60 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[April, 



their green state, weighed at the rate of 

 thirteen tons per acre. The quality of the 

 manurial value of clover roots is quite as 

 remarkable as its quantity. They are rich in 

 nitrogen, in lime, potash ar.d phosphates. It 

 is, this which makes a clover sward, when 

 plowed finder, the best possible preparation 

 for wheat. In its decay clover furnishes all 

 that the grain crop requires, and it supplies 

 such plant food in more available form, and 

 more evenly distributed through the soil, than 

 the same amount of material could be placed 

 by any other method. With the most careful 

 top dressing much of the soil will commonly 

 fail to he placed in contact with the manure, 

 and hence fail to realize any immediate ben- 

 efit therefrom. On the other hand, clover 

 growth plowed under enriches every particle 

 of soil with which either leaf or plant has 

 come into contact. 



Clover as a Shade. 



There is probably no other plant in the 

 world of such value to the farmer for shading 

 the soil. It affords the most perfect protec- 

 tion to the .soil during the fierce, dry heat of 

 the summer. Being a constantly deciduous 

 plant, its leaves are perpetually falling and 

 soon form a delicate covering for shade, and 

 easily penetrated at all points by the air, 

 which is the greatest carrier to the wornout 

 soil of those atmospheric elements that are to 

 enrich it. In this way the clover plant not 

 only contributes directly to the fertilizing of 

 the soil by giving its own substance to it, but 

 it furnishes a protective covering to the entire 

 ground, which encourages and stimulates 

 those chemical processes by which the hungry 

 and exhausted soil is recuperated from the 

 vast supplies of nutriment that are held in the 

 atmosphere. It becomes to the farmer the 

 most valuable fertilizer, as it imparts fertility 

 to the entire aoi].~ American Scientist. 



Our Local Organizations. 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The regular monthly meeting of the Lancaster 

 Agricultural and Horticultural Society was held 

 on Monday, April 9. The following members and 

 visitors were present : JohnH. Landis, Manor; F. 

 F. Diffenderfer, city; C. L. Huusecker, Manheim; C. 

 A. Gast, city; Johnson Miller, Warwick; Peter S. 

 Reist, Manheim; J. M. Johnson, city; J. C. Linville, 

 Salisbury; H. G. Kesh, Willo Street; S. P. Eliy.Esti., 

 city; Levi S. Reist, Oregon; E. S. Hoover, Manheim; 

 H.R. Fulton, city. 



Mr. H. G. Resh, who had been elected president of 

 the society, read his inaugural address. The address 

 was an excellent one, and will appear in full on page 

 SJoftbis number of TuE Farmer. 



On motion the reading of the minutes of the pre- 

 vious meeting was dispensed with . 

 Crop Reports. 

 Mr. Miller said the whe.it croj) iu Warwick was 

 very good. Grass is belter set than it has been for a 

 number of years. Not much showing for new crops 

 has yet been done. The winter, he thought, was 

 favorable for fruit. 



Mr. Reist,' also of Warwick, said the Hessian fly 

 was destroying some of the wheat wliicli was sown 

 iu September. He knew of several fields which were 

 totally destroyed by the fly last fall. 



Mr. Resh said that the remarks of Mr. Reist in 

 reference to the fly would be applicable to almost the 

 entire section of the county. 

 Mr. Linville reported for Salisbury.that the wheat 



was very uneven, some of it being excellent, while 

 some was very badly injured by the fly. They 

 had a better set of grass than they have had for four 

 years. The spring is backward and not much plow- 

 ing has been done. Some varieties of peaches had 

 been killed in his orchard, but he thought there would 

 still be a very good crop. iNIost of the farmers have 

 disposed of their cattle, at prices that paid them very 

 well for their winter feeding. 



Short Papers. 

 Mr. C. L. Hunsecker read a paper on the subject of 

 garlic— an obnoxious plant which, while not at 

 present as con.monly found as it was some years ago, 

 is still prevalent to a large degree on many lands. 

 This pest can be eradicated by a judicious cultivatiou 

 of the soil. 



Ho also read a paper eutitled "Saws and Saw- 

 mills," in which he described the rise, progress and 

 perfection of sawmills, and spoke of the vast saving 

 in labor over the old' method of reducing timber by 

 means of hand saws. 



Early Pasturing for Cattle. 

 The question "Is it feasible to turn cows on early 

 pasture and subsequently be compelled to feed dry 

 rations ?" was spoken on by Mr. Hoover, who said 

 that it appeared to him that a middle ground niiglit 

 be taken. Cows should not be turned out too early. 

 Early pasturing has its good results, one of which 

 was that early grasses oftentimes takes the place of 

 medicine. Cows, after being housed for a consider- 

 able time, need something to purify their blood, and 

 this can be accomplished by early pasturing. He 

 would put them in the pasture field for an hour or 

 two each day. Where pastures will not hold out, 

 farmers should provide themselves with roots, in 

 order to make up for the deficiency. In case he 

 could not continue his cattle in pasture, he would 

 delay putting them there until he could keep them 

 there. 



Mr. Linville thought it would be a good plan to 

 plant a small spot with rye, which might be fed to 

 the cattle in the stable very early in the season . 



H. R. Fulton, Esq., was elected to membership in 

 the society. 



Specimens Exhibited. 

 Dr. S. S. Rathvon exhibited a peach branch, almost 

 entirely covered with what is known as the "peach 

 scab loose," a pest which it is hard to get rid of. He 

 recommended cutting otf the limb, or even cutting 

 down the tree. 



The same gentleman also presented specimens of 

 black hellebore or Christmas rose, a plant which be- 

 gins to bloom in the open air about Christmas time, 

 and continues to bloom until the middle of April, and 

 sometimes later. 

 Adjourned. 



POULTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The Old Society Disbands and a New One 

 is Organized— Officers Elected. 



The Lancaster County Poultry Association met 

 statedly in the otBce of J. B. Lichty, Monday morn 

 ing, April 9. The following persons were present : 

 Chas. E. Long, J. B. Long, J. B. Lichty, H. A. 

 Schroyer, Chas. Lippold, F. R. Diffenderfer, J. M. 

 Johnston, J. E. Sebum, C. A. Gast, Wm Schoenber- 

 ger, W. H. Powden and P. S. Goodman, city; G. A. 

 Geyer, Florin; S. G. Engle, Marietta; J. Seldom- 

 ridge, Ephrata; Peter Brunner, Mount Joy; M. L. 

 Greider, Mount Joy; J. A. Stober, Schoeneek. 



The minutes of the previous meeting were read 

 and approved. 



Mr. Lichty, of the committee on constitution and 

 by-laws of the proposed new, incorporated society, 

 presented a constitution, which, after a few alter- 

 ations, was adopted. 



The constitution provides for the incorporation of 

 the society, with stock to the amouut of ?500, with 

 power to increase the same to |1,000, the par value 

 of each share to be $5. It also provides for oliicers, 

 who shall be elected at the meeting in April in 



each year, one month's notice of such election to be 

 given to each member of the association. 



A resolution was then offered and adopted, dis- 

 banding the old society, transferring to the new asfO- 

 ciation all the property and debts and premiums due, 

 and agreeing to pay premiums due by shares of stock 

 in the new society. 



An electionof oliicers of the new society was then 

 held, which resulted as follows : 



President — J. A. Stober. 



Vice Presidents— M. L. Greider and Charles E. 

 Long. 



Corresponding Secretary — J. B. Long. 



Recording Secretarj' — J. B. Lichty. 



Treasurer— John E. Schum. 



Board oi Drectors— Johu Seldomridge,S. G. Engle,' 

 F. Frank Evans, H. A. Schroyer, and H. S. Garber. 



On motion the Secretary was instructed to make] 

 the necessary puljlication of the intention of thel 

 society to apply for a charter. 



A resolution was also adopted providing for thel 

 payment of stock subscriptions on or before the next 1 

 meeting. 



Theso-iety adjourned to meet on the first Monday 



in May, at 10:30 o'clock, A. M. 



^ 



THE FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 

 The Fulton Farnieis' Club met at the residence ofj 

 Joseph P. Griest on Saturday last, nearly all the' 

 members being present. Thomas Stubbs and wife, 

 Joseph C. Stubbs and daughters, Isacc Bradlay, and, 

 several others were present as visitors. 



Asking and Answering Questions. 

 Joseph P. Griest asked what he should do with a 

 large grapevine that had grown on a tree that had 

 blown down. E. H. Haines said hang the vine on 

 the fence for the present and uext spring trim and 

 hang on a trellis. 



Joseph C. Stubbs asked what is the best remedyi 

 for distemper amongst dogs., E. H. Haines said he 

 would hang him to a tree. One member suggested 

 a bullet. 



Malissa Gregg asked what would prevent tiys from 

 eating cabbage iilants. Grace King uses soot on 

 them in the morning; Mont. Brown sprinkles sulphur 

 on them when the dew is on; Esther Haines plants 

 lettuce amongst her cabbage plants as a preventive 



Esther Haines asked how many pounds of soap fat ^ 

 are required to 20 gallons of good lye in making soft 

 soap. Grace King said she does not measure or 

 weigh, I'Ut puts as much fat in as the lye will take 

 up. The balance comes to the top and is skimmed 

 off. Several other ladies make their soap in cmuh 

 the same manner, did not weigh or measure but simply 

 guess the proportions. VVm. Kiug asserted that 

 there was not a woman in the room who knew how to 

 make soap, that it was guess work from beginning toi 

 end, and that they could not explain the mysteriei 

 and chemical changes connected with the making oi 

 soap. 



Wm. King askeil if oats ground with corn would' 

 make good feed for milch cows. E. H. Haines- 

 Yes, good feed for any kind of stock. Thos. Stubbs 

 claimed that oats was not good to feed to milch cows, 

 stating that he has known it (by experiment) to 

 lessen the flow of milk to some extent, and wheat 

 bran to increase it. He would use bran always. Wm. 

 King luad been using bran in his dairy but substitured 

 oats instead, and churned six pounds of butter less^ 

 the first week. He attributed the loss to the oats, 

 Nearly all the club preferred bran to oats, for cows, 

 but thought an occasional change of feed beneficial. 

 Mont. Brown asked if deep or shallow plowing for 

 corn was the best. E. H. Haines claimed that shal- 

 low plowing is necessary in this neighborhood as our 

 soil is not deep. Solomon Gregg favors shallow 

 plowing. He plows from four to five inches deep for 

 corn, but deeper for wheat. He eousiders seven to 

 eight inches deep plowing. Thomas Stubbs's 

 early experience was with deep plowing, and he 

 raised good crops of corn. He does not plow so deep 

 now, but thinks he plows deeper than his neighbors. 

 Lindley King said if the sod is stiff he plows deep; a 

 lighter sod he does not plow so deep. Nearly all 

 present favored shallow plowing for this section. 



,v 



