The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. EATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., JULY, 1880. 



Vol. xn. Mo. 7. 



Editorial. 



OUR DOMESTIC PROGRESS. 



It is rather ati iimisal oci'urreiiL'u to have a 

 simuUanc'ous hay and grain liarvest in Laii- 

 easter county, but it has been very "enerally 

 so tlie present season. Hut this (ioes not 

 cause the same perplexity and anxiety now 

 that it would have done in the long past, 

 when the labor-saving machiues and farm 

 implements were more simple and iuetticient 

 tlian they are at the present time, and when 

 laborers wore not so readily obtained. We 

 were never more deeply impressed with the 

 etlieieney of this maehiue work than we were 

 on a visit to a harvest Held on the '2.5th of 

 June last, and saw one of the McCormick 

 Reapers and Binders in active operation. A 

 single man and a boy, operating one of these 

 machines, did more work iu the same time, 

 than twenty men could have done under the 

 old system of harvesting. In the same field 

 two men with a four-horse team and wagon, 

 carried it off to the mow, or stack, as fast as 

 it was cut, saving all the labor of gathering, 

 shocking and exposure to weather vicisitudes. 



After all the anxieties and discussions about 

 the army worm, it docs not seem to have done 

 much damage in Lancaster county, or even in 

 the State of rennsylvania the present season ; 

 and, although imssihlc, yet it is not probable 

 that it ever will. The present season it was 

 almost entirely circumvented by the rapid 

 ripening of the grain and grass. The oats and 

 corn being later crops might possibly be more 

 exposed to the depredations of these pests, but 

 fortunately here again, they are circumvented 

 by the limitations of their own development. 

 As early as the 28th of June they began to re- 

 tire into the ground to pupate, and by the time 

 we go to press, there may not be one visible 

 in Lancaster county. .Still, it would do no harm 

 for farmers to traj) the moths during the pres- 

 ent month, and thus diminish what liability 

 may exist of their return next spring and 

 early summer. On tRe whole, the outlook is 

 a fair one, and the growing condition of corn, 

 tobacco and other crops seems as favorable as 

 the heart of the farmer can desire. Improv- 

 ed tillage, and stimulations to rapid growth 

 and maturi ty, will forestall the enemies of vege- 

 tation. We noticed a cornfield in which the 

 corn ab.solutely grew faster during the day, 

 than the army worms could consume it during 

 the night. 



The circumvention of the enemies of the 

 fruit and foliage of our trees, seems to be a 

 more ditticult problem, and complaints 

 against the curculio, the codling and other 

 pests are multiplying. Of course the tobacco 

 cultivators have their hands full, and this 

 will probably continue so until the crop is 

 gathered. We never can expect an immunity 

 from the attacks of noxious insects. They 

 are a " part and parcel " of the animal king- 

 dom, and will continue so long as the causes 

 that brought them into existence continues. 

 There is no visible or outwardly developed 

 evil in existence that had not first been an 

 inward and undeveloped or unborn evil. 

 Animals are said to become extinguished or 

 extinct ; but if we knew the latent and un- 

 seen causes of things, it perhaps would be- 

 come manifest that the fundamental princi- 

 ples from which thiiy were the corresponden- 

 tial outbirths had first become extinguished. 

 We may, therefore, expect to have insects 

 ahv.ays with us until the atmospheres — moral 

 and physical — around us become intolerable 

 to insect life. This may be only partially 

 supplied by artificial remedies, involving pre- 

 vention, expulsion or extinction. 



For nearly forty years the people in the 

 great West have sufiered from the depreda- 



tions of the "Colorado Potato Beetle" which 

 rapidly increased and extended its area, be- 

 cause the conditions for its increase and ex- 

 tension increased. But now it does not cause 

 the anxiety or terror it did at first, because 

 the people have become better acquainted 

 with its history and have learned to apply 

 the counteracting forces against its increase. 

 It may be a long time yet before it becomes 

 extinct. This ia the case with all noxious 

 insects, and therefore we must continue to 

 make provision for thier presence, as we do for 

 every other evil. If we are vigilant, we shall, 

 jierhaps, always produce sufficient for our 

 wants, insects or no insects ; but we must 

 continue to earn and "eat our bread by the 

 sweat of our faces." If things were more 

 "lovely" for us, perhaps we would be less 

 "lovely" — less humble. These drawbacks to 

 our prosperity, if we make the right use of 

 them, may orily be the necessary stimulants 

 to our onward progress. If things were 

 otherwise we might iDegin to make gods of 

 ourselves, and cease to recognize any co- 

 operative power beyond our own individual 

 energies. Every successful effort is the re- 

 sult of co-operation. 



OUR LOCAL^FAIR. 



Our readers will have observed that in the 

 last number of the Farmer we published the 

 premium list of our approaching exhibition. 

 This we did in order that they might have it 

 constantly with them, and also for future ref- 

 erence. Since then 3,000 copies in pampldet 

 form have been distributed throughout the 

 county, and elsewhere. A few copies will be 

 kept on hand, so that any person desiring one, 

 can obtain it by calling upon, or sending to 

 the editor of the Farmer. 



The most liberal and enlarged eflbrts are 

 being made to hold fairs the coming fall, all 

 over our vast country. State, district, and 

 local. Three notable ones will be held at 

 BiSMARK Grove, Kansas ; Cincinnati, 

 Ohio, and Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. 



The county fairs already announced, are a 

 formidable list. The people everywhere seem 

 determined not to be absorbed by those mam- 

 moth concerns, but to hold their local exhi- 

 bitions for the gratification and instruction 

 of the lociil population, and we think the peo- 

 ple of Pennsylvania are wise in this resolve. 

 There are tens and hundreds of thousands of 

 the people, who cannot, or will not, go so vei-y 

 far to attend a fair, but would cheerfully 

 spend a day attending one in their own comity, 

 and these people have as good a right to be 

 entertained with pleasant sights as those who 

 choose to go afar. But there are many people 

 who are not satistied with being only enter- 

 tained themselves, but desire to contribute 

 towards the entertainment of others. These 

 especially should carefully consult the premi- 

 um list in order to obtain an intelligent view 

 of the whole question. They may find some 

 items in it that will be eminently suitable to 

 their individual cases. They may not only 

 experience the delight of carrying off one or 

 more of the permiums, but also the addition- 

 al delight of having delighted others. The 

 question should not be merely 'what satisfac- 

 tion may I derive from the f.air,' but what 

 satisfaction may I give to others ?" 



SWALLOWS AS FARMERS' FRIENDS. 

 "A well-known naturalist, M. Florent- 

 Prevort, wlio has been engaged for a series of 

 years in making observations on the contents 

 of the .stomachs of various insectivorous birds, 

 recently communicated to the French Senate 

 the following interesting details in the food 

 of swallows. He examined with the utmost 

 care the stomach-contents of eighteen of these 



birds, which he captured for that purpose at 

 different periods of the season, with the re- 

 sults here appended : In the stomach of a 

 •swallow killed on April 1."), he found 422 in- 

 sects; April li), (MO insects ; April 27, 301 in- 

 sects; May 1, 704 insects ; Mav 4, (100 insects; 

 May 18, 680 insects; May 20, 300 insects; 

 .lune 3, 420 insects; .Tune 14, 244 insects; 

 .Tune 28, 400 insects; .July 11, 420 insects; 

 .Tuly 20, .")01 insects; .Tuly 29, .WO insects; 

 August .5, 742 insects; August 10, 000 insects; 

 and August 20, 384 in.sects. The eighteen 

 birds together, therefore, devoured no less 

 than 8,300 insects, which were recovered un- 

 digested, or at the rate of 466 each per diem ; 

 aiid it must be remembered that these proba- 

 bly represent but a small portion of the total 

 number they had eaten during the day. 

 When we retlect that among all this ma.s8 of 

 indigested insects there was not a single grain 

 of corn, (of any kind) or .the least particle of 

 fruit, or a trace of any vegetable debrh, we 

 have some slight conception of the invaluable 

 services which these little creatures render to 

 agriculturists and fruit-growers." — Farmer. 



Basing our calculations upon the above ex- 

 periments, which were made in France, we 

 reach the following results. The swallow 

 does not appear .as early in Peim.sylvauia ;is it 

 does, perhai)s, in France, nor yet remain so 

 long with us, but say from the 1st of May to 

 the 1st of September, a period of 123 days. 

 If, therefore, one bird averages 466 insects as 

 its daily supply of food, in 123 days it will 

 have consumed 57,318 insects, but it is very 

 probable it consumes twice that number. For 

 a family of ehjhtcen swallows this would foot 

 up 4.58,.'544 during the season, but we have 

 seen families consisting of hundreds of these 

 birds, whose de.struction of insects during the 

 four mouths they remain with ns, must amount 

 to millions. We offer the above quotations 

 from that excellent English publication— T/ie 

 Journal of Forestry — as a sequel to our article 

 on the swallow in the .Tunc number of Tile 

 Lancaster Farmer. 



SCIENTIFIC. 



Nutritive Value ok Grass at various 

 Stages of Growth. — E. Von Wolft'and oth- 

 ers cut grass three times in the early summer, 

 in the years 1874 and 1877: the first cutting 

 took place about the middle of May, the sec- 

 ond at the beginning, and the third at the end 

 of .Tune. The second cutting appeared to 

 give the best results in the case of animals e.x- 

 perimented upon, namely sheep and horses; 

 and, as a rule, it was found that more nitro- 

 genous matter was excreted by the latter than 

 by the former." 



The foregoing which we cull from "(Jene- 

 ral Notes," in Science, is a matter of inte- 

 rest to farmers; but it would have been more 

 valuable, if it had stated what particul.ar 

 species of "grass" had been experimented 

 with; for the term fjra/is is used i\v farmers 

 generally to cover everything that is not in- 

 cluded with grahi. Between the cutting of 

 clover and timothy, farmers often make a dif- 

 erence of two weeks at least. This subject 

 has on several occasions been discussed by our 

 local society, in which it wa.s alleged that 

 clover cut too early or too late, lost much of 

 its nutritious quality, and this seems highly 

 probable. This experiment is an exceeding 

 simy)le one. and it appears to us might easily 

 be removed from the category of discussion, 

 by any one not restricted to "set times," un- 

 der ancestral traditions. 



"The effect of Carbonic Acid in the 

 air upon crops. — According to M. Marie 

 Davy, an examination of the determinations 

 of the amount of Carbonic anhydride in the 



