120 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



given their opinions and suggestions for tlie 

 benefit of their fellow- beings on this import- 

 ant question. 



Among the large number of tliis class of ar- 

 ticles, I find one in the Strasburr/cr Zcitung of 

 to-day, which, owing to the fact that it han- 

 dles the question of the adulteration of milk 

 in a manner somewliat new compared with 

 those of otlicr writers, I have thought of suffi- 

 cient interest to your readers to translate it 

 entire. The author is Dr. Kohwosky, staff- 

 surgeon of the Pioneer Battalion, stationed 

 at .Strasburg, a gentleman of high medical au- 

 thority, and an excellent writer. Dr. Roh- 

 wosky goes behind the adulteration of milk, 

 after it comes from the cow, and tells us how 

 milk is adulterated before the cow yields it. 

 Should you agi-ee with me as to its acceptabil- 

 ity, it is at your service. Yours truly. — /. /. 

 Sjjrenger. 



Dr. Roliwosky says : "Not only'the adulterated 

 milk of which we have cause to complain here iu 

 Strasbursf, but even that brought direct and untam- 

 pered witli from the cow, is in most instances very 

 bad, and simply for the reason that the cows from 

 which it is obtained are not properly treated and 

 cared for. In their treatment the essential matters 

 of light, air, feed, and a proper attention to the 

 cleanliness of the pen are entirely lost sight of by 

 those possessing; this useful animal, and who will 

 dispute the necessity of these things to the health of 

 cither man or beast? What is the consequence? 

 Bad milk. I venture to assert that out of 100 cow- 

 stables 90 are illy lighted, where the animals inhale 

 an impure atmosphere, whereby their blood oxvda- 

 tion suffers, and as a natural consequence their nour- 

 ishment also; further, instead of good clover, meadow 

 hay and chopped feed, they are fed on swill or slops 

 grain oflals, &c., &c., and another natural result is 

 bad milk. Such milk has not the right flavor will 

 only keep about 30 hours instead of two to four'days 

 readily turns sour, and if given to children cannot 

 be digested, thereby occasioning dyssentery, bowel 

 complaints, vomiting, leads to scarcity of blood 

 sickness, and finally to death; and the direct cause 

 of all is bad milk — not because it has been adulter- 

 ated, but because the cows from which it came were 

 not properly fed or treated. 



"That the milk of a mother who has not the proper 

 care and nourishment herself, works deleteriously 

 upon the health of the infant at her breast, is a well 

 known fact, and excites attention where it exists 

 but if the nourishment be by means of cows' milk we 

 do not ask whether the animal is properly fed 

 healthy or sick ! Where is the logic ? ' 



"Notwithstanding this, the milk of the cows con- 

 tinues to be the only substitute for mother milk and 

 is the principal nourishment for children, and' the 

 health of these children depends on the quality of 

 tluat milk . Among the many diseases of the stomach 

 and lungs which prevail among infants, good pure 

 milk is the acknowledged best remedy, as well as it 

 is a valuable nourishment to those in good health 

 and a blessing in our household economy. 



"Properly estimating the true value of pure milk, a 

 number of intelligent and wealthy citizens of some 

 of our larger towns, have established dairies con- 

 structed by men whose knowledge and experience 

 could be relied upon; which are conducted on strict- 

 ly hygienic principles. Such a dairy has been in ex- 

 istence at Stuttgart one year. It contains 41 cows 

 of the best breecls, which are all housed in roomy 

 light and airy compartments, which are kept as 

 faultlessly clean as a parlor, while the animals them- 

 selves are treated with the utmost care as regards 

 the cleanliness of their bodies as well as in their 

 nourishment. The demand for the milk at this es- 

 tablishment is so far beyond its capacity of produc- 

 tion that 6evcr.al other establishments of a similar 

 kind are in contemplation, of which one will soon be 

 in operation. And this, notwithstanding the milk is 

 only sold for the nourishment of infants and invalids, 

 and that in consequence of the expense of conducting 

 the dairy the price is only eight and ten cents per 

 litre above the usual price. 



"In conclusion, I hold that the providing of good 

 pure milk should be the aim of all good citizens, and 

 should be aided and encouraged by the entire com- 

 munity, as well as by the municipal authorities of 

 every city in the land." It may be here added that 

 according to the death reports of the city of Berlin 

 for the last week of June, 700 children died, whose 

 death in most eases is traceable to a want of good 

 milk nourishment. — Lndii'ifjshofeii, Bayern, Qer- 

 viauy, July 1877. 



Manheim, Pa., July 30th, 1877. 



Mr. S. S. Rathvon— i>ca>- Sir : I saw in the July 

 mimber of the Farmer, that Mr. Satterthwait would 

 like to know something cheaper than land-plaster to 

 mix with Paris green, for destroying "Colorado 

 potato beetle." Also that you think the adult beetle 

 will not eat the Paris green. 



I have destroyed the Colorado potato beetle, botli 



adult and larvae succcssfuly with Paris green mixed 

 with water. I took one tablespoon full of Paris 

 green to one large bucket full of water, and sprinkled 

 that on the vines. With two applications to eai-h 

 patch, I had them clean, up to the present time. One 

 day, this spring, I went out to see one of my potato 

 patches; the vines were then from three to four inches 

 high, and I found from one to eight beetles on a stalk 

 or vine, some at almost every vine, and they were 

 eating, too; and full, or many eggs on the leaves at 

 that time. I made a mixture as above described, 

 sprinkled them shortly before noon, and in the mid- 

 dle of the afternoon. I went to see how it worked. 

 I found all the beetles on the ground dead, and it 

 also killed all the young ones, as they eameoutof the 

 eggs. This patch was clean then, until the vines 

 came into blossom, then I gave them the second 

 sprinkling, which kept them clean to the present. 

 Some of my neighbors have used the same, with 

 good success. — M. O. M. 



We did not intend to convey the idea tluit 

 the adult Colorado potato beetle could not lie 

 killed by Paris green, but that tliey were not 

 so easily killed by the dry mixture as the lar- 

 vae are. There is some doubt, however, 

 whether either the larvae or the adult beetles 

 are killed so much l)y what they actually eat, 

 as by what they inhale and absorb through 

 their breathina; spiracles, and through the 

 pores of tlie skin. From the moment the 

 poison falls on the larvce (on account of the 

 moist or clammy surface of their bodies) they 

 begin to sicken and soon thereafter die— indeed 

 we have seen them dead as door nails, witliin 

 five minutes after the application. They 

 doubtless also eat of it, for it cannot be repul- 

 sive to the taste, or cattle would not eat it — 

 nor children either. But, the softer parts of 

 the adult being covered byacoat of mail, tliey 

 are not so vulnerable as the larvai. 



New York, July 26, 1877. 



LiNNiEus Path VON, Esij.— i)mr Sir: Of 

 the many good things which distinguish your 

 paper, the best of all, considering the difficul- 

 ty of that kind of writing, is your pleasant 

 and inestimable appeal to your delinquent sub- 

 scribers. As one of them I hasten to respond 

 by inclosing !8i2. 50 as payment to January 1, 

 1878, at the same time begging you to believe 

 that it is a case of sheer inattention, and by 

 no means intention on my part. 



Your journal is uniformly interesting and 

 instractive, and I cordially wish it tlie great- 

 est success. Very truly yours, 



Henry R. Wortiiington. 



*WHAT CAUSES RUST IN WHEAT. 



This is one of the referred questions pro- 

 pounded at the July meeting of this Society, 

 and although not referred specifically to me, 

 yet I presume I may be allowed the privilege 

 of offering some remarks preparatory to the 

 discussion of the question— one of those ques- 

 tions too, which, in the long lapse of time 

 that has intervened since "rust in wheat" 

 was first discovered, has never yet been satis- 

 factorily solved, and probably will not be for 

 as long a time to come. 



Anterior to this question, however, is 

 another query, legitimately involving the 

 in-ohlem : What ronstilutes .'—or rather, 

 What is ni.-it ?— and altliough the solution of 

 this may be easy enough, yet it may be as 

 difficult to illustrate clearly what causes it, as 

 it would be to demonstrate in detail, What 

 causes a blade of grass to grow ? or, What 

 causes the sun to shine ?— and yet it is im- 

 possible that these phenomena should exist 

 without a cause. 



Waiving all discussion on the question of 

 "spontaneous production," let it suffice for 

 the sake of brevity, to assume that rust is a 

 2)lant, as much as corn or tobacco are plants ; 

 and that plants are primarily produced from 

 seeds or spores. Secondarily, they may be 

 produced from buds, from cuttings, 'from 

 tubers, and from roots, but this has necessar- 

 ily no particular connection with the question 

 of rust, which belongs to the fwu/oid plants. 



Systematic botanists divide tlie vegetable 

 kingdom into two gi-eat classes, namely : 

 Phmiiigamous And Cri/ptogamous. The, first 



•Read before the Liucaslei- County Agricultural and Hor- 

 ticultural Society, AURUst 6, 1877, by S. S. Rathvou. 



includes flowering plants ; that is, those that 

 bear a distinct flower and fruit, or seeds. 

 The second includes rtowerless plants ; tliat is 

 tliose which do not bear distinct flowers, but 

 which are provided with cells of various forms 

 containing a prolific dust called sjjores or 

 sporulcs. 



To this second class called cryptogamia, be- 

 long the ferns, the mosses, the liverworts, 

 the lichens, the sea-weeds, and the fungi or 

 mushrooms ; and among these last named are 

 classed the blight, the milldew, the smut, and 

 the I'ust. Although these bear some relation 

 to each other, and are often confounded, they 

 are nevertlieless distinct. The common mold, 

 which is found under .so many circumstances, 

 and in so many places, is a erypiogammis plant 

 — is only another form of mildew, and lielongs 

 to the fungi. The number of these plants is 

 legion, and their proper cla.ssification and de- 

 scription would form an immense volume ; 

 therefore, I will confine myself to the single 

 variety or species, which is legitimately in- 

 cluded in the question— "What causes rust in 

 wheat ?" Let me premise by saying that the 

 earth and the air are full of the minute spores 

 of these fungoid plants — so minute that they 

 are invisible to the naked eye, when they are 

 separated into single sporules. The whole 

 animal creation are almost constantly drink- 

 ing or inhaling tliem, and whenever or where- 

 ever they find the conditions favorable to 

 their germination and growtli, there tliey will 

 germhiate and grow, wliether it is inside or 

 outside of a loaf of bread, the seed cavity of 

 an apple, the cells in cheese, inside or outside 

 of an old book, or on any animal or vegetable 

 decay. But like the seeds of Plurnogamoics, 

 or flowering plants, they will not germinate 

 and grow iu times and places unfavorable to 

 their development ; and tlie species called 

 rust has a special penchant tor such plants as 

 have become enerated, or laid open to attack 

 from other causes. 



Another premise is this; there is found upon 

 most of the graminaceous plants, or grasses, 

 and particularly uiion wheat, a certain shin- 

 ing varnish absolutely of the same material as 

 glass. Most commonly this vitreous material 

 terminates the edges of the leaves by little 

 teeth resembling ;i saw of extreme fineness, 

 but always capable of scratching the fingers 

 of those who carelessly amuse themselves by 

 frequently rubbing these leaves in the direc- 

 'tion of their length, especially when tliey take 

 the leaf at the apex and draw their fingers to- 

 wards the base. The greater then the thick- 

 ness of this glassy layer, and the stronger the 

 stalk, the greater will be the resistance of its 

 surface to the moisture of the atmosphere, or 

 other like influences, which might cause it to 

 crack, and present false issues of tlie sap, upon 

 wliicli the ru.st attaches itself. And it is con- 

 ceived that this layer of vitreous material will 

 be stronger in proportion as the soil itself con- 

 tains it, or as it is furnished artificially with 

 the elements of its composition. It is well 

 known that to produce glass, a silicious min- 

 eral sand is used, with lime and pearl, or pot- 

 ash, wliicli are melted together by heat, al- 

 tliough each one of these substances is difficult 

 to fu.se if heated alone. If then, by mixing 

 with the soil silex, lime, and ashes, tliere be 

 placed at the disposition of the plant a great- 

 er abundance of the vitreous materials which 

 enter into the composition of tlie vitreous ma- 

 terial with which it is covered, it will neces- 

 .sarily alisorb a greater quantity, and thereby 

 place itself in a better condition to resi.st the 

 rust. The sea weeds, whicli, by their decom- 

 position produce soda in quantitity — which 

 also enters into the the comiiosition of gla.ss — 

 will produce the same effect. Thus too, it 

 has Iseeu observed, that the rust has shown it- 

 self much more rarely in silicious or sandy 

 grounds. 



Tliese premises then afford a plausible solu- 

 tion of the question — in theory at least — 

 "What cau.ses rust in wheat ?" namely, the 

 absence, or jiartial absence, of the external 

 vitreous coating of the plant, exposes tlie inner 

 tissues to sporific development — it furnishes 

 conditions favorable to the attachment of the 



