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THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



18th of Decemlier, instead of Saturday, the 35th, as 

 it was decinod impolite to iuterfere with private 

 festal arraiiKeinents. Presideot Professor Stahr, in 

 the chair. Dr. J. H. Dubbs was appointed secretary 

 pro tem. Six members and four visitors present. 

 The proceedings of tlie last meeting having been 

 published, their readin"; was omitted. After the 

 usual preliminary business the foUowiug donations 

 were made to the museum and library : 

 Museum. 

 1. A most magnificent adult specimen of the 

 "American Skunk" (Mephitis Americanna,) pur- 

 chased by the curators from two citizens of Marlic 

 who caught it in a "dead fall" trap the night previ 

 ous. It was therefore not only in good condition, 

 but was altogether free from the usual disagreeable 

 stench of the animal, artistically stuffed and mounted 

 by Mr. Geo. Hensel. 



3. A fine large specimen of carbonate of lime im- 

 pregnated vfilii octahedral Iron Pyrites, from Lehigh 

 county. Pa., donated by Master James Munsen, of 

 this city. 



.3. A bottle containing thirteen specimens of the 

 "Horned Fungus Beetle" (Bolitophagus cornutus) 

 sent by some unknown person by mail to the curators 

 of the society. 



4. Prof. J. C. had on exhibition a specimen of 

 Tnckahoe or "Indian bread," found under ground; 

 near the base of a tree, in Rockingham county, Va., 

 and sent by Mr. G. C. Kennedy to the Diagnothian 

 society of Franklin and Marshall college. Its form 

 is an oblong oval slightly compressed, about eight 

 inches long and the same in its largest circumfer- 

 ence. There are no surface indications of its pres- 

 ence ; in this respect its habit being similar to the 

 trufiSe ; but the truffle is a.fmiyus, whereas this is a 

 tuber, or rather a groundnut, remotely resembling 

 the "vegetable ivory," and is edible. The external 

 surface is similar to that of a cocoanut, although not 

 so smooth and spherical. 



Library. 



1. Nine volumes of the Second Geological Survey 

 of Pennsylvania, from the state department at Har- 

 risburg. Five of these were descriptive volumes, and 

 four portfolios of maps in book form and size, to 

 correspond with the general issue. 



2. Nos. 21, 23, 33 and 24 of the Official Patent 

 Office Gazette, from the interior department at Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



3. The Lancaster Farmer for December, 1880. 



4. One envelope, containing thirteen historical and 

 biographical scraps by S. S. Kathvon. 



5". Two catalogues of scientific and miscellaneous 

 hooks from publishing houses. 



6. Eight pamphlets and circulars of miscellaneous 

 literature. 



7. A lithograph of Oil City, Venango county. Pa., 

 from a drawing maie by the late Jacob Staufl'er. 



8. Doctor Dubbs had on exhibition an interesting 

 collection of foreign and American illustrations of 

 heraldic emblems, mottoes, tokens, coats-of-irms, 

 ifec, both ancient and modern; a few of these fac 

 similes, but the larger number genuine. These ob- 

 jects are grouped in a class known as Ex Libris, or 

 "book plates," and furnishes a very perfect illustra- 

 tion of the history of art, besides other interesting 

 information relating to the histories of families, as 

 sociations, corporations and individuals. 



Papers Read. 



1. S. S Rathvon read a paper on the peculiarities 

 of skunks in general, and on local species in par- 

 ticular. 



2. Dr. J. H. Dubbs read a paper on "Ex Libris" 

 or book-plates, which he illustrated by collection on 

 exhibition. 



S. The treasurer read the annual report, from 

 which it appears that there is a balance in the treas- 

 ury of |6..59. 



The chairman read the annual report of the 

 curators, from which it appears that nearly two 

 thousand specimens have been added to the museum 

 during the year 1880 and to the library two hundred 

 and eighty-three books, pamphlets, serials, cata- 

 logues and circulars, of which fifty-two were bound 

 volumes. Also four hundred and forty-one bio- 

 graphical and historical scraps. 



New Business. 



The curators presented bills amounting to $10.55, 

 which were ordered to to be paid. On motion it was 

 resolved that the election of officers be postponed 

 until the January meeting, 1881. 



After the usual social intercourse the society ad- 

 journed. 



AGRICULTURE. 



Practice on the Farm. 



The London Agricultural Gazette says: "The 

 Royal Agricultural Society very rightly, when adopt- 

 ing its motto 'Practice with Science,' placed prac- 

 tice first. It is in close attention to details that the 

 elements of success in farming are to be sought. 

 Economy in general management cannot be attained 

 and habitually practiced unless a man understands 

 'even to the nail's breadth' the particular depart- 

 ments of his business. This particular knowledge 

 can only be acquired on a farm step by step and day 

 by day', as the working of the farm goes on. The 

 ornamental farmer, like the ornamental manager or 

 director in commercial affairs, is a complete failure." 



Rotation. 



The famous system of rotation, now extended quite 

 generally throughout England and Scotland, with 

 occasional modification, is as follows : "The first 

 year, clover and mixed grass seed ; the second year, 

 wheat ; the third year, turnips or rutabagas ; the 

 fourth year, barley; and then the same course again. 

 An innovation on this is to add another grain crop, 

 oats, to the shift, making a five years' course ; and 

 so efficient has this course been that it has been cal- 

 culated that the grain crops have increased one- 

 fourth. 



Danger in the "Silos." 

 We are impressed with the importance of warning 

 people who have put their corn fodder in tanks, es- 

 pecially in deep ones, of the dangerous carbonic acid 

 gas, the "choke damp" of mines and wells. A far- 

 mer near Sing Sing used an old ice-house for pitting 

 his corn-fodder ; on Saturday night, when they 

 knocked off work, there were some seven or eight 

 feet of fodder cut in half-inch bits, and well troddon 

 down in the pit. On Monday morning it had settled 

 considerably and one of the hands jumped in and 

 was treading.about on it to see if it had settled even- 

 ly, when he felt dizzy and faint ; the thought of 

 "choke damp" flashed through his mind, and he 

 called out to have a ladder lowered to him. This 

 was done just in time, and he half crawled and was 

 half hauled out. His head vas four or six feet 

 above the worst of the "damp," for it is very heavy. 

 Had he fallen, he would have been drowned in the 

 gas, as effectively as in water, without a struggle or 

 a murmur. When going into a pit, never fail to 

 lower a lantern first, for half a minute, and if it 

 burns brightly the air of the pit is fit to breathe. — 

 Anierica^i Agriculturist. 



Difference in Farming. 

 At a recent agricultural gathering in New Eng- 

 land, one claimed that he made 12 per cent, on his 

 capital invested in farming, and another said he did 

 not make over lU per cent. Both may have told 

 the truth, which seems to demonstrate the difference 

 between the two men, and perhaps an equal differ- 

 ence in the original character of their farms. 



Enriching Poor Lands. 

 There are three principal methods of rapidly in- 

 creasing the supply of plant food in any soil : By 

 feeding concentrated foods upon the land, as oil- 

 cake, cottonseed cake, etc. ; by the application of 

 barnyard manure, and the use of artificial fertilizers. 

 Which of these three methods is to be adopted in any 

 given case must be determined by the many condi- 

 tions and circumstances that surround it. It may be 

 that the feeding of sheep with decorticated cotton- 

 seed cake upon a poor pasture may be the quickest 

 and best method of enriching the land. In other 

 cases the purchase and application of barnyard 

 manure may be the most profitable. When it comes 

 to the artificial fertilizers, it should be borne in mind 

 that their true office is to supply quickly one or two 

 ingredients that may be deficient in the soil — when 

 these are known their use is to be recommended. 



Facts in Soil Culture. 

 One of the most important facts in soil culture not 

 generally understood is that finely-pulverized soil 

 holds more moisture than that which is solid or 

 compact. The reason is that it is in better condition 

 to absorb moisture from the atmosphere, with *vhich 

 the latter is always more or less filled, and which, 

 the soil being cooler, is being constantly condensed 

 by the same, and held for the use of plants. 



Another fact is that soils, although they may be 

 well underdrained, either naturally or artificially, 

 yet, if not well pulverized, they become, in a little 

 while, honeycombed, as it were, as far down as the 

 water line by ground-worms and other insects, 

 which act as so many little channels for conveying 

 away the rainfall more rapidly. This, however, is 

 too much of a good thing, as it allows the rain to 

 escape too rapidly, and thus carry off with it much 

 of the fertilizing matter brought down from the 

 atmosphere ; whereas if the surface soil is pulverized 

 to the depth of six or eight inches, it acts as a filter 

 to pass off the water more slowly, and yet sufficiently 

 fast to allow the whole area of the soil to become 

 uniformly moistened, besides affording it a better 

 opportunity to arrest and hold the fertilizing matter 

 brought down from above. 



Another fact is that the roots of plants will not 

 retain their healthfulness and vigor in the absence of 

 atmospheric air, and as the constant saturation of a 

 soil with water excludes the air, the result is disease 

 and death to the plant. But if by underdraining 

 I and pulverization of the surface soil the rainfall is 



enabled to pass off rapidly, the air immediately takes 

 its place only to be expelled by subsequent rain, 

 which in turn passes off to make room for other fresh 

 air, and thus the enriching elements of the atmos- 

 phere are brought into constant contact with the 

 roots of the growing plant. — Baltimore Sun. 



Late Fall Plowing. 

 Plowing is one of the kinds of spring work that 

 can be done to most excellent advantage in the fall. 

 The season for plowing in the spring is often very 

 short, and in many eases the ground is in exceeding- 

 ly bad condition. In many cases teams are weak in 

 consequence of insufficient exercise during the un- 

 favorable weather that generally occurs during the 

 latter portion of the winter. They are not able to do 

 the amount of plowing then that they can in the fall. 

 The advocates of late fall plowing increase every 

 year. Farmers no longer consider it necessary to 

 defer plowing land for most crops till immediately 

 before the time of planting. Most persons acknowl- 

 edge there may be too loose a seed bed for wheat 

 and other sorts of small grain. The advocates of 

 "firming" the soil before or after the sowing most 

 crops are increasing. By plowing land in the fall a 

 good start is made in the work that is ordinarily 

 done in the spring. A large amount of vegetable 

 rubbish is buried in places where it will aid in en- 

 riching the soil. The under soil is also exposed to 

 the action of the frost, which exerts a useful in- 

 fiuenee in preparing it to aid in thegrowth of plants. 



Salt as a Preservative of Timber 



Fourteen years ago a Mr. Sterling, of Monroe, 

 Michitran, placed two gate-posts of white oak in front 

 of Iks residence. When they were set he bored into 

 the top of each with an inch and a-half augera hole 

 three inches deep, filled it with common salt, tightly 

 plugged it and coppered the posts. Having occasion 

 recently to change the location of the posts he found 

 them as sound from top to bottom as the day they 

 were planted. 



Facts About Timothy. 

 Timothy in ripening its seed requires the same in- 

 gredients as those of wheat — principally phosphoric 

 acid and nitrogen. Being remarkable for the abun- 

 dance of seed it produces, that fact alone will ex- 

 plain why it is considered more exhausting to the 

 soil than most any other crop. Indeed, it is held by 

 many that when a crop of timothy is allowed to per- 

 fect its seed before cutting, the soil is exhausted of 

 its fertility in about the same ratio that it is replen- 

 ished by a crop of clover. If this be so, it affords a 

 conclusive reason why it should be cut before the 

 seed has had time to form. 



Bone Dust and Wood Ashes. 

 A farmer in Indiana gives the following as the re- 

 sult of an experiment made with bone dust and wood 

 ashes on a portion of his wheat. " On one plot of 

 land," says the writer, " I applied 600 pounds of 

 dry, unleached ashes to the acre, sowed it in wheat, 

 and the result was only six bushels to the acre. 

 Adjoining this tract I drilled in 200 pounds of bone 

 dust to the acre on three acres, and got twenty 

 bushels to the acre, being an increase of fourteen 

 bushels per acre over the tract sown with wood 

 ashes." The following year I stubbled that part up 

 upon which I had sown the 600 pounds of ashes to 

 the acre, and put it in wheat again, using 200 pounds 

 of bone dust to the acre, and the result was 40 

 bushels of wheat to the acre, being double that pro- 

 duced from the bone alone. This experiment satis- 

 fied me that neither ashes nor bone alone would give 

 as satisfactory results as if the two were combined — 

 the one with ashes alone yielding but 6 bushels, the 

 one with bone alone 30 bushels, but the acre on 

 which the two were combined yielding 40 bushels. 

 Thus showing what experiments on a small scale 

 will do for the farm." 



Wheat-Growing Experiments. 



Forty years ago Messrs. Laws and Gilbert, two of 

 the most scientific farmers of England, commenced 

 a series of experiments in growing wheat. They 

 selected several plots of ground of equal size, on 

 some of which they tried different fertilizers, while 

 on others, the land having been already brought up 

 to the highest state of fertility, no fertilizers were 

 applied, but on all of them wheat was made to fol- 

 low wheat, season after season, for forty years. In 

 that time there has been a decrease in the yield of 

 just ten bushels per acre, or one-fourth of a bushel 

 per acre a year. Taking this as a standard case, 

 farmers who follow wheat with wheat without giving 

 the land the needed rest, or feeding it with manure 

 or green crops turned under, may look for a decrease, 

 less, of course, some years than others, but an 

 average of one-fourth of a bushel per acre a year. 

 This is a practical outcome from these celebrated ex- 

 periments, for which the farmers of the whole world 

 may thank Messrs. Laws and Gilbert. 



