1877.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



131 



.0 spin their scale-like cocoon, and to puiiato. 

 This last ti-ansformation commenced on the 

 id of Aufrust, and is not yet ended. The 

 :)ni)a is a liijhl l)idwn, as seen Ihnmgh the 

 t;lass. As we havo freiiuently bred these in- 

 Kecta we will not delay this ]iapei- nntil their 

 linal transformation, wliich will pmhahly not 

 iicrur for a week or ten days yet. Tlie mature 

 moth is a slender little insect, with nairow 

 'wings, expan<ling three-fonrths of an inch, 

 jand with a tnft, or hnish, at tlu^ end of the 

 J)ody. Th(! color is totally lilaek, except a 

 narrow orange-colored ring aronnd the neck. 

 Whilst in the larva state they are easily de- 

 stroj'ed, as they make no attempt to eseai)o ; 

 ('Specially as they are gregarious, and thus a 

 Iwhole colony may he secured by cutting off a 

 iSingle leaf Cutting olV the infested leaves 

 and huruing or scalding the infestors, is the 

 only remedy wo can recounnend, and, por- 

 liaps, thoonlyone that is worth recommending. 



BLACK BASS AND BASS-BAIT. 



1 The stocking of the Sustpiehanna river and 

 its tributaries with black l)ass seems to have 

 ueveloped an industry liitherto unknown, 

 namely, the procuring of such baits for their 

 jcapture as are taken by them the most readily, 

 and which aflbrd the anglers for thcni the 

 (most sport and the greatest success. Of 

 niursc, there are a number of baits that these 

 ii>lies take, but there are three kinds for which 

 ,lhey appear to have a special partiality, and 

 (these tln-ee kinds readily command a penny 

 ifor each separate bait. Perhaps the very best 

 bait is a small fresh-water "crayli.sh," com- 

 monly called "crabs," although in point of 

 lut it is more nearly allied to the U)bster, both 

 jii its form and its habits. This is tlic Aslacus 

 [Bartonii, a small crustacean found in t)ur 

 rivers and creeks, but especially in small shal- 

 low runs or rivulets, where they may be 

 I'liuud under .stones. But until it was dis- 

 ci uered that they were a capital bass-bait, we 

 \iiiture to say that but few people knew that 

 tlicy were so abundant. We have it from 

 i^iiiid authority, that nearly three thousand of 

 Ithese crustaceans were obtained the present 

 jseason in the river and the small streams in 

 Mild about Columbia, all of which were sold 

 :i 1 not less than a cent a piece. 

 ; The next in value — if not of equal value — 

 is what is vidgarly called the " Ilellgramito." 

 This is the larva of the " Horned Coiydalis," 

 (Ciiri/d(tHs corm(Uis) Vihich in its larva state 

 is aquatic, and when fully matured is three 

 inches in length ; the head and thoracic seg- 

 ments black, and the abdominal portion of a 

 'lurk swarthy color. In our boyhood we called 

 these larva, "Alligators,'" because they bear 

 N.ime resemblance to a miniature animal of 

 I hat tyiie. But of these animals we have 

 never seen more than a dozen or so ina whole 

 S( ason ; and yet, within the past week, we 

 have been credibly informed that one man in 

 ' iiknnhia cai)tured seven hundred of them in 

 :i single day, which he sold at a cent apiece. 

 Tliese are surely windfalls in times like the 

 inesent, but it is likely to result in the extinc- 

 tion of the Ilellgramites. What derangement 

 . in nature's economy this may produce, is more 

 I than we are able to determine, but if they 

 ' were not of some use, they probably would 

 not be. Aquatic insects doubtless are bene- 

 (irial to Stagnant waters, as it is claimed that 

 I liey purify them by devouring both animal 

 and vegetable matter, which would otherwise 

 render the water impure or jiutrid. But of 

 course, neither the bass nor the bass-fishers 

 will ^ive any heed to this, when self-gratillca- 

 tion is the end. 



The third bait referred to, is a juvenile 

 specimen of the common toad {liu/o Ameri- 

 cana), of which there are now many to be 

 found in the viciinty of the streams in which 

 they liave passed their haiipy " tadpole" days, 

 if such an advent is iiossible, surroimded as 

 they are by a nndtitude of dangers. In com- 

 parison with the number of eggs deposited by 

 toads, the multitude of tadpoles often noticed 

 in the shallows of streams, and also the great 

 numbers of young toads often seen on beaches 

 and flats in proximity to the stream, after 



they lo.so their tails and their transition to the 

 toad stale, it is singular how few of the adults 

 are .seen and how few survive the season. 

 There must be a great mortality among them, 

 either from natural causes, from accidents, or 

 from their appropriation by other animals. 

 Snakes and wading fowls devour many of 

 them, anil now that it has been discovered 

 that they nuike a good bass bait, tho innocent 

 little things have a fearful ordeal to pass 

 through before they can attain to mature 

 toadhood ; for a hoy to pass over a bar or Hat 

 and see these little toads, it is equivalent to 

 finding .so many pennies, and an embargo is 

 therefore immediately laid upon. them. The 

 adult toad is a capit.al insect scavenger, but 

 there is danger that but few of them will reach 

 that state in the vicinity of localities where 

 the bass abounds. We await the result. 



OLIVER DALRYMPLE THE "GREAT 

 WHEAT KING" OF MINNESOTA. 



A fiientl in (ieneya, 111., writes us that he has 

 heard a ffrcat deal about the " Daliymple farm," 

 uoar Kargo, and has aleo seen many contradictory 

 statements about tho size of the farm and tlie 

 amount in wheat this year, and asks us to give him 

 a " liill of particulars." For the benefit of our cor- 

 respondent, and others who may be interested in 

 largo farming operations, we will state that what Is 

 called the " Dalrymple farm" is a tract of about 

 11,000 acres of land near Casselton, twenty miles 

 west of Fargo, on the line of the Northern Pacific 

 Railroad. It is owned by George VV. Cass and P. B. 

 Cheney, of New York, and Oliver Dalrymple, the 

 " wheat king of Minnesota," as he is termed. 

 Twelve hundred acres were broken in 1875 and sowed 

 to wheat last year. This year there are 4,000 acres 

 in wheat — and a splendid crop It is, too — and 3,000 

 acres additional were broken this season for seeding 

 next year. 



Mr. D.alrymplc also owns a half interest in what is 

 known as the " Grandin farm," a tract of 40,000 

 acres just north of Elm Kivcr, in Traill county, D. 

 T., 35 miles north of Fargo. Tlie other owners are 

 the Grandin Brothers, bankers of Tidioute, Pa. On 

 this farm there are 3,500 acres in wheat this year, 

 and some 3,000 acres broken for next year. To 

 harvest this crop of 7,500 acres on the two places, it 

 required 42 self-binding reapers, 325 horses and 

 mules and l.M men. Nine steam threshers, each 

 with a capacity of 1,000 bushels per day, are now at 

 work threshing the grain. 



In addition to his interest in these two immense 

 farms, Mr. Dalrynlple owns 2,000 acres of land in 

 Cottage Grove, Minnesota, near St. Paul, 1,.500 acres 

 of which is in wheat — so that either as sole or half 

 owner, Mr. Dalrymple is interested in 9,000 acres of 

 wheat this year, which will be increased to 15,000 

 acres next year. 



Oliver Dalrymple has five steatn threshers now at 

 work on his 4,000 acre farm at Casselton, each one 

 threshing an average of 1,000 bushels per day. The 

 grain is hauled directly to the cars as fast as thresh- 

 ed, and shipped to New York, via Duluth and the 

 lakes. He loads and forwards 1.5 cars per day. At 

 350 bushels to the car, the crop on this one place 

 will make 2.57 car loads. Ylie yield, from what has 

 been threshed so far, is estimated at 90,000 bushels 

 —an average of 23^' J bushels per acre. Add to this 

 the 3,500 acres on the Grandin farm, in which Mr. 

 Dalryrapli^ has a hall interest, and which will aver- 

 age equally well, the two farms will produce 1HS,750 

 bushels of wheat this year. A nice little plum to 

 have, surely. 



We may add that it is the intention of the owners 

 of these two liuge farms to break on an average 

 about 5,000 acres each year, until the whole 51 ,000 

 acres are brought under cultivation. They have 

 abundant means, and the experiment so far has 

 proven (hat it is not possible to make a better invest- 

 ment of money. This is tho second year of the en- 

 terprise, and so far the net profits have been over 

 j^lO per acre each year, for every acre under cultiva- 

 tion. Go thou and do likewise, and there is plenty 

 of room here to do it in. 



The above we clip from the editorial col- 

 umns of the Fargo (Dakota) Tunis, of August 

 '2.5th, 1877. We reproduce it in the columns 

 of the Fartner, more to give our readers a 

 knowledge of what is transpiring in the great 

 wheat p-owing interests of the country, and 

 as an illustration of personal enterprise, than 

 as a recommendation to "fJo thou and do 

 likewise ;" for we cannot see that immense 

 farms, in the possession of a few men, are 

 more conducive to the public welfare in the 

 long run, than immense monopolies in other 

 tilings. AVe believe it would be better for the 

 country at large, better for the farming inter- 

 ests, better for the himdrcds and thou-sauds 

 who are now out of employment, and better 



for till! moral and materitd developent of so- 

 ciety, if tho 5:!, DDIJ acres of land which Mr. 

 Daliymple and less than half a dozen others 

 own itv control, were divided into about four 

 hundred farms, than to be amassed into one 

 single concern. The ambition to (lossess the 

 largest farm in the Union, and to rai.se tho 

 kuge.st crop of wheat, merely for the eclat 

 which attaches to sucli achievements, or for 

 the wealth which it ]iuts into the pockets of its 

 possessors, is not calculated to engender that 

 contentment, or inculcate Ibtit republican 

 simplicity, which are so essential to the hap- 

 liiness and the welfare of a free country, al- 

 though we are fat from attaching anything to 

 it that savors of civil or social criminality. 



STATE FAIR. 

 Our patrons will not forget lliat Pennsyl- 

 vania's annual agricultural exhibition will be 

 held at Erie, commencing on Monday, Sep- 

 tember the 24th, and continuing to Friday 

 the 2Sth. Although, from the proceedings 

 of our local society, it will be iierceived that 

 it Wiis deemed inexpedient to liold a county 

 exhibition the present season, on account of 

 the poor .show of fruit, which is usually the 

 chief attraction, still, some of our famiera 

 and manufacturers may be able to mtike a 

 creditable display at tlie State fair. To those 

 therefore, to whom distance is not an insur- 

 mountable objection, the event at Erie may 

 afford an opportunity to advertise them.selves 

 iiiid their productions in a useful way, and 

 we call the attention of such to the subject. 



OUR LOCAL ORGANIZATION AND 

 OURSELF. 



By referring to the proceedings of the Sep- 

 tember meeting of the "Lancaster County 

 Agricultural and Horticultural Society," it 

 will be perceived that we have been the sub- 

 ject of ii handsome testimonitd, in the form 

 of a gold-he;uled ebony cane. Whether we 

 merited such a token of the Society's kind- 

 ness or not, is not within our province to dis- 

 cuss. Acting in perfect freedom in the mat- 

 ter, we must presume that the .society itself is 

 the most competent party to determine that 

 point. It is sullicient for us to know that the 

 act was entirely spontaneous on its part, and 

 that our acceptance of the gift was as disin- 

 terested as it was unexpected. What we 

 desire to record here, is a more grateful ap- 

 preciation of the gift than oiu' feelings would 

 Iiermit ns to express at the moment the event 

 transpired ; and our thankfulness for this re- 

 cognition of our feeble efforts to advance the 

 interests of agriculture, as well as the mental 

 and material welfare of those who are en- 

 gaged in an occuiKition, upon the success of 

 which iire bti.si'd the foundations of civil soci- 

 ety. Under any circumstances, this manifes- 

 tation of personal esteem ought to constitute 

 a social landmark in the wilderness of our 

 days, to which we can always return witli 

 sentiments of grateful remembrance. 



Viewed from a conespondential standpoint, 

 this act of the generous donors is of a deeper 

 significance than they may have apprehended, 

 although not more so than they may have in- 

 tended. 



A cane, or staff, in proportion to its strengtli 

 and gracefidness, signifies those powers of our 

 spiritual and and liioral natures which have 

 their origin in goodness and truthfulness. 



The socket, or base, is iron, (or steel) which 

 is a symbol of natural or rational truth, in its 

 most obvious sense — the natural light of man 

 — or that natural degree of knowledge wliich 

 illnniinatcs his niiinl in natural things alone. 



The shaft is ihimy, which signifies a diviner 

 form of truth, in its outward expression — 

 truth, as it Hows into, and gives quality to, 

 ext«rnal actions. 



The head is fjohl, which, according to the 

 subjects with which it is conncct<?d, has vari- 

 ous symbolical meanings, or correspondential 

 significations. In its common and mo.st ob- 

 vious moraf sense, it represents the goodness 

 of that love which comes from God; and its 

 spiritual and celestial significance are indicat- 

 ed fty the fineness of its quality. 



