12 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



John n. Landis, of Xlillersville, saw daudelions in 

 bloom in Bucks county, last week, and saw good 

 wheat on his own native Manor. Half the tobacco 

 is stripped. 



Martin D. Kendig remarked that a neighbo'- seed- 

 ed rye in the latter part of November, and it came 

 up well. 



In Donegal wheat is good, said H. M. Engle, but 

 much freezing and thawing during December may 

 have endangered it more or less; and as young clover 

 is pastured closely Mr. Engle feared the effects in 

 spring. Rain fall for December was 5 6-16 inches; 

 for the year 38?^ inches. 



Election of Officers. 



On motion ofj Johnson Miller,' the regular busi- 

 ness was now suspended and the society proceeded 

 to nominate and elect officers for the ensuing year. 



For president, Joseph F. Witmtr, of Paradise was 

 renominated. 



For vice presidents, Henr}' M. Ensle, of Marietta, 

 and .Jacob B.Garber,of Columbia, were renominated. 



For recording secretary, M. D. Kendig, John H. 

 Landis, Johnson Miller and Calvin Cooper positively 

 and peremptorily declined nomination, and finally 

 the honor was cast upon John C. Liuville, of the 

 Gap, who was absent. 



For corresponding Secretary, Calvin Cooper of 

 Bird-in-Hand, was nominated. 



For treasurer, M. D. Kendig, of Creswcll, was re- 

 nominated. 



There being no more than the constitutional num- 

 ber placed in nomination for the above offices the 

 nominees were declared elected; 



For managers the following were nominated and 

 the figures attached indicate the number of votes 

 each received: Wm. H. Brosius, 11; John H. Landis, 

 8; Casper Hiller, 7; Calvin Cooper, 6; Enos H. 

 Weaver, G; Hebron Herr, 5: Daniel Smeycli, 4; 

 Johnson Miller, 4; E. S. Hoover; 4. The first five 

 named were declared the duly elected managers. 



Casper Hiller, of Conestoga, read an essay en- 

 titled 



• 'Can the Grain Grower Dispense with Nitro- 

 genous Fertilizers ?" 



In order to have a proper understanding of the 

 subject it may not be amiss to give the analj-sis and 

 cost of several of the principal manures in the mar- 

 ket. 



A ton of well prepared bone contains about 400 

 pounds of phosphoric acid, valued at .S30, and about 

 80 pounds of nitrogen, valued at -S15. 



A ton of acidulated South Carolina rock contains 

 about .340 pounds of phosphoric acid, which can be 

 bought foi 82.5. 



A ton of nitrate of soda costs about §80 and con- 

 tains alwut 20 per cent, of nitrogen. 



These figures show th..t nitrogen adds one-third 

 to the price in the bone manure, and in tlie nitrate of 

 Boda the nitrogen makes up the whole cost, showing 

 that nitrogen is an expensive ingredient, and for that 

 reason the question put to me is worthy of conside- 

 ration. 



My experiments have been on too limited a scale 

 to be of much value, hut as far as they went (on 

 corn only) the indieatiohs are that nitrogenous fer- 

 tilizers are non-paying on my soil. 



In my experiments, I have used phosphate rock: 

 raw hone, dissolved bone, and a nitrogenous flesh 

 fertilizer, and have come to theconclusion that phos- 

 phoric acid is the paying ingredient in tho.se . ma- 

 nures. 



Extensive experiments have been made at the 

 Eastern Experimental farm, that prove that nitro- 

 genous fertilizers are not profitable on that farm. 



The application of nitrate of soda and sulphate of 

 ammonia did on no occasion yield sufficient increase 

 of grain to pay for the fertilizers, while phosphate 

 rock, a purely non-nitrogenous fertilizer, gaveTOore 

 increase of grain than stable manure, or ground 

 bone, or bone sui^erphospiiate. 



[See report of John L. Carter, to State Board of 

 Agriculture for 1877 and 1S78]. 



Chemical analysis shows that nitrogen is an im- 

 portant element in all our grain crops, but these ex- 

 periments would show that there is a bountiful sup- 

 ply of it in our soil, or that the atmosphere furnishes 

 all that is needed to perfect the crop. There are 

 good authorities who contend that the later is the 

 case. 



From the foregoing you can perceive that my an- 

 swer is, the grain grower can dispense with nitroge- 

 nous fertilizers. 



The Board of Managers made the following ap- 

 pointments for the ensuing year : 



Entomologist and Botanist— S. S. Rathvon. 

 he mist — Jno. C. Linville. 

 Mineralogist — 15. K. Hershey. 

 Librarian — S. P. Eby. 



The following questions were continued until next 



>■ J the referees being absent; 



"Can dairy cows be kept in good condition by the 



soiling process, and is tlie butter as good ?" J. Frank 



Landis. 



" What is the best time to plow land for spring 

 crops?" John C. Linville. 



"Ought rank growing wheat to be' pastured ?" 

 Ja 



John H. Landis offered the following resolution: 

 "Resolved, that the thanks of this society be ex- 

 tended to Jos. F. Witmer for the fair and impartial 

 manner in which he, has presided over our delibera- 

 tions." Unanimously adopted. 



Henry M. Engle called theattention of the society 

 to the fact that the State Fruit Growers' Association 

 would meet in Harisburg on the third Wednesday in 

 January, and on motion of Mr. Cooper a committee 

 of three was appointed to represent the Lancaster 

 society at the fruit growers' meeting. That com- 

 mittee consists of Calvin Cooper, M. D. Kendig and 

 Wm. H. Brosius. 



Messrs. F. R. Diffenderffer and C. L. Hunsecker 

 were appointed to audit the treasurer's account, 

 which they did, and reported it correct, and a bal- 

 ance of 879. .31 in the hands of treasurer Kendig. 



On motion of Calvin Cooper the bounty due from 

 the county to the society for the years 1880 and 1881 

 was ordered to be ascertained and the bill presented 

 to the commissioners. 



Or. C. A Greene read an essay on insects, and said, 

 Some weeks ago my attention was ^called to 'the 

 fact that Mr. Rathvon has left out for some months 

 my name from the various accounts of the proceed- 

 ings of our society, both from the Lancaster 

 Farmer and the daily Examiner, and I have been 

 unable to answer'tbe inquiries of my friends, why it 

 was done? Whether my various questions asked of 

 our tailor friend had become a nut so hard to crack 

 that he has become rancorous, or ^whether from 

 jealousy, I know not. I do know that it is rather an 

 insult to our organization, and although personally 

 I care nothing for it and presume it will not shorten 

 my life one day, yet as directed against the society,! 

 bring it to your notice. 



[The subject matter of the essay gets as close to 

 the point as the doctor's communications generally 

 do, but it also contains a few inaccuracies which we 

 desire to correct. In the first place he acccuses Dr. 

 Rathvon of intentionally omitting his (Dr. Greene's) 

 name from the reports. The Farmer takes its re- 

 ports from the ExamUier, and whatever blame is 

 attached to the omission of Dr. 'Greene's valuable 

 essays from the reports, must therefore be borne by 

 this journal. We tried to give a faithful report of 

 the proceedings, and only dstermined to exclude 

 Dr. Greene's name after he had taken us to task for 

 maliciously misrepresenting him by publishing a 

 stricture upon the tobacco buyers in this city, which 

 was delivered from his own lips'at a meeting of the 

 society. When the doctor found that his words had 

 got him into hot water, he attempted to throw the 

 blame from his shoulders upon ours, and we then 

 came to the conclusion that we would in the future 

 give him no cause to complain. Had the doctor not 

 blamed the wrong person for what he deems an 

 "insult to our organization," this reply to his essay 

 on "insects" would not have been written. — Report- 

 er Dail yExfuess.J 



A discussion here ensued as to the best means of 

 gaining a better attendance of members and increas- 

 ing the Interest in the society's proceedings. Calvin 

 Cooper moved that each member bring his wife to 

 the February meeting, and if he chances not to be 

 mated, let him bring some ottier congenial com- 

 panion. The motion was not pressed to a vote, but 

 it was favorably regarded by the members present. 

 Mr. Engle suggested competitive essays as one 

 means by which to awaken some activity. 

 C. L. Hunsecker thought the strictures of some of 



the reporters on the political discussion at the last 

 meeting both severe and unkind. He had yet to 

 learn that farmers are not allowed to express their 

 opinions in^any place. He thought Dr. Greene's es- 

 says could well be dispensed with, and was favor- 

 able to Mr. Engle's suggestion in regard to competi- 

 tive essays. 



Calvin Cooper suggested that the chair appoint an 

 essayist at every meeting and accept no excutes 

 whatever. 



Ephraim S. Hoover thought that none but agri- 

 cultural and horticultural subjects should be Intro- 

 duced for discussion— no polities ; he also thought if 

 an essayist was appointed, the appointee would feel 

 it more of a duty to respond. 



Mr. Hunsecker then moved that the chair be em- 

 powered to appoint an essayist at each meeting, the 

 appointee to chose his own suqject ; provided, how- 

 evor, it is germain to agriculture and horticulture, 

 not politics, for then the "reporters would catch us 

 by the ear." 



Calvin Cooper moved to amend by imposing a fine 

 of fifty cents for failure to perform the duty as- 

 signed, and Ephraim Hoover, by proposed amend- 

 ment, increased this sum to ?1.00. Both of these 

 amendments were voted down, and the main ques- 

 tion was passed. 



C. L. Hunsecker was appointed essayist for the 

 February meeting. 



THE STATE GRANGE. 



The ninth annual session of the State Grange of 

 Pennsylvtnia was lield in the parlor of the Park 

 Hotel, in the city of Williamsport, Pa., during the 

 week beginning at 1:30 o'clock p. m., on Tuesday, 

 December 15th, 1881. About four hundred Patrons 

 were in attendance during the session, representing 

 one hundred and twenty-seven Granges, located in 

 fifty counties of the State. 



On Tuesday evening an address of welcome, was 

 delivered by Hon. C. D. Eldred of Grange No. 71, 

 Lycoming county, which was responded to on the 

 part of the State Grange by W. T. Everson, of Erie 

 county. The annual address of St^e Master L. 

 Rhone was delivered the same evening. 



Wednesday's Proceedings. 



On Wednesday morning the various committees 

 were announced by the Master, and reports were 

 heard from the different officers, the latter showing 

 the order in the State to be increasing in member- 

 ship and improving in efficiency of grange work. 



W. A. Armstrong, Master of New York State 

 Grange, addressed the afternoon meeting. Also 

 Dr. Calder, of Dauphin county, State lecturer. 



A public meeting was held in the Court House on 

 Wednesday evening, with Hon. Wm J. Wood, of 

 Lycoming county, as chairman. Worthy Master 

 Rhone, the first speaker, referred to the importance 

 of protecting the agricultural interests, showing that 

 all other business is greatly dependent upon the 

 prosperity of the farmers, and stated briefly the ob- 

 jects of the organization there represented. 



Governor Hoyt said, being in Williamsport acci- 

 dentally, he had submitted to the hospitality and 

 persistence of the Grangers. He did not propose to 

 discuss the technicology of the farmer's occupation. 

 He hoped to see the Pcnnsyivania farmer put on an 

 equal footing with the Western farmer. Improved 

 methods here would soon make Pennsylvania soil 

 as productive as the thin exhausted .soil of the ~West. 



lie congratulated those present for the manifest 

 indication of a revival of the farming interest, (re- 

 ferring to the large audience of farmers before him.) 

 Dr. Calder spoke of the isolated condition of farm 

 life in America and contrasted it with the East, 

 where the farmers live in villages, thus affording 

 better opportunities for social intercourse and mental 

 improvement. He claimed that the Patrons of Hus- 

 bandry had done much toward making up this de- 

 ficiency here. He referred to the great want of in- 

 formation amongst farmers, citing numerous in- 

 stances where this want was most noticeable. 

 He believed there was no better way of inducing 



