THE GENESEE FARMER. 



67 



A Gooi> Hint. — Order is said to be Heaven's first law, 

 ahd would it not be well for every one who tills the soil to 

 note down on paper every item of practice he intends to 

 pursue the coming season — prepare a list of whatever 

 seeds he desii^ns to plant or sow, and the times at which 

 it should be done — note where they may be obtained, and 

 have them ready and labeled — prepare strips of shingle, 

 pointed at one end and smooth on one side, to mark the 

 name of the thing sown with a lead pencil ? They will 

 last, as we know from experience, the season through ; and 

 when you wish to giither seed from any article, they are 

 very handy as a means of reference. These, and many 

 other similar expedients, your readers will find productive 

 of much convenience and Order. 



inqutiUjB anH ^n£b3U«. 



The Connecticut Biddy Outdone. — One of my hens 

 (a mixture of the Shanghai and common breeds) laid an 

 egg in September last, which was nearly as large as a 

 goose egg. "We kept it several days to show to the neigh- 

 bors that came in, on account of its uncommon size ; it 

 was then broken open to cook, when out dropped another 

 egg of full size. It was then kept several days longer to 

 exhibit, on account of its still greater curiosity. The 

 shells of both were hard, and their contents perfect. Cer- 

 tainly this is an age of wonders and improvements, and 

 the biddys don't mean to be behind the times. J. S. Ruby. 

 — Gaines Basin. 



The Annual Meeting of the New York State Agricul- 

 tnral Society will be held at Albany, February 1 1th. There 

 will be an exhibition of fiuit, grains, fat meat, &c. The 

 new Rooms of the Society will be dedicated on Thursday, 

 the 12th, and addresses delivered by several gentlemen. It 

 is hoped that there will be a general attendance of farm- 

 ers, and all friends of agriculture. 



Potato Disease. — Alex. Titus, of Yorktown, West- 

 chester Co., N. Y., writes us^that with him " potatoes that 

 grow nearest the surface of the ground are the ones that 

 rot the most." Does this correspond with the observations 

 of others ? 



Rural Annual for 18oG. — We have still on hand a few 

 copies of the Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory 

 for 1856, which will be sent, postage paid, for 25 cents. 



Noluijsf of Njto 33oofejj, ^«rioIJual5, ^c. 



ITORS. By the author of "Amy I-ce" and "Grace Hall." New 

 York : D. Appleton & Co. 1S57. 



An interesting novel in two volumes, illustrating some 

 of the good and bad features of English aristocratic so- 

 ciety, and the injurious tendency of a narrow and exclusive 

 System of education. The author's style is agreeably flu- 

 ent, but somewhat discursive. Had the work been pruned 

 dawn to one volume, it would have been more acceptable. 



Webster's Counting-House and Family Piction- 

 arr. — Webster's Dictionary needs no commendation. Its 

 great merits are fully appreciated wherever the English 

 language is spoken. The Couiiting-House and Family 

 edition, recently published by G. & C. Merriam, Spring- 

 field, JIass., cannot be recommended too highly. For sale 

 by D- M. Dewet, of this city. Price $1.50. 



Red Spider in Green Houses. — I wish to inquire 

 through the pages of your highly valuable paper for a 

 method of exterminating that jiost of the green house, the 

 red s])ider. Tiie fumes of tobacco have proved very effi- 

 cacious in destroying the "green fly," but are of no avail 

 for the destruction of the red spider. _^W. H. Elliott. — 

 Kenawee, III. 



The red spider (acarus tillarius) is one of the gardener's 

 greatest pests, though so small as to be scarcely visible to 

 the naked eye. Color sometimes yellowish, at others 

 brown, but often a dull red ; on each side of its back is a 

 blackish spot. We annex a cut of one the nsit ral size, 

 (which our engraver has male somewhat too l;ige,) and 



RED spider, natural SIZE AND MAGNIFIED. 



one as seen through a powerful microscope. The follow- 

 ing method of destroying them will prove efficacious in a 

 mixed collection of green house plants : 



Take half a peck of quick lime in lumps, dip the lime 

 into water until it is pretty well soaked ; then place it in a 

 tub and put upon the lime one pound of sulphur. Allow 

 it to stand in the green house until it has done steaming ; 

 keep the house shut up close while steaming. Then add 

 three gallons of soap-suds, or water with soft soap in it; 

 let it stand until quite clear. Then to half a gallon of 

 the clear liquid add one gallon of clean water, and syringe 

 the plants all over, and especially under their leaves. Re- 

 peat this two or three evenings. Repeated syringing will 

 keep them away. 



Currant Bush Worm. — I would beg to call your at- 

 tention to a green worm, which proves very destructive to 

 our currant Lushes in this section. It makes its ajipear- 

 ance early in June. In the tir.st plate it is very small ; 

 it eats the leaves, and in about a month the buslies are 

 completely stripped of their leaves, at which time the 

 worms are about an inch in length. If you, or any of 

 your readers, would be so kind as to inform us how to 

 prevent the ravages of this destructive little worm, you 

 would no doubt confer a great favor on many of your 

 readers in this community. D. C. IIousbeeger. — Rain- 

 ham Center, C. ^V. 



The description of the appearance and habits of this 

 worm, given by our correspondent, is so general that we 

 are unable to decide definittly what it is. In this vicinity, 

 the currant bush has no such enemy — in fact, few of any 

 sort. Loudon mentions the grub of a small saw-fly ( Ne- 

 matus ribesii) as being very destructive to the gooseberry 

 and currant in some parts of Great Britain ; and as large 

 quantities of these plants are annually importtd into this 

 country, it is probable that the grub is here also, although 



