1877.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



27 



results: for I call llioso results liap()y ones 

 when hens will lay with the uu-iciny at zero, 

 and one can have fresh egi,'sto eat and to sell, 

 when epgs are 40 cents per. doz., as they art 

 at the present time. 



But what puzzled nie in the business was, 

 why baked corn— that is, corn put in a stove 

 oven and subjected to beat enough to brown 

 and <'arbonize it, say -IHI def;. to ■J.Vjdeg.C'ent.. 

 or :i',Cj ileg. to 4S-J deg. Fah. (the temperature 

 for bakin;; bread)— stimulates egg production, 

 or the animal economy otherwise, more than 

 raw corn or corn cooked in the usual manner. 

 I remend)er to be sure, I wanted 

 my mush cooked two hours certainly, and 

 longer if possible; that the New Knglanil deli- 

 cacy, for I will call it such, of baked Indian 

 pudding owes a great deal of its merit to 

 standing from 10 to V2 hours in the old fash- 

 ioned bi'ick oven; and tliat the same is true of 

 Boston brown bread, which is never seen in 

 perfection beyond the broad basis of the Berk- 

 shire hills. But how the improvement pro- 

 duced in these dishes by prolonged subjection 

 to heat could possibly change the eonslitnent 

 element in corn or cornmeal, I could not see 

 or understand. The ternary or qnarternary 

 compomids are so hxed in corn .and all similar 

 substances, that an attempt to change one in- 

 to another results in the destruction of both. 

 Gluten can never be changed into starch or 

 sugar or oil, or the reverse; but sugar, starch, 

 and oil are nearly identical in composition, 

 and so are albumen, gluten, and libriue. All 

 this I knew, and became more and more puz- 

 zled over the problem , when I slumliled on a 

 solution, whicli 1 ran across in the concluding 

 paragraphs of a paper on Le Jlle, la Farinc ft 

 le Fttiu (wheat. Hour, and bread), by J. A. 

 Barral, the propietor and publisher of the 

 Journal dc V AgrkuHure, of Paris, a gentleman 

 who stands in the same relation to the farm- 

 ers of France, as the late Luther Tucker did 

 to those of North America. 



Says M. Barral : "In course of ascertaining 

 the comparative amountof nitrogen in bread 

 crusts, and the crumb or soft part, we arrived 

 at unexpected results ; always that the crust 

 is the richer in nitrogenous matter than 

 the crumb of the same loaf, and that these 

 nitrogenous matters have a much greater de- 

 gree of solubility. One might say that those 

 persons who eat hard crust in preference to 

 the soft, take, in the same weight, food doubly 

 nitrogenous, more easily soluble, digestible, 

 or assimilable, and very probably twice as 

 nourishing. This explains the preference we 

 should give to hard-baked bread over that less 

 thorougldy done ; why physicians recommend 

 a pa]) to be made of bread crusts ; why toasted 

 bieadso much better satisfies the appetite, 

 and why toast water is so grateful and nourish- 

 ing ^o invalids and convalescents. One sees, 

 indeed, that the loss of organic matter accom- 

 plished in cooking consist in the carbonaceous 

 constituents of flour— starch, sugar and the 

 . like — and the result is a concentration of the 

 nitrogenous matters in the crusts. 



"It is a very important fact to be able to state 

 that bread crusts are more soluble in water than 

 the crumbs ; and a more important one to be 

 aVile to afhrm that the nitrogen in the crust is 

 much more soluble than the cooking of the 

 crust, under the double inlluence of a tempera- 

 ture of 200 to -220 deg. C. (882 to 4r)8 deg. Fah ), 

 produced in the ovens and from the vapor issu- 

 ing from the body of the loaf, transforms the 

 gluten of the flour into a soluble substance." 



Now, apply these singular facts to the 

 whole grain of Indian corn, and the culinary 

 compounds of cornmeal, and we see how it is 

 that parched or baked corn is quite a different 

 thing from tlie raw article, and why the long 

 boiling of mush and the protracted cooking of 

 baked Indian pudding and Boston brown 

 bread have their reason to be. In the case of 

 egg production, it seems baked or parched 

 corn is not only more soluble — that is, more 

 digestible than raw corn — but it also contains 

 a greater proportion of the egg-makinu sub- 

 stance, gluten, for the reason that the baking or 

 roasting has carbonized and diminished the nou- 

 «gg-making constituents, sugar, oil, and starch. 



OUR LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. 



Proceedings of the Lancaster County Agri- 

 cultural and Horticultural Society. 



Tlie resrular iiioijtlily meetiner of the Lanoastcr 

 County Airricultural niiil Horticultural Sooicly was 

 held on MomUiy aflprnoon, Keliniary ."itli, in tlie 

 .VMu'iKiMMu room, I'rcsitlent Coo[)(-r in the chair. 



Tlic (bUowinir nuMiihi'rs wore prcBOiit ; McsBrs. 

 Calvin Coo|«t, Henry .\I. Eniflc, JolniBon Miller, I.,fvi 

 .■<. Itei.st, \Vni. MoCoinBOV, Mr. Ilershcv, .Martin D. 

 Konilis-, S. S. Hallivon. jl. Hcnpilict, Israel I,. I.an- 

 ili.s, C I.. Uuni'i'ckiT, l.cvi I'ownall, .loliii H. Krip, .1. 

 Frank bandis, I'olcr S. Keist, J. W. Hess, Mr, Miller, 

 Simon P. Kliy, Henry Krb, John Gingrich, Harry F. 

 Hosletter, David (J. Swartz. 



Kohert Crane, of Columbia, and Samuel HeBS, of 

 I^plii-ata, were elected mendxTB of the Bociely. 



The eonimillee on revisiuf; the eonetitution and by- 

 laws of the society were di^eharjred. 



.Mr. Enoi.k reported the amount, of rain-fall for 

 tlie nionlh of .January as H .5-10 inches. 



Mr. KKNDiii, of .Manor, said the wheat looks 

 healthy. Tobacco was very good. Some sold for 1!0 

 and oO cents per poiuiil. 



The committee ap|)ointed at the last meeting; to 

 consult with the [mblislier of 77« Latwayfcr Farinci- 

 ill regard to its conlinuatioii and to canvass for sub- 

 scribers for the same, was called upon to report. .Mr. 

 Israel L. Landis said he succeeded pretty well, havinj^ 

 reci'ivcd between tift.v and .sixty subscribers in ten 

 days, but when he discovered that none of the rest of 

 the committee were making' any elforts, lie droj^ped 

 the matter, and has dime nothing' since. If the mem- 

 bers would take hold of the matter, he felt sure the 

 necessary subscribers could be secured. 



Mr. ENiiLEsaid al tlic last meeting he pledged him- 

 self to secure twenty-live subscribers. He liad got 

 twenty-eight, and would further pledge himself to 

 raise the list to forty. He hoped the members would 

 not lot r/i*: /ar//itr die from starvation. Every niem- 

 ber should pledge himself to raise a list of at least 

 eight or ten subscribers. 



I'ETEK S. Keist reported twenty-live subscribers, 

 most of which he got while attending sales. He 

 would pledge himself to raise the list to lifty. If a 

 Hrf man would take hold of The Farrnt^r and make a 

 thoroutih canvass of this county, he felt sure .5,000 

 subscribers could be secured without much clfort. 



After considerable discussion in regard to the con- 

 tinued publication of The Fanner, Mr. llathvon 

 arose, and said, on account of the seeming embar- 

 rassment it caused, he would ofl'er the following reso- 

 lution, which, on motion of Mr. Engle, wns ordered 

 to be laid on the table : 



liesolvcd, That the consideration of the publication 

 of The Laitctisfer Fartiier be withdrawn, and that all 

 committees relating thereto be discharged. 



.\lr. McCoMSEV thought the only way to secure 

 the requisite number of subscribers was to employ a 

 suitable person to canvass the county. He suggested 

 that the society pay such canvasser one mouth's pay, 

 and that be go to work at once. 



The question was further discussed by several 

 other members, when it was moved by Mr. Engle to 

 oHcr a premium to those receiving subscribers, to re- 

 port iu eight or ten days, when, if a sullii-ieut num- 

 ber could not be secured, the matter should be 

 dropped. 



H. M. Eno.i.e, Israel L. Landis and Wm. Mc- 

 CoMSEY were appointed to prepare a premium list for 

 the canvassers. 



The following bills were ordered to be paid : John 

 H. Barnes, printing constitution and rules of order of 

 the society, together with directory of Lancaster 

 county, 8jo ; rent of room for meeting of Fruit (i row- 

 ers' Society and janitor's services at same, 5^12.0.5. 

 The list submitted by the Coinuiittee on Premiums 

 is as follows : For the largest list of subscribers to 

 The Fanner, not less than thirty copies, $.5, or life 

 membership; second largest list, S-i ; third largest 

 list, $'.; ; lists of lifteen subscribers or upwards, one 

 copy of Farmer for 1S77. Adopted. 



Mr. Engle made the following answerto the ques- 

 tion, " Is any certain color of a cow indicative of su- 

 perior milking qualities :" The tfuestion was re- 

 garded by Mr. Engle as not being deliuite; the answer 

 must necessarily be conditional. Some cows are 

 copious milkers, but their milk is of poor quality ; 

 others, that yield half the quantity of milk, produce 

 more butter. Again, a few produce a large quantity 

 of both milk and butter, while far too great a number 

 produce neither milk nor butter sullicient to pay for 

 their keeping. Copious milkers are found among all 

 colors of cattle, but very rich milkers are very seldom 

 lound amongeitherwhiteor black. The intermediate 

 colors furnish, as a rule, the best milkers. A good 

 .iudge will relv upon other marks, among which is a 

 rich yellow skin without much regard to color of 

 hair. The Uuenon system well understood is pro- 

 bably the most reliable method by which to judge the 

 milking qualities of a cow. 



Mr. Enole staled that the Board of Agriculture 

 of this State met at Harrisburg last week, to which 

 he was delegated by this society. He said that the i 

 society will some day make its mark, as some of the j 

 best and ablest men of the State are members. There i 



I is now in the Senate a bill for the repeal of the liounty 

 allowed local societies. He would like the opiuionof 

 I the members of the society on this subject. 

 I Israel b. I.andis hoped prompt measures would 

 j be taken at once by the society to defeat the bill. 

 I Mr. ,MeCoM.SEV moved that our representative at 

 Harrisburg be reiiuesled to use all fair and honorable 

 j means to prevent the repeal of the bill. 



.Mr. Mii.i.EH moved to amend, that a copy of the 

 resolution be sent to each Senator and liepresenta- 

 tive. .Adopted. 



J. W. Hess presented some York Imperial apples 

 and three yellow apples for a name, nitfercnt other 

 varieties of apples were also placed upon the table 

 for inspection. H. M. Engle, bevi I'ownall and J. B. 

 Erb, were appointed as a committee to lest the fruit 

 and report to the Society. 



The following questions were offered for discussion 

 at the next meeting ; 



By E. K. Hekshey, "How much lime ought to bo 

 applied to the acre to secure the best possible re- 

 sult ?" 



By John B. Eitn, "How shall we bnild a good and 

 cheappump-hou.se, with fruit cellar undenu-ath." 



By I'ETEH Heist, "In selei'ting seed corn, is it ad- 

 visable to take only the middle grains on tlie ear?" 



By Johnson Milleh, "When is Hie best lime to 

 sow clover seed ?" 



The following jiroposed by M. D. Kendig, was re- 

 ferred to S. S. Hathvon, to answer at the next meet- 

 ing : 



"Will the unusually large crop of tobacco worms 

 the past year be likely to produce a comparatively 

 abundant progeny the coining season?" 



Several bags of seeds from the aL'ricultural dc. 

 partmcnt at Washington were distr buted among the 

 members. 



Adjourned. 



The Tobacco Growers. 



The Lancastar County Tobacco (irowers' Society 

 met in the rooms of the Athenieum, City Hall build- 

 ing, on Monday afternoon, February 1:^. 



The following members were present : Messrs. M. 

 D. Kendig, president; Jacob M. Frantz, I. L. Landis, 

 A. Lane, John Brady, Washington Hershey, P. 8. 

 Keist, H. Yeager, W. L. HerBhey, Colin Cameron, J. 

 M. Stchman, Henry .M. Mayer, J. M. Johnston, 

 Harry Hostetter, A. H. .Summy, A. H. Landis. 



The following-named visitors were also present: 

 Henry L. Landis, Joseph Milton, Levi (iross, Peter 

 Esbenshade, Samuel Weidler, Adam Bear, Jacob 

 Bear, Michael Landis, David Hess, Benjamin Kittcr, 

 Adam Shoenberger, Henry F.rb, .Martin Miller, .M. 

 Shitluer, John .VI . Suavely, F. U. Feustermacher, 

 John Diireiibaeh. 



After the minutes had been read and approved, I. 

 L. Landis, from the committee to inquire Into the 

 matter of having the soi'iety properly represented In 

 the permanent exhibition at Pbiladeljibla, reported 

 that it was very desirable that the society should 

 make a jiroper display of Lancaster tobacco. He 

 urged memliers to make contributions of choice leaf 

 for tins ]iurpo8e, and described the kind of cases that 

 he thoutrht best suited for displaying the tobacco. 

 The cost of the proposed exhibit would be compara- 

 tively small, and he thought great good would result 

 to the growers of the county if they made a credit- 

 able display. 



Colin Cameron offered the following resolution, 

 which was adopted : 



Jfexuhied, That we now go into an election of an 

 executive committee, to consist of five members, 

 whose duties shall be hereinafter described in the 

 laws of this association. 



Messrs. I. L. Landis, J. N. Frantz, P. 8. Relst, 

 Harry .M. Mayer and Colin Cameron were nominated 

 as members of said committee, aud on motion of John 

 .M. Stebmau, who was nominated but declined to 

 serve, they were unanimously elected. 



Crop reports being in order, Hakrt Myeks, of 

 East llem[)ficld, reported the crop in his section as 

 being very satisfactory. It averaged from 1,^00 to 

 2,0tK) pounds per acre ; the grenter part of it was 

 sold at good prices, and a good part of it had been 

 delivered to the buyers. 



1. L. Landis, of .Manheim township, reported about 

 one-third of last year's crop sold, the lowest figure 

 being three cents for tillers, and the highest HO cents 

 for wrappers. Nearly all that has been sold has 

 been delivered. Perhaps one-fourlh of the crops re- 

 main on the poles to be stripped. 



P. S. Keist, of .Manheim, said that five cents for 

 tillers and L'o cents for w-appere were the outside 

 figures iu his neighborhood. He knew of one acre 

 that had produced '.^,'JI)U {>ounds, and some others 

 that did not produce more than 1,000 pounds. The 

 average product he estimated at from 1,.500 to 1,800 

 pounds per acre. 



President Kendig, of Manors, re|)orted the flguras 

 about the same in his neighborhood. The crop was 

 fully 1,.500 |K)unds to the acre, and he thought about 

 one-half the crop was yet upon the poles. 



Mr. Yeaoeu, of East Lampeter, estimated the 

 crop in that township at l,fiUO pounds per acre. The 

 highest price paid for wrappers was 21'^ cents, the 

 lowest 12 cents, while fillers brought five cents. 



J. M. Fbantz, of Lancaster township, reported 



