180 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[December, 



have conspired, however, to injure many 

 Short-Horn bulls in this respect — in breeding 

 and high feeding. It is the opinion of most 

 persons who have investigated the breeding 

 problem that inbreeding usually affects the 

 procreative powers of all animals unfavorably. 

 This affect is not always apparent, and in some 

 cases it is shown earlier than in others ; but 

 it may safely be laid down as a general rule, 

 that inbreeding has a tendency to impair con- 

 stitutional vigor, and consequently to weaken 

 the reproductive powers, not only of cattle 

 but of all animals ; and when once a defect 

 has been developed by inbreeding, it is rapidly 

 intensified by continuing to breed in the same 

 manner. Again, the highly artificial manner 

 in which many Short-Horn bulls and cows 

 have been kept is extremely hurtful. Eich 

 and highly stimulating food, inducing an un- 

 natural slate of plethora, allied with close 

 confinement, has destroyed the productive 

 powere of many a well bred Short-Horn, and 

 the evil effects of such a practice are not con- 

 fined to cattle alone. Short-Horn cattle are 

 no more subject to injury from this condition 

 than any other breed or any other class of 

 stock. Any race of cattle, horses, sheep or 

 swine, when long subjected to inbreeding, 

 close confinement and high feeding, will show 

 the same results. If farmers will select Short- 

 Horn bulls that are descended from a vigor- 

 ous and prolific ancestry, and that have not 

 been subjected to the forcing process, they 

 will usually be found quite as prolific, and 

 will retain their reproductive powers to quite 

 as great an age as any other race of cattle in 

 the world." 



FRUIT NOTES. 



There is a great diversity of opinion and 

 practice about the keeping of apples through 

 the winter, though one would think apples 

 had been grown long enough for some good 

 plan to be settled upon. Those who keep 

 them in retarding houses succeed, but such 

 houses are costly. Now and then a man has 

 found that submersion in cold water is effec- 

 tive, others put them on shelves where the 

 air is dry and cold. Success, no doubt, often 

 depends on a good season for ripening as 

 much as in the winter care, and that cannot 

 be controlled as well as a fruit house. One 

 thing seems clear — that the colder they are 

 kept, without freezing, the better. 



In packing apples or pears for market, some 

 growers are not yet aware of the value of 

 good, honest and tasteful packing. The 

 barrel, when opened, should show a uniform 

 layer of good, sound fruit, which should be a 

 sample of the whole, not alone of the top 

 layer. To fill up the middle with inferior 

 fruit is knavish, and, besides, it rarely, or 

 never, pays. Especially is this true of a man 

 whose " mark" is often seen in market. 



If each small fruit-grower would aim to see 

 how mi.ch manure and good culture he could 

 profitably apply to a small area, or to an acre 

 of each, he would not care much thereafter 

 for a larger plantation than he could treat in 

 this manner. When a man can raise 300 

 bushels of small fruits on an acre, why 

 should he not do it in preference to raising 

 the same amount on five or six acres y Why 

 don't somebody point out the gain V Poor 

 fruit had better go by itself, or not at all. 



People accustomed to marketing apples or 

 pears in bushel crates should remember that 

 barrels are cheaper when large quantities are 

 to be shipped. The freight is less and the 

 fruit carries better. 



The increased acreage devoted to grapes in 

 the United States is surprising wlien it is re- 

 membered how few grapes were grown forty 

 years ago. We cannot raise the fine-flavored 

 grapes of Europe, but we can raise them 

 nearly as good, and quite as good for wine 

 and many other purposes. But grape-grow- 

 ing is increasing more rapidly than the con- 

 sumption, hence, until there is a great de- 

 mand for American wme, it is not likely to be 

 a profitable business for the man who grows 

 mainly for market. 



Because a peach tree is not long-lived it is 

 no reason for discarding that noble fruit. 

 Corn, potatoes, wheat, etc., must be planted 

 annually, and yet they are not discarded. A 

 peach tree, with proper care, will last a dozen 

 years or more, unless attacked by such a dis- 

 ease as the yellows. Injury from the borer 

 can be prevented, as can over-cropping and 

 starvation from want of manure. 



The time above all others to give close at- 

 tention to an orchard is during its first half 

 dozen years. Culture and pruning then will 

 do more for it than a dozen years of care after 

 that period. But if neglected during the first 

 six years, after care will not often avail much. 



The best age for a standard pear tree at 

 planting is one year from the bud. It suHers 

 less by transplanting, costs less for freight, the 

 nursery price is less, and at six or seven years 

 of age it will generally be as large as the two 

 or three year old tree planted at the same 

 time. Only those hanker for large trees to 

 plant whose eye teeth have not been cut. An- 

 other advantage is that they can be trained 

 more readily to a good shape. 



The best time to eat fruit is with one's reg- 

 ular meal. Eating between meals is always 

 a bad practice, physically, as it gives the 

 stomach no rest, though it is probably better 

 to eat good fruit at irregular periods than 

 other things. 



A pear that varies greatly in its character 

 in different soils or in different seasons is not 

 a desirable variety, especially as we have 

 many sorts that do not seriously vary. Those 

 fruits about which there is so much discussion 

 as to quality had better not be planted. 

 Choose some other. 



It is in order during " the melancholy days" 

 of autumn to hunt for the eggs of the tent 

 caterpiller on the apple tree. Every lot de- 

 stroyed then will save a great deal of work 

 and damage in the spring. — Philadelphia 

 Press. 



COMMERCE OF THE WORLD. 



Prussia exports linen, woolens, zinc, arti- 

 cles of iron, copper and brass, indigo, wax, 

 hams, musical instruments, tobacco, wines 

 and porcelain. 



France exports wines, brandies, silks, fancy 

 articles, fin-niture, jewelry, clocks, watches, 

 paper, perfumery and fancy goods generally. 



Italy exports corn, oil, flax, flour, wines, 

 essences, dye stutfs, drugs, fine marble, soap, 

 engravings, paintings, molasses and salt. 



Austria exports minerals, raw and manu- 

 factured silk thread, glass, wax, tar, nut- 



gall, wine, honey and mathematical instru- 

 ments. 



Germany exports wool, woolen goods, linens, 

 rags, corn, timber, iron, lead, tin, flax, hemp, 

 wines, wax, tallow and cattle. 



England exports cottons, woolens, glass, 

 hardware, earthenware, cutlery, iron, metal- 

 lic wares, salt, coal, watches, tin, silks and 

 linens. 



Russia exports tallow, flax, hemp, flour, 

 iron, linen, lard, hides, wax, duck, cordaae, 

 bristles, fur and potash. 



Spain exports wines, brandies, iron, fresh 

 and dried fruits, quicksilver, sulphur, salt, 

 cork, saffron, anchovies, silks and woolens. 



China exports tea, rhubarb, musk, ginger, 

 borax, zinc, silks, cassia, fllligree work, ivory 

 ware, lacquered ware and porcelain. 



Turkey exports opium, silks, drugs, gums, 

 dried fruits, tobacco, wines, camel's hair, 

 carpets, shawls, camlets and morocco. 



Hindostan exports gold and silver, coch- 

 ineal, indigo, sarsaparilla, vanilla, jalap, 

 fustic, campeachy wood, pimento, drugs and 

 dye stuffs. 



Brazil exports coffee, indigo, sugar, rice, 

 hides, dried meats, tallow, gold, diamonds, 

 and other stones, gums, mahogany and India 

 rubber. 



The West Indies exports sugar, molasses, 

 rum, tobacco, cigars, mahogany, dyewood, 

 coffee, pimento, fresh fruits and preserves, 

 wax, ginger and other spices. 



East Indies exports cloves, nutmegs, mace, 

 pepper, rice, indigo, gold dust, camphor, ben- 

 zine, sulphur, ivory, rattans, sandal-wood, 

 zinc and nuts. 



The United States exports principally agri- 

 cultural produce, tobacco, cotton, flour, pro- 

 visions of all kinds, lumber, turpeutiue, agri- 

 cultural implements, sewing machines, cotton 

 goods, cutlery, builders' hardware, furniture, 

 munitions of war, gold, silver, quicksilver, 

 etc. — Exchange. 



FOUNDING A HERD OF PIGS. 

 While it is true that, as a rule, the pig is 

 one of the most profitable of our domestic 

 animals, it is also evident, says an experienced 

 writer in a contemporary journal, that the 

 amount of profit he can be made to bring will 

 be governed largely by the ditterences in 

 methods of keeping and the intelligence or 

 .skill with which he is handled. We find also 

 that pigs are kept under the most varied cir- 

 cumstances, from those affecting the single 

 sty-pig, for example, or the few gleaners about 

 the farmyard, to the more extensive herds 

 under the broader management known as 

 swine husbandry. Owing to this great diver- 

 sity of conditions to be taken into account, it 

 would be impossible to give in few words de- 

 finite teachings exactly suited to each case. 

 At the very outset — the selection of stock — 

 there is a wide range for difference in choice. 

 To produce pure-bred stock to be sold for 

 breeding purposes and the improvement of 

 common stock, may be the object in view 

 with some. To rear and feed hogs for what 

 thej' will bring on the market when fat may 

 be the aim of others. Location, the amount 

 of capital at command, and a man's own 

 taste or disposition in such matters, must 

 help to determine which of these classes he 

 will enter, or whether, as is often done, he 



