THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



SPECIAL PREMIUMS FOR 1878. 



Club Rates— No. i. 



To auy one, within ttie county of Lancas- 

 ter, sending us a club of Jive new .subscribers, 

 accompanied hy four dollars, we will send fve 

 copes of TnE Farmer, to any address, for 

 one year, from the first of Januaiy next, and 

 two copies of "Jenkins' Art of Propagation," 

 a beautiful octavo of .32 pages, and 25 fine 

 embellishments, which sells readily at .50 cents 

 per copy. To any one out of the county, for 

 five dollars, f.ve copies and too books. 

 No. 2. 



For Six subscribers, accompanied hyfiL-e dol- 

 lars, we will send six co])ies of The Farmer, 

 as above, and one copy of the "Life of 

 Charles Dickens," by Mrs. Ilanaford, or 

 "Driven to Sea," liy Mrs. Coupples, or "The 

 Presidents and their Administrations," or 

 "The Declaration of Independence." These 

 are royal 12 mo. volumes of about 400 pages, 

 handsomely illustrated, and sell for $1.50. 

 No. 3, 



For ten subscribers, and ten dollars, ten 

 copies, as above, and one box of "Kunklc's 

 Celebrated Perfumes. " These boxes contain 

 six bottles of perfume, the regular retail price 

 of which is one dollar per bottle, or "The 

 Century of Independence," price $2.50— very 

 desirable premiums for local lady canvassers. 

 No. 4. 



For ffteen subscribers, and fifteen dollars, 

 we will send sixteen copies of The Farmer 

 and a SIO.OO order on Peter Henderson, good 

 for twenty-faicr choice flowering green-house 

 plants, twenty packages of flower seeds, and 

 twenty packages of vegetable seeds. Peter Hen- 

 derson is known all over tlie Union, and there- 

 fore nothing need be said about the quality of 

 his goods. 



No. 5. 



For twenty subscribers, and eighteen dollars, 

 ttoenty copies of The Farmer, and one copy 

 of "Science in Story," consisting of a series 

 of five illustratfed square 12 mo. volumes of 

 2.32 pages each (1160 pages). Please see onr 

 literary columns for a more full description of 

 this desirable series. 



No. 6. 



For twenty-five subscribers, and tweniy-fo^tr 

 dollars, tv;enty-five copies of The Farmer 

 and one of "Peck's Celebrated Atomizers," 

 worth SIO.OO at least. This is the best ma- 

 chine ever invented for throwing liquid solu- 

 tions and decoctions on insect-infested plants. 

 For an illustrated description of this machine 

 see the May (1876) number of The Farmer, 

 page 69. 



To clubs made up beyond the borders of 

 Lancaster county the cash amount required 

 will be greater, proportioned to the difl'erence 

 in published terms, as to home and foreign 

 subscriptions. Our canvassers can make these 

 calculations upon the basis of our first propo- 

 sition. 



We are making arrangements for additional 

 inducements to subscribers, which, if accom- 

 plished, will be announced in our February 

 number. We also intend to increase our 

 number of desirable illustrations for 1878, and 

 add other embellishments, as fast as our 

 means will allow, and we respectfully ask the 

 public to help us make The Lancaster 

 Farjler a credit to tlie "great county," and 

 the people among whom it is located. Our 

 tenth volume should be the crowning volume 

 of the series — so we desire. 



ABOUT MOSQUITOES. 



The most abundant, and therefore the most 

 common species of the mosquito in this lati- 

 tude, is the "Culex pipiens," or "piping mos- 

 quito," from the peculiar piping sound it 

 makes when it is intent on giving its victim a 

 jab in the dark. The cause of these pests 

 making their appearance on the 20th of De- 

 cember last, was in consequence of the high 

 state of the temperature. We noticed bees 

 on the wing the same day. Last winter we 

 noticed a swarm of bees out on the wing, and 

 very active in the month of February. Per- 



haps there is no class of animals that presents 

 a greater variety in its developmental condi- 

 tions than that of insects. Some produce one 

 brood in three, four or five years ; some one, 

 two, or three broods -within one year, or a 

 summer season ; others again, continue to 

 produce one brood after another as long as 

 the favorable temperature of the weather 

 permits them ; and this is especially the case 

 with many species belonging to the order 

 "Diptera," which includes all the two-winged 

 flies, and to which the mosquito belongs. 

 Progressive development depends upon cer- 

 tain surrounding conditions, among which 

 are heat, moisture and aliment, accordingly 

 as the insect, for the time being, may be in 

 its oval, its larval, its pupal or its mature 

 state. Through the first three states all in- 

 sects must successively pass before the last, or 

 adult state can possibly be developed. The 

 incubation of the egg requires a certain tem- 

 perature, and as loug as it continues below 

 the incubating degree, the eggs will be in a 

 State of functional suspension for weeks and 

 months together, and perhaps would continue 

 so for years, unless they were subjected to such 

 violent conditions as would destroy their 

 vitality altogether. 



About one year ago nine carloads of silk- 

 worms' eggs arrived at San Francisco from 

 China and Japan, from whence they were 

 shipped "across the Continent" to New York 

 city, and from thence to different European 

 ports, where silk-growing is made a specialty. 

 AVith these eggs the incubating temperature 

 was prevented by the introduction of ice, and 

 so long as the temperature could have been 

 kept below that point, these eggs might have 

 been transported several times around the 

 globe without their hatching. The same law 

 governs the eggs of mosquitoes, except that 

 they will hatch at a lower temperature than 

 the eggs of the silkworm moth. There they 

 all are, endowed with a vitality that is ready 

 for further development as soon as the normal 

 conditions supervene. And after the young 

 larva; are excluded from the eggs, the case is 

 the same. If surrounded by their special 

 aliQient, they begin to feed, and if tins is 

 not accessible, of course they all must perish. 

 But if the temperature becomes too low, their 

 further development is arrested, and their 

 functions are suspended ; but their develop- 

 ment is resumed as soon as the necessary 

 degree of heat is restored, no matter what 

 the season of the year is. And after the 

 larvse are transformed to the pupa state, they 

 are governed by the same laws ; and this is 

 especially the case with the mosquitoes and 

 the house-flies. We have seen the mature 

 mosquito developed every month in tlie year. 

 They and the "Perlidis" (shad-flies) require 

 less heat for their development than perhaps 

 any other families tliat belong to the Dipterous 

 order. As soon as a few warm days in suc- 

 cession supervene, whether in the months of 

 December, January, February or March, the 

 mosquito and the housefly will evolve from 

 their pupal condition and come forth in tlieir 

 perfect winged state, and will be ready to ap- 

 propriate their accustomed aliment, whether 

 it be to lap up "inconsiderable trifles," or to 

 pierce human beings and suck their blood. 

 But, should a "cold snap" intervene, their 

 functions will become suspended and they will 

 hibernate in some convenient nook or corner, 

 until a return of their normal temperatiu-e. 



The larvfe of mosquitoes hatch, breed, and 

 feed in stagnant pools of water, whether in a 

 swamp, a pond, a marsh, a sluggish stream, a 

 tank, a tub, or a rain stand. But they are 

 always more abundant, develop more rapidly, 

 and live a shorter period during summer than 

 they do during winter. Those that come 

 forth during the winter, in the winged state, 

 are usually the retarded individuals >of the 

 preceding autumn. The larvte of house-flies 

 hatch, breed, and feed in cesspools, or in auy 

 moist and decomposing and filthy animal or 

 vegetable matter, and their sanitary effect, in 

 the decomposition and removal of filthy gar- 

 bage is incalculable. The larvfc of mosqui- 

 toes purify ponds, pools and marshes, that 



otherwise might create miasmatic diseases. 

 After flies and mosquitoes have passed the 

 nuptial season, and have deposited their eggs, 

 their life-lease is usually very limited ; but if 

 those periods are from any cause interrupted 

 or retarded, their lives may be greatly pro- 

 longed. This accounts for the appearance 

 and disappearance of house-flies and mosqui- 

 toes during winter. It is a mistake to sup- 

 pose tliat that these flies breed in the houses 

 they occupy. A house that furnishes a nidus 

 for the development of these flies, would re- 

 quire to be an exceedingly filthy house — too 

 filthy for any human being to live in. The 

 ooze of baru-yards, pig-sties and slaughter- 

 houses are prolific places for flies to breed in, 

 but musquitoes must have stagnant water. 

 This does not militate against the fact that a 

 few flies also liibcruate during the winter 

 season. Nor against the fact that those in- 

 sects which produce only one brood during 

 the year, will not be changed in their develop- 

 mental conditions by either heat or cold, 

 but will abide their appointed times and sea- 

 sons. 



"ONLY A FARMER. 



This is about equivalent to Only a Shoe- 

 maker, or Only a Blacksmith, or any other oc- 

 cupation by which an honest living may be 

 obtained. Now, this ought not to wound the 

 feelings of either farmer, shoemaker or 

 blacksmith, or any body else who labors for 

 a living ; and it iimdd not, if they were all 

 endowed with "sound discretion," or common 

 intelligence. They might find occasion for 

 pity, or even for contempt, but there is no oc- 

 casion to feel wounded by such "codfishy" 

 sentiments. 



"Did these foolish people ever read their 

 Bibles, they would find that God himself had 

 i-elected his prophets and kmgs from among 

 farmers. Noah was a husbandman, and 

 planted a vineyard ; Abraham was rich in 

 cattle, and Lot had flocks and herds— inso- 

 much that there was not pasture enough for 

 both, and they divided the country. Lot se- 

 lected the plain of Jordan, and Abraham 

 took the hilly country of Canaan. ^ 



Jacob was a great cattle-grower, as he pre ■> 

 seuted Esau with several hundred cattle. 

 Moses was a wool-grower, and Gideon was 

 taken from his threshing floor. Saul was a 

 herdsman, even while he was king. David 

 was a shepherd, and was from that occupa- 

 tion to be king of Israel, and the ancestor, ac- 

 cording to the flesh, of tli'e Messiah. Uzziah 

 was a'' cattle-grower. Elisha was plowing, 

 with twelve yoke of oxen before him, when 

 Elijah cast his mantle on him and called him 

 to be a prophet of the Most High. And yet, 

 though God has honored the husbandman- 

 selected his kings and prophets from among 

 farmers— there are those so foolish as to cry 

 ou^'Oh, he's nothing but a farmer !' "—Farm 

 ana Shop. 



THE HORNED OWL. 



The following correspondence explains it- 

 self : • „ „, ^„^„ 



QUABRTVILLE, Dec. 24, 187(. 

 Mr. Rathvon— Si)'.— I send you this morning 

 by express a large owl that was cauffht in my poul- 

 try yard, and, as it is a tine lonkins; fellow, I thought 

 you could make somethinij- of it ; and if not, please 

 hand it over to somebody that can. They are rather 

 scarce in this neighborhood. I have not seen one for 

 several years. Please answer in the Intelligencer, 

 srivino- se.t and species, and oblige yours as ever, 

 - ° i- ' r.C.Edwabds. 



Tlianks to our considerate friend Edwards 

 for his magnificent Christmas gift, although it 

 is only an owl. He does not send us many 

 things, but what he does send go very far to- 

 wards distinguishing Quarryville, for they are 

 always the handsomest and rarest of then- 

 kind. Your bird is the "Great Horned Owl," 

 [Baho viri/inianus) and a male specimen. They 

 have a large geographical range, but are be- 

 coming rare in tliis locality, which they usu- 

 ally only visit in the winter season. This 

 species feeds on partridges, rabbits, rats, 

 field-mice, pigeons, chickens, reptiles, the 

 larger beetles and moths, and whatsoever 



