162 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ November, 



liardlj- a year has passed that currency lias not 

 been given to some terrible snake story, and 

 people were not wanting who would have been 

 willing to substantiate these by oath or affi- 

 davit. Twelve species of snakes, at most, are 

 natives of Lancaster county, and among them 

 there is but one that is venomous, namely, the 

 " Copperhead " {Trlgonocephalu.s contortrix), 

 and that one is mainly confined to the south- 

 ern districts of the county, especially those 

 that bordei' on the Susquehanna. None of the 

 other eleven species are venomous, and most 

 of them are entirely harmless. The larger and 

 older individuals among the Black-snakes, of 

 which we have two species, are said to have 

 attacked persons in the defensive, but all these 

 stories I'est upon "it is said," although some 

 of them are probably true; but even if true, 

 it by no means militates against the assump- 

 tion that they are not venomous. 



We would rather be bitten by a non-venom- 

 ous snake at any time, than to be bitten by a 

 cat, a rat, a squirrel, a mink, a weasel, a dog, 

 or even a mouse, and should have less appre- 

 hension about a wound, inflicted by such a rep- 

 tile, than we would from one inflicted by any 

 of the mammals named. The dental organs 

 of the common pike are more formidable than 

 those of any non-venomous snake we have in 

 Pennsylvania, and are capable of inflicting 

 severer wounds ; and yet most people would 

 rather subject tliemselves to the contingency 

 of the former than they would of the latter. 

 Black snakes, especially, are efficient "mous- 

 ers," and share the arvicolian products of the 

 meadows and the fields, with the hawks and 

 the owls, but often the latter carry off both 

 snakes and mice. Water-snakes are generally 

 fishers and froggers, but the smaller species of 

 land snakes, as well as the lizards, of which 

 we have two species, confine themselves al- 

 most exclusively to insects and worms. In 

 short we must try to live down and educate 

 out, the deep-seated prejudices, which from 

 our earliest infancy we foster against snakes. 

 It is true, as there are certainly such things as 

 venomous snakes, it would be prudent to be 

 on the safe side, but we would hardly apply 

 such a rule in our relations to other "things. 

 We would bo apt to regard it as too indefinite 

 — too hap-hazard. Nothing can so effectu- 

 ally dissipate our prejudices against snakes, 

 as a knowledge of their histories, habits, an- 

 atomies, and other characteristics necessary 

 in determining their species and families, and 

 learning to discriminate between the venom- 

 ous and the non-venomous species. 



We conclude this chapter on snakes by quot- 

 ing the following article, which originally ap- 

 peared in the columns of the Concordia En- 

 terprise^ of Kansas. (Whether we are to un- 

 derstand that the paper, the editor, or the 

 story, is an "enterprise," the reader may de- 

 termine for himself. ) 



The "Blue-racer" alluded to in the article, 

 (if true) we presume is what we call in this 

 county the "Black-snake" or the "Kacer"* 

 (Bascanion constrictor) a species more slender 

 than our common black-snake (Scoptophis alli- 

 glianiensis) a reptile that feeds on field-mice, 

 moles, ground-squirrels, birds, insects, and in- 

 deed on almost any small living animal it can 

 catch, when it is hungry. These animals are 

 very particular in their diet, eating, or rather 

 swallowing, nothing that is filthy, putrid, or 

 dead. 



As to the "adder" referred to, we know not 

 what it is. The European adder ( Clotho arie- 

 tans) is venomous, but there is no snake in 

 North America that we know of, that has re- 

 ceived the common name of "adder." Can 

 this be the "Harlequin snake" {Elaijsfidvius) 

 of the Western States ? If so, then it has two 

 short, erect fangs, and is venomous. Wheth- 

 er the " centennial snake story" is true or not, 

 3,000 snakes destroj'ed in one district, would 

 be felt in the increased number of mice and 

 insects for the next year following, at least. 

 We have, as boy or man, encountered snakes 

 of various kinds for more than half-a-century, 



"Perhaps the "ludigo," or "Gopher-snake " (Georgia cou- 

 peri), about 3 feet in length, bluish-black aboTe, and slate 

 below. 



and we never met one yet that did not attempt 

 to run away from us. It is perhaps important 

 that we should learn to distinguish the harm- 

 less and the venomous species, but their total 

 destruction we do not think is wise. 



Centennial Snake Story. 



On Saturday last we were asked by Mr. .Jon- 

 athan Fulford if we had "heard about tlie 

 snakes." We hadn't, and be proceeded to tell 

 us a story that we at first tliought incredible, 

 but which we were at last fain to believe and 

 which we now know to be true, having seen 

 the horrid sight, and can voucli with sworn 

 affidavit if necessary, as can others who may 

 have visited the scene within the past two 

 weeks, as to the truth of what we have to relate. 



On the 2d inst., toward evening, a young 

 son of Mr. A. Thompson, who lives about 

 eight and a half miles from town southward, 

 was passing over a hill on the farm of Mr. 

 Gibbs Myers, a neighbor, in quest of his fath- 

 er's cattle, when he accidentally stepped into 

 a small hole, and, drawing his logout quickly, 

 drew with it several serpents. The sight fright- 

 ened the lad, and he ran home and reported 

 his experience. He soon returned, however, 

 with another lad, and found that the hill-top 

 was the home of a community of crawling rep- 

 tiles, and before they left the spot they had 

 despatched forty six. 



Day after day the work went on, until last 

 Sunday the dead snakes were picked up and 

 counted and placed in a pile near the mouth 

 of the den. The number of 1,776 was counted, 

 and still the work of killing goes on from day 

 to day. We went to the place on Monday, 

 accompanied by L. H. Smyth, and the astound- 

 ing sight of near 2,000 snakes in one pile met 

 our gaze, with live ones still in apparently un- 

 diminished numbers upon the hill. We killed 

 fifteen in as many minutes and had enough, 

 while two little lads were all the time at work. 

 And the work of killing has been going on 

 ever since, until now we hear that about 3,000 

 have been despatched, and there are|hundreds, 

 perhaps thousands, left ! 



The snakes are of the species called the blue 

 racer, with a sprinkling of adders, and vary in 

 size from the thickness of a man's finger.to 

 that of his wrist, and in length from a foot to 

 four or five feet. They ran with remarkable 

 speed, and at first were cowardly, endeavoring 

 to escape, and not much disposed to show 

 fight. They are now, however, becoming vi- 

 cious, and show fight, and at times get start- 

 Hngly aggressive. 



The above statement is absolutely true, and 

 the sight is worth a pilgrimage to see. 



Now, what is to be done f A work of ex- 

 termination should be set about and carried to 

 completion. A blast has been suggested; but 

 something should be done to rid the neighbor- 

 hood of such an ugly mass of possibly venom- 

 ous reptiles. Let a plan be devised, a time 

 set and a snake killing "bee" organized, to 

 see what may be hidden in the gloomy depths 

 of that horrid hill.— Concordia (Kan.) Enter- 

 prise, Oct. 20. 



CENTENNIAL APPLES. 

 In looking over the pomological display at 

 the Centennial Fruit Fxposition, I noticed the 

 different varieties of apples from the ditt'erent 

 States. The same varieties were differently 

 colored in the different localities. Smith's 

 cider, Wine Sap, Dominici, Hubertsou's Non- 

 such, Waggon, and Black Gilliflower, from 

 Kansas, had very little of the usual red color; 

 while North Carolina furnished some beauti- 

 ful red apples, and of large size. Queen pip- 

 pins 18 oz., Butt"20 oz., Fliorr seedlings 12 oz.. 

 Hoover 10 oz., Clark's seedling 20 oz. By far 

 the largest display was from Canada. Iowa 

 had .some fine/cic S)riw7e specimens of apples in 

 wax under glass. There was no separate ex- 

 hibit of Pennsylvania fruit. There were indi- 

 vidual exhibitors from different parts of the 

 State, of which only a few apples were from 

 Lancaster county. Mr. Daniel Smeycli in ad- 

 dition to his grape exhibit at the opening had 

 some very large pears, equal to Cobs. Mr. 

 Satterthwait, from Montgomery county, had 



a fine display of apples and pears. He had the 

 genuine Smith's cider and the largest Seckle 

 pears I ever saw. The reason there was no 

 separate State or county exhibition of Penn- 

 sylvania fruit, was because there was no ap- 

 propriation made to defray the expenses of 

 gathering and displaying it. 



It would not have paid as an individual en- 

 terprise, to gatlier Iruit and place it on ex- 

 hibition, at our own expense. The State of 

 Pennsylvania could liave made as fine a dis- 

 play as any other that was represented, and 

 even our own county could have made a mag- 

 nificent display, but there was no encourage- 

 ment outside of our own Society. Our Society 

 would not ask — and perhaps it they had asked 

 they would not have gotten — aid from our 

 authorities, as we heretofore have met with 

 little encouragement from them. Agricultural 

 and Horticultural Societies, and their exhibi- 

 tions have not met with the recognition or 

 encouragement from the people that they de- 

 serve, nor yet from olticials, or they would not 

 have been refused the privilege of meeting in 

 a public room, to the support of which the 

 members contribute tliier annual taxes. Lan- 

 caster county is as much a fruit county as any 

 other in the State of which it is a part, and 

 might have been second to no other district in 

 Pennsylvania. The Fruit-growers' Associa- 

 tion of Ontario, from Hamilton, contributed 

 a great number of apples, of which 35 varieties 

 were presented to me by Mr. Jno. Freed, their 

 agent, and some few from Mr. Nathaniel At- 

 kinson, of Ashville, North Carolina. I have 

 brought and exliibited before our Society some 

 of the leading specimens, and hope it may pass 

 a vote of thanks to Messrs. Freed and Atkin- 

 son for the same. The State of Kansas made 

 by far the finest display of all others. They 

 had a fine large pyramid of apples and pears 

 in the Kansas and Colorado building. Fine 

 and large as their exhibit was, however, it 

 was, perhaps, not as beautiful as some others 

 of less size and variety, on account of the ab- 

 sence of the rich red color which is so essential 

 in a show of fruit. They exhibited thek fruit 

 as an advertisement, to induce settlers to locate 

 in their State. They had their own separate 

 exhibition in their own building, as well as 

 the one in Pomological Hall like many others, 

 and that was one reason why the Hall was not 

 filled up as it should have been. 



The Canada, North Carolina and Michigan 

 apples were exhibited on plates, sometimes in 

 alternate colors. Some were beautifully red 

 and yellow striped, and others of all the dif- 

 ferent shades of color. Amongst the Canada 

 apples I noticed a large and beautiful red va- 

 riety weighing from 15 to 20 oz., called the 

 " Fill-basket." When I unpacked my apples, 

 that was the first I looked for, but it was 

 missing — like the Irishman's flea when I put 

 my finger on it, it was not there — realizing in 

 this case as in many others, that " there's 

 many a slip 'tween cup and lip." 



Unless the Alexandria is one of the same — 

 as some contend, but which others dispute — 

 I am minus a fine apple. I think the apple I 

 have is not as large as the Fill-basket. 



I also desire you to examine may native 

 apples on the table, especially the MUlport- 

 Sheepnose, which bears every year a large 

 crop. But it is not a long-living tree — over- 

 bearing is the cau.se. — L. S. R., before the meet- 

 ing of the Lan. Ag. andHort. Soc.,Nov. 6., 1876. 



[Mr. R. 's experience corroborates pretty 

 much our own, on our visit to the Centennial 

 pomological show. We regret that Pennsyl- 

 vania and Lancaster county permitted other 

 states and counties to carry off all the honors 

 of the occasion, especially since they were so 

 near and accessible, and moreover had an 

 abundance of all kinds of fruit, and could have 

 made as tine a display as any other on the 

 continent. The want of an "appropriation" 

 no doubt was a serious drawback, but this is 

 hardly a sufficient excuse. The citizens and 

 societies .should have taken the matter in 

 hand, and made a grand display " any how." 

 But the opportunity hasnow passed, and Penn- 

 sylvania's record on this august occasion, will 

 not read so well a hundred years hence. — Ld.] 



