1 884. J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



171 



with a drain, and a pump from tiie well, or 

 by means of a two-way pipe this pump should 

 be connected with the well and the cistern 

 both. It should have a laro;c closet and a 

 store room large enough to hold a full supply 

 of groceries for at least half a year. 



Fifth.— The cellar should not be more than 

 five feet below the ground and be fully three 

 feet above it, having plenty of windows to let 

 in light and air when necessary. There should 

 be no wood about the cellar; the doors should 

 be cemented and the walls and piers made of 

 brick. 



Sixth.— The main living room should be on 

 the south side of the house and have large 

 bay-windows, through which the blessed sun 

 may come in and bring life and health and 

 happiness all the day. Never mind if the 

 carpets fade or the furniture covers are 

 bleached white; the mother's cheeks will have 

 the roses and the children will be brown and 

 hearty. 



Seventh. — There should be a hall through 

 the house, running from west to east, so that 

 w^.th both doors open a stream of pure, fresh 

 air, laden with the sweet scent of the roses, 

 may pour through the house. 



The parlor may be on the west and north, 

 and here the good, careful housewife may 

 cherish her bright carpet and her unstained 

 furniture, fearless of the sun's rays, excepting 

 those golden ones which come low, slanting in 

 from the west. A broad veranda may run 

 from the west front around the north corner, 

 providing a cool retreat for summer evenings. 

 The hall should be wide, giving room for 

 broad stairs ; and these could have an easy 

 slope, with low broad treads and landings be- 

 tween the floors, so that the old folks may go 

 up and down with ease and comfort to the 

 now stiffened limbs and wearied muscles. The 

 living room should have an open fire-place, 

 and no account should be made of the dust of 

 it as compared with its cheer and comfort. 

 Space forbids more than a word or two as to 

 the upper rooms, but if we can fully ajjpreci- 

 ate and understand these hints, so far as given, 

 it will not be difficult to arrange these success- 

 fully ; but one must never forget that abun- 

 dant fresh air is iudispensible to healthfulf 

 rest, and sleeping rooms should have high 

 ceilings and, if possible, every one of them an 

 open fire-place and large windows. 



SENDING PLANTS BY MAIL. 

 So much progress has been made by nur- 

 serymen and florists that now it is compara-- 

 tively an easy matter to send plants any 

 reasonable distance by mail with perfect 

 safety. Of course, such plants require care- 

 ful packing ; not only must they be kept moist, 

 but they must be packed so as to insure them 

 against damage in handling while in the mail. 

 Mail pouches do not always receive the kind- 

 est treatment in the world, and unless pack- 

 ages are well packed serious damage will 

 result. Testing as I do a large number of 

 varieties, I receive a large number of pack- 

 ages through the mail, and uniformly have 

 received them in good condition. The first 

 essential in having good plants live is to keep 

 the roots damp and uninjured. For this pur- 

 pose moss is used ; over this was generally 

 placed two or three layers of oiled paper, and 

 then over this stout wrapping paper, each 

 wrapper being well tied on, and in this way 



packages came through long distances without 

 injuiy. I had occasion to send to Chambers 

 burg. Pa., for a collection of roses ; they came 

 as nice and fresh as though they were just 

 out of the ground. They were packed first in 

 damp moss, then a layer of oiled paper ; the 

 package in this condition was put in a stout 

 pasteboard tube and then wrapped with 

 wrapping-paper, on which was the address. 

 These must have been three or fo\ir days on 

 the road, giving them every advantage of 

 close coimection, and yet were in first-class 

 condition, the leaves fresh and green. They 

 were set out and grew right along. Many 

 are deterred from purchasing plants from the 

 fear of their not being able to come long dis- 

 tances through the mail without injury, but 

 my experience is that with the present plan 

 and knowledge of doing the work of packing 

 this risk is reduced to a minimum. At any 

 rate, so fixr as my experience is concerned, I 

 have always had good success with such 

 plants if proper care were given them after 

 they were received.— .iV. J. Shepherd, in Ger- 

 mantown Telegraph. 



Our Local organizations. 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTU- 

 RAL AND HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



In conseqneooe of the absence of a quorum no 

 formal meeting was held on the first Monday in the 

 month. Its near approach to .the Presidential elec- 

 tion may have been the cause. Perhaps it mi^ht be 

 wise to place such contingencies under the holiday 

 provision hereafter. 



FULTON FARMERS' CLUB, 



The Fulton Farmers' Club held its October meet- 

 ing at the residence of Grace A. King, of Fulton 

 township, its members all present except E. H. 

 Haines. There were also several visitors present by 

 invitation. 



Joel King exhibited Golden Russian and Key's 

 Pniliflc wheat, and a sample of corn ; C. C. Caulf- 

 man, three varieties of apples for name, also Catawba 

 and Clinton grapes, and a variety for name ; Mar- 

 shall Nesbit, Smith's cider and Blockley Pippin 

 apples; Mellissa Gregg, Hubardston's Non Such and 

 Fallowater apples ; Phcebe A. King, a mitten curi- 

 ously knit by herself and looking as if it would be 

 very comfortable on a cold day. 



L. S. Gregg asked if it was a good plan to roll the 

 ground after it had been seeded for wheat. 



Marshall Nesbit did not think it was. 



Day Wood said rolling was of no advantage if the 

 ground was not very dry. 



Montilliou Brown thought injurious if a haid rain 

 should happen about the time. He liked to have the 

 ground level for the machine, but for wheat it was 

 of no advantage. He rolled his wheat last spring, 

 which he preferred to rollinir in the fall. 



C. C. Cauflman would rather roll before the drill. 

 He thought that clover seed took better if the ground 

 was left unrolled. 



.Joseph K. Blackburn had some experience. He 

 once hurried to get his wheat rolled before a rain 

 came up, and when the rain came it proved to be a 

 very heavy one, the ground baked after it and the 

 wheat did not come up well. 



William King asked if we could afford to raise 

 Golden Russian and Foltz wheat, when they would 

 not bring so much as red wheat by five cents per 

 bushel. 



Day Wood : It takes a very good red wheat to 

 grade No. 1. Foltz will grade with most red wheat, 

 and besides it will yield enough to make up the dif- 

 ference in price. 



M. Nesbit thought he had better sow red wheat. 



LIndloy King preferred Foltz; It made a better 

 ylel.l. 



Montillion Brown raised red wheat to eat and 

 Foltz to sell. 



Montillion Brown : What is to be done with the 

 English sparrow ? 



Marshall Nesbit would kill them. 



Lindley King considered them a nuisance, but did 

 not know how anything could be done to abate It. 



S. L. Gregg thought we had better cage them and 

 send them back . 



Montillion Brown thought that after other birds 

 had left for the winter they might be poisoned. 



Elmira Wood asked whether it was better to sell 

 pork when butchered or salt It and sell the cured 

 meat. 



S. L. Gregg : It is better to sell before salting. It 

 requires a great deal of care and labor salt it proper- 

 ly— besides the offal, which is diflieult to dispose of 

 to advantage. 



Afternoon Session. 



The minutes of the last meeting held at the place 

 were read and criticisms on the larm management 

 were called for. 



S. L. Gregg thought that things about the place 

 were looking quite as well or rather better than 

 common. 



Montillion Brown had noticed some very fine ho^, 

 and other things are looking well. 



C. C. Cauffman spoke of a very substantial new 

 fence along the road. 



Literary Exercises. 



Grace A. King read an article entitled " Warning 

 Mothers." 



li. D. King read " Forgive and Forget." 



Adjourned to meet at Joseph R. Blackburn's, on 

 November 8. 



LINN/EAN SOCIETY. 



The Linnajan Society met in their museum rooms 

 on Saturday, October L'.")th, 188-t, at 'J'i o'clock in 

 the afternoon. The minutes of the previous meeting 

 were read and approved, roll called, and dues col- 

 lected. The President, Hon. J. P. Wickersham, oc- 

 cupied the chair. 



The donations to the Museum were examined and 

 found to consist of the following : 



A botMe of different species, or young and adult 

 hair worms, donated by Mr. David Gibson, corner of 

 North Duke and James streets, found in a stream 

 among water cress. 



A bottle of white silicioussand, from Minneapolis, 

 Minn., donated by Mr. C. A. Heinitsh ; used by the 

 Flint Glass Company, of that place. 



A box of specimens of the hornet ( Vespa maculala) 

 from Maryland, donated by J. M. Westhaeffer. 



The donations to the Library were as follows : 



Lancaster Fakmek for October, 1884. Bulletin 

 of Linnspan Society, September, 1884 ; Circular of 

 Information, Bureau of Education, Nos. 4 and 5, 

 1884 ; 11 Scientific Bulletins, Annual Report for 

 1^84, and Register of the University of California, 

 located at Berkeley, Col.; Book Worm for October, 

 1884; Catalogue of Second-Hand Books, United 

 States ; Patent Ollice Gazelle, Vol. 28, No. 14, and 

 Index to Vol. 28; Vol. 29, Nos. 1, .5; Index of 

 Patentees and Inventors for quarter ending June 30, 

 1884 : Report to Minister of Instruction, France, on 

 the Ashburnham Manuscripts ; Report on the Llbrl 

 Collection, and Observations of American News- 

 papers on the two collections from Harrison Wright, 

 Secretary Wyoming Historical and Geological Socie- 

 ty ; a number of prospectuses, etc. 



Dr.S. S. Kathvon read the following additional 

 notes on deposits at last meeting : " As an appendix 

 to the remarks on the specimen of Polyp/torus Lo- 

 halus, I would further state that on the 5th and 6th 

 of September five specimens of Diaperit Hydni — a 

 species of Jfeleromeroutt Coteoplera — were evolved 

 from it ; the eggs or larv:c of which must have been 

 in it when it was found on the l.'Jtli of July. It may 

 also be worth while to state that these beetles only 

 come forth from their burrows at night, being care- 

 fully hidden during the day. A peculiar character- 



