1883. J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



179 



for her privy purse, is »515,000. This is en- 

 tirely outside of her actual ordinary expenses. 

 Is is clear pocket money. 



Alw.ws sjet the best you can find to breed 

 from, lisinfj llwniuijhhred malts. Do not hesi- 

 tate on the score of economy. Meat producing 

 animals from such stock fatten easier, con- 

 sume less feed, weigh heavier, and are always 

 in demand, because they are nice and smooth, 

 and when put on the block their ollal is small 

 compared to that of a rough bony steer, or 

 hazel splitter hog. — Peoria Ti-anscripl. 



Let any one who has an attack of the lock- 

 jaw take a small quantity of spirits of turpen- 

 tine, warm it and pour it on tlie wound, no 

 matter where the wound is or what its nature. 

 Relief will follow in less than one minute. 

 Turpentine is also a sovereign remedy for 

 croup. Saturate a piece of flannel with it and 

 place on to the throat, chest, and, iu severe 

 cases, three to five drops on a lump of sugar 

 may be taken internally. 



An excellent cement for attaching metal 

 to glass or porchlain consists in a mixture of 

 a solution of eight ounces of strong glue, and 

 one ounce of varnish of linseed oil, or three- 

 quarters of an ounce of Venice turpentine, 

 which should be boiled together and stirred 

 till the mixture is thoroughly incorporated.— 

 Harness and Carriage Journal. 



To cultivate the soil with success, requires 

 both thought and study. 



THE FARMER'S \A^IFE. 



" Oh ! give me the life of a farmer's wife, 



In the fields and woods so bright, 

 'Mong the singing birds and ttie lowing herds, 



And the clover blossoms white. 

 The note of the morning's heavenward lark, 



Is the music sweet to me ; 

 As the dewy flowers in the early hours, 



The gems I love to see. 



" Oh ! give me the breeze from the waving trees, 



The murmur of summer leaves ; 

 And the swallow's song as he skims along. 



Or twitters beneath the eaves ! 

 The plowman's shout, as he's turning out 



His team, at set of sun. 

 Or hie merry ' good night,' by the flre-fly's light 



When his daily work is done. 



" And give me the root and the luscious fruit. 



My own hands rear for food ; 

 And the bread so light, and the honey white, 



And the milk so pure and good I 

 For sweet the breed of labor is. 



When the heart is strong and true, 

 And blessings will come to the hearth and home 



If our best we bravely do." 



CONTRIBUTIONS. 



PREMIUM WHEAT. 



The following contribution from one of our 

 patrons speaks for itself We feel assured 

 that much of a similar nature could be pub- 

 lished if our farmers did not persist in cover- 

 ing their light with a "bushel.". 



Tribute to a Lancaster County Farmer. 



The Messrs. l^andreth & Sons, the great 

 American seed growers, offered, last season, 

 a special premium of $15 to the producer of 

 the largest number of bushels (of 60 lbs. each) 

 to the ajre of the " Landriith White Winter 

 Wheat," a new variety of exceedingly great 

 merit. The wheat was planted by thousands 



of farmers all over the country, but it re- 

 mained for a Lancaster county farmer to 

 carry olf the prize in the person of Mr. Henry 

 S. Musser, the well known and popular lumber 

 merchant and tobacco grower, of Marietta, Pa. 



Mr. Musser planted four bushels on two 

 and quarter acres and harvested ninety (5,40U 

 lbs.) bushels of the linest wheat ever raised in 

 this county, famous for its good wheat. 



Mr. Mus.ser's yield was the largest of all 

 who entered the contest, and would have been 

 considerably greater had the floods not dam- 

 aged it in the early summer. It is not the 

 money value of the premium so much as the 

 high favor and tribute paid to Lanciister 

 county farmers wliich demands this well de- 

 served notice. These with other facts go to 

 show that Lancaster county farmers rank 

 foremost among the most successful farmers 

 of thejworld. — 1. G. S. 



CONCERNING SMUT. 



Editor Lancaster Farmer : Your cor- 

 respondent, C. G., in November number of the 

 Farmer "Don't go much" on the recom- 

 mendation to steep seeds in sulphate of 

 copper to prevent smut and rust. He evi- 

 dently does not comprehend the theory or he 

 would be less skeptical about the result. The 

 seed becomes contaminated by the spores of 

 smut when growing. These exceedingly 

 minute spores or seeds adhere to the seeds of 

 wheat or oats and are planted with them. 

 The spores are then carried in the ascending 

 sap, and finding a congenial place for their 

 growth and development in the immature 

 grain, produce a crpp of smut to the utter 

 destruction of the cereal. 



Will sulphuric acid or salt kill the spores of 

 smut V If so, may we not "have a reason 

 for the faith tliat is in us " when we take the 

 ad vie J of the Times correspondent and steep 

 our smutty seeds in sulphate of copper. 



It is true, as C. G. suggests, that the spores 

 of smut and rust float iu the atmosphere, but 

 it does not follow that that is their only mode 

 of distribution. As well say that diptheria 

 and typhoid fevers are caused only by germs 

 afloat in the atmosphere, when it is well 

 known that these diseases are frequently 

 caused by drinking contaminated water. 



When I liave sown smutty seed I have i?i- 

 variably reaped smutty grain. When I have 

 sown clean seed I have seen little or no smut 

 the ensuing harvest. Not so, however, with 

 rustr. Every one has observed that under cer- 

 tain atmospheric conditions wheat rusts 

 badly, and yet I have not found any evidence 

 that seed from rusted or mildewed wheat is 

 likely to produce a plant that is aflected the 

 same way. Rust or mildew is on the stalk 

 and blade, and feeds on the pabulum prepared 

 for the seed, but smut feeds on the seed itself. 



In the fall of IStiU I bought two bushels of 

 Rogers' white wheat and drilled it iu a field 

 alongside of Fultz wheat. At harvest time 

 there were a great many smutty heads in it. 

 I sowed of the seed again and the result the 

 following season was the same, although 

 in both cases Fultz wheat alongside of 

 it was entirely clear of smut. I apprehend 

 the Rogers wheat was contaminated with 

 smut wlien I sowed it first, although I was 

 not aware of it at the time. If the "germs 

 were afloat iu the atmosphere " why did not 



at least a few heads of the Fultz wheat suc- 

 cumb to the insidious parasite V Some years 

 ago I noticed a few smutty heads in my oats. 

 It continued to increase from year to year, 

 until I was compelled to abandon the use of 

 ray own oats for seed, aiul yet a neighbor's 

 oats, the same variety, on the other side the 

 fence, had very few heads of smut in them. 

 Why did not the spores find tlieir way into his 

 field ? Simply because his seed had but little 

 smut in it. I have never tried the above- 

 mentioned remedies for smut, because the 

 seed cannot then be drilled. I regret, how- 

 ever, that I did not try the experiment, it is 

 so easily done. John C. Linvill. 



Selections. 



PACKING EGGS FOR TRANSPORTA- 

 TION. 



Many devices have been tried for packing 

 eggs for hatching after transportion. My way 

 is to take a box of suitable size for the num- 

 ber to be sent, allowing plenty of room. I 

 bore a hole in two opposite sides and make a 

 rope handle by putting a piece of rope in from 

 the outside and tying a knot on it to keep it 

 from pulling out. The knots at the ends 

 should both be on the inside, and the rope 

 should be long enough to have a little slack 

 when the lid is on. I pack a layer of hay 

 about two inches thick on the bottom of the 

 box ; on this I put a layer of fine, perfectly 

 dry sawdust or bran ; now take the eggs, one 

 at a time, and wrap tliem in a small piece of 

 paper and stick them into the bran endwise, 

 when all are in, put on enough bran to cover 

 the eggs, shaking slightly so as to settle it 

 close around them. Now another layer of 

 hay to cover all. Screw the lid on and mark. 

 Eggs should not be too close to the sides of 

 the box, nor too many in a box, unless one 

 has had experience in packing. The box 

 should be marked with a stencil "Eggs! 

 With Care." The neater and more con- 

 venient it is to handle, the more respect it 

 will probably receive at the hands of express- 

 men. Fresh eggs, from liealthy, thrifty fowls, 

 packed in this way, should (and do) hatch a 

 fair percentage after loug trips.— Z>r. Dickie. 



USING YOUNG BULLS. 

 Some good suggestions in regard to the use 

 of young bulls are given in a recent number 

 of the National Live Stock Journal, in answer 

 to questions pertaining to the service of a 

 Short-Horn bull a year old in December last. 

 The editor says that such animal may be 

 safely used this spring, if he is strong and vig- 

 orous, and serve twenty cows without injury, 

 adding " he should never be turned out with 

 the cow. This practice ruins more young 

 bulls by far than the numbers of cows he 

 serves. One service is as good as two or three, 

 even better than half a dozen. It is import- 

 ant that a cow should be served as soon as 

 she comes in heat ; and, if a second service is 

 thought desirable (where a cow has failed to 

 stand to a previous service, ) we would put her 

 up and let her stand several hours— say till 

 the paroxysm is nearly over — Ijefore she is 

 served a second time. There is no reason 

 why Short-Horn bulls should not be prolific, 

 and continue so until old age, as bulls of any 

 other breed, or even 'scrubs.' Two causes 



