1877.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



73 



phlox, and I have seen dozens of iicoiile doint; 

 the same lliiu};." This is a siniide instanco 

 of liow mncii pleasure wo can gvaut others by 

 tlie adoinnient of our premises. The peoi'le 

 did not know that the l)eaiity of tliis phlox 

 was largely due to a jiriuciple in landscape art 

 tliat WIS there exiiihitcd, viz.: contrast of 

 color, for a dark green stood near that height- 

 ened the effect. 



Lastly, there is money valno in the making 

 of a heantiful home that will pay a large inte- 

 rest upon the outlay, if tin: labor he reckoned 

 at its higl-.est value. Vou may iiot want to 

 sell, but if you are a thrifty fanner, a busi- 

 ness farmer, you wish to know at the end of 

 each year vvliii t are tlie profits of your business, 

 and iif you fmd there i.s not a very large bank 

 account, there is great satisfaction in knowing 

 that your place has been enhanced in .selling 

 value through the exiiibition of tact and taste 

 in making the premises attractive. If the 

 worst comes, and it is found necessary or 

 desirable to change location, tin; enhanced 

 value, tludugh tlic exhibition of taste in 

 adornment, pays in the cash receipts. Hean- 

 tiful situations are always more marketable 

 at advanced rates than poorly-kept farms are 

 at a discount. It pays, then, liberally to make 

 a home beautiful. 



In the outset of lixing \\]> a place, one thing 

 must be borne in mind eonspicuonely— that 

 utility and beauty are not antagonistic ele- 

 ments. The path that leads to places of work 

 would not he beautiful if it were not direct, 

 while the one that leads to the tlow(U- beds or 

 the grove may be tilled with delicate curves, 

 and we follow admiringly, appreciating the 

 nicety of the turns, because when we go there 

 we arc walking for jdea-sure, not Inisiness, and 

 a little matter of added distance takes nothing 

 from the charm of the promenade. 



Anything loses or acciuires beauty through 

 association, and we should care for this scru- 

 pulously. The weeping branches of the elm 

 in the hollow make it a beautiful object in the 

 landscape, and when we observe the tops of 

 the weeping limbs almost or quite sweeping 

 the surface of the brook beneath, we enjoy the 

 tleiusion that it droops to bathe its branches 

 in cool water. But were that elm [ilaced 

 midway lietwcen our house and barn, when 

 uponevery occasion of ]iassing we must make a 

 detour to avoid the limbs, or by passing under 

 have our hat knocked off and hair pulled every 

 time, the beauty of the weeping branches is 

 lost, and we dub it a nuisan{!e. Another point 

 to be considered is that unceasing care and 

 attention is necessary to the development of 

 beauty. If by the cultivation of taste this be- 

 comes a delight, the care is only an added en- 

 chaiitment to the pleasure of devclo]iment. 



In the arrang<ment of ground there must be 

 unity of ac'tion on the i>art of the whole family 

 in order to accomplish what is most desirable, 

 viz. :congruity of jiarts. To illustrate : A place 

 I have in mind, and no imaginary one, either, 

 has a delightful frontage ; the lawn is smooth 

 and green ; the evergreens tastily grouped ; 

 climbers are delicately turned about the ve- 

 randa posts, and flower beds just at one side 

 neatly kept, give an air of loveliness to the 

 whole yard. But every day as I pass the 

 place, when just beyond the yard fence, I can 

 not help but catch a view of the lane that 

 leads to the barns. It is tilled with an aggre- 

 gation of indescribable odds and ends, sucii as 

 could accumulate nowhere Init on a farm in a 

 generation of time. At best it is muddy, 

 filthy, slovenly, ill-kept alli^y. Wc lose all the 

 effect of the beautiful yard in that lane, and 

 its loathsomeness, rather than the preceding 

 beauty, haunts us. The story is told when 

 we say that the mother and children have 

 charge of the first part of the home, while the 

 head of the family believes in having every- 

 thing handy in the l;uie. ]?ut unity of action 

 nmst move in the right direction, for I know an- 

 other farm where the whole family are actuated 

 by the desire to have everything handy, and 

 everything upon the place bears the impress of 

 a total lack of taste or order. They spend 

 enough money in trees, plants, trellises and or- 

 naments, but somehow each new one adds 

 another to a most unfortunate combination. 



OUR LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. 



Proceedings of the Lancaster County Agricul 

 tural and Horticultural Society. 



Tlic rf'i^iilar slatrtl nin-tiii^ of tlm T.ancafiter 

 County .\uTiciiltural :iinl Horticultural Soriety, was 

 iK^ld ill tlicii' romiiB in I lie. City Hail on Monday after- 

 noon, May 7. Tlic following named incniliers were 

 pi-e.scnt : 



Simon P. Kliy, JonaB BucUwalter, Jacob B. f!or- 

 b.'r, .M. n. Kciidiu', Honry (J. Hcrr, Levi W. (liotr, 

 Oasper Tlillor, .loliii Hoover, .loliiisoii Miller, Levi 

 I'ownall, Ilcniv M. Knuir, Levi S. Kcist, .lac'ob (iar- 

 Ikt, ('111-. F. Iliiiisr.'ker, Walter L. lliTsluy, KM 

 HiTsliry, .larob Ili-rr, lleubcn Weaver, l)avid Wolf, 

 .lolin C. LinvilU',15. Kiank Landis, I'. «. Iteist, .la- 

 eob S. Witrner, Jacob liolliiiifcr, .rolin Miller, Henry 

 Kurtz, Jacob lloyer, ."^iiuou IloBlctter, 8. 8. Rallivon, 

 (ieo. S. ficlKcr. 



In llic absiiiee of tlie President, Vice Prcsidout 

 Henry M. Knijlc was called to tlie cliair. 



On motion, the reading of llie minutes was diBpeu- 

 Bl-ll Willi. 



C'loji report."! ticiiis; called for, Mr. Enirle, of Mari- 

 etta, said the wheat in Donejijal hac preatly improved 

 and tlie prospect of a (;'«)d crop ie now very llalter- 

 iiii;. Tlie peach trees look well and a i;ood yield 

 may he expected. The ;;rass lias also improved, the 

 cold weather we have had heini; I'avorahle for lioth 

 grass and grain. 



Mr. Linvii.m:, of Salisbury, reported the wheat as 

 about average — the clover yery poor and the timothy 

 rather better — apples in his section will be a failure 

 — oats is well started — cherries look well. 



Mk. Kenuk* said the wheat looked wvM in Iiis 

 ncii;hborhood; the f;rass very lliiii — apples pr,-seuted 

 a pretty fair show of blossoms — pears and peaches 

 very tfood. 



Mr. W. L. IIershey, of Ilempfield, said much of 

 the wheat looked very poor — except in gravel land — 

 fruit trees are backward in blooming. About one- 

 half the corn crop has been planted. 



Johnson MiM.nit said wheat would probaldy tie a 

 short crop; he sowed last fall 1'^, and 2 bushels per 

 aer(^: some of the new varieties look well; about one- 

 half the corn crop has lieen planted. The fruit and 

 Krain proB]ieet is encouraging. tlrasses in many 

 places will be a failure. 



Mk. Iln.LEK beini; called on to report on the fruit 

 prospe<'t in t'onestou:a, said he never took much ac- 

 count of the blossoms; he can tell tietter what the 

 crop will l)e about tlie time the fruit bei^ins to ripen. 



Levi S. Ukist read an essay on wheat, whieli he 

 reijarded as one of the most valuable of ai;riexiltural 

 productions. It follows in the course of civilization 

 in all jiarts of the world. Altlioufrli its origin is un- 

 known, it has been used from the earliest historic 

 era. It is spoken of in the Bible, where the patriarch 

 .lacob in a dream saw Joseph's sheaf standing, sur- 

 rounded by his brothers' sheafs, which made obeis- 

 ance to it. Of over :iOO varieties of wheat which had 

 been introduced, Mr. Reist thought the old red .Medi- 

 terranean best stood the test of cultivation. He 

 believed that in this section our own native wheat 

 would do the best, and he recommended farmers to 

 examine their fields and search out new varieties. 

 He thought it would be well for the society to otl'er a 

 reward for the best varieties of native wheat thus 

 discovered. Mr. Reiat next referred to the diseases 

 to which wheat is subject. Rust in the straw and an 

 imperfect tilling of the grain was caused by excessive- 

 ly low temfierature. Tlie greatest destroyer was the 

 Hessian fly, wliich made its appearance in this coun- 

 try in 177('i, and is 6iippo,sed to have been introduced 

 anionij the straw imported by the Hessian soldiers 

 duiiu;;- the revolution. Since that time it has spead 

 throughout the country and has destroyed an im- 

 mense amount of iirain. In 18S0 all wheat planted 

 from August to the middle of Oetolier was destroyed. 

 The seed sown after the 'iOtli of October turned out 

 well. The wheat that was sown early last year also 

 turned out poorly — that wtiieh was sown later looks 

 well, and will yield from i;0 to .10 tmshels per acre. 

 Mr. lieist added that on tlic .5th of September last a 

 ueiijhbor of his sowed 12 acres of wheat, and on the 

 11th he sowed 6 acres more. Early in the season 

 that sowed first looked very well, but has been 

 almost entirely destroyed by the fly ; while that 

 sown on the lltli has almost entirely escaped, and 

 now looks very thrifty and will yield a !;ood croi). 



Mk W. L. IIekbuey menticmed a ease in which 

 two fields of wheat were sown on the same day, and 

 one of them was entirely destroyed by the fly and 

 the other escaped. 



Mr. Linvii.i.e said it was a maxim of agricultural 

 writers to "cultivate, cultivute, cultivate." The 

 maxim was a ;,'ood one in many respects, but his own 

 experience had been that wheat should not be too 

 highly cultivated ; but doubtless the ijuality of the 

 soil and the condition of the season has much to do 

 with the production. 



Mr.Kendig suggested that the fly breeds more 

 rapidly and creates greater havoc where the ground 

 has been early plowed. 



Mr. Enole said there was no rule that would 

 hold good in all cases. There are startling cxcep- 

 tioDS to all theories ; the only thing the farmer can 



do is to observe results from year to year closely and 



intelll!;ently and be governed accordinf;ly. 



I.Evi W. (Iicoer said that early last fall he sowed 

 Ave acres of wheat on fjnmnd that was last year in 

 lobaeeo ; at the same time he sowed five acres more 

 in erounil that had tieen in corn. That wliich was 

 sown on the corn irrouiid was almoht entirely de- 

 htrnyed by Ibf lly, while that on t be tottaeco land was 

 untouched. Hi' tliou;;lit that about two-thirds of the 

 tobacco crop of West Earl is better tlian It has been 

 for five years. 



Mr. Knoi.k said we are apt to treat tobaiw) to a 

 more liberal supply of mamire than we icive^i corn, 

 and this perhaps made the wheat on .Mr. firott's to- 

 bacco land more thrifty aini belter alile to withstand 

 tlii^ lly tJian thai on tlie corn land. 



.Mu. (iRorr replied thai his com land was as highly 

 manured as his tfiliacco land. 



.Mr. I,i;vi Ui.ist said his essay on wheat was writ- 

 ten with a view to iiiducim,' farmers to search throui;li 

 their own fields for new varieties of wheat. He lie- 

 lieved that they would siii'i-ecil lieltcr than in si'U-el- 

 inir variclicB from the a;^rieultiiral department or 

 elsewhere, mosl of which he liacl found to be almost 

 worthless. His favorilc was the old Medilcrrauean. 



Mu. fiRori' re|Kirtcd very favorable results from 

 the CUauFon wheal. 



The fincKi ion proposed at last meeting for discus- 

 sion, namely, " Is the frrowth of Hunjjarian grass 

 fftr hay a desinible crop for fanners to cni^ai^e in ?" 

 was answcrci! liy Mr. Pownall, who said that if it 

 were projiosed lo make it take the place id' clover, 

 liiuoUiy or other ^'rasscs il would be unprofitalilc ; 

 but if it were sown lo supplement these crops when 

 they partly failed, it woiilil be found profitable. 

 When cut youn;; it makes a >;ood Iiay. 



Mr. Hersiiiv, of Manor, rcfjardcd it as worthless ; 

 his horses and cattle would ijot cat it. 



Johnson .Mili.ek, of Warwick, had ijuile a ditfer- 

 ent experience. His cattle ale it with avidity. He 

 had fed his milch cows on it since last November, 

 and they had never produced more butter or of a 

 better rpiality. 



Mr. Linvii.i.e, of Salisliury, had once planted 11 

 acres of Huiiirarian u'rass. His cattle ate it readily 

 anil thrived on il, tint it was hard on the soil and lie 

 had concluded to plant no more of it; but as his tim- 

 othy and clover had almost entirely failed, he would 

 this year try it ayain. Il is liest to cut il early, and 

 not let il ijel wet, as rain burls the quality of liay. 



Mr Knoi.e coincided with .Mr. Liiiville's views. 



Mr. tiROEK sowed ten acres, and in sixty days 

 thereafter had the liay in his liarn. It was a iroort 

 crop and made good feed, especially to supplement 

 other kiuils of hay. 



.Mk. Witmkr, of Manor, had never had any ditli- 

 riilty in get ting his cattle to eat Hnnfrarian ^rass. 

 He cut il before it bloomed. Did not think it ex- 

 hausted the soil. He planted wheat after it and the 

 eroji was as irood as wlien he planted after corn. It 

 was no harder on the soil ttian oats. 



Casper Hii.lek said a neicht>or of his had sown C> 

 or acres of Hungarian firass lo plow down as greeu 

 manure. He would like to hear wtiat members 

 thoug^ht alioul it. 



Mr. Linvii.i.e answered that a neigliliorof his had 

 sown oats and Hunirarian irrass for hay, but having 

 enough hay from oltier i^rasses he plowed down the 

 oats and liuiisrarian grass and sowed the ground in 

 wheat. He manured the ground on which the oats 

 had been plowed down, and not that on which Iho 

 Hungariangrass was plowed down, and yet the wheat 

 was as good on the one as on the other. In conclu- 

 sion Mr. Linville asked what crop was the best to be 

 plowed down for green manure. 



Mr. Enoi.e said "liuckwheat." 



Mr. (tkoi'F said "clover." 



Mr. Enoi.e said clover was the best, but it could 

 not tie grown in a single season, and buckwheat 

 could. 



Mr. p. S. Reist was in favor of cutting off the 

 clover for hay and plowing; down the sod. 



Mr. Enoi.e said that clover certainly extracted 

 from the soil and absorlied from the air certain in- 

 gredients tlial enriched the ground when the clover 

 was plowed down. 



Mr. (jKopf said it was his intention to sow corn 

 and Hungarian grass together and plow them both 

 down as a green manure. 



"How can the fertility and productiveness of our 

 farms he maintained under our present system of 

 cropping ?" was next discussed. 



Mr. Keiidig said to accomplish the desired result, 

 he would stand by stable manure and lime. He did 

 not have much' faith in manufactured fertilizers. 

 To secure the full tienefil of stable manure it was 

 necessary to prevent the cattle from running at large. 

 He would keep them' housed and well fed, and not 

 keep too many during the summer, .\fter lliey liave 

 fed in the jiasture field lie them up during the rest 

 of the day; it will protect them from flies and save 

 the manure. The manure should be draw n at least 

 three times a year — in the spring, after harvest and 

 in the fall. He thought that a farm of lOU acres 

 might safely grow ten acres of tobacco without de- 

 teriorating the soil. 



Mr. EN()I.e agreed with Mr. Kendig as to the 

 management of the stock, but was not so sure about 

 the tobacco, which leaves no straw for manure to 



