1876.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



Ill 



soUiiic; HOW at only about a cent and a lliird jmt 

 pouuJ. Milk is Mimctimos C8liniateil to bo worth 

 :iliou( ball' a ct-iit a iiounil for fci-ilin^ to boirs. \Vi' 

 liavc not funnel it worth that, ami yot, if we slionhl 

 soil all onr milk ami buy meal iusli'aii, it is ibmblfnl 

 if the' [liirs wonki make as intu'b pork for the money 

 as if a jiortion of the milk bail been relainuil. A ilol- 

 lar"s iviirt.bof meal, at Ibe above priee, may feeil a 

 pi;;- a longer lime than I he milk wonhl have done, ami 

 yet it does not follow that the meal Is on the whole, 

 the ebeapest or best foo<i. 



(low's milk, after most of the ereani has been re- 

 in. ived, seems to come very near siipi'ly'"- ' ''^' P'- 

 Willi the best substilnte lor its nalHiral food, while 

 eorn meal, alt liouu-h rieh in fat and beat, is so eon- 

 eentraled and so wanting' in the elements wliieh are 

 espeeially mailed by very youn^- or urow iiii,' animals, 

 that it is wcjrih really less Ihan many wonld siipposi^ 

 Cornnieal, besides beiiii;- wanting' in Ibe elemenls ol 

 frrowth, packs and becomes bard and indiijislibh' in 

 the stomachs of youn^ animals, mdess it is ndxcil 

 with milk, bran or .some other less concentrated food, 

 that may act as a diviilcr in keepins;- the iiarticles 

 separate, so that llu' llnids of the; slonuicb can come 

 in contact with all parte of it at once. 



It reipiires but a moment's consideration to see that 

 a solid ball of cornmeal in the stomach of a youny; 

 [li-X or other animal, eani\ot be acted upon by^be gas- 

 tric juice, excejit at llie outside. Digestion, in such 

 acase, must ^o on like the melting of a cube of ice, 

 and as the stomach was not arranged for doing its 

 work in that way, it lireaks down after a .short time, 

 indigestion follows such feeding, and, as a conse- 

 ((Uenoe, the food that is taken is not fully ulilized, 

 and of course, does not give an amount of growth 

 corrcsiionding v\-ith its nutritive value when properly 

 prepared or jndiciously mingled with other food that 

 is less concentrated . 



Farmers know that milk is good for pigs. They 

 know, too, I hat skimntcd milk is a waste product of 

 the diary, ami unless fed to animals would generally 

 be wasted. They feed the milk because they Irappcn 

 to have it. but would not buy it instead of eornmenl. 

 We believe that at a cent a (piart it would be cheap 

 fond to buy to mix with meal for feeding pigs for the 

 lirst few wVeks after weaning. Many pigs have been 

 spoiled by being confined to a eornmcal diet while 

 young. In feeding your pigs or calves, growth and 

 not fat should be the object sought, — iVcw England 

 Fannci'. ' " ' 



quantity of good manure. When the manure is re- 

 niovcil in the spring, the ditch can be tilled by wheat 

 straw, upon wliicb a lew bushels of lime had been 

 .scattered; then as fast as it rots |)ilc It np in the 

 ditch and 1111 the spaces between (^aeh pile wilh straw 

 and soon. In the fall there will be a line pile of 

 manure, which will renovate I he worn onl Held ; orU) 

 .scatter on 1 he exixiscd knolls cm the whc'at fields, pre- 

 v<'UtinL' winter klllinir. Another great waste Is the 

 large crop of weeds, which each year is allowed to go 

 to seed, and spr.-ad all over adjoining farms. 



Using too much hard labor is another way of wast- 

 ing on the farm. Many machines can now he used to 

 save much of this labor. More hors(!-|iowc>r« must be 

 used. And after we have raised our crops they should 

 largely be fed out on the farm. It is nuieh cheaper to 

 ship corn, oats, iV:c., in the form of meat than to s.-ml 

 it ill the bulk as raised; besidi-s, Ibe soil is made 

 richer, insleail of constantly reducing its producing 

 lapaeity. — J'ruiric Farmer. 



Berries for Birds. 



I would urge the planting of evergreens about the 

 homegioumis to all'ord sbeitcr to the birds in w.iutcr. 

 In addition to trees and shrubs for shelter, there are 

 many kinds which produce food very acceptable to 

 birds, althougli of no especial value to man, and 

 these should not be overlooked in laying out and 

 planting new grounds and improving old ones. The 

 sassafras produces a fruit greedily eaten by several 

 of our larger kinds of birds. A closely allied species 

 known as the spice of fever bush, found in all our 

 Northern swamps, bears brilliant scarlet berries, 

 which arc not only ornamental, but much sought for 

 by birds. The nigbland cranberry is another hand- 

 some, ornamental shrub, bearing a profusion of light, 

 crimson-colored fruit, ripening very late in autumn. 

 In fact, all of our native species of viljurnums pro- 

 duce edible fruit iiiucli relished by birds. Tbebntlalo 

 berry (shcpherdia), silver thorn (cheagmis), and 

 scores of other native shrubs might well be intro- 

 duced into our gardens, if for no other jmrposc than 

 to supply the birds with food. We have driven away 

 the bird.s, our natural protci-tors from insects, ene- 

 mies, by destroying the trees and shrubs among 

 which they found a safe retreat, as well as food for 

 sustaining life. In addition to this, we allow every 

 scalawag whose highest ambition is to burn powder 

 and kill something, to prowl over our fields and de- 

 stroy the harvest birds. In the face of all this inter- 

 ference with natural laws, our fruit growers ami 

 farmers ask what shall be done to save the products 

 of their tields from insect depredations ? Alas I wis- 

 dom is a slow coach, carrying few passengers at a 

 time. — jUoore'n Rural. 



Boys, Do Something. 



We want to say just a word t<i the boys of the 

 farm. We have no si'rmon to deliver, no lecture- 

 just a bare suggesticui — and we hope every farmers' 

 boy will heed it. Make a beginning for yourselves 

 this Cenlennial year. The time Will finally come 

 when you must look to your own exertions for a liv- 

 ing. It is your wisest course to fit yourselves early for 

 the battle of life. .Solicit from your father the ri^dit 

 to plant and cultivate some certain ]ilol of ground, 

 be it ever so small, the product from which shall be 

 your own. Prejiare it most thoroughly, plant It with 

 i-arc, kee]) it clean of weeds, harvest the ero|i and 

 sell it, putting the ])roeeeds ata fair rale of interest, 

 so that when you "beeoine of age," you will be able 

 to begin your business career as independent, well-to- 

 do citizens. Supjiose you arc ten, or twelve, or four- 

 teen years of age. Just sit down and figure up what 

 the mere trifle you may earn for yourself this year, 

 at compound interest, will amount to by the time 

 you are twenty-one years old I Then if you add to 

 it each year, in a proportion to your cflieieney as 

 farmers, ycni will be astonished at the result. Do not 

 fear that your parents will not secoml your every 

 eftbrt. Nothing will please them so niucli as to real- 

 ize thilt you are really a young farmtr, with great 

 hopes of the future and a gri'at ambition to excel. 

 They know that the farm house is the real home of 

 happiness and comfort, if within it are found con- 

 tentincnt and high aspirations. The time has fully 

 come when the lords of the soil are lords of the 

 country. With careful lives, with good education, 

 with even fair ability, the farm boy may hold any 

 and all positicnis, when in manhood's prime, and it 

 is to him that the nation, in these days of corruption, 

 must look for true manhood and true patriolism. 

 The beginning of all this future brilliant career is 

 deiiendciit upon early self-exertion more than ui>on 

 all other things. Whether your parents are rieh or 

 poor, does not matter ; it is individuality that wins. 

 Strive to have and be something, while the bright 

 sun of youth lights the way. — Prairie Fanner. 



What Will Pay. 

 Year after year crops are moved otf without return- 

 ing anything to the soil. Manures are put under the 

 rains and the dropping of eaves until they are drained 

 of their best material and rendered nearly useless, 

 niis could be obviated by building cheap sheds to 

 cover the manure as thrown from the stables. This 

 can be done at a small cost and will jiay. Winli'r is 

 not a good time to build, but for such a purjio.se as 

 this it is better to build now than not at all. Plaster 

 should also be used in the stables to prevent the es- 

 cape of ammonia, and care should be taken to keep 

 it in as good condition as possible. If the barns and 

 yards are so situated that the wastings are carried oti' 

 by every rain, a little tinii' with a team, plow and 

 scraper will make a ditch (a broad, open one it 

 should be (around the barn on three sides, then at 

 all times keep this filled with the trash and litter 

 which naturally accumulates about the barn. The 

 ditch will hold the water, etc., from the yanl and 

 cause the straw to rot rapidly and will all'ord a large 



Labor Necessary to Happiness. 

 Almost evi'ry man sets out with a deterininalion 

 when a certain sum has bein aceuinulatc<l to retire 

 from the care* of business, and enjoy the balance of 

 his cluys in retirement on some sunny farm or rural 

 retreat his vision has |ilanued. This is wrong. You 

 should commcnic the business of life wilh the deter- 

 ininalion to work as long as you live, and you call 

 do Ibis if you obey the laws of lieullh as related to, 

 your physical and spiritual nature. Your husinesB, 

 if titled to your eapaliilllieH, will ill the doing and 

 right management of it be to you a great phasure, 

 an intense happiness, and therefore shouhl bi' con- 

 liimol as long as you live in this wurld. ('.ommeiio- 

 ing business with" this eiiil in viiw will |ircvcnt you 

 from fallini; Into the feverish, exciting, unhappy ami 

 short-lived risults that belong to Ibe men who wish 

 to rapidly aci'umulate a fortune ami ntiri' to enjoy 

 It. These men are not happy while ciMinting their 

 profits and certainly cannot be happy when they re- 

 tire to enjoy thein, for It is an establislicd law of 

 nature that in no wise can be sliirhtcd, that lalior tsa 

 necessity to pcrbet growth and pure unalloyed hap- 

 piness. ' .A wise man will iievr-r rust out as long aa 

 be breathes Ibe breath of life ; he will be doing some- 

 thing for himself, his country, or ix.slerity. Howard, 

 Krankliii, Newbui, and scores of other famous men 

 all were al work aliinpst to the last hours of their ex- 

 istence. It Is a foolish thing to believe that w1; must 

 lie down and die Biinply because wo arc old. The 

 man of hope and energy Is not old, it is only he who 

 sutlers his energies to waste away, and permits the 

 springs of his life to become motionless, on whose 

 hamls the hours hang heavily, and to whom all 

 things wear tlio vestuicnts of gloi>m. Work while 

 you live, is Ood's i-cipiirement, and in the doing of 

 wliiih only 18 perfect Biiccess attainable. 



Stick to Your Farms, 



The New York Ohxtri'ir gives the following timely 

 advice in its issue for May 4lh : 



The life of a farmer is not an easy one ; but w ben 

 he looks around and sees the wrecks of fortune made 

 on every hand by men cngagi^d in other )mrsiiits, the 

 fanner has cause to be thankful if be can su]iport his 

 family and give bis children a good common educa- 

 tion. It has been stated that during the last half 

 century only four increhants in the city of New York, 

 out of every hundred, have succeeded in making 

 their business iirofitable. The unsuccessful ones 

 have managed in many cases, to eiuiliiiue in business 

 for years after tlii^y had become bankrupt according 

 to their books ; but, of course, finally hail to succumb 

 lo their fate. These men, while living in good style, 

 and many luxuriously, have carried continually a 

 load of care that no farmer ever experienced ; and 

 when the time came that their business must be 

 wound up, their condition generally has been one of 

 [Xivcrty, and utterly broken down in spirits. A few 

 recover and resume business again ; but the majority 

 are pushed aside to make room for others, eventually 

 to follow in their Ibotstcps and euil their lives in mis- 

 ery and despair. 



Farmers, be contented. You may not be able to 

 lay up money ; but if you can pay for your birms and 

 live comfortable, envy not the eondition of those en- 

 gaged in other pursuits. To those farmers who are 

 out of debt, and own gooil farms, need I say that 

 apparcntlv wealthy bankers of Wall street might 

 well envy your lot. Nearly every week some one of 

 these Hrius, owing millions of dollars, explodes, and 

 , its members sink into poverty and obscurity ; but the 

 farmer w bo is out of debt ow'iis a bank that can never 

 fail, inasmuch as setil-tinie and harvest are ])roinised 

 unto the end of time. 



A word to farmers' sons. If your fathers own 

 good farms which arc not mortgaged, don't all aban- 

 don your homes. t)iie of you, at least, should remain 

 to carry on the farm when your father's lease of life 

 has expired. You might possibly <lo better in some 

 other business, but you had Ixittcr not risk a change. 



Holding on for Higher Prices. 

 The question often comes np, whether it is best to 

 sell a crop as soon as it is r»ady for market or to hohl 

 oil for higher prices. It is a question which lannot 

 be decided by newspaper articles. There are so many 

 temporary oi- local circmiistaners which largely en- 

 ter into the question and on wliieh every one nnist 

 ileeid.' for himself. Hut in a general way there is no 

 ilouht that it is best to sell as soon as ready, and this 

 is the advice we have frequently given in these col- 

 umns. 



Even though prices Iw low, and thtre is the rea- 

 sonable prospect of a rise in a short time, tliere are 

 the losses from shrinking and waste, which in a largo 

 immlHir of ciuies are quite as inneli as any average 

 increase in priee would be. lu the articles which we 

 have before given, audio which we have alluded, we 

 have iireseiileii this fact particularly ; and we re- 

 member referring to the case of a friend who put one 

 huiidred bushels of iiotatoes in the cellar in the fall, 

 and which only turned out eighty when sold in the 

 spriii". Here the loss was twenty per cent., and with 

 interest on the receipts, if they had been sold in the 

 fall requires a good advance to make it worth while 

 to hold under such ciriumstances. 



We lebM- to the matternow because we believe that 

 Ibis figure, twenty per cent., even by those who arc 

 conscious of a loss by keeping, is generally believiil 

 to be as much as is lost ; but we have recently seen 

 some figures which show that it isoflcn mueli greater 

 than this. Twenty per cent, is given as about the 

 loss by shrinkage "in corn ; hut as much as Ihirly- 

 three per cent, is claimed as the loss in (silatoes if 

 kept till late in the season, say .luiie. This is a si long 

 argument against tlie general princii>lc of holding on. 

 — (IcrmanlvifH Tdajraph. 



Hunger. 



When the svstem begins to nce/1 nutriment, it semis 

 a Ihiid from every isntion of the txidy towards the 

 stomach, where 'it aecumulatcs in little reservoirs, 

 the distension of which causes the sensation of hun- 

 ger; the fuller they become, the more hungry are 

 we . 



This lluid not only gives notice that food is neediil, 

 but it has the [lOwer lo dissolve it, as water dissolves 

 sugar, ami thus iircpans it for yielding its nutriinenl 

 lo Uic systeni. If, therefore, a [>erson cats without 

 an appetite, without being hungry, there being none 

 of this dissolving Huiil in the stomach, the fooil is 

 not dissolved, does not nmlergo any healthy change ; 

 on the contrary, la-iiig kept up to the stomach heat 

 of about one hundred degrees, it soon begins to fer- 

 ment, to decay, to rot ; if meat, it literally bceomes 

 carrion ; if vegetable, it sours ; In either ease, gener- 

 ating gas and v\ind, causine: unseemly licllylH'Ichiiigs 

 and noi.somc cruclations; or these gases, being con 

 fined, distend the stomach, causing pressure agiunst 

 the nerves, originating various pains aiMldiscomlorts 

 more or less distressing, lo last sometimes for hours 

 or half a night, preventing refreshing eh-ep, to lie fol- 

 lowed by a day of general (lis ifort and unfitness 



for business. Sometimes the slomach bceomes so 

 distended with wind that it crowds ui> against the 

 lungs, preventing them from receiving their proper 

 amount of air, and there follows a distressing feeling 

 of impending suflVicatioii. These same effects follow 

 en too much food is eaten — more than there is 



flu 



id in the slomach to dissolve,— 2>r, Hall. 



