THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



35 



contiiries, ami feast on tlicni still. A friciul 

 of ours who visited their caliii), and not only 

 witnessed tlu'ir i)rel)aratioM of these insects, 

 but also tasted of them, Ijcais testimony that 

 even with their imperfect eulinary skill, the 

 dish was not ill-tlavored or nnpalatalile. ])e- 

 struetivi'astlie Afrieanand I'^ast Indian locusts 

 are {Lonn'tn rniijrdtonn) theirlpresence in many 

 jihu'es is considVred more of a lilessinj; than a 

 curee, for they freely eat them. The western 

 grasshoppers "and the eastern locusts belonj; to 

 the same j^reat family {Lncustadix) in the order 

 Oiiliiijihra. 



We are not by any means recomniendiuf; 

 them as proper food for man, Imt it is more than 

 probable that by the time we celebrate the 

 lialf decade of centuries since the discovery 

 of America, the Colorado f^rasshopiier (Calnp- 

 ionta Kjiri'liui) may be as welcome to the talile 

 of the epicure, as lobsters, frogs and turtles 

 now are. 



Snakes, toads, frogs, turtles, lizards, sala- 

 manders and newts, all belinif,' to the great 

 cold-blooded cla.ss Hi i-pctdViijii, and human 

 g;ustrt)nomy has selected from these some of its 

 greatest di'licacies. It is true that there are 

 some |)Cople who could no more lie persuaded 

 to iiartake of any of these animals as food, 

 than they could of the filtliy contents of a 

 cesspool, but these are only commiserated by 

 the initiated. What is there about a dish of 

 grasshoppers that is less inviting than a dish 

 of shrimiisV They feed on green and succu- 

 lent vegetation, and .so do the domestic ani- 

 mals that we freely use as food, and they are 

 far more fastidious in their tastes than a 

 chicken or a jiig. As civilization extends and 

 expands itself, and the ground is brought 

 under a state of higher cultivation, grasshop- 

 pers and other insects will also extend and 

 increase theni.selves, and there seems no better 

 remedy than to invent means to cajiture them 

 and then to use them for food, or in the arts. 



Grasshopi)er pies could not well be more un- 

 wholesome than many of the mince-pies that 

 find their way into the human stomach, and 

 hashed grasshoppers, properly |)rep;ired, miglit 

 be more digestalile than much of the hash now 

 made of tough and sinewy beef. }5ut even if 

 they shouUl not ultimately be adojited as 

 human food, there might be a virtue in thein 

 as food for farm stock. Pigs and chickens, 

 as well as turkeys, are exceedingly fond of 

 them, even in their raw state, and boiled with 

 a little salt, and mixed with chopjied feed, they 

 might l>e made more tooth.some to animals. 



It is true, that these are merely suggestions, 

 but in view of the vast changes going on in 

 the ]iliysical world, there is no man who can 

 say that these things may never come to pass. 

 They are not more remarkable than what is 

 • going on daily. Forty years ago the tomato 

 was regarded as poisonous. To-day it is the 

 leading culinary preparation of the country. 



PEAR SLUGS. 



A blackish, slimy "sing" often occurs on 

 the leaves of the pear, the apjile, the quince, 

 the ]ihnn, tlu^ cherry and (a greenish one) on 

 the rose. The.se are the hirrii' of species of 

 "Saw-flies, " belonging to the genus Sdnndrin, 

 and may be referred to the species j'.'/cj, ?)(«//, 

 cudnni, jjnthi, ciTiisi iivil ro.-:(i' ; and if one is 

 found on the peach, it would probably be a 

 2xrsica. These fruits and flowers, it will lie 

 observed, all belong to some (inhr in the di- 

 vision UusAcE.T-;. It is not absolutely known 

 that these insects are all distinct sjiecies from 

 the mere fact that they infest the different 

 trees above named ; indei'd it is more than 

 probable that those that infest the ap]ile, the 

 pear and the quince are specilieally tlie same. 



Notwithstanding these in.sects all belong to 

 one of the " first families " in the onler II v- 

 MEN'()rTEl!.\, (membrane-winged insects) they 

 are all slimy, disgusting slugs, and all skei- 

 etouize the leaves of the trees, leaving them 

 as dry and as cri.sji as if they ha(l been 

 scorched with firebrands, and wheii the 

 pnrcnchinnu or cellular tissui^ of the leaves is 

 once destroyed, it is, for that season, almost 

 equivalent to the destruction of the lungs of a 



breathing animal. These insi'cts usually pro- 

 duce two !)roods in a .season, the last brood 

 remaiinng in the ground all Winter in the 

 pii2>:i state. The saw-llies issue forth from 

 the ground in the warm days of Spring, from 

 the beginning of April to the beginning of 

 May, earlier or later aeeonling to tlu^ ad- 

 vanced or retardi'd slate of the season. They 

 are then four-wiuged Hies, of a bitickish color, 

 and from ij to ^ of an in<-h in length. The 

 wings do not lie flat on the back like those <if 

 the eonnnon house-fly, but are bent downward 

 along the body, and meet in an obtuse angle 

 on top. The head is distinct, the tliorux or 

 mid-body moderately large, and the hind-body 

 somewhat tapering towards the end. The 

 anUnmr are short, and seem to (;ome out from 

 the middle of the head in front, divergent, and 

 somewhat thickened at the ends. Some of the 

 species have an orange-colored collar, but 

 those that iid'cst the rose are entirely black, 

 the wings in none of them IjeiiiLT as black as 

 tlie body, which is a glo.ssy black. The slwjx 

 nnght be very easily mistaken for snails, in 

 the species that infest the apjile, pear, iilum 

 and (luince, liut those infesting the rose are 

 green, and less slimy and repulsive than their 

 congeners. Anothergroup of sawflies, in their 

 hirvcr state, infest the leaves of the elm, the 

 beech, the currant, the gooseberry, the straw- 

 lierry and other jdants. These are called 

 "false caterpillars," and it is not easy to dis- 

 tinguish them from the true caterpillars, with- 

 out close observation and some practical 

 knowledirc of the.se distinctions. Some of the 

 dies from these are very pretty, and usually 

 are larger, brighter and more variegated than 

 the former. All, however, are noxious, and 

 if destroyed at all, it must be while they are 

 feeding on the leaves of Vegetation, otherwise 

 they might nevi'r be recognized or identified 

 as enemies. AVhere a (lerson has only a few 

 dwarfs or a few ro.se liushes under cultivation, 

 by using a little vigilant industry, it would 

 not be very diliicult to get rid of these slugs 

 and false caterpillars; hut where large trees 

 or large enclosures of trees are infested, the 

 task might well be regarded as hopelessly 

 beyond remedy. But these insects are not as 

 tenacious as the Colorado potato-beetles, and 

 therefore they will succinnb to applications 

 that would not alTect the former. Wt 

 never applied anything to our roses, but de- 

 pended ujiou handpicking aloue, and we linally 

 conquered them. After we ideidified the ;/// 

 and made a note of its sea.son, the work was 

 mon^ than half accom])lislied. We visited the 

 ro.se bushes in tlie cool of mornings and even- 

 ings, and destroyed dozens of them at each 

 visit. During flie warmest part of the day 

 they are usually too active to allow themselves 

 to be cajitured unless the weather should 

 I'appen to be niuisually cool. I'nt even if we 

 have captured and destroyed all the Hies we 

 have seen, some will have eluded our vigilance, 

 and during the intervals bi'tween our visits 

 will have deposited their eggs on the rose 

 leaves. The.se they place on the un<ler side, 

 near the edges. The young slugs are very 

 small, green as the leaf in color, and usually 

 are found on the hiwer sides of the leaves, 

 but when they grow larger they also attack 

 the upjier sides, and soon convert them info 

 parched skeletons. Now, a vigorous and con- 

 timions ernshing Jiroee.ss must be carried on, 

 ]!y doubling a leaf together tliis can be done 

 with thumb and linger, but a small )>air of 

 wooden forceps with flattened nozzles isnmch 

 better. In the ab.sence of these manual 

 efforts n^course must be had to whale oil or 

 cai'bolic soap solutions, tobacco decoctions, 

 white jiowdered hellebore, quick-lime, gas- 

 lime, unleacbed wood ashes or pulverized to 

 bacco. As the insects are similar in their 

 habits, these maniimlations and applications 

 will be more or less suitable to each. 



Whether the mouldy, scruffy, and cracked 

 conditions of apples and pears can be traced 

 inunediately to the jiresenee of these "slimy 

 slugs" is more than we can pi>sifively allirin. 

 It is very certain that the leaves of a tree ]ier- 

 form a very inqiortant function in its physio- 

 logical economy, their absence stunting it, 



weakening its growth and deteriorating its 

 fruit, illustrating that in the vegetalile king- 

 dom as Well as in the animal, "when one 

 memlier sull'ers the whole body sufi'ers." 



As soon as we feel oinselves jiecuniarily 

 justilied in pro<-uring illustration.s, we will 

 ])ublisli more detailed histories of these insects 

 in separate jiapeis. Thisnni<-h we feel called 

 upon to |)ublish now, in deference to the in- 

 (piiri<s made at the I'eliruaiy meeting of the 

 Agrii-uluual and llorlicullural Society. In 

 the mean time we would admonish our readers 

 to connunnii;ate fo us their personal observa- 

 tions and exjieriences, accor<ling to the sug- 

 gestions maih' in our .lanuary number, under 

 the title " Entomological." 



PARIS GREEN, 



ITS POISONOrS Ql'AI.ITIK.S — IK) TIIKV MAKE THE SOIL 

 roISONorS? — AKE TIIKV TAKKN Tl' INTO I'l.ANTS 

 SO AS TO MAKK THEM C NW1IOLE.''OME ? — I.MPORT- 

 ANCK OK Tlli;SI' QI'E.xTIO.NS. 



I liave for some tiiiie iiiteiiilcil to writ can art Ufr for 

 tlic JCrniiiii/ J'vitt ii|K)ii tlie uKc of l*ariM irn'oii (arsc- 

 niatc of cnpiu-r) fur tfie liesl ruction of iiiNcrtH ii|«)ii 

 potatoes, ami otfier lilve purposcR. 



Tlie rcMcni (Ualli of twn piTsims from tlip arcldcntal 

 Bwalfnwinjr of a very niimili* ^lo^e of tills i>oison, and 

 also pome invest ligations fif my own, iiave in'luced me 

 al tills time to carry out my inlenlion. I am aware 

 lliat it lia.-i lieen reported a« eoiriiiii.' fnnii lii!_'li autho- 

 rity that there is no ilam^er from such uses of the 

 poison: hut in conversation with one ol'tlie lies! chem- 

 isls in the country, Prol'. <i. A. Marriiier, of thiseilv, 

 I liud that he very much douhts the fact whether any 

 pueli extended ohservations as should lie rtHjUirud lie- 

 fo|-e eomiiii; to a conclusion U]ioii a sulijeet of sueli 

 trrave inqiortani-e have ever heen made hy competent 

 persons. He this as it may, I will venture to hope 

 that this arliele will hriuf out, tlimui;h the puhlic 

 press, the actual state of the ease, so that we may 

 know whether we are or are not pretty sure of (ifiis- 

 oniiiir the phinis to which the arsenic ^reen is directly 

 applied, and of endan^ierin^ from tliis course some, if 

 not all, (if the future crops from llie land. 



The so-called Paris irrei'U, which is soM to the far- 

 mers, is more or less adidtcrated, accordini; to our 

 oliservation, mainly with white arsenic (urseiiious 

 acid,) or •' ralsliane," as it is fier|uenily called. This 

 ailulteration is, however, not more poisonous than the 

 fireen in its pure slate. Arsenic is used in the arts for 

 irlaSB-slaiiiiuir, dyeinir, and as the basis of several green 

 and yellow paints. It is used liy fjuacks of all kiiid8, 

 such as the su-called "cancer doctors" and farriers. 

 " AVell-informed vi-terinaries," says Prof. Tiison, 

 " however, irenerally discard it from their list of reme- 

 dies." " The reason for this," lie continues, "is that 

 we cannot control its action, and often a most exten- 

 sive and jiaiiitul wound is caused liy it." 



We ourselves have seen a ease where it was applied 

 to a small tumor on the upper li]) of a man, by a can- 

 cer doctor, in which both lips were destroyed in a very 

 few days, and a consideralile |iortiori of both the up|H-r 

 and under jaws laid bare, cansiiiL' the most lerrililc 

 sutlcrin^', as well as a fearfully horrible wound. We 

 have also seen the nose of a poor horse eaten away In 

 the same manner with this poison. 



For the olwcrvcd faelsof its ell'eets ujion veectablcs, 

 etc., we are mainly indebted to Prof. Tnsoii, ol' Kinij's 

 C'olle!;e, London, lie says that arsenic has been eni- 

 jiloyed as a steep for seed wheat, to prevent smut, and 

 that M. Audouard stales that he has detected traces 

 of arsenic in tfie crops raised from seed wheat thus 

 treated. If so small an amoinil of tlie [Ktisoii can so 

 atlcct tliesoil as to be taken up by the wheat iTop, 

 what niu.st be the result w here it is used in many hun- 

 dred limes the jjroiHirtion, as where it is scattered over 

 liclds of potatoes, and for successive years even. We 

 shall do w(dl to remember that arsenic remains arsenic 

 Ibrcver. and sull'ers no chani^e or loss of its {Hiisonous 

 properties during' the lajise of years, or in whatever 

 combinations it may enter. Both Ur. Kdmund Uavy 

 and Prof. Tuson join in warninir the public airaifist 

 the poison<ius elfecis of arsenic, in so small a (|uaiitity 

 as is found in " crude eiiiK'rpliosphati: of lime " used 

 as a manure. 



Davy positively states tliat arsenic, as It exists In 

 artitieial manures, is taken up by frrowinjj plants. He 

 found (afibatiis and turnips giviufr nninistakable evi- 

 dence of beins: arseniated. 



" These tacts," says Tuson, " have iniimrl ant liear- 

 iiifs ; for tliouirh the quantity of arsenic whieli occurs 

 in such manures is not larire when compared with 

 their other in!;rcdients, and the pro|)orlion of lliat 

 poison adiled to tile .soil must be very small, still 

 jilants dnriiiu' their •;rowtli, as in the case of the alka- 

 line and earlhy sails, take up a considerable quantity 

 of this sulislancc." 



" Further, as arsenic is well known to aeeumulale 

 in soils, the effects after a time will jirobably be that 

 veiretablcs thus nnuiured will uiiimately be found to 

 contain arsenic, and will endanger the lives of men 

 aiitl animals." 



" Our experiments," he concludes, " very carefully 



