38 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ March, 



per pile, he will tie them into a hank. He 

 will bulk the filler hanks on a pile, the binders 

 on another and several sizes of wrappers on 

 another. Great care should be taken that the 

 tobacco, after being stripped, does not dry out. 

 The top of the bulk of the tobacco should be 

 covered with boards and a few hundred pounds 

 of i^ressure placed thereon to press it down. 



Under no consideration should tobacco be 

 tied up in bundles before it is sold. When so 

 tied up, it dries out rapidly, the loss .sometimes 

 being as high as 5 per cent, in a month's time, 

 and, in consequence of its loss of moisture, it 

 can not possibly cure well. 



When the tobacco has been stripped, as 

 stated, it is "prepared for market." In my 

 first communication I stated how "tobacco 

 seed may be Improved ;" in the foregoing I 

 endeavored to state briefly how to "prepare 

 tobacco for market. " Tlie subject of "grow- 

 ing tobacco," of paramount importance, is re- 

 served for another occasion. — I. W. 0. Wier- 



THE "SHORT-PALMED MOLE-CRICK- 

 ET," OR "CALIFORNIA POTATO 

 CRICKET." 

 [Stenopalniata Talpa.) 



East Oakland, Alamedo County, 

 California, February 9, 1S78. 

 Prof. S. S. Rathvon, Lancastek Citt, Pa. — 

 Dear Sir. — In your letter to the Rural Press, of No- 

 vember 3d, you requested a few specimens of the 

 sienopalmata talpa. I eend you five by mail with 

 this. The large ones are nearly as fine specimens as 

 I have seen. Presuming that you have had no oppor- 

 tunity to study their habits, perhaps a few words 

 may not prove uninteresting. They burrow from a 

 few inches to three or four feet in depth, in dry soils, 

 leaving the hole open to the surface, only coming to 

 the top for exploration, which is generally in the 

 evening or night time, and are rather slow travelers. 

 When domiciled in a hill of potatoes, they are reluc- 

 tant to change their quarters, and will sometimes 

 tunnel completely through a large potato, at other 

 times excavate them to the depth of an inch or more, 

 often destroying three or four potatoes in one hill. 

 They display the most undaunted courage in attack 

 and defense of their kind. When one has his own 

 grounds, he admits no intruding neighbor, unless 

 possessed of greater strength than himself, and will 

 defend his own to the death. Only one is ever found 

 in one hill of potatoes. I placed one of the larger 

 ones in a tinliox, with one a little smaller, and in a 

 few hours, on examination, I found only a portion of 

 the legs of the smaller one ; the large one had killed 

 and eaten his companion. I then put two of about 

 equal size and strength into a cup, and an immediate 

 battle was the result ; they attacked each other with 

 great desperation, and could only be separated by 

 using sufJicient force to nearly tear the legs from the 

 body. I have never had an opportunity to see an 

 encounter with other than their own kind. They 

 thrive best in a dry season ; sometimes by thorough ly 

 saturating the ground they will come to the surface. 

 I am under obligations to you for giving the informa- 

 tion that I could not find in any work here. — Yuurs 

 very truly, A. L. Fuller, 



[We are greatly obliged to our correspondent 

 for the five specimens of the above named 

 insect, and doubly so for his remarks on their 

 history and habits. We had received speci- 

 mens of these insects from near Sacrameuto, 

 California, at least twenty years ago, but 

 unaccompanied by a single word relating to 

 their history or habits ; but at the same time 

 we suspected that they might approximate, in 

 this respect, to the liabits of our wingless 

 "wood -cricket," (Phalawjopsis maculata) 

 which we sometimes find in cavities, crevices, 

 or under the loose bark of much decayed 

 timber, under or near the surface of the 

 ground. 



Altliough this California insect, from its 

 habits of depredating upon the potato tuber 

 is herbiverous, yet from the fact that when 

 confined together — according to the observa- 

 tions of Mr. Fuller — they devour each other, 

 we may conclude that it is also carnivorous. 

 Indeed, this characteristic attaches to many 

 of this family of insects, if not to the wliole 

 of them. On one particular occasion, during 

 an unusually warm and sunny afternoon in 

 the month of November, we discovered hun- 

 dreds of our common field-crickets, feasting 

 upon the lacerated body of a dead calf, which 

 seemed to have met a violent death the pre- 

 vious night, perhaps by vicious dogs. Wher- 



ever the flesh was exposed, through ruptures 

 of the skin, the crickets were engaged in 

 devouring it with the seeming rapacity of as 

 many turkey-buzzards ; nor did they heed our 

 presence any more than they would have 

 heeded a "stock or a stone." On several 

 subsequent occasions, we have found them 

 under similar circumstances. This carnivor- 

 ous character of the California species, under 

 consideration, together with their habit of 

 coming forth from their burrows in the evening 

 or during the night — a characteristic common 

 to marauding carnivora of a number of 

 species — may suggest a plan for their de- 

 struction, by setting traps for them, baited 

 with some kind of fresh flesh. We have 

 never noticed crickets devouring putrid 

 or decomposed animal flesh, and probably they 

 never do. The form of the trap, of course, 

 would devolve upon the ingenuity of the 

 trapper, or contiguous circumstances. Some 

 insects seem to be highly endowed with the 

 sense of smell, and an alluring bait will often 

 draw them from a considerable distance. 



During one of our Tucquan fishing excur- 

 sions to the Susquehanna river, we had pro- 

 vided several cylindrical tin boxes of angle- 

 worms, {lumbricus terrestris) to be used as bait. 

 The weather being warm, these boxes were 

 buried vertically in the sand at various places 

 where they would be most convenient to the 

 fishermen, and most protected against the 

 rays of the sun. On the last day of the encamp- 

 ment, and about an hour before the order to 

 "strike tents," we discovered the end of one 

 of these boxes projecting above the surface of 

 the sand, and as it was one of the largest, and 

 had an aperture of about an inch in diameter 

 in the lid, for ventilation, we concluded to 

 save it for another occasion. The remaining 

 worms had died, and from the hole in the lid 

 issued a strong stench. On raising it up we 

 were surprised to find it about half full of 

 various species of "carrion-beetles," "burying 

 beetles," &c., including the genera necropho- 

 rus, necrodes, oiceoptoma, thanatophilus, silpha, 

 nitidula, phenohia, ips, stcqihilhnis, &c. , &c., a 

 greater haul tlian we had made during the 

 whole four days encampment. 



Now, this experience may suggest a similar 

 trap for the successful capture of this pugna- 

 cious potato-eater. Perhaps the discovery of 

 the best kind of bait to decoy them into the 

 trap, would be the most important considera- 

 tion. Tlie putrid stench was the attraction 

 in our trap, but the stenopahnata, belonging 

 to a different order, (orthoptera) may re- 

 quire a different bait, and by experimenting 

 with different kinds, the right one may be 

 eventually found. We offer these suggestions 

 for what they are worth. — Ed.] 



VISITING COMMITTEE. 



The iradersigned, one of the visiting com- 

 mittee appointed at a meeting of the "To- 

 bacco Growers' Association of Lancaster 

 county," begs leave to submit tlie following 

 as a part of the labors of said committee, so 

 far as relates to his own personal attention to 

 the subject in hand. 



My first day's visit was at the house of 

 Henry Shaffner, of Mount Joy. Saw a lot of 

 tobacco which was grown on li acres of 

 ground the second year. Fine, dark color, 

 and mostly triple A. Florida and Connecti- 

 cut seed, cidtivated by first scoring, and hoed 

 in for the hill to plant on. Kows .3 feet apart ; 

 26 inches on the row. Favors plaster of Paris 

 as a fertilizer. Tobacco well assorted, which 

 we could not but expect from an intelligent 

 tobacco grower and packer. 



My ne.rt visit was to C. R. Stauffer ; 2J- 

 acres, Florida seed, second year's growth on 

 the same ground — in an orchard — a good av- 

 erage lot. 



Third visit, at the house of Jacob Shirk, 

 Bird-in-Hand; 11 acres, mostly raised on new 

 land. Large and leafy, fine and very fine. 

 Cultivated by throwing two furrows together 

 with the plow, cut down to plant in. After 

 exhibiting his possessions, he took us to the 

 hotel and gave us our dinner and had our ani- 



mals fed at his own expense, for which we 

 kindly thanked him. 



Om fourth visit was at the home of Solomon 

 Groflf; 14 acres, scored and hoed in to set 

 the plants. Used guano, ashes and plaster in 

 the hills. A fine lot and a very fine quality. 



The fifth visit was to Mr. Shank, at the Gap ; 

 3 acres, fair, mostly double A. Planted alter- 

 nately 4 feet and 3 feet apart in rows, 28 

 inches apart on the row. 



Sixth visit, to Isaac Eby ; 5 acres, 4 feet 

 apart and 28 inches on rows, crop fair. 



Seventh, to William Hamilton ; 3 acres, dark 

 and leafy. Mostly A and AA, very good. 

 Here we were treated to apples and cider. 



Eighth, to Squire Slay maker ; quality A. A.-, 

 dark color, and well assorted. 



John Keneagy, 6 acres, mostly A. A., and 

 dark in color. 



Tenth visit to John Kennedy ; 6 acres, 

 pretty fine lot of AA. Mr. K. is willing to 

 learn, and is experimenting to get on the 

 right track, and doubtless before long he wiU 

 be one of the first on the list in securing good 

 quality and prices. Here we were treated to 

 a fine turkey dinner, of which we were not 

 slow to partake. We took the cars at Kin- 

 zers' station for Lancaster and home. 



As a county, Lancaster makes a clever 

 show in the tobacco growing world, but as a 

 State we are but a "drop in the bucket," 

 when compared with other States. In 1876 

 we had but 9,565 acres in tobacco, whilst 

 Maryland had 31,159 acres ; Virginia had 

 82,166 acres ; North Carolina 29,500 acres ; 

 Tennessee 51,111 acres ; Kentucky 188,235 

 acres ; Ohio 32,716 acres ; Missouri 53,800 

 acres, and Alabama 22,000 acres. — Respectfully 

 suhmitted, Henry Kurtz. 



MANURES AND SOIL FERTILIZERS.* 



In entering upon this subject to-day, I want 

 to forewarn you not to anticipate anything 

 very new or startling. 



The subject has been so thoroughly gone 

 over, by intelligent farmers and scientific men, 

 that it is hardly to be hoped that I can throw 

 any additional light upon it. 



But it is one of those questions that are 

 ever new and interesting ; that will bear line 

 upon line, and precept upon precept, and the 

 discussion of which, slowly but surely, leads 

 to a better general understanding of the prin- 

 ciples involved in agricultiu'al improvements. 

 Trusting, therefore, to your forebearance, 

 while recalling points and facts with which 

 you are already familiar, I will enter upon 

 this subject by discussing it under these head : 



First. Commercial fertilizers : Their need 

 and application. 



Second. Barn-yard manures and their ac- 

 cumulation. 



Third. Soil improvement by thorough pul- 

 verization. 



When we consider how small a proportion 

 of plant organism is made up of inorganic or 

 mineral matters — (9-10 of plant substance 

 being obtained from the air) — and how few 

 of them are ever deficient in our soils ; we 

 might readily suppo.se that soil fertilization 

 was an easy and simple matter. It has been 

 found, that as a rule, only three substances 

 were needful as apjiiications to secure good 

 plant growth, viz: Pho.sphate of lime — potash 

 and ammonia ; and as it is easily ascertained 

 how much of any, or all of these, ai'e required 

 for any desired crop, the question oi fertilizer 

 application would seem to be susceptible of 

 a jirecise mathematical solution : 



Especially so, as we can ascertain to a rea- 

 sonable certainty the amount of these ingre- 

 dients already in the soil upon which we 

 propose to grow these crops. But when we 

 come to put in practice this supposed precise 

 knowledge, we find there are mysterious ac- 

 tions and counter-actions, not only diflicult to 

 understand, but impossible to wholly control. 



Notwithstanding the great increase of our 

 knowledge of agricultural chemistry, there 

 are many things in God's laboratory of the 



"^-Read before the Lancaster County Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Society, by John I. Carter, 



