1S75.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



137 



STATE AND COUNTY FAIRS FOR 1875. 

 State, Provincial, etc. 



Alabiinia Sdum Oct. 2R-Nov'r 1 



Ann'riciiuI'romolo(^cal. .Chicago Septeml>er S-10 



Culiforiiia Kucniinento Septcinlier IB-'25 



Ciliciimat i luduat riul . . . . Cinciiilmti Sept . S-()ctol>'r 9 



Colorado Denver Keiitember 21-25 



Conuecticut Hartford October 6~ S 



OeorKiu Macou October lSJ-23 



Oonnautuwu Hortlc'l Oeniiaiitowu Reptenitjer 7- 9 



IllilloiH Ottawa September i:i-lS 



Indiaua Iiulianapolis Sept. 9-Oct'r '.i 



Iowa Keokuk Sept. '.'7 Oct'r 1 



KauHaH City Exhil>ition..KaiiHas City, Mo. .Septeml)er 13-lS 



Ix>uiKville ludustrlal I.oiU8viUe, Ky Sejit. 1-Oct'r 10 



Maine Portland September 21-24 



Maine Promological WlHcaHnet September 21-24 



Mauuf. * Mech. Ex St. John, N. B. . . .Seplember 7 



Maryland lialtimore September 14-17 



MaKHacUllHettB Hortic'l. .lioHton Se])tember 21-24 



MeclianicM San FnmciBCO. . . .Aug. 17-Sept. 17 



Micbigau East Saginaw September IH-IT 



Minnesota , St. Paul Septeniljer 14-17 



Montana Helena Sept. 27-Oct'r 2 



National Exposition Rome, Oa October 4- 9 



Nebraska Omaha September 21-24 



Nevada ^~— October 4- 9 



5iew England Manohester.N. H..Sei)tember 7-1(1 



New iTersey Waverley September 20-24 



New York EIniira Sept. 27-Oct'r 1 



Ohio ColumbHB October (J-IO 



Oregon , Salem October 11-1(1 



remisylvania Lancaster Sept. 27-Oct'r 1 



Rhode island Providence October 5- 7 



SI. Louis Aasociatiou St. Louis, Mo October 4- 9 



Virginia Richmond October 2rt-3n 



Washington Territory... October 18-23 



West Virginia Clarkelnirg September 7- 9 



Wisconsin Milwaukee September G-h) 



Nafl Poult ry AsBoc'u.... Chicago, 111 Jan. 20-28, 1876 



County Fairs in Pennsylvania. 



Adams • Oettysburg September 28-30 



Beaver Beaver Sept. 28-Oct. 1 



Berks Kuiztown October 5-8 



Berks Reading Seplember 14-17 



Bucks Duylestown October 5- 8 



Chartier'8 Valley Cannousbnrg September 28-30 



Chester Ambler Park Sejitember 21-24 



Chester Oxford Sei>tember 22-24 



Chester W'e.at Chester September 8-11 



Crawforil TilnsvlUe October 4- 7 



Dauphin Millersburg September 7-10 



Daui)hiu Gratz September 14-17 



East Penu Norristown September 14-17 



Fayette Browaisville Sejit. 30 Oct'r 1 



Greene Carmichael's September IG-IS 



Greene Wayuesburg Sept. 30-Oct'r 1 



Lawrence Harlansbnrg September 21-23 



Lebanon Avon September 21-24 



Lehigh AUentown Sept. 29-Oct'r 2 



Mercer Stoneboro September S-10 



Montgomery .\nibler Station. .Sejit, 31-24 



Northami>ton Easton October .V 8 



Northern Pennsylvania. .Erie October 5- 8 



Northumberland Sun bury Sept. 2tv-0ct'r 1 



Schuylkill Orwigsbnrg.. . Sept. ^8-Oct'r 1 



Snyder Middling October 5- 8 



Washington Washington Sept. 30-Oct'r 1 



Westmoreland Greensburg Sept. 29-Oct'r 2 



York York October 5- 8 



LETTERS, QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Shade Trees for Stock and Profit. 



Nearly every farm or field ini<;ht have plenty of 

 Bliade trees with very litlh* expense if the owners 

 would only make up llieir niiiid.s that it shall be doue. 

 But our aim should he to raise or pliiut sucli trees as 

 would trrow into profit the quickest. Locust along 

 roadsides, lanes or fences, and in iiulleys or hollows, 

 and in corners of tields, or any waste places thateaii't 

 easily be fanned, niiijht be made to pay well for their 

 keepinj;, and also allord excellent shade for stock in 

 summer. A few walnut and poplar, and other use- 

 ful trees, mijiht be planted aloii!; the streams. Wil- 

 lows will soon form a very toui^h bark that the floods 

 will not injure, vS:c. Trees aloni^ roads or lanes will 

 not injure the fields vei-y mucli. They di-aw lialf 

 tlicir nourislinient from tlie road, and in a few years 

 will be worth much more than tlieir cost and trouble. 

 But some- men don't see any profit in it. Tom Care- 

 less says, "Too much troul>le, and costs too mucli to 

 start 'cm." I tell him that it will pay belter for tlie 

 trouble and expense than many other things wljich 

 are often done on a farm. Tom says : "Yes; but 

 there isCharlcy Halfdone, he tried it : a few years ago 

 he bought a whole load of locust tr(;cs and stuck 'em 

 along the road, and they didn't do any good; tliey 

 nearly all died or blowed over, and the borers got at 

 the others." I said I didn't wonder tiiey did no 

 good, ft)r I saw they were only stuck in the edge of 

 the bank outside of the fence, and the dirt wore away 

 and they fell over, one afier another, before they g(»t 

 a good iiold with their roots. You see it was only 

 halfdone. Now, Tom, just take a ItKjk at John 

 Donewcll's lane; you see there along eacli side a 

 siilendid row of locust about fifteen years old, and I 

 don't think there is one tree missing. He planted 

 tliem inside of tlic fence, and had it done well. Tom 

 says now he sees it does help to set off a farm, and 

 thinks he will try it too ne.xt sijrintr. Now, to show 

 Tom that it does pay, I want him to take a look at 

 Mr. James Postwood's farm ; there you will see 

 along the road a great many locust trees, from 20 to 

 30 years' growth, fit to cut for (Kists, and along his 

 lane and otlier fences a great many other trees in fine, 



thriving eondition. Only a few years back he cut a 

 few clusters of locust trees, and they made over f'iOO 

 worth of iKjsls. Now the sjirouts from those stumps 

 prow with wonderfully strong growth, and in a few 

 more years they will be ready for jmisIs. 1 tidl you 

 that .Mr. Poslwnod's larm turns olf a great many 

 more posts than is needed on his farm, and brings as 

 good crops as could be expect ed on any farm. If trees 

 are planted on tlie south side of roads or streams, 

 their shade w ill not do as much harm to the farm 

 land as they would on the opposite side. A brother 

 in Illinois says in a letter to me that locust woiiM not 

 do liny good there, for it has been tri(^d, and the bor- 

 ers are too bad on them. I still write to him that I 

 would try il, at any rate. I think if he would sow 

 the seed by tlie acre on his prairie farm, that in a 

 few years, when they get well rooted, they woiddgct 

 ahead of the borers. I iiotie(^ here in Lancaster 

 county, at some places, the borers are bad, and yet 

 In the same field, or the next one to it, the trees do 

 very well, and are not much atlectcd with them. I 

 could show some vci'v nice locust trees now that 

 were some years ago eaten oil" by the worms. It is a 

 very good [)lan for each farmer to start his own lo- 

 cust nursery, and then the trees can be transplanted 

 fresh from the nursery at the proper lime. .\ great 

 deal of money has been spent anil work done for 

 trees that were not lifted carefully, and had been out 

 of ground too long before they were planted again. I 

 have seen wagon loads of trees jterish Just because 

 they were not properly transplanted. If you want to 

 put money on interest in a safe bank, then plant trees 

 for profit. — JouN B. Euil, Liiite Valky. 



Letter from North Carolina. 



The wheat and oat cn^ps are gathered and threshed. 

 I sjioke to quite a number of farmers from this and 

 other counties around, and while many say the crop 

 of wheat turned out well, it would still have been bet- 

 ter hail it nt)t been for thecold spclland frost in April 

 last. I believed then that all wheat was injured more 

 or less, and those farmers with whom I have 6|K>ken 

 lately agree with me now, that this caused the wheat 

 crop to be 13',' per cent, less than it would have been 

 hail it not then been injured. 



The oat crop turned out remarkably well, as far as 

 I have seen, and could learn by inquiry. 



The corn crop, if nothing now injures it, will be the 

 best that has been made here since the year ISdO. 



We have had rather too much rain for cotton, still 

 all reports to me are that it promises a, good yield. 

 Tobacco also looks well. 



Joseph Ilorroh sowed 1\^ bushels Fultz wheat 

 last fall on ^^ of an acre lot, which yielded ■ini^ 

 busliels of clean, fine wheat. Hon. Burton Craige 

 sowed 3^:i bushels of wheat last fall on 3)^ of an 

 acre of ground, which yielded ('i'.)h: bushels of good 

 clean wheat, and the land not good, which shows 

 what it would produce if it was as well fed and culti- 

 vated as Lancaster county farmers manage and culti- 

 vate lands. I believe here is a good opening for those 

 who are seeking new homes, cheap land, mild and 

 genial climate, and healthy eounti'y,sh(mld any wish 

 to settle here, but fearful of liiV' or property being un- 

 safe. I will say to all such, you will be as safe here 

 as anywhere, your own country not excepted. Not- 

 withstanding 1 have heard some of your Laucaster- 

 countians express great distaste for North Carolina, 

 for whom I have the greatest respect, and kindest 

 feelings, I believe they are biased and prejudiced 

 against this country. -Vnd I further believe if your 

 people would come here and examine this country, 

 and learn its soil, climate, and the character of the 

 people thoroughly, and the advantages North C'aro- 

 lina |>os6csses, some at least would move here in pre- 

 ference to going west. I speak unbiasedly, and the 

 only and true motive I have, is to hold this section of 

 country U|i in its true light, and if I can, by so doing, 

 benefit others, I shall feel myselfamply compensated 

 for my work. 



Much rain fell here for a fortnight past, too much 

 for cotton and also lor corn in low lands, Intt a fine 

 season for ui>land corn. Potatoes, turnips and to- 

 bacco are said to be looking fine. 



Farmers here are turning land, and making pre- 

 parations to sow wheat. W. H.Crawford, said to be 

 the largest farmer in this (liowan) county, has 1,(KH) 

 acres in cultivatirm. and is running thirty phiws. 



Preparations are being made for the iigricultural 

 and mechanical fair to be hehl here in October next, 

 of which we may speak again. 



This place has shipped in one season 2,000 bar- 

 rels of dried blackberries, '2,000 barrels of dried 

 apples and peaches, 3,000balesof cotton, 10, (KK) bales 

 of forage, such as hay, fodder and shucks, .'50,000 

 bushels of corn, .'10,000 bushels of meal, :;o,000 hush- 

 els of oats — no small shipments, considering so many 

 other places near by ship the same articles. This 

 season berries and apples will be short, and no dried 

 peaches to ship. — -M. K., Halislmiy, N. C, Aug. 30, 

 1S75. 



Some Experiments with Ground Bones. 



In the spring of 1874, in a field prepared for plant- 

 ing corn, upon which there had previously been 

 applied ground bones at the rate of .')((() poiiiuls to the 

 acre, we carefully measured with a surveyor's chain 



several equal iX)rtlons of ground, and applied enough 

 Ixine meal. In addilion to what il had already re- 

 ceived, to make the whole amount on the dillVrent 

 measured {K^rtions be at the rate of 1,(MM), 2,(XM> and 

 4,0(M) pounds respectively. The ertrn was all cut 

 and husked t<igether, so that no c(>mparlson of re- 

 sults was made on that crop. The corn was p<T- 

 ceptibly larger, however, where the extra quantity of 

 bone was applied. 



This vear, when the oate which Bueeeeded the com 

 was riiM', that on each piece of measured ground was 

 harvested separately; also another and adjoining 

 [Kirt ion of the same size as the others from the rest 

 of the Held, and which had received .VJO ixmnds of 

 bone per acre. Kroni this we ascertained that the 

 yields of the diirerent pieces, (commencing with tliu 

 one that had received .'iOO |Kiunds jx'r acre) was at 

 the rate per acre of 37 bushels of oats and 1,020 

 liounds of straw, 38i.; bushels of oats and 1,040 

 |K)und8 of straw, 41'^ bushels of oats and 1,080 

 pounds of straw, and .W.; bushels of oats and l.'.l'iO 

 jHiunds of straw. It would have added much tolho 

 value of the cxi>erlinent if a |iicce had been tried 

 without any iMine meal, but the thought of trying It 

 did not occur until after the field had been sown all 

 over. 



Krom this exp<'rlinent It will be seen that the In- 

 crease In the pr<Kliiction of grain and straw Is greater 

 In [iroixirlion to the increase In the quantity of iHino 

 dust applied, and not less, as has been sup|Hised by 

 many fanners. It does not, however, show Kuffleienl 

 increase to pay for the extra quantity of Ixmes ; but 

 when we remember how slow lK)ne8 decomjiose. It 

 will be safe to conclude that succeeding crops will bu 

 benefited more than this one, and that a similar In- 

 crease in the wheat and crop of grass which follows, 

 together with the benefit the corn received, will bo 

 more than sutllclent to pay for the Ijones. — VV. I'. B., 

 Liberty St^nare^ Lancaster C'o.^ I'a. 



Answers to Querists. 

 ^fr.A, S. A"., .Vaiifu^im towtixfiip. — The beetles that 

 excavate your ijcaches, burying their whole bodies In 

 them, are Cetonin iiida, of Linna'US, and are llie typo 

 of a large family belonging to the section Lameli-I- 

 coitiN.i, or " leaf-horned beetles," because their <iii- 

 tenna, or horns, are terminated by a laminated club, 

 like the leaves of a book. These beetles arc bred 

 from a white "grub" widch is usually found in the 

 ground, or in old wood in a much decayed condition. 

 It is ouly the mature insect that attarks fruit. Wo 

 have never known them to be very abundant in Lan- 

 caster county. We have frequently found a few of 

 these infesting roses, ripe pears and rijw sweet ajiples, 

 and judging from their general taste we are not at all 

 surprised that they should attack your Ius<'lous 

 peaches. Indeed, nearly the whole family to which 

 they belong manifest a partiality for sweet, thoroughly 

 ripe and luscious fruit. Of course, when tWo or three 

 of these beetles get into a ripe iHMch. it soon liegins 

 to decay thereafter. The lart<a of Lamellie4;>rn bee- 

 tles have been very plentiful the present season, de- 

 stroying rose bushes, grape vines, |>car trees, iSe., by 

 devouring their roots. 1 know of no remedy except 

 hand picking. Their larva usually mature in rotten 

 wood or in the ground. 



The Ant Pest. 



Answer to " TTuHAikecpcr." — My wife was pestered 

 with both the little red and large black ants In her 

 cuiiboards and shelves, and the little ik'sIs found out 

 my Inuiey cups stored away in a corner cuplH>ard. I 

 bought ten cents worth of insect jHtwder at Spreclier's 

 Agricultural Store in Laneasler, and applied it in the 

 evening when I got home, and the next morning not 

 a live ant could be seen. I applied it with a feather 

 to the corners and eilges of the shelves very thin, and 

 it acted like a churm. It is now alHmt four weeks 

 sinee I did so, and we have seen none since. — JouN B. 

 EiiH, Lime Valley. 



Julilor Lancaster Farmer: I notice in the last num- 

 ber of TiiK K.MiMKK that Leoi.ine in(iulre8 how to 

 keep the anis fnnri her strawberry plants. I sugircst 

 that if she will mulch her tieds with sjKMit tan bark, 

 (which, by the way, is not a bad mulch) she will 

 have no further trouble with them. We grow straw- 

 berries on a large scale in field culture, and use this 

 mulch altogether. If one is very particular alnrnt an 

 extra clean mulch, a little clean rye straw or fresh 

 mown grass may be put arouii>l the plants just be- 

 fore the fruit iK'gins to ripen. — Tobias Maktis, 

 Mercershnrg^ Pa., Aug. 30, 187.^^, 



Ai'ST Prudence says In the American Grocer that 

 she has always been successful In dIsiKTsing black 

 and rtnl ants with Lynn's magnetic p*jwder, provided 

 it is fresh. She dusts it over the shulvca aud lu 

 the cracks. 



To Correspondents. 



We must Insist ui>on our eorrespondentg observing 

 the printer's rule to write upon unly one title of l>te 

 thict, and to use [le'U and Ink instead of lead pencils, 

 whenever practicable. Always write names of per- 

 sons and places, aud all arbitrary terms, as plainly 

 uE jKiSsible. 



