92 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



[June, 



believe his partiality for decayed food does 

 not arise from any particular flavor it may 

 possess, but simply because in a putrid state 

 any large amount of flesh is more easily torn 

 apart and masticated than when fresh. Al- 

 though the possessor of so much ivory in the 

 shape of teeth, and able to use its jaws with 

 so much power, it is an extremely difficult 

 matter for an alligator to dismember a pig, 

 even after the flesh is decayed. While the 

 meat is yet firm and the muscles intact, it is 

 an impossibility for him to do other than 

 swallow it nearly whole, as he sometimes does 

 when he is interrupted shortly after he has 

 killed his prey. That alligators do like fresh 

 food when it is possible for them to eat it is 

 shown ijy the fact that fresh flsh and small 

 turtles Hre their favorite diet. In the stomach 

 of a 12-foot alligator there have been found 

 six catfish, none of them mutilated, weighing 

 altogether 34 pounds. 



If one believes implicitly the positive asser- 

 tion of the alligator hunters, he must perforce 

 say no man knows the span of life allotted 

 these Saurians. The native Floridiau, as 

 well as the hunters, will insist that the largest 

 of the 'gators are more than a hundred years 

 old, pointing to the fact of his slow growth in 

 proof of the assertion. A newly-hatched alli- 

 gator is eleven inches long ; at the age of six 

 years he is very slim and but three feet in 

 length ; at ten years of age he has gained con- 

 siderably in breadth and but twelve inches in 

 length, while during the next two years he 

 has grown hardly more than one inch longer. 

 An alligator fifteen feet in length, caught 

 near the mouth of the St. John's river, was 

 so covered with barnacles and marine growth 

 as to make it almost certain that he must 

 have been in existence seventy-five years. — 

 James Otis in Our Continent. 



Our Local Organizations. 



THE AGRICULTURAL AND HORTI- 

 CULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The regular montlily meeting of tlie Lancaster 

 County Agricultural Society was held on Monday 

 afternoon, June 4. 



The following members were in attendance: Cal- 

 vin Cooper, Bird in-Hand ; Casper Hiller, Cone- 

 stoga ; John C.Linville, Sddsbury ; Henry M. Engle, 

 Marietta; W. H, Brosius, Drumore ; Ephraim S. 

 Hoover, Manheim ; C. A. Gast, F. R. Diffenderffer, 

 J. M. Johnston, F. S. Pyfer and Peter Hershey, city; 

 S. Hoffman Hershey, Saluuga ; Levi S. Heist, Man- 

 helm ; Peter S. Reist, Lititz ; C. L. Hunsecker, Man" 

 heim ; John"R. Buckwalter, Salisbury; J. B. Mc" 

 Cachren, Salisbury ; Daniel Moyer, Bird-in Hand. 



In the absence of the President, Vice President 

 Engle took the chair. 



On motion, the reading of the minutes of the pre- 

 vious meeting was dispensed with. 



Crop Reports. 



Casper Hiller said the wheat fields on tne whole 

 look very well. Some are very rank where tobacco 

 was grown last year. Grass is excellent. Fruit will 

 be tolerably plenty. Peaches are well set. Cherries 

 are very full. Small fruits of all kinds promise well. 

 Corn is pushing along slowly. 



Calvin Cooper made al)OUt the same report. 

 Grass was never better set. Wheat looks very well. 

 Corn looks sickly and comes along slowly. Tobacco 

 is ready to plant. Peaches are well set. 



Levi S. Reist knows of a number of wheat fields 

 sown on the 26th of September, which will not make 

 half a crop, because of the ravages of the rot. 



John C. LInvllle reported some poor wheat fields 



the fly being very bad ; grass is the .best in years ; 

 corn is small ; oats is very backward ; fruit promises 

 very well. 



Peter S. Reist said nearly all crops save apples 

 and wheat will be fully up to 100 ; grass is extra- 

 ordinary ; core is up and growing ; so is oats ; small 

 fruits are good. 



Hoffman Hershey reported a fine prospect for the 

 coming season. Wheat has no fly in his neighbor- 

 hood. He found the apple crop would not be heavy; 

 they seem to be falling. Tobacco looks well so far 

 as planted. Small fruits promise well. 



Mr. Cooper remarked the curculio had so far done 

 very little harm to the plums and gages, and the 

 trees were very full. 



H. M. Engle thought wheat was a little too rank ; 

 he feared excessive heat and showers would make it 

 lodge. The clover is as good as ever we had it here. 

 Cut worms are bad in the corn fields. Early pota 

 toes look very fine. The potato beetles are very 

 scarce. In his neighborhood the curculio is doing 

 much damage. The corn crop is unusually large. 

 Pears and apples will not be a full crop. 



Casper Hiller read the following on 

 Paulownia Imperialis. 



This magnificent tree is not receiving the attention 

 in this country that it merits. Its large blue, 

 sweet-scented flowers are beautiful. The tree, if 

 severely shortened in when young to keep it from 

 becoming too straggling makes one of our best trees 

 for ornament. The tree is perfectly hardy. As a 

 quickly available tree, it has no equal. It far out- 

 grows the Catalpa or the Ailanthus. The last 

 named tree is perhaps the next tree in value, but the 

 smell of [he bloom is so objectionable that it should 

 not be planted near a dwelling. The Paulownia 

 wood, for durability, is not exceeded by anything, 

 unless, perhaps, the locust. The lumber is said to 

 be first class for cabinet work. 



To give an idea of its growth we cite a tree grow- 

 ing in Independence Square, Philadelphia, .^5 years 

 old, measuring 8 feet in circumference and about 60 

 feet high. 



A tree 18 years old, that I had occasion to remove 

 about 8 years ago, measured 18 inches in diameter. 

 Some of this wood was left lay around purposely to 

 test its durability. It is to-day as sound as locust 

 would be under similar conditions. 



This growth exceeds the locust by far. The 

 locust, too, is subject to borers and other insects, 

 while the Paulownia is so far insect proof. 



The tree is well adapted for the planting on hill- 

 sides. It should be planted thickly, say from four 

 to six feet apart, to make them grow straight and 

 upright. If the trees, when two or three years 

 planted, are cut off nearthe ground, there will be no 

 difficulty in growing straight stems, as they then 

 make shoots of 10 to 15 feet long in one season. 



After three or four years more, the thinning out 

 will Day for all the labor expended on the planting. 



These poles, from ten to twenty feet long, are ex- 

 , cellent for fencing or for fuel. If some of our creek 

 hills, that are annually having their soil washed 

 away until they become barren wastes, and are 

 already eye-sores, would be planted with these mag- 

 nificent Paulownias, they will become a thing of 

 beauty to the country and a joy to their possessors. 



Calvin Cooper reported that the growth of the 

 above tree was all Mr. Hiller said, but with him it 

 was winter killed. He had it in the nursery, but the 

 growth was checked by these repeated winter kill- 

 ings. 



Mr. Hiller said this tree was a profuse seed bearer 

 and can be readily cultivated. A young tree on his 

 premises has Increased at the rate of one inch in di- 

 ameter per annum. The Catalpas do not make 

 more than one-fourth the growth of the Paulownia. 

 Has the Self-Binding Reaper Been a Success .' 



John C. LinvlUe answered this question in the 

 affirmative. There has been no greater progress in 

 agricultural machinery at one step than this ma- 

 chine. It docs its work cleaner and better than any 

 other plan. He has used one with uniform success. 

 It takes up lodged grain better than any thing yet 



devised. This puts the sheaves in excellent shape. 

 There are fewer rakings. It cuts twelve acres per 

 day. Cuts heavy and light grain. He used the 

 Osborne machine, but said there were others that 

 were better. It is not necessary for every farmer to 

 have one. A number of farmers can use the same 

 machine. The Osborne machine does not make the 

 sheaves a uniform size. 



New Business. 



This Society being entitled to send delegates to the 

 election of Trustees for the State Agricultural Col- 

 lege, Mr. Cooper suggested that three members of 

 this society be sent to participate in said election. 



A motion to this effect was made and adopted. 



The president named Senator Amos Mylin, Repre- 

 rentative W. H. Brosius and Calvin Cooper as the 

 delegates. 



The following question was submitted by Mr. 

 Cooper : " Have the sessions of the Lancaster County 

 Agricultural and Horticultural Society and the sub 

 jects discussed at their meetings been of any benefit 

 to the community, and, if so, why do not those in- 

 teresteii in agriculture and horticulture attend its 

 meetings and particioate in its deliberations ?" Re- 

 ferred to W. H. Brosius. 



The rain fall as reported by H. M. Engle was 3 1-6 

 inches for March, 2 10-16 for April and 4 5-16 for 

 May. 



Calvin Cooper moved that the next meeting be 

 held on the first Monday of August as the regular 

 meeting day will occur in the busiest part of har.ves 

 time. Agreed to. ^ 



Mr. Cooper offered a motion that a premium of 

 one dollar each be offered for the best collection of 

 apples, pears and peaches offered at the August 

 meeting of the society and a premium of fifty cents 

 each for those fruits. Adopted. 



Would Southern varieties of apples be advisable to 

 cultivate in this section for winter use? Referred to 

 Casper Hiller. 



The Society, on motion, then adjourned. 



THE POULTRY ASSOCIATION, 



The Lancaster County Poultry Association met on 

 Monday morning, Jiaue 4, at half past ten o'clock, 

 the following members being present : J. B. Long, 

 J. B. Lichiy, H. A. Schroyer, Chas. Lippold, John 

 E. Schum, F. R. Diffenderfler, C. A. Gast, city; 

 Peter B^unner, Mount Joy. 



In the absence of the president, Mr. J. B. Long 

 was elected president pro tem. 



The minutes of the preceding meeting were read 

 and approved. 



John P. Witmer, of Paradise; Dr. Carpenter 

 Weidler, of Mechanicsburg ; Frank Humphrey 

 ville, of Lancaster, were elected to membership in 

 the society. 



Mr. F. R. Diffenderfler was instructed to prepare 

 an essay for the next meeting on the subject of gaps 

 in chickens. 



Mr. Long reported that the society was on a fair 

 way for procuring the charter. He also stated that 

 inasmuch as there was a rumor that the Agricultural 

 Society was about disbanding, he was of the opinion 

 that the words " Live Stock Association " should be 

 inserted in the charter. 



On motion, it was resolved that the suggestion 

 made by Mr. Long be adopted. 



Adjourned. 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The June meeting of the Fulton Farmers' Club 

 met at the residence of Montillion Brown, in Fulton 

 township, on Saturday, the 2nd. 



Members present were Josiah Brown, Lindley 

 King, E. H. Haines, Solomon Gregg, Wm. King, 

 Joseph Blackborn, Day Wood, Mrs. Jos. Griest, 

 .Mrs. C. C. Cauffman and two sons. Visitors : Isaac 

 Bradley, Layman Blackborn, wife and daughter, 

 and S. J. Bennington, agent for Engle & Bro., nur- 

 serymen. 



After the club was called to order the minutes of 

 last meeting were read and approved. 



