1881. 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



m 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The May meetlne; of Fulton Fanners' Club was 

 held at the reeUli-nce of Joslah Brown, Fulton 

 township. 



S. L. Gregg cxlilbllcil Kiiigc Pippin uad Kusset 

 apples. Both varieties were in good eondillon, show- 

 ing their good keeping qualities. ' 



Joslah Brown showed several large sweet [iota- 

 toes, part of a crop he raised last jeiir, making HO 

 bushels oflone-fourth of an acre. 



Wm. King, a sample of prollflc bread eorn from 



the Agricultural Department at Washington; also a 



sample of ground limestone from Hefton,this county. 



The club did not seem Inclined to take much sloek 



lu this new fertilizer. 



E. Henry Haines Inquired how it would do to 

 make a cow stable In the second story of u barn, 

 and what kind of a floor it would be best to put 

 under thsm. 



MoutiUion Brown said that he had read of It be- 

 ing done in some of the flrst-class barns, but he 

 could not see the advantage of putting them up- 

 stairs. If It was done the floor should be of oak, 

 and a very good one, for it would have to be tight. 

 Oak would- not shrink or swell like pine. 



LIudlcy King thought an oak floor would be like- 

 ly to get slippery. If he had not enough room for 

 his stock In the cellar of his barn he would build 

 sheds. 



MontlUlon Brown: What kind of wheat appears to 

 have stood the winter best? 



The answer given to this question showed that the 

 past winter, though severe, was not one that was 

 hard on wheat, for out of the several varieties sown 

 by the members of the club, all seemed to have stood 

 the winter well. 



S. L. Gregg: How has clover taken, and which is 

 taken best, early or late sowing? This was a ques- 

 tion that there did not appear to be any one ready to 

 answer. 



Joseph Grieat has a piece of land that raises good 

 grain, but he has been unable to get grass to take on 

 It. He asked if grass would be more likely to take 

 If It was tramped by cattle jiasturing on it. He had 

 been applying bone and manure to It very liberally. 

 Montillion Brown thought that perhaps he had 

 t>etter try plowing it two or three times in succes- 

 sion . This, with the manure he has been putting on, ' 

 should make it grow. 



S. L. Gregg thought that it was likely that the 

 grass would take now. If bone and manure will not 

 make grass take, he did not know what would. 

 Tramping the ground to make grass take does not 

 agree with the soiling system. 



Joslah Brown had noticed that grass always took 

 better after potatoes than anywhere else, and sug- 

 gested planting it In potatoes if the grass failed to 

 take now. 



Joslah Brown: Which Is the better time to sow 

 Hungarian grass, in May or June? 



M. Brown: Not later than the middle of May; then 

 It matures In better weather for harvesting than if 

 sown later. 



E. H. Haines: The ground must get thoroughly 

 warm before it will do much good; then it will ma- 

 ture in about ninety days. 



Entertained by the Host. 

 The club now adjourned lo partake of the hospitali- 

 tlej of the host and to look over his fine farm and 

 livestock. Some of the members advised the pro- 

 prietor to drain his meadow, which would be a valua- 

 ble piece of land after the water was taken oB' It. 

 He explained that he had spent over a hundred dol- 

 lars in draining, with very little benefit. 

 Literary Exercises. 

 Literary excreiscs being next in order, Sadie Brown 

 read an article entitled " The Isolation of Farmers;" 

 also, an article on "Farming for pleasure and profit." 

 Ella Brown read an humorous |)oem, entitled 

 "What Comes of Too Much Ensilage?" 



The ensilage question was next discussed at some 

 length. 



Montillion Brown said It was an untried thing with 

 us, and perhaps some of us had thrown too much 



cold water on it at the last meeting of the club. It 

 look a gieat while for the world to come to the belief 

 that Galileo was right— Indeed, It was doubtful 

 whether all believed him ycl; yet General Jackson's 

 wife said that she thouirht the world was flat, and 

 she gurssed that the General tliouglit so, too. 



But the advocaU's of ensilage put the cost of pre- 

 paring it too low. In the article that appeared In 

 7'Ac jYeic Km It says thai the whole cost, interest 

 included, was $1.37?;, per ton. His experience Ir 

 taking off corn led him to doubt It. He did not sec 

 how it could be cut and packed In the silo (o'' that. 

 But they have no intcresi In It. There arc no patents 

 to sell. 



E. H. Haines: In the American AgyiculturUl last 

 fail was an aceoUnt of a visit to the farm of the 

 Buckley brothers. The visitors said that eight men 

 and two pair of horses wore cutting and packing 30 

 tons per day. Now, at ^.l for the horses and ilrivers 

 and 90 cents per day for the men, the cost of eut- 

 tine and packing 20 tons would be $10.40 or 52cvnts 

 tier ton, and 46 tons can be raised off an acre. Don't 

 think it Is too low . 



Adjourned to meet at the residence of S. L. Gregg, 

 Drumore township, the first Saturday in June. 



THE LINNiEAN SOCIETY. 



The society met on Ssiturday afternoon, .May 38th, 

 in the ante-room of the museum. Prof. Stahr in the 

 eluiir and Dr. Davis secretary. 



After organization the following donations were 

 made to the Museuip and Library : 

 Museum. 

 A fine specimen of the "Garter Snake," {Entrf- 

 nia terlalis,) was donated by Master James Munsen, 

 of the Lancaster High School. This reptile was 

 preserved in alcohol and is in fine condition. The 

 genus Kntceina belongs to the family Cobihrkhe, and 

 contains several species in the United States, all of 

 which are longitudinally striped and perfectly harm- 

 less. They vary in size, from twelve to thirty-six 

 inches in length, and are amongst the most common 

 of our local Keptilia. 



Four small specimens of granite, from the old mill 

 of Washington, at Mount Vernon, Virginia, were 

 donated by a friend. 

 An oblong, spindle-shaped hen's egg was donated 



liy Mr. , of North Queen street. This is only 



another of those many malformations of the eggs 

 of domestic fowls, which are constantly occurring, 

 owing to local causes, perhaps largily Incidental to 

 domestication. 



Libraiy. 

 Five numbers of the 19th volume of the Official 

 Patent Office Gazette viere received from the U. S. 

 Department of the Interior. 



A digest of the decisions of the U.S. Patent Office 

 for 1880, from the same. 



Aids to Public Libraries from the same. 

 Two large volumes of Reports on Public Libraries, 

 also from Department of Interior. 

 Lanc^stek Farmer for May, 1881. 

 Two octavo catalogues of Scientific and Historical 

 Works, and a number of circulars, &c. 



A communication from the Commissioner of the 

 Department of the Interior, relating to the Library 

 Junrnal, published annually. 



Historical. 

 Two envelopes containing '-'2 Ijistorieal and bio- 

 graphical selections, many of them of a local 

 character. 



Papers Read. 

 Mrs. Zell read an interesting paper on the "Helle- 

 bore Family." 



Deferred Business 

 The chairman of the committee appointed at a 

 former meeting to examine the prucecdimja ani com- 

 pile lists of all the members and correspondents 

 who have been elected to the LInniean Society from 

 Its organization to the present time, dates of their 

 election and their residences at the time they were 

 elected, so far as known, made a report In accord- 

 ance with said instructions, which was on motion 

 received and the chairman authorized, If practicable. 



to have them publlsheil for the information of the 

 public. 



The committee, also a(>|>oiutcd at a former meet- 

 ing, to have shelving put up for the accommoilatlou 

 of our increaslDg library, and the large accession to 

 our botanical collection, reported the work done and 

 and presented bills, which, on motion, were ordered 

 to be paid. 



The Treasurer reported 1.5.00 paid lo the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences for its proceedings f'>r the year 

 1880, which was approved. 



Mr. Wm. U. Bullar,of Marietta, was balloted for 

 and was unanimously elected an aV'tive memlicr uf 

 the society, 



Mr. Brinton, formerly elected, presented hlniseU 

 and was duly Identified as an active member. 

 Science Gossip. 

 The meeting was somewhat larger than the usual 

 average, but happening in the busiest season of ^he 

 most active members, there was little of special In- 

 terest brought before it, still there was ample oppor- 

 tunity for scientific gossip, through which It tiecame 

 manifest that the l.inniean Society needs at least three 

 things to facilitate its material development. It 

 needs more— much more— space, for the expansion 

 and proper display of its collections (It Is absolutely 

 cramped for room). 



It needs a larger working force of really active 

 members, who are blessed with an abundant leisure 

 and a wi(( to work. Above all, it needs »n endow- 

 ment fund, in order to carry Into practical effect the 

 two former needs. Seeing that It is utterly Impossi- 

 ble for men to take their wealth out of this world, 

 and the criminal use that Is often made of it, after 

 they are removed beyond Its control. It seems a 

 wonder that not more Is done in that direction. 

 Adjourned to Saturday, June 35th, IKM. 



Agriculture. 



The Ground Limestone Question. 



We notice that mills are going up to grind lime- 

 stone, the same as plaster is crushed, for fertilizing 

 purposes, and seems like so many new things all the 

 time being introduced lo catch the attention of the 

 farmer. We have all along doubted the claimed 

 merit of this new candidate for public favor; and 

 this doubt a short time ago was sustained in a very 

 creditable argument on the subject by Professor 

 Jordan, of the State Agricultural Society, which 

 appeared in the Telegraph on the 9th of February 

 ultimo. Though brief, itseemed lo cover the whole 

 ground, and, in our judgment, showed very distinctly 

 the superiority of the burned over the uuburned 

 lime rock, as well as that It was Impossible thsl the 

 unburned stone should supply anything that the 

 burned stone did not in a more acceptable form. 

 Professor Jordan says : 



" When lime-rock Is burned the carbonic acid Is 

 driven off, leaving canstic lime behind. This lime 

 has strong disjiosilion to unite with any acid with 

 which it may come In contact, and when applied to 

 the soil In that state It Is ready to enter into, or even 

 force, new combinalions of the soil Ingredients. It 

 is true that considerable of It returns to the same 

 form in which It existed In the lime-rock, by taking 

 up carlmnic add from the soil and air; yet this pro- 

 cess is more or less slow, so that the caustic or basic 

 effect of the lime has time to be felt. Again, lime Is 

 much more soluble in water than the carbonate of 

 lime, and therefore is able to receive better distribu- 

 tion In the soil, thus having its effect much Increased. 

 Some have been made to believe that when Ume-rock 

 Is burned, fertilizing properties are driven out of It. 

 Such a statement is utter nonsense. Cartionic acid 

 is all that is driven off, and of that Ingredient the 

 soli and air furnish a great abundance. Supplying 

 carbonic acid merely as a fertilizer would be about 

 as foolish as adding salt water to the ocean In order 

 to Increase the facilities for making a sea voyage to 

 England. Therefore, farmers. It Is useless for you 

 to expect any effect from lime-rock that the lime will 

 not give you, and there is every reason for thinking 



