The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. EATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., JANUARY, 1884. 



Vol. XVI. Ho. 1. 



Editorial. 



JANUARY. 



" And first there came a stalwart man 

 Dressed in an ample garb, 

 Around him clung- the nor-wcst winds, 

 His features, cold and hard. 

 Hie mantle lined with ermine, 

 His siull-cap edg'd with fur, 

 His beard was white and priclvly as 

 The autumn Chestnut bur. 

 And though his eyes the index were 

 Of an imperious sway, 

 I yet essayed a near approacli 

 My humble court to pay. 

 But, ah ! his freezing proud repulse 

 Threw me in a quandrary, 

 I learned his frigid nature, lor 

 His name was January." 



This mouth was dedicated by tlie Komaiis 

 to Janus, an old Italian mythical Deity, who 

 was represented with two faces, looking in 

 opposite directions, indicating that he took 

 cognizance of the futiue as well as the past. 

 The term " .lanus-faced" is reproachfully ap- 

 plied to those who are guilty of practicing 

 duplicity. Some authors are of opinion that 

 the two faces of this mythical deity allegorize 

 Noah and his sons, who looked back on the 

 world before the Hood, and forward on the 

 world after the deluge had abated. This is 

 very poetical, but as apocryphal as poetical. 



A temple was erected to Janus in Rome, 

 the doors of which, accordirg to Rev. Dr. 

 Brewer, in his " Dictionary of phrase and 

 fable," were thrown open in times of peace, 

 and closed in times of war. Or. Noah Web- 

 ster, however, in his quarto illustrated Dio 

 tionary says, that the temple of Janus " was 

 never closed except in time of universal 

 peace." There is a looking two ways here 

 with a vengeance ; let those reconcile it who 

 can. At this remote distance from the origin 

 of the name January — which has become the 

 first month of the year according to the 

 present computation of time — it might be 

 well to consider whether this name may not 

 have been derived from St. Januarhts, the 

 patron saint vif the Napolitans, who suffered 

 martyrdom A. D. 30.5. It is said that two 

 vials of his blood are preserved in the 

 cathedral at Naples, and on the 19th of Sep- 

 tember every year (the anniversary of his 

 martyrdom) the blood aforesaid liquefies, 

 which is about as poetical as the conjecture 

 above named. It is, however, more than 

 probable that the man took his name from the 

 month, especially since the Latin name Janu- 

 arius is said to have been derived from Jamts 

 the Italian god of the sun and year, to whom 

 the month of January was sacred. The 

 French name of this month is Janvier ; tne 

 Prussian Janner ; the Italian Genuajo; the 

 Portugese Ja?!ei>o; the Spanish Enero. The 

 Capitol city of Brazil— Rio de Janiero— in plain 

 English, is River of January. 



Perhaps no one month could be fixed upon 

 as a proper beginning of the year over the 

 whole world, but it is very certain that Janu- 



ary is not meteorotogically nor physically the 

 proper opening of a New Year in our latitude. 

 The vernal equinox, or even the month of 

 April, would be far more appropriate. Practi- 

 cally January is mid-winter, and when it is 

 u.shercd iu it finds the year old, and sometimes 

 for two or three months it remains old, de- 

 criped and gloomy. But when the vernal 

 suns begin to shorten the nights and lengthen 

 out the days, and -'showery, llowery, bowery" 

 April makes its advent, then are we really 

 admonished of the beginning of a brij,'lit and 

 resuscitating Mew Year. 



Custom, however, admonishes us that when 

 the festal season is over, we have advanced 

 upon the threshold of a new year, and we 

 habitually look forward to its ultimation in 

 the advent of balmy spring ; and, that the 

 interval is a time of anticipation and prepara- 

 tion. There is an invisible revival of all 

 nature, to some extent, in the month of Janu- 

 ary, which only needs an elevation of the 

 temperature to manifest itself visibly. "When 

 we get over the winter solstice the Rubicon 

 seems to have been passed, and hence forward 

 the winter gradually succumbs. 



"When there is a heavy snow upon the 

 ground during the month of January, of 

 course, little or no outdoor work can be done 

 on the farm, save, perhaps, the necessary at- 

 tention to stock, opening roads and paths, 

 and making things comfortable around the 

 dwelling. But within doors there may be 

 much to be done, and the thrifty farmer 

 knows when and how to do it. Throughout 

 the month of January the nights are still 

 long— too long to be all occupied in sleep- 

 affording the husbandman and his household 

 an ample opportunity to store their minds 

 with useful knowledge, or to make a record of 

 their domestic experiences and prepare them 

 for the local press. Now, in this month of 

 January, is the time to "turn a new leaf," 

 and to cultivate that method through which 

 the intelligent and progressive farmer may 

 be enabled to write a practical paragraph 

 every day, every month, or every week during 

 the year. After he accomplishes this he will 

 wonder why he hesitated so long to do a thing 

 so easy and simple. 



TO CONTRIBUTORS. 



There is no valid reason why half a score of 

 practical agricultural writers in Lancaster 

 county should not every month contribute a 

 like number of short essays, or paragraph-^, to 

 the columns of the Lancaster Farmer, on 

 subjects relating to Agriculture, Horticulture, 

 Sylviculture, and domestic economy. This is 

 not merely our opinion, but it is the opinion 

 of Agricultural editors, farmers, and writers, 

 wherever the Lancaster Farmer is known. 

 There is not an editor or conductor of an agri- 

 cultural journal in the country who does 

 a' knowledge that it is the intelligent contri- 

 butors who do more to build up the reputa- 

 tion and usefulness of such a paper, than any 

 other influence that can be brought to bear 



upon it. It is true that many of them can 

 afford to comjiensate their contributors, but 

 there are thousands who contribute volun- 

 tarily, gratuitously, and from a love of use. 

 Nothing would aflbrd us more delight than to 

 be able to compensate our contributors, but 

 under our present circumstances, we can only 

 accord "the will for the deed." In this con- 

 nection we also desire to return our sincere 

 thanks to those who have contributed to our 

 columns during the year that has just i)assed 

 away, and to respectfully solicit their future 

 favors. Practical views and experiences, on 

 any subject relating to the welfare of the 

 himian family, are not without a compensa- 

 tion, if it even never results in money value ; 

 because, every line a man or woman writes 

 on what they kiww to be good and true, is a 

 stone laid in the superstructure of mind and 

 soul, as well as that of matter. It is a neces- 

 sary adjunct to mental and moral culture, and 

 cannot be taken away from him who once truly 

 possesses it. It is one of those things which 

 can be freely and liberally given away, and 

 yet remain with its original possessor Its ac- 

 complishment involves exercises that are emi- 

 nently human ; as it saves life from " rusting 

 out," which is far less honorable than "wear- 

 ing out." It is therefore for your sake, and 

 the publics' sake, more than for our sake, 

 that we indulge in these importunities. "We 

 desire the Far.mei{ to be a reflex of the prac- 

 tical thowjht of the farmers of Lancaster 

 county, for their mvii and thccounty'' ssake. 



1883 vs. 1884. 



" While systems change, and suns retire, and worlds 

 Slumber and wake, Time's ceaseless march proceeds." 



In the language of a local cotemporary, 

 the year that ended on the 31st of Decem- 

 ber last was "fraught with many calamities 

 and physical disturbances of nature. As early 

 as January destructive floods on the Danube 

 and Rhine, in Europe, were reported, and 

 February saw the Ohio river at its highest 

 point, and the cities along its banks flooded. 

 The earthquake at Ischia, by which 2,000 per- 

 sons perished, came in July, and the month 

 following saw the Java volcanic eruptions, 

 and great losses of life and property. An 

 earthquake in Asia Minor and death-dealing 

 tornadoes in the South and "West in our own 

 country added their mites to the physical hor- 

 rors with which the earth was visited. Apart 

 from these disturbances of nature an unusual- 

 ly large list of disasters have taken place, such 

 as the Tivoli e.xcuision and Brooklyn bridge 

 calamities, losses of life by fire, vessels sunk 

 in mid-ocean and other ills to which flesh is 

 heir. War has also raised its grim visaged 

 head. France has had trouble in Madagascar, 

 and still maintains a warlike attitude towards 

 China in the Tou(iuin dispute. El Mahid has 

 knocked the Egyptian power iu the Soudan 

 into a, cocked hat by the destruction of the 

 army of Hicks Pasha. The government of 

 Ireland is still a thorn in the side of Great 

 Britain, and Russia adds her portion to the 



