124 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[August, 



Charles Lippold reported good success with some 

 varieties of pigeons, but poor with some of the rest. 



There being no further business, the society ad- 

 journed. 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The Fulton Farmers' Club met at the residence of 

 William King in Fulton township, August 5, and all 

 the members and several visitors were present. 

 Exhibits. 



J. R. Blackburn exhibited a sample of Ileiges's 

 prolific wheat, raised from seed received from the 

 Patent Office. The quantity planted was too small 

 to enable him to decide on the productiveness of the 

 variety. 



Wm. King exhibited samples of his wheat and 

 oats. The whtat was thrashed from the rakings of 

 his field, and was a rather inferior article. The oats 

 weighed 29 pounds per bushel, and produced only at 

 the rate of about 19 bushels per acre. 



Sallie Hambleton exhibited some home-made hard 

 soap made from Lewis's prepared lye. She recom- 

 mends it for all kinds of washing and scrubbing, and 

 it requires no boiling while being made. 



John Coates exhibited some cheese from the Boyd 

 creamery near Parkesburg. It was made on the 10th 

 of .June last from partly skimmed milk. Some con- 

 sidered it good while others thought it rather inferior 

 to what their mothers used to make. 



What is the Best Kind of Wheat ? 



Simpson Preston asked: "Do the members con- 

 sider the Fultz wheat the best for us to sow V The 

 members replied as follows: J. R. Blackburn said he 

 had tried the Fultz wheat two years and abandoned 

 it. Josiah Brown likes the Fultz; he believes that on 

 an average it yields the best for him. Day Wood 

 has raised the Fultz for five years and likes it well 

 enough to continue sowing it. S. L. Gregg has 

 sowed the Fultz I'or several years, and last fall he 

 sowed Fultz, Key's Prolific, Davis Brown wheat and 

 Italian; he has not thrashed yet but is satisfied that 

 the Fultz is the best and Italian second. Thomas P. 

 King considers the Fultz the best under very favor- 

 able circumstances. Montillion Brown had found 

 the Fultz to do the best for him, although it does not 

 stand up long after it is ripe; but before that time it 

 stands well. It seemed to be generally believed tha^ 

 on strong land the Fultz was pretty certain to do 

 well, but where the land is thin some other varieties 

 are likely to do better. 



The Best Time to Sow. 



Joseph Brown asked "What time will the mem- 

 bers sow wheat this fall?" The answers to this 

 showed that nearly all were in favor of sowing be- 

 tween the loth and 30th of September. T.P. King 

 said he was in favor of sowing either quite early or 

 else not till late in September. Last year S. L. Gregg 

 sowed an acre after tobacco on the lOtli of October, 

 and it was the best wheat he had. 



A Question of Plows. 



E. H. Haines said it is now several years since the 

 chilled plows were introduced into this neighborhood 

 and wished to know if the members now considered 

 them better than the common Wiley plow. Joseph 

 R. Blackburn said he bought a chilled plow last fall 

 and after repeated trials and returning in the inter- 

 vals to his old plows, he considers the new plow 

 rather an improvement on the old. His new plow is 

 the " Advance," and he uses the slip point. 



Day Wood, S. L. Gregg, Montillion Brown, Simp, 

 son Preston and C. L. Gatchel, are each using some 

 pattern of the new plows and all are pleased with 

 their work. Some think they run hard and nearly 

 all consider them more expensive than the Wiley 

 plows for points. John Coates said he had a Syra- 

 cuse chilled plow and found it so expensive for points 

 that he put the jointer on the Wiley and it did just as 

 good work. 



Russian Oats. 



Montillion Brown asked, "How many have tried 

 Russian oats and how do they like it?" Several had 

 sown small parcels of it and found it to ripen late, 

 but the trials w-ere on too small a scale to decidg 

 upon its merits. 



Literary Exercises. 



John Coates made some remarks on Creameries. 

 He thinks that if people had facilities to attend to 

 dairying it would pay, but if not, it was best to sell 

 the milk at a creamery. 



Essay on Noxious Weeds, by Wm. King. 



Carrie Blackburn recited "A Doctor's Story." 



Mary Hoopes read, "Sookey's Appeal." 

 A Farmer's Reunion. 



A committee was appointed to make arrangements 

 for a meeting to be held in the Hon. James Black's 

 grove at Black Barren Springs, Sept. 9, 1882. It 

 will be a farmers' reunion and all persons interested 

 in agriculture are invited to be pi-esent and bring 

 fruits, flowers and vegetables for exhibition! There 

 will be tables arranged for that purpose. Any per- 

 son engaged in the manufacture of machinery of any 

 kind is also invited to come and bring machinery. 

 Several public speakers are expected and the occa- 

 sion no doubt will be one of great interest as well as 

 benefit to our farming community. The following 

 persons were appointed: J. R. Blackburn, Mary 

 Blackburn, Montillion Brown, Wm. King, Rebecca 

 King, George A. King and Martha Brown. 



Noxious Weeds, 



When quite a small boy we well remember seeing 

 our father's hired man reach out both hands and 

 with one grasp an ox eye daisy and with the other a 

 wild carrot saying, " Pink and carrot, two of the 

 worst things that can grow on a man's farm." This 

 remark was made in accordance with the general 

 sentiment of the time and to this day the two weeds 

 are looked upon as the greatest pests that infest our 

 farms. But while we would not willingly encourage 

 the growth of pestiferous weeds we will say that in a 

 life of more than half a century that has been wholly 

 passed upon a farm, we have never been able to see 

 why the two weeds above mentioned should have 

 been singled out from the myriads of their compan- 

 ions as objects that were to be regarded as especially 

 troublesome. With concerted effort on the part of 

 farmers in any neighborhood the carrot could easily 

 be exterminated as it is altogether propagated from 

 seed and but for the fact that the adjoining farms are 

 polluted with it any farmer could eradicate it from 

 his farm in a few years if he should think it worth 

 the effort. The dai.«y having a perennial root, and 

 propagating itself from it, and also the seed, is a far 

 more troublesome plant, but even it will give place to 

 a rank growth of grass: but is almost sure to put in 

 an appearance again if the grass dies off and becomes 

 thin on the ground. The two plants take up room 

 that might produce something better. This is the 

 worst and about the only thing that can be said 

 against them. We have several others that give us 

 more trouble, but they are here and are likely to stay, 

 so we will at present make no effort to point them 

 out. It is the pests that are coming that we wish, 

 at this particular time, to call attention to. While 

 we live in a part of the country that is free from the 

 scourge, we have the Canada thistle on every side of 

 us, and only a few miles off. In any year we may 

 find it growing in our fields, lor the seed has 

 been known to travel for milej on the crest of the 

 snow. Fortunately it produces scarcely any seed 

 and with a little attention can be kept from over- 

 runningour fields. Not so with the horse nettle; its 

 progress is ever onward. But little more than a de- 

 cade ago it was extremely rare; at the present time 

 It is quietly peeping up along our roadsides and 

 spreading at a rate that but a few of the most ob- 

 serving have any idea of. It is brought here by Vir- 

 ginia cattle and can be found in almost any place 

 where droves of them are kept or pass along. 



Along the road from Rock Springs to' Oak Hill 

 there is scarcely a half mile of road where it has not 

 taken hold in some place, while from the Baptist 

 church to Conowingo it grows almost continuously. 

 In any kind of soil or under any circumstances it is 

 showing itself; and it is coming to stay. Once well 

 rooted it is no boy's play to eradicate it. If allowed 

 to spread to any extent in our fields it will seriously 

 detract from the value. It is therefore the interest 

 of every farmer to see that It is confined to its pre- 



sent limits, if it cannot be eradicated. How this !b 

 to be done we will not at present attempt to show. 

 Our purpose has been simply to call attention to the 

 fact that we have an enemy advancing, and that we 

 cannot be too prompt or energetic in preparing to 

 meet it. 



LINNiEN SOCIETY. 



The society met on Saturday afternoon, July 29, 

 1882, in the ante-room of the museum ; in the ab- 

 sence of the executive officers, S. M. Sener, Esq., 

 was called to the chair, and Mrs. L. N. Zell was ap- 

 pointed secretary pro tem. 



After the usual opening order the following dona- 

 tions and additions were made to the museum and 

 library : 



Museum. 



Dr. M. L. Davis donated a large specimen of Va- 

 nadium, which he obtained from Mr. Hathaway, the 

 owner and discoverer of the mine from which it was 

 obtained, at Tioga, Pa. Mr. Hathaway is a black- 

 smith bj occupation, and experimenting with the 

 ore he found that when melted with iron and copper 

 it rendered the former as hard as steel, and the lat- 

 ter a few degrees softer. He had a razor blade made 

 from an old stove grate mixed with this ore, and on 

 melting them together in a crucible, then beaten 

 into shape on an anvil, 'the metal became firm in 

 texture, and admitted of a very high polish. Vana- 

 dium was discovered by Sefstrom in 1830. Some 

 authors have attributed it to Del Rio in 1801, but the 

 former, by whom it was named after Vanadis, a 

 Scandinavian deity, was the original discoverer. The 

 metal is found in nearly all clays in small quantities, 

 but its most abundant source is the Vanadiate of 

 Lead, which has been found in Scotland, Mexico, 

 and some of the South American States. The metal 

 may be chemically obtained by the reduction of 

 Vanadic acid, in the form of a brilliant powder, hav- 

 ing a silvery lustre. 



It is not acted upon by sulphuric or nitric acids, 

 but nitro- muriatic acid dissolves it, the solution re- 

 sembling an aqueous solution of sulphate of copper. 



Dana describes Vanadinite, or Vanadate of Lead 

 (Vanadiubleierz) as crystallizing hexagonally, but 

 mostly occurring in implanted globules or incrusta- 

 tions ; he is also one of the authorities who attribute 

 its discovery at Zimpana, in Mexico, by Del Kio. 

 This ore has a dark brown or brownish black color, 

 and is generally observed only in an earthy state, 

 much like a ferruginous clay. It is an interesting 

 fact that it is now found iu the State of Pennsylvania. 



An interesting little fresh-water fish, donated by 

 Dr. M. L. Davis. This is the BoUosoma tesselatum, 

 locally called the "Sand-Perch," but it belongs to 

 the family Etheostomidw, which is only remotely re- 

 lated to the true Percida. This fish is remarkable 

 for being destitute of an air-bladder, hence it is al- 

 ways observed lying upon the bottom of the pool iu 

 which it is found, and never swims with the (iraceful 

 buoyant motion of other fishes, but changes its loca- 

 tion by a sudden darting motion. The whole family 

 to which it belongs are small fishes. The late Prof. 

 S. S. Haldeman, described two new species from the 

 Susquehanna belonging to an allied genus; and the 

 late Jacob Staufler discovered a third one from the 

 Conestoga, which was described by Prof. Cope. Per- 

 haps there were tew boys who bad access to a stream 

 of water to whom this little fish was not familiar. It 

 was quite abundant in my boyhood in the Susque- ' 

 hanna, and I have often succeeded in angling for it 

 with a small hook, but it was more frequently taken 

 with a "dip net," audusedas a bait for larger fishes. 



A bottle of insects taken at and in the vicinity of 

 York Furnace spring, during the encampment of the 

 Tucquan club, in the present month, consisting 

 mainly of the general Calasoma, Prionus, Orthosoma, 

 Chrysocus, Lanrjuria, Teraopes and Eriphus Suturalis 

 The last named occurred in tolerable abundance on 

 the bloom of a species of Solidago, along the river, 

 from the York Furnace station to the mouth of the 

 Tucquan. Four specimens of " shell rock," found on 

 Pair's island by Mr. Wm.L. Gill, differing very much 

 from each other. These were found in large water- 



