. 1881.] 



celd weather and the snow blockading the roads in 

 many places will probalJy accoui.t for the measre 

 attendance. The visitors present by invitation were 

 James Smedley ami Joseph A. nonum. 

 Questions and Answers. 



Montilllon Brown asked : "What kind of fertilizers 

 are those present iroing to use for corn ?" 



The answers given to this question showed that a 

 decided preference was given to South Carolina Koek 

 by most of them. 



James Smedley asked if any one had tried South 

 Carolina Rock alongside of other fertilizers ? 



Solomon L. Gregg had tried it against barnyard 

 manure and other fertilizers ; the Kock was decidedly 

 the best. Once hp had sowed a land across a wheat 

 field in the spring of the year. It made no percepti- 

 ble difference In the wheat crop, but it showed for 

 several years in the grass. 



James Smedley had tried it against lime. The 

 rock made better corn and oats ; after that it was all 

 covered with barnyard manure, but the rock still 

 made its mark in the wheat and In the grass for the 

 three following years. 



Montillion Brown saiil that rock and phosphate do 

 well ou his farm, but that he had put on half a ton 

 to the acre of ground bones at two ditl'crcnt times 

 and had no perci-ptible results. 



Joseph A. Roman had noticed that the man who 

 owned the bone mill was putting on rock. 



William King : Docs any:one present know how to 

 make good, marketable butter.in cold weather, with- 

 out using artillclal coloring ? 



It was answered that it could only be done by 

 feeding eornmeal to to the right kind of cows. For 

 making butter of good color Alderneys were pre- 

 ferable. 



Joseph A. Roman said that there was a great deal 

 of common sense in a remark once made by a friend 

 of his, that he did not see the use in giving high 

 prices for Alderneys when he could color live hun- 

 dred pounds of butter with five cents worth of 

 aoDatto. 



Interesting Exhibits. 



Joseph A. Roman exhibited a bag full of ensilage 

 taken from his silo. It was of light-brown color, and 

 had something of the smell of tigs. His experience 

 In the use of it. was very lituited, but he had fed 

 enough of it to know that his cattle are very fond of 

 it. The green fodder can be cut aud put up cheaply, 

 as there is no rush or hurry about it. He had taken 

 the wheat ofl' the ground last harvest, plowed it, 

 raised the fodder corn, and took It off, and seeded 

 the same ground again with wheat in the fall. It 

 cuts easy, and a great deal of it can be stored in very 

 little space. He is of the opinion that his experi- 

 ment will prove a success, and that the discovery 

 will be a great benetit to farmers. 



He also exhibited a sample of cotton seed meal, 

 costing $3S per ton in Baltimore, aud stated that a 

 neighbor of his had tried feeding a pint a day to his 

 dairy of thirty cows, aud found that it increased the 

 product of butter fifteen pounds per week. The feed 

 of eornmeal was reduced considerably while using 

 the cotton seed meal . 



Result of an Experiment. 



E. H. Haines gave the result of an experiment in 

 setting milk. Six hundred pounds of milk well 

 mixed together were set, part iu shallow pans, in a 

 warm atmosphere iu the cellar, and part in deep 

 cans, aud the cream raised by means of ice. The 

 milk set in shallow pans made a pound of butter to 

 twenty-one pouuds of milk, while it took twenty- 

 three pounds of the milk in the deep cans to make a 

 pound of butter. Other experiments that he had 

 made were more I'avorBble to the deep setting, and 

 as it was much less trouble to set deep he expected 

 to experiment further. 



Literary Exercise. 



Ella Brown recited "Merry New Year's Day," writ- 

 ten by a convict iu Lancaster County-Prison. Rebecca 

 D.King read "Queries," a temperance article. M. 

 Brown read "Beeelier on Bob Ingcrsoll," and Wm. 

 King read an article on "Jiusilage and Silos," frOm 

 the Kew York Tribune. After a few remarks by J . 

 Smedley, the club adjourned to meet at Joseph K. 

 Blackburn's next month'. 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



29 



LINNiEAN SOCIETY- 



Tlie society met on Saturday, January '29, at 2 

 o'clock P. M., at the usual place, President Stahr 

 and Secretary Davis in their chairs. Present, nine 

 members and six visitors. After the usual prelimi- 

 nary business, the followiug donations were made to 

 the museum and lil.rary : 



Donations to the Museum. 



1. The heirs of the late Jacob StauU'er donated to 

 the society the entire botanical collection of our late 

 fellow-member, comprising tweuty-live large port- 

 folios, containing about 2,500 specimens of the flora 

 of Lancaster county. 



2. Mr. George H. Haldemau donated a large col- 

 lection of minerals, belonging to his father, the late 

 Dr. Edwin Haldemau, comprising a large number of 

 specimens, some of which are very fine aud rare. 



5. Mr. J. William Rooting donated a "double 

 apple," which is" now preserved iu alcohol, a de- 

 scription of which was published in the Daily Ex- 

 aminer of January 14, 1881 . 



4. Master James Munson donated a Sienlte, "Ham- 

 mer stone," (ail Indian relic,) dug out of the soil in 

 the city of Lancaster. Also, a " Brown Bat," ( Ke»- 

 perlilis Carolinetmn,) that was captured in this city 

 In January. Also, the nest of a "Cat Bird," 

 (.Vlmiu CaroHventis,) made of womly fibre and line 

 roots. Also, a nest supposed to be that of a species 

 of sparrow. 



.5. A portable writing desk, made of fine dark 

 wood, inlaid with pearl, and said to have been the 

 property of Jetterson Davis, was donated by Mr. D. 

 McNealy Stauffer. 



6. A friend donated a beautiful polished trans- 

 verse section of brown agatized wood; 5 metallifer- 

 ous fragments ; 12 fragmentary varieties of agate : 

 U arrowheads ; a large specimen of " ribbon agate ;" 

 2 iron " grape shot " balls, and minnle rifle balls or 

 slugs. The minerals were picked up by the donor 

 at Iowa City twenty-five years ago, and the grape 

 and minnle balls from the field three days after the 

 battle of Antletam. 



7. A wood cut of Strasburg Academy and adja- 

 cent buildings, drawn and engraved by the late 

 Jacob Stauffer, donated by William L. Gill. 



8. A canoe paddle of the Indians of British Guiana, 

 1878, and a Maquarri whip, used in the dance of the 

 Maquarri Indians of British Guiana, donated by Mrs. 

 S. S. Haldemau. 



9. Two large boxes, containing a great number of 

 Indian relics, minerals, fossils, &c., collected by the 

 late Dr. S. S. Haldeman, and donated by Mrs. 

 Haldeman. 



10. A piece of semi-fossilized wood from Ocean 

 Grove, New Jersey, donated by Jas. G. Thackara. 



11. A living alligator (Alligator MimHuippitmis,) 

 over ten inches long. Donated by Prof. I. S. Geisl, 

 of Marietta. This animal was brought up from 

 Florida, by J. B.Hopkins, Esq., of Baltimore, iu 

 November last, and presented to Prof. Geist. 



12. A large tlattened pod of Kyah Shah, or " Tiger 

 Tongue," from British Birmah, was donated by 

 Miss Lefevre. 



]:i. Forty-two arrow and spearheads from Ken- 

 tucky, were donated through .Mr. Gill, by Mrs. S. S. 

 Haldeman. These are fine specimens, and are of 

 agate, jasper, chalcedony, quartz and horn stone. 

 Library. 



1. An illustrated paper read before the " American 

 Philosophical Society," on the contents of a Rock 

 Retreat near Chickies, by the late Dr. S. S. Halde- 

 man. This is a quarto of 17 pp. and 1.5 plates, in- 

 cluding 255 figures. Donated by Mrs. S. S. Halde- 

 man. 



2. Report of the Commissioner of Education for 

 1878, 7:i0 pp. octavo, donated by the Department of 

 the Interior at Washington. 



3. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents, 

 for 1879, 416 pp., dcmi-quarto, from the Department 

 of the Interior. 



4. Numbers 25 and 2G, Vol. 18; and 1,2,3 and 

 4, Vol. 19, of the Official Patent Office Gazette, from 

 the same. 



5. A skelcth of the Wyoming Historical and Geo- 

 logical Soeiely. 



K. A copy of the Musical >/«ra7d for January, 18S1. 



7. The Lancaster Fakmer for Jauuury, 1K81. 



8. Eight old alm.anacs, namely: Anti-Masonic 

 almanac for 1830 and 1832; United States almanac 

 for 1830; Farmers and .Mechanics almanac for 1830 

 and 1831; Pennsylvania almanac for 1834; Uncle 

 Sam's almanac for 18.52; and Agricultural almanac 

 for 1833, donated by a friend. 



9. A manual of Devotions for the Catholic blind, 

 by Rev. James O'Reiley, printed in raised letters, 

 and to be read with the fingers ; donated by the 

 same, 18ti7. 



10. A portfolio of manuscript botanical papers, 

 consisting of classified lists of plants, and a number 

 of other papers relating to botany; from the heirs 

 of the late Jacob Stauffer. 



11. An octavo volume, containing a catalogue of 

 the Herbarium of the late Ellas Diffeubach, whose 

 collection is now the property of the society ; from 

 the same. 



12. Three unbound folios, containing drawings 

 and impressions of plants, taken from the plants 

 themselves, in ink. From the same. 



13. Several large chjirfs. In the form of botanical 

 trees, Illustrative of plant classification aud scien- 

 tific arrangement. Same. 



14. An unbound volume of the "Rural New 

 Yorker." From the same. 



15. Two ciruulars of information, Nog. 4 aud 5, of 

 the Bureau of Education, from the Department of 

 the Interior. 



Historical. 



1. A draft from the "Lancaster Cotton House" 

 on the Farmers' Bank, of Lancaster, for ten dollars, 

 in favor of George Washington Brown, or bearer ; 

 signed bv J. Adolphus Peters, and dated June 2d, 

 1810. This relic is iu the form of a bank note, and 

 has the "Old Factory" for a Vignette. Donated by 

 a friend. 



2. A fifty dollar note on the Lancaxter J3ank,BigDei 

 by David Longeiiecker, president, and B. M. Bach- 

 man, cashier, and dated December 3d, 1849. Across 

 the face Is written In red Ink, "Payment demanded 

 March 3d, 1S57, D. M. Lebkiches, cash, pro tern." 

 By the same. 



3. A lease of lot No. 563, in the borough of Lan- 

 caster, from Wm, Hamilton, Esq., to Christian Neff, 

 dated May 29, 1790. This document bears the genu- 

 ine autographs of Wm. Hamilton, Jasper Yates and 

 Dan. Oflar. Donated by the heirs of the late Jacob 

 Staufi'er. 



4. A brief of titles to Lancaster estates. This 

 paper contains briefs of 25 titles, dating from 1731 

 to 1753. Same. 



5. Lists of lots leased by Wm. Hamilton and 

 Jasper Yates, "under a special warrant of attorney." 

 These lists contain lUO numbered lots of ground, 

 and were leaseil to 70 persons, the aggregate amount 

 being i;2.'')6 Us. Id. Same. 



(>. Four envelopes, containing 08 historical and 

 biographical scraps, from Dr. S. S. Rathvon. 

 New Business. 



the society with their liberal donations on this oc 

 caslon. 



The librarian was authorized to procure a blank 

 book and catalogue therein the books belODglng to 

 the society. 



The curators were instructed to examine and 

 classify the contents of the boxes of donations, arid 

 to make a proper record of the same. 



The annual election of offlccrs was held, which 

 resulted as follows : President, Professor J. S. Stahr; 

 Vice Presidents, Professors J. H. Dubbs and T. R. 

 Baker; Recording Secretary, Dr. M. L. Davis; Cor- 

 responding Secretary, Professor I. S. Geist; Treas- 

 urer, Professor S. S. Rathvon ; Librarian, Mrs. L. 

 .VI. Zell; Curators, S. S. Rathvon, C. A. Helnltsh, 

 .John B. Kevinski and W.. L. Gill; Miscroscopist, 

 Dr. M.L.Davis. 



After a season of interesting social intercourse the 

 Society adjourned. 



Agriculture. 



More Corn to the Acre. 



The farmers in the Middle and Atlantic States are 

 beginning to study out the expediency of raising 

 more cereals to the acre than they have heretofore 

 been doing. They see very clearly that it can be 

 done, and in the case of maize or Indian corn es- 

 pecially so. It is true that the labor bestowed will 

 be somewhat greater; but when they consider that a 

 very large portion of the labor is done with ma- 

 chinery, it does dot present the same drawback that 

 it did formerly. Besides there is no crop that shows 

 the benefit of good culture so much as corn. It can- 

 not stand wellin its own defence against the rapid 

 grovrth of a multitude of greedy rampant weeds ; 

 hence, its gratitude when the Iflvading enemies are 

 thrust out and it is allowed to go on its way rejoicing. 



In referring to a heavy yield of corn grown by 

 Nathan G. Pierce, .Maryland, twice during the year 

 just closed, he furnishes for publication the state- 

 ment that one hundred and ten oushels were the 

 product per acre, or rather that number of bush- 

 els allowing seventy-five pounds of ears to equal 

 one bushel of shelled corn. But to remove all 

 case for evil, he sets down the net yield, notwith- 

 standing this allowance, at one hundred bushels per- 

 acre. This seems to be a liberal estimate, and farmers 

 in general will no doubt admit it to be so. His mode 

 of culture is to plow the grouud, which was a grav- 

 elly loam, about the first of May, harrow it in the 

 usual manner, and treat it to nine hundred pounds of 

 a standard krtiliz'-r per acre ; again well harrow the 

 land, make the rows three fet apart, then a " small 

 amount" of fertillier scattered iu each row, and on 

 May 10 drop three grains of corn (the Lost Nation 

 variety), two feet apart in the rows; cultivate and 

 hoe tlie crop four times, cutting out one of the three 

 plants and removing all the suckers and weeds until 

 time arrives for cutting and removiug to the barn for 

 huskiug, &c. 



This is only what every good fanner ought to be- 

 stow ujion a crop of corn. ' There is nothing out of 

 the way about it all ; hence, there Is no Just reason, 

 with an ordinarily favorable season, that the result' 

 should not be the same, or measurably the same, in 

 the production of the crop generally.— fferino7i(oinn 

 Telegraph, 



Manuring Lawns, 

 and objectionable practice is to spread 

 manure In coarse lumps on lawns, just before winter, 

 where the grass needs a fertilizer. These lumps lie 

 unbroken till spring, entirely destroying the good 

 appearance of the lawn, and on warm days giving 

 off an odor not of a pleasing character. Lawns 

 need enriching, and this may be effected In a better 

 way. Compost, or old manure, finely pulverized 

 and spread half an Inch thick very evenly over the 

 surface, will settle between the blades of grass, 



