52 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ April, 



farmers, whether that claim is real or assum- 

 ed, and I also feel an interest in all that re- 

 lates to the real success of farming, but, what- 

 ever may be the status of the society tvoio, it 

 seemed to me that those who exercised a con- 

 trolling influence in its proceedings when I at- 

 tended, were not what I considered practical, 

 or working farmers. Except perliaps in a few 

 cases, they were not the men who follow the 

 plow; and therefore, although honorable men, 

 they were not at all congenial to me, and I 

 didnot feel at home among them. Some of 

 them have farm.s, and good farms too; nice 

 and clean, and well cultivated perhaps, but 

 they do not cultivate them themselves. They 

 get hired men to do the work, and they are 

 out on some speculation; and the society 

 meeting on Monday, it just suits that class of 

 farmers; but I am not in that line of business, 

 and therefore it would be inconvenient for me 

 to attend. I have nothing against them, how- 

 ever, for as I said before, they are honorable 

 and respectable; but formers like I am, want 

 to be at home as much as possible, and ought 

 to be. They can not leave home and farm, 

 and spend an additional day, and money also, 

 to attend the monthly agricultural meetings. 

 —Yours, &c. — J. G. 



[Our correspondent is a plain, unobtrusive, 

 industrious, and withal an intelligent farmer, 

 and has been a constant subscriber to our 

 journal, and also a reader of it, from its ori- 

 gin. We well remember, when he attended 

 the meetings of our local society some years 

 ago, that he usually sat from their opening to 

 their close, without once leaving the room, all 

 the while manifesting au interest in the pro- 

 ceedings, without any divided thought outside. 

 And when he rose to speak, which he fre- 

 quently did, he was always listened to with 

 profound respect, by the most intelligent and 

 practical mernbers. Situated as he is, his rea- 

 sons for not attending now, seem conclusive. 

 We knoio he is not alone in these sentiments 

 in respect to the day of meeting, and we know 

 also that other members of the society have 

 suggested a change, but it seemed questiona- 

 ble whether any other day would not be 

 equally objectionable to other members, and 

 finally the matter was dropped. As to the 

 rest, time may eventually develop some 

 ground upon which all can meet in harmony. 

 —Ed. 



BiRD-rN-HAND, Pa., March 8th, 1877. 



Mr. S. S. RATnvON — Dear Sir : I found 

 the accompanying insects yesterday while 

 cleaning a bedroom upon the first floor. I 

 lifted out tlie fireboard and laid it upon its 

 face on the front porch. Beginning to sweep 

 off some of the adhering matter, I foimd a 

 cluster of tliose insects gathered, I think at 

 one of the crevices in the board. Are they 

 the Galerucce, which feed upon the elm V 

 Respectfully yours. — P. E. Gibbons. 



Although the insects alluded to in the above 

 comnaunication are somewhat darker in color 

 than those that infested the elm tree last sum- 

 mer in Lancaster city, yet they are of the 

 same size, and are otherwise marked exactly 

 like them. The diflerence in color is no doubt 

 due to the fact that we bred all our specimens 

 last summer from larvce and piqxe that we 

 secured as they were coming down the 

 trunks of the elms, and killed them within a 

 day or so after their final evolution, and be- 

 fore they had partaken of any food, or had 

 acquired their full coloration; and therefore 

 we have little hesitancy in saying that they 

 are the genuine dm-leaf beetle ; and which 

 Harris, and Fitch, and Emmons, and Morris, 

 and even Prof. Riley in his late little work on 

 "potato pests," liave alluded to as Galeruca 

 calmariensis, but which we — according to Ste- 

 • phens — could not identify with that species, 

 and hence referred it to xanthomrelena, Schon. 

 in which we were sustained by Dr. Le Conte. 

 (See Lancaster Farmer, page 131, Vol. 

 VIII.) According to Stephens, calmariensts 

 feeds on aquatic plants in London district, 

 Bottisham, Weston, Bristol and Swansea. 



When received, the insects were all alive, 

 and must have souglit the place you found 

 them in, as a convenient cover for their hi- 



bernation. If J' on have any elm trees on j'our 

 premises there is wliere they came from, and 

 "there is wliere they wiU go to as soon as they 

 are in foliage this spring, therefore destroy 

 them wherever you may find them. — Ed. 



Safe Harbor, Pa., March 24, 1877. 



Prof. S. S. Ratiivon — Bear Sir: Am glad 

 to see The Farmer on its feet again, and 

 sorrv I could not do more toextend its circula- 

 tion" My name should have been omitted as 

 one of those specially named. 



In looking over some of the numbers I am 

 struck with the amount of labor it devolves on 

 you. In fact I think you do entirely too much, 

 and if in yoiu^ place you would dun some of 

 the patrons personally, or by post, as conve- 

 nient, for articles that are suitable for the 

 coming season, they might assist you. Cer- 

 tainly such persons as Casper Hiller, 11. M. 

 Engle, L. S. Reist, Johnson Miller and many 

 others, have a little time to spare for the 

 preparation of articles which would do some- 

 body good to read. 



In current (March) number I find that you 

 prepared or culled all but two and a quarter 

 rohmins. This is too liad, and you sliould, at 

 the "peint of the pen" make somebody "toe 

 the mark." Tell that "somebody," in plain 

 words that by the first of each month, you ex- 

 pect an article, and if not received in three 

 days thereafter you will Ije under the painful 

 necessity of reminding them that they did not 

 come up to the "chalk." 



Hoping that you will be able to lighten your 

 laboi's; I remain yours respectfully ^1. B. K. 



We appreciate our correspondent's senti- 

 raentsjof sympat]iy,and feel thankful for them, 

 and furthermore we commend his suggestions 

 to all those "whom it may concern." As to 

 labor, it has become a kind of "Second Na- 

 ture" to us, and we feel a reward in being 

 able to labor; nevertlieless as we are getting 

 old, we would not object to a little more of 

 the Substantial. 



Pittsburg, March 21, 1877. 



Ed. Lancaster Farmer — Bcur Sir : I 

 having offered a premium of your paper, for 

 one year, at our last Poultry Exliibition, viz.: 

 The Weslern Pennsylvania Poullrij Socicti/, 

 and it having been won by D. B. McLean, 

 Mansfield Valley P. O., Allegheny county. 

 Pa., you will, therefore, please forward the 

 same to his address for the term above stated, 

 .and inclosed please find SI. 25 in paynient 

 thereof. Yours truly, C. B. E. 



We publish the above, not merely to show 

 the appreciation of our journal outside of Lan- 

 caster county, but as a suggestion of what 

 might be properly and conveniently done 

 — during the approaching Exhiliition season — 

 by the State Society, by county Societies, and 

 especially by our own local Society — when 

 they make up tbeir own premium lists — to- 

 wards encouraging the Agricultural journals 

 t)f the State, and elsewhere. Doubtless there 

 are many exhibitors wlio would by far ratlicr 

 receive such a journal, than to receive a .SI. 00 

 or .f2.00 premium, as the case may be, es- 

 pecially, since under the present postage laws 

 the mail expenses thereof are paid by the 

 imblishers, and in no case by the subscril)ers. 

 Committees on j'remiums, will please "stick a 

 pin in this." — Ed. 



Mr. Editor. — Allow me to offer the 

 following as my report on canvassing for The 

 Lancaster Farmer, and the number of 

 subscribers I have obtained. The members of 

 the Society are aware, that at first I made no 

 ])roraise as to what I umuld do, or could do. 

 Upon a second thought, however, and finding 

 that some of our more liberal and energetic 

 memliers were quite successful, and that it 

 was either " life or death" to our representa- 

 tive journal, I iiromised (wenti/, and these I 

 soon obtained. I then promised fifti/, l)ut now 

 have obtained seventy-Jive, and expect to in- 

 crease the number to one hundred. 



I take this opportunity to tender my sincere 

 thanks to all those who have so liberally, and 

 with such good motives given me their names 



and influence, and I ask to be excused, for my 

 apparent importunity, by those who could not 

 see the propriety of giving me their names, or 

 who could see no benefits accruing from a 

 subscription to the Farmer ; assuring all 

 that we are receiving no pecuniary comjiensa- 

 tion for the labor we have been performing, 

 hut have been doing all for the advancement 

 of Agricultural literature, and the good of the 

 conmiunity. 



I would also respectfully beg leave to state, 

 that a number of our good people declined to 

 subscribe, because they already received a 

 newspaper. This I invariably urged them to 

 continue ; but if they could add another 

 thereto, let that one be The Farmer. I 

 also admonished them to patronize the local 

 papers of our county, without regard to sect 

 or politics. 



My experience in canvassing has been simi- 

 lar to that of some other members, in that, 

 as a general thing, I have less difliculty in ob- 

 taing subscribers from among those who were 

 already taking one or more papers, tlian 

 among those who do not take any. 



In conchision allow me to say, that we may 

 consistently feel, tliat The Faiimer is the 

 " farmer's paper " — that it stands or falls 

 upon its own merits — and that it offers no 

 tempting premiums for subscriptions, but 

 relies upon the moral intelligence, and the 

 good will of the people, for its support. In 

 literary composition and mechanical execu- 

 tion, it compares favorably with any in the 

 country; and any farmer who takes a copy, 

 preserves it, and has it bound, will refer to 

 it with pleasure in after years. — P. S. B. 



LiNN^us Rath VON, Esq.— Dear Sir: I 

 am really glad that The Lancaster Faiwier 

 has been resumed, and is to be continued. 

 And as a native of the county, and living ou 

 a fine farm in this " garden of the State," 

 I sometimes feel ashamed that my fellow- 

 farmers are so slack in sustaining so valuable, 

 a journal — and one so essential to their in- 

 terests, and their reputation abroad. And I 

 blame myself, too, for not attempting to do 

 the little that I can, in contributing memo- 

 randums of my observations, experiences and 

 experiments — in planting, pruning, and culti- 

 vating — to its columns. 



This, however, is little to my present piu'- 

 pose, which is toacknowledge my remissness in 

 attending to another and paramount duty — 

 namely, paying up for my last year's and the 

 present year's subscriptions. Assuming that 

 I owe you this much (for I can find no "slip" 

 to indicate that point definitely) I enclose 

 S3.. 50, and the additional name of Robt. II. 

 Gamble, Bridgewater, York county, as a new 

 subscriber, beginning with 1877, and will re- 

 mit any balance I may yet be in arrears, on 

 being made known to me. 



And here I would respectfully suggest, to 

 my fellow-farmers, that they would do well 

 in" sustaining their Home journal — at least 

 every subscriber should feel it incumbent upon 

 himto send at least one name in addition to 

 his own, for the volume of 1877. One dollar 

 seems a small sum for the matter it contains 

 during the year. 



Wishing abundant success to The Farmer, 

 I aril yours truly /. H. M., Columbia, March 

 1.5, 1877. 



We feel grateful towards all for the efforts 

 that have recently been made in behalf of the 

 Farmer, but when their eftbrts are accom- 

 jianicd by sucli words of appreciation and en- 

 couriigemeut as the above (backed up by the 

 material) we feel doubly grateful. Our 

 journal has now fairly started upon its 9th 

 volume (a longer period than that of any 

 former enterprise of the kind in the county), 

 and we are determined to carry it tbrougli the 

 year, whether we are pecuniarily sustained or 

 not. Having been born and brought up in 

 the county of lianeaster, with an ancestry in 

 it dating back to 1740, we are a descendant of 

 a pre-Rcvolutionary, and claim a Inrthright to 

 its jirivileges of citizenship. Having spent 

 five or six years of our early boyhood delving 

 on a farm (without professuig to be a farmer). 



