  him  it  is  not.  He  has  plowed  down 
some  of  his  wheat.  Apples  with  him  do  not 
promise  well.  Peaches  are  well  loaded  but 
the  pears  are  not. 

E.  Hoover  thinks  in  East  Hempfield  the 
wheat  is  quite  as  good  as  any  he  has  seen  in 
the  county.  The  late  rains  have  helped  the 
wheat  Fruit  promises  well.  Grapevines 
have  been  frozen  very  much. 

D.  M-  Resh  thinks  iu  this  section  the  wheat 
crop  will  not  be  over  the  one  third  of  the 
usual  crop. 

M.  B.  Eshelman  thought  thatthe  best  fields 
of  wheat  would  bring  about  half  a  crop.  The 
weed  called  by  the  growers  "  dotters  "  has 
taken  possession  of  the  fields. 

H.  R.  fcjlover  thought  in  Lancaster  the  crop 
of  the  best  fields  of  wheat  will  not  be  over  a 
half  a  crop.  Many  have  plowed  their  fields 
of  wheat  down,  putting  in   other  crops.    He 


158 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


has  traveled  over  the  county  and  also  in  Berks. 
The  same  condition  in  all  places  has  been 
witnessed. 

The  hay  crop  will  be  very  small-  Grape- 
vines have  been  very  much  frozen  last  winter. 

Johnston  read  a  report  upon  the  condition 
of  the  crops  within  range  of  his  observation. 

Dr.  P.  W.  Hiestand  thought  the  reports  too 
favorable.  He  did  not  believe  the  crop  this 
year  would  be  over  half  a  crop.  Apples  will 
be  plenty  from  appearance . 

J.  M.  Frantz  in  his  observations  along  the 
Pennsylvania  railroad  from  Harrisburg  to 
Philadelphia,  had  not  seen  a  single  good 
field  of  wheat.  The  appearances  for  a  hay 
crop  are  also  poor.  He  does  not  think  the 
Lancaster  county  wheat  crop  will  average 
over  from  5  to  8  bushels  per  acre.  In  his 
opinion  wheat  that  does  not  mature  by  the 
4th  of  July  is  not  usually  good. 

C.  L.  Hunsecker  remarked  that  in  Kew 
York  and  Canada,  the  harvest  is  generally  a 
month  later  than  ours  and  yet  it  matures 
well  and  good  wheat  is  obtained.  In  1835 
the  wheat  was  an  entire  failure  on  account  of 
the  fly.  The  crop  in  Lancaster  county  this 
year  is  going  to  be  a  great  failure. 

M.  B.  Eshelman  agrees  with  J.  M.  Frantz 
that  wheat  to  be  good  must  mature  early  in 
July. 

Johnson  Miller  is  ready  also  to  accept  this 
as  a  sound  view. 

Henry  M.  Engle  believed  the  quality  of  the 
hay  cut  this  year  will  be  better  in  proportion 
to  its  quantity,  than  if  a  more  luxurious  growth 
had  been  obtained.  He  does  not  apprehend 
a  hay  famine.  The  weather  is  now  favorable 
for  a  good  hay  crop.  High  temperature  is  not 
favorable  to  potato  and  wheat  crops,  but  is 
excellent  for  sweet  potatoes.  Fruit  prospects 
are  favorable.  More  fruit  is  set  in  this  coun- 
try than  has  been  peruaps  m  any  one  for 
twenty  years.  Even  during  this  year  good 
manuring  shows  itself. 

E.  Hoover  read  au  essay  upon  farming, 
"Does  It  Pay?" 

Milton  Eshelman  regarded  the  essay  as  an 
excellent  and  sensible  production,  and  one 
embodying  sound  maxims  of  wisdom.  On  mo- 
tion a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  the  essay- 
ist for  his  able  eflbrt. 

C.  L.  Hunsecker. — It  is  generally  considered 
that  the  occupation  of  agriculture  is  a  very 
honorable    one.     All    cannot,  however,  be 


farmers.  It  is  one  of  the  safest  occupations 
of  man.  But  an  occasional  failure  even  oc- 
curs among  farmers,  as  in  other  occupations. 

J.  M.  Frautz  was  inclined  to  agree  with  all 
the  sentiments  of  the  essay.  But  he  would 
not  advise  the  farmers  to  feel  entirely 
secure  aud  that  no  failure  can  take  place  in 
this  business. 

D.  G.  Swartz  considers  that  the  farmers 
have  the  amplest  opportunity  for  self- improve- 
ment of  almost  any  other  calling  or  profes- 
sion of  which  he  has  any  knowledge.  In  the 
circles  calling  for  mental  effort  those  in  them 
have  not  that  taste  for  reading  which  farmers 
might  acquire.  The  farmer  can  alternate  his 
time  between  reading  aud  labor.  He  regard- 
ed, so  far  as  respectability  was  concerned,  all 
occupations  as  eqaal  and  should  be  so  consid- 
ered. The  professions  are  no  more  honor- 
able than  the  pursuit  of  agriculture.  He  en- 
umerated as  noble  instances  of  farmers, 
Washington,  Webster  and  Greeley.  Cin- 
cinautus  was  called  from  his  plow  to  assume 
the  guidance  of  the  helm  of  State.  Other 
businesses  are  risky,  ten-fold  more  so  than 
that  of  agriculture.  He  cautioned  farmers 
against  going  in  debt,  as  a  financial  crisis  may 
set  in  and  prove  destructive  to  many. 

Peter  S.  Reist  thought  the  essay  one  of  the 
best  we  have  heard.  He  regarded  the  farmers 
as  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  country.  He 
did  not  regard,  however,  Webster  and  Greeley 
as  instances  of  successful  farmers,  for  they 
simply  kept  up  their  farms  by  their  other  in- 
comes. This  IS  not  the  kind  of  farmers  we 
can  imitate.  Give  a  boy  a  fine  education, 
aud  one  huudred  chances  to  one  he  will 
abandon  farming  for  some  other  occupation. 
Labor,  hard,  steady  labor,  and  economy  are 
the  requisites  for  successful  farmers,  and  little 
save  these.    Education  is  not  so  essential. 

Andrew  M.  Frantz,  Esq.,  difiered  with  Mr. 
Heist  in  the  ideas  expressed  by  him  as  to  the 
advantages  of  education  for  farmers. 

fcociety  on  motion  adjourned. 


Society  met  July  1st,  1872,  and  the  atten- 
dance of  the  members  being  limited,  the  read- 
ing of  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were 
dispensed  with. 

J.  B.  Erb  showed  cabbage  leaves  which 
were  badly  infested  with  the  green  cabbage 
worms,  which  seemed  to  be  depredating  very 
much  upon  the  cabbage  in  this  county. 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


159 


Henry  M.  Engle  showed  specimens  of  the 
Colorado  potato-beetle. 

On  motion  Mr.  Abraham  Herr  Smith  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  society. 

The  Secretary  submitted  a  letter  from  Johns- 
ton Miller  on  the  condition  of  the  crops. 

Society  on  motion  adjourned. 


RANDOM  SKETCHES  AND  FARM 
ITEMS,  NO.  12. 

BY  H.  M.  ENQLB. 

THE  wheat  crop  south  of  fortieth  latitude 
is  now  harvested.  From  reports  of  some 
farmers,  the  yield  is  better  than  was  expected. 
Unfortunately,  however,  as  usual,  a  large 
proportion  of  the  crop  was  not  cut  until  over- 
ripe, and  consequently  is  much  impaired  in 
quality  for  the  purpose  of  making  fine  flour. 
It  is  very  strange,  that  with  all  the  facts  and 
arguments,  written  and  published  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  by  some  of  the  ablest  men  in 
favor  of  early  harvesting,  the  larger  number 
of  farmers  still  continue  a  custom  so  much 
against  their  own  interests. 

There  is  scarcely  an  intelligent  miller  who 
will  not  pay  from  three  to  five  cents  per  bushel 
more  for  wheat  harvested  and  housed  at  the 
proper  time,  than  for  such  as  has  been  ne- 
glected by  overripening. 

Farmers  are  generally  considered  shrewd 
as  to  dollars  and  cents,  but  in  the  above  case 
they  are  certainly  deficient. 

The  early  potato  crop  will  yield  much  bet- 
ter than  was  expected  early  in  the  season, 
but  will  not  be  so  large  as  last  year. 

With  all  the  urgent  .requests  through  the 
puplic  papers  to  have  farmers  plant  largely  of 
late  potatoes,  the  advice  was  not  heeded  as 
it  deserved. 

The  late  plantings,  therefore,  are  not  so  ex- 
tensive as  circumstances  required.  Those 
that  have  been  planted  late  do  not  promise 
as  well  as  the  early,  the  drouth,  perhaps,  being 
the  cause  of  many  not  coming  up .  So  from 
present  indications  there  will  be  no  surplus 
stock  in  those  sections  where  drouth  pre- 
vailed. 

The  Colorado  Potato-beetle  having  made  its 
appearance  in  this  county,  may  well  cause 
alarm  among  both  producers  and  consumers 
of  potatoes;  although  it  will  not  effect  the 
crop  this  season,  it  is  not  likely  that  it  will  be 


prevented  from  multiplying  and  spreading 
rapidly. 

Another  enemy  has  made  its  appearance, 
which  may  well  cause  anxiety  among  sour- 
krout  eaters.  The  green  cabbage  worm, 
which  has  been  so  destructive  in  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  is  among  us  in  formidable 
numbers,  knawingthe  heart  out  of  the  plant, 
which  prevents  it  from  heading. 

I  have  knowledge  to  what  extent  it  prevails, 
but  from  information  I  suspect  we  shall  soon 
hear  more  of  its  ravages  than  is  at  present 
suspected. 


LEAKS  IN  DAIRY  FARMING. 

THE    foUwing  discussion  on  "  Leaks   in 
Dairy  Farming,  and  How  to  Stop  them," 
we  extract  from  the  Country  Gentleman  : 

Hon.  Harris  Lewis  of  Herkimer  opened  the 
discussion  in  a  very  practical  and  sensible  way. 
He  remarked  that,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is  not 
the  large  leaks  that  ruin  the  farmer,  but  the 
small  ones.  The  large  ones  are  easily  discov- 
ered and  stopped,  while  the  smxll  ones  are 
suffered  to  run  on. 

The  first  leak  he  would  allude  to  was  the 
manner  of  driving  the  cows  to  and^from  the  pas- 
ture. Many  dairymen  suffer  the  cows  to  be 
driven  by  dogs,  and  not  uafrequently  through 
a  close  and  muddy  bar-way,  where  permanent 
injury  to  the  cows  was  often  caused  by  their 
crowding  and  hooking  each  other.  Boys  are 
sometimes  allowed  to  drive  them  with  stones 
and  sticks,  often  scaring  them  into  a  run.  He 
would  prefer  a  well-trained  shepherd  dog  to 
any  boy  he  ever  saw.  Carelessness  in  driving 
cows  caused  a  leak  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  per 
cent. 

2.  Time  and  manner  of  milking. — Here  is  a 
big  leak.  No  rough  man,  who  storms  and 
yells  at  the  cow,  should  be  allowed  in  the 
yard.  The  cows  should  be  milked  by  the  clock. 
Each  man  should  have  his  own  cows,  and  al- 
ways milk  No.  1  first.  No.  2  next,  and  so  on. 
It  will  not  do  to  milk  Polly  first  and  Sally  last 
in  the  morning,  and  Sally  first  and  Polly  last 
at  night.  Milk  quickly  and  gently,  without 
any  noise  or  excitement.  The  cows  will  give 
more  milk  and  more  readily. 

3.  Care  in  Feeding. — It  is  important  not  only 
to  provide  good  and  sufficient  food,  but  it  must 
be  fed  regularly.  If  the  food  is  delayed,  the 
cows  become  impatient  and  fret  like  a  hungry 
child. 


160 


TRE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


4.  Kind  of  Stock.— A  great  leak  is  caused  by 
keeping  poor  cows.  Every  year  dairymen 
have  to  milk  cows  that  do  not  pay  for  their 
keep.  Has  had  cows  in  his  herd  that  made 
700  pounds  of  cheese  in  a  season,  while  others 
in  the  samo  herd  gave  not  more  than  200 
pounds.  We  should  select  our  herd  with  great 
care,  an (i  then  endeavor  to  improve  it.  We 
must  raise  our  own  dairy  cows.  The  native 
cows  are  the  best  to  start  with,  if  selected  for 
their  milking  qualities.  Then  get  a  good  thor- 
oughbred bull  of  the  breed  we  desire,  and  be 
sure  that  he  comes  of  a  good  milking  fam- 
ily of  the  breed.  We  should  raise  10  per  cent, 
every  year.  That  is,  in  a  dairy  of  fifty  cows 
we  should  every  year  raise  five  heifer  calves, 
and  when  they  come  in,  turn  off  five  of  the 
oldest  or  poorest  cows.  His  own  choice  of 
breed  is  decidedly  the  Durham,  unless  the  pas- 
tures are  poor,  in  which  case  he  should  prefer 
the  Ayrshire.  The  Durham  is  good  for  beef, 
and  if  a  cow  faih  to  be  a  good  milker,  she  can 
be  sold  to  a  butcher  at  a  good  price.  Two 
years  ago  there  were  1,500  cows  sold  in  the 
fall  at  an  average  of  $13,  which  cost  S70  each 
the  previous  spring.  The  cheese  from  each 
cow  cost  35  cents  per  pound,  while  it  was  sold 
for  14  cents.    This  was  a  big  leak. 

6.  Letting  Hay  get  overripe. — He  would  cut 
the  grass  when  the  first  timothy  blossoms  ap- 
pear, and  so  with  clover.  If  you  do  not  com- 
mence as  early  as  this,  the  last  cut  hay  will 
be  overripe.  Feed  the  early  cut  hay  to  the 
cows  as  soon  as  they  come  in.  It  is  better 
than  grain. 

1 .  Kind  of  Grass . — Farmers  are  as  wedded 
to  timothy  and  clover  as  Ephraim  was  to  his 
idols.  They  kill  the  native  grasses  by  plow- 
ing the  land,  and  then  iusist  on  making  timo- 
thy and  clover  grow  where  the  soil  is  not 
adapted  for  them.  This  is  a  leak  equal  to 
feeding  a  hog  with  a  whole  in  the  pig  trough. 

8.  Drainage  is  destined  to  work  a  greater 
revolution  in  our  grass  land  than  all  other 
things  combined.  The  loss  sustained  from 
the  want  of  drainage  constitutes  one  of  our 
worst  leaks. 

9.  Poor  help  to  make  Butter  and  Cheese. — 
Better  abandon  the  business  if  we  cannot  do 
the  work  ourselves  or  get  good  help.  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  butter  made  that  is  worth- 
less except  for  grease.  A  few  cents  more  a 
pound  would  pay  for  the  best  help  and  the 
best  dairy  utensils. 


10.  Allowing  Manure  to  Waste  is  a  great  leak. 
He  would  always  apply  manure  on  the  surface. 
As  a  dairyman  he  would  rather  have  one  load 
of  manure  applied  on  the  surface  than  ten 
loads  plowed  under.  Would  draw  out  the 
manure  fresh,  and  apply  it  at  all  seasons  when 
most  convenient,  on  the  meadows  and  pas- 
tures. Had  not  a  foot  of  land  on  his  farm 
that  manure  did  not  agree  with.  It  is  all 
moonshine  to  fork  over  manure  and  rot  it. 
It  leaks  away.  He  spreads  his  manure  on  the 
surface,  and  goes  over  it  with  a  brush  harrow. 

11.  Poor  Implements  are  a  great  leak.  He 
would  always  get  the  best  that  were  to  be 
had. 

There  are  a  great  many  other  leaks.  We 
are  all  acquainted  with  them,  and  often  prom- 
ise ourselves  that  we  will  stop  them.  He 
would  leave  the  subject  to  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Curtis  of  Saratoga— One  of  the  most 
important  implements  on  the  dairy  farm  was 
the  curry  comb.  Most  farmers  leave  the  ani- 
mals to  do  their  own  scratching.  It  is  as  im- 
portant to  curry  as  it  is  to  feed.  The  cows 
like  it.  They  get  impatient  for  their  turn. 
Knew  a  farmer  who  had  a  quarrel  with  his 
hired  man  because  he  would  not  curry  the 
cows.  It  is  a  great  mistake  not  to  provide  au 
abundance  of  green  food  for  extra  feeding  in 
summer.  The  cow  is  a  machiae  for  convert- 
ing food  into  milk,  an  1  the  more  she  will  eat 
the  better.  It  is  great  folly  to  give  abui'dance 
of  food  when  it  happens  to  be  plenty  and  to 
starve  the  animals  when  f  :od  is  scarce.  Com- 
fortable quarters,  shelter,  and  a  good  yard 
save  half  the  food.  He  believed  Mr.  Lewis 
claimed  t  lat  it  saved  three-quarters  of  the 
food.  He  did  not  agree  with  Mr.  Lewis  in 
regard  to  Durham  being  the  best  breed.  True, 
they  are  better  for  food.  But  we  want  milk. 
A  Durham  cow  will  eat  heiself  up  twice  a 
year  before  she  is  ready  to  turn  off  at  the  end 
of  the  year.     He  prefers  the  Ayrshire. 


Tanning  Leather. — It  is  often  a  matter 
of  both  conveuierce  and  economy  in  the 
household  or  the  farm  to  be  able  to  do  a  little 
tanning;  so  we  give  here  an  approved  recipe 
which  may  prove  useful.  Soak  the  skiu  or 
hide  eight  or  nine  days  In  water,  then  put  it 
in  lime ;  take  it  out,  and  remove  the  hair  by 
rubbing,  and  soak  it  in  c  ear  water  until  the 
lime  is  entirely  out.  Pat  one  pound  of  alum 
to  three  of  salt ;  dissolve  in  a  vessel  suffi- 
ciently large  to  hold  the  hide  :  soak  the  hide 
in  it  three  or  four  days  ;  then  take  it  out,  let 
it  get  half  dry,  and  then  beat  or  rub  it  until 
it  becomes  pliable.  Leather  prepared  by  this 
process  will  not  do  well  for  shoes,  but  answers 
for  hamstrings,  back-bands,  and  various  other 
purposes  on  the  farm. — Boston  Journal  of 
Chemistry, 


THE  LAMCASTER  FARMER. 


161 


BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  NOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

OUR  BOOK  TABLE. 

Papbrs  Rboeived.— American  Bank  Circular,  Journal 
of  the  Farm,  National  Oil  Journal,  The  Copy  Hook,  Real 
Estate  and  Farm  Journal,  California  Horticulturist,  Month- 
ly Report,  Department  Agriculture,  Everybody's  Journal, 
American  Stock  Journal,  Farm  and  Fireside  Journal,  ^a- 
tional  Live  Stock  Journal,  Practical  Farmer,  Western  Po- 
mologist  and  Gardener,  Penna.School  Journal,  Proceedings 
National  Agricultural  Convention,  Farmers'  Club,  Indus- 
trial Bulletin,  American  Farmer^'  Advocate,  Free  Press^ 
American  Land  and  Law  Advisor,  Our  Church  Work, 
American  Agriculturist,  Wood's  Household  Magazine, 
American  Homes,  The  Valley  Independent,  N.  Y.  Ob- 
eerver,  N.  Y.  Independent,N.  Y.  Rural  Register,  Manheim 
Sentinel,  and  other  good  publicatiocs  which  we  really  re- 
gret have  neither  time  nor  space  to  more  than  mention  this 
month. 

p^  We  have  never  yet  seen  a  book  of  testimonials  containing 
more  valuable  evidence  of  real  merit  in  an  article  spoken 
of,  than  the  little  pamphlet  entitled,  "  What  people  say 
about  the  Blanchard  Churn."  .Send  to  any  dealer  in  dairy 
implements  for  one  of  them. 

The  Lady's  Friend  for  AnouST. — The  leading  engrav- 
ing in  this  number  is  that  of  a  most  lovely  lady  on  a 
balcony,  waving  her  handkerchief— a  beautiful  picture. 
''MoouiightatSea,"isalsosomethingexqaisite.  The  illustra- 
tions of  stylish  costumes  and  tasteful  novelties  in  dress  are 
rathtr  more  than  usually  captivating  we  should  say.  Al- 
together this  August  number  of  the  Lady's  Friend  presents 
as  entertaining  a  feast  of  light  reading  for  the  warm  weather 
as  could  well  be  found.  Price,  S2.00  a  year.  Four  copies, 
$6.  Eight  copies  (and  one  gratis)  $12.  "  The  Lady's  Friend" 
and  "The  Saturday  Evening  Post,"  $4.  Published  by 
Deacon  &  Petersoa,  Philadelphia.  Single  copies  for  saie 
by  all  news  dealers  and  by  the  Publishers,  price  20  cents. 

"  Lights  and  Shadows  of  New  York  Life  ;  or,  the  Sights  and 
Sensations  of  the  Great  City."  A  work  descriptive  of  New 
York  City  in  all  Hs  vartous  j>hases.  lis  ti'lindois  and 
Wretchedness;  Its  High  and  low  Life;  Its  Mmble  Palaces 
and  Dark  Dens ;  its  Attractions  a:cd  Daggers  ;  Its  Rings  and 
Jfrauds :  Its  Leading  Men  and  I'ldiiicians  ;  Its  Adventurers ; 
Its  Mysteries  and  Crimes.    By  James  D.  McVabe,  Jr. 

What  Paris  is  to  the  Frenchman,  or  London  to  the  Briton, 
New  York  is  to  the  American.  It  is  not  only  the  Metrop- 
olis, but  it  is  the  chief  attraction  upon  this  continent,  the 
great  center  to  which  men  and  women  resort  tor  both  busi- 
ness and  pleasure,  and  as  such  is  a  source  of  never -failing 
interest.  Of  late  years  several  attempts  have  been  made 
to  reproduce  its  varied  attractions  in  book  form.  The 
most  successful  result  of  these  efibrts  is  the  book  cow  be- 
fore us.  The  author  has  had  unusual  facilities  to  see  every 
feature  of  the  great  city,  and  has  written  the  work  with  an 
enthusiasm  which  is  apparent  in  every  page.  He  has  not 
merely  produced  a  t-ensational  story,  but  has  given  us  a 
record  of  actual  facta,  of  which  he  is  personally  cogni- 
sant. 

The  book  is  as  fascinating  and  absorbing  as  a  novel,  and 
were  it  not  for  the  evidence  he  furnishes,  we  should  be 
tempted  to  believe  that  he  has  carried  us  into  the  realm 
of  fiction.  He  tells  us  the  history  of  the  great  city  which 
has  grown  to  be  the  most  remarkable  in  America,  and  re- 
lates its  old  traditions  with  zest  and  humor.  He  introduces 
us  to  all  classes  of  people,  and  initiates  us  into  their  ways 
and  manner  of  life.  He  brings  us  face  to  face  with  great 
merchants  and  bankers,  actors,  editors,  working-women. 


ballot  girlsthieves,  ganblcrs,  sailors,  quacks,  firemen  and 
and  a  host  of  ot  lers.  He  delights  us  with  his  sketclie  of 
the  better  and  brighter  side  of  city  life,  of  the  genius,  en- 
terprise, charity  and  humanity  of  the  great  city,  and  appals 
us  With  his  thrillicg  accounts  of  the  darker  and  more  terri- 
ble side  of  life  he  is  delinentiug. 

A  truthful  picture  of  New  York  life  cannot  be  otherwise 
than  deeply  interesting.  Our  author  has  succeeded  admir- 
ably in  his  task,  and  we  predict  Jor  his  book  a  large  sale. 
It  is  brimful  of  useful  information,  brilliant  and  fascinat- 
ing, and  an  emphatic  w.'irniug  against  the  vices  of  the  city- 
It  is  pure  and  lofty  in  tone,  and  while  it  disjusses  fully 
many  of  the  darker  sides  of  city  liie,  it  do-s  so  with  deli- 
cacy and  candor.  An  interesiing  feature  of  the  book  is  a 
powerfully  written  history  of  the  Tammany  Ring  frauds, 
with  sketches  of  the  actors  therein. 

It  is  compris,  d  in  one  large  octavo  volume  of  850  pages, 
illustrated  with  nearly  2.)0  tiaa  engravings  of  noted  places 
life  and  scenes  in  New  York,  and  publishedby  the  National 
Publishing  Co.,  of  Philadelphia. 

The  low  price  at  which  the  work  is  issued,  brii;gs  it  with- 
in the  reach  of  all,  and  no  one  who  wants  to  know  New 
York  as  it  really  is,  shoult'  fail  to  buy  this  book.  It  is  pub- 
lished in  Englifch  and  German,  sold  by  subscription  only 
and  agents  are  wanted  in  every  county. 

It  is  no  joke,  but  a  fact,  that  the  Blanchard  Chum  is  lit- 
erally an  Automatic  Butter  Jiluker.  Try  it  for  yourself.  Send 
to  any  dealer  in  flrst-class  farm  machinery  for  a  circular  ot 
a  churn. 


PHILADELPHIA  MARKETS. 

Wednesday,  July  24. 

Flour — The  movements  continue  of  a  limited  character- 
and  we  have  no  cuange  to  lecord  in  prices.  The  demand 
for  dour  is  confined  chiefly  to  thj  vaiits  of  the  home  con- 
sumers. Sales  of  (wO  barrels  Mirket  Street  Mills  on  secret 
ttfruis;  supeffln^i  in  lots  at  S.5i5.50;  oxtriis  at  $.5.75,i6.25  ; 
Iowa  and  Minnesota  extra  family  at  J7a8.25;  Pennsylva- 
nia, Ohio  and  Indiana  do.  do.  at  i?iiS.75,  and  tiigti  grade* 
at  $9411)50.     Nothing  doing  ia  rya  fl  jur  or  corn  m^al. 

Gkain — The  ortferings  of  wheit  are  sm  ill  and  pricei 
steady.  Sal's  oi  7.000  bisheK  ;  oM  Western  red  at  l.SOa 
1.82;  new  Southern  do  at  $1  67  1I.75.  and  white  t  $2.  No 
sa'e.sof  rve.  Corn  is  dull.  Saies  of  yeilow  at  Sic  ,  and 
6000  bushels  mixe  Western  at  59.i6ic.  Oats  quiet.  SilM 
of  white  at  42c  ;  7000  b  ishels  d  ;.  on  secret  terms,  and  mix- 
ed at  40a41.-.  The  receipts  to- lay  .'ire  as  follows:  1229  t;)ar- 
res  tlour, 7,200  bushels  whe  it,  36,80j  bushels  corn,  8  500 
bu.«hel8  oats,  597  barrels  whisky. 

Provisions  continue  quiet,  but  v'rices  are  firm.  Sales- 
ef  M^ssPork  at  !ifl4al4  25  per  bbl.  Citv  packed  extra 
MessB^ef  is 'aken  at  $14..50al5  per  hbl  Bacon  is  steady. 
Sales  of  plain  sugar-cure.l  city  smoke  i  H  <ms  at  l5al6o,  can- 
vssed  western  ac  15>^al6,  sides  at  80,  and  ^-boulders  at  6c. 
Green  Meats  are  higuev.  Sales  of  [)icklsd  Hams  at  13>ia 
14c,  and  shoulders  in  salt  at  5%  c.  Lard  is  quiet ;  sales  at  9* 
0)(c  per  lb. 

cjEEDS. —  There  is  very  little  doing  in  clover  ;  small  sales 
at  llalixc.  per  lb.  Flaxseed  sjld  atft2.10,and  Timothy 
at  i3.50  per  bushel. 


NEW  YORK  MAIiKEIS. 

V.'E1>NE.SDAV,  July  24. 

Flour  and  Meal. — There  was  a  fair  demand  for  l«cal' 
wants,  and  moderately  far  export  inquiry.  Minnesota 
firmer  anii  fairly  iictive.  Wisconsin  choice  biought  higher 
prices.  Southern  St.  Louis  and  t^outhern  Illinois  steady  and 
in  fair  demand.  Sliipping  grad.s  fw  irce.  Extra  State  in 
limited  supply.  Medium  grades  rather  in  buyera'  favor. 
Superfine  -nii  No  2  in  bettei'  deiriaui,  without  improve- 
ment in  prices.  (}oru  m-  al  rfioro active.  We  quote:  Flour 
— Supprfiiie,  ^tate  Slid  We  tern,  !»  h'jl. ,  $5.80a5.S5  ;  ■  xtr» 
State,  &c,,  $()  50aG  75  ;  Western  spriuii;  wh'.>at  extras  $6  20a 
6  50;  do.  douhle  extras,  $7.50a8  .50  ;  do.  winter  wheat  ex- 
tras and  ilouble  extras  S7al0.50  ;  city  shppin? extra,  $6.75a 
7;  city  trade  and  family  bra'id-,S7.5)  ilO  ;  .So  itberndo  do. 
$8  75.tlO  25  ;  do.  shipping  extras,  $7.25a8.  Rye  flour  S4.25 
a5.  Corn  meal— Western,  &C.,  $3.10a3.40;  Brinlywine,, 
dec,  $3.70a3.85. 


162 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER, 


Provisions.— Pork  active  and  Arm  ;  2,500  bbts  atf$13.75 
for  July,  and  13.75al3  SO  (or  August.  Beef  unchanged. 
Bacon  about  steady  ;  350  bxs.  sold  at  7%c.  for  long  clear 
for  next  week,  and  7c.  f'«r  new  short  rib.  In  cut  meats 
sales  of  about  25tcs.  pickled  bellies  at  6%c.,  and  about  25tc8. 
bagged  smoked  hams,  at  14}/^c.  Lard  was  quietbut  steady ; 
450  tes  sold  at  9^40  for  western  for  Jul-,  8>^c.  for  fair  new 
do.,  and  81-^c.  for  prime  city.  Dressed  hog^  firmer  at  6i^a 
6%c.  Butter  unsettled;  prime  State  quoted  at  24a26  c, 
and  Orange  county  pails  25a30c.,  the  latter  for  selections  in 
a  small  way.  Cheese  active  and  firm  Eggs  firmer  at 
lSal9c.  for  western,  loss  off. 

Grain. — Wheat  Ic.  higher  on  spring  but  less  active.  The 
demand  was  for  both  milling  and  export ;  sales  of  62,000 
bushels  at  $1.50  afloat  for  Ko.  1  Milwaukie  spring,  $1.48a 
1.48>^  for  Milwaukie  No.  2  spring,  $1.45al.46  for  No.  2  Chi- 
cago (spring,  SI. 60al  63  for  winter  red  western,  and  $1.80a 
1  90  for  white  Tennessee.  Corn  flrmt-r  ;  sales  138,000  bush- 
els at  61}/^i62c.  for  western  mixed  prime  sail,  58h58;4c-  for 
warm,  59a60c.for  steamer  mixed,  Q(i%c.  in  store  for  western 
mixed  sail,  62xar3i;.  tor  yellow  western,  6la63c,  for  straw 
colored,  and  GSaCSo.  for  white  western.  Oats  steadv  ;  sales 
72,000  bu.she  8  at  41i^al2c.  in  store,  and  43.i43!^c.  afloat  for 
No.  2  Chicago,  46)^ c.  on  the  track  for  fancy  white  and 
46a47c.  afloat  for  good  to  choice  white  Ohio  and  State.  Kye 
— S  les  8,000  bushels  western  at  71c.  in  store.  Canada  peas 
flat  at  90a95c.  in  bond. 


LIVE  STOCK  MARKET. 

New  York,  Wednesday,  July  'lA. 

The  market  was  fair  and  most  of  the  cattle  were  sold  at 
ptevioui  quotations,  llal3c,  '^  ft>,  good,  fleshy  steers  selling 
generally  at  12a]2>^c. 

Calves  were  in  demand  at6a9c.  for  milk-fed,  with  a  few 
sold  at  9i^al0c. 

Sheep  were  firm  at  5a7c.  f.  ft).,  with  the  bulk  of  the  sales 
at  5%fiM%<i.  Lamb3  were  barely  steady  at  lOalSc.  for  ordi- 
nar  >'  to  inoiee. 

The  hog  slaughterers  sold  dressed  hogs  at  BJ^afi^c.  ^  R)., 
.an  advano*  of  about  J^c.    None  were  oftered  alive. 


CHICAGO  MARKET. 

Chicago,  July  24. 

Flour— Quietjand  unchanged  ;  extra  spring,  $6.25a6.80  ; 
Buperflne,  3.60a4.25. 

Wheat — Opened  fair  but  closed  dull ;  No.  2  spring  Chi- 
cago sold  at  Sl.25 ;  closed  at  Sl.28%,  cash  for  July  ;  $1.17i^a 
1.18,  seller  August ;  No.  1  ditto,  $1.26al.26]^  ;  No.  3  spring, 
81.10. 

Corn — Fair  demand  and  prices  advanced ;  No.  2  mixed, 
40}^c.;  regular, 41c. for  fresh, cash  ;  41»^a41X,seller  August  j 
43c.  seller  September  ;  rejected,  Zl]/^c. 

Oats  —Fair  and  advanced ;  No.  2.  26%c.  cash  ;  25^0.  sel- 
ler August. 

Ryb— Steady;  No.  2  55a55i^c. 

Barley— Quiet  and  uncharged;  no  sales. 

Provisions— Pork  market  buoyant  but  unsettled  ;  cash 
nominally  $14  75  ;  sales  seller  August  at  $14.50 ;  held  at 
$14.62J^  at  the  close.  Bulk  meats,  demand  good  at  full  prices, 
shoulaers,  51^0.;  clear  lib  sides,  lit'!}^c.,  loose.  Bacon,  de- 
mand gooj  at  mil  prices;  shoulders. 6a6J,^c.;  clear  ribs, 
■7%a7J^c.;  clear  sides,  S^nS^c.  Sugar-cured  hams,  13il5c. 
All  packed. 

CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  July  22. 

The  cattle  market  was  quite  active  this  week,  and  prices 
were  higher  .  21.000  head  arrived  and  sold  at  7i4a7^c.  for 
extra  Pennsylvania  and  western  steers;  6a7c.  lor  lair  to 
good  do.,  anaSaS^C'^fti,,  gross  for  common,  as  to  quality. 

Cows  were  oull;  200  head  were  sold  at  $30;i46  W  head 

Skeep  were  in  good  demand  ;  3000  head  sold  at  6a6>^c^ 
fi) ,  gross,  as  to  condition. 

Hog.s  were  higher  ;  3100  head  sold  at  the  different  yards 
at  $7.25a7.60  ^  100  lbs.  net. 


EULES  FOR  THE  CARE  OF  SHEEP. 

ACIEICULAR  issued  by  F.  C.  D.  McKay, 
the  general  agent  of  the  American  Emi- 
"-rant  Company,  gives  the  following  :    The 
'  have  already  10,000  sheep  scattered 


among  the  farmers  who  purchase  land  of 
them,  in  flocks  ranging  in  size  from  50  to  200 
head. 

I.  Keep  sheep  dry  under  foot  with  litter. 
This  is  even  more  necessary  than  ropfing 
them.  Never  let  them  stand  or  lie  iu  mud  or 
snow. 

2  Take  up  iamb  rams  early  in  the  summer, 
and  keep  them  up  until  December  1,  follow- 
ing, when  they  may  be  turned  out. 

3.  Drop  or  take  out  the  lowest  bars,  thus 
saving  broken  limbs. 

4.  Count  every  day. 

5.  Begin  graining  with  the  greatest  care, 
and  use  the  smallest  quantity  at  first. 

0.  If  a  ewe  loses  her  lamb,  milk  her  daily, 
for  a  few  days,  and  mix  a  little  alum  with  her 
salt. 

7.  Let  no  hogs  eat  with  the  sheep,  by  any 
means,  in  the  Spring. 

8.  Give  the  lambs  a  little  mill  feed  in  time 
of  weaning. 

9.  Never  frighten  sheep,  if  possible  to  avoid 
it. 

10.  Sow  rye  for  weak  ones  in  cold  weather, 
if  you  can. 

II.  Separate  all  weak  or  thin  or  sick,  from 
those  strong,  in  the  fall,  aad  give  them  spe- 
cial care. 

12.  If  any  sheep  is  hurt,  catch  it  at  once 
and  wash  the  wound ;  and  if  it  is  fly  time  ap- 
ply spirits  of  turpentine  daily,  and  always 
wash  with  something  healing.  If  a  limb  is 
broken,  bind  it  up  with  splinters  slightly  loos- 
ening as  the  limb  swells. 

13.  Keep  a  number  of  good  bells  on  the 
sheep. 

14.  Do  not  let  the  sheep  spoil  wool  with 
chaff  or  burs. 

15.  Cut  tag  locks  in  early  spring. 

16.  For  scours,  give  pulverized  alum  in 
wheat  bran  ;  prevent  by  taking  great  care  in 
changing  dry  for  green  feed. 

17.  If  one  is  lame,  examine  the  foot,  clean 
out  between   the  hoofs,  pare  the  hoofs  if  un- 
sound, and  apply  tobacco  with  blue  vitriol 
boiled  in  a  little  water. 

18.  Shear  at  once  any  sheep  commencing  to 
shed  its  wool,  unless  the  weather  is  too  se- 
vere, and  save  carefully  the  pelt  of  an"\  sheep 
that  dies. 

19.  Have  at  least  one  good  work  by  you 
for  reference.  This  will  be  money  in  your 
pocket. 


site  InntHst^r  cvfarmer. 


DEVOTED  TO 


Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany' 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATHVON'  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 
**  T/te  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  c'tvUizdtion.'' — WEBSTER. 


Vol.  ir. 


SEPTEMBER,  1872. 


J\o.  9. 


EASTERN    EXPERIMENTAL   FARM    OP 
PENNSYLVANIA. 

BY   H.    M.    ENGLE. 

THIS  Institution,  with  all  its  progress  and  en- 
ergetic management,  is  almost  unknown  to 
the  larger  portion  of  farmers  and  citizens  of  east- 
ern Pennsylvania,  for  whose  special  benefit  it  was 
established.  It  is  located  near  West  Grove, 
Chester  county,  and  was  purchased  and  is  con- 
ducted as  a  branch  of  the  Agricultural  College 
farm  in  Center  county,  Penna. 

Thos.  Harvey,  its  first  superintendent,  although 
laboring  under  many  disadvantages,  succeeded  in 
putting  it  on  a  good  working  basis,  so  far  as  fi- 
nancial means  would  allow.  John  I.  Carter  (son 
of  Henry  Carter  of  this  county),  the  present 
superintendent,  is  also  working  industriously  to 
bring  the  farm  to  the  standard  for  which  it  was 
originally  intended,  i.  e.,  to  make  a  succession  of 
experiments  in  everything  that  pertains  to  agri- 
culture, horticulture,  pomology  and  dairying. 

The  benefits  which  may  eventually  be  derived 
from  said  experiments  by  those  engaged  in  the 
above  departments  of  industry  are  at  present  ap- 
preciated by  few,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
time  is  not  distant  when  such  establishments  will 
be  considered  indispensable.  Farmers  and  others 
are  beginning  to  see  that  with  the  high  prices 
for  which  farms  sell  in  this  section  it  will  not 
pay  to  grow  uncertain  crops. 

Thorough  scientific  and  practical  experiments 
only  will  bring  farm  husbandry  upon  a  reliable 
basis. 

It  is  evident  that  those  engaged  in  the  above 
pursuits  cannot  afford  individually  to  make  the 
experiments  necessary  to  strictly  successful  tillage 
of  the  soil ;  hence  the  importence  of  experimental 
farms. 


Having  had ,  the  pleasure  of  attending  the 
monthly  meeting  of  the  Experimental  Farm  Club, 
which  met  on  the  25th  ult.,  I  was  so  favorably 
impressed  with  the  proceedings  that  I  would  ad- 
vise the  establishment  of  such  a  farm,  or  at  least  a 
farmers'  club,  in  every  township.  There  were  at 
least  one  hundred  persons  in  attendance,  among 
whom  were  quite  a  number  of  ladies.  The  ma- 
jority were  from  Chester  county,  but  there  were 
some  from  our  own  (Lancaster)  and  other  coun- 
ties. The  subject  before  the  meeting  was  :  Causes 
of  failure  in  the  wheat  crop,  and  how  to  prevent  a 
recurrence  of  the  same,  which  was  warmly  discuss- 
ed ;  but  no  definite  conclusion  was  reached.  It 
was  then  continued  for  next  meeting. 

Prof.  Cook,  of  New  Jersey  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, who  had  been  announced  to  deliver  a  lecture 
before  the  meeting,  was  then  introduced,  and  gave 
a  very  interesting  and  instructive  lecture  on  Dai- 
rying in  England,  Holland,  Sweden  and  Norway. 
Space  forbids  ray  giving  a  report  in  detail,  but 
suffice  it  to  say  that  the  professor  did  ample  jus- 
tice to  his  subject.  Vie  of  this  section  are  sadly 
in  want  of  light  on  the  importance  of  dairying, 
while  Chester  and  other  of  the  eastern  counties 
are  wide  awake,  where  this  business  forms  an  ex- 
tensive part  of  farm  husbandr3\  As  the  country 
becomes  more  densely  populated  a  more  diversified 
farm  industry  becomes  indispensable. 

Proper  management  and  detailed  reports  of  the 
results  of  experimental  farms  will  supply  in  a 
great  measure  the  wants  created  by  such  diversi- 
fied farm  husbandry. 

I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the  management  of 
said  experimental  farm,  but  would  rather  censure 
the  farming  comnmnity  of  eastern  Pennsylvania 
for  its  want  of  co-operation  in  bringing  the  farm 
to  the  standard  which  it  should  have  reached  at 
this  period. 


164 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


The  superintendents  and  managers  have  labored 
industriously  to  make  the  farm  what  it  should  be, 
but  the  financial  means  have  never  been  adequate 
for  the  objects  aimed  at.  A  moderate  appropria- 
tion by  the  State  sufficed  to  put  up  several  build- 
ings and  repair  others,  but  more  funds  are  neces- 
sary to  make  improvements  of  which  the  enter, 
prise  is  sadly  in  need.  Some  contend  that  it  should 
be  self-sustaining,  but  such  have  only  a  faint  idea 
of  the  many  little,  but  none  the  less  important, 
things  requiring  strict  and  constant  attention; 
for  instance,  the  testing  side  by  side  of  20  varieties 
of  wheat  and  as  many  of  potatoes,  or  the  same 
kind  sown  or  planted  at  different  periods,  or  a  cer- 
tain variety  manured  with  ten  or  a  dozen  kinds  of 
fertilizers,  the  planting  and  sowing  at  different 
distances  or  depths,  selection  of  seeds  and  testing 
of  farm  implements,  the  test  of  various  kinds  of 
fruits,  and  their  cultivation,  pruning  and  training ; 
vegetables  of  various  kinds  and  their  different 
modes  of  culture ;  stock  raising  and  the  compara- 
tive value  of  different  bloods  for  beef,  milk  or 
butter ;  dairying,  with  best  methods  for  making 
butter  and  cheese  and  shipping  milk,  and  many 
other  practical  experiments  which  are  being  made 
from  time  to  time. 

An  accurate  account  must  also  be  kept  of  the 
condition  of  crops  at  different  stages  of  their 
growth ;  and  the  results  carefully  noted.  It  be- 
ing necessary  to  repeat  these  experiments  for  suc- 
cessive years  to  anive  at  reliable  conclusions,  it 
will  readily  be  seen  that  the  management  of  an 
experimental  farm  requires  close  application,  un- 
ceasing labor  and  liberal  donations  of  money,  to 
accomplish  valuable  results. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  not  only  a  few  farmers, 
but  the  entire  community  of  eastern  Pennsyl- 
vania, will  give  this  institution  both  moral  and 
material  aid  sufficient  to  fully  develope  it,  and 
the  beneficial  results  which  will  flow  therefrom 
■will  only  be  fully  appreciated  by  posterity. 

AGRICULTURAL. 

[We  had  intended  to  condense  that  part  of  the 
census  of  1870  which  related  to  agricultural  products 
for  the  use  of  our  rcadere,  but  we  find  this  so  ably 
and  satisfactorily  accomplished  in  the  following, 
that  we  have  concluded  to  transfer  it  entire  to 
our  columns  instead.  No  doubt  some  of  our 
readers  will  be  surprised  to  find  that  the  products 
of  some  of  our  important  crops  have  decreased 
during  the  last  decade,  especially  the  production 


of  Indian  corn ;  and,  also,  that  the  increase  in  pota 
toes  has  been-  so  small,  to  say  nothing  about 
sweet-potatoes  and  other  items,  which  certainly 
should  have  increased  to  show  a  thoroughly 
healthy  condition  of  the  products  of  the  country. 
Now  why  is  this '?  Is  it  possible  that  the  great 
increase  in  the  tobacco  crop  in  the  Middle  States 
has  had  anything  to  do  with  diminishing  the  crops 
of  corn  and  potatoes  ?  This  ought  not  to  be  so 
at  the  next  taking  of  the  census  in  reference  to 
the  two  sustaining  products  of  the  country,  and 
the  very  two  which,  in  case  of  an  emergency,  the 
poorer  classes  are  compelled  to  most  rely  upon. 
Whatever  money  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  may 
put  into  the  pockets  of  the  growers,  dealers,  and 
speculators,  it  never  can  supply  the  place  of  corn 
and  potatoes  in  a  time  of  need.] 

THE  FARMERS'  PROGRESS. 

Extraordinary  Increase  of  Our  Agricultu- 
ral Products. 
THE  New  York  Evening  Post,  in  a  review  of 
the  census  report,  says  :  Our  increase  in  all 
the  chief  articles  of  agricultural  produce,  as 
shown  by  the  census  report,  is  something  enor- 
mous. Wine  has  increased  fourteen  fold  since 
1850,  and  nearly  doubled  in  the  last  decade,  Cali- 
fornia being  its  chief  producer.  Hops  have  in- 
creased seven  fold  in  the  same  time,  and  more 
than  doubled  in  the  last  ten  years.  New  York 
growing  two-thirds  of  the  whole  crop.  Barley 
has  increased  six  fold.  Flax  six  fold,  and  flaj;:- 
seed  trebled.  Wheat  trebled  and  oats  doubled. 
Irish  potatoes  has  only  increased  one-third,  and 
sweet  decreased  one-half. 

Live  stock  trebled  in  value,  and  now  amounts 
to  the  handsome  total  of  one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars,  or  an 
average  of  nearly  two  huudi'ed  dollars  for  every 
family  in  the  nation.  Animals  slaughtered  have 
nearly  quadrupled  in  value,  now  amounting  to 
four  hundred  millions  of  dollars  annually. 

Wool  has  increased  from  sixty  to  one  hundred 
millions  of  pounds. 

Cotton  is  half  a  million  of  bales  above  what  it 
was  in  1850,  and  three-fifths  of  its  amount  in 
1860. 

In  only  one  instance  is  there  a  decrease  of  an 
important  product,  and  that  is  in  Indian  corn, 
which  falls  short  of  the  amount  reported  in  1860 
by  seventy-eight  millions  of  bushels,  or  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  whole. 

In  some  of  the  lesser  products,  however,  the 


2 HE  LAJf CASTER  FABMER. 


165 


downcome  is  considerable.  Silk  cocoons  are  only 
a  third  of  their  former  amount,  hemp  a  sixth,  peas 
and  beans  and  rice  about  a  third  each.  Buck- 
wheat has  decreased  from  seventeen  millions  of 
bushels  to  sixteen. 

The  farms  themselves,  as  may  be  expected  from 
this  great  increase  of  product,  have  risen  in  value 
from  three  to  nine  thousand  millions  of  dollars, 
while  farming  implements,  valued  in  1850  at 
$1.51..5S7,6:)8,  now  foots  up  $330,878,429,  an 
annual  increase  of  nine  millions  of  dollars.  Few 
minds  can  form  even  the  remotest  conception  of 
what  these  numbers  imply.  The  value  of  the 
farms  in  dollar  bills  would  take  an  expert  account- 
ant, capable  of  getting  over  one  hundred  a  min- 
ute, five  hundred  years  to  count  them,  or  if  Com- 
munists and  luteriuitionals  had  their  way.  and 
their  value  was  divided  equally  among  the  whole 
people,  it  would  afford  !$1,000  to  each  family,  in 
addition  to  the  million  or  two  which  would  be 
sure  to  stick  to  the  hands  of  the  dividers. 

The  farms  have  consideraljly  increased  in  num- 
bers, but  diminished  in  size,  from  199  to  153  acres, 
being  on  an  average  fifty  acres,  each,  less  than  in 
1850.  This  decrease  extends  to  every  State  in 
the  Union  save  four  :  Arkansas,  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire  and  New  Mexico.  Of  the  pres- 
ent number  of  farms  (2,659,485)  6,875  are  under 
three  acres.  Those  with  more  than  10  acres  and 
less  than  500,  have  increased,  those  with  less  than 
10  acres  decreased  in  number,  one-sixth  of  the 
whole  are  over  100  acres  and  under  500,  but  the 
largest  number  (847,614)  contain  between  20  and 
50  acres. 

In  France  the  extension  of  railways  is  said  to 
have  had  the  effect  of  shifting  much  of  the  wine 
product  to  those  districts  best  adapted  to  the  pur- 
pose, and  most  convenient  to  market.  With  us  a 
process  at  least  in  part  the  reverse  seems  going  on. 
Great  exertions  have  been  made  from  time  to  time, 
and  much  money  expended,  to  get  fla.x  culture 
localized  as  an  industry  in  New  England  and  some 
of  the  >[iddle  States,  where  the  land  for  its  pro- 
ducts is  of  the  best  description,  and  facilities  for 
market  all  that  could  be  desired.  But  it  could 
nut  be  done,  and  it  is  now  rapidly  disappearing 
from  those  States  that  took  most  care  to  extend 
and  keep  it,  and  going  West,  to  where  the  land  is 
not  better,  if  so  good,  for  the  finer  qualities,  and 
where  the  best  part  of  the  product — the  fiber — 
has  to  be  thrown  to  the  manure  heap,  for  want  of 
a  market.  There  it  is  extending  with  surprising 
rapidity,  apparently  without  special  effort  on  the 
part  of  any  one  to  get  it  to  do  so. 


Twenty  years  ago  Kentucky  supplied  nearly 
a  third  of  all  our  flax  product ;  Virginia  and  New 
York  about  a  million  of  pounds  each,  making  up 
together  as  much  as  Kentucky ;  and  Ohio  sup- 
plied less  than  half  million  of  pounds.  But  now 
Ohio  has  nearly  forty  times  its  former  product, 
while  Kentucky  has  only  a  tenth  of  it,  and  Vir- 
ginia has  gone  dowoi  to  a  seventh.  The  chief  flax 
producing  States  are:  Ohio,  18,0()!),000  of 
pounds,  or  two-thirds  of  our  whole  product  of 
27,133,039  pounds,  (the  product  in  1850  was  only 
7,209,670  pounds;)  New  York,  3,000,000,  and 
Illinois  2,000,000  ;  while  New  England,  with  the 
exception  of  a  little  in  Maine  and  Vermont,  may 
be  said  to  have  ceased  to  be  flax-producing ;  as 
have  also  Alabama,  Delaware  and  Georgia. 

New  York  has  now,  as  hitherto,  aljout  a  sixth 
of  the  whole  milch  cows  of  the  nation,  and  used 
to  occupy  a  similar  position  as  to  working  oxen  ; 
but  now  Texas  has  t\5rice  the  number  it  can  show. 
California  has  increased  its  sheep  from  17,574  to 
5,768,187,  being  an  increase  of  160  fold,  and  the 
largest  made  by  any  State  in  any  important  article. 
Louisiana  still  grows  nearly  all  the  sugar,  but  the 
pigs  have  changed  their  headquarters  from  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky  to  Illinois  and  Missouri.. 
Pennsylvania,  which  used  to  be  the  highest  in  the 
production  of  wheat,  is  now  sixth  upon  the  list, 
Illinois  with  30,  Iowa  with  29,  Ohio  and  Indiana 
with  27  each,  and  Wisconsin  with  25,  all  coming 
before  its  nineteen  millions  of  bushels. 

The  agriciUtural  position  of  New  England  is  a 
puzzle  which  Oedipus  himself  could  not  unravel. 
A  people  in  the  foremost  rank  for  intelligence, 
force  and  good  sense,  more  bent  usually  than  most 
others  in  doing  the  right  and  the  best,  when  op- 
portunity offers — taking  time  by  the  forelock  and 
not  putting  off  till  to-morrow  what  can  be  done 
to-day ;  having  before  them  line  upon  line,  pre- 
cept upon  precept ;  supported  by  experience  on 
experience,  as  to  the  possibility,  propriety  and  ad- 
vantage of  very  greatly  increasing  their  agricul- 
tural product  at  little  or  no  increase  of  trouble, 
they  stand  face  to  face  with  a  deteriorating  posi- 
tion, with  bountiful  Nature  ready  to  increase  her 
product  to  almost  any  amount  and  put  millions  of 
dollars  in  their  pockets,  but  they  don't  put  forth, 
a  hand  to  help  her  or  show  any  desire  to  be  the 
recipient  of  her  increased  bounty. 

They  are  content  to  go  on  year  after  year  with, 
every  important  crop  decreasing  in  amount. 
Wheat,  corn,  oats,  sheep,  butter,  swine,  flax, 
wool  and  potatoes,  all  "  getting  smaller  by  de- 
grees," and  not "  beautifully"  but  miserably  "  less," 


166 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


with  even  the  bees — the  prototj^pe  of  their  former 
iictivity,  as  if  ashamed  of  the  situation — leavino; 
them,  and  honey  and  wax  becoming  a  diminishing 
product.  The  only  item  in  which  New  England 
has  any  credit,  during  the  last  decade,  is  cattle,  of 
which  there  is  a  large  inci'ease.  both  in  the  value 
of  the  slaughtered  and  the  live  stock ;  to  this 
Connecticut  ailds  a  large  increase  in  tobacco,  not 
exactly  the  direclion  in  which  we  should  expect 
"  the  land  of  steady  habits"  and  utilitarian  pro- 
jects to  be  most  progressive.  The  increase  of 
manufactures  will  not  put  money  into  the  pockets 
of  the  farmers,  unless  they  have  something  to 
sell ;  but,  going  on  as  they  hiwe  been,  their  bread 
products  will  soon  hardly  sufBce  for  their  own 
families,  and  New  England,  agriculturally,  will  be 
like  a  withered  branch  on  a  fruitful  tree,  or  a 
sluggard's  field  brought  into  bold  relief  by  con- 
trast with  its  neighbor,  New  York — active,  ener- 
getic, prosrressive,  always  excelling  in  the  most 
useful  and  best  jiaying  products,  and  those  espe- 
cially which  New  England  is  so  much  neglecting. 
With  their  brains  and  money  there  is  no  ex- 
cuse for  the  people  of  New  England  occupying 
s»ch  a  position,  but  a  little  eSbrt  and  change  of 
system  is  needed  to  make  this  country  a  beautiful 
garden,  aifording,  in  richest  abundance,  the 
choicest  and  most  desirable  products,  and  they  owe 
it  to  themselves  and  the  nation,  but  especially  to 
the  high  character  of  New  England  in  other  re- 
spects, to  make  their  agricultural  system  also  ex- 
cellent, and  thus  get  in  accord  with  the  rest  of  the 
nation  and  with  themselves  in  other  and  even  less 
important  particulars. 


PLOWING  TWICE   FOR  WHEAT. 

A  CORRESPONDENT  of  the  Cincinnati 
Gazette  writes : 
If  any  one  will  break  his  ground  deeply  and 
thoroughly  two  or  three  times  during  the  spring 
and  summer,  the  extra  amount  of  wheat  per  acre 
will  pay  for  plowing,  and  leave  a  handsome  profit 
beside.  I  have  tested  this  practice  several  times, 
with  the  most  satisfactory  results.  In  18G9  I  had 
a  field  of  16  acres  of  like  fertility.  I  expected 
to  plant  half  of  the  field  in  corn,  but  for  some 
reason  I  did  not.  In  the  half  that  had  been 
plowed  for  corn  after  the  ground  had  been  broke, 
the  weeds  grew  more  rapidly.  Consequently  I 
broke  it  again  the  20th  of  June.  On  the  first  of 
September  following  I  plowed  the  entire  field, 
and  sowed  in  wheat.  The  result  T^-as  as  follows : 
The  half  which  had  only  received  a  single  plow- 


ing yielded  per  acre  13  bushels  and  18  pounds ; 
the  half  that  "received  three  breakings  yielded  per 
acre  23  bushels  and  40  pounds,  which  made  a  dif- 
ference of  more  than  10  bushels  per  acre.  xVt 
one  dollar  per  bushel  this  would  pay  for  the  extra 
plowing,  and  leave  a  net  extra  profit  of  six  dol- 
lars per  acre  beside. 

Vai,ue  of  Nioitt  Soil. — Liebig  relates  that  in 
the  fortress  of  Rastadt  and  in  the  soldiers'  bar- 
racks of  Baden,  generally,  the  privies  are  so  con- 
structed that  the  seats  open,  through  wide  funnels, 
into  casks  fixed  upon  cart^;.  l>y  this  method  the 
whole  of  the  excrement,  both  fiuid  and  solid,  is 
collected  without  the  least  loss.  When  the  casks 
are  full  they  are  replaced  by  empty  ones.  The 
farmers  about  Rastadt  and  other  garrison  towns 
having  found  out  by  experience  the  powerful  fer- 
tilizing effects  of  these  excrements  upon  their 
fields,  now  pay  for  every  full  cask  a  certain  sum 
(still  rising  in  price  every  year),  which  not  only 
has  long  since  repaid  the  original  outlay,  beside 
covering  the  annual  cost  of  maintenance,  repairs, 
etc.,  but  actually  leaves  a  handsome  profit  to  the 
department.  The  results  brought  about  in  these 
districts  are  highly  interesting.  Sandy  wastes, 
more  particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  Rastadt  and 
Carlsruhe,  have  been  turned  into  smiling  corn- 
fyelds  of  groat  fertility. 


-A  Large  Wheat  Field.  —  It  is  claimed 
that  a  farmer  named  Mitchell,  in  the  San 
Joaquin  Yalley,  California,  is  the  largest  wheat- 
grower  in  the  United  States.  Early  in  March 
he  had  planted  35,000  acres,  and  expected  to 
make  the  amount  over  40,000  by  the  mid- 
dle of  that  month.  At  1.5  bushels  per  acre, 
which  may  not  be  too  high  an  estimate  this  year, 
this  would  give  a  crop  of  600,000  bushels,  and 
that  at  60  cents  per  bushel — not  a  high  estimate 
— would  bring  !$360,000.  The  average  expense  of 
planting  and  harvesting  wheat  in  that  region 
is  estimated  at  ^4  per  acre,  which  would  leave  a 
clear  profit  of  1^200,000. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL. 

MORE  ABOUT  THE  COLORADO  POTATO- 
BEETLE,  ETC. 

SINCE  our  last  issue,  Mr.  H.  S.  M.  brought 
us  specimens  of  the  beetles  which  he  had 
picked  off  his  potato  vines  during  July  and  Au- 
gust.    He  reports  that  they  had  generally  disap- 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


1G7 


pearcd  from  his  field — only  here  and  there  a  per- 
fect beetle  could  be  found.  This  disa])pearance 
niay  however  lead  to  a  fatal  apathy,  if  too  much 
dependence  is  placed  in  it.  As  soon  as  the  larvce 
is  matured  it  goes  into  the  ground  and  is  there 
transformed  into  a  beetle,  and  every  female  comes 
forth  endowed  with  the  power  to  deposit  one 
thousand  eggs,  within  the  next  twenty  days. 
There  is  some  consolation,  however,  in  the  assur- 
ance that  when  the  ground  becomes  exceedingly 
dry  and  hot  many  of  these  larvie  perish.  Still  no 
potato  cultivator  ought  to  abate  one  iota  of  his 
vigilance  on  that  account. 

It  has  also  been  demonstrated  in  the  Western 
States  that  these  beetles  have  been  found  feeding 
on  five  or  six  species  of  Solanum  as  well  as  on  the 
tomato,  eggplant,  night  shade,  and  Jimson  weed, 
also  the  ground  cherry,  and  even  the  cabbage  and 
raspberry,  so  that  when  they  have  destroyed  the 
cultivated  potato  there  is  an  abundance  of  other 
food  to  fall  back  upon. 

It  has  also  transpired  in  various  localities,  in 
the  "West,  that  ducks  and  chickens  can  be  educat- 
ed to  eat  them,  and  soon  become  fond  of  them,  and 
that  if,  therefore,  coops  containing  hens  and  their 
broods  are  set  in  the  potato  fields,  the  young 
chickens  will  destroy  large  numbers  daily,  of  the 
smaller  larvce  at  least.  Crows,  partridges  and 
skunks,  are  also  said  to  feed  on  them,  and  these,  to- 
gether with  their  numerous  insect  foes,  may  assist 
the  farmers  to  extinguish  them. 

We  have  received  a  letter  from  a  member  of 
the  Kansas  colony,  stating  that  our  article  in  the 
August  number  of  the  Farmer  agrees  substan- 
tially with  their  experience  on  this  subject,  and  he 
admonishes  the  farmers  of  Lancaster  county  to  use 
their  utmost  vigilance  to  prevent  the  beetle  from 
getting  a  foothold  here.  Last  year_  it  almost 
totally  "  used  up"  their  crop,  and  this  year  they 
are  engaged  in  •'  fighting  it  down.'' 

In  regard  to  the  "little  garden  white"  or  "cab- 
bage worm,"  we  have  only  to  say  that  the  country 
everywhere  is  teeming  with  them,  and  that  pro- 
bably not  a  single  effort  has  been  made  to  destroy 
a  single  one  of  them.  If  nothing  should  trans- 
pire, of  a  climatic  character,  between  now  and 
the  next  Spring  season,  to  dimii;iish  or  destroy 
these  insects  in  their  jri;j)a;  hybernation,  or  if  no 
insect,  enemy  to  them  should,  in  the  meantime,  be 
developed,  and  the  present  apathy  on  the  part  of 
\cabbage  growers  continues,  we  don't  see  how  the 
cabbage  crop,  next  year,  can  possibly  escape  total 
destruction  ;  for  we  have  never  seen,  in  all  our  ex- 
perience, so  many  butterflies  of  any  one  species — 


not  even  our  common  yellow — so  numerous,  as 
this  little  white  l)nttertly  is  at  the  present  time 
in  the  city  of  Lancaster  and  vicinity. 

Mr.  Glover,  in  his  report  to  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  for  1871,  states  that  the  -'white 
helebore."  which  has  been  so  freely  recommended, 
although  destructive  to  the  currant  and  gooseberry 
worm,  has  little  or  no  effect  on  the  "  green-worm," 
of  the  cabbage,  and  that  therefore  cabbage  culti. 
vators  should  depend  upon 

First:  Vigilant  and  persevering  handpicking. 

f'^'rrond:   Destroying  it  in  its  j)ttpa  state,  and 

Third:  In  capturing  and  destroying  the  but- 
terflies. 

Although  this  worm,  in  its  early  stage,  is  so 
near  the  color  of  the  plant  as  to  be  often  over- 
looked, yet  when  it  is  nearly  or  quite  full  grown 
it  is  very  noticeable,  and  is  as  easily  picked  as  pick- 
ing berries.  These  worms  sometimes  change  to  a 
pupa  on  the  cabbage  leaf,  but  they  generally  seek 
the  lower  side  of  a  fence-rail.  If,  therefore,  rough 
strips  of  board,  three  or  four  inches  from  the 
ground,  were  distributed  among  the  cabbages,  the 
insects  would  resort  to  them,  and  might  be  daily 
gathered  and  destroyed.  To  catch  the  butterflies, 
a  wire  hoop,  on  the  end  of  a  broom-handle,  with 
a  gauze  bag-net  attached  to  the  end,  will  make  a 
good  instrument.  If  thistles  in  bloom  arc  visited 
early  in  the  morning,  when  the  butterflies  are 
hungry,  they  can  be  captured  very  easily  with  the 
hand,  only  exercising  an  ordinary  amount  of  cau- 
tion. The  slightest  pressure  will  then  kill  them 
and  prevent  egg-laying.  R. 


INSECTS  "  FIDDLING." 

'"1~^]IE  chirping  and  singing  of  the  cricket  and 
^  grasshoi)pcr  are  fre(|uently  spoken  of,  but 
they  do  not  sing — they  fiddle.  By  rubbing  the 
wings  and  legs  together — each  in  a  manner  pecu- 
liar to  the  species  —  these  insects  produce  the 
sound  which  characterize  them.  Perhaps  our 
best  insect  instrument  perfornaer  is  the  "  katydid." 
Each  wing  contains  a  little  tamborine,  and  by  the 
opening  and  shutting  of  the  Avinga  these  rub 
against  each  other,  and  produce  the  sound  of 
"  katy-did-she-did,"  which  can  be  heard  at  such  a 
long  distance,  and  .gives  the  insect  its  name. 
These  sounds  are  supposed  to  be  useful  in  enab- 
ling insects  to  find  their  mates ;  or  they  may  in- 
dulge in  them  for  their  own  gratification,  and  too 
add  to  the  general  harmony  of  nature. 
In  addition  to  the  above,  we  may  mention  ako 


168 


TEE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER* 


Hie  fact  that  male  insects  alone  are  endowed 
with  the  "  fiddling"  facilities,  the  females  being 
doomed  to  perpetual  silence — poor  things ;  but, 
per  contra,  the  females  alone  possess  the  abdomi- 
nal sting,  and  power  to  inflict  a  wound  there- 
with— cruel  things ;  and  furthermore,  it  is  only 
the  female  gad-flies,  horse-flies  and  mosquitos, 
that  puncture  the  bodies  of  animals,  and  suck 
heir  blood,  or  deposit  therein  their  eggs — wretch- 
ed things.  It  is  true  that  all  insects  that  are  al^le  to 
fly  have  more  or  less  power  to  make  a  humming 
noise,  by  the  action  of  their  wings  in  flight,  or  in 
their  efforts  to  escape,  when  taken  in  the  hand. 
For  instance,  the  common  '"  mud-wasps"  {SJiex 
pensylvamca  and  cerulea)  mak'e  a  sharp,  hum- 
ming noise  while  they  are  in  the  act  of  adding 
a  new  pillet  of  mud  to  their  nests,  which  seems 
to  assist  them  in  incorporating  the  fresh  material 
with  the  old,but  no  female  insects  possess  what  is  re- 
garded as  the  vocal  apparatus,  if  it  can  be  prop- 
erly called  vocal.  The  little  "  tamborine"  above 
alluded  to  is  not  located  in  all  insects  alike. 
In  the  katy-did,  crickets,  and  the  grasshoppers 
in  general,  it  is  located  on  the  back,  at  or  under 
the  base  of  the  wings,  whilst  in  the  cicadas  the 
musical  organs  are  under  the  base  of  the  abdo- 
men, or  attached  to  the  metasternum.  Of  course, 
the  object  of  the  musical  faculty  in  insects  is 
more  or  less  conjectural,  but  it  is  supposed  to  be 
for  the  purpose  of  attracting  the  opposite  sex, 
Avhich  is  a  rather  reversal  of  the  order,  as  it  ob- 
tained in  the  human  family,  where  the  females 
are  esteemed  the  sirens,  instead  of  the  males. 
But  the  attractive  qualities  are  not  cdl  on 
one  side  of  the  insect  world,  for  the  "  glow-worm," 
which  is  only  the  female  of  species  of  ktrnji- 
yris,  is  luminous,  and  this  luminosity  is  supposed 
to  be  given  her  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  the 
male,  for  she  is  entirely  wingless  and  doomed  to 
the  nether  earth,  where  the  male  could  never 
find  her,  without  this  beacon  of  love. 

Although  not  of  a  specially  practical  character, 
yet  it  may  be  useful  to  our  readers  to  Tcno^o  some- 
thing about  the  "  fiddling"  and  other  qualities  of 
some  of  the  denizens  of  the  insect  world.         R. 


THE   APPLE-TREE  BORER. 

"I"  AVING  seen  a  great  many  remedies,  and 
j[  ^  great  many  plans  for  destroying  the 
apple-tree  borer,  and  none  of  them  very  satisfac- 
tory, suppose  I  give  a  case  from  actual  knowledge 
of  my  own : 

"  My  neighbor  put  out  an  orchard  of  fifty  trees ; 


they  were  four  years  old  from  the  graft,  and  as 
they  had  not  been  very  well  pruned  in  the  nursery, 
pruning  was  done  at  the  time  of  transplant- 
ing. The  trees  started  all  right  in  the  spring,  but, 
alas !  the  borer.  The  trees  were  i)unctured  from 
root  to  branch,  and  took  on  the  usual  sickly  ap- 
pearance. The  owner  concluded  to  try  an  exper- 
iment, for  it  was  nothing  but  death  anyhow,  so  he 
prepared  a  whitewash  as  follows  :  Take  fresh  slaked 
lime  and  coal  oil  sufficient  to  make  a  good  white- 
wash, and  put  it  on  with  a  brush  from  root  to 
branch,  or  as  high  as  the  borer  had  been  working. 
This  proved  a  perfect  success,  for  the  trees  cast 
off  their  sickly  appearance  the  same  season.  I 
examined  them  the  same  fall,  th.e  whitewash  still 
on  thcin,  and  I  think  I  never  saw  more  healthy 
and  vigorous  trees.  I  have  not  tried  this  remedy 
in  my  own  orchard,  for  there  are  nO  borers  in  it ; 
if  there  were  I  should  not  hesitate  a  moment.  We 
are  not  much  troubled  with  the  borer  in  this 
country,  except  on  trees  that  have  been  wounded." 
— American  Farm  Journal. 

"We  often  find  paragraphs  like  the  fore- 
going, published  and  republished  in  the  agricul- 
tural and  horticultural  presses  of  the  country, 
and  we  confess  often  with  some  feeling  of  disap- 
pointment at  their  unsatisfactory  character.  In 
the  first  place  we  are  in  doubt  what  insect  the 
writer  may  mean,  when  he  speaks  of  the  apple- 
tree  borer,  knowing  that  there  are  a  number  of 
borers  located  in  different  parts  of  the  apple 
tree,  which  differ  from  each  other  as  much  as  an 
ox  differs  from  a  goat ;  not  only  in  their  forms, 
but  also  in  their  habits  and  periods  of  develop- 
ment. It  could  not  have  been  the  striped  borer 
{Sapcrda  Candida),  for  tliat  insect  confines  its 
operations  to  the  base  of  the  trunk,  and  never 
"  punctures  from  root  to  branch,"  but  laj's  its  eggs 
without  a,  puncture  at  all,  in  little  crevices  in  the 
bark  as  near  as  possible  to  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  If  we  just  knew  when  and  where  the 
above  event  occurred  we  might  suggest  that  the 
punctures  alluded  to  were  probably  the  work  of 
the  "  seventeen-year  locusts,"  or  "  tree  crickets," 
in  which  case  the  lime  and  coal  tar  would,  of 
course,  destroy  the  vitality  of  the  eggs.  It  could 
not  possibly  have  the  least  effect  on  the  borers 
within  the  body  of  any  of  the  trees,  although  it 
might  prevent  the  female  insects  from  depositing 
their  eggs  upon  it.  Seriously  speaking,  does  the 
writer  of  the  aljovc  paragraph  actually  know  the 
insect — popularly  known  as  the  apple-tree  borer — 
when  he  sees  it  ?  We  are  always  thankful  for  all 
the  solid  information  on  this  subject  we  can  get, 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


169 


in  order  that  we  give  the  benefit  of  it  to  our  horti- 
cultural readers,  but  we  deplore  such  unsatisfac- 
tory experimental  reports. 

The  base  and  roots,  the  trunk,  the  branches, 
and  the  twigs  of  the  apple  tree,  are  each  infested 
^?ith  a  different  kind  of  a  borer ;  but  no  man  can 
gath(>r  from  the  above  account  which  is  meant, 
or  whether  a  real  borer  at  all.  Lime  and  coal 
tar  would  doubtless  destroy  the  barklice  or  scale 
insects,  if  any  were  present,  but  unless  the  trees 
are  very  young,  these  are  usually  found  only  on 
the  more  tender  branches.  "We  are  not  calling 
into  question  the  fact  and  effect  of  the  above 
treatment,  but  we  doubt  the  cause  of  the  disease 
treated.  R. 

BEE-KEEPING. 

THE  BEE  AND  BEE-KEEPING,  NO.  2. 

THE  QUEEX (CONTINUEJ)), 

IN  about  five  or  six  days  after  the  queen  has 
left  her  cell  she  leaves  the  hive  to  meet  the 
drone.  She  chooses  a  clear,  warm  daj',  generally 
between  twelve  and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
at  which  time  the  drones  are  also  flying  out  in 
large  numbers.  If  it  is  during  the  swarming  sea- 
son, when  drones  are  numerous,  she  seldom  fails  to 
meet  one,  and  become  impregnated  during  her  first 
trip.  If  unsuccessful  on  the  first  trip,  she  will  re- 
peat it  on  the  following  day,  and  if  necessary,  for 
several  days,  until  successful.  This  meeting  is 
said  to  take  place  on  the  wing,  high  in  the  air. 
This  is  altogether  probable,  but  I  am  not  aware 
that  any  one  has  ever  seen  it ;  it  is  mere  conject- 
ure. It  is,  however,  pretty  well  established  that 
one  fecundation  lasts  for  life ;  that  after  having 
once  met  a  drone,  she  never  leaves  the  hive  again 
for  that  purpose,  nor  for  any  other,  except  when 
swarming.  Upon  the  young  queen's  return  from 
her  bridal  tour,  she  sometimes  mistakes  the  hive, 
and  enters  the  wrong  one,  when  she  is  destroyed, 
and  the  colony  to  which  she  belonged  is  queen- 
less,  and  having  no  eggs  or  larva;  from  which  to 
rear  another  (lueen,  it  rajjidly  dwindles  down,  and, 
if  not  furnished  with  another  queen,  or  material 
from  which  to  rear  one,  is  finally  destroyed  by 
worms  or  robbers.  More  colonies  become  queen- 
less  in  this  way  than  in  all  others.  Hives  should 
be  placed  rtoi  Zess  than  two  feet  apart;  better  three 
or  four ;  and  when  all  of  the  same  form  and  color, 
as  far  as  the  space  will  permit.  When  hives  are 
all  alike,  and  crowded  close  together,  probably  one 
queen  in  six  is  lost  by  entering  the  wrong  one,  but 


when  the  hives  are  sufficiently  far  apart,  not  one 
in  one  hundred  is  lost  during  her  trip. 

About  the  third  day  after  fecundation  the 
queen  begins  to  deposit  eggs.  The  number  of  eggs 
that  one  lays  varies.  She  can  adapt  herself  to 
circumstances.  The  full  laying  capacity  of  a 
prolific  queen  is  not  less  than  2,500  every  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  probably  much  exceeds  that  num- 
ber. The  average  age  attained  by  a  queen  is 
about  three  years. 

DRONES. 

The  drones  are  the  males,  and  their  only  use 
seems  to  be  the  fecundation  of  the  queen.  Their 
bodies  are  large  and  clumsy.  They  have  no  sting. 
Their  buzzing,  when  on  the  wing,  is  loud  and  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  workers.  The  number 
reared  is  governed  by  the  strength  of  the  colony, 
and  the  amount  of  stores  on  hand  or  being  collect- 
ed. In  the  spring  of  the  year,  generally  about 
the  beginning  of  May  or  last  of  April,  the  queen 
deposits  eggs  in  the  drone  cells.  Drone  cells  are 
hexagonal,  like  worker  cells,  differing  from  them 
only  in  being  a  little  larger  and  deeper.  They 
are  also  more  convex  when  the  brood  is  capped 
over.  The  period  from  the  Gg^  to  the  mature 
drone  is  about  twenty-four  days.  In  this  section 
they  are  killed  and  driven  off  by  the  workers  as 
soon  as  white  clover  fails,  which  is  generally  in 
July.  Some  strong  colonies  frequently  allow 
some  to  remain  much  longer,  and  probably  a  few 
the  entire  winter,  but  a  scarcity  of  honey  is  early 
death  to  the  drones. 

The  question  might  be  asked,  what  use  in  such 
a  large  number  of  drones,  when  scarcely  one  in  a 
thousand  fulfills  the  important  duty  of  fecundating 
a  queen.  If  only  one  drone,  or  half  a  dozen,  were 
reared  in  each  hive,  the  chances  of  the  queen 
meeting  one  in  the  air  wouM  be  very  small,  but 
when  each  one  rears  a  thousand  or  more,  the 
chances  are  a  thousand  times  multiplied.  When 
several  thousand  are  in  the  air,  the  queen  can 
scarcely  Qiil  to  meet  one.  Thus  instinct  teaches 
the  beesHo  make  as  sure  as  possible  by  multiplying 
the  chances.  If  a  queen  would  have  to  leave 
many  times,  the  chances  of  her  being  lost  would 
be  greatly  increased,  and  as  the  loss  of  the  young 
queen,  at  this  time,  would  be  the  destruction  of 
the  entire  colony,  rearing  so  many  drones  is  a 
wise  provision  of  nature  to  perpetuate  the  species. 

There  are  various  theories  in  relation  to  drones, 
but  it  is  proven  beyond  a  doubt  that  an  Qgg  de- 
posited by  a  fertilized  queen,  in  a  drone  cell,  be- 
comes a  drone,  and  in  a  worker  cell,  a  worker. 
That  the  eggs  differ  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  all 


170 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER, 


attempts  to  rear  queens  from  eggs  laid  in  drone 
cells  have  failed,  while  eggs  laid  in  worker  cells 
will  produce  queens.  There  is  no  doubt  that  eggs 
laid  in  drone  cells  are  not  impregnated.  In  proof 
of  this,  I  will  cite  the  following  facts :  First, 
queens  with  faulty  wings,  or  otherwise  unable  to 
fly  out  to  meet  the  drones,  or  such  as  are  reared 
very  early  or  late  in  the  season,  when  no  drones 
exist,  are  certain  to  prove  what  are  called  drone 
layers,  that  is,  every  Qgg  they  deposit,  whether  in 
drone  or  worker  cells,  produces  a  drone.  Second  : 
All  drones  are  like  their  mother,  no  mailer  with 
what  kind  of  a  drone  she  mated,  If  an  Italian 
queen  has  met  a  native  drone,  her  worker  progeny 
will  be  hybrids — half  Italian  and  half  native — but 
her  drone  progeny  will  be  just  as  beautifully 
marked — and  as  has  been  proven  by  other  facts, 
just  as  pure — as  of  one  not  fertilized,  or  of  one 
fertilized  by  a  pure  Italian  drone.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  a  native  queen  has  not  an  Italian  drone, 
her  worker  progeny  will  also  be  hybrids,  but  her 
drone  progeny  will  be  without  a  trace  of  the 
Italian.  To  account  for  their  not  being  impreg- 
nated, especially  those  laid  by  a  fertile  queen, 
various  ingenious  theories  have  been  advanced,  but 
which  I  will  not  give  at  present,  but  may  refer  to 
in  a  subsequent  article. 

HINTS  FOR    SEPTEMBER. 

While  bees  are  obtaining  honey  from  nat- 
ural sources  they  are  not  disposed  to  rob,  but 
when  there  are  no  more  iiowers  producing  honey 
weak  stocks  are  in  danger  of  being  robbed  and 
entirely  destroyed.  This  occurs  in  this  section 
in  September ;  even  buckwheat  will  be  cut  off. 
.  Bees  seldom  attack  a  strong  stock,  where  they 
would  be  powerfully  resisted,  and  undoubtedly 
repulsed,  but  they  attack  the  weak,  and  generally 
with  such  force  as  to  overcome  their  feeble  resis- 
tance. 

If  any  stock  is  attacked  by  robbers  its  entrance 
should  be  contracted  to  a  very  small  space  in  order 
to  require  less  bees  to  protect  it.  If  the  attack  of 
the  robbers  is  persistent  and  determined,  the  en- 
trance should  be  contracted  until  only  one  bee  can 
enter  at  a  time,  and  if  they  still  persist  the  hive 
should  be  removed  for  a  few  days  into  a  dark  room. 
If  a  stock  is  once  overpowered,  its  own  bees  will 
join  the  robbers  in  carrying  out  their  stores  and 
leave  with  them  and  probably  join  their  hives. 
No  honey  should  be  left  standing  about,  where 
bees  can  get  it,  as  it  induces  robbing. 

If  any  surplus  honey  boxes  have  not  been  re- 
moved, tliey  should  be  at  once,  as  no  more  surplus 
will  be  stored,  and  all  unsealed  honey  will  be  car- 


ried below,  and  the  sealed  will  become  darker 
every  day  it  remains  in  the  hive.  The  bees  mov. 
ingover  it  stain  the  combs,  and  all  honey,  however 
clear  it  may  be,  will  become  yellow  if  not  removed 
as  soon  as  filled. 

Light  stocks  may  be  fed  the  latter  part  of  tkis 
month,  but  I  would  advise  putting  it  off  until  next 
month.  In  the  October  number  of  the  Farmer 
we  will  speak  in  detail  about  feeding. 

Ulrich  Strickler. 
Cvlumhia,  Aug.  13,  1872. 


THE  MALLARD  DUCK. 

{Anas  hoschas.) 

THE  Mallard,  or  common  wild-duck,  is  per. 
haps  only  exccelled  in  the  exellency  of  its 
flesh  by  the  '•  Canvass-back,"  and  has  a  wider  geo- 
graphical range  than  any  other  species  in  the 
whole  list  of  ducks.  It  is  most  amply  spread 
over  the  whole  of  Europe  and  America,  and  exists 
also  in  Asia,  specimens  from  India  having  been 
received  in  this  country  years  ago.  This  is  par- 
ticularly an  interesting  subject  of  "  duckdom," 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  original  stock  from 
which  our  domestic  ducks  are  derived,  and  al- 
though no  special  date  may  be  assignable  as  to 
when  it  first  became  a  subject  of  domestication, 
yet  it  has  preserved  its  identity  in  a  remarkable 
manner.  Specimens  may  be  obtained  from  wild 
flocks  that  are  in  no  respect  distinguishable  from 
the  common  tenant  of  the  barnyard.  The  wild 
Mallard  nieasui-es  about  two  feet  in  length,  ex- 
pands about  three  feet,  and  weighs  ovei*  two 
pounds  and  a  half.  It  is  found  in  almost  every 
fresh-water  lake  and  river  in  the  United  States, 
during  winter,  but  seldom  visits  the  sea-shore3 
or  salt-marshes.  Although  instances  are  known 
of  some  solitary  pairs  breeding  in  our  latitudes  in 
autumn,  yet  their  summer  residence  is  in  the  north, 
which  is  the  great  nursery  of  the  numerous  species 
which  belong  to  this  and  other  genera  of  the  Ana- 
TiDyE.  The  nest  is  generally  made  in  some  soli- 
tary recess  of  the  breeding  ground,  and  usually 
contains  from  twelve  to  sixteen  eggs.  The  young 
are  led  about  by  the  mother  the  same  as  the  do- 
mestic duck,  but  with  superior  caution.  The  male 
attaches  himseJf  to  a  single  female,  and  is  the 
protector  of  her  and  of  her  feeble  brood.  The 
stamp  of  slavery,  however,  seems  to  be  impressed 
upon  the  domestic  variety,  in  the  dull  and  indiffer- 
ent eye,  and  groveling  gait,  but  still  retaining 
something  of  the  lofty  looks  of  the  wild  duck, 
with  his  spirit  of  independence. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


171 


THE    MALLARD    DUCK. 


Iminonpe  numbers  of  these  clucks  are  captured 
in  various  ways,  or  slaughtered  by  powder  and 
shot,  every  year,  and  furnished  to  the  difiFerent 
markets   of    America  and  Europe,   and  perhaps 


there  are  few  "  duckeries  "  to  be  found  anywhere 
which  do  not  contain  a  large  proportion  of  this 
species.  The  domestic  variety,  for  the  sake  of 
distinction,  is  sometimes  called  Anas  domesticus. 


HORTICULTURAL. 


THE  PUBLIC  GRAPERY— A  NEW  FEA- 
TURE AT  THE  AGRICULTURAL  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

'"T^HE  Washington  Star  of  Monday  says: 
_l  The  gra])ery  of  the  Agricultural  grounds, 
constructed  about  one  year  ago,  under  the  super- 
vision of  Mr.  Wm.  Saunders,  attracts  the  atten- 
tion of  most  visitors  to  these  admirably  kept 
grounds.  It  is  150  feet  in  length,  running  from 
the  center  of  the  main  conservatory  southward,  30 
feet  wide,  with  glass  roof  and  sides,  with  ample 
ventilation  by  means  of  hinged  sashes  in  the  roof 
and  sides,  and  so  constructed  as  to  exclude  the 
rain.  This  building  was  erected  for  the  purpose 
of  cultivating  and  testing  the  most  valuable  va- 
rieties of  foreign  grapes,  with  the  view  of  encour- 
aging this  industry,  which  is  annually  increasing 
tliroughout  the  country.  The  vines  have  been 
planted  some  three  feet  apart  on  the  outside  of 
the  walls,  and  trained  through  openings  in  the 
brick  walls  and  run  up  the  inside  on  wire  trellis 


work  toward  the  center  of  the  roof  and  very  near 
to  the  glass.  The  heating  in  winter  is  by  means 
of  hot  water  circulated  through  iron  pipes  run- 
ning length^ase  the  building.  By  this  arrange- 
ment the  required  temperature  can  always  be  pre- 
served, the  rain  and  dews  excluded,  the  rays  of 
the  sun  unobstructed,  and  the  full  benefit  of  the 
rains  to  the  roots  of  the  vines  secured.  The 
ground  inside  is  kept  covered  with  tan  bark,  and 
stands  of  various  foreign  plants  are  placed  around 
the  interior,  the  whole  forming  a  novel  and  pleas- 
ing scene.  There  are  upward  of  one  hundred 
varieties  now  growing  in  this  room,  and  bearing 
fruit  for  the  first  time.  The  dark  colors  seem  to 
be  arranged  on  one  side  and  the  light  colors  on 
the  other.  Among  the  varieties  grown  are  the 
AFarmora,  Black  Muscat,  Black  Alcante,  Black 
Lomliardy,  Frankendale,  Madame  Prince,  Prince 
Albert,  Lady  Donnr,  Black  Frontigan,  Black 
1  hunburg.  Pope's  Hamburg,  Wilmot's  Hamburg, 
Millhill  Hamburg.  Victoria  Hamburg,  Black 
Barbarosa,  Alexandria,  Royal  Ascot,  Purple  Da- 
mascus, Black  Prince,  Trentham,  Espcriom, 
Madressfield  Court,  Zinfindel,  Tripoli,  Sonora,  Due 


THE  LAJVCASTE'R  FARMER. 


de  Malacoff,  Madame  Prince,  Muscat  Hamburg, 
Grizzly  Frontignan,  Gros  Marde,  Scharges  Hentin, 
Purple  Hamburg,  Bureharts  Prince,  Austrian 
Muscat,  Black  St.  Peters,  Prumvis  Frontignan, 
Early  Smyrna,  Bouker  Muscat,  Chusselas  Du- 
liamel,  Muscatel,  Cannon  Hall  Muscat,  T^Hiite 
Tokay,  Napoleon's  Muscadine,  Sultana,  Deacon's 
Subcrt,  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  Marchioness  Hast- 
ings, Golden  Hamburg,  Early  Malingre,  Chath- 
worth  Tokay,  Rasin  de  Calabra,  Syrian,  Bowoods 
Muscat,Chasselas  Yibert,  Brickland's  Sweetwater, 
Palestine  Muscat,  Chasselas  de  Fontainbleau, 
Muscat  Frouren,  Tottenham  Park  Muscat,  White 
Malasia,  White  Nice,  Chassalas  Nursque,  Reim 
de  Nice,  Santa  Cruz,  Royal  Muscadine,  Gros 
Granier,  and  many  others.  Most  of  these  grapes 
are  very  fine  samples,  well  developed  ;  of  different 
shapes,  size,  and  color,  and  the  combination  of  so 
many  kinds  are  not  often  to  be  seen  together.  The 
whole  arrangement  is  well  conceived  and  carried 
out  in  all  its  parts  with  neatness  and  good  order. 
Immediately  south  of  the  main  department  build- 
are  two  long  rows  of  trellis  work  also  covered  with 
a  great  variety  of  native  grapes,  and  all  in  thrifty 
condition.  These  experiments  will  doubtless  form 
the  subject  of  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  super- 
intendent's next  annual  repoi't. 

[We  commend  the  above  paragraph  to  the 
consideration  of  our  readers  who  possess  pecuniary 
means,  and  who  also  possess  the  public  or  private 
enterprise  to  make  a  liberal  and  judicious  use  of 
them.  There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not 
have  fresh  fruit  at  almost  any  season  of  the  year, 
and  at  a  reasonably  fair  price.  Go  to  any  large 
city — Philadelphia,  New  York,  or  Cincinnati  for 
instance — and  look  in  to  any  of  their  first-class 
fruit  stores,  at  almost  any  season  of  the  year, 
and  your  sight,  at  least,  will  be  gratified  with  the 
view  of  fine,  lucious,  and  fragrant  fruit.  Some  of 
this  fruit  is  raised  in  "hot-houses"  in  this  country, 
but  by  far  the  larger  portion  of'it — especially  the 
grapes — is  imported  from  foreign  countries ;  in- 
deed our  foreign  importation  of  fruit  amounts  to 
tons  annually. 

Of  course  much  of  this  fruit,  at  certain  periods, 
is  too  high  in  price  for  any  poor  man  to  eat,  but 
the  fad  is  very  suggestive.  We  want  fruit  to 
eat,  not  only  in  season,  but  also  out  of  its 
normal  season  and  we  M^ant  it  not  only  to 
be  looked  at,  but  also  cheap  enough  for  a  poor 
man,  or  a  man  in  ordinary  circumstances  of  life, 
to  afford  to  eat.  The  fact  also  suggests,  that  if 
it  pays  to  import  it  from  other  countries,  it  might  ' 
be  made  to  pay  by  raising  it  in  cold  and  hot  i 


graperies,  or  fruit  houses,  in  this  country.  This 
is  a  contingency  that  the  future  loill  develop — 
it  is  only  a  question  of  time.] 

BOTANICAL^ 

BOTANICAL  GARDEN,  D.  0. 

BY    J.  STAUFFER. 

ON  my  late  visit  to  Washington,  D.  C,  I 
devoted  a  few  hours  to  the  inspection  of  the 
grounds  of  the  Agricultural  Department.  Those 
who  have  the  report  for  1870  will  find  a  plan  of 
the  department  grounds,  with  numbers  and  descrip- 
tion of  the  ti'ees,  introduced  in  groups,  from  No.  1 
to  No.  115,  embracing  many  rare  and  beautiful 
trees,  besides  our  common  beech,  poplars,  plantain, 
walnut,  cedars,  the  sequoia,  among  other  rare  and 
beautiful  species  and  genera  of  this  group — many 
of  which  were  new  to  me — and  I  shall  not  attempt 
to  enumerate  them,  as  the  mere  mention  of  the 
botanic  name  will  give  no  idea  of  their  beauty  or 
character  ;  the  plants  must  be  seen  to  be  duly  ap- 
preciated. 

I  was  agreeably  surprised  to  find,  in  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  gardens  and  grouud,an  old  and  highly 
esteemed  friend  and  correspondent,  when  in  Ger- 
mantown,  Pa.,  Mr.  William  Saunders,  a  gentleman 
thoroughly  posted  for  the  situation,  and  the  right 
man  in  the  right  place.  Although  he  had  an  en- 
gagement on  hand,  he  received  me  so  cordially  and 
manifested  his  genial,  courteous  attentions  to  such 
a  degree,  that  I  feel  truly  grateful  to  my  old 
friend. 

I  can  only  say  that  as  a  druggist  for  twenty-five 
years,  and  student  of  the  vegetable  materia  medica 
in  connection  with  botany,  I  was  made  familiar 
with  the  names,  properties  and  products  of  numer- 
ous plants,  many  of  which  I  had  seen  figured  in 
books,  but  never  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  ac- 
tual plant  in  bloom  or  fruit.  This,  to  me,  was  a 
great  treat,  and  I  felt  like  blessing  the  institution 
that  affords  us  such  a  facility. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  coffee,  tea,  spices 
and  perfumes,  dye-woods,  gums  and  many  medici- 
nal plants,  as  sold  in  the  shops,  and  more  or  less 
interesting.  Here  are  plants  from  all  sections  of 
the  globe,  luxurious,  fresh  and  vigorous  as  in  their 
native  clime ;  growing  in  the  extensive  and  well 
regulated  and  well  kept  conservatory  of  the  de- 
partment, such  as,  the  plant  that  yields  the  coffee- 
berry.  Introduced  into  Paris  by  the  Turkish  Am- 
bassador, Soleiman  Aga,  in  1683,  who  caused  it  to 


THE  LAJ^  CASTER  FARMER. 


173 


be  served  to  his  guests  with  all  the  luxurious  minutiaj 
of  Oriental  fashion,  now  so  common.  This  belongs  to 
the  great  family,  Ruhiarecv.,  and  is  therefore  al- 
lied to  Peruvian  bark  and  madder,  also  cultivated 
and  found  in  close  proximity.  Our  native  "  but. 
ton  bush,"  found  in  wet  places  (the  Cephalanthus 
occidentalis),  belong  to  this  order.  The  "  tea- 
plant,"  also  a  native  of  Asia,  resembles  the  culti- 
vated camelias.  Tea-drinking  was  introduced  as 
early  as  1133  among  the  Germans.  Lords  Arun- 
del and  Ossory  are  said  to  have  introduced  it  into 
England  in  1666. 

The  poet  Young  says  of  a  fashionable  beauty 
that, 

Her  two  red  lips  affectcil  zephyr's  blow, 
To  cool  the  Bohea  and  inflame  the  hean  ; 
While  one  white  finger  and  a  thumb  conspire, 
To  lift  the  cup  and  make  the  woi-ld  admire," 

Apart  from  poetry,  I  found  so  much  to  ad" 
mire,  to  gaze  and  wonder  at,  that  I  dare  not  be- 
gin to  particularize  any  further — it  would  fill 
pages — and  yet,  if  I  could  depict  them  as  they 
seemed  to  me,  blending  the  beauties,  uses  and  le- 
gends, or  plain  history,  it  would  still  be  read  with 
interest,  I  doubtnot,  notwithstanding!  would  have 
but  little  to  say,  that  has  not  been  better  said  be- 
fore, in  some  of  the  many  books  we  have. 

I  will  only  add  that  of  the  cocoa  tree,  which 
flourishes  in  the  green  depths  of  the  forests  of 
equatorial  America.  The  nutritive  properties  of 
chocolate  were  so  highly  valued  by  Linnceus,  the 
great  Swedish  botanist,  that  he  christened  it 
"  Theobroma."  or  "a  drink  for  the  gods."  Its  na- 
tive name,  chocolatl,  was  given  to  it  in  Mexico, 
whence  our  common  name,  chocolate.  I  must, 
however,  notice  a  plant  in  full  bloom,  of  which 
Judge  Livingston  has  a  specimen,  but  never  saw 
it  in  bloom.  This  is  truly  magnificent  by  the 
marked  contrast  of  the  bright  crimson  flowers, 
surrounded  by  a  large  purely  white  and  jietaloid 
calyx  or  involucre,  in  dense  clusters,  on  delicate 
branching  peduncles,  bending  over  gracefully. 
This  is  the  Clerodendron  belfouni,  a  stove- 
climber.  • 

On  referring  to  Loudon,  who  gives  the  names  of 
1,5  out  of  27  species  known  growing  in  China,  East 
Indies.  Japan,  New  Holland,  Java,  and  Mauritivis, 
he  says  clerodendrum,  is  derived  from  the  Greek  for 
"  accident"  and  "  tree,"  in  allusion  to  the  various 
effects  in  medicine  by  its  various  species.  The  0. 
fortunatum  is  useful.  The  C.  calami,  to  sum,  and 
infortunatum,  dangerous.  Thus  we  see  species  of 
the  same  genus  differ,  like  children  of  one  father  ; 
one  may  prove  a  Cain,  the  other  an  Abel.  Such  is 
the  mysterious  allotmeut  in  the  mixture  of  good 


and  evil,  of  nutrition  and  poison,  that  makes  food 
for  reflection  and  teaches  lessons  of  caution. 
That  which  we  may  admire  in  the  glossy  skin  and 
beautiful  markings  of  the  tiger,  we  must  take 
heed,  and  keep  out  of  the  reach  of  his  claws. 
Beautiful  he  maybe — but  a  tiger,  still. 

Yes,  we  cannot  divest  ourselves  of  the  sense  of 
an  overpowering  mystery,  that  shrouds  much  that 
comes  to  view,  however  well  informed  by  scientific 
investigation.  A  feeling  akin  to  that  awakened 
in  us  by  the  nursery  tales  of  fairies,  fays,  elves  and 
gnomes,  crowds  back  the  cold  philosophy  which 
sees  nothing  but  so  much  matter,  as  we  gaze  upon 
the  singular  colored  markings  of  the  different 
species  of  callidiums,  begonias,  cissus,  and  a  host 
of  others  remarkable  for  the  wonders  of  their 
foliage  or  diversity  of  their  flowers.  God  has  en- 
dowdd  us  with  the  faculty  of  imagination,  a 
power  of  seeing  with  the  mental  eye  what  is  not 
revealed  to  the  physical  eyes.  We  are  prone  to 
yearn  after  things  of  beauty,  novelty  and  grace, 
while  we  find  many  such  in  nature.  There  is 
nevertheless  a  dream  world — a  wonder-land,  in 
which  we  picture  to  ourselves  scenes  brighter  and 
fairer  than  those  immediately  before  us — dream- 
ing of  worlds  outside  or  inside  of  this  actual 
every-day  world.  This  tendency,  fostered  by  the 
divine  spirit,  is  an  element  of  human  happiness, 
and  the  great  spring  of  human  activity  and  a  stim- 
ulus to  improvement — our  "ideal"  takes  a  higher 
stand  point,  the  scenes  pictured  to  the  mind  are 
of  a  character  more  perfect  than  those  we  are 
familiar  with — so  that  we  are  not  completely  sat- 
isfied with  the  attainments  we  may  have  made  in 
our  present  condition  ;  we  seek  and  yearn  for  that 
enjoyment  of  superior  excellence,  based  on 
scriptural  truth,  sustained  by  our  instincts,  and  ag 
matters  of  faith,  convinces  our  judgment  and 
philosophy,  though  we  may  not  be  able  so  to 
define  it  as  to  lead  to  the  same  joy  or  conviction  in 
the  minds  of  others ;  this  is  the  office  of  a  mysteri- 
ous power  with  which  we  arc  intimately  connected 
— and  one  of  our  chief  aims  should  be  to  under- 
stand, so  far  as  to  be  benefited  by  the  wonderful 
provision,  made  and  blended  with  the  surround- 
ing materials  that  go  together  to  make  up  the 
wonders  of  creation. 

In  contemplating  the  plant  world,  we  cannot 
avoid  moralizing.  We  see  the  mineral  kingdom 
support  the  vegetable.  The  vegetable,  the  ani- 
mal, including  .man,  in  all  his  relations.  The 
spiritual  is  no  less  tangible  nor  certain,  how- 
ever obscured  or  darkened  by  vain  philosophy  or 
stolid  ignorance. 


njf 


THE  L A JT CASTER  FARMER. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


"WHAT  I  KNOW  ABOUT  FARMING." 

"a  /l  ESSRS.  J]DITORS  :— Owing  to  the  impor- 
.L  V  1  tance  of  the  subject,  I  listened  with  much 
interest  to  the  discussion,  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  Agricultural  Society,  of  the  question  as  to 
whether  drilling  tends  to  prevent  winter-killing 
of  wheat ;  and  not  wishing  to  occupy  the  time  of 
Ihose  more  experienced  and  practical  than  myself, 
I  preferred  hearing  the  views  and  experience  of 
others  ratlier  than  expressing  my  o^\^l. 

Having  had  a  limited  experience  in  farming, 
however,  both  before  and  since  drills  came  into 
use,  I  ]iropose,  Avith  your  permission,  and  at  the 
risk  of  being  thought  presumptuous,  to  relate  the 
same  without  occupying  much  of  your  valuable 
space. 

The  result  of  my  experience  is,  that  I  have 
ol>tained  good  crops,  and  have  also  had  great 
failures  by  both  methods  of  sowing  the  seed. 
And,  some  years  since,  having  had  a  field  for 
seeding,  part  of  which  was  stumpy  ground,  it 
afforded  an  opportunity  for  testing  both  methods 
side  by  side.  I  therefore  sowed  that  part  of  the 
field  which  was  stumpy,  broad-cast,  and  the  other 
with  the  drill,  the  result  of  which  showed  no 
appreciable  difference,  either  in  the  quantity  or 
quality  of  the  crops. 

It  is.  therefore,  my  opinion,  that  although  in 
an  ordinary  favorahle  season,  it  makes  but  little  dif- 
ference by  which  method  the  see<i  is  sown,  but  in  a 
season  in  which  winter-killing  is  likely  to  occur,  the 
chances  are  in  favor  of  the  drill.  It  has,  however, 
always  ]>e(Mi  a  (lucstion  to  me.  wiu-thcr,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  advantage  is  not  to  some  extent  coun- 
terbalanced by  placing  the  seed/oo  deep  to  receive 
the  full  benefit  of  that  whicli  was  intended  to 
nourish  the  growth  of  the  plant.  I  am,  therefore, 
constrained  to  say  that,  although  a  "Paul  may 
plant  and  Apollos  water,  God  alone  can  give 
the  increase."  W.  McComsfa'. 


O'i'  being  satisfied,  as  to  the  precise  species 
^  of  the  multitude  of  little  insects  we  received 
from  Mr.  Mehaffey  of  Marietta  in  June  last,  and 
whose  inquiry  we  ap]n-oximately  answered  in  our 
July  number,  we  sent  specimens  of  tliem  to  Dr. 
Fitch,  of  New  York  State,  who  for  many  years 
has  been  observing  and  ilescribing  these  minute 
insects.     The  following  is  the  doctor's  reply: 

FiTi'ii's  ]m)ixt,  Salk?,i,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  7,  1H72. 

S.  S.  Rathvon,  Esq.  Dear  Sir:  Your  letter 
of  June  loth,  misdirected  to  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  as 
appears  from  post-marks   on   the   euvolope,  was 


there  advertised  June  22d,  and  after  lying  some 
weeks  uncalled  for,  was  forwarded  to  Albany,  and 
from  thence  was  dispatched  to  me  hei'e,  just  now 
coming  to  hand. 

On  perusing  what  you  wrote,  I  was  aware  the 
insect  in  question  was.  what  an  examination  of 
the  contents  of  the  quill  also  indicates  it  to  be, 
the  snov,--flea,  Podiwa  nivicola-.  as  I  named  it  in 
1847,  in  my  article  on  "Winter  Insects,"  in  Em- 
mons's Journal  of  Agric.  and  Science,  vol.  v.  p. 
283.  In  the  forests  all  over  our  country,  when  a 
warm,  sunshiny  day  occurs  in  winter,  the  surface 
of  the  snow  is  covered  with  countless  myriads  of 
this  insect,  appearing  like  gunpowder  scattered 
upon  the  snow.  And  when  the  snows  are  melt- 
ing in  the  rills  of  water  which  they  form,  running 
down  the  hillsides,  multitudes  of  these  little  snow- 
fleas  are  carried  along  upon  its  surl'ace,  in  contin- 
uous strings  and  become  collected  in  the  eddies 
and  still  pools,  in  such  quantities  that  they  nuiy 
be  taken  up  in  handFuls.  Their  bodies  are  coat- 
ed over  with  a  pruinrose  powder  resembling  a  fine 
black  dust,  which  keeps  them  from  becoming 
wetted.  By  rubbing  against  each  other  as  they 
are  carried  along  in  a  rivu'et,  some  of  this  powder 
becomes  detached,  and  is  seen  here  and  there  on 
the  surface  of  the  water,  like  a  scum  of  soot  or 
lampblack.  In  the  winter  of  1857  a  severe  snow- 
storm extended  south  into  Virginia,  where  the 
ground  remained  several  days  covered 
with  snow,  until  a  rainy  night  occurred,  and  next 
morning  the  snow  for  miles  was  robbed  of  its 
whiteness  and  appeared  like  a  vast  sheet  of  col- 
ored velvet  spread  over  the  ground,  these  snow 
fleas  being  so  thickly  scattered  upon  it — having 
fallen  (so  the  newspaper  account  sagely  said)with 
the  rain  in  the  night !  And  all  ^iver  our  conti- 
nent from  as  far  south  at  least  as  Virginia,  north 
to  Hudson  Bay,  and  probably  to  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
on  the  melting  of  the  snow  each  year,  these  in- 
sects make  their  appearance  upon  it  in  this  man- 
ner. They  thus  probably  exceed  in  number  the 
sands  upon  the  sea-shore. 

When  I  named  this  insect  I  supposed  it  occur- 
ed  only  in  winter  and  early  spring.  But  since 
then  I  have  noticed  it  in  about  every  month  in 
the  summer  season.  I  doubt  not  it  may  al- 
ways be  found  in  damp  moss  in  the  forests.  In 
mid-summer,  on  breaking  open  a  damp  rotten  log 
in  the  woods,  I  came  upon  a  cavity  which  was 
filled  with  more  than  a  tjuart  of  these  snow  fleas. 
They  cannot  endure  a  dry  a1mos])here.  Hence, 
in  the  instance  you  relate,  they  all  disappeared 
from  the  garden  beds  during  the  middle  and  after 
part  of  the  day,  probably  crawling  down  into  the 
loose  soil,  or  under  straw  or  dead  leaves,  or  into 
any  other  damp  situation.  Of  course  they  will 
do  no  injury  in  the  garden — everything  that  has 
been  observed  indicating  that  the  species  of  this 
family  all  subsist  upon  putrid   vegetable  matter. 

My  reports  since  the  9th  have  only  been  pub- 
lished in  the  Transactions  of  the  State  Agric. 
Society;  as  I  am  about  bringing  them  to  a  close, 
and  design  to  revise  and  re-issue  the  whole,  iu 
probably  two  volumes.         Yours  respectfully, 

Asa  Fitcu. 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER, 


1 


iO 


®he  ^miastcv  ^iitmi^r. 


LANCASTER,  tjEPTEMDER,  1S72. 

S.  S.  RATMVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editors. 

Publisihed  m'>nthly  under  rhe  auspices  of.  tie  /ouiccl- 
TUKAL  andHosticultukal  Sooiett. 

j$l  35  i»cr  Year  in  AUvnucc. 

A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 

AU  commuI■ic^ti()ll8,  to  insuie  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  i  ditors  before  the  2()th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress lla  h^oii  &  !^I  arris.  Lancaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisenieritrt,  sul)Scriptions  and  remittances  to  the 
sddretaof  the  publisher,  J.  B.  IJEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Builduiff,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


We  cannot  refrain  from  the  acknowledgment 
f  a  basket  of  lucious  "  Crawford's  early  peaches," 
from  our  genial  subscriber,  Mr.  C.  0.  llerr,  of 
Blue  Rock.  Such  material  tokens  of  remembrance 
compensate  many  a  lonely  and  weary  hour  in  the 
experience  of  an  editor. 

We  should  certainly  wish  that  his  "  shadow 
might  never  grow  less,"  did  we  not  half  surpect 
he  might  want  it  no  larger  than  it  already  is — 
especially  during  this  sweltering  August  weather 
— if  not  any  less. 

It  is  a  gratification  to  know  that  his  peach 
crop  is  an  abundant  one  this  season,  and  we  sin- 
cerely wish  it  may  continue  so  during  many  com- 
ing years,  for  we  feel  assured  that  he  will  know 
how  to  appreciate  it,  in  the  double  blessing  of 
giving  as  well  as  receiving.  Sen.  Ed. 


MEETING  OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL  AND 
UORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

THE  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  society 
was  held  in  the  Orphans'  Court  room,  Mmi 
day,  August  5th,  1872.  Reading  of  the  niiuutc^s 
of  last  meeting  was  on  motion  dispensed  willi. 

The  reports  on  the  condition  of  crops  being 
asked  for,  Henry  M.  Engle  stated  that  the  corn 
promised  ecpuilly  as  well  as  last  year.  Potatoes  will 
not  (piite  come  up  to  last  year's  crop.  Fruit  of 
all  kinds  is  plenty.  Pears  and  apples  will  be 
good.  While  a  tree  however  buds  well  in  a  sea- 
son, if  it  be  permitted  to  mature  all  it  is  injured 
for  the  following  crop.  The  tobacco  crop  along 
the  Susquehanna  is  as  promising  as  he  has  ever 
seen. 

Mr.  Johnson  Miller,  of  Warwick  township, 
read  the  following  crop  report : 


The  wheat  and  oats  crops  have  been  harvested 
since  my  last  repnrt.  Before  harvest  the  pros- 
pects for  the  former  were  quite  discouraging, 
while  the  latter  was  pretty  fair  ;  now,  since  har- 
vest is  over,  the  farmer  is  next  interested  as  to  the 
yield  per  acre.  This  cainiot  yet  be  ascertained, 
as  little  or  nothing  has  been  threshed  up  to  this 
time  save  the  rakings,  which  yield  very  good,  tak- 
ing (piantity  of  straw  into  consideration;  so  that 
there  will  be  a  good  yield  according  to  tl;e  bulk 
of  straw  in  the  barns ;  which  is,  however,  only 
about  half  as  nmch  as  in  former  years.  Corn 
looks  very  promising  at  this  time ;  with  the  re- 
cent good  showers  we  have  had,  it  is  growing  very 
fast,  and  the  prospect  for  a  large  crop  has  never 
been  more  encouraging  ;  but  one  great  mistake  1 
find  with  farmers  is  planting  too  thick,  which  will 
only  result  in  small  nubbins  and  a  short  crop,  with 
all  such  farmers  as  do  not  thin  their  cerii  to  two 
stalks  to  a  hill.  Pasture  is  more  plenty  than  some 
time  ago  ;  the  late  rains  will  keep  up  a  fine  sup- 
ply of  grass  for  cattle,  so  that  there  wi'l  -be  no 
coniplaining  for  aome  time.  Tobacco  has  been  a 
little  backward,  but  it  is  growing  finely  now,  and 
will  be  an  average  crop ;  but  patclies  look  very 
uneven,  owing  to  the  ravages  of  the  cut  worm  in 
the  spring.  Consequently,  late  planting.  Pota- 
toes will  be  rather  a  short  crop  ;  the  early  planted 
were  too  far  advanced  when  the  late  rains  came, 
while  the  late  planted  will  this  year  be  a  better 
crop  with  us  than  if  we  had  planted  early.  The 
stalks  are  green,  and  will  now  produce  a  good 
crop.  Fruit  is  promising  finely  ;  apples  are  plenty 
and  of  good  (juality,  while  peaches  are  an  average  ; 
so  v/ith  other  things  in  fruit,  farmers  will  go  into 
winter  quarters  with  cellars  full  of  apples  and 
cider  barrels,  and  closets  full  of  apple  butter  aiul 
fruit  cans  ;  a  happy  season  is  at  liand,  my  friends, 
in  old  Warwick. 

i^L  D.  Kendig — In  Manor  the  wheat  crop  was 
small  but  of  good  tpiality.  Oats  average.  Corn 
looks  very  promising.  Tobacco  also  indicates  a 
"•ood  crop.     The  fruit  prospect  is  very  fir.e. 

Levi  S.  Reist  thought  the  wheat  was  even 
poorer  than  it  at  first  was  estimated. 

Henry  M.  Engle  diflfercd  with  this  estimate  of 
Mr.  Reist,  as  he  thought  the  wheat  crop  was  bet- 
ter than  had  been  at  first  believed.  The  early 
ripening  wheat  was  good;  that  getting  ripe  later, 
not  so. 

H.  K.  Stoner  did  not  think  that  wheat  turned 
out  as  well  as  expected.  It  did  not  average  over 
six  bushels  per  acre.  Potatoes  are  very  good. 
Some  farmers  are  already  taking   up   their    crop. 


176 


TEE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


Corn  looks  very  fine,  as  fine  as  he  has  ever  seen. 
Fruit  has  a  splendid  appearance,  and  presents  a 
better  prospect  than  has  been  seen  for  years.  Mr. 
Stoner  here  detailed  his  plan  of  growing  grapes 
under  glass,  and  stated  that  his  grape  house  cost 
him  about  $100,  and  this  year  he  expected  to  get 
200  ft)S  of  grapes  under  glass. 

D.  L.  Resh  and  A.  C.  Hostetter,  agreed  in  the 
main  in  their  report  of  the  condition  of  the  crops. 

S.  S.  Rathvon  submitted  a  supplementary  state- 
ment on  the  Colorado  potato  beetle,  to  form  a 
part  of  that  already  published  in  the  Daily  Ex- 
press and  the  Farmer. 

H.  M.  Engle  deems  it  very  important  to  be  upon 
the  lookout  as  regards  the  potato  beetle.  It  has 
already  appeared  in  one  or  two  sections  of  our 
county,  and  if  the  most  determined  efforts  be  not 
made  these  enemies  will  obtain  a  lodgment  in  our 
midst,  out  of  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  banish 
them.  Indeed  entomology  is  one  of  the  subjects 
that  it  will  become  necsssary  for  our  farmers  to 
study.  We  feel  almost  astonished  of  ourselves 
when  we  come  to  compare  our  fruit  with  that  of 
the  new  States. 

Israel  Landis  is  not  sure  that  even  any  united 
effort  upon  the  part  of  our  farmers  could  retard 
the  progress  of  insects.  We  would  greatly  re- 
joice to  see  if  something  could  be  done  to  eradi- 
cate noxious  weeds  and  insects.  He  would  very 
willingly  co-operate  to  that  end,  if  united  effort 
could  be  inaugurated. 

Henry  M.  Engle  thought  that  law  if  executed 
would  secure  the  destruction  weeds.  As  regards 
the  midge  it  is  very  difficult  to  baffle,  but  in  the 
Tennessee  Valley  by  planting  a  new  kind  of  wheat 
they  were  able  to  get  rid  of  them,  and  then  the 
old  kind  of  wheat  could  be  introduced. 

S.  S.  Eatlivou  is  not  sure  that  insects  can  be  de- 
stroyed, nor  is  he  sure  that  it  would  be  desirable 
to  allow  the  friends  and  enemies  of  our  crops  to 
be  in  an  equipoiso.  In  that  case  the  enemies  will 
not  be  destructive. 

Johnston  Miller  submitted  a  question  addressed 
him  by  the  Agricultural  Department.  1st.  Does 
drilling  tend  to  prevent  winter-kdling  of  tvheat  ? 

Israel  Landis  thought  drilling  rather  the  best 
method  of  putting  in  wheat. 

Henry  M.  Engle  remarked  that  many  of  the 
most  experienced  farmers  thought  broad-casting 
the  best. 

D.  L.  Resh  thinks  it  rather  concurred  in  by  the 
best  farmers  that  drilling  in  wheat  the  best 
method. 

Levi  S.  Reist  is  of  the  opinion  that  more  wheat 


can  be  grown  by  broad-casting  than  by  drilling. 
Particularly  is  this  the  case  upon  upland. 

H.  M.  Engle  is  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that 
it  is  less  liable  to  freeze  out  when  drilled  in,  than 
when  broad-casted.  There  is  no  good  philosophy 
to  sustain  broad-casting. 

H.  K.  Stoner  remarked  that  in  the  olden  times 
farmers  plowed  their  wheat  in,  and  that  was  put- 
ting it  deeper  than  the  drill  covers  it,  yet  he 
thinks  it  should  not  be  covered  too  deep.  But 
when  plowed  in  farmers  raised  good  crops.  The 
proper  plan  is  to  pulverise  the  ground  well,  then 
roll  it  and  afterwards  drill  in  the  wheat,  in  this 
way  the  best  crops  can  be  raised. 

Alexander  H.  Hood,  Esq.,  submitted  a  few  re- 
marks upon  the  matter  of  winter-killing  of  wheat, 
and  from  the  causes  which  produce  this,  drilling- 
was  surely  the  best  plan  to  prevent  this.  He  then 
presented  to  the  President  of  the  society  two 
plum  seeds  which  he  had  received  from  the  Judge 
of  Wyoming  territory,  who  had  written  to  him 
that  they  were  the  best  he  had  ever  tasted. 

H.  M.  Engle  altogether  favors  early  cutting  of 
wheat. 

Dr.  P.  W.  Hiestand  favored  the  sowing  of 
wheat  which  was  two  or  three  years  of  age.  Old 
seed  (the  same  of  tobacco  seed)  brings  much  bet- 
ter crops. 

H.  M.  Engle  concurred  with  Dr.  Hiestand  as 
regards  the  sowing  of  old  wheat.  But  it  must  be 
guarded  against  to  prevent  the  wheat  (intended 
for  seed)  from  heating  in  the  gi-ound. 

On  motion  Alex.  H.  Hood,  Esq.,  Benjamin  H. 
Longnecker  and  Peter  Summy  were  elected  mem- 
bers of  the  society. 

Dr.  Elam  Hertz,  of  Ephrata,  was  named  as  es- 
sayist for  the  next  meeting  of  the  society. 

H.  K.  Stoner  stated  that  walnut  water  juice 
rubbed  upon  a  horse  will  prevent  flies  from  biting 

him. 

Milton  Eshelman  does  not  think  the  juice  will 
answer  the  purpose,  for  as  soon  as  it  gets  dry,  the 
flies  again  trouble  the  horses  as  before. 

Society,  on  motion,  adjourned. 


ANSWERS  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 

Mr.  P.  S.  Stevens,  Lancaster  county.  The 
"worm  with  many  legs,"  which  you  found  among 
"rotten  saw  dust,"  and  sent  us  by  Mr.  J.  S.  H.,  is 
a  large  species  of  Millipede  (the  largest  we  have 
of  this  kind  in  Lancaster  county),  and  is  scienti 
fically  named  Sqiroleolus  marginatus.    This  ani- 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


177 


mal  is  generally  found  in  such  places,  and  feeds 
upon  rotten  wood  and  funqi.  Although  some  of 
the  smaller  species  of  the  same  family,  are  some- 
times found  in  gardens  feeding  on  the  roots  of 
lettuce,  radishes,  beets,  turnips,  cucumbers,  and 
strawberries,  yet  we  have  never  seen  this  species 
eating  anything  but  rotten  wood,  and  occasionally 
boletus,  a  large  kind  of  fungus,  in  its  soft  state. 

Mr.  A.  R.,  Columbia,  Pa.  On  a  more  thorough 
examination  we  find  that  the  large  '"Hawk-Moth" 
you  brought  us,  is  a  large  specimen  of  Si)hinx 
[Macrosilla)  Carolina,  and  not  a  quinque  macul- 
ata,  as  we  first  supposed.  It  is  the  parent  of  the 
large  green  worm,  with  a  dorsal  horn  or  spine 
near  the  hinder  end,  that  is  found  indiscriminately 
on  the  tobacco,  the  tomato  and  other  solanaceous 
plants. 

Mr.  U.  S.,  Columbia,  Pa.  The  large  gray 
insect,  with  the  stout  jaws  and  ample  wings,  is  a 
female  specimen  of  the  "Horned  Corydalis"  ( Cory- 
dalis  cornutus).  The  larva,  a  long  dark  alli- 
gator-like grub,  lives  in  the  water,  comes  out  and 
changes  to  &  pupa  in  an  earth  cavity  under  some 
shelter,  in  the  spring,  from  which  the  mature  in- 
sect issues  in  a  few  days.  As  a  fly  it  is  entirely 
harmless. 

Mr.  A.  S.  K.,  Manheim,  hop.  The  long  slender 
green  insect  you  brought  us  is  a  female  specimen 
of  the  "specter  insect"  or  "walking  twig,"  {spec- 
trum femoratum).  It  belongs  to  the  same  order 
as  do  the  grasshoppers,  the  cricket,  roaches,  etc., 
and  is  a  vegetable  feeder,  but  so  far  as  we  know 
it  has  not  attacked  domestic  vegetation.  We 
have  found  it  on  the  locust  and  the  sassafras  in  the 
country. 

Mr.  A.  B.  S.,  Frederick  street,  Lancaster,  Pa. 
The  beautiful  "Hawk-Moth  "  which  you,  in  com- 
pany with  Squire  F.  brought  us,  some  days  ago, 
is  a  very  perfect  specimen  of  Philampelis  Satelitia, 
or  "  Satellite-moth."  The  larva  from  which  this 
moth  is  bred,  is  a  large  velvety  greenish,  and  then 
brownish,  worm,  which  may  often  be  found  on 
grape  vines,  upon  the  leaves  of  which  it  feeds.  It 
may  be  distinguished  from  other  similar  worms,  by 
having  a  conspicuous  eye-like  spot  on  the  back, 
near  the  hind  end  of  the  body.  It  is  a  great 
feeder,  and  many  of  them  would  soon  destroy  the 
foliage  of  the  grape  vines.  But  it  has  many 
parasitic  enemies,  and  therefore  docs  not  multiply 
very  fast.  This  moth  must  have  evolved  from  the 
pupa  state,  the  night  before  we  received  it,  and 
probably  had  never  made  an  extended  flight — 
twenty-four  hours  ihereafter,it  might  not  have  been 


so  perfect — and  in  the  absence  of  ether  or  chloro. 
form,  we  were  a  little  perplexed  about  how  to  kill 
it,  without  destroying  its  beauty,  or  marring  its 
form.  At  length  we  thought  of  ammonia ;  and 
by  inverting  a  glass  cup  over  it,  and  placing  be- 
neath it  a  peice  of  sponge  saturated  with  strong 
volatile  ammonia,  we  succeeded  more  completely 
than  we  had  ever  succeeded  before  in  killing  an 
insect  quickly  and  effectually  ;  leaving  it  perfect- 
ly relaxed,  and  in  fine  condition  for  "  setting," 
and  we  make  this  record  for  the  benefit  of  those 
interested,  although  it  may  be  nothing  new. 

The  beautiful  little  spider,  with  a  spiney,  angu- 
lar abdomen,  left  us  by  an  intelligent  farmer,  but 
whose  record  and  specimen  we  have  unfortunately 
lost  or  mislaid,  is  doubtless  a  species  of  Theridioii 
perhaps  T.  trigonum—awA  although  not  rare,  is 
still  not  generally  common. 

It  forms  a  little  compact  pear-shaped  cocoon, 
which  is  found  sometimes  in  clusters  of  half  a 
dozen — more  or  less — suspended  by  a  tolerably 
long  and  slender  stem,  from  the  branches  of  trees 
and  shrubbery.  Mr.  J.  B.,  E.  of  "  Beaver  Mead- 
dows,"  once  brought  us  such  a  cluster. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 


u 


CURIOUS  THINGS  TO  KNOW. 


ESIDES  the  fact  that  ice  is  lighter  than 


J^  water,  there  is  another  curious  thing  about 
it  which  perhaps  persons  do  not  know  ;  namely,  its 
purity.  A  lump  of  ice  melted  will  always  become 
purely  distilled  water.  When  early  navigators  of 
{he  Arctic  seas  got  out  of  water,  they  melted 
fragments  of  those  vast  mountains  of  ice  called 
icebergs,  and  were  astonished  to  find  that  they 
yielded  only  fresh  water.  They  thought  the  ice 
was  frozen  salt  water,  not  knowing  that  the  ice- 
bergs were  formed  on  laud,  and  in  some  way 
launched  into  the  sea.  The  fact  is,  the  freezing 
turns  out  of  it  all  that  is  not  water,  such  as  salt, 
air,  coloring  matter,  and  all  other  impurities. 
Frozen  sea  water  makes  fresh  ice.  If  you  freeze 
a  basin  of  indigo  water  it  will  make  ice  as  pure  as 
that  made  from  distilled  water.  When  the  cold 
is  very  sudden,  these  foreign  matters  have  no  time 
to  escape  either  by  rising  or  sinking,  and  are  thus 
entangled  in  ice,  but  don't  form  any  part  of  it." 

Last  winter  the  streams  were  frozen  over  very 
early  in  the  season,  and  at  a  very  low  stage  of 
the  water,  and  they  continued  thus  ico-bound  for 
a  period  of  more  than  one  huiulred  days,  the 
water  becoming  lower,  and  the  ice  freezing  thicker. 


178 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


Toward  the  last  third  of  this  time,  diarrhea  of  a 
eevcre  character  prevailed  at  Harrisburg,  Co- 
lumbia, Lancaster,  and  various  other  places, 
where  the  inhabitants  used  water  pumped  out  of 
the  streams ;  and  the  question  was  asked  by  many 
— "  What  effect  does  long  continued  ice  coverings 
on  streams  have  upon  the  quality  of  the  ivater?" 
Notwithstanding  examinations  were  made  at  va- 
rious places,  and  committees  reported  that  the 
water  was  pure,  and  therefore  not  the  cause  of  the 
disease,  still  there  is  a  probability  that  it  may 
have  been  the  cause  after  all,  but,  that  it  was  not 
the  fault  of  municipal  neglect,  in  whose  behalf 
these  reports  were  made.  Under  the  organic  law 
of  fceezing,  if  the  half,  the  two-thirds,  or  the 
three-quarters  of  the  water  in  the  stream  was  fro- 
zen into  ice,  all  the  impurities  in  the  same  would 
be  concentrated  in  the  remaining  unfrozen  por- 
tion. This  may  also  occur  during  a  summer 
drought,  when  the  streams  become  low  through 
evaporation  and  non-supply. 

This  would  necessarily  affect  the  quality  of  the 
water,  and  we  are  convinced  that  in  our  individ- 
ual case,  and  others  of  which  we  were  cognizant 
Inst  winter,  it  laas  the  case.  It  is  altogether  a 
question  of  quantity.  One  pill  may  not  have  a 
laxative  effect  upon  the  bowels,  two  may  barely 
move  them,  but  when  three  or  four  are  taken,  the 
effect  may  be  violent.  It  is  just  so  that  water 
may  be  charged  with  matter  that  produces  diar- 
rhea, and  the  more  of  it  that  is  present,  the  greater 
will  be  the  liability  to  the  disease.  The  "  Curi- 
ous tilings  to  K710W,"  which  we  clip  from  a  con- 
temporary journal,  illustrates  the  theory  of  freez- 
ing, in  its  effects  upon  the  residue  not  frozen. 
When  during  an  intense  cold  season  the  water 
freezes  at  a  very  low  stage,  it  would  be  safe  to 
cut  and  melt  the  ice,  instead  of  using  the  unfro- 
zen water  beneath  it.  Of  course,when  the  streams 
are  full  and  have  a  rapid  under-current,  which 
carry  off  the  impurity  of  the  water,  the  case 
would  be  different.  Ice,  is  water  solidified  or 
crystallized  by  congealation,  and  any  liquid  sub- 
Btance  crystallized — orang mineral,  acid,  or  alkali 
crystallized — is  purer  than  that  in  a  fluid  or 
massive  state.  Unless  the  solidifying  or  crys- 
tallizing process  is  sudden,  it  rejects  all  foreign  im- 
purities. 


THE  AMERICAN  PRUNE. 

MR.  WM.  MILLAR,  of  Lancaster  city,  has  a 
tree   growing  upon  his   premises,  at  No. 
20  North  Queen  street,  which  has,  by  a  species 


of  common  consent,  been  recognized  under  the 
name  of  "American  prune" — Prunus  Americanas 
— and  for  the  last  three  years  has  borne  very  good 
crops.  The  tree  is  nine  years  old,  and  about 
fifteen  feet  high;  has  a  very  clean  smooth,  dark, 
chestnut-colored  bark,  and  a  moderately  bushy 
form.  The  leaves  are  very  dark  green,  large, 
smooth,  and  of  the  usual  form.  The  fruit  is  a 
uniform  purple,  darkly  colored ;  the  skin  smooth, 
thin,  strong,  and  easily  separated  from  the  pulp, 
which  is  a  greenish  yellow,  and  very  lucious.  sweet, 
and  juicy.  Some  of  the  fruit  which  we  measured 
would  average  five  and  a  half  inches  in  their 
transverse  circumference,  and  over  five  and  three 
quarter  inches  in  their  lateral  circumference,  and 
in  weight  averaged  two  ounces.  The  seed  is  very 
free,  a  flattened  pear-shape,  over  an  inch  long,  and 
nearly  three-  quarters  of  an  inch  wide.  The  stem 
is  medium,  and  the  stem  cavity  almost  obsolete. 
Every  intelligent  German  who  sees  and  tastes  the 
fruit  pronounces  it  a  prune,  whose  original  must 
have  been  the  large  G-ermau  prune.  The  present 
season  it  bore  about  nine  hundred  prunes  and 
ripened  about  five  hundred.  We  never  saw  fruit 
so  clean  and  free  from  the  curculio  as  that  which 
ripened  this  season  on  this  tree.  The  rapid 
growth  in  many  specimens,  threw  the  egg  of  the 
insect  out  on  the  surface  before  it  developed  into 
a  worm.  It  has  been  said  that  if  the  German 
prune  was  transferred  to  American  soil,  it  would 
be  free  from  curculio.  This  is  a  mistake.  The 
late  Mrs.  Fisher,  of  Middle  street,  in  Lancaster, 
had  a  tree  brought  from  Germany  twenty  years 
ago,  which  bore  prunes  evei-y  year,  and  never 
matured  a  single  one  until  the  present  season;  all 
were  destroyed  by  the  curculio  and  the  rot.  The 
history  of  these  two  trees ,  and  reports  from  other 
localities,  seem  to  indicate  that  at  some  future 
period,  perhaps  still  remote,  we  may  expect  an 
immunity  from  the  attacks  of  this  insect  pest. 


Treatment  of  Feloxs. — A  felon  is  easily  known 
by  a  sharp  pain  near  the  bone.  Fill  a  pint  tin 
cup  one-fourth  full  of  wood  ashes,  then  fill  the  cup 
u]i  with  warm  water  and  place  it  in  the  stove. 
Hold  the  finger  or  the  affected  part  in  the  cup 
until  the  pain  is  removed.  The  contents  of  the 
cup  must  be  kept  as  hot  as  the  hand  can  bear.  If 
the  pain  returns  repeat  the  process.  In  the  more 
advanced  stages  a  poultice  made  of  slippery-elm, 
flaxseed,  or  even  bread  and  milk,  is  good  ;  but  the 
best  thing  to  draw  a  felon  to  a  head  is  to  apply  a 
salve  made  of  the  yolk  of  an  egg  thickened  with 
wheat  flour. — Exchange. 


THE  LA^rCASTER  FARMER. 


179 


THE  USE  OF  FRUIT. 

WE  think,  as  a  general  rule,  fruits  are  best 
adapted  to  people  who  reside  where  they 
grow.  The  belt  of  country  in  which  the  cherry, 
strawberry  and  apple  flourish  best  is  the  one  in 
which  they  should  chiefly  be  eaten.  The  country 
of  the  grape,  peach,  apricot  and  plum  is  the  one 
where  these  products  should  be  used.  So  of  the 
orauge,*lemon,  pineapple  and  banana.  Oranges, 
pineapples  and  bananas  are  rarely  fit  to  eat  as 
far  north  as  Richmond,  Va.,  as  they  must  be 
picked  before  they  are  ripe  and  transported  to 
their  place  of  consumption.  And  they  become 
wilted  by  heat  and  sweating,  and  often  become 
partially  decayed  or  soured  before  they  are  eaten. 
Fruits,  if  properly  canned,  could  be.  carried  north 
or  south  and  i"each  the  eater  in  a  fresh  and  nor- 
mal condition.  Pears,  it  is  claimed,  are  nowhere 
better  in  America  than  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 
In  California  they  grow  to  be  very  large,  but,  it 
is  said,  lack  the  fine  flavor  of  eastern  fruit.  New 
England  and  Northern  New  York  apples  are  finer 
than  they  are  in  the  south-west,  not  so  large,  but 
of  finer  texture  and  richer  flavor.  The  Rhode 
Island  greening  apple  in  New  England  will  keep 
nicely  six  months  from  the  time  of  picking.  In 
the  south  and  west  the  same  variety  grows  larger, 
but  does  not  keep  nearly  so  long. — Science  of 
Health. 


DRY  EARTH  AND  POULTRY  HOUSES. 

THE  employment  of  dry  pulverized  earth  as 
the  means  of  deodorizing  poultry  houses, 
appears  to  be  worthy  of  more  attention  than  it 
has  hitherto  received.  The  fact  that  from  four  to 
five  hundred  fowls  can,  by  this  aid,  be  kept  in  one 
building  for  months  together,  with  less  smell  than 
is  to  be  found  in  any  ordinary  building  capable  of 
accommodating  a  dozen  chickens,  is  very  conclu- 
sive as  to  its  efficacy.  In  the  buildiug  of  the 
National  Company,  where  this  fact  has  been  as- 
certained, seven  or  eight  fowls  are  kept  in  each 
compartment  twelve  by  three,  and  yet  there  is  no 
smell  or  trace  of  moisture.  Mr.  Greylin  informed 
us  that  if  a  larger  numbtir  are  put  into  each  run, 
the  ground  becomes  moist,  ceases  to  deodorize, 
and  the  birds  at  once  become  unhealthy.  It  should 
bg  stated  that  the  droppings  that  fall  from  the 
petches  during  the  night  are  removed  from  the 
runs  each  morning,  and  the  dry  earth  only  re- 
ceives t^e  manure  that  falls  during  the  day ;  this 
has  its  moisture  absorbed  so  speedily  by  the  earth 


that  it  at  once  becomes  pulverized,  mixed  with 
the  soil,  and  ceases  to  smell.  So  powerful  is  the 
deodorizing  effects  of  the  earth  that  it  does  not 
require  to  be  renewed  in  the  runs  for  many  weeks 
together. 


Daniel  Webster's  Old  Home. — Edmund 
C.  Stedman  has  visited  the  old  home  of  Daniel 
"Webster,  at  Marshfield,  and  thus  describes 
some  of  its  features  in  a  letter  to  the  Tri- 
bune :  "  The  mansion — a  long,  low,  cross-roofed, 
wooden  pile — has  been  so  often  pictured  that  I 
need  only  speak  of  it  owing  its  attractiveness  to 
an  appearance  of  having  grown,  foot  after  foot,  by 
alteration  from  some  old  building,  and  of  not  hav- 
ing been  made  bi'an  new  and  at  once,  to  the  long 
piazzas,  where  roses  and  the  Virginia  creepe  r . 
wander  at  will,  to  its  peaked  gables ;  lastly,  to 
the  indefinite  feeling  one  derives  from  it,  that 
here  has  been  a  sturdy  presence  of  manho  od  in 
the  past,  now  gone  forever,  but  leaving  its  latent 
individuality  stamped  upon  the  less  transitory  in  - 
animate  objects  which  surrounded  it.  '  We  are 
what  suns  and  winds  and  waters  make  us ; '  but 
here  nature  is  as  Webster  transformed  it.  The 
house  grew  with  him ;  the  trees  except  '  tlie 
white  apple  tree'  and  the  famous  elm,  were  plant 
ed  by  his  hand ;  and  the  rolling  acres,  the  unbroken 
lawn,  are  the  impress  and  the  reflection  of  the  man 
himself.  The  elm,  under  which  Mr.  Webster 
used  to  place  his  chair,  and  was  painted  sitting  in 
country  farmer's  garb,  differs  from  any  .specimen 
of  New  England's  royal  tree  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  The  trunk  is  of  the  largest,  but  the  limbs 
shoot  out  not  far  above  the  ground,  and  whether 
by  art  or  nature,  are  trained  to  cover  a  circle  of 
100  feet  in  diameter,  drooping  low,  so  that  the 
tree  casts  a  shadow  beyond  that  of  any  Windsor 
oak,  and  enhouses  you  like  a  banyan.  The  great 
limb  has  yielded  to  a  recent  blast,  and  touches 
the  ground  with  leaves  still  green  upon  it. .  As  if 
a  servitor,  smitten  in  defense  of  the  mansion,  and 
sunk  his  wounded  limb  to  earth,  the  tree  still 
holds  its  head  proudly,  and  wards  off  the  tempest' 
onset  with  unharmed  branches." 


Fruit  in  Tin  Cans. — The  Boston  Journal  of 
Chemistry  says :  The  impression  prevails  among 
those  who  use  freely  fruits  which  are  put  up  in 
tin  cans  that  they  are  injured  thereby,  and  this 
impression  is  in  many  cases  correct.  We  have 
long  contended  that  all  preserved  fruits  and  veg- 
etables should  be  stored  in  glass,  and  that  no  metal 
of  any  kind  should  be  brought  in  contact  with 


180 


THE  LAJy'CASTER  FARMER. 


them.  All  fruits  contain  more  or  less  of  vegeta- 
ble acids,  and  others  that  are  highly  corrosive,  are 
often  formed  by  fermentation,  and  the  metalic 
vessels  are  considerably  acted  upon.  The  cans 
are  held  together  by  solder,  an  alloy  into  which 
lead  enters  largely.  This  metal  is  easily  corroded 
by  vegetable  acids,  and  ])oisonous  salts  are  formed. 
Undoubtedly,  many  persons  are  greatly  injured  by 
eating  tomatoes,  peaches,  etc.,  which  have  been 
placed  in  tin  cans,  and  we  advise  all  our  friends 
who  contemplate  putting  up  fruits  the  present 
summer  to  use  only  glass  jars  for  the  purpose. 


SCIENTIFIC. 


AMERICAN  MONSTERS. 

-'"I^^HERE  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  this 
A  continent  when  elephants  and  mammoths 
were  numerous.  Which  of  the  two  lived  first 
cannot  be  determined.  But  that  the  mammoth 
far  exceeded  in  stature  that  of  the  elephant  is 
abundantly  proved  by  their  skeletons.  They  ap- 
pear to  have  had  a  range  from  the  regions  of  the 
Ohio  river,  and  plains  of  the  Mississippi  and  Mis- 
souri rivers,  quite  across  the  great  mountain 
ranges  to  the  borders  of  the  Pacific,  bounded 
northerly  in  latitude  about  forty-seven. 

Probably  the  Rocky  Mountains  had  not  their 
present  elevation  when  the  mammoth  roamed  over 
the  vast  extent  of  country  in  which  their  bones 
are  found.  In  1870,  a  tusk  of  one  of  those  mon- 
ster quadrupeds  was  found  in  a  gorge  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  mountains,  nearly  eight  feet  in  length, 
and  almost  a  foot  in  diameter  at  the  root.  It  was 
exhibited  at  San  Francisco. 

How  shall  the  problems  of  the  day  of  extermi- 
nation be  solved?  They  evidently  disappeared 
suddenly,  but  they  must  have  been  numerous, 
living  to  a  great  age,  since  their  teeth  indicate 
long  service.  Ohio  and  Illinois  were  favorite 
haunts,  no  doubt,  from  the  number  discovered  of 
their  remains  constantly  brought  to  light  as  bogs 
and  low  lands,  their  tombs,  are  explored. 


Signals. — The  following  particulars  of  railroad 
signals  will  be  interesting :  One  whistle  of  the  lo- 
comotive means  "down  brakes;"  two  whistles, 
"off  brakes;"  three  whistles,  "back  up;"  a 
•continued  succession  of  short  whistles  is  the  cat- 
tle alarm.  The  conductor's  signal,  given  by  a 
sweeping  parting  of  the  hands  on  a  level  with 
the  eyes,  means  "  go  ahead."     A  downward  mo- 


tion of  the  hand,  "  stop."  A  beckoning  motion, 
"  to  back."  A  lantern  raised  and  lowered  vertL 
cally,  signals  starting ;  swung  at  right  angles  or 
across  the  track,  to  stop ;  swung  in  a  circle,  to 
back.  A  red  flag  waved  on  the  track  is  a  signal 
of  danger ;  hoisted  at  a  station  is  a  signal  for 
stopping  ;  stuck  up  by  the  roadside  is  a  signal  of 
danger  on  the  track  ahead ;  carried  unfurled  on 
an  engine  is  a  signal  that  another  engine  or  train 
is  on  its  way. 

Something  Worth  Knowing. — It  is  worth  while 
to  know  how  to  stop  bleeding  from  the  nose 
when  it  becomes  excessive.  If  the  finger  is 
pressed  firmly  upon  the  little  artery  which 
supplies  blood  to  the  side  of  the  face  affectedi 
the  result  is  accomplished.  Two  small  arter- 
ies, branching  up  from  the  main  arteries  on 
each  side  of  the  neck,  and  passing  over  the 
outside  of  the  jawbone,  supply  the  face  with  blood. 
If  the  nose  bleeds  from  the  right  nostril,  for  ex- 
ample, pass  the  finger  along  the  edge  of  the  right 
jaM'.till  the  beating  of  the  artery  is  felt.  Press 
hard  upon  it,  and  the  bleeding  will  cease.  Con- 
tinue Ihe  pressure  five  minutes,  until^the  ruptured 
vessel  in  the  nose  has  time  to  eontract. — Knoxville 
Chronicle. 


Cold  and  Germination.  —  M.  Duclaux,  of 
France,  is  engaged  in  a  series  of  experiments  1>o 
demonstrate  that  cold  is  indispensable  to  germina- 
tion. He  placed  two  portions  of  seed  in  an  ice 
house  for  one  and  two  months,  respectively;  a 
third  portion  was  deposited  in  an  apartment 
moderately  heated.  Cold  is  known  to  be  essential 
to  the  silk-worm's  eggs.  Well,  the  three  lots  were 
placed  in  circumstances  favorable  to  germination  . 
the  third  lot  showed  no  signs  of  life  ;  the  others 
sprouted ;  the  seeds  enclosed  for  two  months  in 
the  ice  house  without  an  exception,  those  for  one 
month  but  imperfectly. 


Remember  These  Two  Things. — Let  your 
friend  in,  and  let  your  enemy  out.  In  other 
words,  take  measures  to  keep  pure  air  con- 
stantly flowing  into  your  house  in  every  room  ; 
and  give  the  impure  air  a  chance  to  escape 
through  the  fire-place  or  open  windows,  or  other 
means  of  egress.  Multitudes  of  people  are  poison- 
ing themselves  by  breathing  impure  air  in  crowded 
and  illy-ventilated  houses,  when  a  little  effort 
would  remedy  the  evil.  To  every  one  living  in  a 
house  we  say  :  Let  your  friend  in,  and  be  sure  to 
get  your  enemy  out 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER, 


181 


THE  CORN-COB  HUMBUG. 

CARBON,  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  combined  in 
certain  proportions,  make  a  good  food  for 
producing  fat,  but  the  fact  that  a  substance  con- 
tains either  or  all  of  those  elements  does  not  make 
it  a  valuable  food.  Add  nitrogen  to  the  above 
elements,  and  we  have  the  constituents  of  the  nu- 
tritious foods.  It  is  not  the  fact  that  an  article 
contains  these  elements,  which  makes  it  a  valuable 
food,  but  the  proportions  and  their  mode  of  com- 
bination. Common  rosin,  for  instance,  contains 
carbon,  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  yet  but  a  few 
farmers  would  care  to  adopt  it  as  a  diet  for  their 
cattle.  Yet  there  are  uses  to  which  rosin  is  put 
for  which  wheat  or  corn  would  be  of  no  value. 
Chemistry  presents  many  curious  contradictions ; 
there  are  substances,  which  by  analysis  contain 
exactly  the  same  elements  in  the  same  proportions, 
which  are  utterly  dissimilar.  Therefore,  because 
a  theoretical  scientist  finds  that  straw  or  corn 
cobs,  or  any  other  such  stuff,  contains  a  certain 
amount  of  carbon,  nitrogen  and  oxygen,  he  im- 
mediately publishes  to  the  world  that  they  are 
preferable,  as  food,  to  substances  which  good 
old-fashionable  experience  has  proven  of  value. 
We  knew  a  farmer  once  who  acted  upon  just  such 
nonsense,  and  it  cost  him  about  ten  cents  a  pound 
to  fatten  his  pork  on  cob  meal  and  corn  meal 
mixed,  while  his  neighbors  fattened  theirs  on  corn 
meal  and  potatoes  at  little  over  half  the  cost. 

The  next  thing  that  we  shall  hear  is  that  corn- 
cob meal  is  the  best  food  for  dyspeptics,  and  some 
vegetarian  fool  will  be  urging  everybody  to 
scratch  their  stomachs  with  it.  We  think  it  will 
do  very  well  to  go  with  the  sawdust  brandy,  an 
article  about  which  is  going  the  rounds  of  the 
papers,  and  we  venture  the  opinion  that  the  man 
who  eats  the  one  and  washes  down  the  dry  com- 
pound with  the  other  will  soon  be  in  the  under- 
taker's hands. 

Much  more  sensible  is  the  idea  suggested  by 
some  one  that  the  corn-cobs  be  used  for  fuel  and 
the  ashes  be  utilized  for  making  potash. — New 
York  World. 


HOW   MONEY  IS   MADE   BY  FARMING. 

MUCH  labor  is  done  on  farms  that  is  not 
farming  in  its  true  sense.  By  such  labor 
^0  money  is  ever  made.  A  man  may  support 
himself  and  family,  keep  out  of  debt  and 
have  a  few  dollars  in  pocket  by  practising  th-e 
most  stringent  economy.     If  he  is  otherwise  than 


industrious  and  sober,  he  is  on  the  down  grade 
with  loose  brakes,  and  the  end  is  not  reached. 
But  farming  in  its  true  sense  is  a  profession  equal 
in  dignity  to  that  of  law  or  medicine,  and  needs 
equal  study,  mental  capacity,  and  intelligently  di- 
rected labor  to  command  success  in  it.  The  prin- 
ciple which  underlies  the  practice  of  the  true 
farmer  must  be  well  understood,  and  a  steady, 
consistent  course  of  operations  must  be  followed. 
Having  thoroughly  learned  the  nature  and  ca- 
pacity of  the  soil  he  possesses,  and  chosen  the 
rotation  most  suitable,  and  the  stock  to  be  most 
profitably  kept  upon  it,  he  does  not  swerve  from 
his  chosen  course,  but  in  good  markets  and  bad, 
raises  his  regular  crops,  and  keeps  his  land  in 
regular  increasing  fertility.  No  special  cry  tempts 
or  frighten  him.  He  does  not  talk  dairy  this 
season  or  crops  the  next;  but  doubtless  if  any 
particular  product  be  in  demand,  and  brings  a 
good  price  he  has  some  of  it  to  sell  and  heaps  his 
share  of  the  advantage.  He  saves  as  much 
money  as  some  men  make  by  care  and  economy  in 
purchrsing  and  preserving  tools,  seeds,  manure 
and  machines ;  and  his  business  habits  and  con- 
stant readiness  for  all  occasions  give  him  resona 
ble  security  against  the  effects  of  adverse  seasons 
and  bad  weather.  Always  prepared,  he  is  never 
too  late,  and  always  calm,  he  is  never  too  soon, 
and  thus,  "  taking  time  by  the  forelock  ;"  he  has 
the  stern  old  tyrant  at  his  command,  and  turns 
him  at  his  will.  He  has  no  losses,  and  his  gains 
are  steady. — Exchange. 

BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  NOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

OUR  BOOK  TABLE. 

The  School  of  Cheiuical  Manures,  or  elementaiy  princi- 
ples in  the  US3  of  fertiliiiug  agents,  from  the  French  of 
M.  George  Ville,  by  A.  A.  Fesquet,  Chemist  and  Engi- 
neer. Philadelphia:  Henry  Carey  Baird,  Industrial  pub- 
lisher, No.  406  Walnut  Street,  1872— with  appropriate  il- 
lustrations— is  a  handsome  and  compact  little  12nio.  vol- 
ume of  116  pages,  which  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
intelligent  cultivator  in  the  cauntry. 

This  work  is  briefly  and  practically  treated  in  six  chap- 
ters, written  in  dialogue,  involving  some  of  the  most  in- 
teresting questions  and  answers  in  the  whole  school  of 
Agricultural  Chemistry,  fully  illustrating  the  expj^mental 
philosophy  of  the  subject.  An  appendix  discussing  the 
"  Plowing  and  Preparing  the  Soil ;  "  the  "  FoimulsB  of 
Manures  "  for  the  dltterent  kinds  of  feeds,  roots  and  vege- 
tables, with  their  compositions,  variations  and  results; 
the  Rotation  and  Alteration  of  the  various  kinds  of  crops, 
from  one  year  to  six.  Also,  "  Experimental  fields,"  with 
their  soils,  manures,  and  special  results  ;  with  a  ■'  Vocab- 
ulary of  Chemlc»l  Manures ''  Illustrating  their  composi- 
tions and  proportions.  >J()thing  can  be  more  striking 
than  the  productive  results  between  the  "  ground  without 
manure,"  and  that  with  "  complete  manure,"  noting  the 


182 


THE  LAJyCASTER  FARMER. 


effects  of  "mineral  luaiiures  without  nitrogenized mat- 
ter "and  "  nitrogenized  manure  without  mineral  matter." 
No  intelligent  and  progressive  Farmer's  or  Gardener's 
library  is  complete  without  this  valuable  little  work ; 
and  although  we  may  on  suitable  occasions,  draw  from  it 
for  the  use  of  our  columns,  we  would  recommend  in  the 
mean  time  that  every  farmer  of  suflacient  intellect  and  en- 
terprise to  comprehend  and  apply  its  doctrines,  should 
possess  a  copy  for  himself.  The  letter,  press  and  typo- 
graphical execution  of  this  little  wjrk  are  so  plain  and 
perfect,  and  the  colloquial  style  so  familiar,  that  it  cannot 
but  be  a  pleasure  to  the  farmer  to  peruse  its  interesting 
and  instructi  ve  pages. 

Wb  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  copy  of  the  "  Report 
of  the  Commisaioner  of  Agriculture  for  the  year  1871,"  is- 
sued at  Washington  City  under  a  special  act  of  Congress. 
This  volume  of  over  500  pages,  actavo,  eontains  an  im- 
mense amount  of  practical  information  on  agriculture, 
and  allied  subjects.  Although  two  hundred  and  fifty-five 
thousand  extra  copies  of  this  work  have  been  authorized, 
they  do  not  always  seem  to  get  into  the  hands  of  those 
who  most  need  them— and  per  contra,  thousands  of  those 
who  really  ought  to  read  them  have  too  great  a  dread  for 
book-farming,  to  avail  themseJves  of  this  knowledge  dif- 
fused by  the  government.  The  book  has  twenty-eight 
I'uU-page  illustrations,  besides  a  number  of  cuts  distrib- 
uted through  the  letter  press  ;  among  them  an  interesting 
"Fungoid  Series,"  illustrating  the  blights,  mildews,  or 
fungi,  which  infect  the  leaves  'aad  fruit  of  trees  and 
vines. 

The  "  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  on 
the  Diseases  of  Cattle  in  the  United  States,"  1871,  an  il- 
lustrated quarto  of  over  209  pages,  had  previously  'been 
received  and  mislaid.  This  volume  contains  many  prac- 
tical observations  on  the  different  diseases  of  cattle,  and 
illustrates.by  full-page  colored  plates,  their  effect  upon  the 
liver,  lu  igs,  spleen,  kidneys,  fat,  uterusfand  bones  of  the 
animals.  Also  many  statistical  tables  on  the  comparative 
effects  of  splenetic  fever,  and  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of 
every  cattle  doctor  at  least. 

An  illustrated  royal  octavo  pamphlet  of  over  forty 
pages,  giving  a  schedule  of  premiums,  amounting  to  fotty 
thousand  dollars,  of  the  twelfth  fair  of  the  St.  Louis  Agri- 
cultural and  Mechanical  Association,  to  commence  on 
Thursday,  the  third  day  of  October  next,  and  to  continue 
for  o*e  week,  has  been  sent  us  by  the  Secretary.  "  Com- 
petition is  invited  from  the  whole  Union,"  and  no  entry 
fee  is  charged.  This  association  certainly  manifests  a 
living  and  progressive  spirit,  far  in  the  advance  of  the 
Older  oouiniunities  of  oar  country. 

Tn^  American  Farmer's  Advocate,  devoted  to  the  inter- 
eats  represented  in  the  National  Agricultural  Cengress,  is 
one  of  the  largest,  and  by  far  the  cheapest  agricultural 
paper  in  the  country,  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
farmer.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  publishers  of- 
fer it  fr<  e  w  ith  any  $2.00  or  higher  priced  paper  in  the  coun- 
try, and  at  only  50  cents  advance  with  lower  priced  ones 
Price — single,  $1.00  per  year;  in  clubs  of  four  or  more, 
50  ctnts  each.  Address  Advocate  Publiahing  Company, 
Jackson,  Tenn. 


PHILADELPHIA  MARKETS, 

Monday,  August  26. 
FiOUB. — The  market  is  very  dull,  there  being  no  de- 
mand except  to  supply  the  immediate  wants  of  the  home 
consumers,  whose  purchases  foot  up  1,500  barrels;  includ- 
ing 1,000  barrels  Quaker  City  Mills  on  private  terms;  su- 
perline  at  $4  75a5  50  ;  extras  at  $5  75a6  ;  Iowa  and  Wis- 
consin extra  family  at  f  7a7  50 ;  Minnesota  do.  do.  at  38  25 


88  8714  ;  Pennnylvania,  Indiana  and  Ohio  do.  do.  at  S8  50 
a9,  an"d  fancy  brands  at  $9  12>ial0  as  in  quality.  Rye 
Flour  is  quoted  at  $4. 

Grain.— Poor  Wheat  attracts  but  little  attention .  but 
prime  grades  are  in  demand  at  full  prices.  Sales  of  7,000 
bushels  Western  red  at  $1  5Jal  55  and  amber  at  81  60al  65. 

Ryk  is  held  at  80c 

Corn  moves  slowly  at  previously  quoted  rates.  Sales  of 
6,000  bushels  yellow  at  61c.  and  mixed  Western  at  60a 
6OX0. 

Oats  are  unchanged.  Sales  of  6,000  bushels  white  at 
46a48c.,  and  mixed  at  40a45e. 

The  receipts  to-day  are  as  follows  :  3,561  barrels  Flour, 
18,000  bushels  Wheat,  ^1,200  bushels  Corn,  12,500  bushels 
Oats,  329  bavrels  Whisky. 

Provisions.— In  the  Provision  market  thera  is  a  firm 
feeling,  and  mess  pork  is  selling  in  lots  at  S15  25  ;  smoked 
hams  at  16al8c. ;  do.  sides  at  lOalOJ^c. ;  salted  shoulders  at 
8c. ;  smoked  do.  at  83^a9c.,  and  lard  at  9a9ji^c. 


PHILADELPHIA  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  August  26. 

The  market  for  Beef  cattle  wasduU  this  weekaud  prices 
favfr  buyers.  We  quote  common  quality  at  3a53^c.,  me- 
dium at  6a7c.,  and  prime  at  la,l%  cents.  Receipts  4,000 
head. 

Cows  and  Calves  were  quiet.    Sales  of  250  head  S20a$45. 

Shkep. — The  supply  was  less  than  last  week.  We  quote 
sales  of  5,000  head  at  53/^a6X  c. ;  stock  sheep  at  3a4c.,  and 
lambs  at  Gi4a8>^c. 

Hogs— There  was  a  large  amount  of  offerings,  and 
prices  were  lower.  We  quote  at  $7  50a7  75  W  100  lbs.  net 
lor  corn-fed,  a  decline  of  75c.  per  100  lbs.    Receipts,  3,521. 


NEW  YORK  PRODUCE    MARKET. 

Monday,  August  26. 

Cotton  is  ^uiet ;  middling  upland  20e. 

Flour  is  quiet  and  superfine  westtrn  and  State  $5  50a 
6  15  ;  good  to  choif^e  $6  80a7  60  ;  f  xtra  Ohio  at  $6  65a8  85. 
Rye  ttour  in  fair  demand  at  $4  20a5  00. 

Wheat  quiet  and  steady ;  new  amber  Tennessee  at 
$1  63al  98  :  white  western  f  1  67al  85. 

Corn  lower,  fair  and  active ;  steamer  western  mixed 
eOaCl^c;  sail  do.  61j^a62c; 

Rye,  Rarley  and  malt  unchanged. 

Oats  easier";  western  4l3^a43c. ;  Ohio  45a53. 

Hay  and  Hops  unchanged. 


CHICAGO    LIVE  STOCK  MARKET. 

Monday,  August  26. 

Cattle. — Receipts  of  761  head.  Rainy  and  market  ex- 
tremely dull ;  two  lots  common  shipping  steers  sold  at 
84  70a4  90  respectivelv  ;  a  few  stockers  at  $i  30a4  50  ;  a 
good  many  Texans  and  Cherokees  left  unsola  ;  shipments 
yesterday  1,137  head. 

Hogs.- Receipts,  4,432  head.  Yorkers  very  quiet  it  (f4  50 
a4  70  ;  hesvy  grades  in  fair  demand  and  firm  at  84  75a4  90. 
Shipments  yesterday  8,828  head. 

Sheep.— Receipts,  104  head.    Dull  and  unchanged. 


CHICAGO  MARKET. 

MoNDiY,  August  26. 

Flour  dull  and  in  buyers' favor ;  choice  extitis  nomi- 
nally $6  25a675  ;  superfine  $3a4  25. 

Whbat  quiet  and  steady  at  $1  12al  12 1^  cash. 

Corn  easier,  closing  quiet  at  SS^c. 

Oats  easier  at  28c.  cabh. 

Rye  firm  and  saleable  at  56c. 

Barley  strong  at  62)^0. 

Pork  inactive;  nominally  $14  84)^.  Lard  firm  and 
quiet;  saleable  summer  S^c  augar-cured  hams  quiet 
and  nominally  unchanged.  Meats  firmly  held  ;  offerings 
light ;  shoulders  held  at  7c. ;  short  ribs  9Xc. 


NEW  YORK  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  August  26. 
Receipts— Beeves,  9,600;  Veals,  2,700;  Sheep,  19,000;  Hogs, 
34,000.  Beeves  heavy  and  declining— poor  to  medium,  10a 
10>ic;  medium  to  fair  steers  10 X^aie^c  ;  good  steers  and 
fat  oxen,  11  si^' ;  fancy,  13al3>^c.  Vea's  firmer;  grasscalves 
very  dull;  prime,  8)ia9}4c;  good,  7xa8Xc.  Sheep 
stronger;  clipped,  common  to  fair,  4>^a5c;  fair  to  pood, 
5a5Xc;  extras, 5X a6 xc  ;  choice, 6 J^a6^c.  Lambs.'aS^^c. 
Live  Hogs  firmer  ;  prime,  $5.37a5.50  ;  medium,  $525a5.37. 
Dressed  Hogs  firm  ;  Medium  to  prime,  6Xa6^. 


©li^  lantHster  (farmer. 

DEVOTED  TO 
Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany > 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 
**  The  Farmer  is  the  founder  of  civilization."— WEBSTER. 


Vol.  ir. 


OCTOBER,  1872. 


Mo.  10. 


BOTANICAL, 


GOSSIP.— NO.  2. 


BY  J.   STAUFFER. 


SHOULD  any  of  my  grave  readers  object  to 
my  fjofsip,  as  bad  stock  that  don't  pay  to 
read,  yielding  no  interest,  there  is  other  stock  we 
know  of  in  the  same  fix,  and  yet  it  is  taken. 
Tastes  differ,  and  we  all  have  a  good  opinion 
of  ourselves  "  individually."  "We  see  the  fail- 
ings in  others.  The  Scotch  bard,  Burns,  has 
written  a  short  prayer  on  the  subject 

''  O  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursel's  as  others  see  us  ! 
It  wad  frae  mony  a  blunder  free  us 
A  nd  foolit-h  notion." 

Perhaps  I  make  a  blunder  in  writing  gossip 
for  the  "  Faemer,"  and  if  it  is  a  "  foolish  no- 
tion," allow  me  to  indulge  the  hope  of  being 
indulged—"  For  ye  suffer  fools  gladly,  seeing 
ye  yourselves  are  wise."  But  the  c  mpositor 
and  proof-reader  complains,  and  say  it  is  my 
fault,  b^cau8e  they  did  not  know  that  there 
were  two  distinct  plants,  one  a  cacao,  and  the 
other  a  cocoa  ;  and  consequently  corrected  me 
in  the  last  article.  Well,  I  stand  corrected, 
and  will  try  to  do  better — they  do  not  profess 
to  be  botanists. 

Practically,  the  readers  of  the  Farmer 
know  more  about  their  vocation  than  I  do, 
therefore  I  shall  not  be  sillj  enough  to  attempt 
to  teach  them.  I  esteem  them  as  an  intelli- 
gent class,  and  far  in  advance  of  the  tillers  of 
the  soil,  even  in  the  boasted  land  of  our  fore- 
fathers. An  American  traveler  recently  in- 
quired of  a  group  of  farm  laborers  in  England 
whether  they  were  "  prospering."  "  No  I" 
replied  one  of  their   number,  "  we  are  hay- 


ing !"  It  seems  the  word  "  prospering"  was 
as  new  to  them  as  "  cacao,"  and  supposed  it 
referred  to  their  work— or  so  intended. 

"VVe  are  all  liable  to  make  blunder^,  and  it 
is  often  a  difficult  matter  to  get  out  of  the  old, 
deep-worn  ruts  of  time  and  habit  traveling 
in  the  same  track  produces.  This  is  forcibly 
illustrated  in  the  fact  related  of  the  West  In- 
dia negroes,  who  when  furnished  by  their 
masters'  humarity  with  wheel-barrows,  in  or- 
der that  they  might  no  lunger  carry  such  enor- 
mous loads  on  their  heads,  persisted  in  carry- 
ing their  burdens  in  the  good  old  way — loheel" 
barrow  and  all! 

The  venerable  tyrants  custom  and  fashion 
hold  many  in  servility.  S3e  our  modern 
belles,  with  high-heeled  folly,  unable  to  cook 
a  meal  or  bake  a  pie.  In  such  matters  it  is 
preferable  to  go  back  to  the  days  of  our  wor- 
thy grandmothers  of  whom  you  could  say  in- 
dividually : 

''  She  was  knowing  in  all  needle-work 
And  shone  in  dairy  and  in  kitchen  too, 
As  in  the  parlor." 

Knowledge  does  not  necessarily  puff  up — 
and  science  properly  so  called  is  simply  the  re- 
cord of  the  experience  and  investigation  of 
men  who  gave  their  special  attention  to  a 
special  subject,  who  gleaned  from  the  expe- 
rience of  by-gone  ages,  and  use  of  new  discov- 
eries and  appliances,  of  which  knowledge  we 
have  a  right  to  avail  ourselves ;  and  it  will  be 
found  of  practical  value  in  our  daily  pursuits. 
Why  turn  up  your  nose  at  botany,  as  some  do  ? 
It  is  the  science  that  not  only  teaches  us  the 
names  of  plants  we  may  meet  in  and  around 
our  farms  and  dwellings,  woodland  and  mea- 
dow, but  it  embraces  the  bubiect  of  vegetable 
life,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  so  essential  to 
the  horticulturist.    He  may  know  by  his  own 


18Jf 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


expfrience  ard  the  verbal  instructions  of  his 
father,  how  to  graft  or  hud,  and  succeed  with- 
out a  book,  I  ut  no  one  man  can  teach  us  all, 
for  a  life-lime  is  too  short  to  learn  by  exper- 
ience and  observation  alone  ;  and  these  croak- 
ers against  "  bo  k-leaniing,"  can  learn  much 
to  their  profit  if  they  give  their  attention  to 
the  right  kind  of  books. 

We  rejoice  to  know  that  the  old  prejudices 
are  fi;st  giving  way  and  the  study  of  vegetable 
physiology,  or  botany,  recognized  as  pertain- 
ing to  fruit  as  well  as  to  flowers — and  to  wheat 
as  well  as  weeds.  I  now  write  as  a  botanist, 
and  as  such  you  will  indulge  me.  I  may  de- 
vote my  remarks  more  particularly  to  that 
subject  hereafter. 

Chemistry  is  a  science  by  which  the  rela- 
tions and  pi'opcrties  of  vegetable  and  other 
matters  have,  whether  for  building  up  the 
muscular  system  or  fattening  stock,  to  utilize 
the  gluten,  starch,  oil,  sugar,  albumen,  etc., 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  water,  lime,  potash, 
ammonia,  etc.,  on  the  other,  to  deodorize  or- 
ganized matter  in  the  process  of  decomposi- 
tion, to  imprison  the  volatile  elements  and 
hold  them  captive  in  compost  for  distribution 
to  fertilize  the  soil.  Agricultural  chemistry 
is  of  vast  importance,  notwithstanding  some 
men  have  fooled  themselves  by  analyzing  a 
pint  of  soil  and  came  to  sage  conclusions  on 
a  very  meager  foundation. 

Entomology  is  equally  important.  This 
teaches  us  what  class  of  insects  are  injurious 
to  vegetation  and  which  may  prove  as  a  coun- 
ter-check, and  hence  beneficial.  This  summer 
we  have  the  air  filled  with  a  white  butterfly 
having  a  few  spots  on  the  wings.  Those  of 
my  readers  who  have  the  report  for  1870  (pub- 
libhed  in  1871)  of  ihe  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture, may  refer  to  page  78,  or  to  page  153 
August  number  of  the  Farmer,  current  yol- 
ume,  for  a  fuller  account.  They  will  find  that  it 
is  theEuropepn  cabbage-butterfly,  introduced 
into  Quebec,  Canada,  in  1856  or  '57,  and  grad- 
ually coming  on  and  as  predicted,  reached 
Pennsylvania  in  1871.  They  were  then  but  few 
and  far  between,  and  might  have  been  easily 
prevented  from  exerting  the  wholesale  de- 
struction of  the  cabbage  they  have.  My  atten- 
tion was  called  to  a  lot  in  which  stood  one 
thousand  tattered  fragments  of  what,  a  week 
before,  promised  to  make  that  many  fine 
heads  of  cabbage.  Alas  I  for  "  sauer  kraut." 
My  German  friend  fought  bravely,  but  like 


Piiddy  who  ran  fast,  but  the  train  had  just  left 
as  he  breathlessly  reached  the  depot.  A  gen- 
tleman observed  —  "You  didn't  run  fast 
enough."  "  Sure,"  said  Pat,  "  I  ran  fast 
enough,  but  did  not  start  soon  enough."  So 
it  is,  my  friend  did  not  commence  killing  the 
caterpillars  till  the  mischief  was  accomplished. 
He  said  he  saw  those  butterflies,  but  did  not 
know  their  character,  or  he  would  not  have 
allowtd  them  to  lay  their  eggs  on  his  cabbage. 
That  was  for  want  of  a  knowledge,  hence  we 
learn  how  important  it  is  to  learn  entomol- 
ogy. I  might  also  refer  to  geology,  but  have 
occupied  sufficient  space  for  this  time. 


AGRICULTURAL. 


AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGES  AND 
PRACTICAL  FARMING. 

THE  preacher  who  does  not  edify  and  in- 
struct his  congregation  ought  to  be 
dismissed  his  charge,  and  be  employed  at 
something  better  suited  his  capacity ;  so  of 
the  school-teikcher :  unless  he  can  teach  his 
pupils  it,  and  make  them  comprehend  the  les- 
sons, he  had  better  be  employed  at  such  man- 
ual labor  that  would  require  no  exertion  of 
the  mind.  In  short,  the  men  who  are  set  forth 
as  instructors,  or  rather  set  themselves  forth 
as  such,  should  be  closely  scanned,  and  have 
no  right  to  claim  exemption  from  public 
opinion,  public  praise  or  public  censure.  This 
is  an  age  of  investigation  and  of  out-spoken 
opinion,  an  age  of  reason  and  reflection. 
When  Prof.  Bateman  stated  that  after  all  tlie 
teaching  in  our  agricultural  colUges  did  not 
difler  essentially  from  that  of  other  colleges 
and  universities,  he,  no  doubt,  told  us  a  broad 
truth,  and  one  that  is  becoming  daily  more 
and  more  apparent.  At  the  same  time,  he 
said  that  it  was  a  new  education,  but  that,  no 
doubt,  he  intended  for  a  rhetorical  metaphor, 
to  show  how  an  old  thing  may  be  called  by  a 
new  name. 

Next  comes  Prof.  Turner,  and  advises  that 
a  part  of  our  educational  force  should  be  ex- 
pended in  the  elucidation  of  new  methods  and 
of  new  forces  in  nature.  He  would  teach  all 
that  is  now  known,  and  at  the  same  time  be 
looking  into  the  arena  of  nature  for  new  laws 
and   new  developments.     While  these  two 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


185 


great  luminaries  of  our  educational  firmament 
diffr-r,  the  schools  go  on  in  the  old  routine,  and 
make  no  effort  to  know  which  is  in  the  ritiht, 
and  the  fanner's  son  is  consequently  being 
educated  for  a  profession,  not  for  the  farm. 

The  fact  is  that  there  is  less  to  learn  about 
agriculture  than  is  generally  supp'^sed,  but 
this  knowledge  is  diffused  through  so  many 
channels  that  it  is  not  available  to  the  masses 
of  our  people.  If  we  had  a  class  of  profes- 
sors who  would  sift  out  the  wheat  from  the 
chaff,  and  reduce  the  whole  thing  lo  a  system, 
we  should  have  the  founda'ion  laid  for  a  new 
order  of  things.  Until  we  can  do  this  in  our 
schools  we  may  call  agriculture  an  art.  But 
I  do  not  like  this  term,  for  art  implies  a  com- 
bination of  skill  and  taste.  Now  the  farmer 
must  rest  his  success  on  laws  that  no  skill  of 
haidicraft  can  compensate  for.  He,  of  ne- 
cessity, must  depend  on  the  laws  of  science, 
or  in  plain  tarnos,  the  laws  of  nature.  One  of 
the  best  farmers  that  I  know  is  ignorant  of 
what  is  called  science,  and  yet  he  understands 
the  science  of  farming  better  than  any  of  our 
professors.  This  man's  practical  knowledge, 
reduced  to  a  formula,  might  be  called  scientific 
farming.  1  said  he  is  the  best  farmer,  but  this 
must  be  qualified  to  say  the  best  manager  of 
our  clay  prairie  soils  for  the  growth  of  corn, 
wheat,  oats  and  grasses.  He  owned  a  large 
farm  in  his  native  State,  but  in  an  evil  hour  be 
was  persuaded  to  go  on  the  official  bond  of  a 
relative,  who  proved  a  defaulter.  He  came  to 
this  Slate  with  his  all  in  a  covered  wagon. 
The  first  year  he  rented  a  farm,  and  the  next 
purchased  a  small  one,  nearly  all  on  credit. 
To  this  he  has  added  another  farm,  and  now 
it  is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best,  managed 
farm  in  the  country.  It  is  of  such  men  that 
we  may  in  part  learn  how  to  manage  a  farm. 
Had  this  man  had  the  advantage  of  a  truly 
scientific  education,  he  might  to-day  be  one 
of  the  best  of  teachers,  for  his  would  be  a 
school  of  practical  science  applied  to  the  rou- 
tine of  farm  life.  Among  farmers  such*  a  min 
is  called  lucky,  and  well  he  may  be,  for  he 
commands  luck  and  it  comes  at  his  bidding. 
To  call  such  a  man  an  empiric  is  to  show  igno- 
rance of  the  value  of  applied  science.  It  is  to 
such  men  that  we  must  go  in  order  to  learn 
the  true  system  of  scientific  agriculture,  and 
when  it  becomes  written  down  in  form  it  may 
be  called  book-farming.—"  Rural,"  in  Prairie 
Farmer. 


LIQUID    FUEL. 

THE  lately  published  report  of  the  British 
Coal  Commissioners  contains  a  contribu- 
tion from  Dr.  B.  H.  Paul  upon  the  use  of 
liquid  fuel,  which  contains  many  valuable 
suggestions.  An  English  exchange  thus  re- 
views the  paper: 

The  materials  which  have  been  proposed 
for  use  as  liquid  fuel  are  :  Petroleum  in  a 
crude  state  ;  crude  paraffine  oil,  obtained  by 
the  distillation  of  caniiel  coal  or  of  bitumin- 
ous shale ;  the  heavy  oil  separated  from  these 
mati  rials;  waste  products  of  the  manufacture 
of  burning  oil,  etc.,  from  petroleum  and  par- 
affine oil;  and  dead  oil,  or  creosote.  All  these 
materials  agree  in  consisting  essentially  of 
mixtures  of  certain  oils,  composed  of  carbon 
and  hydrogen,  hence  termed  hydrocarbons. 
The  oils  d')  not  vary  much  in  the  relative  pro- 
portions of  their  constituent  elements,  but 
chiefly  in  their  degrees  of  volatility  and  den- 
sity. The  average  space  occupied  in  stowing 
is  by  crude  petroleum  43  41  cubic  feet  per  ton  ; 
crude  paraffine  oil,  or  heavy  oil  from  either, 
40  93  cubic  feet  per  ton  ;  dead  oil,  or  creosote, 
34  25  cubic  feet  per  ton  ;  and  coal,  40-20  cubic 
feet  per  ton.  All  these  materials  are  much 
more  inflammable  than  coal.  This  is  especi- 
ally the  case  with  crude  petroleum  and  crude 
paraffine  oil,  both  of  which  contain  a  consider- 
able amount  of  very  volatile  spirit,  or  oil,  that 
will  take  fire  at  and  below  the  ordinary  at- 
mospheric temperature  on  contact  with  flame, 
and  will  also  give  off  vapor  that  is  rsadily  in. 
flammable,  and  when  mixed  with  air  becomes 
explosive.  But  the  oil  from  which  this  more 
volatile  portion  has  been  separated  will  bear 
being  considerably  heated  without  taking  fire 
by  contact  with  flame.  The  dead  oil  from  the 
coal  tar  of  gas  works  will  bear  being  still  more 
strongly  heated  before  it  will  take  fire,  and  it 
is  scarcely  capable  of  giving  ofl'  inflammable 
vapor.  In  this  respect,  therefore,  its  use  as 
fuel  is  attended  with  It^ss  liability  to  accident 
by  fire  than  any  of  the  other  materials  pro- 
posed to  be  used  as  liquid  fu  1. 

The  relative  calorific  power  and  evapora- 
ting efficacy  of  these  materials,  and  of  coal,  or 
other  kinds  of  fuel,  can  be  estimated  accord- 
ing to  their  chemical  composition,  and  a  com- 
parative statement  of  the  results  obtained  by 
such  an  estimate  shows  the  heat  generated 
and  available  to  be  by  crude  petroleum,  crude 


186 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


paraffiae  oil,  or  heavy  oil  from  either,  20,000 
luiits,  of  which  16,847  are  available  for  pro- 
duciuf;  steam  ;  by  dead  oil,  or  creosote,  16,628 
units  are  generated,  of  which  14,567  units  are 
available  for  producing  steam  ;  and  by  coal 
14  361  units  are  generated,  of  which  10.409 
are  available  for  producing  steam.  These  fig- 
ures represent  the  evaporation  of  15  lb.,  13  lb. 
aj3d  9  31  lb.  of  water  respectively  for  each  1 
lb.  of  fuel  consumed.  The  steam  producing 
oapabil  ty  of  the  liquid  fuel  is,  therefore,  from 
58  to  08  per  cent,  hiirher  than  coal,  so  that 
the  saving  of  stowage  space  wilh  liquid  fuel 
would  be  less  by  35  or  40  per  cent,  than  that 
required  for  coal  or  equal  steam-producing 
capability.  One  of  the  applications  of  liquid 
fuel  first  attempted  was  for  generating  steam. 
The  chief  difficulty  was  that  of  insuring  the 
perfect  combustion  of  the  oil  at  the  proper  place, 
under  the  steam  boiler— so  that  production  of 
smoke  might  be  prevented,  and  the  full  heat- 
ing or  evaporative  capability  of  the  fuel  might 
be  realized.  Dr.  Paul  points  out  that  the  ad- 
vantages claimed  for  liquid  fuel  for  generating 
steam  on  board  ship  are  of  such  a  nature  as 
to  appear  at  first  sight  very  sttractive,  but 
they  have  been  in  many  instances  enormous- 
ly exaggerated  by  enthusiastic  advocates,  and 
there  are  many  other  circumstances  that  re- 
quire to  be  taken  into  account  before  the  true 
value  of  these  advantages  can  be  properly 
e'5timated. 

With  regard  to  the  danger  of  using  liquid 
fuel,  Dr.  Paul  remarks  that  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  crude  petroleum  and  crude  paraffine 
oil  are  both  highly  inflammable  even  in  the 
cold ;  that  they  both  readily  give  off  an  ex- 
tremely mflammable  and  very  diffusive  vapor, 
especially  when  slightly  warmed,  and  that 
this  vapor,  when  mixed  with  atmospheric  air 
in  certain  proportions,  becomes  violently  ex- 
p'osiye  on  contact  with  flame  or  with  any 
body  sufficiently  heated.  These  materials 
likewise  possess  a  great  capability  of  penetra- 
ting through  extremely  small  apertures,  and 
therefore,  they  would  be  liable  to  escape  from 
any  defect  in  the  tanks  containing  them,  and 
thus  by  con  ing  in  contact  with  atmospheric 
air  in  confined  spaces  to  form  an  explosive 
mixture  that  might  endanger  the  safety  of  a 
vessel ;  he  also  refers  to  the  danger  to  be  ap- 
prehended from  the  liquid  itself  taking  fire. 
The  only  known  material  of  this  class  that  is 
free  from  the  objections  that  may  reasonably 


be  urged  against  the  adoption  of  either  petro- 
leum or  paraffine  oil  in  the  crude  state,  or  the 
less  volatile  portions  of  them,  is  the  dead  oil 
or  creosote  obtained  as  a  waste  product  from 
coal  tar. 

The  prospects,  moreover,  of  a  supply  of  ma- 
terials applicable  as  liquid  fuel  at  a  price  that 
would  permit  of  its  use  are  anything  but  re- 
assurino;.    The  total  production  of  petroleum 
in  America  does  not  amount  to  more    than 
40t  ,000  a  year,  and  the   demand   for  it    f  )r 
lighting  and  lubricating  are  rapidly  increasing. 
No  other  source  of  petroleum  is  known  which 
at  all  approximates  in  extent  to  that  in  Amer 
ica,  but  even  that  appears  trifling  when  com- 
pared with  the  enormous  consumption  (f  coal 
for  steam  navigation — upward  of  10,000,000 
tons  a  year.    Tha  present  price  of  creosote  is 
'22  per  ton,  f.  o.  b.  in  the  Thames.    Dr.  Paul 
mentions,  too,  that  all  the  liquid  fuels  possess 
a  strong  penetrating  and,  to  many  persons, 
disagreeable  srraell,  which  becomes  much  more 
perceptible  when  the  oil  is  in  contact  with 
heated  objects,  even  in  very  small  quantity. 
Hence,  la  the  use  of  any  of  these  materia,l8  as 
fuel,  a  slight  leakage  of  the  reservoirs  or  con- 
ducting  pipes,  and    the  almost  unavoidable 
presence  of  small  quantities  of  the  oil  spilt  or 
smeared  about  the  stoke-hole  of  a  steam  ves- 
sel, would  be  likely  to  diffuse  throughout  the 
whole  vessel  a  smell  which  might  be  consider- 
ed highly  oujectiunable,  especially  in  passen- 
ger ships.    Giving  full  weight  to  the  various 
advantages  capable  of  being  gained  by   the 
use  of  1  quid  fuel,  and  considering:  the  various 
circumstances  of  cost,  extent  of  supply,  etc. 
which  would  affect  its  applicability.  Dr.  Paul 
concludes  that  the  use  of  liquid  fuel  for  steam 
navigation  purposes  must  in  any  case  be  very 
limited,  and  that  it  is  only  under  special  con- 
ditions that  it  would  be  desirable.    But  liquid 
fuel  when  burnt  wilh  ';  blast  affords  the  same 
advantages  as  the  gas  furnace  introduced  by 
Mr.  Siemens,  and  for  this  reason  it  appears 
to  be  likely  that  its  application  in  this  ^ay  for 
heating  iron-plates,  forgings,  etc.,  would  be 
attended  with  considerable  advantage  in  iron 
Works. 


PiCKELS. — 1  gallon  cold  vinegar,  1  oz.  white 
ginger  root,  4  pound  garlic,  4  pound  mustard, 
4  pound  salt,  1  oz.  pepper  corns,  cayenne  pep- 
per and  spice  to  suit  the  taste. 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


1S\ 


PHEASANTS   (PHASIANUS). 

TO  adopt  the  words  of  BufFon :  "  It  is 
sufficient  to  name  the  pheasant  to  re- 
mind us  of  the  place  of  its  o;  igin.  The  pheas- 
ant, that  is,  the  bird  of  Phasis,  was,  it  i«>  said, 
exclusively  confined  to  Colchis  before  the  ex- 
pedition of  the  Argonauts ;  those  Greekf; 
ascending  the  Phasis,  to  arrive  at  Colchis,  be- 
held these  fine  birds  spread  along  the  banks 
of  the  river,  and  by  bringing  them  back  to 
their  own  country,  bestowed  upon  it  a  gift 
more  precious  than  the  golden  fleece. 


"At  the  present  day  the  pheasants  of  Col- 
chis, or  Minguila,and  some  other  of  the  neigh- 
boring counties,  arc  the  largest  and  finest  iu 
the  known  world." 

Cassel  says:  "  'F'roiu  the^e  countries  they 
have  been  extended  iu  alino-t  >'ll  the  regions 
of  the  known  world.  They  are  found  iu  the 
greater  parts  of  Europe  ;  they  are  abundant 
in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  soaae  parts  of  Germany, 
and  in  the  south  of  France.  In  the  north 
they  are  less  common.  Tne  common  pheas- 
ant does  not  appear  to  inhabit  Africa  ;  but  is 
greatly  multiplied  in  Chitia,  where  it  lives  ia 


188 


THE  LAJ\"CASTER  FARMER^ 


the  woods,  without  mixing  with  other  species, 
which  are  also  equally  abundant  in  this  vast 
empire.  Pallas  describes  pheasants  as  found 
in  Siberia.  They  are  very  common  among 
the  Kirghis,  who  ornament  their  bonnets  with 
the  plumes  of  this  bird.  Pheasants  are  fond 
of  the  shelter  of  thickets  and  woods,  where 
the  grass  is  long  ;  yet,  like  partridges,  they 
often  breed  in  clover  fields.  They  form  their 
nests  on  the  ground,  where  from  twelye  to 
fifteen  eggs  are  laid,  smaller  than  those  of  the 
domestic  hen.  The  parent-birds  and  their 
biood,  if  undisturbed,  remain  iu  stubbles  and 
hedge-rows  for  some  time  alter  the  grain  is 
ripe.  If  disturbed,  thej  seek  the  woods,  and 
oul}'  issue  thence  in  the  mornings  and  even- 
ings to  feed  in  the  stubbles.  They  are  fond 
of  g7-ain  ;  but  procure  a  subsistence  without 
it,  since  they  ofteu  feed  on  acorns  and  the 
wild  berries  of  the  woods."  Ic  has  been  sup- 
posed that  the  pheasant  is  destitute  of  sagaci- 
ty ;  aod  that  on  being  roused  from  its  usual 
state,  it  will  often  perch  on  a  neighboring 
tree,  where  its  attention  will  be  so  fixed  on 
the  dogs  as  to  suffer  the  sportsman  to  ap- 
proach very  near,  but  there  are  persons  who 
can  testify  that  an  old  cock-pheasant  will 
take  to  thick  and  extensive  coverts,  when  he 
has  found  himself  pursued,  and  resort  to  many 
stratagems  to  elude  his  pursuers. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  state  here  that  we 
have  no  bird,  indigenous  to  the  United  States, 
except  the  wild  turkey,  that  belongs  to  the 
family  Phasianid^.  What  we  call  a  pheas- 
ant belongs  to  the  Tbtraonid^,  or  grouse 
family,  andisthe  yei;?aoz(/w6eWM5of  Temminck, 
and  is  still  found  in  Lancaster  county. 

Our  illustration  represents  a  variety  of  the 
"  horned  pheasants  "  (Tragopan  hastingsii?) 
which  originally  came  from  the  northern 
range  of  the  Himalayan  mountains,  and  con- 
cerning which  we  yet  know  very  little,  except 
that  it  has  been  domesticated  in  Europe,  and, 
we  believe,  has  been  introduced  into  the  Uni- 
ted States.  It  is  said  to  be  a  ver;^  pretty  bird, 
reiiiarkable  for  its  large  pendent  crest,  and  its 
rich,  predominating  maroon  color. 


FLOOR-WARMING. 


IT  is  slowly  dawning  upon  our  people,  that 
the  system  of  heating  the  head,  or  the  up- 
per part  of  our  rooms,  to  seventy-five  or  eighty 
degrees,  while  the  floor,  and  consequently  the 


feet,  are  only  fifty  or  sixty  degrees,  is  radically 
acd  essentially  wrong.  Yet  the  warming  of 
our  floors  instead  of  our  ceilings  is  now  be- 
coming quite  iashionable  amongst  thoughtful 
men  ;  and  sensible  women,  too,  are  quite 
charmed  with  it. 

And  now  it  is  the  architect's  and  builder's 
business  to  advise  the  best  means  of  accom- 
plishing so  desirable  an  object.  Of  course,  as 
in  the  introduction  of  all  other  great  reforms, 
there  will  be  many  blunders  committed  at 
first  and  mistakes  made;  perhaps  a  few 
houses  will  be  burned  down,  and  various  in- 
conveniences experienced,  before  we  arrive  at 
perfection  in  this  matter.  But  it  is  not  in  the 
nature  of  things  that  any  great  modification 
in  the  habits  and  style  of  living  of  an  intelli- 
gent people  should  be  effected  at  once.  It 
must  uot  be  expected  that  we  can  jump  at 
perfection  in  this  matter  of  house-vrarming, 
any  more  than  we  can  jump  at  correct  prac- 
tice in  medicine,  in  building,  iu  religion,  or 
anything  else.  No  man  ever  built  a  house  he 
was  entirely  satisfied  with.  He  always  wants 
to  build  one  more,  that  he  may  correct  the 
mistakes  he  has  made  in  the  last  one. 

Most  of  our  arrangements  for  artificial 
warming  are  of  recent  origin.  They  are  gen- 
erally very  imperfect  and  unsatisfactory.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  must  not  suppose  that 
any  system  of  warming  and  ventilation  will 
ever  be  invented  that  will  be  perfect,  that 
will  answer  for  all  the  variations  of  our 
changeable  climate,  without  further  care.  No  : 
all  artificial  warming  and  ventilation  is  ex- 
pensive, troublesome,  aod.  at  best,  with  all 
the  intelligence  and  care  that  can  be  bestowed 
upon  it,  is  far  inferior  to  the  natural  warmth 
of  the  sun  and  ventilation  of  the  external  at- 
mosphere; and  we  would  earnestly  recom- 
mend every  one  to  avoid  the  artificial  substi- 
tute as  long  as  he  possibly  can.  It  is  scarcely 
possible,  however,  for  us  to  avoid  them  alto- 
gether. It  would,  no  doubt,  be  better  in  many 
instances  to  wear  more  clothing  in  cold 
weather,  and  have  our  rooms  less  heated  than 
are  many  of  our  American  houses.  This 
would  apply  especially  to  our  bed-rooms.  It 
is  undoubtedly  much  more  refreshing  and  in- 
vigorating to  put  on  plenty  of  blankets,  and 
sleep  in  a  cold  room  with  the  windows  open, 
in  winter,  than  to  sleep  in  a  warm  room,  espe- 
cially if  closed,  and  even  if  well  ventilated, 
because  the  breathing  of  cold  air  gives  more 


THE  LAM  CASTER  FARMER. 


189 


vigor  than  the  breathing  of  warm.    But  how 
shall  we  do  it?    That  is  the  question. 

One  of  the  first  things  we  want  to  know  is 
how  warm  should  the  floors  be  to  give  the 
greate.st  amount  of  comfort.  The  tempera- 
ture of  the  blood  is  ninety-eight  degrees  ;  ai  d 
the  soles  of  our  feet  ought  to  be  kept  that 
warm  also,  to  maintain  a  perfect  circulation 
and  action  of  the  blood  throughout  the 
whole  system.  I  at  first  thought  that  this 
temperature  would  be  the  best  for  the 
floors,  as  that,  bring  the  temperature  of 
the  blood,  would  feel  neither  warm  nor 
cold.  But  man}'  experiments  in  this  direc- 
tion seem  to  indicate  that  this  is  rather  warm- 
er than  i-  generally  desired.  A  temperature 
of  eighty-five  or  ninety  degrees  seems  to  give 
the  most  general  satisfaction,  and  if,  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  many  of  the  floors  of  the  outsde 
walls  could  be  warmed,  a  great  advantage 
would  be  gained.  These  may  be  warmed  to 
one  hundred  and  ten  or  one  hundred  and 
twenty  degrees.  JTow,  these  temperatures 
are  perfectly  safe  with  any  of  the  ordinary 
materials  of  our  rooms.  This  is  not  warmer 
than  the  floor  would  be  with  the  sun  shining 
upon  it,  and  is  not  injurious  to  wood,  and 
ought  not  to  be  to  any  carpet  with  which  the 
floors  of  a  living-room  should  be  covered.  But 
to  produce  just  this  temperature  and  no  more, 
is  the  difficult  matter,  If  that  could  be  done, 
it  might  be  applied  to  any  of  our  ordinary 
houses  with  wooden  floors. 

The  circulation  of  hot  water  through  pipes 
between  the  joists  comes  the  nearest  to  ac- 
complishing it.  This  has  been  done  in  many 
instances  with  marked  success,  and  may  be 
considered  safe  for  the  first  floor  where  there 
ib.  a  warm  cellar  underneath;  but  it  would  not 
answer  in  second  stories,  or  in  exposed  posi- 
tions where  the  pipes  were  liable  to  freeze 
and  burst.  Steam  answers  a  good  purpose 
where  there  is  considerable  space  for  the  cir- 
culation of  air  around  them;  and,  where  a 
pressure  of  less  than  five  pounds  is  used,  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  protect  the  wood  work 
from  immediate  contact  with  the  pipes.  It  is 
better,  however, '^ot  to  allow  any  wood  to 
touch  them.  Although  combustion  would 
probably  never  take  place  from  that  cause, 
yet  the  wood  thus  in  contact  becomes  very 
dry  ;  and,  if  a  fire  occurs  from  other  sources, 
such  wood  is  in  condition  to  burn  rapidly. 
Wherever  it  is  practicable  to  do  so— and  I 


think  that  with  a  little  ingenuity  it  would  be 
f.  uud  to  be  80  in  almost  every  case — the  steam 
])ipes  should  !)e  run  between  the  joists  on  the 
outside  under  the  winiows,  and  the  space 
directly  over  them  could  be  covered  with  soap- 
stone  or  with  slat'.'.  The  latter  hi  b  coming 
a  favorite  material  amongst  builders  for 
various  uses  besides  covering  roofs.  It  makes 
an  excellent  tiling,  and,  in  the  ornamental 
manner  in  which  it  is  now  worked  up,  makes 
a  very  handsome  substitute  for  the  expensive 
marbles  for  waiuscottiug. 

In  cases  where  the  ordinary  hot  air  furnace 
is  used,  it  is  scarcely  safe,  with  our  present 
method  of  construction,  to  allow  even  the  air 
from  the  "^f:nas,"  and  the  "  Vesuviuses," 
and  such  other  lung-scorchers,  to  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  wooden  floors  (these  floors  are 
of  so  much  more  value  than  our  lungs)  for 
fear  of  burning  them  ;  but,  where  it  is  possible 
to  use  iron  joists  and  a  brick  arch,  it  makes 
an  excellent  arrangement  to  let  the  floor  be 
the  top  of  the  furnace.  The  floor  is  thus 
warned  ;  and,  with  a  little  ingenuity, the  heat 
may  be  quite  evenly  distributed  over  a  large 
space.  If  hot-air  furnaces  could  always  be 
used  in  this  manner,  it  would  quite  retrieve 
their  character,  and  render  them  a  conveni- 
ent, and  perhaps  a  popular  method  of  warm- 
ing. From  these  few  hints  it  can  readily  be 
seen  what  a  field  architects  and  builders  have 
before  them  for  devising  new  and  improved 
methods  of  rendering  our  buildings  far  more 
comfortable  than  they  now  are,  by  adopting 
some  means  of  keeping  our  feet  warm  and 
our  heads  cool. — Lewis  W.  Leeds,  Engineer  •/ 

Ventilatio7i. 

^ . 

SALT  FOK  Farm  Stock.— Prof.  James  E. 
Johnson,  of  Scotland,  says  that  half  the  saline 
matter  of  the  blood  (75  per  cent.),  consists  of 
common  salt,  and  as  this  is  partly  dissolved 
every  day  through  the  skin  and  kidneys,  the 
necessity  of  continued  supplies  of  it  to  the 
healthy  body  is  sufficiently  obvious.  The  bile 
also  contains  soda  (one  of  the  ingredients  of 
salt)  as  a  special  and  indispensable  constitu- 
ent, and  so  do  all  the  cartilages  of  the  body. 
Stint  the  supply  of  salt,  and  neither  will  the 
bile  be  able  properly  to  assist  digestion,  nor 
the  cartilages  to  be  built  up  again  as  fast  as 
they  naturally  waste.  It  is  better  to  place 
salt  where  slock  can  have  free  access  to  it, 
than  to  give  it  occasionally  in  small  quantities. 
They  will  help  themselves  to  what  ihcy  need. 


100 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


BEE-KEEPING. 


THE  BEE  AND  BEE-KEEPING. 
NO.  3. 

BY   ULiacn  STlilCKLER. 
AVOEKERS. 

^'^HE  workers  are  imperfect  females,  that 
is,  they  are  females  with  undeveloped 
organs  of  generation.  Fertile  workers  occur 
occasionally.  They  are  workers  that  have 
the  power  to  lay  a  few  eggs,  but  this  power  is 
only  developed  when  a  colony  has  lost  its 
queen,  at  least  we  discover  it  only  in  queen- 
less  colonies.  The  eggs  laid  by  fertile  work- 
ers, hatch, but  produce  invju-iably  drones.  This 
is  another  evidence  that  dr.>ne  eggs,  or  eggs 
that  produce  drones,  are  not  impregnated. 

The  time  from  the  egg  to  the  mature  work- 
er, averages  about  tvventy-one  days,  or  three 
days  less  than  for  the  drones.  They  are  call- 
ed workers,  because  they  perform  all  the 
labor.  Worker-bees  are  emphatically  labor- 
ers, being  without  doubt  the  mo^t  industrious 
insects  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge — the 
ant  not  excepted.  No  opportunity  for  gath- 
ering stores  is  allowed  to  pass  away  unim- 
proved. Every  moment  of  time — weather 
permitting — is  employed,  and  every  nook  and 
corner  ransacked,  so  that  no  source  of  honey 
or  pollon  escapes  their  scrutinizing  search. 
When  their  hives  are  well  filled,  having  an 
abundant  supply  of  honey  and  all  things 
necessary  to  take  them  safely  through  the 
winter,  without  any  more  labor,  if  we  furnish 
them  additional  room,  they  will  toil  assidu- 
ously to  fill  it  up.  Sometimes  when  their 
hives  are  filled,  and  w^e  neglect  to  furnish 
them  more  ro.>m  they  vvill  build  combs  and 
store  honey  on  the  outside,  showing  that  in- 
dustry is  essential  to  their  existence,  and  idle- 
ness contrary  to  their  nature.  The  phrase 
"  as  busy  as  a  bee,"  and  the  song 

"  How  does  the  busy  little  bee 
Improve  each  shining  hour," 

are  "  as  familiar  as  household  words,"  and 
yet  how  few,  comparatively,  know  how  busy  a 
bee  really  is,  or  how  industriously  it  impi'oves 
its  time.     But  I  am  digressing. 

They  are  provided  with  a  sac  in  which  they 
carry  the  honey  to  the  hive.  Pollen  they 
carry  in  little  pellets  attached  to  their  poste- 


rior legs.  Nature  has  furnished  them  with  a 
sting  and  a  virulent  poison.  These  they  use 
in  defense  of  themselves  and  their  treasures, 
but  will  not  attack  wlien  abroad,  only  near 
their  hives.  They  secrete  was,  construct 
comb,  nurse  and  feed  the  yf)ung,  as  well  as 
prepare  their  food;  in  short,  perform  all  the 
labor  about  the  hive,  except  laying  the  eggs. 
For  about  ten  or  twelve  days  after  leaving 
the  cell,  they  are  almost  exclusively  engaged 
within  the  hive  ;  afterward  they  assist  in  col- 
lecting honey  and  pollen.  Their  age  varies 
according  to  the  season  in  which  they  are 
hatched.  In  the  busy  se  son  the  average  age 
acquired  does  probably  not  exceed  a  month, 
a  great  many  beia;  lost  every  day,  but  when 
hatched  in  the  fall,  their  life  is  ex!;eQd3d  dir- 
ing  the  winter,  into  spring,  so  that  some 
probably  live  to  the  age  of  eight  or  nine 
months. 

HINTS  FOR  OCTOBER. 

Now  is  the  time  to  select  stocks  for  winter- 
ing. Every  stock  to  winter  safely  should  have 
twenty-five  to  thirty  pounds  of  honey,  and 
bees  sufficient  to  cover  all  the  combs  nearly  to 
the  bottom.  Some  judgment  is  needed  to  de- 
cide about  the  number  of  bees.  If  the  hive  is 
very  full  of  honey,  the  bees  are  crowded  to 
the  bottom,  and  appear  to  be  more  numerous 
than  they  really  are.  But  where  the  combs 
are  ordinarily  filled,  the  bees  will  be  near  the 
bottom,  and  extend  through  all  of  them.  Such 
usually  winter  best.  When  stores  of  honey 
are  a  little  short,  the  bees  will  be  farther  up 
among  the  coaibs,  and  a  large  colony  may 
appear  quite  small.  Too  much  honey  is  also 
a  disadvantage.  The  middle  combs  should  be 
empty  nearly  to  the  top,  that  the  bees  cannot 
occupy  only  the  space  between  the  combs,  but 
creep  into  the  ce'ls,  pu3hing  very  closely  to- 
gether, to  economize  all  the  heat  generated 
by  them. 

Keep  all  the  colonies  that  can  be  made 
profitable  next  year,  but  decide  now  which 
are  to  be  wintered.  Some  colonies  cannot  be 
wintered,  and  it  is  mercy  to  kill  at  once, 
rather  than  allow  them  to  starve  by  degrees. 
It  is  mistaken  kindness  and  false  economy  to 
decide  to  keep  colonies  that  cannot  be  win- 
tered. If  it  is  desirable  to  keep  light  colo- 
nies, they  should  be  put  in  the  best  possible 
condition  this  month,  by  feeding,  that  the 
honey  maybe  sealed  over  before  cold  weather. 
Feed  at  night,  and  give  them  all  they  will 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


191 


take,  until  they  have  enough.  Feed  iu  the 
top  of  the  hive,  that  robbers  cannot  get  at  it 
without  passing  throui^b  the  hive.  Honey  is, 
of  course,  the  best  feed,  but  a  syr.ip  made  of 
the  best  white  sugar  and  water — two  parts  of 
the  former  to  o  le  of  the  latter  by  weight — 
brought  to  a  boil,  and  all  impurities  skim- 
med from  the  surf iCe,  i^  a  very  good  substi- 
tute. There  are  several  patented  bee-feeders 
in  use  that  are  very  couveureut,  but  a  home- 
made one,  which  any  one  can  make,  answers 
our  purpose  very  wfll.  Take  four  pieces  of 
lath,  about  an  inch  wide  and  one-fourth  of  an 
inch  thick,  and  of  any  length  to  make  a  feed- 
er of  the  size  desired,  or  suited  to  the  top  of 
the  hive ;  tack  together,  and  for  the  bottom 
take  heavy  unbleached  muslin  and  fasten  on. 
Or  the  sides  may  be  made  of  tin,  and  the  mus- 
lin pasted  on  with  gum-arabic.  Honey,  or 
syrup  of  the  proper  consistency,  will  pass 
through  the  muslin  just  fast  enough  for  the 
bees  to  take  it  from  the  under  side.  This 
feeder  should  be  set  over  the  openings  in  the 
honey  board,  on  a  frame  the  same  size  as  the 
feeder.  The  bees  can  then  ascend  through 
the  openings  in  the  honey  board,  and  get  to 
the  under  side  of  the  muslin,  under  the  honey 
or  syrup,  and  take  it  through  without  getting' 
outside  of  the  frame  on  which  the  feeder  rests. 
Whenever  the  feeder  becomes  empty,  it  can 
be  filled  without  any  bees  being  \a  the  way. 

If  any  stocks  cannot  be  wintered,  it  is  bet- 
ter economy  to  put  away  the  hives  with  their 
contents,  after  taking  out  all  the  bees,  fur  a 
swarm  another  year,  than  to  Dreak  out  the 
honey  for  the  table.  Close  it  up,  that  neither 
mice  nor  bees  can  enter,  and  a  swarm  put  into 
it  the  following  season  will  pay  for  the  con- 
tents and  trouble. 

Those  who  use  movable  frame  hives — and 
every  bee-keeper  should  use  them — will  have 
very  little  trouble  with  light  stocks.  A  frame 
or  two  containing  honey  from  a  stock  that 
can  spare  it,  exchanged  for  one  or  two  empty 
ones  will  help  the  difficulty  ;  and  it  is  all  that 
is  required,  unless  there  are  too  few  bees, 
when  the  bees  clustering  on  the  combs  from 
the  strong  st(  ck  may  be  permitted  to  remain 
on,  and  be  transferred  with  the  combs  to  the 
weak  colony. 

* — 

Butter  made  in  the  Blanchard  Churn  com- 
mands the  highest  price,  as  the  buttermilk  is 
sure  to  be  worked  out  more  thoroughly  than  it 
can  possibly  be  by  hand.  Expert  butter 
buyers  well  know  this. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL. 


IX  DEFEASE   OF    THE    COCKROACH. 


AEEMARKABLE  result  of  modern  util- 
itarian inve-itiaation  is  the  discovery  of 
the  value  of  the  cockroach  as  a  scavenger. 
These  repulsive  animals,  which  have  been 
d-emed  the  t-nemies  of  correct  housekeeping, 
and  a^^ainnt  which  a  thousand  patent  poisons 
have  been  discharged,  is  after  all  a  friend  of 
our  race,  and  has  been  unjustly  persecuted. 
And  now  lor  what  the  cockroach  does.  Re- 
cently a  terrible  disease  has  been  discovered, 
which  f  rigiostes  :n  the  p?:trid  paste  on  bill- 
boards in  large  cities.  The  cockroach  has  a 
strong  likinjr  for  this  putrescent,  farinaceous 
food,  and,  when  permitted,  cleans  it  all  up. 
In  Paris  they  .re  encoura2;ed  in  this  work, 
and  prominent  men  say  that  when  the  ani- 
mals are  allowed  full  swing,  cerebro-bpinal 
meningitis  and  kindred  diseases  are  not  heard 
of.  Repulsive  as  it  may  seem,  it  has  leaked 
out  that  bakers  use  the  cockroach  to  clear 
the  p  tridity  from  yea^t,  and  frequently  in- 
sert them  into  the  loaves  of  bread  for  sanitary 
purposes.  New  York  is  awakening  to  the 
sense  of  their  utility,  and  is  looking  them  up 
to  clear  off  her  putrid  bill-boanls  a  prominent 
doctor  having  insisted  that  "a  bill-b  .ard  is 
equivalent  to  the  death  of  three  hundred  peo- 
ple, from  the  putrid  matter  it  contains  "  A 
number  of  cockroach  breeders  were  present 
at  a  recent  meeting  of  entomologists  in  Salem 
Mass.,  and  exhibited  a  number  of  differert 
varieties  of  the  insect.  It  was  there  demon- 
strated that  the  English  breed  is  superior  to 
all  others  for  scavenj^er  purposes.  It  was 
contended  that  the  popubir  preju  'ice  against 
the  insect  is  groundless,  the  roach  being  per- 
fectly harmless,  and  capable  of  great  affection 
for  his  keeper.  Who  will  inaugurate  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  new  sanitary  agent  in  this 
vicinity  ? 

[It  is  so  seldom  that  a  good  word  is  said  in 
behalf  of  the  cockroach,  and  we  feel  so  natur- 
ally inclined  to  give  even  "the  devil  h^s  due," 
that  we  cannot  refrain  from  submitting  the 
above  to  the  consideration  of  our  readers 
"  for  what  it  is  worth,"  and  nothing  more. 
We  can  so  far  vouch  for  the  truthfulness  of 
the  foregoing  testimony  as  to  corroborate 
what  is  said  of  the  cockroaches  eating  the 
paste  attached  to  papered  walls,  printed  or 
otherwise,  but  at  the  very  best  this  is  but  a 
negative  virtue,  for,  to  our  great  annoyance, 
he  persists  in  also  eating  the  paper  in  holes 
for  two  inches  or  more  along  the  washboard 
of  our  kitchen.  Still,  as  we  do  not  know  how 
mucb  fatal  disease  this  has  prevented  during 
the  past  hot  summer,  he  may  possibly  have 


192 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


performed  a  sacitary  office  in  our  household, 
and  therefore  will  not  unqualifiedly  condemn 
him,  but  charitably  give  him  the  benefit  of 
the  doubt. 

It  has  often  been  alleijed  by  analytic  tem- 
perance-or  rather  total  abstinence— advo- 
cates that  the  extract  of  cockroach  constitutes 
the  coloring  matter  in  some  of  the  liquid  com- 
pounds, manufactured  and  sold  as  human  bev- 
erages. Be  that  as  it  may,  we  know  from  ex- 
perience, that  the  immersion  of  cockroaches 
in  limped  alcohol,  in  not  a  very  long  time, 
chauires  it^to  the  color  of  the  most  beautiful 
brandy.  If  it  be  true  that  bakers  use  cock- 
roaches to  destroy  the  putridity  of  yeast,  and 
for  other  sanitary  purposes,  may  they  not 
have  a  sanitary  efi'ect  upon  the  beverages  in 
which  they  are  used  as  a  coloring  matter? 
and  if  so,  what  becomes  cf  the  argument 
against  the  poisonous  liquid  compounds,  so 
freely  made  use  of  by  analytic  temperance 
reformers  ?] 


AN  EGYPTIAN   PLAGUE. 


Reports  from  various  sections  of  Ohio  state 
that  the  potato  crop  will  be  almost  an  entire 
failure,  on  account  of  the  ravages  of  the  potato 
bug.  Now  that  the  cold  weather  is  beginning 
to  set  in,  the  bugs  are  leaving  the  fields  and 
seeking  shelter  in  the  houses,  b'rns  and  other 
buiidiues  Every  window  is  full  of  them,  and 
the  sides  of  buildujgs  are  in  many  places  com- 
pletely covered.  Every  path  is  crowded  with 
them,  and  the  residents  cannot  walk  about 
their  houses  and  barns  without  stepping  on 
and  killing  hundreds  of  these  destructive  bugs. 

We  have  a  letter  before  us,  more  than  cor- 
roborating all  in  the  above  extract.  These 
insects  are  now  seeking  winter  quarters  in 
which  to  hybcrnale  until  next  spring,  but  the 
number  that  do  so  are  nothing  in  comparison 
to  the  number  that  go  into  the  ground  in  the 
grub  form,  and  those  change  to  a  pupa,  and 
remain  buried  in  the  earth  during  the  winter, 
away  from  accident  and  damaging  exposure. 
Those  therefore,  that  go  into  the  ground,  are 
comparatively  safe  ;  although  they  may  be 
more  numerous  than  those  seeking  winter 
hiding  places  above  ground,  yet  they  do  not 
commence  operations  in  the  spring  so  early 
as  the  latter.  We  hope  the  potato  growers  of 
Pennsylvania  may  have  entirely  exterminated 
the  broods  of  these  maects  which  appeared 
the  present  season  in  different  parts  of  the 
State,  and  most  especially  those  that  appeared 


in  Lancaster  county.  Next  spring  will  tell 
the  tale.  Even  if  all  these'  should  have  been 
extinguished— which  is  hardly  probable — it 
will  not  be  long  before  they  reach  our  State 
from  Ohio,  for  the  letter  above  referred  to  was 
from'Tuscarawas  county,  the  northern  line  of 
which  is  only  about  forty  miles  from  the 
Western  Pennsylvania  line.  With  the  "•  po- 
tato beetle"  and  the  "  cabbage  worm"  in 
Lancaster  county,  judging  from  the  ravages 
of  the  latter  this  season,  we  would  not  be  able 
to  look  very  hopefully  for  our  usual  su  poly  of 
potatoes  and  cabbage,  in  the  summer  of  1873. 
As  civilization  advances,  and  the  country  is 
opened  up  to  domestic  culture,  it  seems  there 
is  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  develop- 
ment of  our  insect  enemies,  and  this  is  pretty 
much  the  case  all  the  world  over.  It  may  be 
accounted  for  on  the  principle  that  an  increase 
in  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  food  on 
which  certain  insects  subsist,  increases  and 
facilitates  their  development,  in  localities 
where  these  conditions  exist.  To  show  that 
we  are  not  alone  in  these  insect  troubles,  we 
append  an  extract  sent  us  by  a  friend  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  exhibiting  some  of  their 
depredations  in  that  far-off  and  generally 
esteemed  Elysium  of  the  tropical  realms.  It 
tells  a  sad  tale. 

BLIGHT  ! 

In  that  solemn,  short  significant  word,  is 
comprehended  simply  a  nasty,  shiny,  dirty, 
little  louse,  yet  so  preposterously  anti-Mal- 
thusian,  that  the  smallest  speck  of  him  is  to 
be  dreaded  as  an  enemy's  invasion  with  a 
destroying  army  I  It  is  the  true  trail  of  that 
malicious  old  serpent  who  poured  his  infernal 
poison  into  a  frail  woman's  ear  and  then  spit 
upon  our  cocoa  and  our  coflee,  and  hasn't 
done  spitting  yet.  This  detestable  little  aphis 
can  put  whole  countries  into  mourning,  send 
fleets  to  rot  for  want  of  work,  elude  the  vigi- 
lance of  science  and  turn  a  smiling  land  into 
a  waste  wilderness,  crying  Havoc !  with  the 
biggest  dogs  of  war  !  Look  at  ourci  ffee  alone. 
What  might  not  this  single  Island  of  Hawaii 
have  done  but  for  this  pesky  parasite  I  Mil- 
lions on  millions  of  dol  ars  it  might  have 
raised,  and  a  revenue  and  a  commerce  capa- 
ble of  many  hotels  ar>d  palaces,  worthy  the 
benignant  patronage  of  Foreign  Relations  in 
all  his  glory  !  There  is  scarce  a  limit  to  ibe 
amount  of  exportation  thnt  there  might  have 
been  from  the  six  apanas  of  Hawaii.  With 
a  chaplet  of  coffee  leaves  encirclifig  her  m«- 
blighted  brow,  and  a  wand  of  cocoa  in  her 
hand,  guarding  the  green  and  fruitful  planta- 
tions at  her  feet,  and  unnumbered  cream  dai- 
ries round  among  the  hills,  the  Genius  of 
Hawaii  might  have  taken  her  imperial  seat 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FABMER. 


193 


OD  Mauna  Kea  with  Mauna  Loa  for  her  break- 
fast table,  anr]  while  sipping  the  ambrosial 
compourd  of  her  own  inspirations,  with  a 
slight  tlick  of  her  big  toe,  have  sent  the  gree- 
dy sugar  kings  with  their  compound  interest 
guns  all  rolling  into  the  briny  deep.  I  have  a 
present  pertinent  cause  for  wrath,  though 
impotent.  For  being  something  of  a  digger 
with  the  rest,  in  part  pursuance  of  my  allott- 
ment  I  planted  "garden  sarse,"  cabbages, 
corn  and  asparagus.  As  they  sprouted  I 
weeded  and  watered  and  looked  proudly  on. 
Mv  asparagus  took  the  form  of  feathery 
plurae.s,my  corn  sheltered  scratching  p  )uUry 
and  my  cabbages  swelled  as  if  affected  with 
bydrophalus.  (Perhaps  hydroceph"lus  —drop- 
sy of  the  head.)  So  I  weeded  and  watered 
on  and  grew  prouder,  and  when  a  melancholy 
stranger  in  black  bailed  me  as  a  "  brother 
sinner  "  over  the  garden  wall,  I  ignored  the 
connection  and  told  hibi  to  peddle  allegories 
and  mind  his  own  business.  And  the  Philis- 
tines were  vjyon  me  ! — the  Aphides  I  mean, 
with  a  filth\  clean  sweep  of  utter  destruction  ! 
They  plastered  my  corn  leaves  with  a  dirty 
gum  and  turned  them  all  to  fly-traps.  They 
broke  my  cabbage  hearts  and  sprinkled  them 
with  odorous  mummy  powder,  and  they  clad 
my  aspa^aeus  with  a  mouldered  fluff.  I  misht 
have  known  it.  Hilo  is  black  with  blight  I 
The  very  bread-fruit  trees  are  gomg,  the  kou 
is  gone,  and  symptoms  appear  all  round.  In 
parts  of  Hamakua  and  Kona  the  ants  have 
taken  complete  possession  of  thousands  of 
acres,  and  destroy  all  crops.  In  some  shape 
or  other  it.affects  the  people,  as  Molokai  and 
the  hospitals  will  testify,  and  (if  you'll  not 
mention  it)  I'm  afraid  it's  in  the  Parliament. 
And  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  r* 
"Marry  now,  tell  us  that  and  unyoke  !  " 

A  desponding  friend  of  mine  who  yet  has 
good  ideas,  let  himself  out  the  other  day, 
quite  treasonably  I  thought,  for  whei?  I  hopp- 
fuUy  suggested  that  we  might  be  in  an  epoch, 
and  the  aichipelagoiu  the  spasms  of  a  phase, 
he  threw  away  the  stump  of  his  cigar  quite 
vicinus'ly  and  snarled  out,  "Not  a  bit  of  it; 
Ws  a  biike!  "  Of  course  that  shut  me  up. 
Yours  truly. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

YELLOWS  ON  PEACH  TREES. 

WILL  HEADIKQ  DOWN  THE  TKEES  CURE  THIS 
DISEASE. 

MESSRS.  Editoks  of  Farmer:  Last 
season  visiiiug  several  of  my  friends, 
and  looking  through  their  orchards  !*nd  vine- 
yards, I  noticed  on  the  grounds  of  Mr.  Bink- 
ley,  adjoining  the  farm  of  Mr.  Levi  S.  Reist, 
a  number  of  peach  trees  that  had  been  headed 


down,  the  year  previous,  close  to  where  the 
bi'anches  started  from  the  trunks  of  the  trees. 
These  trees  were  badly  effected  with  the  yel- 
lows, as  Mr.  Binkley  told  us,  and  he  thought 
to  try  an  experiment,  "  kill  or  cure  1 "  Now, 
when  I  saw  them  a  year  aft  ji  ward,  all  these 
trees  had  pushed  out  numerous  sprouts,  form- 
ing beautiful  dense  heads.  The  foliage  and 
healthy  appearance  of  these  trees,  apparently, 
left  not  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  their  perfect 
freedom  fi'om  disease.  As  another  season  has 
passed  round,  I  feel  curious  to  know  if  thus 
heading  down  the  trees  has  in  reality,  and  ra- 
dically, cured  them  of  this  destructive  malady ! 

Mr.  Reist,  no  doubt,  can  easily  examine 
these  trees,  standing  near  his  apple  orchard, 
and,  as  he  is  a  close  observer,  will  Mr.  R.  give 
through  the  Farmer  the  result  of  this  expe- 
riment for  the  benefit  of  all  whom  it  may  con- 
cern ? 

If  the  heading  down  of  the  trees  will  cure 
this  formidable  disease,  it  may  be  of  interest 
for  the  peach  growers  to  know  it.  There  is  to 
my  mind,  at  least,  some  plausibility  in  this 
operation,  thus  preventing  the  trees  from 
flowering  for  a  season  it  may  arrest,  possibly 
cure  this  disease. 

Many  years  since,  I  noticed  that  trees  ap- 
parently affected  one  season  and  ready  to  die, 
on  a  cold  winter,  killing  the  germs  in  the 
flower  buds  so  the  trees  did  not  flower  the  fol- 
lowing spring ;  then  the  trees  recovered,  and 
remained  healthy,  and  bearing  fine  fruit  for 
years  afterward. 

J.  B.  Garber. 


"Why  Matches  Ignite.— Although  fric- 
tion matches  are  as  common  as  nail-',  a  very 
small  proportion  of  those  who  use  them  under- 
stand the  principle  on  which  they  operate.  It 
is  in  fact  a  very  simple  affair.  The  tip  of  the 
match  is  a  combination  of  sulphur  and  phos- 
phorous. The  phosphorous  ignites  at  the 
heat  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees, 
which  a  slight  friction  will  produce,  and  this 
in  turn  ignites  the  sulphur,  which  requires 
four  hundred  and  fifty  or  five  hundred  degrees. 
The  flame  of  the  sulphur  sets  fire  to  the  pine 
wood  of  which  the  match  is  composed,  and 
which  ignites  at  about  six  hundred  degrees. 
The  combination  is  necessary,  because  the 
phosphorous  alone  would  not  kiudle  the 
match,  while  the  sulphur  alone  would  not 
ignite  with  the  ordinary  friction. 


194 


THE  LAMCAST-RR  FARMER. 


s 


^ 


LANCASTER,  OCTOBER,  1872. 


S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRIS,  Editors. 

Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  .Agricul- 
tural AND  Horticultural  Society. 


$1.35  per  Tear  in  Advance. 

A  considerable  deduction  to  clubs  of  five  or  more. 

AH  communications,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  o  the  editors  before  the  20th  of  each  month.  Ad- 
dress Ra'hvon  &  Harris,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

A  advertisements,  subscriptions  and  remittances  to  the 
address  of  the  publisher,  J.  E.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Building,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

HORTICULTURAL  EXHIBITIOK. 

THE  exhibition  of  our  local  society,  at 
Fulton  Hall,  on  the  12th  of  September 
last,  was  the  fiaest  and  largest  display  of 
fruit  and  flowers  that  has  ever  been  seen  in 
the  City  of  Lancaster,  and  only  shows  the 
capabilities  of  the  society,  when  it  has  a  will 
to  make  a  demonstration.  The  income  came 
within  a  small  fraction  of  covering  the  ex- 
penses, and  would  more  than  have  covered 
them,  but  f  r  the  threatening  character  of  the 
weather  during  the  afternoon  and  evening. 
Under  any  circumstances,  it  may  be  regarded 
also  as  a  financial  success,  for  beiog  the  first 
exhibition  of  the  society,  held  in  a  large  rent- 
ed hall,  it  was  merely  an  experiment,  and 
realized  more  than  the  society  anticipated. 
This  experiment  clearly  suggests  what  the 
society  can  do,  and  doubtless  what  it  will  do, 
on  future  occasions.  Although  there  was  a 
very  large  display  of  fine  fruits  and  flowers, 
and  also  a  creditable  display  of  beautiful  orna- 
mental plants  and  evergreens,  yet  the  quantity 
of  vegetables  and  seeds  on  exhibition— al- 
though of  a  fine  quanfity — was  very  meager 
indeed,  as  a  representation  of  the  field  and 
garden  products  (;f  Lancaster  county.  This  is 
not  because  these  useful  products  do  not  exist, 
both  in  quantity  and  quality,  but  because  of 
the  habitual  apathy  of  those  who  cultivate 
them.  There  is  not  suflicient  personal  pride 
in  that  which  is  proverbially  the  pri.le  of  our 
land,  and  the  success  of  which,  forms  the 
physical  basis  upon  which  the  superstructure 


of  all  other  occupations,  professions,  and  en- 
terprises are  erected.  Oue  sister  society  at 
Marietta  did  infinitely  better  than  we  in  this 
respect,  and  it  only  represents  a  single  district 
in  the  county  ;  but,  to  its  credit  be  it  said,  it 
is,  horticulturally,  a  live  district,  and  or  all 
such  occasions,  manifests  a  laudable  enterprise. 

Our  late  exhibition  suggests  another  import- 
ant matter  ;  and  that  is,  tha-:  it  ought  to  be 
continued  for  at  least  two  days  in  buccession, 
and  previous  proclamation  should  be  made  at 
least  one  fu'l  month  before  the  exhibition  is 
held.  It  will  require  nearly  all  of  the  first  day 
to  get  things  properly  ia  order,  and  it  seems 
that  publish  and  advertis^e  as  we  may,  many  of 
the  people  receive  their  first  knowledge  of  it 
from  some  friend  or  neighbor  who  has  visited 
it.  There  are  many  other  details  in  which  the 
public  have  no  special  interest,  but  which 
ought  to  be  clearly  understood  between  the 
society  and  the  managing  committees  is  may 
appoint,  to  carry  out  its  will,  on  future  occa- 
sions. 

Perhaps  at  no  other  period  in  the  agricul- 
tural history  of  our  country,  has  there  been 
finer  and  more  successful  agricultural  and 
horticultural  displays  than  have  chiracteriz.d 
the  present  season.  Improved  culture,  and 
improved  products  of  the  soil,  must  always 
command  a  remunerating  price,  and  iherefore 
the  culturists  of  our  progressing  country  have 
nothing  specially  to  risk  or  fear,  in  this  re- 
spect. 

Simultaneously  with  the  appearance  of  this 
number  of  our  journal,  the  "  Agricultural 
Park  Association  "  will  be  holding  its  fourth 
annual  fair  ^  and  the  Vtry  liberal  list  of  premi- 
ums it  off"ers,  ought  to  bring  out  a  large  amount 
of  the  choicest  products  of  our  county,  in  all 
its  industrial  departments.  If  any  word  of 
ours  could  be  of  any  avail  at  this  late  day,  we 
would  admonish  our  friends  to  give  encourage- 
ment to  that  part  at  least,  which  is  in  harmony 
with  their  sentiments,  and  secular  interests, 
without  regard  to  other  features  in  which  they 
are  not  interested.  There  must  be  some  feat- 
ure, on  occasions  of  this  kind,  more  prominent 
than  others,  and  if  you  make  that  feature 
agricultural,  horticultural  or  mechanical,  it 
will  not  be  in  "  trials  of  speed,"  to  which 
some  object.  For  the  honor  of  Lancaster 
county  we  desire  its  success,  at  least  in  those 
departments  in  which  our  late  exhibition  so 
signally  failed. 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


195 


BLIGHT. 

EXCEPT  a  similarity  in  external  effect, 
perhaps  there  is  no  term  in  the  English 
language  which  conveys  a  more  indefinite 
idea  in  reference  to  the  causes  of  certain  phe- 
nomena, than  that  called  "  blight."  It  cov- 
ers 80  many  contingencies,  that  it  would  be 
altogether  impossible  to  suggest  a  remedy  in 
any  case,  where  the  descriptijn  of  an  animal 
or  vegetable  disease,  is  couched  in  the  simple 
word  blight.  If  we  look  into  a  common  dic- 
tionary, we  find  That  it  means  "  anything  nipp- 
ing or  blasting."  "  A  disease  incident  to 
plants,  affecting  them  variously.  Sometimes 
the  whole  plant  perishes;  sometimes  only  the 
leaves  and  blossoms,  which  will  shrivel,  as  if 
scorched."  The  use  of  this  term  may  be 
proper  enough,  if  used  merely  to  describe, 
briefly,  an  effect,  without  regard  to  the  cause. 
But  it  is  so  often  used  with  the  definite  arti- 
cle the^  as  a  prefix,  that  it  conveys  the  idea  of 
a  disease,  in  special  cases,  that  is  indppeadent 
of  any  superinducing  causes.  Where  vegeta- 
bles are  infested  by  certain  species  of  aphis 
or  coccus,  which  enervates  them,  and  causes 
their  leaves  and  fruit  to  wilt,  they  are  said  to 
be  affected  by  the  "  blight."  When  the  &ame 
effect  is  produced  by  the  presence  of  imm  nse 
numbers  of  minxx  q  fungoids,  they  are  said  to 
be  blighted.  The  same  general  term  is  ap- 
plied when  the  root  is  cut  off  a  plant  under- 
ground by  worms,  and  the  top  withers  and 
falls  under  *:he  rays  of  the  sun.  It  is  the  same 
in  cases  where  the  twig-boring  and  twig-gird- 
ling insects  destroy  the  vitality  of  the  smaller 
branches  of  trees  and  shrubbery,  causing 
their  leaves  to  wither  ;  or  where  the  same  ef- 
fect is  produced  by  the  punctures  of  the 
"seventeen-year  locust,"  or  tiie  repulsive 
"  squash-bug  "  and  "Colorado  potato  beetle ;" 
or  when,  after  a  violent  summer  storm,  some 
of  the  branches  of  trees  are  found  to  have 
been  killed  by  electricity ;  in  all  these  cases, 
vegetation  is  said  to  have  suffered  from 
blight.  Well,  in  a  popular  sense,  and  for  the 
sake  of  convenience,  it  may  as  well  be  called 
by  this  general  name,  as  any  other.  But  ad- 
mitting this,  here  is  where  the  "  trouble  " 
comes  in.  Viewed  a'' a  simple  disease,  only 
apparent  from  the  general  outward  effect,  peo 
pie  will  be  looking  for  a  simple  uniform  reme- 
dy, that  will  be  applicable  to  all  cases,  when 
it  is  very  evident  that  each  particular  case 


may  require  a  different  remedy.  In  any  case, 
little  or  nothing  can  be  recommended  as  a 
remedy  for  blight,  unless  we  know  what  has 
been  the  cause  of  it,  and  even  when  we  truly 
know  the  cause,  there  may  be  many  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  applying  a  remedy. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  we  may 
mention  that  there  are  some  forms  of  blight 
which  have  a  remedy  inherent  in  them,  or  in 
natural  association  with  them,  and  especially 
that  form  of  it  which  is  caused  by  aphids. 
Some  weeks  ago,  we  noticed  that  the  blighted 
end  of  a  grapevine  was  covered  with  aphis 
vitis  in  various  stages  of  development,  and 
also  with  a  number  of,  what  seemed  to  the 
naked  eye,  a  small  globular  fungus. 

A  microscopic  examination,  however,  re- 
vealed that  these  were  also  aphids,  but  with 
the  abdominal  portion  of  their  bodies  much 
enlarged,  and  changed  in  color.  We  cut  off 
the  end  of  the  blighted  vine,  and  placed  it 
under  a  glais  cup.  In  twenty-four  hours 
thereafter,  out  of  about  thirty  of  these  insects 
about  twenty  had  assumed  the  bloated  and 
discolored  form,  anrl  from  these  within  forty- 
eight  hours  thereafter,  emerged  as  many  little 
Chalets  flies— Si  parasite  which  preys  upon  the 
aphids.  In  addition  to  this,  and  various  arti- 
ficial remedies  which  may  be  applied  to  this 
form  of  blighi ,  there  are  a  number  of  other 
insects  which  prey  upon  aphids  ;  and  if  it 
were  not  for  this,  their  increase  would  be 
much  facilitated  and  their  presence  intolera- 
ble. 


MEETING   OF    LANCASTER   COUNTY 
AGRICULTURAL    AND    HORTI- 
CULTURAL SOCIETY. 

The  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Society 
was  held  September  2d,  1872,  at  the  Court 
House,  and  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting 
were  read  and  approved. 

The  question  of  holding  a  Fruit  Exhibition 
was  immediately  taken  up,  and,  after  cou'-'id- 
erable  discussion,  was  fixed  to  be  held  in  Ful- 
ton Hall  on  Thursday,  September  13Lh,  1872. 

The  following  were  appointed  by  the  chair 
as  managers  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
holding  of  the  said  exhibition,  viz. :  William 
McComsey,  J.  B.  Garber,  Dr.  E.  Hertz,  K.  K. 
Stoner,Levi  S.  Reist,  Samuel  Hillm  in, C.  Fox, 
Casper  Hiller,  CaWin  Cooper,  Johnson  Mil- 
ler, S.  S.  Rathvon,  Jacob  Stouffur,  J.  B.  Ke- 


196 


THE  LAJYCASTER  FARMER. 


vinski,  Charles  E.  Loug,  M.  D.  Kendig,  S.  P. 
Eby,  and  Alexander  Harris. 

The  following  committee  was  then  appoint- 
ed to  superintend  the  floral  department,  viz. : 
Mrs.  J.  B.  Livingston,  Mrs.  Krampf,  Mrs. 
Charles  Rengier,  Mrs.  Charles  Long,  and 
Mrs  J.  H.  Pearsol. 

Price  of  admittance  was  fixed  at  fifteen 
cents. 

Dr.  Elam  Hertz,  of  Ephrata,  now  proceeded 
to  read  an  essay  on  "  Household  Science." 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  the  essayist 
for  his  production. 

On  motion,  Davrd  Evans  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Society. 

Society,  on  motion,  adjourned. 


How  SHALL  I  Distinguish  ?  —  I  pur- 
chased egirs  from  what  was  reported  pure-bred 
poultry,  light  Brahma.  The  chickens  from 
the  eegs  are  now  about  ten  weeks  old.  I 
would  like  to  know  how  they  ought  to  look, 
also  how  to  tell  the  cockerels  from  the  pullets, 
whether  by  the  oomb  or  growth  of  tail-feath- 
ers. Three  or  four  of  the  chickens  are  nearly 
all  white,  and  have  tail-feathers  three  inches 
or  more  long,  the  birds  being  rather  long 
shaped ;  the  others  are  broad,  deep  looking 
chickens,  very  fluffy,  scarcely  any  tail.  The 
query  to  me  is,  are  they  all  cockerels?  I  hope 
not.  Will  some  of  your  poultry  fancying  read- 
ers aid  me. 

Lexington,  III.  Brahma. 

The  above  extract  we  copy  from  the  Prai- 
rie Farmer,  and,  by^the  aia  of  a  friend  who  is 
well  posted,  we  append  what  we  deem  a  sat- 
isfactory reply.  Hens  and  cockerels  at  that 
age  bear  the  same  relative  appearance.  All 
pure  light  Brahraas  at  this  age  are  a  beautiful 
light  color,  a  small  speck  of  black  on  the  wing 
and  tail,  or,  not  attempting  to  be  witty,  where 
the  tail  will  be.  The  Brahma  is  a  close  set 
bird.  The  cock  should  have  no  sickle  feath- 
ers, only  a  short,  upright  tail,  with  four  or 
five  dark  feathers  when  fully  fledged,  and 
finely  penciled  down  the  hackel.  At  ten 
weeks  you  can  hardly  tell  the  cockerels  from 
pullets.  The  comb  is  the  safest  guide.  The 
"  long-shaped  birds,"  with  tail-feathers  "three 
inches  or  more  lon^>;"  are  very  likely  not  Brah- 
mas.    All  the  Asiatics  are  short  and  broad. 


All  the  first-class  agricultural  journals  in 
the  country  give  the  Blanchard  Churn  as  one 
of  their  premiums  for  a  certain  number  of 
subscribers.  This  is  a  pretty  good  ind(  rse- 
ment  of  the  churn ,  as  they  are  in  a  position  to 
know  which  is  the  heat. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

RANDOM  SKETCHES  AND  FARM 
ITEMS. 

BY  H.  M.  BNQLE 

THE  short  wheat  crop  just  harvested  has 
not,  thus  far,  brought  the  high  prices 
which  were  anticipated  by  many  farmers  in 
this  section,  which  indicates  that  the  crop,  in 
the  aggre^i-ate,  is  not  much  bel()W  the  average. 
Proper  transportation  facilities  in  a  country 
are  evidently  the  levelers  of  prices  of  its  pro- 
ducts. Before  the  era  of  railroads,  a  wheat 
crop  as  short  as  the  present  one  in  this  section 
would  have  caused  an  advance  in  prices  al- 
most beyond  the  reach  of  the  laboring  classes. 
It  is  evidently  conclusive  that  in  a  country 
like  ours  a  thorough  system  for  the  irausport- 
ation  of  its  products  is  second  only  to  the  pro- 
ducts themselvi-s.  There  is  still  in  this  nine- 
teenth century  quite  a  large  number  who 
occasionally  clamor  for  the  good  old  times 
when  the  products  of  the  farm  were  moved  on 
wagons. 

In  those  days  prices  of  everything  were 
much  more  fluctuating  than  with  the  pre- 
sent system  of  moving  our  products.  Then 
speculations  were  more  reliable;  now  they 
recoil  upon  the  operator's  own  head,  which  is 
caused  by  rapid  transportation.  The  more 
uniform  and  steady  the  prices  of  all  the  pro- 
ducts of  a  country  are  maintained,  the  better 
for  its  citizens.  "We  should,  therefore,  hail 
with  pleasure  the  building  of  as  many  rail- 
roads as  can  be  conducted  in  a  healthy  con- 
dition. 

The  flattering  prospects  of  the  apple  crop 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  season  will  not  be 
realized  in  this  section.  The  premature 
dropping  and  decaying  of  much  of  the  crop  up 
to  this  period  has  already  reduced  it  far  be- 
low its  former  estimate.  The  cause  or  causes 
of  this  drawback  I  am  not  prepared  to  give. 
It  is,  however,  quite  plausible  that  the  ex- 
treme and  continuous  heat  has  had  a  serious 
efi'ect  on  the  crop.  Good  keeping  winter 
apples  will  not  be  over-abundant;  in  fact,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  Eastern  Pennsylvania 
will  have  a  supply.  It  would  be  wise  policy 
to  turn  the  stock  on  hand  to  the  best  account 
for  future  use,  by  drying  or  otherwise — such 
as  cannot  be  kept  fresh  for  winter  use — as  it 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


197 


is  not  likely  that  a  full  crop  next  year  will 
follow  such  an  extraordinary  one  this  season. 
The  light  crop  of  hay  this  season  will,  no 
doubt,  cause  many  farmers  to  pasture  close 
and  late  this  fall.  Nothing  is  more  deleteri- 
ous to  the  coming  hay  crop  than  such  a  course, 
and  those  who  practice  it  will  pay  pretty  dear 
"for  the  whistle.-'  Should  there  be  plenty  of 
snow  the  coming  winter,  the  grass  thus  pas- 
tured would  not  suffer  so  seriously  as  with  an 
open  winter;  but  it  is  always  safest  to  allow 
a  sufficient  body  on  the  surface  for  self-pro- 
tection. With  such  a  heavy  crop  of  corn  and 
fodder,  properly  utilized,  stock  should  appear 
in  good  couditioQ  next  spring,  notwithstand- 
icg  the  short  crop  of  hay. 


FARMING  A  DULL  BUSINESS. 

TALKING  with  a  very  bright  and  am- 
bitious young  woman,  a  farmer's 
daughter,  where  we  stopped  <  ver  night,  she 
said  farming  was  a  dull  sort  of  life.  "  Yes," 
said  a  young  man  of  twenty-two  years, 
"  there  is  no  incent  ive  to  work  ;  it  is  all  hum- 
drum routine,  and  hard  work — no  relaxation 
of  effort,  and  nothing  to  stimulate  the  mind." 
"  What  nonsense,"  we  replied.  There  is 
everything  for  a  stimulu.s.  Each  farm  is  a 
world  in  itself,  about  which  those  who  have 
lived  upon  it  know  little  or  nothing  compara- 
tively. Suppose,  for  example,  we  were  to 
ask  you  hovv  many  kinds  of  grasses— reaZ 
grasses — grow  on  your  farm — could  you  tell 
us,  with  their  correct  names,  habits  and  his- 
tory V  Suppose  we  ask  you  howmauy  species 
of  plants  are  indigenous  on  your  farm,  and 
the  names  of  these  plants,  time  of  flowering, 
color  of  flowers,  soil  and  locality  on  which 
they  grow — could  you  tell  us  ?  Suppose  we 
were  to  ask  you  how  many  species  of  birds 
visit  your  farm  every  year,  the  time  of  their 
arrival  and  dt-parture,  their  habits  while  with 
you,  their  names  and  their  habits  while  ab- 
sent from  your  locality  the  balance  of  the 
year — could  }ou  tell  us?  Suppose  we  ask 
you  how  many  species  of  insects  are  to  be 
found  on  your  farm — their  names,  history, 
habits,  whether  injurious  to  you  or  not,  upon 
what  trees  or  plants  they  live,  when  and  how 
often  they  appear,  and  how  long  they  stay- 
could  you  tell  us  ?  Suppose  we  ask  you  to 
show  us  specimens  of  the  grasses  and  other 
plants,  the  birds,  insects,  etc.,  which  maybe 


gathered  within  your  boundary  fences— could 
you  show  them  to  us  ?  And  yet,  if  you  were 
to  undertake  to  acquire  the  knowledge  we 
have  suggested  by  these  inquiries,  you  would 
find  your  life  too  short;  yet  the  knowledge 
you  would  gain,  the  interest  jou  would  soon 
take  in  it,  and  the  knowledge  of  your  own  im- 
potency  you  would  acquire,  would  prove  to 
you  that  it  is  not  the  farm  that  is  a  dull 
place,  but  it  is  you  who  are  dull  I— il/oore's 
Rural  New  Yorker. 


HOUSE  PLANTS-HOW  TO  BEAUTIFY 
OUR  HOMES  IN  WINTER. 


JAMES  YICK,  of  Rochester,  has  issued 
his  illuistrated  catalogue,  from  which  we 
take  the  following  hints  : 

"  The  hyacinth  and  narcissus,  the  crocuses 
and  early  tulips,  are  especially  adapted  to 
house  culture.  The  Egyptian  lily  is  a  favor- 
ite for  the  house,  and  with  a  few  geraniums, 
etc.,  will  mike  a  flue  collection.  All  the  lil- 
ies will  grow  well  in  the  house,  the  longiflorum 
being  the  first  to  flower,  the  aura'um  and  the 
lancifolium  sorts  last.  The  dicentra,  or  Bleed- 
ing Heart,  is  so  excellent  for  winter  breeding 
and  keeps  so  long  in  flower  that  it  is  a  great 
favorite  with  us.  The  ivy  and  Madeira  vine 
are  fine  climbers  and  furnish  abundance  of 
delicate  foliagj.  Many  plants  in  the  garden 
that  have  not  become  exhausted  by  overflow- 
ering  may  be  taken  up  and  potted  before  hard 
frosts,  and  in  this  way  a  collection  can  be 
secured  at  a  very  little  cost  or  labor.  The 
stock,  tropaaolum,  diauthus,  ageratum,  cobceo 
scandens  are  desirable  for  this  purpose. 

"  Few  plants  can  endure  the  high  tempera- 
ture and  dry  atmosphere  of  most  of  our  living 
rooms.  The  temperature  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  go  al.iove  sixty-five  in  the  day-time, 
and  not  above  forty  in  the  night.  As  much 
air  and  light  as  possible  should  be  given, 
while  the  leaves  should  be  sprinkled  every 
morning.  A  spare  room,  or  parlor,  or  extra 
bed-room,  is  better  for  plants  than  a  living 
room.  A  bay  window,  connected  with  a 
warm  room,  especially  if  facing  the  south  or 
east,  makes  an  excellent  place  for  keeping 
plants  in  winter.  It  should  have  glass  doors 
on  the  inside, which  can  be  closed  a  part  of  the 
time,  especially  when  sweeping  and  dusting. 
The  main  thing  in  keeping  house  plants  in 
health  is  to  secure  an  even  temperature,a  moist 


198 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FAR  MER. 


atmosphere  and  freedom  from  dust.  Sprinkle 
the  leaves  occasionally,  and  when  it  needs 
water  use  it  freely.  If  the  green  fiy,  or  aphis 
appears,  wash  with  soap-suds  frequently,  and 
occasionally  with  a  little  tobacco  water,  or  a 
decoction  of  quassia  chips.  If  the  red  spider 
comes,  it  shows  the  plants  are  in  too  dry  an  at- 
mosphere. Burn  a  little  sulphur  under  the 
plants,  the  fumes  of  which  will  kill  the  spider, 
and  afterward  keep  the  stems  and  leaves  well 
moistened.  Occasionally,  but  not  often, 
worms  appear  in  the  pots.  This  can  be 
avoided  in  a  great  measu  e  by  careful  pott- 
ing. A  little  weak  lime  water  is  sometimes 
of  benefit  in  such  cases,  also  five  drops  of 
liquid  ammonia  to  a  gallon  of  water,  though, 
perhaps,  the  better  way  is  to  re-pot,removiug 
the  earth  carefully,  so  as  not  to  injure  the 
groivth  of  the  plant. 

"  While  a  good  many  plants  can  be  obtain- 
ed from  the  garden  for  potting  for  winter 
flowers,  bijlbs  must  be  the  main  reliance, 
aad  are  unrivaled  for  house  culture  dur- 
ing the  winter  months.  As  nearly  all  can 
be  grown  in  so  ra  any  ways— in  pots,  or  bask- 
ets of  sand  and  moss,  or  in  vessels  of  hot  wa- 
ter— they  are  almost  an  endie  ss  source  of  in- 
terest and  amuementia  every  stage  of  growth. 
With  a  little  moss  from  the  woods  or  swamps, 
a  few  quarts  of  sand,  some  pots,  or  a  shallow 
box  or  two,  and  a  few  dozen  crocuses,  early 
tulips,  hyacinths  and  narcissuses,  any  one 
is  prepared  for  a  pleasant  little  winter  gar- 
den." 


GRASSHOPPERS  IX  DAKOTA. 

PERSONS  down  from  Dakota  yesterday  re- 
port that  vast  swarms  of  grasshoppers  have 
appeared  in  the  section  of  country  between 
Yermilion  and  Yankton,  aud  are  committing 
fearful  devastation.  One  man  said  he  had 
twenty-five  acres  of  cjrn,  and  in  a  single  af- 
ternoon it  was  completely  destroyed.  The 
stage  driver  says  the  insects  were  an  inch 
thick  in  the  road,  and  the  wagon-ruLs  were 
filled  with  them.  At  times  they  passed  in 
clouds  so  dense  that  the  sun  was  obscured. 
Wheat,  oats  and  barley- are  safe,  but  corn, 
potatoes  and  everything  in  the  vegetable  line 
in  the  track  of  the  voracious  invaders  are  de- 
stroyed. They  appeared  to  come  from  the 
south,  and  should  the  wind  hold  its  present 
course  they  will  pass  on  into  tho  more  sparse- 


ly settled  portions  of  the  territory,  and  the 
damage  after  all  may  be  trifling  compared 
with  what  it  might  be.  It  is  to  hoped  that 
Iowa  and  the  rich  country  this  side  of  Elk 
Point  in  Dakota  may  be  spared,  but  it  would 
be  nothing  strange  if  the  grasshoppers  which 
have  already  appeared  were  but  the  vangaurd 
of  a  still  more  numerous  ho^t  to  follow  Old 
settlers  distinctly  remember  the  fearful  rava- 
ges committed  by  these  pests  of  civilization 
several  years  since,  and  no  greater  calamity 
could  befall  this  country  than  to  again  be  gen- 
erally overrun  by  them. 

The  amount  of  damage  they  inflict  is  hardly 
credible  to  one  who  never  witnessed  their  op- 
erations. They  devour  every  green  thing  in 
their  track,  leaving  behind  nothing  but  a  waste 
of  desolation. — Sioux  City  Journal. 


RAG  CARPETS. 


MAKING  rag  carpets  seems  to  be  quite  an 
important  branch  of  industry  among 
economical  farmers'  wives  and  daugh'^ers,and  a 
few  susgestions  in  regard  to  their  manufacture 
may  not  come  amiss.  An  Ohio  lady  gives  the 
following,  which  may  be  useful  to  farmers' 
wives.    She  says : 

Put  none  but  strong  rags  in,  for  it  does  not 
pay,  and  the  economy  in  a  rag  c«rpet  is  not 
in  the  first  c^st,  but  because  it  will  outlast 
any  you  can  buy.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to 
cut  or  tear  the  rags  ofl"  at  each  end  of  the 
piece,  but  turn  the  corners,  roundhig  them  ofl" 
neatly,  or  it  will  make  the  carpet  rough.  When 
I  have  finish'^  done  piece  and  commenced  anoth- 
er I  sew  the  ends  together,and  they  are  all  ready 
to  wind  up,  so  they  are  sewed  up  as  fast  as 
they  are  cut.  I  think  it  is  very  discouraging 
to  have  ten  or  twenty  pounds  of  rags  ail  in  a 
mass,  as  they  are  almost  sure  to  be,  to  be 
sewed.  The  cotton  rags  I  sew  and  reel  into 
skeins  before  dyeing  ;  the  woolen  ones  I  dye 
in  the  piece.  I  prefer  prepared  warp,  and 
always  try  to  get  some  I  cannot  break. 

A  very  pretty  stripe  for  carpets  is  made  by 
taking  two  contrasting  or  some  bright  color 
and  white  (we  have  a  crimson  and  white), 
cutting  the  rags  in  pieces  five  inches  long,  and 
sewing  the  colors  alternately.  Get  the  weaver 
to  be  a  little  careful  in  weaving  it  and  make 
into  clouds  or  steeples.  I  like  clouds  the  best. 
It  is  very  pretty  when  just  woven  in  as  it 
comes.    I  have  one  stripe  that  I  tied  the 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


199 


skeins  of  white  rags  with  new  unbleached  fac- 
tory for  two  or  three  inches,  with  intervals  of 
six  or  seven  inches;  then  dye  it  dark  blue. 

WHAT  IS  THE  LAW? 

WE  have  frequent  inquiries  as  to  the  law 
governing  the  sale  and  warranty  of 
aninaals,  and  as  many  suits  at  law  and  much 
ill-feeling  is  occasioned  by  mistakes  in  regard 
to  warranties,  we  have  taken  some  pains  to 
ascertain  what  in  law  constitutes  a  warranty, 
and  also  what  constitutes  a  "  vice  "  or  '•  un- 
soundness." 

It  is  often  considered  a  pretty  smart  thing 
to  sell  an  unsound  animal  for  sound,  and  there 
is  a  common  opinion  that  unless  the  seller 
gives  a  written  statement  that  the  animal  is 
sound,  or  distinctly  says"!  warrant  the  ani- 
mal  sound,"  he  is  not  held  by  the  law  respon- 
sible for  unsoundness.  On  the  contrary,  we 
find  it  always  held  by  judges  that  the  seller 
is  responsible  for  any  statements  made  before 
the  purchase  which  were  in  the  nature  of  an 
inducement  to  the  purchase.  In  a  case  where 
the  seller  simply  said  "The  horse  is  all  right," 
it  was  held  to  constitute  a  warranty.  There 
are  many  cases  of  this  kiid  on  record,  and  in 
every  case,  so  far  as  we  can  find,  it  has  been 
held  "  that  any  affirmation  by  the  seller  as  to 
the  soundness  of  the  animal  made  as  an  in- 
ducement to  the  sale  constitutes  a  war- 
ranty." 

It  is  therefore,  besides  being  a  despicable 
meanness,  not  safe  policy  to  misrepresent  the 
quality  of  an  animal  you  wish  to  sell. 

But  what  constitutes"  unsoundness?''^  There 
are  upward  of  fifty  faults,  vices  and  unsound- 
nesses which  have  been  legally  decided  to  be 
a  breach  of  warranty.  It  is  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  give  a  list  of  these,  but  in  general 
terms  any  "  disease,"  "  injury  "  or  fault  of 
temper  or  training  which  lessens  the  value  or 
afterward  interferes  with  the  usefulness  of  the 
animal,  is  an  "  unsoundness  " 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  but  few 
horses  can  be  warranted  as  sound,  and  the 
better  way  is  to  state  frankly  just  what  un- 
soundness yrur  horse  does  possess,  and  how 
far  in  your  opinion  it  interferes  with  his  use- 
fulness. 

The  term  "  a  horse  trade  "  has  become  a 
by-word  simply  because  the  common  law  of 
commercial  honor  has  not  been  regarded  in 
this  respec 


A  CUP  OF  COFFEE. 

A  WRITER  in  Scribner  for  October  says  : 
C\  It  has  been  truthfully  said  that  in  these 
eolighteued  dxy^,  and  ia  the  laads  most  bles- 
sed by  the  influence  of  civilization,  there  are 
thousands  upou  thousands  of  persons  born 
into  the  world  who  live  long  lives  and  then 
go  down  into  their  graves  without  ever  hav- 
ing tasted  a  good  cup  of  cofi"e3.  There  are 
many  reasons  for  this,  and  the  principal  ooe, 
of  course,  must  be  that  so  few  persons  know 
how  to  make  good  coffee.  And  yet  there  have 
been  thousands  of  recipes  and  directions  pub- 
lished which  teach  us  how  to  make  good  coffee 
by  boiling  it ;  by  not  boiling  it ;  by  confining 
the  essence  and  aroma ;  by  making  it  in  au 
open  vessel  ;  by  steeping  it ;  by  not  steeping 
it;  by  clearing  it;  by  not  clearing  it;  by 
grinding  it  fine  ;  by  grinding  it  coarse,  and  by 
many  other  methods  opposed  to  each  other 
and  to  all  of  these.  Now  we  do  not  intend 
to  try  to  tell  anybody  how  to  make  good 
coffee,  but  we  just  wish  to  say  a  word  about 
the  treatment  of  the  coffae  after  it  is  made. 
And  on  this  treatment  depends  its  excellence, 
brew  it  as  you  may.  Tlie  rule  is  simple  ; 
never  decant  it.  Whatever  else  you  do  about 
it,  bring  it  to  the  table  in  the  vessel  in  which 
it  was  made.  A  handsome  urn  or  gorc^eou 
coffee-pot  is  the  grave  of  good  coffee.  O  ' 
course  it  is  considered  more  desirable  to  have 
the  pot  look  well  than  to  have  the  coffee  taste 
well,  we  have  nothing  more  to  say.  But 
when  hot  coffee  is  emptied  from  one  vessel 
into  another,  the  kitchen  ceiling  generally  re- 
ceives that  e-<sence-laden  vapor  w^iich  should 
have  found  its  way  into  the  cups  on  the 
breakfast  table.  And  one  word  about  the 
cups.  When  the  coffee  enters  them  it  should  I 
find  the  milk  or  cream  already  there.  By  ob-  ■ 
serving  these  rules,  ordinary  coff^je  mide  in 
almost  any  way,  is  often  very  palatable  in-.- 
deed. 


HOUSE  PLANTS. 


lb  decide  upon  the  proper  amount  of  water 
necessary  to  the  health  of  house  plants  re- 
quires consideration.  Some  species  require 
more  water  than  others,  and  plants  in  large 
pots  will  need  it  less  frequently  than  those  in 
small  ones.  The  temperature  of  the  room  has 
also  a  powerful  effect  upon  the  evaporation  of 


200 


THE  L A JV CASTER  FARMER. 


moisture.  If  very  warm  the  plants  will  re- 
quire more  than  if  cool.  There  are  two  very 
essential  things  relating  to  house  culture  of 
plants  which  should  not  ba  overlooked. 

Fu-st :  never  apply  cold  water  from  a  cistern 
or  well,  but  let  it  be  somewhere  near  the  tem- 
perature of  the  air  in  which  the  plants  are 
grown.  Very  cold  water  is  sure  to  check  the 
growth  of  plants;  second:  when  the  plants 
are  watered  give  the  soil  in  the  pots  a  good 
soaking,  and  then  omit  watering  them  again 
until  the  soil  shovvs  that  it  is  needed.  A  lit- 
tle at  a  time,  and  very  often,  is  too  generally 
the  practice  with  the  novice.  If  house  plants 
are  infested  with  the  gr^en  fly,  place  them  in 
a  deep  box,  and  then  put  a  few  live  coals  into 
an  earthen  or  metal  dish,  and  throw  a  hand, 
ful  of  fine-cut  tobacco  upon  them.  The  box 
should  then  be  covered  up  tightly,  in  order  to 
confine  the  smoke  about  the  plants.  Allow 
the  plants  to  remain  in  the  box  two  or  three 
hours;  then  take  them  out,  and  syringe  the 
limbs  and  stems  with  clear,  tepid  water.  Re- 
peat this  operation  as  often  as  the  green  fly 
appears,  if  you  desire  healthy  plants. 


THE   FARMERS'  ALPHABET. 

Ask  no  man  for  credit. 

Bring  your  children  up  to  love  work. 

Cheap  seed  is  often  the  dearest. 

Don't  sell  your  crop  till  you  have  made  it. 

Early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise. 

Full  corn  cribs  make  fat  horses. 

Graft  all  your  plants  from  the  Indus-tree. 

Hang  your  gates  to  stand  shut. 

In  everything  give  thanks. 

Jars  of  jelly,  but  not  family  jars. 

Keep  no  stock  but  what  you  can  keep  fat. 

Limit  jour  per  diem  drinks  to  0. 

Ma'^ure  your  head  with  brains. 

Never  put  off  till  to-morrow  what  should 
be  done  to-day. 

Owners  are  the  best  overseers. 

Plow  well,  plow  deep. 

Quit  chewing  and  smoking. 

Raise  your  own  bread  and  meat. 

Subscribe  for  a  good  agricultural  paper. 

Try. 

Under  the  bar-room  door  is  a  grave. 

Venture,  but  not  everything. 

Wmd  and  weather  you  cannot  order,  but 
you  may  profit  by  them. 


'Xcellent  manure— Sweat. 
You  don't  know  everything. 
Zeal  in  a  good  cause,  and  this  is  a  good  one, 
to  owe  no  man  anything. 


The  Importance  of  Mulching.  —  A 
sagacious  fruit  grower,  near  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.,  mulches  his  place  heavily,  and  never 
removes  it  from  one  year's  end  to  the  other. 
His  soil  is  always  cool  and  mellow,  and  his 
trees  and  vines  never  sufi"er  from  heat;  his 
fruit  is  large,  fair  and  delicious,  and  his  pro- 
duce is  extraordinary  in  quantity.  For  all 
newly  planied  trees  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
mulching  is  the  only  safe  guarantee  of  their 
success.  Without  mulching  many  will  fail  ; 
with  it,  not  one  should  be  lost.  The  practice 
is  also  a  saving  of  labor,  and  if  the  mulch  is 
applied  two  or  three  inches  deep  it  will  keep 
down  all  weeds.  Mulching  can  a'so  be  used 
to  retard  the  ripening  of  fruit  from  three  to 
ten  days.  Upon  light  sandy  soil,  currants 
cannot  be  grown  without  it.  Pears  dropping 
from  the  trees  are  safe  from  braises.  Toma- 
toes well  mulched  will  double  their  produce. 
We  scarcely  know  of  a  single  objection  to 
mulching,  and  in  our  experience  it  has  proved 
to  be  one  of  the  most  economical  and  efficient 
aids  to  fruit  culture  ever  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  public.  Try  it,  farmers,  all  of  you,  and 
see  whac  the  result  will  be. —  The  Horticulturist. 


Sawdust  as  Manure.— It  is  of  very  little 
value  as  a  direct  fertilizer,  and  none  till  it 
has  rotted,  when  it  is  similar  to  vegetable 
mold.  Worked  through  heavy  soil,  it  would 
tend  to  render  it  lighter  for  a  time.  It  would 
doubtless  be  most  useful  applied  to  grass  land, 
a  coating  half  an  inch  thick  or  an  inch,  on 
exposed  places,  serving  as  a  mulchina;,  pro- 
tecting the  roots  mechanically,  and  adding  to 
the  moisture  of  the  soil.  Sawdust  might  be 
used  as  an  absorbent  in  stables  and  cattle 
yards,  having  an  advantage  over  straw  in 
giving  shorter  manure,  but  hardly  as  good  as 
straw  in  rotting  down  freely. 


Gapes  in  Chickens.— A  writer  in  Poultry 
Bulletin  says  he  puts  a  small  quantity  of  car- 
bolic soap  in  solution  under  the  wings  and  on 
the  breast  of  the  hen  as  soon  as  she  comes  off 
with  her  brood,  repeats  the  application  once 
a  week,  and  thus  prevents  gapes,  which  dis- 
ease, he  claims,  is  caused  by  the  larger  spe- 
cies of  the  louse,  which  lays  its  young  in  the 
chicken's  mouth. 


7 HE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


201 


Clover  for  Hogs.  — An  Ohio  hog-raiser 
advocates  the  system  of  pasturing  on  clover 
during  the  summer.  He  presents,  as  the  ad- 
vantage of  his  plan,  the  statement  that  an 
acre  of  ground  in  clover  will  pasture  five  hogs 
four  mouths,  and  that  it  will  take  the  corn 
from  half  an  acre  to  feed  them  the  same  time. 
The  cultivation  of  the  corn  he  couni.s  equal  to 
the  rest  of  the  other  half  acre.  He  further 
claims  that  hogs  pastured  on  clover  are  in  far 
better  condition  than  if  fed  on  corn,  as  they 
are  better  framed,  healthier,  and  eat  better, 
and  also  states  that  the  land  is  enriched  by  the 
clover  pasturing. 


Sour  Subject.— Edwin  S.  Nelson ,  of  Maine, 
is  spoken  of  by  the  Oxford  Register  as  "  one 
of  the  best  farmers."  His  specialty  is  grow- 
ing apples  for  vinegar.  He  never  removes 
any  of  the  grass  that  grows  in  his  orchards, 
but  mows  it  and  leaves  it  on  the  ground  lo 
decay  for  food  for  the  trees.  When  he  has 
young  trees  to  set,  he  takes  his  cart  and  goes 
into  the  wood  lot  and  gathers  a  quantity  of 
rotten  wood  and  decaying  leaves,  sufficient  to 
put  a  bushel  or  more  beneath  each  tree,  mix- 
ing it  with  loam.  He  keeps  cider  apples  in 
perfect  condition  from  fall  till  midsummer 
following,  "  simply  by  freezing  them  and  then 
putting  them  into  a  bin  and  covering  them 
with  hay."  To  cleanse  oil  casks  he  fills  them 
with  new  cider,  keeps  them  tilled,  and  all  im- 
purities are  worked  out  with  the  pomace  at 
the  open  bung. 


BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  JNOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

•'  Thk  Patent  Right  Gazbttb".— A  monthly  illustra- 
tid  journal  of  iii«lu8tii!ilarts,P6pecially  devote  i  to  the  sale 
deecriptiou,  and  illustration  of  patents,  and  to  the  latest 
progress  in  ergineeriug,  manufacturing,  building,  and  a 
choice  selection  of  entertaining  literature.  Price  81.00  « 
year.  Published  by  the  United  States  Patent  Right  Asso- 
ciation, 94  Chambers  street,  New  York,  solicitors  of  pa- 
tents, under  guarantee,  for  the  United  States  and  all  for- 
eign countries.  Address  P.  O.  box  4544,  New  York. 
Hknry  Gurnek,  Publisher.  This  is  a  royal  quarto  of 
fwenty-four  pages,  including  the  beautifully' illustrated 
coven,  printtd  on  fine  paper  and  in  clear  type,  and  con- 
tains a  great  variety  of  useful  and  reliable  information 
within  the  Bphere  of  its  specialties,  as  well  as  other  in- 
teresting literary  matter.  The  September  number  con- 
tains the  second  part  of  "  Ma-na-hatt-ana;  or,  Slcetches 
of  New  Yorlc  in  1872,"  with  fine  illustrations  of  prominent 
points  of  beauty  in  Central  Park.  On  the  whole,  this 
J  onmal  will  compare  favorably  with  the  best  on  the  sub- 


ject of  patents,  published  in  this  or  any  other  country, 
and,  we  think,  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  practi- 
cal  patentee  of  mechanical  and  other  inventions. 

"  Tine  Iowa  Homestead,  and  Western  Farm  Jour- 
nal," a  plain  folio  of  eight  pages,  published  weekly,  by 
the  •'  Homestead  Company,"  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  at  82.00 
a  year,  conoains  a  great  deal  of  matter  of  special  inUraet 
to  those  who  ara  looking  westward  as  a  final  point  of  toin- 
icilat^on. 

The  South  —Devoted  to  the  material  interests  of  the 
Southern  states.  This  is  an  illustrated  folio  of  eight 
pages,  and,  a^  its  title  implies,  is  thoroughly  .-outhein  in 
all  its  dttails.  As  an  adveitifing  medium,  and  a  dispenser 
of  va  u-blo  information  relating  lo  the  Sou;hern  St  .tea, 
it  is  a  valuable  guide  to  those  who  may  contemplate  lo- 
cating iu  that  delightful  portion  of  the  North  American 
continent.    New  York.    $2  00  a  year.     Weekly. 

The  Amhrioan  Stock  Journal.— The  publishers  of 
this  valuaWe  agricultural  journal,  olier  to  send  the  re- 
maining numbers  of  thisydar/ret;  to  all  nw  subscriberB 
for  1873.  Thus  giving  over  500  pages  ot  valuable  reading 
matter,  illusirated  wiih  numerous  engravings,  for  Sl-00 
Sample  copies  free.  Adlress,  N.  P.  BoYaB  &  Co  ,  Parkes- 
burg,  Chester  county.  Pa. 

The  Young  Folks  Rural  is  a  novelty  among  publica- 
tions for  young  people  entirely  oifterent  from  any  o'ber 
in  sty  Is  and  character.  Cash  priz  s  are  giyen  for  b«rt 
"  compositions."  Write  for  a  specimen  number  and  par- 
ticulars, which  will  be  sent  free.    'lerms,  Sl-60  per  year 

Si. 00  in  clubs  of  four  an  J  more,  and  every  tubscriber  re- 
ceives a  pair  of  beautiful  chromos  as  a  gift.  Splendid 
premiums  to  those  who  form  clubs.  Address  H.  N.  F, 
Lewis,  Pi  blisher,  Chicago. 

What  a  "  School  Ma'am  "  Says.^"  I  am  a  teacher, 
and  take  the  paper  for  the  benefit  and  amusement  of  my 
pupils.  Jiyes  are  brighter,  and  lessons  better  learned 
when  the  Young  Mlks  Rural  makes  its  appearance, 
so  I  may  find  time  to  read  it  aloud  to  them,  as  is  my  usual 
custom.  My  last  subscription  is  not  yet  out,  but  noticing 
your  splendid  offer  ot  the  chromos  to  subscribers,  thougkt 
I  would  wiite  at  once.  *  *  *  —Florence  G. 
Balch,  Van  Baren  Co.,  Mich. 

A  sa  aple  copy  of  the  above  beautiful  monthly  will  be 
sent/ree  on  request.  Address  H.  N.  V.  Lewis,  Publisher, 
Chuago. 

This  is  a  beautifully  illustrated  royal  quarto  of  10 
pages,  and  64  columns,  with  clear  type  and  on  tine  white 
paper.  Contents  admirable.  We  oft'er  the  Farmkr  and 
the  Rural  atS2.25  a  year,  including  a  p*ir  of  beautiful 
chromos.    Now  is  the  time  to  subscribe  for  1873. 

"  The  North  American  Bee  Journal,"  a  neat  litte 
monthly  periodical— octavo— devoted  to  Bee  Culture.  Pub- 
lished by  Moon  &  King,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  at  $2.00  a 
year,  for  Mngle  subscriptions,  and  valuable  premiums  to 
CI  ubs.  The  entire  contents  seem  to  be  of  a  practical  char- 
acter, and  are  the  resulta  of  a  wide  and  varied  range  of 
experience. 

Patents  at  less  cast,  quicker  and  surer,  secured  under 
guarantee,  by  U.  S.  Patent  Right  Association,  94  Chamber* 
street,  New  York,  P.  O.  Box  4544.  Patent  Rights  dispo- 
sed of  Ht  better  prices,  quicker  and  surer  than  elsewhere, 
by  the  U.  S.  Patent  Ri.ht  Association,  Publisher  of  the 
Patent  Right  Gazette,  a  large,  beautifully  illustrated 
monthly,  devoted  exclusively  to  the  sale  of  Patent  Righta. 
Terms,  single  copy,  10  cents,  $100  per  annum.  Address, 
with  stamp,  U.  S.  Patent  Eight  Association,  P.  0.  Box 
4544,  New  York. 


202 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


The  Ladi  d  Fribnd  for  October. — An  uncoicmonly 
beautiful  and  spirited  engraving  "  The  Wishing  Well," 
leads  oflF  the  at  ractions  of  this  number.  The  second  en- 
gravirg,  "  On  the  Summit  of  the  Ju  gfrau,"'  pictures  a 
lofty  distinction  attained  by  a  trio  of  tourists.  The  fash- 
ion illustrations  are  as  elegant  as  the  ladies  cou'd  desire. 
The  music  is  the  •'  Honeymoon  Schottische  "  And  the 
stories  are  certainly  unequaled.  "  Uua  and  her  Lions," 
and  "Within  the  Muze,''  are  splendid  serials;  and  "An 
Everyday  Heroine,  concluded  by  Miss  Douglas,  is  one  of 
ht«r  best.  The  capitn]  story,  "Only  a  Wish,"  is  also  con- 
cluded. The  work-table  and  pattern  department  and  the 
editorials  are  also  vf^ell  artended  to.  Price  $2.00  a  year. 
Four  copie  4,  $6.00.  Eight  copies  (and  one  gratis)  3B12.00.  A 
large  and  beautiful  steel  engraving  al.^o  is  sent  to  the 
getter-up  of  every  dub.  "  The  Lady's  Friend  "  (82  00)  and 
"The  Saturday  Evening  Post  "  (3  00)  forf4.50.  Published 
by  Deacon  &  Peterson,  Philadelphia.  Single  copies  for 
sale  by  all  newsdeaiers,  and  by  the  publithers.  Price  20 
cents. 


PHILADELPHIA  CATTLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  Sept.  SO,  5  P.  M. 

The  cattle  market  was  rather  dull  this  week,  but  prices 
were  unchanged.  About  3,800  head  arrived  aad  sold  at 
T!{  ^^/^.I'c  for  extra  Pennsylvania  add  Westf  ru  steers  ;  6a7c. 
for  fair  to  good  do.,  aud  4*5 >^c.  per  pound,  gross,  lor  com- 
mo  1,  as  to  quaiity. 

Cows  and  calves  were  in  better  demand  at  higher  fig- 
ures. Sales  of  ►priugers  at  $35a50,  and  fresh  cows  at*40iu 
60.    Receipts,  212  hdad. 

Good  sheep  were  fair  request,  but  inferior  grades  were 
nesflecced.  Sales  of  choice  at  6>^c.  and  fair  to  xood  at  5;^ 
a6o.  Hogs  have  advanced,  and  sell  at  $8a8.12x  per  100  lbs. 
nett,  forcoru-fed.    l-£.eceii»ts,  4,100  head. 

NEW  YORK  PRODUCE  MARKET. 

Monday,  Sept.  30,  5  P.  M. 

Flodk,  Etc.— Flour  is  heavy,  and  common  grades  are 
in  the  buyer's  favor.  Included  in  the  sales  are  inferior 
grades  of  extra  at  a  Irifla  under  inside  quotaiioDS.  Salda 
of  10,600  bbls.  at  8615aG,6o  for  s-uperliae  Western  and 
State  ;  7.20t7  50  for  Common  to  good  extra  Western  and 
State;  $7.55a8.40,  for  good  to  choice  do;  $8.40a9  75  for 
common  to  choice  white  wheat  Western  extra  ;  $7.35^10  for 
commm  to  good  extra  Ohio,  and  S7  65all.25  for  common 
to  choice  extra  St.  Loui.s  the  market  closing  heavy. 

Southern  flour  is  in  mi  derate  request  and  without  deci- 
ded change  in  price.  Sales  of  9.50  boia  at  S7.70^10  for  c.»m- 
inon  to  fair  extra,  and  S10.05al2  50  for  good  to  choice  ao. 

Pvye  flour  is  a  shade  easier  and  Ies3  active.  Sales  of  230 
bbls,  at  if?4  ?5a5.30.  Orumeal  is  more  active.  Sales  of  9  0 
bbls.  Brandy  wine  at  $  i.85a3  90. 

GR4IN— Spring  wheat  opened  at  la2c  better,  with  a  fair 
export  demaal,  closisg  quiet  with  the  advance  partly 
lost.  We  quote,  at  $1.5ii»i.57  for  No.  2  spring,  in  store  ; 
»1  ."JS^LOS  for  Ho  1  do.;  $1.63al.73  for  winter  red  Western; 
$1  75al  85  for  ainb^r  Western,  and  SI  70a2  02  for  wiite  do 
The  s.iles  «re  13  600  bu.shels  at  SI  4.5al.47  for  No.  3  Chicago 
spring;  81  52iiL'i4  for  No.  2  Chicag  . ;  $1.56al  57  for  No.  2 
Mi'waukee  ;  SI  06  for  No.  2  do  ;  »1  C2al.7.i  lor  winter  red 
Wtstiru,  ana  SI  75  for  new  amber  Michiijan. 

Barey  U  in  moderate  requet<t  and  steady.  Sales  of  60  000 
bushels  of  prime  Western  at  $1  07^^,  an  extreme.  Corn 
opened  ^c.  hft.ter,  with  a  fair  exporo  and  home  trade  de- 
mand, and  closed  quiet  with  the  advane  lo^t.  Sales  of 
18r.,000  bushels  at  ei^^aOSXc  for  steamer  Western  mixed  ; 
0jJia66^  ti,r  sail  uo.,  cioslig  at  65^ c;  oSaGuc.  for  kiln- 
dried  attou  and  in  store  ;  also,  sales  i>t  50,000  bushels  Wes- 
tern mixed,  8f>ller  all  October,  at  66xc.;  50,000  do.  for  No- 
vember, at  680.  Receipts  or  oats,  58.250  bushels.  Oats 
quiet,  wi  bout  decided  <-bange  in  price.  Sales  48,000  bush- 
els, at  45a46c.  for  old  Western  in  store  and  afloat ;  40a43xo. 
for  new  mixed  ;  43i47c  for  new  white  ;  3Sa39c.  for  blalk 
Wedtern;  43c  for  black  St>ite. 

Hay  is  steady  at  $lal.05  for  shipping,  and  $1  20al.55  for 
retail  loti. 

»ir,1*'TJ®„'*^?^  -P"""^  '**  fi""™  The  sales  are  1,750  bbls.  at 
814  10al4  20  for  m<  ss ;  $Jlall  50  for  prime,  and  $13al3  50  for 
prime  mess.  Befisquiec.  Sales  of  60  bbls.  at  «4ati  for 
So^o'",;?^^*,^'  *"*^  *^*1'^  *'<"■  «^'''a  do-  Beef  hams  are  dull  at 
»^8a<J0.  Tierce  beet  is  quiet.  Sales  of  50  tcs.  at  S13al6 
tor  piijae  iae?8,  and  817al9  for  India  do. 


Cut  meats  are  active  and  firm.  Sales  of  370  pkgs.  at  9>^a 
14c.  for  hara*.  and  7c  for  shoulders.  Middies  are  dull. 
Sales  or  100  boxes  of  long  clear  at  S^^'c;  700  loug  and  short 
clear  for  January  at7^4C.;  150  1  ng  and  short  clear  for 
Pubniary  at  75^c.  Lard  is  dull  and  heavy.  Sales  of  400 
tcs.  at  8^  S^c  for  new  No.  1  to  prime  steam  ;  85^c.  foro  d 
do.,  and  9>.^c.  lor  kettle-rendered.  Batter  is  dull  at  10al6c. 
tor  Wrsiei  11,  aud  24a28c.  for  State.  Cheese  is  quiet  at  11a 
14o.  for  common  to  prime. 

CHICAGO  MARKETS. 

Chicaoo,  Sept.  30. 
Flour  ste^kdy  ;  fair  to  good  extras  S8.25a6-50  ;  Minnesota 
$7a7.50a8  00.  Wheat  irregular,  closing  easier  at  81.19. 
Corn  steady  at  36c;  fresh  35Jia36c.  Oats  tir.u  at23>^c. 
cish.  ivve  steady;  salable  55o  Barley  lower  and  closing 
quic-t;  67c.  cash.  Pork  quiet  at  i;15.00  apot  ;  nominally 
$12.75.  Lard  inactive  and  nominal ;  winter  8^4'c.;  summer 
S}^a.ii%a.  Loose  meats  Arm  ;  .-uoulders  geusrally  held  at 
7c.;  chort  ribs  IQi.^  1IUI4C.;  sugar  cured  liams  quiet  and 
unchanged. 

NEW  YORK   GATfLE  MARKET. 

Monday,  Sept,  30,  1872. 

The  market  f)r  Beef  Cattle  is  dull,  heavy  and  lower, 
at  7al3  cts.    Receipts,  9721  head. 

Cows  and  Calves  have  ruled  dull  and  nominal  at  S25i70. 
Receipts,  70  head. 

Veal  Calves  are  firmer,  5a6e.  for  fed  calves,  3a3J/^c.  for 
grassers,  and  7alOc.  for  milk  calves. 

Sheep  and  Lambs  are  dull  and  heavy  at  4J^a6^  cents 
for  sheep,  and  5%a?=^  cents  lor  lambs.  Kecoipta,  35,061 
head. 

Swine — The  market  is  dull  at  5a5xc,  for  live  hogs,  and 
6J^a7c.  for  dressed  do.    Receipts,  44.961  bead. 

PHILADELPHIA  MARKETS. 

Philadelphia,  Sept.  30, 1872. 

Seeds  — There  is  no  movement  in  Cloversead,  and  new 
crop  IS  offered  to  arrive  at  lOo. ,  but  buyers  ret  use  to  pay 
th  8  ligure;  old  is  selliug  in  a  retail  way  at  10  .io^i'c.  Tim- 
othy 18  held  at  $3.75i3.80  for  new.  Fiaxs  ed  is  much 
wanted,  and,  if  here,  would  command  $2  and  up- 
ward 

Flour  and  Meal. — The  quiet  state  of  the  Flour  mar- 
kec  noted  last  week  still  continues.  There  is  no  sh  pping 
demand,  but  the  home  trade  are  purchasing  to  a  fair  ex- 
tent, and  prices  are  well  maiatained.  Xue  stocks  are 
very  moderate  for  this  season  of  the  yeir,  and  iha  supply 
of  fresh  ground  Minnesota  is  nearly  exhausted ;  choice 
brands  of  the  latter  are  in  demand  and  biiug  hign  prices  ; 
sales  of  308  bbls.  spring  wheat,  sup^rflne,  at  $4.2.i;  20iJ  bbls. 
Ohio  do.  at  $5;  15o  Obis.  Western  extra  ai  186 ;  100  bbls. 
Iowa  extra  family  at  $8  ;  some  Wisconsin  do.  do.  at  lifS  ; 
100  bbls.  Minnesota  do.  do  at  $9.25;  300  bbls  Ohio  do.  do. 
at$8.12i,^a8.62>^  ;  200  bbls.  Southern  Illinois  do.  do.,  low 
grade,  at  $7.75,  and  lOJ  buls.  VVdbtern  do.  do.,  fancy,  at 
jftlO. 

Rye  Flour  is  tirmer,  and  sells  at  $4.25a4.50. 

Corn  Meal  is  innccive,  and  no  sales  of  either  Pennsyl- 
vania or  Brandywme  have  been  reported. 

GuAiN.— The  arrivals  of  wheat  are  light,  but  the  de- 
miiid  has  fallen  oil'.  Prices,  however,  are  weak,  and 
favor  buyers ;  sales  of  1,200  bus.  good  Western  red  at 
$1.75al  76  ;  4()0  bus.  fancy  do.  do.  at  Sfl.80  ;  Delaware  do.  at 
$1.82  ,  400  bus.  Indiana  amber  at  $1.80,  aud  wnit^  at  3l.90a 
2. 

Rye  is  held  at  75a76c.  but  without  sales  to  any  extent. 
The  demand  is  only  tor  small  lots  for  local  use. 

Corn  is  held  with  firmness,  and  there  is  a  fair  demand 
at  Saturday's  quotations ;  sales  of  l,20J  bus.  Pennsylvania 
and  Western  yjUow  at  70c  ,  and  3,8,0  bus.  Western  mixed 
at  68168;^  and  69c.  ;  we  quota  white  at  61a6D0. 

Oats  are  in  limited  request,  but  holders  still  maintain 
former  quotati  -ns.  The  quality  of  the  new  crop  now 
coming  tor  ward  is  very  interior,  and  old  white  oats  are 
scarce,  and  command  relatively  higu  prices.  The  stock 
here  is  large,  a;id  in  New  York  it  exceeds  2,000,000  bus.; 
sulesof  '.^.lOO  bus  Western  white  at  42a43>^o.,  and  3,400 
bus.  black  and  white  mixed  at  SSall^c.;  old  white  is 
held  at  49di50c. 

Barley  is  oflering  more  freely,  but  the  quality  of  that 
now  being  received  is  very  variable.  Choice  grades  com- 
mand satisfactory  prii-es  ;  we  quote  Western  at  Slal.lO. 

barley  Malt  is  in  limited  supply,  and  ranges  irom  $1  to 
$1.33,  according  to  quali'.y. 

Provisions. — in  itrovisions  we  note  a  firm  feeling,  and 
the  stock  of  all  descriptions  of  the  kog  product  is  now  re- 
duced to  a  very  low  figure. 


^\u  %mtMUv  (farmer* 

DEVOTED  TO 
Agricidture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany,* 

EDITED  BY  S.  S.  RATHVOX  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 


'*  The  Fai-mer  is  the  founder  of  civilization." — WEBSTER. 


Vol.  IT. 


J^OYEMBER,  1872. 


JVo.  11, 


ESSAY. 


[The  followiciij  paper,  altbougli  originally 
written  for  a  different  locality,  aud  addressed 
to  a  diflferent  people,  yet  contains  some 
tb  .ughts  which  have  a  general  application  to 
civilized  soc  ety,  wherever  it  may  exist  in  the 
world,  and  especiallj'  to  that  class  of  society 
which  embraces  the  I'arraing  and  business 
community.  We,  therefore,  do  not  hesitate 
to  present  it  to  our  readers,  as  containing 
truths  which  will  bear  repeating  a  thousand 
times,  or  ten  thousand  times,  if  so  often  may 
be  necessary  to  make  a  practical  impression 
of  the  truth  upon  a  single  mind.  An  intelli- 
gent and  tbrifiy  firmer  planted  on  his  broad 
and  wel'-tilled  acres,  with  his  harJy  sons  and 
daughters  around  him,  is  somebody  ;  aud,  as  a 
general  thing,  should  no  more  think  of  trans, 
planting  himself  and  family  in  the  soil  of  a 
large  town  or  city,  where  he  soon  may  become 
nobody,  than  he  should  of  leaving  Elysium,  and 
locating  in  the  infernal  regions.  Aud  yet, 
how  many  farmers  are  like  lishes  bobbing 
around  a  trap,  trying  to  get  in  through  the 
meshes,  to  be  in  company  with  a  faw  pamper- 
ed gudgeons  inside,  who  would  fain  be  out 
again,  if  they  only  knew  some  avenue  of  saie 
escape.  True,  there  must  be  artisans  as  well 
as  farmtrs,  and  towns  as  well  as  country,  in 
order  to  equalize  consumption  and  production  ; 
but,  all  other  things  being  the  same,  we 
would  rather  enjoy  the  enviable  independence 
of  an  American  farmer,  than  any  other  situa- 
tion in  Christendom.— Ed.] 

RURAL  LIFE  AND  RURAL  HOMES. 

THE  love  of  the  country  and  a  coimtry  life 
is  inherent  in  human  nature.    However 
much  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer  and  the 


other  business  men  of  our  great  cities  are  ab- 
sorbed in  the  pursuit  of  wealth  ;  however  eag- 
erly they  seek  the  all-powerful  dollar,  as  the 
one  thing  indispensable  to  comfort ;  however 
absorbed  in  the  pleasures  and  vanities  of  life  ; 
however  grasping  aud  avaricious  they  may  be 
in  everyday  matters,  there  is  one  place  that 
all  either  remember  or  look  forward  to,  when 
the  battle  with  fortune  is  won,  and  that  is, 
the  quiet  homn  where  they  were  born,  or  the 
pleasant  home  they  will  one  day  make— a 
home  with  its  cool  grove,  emerald  lawn^ 
shadowy  trees  and  beautiful  flowers,  where 
life  may  pass  peacefully  away  in  the  calm  en- 
joyment of  uature,  aud  in  the  gifts  of  its  fresh 
ripe  fruits. 

How  many  live  to  see  its  realization  ?  Alas  I: 
very  few.  The  farmer  reared  upon  the  old 
homestead,  grown  up  with  flocks  and  herds, 
who  may  commune  each  day  wirh  every  beau- 
tiful thing,  God-given  and  strewn  over  the 
landscape  in  such  lavish  profusion  ;  he  may 
appreciate  these  as  they  are  worth,  but  how 
many  do  ?  At  least,  not  until  time  has  worn^ 
furrows  in  the  cheek,  and  the  eye  is  dimmed' 
with  age. 

Who  among  the  masses  of  our  farmers  have^ 
done  their  whole  duty  upon  these  prairies, 
from  which  they  have  carved  homes  ?  Who. 
among  the  millions  occupying  these  homes 
have  rendered  them  as  beautiful  as  they 
might?  The  few  are  the  exception  ;  neglect 
is  with  the  many.  And  this  in  a  country  un 
surpassed  in  the  fertility  of  its  virgin  soil,  in. 
the  gentle  undulations  of  its  broad  swells  of 
verdure, rich  in  everything  that  nature  can  give 
except  trees.  Here  and  there  we  see  isolated 
attempts  at  rural  adornment,  but  to  the  edu- 
cated eye,  farmers'  homes,  as  a  rule,  are  bleak 
and  cheeiless  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  aesthe- 


^OJf 


TEE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


tics— the  beautiful  in  home  adornment.  It  is 
not  because  they  do  not  appreciate  the  difi'er- 
ei;ce  between  a  home,  however  humble,  em- 
boweied  in  trees,  with  its  green  lawn,  its 
tasieful  beds  of  flowers,  and  winding  paths, 
or  drives,  leading  to  the  house  aud  the  various 
buildings  of  the  farm ;  but  there  is  an  idea 
that  this  costs  largely  m  money,  and  that  it 
can  neither  be  accomplished  nor  kept  in  re- 
pair, excepi  under  the  eye  of  an  artist  espe- 
cially educated  in  the  work. 

This  is  all  wrong.  We  have  too  long  taken 
our  lessons  from  the  artiticial  woik  of  artists 
in  and  near  our  great  cities,  whose  only  aim 
might  seem  to  be  to  spend  as  much  money  for 
their  employer  as  poasibie.  All  this  is  well 
enough  in  its  pUce,  on  the  grounds  of  the 
wealthy  who  can  aflord  to  pay  for  if,  but  the 
farm  home  aud  the  tarm  grounds  need  differ- 
ent treatment.  Here  we  must  take  our  lessons 
from  nature.  On  the  broad  prairies  we  lack 
trees.  Let  us  then  plant  trees,  at  least  about 
our  homes,  an.  1  then  take  advantage  of  the 
Bituation  to  carry  a  gentle  curving  drive  about 
a  knoll,  if  need  be,  or  by  a  bold  swetp  reach 
the  hou  e  over  a  gentle  undulating  surface ; 
asking  ourselves  at  each  siep  vfhat  the  effect 
will  be  when  finished. 

The  taste  for  ornamentation  being  exercis- 
ed, ideas  will  grow  as  you  proceed,  aud  in  the 
end  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  that  simple 
landscape  adornment  is  not  the  abstruse  sci- 
ence you  thought  it.  Your  children  will  no 
longer  seek  the  allurtmeuts  of  the  village,  or 
the  city,  for  with  the  beautiful  creations  that 
you  and  themselves  are  rearing,  in  just  such 
dt'gree  will  they  come  to  love  home  and  its 
surroundings;  in  just  such  degree  will  come  a 
longing  for  higher  art  and  for  study.  Study 
will  induce  thought,  and  thought  is  the  legiti- 
mate province  of  man  ;  for  he  or  she  who 
thinks  carefully  and  earnestly  and  consecu- 
tively, is  seldom  at  loss  for  the  means  of  true 
enioyment.  And  that  farmers  nowadays  are 
becoming  m'^re  and  more  a  thinking  class,  is 
due  to  the  schools  that  are  scattered  broad- 
cast over  the  land,  and  to  tne  added  fact  that 
there  is  no  better  place  for  thought  than  on 
the  quiet  farm. 

There  are  few  farmers,  indeed,  who,  becom- 
ing rich,  seek  the  tity  to  enjoy  thedr  wealth — 
to  become  swallowed  up  in  the  multitudes 
about  them,  living  at  No.  1  or  1,000  om  some 
dusty  street,  living  an  aimless  life,  unknown 


perhaps,  to  their  next  neighbor.  Such  few 
are  like  the  gentry  of  England  in  King  James' 
time,  who,  seeking  London,  were  told  by  the 
King  that  they  were  like  "  ships  at  sea  that 
shew  as  nothing." 

It  is  related  of  Webster  as  being  one  of  the 
proudest  days  of  his  life  when,  at  an  agricul- 
tural after-dinner  speech  in  Eugland,  where 
the  nobility,  gentry  and  yeomanry  meet  on 
an  equal  footing,  he  was  pointed  out  by  a 
bluff',  hearty  old  gravier  as  that  "  honest 
black-faced  farmer,  who  could  beat  them  all 
at  farm-ialk." 

Railways  have  now  rendered  it  possible  for 
n^auy  citizens  tovombine  the  business  of  city 
life  with  the  quiet  of  country  hotaes,  aud 
their  families  are  growing  up  purer  and  bet- 
ter aud  nobler  for  it.  We  all  love  better  to 
think  of  Washington  at  Mount  Vernon,  Jeffer- 
son at  Monticello,  Jackson  at  Hermitage, 
Clay  at  Abhland,  Webster  at  Marshfieid,  or 
Irving  at  Suunyside,  in  the  simplicity  and 
quiet  of  their  country  homes,  then  as  war- 
riors, statesmen,  or  engaged  in  literary  labor. 
It  is  because  we  lore  them  as  loving  labor, 
not  disdaining  with  honest  sweat  and  toil  to 
gather  in  the  richest  aud  best  gifts  from  God 
to  man. 

The  love  of  country  life  is  inherent  in  man, 
is  a  natural  growth,  and  is  not  dying  out,  as 
is  sometimes  stated.  Therein  all  realize  the 
dreamt  of  their  young  lives— that  living  they 
might  rest  quittly  and  apart  from  the  din  and 
turmoil  of  the  great  city,  rejoicing  with  the 
springtime,  listening  to  the  song  birds  in  the 
green  branches,  planting  the  seed-,  of  the  har- 
vest grains,  the  vegetables  of  the  garden,  or 
the  tender  flowers,  tending  their  flocks  even- 
ing and  morning,  or  sojourning  with  them  in 
the  green  pasture,  beneath  the  shade  of  some 
umbrageous  tree,  thinkiug  of  the  great  All- 
Givtr,  and  the  infinite  creatures  of  His  power  ; 
embrowning  themselves  in  the  toil  of  the  har- 
vest, garnering  golden  sheaves  of  fragrant 
hay,  rejoicing  in  the  latter  showers,  ripening 
the  great  fields  of  golden  and  pearly  corn ; 
and  when  winter  locks  bill-side  and  valley  and 
stream  in  its  cold  embrace,  enjoying  quietly 
the  bounty  that  they  have  helped  to  pro- 
vide. 

Living  thus,  they  can  rejoice  with  the 
springtime,  be  glad  in  the  summer  sun,  reap 
the  yellow  sheaves  of  harvest,  enjoy  the  ripe 
fruits  of  autumn,  and  rest  when  the  winter 


THE  LAJ^CdSTER  FARMER. 


205 


shall  scatter  the  forests  with  its  dead  leaves. 
Dying,  they  know  that  the  springtime  will 
surely  come;  and  if  the  spring  come  again, 
resurrecting  insect  and  plant  and  flower — is 
it  not  a  type  of  that  after  life  whicb  we  all 
hope  somelime  to  realze  ? — Western  Rural. 


AGRICULTURE. 


HOW  TO  HAVE  A  NEAT  FARM. 

TO  those  who  are  desirous  of  giving  a 
more  orderly  appearance  to  their  prem- 
ises, but  who  don't  quite  know  what  to  take 
hold  of  first,  the  Hearth  and  Home  offers  some 
helpful  hints:  Take  a  yoke  of  cattle  or  a 
span  of  horses,  and  put  them  to  a  wagon  or 
cart.  Fasten  a  stoue-boat  behind.  On  the 
8tone-boat  put  a  crowbar,  a  pick,  a  hoe,  a 
Bpade,  an  ax,  a  saw,  a  brush  hook  or  scythe, 
a  hammer,  nails,  spikes,  a  few  bolts  of  differ- 
ent sizes,  a  monkey-wrench,  and  such  other 
tools  as  you  may  be  likely  to  want,  and  drive 
along  the  side  of  every  fence  on  the  farm  If 
you  come  across  a  pi^ce  of  board  or  a  broken 
rail  throw  it  into  the  wagon.  If  you  find  a 
plow-point,  cultivator  tooth,  a  broken  reaper- 
guard,  a  horse-shoe,  an  oil-can,  or  an  old  hoe, 
put  it  into  the  stone-boat  and  bring  it  home. 
Stones  may  be  thrown  on  and  drawn  to  sf  me 
convenient  place.  If  you  come  across  any 
weeds,  mow  them  down  ;  if  any  brambles  or 
brushfs,  cut  them  with  the  brush-hook  or  ax. 
If  a  board  is  loose  on  the  fence,  put  a  nail  in 
it.  If  a  gate  sags,  straighten  it  up.  If  there 
are  any  bolts  in  the  gate,  see  that  the  nuts 
are  tight.  Take  a  man  or  a  boy,  or  both, 
along  with  you.  You  will  find  pit  nty  of 
work.  If  there  is  a  plank  bridge  across  a 
Btream,  see  that  tbe  sleepers  are  not  rotten. 
The  hot  sun  has  probably  warped  the  planks, 
and  they  will  need  another  spike  or  twc.  If 
there  are  any  sticks  or  weeds  in  a  ditch  re- 
iiiove  them,  and  throw  out  any  dirt  tliat  may 
have  been  trodden  in  from  the  sides  by  the 
cattle  or  hogs.  In  this  way  go  over  the 
whole  farm.  Then  attend  to  the  barn-yards. 
Pick  up  anything  that  may  be  lying  around, 
and  put  it  in  its  proper  place.  Boards  that 
are  of  any  use  should  be  placed  in  a  pile  by 
themselves  under  cover.  Those  that  are  use- 
less should  be  sawn,  and  split  up  into  kind- 
ling, to  be  piled  by  itself  in  the  wood-shed. 
If  there  are  any  loose  stones  in  tbe  yards, 


draw  them  off.  Scrape  up  all  the  scattered 
manure  or  dirt,  and  place  it  in  a  compact 
heap  where  it  will  ferment,  or  draw  it  at  once 
on  to  gra>8  land  and  spread  it.  Go  into  the 
garden  and  see  if  there  is  any  rubbish  there 
that  should  be  removed,  or  any  sticks  or 
pieces  of  board  or  tools  to  pick  up.  Possibly 
you  will  find  some  old  barrel  staves  or  hoops 
about.  Make  kindling  of  them.  If  there  is 
any  old  iron  about  the  premises,  it  is  a  good 
time  to  dispose  of  it.  It  is  worth  one  and  a  half 
cents  per  pound.  Old  implements,  machines, 
tools,  etc.,  that  are  worn  ouL  and  of  no  further 
use,  had  better  be  knocked  to  pieces  and  the 
iron  sold.  If  there  are  any  parts  that  may  be 
useful  in  repairing,  they  should  be  preserved 
by  themselves.  This  id  true  of  wood-work  as 
well  as  of  the  castings.  Almost  everything, 
sooner  or  later,  comes  in  useful  on  a  farm. 
But  unless  you  have  abundance  of  room,  it 
does  not  pay  to  lumber  up  the  premises  with 
useless  implements  and  machines.  Have  all 
your  bags  mended ;  mark  them  and  hang 
them  up.  Mark  all  the  forks,  rakes,  hoes, 
spades,  ."^hovels,  corn  cutters,  etc.  Rub  them 
over  with  petroleum,  and  put  them  in  their 
proper  places.  All  harvest  tools  and  ma- 
chines should  be  painted  with  petroleum  and 
stowed  away.  If  you  are  short  of  room,  much 
space  may  be  saved  by  takng  the  wheels  off 
the  steel-toothed  rake,  and  the  poles  and  cut- 
ter-bars off  the  mower  and  reaper.  Any  one 
who  has  not  tried  it  will  be  astonished  how 
many  implements  and  machines  may  be  stow- 
ed away  in  a  small  space.  This  will  do  for  a 
beginning.  Then  when  any  implement  is 
done  with  for  the  season,  rub  it  over  with 
petroleum  and  stow  it  away.  When  once 
things  are  in  order,  it  is  a  comparatively  easy 
matter  to  keep  them  In  order  ;  but  still  it  is  a 
daily  work.  It  is,  however,  work  that  pays 
over  and  over  again. 


ANOTHER  CORNER  ON  CORN. 

•  •  /"T^HERE  can  be  seen  at  the  office  of 
X.  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Sante 
Fe  R.  R..  in  this  city,  several  stalks  of  corn 
which  were  grown  in  the  Arkansas  valley,  on 
the  line  of  that  road,  which  were  twelve  feet 
high  when  they  were  plucked,  which  was  sixty 
days  from  the  time  the  seeds  were  planted.  It 
was '  sod  corn,'  and  had  no  cultivation.    Fret- 


e06 


THE  LAJ^'-CASTER  FARMER* 


ty  good  for  the  '  virgin  of  soil.' " — Boston 
Journal. 

"This  is  probably  a  '  big  thing '  for  Kansas, 
but  would  be  no  uncommon  sight  in  Southern 
Iowa  and  South-eastern  Nebraska.  There 
are  to  be  seen  at  the  Burlington  &  Mo.  R.  R. 
Land  Office,  in  this  city,  stalks  cf  Iowa  corn 
fifteen  feet  in  height,  and  Nebraska  'sod 
corn,'  plucked  on  the  20th  day  of  August,  con- 
taining twenty-two  rows  and  upward  of 
1,250  well-developed  kernels  to  the  ear;  also 
a  castor-}  e an  stalk,  the  product  from  one 
bean,  this  season's  growth  in  Nebraska, which 
measures  fourteen  feet  high  and  ten  inches 
in  circumference,  a  perfect  tree.  Beside 
these  we  might  mention  sweet  potatoes 
weigbiDg  three  to  five  and  a  half  pounds  each, 
radishes  six  to  nine  and  a  half  ptunds  each; 
au  Iowa  pumpkin,  which  '  had  no  cultiva- 
tion,' weighing  160  pounds;  beets  which  can't 
be  beat,  and  numeious  other  small  things  to 
match,  indicative  of  a  moderately  (!)  rich  soil 
in  these  parts. 

"Come  on,  Kansas,  you  have  done  well  and 
Bbould  certainly  be  encouraged,  but  remember 
this  is  a  free  country,  and  the  whole  of  it  is 
open  to  show  what  parts  present  the  most 
substantial  attractions. 

"What  we  have  said  has  bten  with  studied 
moderation,  as  we  would  in  no  wise  injure 
your  '  pheelinks,'  —  but  auy  day  when  you 
want  to  stand  up  for  a  square,  good-natured 
fight,  we  will  bring  out  some  of  our  '  big 
guns  '  instead  of  throwing  small  shots  at  >ou 
in  this  way." 

[We  clip  the  above  from  the  Burlington 
(I(  wa)  Eawheye,  which  was  sent  to  us,  and 
marked  by  some  unknown  friend.  It  may 
show  what  is  transpiring  in  the  agricultural 
world,  outside  of  Lancaster  county.  If  any 
of  our  farmer  readers  can  beat  it— and  we 
have  no  doubt  they  can — we  should  like  to 
hear  froi.i  them,  if  for  no  other  purpose, 
merely  to  take  the  starch  out  of  that  Western 
'•corner  on  corn,"  although  we  are  aware  that 
these  occasional  "  big  things  "  are  not  always 
the  evidences  of  the  best  productive  thrift 
of  a  county,  a  district,  or  a  State  in  general. 
We  were  informed  by  an  intelligent  and  reli- 
able authority,  that  at  the  late  Horticultural 
Exhibition  held  at  Marietta,  a  basket  contain- 
ing a  peck  of  peaches  were  on  exhibition,  the 
least  of  which  weighed  eleven  ounces,  and 
the  largest  thirteen  ounces.     Having  in  our 


mind's  eye  the  eight-ounce  peaches  exhi- 
bited at  Fulton  Hall  on  the  12th  of  Septem- 
ber last,  we  are  compelled  to  regard  these  as 
"  some"  peaches,  and  therefore  '■  pit  them  " 
against  the  corner  on  corn. — Eds  ] 


APPLYING  CORN  CULTURE  TO 
WHEAT. 

IF  it  is  a  benefit  to  cultivate  corn  between 
the  rows,  why  is  it  not  an  advantage  to 
give  wheat  the  same  treatment,  and  for  that 
matter,  all  or  most  of  the  grains  ?  Winter 
wheat  has  the  fall  and  spring,  as  well  as  the 
summer  in  part,  to  favor  the  growth  of  weeds 
and  grass,  and  we  find  these  abundantly  inter- 
spersed among  the  wheat.  To  sow  a  crop  of 
corn  broadcast  for  feed  is  found  to  be  of  advan- 
tage ;  to  sow  in  drills  and  cultivate  is  found  to 
be  still  better.  It  pays  more  than  the  extra 
labor.  What  used  to  be  sown  broadcast  and 
do  well,  it  is  now  fon;.d  that  it  will  do  better 
in  drills.  Thus  it  follows  corn.  Why  will  it 
not  still  further  be  benefited  like  corn  if  work- 
ed between  the  dri  Is,  using  the  cultivator, 
and  even  the  hoe,  if  necessary  ?  The  truth  is 
we  have  not  yet  arrived  at  that  point  of  ad- 
vantage. England  has  so  far  as  the  decision 
in  favor  of  it  is  concerned.  Mecbi  and  others 
have  tested  this  matter,  and  experiments  in  a 
small  way  practiced  here  have  pointed  the 
same  way.  Now,  since  drilling  is  getting  to 
be  established  let  us  introduce  and  prosecute, 
or  at  least  test,  cultiv.ting between  the  rows. 
Grass  and  weeds  by  this  means  are  kept  out; 
the  ground  is  moisler  and  becomes  the  more 
fertile  by  it;  the  crops  are  strengthened  and 
kept  clean  (the  last  quite  a  consideration) 
and  the  land  will  have  no  oc^-asion  to  be  self- 
sown  with  fur  seed,  as  is  usual  in  grain  and 
grass  crops  and  neglected  corn  fields. 

Have  we  too  much  to  do,  too  much  land  to 
cul'ivate,  and  too  little  help  to  do  it  with,  to 
be  able  to  engage  in  this  ?  But  if  it  is  a  ben 
efit,  why  neglect  this  to  attend  toother  things 
no  more  beneficial,  and  not  perhaps  so  much 
as  this  ?  Why  cultivate  our  corn  and  negkct 
our  whtat,  when  the  latter  requires  it  equally, 
and  it  may  be  more  ?  I  am  sorry  to  have  it 
to  say  that  I  have  tested  this  no  more  than  in 
a  general  way  in  the  garden,  and  then  not  so 
carefully  as  I  might.  But  the  thing  seems  as 
if  there  were  more  profit  in  treating  wheat  in 


THE  LA J\ CASTER  FARMER. 


207 


this  way  than  corn.  Who  will  eive  it  a  fair 
test?  Who  will  lead  off  and  cou  firm  what  the 
English  experimenters  have  introduced  so 
successfully,  getling  the  benefit  at  the  f^^ame 
time  and  at  once?  If  harrowing  the  field 
with  a  smoolhing-harrow  ere  the  grain  is  too 
large  and  where  there  are  weeds  and  grass 
starting  up,  is  a  benefit,  why  not  work  the 
ground  between  the  rows  and  leaving  th*^ 
grain  uninjured  ? 

There  is  a  great  advantage  in  cultivation. 
We  find  it  so  among  trees,  shrubs,  vines,  hoed 
crops,  and  why  sliould  it  not  also  apply  to 
grain,  especially  that  careful,  kingly  cereal, 
wheat  ?  And  it  needs  it,  as  the  wheat  crop  is 
degenerating  among  u.-=.  It  is  an  important 
crop  in  rotation,  and  should  be  made  the  most 
cf.  If  it  is  worth  fallowing  ihe  soil  for  it,  and 
giving  it  the  preced.-nce  of  good  land,  why  not 
further  improve  by  what  is  s-uch  an  advantage 
to  it,  cultivation  ?  Especially  such  crops  as 
are  poor  or  much  winter  killed  need  this  aid, 
or  weeds  and  grass  will  overpower  them.  Let 
us  come  to  the  rtlitfof  this  fine  cereal,  and 
make  it  something  like  what  it  is  made  iu  En- 
gland.—  Country    Genileman. 

DANGER  OF  SOWING  WINTER 
WHEAT  TOO  EARLY. 

VERY  few  farmers  ever  make  the  mis- 
take of  SO",  ing  their  winter  wheat  too 
early  in  autumn.  Yet  ihere  is  such  a  thing 
as  seedirg '00  early  as  well  as  tou  late.  The 
danger  incident  to  seeding  too  early  is  smoth- 
ering the  wheat  beneath  a  heavy  fall  of  snow 
in  the  winter,  or  iiijury  by  the  Hessian  fly  : 
"  The  young  wheat  withers  and  turns  yellow 
in  October  and  November,  and  when  the 
warm  rays  of  spring  come  the  larva  is  rapidly 
stimulated  to  n.aturity.  This  will  be  about 
one  week  after  the  red  or  swamp  maple 
{acertrubra)  first  begins  to  bloom."  The  in- 
sect remains  iu  this  condition  about  ten  or 
twelve  days,  and  then  goes  out  the  winged 
fly,  ready  to  lay  its  eggs  for  another  genera- 
tion. So  it  will  happeu  that  if  this  fly  once 
gets  possession  in  the  fall  of  a  field  of  wheat, 
that  one  generation,  reared  at  the  root  of  tht^ 
plant  in  the  fall,  produces  another  that  occu- 
pies the  lower  joints  of  the  stalks  the  next 
season.  Spring  wheat  can  rear  but  one  brood 
of  these  insects  ;  they  consequently  resort  to 
it  but  little,  if  at  all.    Nor  can  the  Hessian 


fly  sustain  itself  except  in  districts  where  wir>- 
ter  wheat  is  cultivated  in  which  to  nestle  dur- 
ing the  autumn  and  winter." 


The  Live  Stock  Journal  of  Buffalo  declares 
that,  to  the  end  that  it  may  be  carried  on  effi- 
cient y  in  all  its  branches,  agriculture  needs 
500,000  more  laborers.  Our  population  is  in- 
creasing with  great  rapidity;  our  manufactur- 
ing  industry  spreading  in  all  the  States.  This 
population  must  be  fed,  and  ii  cheaply,  we 
must  haye  more  and  cheaper  labor.  The 
Americans  surpass  all  other  people  in  the 
adaptation  of  machinery  to  the  performance 
of  farm  work,  but  even  this  machinery  will 
not  run  without  human  help,  and  our  mining, 
manufacturing,  railroad  building  and  running, 
employ  to  the  full  all  our  available  labor.  All 
these  branches  of  industry  pay  such  prices 
fur  labor  as  would  ruin  the  farmer  iu  ten  yeans 
unless  he  also  can  fix  the  price  of  his  pro- 
ducts. Another  effect  of  this  fierce  competi- 
tion for  labor  is  to  compel  the  farmer  to  ac- 
cept such  as  has  failed  to  command  full  wages 
at  anything  else.  It  is  clear  that  we  must 
look  to  the  Mongolians.  They  wait  for  a  sign 
of  welcome.  Shall  we  allow  the  narrow  j'-al- 
ousy  of  our  present  laborers  for  hire,  wtko 
cannot  do  the  labor  them:-elves,  to  prevrrt  us 
from  reaping  the  advantage  of  this  proffered 
assistance  ?  The  Chinese  are  at  home  as 
earth-workers ;  they  possess  excellent  traits 
as  stock  raisers.  There  is  a  patience  and  a 
gentleness  about  their  character  adapticg 
ihem  to  the  care  of  animals.  It  is  said  of 
them,  in  California,  that  no  mule  is  balky  in 
the  hands  of  a  Chinaman.  Ilis  good  disposi- 
ti' 11  is  too  much  even  for  ihe  '•  cusseduess  *' 
of  a  mule.  They  wou'd  fall  readily  into  our 
system  of  dairying  at  the  East,  and  cattle  and 
sheep  raising  at  the  West.  Their  introdue- 
tion  into  agriculture  would  excite  less  oppoai- 
tion  than  in  any  otiier  branch  of  industry- 
The  Chinese  are  clannish,  and  are  more  con- 
tented if  a  number  of  them  work  together  or 
so  near  that  they  can  vis  t  each  other  ofien. 
This  would  be  done  easily  by  employing  them 
in  neighhortioods,  and  one  interpreter  and 
financial  agent  could  look  after  them  all.  The 
Chinese  would  be  8t*-ady  laborers,  year  atier 
year,  and  would  furnish  such  help  as  the  far- 
m*  r  could  rely  upon.  He  might  th  n  lay  oitt 
his  work  and  know  how  he  was  to  accomplish 
it.  For  these  reasons  the  Journal  concludea 
that  fanners  would  do  well  to  make  provi- 
sion for  labor  from  this  source  fur  the  nexl 
season.  This  would  necessitate  the  forma- 
tion in  each  locality  of  a  co-operative  labor 
associatiou. 


^08 


THE  LAJV'CASTEB  FARMER. 


WHITE  SWAN,  KCygaus  Americanus.)    BLACK  SWAN,  (Cygniis  Atratus.) 


WHITE  SWAN,  (CYGNUS  AMERICAN  ' 

US.)    BLACK  SWAN,  (CYGN US 

ATRATUS.) 


"  Bebold  !  the  mantling  spirit  of  reserve. 
Fashiwm  his  neci  into  a  goodly  curve, 
An  arch  thrown  back  bftfwten  luxuriant  wings 

Of  whitest  garniture,  like  fir-tree  boughs, 

To  which,  on  some  unruffled  moruirg.  clings 

A  dusky  wi  ight  of  win  er's  purest  snow." 

AMONG  all  the  swimming-birds  known  to 
natiual  history,  for  grace  and  elegance  the 
swan  is  pre-eminent ;  and  a  swan-like  neck 
and  motions  have  long  been  regarded  as  the 
highest  and  most  perfect  figures  of  female 
loveliness  and  beauty. 

"  She  was  like  the  swan  that  swims  the  ocean, 
Alwayp  in  motion  with  her  wing, 
Her  snowy  white  breast  would  be  a  portion 
For  any  Lord  or  Irish  Kins" — 

among  the  old  Irish  balladists,  typically 
expressed  all  that  was  admirable  in  the  form 
and  movements  of  womankind. 

The  American  swan,  has  a  wide  geograph- 
ical range,  and  sometimes  appears  plentifully, 
even  in  the  waters  of  Lancaster  county,  es. 
pecially  in  the  Susquehanna  river,  along  its 
southern  border.  We  have  seen  them  in 
hundreds,  floating  gracefully  on  that  inland 
water,  and  specimens  have  been  shot  from 


the  old  Columbia  bridge,  and  elsewhere  with- 
iu  the  limits  of  the  county. 

Swans  are  not  difficult  to  domesti:ate,  and 
most  of  the  city  parks  which  have  suitable 
bodies  of  water  within  them,  are  supplied 
with  these  graceful  birds,  as  necessary  orna- 
ments. In  "  Merry  old  England,"  from  a 
very  remote  period  in  her  history, swans  were 
domesticated  in  flocks  of  fifties  or  more,  along 
the  Thames  and  other  streams.  So  complete- 
ly were  they  localized  there,  that  special  laws 
were  enacted  for  their  protection,  and  there 
was  even  a  special  court,  called  "  The  King''s 
Majesties  Justices  of  Sessions  of  Swans^  For 
ag  8  Lbe  corporation  of  Londou  city  was  iu 
the  habit  of  visiting  the  swaneries  along  the 
Thames,  for  the  purpose  of  marking  them. 
This  was  called  "swan- up  ping,"  which  word 
was  subsequently  corrupted  into  "  swan-Ao^- 
ping."  Iu  the  same  way  the  tavern  sign  of 
the  '■'two  neck'' d  swan, ^''  which  is  common  in 
England,  is  a  corruption  of  ''  two  nicFd,''''  be- 
cause two  nicks  was  one  of  the  marks  made 
in  upping.  S*vans,  among  water  fowl,  exhibit 
the  most  perfect  illustrations  of  monogamy, 
and  they  manifest  much  affection  for  each 
other  and  for  their  offspring.  The  male  is 
very  attentive  to  the  female,  and  assists  her 
in  making  her  nest.    Tne  female  lays  from 


TEE  LAXCASTER  FARMER. 


W9 


six  to  seven  dull   greenish  white  eggs,  during 
the  laying  season,  which  are  about  tour  inches 
in  lensrlh,  and  over  two  inches  in  breadth.  In  i 
Ec^land  swats  are  fed  on  barley  and  fattened  j 
for  the  table,  but  in  our  country  they  are  net  j 
epecially  valued  for  this  use  :  but,  shou'd  any 
of  our  readers  be  fortunate  enoush  to  obtain 
a  goo  !    fat  one,  we  will  here  transcribe  the 
mod^  of  roasting  it. 

"  T*ke  three  poouds  of  beef,  b  'at  Sne  in  a  mortar  ; 
Pntitintofhe  STin— ttat  is,   wh?a  yoa'r^  csiu?ht  heil 
Sinje  pepper,  salt,  mace,  soxe  nntmeg.  an  onion  ; 
"Will  height-n  the  flaTOr  in  gormand's  opinion 
Then  tie  it  up  tight  with  a  tm^l  piece  of  tape  ; 
That  the  eravy  and  other  things  may  EOt  f  scape. 
A  meal  past«,  rather  ftiff.  .«h'>uid  be  l?.id  on  the  brean  ; 
And  some  whited  brown  paper  shoald  c^Ter  Xh.^  re-t. 
Fifteen  minutes,  atle&s-.  ere  th^  swan  yon  take  down  ; 
Pall  the  piste  off  the  bird,  that  the  breast  niiv  get  b.  own 
To  a  gravj  of  beef,  good  acl  strong  I  opine, 
Tou'll  t)e  right  :f  fou  add  half  a  pint  of  g'>cd  wine- 
Ponr  this  through  the  swan, yes,  quite  throti^h the  bell  - , 
Th^n  serve  the  whole  up  with  some  hot  corrant  jell"." 

y.  B. — The  swan  must  not  be  skinned. 

HORTICULTURE. 


A  VISIT  TO  CIXXAMIXSOX,  X.  J. 

CIXXAMIXSON  township  is  in  Burling- 
ton county,  on  the  Mount  H-lly  road» 
ten  or  twelve  miles  east  of  Pnila<irlphia,  and 
is  noted  for  fruit  farms,  like  the  county  of  Bur- 
lington generally.  No  stock  is  allowed  to 
run  at  laree  in  this  county.  The  fruit-grow- 
ers and  farmers  generally  are  just  now  b?- 
ginnins  to  dispense  wi.h  fences.  At  Vineland, 
the  town  and  vicinity  dispensed  witb  fences 
from  the  very  beginning.  It  would  be  quite  a 
novelty  to  Lancaster  county  farmers,  to  see 
the  grounds  cultivated  up  to  the  edges  of  the 
public  roads.  These  thoroughfares  a^e  gen- 
erally very  leve!  ;  the  fruit  farms  range  from 
one  to  two  and  three  hundred  acres.and  the  chief 

pr-  ducts  are  strawberries,  raspberr  es.bla^k- 
berries.cranberries,  sweet  potatoes  and  peach- 
es. The  premium  crop  of  strawberries  of  Burl- 
ington county  was  at  tberste  o( twohundred  and 
sixty  three  bushels  to  the  acre,  yielding  a  prof- 
it of  8l,0!X)  per  acre  ;  but  one-third  would  be 
nearer  ihe  average  crop.  For  the  pa^t  ten 
years  they  hare  averaged  about  2.500  quarts 

of  strawberries  per  acre,  and  the  average 
price  per  quart  in  market,  has  been  about 
twelte  cents.  Mr.  WiViam  Parry  raised  last 
year  from  ten  acres  S5,000  worth  of  strawber- 


ries.   He  had  tieenty  acres  m  strawberries, 
thirty  in  blackberries,  fAiVry  in  raspberries  and 
proportionately  a.s  much  in  other  fruiis.    Of 
strawberries,  "  Wilson's  Al'iany  Seedling  "  is 
regarded  as  the  most   prolific  and  profitable 
tor  market  purposes.    "  Her«tiae's,"  ia   now 
looked  upon  as  the  be«t  raspberry.    At  the 
head  of  ih>-  li-^t  of  blackber.ies  under  cultiva- 
tion is  •'  Wilson's  Early,"  ripening  early  af- 
ter the  raspberries,   and  before   the   peaches 
are  in  market.     When  fruit  is  scarce  it  com- 
mands the  highest  price.    The  berries   from 
two  acres  have  been  sold  on  the  farm  for^/- 
/y  c«nf5  a  quart.    An   extensive  fruit  grower 
in  West  Jersey  has  seveucy-five  aores  of  these 
blackberries  in  bearing  condition,  and  received 
S20,0Ci)  for  the  frnit  of  one  season,  realiz  ng  a 
profit  of  SU.OOO  after  deducting  all  expenses, 
accomplishing  all  this  in   the   space  of  three 
weeks.      The  Dorchester  and  Kittalinny  are 
considered  the  next  best.    Land   within  ten 
or  twenty  miles  of  Philadelphia  has  risen  rap- 
idly in  price  during  the  last  ten  years,  on  ac- 
count of  the  demand  for  all   kinds   of  fruit- 
Fertilizers  are  obtained  comparatively  cheap 
near    Philadelphia.      They  use  much  marl, 
bonedust,  guano  and  a  variety  c\  compounds, 
in  improving  worn-out  lacds.    They  are  even 
beginning  to  cultivate  ches'nucs  in  New  Jer- 
sey and  Delaware.    Mr.  Dupont,  near  Wil- 
mington, has  in  cultivation  a  large  variety    of 
chestnuts.    He  sold  from  ten  acres  S5M  worth 
of  these   nuts   in  one   season.     Mr.  William 
Parry  had  planted  oa  the  Uch  of  October  one 
bushel  of  these  nuts  for  propagation.    They 
sell  in  market  at  thirty-seveu  and  fifty  cents  a 
quart.    I  purchased  a  pint  of  these  che-tnu  s, 
for  twenty-five  cents,  and  twnty  nine  of  them 
filed  a  pint  measure.    I  hav-    planted  them 
and  also   a  pint  of  our  ordinary   Lancaster 
county  chestnuts,  picked  up   under  different 
tree*,  and  it  tcok  one   hundred  and  txcenty-jivt 
to  fill  the  pint  measure.     Ti.ese  large   chest- 
nuts are  ju-it  as  sweet,  as  delicious,  and  as  fine- 
ly  flavored   as   our  own.    The  price   of  the 
common  chestnut  is  from  ten  to  twenty  cenU 
per  quart.    From  ibis   we   may   be  able   to 
judge  the  relativ,^   value   of  these   the  most 
popular  nuts  indi^'icoas  to    or  cultivated  on 

our  local  soil. 

L.  S.  Reist. 

[It  seems  to  us  that  the  abo^e  interesting 
and  important /ac/*  ought  to  atford  suffijienk 
encouragement  to  some  of  our  fruit-growers, 


no 


THE  LAJ^f-CASTEE  FARMER. 


lo  go  into  a  more  ex'ensive  cultivation  of 
"small  fruits,"  and  also  tke  introduced  and 
improved  varieiit'B  of  chestnuts.  In  regard  to 
the  Albany  Seedling  strawberry,  we  beard  an 
experienced  grower  once  declare  that  he  couid 
raise  as  many  bushels  of  these  berries  on  the 
same  quantity  of  ground,  as  any  other  man 
could  raise  patatoes. — Ed.] 


RAPID  GROWTH  OF  TIMBER  IN 

KANSAS. 

IT  is  astonishing  to  see  how  rapidly  the 
timber  grows  on  the  prairies.  There  are 
large  tracts  of  land  in  this  county,  and  partic- 
ularly near  the  Missouri  river  that  was  clear 
open  prairie  before,  when  we  came  here 
twelve  years  ago,  that  now  has  a  thick  growth 
ot  young  timber.  Black-oak,  hickory  and 
white-oak,  seem  to  grow  up  spontaneously 
where  the  Are  is  kept  out  of  the  prairie  grass, 
and  the  rapid  growth  soon  makes  it  valuable 
for  fire-wood  and  fencing.  In  eight  or  ten 
years  more,  large  quantities  of  this  timber 
will  be  large  enough  for  railroad  ties,  and  the 
ground  is  so  thickly  covered  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  cut  prairie  hay  anywhere  in  the 
eastern  part  of  this  county.  People  have 
been  commended  for  planting  a  tree,  but  it 
seems  not  to  be  necessary  here,  and  all  that 
is  to  be  required  is  to' prevent  the  prairie 
from  burning  over  and  destroying  the  young 
sprouts  ;  and  if  the  trees  are  trimmed  up  and 
the  undergrowth  kept  out,  a  farmer  having 
from  twenty  to  fifty  acres  will,  in  ten  years, 
have  till  the  timber  he  will  want  for  his  own 
use.  There  is  an  important  duty  devolving 
upon  all  the  owners  of  the  soil  lo  protect  this 
b  untiful  growth  of  timber,  and  when  the 
next  generation  takes  our  places  they  will 
have  a  plentiful  supply.  Let  aU  protect  a 
tree,  if  they  don't  plant  one.—  Wathena  (Kan.) 
Reporter. 


THE  WORK   OF  THE  LEAF. 

HAT  does  it  do?  I  tpump^  water  from 
the  ground  i  brough  the  thousands  of 
tubes  in  the  stem  of  the  tree,  and  sends  it  to 
the  atmosphere  in  tbrt  form  of  unseen  mist, 
to  be  condensed  aid  fall  in  showers,  the 
very  water  that,  were  it  not  fur  the  leaf,  would 
sink  in  the  earth  and  find  its  way,  perchance. 


through  the  subterranean  channels  into  the 
sea.  And  thus  it  is  that  we  see  it  works  to 
give  us  the  "  early  and  the  latter  rain."  It 
works  to  send  the  rills  and  streams,  like  lines 
of  silver,  down  the  mountain  and  across  the 
plain.  It  works  to  pour  down  the  larger 
brooks  which  turn  the  wheels  that  energize 
the  machinery  which  gives  employment  to 
many  millions,  commerce  stimulated,  wealth 
accumulated  and  intelligence  disseminated 
through  the  agency  of  this  wealth.  The  leaf 
does  it  all.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that 
every  square  inch  of  leaf  lifts  3,500  of  an  ounce 
every  twenty-four  hours.  Now,  a  large  forest 
tree  has  about  five  acres  of  foliage,  or  6,272,- 
640  square  inches.  This  being  multiplied  by 
3,500  (the  amount  pumped  by  every  inch) 
gives  us  the  result~2,252  ounces,  or  1,176 
pints,  or  294  quarts,  or  eight  barrels.  The 
trees  on  an  acre  give  ti^ht  hundred  barrels  in 
twenty-four  hours.  An  acre  of  grass,  or  clo- 
ver, or  grain,  would  yield  about  the  same  re- 
sult. The  leaf,  is  a  worker,  too,  in  another 
field  of  labor,  where  we  seldom  look — where 
it  works  for  the  good  of  man  in  a  most  wonder- 
ful manner.  It  carries  immense  quantities  of 
electricity  from  the  earth  to  the  clouds,  and 
from  the  clouds  to  the  earth.  Rather  danger- 
ous busmess  transporting  lightning  ;  but  it  is 
particularly  fitted  for  this  work.  Did  you  ever 
see  a  leaf  entire  as  to  its  edges  ?  It  is  always 
pointed,  and  these  points,  whether  they  be 
large  or  small,  are  just  fitted  to  handle  this 
dangerous  agent.  These  tiny  fingers  seize 
upon  and  carry  it  away  with  ease  and  wonder- 
ful dispaich.  There  must  be  no  delay  ;  it  is 
"  time  freight."  True,  sometimes  it  gathers 
up  morti  than  the  trunk  can  carry,  and  in  the 
attempt  to  crowd  and  pack  the  baggage  the 
trunk  gets  terribly  shattered,  and  we  say  that 
lightning  struck  the  tree.  But  it  had  been 
struck  a  thousand  times  before.  This  time  it 
was  over-worked. 


THE  COCOA-NUT. 


TO  enumerate  all  the  services  which  the 
cocoa-nut  tree,  and  its  fruit,  render  to 
man,  in  the  East,  would  be  almost  a  hopeless 
task.  The  kernel  is  not  eaten  as  we  eat  it,  as 
fruit,  but  is  prepared  in  a  variety  of  ways  for 
curries  and  other  ditches  ;  the  milky  juice  is  re- 
lished as  a  pleasant  beverage,  the  oil  is  used 
in  making  steariue  candles  and  marine  soap, 


THE  LANCASTER  FABMER. 


211 


ard,  in  the  tropical  countries,  lamp-oil,  oint- 
ment, and  an  aid  to  cookery  ;  the  resia  from 
the  trunk,  mixed  with  the  oil  from  the  nut, 
and  melted,  forms  a  subafance  used  for  fiUino' 
up  the  seams  of  ships  and  boats,  Cf)Verins;  the 
corks  of  bot'les,  and  repelling  the  attacks  of 
(he  white  ant ;  the  root  possesses  narcotic 
properties,  and  is  sometimes  chewed  like  the 
areca-nut.  The  terminal  bud  is  esteemed  a 
delicacy  although  not  easily  obtainable  with- 
out cutting  down  the  tree. 

The  sap,  or  toddy,  is  a  beverage,  and  is 
also  fermented  to  produce  palm-wine  and  ar- 
rack-spirit. The  dried  leaves  are  used  for 
tha'ch,  and  for  making  screens,  mats,  bas_ 
kets.  and  a  kind  of  plait;  while  the  mid-rib  of 
the  leaf  serves  the  natives  as  an  oar.  The 
wood  of  the  lower  part  of  the  stem  is  very 
hard,  takes  a  beautiful  polish,  and  is  known  to 
our  turners  and  ornamental  joiners  as  porcu- 
pine wood  ;  the  fibrous  center  of  the  older 
stems  is  worked  like  coir  into  cordage  and 
similar  articles.  The  husk  of  the  ripe  nut 
when  cut  across,  is  used  for  polishing  furniture 
and  scrubbing  floors.  Within  the  nut  is  occa- 
sionally found  a  small  stony  substance  of  a 
bluish-white  color,  worn  by  the  Chinese  as  a 
kind  of  amulet  or  charm.  In  short,  the  cocoa- 
nut  tree  is  one  of  the  most  useful  products  of 
the  tropical  regions. 


"WINTERING  ROOTS. 

^'qUBSCRIBER'S"  question,  as  to  the 
k3  best  mode  of  wintering  roots,  cannot 
be  better  answered  than  by  the  following  ex- 
tract from  "What  We  Know  About  Turnips," 
published  by  David  Landreth  &  Son  : 

"  The  main  winter  and  spring  stock  of  bulbs 
we  preserve  in  pits— not  mounds,  as  made  in 
some  localities — narrow  pits,  after  this  fash- 
ion :  Select  a  suitable  spot,  near  the  stables 
if  practicable,  but  surely  where  the  drainaj!,e 
is  good  and — indispensable  prerequisite  ;  dig  a 
trench  sixteen  inches  wide,  and  as  many  or 
more  inches  in  depth,  the  length  as  conven- 
ient as  necessary.  In  this  place  the  topped 
bulbs,  and  cover  with  the  earth  dug  out  of 
the  trench,  using  a  little  more  in  addition  as 
winter  approaches.  If  cold  may  be  expect- 
ed in  severity,  place  over  all  aloug  stable  ma- 
nure, or  anything  whioh  will  impede  the  en- 
try of  frost,  without  creating  warmth.    Thus 


we  have  found  roots  of  any  and  all  descrip- 
tions— ruta  bagas,  common  turnips,  car- 
rots, beets,  parsnips — to  keep  well.  They 
are  accessible  at  all  times,  and  when  needed 
may  be  removed  in  larger  or  smaller  quantity 
art  desired.  Altogether,  it  is  better  than 
mounds,  which,  being  elevated,  are  exposed  to 
frost,  and  require  care  in  construction.  In  the 
pits  described,  we  annually  keep  beets  and 
carrots  far  into  the  sprin;:;,  indeed  have  fed 
our  working  oxen  with  beets,  to  their  great 
delight,  up  to  July  1st." 

Our  limited  experience  in  the  winter  care  of 
roots  has  been  with  a  regular  root-cellar  un- 
der the  bridge  way  into  the  barn, and  hence, 
we  know  little  or  nothing  about  burying 
them,  but  have  confidence  in  the  above,  and 
would  not  hesitate  to  put  it  in  practice  if  oc- 
casion required  it. 

When  the  cellar  will  not  accommodate  all 
the  roots  it  can  be  filled,  and  the  remainder 
buried  as  above  described.  During  the  win- 
ter, when  the  cellar  is  emptied,  a  whole  pit 
may  oe  removed  into  the  cellar,  thus  making 
one  opening  suffice  each  pit. — Phila.  Age. 


Lateral  or  Bark  Graft.— Take  a  sharp 
budding  or  two-edged  knife  ;  insert  it  between 
the  bark  and  the  fiioer  (or  wood) ;  cut  your 
graft  slanting  on  both  sides  ;  insert  it  as  far 
as  the  slant  goes  •,  cover  the  wound  with  a  lit- 
tle grafting  wax,  anl  you  make  limbs  start 
all  over  the  body  of  your  tree  ;  but  it  is  neces- 
sary to  reduce  or  trim  the  upper  limbs  so  as 
to  make  the  sap  take  hold  of  your  grafts. 
Grafts  should  never  have  more  than  five  nor 
less  than  three  buds  exposed  iu  all  cases  of 
grafting.  For  the  terminal,  rather  stout  scions 
are  the  best.  The  grafts  taken  from  the  top 
of  a  tree  are  much  preferable  to  those  taken 
from  side  limbs.  The  graft  should  be  less  ad- 
vanced than  the  stock.  The  latter  part  of 
February  till  middle  of  March  is  the  best 
time  for  grafting — too  late,  the  tree  bleeds ; 
too  soon,  the  sap  is  not  starting,  and  the  co- 
hesion, or  soldering,  of  graft  and  stock,  is  de- 
layed or  retarded  too  long.— Farmer  and  Gar- 
dener. 


Fruits  and  Berries  —Fruits  and  berries 
at  this  season  of  the  year?  re  not  only  pre- 
cious luxuries,  but  great  promoters  of  health. 
They  act  upon  the  liver,  promoting  that  secre- 
tion naturally  which  many  are  in  the  habit 


^12 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER. 


of  obtaining  only  by  the  means  of  artific  al 
medicines.  They  thus  avert  many  a  disease 
resulting  from  a  torpid  condition  of  the  liver. 
Another  way  in  which  they  act  bentficially 
is  the  mechinical  effict  thair  little  ^eeds  pro- 
duce in  passing  through  the  bowels,  very 
much  the  same  as  the  watering  of  an  irritated 
eye-ball  when  any  hard  substance  touches 
that  delicate  organ,  and  this  water,  by  dis- 
solving the  hardened  couteuts  of  constipated 
bowels,  keeps  them  in  a  healthier  state  than 
any  p,ll  or  purgative  invented  by  the  apothe- 
cary. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the 
suram-r  and  fall  seasons  people  who  live 
mainly  on  fruits  and  berries  and  coarse  bread 
can  almost  insure  exemption  from  sickness, 
while  those  who  eat  heartily  of  solid  meats 
and  vegetables  two  or  three  times  a  day  are- 
liable  to  all  the  diseases  that   flesh  is  heir  to 


TABLB  SHOWING    THE   QITVNTITYOP    SBED  BBQUIRSD      TO 
THE  AOKK. 

Desigi  ation.  Quantity  of  seed. 

Wheat 1'^  to  2  bushels. 

Barley Ii|  to  2]^  " 

Oats 2      to  4  " 

Bve 1      to  2  " 

Buckwheat %  to  ly^  " 

Millfct 1      to  )  >i  " 

Corn %  to  1  " 

BeaDS 2     to  2  " 

Peas 2}^  to  Z}i  " 

Hemp '      to  \%  •• 

Flax 1^  to  2  " 

Kice 2  "  to  2^  " 

Broom  Oorn i      to  1^  '' 

Potatoes 5      to  10  " 

Timothy 12    to  24  qts. 

Mustard 8      to  20  " 

Herd  Grass 12    to  16  " 

Flat  Turnip 2      to  3  lbs. 

Rpd  Clover 10    to  16  " 

White  Clover 3      to  4  " 

Blue  Grass 10    to  15  " 

Orchard  Grass 20    to  30  " 

Carr- 18 4      to  5  '' 

Parsnips 6     to  8  " 

TABLE  SHOWING  THB    NUMBER  OF    SEEDS  IN  ONE    POUND, 
AND  WBIGHT  PER  BUSHEL. 


No.  of 

Seeds  per  lb. 


No.   lbs 
per  bush. 


Wheat 

Barley 

Oats , 

Rye 

Vetches 

Lentils 

Beaus 

Peas 

FlaxSted 

Turnip  Seed 

Rape  Seed 

Mustard  (white; 

Cabbage  Seed 

Mangel-wurzel 

Parsnip  Seed 

Carrot  Seed 

Lucern  Seed 

Clover  (rfd) 

"       (white) 

Eye-Grass  (perennial). 

"  (la  ian)... 

Sweet  vernal  grass. . . , , 


600 
1800 


10  500 

15,403 

20,000 

23.000 

8,300 

8.2.111 

to  1,300 

to  2  OCO 

108.' 00 

155  OOO 

118000 

T5,000 

12-1,000 

24.600 

97,000 

257,000 

215(100 

249  600 

686  400 

.S.34,000 

272  000 

923,000 


58  to  64 

48  to  56 

38  to  42 

56  to  60 

60  to  63 

58  to  60 

6!,  to  n,'> 

60  to  65 

.50  to  60 

50  to  55 

50  to  56 
57 
52 

20  to  24 
14 
9 

58  to  60 
60  to  63 

59  to  62 
20  to  28 
13  to  18 


BSE   CULTURE. 


THE  BEE  AND  BEE-KEEPING.— NO.  4. 

BY  ULRICn  STRICKLER. 
BREEDING 

AS  stated  in  a  previous  number,  the  queen 
is  mother  of  the  entire  family.    In  good 
strong  colonies,  she   besiins  to  deposit  eg*8 
about  Christmas  or  New  Year.  Weak  colonies 
do  not  begin  to  rear  brood  for  a  month  or  two 
later,  depending  on  the  strength  of  the  colony 
and  amount  of  stores  on  hand.    In  weak  col- 
onies she,  at  first,  depo.-^its  but  a  few  eggs  ; 
sometimes    not     more    than    a    space    of 
an   inch  or  or   two   in  diameter,  on  but  one 
cnmb,  about  the  center  of  the  cluster  of  bees, 
where  the  most  heat  is  generated.    A  certain 
degree  of  heat  is  necessary  for  the  perfection 
of  the  brood  ;  in  small  clusters,  there  is  but  a 
small  space  near  the  center  where  sufficient 
heat  is  generated  for  the  purpose  of  breeding, 
this  space  she  fills  with  eggs,  and  no  more.  If 
there  is  sufficient  heat  in    the  hive,  either 
generated  by  t'le  bees,  or  produced  by   warm 
weathe-,  she  will   fill  the  adjoining  combs, 
one  on  each  side,  corresponding  to  the   fiist, 
but  not  quite  as  large.    She  will  then  enlarge 
the  circle  on  the  first  comb,  then   on   the   ad- 
joining ones,  continuing  to  spread  as  fast  as 
the  amount  of  heat    permits,  until  all   the 
combs  are  filled  to  the  edge  with  brood.     But 
long  before  she  reaches  the  outer  edge  of  the 
combs,  the  first  egafs  deposited   are    matured, 
when  she  immediately   fills  the  space  again. 
If  scarce  of  honey,  they  will  breed   very  cau- 
tiously until  the/  receive  a  supply. 

In  strong  colonies  there  is  always  a  large 
space,  where  there  is  sufficient  heat  for  breed- 
ing. In  January  this  space  will  be  found  fill- 
ed with  brood,  and  by  the  time  fruit  blossoms, 
these  hives  are  filled  with  yo»jnebees  to  work 
thereon.  Such  colonies  cannot  fail  to  do  well. 
But  colonies  that  were  weak,  have  reared  but 
few  young  bees  in  time  to  work  on  the  fruit 
blossoms,  which,  in  th's  section,  gives  bees 
their  first  start,  and  upon  which  greatly  de- 
pends whether  there  will  be  early  swarms  or 
not.  Hence  all  will  see  the  advantage  in  hav- 
ing strong  stocks  to  winter,  which  breed  ear- 
ly, and  consequently  can  take  advantage  of 
the  early  supplies.  This  is  the  reason  that 
early  young  swarms  frequently  fill  their  hives 
before  weak  ones  of  the  previous  summer. 


THE  LAJSrCASTER  FARMER. 


213 


These  weak  colonies  can  spare  but  few  bees 
for  gatherinor  stores  beff  re  quite  warm  weath 
er.  they  bein?  needed  in  the  hive  to  keep  up 
sufficient  heat  for  breeding. 

During  the  breeding  season,  a  circle  of  cells, 
an  inch  or  two  wide,  containing  bee  bread, 
surrounds  the  sheets  of  comb  containing 
brood.  Breeding  continues  in  strong  colonies 
until  November,  but  in  weak  ones  ceases  ^ 
month  earlier. 

HINTS  ron  NOVEMBER. 

Bees  that  have  re'5eived  seasonable  atten- 
tion, require  little  care  this  month.  Anything 
neglected  in  October  should  be  attended  to 
now.  Stocks  that  have  not  sufficient  honey 
to  winter  on,  may  still  be  fed  during  warm 
days.  Such  as  can  not  be  wintered  for  want 
of  sufficient  bees  to  keep  one  another  warm 
during  cold  weather,  had  better  be  taken  up 
even  now,  than  allowed  to  freeze  before 
spring. 

Surplus  boxes  not  filled  should  be  set  away 
in  a  dry  place  for  next  year's  use.  ff  any  con- 
tain t^mpty  combs,  preserve  them  carefully, 
as  the  bees  will  begin  storing  in  them  a  week 
earlier  than  in  empty  boxes.  When  the 
combs  contain  a  small  quantity  of  unsealed 
honey,  the  box  should  be  given  to  a  stock 
that  is  short  in  stores  for  the  bees  to  empty, 
as  honey  not  sealed  would  sour  before  spring 

If,  from  timidity,  any  one  has  been  deterred 
from  making  a  thorough  examination  of  his 
stocks,  he  should  do  it  the  first  cold  day. 
They  then  seem  to  be  much  more  chilled  than 
during  much  colder  weather,  after  they  have 
become  accustomed  to  it.  The  entrance  to 
all  hives  should  now  be  contracted  to  a  spice, 
admitting  but  one  or  two  bees  at  a  time, 
which  will  exclude  mice  and  robbers. 


FEEDING  BEES. 


LAST  winter  and  spring  was  a  remark- 
ably fatal  times  for  bees.  Of  those  tkat 
did  come  through  alive,  many  were  very 
weak,  with  solid  or  mouldy  combs.  As  a 
consequence,  this  been  a  rather  poor  year  for 
honey,  and  there  are  probably  many  hives 
which  will  need  feeding  to  winter  through. 
This  will  be  especially  the  case  amongst  those 
who  practice  artificial  swarming,  and  have 
tried  to  fill  up  all  ihi  old  hives  in  which 
swarms  died  out,  with  new  ones,  and  amongs^ 


those  who  with  natural  swarming,  have  tried 
to  save  all  their  second  swarms. 

If  you  have  not  already  done  so,  lose  no 
time  in  finding  out  something  about  the  con- 
dition of  your  hives,  and  if  any  of  them  need 
feeding,  do  no'  delay  attending  to  it  any  long- 
er. Those  that  are  very  weak  in  bees  had 
better  be  left  to  be  united  with  others,  al- 
though some  good  bee  keepers  prefer  keeping 
their  weak  swarms.  It  may  do  for  those  of 
much  experience,  but  for  others,  weak  swarms 
are  only  a  nuisance. 

Some  think  honey  the  best  feed,  others  pre- 
fer a  syrup  made  of  best  coff'ee  sugar,  using 
about  a  quart  of  water,  to  five  pounds  sugar, 
being  careful  not  to  burn  in  dissolving.  Each 
swarm  to  be  wintered  out  of  doors  should  have 
about  twenty-five  pounds  of  honey,  and  a  hive 
buried  or  wintered  in  cellar  should  haye  fif- 
teen or  twenty.  There  are  various  ways  of 
feeding,  but  in  all  cases  see  that  no  honey 
is  left  through  the  day-time  where  bees  of  oth- 
er hives  can  get  at  it,  or  you  will  induce  rob- 
bing. If  the  nights  are  warm  you  may  feed 
directly  at  the  entrance  of  hive,  by  filling  a 
tumbler  with  honey  or  syrup,  putting  a  saucer 
upside  down  on  the  tumbler,  then  quickly  in- 
yertingboth.  Place  it  at  the  entrance,  and 
tap  on  the  hive  enough  to  set  the  bees  at 
work  at  it.  Be  sure  that  there  is  no  more 
than  they  will  finish  before  morning.  Some 
bees  will  at  first  drown,  but  before  morning 
will  be  all  licked  off  by  the  other  bees,  and  be 
as  lively  as  ever.  Here  is  another  good  plan, 
and  one  which  may  be  used  day  or  night,  pro- 
viding there  is  no  close-fitting  cover  on  the 
hive  that  will  not  allow  bees  from  other  hives 
to  enter.  Take  a  common  tin  fruit  can,  new 
or  old,  punch  holes  through  the  cover,  for 
which  purpose  a  small  nail  or  jack  knife  will 
answer;  put  the  syrup  or  honey  in  the  can, 
put  on  the  cover,  invert  quickly  and  place  on 
the  hive  in  such  a  way  that  the  bees  can  get 
to  it,  but  no  bees  from  any  other  hive. 

Those  that  have  frame  hives,  can  do  better 
to  take  frames  of  honey  from  those  that  caa 
spare  them,  and  give  to  the  needy. 


Water  in  Milk.— Milk  upon  a  fair  aver- 
age contains  eighty-eight  per  cent,  of  water, 
and  consequently  the  tarmer  who  carries  to 
market  one  hundred  gallons  of  honest  milk 
has  on  his  wagon  eighty-eight  gallons  of 
honest  water,  which  he  honestly  sells  to  his 


nji. 


THE  LAJy'CASTER  FARMER. 


customers  at  fair  rates  per  gallon.  It  seems 
hardly  necessary  to  carry  the  attenuation  fur- 
ther by  resorting  to  the  pump  for  more  water. 
There  is  a  popular  impression  that  the  water 
naturally  existing  in  milk,  vegetables,  fruits 
and  grasses  differs  in  some  way  from  that 
drawn  from  our  wells  and  springs,  but  it  is 
essentially  the  sami.  The  water  obtained 
from  the  sources  named  is  pure. 

BOTANY. 

BOTANICAL  GOSSIP. 

BY  J.  STAUITFER. 

''tJOTANICAL  gossip"  would  seem  to 
X3  imply  botanical  nonsense,  for  a  gos- 
sip usually  is  an  idle  fellow,  who  delights  to 
rob  others  of  precious  time,  in  retailing  small 
talk;  it's  a  rather  dubious  title,  I  admit,  but 
the  word  in  the  old  Saxon  language  stood 
also  for  a  ''  sponsor,  "  or  todfather.  I  have 
made  botany  a  kind  cf  a  "  hobby,  "  and  feel 
responsible  for  any  default. 

The  only  trouble  lays  in  selecting  out  of  so 
vast  a  field,  that  which  maybe  edifying,  or 
worth  the  time  to  read.  We  all  know  that 
there  is  no  end  to  the  various  kinds  and  sorts 
of  apples,  pears,  peaches,  grapes,  etc.,  and 
that  the  thousands  of  names  are  so  per- 
plexing, and  the  fruits  themselves  and  habits 
of  growth  so  interchangeably  mixed  up  as  to 
put  all  science  or  attempt  to  classification  at 
defiance.    Some  poet,  years  ago,  said — 

"  Fat  olives  ot  sundry  sorts  appear. 
Of  iuncry  strapes  their  unctuous  berries  bear." 

What  would  he  say  of  the  sundry  apples, 
pears,  etc.,  that  swell  our  catalogues ;  but 
many  ports  known  years  ago  are  lost  sight  of 
and  compounded  with  later  sorts  and  difierent 
names.  The  question  arises,  how  are  these 
changes  and  modifications  brought  about?  If 
we  consider  that  each  bud  is,  in  one  sense, 
a  distinct  organization  with  certain  functions 
which  tend  to  unfold  and  develop  in  a  cer- 
tain direction,  and,  under  the  same  conditions, 
will  uniformily  reproduce  itself,  true  to  the 
original  type. 

Bud-variation  may  lake  place  naturally — 
nay,  it  does,  and  often  develops  a  superior 
fruit  lo  that  of  the  normal  kmd;  hence,by  graft- 
ing, budding  or  cuttings,  certain  sorts  can  be 


perpetuated  which  are  a  decided  improvement 
on  those  the  tree  bore  before. 

The  sap  may  change,  or  be  changed,  frora 
a  crude  to  a  finer  state,  by  certain  treatment 
and  conditions  of  the  soil,  favorab'e  situation 
to  receive  the  full  benefit  of  light.  Ofthe  great 
moving  sources  in  vearetable  growth,  light 
may  be  termed  a  propeller. 

This  can  be  seen  in  trees  growing  in  woods. 
It  has  been  observed  that  there  is  an  irregu- 
larity  often  in  the  rings  of  growth,  more  de- 
veloped toward  one  side.  This  was  thought 
to  be  the  south  side  of  the  tree.  It  has  been 
proved,  however,  that  it  may  be  the  north  side 
of  the  tree,  the  east  or  the  west,  provided  that 
side  is  on  the  outside  of  the  woods,  or,  on  its 
border,  wh  re  the  side  receives  the  greater 
amount  of  light,  which  is  found  to  determine 
this  inequality  of  the  development. 

Plants  feed  upon  carbon,  and  assimilate  va- 
rious elements,  when  in  a  proper  condition  to 
be  absorbed,  vivified  and  moved  by  the  solar 
forces.or  life  principle,  in  the  light  which  gives 
motion  to  the  sap,  and  produces  gro^vth. 
Changes  in  those  elementary  principles, 
changes  of  locality,  climate,  excess  or  too  lit- 
tle moisture,  all  exert  a  certain  influence. 
Nature  being  prolific  in  resources,  and  wisely 
adapted  to  accommodate  itself  to  contingen- 
cie?*,  may  hence  improve  or  deteriorate,  ac- 
cording to  the  obstacles  to  overcome,  or  the 
assistance  rendered.  Hence,  we  meet  with 
sorts,  abnormal  conditions,  resulting  in  varie 
ties,  often  to  such  a  degree  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible to  trace  it  to  its  original  type. 

This  diversity  has  led  some  men  to  assume 
that  all  (man  not  excepted),  plants  and  crea- 
tures, are  evolved  from  a  monad,  and  H.  C. 
Chapman,  M.  D.,  in  his  late  work  on  the 
"  Evolution  of  Life,"  attempts  to  demonstrate 
it  by  what  he  terms  analogies,  and  shows  one 
class  and  order  trenching  upon  that  of  anoth- 
er, by  regular  stages,  to  prove  evolution. 

These  links  of  analogy  may  verily  be  found, 
but  I  can,  with  as  much  propriety  and  perhaps 
greater  truth,  affirm  that  all  the  sorts,  two 
thousand  if  you  please,  of  apples,  are  but 
modifications  of  the  apple-tree  in  Paradise — 
and  through  neglect  have  degenerated  into 
the  sorry  little  crab.  These,  again,  by  prop- 
er culture  and  attention,  may  have  been  re- 
claimed, and  brought  to  perfection  through 
the  cunning  of  budding  and  grafting.  Well, 
may  we  not  say  the  same  thing  of  Father 


TEE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER- 


215 


Adam,  and  some  of  his  degenerate  children 
making  brutes  of  themselves,  and  to  lead,Unk 
by  lirik,  to  the  monkey  tl  rough  various 
changes,  and  those ,  again ,  branching  and  mix- 
ing with  original  created  models,  forming 
side-issues. 

But  scientists  laugh  such  talk  to  scorn,  be- 
cause they  find  no  trace  of  man  among  the 
older  fossils,  nor  monkey  either.  If  God  saw 
fit  to  create  one  class  of  beings  to  fit  them  for 
the  then  existing  conditions  of  this  earth,  and 
in  due  time  created  man  in  his  own  image, 
with  a  m^nd  to  progress  and  improve  and  be- 
come, as  the  florist  and  horticulturist  is,  in  a 
certain  sense,  assistant  creators,  by  improving 
the  ^a^en<  assigned  them  ten-fold,  what  then  ? 
This  may  be  ^os9tjo;  I  do  not  claim  it  to  be 
gospel,  nor  the  teachings  of  Darwin,  Chap- 
man, etc. 

The  other  day  I  stepped  into  my  neighbor's 
hot-house,  as  I  often  do — Mr.  George  O. 
Hetisel,  of  East  O  ange  street,  in  the  city  of 
Lancaster.  I  am  purposely  so  definite,  out  of 
gratitude  for  the  oppor  unity  it  affords  me  to 
see  and  study  many  rare  and  beautiful  plants, 
and  because  I  am  astonished  to  witness  his 
wonderful  success  in  the  propagation  of  rare 
and  delicate  species,  many  of  which  are  hard 
to  manage  by  old  end  experienced  gardeners. 
Mr.  Hensel  seems  to  have  a  natural  instinct, 
as  he  does  not  profess  to  be  scienced.  I  have 
to  confess  that  my  science  is  fooli^hness  com- 
pared with  his  practice.  Thevarie  y  of  plants 
with  ornamental  leaves— the  hybrids  and 
cross-breeds  of  begonias,  the  highly  ornamen- 
tal and  diversified  leaves  of  the  colias, 
gesnerias,  cissus,  caladiutus,  so  wonderfully 
spotted,  toned,  edged  and  beautifully  variega- 
ted, that  the  normal  green  of  the  leaves  i-. 
changed  to  the  brilliant  colors  of  the  coroU — 
the  great  variety  brouaht  together  in  so 
small  a  space,  aroused  in  me  the  deepest 
thought,  alas !  how  inadequate  is  all  the 
science  of  vegetable  physiology  to  explain 
how  these  changes  are  brought  about,  in  the 
laboratory  of  nature.  We  see  them — they 
arise,  often,  to  the  surprise  of  the  gardener 
himself.  With  all  his  craft  in  the  use  of  stim- 
ulants, charcoal  and  brick  dust,  plants  occas- 
ionally "go  back  on  them."  They  over-heat  or 
over-feed,  or  somehow  over-do  things,  once 
in  a  while  ;  but,  experience  is  ttie  best  school 
and  my  friend  Hensel  is  a  very  apt  scholar  ; 
and  while  I  may  have  more  of  the  theory,  he 


is  practical,  and  succeeds  where  I  would  ut- 
terly fail.  I  say  this,  because  my  modest 
friend  dues  not  claim  to  be  scieaufic.  Tuis 
may  imply  that  I  do.  Science,  fails  to  teach  us 
the  how,  notwithstanding  a  learned  frofosoor 
concludes  an  article  in  vindication  of  the 
evolutionists,  by  saying,  "They  not  only  be- 
lieve with  the  autnur  criticised,  that  God 
made  all  things,  but  they  (the  evulutiouisLs)  at- 
tempt tostiow  in  the  field  of  biology,  how  lie 
did  it."  Truly,  many  things  are  attempitd,  but 
they  do  not  show  the  how,  truly,  any  better 
than  Moses  did,  after  all.  There  is  a  ctrtuiu 
limit  where  physical  science  stops  and  spec- 
ulation commences.  And  I  claim  the  right  to 
speculate  as  well  as  they. 

1  believe  that  I  have  butficient  evidence  in 
myscif  to  believe  that  there  is  a  divine  aura, 
or  call  it  wbat  you  piease,  eminatiug  from  the 
source  of  all  light  and  lite,  which  can,  by  a 
kind  of  induction,  guide,  govern  and  direct  us, 
and  thereoy  elevate  our  mental  powers  from 
the  sentual  or  physical  to  that  of  the  spiritual 
plane,  and  that  there  exists  a  means  from 
God,  through  Christ,  to  man,  thai  enables  us 
to  discern  spiritual  things.  A  rock  of  stum- 
bling and  otieuse,  to  the  purely  scientific  in- 
vestigator, and  which  couijrms  the  truth — 
that  "  w«  must  be  boi'u  again  " — our  learned 
i^icodemus  may  question,  IIow  ?  And  while 
he  assumes  to  tell  us  how  we  came  to  be  i/te7i, 
it  were  well  that  they  push  their  enquiries 
further,  and  learn  how  to  become  angeh.  This 
mixing  theology  with  botany,  I,  asa  "gossip," 
claim  the  right  to  do. 

Some  learned  and  some  unlearned  men,  say,  I 
am  hallucinated.  Grant  it.  This  hallucination 
is  a  source  of  profound  joy  and  comlorc  to  me, 
abd  makes  me  an  humble,  hopetul,  happy 
and  contented  being,  with  sucn  love  and 
charity  that  I  can  fervently  pray  lor  those 
who  sneer  that  they  might  be  equally  happy, 
or  even  more  so. 


Yeast  from  Grape  Leaves.— We  do 
not  know  the  origin  of  the  foliowing.  We 
find  it  in  an  exchange  uncredited,  but  it  may 
be  of  practical  use  to  some  :  Last  summer  I 
discovered  that  grape  leaves  made  a  yeast  in 
some  respects  superior  to  hops,  as  the  bread 
rises  sooner  and  has  not  the  peculiar  taste 
which  many  object  to  in  that  made  from  the 
hops.  Use  eight  or  ten  leaves  for  a  quart  of 
yeast ;  boil  them  about  ten  minutes  and  pour 


n6 


TEE  LAJ\rCASTER  FARMER. 


the  hot  liquor  on  the  flour,  the  quantity  of  the 
latter  being  determined  by  whether  you  want 
the  yeast  thick  or  thin.  Use  hop  yeast  for 
raising  it  to  begin  with,  and  afterward  that 
made  of  the  grape  leaves.  Dried  leaves  are 
equally  as  good  as  fresh.  Sometimes  the 
yeast  has  a  dark  film  over  its  surface  when 
rising,  but  this  entirely  disappears  when 
stirred. 


ENTOMOLOGY. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  ANT6— A  MIS- 
SOURI  SCHOOL-MASTER'S   AC- 
COUNT OF  THE  CONTEST. 

A  COUNTRY  correspondent  of  the  St. 
/~\_    Louis  i?(!j7M6iicare  writes: 

I  am  a  pedagogue  in  the  rural  districts  of 
Newton  county,  Missouri,  and  my  school- 
house  has  been  infested  for  several  months 
by  a  species  of  a  large  black  ant,  much  to  the 
annoyance  of  the  little  bare-footed  scholars, 
and  there  seemed  to  be  no  way  of  getting  rid 
of  the  pest.  But  what  was  my  astonishment 
a  few  mornings  since  on  coming  into  my 
school-house,  to  find  the  floor  literally  strewn 
with  dead  and  dying  ants,  and  upon  a  clostr 
examination  to  find  that  a  desperate  battle 
was  then  raging  among  them,  more  sanguinary 
and  fatal  than  any  I  ever  witnessed  (and  I  saw 
many  a  hard  fought  battle  during  the  late  un- 
pleasantness), or  read  in  the  annals  of  history. 

A  much  larger  number  were  lying  dead  than 
were  left  engaged,  and  I  thereby  concluded 
the  battle  bad  raged  all  night.  Most  of  the 
combatants  engaged  were  grappled  in  a  dead- 
ly embrace,  while  others  but  recently  com- 
menced were  standing  erect  on  their  hind  legs 
and  sparring  for  the  advantage  with  all  the 
science  of  the  most  experienced  swordsmen 
or  pugilists.  The  most  fatal  point  of  attack, 
and  the  one  for  which  it  seemed  all  contended, 
was  the  ligament  which  joined  thft  main  body 
with  the  head.  The  vital  member  once  seized 
by  the  powerful  nippers,  death  succeeded 
without  a  struggle,  and  the  victor  was  ready 
and  eager  for  another  engagement. 

No  undue  advantage  was  taken  by  either 
party  ;  and  no  two  would  endeavor  to  over- 
power a  single  one  ;  nor  was  there  aey  flinch- 
ing or  wavering  in  a  single  instance,  for  when- 
ever two  belligerents  met  it  was  certain  death 
to  one  or  both  parties,    Never,  perhaps,  were 


two  armies  more  equally  matched  in  numbers, 
strength  and  valor  ;  and  consequently  at  the 
close  of  the  battle,  which  lasted  two  nights 
and  a  day,  as  new  recruits  continued  to  arrive 
at  every  moment,  there  were  but  few  left,  and 
probably  none  of  the  vanquished  army,  thus 
rivaling  the  valor  of  the  heroes  of  the  Alamo 
and  the  Spartan  baud  of  Leonidas. 

Observing  the  appearance  of  the  contest- 
ants closely,  I  could  see  but  a  slight  difl'erence 
in  them,  one  set  being  perfectly  black,  with  a 
large  head,  while  the  othf-r  was  nearer  brown, 
with  a  smaller  head,  though  both  about  equally 
matched  in  size  and  strength.  Dismembered 
legs  were  numerous,  and  many  an  unfortunate 
though  valiant  hero,  being  entirely  deprived 
of  his  supporters,  was  thus  left,  horsde  combat, 
to  die  on  the  field.  The  next  morning  I  swept 
up  the  dead  and  dying  of  both  armies  (for  I 
would  not  disturb  them  while  engaged), 
amounting  to  thousands. 

SEN  EX  writes  to  know  what  causes  the 
defect  in  his  Concord  grapes  this  season. 
Some  bunches  have  scarcely  a  sound  grape 
upon  them.  He  claims  that  the  defective 
grapes  have  bursted  open,  and  he  asks  wheth- 
er the  injury  is  not  caused  ''  by  bees  stinging 
them?" 

We  referred  his  inquiry  to  Professor  S.  S. 
Rathvon,  of  Lancaster,  who  has  kindly  fur- 
nished us  with  the  following  reply,  from  which 
it  would  appear  that  it  is  not  impossible  that 
the  damage  may  be  due  to  the  cause  to  whic^ 
he  alludes.  Not  having  been  furnished  with 
a  specimen  of  the  grapes  alluded  to,  Mr. 
Rathvon  can  only  answer  the  question  in  a 
general  way,  but  coming  from  him,  it  can  be 
accepted  as  correct : 

"  In  regard  to  the  question,  'Do  bees  sting 
grapes,  and  cause  ihe  injury  so  common  this 
season  ?'  1  tiave  only  to  answer,  that  I  do  not 
think  it  at  all  improbable,  although  1  cannot 
say  that  I  have  ever  witnessed  the  act.  It  is 
well  known  to  the  commonest  observer,  that 
hymenopterous  insects  generally  are  exceed- 
ingly fond  of  saccharine  matter,  particularly 
bees,  hornets,  wasps,  yellow-jackets  and  ants, 
and  they  are  often  found  in  abundance  about 
cider  and  wine-presses,  sugar  and  molasses 
hogsheads,  and  on  the  ripest  and  sweetest 
apples,  pears,  peaches  and  grapes,  lying  on 
the  ground  in  orchards,  particularly  on  those 
which  have  been  bruised,  or  broken  by  fall- 
ing. 

"  But  they  do  not  wantonly  sting  fruit;  in- 
deed they  do  not  siing  at  all,  in  the  sense 


TEi:  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER 


217 


usually  understood  as  stingiLg,  when  applied 
to  bees.  If  fruit  has  a  wound,  they  will  avail 
themselves  of  the  facility  it  affords  to  reach 
the  sweet  pulp,  but  should  this  not  be  the  case, 
there  is  no  necefesity  fur  ihem  to  use  a'stine,' 
for  they  have  a  sharp  pair  of  mandibles,  which 
they  use  for  this  purpose,  as  well  as  other 
similar  uses.  Any  one  who  has  noticed  how 
quickly,  and  tiow  smoothly  the  'Leaf-cutting 
bees'  will  cut  pieces  out  of  rose-leaves,  must 
be  convinced  of  their  ability  in  these  'sharp' 
practices  ;  they  belong  to  the  same  family 
that  the  'honey-bees'  do,  ana  are  allied  to 
them  in  physical  organization. 

"  But  suppose  it  is  established  beyond  a 
peradventure  that  bees  do  cut  the  skin  of 
grapes  and  extract  the  sweet  juice  therefrom. 
What  of  it  ?  If  there  were  an  abundance  of 
honey-yielding  flowers,  they  would  doubtless 

S'irt  to  them, -but  these  failing,  they  are 
forced  to  resort  to  other  sources  for  their  sup- 
ply. And  then,  again,  are  they  not  engaged 
in  the  noble  work  of  atoriiig  up  honey  for  our 
future  use . 

"  If  they  have  no  right  to  extract  the  nec- 
tar from  our  apples,- pears,  peaches,  grapes, 
etc.,  what  right  have  we  to  rob  them  of  their 
treasures  ?  At  the  very  worst,  it  is  but  the 
collection  of  the  mellifluous  fluid,  and  con- 
densing it  into  a  more  useful  and  more  mer- 
chantable torm.  The  bees 'we  have  always 
with  us,'  the  grapes  only  for  a  short  season  ; 
therefore  the  damages  to  fruit  by  bees  must 
necessarily  be  temporary.  When  I  see  the 
beautiful  boxes  of  honey,  and  tspecially  that 
put  up  in  those  templing  little  glass  jars,  I 
cannot  but  fe  grateful  to  the  'busy  bees.'  " 
S.  S.  Rathv  n.-  -Philadelphia  Age. 


How  TO  GET  Plenty  of  Fresu  Eggs.— 
Mr.  E.  Dwight,  of  Hudson,  Michigan,  has  dis- 
covered the  fcecret,  and  makes  it  public 
through  the  Germantoxcn  Telegraph.  He  says : 
I  fed  my  hens  plenty  of  corn  aad  got  but  few 
eegs.  I  reasoned  upon  the  matter,  and  hap- 
pened to  think  that  the  constituent  uart  of 
milk  and  the  whi  e  of  eggs  were  much  alike. 
Now,  it  has  long  been  kuown  to  milkmtn  that 
wheat  middlings  and  bran  are  about  the  best 
of  any  feed  to  make  a  cow  give  milk;  why 
not,  then,  the  best  to  make  hens  lay  eggs  ?  I 
tried  it,  and  since  then  have  had  no  trouble. 
My  mode  of  preparing  the  feed  is  to  mix  about 
five  parts  of  bran  with  one  of  middlings.  In 
the  morning  I  wet  up  with  water  about  four 
quarts  of  the  mixture  io  a  large  tin  pan,  tak- 


ing pains  to  have  it  rather  dry,  though  all 
damp.  This  I  set  in  a  warm,  sunny  spot, 
south  of  their  shed,  and  they  wa'k  up,  take  a 
few  dips,  don't  seem  to  fancy  it  like  corn,  and 
start  off  on  a  hunt  for  something  better,  but 
always  comiug  round  in  a  short  time  f  ^r  a  few 
more  dips  from  the  dish  of  bran. 

There  is  but  little  time  during  the  whole 
day  but  what  one  or  more  are  standing  by  the 
pan  and  helping  themselves.  I  am  careful  to 
mix  for  them  just  as  much  as  they  will  con- 
sume during  the  day.  At  night,  just  before 
they  repair  to  the  roost,  I  usually  throw  them 
ai)int  of  shelled  crrn,  well  scattered,  so  that 
each  one  can  get  a  few  kernels  If  your  hens 
don't  incline  to  eat  this  at  first,  sprinkle  a 
little  Indian  meal  on  it.  I  would  like  all  who 
complain  of  not  getting  eggs  to  try  my  plan, 
and  I  think  they  will  never  be  sorry. 


CONSUMPTION  OF  HAY. 

The  hay  consumed  by  different  animals 
does  not  vary  greatly  from  th^ee  pounds  daily 
for  each  hundred  pounds'  weight  of  the  ani- 
mals. The  following  table  is  the  result  of 
various  expeiimenis  by  different  persons,  and 
will  be  useful  for  farmers  who  wish  to  deter- 
mine by  calculation  beforehand,  how  their 
hay  will  hold  out  for  the  winter :  500  cubic 
feet  of  timothy  hay,  in  a  full  bay,  being  about 
one  ton : 


Working  Horsfs, 

3.08  ponndg 

Working  Oxen, 

2.40       " 

Milch  Cows,  (B  lUS'iinga 

ult's) 

2.25       " 

Milch  Cows,  (Lineolii'r; 

2.40       " 

Youi^g  Growing  Cattle, 

3  08       " 

Steers, 

2.84      " 

Dry  Cows, 

2.42       " 

Pig«,{  est' mated) 

300      " 

Sheep, 

3.00       " 

From  pamphlet  issued  by  Ward^s  Fertilizer 
Company.  A.  H.  Ward  Agent,  149  Milk 
Street  Boston.  Important  to  farmer?,  and 
gardeners.    Send  for  pamphlet. 


The  testimony  of  all  the  agricultural  books, 
of  all  the  scientific  agriculturists,  is,  all  of  it, 
in  favor  of  deep  plowing  and  deep  cultivation. 
To  plow  deep  is  to  renew  the  soil  by  bringing 
up  to  the  light  of  the  sun  and  benefit  of  the 
air  the  riches  which  lie  below.  It  is  to  afford 
to  the  growing  plant  more  plant-food  and 
facilitate  access  to  it.  It  is  to  prove  drainage 
when  the  soil  is  wet,  and  moisture  when  it  is 
dry. 


218 


THE  L  A J\  CASTER  FARMER, 


lite  ^mm%\tt  ^mwm. 


LANCASTER,  NOVEMBER,  1872. 


S.  S.  RATHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARHIS,  Editors. 

Published  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  AGiiicuL- 

TURAL  ANDHoBTICULTDKAL  SOCIETY. 


$1,25  per  Year  in  Advance. 

A  ronsiderable  deduction  ti>  clubs  of  live  or  more. 

All  commui/ic  stions,  to  insure  insertion,  must  be  in  the 
hands  of  theeditors  before  the  20th  of  eat^h  month.  Ad- 
dress Ra'hvon  &  Harris,  Lincaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisement.-*,  subscriptions  and  remittances  to  the 
addressof  the  publihber,  J.  B.  DKVELIN, 

Inquirer  Buildine,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 

THERE  ia  not  a  journal  of  any  kind,  pub- 
lished in  Lancaster  county,  that  has  the 
reputation abroad'Lhat  the  Farmer  has.  Every 
week  we  receive  new  acquisitions  to  our  ex- 
change list,  from  the  best,  most  popular,  and 
oldest  established  agricultural,  horticultural 
and  miscellaneous  journals  of  the  country, 
all  desirous  of  exchanging  with  us.  Wby 
have  we  not  a  greater  reputation  at  home  V 
Why  will  not  our  local  residents  assist  us,  by 
their  subscriptions  and  contributions,  in  mak- 
ing the  Lancaster  Fakmer  what  we  earn- 
estly desire  it  should  be— a  live  journal,  and 
a  worthy  representative  of  the  farming  in 
terests  ol  Lancaster  county  ?  Practically  with- 
out pay  or  patronage,  we  have  devoted  the 
past  four  years  in  altemptiug  to  build  up  a 
representative  journal  in  Lancaster  county, 
in  the  hope  of  stimulating  sufficient  local 
prid<!  among  our  farmers  to  make  it  a  literary 
and  pecuniary  success,  but  we  have  not  yet 
realized  our  early  anticipations.  But,  like  in 
olden  times,  "  a  prophet  hath  not  honor  in 
his  own  country,  and  amon-r  his  own  kin," 
and  the  question  seems  still  to  be  asked, 
*'  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  V' 


AGRICULTURAL  FAIRS. 

AS  a  general  thing,  throughout  our  entire 
country,  agricultural,  horticul  ural  and 
mechanical  exhibitions,  the  present  season,  are 
reported  as  having  been  successful ;  and  this 
relates  to  county,  as  well  as  State  fairs. 


At  this  writing,  we  have  before  us  a  copy 
of    the    Sacramento     Weekly    Union,  a   large 
double-folio  newspaper,  of  eight  closely  printed 
pages,  and  seven  columns  to  the  page  ;    and, 
accompanying  the  present  number,  is  also  a 
supplement    of  lour  pages,   and  in  all   these 
eighty-four    columns,    there  are   only    three 
columns  of  advertisements ;   ail  the  rest  of 
the  paper  is  devoted  to  the  current  foreign 
and  domestic  news,  but  largely  the  local  news 
of  CaliJoruia.    Much  of  this  number  is  devo- 
ted to  matters  relating  to  the  State  Fair,  held 
at  Sacramento  in  September  last,  and  which 
was  couiinued   ten  days.    Ou  the  whole,  the 
event  was  regarded  as  a  success,  and  although 
in  some  departments   it  was   behind   former 
fairs,  yet  in  others  it  excelled  any  previously 
held  in  the  State.    The  proceeds,  from  all 
sources,   were  $24,352.50  of  which  the  Fark 
yielded  $15,388.50  •,  so  that  it  will  be  seen,  that 
horse-racing  constituted   a  prominent  feature 
of  the  exhibition  ;    but,  in  an  editorial  on  the 
subject,  the  paper  states  that  "  The  fair  as  an 
exhibition   of  the  mechanical  arts  and  agri- 
cultural progress  of  the  State,  gives  general 
satisfaction.    This  year,  for  the  first  time,  the 
horse  and  the  race,  did  not  attract  overwhelm- 
ing attention.    The  cattle  show  occupied  the 
foremost  place,  and  it  fairly  won  that  place 
through    distinguished    merit."     It    appears 
that  the  railroads  threw  obstructions  in  the 
way  of  the  fair,  by  refusing  to  grant  commu- 
tation tickets,  or  the  proceeds  would  have  been 
much  greater  ;    at  which  the  farmers  have  be- 
come very  indignant. 

But  we  need  not  go  so  far  from  home,  to  find 
examples  of  successful  fairs.  Our  State  fair  at 
Erie  the  present  year  was  such,  as  well  as  the 
county  fairs  ot  York,  Berks,  Bucks,  Chester, 
Montgomery,  and  the  Horticultural  Exhibi- 
tion at  Philadelphia.  Lancaster  county  alone, 
of  all  we  have  heard,  seems  to  have  been 
lasgard.  This  is  rather  humiliating,  when  we 
th>uk  of  the  vast  agricultural  and  mechanical 
resources  of  our  great  county,  and  we  natur- 
ally inquire,  Why  is  this  so  ?  What  is  the 
cause  ? 

Many,  no  doubt,  will  say,  that  it  is  owing 
to  the  Horse-racing ,  or  "  Trials  of  Speed," 
which  form  so  chief  a  feature  on  these  occa- 
sions. We  are  by  no  means  the  friend  or  ad- 
vocate of  horse-racing,  but  at  the  same  time 
we  d_)  not  consider  that  this  argument  is  a 
satisfactory  answer  to  the  whole  question.    It 


ilk  laitcasti^r  ^^armi^r. 

DEVOTED  TO 
Agriculture,  Horticulture,  Domestic  Economy  and  Miscellany^ 

P:r)ITED  BY  S.  S.  RATIIVON  AND  ALEXANDER  HARRIS. 


Vol.  IV. 


**  The  Farmer  Is  the  founder  of  cirifizaflon."—V/EBSTER. 


DECEMBER,  1872. 


J^o.  12, 


[We  believe  we  caunot  do  better  in  the  closing 
number  of  our  present  volume,  than  inserting 
the  following,  and  wishing  God-speed  to  an  en- 
terprise that  ought  to,  and  doubtless  does,  occupy 
the  hearts  of  the  people  of  our  county,  as  well 
as  the  State  and  the  nation.] 

AN  ADDRflSS  Wi  THE  UNITED  STATES 
CENTENNIAL  COMMISSION. 


To  the  people  of  the  United  States : 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  en- 
acted that  the  completion  of  the  One  Hundredth 
Year  of  American  Independence  shall  be  cele- 
brated by  an  International  Exhibition  of  the 
arts,  manufactures  and  products  of  the  soil  and 
mine,  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  in  1876,  and 
has  appointed  a  Commission,  consisting  of  repre- 
sentatives from  each  State  and  Territory,  to  con- 
duct the  celebration. 

Originating  under  the  auspices  of  the  National 
Legislature,  controlled  by  a  National  Commis- 
sion, and  designed  as  it  is  to  "  commemorate  the 
first  century  of  our  existence  by  an  exhibition  of 
the  natural  resources  of  the  country  and  their  de- 
velopment, and  of  our  progress  in  those  arts 
which  benefit  mankind,  in  comparison  with  those 
of  older  nations,"  it  is  to  the  people  at  large  that 
the  Commission  look  for  the  aid  which  is  neces- 
sary to  make  the  Centennial  ('elebration  the 
grandest  anniversary  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

That  the  completion  of  the  first  centary  of  our 
existence  should  be  marked  by  some  imposing 
demonstration  is,  we  believe,  the  patriotic  wish  i 
of  the  people  of  the  whole  country.  The  Con- 
gress of  tlie  United  States  has  wisely  decided 
that  the  birth-day  of  the  great  Republic  can  be 
most  fittingly  celebrated  by  the  universal  collec- 
tion and  display  of  all  the  trophies  of  its  pro- 


gress. It  is  designed  to  bring  together,  within  a 
building  covering  fifty  acres,  not  only  the  varied 
productions  of  our  mines  and  of  the  soil,  but 
types  of  all  the  intellectual  triumphs  of  our  citi- 
zens, specimens  of  everything  that  America  can 
furnish,  whether  from  the  brains  or  the  hands  of 
her  children,  and  thus  make  evident  to  the  world 
the  advancement  of  which  a  self-governed  people 
is  capable. 

In  this  "  celebration "  all  nations  will  be  in- 
vited to  participate ;  its  character  being  interna- 
tional. Europe  will  display  her  arts  and  manu- 
factures, India  her  curious  fabrics,  while  newly 
opened  China  and  Japan  will  lay  bare  the  treas- 
ures which  for  centuries  their  ingenious  people 
have  been  perfecting.  Each  land  will  compete  in 
generous  rivalry  for  the  palm  of  superior  excel- 
lence. 

To  this  grand  gathering  every  zone  will  con- 
tribute its  fruits  and  cereals.  No  mineral  shall 
be  wanting  ;  for  what  the  East  lacks  the  West 
will  supply.  Under  one  roof  will  the  South  dis- 
play in  rich  luxuriance  her  growing  cotton,  and 
the  North,  in  miniature,  the  ceaseless  machinery 
of  her  mills  converting  that  cotton  into  cloth.. 
Each  section  of  the  globe  will  send  its  best  offer- 
ings to  this  exhibition,  and  each  State  of  the 
Union,  as  a  member  of  one  united  body  politic, 
will  show  to  her  sister  States  and  to  the  world 
how  much  she  can  add  to  the  greatness  of  the 
nation  of  which  she  is  a  harmonious  part. 

To  make  the  Centennial  Celebration  such  a 
success  as  the  patriotism  and  the  pride  of  every 
American  demands  will  require  the  co-operation 
of  the  people  of  the  whole  country.  The  United 
States  Centennial  Commission  has  received  no 
Government  aid,  such  as  England  extended  to 
her  World's  Fair,  and  France  to  her  Univers  I 
Exposition,  yet  the  labor  and  responsibility  im- 


^^Jf 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER, 


posed  upon  the  Commission  is  as  great  as  in  either 
of  those  undertakings.  It  is  estimated  that  ten 
millions  of  dollars  will  be  required,  and  this  sum 
Congress  has  provided  shall  be  raised  by  stock 
subscription,  and  that  the  people  shall  have  the 
opportunity  of  subscribing  in  proportion  to  the 
population  of  their  respective  States  and  Terri- 
tories. 

The  Commission  looks  to  the  unfailing  pati'iot- 
ism  of  the  people  of  every  section  to  see  that  each 
contributes  its  share  to  the  expenses,  and  receives 
its  share  of  the  benefits  of  an  enterprise  in  which 
all  are  so  deeply  interested.  It  would  further 
earnestly  urge  the  formation  in  each  State  and 
I' Territory  of  a  centennial  organization,  which 
shall  in  time  see  that  county  associations  are 
formed,  so  that  when  the  nations  are  gathered 
together  in  1876  each  Commonwealth  can  view 
with  pride  the  contributions  she  has  made  to  the 
national  glory. 

Confident'y  relying  on  the  zeal  and  patriotism 
ever  displayed  by  our  people  in  every  national 
undertaking,  we  pledge  and  prophesy  that  the 
Centennial  Celebration  will  worthily  show  how 
greatness,  wealth  and  intelligence  can  be  fostered 
by  such  institutions  as  those  which  have  for  one 
hundred  jears  blessed  the  people  of  the  United 
States. 

Joseph  R.  IIawi.ey,  President. 
Lewis  Waln  Smith,  Temporary  Secretary. 


AGRICULTURE. 


AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE  OF  PENNSYL- 
VANIA. 


THE  following  is  from  a  report  made  to  the 
York  County  Agricultural  Society,  by  dele- 
gates from  that  society,  who  attended  the  annual 
meeting  of  delegates  to  elect  trustees  of  the  col- 
lege, held  on  the  4th  of  September  last.  We  pub- 
lish it,  not  because  we  endorse  or  are  able  to  cor- 
roborate the  sentiments  it  utters ;  but  because 
coming  from  a  respectable  authority,  and  refer- 
ing  to  a  matter  involving  the  agricultural  repu- 
tation of  the  State,  as  well  as  the  general  interests 
of  the  farmers  and  tax-payers,  the  public  ought 
to  know  in  what  manner  and  to  what  end  their 
institutions  are  being  conducted.  A  similar 
report  had  also  been  made  by  the  delegates  from 
Berks  county.  Of  course  we  personally  know 
nothing  about  the  matter,  but  if,  upon  investiga- 
tion, it  should  transpire  that  the  general  demoral- 
ization which  has  so  Vvidely  prevailed  in  our  State 
-for  the   past   ten   years,   should  also  have  crept 


into  the  management  of  this  college,  we  shall  not 

be  at  all  surprised. 

******** 

"  Our  attention  was  first  directed  to  the  build- 
ing itself.  This  we  found  altogether  unlike  any 
other  college  structure  we  ever  saw  or  dreamed 
of  seeing,  in  a  country  place.  Imagine  a  building 
six  mortal  stories  in  height — for  what  is  called  a 
basement  is  to  all  intents  a  story — in  a  place 
where  land  is,  or  ought  to  be,  dog  cheap,  and 
area,  consequently,  of  no  account.  Why,  in  the 
name  of  everything  architectural,  build  so  directly 
to  the  skies,  when  it  had  been  so  much  more  ad- 
vantageous, and  there  was  plenty  of  room  to 
spread  ?  Think  of  it,  six  stories  to  get  to  the 
attic,  and  land  at  $20  per  acre  !  But,  the  building 
is  not  only  too  high,  it  is  very  badly  built  besides. 
Wide  cracks  are  seen  all  over  its  front,  and  the 
internal  arrangements  gave  us  the  idea  of  one  of 
the  most  unhappily  constructed  edifices  for 
scholastic  purposes  we  had  ever  laid  our  eyes 
upon. 

"  One  apartment  seemed  unusually  well  kept — we 
saw  it  through  the"  windows — the  armory.  We 
should  say,  there  were  twenty-five  or  thirty  stand 
of  arms  there,  with  belts,  bits,  and  all  external 
necessaries  for  the  accoutrement  of  so  many  sol 
diers.  We  did  not  at  the  moment  see  what  this 
had  to  do  with  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  but  we 
learned  afterward.  Passing  outward  to  the 
rear  of  the  Vjuilding.  we  were  fairly  shocked  at 
what  was  presented  to  our  view.  All  kinds  of 
improper  matter,  disgusting  to  look  at,  were  col- 
lected there.  How  those  having  charge  could 
permit,  in  view  of  their  own  comfort,  such  a  nuir- 
ance,  beneath  their  very  noses,  we  cannot  under- 
stand. What  M'e  saw  plainly  exposed,  induced  us  to 
inspect  the  out-of-door  closets  (the  inside  ones  we 
did  not  see),  and  those  were,  to  express  ourselves 
mildly,  abominable.  Hardly  one  was  fit  for  a  civ- 
ilized being  to  enter.  Either  the  seats  were  filthy, 
or  the  walls  were  so ;  and  particularly  as  there  are 
girls  to  see  to  them,  we  would  beg  the  authorities 
to  thoroughly  cleanse,  and  double-coat  them  with 
whitewash,  or  better  still,  black  paint. 

"What  amazed  us  at  our  approach  to  the  col- 
lege, namely,  the  absence  of  any  proper  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  still  more  excited  our  wonder, 
when  we  saw,  right  beneath  the  windows  of  its 
main  rooms,  bleaker  commons,  and  nuire  uncouth 
grounds  than  we  ever  looked  upon  before  on  any 
farm  pretending  to  be  cultivated  at  all.  Weeds 
everywhere,  piles  of  rubbish  everywhere  :  anything 
but  neatness,  any  thing  but  taste.    We  peeped  into 


THE  LAJ^ CASTER  FAUMER. 


225 


the  stables,  but  found  them  unfit  to  enter — they  i 
were  Augean  in  their  filth.  And  in  many  respects  ; 
a  stigma  on  a   respectable  York  or  Berks  county  ! 
farm.     The   harness  suspended  on    the  pins,  evi-  \ 
denced  utter  want  of  care  and  tidiness,  both  in  its 
own    appearance,  and  in  the  nianner  it  was   kept. 
"VVe  would   not  wish  our  boys  to  learn  such   slov- 
enly habits  in  the  stable  or   barn,     'J'he  road  to 
these  stables,  too,  sadly   needs  repair,' for  we  ob- 
served deep  ruts- in  it   which  a  few  stones  would 
easily  mend. 

•'  Considerably  to  the  right,  viewing  from  the 
college,  is  to  be  seen  the  home  Experimental  Farm. 
At  a  distance,  it  looks  neat,  and  has  a  handsome 
barn,  but  how  it  is  in  reality,  we  camiot  report, 
for  before  we  could  manage  to  get  a  nearer  view, 
the  summons  to  dinner  reached  our  ears.  We  filed 
in  regular  procession  into  the  refectory,  and  took 
the  places  assigned  us.  The  tare  was  good,  plain 
and  substantial.     ****** 

"l-'assmg  up  a  narrow  stairway,  ill-lighted  all  the 
way,  but,  in  one  place,  utter  darkness — thanks  to 
the  illustrious  architect — we  groped  aud  scram- 
bled our  way  to  the  chapel — amean,  low-ceiUnged 
room,  capable  of  holding  perhaps  two  hundred 
people,  aud  either  througii  carelessness  on  the  oc- 
casion not  ventilated  or  incapable  of  being  so. 

"iJi'.  Caldercalied  the  convention  to  order,  aud 
Mr.  McAllister,  a  leading-  lawyer  of  Beliefoute, 
one  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  stated  the  object  of 
the  meeting,  viz. :  To  elect  trustees  to  fill  vacaut 
places ;  to  hear  the  report  of  the  Fresideut ;  and 
to  receive  any  suggestions  from,  or  answer  any 
qucbtious  asked  by  delegates.  The  regular  min- 
utes of  the  convention  we  do  not  propose  giving 
iu  detail,  as  we  have  been  promised  a  full  report 
by  \Jv.  Calder,  and  hope  with  this  to  be  able  to 
present  it. 

'•.^uliice  it  then  to  say,  that  the  convention  was 
organized  by  electing  i^r.  lioland,  of  i:  oric,  I'resi- 
dent,  and  I'rof.  J.  A.  iStewari,  of  our tlelegatioa, 
Secretary,  with  one  assistant.  iN' omnia tious  were 
then  made  for  three  trustees  for  three  years,  aud 
one  iur  one  year,to  hii  an  unexpired  term.  Among 
the  regular  nominations  made  was  that  of  Isaac 
Eckeri,  Esq.,  of  berlis,  by  Lew.  Wanner,  Esq.,  of 
our  delegation.  Colonel  Erank  Jordan,  of  JJau- 
phiu,  was  elected  unauimously  to  fill  the  unexpir- 
ed term  of  Hou.  A.  Boyd  Hamilton,  of  tlarris- 
burg,  and  our  worthy  I'resideul,  Mr.  Ecliert,  got 
six  votes  out  of  about  forty  for  a  full  term.  Many 
thought  that  the  vacancies  had  been  tilled  up 
without  the  aid  of  us  delegates,  by  those  who 
understood  the  '  ways'  of  things  ;  but  upon  this 


point  we  have  nothing  to  say,  only  that  it  did 
seem  odd  that  an  unrepresented  county,  Indiana, 
should  receive  a  trustee  apparently  without  solici- 
tation, as  there  was  no  one  from  there  to  ask  for  it. 
The  reason  assigned,  we  believe,  was  tiiat  Indi- 
ana had  an  Experimental  Farm. 

"  The  board  having  been  filled,  doubtless  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  those  chieliy  interested, 
some  one,  Mr.  McAllister  we  think,  called  upon 
Dr.  Calder  for  a  statement  of  the  afi'airs  of  the 
college.  The  doctor  performed  this  duty  in  a  very 
pleasant  way — for  he  is  a  good  and  humorouB 
speaker-detailing  to  us  many  facts  concerning  the 
former  aud  present  condition  of  the  college — its 
agricultural  pursuits,  experiments  and  resulta ; 
its  academic  course  ;  and  its  financial  status. 

Ou  the  financial  condition  we  could  not  follow 
the  gentlemen  so  well.  He  said  a  great  deal 
about  the  iustitution  being  loaded  down  with  debt, 
that  there  was  one  sum  of  5p84,000,  and  there 
were  two  others  aggregating  ;jj-iO,UUO  more,  aud 
that  he  felt  like  going  personally  to  the  next  leg- 
islature to  ask  for  a  subsidy  to  wipe  all  this  out 
He  knew  such  a  just  claim  could  not  be  refused, 
and  that  then  they  could  get  along  swimmingly  ; 
with  just  a  little  donation  of  i^2,UUU  or  so  to  each 
of  the  Experimental  Farms,  and  that  thus  the 
Agricultural  College  would  become  a  great  bless- 
ing, to  this  State  in  particular,  aud  to  the  couutrj 
in  general.  Such,  we  believe,  was  the  substance 
of  the  learned  Fresident's  address.  We  do  not 
think  we  have  iu  any  particular  exaggerated  it; 
but  we  must  confess  we  could  not  comprehend 
many  of  its  parts. 

"  On  the  financial  statement  the  Doctor  quite  be- 
fogged us.  We  could  not,  for  our  lives,  under- 
stand how  an  institution  receiving  ^30,UUU,  the  in- 
terest of  half  a  million,  yearly  from  the  State,  aud 
a  like  subsidy  from  the  Ueneral  Covernment 
(upon  the  easy  terms  of  making  provisions  for 
teaching  the  students,  females  we  suppose,  includ- 
ed, the  manual  of  arms  and  military  tacticsj,  bo- 
sides  $200  a  year  from  each  pupil,  aud  the  pro- 
duct of  four  huudred  acres  of  land,  without  the 
experimental  farms,  could  be  so  involved.  And 
even  if  it  were  from  old  mismanagement  and  mis- 
takes, why  it  might  not  ere  this,  from  its  certainly 
superabundant  means,  have  created  a  sinking 
fund,  which  would  in  a  very  few  years  liquidate 
the  whole  debt.     *        *         "         *         *        * 

'•  And  here  we  beg  to  remark,  that  how  far  the 
experiment  of  mingling  the  two  sexes  in  a  couunoQ 
school  or  college  may  prove  a  success,  remains  yet 
to  be  seen.  For  our  part,  we  are  ready  to  condemn 


ne 


THE  LA^VASTEU  FABMER. 


the  sj'stem  in  advance,  but  if  it  thall  be  persisted 
in,  and  regularly  adopted,  then  we  respectfully 
Bubmit,  that  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen  shall  b^ 
appointed  delegates  to  the  State  institution,  and 
let  the  mothers  of  the  land,  as  well  as  the  fathers, 
be  made  the  proper  judges  as  to  whether  the  Ag- 
ricultural College  of  Pennsylvania  is  a  fit  institu- 
tion for  the  education  of  their  sons  and  daughters. 

"There  being  no  further  business  of  importance 
to  transact,  and  after  the  usual  resolutions  on  such 
occasions,  we  made  our  adieus,  and  reached  Belle- 
fonte  about  5  o'clock,  P.  M.  After  tea  an  infor- 
mal meeting  of  the  delegates  took-  place  in  the 
parlor  of  the  Bush  House,  and  at  that  meeting 
there  was  a  general  expression  of  opinion,  that 
there  were  many  wrongs  about  the  college  that 
ought  to  be  righted,  and  that  the  very  strictest 
investigation  into  its  affairs  could  do  no  harm,  and 
might  result  in  great  good.  We,  therefore,  re- 
spectfully present  the  following  for  consideration : 

"  First. — For  what  legitimate  purpose  should  an 
Agricultural  College  be  established  and  maintain- 
ed by  the  State  ? 

"■Second. — Does  this  school  that  we  have  visited, 
in  any  particular,  come  up  to  this  idea?  We 
tiiought  long  upon  this  subject.  Our  minds  led 
us  constantly  to  condemn,  in  unsparing  terms, 
everything  we  savv,  and  everything  we  learned  ; 
but  our  natural  good-nature  prevented  any  de- 
monstrative method  of  expression.  We  desired 
to  take  a  purely  philosophical  view  of  matters. 

"On  the  first  question  we  had  very  decided  opin- 
ions. An  agricultural  school  with  its  four  hun- 
'dred  appendant  acres,  should  be  a  very  model  of 
neatness,  economy  and  taste.  Everything  apper- 
taining to  its  grounds  ought  to  present  the  finest 
results  of  a  scientific  culture  of  the  soil,  and  all 
tLose  pleasing  concomitants  which  so  captivate 
"the  eye.  There  should  be  no  filth  anywhere  about, 
and  even  a  weed  ought  not  to  be  tolerated.  It 
ghould,  in  short,  be  throughout  its  length  and 
breadth  a  beautiful  garden— sightly,  humanizing 
and  captivating — such  as  all  would  like  to  see, 
admire  and  imitate.  The  building  in  all  its  ar- 
rangements, outside  and  in,  ought  to  present  to 
every  beholder  a  shining  and  unpolluted  appear- 
ance— it  ought  to  have  all  those  arrangements 
which  better  humanity,  because  they  ever  suggest 
purity — and  of  these,  not  the  least,  is  an  unfailing 
supply  of  water  for  personal  purification.  The 
teaching  ought  to  be  of  an  eminently  practical 
character,  such  as  farmers  ought  to  have — name- 
ly :  enough  to  develop  the  mind  sufSciently,  to 
make  the  intelligent  man,  and  an  abundant  ex- 


perience to  make  the  practical  agriculturist,  who 
can  disseminate  his  knowledge  to  the  advantage 
of  the  community  where  he  lives.  Experiments 
in  soils,  crops,  manures  and  successions,  should  be 
the  aim  of  the  experimental  farms,  and  the  people, 
the  supporters  of  the  whole,  should  have  the  bene- 
fit. We  might  enlarge  greatly  on  this  topic,  but 
we  find  our  paper  already  getting  voluminous. 

"  On  the  second  question,  Does  the  school  we 
have  visited  in  any  particular  come  up  to  this 
idea  ?  We  answer  emphatically.  No.  It  has  not 
one  single  element  of  an  agricultural  school  about 
it.  Its  lands  are  naturally  bad,  and  neither  art, 
labor,  nor  science  have  lent  them  any  aid.  Its 
domestic  arrangements  may  be  good,  for  we  saw 
nothing  to  the  contrary,  but  the  immediate  sur- 
roundings were  decidedly  objectionable,  and  its 
female  addition  is  a  terrible  mistake.  We  know 
nothing  of  its  academic  course,  except  what  a 
little  pamphlet  put  into  our  hands  indicates,  and 
it,  we  say  positively,  is  not,  except  in  its  prepara- 
tory part,  fit  for  females  at  all,  and  we  much 
question  its  propriety  for  the  education  of  the 
yeomanry  of  Pennsylvania.  The  little  amusement 
of  military  drill  is  good  if  it  is  not  allowed  to  de- 
generate into  a  love  for  '  fuss  and  feathers.' 

"  We  are  sorry  to  say  anything  unkind,  even  in 
seeming,  with  regard  to  this  school,  but  truth, 
candor,  and  duty,  forbid  us  to  say  less  than  we 
have.  We  would,  however,  exclude  to  a  great 
extent,  the  present  President,  Mr.  Calder,  from 
our  strictures,  as  he  has  scarcely  been  long  enough 
in  command  to  make  himself  properly  felt,  but  as 
to  the  trustees  of  this  ill-.'"ated,  abortive  institu- 
tion, we  know  of  no  language  sufficient  wherewith 
to  condemn  them, 

"  We  would,  therefore,  gentlemen,  suggest  to  you 
the  propriety  of  calling  upon  our  Senator,  the 
Hon.  William  McSherry,  and  our  Representatives, 
(Jr.  W.  Heiges  and  D.  M.  Loucks,  Es((s.,  to  urge 
in  the  next  legislature  the  institution  of  a  search- 
ing inquiry  into  the  affairs  and  conduct  of  this 
college  since  its  establishment — and  that  in 
making  such  investigation,  experts  in  business, 
known  educators,  and  especially  men  whose  eyes 
cannot  be  blinded  with  strong  colors,  nor  their 
ears  stuffed  with  fustian,  be  emp'oyed  to  make 
the  same.  We  are  satisfied  that  however  much 
this  attempted  college  may  have  advantaged 
private  interest,  nothing  yet  has  accrued  to  the 
common  weal. 

"  We  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen,  your 
obedient  servants,  "  W.  S.  Roland, 

"  D.  A.  Rupp." 

"YouK,  Pa..  Oct.  30,  1872. 
"  Dr.  Wm.  S.  Roland,— I  fully  agree  with  your 
report,  having  visited  the  College  and  Farm  a  few 
months  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  Delegates, 
and  found  the  condition  of  things  as  stated  in 
your  report. 

"  A.  Hiestand  Gi.atz, 
Delegate  from  York  Co.  Agricultural  Society." 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


nj 


LIGHT  GRAY  BRAHMAS. 

OUR  illustration  exhibits  one  of  the  many  j 
varieties  of  the  "  Light  Ikahnia  Fowls,"  | 
one  of  the  most  popular,  perhaps,  in  this  country,  , 
and  which  is  itself,  only  a  variety  of  what  was  j 
originally  introduced  as  the  "  Gray  Shanghai" —  | 
and  it  is  astonishing  what  an  almost  endless  list  of  ; 
varieties  there  are  ;  and  every  year  new  ones  are  ! 
being-  developed.  The  name  of  •'  Brahma  l*oo-  I 
tra"  was  at  one  time  proposed,  and  to  some  extent,  I 
used  for  this  variety,  but  that  name  has  become  i 
almost  obsolete.  I 


There  are  Dark  Brahmas,  Buff  Brahmas,  Gray 
Brahmas,  and  Light  Brahmas,  and  of  course,  many 
intermediate  varieties.  Experts  in  chicken  cul- 
ture can  distinguish  the  eggs  of  these  varieties  as 
soon  as  they  see  them,  although  the  distinctions 
might  not  be  sufficiently  striking  to  elicit  the  re- 
cognition of  an  inexperienced  amateur.  These 
fowls  have  all  had  their  origin  in  Asia,  and  the 
first  stock  was  imported  from  Shanghae,  in  China. 
They  are  good  layers,  although  their  eggs  are  not 
so  large  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  fowl,  as 
one  might  he  led  to  suppose  they  should  be.  The 
different  varieties  have  also   their  diflereut  "fan- 


^28 


THE  LAA^CASTEB,  FARMER. 


ciers."  and  like  cooking  stoves,  or  sewing  raa" 
chines,  each  one  regards  the  particnlar  kind  to 
which  he  has  been  accustomed,  the  best.  These 
fowls  under  the  name  of  "  Chittagongs"  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  introduced  into  New  York  in 
1850.  but  Mr.  Burnham,  the  author  of  a  new 
"  Poultry  Book,"  alleges  that  he  had  them  in 
Philadelphia  as  early  as  1849.  It  is  not  a  little 
singular,  that,  possessing  the  reputation  which 
these  fowls  have  for  the  last  twenty  years,  they 
should  not  be  more  widely  diffu;  d  through  our 
country.  With  a  carcase  nearly  as  large  as  an 
ordinary  turkey,  with  excellent  laying  qualities, 
and  with  fewer  adverse  contingencies — and  there- 
fore greater  certainty  in  the  development  of  the 
adult  state — they  should  be  more  common  than 
they  are.  They  would  make  no  mean  substitute 
to  grace  the  festive  board  on  a  "  Thanksgiving' 
or  a  "  Merry  Christmas  day." 


ENTOMOLOGY. 


BEETLES. 


NATURALISTS  tell  us  that  there  are  not 
less  than  one  hundred  thousand  varieties  of 
those  curious  insects  known  by  the  name  of  beetles, 
and  that  their  habits  have  always  been  studied 
with  great  interest  and  care.  The  ancients  knew 
them  under  the  name  of  scarabaei ;  and  almost  all 
varieties  offer  to  the  eye  the  bright  colors  and 
beautiful  metallic  effects  which  have  ever  attract- 
ed the  attention  of  men.  We  are  all  familiar 
with  the  golden  beetle,  one  of  the  most  charming 
of  its  species,  and  called  by  many  the  king  of  the 
beetles.  It  is  of  a  golden  green,  with  white  spots ; 
when  it  flies  in  the  sun,  scarcely  raising  the  elytra, 
Hs  whole  body  sparkles  like  polished  metal. 
During  the  summer  months  it  lives  in  gardens, 
always  choosing  the  most  brilliantly-colorod 
flowers  on  which  to  rest,  it  penetrates  to  the  heart 
of  the  roses  and  peonies,  or  settles  on  the  petals 
of  the  honeysuckle,  which  it  eats,  sucking  the 
honeyed  liquid.  It  is  perfectly  inoffensive,  does 
no  harm  to  vegetation,  and  has  not  the  unpleasant 
gniell  which  belongs  to  many  of  the  tribe.  The 
females  lay  their  eggs  at  the  foot  of  trees  among 
decayed  wood,  or  even  in  the  nests  of  ants.  Here 
the  young  larvaj  find  their  nourishment  in  woody 
morsels  for  three  years,  and  then  construct  their 
cocoons,  from  which,  in  due  time,  the  beetle 
emerges.    One  beautiful  kind,  found  in  the  Phil- 


ippine Islands,  is  so  much  admired  by  the   ladies 
that  they  are  kept  as  pets  in  small  bamboo  cages, 
The  Brazilian  species  are  of  an  immense  size,  and 
may  be  seen  resting  under  the  leaves  of  the  miize 
plantations,  or  flying  around  the  tops  of  the  tallest 
trees.     These,  again,  are  surpassed  in  size,  by  the 
Goliath,  which  is  peculiar  to  tropical  Africa.  Col- 
lectors have  been   so   anxious  for  specimens  .and 
'ound  them  so  difficult  to  obtain,  that  as  much  as 
fifty   pounds  has   been   given   for   one   of    thpse 
insects,  Avhich  are  the  common  food  of  the  natives, 
when  roasted.     Totally  different  in  habit  and  ap- 
pearance to  the  golden  beetle,  is  the  sacred  b-^etle 
of  the   Egyptians.      On    account   of  its   singular 
instincts  it  has  ever  been  treated  with  the  greatest 
veneration  by  the  dwellers   on   the   banks  of  the 
Nile.     They    were    an    agricultural   people,  and 
valued  these  great  black  insects  for  their  habit  of 
clearing  away  noxious  substances.     An  oily  sub- 
stance, which   they   secrete,    keeps    their    skins 
bright  and  and  glossy,  so  that  none  of  the  dirty 
matter   among   which    they  live  can    adhere    to 
them.     The  fore-feet  are  armed  with  spines,  whilst 
the  hind  ones  are  much  longer,  and  suited  for  the 
work  they  have  to  perform.     On  the   continent 
many  varieties  of  the  beetle  are  seriously  dreaded 
on  account  of  their  destruction  of  vegetable  life. 
The   common   cockchafer   may   be   regarded  as  a 
type  of  the  whole.     It  generally  appears  in  pro- 
digious numbers,  multiplying  with  terrible  rapidity. 
Its  life  commences  in  April    and  ends  in   June  ; 
and  during  all  this  time  it  is  preying  on  the  leaves 
of  various  trees — the  maple,  poplar,  birch,  boech 
and  oak.     But  it  shows  a  marked  preference  for 
the  elm,  so  that  in  France  the  peasants  call  the 
flowering  and  fruit  buds  cockchafer's  bread.     It  la 
not  uncommon  to  see  whole  forests  on  the  Conti- 
nent entirely  bare  of  leaves  in  the  spring  months, 
having  been  eaten  up  by  these  insects.     Reynolds' 
News'paper. 

[The  larva  of  the  common  cockchafer  (the 
white  grub)  has  been  exceedingly  destructive  to 
the  roots  of  vegetation,  both  in  England  and  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe ;  and  representative 
species  also  in  this  country,  have  been  at  times 
much  complained  of.  Many  beetles  are  carnivor- 
ous in  their  habits,  but  a  very  large  number  are 
strictly  vegetarians,  and  these  are  more  or  less 
destructive  to  fruits,  foliage,  flowers  and  roots. 
Belonging  to  the  latter  class  are  the  different 
kinds  of  Grape  beetles,  Potato  beetles.  Wood 
beetles,  Meal  beetles,  and  a  thousand  other  kinds, 
including  the  famous  Curculio,  many  of  which 
'  are  only  injurious  iu  their  larva  states.] 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


229 


THE  SOUTHERN  CABBAGE  BUTTERFLY 

(PIERIS     PROTODICK.) 


ON  the  11th  of  November,  we  received  from 
Mr.  H.  M.  Eiiglc.  a  mmiljer  of  caterpillars, 
which  ho  found  in  great  numljers,  still  actively 
engaged  in  feeding  on  the  tops  of  the  ruta  baga. 
We  confined  them  in  a  box,  and  having  no  ruta 
baga  at  hand,  we  gave  them  cabbage,  and  upon 
this  they  fed  until  from  the  15th  to  the  20th  of 
the  same  month,  when  they  all  had  been  transform- 
ed to  clin/sah'ds. 

Although  the  habits  of  this  caterpillar  are 
very  similar  to  the  habits  of  the  "  green  cabbage 
worm,"  and,  although  they  are  often  found  in 
company  with  the  latter,  yet  they  differ  from  them 
very  materially  in  their  color  and  general  markings, 
both  in  the  larva  and  imago  states.  When  fully 
grown,  these  caterpillars  are  about  one  inch  in 
length,  of  a  bluish  -color,  but  so  thickly  dotted 
with  black  that  they  present 'a  dark -gray  appear- 
ance. The  head  is  black,  and  there  are  two  dorsal 
and  two  lateral  yellow  stripes  extending  from  the 
head  to  the  end  of  the  body.  Each  of  the  little 
black  dots  is  on  the  apex  of  a  small  tubercle, 
from  each  of  which  issues  from  one  to  three  short 
white  hairs.  The  chrysalids  are  about  half  an 
inch  in  length,  and  are  different  shades  of  gray 
iu  color.  In  the  box  they  are  fastened  horizon- 
tally, for  the  most  part  along  the  sides ;  two  or 
three  of  these  are  fastened  vertically.  They 
are  still  (Nov.  21.)  in  this  form,  and  may  continue 
60  until  next  spring  ;  but  possibly  they  may  change 
to  butterflies  during  the  winter,  if  kept  in  a  warm 
place.  The  butterfly  is  a  little  larger  than  that 
of  the  "  green  cabbage  worm,"  but  it  has  the 
same  form.  It  is,  however,  very  different  in  the 
distribution  of  its  colors.  It  has  not  the  black 
spots,  and  is  darkly  clouded  with  black  and  gray. 
Some  specimens  of  the  same  caterpillar  which  we 
attempted  to  breed  during  last  summer,  were  all 
infested  with  a  small  parasite,  which  destroyed 
them.  This  does  not  appear  to  be  the  case  with 
those  we  have  now  under  observation.  •  We  have 
no  better  remedy  than  those  we  suggested  in  our 
August  number,  commencing  on  page  153  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred. 


A  DESTROYING  ANT. 

A  WRITER  in  the  New  Orleans  Picayune 
recommends  the  introduction  of  a  kind  of 
ant  from  Central  America  to  destroy  the  cotton 
and  boll  worm  in  the  Southern  States.    He  says; 


"  During  a  long  residence  in  Central  America  1 
have  noticed  the  habits  of  a  very  diminutive  ant 
called  the  terrier  ant.  No  insect  will  approach 
its  habitation.  It  is  perfectly  harmless  to  vegeta- 
tion, and  will  not  permit  any  insect  or  even  ani- 
mal to  encroach  upon  its  premises  under  penalty 
of  death.  They  do  not  build  ne.sts  like  other 
ants,  but  live  anywhere  where  there  is  notadense 
tropical  shade.  The  writer  is  perfectly  convinced 
that  if  they  can  be  imported  into  the  cotton  re- 
gions of  the  United  States,  and  will  stand  the 
climate,  the  cotton  and  even  the  boll  worm  will 
become  a  thing  of  the  past.  From  many  experi- 
ments in  the  destruction  of  insect  life,  the  writer 
forms  his  opinion,  which  can  be  corroborated  by 
friends  in  Central  America,  should  any  one  inter- 
ested in  the  cotton  plant  choose  to  write.  The 
first  occasion  that  the  writer  had  to  test  the  de- 
structive attacks  of  the  terrier  ant  on  insect  life 
was  when  stung  by  a  stinging  scorpion  contained 
in  the  sleeve  of  his  coat — an  insect  very  tenaci- 
ous of  life,  yet  in  less  than  three  minutes  after  it 
was  given  to  the  ants  it  was  dead.  A  centipede, 
covered  with  a  hard  armor,  suffered  the  same  fate 
in  four  minutes  and  a  few  seconds.  A  tarantula 
died  in  less  than  two  minutes.  A  snake,  nine  feet 
long,  in  fifteen  minutes.  There  are  other  experi- 
ments made  by  the  writer  which  he  could  give, 
but  deems  unnecessary.  I'he  natives  in  Central 
America  transport  the  ants  from  place  to  place  by 
putting  a  little  sugar  in  a  bottle  or  calibdt* 
(gourd),  and  when  full  transport  them  safely." 

[The  scorpion  is  not  an  insect,  but  an  arach- 
nidaa.  (Spider  class)  still,  if  the  ants  above  al- 
luded to  can  destroy  it,  the  test  is  a  good  one. 
We  doubt,  however,  whether  Central  American 
insects,  could  be  acclimated  in  the  United  States,] 


HORTICULTURE. 


ENGLISH  RULES  FOR  PRESERVING 
FRUIT. 

THE   London    Garden  gives  the  following 
as  the  rules  of  the   Royal    Horticultural 
Society  for  the  preservation  of  choice  fruit: 

1.  As  the  flavor  of  fruit  is  so  easily  affected  by 
heterogeneous  odors,  it  Ls  highly  desirable  that 
apple  and  pear  rooms  should  be  distinct. 

2.  The  walls  and  the  floor  sliould  be  annually 
washed  with  a  solution  of()uick-lime. 

3.  'I'he  room  should  bo  perfectly  dry.  with  a 
uniform  temperature  as  practicable,  and  be  well 


230 


THE  LAXCASTEB  FARMER 


ventilated;  but  there  should  not  be  a  thorough 
draft. 

4.  Use  the  utmost  care  in  gathering  fruit,  hand- 
ling as  little  as  possible. 

5.  For  present  use,  fruit  should  be  well  ripened 
but  if  for  long  keeping  it  is  better,  especially 
with  pears,  that  it  should  not  have  arrived  at 
complete  maturity.  This  point,  however,  requires 
considerable  judgment. 

6-  No  imperfect  fruit  should  be  stored  with 
that  which  is  sound,  and  all  more  or  less  decaye" 
specimens  should  be  immediately  removed. 

7.  If  placed  on  shelves  the  fruit  should  not  lie 
more  than  two  days,  and  no  straw  should  be 
used. 

8.  Where  especially  clear  and  beautiful  speci- 
mens are  wanted  they  may  be  packed  carefully  in 
dry  bran,  or  in  layers  of  perfectly  dry  cotton 
wool,  either  in  closed  boxes  or  in  large  garden 
pots.  Scentless  sawdust  will  answer  the  same 
purpose,  but  pine  sawdust  is  apt  to  communicate 
an  unpleasant  taste. 

9.  With  care,  early  apples  may  be  kept  until 
Christmas ;  while  many  kinds  may  be  preserved  in 
perfection  to  a  second  year. 

The  rules  given  by  American  fruit-growers 
agree  very  well  with  the  above,  but  make  especial 
mention  that  fruit  rooms  for  ripening  should  be 
nearly  dark,  and  the  temperature  low.  Light 
and  heat  hasten  maturity,  and  next,  of  course,  de- 
composition. 


KEEPING  APPLES  IN  PLASTER. 

IHAVPl  says  a  writer,  been  experimenting  the 
past  few  years  with  apples,  and  find  those 
packed  in  plaster  keep  much  longer  than  any 
other  way  I  have  tried.  I  use  flour  barrels,  and 
find  them  preferable  to  apple  barrels,  as  they  are 
made  tighter.  I  first  cover  the  bottom  of  the 
barrel  with  plaster,  then  a  layer  of  apples,  then 
cover  with  plaster,  and  so  on  till  the  barrel  is  full; 
then  put  the  head  in  and  drive  the  hoops  tight. 
The  plaster  being  of  a  cold  nature,  keeps  the  fruit 
at  an  even  temperature,  and  being  fine  and  dry, 
packs  so  close  as  to  keep  the  apples  air-tight.  I 
had  Northern  Spy  and  Swaar  almost  as  tresh  in 
May  as  when  they  wei'e  picked,  and  found  no  de- 
cayed ones,  and  think  they  would  have  kept  till 
early  apples  were  ripe,  had  we  not  used  them. 
Shall  put  up  several  barrels  for  next  spring  and 
summer  use,  as  I  am  satisfied  that  our  best  varie- 
ties,  such  as  Steel's  Red  Winter,  Wagner,  and 


Seek-no-further  will  keep  several  months  longer 
than  putting  them  up  without  plaster,  will  retain 
their  flavor  much  better  besides. 

GIVE  US  MORE  FRUIT  TREES. 

THERE  can  be  no  apology  for  owners  of 
landed  estates  failing  to  put  out  fruit 
trees  and  vines  and  shrubbery.  Every  fruit  tree' 
planted  adds  twenty  times  its  cost,  if  not  more,  to 
the  value  of  the  farm ;  if  in  any  event  the  owner 
or  his  heirs  have  reason  to  sell  the  same  this  truth 
will  then  be  fully  realized.  Everybody  is  fond  of 
fruit,  and  the  man  of  family  who  neglects  to  pro- 
vide it  for  his  household  is  not  doing  his  whole 
duty  to  them.  Any  observant  or  intelligent  man 
contemplating  settling  on  an  estate,  will  make  it 
one  of  the  first  considerations  with  him  before  puc- 
chasiug  whether  or  not  it  has  on  it  an  orchard  -of 
fruit ;  he  has  no  notion  of  waiting  several  -j^aF* 
for  so  healthful  and  toothsome  an  addition  to  his 
home  comforts,  and  doubtless  many  a  sale  has  been 
defeated  by  the  lack  of  this  luxury,  or  rather  of 
this  necessary  portion  of  food.  Besides  these  home 
considerations,  fruit  is  now  becoming  in  many 
quarters  the  largest  source  of  profit  to  the  owners 
of  plantations,  and  if  the  finer  qualities  are  pro- 
duced and  attention  is  paid  to  the  proper  varieties 
and  the  times  and  seasons  for  their  ripening  and 
gathering,  there  can  be  no  more  profitable  crop 
raised  than  fruit. 


Mechanism  of  an  Egg. — Every  living  creature 
is  the  product  of  an  egg.  Some  are  hatched  within 
the  maternal  body,  and  developed  into  their  pre- 
destined proportions  after  birth,  which  is  the  be- 
ginning of  existence  with  mammalia  generally. 
Eggs  of  fishes  are  ordinarily  incubated  by  solar 
warmth.  Birds  furnish  heat  necessary  to  quicken 
the  germ  into  life  from  their  own  bodies,  with  a 
few  exceptions. 

Whether  a  rhinoceros,  a  hippopotamus,  a  giraflfe, 
an  elephant  or  a  flea,  their  beginning  is  an  ^igg. 
The  germ  of  the  future  being  is  fed  on  the  fluids 
by  which  it  is  surrounded.  Out  of  the  albumen 
or  the  while  of  a  common  pullet's  egg,  for  ex- 
ample, are  built  up  a  skeleton;  a  nervous  system, 
a  heart,  lungs,  brain,  blood  vessels,  every  muscle, 
and  the  elements  of  each  individual  feather,  while 
the  yolk  is  a  magazine  of  food  on  which  the  chick 
is  to  be  nourished  a  short  time  after  it  leaves  the 
shell.  'J'o  do  that,  it  is  taken  into  the  body  of  the 
bird  in  the  course  of  incubation.  Its  enveloping 
membrane  is  elongated  into  a  tube  communicating 
with  the  stomach,  through  which  the  nutriment  is 
conducted  to  where  it  can  be  used.  When  that 
supply  is  exhausted,  then  the  mother  commences 
a  regular  system  of  nursing  and  feeding  till  grown 
and  matured  for  providing  for  itself. 


THE  LA  JVC  ASTER  FARMER 


2Sl 


EPIZOOTIC. 

D0UBTLP:SS  the  most  marked  event  in  the 
history  of  the  equine  race,  is  the  disease 
and  mortality,  which  has  occurred  among  the 
horses  of  many  of  the  States,  the  present  season. 
A  wise,  moral  philosophy  inculcates,  that  no  evil 
can  possibly  occur  in  this  world,  that  might  not — 
under  other  circumstances — have  culminated  in 
something  worse.  "When  we  reflect,  that  had  there 
been  no  steam  motive  power  on  our  railroads,  how 
infinitely  worse  our  condition  might  have  been 
than  it  is  now,  in  respect  to  transportation  and 
travel.  How  much  further  back  than  the  first 
advent  of  steam  travel  on  railroads,  the  absence 
of  the  noble  horse,  is  capable  of  pushing  us  in  the 
world  of  progress.  No  such  events  in  the  mail 
service  of  the  country,  as  carrying  the  mails 
through  a  densely  populated  district,  on  the  backs 
of  men,  was  known  to  the  ante-railroad  period ; 
and  yet  it  was  a  common  occurrence  the  present 
season.  Happily  the  number  of  the  deaths  among 
horses,  in  proportion  to  the  whole  number  that 
were  attacked,  was  not  as  great  as  was  anticipat- 
ed ;  and,  already  there  appears  to  be  an  abatement 
of  the  disease,  and  many  of  he  animals  are  slowly 
recovering. 

A  New  York  paper,  to  show  the  extent  of  the 
epidemic  among  horses  there,  gives  the  following 
figures : 

No.  of  No.  of 

Horses  Horses 

Employed.  Sick. 

Car  and  Stage  Lines,     -      15,000  12,038 

Express  Companies,     -    -         516  496 

Draymen.       -        -        -        8,000  6,000 

Livery  and  Sale  Stables,  -     3,000  2,050 

In  Brooklyn,     -        -        -    12,000  6,000 

In  Jersey  City,     -        -          2,000  600 

Elsewhere.       -         -         -     2,000  600 


Total, 


42,516 


27,684 


THE  HORSE  DISTEMPER. 


IN  the  annual  report  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture  there  is  an  interesting  and 
valuable  article  on  the  epizootic  aphtha;,  which 
broke  out  in  this  country  in  1870.  It  says  that 
though  no  unbroken  chain  of  evidence  concerning 
the  source  of  that  outbreak  is  forthcoming,  no  one 
accjuainted  with  the  nature  of  the  disease  can  for 
a  moment  doubt  that  it  was  imported  from  Eu- 
rope. 'I'hough  certainly  prevailing  in  central  Eu- 
rope for  nearly  two  centuries,  it  reached  Great 


Britain  only  in  1839,  Denmark  in  1841,  and 
America  in  1870.  No  atmospheric  or  climate 
changes  would  account  for  such  results.  Diseases 
like  influenza,  which  appear  to  be  due  to  such 
vicissitudes,  sweep  over  simultaneously,  or  nearly 
so,  our  continents  and  islands,  and  even  ships  in 
mid-ocean  ;  whereas  this  is  circumscribed  for  cen- 
turies by  a  narrow  sea  or  a  well-guarded  neck  of 
land,  and  crosses  only  when  the  victims  are  allow- 
ed to  pass.  Moreover  in  each  of  these  cases  a 
definite  importation  can  be  traced.  Cattle  ship- 
ped from  an  English  port  in  August  showed  signs 
of  the  disease  when  two  days  at  sea,  passed 
through  it  on  the  ocean,  and  landed  apparently 
well,  but  conveyed  it  to  the  stock  among  which 
they  were  placed  on  their  arrival  in  Canada. 
Whether  it  spread  from  this  point,  or  whether 
there  was  another  importation  there  is  no  evidence 
to  show.  Its  existence  was  reported  at  Oriskany, 
Oneida  county,  in  September,  about  the  time  of 
the  State  Agricultural  show  at  Utica,  supposed 
to  have  been  brought  by  (yanadian  cattle,  but  sub- 
sequent inquiry  has  failed  to  afford  anything  more 
than  report  for  this  alleged  origin.  At  different  times 
from  the  15th  of  November  to  the  7th  of  Decem- 
ber it  was  brought  into  Dutchess  county  by  five 
separate  droves  from  Albany,  which  had  been 
carried  east  on  the  New  York  Central  Railroad. 
It  prevailed  extensively,  and  caused  great  losses 
at  Amenia,  Pawling,  South  Dover,  Dover  Plains, 
and  La  Grange.  From  Dutchess  county  it  was 
conveyed  into  Connecticut,  and  spread  widely  in 
New  Milford,  Kent,  and  Sherman.  It  was  also 
conveyed  to  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  River, 
and  spread  in  the  towns  of  Hadley,  Hatfield, 
Northampton,  and  East  Hampton.  The  disease 
was  also  conveyed  to  Brighton,  .Mass..  and  spread 
extensively  around  Boston,  a1;i  Concord,  Ipswich, 
Newburyport,  Acton,  etc.,  pqaching  some  points 

in  New  Hampshire. 

******** 

The  only  cause  of  itself  capable  of  inducing 
the  disease  is  contagion  or  contact  of  a  sound 
animal  with  the  virus  discharged  from  the  sores 
of  an  aphthous  patient.  Many  accessory  causes 
may  be  named,  such  as  a  wet,  muddy  season, 
which  insures  the  contact  of  the  virus  deposited 
on  the  soil  with  the  skin  about  the  tops  of  the 
hoofs ;  the  accumulation  of  cattle  in  large  fairs 
or  markets ;  travel  of  stock  by  rail  or  road,  and 
the  like.  Yet  these  are  but  means  for  the  diffu- 
sion of  the  poison,  while  no  one  of  them,  nor  all 
taken  together  can  call  the  disease  into  existence 
where  the  poison  is  not  already  present.    Though 


232 


TEE  LA.N-CASTER  FARMER. 


prevalent  in  Europe  durinir  or  after  almost  every 
great  war  since  1695,  it  did  not  reach  Great  Bri- 
tain until  1839.  when  it  was  brought  by  Dutch 
cattle  imported  into  London.  *  *  *  In  1841 
it  was  first  reported  in  Denmark.  *  *  *  The 
list  of  real  causes  is  narrowed  down  to  the  simple 
contact  of  the  virus  with  a  healthy  anim;J.  It  is 
often  carried  on  the  clothes,  boots  and  hands  of 
men,  on  the  fibers  of  hay  or  straw  ;  preserved  on 
the  walls,  floors,  nixn,?ers,  and  other  fittings  of 
buildings:  on  stable  utensils;  in  yards,  parks, 
roads  and  railroad  cars ;  on  drinking  troughs;  or 
it  may  be  carried  on  the  legs  or  bodies  of  dogs, 
chickens,  rats,  and  other  animals  which  them- 
selves escape  the  infection.  In  short,  any  solid 
body  may  retain  and  be  bearer  of  this  contagion. 

Its  transmission  to  man  has  been  noticed  dur- 
ing almost  every  great  outbreak  since  that  of 
1G95.  It  has  been  reported,  among  others,  by 
Valentine,  Nadberny.  Xeirtsky,  Kolb,  Ilesturg, 
Rayer,  Bosquet,  Loude,  Sevigny,  Dundressy, 
Hubner,  Holmes,  Balfour,  Karkeek  and  Watson. 
Cases  of  the  di.sease  in  man  were  seen  in  Albany 
and  at  South  Dover.  Dutchess  county,  N.  Y.,  dur- 
ing the  outbreak  of  1870.  It  shows  itself  in  man 
by  slight  feverisluiess.  and  the  formation  on  the 
tongue  and  inside  the  lips  and  cheeks,  and  some- 
times on  the  head,  of  small  blisters,  rarely  amount- 
ing to  the  bulk  of  a  lentil.  In  children  and  young 
animals  feeding  exclusively  on  milk,  diarrhcea  and 
fatal  inflammation  of  the  stomach  and  bowels  oc- 
casionally supervene.  On  chickens  it  has  been 
frequently  noticed— among  others  by  Hennicke, 
Lagar,  Lamberleechi.  Dickens  and  Youatt. 
Chickens  were  attacked  in  December,  1870.  on 
the  farm  of  Mr.  Kigbme,  La  Grange,  Dutchess, 
county.  Drinking  the  castaway  milk  is  probably 
the  common  cause.  Dogs  and  cats  have  been  no- 
ticed by  Lagar,  Younghusband  and  others,  to  suf- 
fer  from  drinking  the  milk. 


May  Bfi  Worth  Preservinc}. —  The  Medical 
Home  has  the  following  receipts,  which  may  be  of 
value  r 

A  tea  made  of  chestnut  leaves,  and  drank  in 
the  place  of  water,  will  cure  the  most  obstinate 
case  of  dropsy  in  a  few  days, 

A  tea  made  of  ripe  or  dried  whortleberries,  and 
drank  in  the  place  of  water,  is  a  sure  and  speedy 
cure  for  a  scrofulous  difficulty,  however  bad. 

A  tea  made  of  peach  leaves  is  a  sure  cure  for  a 
kidney  difficulty. 

A  plaster  made  of  fresh  slacked  lime  and  fresh 
tar  is  a  cure  for  a  cancer,  which  with  its  roots,  will 
soon  come  out. 


DOMESTIC. 


HINTS   TO   HOUSEKEEPERS. 

AS  a  general  rule  it  is  most  economical  to 
buy  the  best  articles.  The  price  is,  of 
course,  always  a  little  higher,  but  a  good  article 
always  spends  best.  It  is  a  sacrifice  of  money  to 
buy  poor  flour,  meat,  sugar,  molasses,  cheese,  but- 
ter, lard,  etc.,  to  say  nothing  of  the  injurious  ef- 
fect on  the  health. 

Butter  that  is  made  in  September  and  October 
is  the  best  for  winter  use. 

Lard  should  be  hard  and  white ;  and  that 
which  is  taken  from  a  hog  over  a  year  old  is  the 
best. 

Rich  cheese  feels  soft  under  the  pressure  of  the 
finger.  That  which  is  very  strong  is  neither  good 
nor  healthy.  To  keep  one  that  is  cut,  tie  it  up  in 
a  bag  that  will  not  admit  flies,  and  hang  it  in  a 
cool  dry  place.  If  mould  appears  on  it,  wipe  it 
off  with  a  dry  cloth. 

The  best  rice  is  large  and  has  a  clear,  fresh 
look.  Old  rice  has  sometimes  little  black  insects 
inside  the  kernel.  The  small  white  sago  called 
pearl  sago  is  the  best.  The  large  brown  kind  has 
an  earthy  taste.  These  articles  and  ground  rice, 
tapioca,  etc.,  should  be  kept  covered. 

To  select  nutmegs,  prick  them  with  a  pin.  If 
they  are  good,  the  oil  will  instantly  spread  around 
the  puncture. 

Keep  coflee  by  itself,  as  its  odor  affects  other 
articles. 

Keep  tea  in  a  close  can  or  canister. 

Oranges  and  lemons  keep  best  wrapped  close  in 
soft  paper  and  laid  in  a  drawer. 

When  a  cask  of  molasses  is  bought,  draw  off  a 
few  quarts,  else  the  fermentation  produced  by 
moving  it  will  burst  the  cask. 

Bread  and  cake  should  be  kept  in  a  tin  box  or 
stone  jar. 

Soft  soap  should  be  kept  in  a  dry  place  in  the 
cellar,  and  should  not  be  used  till  three  months 
old. 

Bar  soap  should  be  cut  in  pieces  of  convenient 
size,  and  left  where  it  will  become  dry.  It  is  as 
well  to  keep  it  for  several  weeks  before  using,  it 
goes  fast  when  it  is  new. 

Cranberries  will  keep  all  winter  in  a  firkin  of 
water  in  a  cellar. 

Salt  codfish  should  be  kept  in  a  dry  place  where 
the  odor  of  it  will  not  affect  the  air  of  the  house. 
Fish-skin,  for  cleaning  coffee,  should  be  washed, 
dried,  cut  small,  and  put  in  a  paper  bag. 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


23S 


PRESERVING  POSTS  FROM  DECAY. 

WE  SOP  it  stated  in  somo,  of  our  exohancres 
that  if  posts  have  the  parts  set  in  the 
ground  dipped  in  linseed  oil.  and  then  well  dusted 
with  powdered  charcoal,  they  will  last  "  forever," 
whatever  this  phrase  mav  mean.  But  we  think 
that  simply  charrinof  the  end  would  answer 
the  S'lme  pnrpos'*.  and  he  very  much  cheaper, 
A  fire  for  the  nnrnose  of  preparinsr  the  posts  can 
be  readily  made  of  brushwood  or  other  waste  ma- 
terial ;  and  at  the  same  time  bean-poles,  or  other 
stakes  required  to  be  used  in  the  srround.  could 
have  a  charcoal  dressin?  also.  Charcoal  is  al- 
most indestructible  ;  and  we  have  seen  even  small 
stakes,  that  would  have  perhaps  rotted  away  in 
two  years,  be  quite  fresh  and  sound  at  the  end  of 
a  dozen. 

Much  of  the  endurance  may  also  be  communi- 
cated to  wood  by  ^as  tar;  but  this  is  only  preser- 
vative when  used  under  {jfround  or  somewhere 
away  from  the  hot  sun.  Its  black  color  absorbs 
the  heat  when  thus  fully  exposed,  and  it  is  found 
that  wood  under  such  circumstances  soon  dries  up 
and  actually  crumbles  away. 


FEEDING  SWINE  AND   EATING   PORK. 

THE  raisini^  of  swine,  is,  and  always  has 
been,  an  important  branch  of  husbandry 
in  the  United  States,  but  less  profitable  here  in 
the  East,  than  it  is  in  any  part  of  the  West ;  it 
should  therefore  be  enj^aged  in  very  deliberately. 

Much  could  be  said  in  regard  to  raising  hogs, 
such,  for  instance,  as  the  breed  and  the  particular 
kinds,  which  is,  however,  not  my  present  purpose; 
with  the  exception  perhaps,  of  advising  those  per- 
sons who  intend  to  make  pork-raising  their  busi- 
ness, to  raise  the  hest  kinds,  such  as  the  "  Chester 
Whites,"  etc.,  and  to  always  select  the  finest 
pigs  from  a  litter  for  breeders,  and  to  feed  them 
very  carefully  with  proper  food,  and  also  to  cross 
them  invariably  with  other  good  stock,  when  they 
will  have  what  they  want.  Per  contra,  let  them 
sell  for  several  years  in  succession  the  best  pigs — 
the  pick  of  their  litters ;  keep  the  cuUings  for 
breeders  ;  pay  no  attention  to  crossing  them,  and 
aad  let  them  take  care  of  themselves,  and  they 
will  be  pretty  certain  to  have  what  they  don't 
want. 

But,  what  of  it  ?  Suppose  we  do  find  ourselves 
masters  of  raising  the  best  kind  of  pork,  and  to 
the  best  advantage;  it  seems  questionable  whether 


excessively  large  hogs  are  so  profitable  as  tliose 
of  a  medium  size.  Will  two  hogs  that  weigh 
twelve  hundred  pounds,  be  more  profital)le.  in  all 
respects,  than  four  that  attain  the  same  aggregate 
weight  ?  As  it  will  take  from  ten  to  fifteen  bush- 
els of  corn  to  make  one  hundred  pounds  of  pork, 
which  would  lu'ing  the  pork  to  about  ton  cents  a 
pound,  while  it  can  be  bought  in  market,  at  pres- 
ent, for  five  or  six,  can  it  be  regarded  a  "great 
speculation."  where  land  is  worth  from  one  to  two 
hundred  dollars  an  acre,  and  corn  from  fifty  to 
sixty  cents  a  bushel  ? 

But  why  discuss  the  prices,  the  advantages,  or 
the  necessity  of  pork -raising  at  all,  when  we  are 
admonished  that  eating  too  much  swine's  flesh  has 
been  found  injurious  to  the  health,  and  conse- 
quently the  happiness  of  the  human  family?  The 
eating  of  pork  is  plainly  forbidden  in  the  Bible, 
and  although  in  accommodation  to  man's  fallen 
condition  it  may  be  allowable,  yet.  "in  the  begin- 
ning, it  was  not  so."  The  forbidding  of  eating 
the  flesh  of  animals  that  "cheweth  not  the  cud," 
and  with  "  open  or  divided  hoofs,"  can  mean  no 
other  animal  than  the  swine  ;  and  this  practice  is 
spoken  of  in  such  strong  terms  as  to  be  called 
"  an  abomination,"  and  those  who  aie  it  to  be 
"  visited  "  with  the  consequences,  even  to  the  sec- 
ond and  third  generations.  No  wonder,  when  it 
created  all  kinds  of  loathsome  diseases,  such  as 
fevers,  scrofula  and  leprosy.  In  more  modern 
times,  the  eating  of  pork  was  less  common,  per- 
haps on  account  of  the  inroads  made  upon  habit 
by  immigration  and  other  causes. 

But  latterly,  as  the  progress  of  improvements 
are  going  on,  the  mode  of  living  is  also  improved, 
and  pork-eating  and  pork-raising  has  become  a 
mighty  domestic  item.  What  were  regarded  aa 
luxuries  fifty  and  a  hundred  years  ago,  are  now 
considered  necessaries  of  life.  People  are  led  to 
the  cultivation  of  artificial  appetites,  cookery  and 
cooking  have  become  a  science  ;  and  yet,  it  is 
said,  that  every  new  dish  invented  is  adding  so 
much  to  the  bills  of  human  mortality.  The 
kitchen,  is  said  to  be  the  vestibule  of  the  grave 
— the  cook,  the  purveyor  to  the  undertaker.  Will 
the  time  ever  arrive  in  the  progress  of  the  human 
family,  when  man  will  voluntarily  abstain  from 
that  which  was  temporarily  permitted,  on  account 
of  the  '■  hardness  of  his  heart,"  and  as  freely  place 
himself  under  the  wholesome  rule  of  that  which 
was  commanded  ? 

Peter  S.  Rkist. 

Okegon,  Nov.  15,  1872. 


^SA 


THE  LAJVa^STER  FAIiMER. 


W\xt  pancitstev  ^avmer. 


LANCASTER,  DLCEMBER,  1872. 


S.  S.  RAiHVON  AND  ALEX.   HARRI^i,  Editors. 

Publii^hed  monthly  under  the  auspices  of  the  AonicuL- 
tukal  akpHo  ;ticultt:ral  Society. 


$1/35  per  Year  In  Advance. 

A  ronsiderable  iTeduction  to  chibs  of  five  or  more. 

AM  rorutumiic'jtions,  to  infsiire  insertion,  must  be  in  tli'i 
bji'  f1<!  of  tbe  Klitors  bf^fore  the  20tli  of  each  m  >nth  Ad- 
dreps  I(!i  hvon  &  Harris.  Ltncaster,  Pa. 

All  advertisements,  piubscriptions  and  remittances  to  the 
arlilr.tsof  the  pulili.her,  J.  B.  DEVELIN, 

Inquirer  Buildine',  Lancaster.  Pa. 


CLOSING  REMARKS. 

WITH  our  present  number  we  conclude  the 
fourth  volume  of  the  Lancaster  Farmer  ; 
and  although  we  cannot  claim  for  its  publication, 
thus  far,  a  pecuniary  success,  yet  it  has  been  so 
much  of  a  pleasun^  to  us,  and  we  feel  such  a 
degree  of  1o(;al  pride  in  it,  that  we  cannot  refrain 
from  its  continuance,  even  under  circumstances 
less  encouraging  than  those  we  have  been  placed 
under  during  the  past  four  years.  If  we  have 
any  single  disinterested  wish,  it  is  that  we  might 
double  the  number  of  our  present  subscribers,  only 
in  order  that  we  might  be  enabled  to  give  them 
double  the  amount  of  reading  matter,  at  the 
present  price — or,  if  possible,  less. 

During  the  year  just  coming  to  a  close,  we 
have  endeavored  to  keep  on  in  the  "  even  tenor 
of  our  way,"  and  our  relations  with  our  sub- 
scribers, and  mankind  in  general,  have  been 
mainly  of  a  peaceful  and  pleasant  character.  "We 
may  not  have  realized  the  expectations  of  all, 
but  what  journal  or  newspaper  does  ?  Of  this, 
however,  we  are  assured,  that  we  have  been  pain- 
fully sensible  of  many  things  wherein  we  lacked, 
and  that  our  chief  pain  has  arisen  from  the  fact 
that  we  were,  through  limited  patronage,  unable 
to  supply  the  deficiency. 

The  past  year  has  not  been  remarkable  for  the 
success  of  the  fanning  interests  of  our  county. 
There  have  been  many  "drawbacks"  to  successful 
farming  in  its  closing  results.  True,  we  had  a 
good  crop  of  fruit,  especially  apples,  peaches  and 
pears.  Corn  and  tobaeco  were  also  all  that  could 
have  been  wished  for ;  but  the  wheat  crop  came 
justly  under  the  denomination  of  failure — taken 


as  a  whole — although  aggregating  the  crop  of 
the  entire  country,  it  was  still  an  average. 

In  the  wake  of  drought  and  short  crops,  came 
the  "  horse-disease,"  realizing  the  old  adage  that 
"  troubles  never  come  singly;"  but  the  favorable 
condition  of  the  season  thus  (at,  to  the  winter- 
wheat,  may  put  on  a  more  prolific  aspect  in  cereal 
products  next  summer.  Under  any  circumstances 
we  have  much  to  be  thankful  for,  and  may  enter- 
tain a  reasonable  hope  that  there  will  be  no 
special  suffering  among  our  people. 

Before  we  close  these  our  annual  greetings,  we 
would  make  another  appeal  to  our  contributors 
and  subscribers  fur  an  increase  of  their  numbers 
and  energies  in  behalf  of  the  Farmer  :  we  ask 
nothing  for  ourselves,  but  all  for  our  journal — we 
promise  that  all  the  increase  of  means  shall  be 
applied  to  the  "  quantity  and  quality "  of  our 
paper.  When  the  old  Washingtonian  temperance 
movement  first  originated,  one  of  the  fundamental 
rules  of  the  organization  was,  "  every  man  to 
bring  a  man,"  aud  so  long  as  that  system  con- 
tinued the  societies  flourished.  Now,  if  our  con- 
tributors and  subscribers  would  act  on  this  princi- 
ple, the  Farmer  would  be  on  a  paying  footing 
before  the  close  of  our  fifth  volume.  Surely 
there  ought  to  be  a  desire  among  the  farmers  qf 
Lancaster  county  to  have  a  home  journal  pub- 
lished among  them — one  that  advocates  their  own 
interests,  and  reflects  their  own  sentiments.  The 
circulution  of  the  Farmer,  through  its  exchanges 
alone,  has  as  wide  a  range  as  any  paper  in  the 
county,  and  therefore  its  value  as  a  special  adver- 
tising medium  is  equal  to  any  other,  and  far  bet- 
ter than  some.  AVhile  we  have  no  special  com- 
plaint to  make,  still,  under  the  progressive  spirit 
of  the  present  age,  it  is  but  natural  that  we 
should  desire  to  be  a  passenger  in  the  same  train. 

In  conclusion,  allow  us  to  congratulate  our 
subscribers — as  well  as  all  Americans — on  the 
general  peace  and  prosperity  pervading  the  whole 
country.  The  political  excitements  having  hap- 
pily subsided,  the  attention  of  our  citizens  can 
now  be  turned  to  the  development  of  the  resources 
of  the  country ;  in  the  success  of  which,  they 
have  our  entire  sympathies  and  all  the  moral  and 
intellectual  aid  that  we  can  at  any  time  command. 
As,  before  the  appearance  of  our  next  number, 
the  annual  festal  season  will  be  upon  us,  when  a 
sumptuous  time  may  reasonably  be  expected,  we 
therefore  close  our  remarks  with  the  usual  cour- 
tesies of  the  holiday  term,  and  sincerely  wish  all 
our  patrons  a  very  "  merry  Christmas  and  a 
happy  New  Year" — in  an  advanced  instalment. 


TEE  LAjYCASTER  FARMER. 


235 


MEETING  OF  THE  LANCASTER  COUNTY 
AGRICULTURAL  AND  HORTICUL- 
TURAL SOCIETY. 

T'  HE  regular  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held 
in  the  Orphans'  Court  room,  Monday,  Nov. 
4th,  Henry  M.  Engle  in  the  chair.  The  min- 
ute.s  ol  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  ap- 
proved without  dissent. 

S.  S.  Rathvon  presented  a  bill  of  $2.30  on  bal- 
ance of  fruit  exhibition,  which  was  ordered  to  be 
paid.  Also,  bill  of  AVidmyer  &  Ricksecker  for 
§3.2')  for  blackboard,  was  ordjrjd  to  b,;  piid. 

The  secretary  read  report  of  M.  I).  Kendig,  of 
Manor  township,  on  the  condition  of  the  crops. 

Jacob  Stauffer  now  proceeded  to  read  an  essay 


1776.  1876.  ' 

INTERNATIONAL  EXHIBITION.  | 

WE  have  received  a  neat  uncovered  octavo  j 
pamphlet,  containing  the  "  Minutes  of  | 
the  proceedings  of  the  Corporators  for  Pennsyl- 
vania of  the  centennial  Board  of  Finance,"  por- 
tions of  which  we  will  lay  before  our  readers  on 
future  occasions.  For  the  present,  we  can  only 
call  the  attention  of  the  citizens  of  Lancaster 
county  to  the  above  named  Exhibition,  which  we 
have  no  doubt  will  be  the  crowning  event  of  the 
nineteenth  century ;  and  we  sincerely  hope  our 
farmers,  mechanics,  artists,  and  manufacturers,  will 
put  forth  their  best  efforts  in  assisting  to  make  it 
such.  It  is  true,  that  more  than  three  years  are 
yet  before  us.  and  many  of  us  may  not  live  to  see 
it,  but  then  it  is  none  the  less  our  duty  to  go  for- 
ward in  anticipation  of  it,  all  the  same  as  if  we 
were  sure  of  surviving  it,  for  we  do  not,  in  any 
instance,  merely  live  for  ourselves,  but  for  pos- 
terity ;  we  sow  and  another  may  reap,  we  labor 
and  others  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of  our  labor ;  and 
thrice  worthy  is  that  man,  who,  when  he  meets  the 
common  adversary  of  our  race,  is  found  with  his 
"  harness  on."  We,  as  Pennsylvanians.  have  an 
additional  stimulant  to  effective  action,  inasmuch 
as  our  noble  old  commonwealth  has  been  selected 
as  the  State  within  whose  borders  the  great  cen- 
tennial event  is  to  be  celebrated.  This  is  surely 
an  uniiualified  mark  of  distinction,  and  one  which 
our  citizens  doubtless  will  not  be  slow  in  demons 
tratiiig  it  is  fairly  entitled  to,  independent  of  its 
revolutionary,  and  other  historical  prestiges.  How 
infantile  and  weak  we  were  in  1776  ;  how  manly 
and  strong  in  1876,  let  admiring  nations  see. 


on  "Breadmaking."  A  vote  of  thanks  was  unan- 
imously tendered  the  essayist  for  his  able  produc- 
tion. 

Henry  Engle  presented  to  the  Society  a  num- 
ber of  small  loaves  of  unfermented  bread,  such  as 
he  uses  in  his  family. 

On  motion,  Mr.  P^ngle  was  requested  to  pre- 
pare and  road  an  essay  upon  his  method  of  mak- 
ing unfermented  broad. 

Levi  S.  Raist  had  cultivated  persiminous  on  ex- 
hibition ;  also,  choice  apples  and  pears. 

H.  K.  Stoner  had  choice  pears  and  grapes,  and 
a  fine  apple  for  a  name  from  Isaac  Sherk. 

Isaac  Sherk,  of  West  Earl  township,  presented 
"Rush  nuts" — Cyperas  esculentus — belonging  to 
the  order  Cyperocea.  They  grow  in  marshy 
places,  and  yield  a  medium  crop.  These  tubers, 
when  boiled,  are  by  some  esteemed  equal  to  chest- 
nuts. 

Henry  M.  Engle  presented  of  the  larva  of  the 
"Southern  Cabbage  Butterfly."  The  habits  are 
very  similar  to  the  "Green  Cabbage  Warm,"  th3 
butterfly  a  little  larger  and  much  clouded. 

After  testing  the  fruits  on  exhibition,  Society, 
on  motion,  adjourned. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


LOCUSTS  AS  FOOD. 

LOCUSTS  furnish  the  favorite  food  of  many 
numerous  races  of  Africa ;  some  nations 
live  e-tclusively  on  them,  but,  it  is  said,  they 
rarely  grow  older  than  forly  years,  and  mostly  die 
a  miserable  death,  produced  by  fearful  diseases. 
Alfred  Cole  tells  us  in  his  graphic  manner  how  a 
whole  kraal  of  Caffres  once  died  after  having  con- 
sumed an  unusual  quantity  of  locusts.  We  read, 
not  without  wonder,  that  even  in  classic  Greece 
this  repulsive  food  was  not  rejected.  The  same 
Athenians  that,  later,  wore  golden  crickets  in 
their  hair  as  proof  that  they  were  natives  on  their 
own  soil,  like  the  insects  themselves,  ate  the  small- 
er varieties  skillfully  dressed.  But  we  must  re- 
member that  antiquity  also  was  not  always  faith- 
ful to  the  first  laws  of  beauty  and  humanity.  Were 
not  their  costliest  fishes  fattened  upon  the  bodies 
of  slaves,  thrown  into  the  ponds  for  that  horrible 
purpose  ?  In  our  day  the  locusts  are  rarely  seen 
but  at  long  intervals,  and  permanently  only  in  the 
Orient.  There  the  Arabs  resort  to  them  in  years 
of  famine ;  they  dry  and  grind  them  to  powder, 
and  bake  them  with  flour  into  cakes  or  roast  them 


236 


THE  LAJVCASTER  FARMER, 


ill  butler.     Legs  and  wings  are  always  rejected,  i  ^.s  to  eating  locusts,  (grasshoppers)  it  has  been  a 
the  bodies  are  often  preserved  in  vinegar,  and  are  ,  common  practice  among  some  of  the   California 


considereil  a  rare  delicacy.  In  Germany,  where, 
in  ii4tf,  they  conmutled  incredible  ravages,  the 
eggs  at  least  were  eaten  and  highly  prized. 

-i^bcending  m  the  scale  of  animals,  we  see  with 
les^-ciieci  surprise  that  reptiles  are  eaten  with 
eagerness  aii  over  the  world,  and  neither  want  of 
beauty  nor  abundance  of  vemou  protects  them 
against  oiuiuvurous  man.  In  vain  they  assume  ail 
manners  of  oddest  shapes ;  in  vain  they  move, 
creeping,  and  hopping,  and  sliding ;  although 
they  suggest  to  us,  by  form  and  motion,  all  that  is 
fa  sa  and  uulair,  hideous  and  horrid,  even  God's 
curse  of  the  serpent  does  not  shield  it,  and  from 
the  huml»ie  frog  oi  the  pond  to  the  colossal  croco- 
dile of  -H^gypt,  they  all  are  but  so  much  food  for 
their  uuibler. 

[Tbe  writer  of  the  above  article,  in  stating 
that  ••  ui  our  day  the  locusts  are  rarely  seen,  but 
at  long  intervals,  and  perniauentiy  only  in  the 
Orient,"  iias  evidently  fallen  into  the  popular 
biundt;r  of  cuuioauding'our  aeooUten-j/ear  luca.it 
Willi  the  loeusts  of  Alrica  that  are  eaten  by  the 
natives.  Liocusts,  allied  to  the  African  and  Asi- 
atic species,  are  located  ail  over  the  known  world, 
where  it  is  warm  enough  for  them  to  breed,  and  j 
appear  lu  vast  and  destructive  numbers  every  I 
year  witiiia  the  limits  of  the  United  fcitates,  as  1 
well  as  lu  iiiurupe.  Jiring  a  locust  from  Asia  or 
Auica,  and  show  it  to  an  unscientific  American 
auii  asii  liim  what  it  is,  and  ten  to  one  he  vyould 
call  It  a  large  yrantihupp&r,  and,  according  to  the 
common  apprenension,'  such  indeed  it  is.  Last 
seabou  they  ate  up  everything  m  some  parts  of 
Liah,  and  every  year  they  are  more  less  destruc- 
tive, iruia  tue  western  plains  to  the  shores  of  the 
Fiicaic.  \ve  have  seen  them  very  destructive 
even  in  L,aucuster  county.  Of  course,  the  species 
diller  in  duiereut  localities,  but  everywhere  they 
are  the  same  loiig-hind-legged  grasshoppers.  On 
the  oiuer  hand,  take  an  American  locust,  so- 
ca  led,  to  Lurope,  Asia  or  Africa,  and  no  one 
there  except,  peruaps,  qualihediy — would  call  it 
a  locust,  iiiey  wouid  know  linxiit  could  not  pos- 
eibiy  cat  vegvLalion.  The  allusion  to  "God's 
curse  "on  any  animal  seems  altogether  gratuitous, 
if  not  proiaue.  According  to  our  notion,  (rud 
has  curbed  dothing — but  man  has — and  if  aui- 
luaiS  uiUbt  needs  be  liayed  and  eaten,  it  seems  to 
us  that  there  would  be  as  little  harm  in  eating  a 
reptile,  as  eating  a  quadruped,  a  tish,  or  a  fowl. 
For  our  part,  we  would  rather  eat/rogf  than  croio. 


Indians  from  time  immemorial.] 


TH?]  OLD  AND  THE  NEW. 


\  T  THAT  is  Stewart,  or  Del 
Y  \  quis  of    Westminster,  t 


elmont,  or  the  Mar- 
to  Ftolemy  Fhila- 
delphus,  of  Egypt,  who  amassed  a  little  property 
of  ;jji550,000,OUO  '!  And  which  of  our  e.\.travagant 
young  ladies,  in  these  boasted  times,  ever  gave 
her  lover  as  Cleopatra  did,  a  pearl,  dissolved  in 
vinegar  (or  undissolved),  worth  ^4:UU,000.  Then 
there  was  Faulina,  one  of  the  ton  in  iiome,  who 
used  to  wear  jewels,  when  she  returned  her  visits, 
worth  !j^bUO,000.  Well,  they  boast  of  Mr.  Stew- 
art's "marble  palace"  on  Thirty-fourth  street  and 
Fifth  avenue.  We  do  not  suppose  this  house, 
which  is  about  the  best  they  have  in  New  !iLork, 
cost  more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars.  Cicero, 
who  was  a  poor  man,  gave  ;i^l5U,UUU  for  his  house, 
and  Clodius  paid  ;jj6oU,UUU  for  his  estabiishmcut, 
while  Massaia  gave  ^1^,000,000  fur  the  house  at 
Antium.  Seneca,  who  was  juat  a  piaiu  philoso- 
pher, like  Mr.  Greeley,  was  worth  ;;ji:iU,O00,O00. 
Why  they  talk  about  a  man's  failing  in  New  iork 
for  a  million  as  if  it  was  a  big  thing.  Cajsar,  be- 
fore he  entered  any  oflice — when  he  was  a  young 
gentleman  in  private  life — owed  :$i 4,000,000,  and 
he  purchased  the  Iriendship  of  <4uaisor  for  ;p2,i)00.- 
000.  Mark  Antony  owed  ^1,400,000'  on  the 
ides  of  March,  and  he  paid  it  before  the  Kalends 
of  March.  This  was  nothing;  he  squandered 
;ip720,000,000  of  the  public  money.  Esopus,  who 
was  play-actor,  paid  !tt)400,000  for  a  siugie  dish. 
Caligula  spent  ;tp400,000  on  a  supper.  Their 
wines  were  often  kept  for  two  ages,  and  some  of 
them  sold  lor  i^'AO  an  ounce.  Dishes  were  made 
of  gold  and  silver,  set  with  precious  stones.  The 
beds  of  Hehogabulus  were  uf  solid  silver,  his  ta- 
bles and  plates  were  of  pure  gold,  and  his  mat 
tresses  covered  with  carpets  of  cloth  of  gold,  were 
slutted  With  down  from  under  the  wing  of  the  par- 
tridge, it  took  ^80,000  a  year  to  keep  up  the 
dignity  of  a  iioniau  Senator,  and  some  of  them 
spent  igi, 000,000  a  year.  Cicero  and  Ir'ouipey 
"dropped  in"  one  day  on  LucuUus— nobody  at 
home  but  the  family — and  that  family  dinner  cost 
^4,000.  But  we  talk  of  population.  We  boast 
of  Loudon  and  New  York,  iiome  had  a  popula' 
tion  of  between  three  and  four  millions.  The 
Wooden  theater  of  Scaruros  contained  80,000 
seats;  the  Coliseum, built  of  stone,  would  set  22,- 
000  more. 


2HE  LAJVCASTER  FABMER. 


237 


AN  ENORMOUS  CROP  OF  WHEAT. 

THE  wheat  crop  of  California  this  year  is 
more  than  prodigious — it  is  alarming.  All 
the  crops  of  that  magnificent  State  are  cultivated 
and  harvested  on  a  scale  unknovvrf  to  Eastern 
farmers ;  but  wheat  is  sown  and  reaped  with  fab- 
ulous prolusion.  The  forty-acre  and  sixty-acre 
farms,  plowed  by  the  tired  hands  and  watched 
by  the  shrewd  eyes  of  the  New  l^iiighiiid  hus- 
bandman, are  mere  specks  of  land  compared  to  the 
extensive  tracts  farmed  by  the  California  ranch- 
men. Even  the  huge  prairie  farms  of  the  West- 
ern States  this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  would 
look  like  "small  potatoes"  alongside  the  domains 
comprising  20,000,  30,000,  aye  50.000  acres  which, 
as  Mr.  llarte  would  say,  are  "frecpient"  in  Cali- 
fornia. 'J'he  wheat-growing  region  is  largely 
made  up  of  such  enormous  tracts,  only  small  parts 
of  which  are  planted  with  Iruils  and  vegetables. 
A  careful  correspondent  of  tiie  Alia  California, 
who  has  just  finished  a  trip  through  the  regi>;ii, 
and  who  applied  at  nearly  every  railroad  stauoii 
for  statistics  of  the  crop  and  of  the  proportions  of 
it  which  were  ready  for  or  about  to  be  forwarded 
to  market,  returns  with  an  astounding  exhibit  of 
figures.  He  found  at  each  station  thousands  ot 
sacks  in  store  and  news  of  thousands  of  sacks  ap- 
proaching in  wagons.  Every  storehouse  and  shed 
and  covered  nook  was  tilled  with  sacks  of  wheat. 
In  the  upper  Sacramento  and  Napa  valleys  alone 
were  found  to  be  4,74:^,000  sacks,  or  9,484.000 
bushels,  or  5,690,000  centals,  or  about  284,520 
tons  of  wheat.  T'he  total  yield  of  wheat  in  the 
San  Joaquin,  Jjivermore,  Sacrementb,  and  Napa 
valleys,  showed  10,745,945  sacks,  or  21,491,890 
bushels,  or  12,895,134  centals,  equal  to  684,746 
tons.  And  all  the  valleys,  ioot-hilis,  and  fertile 
slopes  of  the  coast  range  yet  to  be  heard  from  ! 
The  prospect  of  getting  this  unprecedented  crop 
to  market  is  poor  enough.  At  a  time  when  Great 
Britain  is  yearning  for  breadstufl's — wlien  the  lat- 
est crop  news  from  Scotland  and  the  north  of 
England  is  so  exceedingly  doleful,  the  Colden 
State  has  an  overplus  which  is  liable  to  rot  for 
lack  of  transportation  facilities.  First,  there  are 
not  a  sullicient  number  of  railroad  cars  to  take 
the  wheat  to  the  coast ;  next,  San  Francisco,  hav- 
ing no  railroad  depot  nearer  than  across  the  bay, 
is  embarrassed  by  trans-shipments.  But  the  most 
important  want  of  San  Francisco  and  the  whole 
Pacific  coast  is  ocean  transportation,  and  the-^//rt 
California,  though   an   Administration  journal, 


declares  that  Congre.«s,  at  its  next  session,  should 
remove  all  ristrictions  on  ship-building  in  this 
country.  "California,"  it  says,  '-will  want  600 
large  ships  to  carry  this  year's  crop.  It  is  a  dis- 
grace to  this  great  nation  that  we  should  be  de- 
pendent on  foreign  ships  to  carry  our  own  pro- 
ducts." So  whatever  community  is  brought  into 
the  direct  line  of  commercial  experience  thinks. 


SwEEXEv  IX  HoRSKs. — SwecHeyed  shoulder  in 
horses  is  not  a  disease  of  the  shoulder  originally, 
but  it  is  a  representative  of  other  diseased  parts, 
through  sympathetic  action  of  the  limbs,  from  the 
feet.  A  horse  suffering  severe  pain  from  bone 
spavin,  for  months,  will  exhibit  sweeuey  or 
shrunken  hip,  as  a  result  of  the  morbid  action  of 
fore  feet  affect  the  shoulders.  Canker,  contrac- 
tion, founder,  gravel  prick  from  a  nail,  are  affec- 
tions of  the  feet  only.  Some  people  will  say  that 
such  a  ln.rse  is  chest -foundered,  while  the  horse 
ii|ip;in'iitly  perishes  in  the  chest.  This  is  caused 
by  tlu!  1h  r?e  stuiidnig  with  his  fore  feet  stretched 
out  i'urv.ard.  If  a  man  were  to  remain  with  bis 
hands  stretched  out  forward,  his  chest  would  suffer 
in  the  same  way.  Contraction  is  not  so  much  a 
disease  as  the  result  of  bad  management  on  the 
part  of  the  smith  in  shoeing  the  horse. 


STEAMING  FOOD  FOR  STOCK. 

IN  the  winter  of  1856  I  commenced  steaming 
feed  for  cows,  my  first  experiment  being 
made  with  a  Mott's  furnace.  A  wooden  cover  was 
fitted  and  wired  down,  and  a  lead  pipe  communi- 
cated with  a  large  cask  close  by,  which  was  hung 
on  pivots  so  as  to  discharge  into  a  wheell)arrow 
when  the  food  was  steamed.  1  filled  this  cask 
with  cut  corn-stalks  and  sugar-beets.  'I'he  food 
being  ready,  I  wheeled  my  barrow  to  the  barn  and 
entered  the  alley  way  between  the  cows.  It  was 
not  long  after  feeding  time,  and  most  of  them  were 
lying  down.  Before  I  had  got  ten  feet  they  com- 
menced getting  up,  and  in  two  minutes  every  ani- 
mal was  on  her  feet,  and  every  nose  stretched  out 
to  catch  the  savory  odor.  1  gave  to  each  one 
about  a  peck,  as  far  as  it  wuuld  go.  It  was  as 
warm  as  I  could  bear  my  hand  in,  and  ajjparently 
an  utter  astonishment  to  them;  they  smelkd,  then 
tasted,  then  looked  around,  but  in  a  few  minutes 
every  head  was  down  and  busy.  It  was  all  eaten 
up,  the  mangers  licked  clean,  and  unmistakable 
requests  for  more  came  from  every  side.  1  could, 
at  that  time,  find  no  one  who  had  tried  steaming  ; 


23S 


THE  LAA'CASTER  FARMER. 


my  books  gave  very  little  information  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  I  wished  to  ascertain  how  they  would 
eat  it.  That  question  was  settled  at  once.  The 
economy  of  food,  the  opportunity  to  save  all 
waste,  use  all  my  coarse  fodder,  and  regulate  the 
mixing  of  food,  and  the  probable  increase  of  milk, 
were  before  me  at  once,  and  I  went  into  it  with 
considerable  enthusiasm.  I  first  bought  a  small, 
upright,  tubular  boiler,  made  a  tank  of  chestnut 
plank  with  three  compartments,  and  set  up  a  horse- 
power and  liay-cutter,  cutting  two-thirds  corn-fod- 
der and  one-third  straw,  until  toward  spring,  when 
I  was  obliged  to  cut  some  hay.  I  sliced  the  roots 
and  mixed  with  the  chaffin  proportion  of  one  peck 
to  each  cow,  the  dry  cows  having  turnips,  and  those 
in  milk  carrots  and  beets.  The  flavor  of  the  roots 
permeated  the  whole  mass  and  made  it  more  sa- 
vory. I  soon  found  that  more  water  was  needed 
to  soften  the  dry  substances  and  help  the  steaming, 
and  gradually  increased  the  quantity.  M  y  plan 
of  feeding  was  as  follows:  Steamed  food  morning, 
noon  and  night,  in  pr(jportion  to  the  size  and  ap- 
petite, given  all  they  would  eat  up  clean.  Cotton- 
seed meal  and  wheat  or  r^e  bran  was  given  in  a 
warm,  thin  gruel,  twice  a  day,  in  proportion  to  the 
yield  of  milk  and  the  condition  of  the  animal 
Tliey  were  let  out  in  the  yard  to  water,  morning 
and  afternoon,  and  remained  out  a  couple  of  hours, 
if  the  weather  was  fine,  otherwise  only  a  few  were 
let  out  at  once  and  returned  to  the  barn  as  soon 
as  each  animal  had  a  chance  to  drink.  A  card 
was  hung  up  in  the  steam  room  with  precise  direc- 
tions as  to  time  of  feeding,  watering,  steaming, 
cleaning,  milking,  and  the  amount  of  extra  feed  to 
be  given  to  each  animal,  and  the  men  held  to  a 
strict  compliance  with  it.  We  steamed  every  day, 
about  five  houi-s  being  required  to  soften  the  feed 
thoroughly.  In  regard  to  the  expense  and  amount 
of  feed  necessary,  I  found  much  difficulty  in  arriv- 
ing at  correct  results.  My  corn-stalks  weighed 
twice  as  much  in  November  as  in  March.  1  had  no 
facilities  for  weighing  my  animals,  and  as  some 
kinds  of  food  go  to  Hesh  while  others  produce 
milk  at  the  expen.se  of  fat,  no  trial  can  be  accu- 
rate that  does  not  take  their  weight  into  conside- 
ration. 

*  *  *  *  * 

'J'he  eflect  of  steamed  food  is  particularly  no- 
ticeable in  increaiiing  and  sustaining  the  flow  of 
milk.  Many  of  my  cows  (new  milch  in  autumn) 
would  go  through  the  winter  with  a  loss  of  only 
three  to  four  quarts  from  their  flush.  My  Ary- 
shires  did  better  than  others  in  this  respect,  one  of 
them  going  through  six  mouths  of  winter  with  her 


full  flush,  giving  in  fact  one  pint  more  at  the  end 
of  six  months. 

Some  estimate  the  increase  of  milk  or  saving  of 
fodder  by  steaming  at  fully  one-third.  It  is  difficult 
to  estimate  the  gain,  so  many  circumstances  enter 
into  considei'ation,  but  when  the  yield  is  kept  up.  in- 
fluencing the  product  for  the  whole  year,  a  much 
greater  amount  is  actually  realized  than  the  trials 
at  the  time  show. 

The  first  winter  of  steaming  I  fed  dry  hay  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  found  that  the  cows  fell  off  from 
one  to  two  quarts  each  at  once,  not  regaining  their 
usual  quantity  until  Wednesday,  and.  of  course, 
with  a  strong  tendency  to  lessen  their  yield  for 
the  future.  I  found  it  necessary  to  cut  a  double 
portion  on  Saturday,  fill  our  tanks,  and  lay  the  fire 
so  as  to  heat  up  on  Sunday  morning.  At  any 
time,  when  by  accident  our  steam  works  have 
stopped  for  a  few  days,  the  same  effect  has  been 
noticed,  more  hay  has  been  used,  and  in  case  of 
long  stoppage  we  have  found  it  impossible  to  re 
gain  the  lost  milk.  The  milk  is  better,  and  butter 
of  richer  quality,  when  steaming,  and  I  find  my 
animals  in  better  condition,  less  liable  to  disease, 
and  old  cows  especially  lasting  longer  and  doing 
better.  Their  teeth  are  preserved,  a  very  neces- 
sary adjunct  to  their  well  being. 

I  have  found  order,  regularity  in  feeding,  water- 
ing, milking,  cleaning  stables,  etc.,  of  the  great- 
est importance.  Cows  are  accurate  time-keepers, 
and  they  are  nervous  and  easily  affected.  A  new 
milker,  a  harsh  word  or  blow,  a  change  of  weather, 
any  little  thing,  will  affect  the  milk.  Every  dairy- 
man is  aware  that  his  Tiiilk  varies  with  these  causes, 
yet  few  take  sufficient  care  to  avoid  the  loss.  It 
is  a  greater  one  than  many  are  aware  of  and  in  a 
large  dairy  is  a  very  serious  matter. 


FROM  GRASS  TO  WINTER  FEED. 

The  prudent  sheep  husbandman,  as  the  biting 
of  autumn  weakens  his  pastures,  will  see  to  it 
that  his  flocks  are  plentifully,  though  gradually, 
supplied  with  corn  or  roots,  or  whatever  is  to  con- 
stitute their  winter  food.  No  matter  how  strong 
the  pasture  may  appear,  we  would  advise  that  this 
additional  feeding  be  not  delayed  beyond  the  first 
of  November — for  snow  or  cold  rain-storms  are 
likely  to  overtake  us  any  day,  rendering  strong 
and  warming  food  necessary — and  if  the  flocks  are 
not  at  least  partially  accustomed  to  it,  some  ani- 
mals will  over-eat,  while  others  may  not  get  a 
sufficiency.  Any  one  at  all  familiar  with  the 
handling  of  sheep  need  not  be  told  of  the  bad  ef 


THE  LAJyCASTER  FARMER. 


239 


fects  that  will  result.  "VVe  have  known  flocks  so 
injured  by  a  November  storm  that  they  could  not 
be  restored  to  their  proptr  thrift  during  the  entire 
winter  following.  A  good  judge  of  wool  will 
readily  detect  the  fleeces  of  such  stock — as  every 
Budden  change  in  the  condition  of  the  sheep  pro- 
duces a  "joint"  in  the  fibers,  rendering  it  totally 
unfit  for  use  in  manufacturing  such  styles  of  goods 
as  require  strength  and  elasticity  in  the  material 
composing  them. 


NO  SUMMER. 


WHILE  every  one  is  speaking  of  the  pre- 
sent season  as  being  remarkable  in  its 
characteristics,  I  have  gathered  for  your  readers 
some  reliable  facts  of  the  year  18 16,  known  as 
"  the  year  without  a  summer."  Few  persons  now 
living  can  recollect  it,  but  it  was  the  coldest  ever 
known  through  Europe  and  America.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  brief  abstract  of  the  weather  during 
each  month  of  the  year : 

February  was  not  cold  ;  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  days  in  it  was  mild  like  its  predecessor. 

March  was  cold  and  boisterous  during  the  first 
part  of  it ;  the  remainder  was  mild.  A  great 
freshet  on  the  Ohio  and  Kentucky  rivers  caused 
great  loss  of  property. 

April  began  warm,  but  grew  cold  as  the  month 
advanced,  and  ended  with  snow  and  ice  and  a  tem- 
perature more  like  winter  than  spring. 

May  was  more  remarkable  for  frowns  than 
smiles.  Buds  and  fruits  frozen  ;  ice  formed  half 
an  inch  thick ;  corn  killed,  and  the  fields  again  re- 
planted until  deemed  too  late. 

June  was  the  coldest  ever  known  in  this  lati- 
tude Frost,  ice,  and  snow  were  common.  Al- 
most every  green  thing  killed.  Fruit  nearly  all 
destroj-ed ;  snow  fell  to  the  depth  of  ten  inches 
in  Vermont,  several  in  Maine,  three  in  the  inter- 
ior of  New  York,  and  also  in  Massachusetts.  Con- 
siderable damage  was  done  at  New  Orleans  in 
consequence  of  the  rapid  rise  of  the  river.  The 
suburbs  were  covered  with  water,  and  the  roada 
were  only  passable  with  boats. 

July  was  accompanied  by  frost  and  ice.  On 
the  5th  ice  was  formed  to  the  thickness  of  a  com- 
mon window  glass  throughout  New  England,  New 
York,  and  some  parts  of  Pennsylvania.  Indian 
corn  was  nearly  all  destroyed  ;  some  favorably  sit- 
uated fields  escaped.  This  was  true  of  some  of 
the  hill  farms  of  Massachusetts. 

August  was  more  cheerless,  if  possible,  than 
the  summer  months  already  passed.     The  ice  was 


formed  nearly  an  inch  thick.  Indian  corn  was  so 
frozen  that  the  greater  part  was  cut  down  and 
dried  for  the  fodder. 

Almost  every  green  thing  was  destroyed  in  this 
country  and  in  i^urope.  Papers  received  from 
England  state  "  that  it  would  be  remembered  hj 
the  present  generation  that  the  year  1816  was  the 
year  in  which  there  was  no  summer."  Very  little 
corn  ripened  in  the  New  England  and  Middle 
States.  Farmers  supplied  themselves  from  the 
corn  produced  in  1815  for  the  seed  of  the  spring 
of  1817.  It  sold  at  from  four  to  five  dollars  per 
bushel. 

September  furnished  about  two  weeks  of  the 
mildest  weather  of  the  season.  Soon  after  the 
middle  it  became  very  cold  and  frosty ;  ice  formed 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick. 

October  produced  more  than  its  share  of  cold 
weather ;  frost  and  ice  in  common. 

November  was  cold  and  blustering.  Snow  fell 
so  as  to  make  good  sleighing. 

December  was  mild  and  comfortable. 

The  above  is  a  brief  summary  of  "  the  cold 
summer  of  1816"  as  it  was  called,  in  order  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  cold  season.  The  winter  waa 
mild.  Frost  and  ice  were  common  in  every  month 
in  the  year.  Very  little  vegetation  matured  ia 
the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  The  sun's  raya. 
seemed  to  be  destitute  of  heat  throughout  the 
summer;  all  nature  was  clad  in  a  sable  hue,  and 
man  exhibited  no  little  anxiety  concerning  the 
future  of  his  life. 

The  average  wholesale  price  of  flour  during 
that  year  in  Philadelphia  market,  was  thirteen 
dollars  a  barrel.  The  average  price  of  wheat  ia 
England  was  ninety-three  shillings  per  quarter. 


To  Crystaixize  Flowers. — Construct  soms 
baskets  of  fancy  form  with  pliable  copper  wire  and 
wrap  them  with  gauze.  Into  these,  tie  to  the  bot- 
tom violets,  femes,  geranium  leaves,  in  fact  any 
flowers  except  full-blown  roses,  and  sink  them  ia 
a  solution  of  alum,  of  one  pound  to  a  gallon  of 
water,  after  the  solution  has  cooled.  'J'he  colors 
will  then  be  preserved  in  their  original  beauty, 
and  the  crystallizedalum  will  hold  faster  than  from 
a  hot  solution.  When  you  have  a  light  covering 
of  crystals  that  completely  covers  the  articles,  re. 
move  the  basket  carefully,  and  allow  to  drip  for 
twelve  hours.  These  baskets  make  a  beautiful 
parlor  ornament,  and  for  a  long  time  preserve  the 
freshness  of  the  flowers. 


'BJfO 


THE  LANCASTER  FARMER. 


Grapes  and  their  Easy  Culture.— It  is  sur- 
prising that  so  many  families  in  the  country  are 
willing  to  live  year  after  year  without  cultivating 
a  single  grapevine  about  their  dwellings.     They 
are  compelled  to  purchase  this  delicious  fruit  for 
the  tab'e,  or  not  taste  it  during  the  season.  There 
is  a  common  impression  that  to  cultivate  grapes 
perfectly  a  vast  amount  of  knowledge  and  tact  is 
required.     To  many   the   simple    trimming  of    a 
vine  is   a  mystery   more  difficult  to  comprehend 
than  the  hardest  problem  of  Euclid.     This  is  an 
erroneous  view,  and  ought  not  to  prevail.     Any 
person   of  common  intelligence   can  learn    in  an 
hour  how  to  trim   and   nourish  vines  ;  and,  if  in- 
struction cannot  be   obtained  from  some  experi- 
enced cultivator,  there  are  books  filled  with  cuts 
and  illustrations   which   make   everything  plain. 
Three  vines  of  as  many  different  varieties,  planted 
in  some  sunny  nook,  or  by  the  side  of  some  build- 
ing, so  as  to  obtain  shelter,  will,  if  properly  cared 
for,  furnish  many   a  bushel   of  delicious   grapes 
every  year.     Select  a  Concord,  a  Delaware  and  an 
Adirondack ;  make  the  ground  mellow  and  rich 
by   the   use  of  a   spade   and   by    employing    old 
manure,  finely  ground  bones,  and  ashes,  and  set 
out  the  plants.     In  three  years  the  rich  clusters 
will  appear,  and  in  four  years  the  product  will  be 
abundant.     It  is  well  to  have  vines  planted  so 
that  the  waste  liquids  from  the  dwelling  can  be 
used   in   fertilization.     If  there   is  any   food  the 
vine  especially  loves,  it  is  the  soapy  liquids  which 
accumulate  on  washing  days  in  families.     Vines 
drenched    every    week    with    these    liquids   will 
flourish  astonishingly,  and  extend  themselves  so  as 
to  cover  large  buildings,   every  branch  bearing 
fruit.     We  say  to  our  readers,  plant  vines. — From 

Scie7ice  of  Health.  ! 

» ■ 

Sprains  and  Bruises. — 'J'hese  injuries  are  some- 
times very  distressing  and  their  consequences  very 
serious.     The  dense  ligaments  and  synovial  mem- 
branes of  the  joints  swell,  and  sometimes  inflame, 
as   the   result  of    local  injuries,   and  the  pain  is 
often    extreme.     But,   simple    water   is    all    the 
treatment  necessary  in  any  case.     It  should,  how- 
ever, be  of  a   temperature  adapted  to  the  circum- 
stances, the  indication   being   to  unload  the  con. 
gested  vessels  of  the  injured  part  as  much  as  pos- 
sible.    If  the  part  is  hot  and  painful  apply  cold 
water  or  cold  wet  cloths,  frequently  renewed,  until 
the   heat  becomes   normal.     If  there   is  pain  or 
tenderness  without  increased  heat,  apply   fomen- 
tations until  the  pain  is  relieved.     All  the  after- 
dosing  required   in  either   case  is   a    wet    cloth 


covered  with  a  dry  one,  and  worn  till  all  tender- 
ness is  gone.  This  simple  treatment  will  do  all 
that  any  medication  can  do,  and  is  better  than  all 
the  liniments  and  lotions,  plasters  and  poultices 
that  were  ever  invented. — From  Scituce  of 
Health. 


Selecting  Poultby  Meat. — A  young  turkey 
has  a  smooth  leg  and  a  soft  bill,  and  if  fresh,  the 
eyes  will  be  bright,  and  leet  moist.  Old  turkeys 
have  stiti',  scaly  leet. 

Young  fowls  have  a  tender  skin,  smooth  legs 
and  the  breast  bone  yields  readily  to  the  pressure 
of  the  tiuger.  The  best  are  those  that  have  yel- 
low legs.  The  feet  and  legs  of  old  fowls  look  as 
though  they  had  seen  hard  service  iu  the  world. 

Young  ducks  feel  tender  under  the  wings,  and 
the  web  of  the  loot  is  transparent. 

The  best  are  thick  auu  iiard  ou  the  breast. 

Young  geese  have  yellow  bills,  and  tlie  leet  are 
yellow  auU  supple,  'i  lie  sKiii  may  be  easily  broken 
by  the  head  oi  a  pm  ;  liiu  breasi  is  plump  and  the 
fat  while.  All  oid  goose  is  until  lor  Liie  Human 
siomach. 

ii  owls  are  most  easily  picked  if  scalded,  but  this 
renders  the  sKiu  iiabie  lo  be  loru,  and  consequently 
they  will  not  looK  so  nvi^^i.—Aincncan,  i^LucK 
Jountai. 


Pineapple  Ice. — One  juicy,  ripe  pineapple 
peeled  auu  cut  small,  duice  aud  grated  peei  of 
one  lemon.  Une  pint  ot  sugar.  Oiie  piut  of 
water,  or  a  iiiiie  less,  birew  me  sugar  over  tue 
pineapple,  and  lel  ii  sLaud  aii  liour.  Masu  aii  up 
logeiuer,  aud  siraiu  oui  lUe  syrup  Llirougu  a  sieve. 
Add  the  vvaier,  aud  ireeze. 


Currant  and  Kaspbekry  Ice. — One  quart  red 
curraiiis.  One  piul  raspbernt-s,  red  or  vvuiiu,  uue 
pint  of  water,  one  aud  oiie-lialt  pints  bugar, 
ibqueezc  out  the  juiee,  mixiu  the  sugar  aud  vvuLer 
aud  ireeze. 


Strawberry  or  Kaspberrv  Ice. — Uue  quart, 
of  berries.  ii.xlracL  tiie  juice  aud  slraiu.  Uue 
pint  ot  sugar,  dissolved  lu  lUe  juice.  Uue  lemon, 
juice  oul}.     Uiie-half  piut  ol  waier. 

Scratches  and  heel  cracks  are  cured  by  the  fol- 
lowing method:  Wash  the  feet  clean,  then  dry 
thoroughly,  and  apply  carbolic  salve  at  least  twice 
a   day.     Pursue  tlie  same  course  for  saddle  and 

collar  galls. 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


HI 


ENGLISH  FARMING. 

PROF.  GEO.  H.  COOK,  State  Geologist  of 
New  Jersey,  after  his  return  from  visiting 
some  of  the  best  farms  in  England,  made  remarks 
on  English  farming  before  the  New  York  Farm- 
er's Club,  as  follows : 

"  Of  all  the  other  crops,  the  great  wheat  crop 
surprised  me  the  most.  The  English  farmer  just- 
ly prides  himself  on  his  knowledge  of  his  kingly 
cereal.  Their  wheat  straw  is  stifiFer  than  ours, 
and  stands  up  better ;  the  head  is  larger,  and  the 
color  is  brighter  and  clearer.  The  uniformity  of 
their  fields  is  remarkable ;  no  bare,  thin  places, 
no  wet  places  or  winter-kills.  Some  fields  that  I 
saw  would  average  thirty,  some  thirty-six,  and 
others  forty  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  sixty  and  sixty- 
four  are  often  reported.  One  large  field  that  I 
saw  gave  an  average  of  sixty-four,  and  I  heard  of 
an  average  of  sixty-eight  bushels  to  the  acre. 
That  wheat  I  did  not  see.  But  I  am  well  satis- 
fied that  the  yield  is  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  per 
cent,  beyond  our  American  average. 

Now  how  is  this  done  ?  First — the  English 
farmer  does  not  expect  good  wheat  except  on  good 
land,  well  manured.  Second — he  pulverizes  thor- 
oughly and  makes  the  best  possible  beed-bed  for 
wheat.  He  plows,  cross-plows,  then  rolls,  then 
harrows  with  a  fine-tooth  fertilizer ;  then  he  drills 
the  seed,  and  if  the  soil  is  sandy  he  rolls  lightly 
again.  On  poor  spots  he  sows  a  few  hundred 
weight  of  nitrate  of  soda ;  and  this  special  fer- 
tilizer brings  up  the  thin  places,  and  makes  the 
crop  even  from  side  to  side  of  the  field. 

J.  J.  Mechi,  on  a  farm  of  170  acres,  makes  more 
wheat  and  vegetable  crops  according  to  the  size 
of  his  farm  perhaps  than  any  other  farmer.  He 
has  grown  eight  quarters — sixty-four  bushels — oi 
wheat  to  the  acre,  on  a  field  of  seven  acres.  All 
his  stable  manure  is  kept  under  cover,  and  in  the 
spring  he  cultivates  between  the  rows  of  wheat 
and  applies  300  pounds  of  salt  and  guano  to  each 
acre. 


WHITE  SCOUU  IN  CALVES. 

This  disease,  says  the  Prairie  Farmer,  usually 
occurs  in  rearing  calves  taken  from  their  natural 
food  and  fed  with  milk  from  old  cows,  or  that 
which  has  been  skimmed.  Constipation  follows, 
then  an  acid  secretion  which  separates  the  milk 
into  its  cheesy  parts  and  the  whey.  The  former 
is  retained  in  the  intestines,  and  the  latter  dis- 
charged in  the  form  of  white,  semi-fluid  faeces. 


Our  first  effort  must  be  to  restore,  if  possible, 
the  natural  secretion  of  the  intestinal  canal,  and 
first  of  all,  to  remove  the  oSeuding  agent.  A 
gentle  oily  purge,  combined  with  a  sedative,  may 
be  first  of  all  given.  Linseed  oil,  one  pint ;  tinct- 
ure of  opium,  half  an  ounce  ;  sweet  spirits  of  nitre 
one  ounce.  Mix,  and  give  a  wineglassfuU  twice 
or  three  times  a  day,  till  the  bowels  begin  to  act 
more  naturally.  The  food,  too,  must  be  looked  to, 
and  as  it  is  impossible,  in  many  cases,  to  substitute 
old,  for  new  milk  take  away  half  the  quantity  of 
milk,  and  substitute  in  its  place  the  same  quantity 
of  linseed  gruel,  which,  by  acting  as  a  gentle  laxa- 
tive, will  prevent  the  accumulation  of  the  cogua. 
lated  milk.  To  restore  the  natural  secretion  of  the 
intestines,  an  anti-acid  and  carminative  may  be 
given.  Carbonate  of  potash,  one  to  two  drachms  • 
powdered  nutmeg,  twenty  grains.  Mix,  and  give 
in  a  little  peppermint  water,  and  repeat  daily. 

Should  the  scour  become  chronic,  and  a  more 
powerful  astringent  be  required,  the  following 
mixture  will  be  found  efficacious.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  borne  in  mind,  that  astringents  must  be 
used  with  great  caution,  as,  if  given  injudiciously, 
they  will  aggravate  the  disease  they  are  given  to 
cure,  by  retaining  the  cause  of  irritation,  viz.,  the 
caseine,  or  cheesy  part  of  the  milk :  Powdered 
opium,  one  scruple ;  powdered  chalk,  one  ounce  • 
tincture  of  gentian,  half  an  ounce.  To  be  given 
in  a  quart  of  good  thick  gruel. 


To  Renew  Old  Grape  Vines. —  i'he  editor  of 
the  Practical  Fanner  says  : 

Having  on  our  premises,  planted  by  former 
owners,  probably  twenty  years  ago,  half  a  dozen 
old  grape  wines  with  large  weather-beaten  trucks 
or  stems,  which  made  annually  but  little  new 
wood  and  yielded  but  very  few  poor  grapes,  two 
seasons  since  we  cut  ofi"  branches,  and  laid  the 
main  stems  down  in  the  trenches,  covering-  with 
about  a  foot  of  earth.  Vigorous  and  healthy 
shoots  sprang  up  in  great  abundance,  the  weak 
ones  of  which  were  broken  ofi",  and  leading  ones  at 
proper  distances  trailed  to  the  arbor. 

The  new  growths  are  clean,  healthy  and 
strong,  and  we  look  for  bushels  of  fruit  from  the 
new  bearing  wood.  We  have  seen  many  old  vines 
that  would  be  improved  by  such  treatment. 


Keep  the  legs  of  your  horses  clean,  as  dirt  is 
productive  of  disease. 

To  get  horses  out  of  a  burning  building,  har- 
ness them  as  if  for  their  usual  work,  and  they  will 
follow  you  out  as  if  nothing  was  the  matter. 


2jlf2 


THE  LAJ^CASTER  FARMER. 


It  is  now  settled  that  much  is  gained  by  blow- 
ing air  through  milk  as  soon  as  it  comes  from  the 
animal.  Common  air  is  good,  and  if  chilled  to 
40  degrees  by  contact  with  ice  it  is  improved.  All 
milk,  whether  handled  in  the  country  or  taken  to 
the  city,  is  benefited  by  this  areation. 


BOOK  AND  SPECIAL  NOTICE  DE- 
PARTMENT. 

LITERARY  NOTICES. 

Thb  Farmbr  \no  GARDBjjBa,  a  neat  little  quarto  of 
four  pages  on  gool  paper  and  handsomely  illustrated  ;  is- 
•aed  quarterly  by  our  whilom  contributor,  Jno.  G.  Krti- 
der,  Nurseyiran  and  Fruit-grower,  from  his. "office  and 
publishing  house , )  X  miles  south  of  the  city  of  Lancaster," 
kt  15  cents  per  year.    Total  circulation  7,000. 

LiVK  Stock,  Farm  and  Fi«b8idb  Journal,  for  the 
farm,  the  turf,  the  dairy,  the  poultry  yard,  the  apiary  and 
the  family  ;  a  large  three-column  illustrated  quarto,  of  3i 
pages,  intluding  embellished  covers.  This  is  a  handsome 
journal,  in  clear  type  and  printed  on  go  )d  white  paper 
und  moreover,  as  full  of  practical  matter  on  tde  subjects  to 
which  it  is  devoted,  "as  an  egg  is  full  of  meat."  Haas, 
Kelley  <Sfc  Co.,  publishers,  No.  27  Park  Place,  N.  Y.  and 
«0O  and  2i;2  Main  street,  Buffalo.  $1  50  a  year;  single  copies 
IS  cents. 

Monthly  Report  of  the  Dkpartment  op  Ageiool- 
TURE  for  October,  1872,  full  of  interest  and  useful  matters 
as  usual. 

On  thb  Management  of  the  Dairy,  written  for  the 
ose  of  dairymen  by  C  F.  Raddatz.  Prof,  of  German  and 
History,  Baltimore  City  College.  Published  by  the  "  Sun 
Book  and  Job  Printing  Office,"  BaUo.,  Md.  This  is  a  neat 
12  mo.  of  45  pi^es,  and  contains  information  on  every 
•nbject  connected  with  the  dairy. 

The  welcome  and  refreshing  faces  of  the  "National  Live 
Stock  Journal,"  beautifully  illusirnted,  the  "Journal  of  the 
Farm,"  ditto,  and  the  "Practical  Farmer,"  ditto,  all  for 
November,  have  been  received.  We  consider  ihsee  as 
valuable  a  trio  of  month. y  quartos  as  are  published  in  the 
country. 

EvsRYBODY's  JOURNAL,  enlarged  to  eight  pages,  "Build- 
Assi.ciaiion  Journal,"  "  Our  Ctiurch  Work,"  '  Indistrial 
Bulletin,"  and  "Woodhull  &  Claflin's  Weekly,"  for  Novem- 
ber, at  band. 

The  Farm  and  Firk«idb  Journ  l,  devoted  to  the  cul- 
taie  of  the  soil  and  the  culture  of  the  mind.  A  tinted, 
three-column  quarto  of  8  pages,  claiming  to  issue  one  mil- 
lion of  copies,  at  the  low  price  of  5J  cents  a  year.  By  the 
company;  office  104  and  1  6E.  Sixteenth  street,  New  York. 
Limited  as  the  general  reading  matter  in  this  journal  is, 
we  do  not  hesitate  in  saying  it  is  as  practical  and  instruc- 
tive as  any  that  comes  uud^r  observation.  Each  moufh 
contains  matter  havin^;  a  s|  ecial  relation  to  that  month, 
and  60  far  as  we  are  able  to  comprehend  and  judge,  its 
contents  are  perfectly  reliablp.  Its  low  price  brings  its 
po  .session  within  the  ability  of  every  housekeeper. 

Thf  American  Farmers' Advocate  leads  the  agricul- 
tural press  for  its  enterprise  and  energy.    The  Advocai€, 


Publishing  Company,  Jackson,  Tenn.,  offers  U  free  with 
any  $2.00  or  higher-priced  paper  or  magazine  in  the  United 
States,  and  at  only  fifty  cents  dvance  with  '>cheri.  This 
for  a  large  sixteen-page  monthly,  lilled  t  •  overflowing 
with  the  most  valuable  and  enteriaining  m  itter  for  the 
farmer.  "  Lancaster  Farmer"  and"  Fiirm3rs' Advocate  '' 
1  year  for  81  50. 

Announcement.— John  E.  Potter  Sc  Co.,  Philadelphia, 
have  In  press  and  will  shortly  publish  "Potter's  Complete 
Bible  Encyclopedia;  a  universal  dlctloo-irv-  of  Bib>i;al, 
EcclesiasticHl  and  Historical  Information,  from  'he  earli- 
est times  to  the  present  d<y.  By  Rev.  Wm.  Blackwood, 
D.D.,  LL  D.,  author  of"  Blackwood's  Comprehen8i»e  Aids 
to  the  Study  of  the  Holy  Bi'jle,'  etc  ,  e'c,  with  valuable 
contributions  by  other  eminent  divines.  Comprised  in 
abnut  2,000  brevier  pages,  quarto,  with  nearly  3,000  illus- 
trative engravings. 

Agents  may  learn  something  greatly  to  their  advantage 
and  obfain  specinoens  and  full  particulars  free  by  address- 
ing "  Wood  8  Literary  and  Art  Agency,"  Ne  jvburgh,  New 
York. 


PHILADELPHIA  MARKETS. 

Wednesday,  Nov.  29, 1372. 

Flour — In  Flour  there  is  rather  more  djing,  the  home 
trade  buying  quite  ireely,  but  exporters  are  not  operating 
to  any  ext«"nt  at  pr^SBUt  quotations,  i  he  inquiry  is  most- 
ly contlned  to  t^^e  better  grades  of  spring  wheat  familiei", 
the  stock  of  which  has  become  reduced  t  ■  a  very  low 
tlgure  and  is  held  with  gre.it  confidence.  The  mrdlum  and 
low  grades  are  neglected  ;  sali-s  of  superfine  at  .'$4.25a5  25  ; 
extras  at  ff.'>.50a6.50  ;  IX)  bhln  Wise  >nsiu  extra  family, 
good,  at  17.75;  50  '  bbls  Minnesota  do.  do.,  fair  and  good, 
at  «7.87>^n8  2'5;  200  bb's  to.  da.  do.,  faacy,  at  S85') ;  .500 
bb  »  Ohio  do.  do.,  good,  at  $8.50;  lOi)  bbls  du  do.  do., 
fancy,  at  »9  ;  400  bb's  Indiana  do.  do.  at  $S  SOaS  6  r!)^  .  and 
some  high  grades  at  89  2.5al0.75  as  in  qu  .lity.  Kye  Flour 
—The  stock  Is  light,  and  100  bbls  s  >ld  at  $5  50.  In  Corn 
Meal  norhlng  doing  ;  we  quote  PennsylvauU  at  .153.25  and 
Brandy  wine  at  .*3.50. 

Grain. — There  Is  less  activity  in  Wh^at.  but  prices  are 
well  malutalu^'d.  The  otterlngs  of  prime,  which  is  the  only 
description  wantfd,  are  li^ht,  bur,  inferior  uorts  are  i.eg- 
licted,an«ic  n  only  be  p  ish  d  off  at  very  lov  tisjures. 
S^les  of  400  butue  h  Indian*  red  ^t  $1.73  ;  4no  bushels  No. 
2  spring  >tt .«!. 5.5  ;  800  bus  els  Wsstein  amber  atSl82» 
185;  a  d  40  bu-hwls  fiin-.y  do.  do.  at  *1.9').  The  marKet 
is  entirely  bare  of  Kye,  aul  it  is  wani^fd  ai  »n  adrauce  of 
2a3c.  <  orn  If  very  qui't,  and  thi  receipts  and  off-iirjgs 
ar.-  1  ght ;  s  ilea  of  400  bushels  Western  yellow  at  66c,  and 
6.000  bushels  Western  hii<h  mixed  on  s-.cret  terms.  For 
Oats  the  demand  h 48  f^tllen  off,  but  we  coatl  me  former 
prices;  sales  of  700  ousht'ls  Western  whits  at  -lOt;.  and 
6,000  Dush«l8  do.  mixed  at  43i44c  Barley  is  he'd  firmly 
and  thr)  stock  limited;  1,.500  bushels  good  and  choice 
Western  sold  at  90oaS1.05  ;  we  quot  Canada  at  $l.l8al.20. 
New  York  two  rowed  at  80a9i>a,  and  do  four-rowed  at  9)c 
a$I  Barley  Malt  is  la  better  requeit,  and  r.io'j.ss  fr  om 
S'.20tt)$125  or  Western  and  Cau^ida,  with  considerable 
■ales  at  those  figures. 

CHICAGO  MARKETS. 

Chicago,  Nov.  27 — Flour  In  fair  demand  and  firm. 
Wheat  dull  and  a  shadti  lower  ;  No.  1  spring,  $l.l7al  18  ; 
No.  2  do.,  $1  08)i  bid,  caih,  and  81  08^  for  December  ;  No. 
2  spring  unctiaiiged  at  99c  ;  rej-^cted,  86:!.  Corn  dull  and 
drooping;  No.  2  mixed,  31  J^aSlj^c  cash,  and  3P4.31^o 
for  Deoember  ;  rfjected,  29)^c.  Uits  steady  ;  No.  2  »t24j|^ 
a24)^c;  rejected,  22 )4a23c.  ttye  iu  good  demand  ;  ^o  2  at 
57c  Bariey  du  I  and  droopinir ;  No  2  fall,  61.62^0. 
Mess  Pork  dull  and  lower  at  <12.5i)  cash,  and  &12.10  lor 
December.  Lard  steady  at  $7.25*7.50.  Meats  iu  moderate 
dem''nd  and  prices  unchanged,  but  rather  weak.  Whisky 
steady  at  88a883^c. 

Receipts.      Shipmertts. 

Flour,  barrels 6.000  4,0u0 

Wheat,  bushels 58,000  89,000 

Corn,   bushels 42,00)  9000 

Oats,  bushels 25,000  10,000 

Rye,  bushfls 3  000  3,000 

Barley,  bushels 29,000  7,000 


5^^1 


■■>fc5*«^°'?aLS 


s/  •ii?--)'':f?*l»'^'^ 


.  / »  r  ;