im.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMfiF^. 



18^ 



and this is said to be the cause of the straiiRe 

 flavor sometimes to be met with in cider. Ex- 

 perience only can determine tlie exact (luan- 

 tity. 



Cider is now largely made on the '■mill sys- 

 tem," the same as cheese is made by the fac- 

 tory system, tlie owners of the mills biiyinf; 

 the apples of the farmers, and in some in- 

 stances talking on consignment and dividing 

 the profits, pro rata, made on the cider pro- 

 duced from Ihem. 



Cider to be cUirified by the above processes 

 should Ix' allowed to stand about ten days to 

 ferment and settle, tlien the I'larifying ma- 

 terial is added, and, after settling, the cider 

 is ready to be drawn off into other casks or 

 bottled. 



The city saloon trade is a large portion of 

 the trade. For this trade cider is put ui) in 

 three, live, ten and tifleen-gallon kegs. For 

 the Southern trade, iu lialf barrels, twenty- 

 eight gallon packages and bottles. — American 

 Qrocer. 



HOME AND HAPPINESS. 



If there is a desire which is shared by all 

 the'huinan race it is the desire of happiness. 

 Indeed, this may be said to be the foundation 

 of all desires, or rather that which embraces 

 and includes them all within itself. The 

 eagerness for wealth, the thirst for fame, tlie 

 yearning for applause, the longing for affec- 

 tion, the hope of excellence — all have their 

 roots in the natural desire for happiness. It 

 is because some one of these things seems to 

 us, to hold us to hold out the best promise for 

 happiness that we are solicitous to gain it ; 

 otherwise it would lose all hold upon ns. This 

 is not wholly a seltish desire. Deep down in 

 the heart of each man and woman dwells the 

 wish for others' happiness as well as his own. 

 It may be weak for want of active effort ; it 

 may be obscured by the larger presence of 

 self-interest ; but it is there, and if nurtured 

 and developed is one of the richest sources of 

 earth's enjoyments. The readiness with 

 which a community will respond to the needs 

 caused by some sudden emergency is alone 

 sutlicient proof of the universal existence of 

 this desire. Yet in our daily common-place 

 life it is apt to sink into the background and 

 be crowded out by the too prominent and ab- 

 sorbing cares and ambitious which have .self 

 for their centre. 



There is one source of happiness which is 

 seldom, if ever, fully appreciated or made to 

 yield half the delicious enjoyment it is capable 

 of. affording. We aUuda to home life. There 

 are more exciting pleasures, more impetuous 

 gratilicatiouR, more bewitching attractions, 

 but nowhere can we find more solid and per- 

 manent happiness, more calm and enduring 

 satisfaction, more innocent and gleeful joy, 

 than in a family home wliere love reigns 

 Bupreme. One cause of this lies in the perfect 

 naturalness of its relations. There is nothing 

 forced or arbitrary about the grouping of this 

 assemblage. The father and mother have 

 been drawn together, it is to be hoped, by 

 mutual affection. Tlie children, bringing 

 with them new interests and new joys, have 

 found, one by one, tlieir appointed places and 

 their glad welcomes. It is no artilicial as- 

 sembly, gathered together for some avowed 

 purpose, and dissolved when that purpose is 

 gained; It has, indeed, no direct mission to 

 fulfill outside its own boundaries. Its ex- 

 istence and happiness, and mutual good of its 

 members, are its sufficient aims. Each mem- 

 ber, it is true, has other relations and duties 

 to the outside world, but the family, as a 

 family, is a litte world in itself. AH the 

 socialistic enterprises which have striven to 

 supplant this institution have failed, sim|)ly 

 because they were warring against one of the 

 strongest instincts of human niiture ; that 

 which draws father, mother and children un- 

 der one roof-tree and around one hearthstone. 



Another cause of the happiness which 

 family life is capable of shedding may be found 

 in the importance with wliich each member 

 is invested. We all love to feel ourselves 

 centres around which others revolve; but 



comparatively few in society can have this ex- 

 perience. Most of us are ever circling around 

 others, and are thus reminded of our own in- 

 significance ; but at home each one is a centre. 

 No matter how ob.scure or petty his life may 

 seem ill the out-door crowd, let him once en- 

 ter the sacred portal of home and he be(!onies 

 of consequence. His liealth, his interests, his 

 prospects are here di.scus.sed with avidity, his 

 tastes are consulted, his uHeclion prized and 

 his whole being seems invested with a liigher 

 duty. 



It is true, however, that many families do 

 not realize this happiness. .Sometimes this 

 is because they lack the vitalizing jiower of 

 love, without whicli family liappiness must 

 wither and die as surely as the plant without 

 the sun. More coininonly. however, the love 

 is there, but obscured and shadowed by num- 

 berless little vexations, tempers and discon- 

 tents. The husband truly loves his wife and 

 would risk his life for her without amonienfs 

 hesitancy; yet he continually sacrifices her 

 hajipiness to his own self-will or ill humor or 

 selfish indulgence. The wife is sincerely at- 

 tached to her husband, and in any great issue 

 of life would be his slauncliest supporter; yet 

 she carelessly makes liim the victim of her 

 fretfulness or extravagance, or neglects to 

 make a cheerful and inviting home for his 

 weary hours. So with parents and children; 

 strong cords of atl'ection bind them together; 

 but the harsh reproof or the stern denial on 

 one side, and the sharp retort, or the sullen 

 silence on the otliei' loosen the bonds and 

 destroy the beauty of the relation. It is not 

 great griefs that mar the harmony of family 

 life. It is little faults, little neglects, thought- 

 less words, selfish exactions, bad habits. There 

 are many things that we crave, that we can 

 never acquire, but a happy home is accessible 

 to whoever will take the pains to obtain it. It 

 does not require much money, deep culture, 

 great genius nor marked talents; it does need 

 love for its main support, and the constant 

 expression of that love in kindly deeds, gentle 

 words, and willing self-denial. — I'kiladelphia 



Ledger. 



^ 



FARMERS' CLUB NOTES. 



I knew a farmer, not remarkable for his 

 careful management of manures, nor in fact 

 for thrifty farming, and he occupied a farm 

 rather worn by previous bad management. In 

 a few years past it has been noticed that he 

 gels crops of wheat actually larger ilian his 

 neighbois get, and the improvement attracted 

 notice, so I called on him to ascertain what 

 means were employed, and was informed that 

 the improvement was due to use of plaster on 

 his wheat in the fall, the rate of the applica- 

 tion being about two bushels to the acre. He 

 had taken no other steps to improve the yield 

 of wheat, but this practice had been kept up 

 through several years, with results as stated. 



On a former occasion I recommended 

 farmers to prepare their own phosphates, but 

 I have seen no reasons for modifying my 

 opinions. It is relatively cheaper to make up 

 a considerable quantity, as I have already 

 shown, and I therefore say it would be better 

 for the farmers of a neighborliood to join. 

 Ground bone may be adulterated very much 

 without betraying by its appearance the 

 wrong. So I siiy if is better as well as cheaper 

 for faruK^rs to prepare their own phosphates. 

 As to how to apply them, I have only to say 

 there is no better way to drill the fertilizer iu 

 with the seed. 



Rye for fodder makes probably the best 

 early feed that can be obtained, but it must 

 be cut before it gets too ripe, or stock will not 

 eat it with relish. It can be sown in tlie 

 summer on rich ground, and will make con- 

 siderable good feed from an acre. It is .said 

 that if it be .sown then it will not head in the 

 same season, but I never yet waited long 

 enough to see how it would be. I do not be- 

 lieve that anything can be procured to take 

 the place of com fodder, taking all things 

 into account. A neighbor of mine has this 

 season grown some German millec, but it did 

 not come up to his expectation, growing very 



large and coarse stalks with but few leaves. 

 It seems very innulritious, but when it comes 

 to be fed it may prove better than it looks. I 

 have never yet succeeded with Hungarian 

 grass as a soiling crop. It will not produce a 

 quarter as much fodder as corn, nor do cattle 

 or horses like it as well. I have grown eight 

 tons of dry corn fodder ))er acre, and the 

 total expense did not exceed $12 per acre for 

 labor and seed. If any one has plenty of 

 time to take care of the crop 1 think the "best 

 substitute that can be raised is beets. But 

 they take a large amount of work during the 

 early part of the season, and to be very suc- 

 cessful there must be a great deal of hand- 

 hoeing done in a root crop. And then there 

 is much more trouble and risk in keeping 

 them for winter and spring feeding. Yet 

 an acre of beets, on good ground, well taken 

 care of, will produce a great amount of excel- 

 lent feed for cattle and hogs. I have nearly 

 wintered store hogs on sugar beets, and kept 

 them in good growing condition all the lime. 

 ^ ■ — 



GREEN FIELDS IN THE MOON. 



When the moon is at the full, the assisted 

 eye readily distinguishes on her face certain 

 dark gray spots more or less sharply separated 

 from the brighter portions. Through the 

 telescope these spots apjicar as broad, level 

 spaces resenibling terrestrial seas. Imleed, 

 the earlier observers mistook them for .seas, 

 and by that name (Latin, mare) they are 

 known to this day. They are not seas, however, 

 but ancients sea-beds, now probably, nearly, 

 if not quite, destitute of water ; vast arid 

 basins like the Sahara, or the great interior 

 Utah basin of our own continent. 



Examined more closely, these dried-up sea- 

 beds are seen to have a rolling surface like 

 some of our Western prairies, or to be 

 traver-sed by numerous long ridges, resemb- 

 ling the wave like sandhills which give so 

 marked and peculiar an appearance to the 

 deserts of western Australia, the levelcr 

 portions being dotted with low mounds in- 

 terspersed with small crater pits. In many 

 places formations of an apparently alluvial 

 character abound, while the ancient coast 

 lines show distinct traces of water action. 

 Two of these lunar plains — Mare Ilumorum 

 and Mare Chrisium— are walled in complete- 

 ly by lofty mountains, jnescnting stupendous 

 precipices in the vanished sea. The larger 

 mares are more like ocean beds. They run 

 together as terrestial oceans do, and some- 

 times merge into the brighter continental re- 

 gions, without distinct line of demarcation. 

 In other places they show a rugged coast line, 

 rising into clitfs and peaks, and pierced at 

 times by valleys and ravines. 



One of the most conspicuous of these lunar 

 ocean beds, also one of the deepest, is known 

 as the Mare Serenitatis. Its area is nearly 

 12.5,000 square miles. Within its dark gray 

 border, from thirty to eighty miles wide, is 

 an extensive inner iilain which at times pre- 

 sents a fine, clear light green tint, with a cen- 

 tral streak of pure white, the green area 

 lying lower apparently than the gray exterior. 

 The green tint is difficult to catch, except un- 

 der favorable conditions, and is much weak- 

 ened by the effect of numerous small white 

 round spots and gray ridges. 



Another of the moon's green plains was 

 discovered by Madler in the Mare Ilumorum, 

 already mentioned. This is one of the .small- 

 est as well as most distinctly bordered of the 

 dark gray plains. Its area is r)0,ttOO square 

 miles. The greater portion of its interior is 

 distinctly tinged a dusky green, sometimes 

 very marked, affording a strong contrast with 

 the pure gray of the borders and high en- 

 closing ridges. On the west the green area 

 extends nearly to the edge of the mare, but 

 el.sewhere, as in the Mare Serenitatis, it is 

 separated from the border by a narrow, 

 darker gray fringe, except on the northwest, 

 where the gray and preen areas merge insen- 

 sibly into each other. 



Still another area of green is observed in 

 the Mare Chrisium, one of the most con- 

 spicuous of the moon's dark plains. It is com* 



