1878.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



103 



plum tree where the "httlcTurk" lias left 

 liis "crescent" (iiiite close to the saturated 

 cobs. The most plausible method, aside from 

 jarring, would seem to be the burnini; of coal 

 tar, turiientine, pitch, or any other substance 

 under the trees that will make a sooty smoke, 

 wliieh adheres to the foliage and fruit. This 

 luethod. repeated as the rains w'ash away the 

 iioot, is claimed to be an elTectual remedy. 



Caterpillars are very destructive some .sea- 

 sons amouK fruit and other trees, and we be- 

 lieve no etfectual remedy has thus far been 

 devised except by destroying the eg^^s, which 

 we lind deposited in crotches of tlie trees and 

 branches, and covered with a white web. If 

 neglected at this stage the next best remedy 

 is to follow the trees and destroy the nests in 

 the first, stages of development, which may be 

 done with a pole with some sort of swab on 

 the end saturated with coal oil. 



The familiar Rose 15ug (by .some called 

 ".Tune bug") has been very annoying some 

 seasons by destrying the foliage of some trees, 

 more especially the cherry. Birds or domes- 

 tic fowls seem to have no relish for it, though 

 it is easily cajitured. One of the easiest 

 methods of destruction is to shake or jar the 

 trees on a cool morning and trample the insect 

 under foot. 



The various Species of Aphis do far more 

 injury to trees and plants than the casual oli- 

 server hiiagines, as they operate under as well 

 as above ground and their capacity to multi- 

 ply with almost incredible rapidity, makes 

 them a very prominent enemy. Wherever 

 they can be reached, however, the smoke or 

 liquor of tobacco is sure death to all of them. 



Leaf-IIoppers, or Thrip, as they are general- 

 ly termed, play an important part in injuring 

 the foliage of trees and shrubliery, and espe- 

 cially of the grape. Occupying the under side 

 of the leaf, and as the mature insect will 

 fly, it is very diflicult to destroy them or even 

 kee]) them in check. A dry season seems to 

 be favorable to their operations. 



These are some of the insect enemies that 

 are quite conunon and figure largely in reduc- 

 ing and in many instances entirely destroying 

 the brightest prospects of the farmer, and yet 

 how few, comparatively, of the tillers of the 

 soil who think it worth while to make them- 

 selves acquainted with the habits of these their 

 certain enemies. If those directly interested in 

 this matter would apply part of the time de- 

 voted to severe mus('ular labor to the study of 

 entomolgy, their success would be more cer- 

 tain, witli less wear and tear both of body 

 and mind. 



CROP REPORT.* 



Our report of the crops in Warwick and 

 vicinity is about like the average reports from 

 other parts of the county. All crojis are good, 

 except corn, which has .so far not shown tliat 

 jirogress it usually makes bj' this time in the 

 season. There are a few fields that may be 

 called good, none very good, still with proper 

 weather it may yet make an average yield. 



Hay and wheat were never better, at least 

 in Warwick and Manheim townships, both in 

 quantity and quality. The average yield of 

 hay is from two to two and a half tons per 

 acre, and is so plenty that farmers are com- 

 pelled to seek for buyers at from ten to fifteen 

 dollars per ton. ]Many slacks were made and 

 buildings filled that were not tilled for years. 



The new grass crop is also excellent. AVheat 

 is a full crop, both as to (puility and (piantity. 

 The Clauson and Amber have done well, per- 

 haps the best. 



Harvest has fairly commenced and one 

 week of fair weather, such as last week, will 

 see most of the wheat gathered, and will be 

 one of the best and largest haiTests for many 

 years in Lancaster county. 



Oats will also be a good crop, from jiresent 

 appearances ; the straw will be long and stilf, 

 and the heads full and perfect, but is a little 

 back yet, hardly come to the turning point, 

 or yellow color. 



♦Read by Peter S. Reist twfore tho meeting of the Lan- 

 caster CouDty Agriciiltaral and Horticultural Socitty, 

 July Ut, 187S, 



Kye is well filled, the straw fine and flexible, 

 and is good in every respect. 



Potatoes are good ; some nearly ready to 

 take up. The bugs have not been very injuri- 

 ous this season. 



Cherries were in abundance and cheap, but, 

 on account of wet weather, were soft. 



Peaches promise a good crop. 



Strawberries were also in abundance and 

 perfect. 



IJlackberries atul rasi)berries appear to 

 promise a good yield of good fruit. 



Tobacco is only middling ; some patches 

 are forward while others are backward. The 

 roots are all'ected with what some call "black 

 roots," but it is rather early yet to say much 

 concerning this crop. 



5 yi^iiXgaa. 



For The Lancaster Faumku. 

 SETTING A PLOW. 

 There is a great deal in the setting and 

 sharpening of a plow to make it work easy for 

 the plowman, and hardly one out of ten is set 

 properly. 1 plowed many years, when I was 

 young, with great fatigue, and bad sore arms 

 every night. But now I sharpen my own 

 plows and have a blacksmith shop on my 

 farm, and can jilow with ease. 



The way jilows are usually set is, as shown 

 in Fig. 1, with the point of the nose about two 

 inches wide. It runs well enough for a while, 

 but then, after plowing some time, it fails to 

 take furrow enough. You then regulate it on 

 the clevis, or on ilie beam. After this it goes 

 a little better, but soon you will have to regu- 

 late more, but still find that the plow wants 



to go in the old 

 furrow, and you 

 must hold it all 

 the timestraight, 

 and the duller 

 the plow gets the 

 harder yon must 

 hold, and the land 

 sideof your plow- 

 share becomes 

 like a sleigh run- 

 ner, pointing out 

 of the land, as 

 shown in Fig. 2. Of course, then you take your 

 plow to the smithshop to get it sharpened, 

 and you tell the blacksmith to give it a little 

 more land, when he will set it as shown in 

 Fig. 3. But the smith gives it too much land 

 in the beginning, and when about half dull it 

 is about the same as it was before. lie should 

 have put in no "groove," as it drives it out too 

 far. 



I set my plows as shown in Fig. 4. I make 

 the point of the nose only three-quarters of an 

 inch wide, but a little thicker than usual, in 

 order to give it strength ; then at the point of 

 the wing of the share I bend it out, and then 

 in again about the one-third of the length of 

 the point, so as to come in a line with th(' hind 

 end of the land side, when I hold a rule on it. 

 I make the hollow i)lace from one-half to 

 three-quarters of an inch; you can see it by 

 the line marked rule. 



If a plow is set in this way it will not have 

 too much land at first, and will have enough 

 until it is dull. The bottom I make straight, 

 excei)t where hard, dry land is to be jilowed. 

 If I have a ]ilow that is ai)t to run too shallow 

 I give it a little "drawtli." Thi' point soon 

 gets round and as sharp as a needle, and when 

 the plow i;ets to run too shallow 1 lay a stone 

 under the jioint near the end. and take a 

 hammer and knock it down a little once in a 

 while. When it becomes dull, it is as shown 

 in figure .">. I do not make the jioint as hard 

 as usual, so that it will not break when I 

 knock it down. It is 'better to have tlie point 

 a little softer than nstial for this purpose. Of 

 cour.se they wear out faster, but if it is so very 

 hard it is apt to break in knocking it down, 

 and must be sharpened sooner than when left 

 .soft. Plows set in this manner will run 

 steady, and arc easily guided. When hard 

 and dry ground is to be plowed this arrange- 

 ment is necessaiy, but when the soil is wet 

 and loose, it does not make much difference 

 how a plow is set. I have used different 



kinds of plows, and found that all of them 

 run bt'st when set in the manner I have de- 

 scribed. At present I have in use the Root 

 Plows. On coarse gravel, or on land full of 

 small stones, it makes a dill'erence almost a« 

 distinct as that Itetween day and night, with 

 the same jilow. Plows set in the old manner 

 iinist be held hard all day, anil even a strong 

 plowman will have sore arms at night, and :« 

 to boys of fourteen or sixteen, it is impossilile 

 for tluun to manage the plow so as to make 

 good work. But it is verj' diflicult for a far- 

 mer, who has no blacksmith shop of his own, 

 to get his plows set in this manner, at least 1 

 found it so. I have sometimes taken plows 

 to the blacksmith shop, and have told the 

 smith how 1 wanted to have them set. But 

 when I was aw.ay, and he went at the work 

 of sharpening and setting, he .seemed to have 

 forgotten all about my instructions, or did not 

 care about encouraging anything that was 

 different from his own i<leas on the subject, 

 and therefore I would lind my plows set in the 

 old way again. In short, they don't like to 

 set a plow in th(? manner I have described ; 

 "it's not the fashion;" it is not (/teir way, 

 and therefore camiot be a (jouil way, and they 

 mon'l have any faith in it, and so keep on in 

 the old ' rut.' Instead oT doing a man's work 

 ill the manner he wants it done, and which 

 his own experience has taught him is the best 

 way for him, the smith — and perhaps a good 

 many other well meaning people — will try to 

 persuade yon that this new way cannot work 

 well, and that they would not have such an 

 ugly-looking plow standing before his shop, 

 or on their farms. They fear it will spoil 

 their trade, and that tho.sc who pass by the 

 shop will sec it and talk about it. Mechanics 

 in general, think that whatever belongs to 

 their line of business, they know all about it 

 better than anybody else, but they are .some- 

 times mistaken, with all their routine know- 

 ledge. Farmers who use the implements 

 often know more about them, and liow they 

 ought to be made and adjusted, than those 

 who make them. The difl'erence is one be- 

 tw^'cn experimental and merely theoretical 

 knowledge. A man, for instance, may reiid a 

 scientific book on swimming. He may learn 

 how to spread out his arms and kick out liis 

 legs — may know all about the relations of his 

 own weight and the sustaining (lualities of the 

 water— what muscles are brought into exer- 

 cise, and all about their expansion and con- 

 tractiim, and when he plunges into the water 

 he may lind that he can't swim. Why is this 

 so V Simply because all his knowledge was 

 based on mechanical theory. There was 

 something about the practical part of swim- 

 ming that his book (lu\ not teach him, and 

 never conhl teach him. — /. G., Warwirk, 

 Jubi, 1S78. 



For TlIK I,*NCASTKB FABMRR. 



THE HONEY-BEE. 

 All;. Ratiivon — Dear Sir: Permit mo 

 through the columns of your valuable paper 

 to make a few remarks on tile habits and 

 customs of the honey-bee. Through strict 

 attention to their habits I have learned wh.at 

 I always believed to he, what I have proven 

 to my own satisfaction, to be a fact : that is, 

 one (lueen bee is not sutlieient for each hive 

 or stock. With one of my strong stock I 

 made the exix'rimeiit or an examination on 

 May the first ; on opening the hive I found 

 five tiueens and four queen cells ; on the 

 eighth they swarmed, alighting on a branch 

 of an apple tree. 1 was with them at the 

 commencement of their coming out ; I saw 

 two queens, and they being alrao.st the last to 

 leave the hive — in fact the workers were 

 alighting before the <iueens left home. Xot 

 being entirely satisfied with this, I put them 

 in the new hive very cautiously, a few at a 

 time ; I soon fouud one queen, and put her 

 under a glass tuml)ler ; pretty soon I found 

 another, serving her the same way ; I had 

 now got about two-thirds in the hive ; I gave 

 them one of the (jueens ; the other I put in 

 another hive. I had now made up my mind 

 to divide the swarm, and as usual, pushcU 



