d26 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ August, 



the plant or on thp outeide. There were mcmhers 

 who hafi seen both kinds, and it was decided that 

 there must be two varieties of the same worm. Prof. 

 S. S. Kathvon was consulted on the subject, hut he 

 could not classify it until he had seen a specimen. 



Wash. L. Hershey reported the crops in his sec- 

 tion as being in a good condition. 



Referred Questions. 



Wjiat is the proper time and height for topping 

 (obaceo? This question had been referred to Mr. A. 

 .'^hifl'ner, but he not being able to attend the meeting 

 sent in his answer. It was as follows : 



As the question of topping tobacbo was referred to 

 me I shall make a few brief remarks on the question. 

 As the time I'or topping is at hand I would lirst say 

 that every glower ought to be acquainted with the 

 soil he has planted. Rich, loamy soil will bear 

 higher topping; to the best of my knowledge twelve 

 to fourteen leaves is sufficient for any stalk, and in 

 soil that is not enriched eight and ten leaves will be 

 plenty. Tobacco stalks should not all be topped one 

 height. 



In a i^atch some are more strong and growthy than 

 others. The small or backward ones should be top- 

 ped lower than the vigorous or growthy ones. The 

 time for topping tobacco, to the best of my judgment, 

 is about the time the seed bud makes its appearance. 

 <'are shoujil lie taken in pincl.iug ofl' the bud not to 

 scratch or tear the small, lender leaves. We should 

 all be sure to top low . If we do not we cannot get 

 in the high grades. It matters not how nice and 

 clean a lot of tobacco is if it don't come in to triple 

 and double A. We cannot get the highest price for 

 it without having that grade, and we can reach it 

 only by low toiJjiing and good attention. 



Hexkt Kurtz endorsed the views of Mr.Shiflfner. 

 If tobacco is tojipcd low it is of a better grade, and 

 brings a better price. He would advise all to top 

 low. 



Henry M.vyer agreed with the gentlemen who 

 had spoken, but did not believe that tobacco should 

 be topiicd too low. An ordinary sized leaf of good 

 quality will bring a better price than a large leaf of 

 poor quality. 



S. Kennedy thought it would be a good idea to 

 have a good cigarmaker give his views on the sub- 

 ject. He thought a large leaf was preferable to a 

 small, as more wrappers could be cut out of it. The 

 cigarmakers always follow the veins in cutting 

 wrappers, taking the leaf between two veins for a 

 wrapper. 



Henry Mayer denied this, and said only the point 

 of the leaf was used, therefore a small leaf was as 

 good as a large one. 



Henry Kurtz said that he had a new kind of to- 

 bacco, which took a prize at the Centennial. It grew 

 to the leutrth of 4.8 inches and would bring at least 

 .SO cents- If of a tini' quality a big leaf is preferable, 

 but if coarse it is not. 



M. D. Kendio said that it was his experience that 

 jobbers always look for long tobacco and do not pay 

 much attention to the quality. It is useless to try to 

 convince them that a small leaf is better than a large 

 one, as it certainly is. To get Ions le.avcs, top low. 



Harry Mayer thought that a great deal depended 

 on the season. The last two weeks should be very 

 favorable. 



Discussion closed. 



Is there any advantage in scaffolding tobacco in the 

 fields ; For general discussion. 



This was the ne.Kt question, liut the proceedings 

 were interrupted to allow Prof. Kathvon to read a 

 very interesting account of a new species of worm. 

 The account was clipped from a Marietta paper, and 

 is as follows : 



"The tobacco growers in this section have found a 

 new worm at the plants this season, which is more 

 troulilesome than the cut-worm. It is a little over 

 half an inch long, of a brownish hue, and doi« not 

 operate like the cut-worm. It commences under- 

 ground, just at the top of the root, and bores into 

 the centre, and then eats out the heart of the stalk 

 until it reaches the top of the ground. The plant 

 thus hollowed out will remain green for a week or 

 ten days before it begins to wilt, but the presence of 

 the worm can be detected by the smallest leaf wither- 

 ing before it has long been at the root. The plant 

 once attacked by this animal, it becomes worthless 

 and might as well be pulled up. Messrs. John and 

 Calvin .Sidlzhach, who have three acres in tobacco 

 have had one-third of them destroyed by this new 

 I'est. It was supposed that the growers had as 

 much to contend with in the cut-worm in the early 

 stages of its growth as they could handle, but this 

 wire-worm, as it is called, promises to give tlicra a 

 good deal of trouble." 



The discussion was then resumed. Henry Kurtz 

 said that it was his opinion that scaffolding in the 

 field was not of much account. If tobacco can be 

 housed without scaffolding it is much better. If it 

 can he scaffolded in the shade it is not so bad, but he 

 did not favor it. 



-Mr. Copenhaver had scaffolded for twenty years, 

 ami was strongly in favor of it. He said that the to- 

 bacco wilted and was much easier to handle, and 

 could he hung up in half the time that It could 

 while green. Besides this it did not break as easily 



as it did while green. Always let tobacco hang 

 out a few days. 



Henry Kurtz said that alhough he was in favor 

 of shedding immediately, he was not in favor of put- 

 ting tobacco in its place at once. He first hung it 

 low down in the shed, and in a few days hung it uj) 

 higher. 



Henry Mayer was of the opinion that it should 

 be hung in its place at once. If it was hung on 

 scaffolds it wilted and then when hung up it was 

 placed too close together. The consequence of this 

 was that in damp weather it swelled and rotted. 

 All growers should have a gauge by which to hang 

 tobacco. He hung about six stalks on a lath, plac- 

 ing them about eight inches apart. 



Peter S. Ketst thought it depended on the sea- 

 son as to whether it should be scaffolded or not. If 

 taken off when the weather Nvas hot like at the pres- 

 ent time it should be housed immediately, (>r it 

 would scorch. If cut late it might be hung on scaf- 

 folds for a week or ten days. 



E. HuMEit jireferrcd housing it immediately, as 

 did also M. D. Kendig, who thought then there 

 would be no danger of getting it too close. It might 

 not be out of pl.ice to wilt it down a little, but then 

 there was danger of frost. 



S. K. EsHLEMAN wanted information on the sub- 

 ject of transporting tobacco. He said that buyers- 

 complained that it was injured by being hauled in 

 wagons, and told of several places where he had 

 seen wagons fixed specially for hauling tobacco, 

 with places to hang it as it was cut. He wanted to 

 know if this was general. 



IlENin' Kurtz answered that he knew of a large 

 number of such wagons, and it was becoming general. 



Discussion closed. 



Ne'w Business. 



Under this head I. L. Landis introduced the sub- 

 ject of butterflies that breed worms. (Ti'owers are 

 much annoyed by them. In the South the cotton 

 planters are likewise annoyed hy a cotton fly, which 

 they rid themselves of by building large fires. The 

 flies are attracted by these tires and flying into them 

 are burned to death. He had a plan, of which he 

 read in some paper, that he thought would be suc- 

 cessful. It was to take a tub of water into the field, 

 and place a strong light into the tub. The light 

 would attract the flies, and getting their wings 

 scorched they would fall into the tub and be drowned. 



Prof. Kathvon exhibited some specimens of this 

 fly, and gave thfe Latin name for it. 



Peter S. Keist heartily endorsed Mr. Landis' 

 plan, as he had tried it and found it completely suc- 

 cessful. 



E. IIuBEii told of th^ manner in which they 

 cleai'cd their apple orchard of flies by building large 

 fires at the edge of the orchard. 



The following 



Referred Questions 



were adopted for next meeting. 



How soon after stripj)ing should or can tobacco be 

 cased * Keferred to Henry Kurtz. 



Which is the best method to ])ut tobacco on the 

 lath, by splitting, spearing, pegging, or stripping the 

 leaves off the stalk i For general discussion. 



How should sheds be managed after hanging the 

 tobacco, in order to have it cured properly? Referred 

 to W. L. Hershey. 



Prof. S. S. Kathvon, and the members of the press 

 who reported the meetings of the society, were elected 

 honorary members of the societ}'. 



THE LINNyEAN SOCIETY. 



The Linuican Society met on Saturday, July '2S, 

 with nine members present and President J. S. 

 Stahr in the chair. After the collection of dues and 

 the consideration of the minutes of the last meeting, 

 a few 



Additions to the Museum 

 were examined and found to consist of the following: 



A small colcoptera ftjund infesting the .Sutnac, per 

 J. B. P^shleman. It belongs to the family "Chry- 

 somelidae ;" the " Blcpharida rhoix," "the only 

 species we have of this genus. 



Mr. Bui.ton captured night-flying moths, which 

 proved to lie the ^^iJryoricnipa rubl cniida,^^ 



Mr. John Dufi-'y ifbund a circular body shaped 

 like a lady's small watch, in a tortoise-colored case, 

 and black band. He was fearful it might be a tor- 

 pedo, but it [iroves to be one of those curious sea- 

 beans, that grows on nobody knows what tree, and 

 yet are so common on the Southern seaboard. Sir 

 Hans Sloane notices it in his catalogue of Jam.aica 

 plants, as found both in the West and East Indies, 

 known as hose-eye, from the ebony colored hihis sur- 

 roiuiding the edge of the bean, the upper ami lower 

 side of which is slightly convex ; called also sea 

 lentil and sarogossa ; but this gives us no elue to the 

 tree or plant that yields them. Who will give the 

 desired information i 



Several abnormal growths, one in a grape vine, 

 (Hartford I'rolilic) in which a second crop of llow- 

 ers came forth to bloom and set fruit — a simple sus- 

 pension and subsequcul action in the necessary juices. 



An umble of a PclargouimUf in full flower ; one of 

 the peduncles, however, having an excess of vital 



action, prolonged itself into a stem and formed a see 

 ond umble of flowers out of the first. L.aid on the 

 table by our worthy President, Rev. ■!. S. .Stahr. 



Mii. Bolton also left some neatly moinited ferns, 

 ('nmptosoriis rhizopliyllvs ; the walking fern, that is, 

 the leaf elongates its terminal point and again strikes 

 root — found on rocks in shady places. Also the pretty 

 little A.solnu'fni trii:hoinants. 



To the historical collection was added a rare 

 ancient coin of Licinius Senior, A. D. 30~-o24, per 

 Kev. J. H. Dubbs. Also two envelopes of clippings 

 of historical interest, per S. S. Kathvon. 



Additions to the Library. 



American Philosophical Society, vol. xvi. Jan. !• 

 to May 1.S77, No. 99. 



Printed circulars and two pamphlets of book cata- 

 logues. The Lancaster Farmer for July. The 

 published address of Rev. D. W. Gerhard, A. M., 

 delivered at New Holland, to the Reformed Church. 



An address by Ceo. F. Bear, delivered at the dedi- 

 cation of Palatinate College, Myerstown, December 

 2.S, 187.5. 



An oration delivered at Reading, June 19, 1876, by 

 Hon. Daniel Ermcntrout — "Our Peojile." Donated 

 per Mr. A. F. Hostetter, member. 



A copy of the aiuiual report of the Se<Tetary of 

 Internal Afl'airs, Part III., Industrial Statistics, 

 through Wm. McCandless, per Wm. H. H. Grier. 

 Papers Read. 



The neat and sharply marked fossil presented at 

 the last meeting by Kev. Mr. Houpt, is described as 

 the PcntraiiUia f^orilonu. otherwise fiorials — belong- 

 ing to the crinoids, and Its relation, by S. S. Kath- 

 von — paper No. .508. Appended to this paper was a 

 resume on the former article "Matzabaum," which 

 he finds, according to Dr. Rultgers, an intelligent 

 German citizen, should be written ".Martzipan" 

 (pronounced Marr-tsce-pahn) or ".Marcusbread," a 

 Venetian sweet bread, (pants Marcius.) 



Kev. Jos. H. Dubbs read a highly interesting pa- 

 per in reference to the coin donated, an excellent 

 specimen of the Roman third bronze. The inscrip- 

 tion (uii'cvAT- iftNLliiNivsPEAvci) wliicli translat- 

 ed, (ler Mr. D. reads, "The Emperor Galenius Val- 

 erius Liconianus Licinius, High Priest, Augustus." 

 This is on the obverse with the usual bust of the 

 reigning monarch. The reverse represents Jupiter 

 standing, with an eagle at his side, and in his right 

 hand a figure of Victory, holding a chaplet with the 

 legend — ".lovicONSERVATORY,'' that is "To Jove, 

 the Preserver." In the exergue are the letters s.mn. 

 i. e. "Sacra Moneta Narbonensis — no doubt struck 

 in the mint in the city of Narbonne, in Southern 

 Gaul. The interesting history about those limes 

 must be given in a special notice of the article pub- 

 lished at length. 



A slip cut from an Easlon, Pa., newspaper was 

 read, which states that on the farm of Dr. AV. P. 

 Kisller, near Schecksvillc, is a chestnut tree that is 

 a great curiosity. The trunk is perfectly straight 

 and shoots to a great height, while the branches, in- 

 stead of stretchiug outward, rim perpendicular w.th, 

 or s])irally around it, making it impossible to climb 

 it. In appearance it looks more like a Lombardy 

 poplar than, a chestnut tree, which promises this 

 season to yield an abundance of nuts, as usual, of 

 a large size. This came up under scientific gossip, 

 with the other sports found in the vegetable kingdom, 

 in which the botanist took a part. Darwin was re- 

 ferred to, facts admitted, but theories questioned. 

 After all, as regards the chestnut tree, a playful 

 trimming of the lower branches of a chestnut sprout 

 and spirally turning the upper branches might sim- 

 ply verify the old adage — "As the twig is bent the 

 tree is inclined." There are wonderful trainings on 

 i-ecord. 



The committee to till the bottles to preserve speci- 

 mens, reported having attended to that duty, at an 

 expense for alcohol and para ffine p.aper of 50 cents, 

 which was on motion ordered to be paid. Said com- 

 mittee was continued and authorized to have the 

 rooms cleaned up. Although very warm, the society 

 enjoyed the meeting and discussions, and on motion 

 adjourned to Saturday, August 25,1877. 



Manure for Fruit Trees. 

 The Western New York Horticultural Society 

 lately discus^eil the question of manure for fruit 

 trees. One member said that he had used super- 

 phosphate of lime with good results. Another mem- 

 ber said he had seen more benefit resulting from 

 super-phosphate the second year than the first, es- 

 jiccially when the first was a dry season. Another 

 member preferred wood ashes. He once used 1,800 

 bushels of leached ashes on the sand soil of his or- 

 chard and vineyard with very great advantage, apply- 

 ing it at the ratio of :;00 bushels per acre. The 

 quality as well as size and yield of fruit was very 

 much improved. Another member considered barn- 

 yard mainire as the most jirofitable fertilizer for fruit 

 trees, as it furnishes all the elements required for 

 growth and fertility. Fruitgrowers should therefore 

 manufacture all the manure they can, by kcciiing 

 horses, cattle, pigs, poultry, and gathering up all the 

 litter, tS:c., for the manure pile. Some people are lia- 

 ble to make mistakes in using stimulating manures 

 as fertilizers for fruit crops. 



