1S81.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



123 



Is very stiff, the heads, long and well filled ; for '.he 

 whole It promtecd well. 



Henry M. Eucle could not agree with Mr. Relet 

 th:it the Fultz wheat should be abandoned; because 

 of the little straw It produced. The more grain to 

 the amount of straw the better farmers we are. It 

 Is not large stock that produces grain, for email 

 stalks are as likely to be just as productive. We 

 only need straw for bedding. 



The Best Breed of Cattle. 

 Johnson Miller answered the question, Wliat is 

 the best breed of cuttle for farmers ? 



The above question has been referred to me for an 

 answer. It is a question of great importance and 

 one which every farmer in this county ought to study 

 and answer for himself. I, for one, am not able to 

 fully consider the things which would belong to a 

 full answer to the question, and therefore think the 

 member who has referred to me would himself be 

 be better qualified than lam to answer it. How- 

 ever, my opinion will he given, and which will only 

 open the question for discussion, and I hope it may 

 bring out some facts, that will be beneficial if not in- 

 teresting to our farmers. In the first place when I 

 look at the question in the form it is worded I infer 

 It means not only the best looking, but that it means 

 also what would be best paying stock to have, and 

 In this form and from this standjwint I shall con- 

 sider It. There are so many things which we ought 

 and which we must consider when we make a se- 

 lection for our herd of cattle, and each one must 

 consider for what particular purpose he wants his' 

 herd, whether he wants it exclusively for dairy pur- 

 poses. Then he should select such as will give the 

 most flow of milk ; if worked for butter making 

 then he should select such as give most butter, say 

 the Alderney would then fill the bill, as would 

 also the Jersey and several others ; but then, 

 again, when you want to raise stock you certainly 

 want something that makes more flesh than eilherof 

 the above named, Alderneys, Jerseys, etc. Then 

 you look for something like the Durham and Devons, 

 where you have frame, and when you raise a calf 

 you have some weight to sell when three years old ; 

 so we see there ate so many points in the dlH'erent 

 herds and so much depends uvon the manner a far- 

 mer is situated and what he intends to follow after 

 he has selected his herd, that it is a hard matt r to 

 answer the question as it is presented to us, and we 

 will answer it from several standpoints and a little to 

 suit the circumstances surroundinf; h. In the Brst 

 place we take our general Lancaster county farmer's 

 herd, such as want to raise stock, even if it don't 

 pay, and which will prove hereafter that it will not, 

 he should select the best Durham, have the full 

 breed, and after he has them keep them pure and 

 feed them well and he will get a good supply of 

 butter and will have some weight when he wants to 

 sell the raisings to the butchers. 



This is now the stock our Lancaster county far- 

 mers would consider the best herd, but, Mr.Chairmau, 

 here is just where I differ with some of our oldest 

 and best farmers. I have so often declared, and will 

 to-day again say to this society and the good old 

 farmers of this county, that stock-raising don't pay 

 where land is worth J200 an acre, or even more. I 

 have tried the experiment myself, and know, there- 

 fore, whereof I speak. It costs more to raise a three 

 year old steer than he is worth— don't care what 

 kind of stock you get— and, therefore, the idea that 

 the Durham and the Devons are the best herd for 

 Lancaster county farmers, because they make so 

 much more beef, is no argument, and is in my esti- 

 mation not the answcrto the question before us. But 

 let us for a moHiont turn our attention to the little 

 Alderney and look at her and sec what advantages 

 sne presents to induce our farmers to fill up their 

 herds with her ofispring. The only true road to suc- 

 cessful farming ai present for the Lancaster county 

 farmer to follow is to keep less stock in summer and 

 let more of the grass rot on the field to plow under, 

 since the good farmers need all their manure for 

 thiir tobacco land, and to do this you want some- 

 thing that will give the best return forthe least feed, 

 something that will produce the most butter from a 

 small herd of cows; something that will thrive on 

 the least feed, and in looking around you have all 

 those in the pretty little Alderney cow. You far- 

 mere, when you have 4 or 5 Alderney cows during 

 the summer, makes as much buttcras 9 or lOof your 

 common stock, and plenty of milk for your own use, 

 and still some butter to sell and enough to buy all 

 the necessary gioeeries for the house, and what more 

 do you want. Keep a few cows in summer and 

 don't raise any stock, since you cannot compete with 

 the West where land is cheap and corn plenty, but 

 buy your stock and feed all the corn you can raise 

 and more yet, and improve your f.-irm and make 

 money ; and to do this I think the Alderney is the 

 best herd a farmer can get. I have now given what 

 Is my opinion and where I am wrong I am open to 

 correction, and ask pardon for deviating from the 

 subject when showing how I think we can improve 

 our farms; but it is just what we are looking for, 

 how to get the most revenue for the least expense, 



Mr. Engle said that a farmer who don't take care 

 of his stock should by law bo compelled to have a 

 herd of Texas short horns or none at all. The Jersey 

 cow will produce a larger amount of butter to a given 

 quantity of food than any other breed, but the Guern- 

 sey is about as desirable. These bold out from calf 

 to calf without I'ail. 



Mr. Bollinger thought It would not be as profita- 

 ble to keep cows on poorsoll as other cat'Ie. Where 

 you have to hire labor, take 15 pounds of butter per 

 week to market and receive only twelve cents per 

 pound, as was his case, cows were certainly not re- 

 munerative. 



The discussion was further participated In by 

 Messrs. Engle, Miller, Witmer, Linvllle, and J. F. 

 Landis. 



Time for Ploughing. 



The time to plough the soil for wheat was said, by 

 Johnson Miller, to be not earlier than the middle of 

 August. Ploughing earlier Is nothing more than 

 cultivating flies. 



Mr. Landis said that some years he found early 

 ploughing best and other years late ploughing seem- 

 ed to bring better results. There could he no fixed 

 and invariable rule. He had never seen the fiy in 

 wheat sown very early and for thai reason was going 

 to sow an acre in this month. 



Mr. F. R. Diffenderfer called the attention of the 

 society to the Artificial Jimson Bloom, for' the pur- 

 pose of killing the tobacco moth. It is iu use in 

 Kentucky and Tennessee, and the vivid imagination 

 of the moth deceives that insect into the belief that it 

 is sipping honey from a white flower, whereas it is 

 drinking poison from a white glass tied on to a slick 

 or to the tobacco stalk. 



On motion of Mr. Linvllle, a committee was ap- 

 pointed to prepare a list of desirable fruits for cuiti 

 vation in this county. The committee consists oi 

 Henry M. Engle, Levi S. Reist, and Casper Ililler. 



Quealious for discussion at the next September 

 meeting are : 



What is the yearly value of a cow'g milk as feed 

 for calves and pigs ? Referred to J. F. Landis. 



What is the best way of selecting seed corn ? Re- 

 ferred to James Wood. 



THE POULTRY SOCIETY. 



The Lanciister County Poultry Association met 

 statedly on Monday morning, August 1st, in their 

 rooms in the City Hall. The following members 

 were present : J. B. Lichty, city ; J.M.Johnston, 

 city ; W. W. Greist, city; William A. Schoenberger) 

 city; Charles Lippold, city; George A. Geyer, 

 Spring Garden; J. A. Sehaum, city; Henry M. 

 Engle, Marietta ; F. R. Diffenderfer, city, and M. L. 

 Greider, Mount Joy. 



In the absence of President Tshudy, Vice Presi- 

 dent Geyer took the chair and called the meeting to 

 order. 



Election of Members. 



W. F. iMaulich, of Columbia, was nominated and 

 elected to membersh'p. 



The Next Exhibition. 



Mr. Lichty suggested that.it was time to select a 

 time for holding the next exhibition . If the time Is 

 set now, we will not be so likely to come in conflict 

 with the shows held around us, as these latter will 

 hardly make the mistake of holding their exhibition 

 on the same dates as ours. 



Mr. Schoenbergcr moved the Secretary be Instruct- 

 ed to inform the members that their presence Is de- 

 sirable at the next regular meet.ng, and that the 

 Executive Committee be authorized to select a time 

 for holding the next exhibition of the society. 



An informal discussion of the situation revealed 

 the faet that among those present the success In 

 raising large numbers of young chicks this season 

 has not been very good. Gapes and many other 

 diseases have crept into the poultry yards and have 

 carried off a great many of the young birds. 



There being no other business, the society ad- 

 journed. I 



LINN.<EAN SOCIETY. 

 The Society met in the anteroom of the Museum, 

 on Saturday afternoon, July oOth, 1881. 



The President, Prof. J. S. Stahr, occupied the chair. 

 In the absence of the Secretary, Miss S. 8. LeFever 

 was appointed Secretary ;>ro-<<»ij. 



After due organization the reading of the proceed- 

 ings of the last meeting; was dispensed with. 



On motion, the rules were suspended in favor of 

 reading accompanying papers by Prof. Rathvon, in 

 relation to the following : 



Donations to Museum. 

 No. 1. Mr. Abraham Hardy, of J. Stoner's " Federal 

 S()ring Dairy," in Lancaster township, donated two 

 branchiatcd Tritons, a number of which he found In- 

 habiting said spring. When alive, and In the water, 

 the braucbiaare of a deep pink color, three lobed,and 

 finely fringed, serving as gills ; but they soon become 

 pale, or lose their color entirely la alcohol. These 

 animals, somulimcs erroneously called "Lizards," 

 are true " BATHAcniAXs, the same sub-order of 

 Keptilia to which the toads and frogs belong, and 

 •like the latter are developed from lailpolo. In frogs 

 the hind feet arc first developed, whilst In Tritons, 

 the front feet are first developed, and when we find 

 these animals iu this partl>;ular stage of development, 

 we at once may be able to distiuguish between them, 

 from this characteristic aione. Now, Lizards are 

 true Sauriam, and stwne forth from the egg perfectly 

 formed, and arc immediately able to run on dry laud. 

 They have a dry scaly iutegument, and are fond of 

 basking iu the sun. The Batrauhiuns are all amphi- 

 bious, at least In thiir developmental periods, and 

 some of them remain so during their entire lives. Ex- 

 cept the toads, tree-frogs, and one or two species of 

 Salamander, which have a dry graimlated skin, they 

 all have a smooth ,-6ealeless, slimy sklu, and inhibit 

 the water, or moist places on land, under shelter 

 from the sun. From the literature accessible to mo 

 at the preeuul lime, I am not able to determine the 

 species of the subjects donated by Mr. Hardy, but I 

 think they are immature specimeus of Triton jeffer- 

 soni, of Gkeen aud others, a species which is known 

 to Pennsylvania, aud which, wheu mature, attains a 

 length of six or seveu inches. These ludividuals are 

 from three-and-a-half to four inches Iu length, and 

 their still retaining the branchia or gills, is an Indi- 

 cation that they are still immature. 



The developmeut of the Batrachians Is a very inter- 

 esting study, aud presents some very peculiar phe- 

 nomena. Wlien the tadpole of the I'rog is fir^l ex- 

 cluded from the egg, it possesses no legs or gills, nor 

 yet a tail, distinct from the body: but in the next 

 stage of developmeut a tall makes Us appearance, and 

 also branehiated gills. Subsequently it loses these 

 gills, acquires lungs, aud becomes an air-breathing 

 animal. After which It acquires posterior, aud then 

 anterior, legs, and loses its tail, and thus becomes a 

 " frogling." 



Wo will not have to observe tadpoles very long, as 

 they He on the bottom of a pool, before .we may see 

 one after another rising to the surface, catching a 

 mouthful of air and then quickly returning to the 

 bottom again, just as if they had done something 

 very naughty and were expecting to be pursued or 

 punished. 



When, however, the tadpole of the Triton is ex- 

 cluded from the egg, it has the branchiatcd gills, 

 aud retains them throughout all its transformations, 

 uutil it reaches Its mature state, wheu it also loses 

 them and becomes an air-breathing animal, and this 

 is the same with the Salamandrida generally. They 

 differ from frogs by having a longer tall, but like 

 them they are born without (eet. But they develop 

 feet afterwards, and, as before stated, the anterior 

 pair make their, appearance first. 



From these characteristics it Is inferred that^the 

 frog is the higher organic form of the two, because It 

 is divested of its gills or flshlike character after its 

 second or third transformation whilst the Triton 

 retains them, and is waterbreathing until its final 

 transformation. For the same reason the genus 

 Menobranchut Is classed below the Triton and 

 retains its branchia dur- 



