1879; 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



29 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The January moclinir of tin? Fultmi Farmers' Club 

 was held at the roei.Un . -r M-n ;::i.iii Urown, on 

 thellhinet. VisitorB i i ■ .lion, Haines 



Brown and wife, ami I ! i I wife. 



CharlesS. Catchel rx) i ,. n ;. I. • t>r Nevada 



rye; also a piece of ici- uiktii ijiini uir a bucket ol' 

 water that had frozen in his kililien. It had a tri- 

 angular column about five inches lu^h and each 

 about an inch long, risini; perpendicularly from the 

 surface. As this was formed by water in the bucket it 

 was considered quite a curicsity. 



E. H. Haines jjave the result of an experiment in 

 setting milk. lie weighed some milk and put it in 

 tight cans and set it out of doors, so that the cold 

 would raise the cream. At the same time he set the 

 same number of pounds in the ordinary manner. 

 Kaeh mode of setting produced one pound of butter to 

 twenty pouuds of milk. The butter made from the 

 milk set in the cold was pronounced to be better than 

 that made in the ordinary way by the salesman in 

 Philadelphia. This agreed with his own opinion. 

 The result of his experiment had convinced him that 

 the new methods of Cooley and Hardin would pro- 

 duce as much butter as the methods now in use, and 

 it would be a superior article. 



Wm. King asked whether it would bo advisable to 

 haul out and spread manure when theground is frozen! 



It was the opinion of all pr-sent that it was not 

 advisable, because the water that would leach 

 through it in time of rain would be likely to run off. 

 Instead of being absorbed by the ground. A visitor, 

 however, stated that he tried it with good results. 



Montillion Brown had a lightning rod that was 

 broken; would it be sale to splice with an old rod 

 and wrap with copper wire? Most of the members 

 thought it would be, if spliced with copper and 

 smoothly wrapped. 



S. L. Gregg; How do fertilizers pay when applied 

 to oats ? 



E. H. Haines : They will pay as well as any other 

 crop, hut there is a danger of applying too much. 

 Oats will not stand high manuring. 



Montillion Brown had tried it two years and 

 thought it paid. He had good oats both years, 

 though they were poor seasons. Other members had 

 no experience. 



TTaines Brown : Would it not pay as well to leave 

 corn stock ground lie idle as to put it in oats ? 



S. L. Gregg had tried the plan and was not pleased 

 with it. He plowed the ground before harvest to 

 keep down the weeds, but they came up notwith- 

 standing and gave him much trouble. His neighbor, 

 George .Miller, left his last summer and did not plow 

 until after harvest, when theweedshad to be mowed. 

 They were four feet high. His wheat is now looking 

 well. 



E. H. Haines would cultivate and sow in clover 

 rather than let the ground lie idle. 



Ed Stubbs would put in oats. Had seen clover 

 sowed In stock eround. It made such a rank growth 

 that it was a big job to put in wheat in the fall. 



Lindley King would keep the ground clean by 

 putting it in oats. 



Montillion Brown ; When is the best time to pack 

 butter for winter use ? 



R. B. Gatchel packed thirty pounds in a week in 

 June, churncdevery day, salted with seven ounces of 

 salt to ten pounds of butter. Put half inch of salt 

 between each churning and a layer of salt over top 

 of all. 



Esther K. Haines has eaten some this winter that 

 had kept well. It had been put up in nearly the 

 same way, only that holes had been made down 

 through it with a stick, and brine, with salpetre in 

 it, poured over it and a cloth put down tightly over 

 the top. 



Montillion Brown : When is the proper time to sow 

 early cabbage and tomato seed ? 



From the last of February to the middle of March 

 was the time recommended by some ; but most of 

 the members purchased their plants for early use. 



Montillion Brown : How old should a clover sod 

 be to produce the best crop when plowed down. 



Lindley King : About two years ; that is about as 

 long as clover'sod will last. 



Chas. S. Gatchel referred to some clover roots that 

 he had exhibited to the club some time ago. Those 

 of one year old had the most small fibres attached 

 to them. Judging from this fact he supposed that 

 the best time to plow duwn clover was atone yearold. 



S. L. Gregg and Montillion Brown thought that at 

 two years old would be the proper time to plow 

 down. At that time the roots are as long and as 

 strong as ever they would be ; after that time It 

 begun to die out and other grass takes its place. 



Edward Stubbs asked if the committee appointed 

 to experiment in raising corn thought it paid to raise 

 a hundred bushels per acre. 



Montillion Brown replied that the single crop did 

 not, but that the soil is left better. For" his part he 

 considered the experiment a failure, and its result a 

 disgrace to the club. He was not satisHed with it 

 and was going to try it again, and he hoped that the 

 others would do so also. 



The thermometer was not far enougli above zero 

 for the club to spend much time in making the usual 

 inspection of farm and live stock. However, the 



greater part of them ventured out and took a hasty 

 look at the stock in the barnyard and hog-pen. The 

 criticisms given aller again convening in the house 

 were as follows : Hogs of extra quality and in fine 

 condition. Cattle not as good as they were a year 

 ago. The President remai-ked that the cattle on the 

 farm a year ago were an extra lot, and that It would 

 be hard to keep up a stock equal to it. 

 literary exercises being next in order, E. H. Haines 

 read an article on pruning grape vines.- 



Esther K. Haines read •' Brain Work," an article 

 contending that a man has no more right to have an 

 idle brain than an idle body. That when the brain 

 gets to work nicely you feel the effects all over. 

 Those who do not command respect have themselves 

 to blame for it. 



Carrie Blackburn recited the "Power of Truth," 

 very nicely. Howard Brown recited " That Mule," 

 a parody on " The boy stood on the burning deck." 



Ella Brown recited "The Highway Cow," a 

 humorous piece not much too highly painted, de- 

 scribing the rough life of that animal, her hide 

 bruised with stones and her tail torn off by dogs. 

 She often loads thedeacon into temptation by leaping 

 into his enclosures ;ind at last " goes to pieces all at 

 once, struck by a railway train." Such a cow has 

 but little pleasure in life and cannot be profitable to 



Isaac Brown recited " Dried Apple Pies;" Montil- 

 lion Brown read au essay in opposition to the culture 

 of tobacco; Sadie Brown, C. S. Gatcliel and Hetty 

 Jackson were appointed to furnish the literary mat- 

 ter for the next meeting. 



Adjourned to meet at the residence of Solomon L. 

 Gregg, Drumore township, 1st of February next. 



LINNiEAN SOCIETY. 



The Linnoean Society held its stated meeting on 



To the Ornithological department was added two 

 fine and desirable specimens, mounted in good taste 

 by Mr. Flick; one a beautifully full-foaihercd 

 " Sparrow Hawk," a true Falcou (the Falco Spar- 

 verius) . This bird was after our city sparrows.no 

 doubt, and lived sumptuously ; but being captured 

 without injury to the bird, three weeks ago, on North 

 Queen street. Dr. Rathvon took him home and con- 

 fined him in a cage, and desiring to study the bird 

 and its habits, interviewed him with bits of fresh 

 veal and beef; but no temptation would induce him 

 to eat, and so for four days he kept sullen, and, no 

 doubt, as Mr. S. said, " he made way for liberty and 

 died." The other donation, from Mr. Lippold, the 

 bird fancier, of East Orange street, is one of those 

 short-billed white pigeons, called the " White Owl 

 Pigeon." It has not the cravat of the African owl 

 pigeon, figured and described by Darwin. 



A large water-washed pebble, with a bunch of the 

 nodular coarse sea-weed clinging to it, from the coast 

 of Ireland, was donated by Andrew Walters, tin- 

 smith of North Queen street. It differs very little, if 

 any, from the common nodular i^'wcws, found along 

 the coast of Jersey or Delaware bay. A box of 

 thirteen cocoons of our native silk-worm moth — At- 

 tacHs cecrvpia — aud a few of the polyphemus, were 



donated by Mr. , of York, Pa. Dr. Kathvon 



deposited a small silver carp. Enjoying a tank, it 

 made a frisky leap, and like a fish out of water, 

 " came to grief." Mr. Wm. Relne donated a pair of 

 duck's wings— of a species of small Divers. 



A singular deviation in the normal growth of a 

 tobacco leaf pressed and preserved in form, by S. S. 

 Rathvon. This had an interruption to its cell, form- 

 ing tissues around the mid-rib, retarding some and 

 accellerating other cells, so as »o result in a hoUoiv 

 stipe or foot, the stalk arising from that point a few 

 inches, then dilating into a cup-shaped leaf, forming 

 a regular pocket of the ordinary leaf texture, the 

 mid-rib of this extra leaf, finally elongating into a 

 point, giving the one side of the cup a projecting or 

 extended portion, forming the ordinarv apex of the 

 leaf. 



Historical Division. 



Eight envelopes, containing 10-1 scraus of history, 

 biography, etc., per S. S. Rathvon. C". M. Stubbs, 

 M. D., of Wakefield P. 0., Chester county, sent 

 several sets of photographic prints (taken in a mas- 

 terly manner) of the "Bald Friars" sculptured rocks 

 in the Susquehanna livcr, I'.j miles south of the 

 Maryland line. A vote of thanks was given for 

 these interesting views. 



Papers|Read. 



No. 511, S. S. Rathvon on the Falcon or Sparrow- 

 Hawk. 



Additions to the Library. 



Quarterly report of the Pennsylvania Board of 

 Agriculture, September, October and November, 

 IhTS ; annual report of the comptroller of the cur- 

 rency, Forty-fifth Congress U. S.; L.vxcaster 

 FAtiMER for the month of January, 1879 ; a circular 

 and letter Irom "The Kentucky Historical Society," 

 Lexington, Ky., desiring the friendly interchange of 

 publications, etc., with the Linniean. The society ae- 

 kuowledged the friendly offer and will cordially do 

 all to establish such relations with kindred societies. 

 Publications on the curious customs of the aborigi- 



nes, by W. J. Hoffman; the r.ihrarian, of Philadel- 

 phia, for January 7, 1879 ; Sunday book circulars 

 and hclcotypc printing. A letter lo the correspond- 

 ing secretary, Kev. D. II. Gclssinger, was read. .J. 

 Stauifer made some remarks on a new aphid that 

 has lately made its appearance on a species of exotic 

 Afelepia. These arc of a bright yellow color. The 

 abdominal horns arc short and black, so Is the tip of 

 the ovipositor and sucking apparatus, as also the 

 tarsi, only one winged specimen seen. The nervures 

 weie like those that infest vats occasionally ; also 

 rather light In color, but need closerlnvestlgatlon. A 

 bill of the taxldermisl for 8J..50 for mounting the 

 birds reported was ordered to be paid. The treasurer 

 reported that .lohn 1. llartman and .John II. Raum- 

 gardner had each taken a certifleate of stock and 

 paid ?.5 per share. Adjourned. 



Agriculture. 



The Greatest of all Grains. 

 Not over one person in a million could correctly 

 answer the query, "Which of all the grains is the 

 most largely produced ?" The response invariably 

 would be, " Wheat." But this is not so. Rice car- 

 ries off the palm. The annual pioduct of the rice 

 crop in the United States Is grown in the Carollnas 

 and Louisiana mainly, and is said to average eighty 

 millions of pounds. The vast populations of China, 

 the East Indies and the islands adjacent, according 

 to the latest estimates, exceed eight hundred mil- 

 lions of souls. With more than half of this number 

 rice constitutes the only article of diet. The total 

 product of the East last year was a little over two 

 huudred and fifty billions (2.50,000,000,000) of 

 pounds, which is over three thousand times the 

 r/uantily r/rown in the United Stales. This amount is 

 nearly all consumed within their own territories. 

 The portion shipped to Europe and South America, 

 though large, is, as compared to the huge product, 

 but a small item, being less than one per cent. 



The Late Summer Seeding of Grass. 

 Some of the best farmers in this country have fol- 

 lowed the practice, for some years, of turning over 

 pieces of their mowing fields that are somewhat run 

 out ; spreading on a top-dressing of well rotten 

 manure, and the last of August or first of September 

 — as the season may be — seeding heavily with grass 

 seed. In all instances of this kind of which we have 

 heard, heavy crops of hay have been harvested the 

 following year, and the plan has uniformly met with 

 success. If farmers desire to do so, aud are willing 

 to try the experiment, they may sow on some winter 

 wheat with the grass seed, and see how It does. 

 They may harvest a fair crop, but in some instances 

 of which we have learned, the grass has overshadowed 

 the wheat, which latter had given but a light yield. 

 But for the purpose of securing advantage of the 

 main point— the renovation of our grass lands— the 

 plan is worthy of more general practice.— /"rairie 



The Ruta Baga. 



The Purple Top Yellow Ruta Baga or " Swede," is 

 perhaps the most important root cultivated for stock 

 food; its rapid maturity, large bulk to a given area, 

 nutritious quality, and sanitary properties commend 

 it as eminently worthy of culture. 



It has become a practice in the sale of Ruta Bags 

 seed to create varieties; and In an English catalogue 

 before us there are not less than twenty-one sorts 

 enumerated : the distinctions In a majority of cases 

 are ideal. Last year we tested, slue by side, twenty- 

 two sorts, so called, Imported for the purpose. 

 Many were of irregular form. In some of them the 

 purple tint of the crown was more marked than In 

 others; some were green topped, some of deeper 

 yellow flesh, but the general aspect was similar, as 

 they stood in the ground. — Landreth's liur. Jieg. 



Corn in Drills. 



A New Jersey paper nays that ninety years ago It 

 was regarded as a settled point that corn in drills 

 gave a larger product than in hills, but that now, 

 after much discussion, it remains unsettled. This 

 remark would not be made by any one who has in- 

 formed himself on the subject. We have thoroughly 

 tested this question by measuring the results and find 

 almost uniformly an increase of ^.5 to ^0 per cent, 

 with drill corn over hills — provided the proper dis- 

 tance is given for the plants. It would be easy to 

 obtain a diminished amount from the drills if too 

 thinly planted ; or ears of an inferior quality. If much 

 too thick. John Johnson informs us that after long 

 experience he arrives at results precisely similar to 

 those we have mentioned. — IJountry Genlleinan. 



Webds need constantly to be looked after and 

 taken by the foretop. Remember that every weed 

 that is allowed to go to seed this year will be re- 

 placed by hundreds and thousands next year. " One 

 year's seeding" of weeds is said lo produce " fifteen 

 years of weeding^," and it is not far from the truth. 



