42 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[ March, 



its oflal would keep mauy a family in fire 

 wood ; mauy persons would be willing to keep 

 their trees in " condition " for the use of the 

 offal wood. 



Abuite of Pruning. — "When an orchard of 

 fruit ti-ees has been neglected for some years 

 and has too many limbs, and is sometimes 

 almost decapitated of its branches in the win- 

 ter, or at any other time during April or May, 

 it is the most ruinous time because the sap 

 will flow freely down the trees, as if a coal 

 of lampblack had been rubbed over the butts 

 of them. I have seen whole orchards de- 

 stroyed in that way. An orchard should 

 never be so long neglected ; if you want a long- 

 lived orcliard, therefore commence to prune 

 in time while the trees are small. All kinds 

 of trees are injured by cutting large limbs oft. 

 It will not heal in time to overgrow the 

 wounds of the tree, and will commence pre- 

 maturely to decay, and sometimes become 

 hollow and useless for mechauical purposes. 



The peach tree is also very liable to injury 

 when large limbs are removed. 



The grape should be pruned in February. 

 Wliole vines have been destroyed after April ; 

 when pruning has not been attended to until 

 that month, I would recommend that the 

 pruning be deferred until June for all- kinds 

 of fruit trees and shrubbery about the place. 

 When small limbs are taken oif, the wounds 

 will almost close uji the same summer. — L. 

 S. R., Oreijon, March, 1879. 



MORE ABOUT EELS. 



Dr. S. S. Rath von— Dear Sir: Please 

 allow me to correct you. In the February 

 number of The Lanc,\ster Farmer you 

 say that " I saw the eels migrating about the 

 years 1849 or '50 ;" this is incorrect, as near 

 as I can remember it was in 1865. I have 

 taken pains to ascertain all about the migra- 

 tion of eels, and am now in possession of 

 evidence which convinces me they ascend the 

 Susquehanna every spring. In February the 

 young eels are hatched in deep bay water, in 

 the mud, and arrive at this point the latter 

 end of May or beginning of June. They have 

 then grown to a length of four to six inches, 

 and paddle along the shore at a lively rate. 

 I think one of the reasons they are not oftener 

 observed is because they pass at a time when 

 comparatively few persons are fishing along 

 shore, the river being as a general thing too 

 low for this purpose. 



Mr. Levi Neff, of Highville, was raised on 

 an island hi the Susquehanna, and had 

 splendid opportunities to observe the habits 

 of the fish common in its waters, and he in- 

 forms me that he saw the small eels migrating 

 more than a dozen times, and is certain that 

 they go up every year. Mr. Harry Hershey 

 has also seen them migrate four times in a 

 period of fifteen years. 



I will endeavor, this spring, to create an 

 enthusiasm among the dwellers of the river 

 shore with regard to this question, and try to 

 induce them to watch, and if they are seen 

 passing I will let you know. 



I think from what I could glean from 

 fishermen that you are correct as to different 

 species being found in our wat&l-s. The Octo- 

 raro creek has a dam ten feet high at Rolands- 

 ville, Md. Yet many hundreds of eels are 

 annually caught in the creek above the dam, 

 and it is reasonable to suppose they never 

 leave the creek, breeding in the mud of the 

 mill dam. — FoMTS, Ac, E. K. Hershey, Cres- 

 loell Pa., Feb. 25, 1879. 



[Tliere is no better way of eliciting authen- 

 tic information on any subject than by calling 

 the attention of those to it who have experi- 

 mental knowledge on it, by inquiry, agitation 

 or discussion. The migration of eels, an- 

 nually, seems "settled." Now let us know 

 all about their eggs, when they are spawned, 

 and how they appear as compared with the 

 eggs ot other fishes. — Ed.] 



For The LANCAyTER FabmEB. 



OATS AS FEED FOR HORSES. 



I once expressed my surprise, to an old 



farmer, that so much oats was farmed when 



corn yielded larger and more certain crops. 



The reply I received was, "there is nothing 

 like oats to feed to horses at work, but I 

 nearly always feed oats and corn mixed." 



The old gentleman being in a hurry to go 

 home at the time, I was not able to ascertain 

 from him the reasons for his thinking oats 

 superior to other feed. The matter was not 

 allowed to drop, and I found out in time that 

 this practical farmer, who haS hardly a fair 

 common school education, but is a man of 

 good sense and habits of observation, had by 

 experience hit upon one of the best feeds for 

 horses probably in existence. 



All persons who have been around horses, 

 more or less, have noticed that many horses 

 considered " thin in flesh " have been able to 

 work hard and nut show much signs of dis- 

 tress, such as sweating and blowing, while 

 large, fat horses have given out or been unable 

 to do the same amount of work. It is to our 

 interest to find the cause of this, and science 

 stands ready to point out the reasons of the 

 facts. All vegetable (and animal) substances 

 are composed of water, ashes and organic mat- 

 ter. When burned the water and organic 

 substances disappear, leaving only the ashes. 

 With the water and ashes we are not at 

 present concerned, but turn our attention 

 solely to the organic matter. The organic 

 matter is the only part that "feeds up" the 

 animal, and this matter is pretty sharply 

 divided into albuminoids and carbo-hydrates. 



The principal carbo-hydrates are starch, 

 sugar and fats of all kinds. These in feeding 

 produce heat (or warmth) and fats. 



The albuminoids are numerous, but all de- 

 pendent as such on the nitrogen they contain, 

 and in feeding they build up the lean meat 

 and muscle. 



All vegetable materials contain albumi- 

 noids and carbo-hydrates, but in very variable 

 proportions, and it has been discovered by 

 practical tests and trials what the proportion 

 should be ; from these tests it has been de- 

 termined that for working animals the ratio 

 ot albuminoids should be to carbo-hydrates as 

 1 to 4 40. 



In the table given below, adapted from 

 .Johnson's "How Crops Grow," is given the 

 composition of some of the principal materials 

 fed to horses : 



The headings explain the contents of the 

 columns. The figures are per cents. , thus : In 

 100 pounds of oats there would be 12 pounds 

 of albuminoids, 60.9 pounds of carbo-hydrates, 

 &c. The column of fat (oils,) is included in 

 the carbo-hydrates, and this column is merely 

 given to .show why some feeds "lay on fat " 

 so much faster than others. 



The "ratio" column interests us most now, 

 and by examining it we find that oats, timothy 

 hay and meadow hay approach nearest to the 

 ratio of 1 to 4.4. If we paid attention only 

 to the formation of muscle for work the hay 

 would seem to be as good or better than oats, 

 but there are two objections against it. Hay 

 is too bulky to allow the horse to eat enough 

 for his needs and contains only from one-third 

 to one-half the fat contained in oats. 



The majority of farmers feed a mixed clover 

 and timothy hay, the average ratio of which 

 is as 1 to 3.41. If to the hay, oats in equal 

 quantity (by weight) was fed we would have 

 a ratio of 1 to 4.26 ; if corn and oats mixed 

 would be taken, then we would have a ratio 

 of 1 to 4.63, as near as we can conveniently 

 approach and not varying from 4.40. This is 

 just what our friend thought best, and shows 

 plainly that genuine experience and science 

 agree when rightly interpreted. 



Another practice in feeding has also come 

 in vogue, the mixing of oats and wheat bran, 



and the practice is sound, particularly when 

 only timothy hay is fed. What we have to 

 strive after is to give the horse a feed, the ratio 

 of which is as close 1 to 4.40 as possible, and 

 as his stomach is small compared with his 

 size, we must use grain and other feed to 

 some extent. 



When corn is the only grain on hand, we 

 might make some approach to oats by mixing 

 equal quantities, by weight, of chopped corn 

 and bran. This fed along with mixed timothy 

 and clover hay would most probably keep the 

 horses in as good a condition as if oats was 

 fed. In such feeding the ratio of albuminoids 

 to carbo-hydrates would be about 1 to 4.58. 



I know of one man who keeps his team in 

 good order on chopped corn and rye. While 

 the rye in some degree reduces the fattening 

 tendency of the corn, it is not equal to oats in 

 forming muscle, but the mixture is better 

 than iiure corn would be. 



But to come back to our "oats." I have 

 heard an objection against it, in that it would 

 give horses a rough coat. This roughness is 

 often seen in horses, and usually is more often 

 the case in winter than in summer. As soon 

 as a horse gets a nibble at grass the roughness 

 disappears ; we are not ablerto get grass in the 

 winter and so we must look for a substitute ; 

 this, fortunately, is found right at hand in 

 bran ; the latter is a laxative, and when not 

 fed in too large quantities, puts the bowels in 

 good condition and gives that glossy coat so 

 much admired in well-kept and well-governed 

 horses. 



On the whole, as oats, in the order of crea- 

 tion, is older than the horse, it must be sup- 

 posed that the horse was made to eat the oats, 

 and oats he should by all means have.— 

 A. B. K. 



Our Local Organizations. 



AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICUL- 

 TURAL SOCIETY. 



The Lancaster County Affricultural and Horticul- 

 tural Society met in their rooms, on Monday after- 

 noon, Miirch :5rd, at two n'cloi'k, anil was called to 



orde 



o]ici-. Till- IV.llowing- members 

 II CcH.ir I-, I'ri'.sident, Bird-in- 

 II, r, >rri.i ;irv. Paradise ; Peter 

 ■ M. Eiml. . Marietta; John C. 

 enry S. Kiirlz, Mount Joy ; W. 

 la; "Frank Sutlon, Mauheim; 

 aaa; F. i;. Dillendertfer, city; 

 U. D. Kcndie, Manor; Colin 

 Albert Mcllvaine, Paradise; 



Hand; Joseph F. Wii 

 S. Keist, Liliz; Ilnir 

 Linville, Salisbnrv: I 

 P. Brintoii, Christia 

 Casper Hiller, Coiiest 

 J. M. Johnston, city ; 

 Cameron, Elizabeth 

 Henry Herr, East Hempfield ; Simon P. Eby, city; 

 I. L. Landis, Manheim ; Epliraim H. Hoover, Man- 

 heim ; C. L. Hunsecker, Manheim ; Dr. S. S. Kath- 

 vou, ritv ; J. Hartman Hershey, Kohrerstown; A. F. 

 Hi.sirM;i-, (ire-i.n; Judee George D. Stitzel, Read- 

 in;;; 1). Ihiruiiiin, i-ity ; Henry Wissler, Columbia; 

 E P. Kn"le, Marietta ; Simon A. Hershey, West 

 Henjpfield ; C. A. Park, Geneva, New York. 



The minutes ol the i.nevious meeting were not read. 



Henry Wissler, Columbia; Colin Cameron, Eliza- 

 beth ; W. P. Brintcni, city : James Black, city ; Elam 

 Eshleman and .\lbert .Mcllvaine, Paradise, were 

 elected members of the society. 



Crop reports being called lor Henry Kurtz, Mount 

 Joy, said that in his neighborhood the wheat from 

 whicli the snow has mclli>d looks rather poor, though 

 some of it which looked well in the fall still looks 

 It is yet too early to estimate what the crops 

 o a good deal has been sold and 

 d deal to sell. The holders are 

 l,e prices otfered, and will proba- 



Of tobf 



rops. 



wheat did not look promising, 

 but tuoil crups have been grown from worse looking 

 wheat. The fruit buds have not been hurt by the 

 cold. The rainfall for January was VA inches, and 

 for February !'.( inches. 



An essay ,rtrawing a comparison between old times 

 and new, was read by Henry Kurtz. 



On motion of iMr. Engle the rules were suspended 

 to allow Judge Stitzel, of Reading, to make some 

 remarks. 



Remarks from Judge Stitzel. 



Jud.ge Stitzel said he was not in the habit of 

 apologizing on such occasions, btit the society must 

 not rxpnt to hear much from him, as he was not 

 pir|Miiil. U" rame from Reading this morning, 

 ciMi;|il. I, ! lii> lufiness, and was invited here. The 

 aiiirli- jiiM i..;iil ^aid we are not progressing. He 

 thou^iht this was because we do not make our'homes 

 attractive. Farmers should procure books for their 

 sons. Books on agriculture should be bought freely, 



