TILE PEAR SLUQ-WORM. 



Hnvinc: extended these notes on draining to a greater length than I intended, 

 I will now close with a few brief remarks on the jtreparatiou of the soil. 



Tlie ground wc will sni)i»osc to have been all under-drained, and all the grading 

 and levelling that the ground requires to take out all the ine(iualities, to have been 

 finished ; this is better to be done before sul)soiling than afterwards, which leaves 

 all the ground of regular depth ; if done afterwards, there would be some places 

 not so deep as others. Then api)ly twenty cords of good barnyard manure, with 

 two hundred bushels of air-slaked lime, spreading it regularly over the surface ; 

 this will make it ready for the plough and subsoil. To do this well, it requires a 

 good, strong span of horses or cattle ; but, when to be had conveniently, four 

 would be better than two, particularly when the subsoil is hard. The best way to 

 have this done well, is to make openings with the plough, by ploughing out the 

 first furrows thirty feet apart ; then commence with the subsoil plough first in the 

 bottom of the open furrow, which will leave nothing undone, as would be the case 

 if these furrows were not thoroughly opened ; with a good jilough and subsoil, 

 now keep going round, and working into this until a fair opening is made, which 

 will be in the course of three or four rounds ; furrows ought not to be taken more 

 than ten inches to a foot wide, to enable the subsoil plough to break up the bottom 

 well. Half an acre a day for one team is quite enough, if the work is well and 

 regularly done, which ought to be fifteen to sixteen inches deep ; one span of 

 horses will break up this depth. The first furrow to be made with the common 

 plough, going round both sides ; the subsoil ])lough being at hand, slip the horses 

 on the subsoil, and follow round in the same furrow ; this causes very little delay 

 when once fairly commenced, but, when two teams are at hand, this of course 

 would not be necessary ; by continuing this fifteen feet on each side of the furrow, 

 will finish a land, making it thirty feet wide ; then commence again on the next, 

 and so through the whole piece to be ploughed ; the harrowing and levelling the 

 ground afterwards completes the whole operation. It can then be laid out in 

 whatever form or shape the proprietor may wish for a garden, fruit orchard, or a 

 lawn ; and, if the work has been thoroughly done, according to the directions here 

 given, I have no hesitation in saying it will be in fit condition to grow any kind 

 of crop; on grounds of limited dimensions, the spade may be used in place of the 

 plough. 



[This is all plain and practical. Mr. Reed's own nursery grounds are an evi- 

 dence of success that we are always pleased with an opportunity of pointing out. — 

 Ed.] 



4 - »-» ♦■■ » 



THE PEAR SLUG- WORM. 



BY MTS8 INIARGARETTA MORRIS, GERMANTOWN, PA. 



The slug-fly is of a glossy black color, except the first two i)airs of legs, which 

 are dirty yellow or clay colored, with blackish thighs, and the hind legs, which are 

 dull black, with clay colored knees. The wings are somewhat convex and 

 rumpled or uneven on the upper side, like the wings of the sand-flies generally. 

 They are transparent, reflecting the changeable colors of the rainbow, and have 

 a smoky tinge, forming a cloud or broad band across the middle of the first 

 pair ; the veins are brownish. The body of the female measures rather more 

 than one-fifth of -in inch in length; that of the male is smaller. In the year 18'28 

 these sand-flies were observed on the cherry and plum-trees, in Milton, Mass., on 

 the tenth of May, but they usually appear towards the end of May or early in 

 June. Soon afterwards some of them begin to lay their eggs, and all of them 



