30 



THE LANCASTER .FARMER. 



[February, 



POULTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The Association held their meeting on Monday 

 morniner, February 6. The followinfr were present : 

 President, G. A. Geyer, of Springville; J. B. Lichty, 

 Secretary, city; M. L. Greider, Mount Joy; H. H. 

 Tshudy, Lititz; J. B. Long, city; C. E. Long, city; 

 J. F. Witmer, Paradise; Charles Lippold, city; John 

 E. Schum, city; W. W. Griest, city; Washington 

 Hershey, Chiclsies; F. R. Diffenderffer, city; J. M. 

 Johnston, city. 



Secretary Lichty in his report for the year 18S1, 

 stated that there were forty-five members iu good 

 standing, the average attendance was tliirteen, and 

 during the year twenty -five members had been 

 elected, of which number only six paid the member- 

 ship fee. Members are in the arrears to the extent 

 of §150. The Secretary suggested that those in 

 arrears prior to January 1,1882, be notified that 

 upon the payment of their dues to that date, the 

 association will place their names upon the honorary 

 list of membership. The total number of entries at 

 the late show was 551, but only 520 birds were ex- 

 hibited, of which 327 were poultry, 185 pigeons and 

 7 cage birds; also 33 breeding pens were exhibited. 

 Cash premiums _paid amount to $173.50; -other 

 special premiums swelled the total value of pre- 

 miums awarded to $830.75; the only class in which 

 the entrance fees exceeded the premiums paid was 

 the Spanish, consisting principally of Leghorns, 

 although there was a loss of tifty cents on the 

 Asiatics. The varieties on which the entrance fees 

 more than reimbursed the society for premiums are : 

 Light Brahmas, Dark Brahuias, Black and Partridge 

 Cochins, B. B. K. Game, B. B. R. Game Bantams, 

 White and Brown Leghorns, Plymouth Rocks and 

 S. S. Bantsms. In the pigeon list but five varieties 

 paid, viz: White Crested Fantails, White Trumpet- 

 ers, Blue and Blue Checkered Antwerps, and Blue 

 English Owls. There were sixty-two varieties of 

 poultry which averaged over five; seventy-one of 

 pigeons and six cage birds. Of the seventy. one 

 varieties of pigeons exhibited but fjve paid the asso- 

 ciation. All premiums to foreigd and local exhibi- 

 tors have been jiaid, greatly to the credit of the 

 society. 



Treasurer J. B. Long then submitted liis annua 

 report, showing that $S.'2.13 had come into his 

 hands from the receipts of the show and other 

 sources. $821.7-1 had been paid out, leaving in the 

 treasury at present thirty-nine cents. 



On motion of Mr. C. E. Long, the Secretary, was 

 authorized to employ some one to collect the out 

 standing dues. 



John Sekloiuridge, of Ephrata, was elected a 

 member of the society. 



The Secretary was authorized to place on the 

 honorary list of membership such names as in his 

 discretion he might eee lit. 



By a mistake express charges amounting to $5.40 

 had been charged to certain exhibitors. As the 

 society had offered to pay this itself if promptly 

 agreed to shoulder the debt. 

 Adjourned. 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The February meeting of the club was held at the 

 residence of Joseph R. Blackburn. Members 

 present : E. H. Haines, Wm. P. Haines, Moutilliuu 

 Brown, J. R. Blackburn, S. L. Gregg and Wm. 

 King. The family of Josiah Brown was represented 

 bv his wife and daughter, that of Grace A. Sing by 

 her son Joel, and that of Lindley King by S. Lind- 

 ley Jackson. Visitors: Neal Hambleton and wife. 

 Layman C. Blackburn and wife, Edw. Stubbs and 

 wife, and Samuel J. Kirk and wife. The attendance 

 would no doubt have been considerably larger but 

 for the driving snow storm. 



Exhibits and Answers to Questions. 

 Joseph H. Blackburn exhibited a large plate of 

 fine winesap apples, which, judging by the way they 

 vanished, the Club thought to be very fine. 



E. H. Haines asked if winesap apple trees grow as 

 ast and come into bearing as soon as other varie- 



ties? There were several present who had winesap 

 trees. They all spoke of them as growing as well as 

 other varieties, and being good bearers. 



Montillion Brown had been reading lately in an 

 agricultural paper of a kind of winter oats, or oats 

 that could be sowed in the fall, and wished te know 

 if any one present had any knowl^di.^e of it. 



E. H. Haines said that he believed that there was 

 such a variety of oats. Some time ago there was a 

 kind of oats mix.-d with the wheat that the winter 

 failed to kill. 



It was the general opinion of the club that such a 

 variety would not be at all desirable, as it would be 

 too late to sow after the corn had been harvested, 

 and it would be liable to give trouble by getting 

 mixed with the wheat. 



Neal Hambleton asked the proper time for trim- 

 ming an Osage Oi-ange hedge. 



E. H. Haines said that he had experience with 

 hedges, and thought that he knew. Whenever there 

 is a growth of six or eight inches "long cut it off. It 

 is easily done, and all that is cut off dries up and 

 gives no further trouble. It is easier to trim three 

 or four times a year than once. If the shoots are 

 left to grow for a year, pruning breaks up the hedge 

 and makes it look badly and leaves a lot of brush to 

 burn. 



Layman C. Blackburn had noticed an article in 

 the New York Trihuue, by J. F. Wade, giving an 

 account of the writer's experience with an old 

 orcha_rd which he had taken in hand when it was in 

 a plight that it would take pages to describe, and a 

 number of the trees so nearly dead that the owner 

 said they could not be saved. By pruning, scraping 

 off the old bark[and the filth iu wet times, when 

 they could easily be removed, and plowing five times 

 iu a season, aud dragging iu proportion, he had 

 completely renewed the trees and brought them into 

 profitable condition. He (L. C. Blackburn) wished 

 to know the opinion of the club as to probable sue 

 cess in renovating old orchards in general by such 

 treatment. 



E. H. Haines : If the trees got into bad condition 

 by neglect, there might be some hope of succes-;, hut 

 if the trees were old, we might as well try to rejuve- 

 nate an old man. 



Ed. Stubbs could not agree with the writer that 

 trees might be made to bear every year by thorough 

 cultivation. He had seen trees that were cultivated 

 that did not bear well. 



Neal Hambleton thought that the leason that 

 trees bore only every other year was that they needed 

 more rest than they got through the winter. 



Montillion Brown had two Queen apple trees, one 

 of which did not miss a crop for ten years in succes- 

 sion. It was favorably located, and the hogs ran 

 around it and kept the ground loose. The other 

 trees wv.re not in so favorable a location, and bore 

 every other year. There was not much difference in 

 their vitality. 



S. L. Gregg had a similar experience with two 

 trees. The hogs ran around one of them, ind it 

 bore every year, but it wore out sooner than the 

 other, which only bore every other year '. 



William Kiug ; Is it advisable to trim old trees '■ 

 Ed. Stubbs: Don't think it is. They will die 

 sooner than if let ejone. 



L. C. Blackburn : if trees are well trimmed when 

 they are young they will not need much after they 

 grow old. If not attended to when young they will 

 have to be trimmed when they are old. 



E. H. Haines said that his father once let some 

 Yankee graft some old trees. The grafts nearly 

 all grew and bore fruit, but it finally killed the 

 trees. 



Mary Ann Brown said that they once had an old 

 orchard trimmed and it gradually died off. It never 

 did any good after, Mr. Brown had some old trees on 

 which large limbs were dying out off', leaving several 

 feet remaining on the tree. 



S. L. Gregg had an article read from the Oxford 

 Press entitled "High Farming," giving an account 

 of the extraordinary productions of a farm in Lower 

 Oxford township, Chester county. Some of the mem- | 



bers thought it a very clever advertisement. The 

 owner is a manufacturer of fertilizers. 



Examining the Host's Farm. 



The forenoon session was now adjourned, both 

 members and visitors retiring to the dining room 

 where for some time they diligently occupied their 

 time in jiutting themselves outside of the good things 

 of this world. After exhausting all their powers in 

 this line of business they plunged out through the 

 whirling storm to look at the condition of the live 

 stock of the host. After again convening in the 

 house, criticisms were called I'or. 



Montillion Brown : He has some very nice fat 

 steers. Did not go to see his wheat field. Suppose 

 it is good. 



William P. Haines had noticed some very thrifty 

 pigs. 



Neal Hambleton spoke of the flue condition of the 

 pigs, and also of their pen, which was well arranged 

 and everything about in neat order. 



E. H. Haines, would like to see a good hog pen. He 

 had been in search of one for some time and had 

 come to the conclusion that a perfect hog pen or 

 chicken house were things that had not yet been in- 

 vented. This led to quite a discussion on the con- 

 struction of hog houses. 



Literary Exercises. 



The literary exercises of the club were next taken 

 up, when Carrie Blackburn recited "The Boy Con- 

 vict's Story," an account of a young man who, In 

 his boyuood, had been kept in strict surveillance by 

 his pious parents, who made the atmosphere of 

 his home frigid with propriety, until at last he left 

 the parental roof to seek abroad the recreations and 

 pleasures for which he was longing and which were 

 denied him at home. But he strayed too far, and 

 finally was betrayed into the commission of crime. 



Neal Hambleton congratulated the little girl on 

 her choice of a selection for recitation. He thought 

 that the young should not be restrained in civil 

 amusement It is a mistake that we do not mingle 

 more with the young. Gaines and other amusements 

 shuulii not he discouraged, but we should use every 

 means to nitke home cheerful to the children. 



E. H. Haines was afraid that there was too much 

 truth in the boy's story. We should mingle freely 

 with our children and let them see society as it is. 

 Young people who are kept in restraint and isolated 

 for fear of their being contaminated do not know 

 what value to put on what they see and bear. They 

 are liable to be taken in. 



Monlilliou Brown thought one reasou why people 

 in this country did not mingle more freely with the 

 children was owing to the secluded nature of the 

 farmer's life. This little Club gave an opportunity 

 for a more social feeling between old and young. VVe 

 should take the young with usand havethem take an 

 intei'est iu it. 



S. L. Gregg thought that the young of the present 

 day had many advantages that we were deprived of 

 when we were young, and they should be encouraged 

 to avail themselves of them. 



Mabel Haines recited the Wayside lun. Lauretta 

 A. Kirk recited The Two Dimes, and Ella Brown, 

 The Independent Farmer. 



The next meting of the Club will be held at the 

 residence of Joseph Griest, Fulton township, March 

 4th. 



JANUARY MEETING OF THE LIN- 

 N.1EAN. 

 The Societj' convened on Saturday afternoon, Jan- 

 uary 28, in the hall of the Y. M.C. A., the President, 

 Prof. Stahr, and the Secretary, Dr. Davis, occupying 

 their respective chairs. After the formal opening 

 and the collection of dues, the following donations to 

 the museum and library were anuounoed by the 

 curators: 



Museum. 



A fine specimen of the " Frog Fish" {Balrachus 

 tau), six inches in length, from Mr. Frank Mettfett, 

 was donated through Mr. Daniel Heitshu. ThisflsU 



