steamed or scalded feed. Cattle relish It 

 ii' than when their feed Is dry. They do 

 need 80 much water, and one great danpcr 

 Is ill giving cattle water when it is too cold. Col. 

 Young, of Middletown, was a great believer in 

 steamed feed, and fed all the cattle on his farm of 

 1,00(1 acres with steamed food. He says it pays, and 

 he ought to know. 



President Witmer said he was also a believer In 

 warm feed for cattle. He did not think it should lie 

 too warm, but the chill should betaken oQ'. 



J. F. Landis had experimented with dry and scald- 

 ed feed and found a decided advantage in the use 

 of scalded feed. 



Mr. Neff said the question was, whether feed 

 should be steamed or merely hot water poured oyer 

 the feed . He favored the latter plan. 



Mr. Englc said root growing is neglected in this 

 part of the State. If carrots, sugar beets or man- 

 gels are fed to the cattle, they will drink less water 

 and can be got in good condition without using any 

 scalded feed if roots are fed. 



New Business. 



D. W. Graybill reported having a pc.ir from a 

 dwarf tree on his premises, 1.3 Inches In circumfer- 

 ence, that weighed one pound and six ounces. 



Casper HlUer exhibited a mammoth pearl potato 

 from potatoes planted May 31. The yield on one- 

 fourth of an acre was 36 bushels. He also exhibited 

 three large persimmons. 



- Dr. Greene exhibited several stalks of Russian 

 oats, and several stalks of comiiion oats from West- 

 ern New York. The Russian oats are claimed to 

 produce from (iO to 90 bushels to the acre, and from 

 15 to 20 per cent, more straw than the common oats. 



Mr. Engle presented to the Society ten numbers of 

 the Lancaster Farmkk, the Thirteenth Quarterly 

 Report of the Pennsylvania State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, and one volume of the Secretary's report of the 

 Pomological Society of Michigan. He also exhibited 

 some choice pears of the Lawrence variety, and some 

 very large chestnuts. 



Essayist Appointed. 



Mr. Engle suggested that the Society adopt com- 

 petitive essays, with first, second and third prizes 

 according to merit, as they may be decided by a com' 

 mittee appointed for that purpose. 



Considerable discussion followed this proposition 

 participated In by nearly all present. It was finally 

 decided that the chairman appoint an essayist for the 

 next meeting. John H. Landis was selected. His 

 subject was not announced. 



Referred Question. 



What is the best time to apply manure ? Referred 

 to William H. Broslus. 



On motion, adjourned. 



LINN/EAN SOCIETY. 



The society meet at 2 o'clock p. m., on Saturday 

 October 29th, 1881, In the anteroom of the mission ' 



Prest. Prof. J. S. Stahr, in the chair, and M. L. 

 Davis, M. D., Secretary. 



After the usual preliminary business, the following 

 donations were announced to the Museum and Li- 

 brary. 



Museutn. 



A valuable collection of Insects made by a lady 

 friend of the society, from the far off region of Mon- 

 tana, and donated through Mr. John B. Albright. 



Also a specimen of the " Horned Frog'! {Vhryno- 

 toma cornuta) and one of a common toad (a spe- 

 cies of Sufo differing from ours) and a number of 

 ARAcnNiDAus Including a scorpioa. Tins eolleetlon 

 Is interesting and valuable on account of the locality 

 In which It was collected, as It contains forms of the 

 fauna of Texas, New Mexico, and California, and 

 other localities further south, which we might as nat- 

 urally expect to find in New York and Pennsylvania 

 as in Montana, and yet they do not exist in those 

 States. The collection consists of Coleoptcra, Ncmlp. 

 tera, Homoptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Xetirop- 

 tera and Lepidoptera . The Horned Frog -Thryno- 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



-171 



■the Mole cricket — Stenopalmata talpa 

 — the Scorpion — Buttmt tpinigerut — and In the gen- 

 era Cleoclat, Cicada and PoUnleii, are siiecltled forms 

 that we had been in the habit of regarding as local 

 In Texas, New Mexico and contiguous regions. 



A very large specimcD of the spectre insect, or 

 walking-stick (/Vi(i/)Aom«ro /<mora/a) and a brown 

 striped Salamander, {Salamandra erythronenra) are 

 from Lancaster county, and were donated by friends. 



Two fossils (referred to the committee on Paleon- 

 tology for future identincatlon) from along the little 

 Juniata River, riuntlugdon co.. Pa., were donated 

 by Dr. M. L. Davis, of Millersville. 



A specimen of Bituminous coal, from Montana, 

 by the donor of the Insects, through the same medi- 

 um. This specimen Is especially interesting ou ac- 

 count of Its locality. Illustrating the extensive geo- 

 logical distribution of the mineral. In appearance, 

 and especially In Its cubic clearage, it resembles the 

 bituminous coal of Pennsylvania, and doubtless Is of 

 the same chemical composition. 



A fine specimen of Drill-lock Oalena, Silver and 

 Iron, from the Bonanza and Union mine, Black-Hawk 

 Col., and two specimens of Graphic Granite, from 

 the Seven Hills, Cheyenne Canon, Colorado, dona- 

 ted by Mr. Chas. A. Heinltsh. 

 Library. 



Six volumes, being a continuation of the series 

 containing the Hccond Oeological Survey of Pennnyl- 

 vania. From the officer in charge at Harrlsburg, Pa. 



Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1879 

 from the Department of the Interior, Washington' 

 D. C. . 



The Lancaster Farmer for October, 1881. 



Numbers 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the Official Patent 

 Office Gazette. 



Also, decisions and Index of contents, from Jan- 

 nary 4th to June 28th, 1881. Department of the In- 

 terior. 



Five Catalogues of Historical and Scientific publi- 

 cations, foreign and domestic. 



Historical. 



Five envelopes containing fifty local and foreign 

 Biographical and Historical Scraps. 

 New Business. 



John S. Smith, D. D. S., was unanimously elected 

 an active member. 



Standing committees made no reports, but sjieclal 

 oommittees reported progress. 



On motion, the committee appointed at a former 

 meeting to consider the propriety of changing the 

 liour of the meetings from afternoon to evening, was 

 instructed to include the question of reducing the 

 number of meetings from monthly to bl-monlhly or 

 quarterly, and to report at the November meeting, 

 to be held on Saturday afternoon, the 2()th. 



The hope was entertained that there would be a 

 good and punctual attendance at said meeting, and 

 also that all those who have beeO recently elected 

 members be In attendance and comply with the 

 forms of the constitution. 



The object Is to make the meetings more Interest- 

 ing aiid useful, and at the same time to interfere as 

 little as possible with the secular occupations of the 

 members. Also to allow more time and opportunity 

 to prepare subjects to be brought before the meet- 

 ings. 



After a pleasant hour or so, with an Increased at- 

 tendance over the summer meetings, the society ad- 

 journed to the time above stated. 



Agriculture. 



The Short Wheat Crop. 

 The total wheat crop of the United States is now 

 put at 368,062,000 bushels, against 448,756,6.30 bush- 

 pis for 187U, and 4(S0,849,7aj bushels for 1880, ac- 

 cording to the figures of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment. This shortage of more than 100,000,000 bush- 

 els Is pretty evenly distrluted over the whole country. 

 In every section some cause has appeared to par- 

 tially disappoint the expectations of the farmers. 



The New England States show a"regular and con- 

 stant ilecline In production; the .Middle States note 

 a falling off of 12 per cent, from last year's yield ; 

 the Southern States scarcely iiold their own, while 

 In the imrx)rlaut region of the West, the crop is de- 

 cidedly short. It Is not easy to secure authentic re- 

 ports from the Pacific Coast, but that there will be • 

 decrease is evident, while Colorado and the Territo- 

 ries fall considerably below the figures of 1870. The 

 only States which this year show an Increase over the 

 crop returns for 1880 are Nebraska, Wisconsin and 

 Kansas. The Territory of Dakota makes a great 

 leap forward of over six mllllou bushels In two years, 

 but when the rapidity with which the acreage has 

 increased Is taken into computation this Is scarcely 

 extraonllnary. Illinois, Indiana and Michigan have 

 sullered most severely, the yield in the flrst-men- 

 tioncd being considerably less than half that for 

 cither of the two years Immediately preceding. 



The causes which produced this uniform ctlictare 

 curiously diverse. In California It Is a late spring, 

 and in some sections lack of rain. From Illinola 

 east and south the drouth of this year has been 

 something terrible, while in Minnesota continued 

 heavy rains delayed harvesting and did much dam- 

 age to grain. In the States lying near Chesapeake 

 Bay there has not been enough rain to do more than 

 moisten the surface of the ground for fliteen weeks. 

 Wells are dry., rivers have disappeared, and already, 

 weeks ago, vegetation appeared as if a heavy frost 

 had passed over it, so completely had It been killed 

 by the long drouth. In .Minnesota more rain fell in 

 the month of September than in any previous year 

 on record. A gemicman largely Interested in wheat 

 farming in the Red River Valley, who boasts this 

 year of an average crop of twenty-elglit bushels to 

 the acre, declares that the disappointment there is 

 chiefiy owing to the carelessness of the farmers them- 

 selves. He attributes his own success to the fact 

 that his grain was put in stack as soon as cut; while 

 others who left theirs In shock, waiting for the 

 thrasher, were overtaken by repeated rains and suf- 

 fered severe loss. It Is jjrobable. however, that the 

 shortage will not Inflict serious damage upon the 

 farmers as a class. No cases where the crop was a 

 total failure, to be left standing or plowed under, as 

 In previous years, are reported from any section. 

 The decrease comes from a general llmilalion In 

 the yield per acre, and thus a part of what the farm- 

 er loses In quantity is made up to him In price. The 

 point to which wheat has already reached In the 

 market, and the probable range of prices during the 

 months that must elapse before a new crop can be 

 fairly on the way, insure as fair a return, up to a 

 certain limit, as the lower rate of profit given by the 

 prices of preceding years upon a much larger supply . 



Value of Tobacco Stalks. 



We have gather.id the following testimony in re- 

 gard to the nianurial value of tobacco stalks. An 

 exchange says : " Tobacco stems laid on the grass 

 land over winter Impart some of the richness to the 

 soil and Improve Uie grass. The stems can be gath- 

 ered up again In the spring, cut in short pieces with 

 a hatchet and put In potato hills or plowed under 

 promiscuously on the land Intended to be sown to 

 rye or other crops. The stalks have the manurlal 

 value of an equal amount of the best animal excre- 

 ment." 



A Connecticut farmer says : "I have used tobacco 

 stalks on grass lands In the fall and found them 

 worth more than a coal of maimre; but I do not like 

 the picking them off from two acres every spring. I 

 have also used them for potatoes in the hill by cut- 

 ting them and dropping about four pieces In each tiill 

 and have had good results, as the stalks seem to rot 

 and furnish food for the tubers as fast as It is need- 

 ed, and when fully rotted the feround Is left loose for 

 the potato to grow In. But the best results from the 

 least work I have had In spreading them on land 

 that had been sown .to rye. In 1874 I bought ten 

 acres of an old field land that had been treated to 

 rye about every fourth year and slocked with redtop, 

 as clover and timothy seed would not take, It being 



