44 



THE LANCASTER FARMER- 



[March, 



C. A. Heinitsh donated one of Rogers' 6and boxes, 

 imported in 17'JO. 



Donations to the Library. 



Three additional volumes of the Second Geological 

 Survey of ttje State of Pennsylvania, from W. A. In- 

 gram, secretary of Board; the Lancaster Farmer for 

 February, 18S3; the Boston Daily Advertiser, a 20- 

 page folio, its 70th anniveasary number, and gives a 

 history of its career during that period; proceedings 

 of American Philosophical Society, from June to 

 December, 1S83; an essay on " Demoralizing Litera- 

 ture and Art ;"' illustrations of rare coins ; three 

 catalogues and three circulars ; one envelope con- 

 taining thirteen historical and biographical scraps. 



Reports from the consuls of the United States on 

 the commerce, etc., of the Consular Districts. A 

 partial report of committee appointed to collate the 

 amendments to the constitution and by-laws, was 

 handed in and the committee continued to the next 

 meeting. Dr. Rathvon reported that his arrange- 

 ments in regard to keys were not yet perfected. 

 The President then appointed the following chair- 

 men of the respective committees : 



Mammology — Dr. M. L. Davis. 



Ornithology— Wm. L. Gill. 



Herpetology— W. S. Bolton. 



Ichthyology— C. A. Heinitsh. 



Entomology — S. S. Rathvon. 



Botany-Mrs. L. D. Zell. 



Geology— Prof. J. S. Stahr. 



Paleontology— Dr. T. R. Baker. 



Microscopy— Dr. H. L. Knight. 



Mineralogy— J. B. Kevinski. 



Archteology— Prof. J. H. Dubbs. 



Natural and Historical Miscellany— Mrs. P. E. 

 Gibbons. 



After some remaiks by the President, the society 

 adjourned to meet on Saturday, March 31st, at 2 P. 

 M., in Museum Room. 



AGRICULTURE. 



Treatment of Heavy Soil. 



If the Indiana inquirer's clay land has become 

 " exhausted," I think it is the result of shallow 

 plouo-hing, for no soil will endure for wheat like a 

 strong clay, under proper treatment. A good sum. 

 mer fallow is what his land first needs, and it should 

 be a thorough work. Let the plough down not less 

 than nine inches ; plough in June before the soil be- 

 comes too dry, but not %vhen so wet as to be adhe- 

 sive. Very soon after ploughing it should be har- 

 rowed, so as to fine the surface ; then rolled, and if 

 at all lumpy, harrow and roll until it is fine. Then, 

 within three or four weeks go over the field with a 

 gang-plough, turning the surface about four inches 

 deep, after which harrow again, and if yet coarse, 

 use the roller once more, and afterward, at regular 

 intervals, repeat the work with gang-plough and 

 harrow two or three times over, and if necessary to 

 make the land perfectly fine and mellow to the depth 

 of about four inches use the pulverizing harrow 

 oftener, until the surface is perfectly fine tor a seed- 

 bed. Keep the soil under frequent cultivation up to 

 seedtime, but do not plough a second time or work 

 it deeper than four inches. Drill I'.j bushels of 

 clean seed with 200 pounds superphosphate of good 

 quality per acre between September 10 and 1.5. 

 Lands treated in this way when thought to be ex- 

 hausted have not failed to be renewed and produce 

 large crops. 



I have clay land on my farm that has been under 

 cultivation over fifty years, without any barnyard 

 manure applied, that produced last season thirty 

 bushels or more of wheat per acre. There is fer- 

 tility in our heavy soils, beyond our conception, 

 which is only developed by disintegration and fine 

 pulverization. It is quite common for farmers to 

 say, .when a crop lails to be abundant, that the land 

 is exhausted, when really it is only their method of 

 cultivation that is at fault. When land is. new, or 

 when kept rich with barnyard manure, it readily 

 yields to the plough and harrow, and becomes fine 



and mellow, an indispensable condition to' plant 

 growth; but after years of slight cultivation it be- 

 comes tenacious and coarse, but when by thorough 

 working it is made equally fine and mellow there 

 is no lack of plant food to produce abundant crops. 

 Thorough and deep cultivation of heavy clay soils, 

 with proper drainage, will render them almost inex- 

 haustible. As to green manuring, I have never, in 

 long experience, known a good crop of clover grown 

 that did not greatly benefit a following wheat crop, 

 whether ploughed in or taken off the land, but have 

 seen other vegetable growth ploughed under show- 

 ing a decided injury to following crops, by its leav- 

 ing the soil so light and loose as lo cause heaving 

 by the action of frost to the destruction of the wheat 

 plant.- i*'. r. Root, Monroe county, N. Y. 



the bank, the material will soon become dry, and 

 will he improving under the action of the frosts and 

 the atmosphere all through the winter. Six inches 

 ol' dry peat covered with leaves or litter of any kind, 

 makes excellent bedding in a stall, and when mixed 

 with the urine and dumping of the cattle produces a 

 valuable fertilizer. The success of a farmer is gen- 

 erally measured by the length, breadth and height 

 of his compost heaps. Study the arithmetic of your 

 muck and peat beds, and work out the salvation of 

 your soil. — American Agriculturist. 



How to Mulch. 



Mulch is profitably applied to fruit trees, both 

 summer and winter. Mulch peach trees in winter 

 with coarse manure close around the trunks, then as 

 soon as the bui'.s swell and blossoms appear; but be- 

 fore the peach moth deposits its eggs. It should be 

 " tied " to the tree by throwing a furrow toward the 

 tree on two opposite sides; or, by shoveling the sur- 

 face soil, so that the mulch embraces the stem a foot 

 above the level of the ground. The peach moth, 

 finding its way to the soft bark below the surface of 

 the earth bared by the mulch, deposits its eggs in 

 the manure — where they either fall a prey to birds, 

 or, the grubs are unable to penetrate the hard bark, 

 and suffer the consequences of misplaced confidence 

 in barking up the wrong tree. The peach tree is 

 subject to many disorders, but it need not "have 

 worms.' Plenty of manure keeps the tree vigorous 

 and thrifty and in proportion as a tree is vigorous, it, 

 like an animal, baa a higher temperature than the 

 air in winter; but when weak for insufficient nutri- 

 tion it has less ability to resist eold — and not only 

 the germ in the bud, but the whole fruit spur is fre- 

 quently destroyed. — Quincy, Illinois, Agrieullurist. 



Effect of Cultivation. 

 The common potato probably shows the effect of 

 cultivation as much as any plant ever introduced 

 into our fields or gardens. But it is not generally 

 known that the change from its normal to what we 

 may term improved state is quite rapid, requiring 

 only a very few years to produce large tubers of 

 various colors from the wild ones by careful culture. 

 Where the wild plants grow abundantly in New 

 Mexico and some parts of Arizona, the ranch men 

 assure us that when they plow up the wild plants in 

 putting in cultivated crops, the effect upon the 

 potatoes is quite marked. The tubers at first are 

 about the size of small marbles, or a half inch or a 

 a little more in diameter, but the second season after 

 being disturbed they will become nearly or quite 

 double the original size, and the next season slill 

 larger, if not killed out in plowing and hoeing. The 

 size of the plants also increases, and the leaflets, 

 which at first are only about a half an inch wide by 

 an inch in length, increase in the same proportion as 

 the tubers. We have ourselves gathered the tubers 

 from the wild plants in the undisturbed soils of the 

 valleys of New Mexico, as well as from the disturbed 

 or plowed land, and noted the difference in size as 

 claimed by many of the residents of the country. — 

 N. Y. Sun. 



The Muck and Peat Supply. 

 With many farmers peat or muck is the cheapest 

 and best addition they can make to home-made 

 manures. We have tried these for many years, even 

 within a short distance of the tide water and the 

 wrack of the seashore, and found them always a 

 paying investment. The fall when the^swamp or 

 peat bog is comparatively dry, is usually the best 

 season to get out a year's supply. Dig it In broad 

 trenches, six or eight feet wide, and go down at least 

 six feet if there is that depth of muck. In this way 

 you can work with little trouble from the water 

 below the water level in the bog. Thrown out upon 



Increased Culture. 



Intelligent men are beginning to see the folly of 

 increasine- the size of the farm at the expense of its 

 culture. A few see what multitudes could not be 

 brought to realize, that it is better to raise .500 

 bushels of wheat on ten acres rather than on fifty. 

 The latter is the practice by the majority of farmers 

 in some whole districts, especially where the land is 

 let to tenants. It is one of the blessings connected 

 with the high price of labor that it forces the farmer 

 to economize the time of his men and means by cut 

 tine short the number of acres plowed, harrowed 

 and harvested, and increasing the fertility of the 

 fewer acres gone over. One man and one team may 

 thus be made to answer when ten acres are put into 

 wheat, where four men and four teams would be 

 necessary to put in fifty acres. By sowing clover on 

 a heavily manured field the product is enormous. 

 The aftermath turned under, and the surface har- 

 rowed and rolled and rolled and harrowed, and well 

 coated with manure, will insure a heavy crop of 

 wheat. Seed again with clover and turn under after 

 cutting one crop of clover, and manure again and 

 sow to wheat. Large jieldswill be certain and sure 

 to increase from year to year, until fifty bushels will 

 be as common to the acre as five are now. A man 

 can afford, perhaps, to thus bring up ten, if not ten 

 five, two or one acre, but when fifty acres are to be 

 thus treated, he is either a bold, wealthy or enter, 

 prising man who will dare attempt it.— Practical 

 Fanner. 



The Methods of Farming. 

 With the wonderful improvement that is going on 

 in all departments of human labor it is safe to infer 

 that progress in agriculture will keep pace with that 

 made in others. There is need of active brains, as 

 well as of hands, in the attainment of so desirable 

 a result. By taking advantage of new methods, as 

 published in our agricultural papers and books, we 

 can appropriate the thoughts of others, and by the 

 practical application of them, reap the resulting 

 benefits. Novelty is as necessary in farm life, in 

 order to render it attractive, as it is in other pur- 

 suits. Profit and attactiveness can be made insepa-i 

 rable. In nearly doubling the yield per acre, and by: 

 adorning and beautifying the home, we not only! 

 make farm life more profitable and attractive, but 

 success in these directions makes the future appear] 

 brighter, the hearts of every member of the house- 

 hold lighter, and the resulting effect is a benefit to] 

 the family, the neighborhood, the State and nation 

 — Bural Record. 



I 



Tile Draining. 



Do not forget that swales, swamps and any w© 

 land with hard pan near the surface, pays verjj 

 small interest, if any, in their present condition, 

 drained three feet deep with tile, they will pay a vei^ 

 large interest on the original cost, and on the drain- 

 age besides. It is not unusual to get back the cost 

 of drainage in tivo crops after the tiles are laid. 

 Where tiles can be had near, or at acostfor freight 

 not exceeding their price at the kiln, it is cheaper 

 to drain with tile than with stone. If tiles are not 

 available and stones are upon the ground, use these. 

 Draining will open a new world to the farmer who 

 has never tried it. Put down the "crockery" this 

 fall, and make your capital in land draw a good 

 interest. 



