r5« 



name. William King, grapes and two varieties of 

 apples for a name. B. H. HaineF, six varieties of 

 apples, two of pears and six of grapes. Also, a 

 bunch of hops, some of which measured iiy, inches 

 in length. Moulillion Brown, six varieties of grapes 

 and two of pears. Layman C. Blackburn, three va- 

 rieties of pears. Marshall Nesbit, potatoes for name. 

 Joseph R. Blackburn, Heiges' prolific wheat. Timo- 

 thy Haines, two varieties grapes and Seckle pears. 



Solomon L. Gregg asked if apple trees that had 

 been re-topped by grafting bear as well as others. 



The experience and observation of all present 

 went to show that they would do well, although 

 some thought that they did not live long. 



Montlllion Brown : Fallawater apple trees are 

 short lived. Would they do better if grafted in an- 

 other variety high up ? 



E. H. Haines thought that it would be a good 

 Idea. The borers work on Fallawater apple trees 

 more than other trees. They might be suved by 

 grafting some distance from the ground. Timothy 

 Haines has one that has been grafted about six feet 

 up. It is healthy yet, but may not remain so. 



Several questions were handed to the Secretary, 

 as follows : 



1. After the fruit is formed on a grape vine, will 

 It do any harm to keep a part of the new growth cut 

 away ! 



Wm. Ingram had tried it. It did not do any bet- 

 ter, either in growth or ripening. 



E. H. Haines thought it might be better to keep 

 some of the foliage cut away so as not to shade the 

 fruit. 



Timothy Haines thought that grapes ripened bet- 

 ter in the shade. When the foliage is eaten away by 

 worms, they will not ripen at all. 



2. Will a walnut tree standing in a field do barm 

 to the crops. 



E. H. Haines used to think it did not, but thinks 

 differently now. 



Wm. King : It depends on what crop it is. If 

 timothy, it will grow under it ; clover and other 

 crops will not. 



Layman C. Blackburn : If timothy will grow it is 

 about the only crop that will. 



Wm. Ingram : Timothy and wheat will grow, 

 under a walnut, but corn will do no good. 



Day Wood did not think there was much differ- 

 ence between a walnut and chestnut. Wheat will 

 grow under them but will not fill. 



:i. To J. K. Blackburn : How did the oats on the 

 ground plowed last fall compare with that on the 

 ground plowed this spring ? 



J. R. Blackburn : There was very little difference. 



4. Will apples that are ripe now make good 

 vinegar ? 



5. L. Gregg : They will not make as good vinegar 

 as late apples. Early cider is not near so rich as 

 late cider. 



J. K.Blackburn: They will make good] vinegar, 

 hut probably not the best. 



E. H. Haines did not think they would. 



Layman C. Blackburn : What does it cost to make 

 100 pounds of beef when corn is fiO cents per bushel, 

 and what sized cattle are most profltalile to feed ? 

 There was no one present ready to answer this ques- 

 tion fully. 



Day Wood calculated on feeding about fifty 

 bushels of corn to each of his steers, and expected 

 them to gain four hundred pounds per head. 

 Viewing the Host's Farm, 



The criticisms on the farm were mostly of a favor- 

 able character. The buildings in good order, fine 

 hogs, etc., but tlie hedge around the orchard was 

 thought by some to be rather too high for a fence, 

 and not high for a wind break. 



The host read an article on the " Unestlmated In- 

 come of the Farmer." 



Belle Mooney read an essay, entitled " Our Pro- 

 gression," showing the progress in the acts and all 

 the various ways and doings of men since the dis- 

 covery of the continent. 



E. H. Haines read a letter that he had received 

 from Joseph A. Roman, a former member of the 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[October, 



Club, who went to Missouri over a year ago. The 

 writer spoke feelingly of changes in the Club occa- 

 sioned by the death of two of its members during 

 the last year, and was afraid that if he ever was per- 

 mitted to meet with it again, he would find that it 

 was no longer " Our Club." He was satisfied with 

 his location, and thought that raising short-horns 

 would pay better than making giltcdged butter for 

 twenty cents per pound. But he would leave the 

 bright side for others to show. He would show the 

 dark side. He was living in a log house, with some 

 of the chinking out, so that the moonlight could 

 stream in. His wagon shed was a post oak grove. 

 Weeds are a great nuisance, especially the sand burr 

 cockle, burr and horse nettle. The latter is dis 

 tributed all over the Mississippi Valley. Ticks and 

 fleas are also very abundant. They are of the kind 

 that wade right in, and he would advise any one 

 coming out there to have his shirt made open in 

 front ; it's handier. 



Carrie Blackburn recited " The Way of the 

 World." 



A. E. Wood had seen a recipe of a Michigan 

 woman for canning corn, and was thinking of giving 

 it a trial, when she noticed an article in the paper 

 giving the results of a trial made by another woman. 

 She had the corn packed, the tops of the cans 

 screwed on and placed in a boiler of cold water and 

 a fire started under it. When she came to look at it 

 she found corn and broken cans all mixed together in 

 the boiler. She would not give her thoughts about 

 that Michigan woman ; they would not look well on 

 paper. 



Adjourned to meet at G. A. King's at the usual 

 time in October. 



LINNiEAN SOCIETY. 



The Linnaean Society, after an adjournment of three 

 months, met on Saturday afternoon, September 27th, 

 at 2 o'clock in the museum ante-room. The presi- 

 dent, Hon. J. P. Wickersham, was in the chair, and 

 ten members in attendance and several visitors pre 

 sent. The minutes of the previous meeting were 

 read and approved and dues collected. 



Donations to the Museum, 



A large specimen of a " tarantula" — a species of 

 Mygale— apparently Mygale hentzii, from Mr. Charles 

 Peters, dealer in general merchandise, No. 302 Mid- 

 dle street. This specimen was brought from South 

 or Central America in a bunch of Bananas, reaching 

 Lancaster about the middle of last June, and it came 

 into Dr. Rathvon's possession a few days after our 

 last meeting Mr. Peters placed live flies in the jar 

 with the animal, which it d id not devour. On the day 

 Dr. Rathvon received it he introduced a living male 

 specimen of Corydalns cornuius, but the spider did 

 not seem to recognize its presence. On the next 

 morning thereafter, the insect was dead, but there 

 was nothing to indicate whether it died by violence 

 or a natural death, as no part of its body had been 

 consumed, but remained entire. He then conceived 

 the idea of testing its power of endurance without 

 food, and it survived until the 25th of July, showing 

 remarkable tenacity. It was kept in a fruit jar, 

 with the top screwed on, and therefore must have 

 had a limited supply, even of atmospheric air. 



The fact of insects and other animals being 

 brought from Southern regions, packed in bananas, 

 is very interesting, and of frequent occurrance. Last 

 year Mr. S. M. Sener found two very large flies in a 

 bunch of this fruit that had just been opened on the 

 corner of North Queen and Orange streets. They 

 appeared to belong to the genus Syrpuus, or an 

 allied genuf . Two years ago an agent of Philadel- 

 phia, informed me that a beautiful blue and green 

 lizzard, about six inches long, sprang from a box 

 containing a bunch of bananas, that had been sent 

 up by a friend in Central America, but it made its 

 escape before it coukl be secured. From his descrip- 

 tion of it, it evidently belonged to the Lacertid^ 

 or true lizzard family, and probably to the genus 

 Lacerta. 



In the Daily Exmniner of July 25, 1884, there aip- 

 peared a paragraph to the effect that a small bird 



had dropped from a bunch of bananas that had just 

 been hung up by a fruiterer at Concord, N. H. The 

 bird seemed to be nearly starved, but revived, fed 

 greedily on flies, and was very lively, but died the 

 next day, it is supposed from a surfeit of North 

 American flies. No other description was given 

 than that it was small in size, " spotted black and 

 white, and somewhat resembled a wookpecker." It 

 may have been a " Titmouse," a " Sapsucker," or a 

 ■' Creeper," or possibly a small species of Picus. 



But the most remarkable " find " is that recorded 

 in " Ward's Natural Science Bulletin," for July, 

 1884, in which it is stated that a gentleman of Roches- 

 ter, N.T., purchased a bunch of bananas, and on 

 removing the fruit from the stem he discovered a 

 small female "opossum"' {Didelphis dorsigera), 

 which had come all the way from Surinam, S. A., 

 hidden within a bunch of bananas. But more re- 

 markable still, she was accompanied by six young 

 ones, all clinging by their naked, prehensile tails, to 

 the tail of their mother. Five of these died in at- 

 tempting to wean them, and the sixth was eaten by 

 the mother. From this it would appear that the 

 banana trade might be made a prolific source for the 

 collection of small foreign animals, for, doubtless, 

 there have been many similar cases that have "never 

 been recorded, or the records of which have not been 

 brought to our notice. 



Mr. Charles A. Heinitsh donated a small specimen 

 of the " pipe fish," (Syngnathus peckianus), taken 

 from the throat of a blue fish, captured near Barne 

 gat, N. J., in July last. This is one of the most in- 

 teresting little subjects of the aqueous realm. It be- 

 longs to the limited order Lophobranchii— includ- 

 ing those fishes which have the gills in small founded 

 tufts along the bronchial arch, instead of resembling 

 a fine-toothed comb, as in the case of fishes generally. 

 The order contains but one family {Syngnatlddoe), 

 which also includes the sea horse {Hypocainpns hud- 

 soniiis) and its cogeuers. What gives it additional 

 interest is the fact that it may be said to represent in 

 the class Juices, the marsupial animals in the class 

 Mammalia. During incubation the eggs are carried 

 in an external abdominal pouch, and the young issue 

 from it in due time, perfectly formed ; but the most 

 anomolous circumstance of all is, that the males 

 possess this pouch, and carry and hatch the eggs, 

 and not the females. 



Mr. Heinitsh also donates a small specimen of the 

 " Bait Shrimp" (Crango7i septemspinoms) or "ieven 

 Spined Shrimp." Two infant specimens of the 

 " King Crab," (Limulus polyphemus) or " Horse- 

 shoe Crab," were donated by Mr. Wm. Beukert,who 

 received them by mail from a friend at Sag Harbor, 

 N. T. Doubtless all the crustaceans are very pro- 

 lific, but this species in particular is known to be so. 

 In an adult female sent to the society nearly twenty 

 years ago, were found and secured at least half a 

 pint of eggs. The whole cavity of the anterior por- 

 tion of the animal {Carapace) was filled with eggs, 

 indeed, the whole body appeared to be nothing but 

 shell and eggs, and many of them were not secured. 

 No doubt their normal function is to produce suste 

 nance for other marine animals. They have been 

 taken from the stomachs of fishes, and perhaps,when 

 quite young, they may furnish a luxurious repast, 

 but there seems to be a very small quantity of an 

 edible quality in the adults. The adults attain to 

 two feet in length, and they use the same organs for 

 both walking and eating. They constitute the family 

 Limulvid^, in the order Mitomostracha of the class 

 Crustacea. They are organically lowest in their 

 class. 



On the 17th of July last, near the camp of the 

 "Tucquan Club," at York Furnace Spring, Miss 

 Annie Friday, of Lancaster, captured a very beauti- 

 ful specimen of Amhhjstoma coccinea, perhaps the 

 first specimen taken In Lancaster county. (Nearly 

 forty years ago Dr. Rathvon found it very abundant, 

 in a much decayed old log hut, at the head of Hunt- 

 er's Lake, in Lycoming county, but this was the first 

 living specimen he ever saw in the county of Lancas- 

 ter, although it may abound here.) This little reptile 

 Is not quite three inches in length, has two rows of 

 orange colored spots margined with black ; one row 



