THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



was looked down upon and considered ah 

 ignorant laborer. But this is not the farmer 

 of to-day. Our fanner must know how the 

 land is exhausted by the crop and how to re- 

 store it. He must know how to husband the 

 resources of his farm so as not to exhaust it, 

 and yet obtain a living from it. 



And such to-day is the dill'erence between 

 the farmer of the East and the one of the 

 West. By the system pursued in the West 

 the rich land is becoming every season poorer, 

 while under tlie system at present pursued in 

 the East the lands are becoming richer every 

 year, and tlie farmer himself is becoming bet- 

 ter cultured year Ijy year ; the more he culti- 

 vates his land the better he becomes ac 

 quainted with tlie laws which govern the 

 waste and supply of the soil, the requirements 

 of the plant, the wants of his cattle and how 

 to render them more capable of administering 

 to his wants, and so lie becomes the more 

 capable of understanding his own social, 

 moral and physical nature ; in other words, 

 the more i?f a farmer he becomes the more of 

 a man he is. — American Cultivator. 



WELL-WATER. 



Wells in these parts have often been low, 

 but never perhaps lower than they have been 

 most of the past summer and autumn. Many 

 were looking anxiously for rain, so that the 

 springs might rise again. But local rains 

 have nothing to do with our wells, and this 

 can be seen by anyone wlio has any- 

 thing to do with digging of the ground. 

 It makes no difference how dry or how wet 

 may be the summer season ; if in the fall we 

 dig a few feet we find tlie ground dry. No 

 rain penetrates to any grt;at depth after the 

 spring rains arc over and before the regular 

 autumn-soakers commence. Sometimes we 

 have rain several days in the week, and 

 considerable of it at a time, yet, after all this, 

 people on digging down find the earth dry 

 six inches from the surface. In fact, the earth 

 has as much as it can do in any season to 

 meet the demands on it from the vegetation 

 growing on iis surface. As fast as the surface 

 dries from the heat there is a continual flow- 

 ffom the lower portions to supply the waste, - 

 just as water in a saucer will flow to the top 

 of a sponge, so tliat in the end the saucer is 

 dryer than the sponge in it. Thus the sub- 

 stratum in a dry season is often dryer than 

 the earth loosened by cultivation on the 

 surface. 



The water which feeds springs and wells 

 does not come from local rains, except they 

 are very shallow, but often hundreds of miles 

 away. The frost cracks and breaks up the 

 rocky faces of mountains, and the rains and 

 melting snows — sometimes many feet in 

 depth— descend through the clefts. Kocks do 

 not absorb water as earth does. Collected in 

 this way, the water sinks deep into the earth 

 in the fissures, following the strata to long 

 distances and appearing again only when the 

 rocky veins crop up near the surface. Those, 

 therefore, who are looking for deep water in 

 their wells and high water in their springs, 

 have rather to pray for mountain rains than 

 local showers — which serve our crops, noth- 

 ing more — after summer weather once sets 

 in. — Oerv^antown Tdeyvaph. 



EGGS AS FOOD. 

 Eggs are an article of cheap and nutritious 

 food which we do not find on farmers' tables 

 in the quantity economy demand-. They are 

 very convenient to take to market, and this is 

 the disposition which too many farmers make 

 of them. They probably do not fully conipre- 

 hend how valuable eggs are as food ; that, 

 like milk, an egg is a complete food in itself, 

 containing everything necessary for the de- 

 velopment of a perfect animal, as is mani- 

 fested from the fact that a chick is formed 

 from it. It seems a mystery how muscles, 

 bones, feathers and everything that a.x:hick 

 requires for its perfect develo[)ment are rriade 

 rom the yolk and white of an egg ; but such 

 s the fact, and it shows how complete a food 



an egg is. It is also easily digested, if not 

 damaged in cooking. A raw or soft boiled 

 egg is always as easy assimilated as is milk, 

 and can be eaten with impunity by children 

 and invalids. The average egg weighs a 

 thousand grains, and is worth more as food 

 than so much beefsteak. Indeed, there is no 

 more concentrated and nourishing food than 

 eggs. The albumen, oil and saline matter 

 are, as in milk, in the right proportion for 

 sustaining animal life. When eggs bring no 

 more than twenty cents per dozen, it is much 

 better economy to find a market for them in 

 the family than at the store. Two or three 

 boiled eggs, with the addition of a slice or 

 two of toast, will make a breakfast sufficient 

 .for a man, and good enough for a king. 



An ordinary hen's egg weighs from one and 

 a half to two ounces, a duck's egg from two 

 to three ounces, the egg of the sea-gull and 

 turkey from three to four ounces, and the egg 

 of a goose from four to six ounces. The 

 solid matter and the oil in the duck's ega ex- 

 ceed those in a hen's eggbj about one-fourth. 

 According to Dr. Edward Smitli, in his 

 treatise on "Foods,'' an egg weighing an 

 ounce and three-quarters consists of one hun- 

 dred and twent ) grains of carbon and eighteen 

 and three-quarter grains of nitrogen, or 1.5.25 

 per centum of carbon and 2 per centum or 

 nitrogen. The value of one pound of eggs, 

 as food for sustaining the active forces of the 

 body, is to the value of one pound of lean beef 

 as 1,584 to 900. As a flesh producer, one 

 pound of eggs is about equal to one pound of 

 beef. 



A hen may be calculated to consume one 

 bushel of corn yearly, and to lay ten dozen or 

 fifteen pounds of eggs. This is equivalent to 

 saying that three and one-tenth pounds of 

 corn will produce, when fed to a hen, five- 

 sixths of a pound of eggs, but five-sixths of a 

 pound of pork requires about five pounds of 

 corn for its production. When eggs are one 

 shilling per dozen and pork five pence per 

 pound we have a bushel of corn fed, produciug 

 ten shillings' worth of eggs and four shillings' 

 worth of pork. Judging from these facts eggs 

 must be economical in their production and 

 in their eating, and especially fit for the labor- 

 ing man in replacing meat. — Canada Farmer. 



A CHEAP AND DURABLE CISTERN. 

 An abundance of rwin water for family use, 

 for the barnyard, and irrigation in the gar- 

 den, is still a great desideratum in our rural 

 districts. The great bar to this water supply 

 is the anticipated expense. It costs money to 

 excavate and line the sides of a cistern with 

 brick and stone. Most farm houses have no 

 provision for washing except well water, 

 drawn with the bucket, and this is often hard, 

 and the yard and barn-cellar are without any 

 water for stock. A cistern that will hold all 

 the water that falls upon the house, or the 

 barn, is within reach of every thrifty farmer, 

 and will pay for itself every year in saving 

 labor, and in the health and comfort of the 

 family, and in the care of the farm stock. A 

 neighbor of ours, who is a gardener as well as 

 a farmer, built a cistern for his greenhouse 

 last year, and liked it so well that he has 

 built another this fall for his barn and garden. 

 The first item of expense was the labor of ex- 

 cavating on the south side of the barn, where 

 the frost does not penetrate very deep. The 

 excavation is about ten feet deep, ten feet in 

 diameter at the bottom, and twelve feet at the 

 top. The soil is gravelly loam at the top, 

 and compact gravel below. But sand, if it 

 were compact enough not to cave, would 

 answer just as well. Tlie sides of the cistern 

 are made as even as possible, and a wash of 

 Portland cement is applied with a broom— to 

 the bottom and sides. This dries very rapidly, 

 and four or five coatings will make a perfectly 

 tight and strong basin to hold all the water 

 that will ever fall into it. The cost of the 

 cement is very small, and the thin crust, 

 backed by the solid subsoil, is just as good 

 and durable as mason work of brick or stone. 

 For a covering he used chestnut timber of 

 one foot in diameter, hewn upon one side, 



upon which chestnut plank two inches thick 

 were laid. Two leaders conduct the water 

 from the eaves of the barn into the cistern. 

 A man-hole was left at the top largt enough 

 for the cleaning of the cistern, and for the 

 insertion of the pump. The plank was cov- 

 ered with about two feet of earth, which is a 

 sufficient protection against frost in this lati- 

 tude. The cistern will hold 8,000 gallons of 

 water, or more, and will furnish an abundant 

 supply of water for stock, and for irrigation 

 in ordinary seasons. The whole cost for 

 labor, timber and cement, was abo..t fifteen 

 dollars. Most farms will furnish the neces- 

 sary labor and lumber, and the only money 

 outlay would be for the Portland cement. 

 This cement will harden under water, and 

 become as solid as stone. It is entirely prac- 

 ticable for almost any farmer to build a cis- 

 tern of the kind described, and to have a good 

 supply of water for his cattle during the win- 

 ter. Build a cistern. — American Agriculiurihi. 



PRESERVATION OF HARNESS. 



The first point to be observed is to keep the 

 leather soft and pliable; this can be done only 

 by keeping it well charged with oil and grease; 

 water is a destroyer of these, but mud and 

 saliije moisture from the animal are even 

 more destructive. Mud, in drying, absorbs 

 the grease and opens the pores of the leather, 

 making a ready prey to water, while the salty 

 character of the perspiration from the animal 

 injures the leather, stitchings and mountings. 

 It therefore follows that to preserve a harness 

 the straps should be washed and oiled when- 

 ever it has been moistened by sweat or soiled 

 by mud. To do this effectually, the straps 

 should be unbuckled and detached; then 

 washed with a little water and brown soap, 

 then coaled with a mixture of neatsfoot oil 

 and be allowed to remain undisturbed until 

 the water is dried out; then thoroughly rub 

 with a woolen rag; the rubbing is important, 

 as it, in addition to removing the surplus oil and 

 grease, tends to close the pores and gives a 

 finish to the leather. In hanging harness 

 care should be taken to allow all straps to 

 hang their full length; bridles, pads, gig sad- 

 dles'and collars should be hung upon forms of 

 the shape of each. Light is essential to the 

 care of leather, and when the harness closet 

 is dark the door should be left open at least 

 half of the time during the day. All closets 

 should be well ventilated, and when possible 

 they should be well l.ighted. To clean plated 

 mountings use a chamois with a little trip oil 

 or rotten stone, but they should be scoured as 

 little as possible. Rubber covered goods are 

 cleansed in the same way. Leather covered 

 needs to be well brushed and rubbed with a 

 woolen rag. 



If a harness is thoroughly cleansed twice a 

 year, and when unduly exposed treated as we 

 have recommended, the leather will retain its 

 softness and strength for many years. — Har- 

 ness Journal. 



WHITE VEINS IN TOBACCO. 



A correspondent, writing to the American 

 Cultiimtor, remarks : Among the many evils 

 which afflict the tobacco crop, white veins are 

 the most serious and damaging. A veiny leaf 

 makes an unsightly wrapper causing the cigar- 

 maker to reject it even if satisfiictory in other 

 respects. A leaf that cures with white veins 

 is generally defective in other respects. It is 

 often thick, leathery and greasy, burning 

 badly. In short, for a cigar leaf it is worth- 

 less, and every tobacco grower should be care- 

 ful to avoid producing such an article. 



What produces white veins is a question 

 often asked, but seldom, I think, correctly 

 answered. Having investigated this subject 

 carefully for many years, I have come to the 

 following conclusion : White veins are not 

 the result of any peculiar conditions in the 

 curing process. There are many persons who 

 suppose that a dry cure will produce white 

 veins, and this was probably the basis of the 

 opinion, held by many packers, that the 1880 

 crop would be veiny, from the fact that we 

 have had a comparatively dry season for cur- 



