34 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



we never at any time discovered any on the 

 chrysalid. This leads us to the conjectural 

 conclusion that at no time liad it been frozen 

 — that it always jiossessed sufficient latent heat 

 to protect it from the ellects of frost. And 

 this recalls analogous observations made many 

 years ago in collectiu;; chrysalids in AVintor. 

 We have often found chrysalids under the 

 loose bark of decayinj; loi,'S and trees, under 

 boards and Hat stones and in other similar 

 places. Some of these we found clean and 

 smooth, and others perfectly genuned all over 

 with hoar frost, standing in needle-like crys- 

 tals. Those covered with frost generally," if 

 not invarialjly, i)roved to be dead, whilst from 

 the others we" succeeded in evolving the mature 

 insects. At first we supposed these casualties 

 were the effects of subjecting them subsequently 

 to unfavorable conditions, or to souk; inadver- 

 tent violence. But we manipulated them 

 delicately, and all the conditions were in both 

 cases the same. Therefore it would seem that 

 hybernating insects possess a latent jtower to 

 resist the efl'ects of cold. We have also had 

 this in many instances exemplified in the lanrr 

 of moths, especially in the hairy caterpillai's 

 of the conmion arctians, sometimes called 

 "woolly bears. " We have obtained these in 

 Winter perfectly rigid, apparently frozen, and 

 on several occasions we have cut them out of 

 ice in that condition, and on removing them 

 to a temperature of about 7U^ they have in 

 an hour or two revived and become as active 

 as We find them in mid-siunmer. These ex- 

 l)eriences seem to manifest that there is a vital 

 principle in insects that is not alfected by any 

 ordinary degree of frost, and that when they 

 are found dead under such circnmstancesthey 

 must have sutiered previous violence, or have 

 lived out the natural measure of their days. 

 We have, however, ol)served that sulijecting 

 Zarivc and i)upre to alternations of heat and 

 cold has been fatal to the vital principles in 

 them. We have also oljserved in many in- 

 stances that 'iiioiMure has been more fatal to 

 them tlian any degree of dry cold. 



We have on many occasions found large 

 numbers of insects in their Winter hyberna- 

 tions, some of which were covered with a 

 bluish or greenish fumjus or mould, wliilst 

 others in tlie same place were entirely free 

 from it. Under these circumstances those 

 covered with mould were invariably dead, 

 whilst those free from it revived when the 

 proper degree of heat prevailed. From idl 

 this it must be inferred that insects are en- 

 dowed with a tenacity which enables them to 

 resist unfavorable climatic contingencies, and 

 perpetuate their species in another season. 



The i)ractical lesson, however, we desire to 

 ini-ulcate in this paper is the necessity of 

 attending to the collection and destruction of 

 bisect chrysalids during Winter and early 

 Sprin,', ami especially in the case of the "Cab- 

 bage Buttertly," the parent of the "green 

 worm." These may be foimd in many nooks 

 and corners of the field, the garden, and the 

 outhouses of the farmer and the townsman, 

 and ought to be removed before the swelling 

 of the buds. The pendent follicles of the 

 "Drop worm," too, may now be seen on the 

 trees, dangling in the "Winter winds. Tliese 

 worms are particularly destructive to the 

 arbor-vitie. These should be cut off during 

 the month of March, with a sharp knife or a 

 pair of pruning shears, instruments that no 

 ' progressive horticulturist will do without. 

 Those out of arm reach may be cut off by 

 shears affixed to the end of a pole and mani))- 

 ulated with a cord. Tliose girdles of eggs of 

 the "Tent Caterpillars" around the branches 

 sliould also te removed and destroyed. 

 In the crotches of ajjple, i)ear, plum, peach 

 and quince trees, groups of eggs— and a little 

 later in the season young cateriiillars— of the 

 Spring and Sunnner "Webworms," should 

 receive the close attention of the fi-uit-grower 

 if he wishes to preserve his fruit and save a 

 world of labor later in the season. 



We wnUd also call the special attention of 

 potato-gi-owers to the early broods of the 

 "Colorado beetle." Last year they showed 

 themselves during the mild weather of Feb- 



ruary, but March being uniformly cold they 

 disappeared, and reappeared, in A)iriL Tliey 

 should receive early attention in all (juarters. 

 It has been clearly (lemonstraledthat, although 

 they are partial "to the potato, in the absence 

 of this they will feed on many other kinds of 

 Vegetable tbod, so that it will be diliicult to 

 "starve them out. " These labors may seem 

 a "useless botheration" to the farmer, but a 

 time is approaching when more attention to 

 these things will be required than is paid to 

 them now. It is true that birds, bats, quad- 

 rupeds, reiitiles and parasitic insects will ass'st 

 them much more than they receive credit for, 

 but then these animals only destroy as many as 

 they ncril for their own sustenance. ' Their own 

 instinctive economy — and without any regard 

 to human economy — influences them in the 

 amount of aliment they appropriate to their 

 own use. They do not destroy wantonly. 



UTILIZING POTATO-BEETLES AND 

 GRASSHOPPERS. 



In finding remedies against destructive in- 

 sects, a great deal of thought, ingenuity and 

 labor, as well as much precious time, are ofteij 

 exercised in vain. Now, if we could hit upon 

 some plan by which the worst and most numer- 

 ous among them could be utilized, so far as to 

 yield a profit, or at least a compensation for 

 the damage they do, it might transpire that 

 tlieir presence in large numbers would be a 

 blessing instead of a curse. It is on record 

 that in France, when the " white-grubs " be- 

 come distructi vely numerous, they a"re gathered 

 by poor iieople, and esiiecially by children, who 

 are compensated for their labor, and that .said 

 grubs (larvaj of Melolontiiid.e) furnish the 

 oily ingredient in the manufacture of soap. In 

 Mexico, the "Cochineal-insect" (Coccusracti) 

 is gathered and exported in large quantities, 

 and yields a well known scarlet and crimson 

 dye — the cactus on which they feed being 

 cultivated (jr fostered for that specilic puri)ose^ 

 We. have now before us a beautiful, clear, wine- 

 red color, which we have extracted from "Cock- 

 roaches," (Blatia orieutidis,) which may also 

 be suggestive. If, therefore, the "Colorado 

 Potato-Beetles" could be so far utilized as to 

 yield as much, pecuniarily, as the potato crops 

 which they destroy, the farmer might afford 

 to grow and crop the plant for this purpose 

 alone, and gather the beetles as they gather 

 the cochineal. They proba,bly would yield a 

 yellow dye, or at least sufficient oily matter to 

 make a soap. If peradventure "the plants 

 should also yield tubers, this would be an ad- 

 ditional profit. 



We have here in Lancaster county at least 

 four other species of potato-beetles, which be- 

 long to the family Cantiiauid.k or " Blister- 

 ing-Beetles," and it has been demonstrated 

 that their vesicatorial or blistering properties 

 are nearly or quite as powerful as those we im- 

 port from Spam under the name of "Spanish- 

 rties. " There are many species of these blis- 

 tering-beetles within the territory of the Unit- 

 ed States. California, New Mexico, and the 

 great western jilains are fidl of them, some of 

 which approach the Sjianish species more 

 nearly than our local species do. These bee- 

 tles seem to be omniverous in their gastro- 

 nomical habits, and fi'ed on different kinds of 

 succulent vegetation, but they appear to have 

 a partiality for the tops of the potato jilant. 

 We have noticed them in Lancaster county 

 for tliirty jears or more, and by a singular 

 coincidence one ofthem has always been known 

 as the "Striped Potato-B etle."' The least olj- 

 servation, however, is sufficient to distinguish 

 it from the Colorado species. Any confound- 

 ing of the two could only be the "result of a 

 greater degree of ignoraiice than ought to be 

 evinced by any one claiming to be an American 

 farmer. The Colorado beetle (ilorz/jj/fora ten- 

 linefila) is short, eonvexed, tortoised-sha])ed, 

 and has ten lines lengthwise on its wing-covers, 

 as its specific name implies. It belongs to the 

 "lady-bird" family (Chkysomkeir.-t;,) whilst 

 the other species alluded to (Lytla. Vitt(da)\\Afi 

 only four stripes on its wing-covers, and is 

 long, narrow, or cylindrical in form. 



The Vittata is more numerous and more de- 

 structive to the potato tops than its congeners, 

 one of which is entirely a silky black (Li/tta 

 utrata,) another entirely ash-colored [Lytta 

 cinerm,) and a third has black wing-covers, 

 margined with ash, [Li/Ua nuu-ginata.) 



We often impatiently ask why it is that all 

 these noxious insects have been created only as 

 pests of t;he human family. Time may demon- 

 strate that it is not wise to ask such a ques- 

 tion, except as a step towards its solution. 

 Ever since the foundation of the American 

 government, or perhaps ever since the disco- 

 vei7 of the continent, we have been importing 

 " Spanish-rties " formedieinal purposes, whilst 

 here at our very doors, or at least in some 

 smitten localities, a vesicat(H-ial or blistering 

 insect may be gathered by bushels. Do not 

 these things suggest what may ultimately be 

 the remedy for the circumvention or destruc- 

 tion of these noxious denizens of the insect 

 world y There rimsi he a use in them, and the 

 line of our investigations is to find out and 

 apply that use. 



A third species of " SiriiKil Potato-Beetle," 

 one also belonging to the same family that the 

 Colorado species does, (Chi:yso.mei,ida,) but 

 not so large and eonvexed as that more notor 

 rious species, is the little "Three-Luied Potato- 

 Beetle " (LniKi irilhi&ita) which sometimes 

 sorely infests the potatoes, especially in the 

 border States. Like the Colorado, "both the 

 larva', and adult beetles feed on the tops of the 

 potato plant, but. unlike the former, the pupal 

 transformation takes place on the leaf, instead 

 of under ground, and the winter hybernation 

 is passed in the beetle state. The larvau)f this 

 species have the dirty habit of casting their 

 excretions up on their backs, where it is held 

 upon two filaments growing out of the hind 

 end and thrown forward, forming a sort of 

 canopy, supposed to protect them ifrom the hot 

 rays of the sun, or from their enemies. It 

 W(jukl Ue dilficult to suggest what ».se could be 

 made of these insects in human economy. 

 They do not seem to possess fatty matter 

 enough to make soap, and any other use stiU 

 remains undeveloped. 



As to grasshop'pers, mark the distress their 

 "ravages have caused in poor, suffering Kansas, 

 .and elsewhere. What assurance have we that 

 they may not be as destructive there, or else- 

 where, next season ? and the question very 

 naturally arises, " What are we going to do 

 abor.t itV" They make their appearance in 

 such innnense numljers that iiothing has yet 

 been discovered to arrest, or even check, their 

 progress, and the jn'ospects before the infested 

 districts is anything but hoi)eful and |iromis- 

 ing. It is true, there may be a cessation for a 

 year or two, or even longer, but periodically 

 they are likely to appear, just as they have 

 appeared these many years, in some port ion or 

 other of the great west. It is not yet four 

 hundred years since the continent of America 

 was first discovered by Columbus, and since 

 that time we have accustomed ourselves to eat 

 turtles, terrapins, frogs, lizards, oysters, clams, 

 crabs, lobsters, prawns, shrimps, and other 

 hopping, cree]iing and squirming things; and 

 who can say that long before we celebrate the 

 thousandth anniversary of .said discovery, we 

 may not be luxuriating on grasshopjiers. From 

 whatever source, either " good, bad or indif- 

 ferent," grasshopiiers may have come, they 

 must have been, as we said before, permitted 

 for some its", and that use it is the Imsiness of 

 the human family to discoverand ajiply. There 

 is no prospective I'elief in unceasingly regard- 

 ing tlieir presence as a calamity, but much 

 consolation in endeavoring to convert them 

 into a blessing. Think you the Parisians, 

 during the siege, near the close of the Franco- 

 Prussian war, would have long hesitated what 

 to do, had a shower of grasshoppers fallen ujion 

 their devoted city, while they were reduced to 

 dog-i)ie, cat-stew, monkey-hash, mule-soup, 

 and fricaseed rats ? Would they not, like the 

 Israelites in the wilderness, have regarded 

 such an event as fiiamm falling from heaven 

 for their special relief? 



The "Digger Indians" of California have 

 been feasting on grasshoppers, perhaps for 



