The Lancaster Farmer. 



Pro£ S. S. SATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., JUNE, i876. 



Vol VUL No. 6. 



WHITE COCHINS. 



The accompanying cut portrays a pair ol" 

 fowls that can not fail to win a second !j;lanfe 

 on llie .score ol' bcanty and strikin-,' conlj-ast. 

 But strong as is tlie contrast ln-twcin tlic 

 •snowy whiteness of the fowl anil the densely 

 dark back-ground of the cut, it hut poorly 

 illustrates the cxcei^din^ hcauty of thes(f fowls 

 when scattered over a well-kept Rreen lawn. 

 Then not only is the grandeur of the stately 

 White Cochiil walking on the park grass at- 

 tractive, but also, if in prime condition, there 

 will be an exceeding bright redness of the Hrni, 

 erect com)) and lung pendant wattles. Then, 

 take them all-in-all, with tlieir large, lieavy, 

 yet symmetrical bodies, their dignilied liearing 

 and "a more stately and grand fowl ctudd 

 scarcely be demanded. And yet with all their 

 attractions, they are comparatively an easy 

 breed to produce, to 

 a goodly degree of 

 exc'ellence, and arc in 

 this respect well suit- 

 ed to the amateur. 

 For their plumage be- 

 ing uniformly white, 

 tlicy Jo not otler all 

 those ccii.sele.ss trou- 

 bles of breeding and 

 mating which are 

 necessary to the pro- 

 duction of correct 

 feathering in the 

 jvarti-colored fowls. 

 Ilowever, there is 

 even here considera- 

 ble work to be done 

 which will not allow 

 any indifference on 

 the part of the breed- 

 er. Although tliey 

 are throughout, or 

 rather sliotdd he, a 

 pure, spotless white, 

 free from any inter- 

 mingling of black or 

 colored feathers, yet 

 there are different de- 

 grees of purity of the 

 white, and sometimes 

 they will incline to- 

 wards a straw color. 

 Only the richest, 

 clearest birds should 

 be retained .us breed- 

 ers. White Cochins 

 should have briglit 

 yellow legs, and 

 should he well fcath- 

 eretl down to the tips 

 of the toes. They 

 should 1)6 of a large 

 size, heavy frame, but 

 not inclined to carry 

 a surplus portion of 

 fat except when pre- 

 pared for market. Over-fattened fowls are 

 l)rolitable only to kill. They are never after- 

 wards worth their keep for egg-producers. 

 The White Cochins usually lay well -especially 

 in winter, when most needed. They are, like 

 all their Asiatic cousins, inclined to sit, and 

 are, of course, sometimes too heavy and clumsy 

 for thin shelled eggs. They are very easily 

 kept. Although we have always allowed ours 

 the unlimited range of a farm \vhere there 

 were no other breeding fowls, and thus secured 

 greater fecundity for the eggs for .sitting; yet 

 they are capable of being contined and bred 

 successfully within very small inclosm-es. The 

 fencesurrounding their yard need only be three 

 or four feet high unle.ss there is danger of the 

 " high Hying" breeds from without llying in 

 and thus cro.ssing the stock. The bens lay 



good-sized eggs of dilTerent shades of coh)r. 

 The co(:k is generally a vigorous l>inl. and well 

 al)le to care for fourteen to eigliteen liens, lly 

 allowing him this number, the hens will not 

 be so continually fretted and injured by his at- 

 tontious. — Vr. Atlec IJurpce, Plukuklplua, I'a. 



THE COLORADO POTATO BEETLE. 



Reports reach nsevery day, from nitiny parts 

 oftlieconnty.of the threatening increase of this 

 destructive enemy of the potato vines, and 

 many anxious impiiries arc made, just as if 

 nearly all the papers of tin- county ami tlie en- 

 tire (tonntry had not been harping on the same 

 string, foi- the past two years, at least. In fact 

 our [leople are loo indilVerent aliout that kind 

 of philosopliy which teaches that " an ounce of 

 prevention is worth a pound of eiire. " Tliey 

 seem to give little heed to any evil, the danger 



of which is not innnediate and conspicuous. 

 Any intelligent cultivator of the soil, and who 

 h.as given only a little attention to the increiuse 

 and destrnctiveni'ss of noxious insects, must 

 have known, long before this time, something 

 about the history and the haliits of th(^ Colo- 

 rado potato beetle, and what ought to be done 

 to arrest its destructive progress, if he reads, 

 heeds .-ind practically tests the various reini-- 

 dies which have from time to time been sug- 

 gested or recommended. 



We don't ask hin> to hdki-c all he reads or 

 hears said upon the subject ; we only a.sk him 

 to t>lts(cir for him.self, and to rfo a.s bis good 

 sense shall di<tate in the i>remises ; an<l if he 

 does this faithfully, we feel sure it will not !«' 

 long before he linds out vIkU to do, hoir to do 

 it, and iclicii the most elTective time will Ijc to 



circumvent the enemy of his potato crop. Uut 

 if he denires to lie thoroughly posted upon the 

 subject, and to save valuable lime and much 

 corroding anxiety, we would ;ulvis«' him to 

 suUscribe immediately for our local agricul- 

 tural journal -Til K I.ASc.vsi Kit Kailmku— » 

 l)a|ier that s»'i>ms to have a greater reputation 

 abroad than it has at home— commended Imth 

 by England and lluM^ontiiienl of Knro|>e— and 

 also to get the entire volimie for IS?.")— sets <if 

 which (;an be had at the usual priee from the 

 publishers- and we recoiiinieiid this volume 

 particularly becau.se it conLains a very full il- 

 Inslraled history of the poUito and other div 

 struetive beetles, and what is nece.s.s;iry to l)e 

 doiKs to prevent their depredation.H. 



Holh the possihilil ics and probabilities of this 

 periiicous pest have bi'eii thoroughly ili«cus!«'<l 

 in the county of I>anc;i.ster for two years or 

 more, but becau.se they have not yet been uni- 

 versiilly realized, 

 many of the ]KMii»le 

 have accustomed 

 themselves to n-gard 

 the whole thing iw 

 mere talk. What we 

 liave siiid at any time 

 hius iM-en UL-^oi, first 

 upon the experiences 

 of the intelligent 

 farmers and publish- 

 ci-s of the west, where 

 this beetle ha.s Ix'en 

 depredating for the 

 past fifteen years or 

 more, anil from our 

 own experience since 

 their iulvent in Ijin- 

 c-a-sUa- county, a-ssisl- 

 ed by our knowledge 

 of the habits of the 

 family of insects in 

 wlii<-h they lielong, 

 their procreation, 

 transformation, gor- 

 mandization, and 

 ailaptat ion to varying 

 circumstances. We 

 hesitate not toii-ssnre 

 our readers that they 

 are its fatal to the pro- 

 ducts of the soil, iW 

 the cancer to the lin- 

 nian sy.steni, and if 

 neglected, alH>ut its 

 dillicult to eradie^ite. 

 I'erhaps they may l)c 

 more aptly compared 

 with the" '• Caiuula 

 thistles." There is no 

 safety against their 

 germination and in- 

 crea.se, .so long as a 

 single fibre remaiiisin 

 the soil. The soil in 

 some phu-CH at this 

 time seems to lie per- 

 fei^tly impregnatcil with them, and the iixst 

 mild winter has been i-alher favorable to their 

 successful hylH'rnation. During the early and 

 late spring they lay dormant, only coming 

 abroad on wann days just to see how the "land 

 lay," but now as the weather has "warmed 

 up" and the potato tops are apiiearing, the 

 beetles are ditto. 



Potato growei-s, IhiHi in town and country, 

 cannot too .soon nor too earnestly go to work 

 now, and In-giii the work of extermination, if 

 they have not already iK'guii it some ten days 

 ago. Turn out the l)oys and girls, and fon'- 

 stall the [H'.st by vigonius band-picking while 

 vet the ground is comparatively bare of vege- 

 tation. If you have large fields, of coui-se you 

 will have ti) resort to poisons, the nio.st ellec- 

 tive of which is Vaiis (iVaii,and Vo know how 



