1S75.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



115 



(lozons of coooons, on llio inside, will Ite 

 t'onnd each contiiininLj a worm, so that their 

 pupal period must lio comparatively short. 

 There anMnany interest in-r trait.s in the, his- 

 tory ofthe codiini: moth whieh would he more 

 jiroperly detailed in a work exehisively di'- 

 voled lo insects. The foregoing must sullice 

 in this place for tho present. 



THE PENNSYLVANIA CROPS. 



The wlieat liarvost In tills State Is nearly over. In 

 ■ sonic of the liiliest a!;ricullural counties, such as Lan- 

 caster ami Cluster, tin' irc)|i is unusually IWit, ami 

 In tlie western uikI norlliern counties many of the 

 flelils are nut conslileiiil worth cutting. The extreimly 

 colli weather ami the seareity of snow last winter are 

 rcs|Kinsil>le lor the small yields. In the Cuniherlaiiil, 

 I.clpamin artd Juniata valleys, nhirc the Jeeii snow 

 eovereil the (irounil uninterruplecUy for several 

 months, the crop Is heavy ami eonsiileratily in excess 

 of MieavcniL-'e, ami in the eastern, I'enlral ;iml south- 

 ern counties it is ircnerally larire ami excellent. In 

 Dauphin ami surroumlini; counties, with one or two 

 exee|itions, the wheat crop has not been lielter for 

 several years. Oats arc almost rcaily to lie harvested. 

 The crop Is uniformly jjfooil, ami \\ ill be the heaviest 

 for live years, almost doulilins^ that of last year. 

 Corn, altliou:;h backward in many places, becauseof 

 the sprim; drouirht, promises more than an average 

 yield. The drought has uenenilly rendercil the hay 

 crop very short, especially clover. The jKitato croji 

 will be immense, uotwithstandlua: the ravages of the 

 Colorado-bug. 



The ahovc, which is going the rounds of the 

 press, is a (air rellex of the crop status of the 

 ■whole country. In p.a.ssing down through the 

 entire State of Delaware, about the middle of 

 July, we found all the wheat and rye harvested, 

 and some farmers had commenced cutting their 

 oals ; and while, in the aggregate, the results 

 di<l not seem promising, yet there were some 

 llelds that presented as line a " show "—judg- 

 ing from the number and size of the standing 

 shocks — as ever wc have seen anywhere, or at 

 any time; especially on the lands pointed out 

 as belonging — or having belonged — to the dis- 

 tinguished Clayton family; and as to p(.(icli'.i, 

 the great fruit staple of the .State, the crop will 

 be ilislnssimih/ large; and this will be augment- 

 ed by a coniiiarativcly large crop of peaches in 

 Pennsylvania and Maryland. Since that time, 

 we have had a conversation with our friend, .1. 

 11. II., of the Mt. Joy Herald, who had just 

 returned from an extended triiitlirough Penn- 

 sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 

 Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Utah, and 

 he rejjresented the i!rops as generally good, in 

 some localities superlatively so, the drought, 

 the "chinch," the gra-sslioppcr and potato- 

 beetle, to the contrary notwithstanding. Corn, 

 jiotaloes and tobacco, on the whole, look ex- 

 ceedingly promising, notwithstanding their 

 late start. If tin; weather is favorable after 

 the see<l is planted, late planting nmkcs but 

 little dillereiice in tlie perfection of the grain 

 or fruit. A very striking instance of this kind 

 came under our observation the present sea- 

 son. As one of the ellects of last winter's 

 cold, wc have a grape vine that only liegan to 

 put forth its leaves on the first of June, when 

 other vines in i>r(iximity to it were already in 

 bloom, and, of course, we ntiturally supposed 

 these wouUI be a month behind the others all 

 througli the season, but this is likely to be 

 otherwise. When these late ones were in 

 bloom, the others had already clusters of graiies 

 with the berries as large as marrow fat peas; 

 but now^ (August 10) there is no distinction 

 whatever between them. IJotli are Isabelhi, 

 and boih bid fair to rijien at the same time. 

 Of course, if the retarding causes continue, 

 there will be a diU'erence in the ripening peri- 

 ods, corresponding with the starting period, 

 but if other things are favorable to natural 

 tlevcloiiment, the outcome will lie alike in late 

 or early i)lantiug, budding or blooming. 



In a recent conversiition with Col. B., one 

 of the Kansas "colonists" who left Lancas- 

 ter a few years ago, and who has returned to 

 Pemisylvania to fill an aiiiiointment at Beth- 

 lehem, he informed us that the agiicultural 

 prospects of Katisas never were better than 

 they are now. notwithstanding the depr(>da- 

 tions counnitted by the '• Hocky Moimtain 

 Locusts " last year. The second brood of these 



in.sects are a sort of "mules," and an; inca- 

 pable of procreating a third brood. MoriMiver, 

 they iH'conie infested liy a species of parasite, 

 wliieh either destroys tln^m or renders them 

 abortives Besides, our country is so vast, and 

 so diversified in its soil and climate, that a 

 general I'ailnie in the crops is an ahini.st impos- 

 sible event. .Villi to lliis, our int-woik of ex- 

 tended railroiids, canals, ami lake and river 

 navigation, is so great, our means for the dif- 

 fusion of knowledge so ample, and our other 

 facilitii'S generally are so multitudinous, that 

 when a failure in tin' crops occurs in one State 

 <n' district, the deficit can be easily ami promptly 

 supplied by anothttr one more tiivoiably situ- 

 ated, and this almost without limit. 



Bad as things are ri'presented in Lanca.stcr 

 county the ine.sent .sea.son, before the end of 

 it conies, it will be fouml th;it the crops will 

 result in their usual equalization, unless some 

 improbable and nnforseen calamity should 

 suildenly previMit it. 



In this connection we would state that the 

 oats, corn and potatoes, of Lancaster cotmty, 

 including also the tobacco, priunises iui aver- 

 age yield. 'J'he wheat, rye and hay will be 

 sliort, but the (piality was never better, and 

 the prospects nmv, for a "second crop " of hay 

 are as good as usual. Mr. Milton B. Eshle- 

 man. of Paradise township, sent to us two spe- 

 cimens of oats as fine as wc have ever seen. 

 They were of the varieties known as the ".skin- 

 less " and the " potato oats. " The former wa.s 

 fotu' feet tall, and the latter four and a half 

 feet, and the seeds of the latter were as plump, 

 heavy, and abimdant as usual. The skinkss 

 variety was, perhaps, not so prolific. The 

 grain of this kind conies from the husks or 

 glumes, naked, like wheat or rye. Fronithrei; 

 grains of this variety, distrilmled tlirough tho 

 Agricultural deimrtinent, he raised seventeen 

 large stalks, as bi^fore stated, and each con- 

 taining the usual quantity of seeds. Oats in 

 general will be short in the straw, hut the 

 yield and the weight of grain will lie far bet- 

 ter thtiii was at first anticipated. The general 

 garden and late field crops, are abundant and 

 of an excellent quality. Potatoes, jieas, beans 

 and cabbages were never better at this season 

 of the year, and radishes are a drmj. On the 

 whole, it seems almost profane to indulge in 

 lamentations. 



Condition of the Wheat Crop. 



A despatch from 'Washington says that the 

 returns of the Department of Agriculture 

 for Jtdy 1st show the condition of sjiring 

 and winter wheat together at about 82 

 per cent, on an average!. Winter wheat, in- 

 cluding California, average 74, and spring 

 wheat Ufi. The sjiring wheat States in the 

 Northeast and Northwest are generally in 

 high conilition. Of the winter wheat area, the 

 South Atlantic and (iulf Slates ixw generally 

 above the average, but in the Middle States 

 the conditioH is very low. New York ranging 

 down to 45. West of tho Allegheny the jiros- 

 pcct is bv'tter, the State average being be- 

 tween 71 in Ohio and 95 in Iowa. California 

 reports winter wheat at 70, and spring w'licat 

 at 55. 



BITS AND DIMES. 



There are comparatively few of us, perhaps, who 

 are not in the habit of usin!,'irapro|>eranil untrramina- 

 tieal words and expressions, kiiowini; them lo be 

 such; many of which, through Inrces of habit, have 

 become so common a inoiii; the masses, that they seem 

 almost excusable; yet here in Calilornia there are 

 some which stand out so proniiiient that they sccni 

 almost unpardonable. The most universally adopted, 

 yet inexcusable word for business pe<iple — men and 

 women of sense — to ust', is " bits," wlien applied to 

 money — twelve and one-Iialf cents — just as bad and 

 no worse than " levy,'' the name commonly made use 

 of for the same sum in the .Suit hern States. Now I 

 neither know nor care how, why, when, or wherefore 

 those terms eainc into use; it is enough to know that 

 there are no such denominations in federal money — 

 a.H moat school children are tloubtless aware; there- 

 fore I woulil humbly suggest that " children of a 

 larger growth" discard the use of the outlandish 

 words, " bit " and " levy " altogether, and, as loyal 

 AmerU'au citi/ens, adopt in tln'ir stead, dime^ and 

 cents, that our brother cilizenK from other States, may 



not feel that Ihey have entered a foreign country tho 

 moment they commence \m do business in Califurniu 

 or the .South. 



The above extract wo clip from the Colifor- 

 nia correspondence of the ('<im]> Niir.i of May 

 1st, 1S75, on till! monetaiy system of tho 

 "(iolden State." Wi! admire the writer's 

 liatriotii; zeid, but we think any attempt to 

 reform the: coin nonuMickituie of ;i siH'cio- 

 circulating community, will only Ik- an exhi- 

 bition of Don (Quixote's attack on the wind- 

 mills, and <piit<! as inelTectual. 



He need not have gone so far iW California 

 to find ;i field of laltor of that kind, for the. 

 term "bit" isstill used nearer home. .Mthough 

 the terms "lip" and "levy" were very 

 generally used in Pennsylvania almost up to 

 the period of the last suspension of specit; pay- 

 ments by {.]]!• banks, yet, forty years ago, and 

 at a more recent dale — pi'i haps at the |iri'Sent 

 lime — the U'tiwa jiicHi/urK and Ijit were applied 

 lo half dimes an<l dimes, and to the Spani.sh 

 and ^lexican sixteenths anil eighths of a ilol- 

 lar^ — commonly called "sixpence" and "eleven- 

 ])ence"— all along the Ohio and Mississippi 

 rivers, from Pillsbiirg iiml St. Louis down to 

 New Orleans. Therefore California is not re- 

 sponsible for the oriijin of these names; they 

 were carried over along with many other vul- 

 garisms by emigrants from this side of the 

 Pocky mountains, and they will probably re- 

 main where thej' are forfy ye.'irs longer. 



Indeed, we think that "i>ieayime'' and 

 " bit "—especially t he latter— are likely to sur- 

 vive longer, and will be more diirt^Ih to eradi- 

 cate than " lip" and " levy " have. In this 

 fast age people adopt things " for>4iort," and 

 it has always been a my.stery to us how the 

 term pirayxne became so general along tho 

 Ohio and Mis.sissippi rivers, seeing that it i.s a 

 word of three syllables. In some i>arts of New 

 York State the terms "sixpence" and "shil- 

 ling" are still used for our fractional currency, 

 although the originals which these terms re- 

 presented have Ijeen long replaced by our pres- 

 ent intjier i.ssne. To effect ;i thorough reform, 

 the whole population must engage in tho 

 work; and especially merchants and shopmen 

 of different kinds, must fix and name their 

 prices, in accordance with our national denom- 

 inations. Tliric cents, fire crnts. and ten <nxts, 

 are too long forour people, and if Jmu liecoines 

 ever universally adopted, it will be because it 

 is short. 



The suspension of specie payments and the 

 issue of fractional currency, have done much 

 in displacing the terms Jip, hit and levy, but 

 still the terms ilimc ;ind half-dime are hardly 

 ever used, except as a " tla.sh " term. It is 

 wonderful how tenaciously we adhere to old 

 names, even when their significance hits iiassert 

 away. 



Some years ago, seeing that the iieojile vnuld 

 insist on short names, a verj' learned and in- 

 telligent authority suggested " tbriii " for tho 

 first three cent pieces coined, and " (ip " for 

 the five cent pieces, "dime" being deemed 

 sullieieiitly short and expressive ; but, to use 

 a vulgarism, he might as well have attempted 

 to " imniii thunder," as to get the people to 

 listen to it or heed it. 



These things are not only so in regard to our 

 money nomenclature, but they also perviulc 

 many other things in the aiiplication of com- 

 mon names. Even with the destruction of 

 millions of dollars worth of property by the 

 "Rocky Moimtain liocusl.s " in the AVestcrn 

 States, and their identity with the "Egyptian 

 Locu.sts," peo])le still insist on calling them 

 (jrasshopiicrs, and in applying the name of 

 Uicxcst to an insect that cannot possibly (at any- 

 thing, and cannot even suck anj-thing, except 

 it is in a llnid state, and is i-arely or never 

 seen doing even that. 



More, much more light must yet lie ditVuscd 

 on all subjects, and thai light must find a plane 

 for its reception and its elUux, iM'fiu-e Ihero 

 can he a thorough and practical reform in any 

 department of human life and action. These 

 views may not te "loy;il," but they arc — 

 FACT. 



Ocpse always (lock together, 

 Eagles are usually solitary. 



