1876.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



185 



Board of Finance building, a partial orgaiiiza- 

 tion_ was efl'ocU'd by tho apiwintiueiit of 

 Clement M. Biddle, as Trusident, and E. A. 

 Rollins, Trtasnrer. Tlie general features of 

 the [iropoRcd re-arrangenient of spaec in the 

 Main Building were discussed, and plans show- 

 ing the portions to be occupied by the i)rinei- 

 pal sections were presented and partly per- 

 fected. It is jiroposed to re.«erve the en- 

 tire open space in the centre to the north 

 of the music stand, heretofore occujiied by 

 English and French exhibitors, as a place for 

 musical entertainments. ])irectly to the east 

 of this some 25,000 square feet have been 

 allotted for the educational exhibit and the 

 book trade. An application from the Book 

 Trade for 10,000 square feet has already been 

 received. Immediately adjoining tliis display 

 on the east willbethatof the machinery, while 

 the space directly opposite the music section 

 has been assigned to the line arts. To the 

 west of the music the beautiful ceramic dis- 

 play will be stationed, and further on the 

 agricultural division. The State collective 

 exhibits will be arranged in order in the south- 

 western portion, and the shoe and leather ex- 

 hibit in the northeast extremity. Music, ed- 

 ucation and ceramics are thus far prominent 

 features of the arrangement of the new exhi- 

 bition. Waiting rooms, large reception rooms 

 and all necessary conveniences for the public 

 will be supplied, the aisles, with the exception 

 of the main aisle, being widened. 



Information was received of the intention 

 of the Commissioners of these countries to 

 donate to the new Exhibition some of the 

 distinguishingfeaturesofthedisplay of Sweden 

 and Belgium, and the frame work surroimd- 

 ing the exhibits of Spain, Denmark, Norway, 

 etc. 



A banquet was given at the West End 

 Hotel by the President of the Austrian Com- 

 mission to the Centennial officials and muni- 

 cijial authorities of Philadelphia. 



Lieut. General Saigo Tscukumichi, of the 

 Japanese imperial army and Vice President 

 of the Japanese Centennial Commission, bade 

 farewell to Gen. Hawley on Saturday and, Jin 

 the evening entertained various members of 

 the Centennial management at a banquet at 

 the Reform Club Rooms. On Monday he 

 left for San Francisco en route to Japan. 

 ^ — - — 



HOW TO CURE AND PACK SEED LEAF 

 TOBACCO. 



Messrs. Tappan & Allen, of Baldwin-sville, 

 New York, give the following instructions 

 to the tobacco growers of New York, a.ssur- 

 ing them that if they follow the plan they 

 will succeed in raising as good tobacco as that 

 of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Ex- 

 perienced growers and packers in Lancaster 

 county need no instructions, but the unex- 

 perienced will be benefited by following the 

 rules here laid down : 



Taking the Plants Down. 



Take the plants down only when you are 

 satisfied they are thoroughly cured, and when 

 the weather is moist, with a favorable air for 

 moistening the leaf to condition. The stem of 

 the leaf shoxdd be thoroughly dried out before 

 taking the plant from the poles. Take down 

 with great care, and commence stripping im- 

 mediately after taking down, to prevent the 

 heating and consequent matting of the leaf in 

 the stalk bank. 



Strip the leaves off the stalks immediately 

 after taking the plants down and put them 

 either in bundles of five to eight pounds each 

 or in banks-preparatory to assorting. In no 

 case allow the leaves to remain on the stalks 

 after taking down from the poles. 

 Stripping. 



Strip in three qvalities — unless the crop is 

 too poor to warrant you in doing so. Strip 

 the first quality so the leaves will be of uni- 

 form length and size in the same hank, select- 

 ing all the nearly or perfect leaves, and leav- 

 ing out the imperfect ones for the second 

 quality. 



Colors. 



Put dark colored leaves by themselves in the 



same hank, and light colored leaves by them- 

 selves also in .separate hanks. Positively ))ut 

 the leaves of the same length and size, (and 

 no short ones), in the same hank. The poor, 

 inferior, and "ground leaves" should be 

 placed in the third quality. 



"Fat lol)acco'' should not, under any cir- 

 cumstances, be put into any tiuality.whatever. 

 Throw it away with the stalks, li', as some- 

 times may be the ease, you chance to have 

 tobacco on hand too wet to be merchantable, 

 place all such by itself Do not mix it with 

 any tobacco in condition. Never sjjray or 

 sprinkle, nor wet tobacco. Water will most 

 certainly spoil it. Besides, it will "water 

 streak it," and permanently injure the texture 

 and market value nf the leaf. 



Steam kettles in .stripping rooms should be 

 avoided. The steam destroys the leaf, caus- 

 ing it to turn black. 



Size of the Hank. 

 They should not exceed one and one-fourth 

 inches through at the butts. Make them 

 small, neat and uniform in size. Put 15 to 17 

 leaves into a hank, accoi-ding to the growth 

 of the tobacco. Do not bind the butts with 

 wet or fat leaves. Tie down close to the ends 

 of the butts to make as long a show of the 

 leaves in the hanks as possible. 



Placing the Hanks in the Banks. 



Bank the first quality immediately after it 

 is stripped, so it will not dry out. Manage 

 the other qualities with the same caution. 

 Bank in a dry and secure place. Place the 

 hanks one by one in a round straight form into 

 the bank as nicely and neatly as your skill can 

 direct you. Give the butts air on either side 

 of the bank. Place good coverings over the 

 top of the banks, with suitable weights to hold 

 the boards in their places. 



Strip tobacco as early in the fall or winter 

 as its condition will allow, and endeavor not 

 to delay the stripping too long. Too long a 

 delay in stripping is apt to make several con- 

 ditions of tlie leaf^some dry and some occr- 

 dry leaf. If possible, make the leaf uniform 

 in respect to moisture. Do not allow the leaf 

 to sweat in the bank. If the tobacco shall 

 sweat in the bank, the leaf is apt to be 

 "stringy," especially if the bank is over- 

 hauled or handled when it is in a sweat. 



Casing. 

 Tobacco should be put into the casee when 

 the weather is warm and moist, and with the 

 utmost care. Four hundred pounds should 

 be put in a ca.se. The tobacco should be 

 weighed in, and the case should also he exactly 

 weighed — the weight placed in plain red chalk 

 figures on both ends of the box. The peculiar 

 condition and thinness or thickness of the leaf 

 may sometimes make it necessary to vary the 

 number of pounds required for each case. 



Sizing. 



When you case tobacco, "size up" the 

 hanks ; that is to say, put hanks of like lengths 

 and colors in the same case. If dark-colored 

 hanks, put all such of even size and length 

 in one case, and make it a full case. Put all 

 light-colored hanks, also of the same length, 

 in a case by themselves. Put all short and 

 small hanks, of the same or nearly the same 

 length, in cases by themselves, bearing in 

 mind the selection of colors. 



Mark the first quality plainly with red 

 chalk, "AA ;" the second quality, "A," and 

 the "C." 



If there are mixed cases, mark them dis- 

 tinctly with tlie number of pounds of each 

 quality contained in the cases. Keep a small 

 memorandum book with a true account of the 

 number of pounds of the respective sorts you 

 have, with such remarks added as shall seem 

 valuable to buyer and seller. 



Size of Cases. 

 The case should be made of pine lumber, 

 well seasoned, with two-inch corner-pieces, 

 and thoroughly nailed, three feet six inches 

 long, two feet and six inches high, and two 

 feet and six inches in width — all these meas- 

 ures to be computed from outside to outside 



of the cases. The limiber should be one inch 

 thick. Keep the case dry. 



When you pack your tobacco away in the 

 cases, place the boxes on the sides invariably. 

 Always case the banks so they will be placed 

 lenythifise of the case — all qualities the same. 

 If the tobacco is too short, till the centre of 

 the case with tobacco also, with the butts ill 

 all instances on the outside of the boxes. 



BUTTER CULTURE. 



Pisciculture is a business of such recent 

 origin that it is still regarded by the public as 

 an interesting novelty. More novel, more 

 curious, and far more interesting is the busi- 

 ness of butler culture, which, like piscicul- 

 ture, is an aquatic industry. Extensive but- 

 ter-beds have been planted in the Thames, at 

 London, and are yielding large and i)rolitablc 

 harvests. Within a few years we may expect 

 to sec the slow old-fashioned methods of the 

 cow and churn wholly supeiseded by the more 

 rapid and surer results achieved by rivi'r but- 

 ter culture. Dairymen will retire from the 

 butter arena, and, under the supervision of 

 able and intelligent 15oards of Butter Cnui- 

 misioners, the growth of butter will be 

 brought to su(!h a degree of perfection as to 

 place that useful compound within the reach 

 of the poorest household in the comitry. 



The Ix)ndon Medical Examiner of a late 

 date contains an interesting description of the 

 process of planting and growing butter. The 

 butter cult urist selects a nice muddy locality 

 in the bed of a river fiowing through a large 

 town, and carefully plants bis butter-seeds. 

 The bed must not be more than a foot below 

 the surface of the water at low tide, and it 

 must be constantly swept by a strong current. 

 Butter cannot be grown in a pure mountain 

 stream, but only in a river which receives a 

 large amount of sewerage, by which the butter- 

 plants are nourished. Having selected an 

 eligible bed, the butter culturist sets out a 

 number of small globes of the size of a filliert, 

 made of cork, hair, and woody fibres. As is 

 well known to analytical chemists who have 

 experimented upon the common butter of 

 boarding-house tables, these small globes con- 

 tain all the es.sential ingredients of butter ex- 

 cept its oleaginous parts. Of course, the but- 

 ter culturist is not strictly confined to the use 

 of cork, hair, and woody fibres, but may also 

 add hair-pins, and buttons in quantities to 

 suit his own tastes. Having, however, 

 decided upon the first ingredients of his 

 butter, he plants his seed-globes in the mud 

 of his butter-bed, placing them upon short 

 but stout stalks either of wire or wood. The 

 seed rapidly germinates, and, under the genial 

 influence of the sewage, the plant soon rearhes 

 maturity. When fully ripe, it is gathered by 

 boys with bare legs and carried to the butter- 

 presses, where it undergoes certain refining 

 processes. The ripe butter-plant presents the 

 appearance of a ball of dark-colored wagon- 

 grease, through which hair, ['articles of corks, 

 and bits of woody fibres are woven, by the 

 action of the tide. Its oleaginous particles 

 are, of course, derived from the refuse grease 

 which finds its way from kitchens and manu- 

 factories into the sewers; and, though the ripe 

 butter-plant is neither palatable nor attractive 

 in its appearance, it is readily transformed by 

 a cheap process of refining and flavoring, into 

 as vigorous, substantial butter as the most 

 exacting boarding-house keeper could desire. 



The Medical Examiner remarks that "ihe 

 process by which this questionable fact is 

 ultimately manufactured into an article of 

 food unobjectionable to the eye and palatable 

 to the taste is necessarily exciting public 

 curiosity." All judicious (leople will agree 

 that to indulge one's curiosity concerning the 

 manner in wliich any kind of butter is made, 

 is wor.se than idle. The wise man eats butter 

 and drinks his beer without seeking to know 

 their origin. Were the boldest of us to try to 

 trace the pedigree of pure Orange county butter 

 back to the cows of the Brooklyn distilleries, 

 the result might be extremely disastrous. 

 That way madness lies. Between butter and 



