1879.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



45 



Mr. Carpsntcr said, according to his experience, 

 early in tlie spring' is tlie surest time. 



Mr. Vollcitzer said tliatif sowed late it would lay 

 loo mucli on the surface ; if early sowed it would 

 sink more Into the soil. 



Mr. Grossman said, according to his expiTience, 

 one year with another, the best time is I'rom the 

 middle to the last of March. By alternate freezing 

 and thawinp the seed will become better covered by 

 the soil than if sowed late ; because the soil is then 

 beaten down usually by the spring rains, and the 

 seed will lie on the surface, throw out small roots, 

 and stand too much on the surface. Then, when 

 very dry weather follows harvest, It is liable to 

 wither and die. If sown early this will not he the 

 case, for by that time it will have become more 

 deeply rooted in the soil. He further said, that he 

 could not recollect a season wlicn late sowing done 

 well, or when early sowing failed ; but he remem- 

 bered when the contrary was the case. It is true, 

 that in some very favorable seasons all have done 

 well, and in unfavorable ones all have failed; but 

 the average is in favor of early sowing. 



All that were present concurred in these views. 



The question was then taken up : " Which is the 

 best, keeping cattle In the stable all summer and 

 feeding them on green fodder, or turning them into 

 pasture, and what kind of fodder is best?" An 

 essay was then read by Mr. Grossman on the subject. 

 Sec paffc 40. 



Mr. Carpenter remarked that there was little else 

 to be said on the subject. 



Mr. Vollitzer said that would help to double the 

 crop. 



Mrs. Carpenter, and also make good butter. 



Messrs. C. and V. said too much manure is lost. 

 The droppings of cattle on pasture is of but little 

 amount. Much more manure could be made than is 

 made, and it would employ a greater number of 

 laborers. It would pay for the extra labor, and both 

 the farmer and the laboring man would be benefited. 



Mr. V said he did not know whether we could 



obtain the seed in this eountry, but in Germany they 

 sow vetches and oats together to feed their stock, 

 and cut it twice in a season. All that were present 

 agreed with the sentiments of the essay. 



The soiling question was continued for further 

 discussion. 



Questions proposed for next meeting : 



1. How shall we make our farms pay best? 



2. Is It beneficial to educate our sons, and let them 

 go from home, or keep them on the farm ( 



3. When best to sow oats— how much to the acre 

 — how to prepare the soil. 



Adjourned to meet on the farm of Uriah Carpen- 

 ter, Saturday, March 8th, at 1 o'clock p. m., in 

 Warwick township. 



P. S.— We have seen that other clubs do not pub- 

 lish the names of all present. We will follow their 

 practice. 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The February meeting was held at the residence 

 of Solomon L. Gregg, Drumorc township. The day 

 was cold and disagreeable, and half of the members 

 were absent. Visitors present by invitation— Evans 

 A. Gregg, James McSparran and I. Clinton Arnold. 



Mary Ann Tollinger exhibited some apples for a 

 name. They were lair sized, tolerably good and 

 would keep for a year. No one present was able to 

 name them. 



Asking and Answering Questions. 



Wm. King : Would a farm be likely to increase in 

 fertility if it was kept in grass, and cows or other 

 animals enough kept on it to consume all the hay 

 and pasture, if grain enough was purchased to keep 

 them in fair condition ? 



Evans A. Gregg, Jam« McSparran and I. C. Ar- 

 nold thought it would, as all would be put back that 

 was taken off, and more. 



Josiah Brown was of the same opinion, if the land 

 was good enough to produce the natural grasses 

 when the clover and timothy worked out. Unless 

 this was the case the grass would soon work out, 

 leaving nothing in its place. We plow here too often 

 for green grass to grow. 



E. H. Haines thought that the system would suc- 

 ceed where the land is natural to grass. Ours is not. 

 Under such treatment the grass would soon run out 

 and green grass would not take Its place as it does in 

 some parts of Chester county. 



Josiah A. Brown had taken notice that greengrass 

 does come in fence corners and other places that are 

 not plowed if the land is good. 



Solomon L. Gregg : Under the present condition 

 of our land we could not get started. 



Evans A. Gregg : Giving grass a good coat of ma- 

 nure will have a tendency to keep in the grass. Top- 

 dressing Is a great thing for it. 



Montillion Brown: The Millers' Association 

 threaten to put down the price of Fultz wheat so 

 that farmers will not raise it. Are the farmers going 

 to be guided by their determination ; 



Solomon L.Gregg did not feel like submitting. He 

 had inquired of dealers in wheat and was told that 

 it was in demand. It is going to England ; they like 

 it there. 



E. H. Haines thought the farmers had as little 

 cause for alarm at this threat, as the clergy had to 

 be scared at the prraclilnir of Kobert Ingcrsoll. It 

 (Iocs make good Hour, and farmers will raise it unless 

 the price is put down very low, as It is more produc- 

 tive than other wheat*. Tills ai)peared to be the 

 opinion of all present. 



Josiah Brown : Can wheat be raised for a dollar 

 per bushel ? Answer : Not while labor, land and 

 fertilizers remain at present prices. 



E. U. Haines: Is there any advantage in having 

 straw rotted in the barnyard, Instead of spreading 

 on the fields to rot there I 



Josiah Urowu had founil great advantage in spread- 

 ing straw on sod ground. It sometimes makes one- 

 third more grass. 



S. L. (ircgg and .Montillion Brown had also good 

 results from siireading straw on grass land. It acts 

 both as a mulch and a manure. 



I. C. Arnold : There Is a chemical action wliich 

 takes place in the yard while the straw is rotting. 

 The ammonia is retained by the moisture. When 

 straw is spread on the fields it acts principally as a 

 mulch, and much of the manurial value is lost. 



S. L. Gregg had noticed in the Oxford J'ros an 

 article on the value of Norway oats straw as food 

 for milch cows, giving the opinion of our neighbor 

 Jesse Yocum that it was equal to hay. Jesse feeds 

 it quite liberally to his cows, and the favorable re- 

 port of his dairy (200 pounds of butter per cow in 

 the year) gives weight to his opinions in the matter. 

 He (Gregg) wanted to know if there was any dilTer- 

 ence between the straw of Norway oats and that of 

 common oats, and what the club thought of its value 

 as food for cows. 



Josiah Brown did not think oats straw good for 

 cows or any other cattle. Wheat straw is better. 



Evans A. Gregg : Norway oats straw is heavier 

 than the straw of common white oats, and may be 

 better, but Jesse gives his cows as much grain aS 

 they can eat, and It don't make much ditl'erence 

 what else they pick up. 



Wm. King: Will cows that are fed on straw give 

 better milk? 



Jos. R. Blackburn : They will. 



E. H. Haines : There may be some foundation for 

 this prejudice against oats straw, but it is little more 

 than prejudice. It is generally fed in winter when 

 cows are mostly strippers. VVhen this is the case 

 the milk will be bitter and the butter poor, no matter 

 what the cows eat. The butter dealers in town say 

 that dairymen who ship to them make the poorest 

 quality of butter when the quantity is least. 



Afternoon Session. 



A warm stove had too many attractions on such a 

 cold day for the club to make a very long inspection 

 of the stock and farm, after dinner ; so the proprie- 

 tor escaped with but few criticisms. The host next 

 read an essay advising young men to go west and 

 obtain homes. 



E. H. Haines thought the subject well worthy of 

 consideration. The west offered great inducements, 

 with good health and willing hands. 



Joseph R. Blackburn: There are great induce- 

 ments, but on the other hand there are great dis- 

 advantages. People of one religion, or one na- 

 tionality, naturally desire to keep together. But the 

 western man may look one side and see a Norwegian, 

 on another an Irishman, and a Dutchman on an- 

 other, and so on. Besides, there is so much of a 

 sameness in the farms, that he con iders them all 



by M rs. Ilemaus. Allie Gregg recited " Forty Years 

 Ago." I. C. Arnold recited "The Boys," by O. W. 

 Holmes. 



" The Old Woman " had heard that the club ex- 

 pected to discuss the tobacco question, so she sent 

 one of her pithy communications containing some 

 resolutions, whicli had been passed by herself, her 

 granddaughter Dolly and another woman in conven- 

 tion assembled, as follows : 



Resolved, That it is time for the women to assert 

 their rights in this matter. 



Uenoli'cd, That they who chew tobacco shall swal- 

 low it instead of spitting around among more cleanly 

 people. 



Resolved, That emptying spittoons is no part of 

 woman's business. 



Uesoli'ed, That young ladies should slTiin the to- 

 bacco chewer as she would any oilier filthy or un- 

 clean animal. 



The old man had never used tobacco but once. He 

 never lilicd it after thai . She read him a list of reso- 

 lutions that cured him at once. 



The question, " Should this club encourage the 

 raising of tobacco i" was next discussed by E. 11. 

 Haines, Josiah Brown, S. L. Gregg, James McSpar- 

 ran and I.e. Arnold. Joseph K. Blackburn read au 

 essay on the negative side of the subject. 



Tlie question, " Have farmers, by their experi- 

 ments, arrived at any uniform results that can be de- 

 pended upon for future operations f" was adopted for 

 consideration at next meeting. 



Adjourned to meet at the residence of William P. 

 Aaines, 1st of March. j 



LINNiEAN SOCIETY. 



A staled meeting of the .society Wiis held on Satur- 

 day, February '.'IM. The following donalion!, to the 

 museum were examined : A fine specimen of a large 

 spiral, conic shell, from California, per William L. 

 Gill; a dry gourd, originally five feet long, called 

 "Club of Hercules"— this Is considered a variety of 

 the loiig-nccked squash, or dipper calabash, " La- 

 gcnaria Vulgaris,'' in l.ulln ln!/ena,a l)Ottle,or "bot- 

 tle gourd ;""al6o, shale frQin the coal regions, one 

 specimen with pretty fern leaves, the other, the 

 mould of the bark of Slggillarla, a fossil tree-fern, 

 per Mr. J. M. Wcsthaelfer. He also made a special 

 deposit of the bow, thirty arrows, quiver and whip, 

 formerly belonging to a Commauche Chief. The 

 preserved head, pectoral, ventral fin, gills and ova 

 (if the "red fish," recently from the table of Mr. 

 Fox on market. Mrs. Gibbons had quite an assort- 

 ment of plants that she culled In France, during her 

 late visit. Two of them she called especial atlentioa 

 to, as being largely cultivated In France for fodder, 

 the one named " Sainfoin ;" the other " Ileibcrnage 

 or Illvernagc." 



Kev. J. H. Dubbs had on exhibition for Inspection 

 an Indian relic from Germantown, Ohio. This was 

 a Talcose, flat, oval-shaped stone, about four by five 

 inches In the two diameters, a three-sided hole, with 

 an arched top cut through it— no doubt for being 

 suspended around the neck. It was neatly sculptured 

 on both faces. 



To the historical collection Dr. Rathvon added 

 four envelopes, containing fifty-seven historical and 

 biograplilcal, local and foreign scraps. 

 Additions to the Library. 

 Proceedings of tlic American Philosophical Society 

 of Philadelph a, volume xviii, July and December, 

 1878; a treatise on the horse, by Kendel, per Mr. 

 Lvte ; the seventh annual report of Noxious and 

 Beneficial Insects, by the Illinois State Entomologist, 

 Cyrus Thomas, Ph.D.; the Naturalists' Directory-, 

 alphabetically arranged. From the Department of 

 Agriculture : Report on the conditions of crops, 

 1S78, and one on live stock, January 7, 1879 ; J'alent 

 Office Gazette for December, 1878, and January 7, 

 1879. Book circulars: The Lancaster Farmer 

 for February, 1879. 



Papers Read. 

 J. Stauffer read an illustrated paper on the " Red 

 Fish," above referred to, the " Sebastcs yorveyius." 

 Only found in deep water, and rare this far south. 

 He also read a letter from Prof. S. F. Baird, of the 

 Fish Commission, Smithsonian Institute, who mani- 

 fests quite an interest in the fact that so rare a fish 

 should come to the Lancaster market, and desired 

 Mr. S. to give him one of the characteristic sketches, 

 by which the spec;es could be determined, as there 

 are several on our coast. 



Letters Read. 

 One from Mr. Laux, proposing exchanges with 

 this society ; one from Geo. I'. Bunn, Philadelphia, 

 desiring an exchange of cocoons. 



Mr. Rathvon then announced that this memorable 

 22d of February was also the seventeenth anniver- 

 sary of the society, and lie had penned a few thoughts 

 on the subject. On motion lie was called upon to 

 read the same, which he did as follows : 

 Dr. Rathvon's Address. 

 Mr. President ami fellow-member) uf the Linnaan 

 ISociety : 



For all practical purposes this may be legitimately 

 regarded as the seventeenth anniversary of the Lln- 

 niean Society, and It is with a feeling of some regret 

 that 1 witness so few of its original members present 

 to-day. 



Organization of the Society. 

 Alhhough one or two previous informal meetings 

 had been held, yet It was only on the 8th of Febru- 

 ary, 18(i2, that Its organization was completed, and 

 its board of officers duly elected. It has always 

 labored under one peculiar disadvantage at least, 

 which always exercises an adverse infiuencc u|X)n 

 the progress and practical utility of all associa- 

 tions of a similar character. It has never had a 

 member or a sympathizing patron who was a man of 

 leisure and of ample pecuniary means, whose liber- 

 ality could be exercised in its behalf; and hence, in 

 the common phraseology of the word, it has always 

 been pecuniarily {kmt. 



"Progress in the Face of Difficulties. 

 In view of the fact, however, that it began on 

 nothing but still undeveloped humiiii energies- ener- 

 gies still without special point or direction— the evi- 

 dences presented to-day unmistakably illustrate that 

 it has mailc very perceptible material progress. If 

 the time and the pecuniary means were at hand to 

 enable it to analyze, classify and systematically ar- 

 range the tangible material it has accumulated, I am 

 sure its magnitude would astonish even the best In- 

 formed, or most intelligently advanced among its 

 membership. 



Not Disappointed. 

 I cannot say that I am at all disappointed at the 

 progress the society has made during the past seven- 

 teen years, nor at the zeal or want of zeal manifested 

 by its members. At its organization I was already fifty 

 years old, and had had some experience in associations 



