1878.] 



THE LANCASTER PARMER. 



rot:ks wlieu, dining: warm wenlliei-, it would 

 be warnun- tliuu the air iiisiilo. aii<l would 

 pass out at the openings above with uousidera- 

 ijle force. 



As we exppoted, we found no stalactites in 

 rocks so slijjbtly solid)U' iu water. The steel 

 ore on another part of the hill iiroved to be 

 granulated quart/, colored with iron and 

 manganese. The volcanic (?) scoria, speci- 

 mens of which liLive been |)urchased by some 

 of our acfiuaintances, could not Ije found. 

 Persons who were reported as knowing its 

 whereabouts had never heard of it. Indica- 

 tions seemed to be that the volcano from 

 which it was emitted was York Furnace. 



ANSWER TO A CORRESPONDENT. 



Some days auo a correspondent m.ade the 

 followiiiij inciuiry : "Why is it that on a frosty 

 morniuj: ice is formed around the stalks of 

 Dittany (Ciniila Jfo'itoia) ; on last Thursday 

 I found it eneircliui;' every stalk that came 

 under my notice in funnel-like tbrui V" Our 

 corrcspoiident further (pieries whether this 

 can be caused by the heat of the jilant con- 

 gealing the moisture in the surrounding atmos- 

 lihere. We have gone to the trouble of inves- 

 tigating the suliject, and here give the result 

 of our research- 

 es. 



First,then,the 

 opinion o f t h e 

 ablest vegetable 

 l)hy.siologists 1 s 

 that i)lants and, 

 indeed, vegeta- 

 ble substances of 

 all kinds, gener- 

 ate no inconsid- 

 eral)le degree of 

 heat while grow- 

 ing. The atmos- 

 phere is all the 

 while absorbing 

 this caloric. E.\- 

 pe r i m e n t s by 

 able botanists 

 have clearly l)ro- 

 veu that while 

 the gro wtli of 

 vegetation is ap- 

 pare u 1 1 y s u s- 

 ])ended during 

 the winter sea- 

 son, nevertheless 

 thi.s is not the 

 case. A certain 

 amount of 

 growth is neces- 

 sary to sustain 

 the plant's vi- 

 tality >uitil the 

 approac h i n g 

 spring. While, 



therefore, they do not evolve the same amount 

 of heat during winter as in the sunmier sea- 

 son, there is still a certain portion constantly 

 thrown off during cold weather. Tn proof of 

 this fact, we need only call attention to the 

 fact that snow always melts more rapidly 

 around the stems of plants and vegetables, the 

 trunks and limbs of trees, and, in short, of all 

 vegetable substances having life, than when 

 brought into contact with any other class of 

 inorganic matter. 



Dr. Darliu;:ton, in his Flom Cestrica, in 

 speaking of the Dittany saj's ; ''In the begin- 

 ning of winter, after a r.ain, very curious rib- 

 hruiiJn of Ice may often be observed attached 

 to the base of tlie stems — prodnced, I presume, 

 by the moisture of the eartli, rising iu the 

 dead stems liy capillary attraction, and then 

 beinsi gi-.idually forced out liorizontally, 

 through a .slit, by the process of freezing." 



The Dittany is not the only plant that pre- 

 sents this curious and beautiful ]ieculiarity. 

 The Frost Wred (Ilelianthemum C'anadense) 

 also has it. and doubtless the striated ice crys- 

 tals that our cnrrespi>ndent speaks of, have 

 their origin in the cracked bark at the roots 

 or stem of the plant close to the surface of 

 the ground. 



If our correspondeut has access to a file of 



the Si-ientijic Amfriran, he will lind in No. 14, 

 bearing date of April 7, l>i77, an article by 

 the eminent naturalist Dr. Le Conte on the 

 subject, and in Xo. 8, February ■J4, 1877, of 

 the same pi'riodical, another article on the 

 same subject by ,J. Stauffer, esq., of this city, 

 who as long ago as 18.')7, in tlie FelMuary 

 number of the lli'dictdtitriHt, took tlie ground 

 we have advanced above. — Ke^c Era. 



PEDIGREE OF SHORT-HORN BULL 

 JAVELINE, 23525. 



Ked Roan, calved April SHth, 187.") ; bred 

 by W. C. Allen. Buffalo ; sold to S. .J. Whee- 

 ler, Kinnedy, \tw York ; got by Patrician, 

 12.")7I), out of Undine 1.")tli l)y Prince of Wales, 

 00(j4— Undine 7th by Duke, 470'.)— Undine 3d 

 by Snowden, 12U.'i7 — Undine by Fiery Comet, 

 .3i>.'?2 — Wilhelmina by imp. liuckingham 2d, 

 297 — Arabella 5th by Oregon, ISKU — Princess 

 by Young Norfolk, ll.'itV— Arabella 4ih by 

 Shaks|)eare. 21'.<r> — imp. Arabella by Victory, 

 ■'J.dG.^— Sally by Major, 22.j2— Old Sally by a 

 grandson of Favorite, 2.52— by Punch, 531 — 

 liy Hubback, 8IJ'.). 



This bull was sold to John 

 Dauphin county. Pa., by S. J. 



Allwine, of 

 Wheeler, of 



SHORT-HORN BULL JAVELINE, 23525, owned by Henry Kurtz, Mount Joy, Pa. 



New York, and by him to Henry Kurtz, of 

 Mount .Toy, Pa., October 20th, 1877. 



It wi'l be seen from the foregoing that the 

 above named animal has a very distinguished 

 ancestry, and therefore those of our patrons 

 who desire to breed good stock, will know 

 exactly where to go to secure that end. 

 -^ 



CLUBBING. 

 AVc ofler TnR F.vumer, clubbed with other 

 first-class publications, at the following prices : 

 Phrenological Journal and Fahmer - 8^? 00, $2..')0 

 Harper's Monthly an^VKmnTM - - - 5.00, 4 00 

 Harper's Weekly and Farmer - - . 5.00, 4.00 

 //ai/jfr'.s jSa^ni- and Fahmeu - - - . .5.00, 4.00 

 Herald of Health &wAYKYK-iiv.H - - - 2.00, 1..50 

 Xathmal TAve Stoek Jorirnal a.nAYk'R^^v. 3.00, 2..50 

 J/biiH/ Jbi/ 7/ti"a!J and Farmer - - 2.50, 1.75 



The first column indicates the regular 

 prices of the two journals respectively, and 

 the second column the club rates if the two 

 are ordered together. 



1^ Canvassers wanted for The Far.ver. 

 Send i'or circular. Liberal inducements. 



ADDRESS.* 



Gentle.mkn : In siccordancewith a custom 

 adojited by my predecessors, it Incomes my 

 duty to address vou at this, the beginning of 

 the new year. J)oublle.'w many of yon would 

 much rathi'r listen to an e.ssay on some agri- 

 cultural topic, such as many of you an; much 

 more able to compose than I, tlian to thus ad- 

 dress you at this, the lirst meeting of the j-ear 

 1878, and the twelfth since the organization of 

 the society. The year just closed has been one 

 that the agriculturist should look back to with 

 grateful remembrance. If not one of gene- 

 ral commercial ])rosperity, the cultivator of 

 the soil has certainly been blessed with remu- 

 nerative crops, considerably above the aver- 

 ago of the last ten years. The i>rices, loo, 

 realized have been sutiicient to encourage (he 

 the husbandman to pro.secute his calling with 

 renewed energy and thankfulnes.s. The many 

 evidences of prosjierity among the rural dis- 

 tricts show unmistakable signs of the ability 

 of our farmers to command the respect of all 

 unprejudiced Americans. They that possess 

 a few acres, and are able to till'it under their 

 own supervision, may be happy in the name 

 that classes them witli the progi-cssive agri- 

 culturLst, while the turbulent mercantile 



world is search- 

 ing every avenue 

 to avoid the 

 muiky Hood of 

 bankru)itcy,that 

 seems likely to 

 swallow those 

 who have been 

 extra v.agant and 



— i. improvident 



y housekeepers. I 

 am sorry to see 

 the great ambi- 

 tion of mankind 

 of the present 

 age seems to be 

 to excel each 

 oth e r in fine 

 "turnouts," as 

 if that alone 

 would establish 

 a name, r a n k 

 and title to re- 

 spectaliility.that 

 would give them 

 a posi t i o n of 

 (•([uality among 

 the so-called 

 aristocrats of 

 the day. I am 

 reminded just 

 here of the 

 words of the 

 poet Young — 

 "The man who builds and wants wherewith to pay, 

 Provides a home from which to run away." 



In looking over the past year, I cannot but 

 refer to the great loss to our society of the 

 mild, genial and ever-i>leasant countenance of 

 our late departed memlter, Levi Pownall. 

 His presence among us was always an omen 

 of interest in the proceedings ; his gentle dis- 

 position, and good, sound judgment on all 

 matters under consideration by the society, 

 could not but command the admiration of all 

 whose privilege it was to commune with him. 

 His heart being always in the right place, ho 

 ever had words of kindness to all who ap- 

 proached him, and his amiable disposition 

 and dignitied and quiet manner commanded 

 the respect of every one. 



In referring to the past year, I trust the 

 success of the thrifty husbandman will stimu- 

 late a new era in agriculture. Let there be a 

 di-spositioii among the tillers of the soil to 

 excel in the ]>roduction of crops. If one acre 

 can be made to produce over sixty bushels of 

 wheat (while the aveiage is less than twenty- 

 five), why cannot whole fields be made to yield 

 likewise "? The very best methods of cultiva- 



'Rend before the Lsnraeter Conntj- .\KriculturaI and 

 KorticiUtursl Society, by I'lesldeut C»lvin Cooper. 



