94 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June, 



The treasurer was authorized to subscribe for 

 "Ward's Quarterly Bulletin of Natural History." 



Dr. Knight kindly tendered his office for the use of 

 the society in holding its evening meetings, which 

 was thankfully accepted. 



Mrs. Zell read some notes on technical terms, 

 which elicited quite a spirited discussion, partici- 

 pated in by Prof. Stahr, Dr. Davis and others. 



After an examination of Dr. Knight's objects of 

 vertu, and continued scientifie gossip, the society ad- 

 journed to meet in the ante-room of the Museum on 

 Saturday afternoon, May 27, 1882. 



May Meeting. 



The society met on Saturday afternoon. May 27, 

 188a, in the ante-room of the Museum, the presi- 

 dent. Prof. J. S. Stahr, occupying the chair. 



After the usual preliminaries the Curators re- 

 ported the following donations to the Museum : Two 

 specimens of the "Sea Robin" or "Flying Gurnard," 

 represented to have been caught in the Susquehanna 

 river and Conestoga creek, but which were identified 

 as Prionotns carolinnx, of Dekay — marine fishes, 

 which inhabit the Atlantic Coast from Nantucket as 

 far south as the Carolinas. As a specimen of the 

 "common sturgeon,'' -4cipcn.se)' sturio, was caught 

 in the Susquehanna river some years ago, near Bain- 

 bridge, in this county, it is not impossible the "Gur- 

 nards" may pass from the ocean to the bays, and 

 from the bays into the rivers, although it is not very 

 probable. One tine specimen of well-defined gran 

 Ite, presumably from the "Granite State." Sundry 

 botanical specimens for determination. 



Donations to the Library : Volume 3 of American 

 Entoniologist\ No. 1, volume 1, of the Pejinsylvania 

 Farm Journal, dated April, 1851, which originated 

 in Lancaster city thirty-one years ago, under the au- 

 spices of A. M Spangler ; Nos. 17 to 20, volume 20, 

 of the Official Gazette of the U. S. Patent Office ; 

 circulars 1 — 6, from the Bureau of Education, De- 

 partment of the Interior ; two book catalogues, and 

 sundry circulars ; the Lancaster Farmer for May, 

 1883 ; five envelopes containing forty-five historical, 

 biographical and scientific scraps. 



S. M. Sener, Esq., was unanimously elected an ac- 

 tive member of the society. 



After indorsing a small bill reported by the Cura- 

 tors, the meeting passed under the rule of "Science 

 Gossip" for a brief period, and then adjourned to 

 meet at the rooms of Dr. H. S. Knight, North 

 Queen street, Lancaster, Pa., on the last Thursday 

 evening in June (29th), 1882. 



Agriculture. 



Rotation of Crops. 



In a well planned system of farming, the subject of 

 crop rotations should be carefully considered, as one 

 of the essential elements of success in its highest 

 and best sense. It seems to be the prevailing opinion 

 that the al'ernation of crops, in systematic order, is 

 a modern invention that was gradually developed as 

 a direct result of the application of science to the 

 art of agriculture. The early writers on agriculture, 

 even from the time of the Romans, have, however, 

 quite uniformly urged the advantages of a succession 

 of crops from the teachings of experience. They 

 were satisfied that a variety of crof s grown in suc- 

 cession, all other conditions being equal, would give 

 a greater aggregate yield than could otherwise be 

 obtained. The reasons for the success of the system 

 could not, it is true, be given, but practical men 

 were fully agreed in urging its. importance, and 

 many systems of rotation, more or less perfect, were 

 planned, some of which became the prevailing rule 

 of farm practice in particular localities. That these 

 practical rules of alternating crops of ditferent hab- 

 its and modes of growth are based on correct, but 

 not explained, principles, has been shown by direct 

 experiment. 



Manure Made Under Cover. 



Of course all the advaniagee of making manure 

 in covered yards may be secured by box feeding, 

 with less outlay for roofing, since no more space 



must be allowed for a given number of animals 

 turned loose together than when confined in stalls. 

 It is the protection fram rain and sun, the abundant 

 use of litter, and its thorough incorporation with the 

 excrements and the exclusion of air by compact 

 treading, which go to make the superior manure; all 

 these features of the method work against the loss 

 of valuable plant food. Nor does box. feeding and 

 constant accumulation of the manure under the feet 

 of the animals necessairly imply offensive stalls. 

 Mr. Lawrence said that everybody noticed the gene- 

 ral sweetness of his stalls. It is only essential that 

 enough litter be used to absorb all liquid, and this 

 absorption is more effectual if the straw is cut up. 

 One method or the other, box-feeding or covered 

 yards, should be adopted by every farmer who lives 

 where manure is worth saving, and who finds him- 

 self compelled to supplement his stable manure with 

 commercial fertilizers. Stable manure must not be 

 lost sight of in this increasingi interest in these con- 

 centrated fertilizers, for we cannot produce our crops 

 and have enough for ourselves and others without 

 its aid ; and there is nothing in all the list of com- 

 mercial mixtures which gives so good an average 

 return for the money invested in it as well made 

 stable manure. — American Agriculturist. 



Exports of Breadstuffs. 



The following shows the decrease in our exports 

 of breadstuffs lor the eight (8) months ending Feb- 

 ruary 38, 1882, as compared with the same time last 

 year.: 



1882. 1881. Decrease. 



Flour, bbls. 3,853,474 5,307,432 1,443,958 



Wheat, bush. 85,913,1.54 167,059,41G 21,746,262 

 Corn, " 37,048,841 58,770,782 21,931,942 



Rye, " 502,098 1,6S7,.578 1,085,480 



Barley, " 172,526 88.3,576 6i;i,0.50 



Oats, " 440,473 268,.564 *171,817 



Corn Meal, bbls. 214,194 265,147 50,9.53 



Of the above we reduce wheat and corn to bushels 

 which give us a to tal decrease in our exports of 

 over forty-eight million bushels (*excepting oats) 

 and a total of over forty-seven million dollars. 



Corn Culture in Gardens. 



In field culture corn is planted in hills. Some have 

 tried growing it in lines or drills, and have obtained 

 more corn. There is not the same chance for three 

 or four plants feeding together in one hill, that there 

 is for a single plant alone, and with nothing nearer 

 to it than a foot or so. Three plants a foot apart will 

 give more corn than three plants in one hill three 

 feet from an other hill. This is not only reasonable 

 but has been verified by actual facts. But the in- 

 creased crop does not pay. The horse-hoe cannot 

 work but one way when the corn is in drills, and 

 then the horse has to be idle in the stable while the 

 driver takes the slow hand-hoe to clean out the 

 weeds in the row. But the field-practice, proper 

 enough in the field, has been carried to t;he garden, 

 and sweet corn for the table is treated just as if it 

 were a field crop. In gardens where hand labor is 

 exclusively used, there is no reason whatever for 

 growing corn in hills. One can have better sweet 

 corn by sowing in rows than in hills, while the labor 

 is in no wise any more. 



To insure a constant supply of sweet corn for the 

 table, there should not be less than seven different 

 plantings through th'e season. The first-planting (of 

 dry seed) should be made not earlier than the 20th 

 of April ; the next planting ten days after, and then 

 follow the five other plantings from ten to twelve 

 days apart, the last being toward the end of June. 



Hort:cl yruRE. 



An Abundant Apple Crop. 

 During a recent ride through a large portion of 

 the State, we could not fail to be struck with the 

 enormous masses of apple blossoms wherever there 

 were trees. The promise is of a great crop and vast 

 surplus. Many thousand bushels will be wasted if 

 the fruit ripens as well as in other seasons, unless 

 efficient efforts are made to secure a foreign market, 



and to manufacture large quantities at home into 

 evaporated fruit, or into apple jelly or vinegar. [This 

 report of an abundant crop refers to New Tork State. 

 In Pennsylvania, or at least in this part of the State, 

 the promise for apples is far less encouraging]. 



It is to be hoped that the supplies which are sent 

 to Europe will be selected and put up in a manner 

 creditable to the fruit growers of this country, and 

 that some means may be devised to distinguish such 

 growers and shippers as do the work in honorable 

 and skillful manner, from those who by carelessness 

 and fraud do a lasting injury to themselves and 

 others, as was too frequently the case in 1880. 



A question of importance is asked many times in' 

 this connection, "How can we prevent this uneven 

 bearing in alternate years, so as to have a fair supply 

 every season ?" In answer, there are three remedies. 

 One is to cultivate the ground well, so as to keep up 

 the vigor of the trees to such a degree that the abun- 

 dant crop the even year will not exhaust the trees 

 and prevent hearing the odd year. This remedy, al 

 though operating more or less in all cases, is uncer- 

 tain or incomplete. The second, manuring the trees 

 at the right time, is more efficient. The best time to 

 apply the manure — which must, of course, he broad- 

 cast—is on the surface in autumn or during winter, 

 giving the trees when they start in spring so much 

 vigor that the abundant crop the same year will not 

 check the force of the trees and prevent bearing the 

 following season. If the manure is applied in spring 

 or early in summer and worked into the surface soil, 

 it would have a similar tendency in less degree. 

 Liquid manure, applied now to the whole surface 

 through a sprinkler, would probably answer nearly 

 as well as winter-spread manure, and is well worth 

 trying by those who have facilities for this purpose. 

 The third, and most certain way of changing the 

 bearing year, is to prevent a crop this season, by 

 which all the strength ef the growth will be thrown 

 into the young shoots for a crop next year. The 

 best time is when the trees are in blossom, because 

 they are easily seen ; and the best tool for the pur- 

 pose is a pair of common sheep shears. The work 

 should be done when the trees are young, for two 

 reasons — the labor is much less, and the change is 

 more likely to be permanent. We find that it re- 

 quires a man three hours to shear off all the blos- 

 soms from a tree fifteen years old and large enough 

 to bear twelve bushels and only one hour for a young 

 bearing tree seven or eight years old. The value of 

 the crop on either, during a scarce year, is much 

 more than the cost of the labor. The work may be 

 done when the young apples are as large as cherries, 

 but they are not so easily seen as the blossoms. — 

 Country Oentleman. 



What Kills Fruit Trees. 



Deep planting is one error. To plant a tree rather 

 shallower than if formerly stood is really the right 

 way, whilst many plant a tree as they would a post. 

 Roots are of two kinds — the young and tender root- 

 lets, composed entirely of cells, _the feeders of the 

 tree, always found near the surface getting air and 

 moisture, and roots of over one year old, which serve 

 only as supporters of the trees and as conductors of 

 its food. Hence the injury that ensues when the 

 delicate rootlets are so deeply buried in earth. 

 Placing fresh or green manure in contact with the 

 young roots is another great error. The place to put 

 manure is on the surface, where the elements disin- 

 tegrate, dissolve and carry it downward. Numerous 

 forms of fungi are generated and reproduced by 

 the application of such manure directly to the roots, 

 and they immediately attack the tree. It is very well 

 to enrich the soil at transplanting the tree, but the 

 manure, if to be in contact with or very near the 

 roots, should be thoroughly decomposed. — Massa- 

 chussetts Ptowmaii . 



Early Turnips. 

 The earliest and perhaps the best variety of tur- 

 nips for table use is the Early Flat Dutch. It is uni- 

 versally popular, and it takes only a small plot to 

 furnish a supply for a medium sized family. One 

 reason why they so frequently fail in gardens is the 



