THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



that the day may not he far distant wiu-ii 

 everyliody will U' his own master ; be man 

 enoi!i;h to control his own alt'airs and have a 

 mimi to iudi,'e for himself, witho\it beloiiKin^' 

 to everv seeret order, asking and iilottinf; for 

 information to make K'ains without |)rinei|ile 

 or regard for honesty; and I say that the 

 worltl would lie belter oft to-tlay if they eould 

 do awav with all the seeret societies ever 

 organized, and let each man follow his own 

 business, and not try to cripple one monopoly 

 and hnild uii auolher that is really worse than 

 the one wiped out. If the farmer eould eou- 

 trol the whole affairs of this nation, both State 

 and church, bv belonging to the Grangers, I 

 would say, (iod forbid. As to my own ease, 

 I am opp"oscd to all .secret organizations, and 

 will never change my principles on this point 

 for gain, prolit or ollice. 1 will journey on in 

 this policy without fear or favor. I am born 

 free and independent, and, thanks be to (iod, 

 I have made up my mind to die free and 

 independent in all things. AVitli these few 

 remarks, I will close my first aniuial address, 

 and wish you, one and "all, much success, and 

 may we a'll try to be friendly toward each 

 other in all things. May this society prosper 

 and improve. 



I), li. Hesli took exception to that part of the 

 address which relleeted on the (Jrange move- 

 ment, for he was disposed to favor the order. 

 He entirely dissented from the speaker so far 

 as he reflected uiion the Patrons of Husbandry. 



Levi S. Reist was not a member of any se(^ret 

 society, but he unilerstood that the Grange ad- 

 mits I'emales to its mend)ership. This latter 

 feature received his favor. 



M. U. Eshleman took exception to that part 

 of the President's address wliich implied that 

 no man could be " free and independent" if he 

 lielonged to a secret order. The speaker 

 thought that the Chairman's admission, that 

 lie was "bound by certain principles" pre- 

 vented him, also, from bein^ "free and inde- 

 pendent." The best class of i)eople belong to 

 the Grangers, and he therefore could not think 

 there was any harm in the movement. 



Alex. Harris sustained the views of the Pres- 

 ident throughout, and regarded his address as 

 one of the most excellent that had been deliv- 

 ered before the Society. 



John B. Erb expres.sed himself as "pleased 

 up to the handle" with the address. He did 

 not think the President had said anything 

 that could be construed as offensive to the 

 memlK'is of the Grange. 



Dr. Hiestand believed a man could be as 

 " free and independent " while belonging to a 

 secret order as out of them. 



M. I). Kendig was very much pleased with 

 the suggestions of the President in hisaddress, 

 and believed that if the sentiments were adopt- 

 ed the Society woiiKl be a comiilete success. 



Judge Livingston thought the address was 

 an excellent one, and that much good could 

 be accomiilished by fanners providing good 

 reading matter for the home circle. Enjoy- 

 ment is just as nec'cssary for farmers' sons, in 

 the home circle, as among other classes of peo- 

 l>le, and too much attention could not be given 

 to it. He knew nothing of the (irange move- 

 ment, but if it be what is claimed for it, why 

 not let us know "// about it— why not let it be 

 free and opcnV He thought it perfectly proper 

 that the people should be allowed to iiuiuire 

 into the Grange movement, and they should be 

 permitted to do .so without giving offense. 



I'eter S. Reist believed that many secret 

 societies were good in their way, but he did not 

 think this could be said of all of them. He did 

 not wish to be understood as ojiposed to the 

 Grange movement; but suppose iru-iihjdy 

 should Join it — would it be a sccrel order ? 



Dr. P. W. Hiestand was not very favorable 

 to (iraiige organizati(ms. 



On motion, a vote of thanks was tendered 

 Mr. Miller for his verv excellent address. 



The Treasurer, P. AV. Hiestand, .submitted 

 his annual report, showing a balance in hand 

 of 884.u:{. The auditors, Messrs. Peter .S. 

 Reist, >L D. Kendig and D. (i. Swartz, re- 

 ported that they found everything correct. 



On motion, "the Piesident, Secretary and 



Treasurer were appointed a committee to con- 

 fer with the County Coniniis.sioners with rela- 

 tion to a room to hoUI the meetings of the 

 .Society ill during the eiisning year. 



The Sociity went into election of oflicers, re- 

 sulting as follows: 



For President, Johnson Miller, Warwick. 



Vice Presidents, Hon. J. H. Livingston, H. 

 M. Kngle, Levi S. Reist, Peter S. Reist. 



Corresponding Secretary, Milton B. Eshle- 

 man. 



Hccoiding Secretary, Alex. Harris, esq. 



'J'reasurcr, Dr. P. W. Hiestand. 



Librarian, S. P. Eby, esij. 



The remaining oflicers, elected a year ago, 

 hold over. 



Diller Rare, esq., presented to the Society, 

 through Hon. J. B. Livingston, a number of 

 very large ]5artlett pears. 



Adjourned. 



PROF. RILEY ON THE BIRDS. 



At a late meeting of the Alton Horticul- 

 tural Society, attended, by Prof. C. V. Riley, 

 State Entomologist of Mis.souri, after some 

 talk about the cedar bird, " which was jiro- 

 iiounced to be an nnmiligated .scamp," Prof. 

 Riley was called upon to give his views as to 

 what birds were the farmers' friends. AVe 

 take a sketch of his response from the St. 

 Louis ])i)n(H-ra(: 



Mv. Riley was not sentimentally Vilind to the 

 faults of .some birds, and, perhaps, the blue 

 jay, the crow, blackbird, the red-winged black- 

 bird, the common roliiii, tlie golden roliin, the 

 cedar bird, and the king bird deserve to be 

 cla.s.se(l among our enemies, though much might 

 be said in favor of these wholesale denuncia- 

 tions. But he could not allow such wholesale 

 denunciation of our little feathered friends 

 without a word in their defense. 



The ehiiieh bug is certainly a first-class in- 

 jurious insect, and yet there is abundant and 

 cnmiilativc testimony tliat the blithe little 

 quail devours immense nunibersof them, espe- 

 cially when hard pushed in winter. Let those 

 who are skeptical examine the craw^ of this 

 bird. He had rea.son to believe that the jirai- 

 rie chicken would alsoeat these nauseous bugs. 

 The euiculio is a hard customer, and we must 

 not expect much aid from the birds in dimin- 

 ishing its numbers; for the cnnniiig litlh^ 

 hunchback, in the beetle state, knows well 

 how tc hide, simulate dead objects, and de- 

 ceive even the shai]) eyes of a bird : and in 

 the soft grub state takes good care to leave the 

 fruit, for transformation, eitlier in the night 

 or from the underside of the fruit as it lies on 

 the ground. Ihit even here there is good evi- 

 dence, from such men as S. W. Robson and 

 Dr. Trimble, that the Baltimore oriole will 

 devour it— the former having seen the bird in 

 the act, and the latter having taken the Ix-c- 

 tles from the cro]). 



Thecoilling moth is certainly another of our 

 worst fruit pests, and he knew positively that 

 it was devoured by several birds, and men- 

 tioned the black-capiicd tit-mouse and the 

 downv woodpecker. So tli<iroiighly do birds 

 gilt its cocoons in our orchards that the pest 

 would hi' well kept down by them were it not 

 for our carelessness in harboring it in our 

 storeliou.ses, where tlu^y cannot reach it. 



The yellovr-markcd cuckoo devoured the 

 larvae (if the white-billed Tus.sock moth— a 

 serious orchard pest ; and even so bad a bird 

 as the king bird had been seen devouring the 

 rosebug and the dilferent cabbage worms. 

 The tent-caterpillar is partially pri^yed ujion 

 by the Baltimore oriole, and greedily devoure<l 

 by the American cuckoo and the Jay. The 

 eanker-worin is also devouri'd by a number of 

 the different birds, anil among I hem the blue- 

 bird. Thus some of our very worst in.sict 

 enemies are preyed iilion by birds ; and who 

 can estimate how many hundreds of in.sects 

 there arc which, though not now da.vsed as 

 injurious, would soon lieeome so were it not 

 for the birds. Not one in a thousand of the 

 worms that hatch on <mr vegetation ever live 

 to go tnrough all their chaiifres, and he had 

 never been more forcibly reminded of the im- 



jiortant part birds play in their destruction 

 than the present year in rearing silk-worms. 

 He hatched thousands of these out-of-doors on 

 an Osage orange hedgi- (his Sjiiing, and though 

 such as were protected with netting from 

 liirds and other enemies were remarkably 

 healthy, and in due time spun their cocoons, 

 not one of those feeding without such protec- 

 tion lived to si>in— all devoured by hinls. 



He admitted that birds sometimes devoured 

 our friends, the parasitic insects ; but so does 

 man destroy tliein also, in a|i|ilying his artifi- 

 cial icmedies against the noxious ones. Ho 

 asserted, however, that, as a rule, predaceous 

 or canibal insects— tliose which are our liest 

 friends — such as ground-beetles and lady- 

 birds—are shielded from the attacks of birds 

 by some |)ecnliar attribute, such as |iungent 

 ollor, etc., which renders them unpalatable; 

 and t|ial most parasites were able to defend 

 tliein.selves by their own stings and other 

 weapons of oliense and defense. Thus a hun- 

 dri'd vegetable-feeders were <levoured to one 

 canibal or jiarasite ; and, all things considered, 

 birds are very essential and important friends 

 of man. He spoke of them as tiod's ap- 

 pointed guards and jirotectorsof the vegetable 

 kingdom, carrying and disjiersing its seeds, 

 and ever present to clear it of insects that 

 gnaw and destroy. He gave it as his convic- 

 tion that if a dozen or our most common birds 

 could be swept from existence, we should no 

 longer be able to grow our princi])al crops, 

 and insects would riot and multiply until they 

 become unendurable. 



LETTER FROM A FARMER'S WIFE. 



Elizaukthtowx, Jan. 12, 1875. 



BJitnr nf The Fiirnier : ILiving a few min- 

 utes to siiiire this evening I thought I would 

 write a few lines to you. 



No doubt y(Ui will be surprised to receive a 

 communication from one who is a total stran- 

 ger to you, hut I hope we will be Ijetter ac- 

 quainted by and by. I intend to drop you a 

 liractical note now and then, if I can be in any 

 way useful to Tii k Faismkk ; but you will have 

 to be indulgent with me. for I know veiy little 

 about writing, and nothing at all about gram- 

 mar : so if there is any mistake, the laugh 

 will be at mv expen.se. 



I read The Laxc'Asteu Faumer with 

 much interest. My husband wanted to stop 

 it. but I said "no, not yet. I want to see what 

 it will be like this year, for I think it is im- 

 proving." "All right,'' said he, and I am 

 more pleased with tlie last numU'r than ever. 



I have always delighted in Agricultural 

 publications, and I shall occasionally give 

 you some hints in housekeeping that may ben- 

 efit young married (leople, as I had an experi- 

 ence of more than twenty years in that line in 

 both city and country life, but I have always 

 had a preference for the country. 



Hoping I have not tre.siia.s.sed upon your 

 time and attention, I close with my best 

 wi.shes f<u- the future success of your Journal, 

 and remain Your Friend, 



Leolixe. 



P. S. The following have Iteen practically 

 tested, and therefore are worth knowing: 



now TO DKIVK weevils OUT OF A BAIiX. 



Take the fresh .skin of a slieep and hiyig it 

 up in the entry about the middle of the bam 

 to drv. The odor of it will drive all the wee- 

 vils away, ami you will not know what has 

 l)ccomc of them. 



TO (t'RE TIIESTIXO OF A CATFISH. 



As soon as you can, take a woolen rag and 

 dip it in strong vineg-ar ; wrap it around the 

 ! wounil two or three times, then hold the 

 member in the oven of a stove as hot as you 

 can Ix'ar it. from fifteen to thirty minutes, and 

 it will draw all the poison out. 



— We commend the whole communication 

 of our fair eorresiHindent. The remedies are 

 so simple that any one can test them for 

 themselves.— Ed. 



