1878.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



115 



measure eamc from Keprfsenlalives from liir^'e lowiiB 

 and eities, who tliouglil tlie trees would Biill'cr wilh- 

 oiil tlie sparrows. 



There were eumparatively few voles in favor of 

 taking; the Bpnrrow from the list of proteeted hirds. 

 The opinion was then expressed hy one. memlier of 

 the eommitlee that at no distant day strenuous 

 etl'orts would he nuide to rid the eountry of these 

 nests, and I have no doulit our liirmers will soon de- 

 mand somethini,' in the way of le^'islalion and of 

 action in this direetion.— iJin/, Kiijhhl, J/dss., July 



18, isrs. 



OX-EYE DAISY. 



This noxious weed bi'lon,i;s to the great 

 order (,'oMrosiT.ic, or "C'oiiiposile fiimily," 

 and is f^cnerieally allied to tlio " Wild Camo- 

 mile," and the '-Tansy." It is the Chri/snn- 

 thanum kwanthcmnm of LinnvKUS ; ami the 

 LeufanUicmwin vuhjnrc, of mod(>rn authors; 

 and is locally known under the (•otnmon names 

 of "White" Daisy," "Ox-eye Daisy" and 

 " Whiteweed." It Ls in bloom from the mid- 

 dle of June to the end of AiiRiisl, and has 

 become naturalized in this eoiiutry from 

 Europe, and jirobably is more noxious and 

 spreads more rapidly here than it does in its 

 native country. In fields and meadows it be- 

 comes a most pernicious jiest to the farmer, 

 and the least neglect soon gives it the ujiper 

 liand. We recommended the pulling of it up 



heavily with an absorViiuK eroii, wo\ild do 

 much towards cheeking its growth. 15ut this 

 would also involve a great deal of jx^rsevering 

 labor, especially where it had overrun a whole 

 farm. Well, all we have to say is, that if we 

 caiinol do this we mii.st te content to keep it 

 and make the most of it. It is a hardy weed 

 and will bear nuteh rough usage. 



DUROC, OR JERSEY RED PIGS. 

 Time was when farmers would have re- 

 jected a red pig for the same reason that they 

 would have a black one, namely : that "some- 

 how " they never believed tliat either red pigs 

 or l)Iack i)igs would ever tln-ive— they are too 

 ntnninq, and nothing that is cunning will get 

 fat. That thin theory has, liowever, been 

 resolved into thin air long ago by the intro- 

 duction of the 15erkshu-es,"tho Poland-Chinas 

 and the Duuoc, on Jkhsey Hkds. Long 

 since the fariuers of Eastern remisylvania, 

 New .h'rsey and i)arts of New Yorkhav(^ been 

 acquainted with a bre<'d of swine known as 

 the ".lersey Heds." These animals have be- 

 come groat favorites on account of their very 

 hue, small bone ; their long, deep round body ; 

 their good feeding qualities, and their hai'dy 

 constitution— fundamental (pialities always 

 essential in securing unqualified thrift in 



had imported a pair of red pigs from England, 

 and the present stock is the posterity of tliat 

 lirsl importation. Tliis breed of »wine is said 

 to be related to the old and original lirecd of 

 lierksliires, some of which were of a sandy 

 color ; and, of course, so far as concerns tlio 

 ancient blood, must be purer than the present 

 race of IJcrk.-iliires, pos.scssing, however, the 

 additional qualities developed throufrh modern 

 improvement. There are many other points 

 of interest upon which the swiiiebrceder may 

 inform himself by sending to the proprietors, 

 a.s aliove named, and obtaining a descriptive 

 catalogue. _ 



STEADY DEMAND FOR SUMAC. 



There is a steady market at present for the leaven 

 of the Willi euniae whleh grows njion the hills and 

 "eommons" of Berks county, the demand belnR 

 irreater than the supply. The leavfs are much used 

 in the tanning of .Moroeeo leather, for the manufac- 

 ture of dyes, and other puriKJses. In some loealltle* 

 Mil' gathcrlni; of sumae at this seasou of the year Is 

 (piito an Industry. The hranehes of the sumac 

 hushes are broken off, loaded u|)on hay wagons, and 

 after heing cured, conveyed to the nearest railroad 

 station where they arc loaded In freight cars auJ 

 shipped to the dealers, mostly I'hlladclplila and 

 Haltimorc wholesale leather houses. In West 

 Coealico township, Laneastei' county, near the line 

 of Berks, tons of sumac were formerly gathered and 

 shipped annually. The yield of sumac on the Here. 



(root and branch) and by that we do not mean 

 merely pulling it off, for, like the " Canada 

 thistle," tliis'plant propagates itself from the 

 small fragments of the roots which are left in 

 the ground. It should be pulled up when the 

 ground is soft and saturated by a good rain. 

 Cutting it oir, or mowing it olT, or even burn- 

 ing it olV, would not reach the case, tniless the 

 he'at was sutlicieiit to penetrate the ground 

 and kill the roots. 



A slow steady pull, when the ground is soft, 

 and this continued as often as it appears above 

 the ground in tufts large enough to obtain a 

 hold, would soon eradicate it. This process 

 would doubtless be too laborious and occupy 

 too much time for the fanner, or discourage 

 him too much to make any attempt to ex- 

 terminate it ; and if it occurred as abundantly 

 on a farm of ours as we have seen it in Dela- 

 ware, New Jersey, and even in some parts of 

 Pennsylvania, we should be deterred from 

 making any attempt to eradicate it by pulling 

 it up. Another remedy is to mow it off, dry 

 it and then burn it, before it mattires its seed; 

 after which a shallow plowing, and manipu- 

 lating the soil with close-toothed hand-rakes, 

 to sift out the roots— which should also be 

 dried and burned— or plowing it down deeply 

 with a sub-soil plow, and then cropping it 



W.ATLEE BURPEE. 



swine. Our illustration, carefully drawn and 

 engraved from a living specimen, as bred by 

 W. Atlee r.iTra'EE& Co., of No. 221 Church 

 street, riiiladelphia, is a fair representation 

 of the stock, and exhibits to any one who has 

 attained to reliable iiorcine jiulgment, the 

 superior qualities of the breed. Some years 

 ago these excellent hogs were taken in hand 

 by some breeders more than usually careful, 

 aiul have since been greatly improved, al- 

 though previously of a very high character, 

 so that at the present time this breed will 

 successfully challenge comparison with any 

 other whatever for all the valuable points 

 which make swine desirable or prolitable. It 

 has been noticed of late that these red hogs 

 have become widely distributed. In the well- 

 known and critical breeding State of Ken- 

 tucky, they have been received with distin- 

 guished favor, and large sales of them have 

 been made. At the National SwinebreedcTs, 

 Convention, held at Indianapolis, in ISTl, 

 this excellent breed received a most emphatic 

 endorsement, and it was decided to name it 

 the DUKOC, and it is now known under tliat 

 name by those who give any attention to 

 swinebreeding. Tins name is derived from a 

 celebrated horse of that name, owned by Mr. 

 II. Kelsey fifty years ago, who then aheady 



COPY HIGHTEO' 



ford hills in the eastern portion of this county, is 

 reported to be very large this year. — Keading Tiiiut. 

 Wo have often noticed allusions, in the 

 iniblic press, to tlie growing demand for this 

 shrub in tlie manufacttirc of Morocco and 

 similar leathers, and we have often wondered 

 that it wxs not utilized when we have seen it 

 growing in abundance where very little else 

 would prow. And now when labor is becom- 

 ing so precarious, ami the honest laliorer is 

 anxious to do something to provide for his 

 family the necessaries of life, it has seemed to 

 us that a limited field might l>e opened here 

 for wiUiiig hands. Should those who own the 

 land lea.se, or donate the privilege of gather- 

 ing sumac on their farms— if they did not care 

 about embarking in the busines-s themselves— 

 they would bi^ doing a noble charity, indeed, 

 for'it would be fostering that genuine chanty 

 which "helps a man to help himself." 

 Ca.shew, or sumac, is all referable to the genus 

 lihvs, and constitutes the family An.\car- 

 DiAC.K. There are six recognized species in 

 the United States, which are divide<l into 

 three groups under the names Sumac, Toxi- 

 coDENDitON- and T/>isadium ; the first con- 

 taining three species, the second tiro, and the 

 third ime. It is those species which belong to 

 the first group, namely, lihns typhina, " stag- 



