1877.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



69 



THE PERMANENT EXHIBITION, 

 A condensed description of wliich wepiopose 

 to publisli in t'utni-o numbers of tliu Fak.mku, 

 was opened with imposing cei-emonies on the 

 loth insl. In our present nnnd)er wo can 

 only find room for tlie following, which we 

 eull from a very well written article on the 

 subject, bv ilr. Charles 'William Foster, on 

 the "Editorial Slall'" of tin- I'hilaileljihia 

 I'rcxs, and which aiijieared in one of the April 

 numbers of that journal, while the exhibition 

 was still incomplete. After noticing the seve- 

 ral different departments, the writer concludes 

 as follows : 



The general exhibits which are distributed 

 through the aisles of the M:\\u Building are 

 much the same as during the Centennial, aud 

 have been classilicd as follows : 



1. Minerals, ores, !)uililing-stc)nes, marbles, 

 artificial stones, metallurgical products, bar 

 and she(^t iron. 



2. Ghvss ; ceramics ; terra-cotta. 



3. Chemicals, pharmaceutical preparations, 

 medicines, oils, paints, varnisli, soaps, aud per- 

 fumery. 



4. FurnlUnre ; apparatus for lighting ; lire 

 and burglar-proof safes ; wooden and basket 

 ware. 



5. Api>aratus for cooking and heating ; laun- 

 dry, kitchen, and bath-room api>liances ; manu- 

 fiictured ]iarts of b\iildings. 



0. Wovrn goods, ropes and cordage, brushes, 

 clothing, furs, artilieial llowers, llags, and 

 tniveliu;; ecpiipments. 



7. lA'alher and shoe industry ; harness. 



8. (iold and silverware, plated ware, 

 bronzes, jewelry, gold (lens and pencils, gold 

 and silver foil, fancy articles. 



9. Stationery, pens, pencils, paper, wall and 

 felted paper. 



10. Firearms and ammunit ion ; sporting 

 implements. 



11. Philosoi)hical, scientific, chronometrical, 

 electrical, and optical instruments; weights 

 and scales. 



12. Surgical and dental instruments and ap- 

 pliances. 



i;?. Hardware, cutlery, hand tools, orna- 

 mental castings, plumbers' materials, galvan- 

 ized iron and zinc work. 



14. Carriages, vehicles, and accessories. 



l."). Musical instrinueuts. 



10. Educational systems and aiipliances, 

 publications, historical and archieological col- 

 lections. 



17. Engineering and architecture, models, 

 plans, &c. 



18. Sculpture and paintings. 



19. Engravings, lithographs, photographs, 

 heliographs. 



"20. Art applied to industry — Mosaics, 

 stained glass, models, decorations. 



21. Machines, tools, and appliances of min- 

 ing, chemistry and extractive arts, machines 

 for manufacturing vegetable or animal pro- 

 ducts for food. 



22. Machines and tools for working metal, 

 wood and stone. 



23. Machines and implements used in sew- 

 ing, spinning, weaving, and felting ; wasliing 

 machines. 



24. ilachiiies and apparatus for tJ^Je-raak- 

 ing, printing, lithographing, book and paper 

 making. 



25. Motors and apparatus for the generation 

 and transmission of power (water, steam, air, 

 gas, electro-magnetic, &c.) 



26. Railway plans, rolling stock and appur- 

 tenances ; serial, pneumatic, and water trans- 

 portation. 



27. Agricultural and animal products. 



28. Land and marine animal culture, and 

 apparatus for same ; living and preserved 

 specimens. 



29. Agricultural machines, implements, and 

 processes. 



30. Horticulture. 



It will be seen that these thirty groups in- 

 clude nearly all the displays made at the Cen- 

 tennial Exhibition, and as the very finest ex- 

 amples of each group have been secured for 

 the Permanent Exhibition, and as the whole, 

 with the exception of the fine arts, can be seen 



under one roof, the general effect will be 

 infinitely more interesting and delightful than 

 when the vast quantities of each kind wearied 

 the eye before the sense was gratified. 



For THK LANCASTF.n I'"AIlUKn. 



SEED WHEAT. 

 There is nothing on record worthy of un- 

 qnalified belief, that wheat has ever changed 

 into any other plant tlirough neglect in clean- 

 ing or in cull ure, althiiugh some peoples have 

 alleged that it has been known to have 

 changed into chess, or cheat; and therefore, 

 all the woiid over, wheat is re(H)gni/,ed a.s 

 wheat, in tlu^ fullest senses of the term. It is 

 the great vt^getabli> staple from which fiour is 

 made, and bread, in its various forms elabi)- 

 rated ; which is the "statf of life" to the hu- 

 man family. 



That a good variety of wheat cainiot degen- 

 erate into a bad oni^ nor a bail variety be im- 

 proved into a good one, I think, will he gen- 

 erally admitted; and also, that it caimot be so 

 mixed up as to be seiisilily deteriorated. (Jn- 

 I'avor.ible circumstances may diminish its 

 ([uanlity and impair its <iuality, but such con- 

 tingencies will alike affect both good aud bad. 

 Out of the fifteen or twenty varieti(\s of wheat 

 that have bcM'ome the subjects of cultivation, 

 we look upon six or einht for our main supply; 

 but these 1 will not undertake to name, as 

 people will differ in tludr choice, and localities 

 liave much to do in the matter. We have 

 winter and summer wheat, red and white 

 wheat, smooth and bearded wheat, which 

 would make six varieties already, and these 

 have their sub-varieties. 



There lias been wheat found in houses in 

 the "old country," built many long years 

 ago, which has been planted and has germi- 

 nated aud grown ; also, it is said, wheat that 

 has bci'U found in the hands of embalmed 

 Egytian mummies in catacombs, erected hun- 

 dreds — perhaps thousands of years ago, which, 

 on being planted, grew and produced seed, 

 and 1 presume wheat as siuular to ours as can 

 be conjectured. 



Wheat may be changed to earh/ and late, 

 and perhaps .somewhat also in color ; but you 

 cannot change it from smooth to bearded, or 

 from white to red — at least not within a single 

 year. It may be changed to ripen earlier by 

 sowing it on rich, loo.se soil, and always .select- 

 ing for seed the earliest riiiened ears ; and by 

 reversing this rule, a later sub-variety may be 

 liroduced ; aud by a similar process, somewhat 

 of a change may be effected in its color. 



As to the bulk, or the size of wheat grains, 

 I will only say, that sown thickly or densely 

 on the ground, wheat produces smaller grains 

 than when sown sparsely or scattering, all 

 other things being equal. An average grain 

 of perfect wheat measures \ to i",; of an inch 

 In length, f,; of an inch in diameter, and it 

 lakes about (130,000 grains to make a bushel, 

 which weighs, or ought to weigh, sixty pounds. 

 Whether that wheat sown by the farmer — 

 spoken of by our Saviour — some of which fell by 

 the wayside, aud some on good ground, yield- 

 ing thirty and sixty fold, was .similar to, or the 

 same as ours at the present time, is a question 

 that, I at least, am not able to answer. *Was 

 it white or red ? bearded or smooth ? But, to 

 come back to the main subject. Select the 

 best field, or the best portion of your wheat 

 field, before harvest, for your seed. Clean out 

 all the rye, cockle, cheat, or any other kinds 

 of inferior seeds it may contain ; keep it 

 separate from any other kind, and clean it as 



•It is not at all germain to tUn BUbject that you shoulil be 

 able to answer. The Saviour was speaking in parablcj^, antl 

 used a corrcspondentiwl flpure of speech. "A sower weut 

 forth to sow;" and the record does uot say what kiud of 

 seed he sowed — whether wheat or cheat or rye or any other 

 klud. The parable is intended to illustrate rather the kind 

 of soil upon which the seed was sown, than what kind of 

 ««(/ was sown, although, inferentially, wo may auppoae he 

 meant good seed. Iti' is now sowing, still sowing seeds; and 

 if we read the whole chajiter we cannot fail to have some 

 appreciation of the meaning of the parable. It is not essen- 

 tial to tlie moral effect of his teaching by parable, that a 

 sower should resUly have gone '-forth to mow" at all, any 

 more than that there should be real sheep and goats to "sep- 

 arate one from another," at his second ctuniiig. "It is 

 like" so and so — drawing spiritniU instruction from natural 

 imagery, which is only the shell or husk, that incloses the 

 moral aud si'iritual substance wlthiu it. — Ed. 



thoroughly as you possibly can ; then blow all 

 the smutty and light grains out of it, as you 

 will then be able to calculate more correctly 

 the quantity to sow on an acre. 



Following out these suggestions and induc- 

 tions of good farming, in connection with a 

 proper iireiiaratiou of the soil, it will always 

 "pay" the farmer to be particular. 



Pkter S. Reist. 



For The Lancastf.r Fabuek. 

 HOW SHALL WE KNOW HOW TO 

 PLANT FRUIT TREES.' 



Some jilaces are not favorable for certain 

 kinds of fruit. Tluue is a vast dillerencc in 

 locality and soil, and it would be well for 

 some persons to have something to guide 

 them, so that they niay know what kinds of 

 fruit to i)lanl, and where to plant it. When I 

 first got possession of a home and a few acres 

 of land, I wanted fruit (for there was noue on 

 it) and 1 i)laute<l a great many trees t>f differ- 

 ent kinds, but many of them jiioved a failure 

 in after years ; such ne(;d not have been the 

 case if 1 had known where to plant each kind. 

 ItisntiW twenty years or more since 1 com- 

 menced to lilant trees where I now live, and 

 yet I never could get a crop of sweet cherries. 

 Out of dozens of cherry trees that I planted, 

 only one tree bears a crop, the others are 

 nearly all dead. 1 can grow the trees as thick 

 as a leg or stoveiiipe, but they always die, or 

 winter kill on the southwesl side first. The 

 tree that b(^ars fruit is a sweet cherry, grafted 

 on a red sour cherry seedling stem. I have 

 now several of them coming on. I think they 

 are more hardy and will stand the winter 

 better than the sweet cherry stem. But I 

 notice a few miles south of Lime Valley they 

 thrive and bear fruit well on the barren ridges 

 of land. The sweet cherry trees won't do 

 well here on limestone land. 



I 'have lost hundreds of peach trees by 

 planting them too near the creek, or down in 

 low land— I don't mean at the edge of the 

 water. I had them from fifty to two hundred 

 yards from the creek, and from five to fifty 

 feet above its level. The land that lies the 

 highest will do for peaches— I think it is about 

 one hundred and fifty feet higher than the 

 level of the creek. But, from seventy-five feet 

 on down to the water's edge, scarcely any 

 blossoms are to be seen ; there seems a mist 

 that gathers in the valley and draws frost 

 to a certain height, which kills the blossom 

 buds. 



There might be a great deal said on the 

 subject of location and soil best adapted to 

 our different kinds of fruit, &c., but I will 

 leave it for some one that is better posted in 

 the Matter. If I were to plant trees and vines 

 again, or berry bushes and plants, on the same 

 property, I think I conld raise more fruit with 

 less than half the plants and trees that I for- 

 merly had been planting. It may seem strange 

 to some persons that on a tract of seven acres 

 of land, more than the half of it won't do for 

 peaches, sweet cheiTies, nor blackberries, &c. 

 So, we learn by experience, but it costs us too 

 much to learn always by experience of our own ; 

 we may gain much sometimes by the experi- 

 ence of others, and I trust that some one will 

 "say on," for the benefit of those that are 

 anxious to learn. And we would also wi.sli to 

 know how to save our plums from the curcidio. 

 —John B. Erh, Lime Valley. 



The experience of our contributor is no 

 doubt the experience of many others who are 

 equally unable to divine the causes of failure, 

 and we hope some of our horticultural and me- 

 teorological experts will essay a response 

 through the June number of the Farmer, for 

 our own personal experience is too insignifi- 

 cant to attempt it. In regard to "mist gath- 

 inss in valleys," however, as well as their fa- 

 cilitating frosts— we may say this much : that 

 while we resided on the Susquehanna, we well 

 remember several instances when all the 

 peaches along the valley were frozen, and yetj 

 those on the very tops of the hills that 

 bound the York county line, bore abun- 

 dant crops of peaches, as well as cherries and 

 apples. There cannot be a doubt, that hu- 



