28 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[Februaryi 



usurped Vjy the worthless our — in the heart 

 and by the fireside of the farmer. 



It is perhaps needless to say that Forest and 

 Stream will willingly lend its aid for the fur- 

 tlierance of the objects of such an association 

 believing that much of "Ood may be accora- 

 plislied by bringing more prominently to pub- 

 lic notice the many good qualities of the gal- 

 lant collie. 



Mr. Hugh Dalziel, in his " British Dogs," 

 says : " There is no dog that excels the 

 collie in good looks, high intelligence, and un- 

 swervable loyalty to his master ; and to the.se 

 qualities does he owe his high position as a 

 general favorite with the public, while his 

 many practical excellencies render him indis- 

 pensable to the shepherd." Idstone, in his 

 admirable work on the dog, says of him : 

 " To my mind he is one of the most perfect 

 animals extant." Stonehedge also speaks 

 veay highly of their intelligence. " Only 

 those," he says, " who have seen one or more 

 of the public .sheep dog trials, or have pri- 

 vately seen these animals at their usual work, 

 can realize the amount of intelligence dis- 

 played by them." 



Innumerable anecdotes of their wonderful 

 sagacity and intelligence have from time to 

 time appeared in print, and, although many 

 of these talcs are almost incredible, we have 

 invariably found that none were so ready to 

 avow their belief in their truthfulness as those 

 who know the collie best. As the assistant 

 of the .shepherd and herder he stands without 

 a rival. As the servant of the farmer, a pro- 

 tector of his property, and a companion for 

 his children, he is the peer of any of his kind. 

 As a retriever for the sportsman we believe 

 him to be singularly well adapted. As the 

 pet of the parlor, his great beauty and affec- 

 tionate disposition, combined with his almost 

 human intelligence, eminently qualify him 

 for the place. In the British Islands the 

 collie has long been . an especial favorite 

 among nearly all classes, and we are pleased 

 to notice that within the past few years he 

 has rapidly gained in public favor in this coun- 

 try. We trust that the day is not far distant 

 that will see him installed in his proper place 

 among the first of canine favorites throughout 

 the land. — Forest and Stream. 



A TAME WOOCHUCK, 



A correspondaut of Our Dumb Animals, 

 writing from Johnsburg, N. Y., says : 



"At the house of a friend, in Lawrence 

 county, we lately saw a curious household pet 

 — a tame woodchuck named Charley. He 

 was found, alone in the highway, in the sum- 

 mer of li^7::i, and was then scarcely larger than 

 an ordinary mouse. 



"He soon became accustomed to his new 

 home, and allowed the members of the family 

 to handle and caress him, and was quite play- 

 ful and domesticated. For a time he took up 

 lodgings in the barn, but subsequently made 

 himself a house in the woodshed, which he 

 furnished with bits of paper, straw and other 

 light material. Being domestic ited so young, 

 he never learned to obtain his own food, or 

 seemed to realize that it could be obtained in 

 the garden or the fields, but depended entirely 

 upon what was provided for him at the house, 

 which he visited many times a day. 



"He is very fond of milk, sugar, cake or 



pie, but his favorite dish is boiled potatoes, or 

 green cucumbers, and he does not care to eat 

 bread. 



"Whenever he is hungry, he runs to the 

 house, chattering as he goes, and if he fails 

 to find his food in its accustomed place, he 

 ' begs ' of the lady of the house, by sitting up 

 on his hind legs like a squirrel, and making a 

 peculiar, chattering noise. If not attended 

 to at once, he takes hold of her dress and en- 

 deavors to pull her toward the larder, where 

 his food is usually kept. 



" He retires each evening aboiit sunset, 

 always taking care, however, not to go to bed 

 without his supper. In the latter part of 

 September, 1.S73, Charley was missing, having 

 left the house as usual the previous evening, 

 and was not seen again until the earlj' part of 

 the following April ! When he returned, he 

 came directly to the house, chattering as 

 usual, and seemed quite familiar with the 

 household and family, and very soon told the 

 latter in plain terms that he wanted his 

 breakfast. He ate very sparingly for several 

 days, although very thin when he returned 

 from his winter's nap. Previous to leaving 

 in the fall, he became very dull and sleepy, 

 and at last, being entirely overcome by the 

 disposition to sleep, he sought his winter- 

 quarters, which were afterwards found under 

 the hay-niow, in the barn." 



The lumber cut in the Sierras will this 

 season reach 46,000,000, and of this probably 

 40,000,000 feet sold for about $12 a thousand, 

 footing up about $.500,000, and the rest sold 

 as clear lumber for about if35, making over 

 .S200,000 more— over $700,000 earnings for 

 the nine mills that run, some of them only 

 part of the time. 



Our Local Organizations. 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The rfgular meetinir of the Aj?ricuUural and 

 Horticultural Society was held on Monday, Feb. .5th, 

 the followiue members being present : .J. C. Linville, 

 Gap ; Casper Fliller, Conestoga ; .Joseph F. Witmer, 

 Paradise; Calvin Cooper, Bird in Hand ; W. H. 

 Brosius, Drumore ; Peter 8- Reist, Lititz; W. W. 

 Griest, city; F. R. DifTeuderffer, city; C. A. Gast, 

 city ; J. M. Johnston, city ; James Collins, Colerain; 

 John H. Landis, Manor; Levi S. Reist, Manheim ; 

 Ahram Brubalier, Drumore ; G. Oram Phillips, Dru 

 more ; Christ Keeports, Lancaster township ; Em'l 

 Resh, Bird-iu-Hand ; Johnson Miller, Lititz; M. D. 

 Keudig, Creswell ; H. M. Engle, Marietta. 



In the absence of the President, Calvin Cooper 

 was, on motion, elected President pro tem. 



On motion, the reading of the minutes of previous 

 meeting was dispensed with. 



Simon B. Cameron, of Donegal, was elected a 

 member of the society. 



Reports of the Commttees. 



Johnson Miller, who was one of the committee ap 

 pointed to the Washmgton Convention, reported 

 that he visited the convention and had been admitted 

 to a seat in that body. The United States Agricul- 

 tural Society was reorganized at the convention, and 

 it is proposed to hold a great national fair during 

 the coming summer in one of the Western States. 

 The Condition of Crops. 



Mr. Witmer, of Paradise, said the crops were all 

 under snow at present, and but little is known of the 

 prospects. Tobacco stripping is going on vigorously, 

 but he had not heard of any sales being made. 



Johnson Miller said the crops lool<ed pretty well, 

 eo far as he was able to Judge. 



Mr. Linville said the wheat looked rather poor, 

 and some of it was reported to have been injured by 

 the ice. It has been a good winter for feeding 

 eattle. Some tobacco has been sold in his neighbor- 

 hood . 



Lecture Postponed. 



Mr. Linville reported that he had corresponded 

 with John I. Carter, in reference to a lecture on 

 Creameries, and received a promise from the gentle- 

 man that he would lecture at this meeting, but since 

 that time he had not heard from him, and the gen- 

 tleman would probably not be present. 

 Cattle Feeding. 



"At the present prices of corn and bran, what 

 constitutes a profitable ration for beef cattle?" 

 This question was opened by Mr. Witmer, who said 

 f it was the intention to feed only corn and bran, he 

 would abvise feeding two-thirds corn and one-third 

 bran. He would give bis cattle all they would eat. 

 Some persons claim to be able to fatten faster on oil 

 cake or cotton seed meal, but be did not know what 

 a proper ration would be. 



Mr. Cooper said the ration fed would vary accord- 

 ing to the weather, more being fed in cold than in 

 warm weather. 



Mr. Linville said in feeding cattle we must look to 

 the animal and also to the manure heap, and we can 

 increase the value of the latter and at the same time 

 fatten our cattle fast by feeding either corn and bran 

 or oil cake. 



Casper Hiller was no feeder, but drew the atten 

 tion of the society to the value of the different kinds 

 of feed on the manure pile. Cotton seed cake is 

 worth on the manure pile $24 per ton ; bran 514 and 

 corn S(5. If this is so, it will be to our advantage to 

 feed cotton seed cake. We should devote more 

 attention to this matter. 



Peter S. Reist favored feeding to cattle of all kinds 

 as much as they would eat. He believed corn was as 

 good and as cheap to feed to cattle, provided their 

 systems are in good condition. 



M. D. Keudig, one of the delegates to Washington, 

 read a written report of his visit, after which the 

 report was received and the committee discharged. 



On motion of Mr. Witmer the traveling expenses 

 of Messrs. Johnson and Kendig to and from Wash- 

 ngton were ordered to be paid. 



Should Creameries be Established in This 

 County ? 



Joseph F. Witmer answered this question by say- 

 ing that in a county where there is so much grain 

 grown i-nd so many cattle fed as in Lancaster co., 

 creameries should be profitable. Among tobacco 

 growers, the great object appears to make as much 

 manure as possible ; and they buy cattle to feed 

 during the winter. He thought it would be just as 

 profitable to the farmers to buy cows and sell their 

 milk to the creameries. One objection to this is th« 

 scarcity of pasture land, without which cows will 

 not thrive; but he' did not know why more time 

 should not he devoted to the matter and cows re- 

 tained over the summer. If this were done, he was 

 of the opinion that the plan would prove profitable. 



Mr. Cooper said there was a creamery close to his 

 place, and in a conversation with a farmer he learned 

 that it paid better to sell his milk to the creamery 

 than to make it into butter. Persons who patronize 

 the creamery can easily test the qualities of various 

 kinds of feed, as the product is weighed every 

 morning. 



Mr. Miller did not think creameries would pay In 

 sections of the country where land was worth ?200 

 per acre ; but where land was not worth much for 

 crops it would be put into pasture, and here cream- 

 eries would prove profitable. 



The question was discussed at some length by other 

 members of the society, the general impression ap- 

 pearing to be that creameries would pay in almost 

 any section of the county. 



J. Williams Thorne, of North Carolina, spoke in 

 favor of creameries, and said he was glad to see that 

 efforts were being made to establish them in all 

 parts of the country, as they would no doubt prov« 

 beneficial. In regard to feed for cattle, he knew 



