28 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[February, 



would kill the insects. He inclined to the opinion 

 that locusts and other insects had holes far below 

 tlie surface, into which they could retreat when the 

 winter became cold. It is well known that worms 

 and the summer locusts have such retreats. 



Dr. 'Greene asked whether it was not a fact that 

 all insects wei'c killed when they were exposed to a 

 temperature a few decrees below the freezing point. 



Casper Hiiler said they would not. Many of them 

 deposit their ei;!;e under the bark of trees and their 

 larva in cocoons exposed to the severest cold. 



Mr. Linville Said that Prof. Rathvon and other en- 

 tomologists held that cold weather will not kill the 

 insects, whose terms of life extend beyond a single 

 year ; but that they are offten destroyed by wet 

 weather. Mr. Linville agreed wiih Dr. Greene in all 

 he had said in regard to the horse. On his motion 

 the thanks of the society were voted to Dr. Greene. 

 Apple Culture. 



Casper Hiiler read an instructive essay on apple 

 oulture, which will be found on page 2.5 of the Far- 

 mer. 



S. P. Eby, esq., knew a gentleman in the northern 

 part of this county, who h.ad winter apples grown in 

 hie own orchanl, lli.at were .as good us any grown in 

 Northern New Y.uk. Twice a year he washes his 

 trees with lye Irnm hard wood ashes, and cultivates 

 and manures the ground around the trees. The or- 

 chard is an old one and lies on a slope facing the 

 northeast. Mr. Eby favored high lying grounds for 

 orchards, and believed in liberal irrigation. 



John Resli tried an experiment with his orchard 

 which might be wortli mentioning. Tlie orchard was 



in grass and up. 

 ing of barnyard 



he 



■, and on top of the manure 

 he bad spread t/ie eartn which he dug from the cellar 

 of a new b\iild'ng wliich he wa« erecting. This was 

 done to kill the sod ;ind prevent it from appropriat- 

 ing to itself the fertilizing properties of the manure. 

 He regarded the exjjeriment as a success. 



Calvin Cooper mentioned a case in his neighbor- 

 hood in which a valuable orchard was eftectually 

 killed by being planted with tobacco. 

 What are the Relative Value of Wheat, Bran 

 and Corn for Feed ? 



John C. Linville read the follow 

 to a question referred at the last meeting" 



The answer to this question depends somewhat on 

 the object we wish to attain by feeding. Corn con- 

 tains a large percentage of carbohydrates and a small 

 amount of albuminoids. Wheat bran ie rich in albu- 

 minoids and phosphate of lime. A perfect food 

 should contain carbonaceous matter to keep up the 

 animal heat and form fat, nitrogenous or albuminous 

 matter to form muscle and i)hos|)horiis and lime to 



mg paper m reply 



ind 



lud • 



■ measure, ol 

 •1,1 lor young 



Cattle that have aliM,,. i i.;. ir ^r-juUi and are fed 

 for beef will thrive on one-lburMi or one-third bran 

 and the remainder cornmeal. Thousands of cattle 

 and hogs are fed in the West on corn alone. But 

 these animals are unhoused and exposed to the in- 

 clemency of the weather. A large proportion of 

 their food is burnt up in the system to maintain the 

 animal heat. In that case, perhaps, corn, witli its 

 large proportion of carbohydrates, is as good a feed 

 as any. 



Ad excellent daily allowance for a milch cow in 

 winter consists of four quarts of cornmeal and four 

 quarts of bran, with a peck of sliced mangles and as 

 much clover hay and cornfodder as he will eat. 



Linseed cake and cottonseed cake are much richer 

 in nitrogen than brau and are valuable concentrated 

 feed for young stock and milch cows. Every ojie 

 knows the great value of oats for horse-feed. This 

 js due in a great measure to the large amount of 

 liitrogen they contain. 



A principal oliject in feeding grain and other con- 

 centrated feed is fo increase the value of our manure 

 piles. An ordiiiL: lo a table prepared by Dr. J. B. 

 Lawcs, III i;,.ili;i instead, England, it would seem 

 that the inaiiure from one ton of wheat bran is worth 

 more than that from two tons of cornmeal; that the 

 manure from one ton .of linseed cake is worth that 

 from three tons of cornmeal, and the manure from 

 one ton of decorticated cottonseed cake is worth 

 more than that from four tons of cornmeal. Dr. 

 Lawes estimates the value of a ton of decorticated 

 cottonseed cake as manure, after being fed to ani- 

 mals, at «-J7.86. 



Manure fs valuable in proportion to the nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid and jiotash it contains. From 8.5 to 

 95 per cent, of these valuable fertilizers are voided 

 in the excrements of the animals, and with proper 

 care may be utilized. A large amount of carbon- 

 aceous matter is burnt up in the animal and lost, 

 but it is of little or no use as manure. 



Dr. Greene, Johnsoii Miller and'Wm. H. Brosius 



spoke in commendation of the views of the essayist. 



Fallen Apples. 



"Should fallen apples be allowed to remain on 

 the ground?" was a question referred to Oalvin 

 Cooper for answer. He answered, "No; many of 

 them contain insects or the eggs of insects ; they 



should be gathered and burned and thus the insects 

 will be destroyed ; or they may be fed to the pigs, as 

 even imperfect or partly rotten apples contain some 

 nutriment. 



Cultivation of Corn. 

 On motion of Casper Hiiler "the cultivation of 

 corn " was chosen for discussion at next meeting, 

 and Mr. Hiiler was appointed to open the discussion. 

 The Agricultural College. 

 President Witmer stated that he had received a 

 letter from Thomas M. Harvey inviting him and 

 as many others .as could make it convenifint, to at- 

 tend a meeting of agriculturists to be Ijeld in the 

 elub room at the Farmers' Market, Philadelphia, to 

 consider what is best to be done in regard to the 

 palpable failure of the Pennsylvania College of 

 Agriculture to meet the wants for which it was 

 organized and endowed. The letter was accompa- 

 nied by a report of a committee of the Eastern Ex- 

 perimental Farm Club on the Pennsylvania State 

 College and its relations to the experimental farms. 

 Report of Committee. 

 Tour committee respectfully report that they have 

 carefully considered the subject referred to them, 

 and desire to say : That the Pennsylvania State Col- 

 lege is now and has been for several years in receipt 

 of an annual income of about $30,000— said income 

 derived from a congressional land grant, donating 

 lands to our State for special educational purposes. 

 The interest of the sum accruing from the sale of 

 these lauds was placed by our Legislature, undtr 

 certain conditions, to the use of this college. One of 

 the conditions especially affecting us as farmers was: 

 that in consideration of the receipt of this annual in- 

 come the college should agree to " establish, con- 

 duct and maintain three experimental farms " — 

 which condition the college accepted without reserve. 

 But your committee are free to say, that^ having an 

 intimate knowledge of the manner in which the 

 Eastern farm was "conducted and maintained " by 

 the college, that such maintenance was not in ac- 

 cordance with the terms or spirit of the Legislative 

 act above referred to. 



When the experimentaF farms were first started, 

 the intelligent farming community took a marked 

 interest in them, the Eastern farm being principally 

 stocked and equipped by citizens of Chester county. 

 But the ignorant management of these farms by the 

 college, and their niggardly maintenance, has made 

 them'a discredit to the farming community, iu whose 

 interest they are supposed to be run, and as public 

 institutions are a disgrace to the commonwealth. 

 But your committee fully believe that "experimental 

 farms " or " experimental stations," properly con- 

 ducted and maintained, can be made of great value 

 to agriculturists and to the people generally ; and, 

 therefore, iu view of the fact that the State college 

 has utterly failed to do its plain duty iu this matter, 

 we would suggest that you petition the Legislature 

 to compel a com]iliance with the act referred to, and 

 secure it by selling aside one-third part of this in- 

 come for tile conduct and maintenance of such farms 

 or stations ; and further, as the college has shown 

 such ineompetency in the management of such sta- 

 tions, that the portion so set aside shall be under the 

 control and direction of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture with such restrictions and regulations as the 

 Legislature in its wisdom may see fit. 



Your committee are willing to go still further, and 

 say that inasmuch as the college trustees have so 

 iujuriously changed the character of the college 

 from its original design as the " Farmers' High 

 School," as devised by Dr. Elwyn and other eminent 

 men, and inasmuch as unfortunate location and pre- 

 vious bad management have always made it un- 

 popular, and with no probable hope for future use- 

 fulness or popularity ; and inasmuch as large sums 

 have been spent upon this institution without any 

 adequate return, therefore, we would further sug- 

 gest that you recommend the Legislature to substi- 

 tute some better managed or more popular institu- 

 tion as the recipient of this land grant fund, by 

 endowing a professorship of agriculture and the 

 mechanic arts ; or in such manner as the Legislature 

 may deem best. All of which we respectfully submit. 



Jno. I. Carter, Job H. Jackson, Thos. M. Harvey, 

 Benj. W. Swayne, Sylvester D. .Linvill, Milton 

 Conard. 



Accompanying the report was a petition to the 

 Legislature for the enactment of a law to remedy 

 the evils complained of by appropriating to some 

 more practical purpose the $S0,000 annual income 

 now wasted by the management of the college. 



Johnson Miller stated that he was present at a 

 meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, last week, 

 and heard the new President of the State Agricul- 

 tural College ask that action on this subject be sus- 

 pended for soine time, and let the new management 

 have a chance to redeem the character it acquired 

 under the former President. 



Joseph F. Witmer related the ex))eriences of one 

 of the managers of the State Experimental Farm, 

 and they were not such as to reflect much credit on 

 the State College under whose care they unfortu- 

 nately are. The college virtually starved him. 



Levi S. Reist also said that the loeation of the 



college was a grand mistake. " There was neither 

 well nor spring water on it when he was there sev- 

 eral years ago. It was a very poor place to put such 

 an institution. 



L motion was made and carried that all the mem- 

 bers sign the petition to the Legislature, and that it 

 be sent to Harrisburg at once, and that the society 

 shall be represented at the meeting to be held at 

 Philadelphia, which has the matter under consider- 

 ation . 



Calvin Cooper offered the following resolution, 

 which was adopted ;. 



Resolved, That the sentiments expressed by the 

 committee from the vicinity of the Eastern Experi- 

 mental Farm are cordially endorsed by this society, 

 and we cheerfully join them in petitioning the Legis- 

 lature for some action in behalf of oppressed agri- 

 culture. 



On motion, Mr. Witmer was appointed to repre- 

 sent the society at the contemplated meeting in 

 Philadelphia, on Wednesday. 



S. P. Eby exhibited an apple called the Baltimore, 

 which was pronounced excellent. 



On motion, the society adjourned. 



POULTRY ASSOCIATION, 



The Lancaster County Poultry Association met 

 on Monday morning, February 7th, in their room in 

 the City Hall. 



The meeting was called to order by the President, 

 H. H. Tshudy. 



The following members were present : H. H. 

 Tshudy, Lititz ; J. B. Lichty, city ; T. Frank Evans, 

 Lititz ; Geo. A. Geyer, Spring Garden; John A. 

 Stober, Schoeneck ; W. A. Schoenberger, Clare Car- 

 penter, W. W.|Gricst, F. R. Diffenderffer, Chas. Lip- 

 pold, city; .Joseph F. Witmer, Paradise; John E. 



Schaum, city ; E. H. Hcr.'.hey, ; I. M. Kreider, 



Mount .Joy; J. W. Bruckhart, Salunga; Dr. Mayer, 

 Willow Street: J. M. .Johnston, city. 



The minutes of the last meeting were read and 

 approved. 



Reports of Officers. 



The Executive Committee, through their chair- 

 man, J. B. Lichty, made a report, giving in detail 

 the results of the late exhibition. "The statement 

 showed that there were 411 entries of birds, from 

 which $185.25 in entrance fees were received-; $2.30.50 

 were paid in general premiums, ?120 in special premi- 

 ums, |I55 in miscellaneous specials ; the total paid 

 out in premiums having been $.50S..50. 



The report was on motion adopted.- 

 Treasurer's Report. 



T. Frank Evans reported that the total expenses 

 of holding the exhibition were ?G44.08, and the total 

 receipts were $.597.05, leaving, however, certain 

 moneys still uncollected. This does not, however, 

 leave a deficit, as there was money in the treasury 

 before the show and there is still a balance there 

 after buying new coops and other miscellaneous ex- 

 penses of .Sj:)..50. 



The report was accepted. 



A pair of almond tumblers having been stolen, 

 the question whether the society should pay for them 

 came up. The rules of the exhibition do not guran- 

 tee exhibitors against loss by accident or theft. Re- 

 ferred to the Executive Committee. 

 New Business. 



The Secretary of the Society said' that a. contract 

 had been entered into for the storage of the coops 

 during the cominu' year. 



ill Lion : 

 -ed or 

 I fowls 



Society sh.i;: (.,..,■< t.ici» .lU..; tv^ii iuv.i ,,v ijird so ex- 

 hibited, and shall didiver tlie score cards to the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee for examination and determina- 

 tion." 



There seemed to be a general desire to have some- 

 thing of this kind donCj as the partial scoring gave 

 a good deal of dissatisfation. There was a long 

 discussion on the resolution, some advocating it and 

 others objecting for various reasons. A vote was 

 taken on it, which resulted in its adoption. 

 New Members. 



William Bullard, of Marietta, and Tobias llershey, 

 of Sporting Hill, were elected to"membership. 

 Question for Discussion. 



The following question was proposed for discussion 

 at the next meeting : 



" Are the smaller breeds of fowls more subject to 

 injury, owing to change in the weather, than the 

 Asiatics?" 



The society, on motion, adjourned. , 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The January meeting of the Club was held at the 

 residence of Montiltion Brown, Fulton township. 

 Very few of the members were present. The extreme 



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