The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER. PA., DECEMBER, 1879. 



Vol. XI. No. 12. 



Editorial. 



TO OUR PATRONS. 



Thi.siiuinlHTC(incliules (lie <lnrnth mhimr 

 of The I,AN( ASTKi: Fai:mi:i;. :m<l we tinder 

 to our patrniisouiaiuiu.il ( 'hri.-iliiias^i-cctiims. 

 We have strus;,'lfa tlir(>u!,'li annlluT year, ami 

 we luive done wliat litlle we eiuild in advaiie- 

 in<j the material and .soeial iiileiests of the 

 ch>ss we represent. That we liave not done 

 more may liave been from a want of resourci!S 

 more than from a want of will. From the 

 dark night of adversity throne;h which we, in 

 common with the great majority of our coun- 

 trymen, have lieen jiassiiig for a series of 

 eventful years, we trust that we now are 

 emerging into the light of a brighter day, and 

 that the facilities for a higher and more en- 

 larged usefulness, ou our part, may be speed- 



eatpgoiy of modern improvement; l>ut, as true 

 progress can make no step l)ackward, it would 

 bejust aspossihl.' to dispense with all these 

 things, as to dispense witli newspapers and 

 other liteiiuy piil)lieutions, and especially 

 tho.se devoted' to the interests of local agri- 

 culture. It is these considerations which 

 have stimulated us in our efforts to build up 

 in Laneaster cniintv an agrieMltural journal, 



isl 



ily and amply developed. Time, tircnmst.ance, 

 aud home and foreign opinion, have only more 

 lirmly ti.Ked in our mind and lieart, tliat our 

 great county cannot allonl to be witliout a 

 local exponent of her aiirieultmal interests, 

 whether she herself is cognizant, or ever will 

 be cogniziiut, of that fact or not. Neitlier in- 

 dividuals nor communities are always tlie be.st 

 judges of what omjht to be. Progress is ag- 

 gressive, reformation is aggressive, and so is 

 social improvement. If it wrir hi'i lo tlie 

 dictation and movement of tiic ma.-si ,, ihcre 

 would be little, if any, either inonil. s.i.ial or 

 mechanical progress, riio minority, and often 

 the few, stimulated by irresistible impulses of 

 progress, harness themselves to the car of 

 improvement, and pull it and push it through 

 avenues and into places it never would be 

 found, if it had to Ije accomplished by the vol- 

 untary aiMl simultaneous efforts of the masses. 

 Hence the whole newspaper and publishing 

 machinery of our country, and all other civil- 

 ized countries, has ever been an aggressive 

 work. It has not stopped to cavil with the 

 people, as to whether its presence has been a 

 necessity or not, but it has labored to make 

 itself a necessity, and slowly but surely the 

 people are beginning to recognize its empire. 

 Anihilate the press," and you'seal the doom of 

 civilization. The pregnant fact that the press 

 is so amply sustained in our country, in the 

 very face of its great abuse, is a living testi- 

 mony of its use, as a lever of civilization. If 

 this is true as a general proposition, it cannot 

 be otherwise than true in its particular appli- 

 cation. Tliat community which most liber- 

 ally sustains tlie press, must necessarily be 

 endowed with a corresponding degree of men- 

 tal culture, for it is the ignorant and illiterate 

 who do not read. With these views as a pre- 

 liminary, it must be ai)parent that the higher 

 and more important the industrial interest, 

 the greater need of a medium tlirough which 

 its principles and its progress may be brought 

 before the people. Agriculture is not merely 

 a secondary, or a third rate interest. It stands 

 first and foremost, a head and shoulders 

 higher than any other interest that can possi- 

 bly engage the minds and hands of men. It 

 is the base of our social structure, and it 

 would be but a natural conclusion to expect 

 that sucli an interest should have its literature, 

 and its literary rejiresentative wherever it ex- 

 ists as a human occupation. Time was when 

 there were no agricultural publications, but 

 for the matter of tliat, tliere was a time when 

 there were no publications of any kind. So 

 also there was a time when there was no 

 modern plow, reaper, thresher, and numerous 

 other implements used in husbandry, which 

 have been developed through the necessities 

 pertaining to domestic economy. So also 

 there was a time. when there were no steam 

 engine, no railroafl, no telegraph, no gaslight, 

 and many other things now included in the 



"fixed iustitiilioir," no degree of prosiierity 

 or adversity can diminish the demands of the 

 human family upon the storehouse of its sus- 

 taining treasures. When many occupations 

 become a hixunj too exiieiisive to be indulged 

 in, agricultiiiv still iciiuiiiis as an all-pervad- 

 ing and ever-pn siiil lur, .-^aHii. 



We desire our patrons and the public to 

 maturely ponder these things, and rellect 

 whether the sphere of our journal cann ,t, and 

 ought not, to be m.atorially increased. The 

 lirospeets now are that the American farmers 

 will liicoine the feeders of the world, and it is 

 lliiduyh tlie mediiun of the press that their in- 

 tertsts, Ijoth at lionicand abroad, can be most 

 effectively represented. The American farm- 

 ers are now enjoying a degree of prosperity 

 not enjoyed by any other occupation, nor by 

 any otlier country in the world; they have a 

 • siiiT thing" under any circumstances, and 

 om- wish is that they always shall have. Time 

 is 'inarcliing along," and it is but meet that 

 they should " keep step" and march abreast 

 with it, if not in advance. A year of reason- 

 able health and plenty to the farmer, is now 

 coming to a close, and if there is no occasion 

 for thankfulness and liberality now, then it is 

 not likely such an epoch will ever occur. But 

 before the advent of another year we will pass 

 through that festive season which commemo- 

 rates ' 'peace on earth, good will towards men, " 

 and if there has been the least goodness or 

 liberality hidden down in the will and affec- 

 tions, during the year, that could not be ulti- 

 mated on account of the cares and anxieties of 

 business life, the "coming event" will be 

 likely to develop it then. That peace, friend- 

 ship and good cheer may be the lot of all our 

 friends and patrons is our greeting being 

 their Memj ChrisUnas holidays. 



ANALYSIS OF THE FARMER. 



In preparing the index of The Lancaster 

 Faiimer, for tlie year 1879, we were more 

 than ordinarily imi)ressed with the amount of 

 labor the editing of our journal involved dur- 

 ing the year, a labor of which few can form a 

 just conception, until the matter is analyti- 

 cally and statistically brought to their notice. 

 We find that volume eleven, of which the 

 present is the concluding number, contains 

 one hundred and ten editorial articles, from a 

 quarter column to a full page or more in 

 length. But this is not by any means the 

 most laborious division of the work. We be- 

 lieve we but reflect the general sentiment of 

 the editorial "craft," when we say that "con- 

 ning" half a hundred monthly and semi- 

 moiithlv exchanges, periodically, and making 

 selections therefrom, adapted to any special 

 locality, is more laborious, perplexing and 

 fatiguing, that writing ori.ginal papers. Of 

 course this may not be universally the case, 

 but it is measurably so, as far as «'e are con- 

 cerned. Many people imagine that an editor 

 ought to remember all tliat he has WTitten 

 during the year, and be able to recall it in de- 

 tail, under any circumstance, and at any time 

 or place ; but as well might they expect a 

 compositor to recall and repeat all th.at he has 

 put in tyi)e during the year. In addition to 

 the above number of editorials, Jive commu- 

 nications, fifty-seven contributions; twenty-thru. 



essays; tvienlii-one (\\\cr\es and answers, . and 

 iim lni„d,;,l' „„d (innty-liro personal and lit- 

 erary iioticis, lia\i' appeared among its origi- 



(h-id mill siiriili, II original papers, a little over 

 one for each working day in the year. In ad- 

 dition to these we have published eiijhty-seren 

 special selections, sonic' of which covered more 

 than a page; besides i !iiliti/-Uira excerpts on 

 agriculture: si >■, niii-ilini on horticulture; 



siriiiliiii oil lloricuitlire; snriiti/-tiro on do- 

 mestic eeonomy; Jij'ly-ci'jlit on live stock; 

 xiirnty-imf i)\{ poultry; (/iiV(.i/-s(a; ou insects, 

 and eiijhlcen on the ai)iary'. We have also 

 publislied the proceedings of «/wr<e«?i meetings 

 of the Agricultural and Horticultural .Society; 

 tirebe ot thf I'oultry Association; fmir of the 

 Beekeepers' Society; lu-clve of the Liunsean 

 Society; .Sfwi of the Fulton Fanners' Club; 

 four of' the Warwick Farmers' Club; one of 

 the State Board of Agriculture; one of the 

 State Miller's Association, and one of the 

 Pcnnsvlvania Fruit Growers' Society; besides 

 one hunih-cil nwl fifty-eight household receipts. 

 All these literary items, numerically amount- 

 ing to ten hundred and fifty-eiyht, wheth- 

 er original or selected, had to be carefully 

 read, picked over letter by letter, and put 

 into print, for the delectation and instruc- 

 tion of the farming public. This literary 

 feast has been furnished during the year 1879 

 for the small sum of one dollar. Our main 

 object has been to furnish permanent and 

 standard matter that will not "siwil". by being 

 kept for future reference by posterity. 



SPECIAL NOTICE. 



We wish to imjiress it upon the memory of 

 the subscribers of The Farmer, that the 

 editor has nothing whatever to do with the 

 subscription list and book accounts, nor with 

 the terms and tenure of the advertising de- 

 partment; those matters belong to the specific 

 domain of the publisher and proprietor. It 

 seems superfluous to nmkc this statement 

 here, for it is made in evci7 number of The 

 Farmer throughout the year. But we are 

 so often written to on subjects purely relating 

 to the publishing department, that we feel 

 compelled to admonish the patrons of the 

 paper to read, think and act in accordance 

 therewith in relation to this subject. Of 

 course, when convenient, we hand these com- 

 munications over to the publisher or his agents, 

 but our residence is not in or near the print- 

 ing ollice, and if we are too much engaged, 

 the matter is likely to be forgotten Ijefore we 

 may have occasion to visit the office. The 

 functions of editor and publisher are entirely 

 distinct; and it appears to us that no one of 

 common intelligence could possibly make a 

 mist.ake in this respect; and yet it is made over 

 and over again. Editor. 



OUR CONTRIBUTORS. 



We return our sinceri'st thanks to those 

 friends w)io have coutrilmled to our columns 

 during the year IS"'.), and especially to those 

 who have continued their contributions 

 through "rain and shine," through "thick 

 and a\in," through "ill-report and good," 

 those who have lifted themselves up, and only 

 considered the advancement of our journal 

 and the dignity of our eomminiity, without 

 regard, to person. While we arc none the less 

 thankful to all, no matter how brief their do- 

 nations to our columns, or how "few and far 

 between." we still must regret that those have 

 almost ceased to "write for The Farmer," 

 whom we had flattered ourselves felt the 

 deepest solicitude for its success. Of course 

 we mean no rebuke, for every one is presumed 

 to know hisown business best, and how far it 

 is within the scope of hi.s time, convenience, 



