50 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[April, 



the position it was last year, of seeing itself 

 ignored and an entomological comiuission 

 appointed to do the work itself ought to do, 

 and under the supervision of a department 

 entirely distinct — the Hayden survey, under 

 the Treasury Department — which was a very 

 sure way of showing the contempt in which 

 this department has been held.^ySciejifi/ic 

 Farmer, April, 1878. 



Coming from the East — and the very 

 "Hub," too— this is certainly no ordinary 

 compliment to a Western entomologist. If a 

 change is to be made in the national depart- 

 ment of entomology, judging from the record 

 which Prof. Riley has thus far made, there is, 

 perhaps, no man in the country who has 

 higher practical claims to the chieftainship of 

 that department than he. But should he at- 

 tain to the position of National Entomologist, 

 we hope that Congress will vouchsafe a more 

 sustaining recognition of the claims of that 

 department than it has heretofore, and not 

 like the State of Missouri, ignore the office by 

 withholding the necessary appropriations to 

 make it efficient and useful to the country. 



The heads of our National Department of 

 Agriculture may not have been all that such 

 positions require, but it is more than probable 

 that much of the inefficiency attributed to 

 that department was due to the meagre support 

 of the National Congress. If there is any truth 

 in Webster's aphorism, "The farmer is the 

 founder of civilization," then that depart- 

 ment of the General Government which speci- 

 ally relates to the interests of the farming 

 public, has been most shabbily treated, from 

 its first org:anization down to the present time. 

 If Prof. Riley should happily be placed in the 

 entomological "chair" of the department, Con- 

 gress should provide, at least, sufficient means 

 to enable him to bring out his publications in 

 a manner equal, if not superior, to those which 

 have distinguished him heretofore. 



Should the War Department, or any other 

 department, attempt to conduct its afEairs 

 upon such principles as have been imposed 

 upon the Agricultural Department — compel- 

 ling it to beg for information from thousands 

 of different localities in the country without 

 the least compensation — we wonder how effi- 

 cient it would be or what progress it would 

 make ? Fundamentally, agriculture is the 

 basis upon which the vitality of the govern- 

 ment rests, and it should be so recognized. 



SCALE INSECTS OF THE PEACH. 



"The editorof this journal was lately shown 

 a twig cut from a peach tree growing in this 

 city, which was completely covered with these 

 Bcales. Subsequently the locality was visited 

 and seven trees were found so badly infested 

 with these insects that not a twig could be 

 found, or a space of an inch on twigs or 

 branches, that was not occupied. Altogether 

 it was about as bad a case as an entomologist 

 could meet with. Of course the trees were par- 

 tialy dead and presented the sickly, diseased 

 appearance usual in such cases. Singularly no 

 other, peach trees in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood had been attacked, although the insects 

 have, seemingly, from appearances, held high 

 carnival in this one enclosure for a number of 

 years. The insect is known as Lccanium 

 persiccB,* and is not very destructive or even 

 common in this country. The eggs deposited 

 by the females are said to hatch in July, and 

 the males, which are minute, two-winged 

 flies, to emerge in August, though an Euro- 

 pean authority states that the males emerge 

 from the scale in May, and pair with the 

 females, which deposit their eggs ' in the com- 

 mencement of summer.'" — Field and Forest, 

 January, 1878. 



The foregoing relates, presumably, to the 

 same insect of which we received specimens 

 from Mr. Wm. Young, of Reading, Pa. , in 

 January last, and which we have discussed in 

 our February and March numbers, pp. 18, 19 

 and 34. 



•In a letter received from Mr. Uhler, since the above wa« 

 In type, he eays the inflect ''probably belongs tc the genua 

 Aapidiotus. It has some of the characters of the European 

 A ■ peraicceoblongtis, 'Baumer,' but differa In some respects." 



And, now, this same insect has "turned 

 up" here in the City of Lancaster, and we 

 have a number of the infested peach twigs 

 before us, from the premises of Mr. Giindaker, 

 of North Queen street, not more than a hun- 

 dred yards from our place of business. We 

 do not positively know that they are else- 

 where in this city, but Mr. Wm. Harry in- 

 forms us that the peach trees on the premises 

 he occupied inl877 were badly infested by them. 



If it is a fact that the eggs are hatched in 

 July, then will be the proper time to deluge 

 the trees with whatever solution or decoction 

 that may seem necessary to destroy them, but 

 any attempt to destroy them now would not 

 be practicable. As intimated on a former oc- 

 casion, they have no doubt been imported from 

 Europe. — Ed. 



^ 



THE CULTIVATION OF WHEAT. 



The cultivation of the wheat crop, just as 

 we cultivate any other plant which we expect 

 to improve and increase its yield, although 

 perhaps not entirely new, is a subject that is 

 looming into importance in various sections 

 of our country, and conspicuously so within 

 the domain of our own "Garden County," 

 and the results have been as favorable as 

 could be expected under all the vicissitudes 

 which usually accompany a "new departure," 

 in any direction, from the modes and customs 

 of our fathers. We need not give the reasons 

 why cultivation improves the quality and in- 

 creases the quantity of wheat or any other 

 crop, for on a little reflection it must become 

 self-evident. If we were to sow fields of corn, 

 tobacco, cabbages, &c., and then leave them 

 to take care of themselves, without any 

 further culture whatever, as we have been in 

 the habit of treating our wheat, does any 

 rational man for a moment suppose we would 

 be able to gather such crops of the.se vege a- 

 bles as we do from them when we subject 

 them to thorough culture ? As "like causes 

 produce like ettects" in the general phenomena 

 of nature, we are compelled to include wheat 

 in the same category. To Messrs. L. W. 

 Groff and his son, A. B. Groff, of West Earl 

 township, belongs the credit of initiating the 

 cultivation of wheat in the county of Lancas- 

 ter, and we must refer our readers for the re- 

 sults of their experiments to their plain state- 

 ment, and reports of committees on the sub- 

 ject, published on page 164 of The Lancas- 

 ter Farmer for 1877. Since that period the 

 subject has gradually been growing into favor, 

 and now some of the best and most practical 

 agricultural minds in the country have mani- 

 fested an interest in it, and are successfull}' 

 engaged in experimenting. 



The Messrs. Groft''s success last year has 

 stimulated their efforts in the present crop, in 

 which they are joined by their most intelli- 

 gent neighbors. 



On Tuesday, the 0th inst. , we, in company 

 with Mr. J. B. Weisgarber, paid a visit to 

 the farms of Messrs. Grolf, and witnessed the 

 practical operation of their mode of culture, 

 and its visible effects upon the growing wheat, 

 and we must confess that both the manipula- 

 tion and the results far surpassed our ultimate 

 expectations. The distance from Lancaster 

 city is about ten miles, over a well-conditioned 

 road, through quiet, tidy-looking villages, 

 and a fine rolling country expanding on either 

 hand. The wheat fields decked in their luxu- 

 rient vernal sheen, were "just beautiful," 

 and we doubted whether they could be ex- 

 celled anywhere, but when we reached the 

 Groir farms, the illusion quickly vanished, 

 and the effects of cultivation were unmis- 

 takably apparent, in color, in firm and erect 

 setting in the soil, and in the breadth of the 

 blades. Of course, the difference between 

 cultivation and non-cultivation can only be 

 fully determined when the crops are gathered; 

 but if external appearances indicate anything, 

 then we without hesitation should record our 

 judgment in favor of cultivation. It doubt- 

 less will be said that the Messrs. Groff liber- 

 ally manure or fertilize their lands, and hence 

 the difference in favor of their grain ; but we 

 found the fields of all then- neighbors, who 



cultivate by their system, in the same pros- 

 perous condition, even among those who are 

 proverbial for their sparing of manure, and 

 " hard working " of their lands, and this con- 

 dition has been produced by cultivation alone. 

 But that is not all. In fields that had been 

 cultivated last spring, and then sown in clover, 

 the same beneficial effect is seen in the said 

 clover fields at the present time. 



As an illustration of the benefits of cultiva- 

 tion to the "after crop," it is only necessary 

 to mention that in a field where clover had 

 been sown on cultivated wheat, in the month 

 of May, 1877, a very clever crop of clover hay 

 was harvested about the beginning of October 

 of the same year. When you enter a field of 

 wheat over which the cultivator has passed 

 the second or third time, you find the earth 

 between the drills as mellow as it is in a vege- 

 table garden, and it must be evident that this 

 condition of the soil is as beneficial to the 

 growing crops in one case as in the other. It 

 seems to us a rational conclusion, because it 

 absorbs more and retains longer the dews and 

 rains which fall upon it ; it allows a freer ex- 

 pansion and development of the main roots 

 and the feeding rootlets, through which the 

 stalk becomes firmerset,and therefore not so lia- 

 ble to fall or "lodge, "as under the old system. 



The Messrs. Groff use a common wheat 

 drill, six feet between the wheels. These six 

 feet are divided into five spaces, each space 

 being a fraction over fourteen inches. Instead 

 of eight feeding hoes, as in the common drills, 

 there are but /owr, so that the space between 

 the two outside ones and the wheels is the 

 same as that between the inner hoes. This 

 leaves the drills wide enough apart for the 

 horses to walk between them without t.-eading 

 down the wheat. It is not necessary to describe 

 how a grain drill is operated, adjusted, feeds, 

 &c., for that is familiar to all who have ever 

 used one. It may, however, be necessary to 

 say that the lower end of the hoes spread out 

 .something like a horse's foot, only more 

 pointed, being a little over four inches in di- 

 ameter inside, and have a double beveled or 

 deflexed diametrical bar near the lower end, 

 upon which the wheat falls, and is thus more 

 equally or evenly distributed — that is, it does 

 not fall in one single crowded line, as in a 

 common drill. These hoes can be attached to 

 any drill by a re-division of the spaces; and 

 the old hoes can be used by attaching the 

 spreading foot and cross-bar below, because 

 there is less crowding of the seed and it is 

 more scattered on the ground as it leaves the 

 drill, whereby every sound grain is sure to 

 produce a vigorous plant which will mature its 

 fruit. It is claimed to be more economical in its 

 consumption of seed on a given quantity of land 

 than the common eight-holed drill. 



When the time for cultivation comes, if it is 

 not desirable to have two machines, the feed- 

 ing hose can be removed and the cultivator 

 can be attached to the same running-gears. 

 These consist of as many three -clawed culti- 

 vating hoes as there are feeding hose, and ar- 

 ranged the same distance apart. Between 

 these are suspended triangular or V-shaped 

 inverted troughs, that pass over the rows of 

 wheat and protect it against injury during the 

 process of cultivation, and it is remarkable to 

 notice how complete this protection is accom- 

 plished. The young wheat comes from 

 under them as erecl and uninjured as it 

 was before the cultivator passed over it. 

 The claws of these cultivating hoes are in tri- 

 angular groups, the middle one in advance of 

 the two outer ones, which prevents clogging, 

 and leaves the work even and clean. Of 

 cour.se, these cultivating hoes are so arranged 

 as to be raised up and let fall again, the same 

 as in the process of planting. It only re- 

 quires the progressive agriculturist to see the 

 process to be convinced of its utilitj'. Not- 

 withstanding all the wheat looks promising 

 the present season, yet we observed none so 

 vigorous, so uniform in size, so firmly set and 

 so rich in color as that under the cultivation 

 of the Messrs. Groff', Ranck and others who 

 use this process, and we await corresponding 

 beneficial results. 



