1875.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



^81 



oils field s|>i'i';ulin<;m;iiiui'('. rimiicdialcly after 

 <li.scliiirgiii}; our l;iiu, ami .securiiiL; imr Kaiuc, 

 we heard a violent rusliainon<i Uie (toriistalks, 

 and on lurnini? roinid we saw the ilofi heariiif; 

 down upon ns, and webeeanie transfixed with 

 fear and frif^lit, for our gun was nnehar^^ed. 

 AVe stood lirni, because we liad not power to 

 move, and the doj; plowed uj) llie ground in a 

 sudden halt within ten feet of us, his eyes 

 gleaniiuL; willi fire. lie sternly reL;arded us, 

 and we (U'spairiuijly rei^arded him foi' fully a 

 minute, and then he dropped his head and tail 

 and fcrullly trotted away; immediately after 

 which his owner eame rusliiiifj; down upon us, 

 not less impetuous than tlu-ilog, his eyes dilat- 

 ed, his hair streamiiiK, and his face almost as 

 pale as a cor])se. lie wasRreatly relieved when 

 he found us unhurt, for he heard tho report of 

 the jjuu, saw the doj; start, and expected to 

 lind us, perhaps, in (h'adly conllict witli the 

 dog. We had read tales of dogs, and even 

 lions, being subdued by merely looking them 

 sternly in the face; but we did not think of 

 them, nor were we practicing that remedy 

 then. We were thoroughly friglitened, and in 

 that state of helpless (L'sp.iir, which we pre- 

 sume people must be in who expect the next 

 moment to be attacked, and perhaps torn to 

 pieces. But the dog evidently did not com- 

 prehend our situation, and therefore let us 

 " .severely alone. " 



We have known a few dogs that would not 

 fraternize with anyotlier subjectof the animal 

 kingdom, either below or above them ; would 

 not even permit the most well-meant caresses, 

 and would snap at the very hand extended to 

 feed them. But the great body of them are 

 social, many of them faithful, and a few of 

 them useful. But they are in<Iiscrimiiiate, 

 and are as faithful to a cutthroat, a robber, or 

 a murderer, as they possibly could be to a 

 savant or a saint. Dogs are, however, in some 

 respects, like men. Some are endowed with 

 finer sensibilities or instincts than others, often 

 seeming to invade the domain of reason. Dur- 

 ing the siege of Paris, when dogs, cats, rats, 

 mice fell victims to the gastronomic demands 

 of a starving peoiile, the /act that they were 

 " stayed and liayed"' appeared to be recognized 

 )>y the dogs, and the dog-slayer was avoided 

 by them, and became as obnoxious as would a 

 man atlUcted with the leprosy or small pox 

 to human beings. They seemed also to have 

 the power of communicating their dangerous 

 situation to their fellow dogs, and whenever 

 they were compelled to pass thesliambles of a 

 butcher, they accelerated their speed with a 

 contemptible scowl, or growlingly passed over 

 to the otlier sidi^ of the street, it must have 

 been a "<lumb dog," that did not know every 

 doy-slayir in Paris. 



VEGETABLE IVORY. 



I The Panama Slur and Herald Rivos some informa- 



tion concerninL; tagua or vcirctatjle ivory, sayina : 

 *' Tliis curious fruit of a palm tree, iii!li2:enous to flie 

 Istlimus ami to Colomliia in irencral, never excited tlie 

 commerciat niinii to the extent ttiat rul)t)er lias. In 

 18f;(J it was not consideriMi wortli the expense of i^x- 

 iwrtinc;. At (Juitn, in Keuailcir, it was common to see 

 imaffcs of the Viri.;in Mary and saints sculptured out 

 of the ivory-like sntistance of the taijua liy the people 

 of that city. In Europe it has been snidually and 

 inereasinii:ly useci as a sut>stitutc for animal ivory. 

 The price of the uuts about ten years ai;o, was only 

 al)out §30 a ton; to-day $7^> to $SU was paid at the 

 sliip's side, and, it has been stated that they briu:< 

 now as much as ?loO a ton ahro.ul. Tins veifetalde 

 ivory is the fruit of a species of palm, anil is only the 

 hardened albumen of the seed. One hundred tons, 

 at S75 per ton, was punluised in the harbor, the 

 other day, for the United 8lates and lCiii.;lanl. There 

 are two kinds of jialms that produce this sort of ivory. 

 The tree itself hjoks much liki' that which yields palm 

 oil on the coast of .M'rica, {Elals (/nlnfi nsnn, L.) 

 Unlike the eocoanut, the royal, and other palms, that 

 elevate on a trunk tlieir leaves some hunilred fei^t in 

 the air, the veijctable ivory palm has but a short 

 stumpy stalk, and produces" its (lowers and uuts in a 

 spathe or vavular envelope quite near to the trround. 

 So far as Panama is concerned, the supply is tjrousiht 

 in small schooners from tlie rivers of Darien, Choco 

 and Tumaco, and in fact from all the rivers of the 

 Atlantic and Paeilic coasts of Colombia. It is some- 

 thing' like the rvibber-tree in its habits, and follows 

 up the ravines in search of shady table-lands and 

 damp nooks and corners. How long the present 



demand for this fruit of a palm that throws wild will 

 las!, it seems dilHeult to predict. 



The ])rominent central liguri^ in the illtist ra- 

 tion of ■■I'.ilms and Kerns," on page KIT (\o- 

 veml)er innnber of Tun f.^uMKii) is a cleviir 

 representation of th(^ Itujui, or "Vegetable 

 Ivory I'alin ;" ami the demand for it is likely 

 to coutinue its long as the V;'grt;ible kingilom 

 liroduces it. The nut is limited in size, and 

 therefore no very large artiides can be mule 

 of it, but for butt'iii.t <ir other smtll articles, 

 there is, perhaps, nothingsuperior to it. They 

 command prices from three to six times great- 

 er than "rubber," and from six to eight tiiUi'S 

 greater than born. They are made in all tints 

 and colors from a iinre white to a Ji't black, 

 and retain their lustre and polished liiiish far 

 better than any of the substances named in 

 comparison with them, and also wear much 

 longer. 



IS THE BEE A NUISANCE. 



The " busy bee," who came so «u tileidy into fash- 

 ion a few years aico, is denitunecd as a sluii^ijanl, a 

 robber, a sensualist, a LCrecdy loafer — in fact a roue 

 of the wor.-it and most dan-serous sort. When be(^- 

 keeping, as a polite occupation, first eame in, all 

 the drones of society, we are told, were to mike their 

 fortunes, and many a distressed maiili'ii, whose al- 

 lowance was so scanty thitt the twf) ends would never 

 meet, saw herself possessed of the 1,'olden lleeccor the 

 philosoiiher's stone, and of th,at wealth of (iolconda, 

 which a corresponlent in India has recently related 

 as a traveler's [)layful tiction. By kecpin-^ bees rapid 

 fortunes were to be made ; the days of poverty and 

 grumbliii'j: Wi'W. to end, and every cyttai;e ijarden was 

 to become a souri^e of i)crcnnial opulenee. But a 

 crave dilliculty has arisen, and just as we were askerl 

 to believe that the apiarian i)roprielors were beginiuuir 

 to realize the truth of their prophecies. The bees, it 

 is said, have sudilculy chaui;ed their habits, and, in- 

 stead of eonliniu'^ themselves to the flowers, have 

 taken a fancy to the choicest fruits; to the shame of 

 their origin and their backers, they have turned I heir 

 wina'S from the broad meadows, and bitten the dainty 

 cheeksof the prize nectarines and peaches. Hitherto 

 they have been, or been esteemed at least, the most 

 domestic, regular, untrespassius; of living creatures. 

 It is depressing to have these lovely dreams, these 

 protitable anticipations disturljcd ; but we have been 

 writinii: of the promise, and the fulHllment is some- 

 thing verydill'erent. A gentleman who had a capital 

 garden and as])lendid prorniseof fruit, has written to 

 the papers to say that all his calculations of a superb 

 crop of peaches an! nectarines were rudely dashed to ( 

 the tcround by the invasion of his neighbor's bees. A j 

 warm controversy ensued and at last a man who has ' 

 kept bees tor upwards of forty years, atid who has i 

 from twenty to thirty stocks at a time, wrote to say 

 that XHitil the last three or four years he has never 

 known them to attack fruit; but that this year though 

 he had only four stocks their destructiveness had 

 been such that the love he once had for and the 

 ])leasure he once toolv in them have passed away. 

 They attacked not over ripti or putrescent fruit, but 

 fruit by no means ripe enou'^h to gather, and they 

 liurrowed by bundrecls into the finest peaches. No 

 feeding at the hives, he added, which he did 

 atjundantly, would take them f^rom the fruit. 

 The bee, therefore, the respectable bee, that honest, 

 thrifty citizen who was supposed to have the finest, 

 sense of discrimination bciwcen meum anl teuni and 

 tolvcep his wings from (ncking and stealiiiir, has been 

 found in Hii<iraii,ti' delkin, and is, after all, oidy a 

 more intelligent and invincible wasp. It is a meian- 

 cdioly discovery, and sectns to cut the ground of 

 morals from under us. One writer suggests tliat the 

 bees have caught the contagion of the times in which 

 we live, and are aiming at little work, short hours and 

 very high wagt^s for doing nothinj^. But it is ail very 

 sad. The shining hour is now improved in most ilis- 

 astrous fashion, and the busy bee is a cormorant, an 

 idler and a greedy jUtm nr. They have been taught 

 bad tricks, and it is now gravely doubted if they will 

 ever return to their pristine simplicity. — Baltimore 

 (lazclle. 



In the presumptive history, habits, and iwes 

 of the bee, like in many other things, thorotigh 

 ob.servation no doubt will demotistrate that 

 " truth lies between extremes." Weone titne 

 lived fiext to a grocery store vviiere sugtirs, 

 treacle, sweetm ats, fruits, &e., were cofi- 

 stautly exposed, atid per consetiuence there 

 were always present, during the diiy, a large 

 nmuber of bees, even in the most profuse 

 blooming season of the year, and when the 

 bulk wifidows (once a week) were cleaned out, 

 hundreds of deail bees and tlies were swept up. 

 This seemed to illustrate to us that the bees 

 had become demoralized, a condition which 

 probably had its antitype in a prior demorali- 

 zation of human .society, through which men 



clandestint'ly sought out shorter, quicker, and 

 less laborious roads to fortune, timri the legi- 

 tinifite iiiid fiormal oius. lie this .is it may, 

 We havi' heard a great many coinplainlsagiiinst 

 bees, (luring the liist twoor three years, as be- 

 itig inveterate di'predators upon fruit. es|)oci- 

 ally grapes anil peaches. But we are not yet 

 pre|)areil to believe all that is .said to their 

 prejudice any more than we are i)rep;ired to 

 lielieve all that is said in their favor. Voii 

 iittefupt to make wifie or ciiler, especially out 

 of swetd grapesor apples, and the crushed fruit 

 will be covered with ln'cs. Is it surprising, 

 then, that they should lind out what is inside 

 of a grape, a peach, or an tipple, and thtit they 

 should iifterwtirds iitlempt to pmloin it, even 

 if the fruit is tiot brokeii '^ Iloriuts, yellow- 

 jackets ami wasps, are well ktiown to Inive cut 

 I th(! skifi of fruit iind to appropriati' the Juices 

 of the inner pull). Some beetles (Cetdni.ws) 

 do th(' same, but notie of these depredation.s, 

 we believe, iimount to ;i calamity; we therefore 

 feel disposed yet to indulge the bees a while 



lotlglM". 



-^ 



SOMETHING TO SET US THINKING. 



Ninety years hence not a single man or woman, 

 now twenty yi'ars of age will be alive. .Ninety years ! 

 .Mas ! how many lively actors at [iresent on the stage 

 of life will make their exit long ere ninetv yearsflhall 

 have rolled away ! .\n 1 could we lie sure of ninety 

 years, what are they f "A tale that is told;'* a 

 dream; an empty sinnid, that p.iss(^th on the wlugs 

 of the wind away and is forgotten. Years shorten as 

 man advances in age. Like the degrees in longitmle, 

 man's life declines as he travels lowarl the frozen 

 pole, tnitil it dwindles to a point and vanishes forever. 

 Is it possible that life is of so short duration ' Will 

 ninety years erase all the srolden names over the doors 

 in town and country, and sutistitute others in their 

 stead ? VVill all the new blooming beauties fade and 

 disappear, all the iiride and passion, the lovi', ho[X! 

 and Joy pass away in ninety years ati(i be forgotten? 

 " Ninety years," says death; "do you think I shall 

 wait ninety years? Behold, to-day anl to-morrow, 

 and every day, are mine. When ninety years arc past, 

 this generation will have mingled with the dust and 

 be remembered not !" 



Nothing can compensate the sadness in- 

 duced by reflections upon the above, save a 

 well dertued faith in the soul's imm orttility, 

 and a rational prepttration for the change 

 whiidi time must inevitably bring to every 

 living being. This etitiri^ly disarms D.^ith of 

 all his ttu'rors, atid cotiverts hitii into a friend 

 instead of a foe to the hum in race. What tire 

 the vicissitudes of tira% cotnptued with the 

 bright ;ind hopeful realities of eteriiity. Un- 

 der atiy circumstance, w.'. are all merely wait- 

 ing upon the shores of "Jordaa," and he that 

 flrst ptisses over to the '' protnised laml " can- 

 not be deeni'd less fortimito than those 

 doomed to wait ;i while longer, merely because 

 he has " gone before." The " bio )niin? beau- 

 ties" of tim<', will reai)pear in eternity with ten- 

 fold lustre, the " pride tind passion " will hiive 

 no abiding i)lace there, but must find thiiir 

 " crossing " through the d.ii'k waters of the 

 "fatal Styx." 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Mr. ir., BromastvKn, Dim: co..Pa. — Your 

 beautiful little duck is km)wn among orni- 

 thologists ;is the Hur.iphihi alhe/tla, of LiN.V 

 and B.viuu. Its common names are "spirit 

 duck" ami " butter ball." It is tiiignitory in 

 its habits, but is freipi.Mitly found in Lancas- 

 ter comity in .spring ;uid ;iulunin. It is not 

 considered rare. It is in the museum of the 

 LiniiiBiui Society, T.,aiica.ster, Pa., Spin. 101. 



Mr. S., Jitiuiiim, Lnne. co.. Pa. — Your 

 beautiful spider— if such a thing as licaulijcxn 

 attach to a sjiider — is the " ganhm spider" — 

 Ejifira I'oimi/lrainrt. On the whole, there 

 are, perhaps, no other .animals of their size, 

 that are more generally useful in the economy 

 of nature, tbtin the unjustly, or uunecessjirily, 

 despised sjiiders. 



D. M., Bart, i^a.— We claim that The Lax- 

 c.\sTKU F.vrtMEii a.s a /oca' journal of the farm, 

 the garden and the household, is without ii peer; 

 but it is perhaps more highly appreciated out- 

 side of this great tigricultural county than it is 

 at home. Our people, however, are waking up 

 to their own interesLs, and The Faumek for 

 187U will win the race ! 



