The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. KATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., AUGUST. 1882. 



Vol. znr. No. 8. 



Editorial. 



A CHOSEN PEOPLE. 



"Those who labor in the earth are tlie 

 chosen people of tiod, whose breasts he has 

 made his [leculiar deposit for substantial aud 

 genuine virtue." 



The foregoing very pretty sentiment is one 

 of the utterances of the " sage of Monti- 

 cello " — the immortal .Jefferson— and as we 

 find it used as a motto under the title liead of 

 the Farmers'' Mnnthli/ Visitor, an agricultural 

 journal, conducted by Isaac Hill, at Concord, 

 N. II., about forty years ago, we presume 

 that the "workers in the earth" means 

 farmers, although for the matter of that it 

 might be so construed as to mean railroad 

 excavating, canal digging, and perhaps also 

 fence-making, at least as far as relates to the 

 digging of post-holes. Of course, in .TeQer- 

 son's time, although there may have been 

 fence-making, yet there was no railroad or 

 canal making, no excavating except an occa- 

 sional tail-race to a mill, or cutting down a 

 hill for a township road. We believe cultiva- 

 tors of the soil are entitled to an extra dis- 

 tinction above all other manual operators on 

 eartli, but we do not think they are " tlie 

 chosen people of God," above all others who 

 earn their bread by the sweat of their faces, 

 only because they "labor in the earth." Cain 

 labored in the earth, but he does not seem to 

 have been chosen of God in as special a sense 

 as Abel was, who did not labor in the earth, 

 but was a herder. Mauy fine things are 

 patronizingly said about farmers, and no mat- 

 ter how much they merit them yet there is 

 reason to believe that many of them are said 

 ironically. If the above sentiment, in its ap- 

 plication to farmers, was popular in Jeffer- 

 son's day, it is singular that farmers, as a 

 class, should have had such a limited influence 

 in the general make-up of the government. 

 It is fifty-six years since Jefferson died, and 

 yet it is only now beginning to be seen that 

 agriculture ought to be represented in the 

 national cabinet, for if the " people of God " 

 are worthy of any position in tlie construction 

 of civil goverimieut, it surely ought to be 

 there. We may legitimately claim this posi- 

 tion for agriculture, without setting up a 

 special claim for agriculturists per se. Doubt' 

 less, like all other classes of men, they are 

 "good, bad and indifl'erent." However this 

 may be, it is unquestionable that wjricullure 

 should not only be a coordinate department 

 of government, but should also outrank all 

 other departments ; because, if it were not for 

 agriculture our government, our commerce, 

 our manufactures, and our civilization itself, 

 in no sense, would be much in advance of 

 our aborigines or the clouted Patagonians. 



Wherever there are thoroughly cultivated 

 grain fields, orchards, gardens, including 

 lawns, flowering vegetation, slirubbery, and 

 even forests, there you may expect to find a 

 corresponding civilization, and as such, they 

 are in a large sense the "people of God " 



whose labors have produced a civilizing effect 

 of this kind ; not however to the total exclu- 

 sion of others, who may lie laboring as hon- 

 esty, as faithfully, as effectually, and as use- 

 fully, in a diflereut occupation. 



It perhaps would not militate against any 

 people to be considered the " people of God " 

 provided they understood in what sense they 

 wei'e chosen to such a distinction — whether 

 arbitrarily, or as the best instruments to effect 

 certain ends. 



The Israelites claimed to be the "chosen 

 people of God." and lliis has also been ac- 

 corded to them by cliristians, and yet accord- 

 ing to the records of inspiiation they were a 

 dreadfully "stiff-necked, idolatrous and wick- 

 ed nation;" but they were the best instru- 

 ments in the hands of deity to accomi)lish 

 Ills purposes among men on earth, just as 

 under a stress in civil government, a thief 

 may be chosen to catch a thief. Agricultur- 

 ists certainly seem to have the advantage of 

 all other occupations, because there seems to 

 be no doubt about the legitimacy and useful- 

 ness of their calling, which is more than can 

 be .said about many others. And yet, there 

 are many honest people in the world, who 

 verily believe that the cultivation and sale of 

 tobacco is a perversion of agriculture, and of 

 course, are altogether unable to believe that 

 any persons so employed are, by way of emi- 

 nence, the "chosen people of God." 



All this leads us to conclude that men often 

 employ descriptive and explanatory terms of 

 which they do not duly consider the import 

 at the time they use them, and those in whose 

 behalf they are employed, are astonished that 

 they should have been so distinguished in a 

 matter which they deem within the sphere 

 of their bounden duty, and therefore entitled 

 to no special distinction. The "people of 

 God," are therefore those who are endeavor- 

 ing to do the will of Gud on earth as it is done 

 in heaven. 



GREEN CORN PUDDING. 



Take eighteen ears of green corn, split the 

 kernels lengthwise of the ears witii a sharp 

 knife, then with a ca.se knife .scrape the corn 

 from the cob ; mix it with three or four 

 (laarts of rich sweet milk ; add four eggs well 

 beaten, two tablespoonsful of sugar, salt to 

 the taste ; bake it three hours. To be eaten 

 hot, with butter. 



We extract the above from the Farmers'' 

 ifonthhj Visitor of June 30, 1847, and we do 

 so because we know it is a most toothsomo 

 dish, and have often wondered why house- 

 wives so seldom prepare it, for it is far 

 superior to anything else that is made out of 

 green corn — better than "cornstarch." Of 

 course the above quantities arc too large for a 

 small family, but it can be made proportion- 

 ally with the one-half or one-quarter of those 

 quantities. The corn should not be too ripe — 

 just passing out of its milky state — when the 

 inner pulp can be easily pressed out, by a 

 moderately forced manipulation with tlie 

 back of a common table-knife ; leaving nothing 

 but the empty shells of the grains adhering to 



the cob. When corn is too young and milky 

 the operation may be facilitated by first scald- 

 ing or parboiling it. As corn is just in 

 season now (or .soon will be) for this prepara- 

 tion we confidently recommend it to our 

 wortliy housewives. It, perhaps, may involve 

 a little more time and labor than the usual 

 modes of cooking corn, but the result will be 

 ample compensation for all the additional 

 trouble. 



KITCHEN GARDEN FOR AUGUST. 



In the iliddle .States the work in this month 

 does not vary materially from the month of 

 July. Cabbage for winter use may head if 

 planted at once. Celery, earth up ; plant for 

 future use. Endive plant. Beans— Bush or 

 Snap-plant ; tender Snaps gathered in late 

 autumn may lie preserved in strong brine 

 (salt and water) for winter use, and vary but 

 little from those freshly gathered. Lettuce 

 sOW In drills to head. Peas sow. This vege- 

 table is a delicacy in autumn, aud should more 

 frequently api)ear at table. Laudreth's Extra 

 Early, .sown in latter end of this month and 

 beginning of next, perfect before frost. 

 Spinach sow for autumn use ; for winter use 

 sow in .September. Radishes sow ; the 

 Si)anish aud Cliina tor winter ; the Golden 

 Globe and Red Turnip (rooted) for autumn. 

 Ruta Baga sow without delay, if not already 

 done. Should the ground be dry work 

 thoroughly and sow in the dust ; tlie seed may 

 vegetate with the first shower. A roller to 

 compress the soil sometimes promotes vegeta- 

 tion ; hwt there is this disadvantage, if he;ivy 

 dashing rains immediately ensue the ground 

 packs and the seed is lost. Yellow Aberdeen, 

 Pomeranian Globe and Amber Glob j Turnips 

 sovv early in the month ; also the German 

 Sweet, don't forget it ; the Eirly Dutch and 

 Red-Topped Turnips— both strap-leaved varie- 

 ties — may he sown until the first of Septem- 

 ber, although it is well to sow at le.ost a por- 

 tion earlier, as at a late day it is difiicult to 

 remedy a failure. Read remarks under the 

 head of July. 



Onion seed raised in that portion of Penn- 

 sylvania which .surrounds Philadelphia un- 

 questionably must be earlier than the New 

 England seed, and still more so when com- 

 pared with Western seed. The growth con- 

 clusively proves the assertion. This is an im- 

 portant feature, as the early marketed onions 

 always bring the highest prices. Try the ex- 

 periment and you will find that seed from this 

 locality will make bulbs long before seeds from 



any other locality. — Landreth's ButmI Register. 



♦ 



GOOD HUSBANDRY. 

 "A place for everything, and everything in 

 its place," has passed into a domestic pro- 

 verb, and doubtless many of tliose who most 

 frequently and most earnestly use it, may 

 suppose it had its origin in modern times, but 

 this is a mosti egregious error. It is found 

 frequently u.scd in "The Science of Good 

 Husbandry, or the Economies of Xenophon," 

 and Xenophon died about 444 years before the 



