THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



many that the crop would be a faihire, but the 

 rains which came near the close of July had 

 the effect of giving new life to the plants, and 

 at the end of the season the crop was found 

 to be one of the best yet produced. 



The good quality of the tobacco here, it is 

 said, is owing to the fact that stable manure 

 is used, instead of guano and other fertilizers, 

 as is the practice in Connecticut and other 

 states. It is estimated that the crop of 1879 

 in Lancaster, York and Lebanon, will amount 

 to 60,000 cases of 400 pounds each, being one 

 of the largest crops ever grown in these coun- 

 ties. Half of this amount has already been 

 purchased by dealers, principally tliose in 

 Lancaster, and the other half is fast coming 

 into market. The price for this crop ranges 

 from 15 to 30 cents per pound for tobacco 

 suitable for wrappers; 8 to 10 cents for seconds 

 and about 5 cents for fillers. A large quan- 

 tity of the tobacco is used in the county for 

 the manufacture of cheap cigars, this being 

 one of the largest revenue districts, so fiir as 

 this article is concerned, in the country. 

 The entire production this year, according to 

 the estimate made by those most familiar 

 with the business, is over 24,000,000 pounds, 

 which will yield in the neighborhood of 

 83,000,000. 



The farmers engaged in the business plant 

 from 1 to 40 acres, and, in a good season they 

 expect to gather from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds 

 from each acre, which yields them, from $200 

 to $400, according to the quality of the tobac- 

 co. The tobacco, when growing, looks like a 

 hardy weed, and not at all a nasty one, but it 

 is subject to many mishaps if not nursed and 

 watched with great care. In the the first 

 place the land must be rich, and if planted in 

 tobacco eVgry year, heavily manured after 

 each crop. The seed is planted early in the 

 spring, generally in forcing beds, and the 

 young plant is set out from the last of May 

 until late in July, in rows 3i feet apart, the 

 planting from 12 to 18 inches apart. The 

 work of caring for the tobacco commences 

 soon after planting and continues almost 

 without intermission until delivered into the 

 warehouses of the purchaser. The ground 

 must not only be kept clear of weeds and well 

 cultivated, but the worm, the worst enemy of 

 the plant, must be watched for and killed as 

 soon as found. If these pests to the tobacco 

 growers are allowed to remain until they 

 attain any size they would ruin the leaf by 

 eating holes in it and thus destroy it for use 

 as wrappers for cigars. In some places tur- 

 keys are used to destroy the worm. The 

 turkey not only seems to have a quick eye for 

 the worm, but a voracious appetite for them, 

 swallowing them as if the ugly green things 

 were of the most dainty character. The 

 tobacco IS cut about the last of August, and 

 then hung in buildings to dry. These 

 buildings are thoroughly ventilated, having 

 generally slatted openings that can he closed 

 or opened as the weather is favorable or un- 

 favorable for drying purposes. The tobacco 

 is carefully watched until ready foi- stripping. 



The tobacco barn Is now one of the most 

 important features connected with the busi- 

 ness. The old style of using wagon sheds, 

 garrets or any old building has nearly passed 

 away. The barns that have been or" are now 

 being erected are large and costly. All these 

 barns have cellars, which are indispensable 

 for preparing the leaf for market, for it per- 

 mits the removal of the tobacco from the 

 laths, when in stripping condition, and its 

 remaining in that condition until the grower 

 has time to prepare for its sale. 



The farmers before selling assort the to- 

 bacco, so as to have the same size and color, 

 but when the dealer gets it he re-assorts the 

 leaf before packing. Each bundle of a half 

 dozen leaves is shaken up and examined, and 

 if all the leaves are of the same color, size 

 and quality it is allowed to pass, The defi- 

 cient leaves are taken'out and graded after- 

 wards separately. Every pound is thus 

 handled, the lower grades, of course, not with 

 the same care, and each grade is put in a case 

 to itself, a sample of it being kept out, the 



sales being made by the sample during the 

 summer, before the sweating process|has been 

 completed. But if he holds on to his tobacco 

 until the fall or winter, it lias to be re-inspect-' 

 ed by regular inspectors who are recognized 

 by the trade, and the samples selected by 

 them are used for selling purposes. 



In the counties, York, Cumberland, and 

 Perry there are a great many hands employed 

 in the manufacture of cigars, and in Lancas- 

 ter alone $86,000 worth of cigar stamps were 

 used in September last, which is equivalent to 

 a sale of 15,000,000 cigars. The total amount 

 of revenue collected from the cigar industry 

 of this district for the fiscal year ending June 

 30th, 1879, was $700,866, show a i)roductiou 

 of cigars amounting to one luuidred and 

 sixteen million eight hinidred and eleven 

 thousand. 



Mr. F. R. Dittenderffer, of Lancaster, in 

 a recent report to the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, states thao tobacco can be growu suc- 

 cessfully wherever Indian corn will mature. 



As a rule, wherever the mean temperature 

 during the month of July is as much as sixty- 

 eight degrees Fahrenheit tobacco can be 

 grown. From this it will be seen that among 

 the Northern states, nearly, if not all New 

 England, central New York, Ohio, southern 

 Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and part of Iowa 

 and Wisconsin are adapted to its cultivation, 

 perhaps quite as well as Kentucky and Vir- 

 ginia, unless in seasons of unusually early 

 frosts. But even this disadvantage can be 

 overcome by a careful selection of the jiroper 

 varieties, and acclimatization. Southward, of 

 course, there is no limit, as it is able to bear 

 any degree of heat or humidity the tropics 

 have to offer. Were it not for our more 

 variable climate, there exists no known 

 reason why brands as choice as any grown in 

 Cuba might not be grown in Pennsylvania. 

 The readiness with which Cuban varieties 

 adapt themselves to our more northern 

 climate is another evidence nf the remarkable 

 degree of adaptability possessed iiy Ihisiilant. 

 Temperature is the gre;il regulalor, and we 

 may set it down as a pretty .safe rule, that 

 wherever frosts do not occur bct^veen the 

 middle of May and the middle of September, 

 say a period of one hundred and twenty days, 

 tobacco growing cau be successfully carried on. 

 He also states that the area of tobacco cultiva- 

 tion is gradually extending to portions of the 

 state where its culture was unknown hitherto. 

 Lycoming and Clinton counties now boast of 

 a very fair acreage, and some of the fields 

 compare very favorable with those of Lancas- 

 ter and York. Its cultivation has also been 

 commenced in W^estmoreland county. 



There is still in Lancaster from" 7,000 to 

 8,000 cases of the crop of 1878. — Hanieloc in 

 Philadelphia Lcdyer. 



^ 



TRAITS OF ANIMALS. 



Dogs, Birds, a Parrot, a Monl<ey, a Spider and 

 a Bullfrog. 



A bullfrog recently caught at West Chester 

 when opened was found tn have swallowed a 

 i full grown mouse. 



A cat was sent by express, cai-Ll'ully boxed, 

 from Dansville to Bochester, a distance of 

 fifty miles. Not many days afterward, tabby 

 came walking into her old lionie. 



When a good housewit'r of Kirkaldy went 

 for a ham that had hung (rum the rafters, it 

 had a fair exterior, but was a perfect shell, 

 skin and bones only remaining to show its 

 form, while the rat, after living so sumptu- 

 ously, had built a nest in the centre, and was 

 easily captured. 



A parrot belonging to Cajjt. Eichelberger, 

 of Baltimore, was always present at family 

 prayers. One morning, when in the garden, 

 a hawk flew down and seized the parrot, when 

 it shrieked : "Oli, Lord, save us ! Oh, Lord, 

 save us!" which so frightened the hawk 

 that he dropped his prize. 



At Priest's hotel, on the road from Cala- 

 veras Grove to the Yosemite, is a dog who one 

 hour before the arrival of the stage goes 

 leisurely down the road to meet it, then 



bounds back to the poultry yard, catches 

 chickens, bites their heads off, and takes 

 them to the cook. He takes one chicken for 

 each gentleman in the stage, never making a ] 

 mistake. 



An expert in antique coins in Paris is a ' 

 poodle. The money being placed upon a 

 table the dog being introduced, and after 

 nosing among them will knock off tlie table 

 all the bad pieces with his paw. After ac- 

 quiring great fame it was found the whole 

 thing was a trick. His master took care to 

 handle only the bogus coins, and the poodle's 

 decisions were arrived at by faculty of scent. 



A wandering "chippy" was picked up by a J 

 St. Louis lady and placed in the cage with | 

 her canary. In the morning it was released, 

 when the canary mourned as if it had lost its 

 mate. In the evening the chippy returned, 

 and was allowed to nestle on the cage, when 

 the canary struck up one of the liveliest notes 

 and seemed gratified. This was repeated for 

 three days. Then chippy failed to return. 

 The canary drooped and soon died. 



A monkey belonging to a gentleman of the 

 south of France often helps the cook. Being 

 given a pair of partridges to pick one day, he 

 seated himself in an open window. A hawk 

 flew down and snatched one of the birds, 

 wlieu the monkey tricked the hawk by secret- 1 

 ing himself, and, waiting, soon saw him come i 

 for the other, when the monkey caught the 

 thief. Plucking both the hawk and the re- 

 maining partridge, he took them to the cook, I 

 and the change was not discovered until the ] 

 game (?) was served at table. 



A couple of seals, the property of Major 

 Urch, of Portsmouth, N. H., were kept in a 

 tank, and were as tame as dogs. One of them 

 died recently, and Major Urch concluded to , 

 give the other its liberty, it seemed to grieve 

 so much at its loss. He took the tank to the 1 

 river bank and released the seal, thinking it 

 would swim out to sea. It swam all around 

 the river, but soon returned crying in distress 

 and flapped into its old quarters on the bank, 

 and stubbornly refuses to be ejected. 



An enormous eagle in Georgia swept down 

 upon two little girls, aged 3 and 5 years, 

 throwing them to the ground. It buried its 

 talons in the face and arm of the elder and 

 attempted to cary off the child, but was pre- 

 vented by her struggles. A little brother 7 

 years of age came to her assistance with a 

 carving knife, slashing the eagle's legs, when 

 it turned upon the boy, who was soon released j 

 by the appearance of Joe Betzler a neighbor, 

 upon the scene, who shot and killed the bird. 

 It measured seven feet from tip to tip of wing. 



A spider is a glutton, as was evidenced by 

 an experiment recently made. A gentleman 

 arose at daybreak and supplied a spider who 

 had an extensive web, with a fly. This was 

 at 5:50 o'clock, a. m., in September. The 

 spider was then feeding on an earwig. He 

 came for the fly, rolled him up and returned 

 to his first course. At 7 o'clock his earwig 

 had been demolished, and the fly at 8 o'clock. 

 At 9 o'clock he gave it a daddy-long-legs, 

 which he ate at noon. At 1 he irreedily 

 seized a blow-fly and during the day he 

 counted 120 green flies, or midgets, all dead ^ 

 and fast in his net. 



THE NEW ERA IN FARMING. 



A very interesting glimpse of the immense 

 wheat fields of the Northwest, and the pro- 

 cesses by which wheat raising will be made 

 unprofitable at the East and in England, is 

 afforded in the following paragraphs from the 

 letter of a traveler who knows well how to 

 tell what he sees : 



"Twenty miles due west of Fargo, Dakota, 

 you strike the wonder of America — those 

 colossal wheat farms, winch in extent and 

 productiveness, surpass anything in the 

 world. There is nothing to break the view 

 on either hand, but as far as tlie eye is capa- 

 ble of seeing, stretches a breezy sea of wheat. 

 The .sight is one so novel, so wonderful, that 

 you gaze in speechless amazement. The 

 varied tints of the ripening grain, the im- 

 mense expanse of the prairie, level almost as 



