126 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



duce the swelling a piece of raw onion applied is 

 good. 



The President said he was badly stung on the nose 

 recently, and reduced the swelling by applying cold 

 water. 



Ellas Hershey asked: " What is the best way to 

 get bees out of the honey box?" 



Mr. B. T. Seldomridge s.aid Iiis plan was to bore a 

 hole in the box, blow tobacco smoke into it, and the 

 bees will leave it in a minute, so that you can safely 

 remove the honey. 



J. F. Hershey said too much smoke would flavor 

 the honey with tobacco. His plan was to lift off a 

 full box from the top, replace it with an empty bo.x, 

 and tap on it. Then all the bees will rise into the 

 empty box and the full boxes below maybe removed. 



President Reist asked which was jijreferable, 

 natural or artificial swarming? 



Mr. Lintner answered that artificial swarming is 

 preferable to natural swarming if you want to raise 

 stock. If honey is what you want let the bees swarm 

 naturally. His plan in artificial swarming is to make 

 three hives out of two, by driving all the bees from 

 hive No. 1 into an empty hive ; set tlie empty hive 

 where No. 1 sat ; set No. 1 where No. 2 sat ; and set 

 No. 2 in a new place. The hives out of which the 

 bees have been driven and in which there is nothing 

 but brood will be supplied from No. 2 hive, which 

 originally sat there, while No. 2 will still have 

 enough left to stock it. 



J. F. Sheafl'er described a somewhat similar plan 

 of artificial swarming, but advised amateurs or tliose 

 who did not thorouglily understand bee culture, or 

 who did nut have the time or inclination to pay con- 

 stant attention to them, to forego artificial swarming 

 and let bees take their natural course in swarming. 



President Reist stated that he now left his bees on 

 their summer stands during the winter. He formerly 

 wintered them in the cellar. Which is the best plan ? 



J. F. Sheafler said he always leaves Iiisbeea on the 

 summer stands ; be covers them with corn-fodder or 

 straw ; and has not lost a single stand. It is well to 

 shelter the hives in severe weather, but leave the 

 entrance open. 



J. F. Hershey has heretofore wintered his bees on 

 summer stands, but last season he built a house for 

 them and stored seventy-lour stands — all of which 

 came out well in the spring. He has the house so 

 arranged that it can be either ventilated or closed 

 entirely. He keeps it at a temperature of 45 or .lO 

 degrees. The bees don't consume near as much 

 honey as formerly. The house is dug out four feet 

 below the level of the ground, and the ground thus 

 excavated is thrown up around it, making it eight 

 feet high. Tlie ceiling of the bee house is covered 

 with sawdust to jirevent sudden change of tempera- 

 ture. The house is also provided with a system of 

 cold air tubes and doors, by which the temperature 

 may be prevented from becoming too warm in mild 

 weather. He puts his bees into the house late in 

 November, placing the strongest and more vigorous 

 colonies below and setting the others on top of them. 

 In February, if the weather be fine, he gives them 

 "a flight" and then shuts them up again. This plan 

 of wintering he has found very successful. 



J. G. Martin exhibited before tlie society a case of 

 very beautiful honey in the comb. The case con- 

 sisted of twelve boxes, each of which contained a 

 pound or more of honey just as the bees had stored 

 it. The boxes were 1% inches in width, .5 inches in 

 depth, and 5l,{ inches in length, and so arranged in 

 tlie hive that tlie bees can gain access to each, but 

 cannot cement two or more boxes together. Mr. 

 Martin's honey and the construction of ids hive were 

 liighly commended. 



Adjourned to meet at the same place on the second 

 Monday in November. 



linn.«:an society. 



The Linna;an Society held their stated meeting on 

 Saturday, July 37, 187S. In the absence of the Pres- 

 ident and Vice President, on motion of J. Stautfer, 

 Dr. S. S. Kathvon took the chair. The opening du- 

 ties being attended to, on examination the donations 

 to the Museum were found to consist of a bottle of 

 sundry kinds of insects, collected in the vicinity of 

 Rocky Springs on the 12th inst., by S. S. Rathvon; 

 two slabs of the finely laminated smoky mica, found 

 In a cpiarry within the city limits of Philadelphia, 

 per D. McN. Stanffer; shells and pebbles from Rock- 

 away Beach, Long Island, collected on the 25th inst., 

 per S. S. R.athvon. J. Staulfer also met with and 

 collected for the first time a cruciferous plant with 

 thick fleshy leaves, that only grows on the shore of 

 the sea and the great lakes, the "Cakile Americana," 

 or sea rocket. He also found a low bushy form of 

 the "Ampelopsis Ouinguefolia" (Virginia creeper.) 

 This grew among several species of heath, and 

 showed no disposition to climb — perhaps because 

 there was nothing close enongh to cling to, higher 

 than itself. 



Wilmer P. Bolton also brought in a specimen of 

 the yellow fringed orciiis, the "Habenaria eiliaris;" 

 the wild "American Turk's cap lily," the "Lilium 

 supurbum." This latter is a native species, worthy 

 of the garden for its rich orange color and spotted pet- 

 als. Mr. Bolton had with him two oiher undeveloped 



plants; the one had the characteristics of a Cheno- 

 podium, only rather tall and large in the leaves; the 

 other that of an "Andromeda." 



The additions to the library were the proceedings 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia ; 

 the proceedings of the American Philosophical So- 

 ciety, vol. xvii., .January to June, 1878, No. 101 ; 

 TuE Lancastek Farmer for July, and a paper 

 containing natural history, called "The West Shore," 

 Portland, Oregon, per Examiner oflice. Books, cir- 

 culars, etc. To the Historical, were added three 

 envelopes containing forty clippings, per S. S. Rath- 

 von ; a canteen marked " L. R., Battery No. 1," 

 per Linn;eus Rathvon ; a fae simile of the original 

 draft of the Declaration of Independence in the 

 handwriting of Thomas Jefferson before the anti- 

 slavery clause was eliminated. 



The only paper read was a descriptive list of the 

 insects captured on the 12th inst., at Rocky Springs, 

 per S. S. Kathvon, No. 409. Mrs. Zell reported por- 

 tions from a letter received from Mrs. P. E. Gibbons, 

 now in Paris. Messrs. Bolton and Stauffer com- 

 pared botanical specimens and found the Linna^an 

 collection of service and the arrangement complete. 



The small attendance of members was remarked. 

 No notice had been put in the papers. This, it w,as 

 observed, was not required, as no provisions were 

 made to pay for such notice, and no one's duty to 

 impose upon the generosity of the press, as hereto- 

 fore, to print them gratuitously. Since it is the duty 

 of every active member to know that the last Satur- 

 day of each month at two o'clock, p. m., is the fixed 

 and stated time of meeting, surely every one can 

 remember it. " If there is any activity in the active 

 members they ought to attend without special no- 

 tice," was the concluding remark. On motion, ad- 

 journed to the last Saturday in August, the 31st. 



AGRICULTURAL. 



Wheat Growing. 



The success in growing wheat in Pennsylvania the 

 last couple of years, should stimulate us to raise a 

 greater average per acre than has been the ease in 

 many portions of the State. We notice that as much 

 as an average of thirty bnshels liave been obtained 

 this year in some of the Western States ; and we are 

 well aware that the yield has been much increased 

 this year in Pennsylvania. Of course there are 

 various causes influencing success. Tliat which 

 miglit be an aid at one point, may be an injury at 

 another. But there ai*e one or two matters that 

 wheat growers ai-e apt to forget. The first is that 

 as a general thing it is well understood that manure 

 must be liberally applied to induce a good crop ; but 

 many persons plow it under, and it is not until the 

 plant has set its roots deep down into the soil tliat it 

 derives much benefit from the manure. But if the 

 manure is so placed that the young rootlets could 

 push at once into it on germinating, it would get an 

 early stall on its vital course, which will aid it largely 

 against any future drawbacks. 



In the second place, few persons have any idea of 

 how manure operates in making roots. If we bury a 

 shovelful of manure some distance from a thrifty 

 tree in early spring, and examine it again the ensuing 

 fall, we find the lump of dung a complete mass of 

 roots, while the earth in other parts contiguous has 

 but a few straggling ones. Some people think that . 

 the roots are attracted to the spot by the manure, 

 but it is not so. They are actually created by the 

 manure. A leading root stuck into the rich mass, 

 and finding plenty to eat, at once sets to work to 

 increase and multiply. Contact with the manure, 

 therefore, makes roots ; and the principle in suc- 

 cessful wheat culture should be to place the grain 

 and the food as close together as possible, if we 

 would encourage it to root out well and get a good 

 start. We all know very well how this is done with 

 corn. Manuring in the bill is almost a universal 

 practice; but where it is not, the result is well known. 

 We repeat, therefore, give the crops an early start. 

 It has a wonderful influence in its efforts in after life 

 to come out well. 



^ 



Condition of American Agriculture. 



The reports that reach us from all parts of the 

 union represent the agricultural intercsis to be so 

 generally prosperous, flourishing and in good condi- 

 tion that the return of active trade seems to be una- 

 voidable. The truth is, that while under the influence 

 of the epidemic insolvency the trading classes have 

 been ruining each other and preventing any possible 

 reaction in the jpriees of merchandise, the farmers, 

 gardeners and planters have done business for cash, 

 have made sure of their proflts and liave not suffered 

 from the operations of the bankrupt law. It is be- 

 yond cjuestion that the immense increase of the 

 national exports is mainly due to the drift of the 

 social current, that has forced so large a proportion 

 of the bone and sinew of the republic into agriculture 

 as the chief resource of the nation. So prodigious 

 have the crops become that it seems ridiculous to 

 find railroad managers talking about the insufficiency 

 of the national products to supply a paying business 

 to a few trunk lines. If the farmers and planters 

 can obtain adecjuate facilities for transportation to 



market the country can furnish produce enough to 

 amaze the commerce of the world. The latest foreign 

 demand before us in this way is live stock to be ship- 

 ped alive to Europe to be there bred for use, and this 

 includes horses, beeves, sheep and swine. The field 

 opening before American agriculture is, in fact, prac- 

 tically limitless, and now we have got the upper 

 hand, fairly and fully, it will be our own fault if we 

 do not keep it. We can feed and clothe the civilized 

 races of all the world. This something worth think- 

 ing about and boasting of. 



Fertility of Dairy Farms. 



In refuting the often expressed opinion that the 

 soil of dairy farms becomes poorer by the abstrac- 

 tion of phosphates sold in the milk, the Auierican 

 Agriculturist gives the following figures : " One 

 thousand pounds of milk contain about three to four 

 pounds of phosphates, of which nearly the whole is 

 phosphate of lime. Of this less than h.alf is phos- 

 phoric acid ; five thousand pounds of milk, there- 

 fore, contain but seven and one-half jrounds of phos- 

 phoric acid, which may be taken as the yearly 

 consumption in this way of each cow. As wheat 

 bran contains 2.9 per centum of pbosplioric acid it 

 needs only that about two hundred and fifty pounds 

 of bran be fed to each cow, yearly, to replace 

 the draft upon the soil. There are few dairy cows 

 that are fed less than this quantity of either bran or 

 some food equivalent to it, and it is pretty certain 

 that very little if any phosphoric acid is really taken 

 from the soil of dairy farms. On the consrary, to 

 say nothing of the natural supply in the soil, which 

 slowly becomes soluble, there is good reason to be- 

 lieve that every well-kept dairy farm becomes gradu- 

 ally richer in phosphates every year. 



Salt and Soot as Manures. 

 The Germantown Telegraph lias published the 

 following relative to the valne of salt and soot as 

 manures : Mr Cartwright received from the Board 

 of Agriculture the honorary reward of a gold medal 

 for a valuable set of experiments made by him to as- 

 certain the value of salt in agriculture. On the soil 

 he used, nearly three-fourths was sand; the rem.iiu- 

 der consisted of calcareous and vegetable matter, 

 with alumina and a small quantity of oxide of iron. 

 Having tried all the usual manures alone and dif- 

 ferently combined, he found that mixed manures and 

 soot were superior to all other. The produce upon 

 which these experiments were made was potatoes, 

 and it was observed that wherever salt was used 

 this root was free from scabbiness, with which it is 

 commonly infected. One peck of soot and a quarter 

 of a peck of salt were used to a bed one yard wide 

 and forty yards long." Our corrcsponent, "A 

 Northern Gardener," in another column speaks 

 highly of the value of salt and soot as manures for 

 potatoes, anil we know him to be an experienced and 

 successful cultivator. — Lwidon Journal. 



Loss of Phosphate. 



A. B. Prescott, in the Popular ficiencc Monthly, 

 writes : " When phosphate fails at the root of the 

 plant, grain fails at the mill, phosphates fail in the 

 liread, the bones and teeth fail in growing bodies. 

 The improvidence that leaves excretory phosphates 

 to be washed aw.ay to the salt sea, farther from the 

 reach of life than if they were in the primitive roek, 

 is an improvidence that prepares an inheritance of 

 poverty for after generations. And the rutlilessnesa 

 that permits the purveyors of food to sift phosphates 

 from the food of man, does its part to enfeeble the 

 ])resent generation." No one doubts the truth of all 

 this, and yet farmers will continue to let the water 

 nm through and out of their gardens and pig-pens, 

 and the millers will take the phosphate out of flour 

 in the form of bran, because their customers demand 

 white flour, and it cannot be supplied in any other 

 way. All know and admit that both are wrong, but 

 still keep on in the old way, and will continue to do so. 



Interior Fences. 

 The interior fences of farms occupy more space 

 and cost more money than the outer fences, while 

 they are almost entirely unnecessary. In the ma- 

 jority of cases pasturing the cultivated land costs 

 many times more than tlic little grain derived from 

 it. The pasturing of mowing lands and newly-seed- 

 cd stubbles, as a rule, is very injurious, and when, 

 under exceptional circumstances, this is desirable, a 

 temporary fence of portable hurdles might be profit- 

 ably used. It m-ay be beneficial to have a permanent 

 pasture lot upon every farm, and where there is a 

 roughish piece of land, it may be so used .'But it will 

 be found profitable to fence a small plot in a conve- 

 nient place for the stock, and feed them there with 

 green fodder, grown and cut especially for them, 

 than to make a practice of indiscriminate pasturing 

 with the necessary maintenance of interior fencing 

 at high cost. 



Make a calculation as to how much corn and other 

 grain crops you will require, raise good crops, and 

 you will soon see the folly of using three to five acrei 

 to pasture a cow when she can he soiled on a half 

 acre . 



