THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January 



be able to produce sometbing of value 

 while the destruction is going on that makes 

 up, or more than makes up for the loss, and 

 in the other case not ; but the loss is precisely 

 the same in both cases. It is the production 

 that makes the gain in one case and the want 

 of it, leaves us the total loss in tlie other. 

 How about old buildings and articles of furni- 

 ture that have been in valuable use for centu- 

 ries, without any consumption going on, and 

 are as good now as when first produced ? J. 

 P. will say we can not get all the value out of 

 them, till they are entirely worn out or de- 

 stroyed. Then break them to pieces or trim 

 them up and get it, the sooner the better. 

 Among Noah "Webster's definitions of con- 

 sumption, I find— "waste, decay, destruction, 

 loss." Who can give a better one ? 



But Daniel Webster is quoted to prove that 

 an excess of imports does not necessarily prove 

 a loss. Who said it did? It is hardly necessary 

 to repeat here, what I said in my last article, 

 that we should buy all necessaries where we 

 can get them the cheapest, even though we 

 go in debt for them ; and that the more of 

 such imports we get for a given amount of ex- 

 ports the better. But because it may be bet- 

 ter for a farmer to buy many articles of con- 

 sumption than to make them at a greater ex- 

 pense of time and labor than they would cost 

 in the open market, it does not follow, that if 

 he can only sell (export) five hundred dollars 

 worth of produce annually from his farm and 

 buys (imports) and consumes one thousand 

 dollars worth of dry goods and groceries, he 

 is not going behind hand. It is very true, 

 that gold is not the only, or even the most 

 valuable thing in the world. But it is also 

 true, that gold, as money, is unconsumable 

 and will purchase, at anj' time, any article of 

 value, and therefore stands as real wealth, 

 and proves its possessor, either as an indi- 

 vidual or a nation, to have been a greater pro- 

 ducer than consumer and therefore to have 

 been growing richer instead of poorer. 



But J. P. thinks "Decoration and orna- 

 mentaton" of as great vulue as wealth, and 

 therefore the consumption of luxuries are as 

 beneficial as that of necessaries. That 

 has nothing to do witli the question. 

 We are not discussing the spiritual 

 benefit of Oscar Wilde's theory of sesthetics. 

 It is only the money value of our possessions 

 with which we have anything to do in this 

 discussion, and if lie can show that paintmgs 

 and articles of sculpture tend indirectly to 

 produce material wealth, as they may to some 

 extent, then, so far, it may be advantageous 

 to import them. But we haye nothing what- 

 ever to do with the enjoyment or the mental 

 or spiritual improvement we get from them, 

 apart from the money value they directly or 

 indirectly produce. I deny that there is any 

 material wealth, directly or indirectly pro- 

 duced from the importation and consumption 

 of foreign liquors and millions of dollars' 

 worth of other luxuries that are not produced 

 in this country and could not be consumed, 

 were they not imported. Will J. P. pretend 

 to say, t^at we buy nothing from abroad, but 

 what is either wealth producing or is made in 

 this country, and therefore would be con- 

 sumed anyhow ? As well might he say that 

 all the alcoholic liquors drank in Lancaster, 

 would be consumed all the same, if there was 



no place for their sale in the city. All our 

 political economists tell us, and I never heard 

 their assertions disputed, that it was our 

 great extravagance in buying and consuming 

 high priced luxuries from abroad in times of 

 our real or imaginary prosperity, that has 

 be. n the prime cause of nearly all our finan- 

 cial reverses. In fact nothing else could cause 

 them, except a lack of production at liome, 

 and that, J. P. thinks of little consequence, 

 as i>roduction is loss anyliow, till consumption 

 comes in to save it. He says, "our exports 

 represent consumption, the same as corn fed 

 to the hogs." Of course then, our imports 

 represent production, but consumption is 

 gain and production loss by his axiom ; and 

 yet he tells us that when our imports (pro- 

 duction, alias loss) exceed our exports (con- 

 sumption, alias gain) we are gaining in wealth 

 and prosperity. That is, when our loss ex- 

 ceeds our gains we are growing rich. Was 

 there ever such a medley of absurdities ? I 

 forbear to pursue them further. — S. P., Lin- 

 coln, Bel. , January 6, 1S83. 



For The Lancaster Farmer. 

 PERSIMMONS. 



Mr. Editor: This fruit has been discussed 

 pretty freely in your columns heretofore, but 

 I believe it will not be amiss to touch on tlie 

 subject a little more. Many have an idea that 

 a persimmon is a persimmon, all astringent and 

 unfit to eat until ripe, and that it requires 

 frost to ripen them ; and that they are about 

 alike good. 



There is just as much dift'erence in the 

 quality of this fruit as in any other, and they 

 also ditfer in size and form, as well as time of 

 ripening. Some are small and at least not fit 

 to eat. Some commence ripening here in 

 September, while others hang upon the trees 

 until February. Some are formed like an 

 acorn while others are flat. Some not larger 

 than a common hickory nut, while others are 

 two inches in diameter. The size of even the 

 larger ones is governed considerably by the 

 number on the tree. 



I have now three varieties in bearing, that 

 are large, moderately productive, and of ex- 

 cellent quality. I have also two varieties that 

 are to be seedless, but they have not yet 

 borne fruit. The one is from your city, and 

 belonged to a Mr. Kogers, if I remember cor- 

 rectly. Some of the fruit was sent to me a 

 year or two ago, but there were some that 

 had seeds, and the quality did not impress 

 me very favorably. They are small in size 

 also. 



A season like this wlien apples are very 

 abundant, it does not make so much dift'er- 

 ence, but some seasons when these fail, the 

 persimmon is quite a treat. I have some in 

 the house just now, as yellow as gold, with 

 flesh melting and almost equal to a green 

 gnge. Towards spring I may give you the 

 best mode to graft them successfully. Any 

 of your subscribers can have grafts by sending 

 stamps to prepay postage. Yours truly — 

 Samuel Miller, Bluffton, Mo. 



The President is quoted as having declared 

 long ago that he would not live to be older 

 than fifty years. He always seemed to be su- 

 perstitious about the matter. 



Essays. 



THE CODI-JNG MOTH.* 



Carporapa't poviondla. 



The literature on the " Codling Moth " is 

 voluminous and conflicting ; possiljly it may 

 be viewed from conflicting standpoints. 

 There may already be a superabundance of 

 literature, and not enough of practical obser- 

 vation, nor do I know that I shall be able to 

 throw any new light upon the subject. I 

 cannot recollect a time when there were no 

 Codling Moths — or, at least, " codling worms" 

 —or when people did not know there were. I 

 remember them away back from the period 

 when " small boys " were wont to " beg a bite" 

 of each others' apples ; and that bile, on 

 many occasions, would reveal the repulsive 

 little white, or pink colored worm. I did not 

 know, however, that these worms were trans- 

 formed to moths. I!f or did anybody else seem 

 to know anything about it, and perhaps cared 

 but little. The case of this moth is the same 

 as that of many noxious insects ; their prolifi- 

 cation and development is facilitated by the 

 improvement of their plant, and fruit-food. 

 Would I discourage tlie cultivation and the 

 improvement of fruit-.rees? Not at all; 

 keep on increasing the quantity and quality, 

 until there is sutfieient to satisfy the demands 

 of the human family, and the Codding Moths 

 too, as it was in the "long, long ago." A 

 great difficulty in the way of studying the 

 habits of the Codding Moth is the irregidarity 

 of its periods, and its operations within the 

 fruit, the greater part of which is beyond the 

 range of minute observation. It may once 

 have had its regular periods, when its broods 

 were well defined, but these periods have been 

 broken, and the insect lias become demoral- 

 ized through human progress and improved 

 cultivation. I have found the worm, or larva 

 of the moth in midsummer, in mid-winter, in 

 the spring and in the autumn. This is not 

 the case with those insects that infest the 

 grape, the peach, and the plum, which only 

 obtain for a short and regular season. Old 

 crops of apples may be kept until the new 

 crops are ready for market, and this facilitates 

 the multiplication and development of the 

 Moth. I feel confident that if we hadn't a 

 Codling Moth in Lancaster county to-day, we 

 soon would have them imported from else- 

 where—judging from the great quantity of 

 apples brought into the county annually from 

 other States and neighborhoods. I have 

 placed the worms, with portions of apples, in' 

 a tight box from which they could not escape, 

 and in due time they left tlie apple, and spun 

 themselves in flat cocoons around the edge of 

 the bottom, in a white paper box almost invis- 

 ible. Can it be doubted that they would do 

 the same thing, confined in boxes and barrels 

 for transportation ? 



Notwithstanding the "conflict" of views 

 there is among practical entomologists no dit 

 ficulty in relation to the general history of the 

 insect, allowing for climatic modifications and 

 local contingencies. 



The "Apple Worm " or "Codling Moth " 

 (Varpocapsa promonclla) is not a native of the 

 United States, nor yet of the American Con 



*Read before the State Horticultural .Society at Har- 

 risburg, January ISlli, 1883, by Dr. S. S. Rathvon. 



