Qtatt of lltw jDorli. REPORT OF DR. FITCH ON THE iXOXIOUS AND OTHER INSECTS, DETRIMENTAL TO AGEIOTJLTURE, AN ADDRESS, DELIVERSO BEFORE TQE NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. ALBANY: C. WENDELL, LEGISLATIVE PRINTER, 1865. COLL . F ^4^ H )^ >'^^ REPORT OF DR. FITCH NOXIOUS AND OTHER INSECTS Detrimental to -Agriculture. AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE NEW" YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. INSECTS INFESTING GARDENS. 9. Northern Tobacco-worm, Potato-worm, Tomato-worm, Sphinx quinquemac- ulata, IXaworth. (Lepidoptera. Spliin the leaves on which she has been feeding. The eggs are bright yellow, smooth and glossy, 0,06 long and 0,035 broad, of an oval form with rounded ends. The Larva, when full grown is over a half inch in length and half as thick, being thickest back of the middle and tapering to a point at its tip. It is a thick plump grub, strongly arched above, and when viewed on one 22 POTATO-BEETLE. THE BEETLE DESCIIISED. side its outline is nearly the form of a crescent. The head is small and much narrower than the fore part of the body, of a flattened spherical form. Its mouth is furnished with short conical, jointed feelers and larjjcjaws whicli are blunt at their ends, with little sharp teeth like those of a saw. Immediately above the mouth on each side of the head is a small conical and jointed projection which is the antenna. The thorax has a large transverse space on the top of its first ring, of a firmer and somewhat coriaceous texture and broadly margined with black on its hind side and with dusky at each end. The abdomen is the thickest part of the body and is distinctly divided into nine segments. It is very plump and rounded, but flattened on its underside. It gradually tapers posteriorly into a conical point the apex of which is blunt and serves as a pro-leg, two small vesicular processes on its lower side at the end serving as feet. There are six legs, placed anteriorly, upon the breast, each leg being com- posed of three joints and ending in a small claw. The larva is of a pale yellow color, often slightly dusky or freckeled on tlie back with minute blackish dots, and along each side are two rows of large black dots, those of the upper row larger, seven in number, not being [continued upon the thoracic or the last abdominal rings, each dot having a small breathing pore in its centre. The head is black and shining, and more or less mottled on the face with dull yellowish. The neck or first ring has a black band near its hind edge; the second ring has also either a short black band or two black dots, whilst the third ring usually shows two small black dots on its back. On the narrow tip of the body are two black bands, the anterior one having at its end on each side a small black dot, and beyond this a large black dot which is the last one of the lower row of dots along the sides. On the next ring forward is a transverse row of six small equidistant black dots, in addition to the two large dots on each side, whereof the upper one is the last of the upper lateral row, and the lower the penultimate one of the lower row. The legs are black: and often along the middle of the body, on the underside, is a row of transverse black spots or clouds, and also a row of small black dots upon each side. The Beetle or mature insect is 0,40 long and 0,25 thick, the female being slightly larger. It is of a regular oval form, very convex above and flat beneaUi, of a hard crustaceous texture, smooth and shining, of a bright straw color, the h(>iid and thorax being sometimes tawny yellow, which is the color of the underside; and is dotted and marked with black. After death its colors often fade, becoming more dull and dark. The head is near- ly spherical and little more than half the width of the thorax, into which it is sunk nearly or quite to the eyes. It is sprinkled over with fine punctures and shows on the front an impressed medial line, and on each side of this a wider shallow indentation. On the crown is a triangular black spot. The nose piece or clypeus, occupying the space between the antennne, is nearly semicircular and placed transversely, and is coarsely and closely punctured. The jaws are coarsely punctured, black at their tips, and have a slender black line along their outer edge. The tips of the palpi or feelers are dark brown. The autennse roach nearly to the base FOTATO-BEETLK. THE BKBTLE DESCRIBED. REMEDIES. of the thorax when turned backward. They are gradually thickened towards their tips, twelve-jointed, the last joint being quite small, conical, and sunk into the ape.x of the preceding joint. The five first joints arc pale yellow or tawny, obovate, the basal one largest, and the third one longer than either of the other three. The remainingjoints are black and somewhat globu- lar. The thorax is transverse, twice as broad as long, broadly notched in front for receiving the head, and its hind side convex. Five punctures are scat- tered over its surface, these punctures becoming more numerous and coarser towards the outer sides. It is commonly margined all round by a slender black line. In the centre are two oblong black spots which diverge for- ward. Back of these is a small black dot which is often wanting; and on each side are about six small black spots; one towards the base, of an oval form and placed transversely; and two round ones, nearly upon a line for- ward of this, the three being equidistant from each other; two towards the hind angle, placed close together and often united, the inner one of these being largest of the six; and the sixth one placed half way between the two last and the forward angle. The scutel is dark brown. Tlie wing- covers have the sutural edge dark brown, and five equidistant black stripes on each. The first or inner stripe is shortest and tapers backward as it gradually approaches the suture, terminating in a very long slender point a considerable space forward of the apex. The two next stripes arc broadest and are united at their tips, beyond which they are sometimes prolonged into the end of the fourth stripe. Tiie outer stripe is the most slender and longest of all, placed on the outer margin but terniiuating before it attains the apex. The wing covers are also punctured in rows extending along the margin of the stripes, the rows being uneven and the middle ones double; and the outer interspace is also punctured. Beneath, the sockets of the legs are black or edged with black, and on the hind breast is a trans- verse black spot on each side, forward of tlie insertion of the hind legs, and also a black stripe on the outer margin of the hind breast, outside of which on the parapleura is a triangular black spot. The abdomen is finely punctured on the disk and base, and has a short black band on the middle of the anterior edge of each segment except the last, and neai; the outer margin a row of six black dots. Tlic legs are tawny yellow,, with the hips at least of the hind pair black and also the knees and feet. Say mentions a variety of this beetle having the wing-covers white. Thifi is probably always their color when recently disclosed from the pupa. What will be the best remedies for this new insect enemy can only be ascertained by experiments with it in its native haunts when its habits are more fully observed. We know not whether turkeys and other fowls relish these beetles, whereby they may be employed to aid in lessening their nimibers. The large size of the beetles and their sluggish move- ments favor their being readily noticed and picked from off the vines. But thcMr numbers are so immense as to dishearten from attempts to thus get rid of them unless some way can be devised to gather them rapidly in large quantities. The method that has been resorted to with some suc- cess against the blistering flics where they have been numerous on the 24 OARDEN TIOEB-UOTB. ITS AUERICAN HISTORY. HOTB DESCRIBED. potato vines, may be of utility, namely, holding a pan with an inch. or two of water in it, under the vines here and there, and sliaking and knock- ing the insects oflf into it, the water holding- them from escaping until a quantity are gathered, when they may be emptied into a bag, and another quantity gathered. They can be killed by immersing the bag in boiling water, and its contents may then be fed to the swine. 11. Garden Tiger-moth, Arctia Caja, Linnseus. (Lepidoptera. Arctiida; ) Eating the loaves of lettuce, strawberries, Ao., a large thick -bodied calerpillarnearly two inches long, of a black color with a row of white shining dots along esrch side and thickly clothed with long soft hairs which are black upon the back and red on the nock and sides; enclosing itself in a thin pule brown cocoon from which towards the end of July comes a largo bcoutiful brown moth with white spots and many irregular stripes oroeaing it« fore wings, its bind wingi ocbre yellow with about four large round blue black spot*. This truly elegant insect, named Caja or the bride by Linnseus, and the caterpillar of which is popularly called the Garden Tiger in England, is abundant all over Europe, but as yet is quite rare in this country. Several specimens were met with in our State at Trenton Falls, by Mr. Edward Doubledaj', in 1837. A male has long been in my collection, which I think was taken the same year at Canajoharie and presented me by Wm. S, Robertson; and when closing these pages for the printer, on the evening of July 2Tth, 1864, a female came in at the open door of my study, flying slowly around with a rustling of its wings which indicated it to be some moth of a large sisse and heavy body. One of Mr. Doubleday's specimens was presented to Dr. Harris, by whom, first in the year 1841, in his Report to the Legislatnre on the Insects of Massachusetts Injurious to Vegetation, it was described as a new species under the name .^rciia Americana, although Godarthad previoasly regarded it as identical with the Caja, in which opinion Boisduval and other French naturalists have since continued to concur. In Agassiz' Lake Soperior, Dr. Harris gives a more full description and a figure of this moth, in which he saj-s the white spots and rivulets on its fore wings are the same as in the European insect, but that it is distinguished from that by the white band margining the thora.^i in front. But in a Euro{>ean specimeo which I have before me, this white band is present and conspicuous as in the American examples, except that it is less broad; which is a circtim- stance of no importance in an insect subject to such great variations in its colors and marks. Thus we are left without any grounds for regarding this as different from the European species. This moth measures from two and a half to three inches across its wings when they are extended, the males being a trifle smaller than tlie females. It is of a rich brown color, the hue of burnt coffee, with some of its parts bright ochre yellow or orange red, and it is variegated with .'?pots and marks of milk white, crimson red, dark blue and black. But it varies a&tonisliingly in its colors and marks. I draw the following description of the spots and markings chiefly from the living specimen before mo, in which they appear to occur in their most usual and perfect condition. The head is brown. The palpi or feelers form two conical points project- OAttDEK TIGGn'UOTH. ITS ASTONIsniNO TAItlETIEB OP COlon. ing obliquely forward and downward from the lower front part of the head, of a darker brown with longer and less dense hairs of a red color along their underside and around the mouth. Coiled up between them is the spiral tongue, of a white color, and only equaling them in length when extended. The antennre reach a third of the length of the wings. They resemble slender, tapering threads, white, their tips brown, their basal joint red, and a brown stripe along their underside. In the males they are pectinated, each joint sending ofl' two short brown branches. The thorax is glol)Ular and brown, with a broad white band in front, occupying the base of the collar and extending backward across the shoulders and uniting •with the white stripe or spot upon the middle of the base of the wings. The collar is edged all around with crimson red, forming a slender margin along the lower edge of the white band and on each side crossing this band and forming a narrow arched band above it. The base of the thorax is also slenderly margined with red, which color widens on each side into a small spot. The sides of the thorax arc pale brown, with a pencil of red hairs in the axilla of the wings. The abdomen is bright ochre yellow with a row of brownish black spots along the middle of the back, the spots transverse, four or five in nnmber, the hind ones largest. The underside is pale brown with the edges of the segments yellow. The wingn are brown, slightly pale towards their hind ends. Their base is white, which color near the middle of cacli wing is prolonged backwards into a long acute point, forward of which are two long egg-shaped brown spots placed side by side, and on the outer edge are two larger brown spots slightly parted from each other by a curved line, with a fifth spot on the inner edge. Towards the middle of each wing on the outer edge are two large white spots of an irregularly triangular form. Beyond these, crossing the wing transversely from the outer margin to the inner angle is a wavy white band which is thickened at its ends. From the middle of this band a curved branch extends forward and inward to the inner margin; and from the same point on the opposite side of the band another branch extends back- ward, nearly to the hind edge?, when it abruptly turns outward and forward and then outward and backward, reaching the outer margin of the wing forward of the tip. In the closed wings these markings upon their hind part are observed to be beautifully symmetrical, having some resemblance to the Greek letter omega with a bar placed horizontally across its middle. The lower wings are deep ochre yellow with four large round blackish blue spots having a black margin, whereof three are situated in a row forward of the hind margin, the inner one of these being the smallest, and the fourth one, wiiich is slightly transverse, is placed forward of the centre. The undersides arc colored and marked similarly but much more pale and dim. The legs are brown with the thighs crimson except upon their under- sides, and the shanks and hind feet arc yellow on their undersides. In respect to its colors and spots, this moth is truly protean, varying to an extent which is most astonishing. Thus the fore wings are sometimes black instead of brown, with all vestiges of the white spots and rivulets upon them vanished. In other instances they are of the same bright yellow 26 OAnOGK TIOEn-MOTH. ITS EOOS. CATRHPILLARS DESCniBED. THE COCOON AND CHRYSALIS. or red color with the hind wings, with a few brown spots upon them; and in still other instances they are white with but a faint tinge of yellow. The hind wings sometimes have their spots diminished and nearly obliterated. In other instances these spots are increased in number and in size; again, they become confluent, forming two broad black bands across the wing; and finally, the whole wing is black and without spots. The Arctia Par- thenon it cannot be doubted is one of the latter varieties of this species, in- termediate between the banded winged and black winged varieties. It is erroneously credited to Kirby in the Smithsonian Catalogue of Lepidoptera. It was described and figured by Dr. Harris, in Agassiz' Lake Superior, and is essentially distinguished as having the base and inner margin of its hind wings black with the remaining portion yellow crossed by a broad black band. The female moth above mentioned dropped seven hundred and forty-four eggs in the course of four days after her capture. Being so prolific it ia evident this insect would very soon become as abundant in our country aa it is in Europe if it were not checked in its increase. It must be that nearly all the caterpillars of each generation are destroyed, probably by birds. Judging from the proceedings of the female when in confinement, her eggs are laid upon the surface of leaves and firmly glued thereto in clusters of from fifty to one hundred, the eggs in each cluster being placed for the most part in contact with each other in regular rows. The eggs are quite small, being about 0.034 in diameter. The^' arc globular, shining, white, with a large faint spot on their summit of a watery appearance. The caterpillars which come from these eggs grow to about two inches in length and have a thick cylindrical body which authors describe as being of a deep black color, densely covered with long soft hairs which arise in bundles from elevated warts. These hairs are of a bright red color on the three fir.st rings and along the sides, and on the rest of the body arc black with their ends gray. The warts from which the red hairs arise are of a bluish gray color; those from which the black ones come are blackisli brown. Three of these warts of a blue color and placed in a row one above the other on each side of each ring are most obvious to the eye. The breathing pores form a row of s^'ining white dots along each side. The head is shin- ing black; the underside and feet are blackish brown. From all the oth'ir caterpillars of our country this is particularly distinguished by the three blue warts on each side of each segment, and the ciuispicuons row of white dots along each side of tiie body. As it approaches maturity, however, its unusually large size will alone suffice to point it out. It would appear to be this creature to which Hiawatha is represented to refer, in Longfellow's much admired po3m, as "The mighty caterpillar Wny-muk-kwana, with the bear skin, King of 1)11 the calerpillars! ' When it is fully grown it encloses itself in a grayish brown cocoon of a soft closely woven texture, intermixed with the hairs of its body. In this it changes to a chrysalis, having the form of an elongated q^q, of a shining black color with the sutures yellowish brown and the pointed end two-lobed 27 CtlT-WonUS. TUB INJCRIKS THEY DO. and studded with little rust-colored points. The insect remains in the co- coon from eighteen to twenty days and then comes forth in its perfect state. Like other caterpillars of the group to which it belongs, this is a general feeder, Rubsisting upon low herbaceous plants of almost every kind, and on a pinch feeding also upon the leaves of trees and shrubs. An incident related by Duponchel (Hist. Nat. des Chenilles), sliows how able it is to sustain itself upon any substance of a vegetable nature which is sufficiently soft for it to masticate. Having forgotten one of these caterpillars which he had wrapped up in a paper envelope and inclosed in a wooden box, he afterwards discovered it had nourished itself upon the paper, as was pro- ren by the dry pellets of excrement in the box, and had after this com- pleted its transformations, producing a moth whicli was a dwarf in its size but witii very bright colors. Some curious facts arc reported, showing the colors of tills moth to vary according to the quality of the food on which the caterpillar is nourished. Thus if it be fed upon lettuce or other vege- tation of a similar succulent nature, the colors of the moth are more dim and pale than when it is reared on substances which are less watery. The German collectors are said to obtain the variety having the under wings black by forcing the caterpillars to feed exclusively upon Ihe leaves of the walnut. Some of the French, however, are stated to have tried this with- out success. It may be that some concurring atmospherical influences, some peculiarity of the season, is also necessary to insure the particular result. The species certaiidy presents a most interesting subject for the experiments of amateurs. 12, CoR^f Cut-Worm, Agrotis nigricans, Linn., Var. Maizi. (Lepidoptera. Noctuidae.) Plate 4, fig. 2, 3. In Jane, severing the young Indian corn and other plants, half an inch above the ground, by night, and by day hiding itself slightly under the surface; a thicl<, cylindrical, gray worm an inch and a quarter long, with rather fuint, paler and darker stripes, the tup of its neck shining black with three whitish stripes. The insects from which our farmers experienced the greatest vexation and injury the past season (1863), were the Cut-worms — the same worms which are sometimes called corn-grubs, and which in English agricultural works are termed surface grubs or surface caterpillars. The name Cut- worm, however, is most commonly given to them in this country, both in print and in common conversation, and appears to be the most appropriate and best term by which to designate them, having allusion as it does to a habit which is peculiar to these worms, namely, that of cutting off tender young plants as smoothly as though it was done with a keen-edged knife. These Cut-worms are among tlie most important injurious insects of our country. It is mostly in our fields of Indian corn and in our gardens that their depredations are noticed. They are so common as to occasion some losses almost every year; whilst every few years they make their appear- ance in such numbers as to nearly or quite ruin the corn-fields, obliging the proprietors to plant their ground a second and even a third time, or to ro- plow it and sow it with a difiereut crop. Thus, in consequence of the pre- COT-WOnitS. EARLV NOTICES AND RECORDS or TBEtR iKJORtfiS. sence of this worm in our country, the labor of the husbandman is fre* quently doubled to obtain from his land a crop either materially diminished in amount or of a less valuable kind from that which he would be able to harvest were it not fur this enemy. The attention of the farmers of our State was this past season prominently directed to the rearing of flax, and a breadth of land was given to this crop far exceeding what has ever before been assigned to it. But soon after the young flax appeared above the ground, these Cutworms began their depredations, feeding upon and •wholly consuming the small tender plants to such an extent that many fields had large patches in them which were eaten perfectly bare, whilst in others the crop was totally destroyed. Many of our injurious insects are new pests which have but recently been observed in our country. But these Cut-worms appear always to have' been here, depredating upon and despoiling the cultivated crops in centuries gone by, the same that they are now doing. Before European settlers arrived upon this continent, the cornfields of the Indians are said to have been ravaged at times by these worms, this being of all others a disaster to them of which they were most fearful, and one which they felt themselves wholly powerless to avert, their only resort for protecting their fields from this calamity being that indicated in the lines of the poet; "Draw a magic oircio round them, So that neither bligli' nor mildew, Neitiior burrowing worm nor insect. Shall pass o'er the mngio circle." And this is well known to have been a casualty of frequent occurrence all along since the soil of our country has been cultivated by civilized men. In those diaries which have occasionally been kept in difierent parts of our land by persons who have been curious to preserve a record of local inci- dents of interest, we are sure to meet ever and anon with the statement, "Indian corn was this year greatly injured by the worms," "The season -was wet and cold, and the worms made extensive ravages on the Corn," and other entries of the same purport. From one of these sources we learn that a century ago there had been a distressing drouth in 1761, followed by an unusually long and severe winter and a late spring. " When at last the corn was planted, millions of worms appeared to eat it up, and the ground must be planted again and again. Thus manj' fields were utterly ruined." (Flint's Second Report, Mass. Board of Agriculture, p. 40.) It, however, may have been the Wire-worm wJiich occasioned at least a por- tion of the destruction here related, for usually when one of these worms is numerous the other is so likewise. It is unnecessarj' to mention other years in which we have little more than the mere fact stated that these corn worms were very injurious, In addition to such manuscript mementoes, the published allusions to these pests date far back. Upwards of seventy years ago, when the old Agri- cultural Society of our State was first organized, in a circular which the Society issued, containing inquiries upon different topics on which informa- tion was solicited, the first query respecting insects Was, " Is there any OHT-WOBMS. BAVE NKVER YET BEEN INVESTIO ATED. way of destroying the grubs in corn and flax ? " No answer to this inquiry, of sufficient importance for publication, was received. But, althougli these Cut-worms have always been such a formidable foe in this country, against which the cultivators of the soil have had to con- tend, they have not, down to the present day, been subjected to any care- ful scientific examination. It was formerly supposed they were all of but one kind, one species of insect. In our day it has been ascertained that they are of several diflerent kinds, and that they are bred from a particular group or family of millers or n.oths, of a dark color, which fly about in the night time and remain at rest and hid from our observation during the day — most of them belonging to the genus named Agrolix by naturalists. But the observations which have been made upon these Cut-worms have been so hasty and superficial, that, when we see one of these worms cutting off the young corn in our fields or the cabbage plants in our gardens, we are unable to give it its exact name; we are unable to say what particular species of miller or moth it is which has produced that worm. All that has yet been done towards a scientific investigation of this sub- ject may be narrated in a few words. Upwards of forty years ago, Mr. Brace, of Litchfield, Ct, in a sliort arti- cle published in the first volume xif Silliman's Journal, gave what he evi- dently regarded as a sufficient elucidation of this matter. It appears that in a patch of ground planted with cabbages, where the worms liad been numerous, he found their pupaj to be common, lying a few inches below the surface, just after the worms had disappeared. From some of these pupoe he obtained the miller or moth. In the article alluded to, he merely des- cribes this milieu- as being the insect which produces the Cut-worm, naming it the Phalena devadalor or the Devastating miller. As he supposed all the Cut-worms were of one kind, he gives no description of the worm from which this millor is produced. And thus it remains unknown to this day what the characters and appearance of the worm are which belongs to this miller which Mr. Brace described. Some ten years after this. Dr. Harris, one season, gathered a number of full grown Cut-worms from diflerent situations, to breed the moths from them; but what is most surprising, he took no notes of the differences in the appearance of these worms. He obtained from them four different moths in addition to the one which Mr. Brace had previously obtained. These he names and describes, but is unable to give any account of the worms which belong to either one of these species. In the Second lleport which I presented to this Society, I gave very exact figures of the miller which Mr. Brace described, and of two others of the most common millers of our country belonging to the same group; and I also described five of the Cut-worms which I had noticed as being common kinds in our cornfields and gardens. Finally, in my Third Report I was able to give an account of one of our Cut-worms, and the moth which was raised from it. ^ And this is the posture in which this subject now stands. Seven of the moths or millers of our country, which produce Cutworms, have been named 30 COT-WORHS. OVR ILL SOCCeSS IN ItBADINO TDEU. and described. But only one of them is known to us in its larva state. We also know that at least five other Cut-worms, in addition to this one, are formidable encnii(!S to us, depredating every j'ear, more or less, upon the youtig plants in our fields and gardens, but we know not the species to ■which they respectively pertain, and consequently are unable to distinguish either of them definitely, by giving to it its correct name. I have for a great many years regarded these Cut-worms as a most important subject requiring to be elucidated. And accordingly, almost every year, upon meeting with some of these worms, I have written in my notes a particular description of them, and have endeavored to feed and rear tliera to their perfect state, but without success. They are very intol- erant of confinement, especially when they are not grown to their full size. Upon discovering that they are imprisoned, they lose all relish for food, and become intent on one thing only, namely, to find some orifice in their prison walls through which to escape. Accordingly, when the shades of evening arrive, they come out from the earth in the box or pot in which thej' are placed, and crawl hurriedly and anxiously around and around, the whole night long, as I have found on going to them with a light. The vegetables transplanted into the box for them to feed upon remain un- touched. In this manner, they in a few nights wear their lives away, and are found lying stark and stiff on tl.e surface of the dirt of their cage. From the experience I have had, I regard them as among the most difficult insects which I have ever taken in hand to feed and rear from their larva to their perfect state. It had accordingly become evident to me that a suitable knowledge of these Cut-worms could never be gained in the nsanner I had attempted — by casual observations made at moments snatched from other investiga- tions. It was only bj' making them the leading subjects of examination; devoting to them ample time and care and vigilance; studying them as they were growing up in the fields and gardens; watching them from day to day, there, in their natural haunts, until they became fully matured and were done feeding, and then placing them in cages to complete their trans- formations and reveal to us what thej' are in their perfect states; I saj', it had become evident to me that it was only in this manner that the requisite knowledge of these creatures could be obtained, to prepare such an exact history of them as th(!ir importance and the advanced state of science at this day demand. I have, therefore, for several j'ears, had it in contemplation, when a season occurred in which these worms were numerous, to devote my chief attention to them. And accordingly, on becoming aware last May, that these worms would be quite common in my vicinity, I resolved to make them the subjects of special investigation. And I now proceed to give a summary account of these insects and their habits, and ihe progress which the researches of the past season has ena- bled us to make towards a more full and exact knowledge of them. It is in midsummer, mostly in the month of July, that the moths or mil- lers come abroad and lay the eggs from which the Cut-worms are bred. 31 COT-WOnMS. YODNG WORUS IK AOTDUN. PALL PLOWIRQ TO DESTROY TBEH. The eggs are dropped at the surface of the ground, around the roots of grass and other herbage. The worms hatch and feed during the autumn, coming abroad by night and eating the most tender vegetation which they are able to find, and during the daytime witlidrawing themselves under the ground to hide from birds and other enemies, and feeding upon the roots of the vegetation which they there meet with. Grass appears to bo their favorite food, and its young, tender blades and rootlets furnish most of these worms their subsistence through the first stages of their lives. During the autumn the earth is so profusely covered with vegetation and these worms are so small that no notice is taken of them or the trifling amount of herbage which they then consume. They become about half grown wlien the cold and frosty nights of autumn arrive, whereby they are no longer able to come out to feed. They tlien sink themselves deeper than usual into the ground, going down to a depth of three or four inches; and there, each worm, by turning around and around in the same spot, forms for itself a little cavity in which to lie during the winter; and it there goes to sleep, and lies torpid and motionless as though it were dead. The soil at the depth where these worms are lying very slowly and gradu- ally becomes colder and colder as the winter comes on, and at length freez- ing, these worms reposing in it are also frozen. And when the warmth of spring returns, the ground thawing and becoming warm in the same gradual manner, these worms slowly thaw and awake from their long sleep and return again to life. The case is analogous to what occurs with our- selves when we have a finger or a foot frozen. On coming into a warm room, if we keep the frost-bitten part covered with snow or immersed in ice-cold water, whereby it very slowly thaws and the circulation gently and gradually returns to it, the part readily recovers; whereas, if instead of this, we hold it to (he fire and thaw it suddenly and abruptly, high in- flammation and gangrene follows, and we lose the limb. And so, if these Cut-worms lying in the ground should be suddenly frozen or thawed, it would le fatal to them. This brings to our view an important measure which is much practiced for the purpose of destroying these worms and securing the corn crop from their depredations. Our farmers quite generally endeavor to break up their planting ground in the autumn, rather than in the spring, under the idea that tliey thereby disturb these worms in their winter quarters and expose them to the cold and frost, whereby a considerable portion of them are destroyed. And I believe it is the general experience of our farmers that corn planted upon ground which has been thus broken up in the autumn is less liable to be injured by these worms than where it has been broken up in the spring. But these worms, in common with all other insects, continue to be active in autumn so long as the weather remains ■warm. It is not till they feel the chili of the autumn frosts that they retire into their winter quarters. Therefore, if the ground be broken up early in autumn, when the weather is .still warm and the worms are in full life and activity, it can be of little, if any avail, for the purpose intended, as they will readily crawl into the ground to the depth which they require for their 32 CDT-wonus. TOEin habit of gEVEniNQ yodno plants, protection. In order that this fall plowing should be efficacioua, it is obvious it should be deferred until near the close of the season, when the worms have withdrawn themselves downwards and are lyinft- torpid and inactive in their winter retreat. If the turf under which they are reposing be then turned up to the snrface, they will be incapable of crawling away into any new quarters, and the sudden freezings by night and thawings by day to which they will be alternately exposed, we arc confident must destroy a large portion of them. When the spring has returned and wo are engaged in making our gar- dens, a Cut-worm is occasionally turned up to our view in digging and working in the earth there; and if grass has been permitted to grow and form a turf around the roots of currant bushes or elsewhere, upon digging up and rooting out this grass, we are quite sure of finding a number of these worms nestled among it, indicating to us that grass more than any- thing else furnishes them with the covert and food which they desire. Although we thus find these Cut-worms lying in the soil of the garden early in May, it is not until the close of that month and the beginning of June that they begin to attract our notice by the injury they do in our gardens and cornfields. It is when they arc grown to about two-thirds of their full size that they commence the work which renders them so perni- cious to us,— that of severing the young, tender plants. Previous to this, dnring all the first period of their lives, as has already been stated, they lie concealed under the ground during the day time, feeding there upon the roots of plants, and only venture out by night to feed upon the green vege- tation above ground. Although in England they are called surface grubs, I discover they arc not restrained to the surface of the ground, but mount up the stems of yoimg cabbages and beans and eat portions of their leaves. But, about the commencement of June, the nights have become so short and the days so long, and the worms are now grown to such a size and their appetites have become so ravenous, that they are forced to a most singular change of their habits. The insipid roots of plants fail to yield them the amount of nourishment they require during the eighteen hours of daylight. They must either stay out to feed upon green herbage during the daytime, or they must, so to speak, set their wits to work to devise some way by which they can get this herbage down under the ground so that they can there feed upon it. We accordingly see them adopting the curious expedi- ent of cutting off tender young plants in order to draw them into the ground, whereby they may feed upon them during the long hours of the day. Is it not wonderful, that such sluggish, stupid looking creatures as these worms arc, should have the intelligence to perform such a feat as this— cutting off the plant, to enable them to get the end of it down into the ground, so that they may cosily lie there and feed upon it in safety — gradually drawing it in, more and more, until by the close of the day the whole of the plant and its leaves are consumed; a feat strikingly analogous to that for which the beaver is so renowned, cutting down small trees and drawing and swimming them away to build a dam with them. Surely we should admire this loathsome-looking worm for such a skillful performance, COT-WOnJIS. THE STRIPED WOnil FOLLOWED BY TUE LAROBn YELLOW-HEADED WonM, were it not that it is this very act which renders this creature such a pest, such a nuisance to us ! As to till- kinds of plants which these worms thus sever to feed upon them, they appear to have but little if any preferences. They relish every- thing that is young and tender and succulent. Thus they attack the corn, the flax, the potato stalks in our fields, and in our gardens the cabbage plants and beans, cucumber and melon plants, beets and parsnips, and also the red-rood and several other weeds. Nor are they limited to herbaceous plants. Where a sucker starts up from the root of a tree, while it is yet young and tender it is liable to be severed, if one of these worms chances to find it. They appear to have no discrimination in their taste, but relish equally well the most acrid and bitter plants, with those which are mild and aro- matic. Thus the onion stalks in our gardens are about as liable to be cut off as any other plants; and I have known the acrid smart-weed to be severed by them. The past summer, I set out in my garden a few tobacco plants, that I might notice what insects would come upon this filthy weed- and withiu a few days after, one of these Cut-worms gave me a very palpa- ble reminder that he would not tax me for cabbages and beans if I would only furnish him with what tobacco he wanted to chew. I have known a piece of writing paper to be partially consumed by one of these worms en- closed in a box where it became pressed with hunger. And where several worms are enclosed together in a box of dirt, over night, without any food, it is a common occurrence for the larger ones to devour the smaller ones. The past season, it was upon the 22d of May, in a hot bed, that 1 first no- ticed a plant severed by a Cut-worm; and the query at once arose, how could this worm get into such a close and secure place as that was? The loam forming the top of the bed had been obtained from the garden; and it was evident this worm must have been lying in the soil there, and had been brought from thence, in this soil, when the bed was being made. And the warmth of the bed had quickened the growth of this worm and brou"-ht it forward in advance of all its fellows. Tiirce days later, the first bean plant in the garden was found cut off by another of these worms; and from that time thc^y continued to become more common until about the first of June, when they were out in their full force both in the fields and in the gardens. At first I supposed the worms in the cornfields were different from those in the gardens. But the more I exam- ined and compared them, the more assured I became that they were all of one species, although they varied greatly, some being pale and others dark, and some having very distinct stripes, whilst others had them scarcely per- ceptible. It was the same species which I named the Striped Cut-worm, in the Transactions of 1855, p. 545. It continued out in full force, depredating everywhere in the fields of flax and corn and in gardens, for a period of three weeks, when, the worms having got their growth, began to be less nume- rous, and had all disappeared at the end of the month. Just as this worm was about to vanish, another one, larger and more voracious, came out to occupy its place and continue the work of destruc- 3 84 COT-WOnUS. DIKFEBENT OPERATIONS Of TDK TWO WORUS. tion in tlie fields, none of them being met witli in the gardens. It was on the 20th of June that, in examining a cornfield, I fiiBt noticed this second worm, lying under the sods, it being of a wliite or pale smoky color with a bright tawny yellow head, and the same kind which I have heretofore named the Yellow-headed Cut-worm. This cornfield had been broken up just before planting, and the roots of the grass were still juicy, succulent and unwithered, at least in all the larger masses of turf; and this worm evidently preferred these grass-roots to the young corn; for on examining a multitude of the hills of corn in which one or more of the young plants had been cut off, it was invariably the Striped worm first mentioned, which was discovered there; not one of these Yellow-heuded worms had as yet molested the corn. Five days afterwards, this same cornfield was again visited. The weather in the interval had been warm and dry, whereby the grass-roots in the clumps of turf had become dry and withered, unadapted for feeding the worms any longer. And now on examining where the blades of young corn had been newly cut off, the mischief was discovered to have been done in nearly half the instances by this Yellow-headed worm, which was found lying in the earth contiguous to the severed plant. Thus, it was sufficiently demonstrated that so long as it could find any roots of grass for its nourishment, this worm did not molest the corn. Therefore the corn remained unattackcd by it, until about the date specified, namely, the 25th of June. A few years before, however, I found this same Yellow- headed Cut-worm making severe havoc in a cornfield at the very beginning of June — there probably being no juicy roots of grass in this field, on which it was able to sustain itself. Having the fact thus established, that these worms will not trouble the corn, so long as they are able to find grass 111 the field on which to nourish themselves, it becomes an important ques- tion to be considered, whether, after all, it may not be better to break up our corn ground in the spring than in the fall; so that hereby, a portion of the roois of the turf may remain sufficiently fresh and unwithered to feed these Cut-worms and hereby keep them back from falling upon the corn. This is a difficult subject to determine; and it is only by repeated observations, carefully made, that it can be satisfactorily settled. The operations of these two worms were so very different that upon see- ing a severed plant it was readily told which worm it was that had cut it off, and would be found lying in the ground by its side. The smaller Striped worm, which first appeared, cut off the plants half an inch or an inch above the surface of the ground; and many of the plants, being sever- ed at this height, survive the injury, new leaves pushing up from the centre of the stump. Instances were noticed, in which the worm had cut oir the plant below the lower leaf, which leaf remaining, green and thrifty, the plant would thereby be vigorously sustained while new leaves were putting forth from its centre. The larger Yellow-headed worm, on the other hand, severs the plants almost an inch below the surface of the ground, whereby they are effectually killed in every instance. This worm also lies deeper in the ground than the other, it being usually met with about two inches below the surface, whilst the smaller worm only goes down 35 CDT-WOBUS. THEIR PltPA STATE. STRIPED CUT-WORM DBSCRIBED. sufficiently to bide itself from view. It is also much more irritable, more ferocious and combative. If two of tliem are enclosed in a box togetber and one crowds against or attempts to crawl over the other, it spitefully resents this freedom and snappishly tries to bite the intruder. These Yellow-headed worms continued to cut ofl' the corn for more than a week after the others had disappeared, remaining out till about ihe close of the first week in July. When the Cut-worm is done feeding it crawls down into the earth to the depth of three or four inches, where it is not liable to be disturbed by any other worms inhabiting the superficial soil. It here doubles itself together in the shape of a horse-shoe, and by turning aro'.uid and around in the same spot, presses the soil outward {rom around it, compacting it into a thin brittle kind of shell which the wet from any showers of rain ■will not penetrate, forming a large, oval cavity with a smooth sur- face on its inside. In this cavity the worm lies motionless and be- comes contracted in size and of a stiff and more firm consistency. The forward part of its body becomes swollen, more and more, till at length the skin bursts open upon the back and the hard shining yellow shell of the pupa begins to protrude from this opening. By slight sudden starts or shrugs, the skin is gradually thrown off and remains in a shrivel- led mass at the end of the insect, which is now in its pupa form, without any mouth or feet, its shape being that of an elongated egg of a shining chestnut yellow color, thrice as long as thick, but only half as long as was the full grown worm. This pupa or chrysalis lies quiet and motionless in its oval cell under the ground for about four weeks, when its outer shell- like covering cracks open upon the fore part of the back, and the moth or perfect insect crowds itself out from it, and upward through the loose earth to the surface. The first moth from the Striped Cut-worm presented itself to us this year on the evening of the sixth of July, and upon the evening of the tenth the same moths had become exceedingly numerous. The worms had been so diversified in the depth of their color and the distinct- ness of their stripes, that I had confidently expected to see a similar diver- sity in the moths which they produced. I was, therefore, greatly surprised to find the latter remarkably uniform, no differences occurring to my obser- vation this season that were susceptible of being described as varieties. Now that we have ascertained the moth of this, one of our most common Cut-worms, it is important that we give the most accurate description of it and of the worm from which it comes, that we are able to draw up from the numerous specimens we have examined, and thus place this species on record so distinctly that it may ever hereafter be readily recognized. The Striped Cut-worm, as we have heretofore termed it, is a cylindrical worm, usually about an inch in length M-hen disturbed beside the severed plants in our gardens and corn fields, and upwards of an inch and a quar- ter when it is fully grown. Its ground color is dirty white or ash gray, occasionally slightly tinged with yellowish; the top of its neck shining black, with three white or pale longitudinal stripes; a whitish line along the middle of its back between two dark ones; on each side three dark stripes 36 CUT-WOnUS. IIOTU OP the striped worm DESCnlBED. separated by two pale ones, whereof the lower one is broader; often a some- what giavicons white stripe below the lower dark one, and all the underside below this dull white. This is the best concise general description of the worm that I am able to give, the characters stated being sornctinies quite faint, but in most instances sufficiently plain and distinct. I proceed to give a more full description of the several parts. Thc.head is shining black, with a white stripe in the middle, which stripe is forked, resembling an inverted letter Y. The nose piece and upper lip are whitish, the former being wrinkled or longitudinally striated, and the latter having a trans- verse row of white bristles. The jaws are black and four- toothed. Ou each side is usually a white spot, and in other instances the whole head is more or less mottled with white, or is throughout of a tarnished white color with only a dusty streak on each side of its base. The neck above is of the same shining black color and horny substance as the head, with a white stripe in the middle, continuous witii that upon the head, and a stripe on each side, curving slightly outward at its hind end. The sides of the neck are dull white, with a short double blackish stripe across the middle. The back is ash gray, this color forming a stripe along each side of the middle, where are two dusky lines, and between them a whitish line of the same thickness. The sides are dark gray or of the same dusky shade as the two lines on the middle of the back, this color being divided into throe stripes of equal width by two faint pale lines, the lower one broader and formed of spots mottling the surface. These pale lines sometimes take on a glau- cous white appearance, and sometimes adjoining the lower dusky stripe on its underside is a third glaucous white stripe, which is broader than those above it, and along its lower edge are the breathing pores, forming a row of oval coal black dots. The underside, including all below the breathing pores, is dull whitish, the legs being varied with smoky brown, and the pro-legs having a ring of this color at their base. The Moth is represented, plate 4, figure 2, with its wings spread, and figure 3 as we usually see it when at rest and with its wings closed. It measures 0.70 in length and 1.30 across its extended wings, and is of an ash or dusky gray color, and distinguished principally by two coal black spots, one nearly square, placed outside of the centre of the fore wings, and the other nearly triangular, a little forward of it, a roundish nearly white spot sep- arating them. Its head is gray, and its palpi or feelers are blackish upon their outer side. These organs are held obliquely forward and upward and are densely covered with erect hairy scales, giving them a short, thick outline of a compressed cylindrical form, and cut oif transversely at their ends, with a small nak(!d joint protruding therefrom, little longer than thick, and scarcely a third of the thickness of the joint from which it pro- jects. Coiled up between the palpi and slightly visible on their underside is the long spiral tongue or trunk. The antennae are slender, thread-like, but tapering towards their tips. They are simple in the females, and in the male are toothed like a saw along their opposite sides, the teeth being sharp and fringed with minute hairs at their tips. The thorax is the thickest part of the body and is of a square form, as is very evident when the 31 cnT-woniis. wings o» the voth described. ■wings are spread. It is gray, witli a black band in front, edged on its liind side with an ash gray one, paler than the ground; and on the shoulder at the base of the fore wings is usually a small spot of dull pale yellow. The abdomen is tapering and somewhat flattened, dusky grayish, paler towards its base, its tip more blunt in the male than in the female and covered with a brush of hairs. The iega are blackish 'gray and hairy on their undersides, the spurs at the end of the middle and hind shanks being black in their middle and white at each end. The feet are five-jointed, long and tapering, the first joint much the longest and the following ones suc- cessively shorter. They are gray, gradually passing into black at their ends, each joint having a white ring at its tip. The winga in repose are laid flat, one upon the other, in a horizontal position, sometimes so closed together that their opposite sides are parallel, but oftener widening back- ward (as represented in figure 3), and forming a broad shallow notch at their liind end. The fore wings vary in color from ash gray to dusky giaj', and sometimes have a tawny reddish refluctiou. Tiieir outer edge is gray- ish black, with irregular alternations of black spots having an ash gray spot between them, and towards the tip are about three equidistant pale gray dots. The costal area or narrow space between the outer edge and the first longitudinal vein is pale ash gray, gradually becoming dull and obscure beyond the middle. At the base, on the outer edge, are two black spots or short transverse streaks, with a pale gray streak between them, and opposite these, on the basal middle of the wing, are similar streaks placed obliquely, which are frequently faded to a blackish cloud-like spot, with a pale gray streak crossing its middle. Outside of the central part of the wing are the stigmas, two large roundish pale gray spots, having a square coal-black spot between them and a triangular one forward of them. '1 he anterior one of these stigmas is broad oval, almost circular, and placed obliquely, with its outer end more towards the base of the wing than is the inner end. It is of a uniform pale gray color, slightly paler than any other part of the wing. Its edge is well defined by the black color surrounding it, except at its outer end, where it is incom- plete, being confluent with the ash gray color of the costal area. The hinder stigma is kidney-shaped, being concave on its hind side, and occupying this concavity is a pale gray spot or cloud, quite variable in its size in different specimens, and frequently taking on a buff or cream yellow tinge. This stigma is brownish or watered gray, becoming paler along its anterior edge, its ends, particularly the inner one, being vague and indefinite, blending with the adjacent coloring, sometimes so much so that only its middle portion is distinct. Between these stigmas is a large square spot of a coal-black color, occupying the whole space between the two midveins of the wing, its fore and hind sides made concave by the rotundity of the stigmas which bound it upon these sides. Forward of the anterior stigma is a second black spot of a somewhat triangular form, also occupying the whole space between the two midveins at this point. On its hind side it is concave and cut off obliquely by the obliquity of the stigma, whereby it is prolonged along the inner vein, usually into a long acute 38 CCT-WOnUB. DESCRIPTION OF THE WINGS CONTINOED. point. Its anterior end is cut off, either transversely, obliquely or irregu- larly, by a faint pale grey streak, which is a portion of the anterior or extra-basal band. (See generalties preceding the description of the wings of the Tobacco-worm moth ). In the best specimens this pale streak is dis- tinctly seen to be prolonged backwards along the outer side of the black spot almost to the stigma, and then suddenly turning at a right angle, it runs obliquely foward and outward in a straight line to the outer margin, between the two small black spots whicli are here placed on the margin. In the opposite direction this pale streak is also prolonged from the for- ward end of the black triangular spot, inward and backward and curves slightly foward to the inner longitudinal vein, and beyond this, with another similar curve, is extended to the inner edge of the wing, it being margined on both sides by a black line, that along its hind side being commonly more conspicuous. And a short distance back from tiiis line, equidistant between the inner midvein and tlie inner vein, may always be seen a black dot or short dash, which is the extreme point of a black stripe called the teliform stigma, which is common upon the wings of the moths of this genus, but in this variety of this species is wholly wanting, except this minute vestige of its apex. And also crossing this inner half of the wing obliquely at about two-thirds of the distance from the base to the hind edge are two other parallel blackish lines, representing the post-medial band. The anterior one of these lines is irregularly wavy and angular, and turns obliquely forward as it approaches the posterior stigma, and appears to pass into the inner hind angle of the square black spot. The posterior line, as traced from the inner edge of the wing, curves slin-htly backward till it reaches a point a short distance back of the inner end of the hind stigma, wiien it becomes nearly transverse, and then curves foward and obliquely outward to the outer edge of the wing, ending in the posterior one of the two black spots which are on the outer edge oppo- site to the anterior side of the hind stigma. This line, in the middle of the wing, is festooned or made up as it were of crescents united at their ends, these ends projecting backwards and forming about four acute angu- lar point.s; and sometimes this line is made more distinct by a faint pale "•ray line bordering it on its hind side, at least in the concavities of the crescents. But both these blackish lines are commonly quite faint and entire- ly vanish in many specimens. Beyond this, a broad space on the hind bor- der of the wing is darker colored and traversed by a whitish line, which is wavy and often broken into a series of small irregular spots, these spots sometimes having larger black cloud-like spots adjoining them on the fore side. Back of the outer end of this line the tip of the wing is occupied by a triangular gray spot. The hind edge is faintly sinuatcd, with a scries of slender black crescents surmounting the sinuosities. The fringe is con- color with the portion of the wing immediately forward of it. The hind wings are smoky whitish, with a broad dusky hind border, dusky veins, and an obscure dusky crescent near the centre. Their fringe is dull white with a dusky band near its middle. On the underside they are clearer white, with a broad, dusky hind border and sprinkled with dusky scales 89 COT-WOnSIS. NAue or TBB UOTIt. DESTROTER OF THE CttT-WOtlMS. towards the outer side. The veins are not marked witii dusky, except a spot or siiort streak upon each of them, forming a transverse row forward of the hind border, which row becomes obsolete towards the inner edge and towards the outer edge is confluent, forming a dusky band. The cen- tral crescent is more distinct than on the upper side, and on the hind edge is a row of slender black crescents. The fore wing-S are dusky, of the same shade with the border of the hind pair, becoming slightly paler towards their bases. Tliey show an oblique black streak on the outer edge between the middle and the tip, and immediately beyond this is a very faint band crossing the wing parallel with the hind margin. The description now given makes it apparent, I think, that this moth is not essentially different from tiie species of Agrotin named nigricans by Lin- naeus, which species we have upon this continent with the same varieties described by authors as occurring in Europe. In this species the teliform stigma is marked by two parallel lines connected by a rounded mark at their ends. But in the examples which I bred from the Cut-worms of the corn, and all those wliich I captured that season a mere dot was the only remaining vestige of this stigma. Therefore to facilitate future references to this particular variety of which I have here treated, it may be well to separate it under a distinct name, which I have accordingly done. The larger Yellow-headed Out-worm which came out as this was disap- pearing, produced as I expected, the same moth which was described in my Third Report, under the name Hadena amputalrix, the Amputating bro- cade moth. Thus it was the larvas of these two insects which were so numerous and did all the injury to our crops the past season, neither of these beino- the species which Mr. Brace describes as the insect which produces the Cut- worm. And it is therefore evident that in different j'ears and at different localities, it is sometimes one sometimes another of the insects of this group which becomes multiplied and injurious to us; whereby it will require a series of observations extending through several seasons to obtain a full acquaintance with them. Before leaving this subject I may advert to one of our most efficient na- tural destroyers of these Gut-worms, which correspondents are occasionally sending me, for information as to its name, its origin, &c. It is the larva of a large black beetle, (Plate 4, fig. 4), having rows of round dots upon its back resembling burnished gold, the brilliancy of which dots cause it to bo frequently noticed as it is wandering about in plowed fields and pas- tures in search of food, the beetle as well as its larva subsisting upon these Cut-worms. It is the Bold Calosoma, Gaiosoma calidum as it is named in scientific works, and pertains to the order Coi.F.orTERA and the family Cara- Its larva (Plate 4, fig. 5,) is a flattened, black, worm-like creature, having six legs inserted upon its breast, and a pair of sharp hook-like jaws projecting in front of its head, giving it, in connection with the agility of its movements, a very ferocious and formidable appearance. It is curious to watch this little creature when it is upon a hunting excursion, in pursuit 40 CtrT-W0«M3. TIIEln DESTHOYEB'S BOtlK OP KILLING TSCK. of its prey. It wanders about over the plowed land, until it comes upon S spot where it perceives the surface has been newly disturbed. This indi- cates to it that a worm has probably crawled down into the ground at that spot. It immediately thereupon roots down into this loosened dirt, and disappears from view, the motion of the dirt indicating its movements, as it pushes itself along. At times it lies perfectly still, to discover if any worm is moving in the dirt anywlieres near it. Now it is the habit of the Cut-worm, the same as of most other worms, when any other creature ap- proaches and disturbs it, to give at short intervals a sudden, spiteful jerk, to menace and frighten away the intruder. But now, aware by the brisk motion made in the dirt near it, of the proximity of its mortal foe, it restrains itself from its wonted habit, and lies as still as though it were dead. It is only by some motion in the dirt, or by coming abruptly against it with its head and feelers, that this destioyer can discover the worm, for I have seen it draw the hind part of its body along the side of a worm ■which was lying perfectly still, and crawl away, without being made aware of the worm's presence by touching it in this manner. One of the most interesting and wonderful exhibitions of insect economy which the world affords, is this Calosonia larva murdering a Cut-worm. The larva it may be is young and less than half the size of the worm, but the lit- tle hero never shrinks from the encounter. Upon discovering a worm he is instantly on the alert, all vivacity and as if crazy with excitement. The worm perhaps holds its head bent down stiffly upon its breast. The larva hereupon briskly roots and pushes the worm about and pinches it with its jaws, whereby he gets it to throw back its head, whereupon he instantly grasps the worm by its throat, sinking his sliarp jaws through the skin, and cling- ing thereto with the grip and pertinacity of a bull dog. The worm mad- dened by the pain, writhes and rolls over and over and thrashes his tor- mentor furiously about to break him off from his hold; he coils liis body like a jBoa con.s^riictor tightly around him to pull him away: he bends himself into a ring with a small orifice in the centre, and then brisklj' revolving, draws him through and through this orifice to tear him off; but every expedient of tiie poor worm fails. The larva clings to his grip upon the worm's throat, till the latter, exhausted by his violent struggles, gradually relaxes his efforts, becomes more and more weak and powerless, and finally succumbs to his fate. Having thus killed the worm the larva leisurely pro- ceeds to feed upon it, biting two or three holes through the skin in differ- ent places to suck out its contents. It is occupied three or four hours in completing this work. And the larva becomes so gorged hereby that its own skin is distended almost to bursting. It then crawls slightly under ground, and there lies and sleeps off its surfeit, and then comes out and •wanders off in search of another meal of the same kind. When this larva is small a single Cut-worm suffices it for one or two days; but as it approaches maturity it devours one or two worms daily. 41 BBB-KILtEn. A NEW INSBCT. ITS CLASSIFtCATlOlt ARB KABB. 13. Nebraska Bee-killer, Trupanea Apiuora, new species. (Diptera/ Asilidaj.) Plate 4, fig. 7. Killing the honey bee in Nebraska; a large slcnder-bodiad two-wingod fly, an inch long. Whilst we are occupied in closing this Report to place it in the printer's hands, July, 1864, a new insect comes under our examination, of such an interesting- ciiaracter that we herewith present a figure of it, and the fol- lowing account, the principal portion of which We have also communicated to the CotuUry Genlleman, R. 0. Thompson, Esq., Florist and Nurseryman, in a note dated Nursery Hill, Otoe county, Nebraska, June 28tli, 1864, says: "I send you to-day four insects or animals that are very destructive to the honey bee, killing a great number of them, and also of the Rose bugs. What are they ? Many wish to know what this Bee-killer is. Is it the male or the female that has the three-pronged sting ?" The specimens, two of each sex, laid between pledgets of cotton wool in a small pasteboard box and forwarded by mail, came to hand in good con- dition, admitting of a very satisfactory examination. They are a large two- winged fly, having a long and rather slender and tapering body, about an inch in length, with small Ihrec-jointed antennsB, the last joint being shorter than the first, and giving out from its end, and not from its side, a 8lend(;r bristle. The ends of its feet are furnished on the underside with two cushion-like soles, and the crown of its head is hollowed out or concave, and in this hollow is seen three little glassy dots or eyelets. These charac- ters show it to pertain to the order Dii»tera, and to the group which Lin- ntEus a century ago separated as a genus, under the name Aailus, but •which is now divided into several genera, forming the family AailidcB. On inspecting its wings we sec the two veins which end one on each side of the tip of the wing are perfect and unbroken, and towards the middle of the outer one they are connected together by a small veinlet or short transverse vein. This indicates these flies to pertain to the genus named Trvpanc'a by Afacquart. About a half dozen species inhabiting the United States and pertaining to this genus have been described by Wiedemann, Say, and others. This Nebraska fly appears to be diflerent from either of those, and 1 am, there- fore, led to regard it as a new insect, hitherto unknown to the world. And a more appropriate name cannot be given it than that by which it is called by Mr. Thompson and his neighbors, the Bee-killer or Trupanea Apicora. The general definition of this species, or its brief essential characters will be, that it is dull black with the head yellow, the fore body butternut brown, the hind body on its underside and the legs pale dull yellow, the thigha being black on their foresides, and it is coated over with hairs which are gray in the female and grayish yellow in the male, the end of the body in the latter sex having a conspicuous silvery white spot. In this Asilus group of flies the species are separated from each other by marks which are often very slight and obscure. It is, therefore, im- portant that a detailed description of these Nebraska flics should here bo 42 BGB-KILI>En. DBSCniPTIOIf OP TBE tNSECt. given, that thej' may not be confounded with any other species which may be closely similar to them. They measure to the end of the wings 0.85 to one inch, and to the end of the body 0.05 to 1.15, the males being- rather smaller than the females. The head is short and broad, shaped like a plano-convex lens, flat on its hind side and convex in front. Its summit or crown is deeply excavated, leav- ing a vacant space between the upper part of the eyes, in the middle of ^vhich excavation are the oceli or eyelets, appearing like three black glassy dots placed at the corners of a triangle. Tiie ground color of the head is yellow. All the face below the antennee is covered with long hairs form- ing a moustache of a light yellow color, with a tuft of short black bristles at the mouth, and on each side are whiskers of a yellowish gray color. Tiie base of the head has a sort of collar formed of radiating gray hairs, and behind the upper part of each eye is a row of black bristles. The eyes are large and protuberant, occupying two-thirds of the surface of the head, and arc finely reticulated or divided into an immense number of minute facets. The antcnnaj are inserted at the anterior edge of the excavation in the crown of the head. They are small, scarcely reaching to the base of the head if turned backward. They are black and composed of three joints, the first one longest and cylindric; the second shortest andobconic; the third thickest and egg-shaped, its apex ending in a bristle which is about equal to the antenna in length, and is slightly more slender towards its tip, where it becomes a little thickened, Tiie trunk or proboscis is as long as the head, its end projecting out from the bristles of the face. It appears like a long, tapering tube of a hard crustaceous ti'xture, black and shining, blunt at the end, with a fringe of hairs around the orifice. In one specimen the tongue protrudes from the orifice in the end of the trunk, sharp pointed and like the blade of a lancet in shape, hard, shining and black. The thorax or fore body is the broadest part of the insect, and is of a short oval form, with bluntly rounded ends. It is of a tarnished yellow- ish brown or butternut color, with two faint gray stripes along the middle of the back, alternating with three darker brown ones. It is boarded with black hairs and posteriorly with long yellowish graj' ones, which are inter- spersed with black bristles. The abdomen or hind body is long, slender and tapering from its base in the male, and is more broad and somewhat flattened in the female. It is black above and covered with prostrate hairs, which are dull yellow in the male and gray in the female. On the sides and beneath the ground color is dull yellow in the male and gray in the female, and clothed with gray hairs in both sexes. The two last segments, the eighth and ninth, are conspicuously protruded, making two or three more segments than arc usually visible externally in insects. In the female these segments taper to an acute point, and are black and shining. In the male they appear like a cylindrical tube with a projecting valve under- neath at the base, and are coated over with dull yellow hairs, and on the upper side with silvery white ones, pressed to the surface and forming a conspicuous oblong spot of this color, which is two-lobed or notched at its ends. And in the dead specimens before me three bristle like processes 43 OEE-KILLKR. LEOS AND WINaS DESCniBED. DBLIGnTS IN THR SUKSniNK. over a tenth of an inch in length, of a tawny yellow color, polished and shining, project from the blunt end of the bodj'. These are termed a three- pronged ating in the above letter. But the magnifying glass shows they are abruply cut off at their ends and do not taper to a sharp point capable of piercing the human skin. The legs are long and stout and of a pale, dull yellowish color. The thighs in the males are chestnut brown, and on their anterior aides they are dull black in both scxeis, the hind pair being entirely black, except a stripe of dull yellowish along the under side. The hind shanks also are frequently black on their anterior sides The legs are covered with gray hairs and have several black bristles in rows running lengthwise. In the males the four anterior shanks and feet have the hairs yellow, and on the feet the bristles also are of this color. The ivinr/s are long and narrow, and in repose are laid flat, one upon the other. They are transparent, with a smoky tinge, and are perceptibly darker at their tips. Their veins are black, except the parallel ones in the outer border, wliich are dull yellowish brown. The broad pane or panel at the tip of the wings, ■which is technically termed the second sub-marginal cell, rapidly narrows as it extends forward into the wing, for two-thirds of its length, the remain- ing third being quite narrow, with its opposite sides parallel. Along the vein which forms the boundary of this cell on its outer side, is a percepti- ble smokincss, which is not seen along the sides of the other veins. This vein is slightly bent in the form of a bow two-thirds the length of the cell, when it abruptly curves in the opposite direction, and is then straight the remainder of its length. A veinlct connects it to the next longitudinal vein, thus forming between the anterior portions of these two veins a third sub-marginal cell, which is very long and narrow. The arrangement of the veins in the wings, forming three submarginal cells as above described, induces me to refer this species without hesita- tion to Macquart's genus Trupanea; although the silvery white spot on the tip of the male abdomen would indicate it to pertain to the genua Erax, as restricted by the same author. The brief note of our correspondent gives us no particular information upon the habits of these flies or the manner in which they attack and kill the bees. But the members of this Asilus group are all so similar in their habits that we are aware what the operations of this species will be. And some account of the habits of these insects may be of sufficient interest to the reader to be here related. These Asilus flies, like some other of our most rapacious insects, parti- cularly delight in the hot sunshine. One or two evidences of thi.s may here be adduced. Plies of this kind are rare in my vicinity. I suppose I might hunt for days without being able to find a living specimen. And I do not recollect to have ever seen one of them, hitherto, about my house or yard. Three days ago, however, when occupied in preparing this account, I casually spread some damp newspapers before my door to dry in the hot sun. On stepping out to gather up these papers I was most agreeably surprised to sec alighted upon one of them and basking in the sun, what proves to be a 44 BEE-KILtEB. ITS FKTIS ODOIt. CnOKt MODE OP KILLING ITS PKET. Bpecics of Trupanea wliich I had never met witli before, and which is closely like though probably distinct from this Nebraska Bee-killer. The genial warmth reflected from the white surface of the paper lying in the clear sun had evidently attracted it to this unusual situation. So late as the month of October, ten years ago, upon a clear warm day, in a sunny nook upon the south side of a forest, I came upon quite a num- ber of the Erax rvfibarbis, flying about and alighting upon the leaves — a species I have never met with except in that instance. They were warmed into such quickness of motion, and were so extremely vigilant and shy of jity approach, that with my utmost skill I was able to capture but two in- dividuals which were impeded in their movements from b(Mtig paired to- gether. I infer tliesc Nebraska flies to be common and far less wary than the species alluded to — else our correspondent would have been unable to secure two individuals of each sex to transmit to us. And I suspect these specimens were obtained when they were copulated. If so, it is probable that the three sting-like bristles wliich I hav(! described above, arc not protruded and visible externally, except at such times. In flying, those insects make a very loud humming sound, wliich can scarcely be distinguished from that uf the l)Uinble-beo; and when involved within the folds of a net, thiy utter the same piping note of distress as does that insect. This very probably contributed to impress our correspondent with the thought tliat the three bristles wliich are extruded by tlie male are a formidable three-pronged sting. Another fact which I do not see alluded to by any author, is the fetid carion-like odor which some of these Asilus flies exhale. I noticed this odor i|i the Erax rufibarlns whicii was captured as above related. And in these Nebraska specimens, tliougji they have now been dead a fortnight and freely exposed to the air the latter half of that time, this disgusting scent still remains, and so powerful is it that on two occasions nausea has been produced when they have happened to be left upon the table beside me. As the newly captured fly above mentioned is wholly destitute of this fetor, it may be that it is only at the period of sexual intercourse that it occurs. These flies are inhuman murderers. They arc the savages of the insect world, putting their captives to death with merciless cruelly. Their large eyes divided into such a multitude of facets, probably give them most acute and accurate vision for espying and seizing their pray; and their long stout legs, theiv bearded and bristly head, their whole asjiect indicates them to be of a predatory and ferocious character. Like the iiawk they swoop upon their prey, and grasping it securely between their f..re feet they violently bear it away. They have no teotli and jaws wherewith to bile, gnaw and masticate their food, but arc furnished instead with an apparatus which answers them equally well for nourisiiiiig themselves. It is well known what maddening pain the horse flies occasion to horses and cattle, in wound- ing them and sucking their blood. TJK.'.se Asilus flies possess similar organs, but larger and more simple in their structure, more Hrm, stout and Jiowerful. In the horse flies the trunk or proboscis is soft, flexible and sen- 4S BBE-KILLEIt. ITS HABITS AND DBSTR0CTIVENES8. sitive. Here it is hard and doKtitute of feeling — a large, tapering, horn- like tube, inclosing a sharp lance or epear-pointod tongue to dart out from its end and cut a wound for it to enter, this end, moreover, being fringed and bearded around with stiff bristles to bond backward and thus hold it securely in the wound into which it is crowded. The proboscis of the horse flics is tormenting, but this of tiie Asihis flies is torturing. That presses its soft cushion-like lips to the wound to suck the blood from it ; this crowds its hard prickly knob into the wound to pump the juices there- from. It is said those Asilus flies sometimes attack cattle and horses, but other writers disbelieve this. Should any of our Nebraska friends see one of those be("-killers alighting upon and actually wounding horses or cattle, we hope thoy will inform us of the fact, that this mooted point may bo defin- itely settled. Certain it is that those flies nourish themselves principally upon other insects, attacking all that they are sufficiently largo and strong to overpower. Even the hard crustaccous shell with which the beetles are covered fails to protect them from the butchery of these barbarians. And formidably- as tlic boe is equipped for punishing any intruder which vent tures to molest it, it here finds itself overmatched and its sting powerless against the horny proboscis of its murderer. These flies appear to be par. ticularly prone to attack the bees, llobineau Desvoidy states that he had repeatedly seen the Anilux diadc.ma, a European species somewhat smaller than this of Nebraska, flying with a bee in its hold. But it probably does not relish those more than it does other insects. We presume it to be because it finds them in such abundance, as enables it to make a meal upon them most readily, and with the least exertion, that these Nebraska flies fall upon the bees and the rose bugs. And so large as they arc, a single one will require perhaps a hundred bees per day for its nourishment. If these flies arc common, theroforo, they will inevitably occasion great losses to the bee keepers in that part of our country. No feasible mode of destroying this fly or protecting the bees from it at present occurs to me. Indeed such an accurate knowledge of the particu- lar habits of this species as we do not at present possess, is necessary, to show in what manner it can be most successfully combattcd. Since the foregoing account was written, Mr. Thompson has favored us with another communication, giving some most interesting observations upon the habits and destructiveness of this insect, which we here append in his own words. He says, 3Iy attention was first called to this fly destroying the honey bee by a little boy, a son of I). C. Utty, Esq., of this place- After sending you the specimens I watched its proceedings and habits with much care, and find that, in addition to the honey bee and rose bugs, it devours many other kinds of beetles, bugs and flies, some of which are as large again as itself. It appears to be in the months of June and July that it is abroad upon the wing, destroying the bees. None of them are now (August 2d) to be seen. When in pursuit of its prey it makes quite rapid dashes, always capturing the bee on the wing. When once secured by wrapping its legs about it, pressing it tightly to its own body, it irame. diately seeks a bush or tall weed, upon which it alights and comtnencea 46 |l BGE-KILLER. ITS TENACITY OP LIFE. devouring its prey by eating (piercing) a hole into the body and in a short time entirely consuming it (sucking out the fluids and soft internal viscera) and leaving only the hard outer skin or shell of the bee. Upon the ground beneath some favorable perch for the fly near the apiary, hundreds of these shells of bees are found accumulated in a single day — whether the work of one fly or of several I am not able to say. I have just returned from a pro- fessional tour through the northern portion of our Territory, taking Nur- sery orders ; and in many things this business and the apiary are closely connected. In no case have I found a hive of bees that has thrown off a Bwarm this season ! The dry weather, bad pasture and other reasons were assigned as the cause. But many persons, since they have found this fly at his work of destruction, now believe it to be tlie cause of the non- swarming of their bees ; and I am led to the same opinion. I have only to add further, that this Bee-killer delights in hot, dry weather, and is very invulnerable and tenacious of life. I have observed the honey bee and also the hornet sting it repeatedly, but with no other effect than to cause it to tighten its liold upon them. Once when I forced the assassin to release his prej', he gave me such a wound in the hand as has learned me ever since to be cautious how I interfered with him. He will live an hour with a pin thrust through his body which has been dipped in the solution of cyanuret of Potassium. THE HOP ^PHIS. From an Address delivered before the Annual Meeting of the State Agricultural Society- Albany, February 8th, 1805. The insect which the past season attracted tlie most notice and did the most damage in our State, was the Aphis or Plant-lonse upon the hops. Although the liop has been growing, both wild and cultivated, in this country, from time immemorial, I am not aware that this enemy has ever attacked or been observed upon it, until two summers ago, when it sud- denly made its appearance in excessive numbers; and in consequence of its advent, the two past years have been the most disastrous to the exten- sive hop growers in the central section of our State, which they have ever experienced. In some yards the hops have not been picked, and in other yards a portion of those that have been gathered, it is said, ought never to have been dried and put up for market, they are so small and worthless; whilst the best that have been grown are of an inferior quality, the bitter principle, on which their value depends, being deficient, according to the published reports, to the extent of from 15 to 25 per cent. The newspapers and agricultural periodicals have abounded with notices of this failure of the hop crop. From the extended accounts which some of these publications have given, it would appear that there are three dif- ferent maladies with which the hop vines have recently become affected, namely, the Aphis or plant-lice, the honey dew, and the black blight. The plant-lice are soft pale j'cllowish-green insects, not so large as the head of a pin, which remain stationary upon the under sides of the leaves, crowded together and wholly covering the surface. The honey dew appears on the upper surface of the loaves, as a shining, clear and transparent fluid, sticky, like honey smeared over the surface. The black bliglit also occurs on the upper sides of the leaves and resembles coal dust sifted upon and adhering firmly to them, or the leaves look as though they had been held in the smoke of a chimney until they had become blackened over with soot. This black blight is deemed to be a kind of fungus growing from the leaves, analogous to the rust and smut in grain, and it is stated that in some hop yards sulphur has been dusted over the leaves to kill or check its growth, but without having the slightest effect upon it. Which of these maladies is the most pernicious, it would be difficult to judge from the published accounts, one writer seeming to regard tiie Aphis as the principal evil, whilst another wholly ignores this insect and dwells upon the black blight as being the cause of the failure of the crop. And it is not a little amusing to observe how very wise the reporters to some of the newspapers appear in giving an account of these diseases, and what a display of scientific lore they make, when their statements betray to us 48 the fact that they have not the first conect idea upon the subject on which they are writing. Tiie truth is, these three maladies, about one and another of which so mucli has been said, are all one thing — diffoiing merely as cause and effect. If there were no lice on hops there would be no honey dew and no black blight. I am aware the hop growers will be much surprised at this state- ment, and will scarcely credit it, they have been so accustomed to regard these things as distinct from and in no wise connected with each other — deeming the honey dew to be a fluid which has exuded from the leaves in consequence of some disease therein, and the black blight to be, asalready stated, a kind of fungus growing from the leaves, whilst the plant lice, occurring only on the opposite or under side of the leaves, appear to bo wholly separated from these substances upon their upper surface. But I am perfectly assured of the correctness of what I say, and can produce specimens which will demonstrate that I am correct. I regret tliat this subject did not occur to my mind last summer, or I would have had such specimens for exhibition here at this time. Upon the first opportunitj', I will procure and place in the Museum of our Society, specimen of leaves showing this honey dew upon them, and others showing the black bligiit; and by the side of these leaves I will place white paste-board cards having the same honey dew and the same black blight upon them — thus demon- strating that these substances do not exude and grow from the leaves unless they also exude and grow from the paste-board cards. I will now briefly explain how these two substances come upon the leaves. Each Aphis has two little horns projecting from the hind part of its back, which horns are termed the honey lubes. From these tubes the fluid called honey dew is ejected, in the form of minute drops, like particles of dew, which, falling upon the leaves beneath tliem, the upper surface of the leaves becomes coated over with this fluid, more or less coplou.->ly as the Aphides producing it are more or less numerous. And now, th s deposit of honey dew being exposed to the action of the atmosphere and alternatelj' moist- ened by the dews at night and dried by the sun by day, is gradually decom- posed, changing from a clear, shining, transparent fluid, to an opake, black substance resembling soot, and it is then the black blight. In this simple manner do we account for and explain these phenomena — these three impor- . tant diseases of the hop, about which so much has been said and such eru- dition has been displayed by some of the writers in our newspapers. These same phenomena, called honey dew and black blight, are not pecu- liar to the hop, but occur on other kinds of vegetation when infested by plant-lice; and an abundance of authority will substantiate my statement that this honey dew is caused by these insects. But I find no allusion to the black blight in any author, and what I state of that is the result of my own observations. It is proper, therefore, that 1 here adduce some of the evidence which I have, upon this particular point. It is over twenty years ago that I first noticed this blackness as being occasioned by plant-lice. Among several willow trees by the side of a stream near my residence, there was one so thronged with the willow aphis 49 that I went scvoval times to tliat tree to contemplate the spectacle which these insects presented. And all tliroug-h the followinjj winter, no poison passinj? within sight of that tree could fail of noticing the blackness of its trunk and linihs, it being the more remarkable as none of the other willow trees around it had any tinge of this color. The thought thereupon became impressed upon my mind, tliat it was the plant-lice with which this tree had been so overrun the preceding summer, which had in some way imparted this blackness to its bark. Two or three winters afterwards, I noticed the same blackened ajipearance to a pine tree, which tree t knew liad been thronged with Aphides the sunmier before. I need not specify the several other instances of this phenomena which I have noticed. Seve- ral years since, when I was investigating the Aphis of the apple tree, 1 discovered that, in addition to the bark of trees, the leaves also acquired this sooty appearance, from these insects; and then, upon giving this sub- ject a particular examination, I became assured that this black substance was merely the honey dew in a decomposed state. Some writers have remarked that dry weather causes the several kinds of plant-lice to increase and become pests to the diflbrent species of vege- taticm which they respectively inhabit; and my own observations incline me to regard this remark as being correct. During the dry period in June which fre<}uently succeeds the spring rains, I have in particular years noticed these insects as occurring in unusual numbers, wliereupon I have apprehended that, having acquired such a start so early in the season, they would prove to be the most pernicious insects of the year; but rainy weather coming on after this, they have seemed thereupon to decline and have ceased to attract further attention. Hence I think it true as a general rule, that dry weather favors and wet weather retards tlipir increase. And at first thought, this view is further strengthened by the fact that this Aphis upon the hops was so excessively numerous the past summer, when we experi- enced a drouth of such protracted length and severity. But, on the other hand, these insects were simihuly numerous the year before, when the summer was unusually wet. We arc thus assured there is some influence more potent than the hygrometric state of the atmosphere, which has brought them forth in such hosts upon the hops. Perhaps in no other group or family of insects are the different species so very closely akin to each other as in this of the Aphides. So nearly identical are most of them, both in their appearance and habits, that we know them to be distinct species only from the fact that they inhabit dif- ferent plants, each one being unable to sustain itself upon any other than the plant to which it belongs. Being thus intimately related, we should confidently expect that the same atmospherical or other influence wJiich causes one species to suddenly multiply and become extremely numerous, would operate upon and similarly affect the other species also. But this is by no means the case. As every one will remember, in the summer of 1861, all our fields of grain suddenly became so thronged with the Grain Aphis as to throw the whole country into alarm. Why did not the same cause which brought that insect upon us in such a remarkable manner operate also to bring this insect upon the hops at that time instead of 4 50 two yeai's later? Or, if this insect was not then in our country, when it did appear in such vast numbers two years ago, why was not the same influ- ence whicli occasioned its surprising multiplication then, felt also by the Grain Aphis, caiising it to re-appear in our grain fields ? The two insects being so intimately related, it is a mystery beyond the reach of human comprehension, how some hidden influence comes to operate upon the one, causing it to multiply and increase so astonishingly, whilst the other remains passive and not in the least aflfected by it. This insect is not limited to the extensive hop plantations in the central parts of this State, but appears to have everywhere overrun the hop vines, both wild and cultivated. It was abundant the past simiiner in my own neighborhood, and specimens were also sent mo from St. Lawrence county, whereby we know tiiat its range extends to the eastern and northern con- fines of the Stale, but farther than this we do not possess any definite information. This Aphis appears to be identical with that which has long been known in Europe as the worst enemy of the hop, and which sixty-five years ago received its scientific name, Aphin Bumuli or the Hop Aphis, from the Ger- man naturalist Schrank (I'^auna Boica, vol. ii, p. 110.) Messrs. Kirby and Spencc, in their introduction to Entomology (American edition, p. 135,) speak of the damage inflicted by this insect as follows: " Upon the presence or absence of Aphides, the crop of every year depends; so that the hop- grower is wholly at the mercy of these insects. They are the barometer that indicates the rise and fall of his wealth, as of a very important branch of the revenue, the ditl'erence in the amount of the duty on hops being often as much as £200,000 per annum, more or less, in proportion as this fly prevails or the contrary." This statement forcibly shows what a direct interest our own government has in patronizing these investiga- tions in which I am employed — this one little insect, in years when it is numerous, taking from the revenue of the British government half a million of dollars 1 My own researches upon this insect are obviously too limited as yet, to enable me to give such a particular history of its habits and operations, as its importance merits. I therefore present the following account from the London Gardener's Chronicle, for the year 1854, page 429: " As soon as the Aphides settle upon the hops, they suck the underside of the leaves, and immediately deposit their young, which are viviparous, and have th(i singular faculty of propagating iheir species within a few hours after their birth; and in this manner many generations are produced without the intervention of the fully formed Aphis fly; indeed, upon one hill of hops, millions of lice arc born and die, neither parents nor progeny having ever attained the condition of the perfect insect. When the first attack of these flies upon the hops is severe, and early in the season, the growth of the plant is commonly stopped in the course of three or four weeks. If the attack be late, that is about mid-summer or afterwards, the vine has then attained so much strength that it struggles on against the blight, to its disadvantage, and the result is a total failure of the crop at least; for the leaves fall oil", and the fruit branches being already formed, 51 there is no chance of recovery. At this time, and in this condition, the stench from the hop plantation is most offensive. * * * * " The propfress and usual termination of the Aphis blight maj' be thna described : The flies, as before remarked, on their first arrival, immediatelj' suck the underside of the upper small leaves of the vine, and thus they there deposit their young, upon the most succulent part of the plant. The multiplication of the lice is so rapid, that the leaves become so thickly covered as scarcely to allow a pin to be thrust between them. They quickly abstract the juices of the vine, so that the leaves assume a sickly, brown hue, and curl up, and the vine itself ceases to grow, and falls from the pole, the lice continuing till they perish for want of food ; and thus tiie crop is destroyed, and the grower may often consider himself fortunate if the plant recovers a due amount of vitality to produce a crop in the follow- ing year, for occasionally the hills are killed by the severity of the attack. This description, of course, applies only to the most severe and unusual blights." The Aphides are the most evanescent of all insects. They spring up suddenly, in such immense numbers as to threaten the utter destruction of the vegetation on which they subsist, and ere long they vanish with equal suddenness — sometimes continuing but a few weeks, and rarely remaining in force longer than through one year. It thus appears, that, so long as the atmospherical or other influence which favors their increase, continues to operate upon them, they thrive and prosper, and when this influence passes away they rapidly decline. The writer in the Gardener's Chronicle, cited above, remarks of this Aphis on the hops, " These insects are remark- ably susceptible of atmospherical and electrical changes, and on a sudden alteration of the weather we have known them perish by myriads in a night. Tills was specially exemplified in the Farnham district, about the middle of June, 1846, which suddenly recovered from a most severe attack, and afterwards produced the largest crop ever known in that quarter. We know, also, several instances in East Kent, which occurred in the same year, when the planters sold their growths on the poles at a few shillings per acre, and these same plantations so far recovered that many of them afterwards produced a crop worth from 30^. to 50i. per acre." The decline and disappearance of these plant lice is greatly expedited by other insects which destroy them ; and in many instances it is to these de- stroyers rather than to any atmospherical change, that the vegetation on which they abound becomes so suddenly released from them. No other tribe of insects has so many enemies of its own class as the plant lice. The different species of Coccinella or lady-bugs which are everywhere so com- mon, live exclusively upon the aphides, as do also the larvaj of the two- winged Syrphus flies and the four-winged Golden-eyed flies. Superadded to these destroyers the plant lice also have their internal parasites — ex- ceedingly minute worms or maggots residing within their bodies and feeding upon till they kill them. Thus, whenever a tree or shrub becomes thronged with plant lice, these destroyers gather among and around them, in rapidly augmenting numbers, and subsist upon them until they have wholly exterminated them. Kirby and Spence (page 181) state that in the 52 year 1807 the sea shore at Brighton and all the watorinj^ places on the south coast of England, was literally covered with lady bugs, to the great surprise, and even alarm, of the inhabitants, who were ignorant that their little visitors were emigrants from the neighboring hop-grounds, where each had slain his thousands and tens of thousands of the aph's. These several kinds of destroyers of the plant lice were every where com. mon upon the hop vines tlic past summer. I believe that in every instance in which leaves with the lice upon tiieni were sent irie by correspondents, I found one or more of these destroyers also upon the leaves ; and in one box that came to me, not one of the lice was remaining, all having been devoured by several of these enemies which had happened to be inclosed in the box. These destroj'crs having been so common, it is quite probable tliat they have now subdued these lico to such an extent that the coming season the crop will be much less if at all damaged by them. It is of great importance that we should have some remedy, wliereby, when these insects do fall upon the hop vines in such myriads as they have done the past two years, we may be able to promptly destroy them. As the lice remain stationary upon the undersides of the leaves and are so very tender and delicate that the slightest pressure suffices to crush and kill them, Mr. Kirby recommends to take the leaf between the thumb and finger, and move the fiugcr so as to gently rub over the under surface of the leaf, whereby every aphis upon it will be destroyed. He thinks women and children can be employed for a small compensation to do this work, taking every leaf in succession between the thumb and finger, and thus wholly ridding the vines from these vermin. But we all know it will be aii immense labor to thus take hold of every leaf upon the vines occupying whole acres of ground. Many of the leaves, too, arc quite large, being five or six inches broad, and the finger is but three inches long. It will there, fore require one hand to hold the leaf steady, whilst the thumb and finger of the other are drawn several times along it, mowing down the vermin by successive swaths. Moreover, the veins on the underside of these large leaves arc studded with prickles, whereby I doubt if a dozen leaves can thus be rubbed over before the skin of the finger will be cut through to the quick. I need not specify other obstacles which occur to my mind, all con- curring to convince me that this proposed remedy, of the success of which Mr. Kirby is quite sanguine, is wholly impracticable. Washing and syringing the plants with strong soap suds has been often veconnnended for destroying the aphis upon them. I have recently been experimenting with this remedy, upon the plant lice which so badly infest the beautiful verbenas of our Flower Gardens, and I find it to be of but partial efficacy. It oidy kills the young, tender lice ; those which are ma- ture are so robust that they are i;ot destroyed, even though the infested stems and leaves are immersed in a strong solution of soap. There is one remedy, and one only, which we know to be efficacious and perfectly sure for destroying the different species of plant lice. This is the smoke of tobacco. It operates like a charm. It never fails. But to apply it, it is necessary to place a box or barrel over the plant, burning the tobacco in a cup underneath, until its smoke has filled the inclosed space 53 and penetrated all tlie interstices between the leaves. Hereby the rose bushes and other shrubs and plants in our gardens are with case wholly cleansed from tiiese vermin. To render it available for destroying these ins(!Cts upon the hops, probably a piece of canvas or other large cloth can be thrown over them or some otiier apparatus devised whereby they can bo fumigated for a few moments in the same thorough manner. I N" D E X. Pago. Agrniis nigricans 27 Americana, Arclia 24 Amputating IJrocade moth gg A mpulatrix, Hade.na gg Apivora, Trupanea ^j Arclia Americana 24 " Gaja .'24 " Parthenon 26 Aailus diadema 45 Beetle, Potato jg Bold Calosoma 39 Brocade moth, Amputating- gg Caja, Arclia •. 24 Calidum, Calosoma gg Calomma calidum gg Carolina, S2Mnx 2 Celeus, Sphinx 9 Congregala, Microgader 12 Corn cut-worm 27 " g'libs .......W. 21 Cut-worms 27 " striped 35 " yellow-headed 34 " their destroyer ' gg Decemlineala, Doryphora ] ' jg Destroyer of the cut-worm 3g Devastating' miller 29 Devastator, Phalena 29 Diadema, Axilu.i ' ^= Doryphora lO-lineala , /_ jg " juncla ' 20 Erax rufibarbis " ^, Five-spotted Sphinx ' 9 Garden Tiger moth ^ ' ] ' * 24 Hadena ampulalrix " ' * og Juncta, Doryphora ' ' 20 KalmioB, Sphinx ' ' ' j^ ^ Lilac worm ' ' ' ^n Microgaaler congregala 22 Moth, Brocade " ' gg " Cut-worm qc Garden liger 24 " Tobacco worm , ! j | ^ 5 56 INDEX. Pago. Musketo ITawk ^ Nebraska Bwvkiller 4^ Ifigrivans, Agroiis '^' Nortlieni Tobacco worm ■ ^ I'urasitc of Tobacco worm i^ " " a second 1° Parthenon, Ardia |^ J'hdlciia, di'vaxlator j^ rohiijramma 1 0-lineata ^'' Potato-beetle, Ten-lined ^ -^ " worm ^ J'li'romalii!< Tabacum ^ -^ QiiiiiqtK'iiKwitlala, Sphinx 1 ];()sc biig-s destroyed by Bee-killer 41 Jlufiharbix, Erax 4* Sphinx Carolina -; " KalmicB •'^ ' " quinquemaculala *■ Striped cut-worm f^ Surface catterpillars 2^ " grubs '^ ' Tabaeum, Pte.romaiux 1 " Ten-lined Potato-beetle 1 •> TiR-er moth 24 Tobacco Pteromalu.s l-^ Tobacco-worm, Nortiiern 1 " Southern 2 " Parasite 12 " a second parasite 18 Tomato-wonn 1 Trupanca Apivora 41 Yellow-headed cut-worm 5^4 IIoi' Aphis : Black Blight 47, 48 Coccinnella or Ladj' bug 51 Honey Dew 47 Hop Aphis 47 " blight described 51 " decline and disappearance 51 " depredations upon hops 50 " Evanescent 51 " identical with Aphis Huinuli 50 " internal parasites 51 " progress and termination 51 " remedy 52 5P F 5^ APPLE TREE PESTS [From TruM. N. T. State Ag'l Society, 1853, Vol. 13th.] APPLE TREE PESTS. Sohonherr'8 'WeoWl and the Orchard Moth. — Asa Fitoh, M. D., Salem, N. T. Salem, JV. Y., June 30, 1853. Hon. B. P. Johnson: My Dear Sir — The Michigan insects reached me in safety. They pertain to the weevil family (Cur- culionid;e), and are one of the largest of that kind of insects which we have in this country. They are the Pachyrhynchus Sc/ionfterri, so named by the late Rev. Mr. Kirby, in honor of the Swedish entomologist Schonherr, who has devoted a great deal of attention to this family of beetles, so noted for the injuries which they inflict, and who has published several volumes upon them. Mr. Kirby's description of this species may be found in the Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America, vol. iv, page 103. It also appears, from the short description given in Turton's System of Nature, vol. 2, page 264, to be the species named Curculio Jfoveboracensis, or the New-York weevil, by Fors- ter; but not having Forster's work at hand, I am unable to speak decidedly. It is rather a rare insect, I should judge, for I have never seen but three specimens of it heretofore. One of these I captured in this (Washington) county, twenty years ago. The others were sent to me, one from Long Island, and the other from Rhode Island. Mr. Kirby's specimens were taken in Canada. This weevil, though variable in size, is commonly over half an inch in length, and is about two and a half lines broad. It is of a gray color, produced by short whitish hairs upon a black ground. Upon the thorax are three white stripes, more or less distinct, and upon each wing-cover are four white stripes which are interrupted by small black spots. These marks will suffice to distinguish 2 this from other insects. We have a long-horned beetle, the grab of which lives in pine timber — the Rhagium lineatum — which is much more common, and strikingly resembles this weevil in size, color and form, but is readily distinguished from it, by having a projecting spine, or tooth, on each side of the thorax. Hitherto, so far as I am aware, nothing has been known respect- ing the habits of this weevil ; and the facts mentioned by Mr. Wetmore, that it eats the young buds and tender twigs of the apple tree, causing them to wilt and die, passing from one bud to another, and, when satisfied, concealing itself under a leaf, until prompted by hunger, it crawls forth to take another repast, are very interesting, and will not fail to attract the notice of the fruit culturist. "When these insects are present in numbers upon a tree, perhaps the best mode to get rid of them will be to spread sheets under the tree, and then shake the tree, or beat upon it with a pole. The insects, thus disturbed, will drop upon the sheets, and may be gathered up and killed by throwing them into a kettle of boiling water. They may then be fed to the hens. Should a favorable season, or any other cause, lead to its be- coming greatly multiplied at any time, it is easy to perceive that this weevil would be a great pest in our orchards. And that it will become thus multiplied, now and then, in particular dis- tricts, I do not doubt, history will show — this being the case with nearly all of our injurious insects. Commonly, their num- bers are so few, that no notice is taken of their depredations. But, at times, they become so excessively numerous, as to commit great havoc and prove themselves a terrible scourge. An instance of this has recently been communicated to me. The common May beetle of our country, Phyllophaga quercina, as it is named in Dr. Harris's Treatise on Injurious Insects, (a work by the by, which should be in the hands of every farmer, gardener and fruit grower, now that a new edition has rendered it attainable to all,) is seldom noticed as being a depredator at least in this section of the State. Milo Ingalsbe, E«q., President of our coun- ty Agricultural Society, informs me that upon his place at South Haiiford, he has about seventy plum trees, which were splendid- ly in bloom on the 15th of May last, together with a number of cherry trees of several of the improved varieties. In the course of two nights afterwards, however, this May beetle suddenly hatched out in such astonishing numbers as to wholly strip these trees of their leaves, buds and blossoms, leaving many of them as naked as in mid-winter, and destroying all hopes of any fiuit the present year. But a still more remarkable instance of the excessive multipli- cation and consequent havoc caused by an insect not previously noticed, has occurred in this vicinity, since I received jour letter. Indeed it surpasses every thing of the kind that has been hitherto experienced in this county since the date of its settlement. On the 19th instant, a man from Cambridge inquired of me whether I had observed the worms upon the apple trees, saying that all the orchards in that town were being stripped of their leaves. Next day, on going to my apple trees, I found the worm alluded to, upon all of them, committing great havoc ; and a gentleman from Argyle informed me that within two and three days past they had been observed, overrunning all the apple trees there. Upon the 23d instant, the circuit court being in session in the village of Salem, I saw persons from most towns of the county, and learned that this worm was ravaging every orchard within our borders, without exception. Some idea of the value of our orchards and the amount of damage which this pest threatens to do us, may be formed from the fact, that two years ago, to supply the vacancies produced by trees that had per'shed, and to plant new orchards upon some farms, an agent from one single nursery disposed of young trees in this county, to the amount of $10,000. As it well may, therefore, this worm at present forms the leading topic of conversation in every circle, and our newspapers are giving notices of it in their columns. And the crude and errone- ous notions that are being formed and circulated respecting it, show, in a most humiliating manner, the gross ignorance which pervades our country, upon topics of this kind. One gentleman tells me, that in a conversation with the most noted and experi- enced nurseryman in our county, they had mutually come to the conclusion that this worm had been bred by what in his neigh- borhood is termed " the little green insect." On inquiry, I ascer- tained that this little green insect, so called because they know no other name for it, was nothing more nor less than the .fphis mali, or Apple-leaf Louse. And the idea that this louse breeds these worms, is rather more wild than it would be to conjecture that fleas breed bed-bugs. One of our most intelligent and successful farmers, who sometimes wields his pen as well as his scythe and hoe, favored me with the recherche information, that this is the "canker-worm" — at least, said he, it is the very same worm which was called the canker-worm in Connecticut, when I was a boy. Had my good friend asseverated that the moon was made ot green cheese, he would scarcely have surprised me more. I over- heard another gentleman, a graduate of one of our best colleges, recommending to another similxrly educated citizen, to bore his apple trees, fill the hole with sulphur, and close it by inserting a plug " made from the wood of the same free." Methought he ought to have added, that the hole shouM be made with " a sil- ver bullet," or at least that this operation should be done " in the old o' the moon." ■ Friend Johnson, posterity will only need what I have above stated, to show them that mauger all our vaunted light and intel- ligence, in this, one of the most important branches of natural science to the farmer, and one of the most interesting departments of nature's works to every studious and inquiring mind, our country, at the present day, is sunk in Egyptian darkness. la ditfusive information, so far as respects Entomology, we are lag- ging far behind the subjects of several of the monarchical and despotic governments of the old world. In Germany and Prus- sia, countries which are regarded as much less enliglitened than our own, not merely is a professor of this science deemed indis- pensible in every university, and every agricultural seminary, but its rudiments are taught in all their primary schools. In this country, on the other hand, such a thing as a course of lectures upon this science, has never yet been delivered, except perhaps in one or two of our universities. Indeed much of the very foundation of this science, upon this side of the Atlantic, is yet to be laid. Whole groups and families of our insects have never yet been examined. We have not even names by which to desig- nate a considerable portion of our species. Take this apple tree worm, for ini5tance. It belongs to a family of insects, of which, in Great Britain, there are upwai-ds of 300 species. Our own country, we may safely assume, contains at least double this num- ber. And of our 600 American insects of this family, how many, think you, have been examined and described'! So far as I am able to ascertain, there are three species only ! In no other de- partment of science is an exploration so urgently requiied, so loudly called for, as in this. Scarcely a week passes, but that one and another within tlie circle of my acquaintance, is coming to me with some insect which he has detected, preying upon some article of property ; of which insect he is anxious to know the name, habits and remedies. Within the^past forty-eight hours, one has brought me a worm which is infesting the roots of his squashes, melons and cucumbers, and has killed a large part of these plants in his and his neighbors' gardens ; another has shown me some pea-pods, containing a worm which is devouring the young peas; a third has brought in some tomato plants, wilted and de>^troyed by a grub that has perforated the stalk ; and a young lady has submitted to my notice some caterpillars, which she finds devouring her roses. Such facts forcibly show how much, how very much we need a thorough investigation of the Entomology of our country. It is indeed surprising that this branch of natural science, in an economical aspect second to no other in its importance, should have remained to this day so la- mentably neglected. In that valuable series of volumes, the Natural History of the State of New- York, we are presented wjth a full description of every object in the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms, that exists within our borders— save only our insects. This most important hiatus remains to be filled, to com- plete that great work, and render it full and entire as it was de- signed to be. Each succeeding year is showing how urgently we need the information which this part of that work would furnish us. Why should its completion be longer delayed 1 The pecu- niary lojs which we shall sustain the present year, from this one insect which is now devastating our orchards, is probably greater than will be the whole cost of a survey of the insects of the State. i have only space left to give you a short description of this apple tree worm, reserving a more extended account of it for a 9 future occasion, when I shall have had opportunities for studying its entire history. It is a cylindrical caterpillar, somewhat resembling a span worm. It has sixteen feet, and is scarcely half an inch long when full grown. It varies considerably in its colors and marks, but is commonly of a pale yellowish or greenish hue, with a dusky stripe on each side of the back, lunning the whole length of its body. Above this, a narrower whitish stripe is more or less dis- tinct, and along the middle of the back is a slender dusky stripe, between tlie whitish ones. With a magnifying glass some black dots, regularly arranged, may be seen along the back and sides, each dot having a short hair growing from it. The head is pol- ished, and of the yellow color of bees-wax. Some worms are met with, however, having black heads. Whether thiese are a dif- ferent species or not, can only be determined when the insect has attained its perfect state. They subsist upon the leaves, eating holes in them, and often devouring all except the coarse veins of the leaf Tiiey also gnaw the young apples, causing them to wilt and fall from the tree. Our crop of apples for the present year is totally destroyed, and it is probable that many of the trees will die also, their foilnge being wholly consumed, so that the trees look brown, as though they had been scorched by fire. When the tree is shook or jarred, many of the worms let themselves suddenly down from it, some to the ground, others suspended in the air by a fine thread like gossamer, which they spin. If it is menaced or annoyed when on the ground, with a wriggling mo- tion it runs backwards and forwards with surprising agility. This worm evidently belongs to the family of leaf-rolling moths, (ToRTRiciD^) ; and some of these worms may be seen hid in a slight covert which they form by folding the edge of the leaf, or folding it in a cylinder, or drawing two leaves together with their cobweb-like threads. Most of the worms, however, do not at- tempt to form any such covering for their concealment. When the worm gets its growth, it crawls away from the tree, and under some leaf or other slight shelter on the surface of the ground, spins a little, oval, paper-like cocoon, of a gray color, about 18-lOOths of an inch long, and a third as broad, within which it changes to a pupa. Analogy teaches us that from this pupa will come a winged moth or miller, such as often flutters about our candles in the evening. This moth will lay its eggs upon the leaves or in the chinks of the bark of the apple treej from which eggs another generation of tliese worms will be hatch- ed. Dry, hot weather, in the month of June, it is certain, favors the multiplication of these worms. Before they were observed, it was currently remarked that such a spell of sultry, dry weather as we then had, was never before known so early in the season. On the night of June 23d we had heavy thunder showers, and the next day few of these worms could be found upon the trees. And though they are still present (June 30th) their numbers are now greatly reduced. Query — will not drenching the trees with wa- ter from a garden or fire engine prove to be the most effectual way of ridding them of these worms. On beating and shaking the apple trees, I have repeatedly seen a moth fly from among the leaves, which I have little doubt is the parent of these worms. It is a delicate, pretty little insect, measuring six-tenths of an inch across its wings when they are spread. Its fore wings are of a shining pale yellow color, coarsely freckled with darker orange-yellow spots. The hind ends of its wings are occupied with a broad band of a purple color, blended with orange, and towards the outer or costal edge with a pale yellow. This band is double the width upon the costal that it is upon the inner side of the wing, and its anterior marginis slightly hollowed or concave; and running parallel with the anterior margin is a curved stripe, of an orange color, often tinged with purple, extending across the wing, slightly forward of its middle. The hind wings are grayish-brown, and white anteriorly on the outer side. This moth pertains to the genius ^rgyro-lapia, and the sub-genius Lozopera of the distinguished British Entomologist,. Mr. Stephens ; and as this species does not appear to have beea hitherto described, I propose to call it the Jirgyrolepia pomarianay the specific name being derived from the Latin, /xwiarzttm, which, translated, will give us for the common name of this insect, the Orchard Moth., or, if we wish to be more definite, the Orchard Jir- gyrolepia. Our forests at present are infested to an unusual extent with a worm so exactly like tliat in tiie orchards, that every body regards them as being identical ; nor have I been able to detect any marks by which they can be told the one from the other. Still, it is probable that they arc distinct species. I have hitherto, in July and August, in different years, captured a moth in our forests, very like the Orchard Moth above described, and which I am in- clined to regard as the parent of these forest worms. It is very slightly larger than the Orchard Moth ; its fore wings are bright ochre-yellow, many of the scales sparkling with the lustre of bur- nished gold, and instead of being freckled, they are covered with crinkled, irregular, transverse lines of an orange color; the pur- plish stripe forward of the middle of the wings, is widened as it approaches the costal edge, and is prolonged \ipon this edge to the base of the wing; and posteriorly, instead of the broad band, there is only a spot of purple blended with orange, situated on the costal edge forward of the apex ; the hind wings are white. In my collection, I have named this species ^rgurolepia sylvalicana or the Forest Moth. We also have, in this State, two or three other species closely resembling those described, but I know nothing of their habits. Yours truly, ASA FITCH. P. S. July 23d. — Informed that the number of the Journal of the New- York State Agricultural Society for August, had gone to press when the above communication reached you, and tliat it could not, therefore, appear until the issue of the succeeding num- ber, as it was a topic in which our community was mucli inter- ested, and erroneous views were being imbibed, I handed a copy of it to the Salem Press, in which newspaper it was published on the 12th inst., and copies were mailed upon the following day, to my several agricultural and scientific friends throughout the country. A few days after it was written, from the cocoons allu- ded to, I obtained tlie winged motj-i, from which it was evident that the species of ^rgyr-depia, which I had described, was pro- duced by some other worm, as yet unknown, which probably in- fests our apple trees ; whilst the worm which has done so much havoc this season, instead of pertaining to the family ToRXRiciDa:, as all its habits so strongly indicated, in reality belongs to the TiNEiDiE, the family which includes the clothes moths and other species which subsist upon fur, grease, and various other articles of household stuff, and which make cylindrical burrows through the substances on which they feed, and have other habits, in the main very unlike those of this apple tree worm. The winged moths whicli this apple tree worm produces, belong to the genus named CiMtochilus, by Stephens and Westwood, Rhinnsia, by Treitschke, Ypsolnphus, by Curtis, and Jl/ieychia, (probably) by Hubner. Which of these several names was first published, and therefore has the right to be retained for our insect, I have not at hand the means for ascertaining ; the name of Treitschke, how- ever, must be rejected, Mr. Kirby having long since given the name Rhinosia, to a genus of weevils. The insects of this genus are chiefly distinguished by having their feelers clothed at base with very long scales, which project horizontally forward from the head, resembling a beak, and from the middle of the upper side of these scales, the last joint of the feelers is protruded up- wards like a spur. I had prepared a description of this moth, to be appended to the account which I had already given, but have to-day received from Dr. Harris a slip of a newspaper communication, dated the 19th inst., in which he names aud describes it, from specimens which he has recently reared from some of the worms sent to hira. He names it Rhinosia pometella (from the Latin po7netum, a synonym of pometarium) or "The little Rhinosia of the or- chard." But, for the reason above stated, I think we must adopt Mr. Stephens's generic name, and call our insect ChcBlochilus po- metellus. Dr. Harris describes the species, as follows : " Fore- wings ash-gray, sprinkled with blackish dots, three of which, larger than the rest, are placed tiiangularly near the middle , a dusky, transverse band near the tips, and a curved row of seven black dots at the origin of the terminal fringe. Hind-wiugs, dus- ky, with a leaden lustre, black veins, and very long black fringes. Body and legs beneath, yellowish-white, with the lustre of satin. Expansion of the wings, five-eighths of an inch." 10 This description applies with sufficient exactness to the insect, which, however, is subject to great variety. I have a host of specimens before me, reared from the worms, and captured upon the wing every where in our orchards and forests, since the first week of the present month. On the 8th inst., a large white oak tree was observed, wholly stripped of its leaves, save merely a few fragments upon some of the lowest limbs ; and at every step taken among the weeds and grass growing beneath this tree, a swarm of these moths would arise. An inspection of the several specimens in my possession shows that no two individuals are ex- actly alike in all their details. The general color of the fore- wings varies from tarnished cream-white to dark ash-gray, often with a pale purplish-red reflection, and mottled more or less with darker cloud-like spots of tawny yellowish-brown, which spots sometimes form four equidistant transverse bands There are often two larger black dots slightly forward of the middle of the wing, and two others half way from these to the tip; but these dots are sometimes indistinct or wholly wanting. The seven black dots in a semicircular row, at the base of the termi- nal fringe, are almost always present. The veins of the hind- wings are commonly darker than the general surface; the fringe is of the same color or sometimes lighter. Associated with this species, both in our orchards and forests, may frequently be met with another moth of the same size and general appearance, and with its body and wings similarly colored and dotted, but having only the outer or costal half of the fore- wings of a dull cream-wliite or ash-gray color, whilst the inner half, the whole length of the wing, is of a brownish-black, the one color not shaded gradually into the other, but the transition being abrupt. I have named this the Comrade Moth, Chmlochilus conlubernalellus, from the latin contubernalis, a comrade. The worms which this moth breeds, doubtless infest the apple and other trees the same as those of the other species. As already intimated, I propose preparing a full account of these insects, at an early day. A. F. Note. — A gentleman of Albany, who has a farm a short dis- tance from town, discovered these worms upon his apple trees, II having destroyed the leaves upon two trees. He procured some whale oil soap, diluted it wltii water, and with a garden engine thoroughly drenched the remainder of his trees, and they were entirely preserved from the ravages of the worms. J. [ Letter from Dr. Thaddeus William Harris. ] Cambridge, Mass , July 23, 1853. Hon. B. P. Johnson : Dear Sir — I have read, with some inter- est, your communication, on some insects that are injurious to the buds and young twigs of the apple tree in Michigan, contained in the Journal of the New- York State Agricultural Society, for July, and also the reply of Dr. Fitch, and his account of other destruc- tive insects, printed in the Salem Press, of tlie 12th instant. On the 22d of June, P. Barry, Esq., the editor of " the Horti- culturist," sent to me a beetle and an apple tree twig, with the following remarks : "A gentleman in Wisconsin encloses me the weevil and piece of apple tree which accompany this. He says they are very destructive to his apple and pear trees, and occa- sionally to his plum and cherry trees. They attack the branch, generally, at the base of a young shoot, and eat it to the pith. He thinks it must operate in the night, as he can not find it in the day. Have you seeu it in Massachusetts?" This large weevil is the Ithycerus Jfovehoracensis ot my cata- logue of the insects of Massaciuisetts, printed in 1835, or the Curculio JVoveboracemis of Forster's Centuria, printed in 1771 . It is, undoubtedly, the same species that is referred to in your com- munication, and in Dr. Fitch's reply. Though not a very abun- dant species here, it is by no means rare, and it seems to have a wide range through the country, being found in most of the New- England States, inthe Middle and in the Western States, in Cana- da and in Newfoundland. I have taken it in Massachusetts, on forest trees, particularly oaks, in June and July ; but never met with it on fruit trees. Nothing is known to me of the habits of the insect in its early stages. John Reinhold Forster, the first describer of this fine species, found it, as we learn from his " Catalogue," in " a most select and 12 numerous collection of American animals, belonging to a lady in LancHshire." This lady was the celebrated Anne Blackburne, eldest daughter of John Blackburne, Esq., of Warrington, Eng- land. She received it, with other insects, from Xew-York, whence it was probably sent by one of her b'others, who resided in this country. The specific name A'^oviboracensis, given to it by Fors- ter, commemorates the place whence it came, and, having priori- ty in point of time over other names subsequently given to the same species, must be retained. Gmelin, in 1788, and Olivier, in 1790, redescribed it under the same name* It is the Ryn- chites curculionoides, of Herbst, who figured and described it in 1797, from specimens in a museum, ricli in North American in- sects, belonging to Mr. Herscliel, the court musician at Hanover, in Germany, a near relative of Sir William Herschel,the astrono- mer. In 1833, the Chevalier Schonherr, the author of an exten- sive work on the weevil tribe, gave it the name of Jthycerus cur- culionoides, unfortunntely adopting the specific appellation be- stowed upon it by Herbst, rather than the earlier one of Forster. Lastly, in 1837, Mr. Kirby, apparently not aware that the insect had already been made known, described it under the new name of Pachyrkynckus Schouherii, which must give place, as a syno- nym, to Ilhycerus JVoveboracensis. By Monday's mail, I propose sending to you the Cambridge Chronicle of this date. You will find therein an account of the Palmer worm of New-England, which has lately done much dam- age to orchards in various parts of tlie country. I hear of it throughout the valley of the Connecticut, and nearly to the White mountains of New-Hampshire. It also prevails in the valley ><{ the Housatonic, and as stated by my friend, Dr. Plumb, of Salis- bury, and by Dr. Fitch, to a considerable extent in the valley of the Hudson. Should we have a second visitation of tlie insect during the present summer, orchards must suffer severely from its ravages. From the scientific name and description, which is given in the Chronicle, of the moth produced from it, you will • In 1781, tho Danish Naturalist, Fabricius, having met with a specimen from Newfound- land, in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks, described it under the name of Curculio puncta- tulus. 13 perceive that the latter is a very different insect from the two moths described by Dr. Fitch. Respectfully, your friend and serv't, THADDEUS WILLIAM HARRIS. THE PALMER WORM. By Db. TbAddios William Harris. During the month of June, a small worm, or naked caterpillar, has been observed on apple trees, in large numbers, throughout the greater part of New-England, and in the valley of the Hud- son, in New- York. By some persons it was thought to be a new comer ; and by others was mistaken for a second generation of the canker worm, which disappeared about the time that these smaller insects began their ravages. This, however, is by no means the first visitation of the insect in such unwelcome and destructive profusion. As long ago as the year 1791, it prevailed through many parts of New-England, during the mouth of June, and at that tiiiic received the name of the Palmer worm. Some account of its ravages in orchards, and even among forest trees, at that date, may be found under the head of in^eds, in the second edition of Dr. Deane's "New-England Farmer and Georgical Dictionary." Communications concerning this insect, several of them accom- panied by specimens, have been sent to me from Bradford, Ando- ver, and Westlbrd, Mass.; from New Boston and Keene, New- Hampshire; from New Haven and Salisbury, Conn.; and from Providence, R. I. Apple, cherry and plum trees in my own gar- den, also afforded me a few of the same insects, which were first observed there about the 10th of June. Within the past three weeks, numerous accounts of this supposed new or hitherto un- noticed depredator, have been published in all our agricultural newspapers. In some places, orchards have suffered from these insects in the same way and to as great an extent as from the ravages of canker worms ; and in some cases, not only the leaves, but the young fruit has been destroyed by them. 14 These worms, or caterpillars, grow to the length of about half an inch. Though varying somewhat in hue, they are mostly of a pale yellowish green color, with two blacliish lines along the top of" the back, and a brownish head. Under a magnifier, a few short hairs can be seen on the body, arising singly from little blacii points, arranged in threes on each side of every ring ; and there are usually two, more or less conspicuous, semicircular, blackish spots on the top of the first ring. They have sixteen feet ; the first three pairs being jointed, and ending with a point or claw, the others, fleshy tubercles without proper joints. They are very impatient of being touched, and on being taken into the hand, move with great agility, and by jerks, both forwards and backwards. When the trees are shaken, the insects spin down, and hang suspended by threads. Probably most of them leave the trees in the same way, when their course is finished. In some places, it was observed, that they all took their departure during heavy showers, towards the end of June. My official engage- ments, at that time, prevented my observing their progress abroad. All the specimens sent to me, that remained alive, together with a few from my trees, were put into a wide-mouthed bottle, and were supplied with leaves. About the 28th of June, some of these worms began to cover themselves with a transparent web, formed of a few delicate silken threads. One of them was transformed to a chrysalis, within its web, on the 5th of July, and became a winged moth on the 9th ; having remained in the chry- salis state only four days. Others were more tardy in their tians- formations; and one still remains a chrysalis. More than half of the whole were unable to take this form, liaving perished in the worm state, from the attacks of an internal parasite, a minute grub, which, after preying on the vitals of its victim, left the body and spun itself a little oval whitish cocoon or pod, from which it emerged soon afterwards as a tiny four-winged ichneu- mon fly. The chrysalis of the palmer worm is only one quarter of an inch long. It is of a pale brown color, and differs from that of 15 the common bud worm, in not having any transverse rows of teeth around the body. The moth is of an ashen gray color above, whitish, and lustrous like satin beneath. The fore wings are very narrow, and are sprinkled with a few black dots, three of which, near the middle, are larger than the rest. The hind wings are also narrow, blackish, and surrounded by very broad fringes. The antennae are bristle-formed. The palpi, or feelers, project horizontally from the head, in the form of a brush-like snout, and from the middle of the upper side of each of them, arises ihe curved and pointed terminal joint, like a little spur. The tongue is spirally rolled, and when extended, measures about half the length of the antennae. This little moth rests with the fore part of the body slightly elevated, the narrow wings horizontally in- cumbent upon the body, and the antennae turned backwards, and lying straight upon the wings. The insect may now be seen on the wing, in the evening, soon after sunset ; and it may also be found in considerable numbers, among the grass, at a somewhat earlier hour. A scientific name and character, with the classification of this moth, remain to be given. It belongs to a group or tribe called TiNEAD^, and to the genus Rhinosia of Treitschke, or Chaitcchilus of Stephens. Most of the insects belonging to the above named tribe, are of small size, and have diminutive specific names, end- ing in ella. As this insect frequents the orchard (in latin pome- tum) it may be called Rhinosia pometella, the little Rhinosia, or the little Snout-moth of the orchard. From other species of the same genus, it may be distinguished by the following characters: Fore-wings, ash-gray, sprinkled with blackish dots, three of which, larger than the rest, are placed triangularly near the mid- dle ; a dusky transverse band near the tips, and a curved row of seven black dots at the origin of the terminal fringe. Hind- wings, dusky, with a leaden lustre, black veins, and very long black fringes. Body and legs beneath, yellowish white, with the lustre of satin. Length, from the forehead to the ends of the closed wings, five sixteenths of an inch. Expansion of the wings, five eighths of an inch. Some hope may be entertained that the little parasites, alluded to in the foregoing account, may tend greatly to check the future 16 undue increase of the palmer worms. Should a second genera- tion of the latter appear during the present summer, or should we have another visitation of them next year, or at any future time, some means for arresting their depredations may become neces- sary. Showering the trees with soap-suds, or a solution of whale- oil soap, or with lime-water, dusting ashes or air-slacked lime on the leaves, when wet with dew or rain, or casting dry sand upon the trees, may be found serviceable. T. W. HARRIS. Cambridge, Mass., July 19, 1853. 'j\AANN F COUNTRY GENTLEMAN /e^'s- €ljt 33ntiirnlist. ENTOMOLOGY. No. 7— The Wheat Thrips and Three-banded Thrips. A leltorfrom David Williams, (luted Gonevn, Wis- consin, July 9tll, says: Enclosed I send you specimens of a minute lillle insect that is cnusing some nlarm in this vioinily. Tliey nre found in nil blossoms in great numbers. They first mnde their npponnince nbout the middle of June, or nt least, they wore then first noticed, so farns I have beard, For about two weeks they were found in the blossoms of wheat and of clover, causing num- bers of the blossoms to wither, and in some cases the k«rncl was also attacked. About a fortnight ago we had a very heavy fill of rain, which appeared to de- stroy them ; but within a few days I have noticed their re-appearance in countless numbers. They are very nimble, requiring good eyes and ready fingers to secure them, and I was obliged mainly to my wife for the capture of those which I send you. There are other kinds which I did not succeed in capturing. The insects alluded to in the above extract are so minute, that, had only two or three epecimens been sent, I should have been unable to give any definite account of their species. An acknowledgment is due Mrs. Williams for the number of these insects which she inclosed in the quill — a task which the bungling fingers of a man could scarcely have accomplished. Among them I find specimens in all tho singes of their growth, and am honco able to present a history and description of the species, suQiciently exact, I doubt not, to enable it to be recognized hereafter; although it is only from living specimens that such minute ob- jects can be satisfactorily studied, and described witb that precision and fullness which science requires. Insects of tho kind to which these belong, may be distinguished from all others by their wings, (see tho accompanying figure, e,) which are long, narrow, and strap-like, and are fringed on both sides with long hairs like eye-lashes. Their mouths are also different from those of all other insects, being nearly intermediate between the htak or bill with which some of the Orders of insects puncture and suck tho (!uid9 on which they subsist, and the jairs with which those of all the other Orders gnaw the substances on which they food. These insects originally formed the genus Thrips, placed by LinnEcus next to the plant-lice, in the Order Hemipte- BA ; but as their wings and the structure of their mouths is so wholly unlike that of any other insects, naturalists of Inte rank them os a distinct Order, which is named Thysanopteba, i. e, fringe-winged. This Order contains the single family Thuipidid*, (cur- rently written Thripidrc by authors, but incorrectly,) which is divided into seven genera by the late Mr. Haliday, whose researches in this group were most extensive. About fifty species of these insects ore known to tho entomologists of Europe. They are all of small siie, more than half of them being only about tho twentieth of an inch in length, or less, and but few slightly exceed tho tenth of an inch; though recently some have been found in Australia which are three times as largo as any which were previously known. Most of the species are found in the flowers of dif- ferent plants. They feed upon the juices, and are very injurious, especially in hot-houses, causing small dead spots upon the leaves and flowers wherever they wound them. Some of them also infest melons and cucum- bers. One species is very injurious to the olivo trees in Italy. Another attacks peaches and other fruit to a mieobievous extent. But the species which appear to do the greatest amount of damage is the grain Thrips (T. cerealium.) Our first accounts of this in- sect are from Mr.KinDY,in 1796,(Linnnian Transactions iii, 24C,') who however supposed it to be the Thripi pAysopHS of Linncous, until Mr. Ilaliday showed it tobe distinct from that species. An excellent history of this species is published by Mr. Curtis in his paper on insects affecting the corn-crops, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol VI, p. 499; and fig- ures of the insect and its dissected parts, in the several stages of its growth, from Mr. Haliday's Manuscripts, Bro given in the List of Homoplerons Insects in the British Museum, part IV, plates VI, VII and VIII. In the year 1805, one third of tho wheat crop in the province of Piedmont is said to have been destroyed by this seemingly insignificant littlo insect. Mr. Kirby says it is by far the most numerous of any int;ect upon the wheat in England ; he does not think he ever exam- ined an ear of wheat without meeting witb it. lie snys it takes its station in the longitudinal furrow of the seed, in Ibe bottom of which it seems to fix its beak, and probably sucks the milky juice which swells the grain. Thus by depriving the kernel of part, and in some cases perhaps the whole of its moisture, it causes it to shrink up and become what the farmers call " punglod." According to Vossali Eandi, it also gnaws tho young stalks just above the knots, causing the ear to become abortive in consequence of these wounds. It is late sown wheat which is reported to bo chiefly injured by this insect; and enrly sowing is -the only remedy which I find spoken of by those who hare writ- ten upon it. Our American species of this order of insects are probably ns numerous as those of Europe, but none of them have been examined and described, except one which occurs in small hollows gnawed in young apples, of which some account is given in my lleport upon the Noxious Insects of New-Vork, just published. I have repeatedly noticed different kinds of these insects up- on growing wheat, but not in such numbers that I sup- posed they were doing any appreciable injury to the crop. The species which I have found most common up- on wheat in my own vicinity, will be found described at the close of this paper. Dr. IIakris has also seen the larva of a Thrips which he supposes to be the T- cerealium. lie merely states that it was orange- colored ; and as the larva of T. cerealium has a black or dusky head and two spots of the same color on the fore part of the thorax, and its antenna: and legs have alternate blackish and whitish rings, it is more proba- ble that his specimens were the same species as those now before me from Wisconsin. Be this' as it may, the oommunicotion from Mr. Williams is important, as making us acquainted with an enemy of the Wheat crop of which we heretofore have had no definite knowledge, and which will undoubtedly at times be quite detrimental in the wheat-growing tlSftricts of our country. Although this species, like many others in this Or- der, occurs upon the flowers of different plsnts, it is upon wheat, in all probability, that it will bo often- est noticed, and to which it will prove most injurious. It may therefore appropriately be named the M^'heat Thrips, (r. Iritici.) Attached to the surface of the shrivelled flower- leaves in the quill, I find what I doubt not are the eggs of these insects, (see figure, a.) They aro so minute as to be wholly invisible to the naked eye, except when placed upon clean white paper, when they can be mere- ly discerned, appearing like an atom of dark-colored dust. Under the magnifier they are discovered to be of a bright red color, like particles of sealing-wax, and of an oval or almost globular form ; and they are attached to the leaf by a short, thick, crinkled stalk or stem, which is of a dull white color. Tho larvcCj (figure, 6,) resemble the perfect insects, except that they are wholly destitute of wings, and aro smaller and softer, with the several segments of the body more equally and distinctly separated from each other by transverse, constricted lines. They are throughout of a bright orange-yellow color, of the same hue as tho worms of tho Wheat-midge, which worms, however, small ns they are, appear like giants when placed by the side of these larvo). Two minute black dots upon the anterior end of the head, are the eyes. Tho legs and antennte are much like those of the perfect insects, except that they are shorter. The two minute joints nt the end of tho antennni, (see fig- ure,./",) can frequently be perceived In the larva state of those organs. Buring this state, tho insects of this order are very nimble, skipping and throning themselves to a distanca by striking their abdomen suddenly against the sur- face upon which they nro placed. In their pupa state they are much more slow and sluggish in their motions, and become quite active again when they reach their perfect state. The j>upte are like the perfect insects in size and thnpe, except that their wings are short and rudimentary. At first they are merely oval scales, situated upon each side of the two last segments of the thorax. Subsequently they become mure developed, so that they reach to the middle of the abdomen or slightly beyond, but they are still incapable of being used for flying The species under consideration, n hen in its pupa state, is of the same yellow color as when a larva, but the abdomen, at least towards its base, is paler than the thorax. Thepcrfcct insect (figure, c) is but four hundreths of nn inch in length Its length is indicated by the short line at d, in tho annexed cut It is thus a fourth smaller than Thrips cerealium, and instead of being black like that species, this retains the yellow color which it has when a la'va, the head ond thorax (which includes the three largo segments next to the head, from each of which a pair of legs arises, as shown in tho figure) being of a deep orange yellow, or like the yolk of an egg, whilst tho abdomen is paler and the legs are whitish yellow. The antenna) (the npienl joints of which are represented more enlarged at./") are whitish, tinged towards their tips with dusky. The fringes of the wings are also dusky. Tho fore legs are shorter but no thicker than the others. All tho details of its structure are so plainly shown in the accompanying figures, that a more particular doscription is unneces- sary. Tho species which I have noticed ns the moat com- mon upon wheat in Washington county, New-York, is described in my manuscripts under tho name of tho Three-banded Thrips (Co/£o//iri/)s /rt/usciatill greater stretch of parental assumption among the Mongols, who not infrequently betroth or marry Iheir children after tlicy arc dead! Tho contract having been regularly drawn up, and rude representations of the various gifts, usually received by tho parents of the bride when a living coupio is betrothed, having been made, they commit the whole to (he flumes, and thus, as they bolicvo, convey them through the medium of the smoke, to Iheir children in tho other world, that they may become hu.«band and wifo in due form. Tho parent,^ of each, after Ihis.considcr Ihcinselves ns mutu- ally related, just as if a real connection had taken place between Iheir living children. Among the Moslems, ' the marriage-contract is often performed several years before the consummation, when the two parlies are yet chihlren.or during llie infancy of cho girl.' If, when a daughter is betrothed during infancy, the contract should not assume the form of actual sale, it is, nev- ertheless, usual fur the bridegroom, at the time ho acquires pcsciession of his bride, to pay into tho hands of her father a sum considered equivalent to tho cur- rent value of a wife. " The life of on Australian beauty is graphically portrayed in the fijllowing pussage : — " 'Should a female be possesfod of considerable per- sonal attractions, the first year of .her life must ne- cessarily bo very unhappy. In her early infancy she is betrothed to some man, even at this period ad vanced in year.«, and by whom, as .eho approaches the age of puberty, she is watched with a degree of vigi- lance and care, which increases in proportion to the disparity of years between them ; it is, probably, from this circumstance that so many of them are addicted to intrigues, in which, if they arc detected by their husbands, death, or a spear through some portion of the body, is their certain fate ; indeed, the bare suspicion of infidelity upon their part, is enough to insure to them the most cruel and brutal treatment. For these causes, during youth they are compelled, whether pregnant or not, to accompany their husbands in all their excursions, and are thus subject to violent and continued exercise and fatigue at periods when re- pose is indispensable. " But, even supposing a woman to give no encour- ngcment to her admirers, many plots are always laid to carry her off, and in tho encounters which result from these, she is almost certain to receive some vio- lent injury ; for each of the combatants orders her to follow him, and in tho event of her refusing, throws a spear at her. " The early life of a young woman at all celebra- ted for beauty is, generally, one continued series of captivity to different masters, of ghastly wounds, of wandering? in strange families, of rapid flights, of bad treatment from other females amongst whom she is brought a stranger by her captor; and rarely do you see a form of unusual grace and elegance, but it is marked and scarred by the furrows of old wounds ; and many a female thus wanders %everal hundred miles from the home of her infancy, being carried off aucoessively to di.staut and more distant points." * * « )S * =' But the most famous instance of regular internn- ionnl trade in wmuen, is that carried on at Constanti- nople—the supply being chiefly obtained from Oeor- gia and Circassia. And such is the power of custom. that the Circassian damsels are nothing loth to be thus exported from their mountain homes. Six Circassian girls, from twelve to fifteen years of age, intended for the slave-market of Constantinople, wore found on board a Turkish vessel, recently captured by the Rus- siiins. They proved to belong to a race with whom Russia was at pence. 'J'he Russian general, therefore, ' ordered them to be informed that the choice was open to them, to be sent back to their homes with the prince of their own race ' (also one of the captives,) ' to mar- ry Rus-sians and Cossacks of iheir free choice, to re- turn with Baron Ilaxthausen (a spectator of the scene) to Germany where all the women are fros, or, lastly, to accompany tho Turkish captain, who would sell them in the Blare market at Constantinople. They unani- mously, and without a moment's consideration, ex- claimed, ' To Constantinople to be sold !' " " The son of a chief (of the I'uncah tribe,) a youth, eighteen years old, wishing to connect himself with soiuc of the most influential men of the tribe, for the sake of securing their countenance, had an interview with one of the most distingui.'.hed, and made an ar- rangement with him for the hand of his daughter, whom he was to receive on a certain day, at a certain hour, and for whom ho was to give two horsec, a gun, and several pounds of tobacco. It wa« enjoined on the father, as a condition of the espousal, that ho should keep the contract a profound secret. In like manner, he soon made similar arrangements with three other leading men of the tribe, each of whom had a young and beautiful daughter of marriageable age. To oath of tho fathers he promised two horses, and other articles, as stipulated for in tho first instance, laying on each the same injunctions of secrecy, until he should announce to the whole tribe that he was to be married. At the liine appointed, they all assembled, ignorant of the fair hand that was to be placed in his. He got some of his young friends to lead up tho eight horses ; ho then look two of them, with the other pre- sents agreed upon, and, advancing to the first of the chiefs with whom lie had made tho compact, and whose daughter was standing by his side, said to him, ' You promised mo tho hand of your daughter on this day, for which I was to give you two horses,' etc. The fatlier assented, receiving tho presents, and giving his child, when some confusion ensued from tho simultaneous re* m(tnstrances which were suddenly made by tho other three parents who had entered into similar contracts. As soon as they could be pacified, and silence could be restorcd,*the ambitious young chief exultingly replied, ' You have all acknowledged, in public, your promises lo me, which I shall expect you to fulfil. I am here to perform all the engngemenls which I have made, and I expect you all lo do the same.' No more was said. He led up the two horses for each, and de- livered the other presents, loudiDg off to his wignnm his four brides I * * » » » "Throughout tho broad expanse of Asia, from limo immemorial, the lot of woman has been that of wretched personal slavery and social abasement ; hut, in China, her miserable condition seems to touch tho extreme that is possible lor human nature to endure. She is sold to her future husband without even being consulted on Ihe subject j to inform her of so ruuoh as his name, Is considered quite superfluous, and in tho family of her purchaser she is expected lo obey cveij one without exception. Accordirrg loan old Chinese writer, ' Tho newly married wifo should bo but a shad- ow and an echo in tho house.* Her husband can strike her with impunity, starve her, sell her, and oven let Iter out for a longer or shorter period, ns is done in tho province of Teho-Kiaug. Tho number of women driven to suicide by their accumulated sufferings, is very great. When a Chinaman thus loses his wifo, ho usually manifests, we are told, ' a groat deal of emo- tion ; for, in fact, he has suffered a considerable lose!, and will bo under tho necessity of buying another wifo !' Tho mean, bullying selfishness of tho Chinese of the present day, towards iheir women, is but a counter- part of their inhuman cowardice and readiness lo sac- rifice them to their conquerors in former limes. " The position of woman in Ancient Assyria is abun- dantly illustrated by the extraordinary method adopt- ed to dispo.«e of them in marriage. Speaking of As- syrian customs, Herodotus says, naivcli/ : — ' The wis- est, in my idea, is Hits, which, I understand, holds, alsoamongihe Veneliansof Illyria. Whatever maid- ens might be of marriagonblo years, were all collected and biought into one certain place,around which stood a multitude of men, A crier called up each girl separately, and offered her for sale ; he began with the prettiest of the lot; and when she had found a rich lidding, ho sold her off; and called up another — the next ho ranked in beauty. All these girls were sold off in marriage; the rich men, that were candidates for a wifo, liado against one another, fur the handsomest : the more humble classes, desirous of gelling partners, did not require, absolutely, beau- ty, but were willing to take even tho ugly girls for a sum of money. Therefore, when tho crier had gone through the list of Ihe prettiest women, and disposed of them, he put up the ugliest, or some one that was a cripple, if any there were, and offering to dispose of her, called out for the bidder that tvould, for the smal- lest sum, lake her to live with him ; so ho wont on till he came to her thai he considered tho least forbid- ding. Tho money for this was got by the sale of tho pretty maidens, so that the handsome and well-shaped gave dowries to the ugly and deformed. " Marriage is, lo a Hindoo, the great— the most es- sential of all objects. A man who is not married is considered lobe u person without establishment, and, al- most as a useless member of society. Until he arrives at this state, he is consulted on no great affairs, nor employed on any important trust. In short, he is looked upon as a man out of the pnle of nature. It is by moans of his wife that a man enjoys all earth- ly happiness. A man without a wife is an imperfect being. The young Brahmin is not only urged to mar- ry, but the divine lawgiver—' the son of Brahma ' — directs him in his choice: ' A twice-born man ' must ' studiously avoid the ten following families,' bo they ever so rich: — 'The family which has omitted pro- scribed acts of religion ; that which has produced no male children ; that in which the Veda had not been read; that which has thick hair on the body;' and those which have been subject to certain specified dis- eases. ' Lor him not marry a girl with reddish hair; * "' nor one immoderately talkative ; * '•' nor ono with any name raising an image of terror. Let him choose for his wife a girl whose form has i.o defect , who has an agreeable name ; who walks gracefully, like n phenicopteros, or like a young elephant ; whose hair and teeth are moderule respeclively in quantity and in size; whose body has exquisite softness.' Though a Brahmin may be ' in the greatest difficulty to find a suitable match,' he must not think of a wo- man of an inferior caslo as his first wife ; ' A Brah- min, if ho takes a Siudra lo his bed, as his first vife sinks to the regions of torment. * * For the crime of him, who thus illegally drinks the moisture of a Sudra's lips, the law declares no expiation.' " Beautify your Home. Ever}' man should do his best to own a home. The first money ho can spare ought to bo invested in a dwelling, where his family can live permanently. \'iewed as a matter of economy, this is importaiil, not only because be can ordinarily build more cheaply than he can rent, but because of the expense caused by frequent change of residence. A man who early in life builds a home for himself and family, will save some thousands of dollars in tho^course of twentj' vcars besides avoiding the inconvenience and trouble of re- movals. Apart from this, there is something agreeable to our better nature in having a home that we can call our own. It is a form of properly that is more than properly. It speaks to Ihe heart, enlists the sentiments, and ennobles the possessor. The associations that spring up around it, as the birthplace of children, — as the scene of life's holiest emotions — as the sanctuary where the spirit cherishes its purest thoughts, are such as all value ; and whenever their influence is exerted, tho moral sensibilities are improved and exalted. The greater part of our happiness in this world is found at home ; but how few recollect that the hnppi- noss of to-dny is increased by the place where we were happy on yesterday, and that, insensibly, scenes and circumstances gather up a store of blessedness for tho weary hours of the future I On this account we should do all in our power to make home attractive. Nol on- ly should we cultivate such tempers as servo lo render ils intercourse amiable and affectionate, but we should strive to adorn it wilh those charms which good sense and refinement so easily impart lo it. We say easily, for there are persons who think that a homo can not be, 'oeautificd without a considerable outlay of money. Such people are in error. It costs little to have n neat flower-garden, and lo surround your dwelling wilh those simple beauties which delight the eye far more than expensive objects. If you will let the sun- shine and the dew adorn your yard, they will do more for you than any artist. Nature delights in beauty. She loves to brighten Ihe landscape and make it agree- able lo the eye. She hangs the ivy around the ruin, and over the stump of a withered tree twines tho graceful vine. A thousand arts she practices to ani- mate the senses and ploase Ibo mind. Follow her ex- ample, and do fur yourself what she is always labor- ing lo do fur you. Beauty is a divine instrumentality. It is ono of God's chosen forms of power. We never see creative energy without something beyond mere existence, and hence the whole universe is a teacher and intpirerof beauty. Every man was born lobe an artist, so far as the apprccialion and enjoyment of beauty are concerned, and he rob? himself of one of the precious gifts of his being if he fails to fulfill this beneficent purpose of his creation. — Southern Timts. SIGN'S OF TALL. The biling airs llic siirinkiiig flesh appal And every tliiiif; proclaii Except provisions. i llie approach of fnllj THE CULTIVATOR. 115 J ENTOMOIiOaT. IVo. 8 — Cut-wonnfl. L. A. IJuowN, Esq., of West Haven, Ct., under date of July 2l8t, 1855, writes to the editors of the Country Gentleman as follows: Will you or como of your readers inform us, through your paper, how the Cut-ivorm is produced — whether from the miller, or whether they bring forth their young like the rabbit or any of the animal creation 1 I would like to know also whether one kind of soil more than another, or whether ditferent manures, coarse or One, have a tendency to increase thoir numbers. Their name is legion with us, this season. More than thirty have been found around one cucumber hiJl. Whole fields of cabbages have been cut down in a night. The subject of Iheir production has been up for discussion, but no one seem's to know, nor is there any author that we have that throws any light on the subject. I have had some experience relating to their production, but it is 60 at variance with my previous ideas that I want more light before publishing it. Whether the cut- worm is more numerous in one kind of soil than another, I am unable to gay. The soil of my own neighborhood is a gravelly loam, and in this the out-worm is common. I presume it is equally com- mon in sandy and clay soils. In one instance, at the bottom of a bowl-shaped hollow, where the soil partook of the nature of a stiff clay, a number of cut-worms were found, when there were scarcely any in the sur- rounding gravelly soil ; but it was probably the more juicy, tender growth of the com in this damp hollow, which caused the worms to gather there, rather than the nature of the soil. I do not think the fertility of the soil, or the kind of manure which is applied to it, has any influence upon these worms, except in making the plants grow more succulent, for it is vegetation of this character which appears to be their favorite food. We all know those worms are common in our highly manured gardens. And I have never found them more plenty than on one occasion among beans planted upon a hill-side, so bar- ren that it was thought nothing else could bo raised there. The biography of these worms is briefly as follows: The parent insect drops her eggs upon the ground, the latter part of summer. These soon hatch, and the young worms which come from them, crawl into the ground and feed upon the roots and tender shoots of herboceous plants. AVhen cold weather arrives they descend a few inches below the surface and there lie torpid during the winter, and renew their activity when spring returns. It is not until they have nearly com- pleted their growth, in the month of June, that they show that habit which renders them so injurious, and has acquired for them thoir mime, "cut-w(irm." They then crawl from the earth, by night, and with thoir sharp teeth cut ofl" the young succulent plants of maize, cabbage, beans, Ac, almost as smoothly as though it were done with a knife. When daylight approaches, each worm crawls into the ground again, entering it within a few inches of the plant it has severed — the newly disturbed and rough appearance of the dirt showing the exact spot where it has gone into the ground, and rendering it easy to uncover and destroy the worm. Having got its growth it forms n little oval cavity in the ground, within which it tics and changes to a pupa or chrysalis. In this state it has some resem- blance to a long slim egg of a chestnut brown color, having several impre'oung corn, beans, &c., and also by placing bell-glnsses over corn hills where worms had buried themselves, But I have never been able to succeed. The worms on fin-l- ing themselves imprisoned, refuse to eat, and hurriedly crawl around and around tne inner side of their prison, night after night, until they literally travel themselves to death. They are by no means such sluggish, stupid creatures as one would suppose from seeing them in the day time. By night they are as active ns any uther animal whose skin is stuff'ed and distended with fdod as theirs is. They are evidently able to crawl quite u distance in a single night. It is the common opinion that they are always bred in the ground near the spot whore they do their mischief. But I suspect they are everywhere wandering about, nightly, in search of such tender, succulent plants as will furnish them a dainty repast, and that they thus in many in- stances enter our gardens and corn-fields from the sur- rounding enclosures. They certainly, if so inclined, could travel across the largest of our arable fields in a few hours. The following short descriptions of the different kinds of cut-worms which have fallen under my notice, and their habits, I extract from my manuscripts. All lhe?c worms, except the White one, a»-e about an inch and a quarter in length when at rest, and an inch and a half when crawling. They all have four polished elevated dots upon each segment, on the back, and a few others which are less distinct, upon the sides, each dot bearing an exceedingly fine hair. The Rkd-headed cut-worm is of a dull pale brown color, without any stripes, and may be distinguished from all the other kinds by its head, which is of a taw- ny red color, instead of smoky yellowish as it is in each of the following, except the last one. Common in cornfields, cutting off the plants slightly below the sur- face of the ground, and thus always destroying them. Od Staten and Long Island, I am told, this species is popularly named the "Tiger worm," from its destruc- tive habits, and that the name out-worm is there ap- plied only to the next species. The Striped cut-worm is dirty whitish or pnle smoky, with darker brown stripes, of which there are two along the back and three broader ones along each side; dots black, as they are in the preceding species, but not so minute. This is the most common kind in cornfields, cutting off the plants half an inch above the ground ; hence the stalk frequently shoots up again, from the middle of the stump. This occasionally oc- curs among beans otso. It buries itself but slightly, and may sometimes be found with half its back expos- ed, even though the sun be shining clear and hot. The Faintlv-hnkd cut-worm is dull brown, with Tory faint pale longitudinal lines, and the polished dots but little darker than the general color. Found in corn- fields, but more commonly in gardens among cabbages and sometimes among onions. Buries itself butslightly The White cut-worm is smaller, being scarcely an inch long when at rest, It is dull white, with black dots and no stripes or lines except a row of very faint brownish touches along the upper part of each side. It is rare, a single individual being occasionally fouod among corn and beans. The Black-headed cut-worm is dull dark brown, with faint traces of pale lines, and its head deep black. This is probably what is named the "Black worm" in some neighborhoods. It is the most common kind among beans, cutting them off slightly below the sur- face, and drawing the severed stem into the hole whe it buries itself, and there feeding upon it during the WP THE CULTIVATOR. APuiii dny, till the whole is devoured, or only pieces of the willed lenvea remiiin, plupginjc up the entrimce of the hole. Either the Striped or the Lined cut-worm fre- quently treats corn in this same way. Honco the stump may often be found without auy willed leaves lying near it. There are doubtless other species of cut-worms which have not yet presented themselves to my notice, my invc^tigationR of those insects being fts yot far from complete. My young cnoumbors being aUvnys enclosed in boxes open at the bottom and top, are never molested by cut-worm.-j, and seldom by other insects; hence I know not the worm which depredates on them. As already stated, the particular species of moth or miller into which either of our American cut-worms changes, has never been ascertained. Most of the speciof!, however, pertain to the genua Agrolis, of the family NoctuidjE, or Owlet-moths. In Englnnd the insects of this genus are nnmed "Dart moth?," from a peculiar spot or streak which many of them have near the base of their fore wings, resembling the point of a dart or spear. Much the most common species of this genus in the state of New-York, can be nothing else than the Oothjc Dart (A^rotis subgothica) of the Bri- tish entomologists. This was first described by Mr. Jlaworth in the ye.ir 1810, and is current in all the books as a British insect. Mr. Stephens, however, says it is ▼ery rare, only throe or four specimens having been found in England. I doubt not it is an American insect, the eggs or larva) of which hiive accidentally been car- ried to England, probably in the oarth in which plants have boon transported thither. Ilere.it is one of the most common of those moths which come in at the open win- dows of our houses in warm summer evening)^, attracted by the lights of the candles. I have thus taken more than a dozen specimens in an hour. It begins to ap- pear early in July and continues till September, and in Illinois I met with it on one of the last days of this month. Its wings when spread monsure from over an inch and a quarter to an inch and a hiilf across. It is of a grayish-brown color, and the four wings have a broad whitish stripe on tho outer margin from the base to beyond the middle, and another branching from this and running through tho centre of the wing. Between these whitish stripes is a pale triangulnr spot having its outer side wholly c(mfluent with the outer stripe, and buck of this is ti second pule spot which is kidney- shnped, the apiico before, between tmd behind those spots being black or dark brown. And extending from the b.ise of the wing along the inner sido of tho inner stripe is a broad black or dark brown streak (represent- ing the dart head above alluded to,) which streak is crossed by two slender jyle lines, the.^e lines not par- allel with each other. This last murk with the two pale tines across it, will alone distinguish this from all our other moths. Our next most common speoies is the Devastating Dart {Agrotis devastator,) thus named hy Mr. Brace in the year 1819, in a short article upon tho cut-worm, pujdiijhedin ihe first volume of Silli man's Journal, page 1.57. And it appears to he this same species, which has recently been figured and named Agrotis Mar- shallana by Mr. Westwon.), frf.m a single speoimon found in England by T. Marshall, Esq.j (Iluuiphrev's British Moths, vol. i, p, 1*22.) n this species the wings when spread jjro from an inch and a half to over an inch and three-fourths across. The fore wing« are grayi.>^h brown, and are crossed by four equidistant wa- vy whilish lines, which are edged more or less with blackish. But commonly only the last one or two of these lines can bo perceived ; and the last lino ha^ a row of blackish triangular spoto, like arrow hoad^, alone its anterior side, their points directed towards the &ase of the wing. Often these spnip are so oblite- rated that only one or two of the middle onps oan bo discerned in a particular reflection of the light. But it is by Tltoe worms mostly come from the surrounding fields, to tho places where %ve notice them, I have thought that a single deep furrow, struck around the outside of a field or garden, when tho worms aro first beginning to appear — any break in the land-sido of the furrow being repaired with a hoo — would form a barrier over which it would be impossible for them to make their way — thus protecting the whole field etfectually and at. a very trifling cost. I hopo in ono or two summers to complete my observations so that I om speak with more confidence upon this aubieot than I am able to do at present. Asa Fitch. Salem, N. Y., Feb. 20 Watkhtown. — The citizens of this town have held a meeting, and resolved to accept the terms on which it is proposed to hold the next State Fair at that place. Tho necessary committoes were appointed, and it is believed they will have every thing ready to comploto tho arrangements at the mooting of tho Exocutivo Committee in April. 'f^-C THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. ENTOMOIiOaT. No, X.— Dorer In Apple Tree*— The DupreatU In tho fifth volume of the Country Gcntloman, page 3-(5, W. M. T. of Jossamino county, Ky., asks for in- formation rcapocting a worm which has done groat in- jury in his orchard of young apple trees, some of tho trees being entirely killed by it. Ho has not been ubie to find this worm ; but we gather from his account that it invariably commences its depredations upon the south side of the young tree, gonernlly about n, foot above the ground, and feeds upon the inner bark and outer wood, filling the cavity which it makes with its eastings, and at the end of its burrow it penetrates inward into the solid wood, tho only external indication of its destructive work beiug tho dark color of the outer surface of the bark- A letter from S. Moore, Esq., of Kensington, Conn., states that a worm answering in all respects to tho above account, is at present very troublesome in his and other orchards in his vicinity. He has repeatedly found tho worm in its burrow under the bark. It is usually from a half to three-fourths of an inch in length. Ho and others are very desirous to know what insect this is, and what are its habits. We wish Mr. M. had sent us spccimensof this worm, and of the wood showing its operations. Wo fool much like the Israelites under their Egyptian task-masters — brick required of us, and no straw given us with which to make them. We have never seen an apple tree depredated upon in the manner above described. From what is stated of it, the insect would appear to be a species of tho family Bhprestida', or the brilliant snapping beetles, many of the larvae of which mine a flat or shallow burrow in tho sap-wood of the trees which they infest, immediately under the bark, which burrow is commonly winding or serpentine, and bo- comes more broad as the worm increases in size, and at its broadest end has a hole sunk into the solid wood, in which the insect lies during its pnpa state. And it is most probable this insect is the Thick-legged Bu- prestis. Specimens of this beetle, from an orchard in Michigan, were sent to the office of the Country Gen- tleman Inst summer, for information as to its name, and I am indebted to Mr. Barby of Rochester, for pieces of wood containing the larvas. But my infor- mation respecting this insect, the dates when its trans- formations occur, &c., is by no means complete. I pro- pose, however, to present such an account of it as will enable Mr. Moore to ascertain whether this is the in- sect which is infesting his orchard. And if it is not, we hope he will not fail of forwarding us specimens of his insect, that will enable us to ascertain what it is. The perfect insect can probably bo obtained by select- ing a young tree which is fatally wounded by these worms, sawing it off above whore the worms are nest- ling, and drawing a small bag or cap mado of gauze, or of the netting used lor muskoto bars, over the stump, and tioing its mouth below where tho worms are reposing. Or, without cutting the tree down, net- ting may be sewed in tho form of a cylinder around tho trunk, and its ends tied in such a manner that the insects will be imprisoned within it when they emerge from the wood. And all other worms which are found burrowing in the wood or bark of trees, the reader should know, may be obtained in thoir perfect state in this same way, except a few kinds which leave the wood and bury themselves in tho ground to pass their pupa state. Those insects which people commonly call snap-bugs, or snapping beetles, from their having the faculty of giving a sudden snap or spring, whereby many of them are able to throw themselves over when laid upon their backs, form two extensive families of the order Colk- OPTEHA. One of these families, named Elators, (Ela- TEBiDiB,) are nearly all of dull colors, black, liver brown or chestnut. The other, named Buprostians, are mostly of highly polished metallic colors, many of them being among tho most splendid and brilliant of any insects known. It is to the latter family, as already intimated, that the insect which we ore about to describe, belongs. Next to the common apple tree boror (saperda bi- vittala,) tho raostcommou boror in tho trunks of apple trees in our country, is the Thick-logged Buprestis, named chrysobotkris femorata, by entomlogists, from its anterior thighs, which are remarkably thick and swollen as it wore, and have a little augular projection or tooth on tho middle of thoir under sides. Hitherto, it is in Ohio ami other western states, that complaints of this insect have been made. But, as it is a com- mon species in all parts of our country, it will proba- bly be depredating upon orchards everywhere. It is a native insect of this country, existing hero, there is no doubt, long before the apple tree was introduced. Its natural haunt is the white oak, and other species of oaks. And it is probably in consequence of the ox- tensive clearing up of our native forests, that it has boon forced to select other trees on which to deposit its eggs, for the purpose of continuing its species. And not only tho apple but peach trees are attacked, and young trees are sometimes killed by it. The perfect insect is a flatish oblong beetle, half an inch in length or somewhat less, with its head sunk deep into its thorax, the thorax being more broad than long and rounded at its sides. It is of a shining black color, and of a firm hard consistence, and on each of its wing-covers tho naked eye can discern three raised linos, running lengthwise, the two outer lines being interrupted by two impressed spots, which appear as though they were stamped upon the surface by moans of a seal. When tho wing-covers are spread apart, the back beneath them is seen to be of a beautiful brilliant green color. Tho under side and legs are like burnished copper, the feet being deep green. These beetles make their appoarunco upon tho Iroos they infest, during tho months of Juno and July, run- ning in the hot sunshine up and down the trunk and branches upon their south side, and dropping their eggs in tho crevices of the bark. The worms which hatch from those eggs, feed upon the soft sap-wood im- mediately under tho bark, and probably upon tho in- ner layers of tho bark also, forming a shallow wide cavity between the bark and the wood. When they approach maturity they fill the cavity which they have formed, with their castings, and sink themselves deeper in tho solid wood, forming not a round but a long nar- row hole, and only deep enough for the worm to be contained within it. Many of tho insects of this family pass two or three years in their larva state, and it may be tho same with this species. Those worms or larvte, in their form, boar some re- semblance to a tadpole or to a battledoor, being quite broad anteriorly, and suddenly narrowed into a long gradually tapering tail consisting of several joints. They have no feet, and are very flat botlj on their up- per and under side, appearing as though the bark had been pressed down and distorted them. They are pi;lo yellowish, with two small black points jutting out in front, which are the jaws. A figure of this larva, and a more full description of tho species than what is hero presented, with some account of a parasitic worm which destroys it, will be found in my Report on Noxious In- sects, published in the last volume of tho Transactions of tho N. Y. State Agricultural Society. To enable us to devise tho best modes for combatting this or any other insect, it is necessary that we have full information respecting its history and habits. But from tho analogy furnished by similar insects with which we are acquainted, we may be able to suggest remedies to which resort can be had, until further in- vestigations shall make known to us others which will be more convenient and effectual. Wherever, by the discoloration of the bark or any other sign, one of these worms is found to be present, the bark should be cut away until tho worm is reached, when it should bo destroyed. The wound which is thus mado in tho bark, will by no means injure the tree so much sus tho worm will If it is allowed to re- main. But it is probable that beloro the worms can be discovered by any external appearances, they will have done much injury, especially if several are pre- sent in tho samo tree. Hence it is most important that wo should have some resort by which to wholly shield the tree from tho attack of these insects. One mode of thus protecting it, will bo to impregnate tho bark with gome substance which will not be injurious to tho tree, and which will at the same time repel these insects from it. The parent has the instinct to discover whether her progeny can subsist where she places them, and probably will never deposit her eggs in situations where tho young will perish. It appears to bo well established that all alkaline substances are poisonous to the larva) of insects, whilst they also pro- mote the health and vigor of vegetation. By alkaline substances the reader will understand mo as referring to different preparations of the " fixed alkalis," potash and soda, and not to the whole class of chemical sub- stances to which tho term alkali is extended. Wo thus have every reason to believe that these beetles will not deposit their eggs upon tho bark of a tree which is impregnated with alkaline matter. One of tho most convenient and economical substances with which thus to tincture tho bark of trees, is tho com- mon soft soap, found in all our hmlscs. It probably is not till towards the close of their lives in the month of July that these beetles deposit their eggs. Therefore if about the last of Juno the bark of apple and peach trees bo rubbed with soap, or if this substance be plaiess county, and weighed 200 lbs. each, live weight. These are the right kind of sheep for profit to the feeder and consumer, though too fat lo suit the common taste for lean meat.'* It requires no extra eflfort to bring o good New-Ox- fordshire sheep to the weights hero mentioned at two and a half or three years old. The lamb I sold my brother, at two years and nine months old, came within eight pounds and the old ewe within twelve pounds of the two hundred, with but very little bcfidcs good bay and grass, and within the time raised two lambs which together weighed over two hundred pounds more Four ewes of this flock, being all that were old enough, bare borne seven lambs this season. The largest is now three months old, and weighs 70 pounds. Since I commenced breeding these sheep, they have lacked but one of bearing three lambs for every two e*os. The average weight of my entire flock of lost year's lombs was 82 lbs. on the 17lh day of Septem- ber. At that time I commenced selling. I should judge by the weight of some I sold about the 1st of December, that they would have averaged 90 lbs. if they had been kept until «bat time. Lawuence Smith, West Worthington, Mass. Diseases of Animals— Neglected Opportunities. Meesbs. EniTons-In accordance with the views presented in an article entitled, — Comments, Inquiries, Suggestions, (J-c.,— in your paper of June 12th, we propose to note down, in the briefest form possible, some of the thoughts which occur to us when reading and listening to the communications and conversation of others, and also some of the more note-worthy state- ments made at club and other meetings of those engo- ged in the cultivation of the soil. Without any farther preface we commence the experiment we have under- taken, that, namely, of endeavoring to collect some of the more valuable portion of the every-day thinking and talking within our limited sphere of ob.^ cents per quarter, payable in advance, to any part of the United States, ex- cept the county of Albany, whore it goes free. THE CULTIVATOR.— Tl\i8 standard monthly Agrl. cultural and Horticultural Journal— the fifth volume of the third series of which commences with the year 1857— Is now made up from the pages of this paper, and publish- ed at the low price of Fiftt Crnts a year. Contents of thia Number. The Farm. Notes About the 'West j 41 kow mnoh Clover Seed will yon Roqntre neirt Bprhijr, 42 Chemical Composition of Wheat Flour, 42 Entomoloiiy — Inquiry about Grastjlioppcrs— Answer by Dr. As 42 Beep and Shallow Plowing, by P., 43 Notes for the Week, 48 Inquiries and Answers 48 Trial of Reapers, Mowers, &.C., at Chestertown, Eas- tern Shore of Maryland, by tljo Maryland State Ag. Society, by E. L. R., 46 Trial of Reapers and Mowers in Ohio, 45 Th« <9razl«r. Mr. Sotham's Reply to C. M. Clay 44 Horticultural UeparliuenC. Notes about Fruits 40 Dwarf and Standard Mixed, 46 On Transplanting Trees, by T. S. C, 40 Tho Chicharra— a New Variety of Pea, by Jaubs A. Fbdkn, 46 Oallfornla Orcharding, 47 The Florbl. Tho Cineraria or Cape Aster, by E. S 47 The Kllehen (Sarden. Tho Hubbard Squash, by ,Ias. J. H. GnBOouv, 47 Domestic Ecouumy. Elderberry Wine and Syrup, 47 The Fireside. Letters from India— II...... 48 The Microscope and American Mlcroeoopea, by S. W. JonNSON j9u 48 Tho Norse Folk— How Manufactures are carried on in Sweden— Two of tiie Trees of Scandinavia— A Model Farm— Stables— a Good Dog— Wages, 60, 61 Rural Life, by C. N. Bembnt, 61 Lbirukb IIodr ; Kntie Glover, by Crrss, 66 A Provident Reynard 66 Met at Every Turn, 66 Science and Art. Phoaphoresence of Insects 66 Philosophy in Court, 66 Illuslratluns. Traveling Carriage of India, 49 Earthen Vessel for Balliing, 49 Kews, Market*, dee. Record of the Times, 62 Farm Produce Markuts, 63 Notes about the West. OAOO, 1 OKOWTU AND PROSITCTS — RAILIIOAD FACILITIBS— tub ILLINOIS CENTRAL COMPANY — TIIK STATR and tub FAR WEST MADE TRIBUTARY. To realize the force of tho line, "Westward the star of tho empire takes its way," as applied to our country, one must do something more than roll over " the groat west" in the rail-cars. Ob- servation in this way however extensive, is confined to a very narrow space, and that generally of the least productive and most forbidding character ; and tho in- fonualion to be gathered in casual conversation with fellow-travellers and at the slopping places in tho prin- cipal towns, is of altogether too meagre and unreliable a kind, to enable one to form any correct opinion of the agricultural capacities of Prairie Land. In spend- ing some tiiuo at several of the chief towns, or cities as they arc there uniformly called, in Illinois and Wis- consin, I had good opportunities of learning tho prices of "city lots," and tho perfect wildnoss with which the fever of speculation rages in many of them. A"d ^'pH I gone no further I should have returned l<. : lika many olhece, in the full oonvictioD th < people were verging on insanity upon tho "corner lots" and the value of mother eiu i "square foot," — as indeed they really seem 'i. \"- n some places — Chicago and Milwaukee for iustancc. It is well known that in tho former, land two or three miles out of town, itself littlo better than a swamp, with no streets or improvements — except those on the maps, is held at higher prices tlian in the upper part of the city of New-York. So in Milwaukee, although rates for out-lots by no means compare with tliose at Chicago, yet one might suppose from tho sum a-skod for 24 feet by 120, that land was one of the very Boar- cest things to he found in that vicinity. Well informed as I was in relation to the growth and rapid extension of Chicago, as well as in regard to its commercial statistics, I must nevertheless confess to great surprise at the high prices to which real estate has been forced by tho mania for speculation so preva- lent for somo time past. Tho extreme point must now have been nearly reached j and, although prices may not exceed what at some future period will become actual values, many of the vast "fortunes" supposed to have been accumulated during their present advance- ment, must pass away like the shadows of the morning before that day arrives. Tho market for speculation ore long will cease, and the demand will then he lim- ited to tho areas successively needed for purposes of improvement — tosupply tho requirements of thogrowing commerce and population of the city. Tho necessities of speculators can but compel thom, so soon as this change shall occur, to sacrifices that will inevitably re- duce, for a time at least, tho valuation of most, if not all that large territory lying away from compact business localities, and now bartered and deeded at figures on which its owners are considered millionaires. But, on tho other hand, tho prospects of Chicago — although she may experience times of depression and re-action, — from her position as tho entro-pol and out- lot of the incalculable riches developing with such wonderful rapidity in tho vast tributary regions of tho prairies, can hardly fail to justify oven the highest ex- pectations, nor should wo bo surprised to see her rank at no very distant time, as the second city of tub KKruBLic. To say that she is already the largest grain exporting mart of the world, is only to mention the beginning of that immense trade which must result from the further and better cultivation of the lands of Illinois ana the far west. As yet, but tho first steps as it were, havo been taken in opening up this almost boundless extent of fertile soil to a productive popula- tion, the fruits of whoso agricultural and mechanical labor is all of it to find a market and outlet, and whose vast consumption is in turn to bo supplied through the warehouses, by the vessels, and over the railroads of Chicago. The ease and cheapness with which tho \irairic8 are brought under cultivation, and the facilities both for marketing their products and procuring supplies for the new settler, over the perfect network of rails with which the State is laid, are such as to render the pros- pective increase in the yield of Indian corn and other ~rrMTV ■<>t„r» " "f l-xef and pork, ipidity, ox- tion and wealth of Illinois, would now havo been near- ly or quite double what they are. The credit given by owner-i, and the comparatively moderate prices at which many are willing to sell — from S5 to 815 per acre — nevertheless offer sufficient inducements to those who prefer to pay for railroad privileges rather than go beyond thom to buy cheaper, and are leading to a won- derfully rapid filling up of the unbroken lands both of this State and of Wisconsin. The immense advertising on the part of the Illinois Central R. R. Company, and the favorable terms on which its territory is offered, have manifested i far-seeing sagacity and a spirit of enter- prise unusual in a corporation, and have been more effective in attracting public attention to the whole State, than perhaps any other single cause that has operated towards its present prosperity. Not only has this company availed itself of tho circulation of nearly every paper of repute, by liberal advertisements, but its handbills in diverse languages have been sown broadcast wherever a railroad could carry them, with an energy and profuseness, now yielding a harvest, both to the stockholders and the State, almost inestimable in extent. . It is not only in Illinois that every acre brought under tho plow must aid in swelling tho revenue of Chicago merchants and shippers, but the long trains of emigrants constantly pressing on for the still unsold government lands of Iowa and Minnesota, will all of them in a greater or less degree contribute to its en- largement and join in multiplying its business and riches. It must be their head market and chief depot of supplies, and every inch of railroad graded, and every furrow of new earth opened in those States, must add their production and traffic to the increasing streams that now center here. With all this to look forward to, it is difficult to condemn the extravagant expectations in which so many have indulged, and if wo are to ex- pect a revulsion, it is one which can only in the end THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. •^CkC^ establish upon a firmer bnsis the true progress find growth of the city. It will have much to cohqucr in the natunil infelicities of its location. The expenses of filling it up to a griiile that will odinit of drainage, must boar heavily upon property at present unproiluc- tive, the owners of which will find themselves heavily taxed for its improvement, and it must be something of a burden even in the streets now most closely and handsomely built. How Much Clover Seed will you Bequire next Spring. Now — yes, tiow— is the time at which this question can be determined to the greatest advantage by thoso who propose to raise their own supply of seed. If a farmer has any clover growing on his own land, as all who manage well do have every year, then he can scarcely ever do better with at least a part of the land in this crop, than to raise his own supply of seed for the coming season from it. There may bo, doubtless, exceptions to this general rule, as there are to almost every rule of the kind. Taking it for granted, then, that every farmer does, or at least should, sow clover every spring on all hind with wheat and barley crops — (it may be risked also with oats sometime.':, though there is a eonsidorablo risk of failure) — and that it is better on several accounts to raise his own seed than to buy, a good maniiger will determine quite early in the season how much he will be likely to want, and how his supply of seed for the succeeding spring is to be provided. Let us take the case of one on a farm of medium size, say of eighty acres. Such a one will, probably, have fifty or si.\ty acres under cultiviition, and will put about a fourth part of the whole into wheat each year. Taking one year with another, he will require clover seed enough for twelve or fifteen acres, and as from three to four bush- els of seed per acre may be reckoned upon ae an ave- rag"rop, and as iX is better to sow us much as fifteen pounds of seed ou an acre than any less, it is obvious that between one and two acres must be devoted to the raising of the seed that will bo needed for the spring seeding of fifteen acres. The patch of an acre or two which is devoted to raising the supply of seed for the next spring, should be treated somewhat better, and somewhat differently from the rest of the land in clover, in order to secure first-rate seed. We need not insist upon the import- ance of having clover seed, and all other seeds, as fully matured and as nearly perfect us possible. Wo assume that this matter is well known, and farther that it is also known that frost chocks the growth of this seed, and that full, plump, and perfect seeds cannot reason- ably be expected in the second growth of the season, if ihe first one was very luxuriant or cut rather late in the season. To avoid those sources of injury to the seed, the patch devoted to raising it should have the first growth of the season cut quite early, or be pas- tured until about the last of May or first of June, so that the second crop may have full opportunity for the perfect elaboration and maturing of the seed, before that essential process is arrested by early frosts. To contribute still farther to having the seed as well filled and as perfect as possible, the patch devoted to this purpose should have a top-dressing of liquid manurq or guano, or well-rotted barn-yard manure, as soon as the first growth is removed. The land may be in good heart enough to perfect the seed without any such as- sistance, but so important is it to have the seeds plump and well matured, that some of the best farmers make it a general practice to give the patch on which they propose to raise seed for their own use, a top-dres.sing with some kind of manurial matter. The kind of ma- nure to be applied will be determined by various cir- cumstances, nothing, however, being better (when a large garden watering engine, or an old hogshead fit- ted up on a cart or wagon, with a perforated tube, can be had,) than two or three applications of liquid ma- nure from a tank, or made otherwise, immediately af- ter removing the first crop. Droughts are not uncom- mon at this time of the year, and the roots loft open and exposed to a scorching sun, do not readily put forth any new foliage or commence the second growth. In such a rtate of things, a top-dressing of well-rotted manure will partially mulch the land, as well as en- rich it, if the mnnuriiil matter could only be washed out of it into the land by either a natural or artificial watering. The object of all such applicotions is to secure an early start for the second growth which is to yield the seed, and to furnish the plants with the elements ne- cessary for the elaboration of the seed in the most per- fect form. Plaster, it is now pretty generally admit- ted, docs not favor the early maturing, nor the plump- ness or perfectness of the seed. It is supposed to fa- vor the growth of the foliage at the expense of the seed and of its early ripening. Thoso who require only a few bushels of seed will do as well to sow it in the chafi' as to have all the dusty ond dirty job of threshing and cleaning their seed, and the expense of a machine besides. Those requiring larger quantities will generally prefer to have it thresh- ed and cleaned by a machine. Chemical Composition of Wheat Flour. AMOUNT OF NUTniTmrS ELKMKNT3 IN BOLTED AMD UH nOLTED FLOUK, COMPARATIVELY. A series of experiments has bocn made by Mr. J. B. Lawes and Dr. J. H. fiiLDERT, for the object of deter- mining the comparative amountof nitrogen, phosphoric acid, Ac., in flour of diflToront degrees of fineness, or, in other words, in superfine flour, fine flour, and that which contained more or less branny matter. From the results of these experiments published in the Quar- terly Journal of the Chemical Society, (London,) for April lust, it appears that the per centago of nitrogen was about onoe and a half as great in the bran as in the finer flours. Even after including all the coarser portions of flour which are usually considered fit for bread-making, still the excluded branny parts contain- ed considerably higher per centages of nitrogen. Turning to the ashts of the respective products of ground wheat, there was found to be a much larger proportion of matter insoluble in acid in those of the finer flours than in those of the coarser brans. On the other hand, there was considerably the highest per centage of phospfioric acid in the ash of the brans. The magnesia was also the higher in the ash of the brans ; and the potash and lime the higher in that of the flours. The proportion in which the more impor- tant constituents of wheat are contained severally in the usually edible flours, and in the branny matter, was found to bo, on an average, about as follows : — In the flours commonly considered fit for bread, nearly three-fourths of the total, nitrogen ; about one-third or two-fifths of the total, mineral matter, and only about one-third of the total, phosphoric acid. Notwithstand- ing the higher per centage of nitrogen, and the large actual amounts of the mineral constituents of the grain contained in the branny portions, the writers of the paper were of opinion that such wore the effects of the branny particles in increasing the perist.iltic move- ments of the bowels, and thus clearing the alimentary canal more rapidly of its contents, that it was ques- tionable whether in the generality of coses, more nu- triment would not be lost to the system by the admis- sion into the food of the imporlectly divided branny pa tides, than would be gained by the introduction into the body in connexion with these irritating or cathartic particles, of a larger amount of supposed nutritious matters. The action alluded to, tbalris, tho well-known effects of unbolted flour in increasing the frequency of the movements of the bowels, may indeed be conducive to health with those of a sluggish habit, the sedentary, or the over-fed ; but-with those who do not come under either of these descriptions or classes, the benefits de- rivable from the use of unbolted or Graham flour, especially in those whose diet is in other respects innu- tritious or scanty, maybe more than counter-balanced by its tendency to irritate or quicken the movements of the bowels. From another set of experiments, it appears that the average yield of bread, with flours of varying fine- ness, was rather more than 135 for every 100 of flour. The nverngo of nineteen experiments with fine flour, composed of the products of the first three wires mixed together, gave a produce of about 137^ of bread for every 100 of flour. Of 100 parts of bread, about 03 wore dry substance, and 37 water. Bakers' loaves pro- cured in the country, gave an average of 62 per cent, of dry substance and 38 of water, while loaves procur- ed in London gave rather more than 64 of dry matter and 36 of water, within twelve hours of its being with- drawn from the oven. ENTOMOLOGY. No. IS-Graashoppeie. BcoTT CocNTT, UiNK., June 8,| 1867. Messrs. Tucker & Sox— The subject of ail our inquiry and solicitude at this time, is Grasshoppers. I have enclosed several specimens for examination. Wo want to know what to expect of them for the fu- ture. The history of them here, as far as known, is that the last of August last year, full-grown grass- hoppers began to appear in our fields, and in a short time there were millions. They came from tho north- west. It is said that three years ago they were at the Rod River of tho North, about 600 miles from here. About tho last of September they commenced to de- posit their eggs in tho ground, any where ; the hard roads were covered with them. They void from 20 to 35 eggs each. This spring they have come out, and are taking away everything that ia green. Some of our wheat fields are as bare as the inside of our hands. Corn, oats and beans disappeared as soon as up. From prestint appearances we shall not be able to grow any' kind of crops. Please give us a scientific description of them as soon as convenient, through the Country Gen' tleman. Truly yours, C. W. Woodbury. Answer lo (he above by Dr. FKch. Messrs. Tucker— The intelligence from Minnesota, in tho communication from Mr. Woodbury, is truly alarming. Such facts are within our knowledge as clearly show that the grasshoppers of this country are analagous, in every respect, to the migratory locust of the east, whose career in all ages has been a series of the greatest calamities which have ever befallen the human race. " We are the army of the groat God, and we lay ninety and nine eggs ; if the hundredth were put forth the world would bo ours !" Such is the song which tho Arabs say the locust sings. No aid of oriental poetry, however, is required to impress us with the pitiable condition of a country which has been in- vaded by these creatures — where every particle of vegetation has boon devoured, and not a mouthful of sustenance is left for either man or beast ; whore the inhabitants are obliged to scatter themselves with haste into other countries, to avoid starvation, and the whole land, in place of its previous bright green man- tle of luxuriant verdure, is changed to a dreary, dismal waste, blackened as though fire bM passed over it, and solitary, save here and there a miserable being striving to dig from tho earth a few roots to keep him from famishing. Tho history of the locust presents to us repeated instances of scenes like this. And it Is only because the grasshoppers of our own country have never yet multiplied to tho same extent, that we have not experienced similar calamities here. But, as I have often stated in my public Icciures, we have every reason to apprehend that, as time rolls onward, instan- ces will here occur, that will parallel what is related of the locust in tho old world. And with such tidings as Mr. Woodbury's letter brings us, our strongest fears may well be excited at the prospect now beiore our neighbors in Minnesota. If these grasshoppers, early in June and before any of them are grown to half an THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. inch in longtli, if now wlien they are just hatched from their eggs and are still in their feeble infancy, they are so numerous and ravenous as to consume every green thing, rendering the " wheat fields as bare as the inside of our hands," and causing "corn, oats and beans to disappear as soon as thoy are up," what must be the condition of things there the coming August and September, when these same insect** have grown to two inches or more in length, and their voracity has increased in the same ratio with their size and strength? Unless Divine Providence interposes, by flocks of birds, by prodaccous insects and other natural causes, to cut ofl' tlie greater part of this pestilent race before it reaches maturity, it appear** inevitable that portions of that territory will this year be devastated in a man- ner that will appal us, and will everywhere excite the liveliest sympathies in behalf of our unfortunate follow citizens who are residents there. Let us congratulate ourselves that wo live in an age and country where in- telligence and enterprise have furnished such facilities of intorconimunioation, that destitution and suffering, in any district, is relieved as speedily as it becomes known j and that nothing short of such a wide-spread anu universal scarcity as we have no reason to regard as being possible, can ever produce in our land such instances of famine and its attendant pestilence, as have often occurred in former ages and are still liable to occur in many parts of the world. The specimens sent by Mr. AVoodbury are too young to dcteroiine their species. They merely sliow that the insect is an ordinary looking grasshopper of a black color, vaguely mottled and variegated with ash-gray or dull white, which color often forms a very distinct stripe along each side of tho body its whole length. "We shall be much obliged to Mr. W., if, when they have acquired their wings, he wilt pack a few of them in dry sawdust, in a small box, and send them to Al- bany to us. There are many kinds of these insects in our country, and if this proves as destructive as we apprehend, we are all deeply interested in knowing which particular species it is, and over how large a district it inhabits. It is plainly diflerent from the Red-legged grasshopper {Acri/dium /cniur-rubrinn) which is our most common species here in New-York ; and though this is one of the smaller kinds, growing only to an inch in length, or less, it destroys an im- mense amount of valuable forage in seasons when it is greatly multiplied : and when it has been most nume- rous, it has been known to become gregarious and mi- gratory, exactly like the locust of the east, myriads assembling together in a flock, taking wing, and ap- pearing like a cloud when at a distance in the sky ; and wherever the swarm alights for a day or two to feed and recruit, every particle of green vegetation is consumed, causing the spot to appear as though burnt over with fire. It is surprising that the most unpala- table weeds, which no other animal will eat — the bitter May-weed, tho acrid Butter-cups, the nauseating Lo- belia — are devoured by these insects, apparently with the same relish as plants that are most mild and fra- grant. We hasten to present the manner in which these in- sects are to be subdued ; and we regret that before this information can reach our Minnesota friends, tho most favorable time for combatting them, namely, when they are young and small, will be past. It may be remarked that in the case of no other in- sect have we so much light with respect to tho best modes of conquering and quelling it, as here, where in the case of the locust, the attention not merely of individuals, but of the governments of many different nations since the earliest periods of time, has been di- rected to this very subject. And tho only mode which long and ample experience has shown to be efficacious and reliable for subduing these creatures, is simply gathering and destroying their eggs before thoy have hatched, and capturing and killing the insects when they are young. And so important and indispensable is this work known to be in those countries which the locust inhabits, that to excite the inhabitants to engage in it with sufficient zeal and energy, bounties aro paid from the public treasury for gathering those eggs and insects at a specified period of tho year. In seasons when thoy are so numerous that quantities of them can be readily obtained, these bounties render it an object for the whole population to Iny aside their other employments and engage entirely in this business. I regret that I have mislaid a memorandum stating the immense number of locusts that were hereby destroyed in the vicinity of Smyrna a few years since. The gov- ernment of France, it is well known, is in advance of every other in tho sedulous attention which it gives to every subject of this kind, in which the public wel- fare is in any degree involved. And though tho locust is not a common insect there, yet a bounty is paid to pro- mote the destruction of all insects of the grasshopper kind. A thousand dollars are somo years disbursed in this way in some single counties (departments) border- ing on the Mediterranean, where the insects are most numerous — about four cents per pound being allowed for the eggs and half as much for the insects. The chase begins with tho month of May and continues through Juno ; and tho entire population of some vil- lages, including the women and children, are accus- tomed each year to engage in it. An experienced boy, by hoeing in rocky places where the soil is shallow, will gather 12 to 15 pounds of eggs in a day, which hatched would produce half a million of locusts and over. To capture the insects, four persons drag a large piece of stout cloth briskly across a field, two in front drawing the fore edge along upon tho grass and two behind holding the hind part of the cloth slanting up- wards at an angle of about 45 degrees. The cloth we presume is made stiff by slender poles, sewed, ono in its front and another in its hind edge, for we cannot conceive how it could be readily managed otherwise, especially upon a windy day. The insects jumping up from the grass to escape, are caught upon this cloth, and when a quantity are gathered, it is folded over them and they are then brushed or shaken into a sack. The ^omen work singly, with a net similar to that used by entomologists for sweeping the grass and weeds to collect the small insects therefrom ; and they some- times gather herewith more than a hundred weight in a day. This information we obtain from an article in tho Transactions of the Entomological Society of Franco, vol. ii, p. 486. The Chinese, also, secluded flrom intercourse with all the rest of tho world, have learned that this same method was the only effective ono for subduing these insects, as appears from " an edict for the capture of grasshoppers," issued by some of the ofiicials to their subordinates, which we moot with in Williams's Mid- dle Kingdom, vol. i, p. 272. In this it is stated, " We now exhibit in order the most important rules for catch- ing grasshoppers. Lot the governor's combined (mili- tary) forces be immediately instructed to capture them ; at the same time let orders be issued for the villagers and farmers at once to assemble and take them, thus without fail swooping them clean away. If you do not exert yourself to catch the grasshoppers, your guilt will be very groat. Let it bo dono carefully, not clan- destinely delaying, thus causing misfortune to come upon yourselves. * * * When the wings and legs of the grasshoppers are taken off and thoy are dried in the sun, they taste like dried prawns, and moreover they can be kept a long time without spoiling." But we have not space for further extracts from this curi- ous document. From what has been adduced, our Minnesota neigh- bors will perceive that the only feasible mode by which they can rid themselves of these insects, is, to capture and destroy them. Their numbers, however, are un- doubtedly so vast that to make any perceptible impres- sion upon them, the combined exertions of the whole population will be necessary — such a concert as can scarcely be obtained, except by some legislative en- I aotmont. A single person, however, can probably sweep most of these insects from his own fields, with less labor than is often bestowed upon ohjecis of less importance than this is. A not which will be very ef- ftictivo f()r this purpose may be constructed as follows : Make a bag of stout cotton cloth, somewhat tapering, and about three feet in length and oightceu inches in diameter at its mouth. Sew the mouth of this bag to a coarse stiff wire, bent into a circle of tho same di- ameter, to which a handle about three feethmg is firm- ly attached. Sweep fields of grain or grass with this implement, by swinging it from side to side in front of yuu, as you advance, like a man engaged in mowing. A little practico will render ono dextrous in using this not ; and every person will bo astonished at the con- fused medley of grasshoppers, flies, beetles, and all series of queer looking bugs, worms and creeping things, which in some places will be gathered by it. As must of these are depredators upon the vegetation on which they occur, they may all be emptied together into a sack, and killed by pouring boiling water upon them, and fed to tho swine. How efi'ectivo such an imple- ment is for work of this kind is shown by the fict stated above, that tho women in France sometimes gather a hundred weight of grasshoppers in a day with it. The same work, however, can be much more ex- peditiously accomplished, no doubt, with two or three sheets sewed together, or a piece of canvass of similar size, managed by three or four persons in the manner above spoken of, as practiced in France. In one or the other of these ways a field may be almost entirely cleansed of these vermin, by passing over it two or throe times. And if the crop can be saved from ruin hereby, it is evident that it will amply repay the labor which is thus bestowed. But where the whole country around is thronged and overrun with these insects, it is probable they will soon come in from the surround- fleldsand reoeeupy any spot which is made vacaBt ; in which ease repeated sweepings may become necessary. As I close this communication, the rain is pouring down copiously, which reminds me of the fact that these insects are supposed to thrive the best and become most destructive in dry seasons. Therefore if the summer proves to be as wet in Minnesota as it has been and promises yet to be in this vicinity, it may in a great measure avert tho calamity which appears to be there impending. Asa Fitch. June 20th, 1857. Deep and Shallow Flowing. Messrs. Editohs — I have perused with interest the remarks of A. L. L., vol. ix., p. 410, on my hasty com- munication "on deep and shallow plowing,'* in Janu- ary last. Had I for one moment supposed that anything I could say would be thought worthy the no- tice of a farmer of tho Empire State, I should have been more careful how I said it. I presume I must have been quite careless in what I wrote, as he repre- sents me as urging plowing, on all soils, under all cir- cumstances, to bo done at least twelve inches deep. I am quite sure I did not advocate this, for I never en- tertained such a thought. The most I could have urged was, to so plow as to gradually deepen the soil, until by fertilization or otherwise, it would bear to be stirred to tho depth of twelve inches. This I now say is oxpo'dient and proper on all lands fit to be cultivated at all, be they sandy, gravelly or loamy. If the natu- ral soil is shallow, gradually deepen it, and fertilize ac- cordingly. What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. Merely because the plow has never penetrated more than four or six inches deep, is no good reason why it should not be made to penetrate much deeper. I respectfully say that your correspondent's shallow notions will not bear the test of experiment. I have seen the coarsest gravelly soil we have, improved more than one hundred per cent, by six inches additional stirring, and a liberal dressing of manure from the hog pen, and 46 bushels of rye to the acre, worth 81 50 per bushel, woj the consequence. P. Essex Co., Mass. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. Mr. Sotham in Reply to C. M. Clay. Messrs. Tucker i Sox— I fihimld bo o.xceodingly sorry to involve you in any difticulty with your reiid- er.i, but I have a strong dcairo to uao my own weapons in my oicn dofonco. I will defy any man to prove that I Dvorcommoncod a controversy, and iim always willing for a jusl public to criticise my articles as they deem proper. When I doviale from the truth, trim mo with a severe pen. Mr. Clay says : " Mr. S., avowedly, upon personal olwervat ion, at- tacks my herd. I show he never saw it. In.>tlead of an apology he attoiiipts to cast upon mo imputations of untruths, as an oOset to that which I hud proved upon him." You will observe, Messrs Editors, in Mr. Clay's for- mer Utter, which I send you, ho says : "If through mistitke ho applied his romnrUs to me, instead of my brother, B. J. Clay, I need only say ho took more premiums," Ac, &c. 1 said in my letter in the Hertford Journal and Mark Lane Express, to which Mr. Clay alludes, that I wns sorry for that " mistake," as I fully understood the herd belonged to Mr. Cassius M. Clay. I then transferred the remarks I mido to whore they belonged, and con- tend that every word 1 said of that herd was strictly true. Mr. C. M. C. then joins his and his brother's herd together, making them one, from which ho issues the challenge which I accepted in my answer, which was as follows : I will now for a ;Hnality, propose to meet Mr. Clay's "cluilluiigo" in ii fair way; 1 have two heifer calves,— ' Prudence,' calved Augusi 2Ulli, lt>5(J ; ' Woodiark,' calved Sept. aoih, 1860. TliL-et. !uo :ill I liuvu lull ll.is »ca»a]i. They rail Willi their daiiiB, ii« Iomk as any ^■|•a^.-, wlii-u tliu tilt • UaiiiB idaj stalks, mixed, ^^'it .diy, mixed with ta'baK-a pi-r flay, ■r tlicy r)j per I the to gia»» III ihe Biuiiif. uiilil i.iM 1 them with me to Kenlucky at thu them in any honest Kentucky grazii two heifer calves noiy owned l»y O; Clay, of a similar age ; If they li . M. II i will bring i show ; place 1, against any Brutus J. ;aclly the ui u Diiiiiiui i^u . II lui'j n«,u mn, any v. age. a few months diireroiioo must be al accordingly. The four oalves shall be weiijhed when de- livered to the receiver— the feed to bo weighed the whole year, and at the end of it, :tll four of tlieni again weighed The following year shall be pu meiit ; coming in at three, agai shall be milked both waBiiiiK, e out ill milking under llje juist a of tlieir reeviv posed of b)' hi account at dill of Ibis trial tliey will be live y old. fori porting ,|uality, and gn Id ; tliey shall be fed (agreed upon, tlie two heifers that Mid niOMt l>eef for the food coiisu- quality of beef at the make liie most butt< med, to be the w '"AiocA" to be takt heifers to be c/lnryi feed, all living on the same, and allowing them a good and flulhcient grazier's quantity through the whole trial, the losing heifers to be lorfeited to receiver to pay expenses. Vedigrees of heifers to bo given at the time of delivery. There are plenty of men in Kentucky that will act fairly between us. Mr. Clay dislincily says two heifers (yearlings) from his own herd — •' Or in ease there are no heifors of tho same age, or near tho same, 1 will show two Short-horn females of itny named ago of my own and my brother B. J. Clay's herd, against any two Horeforda of any two hreeiiers in America, owned and bred by tho same parties." I had no heifers to accept tho former, therefore ac- cepted the latter, placing it in a permanent position, and I think in perfect fairness. I have no doubt my heifers will he much the smallest, when they^rs< meet, because of the dilTerent treatment in their food ; but the test will be when all live alike, and weight of food each consumes : the quantity and quality of which is to be left to a disinterested grazier, who is competent to make such a trial. Is it Kentucky etiquette to require any further apolo- gy 1 And I nsk Mr. Clay if it is " keeping inside the rules of gentlemen," to pounce upon a man and say ' he had proved an untruth upon him," for so trivial a mistake 7 I think Mr. Cloy could not mean what ho wrote If ho diil, my " Englishism" will not succumb to it, and my Republionnism is too " independent" to think of any further " apology." Mr. Clay says ; "I made certain point.- tho basis of an e.itimato of what constitutes the best breed of cattle. Mr. S. pro- fesses to be a practical man, yet while atfecting to ridi- cule my articles, ho has not ventured to attack a singlo po.vtulatc, there laid down by mo. Mr. Sotham sneers at me as a breeder and dealer." I must soy I could not help laughing heartily, and in my mirth could not refrain from ridiculing so pre- posterous a " postulate laid down " by Mr. Clay, when he says, '* I had only one half of the Bull Locomo- tive at the National Eair at Springfield, Ohio, who took the first premium in his ring, against the world " Af- ter laying down this "postulate," b» brings forward his long established career "06* a breeder and dealer '* to endorse his opinion and judgment. This I certainly did attack by ridicule, for I could -not SCO it in any othor light, nor have I any reason now to alter that position. Another postulate Mr. Clay laid down — that he "had a robust family of Short-horns which ho had adopted in preference to a delicate family of tho same breed ho had previously owned and disposed of" The for- mer he said " was an good as could bo found in tho world." This also I attacked by ridicule, as I could not see that in any other light, and I may have " sneer- ed " at his judgment by producing such a herd, as ] thought was his at tho time I made those remarks. That supposed sneer I will retract until " I see his herd." Another of Mr. Clay's postulates. He says— "The cow of mine which weighed 2020 pounds, which her owner rofiised S140 for, was not much stuffed ; yet I will venture to assert that there is no Hereford in America which will weigh ns much, or bring as much money at the block. The above "facts," if not "proof," can be proved by certificates, if we are to go outside the rules of gentlemen in this discussion." This I at- tacked, and proved that my cow, with two months less feeding, beat her nearly 300 pounds, and fetched more money. Mr. Clay said in another, that " the Durhams were the best breed of cattle." I denied this, and said tlie Ilorofords were better, and considered the " postulate " I laid down quite as good as bis. The next postulate was that the Short-horns were an uniform breed, and that I admitted this by saying, tho "pictures" copied from the American S. H. Herd Book, were all as if copied from the first. I denied this, and said tho "pictures" were all very stiff, made up of straight lines ; tlieir tops and bottoms appeared as if made with a ruler, while many of tho animals that / hiew, had "hollow crops" and large paunches, which no one could perceive in tho " picture j" and what can a man tell about uniformity of handling quality, (the most important point to a breeder) in a " portrait." Another postulate laid down by Mr. Clay, that " Short-horns were best for early maturity." I referred him to the records of the Smithfield Club for positive proof of tho contrary — showed him whore two year old Hereford steers had won the gold medals against Short-horns iu the same class, four, live, and six years old. I also produced the weight of Mr. Heath's two year old Hereford steers, and the ten two year old Herefords on exhibition at Birmingham by Sir Francis Lawloy, and challenged him to produce Short-horns of the same weight. This was proof o{ early " maturity." I complained of Mr. Clay's articles not showing a "single" proof, and still ask him to point one out to me in either of thorn. I think Mr. Clay made a mistake when ho said I did not attack a single postulate laid down by liim. I considered that many of thom ilid not require an at- tack as they sutTieiently answered, when brought before an enlightened public, tbemselvec. The strongest postulate Mr. C. professes to lay down in favor of Short-horns, is that they are the best for his " isothermal belt." My object in accepting the chal- lenge as I did, was to meet him fairly on his "own isothermal belt." Neither can I bo " bluffed off" by his last challenge to moot this just trial ; the heifera shall be there as I proposed. Mr. Clay says — " I propose to show my herd which was attacked, against tho host selected herd of Herefords in America. I ask any gentleman, if that was not a fair proposition. I gave him the advantage of a thousand to one against mo." What Mr. Clay moans by tho latter I cannot imagine, as I think it would bo difficult to find a thousand thorough-bred brooding Herefords in Aiuorica, and those mostly descended from Mr. Coming's and my importations, while Mr. Clay admits tliat ho for " many years has grazed a thousand cattle a year." If a man cannot produce "one good beef" for show out of such a num- ber, fiircwell Short-horns. Neither havo I ever seen the above challenge. If Mr. Clay has made such a one I ask him to produce it. One more postulate Mr Clay lays down :—" that tho Herefords have never contended for the supremacy." — I referred him to tho Smithfield and Birmingham Clubs for proof of this, and in which he will find the Herefords are " ahead" of ail other breeds, in prizes. If there is any other favorite postulate Mr. Clay has laid down that I havo not attacked, I will cheerfully do it, or admit the "fads" as my opihion dictates. Tho preposterous postulate he lays down that his heifers are worth $2,000, and mine nothing, I con- sider only as a dernier resort. I could say tho same by Mr. Brutus J. Clay's hord. I will now call your attcntitm to Mr Clay's last chal- lenge. In tho first place I havo not 82,000 to risk, or even if I had I havo not the principle to accept, and I consider tho challenge u ridiculous one. " One oow " may have good crops, while many other points are misernble. " One cow " m.ay be a good handler and her symmetry inferior, or just tho reverse, and proba- bly one fat Hereford cow cannot be found in America. I will therefore in addition to my former acceptance, propose to show my stock Hereford bull against Loco- motive, as I previously proposed to do against the Mar- quis of Carrabns, and on the same terms. I will show him against Mr. C 's present stock bull, and that of his brother, Brutus J. Clay, slating number of cows served in tho season. I shall also bring altogether to Kentucky, some eight or nine animals of different ages, &c., sufficient to show a specimen of a breeder's herd, which I will show against Messrs C. M. and B. J. Clay. I cannot agree to leave it to the judges on sweepstakes, as the chairman may be a Sliort-horn breeder, and " a prejudiced man." I will name my judge, Mr Clay his, those two naming tho third ; and a true certificate and diploma from our worthy President, Mr. Wilder, would be as binding and as meritorious as if tied with a chain of gold or a band of bank notes. I consider the true value of tho two yearlings I in- tend to put against Mr. Clay, to be $125 each, and contend there are no two heifors of any breed, or of the same age, in America, really worth more. Our stock shall come to show according to the rules of tho society, in (air breeding order, not loaded with flesh ; then we shall have no one to blame but ourselves, if we do not select judges capable of knowing a good animal in its proper state. What use is it for societies to adopt rules, if exhibitors are not compelled to live up to them, and no man should ever bo put on as jud^e who cannot distinguish a good animal in breeding con- dition, flora one loaded with forced second and third quality flesh. Tho " fact " is, judges generally look at flesh, no matter of what quality, in preference to handling. I distinctly admit that these are very "fast times," and I cannot help thinking Short-horn men are "too fast," even to correspond with thom. I think they lay down " postulates " they cannot maintain, and by which the community is led astray. It was never practically intended that cattle brought to exhibition, should bo washed, groomed, blanketed, and fed for that purpose like race horses ; their horns scraped, and their " long silkey " Scotch coat, oiled, to attempt to deceive tho handler. I consider such treatment an in- sult to proper judges. No aniiual cm look bettor be- fore judges, than one in breeding condition, and in its natural state. Any thing forced beyond this, a good judge will condemn, as it docs not correspond with good breeding. When any of your impartial readers can prove calumny, Ac, in any of my letters, I will retire from tho field disgusted. Wm. H. Sotham. Owcgo, N. Y. P. S. — I send you the weight of my Hereford stock bull, weighed this morning in presence of several wit- nesses. ^Voight 1860 pounds, in low flesh, and served sixty-three cows from March llth to July '.id — I shall limit him to 20 nuire, before tho show. I will not fill your paper up with his " pedigree," as that will be ex hibited with him ; he was calved in the autumn of 1850. //. 1 THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. No. XIX. — Beetles Infesting Grape-vines. p. A. A- N. of Westfield, Chaatauquo Co., roquests inforuiation a.s tu Ibo name, coiumoiiness, &e., of u large tawny yellow beetle, having four equijisttint black epoU along each side, which has this season been ob- served for the first time in his vicinity, upon the Isa- bella grape-viaes, feeding very voraciously upon the leaves. In addition to answering this inquiry, it will proba- bly be an acceptable service to the readers of the Coo.HTRV Gentlbman, to have presented them in one view, a short account of the other beetles of our country which are at present known injurious to grape- vines, as some of thofte are appearing upon tbo vines every year, and should be picked off and destroyed whenever one of them is seen. The Spntlcd Pelidnota (Peiidnota punctata) is the name which hn« l>een given in books to the large beetle referred to by Mr. N. It belongs to the ScarabatLS family, the insects of which may bo distinguished by having shortish antennsp, ending in a birge knob form- ed of throe or more flat- tened plates which open apart like the leaves of a book, and tho end of their body covered and hid beneath the ends of the wing covers. This beetle is of an oval form, nearly on inch long and half an inch ' broad, of a shining pale brownish-yollow color, resembling the hue of a faded leaf, and is at once distinguished from every other similar in- sect, by having a very large black dot on each side of the thorax, and th of our country tt is seldom or never seen. Where it abounds it is most injurious to rose bushes, to grape- vines, and apple trees. To destroy the Knse bug, I in the article above re- ferred to, recommended Ibo turning of poultry among the infested vogetution ; but as I 8tnt«d that this in- sect had never appeared in niv own vicinity, except a solitary specimen occnsionidly found, the reader would certainly understand that [ did not speiik of this remedy from any personal knowledge, which it was possible for me to have in I be premises, but from in- forniiition derived from other sources than my own observation. My recommendations was based chiefly on the stalomonis of Dr. IIauuis, in whose neighbor- hood these in.sects had been very numerous. In bis Re- port on Insects, to the Massachusetts legislature, April, 1838, page 72, he says : " Our insectivorous birds un- doubtedly consume many of the rose bugs in the per- fect and larva state, and deserve to be cherished and protected for their useful hiibils. The -ptrftcl inscits are also eaten greedily bij domestic fowls." Testi- mony cannot bo more explicit than this, and it cannot be supposed that Dr. Harris, residing where these in- sects abounded, would mnko such a statement, unless ho had actual evidence that the fact was as he tays. Yet, in a communication from C. B. Mkek, published, page 106 of the same volume of the Country Gentle- man, alluding to the remedy I had recommended, ho says that poultry will not oat theso beetles. We sciircoly know what to think where testimony is so conflicting. Will bens eat ro.»e bug« 7 They devour them greedily, says one. They will not touch them, says another. And both these witnesses are probably testifying to us honestly of what their own eyes have seen. We are therefore bound to believe them bolU. I do believe them both ; and this will continue to be my faitli, unless further researches show that one or the other is certainly in an error. With Dr Harris, I believe that hens devour rose bugs greedily. I doubt not a hen, when she is placed for the Brst time among bushes thronging with these insects, will instinctively pick them up rapidly as she would kernels of corn, swallowing them till her crop can hold no more. Each insect has six feet, ending in a pair of claws, the ends of which lire cleft or split apart, and are sharper than the points of needles. Thus there are twouty-four of will not boiling water poured upon the ground kill them without injuring the vines'? Experiments only can show whether this is an efficacious measure. These being destroyed, the few which rcm.iin beneath the loose scales of bark will probably be insuCBcient to cause any perceptible amount of injury. As to the other beetles aljove mentioned, the best advice I am able to give, is for every vine-grower to make himself acquainted with the appearance of these enemies, so that he can readily distinguish them from other beetles which are liable to occur upon the vines, some of which ore beneficial, and are attracted to this spot to feed on worms, lice, or other vermin there, and should hence be allowed to remain unmolested. But whenever ono of theso depredating beetles is seen, it should be picked off and crushed beneath the sole of the boot, Asa Fitch. Aug. 25, 1859. Leaves as a Manure. „.L~„., „, .1, , . - > "" vui«o -"" I'wiiiM. lit liccuivB. xuus luere are twouiy-luur 01 others along the outer part of each wing cover, these these sharp prickles t« ea^-h insect, and thesef we inay lour dots lieinff nAnriv in A dIi.iii.*Ii» .n... ..» -. i j: 11 .. * . '....'. ^ four dots being nearly in a straight row at equal dis- tances apart, as will be seen in the accompanying cut. The hack part of the head is dark bottle green, and its under side and legs are greenish black, with the thighs sometimes chestnut color. This beetle occurs in J uly August and September, in all parts of the United States, both upon the wild and cultiviited grape-vines Every year I find a few of them upon every wild vine I examine, but I have never known them to be nume- rous. Thoy however, are so large and so voracious, that quite a number of leaves are probably consumed by each one of them. Tho Light-loving Anomala (Anomala lucicola) is a beetle of the Melolontlia family, in which the antenna) are the same as in the foregoing, but here the end of the body is not received beneath and covered by the ends of the wiog-covers. This beetle is of a similar oval shape to the preceding, but is much smaller, mea- suring only thirty-five-hundredths of an inch in length It varies surprisingly in its colors, from pale yellowish to pure black, presenting hereby four varieties, which are so distinct and well marked that they would be be taken for different specios, and three of them havo been named and described as such by Fabricius They may be briefly distinguished as follows: 1st The Gloomy Anomala, (jnosrcns, Pah.,) of a pale dull yel- low color, with the thorax sometimes reddish, and with the knob of the antennro and the middle of the breast, J'.'^'=!' ,.,2'1- The .Spotted-necked Anomala (maculicol- lis) 13 like the preceding, hut has a black streak, or a large hack spot, on each side of the middle of the thorax, and often the hind part of the head and the outer side of the wing-covers are also black 3d. The true Light-loving Anomala (lucicola, Fab) is pale dull yellow, with the thorax black, except on each side and on the middle of its hind edge j the hind part of the head, the scutel or small triangular piece between the base of the wing-covers, and the under side of the body being also black, with the abdomen, or hind body, brown, or sometimes dull yellowish. 4th. The Black An.imala (alrata, Fab.) is black throughout, except sometimes the abdomen, which retains a paler tingo. these beetles are common on both the wild and culti- vated grape-vines during the month of July, feeding upon the leaves, and are much more voracious in pro- portion to their size, than the preceding species. Ihe Rose bug (Macrodactylus subsninosus) also pertains to the Melolontlia family of beetles It is of the same length as the Anomala, but is more narrow and oblong in it« form, and of a buff yellow color, witb shining yellow legs, and very long black feet. A full account of this beetle was given in the Country uentleman throe years since, (vol. viii, p 75 i .md I L ?;?.?"."""' ""'y.'^y- in 'his place, that this insect 18 name to appear in excessive numbers, and be very destructive lu particular distriota, whilst over all the rest well suppose, produce an amount of irritation in the crop of tbo hen that is perfectly tormenting to her. And after some such experience as to the effects of eating these lonecis, she probably becomes o irwer tien, and adopt* a pledge of " total abstinence," never af- terwardi permitting any of these "evil tpirite" to pa.«s her lips. With Mr Meek, I believe that hens will not touch rose bugs. Finally, the grape-vine flea beetle, (Ilaltica chaly- bea,) of the Chrysomela family, is a very small oblong oval beetle, sixteen-hundredths of an inch long, and skipping like a flea. It is polished and sparkling, of a deep greenish-blue color, but varying in particular individuals to deep green, purple and violet, with the under side dark green, and the antennie and legs dull black. This beetle perforates numerous small holes in tho leaves, instead of eating large irregular por- tions of their sides or ends, as do those before men- tioned. It is nearly thirty years ago that this flea- beetle was first noticed as injurious to the vine, in Cayuga county, of this state, by David Thomas, who gave several valuable factji respecting it, in an article published in Silliman's Journal, vol. 20. Ho noticed small, smooth, chestnut colored worms eating tho vine leaves, and on feeding some of these in a tumbler of moist earth, he found they at length buried themselves and about a fortnight afterwards the perfect insects appeared in the tumbler. It is probably the latter part of the season that these beetles hatch from their pupiB in the ground, and ascond the vinos, feeding on tho leaves till those are destroyed by tho frost, when the increasing coldness of autumn drives thoui into their winter quarters. They now travel down the vines, as many as can crowding themselves beneath the loo.ie scales of the bark. But this covert being in- suflioieiit to accommodate but a small number, the rest crawl slightly under the hiose particles of dirt immo- liiatoly around the root. It is in these situations that I have found them, torpid, in the winter. When the warmth of spring returns, thoy revive, and agiiin aji- cend the vines in search of food, and it is now, before the leavej have put forth, that they do the most serious irjury, as Mr. Thomiw observed, eating into the swell- ing buds and devouring their central succulent parts They are sometimes so numerous that every fruit bud IS destroyed, and the vines are thus rendered barren for tirnt year. And thoy ere long depo.sit, probably upon the young loaves, tho eggs from which hatch the small worms above mentioned. I am confident the readiest mode of subduing these small flea-beetles, whenever they become numercms upon the vines, will be to search them out oarly in the spring, before they leave their winter retreats. Most of tbom are then clustered together, and lying torpid in the ground close around tho roots of the vines, and In the multitude of farm operations which can be performed without droft upon tho pocket, or in other words, which can be accomplished without its costing a large sum in ready cash, but which will add greatly to Ihe resources of the farm, and the ultimate wealth of the owner, none arc of more importance than the formation of the compost heap. Farmers waste a great deal in the course of a year, which if it wore carefully taken care of and treasured up, would be of incalculable value. Now look for a moment at the economy of composted manure. The materials which contribute to it aro in themselves comparatively worthless, and the time spent in collecting them together and placing them in a proper position for decomposition, may not interfere with the other labors of the farm, as it can be done at intervals of half days, Ac, .to. The items which go to make up the compost heap aro innumerable. Old hones, soap suds, rags, leather, refuse of factories and tanneries, carcasses of dead animals, Ac. Swamp muck, fine charcoal, and small portions of plaster should form a large proportion ; in fact any and every thing that will decompose will make manure, and should be gathered up Leaves, where they can be collected in large qoan- tities, as in many of our forests, may be made highly useful in augmenting the manure or compost heap. Indeed a retteiit^agriculiural writer says that every acre of wmidluud would affi*rd a pretty fair dree- ' sing fur an acre of corn, if the leaves were gathered and composted. Jubmsoh, in bia Farmer's Bncyclopn- dia, recommends their use and says — " they do not easily rot, but that I think is no objection to their u.-or to do as they please. This is " wholesale prairie may be scraped up and destroyed with little labor. Or farming." THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. when it is remonibered how frequently we wnnt U> hack ft loBil, when we are at work with our oitllo, and how conveniunt it is to have our c itlle buck woll, why shoulil we not temsh them for iho time when wo want them thus to layout Iheimlrength 1 Besi.lea, iloflen saves blows and vexations, wbiih is considerable when one is in a hurry. I never considered a pair of oxen well broke until they will back well with ease any reasoniible load, and I would give a very considerable sum more for a yoke thus trained. Cooking food for Swine. A Kentucky farmer hiui been making experiments in feeding several lols of hogs, changing them fiom raw to cooked, and from ground to unground food. The results of these several trials are communicated to the N. Y. Tribune, from which we give the general es- timate. One bushel of dry corn made five pounds and ten j only at ounces of live pork. One bushel of boiled corn made ' fourteen pounds and seven ounces of pork. One bush- el of ground corn, boiled, made in one instance sixteen pounds seven ounces, in anothe r nearly eighteen pounds of pork. Estimating corn at ninety cents a bushel, and pork al 8 cents a pound, wo have as (he result of one bushel of dry corn. iH cents worth of pork ; of one bushel of boileil corn, 81.15 worth of pork, and of one bushel of ground corn boiled, SI 36 worth of pork. Foul Seed Wheat. Cotswold Sheep. Col. J. Vf. Ware of Va., writing on the question^ " Are Sheep or Hogs the most Profitable Animal to Fatten 1" to the Gcneset Farmer, says : " Of nil sheep, I prefer the Cotswold, from experi- ence. They miiiure early, are large, hardy, and tnke on fat easy. During the summer and fall that they are one year old. (not fed on grain,) no mutton can be more delicately flavored, juicy and lender. Over two years old, many muttons are belter, as they then tal- low too heavily for the appetite; but the butcher will then give almost any price for them ; and what pru- dent man wishes to keep muttons to' four years old, when he can sell them at one year old at much better prices than any other sheep at foutj I have rarely, if ever, sold my muttons of this breed, the fall after one vear old, under 810 each, and have soldolderones much higher ; ami never s /Id them al the same age under 88 each without haviog fed grain at all ; and the fleece amply pays the keep. Can any breud of hogs show such clear profit and in so short a time 1 and they have no wool to pay cost of keep." Training Oxen. Summer Care of Colts. The following practical hints on this subject we copy from the Genesee Fnrmer: Maroa with foals by Iheir sides are always better to kept in pasluro. even if they are worked occasionally ; and it is desirable, whore tboy are to be worked, Ihit they should be accustomed lo leave their foals in the pasture while at work, allowing the foal lo get lo them a, and after working hours. It is woll to give the mare a feed of oals daily for a short time previous to weaning the foal. Lot it he given lo her in such a manner that the foal can be induced to par- take of it, that the feed may be continued to him when weaned, as it is then essential lo compensate him for the loss of the milk of his dam. If the colt is ex- pected to turn out a superior animal, and the maro is not wanted to work, it will be conducive to that end that he should bo allowed lo run with the dam till he is a year old, before weaning, and then have a driak of now milk, fresh from a cow, given to him daily dur- ing the ensuing season. Two-year-olds are by no means to be so much cared for. Give them good pas- ture, plenty of room and water, and they are sure, if healthv, to grow and become fat. If intended for sale at the end of the season, they may be pushed forward still more by a feed of oats given daily. Young colls kepi al grass should bo placed in a pas- ture among either cattle or sheep, but not older horses, a.! they love lo graze those precise spots not well re- lished by other stock, and from their playfulness Ihey are apt to get kicked or bitten. The following sensible remarks upon this important but neglected branch of farm operations, is furnished to the N. E- Fiirmer by Charles A. Hubbard, of Con- cord, Maps. It is better lo have a good team than a poor one, and a good team depends upon good manage- ment and careful usage. A word on training oxen. I have found that by far the heft time to train steers is when they are cnlves, say the first winter. Oxen that are trained when quite young, are much more pliable and obedient, and this adds much to their value. Slceis that run until they are three or four years old, are dangerous animals to encounter. They are always running away wilh the cart or sled, whenever there is a chance for thcin, and often serious injury is the result. 1 would not recom- mend working steers hard, while young, as it prevents their growth ; there is a rtilTeronce between working them and merely training them. I have observed that very litlle attention is paid by our farmers to train their steers lo back, but as they become able to draw a considerable load forward, they are often un- mercifully beaten on the head and face, because they will not back a cart or pled with as large a load as they can draw forward, forgetting that much pains has been taken lo leach theiu to draw forward, but none to teach Iheiu to push backward. To remedy the occasion of this thumbing, us soon us I have taught my steers to be handy, as it is called, and to draw forward, I place them on a cart where the land is a little descending ; in this situation they will soon learn to back it. Then I place Ihem on level land, and exercise them. Then I teach them to back a cart up land that is a liltlo rising, the cart having no load in as yet "When 1 have taught them to stand up to the tongue as they ought, and back an empty cart, I next either put a small load in the cart, or take them to where the land rises faster, which an- swers the same purpose ; thus in a few days Ihey can bo taught to back well, and to know how to do it, which, by a little use afterward, they never forget. This may ujipear of little consequence to some, but The Old Roman Ox Yoke. The ancient yoke, still in use in continental Europe, is very light, resU) on tho oxen's heads, projects a flap on their forehead, which is protected by a cushion ; and is strapped round their horns. Its merits, na stated by Prof. Mot, from France, in the 0. Cultivator, are : 1st It brings the line of traction as low as required by increasing difticulties ; cattle lower their heads when force is to be applied— yokes on the top of the shoulders cannot do that. 2d. The head yoke cannot swing j it offers a steady fulcrum upon which both oxnn act at once, their con- tiguous horns being cross-locked if long, or in a juxta- position if short ; consequently a lazy ox cannot stay two feet behind its male. 3d. When the weight of the body is to be thrown against the point of resistance, all tho surfnce of tho head-yoke is acted upon j whereas tho yoke resting on the neck has an upward tendency to escape, is only in contact with the ox by limited surfaces, is not fast ; is too heavy." The Wheat Midge in Canada West. The Toronto Globe gives a letter from Mr. WADg of Port Hope, C. W., in regard to the habits of the wheat midgo, and tho best method of escaping its ravages, especially with spring wheat. His theory, which has been held for seven years, and is to his mind fully es- tablished, is—-' that the ravages ol the midge are con- fined to about 10 days ; and that fall wheat which has shot before the 25th of June, has for all this time com- paratively escaped j while both fall and spring wheat shooting between the 25lh of June and the 7lh of July, have been more or less injured ; and then the spring wheat coming in after that time has escaped the midge." Mr. W. adds, as the result of his observations for the present season in that vicinity, the following facta : "The midge was first perceived on the wing on tho 27th of June, and in that shape till the 7ih of July. All wheat in head before the 27th of June, was not much injured ; while all which shot between the 27th of June aud the 7th of July, has much of the maggot in it. A neighbor has a field of Club wheat sown in the second week of April, clear of insect ; while another piece of land sown wilh Fife al the same time is full of it. This is accounted for by the Club being ten days earlier in maturing. I have visited several fields in this neighborhood within tho last two or three days. One field sown on the 3d of May, will bo damaged nearly 25 per cent; another fown on the 8th will suf- fer about 20 per cent. ; and all I have yet seen which was sown after the 12tb, is clear altogether." Nbab OiiiETA, 2d Sept., 1850. Messrs. EniTons — While at tho railroad depot tho other day, I met with a prominent farmer of Ontario county, who had just received two bushels of seed wheal, (or what ho expected to bo seed wheat,) from a noted farmer, some fifty or sixty miles west of this place. After opening the bag, he asked mo to look at it which I did, and to my utter astonishment I found a great quantity of both chess and cockle mixed with it and I assure you it made nie fool rather unpleasantly to think that after what I have written, and you printed for tho last twenty-eight years, that such a noted farmer should have sent off such foul wheat to any man. Could I have supposed that he had made a mistake, and sent off a bag of screenings in place of a bag of seed wheat, I should have been better satisfied ; still, for a farmer like him, who has taken pupils to in- struct in practical and scientific farming, to have no more prido in or respect for farming, than to send out such foul stuff for seed, astonishes me. I have attended thoroughly to the cleaning up of 1500 bushels of wheat since harvest, and I know there was not as much chess in tho whole, before wo commenced cleaning, as there was in four quarts of that wheat sent from ono of the celebrated farmers of one of tho most celebrated town- ships in western New York. The farmer who sent it must be a reading farmer, as ho occasionally writes for the agricultural press, and I never know a farmer tt writer but who was also a reader, and you know, and thousands of others know, that I have, lime after time, published my plan of cleaning chess out of wheat, yet that farmer, for one, had taken no notice of it, else he would not have sent off such wheat. John Johnston. In a P. S. to the above, Mr. Johnston gives us Iho name of the gentleman from whom the foul seed wheat to which he alludes, came, for which we are greatly obliged, as it will save us the mortification of referring applicants for seed wheat to him for the future, as we have done in time past. Hetrospective Notes. Sorghum fob Foddkr, p. 157.-I have tried this crop thoroughly— it produces about twice as much fod- der per acre as common com— and like the latter suc- ceeds much tho best in drills throe feet apart. It will give 12 to 16 tons of green fodder per acre, and half that amount dried about as much as is usual for fodder, which is not very dry. Sorghum is most valuable to feed in autuinn when grecn-at which time caltle will devour it stalk and all. In the winter, when it be- comes drier, Celtic will not eat U, unless finely cut up —which should be done by horse-power, and with a machine culling but tho fourth of an inch long. Treat- ed in this way, it is a most valuable food for milch cows, whose milk I have found to increase considerably after tho feeding was commenced ; and I believe when pro- perly managed it will become by far the most profitable and economical winter fodder for cattle. To CuiiK Kicking Cows, p. 160— Tho method de- scribed in the New-England Farmer, has not enough promptness, efliciency and system. X have cured cows, which could only be milked by courageous persons, after the legs were securely tied -cows that would compare favorably with Uaroy's celebrated Cruiser,— by carry- ing out simply tho following rules ; 1 . Never allow the slightest degree of heat or passion, or departure from perfect self-control. 2. Never strike tho animal but once at a time— no matter what the provocation may be— a single, sharp out wilh a switch (kept under the loft arm,) excites fear and alarm— two or more strokes produce a re-action and cause rage but not fear. 3. Adhere faithfully to tho principles of cause and effect, and the animal will quickly understand these principles, if the single, alarming stroke always insUnt- ly follows every attempt to kick. 4. Treat the animal in a firm, soothing, gentle man- ner at all times,-only let tho blow always come quick- ly after every kick ; whether it be merely an abortive attempt, or tho whole pail of milk is upset- the i;i(en- tion of tho animal was tho same. I do not wonder that so many fine cows are spoiled, that are treated according to passion and caprice, and not according to principle nor rule. If a cow kicks ma- liciously, but happens to hit no ono, the milker takes no % lonrnal fcr t\t gum, ^^SS^^^^^^i- ^i^ ^arifra, aiilr tlje g'nmiiL Vol. X.IV-No. 2. ALBANY, N. Y.. JULY 14,186 9. Whole No. 840. Published by LtJTHER Tdoker & Son, AsaooiATs Bd., J. J. THOMAS, Union Sphinqs, N. T, AGENTS IN NEW. YORK : Aoo. O. MoORB &. Co., Ag. Book PubllsherB, 140 Fulton-dt. Tbrms. — To Oity SubeorlberB, -whode papers are delt- veretl by oarriorn, I2.S0 per year. To Mail Subaoribors, $2.00 a year If paid In advance, or )2.S0 if not paid in advance. KT The same publiahers iesuoTaK CoLTiviTOa, on the flrat of each moiitb. It forms an annual vol. of about 40C pa^ca, made up from the Country Gentleman — price 50 oeiitd a year. The Po-slai^e on this paper Is but GJ conta per quarter, payable in advance, to any part of the United Stales ex- cept the county of Albany, where it Koes free. Contents of this '.N umber. The Farm. Economy of Fodder— Saving Hay, Attendance at Fairs, Seeding Conflelds to Grass Plowing in Green Crops, More about the Wheel on the Plow, by W. H. B.,. .. Buggy Peas, Hesalan Fly, tc, by J. H. H., Monthly Market Days vs. Fairs, by Mikietebr, Advantages of Irrigation, by S. K. Smith, Ttaa Thousand' Legged Worm, by Jimbi Adaim— Answer to the same l>y Asa Kitou,. Llm« vs. Guaoo, by O. O. Rbid, Proper Depth for Coverlug Seed, b/M., Questions iil.nut Manure, by J. B, C. New- York Slate Agricultural College— Laying of Cornerstone, Not«8 for the Week, Inquiries and Answers, Trial of Mowers at Quildcrland The Gi-nzlcr. Errors in Rearing Calves and Raising Stock, Swine and Dairy Cows, by E. Cornell, Effeots of Climate on Wool, by D. A. A. NlOBOLS,.. Stretches In Sheep Ticks and Lice on Sheep and Cattle, by A Ueidsr,. Dairy Huabandry, On Cheese Making, by Mrs. S. Jounbon, Mr. Hunt's Cow, by O. Host Summer Care of Cows, The Apiary. Quinby's Work on Bees, by Ciiirlbs F. Morton,.. Tlie iiPoultry-Yard. Construollon of Poultry Houses, by W. E. C, Horticultiirai Depart:tn«nt. Rambling Calls at Noted Places, III— Montgomery Place, by ViiTOR Cheap Remedy forlhe Rose Slug, by C. T. Alvord Wilson's Albany Slrawbery, by Jas. H. Hopkins,..' Heading Back Fruit Trees, tc, by Mobawe, Drainage for Orchards Tlie Flower Garden. Work for the Month, by G. B. H., Propagating BloimialB,by G. B. H., Fuohaias, by G. B. 11., Domeslio Bconoinr. Recipe for Currant Wine, by H. L. Y Drop Cakes, by L. E. R., !!!!!!!!!!!! Fireside Department. Editorial Oorrespoudence, VI— The Ruined Castio of Heidelberg, by L. H. T., The Microacopist'e Companion,. Something about Birds-IV, "!!!!!!!!]! A Plea for the Squirrels, by S. B. Buoklet, ........ Jack Frost'B Recent Tour among the Flowers — Brighter Prospects -Birds &. Snakes, by Mast News, markets, ice. Record of the Times 30 Weather, Crops. &c., "'" 39 Farm Produce Market [[][ 37 Economy of Fodder — Saving Hay. Not a, very seasonable topic, the reader may think, but still not out of time in the light we propose to look upon it. Ln.st winter, (Co. Gont. Fob. 17, 1859,) wo spoke of " managing it right" to make the winter store of forage go as far as possible, by feeding without waste, and by providing shelter, Ac., for the comfort of our stock — now we propose to offer a few remarks on cut- ting, curing, and storing the same, with a view to the best economy of its value. With many of our readers, the hay crop of the pre- sent year will bo a short one — Iho season having been loss favorable to the growth of grass than usual in many localities. So wo must save what there is — save it closely and carefully — at the proper time. In a recent number, (Co. Gent. Juno 23, 1859,) will be found a care- fully considered article on the best methods of making i good hay — to which wo would refer the interested read- er. It is there shown that grass should be cut while a largo share is yet in flower, and be cured in the shade — in the swath and cock— in order to secure its best nu- tritive qualities. It should neither bo over-ripe nor over-cured, to form an article of winter fodder that will *' spend well" and keep up the condition of the animals which consume it. Meadows may be sometimes obser^'ed, in which DO economy of fodder seeoos to have been thought of. A great deal of grass remains noout— the fault generally of poor mowers, and a considerable share of that cut lias been left in gathering, for want of better attention to raking. It is worth while this year, at least, to cut all our gross, and to rake clean what wo have cut, and will cost but a trifle more in labor. A man who cannot leaiii to mow closely and evenly, should not be allowed to use the scythe, and the fariuor who hurries so fast as to leave gaps enough unrakcd to pay another hand, should slack his unthrifty rate of speed for one savoring of a bettor economy. In stacking hay, large losses are often incurred by small stacks with a good deal of surface exposure, and by ill built stocks, which fail to secure the hay from the weather. For stacking, hay needs to be well cured ; then, should heavy rains occur, the stack, if well built, will settle firmly, and the moisture on the outside will not combine with that within to spoil the hay before it can dry again. We have known instances in which this occurred — in which hoy sufliciently dry for the barn became almost entirely spoiled by a driving rain falling upon the stock soon after its completion. Large stacks should be the rule for out-door storage, in all cases in which barn room cannot be given. To hay of inferior quality it is woU to add a sprink- ling of salt occasionally, when mowing away, as it will increase its palotablcnesss for stock, and the same " sea- soning" should be given to all hay which we have rea- son to think insufficiently dry for storing. This furnishes on© of the most convenient methods of supplying salt to stock during the winter season, and is very generally practiced by provident farmers. It is said that a mix- ture of salt and lime, sprinkled freely over hay, will enable one to store it away with less curing than would otherwise be safe, and that fodder treated in this man- ner is much liked by catttlo, Ac, and that the mixture promotes the health and thrift of all stock kept upon it. Of this wo have had no personal experience. Economy of fodder, every year, leads some farmers to cut the grass along the fences in their grain fields, and all out-of-the-way spots producing grass not other- wise brought into service. It is a good plan, not only only on this account, but as destructive of many weeds which otherwise soon give a " border-ruffian " appear- ance to our forms, and stock the whole neighborhood with troublesome occupants. We trust this matter will be attended to by every farmer, and with greater par- ticularity this year than ever before. No doubt tho render con see upon his own farm, chances for economizing in the matter of saving fodder beyond what we 'have pointed out. We hope no ono will forget to finish up as he goes — not only cut all the grass he con, but cure it well and store it safely against the wants of the coming winter. Attendance at Fairs. As the season is rapidly approaching when our an- nual exhibitions of the various Agricultural Societies is to take place, it may be well to say a word or two upon it at this tirao. A great many fanners and their families live so re- mote from places where exhibitions are to take place, that thoy can only attend one day out of the three or four devoted to the whole show, and to make the most of a brief time should he the prime object with all. It is generally the ctise with those who attend fairs, that on coming into the grounds, they begin to " see what is to be seen " in the most imperfect and bur- ned manner possible. They pass through the several departments of hones, stock, implements, and in the tents of manufactured uticles, with a rush ; not stop- ping to look at anything a minute, but gazing at the whole with a hurried and superficial glance. So they pass from one point of interest to another, and at length they hove jammed through the crowd and seen the whole ! But what do they know of what they hove seen, or what can they tell of a single article ? Ask them, (after the Fair,) if they noticed such an object — a machine of curious and peculiar workmanship— and they will answer, " No." " Why you should have seen that," is the response ; but in the bustle and crowd they hurried along — sow a good many things, but noticed nothing. The only thing connected with the exhibition which they remember, was, they saw a great ninny peo- ple, and wore in a hurry and crowd all the time. Now lot us toll you how to see oil that is really worthy of particular attention— even at the State Fair— in a brief space of time. In tho first place, settle the fact before storting, that all cannot bo soon. To be bbttor understood, if you wero to give any degree of attention, or even note, to every article presented for exhibition, it would take you a whole month, and then perhaps it would not be ac- complished. So we mean simply this : moke up your mind to give attention to the really valuable and inter- esting objects, and pass by thoso which are ordinary or common-place. If you are interested in the depart- ment of cattle, pass by the good stock ; but when you see something more than that — something extra, or having some remarkable features,— moke a brief note of it and pass on. In this way go through all the de- partments — which con in this manner be accomplished in less time than one would suppose. Have a note-book, or a slip of paper, and where nn article of greater im- portance presents itself, note it down. In this, you economize your time — have a better idea of the whole exhibition, and come away with much proctical knowl- edge of tho affair, and with a good idea of some inter- esting features, which were worthy of special attention, and not with a confused moss of objects, about which you know nothing. The great object and chief end of our agricultural fairs, should not be lost sight of. They are indeed, tho /f^ THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. farmer's holidays; thejr come at a season irhon the more severe and harder labors of the farm have been brought to a close — when the golden harvest has been gathered in, and it is fitting that the hard-working far- mer, with his family, should indulge in that relaxation from toil, and in the pleasurable and instructive exer- cises which our fairs afford. But let us repeat it again — make your attendance at the coming exhibitions of our ngricultural societies, not only a recreation, but a means of improvement in the various branches of Rurol and Domestic Husbnndry. No better opportunity can possibly be had, if rightly improved and made use of. Do not therefore, go with only a thought of passing away the time, or of spending it in an indifi'orent mon- ner; but go to think and study— to talk with your brother farmers, and to examine the stock, implements, and produce brought to the exhibition by them. Then will it be a useful attendance, and you will return home with a fuller determination to work, and to accomplish something greater than you have yet done, in this your most Qoble occupation. Seeding Cornfields to Grass. A correspondent of the Rural New- Yorker, gives his "experience in seeding one season," to the following purpose : — He planted eight acres of corn on land ma- nured the fall previous, thirty loads to the acre — hills four feet apart, culture, level- hood the last time the second week in July, and sowed on a peck to the acre of gross seed, husked early on the hill, and then turned the cows in. The green feed and stalks lo^^ted until No- vember, greatly increasing the quantity of milk and the flush of the cows. Tbo next spring he cut the standing etolks close to the ground, in one day, with a corn cut- ter. This piece yielded the largest crops, and continued to produce well the longest of any he ever seeded, out of over a hundred acres stocked down with oats and wheat in the spring. The locality should have been given, as well as the number of cows kept upon the field. The facts stated confirm what we have repeatedly urged — that "land in good heart" was much the most profitable for seeding to grass- -and that it is folly to ex- pect good meadows from fields " run" with grain as long R8 they will bear it before needing. Plowing in Green Crops. J. h. B., who wishes information on this subject, is informed that the practice of plowing in green crops does not rest on theory merely. It has been adopted by many practical farmers to great benefit, as a part of an enriching course of rotation ; and where a supply of stable manure could not be obtained, or where the dis- tance to draw it, or steep hills, rendered its conveyance too expensive, green crops have proved a most economi- cal auxiliary. We would not however, recommend it alone, but in connection with the application of more or less stable manure, with a proper quantity of lime, plas- ter, ashes, &o. The objection that it is not in accord- ance with the "intention of nature," who furnishes vegetables as the food of animals, and the excretions or remains of animals as ogain the foodof plants, we think hardly tenable as an exclusive rule ; for some of the finest natural soils are those on which a large quantity of vegetable growth has decayed and furnished enrich- ing materials. We can improve this natural process, by first selecting such vegetables as are best for this purpose, and then promoting their rapid decay by mix- ing with moist earth, adding animal manure to improve the whole. More about the "Wheel on the Plow. MB88RS EniTOns— Noticing B.'s article on page 349, vol. 13, Co Qknt., induces me to oommunieate my ideas with regard to the utility of the wheel. I claim the wheel to be a decided advantage, and bad B. asked me the use of the wheel, I should havo given my rea- sons for its use as follows ; To keep tbo plow in the ground, as well as out. By giving a moderate pres- sure on the wheel, your plow is not so liable to raise when the team, in going over a knoll, draw upon the end of the beam ; to lessen the draught, in conse- quence of turning a furrow of uniform depth and width; to make easier work for the plowman, because it keeps the plow in place, and makes it do better work, especially with a raw hand to hold the plow. Set him to plowing green sward with the wheel on, and without; then examine the work, and if that does not convince you of the Ufe of the wheel, your plow nnd wheel muvt be different from mine. I have had considerable experience in plowing — with and without the wheel— and I can do better work with the wheel on ihe plow, ** beaides doing it very much eatiier." My experience in holding the plow, diflfers from B *8 somenhat In plowing without the wheel, I raise the handles to make the plow enter the ground, and tower tbem for the reverso. While ui^ing the wheel just re- verse Ihe above. In plowing over knolls press the handles gradually, to keep the plow down, and raise them as it goes over, which makes a furrow of nearly f uniform depth, ami prevents the plow running down to the beam through every knoll, and nearly setting your team. In respect to the kind of uheel used, my opinion is that there is sumo kiudi> Ihat are worse than none, and probably that is the kind B. experimented with. I have seen but one kind that, in my opinion, will an- swer the purpose, and that is a wheel a foot or more in diameter, fastened to the landside of the beam, at the end. This kind of wheel answers my purpose ad- mirably. A small wheel of six or eight inches in diameter, directly under the beam, is nothing but a nuisance, w. h. b. Jamestonn, N. Y. Buggy Peas, Hessian Fly, &o. "Truth would you teach, or save a einklng land, All fear, noiio aid you, and few understand." Mkssrs. Editors — In your date of June 2J, I noticed an article by " L. B ," who thinks that I am incorrect in my statements respecting the " Hessian fly," " wheat midge," *'8mut insect," &o., and quotes the late Dr. Harris as his " Mentor." Dr. Harris may have been a very good entomologist; but he certainly knew very little about the vitality of buggy peas, or the bugs with which he was acquainted were much bettor " taught by the prospeotiveoareof Providence," than those I have seen in this country. For instead of being "instinctively taught to spare the germs of the peas," ours almost universally use up the entire germ of the pea. I have several times, heretofore, had Ihe vague and crude theories, hypotheses, and s^upposilions o( those so called learned and "scientific" doctors, professors, and other old as well na modern writers, (who have generally copied from former authors, who knew a« little about the suhjects upon which they wrote us theuisetves), put, in opposiiiun lo my facts. I slop not to refute their absurdities. It is suflii;iently laborious, in the infirm state of my health and old age, for me to state my own views, de- rived from my knowledge of facts. But how a man can be so milled, even by learned doctors or others, as to believe that peas, without germs, will grow, I can- not imagine ; and having oftentimes examined them, [ know the fact that, at the least, nine- tenths ( I be- lieve I might truly have said nineteen tjcentietks) of the peas in this country which have bugs in them, have the germs destroyed. It is much easier, in controverting an opponent, to quote from Ihe so called ''scientific writers " (though they are (tften times entirely incorrect,) and thus throw doubt upon his statements, than it is to ascer- tain the facts by long continued observation and re- search, as I have done in regard to some of the most troublesome insects which so frequently annoy us. I am curious lo learn how my friend L B knows that the " midge does not live over through the win- ter,** (as we backwoods farmers say.) I did not know nor state that it did, but suppobed it might probably be so, as I do know that the Hessian Jiy^ the mosquito, and many, if not most of the other insects do so. I have seen and been bitten by musquitos as early as the 15ih of March, although no previous warm weather in which they could possibly have hatched out, had occurred since the preceding October. I correctly stated the facta about the Heesian fly, which I had previously hatched out, and knew; and would not " give a fly " for the opinions of a dozen Dr. Harrises or Dr. Fitches about it. If L. B. would, he may take the trouble to do so. The iaseots are easily caught and examined. If the "fly" Is occupied several weeks in laying its eggs, it would seem to me to be very foolish in farmers to delay sowing their winter wheat until the 15th to the 25th of September, under the impression that it would thereby escape the deposit of the insect. To show that the fly uses but a short time in which to make the deposit, I will state that I once sowed a field with wheat on the 28Lh of August, and another, on the opposite side of a farm lane, on the 1st of Sep- tember. The first sown was so destroyed by the fly, that I did not get five but^hels por acre. The later sown (only four days later) yielded twenty or more to the acre ; both were "suutmer fallowed," and treated exactly alike. In that oase, it would seem that there woB a very abrupt termination of the labors of the fly, as none were to be found in the later sown field, excepting a few within a rod or two of the fence nert the first sown field, and the few probably got in it in the spring. I have neither time, health, nor inclination to rewrite what I havo published during the laut twenty- five years, respecting my discovery of the cause of smut in wheat. To go again over that ground would be too great a labor; and I regret that I have no fair copy, or I would fend one to my friend L. B. If he wti^hes to havo a full history of the discovery, he can do so by procuring copies of the "Daily Albany Argub" of February, 1833, and of the "Genesee Farmer" (monthly) of March, April, May, June, July and September, 1850, which contain my own communicHtions and those of others. My signature in the Argus was H. ; in the Genesee Farmer it was "J II H.'* Not having had a lens with which to examine the smut bug, in my firet comniuniciitions, I described it as being *' ash colored." It appears so to the naked eye ; but with a good pocket lens it is seen to be spotted with four large, and many small brownii^h spots. The copy of my communications was sadly misprinted in some instance; but my friend, L. B.'s intelligence will enable him to correct the reading. J. H. H. Seneca County, Juiie, 1859. Monthly Market Days vs. Fairs, It is supposed that fairs (as distinguished from mar kets,) originated in the sordid disposition and cupidity of the monks, who, away back in the " middle ages " of English civilization, held out such exciting exhibi- tions and boisterous revelry, as fairs were long distin- guished (by a sort of "bad eminence,") for fostering and extending, to draw together large numbers of people, who paid a fixed toll to their monkish patrons and abettors, for the favor or folly of wasting their substance, often hardly earned, and indulging in mere animal excitement, and the gratification of a prurient curiosity. Modern fairs have frequently been distinguished by their concomitant encouragement of folly and knavery- if not more vicious and repulsive gambling and chi- canery ; hence, in the new movement now apparently inaugurating, and likely to extend, in favor of "peri- odic markets," it will be well to keep in view the dis- tinctive difference between "markets" and ^^Jaira,'* that the oljeotions which have heretofore character- ized the latter, may be obviated in securing the indu- bitable advantages of fixed times and places for sell- ing, or periodical " marketing." Fairs, as distinguihhed by their faults or objections, occur too infrequently in some parts of England, not oftoner than four times a year — in most districts per- haps only twice ; with us only once a year, and not then unless there is "much excitement" as the sine qua non, without which they apparently cannot be '* got up." The object of " markets " is to establish a regular and methodical system of preparation and sale of agricultural productions; but fairs are neither cer- tain, regular, or orderly, but on the contrary are dis- tinguibhed by extraordinary, spasmodic, and exhaus- tive preliminaries, and no less precarious and fluctua- ting results. Indeed, except as a mere stimulus of eflorts to "display and astonish," it is very doubtful whether in their aggregate results, fairs have been productive of any extended and permanent good. It must be stated that meetings for the exhibition and trial of agricultural implements and machinery, are vol included in the scope of these remarks, which are intended to apply more particularly to meetings to promote the sale of stock, and general or miscellaneous produce of the garden and the farm. Some twenty years or more ago, it was found in England that quarterly Or semi-annual fairs were not only too infrequent, but that rough weather, or the ne- cessity of attending to the business of the farm, often precluded attendance, and thus defeated the purpose of the fair, which was principally that of selling slock — the sale of produce being merely incidental. This led lo the establi.^'hment of " monthly great markets " throughout most of that country, and this increase of periodic stock and market sales, proved to be a great improvement, inasmuch as it gave an alternative op- portunity and choice of time ; fairs having given no choice as between selling this month or next, but if from any accidental or unavoidable cause the fair could not be attended, the vender or seller was left to the incertitude of precarious private sale, or to " hunting up" a buyer. But the regular "monthly market' gave a choice of times and places. If A waa too busy, or B was sick, or C's cattle were not quite ready this month, they could be kept a month longer; or if it was only needful to feed them a week or two instead of a month, this could be done, and the animals sent (sometimes a few miles further, in other instances not,) to the great market of an adjoining county ; the /n.Iay io one, the soooad Tuea- diiy in another, the third Monday in a third— ia con- tiguous CUUIlttOS. Such a system of periodical meetings, while being free from the spiismodio Hccessories, exciting scenes, and peroioious consequences of tumultuous and in-fre- quent fairs^ produces most satisfactory results by affording timely opportunity for doliberute discussions and comparison and sale of stock and other farm pro- ducts, and at the same timo allowing f.inners to kill not only "two" but a score of birds with "one stone," to at- tend many other purchHsos and matters of business and inquiry without special journeys and the \om of time inoidfsntal thereto. Markets are held weekly for the fialu of grivin, meat, butter, poultry, pigs, Ac, Ao , and in the large towns twice a week in Bngland. Perhaps monthly is often enough for cattle in the rural dts- trictSf but a regularly and frequently recurring market day will bo found very advantugoous in preventing forestalmont, in affording choice of place, timo and purchase, and above all in preventing or moJifying the extreme fliictuaiion in prices, which frequently result in great losses to those ill able to bear them from their resources sot iifloat by greed, and only re.-'ulting in nggrandizing the unworthy. At another timo I inuy at- tempt a brief description of the arrungemouts and method.^ of marketing produce, Ao , in England, ac- cording to the best means of infonnatioQ at commund, and also endoiivor to show wherein the adoption of such or a similar system— modified as difference of circum- stances and necessities dictate — would bo visily pre- ferable to the bore of runners, tho soramhling no sys- tem of the street, or the timo-wtwting and precarious resort of " hunting up " a market whore yi.u can find it, perhaps when needt'ul— perhaps a day, a week or a mouth thereafter. Marketekk. Advantages of Irrigation. Messrs. Editors — The following is translated from Br. OiRARDtN and Du Bueuil, on irrigation : Vegetation oannot put forth a rapid and vigoroue growth unless constantly supplied with a certain amount of moisture from the soil, for this favors the procet-s of germination, hastens the decomposition of manure, and servos to convey the elements which nourish the plant, to its roots ; and finally, renders the soil so porous that the air and young roots can easily penetrate it. _ _ Tho P-^Hatept drought occurs durinpr th e ^^^ this time is the most dangonms, because then the plant has tho greatest need of absorbing watery substances through the roots, in order to replace and supply the loss occasioned by the evaporatioQ going on so rapidly in its leaves. Wherever systematic irrigation has been for a long time practiced, the beneficial effects produced in the nature of the soil — indeed the appearance and produc- tiveness of a whole region of country, is observed to be changed. All waters, even the purest, deposit, especially during heavy rains, a portion of costly manures, us slime or mud, and retain certain soluble salts in solu- tion, as magnesia, lime, gypsum, potash, &o , which, during irrigation are transterred to the soil, whose properties are by these means improved. In addition to the substances already introduced, come the gases — carbonic acid and ammonia, which, combining with the former, reproreaent all the elements necessary for a vigorous growth of vegetation ; and therefore it is evident that all of the effects produced by manure may be replaced by irrigation. Concerning its importance, Bousingault very correct- ly said, particularly in reference to meadows — " if a field is not of itself rich enough to reader a copious supply of manure unnecessary, it can never bo profi- tably cultivated for a groat length of time unless iu connection with a moiidow." Or, in a worl, and on the previous supposition that the soil does not possess a sufficient quantity of inorganic substances to supply directly, without tho use of manure, the alkaline and earthy salts to the soil, which have become exhausted through continued cultivation, something must be ex- pended every year in replacing the elements carried off by the previous crop. For this reason are lancis flowed and enriched by streams, the only ones which allow of a continual exportation of their products with- out suffering deterioration. To such belong* tho valley of the Nile, and it would bo difficult to form an idea of the Immense quantity of phosphoric acid, magnesia and potash an- nually carried out of Egypt in grain. Irrigation is without doubt the moat simple and eco- nomical means of increasing the fertility of a field conveniontly situated, because it aff.mis fodder in abundance, and in consequence a good supply of ma- nure. The mineral and orgmio substances which the water often contains in such minute quantities iw to escape entirely analysis, are discovered by the plant and taken into its organism, ju.-it as they absorb those gaseous elemenU which are diffused in the atmosphere in a quantity not exceeding a few ten thousandths, at the same time transforming anil condensing them. Ill this manner the plant gathers to itself and gives a new form to th'tse ."uhstaoces, which, being dissolved in water, are diffmod through tho .«oil and air in order to facilitate their reception and appropriation by ani- Nothing further is necessary to explain the advan- tages of irrigation ; but to derive tho most profit from it certain conditions must be fulfilled, which at some future lime we will endeavor to illustrate. I send the above as an introduction to a few arti- cles on irrigation. S. K Smith. Stockholm Depot. The Thousand-Legged Worm. Messrs. Luther Tuckkr A Sow— Enclosed please find a sample of asmall worm that has taken possession of my garden for tho last three years, almost totally desbr(»ying everything of vegetable kind. In tho winter season they disappear or go deep in the ground, and early in the spring commence on the winter rootsi &o., and devour them until the young vegetables com- mence to grow, when thoy attack them and complete- ly destroy all but some of tho most hardy, which seldom get to perfection. Tho large strawberry, when nenr ripe, will often contain ns much as fifty of them. They will make a small hole to enter, and devcmr the heart from the fruit, and so long as there is room for a worm they will go in. The young cucumber, radish, beans, onions, &c , all fall a prey to them. I call them wire worm, but not knowing them, I am uncertain whether correct or not ; nnd as there are no others in the vicini- ty, I would like to know what they are, or if anything can be got to destroy them. I have tried lime, aches, Ac, but without success. The only way I can find to destroy them is, when the weather is warm, liy hoards round the walk^ in the evening, when early in the morning they will be Under the boards by thousands — then t apply Imiling water. Please say iu Thk Cultivator, if there is any known name for them, and anything that will destroy them. Jamks Adams. Armstrong Co^ Pa. Answer to the at^oye 1)j^ Dr. Fitch. MESS.RS. Tucker A. So.s — The worms from Mr. Adams, are a centipede or "thousand-legged worm," pertaining to the genus Julus, in the Apterous or .■. • m\i « v'\U' *!ai tri' i u . TT . niikq t he qyeat jmgjga-tfLJBz.^ sects, these undergo no transformations, but always remain in the worm-like shape in which they hatch from the eggs. And whether these specimens are the young of one of our larger species, or a minute species now in its mature state, I am unable to say, having never yet carefully investigated the group. One of the latest and best nutborities re^tpecting them says, ^^ ces sout des animaux ino^ensifs " — these are harmless animals. They are most fondof dark, damp situations ; hence Mr. Adams finds them congregated under boards lying on the ground Scarcely a buck- et of water has been drawn from my well, this present season, that did not have one or two of these worms in it. Crawling from their retreats in the crevices of tho stones of the well, they lose their foothold and drop into the water, the coldness of which renders them torpid and unable to crawl out. I must procure a trout and place it in my well U) keep the water cleansed of these worm-s. Though should one of them chance to be swallowed in drinking, I doubt not the gastric juice would destroy and digest it This, however, is an ex- periment in dietetics which I do not care about trying. As to the food of those worms, it is no doubt vege- table substances which are in a diseased and decaying state. It is in old rotten logs in the woods that we al- ways meet with our largest species named Julus ame- ricanus by Beauvois, and marginatus by Say, whioh is three and a half inches long, and over a quarter of an inch thick, of a lurid, grayish, olive color, with a red ring to each segment of its body, and usually jilst otto hundred pairs of feet. And these small centipedes OCour gardens and yards appear to bo most numerous where decaying vegetable substances abound. Where a radish has been bore 1 by the larva of tho radish ^y, where a cabbage root is clumpy or otherwise diseased, I have noticed these worms crowded together upon the affocted spot, evidently to feed on the particles of semi- putrid matter they there find, and very probably pro- moting and e.ictending the disease by removing this de- caying matter, and thus exposing a fresh surface to the action of the atmosphoro. And I presume the straw- berries, cucumbers, ifcj., mentioned by Mr. Adams, were in the first instance wounded by ants or other in- sects, and were thereby rendered attractivo to those centipgdes. Several years since, a physician of this town, now deceased, from finding those worms very numerous in decaying potatoes, and unaware that they occurred abundantly on all other decaying roots, at oQoe jumped to the conclusion that they were the veritable cause of the potato disease, and In the excitement at that time prevailing, his oommunioations to the press on this subject attracted a somewhat wide notice. Buteverything known of these worms, impress- es mo with the belief that they never atttick living, healthy vegetation, and consequently do not cause dis- eitPe, though they may aggravate and extend it where it is already commenced. A^a I*'itch. Salem, Df. Y. Lime vs. Guano. Messrs. Tucker &> Son— Residing in a section of country where lime does not enter into the composition of the soil as one of its inorganic constituents, and where there is becoming of late something of a com- merce in guano, the facts very naturally elicit the question whether the extra crops produceil in using it ever pay for the iir(i(de ; nnd whether, if the same amount of capital, being invei^ted in lime ami u.sed, will not produ-e results lus good, and be more perma- nent anii lasting in its effects upon the soil in subse- quent years 7 These questions I conceive to be of interest, nnd of especial importance to young farmers, who, having but little means with which to experiment, are anxious at once to bring their lands into a higher condition at the loiist [osnible expense. In soliciting through the medium of your papers, the views of those who h'lve hud exp«rience in these thing!*, [ am aware that it may be s lid (hat much will depend upon tho prices of theae eommoilities here, the facilities of tran'^p irtatlon, &c. ; and in order that more correct opinions may bo formed, will briefly say thtLt we arc situated at the western terminu.^ of the Delawuro and Hudson CmHl. and 14 miles from tho N.irronsburgh depot of tho New-York and Erie rail- road. The nearest limestone quarry to this point is 50 miles distant, near tho canal, in Sullivan county, N. Y , and from which pbice the lime is burned and delivered here for ninety-five cents per barrel. Will it remunerate us to piy this price for its use as a stimulant t<) our soils, or at what price should our far- mers obtain it for this purpose 7 C G. Reed. Bt' thany. Pa. Proper Depth for Covering Seed. Eds. Country Gentleman — fn your issue of May 5, you have an article upon " Proper Depth for Cover- ing Gross Seed.-*," upon which subject allow me to say a few words, though a mere tyro in grass oulture, yet Tuigft«st^Wi n pitpter being more to kill than to make grass — too much eo in deed and in truth. How are the seed of gross and weeds sown in the mighty prairies of the great west, on the millions of acres owned by Uncle Sam — plowed in, harrowed ioj rolled in, land plowed, or left as nature made it, and the seed sown by the hand of their Creator'? In por- tions of the boundless west, where rain falls but seldom, how do those grasses stand drought? The acorn, hickory nut, seeds of the forest? Take a cane break, cut down, leave to dry, trim it off and see the countless millions of coke, iron, h6.y weeds sown by birds and wind. Why then labor to cover grass seed 1 Will not tho first good storm, not to say rain, cover deepemough for every mature seed to vegotntel I have faileii in se- curing a catch of grass and clover, and from the light- ness of soil. I would now prefer, after plowing and perfect harrowing, to roll land first and compress the surface, then sow my seed. I have sown oats and rye, even on land after corn, nnd was laid by, and made good crops. Have dime so by the 50 acres, and if land be laid level, prefer it. A friend was induced to test this by plowing lUO acres and sowing on surface another 100 acres ; the latter W1L.S the bust crop. We are too prone to kick nature oat of our coun- cils and " go it ulono," *' on our own hook." Why sirs, sow grass seeds, plant corn or cotton (rom surface to any depth it will grow out, and on some land root^ will invariably grow to some depth. I defy you or any man to mako corn send out roots four to six inches deep, then grow and none to be sent out above. Place corn four to six inches deep, and the roots that then spring forth only grow until the bulk ia formed, say one inch below the level, and new roots put forth. In reality it is loss of power and lo:8of time, Corn is only a grais, if so with it, why not with Herds or Blue gra^s ? Years ago I bought 100 bushels of oats, divided with an old planter, he sowed and covered with a plow, I sowed and run a light brush over ; both p iroels of land were well plowed. I had a full and perfect stand, he complained that I had sound oats, and his were more than half spoiled. I said, *' you covered too deep," the oats were from the same field, and impossible (here could be a differ- ence. Ht) never plowed any more oat^ in I never cover seed deeper than to exclude light and protect from enemies, and save ^o dry a year aa this, I have perfect success. M. Mississippi. Errors in Rearing Calves and Raising Stock. Prof. James McCall, Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology, in the Veterinary College, Edinburgh, writes substiiutiaUy as follows in regard to some practices which are probably more common in the country where he re- sides than in this country, but are common enough here to make it worth while to let those who aro guilty of them know what one, whoso opinion is well entitled to respect, thinks in regard to these objectionable prac- tices. The first practice which Prof. McCall notices and con- demns, is that of breeding in and in, which must be the consequence of keeping one bull more than one year upon a farm. Ho says that the eficcts of breeding " in- and-in," all ages and in all animals, has invariably been the detorioratiori of that breed in external con- foimation and internal organism, and the consequent predisposing to certJiin diseases, among which justly may be claimed diarrhtea and dysentery. Another practice noticed and condemned is that of preventing calves from sucking their mothers. This should be done for a few diiys at least, and when not done, the injury to the calf is made greater if it geta any other milk than that of its mother. Nature's pro- visions in this cnse cannot be improved upon, nor inter- fered with in the least without doing mischief. In the new-born calf there is a peculiar, greenish, pasty-like substance which lines the whole of the intestines, and which from its resemblance to the juice of the poppy has been called meconium. For the expulsion of this, nature has provided most wisely and efficiently, by im- buing the first two or three milkings niter parturition, with a peculiar principle *' of a thin serous nature," which is tormed ooloatrum. This colostrum acts as a jr^^nlln wtii^iilnnl _p.n.l_j^ui^««agp..jjP^.*A».- ^fp^T^n^o ^j^ the young calf, and causes au immediate expulsion of the meoonium previously alluded to. " But as the Ayrshire calves are not allowed to suck their mothers, neither in general do they got hor milk, but that of an- other cow or cows which does nut contain this colostrum or purgative principle ** Hence follows an undue re- tention of the meconium, with a moro or loss obstinate constipation, and sometimes a retention of the uripo. " This conditicm is succeeded by violent diarrhoea and dysentery, which cither ends in the death of the ani- mal, or leaves it ever after very susceptible on the least exciting cause to diarrhoea and dysentery." Another practice noticed and condemned by Prof. McCall, is one which we fear is but too common in this country, os well as in others — the practice, namely, of feeding calves only twice a day. On this point he says: " Surely it is against all renson to suppose that the stomach of a calf can be distended to its fullest extent twice a day without producing dangerous results. 1 he efiects of an overloaded stomach moniing and night, moro especially with an adulternted fluid— for such wo can only term skimmed milk when it is substituted for new milk — connot fail to lead to a weakening of that stomach, by the undue dilutution of its weak muscular walls, thereby rendering it unablo, speedily and effec- tively, to contract u|>on its contents. If the stomach is weakened, the powers of digestion and assimilation must likewise symprrthizo ; and the effects of these operating causes ui)on an already wenkencd constitution, from in- herent debility produced by breeding in-and-in, cannot fail to lay that foundation, and does in fact lay that foundation, which, upon a sufficient exciting cause being given, is sure to develop itself in diarrhfca and dysen- tery, under which the animal dies." The way to escape or prevent all those unpleasant consequences, which Nature has attached to the viola- tion of her laws, is, according to Prof. M., to avoid the error, mal-praotice, or transgression of law from which they originate. Let each farmer cross his cattle with the herd of another fanner at some considerable dis- tance—that is, with stock which have had no previous connection with his own stock. Let him alter the cus- tom of roaring calves, and allow them to suck the mother for a time atlonst; and then feed them spar- "ngly from three to six times a day, by which means their digestion and growth will be more healthy. To the objection that this mode of management would cause expense and trouble. Prof. M. replies that vete- rinarians have to prevent and cure disease, and not to balance the farmer's lodger, or save him trouble. Swine and Dairy Cows. To your issue of June 23, a " Nkw Bkoinnfr," at Owego, N. Y., wishes to know "what breed of large swine is best to cross with the Suffolk," and remarks, " I suppose the Berkshire is good, but I confess to a prejudice to blaok hogs " I would answer, that if he wishes a hog that would meet the whims of his prejudice, he must be himself the best judge of what would suit, but if he wants a fair sized bog that will feed profita- bly, mature young, make better pork and finer hams than any other breed, I say take the pure breed Berk- shire, and leave the erostiing of the SufTuik's for those who have time and taste for fancy experiments. In the Berkshire, the color is not akin deep; in dressing, the scald removes an outer scurf, under which is a whiter skin than I ever saw on any other breed of hogs ; the black skin that is found in dressing the black, or black and white landpike, is nob to be found in the pure Berkshires. In regard to "dairy cows, all things considered," I should expect to get the best for the least money ex- pended, t)y breeding thorough bred short horn bulls, of good milking families, to good milkers of our com- mon dairy cows. I have got cows, in this way, that have made from twelve to twenty pounds butter per week, seldom getting a jmor cow from such breeding. E. Cornell. Jthaca, N. Y. P. S — I have several families of Burham or Short- horned cows, of milking families, which I am breeding for dairy cows, but shall have none for sale for the present, 1 wish to test them thoroughly. It is not economy for a " new beginner " to incur the great ex- pense of getting thoroughbred Short- horned cows to make up his dairy, but it is economy to use a thorough bred Short-horned bull. " Effect of Climate on Wool." . In the Co.'Qent., on page 265 of vol. 13, there is an artiole with the abovetiUe, qu oted f^ om the__Pre8iile/ii^ of Franklin Cullege, Tenn. ; and io'order to show the other side to the same question, I would like to quote from the Patent Office Report for 1857, on page 66, et seq. " That the climate of the northern states is moro favorable to the growth of fine wool than the south- west, repeated experiments are disproving. Although it is an admitted law of nature, that the covering of an animal will adapt itself in a great degree to the climate in which it abides ; yet this does not prove that fine wool cannot be grown in a warm climate any more than that fine furs, or fine feathers cannot be found there, for many animals bearing the finest quality of furs, inhabit the most southern portions of our coun- try ; such ns the beaver, otter, muskrat and flying squirrel i they are all found in Texas, as well as in the Canadas. The Merino sheep has been bred for ages as far south as the thirty-sixth degree north lati- tude, in Asia; and we are informed that there is no perceptible difference in the fineness of their fleece from that of the flocks of Kurope. We have also the testimony of the head of the great Lowell Manufac- turing Company, who has purchased extensively from all parts of the United States, that " wherever there are good shepherds, there is sure to be found good wool " The veritable samples of wool grown by an eminent sheep farmer of Tennessee (Mr. Mark Cock- rill), are said to have exceeded in fineness those selent- ed from the best flocks of Europe, by an agent of our government; and Mr. Cockrill attributes its superior quality to the climate of that region. Whether Mr. Cockrill is correct or not in his opinion, the fact is in- controvertible, that the climate has worked no dete- rioration in the quality of the wool, in the many years he has given wool-growing his attention. But whitt ever dilfereDce of opinion may exist on this subject, it IB established beyond doubt that wool grown in a warm climate has a longer and softer Jibre than that produced in the colder countries^ although there may be no difi'erence in the fineness of either, and the manufacturer will give a decided preference to the longer and softer stnple " The italics are my own, but I give the extract merely to show that there are yet two sides to the question. President Fanning has tikken one side, and Mr. Patterson the other. I will add, that hII the pro- ducers of fine wool at the south, are united in the as- sertion that the climatodoesno/ deteriorate the quality of fine wool, although this differs from an apparent law of nature. There is just as much difference be- tween the followers of Liebig's theories of ** special manures," and the experience and practice of Lawes and others of that ilk. Probably the key to the solution of this question may be found in the Lowell man's remark, that *' wherever there are good shepherds, there is sure to be found good wool." Be Azro A. Nicbolb. Stretches In Sheep. Can you give me thrtmgh the Thb Cultivator, a remedy for the so-cnlled stretches in sheep. I have tried several remedies recommended in agricultural journals, but without effect. I want some one to give me a reliattte and effectual recipe for its cure, if there is one. J. A. MoRRison. Sullivan Co , N. Y. In The Cultivator for 1858. pnge 159, A. O. Web- ster, of Union Mills, Ind., stales that after having tried a number of remedies to no effect, and having lust several sheep, he has since cured those of his flock who have been affected with this disease, by giving them red pepper tea. Take two or three pods, pub them with water and steep, and when cool give two doses a day, if the first does not afford relief. Ticks and Lice on Sheep and Cattle. Open the wool on the back of the sheep, from the head to the hips, and strew in a tea spoon of yellow snuff, mostly on the neck and shoulders. This treat- ment has proved effectual with me, in removing ticks from sheep, and it is easier and safer than washing with a solution of tobacco. For lice on cattle, mix yellow snuff with lamp oil, and rub on where they will not lick it. I have known several calves killed by washing them in strong tobacco water. A Readeb* WUltno Valley. R. I. — .-•-. — On. Cheese IVXaltina:. Eds. Co. Qkxt.— After twenty-five yean' experler.ce In the builneea of the dairy, we having aiwayi kept ft-om t^venty to twonty-five cowh, 1 think I can give a very put iu the ruuiiet, Recording to the itlrength, enough to ■et it. If it doei not ect it in fifteen minutes, add a little more. When the curd haa aet, lake a long wooden knife iiml out through the curd, both ways, carefully. Let it Bland about five minutes, then stir with tlie hand careful, ly. Place the strainer over the tub, and dip oil' the whey. Now dip in pans, and eet in a cool place over night. In the morning run up your curd in the same wav, and after cutting, put in last night's curd after draining, and squeeze verv carefully with the hand. Din off one pail of wluy, :mil heat Kcalding hot ; if not scalded alike, heat more aii'l Hill' euiiiiiuialiy. Then place a ladder over an* other till) witii a Ktraiuer and basket, and dip the curd and whey iiilii the strainer. l)o not let It settle together. Then remove it back to the tub. and mix one pint of best salt. If sage is wished, three tablesnounfuls is a plenty if dried and sifted. Then put in the hoop, and It is ready for the press. Turn In four or live hours, and let it re- main until the next mornini; , Hun ^'reaae with lard. If the cheese Is large, bamlafi' « Ij. h -^read enough. Keep the clieese room darlt d;tj>, an.l lai^e tlie window nights. If the lady of Michigan will try this receipt, we think she will have better success, if she takes good care of them for four weeks. Mas. S. Johnson. Scliui/ler Falls, N. Y. 3VIr. Hunt's Co'w. Qbntlemah Bditobs— In your issue of May 12lb, I noticed some remarks from your Ithaca correspondent, In which he seems to imply (or I imply it for him) that the statement given of the products of my cow for the last season, were rather steep, and wishes a statement in regard to her ; and as you have requested me to comply with your correspoudent's request, I most cheerfully do so. And first, she calved along the first days of April. As the calf was taken away when fjur or five days old, we commenced making butler on the eighth. Her feed was, in addition to hay and grass, her own milk, with just bran enough put In to make her eat It, She gave milk during the whole year, and the amount of butter made from April 8, 1868, to April 1, 1869, was as follows ; .April, 41 lbs, October, 45 lbs. May,'. 60 " November 38 " Jun 7* December, 30 January, 211 February, 26 March, 23 July 66 August, 60 Beptember, 49 Total, "8 lbs, I can only trace the family of this cow back to 183 Her grnnddam was raised by .loi-eph M. Ohafee, a farnv of this town, and 1 bought her of him in lty to see the magnitude of this single mistake in eating, and how easily and obvious- ly it may be prevented. Let dyspeptics, instead of be- coming no wiser or not better by the corrective discipline of suffering which Providence is inflicting upon them for the very purpose of convincing them of their error and of making them wiser and better, or instead of resorting to drugs and doctors for the purpose of evading these Provi- dential penalties of that kind of wrong-iloing which they practice three timcsevery day, or often.er ; instead of do- ing, we repeat, either of these foolish things, let them sim- ply eat more slowly and chew more thoroughly, and Provi- dence may hold its liaixl and spare the rod, and drugs and doctoi-s be found to be easily dispensed with, and hardly a less evil, however skilful or well-intentioned the doctore may be, than those dyspeptic sufferings which the Wise Creator and Preserver of our bodies has ordained as the corrective discipline of gormandizing folly, and of undue indulgence in the pleasures of the palate. We pause for the present, but shall return to this highly important subject in a week or two. Mkmccs. THE ARMY WO RM A ND CUT WORM. We copy the following letter from our State Entomolo- gist, from the last no. of the Journal of the State Ag. Society: 8*LEH, N. Y., June 6th, 1861. Mr. B. P. Johnson— We are all familiar with the Cut Worm, that severs the young cabbage, beans, &e., in our gardens, and the corn in our fields. All tender succulent vegetation, including trees that are just started to grow from their seeds, is liable to be cut asunder at or slightly above the surface of the groimd by these worms. They are the progeny of those dark colored "millera" that come into our houses on sunnner evenings and flv obout the ceiling overhead. Though the worms are much alike they in reality are of many different species, the most of them belonging to the genus Agrostis, in the family " Noctuida." The Army worm I suppose to be some one or more of our common cut worms, multiplied to excess, and when so multiplied, become gregarious and tnigratory just like the locust. This name. Army worm, is given to a worm which appears at irregular intervals, now in one place then in another, immense numbers suddenly coming abroad and advancing over the country in a particular direction, like an invading army. Three years ago, Robt. Kcnnicott sent me specimens of these worms from Illinois, in a vial of spirits. They resembled the cut worm in every respect, except that their colors were more bright, which might arise from' their greater exposure to the liflit of day than was their ordinary habit. They were greyish brown with stripes of darker brown and white. 1 wrote to have the moth bred from these worms, if possible sent me, but have received nothing. Last October, Dr. Ed- ward Jenkins of Talbot Co., Md., sent me three of the moths, but they were so broken, and their marks so total- ly effaced that I could learn nothing from them, except irfat iney appeared more like an" Agrostis than any thing else. I, therefore, do not know with certainty, what par- ticular species the Army worm is. In this section of the Eastern States, we at long inter- vals have had a worm with the same habits, and which has been here called the Black worm. In 1743 there ap- peared in Massachusetts " millions of devouring worms in armies, threatening to cut off every green thing." {Flint's 2d Rep., p. 36.) In 1770, a black worm about an inch and a half long, almost covered 2 or 300 miles of territory, devouring the grass and corn, moving mostly in one direction. (Webster on Pestilence, vol. 1, p. 2D9.) In 1700, the same worm reappeared in Connecticut, and was very destructive to the gross and corn, (ibid., page 292.) In 1817, an account from Worcester, Mass.', May 22d, says, "the Black worm is making great rava"es iii this town and many other places in this part of the'coun- tiy. Their march is in a ' displayed column ' and their progress is as distinctly marked as the coui-se of a fire. Not a blade of grass is left standing iu the rear. Froni the appearance of the worm and its manner of destroying vegetables, it is supposed to be the same which usually intcsts gardens, and is commonly colled the cut worm." (Albany Argus.) The same newspaper adds, that this worm is also destroying the vegetation in the northern towns of Rensselaer and the adjoining ports of Saratoga county. Thus all the evidence we have, indicates that these tra- velling swarms of worms are nothing else than our own common cut worm. i. Fitch. Jnly 4, [For tho Country Ocntleman and Cultivator.) Iiyury from the Cut-Worm. A near neighbor of mine has a field of some eighteen acres, planted to corn about the 20th April. Two-thirds of this field wos in clover in 1860, and in wheat in 1859 tho other third in potatoes in 1859, and suffered to grow up in weeds in 1860. The corn all looked well till about middle of May, when it commenced dying, or rather the clover part did ; the weed part looks well ; the clover part had been reifianted ; till last week not a stalk was to be seen ; it wos then furrowed out ond plonted with eorly corn, ond how it will do, con't say. On examination I found from (our to twenty coiuinon grub-worms in each hill, (the common white grub.) In hod a field of clover and timothy sod, planted 3rd and 4th May; many hills in this field were killed by grub- worms, and a good part ii\jured by worms eating the roota of the corn. It is now growing well, but looks a little yellow. I have another field of over twcTity acres corn adjoining, (planted to potatoes in I860-,) this looks fine, hardly o hill missing— planted 24th and 25lh April MlUon, Ky. wM. HALl. %)M gairy ^t\mx\mt\iX. BUTTER. No one of the dairy products, aside from Milk, comes so near being a prime necessary of life as Butter. We can very well dispense with dieese, at onr daily meals; its absence from the table would scarcely be noticed ; but if an American family could not hove butter at all their meals and lunches, there would be trouble in tho house- hold at once. The dairyman, of course, shonld not find fault with this universal and excessive use of butter. Abroad, in almost every family, butter is not used at meals where meats are served, and the practice is worthy of imitation. There the use of cheese is mnch more niiivcrsul than butter, growing in part from the fact that it is the chejipcr of the two. By the United States Census of 1850, it appears that the proportion of butter to cheese over the whole Union was OS three to one — for there was mode in 1849, of Butt". !il3,3«.3<16 lbs. Cheese. 105 j3ii,8!B lb». While in this State, for the some year, there was made, of 5""" 79.766,0!M Ihn. Cheese 49.74lfH81b8. But the State Census of 1856 shows a large change, for in the year 1854 there was made, of The census figures do not show nearly all the butter produced — for there are hundreds of families with one or two cows who make for their own use, and are not count- ed with the aggregate. Of all the butter which goes to market from this State, not one-fifth is strictly a prime article, and of that fifth probably a half may be deducted for a not perfectly pure article. . Indeed, so limited is the section where the very best butter can be produced, that I doubt whether the es- timate is not even now too high. Over a large portion of the State good butter, for im- mediate consumption may be and is made, but it will hot bear transportation. The best butter is made in Dela- ware, Sullivan and Greene, upon the brown shales of the Cattskills. The next best is made in Lewis, Broome, Ti- oga, Chemung, Cortland, Cattaraugus, Steuben, Chautau- qua, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Alleghany, Chenango, Her- kimer and Oneida ; and in these counties the best comes only from the hilly and moimtninous regions which have been longest in pasture. Upon the old and rocky pas- tures of Putnam, Duche.»s, Columbia, Rensselaer ond Washington, good butter is produced, but as a general thing it will not compare favorably with that from the west side of the Hudson river. Short, sweet herbage, which only grows in perfection upon old pastures in hilly or mountainous regions, pure air, and soft pure water, are the indispensable requisites for pure butter All these however, without the skillful manipulations of the dairy woman, will avail nothing. The dairy woman cannot do her port well if she do'not have the advontage of proper fixtures and implements. A good, cool place for setting the milk in summer is abso- lutely indispensable, ond there is no form where cows can be kept profitably, thot such a place cannot be provided at small expense. The use of spring houses is one of the causes for the good butter of the hilly regions. But a good spring house can be mode near a well, and oftener much more convenient, as being nearer the house than the spring. I saw a very nice one, which answered an ad- mirable pourpose, and is a model of its kind. The ground ^s excavated about four feet by some twelve feet square, and a solid stone wall two feet thick,_laid in cement, four feet high. The floor inside was also laid in cement, slight- ly inclining to one corner. The wall was carried up full width four feet, and then an offset of 18 inches was made to the rear, carried up two feet higher, and connecting with the wall to form the foundation. Upon this founda- tion wos erected a balloon frame with eight feet posts, boorded outside and in, and the woll made as tight as pos- sible. Upon the ledge created by the offset a wall about four inches high and wide is made on the front, by which, being \vell plastered with the cement, a gutter or vat is made some three inches deep, with a slight descent to tho corner opposite to that where the water is introduced. Into this vat the fresh milk is set while worm, and cold water conducted into it from the well. The milk cools rapidly, and a low temperature is raointained through the day or night. At eoch milking the pans are removed to the shelves to moke room for tiie fresh milk. Some very nice dairy houses ore rigged up cntiiely above ground, and one I saw last summer in the town of Solon, Cortland county, was so arranged that it seemed almost as good os spring-house. In that am} many others, I noticed tho pans were set upon shelves mode by turning two narrow boards edgewise, so that the least possible suiface was 1861. THE COUNTKY GENTLEMAN. 65 monslrated that the tempoiature at which we can get the moat butler, and tliat in the least time, in churning the creani alone, i9 from 14 to 16 deg. centigrade," (from B7 tofil deg. Fah.) We have devoted this extended space to the toregoing experiments not only on account of the light they throw upon the proper temperature at whicli churnhig sliould be done, but because they demonstrate how much of the butter wliich analysis finds in the niilli, we fail to extract from it by the ordinary process of churning. Tliis loss is very gieatly reduced when the cream alone is cluirned, if the above experiments are to be taluch they have already sent out I do not know, but from what ray friend represented to them, it is probable no more will be sent out. It was purchased by Mr. Cr.KMSON, the late Chief of the Agri- cultural Bureau, last season in Europe." — This is but a part of the letter referred to, and wo may add that we have heard from other quarters similar *lf, olycctions as to the character of the grain recently distri- ; -/^ buted. Wo cannot think that the vast importance to the i^^cver been fully appreciated by tliu authorities "n — of having some one in charge of this Don thorouyfily competent to undertake the tatk, who will not convert tlie post into an agency for the dissemination of noxious weeds and new insects, among the farmers of the country. We have enough of both, already, as we have proved to our cost ; there is no doubt that many of tliem have been introduced through the carelessness and ignorance of seed importers — an error which we certainly ought not to employ a public agent to commit. 2^" The London Agricultural Gazette copies from the CouNTRT Gentleman our account of the Thorndale Bhipmeiit of Shorthorns, and adds a list of the several animals, their purchasers and prices : — ■ " The 2d Duke of Thorndale has been sold to Messrs. Howard & Robinson for 400 guineas ; the Sd Duke of Thorndale has been sold to Mr. Macintosh for 300 guineas ; the 4th Duke of Thorndale has been sold to Mr. Hales for 400 guineas ; the Thane of Oxford has been sold to Colonel Pennant for 250 guineas ; Imperial Oxford has been sold to Mr. Lawford for 200 guineas; 4th Lady of Oxford has been sold to Mr. Mcintosh for 250 guineas. These have thus averaged 800 guineas. Besides these a young bull, Hero of Thorndale, has been sold to Mr. Welch for 200 guineas. These seven animals have thus fetched 2000 guineas, and Mr. Thorne has received the sum he gave to English breeders some years ago for their sires, the two Grand Dukes." We notice in the report of the Essex Agricultural So- ciety's Meeting at Romford, June 25, that Mr. MacImtosu there exhibited, but not in competition for prizes, the 3d Duke of Thorndale and 4th Lady of Oxford. The report apeaks of them as constituting a feature of no little at- traction, and adds that this " American bull is a superb animal, thick, deep, lleshy and symmetrical, ond of first rate quality." JJ^~ During the night of the 22d June, there was a tremendous storm in France, extending through six de- partments, including hail which cut the crops to pieces, lightning killing men and many domestic animals, and blowing a hurricane which ovei turned barns and houses, and tore up the trees. This storm is not mentioned in the Mark Lane Express review of the progress of crops, July 1, and the extent of damage done had not been estimated in the Paris Journal of Practical Agriculture of July B. But the latter paper represents it as so great that sub- Bci'iptions had already been started for the benefit of the Butl'erers, headed by governmental appropriations from the Emperor of over eight thousand dollois, divided be- tween the six departments. In England, during the week ending July 1, heavy thunder showers had considerably hindered the makiug of hay, but on the whole, the week had been regarded favorable ; — " Many early-sown pieces of wheat on good soil are likely to be very productive ; but the bulk remaining thin, and the breadth this season being diminished, a general abundance is next to impossi- ble, however fine tlie qujility may turn out. All spring corn, with the exception of beans, continue highly prom- ising, and even these are much improved, though the black fly is very prevalent. Tlic root crops have equally advanced. The usual ell'ects of fine weather have appear- ed in the state of the markets, notwilhstauding small sup- plies of home-growth. New wheat has. generally given way from Is. to 2s. per qr., though farmers in some places with small stocks have resisted the decline ; and but for foreign imports, which continue free, there would in all probability have been a rise instead of a fall for the last month. As it is, the week closed with more firmness, and a slight reaction may follow." I^r We have received samples of the Stone Pipe ad- vertised in another coUnnn by D. E. Hill, Middlebury, 0. Without having had an opportunity to test them in prac- tice, we can only say that they seem to bear out fully the recommendation of the manufacturer, so far as workman- like make and substantial appearance go. The prices, it will be seen, ore very moderate in view of the quality of the pipe. From the same maker we have specimens of Milk Pans, also made of stoneware, and as the process is conducted by nuichinery, we presume the prices must be compara- tively low, aithougli we do not know what they are. The advantages afforded by well made stoneware pans, over those of any other material, are generally acknowledged. The samples referred to may be seen at this office. l^'Mr. Simon Bkattik of Woburn, Scarboro, C. W., informs us that he is to sell by Auction on Thursday, Aug. 1, at Mr. Scott's, 10 miles from Toronto and 3 miles from the Scarboro railroad station, the following stock imported by him the past spring directly from England and Scot- land : — One Short-Horn bull and one heifer, one Galloway heifer, one Ayrshire cow, several Leicester and Lincoln- shire sheep, and one or two Cotawokls. We recently published an inquiry which we think has never been an- swered — where Lincolnshire sheep could be obtained ; the above sale affords an opportunity, if the influirer, whose address we have forgotten, desires to avail himself of It. » » « [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] LETTER FROM JOHN JOHNSTON. Nkar Gekeva. N. Y., July 16. 1861. Messiis. Tdckeus — Wheat is not yet ripe with us. Some will be ready to cut next week, possibly some this, and some won't be ready under nearly two weeks. Tlie crop as a whole will be a failing one, although some fields are very good. Those sheltered from the west-uortb-west, are generally good. Our friend J. 0. Sheldon, Esq., has 7 or 8 acres of Soule's wheat equal to any I ever saw. On some farms you may see oue field sheltered from west- north-west, a good crop, and another field on same farm, exposed to west-north-west, that won't yield 8 bushels per acre ; but I am happy to say we have no midge, or at least almost none. I expected that, owing to the wheat being so late, it would be entirely ruined by that insect ; but it is not liere, and I hope it may never return. Spring crops in general, are very backward ; the weath- er generally too cold for corn. . We have only had some 3 or 4 hot days this season. Although grass was very promising the 1st June, the hay crop will generally be light, perhaps not over half of last year. The corn crop in this neighborhood is less promising than last year. Winter barley has been nearly a total failure in this part of the country. Very little spring barley sown now ; I have IS acres, promising better than any I ever had. I never had much luck with barley, but I think I must have this year. Every kind of trade is at a standstill ; wool won't sell at paying prices, and grain of all kinds is low. I don't think corn and oats have been so low in 30 years. There is a good chance lor speculators, as after every great fall there has been a corresponding rise until now, and I have no do\ibt whatever but the rise will come by and by. Some 18 or 19 years ago, everything but grain was very low. Cattle, sheep and wool went for nothing. Alter that, or in 1844, they commenced advancing and got very higli. Now, I doubt not, they will for a time remain very low, and then a rise will come. This has been t^e way occasionally, every since I knew anything of the world, and in all probability it will continne so till the end. I think the wheat will be of very fine quality. It is mostly out of danger of rust, which is often ruinous when the crops are so late. I notice rust in some fields, but I don't think enough to do much damage — and on the whole the winter wheat looks much better as it gets towards har- vest ; at least many fields that appeared ruined iu May, ill yet yield enough with fair prices, to pay the expense of raising. I have got my haying done, and my neighbor, Mr. Swan, has 95 acres finished. John Johnston. P. S. — I had almost forgotten to say that a black bug has killed all the gray grubs or cut worms that (orinerly were so destructive to the corn. What does Dr. Fitch think about this ? They have been seen to have a regular battle in this neighborhood, the black bugs proving the General McClellaus, that is the conquerors ; but they were not so humane as Gen. McC. ; they granted no quarter. But al- though we have got quit of the midge, gray grub, (cut worm,) I hear of a new pest to the farmer. A friend of mine, ten miles from here, writes me that, the chintz bug has taken his 25 acres of corn. He thinks they wiere brought from the west in the stomachs of cattle. I can- not think so. '• J. — ■ »-•-• [For the Ct>untry Gentleman and Cultivator.] CROPS IN CENTRAL OHIO. L. Tucker & Son — Our " harvest season " ia just closing, so far as small grains are concerned, and prospective yields, results, &c., can be approiimatively offered. Wheat, being the larger cultivated cereal, demands flret notice. The early sowed fields, and those that promised best in early spring, are invariably poorest — lightest. This I attribute almost entirely to the action of the frosts of the 28th, 30th and Slst of May. Occasional fields not cut, partly from frost's effects, and partly from effects of "joint fly," which followed. Now, at harvest time, straw is generally short, standing erect from lightne.'ss of heads — much wheat being affected with midge, and nearly all full of cheat, (chess of " Yankee Land,") and much rye intermixed. To sum up, the yield in the counties of Clark, Madison and Fayette, through which I have made pretty general and close observations, will not be above an average of from eight to ten bushels per acre. Last year in same belt many fields gave a yield of plump heavy wheat, (often weighing 64 to 66 lbs. per bushel,) of 25, 28 and 30 bushels, with chance fields making 35 to 40 bush- els per acre. The grain this year is generally plump and good. Considerable "straw rust." Neariy all wheats 80wn broadcast. Just here permit me to give your readers the result of BOine experiraenta I have been making with some new kinds of wheat. As the Patent Office distrilnited a con- siderable quantity of the same kinds last summer, I hope those of your correspondent* who received same will favor us with their results. From my diary I copy as follo\vs : — " Selected 10 gming of each kind of 13 bags (quarts) — (these wheats were so much mixed and eaten up with weevil when received, that I considered it injudicious to plant more) — marked from " Holy Land," no names, 5 sotLh wliite — 5 red, very dark, with same number of grains of each of the following kinds : 'Maltese,' 'Genesee white,' ' white Turkey,' and 'Tap- pahannock,' and planted siime on about 2 feet square of a black, loamy, burr oak soil, underlaid with gravelly lime- stone near large open drain, on evening of September 26i Came up generally well, but were all 'winterkilled,' except four last named. Have just harvested same, July 13th — not yet cleaned — 1st kind rather green, late, straw strong, about 2^ feet long, no rust, heads long, fairly filled — 2d kind, do., straw quite badly rusted, heads long, not so well filled as Ist— 3d sort fully ripe, early, straw weaker, fallen some, 3 to 4 feet long, no rust, heads long, heavy — 4th sort do., except straw not so long, and stronger — all bald white wheats. Intend planting same in September, se- lecting the largest ears, in rows both ways, about 2 feet apart, two kernels to the hill. Oats late, just heading, promise well. Rye generally good, and standing up well. Barley, but little sown, fair. Corn promises generally an unusually good crop ; some sections suffering from drouth of last month ; stands even- ly, and not much affected with our usual pest on sod land, cutworm. Grass harvest but just commeuced; generally heavy. Pastures good and abundant. Large quantities of old grains are in hands of farmers, causing prices to rule low. Money market unusually tight, which also affects market, rates of all produce. Old wheat, red, 60 to 75c.; corn, 16 to 20c.; oats, 15c.; hay, $3 to $8 per' ton in meadow and delivered. Wools selling but slowly ond very low — good grades that last year command- ed readily 40 to 50c. are now selling to some extent at 20 to 25tt26c., and a few choice fine lots at 30c., an ex- treme figure, all to speculators. Hogs for fall feeding held at 2J to 3c. gross. Some demand for horses for cavalry and baggage at from ji60 to $90 each— the latter the extreme figure. Cattle very low, good lots of grades sold at our " month- ly sale," July, at, for 1 year olds, $14 to $15 per head, and 2 year olds but a trifle higher, say $15 to $16— same ages, and poorer quality, have often commanded $28 to $35 per head. . . „ , „ . Our people are imbued with a " war spirit," fully de- termined to make any sacrifices to sustain our government volunteers, and willingly submit to these unusual low rates for the public good. w. Madison Co., 0., July 16. If CI ■A Fir 66 THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. [For the Couiury Gentleman and Cultivator.] No. 29— THE ARMY WORM MOTH. MKSSR3. TuCKKR — I liuve nn illiistrntion of "thepiir- Buit of knowledge under difficultiei " to present. Dr. John Bartlett of Pesotum, Champaign Co., III., sends us in spirits, in a tin tube, ii specimen of the renowned Army worm, and of the moth which i.s bred from it. Now sphita is the very best vehicle in which to preserve and transmit all kinds of worms, spiders and beetles ; but insects with delicate wings, such as butterflies, moths and flics arc usually ruined by being wet, their wings becoming mat- ted together in a wad, like a wet di.sh-cloth, and if pretti- ly colored, their colors arc liable to be altered or destroyed by spirits. An inexperienced collector, therefore, will do best to place such insects between layers of cotton in a small box, to transmit them without injury by mail or express. On emptying the tube from Dr. Bartlett it was with deep regret that I saw this moth of the Army worm lying before me, soaked to a soft, shapeless, black mass, which might on drying wholly (ail of sliowiiig me the same colors and spots which naturally belong to it. On care- fully disentangling and spreading its wings, and dryin" it, my first step was to compare it with the broken and effaced specimens received last year from Dr. Jenkins of Maryland, mentioned in my letter to Hon. B. P. Johnson, lately published in the Co. Gknt. I hereupon saw that the Army worm in Marylatid last year, and that now in Il- linois were undoubtedly one and the same Insect. And now, by a searching look from one to the other of these soiled and imperfect specimens, I was able to gather from them certain marks by which I thought I could recognize this insect if I chanced to have any other specimens of it in my collection. Upon looking over the moths of the cut worms I find nothing like this among them. Turning then to another group, lo, here I have it I— two perfect specimens, received a few years .since iu a fine collection from Prof D. S. Sheldon of Iowa College. Laua Dei I The riddle is now read I What for nearly a score of years I have been so anxious to obtain I now have ! I know what the moth of this Army worm now is 1 And in the fulness of my joy hereupon, I thank you. Prof Sheldon, and you Dr. Bartlett, and Dr. Jenkins, eucli and all, that you have col- ieciiveiy furnished me with such clues as have enabled me to make this discovery. A short sketch of the history of this species, as it ap- pears iu our works of science, will interest the reader. Long ago, a preserved specimen of this moth found its way into the then celebrated collection of Mr. Francillon in London. Upon the breaking up and sale of that col- lection, this specimen passed into the possession of Mr. Haworth, who, not doubting but that it had been captured in England, described it very briefly, in the year 1810, in his Lepidoptera Brittanica, page 174, naming it Noctua vnipuncta or the White Speck, by which names it has ever since been referred to by English authora and collec- tors, save that a new generic name, Leucania, replaces that of Noctua. It appears to have been through liuul- Tcrtency that Mr. Stephens changed this name to im- pHticla, when he came to describe the species in 1829, in his British Entomology, Haustellata, vol. ill, p. 80. Later, in 1850, he refers to it under its original name, in the List of Lepidoptera in the British Museum, p. 289, it hav- ing now been ascertained that it was a North American aud not a British insect. Guen6e appeai-s to have overlooked this species of the English authors. In his valuable work on the Lepidop- tera (vol. v., p. 77— Paris, 1852,) he regards it as a new species, naming it Leucania exlranea. From him we learn that there are specimens of it in several of the Paris collections, whereby they know it to be a common insect in North America, Columbia and Brazil. He also states that a variety of it which is destitute of the white dot on the fore-wings, occurs in the East Indies, Java and Aus- tralia. I cannot but think, however, that this East India insect should be ranked as a distjnct species from ours, as it differs in such a prominent character, and is so widely separated from it geographically. From what has now been stated, it will be seen that the original and therefore legitimate scientific name of this insect is Leucania nuipuncta. And the "Army-worm moth " will undoubtedly be the common name by which it will be currently designated in this country, instead of the White Speck, the name given it in England. About a dozen New- York species of this genus, Leu- cania, are known to me. They are those white and pale yellow moths or millers which are so common in om- meadows and other grass lands, and which flit aside in such numbers when the scythe of the mower sweeps their coverts from them. And the " black worm," which in this section of our Union sometimes shows the same grcga- ri<)us and migratory habits as the Army worm of the Western and Southern States, I now infer to be the larva of some one of these moths. I have scarcely sufficient space remaining to give in his article such a full and particular description of this moth as ought to accompany this announcement of its name, and will enable every one to distinguish it with certainty from other moths which re.'cmble it. It is very plain and unadorned in its appearance. The eye, on first glancing at it, only recognizes it as an ordi- nary looking moth of a tarnished yellowish drab color, inclining to russet, with a small white dot near the centre of its fore wings, and a dusky oblique streak at their tips. On coming to look at it more particularly, we find it to be rather less than an inch long to the end of its closed wings, or if these arc extended it is about an inch and three quarters in width, difl'erent specimens varying some- what in their size. Its fore wings arc sprinkled with blackish atoms, and a short distance forward of their hind edge they are crossed by a row of black dots, one on each of the veins. Outside of the middle of the wing this row of dola suddenly curves forward, and from this curve a dusky streak runs to the tip of llie wing, the ground color being more pale and clearer yellow along the outer side of this streak. Though the moths of some other genera usually have a similar streak, this is the only species of this genus in which this mark occurs, and hence M. Guende names this species exlranea, i. c. extraneous, foreign, different, as though it did not belong hero. And Mr. Stephens doubts whether it correctly pertains to this genus. But a character that will appear to common per- sons as more conspicuous aiul important, is that from which Mr. Haworth names this species. Nearly in the centre of the wing is a milk-white dot, placed upon the mid-vein. This dot is surrounded more or less by a dusky cloud, and this duskiness is frequently extended forward upon the mid-vein to its base, forming a faint darker streak along the middle of the wing. Contiguous to this dot on its outer side may be diacerned a roundish spot of a slightly paler yellow color than the ground, and a very short distance forward of this is a similar spot, but smaller, both these spots often showing a more tarnished centre. On the liind part of the wing the veins are marked by slender whitish lines, and between their tips on the hind edge of the wing is a row of minute black dots. The hind wings are smoky brown, with a purplish gloss, and are nearly transparent, with the veins blackish. The fringe of both pairs of wings is pale yellowish, with a dusky band on the middle. On the under side the wings are much more glossy and paler, opalescent whitish inwardly, and smoky gray to- wards 'their outer and hind sides, where they are also fref'-lod Willi blackish ..v'suis. Tho fcuioUy color on the hind wings has, on its anterior edge, a row of short, black- ish lines, one placed on each of the veins, and in line with them on the fore wings is a faint dusky band, be- coming more distinct towards its outer end, or sometimes only represented by a dusky dot on the outer margin for- ward of the tip. The veins are whitish, and also the hind edge, on which is a row of black dots placed between the tips of the veins. The hind wings have also a blackish crescent-shaped spot a little forward of their centre. The abdomen or hind body is smoky gray above, and on its under side ash grey, freckled with black scales, and usually showing a row of black dots along each side. Though these moths are subject to some variety, who- ever has one of them in his hands will find it to coincide so exactly with most of the particulars stated in the above description, that he will be fully assured it is this insect. Snlera. N. Y.. July. 1861. ASA FITCH. P. S., July 11 tk. — A fine specimen of this moth reaches me to-day from Mr. Emery, editor of the Prairie Farmer. It is a male, and hidicates this sex to be smaller, measur- ing but little over an inch and a half acro.ss its spread wings. It is also of a darker or more smoky gray color, but does not appear to differ otherwise from the descrip- tion above given. i. j. JTJ^y 25, " I WISH I WAS IN dixie; A writer in the New Orleans Delta has undertaken to give the geographical location of " Dixie's Land," and to show that the song now so popular at tho South originated at the North. Tho writer says : — " When Slavery existed in New York, one ' Dixy' owned a large tract of land on the Manhattan Island and a large number of slaves. Tho increa."o of the slaves, and tho in- crease of tho abolition sentiment, caused an ewigration of the slaves to more thorough and secure slave sections, and tho negroes who were thus sent off (many being born Ihoro ) naturally looked back to thoir old homos, whore they had lived in clover, with feelings of regret, as thoy could not imagine any place like Di.xy's. Hence it became synony- mous with an ideal locality, combining ease and comfort, aud niatflrial happiness of every description. In those days negro singing and minstrelsy were in their infancy, and any subject that coijld bo wrought into a ballad was eagerly picked up. This was tho case with ' Dixie.' It originated in Now York, and assumed tho proportions of a song there. In its travels it has been enlarged and has ' gathered mosi.' It hat picked up a ' note ' hero and there. A ' chorus ' has been added to it, and from tho indistinct ' chant ' of two or three notes, it has become an elaborato molody. But the fact that it is a Northern song ' cannot bo rubbed out.' The falhujy is so popular to tho contrary, that I have thus been at pains to stale the origm of it.'' (For the Country Qentleman and Cultlvator.J No. r — Choicelof Farming as a Profession. Hill Tor, Jau. 6, !»-. My Dear Ned — You ask my advice about an employ- ment for which you seem to think you have a peculiar aptitude. In the first place, I must tell you that you over- estimate my ability to advise ; but as deference to the judgment of ciders is not a common fault with young America, and as it is one which we, who are approaching the superannuated list, can most easily forgive, I freely pronounce absolution, and will advise you as best I can. But, Ned, you are the greenest boy I have seen. Let me tell you that you may be still more in error in suppos- ing that you were born for the farm, or that you could by any possibility become a successful and happy farmer. You have not yet one particle of proof that you would be satisfied with farm-life if fairly installed into it. "Dis- tance lends enchantment." Your views of farm-life are yet distant. The charm might fade as you approach, and die out when you come into actual contact with the stern realities. " Not all is gold that shines," and not all soils yield golden crops for the bidding. Farmers have their troubles. Mr. Sparrowgrass found a peck of them. Frosts would sometimes kill the growing crops ; at other times the cattle would sicken and die ; the neighbors even, were not as simply and as honestly rustic, as his imagination had conceived, but would now and then get a heavey horse upon him at a larger price than they would have been wil- ling to pay for the same animal, or gain some other ad- vantage about as slyly as he had been accustomed to see in city life. Set it down, then, that you do not yet know yourself in this matter, whether the farm is a fit place for you, or you a fit man for it. Uncle Zeb's coat being two or three times too large for you, would certainly fit badly if you should put it on ; but any farm your father might purchase for you might prove a worse fit, so far as you have yet the means of knowing. Another consideration — the good Watts says, " Heaven one mold for every two designed ;" and rumor says that you have found the other being east in the same mold with yourself. I rather like the idea, that while you will to be a farmer, you arc looking for a farmer's wife. But if your intended has no more decidedly marked tastes and quali- fications for rural life than fall to amiyority of city Misses, the doubt about the advisableness of your becoming a fanner, is doubled — for there will be two to be pleased in- stead of one. Not one in ten of all the city-bred girls, can be contented, happy and useful on a farm ; to take a bright and beautiful being, witty and intelligent, (I speak of her as 1 am sure she appears to you,) from the circle of city friendships to the farmstead, unless you see in her that substratum of sober, deep, all-pervading good sense which alone can congcnialize itself to the change, would be absolutely cruel. So, Ned, look out what you do ! Possibly you and yours arc dreaming about gentleman farming. Gentleman farming ! Why, every upright, in- dustrious, intelligent farmer is a gentleman in the best possible sense of the term. In the sense of wearing silk stockings and kid gloves, on small, delicate feet and hands, seven days in a week ; in the sense of being a man, who commands every thing and does nothing ; in any mere technical sense, no fanner can be a gentleman. Gentle- man farming, any farther than as you consider that useful- ness, integrity, inward worth, not the mere exterior, make the gentleman, is a humbug, alike useless to the man who attempts it and to the world. If one wished to live bv sharp wit, he might better look for other fields than those of the farm. If he would be a fop he might better look elsewhere. If lie would be a gentleman, as the term is too often flippantly used — exteriorly so — the farm is no place for him ; and if his wife is more appreciative of the showy and ornamental, than of the plainly good and com- fortable, there is an extra objection to his being a farmer. Do not deceive youreelf with the belief that you can be a farmer, and yet retain all the primness and lightness of step, with which your friends in the city have been accus- tomed to meet you ; and do not deceive the girl that is to share life with you, into the fancy that all the elegancies of city life will be translcrrcd and become perennial on the farm. The matter of fact is, that farming is a plain, homely business ; and it is wonderfully apt to make plain, unostentatious people of those who pursue it. The farm- house may be very comfortable; it may be in elegant taste, and ought to be so ; trees, shrubs and flowers may adorn every approach to it ; the farmer may live in a con- dition of rural elegance, and he ought to be contented with nothing short of this; but after all, farming is a plain business, and makes plain people ; and I would not advise persons to enter it with the expectation of being gentle- men or ladies, otherwise than as usefulness, integrity, in- young nephew in town-a would-be fai...^. .„. .,..„... „„. ..^ mer in very deed, with tleevea rolled up and hard at work. r for years, but tiiuee a far- 1861. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. 113 Society, WB8 that held rI Chicago in 18n9, but we doubt if the receipts there exceeded $25,000. Tlie St. Louis Agricultural Association has taken in very large amounts on eoine occasions, but we have never seen the olficiiil returns ; moreover, the element of Trotting Horses enters BO largely into the character of these shows, that we hardly consider it lair to compare them nith those in which tliere is no such attraction to create popular excitement. The Provincial Exhibition of Canada West at Hamilton in 1860. is also entitled to mention among the most success- ful shows on this side of the water ; the receipts we do not know, but the Prince of Wales proved even a greater card in the hands of its managers, pecuniarily, than the intrinsic merits of the alTair, as great as these undoubtedly were. We fear we shall be obliged to confess, therefore, that the Leeds Royal must " go to the fore," as the English say, for attendance as well as receipts, of all similar ex- hibitions outaidc of as well as in Great Britain. — We are indebted to Mr. J. M. Wade, of Rhode Island, for copies of the Leeds Mercury, with very full reports of each day's proceedings. It may be noted that at the Dinner, Lord Powis the Chairman, in one of his leading speeches, remarked that " the Royal Agricultural Society were most anxious on such occasions to receive the representatives o( those nations, both on the continent of Europe, and, he might add, on the continent of Ameri- ca, which were interested in Agriculture." In illustration of the enterprise and prosperity of English agriculture he alluded to the fact that that country " at the present moment was importing at considerable expense from America some of its best Short-horn blood, which in pre- vious yeare had gone over to the United States," — an announcement which is reported to have been greeted with much applause. ^ Thk Aubdbn Ruapkrs. — The city of Auburn, N. Y., stands in the midst of a very (ertile farming region, and for a town of 10,000 inhabitants is largely engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements. There are four mower and reaper manufactories, viz., one for the Kirby machine, manufactured by D. M. Osborne & Co.; another for the Hus.scy; a third for the " Cayuga Chief," made by Sheldon & Co., and the fourth for JJal'ls, made by Ross, Dodge & Pomroy. Several trials of these maehiiios have been made in different pari* of the county, and all have proved very successful. In some instances the committees to award pri/.cs have been puKzled to decide between tbem, and hav.e handed back the entrance fees to the owners, and made no award. The dynamometer baa shown varied results, sometimes in favor of one, and sometimes for anotiicr, the average being not widely apart. In mow- 1 ing, cutting about .5 feet, 800 lbs. has been about the draft required, some below, and others above. On our own grounds we have had an opportunity of trying the Cayuga Chief of Sheldon and Co., and found it to work to much satisfaction. It could be made to cut wilhin less than an inch of the earth, if desired, and its height of cutting might be increased to any degree. A piece of rough and sidling ground being selected, it proved itself equal to sustaining the rough usage required. It would cut per- fectly when the hoi-ses were moving at the rate of only one mile an hour, or le.«s, and did its work well in turning a circle of less than 6 feet radius. The horses ap- peared to draw it very easily, nearly as much so as they would draw an empty wagon. This remark applies es- pecially to the small sized mower, the draught of which is exceedingly light. It has a peculiar and useful arrange- ment for elevating the points of the fingers at a raised angle to pass over stones. It is made of iron, and is strong and durable. Doubtless the other machines men- tioned, or a part of them, are its equals in most particu- lars, but we had not the opportunity of testing them so well. J. 1. T. Thk Haetest in Franck. — At our last advices con- cerning the French crop.H, July 20, Harvest had already been completed in the South, was fairly under way in the Central departments, and would be soon undertaken in the North. Thus the character of the crop could not be completely estimated. But the Paris Journal of Prac- tical Agriculture remarks that " if bad weather continued, if persistent rains came to compromise the housing of grain, the estimate would certainly have to be a very in- different one. But we must hope for brighter days in the last of July and during August. In any event," advice is given for the construction of the moycttes, described in the Country Gentlkman last year, for the protection of the grain from bad weather — " permitting cutting it a lit- tle before its maturity, sheltering it from unliivorable skies, and affording the means of bringing in the sheaves perfectly matured and preserved, at wliatever time may best suit the state of the weather and the farm work." Previous storms — especially the tempest of the 2'2d of June, referred to in this paper a fortnight ago — prove to have done even more duninge than had been anticipated. Rust had begun to show itseif in some localities, although not as yet to the very great injury of the grain. Mons. Barral, in reviewing the returns from about forty corres- pondents in different parts of the country, inclines to the opinion that the product will be on tho whole somewhat below an average one. Forage crops and the afler-math, he says, will be " decidedly less bad " than had been feared. Adams Co., Pa., Aoricultkral Society. — We arc preparing for our annual agricultural exhibition, which takes place Sept. 23 — 26. Our list of premiums will bo respectable. Our officers are John BuRKnoLnER, Presi- dent ; Jacob Dilzer and Wm. Walhay, Vice Presidents ; George Wilson, Recording Secretary; Wm. B. Wilson, Corresponding Secretary. Competition open to the world. We have about five acres of ground beautifully situated, with good spring water on the eround, and all necessary sary buildings for the comfort of man and beast, w. b. w. . ••• Agricultural Items from the European Continent. PRKPARBD BY THE. KDIT0R8 Or THK COUNTIIY GBNTLRMAS. There are 600 Agricultural Associations in the French Empire, distributing about $240,000 in the aggregate in premiums of various kinds. Complaint hav- ing been made that the French Ag. Exhibitions were only " got up," as we should say, for the benefit of land-hold- ers and other wealthy jnen, Mons. Barral relates that he was present at the distribution of about 70 prizes at the late Show at Metz ; " there were not ten persons who came for them who wore coats — more than 60 being peasants, vine-tenders, herdsmen, laborers, &c., in blouses and thick shoes, with their iron-shod sticks, and very proud of their success." That America, which has heretofore only sold salt meat to Europe, should have sent " real Durhoma " to England, is spoken of in the Paris Journal d Agriculture Pratique as proving eombien Vagriculture yankee marche vile dans le progres — which may be freely translated to signify that the forward march of Yankee agriculture is a regular quickstep. The Prussian Bureau of Statistics has just published some interesting documents with regard to the progress of breeding do- mestic animals in that kingdom, from which we learn that there were in Prussia Horses, l.SW.OOO In ,1816, Hnrried Cattle,.. Sliei'p. Swine, . Mules, . Asses. . s.ou.mio iio. , 8,2l)ll.lH]0 do. , 1.. Iowa.... Iowa Clly, ?epl. 24. 27 Kentucky.... I'ouisyllle. Sent 17, 21. Kentucky Central. . . .Danville, Kentucky, N. Eastern Ashland. Maine, ...Portland. Mlchlean. . . .Detroit, SepU H 27. Minnesota.. ..St. Anthony, Sept. 24. 87. Nebniska.... Omaha, _ . , . Nfw.nrnnawick Sussex. Oct. 1, 4. Newlliinipshire.... Manchester, New York. ...Watertown, Sept. 17, 20. Ohio Dayton. Sent. Irt i:) Ol enon ... Oregon Cily. Oct. 1, 6. St° Louis Ag. niid Mechanical Association, St. Louis, Tennessee.... Nashville, Tennessee. Mid. Dlv.... Franklin, Vermont. ...Rutland, Sept. lt>. 13. Wisconsin. ...Madison, Sent. 2S. 27. ao. Ag. an. 27. Monroe... \V:n.-rl,.... 11,1. 15. 17. Mercer.... Mill. Klani;!.. Sept 21.26. K.lnur.l.svilk, Oct I. 4. Sept 2t. 28. Mudlson. McLean.. Morgan. . ill.' ept. 3, 6. . ii;, s .On Oglt Pn(e....PltlsfleM. Peoria Peoria. Sept 3. 6. Putnam Hennepin. Oct. 1, 4. Rock Island Rock Island. Stephenson. ...Freeport Sept 23. 35. Sangamon Springllcld. Oct 1, 3. Union Fair... Warren. Sept 17, 20. Vermillion.... Catlin, Oct 1. S. Warren.... Monmouth, Sent 4, 6. Winnebago.... Rockford. Sept 17. 30. Whiteside. . . .Morrison. Sept 34, 27. IOWA. Appanoose Centerviile, Hi'ntnn... .Vinton. Oct. 2. 3. Black Hawk.. ..Waterloo. Sept 13, 13. Bremer.. .Waverly, Oct 8. 4. Cerro Gordo. . . . Mason City. Sept 3S. 37. Chickaiaw. . . .New Hampton. Sept 35, 36. Clinton.... Wheatland. Sept 18,30. Crawford. ...Dennison. Oct 12, 13. Davis. . .Bloomfleld. Oct 4, 6. Dubuque.... Dnbuuue. Sept. 4. 6. Oulhrle. . . .Outhrlc Center, Oct 3. 3. Hsmllton. ...Webster City, Oct 17,18, Harrfnn Magnolia, Oct 9. la Jackson. . . . Andrew. Sept 18. 30. Johnson. . . .I.iwa City, .-ipt ii, 6. Jones.... Anamosa. Oct 2. 4, Linn. ...Cedar Rapids. Sept 24, 26. Maluuska Oskaloosa. Sept*17. 18, Marlon. ..Knoxvillc, Oct 1.3. Marshall.... Marshall. Oct 11, 12. Montgomery Frankfort Oct 1. l'agc....Clarinda. Sept 19. 20. Pottawatlomle. ...Council OluCfs, Sept 18, 19. Scott Davenport Tama.... Toledo. October 9, 10. Union.... Wheatland. Sept 19, 30. Van Buren Kcosauqua, Oct, 10, 11. Washington Waiihlneton, Sept 17, 19. Wayne Corydon, Oct 4. 6. WISCONSIN. Badax....Viioqua, Sept 9. 11. Dodge.... Manlorville. Sejit 24. 35. Jefferson.. ..Lake >lills. Sept 18, 19. Jackson Albion. Sept 18, 19. Lafayette. . . .Darlington. Sept 85, SA, Racine.... Union Grove. Sept 17, 10. HIchlsnd... Richland Center. Sept 31, J3. Winnebago.... Oskosh. Sept 18, 19. CALIFORNIA. Sonoma.... Santa Rosa. Sept 24, 37. OllEGON. Multnomah. ...Portland. Oct 23. 24. UTAH. San Pete....Maroni, UPPER CANADA. Kingston Electoral. ...Kingston. Sept 18. Toronto Electoral. ...Toronto.Oct 7, 19. LOWER CANADA. Brome Knowlton. Sept 17. Laprairie Laprairic. Sept 19. Levis. . . .Notre Dame de la Vicloire, Sept 24. Montcalm.... St Alexis. Oct 2. Montmorency.... Chnte.iu Richer, Oct 15. Ottawa.... Aylmer. Oct 3. Piintiac Clarendon theater, Oct 4. Quebec Ste Foye, Oct 16. SbelTord. ...Waterloo. Sept 18. Vaudreuil....Slc Marlhe, Sept 26. PREPARATION OF SEED WHEAT. I am one of those who believe in good seed, no matter whether it be for the garden or field, or whether wheat, rye, corn, or buckwheat. I am particular always to get good clean, dry seed, that is, seed which has been well cured before housing, and well cared for afterwards. Next, I always give a preference to new wheat, and an additional preference to that which is not threshed until just ready for use. Again, my seed wheat is always steeped in a liquid before sowing. I adopted this plan from a recommendation given in an iigricultnral paper many years ago. All wheat, or almost all, is infested with spores of fungi, wliieli, though not visible to the naked eye, are nevertheless " Ihar" and in sulFicient quantities, generally, to do damage. My plan is, to take from a poimd and a half to two pounds of blue vitrol, (sulphate of copper.) Dissolve this in from two to three gallons of hot water, and let it cool before using. Spread the wheat on the barn floor, and with a common walciiiig can sprinkle the solution over it, at the rate of about three pints to the bushel of seed. Then take a .'^hovel, and turn the wheat over and over, until it is uniformly dampened. lie particular in doing this. It will be ready for sowing next morning, if done in the al'tcrnoon. Rats will not eat wheat thus pre- pared, and fungi will be completely destroyed by it. — Farmer and Gardener. LovK. — As long as a woman loves, she does nothing else. A man has other inattors to attend to in tho intervals. When is nine like a pig's tuski When it is in a hog's- head. //^/ 130 THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. Aup 2i [For the Country Gentleman and CuUivntor,] A LARGE TH REE- STORY BARN. [Tlie insertion of the following excellent generRl plan of a three-story barn has been unintentionally delayed, but it has lost none of its value by keeping. We arc un- able to give the plan of the grounds about the house on account of the large space they would require iu an en- graving.] Mkssrs. Editors — Some three years ago I wrote a de- scription of a barn rfhich I had then lately built, for your paper, and as I was about communicating it to you, my attention was called to the subject of the horse pitch- fork, which just then seemed to engross public attention. I therefore thought it prudent to wait a while, to sec whether hay could be more easily pitched up than tumbled down; and notwithstanding the benefits of that fork, I am satisfied that hay will easier go with its gravity than be made to fly upwards. The first thing then to be considered in building a barn, is to select a suitable site. The object wa.«, convenient distance from the house — about 15 rods; supply of water, a hard bottom, and an easy drive through the barn, length- wise with the roof, as the general floor, so as to throw the hay, 4c., down, instead of pitching up. The stabling is in tlie basement. The barn is one hundred and seventy feet long in the centre, besides an ell thirty feet. The creek through the yards is stoned up at the sides and filled back with clay, to prevent washing in from the yards. The creek runs through both cow and sheep yards, ihd twice under the barn. The walls of the stabling, or ba.sement, are of mason work, excepting at the deep bay and horse stable, and these arc same distance from the ground, theie being a de- pression there where the creek passes out from the yards and barn. The mason work is founded on the solid slate rock, which constitutes the floor of the stabling, cut down several feet in some places to form a convenient floor The timbers at each end of the burn rest against the solid rock, which forms the bank. The barn has an angle, near the centre, of twenty degrees from a right line, to fit the bank. The following figure represents the first story or basement: — to keep the wagon-wheels in Iheir place. Over the hcn- ery at the sides of passage floor, are cribs for corn ; and at the other extreme end, are .spaces iit the side of the passage for mower, horse-rake, plows, Sic. The hayrack ia drawn up to the peak of the roof over the floor by rope.^. The bays contain over 60,000 cubic feet, [and will therefore hold over 100 tons.] The capacity of this barn is equal to eight common barns, which cost about $400 each. The cost of this was about *ll,r)00 ; so you will see that economy constitutes a prominent feature. 1 am about adding lean-tos on the sheep-yard side, as stabling for sheep or other slock ; al.so a shed in the corner of the ell and barn nearest the house, where the ground rises to the second story, as a convenient shelter for horses and cai- riage, when liarncssed and hitched on. 1 find this barn as convenient, and 1 think more so, than any I have seen elsewhere. Z. A. L'el'ani). FIk. 1. A A, Stables for cows and «tcor». | H, Slaui:1itcr-house and gtraw- l n, Horse stabteB. | rooms. C. Peep b»y. I, Henerv. D. f beeps' apartment. K, Slieep-jsrd. surrounded by E. Plgnery. I creek, and rocks 20 feet hlnh, h, Konts. covered with trees. O, Hospital., I L, Catlleyard. The basement has windows on both sides, except against the ell, the hospital, and root room, where the bank rises to the top of the basement. The windows are in two sash each, made to slide by each other. The second story is all in bays, excepting the henery is two stories. The ell in second story, is a carriage-room and workshop ; and a space eight feet wide, leading from the centre of ell across the barn, to let feed chopped above on the floor, down ; and also grain threshed on the floor above, to fall down. There are scuttle-holes to pass the hay down in front of stock. The third story has the main floor running through the whole length of the barn ; this is even with the bank at each end, by which we drive in at one end and out at the other. This is above the beams. The floor is eight feet wide, and the space for the load is wider at the top — a cross section of which is represented by the following figure. This makes the pa.ssage for loads ample, and yet " no waste room. This floor is ample for thra.shiiig either with machines. Hails, or horses; and the advaiitage _ _ of being narrow i.s, the hay can be IK, i'io'orpasandc. rolled off on either side over the girtL. There are limbers placed on each side of the floor, »•« — _ (For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] Snapping Beetle — Blight on Apple Trees. West I'latt.soiihoii, N. Y., July 23, 186l! Ens. Co. Gent.— Inclosed you will /ind an insect which I found under tho bark of ono of my apple trees. I was talk- ing with one of my neighbors last night; ho is in full faith that the enclosed insect is what has destroyed so many of our trees tho past and this season. I wish you to give us your opinion in regard to tho matter. Tho way tho tree operates (from some cause, whether in consequence of the sting of this insect, or otherwise) is: The bark willcomnionce and turn black on the Iwdy of tho tree for 6 or 8 inches in length, and cleave from the wood, and then tho sap, or some other substjinco will run down and destroy tho bark to the root. It often occurs on the limhs ; it then uses up tho limb entirely, and whether its ravages will stop with the limb, is more than I can tell. I had, one year ago, as handsome an orchard as one would wish lo see ; but this spring there is something that makes a man's heart sick of trying to raise trees in this section. It is not only with my trees, but with all that are in this section. I have laid it to the hard winters and our dry summers for the past two years, but in conversation with this neighbor, as above mentioned. I could not make him believo in that, or that it was tho result of anything but the work of this insect. >I. K. 0. The insect accompanying the above is a snapping beetle, one of the numerous species of the genus Athnus in the family Elatkrid/E. I have not leisure at present to study out its name. It is quite common to find tlie beetles of this group under the loose bark of dead trees. Their larvte arc the well known " wire worms," which feed on the roots of plants, and some of them also on the bark and wood of trees, generally trees that are dead. I do not think this snapping beetle has anything to do in causing the malady to which M. E. 0. refers. Some of my own apple trees are dead, and others are dying, from the same disease which he so well describes. I at first suspected it might be caused by the soap I was each year applying to the bark to repel the borers from the trees. But further observation satisfies me this is not the case. Several of my soaped trees remain thrifty and perfectly free as yet from this disease. Frequently the first.commencement of it is where a limb has been sawed ofl' in trimming the tree. It appears to me to be the same disease which has been so fatal in pear trees, and lo which the names " fire bli"ht," " sour sap blight," and " frozen sap blight," have been applied. But, except those which are occasioned by in- sect, I have not given that attention to the diseases of trees which entitles my opinion to much weight. ,^^ ASA FiTCn. [For tbe-Country Oentlcmao and Cultivator.] THE GRAIN APHIS AND LADY-BIRD. A species of Aphides made its appearance on the oats in this neighborhood about the 18th of July. It was of a reddish brown appearance, and after a short time thcv assumed the form of a fly with wings. They gathered iu clustei's around the stem connecting the grain wilh the stalk, and deprived the grain of the juices necessary to its development. The larva; of the lady-bird were very numerous, and I never had such an opportimity of observ- ing its habits. It is a pale blue insect wilh reddish spots along its sides, and it is quite an interesting sight to ob- serve it seize upon these aphides and devour them, and then to watch its translbrmation into the beautiful lady- bird. I have been truly delighted in ob.serving the ehangoa it passes through ; fastening Itself to a leaf, the skin of the larva! bursts open, and a reddish bug appears thai gradual- ly takes the form of a perfect lady-birtl. Hunterdon Co., N. J. j. w. l. ilw ^HtuniUst. THE SPARROW. The House Sparrow of Europe has an unpopular chnr- actcr. In some places, a price has been offered for its extirpation, and Unffon sums up in the following style: " It 13 extremely de,«truelive ; its plumage is entirely use- less ; its flesh indifferent food ; its notes grating to tho ear, and its familiarity and petnlance disgusting." No share of this odium, however, onglit to be extended to the American Spmrowji, for we know of no birds more deserving of our regard or protection. Their interests and ours never interfere ; indeed most of their labors con- duce to our benefit ; and their music, though overpowered by the stronger notes of the Thrush and of the Robin, is always pleasing when it can be heard without interruption. Of this family, the Song Sparrow is decidedly the finest. He visits us earlier in the spring than any other migratory songster, and sings to us for several weeks, aln)ost with- out a competitor. The same notes arc repeated many times in succession ; lie then changes and repents others in the same manner. "Of all our Sparrows," says WiLson, "this is the most numerous, the ihost generally diffused over the United Stales, and by far the earlie.ft, and moat lasting songster. It is the first singing bird in spring, except the black capt Titmouse, taking precedence even of the Pewee and Blue Bird, lis song continues occasionally during the whole summer and fall ; and is sometimes heard (near Philadel- phia,) in winter. The notes or chant, are short but very sweet, resembling the beginning of the canary's song, and frequently repealed, generally Irom the branches of a bush or small tree, where it sits chanting for hours together. It is fond of frequenting the boiders of rivers, meadows, swamps and such like places, and if wounded aud unable to fly, will readily take to the water, and swim with con- siderable rapidity. The Bay--win{i'ed Buntinfr- This bird resembles a Sparrow both in manners and appearance. When Hying it is readily known by two outside while feathers in iu tail. Though not gregarious, they appear in considerable numbers along the road, and v.e suspect they are fond of rolling in the dust. The notes are rather louder but less musical than the Song Sparrow; niwl in the morning and evening t!:c:i-v;vac;ly seems to be increased by the emulation of numbers. "This bird," says Wilson, "delights in frequenting grass and clover fields, perches on the tops of fences, singing from ihe middle of April to the beginning of July, with a clear and pleasant note, in which particular it far excels its European relation. They frequent the middle of fields more than hedges ; run along the ground like a lark, which they also resemble in the great breadth of their wings. They are timid birds, and rarely approach the farm house." c. n. b. Henrietta, Aug. 1861. »•■♦ ANECDOTES OF ELEPHANTS. An Intf>ii,ige.nt Ei.kpiu.st, — "Tell my grandchildren," said the late Kight Rev. Daniel Wilson, writing home from India, " that an elephant here had a disease in his eyes. For three days he had been completely blind. His own- er, an engineer officer, asked my dear Dr. Webb, if he could do anything to relieve the poor animal; The doctor said he would try nitrate of silver, which was a remedy commonly applied lo similar diseases in the human eye. The huge animal was ordered to lie down, and at first, on the application of the remedy, raised a most extraordinary roar at the acute pain which it occasioned. The effect, however, was wonderful. The eye was, in a manner, restored, and the animal could partially see. The next day, when he was brought, and heard the doctor's voice, he laid down of himself, placed his enormous head on one side, curled up his trunk, drew in his breath just like a man about to endure an operation, gave a sigh of relief when it was over, and then, by trunk and gestures, evi- dently wished lo express his gratitude." What sagacity ! What tt lesson to us of prtlienee. Mkmory ok the Elephant. — A female elephant be- longing to a gentleman in Calcutta, who was ordered from the upper country to ChitUigong, in the route thither, broke loose from her keeper, and making her way to the woods, was lost. The keeper made every excuse lo vindi- cate himself, which the master of the animal would not listen to, but branded the man with carelessness, or some- thing worse ; for it was instantly supposed that he hud sold the clcpliaut. He was tried for it, aud condemned to work on the roads for life, and his wife and children were sold as slaves. About twelve years afterwards, this man, who was well known to be acquainted with breaking elephants, was sent into the country with a party to assist in catching wild ones. They eumc upon a herd, and tlii;i man fancied he saw among the group his lung lust ele- phant, for which he had been eomlenined. He resolved to approach it ; nor could the strongest remmistranco of the party dissuade him from the attempt. Havuig reached //^ CC-MSTOCX MEMOf 1862. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. 81 as 11 safe rule, both in Great Britain nnJ liere, tliat no Society can expect to pay its way, witlioiU aid from the loeitlilij in tcliich the Shows arc held — at least, if its Premium List, and tlie accommodations it affords to ex- hibitors, are at all commensurate witli tlie demands of tlie present day. ^_ As EiPKRiMKNT IN Hav-Makino.— A good deal of discussion has occurred at different times as to tlie coat of manufacturing liajtjuitli modern machinery. A few days since, we peiformed an experiment, using a mowing ma- chine, old-fashioned revolving horse-rake, and Cladding's horse-fork. We report the trial made, because it was per- formed without any view whatever, to sucli a report, most of the hands being rather inexperienced, and without the superintendence of the proprietor. In most cases, far- niera would drive work much more expeditiously, even for ordinary every-day business. Instead of unloading a ton of hay in five or ten minutes, twenty was more com- monly consumed in this experiment. The hay was drawn over half a mile, which also required more time than would be necessary in other instances. OultinR 6 ncres of clover, imld 60c. per acre $2.50 8 men 2 hours eacli. rnklnu and bunching 0.60 8 men and 1 team, X of a day, drawing 4.00 Cost of making and drawing 8 tons, »7.00 or 87^ cents per ton. The men were working by the month, at a little less than a dollar a day, and the team alone was estimated at over two dollars a day, which is more than farmers would usually allow. We think it would be safe to estimate the cost of manufacturing and storing hay, with all the contingencies of weather and ac- cidents, at a dollar a ton as the highest; and in many in- stances, with the best management, it would cost but little over hall this sum, by using mowing macliiaes, horsc- rakes and horsc-iorks. j. Rni.ES FOR Good Farming. — In looking over a back number of the Prairie Farmer, we find a set of " rules for making farming profitable," contributed by a correspon- dent, 0. A. Kcinble, of Schuyler Co., N. Y., and evidently Mitended to be passed as original. They are copied word for word from p. 330 of the Illustrated Annual Register, for 18fi0. No blame, of course, is attached to the Editor of the Prairie Farmer for publishing these excellent rules without credit, which he had every reason to believe now. 53^ Mr. noRACE L. Emkry, of the Albany Agricul- tural Works, sailed for England on Saturday last, with the view of establishing more direct commercial relations with customers in Great Britain and her Colonies, and to intro- duce his Machines, if possible, to more extensive use in Europe. This journey has been for some time in contem- plation, and we trust its results may more than equal the anticipations that have been entertained. There is no better field for the proper employment of American energy and inventive genius. TiiK Grain Aphis Again in Duchkss Cohntt. — I no- tice you speak of the Aphis not appearing where he did last year, and sincerely wish we could bear you or rather Dr. KiTCH out in the statement ; but, uulortunatcly, the oat croj), which was seriously injured last year, will be dam- aged much 7nore this. I do not know of a single field of that grain in this neighborhood that is not peopled with them. s. T. Thornedaie, July 24. The Grain Arms. — This insect, which did so much damage last year to spring wheat and oat.*;, in some parts of the country, has again made its appearance in this vicinity. Some spring wheat belong to James Farrington of Dedham, has been attacked in con.siderable force, and will be more or less injured. We have heard of several other cases. The amount of injury done by the in.sect depends chiefly on the stage of the crop at the time of attack. If it is quite green, the sap will be consumed by the parasites to such a degree that the grain will not fill. On the other hand, if the crop is considerably advanced when attacked, the straw will soon begin to turn, and the parasites will perish for the want of their natural support. All species of aphis have been unusually abundant the present season. The leaves of cherry trees, wherever new shoot were put out, were soon covered by myriads of lice which bred there — the full-grown ones shining like little black beads. The new shoots of the currant were attack- . ed in a similar way by a species peculiar to that shrub. But the lice were soon found by numerous enemies, which pursued them with a rapacity so unrelenting that in a short time they were nearly exterminated. The various species of ladybirds, Coccinella, the larva of several species of Syrphi, and the larva of the lace-wiuged Hy, Chryfopa, cleared the currant bushes from every louse in less than a week, — Boston Cultivator. |3g- The First Number of a Nkw Voi.umk of the Country Genti.kjian is here presented to its readers. Wo need scarcely say how highly we shall appreciate any ellbrts that may be put forth by its friends to increase its present circulation. Subscriptions will be received on the customary terms, either for Six Months or One Year, as may be preferred : Six Months. Osb Tear. One Copt •l.M ^-O" TlMiKc Coi'lBS, 2.60 6.00 fAkCopikIs...:. 4.00 ,?00 Tks CoplBS, '-SO lo.OO Those who subscribe for a year, and who prefer to have their subscriptions date back to January 1, 1862, can still be supplied with back numbers for the past six months. Albany, July 3, IMl ^^ ^ Crops, &c. in Western New-York. Nkar Gkkeva, 22d July, 1»>2. Mkssrs. Editors — I suppose you are aware that many men, when in trouble, like to let their friends know it, expecting their sympathy. Our troulile here is — our wheat has been ready for harvest for .some time, but it rains daily and nothing can be done. We have a fine crop in Wes- tern New-York of everything as far as I know, but should it continue such weather for another week, as it has been for the last, and is now, the damage to the wheat crop will be very serious. I am told the grain aphis is very bad in the spring wheat, and much sooner than it appeared last year, which will make it more destructive. There is some in my bailey, the first I have seen of that insect, but the bailey being now ripe, they can do little harm. We have a very fine prospect for a corn crop in this neighborhood — I think never better. I never saw it make such a rapid growth. Mine was quite .small at 18th June, I don't think any of it was a foot high, and on the 14th of this month I measured considerable that was over six feet in height. It is almost incredible, but so it is; and although it is three and a half feet plump between the rows, the ground at the above date was completely cover- ed ; but I am told the corn that was frost-bitten at the 15th June, looks poor, but I have only seen three crops of corn in the last month — the one north of me is still larger than mine — the one south would be culled a great crop in common seasons. A week ago today we had a tremendous blow. It was a tornado in some places, only two miles from here, breaking and uprooting large oaks, and those that would neither uproot uur brtak were' twisted in two. The rain fell in torrents. My barley was hid as if rolled, and my corn laid as Hat as could bo. The corn has straightened np fully, and the barley crept up a little. Strange to say, the higliway only divided the wheat and corn fields, yet my wheat stood as well after the blow as before, and that is well enough. I notice by the papers the gale extended some 60 miles west of us, or rather commenced there ; in many places there was hail ; here a very little. It rains while I write, 6 p. M. John Johnston. Crops in Illinois. — The following extract is from the Illinois Farmer for July : The winter wheat crop in Egypt is very fine, better than for years past, and in Central Illi- nois it is much better than anticipated at the time of our last issue ; the heads arc long and well filled, but we must put in our protest against foul seed, Che.i^ and rye arc altogether too abundant, in fact in some fields it is diffi- cult to say which predomiiiates. The cheiis controversy will continue so long as the farmers have no barns or good fanning inill.i, but as the.se come in che.is will go out. In good barns the seed wheat will be threshed with flails or horses and not be injured by pa.ssing through the sharp edges of the fast revolving thresher which is the chief cause of so many poor stjinds, allowing the chess which no beating can injure, to fill in the vacant space. By cul- ling the rye out of that portion of the crop used for seed this nuisance can be abated. The corn crop is backward, but, on the whole, promis- ing. Our corn crop is the best that we have seen in our late excursion through several states south. In Tennes- see we saw a few fields, more favored, but the average even there was below, and we again call attention to the value of early planting, and that to follow the plow at once and roll. The rye crop is fine, and oats give thus far good promise. In Tennessee and Mississippi the wheat and oat crops arc almost entirely ruined with the rust. Not a tenth part of the seed sown will be harvested. Of the crops in the north part of the State we know noth- ing personally, but we trust the heavy rain and cold spells have cheeked the ravages of the chinch bug. In the other parts of the State the promise of farm crops and fruit is all that could be asked. 23^ The Posey County (Ind.) Agricultural Society will hold its l'"ourth Annual Fair at New Ilarmony on the 7th, 8th, 9th (lays of October next. A letter from L. Pkliiam, Esq. of that place, mentions the above, and adds that the wheat crop in that section is fine, the oats rusty, and the com promising a good crop. IIw (gtttomoloflisit. — — *•« (For the Country Genneman and Oulllvator.) No. 32— THE ASPARAGUS BEETLE. The asparagus is justly characterised as " one of the oldest and mo.st delicate of culinary vegetables, no less praised In ancient Rome, by Pliny, Cato and other writers, than at the present day." (Wood's liotavy.) This plant grows wild in the maritime districts of the middle and southern parts of Europe, and there, in its native locality, are several kinds of insects which feed upon it, and which are pests to the gardeners of those countries. Much the most common and hence the most destructive of these insects is known by the name of the Asparagus Beetle. Of the group or genus Asparagus, some two dozen species are known to botanists. About half of these are found in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope ; the rest occur in southern Europe and the East Indies, Being thus numerous and widely diffused upon the Eastern continent, it is rather remarkable that no plant of the asparagus kind is found in any part of America. And consequently, we have no insects here which feed on plants of this nature. Therefore, when the garden asparagus was brought hero from Europe, it was able to grow with us without injury or molestation from insect enemies. It is now in univeral cultivation, everywhere through tho United States, north and south. Yet neither of the in- sects which depredate upon it in Europe has ever been met with in this country, nor do any of our American in- sects attack it. Thus it has been our happy lot to grow this one valuable plant, wholly free from the annoyance of seeing it marred and mutilated by those insect depre- dators which give ns so much vexation and trouble with about every other kind of vegetation which we attempt to cultivate. But an insect devouring the asparagus has at length made its appearance on our shores. Daniel K. Yodngs, of the Queens County Agricultural Society, in a letter to the Country Gentlkman, dated Matioecock, June 16th, . (" .1.- send some insects which have been eating the aspar- middle of May. and continue at this time in such num- „y In Tor-v l-i'.-l"!"- noi-.ry hr.T th. crop. S:o:i aft'jr the bugs made their appearance, they commenced depositing eggs upon the young shoots. These eggs In a short time hatch out a dark colored worm, which, as well as the parent bug, lives entirely upon the young shoots, mutilating and In most cases destroying them. As this Is the Qrst insect that has Injured our asparagus, we are anxloua to know what It Is. •• * I hope you will give the Insect your at- tention, as IT TliaEATBSS TO OKSTaOT THIS VALDABLR LoKQ ISLAHD CROP." This remittance, forwarded from Albany, reached me June 24th. In the box, with slips of a.sparagu3 which had become moldy and semi-putrid, I found a dead beetle, three living larva;, and several black grains which the mi- croscope showed to be minute larvoe which had hatched from eggs which had been inclosed in the box and had perished. Tho three large larvtc, placed on a fresh slip of asparagus inserted in a vial of water upon my table, fed thereon with evident relish, until on the morning of June 30th they had disappeared — indicating that they do not fasten themselves to the plant to become pupae, but leave it and enter the earth — which in this instance, being with- in doors, they would perish before they would find. The beetle in the box, on a moment's inspection, was found to be the noted Asparagus beetle of Europe. It is a species so peculiarly and plainly marked that any one accustomed to examining insects will not be liable to mis- take it. But that the reader may be more fully assured that my judgment upon this important point is correct, I may state that I have in my hands specimens of the Eu- ropean A.sparagus beetle, received from Mr. Westwood, London, and also from Andrew Murray, W. S., Edin- burgh, which specimens enable me to bo positive that the Long Island in.sect is the same. 1 will now present a brief history of this insect, with such a description of the beetle and its larva as will suf- fice to enable any one to clearly identify them when found upon the plant they inhabit. The Asparagus beetle is scientifically named Crioceris Asparagi, its specific name having been given it by Lin- najus a little over a hundred yeara ago. The generic name, Crioceris, was suggested hy the horns or antennte of some of the insects of this group, which have some resemblance to a braid of hair or a twisted cord. They pertain to the order Colkopteka and the family Criouk- 82 THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. July 31, Rinjs. Of tliia genus, Crioceris, wo Imve several species inliabitini; the United States. One wliicli the reader will be most apt to know, is the Three-lined leaf-beetle, (C. irilinfata,) a common insect upon potato vines, and much resembling the yellow striped bug upon cucumbers, but differing in not having the head black. The Asparagus beetle closely resembles this of the po- tato in its form and sht, but not at all in its colors. In the annexed cut at a, it is represented its natural size, its length being a quarter of an inch or a little less. It is a beautiful ii.sect, of a shiuing blue-black color, with the thorax bright tawny red, and on each wing cover are three lemon-yellow spots placed in a row running lengthwise. The wing covera arc further ornHmcnted witli an orange- yellow border upon their outer sides, and the middle and bind spots have their outer ends united with this border. The under side, the legs and antenna!, are black. The in- sect varies in having the spots on its wing covers some- times larger, whereby the anterior and middle spots become united togther. On the thorax, too, there are usually two small black spots, which are sometimes larger and more or less completely united into a single large spot. ASPARAOnS Brrtlr. a. The beetle, natural liic. b. Its cbcs. c. II« cbh raoimmeil. d. The young larva, e. The larva full Krown. f. Full grown larva magnified. Mr. Westwood, in his Modern Classification of Insects, from which work the fignres of the above cut are copied, informs us (vol. i, p. 374) that these insects grow up and complete their transformations in a few weeks. The eggs (i and c) are oblong oval, and are placed on the plant by one of their ends, one egg being sometimes attached at the end of another. The worms or iarva> which hatch from these eggs (see cut, d, e, and /,) are of a dull ash gray or olive color, often with a blackish .stripe along the middle of tlie back. They are soft luid of a llesh-like consistency, about three times as long as thick, thickest back of the middle, with the body much wrinkled transversely. The head is black and shining, and the neck, which is thicker than the head, has two shining black. spots above. Three pairs of legs are placed anteriorly irpon the breast, and are of the same shining black color witli the head. As will be seen when It is crawling, the worm clings also with the tip end of its body, and all along the under .side may then be seen two rows of small tubercles slightly projecting from the sur- face, which also serve as prolegs ; and above these, on each aide is a row of elevated sliining dot.s like warts, above which the breathing pores appear like a row of minute black dots. It moves very slowly, and when menaced with danger, a black fluid comes from its month. When it is done feeding, I suppo.se that, like other species of Crioceris, it crawls into the earth, where it lies dor- mant during its pupa state, which in summer probably lasts ten or twelve days, when it changes into a beetle, and comes out to feed again upon the asparagus and de- posit its eggs. Those larvip which descend into the earth at the close of the season, probably remain there in their pupa state througli the winter, and give out the first beetles which make their appearance the following year. We come next to consider how we are to combat this enemy that has now invaded us, and protect our aspara- gus from ruin. In Europe they have had long and ample experience on this subject. Every remedy that can be thought ot, every protective expedient which human ingenuity can devise, has probably at one time or another been there resorted to, and its efficacy fully tested. And as the result of the efforts and observations of the gardeners of the different countries of Europe from time immemorial, we are told there is one remedial measure which is effectual, and one only. It is given to us in a single line of Kollar's Trea- tise, as in other publications, that " the only means of de- stroying these insects is picking off and killing the beetles and their larva: by hand." Those who see these insects over-running their aspara- gus as they do, perhaps in thousands, will be inclined to regard it as a hopeless undertaking, an endless task, to pick off and destroy every individual of the vast multitude. Header, let me assure you, — as I can from my own ex- perience in this remedy of hand-picking— you will 6nd the labor fur lighter and less irksome than you suppose. When this work is resolutely entered upon, you will find that you soon acquire a love of it. It ceases to be a labor, it becomes a pastime ; so much so that when the last one of these vermin is destroyed, it will be with a feeling akin to regret, that, on looking over the plants, you find there is DO more of this work lor you to do. And must we now have this insect to combat, this task to repeat, year alter year, we and our children after us, through all coming time? The inquiry is certainly a roost important one. The aspai'agus was brought to this country no doubt, about the time that the first European settlers emigrated hither. For upwards of two centuries, therefore, it has been growing upon this continent wholly unmolested by insects. How has this, its worst enemy, happened to Ibllow it here now, at this lale day ? Proba- bly some enterprising nnr.seryman or gardener in receiv- ing from his European correspondent a choice variety of this plant, in the pot of earth in which the roots were transmitted, has unfortunately had some of the pupic of these in.sects lurking, from which both male and lemalc beetles have hatched. Certain it is, that some such con- tingency has occurred to bring this insect here as had not occurred for two hundred years before, and might notoc cur again for a hundred years to come. Having now ob taincd a foothold, it will undoubtedly multiply and extend itself everywhere over our country. Indeed there is the strongest probability that, like so many other insects when newly iinported, this also will become vastly more nume rous and destrnctivc in this country than it has ever been known to be in its native haunts ; and that the asparagus, hitherto so cleanly and inviting, we shall henceforth know only as being worm-eaten, filthy, and repulsive. Hut is it not possible to exterminate this insect, and not allow it to extend itself and become permanently estab lished in our land ? I think it is. I suppose this insect is at present limited to a comparatively small district iu the vicinity of the city of New-York. As it grows to ma- turity in a few weeks, and can subsist upon no other vege- tation but the asparagus, it is evident that by keeping this plant cut down to the surface of the earth for a couple of months in summer, alt the insects must perish for want of food. If no asparagus was growing except in the gar- dens, it would be an easy matter to keep it thus cut down. But this plant is .so fully naturalized that in many places iu the neighborhood of New-York I suppose it occurs wild in the field and upon the rocky shores of the sea. Every occupant of the land, however, or the children in his family, will probably know every place in his grounds where this plant, so peculiar in its structure, is growing Now if these wild plants be cut in the manner stated, say in the first week in June next year, and if with the new shoots which will start up, this operation be repeated every fort- night during two or three months, none of these insects will remain there. And by simultaneou.'ily treating the asparagus in the gardens either in the .same manner, or destroying the beetles, their eggs and larva, by repeated hand-pickings upon all the plants which arc allowed to grow, I am confident this insect can be utterly extermina- ted. I earnestly commeml this subject to the considera- tion of the Horticultural and Agricultural Societies of New- York and its vicinity. Lot those Societies co-operate with each other, ascertain how far this insect has now extend- ed iuseir, appoint a committee in every town where it, is present, and select an efficient man in each school dis- trict to see that the occupant of every plot of ground on which asparagus grows, is next summer on the alert to to combat and subdue this insect, and they can assuredly rid our country of this impending calamity. East Greenvfich, July 18, 1863. ASA FITOH. Mt latualijit. A Marvelous Machine, The most curious instrument in the great exhibition is that cxhiliited by Mr. Peters for microscopic writing, that is infinitely more wonderful than Mr. Whitworth's ma- chine for measuring the millionth part of an inch, which excited such astonishment in 1851. With this machine of Mr. Peters, it is stated that the words " Matliew Mar- shall, Bank of England," can be writen in two and a half millionth of an inch in length ; and it is actually said that calculations made on this data show that the whole Bible can be written tmenty'.wo tinux in the space of a square inch. We must leave a detailed description of this moat extraordinary instrument to another occasion, and content ourselves with simply saying that the words to be written microscopically arc written iu pencil, in ordinary charac- ters, on a sheet of paper at the bottom of the instrument. Hut the pencil with which this is done communicates, by a series of levers and gimbals, with another minute pencil and tablet at the Sop, by means of which the ordi- nary writing of the pencil, and the pencil for the micro- scopic writing, both move in unison, though the motion of the latter is so graduated that a stroke of a quarter of an inch at the bottom is only a stroke of a quarter of a mill- ionth of an inch at the top, the shape and character of both marks being nevertheless precisely alike in outline. As a matter of course, the microscopic writing at the top is only visible under powerful magnifiers, and the object of the machine is chielly to mark bank notes with certain minute signatures for the prevention of forgery. Such a precaution, no doubt, would prove an effectual stopper on counterfeit notes, if only all tradesmen supplied them- selves with microscopes to examine them, just as a little ordinary care would now detect any forgery. — English Pa- per. (For the Country Gentleman and Cnltlvator.J rROGS—INS EOTIV OROUS, Etc. It is not generally known, we believe, that the frog is insectivorous, an eater of insects iu a considerable extent ; that OS most of the species stay near water, they lake comparatively few of the insects most prejudicial to vegeta- tion. But we can say that some kMtis of frogs by no means confine their propensities to insects; they will de- stroy young ducks, which go on to the water, or young chickens which happen to come near it. This we had exemplified while residing at Springside. We had a brood of ducks hatched by a hen, which instinctively found their way to a small pool of water, very much to the consterna- tion of the mother hen. After leaving the water, three of the number that entered were missing. On the fol- lowing morning they were watched by the person who had charge of the poultry on the place. Not long after the ducklings had entered on the water, he discovered a frog in the act of swallowing one of them which seemed rather too large for the capacious mouth of the frog, and stuck fast, the head downward and about one-half of the body projecting. A blow with a long pole soon settled tli'o business with his frogship; on drawing him within reach, life was found extinct in both frog and duckling; but whether the duckling was suffocated or killed by the blow, could not be ascertained. On drawing off the water from the pool, three more very large frogs were found. Proba- bly the f^rogs would not eat insects enough to make it an object to harbor them ; and to feed them with young ducks and chickens, it would not pay — it would be alto- gether too expensive — even if we should adopt the custom of the epicures and turn the carcass of the frog to the best account. C. N. Bkmknt. I'oughkeepsie, Jut;/, 1862. ♦-♦-• A WALK WITH THOREAU. It was a pleasure and a privilege to walk with him. Ho knew the country like a fox or a bird, and passed through it as freely as by paths of his own. He knew every track in the snow or on tlio ground, and what creature had taken this path before him. One must submit abjectly to such a guide, and the reward was great Under his arm be carried an old music book to press plants ; in his pocket his diary and pencil, a spy-glass for birds, microscope^ jack-knife and twine. He wore a straw hat, stout shoes, strong gray trowsers to brave shrub-oaKs and smilax, and to climb a tree for a hawk's or a squirrel's nest He waded into the pool for the water-pl.ints, and his strong legs were no insignificant part of his armor. On the day I speak of he looked for the Menyanthes, detected it across the wide pool, and, on examination of the flowrets, decided that it had been in flower five days. He drew out of his brea.st pocket his diary, and read the names of all the plants that should bloom on this day, whereof he kept account as a banker when his notes fall due. The Cypripedium not due till tomorrow. He thought that it waked up Irom a trance in this swamp, he could tell by the plants what time of the year it was within two days. The redstart was flying about, and present- ly the fine grosbeaks, whose brilliant scarlet makes the rash gazer wipe his eye, and whose fine clear note Tho- reau compared to that of a tanager which had got rid of its hoarseness. Presently he heard a note which he called that of the night-warbler, a bird he had never identified, had been in scorch of twelve years, which always, when he saw it, was iu the act of diving down into a tree or bush, and which it was vain to seek ; the only bird that sings indifferently by night and by day. I told him he must beware of finding and booking it, lest life should have nothing more to show him. He said — " What you seek in vain for half your life, one day you come full upon all the family at dinner. You seek "it like a dream, and as soon as you find it you become its prey." — R. W. Emer- son in Atlantic Monthly for August. A CnmosiTT. — A singular instance of the foresight of a field-mouse has just been brought under our cog- nisance. A person clearing the garden-ground of Mr. Thompson, Ualkeith, came upon a growing turnip which he pulled up by the root. Guess his astonish- ment when he found that the turnip was completely hollowed out as neatly as if it had been done by tho chisel of a joiner, and the intcTior filled by largo garden beans. The work, from the size of the holo whence the inside of the turnip had been extracted, was manifestly that of a mouse, and tho object, no doubt, of filling the interior with beans was to provide ■ against hunger in tho barren winter weather. Near the place where the turnip was growing there was sev- eral stalks of beans, upon whicli some pods had been left, and it is supposed that tho 'cute mouse had helped itself to these. Wo counted the beans in the turnip— a small one — and found that they amounted to no less than six dozen and two. — Scottish Farmer. ^ //^y 1864. THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. 63 Site (giitomalogisit. ►•-. CFor tlie Country Oentlemnn and CuitlTAtor.] No. 35— THE NEBRASKA BEE-KILLER. R. O. TrioMPSON, Esq., in a note dated Nursery Hill, Otoe Go., Nebraska, June 28tli, says ; — I send jou to- day four insects or animals that are very destructive to the Honey Bee, killing a great number of them, and also of the Kose Bugs. What are they 1 Is it the male or the female that has the three-pronged sting ? Please answer in the Co. Oent., as many wish to know what this Bee-killer is?" The specimens, two of each sex, laid between pled- gets of cotton wool, in a small pasteboard box, and forwarded by mail, came to hand in good condition, admitting of a very satisfactory examination. They are a large two-winged fly, having a long and ratlier slender and tapering body, about an inch in length, with email three-jointed antenna;, the last joint being shorts er than the first, and giving out from its end and not from its side, a slender bristle. The ends of its feet are furnished on the under side with two cushion like soles, and the crown of its head is hollowed out or concave, and in tliLs hollow is seen three little glassy dots or eyelets. These characters show it to pertain to the Order Diptera, and to the group which Linnaeus a century ago separated as a genus, under the name Atdlus, but which is now divided into seve- ral genera, forming the Family Asilid^b. On insjiect- ing its wings, we see the two veins, whic3i end one on each side of the tip of the wing, are perfect and un- broken, and towards the middle of the outer one they are connected together by a small veiulet or short transverse vein. This indicates these flies to pertain to the genus named I'rupanea by Macquart. About a half dozen species, inhabiting the United States, and pertaining to this genus, have been des- cribed by Wiedemann, Say and others. This Nebras- ka fly appears to be different from either of those, and I am therefore led to regard it as a new insect, hitherto unkno%vn to the world. And a more api)ropriate name cannot be given it than that by whichit is called by Mr. Thompson anil his neighbors, the Bee-killer or Tfujin- nca Apivora. The. general definition of this species, or its brief essential characters, will be, that it is dull black with the head yellow, the fore body butternut brown, the hind body on its under side and the legs pale dull yellow, the thighs being black on their fore- sides, and it is coated over with hairs which are gray in the female and grayish yellow in the male, the end of the body in the latter sex having a conspicuous sil- very white spot. In this AsJIus group of flies the si)ecies are separated from each other bj marks which arc often very slight and obscure. It is therefore important that a detailed description of these Nebraska flies should here be* given, that they may not be confounded with any oth- er species which may be closely similar to them. They nieflBurc, to the end of the wings, 0.8,'> to 1 inch and to the end oj thebodyjO.ilS to 1 J5, the males heiiij.' nithcr Biniiller *' '""''' '"" *"' '" ^' ' " * liapud like a •X in front. t space male, niid Era;i' in the female. On the sides and hencath the ground culiir m dull yellow- in the nnile and gray in the fcinale. and clothed wilh i;riiy hiilrs In both se.xe9. The two last i^c^'- n)unti\ the ei<;htli and ninth, are confpicnoiialy protruded, making two or three iin)re pcgmenla than are usually vjgUije externally in iimecta. In the female these Besments taper to an acute point, and arc black and shining. In the male ihev appear like a cylindrical tube, with a prnlcclins valve nndef- iieatli at tile base, and are coaled over with dull -yellow hairs, and on the upper Hide wilh silvery white ones, pressed to the surface, and !brtnin.ij a conspicuous oblong spot of this color, which is tno-lubedo notched nt its end. .\iid In tlie dead specimens befure ine three I>rl8llc-likc processes, over a tenth of an inch iu length, of a tawny yellow color, polished ami shining, pi-oject ft-um the blunt end of the body. These are termed a three-pronged sting in tlie above letter. But the inag- nil>ing glass shows ihev are abrui>ilv cut otl' at iheir ends, and do not taper tu a sliai|i |)c)iiit ciipiilile nt nii-rring the human skin. The i-eos mr 1''"",^\'"'' -'"* '""■'■ "'"Chare interspefsed with Mack bristles. The M.oi,.iKN, or hind bodv. is long, elender and tapering from ii» i„u,e i„ the male, and is more broad and somewliat llattened in the female. It is black above «ad covered with prostrata hairs, which arc dull yellow In tUo iM-4, liir Iw.i ihiiil- iif its I., iiiln-ow, wilh ilsoppo- lirb loi-nis the boundary ■oi inis cell on II-* outer suie, is a pen:(-|>tible sniokine^is. whicll is not seen along the sides of the otliei- veins. Tliis vi-iii is siijrlitiy bent in the form ofa bow, iwu-iliinls iho l.-ngili of the cell, when it abruptly curves in tlie oiiposite tiiri-t-iioii. and is then straight the remainder of its ien^'lb. A vciniet connects it to the next longitHdinal vein, thus forming between the anterior portions of these two veins a third submarglnal cell, which is very long and narrow. Tlic arrangement of the veins in the wings, form- ing three subraarginal cells as above described, induces me to refer this species without hesitation to Mac- quart's genus Trupanea, although the silvery white spot on the tip of the male abdomen would indicate it to pertain to the geuas Erax, as restricted by the same author. The brief note of our correspondent gives us no particular information upon the habits of these flies or the manner in which they attack and kill the bees. But the members of this Asilus group are all so simi- lar in their habits that we are aware what the opera- tions of this species will be. And some account of the habits of these insects may be of sufficient interest to the reader to be here related. These Asilus flics, like some others of our most rapacious insects, particularly delight in the hot sun- shine. One or two evidences of this may be here ad- duced. Flies of this kind are rare in my vicinity. I su]>- pose I might hunt for dave without being able to find a living sriecimen. And I do not recollect to have ever seen one of them, hitherto, about my house or yard. Three days ago, however, when occupied in preparing this account, I casually spread some damp newspapers before my door to dry in the hot sun. On stepping out to gather up these papers, I was most agreeably surprised to see alighted upon one of them and basking in the sun, what proves to bo a species of Trupanea which I had never mot with before, and which is closely like though probably distinct from this Nebraska Bee-killer. The genial warmth reflect- ed from the white surface of the paper lying in the clear sun, had evidently attracted it to this unusual situation. So late as the month of October, ten years ago, npon a clear warm day, in a sunny nook upon the south side of a forest I came upon quite a number of tlio Erax rufibarlns, flying about and alighting upon the leaves — a si)ecies I have never met with except in that instance. They were warmed into such quick- ness of motion, and were so extremely vigilant and sliy of my ajiproach, that with my utmost skill I was able to capture but two individuals which were im- peded in their movements from being paired together. I infer these Nebraska flies to bo common and far less wary than the species alluded to — else our correspond- ent would have been unable to secure two individuals of each eex to transmit to us. And I 8u.spect these specimens were obtained when they were copulated. If so, it is probable that the three sting like bristles which I have described above, are not protruded and visible externally, except at such times. In flying, these insects make a very loud humming sound, which can scarcely bo distinguished from that of the bumble-bee ; and when involved within the folds of a net, tliey utter the same piping note of dis- tress as docs that insect. This very probably contrib- uted to impress our correspondent with the thought that the three bristles which arc extruded by the mole are a formidable three-pronged sting. Another fact which I do not see alluded to by any author, is the fetid carrion-liko odor which somo of these Asilus flies exhale. I noticed this odor in the Erax rufibarbis which was captured as above related. And iu these Nebraska specimens, though they have now been dead a fortnight and freely exposed to the air the latter half of that tiinc, this disgusting scent still remains, and so powerful is it that on two occa- sions nausea has been produced when they have hap- pened to be left upon the table beside mo. As the newly captured fly above mentioned i? wholly desti- tute of this fetor, it may be that it is only at the period of sexual intercourse that it occurs. These flies are inhuman murderers. They are the savages of the insect world, putting their captives to death with merciless cruelty. Their large eyes divid- ed into such a multitude of facets, probably give them most acute and accurate vision for espying and seizing their prey ; and their long stout legs, their bearded and bristly head, their whole ospect indicates them to be of a predatory and ferocious character. Like the hawk, they swoop upon their jirey, and grasping it securely between their fore feet they vio- lently bear it away. They have no teeth and jaws wherewith to bite, gnaw, and masticate their food, but are furnished instead wilh an apparatus which answers them equally well for nourishing themselves. It is well known what maddening pain the horse flies occasion to horses and cattle in wounding them and sucking their blood. These Asilus flics ]xissess simi- lar organs, but larger and more simple in their struc- ture, more firm, stout and powerlnl. In the horse flies the trunk or proboscis is soft, flexible and sensi- tive. Here it is hard and destitute of feeling — a largo, tapering, hornlike tube, inclosing a sharp lance or spcar-poiutcd tongue to dart out from its end and cut a wound for it to enter, this end, moreover, being frin- ged and bearded around with stiff bristles to bend backward and tl-.us hold it securely in the wound into ■which it is crowded. The proboscis of the horse flies is tormenting, but this of the Asilus flies is torturing. That presses its soft cusion-like lips to the wound to suck the blood from it ; this crowds its hard prickly knob into the wound, to pump the juices therefrom. It is said these Asilus flies sometimes attack cattle and horses, but other writers disbelieve this. Should any of our Nebraska friends see one Of these Bee-killers alighting upon and actually wounding horses or cattle, we hope they will inform us of the fact, tliat this mooted point may be definitely settled. Certain it is that these flies nourish themselves principally upon other insects, attacking all that they are sufl3ciently large and strong to overpower. Even the hard crus- taceous shell with which the beetles are covered, fails to protect them from the butchery of these barbari- ans. And formidably as the bee is equipped for pun- ishing any intruder which ventures to molest it, it here finds itself overmatched and its sting powerless against the horny proboscis of its murderer. These flies appear to be particularly prone to attack the bees. Robineau Desvoidy states that he had repeatedly seen the Asilus dimlcma, a Euro|)ean species somewhat smaller than this of Nebraska, flying with a bee in its hold. But it probably does not relish these more thon it does other insects. We presume it to be because it finds them in such abundance as enables it to make a meal upon them most readily and with the least exer- tion, that these Nebraska flies fall U|K)n the bees and the rose bugs. And so large as they arc, a single one will require perhaps a hundred bees per day for its nourishment. If these flies are common, therefore, they will inevitably occasion great losses to the bee- keepers in that part of our country. No feasible mode of destroying this fly, or protect- ing the bees from it, at present occurs to me. Indeed such an accurate knowledge of the particular habits of this species as we do not at present possess, is necessa- ry to show iu what manner it can be most successfully combatted. ASA FiTCH. Eaat Grconwloli, New-York, Jqly 18, 1861. 64 THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. July 28, NoTV^ A-dvertiaomentB. BuMKKT, C. N., Shctlnnd Ponies, *c., for Snle. Bbown & Co., J. B Portiibic Cider nnd Wine Mills. Bakkh, OcomiB, KvcrunoHH for Snif BnvANT, ABNBn II (iroJil lidirulo Strawberry. Kllswoktii lb Co., Lewis,. .. (Jiinii'iuT U'niilcd. Lkvin, Jamks V siM'cp \Vii?li Tolmcco for Sale. PA11I10N9 & Co., Di'hiwiirc (iramtviuef for Snlc. Kedmonv, Wii.UAM, Liiccster Bucks for Snli\ Bbeldom, G. JL. Machine for Uigginn Kock». Will it Pay to Irrigate ?— Tliroiit;li my fnrm nin two brooks (o\lloitlous, and 1 have not only got aground, bnt have got the " biggest half" of my flock into the ground also— in short, Satan seems to have set his seal upon my doomed flock, and they arc daily going, and will foou be goue. Kow, I wish to repeat the inquiry, " What ails the Sheep >" It Is impossible for me to deesribe the symptoms of their disease (if it is a disease) for they are apparently well one (lay and are dead Ihe next, throwing oft' life with hardly a struggle, and without any warning or symp- toms of disease they "go out " like a flickering candle. Please enlighten me, if possible. I have about seventy lambs in the same pasture with the sheep, which seem perfectly healthy and vigorous, and do not at all incline to the foul example of their dams. Some of the sheep swell excessively after death. If they are poisuucd, why are not the lambs alTectcd also ? Why Is it f How is it ? Pray tell us 1 J. C, Xorth Andover, Mass. [We submit these inquiries without remark, as we cauuot an- swer them satislactorily.j Fences. — In reply to John Scott's inquiry of his brother farmers, I would rcconmicnd, if he wishes to prevent the passage of swiue. a flood gate ; that is, something similar to an ordinary panel or picket fence of suitable length, and sus- pended by two short chains from a pole reatitg at each end on strong forks set in tlio ground on each side of tlic stream ; the pole should be above high water mark. But if he only wishes to fence against ordinary cattle, three or four poles of chestnut or some other light and durable wood, attached by short chains to a substantial post on one side of the stream, and the other ends rested on pins driven into another post on the other side, make a convenient and reliable fence ; the poles should be at- tached at the large end to the post, and then in time of freshet they give way to the water and awing around on to the bank, and can easily be replaced aflcr the water subsides. ConcordiiiUe, Pa., 1 mo., \6th, IStil. B. W. P. Blackberry Root Cordial.— Will you please ask some of your correspondents to give througli your colunms, a good recipe for making a cordial or syrup with the Blackberry root— giving also the best time for digging the root? There is a great c;Ul from Ihe hospituls though the country for the various preparations of the Blackberry, and as tlie crop of berries is almost a failure this season, in the West at least, no doubt pre- parations from the root would be extensively made if the pro- pass wore only known. J. R. Paddock. Cincinnati. A-dmo-wl ertgmenta. CoMMtTKioATioNB hftvs been received during the week ending July 25, from Illrnm Walker— R. C— .Tosiah Crosby— N. Sar- gent— L. O. B.— T. A. P.— B. W. P.— S. Edwards Todd-0, B. D.— J. S. Rohrer— John Hague- C. E. B.— J. E^John Landrigan— J. R. Paddock — A. G. G.— N. C. M.— J. W. Clarke-S. W.— D. C. Burnett— S.— J. C. 11.— J. F. C. rOIS BON ESFRIT RT SK8 CUA Albany, July 28. 1S64. J^~ The ftttention given in tlie WcBt to the fattening of entile, together with theincrcnsed facilities for bring- ing tliom to market, might appear likely to produce a ruinous competition for the grazing farmer at the East. The extent of the western traffic has come to be immense. Mr. Corbett of Chicago in an article* prepared for the Department of Agriculture, gives the following figures of the receipts, shipments, &c., at that place, for four years : Total Cattle Shipped No. City con- received. East. packed. sumption. 18S9 in.BiM 87,684 61,606 42,.'i()4 1860 i';7,ioi 'ri,m .•M,tiS8 43,074- l^lil !»4,S7a 124,146 63,784 20,070 ISO!! 209,l>55 112,745 69,087 87,223 In 1861, however, 8,5C3 head were shipped east by the Joliet cut- ofif— going around instead of through the city — so that the total shipments for that year should be 133,700 huad. In 1803, 41,593 head were shipped in the same way, and 40,330 head by the Gieat Western road from Central Illinois, connecting with the Wabash Valley road at State Line, which would make the total ler that year, 194,567 head. If these figures are correct, the shipments of Western cattle iauluded iu the above table were mttUiplied mwe tlian five-fold in the short period of four years ! In the last annual volume (1863) of the Agriculture of Massachusetts, we lind a r«|iort from the careful iien of Mr. Phi:«kas Stkdman on the production of meat by the farmers of that State, as a source of profit. After alluding to the widely different opinions expressed by different persons on the subject, Mr. S. goes on to show that "it is both profitable and expedient," if not on a large scale and as a primary object, at least as a secondary one, and in connection with other branchef. In connection with dairying, the production of poik or raising of veal calves, proves very remunerative ; and " the production of muttou in Massachusetts is large- ly on the increase from year to year, and, ns we have reason to believe, with satisfactory results." As to beef cattle, Mr. S. says of alall feeding : " If to the value of the beef, Ihe market value of the manure be added, it is still doubtful whether the sum total would yield a full remuneration to the feeder. Yet with the exercise of good judgment in selection and purchase, and with skill and economy in feeding, together with due care in the preservation and application of manure, we arrive at the conclusion that this branch of meat producing is profitable." The three points here al- luded to, furnish exactly the secret of success ; those who fail may fairly conclude that in one of these they have gono somewhere amiss ; for, as Mr. S. jjroceeds to say, a neglect to bring them into requisition, "serves to reverse the whole operation, and render it unprofit- able, if not disastrous." With this caution, however, he still asserts that " those farmers who have been most persistent in this course of feeding, will at least compare favorably with others pecuniarily, while their farms at present are in a higher state of cultivation than those of their neighbors, ■who have pursued a diflerent and opposite policy." As to grassfceding, Mr. S. says that it is pursued to a considerable extent in all the five western counties of the State, and with a good profit : " we feel it safe to say that an nvernge advance of thirty-three per cent upon the purchase may bo relied upon in return for six months' pasturing, or from ten to fifteen dollars per bead. Where suitable stock can readily be pro- cured, -we believe that no better use can be made of s large proportion of our good pasturage." In tlie production of beef by either of the abovB methods, it is taken for granted that the animal is purchased for the purpost^ — not bred by the feeder. As to breeding, ns well as fc^eding, taking into account all the drawbacks encountered and expenses incurred, Mr. S. still leans to tli opinion that the experiment may be satisfactorily tried. Ilis estimates show but a very n.irrow margin for profit ; and yet, " upon care- ful consideration of the benefits of spending the pro- duce upon the farm, and the increased advantage in this ri^spect of the production of meat over that of milk, butter, or cheese, to be at once conveyed to the market, it maybe well questioned whether the former is not really more remunerative and should rtot receivo increased attention." But much emphasis is pro- perly placed npon the breeding of such animals as will be most likely to pay for beef, when tlrey prove lack- ing in milking capacity for the dairy ; upon liberal feeding, and upon the advantogo to be derived by tho gradual improvement, by judicious breeding, both of tho daii'y cows of the State, and of the working oxen by which its farm labor is so largely performed. Mr. Stedman, and the committee of the Board for whom he reiwrtf, assert in conclusion that it is to this source more than any other, that the farnrers of Mas- sachusetts must " look for the recnpcmtion and reno- vation of our somewhat exhausted nnd sterile soil." Their rejiort is both practical and instructive, and can hardly fail to contribute to the desired end. Consulting Horticnltiirist and I/andscape Gardening.— Mr. Fkteh B. Mead has retired from the editorial cliair of The J/ortietiUurist, and oi>cncd an olllce at oaTy Broadway, New-York, where lie proposcB to devote his time to the preparation of plans lor Grape- ries, Grecn-Houees, Forcing-Houses, Propngnting-Hon- sc6, and all classes of Horticultural Buildings ; also plans for laying out and improving grounds, both pub- lic and private. Mr. M. also announces a new strawberry under the name of "Mead's Seedling," raised by him some years ago, and since tlioronghly tested. He thinks it lias proved itself, "after long trial, not surpassed in some particulars, and in others not equaled." Electric Theory. — The Genesee Farmer quotes the theory of one of its correspondents, (of course without endorsing it,) in relation to the potato rot, the cause of which he thinks he has satisfactorily discovered. 'When the plants are kept well cuHivated, and the soil porous and mellow, he asserts that electricity or " electric life," penetrates freely through the pores, and maintains a vigorous and healthy growth, but as soon as the plow and hoc are laid aside, the soil becomes compact, and the " electric life " cannot get through it. To avoid this calamity, " eouductora " must be spread upon the land Jiud plowed under, such as manure, woolen rags, &c. The practice is good, the theory rather amusing tlion otherwise, and is a specimen of the many ways in which those who know nothing of the science endeavor to ex- plain ineomprehensible phenomena by tlie word "elec- tricity." One might as well set up a theory that the music of the bobolink would cause plants to grow freely, provided the necessary requisites were supplied for this music to pass into the soil through the pores, by drain- ing, mellow cultivation, and such conductors of the sound as yard manure and guano. One theory is as good as another. Cost of Raising Carrots. — L. L. Fairchild of Wis- consin, furnishes the Rural New-Yorker with the ave- rage cost of raising the carrot eiop, according to tho practice of two successful farmers of that Stale. Lcivia Sawyer finds that raising an acre costs him $39.01, and his avci-agc crop is five hundred bushels, or a little less than eight cetits per bushel. Col. Lockwood, who ma- nures more highly, and gives very thorough cultivation, finds the cost of raising an acre to be $59.18. His average crop is over one thousand bushels per acre, or a little less than six cents per bushe^ In one instance he raised a thousand bushels on one-half an acre of land. Success and profit iu this crop, depend entirely on doing the woik right. To plant on poor soil is labor thrown away, and to employ wet or cloddy ground is no better. The soil must be deep, rich, and finely pulve- rized, aud should be planted early enough in the season to place the plants beyond the danger of early summer drouth. But most important of all for pioUt is a soil free, or nearly free, from tho seeds of 'weeds, for if these