The Lancaster Farmer. 



Prof. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA.. MARCH, 1877. 



W.. IX. No. 3. 



THE COUNTRY. 



The "lonpt ngonj" tliat lias a;;itateJ the po- 

 litical inti'icsts of this cipuntiy ever since tlie 

 Presitleiilial noiiiiiiatioiis, is now over, and 

 although the result may not be satisfactory 

 to all of the people — anil perhajis never will 

 I be— yet, under all the eileunistances, events 

 I may have been permitted ti> transiiire, that in 

 I the end will be overruled for good. Indeed, 

 j the seeming end that has been Ihially altain- 

 I ed, attests that, aside from all bombast or na- 

 I tional egotism, ours is an extraordinary coun- 

 try, and we an extraordinary people; and 

 forcibly illustrates that ''the race is not al- 

 ways to theswift, nor the battle to the strong. " 

 Peradventure. it is written, that ''Evil shall 

 slay the wicked;" tlierefore let those who 

 have done the evil "stand from under," for 

 surely in all that relates to the moial welfare of 

 the human family, llure is One whose will will 

 ultimately "brinn ii to pass." The nation 

 requires and desires tran(iuillity, and whether 

 or not that is too dearly iiurchasid, is not onrs 

 to judge, but must now be committed to the 

 wisdom of i/mi who alone can see the end 

 from the beginning, and under whose benign 

 government it is almost daily demonstrated 

 among men, that "thus far shalt thou go but 

 no farther." 



We must be an extraordinary people, for in 

 no nation on earth, where the people are politi- 

 cally so nearly equally'divided in numbers, in 

 power, in wealth, and in intelligence, couUi 

 such a transition have been effected as that 

 which has recently characterized our people, 

 without a terrible and bloody war. 



Through our centennial exultation and our 

 political fervor, we have been in somi- measure 

 divertedfromthesuffering interests which have 

 surrounded us for the past two years or more, 

 and which can never prosper, save under the 

 auspices of peace, conlidence and tranquillity. 

 Farming interests have not been aliected to 

 the same extent as mechanics, day-laborers, 

 professionals, and those who depend upon the 

 patronage of these classes ; but still, to a 

 greater or less extent, their prices and their 

 profits have diminished, whilst their labors 

 have been the same as in prosperous times. 

 This is ii further illustration of the importance 

 of farming as a fundamental factor in the 

 constitution of society. Men, by stringent 

 necessity, may effect a sort of compromise with 

 their heads, their bodies, their feet, and even 

 with their minds, but it is impossible for them 

 to do so, except to a very limited extent, with 

 their stomachs, withoutsubjecting themselves 

 to disease, to sutlering and to sorrow, if not to 

 absolute starvation. 



The farmers are the feeders of the civilized 

 world, and in a country where " general peace, 

 general iilenty, and general satisfaction" 

 reign, there is little danger of "war, jiesti- 

 lence and famine. " These are all more or less 

 within the province of the farmer's occupa- 

 tion, and he could entirely control them for 

 good, if he made the same effort to enlarge 

 his mind that many other professions do. 

 Still, take him as he is, he is none the less 

 " the bone and sinew of the country," as well 

 as the great civilizer of the race, the hope of 

 the State, and " the bulwark of the nation." 

 In carrying out his mission on earth, all he 

 asks is, "itf us /uirf peace." 



BLUE GLASS. 

 We publish on i age 41. a paper on the 

 theories and experiments with "Hlue Glass," 

 which is going the " rounds" of the public 

 press, not because we endor-se it, for in good 

 "troth" we know little or nothing about it— 

 but because the attention of the public is more 

 or less directed towards it, and because the 

 author or discoverer of this phenomenon 



nuikes his statements with so much confidence, 

 and the Source of the doctrine is so intelligent 

 and respectable, that we feel compelled to i;ive 

 him a hearing. Jloreover, we sincerely be- 

 lieve that there are occasions when there is 

 wisdiim in "going behind the returns, " and 

 deciding the merits of the case upon fviWoi'f, 

 whatevermay bi; the linal result. If the thing 

 is based on J'wt, that fict will be linally ulii- 

 niated ; if upon /'iHcy, that fancy will be 

 eventually di.ssipaied. Already a deniaud for 

 bliie glass has been excited, and the trade in 

 it so far stimulated as to encourage the manu- 

 facture of it in this country ; and our manu- 

 facturers are already able to successfully com- 

 pete with those of France and England, where 

 it had been heretofore suppo.sed it ccmld only 

 be produced. But su|)pose it does (inally turn 

 out to be imaginary, the objects subjected to it 

 as a remedy for tliecure of existing evils, can- 

 [lot be worse off than the horse whose owner 

 placed green spectacles over his eyes and fed 

 him pine shavings, which he ate and imagined 

 to be corn-fodder, and throve upon it just, the 

 same as if it had been real tbdder, and in 

 which he by no means stood alone, but had 

 his sympathizers in the human family. 



HELL'S TEN ACRES. 



There is a locality in Breckinridge county, 

 near the Hardin line, containing some eight 

 or ten acres, in which no animal can live any 

 length of time, owing to the strong miasma. 

 A short time since, the owner of the ground 

 undertook to clear it, and with his son pro- 

 ceeded to the work. The sun was overcome, 

 and it was with dilficulty that the father, af- 

 fected as he was, could get himself and son 

 out. A calf was turned into the place, and 

 soon after he died. There is nothing in the 

 looks of the place or the smell of the atmos- 

 phere to indicate the deadly miasma hover- 

 ing over it. All the above is amply vouched 

 for in every particular.— £h'2ai/e£/ilou;n (Ky.) 

 JSTcws. 



"Is that so ?" "We would like to hear some- 

 body from "Breckinridge," or the "Hardin 

 line," speak up on the Subject. In our boy- 

 hood we had read— and lor many years there- 

 after believed— the wonderi'ul account of the 

 celebrated "Bohon Upas" tree, in a certain 

 valley in the Island of Java, which had a fatal 

 effect upon any living thing that ventured 

 into it ; but sub.sequent accounts have gone 

 very far towards exploding the theory of that 

 story altogether. That Breckinridge tract, not 

 only illustrates that "ten acres are enough," 

 but that it is entirely too much, to be whole- 

 some to calves and their owners. If ever the 

 "Colorado Potato-beetles," and the "Rocky 

 Momitain Locusts," get near that region, we 

 would suggest the driving of them within the 

 territorial limits of those ten acres, as the 

 grandest insect trai)on the continent of North 

 America. We cannot say that we are very 

 seriously affected with incredulity, but at the 

 some time, before we come to fixed conclusions 

 on the subject, we would like to examine the 

 "vouchers." We n.ay be just a little demoral- 

 ized on this subject ; but, we still could be 

 more fiee in the affirmative of the question, if 

 we had a more satisfactory demonstration. 



SENTIMENTALISMS. 



A while ago a farmer in Virginia lost his 

 wife, and out of love for her memoiy called 

 his estate "Glenniary." A neighbor having 

 met with the same affliction, and eqlially de- 

 sirous of keeping before him the image of his 

 dear departed, followed his example, and his 

 farm is known by the name of "Glenhetsy." 



If such an exhibition of scntimentalisin had 

 occurred in Lancaster county, we might have 



attributed it to a waut of poetical discrimin- 

 ation ; but coming up from the classic ground 

 of the "Old Dominion," we hardly know what 

 ought to be said abonf il. Under any circum- 

 stances, we quesiinn whether the latter indi- 

 vidu;il was a thorougbbred /aimer— a fancy 

 farmer, perhaps, who had no very definite 

 concejition of the fitness of thinus. He may 

 possibly have been a relati\e of tlie famous 

 Mrs. Partington, if not her hopeful son 

 " Isaac" himself. He evidently seems to have 

 been affected with "romance on the brain ;" 

 soinelhing like the man, not versed in Scrip- 

 ture, who, nevertheli ss, was determined his 

 son should have a .Sriplure name, and there- 

 fore called him BcehOiub. Althnugh our text 

 does not .Say he was a farmer, yet, from the 

 fact that he iiosscssed a farm, we may legiti- 

 mately infer he was. "Gienmary" is a very 

 pretty name, but " Glenhetsy" is simply shock- 

 ing, and does iKjt sound halt so euphoneous as 

 "Betsy Glen." Afterall, "what'sin a name," 

 since we know "a lose by any other name 

 would smell as sweet," and in a trial before a 

 coetic tribunal, with that precedent in evi- 

 dence, OlaihcUij might take a verdict without 

 the jury leaving the box; therefore. Hurrah 

 for "Gleubetsy." 



COLDSLAW. 



Yolks of two eggs; a tablespoonful of cream; 

 a small teaspoontui of mustard; a little salt; 

 two tables])oonfuls of vinegar. If cream is 

 not used, put in a small lump of butter rubbed 

 in a little tlour. Cut the cabbage very fine; 

 heat the mixture, and pour it on hot. 



No doubt the foregoing would result in a 

 capital condiment— indeed, we knoxcil would, 

 for we have often tried it— all except the cold- 

 slaw, when it is served up hot! Why not at 

 once call it /lofslaw? Let shiw be its eeneric 

 designation, and cold or /lot its specific name. 

 If we must blunder on in our names of things, 

 let our blundering be suflicienily systematic to 

 leave, at least, the appearance that we are 

 consistent, and have a thorough knowledge of 

 our meaning. In fact, the term "coldslaw" 

 is a corruption; and although wc believe there 

 are a great many people who may know from 

 what root or roots, il has been corrupted, we 

 also believe there are many more who have 

 not that knowledge. 



CnhhiKje, is said to have been first introduced 

 into (iermaiiy and England by the Romans, 

 under the name of kale, ca/f orco/e;and known 

 by other similar names, by different nations, 

 as kahl or cmcl, aial. kohl, etc., etc., and all 

 the varieties of Brassica now cultivated are 

 from that original stock, which did not pro- 

 duce the solid head that is now produced. 



In short, our .Saxon ancestors made a salad 

 of it, which was called knle-solladt, and in 

 time perhaps by the Anglo-Saxons kohl-salladt 

 ovcole-saludt, which was gradually contracted 

 into c/)?(:-.<sa'«fJ and finally coW-s/aiJ. OfcouiBe 

 these names would have been the same, and 

 Would have had the same meaning — with their 

 know edge of the original composition of the 

 dish — whether it was hot or cold. 



A MOMENTOUS QUESTION, 



Whether we regard the question involvintr 

 the insect world in reference to the bcneJUs it 

 confers upon the human family— as in the pro- 

 duction of silk, honey, wax, galls, lac, dye 

 stuffs, and medicines— or in reference to the 

 i}ijnrifs which man directly and indirectly 

 sustains from the pre.sence of these pests in 

 preponderating numbers, as in the destruction 

 of our potato, tobacco, grain, fruit, tield and 

 garden crojis, our trees and shrubberies, we 

 find, on looking intelligently into the face of 

 it, that it is a most momentous question, and 



