60 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[Aprili 



Reports on this Spring's Success. 



J. B. Lichty reported having had fair success in 

 hatching out birds this spring. 



H. Wissler reported excellent luck so far. 



Dr. Berutheisel said he had lieen experimenting 

 with the age of eggs for incubating purposes. He 

 put 11 eggs under a lien, 6 of which were 29 days 

 old, and he got out 10 chicks in all; he is therefore 

 persuaded that eggs will hatch out when much older 

 than people generally concede. 



Report of Auditing Committee. 



The Committee on Accounts reported through J. 

 B. Long that they had audited the Secretary and 

 Treasurer's accounts and found them correct. 



Their report was accepted and the committee dis- 

 charged. 



Miscellaneous. 



The Secretary asked whether it would not be well 

 to notify members of the day of meeting. He 

 thought we could secure a much larger attendance 

 in this way. 



On motion he was authorized to notify the mem- 

 bers by postal card of the time for the next meeting. 



On motion of Frank Greist an article published in 

 the Germanloum Teler/raph about the care of chick- 

 ens was referred to Kev. D. C. Tobias for discussion. 



There being no further business the society ad- 

 journed. 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The March meeting of the club was held at the 

 residence of Moutillion Brown, March 6th. Day 

 Wood exhibited the following statement of an ex- 

 periment in hog feeding ; 



Four hogs fed 112 days ; live weight at commence- 

 ment was l-'O pounds each, equal to 100 pounds dead 

 weight. When killed they dressed 1,460 pounds, 

 equal to 367 pounds each. Seventy bushel* of corn 

 were fed — first forty bushels whole, and then last 

 thirty bushels ground. Tlie average daily gain of 

 each was about S'^ pounds. Amount of pork made 

 per bushel of corn, 15 2-7 pounds. Pork sold in 

 Lancaster at 6^^ cents per pound, and the total gain 

 of pork being 1,069 pounds, at 6I4 cents, amounted 

 to §66.81, thus making the price of corn fed 9.5 cents 

 per bushel. The hogs were full-bred Poland China 

 and eleven months old when killed. 



Wm. King asked if there was any great advantage 

 in feeding hogs groimd corn. 



Day Wood said he was satisfied that the thirty 

 bushels of ground corn had made more than half of 

 the gain in his hogs, but he had not tested the mat- 

 ter by weighing his hogs when he changed the feed. 

 There was less waste in ground corn, and it would 

 pay to grind iine. 



Most of the other members fed whole grain, al- 

 though several of them believed that hogs would 

 gain faster on meal. Edwin Stubbs, a visitor, had 

 soaked corn for his hogs last year, and had never 

 had them to do so well before. 



Montillion Brown : Would it be safe to put salt or 

 pickle on quince trees ? Joseph Geist knew of trees 

 where it is put on every spring. They bear nice 

 quinces. Several others had been in the habit of 

 salting their quince trees. Some of them had re- 

 ceived no benefit from it. 



Solomon L. Gregg: Has any one present tried 

 Howell's Prepared Chemicals as a fertilizer, and 

 what is the result? No one l»ad tried them. 



After treating the club and visitors to a good sub- 

 stantial dinner the liopt showed some fine j'oung 

 cattle of his own raising, and a pen of good Chester 

 White hogs. When again convened in the house, 

 criticisms ou the farming operations being in order, 

 the live stock above mentioned received due notice ; 

 but some of the fences were found to be in a very 

 bad condition. The host explained that it was his 

 intention to remove the old fence altogether, and re- 

 place it with a new post and rail. 



An essay was then read by M. Brown, criticising 

 an article that appeared in The Lancastek Far- 

 mer, copied from the .Maine Farmer. The article in 

 question stated that the farmers of England and 

 Scotland paid from ?11 to S->5 per acre rent for their 

 farms and made money and lived at their ease ; 

 while American farmers, even when they owned the 

 land and had it well stocked, complained of hard 

 times. 



Grace A. King read a poem from Scattered Seed, 

 entitled " The Grant Excitement." Carrie Black- 

 burn recited " Going West." Ella Brown recited 

 " The Grave of Tliaddeus Stevens." 



The question, " Would co-operative farming pay 

 in this community ?" then came up for consideration. 

 The general opinion of the club was that in dairying 

 and some other things co-operation would be bene- 

 ficial, but in most kinds of work it would not prove 

 satisfactory. 



Joseph Griest and wife were now elected members 

 of the club. 



The following officers were elected for the ensuing 

 year: President, Day Wood; Secretary, E. H. 

 Haines; Treasurer, Joseph Greist ; Librarian, Wm. 

 P. Haines. 



The club then adjourned to meet at the residence 

 of S. L. Gregg, Drumore township, on the 10th of 

 April. 



THE LINN.iEAN'S TRIBUTE. 



The Society's Respect to the Late Jacob 

 Stauffer. 



The Linna'au society met in the hall of the Y. M. 

 C. A., on Saturiiay 21 ult., Presi't Stahrin the'cbalr. 

 Dr. S. S. Rathvon moved that the routine of busi- 

 ness be dispensed with in order to allow an opportu- 

 nity to offer the follow' Bg testimonials of respect to 

 the memory of their late departed fellow-member 

 which was adopted. 



Mr. Presibent : Mine becmes the sorrowful 

 duty to-day of announcing officially to the Linnsean 

 Society the death of Jacob Stauffer, ourdistinguished 

 fellow-memljcr and honored secretary. He died at 

 his late residence, in East Orange street, Lancaster 

 city, on Monday evening, March 22, at about eight 

 o'clock, in the 72nd year of his age. Natiu'allv 

 possessing a reasonably strong constitution, yet he 

 had been for so many years afflicted with chronic 

 bronchial inflammation and spasmodic coughing, 

 that those nearest, dearest, and most intimately as- 

 sociated with him must have noticed the inroads 

 which thi.se exhausting afflictions were making 

 upon his physical health, and that they must have 

 ultimately terminated in death. But now, that 

 through the 7:>trjnis.sio7i.s' of divine Providence be has 

 been removed from this earthly stage, his removal 

 seems sudden; and, under the impulses of natural 

 affection and social affiliation, we cannot but lament 

 his "taking off," however humbly we may endeavor 

 to yield a Christian resignation to the will and wis 

 dom of Him who has seen fit to call him to a higher 

 sphere of being. 



Mr. Stauffer was one of the original founders of 

 the Linnajan Society, in February, 1862, and of its 

 incorporators in 1864. 



For eighteen consecutive years he faithfully served 

 as its Recording Secretary, ch.airman of the commit- 

 tees on Icthyology and Herpetology, and also as 

 associate member of other committees, especially 

 that of Botany. In all the duties rcl.ating to these 

 several functions he was an industrious, cheerful, 

 and eflicieut worker; often manifesting a disinter- 

 ested and youthful zeal, and nothing seemed to 

 limit his efforts save physical disability. In the 

 specialties of icthyology and ophidiology his loss to 

 this society is irreparable. Our departed fi'iend en- 

 joyed a literary and scientific reputation that was 

 not confined to the limits of this association, extend- 

 ing, as it did, beyond the borders of our county and 

 our Stale, and the records of these labors of love 

 may be found upon the pages of many of the publi 

 cations of our country. We confine our estimate of 

 his character on this occasion, however, mainly to 

 his relations to the Linnfean Society — an organiza- 

 tion for which he always manifested the deepest in- 

 terest, notwithstanding the many discouragements 

 by which it has been surrounded, and during his 

 long connection with it he was seldom absent from 

 his post of duty. 



To him who bears this imperfect testimony — who 

 had known him so intimately and so long — he seem- 

 ed like "another self;" and the uniform and practical 

 kindness which he always exhibited, his fraternal 

 sympathies, his purity of life, and the general integ- 

 rity of his private character, were such as to elicit 

 the highest esteem. 



He was always ready by purse orpen to advance 

 the cause of literature and science, not forgetting 

 his duties as a Christian and a father; and from 

 this standpoint, looking over his career as a member 

 of the Linnwan Society — its early scientific excur- 

 sions, its field meetings, its spring and summer ex- 

 plorations, in which he was a conspicuous figure — 

 we only irritate our unhealed wounds of regret that 

 on this earth we shall see him "nevermore." 



Of course Mr. Staufl'er was liable to those frailties 

 which are common to the very best specimens of hu- 

 manity, and none were more sensible of this than 

 himself. His physical energies were never quite 

 able to ultimate the aspirations of his will, or to free 

 him from the limitations of circumstance. 



Had he posessed less versatility of talent, he prob- 

 ably might have been enabled to accomplish more in 

 any specific direction, but like all votaries of science 

 who are compelled to "eat their bread by the sweat 

 of their face," he could only avail himself of the 

 means which he found within his reach; moreover, 

 diflerenlly endowed, he would not have been able to 

 satisfy the great diversity of demands almost con- 

 stantly made upon his time and talents. 



He was constantly at work in many directions, and 

 literally "died in harness." Less than five hours 

 before his spiiit fled an article appeared in the col- 

 umns of the Lancaster Intelligencer on a new fish 

 discovered in the Susquehanna river, which, there is 

 reason to believe, was written on the Saturday pre- 

 ceding the day ou which he died, in which no abate- 

 ment of his usual mental vigor is apparent. 



Perhaps it could not be truthfully said that Mr. 

 StaufJ'er never had an enemy; indeed, there are 

 those, whose opinions are entitled to the highest re- 

 spect, who allege that it may be nothing to a man's 

 credit to pass through an active life in this world 

 without exciting the enmity of some one ; especially 

 since the highest moral and spiritual exampler ever 

 vouchsafed to the human family was not without his 



enemies, and those, too, of the most bitter and ma- 

 lignant character. And this need not. be at all sur- 

 prising when we reflect that the " carnal mind " 

 itself is always at enmity with everything that is 

 good and true. According to his own apprehension 

 of his characteristic traits, he inherited a sanguine 

 temperament, and fully an aver.-ige share of com- 

 bativeness. But during his maturer years the im- 

 pulses controlling these faculties were happily held 

 in subordination to his moral and religious senti- 

 ments ; hence, all who truly knew him" and could 

 appreciate his his motives, it may be safe to say, 

 were numbered among hts friends. 



He was just and generous, and would havesuffered 

 himself rather than to have imposed suffering on an- 

 other, and if he erred in the exercise of these, that 

 error leaned towards humanity. 



His church has born its testimony in relation to 

 his character as a Christian ; the community has 

 spoken in reference to his status as a fellow-citizen, 

 ■inJ his scientific labors have long been recognized 

 and recorded. His philosophical deductions were 

 always antagonistic to those speculations which, 

 under the name of progress, leaned towards infidelity, 

 or militated against the authenticity of scripture 

 and man's moral accountability. We pass no empty 

 compliment to his worth when we say it will be 2 

 long time before we shall look upon his like again ; 

 for there is not a place made vacant by his removal 

 that will not almost irretrievably miss him. Be- 

 lieving these sentiments to be in entire accord with 

 the sentiment of this society, they are submitted as 

 an humble tribute to the memory of a faithful and 

 Bel/-sacrificing fellow-member, and a manifestation 

 of sympathy and condolence with his bereaved 

 family, the community, and our association, in the 

 great loss which we all have sustained. Therefore, 

 Resolved, That this tribute be filed in the archives of 

 the society, that all further business to-day be sus- 

 pended, that cdlnmittees be continued, and that out 

 of respect to the memory of our departed fellow- 

 member, we do now adjourn until the next stated 

 meeting. 



Unanimously adopted and ordered to be printed. 

 Remarks were also m.ade by Dr. J. H. Stubbs and 

 Kev. Prof. Stahr. 



Entomological. 



Flowers and Insects. 



Sprengel, the German botanist, appears to have 

 been the first to perceive the intimate relations which 

 exist between plants and insects. In the year 1787 

 he observed on the corolla of the Geranium sylvati- 

 cnm a number of delicate hairs. He endeavored to 

 ascertain the use of these hairs, and concluded that 

 they served to protect the honey from rain. But 

 wliy should the honey be protected? What service 

 were the insects to the flower that it should nourish 

 them? Sprengel w.as thus led to make numerous 

 examinations, and was surprised to find how many 

 of the peculiarities of uowers could be explained by 

 their relations to insects. The importance of the 

 visits of insects to plants is in the fact that they 

 transfer the pollen from the stamens to the pistil. 

 In many plants the stamens and pistil are in difi'erent 

 flowers, and even in those in which the stamens and 

 pistil are found together they are so placed, that 

 self-fertilization is difficult or impossible. Again, 

 self-fertilization is sometimes rendered impossible by 

 the fact of the stamens and pistils not maturing at 

 the same time. The pollen is then transferred in 

 difierent ways from the stamens to the pistils. In 

 some cases the pollen is carried by the wind ; in a 

 few cases by birds, but mostly by insects. Sprengel, 

 though he saw that " Nature does not wish that any 

 complete flower should be fertilized by its own pol- 

 len," did not perceive that to transfer this pollen 

 was the office of insects. He saw that stamens and 

 pistils did not mature together, but supposed that the 

 visit of the insect was to transfer the pollen from the 

 stamen to the pistil of the same flower. If this had 

 been the whole use of insects, the contrivance would 

 appear to be a very elaborate and unnecessary on''. 

 It was strange that two sets of arrangements, one to 

 effect and one to preclude self-fertilization, should 

 exist in the same Hower. What a roundabout con- 

 trivance it was by which honey was put in the flower 

 to attract the insect to transfer the pollen from the 

 stamens to the pistil, when a slight change in the 

 structure of the flower might have produced the same 

 result ! The vi.sits of insects are really useful be- 

 cause it is intended that the petal of one flower shall 

 be fertilized by the pollen of another. The principle 

 first pointed out by Darwin is now well established, 

 that if a flower be fertilized by pollen from a different 

 plant the seedlings so produced are much stronger 

 than if the plant be fertilized by its own pollen. Six 

 crossed and six self-ferlilized seeds of Ipomaea jiur- 

 purea were grown in pairs on opposite sides of the 

 same pot. The former reached a height of seven 

 feet, while the latter reached an average of five feet 

 four inches. The former also grew the more pro- 

 fusely. 



Sir John Lubbock has treated this subject in an 

 attractive and lucid manner in a little book, juBt 



