114 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



proceedings. According to Mr. R.'s repre- 

 sentations, however, it was owing to the fact 

 that the merchants, the manufacturers, the 

 artizans and the hostelries of Lancaster city 

 took no interest in it, refused to contribute 

 towards a guarantee or sustaining fund, and 

 manifested no desire to participate in it. 

 Columbia was more liberal, and made certain 

 proposals whicli were accepted, and under 

 ordinary circumstances it might have suc- 

 ceeded. 



"But ah, the cruel spoiler came." It may 

 seem a little singular that a city which is so 

 wholly dependent upon the patronage of the 

 rural population, and whose people would, in 

 a measure, be "hungry and naked" but for 

 the agricultural productions of the county, 

 should take so little interest in its agricul- 

 tural enterprises. Things are very different 

 over in "Old Berks." Was this failure the 

 "death blow " of the old society ? 



THE KIEFFER PEAR. 



This pear has been extensively advertized, 

 proclaimed and believed in, as a fruit tree en- 

 tirely exempt from hliglit — significantly called 

 "blight-proof." We will not gainsay that to 

 some extent, or in some localities, it may have 

 been thus far entitled to that claim, but there 

 is very good reason to believe that this quality 

 does not appertain to it universally or unlim- 

 itedly. Within the past few days we have had 

 exhibited to us a branch of the Kieffer pear, 

 two feet in length, that was nearly black 

 with a disease, which if not hlight, was ^surely 

 an infection even worse than blight. 



Mr. Daniel Smeych, a fruit grower of intel- 

 ligence and experience, residing in the west 

 end of Lancaster city, reports a case within 

 his own personal experience the present sea- 

 son. Early last spring he grafted a pear tree 

 on bis premises with the Kieffer, Henderson, 

 and other varieties of pears, all of which 

 during the iutervening season, made a vigor- 

 ous growth; but notwithstanding their healthy' 

 appearance, in the forepart of June, already 

 the Kieffer began to show a disposition to 

 blight, which increased until the 30th of July 

 when he cut off the blighted portions, one of 

 which was nearly two feet in length. But the 

 most singular and damaging coincidence is, 

 that the very branches that were professedly 

 blight-proof w"ere the only ones infected with 

 blight, all the others remaining intact. 



This record is not made with a view to dis- 

 parage the Kieffer pear— for it is a most ex- 

 cellent fruit— nor yet to deter any one from 

 its general cultivation ; it is simply the re- 

 cord of a stubborn fact, as it occurred in the 

 experience of a practical and intelligent fruit- 

 grower ; and may be a healthy bar to that 

 overweening confidence which takes every- 

 thing on implicit trust, and then manifests 

 unreasonable criticism and universal distrust 

 because it has been inadvertently disappoint- 

 ed. It is true that up to the ^rst of July, the 

 season was more than ordinarily moist, which 

 may have been favorable to the generation of 

 blight, fungi, and other "cutaneous" dis- 

 eases which the pear tree is heir to, but that 

 the disease should strike the Kiefter alone, is 

 a serious complication of its claim. The only 

 apparent road out of the difficulty is to ques- 

 tion the integrity of the testimony, which, we 

 think, is not admissible, although, perhaps, 



not infallible. As we intimated before, the 

 Kiefter pear is a very desirable fruit ; and all 

 who know Mr. Smeych, and his success in the 

 production of fine varieties, and also the pre- 

 miums he almost invariably carries away 

 from fruit exhibitions, would naturally infer 

 that he would not be likely to make a mistake 

 in his selection of recognized varieties, espe- 

 cially one with such a notable reputation as 

 the "Kieffer." 



All we have to say in the matter is, " There 

 is the widow Mulrooney, and there is her 

 pig " — we remit them to the Tribunal Pomo- 

 logical for a solution of the enigma. Mr. S. 

 feels greatly disappointed ; we feel disappoint- 

 ed, and doubtless many others may feel dis- 

 appointed or distrustful, when they reflect, 

 that "after all," their anticipations of blight- 

 proof pear trees may not be realized without 

 some peradventures. Under any circum- 

 stances, however, the Kiefier is worth tlie 

 risk ; if it blights, so do all others; so that 

 "honors are even." 



LANCASTER COUNTY PEAT. 



Perhaps few of our readers are aware that 

 we have an extensive Peat Bed in Lancaster 

 county, and in near proximity to Lam-aster 

 city — in what is usually called the "Dillerville 

 Swamp." Some-days ago Mr. A. C. Stauffer, 

 of the vicinity, exhibited to us a small box of 

 peat from that locality, which, according to 

 his representations, will burn to ashes, when 

 it is properly dried, and that it is also an excel- 

 lent fertilizer, either alone, or mixed with 

 other ingredients. This substance lies from 

 three to six feet, or more, deep, on a compact 

 bed of clay and gravel. It Is not likely that 

 this peat, as a fuel, will be in demand, in our 

 day ; but none can tell how it may be in a 

 thousand, or even a hundred years from 

 hence. Calculations, and even some appre- 

 hensions have been indulged in regarding the 

 final exhaustion of stone coal ; and, should 

 such a contingency ever occur, and no efforts 

 be made to replenish our wasted and still 

 wasting forests, peat would be the only thing 

 to fiill back on ; for we may naturally suppose 

 that oil is likely to become exhausted' before 

 coal. 



But, as a fertilizer, this substance may be 

 in immediate demand. Mr. Stauffer, how- 

 ever should send samples of it to the chemist of 

 the State Board of Agriculture and have it anal- 

 yzed, especially note, while his "hand is in" 

 that occupation. It is a matter of as much 

 importance as the analysis of any of the 

 manufactured fertilizers. 



The substance looks as dark and rich as the 

 strongest and best barn-yard manure, and is 

 composed of the accumulation of grass-root 

 and stalk fibers of ages, and it extends for 

 s )me miles eastward, along a run of water, 

 crossing the Manheim road north of Lancaster. 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Official announcement has been made by 

 Secretary Edge, tliat a meeting of the Fenn- 

 sylmnia State Board of Agriculture will be 

 held in the borough of York, York county, 

 commencmg on Tuesday, October 14th, at 1 

 o'clock, P. M. The proceedings of this com- 

 paratively young organization are usually of 

 an interesting and useful character to the 

 agricultural industries of the State; coming 



more frequently, in a tangible form, before 

 the people of the State than those of the 

 older society. 



On this occasion a number of original and 

 valuable papers will be read by the most intel- 

 ligent and practical members of the agricul- 

 tural profession, as well as much other busi- 

 ness pertaining to that distinguished organi- 

 zation. We understand, through a reliable 

 authority, that views are entertained by the 

 leading members, looking towards a more 

 equitable and efficient representation, than 

 that which had been adopted in the infancy 

 of the Board. This is a rational contingency. 

 If the organization is at all a progressive one 

 it will doubtless find many occasions for a 

 reconstruction of its powers, its privileges 

 and its eftective operations. The people ex- 

 pect it to go forward. 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

 ■ In another column of this number of The 

 Farmer om- readers will find a communica- 

 tion from our esteemed correspondent A. B. 

 K., in relation to the distribution of the pub- 

 lic documents issued by the State and National 

 Governments, with the sentiments of which 

 we confess we have been more or less in har- 

 mony, and liave heretofore animadverted upon 

 them. It is unquestionable that these docu- 

 ments do not always get into the hands of 

 those who most need them, and who would 

 make the best use of them. We hardly know 

 where the blame belongs. It is hardly to be 

 supposed that the State or National Govern- 

 ments should know best into whose hands 

 they should be placed, hence they largely en- 

 trust their distribution to delegated authori- 

 ties, and these may not always have the time, 

 the opportunity, the knowledge, or the will to 

 make a judicious distribution. 



Of course, the intention of the government 

 is that the public documents shall be distribu- 

 ted gratuitously, and yet there is a regular _ 

 trading in them, by special book dealers 

 throughout the country, and these dealers can 

 procure for you almost anything you want, 

 if you are willing to pay the price. We have 

 on several occasions been compelled to pay 

 as high as five and six dollars for desirable 

 volumes, which we have seen in the hands of 

 those to whom they were of no more use than 

 a fifth wheel to a wagon, and who could have 

 no more appreciation of them than a cat has 

 of a holiday. 



Of course, it cannot be expected that in a 

 land of freedom like ours, men should be com- 

 pelled to read books, who have no interest in 

 the subjects they treat of; but tlien it may be 

 reasonably expected that they should not sell 

 them, but that they should place them where 

 they can " do the most good." " Freely they 

 have received them, freely they should give 

 them," and that is about what the govern- 

 ment means, or ought to mean, in tlieir pub- 

 lication. On several occasions we have seen 

 whole sets of public documents for sale in the 

 hands of second-handed book dealers, and on 

 one special occasion the price for the set was 

 S125.00. We are not to infer in every case, 

 however, that these books have been wan- 

 tonly sold to book dealers by those who have" 

 gratuitously received them from the govern- 

 ment. These book dealers are always on the 

 "lookout" for the main chance. In the 



