The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. B. S. BATHVON, Editor. 



■LANCASTER, PA., DECEMBER, 1884. 



Vol. vn. No. 12. 



Editorial. 



DECEMBER. 



" The last fell object of this scene 

 That passed before my view, 

 Was a scowling; aged man 

 Dressed in ambi<;uous hue. 

 Around his humped shoulders hung 

 A shagfiy coat of wWte, 

 Made I'rom the polar bear's rough skin, 

 The emblem of stern might; 

 His upraised right hand clutched an axe, 

 His left a faggot gnarly. 

 And from his belt a canteen hung 

 Filled with the "juice of barley," 

 Out from his glaring eye balls shot 

 A glance I'll e're remember, 

 And from his lips a shiv'ring blast 

 That echo'd "Old December." 



This was the tenth motith when the year 

 began in March with the vernal equinox ; but 

 since January and February liave been placed 

 before it the term has become quite incorrect, 

 it now being the twelfth month, and also the 

 last one of the year. 



The month of December is.perhapS, now the 

 most remarkable month in the year, as con- 

 taining the festival of Christmas-tide, the 

 original period of which was transferred from 

 the 6th of January to the 2.jth of December, 

 by Julius I., in the fourth century of the 

 Christian era. Tlie advent of this month 

 heralds the death of the pending year, and 

 the birth of a new one ; and also the appa- 

 rent deatli of Northern vegetation, which, 

 however, be(iueaths to posterity the germs of 

 its future resurrection. 



"December, says Vekstegan, had his due 

 appellation given him by our ancestors, in 

 the name of Winter monath, that is, Winter 

 month; but after the Saxons received Christi- 

 anity they then, out of devotion to the birth- 

 time of Christ, termed it heligh-mmath, that 

 is, holij-month.'''' 



It would have been much better to have at- 

 tached January and February to the end of 

 the year, than to the beyinninij ; commencing 

 the New Year when nature begins her annual 

 renewal. Under any circumstances, the 

 months of January and February are employ- 

 ed mainly in preparation and transition. 



There is still some out-door work on the 

 farm where the weather permits ; governed 

 by locality, previous vigilance, and fore- 

 handedness. The care of hot-beds, the pre- 

 paration of composts, manure for hot-beds, 

 transplanting trees, draining trenches, and 

 many other matters may still be attended to. 

 To those who pay any attention to market 

 gardening, raddislies and salads may be sown 

 in frames. 



Still, December with the provident farmer 

 may be the opportunity for domestic enjoy- 

 ment, provided he is not too fond of spending 

 his leisure hours in the tavern and the town. 

 He has passed through the hurried labors of 

 seed time and harvest, and his crops have 

 been marketed or are safely stored away for 

 future use. If he wills it, now he may have 



time for reading, for reflection, and for social 

 intercourse. Tlie farmer, unconsciously per- 

 haps, occupies an exalted position in life's 

 social and physical economies, for he minis- 

 ters not only to his own and his families 

 wants, but also to those of the community of 

 which lie is a member; and not to these alone, 

 but often to communities in remote parts of 

 the earth. 



From the general isolation of the farmer, 

 and his deprivation of social fellowsliip, more 

 than many other occupations, he and his 

 family are in a measure thrown back upon 

 themselves for recreation and enjoyment. 

 This, however, is not always a subject of re- 

 gret, because under such conditions good 

 books and flowers, and where practicable, 

 music and innocent diversions, may afford a 

 purer recreation, tlian much that obtains in 

 social intercourse. Away back in the memory 

 of our juvenile school days, we recall a signi- 

 ficant "copy " set by the master, viz : ^^ Evil 

 communications corriqit good manners ;^^ with- 

 out knowing exactly what it meant. Since 

 that period hundreds of thousands of fellow 

 beings have sadly realized its meaning, and 

 some of them have come from the farms too. 



" Better is a dinner of herls and love there- 

 with, than the stalled ox and hatred there- 

 with."' 



ANNUAL GREETINGS. 

 It seems to be a common custom for repre- 

 sentatives of periodical publications, to hold 

 a "confab" with their readers and patrons, 

 at the end of each year at least ; it may be 

 oftener, but not less than once in twelve 

 months, is considered as almost obligatory, 

 and we have no desire to "shirk" the obli- 

 gation. There are circumstances, no doubt, 

 under which such a confab might constitute 

 a most agreeable and reciprocal medium of 

 intercommunication, and there are also cir- 

 cumstances under which it might not. It is 

 not for us to say what the relation between us 

 and our readers and correspondents may be, 

 for even if we had ever intentionally offended, 

 that offence could not possibly have extended 

 to one hundred thousand, especially if restricted 

 to contributors and correspondents. But that 

 is neither " here nor there, " what we desire 

 to say just now is to the effect that this num- 

 ber of the Farmer completes our sixteenth 

 volume, and we beg leave to apologize for 

 telling our readers a tiling that common sense 

 dictates they certainly know, or ought to 

 know themselves. By the sheerest economy 

 the Lancaster Farmer has "pulled 

 through " a somewhat precarious tenure of 

 sixteen years; and, so far as the obligation or 

 responsibility ought to rest upon the should- 

 ers of the yeomanry of Lancaster county, 

 there is no reason why it should not survive 

 sixteen hundred years. If man ate " baker's 

 bread " sixteen hundred years ago ( Vide Her- 

 cidaneum and Pompeii j, and still eats it, it is 

 more than probable that lie will continue to 

 eat it until the end of time, if grain should be 

 cultivated so long. Many things in this world 



have been ephemeral, but it has been demon- 

 strated that the Farmer has not been among 

 these, for it lias already lived 5,S40 days, and 

 if those interested in domestic and agricultu- 

 ral progress only put so much as one of their 

 fingers to thfe wheel its existence can be pro- 

 longed to twice that number, if not made 

 perpetual. 



Many important events in the history of 

 our country, and of mankind at large have 

 transpired, since our last annual address to 

 our patrons and readers, but none of those 

 events seem more absorbing, or exercise a 

 greater influence upon the social progress of 

 tlie iiuman race than the advent of the base- 

 hall and the roller-rink. 



These twin institutions can make or un- 

 make even fashion, and demonstrate that the 

 social fabric is not impelled and sustained by 

 mind and brain, but by a lower combination 

 of sound and muscle. It is true, that during 

 the past year we have been successful in culti- 

 vating some wheat,a little corn,a moiety of to- 

 bacco, and a handful of fruit, but these tame 

 and common-place products cannot be com- 

 pared with the great moral progress of this 

 enlightened age, as illustrated in the ma- 

 nipulations of the ball and rink. 



Badinage aside, dear reader, we offer our 

 gratulations to all, high or low, rich or poor, 

 wise or otherwise ; but do we duly appreciate 

 our status as progressive American citizens V 

 Are we more anxious to aypear, than to 6e? 

 Do we prefer to bow before the shrine of a 

 shadow, rather than grasp the suhstance ? 



As a community, a nation, and a people, 

 we are, and always have been signally blest, 

 ajud at each annual cycle of Time's impetuous 

 wheel, we probably think upon those bles- 

 sings and feebly endeavor to impart them to 

 others. But these may be only temporary 

 impulses engendered for special occasions, 

 whereas, they should always be "close denote- 

 ments working from the lieart that passion 

 cannot rule." Do not let the new fangled 

 elements of social progress obliterate the 

 tiiue-lionored Christmas-tide, the spirit ot 

 which compreliends humanity. Before we 

 "turn a new leaf," let us read the old one 

 over again, else we may only grope again 

 through another year. 



Let "peace on earth, good will toward 

 man," always be the predominating senti- 

 ment, then shall we practically know and feel 

 the meaning of a happy Christmas-tide. 



"POLYSOLVE." 

 And now comes a new remedy for the de- 

 struction of noxious insects, called the '■'■Poly- 

 solve Freparations" — the plural is used be- 

 cause there are three preparations, numbered 

 one, two and three, designated by red, blue and 

 yreen labels. Each has its special use. 

 One pound of the preparation diluted with 

 from one gallon to a gallon and a half of 

 water, applied to the trunks, roots or 

 branches, is said to destroy the insects, their 

 larvffi, or their eggs. The implements used to 

 apply it are a whitewash brush, a steel brush, 



