The Lancaster Farmer. 



Prof. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., JANUARY, 1877. 



Vol. K. No. L 



TO THE PUBLIC. 

 The fanneis of Laiic;islfi- county, to tlieir 

 own iiuiun-ishable credit, have .seemhifjly felt 

 that they could not afl'oril to let their- local 

 joui'ual die, without making a manly ellb.-t to 

 resuscitate and sustain it ; and hence it be- 

 comes our pleasing duty to announce to the 

 public that their noble resolve has beeu 

 crowned with a larger degree of success than 

 could have been expected in the present 

 peculiar and unsettled state of ihe times ; and 

 hence, also, we extend to them these our 

 friendly greetings. 



How often does it hap]ien that we bave a 

 friend, a relative, perchance a wife or mother, 

 who is quietly, perseveringly, and it may be, 

 arduously laboring for our moral and phj'sieal 

 comfort, but whose lalwrs we seeniijigly 

 uurecjuite or unappreciate until we suddenly 

 become conscious that they are about to die. 

 Then they immediately are accorded a recog- 

 nition that liad never been vouchsafed before ; 

 then we begin to realize the vacuum in our 

 social life that their absence would create ; 

 then we make a frantic ellbrt to recall, restore 

 and sustain them, that we had never made 

 before, and which, had it been timely made 

 along their rugged pathway in life, their 

 health might not have become impaired, and 

 their usefulness might have continued on to 

 the evening of a yretn oVd wje. 



Analogous to ihis had been the life and 

 pecuniary condition of the Lancaster Farmer. 

 It had exhausted its constitution, and for the 

 past year had been "running on the by-laws ;" 

 and therefore when it became manifest that it 

 was about to die, its fi'iends and patrons — the 

 friends of agricultural, social and domestic 

 progress — became solicitous about its appar- 

 ently approaching demise. They therefore, in 

 solemn conclave, vowed that it should not 

 pass away from the things that ore, if their 

 united ellorts could prevent it. There is a 

 wonderful potency in the human will, which, 

 if rightly conceived and intelligently and per- 

 severingly carried out, must .avail ; and when 

 tliese elements constitute its substratum, if it 

 does not avail, we may clearly actpiit our- 

 selves, and interpret the result as an indi- 

 cation that our elVorts in the matter ought to 

 submit to the dictates of astill "higher law." 

 Under- these circumstances, and with a deep 

 sense of our responsibilities, we again launch 

 our craft upon the sea of journalism. We do 

 not ask for much — we do not expect much — 

 but we should greatly underestimate the far- 

 ■ mers of the great county of Lancaster, if we 

 concluded that they could not, or would not, 

 sustain a local agricultural journal among 

 them. Such a conclusion, we feel, would do 

 them great injustice at home, and misrepre- 

 sent them al)road. 



Having then signalized the beginning of the 

 second century of oiu" political being, by a 

 worthy determination to sustain a local journal 

 amongst them, we trust this worthy intention 

 may be more than realized ; but to assure such 

 a result, we look for a liberal support in the 

 way of pecuniary i).atronage, Agricultural and 

 Horticultural contributions, essays, communi- 

 cations, and judicious selections. In short, 

 we wish to reflect the moral, physical, finan- 

 cial, domestic and agricultural condition of 

 our growing county. We do not claim to be 

 an oracle, nor a dictator in matters of rural 

 industry and economy ; hence, our situation 

 must necessarily be that of a Medium between 

 the farmers and the public. We therefore need 

 their thoughts and experiences to stamp our 

 journal with that <lpgree of interest to them, 

 which is so much desired by a progressive 

 people. Having this support, we will see that 

 their ideas are clothed in such language as will 

 make them intelligible and useful, as well as 

 a credit to their authors. Judging from the 



past we feel assured that they possess the in- 

 tellectual and physical power to make their 

 representative journal a lirst-class publication. 

 It is true, that our country at this time, is de- 

 piessed, and that all ourdomestic, mechanical, 

 agricultural and connnercial interests are in 

 travail ; but then we must remember, that the 

 greatest blessings to the human family are 

 often secured only tiirougli travail. It wan 

 through travail a hundred years ago that our 

 .s((((!(.v as a free and independent people was 

 secured ; and it was through the direst travail 

 that nearly nineteen hundred years ago the 

 Christian religion was established on earth. 

 We have reason to believe that the present 

 unpropitions times are only a transition period 

 that sooner or later must. pass away, and that 

 a "good time is coming." The self-denial 

 that each farmer will becalled upou to exercise 

 will be small indeed, when it is compared with 

 the good which may be done in sustaining the 

 Lancaster Farmer, at so small an outlay. This 

 good will live after us, and its influence will 

 be felt among our children and our children's 

 children down along the stream of time, and 

 they will rise up and call us blessed. With 

 these sentiments as our support and guide, 

 and a desire to merit your favor, we emerge 

 forth, hoping tliat you all may experience a 

 prosperous and ^^ Happy New Year." 



TO OUR READERS. 



We are obliged to throw ourselves upon the 

 kind indulgence of our friends and patrons for 

 the late apperauce of our journal. Adverse 

 and almost uncontrollable circumstances pre- 

 vented its issue at the regular period, in the 

 beginning of the year ; and then, we thought 

 that the next be.st thing we could do, was to 

 issue a double number, covering the months 

 of January and February. But this was over- 

 ruled by our friends, and the more practical 

 suggestions of the publislier and his friends. 

 Inorder, therefore, to cover the whole ground, 

 and prevent a historical vacuujn in its .series, 

 we have concluded to issue the January 

 number separate, under its proper date, and 

 immediately follow it with tlie February 

 number. The March number will be issued 

 at its regular period, and from tlience for- 

 ward we expect to be regularly "on time." 



We feel that long before the end of the year, 

 our patrons will have forgotten these un- 

 pleasant irregularities, and that in ten or a 

 lumdred years hereafter (but for this necessary 

 record) "no body will be the wiser of it." We 

 have received many verbal and written com- 

 mendations from our brethren of the agricul- 

 tural press, which it will give us pleasure to 

 notice in due time ; but for the present, we 

 cannot resist the impulse to express our 

 hearty thanks for the kind words we have 

 received from the editor of the American 

 Farmer, puVilished at Xo. North street, 

 Baltimore, ]Md., one of the best and most ably 

 conducted agricultural jounials in the Union. 



Baltimore, 1877. 

 Prof. S. S. Rathvon, Lancaster, Pa. 



Dear .Sir : I take the liberty of sayinsr that I wae 

 sorry not to have the opportunity, wlien in Lancaster, 

 of exprcssinsr to you, in person, the rettrot 1 feci at 

 your withdraw! IViiin llie control of a journal so 

 etliciently workinsr in the licld of airricultural litera- 

 ture, as did the one under your editorial manage- 

 ment. That important cause can ill afford to lose 

 the services of nun so intellitcent, so active, and so 

 disintercsted^and while no douhl it is to you, in- 

 dividually, a relief, it is, to my mind, no less a dis- 

 aster to the true interest of agricultural journalism ; 

 in the ranks of which are too many who take up the 

 work only as an expedient, or to subserve personal 

 aims. Assurini; you of my great respect, I beg to 

 subscribe mvseJf, very truly your friend, 



W. B. Sands. 



In conclusion, we admonish our friends who 

 have subscription lists or advertisements, to 

 send them in without delay. — Ed. 



AFTER THOUGHTS. 



And now, here turns up before us a postal 

 card, bearing date June 1, 187.5, whicli we 

 do not remember having seen before, buried 

 as it has been among a multitude of letters 

 and promiscuous papers, containing the fol- 

 lowing : 



"The young duck swims at once, the 

 young snajiping turtle bites when taken from 

 the egg, and a harmless serpent, without fang 

 or rattle, will vibrate its tail like a rattle 

 snake, producing a similar soinid among dry 

 leaves." — IIaldejian, in the Jcono'jruphic 

 Fiicychpcedia, New York, 185U-zoology, p. G. 



"The Latin adjective 'exilis' means slender, 

 but 'exile' is akin to 'exilium,' banishment, 

 'exul,' one bayxished." 



"The Pennsylvania canal from Chickies to 

 Bainbridge, and perhaps farther, has many 

 dead and dying lisli, such as chubs, minnows, 

 suckers, black bass; also cattish and eels, 

 which seem to be hardier than the others. 

 The caii.se is probably due to i)umping out 

 the Lykens Valley coal mines, after the long 

 strike, which allowed the waters to take up 

 an unusual amount of deleterious salts and 

 acids. I have been told that frogs are dying 

 with the fish I" 



"The article in the Intelligencer, May 31, 

 1875, does not state distinctly whether the 

 ground-hog plugs his hole or not." 



None of the above paragraphs are too tran- 

 sient to go on permanent record; because 

 they all relate to those facts which may be 

 consulted with profit at any time; notwith- 

 standing they have been inhuiued for nearly 

 two years. The first paragraph illustrates 

 that instinctive mimicry, which also dis- 

 tinguishes so luany of the the tiny subjects 

 of tlie insect realm, in which they exhibit all 

 the activity and intelligence of adults, the 

 very moment they evolve from their pupal 

 sleep. The little MirriKjaster comjregata, 

 which is parasitic on the bodies of the "Giape 

 Sphinxes," the moment its head protrudes 

 from the upper end of its little rice-sh.Tped 

 cocoon (which stands erect on the body of the 

 Sphinx) begins to maniptilate its antenna as 

 deftly as a "fiddler's elbow," and looks as 

 briglitly and as cunningly at you as if it an- 

 ticipated some sinister intent towards it; and, 

 as soon as the whole body is extricated it will 

 run or fly with all the agility it ever aeepiires. 

 And that is not all; if the slightest drop of 

 honey or treacle is placed upon a fresh leaf, 

 by the aid of those same little antennte it will 

 find it and appropriate it as dexterously as 

 if it had been specially educated to it. And 

 when its nuptials are accomplished, it knows 

 exactly where to go to oviposit. 



Thesfcodd paragraph involves a philological 

 (piestion that is altogether unquestionable. 



The third paragraph involves a historical 

 fact, that was patent at the time, and sug- 

 gests a rational conjecture as to the cause. 

 Such mortalities in the animal world are fre- 

 quent; and doubtless are the effects of differ- 

 ent causes. During the "heated term" of 

 1870 we heard of one or two such cases, as 

 occurring in lakes or other large bodies of 

 water, but we cannot now specifically recall 

 them. 



In regard to i\\e fourth paragraph, we have 

 not easy access to the record alluded to; we 

 therefore, cannot recall what was said there, 

 in regard to the habit of the ground-hog, in 

 plugging the hole of his den during the win- 

 ter season; but, in a paper of prior date, we 

 made the statement (on the authority of Dr. 

 John Godraau) that the ground-hog did retire 

 to his winter sleep, and plug up the door of 



