75 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 2 



paved or shelled, entirely exempt ; in two cases 

 only, when the earth under tiie tree was turned 

 up, at diffi'rent seasons, the fruit escaped injury, 

 but Irorn llie nuniher that failed, I was inclined to 

 ascribe these two to causes accidental and extrin- 

 sic. 



The third method proj)osed, viz : to intercept 

 the parent in its af^ccnt oi' the body of the tree, 

 by various obstacles whicli the mind will readily 

 suo-o-est, and thereby prevent its deposit ol" ova, 

 thounrli I have made no experiments upon if, I 

 conceive to be rational, and easily accomplished 

 and with tiiose species of curculiones, of which 

 there are many, whose winijs do not admit of 

 fliiXht, but assist them only in climbing, it would 

 undoubtedly be ed'ected. 



The fourth remedy which I propose, of a chem- 

 ical nature, I have made hut partial experiments 

 to establish, such as are not yet salistiictory or 

 cpnclugive; when finished, it will give me filea- 

 (;nre to report tht-m, if the result be successllil, by 

 a fair and caodit! detail of facts. 



I fear, I have already trespassed on your pa- 

 tience, and will venture merely to notice the parent 

 of a singular larva, which some years ago, very 

 generally, throughout the state, as you no douhl 

 remember, threatened to exterminate the whole 

 vegetable creation, as far as it travelled ; in whole 

 districts, not i\ solitary blade of wjieat, oats, or 

 rye, nor a rerrinant escaped its voracious appetite, 

 and the grass was swept, in this march, as if by 

 a scorching fire. So fornjidable were the destruc- 

 tive multitudes, that fosses, abbatis. and parapets 

 were constructed, to repel their advances, and the 

 ditches were fiil'ul v/iih their dead bodies. I de- 

 posited in boiiles, with e;-.rth. several of these 

 larva; they shortly went into <://?'i/sa/?s, and came 

 out a fly of the lepidopternus order, precisely Idee 

 the candle-fly, in all respects. This result, I re- 

 port, because numerous as they were, and as 

 much alarm as they occasioned, I have never seen 

 a notice ol" a similar experinient; and it may, in 

 case of a return of these hosts of' enemies, alibrd 

 a clew to their destruction. We at least are not 

 avciee to know something of an enemy, which 

 has. and may again assail us with more disastrous 

 ravages. 



If, sir, the (irepent communication shall have 

 the efiect of inciiinn: to inquiry, on these interest- 

 ing subjects, the enterprising and intelligent f:ir- 

 nier — ii" the plan of research which I have ventur- 

 fd to sugaest, shall aflbrd him any assistance — if 

 I have added one ray of light, whereby more may 

 be obtained — my purpose is answered, and my 

 most sanguine expectations lialfillcd. 



I have tUe honor to he, sir, your obedient ser- 

 yant, 



Jos. E. Muse. 



From the Philadelpliia tj. P. Gazette. 

 A PRAIRIE OK FIRK. 



Leaving the scene of my extreme rambles in 

 the far west, 1 proceeded over a beautiliil roll- 

 ing country desiL'^nated on tjie tnaps as "Coteau 

 Des Prairie," a ridge about iOOO jeet above I he 

 River St. Peters, and reached this place, the Ame- 

 rican Fur Companies old trading jiost. 



We have met with several adventures, and 

 amongst the rest came near beinj; roasted alive in 



a prairie fire. I have a mind to describe it to you- 

 Pliny did not more gloriously m the crater of \'^i- 

 suvious, than your hunible servant mi^ht have 

 done in a prairie fire! It is worth travelling ten, 

 thousand miles to be an actor in a scene so sub- 

 lime. 



About an hour before sunset we spied a cloud 

 of vapor in the direction we were travelling, rising 

 gradually from the earth, and spreatling itself to 

 the right and left as far as the eye could reach. 



It resembled at first a fog I have seen rise from; 

 that great waste the Pontine marshes, and pass 

 off over the Meditterranean in light colunuis of a 

 feathery form, until it was lost in a hiiiher altitude 

 of liirht. After a half hour'*s progress it ac(]uired. 

 a greater density, and like a London smoke ex-, 

 tended itself over the whole heaver;s. Suddenly 

 the sun which had fiartially illuminated the sky,, 

 sank below the horizon over the rolling jrairie 

 country, in which we were travelling, and all the- 

 light became instaiitaneonsly Iranslirred to the 

 east, in these clouds which became brighter and 

 were driving before the wind towards us. 



Until then I had regarded it as a phenomenon 

 of the atmosphere, hut the glare of light increased 

 fiist, the air became heated and sidlocating, as the 

 wind bore it directly iifion us. The Indians, who, 

 were far in advance, fell back and announced the 

 prairie on fire, and that it was fast approaching us. 

 At first there was a general consternation among 

 the whole party. I was alarmed, and demanded 

 through a half breed, who spoke a few words of 

 Canadian French, what was to be done. 



Our pioneer, the old chief" Whirlinir Thunder," 

 gave instant orders lor the whole party to form a 

 line, which eveiy one obeyed, gallnpping away to 

 the right and left, and dismounting some ten or fif- 

 teen rods apart. In five minutes every one had 

 struck a fire, and applied a torch to the tall dry 

 grass of the prairie, which was soon borne before 

 the wind with terrific fury, in the direction we had 

 come from, snapjiins and flyiuir into the air like 

 small rockets. The dare and heat of the fire ad- 

 vancing in the other direction increased every mo- 

 ment; our horses became restive, snorting and 

 exhibiting the greatest terror, as it came cracking 

 and streaaiitig in the air before the wind, which 

 had iricrea.=;ed to a perfect hurricane. 



At this moment the fire we had kindled advan- 

 ced slowly against the wind, and from which we 

 were retreating to avoid the flames and heat. — 

 The prairie over which it had pas.=ed, being but a 

 sheet of flames, n-mdiially dirninishing, however, 

 in brightness. Here we were between two fire.«?, 

 and both ad\ancing towards us, though that 

 against the wind was slower and less intei;se, but 

 both extended to the riirht and left to an immense 

 distance. The one before the wind we since as- 

 certained to have been about 42 miles wide, and to 

 have run a distance of 170 miles, crossing the 

 streams by the force of the wind. This scene, in 

 connection with tlie perilous situation in which we 

 were placed, was grand beyond the power of de- 

 scription. Thousands of bufi'alo, deer, and wild 

 fowl were bounding and flyinjr in every direction 

 around us, which, added to the noise of the ele- 

 ment, sounded like the clashinjj encounter of bos- 

 tile armies. I have stood within the convulsed 

 crater of Vesuvius during a night eruption, and 

 seen a thousand travellers and visiters flying with 

 lighted torches gleamins: in the distance, before 



