92 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June. 



Our Local Organizations. 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The regular monthly meeting of the Lancaster 

 County Agricultural and Horticultural Society wae 

 held in their room over the City Hall, Monday after- 

 noon, June 13. 



The following members and visitjore were present : 

 Joseph F. Witiner, Paradise; M. D. Kendig, Cress- 

 well; Calvin Cooper, Bird-in-Hand ; Johnson Miller, 

 Warwick ; J. C. Linville, Salisbury ; J. Bollinger, 

 Warwick; Wm. Benes, Safe Harbor; Simon P. 

 Eby, city; F. R. Diffenderffer, city; C. A. Cast, 

 city ; W. Griest, city ; Dr. C. A. Greene, city ; 

 Henry Kurtz, Mount Joy; C. L. Hunsecker, Man- 

 heim ; Peter Hershey, city ; John G. Resh, Willow 

 Street ; Isaac Broomell, Christiana; J. M. Johnston, 

 city. 



On motion, the reading of the minutes of the last 

 meeting was dispensed with. 



Johnson Miller reported that the wheat fields were 

 doing well. The late rains would have the effect of 

 filling the grain. The corn-crop was very irregular, 

 but grass has improved during the past few weeks. 

 Tobacco has started well, and there was every pros- 

 pect for a good crop. The cut-worm, however, was 

 at its work. The crop of small fruits, except 

 peaches, -would be large. 



Mr. Bollinger said the early seeding of wheat 

 fields with him last fall was an almost entire failure. 

 He had then other lields which he sowed later, and 

 these would do well. He reported a fair prospect 

 for a good crop of bay. The worms are destroying 

 a good many tobacco plants, but there would be a 

 fail- crop. Small fruits would not be very plenty in 

 his section. 



.Mr. Linville said the wheat in his section was 

 badly rusted ; the one-year-old grass fields were 

 thinly set, but the late rains had done them much 

 good. Oats promised well, while the young clover 

 was making a good start. Apples and pears, he 

 thought, would not do so well. This was also the 

 case with the cherries. Small fruits- would be 

 plenty — evei-ything except grapes, which have been 

 damaged considerably by the rose bugs. 



Mr. Cooper said he could corroborate nearly every- 

 thing that had been previously said in regard to the 

 crops. If the rust did not prove too severe, he 

 thought they had every prospect for a good crop of 

 -wheat. Small fruits of all kinds are in abundance. 

 The tobacco men were jubilant over the past damp 

 weather. Potatoes came up very irregularly, and 

 some were only coming out of the ground now. He 

 had not seen a bug on his ground this year. 



Mr. Kurtz remarked that the wheat had come out 

 remarkably during the past few weeks, but he was 

 afraid it would suffer from the rust. Tobacco is 

 pretty nearly all planted, and does pretty well, ex- 

 cept it is suffering from the cut-worm. 



Mr. Kendig said the farmers were experiencing 

 considerable difficulty with their corn, some having 

 been planted three times before they got their corn 

 set. 



Mr. Witmer said the crops were about the same in 

 his section as had been noted in other parts of the 

 county. The tobacco plants were almost eaten up 

 by the cut-worm. The other day he gathered "20 

 worms off one acre. Cherries would be abundant, 

 and other small fruits were thriving. 



Dr. Greene read a brief article in reference to the 

 buying and selling of tobacco, stating that nearly 

 all the buyers were Shylocks and frauds, whose sole 

 aim was to cheat the sellers. He came in contact 

 with some of them at the Steverfs House, and he 

 knew not a few would steal his pocket book if they 

 got a chance. He was in favor of establishing a 

 brokerage in this city, where samples of tobacco 

 should be exhibited. The buyers could then pur- 

 chase from these samples, and the raisers thus be 

 prevented from coming in contact with such tobacco 

 "sharps." 

 M. D. Kendig read the following paper in refer- 

 i in growing corn : 



When this society offered a premium for the 

 largest and best yield of corn from five acres, crop 

 of '80, I concluded to give it a trial, but getting no 

 competition (as no one entered) I will here with your 

 indulgence, give the result of my experience. The 

 land ^yas a sandy loam, laying in clover two years, 

 the first crops of which were mown and taken off 

 each year, while the second w.ere allowed to remain 

 to enrich the soil. About \2 tons of barnyard ma- 

 nure were scattered over the poorest spots and 

 ploughed the beginning of March to the depth of 

 seven inches. 100 bushels of fresh lime per acre 

 was then applied, evenly distributed over the surface, 

 and thoroughly incorporated into the soil with a 

 cultivator, which was passed over four times, mak- 

 ing the ground in a most excellent condition for 

 planting. ^ 



It was then marked off with a scorer both ways, 

 or checquered, rows S feet 4 incites apart, and plan- 

 ted with hoe on the 3d and 4th days of May, three 

 grains to a hill. The soil being very loose the roller 

 was passed over lengthwise to firm it down, and in 

 six days it was up nicely. When about a foot high 

 it was thinned out to two stalks to the hill, always 

 removing the inferior, which made it very uniform, 

 giving each stalk an equal chance. The ground 

 having been thoroughly worked up and pulverized 

 before planting, after cultivation, was very easy and 

 simple. An occasional harrowing, to keep the 

 ground loose and mellow, was all it received. No 

 hoe in the field all season except planting time. The 

 plot contained 6 acres and 122 perches, and yielded 

 60.5'4 bushels of dry, shelled corn, actual measure- 

 ment, or at the rate of 89;^ bushels to the acre. It 

 is only fair to state here that two sides of it were 

 bordered by locust trees about 40 feet high , which 

 reduced the entire yield at least :.!5 or 30 bushels. 



The following essay upon the subject of "Foresty," 

 which had been prepared by Casper Hiller, was, in 

 that gentleman's absence read by Mr. Diffenderffer : 



The question of forest planting has of late years 

 become a very prominent one in many sections of our 

 country, and it has even in our own agricultural 

 county become a subject of discussion. The general 

 opinion here, however, is that our land is too high 

 in price and too valuable for general farming pur- 

 poses to plant or retain in forests. This to a great 

 extent is true, but there are many acres in our 

 county that cannot profitably be cultivated to farm 

 crops, owing to the ruggedness and steepness of the 

 land. These steep hillsides, owing to the wash from 

 heavy rains, ihcouvcuience of manuring, etc., yearly 

 become poorer. If these hillsides would have had 

 their mature timber cut out as needed, the balance 

 taken care of and the bare places replanted, they 

 would be the most valuable part of the farm. Hun- 

 dreds of acres along the Conestoga and Pequea and 

 at other places are to-day not worth the taxes 

 which their owners have to pay yearly on them. 

 Even now, if they were planted to the right kind of 

 trees; they would in the lifetime of many of the 

 owners become as valuable as the farm land. 



But if it should take many more years to become 

 available, it is still the duty of every owner of these 

 worthless hillsides to plant trees for a valuable heri- 

 tage to his children and childrens' children. We 

 toil and hoard to the end of our days, for what? That 

 we may have a competency for our old age ? Rather 

 that we cau put our children in good pecuniary cir- 

 cumstances. If it were not for obt great railroad 

 facilities we would already feel that our extrava- 

 gance and recklessness with our timbers has brought 

 us merited punishmen^. The distance of carrying 

 our building lumber is yearly increasing, and a gen- 

 eration hence the freight alone will so advance the 

 prices that those timbered hillsides will be a treasure 

 to their owners. 



Artificial forest growing is by no means chimeri- 

 cal. Thousand^ of acres in the old country are 

 planted forests. The bare hills in Scotland have in 

 less than one hundred years been clothed with tim- 

 bers that have increased their value athousand fold. 

 Land that was worth only a few shillings has in a 

 period of sixty years produced timber which realized 

 over $1,000 per acre. Thousands of acres have been 

 planted to forests in the West, and many more are 

 planted annually. In Virginia, the Landreths, of 

 Philadelphia, have been planting thousands of acres 

 of its worn-out and abandoned fields, which will, in 

 time, help to build up the State, and make it one of 

 the most desirable in the Union. They commenced 

 planting in the year 1872, and ha-ve planted trees by 

 the million. Last year planting was about as 

 follows: 200,009 catalpa, 20,000 ailanthus, 6,000 

 abies douglasi, 10,000 each of white oak, hickory 

 and tulip. 



Lancaster' county has very little experience 

 in forest growing. What few attempts made 

 at it were not especially noted for success. 

 Why ? Mostly for want of judgment in plant- 

 ing and want of care afterwards. Example: 

 A grove was planted to yellow locust from six 

 to eight feet apart. These trees, after thirty years, 

 are not over four inches in diameter, and never will 

 be very valuable. Tress planted in the same local- 

 ity, well cared for, and having room to spread, if 

 made into posts would realize ?4 apiece. It is well 



enough to plant thickly at first, but such planting 

 must in time be judiciously thinned out until the 

 right mean is attained. Less than one hundred trees 

 to the acre, in a majority of cases, would be better 

 than more, The trees in the following list were 

 planted hy the writer. They were dug up in the 

 forest when five or six feet high. 



White Pine 30 years old, 60 in. circumference. 



Hemlock 30 " 48 



Locust 30 " 45 " 



Larch 25 " 4S 



Walnut 20 " 35 



SiiEili: Mnpic 20 " .30 



Silver .Maple 20 " 50 



Tulip PoplHr 20 •• 40 



Paulonia 18 ■' 75 



Catalpa IS " 40 



Add to this list the oak, the chestnut and the 

 osage orange, and we have about all the varieties 

 needful for practical purposes. 



What varieties to plant depend on the time when 

 we desire to realize and the uses to which we intend 

 to apply. If for fencing we should plant chestnut, ' 

 paulonia or catalpa. Paulonia and catalpa promise ' 

 to be of more value than locust. They grow much 

 faster, and are so far not subject to insect depreda- 

 tion, while the locust is so infested by borers as to be 

 unworthy of planting in many localities. Paulonia 

 and catalpa are both soft-wooded, but are said to be 

 fully as durable as locust. 



A piece of paulonia wood placed in a situation 

 (five years ago) is nearly as sound as It was, while 

 oak and even chestnut would be rotten. Paulonia Is i 

 perlerable to catalpa, on account of its stronger and 

 more upright growth. 



The maples, as can be seen by the list, will become 

 available for fire wood in less than forty years. 



If we plant for future generations the pines, 

 larches, tulips, walnuts and oaks are the most 

 promising. 



At no great future time our mechanics will be in 

 great want of hickory. This should be planted, or 

 in its stead plant the osage orange. This is a better 

 grower, and for all purposes is fully equal to the 

 hickory. A tree of this variety in Chester county 

 has attained three feet in diameter in fifty years. 



This planting of our bare hillsides will, besides tlie 

 .idvantages mentioned, beautify our landscape, and 

 may have a beneficial influence on the rainfall, and 

 it is also assumed that it is worth all the cost of 

 planting, by the protection they give to the farm . 

 This part of the subject, viz : the uses of" forests in 

 Lancaster county, their influence on the climate," 

 etc., is very ably treated in a pamphlet of thirty-five 

 pages by Simon P. Eby, Esq., of Lancaster, which 

 should be in the hands of all who feel an interest in 

 the future of our county. 



Dr. Greene, S. P. Eby, Esq., J. C. Linville and 

 Calvin Cooper spoke on the subject of tree planting. 

 The subject was an important one, and it had been 

 given careful study by the essayist, who produced a 

 very valuable paper. 



Johnson Miller read an essay upon the subject of 

 holding a fair by the society next fall. The paper 

 advocated the holding of a fair, but the writer was 

 opposed to horse racing and gambling of any sort. 

 It appealed to the business men of the community 

 for financial aid for the undertaking. 



Dr. Greene said he had spoken to a number of ' 

 persons and he had no doubt that if a fair was 

 started in the right method it would be a success. 

 He hoped a committee would be appointed to solicit 

 subscriptions in the county to a guarantee fund from 

 our business men. Then publish a premium list at 

 once, and circulate it throughout the country. 



After considerable discussion upon the subject, Dr. 

 Greene m.ide a motion, which was carried, to the 

 effect that the society deem it inadvisable to hold a, 

 fairthis year. 



Owing to the fact that the regular meeting day 

 ol the society falls next month upon the 4th of July, 

 the president announced that the meeting would 

 accordingly be held on the second Monday. 



A discussion then arose as to the best means of 

 awakening an interest in the meetings of the society 

 and securing a larger attendance, and it was deter- 

 mined to appeal to the editors of the country papers 

 to publish the proceedings asfull as the space would 

 allow. 



On motion of Calvin Cooper, the editors and pub- 

 lishers of the Examiner, jV«(i Era, Intdligtncer, 

 Inquirer and Volksfreund were made honorary 

 members of the society, as a slight appreciation of 

 their kindness in publishing the proceedings of the 

 society. 



Isaac Broomell, of Christiana, was elected to mem- 

 bership in the society. 



Adjourned. 



