126 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



The eminent German experimentalists, Messrs. 

 Wolff, Funeke, and Kreiizliage, liave imhlislied the 

 results of 71 praclical experiments on sheep between 

 two and tliree years old, and belon2:ing to the erossed 

 Wurtemhcri; breed. In 49 cases, the animals were 

 fed on fodder, sueh as tares, clover, aftermath, and 

 meadow hay, with the addition of turnips and man- 

 golds; iu 22 cases these roots were superseded by po- 

 tatoes. It was found that thedinfestibilityof the fod- 

 der, diminished with an increase in the ration of the 

 roots. Thus, the digestibility of the nitrogenous or 

 protein matters, diminished four to twenty-two per 

 cent., when the total of the dry substance of the roots 

 attained 13 to 9.5 per cent., as eomiiared with the total 

 of the dry matter of the lodder. With potatoes this 

 diminution was as hijjh as 7 to -10 ])er cent. Iu Ger- 

 many the nutritive value of roots is thus estimated 

 accordinj^ to tlieii' dry matter, apart from the ordinary 

 water of veiretation. In France, and perhaps in other 

 countries also, roots are rather considered as aids to 

 aujfment the volume ol' the ration, rather than to com- 

 plete its alimentary value. This seems to be a errave 

 error, for the dry matter of roots, is on an averajje, as 

 rich in nitro.eenous matters as the dry matter of rye, 

 barley, oats, maize or buckwheat, and the experience 

 of Wolff and his collaborators clearly prove, that the 

 digestibility of ailments is markedly variable follow- 

 ing the manner they may be given. These experiments 

 will also tend to allay iu some measure the family 

 quarrels between scientilic^and practical farmers. 

 There are not a few who decline to accept a practical 

 experiment unless it be controlled by direct chemical 

 analysis. Thus it would seem, that in order to deduce 

 results, it is more important to live in a laboratory 

 rather than among fields and stables. Now .animals 

 are themselves excellent chemists, and when five 

 pounds of hay are replaced by fifteen of beet, and the 

 cows continue to furuish the same quantity of milk, 

 without loss of condition, it is clear that in this cir- 

 cumstance the beets equal in value, one-third of hay. 



Among some new fodder plants that at present 

 attract attention, is fromental, or French ray grass, 

 the Tourves variety lieing the best. It is an indigen- 

 ous plant, and is well known in Pi'ovence, being pe- 

 culiar to light soils and natural meadows ; it is pre- 

 cocious and vigorous, generally attaining the height 

 of six feet when in llower, which is the moment when 

 it ought to be cut ; the second is often as good as the 

 first crop, and the aftermath is also respectable. In 

 the department of the Eure, the new " rye-buck- 

 wheat," so named from the length and color of the 

 grain resembling that of rye, is very superior to the 

 Tartary variety ; it is precocious, all the grains ripen 

 uniformly, instead of successively, are heavy, and 

 yield excellent flour. 



M. Gofi'art continues to do good service to his fel- 

 low countryraeu by keeping before their eyes his ex- 

 perience and his experiments on the culture of Cara- 

 gua, or horse tooth maize, for preservation in trenches 

 in a greeu state iu autumn for spring feeding. As 

 an instance of tlie im|iortant proiiortions the culture 

 of Caragua maize — called after Nicaragua where it 

 grows luxuriunlly, but from whence no seed has 

 been imported — has attained, two years ago only five 

 tons of that variety of maize were sold for seed in 

 France, and last year the quantity was 2.50 tons. 

 After visiting numerous farmsteads in the country, 

 noting the various processes lor preserving the green 

 maize, and haviu;; personally tested them all on his 

 own estate, M. Goffart concludes that the best plan 

 consists in choppinn the maize, the better to Ibrce 

 out the air, Iramiiling the mass well at the sides of 

 the trench, and never allowing it to rise above the 

 surface of the pit. The latter ought to be excavated 

 in a sloping soil, in a dry situation; the walls to be 

 iu masonry, two yards under and the same above the 

 soil; elliptical in form, 3 or :J yards wide, and suffi- 

 ciently long to contain SO tons of the chopped forage; 

 the latter will prove sufficient (or twelve cows during 

 the winter. The cost of the mason-work will be fr.BO 

 per head of cattle, but will he rejiaid in the first season 

 alone. The top of the trench ought to be closely 

 covered with boards, and all available heavy lumber, 

 stones, bricks, i^c, placed thereon to insure compres- 

 sion. Covering with sand and earth is considered 

 objectionable. The trenches can be extended in par- 

 allels according to the number of cattle to be fed. 

 The principal to keep in view is, to exclude all fer- 

 mentation of the mass, pendins, as well as after being 

 put into the trench. This can be secured, and only 

 so by expelling the air. Some two pounds of salt 

 per cubic yard of stulf, may be added, not to pre- 

 serve, but to give a flavor to the fodder; the latter 

 has been found to keep better, the less it was mixed 

 with cut straw, chali', liusks, iScc. There has been no 

 good result from chojiping up oil poppies with the 

 maize in order to induce the animals to sleep and 

 thus fatten more rapidly. Such aids, if they do not 

 provoke sleep iu cattle, have never yet promoted their 

 putting uj) flesh. 



Two, among the many regional, or official agricul- 

 tural shows just held throughout France, merit 

 notice. That at Gap, in the Upjier Alps, where its 

 remarkable race of cattle — the Tarine — is notorious, 

 having the fine triangular head of the Durham ; the 

 horns are sniall and well curved before ; the sbimlder 

 is all muscle, and the ham is composed of sinews of 

 steel, for the animal has often to seek its food like a 



goat. The sheep in point of muscle are the same, 

 and the rams have no horns. Tlie raising of sheep is 

 dying out; not more than .50,000 now are fed on the 

 Alpine slopes, where formerly five times that number 

 existed. It has been found, that everywhere the 

 sheep put its pointed foot, like Attila's, the grass 

 ceased to grow, because the heavy rains succeeding, 

 formed litt^le ravines from the foot marks, and carried 

 away the soil. Cattle are preferred; their hoof is 

 larger, and when grazing they cut the grass to the 

 surface of the soil, not tear it up by the root, as is 

 the case with sheep. The Berkshire breed of pigs 

 succeed best in the Alps. The show at Arras was 

 important; it includes the regions of Calais and 

 Boulogne, where so much produce leaves for Eng- 

 land ; it is the centre of the beet-growing districts, 

 the rotation being beet, then wheat or roots, with 

 clover, succeeded by flax, colza, oil poppy, and pota- 

 toes. It is also the quarter for Dutch and Flemish 

 breeds of cows, which do not differ very much, save 

 in color, the former being mahogany red, and the 

 other black ; both are good milkers and fatten r.apidly . 

 There is an aversion to cross these breeds with Dur- 

 hams, but it was just this crossing that carried off 

 the prize. Similarly with sheep, tlie Merino once was 

 the favorite, owing to its fine wool; the dishleg Merino 

 supplanted it, for at the age of two years the animals 

 have an average weight of 00 tt)8., a result formerly 

 attained only when three years old, and the fleece, 

 weighing 9 ttis. in grease, brings as high a price as 

 that from Merinos. 



Italian farmers iu order to prevent harness and 

 objects in leather generally, from suffering from the 

 ammoniaeal odors of the stable, add a little glycerine 

 to the grease employed to coat the leather. 



At this season it may be useful to allude to a plan 

 of haymaking in the mountain, boggy meado\ys of 

 the Vosges ; when the grass is cut it is only left three 

 hours exposed to the sun; if allowed a longer time on 

 the soil before being carted home, it would fail to 

 soften the stems and so render their digestion diffi- 

 cult. No complaint.s are made of the fermentation 

 and its consequences, as in the case of green artificial 

 fodder. Tares, generally employed for feeding horses, 

 are mown when the pods commence to form ; lucern, 

 especially in dry seasons, must be cut when the flowers 

 begin to show, in order to save the lower leaves that 

 commence to be yellow. As in the ease of lucern the 

 leaves are the most nutritive part of the plant. ^This 

 explains why the French never turn clover over to 

 dry during the daytime, selecting the morning and 

 afternoon, the leaves being then less brittle. 



'OUR FARMERS IN COUNCIL." 



Agricultural and Horticultural Society. 



The regular monthly meeting of the Lancaster 

 County Agricultural and llorticidtural Society was 

 held in the Athenajuni rooms, on Jlonday afternoon, 

 Auirust 7th. 



The following members were present : H. M. Engle, 

 Daniel Lintner, Alex. Harris, Johnson Miller, Levi 

 Groff, William McComsey, M. D. Kendig, Dr. P. W. 

 Hiestand, Jacob Bollinger, P. S. Keist," J. Stauffer, 

 S. S. Rat'ivon, E. S. Hoover, Calvin Cooper, Levi S. 

 Heist, J. B. Gather, Wm. Hershey, J. Frank Landis, 

 W. L. Ilershey, A. F. Ilostettcr, Phares Kaufl'man, 

 Simon P. Eby and .John M. Stehman. 



The President being absent, Henry M. Engle was 

 called to the chair. 



JonN'soN MiLLEH, One of the members of the com- 

 mittee appointed by the society to report the rain fall, 

 reported that he had as yet been unable to secure a 

 rain gauijc. 



Mr. Exiii.R thouffhtihere was no use of going to 

 the expense of purcliasins a rain gauire, but that one 

 could easily be made out of tin, in the shape of a pot 

 lid, about ten inches wide and six or eight inches 

 deep, with irlass tube attached. He had made one 

 like this, and it worked s.atisfactorily. The fall of 

 rain duriuL^ the month of July, in his locality, was 

 about one-and-a-half indies. 



Mr. Kendio, another member of the committee, 

 said that he had purchased a rain gauge, but in the 

 late heavy rains it proved too small, and inconse- 

 quence he could not make a rc|iort. By the next 

 meeting he thought he would have a report, as he 

 was ne2"0tiating for a larger gauge. 



Mr. Cooper said he had made a gauge similar to 

 the one described by Mr. Engle, and that it worked 

 well. The amount of rainfall in his neighborhood 

 was ^T 77-100 inches for the month of July. Mr. 

 Cooper also stated the amount of rain-fall for each 

 rainy day during the month, also the state of the 

 thermometer on such days. 



After the discussion of rain-fall w.as at an end, the 

 report of the crops was next in order. 



Johnson Miller said the wheat crop in Warwick 

 township was a good one, although some fields were 

 considerably damai;ed by the ravages of the fly. The 

 Foltz variety proved the best. The hay crop, although 

 not large was of the liest quality. The corn and to- 

 bacco were growing finely. The former, although 

 not so heavy in the straw, will make a large yield of 

 grain. There will be more toiiaeco raised in this 

 county this year than ever. Fruit of all kiuds is 



plenty. In some instances the apples fall before they 

 come to perfection. 



Before taking his seat .Mr. Miller presented to the 

 society a few apple tree twigs for inspection. He said 

 they were taken from the trees in the orchard of 

 Jacob Erb, in Pcnn township, whose apple trees are 

 all dying off at the top, as well as the twigs of last 

 summer's growth. The best of soil is on the orchard, 

 and it lays on a southern slope, so that freezing could 

 not be the cause. Some of Mr. Erb's neighbors' 

 trees also surt'ered in the same way, and he hoped the 

 matter would receive the attention of the society. 



Mr. Kendig, of Manor, said the wheat crop just 

 harvested was a irood average one. Corn and tobacco 

 look promising, the latter Jbeing larger at this season 

 than any former year's growth. The young grass was 

 very small, some fields having none at all. All kinds 

 of fruit look well and Avill be a heavy crop, notwith- 

 standing a great deal drops. 



.Mr. Gropp said that the wheat and hay crop in 

 the eastern section of the country was a very good 

 one. Corn ami potatoes will also be good, although 

 they yet need rain. Fruit of all kinds plenty. 



Mr. Mc'CoMSEr had heard that the wheat crop 

 just harvested was not fully developed, on account of 

 the intense heat in the early summer ripening it too 

 soon. He would like to know if such was the case. 



Mr. Engle replied that when the wheat was turn- 

 ing and it was very hot weather the heads would not 

 fill out so well. This season when the early wheat 

 was filling out it was rather cool weather, and he 

 noticed the heads were well filled. The late wheat, 

 which passed through the hot spell, was not so well 

 filled. E.\perienee had taught him that the weather 

 had a good deal to do with the cause. 



Mr. Bollinger reported that the corn about Eph- 

 rata. Clay, Manheim and Earl townships was rather 

 thin in the stalk, in consequence of which he did not 

 think there would be a heavy crop. The grain crop 

 was good and was harvested with very little expense 

 this year, as it could be cut down in the morning and 

 hauled in before night. 



Mr. Kendig asked for information in regard to his 

 young grass. As it was a perfect failure, he thought 

 of plowing it down and sowing it in clover and grass 

 seed together with a little oats for shading. 



Mr. Bollinger replied that he had a neighbor 

 that tried this method and got an excellent crop. In 

 another instance another neighbor tried it and it 

 proved a perfect failure. Perhaps the location of the 

 lands had something to do with it. The latter's land 

 was exposed to the north winds. 



Mr. Engle believed the success depended a great 

 deal on what kind of weather we have in the fall. 



Mr. Cooper reported the harvest in East Lampeter 

 more bountiful than anticipated. The late rains were 

 a great help to the young grass, corn and tobacco. 

 The fruit was suffering to a great extent by blight, 

 especially so in regard to the pears. 



Messrs. Hoover and Levi S. Keist also referred 

 to their pear trees being affe<:ted with blight. They 

 would like to know a remedy 



Mr. Cooper said that the blight takes effect both 

 on the bark and wood of the tree. He had tried dif- 

 ferent experiments, and found that the only way to 

 save the tree was to split the hark of the branch 

 affected in two or three different pbices. It could be 

 done best with a pruning knife. If this was done in 

 time it would prove a good remedy. Trees that were 

 treated iu this manner revived and are now flourish- 

 ing, while those that were not touched died. 



Mu Hoover wanted to know if it would do any 

 good if the branch were to be cut off. 



Mr. Engle thought that if nothing else would 

 save the tree, it would be well to cut off the affected 

 branch. He had saved trees by cutting off the 

 branches. 



Mr. Hoover wished to know if hen manure ap- 

 plied to the roots of trees and grape vines was bene- 

 ficial. 



Mr. Kendig said he found it very good iu making 

 trees grow. 



Mr. Stauffer had a friend who applied some 

 guano to the roots of two pear trees aflected with 

 "yellows," and it helped them. 



Mr. Engle did not think a case of real yellows 

 could be cured. Some peojile do not know the differ- 

 ence between an attack of worms and yellows. 



Mr. Hostetter said that he observed that the 

 locust trees in the vicinity of Petersburg were dying 

 at the top. 



Mr. Hoover, who had traveled over a great part 

 of the county during the last two months, found that 

 the locust trees as a general thing were dying. The 

 trees first die around the top, while the foliage on the 

 remaining part Of the tree seems perfectly healthy. 

 About otie-third of the trees in his neighborhood are 

 affected in this way. 



Mr. Stauffer thought the trees were attacked 

 with borers. 



Levi S. Heist was of the impression that the trees 

 were injured by the heavy frosts which visited this 

 section of the county two or three years ago. 



Mr. Hostetter hoped the matter would receive 

 the attention of the society, as the locust iuterest was 

 au important one in this county. 



Mr. Hoover thought that the best remedy was to 

 cut the trees down and take care of the stock. 



