420 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



destroying his carpets and other woolen goods 

 during the absence of his family from the 

 city, and the poison wliich destroyed tht 

 child's life was placed on the floor under the 

 sofa in the parlor, while the house was unoc- 

 cupied. The little boy got hold of it, and 

 drank some of it with fatal eflect. — Philadel- 

 phia Ledger. 



THE PENNSYLVANIA CENSUS. 



The returns from the counties of Pennsyl- 

 vania are by no means complete, but a few 

 have been received which will show the gen- 

 eral increase duiing the last decade. Some 

 surprising results are shown, notably in Ve- 

 nango and Bucks, the one going backward 

 and the other one practically standing still. 

 The total population of the State is now esti- 

 mated at 4,250,000. 



Per 

 1870. 1880. Cent. 



In 1870 Luzerne county, which then em- 

 braced the. territory of Luzerne and Lacka- 

 wanna counties, had a population of 160,000. 

 Luzerne county now returns a population of 

 120,000, but as no report has been given from 

 Lackawanna the percentage of increase in 

 the territory cannot be made. 



RAISING QUAILS IN A TAME STATE. 

 Henry Benbrook, a dealer in game, resid- 

 ing in Eai'itan, New Jersey, has succeeded in 

 raising young quails, an operation that has 

 been tried in the United States repeatedly, 

 but which hitherto has proved futile. Four 

 j'ears ago he captured two Morris county 

 quails, the female being lowland, and the 

 male highland. The female laid 24 eggs the 

 first year, but could not be induced to set. 

 The second year Mr. Benbrook was in Canada, 

 and nothing was done with the birds. The 

 third year the female made its nest, laid 12 

 eggs, and after setting 10 days died. The 

 male bird then sat on the eggs, and six quails 

 were hatched. They were all raised by Ben- 

 brook, and are still living. These young 

 quails began laying on May 21 last, and up to 

 July 31 have laid 108 eggs, but they shcTw no 

 signs of setting as yet. Some of the eggs 

 were placed under a bantam chicken and six 

 of them hatched, and the quails are alive to- 

 day. This experiment of raising young quails 

 has been undertaken by game societies all 

 over the world for years, but this is the fir.st 

 time any one has succeeded, so far as the 

 record shows. 



BEET ROOT CULTURE FOR SUGAR. 



Delaware Beet Sugar Co., Wilming- 

 ton, June 28, 1880. — Hon. Charles Gibbons 

 — Dear Sir : I have your favor of the 20th, 

 and will lake up your questions in their order. 



The soil we find best suited in Delaware is 

 that light sandy loam incident to the neigh- 

 borhood of Odessa and Middletown, espe- 

 cially the former, and further down the State, 

 around Camden and Wyoming. Our best 

 beets last year were raised at Odessa, by E. 

 C. Fenimore, testing over 13 per cent, of 

 sugar, with an actual yield of 18 tons of 2,240 

 pounds to the acre. This paid him hand- 

 somely, and he and his father have this year 

 about .50 acres under contrdct with us. About 

 Wyoming the average test of sugar was 

 11 10-100 per cent., in 90 separate contracts ; 

 soil about 40 per cent, clay is also good for 

 sugar, but much more expensive to work. 



To your second would say that the average 

 per acre for the whole State was a shade 

 above ten tons, but we fully expect an aver- 



age this year of twelve tons, possibly fifteen, 

 iilthough the last is hardly probable. We ex- 

 |)ect this better result this season, as we have 

 made a better selection of growers, and they 

 are placing their rows closer together (tliis 

 year 20 inches apart, last year nearly 40 

 inches,) which will not only grow more tons 

 l)ut more sugar. In Germany tlie average 

 yield is twenty tons per acre, which we hope 

 to realize here in three or four years, if we go 

 ahead. As to the price we pay, I enclose 

 you a pamphlet by this mail, showing we pay 

 as per the per cent, of sugar in them. This 

 is a departm-e of our own from the usual way 

 of doing it, but we feel well assured it is the 

 only true way to get sugar in the beet, which, 

 of course, is what we most desire, as we can 

 as readily extract the sugar from 13 per cent, 

 beets as from 8 per cent., at no higher vost, 

 and at much more profit, as it is a well-known 

 fact that the higher the per cent, of sugar the 

 smaller the per cent, of impurities, and from 

 the additional fact that if 8 per cent, beets 

 have 30 per cent, impurities, those impurities 

 neutralize an equivalent of sugar immediately 

 adjoining them, so that we would only realize 

 but 5 per cent, of sugar practically, hence 

 beets small in size (say 2 pounds,) but rich in 

 rich sugar, are wanted. 



Fourtih. Under present information it 

 would be an impracticable thing for the far- 

 mer to press the juice and send it to factory, 

 as the beet juice is one of the most delicate 

 known, and has to be treated as soon as made 

 with lime and carbonic acid, and, in fact, the 

 operation must be continuous clear to a con- 

 centration of the juice until it shows at least 

 2.5 per cent, of sugar in the juice, and this is 

 almos'. the finishmg point. The only thing 

 the farmers can do is to put up a complete es- 

 tablishment, except the finishing pan (where 

 it is boiled to the crystallizing point) and cen- 

 trifugal, and this is hardly a practicable thing, 

 as it requires a large outlay for machinery 

 and contrivances. Besides, our exceedingly 

 low rates of freight on both beets and the re- 

 fuse pulp enable us to work to advantage in 

 our present location. If we should be suc- 

 cessful this season we have the ultimate idea 

 of extending down the State, so that we can 

 to better advantage sell our pulp, but this is 

 in the dim future as yet. This item of pulp 

 is a large one, as we make about 43 per cent, 

 of the original weight of the beet in pulp. 

 For instance, a 200-ton factory will require 

 200 tons beets every 24 hours, or say 25,000 

 tons for the season, which would make about 

 11,000 tons pulp to be disposed of for cattle 

 food. This is a large undertaking, but from 

 the fact that we last year sold all our pulp, 

 with a strong demand at the end of the sea- 

 son which we could not fill, and with the 

 additional fact that we already have orders 

 for about 2,000 tons for this year, when we 

 will not commence to work it until September 

 15th, makes us feel tolerably safe even with 

 a large production. This is one serious draw- 

 back mider which the Maine Beet Sugar 

 Company, located at Portland, is working, as 

 in their first season last year they had about 

 4,000 tons pulp, and disposed of but about 

 400 tons, and had to move the balance at 

 great expense. As far as we can see, the 

 success of the manufacturing of sugar from 

 the beet is merely dependent on the success of 

 the agricultural part, and our farmers are so 

 loth to attempt a new crop that we feel we 

 must go into growing them ourselves ; and if 

 we do this, and go through the experimental 

 years of growing them, we shall probably go 

 largely into it and grow all we need. I have 

 wi'itten this hastily, but trust I have made a 

 point clear to you. — A. I). Warner in Phila- 

 delphia Ledger. 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



As the habits and value of the English 

 sparrow are now being investigated in various 

 parts of the country, I submit the results of 

 my own observations, made during the last 

 three or four years, or since the bird became 

 abundant in this country. The charge fre- 

 quently made that the English sparrow drives 



our native birds from their accustomed haunts 

 does not apply to this vicinity. The sparrows 

 are very numerous, are noisy and sometimes 

 aggressive in their habits, but appear to quar- 

 fel more among themselves than with other 

 species of birds. I have not noticed any su- 

 perior combative power which would enable 

 them to do that which they are charged with 

 doing. They are with us during the year — 

 about our grounds and dwellings in great 

 numbers. They are the companions of the 

 song-sparrow, snow-bird, woodpecker, chicka- 

 dee, creeper, nuthatch, etc. There is no con- 

 flict or dispute among them. During the in- 

 clement weather of winter I feed the birds 

 freqtiently, sometimes daily, and have watch- 

 ed their movements with great interest. I 

 have not seen a dispute in their efforts to ob- 

 tain the coveted food. The woodpeckers and 

 chickadees gathered bits of meat and the 

 seeds which I scattered. 



Nor have I noticed any considerable con- 

 troversy at the nesting season. Bluebirds are 

 the first to arrive, and sometimes find their 

 former nesting-places occupied by spariows, 

 but no disturbance occurs, the bluebirds find- 

 ing other places for their nests. I have sev- 

 eral limes noticed, however, that the blue- 

 birds are masters of the situation when a 

 struggle takes place for an empty box. At 

 this writing bluebirds, sparrows, orioles, and 

 many other species have their nests on my 

 grounds, and equally so on the grounds of 

 others in our neighborhood. I have no doubt 

 there are fifty birds' nests within a short dis- 

 tance of my dwelling. Kobins, blackbirds, 

 orioles, warblers, finches, and fly-catchers of 

 many kinds are all about us, very much 

 more numerous than they were in our boy- 

 hood. 



All birds of species which love the shade of 

 the woodlands are, of course, undisturbed by 

 sparrows, which seek open spaces near dwell- 

 ings, not the forests. Nor will it be claimed 

 that larger birds, such as the robin, sufl'er 

 from the presence of the sparrows. With us 

 the barn swallow is among the most peaceful 

 and unobtrusive of birds, and yet it does not 

 seem to be in any great fear of the sparrows, 

 as the following incident will show : A pair 

 of swallows commenced building a nest under 

 a shed on my premises, but a sparrow was 

 soon seen sitting on the side of the half- 

 finished structure. Directly the swallows 

 commenced building another nest within a 

 few feet of the first, and no further disturb- 

 ance took place. The nest w.is finished and 

 occupied by the swallows. Sparrows have not 

 driven our native birds away, neither liave 

 they given cause for any serious complaint on 

 account of destroying our grain, as they seem 

 to have done in some other places. I think, 

 in this particular, it would be well ft)r people 

 to observe carefully for themselves. In winter, 

 indeed at all seasons, sparrows delight to feed 

 on half-digested grains thrown from stables, 

 or scattered eLsewhere, but in spring and 

 siuumer I have seen tliem carrying animal 

 food to their broods. This they do persistent- 

 ly and in quantities, the supply consisting 

 largely of insects, larvre, worms, etc. I have 

 seen them catch insects on the wing as do the 

 fly-catchers. 



I have not obserqed that they eat berries, 

 grapes or other small fruits, but have seen 

 them picking the soft grains of sweet corn. 

 If their food were scanty or unsuitable it is 

 probable that they would feed more on the 

 valuable grains. The birds which do most 

 damage to farmers in this vicinity are black- 

 birds, robins, catbirds and a few other species, 

 which feed on cherries, blackberries, grapes 

 and similar fruits. When tae fruits are ripe, 

 the trees and bushes swarm with these birds, 

 but we hear of no prejudice against them on 

 that account, while the sparrows are freely 

 condemned for like olfences. — Popular Science 

 Monthly. 



^ 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS— EAST- 

 ERN STATES OF AMERICA. 



Our own English pastures are fitted to give 

 splendid results in the production of butter if 



