i64 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[November, 



cent, greater than last year. Early drought 

 pinched the crop in some of the States, and 

 the ravages of the army worm diminished it 

 in others. The a\t'rage product of Pennsyl- 

 vania is from 98 to llu, whilst in Michigan it 

 is 121, and in Mecosta county, of that State, 

 ten acres yielded 84 bushels per acre. The 

 lowest product was in Delaware, which reached 

 only 63 on an average. In some i)arts of 

 Michigan oats made a weight of from 3.5 to 50 

 l)ounds ])er bu.shel, but in many of the States 

 the weight was below the average. 

 Barley. 



The product of barley returned is 87 per 

 cent, of last gear's crop, and about an equal 

 reduction in (piality is indicated. The pro- 

 duct in Pennsylvania is two per cent, in excess 

 of the crop of last year, but in Florida it is 25 

 greater. Xeljraslca, owing to the presence of 

 the grasshop])ers, made only an average of 53 

 to 82. The Southern States which grow bar- 

 ley produced a very superior (luality and nearly 

 an average tiuantity. 



Buckwheat. 



Tlie condition of the entire crop is not far 

 from an average. Xew York, Pennsylvania, 

 New Jersey, Virginia and Ohio produce about 

 four-fifths of the entire crop of the country. 

 Among these Virginia stands 100, and Penn- 

 sylvania 103, wlijlst Kew York is the lowest, 

 being '.i4. Early and late frosts damaged the 

 condition of the crop extensively in the North- 

 west, especially in Wisconsin, and slightly in 

 other places. 



Potatoes. 



The crop, as a whole, promises to be extra- 

 ordinary, both in yield and (piality, the beetle 

 to the contrary notwithstanding, which, of 

 course, effected a reduction in some localities. 

 The status of Pennsylvania in the production 

 of this tithcf is 108, whilst Illinois is 124, the 

 highest ligure in the country ; and wliere the 

 potato-beetle has been subordinated to Paris 

 (jreen for ten years or more. In a few of the 

 States tlie potatoes suffered from rot, but up 

 to the first of October not very extensively in 

 any of tliem. In Arkansas a second crop of 

 potatoes was raised from seed of the first crop. 

 Sweet Potatoes. 



In tlie States that produce these tubers the 

 crop will be an average one. Tlie highest 

 condition, 113, was in Arkansas, and the low- 

 est reported was in Georgia, being 82. Penn- 

 sylvania was 98. The crop never recovered 

 from the innching droughts in some of the 

 Southeru States early in tlie season. 

 Tobacco. 



The condition of the tobacco crop, on the 

 whole, is two per cent, above average. The 

 New England crop is unusually fine, being 

 from 10 to 14 per cent, above average. Penn- 

 sylvania is 10 ])er cent, above average. Dav- 

 iess county, Kentucky, claims 8,000,000 lbs. 

 as the quantity of her product. Michigan is 

 50 per cent, below the average, wliieli is the 

 lowest rep(n-ted. The Pacific States all report 

 a full average. Some counties in Virginia 

 complain of loss fi-om "frencliing"' and "fir- 

 ing," and in North Carolina, although the 

 crop is large, there is a deficiency of " oil." 

 North of the Ohio the tobacco snfl'ered severely 

 in some localities from frost, but in Pennsyl- 

 vania, and especially in Lancaster county, 

 there was little or notliing of this drawback. 



THE BLUE-BIRD. 



(A'trt/m Sialis,) Linn-liaird. 



Of all tlie feathered tribes there is, perhaps, 

 no sul)ject among them more familiar— in locali- 

 ties where it abounds— tlian the l>lue-bird ; and 

 yet tliis common name alone would not, in 

 every instance, define the bird we mean; be- 

 cause, there is a small blue-finch, sometimes 

 called the " Indigo-l)ird," to which the term 

 Blue-bird is very frequently ai)plied liy those 

 who never go to any trouble to learn the dis- 

 tinctions between ycncra and s^Kcies. 



Tlie Blue-bird belongs to the order Inces- 

 soR.s, or Perchers, and to the family Tukbid.t^, 

 or Tlirushes, and is, specifically, nearly allied 



to the robin ( Turdus migrator ius). It is one 

 of the earliest birds that visit us in the spring, 

 often coming as early as the middle of Febru- 

 ary or the beginning of March, and it is also 

 one of the last to leave us in autumn. It seems, 

 however, to be always hanging on the "ragged 

 edges" of winter, for we have seen it abun- 

 dantly in Kentucky during fine warm days in 

 .lanuary ; but it would suddenly disappear 

 when the weather would change to cold again. 

 There is no liird tliat adapts itself more freely 

 and more thoroughly to the domestic condi- 

 tions of the countrj-, or has a greater affinity 

 for human society. It will readily appropriate 

 any box or other device constructed by man 

 for its domicile, in wliicli it lays its eggs and 

 rears its broods of young. 



The geographical field occupied by our Blue- 

 bird is that which lies between the Atlantic 

 coast and the Kocky mountains. West of the 

 Rocky mountains its place is supplied by the 

 "Western Blue-bml," (Sialia maicana,) and 

 confined to those mountains is the "Rocky 

 Mountain Blue-bird," (Sialia arciica). 



(Jur Blue-bird is from six and three-quarters 

 to seven inches long, and the wings are about 

 four inches. The color above is an azure blue; 

 the neck and breast are reddish brown, and 

 the abdomen is white. In the female the blue 

 is much lighter than in the male, .and she is 

 tinged with brown on the head and l>ack. In 



the absence of a box, a cote, or a gourd, the 

 blue-bird usually makes its nest in hollow trees, 

 a fence post, or other similar place, but does 

 not usually build on branches or in a thicket, 

 and the female lays from four to six eggs, of a 

 pale blue color, trenerally two, but very often 

 three broods of young are brought forth in a 

 season, in the same nest ; and while the female 

 is sitting on the second brood of eggs, the male 

 is occupied in teaching the first lirood to fly 

 and provide for tliemselves. 



Our illustration represents the young Blue- 

 birds at the period when they are committed 

 to the charge of the male, who continues to 

 feed them, and by all the means in his power 

 encourages them in making attempts to fiy. 



The most important characteristic — in an 

 agricultural view — in the history of this little 

 friend of the human family, is the great num- 

 ber of insects it requires in one season to raise 

 its two or three broods. The adult bird itself 

 feeds largely on insects, but whatever else it 

 may feed on, it rears its several families of 

 young entirely on these noxious little aniriials. 

 A single pair of these birds will raise twelve 

 young ones, on an average, in a season, and 

 each of these will devour one hundred insects 

 in a day. They are, therefore, not only a direct 

 benefit to vegetation, but also an indirect one, 

 because many of the insects they destroy early 

 in the season po.ssess the powers of multiplying 

 themselves l)y thousands or tens of thousands 

 before the end of the season. We once noticed 

 a parent Blue-bird return to its nest fifteen 

 times within half an hour, and every time it 

 bore a small animal of some kind in "its lieak. 

 We are therefore clearly of the opinion that 

 the benefits of insectiverous birds are more 

 likely to be under than overestimated. 



EvEitY F.VRMER who reads tills journal Call 

 do good service for the cause of progressive 

 agriculture by making some effort to increase 

 our subscription list. All will agree with us 

 that The Farmer is worth double the price 

 we ask for it. What is needed is to make its 

 merits more generally known. 



OUR NATIONAL CENTENNIAL. 



The visitor to the Centennial grounds in 

 Fairmount Park cannot fail to be impressed 

 with the magnitude of this great national en- 

 terprise. Tlie gentlemen who have the prep- 

 arations in charge deserve great credit for the 

 energy they have displayed in getting the va- 

 rious buildings so far advanced as to leave no 

 longer any doubt tliat they will be completed 

 in amiile time for the grand opening. 



Another gratifying fact is the assurance that 

 it will be in all respects a great success as an 

 international exhibition. "Russia and Italy, 

 two important European nations, it was feared 

 for some time, would not take jiart in the ex- 

 position. All doubt on this point is now re- 

 moved. The great northern power has ap- 

 pointed her commissioners, and.the land of the 

 vine and the beautiful skies will send us some 

 of the finest works of art ever presented to the 

 admiration of man. All the foreign nations 

 will be represented in their material resources, 

 and many of them propose to do honor to the 

 great occasion by sending members of their 

 royal households to become our guests. 



We give herewith an illustration of Ma- 

 chinery Hall. This, in size and importance, 

 is a companion to the main exhibition build- 

 ing, and in interest to a majority of visitors 

 will, no doubt, be the centre of attraction. On 

 no other occasion has the opportunity been 

 presented for those interested in mechanics to 

 see in one group such a large and varied repre- 

 sentation of the products of inventive genius 

 and mechanical skill as will be brought within 

 the vast area of this beautifuU hall. 



If there were nothing else to see this would 

 alone compensate for the trouble and expense 

 of a visit. Yet, this will be but a small part 

 of the attraction. In the main exhibition 

 building the products of the industry of all 

 nations will be grouped in interesting and con- 

 tiasted detail. Agricultural Hall will be a 

 vast storehouse of the results of the intelligent 

 labor of those whom AVebster justly pronounced 

 the "founders of civilization." In Horticultural 

 Hall, filled with the fioral trophies of all climes, 

 the visitor will revel in what it will require no 

 great stretch of the imagination to fancy a 

 second Eden. In the Art Gallery, itself one 

 of the finest, most substantial and beautiful 

 buildings on the Continent, the connoissuer in 

 art can study the productions of the great 

 masters of tlie ages. Then in the Women's De- 

 partment, for which a beautiful and capacious 

 building is being specially erected liy I.,ancas- 

 ter county mechanics, there will be a magnifi- 

 cent display of the handiwork of the mothers, 

 wives and daughters of America and of the 

 world, which cannot fail to be one of the lead- 

 inr; attractions of the Exposition. 



We have not the space to note the many 

 other buildings projected and in course of 

 erection by special industries and used as the 

 head(iuarters of the various nationalities. We 

 must reserve these for another occasion. In 

 the meantime none of our readers visiting 

 Philadelphia should fail to spend a day in the 

 Park. They will agree with us that it was a 

 day well spent. 



The Centennial and Agriculture. 

 Literature and labor, to be successfully de- 

 veloped, are inseparably connected — indeed 

 the one cannot be visibly manifested without 

 energy and exertion, any more than can the 

 other. The agriculturist who despises litera- 

 ture now, will be wiped out of existence, with 

 all his sympathizing posterity, long before the 

 return of another centennial anniversaiT. If 

 it be true that "agriculture is the foundation 

 of civilization" — and we verily believe it is — 

 then there can be no true and progressive civ- 

 ilization without its literary accompaniment. 

 The republic of letters is not only democratic, 

 but it is also domestic in its tendencies, and 

 fosters and ])rotects all the different shades of 

 literature, whether moral, social, scientific or 

 commercial. Very few domestic interests now 

 in the world, of any magnitude, are without 

 their literary technology and representative 

 exponents, and perhaps none in a more marked 

 degree than agriculture and its corelatives ; 



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