1875.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



133 



Comiiet-itioii is co-extensive witli the United 

 Stutes ami Piovinccs, and tlie citizens of tlic 

 several States and llie Dominion arc corillally 

 invited to c<)ni|)ete lor i)rizes. 



The Kxecntive Coniniiltei^ may revise the 

 preinimns awarded, and it, in its jnd^;nient 

 proper and advisable, they may alter or re- 

 verses the award of the Judges, at any regularly 

 called meeting. 



Agricultural im])lements of every descrip- 

 tion that can lie sulijceted to a prai-tieal test 

 on the grounds may be awarded premiums by 

 the Judges, not exceeding the value of a bronze 

 medal, said awards to be subject to the revi- 

 sion of the Executive Committee. 



It is reiiuired that all exhibitors shall ob- 

 tain cards, or their articles will be refused ad- 

 mission to the en<-losure; and said cards can 

 be obtained by mail, or otherwise, on applica- 

 tion to the i^ecretary, and <Ieno!uinating by 

 name and number each article entered. 



We have condensed the foregoing from the 

 Biihs for the government of the State Fair, 

 and it would be well, both for visitors and ex- 

 hibitors, to note theiu. 



POT AU FEU. 



Nothing: so well syml«>lizi"s tliu economical hablteof 



continental Eurtipi', and I'speeially France, as the pot 

 aur\:n. TIii8 is an iron pot kept t-onsLantly sininit'rini^ 

 upon tlio tin*, into wtiicli is put I'roni day to tlay all 

 tlie wliolfsonic remnants of Inod wliidi in this loini- 

 try are tlirown away. Our people, in thoir niai;niti- 

 •cent way of doini; lliinffs, never stop to consider liow 

 inudt nutriment ailhcres even to well-piel\ed tioncs 

 of porter-house stealis, mutton-chops, rilis of licet', 

 lees of mutton, etc. All these, and many thiuss 

 beside, are put into the put an feu; water, seasonins^ 

 and fraarant herbs are added as reciuired, and the 

 constant sinimerini;~a solvent for even the touijhest of 

 Texan beef — extracts every particle of marrow even, 

 and the bones come out as clean and white as if they 

 had been l)leached for years in the sun. Anions the 

 cuuimon people more than half the nutriment of the 

 day conies from put an fvn^ and if any member of the 

 family conies home at an unusual hour hungry, it 

 afl'ords at all times a meal at once warm and whole- 

 some. This explains how, as }Iui;h MeCulloeh tells 

 us, the 4(I,0()(),00U of France could live on what the 

 40,IH>(),01H) of America tlii'ow away, and when we 

 consider the wretched cookery that prevails in this 

 country, it is not too much to alUrm that they live 

 twice as well as do our farmers and day laborers. 



We acknowledge that we have faUli in 

 "Tot au feu," although untried by us. We 

 seem to inhale and relish its fragrant odor. 

 Anything but the execrable cookery that 

 characterizes the greater number of the <lomes- 

 tic establishments of America, even where the 

 material is liountifully provided. A wonitm 

 may pass thrtiugh fifty or sixty years of mar- 

 ried life, and during that period she will adoiit 

 every fashion, mode and custom, as it is intro- 

 duced, and would feel very uncomfortable 

 and even unhappy, if she could not do so, no 

 matter how expensive, inconvenient, or unbe- 

 coming such fashions, modes and customs 

 might be ; and yet, during till that loug |ieriod 

 she will persevere in fidlowing, fundamentally, 

 the style and manm^r of cooking and baking 

 that she learned from her mother. .She will 

 cheerfully discard the costumes and fashions 

 of her mother, but, without the least rellec- 

 tion or inventive genius, she will retain all 

 hertdjsolete modes of cooking and baking, and 

 if perchance she s/ioh/i? make any "departure" 

 from these, it will oidy be superlieially, retain- 

 ing all the underlying ]rriiiciijlcs, just as of old. 



Therefore, give us Put uu /(», even if it is 

 composed of grasshoppers, snails, rats or 

 lioi-se, nither than this stale and monotonous 

 style of cookery. 



The housewife inadvertently attends mar- 

 ket, and — for cheap — buys a "shin-lieef. " 

 This she puts into a pot of water and boils, 

 and boils and boil.s, adding water as it " boils 

 away. " .She will then introduce some chopped 

 cabbage, tomatoes,carrots, green corn, parsley, 

 potatoes, tvirnips, a little pastry and perhaps 

 s<ime herbs. When this is all thoroughly 

 boiled, and the necessary qutintity of water 

 added thereto, it is turned out into a tureen 

 and is served as nothing but a common soup, 

 when, perhaps, it is the lje.st, most wholesome 

 and most reli.shable thing she cotdd possibly 

 make. Tliis approximates to Pol aufeu. I3ut 



wdiat becomes of the shin ? Why, there it is; 

 a dry, shruid<en, bleatdied and tasteless muss, 

 about as easily digested as scraps of leather, 

 and lit only for the stomtieh of an ostrich. 

 The sidistance has nearly all been taken up by 

 the soup. What then should be done with ifi* 

 Why, tliere are many things that might be 

 done with it, and would reciuire less executive 

 .skill to accomplish, than is riMiuired to "do 

 up" an old or unfashionable dress or bonntd. 

 If it were limly minced and onions, cream and 

 herbs, with other proper seasoning were added 

 it might be made palatable anil wholesome, 

 although the strength extracted by the soup 

 could never be restored. 



Why is it that there arc so many restaur- 

 ants, (lilting sahxins and " refectories" in the 

 country, where one individual spends daily as 

 much as is ajipropriated to sustain a fitmily 

 of six or eight y Not because all men go there 

 from (dioice, unciualified by other considera- 

 tions, but because they are ronijirUnl (o muke 

 a choice between the stivory and orderly served 

 up meals they get there, and the unsavory and 

 carelessly served meals (hey get at home. Xo 

 human being can be mentally and spiritually 

 comfortable who is not so physically. And 

 while we would uneiiuivoeally repudiiite every 

 species of gourmand ism, or thtit ulterior motive 

 which mercdy "lives to eat," we as earn- 

 estly insist upon properly prepared, properly 

 served, prf^perly ap])ropriated and properly 

 timed meals, as we do tiiion proper periods of 

 labor, and proper rtdigious exercises. The 

 manner, the time and the qutility of the 

 meal should be the good housewife's /;'c.<f con- 

 sideration, and everything else should be 

 subordintite to it ; wdten, in point of ftict and 

 physical importance, everything else seems to 

 be superior to it ; which is all wrong, seeing 

 that our pliysicid, moral and social structures 

 and their ecotiomies, are based upon rational 

 eating. Besides, the meal is perhaps the only 

 time in the twenty-four hours in the day, 

 when the whole family are brought face to 

 face together ; therefore, all we eat and drink 

 should be "eaten and drunken to the glory of 

 God." 



HISTORIC TREE— A LANDMARK OF 

 THREE COUNTIES. 



At the point where the counties of Uerks, Leliaiion 

 and Lancaster come tot'ctlier, tliere stood for maiiy 

 years an immense chestnut tree, whicli served to 

 mark the boundary point of the three counties. This 

 tree was one of the most rcmarkatjle in this section 

 of the State. The circumference four feet from the 

 ground measured twenty-nine and one-half feet, and 

 the branches of the tree covered nearly half an acre of 

 ground, some of the limbs extending in a horizontal 

 direction from the tree for a distance of seventy feet, 

 making the dianietcrof the circle covered and shaded 

 by the tree some 110 feet. The tree was apparently 

 over a century old, and gave evidence of liviufj to a 

 still greater age. There were signs of decay at the 

 top, however, and old dead braiichce protruded at 

 various points through the deep green foliage. This 

 tree served to mark the boundary of the three coun- 

 ties, from the time that Lebanon was cut oil' from 

 Lancaster, at which time it is said to have been a very 

 large tree, and was selected on account of being the 

 monarch of the forest in which it stood. Some 

 twenty-live or thirty years ago the tree was struck 

 by lightning, and partially destroyed. A few years 

 later it was again visited by lightning, and the wreck 

 of the tree completed. A sand.stone pedestal was 

 afterwards erected in the centre of the stump, having 

 three sides or faces, the name of the corrcB|)onding 

 county being cut on each face. The name on the 

 Berks coiuity side has been spelled by tins stone-cut- 

 ter, "Barks," and that on the Lebanon side, "Liba- 

 non." This stone marks the most northern point of 

 Lancaster county, and is situated on the highest point 

 of land between Berks and Lancaster. It is situated 

 in a dense tract of chestnut timber, aliout twenty rods 

 from the jiublic road leading from Kobesonia to Kein- 

 holdsvillc, Lancaster county, about four miles south 

 of the former place. The stump of the chestnut tree 

 mentioned can still be seen. The tree, on account of 

 its great size, has been heretofore indicated ou dif- 

 ferent county maps, and been marked as the "Big 

 Tree." — Jitadimj TiincA. 



The foregoing revives the recollection of a 

 visit which u-e, in company with Messrs. J. 

 Stauffer, L. S. Rei.st, C T."F<ix and A. Har- 

 ris, made in the summer of 1870. The famous ! 

 old tree — then already numbered with the 

 things that were — indeed did stand in a most 



lonely s]iot on the liigh grounds that form a 

 ntitursil dividing line Ixdween the counties of 

 IJerks, Lancaster and Ktditinon; and the peeu- 

 litir inamier of spelling Berks recalled the 

 frightful lireslde tales of an old gentleman, 

 born and bred theret who visited "our house" 

 about live and lifly years tigo, and who iiiva- 

 riiilily pronounced tins name of the county 

 "l$arri(ks. " TIks translation of the name 

 is probably duis to some ancient "I'ennsylvania 

 Dutchman," not widl versed in (diaiiges in the 

 sounds of the roirdu, and who prided himself 

 in being litinil, if not lihcrol, in his transla- 

 tion. Thcs letter « in the; (ierman, being of 

 the same value as (t in bdU, might etisily 

 have suggested the letter a instead of e in 

 the translation ; and that supervening, it 

 would Very readily run into the .sound of a in 

 (Ilk, which is the most eoinmon sound of « 

 among the "ereole"(;ermans. I'erhaps every 

 lifth man in the rural districds of IJerks county 

 would this chiy pronounce and write tlie name 

 JSdikx, or Jionirks.* The iiiunes of both Lan- 

 ciister and IJerks are derived from the two 

 shires of tho.sc- names hi Kngland, xliiri lieing 

 of the same values as anutti/. JJy the same 

 rule the letter i in tierman is of the same 

 value as e iu English, and hence Eibanon 

 would liUndlij follow. JUit that is neither 

 "here nor there" ju.stattliis time, for no mat- 

 ter how people m;iy spell the ntimes of the.se 

 three gretit I'eun.sylvania counties, the cctun- 

 ties them.scdves are llurc, jind in agricultural 

 and minertil resources are able to take their 

 stand iimoiig the productive counties of the 

 State and nation. 



On the visit we refer to our party took shel- 

 ter, during an impending rain-fall, under the 

 "balcony" of the Textor niiinsion, the lands 

 of which lie in the three counties alxive ntimed. 

 Our purpose h;ul been to visit the "Milbtich 

 head" and take a view of the Ephratti valley, 

 but the view was ob.scured by a heavy pall of 

 dark clouds, and our object was entirely de- 

 feated, and hits not since lieeii attained. 



We saw nothing about the Textor ftinns — 

 a tract of about thirteen hundred acre-s— that 

 was very tidy or attractive;, although the .stock 

 and culture were of a good order. Thingscon- 

 sidered cssnilial were wellattended to ; but in 

 the no)i-essL))tials, things looked hap-hazard, 

 slovenly and uninviting. The ruling spirit 

 Seemed to be to get out of the soil all thtit was 

 in it, and to hotird it in the form of money or 

 its equivalent ; and if the soil was replenished, 

 it was only with the ultimate objec-t of getting 

 more out of it. Such a thing as emlHdlishing 

 and beiiutifying the external surroundings 

 never seemed to have had a pkiee in the do- 

 mestic curriculum of the proprietor. 



If we mistake not, the "historic tree" alwvo 

 alluded to stood upon this farm. We mounted 

 the "sandstone pedestal" in the centre of the 

 old stump, and cast stones iuto the counties 

 of Lancaster, IJerks and I>ebauon, and re- 

 called the time, when a boy, hing years ago, 

 WIS stood in the extreme angles of Kapho town- 

 ship, and cast stones into the town.ships of 

 West Ilempfuld and East Donegal, and 

 thought it iin extraordinary feat. 



PEACHES. 



As a whcde, the pe^acli crop of I/incaster 

 county, the present seascjn, litis Ih-cii a partial 

 failure, although in some loctilities Ihe^y have 

 done wedl, making perhaps two-thirels of a, 

 crop, and of good cjutility. Neverthele.ss, our 

 market is tlooded with peaches, to an extent 

 thiU we have never noticed Ijefore. The«c 

 are mainly brought here from the Stiite of 

 Delaware, and are scdd at pric^es ranging from 

 fifty cents to one dollar i>er ba.sket. Of course, 

 the low i)riced articles are very inferior. In- 

 deed, the crop in that little State w.as too 

 large to mature good fruit as a general result. 

 Owing to the high freight, ])e-ache's still com- 

 mand a high price proportioned to the ejuan- 

 tity ou hand. It is remarktible how uniform 

 the prices are all over the county, the whole 



'JuHt aH tbcn? ftrc fttill many people Id Lancaflter connty 

 vhn prouoiiiioe the name Lrng-tjMh-ttr or iMnk-i^-ter^ in* 

 Bleacl of Lan-cwi-lcn 



