1882,] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



51 



pear natural tliat Pennsylvaiiians, and espe- 

 cially Lancaster count ians, sliould (iblaiii 

 soeils firowu within their own belt of latitude. 

 Tliose living in a district where certain seeds, 

 fruits, roots and tubers are cultivated and 

 matured, would bo more likely to succeed 

 with such, than with those grown and matur- 

 ed in a (liffercnl latituile ; and this relates not 

 only to htlitiuh, but also in a greater or lesser 

 degree to hiiijitude. There are still some 

 people who have an aversion (o— if not a pre- 

 judice cujaiunt "Book-farming," and "Book- 

 gardening ;" and those people will condescend 

 to follow the directions on a package of seeds 

 (just as they follow the directions on a pack- 

 age or bottle of patent medicine) who would 

 not go to the trouble of looking into a book ; 

 and these "sealed packages" may furnish 

 about all the garden literature that such 

 people will patronize. 



But, that is not all there is of it. There are 

 many people who absolutely have not the 

 time to pore over a book, even if they possess- 

 ed one: or, if in the form of a periodical, it 

 may not have been bound, and the particular 

 number wanted may not just be at hand- 

 hence when the season is at hand, and they 

 possess a sealed package of seeds, with special 

 directions for its use, they will know exactly 

 what to do with it. 



PHENOMENAL. 



White Spotted Tobacco. 



Mr. Morris C4erschel rc-cenllv left at the 

 Lancaster Intelligencer ollice a leaf of tobacco 

 that was very peculiarly marked witli white 

 spot* and tracings, some of the lines being as 

 beantit'ully ciuved and zigzagL'ed as if they 

 had bi en worked by some deft embroiderer. 

 We handed the leaf to Dr. S. S. Rathvon, of the 

 I>.\NC.\sTEK Faumeh, with a request that he 

 would examine and report u|)on it. He 

 kindly furnishes the following paper : — Ed. 

 Intilli(j(ncer. 



White-Spotted Tobacco. 



White- spotted, like white-veined tobacco, is 

 a phenomenon that comes distinctly within 

 the scope of vegetable physiology ; and is the 

 eft'ect of a subtle cause or causes, about which 

 there aie various theories and opinions, even 

 among intelligent and experienced tobacco 

 growers. I sm sure I noticed white-spotted 

 cigars more than fifty years ago, and they 

 were generally esteemed the best of cigars. I 

 sujiposed then, that the si)ots had been pro- 

 duced by artilicial means, because there were 

 pecidiar brands and boxes of them, all of 

 wliich were more or less spotted — if, indeed, 

 they were not fashionable. Perhaps, before 

 the tobacco grower deplores the ])resence of 

 white spots, he should submit his leaf to com- 

 petent manufacturers, in order to learn to 

 what e.Klent the woed is injured by the pres- 

 ence of white spots. Perhaps, after all, the 

 spots may be as conventional as those which 

 sometimes occur on Berkshire pigs; which, al- 

 though depreciating the extrinsic value of the 

 animal, cannot possibly injure the quality of 

 the pmk. 



Neither white-spotted, nor white-veined to- 

 bacco is therefore anything new, and may be 

 present every year in some part of the country 

 where tobacco is grown, although there may 

 be certain years in which it may be more 

 abundant than in other years. 



It would be fortunate for the tobacco 



grower if spotted tobacco and spotted cigars 

 could be raised to the dignity of fashion, i)ro- 

 viiled the spotted crop and the fa.shion were 

 coincidental events ; it would afford the deal- 

 ers less opportunity to get the goods at prices 

 below their real value, merely on account o*^ 

 the spots. 



Being a iihysiological question then, the 

 subject can only be elucidated through physio- 

 logical laws and principles, and this being 

 the case, I confess the subject is "too high 

 for me ;" because, having no practical ex- 

 perience in vegetable i)hysiology, I could, at 

 best, only advance the experiences and tlieo- 

 reti('al deductions of others, with very limited 

 corroborations of my own. I may be jier- 

 raitted to say, however, that the difference 

 between white spots and white veins may not 

 be so great as appears from a superficial view 

 of the subject. 



For instance, we cainiot prick our Ijodies 

 anywhere with a flue needle, but whatasmall 

 globule of blood will exude from the woimd; 

 and this is also the case with succulent vege- 

 tation. If we closely examine a skeletonizeil 

 leaf or plant, we will lind that the whole disk 

 is penetrated l)y innumerable nerves, nerviires 

 and nervelets, all of which have their absorb- 

 ing and secreting functions ; so that we could 

 hardly puncture it anywhere without ruptur- 

 ing one or more of these delicate organs ; 

 hence, if the phenomenon is the effect of en- 

 ervated circulation, which has been brought 

 a!>out by drouth or other weather contingen- 

 cies, or by soil conditions, as is alleged, it is 

 as likely to manifest itself among the smaller 

 nervures as among the larger ones. 



I have now before me a tobacco leaf from 

 Mr. Morris Gerscliel, of the firm of Ger.schel 

 & Bro., tobacco packers, also three leaves 

 from Mr. William Roeting, of Elizabethtown, 

 all of which are singularly marked with white, 

 leathery spots, dots, rings and zigzag lines ; 

 some of them like miniature streaks of "chain 

 lightning," or Egyptian hieroglyphics; and 

 there does not seem to be any visible connec- 

 tion between these markings and the "mid 

 rib," the lateral ribs, or any of the prominent 

 veins or nervures ; hence it cannot be classed 

 with white-veined tobacco. 



Whilst manipulating these leaves in a moist 

 condition, in order to expand thcra, I was 

 particularly impressed with their peculiar 

 fragrance, especially those from ^Ir. Roeting, 

 which arc also smaller in size and darker in 

 color than that from Mr. Gerschel. and I can- 

 not conceive that they are really injured by 

 these peculiar markings, although they may 

 affect their market value. On one of the 

 leaves from Mr. Roeting the markings are 

 much bolder, broader and more emphatic 

 than the markings of any of the other leaves 

 — indeed, no two of them arealike, the whole 

 presenting an almost kaleidoscoi)ic variety, 

 and, if such effects could be produced artifi- 

 cially, I don't see why tobacco might not be 

 cidtivated as an ornamental plant, the same 

 as the colias, calladimus and begonias, or the 

 variegated grasses, and such like. 



By the introduction of certain chemical 

 substances into the soil, botanical exi>erimen- 

 ters have been able to produce visible effects 

 upon the leaves and flowers of plants ; and, it 

 is very probable that these markings have 

 been produced through a diversion, or wrong 



direction of the sap-flow. A similar diver- 

 sion or misdirection of the flidd circulation of 

 plants, including trees and shrubbery, often 

 develops discoloration of the leaves, protuber- 

 ances, concavities, curled leaf, wrinkles, ex- 

 crescences and numerous other outward mani- 

 festations. Analogous effects are produced 

 by minute insects, in the form of an endless 

 variety of galls, and also by bacteriaiue fungi. 

 As already intimated, I cannot hazard a 

 theory of even suflieient outline to embrace 

 this subject in a specific sense, and probably 

 it will never be understood until some pro- 

 gressive tobacco cidturist or vegelat)le physi- 

 ologist discovers how to produce these mark- 

 ings by artificial cultivation, or chemical ap- 

 plications. 



In conclusion allow me to refer the reader 

 to page 20 (.January number) of the Lancas- 

 TKH Fahmkk for 1882, where may be found a 

 paper by E. K. Ilershey, of C'reswell, Lan- 

 caster county, on the causes of "white veins in 

 tobacco," which Mr. II. very plausibly re- 

 gards as a disease engendered by meteorolo- 

 gical conditions, operating upon the soil, or a 

 sort of starvation of tlie plants through the 

 I)revailing droughts. In the same number of 

 the Farmer, page 29, is a pai)er on the same 

 subject, read by Mr. Hebron Ilcrr before the 

 Lancaster County Agricultural and Horti- 

 cultural Society at its .January meeting, 1882, 

 in which Mr. Ilerr takes ground similar to 

 that of Mr. Ilershey, and nearly all who par- 

 ticipated in the discussion coincided in senti- 

 ment with the es.say. Of course both papers 

 present maiidy theories with such shadows of 

 fact as their experiences have been able to re- 

 flect upou the subject, but I think both papers 

 point in the right direetiin )(]■ tie caiee 

 the phenomenon, and J am pietty sure that 

 can pcint no nearer specifi cal y. fiom nil th 

 has come under my observation on such a 

 complicated subject. The three city dailies 



of that date all contain Mr. Herr's paper. 



^ 



EATING BETWEEN MEALS. 



If your children are dispo.sed to be greedy 

 and desire food between meals, reason with 

 them on the subject. A woman who has even 

 a very supirlicial knowledge of the working 

 of the stomach, can explain it to Inr child in 

 such a way that it will make a strong impres- 

 sion upon liis mind. To represent to an im- 

 aginative chdd that the stomach is like a man 

 who, when he has eaten his breakfast, goes to 

 work upon that with all his might, and who 

 docs not rest till he has ground the food up, 

 and given the good )iart to the blood, so feed- 

 ing each portion of the body, not forgetting 

 the fingers and toes even, and who rejects afl 

 the bad, keeping you from sickness and pain 

 will awaken intense interest in the child's 

 mind and be a great aid to obedience. Put it 

 before him, and ask him if it is not inikind 

 and c>'cn cruel to <;ive out another task be- 

 fore the first is finished and a little time for 

 rest been given. It will help you greatly in 

 enforcinsr it upon his mind that he must not 

 eat at irregular intervals. A diild's diges- 

 tive organs may be weak ; he may need to 

 eat more frecpienfly than a grown person, but 

 it should invariably be at some stated time. 

 Cake or i»astry should be given him but sel- 

 dom, if at all ; there is nothing which is more 

 ruinous to the digestive organs. 



We have often been "poo jioo'd" for enter- 

 taining, and acting, on jirinciples akin to 

 those expressed in the above paragraph, by 

 pereons of acknowledged toisdom, on all other 

 subjects — persons of no mean moral and in- 

 tellectual standing, either. We were in har- 



