152 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[October, 



cliaiacter of the owner for planting and re- 

 newing original forest productions, the beau- 

 tiful Golden rod, trees loaded with the poppy 



fruit, etc., adorning the lawn.— i\r«(; Era. 



^ 



SUMMER. 



Summer, astronomically, includes the period 

 Ijetween the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, 

 or from June 21, 8.08 a. m., lasting 9.3 days, 

 14 hours and 22 minutes. 



In the United States we call June, July 

 and August the summer months. In Eng- 

 land, May, June and July are known as tlie 

 summer months. Between the tropics there 

 is, properly speaking, no summer, the hottest 

 periods being when the sun passes to the 

 zenith at noon, corresponding at the equator 

 to our equinoxes. 



Autumn. 



In the northern temperate zone it begins 

 when the sun, in its apparent descent to the 

 south, crosses the equator September 22, 10.30 

 p. m., ends at the time of the snu's greatest 

 southern declination, December 21st, 10.52 

 a.m., lasting 89 days, 18 hours and 15 minutes. 



In the United States, September, October 

 and November are known as the autumn or 

 fall months ; in England, August, Sotember 

 and October are so called. In the Southern 

 Hemisphere they have their autumn wlien we 

 have our spring. 



Winter. 



Winter begins, astronomically, on the short- 

 est day, December 21, at 10.52 a. m., and lasts 

 89 days, 1 hour aud 4 minutes (March 21.) In 

 the U. S. winter months are commonly reck- 

 oned December, January and February ; in 

 England, November, December and January. 

 In the Southern Hemisphere, by the Ameri- 

 can style, the winter months are .June, July 

 and August ; by the English style, May, 

 June aud July. 



Spring. 



The passage of the sun across the equator, 

 when the days begin to be longer than the 

 nights, is the vernal equinox. In the North- 

 ern Hemisphere this occurs March 20, at 

 11.50 a. m.. When spring begins. Spring lasts 

 92 days, 20 hours aud 12 minutes. In the 

 United States, Marcli, April and May are 

 popularly known as the spring months ; in 

 England, February, March and April. 



HOW TO KEEP HOUSES HEALTHY. 



The custom of working or exercising horses 

 directly after eating; or feeding after hard 

 work, aud before they are thoroughly rested, 

 baiting at noon when both lliese violations of 

 a natural law are comitted ; these are the pre- 

 dis|)osing causes of pinkeye, and of most dis- 

 eases that effect our horses. Keep the horse 

 quiet, dry, warm, and in a pure atmosphere, 

 the nearer ou'door air the better, and stop 

 his feed entirely at the first S3mptora of dis- 

 ease, and he will speedily recover. It lias been 

 demonstrated in tens of thousands of cases in 

 family life that two meals are not only ample 

 for the hardest and most exhaustive labors, 

 physical or mental, but altogether best. The 

 same thing has been fully proved in hundreds 

 of instances with horses, ami has never in a 

 single instance failed, after a fair trial, to 

 work the best results. An hour's rest at noon 

 is vastly more restoring to a tired animal, 

 whether horse or man, than a meal of any 



sort, although the latter may prove more 

 stimulating. 



The morning meal given, if possible, early 

 enough for partial stomach digestion before 

 the musular and nervous systems are called 

 into active play; the night meal offered long 

 enough after work to insure a rested condition 

 of the body; a diet liberal enoufth, but never 

 excessive ; this is the law and gospel of hygi- 

 enic diet for either man or beast. I have 

 never tried to fatten my horses, for I long 

 ago learned that fat is disease; but I have 

 always found that if a liorse does solid work 

 enough he will be fairly' plump if he has two 

 sufficient meals. Muscle is the product of 

 work and food ; fat may be laid on by food 

 alone. We see, however, plenty of horses that 

 are generously— too generously — fed, that still 

 remain thin, and show every indication of 

 being under-nourished ; dyspepsia is a disease 

 not confined exclusively to creatures who 

 own or drive horses. But for perfect health and 

 immunity from disease, restriction of exercise 

 must be met by restriction in diet. Horses 

 require more food in cold than in warm 

 weather, if performing the same labor. In 

 case of a warm spell in winter I reduce their 

 feed, more or less, according to circumstances, 

 as surely as I do tlie amount of fuel consumed. 

 I also adopt the same principle in my own 

 diet. The result is, that neither my animals 

 nor myself are ever for one momerit sick. — 

 Medical and Suryicul Journal. 



THE COMING FENCE. 

 Farm-fencing has been discussed year after 

 year with increased interest ever since fencing 

 was used to divide fields and farms and to 

 keep out of fields and crops the roving cattle 

 which formerly filled the highways and did 

 immense damage to the honest, hard working 

 farmer. The original " worm fence " is still 

 in existence, and so is the "stump-fence " in 

 the wilder parts of the State where fences are 

 send at all. Then came the "po.st-aud-rail, " 

 which in most improved sections continues to 

 be the most popular and we may say the most 

 efficient fence ; but lumber is getting scarce, 

 and some other material than wood must be 

 substituted. The "hedge fence" in tlie West- 

 ern States has, within the last ten years, been 

 most extensively introduced, and many be- 

 lieve that is the fence. Next came the iron 

 fence, the common wire fence, followed by 

 the "barbed wire fence," which just now 

 seems to claim the most popularity. But there 

 is still another just tried in the West, which 

 is coming in for a full share of popular favor. 

 This is simply a wire fence without barbs, 

 woven together similar to a fishing seine, 

 with a large heavy top and bottom wire. This 

 fence, it is said, will completely withstand all 

 kinds of cattle, with no possibility of injury, 

 while it is " no more expensive than the ordi- 

 nary board fence." As to the real truth of 

 this statement we cannot say, but we should 

 fear that from the lightness of the wire, unless 

 well galvanized, it would succumb to the 

 effects of the weather. One thing, however, 

 seems to be well-estabished, that iron, in 

 some form, must eventually be the " coming 

 fence " to stay. Wood has become too expen- 

 sive, but we cannot bring our mind to believe 

 that the live-fence, however it may be es- 

 teemed by some, will ever be a fixture in this 

 country. 



THE TRADE IN NUTS. 



In the past few years, says The World, the 

 trade in foreign and domestic nuts has de- 

 veloped largely, and in New Y"rk, with its 

 widespread facilities for distribution, aud its 

 local wants, has become an important center 

 of trade. The old traditions as to the indi- 

 gestibility of nuts has evidently lo.st its ter- 

 rors. Wholesale fruit dealers now regard this 

 stock as a steadily selling commodity, and 

 count surely upon an increased demand at 

 the winter holiday season. For peanuts, the 

 South has become famous ; and Africa, which 

 used to send whole ship cargoes of peanuts 

 here, is almost swept out of the market by 

 their cultivation in Virginia, North Carolina 

 and Tennessee. The crop for those States 

 this season was 1,110,000 bushels for Virginia, 

 550,000 bushels for Tennessee, and 120,000 

 bushels for North Carolina. The peanut is 

 well known to be of a mild nature, which 

 permits its sate the year round. It is esti- 

 mated that this city handles nearly one-half 

 of the Virginia crop. 



The pecan of Texas is increasing in favor 

 at the North, aud especially in the Eastern 

 States. A few barrels or boxes made up the 

 consignments a few years ago ; now car-loads 

 and invoices of one to two hundred barrels are 

 not uncommon. This nut is of the family of 

 hickory nuts, but has a much softer shell and 

 a richer flavor. The local crop of hickory 

 nuts, or shell-barks, is scanty this year. The 

 West, however, meets the deficiency — half a 

 dozen car-loads a week, if they .are needed. 

 Wild chestnuts are getting scarcer at the 

 North, and there is ditJiculty in obtaining 

 sound lots. They will not disappear, though, 

 for they can be successfully cultivated, and, in 

 a few years more, there will be a full supply 

 of larger and better quality that will compete 

 with the expensive Italian chestnuts. Black 

 walnuts are maiidy used by the confectioner ; 

 they and butteriuits are apt to be found too 

 rich and oily for table use. West Virginia and 

 Pennsylvania furnish the chief sui)ply. The 

 hazelnuts of of this country are too insignifi- 

 cant for commerce, especially as their noble 

 cousin, filbert, is always to be had in plentvi 

 A few samples of English hazelnuts, in their 

 outside "shuck," occasionally arrive here for 

 show. California growers promise, in a few 

 years, to make additions to the list of domes- 

 tic nuts of sorts that come from Italy or 

 Spain, and of what is known as Mediterranean 

 stock. An immense trade is doing in foreign 

 nuts. A trustworthy dealer assured The 

 World reiiorter that the demand is fully three 

 times as great as it was five years ago. 

 Almonds have always a steady sale,siuce large 

 quantities are used in fine baking. What are 

 called English walnuts come mainly from 

 France and Spain, and were formerly called 

 Maderia nuts. The English crop is used at 

 home. The best received here are the Gre- 

 noble and Marbean. Engli.sh walnuts are 

 successfully raised in the Pacific Coast States. 

 Brazil nuts never sell larsely. They are 

 peculiarly fat, and a few go a long way. For 

 cocoanuts there is a steady and large demand. 

 The process of desiccating them has widened 

 their family use. One purveyor in this city 

 buys by the hundred thousand. The season 

 for the delivery of foreign nuts here begins 



