The Lancaster Farmer. 



Prof. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., APRIL, 1876. 



Vol. VIII. No. 4. 



DORKINGS. 



We Rivp hcrowith a fine illustratinn of a 

 fir.sl-cla.ss trio ol' (iicy Doi-kiiiLt.s. l)()ikiiif;s 

 arc of tlin'c colorings or styles of inarkiiiiis — 

 white, silver-j;rey and colored — as rccoi;iii/,ed 

 ill the Ainerican standard. 15nl the standard 

 is cxcecdiu^fy loose in its notice of CoKwed 

 Dorking's, making no markings, other than 

 uniformity in the birds of one pen, reiniisite. 

 One iioticeal)le difference lietwecii White and 

 (irey Dorkings is, that while the f<niner must 

 i)ossess rose combs, s(juarc in front, lirm an<l 

 close-fitting, ami evenly covered over with 

 small points, terminatiui; in a point Ijehiiul, 

 tlu^ latter are found both rose and siiij^le 

 combed. Our cut represents a trio, all having 

 single coml)s. It is hardly necessary to add, 

 that for exhibition all the birds of oiu^ pen 

 must Ije either rose or single-combed, and not 

 one or two of each. White Dorkings are 

 til ought by some 

 writers to be the older 

 variety, as they for- 

 merly lired more uni- 

 versally true to the 

 fifth toe. l?ut the col- 

 ored Dorkings are now 

 well establisiied in that 

 particular. In general 

 characteristics both 

 white and colored 

 fowls are the same — a 

 good idea may be had 

 from tlie accompany- 

 ing illustration. The 

 Dorking is iire-emi- 

 iiently an English fowl 

 ^a very old variety — 

 and true to his nature, 

 John Bull has, in this 

 fowl, adiniral)ly cater- 

 ed to his tastes. For, 

 as a table fowl, the 

 Dorking is unsur- 

 pa.ssed. This is thi'ir 

 especial claim to the 

 consideration of faiu'i- 

 ers. They are indiffer- 

 ent, rather poor layers, 

 but for the table they 

 all'ordan extra portion 

 of very line meat, es- 

 pecially abundant in 

 the parts most esteem- 

 ed—the Ineast and 

 wings. The Dorking 

 is a lieavy-bodied, well 

 put-up fowl, long, 



broad back and close 



feathered. Thus what 

 they lack in (ipjionnt 

 size in comparison with 

 Asiatics tliey makeup in real, solid llesh, and 

 of a quality very far ahead of either Urahmas 

 or Cochins. We have sold liirds of this breed 

 to cross with Brahmas, and for such a pur- 

 pose they are excellent, as they gain in hardi- 

 ness, and perhaps .somewhat in egg produc- 

 tiveness. Pure Dorkings will deteriorate if 

 in-bred too closely. In our oi)iiuon no cross 

 could be more i)rontable than one with the 

 Leghorn, as thereby not only hardiness, l)ut a 

 very decided increase in the number of eggs 

 would result. 



It may, jierhaps, be worthy of remark, that 

 on no variety of fowl does the .st^iudard allow 

 so many points for size — liftceu is the usual 

 scale of one hundred. — W. Atlce liurpec, 

 PhilaiUlphia, Pa. 



DEW— ESPECIALLY HONEY-DEW. 



It IN not, and perhaps raiuiot, be clearly dc- 

 monstraled that dew /<tlU at all; and from 

 tlu^ /'(((•( that dew is found as copiously on the 

 luidersides of tla^ leaves of plants ais on the 

 uppersides, tlit; conclusion reached is, that 

 dew is an exhalation of ml)i^ture from llie 

 earth, and condenses near tlu' earth, or 

 at no very great distance from it; in short, 

 that it docs not "fall" from the clouds 

 like rain. An inverted tub or box will often 

 have as much dew under it as outside of it; 

 and that is not all, for the lower side of the 

 bottom thus inverted will also becovi'red with 

 d(^w. Hoar-frost is nothing but the frozen ex- 

 halations of dew or moisture, and this (covers 

 the entire branches of tret^s and shrubbery, 

 whether they are iieudant, perpendicular, or 

 horizontal, and tliis will be the cast' as well 

 I with branches lying on the ground, as with 



Pit.vcTiCAL MEN are .steadily coming up to 

 a due appreciation of The FAUSiERas a valu- 

 able medium for transmitting the results of 

 their experience. 



those on the trees; and flat sti>nes. or pieces 

 of 1)oard — uidess too deeply imbedded in tb.e 

 earth— will often exhibit as much hoar-frost 

 on the lower side as on the ui)per side. This 

 seems to demonstrate that dew is an exhala- 

 tion from the earth, or from the surface of 

 vegetation, and tliat instead of "falling" it 

 actually rises. This can be demonstrated by 

 putting very cold water or ice in a bottle, a 

 pitcher, or a tin can, on a warm day. The 

 surrounding invisible vapor will become con- 

 densed in the form of dew, on the sides, the 

 bottoms, and the lops of the containing vessels. 



Honey-Dew. 



The chief dilficulty in reference to lioney- 

 dew has arisen from the attempts to reconcile 

 the iiheiiomeiia with a single cause. AVhen 

 we discover that there aii' ditleient kinds of 

 the sul).stance generally called honey-dew, and 

 that they are the etTects of ditTerent causes, 

 the (litHcultj- will not seem .so great, although 



the solution may not be satisfactory to all. 

 Jfimiii-fVw, from whatever source ii may 

 proceed is. by iimny writi'is on veget.ible econ- 

 omy, reganled as a disease, and is placed in 

 the category of hliijlu, smut, milihw, driijixij, 

 ganiji-cne, ctinliitinii, guffnnUion, and o >n.!iuiHjj- 

 tion. It is a sweet and clamaiy substance 

 which exudes from, and coagulates on, the 

 surfai-e of the leaves of vegetables during hot 

 weather, parlicidarly on the leaves of the oak, 

 and the beech. The leaves of the beech tree 

 in particular, on the occurrence of an unfavor- 

 abl(^ wiml become covered with a glutinous 

 coating, similar in llavor to the llnid cibtained 

 from the truidi, and in every respect resem- 

 bling tlie honey-ih'w of other jilants. Lust sum- 

 mer, on several occasions, we have hail oak 

 branches sent to us, the leaves of which were 

 so thickly covered with this substance as to 

 glue them together. It is well known that 

 white oak and hickory trunks, when cut green 

 and exposed to a hot 

 sun for a time, will be 

 covered with a honey- 

 like .saccharine sul)- 

 stance, exuding from 

 the |)ores of the Wood at 

 tli(^ ends, and this sub- 

 stance has the siune 

 ta,ste as that which ex- 

 udes from the leaves of 

 tluise trees. .Saccharine 

 exuilalions are fru- 

 (pieutly foiuul on the 

 leaves of many plant-s, 

 though not always dis- 

 tinguished by the name 

 of honey-dew ; which 

 term only should be 

 applied wiicn the exu- 

 dation is in such excess 

 as to caiLse disexse. If 

 it is to be aiiplied to all 

 glutinous exudations 

 whatever, then of course 

 they must be all in- 

 cluded under honey- 

 dew, but they are not 

 all saccharine, for the 

 exudations from the 

 buds, .and yoimg leaves 

 of the ''.Silver Poplar," 

 for instance, are resin- 

 ous, and this isthe same 

 with mdiiua, which ex- 

 u<les from the a.sh tree 

 of Italy, as well ;is the 

 '■ L<(/<(/'M<;ii," a gimi 

 resin, which is collected 

 by beating the shrub 

 that yields it, with 

 leather thongs. It is 

 also iHissible that lUvse. 

 exudations may oftenoccur witlnuit producing 

 disease, for if it should happen to be washed 

 oil soon atter its secretion, by heavy rains or 

 heavy dews, the leaves woidd not suffer. 



We have an orange tree which, on several 

 occasions, became covered with honey-dew, 

 and we discovered at the siime time that it 

 was seriously iidcsted by the "orange scale 

 insect," (Cwus /n^.t/wTiV/iini,) and since these 

 have Iwen all destroyed, we have not iK-en 

 troubled with honey-dew. But, there are s])e- 

 cies of Aiihiii which infest the tender branches 

 of the api'le, jiear, cherry, plum, peach, rosea, 

 and indeed, nearly all kinds of vegetation, 

 which dejiosit a s.iccharine substance on the 

 leaves of the trees, shrubs and plants they in- 

 fest, that u.snally goes by th" name of honey- 

 dew, and ;it one time, and by many piTsons, 

 these insects were reganhd lus the chief, if not 

 the ntilif source of this sub.stance. Whatever 

 may l)e the orign of honey -dew, ajinrt froni 

 that produeeii by ajihich, nothing c.iii shake 





