THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



51 



(l.H's not cxt.'iid iKirth into Virgiiii:i. Tho 

 1 iitiiiK'ii in lldWtT, wliicli i'lii-nislK'cl tho pol- 

 h II lor comiiarison, was itatlicifd near Wil- 

 mington, N. C, iu tlie inontli ol" March. 

 ( iirronts of air luive, no (loul)t, hrou^'ht from 

 that distant region enough of tlie polltn tu 

 ]Hi\vderliglitly aconsiderabledistrict in >;ortli- 

 i i-i.iii rennsylvania. Tims tar, it has been 

 iiportid as seen in the eounties of IJerks, 

 I ihi'di. Carbon and !Northaini)ton. I may 

 statc'also that I have found water in rain- 

 ho-,lieads, inCenlral l'enns\ ivaiiia, covered 

 with pollen of pine I r>cs. l.roiiu'ht by the winds 

 tVoni the ueighburiug mountains at the season 

 of their flowering, in the month of May." — 

 Thomas C. Porter. 



We would have been content to have let the 

 matter rest with our last i)aper t)n tlie subject, 

 did we not know that there are siiiu<' persons 

 in this city who will insist that the Nubstanee 

 iu question was veritable "brimstone;" and 

 that our opinion, in the absence of material 

 data, had only been presumptive and not 

 positive. 



"STRAWBERRY PROTECTUS." 



Our attention was called sonic days ago to 

 a newly-invented iniplenieut to protect straw- 

 bi-rries from the dirt and sand that sometimes 

 accumulate on them during drenching 

 showers of rain, or that peculiar earthy flavor 

 they sometimes imbibe by resting upon and 

 ripening on the ground, or on the mulchings 

 whh which the ground is covered, and which 

 Incomes often saturated with unpleasant 

 moistures. This is simply a square or round 

 ( oncaved earthen disk, about twelve inches 

 ui diameter, with a round hole in the centre, 

 through which the plant is trained. When 

 the plant is matured and in fruit, the branches 

 bend outwardly, and the fruit rests within 

 the concaved disk (forming a shallow dish), 

 the bottom or sides inclining towards the 

 plant, thus keeping dry and clean and easily 

 gathered. But this is not all it does. It 

 shades the ground, and the dews and surplus 

 moisture falling from the plant gradually 

 trickles down towards the base of the plant 

 and supply the roots. The fruit, in our 

 opinion, will also be protected froiu certain 

 -]ieries of milipedes that attack it from the 

 luulerside when it is lying on the ground, or 

 half buried in the mulching under the plants. 



BUCKWHEAT CAKES AND SAUSAGES. 



As some approximation to the consumption 

 of animal food in Lancaster county we clip 

 the following item fiom a current number of 

 the iViEio Era, as the result of two months in 

 a single town, and that not among the largest 

 towns in our county. This was all slaughtered, 

 presumably, for home consumption, and we 

 may infer, therefore, that the town is pretty 

 well fortified against a famine, so far at least 

 as beef and pork can "stave off" such- a 

 calamity. Surely that ancient borough must 

 have enjoyed a reign of "buckwheat cakes 

 and sausages," to say nothing about roast 

 beef and "boloneys. " Lancaster county can 

 always take care of " her own," and without 

 a doubt always will take care of them, what- 

 1 \er may transpire adverse to the general 

 lirosperity. This makes no account of the 

 "chicken lixens " and other edible etceteras 

 employed in " settingoff " a good table. Should 

 there unfortunately be any future starvelings 

 they will do well to keep an eye on Adamstown. 



Live Stock Slaughtered in the Borough of 

 Adamstown. 



"The following is a true and correct ac- 

 count of beef, pork and veal slaughtered in 

 the borough of Adamstown by the different 

 butchers during the mouths of November and 

 December of 1878. We will first give a list of 

 citizens who slaughtered porkers weighing 

 over 400 pounds : Esais Billingfelt. 091, 58i5, 

 570 ; John Musser, GiO, 632 ; Sebastian Mil- 

 ler, .591, 495 ; William J. Frame, 606, 491 : 

 Levi Hemich, 500, 551 ; Edwin Coldren, 522, 

 495; Henry Seigfreid, 688, 595; Edward 

 Smith, 437, 412 ; Hemy Kegar, 510, 470 ; 

 Jonathan Plickiiiger, 500, 417 ; Franklin 



Woods, 452, 422 ; William Myberger, 500 ; 

 ,Iohn Klapp, 52:i ; (Jeorge Bollmau, .525 ; A. 

 S. Kaudenbush, 497 ; Henry Trostle, 490; 

 William Krich, 469, 400 ; lleurv K. Bucher, 

 '1(17; Mor-an 11. Clark, 447 : .b.iiu Slote, 447 ; 

 William Fichthoru, 40.-) ; James B. I'rutzman, 

 445 ; David Laudis, 442 ; A. C. Snader, 417 ; 

 Daniel Siegfried, 437; Ileniy Haller, 447; 

 Franklin Knemer, 400 ; Moses Yelk, 440; 

 Solomon Good, 400 ; Conrad Hertz, WD ; John 

 Uathmau, 47(1; John Slote, 4.->4 ; Samuel Col- 

 dren, 4J(); .loshua Spat/., 417; Wm. Mohn, 

 44.-.; Levi Schuader, 4.^iO ; .Mn-aham Lutz, 

 4.J0, making a total of 50 head, weighing, 24,- 

 032 pounds, or an average of over 480 pounds ; 

 254 head weighing 58,601 pounds, or an aver- 

 age of over 234 pounds per head ; or a grand 

 total of 82,033 pounds of pork, 131,000 pounds 

 of beef, and 3,000 pounds of veal, of which 

 Henry Echternach, butchei-, slaughtered 30,- 

 507 pounds, Frederick Goodhart, 28,000 

 pounds, Henry Eedcay, jr., 0,000 pork and 

 20,000 beef, Flickinger & Landis, 3,000 pork 

 and 15,000 beef, Redcay Bros., 14,400 pork 

 and 24,000 beef. Christian Flickinger, 18,000 

 beef, and William F. Hegar, jr., 3,000 pounds 

 veal and 54,000 pounds beef" 



SPRING AND WINTER TREE 

 CLEANING. 

 By the time our next number appears 

 many of the pestelential insects that infest 

 vegetation will be "lively" and hungry enough 

 to begin their destructive careers. The foliage 

 and bloom of fruit trees, vines and shrubbery 

 will then be too far advanced to admit of 

 cleaning, or the application of active reme- 

 dies in many cases without more or less injury 

 to their tender condition. If cocoons, clirys- 

 alids, web and egg masses are not now re- 

 moved, it may then be too late to do tliis 

 work effectually without entailing much 

 trouble. AVe are often surprised to see so 

 much apathy or positive indifference in mat- 

 ters of so much importance. Many people 

 pay no attention to the subject at all until 

 they are forced to do so by the presence of 

 hordes of insects devouring their plants, 

 shrubbery, &c. Now this need not neces- 

 sarily be so, if only a little attention is given 

 the subject. On one occasion a lady called 

 our attention to a rose bush, the leaves upon 

 which were fast becoming skeletonized and 

 dry and crisp. When we pointed out to her 

 something less than two hundred greenish 

 rose-slugs, [selandria rosea) she was utterly 

 astonished ; she had not noticed them before, 

 and thus it is in many instances. People 

 seem to expect that insects will come to them 

 and say, " here I am, kill me." 



PERSONAL. 



Much time, trouble and misunderstanduig 

 would be saved to the editor, the publisher 

 and the patrons of The Farmer if those 

 having relations in any wise wth the oflice, 

 would give heed to the following : All com- 

 munications relating to business, including 

 advertising, subscriptions, remittances, ex- 

 changes, &c., should be addressed to Jno. A. 

 Hiestand, No. 9 North Queen street— the 

 PuBLisiusR. All essays, contributions, book 

 notices and communications intended for pub- 

 lication, to S. S. Eathvon, No. 101 North 

 Queen street— the Editou. 



IS THE LOWEST PRICE THE CHEAP- 

 EST ? 



This is a qucetioD that Is daily aekcd by all. Iu 

 nearly every tranBaction of buying and selling, the 

 purchaser fluda his or her mind reverting to this 

 question and trying to solve the problem. By a very 

 large majority of people price is the first and princi- 

 pal criterion of value, and thousands upon thousands 

 of persons make it their rule to buy that for which 

 the smallest price is asked, believing that in thus 

 saving a penny they are earning one. We beliere it 

 capable of proof, however, that in nine cases out of 

 ten a penny thus "saved" is two pence thrown away. 

 It is owing mainly to this propensity for hunting 

 "bargains, and insisting upon low prices at the ex- 

 pense of quality, that goods manufactured in this 

 country compare generally so unfavorably with simi- 

 lar classes of goods manufactured in foreign "coun- 

 triea. Our readers, if there be any "bargain-hunters" 



among them, may object that they do not insist upon 

 low prices at the expense of quality, but for prices 

 combined with fine quality and the best goods. Such 

 a cnmlihiulidn of conditions may be Inbisted upon, 

 but liiii by no possibility exist aa a rule. There may 

 lie t,'xi(|ili(inal cases, when goods of fine quality are 

 60l<l at less than their cost; an owner may be forced 

 make sacrllices: but it is not exceptions we arc 

 iling of but rules. Mr. A. may have a stock of 

 goods for sale, and, on account of heavy payments 

 he has to make, may find It to his Interest to sacrifice 

 on ^is goods for a few weeks, In order to force sales 

 and put him in possession of necessary funds ; and 

 it may be cheai)er for him to raise the money needed 

 in tins way than to hold his goods and borrow money, 

 paying interest for it. That Is a natural and legiti- 

 mate business transaction. But it is impossible for 

 Mr. A. to sell, day after day and year atler year, 

 goods equal in quality to those his neighbor oflers at 

 half the price. Klther he is losing money, needlessly 

 and recklessly, or the supposed cheapness of his 

 goods is a fallacious one. As no dealer could long 

 stand such a drain upon his resources, even if he had 

 the desire to scatter the beneflts of his charily thus 

 indiscriminately, we are forced at once to abandon 

 our flrsl hyiJOthesis. We see him getting richer year 

 by year— perhaps even more rapidly than his com- 

 petitor, who sells better goods at higher prices. The 

 fact is indisputable ; cheap goods are invariably of 

 poor quality. Woolen goods containing shoddy can 

 be bought at a less price per yard than similar ap- 

 pearing goods made wholly ol wool. In fact, the 

 former can be bought at retail at a less price than 

 the first cost of manufacturing the latter. But It by 

 no means follows that those who manufacture or sell 

 shoddy are losing money, or selling bargains ; on the 

 contrarj , such goods are infinitely dearer, as can be 

 easily demonstrated by any one who doubts it, to 

 their own satisfaction — or, more correctly speaking, 

 to their own sad dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, there 

 are thousands of people who think It economy to 

 buy such goods — paying less to-day, to be sure, but 

 paying about three times in the time that one garment 

 made of good all-wool cloth would have lasted. One 

 housewife may think sugar at six cents per pound 

 cheap, and hold up their hands in holy horror at 

 what she terms and believes the extravagance of a 

 neighbor who buys clean, pure sugar at twelve cents 

 per'pound. There is no modification in pure sugar 

 any more than in the component parts of the air we 

 brcathe;--aud,if wemustuse adulterated substances. If 

 we believe them cheaper, why not buy the pure articles 

 and adulterate them ourselves. Probably no woman 

 would buy a pound of sugar at twelve cents and mix 

 it with an equal quantity of sand, so that she might 

 say her sugar costs her six cents per pound ; but such 

 absurdity would be wiser and more economical than 

 to buy a similar article already adulterated, as a 

 grocer who does the adulterating would not only 

 have to be paid for his trouble and labor, but would 

 make a profit for himself, by charging her, perhaps, 

 eight cents for what she could produce for six. Ik) 

 not understand us to assert that all sugar sold by 

 grocers at low prices has been mixed by them with 

 aultcrating and cheapening substances; such is by 

 no means the case. Thousands of grocers find their 

 principal sales of sugars to be of this grade, who 

 would no more adulterate than they would pick 

 pockets. It is not essential to our argument to desig- 

 nate how, where, or by whom adulteration is done, 

 we only desire to show the indubitable fact that it 

 exists in all low grade goods, and iu the case of 

 sugars it may more frequently exist, from the fact 

 that it has never been purified or refined — that the 

 adulterating substances contained in it at the time of 

 its manufacture in the tropics, have never been re- 

 moved ; but the housekeeper can no more afford to 

 pay for adulteration that has always been in the 

 sugar, than she can for that that may have been sur- 

 reptitiously incorporated with it yesterday. This 

 universal desire to cheapen every article bought, the 

 strange belief that as good an article can be bought 

 for fifty cents as for a dollar, has forced the pro- 

 ducers and sellers of goods, in self-protection, to 

 lower the cost of each article, in order to meet the 

 ideas of the buyer as to price, and reduction iu cost 

 is as invariably reduction iu quality, as the fact that 

 two from four'always leaves two, and never three or 

 four. 



Tlie foregoing we extract from a long arti- 

 cle in the January number of the Electric Mes- 

 senyer, a demifolio, published in the city of 

 Philadelphia, seemingly in the interest of a 

 special occupation ; but the arguments are to 

 the point, and are applicable to all trades and 

 occupations whatever they may be. Never, 

 until ignorance is banislied from the world, 

 and its place is occupied by wisiloiu (not even 

 will learning suflice, for one may be learned 

 without lieing wise) will the masses of the 

 people have an intelligent understanding of 

 their truest intere.sts, or be able to answer the 

 question which forms the caption of our 

 quotation. At the first blush, no doubt, ten 

 to one, or perhaps fifty to one, would answer 



