18 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[February, 



"BALANCE OF TRADE." 



The discussions of tlii.s question by our es- 

 teemed correspondents, "J. P." and " S. P.," 

 which have for some months appeared in the 

 columns of TiiErARMEB. have perhaps been 

 sufticiently prolonged, and, therefore, without 

 the least shadow of disrespect to either of the 

 parties, we would suggest that they be brought 

 to a close. Enough may have been advanced 

 for the digestion of our readers, on this sub- 

 ject, for months to come if they are in the 

 habit of thinking at all, and that our corre- 

 spondents are not able to see alike on it, is not 

 at all surprising, since some of the greatest 

 minds in our country have been exercised 

 upon it and kindred topics, from the very 

 foundation of the government, without coming 

 to a unanimous conclusion. 



SuBSCiBE for the Farmer 

 annum. 



Only II per 



basket, or a tray around each plant, only 

 needing to be detached from the ground, and 

 carried oft" fresh to market just as "cream 

 nuts " are bro^-ght in natural receptacles from 

 Southern chmes. Neither have we any per- 

 sonal interest in the berry, nor is this intended 

 as an advertisement of it. But when any- 

 thing new and valuable is discovered in the 

 realm of fruit, we desire to have some idea of 

 its form and appearance in addition to other 

 information, and also to communicate it to 

 others, and for this reason we will cheerfully 

 insert in the Farmer appropriate illustra- 

 tions of fruit, flowers, and stock, if sent to us 

 with the freight prepaid. "We cannot afford 

 to pay freight on articles in which we have no 

 personal or pecuniary interest ; and we would 

 also suggest here that there is a wide distinc- 

 tion between a request and a mere inquiry. 

 Two hundred and eighty strawberries on one 

 plant, and two bushels from a row 100 feet 



SNOW FLEAS. 



The snow, in the neighborhood of What 

 Glen, near Lancaster city, was covi'red on 

 the ISth of January with countless millions of 

 "•snow fleas" {Podura nhvcola), small, black, 

 wingless insects, about the size of a grain of 

 common gunpowder. Of course, being with- 

 out wings, they have not tlie power of flight, 

 but this is compensated by their leaping pow- 

 ers. Mr. Wm. Roehm, the host of the 

 "North Pole" restaurant,- brought me about 

 one thousand of them, which I immersed in 

 alcohol for preservation. Mr. R. informs me 

 that they were so numerous that he verily 

 believes he might have gatliered a quart of 

 them without going very far. They seemed 

 to be most numerous under the cedar 

 trees. He was surprised to witness their 

 leaping powers, which they freely exercised, 

 notwithstandmg the ground was covered with 

 snow. This leaping is not eflfected by the use 



THE JAMES VICK STRAWBERRY. 



Sufficient has been said about tlie character 

 and quality of this proHfic berry on pp. 9 and 

 10 of our January number, for IS'^iS, but as 

 our journal went to press before the cut ar- 

 rived, we were deprived of the opportunity of 

 using it in that issue. As a pictorial illus- 

 tration of any object conveys a better general 

 idea of the thing illustrated than the most 

 elaborately written literary description, we 

 have thought it not inappropriate to insert the 

 cut in the present number. Whether the pic- 

 ture is overdone or underdone, we have not 

 the means of knowing from personal experi- 

 ence, but from the antecedents of those 

 concerned in its origin and introduction, we 

 are quite willing to take it upon trust. A 

 facetious friend at our elbow suggests that 

 there is only one thing yet needed to stamp it 

 with perfection, and that is to grow a box, a 



long are certainly results that go very far 

 towards establishing its character as a pro- 

 lific bearer, and this is claimed as a usual crop 

 of the James Vick. It is, however, possible, 

 that many people would never realize such a 

 result, mainly because, having what they term 

 a "good thing," they would be apt to let it 

 take care of itself. The improvement of the 

 strawberry, or any other fruit is an aggressive 

 labor, and cannot be " severely let alone," if 

 men expect to get a crop. It is hardly neces- 

 sary to admonish the reader that the figure 4 

 at tlie beginning of the last line but one, in 

 the article on the "Vick Strawberry," in the 

 January number of the i^nrmcr, should have 

 been a dollar mark thus $, making it $-2 per 

 dozen,- instead of 42. 



^ 



Every new subscriber to The Farmer 

 for 1883 will receive, in addition, a copy of 

 the "Art of Propagation, a Hand-book for 

 Nurserymen, etc." This is deemed an excel- 

 lent work and sold readily at 50 cents p'er copy 



of the feet, but by a caudal appendage which 

 turns over on the underside of the abdomen, 

 and by suddenly throwing this appendage 

 backward a leap is produced and from this 

 characteristic the family to which they belong 

 are called Poduridw, or "springtails." Some 

 of the species are nearly half an inch in 

 length, but they are less numerous than tlie 

 nivicola. and are not found on the snow. 



The scales that cover these little animals 

 form very popular objects for the microscopist 

 —at least, this is the case in England. The 

 whole family are usually found under cover, 

 in places that are moderately moist and shel- 

 tered. They, and allied families, form the 

 order Aptera or Aphaniptem, based upon the 

 absence of wings. Not much is known about 

 their transformation and their procreative 

 habits, but it is pretty well known that 

 they are very destructive to early garden 



