12 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



the best — thus far invented is the pipe or 

 round tile and collar, and these are unhesi- 

 tatingly recommenned for use in all cases. 

 Round tiles, small sizes, should not be laid 

 without collars, as the ability to use these 

 constitutes the chief advantage, holding them 

 perfectly in place, preventing the rattling in 

 of loose dirt in laying, and giving twice the 

 space for the entrance of water at the joints." 

 The leading sizes of round drain tiles are 

 those with the core 1:^ inches, 2^ inches and 

 3^ inches. The larger sizes when cut in sec- 

 tions make collars for the tile next smaller in 

 size. Having settled upon the round tile with 

 collars, the next point is to decide upon the 

 size to be used. A tile should not be used 

 that is larger than necessary, to render quick- 

 ly the free water in a soil after a heavy rain. 

 If the tiles are too large there is little or no 

 pressure and they may become obstructed, 

 while a smaller tile will have a full flow and 

 be kept clean. The one and a quarter-inch 

 tile is usually large enough for the upper por- 

 tion of all lateral draius. They are able to 

 drain from one to two acres. The neJt size, 

 two and one-half inches, will serve for the 

 main for a field of six to eight acres, and the 

 three and one-half inch tiles for two or three 

 times this area. If greater capacity is re- 

 quired two lines of tile may be placed side by 

 side in tfie drain. 



Before ordering the tile, it is necessary to 

 make a calculation of the number needed. 

 This can be done very accurately from the 

 field stakes, which should have been driven 

 along the line of the main, the sub-mains and 

 all the laterals. If the area to be drained is 

 a large one, the system of stakes will need to 

 be thorough and complete. Tiles are usually 

 made somewhat over a foot in length, and 

 therefore, 1000 will lay as many feet, with a 

 fair allowance for any breakage that may oc- 

 cur. Collars are more easily broken, and 

 these should be ordered in somewhat larger 

 quantities than the tiles upon which they are 

 used. 



It is wise to look into the qualities and 

 prices of tile before concluding to give an 

 order. A good durable tile is one that is well 

 burned, and, when struck with a hammer, 

 will give out a clear, ringing sound. It must 

 be kept in mind that, to be profitable, a drain 

 should be a permanent improvement. A poor 

 tile in a drain is like a weak link in a chain, 

 with this difference, that it is far out of 

 reach, beneath the soil, and is replaced at 

 great cost. There is nothing so foolish as to 

 place a poor or broken tile in a drain. It is 

 vastly better to throw half of the purchased 

 tiles away than to have the drain ruined by 

 using them. If possible, buy of parties who 

 sell only first-class tiles at a first-class price. 

 Having given an order, do not accept and pay 

 for any other than tile fit to put in the drain. 

 A warped tile is as bad as a broken one and 

 should be rejected. Another point of great 

 importance, too frequently overlooked, is to 

 order far enough in advance to be certain of 

 having all the tiles in the field when the time 

 arrives for placing them. I have seen whole 

 lines of ditches greatly injured, by delays of 

 this kind, and, worse than that, have worked 

 for days in clearing out fallen earth caused by 

 a heavy rain storm while waiting for the tiles 

 to arrive. 



With the kind and sizes of tiles decided 

 upon, their number and quality, in short, 

 with the tiles and collars close at hand in full 

 amount, we are ready to consider how best 

 the trenches can be dug and the tiles laid. — 

 Beedy Aitch, in Philu. Press. 



Our Local organizations. 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The January meeting of the Lancaster County 

 Agricultural and HorticuUural Society was held in 

 their room, Monday afternoon, the 7th, and the fol- 

 lowing members were present : 



Messrs. Henry G. Rush, New Danville ; Henry M. 

 Engle, Marietta ; John C. Linville, Gap ; Calvin 

 Cooper, Bird-in-Hand ; S. P. Eby, city; Daniel 

 Smeych, city ; M. D. Kendig, Creswell ; Frank R. 

 Diflfenderffer, city; Joseph F. Witmer, Paradise; 

 Johnson Miller, Lititz ; J. M. Johnston, city; John 

 H. Landis, Millersville; Wash. L. Hershey, Chickies! 

 Peter S.. Reist, Lititz; Dr. W. H. Bollinger, city' 

 John Gingrich, East Hempfleld; Frank S. Clark, 

 Drumore ; Henry Shiffner, Bird-in-Hand. 



E. Clem Baldwin, of Salisbury township, was 

 elected a member of the society. 



The committee appointed to examine competitive 

 essays on the wintering of home cattle presented the 

 following report : 



Your committee find the two essays handed in for 

 competition of much merit. They go over the same 

 ground very nearly and contain many valuable sug- 

 gestions. They recommend that the first premium 

 be rewarded to the one marked " A " and the second 

 premium to the one marked " B." 

 Crop Reports. 

 H. M. Engle said it was hardly worth while to talk 

 about the crops at this time of year, everything is 

 snowed under, and it is impossible to tell what may 

 be the prospect for next year's crops. He reported 

 the rainfall for November to be seven sixteenths of 

 an inch, and for December, including melted snow, 

 at 2 inches and six sixteenths. 



Peter S. Reist said it was important to have the 

 tobacco crop discussed. A large portion of it is in 

 the hands of farmers, and there are reports of tip- 

 rot and other damage. He was anxious to hear the 

 real condition of the crop, and as to the best way of 

 stripping, assorting and preparing for market. So 

 far as _he can learn the quality of the tobacco is 

 good. 



Mr. Engle said that some farmers in his neighbor- 

 hood who had suffered from tip mould cut off the 

 damaged part of the leaf with shears. 



S. P. Eby said he had two and a half acres of to- 

 bacco, and under direction of buyers, his farmer had 

 cut off the damaged tips and baled the tobacco as 

 usual. 



J. H. Landis said that in his neighborhood the 

 growers were making separate grades of their to- 

 bacco ; the perfect was carefully separated from that 

 which had mouldy tips and mouldd ribs. 



M. D. Kendig regarded it as being very important 

 to keep the good leaf separate from the damaged. 

 He asked whether it was better in very wet weather, 

 such as we had before the cold snap, to keep the 

 tobacco house open or shut up. His own opinion was 

 that it is better to keep the house open. He had 

 noticed that the tobacco which was cut earliest and 

 %vas the driest suffered more from tip rot than the 

 later tobacco. 



John H. Landis, of the same township, said this 

 experience was exactly the reverse— the early cut 

 tobacco escaped and the late suffered from tip rot. 

 President Resh said his best tobacco was that which 

 had hung over his haymow, and his worst that which 

 he hung in a shed near the ground. With one of his 

 neighbors the case was exactly the reverse, the to- 

 bacco that was hung over the mow was damaged, 

 while that which was hung below escaped. He be- 

 lieved that tobacco hung near the ventilators was 



more likely to be damaged by mould than that which 

 hangs further away from it. 



The Sumatra Question. 

 Peter S. Reist thought it to be the duty of this so- 

 ciety to look after the tobacco interests of this 

 county, which are now menaced by the importation 

 of Sumatra and other tobaccos grown on cheap 

 lands and cultivated by cheap labor, with which we 

 cannot compete, and which will drive our tobacco 

 out of the market unless it receives the protection to 

 which it is entitled. He thought something should 

 be done to prevent the invasion of the law by whioh 

 Sumatra tobacco was imported under a duty of :1.5 

 cents instead of 75 cents and a dollar, as the law con- 

 templated. 



Mr. Eby agreed that some action should be taken 

 speedily, and that this society should take the 

 initiative. 



Mr. Kendig said a change should be made in the 

 tariff law, which designed to protect us, but does not 

 protect us. He urged early action. 



Johnson Miller advised that the society call a 

 meeting of the tobacco growers and get an expres- 

 sion of their sentiments on the tobacco tax question. 

 It might be well to have a committee appointed to 

 confer with the authorities at Washington, and to 

 suggest the shaping of legislation in the tobacco 

 growers' interest. 



F. II. Diffenderffer said the only hope is in having 

 the Secretary of the Treasury reverse his recent de- 

 cision by which Sumatra wrappers are allowed to be 

 imported at -35 cents when baled with 20 per cent, of 

 fillers. Relief cannot be looked for from Congress. 

 Tqe temper of the present House of Representatives 

 is on the other side. He regarded the •".? per cent, 

 duty a clear invasion of the intent of the law and he 

 theught the secretary of the Treasury ought to be in- 

 duced to reverse his decision. 



Johnson Miller moved that this society recom- 

 mend that the farmers of Lancaster county assem- 

 ble in the Court House o« Monday next at 10 o'clock 

 to take action on the question. 



Calvin Cooper doubted the propriety of calling 

 such a meeting in the Court House. Our experience 

 in calling special meetings has not been very encour- 

 aging. He believed that the society's meeting room 

 would hold who all would attend. He moved to 

 amend by holding the meeting in the society's room. 



Joseph F. Witmer said that the New York and 

 New England delegation of tobacco men were to call 

 upon the Secretary of the Treasury to-raorrow. He 

 advised that a telegram should be sent to them by 

 this society, endorsing their action and seconding 

 their efforts to have the ' secretary's decision re- 

 versed . 



Peter S Reist said that this society, as a society, 

 should protest against the Sumatra fraud. In this 

 we represent the thousands of tobacco growers in 

 this county. He did not have much faith in calling 

 together a mass meeting of farmers. 



F. R. Diffenderffer advised that a memorial be pre- 

 pared and forwarded by telegraph to our Congress- 

 man, A. Herr Smith, to be presented by him to the 

 Secretary of the Treasury, when the New York and 

 New England delegation call on him. 



Johnson Miller withdrew his motion for a mass 

 meeting, and on motion Mr. Diffenderffer and S. P. 

 Eby were appointed a committee to draft a memorial. 



Mr. Diffenderffer, from the committee to prepare 

 a memorial on the the tobacco question, presented 

 the following : 



Resolved, That this society in common with the 

 thousands of tobacco growers in this county and 

 elsewhere, have learned with surprise and regret the 

 recent decision of the Secretary of the Treasury re- 

 garding the introduction of Sumatra tobacco. This 

 is the largest seed leaf producing county in the 

 Union ; its tobacco product in a single year has ex- 

 ceeded three millions of dollars ; the value of barns 

 and machinery employed is more than a million ; all 

 this is jepordized by the introduction of Sumatra to- 

 bacco at a duty of less than 7.5 cents. They there- 

 fore earnestly request that a rehearing of the case be 

 had, and that the proper relief be affordei to pro- 

 tect the interest of our tobacco growers, now immi- 

 nently jeopardized. 



The resolution was unanimously adopted, and the 



