156 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[October, 



He found no larvsE or pupie ; the question, theie- 

 fore is, what connection have they with these plants? 



Fhrynosotita. The living specimen of this animal 

 was kept couflued since the last meeting of the so- 

 ciety in a globa aquarium with earth on the bottom, 

 and a gauze cover, to prevent its escape. Living 

 grasshoppers and flies were confined with it, but it 

 did not appropriate any of them — indeed it appeared 

 to be unconscious of their presence. During the 

 whole month of its incarceration it scarcely ever 

 rested for a moment, except it may have been at 

 night, but from morning until the family retired 

 from the room at night, it never relaxed its efforts to 

 make its escape. So far as my experience goes, it is 

 incapable of domestication or lamiliarization. When 

 taken out of the tank and laid on the floor it did not 

 seem anxious to escape. Before immersing it in 

 alcohol, I attempted to drown it, but it would not 

 tlrown, and when immersed it remained motionless 

 for 20 minutes and then made frantic efforts to es- 

 cape, and only succumbed after alternate struggles, 

 continuing half an hour. 



I think therefore that Phrynoxouia is not only un- 

 tamable, but also endowed with a vital tenacity 

 whiuh enables it to endure great privation and to ex- 

 ist under circumstances which would be fatal to 

 many other animals, and yet when handled it is per- 

 fectly gentle and harmless. 



Library. 



Parts 9, 10, 11, 12, vol. 18, of the Patent Office 

 Oazetle ; parts 2 and .3, bureau of education ; al'^o 

 five circulars, office ol^ interior; Lancaster Farmer 

 for September, 1S80; three catalogues and four cir- 

 culars relating to valuable books. 

 Historical 



Part of an old bell clamp, by Lewis Haldy. When 

 the old German Reformed Church was torn down 

 this fragmant was found in the belfry. It bears 

 date March 1722, which gives it an antiquity of 1.5S 

 years. It probalily belonged to some old bell used 

 in the first church built by that congregation. 



Three envelopes containing twenty-eight histori- 

 cal and biographical scraps, S. S. R. 

 Papers Read. 



Notes upon the Phrynosoina, or "Horned Toad," 

 and on germinated, or sprouted lemon seed, by S. S. 

 R. 



Prof. Halderman having been an honored eorres 

 pondentofthe Linnican Society, on motion S. S. 

 Rathvon and Dr. Davis were appointed a committee 

 to report an expression of the sense of the society on 

 the great loss which science has sustained by his re- 

 moval. 



After the passage of sundry small bills and the 

 usual intercourse among those present, the society 

 adjourned to the aoth of October next. 



Agriculture. 



Sorghum as a Forage Crop. 



A year ago last winter and spring the attention of 

 farmers was called to pearl millet, and it was high- 

 ly recommended as a valuable forage plant. For 

 the purpose of testing its merits we procured some 

 seed, and planted on the same piece of ground with 

 corn for fodder. When about three feet high we 

 cut some of it, with the expectition of having an- 

 other growth fully equal to the first, the remainder 

 being left standing to further mature. The latter 

 grew to about seven feet, a little of it having headed 

 out when the frost came. The conclusion arrived at 

 was that for southern climes it might be good, but 

 for New England it. would not at all compare with 

 corn. The past winter and spring much has been 

 said in favor of sorghum as a forage crop ; but, be- 

 fore recommending it to the readers of the Cultiva- 

 tor, we thought it best to test its merits, and so 

 purchased some seed of the early amber kind. This 

 we planted side by side with corn, and manured and 

 cultivated it the same. The result is that the corn 

 planted a week to a fortnight later is now nearly 

 three times as large. Wc cut a stalk of the corn 

 which had not ta.sseled out, that measured nine and 

 a-lialf feet and weighed two and three-quarter 

 pounds. A stalk of sorghum (we cut one of the 

 largest, and it had thrown out the seed head) meas- 

 ured seven feet, but it was very slender and weighed 

 only three-quarters of a pound ; and this would'be a 

 fair comparison of the amount of forage obtained 

 from the two kinds. 



Corn has more leaves, and they are much larger. 

 The stalk of the sorghum is very sweet and no 

 doubt contains a large amount of sugar, and on this 

 account would be desirable as a forage crop, but 

 there is not the least doubt that an acre of Western 

 corn would produce a much larger amount of sugar 

 than an acre of sorghum ; tiiat is, although the 

 sorghum would contain a much larger percentage 

 of sugar, yet the greater amount of forage pro- 

 duced by the corn would yield more sugar as food 

 for stock, and much more of all the other elements 

 of food. It has also been claimed that sorghum was 

 much better relished by stock than corn^ but our 

 cows eat the corn up cleaner thau the sorghum, as 



the latter is harder and not so easily masticated as a 

 stalk of corn, which is nearly three times as thick. 

 For this reason sorghum not only yields a much 

 smaller crop, but much more waste, than corn. The 

 conelusiou we have arrived at is that there has noth- 

 ing yet been procured which will yield such an enor- 

 mous amount of forage aa corn, whether it is simply 

 fed green, as summer forage, cured for winter use 

 after the ordinary manner, or perfectly preserved 

 as ensilage ; or, if all accounts are true, when im- 

 perfectly preserved ; but of this we cannot speak 

 positively, having had no experience with a silo, and 

 on the farm neither theories nor scientific deductions 

 are worth a great deal till verified by actual experi- 

 ence. 



Should the average farmer attempt by experiment 

 to verify all the theories laid down by writers, he 

 would soon be without a farm, and his family with- 

 out bread. Neither is it best to accept all that may 

 be claimed as successful experiments, as many may 

 be successes in one place which would fail in 

 another. Sorghum may prove a very profitable 

 forage crop in a warmer climate than ours. With 

 us tiie seed was very slow in germinating, and until 

 it was nearly a foothigh it grew very slowly com- 

 pared with corn, but that it contains an abundance 

 of sugar can be readily ascertained by tasting a lit- 

 tle of the stalk. — American Cultivator . 



Harvesting Broom-Corn. 



The quality and therefore the value of the brush 

 of broom-corn depends in great measure upon the 

 time at which it is harvested. The most successful 

 growers agree that the cutting should begin "as 

 soon as the blossoms begin to fall," or, in other 

 words, at that time when the seeds begin to form. 

 At this time the brush is of the best color, heaviest, 

 and most durable. The manner of harvesting dif- 

 fers somewhat with the variety and whether a par- 

 ticular color is sought or not. Some time before the 

 brush is cut the broom-corn stalks are lopped, which 

 consists in going through the rows and breaking 

 down the tops a foot or so below the base of the 

 brush. The object of this operation is, first, to keep 

 the brush straight, and secondly to accelerate its 

 ripening. The top of the plant still retains sufficient 

 communication with the stalk to allow a thorough 

 maturing of the brush. 



The tabling consists in breaking down the stalks 

 at about thirty inches from the ground. Each two 

 rows are tabled together, the stalks of one row 

 being crossed diagonally upon those of the other, 

 thus'making a sort of "table," with intermediate 

 spaces affording room for the cutters. The cutting 

 is done with a sharp knife, the stalk being severed 

 six or eight inches below the base of the brush, and 

 therefore some distance above the point where the 

 stalk was lopped. The brush should be cured under 

 cover, as exposure to the hot sun renders it brittle 

 and the elasticity characteristic of a good broom is 

 lost. A shed of any sort will do for small quanti- 

 ties ; for larger a drying house will be necessary. 

 The next step is the removal of the seed, which is 

 done by a long-toothed curry-comb, a hatchet, or if 

 there are larger quantities a cylindrical scraper is to 

 be employed, run by horse or other power. The brush 

 is then put on racks to dry, where it remains until 

 thoroughly cured and is ready for bailing. Much 

 depends upon the character of the bailing ; in fact 

 all the difference between a good profit and no 

 inoflt. Compact, square bales, with even ends, and 

 the brush so put in that it will come out straight, 

 must be made, or only a low price will be obtained. 

 The proper size of a bale is 3 feet 10 inches long, 3 

 feet wide, and 30 inches deep. 



Sowing Wheat. 



Early sowing, take one year with another, is best. 

 When sown with a drill on rich land, a bushel of 

 seed is enough for an acre, and a bushel and a half 

 when covered with a cultivator. This gives room 

 for tillering, which is helpful to a good crop, as it 

 prolongs, somewhat, the blossoming time and makes 

 a more complete impregnation of the grains. When 

 harrowed in, cultivation is always made for seeds not 

 well covered and not covered at all,- and two bushels 

 of seed are required when the land is lumpy and full 

 of clods or stones, and much is lost on these ac- 

 counts. 



A stone, a lump of dirt, or a clod of any sort is a 

 wasteful covering for seed of any kind. It is an ex- 

 cellent plan to soak the wheat in brine for a few 

 hours before sowing, to destroy the germs of smut 

 or the eggs of insects, which may be clinging to the 

 kernels. "Rolling in plaster will fit them for sowing, 

 and at the same time furnish a stimulant for the 

 young plant. The preparation of the ground is all 

 important. The old time farmers used to think it 

 wise to summer-fallow the wheat ground. A sod 

 was turned over in early spring and replowed twice 

 afterwards. This was done to get the land in a fine 

 tilth or condition of mellowness, and to clear the 

 land of weeds. They also had the idea that the fre- 

 quent plowing made the land richer. It did, so far 

 as it caused the decay of all the living vegetation and 

 put the soil in a condition of more complete absorp- 

 tion. The same result may be obtained now after a 



cop has been gathered — and the use of the land, for 

 one season, will not then be lost — by plowing imme- 

 diately after harvest and then digging the ground, 

 and, before the time of sowing, plow it again, and. 

 If required, cultivating it with a two-horse cultivator 

 at the time of sowing the grain. Another cultiva- 

 ting to cover the grain, or going over it with adrill, 

 will give all the good results of the old summer-fal- 

 lowing, besides an extra crop. Thorough subduing 

 and pulverization are requisite, and these are ob- 

 tained by the newer method with the improved ma- 

 chinery farmers now possess. — Rural New Yorker. 



Small Compost Heaps. 



All farmers know the value of " compost " and 

 how to prepare it. Many farmers manufacture 

 hundreds of loads of the best manure in this way. 

 They gather together on the premises forest leaves, 

 cornstalks, including the roots, weeds, vines, offal 

 from fence-corners, muck from ponds and ditches, 

 occasional sprinklings of lime through the mass, 

 layers of barnyard manure, and thus build up oblong 

 squares and let it remain over winter. When April 

 arrives the mass has gone through fermentation and 

 comminution, and presents a mound of fertilizing 

 matter better than a small gold mine would be to the 

 proprietor of the farm. But we want to see these 

 compost heaps in the garden, and there is no reason 

 why they should not be there as well as upon the 

 farm. There is rubbish enough in the garden, with 

 the assistance of leaves, some mold from the woods, 

 if attainable ; if not, from portions of the premises 

 it can be spared ; scrapings from the turnpike ; 

 manure from the stable, and every attainable sub- 

 stance that will decay through the winter. A little 

 slacked lime will be a good assistance. A half 

 dozen to a dozen loads of excellent manure will be 

 manufactured by the time it is wanted in the spring, 

 without incurring scarcely any expense. 



American Tobacco. 



Pennsylvania has become one of the leading 

 American States in the production of tobacco. And 

 as the crop is a much more profitable one than many 

 others to which our farmers turn their attention in 

 multitudes from the mere force of habit and associ- 

 tion, we cannot say that we regret this development. 

 Before the civil war tobacco was one of the leading 

 staples of American agriculture on account of the 

 extent of the Southeru crop. But war left the to- 

 bacco regions of the South so devastated and ruined 

 that recuperation was extremely slow and difficult, 

 and in some regions almost impossible. Neverthe- 

 less the Southern crop has been gradually recover- 

 ing, and witliin the last ten years it is understood 

 to have made marked progress in some of the Gulf 

 States. Properly speaking, this crop ought to be 

 one in which the American production should per- 

 manently hold the leading place in the world's com- 

 merce. The example set by Pennsylvania in this 

 respect is calculated to carry weight with it in all 

 parts of the South. For if good tobacco can be 

 raised here much better ought to be raised in the 

 planting States of the South, and especially those of 

 the cotton belt extending from the South Carolina 

 coast to Western Texas. 



Amount of Seed. 

 There is no precise amount of wheat to be sown 

 per acre — no rigid, inflexiltle rule to be followed any 

 more than iu the application of manure or an artifi- 

 cial fertilizer. Much depends upon the soil ; if it be 

 rich, deep and clean of weeds, the amount of seed 

 need not be great. Mr. Mechi, of England, advo- 

 cates thin sowing, he only using three pecks per 

 acre ; but his land is in high culture, thoroughly 

 drained and clean of all weeds, and every grain 

 strikes its roots deep into the soil, finds an abun- 

 dance of food, tillers freely, and soon covers the 

 ground with a vigorous growth. There is much 

 difference in the size of the grains of different varie- 

 ties of wheat, therefore, the smaller the grain the 

 greater the number of plants that may grow from a 

 given amount. The end to be gained is to have the 

 ground well covered with deep rooted, well-fed, and, 

 therefore, vigorous plants, and any more or less seed 

 than will do this is a poor seeding. It is evident that 

 we can not give any rule for everybody to follow on 

 any kind of soil under any circumstances. 



Liquid Manure. 

 The farmar who lets all the liquids of his barn- 

 yard run to waste is a spendthrift, however " cIo.se- 

 fisted " he may be with money. A practical farmer 

 said recently ; " On my farm on the Hudson river, I 

 have built cisterns under the barn and stable, in 

 which this liquid is collected. These cisterns are all 

 connected, and one being built on a lower grade, 

 they all empty into this one. When it rains I put 

 put a force-pump into the cistern and fill two water 

 carts, such as are used in watering our streets, and 

 scatter this liquid over our meadows ; in forty-eight 

 hours afterwards a change is perceived in the color 

 of the grass." Another farmer who has a similar 

 arrangement in his barnyard, says he saves 100 loads 

 every year, and thinks the liquid worth as much as 

 so many loads of solid manure. 



