1883.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



135 



:«5 roinplelo liitw 



aiti l*nri; Uiiw Hone 



ar? Afid l"liusj)lmtf-- 



aw Pure Hcjiic IMiosphutc 



3.W DisHiilvi-d South Carolina Itock— 



310 I'uru Kiiw HoiR' 



■Ml DJKsolvcil Soulli Carolina Uock— . 



:!!.; Iloiii-vhi k Heme I'lio.splniic 



'M'.i Aintnoiiiatfd Hone I'liosphatc 



:M1 Ihuianu'd l-'erlilizer 



3ir> Tankaf^c 



;llt) ICxcolsior Fertilizer. 



317 \'ivorilla (iiiano 



:iIH Stamlard J'liosphate 



3IU Aniniuniatt'd Dissolved Bone 



a")(l fnileil Stales Plioaphate— 



:«! I'ure H 



351! Amnion iated Super- l*liosphati 



,i.'i3 Niln.-l"lio>.pliate 



Pa.. 



liosphut« 'AUentown ManufaeturiuK Company, 



|Shoe maker A: Co., Ebenslnirj; 



Henry Cope, Lincoln rniversily. Pa 



Henry Cope, I.inetiln I'liiversity, Pu 



Henry Cope, I.ineoln Cnivcrsily, Pa. 



S. K. Diekey A: c..., o.vlonl. Pa.— 



<'oe A: ICieliniond, Pliihulelphia 



K. .1. Irwin, Wayneshurj;, Pa 



H. re.'slmi Ai Sons, Oreenpoint, N. Y. 



A nalnr ,1 pnidnet 



. (.'hiea^^o, Ills 



Care.v Uros., Lnmhervillo, Pa 



P. de Mnniulrcflo, Baltimore, Md 



Lister Hrothers, Newark, N. .1 



Lister IJrothcrs, Newark, N. .J 



Lister Hrothers, Newark, N. .1 



Walil Urotliers, (JhicaKo, Ills 



r>. I). Hess A: Son, KeadiiiK, Pa 



I. .1. Allen's Sons, Philadel|)hia - 



Po. 



a'vl Swifl-Siire I'liosphatc - IM. L. Shoemaker .^Co., I'hiladelpllia, 



.'I'l.'i .V<i<l I'liospluUe ll). I). Hess A: Son, Heading 



.'l.5ti .\mnioniatcd Phosphate Bownnm A: Zei^ler, Stewartstown, Pa 



:i'i7 Aeid Phosphate In. .1. Chentieal Company, Philadelphia, Pa 



3-">H CundjerlamI Ctiunty Fertilizer "E" 'W, T. Hraudon, Carlisle, Pa 



;Vi'J .Veid Phosphate .Sustiuehanmi Fertilizer (^ontpany, Oxford, Pa 



36t) Pure Hone Phosi)hate Susquehanna Fertilizer (.'ompany, Oxford. Pa 



SBIPure Bone^ C. IT. Denipwolf, York, Pa 



3ti2 .Veil! Phosphate 'Bowker ManufaeturinK **ompany, Boston, Mass.. 



3li;! Globe Fertilizer Halier, Beek A: Co., Pittsburn 



.•Jti^ I*ure Bone James Hathawav, .\tj^len. Pa 



.3(>5 Tanking , Chieauo, Ills — 



36fi:Aeid Phosphate I. Yearsley, Coatesville, Pa. 



36TiE.\i>ort Bone K, J. Fry, Tamaiiua, I'a 



3t>8 Sui>er-Phosphate 'Moro P!iillii>s, Pliihulelphia, Pa 



369,Twentv-tive Dollar Phosphate W. .S. Kenderdine, Lnmberville, Pa 



37(1:. Veid Phosphate.-- iBauyh & Sons, Pliihulelphia .. 



371|Tw6nty-tive Dollar Phosphate IBaugh A: Sons, Philadelphia 



372 Kniekerboeker I*hosphate '.T. K^ilston, New York 



373|Alkaline Bone IK. Frank Coe, New York.. 



Valuations: .Soluble and reverted phosphoric acid, 10 cents per pound; 

 ammonia. 17'., cents. 



6.78| 

 3.S8 

 9.75| 



5.6(i 

 6.121 

 5.2M 



9.57 

 S8S! 

 5.U| 



3.9<J 

 7.22 

 3.63 



O.a'3: 

 9.9S 

 lO.llfl 

 S.33; 



7.ir 



1.87 

 3.28 

 1.71 



7.00 

 S.(S4 

 7.73 

 9.95 

 2.K 

 6.38 

 1.2.5 

 8.78 

 4.86 



18.29 



7.28 



7.60 

 5.48 

 8.M 

 3.88 

 6.78 

 8.42 



4.45 

 4,&1 

 3.H.') 

 4.741 

 4.2:1, 

 7.70 

 I.IM 

 5.121 

 6.75 



5.361 



7.91 



3.90 

 4.97 

 6.06 

 7.40 

 3.191 

 3.491 



31 .-fi 

 U 82 



32 26 



a5 M 



30 79 



44 76 

 28 41 



32 98 



33 06 

 .32 



37 35 

 6 16 

 43 15 

 .37 60 

 .38 .36 



25 5-1 1 



45 72 

 32 51 



31 77 

 42 87 

 3» 71 



26 48 



30 28 

 21 41 

 28 96 



41 92 

 12 16 



32 41 

 1 90 



40 55 



42 04 



31 88 



27 09 

 .37 48 



25 69 

 .35 29 

 sa 16 

 31 84 



26 52 



35 00 

 40 00 

 22 00 

 37 00 

 22 00 



37 00 



20 00 

 30 00 



34 00 

 10 00 

 .33 00 

 45 00 



30 00 



36 00 

 .34 00 



31 00 

 40 00 

 .35 00 



38 00 

 36 00 



24 00 

 .38 00 



21 00 



25 00 



22 00 

 36 00 

 38 00 



24 00 

 15 00 

 38 00 

 36 00 



32 00 

 38 00 



35 00 



25 00 

 25 00 

 25 00 



33 00 

 28 00 



usoluble* when from bone, 6 cents, and if from S. C. ruck, 4 cents ; potash, 6 cents, and 



A COMING WHEAT COUNTRY. 



Within the memory of thousands of the 

 rentiers of the Lcchjcr, Lancaster county, in 

 this State, was the banner wheat county of 

 the United States ; but the greatest wheat- 

 raising region lias since then moved westward 

 through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois to the Kausas- 

 lowa-Miiinesota district ; aqd the last decade 

 has seen the tremendous develoiiment of Cali- 

 fornia as a grain-growing State, and the rapid 

 rise of the Northern Pacific wheat fields. 



Another great grain field, vast enough to 

 affeet the supply and consumption of the 

 world, and to' enter into serious competition 

 with the United States and Russia— the two 

 leading wheat-exporting countries of the 

 world — now sliows in sight in Mexico, and 

 appear.s to be coming to the front as part of 

 the great commercial and industrial recon- 

 struction of that land by the American rail- 

 ways. The physical formation of Mexico is 

 simply an extension southward of the great 

 Colorado mouutahi base plateau. Wheat 

 grows im the plateau of Mexico at from S,()UO 

 to 9,000 feet above sea-level, and between the 

 18th and 24th parallels of latitude. Corn 

 grows everywhere, except on certain waste 

 districts along the northern frontier, where 

 the soil is the same as the alkali plains of 

 Arizona and New Mexico. The wheat grow- 

 ing area of Mexico, par excellence, extends 

 from, say Puebla nearly to Coliraa, about 500 

 miles east and west, and from Southern 

 Michoacau to Zacatecas, about 400 miles 

 north and south. Tliis plateau is broken by 

 mountain ranges into a number of rich dis- 

 tricts specially adapted for the growing of 

 wheat, namely, the Lernia Valley, roughly, 

 200 by 10 miles ; the Bajio (Northern Michoa- 

 can, Jalisco and Southern Guanajuato), 200 

 by 200 miles, Aguascalientes 50 by 50 miles ; 

 the San Luis Potosi and Queretaro District 

 150 by 30 miles. Total, say 52,000 square 

 miles. Of this immense field of rich and 

 arable land one-third, it is believed, could be 

 readily put into wheat with due regard lo the 

 other agricultural interests of the country. 



Under the Mexican plan of cultivation three 

 crops are taken off the land every two years — 

 one crop of wheat and two crops of corn. The 



average wheat yield of Mexico now does not 

 exceed 20 bushels to the acre. Corn on irri- 

 gated land runs about 50 ; on dry land about 

 30 bushels to the acre. The mode of cultiva- 

 tion is similar to that of the Egyptians thou- 

 sands of years ago. Wooden beam i)lows are 

 used, with a small iron shoe, which scratches 

 a furrow five inches broad by five deep. Five 

 men are used and five yoke of oxen, where one 

 would be needed in Pennsylvania. Never- 

 tlieless, the wheat raised is of the very finest 

 iiuality. At the Centennial Exposition Mex- 

 ico took the first prize for wheat. Threshing 

 is done by driving mares around over a circu- 

 lar tile or stone floor, winnowing by men toss- 

 ing the grain andjChaft' into the air with scoop 

 shovels, and transportation from the field to 

 tlie farm house or railway station is on pon- 

 derous two-wheeled ox-carts, in which the ox 

 pulls about three pounds of cart to one pound 

 of load. 



Apart from the 52,000 square miles spoken 

 of above, which is the choice wheat producing 

 area, there is sufficient outlying wheat, barley 

 and corn laud now under actual cultiva- 

 tion to supply the present population of 

 Mexico, ten millions. These people are 

 at present fed on grain raised just where 

 tliey live, there having been up to this 

 time no organized machinery for trans- 

 portation of products from one part of the 

 country to the other. Mexico is substantially 

 a corn-fed nation, seven-eighths or more of the 

 people living habitually on tortillas. Were 

 this wheat area cultivated to its full capacity 

 namely, 17,333^ square miles, it is estimated 

 that it would yield, under present conditions, 

 20 busliels of wheat and 40 bushels of corn per 

 acre, as follows : 



First year, wheat crop, 221,866,660 bushels. 



First year, corn crop, 433,733,320 bushels. 



Second year, corn crop, 443,733,320 bushels. 



Or say an average of 110,000,000 bushels of 

 wlical and 440,000,000 bushels of corn every 

 year. 



But under the modern conditions of agricul- 

 ture, with imp.ioved machinery and system- 

 atic feeding of the soil, a much larger yield is 

 anticipated. By the end of 1SS4 Mexico will 

 probably enjoy a reasonably thorough railway 

 system, viz. : Two trunk lines at least, from the 



capital to the United States, having also good 

 branch lines to the Gulf ports of Vera Cruz, 

 Tarapico, Matainoras and Corpus Christi. 

 The laud of Mexico is largely held in huge 

 estates, often like those of the great land 

 owners of England. The Bustamente estate, 

 for instance, extends over portions of three 

 States, and the line of the National Railway 

 runs through it for fifty miles. These vast 

 estates, with the fact that in the central part 

 of Mexico at least, they are of cleared land, 

 will enable the wheat growing area to be put 

 rapidly under cultivation when once the rail- 

 ways open up a market for wheat. 



The Mexican wheat raiser, however, is ser- 

 iously handicapped in one respect, i. c, by the 

 vicious system of State taxes which prevails 

 all over the Republic. Some States tax the 

 production of wheat, others the importation 

 of it into or througli their borders. This tax 

 is uncertain, varies with every State and is 

 burdensome. Men who have lived long in 

 Mexico, and are well acquainted witli the 

 country, allege that it is well nigh imposisible 

 to codify or keep track of these State imposts, 

 which are laid without system or any broad 

 knowledge of political economy. They com- 

 pute, however, that they can be rouglily esti- 

 mated at about one per cent, on the value of 

 nearly everything raised or brought into the 

 State. This is one of the things wliicli keeps 

 Mexico so poor, relatively to her large popula- 

 tion and immense resources. 



THE SCIENCE OF DAIRYING. 



All the progress that lias been made in the 

 dairy— and it has been very great — is the 

 fruit of thought and hard study ; and what- 

 ever progress may be made iu the future will 

 likely spring from the same conditions. Oc- 

 casionally people stumble upon success, but as 

 a rule success comes only from hard work. 

 The dairy is a scientific process, and the com- 

 petent dairyman a scientist. He is familiar 

 with the whys and wherefores. He expects 

 certain results because he creates certain 

 causes, and he is able to explain the details 

 with as much precision as tlie college pro- 

 fessor explivins a science which he teaches in 

 his class room. Now if the dairyman cannot 

 do this, he is at work in the dark, and is con- 



