1884.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



45 



Dr. Wickereham advocated the holding of local 

 agricultural lostitutee for farmers. Such Institutes 

 have been held in Huntingdon, at which over 300 

 persons were in attendance. He believed we could 

 get tlie attendance of 500 farmers at a county insti- 

 tute. Why not try it? Get the best men in the 

 county in the various departments of agriculture, 

 fruitgrowing, dairying, and thus get up an Interest 

 such as has never yet been felt among us. That is 

 the way to create an Interest in the farmer's pro- 

 fession. 



Joseph H. Witmer followed in an argument in the 

 same direction, believing a very successful institute 

 can be held . 



Miscellaneous. 



On motion, the chairman was authorized to ap- 

 point a committee to prepare the details for the hold- 

 of such an Institute. Messrs. Cooper, Wicker- 

 inc, Engle, Brosius and Landis were named the 

 committee. 



M. Engle said there was more damaged corn 

 last year than for forty years. .Seed corn will be 

 scarce. He had on exhibition a yellow corn that did 

 very well with him for some years. It matures well, 

 ripens early in the season, has little cob to the 

 amount of corn on it, and that is thin at the butt, so 

 as to be easily broken oil' at husking time. The 

 iples shown had the butt well grown over with 

 g.ains. A great deal can be done iu corn grow- 

 ing by carelui attention. 



The following question was adopted for general 

 discussion at the next meeting : 



Is there any advantage iu farmers' co-operative 

 associations ? 



On motion, the society adjourned. 



. FULTON FARMERS' CLUB. 



The Farmers' Club of Fulton township met at the 

 residence of Lindley King, on Saturday, March 8. 

 The following members were present : Lindley 

 King, E. Henry Haines, Grace King, Sol. Gregg, C. 

 C. Cauffman, Joseph R. Blackborn, Wm. King and 

 Day Wood. Visitors : Samuel Kirk and wife, Gilpin 

 Reynolds and wife ; Samuel Davenport and family, 

 Wm. King and family, Enos Marsh and wife, Erwin 

 Stubbs and wife, James Smedley and daughter, and 

 Mrs. Thomas King. 



The minutes of last meeting were read and ap- 

 proved. 



Answering Questions. 

 Day Wood asked, " Why is morning sunlight bet 

 ter for plants than afternoon?" Rebecca D. King 

 said that she has always beard it is the case, but 

 could give no reason unless it is that the air is more 

 moist in tlie morning than in the afternoon. Samuel 

 Kirk, " It is said that plants sleep at night, and 

 after a period of inaction the morning sun would 

 Stimulate them to greater activity. 



Sol Gregg called the club's attention to the way a 

 neighbor had trimmed his apple orchard by cutting 

 tbe entire top off, and asked tlie members what they 

 thought of It. E. H. Haines thought the trees are 

 mined ; if they survive, they will send out innum- 

 erable small twigs which will never bear fruit. 

 Lindley King thought they will not form a new top. 

 Ed. Stubbs had grafted the top of a large apple tree, 

 and where the grafts failed to grow, there came out 

 a perfect wilderness of small twigs. Wm. King said 

 that if tbe trees are thrifty they will survive this 

 trimming ; if not they will die. Rebecca D. King 

 spoke of a large cherry tree, from which a large 

 limb was cut and new branches came out and bore 

 fruil. Someone said there is a difference between 

 cherry and apple trees in this case. 



Club adjourned for dinner, and after the usual 

 tour of inspection around tlie building, reassembled 

 and on being called to oriier, the minutes of the 

 meeting last held here, were read and criticisms 

 called for. E. Henry Haines said that he did not see 

 much change from last year except that the trees in 

 front of the house are trimmed up, which he thinks 

 is a good plan as there should be plenty of sunlight 

 about the house to insure health. He also spoke of 



the fat cattle. The President was surprised that Mr. 

 Haines had noticed the trees being trimmed and had 

 not seen the new fences on either side of the lane. CJ. 

 C. Cauffman spoke of a simple, but effective trap for 

 catching pigeons at the barn. The host was com- 

 plimented on his unusual good health and anpear- 

 ance, with many wishes for their long contlnnance. 

 Wm. King read from the I'mctieal Farmer some 

 accounts of experiments with corn and cotton seed 

 meal as feed. Esther Haines read from some paper, 

 " Could women workers support more than them- 

 selves." Wm. King read "Prolils of Dairy Farm- 

 ing;" also an article on the adulteration of honey by 

 glucose, and the manufacturing of spurious butters, 

 stating that the dairy interests need protection from 

 these imitation butters. 



" As corn, oats and hay usually sell in Lancaster 

 county, is it better to sell or feed them ?" the ques- 

 tion for discussion was then taken up. 



E. H. Haines thought that tlie only way to keep 

 up the fertility with any degree of certainty, is to 

 feed your grain and return it to the soil in the shape 

 of barn-yard manure, but in certain sections, where 

 commercial fertilizers act well, this plan of selling 

 of the crops might do for a while. He does not think 

 South Carolina Rock will make a permanent ma- 

 nure, and the only sure, certain one is from the barn- 

 yard. 



Sol. Gregir took the opposite view of the question, 

 and argued that as a rule if feeding of hogs is more 

 profitable than feeding cattle, farofters will feed 

 hogs ; that farmers rush headlong into feeding grain 

 and do not examine into the expenses connected 

 with the feeding of stock. He spoke of the experi- 

 ment in the article read by Wm. King, where the 

 cost of making 262 pounds of beef was $4(3.57, and 

 thought this was (even with the value of the ma- 

 nure) a losing business. He does not value barn- 

 yard manure as highly as some do. Labor Is expen- 

 sive, and the handling of manure was heavy work, 

 and a large part of this mass is comparatively use- 

 less as a fertilizer ; and as South Carolina rock will 

 give as good results, and the expenses of applying 

 are small in comparison, he is in favor of selling the 

 crops and buying fertilizers ; thinks it is more profit- 

 able. 



E. H. Haines said that 20 or 30 years ago cattle 

 feeding was universal in this neighborhood, and had 

 from some cause decreased, until comparatively few 

 cattle were fed ; thinks the present revival is from a 

 necessity to keep the soil up to a permanent fertility ; 

 that there is a general opinion among farmers that 

 barnyard manure is the only safe and durable 

 manure. 



James Smedley was of the opinion that thirty years 

 ago most of the cattle were grass fed. They eat the 

 rough feed through the winter, and the corn was 

 sold, which was found would not keep up the pro- 

 ductiveness of the farms, hence the new departure 

 to grain feed. 



Club then proceeded to the election of officers for 

 the coming year, and the result was as follows : 

 President, Joseph R. Blackborn, Pleasant Grove; 

 Secretary, Day Wood, Goshen ; Treasurer, E. H. 

 Haines, Pleasant Grove ; Librarian, C. C. Cauffman, 

 Wakefield. 



On motion Wm. King, Sol. Gregg 4nd E. H. 

 Haines wete appointed a committee to draft resolu- 

 tions on the death of our worthy and active member, 

 Josiah Brown. 



On motion, Enos Marsh and family were elected 

 members of the club. 



Club then adjourned to meet at Sol. Gregg's, 

 April 12th, 1884. 



TOBACCO GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 



The New England Tobacco Growers' Association 

 held a meeting at Hartford, Conn., on the 7th of 

 February, at which resolutions were passed relative 

 to the action taken before Congress in 188.", and be- 

 fore Secretary Folger last January, and the success 

 that attended their efforts. They congratulate 

 themselves on the result, and say it shows what can 

 be done by united and persistent effort. The asso- 



ciation extends its hearty thanks to all who aided in 

 the proper protection of tbe tobacco industry. The 

 names of Senator Hawley, Piatt and Dawes, and of 

 Representatives Eaton, Smith, HIscock, Hardy, 

 Whitney and Smith, of Pennsylvania, are mentioned 

 as those who contributed largely to the success of 

 the protection measures. 



The resolution, however, that merits most atten- 

 tion is tbe following : " Resolved, That In full 

 faith in the old maxim, ' In union there is strength,' 

 we will act in accordance with that belief and invite 

 the tobacco growers of other States to Immediately 

 form in their own States organizations similar to 

 ours for mutual benefit and protection, the olllcersof 

 which organizations shall be In full sympathy with 

 us and each other." 



This is an Invitation that should be embraced by 

 the professional tobacco growers of every seed-leaf 

 growing State In the Union. They say truly there is 

 strength in union. How much power is needed 

 sometimes was seen during the past year. How 

 soon it may be needed again no one can tell. The 

 tobacco interest we believe to be the only one of any 

 importance in this State that Is not represented by a 

 regularly organized association. Manufacturers of 

 all kinds, merchants, fruit growers, florists and 

 guilds of every class have united for their 

 mutual benefit. The farmers arc represented by 

 more than one hundred separate organizations. 

 Only the tobacco growers have shown an Indiffer- 

 ence to their interests. Why this is we cannot un- 

 dertake to explain ; we only know it is so. Even 

 here, in Lancaster county, the largest and wealthiest 

 single tobacco growing district In the United States, 

 we have no tobacco association whatever. Here, 

 where we grow from twelve to eighteen million 

 pounds of the best domestic leaf known to manufac- 

 turers ; where we have one hundred large packing 

 warehouses, and where the value of the tobacco pro- 

 duct has in some years exceeded three millions 

 of dollars; even here we have been unable to keep 

 up a tobacco grower's society. Eight or ten years 

 ago the attempt was made. We still remember, and 

 regretfully, how the monthly meetings of the growers 

 of the weed grew smaller by degrees, and beautifully 

 less, until finally the organization was abandoned for 

 lack of interest and attendance. Whether any 

 greater interest could be aroused here now, we do 

 not know. It is questionable at best. But we be- 

 lieve it possible to form a strong Stale organization 

 if the effort was made. York, Chester, Bucks, 

 Clinton and other counties are largely engaged in to 

 bacco culture. In ordinary years this Stale produces 

 one-third of all the seed-leaf grown in the United 

 States. Is it not a reflection upon the thousands of 

 tobacco growers and the hundreds of large packers 

 and dealers that they have no organization through 

 which they can make their influence and power felt ? 

 The suggestion of the New England Association 

 should be taken into serious consideration. If an 

 effort was made in the various tobacco growing com- 

 munities, it is undoubted that a large and influential 

 association would result. Events have shown the 

 tobacco industry needs friends who can exert their 

 influence at short notice. This can never be done 

 while they remain disunited. — New Era. 



LINN/EAN SOCIETY. 



The Llnnffin Society met on Saturday afternoon, 

 February 23, 1884, at 2'^ P. .M. The minutes of the 

 previous meeting were read and approved and dues 

 collected. Several lady and gentlemen visitors were 

 present. Vice President J. H. Dubbs was in the chair. 



Donations to the Museum 

 consisted of several specimens of a very common in- 

 sect iu this locality ; and yet, common as it Is, it has 

 not received a distinctive common name, nor yet is 

 its specific name fully determined by scientisls. it is 

 supposed to be Lepisma Saccharina of Lin, and Is 

 known elsewhere under the common name of "silver- 

 tail," " bristle-tall," etc., and ig also sometimes mis' 

 taken for the common " bouse moth." 



It belongs to the order Thysanurna, which includes 

 the " spring-tails," " snow-fleas," and others. 



