The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER. PA., JANUARY, 1880. 



Vol. xn. Mo. 1. 



Editorial. 



"HAPPY NEW YEAR." 



We commence this, the twelfth volume of 

 the Lani'astek Faumeh. iimler auspices 

 that seem to foreshadow a iin)Si)eroiis future 

 to our common country, and especially to 



(those wliose fortunes are cast amongst the 

 ranks of its studry yeomanry, who (ind their 

 compensations in its generous soil. Prosper- 

 ity fosters new wants, liiglier aspirations, a 

 wider range and a more expanihd henevo- 

 lence, and tliis perliajis is "all right" and 

 I)roiier, provided these inipul.ses are judgmat- 

 ically guided and kept under rational control. 

 We would sincerely tleplore a repetition of 

 the trying ordeal througli which the toiling 

 millions of our country liave been passing for 

 more than half a decade of years, hut if we 

 cainiot l)ring tlie e.xperiences of the past to 

 guide our footsteps in the future our liistory 

 may repeat itself J t as certainly as a comet 

 returns. Now, tliat prosperity seem.s to be 

 dawning upon our country witii •■Jicaling in 

 its wings'' we would congratulate our friends 

 and patrons on the auspicious issue. As a 

 legitimate means to a worthy end, we may be 

 indulged when we desire to become an un- 

 selfi.sh participant in wliatever degree of 

 success a bountiful Providence may vouch- 

 safe to our fellow men, or as nnicli of it as they 

 in the plentitude of tlicir feelings may bestow. 

 We hope our function is one of 'disinter- 

 ested usefulness, and in that capacity we 

 desire to serve the community, hoping for a 

 reciprocation of the sentiment by extending to 

 us their generous aid. We w.ant the people, 

 and especially the farmers, of our county and 

 our State to regard the Lanca.ster Farmer 

 as one of their locally "lixed institutions," 

 entitled to their permanent support, materi- 

 ally, morally and intellectually. Eleven years 

 of uuremitfiug and almost unrequited labor 

 in the ranks of agricultural journalism ought 

 to entitle the spon.sers of The Farmer to a 

 more than mere temporary consideration, and 

 our ambition is to make it a realization of the 

 wish and will of the farming public; for we 

 feel that we can be mutually beneficial to each 

 other. We have no desire to occupy the status 

 of a lounging interloper, a fawning mendi- 

 cant, or an importunate trmnp, but to be one 

 of the people, working far tlie people and 

 patronized 6// the people. "Wc aspire to be a 

 worthy representative of the interests of the 

 farming puljlic, and a literary exponent of 

 the agricultural lore of our county, as well as 

 the grand old commonwealth of wliich she has 

 worthily been styled the -'garden spot," and 

 so endowed by tlie God of nature. We are 

 sensibly aware that we cannot be this, and 

 our patrons sliould also be aware of it— with- 

 out tlie earnest co-operation of the honest 

 tillers of tlie soil, and we tlierefore confidently 

 look to tliem for moral, mental and pecuni- 

 ary support, and our chief ambition is to make 

 our journal wortliy of such support. The 

 number of those ■ who feel tliat tlie great 

 county of Lancaster occupies too conspicuous 

 a )iosition in the agricultural world to be 

 without a local literarv representative, is 

 increasing daily, not only in quantity, but 

 also in qwdity, and we desire for this feeling 

 wider and more lucrative sphere. Whether 

 weal or woe betide, we have turned the prow 

 of our bark "outward bound" for another 

 annual voyage, and we ask our friends and 

 patrons to 'i)ag its sails" with a generous 

 breeze, and we trust that the result of our 

 cruise— among other things— may culminate 

 in "lumps of gold" tor them and us. Under 

 any circumstances, however, may health, 

 long life and prosperity be theirs, may 1880 

 be at least as fruitful' as 1879, may smiling 



peace <'ontinue on earth, and "good will 

 toward men." We are "to the manor born," 

 we breathe a common atmosphere, and we 

 tread a common soil, and there is no reason 

 why we sliould not participate in a common 

 interest. With this exposition ofourattitude, 

 allow us to wish one and all a thrice '■'■Ilapjnj 

 .\«« Year.'' 



PENNSYLVANIA FRUIT GROWERS- 

 SOCIETY. 



This association will hold its twenty-first 

 annual meeting at IJetlilehem, Pa., com- 

 mencing Wednesday, .lanuary -Jlst, 1880, at 

 3 o'clock, p. m., and continuing over the 22nd. 

 A cordial invitation is extended to all inter- 

 ested in horticulture, floriculture and kindred 

 pursuits, and those who can make it conve- 

 nient to attend, we doubt not, will not only 

 be interested but also edified and instructed. 

 The association is particularly desirous that 

 tho.se having fine specimens of fruits, flowers 

 or vegetables, should send them to the meet- 

 ing for exhibition if they are debarred from 

 attending themselves. The following pro- 

 gramme of exercises will illustrate the 

 general scope of the society's operations. We 

 will give a synopsis of the proceedings in our 

 February number, and also as many of the 

 essays as we may be able to secure; in the 

 mean time we would admonish all that they 

 cannot "kill time" more appropiiately than 

 by attending this meeting. 



Essays and Addresses. 



"Fruit culture in the Cumberland valley," 

 by A. E. Longsdorf, of Mechanicsburg, Cum- 

 berland county, Pa. 



"The dark side of fruit culture," by Casper 

 Ililler, Conestoga, Lancaster county, Pa. 



"Plant life," by one of the members of the 

 Society. 



"Can we plant too many fruit trees," by 

 Cyrus T. Fox, Secretary of the Berks county 

 Agricultural Society, Heading, Pa. 



"Science in the garden," by Prof. S. B. 

 Heiges, York, York county. Pa. 



"The management of an orchard," by Dr. 

 J. IL Funk, Boyertown, Berks county. Pa. 



"Some experience in strawberry culture," 

 by F. F. Merceron, Catawissa, Columbia 

 county, Pa. 



"Uses and abuses of pruning," by Jas. 

 Calder, President State College, Centre Co., 

 Pa. 



"Window Gardening," by Thos. Meehen, 

 Editor Gardner's Monthly, Germantown, Pa. 



Other papers and addresses may be expected 

 in addition to the following questions which 

 have been suggested for consideration and 

 di.scussion: 



1st. Are birds really the fruit growers' 

 friends? 



2d. Should the tree agent be encouraged? 



3rd. Can the bearing of apple trees be 

 changed to the off year ? 



4th. Can we introduce too many seedling 

 fruits ? 



')t\\. Pear blight and yellows in the peach. 

 What new facts concerning their cause and 

 prevention ? 



A WORD IN TIME. 

 If the winter continues to be an open one, 

 or as lonij as it continues .an open one, farmers, 

 gardeners and fruit growers, and indeed, 

 housekeepers in general, who have shrubbery, 

 trees, vines and plants on their premi.ses 

 would do well to give them freciuent "over- 

 haulings" during tlie winter, in search of 

 grubs, beetles, bugs, worms,|larva' and puiiie, 

 inordertobe "forehanded" next spring. \o 

 man can tell the prolific results accruing from 

 the neglected follicles, cases or sacks, brace- 

 lets of eggs, and egg-masses*in general left 



dangling from or as hanging to the branches 

 of trees and shrubbery during a single winter 

 — they amount to many million. Some of 

 these are very conspicuous, others require to 

 be looked for, even closely searched for, but 

 conspicuous as they are they are still neglect- 

 ed. Birds, if we had enough of them, might 

 do as mucli of this work as is coasisteut with 

 the ordinary balances of nature, but our birds 

 are too few and too progressively fastidious 

 in their tastes to be depended on. No doubt 

 there are many who deem it too small a busi- 

 ness to be hunting these minute objects in 

 detail ; but, tobacco growers at least, when 

 the time comes to cultivate their crops think 

 it essential to the value of the same to devote 

 their special attention to the tobacco worms 

 and other enemies that infest them, however 

 laborious or unpleasant it may be. That 

 same vigilance should be extended to other 

 crops, and especially when such labors may 

 act as a prevention rather than a cure. 

 Watch the female moths of tlie "canker 

 worm, as they come up out of tlie ground, and 

 prevent them from a.scending the aiiple trees 

 to deposit their eggs. Cut off and destroy all 

 the follicles of the "sack worm" which liave 

 been left of last year. The.se you may find on 

 many trees, but especially on the arbor vittv. 

 Remove all clusters of webs from the trees 

 and gather all the pupaj of the green "cab- 

 bage worms wherever they may be. Sma.sh 

 all potato beetles wherever you may find them 

 hidden. By attending to these labors thor- 

 oughly during fine days in winter you will 

 save a great amount of labor next summer, 



and be otherwise rewarded. 



^ 



"DAIRY FARMING," 



Being the theory, practice and methods of 

 dairying, by .). B. Sheldon, assisted by leading 

 authorities in various countries. Published 

 by Cassell, Better, Galpin & Co., Loudon, 

 Paris and New York, in monthly parts, 'at 

 furty cents per part. 



This is a new and original 24 page quarto, 

 in paper covers, embellished with beautiful 

 illustrative plates, prepared specially for this 

 work, besides numerous original wood en- 

 gravings, explanatory of the various pro- 

 cesses employed in dairying. We have pa- 

 tronized ,somc of the best illustrated quarto 

 publications of this or any other country, but 

 none have sm'passed or equaled the (juality 

 of the paper and letter-press in this. Every 

 sheet is fit to receive the finest copperplate or 

 steel impression. The simple title of ''Dairy 

 FitcHiuiy," by no means expresses the quality 

 and scope of the work, nor yet its coniiirehen- 

 sive, practical and trustworthy character; it 

 must be seen, and its pages carefully scanned, 

 to form a proper estimate of its intrinsic 

 value. Perhaps no industrial interest in our 

 entire country has made greater or more 

 healthy advances than that of dairying; and 

 the wonderful and increasing demand forfre.sh 

 milk, cream, butter and cheese has worked 

 such a revolution in this department of our 

 domestic productions that it would be im- 

 possible to return to the ancient order of 

 things, even if we desired to do so. The old 

 prejudices aL'ainst "Book farming," and 

 "Book dairying" are giving way to more 

 liberal and progressive views on these sub- 

 jects. The best, the most practical and the 

 most economical ideas are now Ijeing embodied 

 in serials and books, for the benefit of near 

 and remote contemporaries, as well as pos- 

 terity. All these considerations beget the 

 necessity of such publications as the one under 

 review as the proper representative of an 

 industrial interest which promises to increase 

 in the future far more rapidly than it has in 

 the past, and also to enlist in its aid 'A 

 greater amount of intelligence. 



