1884.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



29 



been the rubbish ou the grouml. Fall ploiiirhlnf; 

 will allow of the ground becomlnfr well settled, and 

 there will be little or no trouble iu cultivating In the 

 spring. The host deserves credit for making the ex- 

 periments. 



Layman Blackborn found objections to so much 

 Ice around the buildings ; does not believe in the 

 plan of ploughing the oats ground In the fall. 



Corie Blackborn recited " The Triumph of our 

 Language." 



Grace King read an article from The. Farm Journal 

 on " Care of Horses." 



The host read a letter ho had received for K. Key- 

 nolds, of Cecil county, Md,, addressed to the club, 

 giving his experience and some suggestions on the 

 cultivation of German carp and describing the loca- 

 tion and mode of constructing ponds. 



E. H. Haines suggested that the club hold a joint 

 public sale, thus giving members who have stock for 

 sale an opportunity to dispose of it, by joininff to- 

 gether, employ an auctioneer and hold it in some 

 central place. The club was pleased with the pro- 

 position, but the matter was postponed until a future 

 meeting. 



The following question was adopted for discussion 

 at the next meeting. " As hay, corn and oats 

 usually sell in our neighborhood, is It better to feed 

 or sell them." 



The club takes this opportunity to return thanks 

 to Hon. Wm. Brosiu^, for copies of the annual re- 

 ports of the State Board of Agriculture. 



Adjourned to meet at Lindley King's residence, 

 March 7, 1S84. 



LINNiEAN SOCIETY. 



The Linnean Society met ou Saturday afternoon, 

 January 2(Jth,18S4, at 2 P. M., the President, Hon. 

 J. P. Wickersham, in tlie chair. The minutes of 

 previous meeting were read and approved and 

 monthly dues collected. 



Donations to the Museum. 



Two specimens of the larva of a species of Har- 

 palus, supposed to be pensylvauicus— a common 

 "ground beetle "—belonging to a family of the 

 Carabidi£. 



What is specially remarkable in regard to these in- 

 sects Is that they were found active on the snow, 

 about the beginning of January, after a temporary 

 thaw, and so numerous were they that they attract- 

 ed the crows. 



Donated by Mr. Frederick Beates, of Willow 

 Street, on whose premises they were found. 



Three cases of the " case worm " or " caddl 

 worm," the work of the larva of a species of Phry- 

 gania, belonging to the order Neuroptera ; and also 

 the sack of the "sack worm" or "drop worm." 

 Thyridopteryx ephemEcriformis, belonging to the 

 order Lepidoptero. The former constructs its habi- 

 tation in streams of water, out of whatever ma- 

 terial it may be able to find there, aud the latter on 

 trees and shrubbery, out of leaves and leaf-stems. 

 Of course, in both cases the outer appearance will 

 differ according to the material to which the insects 

 have access. 



Several specimens of what seems to be the evacu 

 ated egge of a species o Bombycidoe, perhaps Atia- 

 cus luna or cecropia, by S. .\I. Sener. 



A dried specimen of what is called a " Cedar 

 apple," about which there has been, and still is, a 

 difference of opinion, as to whether it is a fungus or 

 a gall— whether produced by an animal ova or a veg- 

 etable spore. It is said that the larva: of a species 

 of syinps have been found In them ; but this may not 

 be the cause of the excrcsence, any more than the 

 larva of a Curcullo is the cause of the " black knot" 

 of the plum or cherry tree. 



Two bean seeds infested by Bruchus fabea or 

 " bcan-weavil" — illustrating the destructive charac- 

 ter of this insect compared with Bruchus pisi or 

 " pea-weevil," which seldom, if ever, deposits more 

 than one egg In a pea seed. These two seeds show 

 fifty cells, from which most of the insects have es- 

 caped. 



A tine specimen of the common " Toadflsh," 

 (*Bfttrachus tau) donated by Mr. John Sides, of 

 North Queen street, found occupying an oyster shell. 

 These fishes are frequently brought to the city of 

 Lancaster, through the dealers In bivalves, and are 

 generally found between the two valves. Of course^ 

 when these fishes are large enough to fill the whole 

 cavity, very little else can be there. Occasionally 

 they are found outside of the shell. I have never 

 been able to learn from those persons from whom i 

 obtained these fishes, whether the shells contained 

 any part of the animal, at the time these fishes occu- 

 pied the shell, or whetlier tlie fish alone occupied if 

 As the tau sometimes occurs twelve Inches In length, 

 it is very probable that the young fish resorts to an 

 already vacated oyster shell as a protective habita. 

 tion just as the " Hermit crab" does. In its native 

 element, it Is said to be often found in cavities unde r 

 stones, oyster beds would afibrd similar protection 

 from all enemies, except parasites, and the oyster- 

 man's dredge. 



Mr. A. J. Zercher, of Conestoga, donates an In 

 fant chick of the white or light Brah ma variety, 

 with four well defined legs. It has been said that 

 these monstrosities only occur under domestication, 

 aud never among animals in a wild state. This has 

 been contradicted by a piscatorial writer, who states 

 that In the Columbia river, the salmon exhibit these 

 abnormal forms, and sometimes large numbers oc- 

 cur in the same locality. 



Donations to Library. 



The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for 

 1882. A quarto volume of 50.5 pages, containing ad- 

 ditionally, 34 folded maps and charts, also 16 quarto 

 maps and nearly .50 other illustrations, frou.' the 

 Coast Survey at Washington, D. C. 



A copy of the Albuquerque Morning Journal, for 

 January 1, 1881. 



A copy of the Manitoba Daily Free Press, for 

 August 11,1883. 



A copy of the New York San, for December 23, 

 1883 



A copy of the Sacramento Weekly Union, for Janu- 

 ary 5, 1884. 



These papers are all large 16 page folios, some of 

 them profusely illustrated, containing interesting 

 local historical matter, and are landmarks in the 

 newspaper progress of our country. They were do- 

 nated respectively by Messrs. W. L. Strachan, C. A. 

 Heiuitsli, W. Rex McComsey and J. Wittich. 



Copy of Buffalo Daily Courier containing proceed- 

 ings of annual meeting of the Buffalo Historical 

 Society . 



Pamphlet on the Wyoming massacre, illustrated 

 with a plate of the monument erected there. 



Alphabetical list of inventions from January to 

 June, 1883. 



American Bookseller and several other circulars 

 and prospectuses of scientific books. 



Tlie librarian hanaed in a report of the number of 

 books donated and purchased by the society, from 

 January, lsS3, to January, 1884, and also the present 

 condition of the library. 



Action on Constitution and By-laws was again de- 

 ferred until a future meeting, and the secretary 

 asked to see several of the members and endeavor 

 to make arrangements for an evening meeting to act 

 on the same, and to notify the members of the time 

 and place by mall. 



The president then announced the following 

 gentlemen and ladies as chairman of the different 

 committees : 



Mammology— Dr. M. L. Davis. 



*This subject of the Aqueous Realm belonics to the 

 order AcanthopteryKia or Spined-fishus, and to the 

 fainil.v Prdicalti or " Angler lishes." The most <oi 



froK." Ixiphius Americanaa of Cuvier, an excccdinRly 



voracioiu nsh, which is from two to three feel lont;, and 



attains a weight of seventy pounds. It baa a loiiB spine 



1 the front part of the head, which it can raise up ut 



The host lies fiat on the bottom of the ocean, aud when 

 a lesser Eourmand snaps at the temptini; bait lo, the 

 Huappcr himself get^ snapped. So at least " the story 

 goes." 



Ornithology— W. L. GUI. 



Hcrpetology— Dr. T. R . Baker. 



Ichthyology— C. A. Hclnltsh. 



F.ntomology — Dr. S. S. Ratbvon. 



Botany— Mrs. L.D. Zcll. 



Geology— Prof. J. S. Stahr. 



Paleontology— Dr. J. Dubbs. 



Microscopy- W. P. King. 



Archicology— S. .M. Sener. 



Mineralogy- J. B. Kevinskl. 



Natural and Historical. 



Miscellaneous- Mrs. P. E. Gibbons. 



A comniuiileatlon was then read from A. F. Ber- 

 lin, of Allentown, in reference to the Indian Altar 

 photographed for the society by Mr. Gill. 



The secretary announced that since the last meet- 

 ing he had notUes printed and sent to all members iu 

 arrears for dues, and that some of them had re- 

 sponded promptty. Ou motion the secretary was 

 then authorized to propose to the stockholders, who 

 are delinquent for some time, that they return to the 

 society their share of stock in lieu of the Indebted 

 dues and that the society would then release them 

 from any further obligation and remove their name 

 from the roll. 



After some scientific discussion society adjourned 

 to meet on Saturday, February Zi, 1884, at 2 P.M. 



STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



At the meeting of the Executive Committee of the 

 State Agricultural Society, held on Wednesday In 

 Harrisburg, the following officers were elected for 

 the ensuing year: President, James Miller; Vice 

 Presidents, George Blight, L. H. Twaddell, John 

 Hunter, William M. Slugerly, Burnet Landretb, 

 David H. Branson, William H. Holstein, Tobias 

 Barto, S. S. Spencer, Daniel H. Nelman, D. H. Wal- 

 ler, Ira Tripp, J. S. Keller, Gab. Heister, J. Piollett, 

 Robert P. Allen, John A. Lemon, J. S. Miller, Daniel 

 O. Gehr, L. A. Mackey, George Rhey, J. Y. Clopper, 

 W. W. Speer, John McDowell, James A. .McKean, 

 J. D. Kirk Patrick, J. C. Thorton ; at large, J. A. 

 Paxsou ; addition members— Executive Committee, 

 A. Wilhelin, Abiier Rutherford, William Taylor, 

 John H. Zeigler, Jefl'erson t'haner ; ex-Presidents— 

 Members of the Board, Frederick Watts, D. Taggart, 

 Jacob S. Haldeman, W. S. Biesel ; Corresponding 

 Secretary, Elliildge McConkey ; Recording Secre- 

 tary, D. W. Seiler; Treasurer, John Rutherford; 

 Chemist and Geologist, A. L. Kennedy ; Librarian, 

 Wm.H.Engle. 



H0RT2CL rURE. 



The Age of the Orange Tree. 

 The great age to which the orange tree lives and 

 bears is an important consideration for the colonist, 

 who might, by a little self-denial, and through a ju- 

 dicious first selection and expenditure upon an 

 orange grove, virtually endow his posterity with an 

 annually increasing income. Risso, In the work al- 

 ready alluded to, mentions that in the Convent of St. 

 Sabiua, at Rome, there is an orange tree said to be 

 603 years old, and at Nice, 1789, there was another 

 which usually bore between .5,000 and 6,000 oranges; 

 ts trunk took two men to encircle it. Its crown was 

 more than 50 feet from the ground, and Its age was 

 I)st, in ant'quity. Even in Enirland, oraugc rearing, 

 during a considerable part of the year In the open 

 air, has not been attcniled with much difficulty, as 

 witness the Beddlngton orcliard in Surrey, of which 

 Bishop Gibson, in his t^ontrlbutions to Camden's 

 Srilamiia, says It " was 100 years old In 1665 ;" the 

 Hampton Court orainie trees, some of which arc 

 stated to be more than 300 years old ; and various 

 gardens in South Devonshire, where, trained against 

 the walls, and only protected with straw mats dur- 

 ing winter, arc sjieclmens which have flourished for 

 at least a century.— CAam6er'» Jonrnal. 



Cultivating the Wheat. 

 The nuts must be gathered as soon as ripe and 

 planted as follows : The ground should be well pre- 

 pared by plowing deep— the deeper the better, then 



