ISW 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



69 



rnta press appears to have passed into private 

 liaiuls. Tliere is a small hymn book (Das 

 Kleiiie Davlilischc Psalterspiel) issued at Epli- 

 lata in 171)5, by Solomon ^iayer. During 

 ilic earlier jiart of the present century Joseph 

 r.i\uniaii, of Ephrata, printed a number of 

 \nlumes, amon^ which the "Works of Jacob 

 r.iichme" enjoyed an extensive circulation. 

 The most cQrious of the later Kphrata liooks 

 is the autobioLjraphy of Ezekiel Sanjrnieister, 

 \\ hich was published in numbers in 1S25. 

 ^^iinpjracister was a monk who was opposed to 

 llcissel, and who wrote his own life, as a hit- 

 ler commentary on the "Clironicon Ephra- 

 teiise." His writings remained hidden for 

 many years behind a secret panel in the wall 

 of his cell, and seem to have been suppressed 

 soon after their publication, as copies are now 

 (piite scarce. Another Ephrata printer was 

 Jacob Rush, who issued Boehme's "Christo- 

 sophia, aiid possibly other volumes of a similar 

 cliaracter. 



It would be interesting to follow the liter- 

 ary history of Ephrata to its conclusion, but 

 we have already occupied more time and 

 sjiace than we had inionded; and, at any rate 

 the volumes bearing the names of individual 

 Ephrata printers are not so highly regarded 

 as those which were issued by the direct au- 

 thority of the brotherhood. Possibly, at some 

 future time, we may complete our work by 

 giving a li.st of the Ephrata books of the 

 present century. 



Though our present essay will, no doubt, 

 appear uninteresting to the general reader, it 

 is but just to say that it is the result of much 

 labor, supplemented by the materials fur- 

 nished by the IlistoricarSociety of Pennsylva- 

 nia and the Lenox Library of New York, and 

 greatly enriched by the notes of Prof. Seiden- 

 sticker, published in the ^'■Deutsche Pionier." 

 It may be hoped that our present work may, 

 at any rate, lie useful for reference, and that 

 it may possibly result in the discovery of some 

 Ephrata imprints which have hitherto escaped 

 the attention of bibliographers. 



The old Ephrata press, after its long and 

 arduous .service, has found an honored resting 

 place in the hall of the Historical Society of 

 Pennsylvania. It is our privilege, as resi- 

 dents of Lancaster county, to aid in giving 

 honor to the humble brotherhood which 

 sought, amid unnumbered difficulties and pri- 

 vations, to afford to our fathers the priceless 

 blessing of a Christian literature. 



Contributions. 



hoa 1 HE Lancaster Farmer. 

 STELLAR INFLUENCE.' 



Editok L.\ncastek Fakmer: Dear Sir: 

 — Some six to eight months ago, there was 

 some controversy in the Fakmek, as to the 

 effects of planetary influence on mundane af- 

 fairs, especially as to the growth of vegeta- 

 tion. As I have not made any experiments 

 my.self, not seen any reports on this dark sub- 

 ject since then, I would be pleased to hear 

 from others. Possiby there may yet be "some 

 light hid under the bushel," or in some man's 

 "knowledge box." that would, if brought out 

 — give us more information on the subject. 

 Has our "amateur farmer" made no new dis- 

 coveries on his eight by ten farm ?" 



Tills being a rainy day, preventing out-door 

 exercise, I will jot down a few thoughts, as 

 they may occur, which our kind editor may 

 put in type, or the waste ba.sket, as to him 

 seems meet and proper." 



Of course w'e shall be laughed at as "moon- 

 struck," by self-opinionated wiseacres, but 

 "non import." It is an old saying "to laugh 

 and grow fat" is conducive to health ! So, 

 if we are laughed at, ne may congratulate 

 ourself that we have done some good to our 

 fellow mortals, in this "our day and genera- 

 tion." 



But what I esiiecially wish to call the criti- 

 cism of the scientific readers— that there are 

 yet many things in nature that are incompre- 

 hensible to human science. 



Some days ago, I, in company with another, 



went to see the "floral treasures" of a lady, 

 who is a lirm believer in cause and effect, or 

 perhaps we had better say — "in stellar influ- 

 ence on vegetation." We may not mention 

 her name, as she would not like to .see her 

 name in print. Unfortunately, the lady was 

 from home, so we could not have the pleasure 

 of her knowledge of i)lant life. Still her hus- 

 band and daughter took us around ami ap- 

 peared pleased to .show us their floral treas- 

 ures. She has four rooms in their two-story 

 house, crowded with plants in pots — many 

 dormant in the cellar, and a small green- 

 house, about ten or twelve feet square, or 

 probably the size of our "amateur's farm 1" 

 Every nook and corner from ground to top 

 one mass ot plants. 



The whole collection in house and green- 

 house is in such aliealthyand flouri.shing con- 

 dition and entirely free from insects, that not 

 a leaf could we discover that had ever been 

 touched by insect pests. She never smokes 

 with tobacco to kill the aphith, nor evapora- 

 tes s\ilphur to destroy red sjnders, nor know 

 anything about mealy bugs. But if we under- 

 stand her plan, it is simply to transplant or 

 shift her plants, during certain signs, ur position 

 of the mooon in the zodiac. 



Is such belief moonshine or superstition? I 

 do not know; I simply state the facts as I 

 found them. If such resiilts can be explained 

 outside of "stellar" influence, then we could 

 probably accept the idea, as generally enter- 

 tained by scientific experts, that there is no 

 influence exerted on mundane affairs. 



Yet thou.sands of persons still plant their 

 root crops when the sign is down, and kill 

 their pork and beef in the increase of the 

 moon ! Apple trees flowering while the moon 

 is decreasing, produce little or no fruit, with 

 many other beliefs of stellar influences,handed 

 down by our ancestors. It can hardly be all 

 "moonshine." 



I keep a few pot plants, and my greatest 

 bother is with insect pests. I use tobacco- 

 smoke for aphids for plant lice — evaporate 

 sulphur occasionally to destroy red spiders 

 — hand pick the mealy bugs. Such are my 

 usual remedies. Such treatment, if carefully 

 attended to, will thin them out, yet there are 

 always some left in embryo to stock the plants 

 again in a short time. 

 "Thus "eternal vigilance" is necessary to 

 even keep these pests in check. Now if we 

 fully comprehended the effects that the plan- 

 ets, (and especially the lunar orb, as being 

 nearest our earth) may exert on vegetation as 

 well as animals, possibly we might be aided 

 in our experiments by the "starry hosts," in 

 many ways — as "they were placed in the fir- 

 mament for signs, for seasons, for days and 

 for years." So tells an old author. — Still a 

 Seeker after Truth. 



SUGAR AND ITS PRODUCTION. 



Probably at no other time in the history of 

 our country has the question of sugar produc- 

 tion been more fully and more intelligently dis- 

 cussed than at the present time. The want 

 of a greater variety in farm crops has some- 

 thing to do with this discussion, but the "power 

 behind the throne" is the profit which it is 

 supposedmay be derived from the jiroduction 

 of sugar. 



It is not our object to produce a treatise, or 

 even an essay, but to barely glance at the 

 sources from whence sugar is mostly derived. 



The Sugar Maple has long been a source of 

 production, but I do not suppose that one per- 

 son out of every hundred in the United States 

 has ever tasted maple sugar or maple syrup, 

 much less used it in the way our regular sugar 

 and syrup are used. There is no danger of 

 over production, as few people will plant a 

 maple grove and wait twenty or thirty years 

 before any returns may be looked for. 



The sugar cane of the South has been ibi 

 source heretofore, from whence we have 

 derived the bulk of our sugar. It produces 

 the best and the sweetest .sugar known, but 

 unfortunately can be grown only in warm or 

 tropical regions, and in our country is restrict- 

 ed to the States bordering on the Gulf of 



Mexico. It is usually grown from suckers or 

 cuttings, and only when new stock is desired 

 is it rai.sed from seed. As the seed used is 

 always inqjurted seed, I sui>pose it does not 

 ripen seed in this country. 



Sorghum made a great stir in the Northern 

 States a few years before the commencement 

 of the late war, and large quantities of syr- 

 up were mamifacturcd when our southern 

 supply was cut off. After the war this indus- 

 try declined and only in a lew localities was 

 there any notable amount raised. One reason 

 of the decline was the raw taste of the syrup, 

 but this could have been overcome by the use 

 of a better system and inqirovcd machinery. 

 The greatest and the real cause of the falling 

 off, was the dilliculty, almost inii)ossibility, of 

 making crystallized sugar from the syrup. 



Of late, a variety has been produced that 

 has a fair amount of crystallized (cane) sugar, 

 and its miltivation again on an extended scale 

 Is quit(! piobalde. The business will this time 

 be done in a more cautious manner and not as 

 many disappointments be the result. The 

 sugar is said to be equal to the regular cane 

 sugar, and if the Early Amber sugar cane 

 (.sorghum) at all comes up to the claims made 

 for it, another source of income will be at the 

 command of our farmers. 



It is also claimed that sugar can be made in 

 paying quantities from cdrn stalks. That 

 sugar exists in considerable quantities in the 

 stalks before they become rii)e has been known 

 for a long time, and any one can readily test 

 it by ta.sting the stalk which, is quite sweet, 

 liarticularly about the time the grain is in the 

 milky state. The sugar corn varieties have 

 the greatest amount of saccharine matter,and 

 as tiiese are used for canning and drying just 

 at the time when the stalk is in its best con- 

 dition, the amount received from disposing the 

 ears to the cainiing and drying companies 

 would go a great way towards making the 

 venture profital)le. The only disagreeable 

 feature about the case is, that the process of 

 making the sugar is a secret, coutrollcd by one 

 man, l)ut we have the comforting knowledge 

 that sugar is beginning to be made from so 

 many diflerenl things that the process must be 

 either dispo.sed at low rates to such parties as 

 are willing to try it, or the man will not get 

 anything for his discovery. 



Beets are raising a breeze in many farming 

 communities just now, and we believe the the 

 successful manufacture of sugar from them 

 will bo of as much benefit to the American 

 farmer as anything that has been brought 

 forward in a long time. They require a good 

 soil; the culture is simple but must be thor- 

 oughly done, and the crop generally proves 

 remunerative. 



But the greatest lienefit to the farmer is 

 that if he feeds the refuse of the beets, thediy 

 pul]), to his stock, and ajiplics the manure to 

 tbet soil again, there will he little or no run- 

 ning down, as the sugar really takes uo sub- 

 stance from the soil which it is necessary to 

 rephice- This may seem impossible, but when 

 we consider that the constituents of sugar are 

 carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and that plants 

 derive these all from the air, we perceive at 

 once that this must be the case, and also the 

 reason why the soil becomes more and more 

 productive where the beet is grown for sugar. 



Beet sugar is somewhat similar in its com- 

 position to cane sugar, but the two are not 

 identical, as I believe five pouuds of beet 

 sugar are only equal to four poimds of cane 

 sugar in its sweetening qualities. Thus if 

 cane sugar was worth ten cents per pound, the 

 same grade of beet sugar should be worth but 

 eight cents. 



There are many other vegetable productions 

 that contain sugar in greater or less quanti- 

 ties, but which Tiave not been utilized for the 

 purpose of producing sugar, either because 

 the sugar, when it was cane sugar, was not 

 present in sufticient quantity, or if the sugar 

 was present in considerable quantity it was 

 what is known as grape sugar. The latter is 

 the sugar that gives the sweet taste to honey 

 and m(3st fruits. Its sweetening qualities are 

 very inferior to that of cane sugar. 



