THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



85 



tn tiiiilil Oii'ir nt'Sts in l)anis or diiiniioys, for 

 tlii'i'c must have bi'i'ii ii pciiod wlicii tliurn 

 wlti- iiiithiT liarns nor (.liinincvfi lo liniltl in; 

 tlicrcforu, to (jnole this liahit of swallows in a 

 jiocni, winild ho as threat a liccnso as thai in- 

 duljted in hy the authoress of the poetn ''■on 

 ^lj)ci7," in rejiard to the rohin. 



We do not justify the unlimited liberty of 

 introducing into poetry, under an assumed 

 lici'nse, any asstation that would not he al- 

 lowable in prose, as a fact in natural history 

 or any other department of literature — unless 

 it mijjht he in a fable or i)arable as a means of 

 moral illustration— and we go further, and 

 SugRCst that any allusion to the habits of the 

 animal world would m;dve the subject clearer 

 or less liable to criticism, if (niets were only 

 to make such statements as relate to the gen- 

 eral, or widely known, habits of the animals 

 they refer to ; but, at the same time, a spccilic 

 allusion to any object with which wc are fa- 

 miliar, although unknown to any one else, is 

 not fairly a subject of criticism until we have 

 ascertained that the matter lias no fact for its 

 foundation. A critic ought to know inorc 

 about the subject upon which he exercisi>s his 

 criticism th.an its originator or author ; other- 

 wise he only elicits a oux^cr-criticism, and 

 may likewise exhibit a greater amount of in- 

 competency than is agreeable to acknowledge, 

 if he does not make himself ridiculous. 



We have written the foregoing only for the 

 purpose of showing how exceedingly artiticial 

 the habits of the animal world may become 

 imder the inlluences of human civilization, 

 and the changes which have been cllectcd in 

 the physical condition of the coimtry through 

 the progressive advances of improvement; and 

 iu)t for the purpose of vindicating any jiarticu- 

 lar ;/frsoii, or of lampooning unjust criticism. 

 There are various standpoints from which 

 the book of nature shovild be viewed before we 

 "are able to come to a just concdusion as to 

 what it really teaches, and it often happens 

 that those in humble life — if they are intelli- 

 gent and gifted with proper habits of observa- 

 tion — have greatly the advantage of those 

 l>ossessiug higher social and literary positions, 

 and who niaj' deem the investigations of nature 

 beneath the dignity of their calling. An il- 

 literate seaman may know more about the 

 prognostications of the weather thau a pro- 

 fessed meteorologist or astronomer. 



OUR WHEAT TRADE. 



The accumulation of the extraordinary stock 

 of live millions of Im.shels of wheat in Chicago 

 is, we Ijclieve, an unexampled phenomenon in 

 the history of the grain trade of this country. 

 .Now, that a "break" has at length been 

 reached in the prices at which wheat has l)een 

 held in the interior, there ought to be a brisk 

 revival in the shipments from this and other 

 ports, and prices ought to reach what may l)e 

 called their normal equilibrium. The grass- 

 hopper ".scare," which has been carefully 

 nursed for speculative piirjioscs, has lost any 

 further power to influence the market, and the 

 largely increased area of land under wheat in 

 liortheasteni Nebraska, in Kansas, and el.se- 

 where, joined to the most favorable reports of 

 the aiipearance of the croj) in these districts, 

 has convinced the majority of producers of the 

 folly of holding any longer for a rise. 



The possibilities of our wheat exports during 

 the next three months can lie most correctly 

 lauged by a reference to the English demand, 

 ind to the extent to which it has already been 

 lupplied. For the harvest year beginning 

 vpt. 1, 1.^71, and ending .\ng. 31, IST"), it; 

 vas estimated by the best Knglish judges that 

 he demand would be •2'J,70(J,UOU quarters, 

 riie yield of the la.st wheat harvest of the 

 Cnilid Ivingdoni has been, with the nearest 

 attainable apiiroach to accuracy, set down at 

 1.'{,7UO,UOO q uarters. The inqiortation required 

 for the twelve months ending August .il, is 

 therefore niue millions of quarters, or seventy- 

 two millions of bushels. During the eight 

 months between September, 1874, and April 

 30, 187."), the United Kingdom had already re- 

 ceived nearly forty-six millions of bushels of 



foreign wheat, leaving twenty-six millions of 

 bushels to l)e supplied during the four months 

 between May 1 and August .31. Of the forty- 

 six millions above noted, twenty-live and one- 

 half millions of bushels were ri'ceivcd during 

 the closing Com' months of the last year, and 

 twenty and one-half millions during the first 

 four months of this year. 



The (luestioii which inmiediately interests 

 the wheat-growers of the United States is 

 what |)roi>ortionof the Ihitish demand is likely 

 to be drawn from this country. Of the twenty 

 and one-half millions of bushels of wheat im- 

 portc^d during the iiast four months of 1S7.), 

 nearly twelveandoue-half millions were drawn 

 from "the I'^nited States. Of the twenty-live 

 and a half millions imported during the last 

 four months of 1874, a somewhat larger pro- 

 portion was contributetl by this country, liut 

 taking the ratio maintained between .lanuary 

 and the end of April, our pro|)orlion of the 

 estimated British wheat imports up to the end 

 of August ought to be about sixteen millions 

 of bushels. The present stock of wheat in the 

 country "insight," as it is called, that is, 

 l)ractically on tlie market, is not less than ten 

 millions of bushels. In the face of a more ex- 

 tensive demand last year, stocks were alwut 

 two millions of bushels less. 



Trustworthy estimates about the amount of 

 land under wheat this year in the United 

 Kingdom are not yet forthcoming. As the 

 acri'agc of 1874 was 3,833,0(10, or pretty near 

 the niaxinumi area of availabh; wheat land in 

 that country, the Briti.sh harvest of this year 

 cannot be perceptibly atl'ected by the increased 

 (luantity planted. The average yiehl per acre 

 of British wheat was, last year, thirty-one 

 bushels, or one and a lialf bushels above the 

 "standard average." As the average yield of 

 the la.st nine years has been one and a half 

 bushel below the stan<lard average, it may 

 fairly be expected that the total yield of 1875 

 will fall short of that of 1874. The increased 

 consumption conseipieut upon low prices must 

 also enter into the question of future demand. 

 Add to these considerations the fact that all 

 our rivals in the British wheat trade, are, 

 with the exception of Russia, pnvctically out 

 of the race. Even Russia, which used t() send 

 to England twice as much wheat as we did, 

 has, even under the stimulus of a superabun- 

 dant harvest, sent during the last eight mouths 

 but little over a third of the amount of o\ir 

 imports. While, therefore, the prospects of 

 our export wheat trade cannot lie called bril- 

 liant, they are certainly reassuring. Only, 

 l>roducers must make up their minds to a 

 pretty long peri(j<l of almost stationary i>rices, 

 while they may reasonably expect to tiiid .some 

 compensation in the increa.sed purcha.sing 

 power of their money. — Kcw York Ihnes. 



SHORT HAY CROPS. 

 How Shall We Make Up for the Deficiency? 



I suppo.se this is not the only section of 

 country alliieted by a short croj) of hay, and 

 not the only place where the cry is ami has 

 been, since the fore part of .June last. What 

 shall we do to supply the short cro]) ? And .as 

 your valuable paper is extensively circulated 

 among the fanning community, I will make a 

 good suggestion. I would .say to those that 

 are short of hay .at the time, to connnence at 

 once and feed grain of .some kind, and have it 

 ground. I have come to the conclusion, by 

 my own experience, that nine times out of 

 ten, by feedinga little grain, it is cheaper thau 

 hay. If you feed but one pint per day to each 

 animal, and (continue it until spring, you will 

 see good results. They do not require as 

 much hay or other fodder. They look a little 

 gaunt, but, when spring comes, they will shed 

 off their old coats of hair :is early, anil gene- 

 rally earlier, than those that have all the hay 

 they want to eat and no grain ; and you will 

 see that the cows that have had the meal all 

 winter will give a good tlow of milk. But wc 

 must devise some means or way to meet this 

 delicicncy in coming seasons, for we haveln^en 

 taught by bitter experience that we cannot 

 rely solely on our hay crop for wintering our 



stock of cattle and horses. And now the qiie.s- 

 tion arises. What shall we substitute ? or, in 

 other Words, what shall we .sow or idarit intlio 

 s|)ring to take its jilace V In this neighbor- 

 hood are .sown coin and millet. I had a lew 

 acres of meadow liust sea.son that looked more 

 like pasture than meadow. I starteil the 

 plow in it on the IJlh of .June, and (itted it 

 thoroughly, aii<l sowed it on tlie IHth to mil- 

 let seed, at the rate of half a bushel per acre, 

 and rolled the ground so that I could cut it 

 with a mowing-machine. The latter part of 

 August I cut and cured it the sanie as you 

 would hay. I think it yiehh'd at le:iflt three 

 tons per ton ; and if I had lell it for the hay 

 cro|i, it would have Iwen thn'c acres [ler ton. 

 1 claim that thei-e is no fodiler that I'atth^ or 

 hoi-ses like as W(dl as millet, if it is cut in its 

 proper .sea.son and cured as it ought to be. 

 Tliere were other crops than mine grown in 

 this neighborhood with as good or better re- 

 sults; and there Were some that were sown 

 later, after they had mowud the ground, that 

 Were not ius good. 1 would advise those who 

 sow for fodder to sow as early as the middle of 

 June. After I had cut my "piece of millet, I 

 plowed it over and sowed it to wOieat. The 

 sod was thoroughly decomposed, and it made 

 a fine dressing for the winter wheat. I think 

 I shall take the same course this coming sea- 

 .son with other meadow'land, for it pays, and 

 that is whiit we farmers work for,. whether we, 

 get it or not. Then fit the ground good, and 

 sow from three to four bushels ])er acre. Some 

 sow Western and some State corn, and some 

 mix them. I think on strong soils State is 

 best ; on higher soils. Western. The best way 

 to harvest it is to cut it with your mowing 

 machine ; put it in good-sized heajis, and let 

 it stand in the field until you wish to use it. 

 There are some fiekls of it standing in heajis 

 at this time that are nicely cured, and are in 

 good condition. One would naturally think 

 that it would spoil, but they will l)e happily 

 dis;ii)pointcd w-ith the result.s if they try it. 1 

 liave seen some cut it with sickles or corn- 

 knives, and then bind it in small bundles. 

 This method requires a great de^il of lalxir. I 

 think it don't pay. — U. Smith Courtland, New 

 Y(frk. 



UTILIZING THE GRASSHOPPER. 



We knew very well tliat the iilili2atii>n of the (.'rnns- 

 hopper was only a question of lime ; wc an- ton far 

 advanced in eeicnce and civilization to he beaten hy a 

 bug as the ancient Egy|ilian6 were, and next year, if 

 the wefteni pest should be ae nnnieroue as last year, 

 we expect to see what was undoubtctlly a ealandty 

 tnrneil into a blepsiii;;. In other words, tlie i^rass- 

 hopper is invited to come on ; the department fifat^rl- 

 cclture is now ready for him. It intends to waylay 

 him with deep trenches, squeeze a line oil fnim him, 

 and crush up his body into a compact mass, that will 

 be dried and ground into a meal which will make a 

 capital fertilizer. — AV. 



On this subject we would direct the atten- 

 tion of our readers to our remarks in the March 

 number of TiiKE.vit.MEit, pp. .34 and 3."). Not 

 because wc lay any special claim to originality 

 on the subject — for we have very little ambi- 

 tion to gratify in that behalf— but to show that 

 iililizntion, in .some form or other, is being 

 faintly fbrshadowed, and may ultimately be re- 

 sorted to, to convert what, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, is almost universally considered 

 a curse, into an unmistakable blessing. Why 

 should not the oil uf iinissliopiifr, or tlie oil of 

 jioluto-hdtlf, (lossess as much healing virtue, 

 in special disea.ses, as " coti-liver oil V" AVhy 

 should not an unction, a lubricant, or sapona- 

 ceous element be extracted fnuii these insect.s 

 as well as from a variety of other animals '/ 

 And then, its a fertilizer, what a splendid 

 question of "tit for tat " is involved. To en- 

 rich the very soil tliey rob of vegetiition, with 

 the fertilizing fat of their own detestable car- 

 c;»sse.s, woulil indeed lie "turning the tables" 

 to some gotnl account at last. Even if they 

 were jioisimous to the animal world this might 

 ikH impair their value a.s a lubricant or a fer- 

 tilizer. As a culinary preparation, provided 

 it could be demonstrated that they are health- 

 ful and nutritious, surely there is nothing 

 about them a hundredth jiart as revolting as the 

 " «c/»««/)/o»-«/rfc/t " of our Teutouiau epicures. 



