The Lancaster Farmer. 



Prof. S. S, EATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., JANUARY, 1878. 



Vol. K. No. 1. 



OUR TENTH VOLUME. 



With tlic initiation ot llie Xcw Year we 

 entfi- uiiDH the tcntli voUinie o£ The Lan- 

 CASTKK FAiiMEii, iuitl in doing so, \vc con- 

 fess that we aiu inlliuncL'd by some of tiial 

 confklcnw^ whicli so nnivcr.'iaily attarhos to 

 the signilicancu and iiotcncy of the numbur 

 10. Ten times 10 make one hundred, and ten 

 liu'ndi-eds make a thousand ; a nunicrical 

 result that never could occur in the absence 

 of the lir.st 10. 



2Vh just and Godfearinn; men, wo are ad- 

 monished, might have saved even Sodom 

 and Gomorrah— miglit have vouchsaled to 

 these ancient cities -not witlistanding tlieir 

 iniquities— a lime-lease that might have con- 

 tinued their prosperity down to the present 

 day. If wo are unable to prove this, we 

 might reply that the converse is just as dilfi- 

 cnlt to prove. But the ten just men could not 

 be found within their walls, and tlierelbre 

 those "doomed cities of the plain" were con- 

 verted into smouldering ruins, and even their 

 iiiins were submerged, and their subsequent 

 geographical location became questionable, or 

 entirely obliterated. 



Is there public patronage enough in our 

 "reat county to secure to The Lancaster 

 Farmer tlic syndwlic 10 V Will the repre- 

 sentative ten men be foiuid within its limits 

 who will vouchsafe its salvation fVom the 

 fate of Sodom and of Gomorrah ? A\'e trust 

 they will— we htjJkvc they will— and this boon 

 secured. The Farrier 'may be raised upon a 

 wave of prosperity that will carry it over tlie 

 "la-Ciikers" of adversity, and eventually land 

 it on a friendly shore in triumph. There is a 

 wonderful power in the human will; and all 

 we need is the irill to enable us to find the 

 imi/. Even nund.iers are also believed to be 

 om'inous of good, and therefore we look' to 

 1878 as the harbinger of a returning prosperi- 

 ty to our country— its commercial, agricul- 

 tural and manufacturing interests ; and 

 through these to a corresponding support of 

 its moral and literary institutions and enter- 

 prises. With these" hopes we launch our 

 bark again upon Uie sea of the unknown 

 future for another yearly voyage. Our tenth 

 voyage ought to "be crowned with success ; 

 and if it isliol successful, it will not be be- 

 cause we lucked fnith in the significance of 

 numbers, or failed to ultimate that faith in 

 ■works. But without God, and the people as 

 vox Dei, or the voice of God, "we can do 

 nothing." We therefore lean upon the sus- 

 taining support of the people, and exhort the 

 people— and especially those among them who 

 compose the farming peoiile- to vouchsafe 

 their pecuniary, their intellectual, and their 

 moral support. We admonish them that 

 nothing can more iirndy est-ablish their indi- 

 viduality, their personal identity, and their 

 local reputation, than the sustaining of a 

 representative journal among them. To do 

 this successlully, tlie personal resiionsibility 

 is so small, that they nught be jnstilied in 

 wishing it were greater. A fraction over 

 iiiixe cents n month— the price of a good cigar 

 — and the postasie paid. 



Nothing exemplifies more fully and more 

 forcibly the prosperity of a community, than 

 the reasonable success of its local 'and le^iti- 

 male enterprises ; and nothing can contribute 

 more to its independence and self-reliance. 

 We are not the advocates of a mawkish ex- 

 clusiveness, but in the sequence of tlun^s and 

 events, there are tliose that are posdrui/-, and 

 those that are anterior, as well as llio.sn that 

 are intermcHnt''. There are thiuiis of a pri- 

 mary consideration, and other things of only 

 a secmdary relation to them. Local interests 

 cannot be neglected or ignored, without pro- 

 ducing local "disadvantage or distress. It is 



true, that there are those who depend more 

 upon a foreign market tliaTi upon a home mar- 

 ket, and th se wdl be correspondingly inter- 

 ested in foriign journals. Hut this is one of 

 those things "which ought to be done, and 

 not leaving the other undone." Besides, 

 foreign journals that cover most effectually 

 the whole joiu-nalistic ground, arc largely made 

 up by selections from local journals, and with- 

 out local journals and local correspondents 

 and contributors, they would furnish but a 

 meagre supi>ly to local patrons and readers. 

 No matter with what ability a foreign journal 

 may be conducted, or with what excellence 

 its cohanns may be tilled, if its contents can- 

 not be locally applied, it can only he of a 

 "imited "use to its patrons. It is like 



very 



plants which bear beautiful leaves and (lowers 

 that are never ultimated in useful fruit. It is 

 not so much upon what we knoro, as upon 

 vvliat we are able to bring down into practical 

 uxe, that the success of all our energies and 

 our enterprises depends. We desire to make 

 our loth volume far superior to any that has 

 preceded it ; for, even if we should not go 

 backwards, we are not content to stand still, 

 but desire to go forward. Even if we shoujd 

 be contented with what we have, we are far 

 from being contented with what we are; for 

 such a mental or moral condition shuts the 

 door of both physical and intellectual progress. 

 We aim to develop the physical resources and 

 moral character of our "garden of the Key- 

 stone State," but we also aim to be developed 

 with it, in order that our mental garment 

 may be ample enough to be worn with coin- 

 fort. If our journal is only a "straight 

 jacket," we desire to increa.se it to the ample 

 folds of a "cloak of royalty." We desire to 

 realize that 



"No pi'iit up Utica contracts our powers, 

 Tlic whole unbounded contineut is ours." 

 Whether we ever shall be able to reach this 

 goal will depend on circumstances ; but 

 whather we shall or not, we deem it no crime 

 to entertain or indulge such an ambition, and 

 are not resi)onsihle for that which is impossi- 

 ble. Whether The Lancaster Farmer 

 will be permitted to develop the uses it desires 

 to develop, and that a progressive people need 

 to have developed, for "ten, ten, double ten, 

 forty-live and fifteen" years, will depend en- 

 tirely upon its financial basis during the ad- 

 vent of its first ten. The farming interests 

 of ourtrreat county are becoming such that it 

 cannot socially and morally well afford to do 

 without its local representative journal, and 

 this would become legretfully apparent if its 

 present publication should happen to be dis- 

 continued. Hence we appeal to our patrons, 

 and the friends of agricultural progress, to 

 lend a sustaining hand through the New 

 Year. Write for it ; talk for it ; secure suli- 

 scribers for it ; and convert it into a moral 

 and social "engine of strength." Canvass 

 for it under our club and [mminm solicita- 

 tions. Let our list of subscribers constitute 

 themselves a "committee of the whole," and 

 "each man firing his other man." 



Whatever we can do through the columns 

 of The Farmei:, or otherwise, to make 1878 

 a prosjierous, a healthy anil a happy year, will 

 be cheerfully, hones'ly, and faithfully done. 

 Not forgetful of the past, we desire to ad- 

 monish them how to apjireciate and improve 

 the present, and to anticipate the future. We 

 do not desire to dictate to them what their 

 own common sense may suggest much better 

 than we can teach ; biit knmcing can accom- 

 plish nothing without doing. Even doing 

 ••little by little," if reasonably persevered in. 

 will eventually bring succes.s. That this suc- 

 cess mav b.' theirs, and through theirs, ours. 

 with a 'I](ipp!l Aeio Tear, is the sincere wish 

 of The F^uiMEK. 



DO BEES REALLY DESTROY FRUIT? 



We have already given as muih siiace, in 

 the columns of TiiE Farmer, to the discus- 

 sion of this question, as we can well afford, 

 especially at this season of the year— when its 

 practical demonstration is almost impossible 

 —and we therefore trust that tho.se wlio have 

 their minds made up, j/ro or co?i, will defer 

 an expression of their final sentiments on the 

 subject until the next b(e and J'nM season. 

 This will attract the practical attention of 

 those who have not made any observations 

 on the subject, or who may not liave been iW 

 thorough in their observations as the necessi- 

 ties of the case demands. It is undoubtedly 

 a question of importance if, as it is .so earnest- 

 ly alleged by such resiiectable authority, that 

 bees are very destructive to fruit— especially 

 to the grapes— and denied by other authority 

 of equal respectability ; because the questions 

 whether the culture of bees or fruit should 

 be, or should not he, entirely adandoned, seem 

 to be inextricably involved in whatever deter- 

 miuation may be come to, as the truth of the 

 matter— or a safe and certain remedy be dis- 

 covered, whereby their culture may bo har- 

 monized. We do not thiid< that a single iso- 

 lated observation, or even a series of observa- 

 tions ma<le in a siugk; isolated locality, and 

 made without any referenbc to surrounding 

 circumstances, should he allowed to determine 

 the question either way. Nor do we think 

 that any motive of self-interest shoidd be al- 

 lowed in extenuation of the characteristics of 

 bees, any more than they should be allowed to 

 'be set down in malice.' Ourown experience ia 

 our observations of the animal word are to 

 the effect that the habits of animals have 'im- 

 dergone, and are still undergoing a change, 

 and, therefore, what may be true at one time 

 and in one place, may be very different at 

 another time, and in another place ; and that 

 bees may be as much influenced by the causes 

 that produce these elfects as other animals. 

 Although we think it possible for bees to of- 

 fend in the manner charged against them, yet 

 we confess that our sympathies are still with 

 them. 



PERSONAL. 



The proceedings of societies puhlislied in 

 The Far.mkr, are of iiermanent value — too 

 valuable indeed to be left to the vicissitudes 

 of a daily paper, all the copies of whicli, a 

 dav or two after publication, are usually de- 

 stroyed, and often could not be obtained, 

 either "for love or money." Besides, they 

 arc corrected and revised, and arc therefore 

 more reliable than those which appear in the 

 columns of the dailies. Very few people file 

 or bind their dailies or weeklies, they arc too 

 bulky for convenient handling. In other 

 States, in many parts of our own State, as 

 well as in some localities in our own county, 

 the rerd status of The Lancaster County 

 Farmer, is he.it known, and in some instances 

 onhi known, as it is reflected through the 

 proceediims of our local society, and pub- 

 lished in their local journal ; and when they 

 are quoted, they arc quoted from that source. 

 At the end of each vear we append an alpha- 

 betical index, referring to every article in the 

 whole vohnne ; our patmns, therefore, will 

 act wisely if they iireservc their numbers and 

 have them bouiHl. There is not a paper in 

 the country that is more compactly and solidly 

 made up tiian The Farmer, or of more local 

 interest. As to reporters, we cannot control 

 them. They go where they list, and report 

 what they please, or what they can. We 

 cannot, therefore, omit the proceedings of our 

 societies, l)ecanse they hai>pen to be first pub- 

 lished in other papers"; because, this would be 

 manifestly unjust to those of our readers who 

 never see any of the dailies. 



