1877.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



157 



tend to kill off the horn worm with which the second 

 growth Is apt to be Infested. 



Mr. Frantz said he thought it would. He had 

 already plowed down fourteen acres of tobacco stalks 

 and seeded the ground in rye, wlilch he would again 

 plow down next spring. Nearly all the rest of liie 

 tobacco land he had already plowed down. 

 Business for next Meeting. 



The following questions were proposed : 



"What proportion or per cent, of a farm can be 

 planted with tobacco and keep the farm in good con- 

 dition of fertility !" Referred to President Kendig. 



"Into how many grades should tobacco be stripped 

 to make it most marketable?" For general discus- 

 sion. 



Subscription to Newspapers. 



On motion the society renewed its subscription to 

 the U, a. Tobacco Journal and the Tuftacco Leaf. 

 Thanks to Brother Kurtz. 



On motion a vote of thanks was tendered to Henry 

 Kurtz, of Mount Joy, for the beautiful si)ccinienR of 

 leaf tobacco exhibited by him before the society. 



On motion, adjourned. 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' SOCIETY. 



[Although the Bee-Keepers' Society has thirty- 

 eight names on the roll, no more than six were pres- 

 ent at the meeting. We are unable to account for 

 this. Th« study of the busy workers is certainly as 

 interesting as that of tobacco-growing or curing, yet 

 scores of members attend the latter while not more 

 than a corjioral's guard can be got together at the 

 former. The subject is certainly not beneath their 

 notice, for it requires a far higher degree of intclll 

 gence to understand the nature and process of bee 

 culture than to grow ten acres of "the curse," as our 

 friend H. M. Engle once called the narcotic weed. 

 Perhaps the matter may be explained by the fact 

 that there is not quite so much money in bees as in 

 tobacco, and that we suspect is the true secret of the 

 slim attendance at the meeting. We hope when the 

 society next meets that some of the old time interest 

 may be shown in the proceedings by there being a 

 better attendance of the members. — Kep.] 



The semi-annual meeting ot the Lancaster County 

 Bee-Keeper's Society met in the Athenieum rooms at 

 2 o'clock Monday afternoon, October 8. 



The following members were present : E. Hershey, 

 W. B. Detweiler, J. F. Hershey, H. H. Myers, P. S. 

 Relst, I. G. Martin. 



The meeting was called to order by the president, 

 Peter S. Relst. 



The minutes ol the previous meeting in May were 

 read by the secretary, H. H. Myers, and, on motion, 

 approved and adopted. 



Reports on the success of bee keepers during the 

 season were then called for. 



J. F. Hbksbey said his bees did well during the 

 spring. They did not come out of the winter strong, 

 but he made some sixteen artitieial swarms, aud "ot 

 about Ave hundred pounds of honey. If the swarms 

 had been stronger in the spring, he would have got 

 one thousand or lifteeu hundred pounds of honey. 

 When they did get strong, the honey season was over. 



Elias Hershev stated that his bees were strong In 

 the spring. They swarmed freely, but the season was 

 too dry to make much honey. He tried the comb 

 foundation, and thinks it is a success. The combs 

 will be Blled in about half the usual time when the 

 foundation is used. 



W. B. Detweiler said he wintered eighty hives, 

 but was quite unfortunate. About twenty-five died, 

 and he was also badly troubled with the miller moth. 

 He oidy got about two hundred pounds of honey. He 

 has about seventy-five swarms now. He also thinks 

 the patent foundation good. 



Isaac G. Martin reported that his hives were 

 weak In the spring; he had eight, and now has fifteen, 

 all by natural swarming but one, which he raised by 

 artificial swarming. They made about eighty pounds 

 of comb honey and two hundred and forty pounds of 

 extracted honey. The bees still have about twenty- 

 five pounds per swarm to winter on. He has pre- 

 pared his hives for winter ; he did so by making 

 Imxes larger than the regular hive, then placed the 

 hives in the outside boxes, filling the space between 

 the two with chair. This will keep them warm and 

 dry. He has been quite successful with this plan. 



P. S. Reist said he lost about 20 per cent, last 

 spring; his hives were not very strong then but they 

 are now; he got about three hundred pounds of honey 

 from his forty hives. They have ample provision for 

 the winter. Perhaps he could take still more from 

 them and still leave them enough to winter on. 



H. H. Myers wintered eleven colonies, but lost 

 three, and now has fourteen. He is trying to winter 

 a queen in a small colony. Some of his hives have 

 too much honey he thinks ; he got eighty pounds 

 from one colony, aud that one swarmed. He will 

 pack hla hives away in outside boxes and chaff. The 

 bees are in good condition for winter. 



W. B. Detweiler thinks if the bee-keepers are not 

 careful they will lose many swarms by this method 

 of wintering. He wintered fifty swarins oii(* year in 

 that way ; for a while they did well, but at last it got 

 loo warm ; they began to sweat aud the hives began 



to mould. If kept too warm they will leave their 

 hives. Corn husks were better than wheat chaff; 

 they admitted more air and there was better ventila- 

 tion. 



n. H. Myers said that one hive packed in chaff 

 last year, was his boss hive this spring; they did 

 very well; they remained In the hive more closely 

 than the rest; he made arraugemcnts for ventilation 

 and there was no sweating. 



Mr. Detweiler said compound hives are far better 

 than the common ones. He thinks it Is a great risk 

 to winter hives In this way. 



P. S. Heist said the nearer bees are kept to their 

 methods while in a state of nature, the more suc- 

 cessful the exiM-Wment will be. 



H. H. Myers remarked that small swarms some- 

 times do best as honey gatherers. His largest swarm** 

 sometimes do the poorest . 



Elias Hershey said much dci>ends on the queen ; 

 sometimes she Is not very prolific and the swarm 

 does no irood. He winters his bees on the summer 

 stand. He has tried the packing method, but not 

 with much success. He believes in building bee 

 bouses; less honey is consumed — enough is saved In 

 fact to pay for making the bee house. He described 

 Ills underground bee liouse at some length. 



W. B. Detweiler said that even if hives have 

 young, fertile (luecns In the spring, all will not lie the 

 same ill the fall ; some will be stronger than others ; 

 if the queen is prolific the swarm will grow strong, 

 but not otherwise. 



Elias Hersiiet did not think it all dci>ended on 

 the queen. Some bees were better honey gatherers 

 than others. 



J. F. Hershey raised queens from good workers, 

 and found it to answer well. 



H. H. Myers tried an experiment of feeding a 

 swarm with a young queen, all they would eat, and 

 the result was very satisfactory. "The queen proved 

 very prolific aud the swarm strong. 



J. F. IlERSnEY thought queens should always be 

 raised from old queens. 1 le tried to raise from young 

 queens for a series of years and the bees gradually 

 deteriorated — got smaller and weaker. 



H. H. Myers thought the drones are sometimes 

 inferior aud deteriorated ; may not be the failure in 

 the queen by attributed to these weak ilrones? 



P. 8. Reist said one of his colonies swarmed three 

 times and all are doing well. He did not think there 

 are by twenty-five per cent, so many bees in the 

 United States to-day as four years ago. 



H. H. Myers said the patent hive men are to blame 

 for the decrease of bees ; they tell you they can winter 

 bees on a quart or two of honey in their iiives and In 

 this way kill them ofi'. 



J. F. Hershev said if fed on honey they do better 

 th.an when on sugar. 



Elias Hershey fed some on cheap sugar for a 

 while last year and then on good white sugar, and 

 they did very well. He tlilnkstoo much stress Is laid 

 on feeding honey. 



The question "What is the cause of dysentery In 

 bees," was put by Elias Hershey and replied to by J. 

 F. Hershey, who said that young swarms are more 

 likely to take it than old ones. 



J. F. Hershey said he fed sugar to bees for three 

 months at a time, and none were attacked by 

 dysentery. 



There being no no further business, the society ad- 

 journed until the second Monday in May, 1878. 



I. G. Martin had on exhibition the patent comb 

 foundations, and also such foundation twenty-four 

 hours after it had been placed In the hive in a mova- 

 ble frame. During that brief period at least one- 

 quarter of an inch had been added to the patent 

 foundation on both sides. Their use saves both time 

 and material, and gives the bees a longer period to 

 gather honey. It is stated that as much as twenty- 

 five pounds per hive additional can be jiroduccd in 

 this way. It is certainly worthy of the attention of 

 bee-keepers everywhere. 



THE LINNiEAN SOCIETY. 



A stated meeting of the Linniean society was held 

 on Saturday, September 29, President J. S. Stahr in 

 the chair; ten members present. After the minutes 

 of the previous meeting and monthly dues were at- 

 tended to, the 



Donations to the Museum 

 were examined . Seven bottles, marked from A to 

 H, and one No. 40, containing insects, larv.'v, fruit, 

 fuugoids, etc., collected by or sent to Prof. S. S. 

 Rath von. 



A number of minerals and fossils were donated by 

 Rev. C. L. Houpt, from caves in the vicinity of Sink- 

 ing creek, Giles county, Virginia, per Rev. G. H. 

 Trabcrt, such as crystalline and stalactitic forma- 

 tions of carbonate of lime, red oxide of iron, black 

 oxide of manganese. Fossils of the cretaceous period 

 — Rhynchoneilidae, Lingulidfe, Ji:c. Mr. Houpt also 

 bad for inspection a series of very fine copies of med- 

 als of a number of the Popes, from the year 1.566 to 

 18+6; of Luther and other medals struck In commem- 

 oration of events and actors. Prof. Dubbs, Revs. 

 Geissinger, Houpt and Stahr added desirable histori- 

 cal information in relation to the same. Rev. D. H. 

 Geissinger donated various combinations of copper 



ore, such as sulphurel, blue and green carbonate 

 dentlfric and elllorescent — if not misunderstood — 

 from Swatara Gap, Letianon county— unless that re- 

 ferred to the residence of Rev. C. H. Trabert. Rev. 

 .7. S. Stahr had a pressed speelnnn of the .Su(<m«m 

 roslrirtiim, found last August by I'rof. J. W. Andrews, 

 of Colerain, Lancaster county, on the farm of Mr. 

 Albert Worth, In the southeast iiartofsald township. 

 A plant that, like the A', hcleroilo/um, which two, Ur. 

 (iray says (in his late School and Field B<x)k of 

 Botany) grow wild west of the Mississippi ; this also 

 grows In Kansas and Colorado, and Is said to be the 

 original food of the potato beetle. The plant Is a 

 weed, perhaps not so bad as the "horse nettle," Sola- 

 nnm CaruHncntr, which Is in the county, but just as 

 prl«'kly. We fancy, if Introduced, the dory|}hora-\^^- 

 tiiuala, of Say, or Colorado "jmtato-bng," would 

 hardly leave the Solannin luficroxa, or "[Xitato vine," 

 for the stranger weed, which Is not wanted, although 

 curious as to how It came to Colerain. .Mr. W. T. 

 Bolton l:ad a vine with a bean [kkI on It, sup|X)seiI to 

 be a qlicine; true. It was the ylicine apioil of LInnutus, 

 now known as Apiot lithcrona. It seemsthat heover- 

 lookeil the string of tuliers on the root. These are 

 like small jiotatoes, and wIicmi sliced and roasted on 

 a hot stove taste like ixitatoes, being eyldeiitly rich 

 In starch, as the writer has tested. Why has no one 

 yet tried to cultivate these tubers S Simply because 

 the mere botanist pays no attention, and others who 

 would do so are Ignorant of the plant. Mrs. Zell also 

 had on exhibition a well developed leaf of the side- 

 saddle plant, hunter'scup orpiteher — the Narracennia 

 purpurea — with which species the leaf corresitonds. 

 It gets purjile flowers; the S. Jtaiui, yellow llowers. 

 This leaf was from ])lants raised by Dr. Davis, on 

 Prince street, this city, he having prepared a jKiiid to 

 cultivate them in his yard'. The proper pitcher plant 

 is quite ditfcreiit, the Xc/'enthis diKlillaloria ; but no 

 more curious or interesting. The Sarrnrt-nnia pur- 

 purea Is found in a very few localities in our county, 

 and is quite rare. 



Two ciiplcB of The Lancaster Farmer, and 

 sundry book notices and printed circulars, all that 

 refers to the library. 



Papers Read. 



Rev. J. S. Stahr on the Solanum ronlralum. J. 

 Stauffer illustrated a strange growth in a certain 

 peach tree, brought tohlni by .Mr. Rathvon,who gave 

 an account of It in his pajier. No. H72. A miscellane- 

 ous record of all the articlesdeiiositcu this day under 

 subject matter A : Atayi/daluH Ipersica, he says, an 

 ordinary |ieacli tree on the premises of Mrs. Miller, 

 Reading, Pa., a branch of which with both kinds 

 of fruit upon it was given to .Mr. Kathvon by Mr. 

 Bruce of this city. This tree blooms in sjiring like 

 others, but develops two distinct kinds of fruit op- 

 posite each other on the same branchlet, as was the 

 case in the sample ; the one au ordinarily full grown 

 peach, fiesh aud flavor fine, stone deeply pitted — the 

 other a diminutive peach, no larger than a plum, gels 

 ripe and mellow, but lacks in flavor. The stone Is 

 equally small, flattish, nearly smooth, and said to be 

 abortive. What produces the annual difierences of 

 the fruit is a question we cannot now discuss, but 

 simply record the fact. 



Subject B describesa singular puff-ball, like fungus, 

 from Mr. J. C. .Maule, of Quarry vllle, in this county, 

 found growing In an lee bouse. Mr. Ralhvon, to 

 avail himself of thenumeroiis illustrations In London, 

 and those collected and figured by .Mr. Stauffer, falleil 

 to find any thing of the kind, when It was advised to 

 forward the same to Dr. Farlow,the distinguished 

 Fungiologi.st of Boston, Mass. 



Mr. Stauffer illustrated this fungus, and on a close 

 inspection of the interior arrangement, when cut lu 

 two, found It more in appearance like that of a fruit 

 with a central placentie, surrounded by seeds, and 

 fleshy walls surrounding them, and having a jelly- 

 like substance between the walls. He suggested the 

 Idea that he might be an undeveloped Phallus. Mr. 

 H. L. Zahm found one In his garden, this city, Octo- 

 ber 6, 1876, which had a basal socket of a round 

 form, with a jelly-like substance, and a singular 

 stripe, with a head and gauze-Ukc veil cover. A 

 figure of this was sent to Dr. Farlow, who named It 

 PhaUus incleefialus. We hope to hear from Mr. 

 Farlow. Our suggestion may be at fault, aud yet 

 many things thought species or even placeil In a dif- 

 ferent genus, on subsequent research were found 

 simply the young of quite another creature— changed 

 as a "tad-pole does to a frog." Bot. C, dcscrlbeii 

 Lepidopterous Larva*. D, Jlouibus Ainericaua. E, 

 different insects on the wing in the evening, captured 

 in his study. F, on a (Jordiun, of a wliitc color, 

 "hair-snake," taken from a head of cabbage — from 

 Mr. I. L. Landls. G,on the pupa of JJanias Archip- 

 pea, from Prof. Baker, of Mlllersvlllc. H, on cattle 

 ticks collected and described. Bot. No. 40, Sunday 

 Spiders with notes on them under new business. 



Rev. .las. Y. Mitchell, pastor of the Presbyterian 

 church was nominated and unanimously elected an 

 active member of this society. 



The committee ap|X)iuted at the last meeting re- 

 ported and recommended that.a semi-monthly meet- 

 ing should be held, say at 7;^ o'clock on the second 

 Friday evening of each mouth, to enable some of the 

 members to meet whose business occupy their atten- 

 tion on Saturday afternoon and prevents their at- 



